The colonel isn't in the mess. He's been secluded in his tent for days, and aside from a debrief less than an hour after the prisoner's arrival, he's not interested in talking to Steve.
Steve's been turned away every time he tries to get into Phillips' tent. All thirty-something times that he's tried.
Trying to get into the infirmary without the colonel's permission is proving similarly fruitless.

Peggy swats his arm after catching him scanning the command table one too many times.
"You look a bit like a scolded puppy." She tells him quietly, pushing an extra portion of potatoes across the table to him. He's not sure where she'd been hiding it, but now that he's here, he's starving. He make short work of the bland, buttery cubes.
"Certainly I'm not that dull to talk to?"

"No!" Steve replies instantly, and a little too loudly. He ducks his head when a few curious glances sweep toward them. Peggy rolls her eyes.
"No… of course not. I just-"

"You were hoping to talk to Colonel Phillips?" Peggy looks utterly unsurprised, biting into a stale biscuit with surprising delicacy. Steve was sure he'd crack a tooth on his.

"... He won't let me see Bucky." He mutters, slumping down a little.
It's not at all that he doesn't want to talk to Peggy. Far from it. She's fascinating. Captivating. It's just… Bucky's family.

"Steve. Your friend is fine. He just needs to rest. I told you."

"Have you seen him?" Steve asks, perking up.

"I… no." Peggy hesitates. "Not personally. There have been reports from the doctors, though…"

Steve slumps again, elbows propped on the table, and breathes out a muffled sigh through his nose.
"I can't stand it." he says, after a few moments. "I just… He's my brother, Peggy. Or might as well be. We were always together before he shipped out. Two halves, my mama used to call us…" Peggy watches him in silence. "Anytime I was sick, he was right there. Anytime I got jumped… Anytime I needed somebody, I just had to turn around and there he'd be."

Peggy looks vaguely troubled. She frowns at him.
"Steve…"

"When my ma died…" He swallows thickly. "I didn't have anybody else. But Bucky was there. He was always right there. Always. Now he's been through hell, he's just across the damned camp, and I can't see him, can't talk to him… you're the first person that'll actually even talk to me about what's happening to him."

He lets his head fall forward onto crossed arms. He feels utterly miserable now. Great. Peggy must think he's the worst company she's ever had. No wonder girls never liked him…

"...I can get you in to talk to Colonel Phillips." Peggy says quietly, one hand feather-light on his shoulder. "If you do exactly what I tell you, you'll have a chance to speak to him uninterrupted… but that's the best I can do for you. I'm sorry."

"Won't you get in trouble?" He asks, lifting his head to stare at her with disbelief and undying gratitude.

"If helping you to commandeer a military aircraft and disobey direct orders hasn't gotten me dismissed, I hardly think this will." She shrugs. "Obedience seems something we both struggle with."

Steve makes a mental note. This is the exact moment he fell head over heels in love with Agent Peggy Carter. This is when it became official that he was in too deep. He couldn't fight it if he tried.

Watching her face as she spells out his instructions, he finds that this is one battle he's alright with losing.