Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Two

It's two more weeks before Sydney has had enough. She's in a bad mood anyway having not slept very well the night before, having spilled her blood that morning all over her favorite white jeans and her latest hunt almost ended badly for a lot of people. She's just annoyed by everything. Including her mystery stalker man. She sighs and glances to his reflection in the cafe's window, instead of looking straight at him. His half-eaten cookie rests on a plate at his elbow. His eyes watching her, again...always watching her. He's not even subtle about it. She turns and reaches into her bag to pull out a sketchbook which she sets on the table. He perks up a little, realizing that this is a first, a change in her usual. When she's here, she writes in her journal or types on her laptop. She grabs her pen and writes in large letters on the first blank page she finds, then clicks the end of her pen and lifts the pad up, she sets it on the table facing him. He takes in the words; 'Planning on stalking me forever?'. He startles slightly lifting his eyes to hers. She's watching him, her nail tapping against the page. He clears his throat wanting to flee. Wanting to escape. He was caught out. Him, world's most dangerous assassin and spy....caught out by this...woman. She cocks her head waiting for him to do something. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do. So he does what he seems to be best at these days. Flees. He hurries away from her as she lowers the pad, her eyes tracking him through the crowd before he disappears. She drops the pad back into her bag and goes back to her computer.

............

Bucky paces his apartment. How long had she known he was following her? How did he not figure it out earlier? He's such an idiot. He presses the heel of his flesh hand into his head and closes his eyes. Screwed up headcase. He can't even do this right. He sits on the edge of his bed and sighs. He needs to find something else to do. Something else to fill his time with. He can't face her again. Not after his. Not with her knowing what he's doing.

.................

Bucky can't. He can't change what he's been doing. He looks forward to seeing her way too much. Relies on seeing her to chase away the bad. Without her, it's all there, right there. Haunting him. Chasing him. All the bad. All the horrors. All the pain and the suffering. He can't escape it without her. He's...dependant. And it's bad, that's not something he should be doing. But when he has nothing else but the clothes and items in his little backpack he needed something else. Something real. Someone real. And she was....she is it. So here he is. Stood across the street from Sydney as she, yet again, is sat at the cafe, her latte, and bagel ready, her laptop and her journal open. He takes a deep breath watching her, she seems in a better mood today. Relaxed. Less tense. She's even wearing a dress. Flowing earthy brown with wedge heels. He also spies a tattoo on her thigh. Floral in design but he can also make out the raised flesh beneath it. A scar. A bad one too from how raised it seems. But he can do this. Just cross the street, talk to her. Say sorry for being a very creepy deranged brainwashed assassin. He rolls his eyes at himself. That's ridiculous, she'll think he's crazy for that. Just say hi. He tells himself. Start with hello. He takes another breath. Trying to prepare himself for human contact. Human contact that hopefully won't end in him being hurt. He checks the road before crossing it, heading straight for her. He tries to keep his gait none threatening but it just seems to happen, hunched over slightly, boots heavy against the ground. She doesn't look up when he stops at her table.

"I know you know I'm here" he states, she taps her nails against the laptop keyboard. After she called him out on it he kind of avoided her and yet at the same time still managed to follow her around. His routine here is the same as hers.

"I do" she agrees him not looking up.

"I urm..." he struggles a little, she looks up at him. "I wanted to apologize" he whispers, she hums a little. "For.."

"Following me?" she asks him.

"How long did you know?" he counters, she pulls her sunglasses off.

"I guessed....the first time you sat down across from me" she nods to the table. "Your whole...newspaper shield didn't really work" he looks down a little. "Plus....I'd never seen you before and then suddenly you are everywhere I am, for the last two months"

"Not everywhere" he mumbles, he stands there awkwardly, not sure where to take the conversation next, it's been too long since he's had a normal conversation with another human being. "You don't seem to....socialise much" he points out. She hums a little.

"Shouldn't talk to strangers" she comments amused leaning back in her seat.

"That's smart" he whispers rubbing the back of his neck, he can feel his heartbeat in his fingertips. She pushes the chair across from her out with her heel and nods to it.

"Sit" he hesitates a little, not sure if he should even be talking to her let alone sitting and spending time with her. "You're blocking my sun" she scolds. "Sit down" he nods.

"Okay," he breathes and takes the seat across from her, his hands fumbling a little in his lap.

"You're an awkward little thing, aren't you?" she offers, he lifts his eyes from his hands to meet her eyes which are watching him.

"Shouldn't talk to strangers" he parrots her own comment back at her. She leans up a little.

"Syd" she offers holding out her hand to him, he stares at it a moment before setting his flesh hand into it.

"B..." he pauses, thinks on it. He takes a deep breath. "James" he settles on, it's better this way, to use that name. To keep her from the truth as hard as he can.

"Now we aren't strangers" she points out pulling her hand back to pick up her pen.

"Shouldn't you..." he struggles for the right words here. "I don't know, be more wary about me?" he asks her, she raises an eyebrow. "Do you talk to all your stalkers?" he asks her, she snorts and shrugs.

"Only when they're cute" she answers, he clears his throat and looks down, his cheeks warming with the blush working its way onto them. "People don't usually have stalkers" she adds. "And if they do....then it's not really a good thing....but I don't feel like you're following me is...." she cocks her head. "Malicious" he shakes his head. "So why were you following me?" she asks, he shrugs.

"Honestly" he starts. "I thought you were pretty" he admits, she chuckles a little and presses her knuckles to her lips amused.

"That's usually the whole...creepy side"

"It's a little creepy" he agrees quietly. She grinds her teeth slightly not happy about that. He takes a breath before nodding. "It's been a while since I talked to someone" he admits.

"You just wanted someone to talk to?" she asks him, he nods. "Then you could have just spoken to me...."

"I didn't know how" he adds, she cocks her head. "Like I said....it's been a while" she sighs and grabs her bagel before throwing it at him, Bucky catches it and frowns down at the food item.

"Eat it," she tells him. "You look like crap" he smiles a little as she goes back to her work, he glances to her, sees she's smiling a little.