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"That's the problem with being the strong one.
No one offers you a hand."
~m.t.
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The Avengers were gathered around a table as they listened to whatever the Secretary of State wanted to tell them. Freya had taken off her winter coat and sat down next to Rhodey and Natasha.
"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective. 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'." Secretary Ross looked each of them over "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked, trying to figure out on whose side the man was "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?" He turned on a screen behind him.
News footage from past missions of the Avengers and SHIELD flashed on the screen as he spoke "New York." A Chitauri leviathan. Terrified citizens. A soldier that fired a gun a gun. The Hulk smashed into a building and sent a dust cloud to engulf the camera. Loki smirked cunningly.
Freya looked down at her hands as she picked at her left hand. Rhody looked back at her regretfully, feeling sympathy with the woman. Natasha almost reached out a hand to rest on Freya's shoulder but stopped herself as the secretary continued to speak "Washington DC."
The three Insight helicarriers, fired at each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A helicarrier crashed into the Potomac and threw up a massive wave, engulfing citizens. A flash of a metal arm with a red Soviet star on it.
Sam looked down briefly.
"Sokovia."
Terrified citizens, ran. The city rose. A building fell over as Freya and Wanda tried to hold it as long as possible. A burning woman ran away. Pietro ran past multiple people.
Wanda stared at the screen mournfully as Tony looked away.
"Lagos."
The burning building. Paramedics moved a body. A dead girl. A body that had been burned to ashes.
Wanda was particularly affected by the footage from Lagos. Steve looked away from the young girl "Okay. That's enough." Secretary Ross nodded and Freya turned off the screen before anyone else could, earning a glare from the man who was accompanying Ross, he almost seemed to want to take out something from his briefcase.
"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 placed a thick document on the desk and passed it to Wanda "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 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." Secretary Ross explained as Wanda looked at the document in her hands.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve argued "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Secretary Ross countered as Freya frowned "Since when do my brother and I answer to you?" Ross's eyes met Freya's "Since you joined the Avengers. We let you take Loki and put him on trial, the governments expect something in return. He would have gotten a death sentence."
Freya didn't respond and looked back down as both Rhodey and Sam reacted "Don't talk to her like that."
Secretary Ross moved on "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." The man argued as Rhody basically scoffed "So, there are contingencies." Secretary Ross ignored the man "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?" Natasha asked, wanting to know what was at stake "Then you retire."
Bucky sat on his thin mattress, the faint yellow glow of the lamp illuminated his notebook enough for him to see the pages that were completely filled with memories, letters and pictures of various people. His back rested against the wall, making sure that he wasn't visible from the window as he scribbled down a new memory of Freya.
The white haired woman had always been lingering in the back of his mind, and she had been resurfacing more and more. The memories with her making him wake up in the middle of the night or stop walking in the middle of the street. After that he had started looking her up, finding more and more information on the white haired woman.
Even finding out some of his trigger words had been linked back to her. Seventeen, he was seventeen when he met her. Longing, he had longed for her after her disappearance. Benign, she was kind and gentle towards him. Homecoming, she had been his homecoming date.
The Avengers were gathered in the headquarters.
Steve was sat close to the coffee table as he studied the Accords, while Rhodey and Sam argued behind him.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhody said "So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam argued "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'" Rhody reasoned as Sam practically waved him off "How long are you going to play both sides?"
"I have an equation." Vision interjected before Rhody could reply, making multiple Avengers look at the robot "Oh, this will clear it up." Sarcasm evident in Sam's voice "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, 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?" Steve frowned at Vision who hesitated for a second before he replied, trying to make the man out of time understand his point "I'm saying there may be a causality. 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." Rhody smirked.
All the while, Tony was laying on the sofa, a hand covering his face as if he had a headache. The fact that he was not arguing was quite odd "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal." Natasha looked at the brunet man who glanced at the redhead through his fingers "It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve realised.
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony got up and winced loudly before rubbing the back of his head. Freya instinctively moved towards him, ready to ease his pain "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." Tony winced before he walked to the kitchen and grabbed a random mug. Freya raised her hand and took his pain away.
"Thank you Cupid." Tony almost smiled at her before he turned to look at Steve "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony looked at the sink before he put his phone in a basket and taped it. The phone projected an image of a smiling young man.
"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 want to 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."
There it was, Tony's reason. The thing that would be affecting him for the argument.
"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." Freya looked away, he was one of the people that she had been leading towards the outskirts of the city "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, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys." Tony said.
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve argued, not agreeing with the genius "Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked, looking at his friend "We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve responded almost cockily.
"I'm sorry. Steve. That...that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA." Rhody almost glared at the captain "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve tried again "That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing." Tony sounded almost desperate to make Steve understand.
"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own." He had a point "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." And again it was a good point.
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda suddenly spoke up as they all glanced at the girl "We would protect you." Vision comforted her as Freya looked at the girl sympathetically "We would not allow any harm to come to you, you have my word." Freya looked at her apprentice.
"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha spoke after the short moment of silence, making Tony look at her surprised "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-" Natasha tried to explain before Sam interrupted her "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Natasha hesitated, trying to think of the best way to respond "I'm just . . . I'm 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 smirked at Natasha who looked over at him regretfully "Oh, I want to take it back now." Tony smirked shaking his head "No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed--I win."
Steve's phone buzzed, and he pulled it out to check it "I have to go." Steve got up sharply and handed the Accords to Freya, who withheld herself from reading his mind, allowing him some privacy.
She read over the words before she got to a particular sentence that sparked her interest.
"Wait. I do not have to sign this?" Freya asked and Vision nodded "You have political immunity and you are not from Earth, Secretary Ross was incorrect saying he needed location on Thor. Both of you fall under Asgard's laws not Earth's." And while his words should have comforted Freya, the didn't, for two reasons.
The Accords also stated that technically she wasn't allowed to be an Avenger unless all 117 countries agreed, and she had no say in the argument to come.
A/N:
I am so exited to be writing Civil War, this was my original idea, and I actually like it so we'll roll with that.
Also, Bucky just remembering Freya and being an absolute cutie *sobs*
Hope you enjoyed and be sure to check out Letters to Freya, my instagram and the other stories in the Merveille series if you haven't yet.
Funny post
Seb 😂
[Word Count:2141]