Take On The World(An Marvel Fanfic)[Book 1]

Chapter 21

When Claire woke up, she was laying in the backseat of the truck. She groaned as she sat up. Both Steve and Natasha turned to look at her.

"Claire, are you ok?" Steve asked he put his eyes back on the road.

"Yeah. I think so." Claire answered. "Where are we heading now?"

"Somewhere safe." Steve replied. "Why don't you lay back down." Claire nodded and did so.

A few minutes later, they pulled up in front of a house. The three of them got out of the car and went up the walkway.

When Steve knocked on the door, Sam answered it. "Hey man." He said.

"I'm sorry to do this." Steve said. "But we need a place to lay low."

"Everyone we know is trying to kill us." Natasha added.

"Not everyone." Sam said. "Come on in." They walked into the house. "If you guys need to clean up, you're welcome to use the showers." Sam said.

"Thanks." Steve said.

Claire went to go take a shower. When she finished and walked out of the bathroom, she saw her father in the room. "Hey." She said as she finished drying her hair. "What's up?"

"I just wanted to make sure you were ok." Steve said.

"I'm pretty sure I'm fine." Claire answered.

"Pretty sure?" Steve asked.

"My head is hurting and I'm a little sore, but that will probably go away." She guessed that she was probably injured from the explosion, but it would be most likely heal quickly.

Steve nodded. "I noticed you looked upset when you were looking at your mother's picture." He said.

"I was thinking about yesterday." Claire said.

"What about yesterday?" Steve asked.

"I feel guilty for running out of Mom's room." Claire admitted.

"Why do you feel guilty?" Steve asked.

"Because she was sick and I just ran off." Claire said.

"Claire, you have nothing to feel guilty about." Steve said. "You have been through so much and I get that it was hard for you to see your mother like that." A couple tears rolled down Claire's face. "Hey, it's ok." Steve said, comforting her. "You did nothing wrong."

"What happened after I ran out of the room?" Claire asked.

"I apologized to your mother, asked a nurse to stay with her, and went outside to make sure you were ok." Steve replied.

"Oh ok." Claire said.

"Can I ask you something?" Steve asked. Claire nodded. "Do you remember uh." Steve started, trying to get out what he was trying to say.

"Killing Howard and his wife?" Claire finished.

"Yeah." Steve said.

"No, I don't remember." Claire said. "I guess Hydra made me forget about it." Steve didn't say anything. Claire started crying. "I can't believe I killed Howard." She said.

"Shh. It's ok." Steve said, comforting her. "It's not your fault."

"Yes it is." Claire said.

"No. That wasn't you." Steve assured her. "They made you do that." They were both quiet for a a little bit.

"I think Sam made breakfast." Steve said. "Why don't you go eat something. I'll be down in a minute." Claire nodded and walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, they were all in the kitchen. They started talking about SHIELD. They kept looking at Claire and avoided saying SHIELD.

"You know what." Claire said as she stood up. "I'm going to go in the other room, so you guys can talk."

"Claire, wait." Steve said, stopping her.

"No." Claire said. "You guys can't have a conversation without worrying about me freaking out. So, I'm going to go wait in the other room." She walked out of the room.

A few minutes later, Steve came into the room and sat next Claire. "Are you ok?" He asked.

"I hate that everyone has to walk on eggshells around me and avoid saying certain words that cause me to freak out and attack people." Claire said. "I wish there was a way to fix it. To fix me."

"You do not need to be fixed." Steve said.

"You know what I mean." Claire said.

"I know." Steve said. "But, there isn't. So, all we can do is just avoid saying those words around you."

"I know." said Claire.

"Come on." Steve said. "We need to go."

"Where are we going?" Claire asked.

"To a base to get something that Sam needs." Steve replied. Claire nodded and followed her dad.