All of us were sitting at a table, Ross standing in front of us. I look back as Tony sat in a chair in the back of the room. "Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass....I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an un-payable 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?" Nat asks.
"How about "dangerous"? What would you call a group of US-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?" Ross activates a screen behind him. News footage from past Avengers and Shield matters flash on the screen as he speaks. "New York."
A Chitauri leviathan. Terrified citizens. A soldier firing a gun. The Hulk smashes into a building and sends a dust cloud to engulf the camera.Rhodes looks regretful. He glances behind him at Natasha. "Washington DC." The three Insight helicarriers, firing on each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing up a massive wave, engulfing citizens and the camera. Sam looks down, I look over at Steve. "Sokovia."Terrified citizens, running. The city rising. A building falling over. I close my eyes as it shows a video of me flying and pushing destroying many bots and the. Pushing Ultron into a building. "Lagos." The burning building. Paramedics moving a body. A dead girl. Wanda is particularly affected by the footage from Lagos.
Steve sees this and intervenes. "Okay. That's enough." I hold onto her hand and squeeze it.
Secretary Ross nods to an aide and the images disappear. "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 places a thick document and book on the desk and passes it to Wanda. She picks it up, then slides it to me. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries.....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." I slide the document and book to Rhodes.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve interrupts.
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross sighs when he doesn't answer. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes....you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
"So, there are contingencies." Rhodes asks.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Steve glances at Tony, who looks down at his feet. "Talk it over."
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asks.
"Then you retire." We all watch as he leaves.
After reading over the Accords, I was still unsure of my discussion. Sam and Rhodes were arguing while Steve was reading it over. "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodes yells at Sam.
"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?"
"A 117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, No, that's cool. We got it." Rhodes rolls his eyes.
"How long are you going to play both sides?" Same yells.
"I have an equation." Vision speaks up.
"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam points.
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."
Steve looks up, "Are you saying it's our fault?"
"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe. Oversight....oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." Vision nods.
"Boom." Rhodes points.
I look down to see Tony is lying on the couch, one hand over his face. When Natasha speaks, he removes the hand to look at her.
"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal."
"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve says.
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony rolls his eyes and gets up he winces, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. He walks to the kitchen and grabs a mug. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He raises his voice. He puts his phone in a basket and taps it.The phone projects an image of a smiling young man, the one from the picture I saw. He looks down, then back up, and pretends to notice the picture for the first time. "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."
"Tony..." I walk over to him.
"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." He takes a pill with some coffee, then faces the others, walking away from me. "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve says.
"Who said we're giving up?" I add, grabbing a cold washcloth and walking over to Tony, I hold it on his forehead and cover his eyes.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve says.
"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." I raise my voice, making Tony wince. "Sorry." I whisper to him.
"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve argues.
"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 stop manufacturing." Tony lifts up the washcloth to look at Steve.
Steve shakes his head. "Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is 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 looks up at me and slightly smiles.
Wanda leans forward, "You're saying they'll come for me."
"We would protect you." Vision nods.
"Maybe Tony's right." Nat says from beside me. Tony looks at her, surprised. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-"
"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam crosses his arms.
"I'm just....I'm 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 asks, shocked.
"Oh, I want to take it back now." She shakes her head.
"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed--I win." Tony stands and hands me the washcloth.
Steve's phone buzzes, and he pulls it out to check it. "I have to go." He gets up sharply, drops the Accords on the coffee table, all of us watching him leave.