Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 37

Fern sighed, sitting on her bed, Bucky's oversized black shirt covering her body and hair up in a towel to dry. She looked at the note that had been resting on her pillow when she came out of the bathroom, Bucky's messy cursive scribbled on the paper, asking for her to meet him later tonight. Fern debated giving Bucky the silent treatment and ignoring his request for agreeing to such an idiotic bet with Steve, but she knew better; it wasn't like they managed to pull it off, thankfully.

"Fern!" Wanda exclaimed as she and Natasha burst into the room. Fern blankly looked up at them, not shocked that they walked in without knocking. The pair were the sisters that she always wanted, which came with both loving and annoying things.

"I take it you're here because of this," Fern waved the note in the air.

"Yes, we are. But we're also here because it's time to train. So please come and let me kick your ass for a couple of hours," Natasha grinned, taking Fern's hand in hers.

"Can I get dressed properly first?" Fern laughed as she motioned to her half-naked self.

Natasha huffed and released Fern's hand from her grasp. "The faster you change, the faster training finishes, the faster you can have your date with Bucky." Wanda pushed Fern to her closet using her powers.

"You act like we're going to train for over ten hours non-stop, girls," Fern rolled her eyes, finding a set of athletic wear to change into. "My date with Bucky isn't until sunset. That's when he told me to meet him." She walked out of the closet, adjusting her top as she did; she looked up at the pair with had devilish smirks on their faces.

Fern's face dropped, and a look of pure sadness and fear covered her face as she sighed, "You two are going to treat me like a Barbie doll again, aren't you?" The continued smirk as the pair pulled Fern from her room, telling her precisely what she needed to know.

Ω

"Fern," Tony walked into the training room, gaining the attention of the trio on the floor. He paused, debating if he should question the tangled mess the trio was in. "I'm going to pick my battles and not ask. Fern, I was hoping you could come and try your suit for me. I think it's battle-ready after we make sure you're comfortable in it."

"I don't think I'll be in battle any time soon, Tony," Fern grunted as she fought her way out from between Wanda and Natasha. "But please, anything to get a break from these two for a few minutes."

"You've got an hour! We're going to work on your powers after that!" Wanda shouted after Fern as she pushed Natasha off of her. "What have you been eating? I swear you're lighter than this."

The Sokovian took a deep breath; Natasha let out an insulting gasp as she pulled Wanda into a chokehold. "You better take that back," Natasha warned her.

Ω

"So, if you don't like it, we'll call it to prototype six and scrap it," Tony stated as Fern zipped up the front of her suit and began to move around the lab. "What do you think?"

Fern pulled at the fabric, amazed at how well it stretched but continued to be form-fitted to her body. "It's great. I don't feel heavy, nor do I feel like I'd end up too hot or cold. I can't wait to test it out in the field a little; how my powers work with it will be the question." Fern smiled.

"Well, let's take a step outside and–"

"Stark, did you finish–" Bucky walked into the lab, cutting himself off as he noticed Fern standing in front of him. "Doll." He greeted, not expecting her to be there; he wanted to hunt down Natasha and Wanda for not letting him know that she wasn't with them any longer.

"Hey, Buck," Fern weakly smiled. After leaving him and Steve stranded in the ground after yelling at them earlier, she wasn't sure what to say to him.

"The suit looks good. Anyways, Stark, did you finish what I brought you?" Bucky was nervous about Fern finding out what he was doing. He glanced at her standing in her suit, and he couldn't believe how good she looked in it.

"On my desk, wrapped up all nice and pretty," Tony motioned to the desk on the other side of the room, continuing to look over the data that he was getting from Fern wearing her suit. "We really should do some testing with your powers before I deem it finished."

"You'll have to try the front lawn; they're still picking up the back one after last night's party," Bucky mentioned; he didn't want Fern anywhere near the back lawn until later. "Thanks, Stark." Bucky picked up the small silver box and opened it to look at Tony's work; he was impressed, to say the least.

"No problem Metalica, I will be calling in a favor whenever I find one. So we're even, you know?" Tony smirked. Bucky rolled his eyes, taking another glance at Fern before walking out of the door.

"We're okay, right? Bucky and I? You don't think there's anything wrong, right?" Fern asked Tony; she was shocked that Bucky had left the lab without speaking more than five words to her. Let alone without kissing her on the cheek, that was Bucky's thing, to kiss her and go running out of the room.

"You tell me, but if you want me to be honest, no, I don't think that there's anything wrong, Fern. Barnes is different, he can be extremely closed off and secretive, but it's usually for a good reason." Tony began walking to the lab door, motioning for Fern to follow him. "You have a date with him tonight, don't you? So why are you worried?"

Fern sighed, wringing her hands together as she followed Tony out to the front lawn of the compound. She loved Bucky with all her heart, but she hated the thought of something wrong between them because she got mad at him for trying to do something stupid. "Alright, kiddo, let's test your suit out." Tony broke Fern from her thoughts. "Tap your toes to the ground to retract the boot and put them back into place."

Fern nodded before tapping her toes to the ground and feeling the boots of her suit disappear. "Where do they go? And it works well; I'll be able to jump into action quickly like that."

"Nanotech, nothing too fancy," Tony shrugged, watching the data show up on his screen. "Try using your powers; let's see how the suit holds up in the long run."

Fern smiled, digging her toes into the ground, loving the feeling of the grass and dirt against her feet. She slowly lifted her hands, raising the earth beneath her and levitating her in the air. She turned to use her powers to make the trees around the compound move and grow, the flowers following suit growing to unnatural sizes. "Alright, kiddo, tone it back a bit; I don't exactly want a jungle around here." Fern laughed at Tony's comment, reverting the plants to their natural state, and set herself back on the ground.

"How was that?" Fern smiled.

Tony stared at her for a moment, trying to figure out how he would put his words. "Well, I didn't think I'd ever get readings like that. Can you do that thing where you open up the ground? For science." Tony was shocked at the readings he was getting.

Fern tilted her head confused but opened a ten-foot hole in the ground and closed it back up a few moments later. "Let me guess, off the charts?"

"I seriously think you could cause earthquakes. How exactly do you open a hole in the ground?"

"The ground is full of plants, so I can open holes and move the ground however I feel; it's the hardest thing I do, though." Fern explained.

"Well, seeing as you can lift yourself into the air with a little bit of dirt and grass, I'd say you have it under control," Tony laughed, throwing an arm around Fern's shoulders. "I'm going to go stare at all of this data with Banner; you have a date to go get ready for. Knock 'em dead, kiddo." He pushed Fern ahead of him, seeing Natasha and Wanda waiting on the steps for her. Tony couldn't wait to get into the lab and look at the footage and data; he couldn't believe it when watching it happen right in front of him; he was going to need a while to understand it fully.