Elizabeth walked through the halls of the compound until she found the people she was looking for. The white lights on the ceiling were bright on her head, casting shadows on the grey tiled floor as she walked into the living room.
"Where is Wanda?" Elizabeth asked the group that lounged around on the couches and chairs provided for them. Sam and Pietro sat opposite armchairs by the side of the room. Both of them staring at the chessboard between the two that was on the little coffee table.
Natasha was the one to answer her from her place on the sofa, her eyes on the large tv displaying the news. "In her room," she tilted her head in the direction of where all the rooms were. "Steve's trying to talk to her."
"How's she doing?" Elizabeth continued as she sat on the couch beside Natasha. From the kitchen she saw Rhodey and Vision walk out. Both holding cups of coffee in one hand, the latter looking down into his drink in confusion.
"She will not talk," Pietro responded without taking his eyes off the game. "I doubt the frozen captain will do much."
"Frozen captain?" Rhodey asked the man with furrowed eyebrows. Not quite sure where the name came from.
"Good one," Elizabeth muttered with a smile at his nickname for Steve.
Over time as the twins got more comfortable around the rest of the team, Pietro liked to come up with the worst nicknames ever. The names getting more and more absurd over time. While the rest of the team tried to make him stop, Elizabeth almost always encouraged it.
Visions head perked up from where he leaned against the kitchen counter. Looking off into the distance, he set down his untouched cup of coffee. "I must alert Captain Rogers," he said as they all glanced at him as he left the room.
"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked, sensing the tense atmosphere.
"Stark has something he needs to tell us," Sam said with a frown when he saw Pietro move a knight one step closer to his queen.
As if sensing her question, Natasha shook her head at Elizabeth. "He didn't say what," the redhead commented from beside her. "He also didn't say he brought a guest." Natasha added as she looked behind Elizabeth to the entrance to the room.
Turning around, Elizabeth saw a middle-aged man with greying hair standing in the hallway with a briefcase in hand. He wore a black suit and tie and stood as if he was waiting for a greeting he quite obviously wasn't going to get.
She'd never met The Secretary of State in person but she'd seen him on the news enough to know that he probably had a lot more political power than she knew. Everyone looked to the man in question with tilted heads, not knowing what was happening.
"Where's Tony?" Elizabeth asked suspiciously. Knowing well enough to never trust a politician or government official of any kind. They usually weren't on her side much.
"He's in the conference room," Secretary Ross replied with a fake smile. "And we're waiting on all of you." The man held his hand out, inviting the team to follow after him.
Slowly, one-by-one they got up from their comfortable seats and followed after the man. Elizabeth lagged behind, wanting to wait to check in on Wanda herself. Pietro got up before her when the rest of the team was already making their way to the elevators.
"You will check on her for me?" He asked Elizabeth in concern for his sister. "Even if she tells you, can you check what she feels?" If there was one thing Elizabeth admired about Pietro, it was the fact that no matter what, his sister was always his number one priority.
Nodding her head, she answered him. "Of course," she began. "Now save us a seat," she added with a grin. Pietro nodded in response before disappearing in a blur.
"What was that about?" she heard Steve's voice ask her from behind. Turning around, Elizabeth saw Steve, Wanda and Vision approaching her.
"Just coming up with a new name for you," she joked as her eyes went to Wanda for a split second. Enough for her to ask Wanda a silent question, are you okay?
While her head may have nodded yes, her emotions were something else. They were like one big tornado full of guilt and self-hatred. It was enough that when Wanda passed her with Vision by her side, Elizabeth grimaced at her as she tried to relieve her of some pain.
"What does Stark need?" Steve asked as he came to stand beside her as they watched Wanda and Vision walked ahead of them.
"No idea," Elizabeth admitted with a sigh. "But I doubt it's anything pretty."
***
"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt," Thaddeus Ross begins as those sitting by the table looked at him expectantly. Across from Elizabeth, Sam and her shared a glance. The two already knowing this was not going to sit well with them.
