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

32

~32~

"I don't have a good feeling about this," Clara mumbled to Steve as they approached the office.

"Why not?" Steve asked. He looked straight ahead, though he knew her eyes were already filled with worry.

"We had no authority. No permission given by anyone to go to Lagos in the first place. And what we did..." Clara chose her next words properly as Wanda was only a few steps behind them. "You really think they'll be fine with that?"

"Not exactly," Steve answered. They entered the room, and Tony stood to greet her.

"How was the speech?" Clara asked, trying to avoid the current topic for as long as possible.

"Great, really great," Tony lied. "How was Lagos? Have a nice vacation?" Clara stared at her brother, feeling anger rise at his comment.

"Tony..."

"You're lucky you weren't killed. What if..." Tony stopped as Clara watched him with determined eyes.

"What if what Tony?" Clara asked. "After all these years, am I still just your weak younger sister? I can handle myself."

"You guys blew up a building! Innocent people died because of you're little 'mission'." Clara saw Wanda tense in her seat at Tony's comment.

"We needed Rumlow off the streets," Clara defended. "And yes, we didn't handle it the way we should have, but..." Before Clara could get another word in, everyone else had entered. She glanced over her shoulder then back at Tony who shrugged and took his seat away from everyone else. Clara sat at the head of the table, in between Natasha and Steve.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack." Ross began. "I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass...I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some... who would prefer the word 'vigilantes.'"

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked with a smug look.

"How about 'dangerous?' What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" Old news footage from past Avengers and SHIELD missions flashed on the screen as he named them off.

"New York."

"Washington DC."

"Sokovia." Clara thought of Pietro when the footage was shown. How he was so young and gave his life for a cause he barely knew. Every once and a while Clara would still wake up at night after nightmares of the quickster's dead body.

"Lagos." Clara's heart felt heavy as the footage showed the debris of the blown up building and a young woman who had been a victim. Clara saw as Wanda turned away, the guilt eating at her. She wasn't the only one, and Steve spoke up.

"Okay. That's enough," Steve said.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." Ross said. He slid a thick book onto the table.