Work Text:
No matter who was in the playhouse Alex and his gang would kick them out and take over. It had been like that forever and no one changed it, after all, there were many other toys to play with. That all changed though when Alex had taken Steve’s best buddy, Bucky.
Today he and his friends were in the playhouse and he didn’t plan on giving it up. Clint was the first to notice them, he threw a foam ball which hit the window of the playhouse letting everyone else know. Clint usually stayed put perched on the jungle-jim keeping an eye out for trouble. Steve’s head shot up when he heard footsteps approach, he stuck his head out the door to see Jack standing there doing his best to give Steve an evil glare.
“Out!” Brock grumbled as he folded his chubby arms over his chest, “Alex wants to play!”
Natasha and Sam watched as Steve exited the playhouse only to stop in front of the door returning Jack’s expression.
“No,” He answered simply.
Brock let out a loud exhale and pouted, “Don’t make me hurt you!”
Steve was stubborn as it was but it only got worse when it concerned Bucky and right now this was all about Bucky.
“No, not until you give me back Bucky!” He stood his ground, his thin little legs planted firmly on the dirt floor.
By this time Natasha and Sam had crawled out of the window since Steve had been blocking the door and came to stand by his side.
There came a loud irritated sigh from behind Brock, it was Alex. His minion stepped aside and allowed their leader to pass. He looked Steve over from head to toe and back again before folding his arms over his chest.
“Move it dumdum!”
That only made Steve puff out his chest and look pointedly at Alex, “Not until you give Bucky back,”
Alex rolled his eyes and unfolded his arms, “My little Soldier isn’t coming back,” He pushed Steve making him stumble back and knock his head on the wooden house, “He's mine and he likes it,”
Steve felt tears sting in his eyes but not from the blow to his head but from Alex’s words though he would never let them fall in front of the boy.
“You’re a meanie!” He growled giving Alex a small push, the boy didn’t even budge but it was enough to let Alex know Steve meant business.
Jack grabbed Steve’s arm only to have Natasha grab his shoulder, she gave him her best glare which made him let go of Steve because even for a girl she was scary.
Alex smirked, “You want him?” Something about the way he said it made Steve think suddenly that maybe he didn’t want Bucky back, “Then you can have him, Soldier!” He shouted.
Bucky marched over doing his best not to look at Steve or any of the others.
“Fight him,”
Scared blue eyes went to his friend as if pleading him to back down but he knew Steve too well to know that he wasn’t letting this go.
“Now!” Alex ordered with a small slap to the back of Bucky’s head.
Tears brimmed in his eyes but he ignored them, he had no choice Alex would hurt him badly if he didn’t. Out of nowhere, Bucky gave Steve an almighty shove sending the boy to the ground with a loud thud hoping that Steve would give up the fight there. Both Natasha and Sam stared at Bucky in disbelief but they didn’t have time to act since Brock and Jack attacked them. Steve stood on shaky legs, his eyes full of sadness that his own best buddy would do such a thing. He swallowed down the lump in his throat and charged.
Natasha and Jack were rolling around on the floor pulling at each other’s hair as Natasha growled out stuff in Russian. Brock was chasing Sam and the occasional slap was given by either of them when Brock caught up with him.
In all commotion, Alex had entered the playhouse and shut the door, after all, he had what he wanted and didn’t see the point in getting his hands dirty not when he had people to do it for him.
“Tony a little help!” Sam shouted as he skidded across the dirt.
The slightly older boy looked up from his picture book and shook his head, “Mum said if I ruin my shoes I’m grounded, sorry,” He offered a small apologetic smile not that Sam saw it since he was still running from Brock who followed with an angry expression, well as much as a five-year-old could muster.
“You can’t keep running forever poopoo head!” He shouted with a slight pant.
Clint was busy throwing foam balls at Jack as he had hold of a handful of Natasha’s silky red hair, he was a good shot too, one ball hit him straight on the head and another on his cheek. He let go of Natasha and turned his now pouty face to Clint who was still on top of the jungle-jim.
“I’m gonna get you fart face!” He shouted at Clint who only flashed him a smile and ducked out of view.
Meanwhile, Bucky and Steve were rolling around growling at one another as Steve tried his hardest to convince Bucky to stop.
“Please Buck!” He cried out as the older boy tossed him over onto his back, “I don’t wanna fight you!”
