"Thank you, I'll be sure to check the area more often," Fern said, looking at a clipboard that was handed to her. It held a map that marked how the hunters entered the area.
"We've closed it up and are making sure to place more signs around. My men will be around checking for any more breaks in the border for the next couple of days. I want to be sure that this doesn't happen again." Fury explained, resting another paper onto the clipboard. "A message from Stark."
Fern glanced over the paper before handing it back to Fury. "Do whatever; Tony's taken a quick interest in this place."
"Does that worry you? You know how Stark can be; I've warned you before." Fury sighed.
"No, and I'm sure that Tony knows that if he does anything to piss me off, the Thunderbird will be after him," Fern smirked, handing the clipboard to Fury and glancing over her shoulder at Clint and Natasha talking amongst themselves. "Is there anything I should be worried about with the Avengers being here? My history with organizations isn't exactly great. Do I need to worry at all? Because I have taken a liking to them."
"No, I would have pulled them out of here the second Barton told me what happened. It sounds like you handled Thor on your own. You've taken a liking to Barnes, I've heard as well." Fury commented. "I know you can handle yourself and have good judgment. You've made it this long. This is all on you; I'm only here to handle this kind of shit. Your world, your rules."
Fern snorted, "Thunderbird's world, its rules. I just enforce them. I'll be going to New York with the team when they leave. Tony invited me to his party. If your men are still going to be around at that time, make sure I know. I'll tell the Thunderbird not to kill them."
"Got it. I'll be taking my leave now. Good seeing you again, Fern." Fury got into his SUV, giving Fern a wave before pulling away from the house, followed by half a dozen other SUVs.
"Looks like the two of you had an interesting conversation," Clint noted as Fern walked over to join him and Natasha. "Anything that we need to worry about?"
"Some of Fury's men are going to be checking the border for the next couple of days. Nothing we need to worry about. Stark wants to put in cameras around the area in case this happens again. I told Fury to do it, make Tony happy, and then I don't have to hear about it later." Fern rolled her eyes as the trio walked into the house, meeting Peter and Wanda in the kitchen.
"Sounds like Tony is trying to take my role as your adoptive father," Clint grunted.
"He's getting pretty close to it too. Making a suit, made the A.I. in the house, work again, putting cameras everywhere to ensure the forest is safe. I think he's doing a pretty good job." Fern taunted, shoving lightly at Clint's shoulder. "You know the role belongs to you; he's the cool uncle that everyone is a little freaked out by but loves."
"It's getting late, and we've had a long day," Natasha said, looking between Wanda and Fern, winking at both of them.
"I'm beat if you ask me. Something about being in this environment just makes me so tired," Wanda yawned, stretching out her arms.
"Yeah, yeah, get out of here and do your girl talk. I gotta call Laura and the kids anyway." Clint waved to the trio as he walked out of the kitchen and to his room.
"I promised to call Aunt May before it got too late." Peter smiled, following Clint down the hallway to his room.
Wanda and Natasha grinned, both grabbing Fern's hands and making their way down the hall and into Fern's room, where they jumped onto the bed. "Okay, spill, what happened after you called us the other day?" Natasha asked, grabbing one of Fern's pillows to hug her chest.
"Where do you want me to start? After our call, the lake, this morning, I mean a lot happened in the short amount of time after that call." Fern grinned at the strange feeling that bubbled in her chest. She had never had feelings for someone before; she had never had a girl talk before. But now, being able to do so made her so happy.
"All of it. Start from after you called," Wanda giggled, excited to hear her friend's story.
"Well, as soon as we were done talking, Bucky came and knocked at my door, asking me to join him for a snack in the kitchen. My panicked self agreed; I changed into a pair of leggings and a loose low-cut shirt before joining him in the kitchen for ice cream. We greeted each other, held a short conversation; I did what you said, touched his arm, batted my eyelashes, called him by his first name. I swore he was onto me, and I was in a losing battle, but he completely froze when I touched his arm. I called him James before skipping off to my room, knowing not to give him a chance to take my small victory away." Fern explained, feeling giddy remember what happened.
"To see that would have been amazing; what happened after that?" Natasha threw her head back, laughing.
