[Steve smiles a little, but it fades. Not somber at the reminder of his ruthless betrayal (he can smile through that a lot for some creepy reason), but at the matter at hand.]

He got married late. Especially for the culture of the time, and especially for a first marriage. [Steve says this unironically and without meaning to poke fun, probably.] I remember, back when we worked together, he was very dedicated to the science. The government projects. Of course, we had no idea at that time how vulnerable we were to infiltration... [h.y.d.r.a. is super uncool.] That might have changed his attitude.

But-- a lot of the other scientists in the room were pretty close to his age. Their mid-twenties, thirties. Most of them had families to go back to. Kids, even. For them, I think, there was a balancing act. A lot of secrets, long hours at the office, risks of... negligence, I guess.

I don't know exactly what it means, he waited so long to get married to Maria. I wish I'd met her. But I think part of it was, he was on his own time. And the other part, people who were right for him were one in a million, and he wasn't going to get hitched for anything less. [Steve glances up when their beers arrive, nodding this thank-yous. The barman considerately retreats from earshot.]