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Avenger's Compound
Afternoon
Barry walked into his girlfriend's room and what he saw concerned him. Wanda was watching news report, talking about the incident in Lagos last month. Barry really hated that Steve had sent him, Vision, and Rhodey on a mission to Brazil in order to check out rumors of a Hydra cell. Maybe it was ego, but Barry felt if they had been in Lagos with the others, Wanda wouldn't have been put in that position.
Barry grabbed the remote off the side of Wanda's dresser and turned off the TV. Wanda gave no sign she was aware of what happened, her knees drawn up to her chest as Barry sat down next to her on her bed.
"This wasn't your fault Wanda." Barry told her.
"Maybe you should turn the TV back on, they're being very specific." Wanda said as she looked over at him.
"You tried to save them. A lot of people are still alive because of what you did." Barry told her insistently.
"And a lot more are dead because of me." Wanda said in self-loathing.
'No, because of me," They turned to see Steve lingering in the doorway and he made his way into the room, "I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it. Rumlow said Bucky and…all of the sudden; I was a sixteen year old kid again in Brooklyn. And people died, that's on me."
"It's on both of us." Wanda disagreed.
"I swear, it's like talking to two Olivers," Barry said as he stood up, looking between his friend and his girlfriend, "we're not gods, even though some people may think of us that way. We're human, we make mistakes. We fail and we have to deal with that. But we need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and pick ourselves back up again. Because blaming ourselves isn't going to bring those people back."
"He's got a point," Steve said and Wanda looked over at him, "this job, we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes, that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live that, next time we may not save anyone."
Wanda looked thoughtful when, suddenly, Vision walked through the wall and into the room.
"A little privacy please?" Barry asked, shooting an annoyed look at the AI.
Now, Barry cold understand that Vision was not used to respecting people privacy and even pitied him a little. After all, it must be weird to now have to adjust to human social norms. However, Barry got a vibe (excuse the pun Cisco) that Vision was into Wanda. And Barry wasn't okay with that.
"The door was open so I assumed that…" Vision trailed off as they all stared at me. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark arrived."
"Thank you. We'll be right down." Steve said politely and Vision nodded.
"I'll just...use the door this time," Vision said awkwardly as he moved to the door before he paused, "Oh and apparently he's brought a guest."
"Who?" Barry asked confused.
"The secretary of state." Vision said before walking out.
"Thaddeus Ross? Isn't that the guy who tried to lock Banner up and use him as a weapon?" Barry asked as he looked over at Steve, who looked concerned.
"The same." Steve nodded.
"Why would Tony bring that man here?" Barry demanded, angry at having a man like that know his secret.
"I don't know. Only one way to find out." Steve said grimly.
Which was how Barry found himself in the conference room, sitting between Steve and Wanda, listening to Ross tell a story about golf.
"After thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me: perspective," Ross said as he looked at all of them, "the world owes The Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives, but while a great many see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word vigilantes."
"And what word would you us Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked wearily.
"Dangerous," Ross declared, "how else would you describe a group of U.S. 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?"
Barry frowned as he stared at Ross. Barry didn't particularly like how Ross emphasized the word 'enhanced.' Like it made them less than human just because they had powers. And the way he described The Avengers was like they were some out of control police unit. Before Barry could speak up, Ross turned around and turned on a screen behind him.
"New York," Ross said as they were shown an image of The Hulk smashing through buildings before it changed to a bunch of vehicles in the sky coming down, landing in the water, causing the currents to drag civilians in, "Washington DC. Sokovia"
Barry looked away as the screen showed buildings falling down. Even though he had just been there for the last fifteen minutes of that fight, he still had some guilt over it. He felt partially responsible, even though he had no idea what had been going on at the time.
"Lagos." Ross said as the screen showed the damages that had been left by the disaster of a mission.
As Wanda looked down, Barry took her hand, hoping to offer her some sort of comfort. If he hadn't liked Ross before, he detested him now.
"That's enough." Steve spoke up and Ross nodded as he turned the screen off.
"For the past four years, The Avengers 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." Ross said as he pulled out a think, paperback book.
He set it in front of Wanda and she picked it up as Barry got a look at the title.
"The Sokovia Accords?" Barry read and Ross nodded.
"Approved by one hundred and seventeen countries. It states that The Avengers will no longer be a private organization. Instead, you will operate under the supervision of the United Nations Panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary." Ross explained.
Barry didn't like the sound of that. And judging by the looks on Steve and Sam's faces neither did they. How were they supposed to do their job if they had to ask for permission from the UN?
"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?" Ross challenged and Steve was silent. "If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there would be consequences."
Barry clenched his free hand into a fist, trying to remind himself that attack the secretary of state would not help his cause.
