it’s been a month or two of having bucky in the apartment — from what he can tell, no one has noticed or maybe they just haven’t cared that a strange man has gone in and out of steve’s door as it so pleases him. every day almost feels like an uphill battle (especially those first few weeks), but barnes was slowly becoming less jumpy... the soldier was making less of an appearance, and rogers felt secure in thinking that no matter where bucky ran off to, he’d come back eventually. there was no mistaking that this wasn’t the same man who’d been his best friend for... well, he was, and still is his lifelong best friend. though, he knew better than to waste his time, wishing that things return to the way they had been. they’d never be those same two kids with scraped knees and grins etched into their faces as they staggered home.
sleeping came easier the more comfortable barnes seemed to be in calling this place... maybe not home, but... base. it was a place where he could sleep, eat, and generally not fret that he’d be attacked at any given moment. steve might raise a hand in self-defense, but he wasn’t exactly one for aggression as a means to control others. it’s why when bucky skipped dinner, preferring whatever hideout called to him, the captain didn’t protest, but instead waited an hour or two before slipping feet into shoes and pulling a jacket over broad shoulders.
he’s got a few places in mind when it came to pinpointing a getaway, so it’s with hands shoved into pockets and a calm stride that he first checks by where his old apartment used to be — far different than how it’d been back in the forties, but maybe it still had some pull in the recesses of bucky’s mind. when he comes up empty there, it’s onward to the diner they’d stopped in at a handful of times now (empty save some truck drivers), and then to the docks. maybe, secretly he’d figured this is where he’d be all along. quiet enough save a few straggling homeless, though keeping relatively to themselves. as does everything, it looks different, but the ocean doesn’t really change. neither do the memories that come with the few nights prior to bucky shipping off to war — steve’s birthday and promises left unfulfilled despite how hopeful rogers had been at the time.
he’s cautious in his approach, footsteps quiet and slow, but he makes sure that he’s noticed before going any further.
“ i thought i’d find you here. just one of your many hiding places, i assume. ”