"You have fought for us, protected us and risked your lives. But while most people see you as heroes," The man continued. As he spoke Elizabeth glanced behind Sam to look at Tony who sat in a chair in the corner of the room, away from the rest of them.
She didn't need her powers to see that he was anxious, she could see it in the way his leg never stopped bouncing up and down the entire time Thaddeus Ross spoke. And that was already a bad sign for her.
"There are some who would prefer the word vigilantes," the man who stood at the end of the table said. The word he used clearly being a toned down version of what some would say.
"And what word would you use Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked with a grim smile at the man, wanting to see where this conversation was headed.
Thaddeus Ross looked down at his shoes for a moment before he spoke, wanting to choose his next words carefully. "How about dangerous?" he brought his gaze back up to meet Natasha's one.
"What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose," he continued, throwing the question back in their faces. "And who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?"
No one answered him, all of them lost in thought. The Secretary took their silence as an answer and moved to the side, allowing them to see the holographic screen suspended in the air. Pressing a button on a remote, the screen showed clips from all of the fights that had happened with them being the center of all the chaos and destruction.
"New York," Secretary Ross announced the first location as they all watched in silence. "Washington D.C, Sokovia, Lagos." he continued to list off the places showed on the screen as if they didn't know, as if they weren't the ones there.
Throughout all of it, she could feel everyones guilt and shame piling on top of one another. All of it growing with every building that feel and every clip that was shown. When Lagos was shown Elizabeth saw out of the corner of her eyes as Wanda gasped silently and turned her head away.
Noticing this, Steve takes his head off his hand and turns to the man with the remote. "Okay," He said in a clear voice. "That's enough." On cue, the screen went black and everyone let out a sigh.
"For the past four years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision," the way the man said it was as if they were children who snuck out of the house in the middle of the night. "That's an arrangement that the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."
"But I think we have a solution," he turned to his briefcase that sat on the edge of the table and opened it up to reveal a thick book inside. Turning it around, he showed it to Wanda, who was the closest to him. "The Sokovia accords," he announced somewhat proudly as Wanda examined the front of the book.
Watching as Wanda slid the book over to Rhodey, Thaddeus Ross walked around the table slowly as he spoke. "Signed and approved by 117 countries," he told them. "It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization."
"Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of the United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary." The man stopped his circle around the table at Steve.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place," Steve repeated the words that were told to him when he was recruited to join. "I feel like we've done that," he tells the man that stood opposite him.
"Tell me captain," Secretary Ross said after a deep breath. "Do you know where Thor and Doctor Banner are?" Steve didn't say anything, only glancing up at the man with a crease between his eyebrows.
Getting the answer that he wanted from the captain he turned to Elizabeth who sat at the other end of the table. "And you, Miss Grace," her name suddenly being called making her heart skip a beat. "Do you know where your brothers are right now?"
"With all due respect Mr. Secretary," she said over-graciously with a fake smile. "No matter how many times you send someone to ask me, the answer will always be the same." Elizabeth recalled the many times government officials had asked or more like interrogated, her about the whereabouts of her brothers.
Crossing her arms over the jacket she wore, Elizabeth leaned back in her seat as she continued to answer the question she was asked. "I haven't seen or had any contact with them in ten years. So no, I don't know where they are."
"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences," Thaddeus Ross turned back to the rest of the table, proving his point. "Compromise and reassurance, that's how the world works."
The man made his way back to the front of the table while speaking. "Believe me, this is the middle ground." He pointed to the book that sat in Rhodeys hands.
"So," Rhodey spoke up with a quick glance at the book. "There are contingencies?"
"Three days from now the U.N meet in Vienna to ratify the accords" the Secretary answered. "Talk it over." With that he picked up his briefcase and made his way over to the door.
He was about to open it when Natasha's voice stopped him. "What if we come to a decision that you don't like?" She asked, already knowing that not everyone was gonna be on the same side this time.
"Then you retire," was the only answer they got before the man left out the door.
