Ghostwalker ▷ b. barnes [2]

xxxvii. just like a photograph

When Sam woke up, Bucky was gone.

She almost panicked at first. And that was stupid, probably, but she'd been waking up multiple times during the night to check on the sleeping lump next to her and Bucky had been at her side the entire time.

She had just stared a couple times, almost unable to believe that it was Barnes at her side. Barnes, just like all those years ago when they'd been curled up in a tiny tent with the sound of the Howling Commandos laughing somewhere outside.

Barnes, just like all those years ago. All the good times before everything had changed.

But the next day, when sunlight poured through the window and Sam woke slowly up to gaze sideways again, Bucky was gone. Her heart skipped a beat and she stared bearlily for a long moment, then sat straight up and shoved off the covers, throwing her legs over the bed and starting toward the door.

It must have been earlier than early because the rest of the tower was silent. Except for somewhere far below, at least, where Sam could hear the faint beat of what could only be Tony's 'Please Don't Turn Down My Music' rock playlist.

She couldn't see Bucky finding himself wandering down there.

So, Sam ignored the sound and padded down the hallway instead, glancing around as she entered the main room. It was silent, just like she'd expected, and there was no Bucky to be seen. Though, there was a half-full glass of orange juice on the counter.

Sam hesitated for a moment, eyeing it, and then her feet took her into the elevator, which dinged when she hit the rooftop floor of the tower— instantly, she paused.

Same hadn't known what she'd expected, but maybe this should have been exactly it. The two figures sitting side-by-side near the edge of the roof, hair ruffling in the slight breeze as they spoke quietly, that is.

Something tugged in her chest and Sam just stood there for a long moment, watching them.

Steve and Buck.

Something had been off between the two from the moment they had all been reunited in that abandoned warehouse, she'd noticed. And she was pretty sure she hadn't been the only one who'd seen it. Sam easily caught the moments when the two talked— sort of awkward and clipped, as if there was some sort of invisible wall between them— when Tony would tilt his head and study them both before giving her a strange look.

He'd told her one night, when they'd been on the search for Hydra through old files, that his father used to talk about them all for hours at a time. The three fast friends that he'd fought alongside in the war— Captain America, Bucky Barnes, and the Phantom.

The trio vanished so suddenly, but Howard Stark had never forgotten.

It was strange, Sam realized, and maybe a little sad. Because the feeling of the trio... it had been missing lately. It had been missing since they were all reunited and maybe she hadn't even noticed.

Or maybe she had. Maybe she had, she'd just wanted to pretend that it was there and everything was fine.

Everything was going to be fine.

Sam cleared her throat and the silence was broken. Both men looked back and Sam smiled a little bit, especially as two blue eyed faces lit up.

"Samantha."

Coulson had shown her one of the pictures that were kept on file under the name 'The Howling Commandos' before he'd... well, Sam banished the thought. But she kinda wished she'd asked to keep the picture all the same. One that was so real, so familiar— the three of them, arms thrown over each other's shoulders, all smiles in the camera that she'd been so sure would never fade.