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

42

~42~

By lunch time the next day, Clara and Tony were back at the compound working on their latest invention. Clara finished successfully in connecting their new nanobot technology into a new bracelet. It was a simple silver bracelet that had a glowing blue reactor chipped into the design. Once tapped, the nanobots would form over her body to create a new suit. Clara looked over to see Tony finishing a new project.

"You're making it out of nanobots?" She asked, taking her glasses off and setting them down on the table.

"Might as well," Tony said as he backed away from the process. "I mean, if he changes his mind or..."

"Tony, the kid made up his mind," she chuckled. She remembered standing with Happy as Peter politely refused Tony's new suit. Good thing too since it was currently being upgraded with their newest tech.

"Yeah, yeah," Tony mumbled. "It's just, I see myself in him you know."

"God help us all if there's another Tony Stark roaming around." Clara laughed before hearing a beep. Her new suit's programming had been completed. "Finally," she smiled. She looked over to Tony, who had already tried on his newest suit. The helmet hadn't formed yet.

"Nanobots. Gotta Love 'em." He said. "Why don't you give your suit a try?" Clara adjusted her bracelet on her wrist. She tapped the reactor housing unit on her bracelet before a cool metal formed over her skin other than her helmet. While Tony's suit was still his red and gold, her suit was a shade of maroon along with a silver color to contrast it.

"What do you think?" She asked.

"I've got to admit, it's one of the better suits we've made. You got any name ideas?" Tony raised his eyebrow. "Iron-Woman sounds too cheesy."

"Iron-Defender?" Clara said.

"Maybe something other than iron," Tony rolled his eyes. "I kind of already coined it. then you had Iron Patriot, which wasn't a fan favorite or so I've heard..."

"Steel-Defender it is." Clara smirked. Tony scoffed and mumbled under his breath how cool it sounded and how he wished he would have thought of it first, like any older sibling would do.

Clara formed her helmet and smiled widely as it began to run diagnostics. "Let's take this baby out for a ride." Clara and Tony spent most of their morning soaring through the air, testing out all of the weapons they could make, and sometimes shooting at each other to see how long it would take for the nanobots to regenerate. The fun ended when Pepper came to take Tony out for their afternoon jog. For the millionth time, Clara was all alone in the compound. Vision had left weeks ago, Rhodey was doing some business, and the others, well, the others were known fugitives after they broke out of their cells.

Clara walked down the hallway to her room when her eyes wondered to a certain bedroom door. Her hand danced over the doorknob as she bit her lip, before she gave in and opened the door.

It was just the way she left it two years ago, the only difference being the thin layer of dust over the untouched room. The bed was made perfectly, of course it was, and art still littered the table. A computer sat on his desk, dead from not being plugged in for years. She entered slowly and walked around, seeing the pictures on his dresser. One was of the team he had gotten from a news paper article. Beside it was a picture of her. She had dressed up for one of their many dates. This time, she wore a blue sweater and a pair jeans along with her black framed glasses. Her hair was still long, unlike it was now, and she had a different smile. She remembered why she smiled for the picture. Steve has just told her cheesiest joke she had ever heard. Oh when life was simple and she could joke around with the love of her life.

She placed the frame back down and looked around once more. She made her way to his bedside table where a copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray sat. She didn't remember letting him borrow it and soon discovered it was a copy of his own. Sticky notes littered the pages with notes on them almost as if he was doing it for her. She set it back down and began to leave the room before she caught something shining from under his bed. The curiosity got the best of her as she leaned down beside the bed and pulled it out. A quiet sigh escaped her lips as she held up Steve's shield. The shield. One that her father made for him back in his golden days. The scratch marks from the Black Panther had disappeared without a trace and it seemed to have a new paint job. It was almost as if Tony repaired it after all this time. She set it back down and slid it under the bed before she picked herself up and sat down on his bed. She breathed in deeply, trying to catch any scent of him that she could.

Yes, she had moved on. She had learned to live with her grief of his betrayal and moved on to become someone other than an Avenger. But just because she moved on didn't mean she didn't think about him sometimes. She still missed the way he made her smile. The way he would kiss her cheek and his voice when he told her he loved her. She missed seeing the wrinkles by his eyes when he laughed at her jokes and the look in his ocean blue eyes when she did something that made him fall deeper in love with her. She thought he would be the man she would spend the rest of her life with him.

In a moment of weakness, Clara got up from his bed and left for her room. She headed for her nightstand and she opened it before pulling out the old black flip phone. She opened it, the first and only name popping up was the man she had once loved. She wanted to dial it, but her mind caught up with her actions and she tossed the phone down. "Coward," she mumbled. "Can't even talk to your ex." Suddenly, an orange circle formed on her wall before opening into a portal. On instinct, she ignited an iron bracelet for her suit and aimed it at the strange figure.

"Miss Stark?" The man asked, stepping into room.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded. "And why are you in my room?"

"I'm Dr. Stephan Strange. I need your help," the man answered. "The universe needs your help."

Clara looked at him in confusion before she lowered her blaster and the nanobots went back into her bracelet. "And why should I believe you?"

"Clara?" A small voice asked from behind the tall man before he stepped out.

"Bruce?" Clara raised her eyebrows in surprise as she noticed an older Bruce Banner. "What..." she tried to find the words to say. "Where have you been?"

"Long story," he answered. "Where's Tony?"

"On a run with Pepper. Who is this guy? Why does he need my help?" Clara asked.

"He's coming."

"Who's coming?" She asked.

"Thanos." Bruce answered in complete fear. "Thanos is coming."