But Bucky wasn’t listening, in fact, he was trying his hardest to ignore Steve and pretend it wasn’t him because truth be told he didn’t want to fight Steve either but Alex would really hurt him like before if he didn’t.
“Stop it, Buck!” Steve’s voice was pained as Bucky punched him lightly on the shoulder, “You’re my best friend!”
Those words hurt more than any of the half-hearted punches Steve had been throwing, Bucky’s whole face crumpled as he let out a pained sob. Luckily Steve didn’t get to see him cry too much because one of the other students had the bright idea of getting the teacher.
“Enough! Boys get off one another! That goes for you too Natasha!” Miss.Hill scolded as she looked at the small fight before her and Natasha who had Jack in a headlock, “All of you to timeout now!”
Bucky stepped off Steve and dragged his feet over to time out, he slumped on the cement step and put his head in his hand covering his upset face that way no one could see him.
“Brock and Sam, you as well!” She called from the other side of the playground. They stopped in mid punches and turned to her, Brock going a light shade of pink at the fact that he had been caught red-handed.
Before Steve could sit down beside Bucky, Jack sat down and stuck out his tongue at Steve. Natasha gave him a kick for being mean to the blond boy.
“Natalia!” Miss.Hill scolded, “Is that anyway for a young girl to behave?!”
“Sorry,” She mumbled as she sat down beside Steve and gave him a small smile. They were joined by Sam and Brock moments later. They gave each other small smacks when the teacher wasn’t looking.
Clint had managed to escape being punished simply because he hadn’t been caught with them but he felt bad so he came over and slumped down beside Sam.
Miss.Hill rolled her eyes, “I should have known you were part of this as well Clint,” She commented tiredly, “All of you are to sit here until break is over am I clear?” She told them raising a brow at the seven of them.
“Yes, Miss.Hill” They said in union.
“And no talking,” She added when seeing Natasha and Clint signing to each other. They looked up at her and shrugged as if to say it wasn’t talking but they remained quiet.
---
The rest of the day was calm although Steve was heartbroken that Bucky wouldn’t even so much as talk to him. He wasn’t stupid though, he knew his best buddy was only ignoring him because Alex was making him do it so Steve did his best to glare at the slightly older boy throughout the rest of the day.
Miss.Hill had written notes to each of their parents so they could know that the children had been fighting. None of the children involved had difficult parents, she was thankful this time Tony hadn’t been part of it because the last time Mrs.Stark had been quite upset.
The bell rang and the small class got their coats and bags. Steve desperately tried to get to Bucky to speak to him but Brock was always blocking him.
Once outside Bucky ran to his mum wrapping his little arms around her thighs.
“I missed you too hun,” She said lovingly as she played with his hair, “I’ll see you on Monday Sarah,”
“Of course, have a good weekend Winifred,” Sarah replied waving to the two of them as they walked away.
“Mama!” Natasha called out happily as she ran to her mother.
“Natalia no running,” She scolded lightly as she kneeled down in front of her daughter. She frowned at the state of her hair and raised a questioning brow, “Natalia, what’s with your hair?”
The small girl bunched her lips together as she looked up at her mother innocently, “Alex picked on Steven again,” She replied quietly.
“Natalia,” She exhaled, “What have I told you?”
“But Mama! It wasn’t fair, Alex is a big meanie and is always picking on us!” She grumbled out loudly as she threw her arms out threatening to throw a tantrum.
Her mother held up a hand, “Enough Моя маленькая балерина, I know how much you care about your friends, I just… no more fighting okay?”
Natasha nodded stubbornly knowing full well that she wasn’t going to stop but her mother didn’t need to know that.
“Come, you’re going to be late for your dance lesson,”
The girl waved bye to Clint who was busy sucking on a lollipop, he waved back happily as she got into the car.
Steve was the last one out of class, he dragged his feet as he walked and looked absolutely miserable. Sarah frowned as she saw her baby walking towards her, unshed tears shining in his eyes.
“What’s wrong honey?” She asked as she wrapped her arms around her son.
He didn’t answer merely buried his face in her skirt. Sarah looked up at Miss.Hill as she came over with a sad smile on her lips.
“He was fighting with James today at recess,” She said quietly.
Sarah didn’t quite believe it, Steve and Bucky never fell out or not at least long enough to fight. She looked down at her son who was still hiding his beautiful face.
“I’ll try and have a word with him at home,” Was all she said, this was really odd.
Miss.Hill nodded and let them leave closing the iron gate behind them.
Steve plopped down on the floor and removed his shoes before dropping them into the closet. Sarah placed a loving hand on his shoulder stopping him from disappearing upstairs.
“Talk to me Stevie baby,” She requested warmly.
Steve shook his head stubbornly and tried to get away but Sarah held onto her special little guy and pulled him onto her lap as she sat down on the bottom step.
“Baby talk to me,”
The smallest sob escaped Steve’s mouth as he tucked his head away into her shoulder. Her heart clenched at the sound, he was rarely upset like this.
“B-Bucky doesn’t… doesn’t wanna b-be f-fr-friends!” He sobbed out, his little hands twisting in the fabric of Sarah’s blouse.
She closed her eyes briefly at Steve’s pain and rocked him gently, “Oh baby, I’m sure it’s not for long…”
He shook his head, “He i-ignor-ed me all d-ay,” He hiccuped as he rubbed his eyes.
Sarah shushed him and caressed his soft blond hair as he cried his heart out. They were silent, she knew her special little guy enough to know that he didn’t really want to talk about it now, all he wanted was comfort.
After a moment Steve calmed down without giving himself an asthma attack for which she was thankful for.
“You want some milk and cookies baby?” She asked ducking her head so she could look at his tear stained face.
He nodded a little, “And cartoons?”
She chuckled softly,
“And cartoons my little guy, go to the living room and I’ll bring you everything,”
Steve got down off her knees and walked to the living room where he turned on the TV and got up on the couch. Sarah got him a plate of cookies putting four on there when she usually only gave him three but today he was feeling a little down.
“There you go my special little guy,” She said as she placed it all on the small table beside him, “Don’t spill it,” She added with a ruffle of his hair.
Sarah went back to the kitchen and dialled Winifred’s number. She answered after three rings.
“Hello?”
“Winnie, It’s Sarah,” She said with a smile,
“Oh Sarah hi, everything okay?” She sounded a little concerned,
“Stevie isn’t so good… Is Bucky okay? They had a fight,”
There was a small silence on the other end, then a sigh.
“He’s been up in his room crying since we got home,” Winifred admitted sadly, “He won’t talk to me, just kept screaming for me to leave his room,”
Sarah felt bad for both of them,
“Can we come over tomorrow?”
“I’d like that… I don’t think they’ll do well apart,” She sounded generally concerned for them.
“Agreed, Stevie burst into tears the moment we got through the door,”
There was a small sigh, “ come over tomorrow at around tea time?”
“Of course, thank you, Winnie,”
They said their goodbyes and Sarah went back to the living room to announce the good news to Steve.
“Baby,” She said as she crouched down, letting one arm rest on the sofa, “Do you want to see Bucky tomorrow?”
Steve glanced at her, he wasn’t sure Bucky wanted to see him. Eventually, he nodded because even if Bucky didn’t want to be his friend anymore Steve still liked him.
“Yep,”
She smiled, “Good, tea time tomorrow, baby,”
That got a small smile out of him.
---
Steve hopped out of the car once his mum opened the car door and tried his best not to run over to the front door.
Sarah knocked on the wooden door, “Happy baby?” She asked looking down at Steve.
“Yeah,” He answered quietly.
Winifred opened the door and smiled at the two of them, “Come on in,”
“Hello Mrs.Barnes,” Steve greeted with a polite smile as he removed his coat and handed it to her, she stroked his cheek lightly and smiled sweetly at the small boy.
“James is upstairs honey,” She whispered with a small nod.
Steve took to the stairs and headed up them quickly, he stopped in front of Bucky’s door hesitating to go in or not.
Finally, he knocked quietly and entered.
Bucky was sitting on his floor, toy in hand but he didn’t look like he was actually playing. He looked about as miserable as Steve felt.
“Buck?” Steve said quietly as he shut the door and leant against it.
He sat up letting the toy fall from his grip staring at his friend, “what do you want Stevie?” His voice was quiet.
Steve walked over and plopped down in front of Bucky, “I wanna be friends,” he answered honestly, “you still wanna be friends Bucky?” His heart began to beat loudly in his ears if Bucky said no his whole world would break.
