Drive. ~James Buchanan Barnes

Chapter 17

We're camping. Or maybe this is considered squatting?

Only for a few days, but we're really roughing it.

We're on the edge of a little clearing in Eastern Louisiana, and staying in a tent which Bucky conveniently "found" at a rest stop.  He said he wanted me to get some practice in, and that's exactly what I'm doing.

Bucky has been gone most of the day.  He's searching for passports.  Real ones.

While he's gone, I exercise my abilities, growing, learning, and becoming more comfortable with what I can do.  I am always cautious.  Always careful.

Part of me knows that caution holds me back from my true potential.

The smarter part of me knows that that's a good thing.

My ability to create comes easier and easier.  I've made, and re-made more rocks than I can count. 

Now, I'm working on density control, which will essentially let me walk through walls if I want to.  It certainly isn't easy...

My leg is stuck in a tree.

Listen, I've never done this before, okay? I had it.  I was relaxed, the tree was walk-through-able, the sun was setting, everything was perfect.

And then I lost focus.

And now my leg is literally stuck in a tree.

I hear a laugh come from behind me, and I raise a hand to hide my face as Bucky approaches.

"How the hell did that happen?" He laughs.

I shake my head, letting out an exasperated sigh, "Shut up, Barnes.  I'd love to see you do better."

"I'm not the one with the superpowers," He retorts, grinning, "And I definitely don't want to end up like that."

I let another rock- a small one, calm down- form in my hand and chuck it at him.

Unfortunately, he catches it easily and only chuckles again.

"Really though, what happened?" He questions again.

"I was trying to work on density manipulation.  I was doing really well too." I whine, "But I lost focus and now I'm stuck."

"Well you better hurry up and get unstuck," he remarks, "It's going to get dark soon."

I groan, refocusing on the tree. This took forever last time. Like twenty minutes.

"So, are you trying to phase through the tree, or are you trying to phase the tree through you?" He inquires.

"The second one." I grunt as I concentrate.

My leg moves slightly before I break focus again.

Bucky circles around the tree to stand in front of me, "Have you tried the first one?"

I tilt my head, considering, "Guess it's worth a shot."

I decide to try it on a smaller scale- my leg is the only part of me that's stuck anyway. I focus, concentrating on the solidity of my lower-leg, making it lighter, transparent almost.

I feel myself fall slightly, but don't let my mind wander, and take a step.

I open one eye, grinning when I realize I'm free.

"Well done," he praises, resting a hand on my shoulder for a moment, "But you have one more thing to practice."

He pulls out two passports, opening them to the picture of their owners.

Of course, they look nothing like us.

"Okay," I nod approvingly as I study the little picture of a man, "C'mere, Buck."

He takes a step forward, standing in front of me and removing his cap.

"I'm gonna try and only change the parts of us that are visible.  It won't take as much energy.  I'll be able to hold it longer." I murmur as I look him over.

He nods, "I'll be wearing long sleeves and gloves.  All you need to worry about is this." He says, gesturing to his face.

"You okay with me touching you?  I can probably deal without, but it will help me focus."  I continue to study the picture of a man.  He's one of those blonde hair, blue eyes, kind of people.

"Yeah." He says, "Go for it."

He takes the passport from me, holding the picture up to his face.  His other arm- the left one- goes in his pocket.

I take one more good look at the photo before I place my hands on either side of his face.

I focus on his jaw first, making it slimmer and less defined. The guy in the picture is clean-shaven as well, so I tidy Bucky up too.

He fidgets slightly, seeming uncomfortable.

"Does it hurt?" I murmur as I work my way to his brows and forehead. I clear away the worry-lines there.

I don't like this. Not even a little bit. Blonde-hair, blue eyed people are great...

But they aren't Bucky.

"No," he replies, "Just feels weird."

I nod and look back at the picture. Nicholas Hawkins has a tiny red birthmark on the base of his chin.

Now, so does Bucky.

I decide Bucky's own eyes are close enough to Nicholas's, and I leave them alone.

"Now for the hair." I tell him, "You need a trim anyway."

He rolls his eyes at that but says nothing.

When I'm done, I create a little mirror and hand it to him.

He looks at himself for a while, turning to look at every angle of his/Nicholas's face, before nodding in approval.

"Looks good. Your turn."

"This kinda reminds me of art class." I say. "We we're sculpting stuff out of clay.  My miniature of Aphrodite ended up looking like one of those monkey-in-a-barrel toys."

He chuckles at that, but watches me intently as I re-shape my face too match the woman's in the picture.  I glance at her name.

"Jennifer Hawkins?" I glance at the brunette, "Married or related?"

"Uh...married." He mumbles.

I chuckle a little, "You seem embarrassed, Buck.  You don't like the idea of marrying me?"

"It isn't that..." he trails off.

"So you do like the idea of being married to me." I conclude.

"...I don't know how to respond to this situation." He replies.

That gets me.  I start laughing in earnest, "Don't worry, Bucky.  I'm just teasing you."

He shakes his head, but a tiny grin crawls onto his/Nicholas's features, "Teasing isn't my forte."

"That's why it's so fun.  How do I look?" I say when I've finished.

"Weird." He says with a tilt of his head, "But good.  We look like the pictures."

I nod, letting my hold on our appearance go.  We quickly return to normal and head inside the tent.

I stare up at the ceiling, thinking.

"Hey, Bucky?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"Will your arm go through a metal detector?"

My question is met with an amused chuckle and a confirmation that yes, his arm will in-fact go through a metal detector.