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

A New Hope

This is not really a chapter, but I had to include this part because why not! Enjoy!

~A New Hope~

     The Avengers compound was almost completely silent as it's heroes tried to figure out what to do next. Some tried to communicate with world power's to see how badly they were effected. Some drank down their sorrows and some sat around and watched the confirmed deaths rise.

Clara didn't really pay much attention to time. Almost immediately after they arrived, she sat on the couch in the common area and watched the screens to see everyone who had passed. Familiar faces like Sam Wilson, Sharon Carter, and Maria Hill showed up, making Clara's heart ache. By now Clara couldn't tell if she was worried of relieved that Tony's face never showed up, not knowing if he was dead or stuck in the one place he feared.

A week or two after the snap, Natasha returned to the compound with a sort of communication device from Fury, who was part of the unlucky half. Clara kept to herself, barely speaking, barely eating as they ran tests on the device to see what it was. One day, the brunette stood next to Steve, tapping her fingers on the countertop before Steve placed his hand gently over hers in an attempt to calm her down. Though the two never truly worked out their differences, in this time of sorrow, they both needed the other more than they would admit out loud. "This is a nightmare." Steve said solemnly as he gave a sad look to Clara.

"Trust me," she said. "I've had nightmares. "This...this is worse." Her heart ached as she thought of her brother, either turned to dust or rotting in space with no help.

Rhodey and Natasha entered the office. "Hey," He said, gaining the attention of the couple. Rhodey looked at the two of them in confusion. "So that thing just stopped doing whatever the hell it was doing." Natasha sighed as all of them walked over to Bruce who was working on the device. Clara and Steve didn't pay attention to the fact that their hands were still intwined.

"What do we got?" Natasha asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Whatever signal it was sending, finally crept up." Bruce answered.

"I thought we bypassed the battery." Clara asked, looking at Steve and Bruce.

"We did." Rhodey answered. "It's still plugged in, it just...it stopped."

Steve and Clara shared a glance of confusion. "Reboot it, send the signal again." Steve demanded.

"We-We don't even know what this is." Bruce stated.

"Fury did," Natasha said.

"Tell me the second you get the signal." Natasha urged, curious to know who was on the other end. "I want to know who's on the other end of that thing." When they turned around, they all noticed a woman standing there. Clara looked at the woman, feeling the most confused she had the last couple days. She wore a red, blue, and gold suit of armor and looked like she was about to kill all of them.

"Where's Fury?"