Steve almost says he'd like to see Bucky try. The problem is that he thinks maybe he would like to see Bucky try. Maybe he'd even let him and that's a dangerous thought, because Bucky's done nothing to imply that he's want that and Steve's not going to risk alienating the closest friend he thinks he's got in here.

"'Cause you watched me knock out two or three guys." He smiles, but he doesn't let the sarcastic answer hang too long. Bucky had told him about his nightmares and Steve hadn't wanted to share his own, but this is something he can share.

"My downstairs neighbors had a lot of domestic disputes. Guy got real good at talking the cops out of his apartment when I called them. Got to the point where he convinced them my calls were me using the police to harass him." He sighs. Even thinking about it makes him so angry. "So one night they were screaming at each other again and I heard a crash and I just had enough, so I went downstairs and busted their door in and he--"

Steve has to stop for a moment. Christ, he can still see it all so vividly like it was just this morning.

"He had his hands around her neck. You know... once an abuser chokes their victim, statistically they're a lot more likely to wind up killing them. I just saw red and I knew I had to save her. I guess I hit him harder than I realized, because now he's in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. The kicker is that she testified against me at my trial and the calls to the police were used against me, too. They managed to spin this whole narrative about me being obsessed with her."

If there's a little laugh at the end like it's the most ridiculous thing in the world, it's only because it is. He doesn't even like women.