The War Within | A Tony Stark Series

c: Vigilantes

Monroe's POV

"11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month-"

I watched the news reports from the last mission the team was sent on from Steve's screen as they were bashed for collateral damage. After King T'chaka's speech about innocent lives that had been taken, Rogers paused the clip and turned his chair to look at me. I had been watching from the door frame I leaned on.

"This is gonna take a bigger toll on her than it has already," I referred to Wanda.

"We've been trying to keep her away from the news channels, but..."

"I know. I'm sorry I wasn't there to help. Maybe I could've helped with the control of her movements."

"You couldn't have known this was gonna happen. I shouldn't have been distracted," Steve admits defeat. He's filled me in with what's been happening in my absence. I only recently came back to the facility because of the break Tony and I are taking. Long story short... Tony wanted to put all of his focus on building a shield around the world. He practically implied that our abilities were a part of the disadvantage that destroys our world. What he doesn't understand is that limitation can only extend so far to those of us with biological enhancements. I couldn't find myself to give in to what he was asking.

With the moment of silence Steve and I shared, we heard another news anchor from the other room. More specifically, Wanda's. I turned to head straight to her room as Steve followed after standing himself. I arrived first as I stopped at the sight of the footage being broadcasted.

"What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri-"

I grabbed the remote on the table beside me and turned off the tv. She didn't look back as she began to weigh herself down with guilt.

"It's my fault."

"That's not true," I tried.

"Turn the tv back on. They're being very specific."

Before I could defend her from herself, Rogers sat beside her on the bed.

"I should've clocked the bomb best long before you had to deal with it. Rumlow said 'Bucky' and... all of a sudden I was a sixteen-year-old kid again in Brooklyn. And people died. It's on me."

"It's on both of us," Wanda declared.

"This job..." Rogers seemed at a loss of words.

"We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody," I walk to the center of the room, facing them both. 

"But if we can't find a way to live with that, then next time... maybe nobody gets saved," the captain finishes. The conversation stopped there as Vision phased through the wall unannounced.

"Vis! We talked about this," the Maximoff scolds. 

"Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." Vision realized his explanation was probably pointless. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving."

"What?!" I switched my gaze immediately to the blonde man sitting before me.

"Thank you. We'll be right down," Rogers sighed knowing I had questions.

"I'll... use the door." Just before Vision exits the room, he turns back. "Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest."

"We know who it is?"

"The Secretary of State."

He didn't...

***

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming, Steve?"

"Would you have stayed if you knew?"

I stood there dumbfounded. 

"Does it matter?"

"Yes. It does. He said he needed us all to be here."

"Look, you don't understand. There are things that have to be talked about; he'll probably mention them downstairs. The fact that he brought the Secretary of State already tells me we're all going to be forced to make a choice that I don't agree with. And with everything happening here... with Wanda. Tell me you'll have this under control."

Rogers took a moment to study my anxiousness. With a reassuring nod, he walks past me to meet the others downstairs. I kept my feet planted exactly where I am not knowing if I was ready to see him. It's been half a year since I've seen that egotistic face. 

***

"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," the secretary provoked.

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha spoke for most of us who sat around the meeting area.

"How about, dangerous. What would you call a group of U.S. based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"

Some clips had suddenly shown themselves as the secretary named examples of the locations our battles have created chaos and destruction. The first ones had been of New York. The Hulk had smashed into buildings as they crumbled within the city. Another of me forcing some chitauri into glass windows and others smashed into cars. People screamed from fear. My hits just barely missed bystanders. The next was of Washington D.C. Nat had informed me of this one. S.H.I.EL.D.'s aircraft had plummeted down to the city. Explosions erupted as it crushed whatever was in its path. Sokovia's flying city had probably been the worst. We had gotten lucky with the timing on the boats and the fall to its doom. Lastly, Logos is what I hoped hadn't been included. Wanda's accidental directory gone wrong in order to save Steve's life. I looked back at Tony sitting away from the rest of us. He couldn't hold his gaze to mine so he dropped his head down. I looked back at Wanda who had clearly been affected by it the most.

"Okay. that's enough," Steve interrupted rightfully so.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision." I narrowed my eyes at the implication. "That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." A large book is handed to the Secretary of State as he slides it over to the Maximoff. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization." The book was passed around through the team. "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 started off while forcing eye contact with Tony. "I feel we've done that." I stood up and walked out, not being able to hear the rest.

I'm not getting locked in a cage.