United we stand

Extra chapter: The Experiment.

It's early in the morning when the September sunbeams blink playfully at the windowsill teasing the fox and distracting her from dragging her metal claws deeper into Bucky's lap. The clouds, not seen from the kitchen window, cut the sunlight for brief moments only to return with renewed blinding power.

"Easy, fur baguette! I'm not a trunk!" James takes the bite of the apple just before letting the next piece he cuts with a short knife fall into the opened fox mouth.

The pen name 'fur baguette' appeared from nothing, it was just the first thing he shouted at the very first training with the animal after the surgery. A successful one, of course. To Zemo's honor, he truly has a steady hand not only working at the devices but fitting the prosthesis.

James doesn't remember the name of this particular metal, but Helmut assured him it wasn't mere stainless steel but something rare like vibranium.

Ada–

Adam–

No. Zero chances to get the strange word out of the dark spots of his memory.

Is it that important? He doesn't think so.

Eating apples, and fruits, and even nuts – this is what interested him more. A fox eating anything but meat? Nonsense!

"Barely a nonsense, young man." Oeznik murmurs standing at the cooker and flavoring the stew with spices sharply, as a wizard at his alchemy desk. Bucky would have argued who's a 'young man' of the two. "Foxes are pretty clever, they prefer various foods. They need vitamins of all kinds to have fur thick enough to protect them during the winter. Besides, Latverian foxes, particularly..."

Well, 1:0 for Oeznik. James doesn't know much about foxes. There are a few animals he knows a lot about. Cats. Dogs. Mice, maybe. During his life, he has had no opportunity to get interested in animals.

"You know much... Stop it, you!" Greedy to the sweet early autumn apple, the fox jumped. She missed the apple only because Bucky has better reflexes. But she gritted her teeth around his metal wrists and hung on his arm, whining and hissing. And frightened to jump down. "Stupid fur baguette! You will break your teeth! Do you understand? Why don't you remember obvious things: this scent is not edible, do not bite it!"

James shakes his arm only to watch the animal narrow her eyes and widen...something one could call a grin if animals could smile.

Seems like the fox doesn't want to accept the fact the vibranium hand is not made for biting.

"Foxes, despite their belonging to the Vulpes group like dogs, can not be treated like dogs. They are wild, master James."

Huffing, paying more attention to not harming the fox, Bucky tries to unclench the teeth. He's afraid his pet will break teeth in less than a week. Do fox dentists exist? Do their teeth grow like crocodiles'?

"You... Know... Pretty... Much..." At the moment when he already sees the impulse of the animal to open her mouth and let his wrist out, the fox changes her mind and just tightens her grasp with a deep, loud growl. "Shucks!"

"Oh, no-no. I just know how to google things."

2:0 for Oeznik.

***

First September days have been suspiciously quiet and peaceful. Wanda visited him a couple of times after she met Vision. She said she had to be alone, to think everything over. But she didn't want to leave James alone. It was very kind of her, knowing the crisis she was going through, Bucky tried to give the support he could provide.