Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 23

"I feel like this trip was all too short," Peter yawned the following day.

"You can come back whenever you want, Peter, but now that you've all seen my world, I want to see yours," Fern smiled, giving the younger boy a side hug.

"Are you excited? You've never been to a big city before, right?" Wanda asked, taking a bite from her toast. "Oh my goodness, you've never really been shopping before, have you? I can't wait to take you shopping." The witch began to bounce in excitement.

"I do most of my shopping online, which isn't often. I haven't been to the city since I was little. The last time I remember going anywhere was after Hydra and Shield came in to assess what happened. I was only in D.C. for about five hours." Fern sighed, taking a seat next to Clint.

"I remember that; I was running through the building screaming your name. I was pissed that I wasn't informed the second they even showed up here," Clint chuckled, "I'm pretty sure I almost got fired that day."

"Why does that sound familiar?" Natasha asked from her place at the stove.

"I shot a bunch of agents who wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know. Fury showed up finally, and I damn near shot him as well." Clint smirked, patting his hand on Fern's shoulder. "I'd do anything for this kid."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. You're the dad I always needed." Fern rolled her eyes, poking Clint in the side with her fingers.

"Damn straight." Clint proudly smiled.

"Mr. Stark and the Avengers are landing," Friday said over the communication system.

"Why did they have to come so early?" Peter groaned, his head resting on his arms on the kitchen island. Fern laughed at the poor kid; two days wasn't enough to explore the forest, she knew from experience. Peter spent most of his time here swinging through the trees and trying to interact with the animals. Fern promised that the next time he was there, she'd let him get some hands-on time with some of the animals.

"If you didn't have school and an Aunt that would kill us both if you weren't home today, I'd let you stay, kid," Tony chuckled, walking into the house.

"Ugh, I forgot about school. I didn't do my science project." Peter slammed his head into the island a couple of times. "Wait, Fern, are you bringing Elder with you? Can I borrow him for like two hours tomorrow? You can come."

"I don't see why not, as long as I can come." Fern shook her head at the teen. "We can talk more about it on the jet." Peter jumped with joy hugging her, before running off to his room talking to himself.

"So, you ready to explore the world?" Tony grinned, taking Peter's seat.

"I don't think the world is going to happen just yet, but New York." Fern grinned. Fern didn't get much time to react when arms wrapped around her waist, lifting her into the air. She squealed and kicked her feet. "Put me down!"

"Never!" Bucky exclaimed, running through the house and to Fern's room before setting the girl down. Fern was only on her feet for a short few seconds, which were only long enough for her to turn around and be scooped up in Bucky's arms once again. "I missed you so much, doll."

Fern smiled into Bucky's chest, hugging Bucky back as hard as she could. "I missed you too, Buck." A whine came from next to their feet, and Fern pulled away from Bucky to hug Ryker. "I missed you too Ryk, did you have fun?" Ryker gave a loud howl in response.

"When we got into the area, he started pacing around the jet," Bucky chuckled, taking a seat on Fern's bed. "So, how did it go here? Everything smooth aside from the breach?"

"Everything was fine," Fern smiled, noticing a small cut on Ryker's shoulder. "What's this?"

Bucky went to answer, but Ryker whined as Fern grazed her fingers over it. "You were shot? Of course, you were shot." Fern shook her head, letting out a large sigh. Ryker licked her face and rested his head in her lap. "Oh, you weren't the only one huh, do I need to ask?" She turned to Bucky raising her brow at him.

"You didn't expect me to tell you all of the details from the mission, did you? I didn't want you to worry. Plus, he was only grazed by the bullet. I had to have Bruce pull two out of me," Bucky glared at the wolf, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I swear, I don't know which of you I want to hit more. But you're both alive, so that's all I can ask for." Fern weakly smiled at her boys. Her boys, Fern, liked the sound of that. "Come on; we've got a visitor." Fern stood quickly and walked out of the house with everyone behind her.

The Thunderbird came down from its nest on the mountain, landing next to the quinjet. The Avengers stood in front of her, giving silent nods to the giant beast; the Thunderbird bowed her head to them as a greeting. "I thought that I would see you off."

"That's very kind of you," Fern giggled, looking at everyone's shocked faces. "I think most of them are still scared of you." Fern felt Bucky's hand rest just above her hip; she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He was smiling at the Thunderbird.

"Mr. Barnes. I trust that you'll take care of Fern. She's extraordinary and important to this forest." The group was shocked the Thunderbird spoke to someone other than Fern. Fern was surprised as well, not knowing that the Thunderbird could communicate with the others.

"I'll protect her with my life," Bucky declared. Fern could feel the heat creeping its way onto her cheeks; this situation felt like one she had read about. Bucky was seemingly asking the Thunderbird for permission to take Fern out on a date, and the Thunderbird was Fern's guardian.

"I expect that you all do the same." Fern looked to her friends as they all shuttered out replies. "I have a gift for you. Hopefully, you'll find a use for it." The Thunderbird looked to the forest, and the bull Elk walked up to Fern; what looked to be a gold wreath hung from its antler. It bowed its head down for Fern to remove the object.

"It's beautiful," Fern gasped. Upon examination, it wasn't a wreath but a type of headdress, simple and almost crown-like.

"I hope that you'll enjoy it. Have fun on your adventure, and don't feel the need to race back." The Thunderbird took flight leaving Fern to be with her friends.

"That happened, didn't it?" Fern turned to Bucky; she could feel tears prick at her eyes, and a smile spread across her face.

"Yes, it did." Bucky smiled, taking the crown from Fern's hands to place it atop her head.