"Wait. So, this Ancient One told you that you would not be safe if you left Nepal, but you left anyway, without even talking to her about what the Infinity Stone showed you?" Pietro asked. He was pacing rapidly back and forth in front of me.
"Can I just say that I really missed your voice? And your accent. Have I told you how much I love your accent?" I asked, looking at Pietro.
"Em, come on." He said, coming to a halt and looking at me. "We need to focus here."
"Can you just work with me for a second? Something really terrible happened and I almost got lost in another dimension forever and I just left you here. I really missed you. I was worried I was never going to see you again." I said.
I stood up from the chair I'd been sitting in and walked to Pietro. I'd recounted everything that had happened to me at Lagos and since. He had been sitting with me for about half of the story before he got up and started pacing. I walked to him and took his hands in mine. Slowly, I raised one hand to my mouth and kissed it before wrapping his arms around my waist. I draped my arms over his shoulders and looked up at him.
"I know there are a million other things we could be talking about but can we just take, like, one minute to pretend like you and I are the only thing that matters, please?" I asked.
Pietro looked at me like I was crazy for a few seconds and then sighed. "I was afraid you were never going to come back. I was picturing you teleporting to place after place not being able to stop, like you did before. Only this time, when I imagined you flashing in front of me, like you did in Seoul, I was not fast enough to stop you, and I lost you forever."
I swallowed back a few tears that were threatening to spill over from my eyes. "You would catch me. I know you would. It was just different this time. There was nothing you could have done." I paused and suddenly I couldn't look him in the eyes anymore, so I buried my face in his chest. I breathed in his scent for a moment then continued. "Where did you go when you..."
"When I died?" He finished for me. I nodded into his chest. "I don't know. It was just nowhere. I was floating through nothing, like I was floating in space, but there weren't any stars, just darkness. I thought I'd be there forever. Then, you were there. You were so beautiful. Did I ever tell you that you were glowing, like a goddess? I thought you were coming to take me to heaven or hell or something, but instead you brought me back to life."
"Do you think that's where everyone goes? To that nothingness?" I asked.
"You know it wasn't your fault, what happened to those people, right?" He said.
"I know that. I couldn't stop it. But when I was in that place, The Land of the Unburning Flame, I couldn't help but wonder if that was what they would see for eternity. I mean, going to a better place sounds great, but don't you think it's just a little too optimistic?"
"No, I don't." He said. Pietro pulled me gently to the bed and we sat on the edge. He held me at an arm's length and grabbed my chin, making sure I looked at him. "You can't do this to yourself. It's not your job to worry about what happens to every single person on this planet. If you do that, you will drive yourself... nebun." He said.
I wrinkled my nose. "I haven't learned that word, but I have a feeling it means crazy."
"Yeah, well, I thought it would sound better in Romanian." He said, then he smiled. "Since you like my accent so much and all."
I smiled too. "It did sound better, you're right."
"I know I'm right, and not just about that. I'm being serious. You can't put everyone's lives on your shoulders. You're strong, but not that strong." He said.
I looked at him for a moment. Something about his dark eyes never failed to set me at ease. I lifted a hand to his cheek, then ran my hand through his blonde hair. "You're pretty smart, you know."
He laughed. "No one has ever accused me of that before."
I smiled back. "Well, it's true. You always know exactly what to say." I said.
We looked at each other for a minute. I watched his face turn from content to anxious. He stood and started pacing back and forth in front of me again.
"What are we going to do about the vision the Infinity Stone gave you?" He asked.
"We can't let that happen to everyone. You should have seen them, Piet. I mean, Wanda, Clint and Sam all locked up and then Bucky, Steve and Tony trying to kill each other. I just don't get it. I mean how do you think it even came to that?" I said.
"I don't know, but we need to do whatever we can to stop it." He said.
"People might find out about you, that you're still alive, I mean." I said.
"And they will find out about you. The public is already terrified of what Wanda can do after Lagos. How do we do this?" He asked.
I took a deep breath and rested my elbows on my knees. "I have no idea." I said.
"And what about Loki? What do you think his plan is anyway?" Pietro asked.
I groaned and threw myself back on the bed with my arms outstretched. "I don't know. He wants control of the Space Stone, that's obvious. I guess he figured using me was the best way to do that. But what he's actually planning, I have no idea." I said.
Pietro stopped pacing and sat down on the bed beside me. I folded my left arm over my chest and he threw himself down next to me where it had been. "Do you think it's always going to be like this? Do you think we'll always be fighting gods and making giant universe-shaping decisions?"