“I can’t…” he said simply, his head hung a little as he felt tears build up again.
They were silent for a long moment, Steve’s lips were bunched together as he pouted miserably at Bucky.
“But you’re my best friend…” He finally said desperately.
A wet sniffle sounded, Bucky was crying, “You don’t get it do you, Stevie!” He was angry, “I can’t be friends with you! Alex is going to hurt me!”
Little arms wrapped around Bucky’s shoulders in a tight embrace, “I won’t let him Buck… you remember what you said to me when Cap died?”
Steve’s dog Captain had been put to sleep a few months prior and it had broken his little heart but Bucky had been there to make him laugh and keep his chin up.
“You remember?” He prompted giving his friend’s shoulder a light squeeze, Bucky nodded in response but stayed quiet.
“So, now I’m a saying it to you, I’m with you till the end of the line buddy,”
Bucky’s own arms wrapped around Steve and they sat like that for a few moments as the older boy calmed himself down.
“He’ll hurt you too,” He mumbled quietly.
“I don’t care, he isn’t hurting you,” Steve was unique, even though he had a small fragile body he didn’t let that stop him from sticking up for the little guy. If he saw someone picking on someone else he‘d step in and help out even if it meant getting hurt himself.
“Boys! Come and get some biscuits!” Came Winifred’s voice from down the stairs, they parted from their hug and Steve gave him a smile.
“Come on Buck,”
Bucky only gave him a weak smile but Steve wasn’t giving up, he grabbed Bucky’s hand and pulled him to his feet with a light huff.
Sarah and Winifred were sitting on the sofa when the boys came down the stairs, Bucky’s eyes were a little red indicating that he had been crying. Winifred gave them a pained smile but Bucky wasn’t looking at her. They sat on the floor and started on the cookies that were sat on the table, two glasses of milk were also waiting for them.
“You boys okay?” Sarah asked warmly.
Steve looked to Bucky then to his mum giving her a shrug. He knew full well that if he told them about Alex, Bucky would only get even angrier at him so for the sakes of their friendship he remained silent, he’d help Bucky by himself.
Tea time was unusually quiet, generally the boys would be laughing and messing around but apparently, their fight still wasn’t over. Sarah thought that it was possibly better if she took Steve home after tea time was over.
“Let me know how he's doing?” Sarah asked as Steve put on his coat and shoes. Winifred nodded, Bucky was sat on the stairs being quiet and keeping to himself.
“Likewise,” Winifred gave Sarah a hug and tousled Steve’s hair lightly before letting them go. Steve was about to go out the door when he turned and went back to Bucky, pulling him into one last hug.
Sarah and Winifred watched with small smiles on their features, Bucky hugged back and for a moment it was like he didn’t want to let go.
“See ya at school Buck,”
---
Monday came around and parents were dropping off their little angels. Steve was with Sam when Bucky arrived, he waved over to his friend when he looked over but Bucky didn’t wave back instead he headed over Alex who was waiting on the bench with Jack and Brock.
“Let it go, Steve, he doesn’t want to be our friend no more,” Sam said as he watched the other group across the playground.
“No, it’s not his choice!” Steve protested stubbornly, “Imma fight for him, he’d do it for me,”
“Maybe last week,”
Steve gave his friend a look but chose to remain silent, there was no point getting into an argument with him as well.
The bell rung and the children headed into their classes. Miss.Hill greeted them and hoped they had a good weekend, most of the children agreed happily but both Bucky and Steve remained silent.
“Today we’re going to be learning numbers,”
Steve perked up a bit, he had been learning to count at home with his mum. They already knew how to count to twenty and recognise their order.
“Anyone know what comes after twenty?” She asked looking around the class, Steve happily put his hand up and waited to be picked.
“Twenty-one?” He suddenly wasn’t so sure of himself even though he knew the answer.
Miss.Hill nodded, “Indeed, well done Steven,”
He smiled shyly.
They continued their lesson, learning the numbers up to thirty. Repeating them and writing them down in an exercise to remember them. Steve was happy, all thoughts of losing his friend were out of his head as he concentrated on his work that was until he felt paper hit the back of his head. He looked back behind him to see Brock grinning like an idiot, he scowled at him but said nothing returning to his work. Another ball of paper hit his head, this time Steve turned around and glared at him.
