A deep sigh left Keira's lips as she frustratedly ran her fingers through her hair. Getting back from Lagos had been a complete nightmare. Not only was the entire team disappointed that they had been unable to drag Rumlow to justice, but the whole world was once again doubting their abilities.
The wave of unease that had shaken the world after the whole ordeal with Ultron and Sokovia hadn't settled, and the event in Lagos had only brought more fuel to that fire.
It had been hard on all of them, but Wanda most of all. The Sokovian blamed herself, and solely herself, which was why she tried to lock herself away. But Keira didn't let her.
She knew better than anyone that blaming yourself only made the whole situation worse, and it did nothing but fuel the self-hatred. Which was exactly why she kept dragging Wanda out for training sessions, or simply getting the brunette to eat. The guilt was consuming Wanda, and thus, making her feel unworthy of any attention.
Walking through the corridor with a peanut butter sandwich on a plate, Keira's attention was drawn to the open door of Wanda's room. She had already been on the way over there, making sure that Wanda got some breakfast in her, but the voice seeping through the doorway made Keira's stomach drop.
"They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these. What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri-"
Wanda didn't even turn around to acknowledge Keira's presence when she shut the TV off. She had already felt her coming, knowing the routines by now, so she just kept her eyes on the now black screen. "It's my fault." The guilt in Wanda's voice was unmistakable and Keira felt her heart shatter at the vulnerable tone.
"That's not true." Keira shook her head, crossed the room, and kneeled down in front of Wanda. It pained her that Wanda was blaming herself for something she couldn't help. It wasn't fair. Wanda had done the best she could, and that should've been enough.
"Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific." Wanda countered, finally ripping her eyes away from the TV to meet Keira's gaze. Despite her best attempts to shut herself away from the world, it seemed impossible with Keira around. And while deep down, she appreciated the blonde's determination to not let her wallow in self-pity, her brain still didn't want to accept the words of reassurance.
And to see her name all over the news, hearing how the whole world blamed her for what happened in Lagos, didn't exactly make things easier.
"They're just looking for a scapegoat to put all the blame on. The only thing the world loves more than a hero, is to see a hero fail. Don't listen to them, Wanda. If you hadn't done what you did, a lot more people would've died, including Steve. And that is worth a whole lot more, whatever the world might say." Keira said sincerely, grasping one of Wanda's hands and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
The movement had a dual purpose. One; was to try and convince Wanda that her words were truthful. Two; was to stop Wanda from fiddling with her hands, something that often occurred when the brunette was anxious.
Feeling another presence behind her, Keira turned around to see Steve.
The man was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest. "She's right, you know. I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it." He unfolded his arms and took a few steps closer to the women before settling down beside Wanda on the bed. "Rumlow said 'Bucky'... and all of a sudden, I was a sixteen-year-old kid from Brooklyn again."
The soldier's shoulders sagged. "And people died. It's on me."
"It's on all of us." Keira sighed. If the team hadn't been there in the first place, Rumlow never would've blown up. They couldn't blame specific members; they were a team. And with that, they either rose as one, or fell as one.
"This job..." Steve began softly, looking down at the floor. He swallowed, trying to find the right words to comfort the woman beside him. "We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, then the next time... maybe nobody gets saved."
Wanda averted her eyes, sighing as she did so. But instead of replying, her eyes jumped to the wall where Vision suddenly materialized. "Vis! We talked about this." She exclaimed, but Vision didn't seem particularly perturbed.
"Yes, but the door was open, so I assumed..." He innocently trailed off, gesturing to the door. Switching gears, he instead looked to Steve. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving." Ah, so that was why he was here.
"Thank you. We'll be right down." Steve said.
"I'll..." Vision began awkwardly, pointing towards the door. "Use the door." He walked over but stopped just as he was about to cross the threshold. "Oh, and apparently he's brought a guest."
Keira raised an eyebrow at this. Who would Tony have brought with him? "We know who it is?"
"The Secretary of State."
Keira groaned loudly, throwing her head back. "I swear to God, if Ross annoys me, I'll knock him out."
"Please, don't do that." Steve gave her a tired smile before rising from the bed and walking out. But just like Vision, he turned around before exiting the room. "You guys coming?"
"Just give us a minute." Keira smiled and Steve nodded before disappearing around the corner. Turning back to Wanda, she searched for her gaze. "You're gonna be okay. Trust in that."
Wanda somberly shook her head. "You don't know that." She bit down on her lip, averting her eyes, and pulled on her sleeves to cover her hands, already having slipped her hand free from Keira's grasp moments before.
Keira's bottom lip slipped between her teeth, but she was quick to regain her grip on one of Wanda's fiddling hands. "I do know that." She said sternly. "Now, I'm counting on you to hold me back if Ross is asking for a beating." Getting back to her feet, she pulled Wanda with her, and she didn't miss the smile twitching in the corner of Wanda's lips.
