Chapter Text
The thing is, when Captain America asks you to do something, you can't just say no, can you? Well, Sam definitely wasn't able to. And that's how he found himself going around the world chasing the fucking Winter Soldier, who might as well have been a freaking ghost. Before they'd get a lead, Bucky would already be in another country. That was starting to get annoying. And tiring. He clearly didn’t want to be found, and Sam would gladly honor his wishes if it wasn’t for Steve and his desperate hope to get his best friend back.
So then there Sam was, a few months since he left home, in Europe, chasing another lead that would get him nowhere. He would usually get just enough information to know what country to go to, sometimes even city. But then the trail would go cold and he’d be left with nothing again. And months passed like that.
Currently he was in Milan, seemingly enjoying a hot cup of coffee, sitting at a table at a cafe. Really, he was working. His eyes were on a building across the street, where he was pretty sure he’d find Barnes. At least that’s what all the intel plus his own investigation led him to believe. He was wondering what to do now. He didn’t want to ambush the guy. And who knew who he’d find - would it be Bucky Barnes or the Winter Soldier? Sam could handle a fight easily, but if it was the latter, he didn’t like his chances.
He could swear he briefly saw a guy looking similarly to Bucky the day before, so now he had hope that he was close. Maybe this would be the day.
Of course, it wasn’t. He must’ve seen Sam staking out the place. Sam was kicking himself for being so obvious and for not acting right away.
When he got inside, Bucky’s hideout was empty. But at least he had been there. Sam was more than sure. But what was surprising was that right there, precisely in the middle of a table, lay a burner phone, clearly left there on purpose. Carefully, Sam picked it up and exactly at that moment it rang. That had to be a huge fucking coincidence, because if Barnes was watching him now, he’d be pissed.
He quickly picked it up, a little nervous for some reason.
“Barnes?” Sam asked, as if that was not obvious already.
“Uh, yeah. I guess.” said the quiet voice on the other side. “Honestly, still trying to figure it out.” Sam hated himself for thinking that he has a nice voice, but he did think that. It was a little hoarse, probably from not speaking much, but also soft and velvety, and nice to listen to. And that was just two sentences.
“Why are you calling me? What is this?” Sam asked, already annoyed at himself for not acting faster, he didn’t need Bucky to piss him off further.
“I just wanted to politely ask you to stop trying to catch me. Because you won’t. And you kinda suck at the whole, uh, spying stuff, huh?” he sounded a little amused. While he was talking, Sam was walking around the place, looking out of the windows, trying to figure out where he could be seen from, since somehow Bucky knew exactly when to call.
“So I got close today, huh?” he smirked despite himself, ignoring the comment Bucky made. He did suck at it. He was no spy. He was doing this only for Steve. “You scared Imma get you next time?”
“Aren’t you the one who should be scared?” he asked, his voice low, and it did make Sam tense up a little bit.
“You don’t scare me, Bucky.” he said, even though that wasn’t exactly the truth. “Where the hell are you, man?”
“I can’t really tell you, you know that. By now, though, I’m too far for you to catch me.”
Sam was quiet for a few seconds.
“Was all of it just to stall? Dude, did I almost fucking catch you today?” Sam chuckled, feeling way too relaxed for a conversation with the guy who had almost killed him.
“No.” he paused. “Look, just stop following me. I have things to do, and I- I just can’t come back.”
“We just wanna help you.” Sam sat down at the edge of the table. He had nowhere to be. Bucky was not going to let him catch up to him. “Steve-”
“Don’t.” Bucky interrupted him. There was silence for a while. “I get why he wants me to go back. I do. But I’m not- I need to deal with some shit first.”
“And then what? You’re gonna just come to the States? Knock on Steve’s door or something?” Sam rolled his eyes. “No, I think that if I stop following you now, you’ll just disappear forever.”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Steve’s never gonna give up.” Sam sighed. “Alright, listen. I really don’t wanna force you to do anything. You had enough of that. You can decide about yourself now. But let’s make a deal, okay? I’ll leave you alone, for the most part. At the very least, I’ll keep my distance. You’ll check in from time to time so that I know you’re alive, and that you're... you. And whenever you’re ready, I’ll take you to Steve.” he didn’t even know what he was saying. He understood, more or less, what Bucky went through, so he didn’t want to be that guy, didn’t want to take his autonomy from him again. Not that he’d have much of a chance if Bucky put up a fight. Winter Soldier or not, dude was a supersoldier with a metal arm. Also, he didn’t specify, but he was kind of hoping Bucky could check in by calling. His voice was really nice and Sam was kicking himself for noticing that and wanting to hear it again. And because Bucky was old as shit, it was really probable that he’d prefer calling to texting though, so that’s good.
“Fine.” Bucky answered after a long while. “I can help you out a little and say that I’m staying in Italy for at least a few more days. I recommend some sightseeing. It’s beautiful here.” Sam wasn’t sure if he was joking or teasing, or was actually genuine, his tone of voice was hard to read.
“Thanks.” Sam said anyway, rolling his eyes again. “I guess since I’m already here, I might as well enjoy it.”
“Well, talk to you soon, Sam.” Bucky said and for some reason, Sam imagined him smiling. Can you hear when someone’s smiling? He never wondered about that. But Bucky sounded like he was smiling.
“Yeah, sure.” he said and immediately after that, Bucky hung up.
Sam sat there for a few more minutes, staring at the phone in his hand. What the fuck just happened?