✓ | Porcelain.

chapter twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY: SHE'S GONE

"Secretary Ross has a congressional medal of honour, which is one more than you have." Rhodey argued, looking at Sam with a scowl. I sighed as I sat next to Wanda, a headache was beginning to form in the back of my head from their bickering.

We all knew this was going to end up in a fight, we just didn't want to say it. "So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they lojack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam shouted back as he crossed his arms.

"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'no, it's cool, we got it'." Rhodey rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam questioned.

"I have an equation." Vision suddenly spoke up as he crossed his legs, he held a chess piece in his hands. I watched as he fiddled with it before looking up at his eyes.

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam mumbled sarcastically.

Vision sighed as he looked around the room before speaking, "in the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man... the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period, the number of potentially dangerous world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve furrowed his brows as he looked up from the book of Accords that he's been reading for the past few minutes as everyone argued.

"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision paused as he thought over his words, "our very strength invites challenge. Challenge invites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom." Rhodey mumbled, pointing to Vision in appreciation as he just proved his point. Sam held an annoyed look on his face.

"Tony." Natasha spoke up as she looked over at Tony, who had a hand resting on his head while he leaned back in his chair. "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve stated, a grim look on his face.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony mumbled to the Captain. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain." He ranted, making his way over to the kitchen. "It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

I sighed as I watched him pull out a small device that showed a hologram of a man on it. I furrowed my brows as I watched Tony pretend he didn't notice it before he looked over at it with a small gasp, "oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA... had a floor-level gig at intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul... before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

I looked over to Wanda who had a small frown on her face, so I quickly held her hand for comfort. "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose." Tony continued. "We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." Tony paused as we all sat in silence while he brought his cup up to his lips and took a sip.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game." Tony continued ranting as he walked around the kitchen counter and leaned against it. "If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less... we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony," Steve leaned forward in his seat, which brought my attention to him. "Someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony questioned.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve argued.

"I'm sorry, Steve. that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the world security council, it's not SHIELD, it's not Hydra." Rhodey sounded absolutely fed up as he stared at Steve in disbelief.

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands... I shut it down and stopped manufacturing." Tony argued as he walked towards Steve.

"No, but Tony, you chose to do that." I argued as I looked at the man who looked at me in disbelief. Did he think I agreed with him?

"If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve added on with a small nod to me, "what if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony said in a softer tone.

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda mumbled from her spot on the couch.

"We would protect you." Vision quickly dismissed the thought, I nodded at him. It was the one thing Vision and I could always agree on: protecting Wanda was a priority-not that she needed our protection, anyway.

"Maybe Tony's right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..." Natasha started, only to be interrupted by Sam.

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"I'm just... reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you... or did you agree with me?" Tony asked as he leaned on the couch with his hands.

"Oh... I want to take it back now." Natasha mumbled with the shake of her head.

"No, no, no, you can't retract it." Tony he held up one finger. "Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed. I win."

I looked over to Steve with a look of worry on my face as he stared down at his phone. His mouth seemed to pull into a frown, and his eyes now held grief deep within them. "I have to go." He mumbled softly before getting up, leaving the room without another word.

We all sat in our seats in silence as we watched him leave before I stuttered, slowly getting up, "I'll, uh, I'll be right back." I rushed out of the room, following Steve with worried eyes. I watched as he leaned against a railing in the stairwell, a hand pinching the bridge of his nose. "Steve... are you okay?" I asked softly as I walked down to him.

He glanced up at me before sighing softly, tears dancing in his eyes-they shined in the lights above like crystals. His frown seemed to deepen, "she's gone." His voice came out soft, it cracked as he held back his tears.

I sighed softly before pulling him into a hug without saying a word. I immediately knew that he was talking about Peggy, a girl whom I didn't know very well. All I knew was: Steve really cared about her, and I would always be there if he needed me, no matter what.

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lizzie speaks...

i'm so sorry i updated so late, i've been busy.... but we're getting closer to bucky every chapter omg i need a barnes reunion