Nightingale (Sequel to Solider Boy)

Thirty-One

Bucky was expecting to see Steve this morning. They tended to eat breakfast together, now that Melody and Sharon were gone. Or at least, that was what Bucky had thought, but when he heard the tell-tale knock on his door, he saw his friend was not alone. Sharon Carter was by his side, dressed casually in a white t-shirt with her long hair pulled up in a ponytail.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nice to see you too," the agent replied, smiling. "I'm just visiting for the weekend. Can I come in?"

"Didn't you just return to New York?"

"That was a month ago," Sharon said with a shrug. "And I'll be flying back come Sunday night."

"Won't that look weird?" Bucky stood aside to let her and Steve in, it didn't escape him that his friend shot him a rather apologetic look. He merely shrugged. For all they knew this was could be the one time in the next few months Sharon could visit, he wasn't going to begrudge Steve spending some time with her when he could. 

"Nah, I travel all the time for my job." She set herself down at the table and beamed at the spread Bucky had already laid out. Nothing special really, just toast and oatmeal but she looked fairly impressed. "This looks good."

"Thanks," Bucky muttered, making his way back to the kitchen and grabbing an extra bowl for Sharon. He hadn't been counting on feeding an extra person. "So, was this visit impromptu?"

"Yeah," Sharon said, nodding her thanks as he handed off a bowl and spoon. "Just said I wanted a bit more tropical weather before it got too hard to travel. End of summer is always the worst time for it. People trying to scramble to get one last outing in. My boss didn't even blink."

Bucky nodded. That explained why Steve hadn't warned him. "It's good to see you," he said, hoping it would alleviate some of Steve's worries and sure enough, a bit of the tension in his shoulders came undone. "How are things in the Big Apple?"

"Same as always; busy and loud."

"The city never sleeps," Bucky said, repeating the old phrase which he'd always found to be true. Even at night in the nineteen forties, New York never seemed to slow down. "Had an okay time getting through the traffic then?"

"I stayed at Mel's the night before my plane took off," Sharon said, helping herself to a bit of toast. "So that helped. Her place is closer to the airport than mine."

Bucky tried to ignore the way his stomached leapt when he heard that. "Oh? Did she drive you then?"

"No, I took a cab. She was out that night and never got back. Stayed at her boyfriend's place."

"Boyfriend?" Steve said and Bucky was grateful that was the same question he wanted to ask.

Sharon rolled her eyes as she bit into her toast. "Well more or less. They dated before, but broke up six months ago. Mel says they're just friends but honestly? They're basically a couple already and I think they're wasting time with that whole agenda."

 She looked over at Steve and Bucky was quite thankful for it. He felt sick and he didn't want someone to look too closely, for fear they'd see it written on his face. She'd moved on, she was with someone else now. The thought curled around his chest like a python and began crushing the air, slowly from Bucky's lungs. Someone else was holding her now, maybe right then as this very moment...

"Steve, are you even listening?"

"I am," his friend straightened up, looking defensive as he crossed his arms casually. "I just, can't really see Mel dating."

"She is a very desirable woman!" Sharon interjected sharply and dimly, some part of Bucky that wasn't focused on trying to breathe normally agreed wholeheartedly.