Second Sphere

Noted

My wing wasn't completely shattered, but it was fractured. It will take time to heal, but the most irritating part was not being able to retract my wings and having to have them out all the time. Thanks to Wakanda's technology it can heal in a week. But once I received treatment it was time to head back to the states. Wakanda, understandably, wasn't thrilled with us at the moment.

Bucky is the one that came and got me in Atlanta a few days later. "Come on Birdy, we have a gift to give."

It didn't take us long to get to Louisiana and when we showed up to the dock it was bustling with activity. Bucky and I got quite a few stares. Even more so when he lifted a huge engine off the bed of a truck.

"You're welcome." He says to Sam and the other men who were now gaping at him. Bucky takes the case that I was holding and sets it where the engine used to be. "Just dropping this off. You can sign for it and we'll go." Sam stares at the case. "I called in a favor from the Wakandans."

Pipes start hissing on the boat behind us and Sarah calls for Sam. Sam tries to fix the pipe with a wrench but nothing happens so Bucky steps in. "Hi." He says to Darah as he walks past.

"Hi." She says.

"Hold on hold on, ya gotta go up." Bucky turns the wrench and the hissing stops.

I notice Sarah watching Bucky. "Hi." I introduce myself to her.

She tears her eyes away and smiles warmly. "Hi."

"Why didn't you use the metal arm?" Sam asks.

Bucky pauses looking at his arm. "Well...I don't always think of it immediately. I'm right handed. So this is the boat huh?"

"This is it." Sam smiles at me, "What do you think?"

I step carefully down into the boat from the dock. "Uh. It sure is something." I say with a light laugh and it's returned by Sam.

"It's nice." Bucky adds. "You want any help?"

Bucky shoots Sarah a flirtatious grin, "I'm Bucky."

She smiles. "Ah. Sarah."

He grins like a dork, "Sarah."

I huff and roll my eyes, forever the ladies man. I fluff out my wings, feeling a twinge of pain as I do so. I start to walk away and Bucky notices.

"Oh Birdy, come on." He calls after me. "Birdy, it's not like that."

I wave a hand in dismissal and keep walking looking for something to do. Somehow I end up among all the children running around the dock. There was the general giggles and hushed whispers from the kids and eventually one of them was brave enough to come up and ask about my wings. So that's how I spent the day, letting children play with my wings and giving small flights to them, a couple feet off the ground. It hurt with the fracture but it was worth it to see them all giggling and having fun.

At the end of the day Sam, Bucky, and myself all sat with a beer on the boat just enjoying the quiet after the day.

"Well," Bucky gets up taking a big drink. "We gotta catch our flight tomorrow. Get a hotel room for the night. Crash, you know?"

"You guys are just gonna set me up like that huh?" Sam says.

"To be fair, I did nothing except tag along." I add from my spot on the boat.

"Yeah, and I don't want to make it weird for your family." Bucky says.

"Just stay here." Sam says. "The people in this town are the most welcoming people in the world. They don't care if you wear small t-shirts or if you have six toes or giant angel wings or if your mom's your aunt."

Bucky chuckles, "Okay, I get it. I mean, you know, the people are nice."

Sam laughs. "But don't flirt with my sister. Cause if you do I'll have Carlos cut you up, feed you to the fish"

"Don't worry he won't." I say shooting them both a sweet smile, "If he does Carlos will have to get in line."

Bucky sighs, "Okay. Noted."