Change of Pace

Creepy Office Woman

Bucky stepped out of the cruiser first. He looked around the school parking lot before opening the back door for Bella. He pulled her close and tucked her under his left arm, his metal arm. He was not going to let her get hurt.

Charlie stepped out, coming around the vehicle. He leaned down to kiss Bella's forehead, and then he reached up to pat Bucky's cheek.
"You two better behave yourselves, okay? It took a lot of convincing to set this up." He motioned between the two of them with his fingers. "Don't make it a waste of my time."

"Come on, Chuck," Bucky's mouth spread into a dangerously mischievous grin. "Bella and I will be perfectly angelic all day. And," he paused, flexing his metal arm at a couple of boys who were sparing glances at Bella as they passed by. "If anything happens, who's to say anyone will find out?" He shrugged, making an innocent face.

"Nothing will happen, Bucky." Charlie spoke sternly, his brow furrowed. It softened at Bucky's look of surprise. "I want you to relax and enjoy your time with Bella. You don't have to be a soldier here, son," his hand rose to touch Bucky's metal shoulder, smoothing down his arm and grabbing his hand. "You just have to behave."

"I - " Bucky looked from Charlie's expectant face to Bella's reassuring one before continuing with his answer. "I will." He tilted his face away from the pair to hide the redness and the tears in his eyes. He'd never known what it was to have someone look out for him in this way. His own father would just wait until he'd done something wrong and then beat him for it. Steve had spent most of their time together making insensitive jokes, Natasha had kept a cold barrier between them despite knowing he'd been completely brainwashed when he hurt her, and Sam. Well, Sam was a bastard.

The only people who'd actually been kind and thoughtful towards Bucky had been Tony Stark, Peter Parker, and James Rhodes.

Tony Stark knew his trauma and saw it for what it was. He'd accepted Bucky's apology eventually, even going as far as to invite him into the Stark family's own home to recuperate after his time in Wakanda drew to a close. Tony became like a brother to him. He was incredibly soft and awfully sweet. Of course, he could be a sarcastic brat at times.

James Rhodes seemed to adopt him as soon as they had their first real conversation after he'd moved into Tony's, and when Bucky started to teach him how to use his new legs to the best of their abilities? He couldn't stop himself from caring for him.

Then there was Peter.

Peter Parker was unbelievably strong. He ate almost as much as Bucky had to, and he was beyond happy to meet Bucky Barnes. He'd been utterly shocked and disturbed when he found out that Bucky thought of himself as a villain, stating that even Tony Stark had killed innocent people although the kid had had to admit that Tony's kills had not been as direct as Bucky's had.

Bucky's thoughts trailed off. He wondered how everyone was doing. With Tony's death still so fresh and Natasha's, too.

"Hey there, buckaroo," Charlie snapped his fingers a couple of times to catch Bucky's attention, his head snapping up and back around. He blinked a couple of times but opted not to pretend his eyes weren't watery. He was supposed to be safe here, after all. Charlie and Bella looked concerned, but he smiled at them sadly and shook his head.

"I was thinking about my friends." He informed them, watching as Charlie's face crumpled and Bella started to frown. The girl moved forward to wrap herself around his metal arm. She stroked his back and snuggled in against his side. "Awe, don't you guys go getting sad now." Bucky chuckled. "I'll be alright. 'Sides, maybe, after I'm settled in a bit more, I can invite some of them to visit or something."

Charlie's face lit up suddenly, Bucky confused by the rapid change of emotion.

"Sorry, it's just that I'm so excited about having the house full of young people again. I've been missing Bella for years, and now you've come home too. I get to be a dad, finally." Charlie smiled widely. He swung open his door and stepped in. "But I'm serious. You two get in any trouble and I will not be happy." The man raised a finger wiggled it, and then he was driving away.