Safe Haven | B. Barnes

verdict

What felt like hours passed, with each tick the clock made, Bucky felt like he was getting closer and closer to damnation. His heart slowed to the rhythm of the quiet clock, his mind buzzing. His neck refused to turn around, maybe he was scared of what he might see. Steve's worried face, Tony's seeming indifference, Sam's nervousness.

Blue eyes darted to his left where a plethora of cameras and reporters stood by, anxious for the answer like he was.

Finally, in a heart stopping moment, Ms. Brown, the prosecutor, and Judge Jacobs came out of the room.

"All rise," the bailiff croaked again and everyone stood.

Judge Jacobs merely waved his hand as he climbed behind the bench and sat down. "Verdict has been reached," fingers curled around the gavel and around Bucky's chest. The gavel was raised, "Defendant declared guilty on the charge of being a fugitive from the law. Sentence, permanent ban on international travel, temporary ban on interstate travel, defendant is required to report location to local government and defendant is not to use or own any fire weapon. Defendant must also stay within a single state of his choosing until interstate ban is lifted. Mr. Barnes, you can shorten your sentence by seeking therapy and reporting so to your lawyer." The gavel banged once, the sound loud and solid, solidifying his verdict.

Bucky bit back a sigh and closed his eyes. Could the judge do that? Sentence him to something this merciful?

The room buzzed to life with chatter and rustling. A gentle hand was laid on his shoulder, "Congratulations, Mr. Barnes," Ms. Brown smiled gently, "Be sure you pick where you're going to stay by tonight. Mr. Stark arranged for a plane to take you there by morning."

Bucky smiled a grateful smile and nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Brown, for everything."

"You're welcome."

----------

Marge let out a holler and clapped her occupied hands together as soon as the gavel it the rest. Mr. Barnes was going to be a free man! Well, not exactly free free but compared to his sins, this was almost too good to be true.

Movement caught her eye, sure enough all but one of her kids were coming back. Her eyed widened as she looked out the window, up at the clock and to the kitchen. Shoot. Today was early dismissal. With a solid smack on the head, Marge turned off the TV and rushed to the kitchen to finish cooking.

The door opened, and all but one came rushing in, a flurry of backpacks and shoes going everywhere before the children themselves dispersed in the house.

"Boys! Girls! Come down and help me set up the table for lunch!" Marge hollered as she began serving the food.

A sombering feeling settled over her as she set the last plate back down on the counter, out of habit she picked it up to serve a dish. The back shed had been quiet, unusually quiet. The only person to ever use it was gone. Elliot was displaced from Safe Haven and was put in a boys home in the town.

The somber feeling was mixed with guilt and a twinge of disgust. Apparently, Nate was spinning a story to answer for Angie's arm. According to him, Nate got so angry that he went outside to the shed to cool off when Angie followed him out and in his blind rage he grabbed her arm to throw her out where she fell and one of Elliot's engine parts landed on her arm. Marge had no clue what was being done behind her back, Nate told this story to Elliot, the king of narratives and evasion, to get some feedback in case the social worker came. After that, Elliot beat Nate to the story telling and thus his displacement from Safe Haven.

Marge quietly set the dishes down as the kids around her set the rest of the table. Marge didn't know about any of this until the social worker came with an officer to inform her of the situation. The woman was still processing the information when they brought Elliot to the car and took him away from them.

That night she forced her kids to fess up only for Nate to admit what happened. When she asked him why, he simply shrugged and said, "Mr. Barnes deserves a second chance. It wouldn't have done any good for him to get into more trouble, besides, Elliot has been wanting to leave Safe Haven for a while."

Marge sat down at the dinner table, Nate sitting down next across from her. Mr. Barnes was in a lot of debt to this home.

Angie moved silently behind him on her way to her own seat, Morgan chatting up a storm in the one sided conversation right behind her. As Angie situated herself in her seat, Marge's eyes darted down to her arm. With just a few, small spots of bruising, Angie's hand had healed for the most part.

Marge glanced at Nate, who was engrossed in a conversation with Louie, before digging into her own meal. Before Marge could swallow a bite, the phone rang and the conversations in the room stilled. Wiping her mouth and hands, Marge stood and went to answer.

"Hello?" Marge greeted.

"Hey, Marge, did you hear?" Sam's voice came from the other side of the line.

Marge smiled, "Yes, I saw it myself. Congratulate Mr. Barnes for me, will ya?"

A small chuckle was heard from the other side, "Of course. Hey, how are things with the home? Is Elliot alright?"

Before Marge could answer, a hand tugged on her shirt. "Yes, last I heard, he's doing fine. Is Mr. Barnes there? He's got someone that wants to talk to him," Marge smiled gently at the big, brown eyes that were hopeful.

"Yeah, gimme a sec. Barnes!"

As Sam got Mr. Barnes on the phone, Marge handed her's to Angie who took it eagerly. Soon, a brillaint smile overtook Angie's face, a rare sight in and of itself, as she began an animated conversation with Mr. Barnes on the other side of the line.

Marge was heading back to the table when a pile of mail caught her eye on the coffee table. One of the kids must've brought it in on the way home. She reminded herself to go through it later when the top letter caught her eye. It was different from the rest, small, bright yellow and unprofessional. She picked it up and read the name.

In neat handwriting the return address was from none other than Ms. Diane Ramsay.

----------
Phew. What a lot. I was so excited for this chapter. Thank you guys for hanging in there! I hope you like it!

Thanks and see ya next update.