first day at school
Bucky rubbed his eyes tiredly as he looked at the two children in front of him.
Natasha was dressed in a white button down shirt with a small red cardigan over the top that held the school's name and symbol stitched into it, she worse a pair of grey trousers and a pair of black startright lizzy shoes on her feet matched with white socks. The girl looked realitivly calm though her hair was a mess.
Bruce just looked ready to crash onto the floor. He wore black trousers, a white shirt and a blue vest with the schools name and symbol on it. He wore a pair of clark shoes matched with red socks.
Bucky sighed heavily as he approached Natasha with a hair brush and started doing her hair quietly, getting it to lay flat on her back and tied it to the side with a blue ribbon.She smiled gently at him when he brushed his thumb across her forehead reached a pair of tired hands up to him, Bucky was more than happy to lift her up. Clint wondered tiredly into the room, two cups of coffee in his hands as he hands one to Bucky and drinks his own. Bucky raises a brow at the man. "Thought you'd stay with Tony?" He says with a yawn. The other snorts.
"The last few days he'd been begging for Steve. But now he's here he doesn't want to be within three feet of the man. I don't get it." He mutters and Bucky sighs loudly. All of them had noticed the fascination and fear that Tony has on his face when Steve enters and guessing why was always a hard pin-point. Now it was worse because the boy would break down in tears if the man held him but throw a fit if he wasn't in the house. The two adults in the room sigh heavily.
"I'm leaning to the idea that Stevie's just a thing from the past he's been conditioned to look up to, I mean....his dad was obsessed and all. Little Tony idealised the man, Big Tony is scared of him from...that..." Bucky squirms a little and Clint nods a bit.
"You two really do need to make that up to him." He sighs a bit. "I don't think changing his diapers is making it up to him by the way. I mean showing him that you won't ever hurt him like that again. Prove to him that you're aware you guys where stupid." Clint says casually and Bucky snorts nodding.
"Ok, well if you don't mind I need to get these guys to school." He says casually, Natasha grumbles angrily into his shoulder, the soldier laughs a little and pops his empty cup on the side, lifting Bruce up as well he carries them out to the truck. Glad he put their bags in yesterday to prepare for the day. He clips them in and pops inside quickly to grab their lunch boxes, Natasha with a black widow one and Bruce with a hulk one, he then runs outside to get them to school.
****************
Bucky drove quietly until he entered the school grounds, indicated by the large sign that read 'Marvel's school for the gifted'. The school spanned over 4 miles of land, a mile per building, the buildings of the school where separated and easily distinguished. Bucky made his way to the Pre-school first.
The Pre-school was a large colourful building painted with a large fence to keep the children in, the school held a sign that read 'Pre-school and Nursery' to ensure parent's they'd arrived at the right place. The playground was filled with slides, climbing frames, seesaws, swings and a sand pit.
Phil stood outside the door way of the building, in a button up white shirt and a beige sweater vest over the top, some beige trousers and black shoes. He screamed teacher. Bucky looked around at all the children and parent's in the area, the children played excitedly on the playground whilst the parents kept watch. "Bucky." Phil voice calls and the soldier turns with a smile.
"Hey" He says softly, Bruce wiggled in his hold and Bucky released the boy's hand for him to run off and explore. Natasha stayed by his side. "So you're a teacher now?" He says with a chuckle and Phil snorts a bit.
"I'll be taking the classes with the regressed children, actual teachers will be taking the other children. Bruce seems to be settling well though." He says calmly, watching the boy explore the jungle gym.
"Yeah, he's doing better." He smiles, Natasha grumbles something next to him and Bucky rolls his eyes. "I should let you know that Bruce is struggling with the toilet a bit, just make sure some one checks on him regularly." He says calmly, Phil smiles a bit.
"Of course, don't worry we've got a few struggling with the same thing. Leo seems to be struggling and you see the little blonde girl playing with the red head does as well." He informs and Bucky nods a bit.
"All right. Bruce" He calls over and the boy pops his head up. "Can you come here?" He says gently and the little boy runs over. "Me and Tasha need to get her to school. Can you be good for Phil?" He asks gently, the boy looks uncertain and gives a small nod. Bucky smiles handing him his hulk backpack and lunchbox. "Be good." He kisses the boys head making him whine. Phil snorts a little.
"I've never seen such a parental look on you." He teases and Bucky scoffs.
"Bite me Coulson. I'll get Clint to call you tonight." He says sternly, the man rolls his eyes and shoo's him away.
"Move. Take your red headed child and get her to school." Bucky rolls his eyes and ruffles the boy's hair again before taking Natasha to the truck again. He hoped Natasha's meeting with Lance would go as smoothly.