I propped myself up on my elbow so I could look at him. "I think I always will, yes, but it's my burden to bare, and if it's too much for you, I understand. I really would."
My breath caught in my throat as I watched and waited for him to respond. At first, he just lay there, looking at the ceiling for what seemed like about four years, but was probably only a few seconds. Then, without warning, he was kissing me. He'd closed the distance between us in a nanosecond, and my chest pulsated wildly.
"Wherever you go, I go, forever." He said when he finally pulled away. "I wasn't asking because I want out. I'm asking because I want us to be prepared, together."
I felt my eyes water and I tried to blink back the tears before he noticed. "I'm sorry everything is so complicated."
"Don't be. We've never not been complicated. I knew what I was getting into." He said with a crooked smile that made the stone in my chest pulse even more rapidly.
He ran his thumb over my cheek quickly, wiping away a tear that had escaped from my eye. "We'll figure it all out. I'm smart, remember. And you're the bravest and strongest person I know. I would bet on us."
I smiled. "Me too."
I felt someone walk onto the Avenger's facility that wasn't usually there. Of course something else would come up right now and ruin my moment with Piet. I placed a shadow next to him and instantly recognized him from Tony's meeting in DC.
"This can't be good." I mumbled.
"What?" Piet asked.
"Hold on." I said.
I went around to a few different people in the facility, looking for answers. Finally I heard Vision identify the man to Steve and Wanda, where they sat in her room, as the Secretary of State.
"The Secretary of State is here. He wants to meet with everyone." I said. "What do you think he wants?"
"I do not know." Piet said. "It is a good thing we have you to spy on them."
"Normally I wouldn't, but we need to know, right?" I asked. I bit my cheek.
"Yes, we need to know. Anything that could help us, we should know." He said, nodding.
I glanced around the room. "Yeah, I agree. I really don't like spying on people if I'm not invited. You know that, right?"
Pietro laughed. "You and I are official, unofficial members of the Avengers. We should be in that meeting. The closest we can get is your shadow. There's nothing wrong with that."
"Okay, I'm going in." I said.
I found everyone in the conference room. The Secretary was standing at the head of the table with all of the Avengers sitting around it, watching him with curious glances. It looked like no one had any better idea why he was there than I did. I turned around to find Tony slumped over in a chair. He wasn't watching the Secretary, instead, he was looking at all the faces of our team. He knew what the Secretary was about to say. Of course he did, he set this all up in his meetings in D.C. I rolled my eyes. Somehow Tony always found a way to mess things up.
"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt." Said the Secretary. "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 asked.
"How about dangerous?" He said. "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?" The screen behind him turned on and started playing scenes all too familiar to me. "New York."
The screen showed the Chitauri destroying New York. I still remember it like it was yesterday. In fact, it's my earliest memory. The sounds coming from the speakers were exactly what I heard that day from my apartment, screams and the crashing of buildings as they fell to the ground. My chest pulsed faster watching the destruction from the street view.
"Washington, D.C." Said the Secretary.
The screen flipped over to images of D.C. the day that SHIELD had fallen. This footage I had seen. I watched it on the news the day it happened. I still didn't know Steve at the time that this was happening, but he'd told me everything that had happened with the Winter Soldier.
"Sokovia." He said.
I watched the screen replay one of the most terrifying days of my life. A lot of innocent people died that day. This wasn't fair. He was trying to guilt the team into thinking that every bad thing that had ever happened in the last few years was their fault. Without them, the consequences would have been way worse. Except for Ultron. That was Tony's fault. I blame him for that. But, even if he hadn't created Ultron, it probably would have happened eventually. Between the power of the mind stone and HYDRA's experiments with AI, it was inevitable.
"Lagos." He said.
The screen flicked over to another horrifying scene, the aftermath of the explosion in Lagos that I couldn't stop. There were people crying, injured and dead. I noticed Wanda look away from the screen. It hadn't even occurred to me that she probably felt exactly like I did about the explosion. Both of us tried to stop it and both of us failed.
"Okay, that's enough." Steve said.
I was thankful Steve stopped it. It was horrible to watch my failure that cost lives. I relayed everything I was seeing in the conference room back to Pietro in our bedroom. He listened and didn't say anything as I described what I was seeing.
The Secretary nodded to a man in the corner and the screen went dark. "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 took a stack of papers, bound on one side and handed it to Wanda. I teleported behind her to get a closer look.
"The Sokovia Accords." The Secretary continued. "Approved by one hundred and seventeen 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."
