[ that's not a threat, but it could become one if steve doesn't make good on his offer to talk. that's fine, he should establish trust between them before he tries to get bucky to hare off on a recon mission with him anyway. ]

Alright. Your name is James Buchanan Barnes. Friends call you Bucky. You were born in 1917 in Brooklyn, New York. Your parents were Winifred and Robert Barnes, and you had three siblings. We met when we were kids, and we've been best friends ever since.

[ present tense is a liiittle presumptuous, given the givens, but nobody ever said steve isn't optimistic. ]

We fought Hydra together, seventy years ago. They captured you, and they've been using you to do their dirty work while I—

[ here steve stumbles, unsure what to say, how to describe exactly why he couldn't save his best friend from a fate worse than death. he's explained it before, plenty of times, but this time he feels... guilty. he could have done more. ]

I was out of commission. I would never have let this happen if I'd known, Buck. I'd have died first.