The Double K Farm for At Risk Youth - How it Starts

[stands_for_hope]

It had been a hard year for the Kents.

The loss of a father, a husband, had hollowed out mother and son, though thankfully they'd managed to make due on the farm between the both of them. But that was just the financial parts. The farm felt empty without Jonathon Kent, their home felt empty, and Clark...

Clark was so angry with everyone, with everything. It wasn't fair.

He could do so many things, so many things, but he hadn't been able to do anything when his father's heart had given out. He hadn't been able to do anything when Jonathon Kent had dropped dead in a field while Clark was at school. He'd just been there to get pulled into the office, take the phonecall from his mother.

It was doubly hard to go through his days now. Before, there'd been a bit of a barrier between the people who liked to tease him; Jonathon Kent had been respected and folks had looked out for Clark because of it. They still looked for him, but now it was more about sympathy and less of a willingness to put themselves between him and trouble.

That's why he was here. Twelve years old, pushed against a chain link fence, holding onto the fence pole for their sake as much as his own. Anger boiled up inside him, anger enough to make his eyes start to lighten to red, anger enough to make him want to do things he couldn't do, shouldn't do. Because people were mean and cruel and they picked on weakness like a pack of jackals, even if the weakness was feigned.

I can't do it. I can't hurt anyone.

It was like a screen door trying to hold back a tidal wave. He was shaking and his eyes were so hot. He just hoped he could hold on long enough for them to get bored. Long enough for someone to wander by. He just had to hold on.

Comments

[kolodnoykovki]

"I... uh." He rubbed the back of his neck a little as he approached. "I hadn't really thought about it. I just wanted to get everything put away out there - and it is," he added quickly. "Anything else I need to do? I mean, I can do more if it needs done..."

But he came up and gave her a slightly cautious one-armed hug. He really was grateful - and kind of wondered if he was going to wake up and be in the barn.

[stands_for_hope]

"Nothing more to do right now other than to settle in," Martha assured him, "so come on, dear. If you don't decide, I'm putting you across from Clark. It'll make neatening both your rooms easier on me."

She started to steer him towards the stairs, pointing out the living room and the bathroom on the main floor, the door down to the storm cellar...

"And you and Clark can share a bathroom. Though you let me know if you feel like you need the space. The other room is just as nice."

[kolodnoykovki]

"I'll be fine wherever I end up," he promised easily. "It's already nicer than anyplace I've ever been." His own home, back when he had one. The orphanage. Steve's apartment with his mom. The cabin they had now was good, but it really could only fit the two people. Compared to all those places, this house was huge. He wasn't sure he'd ever run out of space. "I could stay in a closet and be okay."

[stands_for_hope]

"Well, I'm not putting you in a closet, sweetheart."

And she couldn't quite help herself leaning over to kiss the top of his head as she led him up the stairs. They turned left and the door there opened up to a cosy little bedroom with a few pillows and a single teddy bear on the coverlet. It was nondescript and everything had clearly been used, but it was all clean and in good repair and looked comfortable as all get out.

She let the little bundle of clothes drop on the bed.

"You've got a dresser there, a little closet tucked up behind the door over here, a desk for you to do your schoolwork on... there's some towels in the closet here, and an extra blanket if you get cold. Bathroom's down the hall."

[kolodnoykovki]

He didn't hesitate to go over to the desk and put his notebook down on it, pencil pulled out of the spiral to place beside it. He really had been keeping up with his schoolwork, even if he'd had to work in tiny handwriting to keep it all in the single subject book. But now the notebook had a place to go - and he didn't have to fold the new ones anymore. That would feel good. And then he looked around.

"This is the biggest room I ever had." The teddy bear was a little young, but he wasn't going to complain. It felt like somebody cared. Somebody besides Steve and his mom, and it'd been a long time since he'd felt that. "Thank you."

[stands_for_hope]

"Well, as long as you can sleep in it, that's the important thing."

She smiled, though.

