Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 30

Fern smiled as Ryker shook his head after pulling the collar off on him, and Elder screeched as she removed the leather strap from his leg. "I'll see you guys in a little while. Stay out of trouble," Fern warned the pair as they made their way into the compound. Wanda skipped out to the car and grinned at her friends. Fern greeted her when she noticed Bucky running out of the building; he was beelining straight for her.

"We better get moving," Fern said, sitting back in the passenger seat of the car. Natasha pulled away from the compound seconds before Bucky made it to where the car was parked. She could briefly hear him yell in anger watching him throw his arms into the air.

"You probably should have talked to him," Wanda said, leaning between the front seats from the back.

"I don't feel like it right now," Fern sighed, leaning her head back with her eyes closed.

"You're overthinking what happened," Natasha commented, "Bucky wouldn't tell your secrets to just anyone, and you don't even know what all he told T'Challa."

"He still did; that's what I'm annoyed about. You're the first people I've trusted in a long time. I mean, I was pretty much forced to trust Fury and his men; I chose to trust you." Fern looked out of the window, watching as buildings rushed past them. "I mean, you saw what Thor did, what if the Wakandan's wanted to do something similar, or do something like Hydra, even take the Thunderbird away from its home. I know that I know nothing about them, but I can't risk something like that happening."

"We understand where you're coming from. But you said it yourself; they live in a secret civilization; they're the least likely people to do something like that. They are good people Fern, Steve, and Bucky trust them with their lives; we all do." Natasha sighed as she parked the car.

"I just wish Bucky would have told me before I found out from the King. I need to get to know them before I feel safe with them." Fern mumbled, looking at the building they parked in front of. "This place looks crazy."

"No more talk about your worries. We're about to spend far too much of Tony's money and enjoy the hell out of it." Natasha smirked, climbing out of the car. Fern looked at Wanda, who smirked as well, following behind Natasha.

"Okay, but don't let me see a price tag because I will worry about it."

"Oh, we won't." Wanda grinned, grabbing Fern's hands and running into the building.

Fern gasped as they entered; she had never seen so many dresses in her life, "There's more upstairs, along with everyday clothing, lingerie, and everything a woman could ever need." Natasha said as she walked up next to her younger friends.

"Where do we start?" Fern asked. Wanda and Natasha shared a look before leading Fern over to the stairs. Natasha waved down a clerk and whispered something to them, the clerk left them, and they climbed the stairs into a level with racks and drawers full of lingerie. "I'm going to be your play doll, aren't I?"

"Yep. You've got friends who will take care of you, and whenever you require something like this, you'll have it. Bucky won't know what hit him when he sees you." Natasha chuckled; she pointed Wanda to the other side of the room and pulled Fern behind her. "Red suits you. But with your skin tone, eyes, and hair color, you're going to look damn good in anything."

∆∆

"How does this look?" Fern asked, stepping out of the dressing room holding the skirt of the dress she was wearing. She felt damn near burnt out, they had been shopping for almost three hours, and this was only the first dress she was trying on. At this point, Fern had a whole new wardrobe and a half; she was beyond overwhelmed.

"No, it doesn't suit your body style. Try on the black one." Natasha waved her off before she could fully see Fern.

"Okay," Fern sighed, turning back into the dressing room. She peeled the far too tight dress away from her body. Fern eyes the black dress that Natasha was talking about; she didn't like it already. She flipped through the dresses that were hanging around her before her eyes landed on another black dress. Covered in delicate gold lace around the skirt, around the breast was a thicker lace that reminded her of how the Thunderbird wings looked when they spread them out. Fern smiled, sliding the dress up her body and pulling the zipper up as far as she could.

"What is taking– Holy shit." Natasha gasped.

"Can you zip me up the rest of the way?" Fern asked; Wanda stood quickly, rushing over to pull at the zipper and sit back down as Fern stood on a small round pedestal in front of a set of large mirrors. "I love it."

"When I told you to try on the black one, I thought it would take you a while to find this one," Natasha chuckled, pulling out the train of the dress. "We sort of planned on you getting this one."

"I saw it was a while back and knew that you would love it." Wanda giggled.

"Well, you weren't wrong," Fern couldn't stop smiling at the joy the dress brought her. "I can picture how that crown looks with it and how my hair should look. Holy crap, this is the girliest I have ever felt." She began to laugh and turned to her friends, who pulled her into a hug. "Thank you."

"Get changed; we only have a little while longer before it's party time, and we have another stop," Natasha waved her off and then waved her hands in front of her face to try and stop herself from crying.

∆∆

"A salon?" Fern asked as her friends pulled her into the building.

"Time to get dolled up," Wanda grinned. Staff rushed over to them and pulled them apart, quickly beginning to work.

"Guys," Fern looked to her friends, a worried look plastered on her face.

"Tell them what you want. They can do anything. Trust them," Natasha told her with a laugh.

Fern bit her lip as she sat down in front of a mirror. She had never done anything to her look; she had always trimmed her hair with an old pair of scissors when it got too long. It was at the point of needing a cut, and when she thought about an amount, she wanted to chop a good foot off of her dirty blond hair that sat at the small of her back. "Take it up to the bottom of my shoulder blades. Let's add some highlights too." Fern was turned away from the mirror, and the team of hairdressers began to work on her hair.

"Someone wants to impress someone else," Wanda commented.

"Yeah, myself. I've never done anything like this, so why not? Hair grows back." Fern giggled as she was handed a nail color codex. She flipped through it and stopped at the sparkly gold; Fern grinned and told the nail artist she wanted the color. Soon she had her hair, hands, and feet all worked on at the same time.