Part 4: Baobab

Chapter 35: The New Man

Bella froze and stared at the black eyes as they fluttered open. He did not move for another few minutes as he seemed to take in his surroundings and took in a gasping breath.

"I would suggest we give them some space," Okoye whispered to the others. "We do not know what kind of mood our new zimwi will be in."

The others nodded and slipped away, returning to the mganga's hut and leaving Bella alone by the fire.

Bella stared at the man as he seemed to analyze each speck of dust that spiraled through the air. She felt like her heart had leapt into her throat and she failed in her attempt to swallow it back down. She hardly dared to hope that this had worked…and she still felt frozen with fear over what this would mean for the future if it had.

The copper-haired Edward-shaped man tentatively sat up and then stood on his feet. She did not even know how to address him. Should she call him Edward or Bucky? She shuddered. This was a terrible idea. She should never have let Shuri convince her that this was a good idea. Then she remembered her long nights spent motionless at the feet of Bucky's statue and she knew. She was so desperate to have him back in whatever form she could have him that she hadn't stopped to think through all the implications of their decision.

"Where am I?" came the velvety voice. It was Edward's voice.

"You are in the Kingdom of Wakanda," she replied.

"Yeah, doll, I kinda got that. What I mean is whose house am I at? This doesn't look like our house or even our neighborhood. And why the hell does my voice sound like this?" he said.

"We are on Mount Bashenga. We came here to find some help with, well, your situation," Bella said, drawing closer to him. She stared in a morbid fascination as she watched Edward's features morph into facial expressions so uniquely Bucky and listened to Edward's voice marred by Bucky's peculiar cadences.

He drew towards her and moved to embrace her when he stopped and stared at his hands in confusion. His eyes met her again, the deep black colored with a hint of fear.

"Ummm, what is going on? I have two arms and I am…not normal. I'm so thirsty. My throat is on fire! Did I come down with something? What is this?" he said, his voice rising in decibels as his confusion grew.

"So…do you remember being turned to stone?" Bella said, attempting to project calm and knowing she failed. She came up to him and took one of his hard, cool arms in her own and stared back at him.

He paused to search his memories, seeming momentarily lost. "Stone? I was turned to stone? That would explain why I feel so off-kilter."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Umm, I went to investigate an explosion and then I was by the lake across the border, you know the one? Yeah, and all the sudden it was turned to ice and a woman's face appeared. The next thing I knew, everything went black. Stone, huh?" he said and looked at his two hands again and then let his gaze fall upon his strangely long and thin legs.

"Well, we, uh, couldn't figure out how to, whatcha-call-it? Unstone you, so we had to improvise," Bella said with a cringe.

"What do you mean?"

She held up the silvery metal lid to one of the cooking pans and he shouted curses in response to the face that met him in the dim reflection.

"What did you do!" he said. Staring back at him were the black eyes, wild copper hair, and pale skin of Edward Cullen. Yet the figure moved in obedience to his will.

"It's a long story… Basically, Edward got taken by Nyelu and you were turned to stone. As I said, we improvised."

"Like hell you did! Get me outta here!" he said, pulling on his arms as if he could remove himself from the strange body he occupied.

"We are working on that part. But it's gonna be a little difficult since your body is over there," Bella said, pointing behind her to the massive stone and metal statue looming near the bonfire.

Bucky walked over to it…to him…and ran "his" arms up and down the cold granite surface. Another string of curses fell from his lips as he stared at his own lifeless face.

"I guess Shuri hasn't figure out how to fix this yet?" he asked.

"No. And we had to do something. There's been a bit of an international incident, conveniently organized as soon as Edward disappeared, to force us to hand him over to the Volturi or risk invasion. Now, instead of proving a convenient ploy for their invasion, you get to help us storm Volterra, and figure out how to stop all this chaos."

He turned to stare at her again.

"If you are trying to make a joke, it's not funny."

"I wish I was," she said with a half-hearted smile.

He sighed and stared at his face in the saucepan lid again and met her gaze, once again unsettling her with how "Bucky-like" his expression was.

"Let me make sure I'm getting this right. You needed Edward but he was out-of-service and so you stuck me in Edward's body as a consolation prize and to somehow fix everything?"

"Kinda…yes…no…maybe," Bella said, pursing her lips and illustrating her points with her small hands. "I don't know, ok. You were gone, you've been gone and it's been awful and everything's been kinda going crazy and we couldn't come up with a better plan."

"How long have I been out of it?"

"Eight days," she said, her face crumbling with the grief she'd carried for so long. "I thought I'd lost you. It's been awful."

He swore again and pulled Bella into an embrace. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry, doll."

She looked up at him and pulled away with a grimace.

"Sorry, babe. It's just…" she started and waved her hand at his body. "Wow, this is awkward."

He broke into laughter. "Ya think? Whose brilliant idea was this, anyway? Wait, don't tell me. I already know. She's gonna think this is hilarious. I'm gonna kill her when I catch her."

Bella laughed now too. "You'll have no problems catching her now…or me, for that matter. You're probably even faster than me."

"No kidding. So, is that why my senses are in sensory overload and my throat is on fire? Wait, wait…I think I'm a little slow on the uptake today. Are you telling me I am now a vampire?"

"Umm, yeah?" Bella said, getting nervous again.

"Holy hell, Bella."

"Yeah, so, I think we better take you hunting to make sure you don't, you know, eat anyone and so we can work on helping you get used to this whole thing," she said.

