Mother Daughter Talks
Kara sighed as she stood outside her daughter’s room. She had arrived at the compound not long before and had run into Vision, who told her that Clint had been there and had taken Wanda and Pietro with him. She didn’t know how this whole situation had gotten so bad so fast, but she knew now it wouldn’t be ending in a way that was good for anyone.
“You can come in, Mama.”
Sighing at her daughter’s ability to know when something was happening, the Kryptonian opened the door and entered Layna’s bedroom. “Hey, bug. What are you doing?”
“Just some homework that I have left over from the weekend.” Layna studied her mom’s expression carefully. “This has something to do with why Uncle Clint came here and hurt Vision.”
“Vision is fine, honey.” She assured her daughter.
“But he took Wanda and Pietro.” Layna said quickly. “And the news is saying things about Dad…”
“I don’t want you watching the news or listening to it. They always skew things in the wrong way, and you won’t get the right information.” Kara said at once, making a mental note to have FRIDAY block all news channels from her daughter’s television privileges. “But yes…this is about your dad.”
“Is he really in as big of trouble as the news said?”
Kara stared at her daughter’s sad eyes and had a tough choice to make. She could lie and hope that everything turned out alright or she could tell her the truth and break her heart.
“Yeah, honey, he is.” She nodded.
“What happened? Why is he in trouble?” Layna crossed her legs on top of her covers and faced her mother. “What did he do?”
Kara sighed and put her hand on her daughter’s knee. “You remember the stories Dad told you about his friend Bucky, right?”
Layna nodded. “Yeah, Uncle Bucky died during the war.”
Kara’s heart squeezed at her daughter’s ability to make someone family even out of those who had passed on. “Well, actually, what we didn’t tell you was that a few years ago, we found out that he was alive.”
“How? I thought he fell from a train.”
“He did.” Kara confirmed for her. “But the bad guys used the same serum that your father had and put it into Bucky. It saved his life.”
“But Dad was in the ice for seventy years.” Layna pointed out. “How is Uncle Bucky still around?”
“The bad people, HYDRA, they put him on ice for a while whenever they didn’t need him to do bad things for them.”
“But why would he do those bad things? I thought he was good.”
“It’s really hard to explain, sweetheart, but they brainwashed him and made him forget who he was and forced him to do those things.” Kara bit her lip. “They turned him into something like your father, but like an evil version.”
“Is that why he bombed the UN?” Layna asked quietly.
Kara shook her head. “He didn’t do it. We thought he did, we saw the same picture you probably did, but it turns out that he didn’t do it.”
“Then why is everyone mad and why is dad in trouble?”
“Honey, someone framed him and tricked us. They got to Uncle Bucky and brainwashed him again. He broke out of his cell and hurt a lot of people. Your dad and Uncle Sam helped him escape.”
“But couldn’t you find them and clear everything up?”
Kara’s heart fell at the hopeful expression on her daughter’s face. “I tried, honey. I really did. But Uncle Bucky wasn’t himself and he hurt me. Then your dad caught him and saved him, but he hid behind some lead.”
“Which you can’t see through…” Layna muttered. “Why would he do that?”
Kara sighed. “Because he knows that if Bucky is caught again, they’ll kill him. They won’t wait for an explanation or the truth…they’ll shoot on sight and ask questions later.”
“Why are you telling me all of this?” Layna wondered and grabbed her mom’s hand. “Why aren’t you lying about this like you used to do to protect me?”
Kara studied her daughter as she put a hand on her cheek. “Because you’re old enough now to find out the information on your own and I want you to have the right information. You also deserve to know the truth and not a lie. Lying only creates barriers in communication and I’ve never wanted that between us. I want you to know that you can always come to us with anything and that we will always be honest with you.”
“Thanks, Mama.” Layna smiled sadly. “But what happens now? What will happen to Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam? What will happen to Dad?”
“Well, Secretary Ross is allowing us to go find them and to arrest them.” She said honestly. “If we can convince them to come in, maybe Uncle Bucky has a chance, and your dad and Uncle Sam might be able to come home. Maybe.”
Layna stared at her for a moment. “There’s going to be a fight, isn’t there?”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, your eyes are sad.” She told her. “Plus, why else would Uncle Clint come and take Wanda and Pietro? Besides, Dad doesn’t like to back down when he thinks he’s right. Do you think he’s right?”
Kara adjusted herself so that she was sitting next to her daughter against the headboard of the bed. “I don’t know what to think right now. I think your dad is defending his friend and if it were Auntie Kit, I would do the same. But this situation has become very bad very quickly and I don’t know what to do anymore.”
“You’re going to fight him, aren’t you?”
Kara turned her head to look in her daughter’s eyes. “I don’t want to. I would give almost anything for him to come home and have us all be together like it was before these Accords went into place.”
“That wasn’t an answer, Mama.”
Kara sighed again and nodded. “I don’t want to fight your father, but I will if it’s the only way he’ll come in. I want to be the one to bring him in so that a military team doesn’t have to do it for us. They won’t be as nice as we will.”
“They want him dead, don’t they?”
“Layna…”
“Mama. Please.”
“Yeah, if he doesn’t come peacefully, they’ll shoot him. I’m sorry.” She couldn’t believe that she was having this conversation with her fifteen-year-old. “I’m going to do my best to not let that happen, but you know how your father is.”
“Miss Stark, Mr. Stark has returned and is waiting for you in the launch bay.”
“Layna…”
“Go.” Her daughter said urgently. “But can I ask one thing?”
Kara nodded. “Anything.”
“Whatever you have to do, just make sure he stays alive? Please?”
“I will, bug. I’ll do whatever I have to do. I promise.”
Tony watched as Kara joined he, Natasha, Vision, Rhodey, and T’Challa on the Quinjet. “How did that go?”
“Beware, Tony, I’m not in the greatest mood today.” She warned him.
“I know.” He hesitated. “What did you tell her?”
“The truth.” She sighed as they started to take off. “She deserves the truth, Tony. Besides, she’s already been watching the news.”
“Are you ready to do what you have to do?” T’Challa asked her from his seat.
Staring at the man, Kara’s face steeled in determination. “I’ll do whatever I have to to make sure he stays alive. Even if it means arresting him or fighting him.”
“Kara…”
“Did you get the kid?”
Knowing she wanted to change the subject, Tony nodded. “Yeah, he’s coming with Happy once he gets his stuff together. Took some convincing with his aunt, but I made it work.”
“Good, because Clint paid us a visit.” She told him. “He’s got Wanda and Pietro.”
“So, they’re making a team, too.” Natasha said quietly. “Wonderful, that should go well.”
“Let’s just hope we all make it out alive, otherwise I’ll be breaking my promise to my teenager.”