Maya Stark

Chapter 79: Human

We followed Walker to a warehouse. I was just aimlessly following Sam and Bucky, not really paying attention. I don't totally remember the walk there. I knew they tried to talk to me, but I wasn't giving them more than nods. I came back to reality when we entered the warehouse and saw Walker kneeling on the floor, his head resting on the shield. The blood covered shield. I pushed away Steve's face from my mind. Trying to forget everything, but not being able to.

The three of us watch quietly and from a distance as Walker's head rises. He cracks his neck and mumbles something to himself before standing up and walking our way. I follow Sam and Bucky a couple steps forward, standing between them. They were protecting me. I couldn't help but feel grateful. I remembered Germany and our fight against Parker. We've come far since then. We work well now. We like each other. Even without Steve, we still make do. I shake my head slightly and focus on the moment.

'Walker,' Sam said as Walker comes up to us.

'You guys should see a medic, you don't look so good,' Walker said, walking past us.

'Stop, Walker,' said Sam.

Walker circles back around looking agitated. 'What? You saw what happened. You know what I had to do. I killed him because I had to! He killed Lemar!'

'He didn't kill Lemar, John,' Bucky said. 'Don't go down that road. Believe me, it doesn't end well.'

I couldn't stop staring at the shield. Blood was dripping from it.

'I'm not like you,' Walker said.

'Listen, it was the heat of the battle. Okay?' said Sam. 'If you explain what happened, they may consider your record. We don't want anyone else to get hurt. John... you gotta give me the shield, man.'

Walker looks up at us slowly and my body stiffens. 'Oh, so that's what this is. You almost got me.'

'You made a mistake,' Sam said.

'You don't wanna do this,' Walker said.

I tear my eyes away from the shield and look at him, my face stern, eyes probably glowing. 'Yeah, we do.' My voice shakes, but it's low, and stern. It was the first thing I had said since we spoke to Karli.

Walker came at me first. In the long run, I guess, he was smart about that. He saw me as the biggest threat and my mind wasn't fully there. So, when he, extremely fast may I add, threw the shield at me, I didn't have much time to protect myself. It hit me in the gut, and I was surprised he didn't aim for the head. You always aim for the head.

I fly back, slamming into a metal pole. My vision went black, and it was way too quiet in my own head. I could somewhat hear fighting in the distance and my name being called, but nothing really registered. I couldn't open my eyes. Great. Probably another concussion.

My ribs stung and my head was pounding. I must have blacked out, which makes total sense. When I finally got my eyes opened, I watch Bucky fly through the air, smacking into a wall and crumbling to the floor, his metal arm sparking. I struggled to get my breath even. My eyes close involuntarily, painfully reminding me how human I am. I black out again.

This time when I come to, Walker was on top of Sam, and I watch in slight daze as Walker rips off Sam's wings. Something in me bursts a little and the pain disappears for a second. I stand up quickly and use my powers to fling Walker off Sam as soon as he raises the shield. Walker rises immediately and looks at me with a dead expression. My anger turns to slight panic but then I look at Sam, whose wings were now ripped off, and then Bucky, who was still passed out on the floor, and the anger returns: I do see why he went for me first.

Walker and I both race forward at the same time, and I use my powers to stop the shield midair from hitting me. He adjusts quickly as he continues pushing down with the shield, punching me repeatedly in the face. I stagger back and lose the hold on his arm. He brings the shield down on my already sore head and I fall to the ground.

I could feel the blood running down my forehead from where the shield connected. I look up at Walker who was preparing to hit me again and I push him back with my powers. He stumbles back momentarily, allowing me to stand up.

When I straighten, stars dot my vision and I start to sway. Walker surges forward and Bucky appears out of nowhere, tackling him to the ground. I wipe blood away from my eyes, trying to clear my vision. Walker and Bucky get a couple good hits before I feel good enough to move without throwing up. It was harder to control my powers, not being able to focus. My eyes were going haywire.

I wrapped energy around Walker, pushing him against the wall. He couldn't move, but he tried desperately to fight against my powers. Bucky and Sam, who had apparently stood up, walked up to the shield. I cut back the surge of energy around the shield so that they could grab it. Walker put up one hell of a fight.

There was a lot of frustrated grunting as Sam and Bucky tried to get the shield and I tried to keep Walker from moving. Finally, the shield ripped off, Walker's arm emitting a loud popping sound. Sam goes flying a little, still clutching the shield, and Bucky falls backward. I let the energy die, Walker falling to the ground. I wipe my forehead, stopping the blood from dripping into my eyes. Blood coated my hands and the sleeve of my suit. I walked over to Sam, making sure he was okay. Bucky already stood up and was following me over. I help Sam off the ground.

'It's mine,' Walker said, making me turn to look at him.

'It's over, John,' Sam said.

'It's mine,' Walker repeated.

He surged forward, going to punch Bucky, but he was a lot slower now. Bucky stopped his fist, hitting him with his metal arm. Walker raced forward again, but this time Bucky bent down, picking him up from his legs and twisting him around. I make a forcefield between my two hands and Sam readied the shield. The two of us ran forward as Bucky swung Walker in our direction. I send a blast of energy at Walker as Sam hits him with the shield. The contact, and overall blast of the force field, made all of us fly backwards. The shield banged on the ground between Bucky and I with a loud thud.

Bucky rolled over and got up onto his knees. He grabbed the shield and stood up to go over to Sam. Bucky looks at the shield for a second before dropping it next to Sam's head.

The metal clanged to the floor, the sound ringing through my ears and making my head hurt even more. Bucky starts to walk out of the warehouse, looking at me as he passed and faltering slightly.

I close my eyes, blood still dripping down my face. My head felt like it had been split open a couple times. I open my eyes again when I hear Sam groan.

He was struggling to his knees and holding the shield in his lap. I watched as his hand tries to rub a little bit of the blood off, reminding me why we were here in the first place.

I roll over onto my stomach and use my hands to help lift myself to my knees. My vision blurs and my hand leaves a bloody print on the ground. I felt sick as I yet again used my hand to wipe the blood out of my eyes. My forehead was bleeding profusely. I struggle, but somehow manage to get myself over to Sam and I put a, slightly bloody, hand on his shoulder. He looks at me and winces. Great confidence boost.

'Come on,' he said. 'You need a medic.'

I nod and he helps me to my feet. My vision blurs even more and I stumble. My stomach churns. Sam steadies me and helps me out of the warehouse. I guess I'm more human than I really thought.