1991
Snow poured down from the sky. A Hydra base sat hidden in the mountains. Inside, the large metal doors swung open and a soldier approached a safe. He punched in the code on a keypad. There was a click and release of air as the small door slid up revealing a small, red leather book that had a black star on it.
A technician raises a cylindrical chamber, revealing a man with a metal arm who was hooked up to wires and breathing tube.
Two guards carry the man into another room and secured him in a chair. They strap a mechanical device on to either side of his face. It sends electric shocks through his body, causing the Winter Soldier to howl in pain.
A man stands to the side, reading from the little red book. " Желание. Ржавый. Семнадцать. Рассвет. Печь. Девять. Добросердечный. Возвращение на родину. Один. Грузовой вагон ( Longing. Rusted. Seventeen. Daybreak. Furnace. Nine. Benign. Homecoming. One. Freight car.)"
The device is removed the soldiers face and the man with the book moves so he is now standing in front of his man.
" Доброе утро, Солдат (Goodmorning solider)."
" Я готов отвечать (ready to comply)," Bucky Barnes answeres.
2016
Jo's hand began to shake as she reached for her coffee. She quickly withdrew her hand, spotting the waitress who was glancing at her.
"You alright hun?"
"Yeah, just waiting for it to cool down." Jo smiled at the woman. The waitress nodded and walked on.
"Says the girl who likes her coffee so hot I'm pretty sure it could be considered lava" Phil mumbled as he sat down across from Jo. "How's rehab going?"
"As good as to be expected," Jo held up her hand that was still slightly shaking. "Tony's mentioned some experiments he could do to repair the nerves, but I turned him down."
"You still wear the gloves."
"The scars are a bit more than most people's stomachs can handle."
"I still don't understand," Phil shook his head as he spoke. "Why'd you, do it?"
Jo sighed, "I've talked about this."
"Yes, yes, you wanted to make it bleed! But you kept hitting even after you knew it wouldn't."
"I couldn't make it bleed, so I made me bleed," Jo stated, looking out the window of the diner. "How do you like being the director?"
"It sucks!" Coulson spat. "Kind of wish I was an agent again."
Jo shook her head and smiled. "But we all know you're the best man for the job."
"So, where's your dad?" Phil asked ignoring Jo's comment.
"On a mission."
"And you're not there because...?"
"He doesn't think I'm ready," Jo growled, recalling her argument with Steve.
"It's been a year! Doesn't he know about the solo missions you've been on?"
"Of course not! He'd flip! Honestly, the man looks at like a broken child. Makes me miss the days of being alone."
Phil nodded in understanding. "You always have a place at Shield, if you want it."
"That'd be going from one team to another," Jo shook her head.
"Are you actually considering leaving?"
Jo did not have an answer. To be honest she had thought about it, but knew Steve would scour the Earth for her if she did.
"Jo? What's going on inside that head of yours?" Phil asked gently. He reached across the table and took her trembling hands in his.
"I miss him," She croaked. It hurt to say it, but it was true. Everywhere she looked was another reminder of the love she had lost. And time didn't seem to be healing anything.
Before Phil could respond, everyone's attention turned towards the small television as the waitress raised the volume. A news reporter was talking about an explosion at a hospital in Lagos. The explosion, she was saying, was caused by the Avengers.
"I gotta go!" both Phil and Jo whispered before rushing out of the diner.
Jo jumped onto her bike and its engine roared to life. She sped off towards the Avengers facility.
"Friday! Where's Steve?" Jo shouted upon entering the compound.
"Captain Rogers is with Miss Maximoff. But Mr. Stark has called a team meeting in the conference room."
"Thanks!"
"You're welcome Supreme Leader Jo."
Jo smirked at the title. She had figured out how to change her name in Friday's system within the first week of living at the compound. Although she had received a disapproving look from Steve, it had made Tony laugh.
"Ah! Agent Carter, Glad you could join us!"
"Mr. Secretary," Jo muttered sitting down beside Sam who smiled at her. She ignored the look she was getting from Steve.
"As I was saying. About five years ago I had a heart attack and 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." The Secretary of State paused as if to add dramatic effect. "Perspective. 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 vigilante."
"And what word would you use Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.
"How about dangerous? 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?" Mr. Secretary stepped aside as the screen behind him flickered on. Showing footage from New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia, and Lagos.
"That's enough," Jo stated, noticing Wanda's reaction. Jo had read up on what happened before entering the meeting. Going in unprepared was never an option for her.