"Compromise. Resolution. That's how the world works. Trust me, this is the middle ground." Ross told them.
"Really? Because it feels more like 'do as we say or else.'" Barry said coolly.
"There are contingencies." Rhodey interrupted, obviously hoping to stop a fight with Ross.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify The Accords. Talk it over." Ross said before leaving.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha spoke up boldly.
"Then consider yourself retired." Ross said and Natasha smiled thinly, looking about as pleased as Barry felt.
A few hours later and they were still talking about it. Barry had sped read the entire thing and was now mulling over it as he sat next to Wanda as Steve sat in a chair, reading it. Tony and Natasha sat on the other couch as Vision sat on Wanda's other side. Sam and Rhodey were standing, arguing about The Accords. Rhodey wanted to sign while Sam was dead set against it and was concerned about The Avengers getting locked up the moment they stepped out of line.
"I have an equation," Vision spoke up and Sam and Rhodey's argument stopped as looked over at him, "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of enhanced persons has risen exponentially. As has the number of world ending events in that same period."
"And you're blaming us for that?" Barry asked in disbelief.
"I'm saying there may be a relation. Our strength invites challenge. Challenge breeds conflict. And conflict-conflict brings chaos. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed." Vision said.
"But these accords aren't about oversight. They're about controlling us." Barry argued.
"Come on Barry, that's not what they're about." Rhodey argued.
"To operate only when and if that panel deems it necessary," Barry repeated Ross' words, "That doesn't sound like control to you guys?"
"Tony, you're being uncharacteristically quiet." Natasha noted and they all looked at tony.
"Because he's already made up his mind." Steve noted.
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony said sarcastically as he stood up.
Tony walked over to the kitchen sink, grumbling something about coffee beans. He put his phone down and brought up a picture of a young, African-American 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 some miles on his soul before he parked t 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've done. He didn't go Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where? Sokovia," Tony said and everyone looked away, feelings of guilt building up in them, "He wanted to make a difference I suppose. I guess we'll never know, since we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."
"Okay. You've made your point Tony." Barry said wearily.
"There's no decision making process here, we need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, then we're no better than the bad guys." Tony declared.
"Even if that means we have no free will of our own?" Barry demanded.
"Who says we don't have any free will?" Tony demanded.
"This document does," Steve interjected, "it takes away our right to choose Tony. We lose our right to choose, we may as well give up now."
"I'm sorry Steve that is dangerously arrogant. This isn't the world security council, it's not Hydra, it's the United Nations we're talking about." Rhodey argued.
"You sure about that?" Barry argued. "I mean, Hydra infiltrated branches of government all over. Is anyone completely sure Hydra hasn't infiltrated the UN?"
"It's not possible." Rhodey said immediately.
"Just because you don't wanna believe it doesn't mean it's impossible." Sam argued.
"Whether or not Hydra has infiltrated the UN doesn't matter," Steve said and they all looked at him, "we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if they send us somewhere we don't need to go? Or 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 will be done to us later." Tony argued.
"So we should just roll over and accept it? I'm not signing on with a man like Ross." Barry said firmly.
"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha said and got several looks of surprise, "if we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-"
"Aren't you the woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam interrupted.
"I'm just-I'm reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." Natasha reasoned.
"I'm sorry, I'm just focusing now. Did you just say I'm right?" Tony asked.
"Oh I take it back." Natasha joked and Barry rolled his eyes.
"Really guys?" Barry complained as Steve got a text.
"I have to go." Steve said before standing up and walking out, leaving the others staring after him in confusion.
"Steve?" Sam called after him but Steve didn't respond, just walked out.
"Look, we need to be put in check." Tony tried to bring the conversation back to focus.
"You mean put under the UN's thumb," Barry said as he stood up, "if this supposed middle ground is so good, why are we just getting this now? We should have gotten this months ago. It took me an hour almost to read through, at my speed. And even now, I'm still not certain I understand every aspect of it. A normal person would be able to read this after a few weeks, but we're given three days to read it and decide. That doesn't seem shady to you guys?"
While Natasha and Vision now seemed uncertain, Tony and Rhodey were clearly unmoved. AS he looked around, he saw only Sam ready agreed with him and Wanda herself seemed uncertain.
"You know what? Fine," Barry raised his hands and walked towards the door, "I'm not doing this. I spent fifteen years having my life controlled by someone; I'm not doing it again. If I can save someone's life, I'm gonna do it and no piece of paper is gonna stop me from doing it! If you guys wanna sign this, be my guests. I won't be a part of it. I quit."
The remaining Avengers watched in stunned disbelief as Barry then turned and sped out. By the time they realized what had happened, Barry had already left the compound.
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If you enjoy please support me on my patreon Future 50+ chapters at patreon.com/Darkphoenix11