~46~
Bruce admired the facility, having not seen it since it was built. As Clara walked through the portal, her suit began to deactivate and return to her bracelet. Bruce noticed how far Clara had gotten before he quickly caught up beside her. Upon entering, Bruce stared in awe, having been absent for it's building. He took notice of how dead it seemed. "So, everyone's gone?" He asked, fiddling with his hands and he followed Clara down a hallway.
"Not everyone," Clara answered, walking into the living area to see Rhodey watching the news. "I'm glad I didn't drink that third glass of champagne last night," Clara said, gaining Rhodey's attention. "Or else I'd be paying for it." Rhodey gave her a smile before it quickly faded away.
"Where's Tony?" He asked. Clara pointed to the footage of the ship playing on the news. "Why?"
"He's Tony," the brunette sighed. Rhodey gave her a sorry look before pulling her into a hug.
"It's good to see you in one piece."
"Brought an old friend," Clara smiled as she pulled away from Rhodey to reveal Bruce. Rhodey gave Clara a look of confusion as Bruce gave an awkward wave to his old friend. "If you thought New York and Sokovia were crazy..."
"You don't mean..."
"A big angry Titan decided he wanted to add to his jewelry collection," Clara answered. "A wizard told me that before two aliens attacked the city." Rhodey looked at Bruce like what she had just said was crazy, but Bruce nodded. "I know I sound crazy, but we need to find Vision."
"I'd love to help, but Vision hasn't shown back up. He turned his tracker off."
"Damn," Clara huffed.
"I'd love to catch up, but Secretary Ross has ordered a conference." A beeping sound went off in the office and Clara politely excused herself due to her hatred for Ross.
"I'll be in the library." Clara nodded her head towards the library. She waved a 'goodbye' to Rhodey and went into the small little library she insisted Tony to put in. She didn't realize Bruce followed her until he closed the door.
Clara sat down and Bruce immediately sat across from her. "You said the Avengers broke up. Now what exactly does that mean."
"It's a long story Bruce." Clara sighed. Bruce looked down at his watch as if he knew something she didn't.
"Well we have a little time." He said, sitting in the chair across from her. Clara took a deep breath and began rambling about the incident that occurred two years ago. "So was it so hard to work it all out?" Bruce asked after she explained the Accords to him.
"You weren't there Bruce. The government wanted to have full control over the Avengers. The team was split and instead of working it like adults, they...I mean we..." Clara caught herself before starting again. "We turned into each other's enemies. We fought each other like we were our biggest threat when in reality there was someone trying to tear us apart."
"What about Nat? Wanda? Steve? Why isn't Steve here?" Bruce asked, raising his eyebrows in suspicion. "Is he..."
"Technically Steve Rogers is a fugitive." Clara answered, the word that described him seemed to leave a sour taste in her mouth. Never in a million years would Captain America be a fugitive, but that's how society saw him now. "They're all fugitives."
"What happened...I mean I know you two..." Bruce dragged on is sentence, not really finishing it before Clara answered again.
"Steve ended up choosing his friend over us." She looked down at her hands as she continued, "looking back at it now I can't say I blame Steve. Bucky was his only connection to his old life. But he chose his old life over his new one with us." Clara had come to understand why Steve had hidden the truth from her and Tony. She knew that he was only trying to spare their feelings. What hurt her was how he hid it for so long. She could have been with him till her dying breath and he still would have never told her.
She looked up to see Bruce taking it all in. "So we're all split up?" He asked. "The biggest threat to our existence is on our doorstep and the Earth's best defenders are all over the place?" His voice began to raise as he came to the realization.
"Well when you put it like that, it makes it sound worse than it is." Clara tried to lighten the mood as she chuckled, but the room fell silent again. The uncomfortable silence was interrupted by the sound of a jet landing. Clara shot up from her chair to see an old quinjet land in the front lawn. By the time she looked back, Bruce was already gone. Clara didn't know what was going on, but the next thing she knew, she was walking towards to conference room, voices of her old friends filling the air. Her breath hitched in her throat as she heard a voice she hadn't heard in such a long time. She peered behind the corner to see the man that she had once loved standing with her friends.
"You guys really look like shit."
Clara's voice echoed in the room and made everybody turn to face her. Natasha smiled softly at the sight of her old friend. Wanda and Sam glanced at her and grinned from her comment. As for Steve, he jerked his head up at the sound of her voice.
