Come Back With Me

He Hopes He Never Falls In Love

Bucky's mom dropped him off at the hospital. It took a lot of persuading but when he said that he needed to tell Sarah that he found out who hurt her daughter, she relented. She knew that if it was Rebecca or James who was hurt, she would want to know too.

When he enters the hospital room, it is only Steve and Ellie in there. Steve is asleep with his head rested next to his and Ellie's untwined hands.

Steve shoots awake when he hears Bucky close the door.

"What time is it?" Steve asks groggily.

"Twelve thirty," Bucky replies.

"Shouldn't you be at school?" Steve asks.

Bucky removes his jacket and goes to sit on Ellie's other side.

"I'm suspended actually," Bucky admits.

"Suspended?!" Steve says in shock.

"I punched James Royce. Well I punched him like ten times actually," Bucky says.

Steve doesn't know how to respond to Bucky. He knows him and James are friends and he doesn't understand what kind of falling out they could have had that resulted in Bucky punching him ten times.

"Did you know he was picking on Ellie?" Bucky asks.

"Ellie?" Steve asks.

"Elizabeth, I've started calling her Ellie. It was either that or Beth and I like Ellie much better. That's besides the point though. Did you know he was messing with Ellie?" Bucky asks.

Steve looks confused. He doesn't know where Bucky is going with this.

"He used to tease her awhile back but she said it stopped. Honestly, I thought he just picked on her because he had a crush on her," Steve explains.

"He has a funny way of showing it," Bucky grumbles.

"Why'd you punch James?" Steve asks.

"Because he's the one who put Ellie in the hospital," Bucky admits.

The words take a minute to hit Steve. He knew that someone must have done this to her but he thought it would be some random stranger. He honestly thought it was just a mugging that went too far. He never would have thought it would be someone they knew. Someone they saw everyday at school.

That must be why Ellie was always so off on the days Steve was gone from school. He must have bullied her when Steve wasn't around to see it. She must have taken the long way to school to avoid him and he must of followed her.

"I think I could kill him," Steve says angrily.

"I think I could've too if we weren't in public when I found out. The anger that came out of me scared me. I just saw red and couldn't stop myself," Bucky says.

Bucky was worried about how easy it was to submit to his body's need to hurt him. He never thought he'd be the type of person who could beat someone until they were unconscious. Then he remembers holding Ellie's limp body and he knows that experiencing something like that, changes everything.

"Is it bad that I wish I was the one who did it?" Steve asks.

"No, I'd be more surprised if you didn't want to be the one to do it. We both felt the devastation when she died that day," Bucky says.

Then Sarah come in and Bucky explained what happened and what he found it.

The rest of the day was full of police reports. Bucky was so tired of retelling the same story over and over. He could now recount it without paying attention to what he was saying. He knew that he had to keep telling it though if there was any chance of justice for Ellie.