A strong hand grabs Jason by the shoulder.  He turns around to find himself inches from a distorted version of a familiar face.  Familiar because he’d seen it so many times at the café.  Distorted because of an emotional cocktail that was difficult to read, but most definitely negative.

“B-B-Bucky?”

“Is this your coat?”

Jason tried to swallow, but his mouth was suddenly dry.  “Y-yeah.  Did I l-leave it at the c-cafe last night?”

“No, Smith.  Not where I found it.”

Jason suddenly uncomfortably aware that his back was pressed against a brick wall.

“It was in the kitchen area, along with all the evidence of a burglary.  Someone had picked the lock on the Alley door that most customers don’t know about, and ransacked the meat freezer.  Every single container had been cut open.  By the time I found out, a couple thousand Bucks’ worth of fish had thawed, meaning that the burglary happened shortly before midnight.”

“I d-don’t… didn’t…”

“Either you did do it, or someone wants me to think you did it.  Either way, I want to know why.”

“I was at W-wong’s.  Beer.  Can’t ya tell?”

“You’ve had long enough to get drunk afterwards.  I don’t care.  I just hope you’re sober enough to tell me what this is.”

Jason stared for a second and a half at the green rock in Bucky’s hand, then blinked hard twice to clear his vision.  The rock was still there, and still green.”

“I th-think it’s flebotnum ore.  Andrea used ta work with the stuff.  Where’d it come from?”

“That’s what I want to know.  That and where the rest of them went.  There was a whole box of them at the café this morning, and someone thought they were important enough to stage a burglary.”

“I d-didn’t do it, I…”

“Enough.  I’ll talk to you again when you’re sober.  In the meantime, I have some reading to do.”

Jason closed his eyes for a second from fatigue, and Bucky had faded into the crowd by the time he opened them.