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

34

"You know I have to." He said, making Clara shake her head.

"I know," she whispered. Her phone began to ring again and she knew it was Tony calling her back.

"I'm gonna need some help," Steve offered. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes pleaded for Clara to join him, but he knew deep down where her loyalty was.

"Steve..." she gave him a sad look. She was torn between two sides of a choice she had no opinion on.

"I know," Steve said sadly. Clara lifted her phone up as it continued to ring. Steve nodded his head in understanding. "Please," she pleaded, "don't do anything stupid."

"I won't," he answered. Clara raised an eyebrow and he repeated himself. "I won't do anything stupid."

She walked backwards to keep him in her sight before she finally turned her back to work with Natasha to help the injured. After all they could do was done, her and Nat got on the quickest plane and flew straight to the compound. After Tony frantically checked to see if she was okay, she cleaned herself up. As she got dressed, she heard a knock on the door.

"Don't worry Tony, I wasn't in another explosion," she said as she pulled on her black jeans. She put on a powder blue top as her brother replied.

"We need to go, now."

"Where?" She asked.

***

Clara sat in a glass office across from Tony in Berlin as he talked on the phone. That morning, she was in Vienna, almost being blown up by a masked criminal. Now, she sat and waited for her boyfriend to show up as he and Sam had broken a hundred laws trying to find his old friend. "No. Romania was not Accords-sanctioned. And, Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup." Clara heard the doors to the main room open and saw Sam, Steve, and Natasha walk in.

"Try not to break anything while we fix this." She heard Natasha say. She got up from her seat and exited the office to follow them.

"I thought I told you not to do anything stupid." Clara whispered as she came up beside Steve. He looked over his shoulder to meet her brown eyes. Before he could reply, Tony entered, still on the phone as he eyed the Avengers.

"Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences." Tony walked over to them. "Obviously you can quote me on that 'cause I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir." Tony hung up and crossed his arms at his friends.

"'Consequences?'" Steve asked.

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something." Tony said.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve asked.

"Technically, it's the government's property. Wings, too." Nat said.

"That's cold." Sam said.

"Warmer than jail." Tony smirked. Clara walked with Steve into the office before they sat down across from each other.

Steve noticed her slumped down in her seat, an expression on her face that he couldn't figure out. "I'm sorry." Clara didn't look at Steve as he apologized. She only looked at the ugly carpeted floor.

"I know." Clara said, though the way she said it proved she didn't believe him. Tony entered the room like he was the most important man in the world.

"Hey, you wanna see something cool? I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely." Tony showed him two pens in a black presentation box. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most." Tony said.