Thunders Legacy [B. Barnes] [Thunder Wolf B.2]

Chapter 1

Six Months Later

"Do you think she'll wake soon?" Bucky questioned. He sat beside Fern's bed, holding her hand tightly, watching her chest rise and fall.

"It is hard to know for sure. We can only hope that both of them wake up soon," Shuri sighed from next to him. She rested a hand on his shoulder, smiling at Bucky. "They are both strong, and you know that better than anyone else, Sergeant Barnes."

Bucky sighed, going to respond when there was a knock on the door. "My turn," Clint weakly smiled. "You know she'll kick your ass if you don't take care of yourself."

"I know, I know. I've gotta check on the baby anyways. I'm sure Ryker's sick of babysitting." Bucky chuckled, patting Clint on the shoulder with a smile. "Are you coming, Shuri?"

"Soon, I'm going to run a few more tests." She waved him off.

Bucky nodded before walking through the castle's halls, finding his way down to the stables where the baby Thunderbird was kept. He smiled at the Wakandans who were helping care for the bird as he entered and shook his head, seeing Elder and Buzz flying around the Thunderbird just out of its reach. "Can you two not tease him? You're supposed to teach him to fly. What would Fern be telling you right now?" Bucky chuckled, petting Ryker as he slept happily on a pile of hay. "And you shouldn't be napping." He pushed Ryker off of the grass. The wolf glared and snapped its jaws at him.

"Sometimes, I think you understand them," Bucky turned to Tony, walking into the area. "She would be impressed and disappointed simultaneously," Tony smirked.

"I wish I could; Fern made it all seem so easy. I guess when you can actually talk to them, it is." Bucky sighed, running his hand along the Thunderbird's back. The bird nestled its head into his neck and nipped at it gently. "Hey, just because you can't catch them doesn't mean you get to bite me." He shook his head at the bird.

"I'm shocked Shuri hasn't made you something to understand them with. Knowing her, she'd have a few different versions for you in a few days." Tony noted as he sat on a bail of hay. "How are you doing?"

"She has offered, but that's Fern's job." Bucky paused, turning to Tony. "The same as when you asked me last month. She isn't better, and she isn't worse. Shuri can't give me any answer that makes me feel better because, in her words, 'most people would have woken up by now with our technology,' but that seems to make me feel worse."

"It amazed all of us that they were still alive in the first place," Tony hesitated, picking his words as carefully as he could. He knows how upset Bucky was and still is that he wasn't there to help. Tony remembers the look on Bucky's face when they arrived in Wakanda with Fern and the Thunderbird clinging to life. If it hadn't been for Steve and Sam holding the super-soldier back, Tony was confident that Bucky would have hurt someone, and that person might have ended up being himself.

"You can't keep blaming yourself. You know that, right?" Tony sighed.

"But I can." Bucky tried to fight back. "If we hadn't met again, and I hadn't fallen in love with her so damn easily, this wouldn't be happening."

"What tells you that? That day, the Thunderbird took down the jet; we didn't try to find Fern and the Thunderbird. It happened by chance. You fell in love with her, James; you've known for a very long time that if you ever met her again, you would love her. Hydra would have attacked them again, with or without us ever showing up. There is nothing you could have done to prevent this." Tony sighed. Bucky wasn't alone in the self-blame department; Tony also blamed himself. He could have better prepared Fern and the forest as a whole for something like this. When he learned about the perimeter breach a few days before Fern left for the compound, Tony should have held off the visit until they knew it was safe. A week longer might have prevented this, but there is no knowing or changing anything that has happened. "James, you have made that girl so happy, happier than she has been in a long time. So do not blame yourself for anything because no matter what, she is happy and in love with you."

"But she isn't here right now. She isn't happy or in love with me because she's damn near dead." Bucky spat. He knew Tony was trying to help him, but Bucky didn't want help. He wanted Fern to be awake and enjoying everything that Wakanda offers, spending time with Bucky and learning about a place he can call home whenever he needs to.

"Boy, you want that girl to kick your ass," Clint's voice broke Tony and Bucky's small argument, turning their attention to him. "There's a situation."