Chapter 15

Steve walked into Buffy's office at headquarters and found her face down on the desk snoring slightly. One of her hands was resting lightly on the computer mouse and the other hand was resting lightly on a folder with Bucky's picture paper-clipped to it. He smiled and shook his head. She had said she would be working late the night before, but when he had woken up that morning, she hadn't been there.

He squatted down beside her and brushed the hair away from her face. She started awake and pushed back from the desk, muscles bunched for a fight. Steve had nearly fallen backwards, but caught himself on the desk. She realized quickly where she was and who had woken her and her muscles relaxed.

"Sorry." Buffy said, looking sheepishly at her fiancé. "Oh god, I stayed the night here didn't I?"

"Yeah." Steve gave her a lopsided grin and stood up, leaning back against the desk. "Were you having a bad dream?"

"Uh, no. It was more like a memory that I was trying to change and couldn't." She gestured to the folder on the desk that had been under her hand. "I was trying to stop him from walking away that day at the river. It was so real…. I could feel the three bullet holes in me."

"You don't usually dream like that." He reached out and gently cupped the side of her face, noting that her temperature was slightly raised. "Everything ok?"

"Uh, one of the girls called me about one in the morning and said she saw him. I was trying to track down any more leads in that area because she lost him when she tried to follow him. I must've dozed off. What time is it? We've got to get on the jet to Lagos." She stood up and went to the large bedroom between hers and Steve's offices where they kept some extra clothes, one of each of their suits for emergencies, his shield, and the Slayer scythe.

Steve followed her into the room as she started to change clothes. "Buffy, you're taking too much on. Maybe you should back off on some things?" He knew the glare leveled at him now would happen and he'd come prepared for it. "Look, I know some things are too important to back off of, but there's at least one major thing that you shouldn't need to worry about."

"What?"

"The wedding." She stopped before she got her clean shirt on and turned to look at him in astonishment. He knew instantly that she thought he was calling it off. "Don't think that. You know I want to marry you. What I'm saying is that we don't need anything big and fancy. We don't need everyone there. We just need us and a couple of other people…."

She had finished putting her shirt on and walked over to him. "Steve…."

"We can go to the courthouse and have a justice of the peace marry us…."

"Steve." He shut his mouth against anything else he was about to say. "No. I want a wedding. Not a big one. Not anything stupid fancy. Not like Tony is desperately trying to plan for us. Which I know is just his way of coping with Pepper leaving him and that's why I've been indulging him some. Well, that and the fact that the man has weirdly good taste in wedding dresses. He's really like having a gay BFF to go wedding shopping with. Well, besides my actual gay BFF…." She shook her head and sighed. "The point is: I don't want it to be just a couple of people and us. I want the dress and I want to see you in a tux waiting for me at the top of the aisle. I want the stupid party afterwards with the cheesy music and the insane dancing and…. I want to be two normal people for one night. Even if it means being super busy and sleeping at my desk every now and then."

"The wedding is in barely two months. Would you consider pushing the date back?"

"No."

"Buff…."

"I can handle this." She set her hairbrush down and gave him a large smile in the mirror as she tied her hair up. "I promise." As they headed out of the office and down to the loading area for the jet, she snapped her fingers. "Remind me when I get back that I need to find somewhere to send Lily."

"She get into another fight?" Steve asked.
"Yeah. With Nat of all people."

"That must've gone over well."

"About as well as a lead balloon. Yeah. Lily ended up with ten stitches on her collarbone and Nat's got a severely bruised hip and four stitches over her eyebrow. She's lucky that's all she got before Angel and I got there. Lily was ready to tear her head off."

"Was this after I left last night?"

"About an hour after, actually."

"What was Nat still doing here?" Buffy shot him a look that told him everything. "She and Angel are getting kinda serious, huh?"

"She hasn't slept with him. I'm not 100% sure if she's scared to or if he's scared to. But the fact that they're both cautious about it tells me that it's definitely leaning towards serious."

"Do you think she could trigger the curse?"

"I don't know. I mean, I can't be the only one that triggers it, right? I know he's been with a couple of women since me and didn't lose his soul, but…." Buffy trailed off when she spotted Sam waiting for them holding a large Starbucks coffee.

