Bucky couldn't exactly argue with that, but there was plenty of baseball left to play and that was part of what kept things interesting. "Wouldn't mind if someone put the damper on the Yanks for a minute," he replied. More than a dozen games ahead was a hard thing to lose this late in the season, but the All Star break was a funny thing and injuries could happen any time, anywhere to anyone. All Bucky really cared about was that good teams made it through and that the games were good.

"Part of me thinks it was a huge mistake for Atlanta to let him go. He'll end up back there before he retires, I'm sure." There were a lot of good eggs in the sport and if the owners got the hell out of the way, it might actually be pretty great of a sport. Business always got in the way of the right thing when the right thing wasn't profitable. It was rare for players to spend their whole career in one organization these days.

He grabbed some onions and tomatoes, along with the cutting board and a knife to slice up for their burgers. Sometimes, he was a little scared of how comfortable a knife felt in his hand. It was easy to focus on the sounds of the game though, and Steve's steady breathing. It was Steve, more than anything else, that helped keep him steady. Though he wasn't in a spiral or anything like that, he was still learning some of his triggers and how to work through them. So when the knife sliced through the fleshy tomato, he was okay. He didn't get lost in the memories, the sounds, or the feelings of what he was capable of and what he'd been made to do. It was just a tomato, just preparation for dinner.