Bucky frowns at the back of his Dad's seat as he drives him and his sister to their new school. He didn't like moving, even if it was only to another part of Brooklyn, and he didn't like moving away from the few friends he had. Becca leans against the window in the passenger seat, headphones playing something from her walkman. Their dad's car slows down in front of a school and he turns around to give Bucky a small smile.
"Hope you have a good day kiddo." He tells him. Bucky unclips himself from his seat and grabs his backpack.
"Bye Dad. Bye Becca." He says as he gets out of the car. Becca unrolls her window and holds out her fist for him to bump.
"It'll be great Bucky, just you see." She winks at him then Dad drives away, leaving Bucky standing on the sidewalk in front of his new school.
Bucky sighs and walks forward, eyes glancing around as he makes his way through the throngs of small kids to the front of the school. he shoves his hands into the pockets of his jacket, feeling the chill of the October air. The kids around him laugh and chase each other around the grass in front of the school. Over to one side a group of kids form a circle around something. Bucky stops and frowns at the group, a bad feeling settling in his gut. Becca always told him to trust that feeling, so he walks over to the group. As he gets closer he hears what the kids are saying.
"Yeah, Mark!"
"Just stay down Rogers!"
"Gonna cry to Mommy and Daddy? Oh, that's right, you can't!"
"Hey!" Bucky yells, pushing through the crowd. The kids were standing around as a much larger kid, Mark, was beating up a much, much smaller kid, who even now was struggling to put up a fight. Bucky steps between them and crosses his arms over his chest, trying to look intimidating. Mark stops and gives him a wary look.
"Who are you?" Mark asks.
"I'm the guy who's not gonna let you beat up on someone smaller than you." Bucky tells him. Mark smirks at him and tries to throw a punch. Being only eight years old, his form is a bit off, so Bucky just grabs his arm and lets his own momentum throw him to the ground. Mark lands in a small patch of mud and Bucky turns to the other kids with a glare.
"Get outta here!" He yells at them. Two of the kids go over to Mark and lift him out of the mud and the rest of them scatter. Bucky turns to the smaller kid and smiles gently.
"Hi. 'm Bucky." He holds out his hand and the other kid grabs it, using it to pull himself up.
"Steve. And I didn't need your help. I had 'em on the ropes." Steve says sullenly. Bucky rolls his eyes.
"Sure ya did Stevie. But I don't like bullies, so I figured I'd help ya out." Bucky tells him. Steve frowns, which causes his bloody lip to start bleeding again. "Why don't I help ya to the nurses, 'kay?" Bucky suggests, putting a hand on Steve's arm. Steve shrugs and lets Bucky help him toward the front of the school, picking up his book bag, which had been knocked away from him, on their way over.
"So, why'd Mark decide ta give ya a split lip?" Bucky asks as Steve leads him toward the Nurse's room.
"Dunno. He's a bully." Steve mumbles pointing to the door that says 'Nurse'. "You should get to class."
Bucky shrugs. "Don't know where it is. I'll stay with ya, and you can show me." Bucky suggests as he opens the door.
"Good morning Nurse Carter." Steve greets as he enters the small room. A woman with curled brown hair looks up and frowns.
"You're in here early Steve. And you've got a friend." The Nurse comments, walking around her desk.
"James Barnes, ma'am. Most people call me Bucky though." Bucky tells her, letting go of Steve so she can lead him over to the small bed in the room. "Some kid was beatin' on him, and I stepped in 'fore it could get worse."
"That was kind of you James. And please, call me Nurse Carter or Amanda, no need for all that 'ma'am' business." Nurse Carter tells him as she examines Steve's face. "I've got to clean your lip, and it might sting." She tells Steve before taking a cotton swab and pouring antiseptic on it. "Hold still for me, please." She carefully applies the antiseptic to the cut on Steve's lip. Bucky watches as he sits there, barely even flinching, even though Bucky knows how much antiseptic hurts. "Good job Steve. Let me see your knuckles." Steve holds out his hands and the nurse takes them into hers, flipping them over to look at his knuckles. "Bucky, can you hand me the gauze? It's on the shelf in a container."
Bucky walks over to the counter and finds the container labelled 'gauze'. He picks it up and brings it over to her, not wanting to touch it with his dirty hands.
"Here you go Nurse Carter." He says, looking down at Steve's split knuckles. He probably got in a few hits of his own earlier in the fight, which Bucky tries not to be proud of.
"Thank you Bucky. I'll just clean these and wrap them up, then you two can get to class." As she tells them this she cleans out the wounds. "Now Steve, remember what I told you about fighting?" She asks as she starts to wrap up his left hand.
"If I have to, I should use my feet. My hands are tools for creation, not destruction." Steve answers, as if he's reciting something he read in a book. Nurse Carter nods and tapes down the gauze.
