"Maybe everything we see might not be exactly what it seems," he admitted, watching her as her expression shifted to a shade more pale and wan. "But doubting everything will just have you jumping at shadows. Sometimes it might be a matter of listening to not just what's being said, but who's saying it. Other times...maybe it's a matter of listening to your gut, not your head."

With all that had threatened to make him lose faith in past years, the recent reemergence of Hydra and things he had thought long laid to rest being in no way the least of them, holding onto his trust in the basic nature of people had been all that had kept his head above water. There would always be bad apples, maybe always another monster to fight, but there were - and of this he was sure - also always good people out in the world.