This is not the Endgame

Welcome to the jungle. It gets worse here every day.

He tapped on 315 first, it was the one he came to first, but nobody answered, so he went on to 314. Here the door opened. Sam eyed him carefully, then clapped a hand on his shoulder. "You don't look as bad as I thought." Bucky was waiting, got up and gave him the hug Steve was longing for.

"Where were you, punk?" he asked, humor not quite masking his concern. "The hearing ended just past five. It's been hours."

"Three hours," Sam clarified, folding his arms and looking at him like his mom had when she'd expected an explanation, and Steve controlled his flinch.

"I went out to dinner," he said, then dropped in a chair. "Ava came down to make sure I was ok," he said to Bucky, who rocked back a little.

"Not saying she's not a good woman, but that seems like... a lot," Sam said carefully.

"Well, I haven't mentioned it, but that Snap survivor group I joined?" The other two nodded. "She's a member. Took her a couple of months to warm up to me."

"That old Steve Rogers charm," Bucky muttered, his mouth just quirking up at the corner. Steve flipped him off.

"But after group, we get dinner together and talk. It's nice. She's still a little wary, but I figure in another couple of years I'll have her eating out of my hand," he bragged, which cracked everybody up.

"Lady killer," Sam managed, which set them off again.

"So what happened?" Bucky asked.

"She caught up with me as I left the hearing, wanted to know that I was ok. Said it looked rough on TV." Bucky nodded.

"It's why we're here too." Steve pinked a little with pleasure.

"I took her out to eat, seemed like the least I could do, made sure she got to the train station ok. She gave me a book for distraction. Looks interesting."

"What's it called?" Sam asked.

"Fullmetal Alchemist. It's some kind of comic. The art is wonderful." Sam stared at him.

"How is it that you haven't read any manga? That's right up your alley," he asked. Steve looked a little nettled.

"Oh, I don't know, I was busy saving the Earth--sometimes--from alien invaders, fighting evil assholes like Pierce and Rumlow and murderbots, running around after my best friend. Didn't leave much time for light reading." Bucky made a placating gesture.

"When are you going back?"

"Not tomorrow," he said grumpily. "Spiderman is testifying tomorrow. He saw me on the broadcast, my lawyer said he got in touch with her. I gotta support him. He was only fifteen when Stark dragged him into our business. Maybe he can get the authorities off his back with this testimony."

"That'd be good," Sam said. "We'll help if we can."

"So where'd you go to dinner?"

"Ambar, it's Balkan cuisine, really good."

"We got pizza from a place down the street. It's giving me heartburn," Sam grumbled.

"I don't get heartburn anymore," Bucky said sunnily. "Benefit of the serum." Sam scowled. With the ease of practice, Steve headed off the bickering, and it was decided that the three of them would attend the hearing; Sam and Bucky would sit with whoever the kid brought along for moral support, and would also observe the audience and the activity in the hearing chamber. Steve still wanted a workout, so after a little more unwinding, he gratefully said goodnight and went down to the fitness center. As he'd suspected, he wouldn't have access to enough resistance on the weights, but there was a Stairclimber there, and those things always kicked his ass.