Come Back With Me

He Killed My Friend

Bucky went to school the next day and picked up all of Steve's assignments for the week.

He would've just skipped school and gone back to the hospital if he didn't know his mom would have his hide for skipping.

He decides to hang out with his normal group of friends during lunch time. They were talking about what they wanted to do that weekend and the dance that was coming up. He would usually be laughing and shooting the breeze with them but he just couldn't seem to care.

"Oh my gosh! What happened James?" Mary asks.

At first Bucky thought she was talking to him but then he noticed James Royce had just joined their circle.

He had a large black bruise under his left eye.

"Oh, I was just being clumsy and slipped in my garage yesterday," he said evasively.

Bucky didn't understand the suspicion that surfaced in him at the statement. It seems like a reasonable explanation but something is telling him he is lying.

That's when he sees the three marks come up from under his shirt collar that look suspiciously like someone dragged their finger nails down his neck.

Bucky's blood goes cold. Why would he have fingernail marks like that on his neck if he fell in his garage?

The conversation between the group continues in a friendly manner. Everyone is laughing around him but Bucky can't bring himself to even force a smile.

James has been his friend since kindergarten. He would know if he was no good he reassured himself. He shouldn't be so accusatory towards his friend.

But then he starts thinking about all the evidence against him.

When Ellie first met him, she called him a bully. She later apologized for calling him that without knowing him, but in her head he was "guilty be association".

He started to think about how Steve said Ellie would act strange at home on days when Steve was sick.

He knows the Rogers' household is on the way to school from James' house.

Bucky also can't remember seeing James in school on the day of the incident either.

Bucky suddenly interrupts a lively story that Tyler is putting on for the group.

"James, why weren't you at school two days ago?" Bucky asks accusatorially.

The whole group falls silent.

"I was sick," James responds.

Bucky can tell instantly that he was lying.

"Were you sick before or after you 'fell in the garage'?" Bucky asks.

James looks at Bucky in utter terror. He knew that Bucky was the one that found her and he knew that Bucky wasn't going to just let this go.

"It was an accident Bucky. I didn't mean to hurt her that bad," James explains.

That was a good enough confession for Bucky.

He immediately lunges for James and with one punch has him on the ground. He climbs on top of him and starts hitting him repeatedly in the face.

Bucky knows he must have shocked the group because it takes at least five good punches before people start intervening.

Two boys pull Bucky of him but he gets out of their grasp and hits James again.

"You almost killed her!" Bucky screams.

He did kill her technically but he didn't feel like explaining that at the moment.

"You left her there to die like a coward! You should be in that hospital bed instead of her. I should put you in a hospital bed," Bucky yells.

He gets two more hits in before the teachers turn up on the scene.

Bucky is finally pulled off of James. He looks down at James's bloody face and wonders if this is what Ellie looked like to him after he attacked her.

He is then escorted to the principals office.

As he is sitting and waiting to see the principal, he stares at his hands. The knuckles are split and there is both his and James' blood coating them. They are shaking so badly that he has to clench them tight to get them to stop.

He is so angry, that tears begin to leak from his eyes.

The school secretary enters the room.

"Principal Harris will see you know," she says.

Then she leads him into the office and he takes a seat in front of the large desk.

He looks at principal Harris and they stare at each other for a long moment.

"What happened today James? You're not exactly a model student but all your teachers say that you rarely get into fight. Usually when you do, it's in the defense of someone else and never physical. Why did it turn physical today James?" Principal Harris asks.

"He killed my friend," Bucky says gruffly.

"He what!?" Principal Harris responded.

Bucky goes on to explain the events of the last couple days. Principal Harris listens silently and never interrupts once.

"And you're sure it was him?" Harris asks when Bucky finishes.

"He basically confessed it. I would've never did what I done if I didn't know for sure it was him. I wouldn't fib with something like this," Bucky says.

Harris rubs his face and leans back in his chair. His face is lined in stress.

"I don't think you're fibbing James but if this is true, this situation is going to get real messy. I'm going to have to report what happened to the police and James Royce might be charged with attempted murder," Harris says.

Bucky stands up and throws his hands in the air.

"Well he should! He did attempt to kill her," Bucky yells.

"Oh sit down boy!" Harris says in exasperation.

Bucky sits down and crosses his arms across his chest.

"Unfortunately, without Elizabeth to testify, there isn't really any proof that isn't circumstantial," Harris explains.

"So he won't get in any trouble?" Bucky says.

"Unless she wakes up, there's not much the police can do. I'm sorry, James," Harris says earnestly.

"Now unfortunately, we have to deal with your punishment. Usually the degree in which you attacked James would be grounds for expulsion but I don't think that you deserve that. I will have to suspend you for a week though. Your mom is on her way to pick you up now," Harris says.

When his mom arrives she thanks the secretary and then drags Bucky out by his shirt collar. She faces him in the parking lot with anger sketched all over her face.

"James Buchanan Barnes, what did you do?" She asks.

"I avenged her, mom," Bucky responds.