If he'd been less distracted, he probably could have stopped the man from hurting himself, and the twitch as the blade sliced into his skin told Steve that it had hurt Peter, and that the man wasn't expecting the pain. How . . . odd. By the time he reacted, however, it was too late and blood was already welling up. Steve swallowed the protest that had never been fully born and just studied the man, ignoring everything else for a while.

"I think we've both faced a lot worse than what's happening right now, but that doesn't mean I can't want to spare someone from pain anyway. If you're not human, what are you?" Because human beings scarred. The only reason he didn't was because the damn serum seemed to see scars as imperfections and healed them to nothing. It was just the way things happened to work for him. The question was blunt and bold and he didn't actually expect an answer, but he had to say something. And he was curious. How could one choose to wear a scar?