[Any relief Schmidt felt at going through the portal and getting back to Somarium was pretty well ruined when he landed in the damn lake with all the others.

So once he'd gotten out, now dripping wet, he pulled out his dreamberry and was about to call for his car when he noticed all the new boardcasts on the dreamnet, one in particular standing out.

......

It dated only two days prior, a broadcast Steve. The captain had returned. Schmidt watched the broadcast twice, paying attention to every detail and trying not to think about the... was joy the right word? Elation, maybe? Yeah, let's go with that - The elation he suddenly felt. Captain America was back, the comfortable status quo was restored. And now he didn't have to ponder the disappointment he'd felt when Steve left. What? Has Schmidt perhaps formed an attachment to his counterpart, one based solely on hate, jealousy, and a constant need to hurt Steve in order to prove his own superiority? Nope. Get out. That's crazy talk. Attachments are bad. He doesn't have any.

He forgot about calling his car, forgot about how he was soaking wet, even forgot about the bad mood he was in before. Instead he walked toward the industrial district and immediately pulled up the contact list and called Steve. He went with video, too, because he wanted to see the captain's face, to see if he still looked as tired as he did on his return. The contents of that whole broadcast had been very interesting indeed.

Ring.... ring...]

Welcome back, captain. We thought you had left us for good. Peggy was beside herself with grief. It is good I was there to... comfort her while we were trapped together on the other side of the portal.

[He knew he couldn't directly threaten Peggy or Steve's friends, not over the dreamnet. But that didn't matter, he could get by with simple insinuations. He was pushing Steve's buttons either way.

Ah, everything was back to normal. Nice, comfortable normal.]