Lost + Found [Bucky Barnes] ✓

Chapter 5

I have to quit my job. No way in hell can I work around the elderly if one touch will kill them. I mean, touching them is part of my job.

Oh, hello, I'm the physical therapist who refuses physical contact. Confused yet? Me too!

Ugh. This is the worst thing that could've happened to me. No, scratch that, whatever those guys planned on doing to me in the alley is the worst thing that could've happened to me, but this takes a very close second. I have no idea what to do, where to go, or any of that shit.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit.

Believe it or not, I don't actually swear that much. Not really. Nor am I an absolute klutz, unlike my lack of coordination back at the apartment might lead you to believe. No, I'm just panicking. Abso-freaking-lutely panicking. My head can barely tell my heart to keep beating, let alone to maintain balance.

I jam my hands into the pocket of my leather jacket, feeling the fabric of my brown leather gloves brushing against my fingertips, and I take them out and jerk them on. It's getting dark out, so I don't think anyone will notice that I look like a serial killer wearing these stupid gloves in May. I don't want to risk any accidents.

Oh god, I can't help but think back to those men. This was all an accident. I never meant for this to happen, and now they're dead. They're gone.

Where could they've gone? It's not like someone knew what happened and moved the bodies. Right? That's ridiculous. Isn't it? Oh god, it isn't. Someone could've seen. What if they called the police? What if they're after me? What if they go back to the apartment?

Ari, my eyes widen with fear for my baby sister, and I spin on my heels and take off down the street.

Except, well, I collide with a human body. Not a normal human body, per se, more like a brick wall shaped like a very tall and muscular man, but brickish enough to send me toppling to the ground. The streetlamp behind him makes it impossible to make out his facial features, so I squint my brown eyes and scramble backward before standing to my feet. He stretches out a hand to help me and I almost take it - then have a mini heart attack, of course - before coming to my senses and refusing it. Who knows if leather gloves are enough of a barrier, right?

"I'm sorry," I rush out, making a move to sidestep him. "I should really watch where I'm going. I'm so sorry."

He snags my upper arm as I pass him, spinning us both around so I now have my back to the streetlamp and light floods his features. He's tall - way tall - and super blonde, with the kind of blue eyes that would normally pierce my heart and give me a heart attack, if I wasn't having one already, that is. Concern is etched all over his chiseled features, and I can't help but break my gaze on his admittedly perfect face to stare at the hand locked in a vise-like grip around my bicep.

"Oh, excuse me, ma'am," he says, dropping his hand. "I didn't mean to...I just thought...you have a bruise on your..." He inhales before trying again, "Are you okay? Normally people don't come to a dead stop in the middle of the sidewalk and sprint in the opposite direction without a good reason."

"I, umm..." I stutter, suddenly overwhelmed by the compassion in his blue eyes, before shaking my head with a fake laugh. "I forgot something."

He smirks, one corner of his pink lips turning up into a smile, "Must've been pretty darn important."

"Yeah, it was. I mean, it is," I reply, before quirking an eyebrow at him. "Did you just say darn?"

His cheeks flush red, and he directs his blue eyes to the suddenly very interesting crack in the sidewalk. He totally just said darn. And he called me ma'am. Whoever this guy is, holy cow, talk about old school.

"Sorry, that was rude," I tell him. "Nothing wrong with darn. I'm a jerk."

A jerk with a sister who could potentially be kidnapped any moment. Time to cut this conversation short. Mr. Ma'am looks back up at me with a sheepish grin on his face, and I nearly forget about Ari and the two missing dead bodies from the alley less than a block from where we stand. Why couldn't have this encounter happened last week? That would've been so much more convenient. Well, until I discovered that I'm a mutant freak who can't be in contact with society. I guess when it happens doesn't really matter, because it can't happen.

"I have to go," I start to tell him.

"Can I walk you somewhere?" He asks at the same time.

We both huff awkwardly, and I open my mouth to speak but he cuts me off.

"It's getting dark," he explains. "I wouldn't feel comfortable letting you go off on your own in this neighborhood. It isn't safe."

Bullshit. This neighborhood is totally safe, otherwise I wouldn't have picked it. Then again, I did just get mugged around the corner from here. And killed two people. Suddenly the neighborhood doesn't have a whole lot going for it.

"I'll be okay," I try to tell him, but he waves me off as we start to walk down the sidewalk toward my apartment. I'm walking quickly, but he has no problem keeping pace with me - and I'm a little jealous of his long legs, because I'm already dripping in sweat from the mixture of effort and leather.

"It's no trouble, really," says Mr. Ma'am, kindness practically rolling off his face in great and glorious waves. "You never know what type of creeps could be out here wandering the streets."

I snort, an embarrassing result of nervous laughter, "We're out in the streets. Does that make us creeps? I don't even know you."

We look both ways before crossing the street, and I jog to get to the curb before he does. I hate crosswalks, even when cars are a block away. Something about them gives me the creeps, and I'm always terrified that someone's going to gun it - or I'm going to trip - or something generally bad is going to happen. We're only a block from my apartment now, and I can see a dim light on in the kitchen window. Hopefully my paranoia is nothing and Ari is sitting in the living room with her friends watching a movie, but for some reason the dull yellow light only escalates my panic.

"My name's Steve," Mr. Ma'am - or rather Steve - tells me. Tripping over a bump in the sidewalk, I stumble forward, and his hand snakes out to catch my wrist before I fall. A sliver of skin between my jacket and my gloves peeks out, and I freeze as his fingertip brushes against it. I can feel it happen, whatever it is, and I jerk my wrist out of his grasp before turning wild eyes toward him.

"Ow," he says, pulling away his hand and sticking his finger in his mouth. He studies it carefully, before smiling and shaking his wrist. "Shocked me."

I exhale in relief, "Sorry." 

*****
AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hi gang! I know it's been a bit since I've updated this story, but I can officially tell you that Lost + Found will now have regular updates! I always try to update daily, and there is never more than 3 days between updates. 

If you haven't read it, I highly suggest checking out my Loki fanfiction The Ides of July which is officially completed and a featured story on Wattpad. The sequel to that book, All Hail The King, has been launched, and I will be working on it after I finish this book. You can watch the book trailer to All Hail The King here:

Please vote! Please comment! Are you excited about Bucky Barnes? Because I am! 

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