“Stop that!” He hissed but Brock only stuck out his tongue as a reply.
“Steven no talking,” Miss.Hill reminded,
“But Brock's throwing things at me!” He protested.
“Brock, don’t throw things at other people, it’s not nice,” She scolded before turning back to what she was doing.
---
Break time arrived and the children pooled out to the playground. Clint hopped up onto the jungle-jim like he usually did but this time he was joined by all his friends.
They all played happily, pretending to be pirates, going up and down the slide, running around and hanging off the side of the jungle-jim. It was all fun and laughter until Jack gave Natasha a shove, she fell on her knees and let out a small cry.
“Hey!” Clint shouted as he jumped down in front of Natasha shielding her from any more attacks, “Don’t push her you big meanie!”
“Why not?” He said this time giving Clint a small push, enough to make him take a step back.
Sam and Steve got down going over to their friends, “leave them alone,” Sam puffed out his chest and gave Jack his best glare.
“I’m fine boys,” Natasha said as she dusted off her knees.
Jack was joined by Brock and Bucky, Steve swallowed he didn’t want to fight his friend again.
“I’m not doing this” Steve said calmly to Bucky who was staring at his shoes as if they were the best thing in the world. They all watched as Steve stomped over to the playhouse and pulled open the door. Jack and Brock quickly ran over to try and stop him but they heard Alex cry out before they reached the wooden house.
“Ouch! Stop it!” Alex cried out before scrambling out of the playhouse.
“No! Not until you leave Bucky alone!” He growled out angrily as he tackled the boy sending them both to the floor, “say it! Say you’ll leave him alone!” Steve punched Alex’s shoulder repeatedly.
No one intervened, Jack and Brock were stunned that someone was standing up to their leader, usually, Alex terrified everyone on the playground.
Alex hit Steve in the face, the younger boy let out a pained cry as he covered his eye with a hand. Bucky moved pulling Steve off Alex before the older of the two could hurt him further.
Steve glared at him as he stood, stumbling a bit, “I had him, Buck! I had him!”
This would break Bucky’s heart but he needed to protect Steve, “Forget it, Steven , I don’t want to be your friend anymore!”
The expression that spread across Steve’s face made Bucky want to pull him into a hug and apologise but he needed to keep Steve away from him or Alex would seriously hurt them both.
“B-but Bucky-”
“But nothing! Leave me alone!” He shouted angrily as he felt tears sting his eyes but he wouldn’t let them fall, “Forget about me!”
Sam, Clint and Natasha stared at the scene before them, the way Steve’s eyes shone with tears, his mouth bunched up as he tried his best to be angry.
It was obvious Steve wanted to say something but in the end, he took in a deep breath and nodded. He brushed passed his friend and headed back over to the jungle-jim where Tony and Bruce were watching them. Sam and Clint followed but Natasha stayed and watched Bucky, staring at him long and hard as Brock and Jack helped Alex up.
“He was the bestest friend you’ll ever have” She turned on her heel, her red hair whipping around and headed over to join her friends. Bucky watched feeling absolutely awful, she was right, Steve was the bestest friend he could ever hope to have but he’d just ruined that because he was a coward and wouldn’t stand up to Alex.
“I’m sorry I didn’t help,” Bruce said quietly as he watched Steve kick his feet lightly, “I didn’t want to hulk out and get put in timeout again,”
Steve gave a shrug, “Doesn’t matter… Bucky still wouldn’t be my friend,”
---
After break they practised their writing skills, Natasha had some trouble between the English alphabet and the Russian one. She kept grumbling under her breath when she would make a mistake then rub it out.
Clint was trying his best to help her, “That’s not how you do a D,” he whispered softly as he pointed to the word Dog . She rubbed it out and tried again this time getting it right, Clint smiled proudly and went back to his own exercise.
Steve did his exercises in silence, he wasn’t really concentrating on it though, their argument from earlier kept playing in his head. It wasn’t fair Bucky was pushing him away because Alex was being mean. He let out a loud sigh gaining Tony’s attention, he frowned at his friend.
“Something wrong Steve?” He whispered,
Steve shook his head and went back to his work, he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Come on buddy, you can tell me,”
Again the younger boy shook his head, “no,”
Bucky watched from the other side of the class, he felt bad, usually, Steve was all smiles and laughs but because of him, Stevie had lost his shine.
