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

21

~21~

Clara sat against the wall of the jet, her knees held tightly against her chest. Her sobs had turned to light sniffles as the other Avengers dealt with their own pain. Through her sobs, Tony heard her say she saw him dead, so her sat in a seat in front of her, almost to prove to her he was still alive. Steve sat a few seats down, his nightmare playing back in his head as he tried to forget it. A beeping sound made everyone's head turn to the front of the jet. Even Clara picked her head up slightly to see what it was. Tony got up and placed a kiss to the top of Clara's head before he went to the front and answered the call.

"The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air." Clara could hear Maria as she closed her eyes and tried to get rid of the scenes from her horrible nightmare.

"Stark Relief Foundation?" Tony asked.

"Already on the scene. How's the team?"

"Everyone's..." he looked at his sister who looked like a mess. She never showed her emotions in front of people, but now she didn't she didn't care if the Earth's Mightiest Heroes saw her as a wreck. "...we took a hit. We'll shake it off."

"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode, and stay away from here."

"So, run and hide?"

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer."

"Neither do we." Clara got up slowly as her brother stayed in the front. Steve's trance was broken when he felt Clara sit beside him. She knew he was hurting, she knew everyone was, and she couldn't help but feel selfish that she threw her emotions out in front of everyone. She slowly slipped her hand into his and intertwined their fingers. They didn't say anything and they didn't move. In that moment, the worry that clouded their mind seemed to rest.

***

Clara walked next to Steve as the team entered a farm house. "What is this place?" Clara asked, her voice tired from the long jet ride.

"A safe house?" Tony answered, well, more like asked.

"Let's hope," Clint said. They all entered the house to find it was littered with toys. "Honey, I'm home," Clint called, already making Clara furrow her eyebrows into confusion. A pregnant lady walked out of the kitchen with a big smile. "Hi. Company. Sorry I didn't call ahead." Clint apologized.

"Hey." The lady said before kissing Clint. Everyone looked at each other, totally confused at where they were and who that was.

"This is an agent of some kind." Tony said.

"Guys, this is Laura." Clint said.

"I know all your names." Laura smiled.

"Ooh, incoming." Clint said as two kids ran in. Clara just watched the sight in awe.

"Dad!" The little girl yelled as she smiled.

"I see you! Hey, buddy! How you guys doing? Ooh..." Clint laughed as he greeted his kids, picking up the girl.

"These are...smaller agents." Tony said, gaining a slight smile from Clara.

"Look at your face! Oh, my goodness!"

"Did you bring Auntie Nat?" The little girl said.

"Why don't you hug her and find out!" Nat teases before the little girl ran to her and she picked her up.

"Sorry for barging in on you." Steve said.

"Yeah, we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed." Tony said.