He held it out to her as they approached. "Cap said you spent the night here last night. Figured you'd need this very large mocha."

"Sam Wilson, you are a god among men and I love you." She took the coffee and kissed his cheek.

Sam fell into step with them as they continued towards the hanger. "I saw that Natasha isn't coming on this mission."

"She's taking a break for the next couple of days. My orders. She wasn't too happy, but if she hurts her hip any further, she'll end up breaking it."

"What did she do to her hip?"

"Lily picked a fight with her."

"Damn! When is that girl going to learn?"

"Probably when I send her to Siberia to hunt demon polar bears."

Sam and Steve both stopped, staring at her with wide eyes. "Is that a thing?" Sam asked. "Like, a for real thing?"

Buffy laughed at them. "I don't know. I've never been to Siberia."

"But demon polar bears, that could be real?" Steve asked.

She shrugged. "Maybe. I won't discount it. I've seen some weird things in my time. A girl who felt so invisible she actually became invisible, aliens pouring out of the sky from a portal above New York, my friend Oz turns into a werewolf every full moon," She looked at Sam. "That time you got your ass handed to you by a guy the size of an ant…."

"Hey!" Sam glanced at Steve, but Buffy continued.

"And I myself have been turned into a rat before. So demon polar bear isn't that far out there, right?"

"Wait, what?!" Steve shook his head. "When were you turned into a rat!?"

"A long, long, long time ago. It was only for a day."

"How did that happen?" Sam asked.

"Uh, Xander accidentally put a spell on the entire female population of Sunnydale and one of the witches turned me into a rat because she was jealous that I was coming on to Xander."

"I thought you've never liked him romantically." Steve said.

"Ew. No. Of course not. It was the spell. If I acted like that in real life I would probably throw myself off a high, high tower…. Again." She shuddered dramatically. "Yuck. Thank god she did turn me into a rat because I definitely would've won Xander over if she hadn't done something and I really didn't need that kind of drama."

"Why, uh…. I mean, how did you come onto him?"

Buffy smiled at Steve. "I was wearing nothing but a short coat and high heels."

"That's not so bad." Sam said, causing Steve to look at him sharply. "What? It's not."

"I was 17 and he had a girlfriend."

"Oh, never mind. Bad Buffy."

"I've never been, nor will I ever be that level of skank ever again." She took a sip of her mocha and started walking again.

Sam and Steve joined her as Sam said, "That's not skanky, though. Not now that you've got a ring on that finger, anyway. I'm pretty sure you could pull that off now and it be the hottest thing anyone's ever seen since Angelina Jolie had that sexy fight scene with Brad Pitt. I could definitely see you and Steve going at it like that."

"Sam!" Steve snapped.

"Come on, Cap. You can't tell me that if you walked into your office and your fiancée was standing there in nothing but a short coat and high heels you wouldn't lock the door and go crazy."

"I, um…. Well…. I…."

"If it was Steve, I wouldn't even bother with the coat." Buffy said, just to make her fiancé's face turn an even darker shade of red. Sam let out a loud laugh and clapped Steve on the shoulder as he shook his head at them. Sam and Buffy had become close over the last few months. They had really bonded over seeing how far they could push Steve's embarrassment level. Steve didn't mind so much, though. He and Sam were like brothers and Steve got him back plenty for the ribbing. Sam was the one that Steve had picked for his Best Man at the wedding.

"Sam, when did you get beat up by an ant?" Steve asked.

"Never mind that. So, it's just us three and Wanda going out on this one?" Sam asked.

"Yup. Willow couldn't make it, but she says that Wanda is ready for a mission on her own." Buffy said.

"Let's get this show on the road then." Steve said.

Buffy sat in the café looking at her surroundings behind her dark sunglasses. She had a civilian jacket on and different colored boots, but she had her suit on underneath it. At the moment she was pretending to read a book and drink a cup of coffee. The coffee was needed, but it was making her feel a bit nauseous. Maybe it was jet lag?

"All right, what do you see?" Steve asked through the com in her ear.

It was Wanda who answered. "Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM on the south corner, which means…."

