A team, Rumlow called them, and that was true. Steve couldn't really say why he had never felt as close to the STRIKE team as he did to the Avengers, even though he had technically run more missions with the former. He figured it probably had something to do with all of the Avengers being a little quirky or different in some way. That, and the STRIKE team was compromised of a lot of guys. Steve couldn't expect to get close to each and every one of them, whereas the Avengers was only six people.

Rumlow might be one of the few who Steve allowed himself to get more friendly with, though. He'd already made the first step and then some, although it was nice to hear that there wouldn't be any hard feelings if Steve decided to pull back and return their relationship to something strictly business. It made it low pressure, which was exactly what Steve needed at this point in his life.

"Sounds good," he said, nodding and then slowly sliding away from Rumlow's touch. It wasn't that he didn't like it, but maybe that he liked it too much. He didn't know why he was so nervous about getting attached, but it probably had something to do with the fact that he'd lost all the people he cared about once already.

The next mission they went on, Rumlow could end up with his head blown off. He couldn't forget that.

"Weren't you gonna show me some of that stained glass work?" he asked, hoping that the subject change was a little smoother than it felt.