************************
The meeting did not go smoothly.
The building for Natasha's building was a little less colourful than Bruce's but still had a pretty large play ground for the kids. Apparently the sweater vest and beige trousers was a uniform for the teachers as Lance stood in the door way with Melinda. Both looking out around the playground. Bucky approached them both, holding Natasha's hand lightly as she stared at them both with apprehension. Lance immediately grinned at her. "Hey there Romanov. Look at you, that's a real pretty ribbon in your hair." He had a large grin on his face and Melinda sighs in annoyance, bringing her hand down hard on the mans butt he straightened up and blushed. Natasha smirked at the sight.
"Be nice Lance." She warns and nods at the two in front of her.
"Barnes, Natasha. Glad you could make it today." She says calmly. "Natasha why don't you go say hi to Jemma, she's over there by the swings." The little red head nodded and ran off, Bucky turned a dark glare on Lance.
"If she comes home and tells me you said one thing out of line I will use your intestine as Halloween decorations." He threatens and the agent has enough decency to nod and back away. "Melinda. She has a phone to call me if she wishes to leave. If she wants to go home she will go home." He informs her, the women nods a little and rolls her eyes.
"Understood, we'll see you at three thirty." She sighs and both wince as Lance pulls out a bell and starts to ring it.
"LETS GO KIDS. TIME TO GET TO CLASS!" He yells, a few parent's shoot him a look and he smiles sheepishly. Bucky rolls his eyes as Natasha runs over to him, he hugs her a little to tight and kisses her forehead.
"Be good. Don't kill him. Don't hurt him either." He warns, the girl pouts a bit but nods.
"See you later Barnes." She rolls her eyes taking her bag and lunch box and runs inside.
Bucky was suddenly filled with dread as he made his way home.
****************
Bruce came to the quick conclusion that being at Pre-school with Phil and Mack as teachers was something he did not enjoy. Every twenty minutes he and this curly haired boy called Leo were asked if they needed the toilet. Mack had even lifted Leo up to check him. "All right guys, lets sit down and introduce our selves ok?" Phil commented as Mack moved towards Bruce, Phil gave the older man a look and he backed off. Helping the children into a circle and Phil nods to him self. "We'll start with Alex Adams." He says calmly, the kid introduced him self, his position at SHIELD and how old he was now. By the time it was Bruce's turn the boy was struggling not to wander around. "Bruce?" Phil's voice snapped the quiet boy from his daze and he flinches at all the eyes on him.
"Bruce Banner. The hulk.....Scientist.....yeah..." He squirms awkwardly and Phil nods in understanding moving on. By the time it's over Phil had called it being Recess.
"Ok you lot, off you go. After Recess it's nap time then maths." Phil says calmly, shooing the children out of the classroom. Bruce looked sceptical as all the others ran excitedly and frowned. "Not wanting to join them Bruce?" Phil asks as Bruce shuffles next to him.
"....I don't understand how....they want to play....Don't they have their memories?" He asks in confusion. Phil blinks a bit and smiles down at him.
"A lot of them had childhoods where playing was encouraged, I know you weren't so it's expected you don't want to play as much as them. They can easily link to there childish impulses because they where never taught to ignore them. If you don't feel comfortable playing right now you can join me and Fitz in the corner for story time?" He offers and Bruce nods excitedly.
"Please." He says gently and takes the mans hand and follows him to a cushioned corner and sits next to Leo who waves a little.
"Lets see...How about the velveteen rabbit" Phil says and pulls it out, Leo and Bruce listen quietly as the man reads the book. Mack watches from his spot smiling softly.
///////////
Natasha was becoming increasingly bored with the day as the lessons started. They'd introduced them selves and moved straight on to taking tests to see where they where academically. Lance was moving around the room looking over each person's shoulder and Natasha was becoming more and more frustrated. Melinda must of noticed as she sat next to her and calmly started talking to her. "I get that you find this pointless Natasha but it's just to see what subjects we need to cover with you and what we don't. If you need a break I can sit out side with you for a moment." The woman offered and Natasha squirmed a little, she hated this. Feeling small and needy was not something she enjoyed and the fact Melinda was willing to leave the classroom to make things better made it so much worse.
"....I...I can stay." She says softly, her voice shaky and barely a breath above a whisper. Melinda looks at her and sighs.
"Well. Can you help me get snacks ready for after the tests. You're already finished with two papers. We only have one more so you can do that later ok?" She says and Natasha nods, glad to be doing something useful she follows the woman out of the room. Completely missing her mouth to Lance 'Sensory overload.' Natasha was having a bad day.
//////////////
Tony held his knee's to his chest as he listened to the adults move around him, he'd had a bad night the night before and had an even worse nap.