---
Lunch was calm, the small group were eating their packed lunches, they always found Natasha’s the most interesting since her parents were Russian. Today she had potato salad with boiled egg, carrots and chicken, and for dessert, there was a small Tupperware box with two small blinis with jam.
“What you got today Clint?” She asked leaning over and peering into his lunchbox.
“PB&J” he mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich, “mumma put in some celery too, and a cookie,”
Natasha nodded, she didn’t like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, it was too American. She tucked in happily to her meal with her plastic red fork.
Steve was nibbling on a carrot but he wasn’t particularly hungry but he knew his mum would be upset if he came home with a full lunchbox and not to mention that he got light headed when he didn’t eat.
“Anyone want my yoghurt?” Tony asked as he made a face at the dairy product. Sam lifted his hand and in exchange, he gave Tony his crisps.
Steve looked up and found Bucky, he was sitting alone eating his lunch quietly. It hurt to see him like that, Steve wanted to go over to him and keep him company but Bucky didn’t want him. The brunette looked up from his lunch when he felt eyes on him, he just stared at Steve who gave him a weak smile before going back to his lunch. Bucky felt sad again, he knew he shouldn’t let Alex bully like he did but what choice did he have, he didn’t want to have another Indian burn like the last one.
---
They avoided having any more fights for the rest of the day. The bell rang for the end of the day, the students got their coats and bags.
Sarah and Winifred waited outside for their sons, surprise was written on their faces when they didn’t come out together. Steve walked with Sam not that the smaller boy was actually talking and Bucky followed behind, eyes watching his ex-best friend.
“Baby, you okay?” Sarah asked when Steve walked over and hugged her legs.
He nodded.
“Hey Bucky,” She greeted the young boy who smiled at her.
“Hi,”
Winifred saw that something was still amiss between the boys, she sighed and bunched her lips together.
“Come on then sweetie let's get you home,” She said to Bucky, they left after waving to Sarah and Steve and got into the car.
“Ma?” Steve’s little voice said once they too were in their car,
She hummed in response,
“Can I call Bucky when we get home?” He twisted his hands together as he waited for her to answer, worried that she might say no.
“If only you tell me what you two fell out about,” She knew it was the only way Steve was ever going to tell her.
He looked out of the window for a while biting down on his bottom lip, “Alex is bullying Bucky into not being my friend,”
Sarah frowned, “Why doesn’t Alex want you two to be friends?”
To be honest, Steve didn’t know, maybe that’s not why Alex made Bucky his minion, Steve gave a small shrug.
“I don’t know Ma,”
They got in and Steve removed coat and shoes before heading over to the phone where he waited patiently for his mother to come over.
“Here,” she said gently handing him the ringing phone.
“Hello Mrs.Barnes,” Steve greeted quietly, “Can I speak to Bucky, please?”
Winifred smiled on the other end, always so polite was little Steven Rogers.
“Of course honey, give me two minutes to get him,”
The phone went quiet and Steve waited patiently, after a moment he heard someone pick up the phone.
“Yeah,” Came Bucky’s voice.
Suddenly Steve didn’t know what to say, he didn’t want to get into another fight because he didn’t like arguing with Bucky.
“Buck,” Was all he managed,
He cleared his throat,
“Are you mad at me?” He asked quietly.
There was silence and Steve began to think that maybe Bucky had left.
“No Stevie, I’m not mad at you…” His voice wobbled a little as he spoke, “Are you mad at me?” His voice broke this time. Winifred crouched down in front of him and put her arms around him in a comforting hug.
“No, but why’d you say those things before?” Steve looked over to his mother who was drinking a cup of tea at the dinner table.
A wet sniffle sounded loud on the other end, “I’m sorry Stevie,”
Steve took a deep breath and made a big decision, he said he was going to help Bucky and he was.
“Buck? Can I talk to your mum?”
“Stevie honey?” Winifred asked once Bucky passed her the phone, “Everything okay?”
His expression was determined, so be it if his friend never wanted to talk to him again but at least Winifred would be able to help.
“AlexisbullyingBucky,” Was all he said, it came out in one long rush of words.
There was a small silence, Winifred looked at her son and frowned.
“Did you just say that Bucky is being bullied?” She asked calmly.
