I’m so soft for the Cap quartet
they’re all so damaged and dysfunctional but they all get understanding of that from each other.
There’s no judgement in a house that is very new to the idea of morals.
They most assuredly keep each other in check... but each person can only keep a few things in check for the group. They only share one braincell, but they have a good system for it.
Sam- Keeps them legally in check. The voice of reason and humanity, and also the only one actually raised in this world. He jokes that the other 3 are from another planet, but sometimes the joke’s not funny and he has to sit them down and explain what is sold at stores and what is illegal to buy and extremely alarming to a cashier to inquire about. Sam holds the braincell on all matters emotionally and culturally.
Steve- Keeps them morally in check. He can be emotionally obtuse, but he knows what’s right and what’s wrong and can be relied upon to die on that hill. Steve only holds the braincell in times of emergency, otherwise in everyday life he’s a pretty face and an obsessive list-maker with excessive attention to detail.
Natasha- Keeps them practically in check. If you want something done right, Natasha’s got to do it. The certified handyman for the house, she knows where everything is but if Steve or Sam ask her where to find something, she’ll suburban dad them and do it herself, all the better as Sam’s not very handy and Steve is 100 years behind on the schematics. Natasha is always holding the braincell until it’s Sam or Steve’s turn to use it.
Bucky- Keeps the group emotionally in check. The others have the tendency to try to avoid personal emotional confrontation, content with repressing, bottling up, and running away from their problems. Bucky’s much more volatile, and that keeps them from pushing too hard. He keeps them from getting insensitive in a gruesome line of work, because they know how vulnerable he is, that he’s trusting them to help him. All the emotional guidelines for their beginner helps the other 3 address their own issues they wouldn’t have admitted to having. Bucky actively refuses to use the braincell, on the few observed occurrences of him using it it was for cooking and gift giving.