Third in the Timeline series |
After being told she was the infamous Agent 4, that every S.H.I.E.L.D agent thought was a rumour, Clara decides to get back in the field. Her old boss, and presumed dead, Phil Coulson guides her as she reunites with ol...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Clara beamed, arms folded, as Steve and Sam stared dumbfounded. Sam turned to face her, gaping in awe and laughed to himself.
"Of course the kid's got a jet." he laughed in shock, "How does she have a jet?!"
"Do they know you've got this?" Steve asked her suspiciously, though he was smiling anyway.
"Depends on who you mean by 'they'." Clara quipped, dodging the question. The less he knew about the whole Phil being back from the dead and re-starting S.H.I.E.L.D thing, the better. He'd flip.
Clara lead the others onboard and immediately headed for the controls.
"Clara? Are you back?" A voice called from the cockpit. Both Steve and Sam turned to look at her, the same judgemental looks on their faces. Clara looked at them guiltily and shrugged as Heather's redhead emerged from the cockpit.
"Oh. Hi." She said awkwardly, smiling sweetly and waving with one hand. Heather made eye contact with Clara, turning around, widening her eyes and hiding her face from the other two. Clara laughed and shook her head before swiveling into the pilot's seat and fixing the headset.
"Buckle in, it's going to be bumpy." Clara chorused behind her.
"Um, Clara. Can we have a word?" Steve said, looking at Heather. It took her awhile to get the hint but she quickly excused herself and Steve slid into her empty seat. "Who's she?"
"Heather. Maggie's granddaughter."
"Maggie? The sweet redhead?" Steve said, scrunching his eyes up to try and remember 70 years in the past.
"That's the one." Clara chimed, tapping in the coordinates and leaning back in her seat. Steve looked at her, puzzled. Clara had cheered up a lot since last he'd seen her. He'd expected her to be a mess. They'd known each other for a long, long time and he knew she wouldn't be able to cope with what happened to Bucky. He only wondered what kind of pain her humour was concealing.
"What's she doing here, Clara?" Steve asked seriously.
"Why do you sound so skeptical?" Clara quipped, folding her arms.
"Just answer me."
"She's a medic. We need a medic." Clara rambled, turning away from Steve to stare straight ahead out of the windscreen. "I know you, Steve. We'll need a medic."
"You're a medic, Clara." Steve pointed out, patronisingly, earning him a glare from Clara. "We don't need another medic." He added softly.
"We do if I'm going back in the field." Clara said, cocking her head to the side as she looked at him, a familiar glint in her eyes. Steve couldn't help but smile at her.
"You're right," He agreed, too enthusiastically but Clara didn't pick up on it. "We will definitely need a medic."
*
Clara sat in the pilot's seat, leaning her elbows on her knees, staring intently at the control board as she listened to the action unfold. Clara had landed the quinjet on the roof of the apartment building, Sam stood just outside, Steve had gone in.
"Do you know me?" Steve asked, his voice low and unwavering but soft, apprehensive. Clara's breath hitched in her throat and time seemed to slow as she waited for a response, any response. The simple fact that Steve hadn't died already was good news.
"You're Steve." He said at last. It was him. His voice had the same soft, gravely tone as it did all those years ago. She could still hear him chide Steve about not getting a girl and him tell her he loved her. She wanted so badly to hear him say those things again.
"I read about you in a museum."
"Steve, German special forces have surrounded the parameter." Sam announced from the rooftop.
"I know you're nervous." Steve's voice continued. "But you're lying. You know me."
"I wasn't in Vienna." Bucky protested flatly. "It wasn't me. I don't do that stuff anymore."
"They're entering the building, Steve." Sam announced urgently.
"People who think you did are coming here. They're not thinking of taking you alive."
"Smart." Was all that Bucky said in response.
"Clara, coming your way." Sam said, just as a German police force stormed out of the emergency exist, guns raised, barking orders in a language she didn't understand.
"Stay here." She barked at Heather who nodded her head, wide eyed and panicked. Clara grabbed a gun from the quinjet's many, many supplies and head out onto the roof.
"Cover me?" Clara aimed at Sam who nodded in repsonse. Clara didn't need to even look as she ran straight at the police force, she knew Sam had her back.
"This doesn't have to end in a fight, Bucky." Steve's voice wavered as he comforted his childhood friend.
"It always ends in a fight."
Clara ran down the stairs, passed the police force who were now all groaning in pain. She knew Sam would cover her. Now the path was clear. Clara ran down the hall way and encountered two police officers on the stairs. She grabbed ahold of the banister and used it to swing herself down to the lower level, completely missing them and carried on running, by now they were too far away to shoot at her.
It didn't take her long to find which apartment was the right one. She guessed it was the one with all the police trying to get into. They had a powerful looking battering ram that ironically wasn't doing anything. Somehow she'd have to find a way to get inside. She'd have to get past those officers first.
*
They'd come for him. He always knew they'd find him eventually. But he wasn't ready. He'd just started to remember. He needed to remember but it was too late. They'd thrown a bomb through his window. His instincts kicked in and he pushed it away, towards the man: Steve. He threw down his shield and the bomb went off harmlessly. Just as they had regained their safety, it was threatened again. Those police officers were at the door now. In a frenzy to survive, Bucky launched the closest thing to him, the metal fold out table, at the door, blocking it and, hopefully, buying them some more time. He strode right past the man with the shield. Steve grabbed his arm as he passed but he was strong enough to break free from his grip.
"You're going to kill someone." He snapped.
"I'm not going to kill anyone." He retorted, grabbing a back pack he'd packed days ago...just in case he needed a quick get away.
Then the door was kicked open. The table still remained lodged in between the wall and the door. But Bucky had failed to notice the gap underneath the table. Surely it wasn't big enough for a German policeman to fit through. But who popped up from the debris was no policeman- it was the last person he ever expected to see again- all the reports he had read said she'd disappeared. He thought his Clara Lewis was dead.
"Your neighbors are really noisy." She joked. The windows were smashed in as two officers swung through into the apartment. He didn't see it coming and soon found himself engaging in a fight with one of them. Being taken by surprise, he had lost the upperhand. The next thing he knew, the officer had been whacked around the head by a small, angry woman wielding a table leg. The officer lay motionless on the floor.
"Thanks." He mumbled to the girl who had stolen his heart. Lately he'd been starting to think he didn't have one to lose.
"Don't mention it." She responded, she didn't even meet his eye. "We need to go. Now."