Steve nodded only to realise she couldn’t actually see him, “Yes… by Alex Pierce, he’s making Bucky be mean or he’ll hurt him,” He hated telling but he really wanted his friend back or at least out of Alex’s shadow.
“Thank you, honey, for letting me know,”
“Can I have Bucky back?” He asked hopefully.
“Honey I’m going to have to say no, I want to talk to him okay? But you’ll see him tomorrow at school,” Winifred’s voice remained soft, she could tell how much Steve really wanted to speak to his friend but she really needed to talk to him about this.
“Oh okay… Bye Mrs.Barnes,” Steve handed the phone back to his mother who gave him an encouraging smile.
“That was brave of you baby,” She said warmly,
He let out of a small sigh, “I dunno, what if Bucky hates me now?” She could really hear the worry in her son’s voice. Gathering him up in her arms Sarah went back over to her chair and sat down, cradling her special little guy lovingly.
“He won’t hate you, baby, he might be a little mad that you told… but that’s because Bucky’s stubborn like you,” She smiled at her son who returned it weakly, “Baby, you two are best friends, nothing can ruin that,”
She was probably right but for Steve, that possibility seemed so far away.
---
“Bucky honey why didn’t you tell me?” She asked gently, he was sat on the chair looking down at his mum who had her hands placed on his knees.
Bucky shrugged,
“No baby, come on tell me,” Sometimes Bucky wasn’t the easiest of children to talk to, he’d shut himself down.
“Because… I could take it,” He answered quietly,
She closed her eyes briefly, tomorrow she was going to talk to the teacher, better she do it than George.
“But you don’t have to, Daddy and me are always here to help you, honey,” She squeezed his knee affectionately, “In the future tell us, don’t keep it bottled up,” Winifred placed a hand over his heart, “Because it’ll only hurt your beautiful heart.”
He looked at her with teary eyes, “I hurt Stevie,”
Sliding him off the chair Winifred pulled him into her lap and wrapped her protective arms around him.
“That may be true honey, but I know Steve and I know he won’t hold it against you,” She whispered softly into his ear, “He loves you, you know, you’re like an older brother to him,”
Her words strangely made Bucky feel a little better, he nodded into her shoulder and hugged her tightly.
“I love him too,” He mumbled quietly.
---
The next day Winifred dropped Bucky at school, Sarah and her arranged to be there at the same time so Bucky could wait with Steve while she went and spoke with Miss.Hill.
The brunette walked over to his friend slowly afraid that Steve wouldn’t want him after how he had acted before but Steve only smiled brightly at him.
“Sorry I told your mum,” He said with a shrug.
Bucky didn’t answer with words instead he pulled Steve into a crushing hug, instantly the smaller boy wrapped his arms around Bucky’s frame returning the hug just as tightly.
“Get away from my soldier!” Came Alex’s voice, Bucky and Steve parted from one another slowly looking at the other boy who folded his arms over his chest.
Steve took hold of Bucky’s hand the moment he feared his friend would leave him and scowled at Alex.
“He is not your friend,” Steve said.
Brock and Jack moved closer but Steve didn’t budge, he’d fight all three of them if he had to. Natasha came over as soon as her mother was out of sight and stood beside Steve, lifting her head proudly and folding her arms over her chest. Sam and Clint ran over from where they had been playing and stood behind the three of them. Even Tony and Bruce walked over standing beside Bucky.
“You want him you’ll have to fight us all,” Tony said as he looked from Alex to the other two boys, “He is our friend, not yours,”
Alex huffed out a puff of air, he wasn’t happy that his little soldier was finally standing up to him. He opened his mouth to say something but it shut the moment he heard Miss.Hill.
“Alex Pierce I would like a word with you,” She called over, he turned slowly looking at her and nodded.
Steve grip tightened on Bucky's hand when Alex turned back to him.
“You told?” He said angrily,
“No, I did,” Steve stepped forward shielding Bucky slightly, “You’re not hurting him anymore,”
“Alex!” Miss.Hill called again, this time her voice slightly more impatient.
He turned on his heel and headed over to the door where she waited. Winifred watched from the iron gate and smiled when Steve hugged Bucky again, no one could separate those boys.
This was probably not the end of it but they’d get through it as a group but more importantly together.
THE END.