Look, I’m not even going to talk about how homoerotic this is. Because even if you view it as completely platonic, it’s really, really sweet. That bottom left panel! “…Which is when Steve Rogers’ breathing steadies, too.” These guys have been total bros ever since they met. And yeah, they fight a lot, Sam goes back and forth on being his partner a metric ton, he calls Steve the hell out when he’s being a dick – but ten issues later when Steve’s been kicked out of his place Sharon goes straight to Sam’s because she knows that’s where he’ll be. He’s an Avenger, he could stay at their freaking mansion, but no. He’s on a cot in Sam’s office. They need each other. They’re Cap and Falcon, as much as Cap and Bucky were Cap and Bucky.
(Also note that they’re calling each other by name here. They usually don’t when they’re in costume, even when they’re alone, especially in Sam’s case because his identity is still very secret. He calls Steve a lot of things – the generic words he uses for anyone like brother, man, etc, the obvious Cap, once even baby. Steve calls him Falcon, Falc, or sometimes imitates Sam’s slang, and guys there is seriously nothing whiter than this damn white kid saying “I dig” like he grew up in the hood. But when Steve’s desperately trying to save him he forgets all about that. They might not be saying it, but they can’t just shake that off so easily.)