Forever and Always

Chapter 35

       "Clara....Clara please don't leave me now." Clara heard Bucky's voice echo in her ear. It sounded muffled, but real. She felt herself lying in Bucky's lap, being held up in his arms. Her head leaning on a hard surface. His metal arm. His right hand was stroking her hair. Her ear was pressed against his chest, and she could hear his heartbeat. His breaths were shallow and uneven. "Clara...I'm sorry I wasn't there in time. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you." Clara smiled, and she squinted her eyes. Everything was blurry, but she could see Bucky, his chin against his chest and eyes closed.

          "Well..." Clara said weakly. "Good thing we were given more time." Bucky stopped crying, and his his breathing became more smooth. She could see his head lift a bit and look at her.

            "C...Clara?" He grabbed the back of her head with his hand and lifted her head towards his. "You're alive? You're alive!" Bucky pressed her against his chest, and she grunted when she felt pain in her side. But she didn't put attention to that. She brought her hand up and rested it on his cheek. She stared into his steel blue eyes, red and swollen from crying. "How...how are you alive? You're heart stopped! You were getting cold." Clara tried to sit up, but she let out a loud gasp when another sharp pain went through her side.

"Well..." Clara moaned. "...let's just say, Tony forgave you." Bucky furrowed his eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" He kept holding her, rocking her back and forth.

"He snapped me back alive. This is his way of burying the hatch." Clara tried to get up, but it hurt a lot. Bucky, knowing she wanted to get up, helped her by grabbed her hand and letting her rest on him. "So...this is how he won. He pulled an Uno reverse?"

"What does that mean?" Bucky looked around with her. The whole scene of upsetting to look at. There were corpses everywhere, either of the enemies of the allies. Fires had erupted everywhere, and mud puddles were scattered.

"It doesn't matter." She looked around, and she saw everyone was walking in one direction. She started to limp towards everyone else, and Bucky stayed by her. "Tony..." she whispered under her breath. As they got closer, they passed sorcerers helping up Wakandans; Asgardians checking to make sure Ravagers were alright. Beings from separate worlds helping each other out. When she passed them, she was able to make out Tony's body leaning against some debris. Even though she just saw him...she couldn't believe that he was gone. When they got closer, she could see Pepper, Rhodey, and Peter gathered around Tony.

            "Oh god." Clara felt her throat tighten up. She broke apart from Bucky and limped over to get a better look. As she did, she saw Tony's lifeless body, and burnt up on the right side of his body. Pepper was silently crying, and Peter was leaning against Rhodey, facing away. The arc reactor in Tony's suit wasn't lit up.

         "Mrs. Potts?" She heard her sniff and she looked up at Clara. Her face went from sadness to confusion.

           "Clara? You're alive?" Clara nodded and wiped a tear away.

             "I am....and It's because of him." Clara looked behind her, and she noticed that people had started to kneel. Clara backed up and followed along with everyone else. She knelt down on her knee very slowly, careful not to aggravate her side. Pepper broke out in tears when she realized that everyone else was kneeling. Clara watched, her eyes watering up, as Pepper leaned up against Tony and cried. Clara cried as well. As she did, she felt Bucky come up next to her, put a hand on her shoulder, and kneel next to her. She looked at him, and he was looking down at the ground. She watched as he became weak from sadness, and his forearm collapsed on his knee. Clara exhaled a shaky breath, and she looked up at the sky. Through all the smoke clouds, the sun was starting to peek through. She noticed, that at first there was one ray of sun poking through. Then two, then three.