As the door closed behind him, those that were left in the room sat in heavy silence. When Elizabeth saw Steve turn in his chair to say something to Tony she knew she had to add something first.
"Alright," she spoke up with a sigh. "Since we all know we have a lot to talk about," she continued before standing up from her chair. "Could we take this party upstairs? These chairs are killing me." She sent a glare at the chair she sat on.
Everyone in the room laughed lightly at her attempt to lighten the mood. "I second that," Vision agreed, startling everyone, he was never one to value comfort much. They all began to stand up slowly, wanting to delay the debate they all knew was heading their way.
Some of them even talking about what they hated most about the chairs. The back was stiff, the wheels never worked, whatever to keep the mood light. "For a rich person you don't have very nice chairs, Stark." Pietro remarked as he put an arm around his sisters shoulder.
"Pipe it, Sonic," Tony retorted as they all made their way out the doors.
***
"Secretary Ross has a congressional medal of honour," Rhodey informed Sam as the two argued behind the armchair Steve sat in. "That's one more than you have," Rhodey continued while Sam glared at Rhodey.
Sam looked back at Elizabeth who sat in the arm chair opposite Steve, as if to say 'can you believe this guy.' She just shrugged, seeing that there was nothing for her to do except focus on keeping everyone's emotions from reaching anger.
"Okay, look." Sam began as he glanced around the room at the rest of the team. "Let's say we agree with this thing, how long is it gonna be until they lojack us like a bunch of common criminals?" He asked the rhetorical question as everyone thought out on whether they were for the accords, or against it.
"117 countries wanna sign this, Sam." Rhodey said exasperatedly, "And you're just like, Oh no, it's cool. I just don't wanna."
Sam's rebuttal was interrupted by Vision, who sat on the edge of the couch beside Wanda. "I have an equation," he announced, grabbing everyones attention. Steve stopped flipping through the accords and looked up at the man. Pietro looked at Vision from the other end of the couch, leaning forward to look over his sister.
"Let's hear it then," Sam said, thinking that Vision was on his side, against the accords.
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark has announced himself as Iron Man the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially," Vision began carefully. "And in the same period the number of potentially world ending events have risen at a commencier rate."
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve questioned from across her with a frown. Not liking what was coming out of Vision's mouth.
Vision shook his head as he retracted his words. "I'm saying there may be a causality," he corrected Steve with his eyes on the empty chessboard on the coffee table. The pieces scattered across the table in a mess. "Our very strength invites challenge, challenge invites conflict. Conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight, oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed so easily," he explained.
"Take that," Rhodey bragged to Sam as they stood across each other. Sam simply rolled his eyes at the older man.
Natasha looked to the man who was slumped on the couch beside her, his hand over his face. "Tony," she called out, making the man in question drop the hand from his face. "What about you?"
"Yeah," Elizabeth chimed in. "You are being scarily quiet, usually I'd be able to hear you from the other room," she commented. All she got in response was a pillow to the face from him, causing her to let out an annoyed sigh.
"It's cause he's already made up his mind," Steve spoke confidently, sure that he was right.
Sitting up right, Tony sent a sarcastic smile to the blonds way. "Boy, you know me so well." He says before getting up and heading to the kitchen. "I'm actually having a migraine so if Bonnie and Clyde here would keep it down that'd be great," Tony waved a hand in the direction of Rhodey and Sam nonchalantly.
He grabbed a mug from it's place on the shelf and headed over to the sink. He reached for the coffee pot but stopped when he saw the mess in the sink. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" Tony groaned out in annoyance as Rhodey and Vision shared a guilty look.
"Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony chided before grabbing the coffee pot and filling his cup up. He turned around to face them as he brought the mug to his lips. Setting the cup down onto the counter, Tony reached into his pocket and pulled out a phone.
The rest of the people in the room watched in silence as he placed the device onto the counter beside his cup. Tony tapped a few buttons and a holographic screen no bigger than a small tv came out in bright colours.
