Chapter Text
When the Thunderbolts woke up in the morning, it had been to a particularly loud noise from Bucky's room.
This startled them all because 1- Bucky is the most silent of them all, not excluding when he has nightmares, but they never happened this early in the morning. 2- because the noise sounded a lot like a yowl from a cat, and the only other cat in the tower, which was Alpine, had been on the couch, cuddling with Ava (who stays awake somedays, when her body phases out beyond her control), when the noise came, startling the two from their cozy bubble, Alpine jumping almost a feet up before perking her ears up and padded softly towards Bucky's room.
Yelena was the first to reach his room, swiftly knocking twice on the door, asking for muted permission to enter. If Bucky was having a nightmare, then she'd barge in, but something just seemed odd that morning.
When all she heard was more yowling and things being knocked over, she yanked the door open, preparing herself to take in the scene. The other Thunderbolts members crowded behind her, Alpine snaking inbetween their legs and pouncing softly on the bundled up blanket on the bed.
"Bucky?? Where are you? Are you alright-?", Yelena started, slightly nervous as the room was empty of a Bucky, but things were still scattered on the floor.
John came up behind her, groggy and annoyed at being awoken, even though its when he usually wakes up.
"What the hell, man?? I swear if you just brought in another stray cat and you're off to see your boyfriend, y-"
Just then, the blankets under Alpine's feet rustled, a gruff meow coming from underneath it.
Bob barged in then, immediately sitting by the bed and slowly pulled the blankets away, to reveal a black tabby cat, its front white, paws having white over them too, making them look like smol socks <3
But what the team noticed most was that it had only three arms, its left arm missing from its shoulder, and its eyes were a cool, baby blue.
"What the fuck, he did get a cat, then?"
"Wait, but don't you think this cat looks a lot like.. Bucky??", Bob exclaimed, holding the cat upto the others, something that the cat disapproved of apparently, as it hissed at them, its right arm pawing at Bob where he held the cat, biting him softly as he did so. Bob quickly let go of it, the cat pouncing to its feet, a little rough since its arm was missing.
"Mr. Winter Soldier, is that you?", Alexei's voice thundered, albeit very surprised at hearing his own words come out of his mouth.
All that while, Ava was standing by the door, asessing the strange situation they were in, when suddenly something clicked.
"Hey, this cat. Doesn't it kinda stand like Bucky too? Like, look at him-! Bucky would stand slouching to his side too, and the way he's hissing at John right now...", Ava finished, staring at John who had approached the cat, earning a loud hiss and a threat to claw his hand.
"Bucky, is that actually you??", Yelena asked, her thick Russian accent spilling over at the situation.
"Mraww", the cat answered, nodding once before leaping onto the bed, pawing at Bucky's Vibranium arm, which the team only now noticed was lying at the edge of the bed.
"OH MY GODS WHAT THE FUCK"
"WHAT THE HELL??! HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE!!!"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN-!! THE WINTER SOLDIER MUST HAVE AWAKENED SOME INNER ABILITY TO TRANSFORM INTO A KITTY CAT!"
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!"
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE, ALEXEI-!!!"
"EVERYONE, SHUT UP. THERE'S GOTTA BE A REASONABLE EXPLANATION FOR ALL THIS"
"YEAH, LET'S ALL QUIET DOWN AND THINK ALRIGHT??"
"IS THIS A MASS DRUG-INDUCED HALLCINATION OR SOMETHING?"
"THERE AREN'T ANY DRUGS IN HERE BUT??"
"I QUIT ALL THOSE! DON'T FUCKING LOOK AT ME, WALKER-"
Bucky the cat sighed, shaking his tiny head to the side before meowing once again, pawing at his phone on the bedside table.
He quickly entered in his password, the Thunderbolts watching with fascination as Bucky did all that with paws.
"Are we sure we're not drugged...?", Ava whispered. Yelena just shook her head, mouth agape as the cat dialled a number and turned the phone towards them.
Bucky was calling Sam-!
"Y- you want us to talk to Sam? Explain the... situation?", Yelena asked him, to which Bucky the cat nodded, talking in 'meows' and 'mrrs', to which the Thunderbolts just stared at.
"We can't understand what you're talking about, Bucky... you're a cat-! ", John said, making Bucky side-eye him with his icy-cold eyes, narrowing as he hissed at him again.
"Look, John. Even as a cat, Bucky hates you", Ava sneered, earning a scowl from John, which cracked her up even more.
Just then, the call picked up, a slightly out-of-breath Sam answering the phone (They had called him while he was on his daily run).
"Yeah, babe? You called super early today, huh", Sam spoke, and Bucky the cat meowed sadly at the phone, scratching at the screen, as if he could physically touch Sam if he did that.
"Uh, Captain America, this is Yelena speaking...", she said, wondering how on earth she's gonna explain the situation without making Sam think she was just high and called The Captain America on his boyfriend's phone, nonetheless.
"Yelena? Is something wrong? Did something happen tp Bucky?", Sam asked, panic creeping in on his voice.
"Uh, no. Uh, wait, yes. But nothing serious. I think? Actually, it might be serious", Yelena stuttered, blanking out as Bucky stared at her unapprovingly, Alpine now beside him, who was currently licking Bucky softly, apparently realising he's her dad, Bucky.
Sam, confused to say the least, muttered a soft what the hell, before Ava grabbed the phone from Yelena.
"Actually, Captain America, I think it's best you come to the Watchtower to see the situation for yourself."