Neighbors | Bucky Barnes

Chapter 2

"I want you to be concerned about your next door neighbor. Do you know your next door neighbor?"
- Mother Teresa

Evening sunlight crept through the windows. Dusk had fallen over Bucharest and settled with a quiet hush. Though the city could still be heard as a faint whisper. It was essentially early winter in Romania, yet it was not quite as chilly as expected. Granted, the temperature were still dropping, but the season had yet to sit in properly.

Adela curled up in her chair with her pajamas and laptop. This story was going to be the death of her. As an opinion article, she relied heavily on her thoughts of the matter at hand; how she felt about SHIELD.

Adela didn't particularly like that fact that SHIELD had hidden Hydra within its ranks all these years. That fact didn't sit well with her. And there was also the thought about if there were more of them. Did Hydra have more soldiers, waiting to bring down more governments? These were all the things running through her head as she wrapped up the article. She knew most of the things SHIELD had kept from the world as she had read the files Black Widow had "leaked" on the internet.

Adela looked down at her feet where Andy had taken a spot to lay. She thought of all the lives that could be affected if Hydra did make another comeback. Andy yawned and snuggled up against Del more, laying his head gently on her feet. He had tended to do this ever since Adela had brought him home.

Heavy footsteps sounded from beyond her door. She snapped her eyes to the flat piece of wood, following the sound with her emerald pupils. Andy shifted in his sleep, while she stared daggers into the door. The sound of keys jingling and the creak of a door was distinctly heard from next door. Del didn't hear the door shut. It was most likely that her neighbor was piling all his stuff into the apartment by himself.

Should she go out there? Introduce herself? Help him, maybe?

No, none of that. What if he was a crazy murder-stalker? With the people living in this building, you never know. Vi has a big heart, and will let anyone stay if she is sure you need a roof over your head. That's the reason Del has a place at all. Vi is caring and recognized the need in Del's eyes the moment she saw her. That had been just a month after -- God, not now. Now was not the time to go reminiscing in the past.

She could go out there. It wouldn't hurt anything. If he is creepy and gives off a weird vibe or tries to pull anything, Adela can run back to her apartment and throw both of the bolts on her door. Thinking this was an appropriate idea, Del slowing moved from under the dog's head and walked to her bedroom. She changed out of her comfy night clothes and threw on what she wore earlier that day.

Slowing inching toward the door, Del grasped the doorknob in almost shaky hands. This was going to be good, she tried to convince herself. Wrenching the door open, she took a step forward and she foot caught on the upcoming threshold of the door. With a sudden shriek, Adela fell face first on the floor, half of her body in the hall and the other half in her apartment. She groaned, not from the pain (which was radiating through her hands arms and legs), but from the fact that this was the third time this had happened in a week. Adela has a natural incline to gravitate toward the ground. Her clumsiness was a common occurrence in her life and often the cause to her blushing until she was tomato-red in the face.

Andy was suddenly next to her, whimpering as if he was the one to be hurt.

He had always been protective over her, as well. Which was a good quality in a dog if you're like Adela; clumsy as hell.

"I'm okay, boy. Let me just get up."

Adela pushed herself up on her hands and knees, brushing invisible specks of dirt from her clothes. Andy looked away from her and started wagging his tail in happiness. She lifted her head and met a pair of intimidating, confused brown eyes. Adela studied the man's features. He wore a baseball cap covering his shoulder-length long brown hair, which was kind of in strangled tangles. The man had scruff covering his jaw. His face set in a permanent scowl, almost like a scar. It marred his face. Without the scowl, Adela assumed his face would be handsomer than it already is.

He wore a hoodie jacket, which wasn't the strangest thing. That would probably be the gloves on both his hands, granted it was practically winter, but that didn't mean it was cold enough for them. He looked to be around her age, late 20's maybe.

"Um -- hey." Adela awkwardly shifted on her feet. She stuck out her hand. "Yeah, hi, I'm Adela -- er, Del. You can call me Del. And this is Andy, my dog. Sorry about that just now. I tend to fall. A lot. Gravity and I have a strange relationship..." she trailed off. Adela got flustered easily when she was embarrassed. He was looking at her with strange eyes, as if he was surprised she was even talking to him.

"And you are?" Del mentally facepalmed herself. Don't be so forward Adela, pull yourself together.

He still looked confused, but her question seemed to knock him off guard. As if he wasn't expecting her to ask. Then, he frowned. The unsettling feature caused deep creases around his mouth that made him look older than he appeared.

"James. But you can call me Bucky."