They both turned to walk away from the homestead and into the deep forests lining the roots of the mountain range. Bella kicked her feet on stones as they walked and stared fixedly at the ground, unsure of what to say and even more unsure of if they had managed to improve their situation. Bella broke the silence with a sidelong glance and a dark laugh.

"I'd think this was a really bad dream but I don't think I'd even dream up something this wonky," he said.

"Unfortunately, you are stuck in this dream for awhile," she said. "Come on. Let's find some duiker or something here."

Ooooooooooooooooooooooo

They ran through the grasslands back in the direction of their home after their hunt. Bella considered it successful, or, successful enough, she amended, as she looked at the mess made of the shirt Bucky wore. As they ran, Bella decided it was time. She stared at him and silently dropped her shield.

Bucky collapsed on the ground.

"Argh!" He cried, cradling his head in his hands.

"What's the matter?" she said in mock innocence.

"The noise! The voices! They are everywhere!" he said. He began rolling on the ground. "It's too much! Make it stop!"

She covered him with her shield and he immediately recovered. He stood and stared at her with wide eyes.

"I'm all balled up…were you shielding me and then unshielded to see what I'd do?"

"Maybe."

"How does he live with that?"

"We are gonna need you to learn to manage it. We kinda need that gift right now. You ready to try again?"

"No."

"Come on, focus, babe," Bella said and she dropped her shield again.

Curses flowed freely again and he covered his head with his hands.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

They sat in the cool shade and comfortable familiarity of their home by the lake. Bucky gazed out onto the sparkling green of the ripples made by the flamingos as they bathed themselves on the banks. His golden eyes stared but Bella wasn't sure where his mind currently rested.

"This isn't right," he said to her. "I've taken over his body and I'm using it as a tool for my own purposes. How is that any different from what Hydra did to me? I don't care if it's for good purposes instead of bad. The point is I'm doing exactly the same thing. There's no way of looking at this in a way that's ok."

She didn't respond but took is hand in hers and rubbed her thumb over his. He sighed.

"I can see his memories," he said.

"What do you mean?"

"It's foggy and vague and they feel so very foreign-as if I'm watching an old movie or something. It's very disconnected from me, but I can see his memories. I can see glimpses of people he's known, bits of conversations he's been a part of, places he's been. I can even taste a bit of the emotions attached to the memories. If I concentrate, they seem to come out clearer and firmer, otherwise it's like they are dormant inside my mind."

"That's really weird."

"I know. I feel like an intruder. I wonder if the memories I make while in his body will also be, you know, stuck in here and he can read them later when he comes back."

"If he comes back."

"He'd better…I'd better not be stuck like this forever."

"I fully and one hundred percent agree with that sentiment."

"It's not just in his mind that I feel I'm an intruder. In his body, too. It's like I'm fighting with him over the right way to walk and how to speak and how to make hand motions. It's like this body is programmed in a certain way and I'm going against the grain to do what feels natural to me."

"It looks pretty weird too," Bella said.

"You can tell?"

"Yeah. Some of your expressions and phrases are so you but in this body."

"I've got to admit, the running is keen….the senses too. The throat burning and desire to rip out people's throats-not so keen. And the mind reading-not keen at all. Not in the slightest," he said with a shudder. "I might like it if I could read your mind but there's only so much I want to know about the people around me…and, hell I don't think I'll be able to look Okoye or W'Kabi in the face for at least a month."

Bella laughed as he shuddered.

"Then there's Shuri…."

"What about Shuri?"

"That dame's crazy enough without me seeing what actually goes on in her mind. She already doesn't filter her words enough and her mind, yeah, there's no filter there at all."

"What happened?"

"Ugh, all during the planning meeting, she kept debating if we marry people's souls or their bodies and if you are technically cheating on me with me."

"Ummmm, wow."

"Yeah. I think she did that on purpose, just to make me uncomfortable. It worked."

"Did she come up with her ethical conclusion?"

"No. Underlying her whole debate, I'm pretty sure she invented a flying car and a new kind of solar paneling that will work in low-sun regions, oh, and she decided to ask for a baby cheetah for New Year."

"You know, I am not even going to scold you for telling me her thoughts cause I'm pretty sure she'd tell me all that out loud. You've gotten a lot better at controlling it, though. I didn't see you even wince. I'm glad you were practicing."

"Yeah. I can say I have a whole new appreciation for that shield of yours," he said and kissed her temple. "You really do provide solace in all the chaos."

She smiled. "I wonder," she began.

"What?"

"Well, after Mount Bashenga and all Bwana Opio told me about my shield, I've been practicing using it in new ways…I mean, besides the whole using it as a weapon and pushing people's souls out of their bodies…"

"Which is impressive, by the way."

"Yeah, well, I just wonder if I unshield myself if you'll be able to read my mind."

"You think you can do that?"

"I think so. I kinda did when I was, well, pushing you out of your body. Here, let me try."

Bella closed her eyes and began to push at her shield again, pouring it into the space besides her, flowing away from her, and leaving her feeling strangely vulnerable. She looked at Bucky again.

Can you hear me? She asked internally.

"Yes!" he shouted, grabbing her hand. "I can hear you! I can see what you are showing me! That is amazing!"

She smiled. "I guess there are some benefits to that gift then."

"Wow, yeah, I can appreciate that part. Keep going. I want to hear everything!" he said, laying back on the couch and closing his eyes so he could concentrate his mind on hers. They were interrupted by a voice at their door. The tall, slightly yellowish figure of the man-leopard entered and bowed to both in greeting.

"Malaika, Bwana, it is time. We depart for Volterra by nightfall."

ooooooooooooooo