The smiling face of a young man who was no older than twenty showed up on the screen. He smiled at the camera as if he was excited for something. "Oh that's Charles Spencer by the way," Tony finally said as he pointed at the picture.
"He's a great kid," he continued on as he fiddled with the button of his sleeves. As he continued on, Elizabeth could feel his panic and guilt get ten times worse than it already was. "Computer engineering degree, 3.6 gpa, had a floor level gig and an intel plan for the fall."
All of them listened intently, none of them knowing where Tony was going with it except for Elizabeth, who put her face in her hands. "But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, he wanted to see the world." Tony stated as he kept his eyes away from the picture, unable to look dear old Charlie in the eyes.
"But he didn't go to Vegas, like I would. Or even Paris or Amsterdam, which would seem great wouldn't it?" He shook his head before taking another sip of his now cold coffee. "No, he decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor."
"Guess where?" he asked sarcastically as Wanda looked away from the picture, burying her face in her brothers shoulder when the realisation hit her. "Sokovia," Tony threw his hands up in frustration, both of them continued to shake silently when they returned to his sides.
He tried to steady his hands before he spoke, eventually giving up when he saw they weren't going to stop. "He wanted to make a difference I suppose," he guessed bitterly. "But I wouldn't know since we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."
Downing the rest of his drink, Tony made his way to the rest of the team. Stopping beside Elizabeth, resting his hand on the armchair that she sat on. "There's no decision making process here," he stated it as if it were a fact. "We need to be put in check and this is the best way to do it. Without this we're no better than the bad guys."
"Tony," Steve called out from the other end of the room. "If someone dies on your watch you don't give up," he tried telling the man.
"Who said we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions," Steve argued as he traced a pattern into the cover of the book in his lap. "This document just shifts the blame."
Rhodey scoffed at his words from where he stood. "Sorry, Steve, but that's dangerously arrogant." He tried to knock some sense into the rest of them, "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not SHIELD or HYDRA."
"But it's still run by people with agenda's," Steve said, getting more agitated by the minute. "Agenda's change. And if we sign this we surrender our right to choose."
It went on like that for a while. Everyone on different sides. Some following Tony in saying that signing the accords and the rest siding with Steve, deciding that the safest hands were still their own. Elizabeth remained neutral to it all, not wanting to pick a side, but deep deep down she knew if it came to it she'd side with Steve.
"You know, maybe Tony is right." Natasha's words brought her out of her own head. "If we have one hand on the wheel we can still steer."
"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked in bewilderment, not believing Natasha's decision.
"We have made some very public mistakes and we need to win their trust back." Natasha tried to explain where she was coming up.
"Hold on a minute," Tony said from beside Elizabeth in awe. "Did I mishear you or did you just agree with me?"
The red head shook her head in regret when she saw the look on Tony's face. "Oh I really wanna take it back now."
"No, no." Tony shook a finger in her face proudly. "You can't take it back."
Elizabeth turned back to face Steve when she felt a pang of sadness from him. He was staring at his phone with a pained expression. He cleared his throat before speaking up to all of them. "I have to go," was the only explanation he offered before tossing the book down onto the coffee table and leaving the room.
The rest of the room shrugged off his behavior and continued to debate on what's going to happen. "You have to pick a side," Tony told her before taking a seat on the armrest of her chair. The way he said it was as if he knew she wasn't gonna come to a decision.
The two of them spoke quietly as the rest of the room raised their voices ever so often. "Why can't I just be Switzerland?" She asked.
"Because Switzerland wasn't living in a place that the other countries provided," Tony retorted with a wave around the room. "It's me or him," he turned serious with a nod of his head in the direction that Steve went.
She shook her head at him sadly. "That's not what this is."
"That's exactly what this is," Tony argued back with a frown. "We are on two different sides for the first time and you have to choose. Simple as that."
"No, this is right or wrong." Elizabeth corrected with a glance around the room. All of the yelling and arguing was getting to her and their emotions definitely didn't help. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she spoke. "And right now I'm not sure which is which."