RAISON D'ÊTRE ( bucky barnes ) 一 under editing

FORTIETH

RAISON D'ÊTRE
FORTIETH

WITH A SULLEN LOOK, Rome had watched as all three men tumbled down the long shaft, crashing hard onto the concrete floor. She shouted for them, eyes widening with shock but once she saw them manage to push themselves back up, she released a sigh of relief. She quickly struggled to follow after them, forcing herself to climb down using a series of spells. Because of her current state, plus the fact that she hadn't gotten much sleep recently, Rome had been too tired, and she was lucky she hadn't already injured herself prior to climbing down. Honestly, she was surprised she hadn't twisted an ankle or broken a bone yet. Despite her not doing much, this whole thing had taken too much energy out of her.

As soon as she got to the bottom, letting a few pants as she did, she saw Steve get knocked against the opposite wall, and she called his name worriedly. Rome rushed straight into the fight, muttering a hurried spell and shoving her hands out thus causing an invisible force to slam straight into Stark's legs. He fell to his knees and Rome flicked her wrist, tossing Stark against the wall and allowing Bucky the advantage of slamming his metal fist against the suit.

From behind his mask, Tony was glaring darkly at Rome. Yes, she wasn't his target but she was acting exactly like Steve 一 willingly aiding a known criminal, ignoring everything he's done, helping someone who murdered his own mother and father. How could they just let that go? He wasn't in control, but did that change the fact that Bucky had still committed those crimes with his own hands? For a quick second, Bucky had stopped punching and he took this as his chance. Stark harshly shoved Bucky away from him, causing the ex-assassin to be sent to the floor, and when Rome advanced on him, he backhanded her harshly across the face and she fell on her back with a loud thud.

"Rome!" Bucky screamed, his voice a desperate plea for her to be all right. He was glad to see she was okay, pushing herself back up on shaky arms, but there was blood on her temple. If Stark had hit her too hard... He angrily whipped back at Stark, delivering punch after punch. It was as if the Winter Soldier, the part he so desperately craved to be hidden away, was starting to slip through the cracks again. Coming back to life in this enraged version of himself. Bucky pressed one hand against the red and golden mask, the other clawing at the power source with an animalistic scream. His metallic fingers dug into the chest plate, but a sudden blast shot him down.

Rome nearly cried when she saw him.

Where metal had once met flesh was gone now 一 up until his shoulder, the metal arm had been completely obliterated, wires and mechanical parts now sticking out haphazardly. He faltered, eyes widen with shock. His arm was gone. Again. He was barely allowed any time to wallow in his surprise as Stark once again blasted him, sending him tumbling to the ground.

The witch crawled over to where Bucky was, the latter currently in a state of half-consciousness. She wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, brushing any stray hairs out of her face. "What, what can I do?" she whispered, eyes continuously flickering back and forth between his missing arm and his face. There didn't seem to be any evidence of pain but that didn't mean he was fine, that he couldn't feel it. Behind her she could hear Steve and Stark still fighting, the sound of their grunts and punches loudly ringing in her ears, but all she could do was worry about Bucky.

What the hell could she do? This was different from any type of injury she or him had ever gotten, and she wasn't sure how she could do something about a limb that wasn't truly there. She wanted to scream. She'd never felt so useless before and she wanted to throw an angry fit there. Bucky needed her but she couldn't lift a finger to do anything helpful right now.

"Stay down, final warning," she heard Stark's voice say in a threatening manner.

Rome looked and saw Steve wink at her before holding up his fists. "I could do this all day."

Stark raised his hand, poised and aimed to fire, but with newfound strength, Bucky reached out with his lone arm and grabbed hold of Stark's foot. Surprised, he kicked Bucky away with his other foot but before he could do the same to Rome, Steve picked Stark up with ease and slammed him down on the ground.

"Phasmatos reducite fortitudinem suam!" Rome shouted, her hand flying out to point at Steve. She'd never use the spell before; the spell was created just a little over a year ago and she'd never had the chance to test it out. Now was a better time than any but she couldn't think straight. A sudden proud feeling rose in her chest as she watched all of Steve's tiresome stature disappear, replaced now with a rejuvenated strength as he punched harsher and quicker than before. He punched at Stark's helmet, eventually breaking the entire thing off to reveal that Stark's face had too sustained injuries like they all had. Purples and blues decorated his skin and there was a bit of blood on his ashen face. Steve took his shield and suddenly slammed it against Stark's armor, piercing the outer layer and making it stick out from the power source.

Rome could spot the small bit of fear that had risen in Stark's brown eyes. Steve could have killed him in that moment and he didn't.

Steve, who had been straddling Stark, now rolled off him, struggling to stand up. He ripped the shield out of the red and gold armor then slowly walked over to Bucky and Rome, offering a helping hand. Bucky gratefully accepted it, and allowed Rome to hold him tight as she helped him stand. He wrapped his arm around Steve's shoulders, with Rome standing on his other side, a hand on his chest and the other wrapping around his waist. Together, they shared the weight of the man between them and started to walk.

As Stark struggled to sit up, he shouted, "That shield doesn't belong to you." Steve had just turned with his two friends as Stark finished, "You don't deserve it! My father made that shield!"

For a split second, Rome didn't see the all-American super soldier, fighting for his freedom. Instead, she saw a man, tired of fighting and just wanting to rest and find peace. She didn't see Captain America; she saw Steven Grant Rogers.

Then Steve dropped the shield, the clattering of it echoing, and the three walked away.