Rogers took a sip from his second pint glass while he listened, but besides that he didn't react to anything that Ward was telling him, as he tried to decide if he was surprised or wasn't. Not by what Grant was saying, but how easy it was to relate.
It was no secret that he barely trusted SHIELD, he'd been skeptical since they'd pulled him out of the Atlantic, and those suspicions grew when he uncovered the weapons in the Helicarrier, and Nick Fury's leadership -- while he respected the man -- exactly in line with his own. But there was more to it than that. Because at the end of the day, he knew what it was like to follow someone, to find a way to save them no matter the cost. He'd tried and failed to enlist in the war, but once Bucky had left New York, failure was no longer an option for him. He'd have gone overseas after him if he had to lie, cheat and beg his way on board a ship. When he'd learned that Bucky had been captured by HYDRA, nothing had stood in his way to bring him back. And when he'd learned the truth about the Winter Soldier, well, he'd rather have let Barnes kill him then take him out. There were things that you did for the people who meant something to you that went beyond reason and he knew that.
"You know, I know something about being a weak, scared kid. And I know something about clinging to the one person who makes a difference in your life. And I also know that SHIELD can be a whole lot of bullshit, and betray it's own people for some 'greater good' which I don't agree with, I've seen them do it, just as I've seen armies abandon their own men as an acceptable loss. It's not right, it's never been right, and it's infuriating, I understand that." Steve leaned back in the booth. He wasn't going to tell Ward he was manipulated, he didn't think he was. He also didn't really think he'd been brainwashed. He knew what that did to someone, he knew how that stripped someone of who they were and who they wanted to be. He'd seen it done to Bucky, and he really didn't think that was the case with Grant. This man, Ward, had taken the only opportunity that was available to him and unfortunately for him, and unfortunately for everyone else, the hand that had offered him help came from the wrong side. "Loyalty can be a very powerful thing, but at some point, you had to know what what you were doing was wrong, and the fact that you did it for someone else doesn't excuse that choice. I know that you know that."