At least she had a small success in lifting Wanda's spirits.
The two of them were the last to arrive in the conference room, and judging from the look on Secretary Ross' face, it wasn't a pleasure visit. Wanda took the seat at the front of the table, closest to Ross while Keira took the seat behind her.
Drumming her fingers impatiently against the wooden table, Keira was watching the man with a bored look, waiting for him to get to the point.
"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing." The man was even demonstrating the movement and Keira had to bite her tongue not to give a snarky remark. Sliding down in her chair slightly, she sighed deeply. This sounded like it would take a while.
"Turned 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."
If he was awaiting eager questions about what that perspective was, he was sadly mistaken. And upon noticing this, he continued. "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'."
Keira's jaw clenched, already sensing what was coming. This was when he would blame the Avengers for all the faults in the world, claiming that they were the cause of it.
Natasha had a fake smile playing on her lips as she studied the man. "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" She innocently asked, beating Keira to the punch.
"How about dangerous?" He shot back, meeting the redhead's gaze steadily. "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?"
Keira felt her patience starting to waver, her heart starting to beat harder in her chest. Unconcerned about what they left behind? Tell that to Tony, who had founded an entire organization to help those in need and to handle any destruction the Avengers might cause. And she herself had helped with cleanup, both after the battle of New York, and the event in Sokovia.
All because they cared.
And the rest of the team wasn't unbothered by what they left behind either, but rather the opposite. But that's the thing when it came to saving lives. If they focused too much on what they lost during their battles instead of how many lives they saved, they would break under the weight on their shoulders.
"Are you aware of the fact that you basically just described the US military, Mr. Secretary?" Keira asked sweetly, not able to keep her silence any longer. "If you skip the enhanced part, that is." She punctuated the word with a fake smile on her lips.
The man turned his cold eyes to the mutant, scrutinizing her as if that would scare her. But Keira didn't back down, instead, she straightened up in her seat, crossing her arms on the table. "Funny you should say that, Ms. Nowak. Let's see if you still think the same after this." Ross turned around clicking a button and a world map appeared on the screen behind him.
It zoomed in on a spot on the map. "New York." Ross narrated as footage of the Chitauri attack appeared on screen, switching to the Hulk jumping from building to building, smashing Chitauri foot soldiers apart. Civilians were screaming, scrambling for cover as the feed cut off when the Hulk landed on a building and debris fell over the camera.
Keira's drumming fingers paused and instead clenched into a fist. If they were about to see everything wrong they had done while trying to save the world, she would lose her cool. A soft squeeze on her knee made her look down and she couldn't help but smile. Wanda was silently trying to comfort her, but would it be enough to keep her from exploding?
"Washington D.C."
The Helicarriers falling down from the sky, the Triskelion on fire. Keira couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt upon seeing the devastation. She had been part of it all and had helped HYDRA to succeed in their mission to get the Helicarriers into the air in the first place.
The video changed again, and now, Keira placed her hand over Wanda's, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
"Sokovia."
People were scrambling for cover, the city slowly rising up into the sky. Buildings were falling into the crater below, and robots were flying around, causing terror. That was when Pietro had died. They had lost their teammate. If anything, Sokovia had heavily affected the team.
Feeling her patience crumble, Keira took a deep shuddering breath. She already knew what was coming even before the screen changed.
"Lagos."
The burning building now came into view, medical personnel dragging people out on stretchers. Sirens were wailing in the background and Keira felt Wanda stiffen beside her.
Nope, she wasn't having this. She was not having any of this.
Keira's patience cracked like a thin layer of ice. Slamming her fist down on the table, some of her teammates flinched and she was pleased to see that even Ross was startled. "I am not listening to this, and I can't believe that you're all sitting silent, accepting this bullshit!" She threw an accusatory look around the table.
Standing up, she had to work hard not to walk over to Ross and punch him in the face, because that was all she wanted to do.
"Keira..." Wanda weakly said, trying to calm her down by grabbing one of her hands, but the blonde was too worked up to even notice the soft touch.
"Let me just remind you, Mr. Secretary, that the Avengers are the reason as to why this blue planet is still spinning. In case you have forgotten, by the time the Chitauri attacked New York, it was your Council that wanted to nuke the entire island of Manhattan. We would be standing in a radioactive wasteland if not for us, and especially if not for Stark, who was willing to sacrifice himself for the cause." She gestured to the man in question, who for some reason avoided her eyes.
Keira took a deep breath, trying to steady herself but now that she had started, Ross might as well hear it all. "Regarding Washington D.C. HYDRA had infiltrated the World Security Council, and none, none of you realized it. They grew right under your nose. And if we hadn't intervened, they would've executed millions of people at the same time. Anyone who was a treat to them."
Had she been smart, this was the point where she should've stopped and just let Ross say whatever he wanted to, but she was furious about what he was insinuating. Putting all the blame on the Avengers wasn't right. Yes, they weren't without flaws, but they tried their best to save as many people as they could.
