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His thumb pinned me in place. Probably worried about me flying off. The space suits saved me from having to spit out my hair due to the wind of moving so fast. Enhanced bouncing at this size was insane.

Once inside, Bucky didn't stop with the running. He darted randomly from place to place. Spent about a few seconds at each spot. Poked every single button in sight only pausing to check what they did. Peered out each window too. Showed me the view for half a second.

Excitement practically rolled off of him. It bled into his movements and brightened up his face. I wonder if he knew he had a giant grin that crinkled the corner of his eyes.

"He hasn't been feeling the best the last day or so."

'Since he darted me I guess....'

"I thought this might cheer him up. Whether this could help him get used to unpleasant situations is for another time."

From how Bucky wasn't reacting to the words, Eve likely made it for my ears only, and taking a gamble that she wouldn't render my words for him to hear, I replied:

"...How are we going to explain the fact that we're underwater right now?"

"Shhh let him believe in magic. How many of us are able to return to that childish time where magic was everywhere?"

"...Yeah. Those were fun times."

"You two barely had it the same as everyone else. They thought their brooms could fly. You two strapped a jet engine to yours."

"Oh that was so much fun. But hell to fl –"

"There's a car!!" Bucky practically squealed, scrambling right up the side of the rover and climbing in.

All buttons were pressed in his attempt to start it. He still poked at the buttons when the rover vroomed to life. Though the poking stopped when he blew up the garage door.

His shoulders hunched in a way I didn't like. His hands nervously folded on his lap with me still sitting on his palm.

"Don't fret about that. Eve can just reform the door."

I didn't even know why she rendered the missile and explosion. That was more work for her.

Didn't take much to wiggle out from under Bucky's thumb. The moment I tried, he opened his hand and carefully set me down on the seat next to him. He reached over and pulled the seatbelt, pausing in his action.

"I don't.... This isn't going to fit – I guess it does now."

'At least Eve didn't shrink the seat down this time.'

I couldn't help the laugh as he strapped me down into the seat. "I know how to use a seatbelt."

"Knowing how doesn't mean you'll use it," he said, lightly tapping against my rendered bubble helmet with his knuckles. He settled back in his seat, neatly buckled himself down and extended his hands in front of him in two fists. "Where's the wheel?"

The little bounce Bucky did in his seat was... utterly adorable.

Eagerness beamed out of his eyes when he looked to me for an answer. It stopped any ideas of messing with him.

I pointed at the floating ball in front of him. One with a mini rover at the center of it.

"Push that in the direction you want to go. The rover has that wheel thingy," I said, pointing to the side.

"...Omni wheels. The word is omni. For omnidirectional wheels."

"If you turn the ball sideways, it turns the rover."

In his enthusiasm, we got spun like a carnival ride. Probably would have broken the wheels if they were real. Maybe an older model if there hadn't been any tinkering with their design in the last few years.

"Sorry," Bucky mumbled, using smaller movements with the sphere this time, and carefully maneuvered the rover through the blown up garage door.

The little tip of his pink tongue poked out between his lips, sliding over to the corner of his mouth and staying there. Concentration consumed him.

Probably necessary when trying to figure out how to turn the rover like a regular car with this controller. Took him about five tries. A combination of turning the ball while pushing it forwards. And then he had us zipping through the dry landscape.

"And that African! How did you let that fall apart?! We need those mines!"

'The 'business' relationship with Odinga was fucking fine until you stuck your nose into it.'

"Wait, he came into my room in the middle of the night.... Were you sleeping with him!? Was that how you got him to cooperate!?" Mother practically screeched over the call.

"No! I left a note in his file not to stay in the country longer than the meeting. The man's a –"

"You should have told me!"

"I didn't kn –!"

"I shouldn't have to tell you everything!"

'Get out! Get out! Get out of my fucking head! I hate you! I hate who I am when I'm with you! I hate that I love you!'

"What has you so distracted that you're not enjoying the dorky grin on that handsome face?"

'Bloody hell Bucky.... He's going to pick up on this anger. I need to calm down. Val, fucking pull yourself together. Just breathe. Come on. Breathe.'

"...Three. Two. One. Let it out," a deep calming voice encouraged. "Ten. Nine. Eight. Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three. Two. One.... Another deep breath. Three. Two. One. And ex –"

"Val?"

I hummed in reply, pulling my eyes from the passing landscapes and back to that expressive face of his.

"This all feels real," Bucky mumbled softly, staring down at the sphere he held in his hands.

"You're awake if that's... what you... mean...?"

"But this rover isn't real. The landscape isn't real."

"The rover's kind of real?"

"You're in an augmented reality of sorts, Mr. Barnes. Everything you're interacting with is there. Merely built with the nanites. Not much dissimilar to how molecules make up the world. Maybe the rover isn't made of titanium, and this Mars isn't made of rocks and sand. But you are driving a vehicle over a terrain."

"...Okay, so most of this stuff isn't made up," I tried to explain. "Mars actually looks like this, and it shouldn't feel any different either. Maybe minus the breathing problems? The ball controller is real too. The jets that were escorting Amber? They use this piloting system."

"I can see why this is preferred over a regular steering wheel or yoke." Bucky pushed, pulled and turned the ball into a fancy little semi drift. "It's intuitive."

"I like this a lot better than yokes and game controllers. Easier to break the jets with this."

"...Break the jets."

"Yeah, I usually end up tearing off the wings in testing."

"...Tearing off the wings...."

He did not approve of that. Not one bit if his massive frown was saying anything. But it's so much fun to break the jets.

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Author's Note:

If you enjoyed this part, please consider leaving a vote. They're very much appreciated. ^^

And a big thank you to TinselA/Bunny Carrot (https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7591081/) and the Anonymous Fifth Beta for Beta-ing this chapter.