"Well, that night, I had a nightmare, so Bucky and Tony both came into my room to make sure I was okay. Bucky said that my screams were the most heartbreaking he had ever heard. But that's sort of beside the point, he stayed with me all night, and he hummed to me until I fell asleep, and we talked about getting lost and drowning in each other's eyes.
"In the morning, I apologized to Tony, and then Bucky and I had breakfast. When he told me about going on this mission with Steve, he was so scared to leave. Bucky was worried that if he left, the possibility of him being happy would go away. He didn't want me to give up on him because he was going away for a few days. When I tell you that watching a hundred-year-old super-soldier cry is the most heartbreaking thing I have ever seen and heard, I mean it. After a little while, Bucky and I went to the lake for the day."
"This is a rollercoaster that I do not want to get off of anytime soon, but boy, am I ready to take a break. This is way deeper than I ever thought it was going to be; I figured there would be more flirting, but shit." Natasha sighed, leaning against Wanda lightly. "Does this get a little happier? Because if not, I feel like we're going to have to pause there for the night."
"This morning before you got here, Bucky and I were training together. I ended up under that man more times in two hours than I can count. Then when he said we could be done, I said some sarcastic comment to which he had to say in that deep sexy voice of his, he would be glad to pin me to the mats in another way and that he could teach me other things than how to fight." Fern quoted her morning escapade. "Then Bucky was worried again about leaving, and that was how my morning went."
"That's better," Wanda smirked, nodding her head.
"Miss Fern, Mr. Barnes is calling you," Friday said, causing the girls to startle. They had forgotten about the A.I. of the house.
"Thank you, Friday," Fern sighed, answering the call. "Shouldn't you be, I don't know, on a mission with Steve?"
Bucky chuckled on the other end of the call, "Thanks doll, I'm so happy to hear how much you miss me."
"How's Ryker? I do miss him. How's Steve?" Natasha and Wanda covered their mouths as they started to laugh at the conversation. Fern knew that avoiding Bucky would annoy the hell out of him, but she knew how to stay on his good side.
"Ryker's happily sleeping at Sam's feet right now. He sniffed out a guy that was going to jump Steve, saved the day the wolf did." Bucky chuckled. "How is everything there? I can hear Nat and Wanda snickering in the background. Hi girls."
"Shit, hi Bucky." The pair laughed. "We'll leave the two of you to talk." Nat winked at Fern as she and Wanda ran from the room, trying to hold back their laughs.
"They're gone now. But things are okay. We had a security breach; a group of hunters got in and set up camp on the other side of the lake. We took care of them and called Fury to handle the annoying stuff. I got the go-ahead from the Thunderbird to come to New York," Fern smiled, playing with a loose string on the blanket of her bed.
"I want the details of what happened later because it sounds like you did something badass. It's a good thing the Thunderbird is okay with you coming because I was going to drag you to the compound if I had to." Bucky laughed. "I know it's only been a few hours, but it's weird not being with you."
"I know what you mean; letting Ryker go with you was hard. I feel lonely without my shadow. You not being here to make me smile, is weird too. I'm kind of worried about going to sleep tonight," Fern sighed, glancing out of the window finding the moon sitting high in the sky.
"Thank you for letting him come; I don't know what it is, but seeing Ryker in the field, he's a completely different animal. Of course, on the scary side, but he's still Ryker," Bucky trailed off for a second, and Fern worried that something might have happened. "Why are you worried about going to sleep, doll?"
"I'm sure it won't happen, but I don't want to have another nightmare without you or Ryker being here. Clint's great, and he's like a dad to me, but I don't know if he'd make me feel as safe as the two of you do." Fern murmured, moving to lay down in her bed. She hoped that maybe she would be able to fall asleep while she and Bucky talked; perhaps then, she wouldn't have a nightmare.
"I'm sorry, doll. Do you want me to hum to you until you fall asleep?" Bucky asked.
"You don't have to. Talking to you is enough," Fern yawned. "I can't wait to drown in those blue eyes of yours again."
Bucky didn't respond as he began to hum, knowing that she was tired. Bucky was willing to do anything for Fern, and even if she wouldn't tell him what she needed, he already knew.