The Before [Prequel- Part 1]

The Sokovia Accords

"Sure. But Stark wants to see everyone in the conference room in a few minutes." He answered and closed the door after leaving the room.

Once we were sure he was gone, we turned to each other.

"What's going on with you and the God of Mischief?" She smirked.

"What do you know?" I asked firmly.

"Just everything that Barton told me. And the obvious. I've caught you two holding hands multiple times. He's been protective of you since the salvage yard incident. And let's not forget how fast he went to save you from Ultron."

"Okay, one. What the hell does Barton know? And two... fine. I've got nothing. The rest of that is all true."

"I knew it!" She grinned. "And Clint doesn't know much. Actually, Laura pointed it out to him. She asked him if you and Loki wanted to bunk together if we needed to stay the night. Naturally, he was confused, so she told him to think about the fact that Loki had his arm around you when you guys walked in. That's it."

"Okay, so I'm not going to kill Laura. I honestly like her. But Clint's going to die." I said half playfully. "Maybe I could put some toxic gas in the vents... Or balloon animals! You know, they terrify him!"

"You should totally do that!" She started laughing uncontrollably. "Just imagine his horrified face!"

I burst out laughing at the thought.

"While I would love to keep talking about assassination plans for Clint, Steve did say my dad needed us in the conference room." I pointed out as the laughing subsided.

"You're right. Can you, uh..."

I nodded, catching on.

"Let's go." I grabbed her hand and teleported to the room where everyone else was.

"Can you not do that?" Sam asked, acting like he had a heart attack. "If you're just going to POOF into a room, at the very least, give me a heads up. I have a weak heart." He pretended to have palpitations.

"Yeah, 'cause that makes total sense, bird brain." I sat on one side of the meeting table, with Natasha on my left and Loki on my right.

I looked around and saw Dad sitting off in the corner, away from the rest of the group.

That's weird.

"Why are we here again?"

"You're here because you need to be." An annoyingly familiar voice stated.

Secretary Ross.

Give me a minute to prepare for whatever headache this guy is about to bring.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turns out it was the best round of my life because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective."

Here's what I took away from that.

There was a chance Ross could have died, and a team of idiot surgeons ruined that.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word vigilantes."

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" I asked, already knowing his answer.

"How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals; that includes the god who tried to take over the world and a 22-year-old with little to no control over her abilities? People who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will where ever they choose, and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

He walked up to a hologram projector at the head of the table and pulled up a map.

"New York."

Video footage played from the battle. The Hulk smashing into buildings, and Loki fighting Thor on top of the Tower.

I felt Loki tense beside me, and I saw him look away from the video. I grabbed his hand reassuringly.

"It's okay. That wasn't you. You had no control." I told him, squeezing his hand tighter.

Ross has no right.

"Washington DC."

The footage now showed three helicarriers crashing into the Potomac.

Sam, Steve, and Nat all looked down.

"Sokovia."

We watched as the city flew higher and higher into the sky before exploding. Buildings collapsing on the civilians below.

"And Lagos."

I didn't even want to look. I knew that if I did, I would feel guilty. Guilty for not being there with them when this happened.

"Okay. That's enough." Steve spoke up.

Ross nodded, and the hologram vanished.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." He placed a thick stack of papers on the table in front of Wanda.

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries."

Yeah, well, it's not approved by me, so that means nothing.

"It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I fell we've done that."

Steve, for once, is the voice of reason.

"Tell me, Captain. Do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of thirty-megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences."

Okay, that's it! I'm done!

"Nukes... Oh! You mean like the one you launched at a highly populated city four years ago, just in case we couldn't handle the situation? Those kinds of nukes, Mr. Secretary?" I asked, now incredibly pissed.

Sam shot up in his seat and pointed at me.

"Finally! Someone brought it up!"

Everyone, excluding the now ticked-off Secretary of State, smiled at me, proud of my statement.

"The government's actions were justified. And we're not here to talk about that. Compromise, reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me. This is the middle ground." He glared at me.

Hey, I just spoke facts.

"So, there are contingencies," Rhodey said, the document now in his possession.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over." He headed for the door.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat questioned.

"Then you retire." He said, and then left.

We sat in silence for a few moments before I spoke up.

"This is insane, right? If we want to talk about being dangerous and irresponsible, let's start with the nuke in 2012. The fact that up until very recently, our government was filled with Hydra squids, and we are still getting blamed for stopping Hydra from killing billions of people. Because according to people like Secretary Ross, Hydra isn't and was never a threat. And rescue missions are a waste of time." Tears formed in my eyes at the last sentence.

Dad got up, worry in his eyes, but before anyone could do anything, I teleported back to my room.