"Clara?"

Relief floods over me at the sound of his voice.

"Tony! Thank goodness! I've been trying to reach you for weeks!"

I put down the targeting system chips that I've been reconfiguring now for a couple of days, and smile finally.

"I'm sorry Clare. Things have been hellish, you wouldn't imagine the shit I was dealing with."

"I can imagine Tony. Things have been insane here too. SHIELD has imploded, and Steve's a wanted man. I'm—" I sigh heavily, debating if I should tell Tony now or wait until I see him.

"You're what? Clara? Are you alright? They haven't come after you have they?—"

"No, they don't know about Steve and I, nor my abilities. And I'm alright-ish..." I guess it's now or never. He'd hate me if I didn't tell him..

"Alright-ish? What does that mean Clara? You're scaring me."

"I—I'm pregnant Anthony."

If I hadn't heard him gasp, I would've thought the line went dead. I'm met with complete silence, and it worries me.

"You—you're pregnant? With Spangles' kid?" I roll my eyes at his shock that it's Steve's..

"Whose else would it be Tony? Yes it's Steve's." I shake my head and I hear him snort lightly.

"What's so funny Anthony?" Knowing where his answer will be headed, but hopefully he'll be mature..

"I just didn't think the Cap had it in him—"

"Oh my god, Tony!" I face palm, knowing this was a bad idea.

"I'm just sayin!" He says with a chuckle. "I thought he was too old fashioned for that."

"Are you done berating my fiancé?" Oops...that just slipped out..

"Fiancé?! What the hell Clara? When were you going to tell me you were engaged?"

"I was going to wait until I saw you, but with what's happening here..I don't know how long that'll be."

"What do you mean?" I hear the worry in his voice.

"I mean I'm in hiding with Hill and Fury..."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah. So I'm sorry to throw this all on you now, but I don't know when I'll get another secure line.."

"I didn't know it was that bad. Do you need me in DC? I can be there in two hours, get you out of there, get you safe."

"No Tony, it's alright, my place is here. I couldn't handle if something happened to Steve and I wasn't here."

"You really do love him, don't you?" I smile at his words, it's taken him this long to realize it.

"Well I'd hope so, I'm carrying his child after all."

"Touché. Well I'm happy for you sis. Please be careful. Whenever you can, come to New York. We need to chat about everything." I nod agreeing, before I realize he can't see me.

"Of course Tony. We'll be there as soon as everything clears up. I love you Anthony."

"I love you too Clare. Stay safe."

"You too."

The line cuts dead and I place my head in my hands, suddenly missing my brother more than I thought. Wishing we weren't stuck in this situation.

Suddenly the perimeter alarm goes off, and I look to the surveillance camera I rigged up to see Hill returning  with three figures, one I would recognize in my sleep. I jump up, sealing the chips up and heading to the tunnels, too excited to contain myself.

"GSW. She's lost a lot of blood." Hill announces snapping me into work mode, seeing her clutch Nat's shoulder.

"Clara?"

I guess the reunion with Steve will just have to wait. I grab onto Nat's shoulder and she hisses in pain at the shift.

"Sorry. But next time don't get shot." I say with a smirk and she just glares at me.

I look towards Hill and she simply nods and so we walk into the makeshift conference room, that holds Nick.

"About damn time." Nick says as we enter the room, Nat sitting in a chair as I pull the tray closer.

"So this is where you guys have been?" Steve asks as he looks around, noticing our set up.

"It was the only safe place for Nick to heal." I say looking at him briefly before going back to Nat.

"Lacerated spinal column, cracked sternum, fractured collarbone, one hell of a headache." Nick says with a smirk, as the doctor comes around the corner.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." He says taking the tools from my hands shooing me away.

"Oh let's not forget that. Otherwise I'm good." He says and now that I'm not patching up Nat, I drift to Steve's side, placing an arm around my waist.

"They cut you open. Your heart stopped." Nat points out, still confused.

"Tetrodotoxin B. Slows the heart to one beat per minute. A couple friends of ours developed it, works pretty well."

"Why all the secrecy? Why not just tell us?" Steve asks from my side, tightening his grip on me.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful." Hill cuts in, and everyone nods in understanding.

Hill and Fury fill everyone in on Pierce and the Insight carriers and what we have to do, but I zone out. Thinking about all the news I've discovered these last couple days.

Mostly the fact of if I should tell Steve that I'm pregnant, or wait until this is all over..?

"We have to stop the launch." Nat says and there's an air of agreement.

"That's why we brought Clara in. She knows Tony the best, and was able to rewire these," Nick says as he opens the case with the chips in them. "To override the original targeting system of the carriers."

"One or two won't work. We'll need to link all three carriers, because if even one is left operational, a whole lot of people are gonna die."

"We have to assume everyone in those carriers are Hydra. We have to swap out these chips, and maybe, we can salvage what's left—"

"We aren't salvaging anything." I butt in, tired of Nick trying to save his ass.

"We're not just taking down the carriers Nick. We're taking down SHIELD. SHIELD's been compromised, and HYDRA grew right under our noses. SHIELD, HYDRA, it all goes."

"He's right." Hill and I say at the same time.

"Well, looks like your giving the orders now Cap." Fury sighs reluctant to give up all his hard work on SHIELD.

Steve suddenly leaves and it looks like Sam is going to follow until he sees me doing the same and nods for me to go ahead, making me smile at him.

"You okay?" I ask quietly as I stand next to Steve on the bridge.

"Buck's alive."

"What?" I say in disbelief there's no way..

"He's the one that shot Fury. There was a fight on the bridge, I could've sworn he recognized me, I couldn't hurt him Clara. He's like my brother." He finally looks at me, hidden tears just behind his azure eyes.

"Oh Steve." I pull him into a tight hug, knowing that this has to be unbearable for him.

He's told me all the stories about Bucky and growing up together, all the way until his supposed death. He was all he had, just like Tony is for me..

"I'm sorry. I couldn't imagine..."

"How are you? Are you alright?" He changes the subject, pulling back from the hug to look me up and down.

"I'm fine, Steve. I've been stuck in this base for days. Are you sure you're okay?" I say as he rubs my arms comfortingly.

"Of course. This'll all be over soon and maybe we can go visit—" He suddenly blanks out and it kinda worries me.

"What was that?" He snaps back to reality and looks at me with confusion.

"What?" I look at him confused, as to what's going on.

"I saw something. When I touched you..."

"Oh no..."

"Everything was moving, the Doc took blood?" He pales at the thought, still not being the biggest fan of needles.

Not now. I don't want my abilities to give away my secret. He can't know now. Not with everything about Bucky.

"What happened Clara? What aren't you telling me?" He looks at me, concern and worry filling his face.

"It's nothing Steve. I was just a little sick when I got here, it was just a bug. I'm fine, I promise." He scans my eyes for the truth, and I smile letting him know I really am fine.

"You sure?" He gently caresses my cheek and I grab his hand.

"Yes. I'm completely sure." I'll tell you the rest when you come back to me. I say with a smile.

"I think it's time to suit up Cap." I say realizing they have to get to the Triskelion if they want to take down the carriers.

"Right. I'm gonna need a suit." He gives me a wink before disappearing, making me chuckle.