(no subject)
Title: Dodging Bullets
Author: cat_13145
Disclaimer: Marvel owns it all!
Pairing/Characters:Bucky, Toro, possibly one sided Bucky/Toro
Rating: NC 17
Warning: Contains references to child abuse and WWII attitudes towards it.
Summary: Bucky's being acting strange since Toro told him the guys from Fort Lehigh. Toro wants to know why.
Author's Notes: I've had a fairly lousy week, that is the only explaination I can offer for this story. Unbetaed.
“Buck? Bucky?”
Toro stepped nervously into the small room he and Bucky had been assigned. Bucky had been acting...odd for a couple of days now, pretty much since they arrived in Dover. Toro had thought he’d be pleased that they were stationed virtually in the same area as the guys from fort Lehigh, but when he told him Bucky had looked strange. Like before he had to address the Boy Scouts, or Sentinels of Liberty.
The next day, after Chow, Bucky had changed. Suddenly he was surly, swearing like a drunken sailor and kept trying to pick a fight with Toro, Subby, anyone really.
The adults seemed prepared to write it off as “growing pains”, but Toro wasn’t so sure.
He moved slowly over towards the Bucky shaped lump in the bed.
“Get lost, flame face!”
If it had been anyone else, Toro would have said they’d been crying, but Bucky never cried. Never. Not even when they were digging a grave for a 5 year old girl, who’d survived the camps, but couldn’t survive the Typhus.
A part of him wanted to obey Bucky, but he thought of what he’d found stuffed down in the laundry basket, and drew strength.
“Bucky, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing.” Bucky sounded like he had a really bad cold. “Why don’t you go boil your head?”
The subtle approach wasn’t working. He was going to have to be direct.
“Bucky, I found the underpants.” The covers twitched slightly, “Did he...” he suddenly realised he’d no idea what he could call his suspicions. Rape seemed too girly, and assault implied punches and fists, and he was certain in those circumstances that Bucky would win. “Hurt you?” He finished, well aware of how lame it sounds, especially when he’s seen the dried blood stains on the inside of the pants.
“No.” The sound was so soft. “Not this time.” Suddenly the covers were off and Bucky was pacing. “It’s stupid. I can after myself; I could stop him this time, but...” He didn’t finish the sentence, but Toro could.
But he still scares me. He’s still the guy who haunts my nightmares, and when I’m near him, I’m that little kid who’s just lost his father and is desperate not to be sent away.
Toro paused for a moment, and then began grabbing the blankets off his and Bucky’s bed, completely destroying the hospital corners. Bucky watched him liked he’d gone nuts, looking almost back to normal.
“Cap’s being saying for weeks we should do some outdoor training to keep in practise.” He said, rolling them all up into a ball. “Castle’s not as safe as the tunnels from bombing, but no where’s safe in hellfire corner, and no one’s likely to go there.”
Bucky reached out, taking the messy ball from Toro’s hands. “You clear it with Cap. I’ll pack. And matchstick,” he added, as Toro started to head out. “Thanks.”
Toro forced himself to smile. “No problem.”
He paused outside, breathing deeply, his hands bunched into fists. It wasn’t fair they were going to have to leave, while this guy stayed safe. He thought of what Brian had said about a war they still had to fight. They had to fight to protect kids like Bucky, like him, who didn’t have anyone else.
****
It may have been a complete and utter coincidence, that three days later Captain Darling of Fort Lehigh was admitted to the Annex hospital level suffering from serve burns. Almost as through he’d been struck by lightning on a perfectly clear day.