THE LAST FEW WEEKS went by. The energy at the compound wasn't as it usually was.
Y/N walked down the hallway and stopped by Wanda's room. She had been watching the news broadcast, people basically referring to her as a weapon of mass destruction. Y/N didn't like that.
"What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria?" The man spoke on the television. Y/N grabbed the remote from the counter and shut it off.
"It's my fault." Wanda kept looking at the television, knowing Y/N was at the door.
"That's not true."
"Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific."
"We didn't know Rumlow had a bomb vest." Y/N started walking towards her, "Him trying to kill himself and Steve were the last things we expected."
Steve also told him that he felt bad, since he should've seen the bomb vest before. Once Rumlow mentioned Bucky, all of his logic went out of the window.
Y/N sat down on the bed beside Wanda, "Just please, don't blame yourself."
"How can't I? Do you hear what they're saying?"
"You did what you needed to do."
Y/N sighed, and looked down. Wanda did as well.
"This job, we try to save as many people as we can." He said, looking at Wanda who turned her head to face him.
"Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that then next time...maybe nobody gets saved."
Wanda nodded, and Y/N held out his hand. She held it, fingers interlocking.
"Just know you're not alone. I'll always be by your side." He added.
Wanda rested her head on his shoulder. Y/N moved the hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear.
Out of nowhere, Vision phased through the wall and stumbled upon the two.
"Jesus, Vis. You know doors exist, right?" Y/N chuckled.
"Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..."
Vision knew that explanation wasn't going to make sense, so he simply changed the subject.
"Captain Rogers wanted to let you know that Mr. Stark has arrived."
"Thank you. We'll be right down." Y/N replied.
"I'll use the door." Vision started going towards it, but turned around to add something, "Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest."
"Do we know who it is?" Wanda asked.
"The Secretary of State."
• • •
THADDEUS ROSS STOOD in front of the table. The Avengers sat down in the conference room, hearing what the Secretary of State had to say. Tony Stark sat in a seat behind them.
"Five years ago I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing." Ross started mimicking his golf swing, "Turned out it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass...I had found something that 40 years in the army had never taught me. Perspective."
The team continued to listen.
"The world owes the Avengers an unplayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives, but while a great many people see you as heroes there are some that would prefer the word...vigilantes."
"What word you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.
"How about dangerous?"
That statement caught Y/N off guard, and noticed Wanda writhe in her seat.
"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?"
Steve rested his head on his hand, elbow leaning on the table. He watched Ross turn on a large screen.
"New York."
The first few clips showcased the Chitauri invasion from 2012. Rhodey looked down, then turned to Natasha. Cap kept his eyes on the screen.
"Washington, D.C."
The next clips were of the Triskelion incident in 2014. Sam swallowed and looked down at his hands. Still, Cap kept watching.
"Sokovia."
The team saw footage of Ultron's offensive in 2015. This time, Tony was the one who tried to look away. Cap still watched.
"Lagos."
Footage of the Lagos incident from last month played, showcasing authorities escorting wounded out of the building. Wanda looked away, and this time Cap had enough upon noticing her reaction.
"Okay. That's enough." Steve spoke.
Thaddeus Ross told his assistant to turn off the screen.
"For the last four years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."
He turned to his assistant, who handed him a large booklet.
"But I think we have a solution." He handed it to Wanda, who looked at it first.
"The Sokovia Accords." Ross introduced, "Approved by 117 countries it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization."
Wanda handed it over to Y/N, who started looking at it too. Ross kept speaking.
"Instead...they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."
Steve kept looking at the book that his fellow Avenger, Y/N, was examining, "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that."
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked. Steve looked up at him.
"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there will be consequences." He added.
"Thor and Banner aren't weapons, Mr. Secretary." Y/N spoke.
"Tell that to the people of Sokovia, L/N. Or the folks that were lost in New York."
Rhodey was given the book, and he placed his hand on the cover. "So, there are contingencies."
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords." Ross replied.
Steve looked back at Tony, who was looking down before meeting his eyes too. Thaddeus noticed this.
"Talk it over."
He started to leave with his assistant.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Y/N asked.
Ross looked back at him before leaving, "Then you retire."
• • •
THE AVENGERS WERE IN THE LOUNGE, talking about the accords. Rhodey and Sam stood beside each other in a disagreement.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor which is one more than you have."
"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?"
"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No that's cool. We got it.'"
"How long are you going to play both sides?"
Tony laid on the sofa, a hand on his face. Steve sat in a chair, Vision sat beside Natasha, and Y/N sat with Wanda.
"I have an equation." Vision chimed in.
"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam said sarcastically.
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision explained, "During the same period the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked as he held the book.
"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict...breeds catastrophe."
Y/N had his arms crossed, hearing Vision speak. He brought up interesting points that could sway him. Vision continued.
"Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."
"Boom." Rhodey turned to Sam.
"Tony." Natasha looked at him, "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal."
"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve cut in.
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony got up from the sofa. He remarked about his headache and went over to the kitchen.
"Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"
Y/N glanced at Vision, who was nervously scratching the back of his neck. That's the last time the synthezoid was going to make that mistake.
Tony then activated a hologram that showed a picture of a young boy. He explained his accolades and goals in life before revealing he was killed during Ultron's offensive in Sokovia while building sustainable housing for the poor.
"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." Tony took an Advil before walking back over to the team, "There's no decision making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game."
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said.
"Who said we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."
Rhodey interrupted Steve, "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 S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not HYDRA."
"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 retorted.
"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve shot back.
The rest of the team stood in silence for a moment, before Steve continued.
"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."
Steve also brought up good points that Y/N took in.
"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 told the team.
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda finally spoke.
"We could protect you." Vision replied.
"It shouldn't have to come to that." Y/N chimed in.
Natasha spoke, "Maybe Tony's right. 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 interrupted.
"I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
"I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you actually agree with me?" Tony asked leaning over towards Nat.
"I want to take it back now."
"No, you can't retract it."
"I don't know...maybe you do have a point, Tony." Y/N spoke, "Better to agree now before they force even more restrictions with us."
Tony raised a brow, "Wow, the Specter agrees with me too. Case closed. I win."
Meanwhile, Steve looked into his cell phone, seeing a text.
"I have to go."
He left the room in a hurry, the rest of the team wondered what was going on.