Orphic - James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes

Chapter One; Did U get it?

Chapter One; Thieves

The young woman made sure her midnight black hair was safely tucked inside her hood while she watched her target through her long lashes as they made their way deeper into the alley.

She slinked forward, no noise coming from her feet as she danced in and out of the shadows, every second that passed allowing her to approach her unsuspecting prey without a hitch.

Just as the person was close enough, she burst into action. Her left arm curled around their neck tightly, her other arm coming up to help her put pressure around his throat as she yanked him back into her body, knowing this would make it difficult for him to fight her off.

Nyx shushed him softly, her breath fanning his ear as she used all her strength to overpower the man, dropping him carefully on the ground as she choked him into unconsciousness.

She grunted as the man did everything he knew of to throw her off, even elbowing her ribs but she just held on as tight as her arms would allow, counting down the seconds as he slowly lost the fight against the pressure on his neck, the lack of oxygen causing his head to feel light and his face to turn red, then blue, and finally purple.

Nyx uncurled herself as soon as she knew he was out, dusting off her black clothes off with her palms before she looked down at the sleeping man. She had been stalking him for a few hours, knowing exactly what he hid in his back pocket.

"Thank you, mister," Nyx whispered as she immediately yanked out his wallet from his back pocket, "Cruz. You have been incredibly helpful." She pocketed back his license, looking inside the wallet pockets before she pulled out a bunch of green papers and a drive with a grin.

Next time don't flash your money after making an illegal deal, Cruz. Not that she was complaining.

Nyx threw the wallet on the guy's chest, pocketing the money into her bra before she walked away from the scene.

She had just turned the corner when she bumped into a wall, almost losing her footing but was lucky she caught herself from ass-smacking the concrete.

"Watch it." She barked; it was just an instinct to be defensive.

"I'm so sorry-"

Nyx moved around the blond male, not turning around as she pushed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie as a way to protect them from the cold air nipping at her fingers.

"Ma'am-" The guy tried to call out for her again, but Nyx didn't dare to look back, not when she had left a body a couple of feet away from the tall guy. She was the only one that had exited that alley, he would know it had to be her who attacked and robbed the guy.

She rushed down the streets, losing the guy as she twisted and rushed down the familiar alleys she had grown in, bursting out of one and into the full and live streets of New York.

She panted before she yanked off her hoodie, tying it around her waist as she walked casually down the busy sidewalk with her head held down to protect her identity against the city's cameras.

Nyx approached her apartment building, grunting as she inserted her key into the worn and old lock, kicking and twisting until she heard the familiar click, and her door was pushed open by her weight.

She climbed up the dirty stairs, her nose wrinkling at the stench inside the hallway but she didn't let it deter her from her course. She approached her door, pushing the key inside before she unlocked the wooden thing, relief hitting her tired bones as she visualized the warm bed that waited for her.

"You're late again." A snob's voice entered her eardrums causing a sigh to blow through her nose, of course, she wasn't done being tortured for the day.

"So?" Nyx turned her head with her eyebrow lifted, a challenging look on her face as she leveled her eyes with her nosy neighbor.

"So. Where were you? I suppose you were out being a whore again." Her neighbor raised her nose in the air in disgust, a sign that she saw herself as being superior to Nyx.

Nyx chuckled as she found her hilarious, "Yup. Fucked the whole town except you. I do have high standards after all... or wait- did you just call me a whore because of your craving to be looked at? This is unbearably sad."

She heaved a big sigh, seeing the fake blonde woman open her mouth but Nyx didn't give her the chance to respond, choosing to step inside her old apartment and slam her door shut,

"Mind your own goddamn business, bitch!" She yelled at the door, knowing very well her neighbor would hear it.

Nyx rolled her eyes as she calmed herself down, moving deeper into the one-bedroom apartment.

She didn't have much, just the essentials. She popped her laptop open, pressing a few keys on the keyboard as the screen lit up in front of her,

Nyx sat on the chair, glancing at the words on the screen as she cracked her knuckles in wait.

A few seconds went by before a message popped on the screen,

"Did U get it?"

"Yes." Nyx typed back, hitting the send with her finger as she waited patiently for the response,

"Good. C U ATEOTD." (See you at the end of the day.)

"K."

Nyx closed the window on her laptop, easily moving to the Word Document where she had listed everything she needed to do, switching between reading that, and memorizing the blueprint picture of Elisik Laboratory.

She pursed her lips before she stood up, moving to tug out the black bag from under her bed, unzipping it before she threw all the contains on the sofa, moving to inspect and carefully stash inside for the second time.