Last night he'd dreamt about Wanda putting her spell on everyone and making them see their worst nightmares, he remembered feeling helpless and worried that she'd come for him even after all the training. He'd woken up crying and begging for help and Clint had thankfully come to his rescue and calmed him down enough to sleep. But the nightmare was on repeat all night.
Then he had a nap. He remembered all the pain Bucky and Steve had caused him, the news of his mother and father's death. Everything. He woke up and screamed when Steve moved into the room causing the Soldier to rock back from the volume and pitch. Tony had latched him self to the crib bars and refused to stop until the man was out of site.
Now he was sat in the front room with his knees to his chin and watching some random Pixar film. He wasn't paying attention, all he knew was that he was scared and tired, but nothing was making him go to sleep. He didn't want more nightmares. "Tony?" Clint's voice rings through the room making him look up with red rimmed eyes. "Hey big guy. I know you've been having nightmares lately do you think you could come here for me?" Clint was standing in the doorway and Tony didn't understand why he wanted him to walk but he obeyed, swaying a little as he did so. Clint was gently as he lifted him up and looked Tony in the eyes. "Ok big guy. I know everything's real scary but I need you to sleep for a bit. I won't leave your side promise." Clint says seriously and Tony shook his head no.
"Can'" Tony shook his head stubbornly. Clint tsked a little.
"I know you're scared but please Tony. I need you to sleep." The man hushed him when Tony tried to communicate he couldn't sleep. It took ten minutes but soon Tony was out like a light and Clint could see what was causing the nightmares. A red mist settled over the boys head and Clint who was the cause. "Steve." He calls gently, rousing the tired and scared boy immediately.
"Yeah?" The soldier's glum voice echo's out.
"Wanda's gonna die." Clint causally says walking into the kitchen with the whimpering boy. "She put a fucking curse on him before we got rid of her." He states and Steve sighs in annoyance.
"She's just a kid, I don't see why-" Clint settled him with a look.
"Get Xavier on the phone and tell him we need him to clear Tony's head." He says seriously. "I mean it." Clint growls leaving the room with Tony
*********************
Bucky waved as Bruce came bolting out of the doors and straight into his legs, a small grunt escaping him as Bruce held on tightly. "Hey Bruce what's going on?" He asks and notices some parent's making their way over. "....Oh god what happened." He mutters lifting the boy up, he immediately got a shoulder full of Bruce who let out a whimper.
"Hi, I'm Clair Johnson. Just wondering if we could talk to you about your son's attitude?" The women smiled at him sweetly and Bucky groaned internally, realising he was dealing with PTA moms.
"What's up?" He tried to sound casual but he could see Phil and Mack making their way over with frowns.
"He's not very social and seems very scared. Is he being cared for at home? Is his mother not ensuring he is socialised? Is he-" Bucky snaps his head to the woman in annoyance.
"First things first. He's cared for, he's just got social anxiety which makes it very very hard to talk to people." He settles them with a glare. "He does not have a mother, it's me and my husband raising him and don't you ever suggest that he doesn't get enough socialisation." He growls out defensively. Bruce lays a small hand on his cheek and smiles at him gently as Phil arrives.
"Ladies. I told you not to bother Mr. Barnes when he arrives." Phil says strictly and Clair scoffs a little.
"I'm sorry but he is clearly not being cared-" Phil raises his hand and hushes her.
"Bruce here is adopted from a home that did not put his best interests at heart. Mr. Barnes has had Bruce for a total of three months and decided it was time for him to go to school. The Ryn children are friends with him and have helped greatly with socialising so please if you could kindly leave the boy and father alone that'd be great." Phil watches the women stutter and splutter before the group moves off. Bucky sighed in relief and thanked the man. "No problem. Just a heads up Natasha's had a bad day but didn't want to go home so good luck with that." He pauses "Bruce was pretty good, he had two accidents today but made it to the toilet three times and he was really behaved" He smiles a little. "He stayed on green all day." He tells him and Bucky rubs Bruce's hair
"Good job Kiddo. We'll see you tomorrow Phil." He waves goodbye and leaves to grab Natasha.
********
Natasha walked over to Bucky and Bruce quietly, looking all out drained from the day. The man gave her a soft smile and opened the door for her, letting her climb in he looked over to Melinda and Lance. "How did she do?" He asks and Melinda sighs a bit.
"Everything got to her this morning, I didn't know she got sensory overloads like that." She states and Bucky winced a little.
"She used to get them bad in the red room but she usually covered it up. It's why she can leave anytime she wants because everything gets too much for her, I'll keep an eye on it. Thanks" He waves to them and gets in the car. He soon starts down the road to get them home. It had been a long day for them all.