Thunder Wolf [B.Barnes]

Chapter 38

"You don't think this is a bit too much? I mean, look at the train of this thing," Fern sighed, spinning in the circle, looking at the red dress Natasha and Wanda placed her in. It was almost as fancy as her dress from the night before and for what she thought was to be a simple date seemed to be far more than Fern knew.

"It's perfect, trust me," Natasha grinned, fixing a strand of hair that fell from its place in Fern's pinned back curls. "Bucky won't be able to take his eyes off of you."

"Nat, you say that all of the time. You didn't see how he acted when I was in the lab with Tony; he glanced my way for half a second and hardly said anything to me," Fern looked at herself in the floor-length mirror; she wasn't sure why she was having these feelings, she knows that Bucky loves her, but it was so odd for him to act like that.

"Fern, get out of your head. You are overthinking this for no reason," Wanda grabbed Fern gently by the arms giving her a smile. "You're going to be late if you don't leave now." She noted, looking at the time.

Fern weakly smiled at the pair before picking up the train of her dress and rushing out of the room. Thankfully Natasha gave Fern a nice pair of black heels that weren't so tall Fern would fall to the ground. She bounced as she waited for the elevator to reach the bottom level and raced out as soon as the door opened, nearly knocking over Sam and Steve as she went.

"Wow, where are you off to in such a hurry, gorgeous?" Sam chuckled as Steve caught Fern before she fell to the ground.

"I'm late, and Bucky is going to think I've stood him up," Fern rushed out, glancing at the time once again.

"He won't, so take your time before you almost take someone else out," Steve smiled, giving Fern a kiss on the forehead. Fern took a deep breath and smiled at her friend. "There you go."

"Go get your man," Sam cheered as Fern began speed walking away from them, this time paying far more attention to what was going on around her as she went.

Fern slowed her pace as she made it out to the back lawn and noticed the glowing gazebo down by the lake. She felt the blush already growing on her cheeks at how much effort Bucky had put into this; Fern felt so foolish for her earlier thoughts. She dropped the train of her dress, letting it follow behind her as she approached the gazebo, Bucky standing on the steps waiting for her. Fern was shocked at how he looked; Bucky was dressed in his old military attire for the '40s.

"I feel underdressed now," Bucky chuckled, holding his hand out to Fern.

"You look brilliant, Sergeant," Fern grinned, looking him over properly as she stood in front of him. "I didn't know you still had this old thing."

"I hate to admit it, but another favor I'm going to owe Tony. He found it in an old box that Howard had packed away after Steve and I went missing back in the war. Somehow, Peggy and Howard ended up with all of our crap." Bucky explained, leading Fern up the small set of steps and into the gazebo.

Fern gasped, finally able to see the gazebo in full, "How many favors do you owe Steve and Sam for helping you with this?" Fern chuckled. She ran her fingers over the railing that was covered in lights and flowers. "And you must have gotten Elder and Buzz to help you as well because these flowers look far too nice."

"I take offense to that; I went and picked all of those from the forest myself," Bucky huffed. "And I don't owe those two punks anything because they owed me a favor first."

Fern hummed in response, taking in the table that sat off to the side of the gazebo, a vase of flowers and a silver dome sat atop. Bucky smiled, pulling out a chair for her to sit; Fern smiled back, taking a seat as Bucky pushed in her chair and sat across from her. "Before you ask, I do not owe anyone else favors." Bucky laughed as he lifted the metal dome from the table and placed it behind him. "Though I might wait on Pepper's hand in foot forever after seeing this." Both were amazed at how amazing the food looked.

"I'm impressed Buck, you've outdone yourself," Fern praised, looking around the gazebo once again. "You do know that you didn't need to do all of this, right? I'm not saying that I don't love and appreciate everything, but this seems almost out of your zone."

Bucky sighed, biting his lip, "The food, I think, puts it over the top, but back in the day, I would have made Steve help me set this all up too." Bucky stood holding his hand out to Fern with a smile. "Always stick with your gut, care to dance with me?"

"James," Fern smiled as she took his hand. Bucky let out a whistle, and on cue, music began to play. Fern was hardly on her feet and her hand on Bucky's shoulder before he was swinging her around the gazebo. She laughed, feeling as though she was dancing on a cloud as Bucky waltzed them around.

"This was my idea, dancing with my doll in the moonlight. But I didn't know if it was going to be enough," Bucky sighed as he slowed their pace and rested their foreheads together. "I only wanted it to be perfect."

"James," Fern sweetly smiled, "It is perfect. I love all of it, all because you did it."

Bucky smiled, looking into her hazel eyes; all of his nerves left instantly. "Doll, there's something I want to ask you." He removed his hand from her waist and pulled the small silver box from his coat pocket. "I know you and I haven't been exploring us for a very long time, but since we first met again, I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. I know this is all still so new, but I have to ask; it's the old fashion in me. Will you be my girl, Fern Harver?"

Fern gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth as Bucky opened the box. "Back in the day, it was a thing to give your best girl something to remember you by, and I don't have a lot anymore, but I do have these." Fern watched Bucky lift his dog tags from the box, amazed at how they sparkled in the light.

"James," She didn't know what to say, Fern's whole body was screaming yes, but she couldn't make the word leave her mouth. But there was something else, a feeling that didn't involve how she felt about Bucky, something she couldn't explain.

"If it's too early, I get it. I just know that you're it for me, doll, and I want to make sure that everyone knows that you're mine." Bucky rolled the chain in his fingers, watching Fern's expression. "Fern, are you alright?" He watched as Fern's eyes changed to bright gold.

It felt like the world slowed as Fern began to drop, and Bucky screamed her name, catching her before she could hit the gazebo floor. Fern was in a daze, she felt numb, and though she could hear Bucky talking to her, she couldn't understand what he was saying. Bucky screamed for help holding Fern's limp body in his arms. It all became a blur as Sam and Steve ran out, followed closely by Tony and Natasha; Fern was ripped from Bucky's arms before he could fight back. He sat there with the polished dog tags in his hands, tears streaming down his face as Sam and Steve tried to get some kind of explanation out of him. Bucky didn't have one because he didn't even know what had happened.