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

48

~48~

Clara walked down the crowded halls of the Wakandan building as everyone was preparing for battle. Millions of thoughts and fears flooded through her mind. Fears that they would lose. Fears that she'll never see Tony again. Fear that she will lose someone she loved. As she was walking, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed her arm before pulling her aside. Nanobots instantly formed a blaster on her palm as she faced the man who grabbed her. The man had a calm face, even when having a blaster so close to him. The nanobots quickly went back into Clara's bracelet when she realized it was Steve. "It's just you," She sighed in relief.

"Clar, we need to finish talking," he said. "please?" Clara watched as guards and soldiers ran left and right to prepare for battle. She also knew that Steve was a smart man and wouldn't put his love life ahead of the safety of the universe. They had a few minutes to spare before they were truly needed. She nodded softly and his hand grabbed ahold of hers. "We don't know what's about to happen, and I..." Steve stumbled over his words as he tried to find what to say. "I can't die out there, knowing that you hate me. Not over something I should have never kept from you."

Clara looked up at him as he waited for her response. For the millionth time in the last 24 hours, she met his eyes. They seemed tired, exhausted from a life on the run. Unknown to her, he was sleep deprived because whenever he closed his eyes he would see her calling out to him to stop as his rage was about to make him kill her brother. He would see the worry in her eyes and the heartbreak in her voice. The sound wouldn't leave him. The way her eyes stared back at him would forever be scared into his memory. He'd close his eyes and dream of her, knowing he would never see her again. "I could never hate you." She whispered as of it was a secret only the two of them could share. Steve's lips twitched into a small smile as he still held onto her hand. "I love you too much to ever hate you," she admitted. They stood in silence as they stared at each other, making up for the years they didn't spend together. "I'm scared," she admitted.

"So am I," Steve admitted. "But we'll get through it."

"How can you be so sure?" Clara asked.

"Because we will."

Clara chuckled softly, "I've missed your witty optimism."

Steve chuckled softly as he placed his hand on her cheek. "Oh Clarissa Stark, I have missed so many things about you."

"Steve? Clara? Where you guys at?" Sam asked through their comms.

"We're on our way," Steve said. He turned his comm off for a minutes as he looked back at Clara. "Maybe when this is all done, I can take you out to dinner?"

She smiled softly at him. "Yeah," she answered. "Maybe."

***

"I got two heat signatures breaking through the treeline," Sam said. Clara waited until that moment to activate her suit. She tapped her bracelet and ignited the nanobots all over her body, but waited to ignite the helmet.

"I like the suit," Steve commented as they walked down to the barrier.

"Thanks. I like the shields." Clara, Steve, Natasha, and T'Challa walked to the border of the dome where two of Thanos' minions stood.

"Where's the other friend?" Natasha asked.

"He will pay for his life with yours. Thanos will have that stone." One of them said. She had long blue hair with horns and held a spear as she stared down what was left on Earth of the Avengers.

"That's not gonna happen." Steve said.

"You are in Wakanda now. Thanos will have nothing but dust, and blood." T'Challa said.

"We, have blood to spare." The alien smirked.
The four went back to the rest of the warriors and prepared to fight.

"They surrender?" Bucky asked, the four of them making their way back up to their army.

"Not exactly." Clara said.

"Yibambe!" The Wakandans started chanting. "Yibambe! Yibambe!"

"What the hell?" Clara and Bucky said as they noticed the aliens surrounding the barrier.

"Looks like we pissed her off." Rhodes said.

"They're killing themselves." Natasha said.

"Cap, if these things circle the perimeter and get in behind us, there's nothing between them and Vision." Sam said.

"Then we better keep them in front of us." Steve said.

"How do we do that?"

"We open the barrier. On my signal, open northwest section 17." T'Challa said to his sister.

"You ready for this?" Steve asked Clara.

"Not really." She answered.

"Wakanda forever!" T'Challa yelled. And the battle began.