The Man My Father Always Talked About • A CAPTAIN AMERICA STORY

8

~8~

     Steve, Tony, and Clara sat at a table while Fury talked to them. Clara had changed from her blood soaked T-shirt to loose long sleeve shirt to cover her bandages. Fury threw a few cards down on the table, some covered in blood. "These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." Steve picked one up and examined it, feeling guilty.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you," Fury sighed. "Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming. Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Tony knows this, wouldn't be surprised if Clara did too. It was called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes." Fury finished. The room was silent before Tony got up and walked off, not wanting to hear  anything else. Clara glanced at Steve and Fury before getting up and following him.

At first she was confused as to why Tony had led her to room where Loki's old cage was before she realized it was were Coulson was killed. The Starks quietly looked around the empty cell container, mourning their friend.

"Phil was a good man," Tony said, breaking them out of their silence.

"So you know his name now?" Clara said as she leaned on one of the railing. She looked down at her hands before apologizing. "I didn't mean..."

"I know," Tony replied, resting a hand on her shoulder as he faced the other way. It would be an understatement to say that the siblings have had to deal with grief. First it was the death their parents, then their oldest friend Edwin Jarvis. They watched as one of the only people they relied heavily on turned into their enemy. Now, it was one of the few people in SHIELD they actually gave a damn about.

Tony sighed when he noticed someone leaning on the wall a level down. "Was he married?" Steve asked. Clara peered over her shoulder and shook her head as Steve came closer.

"Not that anybody knew of," Clara answered.

"I'm sorry. He seemed like a good man." Steve said.

"He was." Clara said solemnly.

"He was an idiot," Tony said. Clara looked to him, immediately wanting an explanation.

"Why? For doing his job? For trying to protect us?" Steve asked.

"For taking on Loki alone," Tony defended.

"He was doing his job." Clara protested calmly.
It was the improper time and place to have another rage war.

"He was out of his league. He should have waited. He should have..." Tony started.

"Sometimes there isn't a way out, Tony." Steve cut him off. Tony glared at him and crossed his arms.

"Right. How did that work for him?" Tony asked.

"Is this the first time you've lost soldier?" Steve starting, making Tony throw his arms down and point at him.

"We are not soldiers!" He said sternly. "I am not marching to Fury's fife!" Clara glanced at her brother, giving him a look to tell him to calm down.

"Neither am I." Steve defended. "He's got the same blood on his hands as Loki does. Right now we've got to put that aside and get this done. Now Loki needs a power source, if we can put together a list..." Steve said.

Clara looked at the blood stained wall beside her. "He made it personal."

"That's not the point." Steve met Clara's eyes, making her look away.

"That is the point." She pushed herself up from the railing and stood in front of him. "That's Loki's point." She pointed to walls of the cell, empathizing her point. "He hit us all right where we live. Why?" Clara asked.

"To tear us apart." Steve answered.

"He had to conquer his greed, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right?" She looked at Tony who was listening to her. "That's what he wants. He wants to beat us and he wants to be seen doing it. He wants an audience." Clara said, her back straitening as she realized what they were going up against.

"Right, I caught his act at Stuttengard." Steve commented.

"Yeah. That's just a preview, this is opening night. Loki's a full-tilt diva. He wants flowers, he wants parades, he wants a monument built in the skies with his name plastered..." Tony started. At the same time, Clara and Tony looked at each other, the same thought coming to thought.

"Son of a bitch!" Tony said while Clara whispered, 'that little bitch.'

***

Everyone was getting ready after Steve told them the start of the plan they made. While Tony was repairing his suit and Natasha was working with Barton, Clara got ready in he temporary room. She didn't have a 'uniform' so she put on a pair of black spandex similar to what the Black Widow's suit was made out of, black combat boots, and a dark maroon long sleeve shirt. Over it was a jet black jacket that matched her pants. When Nat trained her a few years ago, she left her a gun holster, which she put on over her jeans. When she finished putting her hair in high ponytail, she noticed Tony walk in.

"What are you doing?" He asked when he saw her dressed up. His eyes seems to widen when he noticed the gun holster on her hip. "Oh no no no you're not." He said, taking the gun out of her holster and taking the ammo out.

"Yes I am," she grabbed the gun out of his hands and put the ammo back in. Tony scrunched his eyebrows in confusion after seeing her know what to do with a gun. "I'm a grown woman Tony, I can make my own decisions."

"And how are you going to protect yourself?" He asked. "When did you learn to shoot a gun?"

"Nat taught me a couple of years ago after the whole Hammer and Ivan thing," Clara answered. "As her and those soldiers I shot out there, I'm pretty good."

"So you have a few training exercises and you think you're ready to take on an alien army?" Tony asked as his voice got a little higher.

"You're the one who keeps denying me a suit. Hell, Rhodes has one. And so what if I know how to shoot a gun? Everyone other day the world is threatened by the problems that you make!" Clara retaliated. "You don't want me out there in this and a gun, give me a suit."

"I don't want you out there period!" Tony replied. "I've spent years to protect you and I'm not going to let you throw it away! You were already shot in a simple raid..."

"I was grazed," Clara corrected.

"It doesn't matter!" Tony snapped before his tone got quieter. "Clar, you've never been in a war, you're barely trained." Beyond his anger, Clara could see the sadness in his eyes, that he was on the verge of tears. "I lost mom and dad, I'll be damned if I lose you too."

"Now you know how I feel whenever I see you flying around in your suit, fighting off terrorists," she started. Tony sighed as his sister continued. "Fury brought me here for a reason Tony, not just to find the Tesseract. I'm going out there and I'm helping stop Loki wether live or die."

Tony knew he wasn't going to get his determined younger sister to change her mind. "Fine," Tony said and before Clara could say anything, he left. Clara sighed and tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear. She was honestly scared on what would happen to her, knowing she as barely trained enough for an alien battle. She turned around when she heard a knock, seeing Steve dressed in his red, white, and blue suit.

"You ready?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and put on a smile. "Born ready."