"Cameras."

"Both cross streets are one way."

"So compromised escape routes."

"It means our guy doesn't care about being seen. He isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out. You see that Range Rover half way up the main block?"

"The red one? It's cute."

"It's also bullet proof. Which means it's private security." Buffy said. "Which means more guns. Which means more headaches for somebody. Probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?"

"Looking over your shoulder needs to become second nature."

"You've definitely been hanging out with Natasha too much. Anybody ever tell you you're getting a little paranoid?" Sam asked.

Buffy shrugged. "Not to my face. Well, not lately anyway. Why? Did you hear something?"

"Eyes on target, folks." Steve said. "This is the best lead we've had on this guy in six months and I don't want to lose him."

"If he sees us coming, that won't be a problem. He kinda hates us." Sam said.

"Sam? You see that garbage truck?"

"Yeah?"

"Tag it."

"Awe, Sam gets to play with his new toy." Buffy said.

"And you know I'm excited about it." Sam retorted. "Using xray. I got a truck loaded with max weight and the driver's armed."

"Sounds like a battering ram. Go now, Sam."

"What…." Wanda started, but Sam had already leapt off the roof.
"He's not hitting the police." Steve said.

Buffy grabbed Wanda's hand. "Time to go." She tugged the girl to her feet and they ran down the street to where all the commotion was. The garbage truck had targeted the Institute For Infectious Diseases and taken out the main gate. Two moving trucks full of armored-up guys had spilled out and were attacking the building. Wanda used her powers to fly up and away and Buffy sighed.

"Being a Slayer is still cool." She muttered to herself. "Not everybody needs the power of flight, you know."

"Body armor." Steve said. "AR15s. I make seven hostiles."

"I make five." Sam added.

"Sam." Wanda said.

"Four. Romlow's on the third floor."

"Wanda, just like we practiced." Steve said.

"What about the gas?" Wanda asked.

"Get it outside."

Buffy had made it to the building already and was taking out the guys that were now swarming out of the back side. She'd taken down one of the baddies and had confiscated his motorcycle. Rumlow had taken off when he'd spotted her, so she'd gone after him. "Rumlow has a biological weapon." Steve said in her ear.

"I'm already on it." Buffy said. She positioned herself on the bike and stood up. When she hit the brakes, she aimed the bike at one of the thugs and threw herself at another. In quick succession, she took out the other six in her way before Rumlow suddenly grabbed her by the hair and hauled her on top of the truck. She growled and elbowed Rumlow in the facemask. The armor barely dented and his painful hold on her hair didn't release. "If you ruin my hair before my wedding, I swear you will not last five seconds after that." She released a barrage of backwards kicks and punches. She grabbed one of her stun darts and slammed it right in his neck. Nothing happened, though.

"I don't work like that anymore!" Rumlow said. He opened a hatch door on the roof and threw her down inside the truck. "Fire in the hole." He dropped a grenade and shut the hatch.

There were two other thugs in the truck and as soon as they stood up, she was on them. She managed to wedge herself between them just as the grenade went off. The force of the blast knocked all three of them out of the back doors. She landed hard and the wind flew out of her. It took her a moment to recover and when she looked up, she saw Steve being blasted out of the building and Rumlow driving off in another truck.

"Sam, he's in an AFV heading north." Buffy choked out.

Steve appeared and found her laying on the ground. "Buffy!"

"I'm ok. I just needed a minute." He helped her to her feet. "One of those guys landed on my left kidney."

"I've got four, they're splitting up." Sam said.

"Oh good, I didn't wreck the bike too bad." Buffy said, going over to pick up her confiscated motorcycle. She revved the engine and Steve hopped on behind her. "I've got the two on the left."

"I'm going after Rumlow." Steve said, jumping off the bike.

Buffy ditched the bike not long after him and went after the two thugs. Steve, apparently, had found Rumlow and was taking him on now. Sam had gone after the other two thugs that had run off. Buffy was, at the moment, dodging pedestrians and shoppers. They'd ended up in a little shanty village of shops with homemade wares, foods, and other odd assortments.

"He doesn't have it!" Sam announced.

