It was dark, chilly, and cloudy out. it was going to rain later in the night, he could tell. He walked down the street, cap down with his hands in his pockets. The cool of early fall made his heavy jacket completely inconspicuous, the soldier thought. James Buchanan 'Bucky' Barnes was tired. He had spent the better part of his day in a fruitless search for new Intel on any nearby Hydra personnel. But recently most of his leads had run dry. He should probably start moving again, it wasn't safe to stay here too long.
Suddenly he was broken from his thoughts by the sound of a scuffle. His attention was instantly on a nearby alleyway (Steve's fault he thinks?). As soon as he confirmed to himself that that was where the sound was coming from, he slunk over without a sound to scope out the situation. Three large men had a tiny young woman cornered. The men were 'flirting' with the girl, laughing to each other. She did not seem amused.
"Just leave me alone!" She glared at them.
"Ah! Come on sweetheart, don't be like that." The leader of the group reached out to touch the girls cheek.
The girl responded quickly with a knee to the groin, a fist to the nose of the second thug, and a quick dash between the two. Unfortunately the third goon was just fast enough to grab her arm before she could make her escape. He slammed the girl back into the wall holding her there while his comrades recovered. The second man came back up with a bloodied nose, probably broken. The leader of the thugs recovered a minute after. He snarled at the girl, aiming a meaty fist at her from where she was pinned.
He started to swing at her, "YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THAT YOU LITTLE-"
The girl cringed, awaiting the blow. When the pain was absent half a second later, she looked up. Another man stood next the first, his left hand gripping the arm of the first thug mid-blow. All four stared wide-eyed at the newcomer for half an instant. He look at the first man with cold blue eyes.
"The lady asked you to leave her alone." He spoke in a dead monotone.
The thug leader snarled at the newcomer, launching himself at the other. A flurry of motion later and the first thug was on the ground without knowing what hit him. His two pals lanched themselves at the Soldier and were next to goon one a minute after. After checking to make sure they would stay down, the Soldier turned to the girl. She looked scared. The Soldier faded and left the soldier almost staggering. He gathered himself and stepped over the unconscious men towards the girl.
He curled in on himself, trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. He asked the girl "Are you alright miss?"
She seemed shocked but nodded shyly. She stood up and eased herself out of the corner. "Yay I'm fine. Thanks. Are you OK?"
"Fine." He responded shortly.
"Oh."
She looked down awkwardly. "Well... Bye?" She started to move towards the entrance of the alley.
"Wait!"
They both froze. She turned to look at him. The soldier struggled for words. Had he ever had that problem Before? Were was the smooth talking he'd read so much about? The girl looked at him apprehensively. He didn't want to scare her anymore that she already was.
"Would you like me to walk you home?" He finally spoke all at once after what felt like an eternity.
She seemed surprised. "Uh..." After a second she seemed to gather herself. "Oh! Um, I think I'm fine from here. Thank you though, for offering."
She shuffled around nervously for a moment before leaving. He watched he walk away, completely forgetting about the wounded thugs around him. After she walked out of sight, he snapped into action. He quietly started to tail the girl. He followed her down the street. After a few minutes, she stopped and made her way into an apartment building. He silently followed her in, glancing at the list of apartment numbers and names as he went. She climbed up to the second floor and stopped in front of the third door on the left.
She took her keys out of her purse. She went to unlock the door but her hands shook so badly she dropped her keyring. He quietly stepped forward and picked them up. She didn't seem all that surprised at his continued presence. She clasped her hands in front of her, he opened the door. She quietly stepped through the entrance and he handed her back the key. She gave him a shaky smile.
"Thanks again. You know, for saving me."
After a moment of inner conflict he finally gave her a small, genuine smile. Then he turned and walked away.
'You're welcome... Emma.'
...
Emma watched the strange man walk down the hallway and disappear. She closed the door softly, leaned against it, and slid down to sit on the floor. She tilted her head back against the door and tried to absorb everything that had just happened to her. Once she finally made some sense of it she realized
"Oh, I never asked his name..."