"Now, I've got to get back to dinner, so you take your time putting your things away. Clark'll ride you over to your friend and help you get any other things you mighta left over there once we're done with dinner."

She tilted her head a little at him.

"There anything you have trouble eating I should keep in mind from now on? And don't you give me a snow job, Bucky Barnes, or I'll get cross with you. I want to make sure you can eat same as Clark."

[kolodnoykovki]

He shook his head quickly. "I've never had a problem eating whatever was put in front of me." But then, after a moment, his shoulders slumped a little and he admitted, "But I've gotta say that I'm so tired of oatmeal that I don't know if I ever want it again."

Cheap, simple - the Sisters had made a lot of oatmeal for the orphans, for breakfast and for dinner. At dinner, sometimes they'd cracked an egg into each bowl to make it heartier, but they'd never got much besides that to put in it. A little sugar in the morning, maybe some jam, but then an egg in the evening, beside a limp sandwich.

"I'll eat anything, but I'm just... real tired of oatmeal."

[stands_for_hope]

"That's all right, dear," and Martha looked like she wanted to scoop him up and hug him again.

"I usually do eggs in the morning anyway, eggs and fruit salad and toast. Do you like your eggs scrambled with cheese? That's how I usually do it up for Clark and myself."

[kolodnoykovki]

"That sounds good," he nodded. Eggs and cheese. It made him think of bagels and lox and cream cheese. He knew Clark wouldn't eat the lox, and he wasn't even sure if he could get lox out here, but he bet that if he saved up, he could get some bagels and cream cheese and take some of them to Steve. "I like eggs and I like cheese, even if I've not had 'em together."

[stands_for_hope]

"Well, if you don't like it, you tell me. I know my way around a kitchen so don't you fret about askin' for something else. Now... I'll be downstairs if you need anything and Clark'll come running if you call."

Then she was slipping out of the room and trotting down the stairs.

[kolodnoykovki]

"I'll be downstairs in time for dinner," he promised, but once he was alone, he looked around one more time.

His own room. He hadn't even had one of those when his parents had been alive. He'd had his own bed, but not his own room. Here, he had a bed, a room, a closet - not a footlocker. He had someone who wanted to feed him things he liked, who had given him clothes.

Bucky took in a long breath, reaching over to covertly pinch his own arm. It hurt. So he wasn't dreaming. Another breath and then he went over to the clothes. He wasn't sure if he should change clothes just for the evening or not. He did intend to take a bath, scrub off a few weeks worth of dust, and putting these clothes back on after that seemed silly-- but then, if he wore them tonight, he could probably wear them again tomorrow without a problem. Especially since he probably wasn't going to get them dirty tonight.

So at last, deciding, he nodded and picked out an outfit to take with him to the bathroom so he could scrub up.

[stands_for_hope]

The plumbing was old, but reliable, so while it took a few moments for the heat to come on, the water was nice and warm when it finally got there.

When he got out, he'd probably see that Clark was in his own room, laying out on his bed with an older white cat flopped on his belly. He looked up and waved as Bucky went by but otherwise seemed to be content to let the other boy go about his business.

[kolodnoykovki]

A cat. They even had pets here. Bucky was starting to wonder how many times he was going to need to pinch himself before he decided this really was or wasn't a dream. All the same, he lifted his hand to wave at Clark and, after turning back toward his bedroom (his - something else he was going to have to get used to), he turned back.

"Um, can I borrow your books? I didn't get long enough to look at Steve's to remember what was assigned."

[stands_for_hope]

Clark scooped up the cat and walked over to his own desk, picking up a couple of the books before walking over to hold them out for Bucky to take.

"I did mine, but it's tucked in on the page where the problems are. Lemme know if you need any help, okay?"

Then he gestured down to the cat.

"And this is Luna. She mostly sticks to my room and up on the roof, but she's nice enough. You can pet her."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Thanks." He took the books, holding them like something to take care of. "I should be okay. I... might not have acted like it back in the city, but I'm pretty good with math and stuff."

