The Winter Soldier

Chapter 3

I got myself some ice-cream and then spent several hours aimlessly walking around mainly along the beach lost in my own thoughts. "Cortinas" was one of the few places that had stayed the same in those last 5 years and it made me little bit less anxious about the last 5 years I had missed.

I sat down on a bench close to the water to rest my feet for a bit and enjoy the fresh sea air on my face.

"Alaska?" someone called and I turned around searching for the familiar voice. That's when I saw a dark haired girl walking towards me.

"Artemis?" I whispered to myself. I hadn't seen her since high school. We used to be close in school but we lost touch afterwards. I had always wondered what had become of her especially after the snap. Had she been one of the ones left behind or did she disappear like I did?

"Hey long time no see" she said reaching me and making herself comfortable beside me on the bench.

"Yeah, how have you been last time I saw you was like –what- 8 years ago?"

"Ugh don't say that you make me feel old" she said while brushing her short hair out of her face. I had always admired her for her effortless beauty. Her parents were from Greece and she had inherited their beautiful dark hair and piercing green eyes.

I chuckled even after 8 years she was still the same.

"So tell me what has been going on in your life?"

"Not much, since I missed the last 5 years"

"You were dusted after the snap?"

"Yup" I smiled. Artemis definitely had a way with words

"That's why you look so young. Sometimes I wished I had disappeared too" she couldn't hide the sorrow in her eyes.

"How was it?" Most people didn't talk about the time between the snap and the blip but from what I had gathered it was a dark time.

"Horrible at first. My parents were gone leaving me to take care of my younger siblings. It was hard. Everyone was scared and confused. The world was in complete chaos. We managed to get by but every day seemed like a fight." I nodded I didn't really know what to say.

"And you? It probably wasn't easy coming back after 5 years either?" she said trying to change the subject.

"Weird I guess. Kind of felt like stepping into a time machine, if that makes sense"

"Yeah I never thought about it that way"

"Everything is the same but still different it's confusing at times"

She hummed in understanding "And what are you doing now?"

"I'm living with Sam trying to figure out what to do next" I shrugged not really wanting to think about the future.

"What about your aunt"

"Kicked me out or rather didn't even let me back in the house after I came back" I joked. I laughed about it now but at the beginning it had really hurt even though I knew I was better off without her. She was the closest thing I ever had to a mother.

"For real? Oh man I always hated how that witch treated you"

"Yeah let's not talk about her"

We spent the rest of the day catching each other up or more like-Artemis told me what I had missed the last five years. It was really nice talking to her I hadn't really been around any of my friends from before the snap since I came back. I had forgotten how great it felt being around Artemis. She was always so carefree and made me feel light when things were heavy. It made me wonder how she was able to keep her positive nature even after everything she had been through.

It was getting darker and we decided it was time to go back home. "It was so good seeing you today, let's meet again soon okay?" Artemis said while giving me a tight hug. We set a date for later that week to get ice-cream and go swimming at the beach near Artemis house before going our separate ways.

I took out my phone to check the time only to see several missed calls from Bucky.