Eyes of the Father

Chapter 14. Alone

Lacey looked at the time and wondered why Bucky hadn't called yet. It had been three days since they argued and two days since he apologized, explaining how he had been dealing with a growing sense of dread. She thought for sure he would call when word came of the spacecraft appearing over New York that left taking a sorcerer and Iron Man with it. When he didn't call she wondered if he even knew. She called but there was no answer and she assumed he was out in the fields working.

At the farm Clint and Laura had set up a picnic table and everyone was out there except for Lacey and Tommy. He had fallen, scraped his knee and Lacey was performing first aid on him, Mom style. As she kissed his knee and sent him outside the TV showed a breaking news alert. Standing up she watched as the announcer reported that a strange phenomena was being noted all over the planet. People were disappearing into dust. There was no rhyme or reason to it either. Sometimes whole families disappeared and other times just one or two members. Going to the door she went to call Clint and Laura in to watch it. In the distance she could hear Clint calling for his wife and kids, almost hysterically.

"Oh no," she said, then in desperation she called her son. "Tommy! Where are you?"

"Here, Mom," he said from the side of the porch. "What's wrong with Uncle Clint?"

"Something bad has happened, honey," she said, picking him up. "I think it's happened to him as well. Clint!"

She called him several times before he finally came over, his face tear stained. "Where are they?" he asked, his voice choking. "They were here, then they were gone."

"It's happening everywhere," she replied. "I don't know why but people are disappearing everywhere. It's on TV."

He pushed past her to the living room and stood in front of the TV, watching the news coverage. It was unbelievable then finally there was word from someone in government and the announcement was officially made as the TV screen showed the Oval Office and a shaken Vice-President.

"Today, the Earth was attacked by an extraterrestrial being," said the Vice-President. "This being, Thanos, was behind an attack on New York yesterday, and Scotland last night. Today, his forces attacked the country of Wakanda and Thanos did the unspeakable. In an act of genocide, he somehow caused the death of a significant portion of Earth's population. Our own President and the First Lady were among the casualties. We are still trying to get in contact with people who were involved in the battle of Wakanda to find out exactly how this heinous act was committed. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone who has lost a family member today. We grieve with you."

The Vice-President began to cry and the broadcast from the White House was stopped, replaced by somber music playing over nature scenes. Clint stood there, unmoving then grabbed his phone and began calling. He called Nick Fury and it went straight to voice mail. Then he tried Maria Hill, and several others. It was only when he tried Natasha that he got an answer.

"Nat?" he cried. "They're gone ... Laura, and the kids...they're gone, disappeared. What the hell happened?"

As Natasha tried to explain Clint became more and more upset then slammed his phone down, damaging it. He looked at Lacey with agony on his face.

"Vision is dead, the Mind Stone taken from him by Thanos," he said. "Wanda is gone. So is Sam, T'Challa, Shuri, and ...."

"Bucky ...," whispered Lacey. "He's gone, isn't he?"

He nodded and as Lacey began to cry he opened his arms and they held each other, crying loudly. Tommy sat quietly watching what was happening. Finally, Lacey stopped crying and blew her nose. She sat on the couch and motioned to Tommy to sit with her.