And then, looking at the cat, he reached out to touch her head gently. This wasn't a boy who hurt animals for fun. He might punch bullies, but no animals. "Hi, Luna. You're real pretty, aren't you? I bet you know it, too." Bucky smiled as he said it. "Don't worry; I'm not gonna take you away from your person."

[stands_for_hope]

Luna preened and purred and butted her head up for attention so adamantly that Clark couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Okay, she might come visiting if she likes you this much. Ma finds her in the bed sometimes too though she usually sleeps with me."

He focused on giving the cat a little attention before turning back to Bucky.

"That's cool. I just offered since I know you've been out for a bit. I'll help Steve if he needs it too. I'm sure switching schools isn't easy either."

[kolodnoykovki]

He shrugged. "The hard part was getting here. School's usually pretty easy. Gonna be easier since I don't have to pretend out here."

Bucky looked down at the books. Math, Social Studies, Science. At least he liked two out of three. "And I look a little bit like you; we've both got dark hair and light eyes. We might be able to pull it off."

[stands_for_hope]

He blinked, a little shocked a the change in subject.

"You mean being cousins? Yeah. It'll probably go okay."

Though there was something almost glowing to the blue of Clark's eyes. It fit with the rest of him, with the unnatural strength and the ridiculous speed. Clark was different, no matter how normally he dressed or spoke or acted.

"Ma's really good at that kind of stuff."

Getting people to accept things, integrating people without a peep from the general populace, etc.

[kolodnoykovki]

"I don't know if she's gonna get me new papers or get in touch with the orphanage in New York, but... she's letting me stay. I... uh." He took a breath and glanced over, feeling a little guilty. "I'm sorry if we're... You know, if it's too much for you. If it starts being too much, I'll find another place. I was doing okay on my own."

And he really didn't want to push anybody, make them feel like he was there for no good reason.

[stands_for_hope]

Clark blinked again, clearly flummoxed, and then he let out a laugh and let his cat drop as he scooped up Bucky in a quick hug. He pulled back almost as quick, lips pulled up in a bright smile and eyes practically glowing.

"Are you kidding? This is great. You and Steve... you're being totally cool. And having a friend who understands? This is awesome."

He bounced on the toes of his feet, up and down a few times.

"Besides... I haven't seen Ma this happy for a while either." He settled a little at that. "Ever since Dad died. But today, she seemed a lot better."

[kolodnoykovki]

Clark's smile helped a lot. He'd been worried that there would be... something. Resentment that he was taking some of his mom's attention, or that he was going to be losing some space in the house or... something. But he was relived with what Clark said and was finally able to smile again. "I'm glad. I know it's... it's rough, losing people. I'm..."

Bucky shrugged slowly. "It's been four years for me and I still miss 'em, even when I don't remember 'em as good as I used to. And Steve lost his dad, too. Losses stick with you, but it eases off eventually."

[stands_for_hope]

"We lost Pa last year," he said, and some of the solemness that seemed to make up Clark's general demeanor came back, "he had a heart attack. There wasn't anything I-- we could do. He died before they even got here."

He swallowed a little.

"I'm sorry you lost your folks but... it's... not bad, knowing you understand at least."

[kolodnoykovki]

"You ever need to just... sit, you come find me. I know how it is sometimes. Just being around somebody helps sometimes." It had helped him, sitting with Steve, not even talking. Just being there, with somebody who cared.

[stands_for_hope]

He shrugged.

"I'll keep it in mind. I usually... go places. But maybe doing it with a friend will be nicer."

[kolodnoykovki]

"Stevie'll go, too. He's really great at art." He hadn't mentioned that yet. "He draws almost all the time, in the edges of his notebooks and things - and he's really, really good. He wants to go to art school someday." And he was the star that so much of Bucky's life orbited around. He'd move heaven and hell to see to it that Steve had what he needed, no matter what it was, from art supplies to medicine to company to being left alone.