Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 26

Fern sighed, falling back onto the sofa of the event room. Most of the work had been done, the flowers looked as if they had just been cut, the vases were clean with fresh water in them, and everything was sorted. Nevertheless, Fern was drained from reviving so many flowers; it took her months to boost the regrowth of a part of the forest; even if this was only a few thousand cut flowers, it took far more out of Fern than she expected.

Fern leaned her head back and closed her eyes, taking a few deep breaths. "What can I do for you, doll?" Bucky whispered to her. Fern picked her head up to find him kneeling in front of her.

"Nothing, I just need a minute," Fern smiled as he took his hands in his.

"Why don't you tell us what to do? You've done enough," Steve said, sitting next to Fern.

"Do you honestly believe that you can arrange flowers? Of course, I'm not saying you can't, but you guys don't seem like the type of men to play with flowers. Truly, I would be shocked if you even knew a woman's favorite flower when you bought her a bunch." Fern chuckled, catching Natasha's and Wanda's glances.

"Roses, you always get them roses," Bucky rolled his eyes with a smirk.

"Oh, Bucky, I even know that Roses weren't cheap in the '40s. You only get a woman's Roses when you're trying to tell them how much you love them, but some women don't like roses. Each color also means something different," Fern smiled at the soldier, trying to hold back her laughter.

Fern stood and walked over to the tables filled with vases waiting to be filled. She picked up a stem of leatherleaf fern and snapped the stem to the length she wanted it to be. "So, what are your favorite flowers?" Bucky asked from his place on the floor.

Fern didn't answer him as she continued to place different greens into the vase. She soon started to add mass flowers, such as Lilies, Roses, and Peonies –among others– into the vase, changing out which ones she had when she didn't like the combination. Happy with how the arrangement was beginning to look, Fern moved onto her filler flowers, cornflowers, waxflower, and baby's breath, sat in buckets waiting for her to pick which she liked the most; she had many choices. Finally, Fern grabbed the waxflower, the white variant of the flower, and began filling the holes in the arrangement with it.

"It's pretty," Wanda commented as Fern took a step back to look at her work. She turned the arrangement making sure it looked excellent from all sides.

"It is," Fern sighed, chewing at her lip.

"Much better than what I ordered. You have an eye for flowers, Fern," Pepper's voice echoed into the room; the group turned to find Pepper and Tony walking towards them. "Will you be able to make the rest of them? I don't want you to tire yourself on your first day here."

"Oh, no, now that I know you like it, I can do the rest with ease," Fern smiled.

Pepper tilted her head in wonder at Fern's words. "There are well over a hundred vases to fill."

Fern laughed, placing the full vase on the table in front of Steve and Bucky before returning to the empty vases. Fern began to whistle and gracefully move around the flowers; she used her powers to lift greens into the air and changed them to the size and length needed before placing them into vases. Elder, Buzz, and Ryker came into the room and began to follow her around. Fern moved on, putting the mass flowers in the vases, and quickly followed with the fillers. Fern's little song and dance came to a stop as the last of the vases were filled; she smiled at her work.

"Well," Fern turned to look at Pepper and Tony, a shy expression on her face. "That didn't take you long now, did it?" Tony chuckled.

Pepper walked around the tables of flowers, amazed at how beautiful they were. "They're all identical, and you've managed to have plenty left over." Pepper looked up at Fern with amazement. "When everyone told me your powers were amazing, this wasn't what I was expecting. You have a talent."

"Not identical, but almost, I used different mass flowers and fillers in each of them. I thought that I could make garlands with the remaining and place them around," Fern shrugged; she was happy that Pepper was delighted with what she created.

"Once again, a talent, that is what you have," Tony stepped up to Fern, a proud smile on his lips. "I think we'll be firing those florists, Pepper; we have ours right here."

"More like a Snow White, Cinderella mix, did you see what she did? She whistles and dances around the room to play with flowers, and the animals follow her!" Sam exclaimed, trying to understand what had happened before his eyes completely.

"Well, no one likes working when it's quiet, and it wasn't much of a dance," Fern rolled her eyes.

"I thought you told me that your life wasn't a Disney movie; looks like it to me," Bucky smirked, standing in front of Fern. He held his hand out to her with a smile, "Does this mean I should be asking you to be my date to the ball tomorrow?"

Fern opened her mouth to reply and laughed. Bucky was slowly getting down onto one knee while taking her hands in his own. "Fern, for I am only a lowly commoner, would you be willing to be my date to the ball tomorrow?" Bucky proposed the tone of his voice, the way he looked at her; Fern questioned if this was his 40's side showing. She liked this side of Bucky; he seemed nervous but confident at the same time. He was far more of a gentleman than she knew most men now to be, oh to have been able to see Bucky at his best in the '40s.

"Well, for a commoner, you have the looks of a prince, so who could tell you no?" Fern giggled as Bucky swiftly stood to pull her into his arms and swing her around.

"You do know that it isn't a ball, right?" Tony interjected.

"Of course they do, but seriously she's a Disney princess, and she should be treated as such." Natasha punched Tony's shoulder and rolled her eyes. "I don't think she's ever had this much fun or felt this special in her life. Bucky's trying to make up for lost years."

"I think we can change the plans around a little. We can turn the back lawn into a dance floor and use the landing pad for seating," Pepper noted, looking at her tablet. "I'll have the team start prepping it now."

"Oh, Pepper, not you too." Tony groaned.

"Well, this was meant to be a formal event, but you didn't want it to be, so we changed the plans. So I'm changing them back," Pepper smirked at Tony leaving the room.

"I think it sounds like everyone needs to look their best tomorrow," Wanda grinned, grabbing Natasha's hand excitedly, "I have an idea for the perfect dress; I saw it the other day when I was out."

"As always, take my card. I'll be in my lab," Tony rolled his eyes, retreating from the room.