"Guess I'm the lucky winner today." Buffy said.

One of the thugs chose the wrong path and Buffy jumped up and over a stand, tackling him to the ground. She wasn't looking to kill him, so she held back on her punches. The other one showed up and pointed a gun at her. Her negative reaction to having a gun pointed at her kicked in and she took them both on ruthlessly. She managed to dislodge a gun from one of them and turned to hold it at the ready, but they were already in place. One had the biological weapon out and the other had his gun trained back on her.

"Drop it or I'll drop this." The one with the tube of orange liquid said.

Buffy looked between them, taking in their surroundings. She was faster than they were, easily. But was she faster than gravity? "Guess I'll find out." She said, spotting Sam's drone appear behind the man with the tube. It fired and she attacked the other guy, taking him out quickly and catching the tube before it hit the ground. "Payload secured. Thanks Sam."

"Don't thank me."

"I'm not thanking that thing."

"His name's Red Wing. Go on, pet him."

Buffy shook her head at the drone. "You're so weird, Sam." She turned to go help Steve. He was fighting Rumlow in an open area, but he was definitely on the defense. She jumped on Rumlow's back and threw her weight backwards, tossing him over her. Steve pulled her to her feet and they rushed over to keep Rumlow down. They didn't need to worry, though. He was on his knees pulling his helmet off. Steve grabbed him and went to haul him up, but stopped when he saw Rumlow's burned and mangled face.

"You should get a refund from your plastic surgeon. They really didn't do a good job." Buffy said.

"I think it looks pretty good, all things considered." Rumlow retorted.

"Who's your buyer?" Steve demanded.

"You know he knew you? Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky." Buffy looked over at Steve's stricken face.

"What did you say?"

"He remembered you. I was there. He got all weepy about it till they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me 'please tell Rogers when you gotta go, you gotta go.' Now you two are coming with me."

Buffy grabbed Steve just as Rumlow activated a suicide vest. They fell backwards, but the explosion didn't move outwards toward them. Wanda had appeared and contained the blast. She threw Rumlow upwards towards the sky, but unfortunately she couldn't control where he went. The vest and Rumlow ended up exploding just beside a building nearby. Screams could be heard as people ran from the flames.

"Sam…. We need fire and rescue…." Steve said. "On the south side of the building."

"We've got to get up there." Buffy said.

Buffy and Steve sat in her office watching the newscast about the explosion in Lagos. The press was having a field day with it. The Avengers were being called into question. Poor Wanda was being raked through hot coals by every news station. This incident was the last thing they needed after Sokovia. They were still in hot water over that. Tony had taken most of the blame and was dealing with the fall out as best he could.

On the current news channel, the king of Wakanda was holding a press conference. Some of his diplomats had been killed in that building. Everything he said was like a hot spike through their hearts. They hadn't meant for anyone to get killed. Wanda had just been trying to protect people.

"The fight never should've escalated that far." Steve said quietly.

"It's not like we could've known he was going to blow himself up." Buffy said, half-heartedly trying to defend them.

"I should've clocked that vest long before she had to deal with it. He said Bucky and all of a sudden I was sixteen year old kid again in Brooklyn. People died. That's on me."

"Us. I was there, too, you know? And we lead this team together."

Steve shook his head. "This job…."

"We try to save as many people as we can. You know that sometimes it doesn't mean everybody gets saved. We just…. We find a way to deal with it because the next time…. Maybe no one gets saved."

"I should never have sent Wanda out there without me." Willow said, bursting into the office and startling them. "I'm so sorry, guys. She wasn't ready."

"No. She was good." Buffy assured the red headed witch. "It's just…. She miscalculated her throw. It…. Happens."

"It shouldn't have happened. The mind stone makes her powers of telepathy and mind manipulation so powerful, but the rest of the witchty stuff…. She's not that great. If I had gone, I could've controlled the throw or I could've been the one to send that weasel Rumlow up into the sky and we wouldn't have this problem on our hands. I take full responsibility for what happened due to Wanda's actions."

"That's sweet of you, Willow." Steve said. "But the call was ours. We chose to take her out solo, so this is on us."

