Drive. ~James Buchanan Barnes

Chapter 13

We stole another car. A small one, similar to the Mazda we started out in.

"Why don't you use your powers?" Bucky questions thickly.

I sigh, "I told you. Somebody died because of them. I can't control it sometimes."

"What happened?"

"Later."

"Verity-"

"I said later!" I repeat.

Bucky's hands tighten on the wheel, and I know I'm angering him. I'm still a little concerned about the affect the trigger words had on him. He seems slightly at war with himself.

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself, "I will tell you, Buck. I just think we should be focusing on trying to find that notebook."

He exhales, seemingly trying to calm down too, "Okay. I guess you have a point."

"Really though, are you okay after what happened back there?" I inquire softly.

He knows what I am referring to, and he shrugs, "The sequence has never gone unfinished before. I feel a little dizzy, but it's passing. It's like a dull ache in my head."

"You okay to drive?"

"Yeah."

We stay silent for a moment, until Bucky sits up a little more in his seat, "Got him."

I glance around, "Where?"

"Down that way." He says, gesturing to a familiar street.

"That takes us through Little Five Points. Music, tattoos, graffiti and weed. It's the place to go if you wanna have a good time, but why is he here?" I wonder aloud.

He shrugs, following him, "I don't know, but he just ran down an alley. We'll have to follow on foot."

We park on the curb, jumping out and following. He runs much faster than I do, and by the time I catch up he is already beating the agent with his metal arm.

I stand, knowing I can't intervene for both our sakes. I notice a burning pile on the ground a few feet away, the black star still untouched by the flames.

The agent falls to the ground, dead.

"Damn him." Bucky growls, "Burnt it before we even got out of the car."

"That explains why he came to little five points. Smoke isn't a strange occurrence here." I mutter.

I am startled by the sound of his metal arm slamming against the brick wall.

"Damn it!" He shouts, "That was probably my one shot at getting them out of my head and it's gone."

"Bucky-"

"No, V!" He turns to face me, walking toward me threateningly, "You let him go."

I let my face fall into a defiant mask, "I saved your ass."

"You could have caught him." He growls.

I meet his gaze, "I would have had to leave you alone."

"I was fine."

"Well I didn't know that, Bucky!" I argue, "You're angry, I get it.  I should have told you.  I should have gone after him.  But I didn't.  I can't change that."

He studies me for a moment, the leans in menacingly, "He was on the phone.  Telling them about the girl who threw half a dozen men against the wall in half a second.  Hydra knows about you."  He begins to walk away, "You're on your own."

I let him, "What else is new?"

Does he want me to beg? To plead his forgiveness? To ask for protection?

Does he think I'm that weak?

I feel my fingertips begin to tingle as my anger grows, and I push it back.

Breaking would only prove him right.

But he stops, his back facing me, "What?"

I roll my eyes and push past him, "I said what else is new."

"I don't understand."

I let out an exasperated laugh, "God Bucky, you asked me why I'm so okay with the running and the almost dying, didn't you?  I've done this before."

"When?"

I stop, the question causing me to remember everything I had tried to forget, "Seven years ago.  I had the police looking for me for six months before I finally came home."

"Someone died." He repeats.

"My sister.  She was the only one I ever told.  I was forming rocks for her to jump across, and she kept jumping and jumping and she kept going faster than my ability would allow me to create.  I kept telling her to slow down, but she was having so much fun."  I pause, "The rock hadn't finished forming when she jumped to it, she fell right through, but her head hit the solid part on the way down.  She died a few days after.  I ran."

"You haven't used your powers since." He finishes.

"Till now." I amend.

I start walking again, pulling my hood up and walking away from his car.

"Verity?" I hear from behind me, "V, wait a second."

"What?" I say as he catches up.

He grabs my elbow, pulling me to the inner edge of the sidewalk, "Where are you going?"

"I'll figure it out." I mutter, attempting to pull away.

"But the car is that way." He states simply, pointing in the other direction.

I scoff, looking him in the eye, "You literally just said-"

"I know what I said." He mumbles, "I shouldn't have.  You can't help what you are anymore than I can."

He gently tries to pull me back to the car, and I almost let him.

"But you're right." I say, "Hydra knows about me now.  You already have a target on your back, do you want mine too?"

"I can deal with Hydra," he shrugs, "but I figure we're safer in numbers."

"Two isn't a very big number, Buck." I retort.

"No." He replies, "But I'd rather not be alone."

I blink, stunned silent by the admission, until he speaks again.

"Come with me?" He asks.

"Yeah." I grin.