"The avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve said.
"Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences." The Secretary said. "Compromise, reassurance, that's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
I watched as Steve bit his tongue. The truth was, he did know where they were. Well, Steve didn't, but I did. I'd been watching Bruce, much like I'd been watching Bucky. So far, he hadn't needed me, so I'd let him continue in peace, and I'd told Steve just that. The world wasn't in danger from them. I could assure them of that, except if the Secretary of State knew I existed, Thor and Bruce would probably be the least of his concerns.
"So, there are contingencies?" Rhodey asked.
"Three days from now, the United Nations meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." The Secretary said. "You can talk it over." He started to walk out of the room.
"And if we come to a decision that you don't like?" Nat asked.
The Secretary turned around and looked at her. "Then you retire." He said before leaving the room.
I went back to Pietro. "This is bad. Piet, you should see their faces. This is it. This is what's going to cause the rift in the team." I said.
He stood up and started pacing again, but he didn't say anything. I could see the thoughts racing through his head at lightspeed. I watched and waited anxiously to hear what he was thinking so hard about. Finally, he stopped and turned to me.
"We need to be sure that we should be doing something, first." He said. I opened my mouth to argue, but he continued before I could say anything. "Hear me out. I don't want to see the team fight any more than you do. God knows I don't want my sister to end up in a prison with a collar on her."
His steps faltered as he thought about Wanda. I walked to him and put a hand on either side of his face, forcing him to look at me. "We can stop it. And even if we can't prevent it, I can get her out of there in a split second, you know that. I would never let her stay in that place."
"But you do. That's what I'm trying to say. She was there, in your vision. Why didn't you get her out? You and I both know that's the first thing you would have done, and no government, no matter the technology would stop you. So why was she there? Maybe you were given this vision not to prevent you from doing anything, but to stop you from interfering?" He asked.
"Because of Loki." I said. "I see where you're going with this, but-"
"Let me finish." He said, forcefully enough to get me to stop. I dropped my hands from his face and nodded for him to continue. His face softened and he stepped closer to me. He reached his hand out and played with a piece of my hair that was hanging at my shoulder while he regathered his thoughts. "I know what this team means to you, but so does he. Loki has been watching you, and I guarantee you he's noticed that this team is your family. He wouldn't let you stop the explosion in Lagos because it mattered to you, he told you exactly that.
"Why is any of this any different? What's to stop him from doing something worse than stopping you from saving something? He could take you away at any second. If he controls all your power, he can teleport you to Antarctica and stop you from teleporting back." He paused, letting me think about what he was saying.
"You think I should go back to Nepal and just let all of this play out on its own?" I said. I went back to the bed and sat down. "But what about Wanda and Steve and everyone else? How can I just do nothing?"
"I don't know, but I think we need to consider it. I wasn't in any of your visions either, right?' He asked. I nodded. "Then, I'll go with you. We can both go to Nepal where you'll be safe."
I lowered my head and took a few breaths. "There's no good answer to this. We could go back and forth all day long about what the vision meant and what we're supposed to do now. We won't know for sure until we try."
"I just want you to be safe." He said.
Pietro walked towards me and knelt down in front of me so that he was eye level with me. One of his hands rested on my knee. "Alright, here's what I think we need to do. We will stay and try to help. We will do everything we can, but at the first sign of Loki. If you or I think he is doing anything to hurt you, we have to go to the Ancient One. Sound good?"
I nodded my head. "We can't tell them about the vision, though. I don't know why, but my instincts are telling me we can't do that."
"Okay." He said. Pietro leaned towards me and kissed me on the forehead while giving my knee a gentle squeeze. "Let's start with trying to talk them out of these Accords."
"Good plan." I said.
I put my hand on top of his and stood. We walked hand and hand to the conference room. Through the glass walls, I could see the looks on everyone's faces, showing the conflict in the room.
"One more thing." Pietro said, pulling me back slightly when I reached out to the door handle. "I'm not leaving your side until this whole Loki thing is figured out. I'm not going to lose you again."
"Deal." I said.
I grabbed the handle and pulled the glass door open. Pietro walked in, and I followed. Everyone's heads turned towards us.
"I take it you already know about these." Steve said, holding up the Sokovia Accords in front of him. He'd been reading them.
"We do." I confirmed.
Pietro walked to Wanda's side and sat on the end of the couch beside her. He put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile. I knew all he was thinking about when he looked at her was her locked up in the prison.