"Have you talked to her?" Buffy asked. "She's been holed up in her room since we got back."

"I haven't talked to her. I was on a jet back here when I saw the news and came straight here to tell you I'm taking the blame for this. Sorry, Steve, but you're not convincing me otherwise. I have resolve face."

"It's useless to argue with her when she's got resolve face." Buffy said to Steve.

"I really am sorry, guys. I'll go talk to her." Willow turned and headed for the door.

Steve sighed. "There's going to be repercussions for this."

"Probably." Buffy sat down on the couch and curled her legs under her. She put her face in her hands when another wave of nausea hit her.

"You all right?" Steve asked. The couch sank next to her and she turned into him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her against him.

"I feel sick. I think it's from lack of sleep and then this whole Lagos thing…. I'm beyond stressed out and apparently it's making me sick."

"You did feel a bit warm before we left." His arm around her shoulders came up and he felt her forehead. "And you're a bit warm now." Suddenly she was in his arms and he was heading for the bedroom. "Come on, you're getting some rest."

"No time to rest now." She saw Tony's car pulling in with about six others. One of them was a limo with official flags on it. "We've got company."

"Who is it?" Steve asked, looking out the window with her still in his arms.

"I think that's the Secretary of State with Tony. Those repercussions got here a lot quicker than I thought they would."

Buffy, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Willow, Vision, Natasha, Tony, and James Rhodes were all convened in one of the conference rooms. Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross stood in front of them. He was in the middle of a story about his heart attack and was practicing his golf swings at the same time. Buffy wasn't listening very closely. She was playing with her nails.

It wasn't until he said, "The world owes the Avengers and the Slayers an unpayable debt" that she started to pay attention. "You've fought for us. Protected us. You've risked your lives. The Slayers have given their lives in protection of mankind for generations. And 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?" Natasha asked.

"How about dangerous? What would you call US based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign orders and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who, quite frankly, seem less concerned about what they leave behind?" Ross stepped aside and a video started playing on the screen in front of the table. He'd narrated it, of course. It showed videos of the attacks in New York, DC, Sokovia, and then Lagos.

Steve noticed Wanda's reaction to the last images. "All right, that's enough." He said.

"These last few years you've operated with unlimited power with no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." Ross took a large binder from one of his secret service members and slid it over to Wanda. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries that states that the Avengers and the Slayers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under 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 said. "I'm sure we've done that."

"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. Compromise, reassurance…. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So, there are contingencies?" Rhodes asked.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords. Talk it over."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Secretary, but there's nothing to talk over." Buffy said. "The Slayers have been around long before your government, or most governments, for that matter, were even thought of. We've been the ones that officials have begged for help from for centuries when they couldn't handle things themselves. How can you come in here now and tell me that we suddenly belong to the world's governments? We don't owe you anything."

"Two words, Miss Summers: Sunnydale, California."

"The only casualties in that battle were my girls."

"You turned an entire town into a massive crater. Thousands of people lost their homes and their businesses. Who do you think had to pay for that?"

"Personally, I don't care."

"Buffy…." Tony started.

"Shut up, Tony." She stood up and rounded back on Ross. "May I remind you, Mr. Secretary, that my sister and I lost our home in that battle, too. We lost the place where our mother was buried. Our friends lost the place they were born and raised. We all had to start from scratch after that. And you know," She walked up to the Secretary and leveled an icy glare at him. "Not once did the government contact any of us about assistance for our losses. As far as I'm concerned, there is no discussion here. This isn't the first time the government has tried to put me on a leash. It probably won't be the last, but my answer will always be the same." She turned to leave, but Ross got in one last thing before the door shut behind her.

"Then perhaps you should look into retirement."

Buffy didn't stop walking until she was outside of the building. Steve came out to find her a few minutes later. "You ok?" He asked when he found her sitting on the ground leaning against a tree.

"Those accords are a load of crap, you know that right?" Buffy said, looking over at him as he sat down next to her. "The governments of the world are responsible for more deaths and more destruction than the Avengers have ever racked up. They go to war in countries that aren't their business and they say it's for the greater good. What the Avengers do…. What the Slayers do…. It is the greater good. Without us, this world would belong to terrible things like Loki and his alien buddies or even worse than that. There are things out there that are too horrible to imagine that I personally have stopped. And the Slayers? We've only been fighting and dying to protect this stupid world for centuries and this is the thanks we get for it? We need to figure out a way to fight it because I'm not a performing monkey for the government and neither are you."