Steve's stone like face softened under his new facial fair as his eyes landed on the brunette. He stood with his arms by his side as he gazed up at the Clara. His shoulders slumped down, almost in relief that she wasn't on the spaceship like her brother. His heart pounded and his palms started to sweat as he suddenly became nervous to be in the same room as her after what happened two years ago. He looked her up and down, noticing her new haircut along with her thinner frame. She wore pair of jeans that fit her perfectly and a black shirt with her hoodie zipped over it. She seemed smaller than he remembered her, but then again, she looked different in other ways as well. The only thing that hadn't changed in her appearance were her eyes. Though they were tired, her dark brown eyes that he had fallen in love with gleamed back at him from across the room.
"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star." Sam smirked, nodding a 'hello' to Clara. Clara's gaze never left Steve as she began to take in everything. The first thing she noticed was that his hair was darker now and it was supported by a beard. His suit was no longer the spangly outfit he used to wear. The star in the middle of his chest had been torn and the bright blue color was now a deep navy. His eyes were still bluer than an ocean, an ocean that drowned her every time she looked into them. If Clara hadn't had such torn feelings on the man before her, she would have ran to him and hugged him tightly and never let go, but she knew deep down that she couldn't do it. Everyone must have caught them staring at each other, because Sam broke the silence. "This is awkward." Sam remarked, making the two leave their daydreams. As she passed by Clara, Natasha wrapped her arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a hug.
"It's good to see you again Nat." Clara said as she rested her chin on her shoulder.
"You too Clar," Natasha said before they pulled apart. "Your hair got short."
"Your's got blond." The two giggled like two teenage girls would do at a stupid joke. Clara looked over her shoulder to see that Steve was still staring at her, but she chose to follow Natasha to the office instead of getting caught up in something there was no time for.
***
"We gotta assume they're coming back, right?" The group of old friends had made their way into one of the many offices. Clara sat at a desk, her hands holding up her head as she stared directly in front of her, only thinking about their current situation.
"And they can clearly find us." Natasha stated.
"We need all hands on deck," Bruce started. "Where's Clint?"
"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It's too tough on their families." Natasha answered, leaning on the table behind her.
"Who's Scott?" Bruce asked, looking around for an answer.
"Ant-Man," Steve answered. Clara shot a quick look at him. His voice seemed deeper and more stern than she remembered.
"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?" Bruce asked, boggled at the idea of two bug themed superheroes.
"Thanos already has two of the stones." Clara said, again, making everyone's heads turn to her as she tried to get back on subject. "Imagine what he could do with all six." She leaned back in her chair. "He has the biggest army in the Universe. And he is not gonna stop until he...He gets..."
"Vision's stone," Bruce finished.
"Wait, how do you know all of this?" Sam asked.
"A magic doctor told me." Everyone looked at her like she was crazy, except for Steve who knew she could never be crazy. He only smiled softly at her. Hearing her sarcastic tone was something he thought he'd grow tired of, but he had grown to miss it in her absence. Clara raised her hands up in defense. "Funny enough, he's the one thing that's made sense today."
"Well then, we have to protect it." Natasha said, again, trying to keep everyone on topic before they spiraled into another conversation.
"No, we have to destroy it." Vision said, shutting her up. "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head about its nature. But also, its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something, very similar to its own signature, perhaps..."
"Its molecular integrity could fail," Clara said.
"And Vis, with it," Wanda replied. "We're not having this conversation."
"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that. Thanos can't get it." Vision defended, and Clara could understand his reasoning.
"That's too high a price." Wanda said, worried at the fact that Vision dying may be the only way.
"Only you, have the power to pay it. Thanos threatens half the Universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him." Vision stated solemnly.
"But it should," Steve said, interrupting the point that Vision was trying to make. "We don't trade lives, Vision." Clara stared at him and thought to herself. He may look different, but he is the same man that wanted to save as many people as he can.
"Captain, 70 years ago, you laid down your life to save millions of people. Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision said.
"Because you might have a choice." Bruce said as he pointed his finger at Vision in realization. "Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone." Bruce said to him. "All of them mixed together. All of them learning from one another."
"You're saying Vision isn't just a stone?"
"I'm saying that...If we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left." Bruce said. "Perhaps the best parts."
"Can we do that?" Natasha asked and everyone looked to Clara and Bruce.
"Not us. Not here." Clara said, getting up from her seat. "We don't have the technology and there's no time to wait and get it."
"Well you better find someone and somewhere fast. Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back," Rhodey said.
"I know somewhere." Steve said, making eye contact with Clara. He slightly nodded before looking around at everyone. "Suit up."