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Melancholy sat on his chest like it belonged there. It was winter. Sam and his team were deep in the wilderness in [redacted]. They were squatting in an abandoned [redacted] waiting to make their move on [redacted]'s compound. They were freezing no matter how many holes they filled with trash and barrel fires they started when the sun was shining. This mission was only supposed to take [redacted], but they had been here for [redacted].
Sam wondered if his nephews did well in their Nativity play. He hoped Sarah didn't try to put lights on the house without him. He wondered how the donations were going at the shelter, and if his group at the VA was doing the work to keep their heads above the water. Are you doing the work, Sam, out here in this endless silent desolate ice-covered [redacted]?
"We've got movement, Cap," Joaquin said.
Finally, Sam thought. "The package?"
"Sitting pretty, but [redacted] is on the move."
"They left the package?"
"With a quarter of their men."
"Maybe, it's the swap," Elijah said.
"Or a trap," Nichelle said.
"Should we gear up?" Joaquin said.
"Redwing, follow the [redacted] within the [redacted] limits. I know it's Christmas. You want to go home. Fuck, I do too, but we need to stop [redacted] and his plan to [redacted]. This mission has been a nightmare, but we finish the job."
"I hear you, Cap, but this may be our opportunity," Elijah said.
A familiar voice cut into their feed, "To die."
"Get off my comms," Sam said.
"I work for [redacted] [redacted] [redacted], and I am [redacted]. For the 300th time, we are on the same team, same side."
"Red team, we're going dark," Sam said, pressing the off button on his mic. Sam’s former colleague had a habit of listening to their comms and offering his unsolicited advice. Sam pulled up the infrared on his visor and looked for all the heat signatures in the building. Joaquin is on the roof, check. Elijah on the east, check. Nichelle on the west, check. Good. The building was clear. Sam turned to the perimeter. There was a deer a few yards out, a wolf, a tiny family of [redacted], and- Sam pulled his weapon when he spotted the other figure headed straight for their position. He hopped off the moth-eaten couch, looking up at the ceiling. Joaquin was signing stand down. Sam's brows pulled together. He pursed his lips as he took in the red and orange blob with three limbs.
Sam's heart was hammering in his chest. His stomach was in knots. This asshole knew exactly where they were in the building. He climbed into a window near Sam's position, barely trying to cover it back up with an old newspaper. Had he been spying on them?
"State your purpose," Sam said, his gun drawn. James Barnes walked out of Sam's life in plain clothes. This guy was dressed in all black, even his prosthetic was black now. This was the [redacted].
The man sighed and rolled his eyes. "Is that necessary?"
"The last time you were dressed like that you stole my steering wheel, ripped off my wing and kicked me off a building."
"No, it's not. The airport. You remember [redacted]. You had to drink eel guts."
"It was a cobra heart, your hair was shorter, and you weren't wearing the creepy mask."
"It's cold outside. I had to walk for miles to get here."
Sam pursed his lips and put his gun away. "You got some secret black ops spy intel for me or something?"
"No?"
"Okay, so you just decided to drop in?"
Bucky shrugged. "You said I could. I went to [redacted] first. Sarah said [redacted] called you in. I waited a few days, helped her put up the Christmas lights. The boys were worried."
"The boys?"
"I asked around."
"You asked your warmonger boss."
"No one knew what you were doing."
"Kind of the point."
"So, I tracked you."
"I'm good. Cold as fuck, but we're waiting for our window," Sam said, going back over to his position facing the [redacted]. He sat on the couch and wasn't too surprised Bucky collapsed on it beside him. The gesture tugged at his heart. How many nights did they finish dinner or a job, go home, and end up in the same position? Now Sam spent most nights at his headquarters in [redacted].
"Well, you'll be waiting a while. On my flight in, I saw that [redacted] is in the middle of a nasty blizzard. [Redacted] can't get here to [redacted]. That's your hold up."
"Shit," Sam said.
Redwing zipped back into the room. Sam opened his cuff screen to look at the caravan surveillance pictures his pet robot took. [Redacted] and their goons were at a bar. Sam released the photos to his team.
"Unbelievable. They're knocking back beers by a fire and were stuck here," Elijah said into the comms.
"I thought I said no comms."
"Oh, we turned those back on when the [redacted] showed up."
"That makes sense. E, you said you wanted to be a superhero. This is a part of it."