He smiled slightly. "I once drew myself as a performing monkey and Peggy caught me. She told me just about the same thing you just did. And then she encouraged me to go after Bucky and his squadron and save them."

"Well, history is repeating itself because we're still going after Bucky once we find him."

"They're all in there discussing these accords."

"Any idea who's on our side and who's for those stupid things?"

"Let's go find out."

Steve and Buffy walked into the lounge area where everyone was discussing the accords. "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodes said to Sam.

"So let's say we agree to this thing," Sam said. "How long before they low jack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like 'oh, that's cool.'"

"How long are you going to play both sides?"

"I have an equation." Vision announced.

"Oh, well, this will clear it up."

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of lone, enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And, during the same period, a 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. Our very strength invites challenge, incites conflict. Conflict breeds catastrophe…. Oversight. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Boom." Rhodes said to Sam.

"Tony." Natasha said. "You're being uncharacteristically non hyper verbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Buffy said.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony retorted, getting up and heading over to the kitchen.

"Yeah. I do. It's probably because I've spent more time with you these last few years than you've actually spent with yourself in your whole life."

"Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Buff. Just pain and discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal! Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

Buffy walked over and stood next to him, bumping him playfully with her shoulder. "Is this because I didn't like that gaudy flower arrangement you emailed me yesterday?"

"For the record, that was beautiful and very expensive."

"It was too big and I don't want a ton of flowers that are just going to die in a few days." She shook her head looked up at him. "Tell me I'm wrong, though. Tell me you haven't made up your mind on this."

Tony set his tablet on the counter in front of her and a picture of a young man popped up. "That's Charles Spencer, by the way. Great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at an Intel plant for the fall. But first, he wanted to put some 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. Paris or Amsterdam sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor in guess where? Sokovia. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose, but we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass."

"Tony…."

"You were right about one thing, Summers. There is no discussion here. There's no decision making process. We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations or boundaries, 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?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."

"Sorry, Steve, but that is dangerously arrogant." Rhodes said. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council. It's not S.H.I.E.L.D. It's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas and agendas change."

"That's good." Tony said. "That's why I'm here. 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. 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'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. That's a fact and that won't be pretty."

"Are you saying they'll come for me?" Wanda asked.
"We would protect you." Vision said.

"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said. "If we had one hand on the wheel, we could still see…."

"Wait, aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked.
"I'm just…. Reading the terrain. We've made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"Focus up." Tony said. "I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you, or did you agree with me?"

"Oh, I want to take it back."

"No, no, no. You can't retract it."

"I agree with Natasha." Willow said. "These Accords…."

Buffy stopped listening when Steve's phone vibrated. She watched as he pulled it out and his face fell as he read the text message. "I have to go." He stood up abruptly and walked out. Everyone looked at Buffy expectantly and she shook her head, not knowing what the text had said. She glanced at Tony and walked out to go after Steve. She found him at the bottom of the stairs curled in on himself and crying into one of his hands.

"Hey." She moved up in front of him and he pulled her to him tightly. "Hey, what's wrong?" He shook his head as he buried it in her shoulder. "Ok, come on. Let's go somewhere more private." Buffy led them back to their private room between their offices and sat Steve down on the bed before sitting next to him and taking his hand. "Talk to me."

"Peggy…." His voice broke, but he didn't need to say more.

Tears welled in Buffy's eyes. "Oh god. Oh, Steve, no."

"We need to go to London. The funeral…."

"Yeah. Ok. Let's go home and get packed."

Steve didn't move, though. Buffy took him in her arms and held him tightly as he silently wept. She buried her face in his shoulder and cried, too. Peggy had become a friend to her before she'd gotten too sick to remember who anyone was. The lucid moments had finally stopped, so Steve and Buffy had stopped visiting. It was much too painful for him and Buffy didn't want to upset him or Peggy.