Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 40

Fern screamed as she fell to the ground, deep pain in her chest making her powers disappear for a moment. She watched the Thunderbird fall from the sky and crashed into the side of the mountain. Fern fought the pain and pushed herself up the mountain; she ducked under the herd of elk as they raced down the mountain. They were riddled with fear that Fern had never seen in them before. Fern had an internal battle, she wanted so badly to help the animals, but she knew that the Thunderbird had to be her priority.

"Fern!" She looked behind her, watching Thor, Wanda, and Vision land. "What can we do?"

"Go help Bucky and Loki deal with anyone who is here to hurt the Thunderbird. Thor, I need you to give me a lift to the Thunderbirds nest. She doesn't like you, but I think a little thunder power might be needed," Fern clutched her side, feeling the Thunderbird take more damage. Wanda and Vision took off, leaving Thor to pick Fern up and lift them into the air and up the mountain. "Down there, land there." Fern groaned, seeing a spot a few yards away from the nest.

Thor landed, holding Fern up as she walked to the nest, "I should wait here," Thor muttered, seeing the Thunderbird lying on the ground.

"I'll yell if I need help." Fern nodded, "Hit the sky, see how they're attacking because there's no way it's by ground." Thro gave a curt nod back before leaping into the air.

Taking a deep breath, Fern limped into the nest and knelt next to the Thunderbird, "Thunder, what happened?" She whispered, looking into the golden eyes of the Thunderbird.

"They came back. I don't know how or who, but the symbol. I remember it."

Fern caught the gaze of the Thunderbird following it to a group of dead soldiers. Hydra. Fern closed her eyes for a second, trying to control the rage that was building inside of her. "Where's your egg?" Fern whispered. The Thunderbird hissed as it raised its wing, hiding a small, newly hatched Thunderbird chick. "Oh, Thunder."

"Fern, you must find a safe place for him. Take him and go as far away as possible."

"What about you? I can't leave you here. We're in this together. You go, I go." Fern fought gently, holding her hand out to the baby Thunderbird; it carefully touched its beak to her hand. "If you die, I will, too, so I'm not leaving you."

"I know that is what you believe because you feel my pain. But that is not true, Fern. What you feel is your powers leaving you because your powers are only alive if I am, so it feels like dying."

"I don't care. Powers or no powers, I'm not leaving you. I'll have Bucky take the baby somewhere safe, and then both of us will either make it out of this, or we die protecting what we love." Fern trembled as she stood; she whistled and called out to Ryker; Fern knew he and Bucky were together. "Do you think you can fight?"

"Of course."

"Once Bucky leaves with the baby, you and I are taking to the sky. We're going to show them why they should never mess with a Thunderbird and the Avengers."

∆Ω∆

Bucky stopped firing his pistol as Ryker grabbed at his pant leg. "What's wrong, Ryk?" The wolf howled and began running. "I'll radio if I need help!" Bucky shouted to Wanda, who continued fighting behind him. He ran after Ryker, racing through the terrain without a problem; Bucky felt winded trying to keep up.

Bucky took a deep breath as he realized how close to the Thunderbird's nest he was. Ryker nudged him along, and Bucky kept climbing the mountain, soon entering the nest. Fear filled him, seeing the Thunderbird lying on the ground. "Fern?" He called out.

"Bucky," Fern sighed, running over to the super-soldier.

"Are you alright? How's the Thunderbird?" Bucky panted, pulling her into a tight hug.

"We're okay, but I need you to do something," Fern pulled away from the hug, taking Bucky's hand and leading him over to the Thunderbird. "You're going to try and fight me, but I need you to trust me and believe that this is exactly what I need you to do. I wouldn't ask anyone else to do this."

"Now you're scaring me more than I already am. Fern, you know I'm not going to– Holy shit, that's a baby." Bucky gasped, seeing the small Thunderbird.

"I need you to take the Thunderbird to Wakanda. They'll be able to keep him safe." Fern weakly smiled, petting the Thunderbird's head.

"No, I'm not leaving you. Steve and Sam–"

"I don't want Steve and Sam to do it. I need you too, Buck. You and Ryker will take the Thunderbird to Wakanda."