Gold to Airy Thinness Beat

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Bucky sat in the Mess Hall.

There was a plate of food in front of him but he wasn't eating.

He'd been in his room, sitting against the door with his legs drawn up and his arms draped over his knees, staring at his footlocker without seeing it.

He'd been there for a very long time, every muscle tight with tension, his eyes wide and fixed.

He was waiting.

Waiting to hear word that somewhere, someone had spotted the so-called Fist of Hydra and he could go there.

He was ready, his bag packed beside him, all he needed was a damn location.

Until then, he would wait.

It was all he could do. He couldn't train when his wife might be a prisoner of Hydra. He couldn't read a book while she was possibly being tortured, couldn't sleep while she was suffering.

Dum Dum and Carter had finally come to drag him to the Mess Hall but he certainly couldn't eat when he didn't know what was happening to her. They'd convinced him to try, if only because he'd be useless to her half-starved, but there'd been only so much he could force down before images of what might be happening to her had taken over and he'd had to stop before he became physically ill in the middle of the room.

"You think he'd have the common decency to share, you know?" a voice said and Bucky absently shifted his focus from the food that tasted like dust and ash, over to a nearby table. He recognized the man who'd spoken as the guy who'd been leering at Carter on the truck. The others at the table registered as men he'd seen around but didn't know personally.

"You're an idiot," one of the other men said. They were keeping their voices low, if it weren't for his enhanced hearing, Bucky wouldn't have even known they were talking much less what they said. "He's not with Carter. Look at him, the guy's barely holding it together. He's still stuck on Rogers."

"Nah," came the response. "She ain't the type you fall in love with. She's the type you have a good time with and then move on. He's moved onto Carter now. I'm telling you, it's not right."

"I wouldn't let him hear you talk about her like that," the second man said.

"Which one? The slut or the Ice Queen?"

Bucky pushed back from the table and stood up. Carter looked at him in surprise.

"James? What are you doing?"

He didn't answer but simply stepped away from the table and over to the one where the men were sitting. They looked up at him in confusion but had no time to speak as he pulled the one up and very calmly punched him in the face, hard enough to knock him several tables away.

"Hey!" the other guy who'd been speaking to him shouted, "what the hell?" He jumped to his feet and launched himself over the table. Bucky grabbed his arm, crouched and pulled the man over his shoulder, shoving up as he did and rolling the man over his back and behind him to sprawl on the floor.

Carter and the Commandos had all jumped to their feet, as had several men at several nearby tables. Bucky had no idea if they were on his side or with the idiots he'd just dealt with so he settled his weight easily back on his heels in preparation.

He half hoped they were against him.

The two on the floor were slowly getting to their feet. As they did, Bucky felt the Commandos take up position around him. Carter stood next to him and put a hand on his arm.

"James," she said firmly. "Don't do this."

"You want to hear what they were saying about you and Steph?" he asked and she frowned.