It's hard, to look into that face, to hear those words. It's hard for a lot of reasons, some of them reasonable, some of them just twisting up in his guts, knowing they're unreasonable but unable to stop feeling them, all the same.

Steve's already opening his mouth to say something when Bucky - Soldat - James? - stumbles forward, and it's instinct, reaction at this point: Steve's arms come around him and hold tight, his whole body language changing as he goes from uncertain and apologetic to protective and comforting, all in a heartbeat.

"You exist," he says, soft but firm, as his fingers curl carefully into the other's shirt, trying to pull him close without smothering him or, y'know, crushing a rib or anything. "No matter what. You exist, and so does your brother. Your family. Even if I'm not him - he's not nothing. And neither are you." Of that, he is extremely sure.