Captain America: Age of Chaos

Silence

Clara sat in her hospital room. Her hand and leg were bandaged.

She didn't say one word. Not even natahsa could get a word out of her. She simply stared at the floor.

Natasha sat in front of her. The captain was worried out of her mind. "Clara..." Natasha gently reached for her hand.

Clara didn't hold it back. She actually pushed away her hand. Clara didn't want natahsa holding her hands since they were stained with blood...

Blood of her father who she couldn't save-

Natasha sighed softly as she stood up. She kissed the top of her head and walked out into the hallway. Everyone was looking at her, wondering if she was successful. The captain shook her head.

"Dad... you try." Natasha said as she went outside to get a breather.

Bucky stepped into the room. He sat in front of her. "Hey kiddo."

"I... I know you don't want to talk right now. But... I have something you probably will want." He reached into his pocket and pulled out dog tags. Steve's... dog tags.

He turned her hand over and placed them in her palm. "I remember when your father and I were in our younger years, he wished he could have a family." Bucky said with a sad smile.

"He said he always wanted a daughter. Did you know he had your name ready since he was a teen?" Bucky said with a sad chuckle. He wiped his eyes.

"He loved you so much... before you even existed in this world." Bucky watched her look at the dog tags.

She turned them and looked at his name. "He always told me, to give them to you."

She looked up a little. Her eyes met Bucky's. Bucky broke down right there. She looked so much like Steve.

"Shit..." he said as he covered his face. His brother... gone. The man he grew up with, protected, died for, fought with, recovered with was gone.

He was his best friend. Tears fell down his face as he started to cry. "I...I understand your pain."

Bucky looked at her, just heartbroken.

"He was my only family for a long time." Bucky averted his gaze as he wiped his tears. This was so much harder now.

Clara carefully put the dog tags over her head. She then looked back at Bucky. He looked at her sadly. He fixed her hair, pulling it out from under the tags.

"What do I do now..." she said quietly, her voice being scratchy from not talking. Bucky looked at her and sighed.

"Live for them, and carry their legacy." Bucky said as he wiped his eyes again.

She nodded slightly. "Will you be okay?" She asked quietly.

Bucky nodded a bit. "Yeah... I have Sam by my side. I'll always be okay."

He looked at her and held her hand. "If you need anything, please let me know. Okay?"

She squeezed his hand and nodded. He squeezed her hand and sighed in relief she was talking at least a little bit.

Bucky stepped out and nodded to the nurse. The group sighed in relief that she didn't just shut down.

"What do we do...?" Anthony asked. Bucky looked at the entire group.

"Be there for her. Don't overdo it." Bucky felt himself holding back tears. He didn't dare let them fall in front of the kids.

"I... I will be in the car." He said as he walked past them. Natasha watched him. She knew he was not taking this well at all.

Bucky got into his car and sat in his seat. He held his head and cried. Almost as if on cue, bjs phone rang.

It was Sam. He answered as he tried to gather what little composure he had left.

"Bucky... what happened?" Sam said.

"Steve's gone Sam... he's gone." Bucky said breaking down again. Sam was silent.

"Fallon found him and Clara. They were having a day together and he just killed him in front of his own daughter." Bucky held his head.

"Where's Clara..."

"She's getting treatment right now. She can barely talk, she barely looks alive, she looks gone." Bucky took deep breaths to trying and relax a bit.

"James."

Bucky paused and started to calm down. "How are you...?" Sam asked.

Bucky just shook his head. "The man I've died for, fought with, recovered with, and died for again... is gone. He was my brother."

"I know. It's hard, it's really hard to be able to go through this. When I lost Riley, I just was emotionless for weeks. Until... I looked at the positives in the life we had." Sam said over the phone.

"And now... the first Captain America finally gets to rest." Sam said as Bucky shifted in his seat.

"Not this way though. It was so gruesome Sam..."

"I know. And Fallon is gruesome. He is a very heartbroken man. I understand his anger, but I don't condone his actions." Sam said as he went silent.

Bucky sighed. "Yeah..."

The two were silent. Bucky knew they needed to talk about their conversation from the bathroom the other night. Bucky then saw the kids coming to the car.

"We're coming to the White House. See you soon." He said as he saw Clara open the car door.

"Alright. Love you James."

"Love you hun." He hung up and looked at Natasha. "Here are some of the medications the doctor gave us to give her. She can't keep them with her since she is potentially a uh... suicidal risk."

Bucky looked at Clara and the held the meds. "Got it." He sighed.

"Let's chat more a moment guys." He looked at them all. They all were listening.

"Death is hard... and none of you deserve to have to go through things like this. This world is just awful, but even though we have all these issues in this world, we have to be there for each other. We only have each other... you all understand?"

They all nodded. Clara remained silent. Bucky looked at her. "You understand?"

She nodded slightly.

"Good. Now... let's get to the White House."