The Soldier's Return (A Bucky Barnes Post-Civil War Fanfiction)

18

A/N: Okay, so for the whole foster care system in this story, I'm completely making it up as I go. It's just my own version of it, okay? I mean no disrespect to anyone who is in the foster system, and I hope nobody takes offense.

•••••

My back is stiffer than a wooden board as I wait in the uncomfortable office chair. Bucky is standing next to me, his arms crossed as he glares at the door. He wants everyone to know that if they try to hurt me, he'll hurt them a hundred times worse.

"Um, who...who is he again?" my social worker, Mrs. Kalligar, asks nervously.

"My boyfriend," I answer with a smile. "His name is Bucky."

"Ah, yes. Of course," she nods. "Bucky, you can sit if you'd like."

"I'm good," he replies, resting his hands lightly on my shoulders. Mrs. Kalligar's eyes train on the leather gloves Bucky's wearing, but she doesn't say anything.

The door opens, and my eyes widen. I go rigid, Bucky soothingly rubs my shoulders, quietly saying, "I won't let anything hurt you, sweetheart. Not them, not anything."

I nod shakily, feeling safer knowing he's right here. I watch as they walk in, the people I was forced to live with for who knows how many years. Cherry is first, along with her husband Jim. I silently thank God that Bree didn't come with them.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in," Cherry sneers.

"Don't talk to my girlfriend like that," Bucky snaps, clenching his jaw.

Mrs. Kalligar looks at Bucky in surprise, but he's still glaring at the couple.

"O-kay," she says awkwardly. "Let's begin, then. Claire, where are you currently residing?"

"In the royal palace of Wakanda," I reply. "I'm a guest of King T'Challa."

"Yeah, right," Jim scoffs.

"Seriously?" Mrs. Kalligar asks, surprised.

I nod, and Bucky gives her a look that says "Go ahead and ask if she's lying. I dare you."

"Alright," she mumbles, mostly because Bucky's glare is steady and cold. He's challenging her to disagree, and nobody is willing to make him upset. "And have you selected a next of kin? Since you aged out rather than being adopted out, you'll need to choose who your next of kin would be should something happen."

"Yeah," I nod. Bucky and I talked it over on the plane, and he agreed almost instantly upon me asking. "Bucky has agreed to be my next of kin."

She nods and slides him a paper and pen.

"Just sign at the bottom of the page, please," she says, and he nods. He neatly signs his name before stepping back to his place behind me. "Thank you. I believe that should be it."

Cherry and Jim go to leave, but Bucky moves in front of the door.

"Not so fast. Have you told this woman how you hurt my girlfriend? How you abused her for years? How, because of you, her body is covered in scars that she hates? Hm?" he demands. Mrs. Kalligar's mouth drops open in shock. "Go ahead. Tell her." Bucky pulls off his leather gloves, revealing his trademark metal appendage. "And I suggest you tell the truth."

Instantly, they spill everything. Mrs. Kalligar instantly calls the police and has me fill out a few forms before Bucky and I slip away. Bucky wraps his arm around my shoulders, smiling successfully.

"Thanks, Bucky," I say with a grateful smile. "You didn't have to do that."

"I wanted to," he replies. "And you don't have to thank me, sweetheart. It's my job to take care of you."

I grin, reaching up to kiss his jaw. "So where to next?"

"Anywhere you want," he says contently. "I don't care where we are, as long as I'm with you."

"In that case, how about a walk?" I suggest. "We haven't really had any time recently to just talk."

"Sounds perfect," he nods. "You know, if we were a normal couple, I could see us living just outside the city. We could live in a house in the suburbs and have a couple pets. Eventually, maybe we'd even have a few kids.

"Maybe Steve would live next door or down the street, and his kids and our kids would be best friends. You could be a lawyer, and I could stay home with the kids. Maybe I could teach Russian or Romanian or something at a school, too. We could actually have a regular life."

"I'd love that," I sigh, thinking of the possibilities. "I could see us living together in our own house with our own little family."

He kisses the top of my head, humming in agreement. The warm breeze lifts my hair, and part of me wonders if this is what it would be like if we weren't Avengers.

"It'll happen eventually," he decides. "Someday, we'll be able to live in peace. No fighting, no Sokovia Accords, no United Nations calling for our arrest. It'll all be over, and we can just live."