Sam nodded. "You know him the best of any of us. If any of us would know what he would do, it would be you." He watched Steve for a moment.

Then he straightened up. "I actually watched Riley die right in front of me. In midair. Do you know..." His breath caught. "There was blood, everywhere. It was all over me. I went back and it looked like I'd been bathing in tomato juice, or something.

"I know it's not the same as what Bucky's been through. That much pain and death... But if anybody could bring him back after that, it would be Dr. Goss. She did it for me. Managed to patch me up so I'm a somewhat functional human being again. It took a long, long time and I still have nightmares." Sam was quiet for a long few moments. "But it's your decision to make."

He sure as hell would never trust the Soldier, though. Knew that if they went that way, he would be confined to a cell for the rest of his life, and who knew how long that would be, after what Zola did to him.

But Sam also knew what intense trauma did to people. Knew the stories of prisoners of war, knew how few came back from that. He knew how many veterans were lost to suicide or alcohol or drugs. How many went homeless or were abandoned by their families. "It won't be easy, either way."