AMERICA'S POV
Wanda and I enter the conference room, where everyone is already seated at the long table. I take the seat between Steve and Pietro, watching the Secretary with unease. I didn't greet him at all. Currently, I'm not a huge fan of the government.
Secretary Ross clears his throat and begins to speak. Here we go. "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 thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me: 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 vigilantes."
"What word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asks, folding her arms.
"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? You know what you have here?" He clicks a button, and videos appear in holographic form. My blood runs cold as I watch these scenes of mass destruction. Everyone else is just as uncomfortable. "New York. Washington DC. Sokovia. Lagos."
"Okay, that's enough," Steve finally says. I think I catch a gleam of triumph in Ross' eye. He knows he's messed us up.
"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 places a thick document on the table. I reach for it before anyone else can.
"The Sokovia Accords," I read aloud, glancing up at the Secretary in confusion. I slide it to Sam, who frowns.
"The Sokovia Accords," he repeats, nodding. "Approved by one hundred 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," Steve says. "I feel we've done that."
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Steve ignores him, and the Secretary begins to pace again. "If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
"So, there are contingencies?" Rhodes asks warily.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over." He starts to leave, but I stop him.
"And if we come to a decision that you don't like?" I ask, drumming my fingers on the tabletop.
"Then you retire."
------
My thoughts are swirling around messily in my head as the team argues in the living room. This is the most confused I've felt in a long time, because I can see both sides.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have," Rhodes points out to Sam.
"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they low-jack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam says, exasperated. I don't comment, just sit in a chair staring at my wedding ring like it'll give me answers.
"They had Valeria chained up last night and you ask us to trust them?" Pietro snaps at Rhodes.
"That's not the point. A hundred seventeen countries want to sign this. One-seventeen, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'" He glares.
"How long are you going to play both sides?"
"I have an equation!" Vision announces.
"Oh, this'll clear things up," Sam comments, rolling his eyes. Vision either doesn't catch the sarcasm or ignores it.
"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."
Steve glances up from the Accords. He's had his nose in them since the Secretary left. "Are you saying it's our fault?"
Vision shakes his head. "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," Rhodes whispers. I still haven't said anything. And strangely enough, the only other person in the room that hasn't chimed in is Tony, who is apparently busy slumping over a chair and sulking like a child.
"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," Natasha quips, a slight smile on her face. That's a lot of words.
"I wouldn't stress about that," I say. "He's already made up his mind."
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony stands, wincing, and rubs the back of his head. "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 disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"
That was Pietro. He does that to bother Tony.
Tony brings up an image of a young man on a screen and pretends to notice it for the first time.
"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?" He slaps his hand on the counter. "Sokovia."
I bow my head, hoping his story is done. But Tony isn't finished. "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. 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, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," Steve says. Tony and Steve are so fundamentally different in the way that they think. There's no situation where this conversation ends well.
"Who said we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames!"
"It's not giving up. It's regaining trust," I say quietly, instantly drawing attention to myself. Tony's eyebrows shoot up as I agree with him, and he's not the only one. "We need to regain trust. How can we call ourselves heroes if the people we save are afraid of us?"
"America-" Sam starts, but I cut over him.
"Have you been called a terrorist before, Sam? Because I can tell you how it feels, and it's not fun."
"This isn't about your personal quest for self-discovery, Mer. This is about the team."
"Yeah, it is about the team," I agree, although his comment stings. "This isn't the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not Hydra. It's the United Nations, and I think the events of last night illustrate that they don't care if they're polite or not."
"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve shakes his head at the two of us, his eyes resting on me.
"That's good. That's why I'm here," Tony argues. "When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing."
"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."
"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony points to me. "Tell me, Cap, what do you think they'll do to her?"
"You're saying they'll come for me," I mutter, pouring myself a cup of black coffee as a distraction. I've never seen such conflict in my husband's eyes. "And you're probably right."
"You think the UN would be fine with the fact that we work with an ex-Hydra operative who refuses to report to them?"
"We'd protect her," Steve says firmly. "She's not with Hydra anymore. She never wanted to be with Hydra in the first place. Surely, they'll understand that."
"And what if they don't?" I set my mug down with so much force that it shatters. Coffee and shards go all over the counter. Tony tosses me a towel and I wipe it down, fighting a growing panic inside my chest.
Natasha sighs. "Maybe Tony's right."
Tony freezes. In the last five minutes, he's gained two allies he probably never expected to have.
"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?
Nat can't seem to find the words she wants to say. "I'm just... I'm reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. America's right. We need to win their trust back."
"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asks.
"Oh, I wanna take it back now."
"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed - I win."
Steve stands, looking incredibly uncomfortable. "I have to go." He leaves without another word, and I don't go after him. He's probably mad at me and he has every right to be. Tailing him isn't going to help that. He needs space and so do I.
Eventually, the team disperses from the room, leaving only two of us. Tony turns to me.
"I didn't think you'd do that."
"I'm tired of people being afraid of me," I reply, shaking my head. He puts a hand on my shoulder.
"It'll work out. You'll see."
"Last night... you know about that, right?" I mutter. He nods, and I continue. "Why did they do it?"
He exhales slowly. "The UN thinks you're a threat."
"And signing is a step in the right direction?"
"Yes."
"Then I'll be in Vienna."
What do you think?