Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 36

"Doll," Bucky called into Fern's room as he entered. He sighed, hearing the shower running, biting his lip. Bucky moved the desk and quickly wrote out a note and placed it on Fern's pillow before leaving the room to find Natasha. Unsurprisingly he found her in the gym, flipping Wanda onto her back.

"If you grab her legs when she flips you and twist, you'll be able to overpower her," Bucky suggested, helping Wanda to her feet.

"If Nat let me use my powers, I wouldn't have to do that," Wanda huffed, going to take a drink of water.

"You need to know how to fight without your powers," Natasha rolled her eyes, "What are you doing in here, Barnes? I'm not supposed to beat your ass until tomorrow."

"I agree with her, Wanda; you need to be able to fight without those witchy powers of yours. But, why I'm here is I need your help. It's time I ask Fern to my girl, and well, I'm a little out of practice with the whole dating world," Bucky hesitated, wondering if asking Natasha and Wanda for help was honestly a good idea or not.

"So what do you need help with exactly? Fern is going to love whatever you do, and she seems pretty happy after whatever happened between you two last night," Wanda asked.

"Though you did piss her off this morning, so are you sure you don't want to wait until you're sure she isn't mad at you?" Natasha added.

"I already sort of left her a note asking for her to meet me tonight. So, yes, I'm sure. I just need your help to keep Fern away from the gazebo by the lake and to pick her out something to wear," Bucky explained. "I shouldn't ask you to help pick out her outfit because I know how you are, but she sees you as the older sisters she always wanted."

"I think we can do that. What do you have planned?" Wanda smirked, exchanging glances with Natasha.

"A dance in the moonlight. And dinner." The girls giggled at his words, "I'm old school. What more do you want from me?" Bucky sighed, giving the pair a light-hearted glare.

"Honestly, nothing. We'll handle Fern. Good luck, lover boy." Natasha patted Bucky on the shoulder as she and Wanda walked past him and out of the gym.

Bucky took a deep breath, hoping he made the right decision in asking those two for help. Now he had to go and find Sam and Steve; he might also ask Vision for some help. "Sam," Bucky called while walking into the kitchen; he wasn't shocked to find Steve with him as well. "I need your help."

"Are you asking or demanding?" Sam smirked. Bucky glared at his friend and looked at Steve.

"Don't look at me; you left me there! I had to dig myself out before Vision finally came out and helped," Steve laughed, backing away from his best friend.

"Do you really want to go into people leaving each other? Because I think my argument would win, Steve," Bucky gave Steve a dull look. "Can you two help me, please? I just need help setting a few things up." He sighed, running a hand through his short hair. It was strange not having his shoulder-length hair, but so much more convenient.

"What for?" Sam asked.

"I'm going to ask Fern to be my girl, officially." Bucky smiled.

"Only because I love you two together so much, and I believe that you should name your first son after me." Sam grinned, slapping his hand on Bucky's shoulder.

"Excuse you? Bucky's going to name his first son after me." Steve scoffed, glaring at Sam. The pair began to bicker as Bucky turned to venture into the lab to find Tony for some help as well.

"Stark," Bucky walked into the lab, finding Tony working on Fern's suit. Tony continued his work, ignoring Bucky's presence in his lab. "It's about Fern."

"What about Fern? Heard she learned about yours and Rogers bet, wasn't too pleased," Tony smirked, stopping his work to look at Bucky.

"I'm going to ask Fern to be my girl, officially, and I'd like to give her a gift." Bucky rolled his eyes at Tony's shit-eating grin. Bucky pulled at the chain around his neck, "I want to give her these, but I feel like she wouldn't like them."

Tony's expression changed, he sighed, taking a step closer to Bucky, "I'm going to be straight with you, Metallica; she's going to love anything you give her. Fern loves and trusts you more than anyone else, so you could give her a dead rose, and she'd love it." Tony looked at the slightly rusted metal Bucky held in his hand. "As a matter of fact, give her a dead flower; she'll bring it back to life and keep it that way."

"You really have a way with words, don't you Stark?" Bucky shook his head at Tony's sarcastic comments.

"I know, it's a gift. But if it means that much to you, I can give them a polish and define the lettering." Tony held his hand out to the super-soldier. "Don't act like you trust me any less than you already do. That girl's heart is at stake here." Bucky bit his lip and slipped the chain over his head, and hesitantly gave it to Tony.

"Stop overthinking this; you'll only mess it up if you keep it up." Tony waved Bucky from the lab, and the soldier left to go and find his friends.

Bucky walked down the hall, looking at the ground as he went; he wouldn't have realized that he nearly knocked Pepper to the ground had she not yelped in time for Bucky to catch her arm and keep her from falling. "I am so sorry, Pepper; I wasn't paying attention to where I was going," Bucky yelled out as she steadied herself.

"It's okay, James, we all have those types of days," Pepper smiled at him as she fixed her skirt. "Penny, for your thoughts?" She could see that Bucky was on edge, and it was evident that it was multiple things.

"I'm trying to figure out the best way to ask Fern to be my girl, officially, you know? I think she's the only girl in the world that wouldn't want flowers, and I don't know how to set it up. I want to take her to the gazebo by the lake because I think she'd really like it." Bucky sighed. He was proud of himself for opening up to someone who wasn't Steve, Sam, Fern, Natasha, or Wanda.

"Do what your heart tells you to, James. She'll love anything that you do. But why don't you hang lights around it and set up a table, have a nice dinner? I can have something special made for the two of you." Pepper smiled at how open and nervous Bucky was; she's never seen him like that before, only since Fern came into their lives. The girl has changed a few people around the Avengers Compound, and truthfully it was a good change. Pepper hasn't seen Tony care for someone the way he cares for Fern since he first met Peter; Pepper's not sure what it is, but Tony seems to like taking in kids or younger adults who need some help. She's not entirely sure where that comes from.

"That's a good idea. My only idea was dancing in the moonlight," Bucky chuckled, "Thank you, Pepper."

"You're welcome, James. There should be boxes for lights on the back lawn; the decorators are still taking them down right now. So they won't miss one or two when they put them into storage." Pepper gave Bucky one last smile as she began walking to her office.

Bucky grinned to himself, going to find Sam and Steve quickly before he would get the lights. The pair wasn't hard to find as they were still where he left them, in the kitchen bickering over who Bucky would name his first son after. Bucky rolled his eyes, watching the pair for a moment, "Who said I was going to name my kid after either of you? And you two better help me get the girl before you continue this conversation any longer." Bucky mocked the pair.

"What's your plan?" The pair asked in unison. Bucky waved for them to follow him as he turned to leave the kitchen and made his way to the lawn. He checked several boxes before finding one that was labeled lights on the side and picked it up.

"I need one of those tables and two chairs," Bucky pointed to the folded tables and chairs in piles as he started walking across the lawn and towards the lake. Steve and Sam shared the look before grabbing Bucky's items and following the super-soldier.

"Buck, what's all of this for exactly? I thought you needed our help coming up with a plan," Steve began, "Seems like you already have one, so care to clue us in?" Steve was shocked that he had to jog to keep up with Bucky's quick pace; he wasn't sure when the last time he saw his friend this determined was.

"I just need help setting up; Pepper actually helped me while the two of you were arguing like a pair of punks," Bucky chuckled as he slowed his pace once he reached the gazebo. He smiled, envisioning how it was going to look.