"Very good. I don't want to wrap up your hands again, you hear me?" She asks, wrapping the other hand. Steve nods. "Good. Now, you keep Bucky with you, he seems like a good friend to have." She turns and winks at Bucky and he blushes. "Now go on, get to class." She tapes the last of the gauze and pulls out a small sheet of paper. "I'll write you a pass, but I better not see you in here again today." She gives them both a stern glare and signs the paper. Steve takes it and they both exit the room.
"She's kinda scary, don't'cha think?" Bucky comments as they walk down the empty hallway. Steve shrugs.
"I s'pose. 'm used to her though, so I guess I don't notice." Steve says. Bucky nods.
"Cause you're in there a lot?" Steve shrugs again, which Bucky takes to mean yes. They continue walking until they reach a red door.
"This is Miss Ororo's room." Steve tells him. Bucky takes out the slip of paper in his pocket and checks the name.
"That's what it says here. Are you in this class?" Bucky asks him, hopeful. Steve nods and they both smile. Bucky knocks on the door and a young girl with brown curls and brown eyes opens it.
"Hi Steve." She greets him, stepping out of the way.
"Hey Peggy. Your mom says hi." Steve tells her, walking to Miss Ororo's desk. "Sorry we're late Miss Ororo. I had to go to the nurse's and Bucky was helping me." He tells her, handing her the slip.
"Bucky? Oh, you mean James." The teacher, a dark skinned woman with white hair smiles at Bucky.
"James Barnes, ma'am." He smiles and holds out a hand for her to shake, which she does with a small smile. "Most people call me Bucky though."
"It's nice to meet you Bucky." She smiles bigger and turns to the class. "Everyone, this is Bucky. He's new, so why don't we introduce ourselves. We'll go around and say our name and one thing about ourselves, just like we did on the first day. Peggy, why don't you start."
The girl who opened the door for them stands up and waves.
"My name's Peggy Carter and my mom's the nurse, who you probably know 'cause you helped Steve." She sits down again and the next person stands up.
"I'm Timothy Dugan, but lotsa people call me Dum Dum, cause I really like Dum Dum lollypops." The next kid, a stocky red-head says with a big smile and a slight Southern accent says, smiling.
"M'name's Clint Barton. I'm mostly deaf in both my ears, so I gotta wear hearing aids, even though I don't like 'em." A kid with sandy blonde hair and a purple shirt with an arrow on it says. Bucky can see the two flesh colored aids in his ears.
"Hi! I'm Tony Stark, I like robots." Tony has wild brown hair and wide brown eyes. Bucky's not sure how he feels about the kid, he seems really loud.
"I'm Bruce Banner. Um. Tony's my best friend, and I like science." Bruce is about the same size as Tony, but he seems smaller.
"We're Science Bros!" Tony shouts, turning around to give Bruce a high five.
"My name's James too, but I'm called Jim. Morita." A small Asian kid says. "I wanna be a doctor when I grow up."
After Jim there's Scott, who's blind, Katherine, called Kitty, Peter, who insists upon being called Starlord of all things, and Leo and Jemma who everyone seems to just call Fitzsimmons. Bucky smiles at all of them and Miss Ororo tells him to take a seat by Steve, since Bucky already knows him.
The first half of Bucky's first day in his new first grade class progresses in a daze of counting, writing, reading, and learning about animals. He spends lunch with Steve, Jim, Dum Dum, and Peggy, who then spend recess with him, running around calling themselves the Howling Commandoes. When Miss Ororo calls them back inside they all sit down on the floor in front of a man in a wheelchair.
"I'm sure you all remember Dr Xavier, the guidance counselor." Miss Ororo says. "Bucky, since you're new I'd like you to meet Charles Xavier. He'll come in every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon to teach the class."
"Hello Bucky." Dr Xavier greets him, smiling kindly down at him from his chair. Bucky smiles nervously back.
"Now then class, I want you to remember to treat Dr Xavier with the same amount of respect you give me, okay?" The class gives out various versions of 'yes' and Miss Ororo smiles, going behind her desk and letting Dr Xavier speak.
"We're gong to start of the month of October talking about bullying. This month is national bullying prevention month, which means it's my job, and your job, to stop bullying if you see it." Dr Xavier explains. Bucky looks over at Steve and sees the smaller boy blushing and looking at his lap. "Who can tell me what bullying is?"
Bucky raises his hand immediately and Dr Xavier nods to him.
"Bullying is when someone with more power picks on someone with less power, just 'cause they think they can 'cause they think they're stronger than them." Bucky says proudly.
"Very good Bucky. Anyone else?" Jemma raises her hand and Dr Xavier calls on her.
"When someone uses soupier strength or in-flu-ence to in-ti-mi-date someone, tippi-cally to force him or her to do what they want." Jemma answers, stumbling over some of the words when she recites the definition.
"Well done Jemma. Can anyone tell me the kinds of bullying there are?" Tiny first-grader hands sly into the air. "Bruce?"
"There's the kind where kids hit each other and it's not for play, and one'a them gets hurt." Bruce answers, playing with his sleeves.
"We call that one physical bullying, because it hurts the body. Anyone else?" Clint strains his arm up high over his head. "Yes Clint?"
