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...
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The screen flickered and shut off as the footage ran out. Clara stood still in front of the screen. She knew he had died, she knew he had died even before she went back in time and met Howard.
Clara had even known how he had died, it was all in the USB stick Phil had given her, that exact footage, and a lot, lot more. But watching it now, with Tony and Bucky, made it all too real. She could no longer ignore it, it had happened, it was real.
Tony turned to Bucky and lurched at him. Steve held him back and Clara dove in between the two, raising her hands defensively at Tony.
From behind her, Bucky had raised his gun but she suspected his threat was empty. Tony stop straining against Steve restraints. He turned to him gravely.
"Did you know?" Tony asked, his voice breaking. Steve said nothing for a while before drawing a sharp breath to summon up the courage to tell the truth.
"I didn't know it was him." Steve said.
"Don't bullshit me, Rogers! Did you know it was him?" Tony yelled in anguish.
"Yes."
Tony took a quick step backward, away from Steve and away from Bucky.
"And you?" He asked solemnly. "Please, Clara. You didn't know?"
"I'm so sorry, Tony." Clara apologised tearfully. "I'm really sorry."
"Tony," Steve said, stepping toward him, "Don't do anything stupid."
"Stupid?" Tony asked patronisingly. He huffed and turned on Steve, backhanding him around the face and knocking him to the ground before turning to Bucky. Clara stood firm and drew her gun as Tony advanced, blasters raised.
"Step aside, Clara." He demanded. She shook her head. "Leave now, you aren't part of this."
"I won't. This is wrong, Tony."
"How could you?" He shouted, "How could you betray my parents?! That's what's wrong, Clara! He killed my parents!"
"I'll tell you what's wrong, Tony! Brainwashing a soldier then using him to do your dirty work! Yet you conveniently look past that!"
"He killed my dad. Your friend!" Tony retaliated.
"He killed my dad! My mother! Almost me! And after all that I can see he's a victim, Tony. That wasn't him!"
Steve had managed to regain his footing and came charging at Tony. All he had to do was swing a punch and Steve was sent flying again.
"I'm not you, Clara! I can't look past murder." Tony fumed. Clara looked over her shoulder at Bucky, he couldn't meet her eye.
"It wasn't him, Tony. Please see that." Clara implored but Tony was only seeing red.
"How can you just forgive this?" He asked cruelly.
"Because I love him."
Tony launched himself at Bucky, blasters raised. Clara was more than ready to tackle him but a strong, metal arm pushed her out of the way.
Clara was sent spinning down to the ground, her head colliding with something with a hard thud. Her vision was spinning and her head throbbing but she had to get up. She had to stop Tony from doing something stupid.
All Clara could hear were the grunts and collisions of fists and faces. She could just make out a blur of red and Tony threw punch after punch after punch at Bucky.
Tony sent them both flying across the room with his thrusters and they were gone from Clara's sight. She tried to stop her spinning head to rejoin the fight but the bump on her head told her otherwise.
She steadied herself against the wall as she made her way to the other side of the room where the others were. She had to do something.
Her head had stopped spinning enough to make out Tony still wrestling with Bucky. Steve was on the edge of the fight, about to throw a punch at Tony but he expertly deflected it and pushed Steve away again.
Tony raised his blaster up to Bucky's face. With all his might, Bucky pushed Tony's arm away just as the blast went off. It was sent spiralling across the room, colliding with a beam that came crashing down dangerously close to where Clara was staggering.
Bucky kicked Tony off him and ran as fast as he could to Clara, gripping her in his arms as ducking under the weight of the collapsed beam as it fell down on them.
The last thing Clara remembered before blacking out was those terrified blue eyes she remembered from all those years ago: those charming eyes she fell in love with over and over again.
