Touch Me I'm Going to Scream // [Stucky]

Chapter 21 Part 1

Bucky waits for the sound of the elevator leaving before he can finally sag against the door of his bedroom, muscles still tense. He appreciates Steve getting Nick Fury away from the apartment but it still isn't enough to make Bucky feel... Bucky doesn't know what would be the correct word to define his senses right now or his emotions. It's like he's in the eye of a hurricane and knows things will get ugly in a matter of time. His muscles are like taut rope; he can hear his breath and tries to control it; his eyes dash over every corner even though he knows there is nothing dangerous in the room, but still his eyes won't stop darting from the bed to the shelves to the windows...

Bucky's stump starts burning and that's enough to make his breathing sharp and rapid again. His chest rises and falls erratically while he tries to understand what is happening. Did someone poison him? His heart beats against his chest and his throat feels like it just caught on fire. Bucky drags his knees to his chest and rests his forehead on them.

I think he's glitching.

His head snaps up but he's still alone in the room; he knows this even when the edges of his vision blur, turn dark.

Shit, you think we broke him? Bucky takes another look, searching for the owner of the amused voice. No one. The edges of his vision close on him and his chest feels like there is a candle burning under his shirt.

One more time on the Chair and what we'll have to wipe is his drool.

You're the worst, Evelyn, Bucky hears the female voice clear as if she's less than a foot from him. He covers his right ear with his hand and presses the left ear to his knee. He hears the two women laugh and his skin ripples.

I wouldn't mind wiping some other stuff, says the same voice.

Damn, Karin, I don't think he can even get it up.

"Shut up," the words exit his mouth even with his painfully clenched jaw. But he hears the laughs that follow and they keep talking. About him. Like he hadn't been in front of them. He had been covered in blood, with three broken fingers, three bruised ribs, one broken cheekbone, and somehow he had ended with the hook of a fishing rod stuck on his back. He had finished his mission which meant he wasn't to be meddled with so they only joked and didn't wander too near to his corner.

Bucky's hand threads through his hair and he pulls—he feels the pain just fleetingly, at least until a new voice speaks in his ear.

How long do you think he can stand like that?

Bucky thumps his forehead against his knees.

You want to bet on it?

I want you to know you have a problem. Last week you bet on how long it would take you to take a dump, Alex.

Bucky remembers that the left corner of his mouth had ticked up. He had felt like he was almost part of something.

Hmm. How about if we make him keep one leg on the air?

The back of Bucky's head connects with the door behind him but he doesn't feel the hit.

I'm not getting close to that until Pierce is here.

Bucky tries to get words through his lips but instead a whimper bubbles out—doesn't even sound human.

Bucky's lightheaded when he hears his name being called. His vision is blurry when he comes to it and finds himself backed into a corner. His mouth is dry and his eyelids feel heavy and irritated. He lifts his head from his knees and looks around, brain sluggish.

"Bucky?" There's a light knock on the door. "You in there?"

He tries to speak but his voice is too gruff and no intelligible words come from his throat. There's a short silence. "Can I come in?" Steve's tone sounds too flat for it to be natural.