A Horrible Loss
Kara sighed as she stared at her computer. Now that she was the head of IT for Stark Industries, she had a lot more responsibilities she had to handle in the civilian part of her life. It wasn’t a difficult or challenging task she was carrying out; this was just an annual update to the security system, but it was tedious, and her eyes were starting to hurt.
The sky outside her window was dark, and the sun would be rising only a few hours from then. Sipping from her wine glass, she dragged a hand through her hair and bit her lip. She sat on her bed in her white pajamas with black polka dots and groaned. Her glasses sat on the bedside table as she didn’t need to hide her identity while in the tower, and she rubbed her eyes.
When her phone rang, she was so grateful for the distraction she thought nothing in the world could bother her. She was wrong.
“Thank Rao,” she breathed into the phone. “I seriously did not want to look at this computer anymore.”
She was met with silence, and the worry started to creep into her bones as it lingered in place of her boyfriend’s familiar, comforting voice.
“Steve?”
“Fury’s dead.”
Kara’s heart dropped into her stomach and settled itself there. She didn’t speak for a minute as she let the news sink in. “How...what?”
“Fury. He’s dead.” Steve told his girlfriend, his voice quiet and broken.
Shaking some sense back into her head, she pushed the computer away and leapt off of her bed. Hurrying down the hallway, she arrived at the elevator and smacked the button for Tony and Pepper’s floor.
“What happened?” She asked, swallowing to keep her voice from wavering. “How could this happen?”
Steve cleared his throat, and she could hear other people in the background. “We’re not entirely sure of the details yet, but they said he was in a car chase and shootout with local police. He was shot, and he crashed during surgery.”
“Oh, Rao.” She whispered as the doors to the elevator opened, and she sped down the hallway.
Banging on Tony’s door, she sighed into the phone. “Where are you now?”
“I’m at the hospital with Nat, Maria Hill, and a bunch of other S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.” He told her. “Nat and I just got to see him…”
Tears filled her eyes at the image of them having to see his deceased body lying on a cold table, as well as her own mental image of his dead body. They weren’t incredibly close, but he was a good man, and he’d taken care of them when he could.
“What I want to know is why the police were chasing him and how this happened.” She told him matter-of-factly. “This wasn’t just a regular guy off the street. He has government license plates and identification, as well as a tricked-out car. They had to have been prepared for that…”
“I know.” Steve agreed with her. “It doesn’t make any sense at all.”
The door opened to the bedroom, and Tony stood in front of her, an annoyed look on his face. “What the hell, Kara?”
Holding up a finger to have him wait for a second, she continued speaking to Steve. “So, what happens now?”
There was a voice in the background of his end, and she knew they were trying to get answers. She waited and tried to make out what they were saying as voices rushed closer and farther from the phone.
Finally, his voice came back into the phone. “Pierce wants to talk to me back at headquarters.”
“Please be careful.” She said sadly. “Keep me updated, okay? And call me when they release you.”
“I will.” He paused. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
She slowly lowered her phone and clicked the button to end the call. Then she let her arms fall to her sides as she slumped against the wall behind her. Finally, she looked at her brother and sighed.
“Can I ask why you’re banging on our door at four o’clock in the morning?” He grumbled as he checked the clock. “First, you yell at me because I don’t get enough sleep, and now you’re not letting me get any when I actually try?”
“That was Steve.”
“Yeah, I kind of figured that out from your parting words.” He said sarcastically. “You know you can come to me about anything, but I definitely don’t need to know about your four a.m. phone sex.”
“Tony!” She hissed, and his eyes shot up to meet her own. “This is serious.”
“So serious, we couldn’t talk about it when the sun was fully up?” He asked yawning.
“Tony…Nick Fury just died.” She told him quickly.
His body froze in the doorway for only a moment before he stepped out and closed it behind him. Leaning on the wall across from her, his face was shocked.
“What the hell happened?”
“They aren’t quite sure yet. Something about a car chase, a shootout, and then crashing during his surgery.” She relayed the information she was given. “Steve was being called back to HQ when we hung up, so maybe they’ll give him more information when he gets there.”
“Shit,” Tony said, as he didn’t know what else to say. “He’s really gone?”
Kara nodded. “Maria Hill was there. So was Natasha. Steve and Nat got to see him before Maria took him away.”
“Wow.”
Both siblings were quiet for a few minutes as they silently mourned their colleague and friend. After a short time had passed, Tony cleared his throat.
“So, what is happening now?”
Kara shrugged. “Well, Steve said he’d keep me posted on anything they find out.” She looked up at him. “I was working on that new update for SI, but I think one of us should be there, Tony.”
“Go. The updated can wait.”
The answer shocked her, and it could be seen visibly on her face. “Me? I figured you would want to be there. You knew him better than I did.”
“My being there will only cause issues, I think. Besides, Steve will need you there.” He agreed. “We can handle Layna, and I’ll go wake Bruce and Pepper to give them the news. They should hear it from us before they see it on the news or the internet.”
Nodding, she hugged him. “Thank you.”
Pulling back, she started to walk away when she turned around to look at him. “This all feels…wrong. I think this is going to be really bad, Tony.”
He nodded. “Yeah…I do too.”
Walking closer to her again, he grabbed her hand. “I know you’re invincible, but…please, be careful.”
She squeezed his hand and gave him a small smile. “You know I will.”
With that, she turned and hurried back to her room. Changing into her suit, she didn’t bother to pack as she knew she had extra clothes and necessities at Steve’s apartment that she could use. Then she quickly walked down the hall to Layna’s room and entered quietly.
Leaning down, she kissed her daughter’s hair and brushed it away from her face. She whispered words of love she knew the young girl couldn’t hear then stood up again. Looking around, she saw the innocence her daughter still held and hoped that they could hold onto it for as long as they possibly could. She didn’t want to see the day where her child saw all of the bad realities that the world had to offer.
“Mama?”
Looking in the direction of the quiet voice, Kara sighed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“What’s going on?” Her daughter asked, rubbing her eyes.
Kara walked over and sat on the edge of the little girl’s bed. “I have to go see Steve for a little bit. A friend of ours was hurt tonight, and we have to figure out what happened. Uncle Tony, Aunt Pepper, and Uncle Bruce are going to watch you will I’m gone, okay?”
Nodding, the girl’s eyes started to flutter closed again. “Okay, Mama. Love you.”
“I love you too.” Then she stood and walked to the doorway.
Leaving the room, Kara made her way to the floor’s balcony to begin her journey as her phone rang again. Seeing it was Steve again, she quickly answered it. “What’s going on?”
Listening to the voice on the other end, she swallowed the lump in her throat. “Of course.” She waited for the response. “That won’t be a problem at all.”
Pulling the phone from her ear, she clicked the end call button again and sighed. Hesitating for only a moment, she stored her phone safely in her suit’s hidden pouch and curled her hands into tight fists of fury. Walking onto the balcony, she looked at the city around her and took in the view for a moment. Then she crouched slightly and took off into the sky.