"And are you suggesting that we should've just let a mad killer robot use the city of Novi Grad as a meteorite to cleanse the Earth of human life? Because that's what would've happened if we hadn't interfered in Sokovia."
Upon seeing that Ross was about to protest, she held up a hand. "No, I'm not done." She snarled, effectively stunning him into silence, surprisingly enough. "And regarding our last mission. You're referring to the time when Wanda literally contained a bomb caused by Rumlow, saving multiple more lives by getting the explosion away from the ground? That time?"
Leaning on the table with her hands curled into fists, she didn't avert her gaze once from the Secretary's eyes. During her speech, her skin had flickered ominously, threatening to transform. Her voice was shaking slightly from suppressed anger but upon mentioning Wanda's name, she felt a light touch brush her side.
Glancing at Wanda, she released a breath she didn't realize she was holding and reluctantly slid down in her chair again. Her knuckles were still white from how hard she was clenching them but when Wanda gently squeezed her knee, she slowly uncurled them and instead gently grabbed Wanda's hand, playing with the rings on her fingers.
Wanda was secretly thankful that the blonde was defending her failure, although she wasn't sure there was any point to it.
And Ross didn't seem phased. "That's not the point. We are not discussing any possible endings, what we are discussing, however, is the consequences of what actually happened."
The footage behind him had kept playing during Keira's outburst and it now zoomed in on a dead girl lying on the street, her lifeless eyes staring into the camera as dust fell down around her.
Steve, who was a bit taken aback by Keira's sudden rise in temper and the haunting picture on the screen, let his hand down. "Okay, that's enough."
Ross nodded to his assistant and the footage faded away. "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."
Taking a very thick book from his assistant, he placed it down in front of Wanda, who accepted it with some hesitation.
"The Sokovia Accords." Ross announced and Keira had to refrain from rolling her eyes. So, this had been in the works for that long? Looked like they had only waited for an opportunity to strike. "Approved by a hundred and seventeen countries." He began to walk around the table and Keira had to stop herself from hitting him when he passed behind her.
Rhodey reached out a hand, silently asking for the Accords, and Wanda slid the booklet over to him, glad to be rid of the thing.
"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." Ross continued, stopping behind Steve.
Keira clenched her jaw, barely believing her ears. They were supposed to become government puppets? She had already been controlled, twice in her life. Stripped of her choices and forced to obey. Would she be able to handle that again?
Glancing over at the table, she couldn't help but be surprised by the expressions that met her eyes. Rhodey was looking down at the book, and Keira could already guess that he would agree to this. He was a military man at heart, after all.
It was Natasha's expression that baffled her the most though. The redhead was usually very clear in her thoughts, but now, her green eyes were set on the table and her eyebrows were furrowed in thought. She couldn't seriously be considering this, could she?
Natasha, if anyone, knew what it was like to not have a choice in your actions.
Another odd thing was Tony. The man was usually very verbal, but now, he was sitting silent, not saying a word. And he had avoided Keira's gaze before. Something was definitely up.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve stated, and Keira gave a nod of approval.
If she allowed herself to be neutral, she could see where Ross was coming from. The Avengers did leave a lot of destruction behind, but they couldn't exactly limit themselves when it came to saving the world. And who was to say that being put under governmental control would change that?
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross rhetorically asked, and when Steve just glanced up at him, unable to give an answer, he plowed on. "If I misplaced a couple of thirty-megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences."
Again, Keira felt her temper rising like a tsunami inside her. And while she didn't rise from her seat this time, she cleared her throat loudly, effectively earning the Secretary's attention. "Please tell me, do you usually refer to people as weapons or objects, Mr. Secretary?" She asked in a falsely sweet voice, ignoring the warning glares she received from the team. Why were they all just accepting this?
"Because last time I checked, Thor was a prince of Asgard, meaning that his duties and responsibilities lie first and foremost with his people. He does not owe you the courtesy of informing you of his whereabouts. And regarding Banner, he is a human. We haven't heard anything about the Hulk since the battle of Sokovia, so I don't understand what the problem is." Crossing her arms over her chest, she leaned back in her seat, steadily meeting Ross' gaze. Wanda's hand remained on her knee though, grounding her.
It seemed like her little speech had thrown him a bit off his game, because he cleared his throat, as though trying to collect himself.
"I don't know if you're aware, Ms. Nowak, but to keep the world safe, the governments around the world need to know where the potential threats might lie. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." He finished off, narrowing his eyes at the mutant.
Keira rolled her eyes. This man was an expert to slither his way out of tight spots. But he was a politician so maybe that was given.
"So, there are contingencies." Rhodey spoke up for the first time.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over." Ross began to make his way to the door, but he stopped as Natasha spoke up.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha quizzed, rubbing her hand on the blank surface of the table.
"Then, you retire."