Avengers High School - Winter Soldier

37 - Temporary Normality

A/N - I have so much planned for this story still and most of it's not very happy stuff (whoops) so I need to add some more happy filler chapters, hence this one (only like half of it is actually happy though, my bad) especially before the next one...

"Bucky?"

"Bucky."

"Bucky!"

He jolted awake.

"We're here, sleepy," Sam said.

Bucky blinked the blur from his vision. The other three were twisted in their seats, grinning at him. They were in Steve's driveway, sitting in Steve's car, after following each other around to everyone's houses to drop off their own vehicles and go to Steve's in one car. His head, the non-wounded side, was leaning against the window. How did he manage to fall asleep in the car? When he could barely sleep at home?

Normally, he'd be extremely alert as soon as he woke. But right now? He didn't have to bother. So Bucky lazily unbuckled his seatbelt and slipped out the car.

Natasha was waiting by his car door, eyebrow raised jokingly, smirking. Bucky ran his tongue along his teeth, shaking his head and smiling, then followed Steve and Sam to the front door.

Once inside, they sat around on the back porch whilst Steve fetched the first aid kit from the kitchen. Bucky silently followed him back inside and to the bathroom.

Both his hands gripped the bench as he struggled to fight the tiredness in his body. His breath came in deep shudders as he reluctantly peered up at his reflection in the mirror. Empty eyes stared back at him, surrounded by black shadows like a vignette photo filter. Dried blood was caked around his lip and the side of his face and his head pounded, as if shouting at him to stop getting beat up. The criminal stench of blood wafting from his own skin was too familiar and a wave of nausea hit Bucky like a train. With an unnecessary aggression, he flicked the tap faucet on and scrubbed at his face. He washed away the red with both hands until the wounds were borderline reopened, but at least the blood was gone. Instead, his fingers were stained and he watched the red swirl down the drain with a grim expression. He couldn't cleanse himself of the stain from HYDRA.

Steve suddenly appeared at the door with the first aid kit, watching Bucky aggressively wash his face. "Be more careful, man," he quipped.

Bucky didn't listen. "Can I just get a band-aid or something for this?" He gestured to his face.

"We'll get Nat to do it. She'll do a better job than the rest of us."

"Alright," Bucky murmured distractedly.

They went back out to the porch where Sam was seated in an armchair and Nat on the couch.

"Nat, would you mind?" Steve said, handing the kit to Natasha. "You'll do a better job."

Natasha nodded, patting the seat beside her for Bucky. He took a seat whilst Steve swung on the hanging chair again.

"Well, Bucky's out for the next few days, so why don't we skip school and hang out with him?" Natasha said with a grin.

"Really?" Sam said. "I'm in."

Steve looked apologetic. "If you can convince my mum to lie to the school... then of course I'm there."

They chatted for a while about random things but Bucky had zoned out. As he hunched forward on the couch, he let his eyes droop, blinking slowly. Natasha was careful as she tucked his hair out the way and bandaged up his head. She noticed the nervous glances he shot her and she remembered that his experience with doctors and people in general was mostly threatening and painful. Only a few times had she actually witnessed what HYDRA did to the Winter Soldier in the labs, normally without anything to numb the pain, only to relax his muscles so he couldn't move, but that was enough to remember for a lifetime. His raspy screams, his pained face, his beaten body, his empty eyes, his useless pleads was all enough to witness for a lifetime. Especially the horrible, crazy, cruel woman that was Madame Hydra. Natasha hated that woman with every fibre of her being for how she treated her friend.