Vision sat on Wanda's other side and Nat sat on the chair across from them, and Tony was lying on the shay lounge next to her. Steve was looking over the Accords again at the top of the table and Sam and Rhodey were standing behind him. It was clear they had been arguing just before we walked in, and weren't too happy with each other's views.
"I have an equation." Vision said abruptly.
"Ah, this will clear it up." Said Sam sarcastically.
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of enhanced persons has grown exponentially and 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.
"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision continued. "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."
"Boom." Said Rhodey.
"Guys, I think the important thing here is that we all come to one conclusion and stand together, like always. We can't afford to be on a divided front about this." I said.
Pietro gave me a look. Okay, maybe that was a little too on the head, but I feel like I only have a limited window to get them all to agree. Maybe on the head is what we need.
"I agree." Nat said. "But we seem to be having some conflicting opinions on what that stand will be. Tony, you are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal."
"That's because he's already made up his mind." Steve said.
I glanced at Pietro again, who looked just as worried as I did. I was just about to say something else when I felt one of the many things I really hadn't wanted to think about since my vision. Peggy Carter was gone. I had never really meant to put a shadow by her, but after everything Steve had told me about her, and after seeing how much he cared for her, I couldn't help it.
I looked over at him, wondering if I should say something, but Tony was already talking again. So, I walked to Steve and stood behind him, putting one of my hands on his back. He was too caught up in what Tony was saying to acknowledge me.
I realized Tony had gotten up and walked to the sink and was now talking about one of the victims of Sokovia. He was using this kids death to explain his reasons why the Avengers need oversight.
"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 said. His words hit the room hard. "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, we're boundaryless, we're no better than the bad guys."
"Tony, if someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said.
"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions." Steve said. "This document just shifts the blame."
"It's easy to fall into the wrong place and be forced into doing the wrong thing when someone else is running your life." Pietro said. He looked at Wanda.
"I'm sorry, Steve, Pietro, that... that is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey interjected. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council. It's not SHIELD. It's not HYDRA."
"No, but it's run by people with agendas and agendas change." Steve said.
"That's good." Tony said. "That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable in the wrong hands, I shut it down, stopped manufacturing."
"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve said. "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if we need to go somewhere and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but our hands are still the safest."
"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later." Tony argued. "That's the fact. That won't be pretty."
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said.
"We would protect you." Vision said, looking at her.
"We all would." I said. I felt my eyes flash neon blue.
"Maybe Tony's right." Nat said. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..."
"Aren't you the same woman that told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked.
"I'm just... I'm reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." Nat said.
"Okay, stop. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you just agree with me" Tony asked.
"Oh, I want to take it back now." Nat said.
"No, no, no, you can't retract it." Tony said.
Steve's phone vibrated, and I knew before he looked at it what the text would say. My eyes watered before I could stop it. Steve looked at his phone, and I felt the muscles in his back, under my hand, stiffen at what he read.
"I have to go." He said as Tony was still talking. Steve stood up and walked out of the room in a hurry.
I stood in my place, deciding whether or not to follow him. After a few seconds, I walked out of the room too. I felt Steve in the staircase just down the hall. I went to him, stopping short, just a few steps above where he had stopped. He had his head bowed over with his hand over his eyes.
"Steve..." I said. "I'm so sorry, Steve."
"You knew. You knew before the text. That's why you came over to me in the conference room." He said.
I nodded, even though he wasn't looking at me. "Do you want to be alone, or..."
"Stay." He said.
I came down a few more steps so that I was by his side. Gently, I pulled his hand away from his face and pushed him down to sit on the stair below us. I sat by his side, with my shoulder touching his, just like we used to sit in the park.
"I knew it was coming." He mumbled. "I mean, she was... It just... It still hurts."
"I know." I said. I wrapped my arm around his shoulder and pulled him a little closer. "She's at peace now, in a better place."
Steve didn't say anything else. We just sat there together on the stairs in silence. Sam came looking for Steve at one point, wanting to talk to him more about the Accords, but I made a clone of myself and planted her at the doorway to the stairs and stopped anyone else from coming down.
"It's going to be okay, Steve." I said quietly. "Everything is going to be okay."
A/N: Did everybody see the trailer for Thor Ragnarok?! That is exactly what I have been waiting on so that I would know what to put into this book! So, hopefully I will be able to upload a lot more frequently!
I think we get some really sweet moments in this chapter! Although, if I was Em, I'm pretty sure I would be hyperventilating from all the stress! Haha :) What did you all think?
Thank you so much for sticking with me through the slow process of writing this book! I love reading your comments!