Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 22

"I'm going to shoot that bird; I swear," Clint grumbled as he swatted Buzz away from his head. Buzz chirped and continued to flutter around Clint's head, pecking at the man's ear every so often.

"I know you're the best shot in the world, but I don't think you could hit Buzz. And you know that I would never forgive you if you did." Fern laughed and caught the hummingbird out of the air. "You need the stop pissing off the men in my life." She gave the hummingbird a stern look before letting it go. Buzz gave a chirp and zoomed quickly up to Fern's face and away to rest on Natasha's shoulder.

"I think you've upset him," Natasha giggled at Buzz, trying to hide in her hair.

"He'll get over it. Buzz hates when I grab him like that, but when he's a little shit, I sometimes have to," Fern sighed. "Buzzy, are you going to try and make me jealous? Get back over here." She held her hand out to the hummingbird, who quickly fluttered into her outstretched hand. Fern smiled, nuzzling the bird with her cheek.

"Like a mother with her child. How come you aren't like that with Elder?" Natasha questioned.

"Elder and I grew up together; I rescued Buzz. Elder's a Great Horned owl; they like to keep to themselves and aren't exactly social creatures," Fern looked to the corner of the room where Elder rested on his perch. She and the owl shared many moments in life and shared many secrets to go along with those moments. Fern didn't know what she'd do without Elder, she would have a hard time without any of her animal friends, but Elder would break her.

"Fern, can you talk to insects as well?" Peter asked, jumping onto the couch next to Wanda. He held a bowl of popcorn in his hands, happily holding it out to Wanda and Natasha.

"I can, but they don't exactly like me. Insects can be mean and spiders; honestly, you don't want to know what they say. Butterflies are like the one nice ones out there." Fern rolled her eyes, thinking about her encounters with mad insects. A group that she tries her best not to piss off.

"What type of animals are the nicest?" Clint asked, taking the bowl from Peter's hands as he sat down in a recliner.

"Well, that's a hard one. Domestic, standardly are dogs; wild animals will sound weird, but bears tend to be nice. As long as they are not hungry or just woke up from their nap, they just want to cuddle. There's plenty of animals that I've never encountered, so there may be nicer ones out there." Fern claimed, laughing at everyone's expressions. "Oh also, never go near a momma bear cubs; they don't like that at all."

"You talk about something so scary like it's nothing." Peter looked at Fern as if she was crazy.

"Anything I say about animals is crazy because people only know what science tells them. I know things that no one else does." Fern smirked. The group quickly moved into more minor conversations leaving Fern to run her finger over Buzz's tiny feathers.

"Ms. Fern, Mr. Barnes is calling you," Friday the A.I. said over the communication system.

"I'll take it in my room Friday, thank you," Fern smiled at the group and left the room with a quick nod. Elder let out a small screech and flew onto Fern's shoulder as she walked down the hallway. She entered the room to hear Bucky humming himself, only to stop when he heard her door shut.

"What's up, Buck?" Fern asked, setting Buzz on the stem of the orchid that took up most of her windowsill and placed Elder on the footboard where he liked to rest.

"I just wanted to give you a call saying that we finished our mission. I'll be there to pick you up tomorrow." Bucky said; Fern could hear how happy he was.

"Everyone okay? How's Ryker doing?" Fern asked, picking a wilted orchid bloom from the plant. Sometimes she thought about using her powers to make the flowers full of life again, but Fern knew that plants needed to take their natural course.

"Ryker's good, taking a nap on my bed. Remember how he wasn't fond of Steve before? Now I think he's come to like him. You're going to get mad, but we were under fire, and Ryker damn near got hit, but Steve jumped on top of him." Bucky explained with a deep sigh.

Fern stopped her movements and held her breath for a second, "I'm not mad, concerned but not mad. Is Steve okay?" Fern sighed, taking a seat on her bed.

"He's fine, that shield of his likes to save his ass," Bucky paused, "I'm sure Ryker out in the field is that last thing you'll ever want, but doll, I want you to know that I think he's happy out there with us. And you know that Tony and Bruce would do whatever it takes to keep this wolf kicking for you. None of us are going to let something happen to Ryker." Bucky said, trying to reassure Fern.

"I know," Fern whispered, holding a pillow to her chest.

"Doll, you've got me worried now. Do you want me to bring the jet out tonight?" Bucky proposed, worrying that Fern would scare herself into having a nightmare if she wasn't careful.

"No, I'm okay." Fern smiled, hoping that Bucky could hear it in her voice.

"Okay, but if you need me, you better call. I'll run there if I have to." Bucky chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh, I have to tell you about what happened to Sam."

"You know, he's one of your best friends; you shouldn't find bad things that happen to him funny." Fern scolded the soldier. Sam and Bucky's relationship had didn't make sense to Fern most days, but it worked. She knew that the pair wouldn't know what to do without each other. Honestly, the whole Avengers team would be lost if some weren't around, and Fern could see that from how they all acted around each other. They clung to each other even in times that they shouldn't need to.

"You're going to laugh as well, so don't even deny it." Fern could picture Bucky rolling his eyes. "Anyways, Sam wanted to see if Ryker, a wolf, would act like a normal dog at all. So he picked up a stick and waved it around in front of Ryker and threw it. Ryker snorted and slowly walked over to the stick, picked it up, and broke it in half with his mouth. Sam was horrified." Bucky laughed.

"If I'm going, to be honest with you, Buck, that wasn't nearly as funny as I was hoping it to be. Real let down." Fern commented.

"Oh, there's more– Hey, wait, give that back!" Fern tilted her head in confusion at the sounds on the other end of the call.

"Fern, baby girl. Why do you continue to talk to this loser?" Sam's voice sounded into the room, and Fern shook her head.

"Hey, Sam, and baby girl? I think Bucky might hit you for that; I'm sure he's told you and Steve all of the gossips." Fern snickered.

"He can't hit me if he can't get to me. Flight suit comes in real handy," Sam laughed; Fern could hear Bucky faintly shouting in the background.

"I bet it does, but don't forget that he knows how to pilot most aircraft, oh and that he was a sniper in the war," Fern noted, knowing that Sam did not think out his plan well. She heard Sam start to say something when the call began to break up for a moment, and there was more shouting that was easier to hear.

"I swear, I will shoot you next time. Don't take my phone if you want to talk to Fern; call her yourself next time!" Bucky shouted at Sam, causing Fern to begin laughing quite hard. The pair's bickering continued, only making her laugh more.

"I swear if I could have stopped Steve from meeting that birdbrain, I would have," Bucky grumbled to the call. Fern took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself. "Are you okay? You sound like you're breathing funny."

"I'm great," Fern held her side in pain from laughing so much. "So, how did you get him down?"

"I jumped off of the roof," Bucky said, somewhat proud of himself. Fern stopped herself from scolding the soldier, knowing that it wouldn't get her anywhere. Bucky picked up from their earlier conversation like it hadn't been interrupted. Fern smiled, laying back on her bed, happily listening to him talk. She couldn't wait to see him again.