"Yeah, it's shit, kid. Sometimes -a lot of the time- you have to be away from the people you love," Bucky said.
"Mm hmm," Sam said, side-eying the man beside him.
"But-" Bucky pulled the pack from his back. "I come bearing gifts, courtesy of Sarah and the shop two villages over."
Sam drank his cup of vodka-laced eggnog. He didn't know cold Sufganiyot could taste so good. The cheese and meat were just as scrumptious. The crackers were stale though. The team ate them happily anyway. They all laughed when Bucky trudged back into the [redacted] with a tree limb. Sam couldn't help his smile when Bucky stuck it in one of the empty liquor bottles and wound a fuchsia birthday garland with stars around it. They all watched him with surprise when he pulled out small gift bags and put them around the bottle. They all had one with their names on it.
Sam knew Sarah had put together care bags: socks, lotion, a toothbrush, toothpaste, candy, cookies, Vienna sausage, jerky, soap, and washcloths. He sighed. Their local VA made hundreds of them every year to send to the servicemen spread out across the globe, and another hundred went to the homeless and domestic violence shelter in [redacted].
They were confused when Bucky pulled out a wad of newspaper. Sam teared up when Bucky unwrapped the two ornaments. The first one he brought with his parents when he was five. It was Snoopy on his Christmas-decorated doghouse. The second ornament he brought with Bucky a year ago. Sam’s local hardware store started selling Falcon ornaments after Sam helped bring down Hydra. Now he sells Captain America ornaments and [redacted] ornaments. For a while, Bucky was a man about town in Sam’s hometown. They brought the snow globe that featured the two of them together. Bucky handed Sam his Snoopy ornament. Sam hung it on the tree. Bucky hung their ornament and then pulled out little clear balls with each of their names on them. It was a craft his sister did with the boys to give to their teachers every year. Sarah even made an ornament for Redwing, RJ, and R3. Nichelle twisted up an old hanger until it formed a star. They let Elijah, the baby on their team, put it on.
They laughed a little longer, and drink another mug of eggnog. Nichelle sang This Christmas when Sam lamented about missing his holiday classics. She had a voice like an angel. It was perfect.
"All right. Let's bunk down for the night. I'll take first watch," Joaquin said, getting up from his position, facing the target.
"We haven't opened our presents," Elijah said.
"It's not Christmas until tomorrow," Nichelle said, smacking him on the head as she pushed off the ground.
"We open presents on Christmas Eve at my granddaddy’s house." Elijah stood.
"Look around, baby boy. We ain't nowhere near [redacted]."
"Make sure you got your temperature controls on in the tent. It's going to be colder tonight," Sam said.
"Don't eat all the donuts, Cap," Elijah said, heading for the hall that would lead him back to his station.
"Why?" Sam grinned. "You brought these for me, right Buck?"
"Technically, I brought them for me, but I need a tent to sleep in, so-"
"You could use mine while I'm on watch," Joaquin said.
"That sounds like a great plan." Sam ate another donut.
"I would have to get up in four hours, and I'm an old man. I need at least five and a half hours. Plus, apparently, I need to guard the food." Bucky moved the Sufganiyot container away from Sam. "I'll sleep with Cap."
When everyone had cleared the room, Sam said, "Friday, mute my comms."
"Yes, Captain."
Sam turned to Bucky. "You brought everything but a tent?"
"I didn't want to be slowed down."
"Yeah 'cause three bottles of alcohol, several can goods, and a gallon of eggnog is heavier than a polyurethane triangle." Sam picked up his tent by hooking his pinky into a strap for proof.
"You should be thanking me. They have to pray their heat packs work through the night. You get my extra body heat."
"Just what I need… to be sweating in below weather." Sam watched their bedroom for the night pop up.
"Oh, I can make you sweat, pal," Bucky mumbled.
"What?"
"What?" Bucky shrugged.
-o0o-
Sam was tucked into the tent. It seemed like Bucky was surrounding him- the two of them suspended in this uninterrupted peaceful fluff covered [redacted]. Sam cleared his throat. "Thank you for coming."
"I had to. The boys were worried. They missed you."
"I missed them too. I love them."
Bucky's hold on Sam tightened. Their legs tangled. The [redacted]'s head lay on Captain America’s chest like it belonged there because it did.
