"This- this is crazy," Steve said, staring down at the file in his hands. Lara sat not to far away, munching on one of those cookies. She had actually had to hide a few for Tony after she had given Steve the file. Lara had made them for Tony, and found it unjust for him to come back to nothing.
"I thought so too," Lara stated, before taking the last of the cookie in her mouth. She smiled sheepishly at Sam and Rhodey, who were looking at her oddly. They both were still wondering about her, and why she was here. Though, it wasn't hard to decipher when Steve finally passed the file to the two dark skinned men, each glaring at each other as they reached for it.
Steve stood up, walking around Lara's seat, motioning to her shoulder. "May I?" Lara nodded, a little confused about what her best friend was doing, but nonetheless let it happen. She felt his cool fingers pull down her shirt's shoulder, before they lightly touched a spot on her shoulder blade.
"What's there?" Lara asked, trying to get a look but her neck didn't stretch that way. Steve let her shirt go, fixing it into the right position before walking around her again.
"The file said that there was your number tattooed on your shoulder blade," Steve said, and they look on Lara's face made him continue. "Your number seventy."
Lara almost choked on her saliva, looking at Steve with huge eyes. "So you're telling me, that seventy of these clones have died? Killed by this-this Winter Soldier?"
"No, some of them said that the DNA wasn't quite right or the child didn't survive," Steve said, but Lara wasn't paying attention. Her eyes were in the news screen that had been playing for a while, though nobody was paying attention to it.
It was displaying a fire, one that was on a higher level of a building. The place it seemed to be in was foreign, and Lara had no idea where it was in the world.
"Unmute," Steve spoke, the TV suddenly increasing in volume. Lara sighed, sitting back as she listened to the news anchor talking about the incident in Lagos.
It was something about the Avengers, and more importantly, someone by the name of Wanda Maximoff. Lara sat forward a little bit when she watched Steve walk away, towards where the one girl had disappeared to. And then, a red head appeared in the kitchen, her eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the island in the middle of it. "Are those cookies?"
"Yes," Sam said, looking over at Lara with a somewhat proud smile on his face. "Lara made them."
"And who's Lara?" The red head said, before her eyes came in contact with the brunette's. "You're Lara. Who sent you? How did you even know where this place was?"
"Um," Lara shifted uncomfortably under the red head's stare, feeling like she was getting scrutinized. "Nick Fury sent me. I'm a clone, made by S.H.I.E.L.D. And not Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D, actual S.H.I.E.L.D. Is there any hot chocolate here?"
God, was she ever awkward. This was worse then the one time Bucky had taken her out on his break from the war, and everyone was telling her how cute the two of them were. She had stumbled over her words so many times she had been afraid she had developed a stutter. When announcing this to Bucky, the man just laughed and told her he thought it was cute, before placing his lips in hers. Where was Bucky?
As Lara got up, she was surprised to see Tony back in the room, followed by a man in a crisp suit. Lara's eyes widened as she starred at the Secretary of State, and she almost bowed at him. Though, instead, she walked over to where she hid Tony's cookies, grabbed the plastic bag, and held them out to him.
"I saved these for you, Tony. Just in case the others stole them. Rhodey, Sam, and Steve have been eating them since they got back."
Tony face-palmed.
**********
They were all sitting around a table, listening to the Secretary of State. Well, more like waiting for him to speak. Lara nervously tapped her fingers against the table, waiting for the silence that was among them to be broken. She had been introduced to everyone, and all of them seemed to like her in one way or another. Though, Lara found herself clinging to Steve, since she knew him the best.
"Five years ago, I had a heart attack," Mr. Secretary said, acting like he was golfing. Lara rolled her eyes at the actions, mostly because it was a stereotypical thing for him to do. All politicians golfed. "I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. 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 never taught me perspective," he finished, and Lara noticed the look Tony and him exchanged. Obviously, the two of them knew each other, or else she wasn't sure how he would have found them. Tony was the only plausible answer.
Lara looked around awkwardly, realizing that she wasn't really in the Avengers. She shouldn't be sitting around the table with these people, waiting to hear what this man had to say. The brunette almost teleported out of there, when Steve grabbed her hand. She looked at him, into those blue eyes that she first noticed on a rainy Sunday, and the plead they held. Lara stayed in her spot with a sigh, turning back to Mr. Secretary.
"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?" Natasha asked, and Lara spotted a little smile on her face. How was she so calm at a time like this? The Avengers was practically getting jailed. Lara knew how to read between the lines.
"How about dangerous?" Mr. Secretary retorted. "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, seemed unconcerned on what they leave behind."
He moved away from the screen that was behind him, letting the whole group of people see. A location was zoomed in on on a regular map, and Mr. Secretary read the place out. Manhattan, New York. Lara jumped when an alien appeared on screen, roaring and flying around. On the tape, people were running and screaming, the army was shooting, and then you saw the Incredible Hulk. He was jumping, and smashing into buildings, maiming the aliens that were in the buildings.
"Washington, D.C," he said next, and another tape came on. This one showed three of S.H.I.E.L.D's helicarriers crashing, and Lara recognized this as the Fall of the division. The Helicarriers had crashed into the pool in front of the Triskelion, creating a significant amount of damage. Lara had been there. She had been assigned to help with getting people out of the way so any debris wouldn't hit them.
"Sokovia," the tape that came on next made Lara look at Wanda. She hadn't known where her accent had come from, but the way she reacted, her shoulders tensing, Lara deduced it was from there. And Lara watched as it was lifted up into the sky, and destroyed. She had also heard about it on the news when it was happening.
"Lagos," the tape was played, and Lara stared at the screen. It was weird because she was pretty sure she arrived when the group that went had gotten back to the Avengers Facility not too long ago. And she had been baking cookies to ease her nerves everyday.
"Okay, that's enough," Steve told Mr. Secretary, who nodded at his bodyguard, who turned off the screen.
"The past four years you have 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," the politician was handed a rather thick booklet, Lara looking at it with wide eyes. Was this some sort of contract?
Mr. Secretary walked over to the table in front of Wanda and placed the thick booklet down in front of her, sliding it towards her. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by a hundred and seventeen countries. 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 seems it necessary." While he said this, the booklet was passed around the table, each person glancing at it before passing it to the next person.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place," Steve said, and Lara noticed the serious look on his face. "I feel we've done that."
"Tell me, Captain. Do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Mr. Secretary asked him. Steve just looked up at him, serious look still on his face. "If I miss placed a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you bet there'd be consequences. Compromise, reassurance, that's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
"So," Rhodey said, the Sokovia Accords making their way back to in front of him. "There are contingencies?"
"Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna for the Accords," Lara watched as Steve looked back at Tony, who looked back at the blonde with his eyebrows raised. When Mr. Secretary said, "talk it over," Steve looked back forward. That was when the Politician started to leave, until Natasha spoke up.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?"
"Then you retire."
__________
n.e
lara is such a bean omg. i can't wait for bucky and her to reunite. idk what chapter it's gonna be though /: