A Birdie Lost in Time | Bucky Barnes

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She tapped her phone, checking again to see whether she'd missed the call.

Nothing.

With a sigh, she looked through the window, watching a few birds chase each other above the roof of the buildings opposite.

She'd gotten a text from Sam a few weeks ago, briefer than she'd like, but it was to the point; he's been stationed in an undisclosed location for an undisclosed reason and hasn't had access to a cell phone to check in. He was relocating to another undisclosed location for another undisclosed reason and would call her when he travelled to base.

He travelled today.

That meant she would be getting a call at some point that day. She just didn't know when.

Her fingers tapped erratically on her knee, feeling as if there was way too much energy inside of her to contain.

Without a second thought, she grabbed her phone and stood, hurrying into her bedroom where she changed before tugging on a pair of sneakers. She needed to get out of the apartment and do something that would get rid of her tension, and running seemed like the best way considering she didn't have a super soldier around.

After connecting her earbuds and making sure the call would still come through, she started making her way downstairs. As she pushed out the door, she eyed the sidewalk warily, careful to take stock of everyone around, but doing her best not to lose herself in the numbers.

They were just people.

And she was just a faceless, uninteresting person.

It had been a while since she relied on that tactic; pretending she wasn't real. Letting herself get swallowed within the crowd and ignoring everything.

Her mind fell back into the habit easily though, and as her music blasted into her ears, she focused on the lyrics, on the rhythm, on her feet hitting the pavement as she passed buildings and fences.

She lost herself to the movements.

Until she noticed how low the sun was compared to when she'd stepped outside.

She paused at the side of a clothing store, eyes searching the influx of people who, in her mind, appeared out of nowhere. They all seemed uninterested in her, caught up in their own lives and conversations as they made their way through the streets—but she was hyper-aware suddenly, her eyes jumping from one person to the next, unsure of her next step.

Get away from people, she decided.

She fished her phone from her pocket, seeing there was still no message from Sam, but that it was past four. Then, with a bit of reluctance she opened her map, worried that she was miles away from home.

"Oh."

Somehow in her journey, she'd made it back to her neighbourhood, and was only a few minutes jog from the apartment.

Doable.

Forcing her mind back into auto-pilot, she oriented herself and started back home, keeping her eyes forward and ignoring the passing faces.

But then her phone rang.

She basically skidded to a stop, hand reaching to accept the call blindly as she stepped to the side.

"Hi!"

"Hey, Sweetheart," came Bucky's voice, amusement clear in his voice, "get bored inside?"

She tried not to let her disappointment come through as she leaned herself against the brick of a building. "I—uh... what?" she stumbled once she processed what he'd asked.