Mr. Secretary nodded and turned off the footage. "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 turned to his assistant who handed him a large folder. "The Sokovia Accords," He slid the folder over to Wanda. "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 spoke up.
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?"
Steve did not have a response to that.
"If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences." Mr. Secretary stated. "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." He pointed to the binder, that was now held by Rhodey.
"So, there are contingencies."
"Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords. Talk it over."
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asked.
"Then you retire."
Jo held back every sarcastic, smartass remark she wanted to make.
"Secretary Ross has a congressional medal of honor, which is one more than you have!"
"And medals are what gives him the right to control us?" Jo growled. Rhodey glanced at Jo with an annoyed look. Steve sat in one chair looking over the accords while Tony lounged in another chair across from him.
"So let's say we sign this thing. How long do you think it'll be before they low-jack us like a bunch of common criminals?"
"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this thing Sam, and you're just gonna be like "No it's cool. We got this."
"How long are you going to play both sides?"
"I have an equation," Vision stated.
"Oh, this'll clear things up," Jo muttered.
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Ironman the number of known 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?"
"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision answered. "Our very strength invited challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."
"Boom," Rhodey stated looking at Sam who rolled his eyes.
"Tony," Nat spoke up. "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."
"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve stated.
"Boy, you know me so well," Tony grunted standing up and walking to the kitchen sink. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on Cap, it's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the garbage disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony placed his phone on the counter and tapped the screen. An image of a young man sprang up.
"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't wanna go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer, building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia."
No one spoke. There was nothing to say.
"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. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check!" Tony shouted. "Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."
"Tony, if someone dies on your watch you don't give up," Steve spoke up.
"Who says we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."
"Sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant!" Rhodey exclaimed. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not Shield, it's not Hydra."
"Right. Because the United Nations is apparently some higher overlord who we should bow down to!" Jo shouted.
"Jo- "
"No! We don't need to be put in check, he does!" Jo pointed to Tony as she spoke. "You started this! You built Ultron! It's your mistakes that got us here. Don't take the rest of us down with you!" Jo growled
No one knew how to respond to Jo's outburst. Tony just stared at her with his mouth slightly opened.
"She has a point about the UN," Steve finally spoke. "It's run by people with agendas and agendas change."
"That's good! That's why I'm here!' Tony exclaimed walking over, regaining control of himself. "When I realized, what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."
"Tony, you chose to do that!" Steve shot back. "If we sign this, we're surrendering our right to choose. What if the panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."
"If we don't do this now, it's going to be done to us later," Tony warned. "That's a fact. That won't be pretty."
"Are you saying they'll come for me?" Wanda asked.
"We would protect you," Vision answered.
"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 who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked in complete shock.
Jo noticed Steve's face fall as he realized Natasha was not on his side.
"I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asked.
"Oh. I want to take it back now."
"No, you can't retract it!"
Jo's phone buzzed, and she took it out of her pocket. It was a text from Sharon. She opened the text and felt her heart drop at what appeared on the screen. "I have to go." Jo didn't wait for anyone to respond before walking away.
Jo made it to the bottom of the stairwell and leaned against the wall. She looked at her phone, making sure she hadn't misread the text.
"What happened?"
Jo looked up as Steve reached her side. She shook her head. "She's gone," Jo whispered handing him the phone.
Steve froze as he read the text. For a moment, neither of them said anything. Steve pulled Jo into a hug. "I'm sorry," he whispered.
Jo pulled herself away from him. "It was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Are you- "
"I'm fine," Jo growled heading for the stairs but stopped when she saw Tony coming towards them.
"Jo, could I have a word?" Tony asked.
Steve sighed and walked passed, Tony. He gave Jo one last look of concern before leaving.
Jo and Tony stood there, neither really knowing what to say.
"I'm sorry for what I said," Jo finally spoke. "I went too far."
Tony shook his head, "Don't be, you were kind of right."
"Was there something you needed to ask me about or...?"
"Did something happen? You left kind of suddenly and then Steve followed so.."
"Peggy died," Jo stated.
"Oh God, Jo, I'm so sorry..." Tony whispered.
"I'm fine," Jo sighed. She hated having to repeat herself. "It's not like I didn't see this coming. She was getting worse every day. Death was inevitable. I honestly don't even know why-"
Jo stopped when Tony put his hands on her cheeks, making her look up at him. He wiped the tears away with his thumbs.
"It's okay Jo, you'll be okay," He whispered. Jo let out a cry as Tony embraced her. Tony held on tight to his broken friend. "You'll be okay..."