"There's the yelling kind, where everyone get's really loud 'cept one'a them's cryin' and I hafta turn down my hearing aids 'cause I don't like yellin'." Clint says. A lot of the kids nod sagely in agreement.
"Yes, that's good Clint. That one would be verbal bullying. What other kinds of verbal bullying are there, other than when someone yells." Xavier asks. Bucky looks over at Steve and sees the tiny kid raise his hand high. "Yes, Steve?"
"Sometimes instead'a just yellin' they call 'em names, and those hurt a lot, but not like gettin' hit or kicked or somethin', they hurt in here." Steve points to his chest. "And sometimes those can stick around a lot longer than just bruises, cause they're attackin' your heart." Steve frowns and sticks out his lip. "S'why I don't like it when people say 'sticks an' stones may break my bones, but words'll never hurt me', 'cause words hurt more'n sticks or stones or anythin'."
"Yes, that is a good point Steve. We sometimes call this emotional bullying. This is why we need to be careful when we use our words, we might say something that some one doesn't like. What should you do if you call someone a name and you didn't mean to be hurtful?"
This time Tony raises his hand and Dr Xavier calls on him.
"You 'pologize an' tell 'em you didn't mean to make 'em sad, them you don't call 'em that name ever again, 'cause you don't wanna make your friend sad again." Tony glances over to Bruce and smiles, then turns to Steve and gives him a thumbs up. Bucky watches as Steve smiles back and sends Tony his own thumbs up.
Dr Xavier has a few volunteers had out worksheets to the class and they spend the rest of the day answering whether something is emotional, physical, or verbal bullying. During the last ten minutes of class they help Miss Ororo clean up the classroom and then she sends them outside to play until their parents pick them up.
Steve, Bucky, Peggy, Dum Dum, and Jim all continue playing as the Howling Commandos, running around and taking turns at being rescued. Jim ends up being picked up first, and they all say goodbye before resuming their play. Then Dum Dum's dad calls him over and he leaves. Nurse Carter calls for Peggy to help her carry her things to their car and then it's just Steve and Bucky.
"Hey Stevie, do you wanna come over to my house this weekend?" Bucky asks. Steve frowns and picks at his lower lip.
"I dunno Bucky. I gotta ask the Sisters if it's okay." Steve answers.
"What sisters?" Bucky asks him. Steve blushes in embarrassment.
"I live at the orphanage. My ma died a couple'a years ago an' my dad died during the war." Steve turned away and sniffled. Bucky frowned and rushed forward to hug his friend.
"'m sorry Stevie, I didn't know." Steve turned in his arms and rested his head on Bucky's shoulder. "My ma died when she had me. I think my dad blames me for her dyin', but my sister Becca says that it wasn't my fault. Sometimes people jus' die."
"Sister Agatha says that God has a plan for everyone, and that sometimes His plan means that people we love die." Steve mumbles into Bucky's shoulder.
"Hey Rogers! That your boyfriend?" Steve and Bucky step away from each other and glare at Mark.
"Mark, will you stop bullying this smaller child and fight someone your own size?" A kid about Mark's age steps forward beside Steve and Bucky. While he might be Mark's age, is has quite a few inches on the bully. He has long blonde hair and is already showing signs of being a very big and muscular adult.
"Stay outta this Thor it ain't nun'ya business!" Mark tells the other kid. Thor frowns and crosses his arms over his chest.
"No, it's not. But I don't think it's fair for you to be bullying them. Rogers has never done anything to you, and the new kid just got here! Just leave them alone!" Thor argues. A slightly taller and skinnier kid steps up beside Thor and raises one black eyebrow.
"Mark, I would strongly suggest you cease in your abusive actions towards not only Rogers and his friend, but also every other child here. If you do not, my brother and I will have to… convince you to stop." The new kid's green eyes narrow at Mark and the bully gulps before running away. Thor and his brother turn to Steve and Bucky and Thor grins at them.
"Hello Steven's new friend! I am Thor and this is my brother Loki!" Thor gestures one large, tan hand to the small, pale, dark haired boy. "Steven, I hope Mark no longer feels it necessary to hurt you due to his own feelings of worthlessness."
"Um, thanks Thor." Steve smiles up at the bigger kid.
"Who is your new friend Steven?" Loki asks, looking at Bucky with his piercing green eyes. Bucky frowns at him and opens his mouth to answer.
"Bucky!"
Bucky whips his head around and sees Becca leaning out of their dad's car, waving at him. He smiles and waves back.
"I'm Bucky Barnes. It was nice meetin' ya, and thanks for telling off Mark!" He turns to Steve and hugs him one last time. "See ya tomorrow Steve!" He picks up his backpack and runs off, turning to wave back to Steve one last time before sliding into the backseat.
"Did you have a good time at school?" Becca asks, turning in her seat. Bucky grins and nods his head wildly before starting to describe his day at school.
As they drive off George Barnes watches as a small blonde kid walks toward the orphanage in the rearview mirror.