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

34

~34~

     Clara's eyes shot open as she quickly gasped for air. She coughed as what was left of the room fell into chaos. She got up slowly, a sharp pain in her back from falling making her tense. She looked around to see firemen and others picking people up and getting them out of the building as fast as they could. She was startled when she felt a hand wrap around her arm, but was relieved to see it was only Natasha. Clara stood, coughing as smoke continued to fill her lungs. "We need to get out of here," Natasha urged.

"Is everyone else out?" Clara asked in between coughs.

"Fire personal have gotten almost all of them," Natasha answered. "You've taken in too much smoke, you've got to get out of here." Clara nodded and they made their way to the blown up doorway. Clara glanced over her shoulder to see T'Challa cradling his father as he cried over his dead body. Clara's heart sunk before Natasha tugged on her arm and brought her out of the room.

They helped usher people out of the building and into the streets where firemen and police littered the sidewalks. The streets were scattered with pedestrians as they ran out of fear and panic. Clara stood in shock before she felt Natasha gently shake her and bring her back to reality. She heard her phone frantically buzz in her pocket before she quickly pulled it out and answered it.

"Tony?" Her voice cracked due to the intake of the smoke.

"Oh my God you're alright," Tony's voice was frantic on the other line.

"I'm fine." She coughed, making it sound like a lie. "I'm fine," she said more reassuringly.

"Shit, I should have never gotten Nat to take you there, I should have gone, not you. I should've..."

"Pleas calm down Tony, I'm fine." She said again. Her eyes scanned through the streets to try and find any sign of the attacker. Tony continued to ask about her for minutes on end as the streets continued to fill with chaos. Clara had to finally hang up when a medic insisted she be checked for injuries. For the next thirty minutes, she sat in the back of an ambulance with a blanket over her shoulders as they checked her before finally clearing her. She looked around for the familiar faces of T'Challa and Natasha.

While looking for them, her eyes fell on a tall figure wearing a blue hat and sunglasses, hidden behind a news truck. They stood up straighter when they made eye contact with her. She made her way over to him, loosing the the medical blanket in the process. "You'd think after all this time you'd know how to wear a disguise." The man behind the sunglasses smiled softly. The smile left as soon as it came as he noticed the scratch on her cheek. He gently raised his hand and rubbed his finger over it. Clara would have winced at the pain of it weren't for the familiar touch of his warm skin.

"I'm fine." She answered when she saw him staring at her. "They're saying the Winter Soldier did it."

"I know," Steve answered, tucking his hands in his jacket's pockets.

"Where you ever going to tell me about him?" Clara asked. She had grown suspicious when she had walked in on conversations with him and Sam. How she found James Barnes' file in his room and how he 'met and old friend' before he went to the hospital.

"You know," he sighed as he realized it out loud. "I shouldn't have hid him from you," Steve said. "I just don't know when to tell you."

"I guess the topic of a brainwashed, Hydra assassin doesn't come up often" Clara replied. She didn't know why she was acting hostile towards him, she was just angry. Angry at the fact that more people had died because of the Avengers.

"Clar," Steve started. "I should've told you about him, I know. I guess I was just didn't want to burden you with this."

"You could never burden me Steve," Clara replied. Her harsh tone was gone and had been replaced with a lighter one. "You're gonna go after him, aren't you."