"Do you ever get tired?" Peter asked, leaning over and resting his hands on his knees. The group decided to go on a run this morning; Wanda knew better than to agree to go on a run with Natasha and Clint; Fern was fine with the run; Peter, on the other hand, felt like he wasn't able to breathe. "Like, holy crap. I thought I got tired after swinging through the city sometimes; this is torture."
"You haven't seen torture yet," Natasha laughed, patting the young boy on his back. "Fight training his next."
"I should have stayed home," Peter sighed as the group walked into the house to be greeted by a smiling Wanda.
"I warned you, I only run with Nat once a week, and she takes it easy on me," Wanda laughed, holding a glass of water out to Peter. "Do you want to work on our powers together, Fern? I would love to see more of what you can do." The witch offered with a large grin.
"Sure, I think it'll be fun to see what you can do as well." Fern chuckled. "Don't beat Peter up too much, guys; I don't want to explain to Tony why he has nightmares about the two of you." Natasha and Clint both glared at the girl and continued the conversation they were having. Fern shook her head and gestured to the door; Wanda nodded and followed her friend outside.
"Where do you want to start?" Fern questioned, kicking off her running shoes on the small porch before stepping into the damp soil.
"Where you want, I've seen you manipulate plants; what else can you do?" Wanda followed Fern as she began to walk into the forest.
"I can repair plants and make them grow with only a small scrap of the plant," Fern explained, picking a small leaf from an Oak tree. Wanda watched as the leaf grew and turned into a small sapling before returning to its original state. "I'm stronger when I can touch the ground."
"That's amazing, so you could have a dried plant, and you'd be able to make it grow. You must know a lot about healing herbs and uses for many different plants," Wanda said in amazement as they continued walking down a small trail.
"Indeed, the knowledge I've learned from reading and the animals has come in handy many times," Fern stopped looking up to the trees and let out a whistle while holding her arm out. A bird cried from the treetops and swooped down to rest on Fern's arm. "Sam doesn't know it yet, but this guy here needs a job. Falcons are very active birds and can grow bored. This one was kicked out of his nest at a young age, and I've been taking care of him since; I think he and Sam will get along well." Fern smiled, throwing her arm out for the Falcon to take flight.
"I've read they're loyal creatures. Do you think he's going to trust Sam?" Wanda questioned.
"Of course, Sam going to have to do something foolish to lose that Falcon's trust." Fern chuckled, watching the bird glide around the area.
"First Clint, then Bucky, and now Sam. Who else are you going to find animals for?" Wanda laughed.
"Whoever I see fit. But I've only found these animal homes. Clint's Hawk is blind in one eye, so he needed to go somewhere he would be cared for. And I did not give Ryker to Bucky, Ryker picked Bucky over me, and I'm still mad about it. But they need each other." Fern shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Anyways, powers, let me show you the cool stuff."
"There's more," Wanda smirked in amusement.
"Just watch," Fern held her hands out in front of her, pointed at a fallen tree. Her hands glow a faint green as the tree begins to lift into the air and move onto a pile of logs. Fern bit the inside of her cheek, digging her feet into the ground before moving her hands outward; the ground in front of her opened up, leaving a large crevasse.
"That was a lot more than I thought you could do," Wanda commented, walking along the crevasse. "You can move the earth; I thought it was only plants."
"Well, realistically, it is just plants, but seeing as plant roots are running through the ground, I can move the ground as I please," Fern explained, using her powers to close the crevasse. "Making large holes in the ground is something I'm still working at."
"So, how can you lift a fallen tree without touching it?"
"I didn't spend enough time with Hydra to ever have most of these questions answered. But I think because it's plant matter and if I focus hard enough. Hydra was a little more focused on the Thunderbird than me most days." Fern sighed, sitting down on the pile of logs she had created over the last few days.
"Well, it seems you've got great control over them, but we all struggle on our good days." Wanda smiled, using her powers to lift a few fallen trees onto the pile that Fern had created. "These trees look like they were broken, but this isn't where the fight with Thor happened."
"This is where the quinjet went down. When I can't sleep, I come out here and work on cleaning all of it. Once I've got everything cleaned up, I can regrow some of the plants before letting them take their natural course. I like to add different flowers and different plants that weren't in the area before. Then, I try to give the animals some that they would like." Fern smiled, pointing over to the remainder of the quinjet that had yet to be removed from the area.
"It sounds like you've been cleaning the mess that we should have been cleaning," Wanda sighed, taking a seat next to Fern. "Why didn't you ask for our help?"
"Every time something like this happens, trees fall in a storm, the Thunderbird shoots down a plane, a fire, I fix the mess. I'm used to doing it on my own." Fern shrugged, taking the small oak leaf from before out of her pocket. She used her powers to turn the leaf into a sapling before digging a small hole with her hand and resting the tree in the spot. Fern happily filled the hole in and smiled.
"Well, you aren't alone anymore. We're a family, and you're part of it." Wanda smiled, resting her hand on Fern's shoulder.
"A family, I haven't been a part of one of those in a long time." Fern chuckled. It felt nice to be a part of something, but being told she was now part of their family filled a large hole in Fern's heart.