Haunted By Him

Chapter Twenty-One

Back at Steve’s apartment, Steve and Natalia are working out the details of the money. The Wint-Bucky. Bucky is exploring the apartment after being given permission to do so, and he’s going carefully through Steve’s displayed things. There are photo frames on windows and shelves and some of the frames have pictures of him, pictures he hasn’t even seen before, and most of them with Steve next to him. A couple, he realizes, are graphite drawings, and he picks them up to examine them closer, impressed with the skill.

Across the apartment, he can hear the conversation.

“I owe you everything,” Steve says sincerely. “Everything for bringing him back to me.”

Natalia laughs awkwardly.

“The set price will be more than enough,” she tells him.

The Winter So-Bucky. (Think, Bucky Bucky Bucky. I’m Bucky. Me. That’s your name, so say it.) Bucky reads the titles of a few books on a shelf, but he finds he’s more interested in the conversation going on in the other room and he strains to eavesdrop.

“Alright and,” Steve says. Bucky can hear the sounds of a pen scratching on paper. “There. That’s everything, and a little extra as a thank you.”

“No, thank you, Captain Rogers,” Natalia says.

“Would you like to tell him goodbye?” Steve asks and Bucky’s heart jumps in his throat. There’s something of a pause before she responds.

“Um, no,” she says. “No, I’m alright. Tell him I wish him well.”

Bucky stares forward at the shelf of books and swallows as his heart shatters again.

“It sounds like you two had quite the adventure together,” Steve says and footsteps are getting closer and their voices become louder and Bucky ducks behind a wall to avoid seeing them as they pass.

If she doesn’t want to tell him goodbye, he won’t make her.

“It really was something,” Natalia says and her laugh sounds faked and the door opens and he bids her goodbye and he hears the door shut again and he thinks his heart was left on the other side.

You said you loved him, Bucky thinks. You said you loved me. I loved you, too, you know. I loved you twice.

Steve finds him and Bucky falls into his arms. He hopes she buys herself lots of nice dresses.