Hello to all my readers, both old and new. Welcome to another installment of the ChristyVerse.
To anyone asking, "what the heck is the ChristyVerse," please go and check out my other stories. As stated in the summary, this is seventh in a series, and several things will not make sense if you keep reading. The series begins with "We Can Be Found" and continues on from there.
To all familiar with my 'Verse, welcome to my humble attempt to correct the trainwreck that was Civil War (trainwreck in a GOOD way, mind. For the most part.) Thankfully, I don't have to joss canon as much as I feared I might. However, there are a few things that will have to be different, because of certain choices I've made in this 'Verse. Certain characters have had development and I have to reconcile that development with canon. But I hope to have fun. I'm excited to tackle this tale.
My standard "language" disclaimer: I don't swear, but these characters do. There will be nothing more here than what would be heard in a Marvel movie, and less if I have any say. (I don't like the s-word.)
Also, there are several quotes directly from the movie dialogue used in this chapter, and that will continue as long as I'm working in the movie timeline. Obviously, if you recognize it from the movie, it's not mine, and I freely admit it. I would never try to take credit for the Russo brothers' brilliance.
With all that in mind, sit back, buckle up, and enjoy...
"Tales from the River of Truth"
Tales from the River of Truth
PART ONE: CIVIL WAR
Chapter One
It was a beautiful spring day in Scenic Nowhere, Upstate New York. Later, everyone would look back and wonder that everything had seemed so calm. So…normal.
Avengers HQ was quiet. Steve, Wanda, Sam, and Natasha were on a mission in Lagos, Nigeria; chasing down the notorious Crossbones, aka Brock Rumlow, ex-HYDRA goon.
Bucky had taken Christy off on an impromptu visit to Clint's place, so that left Rhodey, Pietro, and Vision to their own devices.
Unfortunately, that wasn't playing out as well as it could.
"I am so bored." Pietro mumbled, thunking his head over the back of the Common Area couch.
Vision, sitting across from him and occupied with a book (because even though he had instant access to all knowledge, he still enjoyed doing some things like humans), raised his eyebrow. "Mr. Barnes did offer to take you along with him…"
"That's politeness lingo for, 'so it's your own fault if you're bored'." Rhodey added, looking up from his tablet. "Besides, they'll all be back soon enough."
Pietro heaved a long sigh and deigned to respond. He had nothing against Vision or Rhodey, but they weren't exactly the people he was the closest to. Wanda, on the other hand…
He shuddered lightly and brushed the thought from his mind. No sense in borrowing trouble. And if his sister did turn out to have some sort of feelings for the Android…
Well, it could be worse. At least Vizh was a gentleman.
Suffice to say, being stuck in a base—even a base as nice as theirs— with Vision and Rhodey was not his ideal way to spend a weekend.
I should have gone with Bucky and Christy…
He couldn't even communicate with Wanda right now. Their mind link was always muted during a battle; not completely cut off, but as though a locked door stood between their communication pathway.
Suddenly, Rhodey stiffened on the couch. He threw his tablet down and moved to turn on the TV.
"Something wrong?" Vision asked. "Is one of ours in trouble?"
Rhodey just shook his head and flicked the 'on' switch. "Either she's in trouble, or she's gonna be."
"She?!" Pietro cried, bolting upright.
Rhodey turned the TV to a news station. The captions read: "Breaking News: Disaster in Lagos," in big, fire-red letters.
The three watched in horror as the story was pieced together bit by bit. The reporters seemed to be most upset over Wanda crashing Rumlow through the hospital building.
"She didn't…she didn't mean it…" Pietro whispered brokenly. "Wanda, speak to me. Tell me what happened! I need to hear you!"
Vision looked deeply troubled. "I don't believe anyone is truly caring what her motives were at this point, Pietro."
"Damn straight, they're not." Rhodey muttered, sighing heavily. "This is gonna be a mess."
"But the man, Rumlow, he blew himself up!" Pietro insisted. "That would have caused problems no matter what. She was trying to get him away from people! Where else was she supposed to put him?"
"Well it mighta been helpful if it wasn't through a building!" Rhodey snapped.
"You don't always think clearly in a battle! It's hard!"
"You think I don't know that?!"
"Please!" Vision cried, putting himself between the two men. "This is not going to help anything or anyone. They should be in-route here, and will arrive soon enough. It will be better to get the story straight from them. Us bickering won't take back what happened."
Rhodey sighed again, and took a step back. Pietro gave a short, sharp nod, and turned out of the room.
"Wanda, talk to me!" he tried again, as he walked into his room. "Please!"
Finally, blessedly, he felt the mental 'door' swing open. "I'm here, Pietro…"
Pietro winced aloud. Even mentally, Wanda sounded worn to the bone. "I saw the news, sestra."
He could sense her emotions swirling, raw and volatile. "I did it again, brat. It's all my fault…people are dead because of me, again."
"And how many people are alive because you stopped that man?" Pietro argued back.
"They will not see it that way…" She sounded so exhausted.
"Go to sleep, sestrica." Pietro sent. "Are you on a plane?"
"Yes…"
"Then sleep. Rest. Dream of home, and then you will wake up and see my face. I love you…"
He could feel her mind pulse, in a way that meant she was crying. His whole being ached.
"I love you…" he tried again. This time, he got a faint reply.
"Love you, brat…"
Due to the time shift and turbo-fast technology, everyone was back within a few hours. They all stumbled out of the 'jet, tired and looking for a shower.
Wanda practically collapsed into Pietro's arms as soon as she was on the ground. He caught Steve's eye.
"Don't believe a word she says." Steve insisted. "It was all on me."
"It was all on Rumlow." Sam argued fiercely. "He's the one who had to go and blow himself up. We're not responsible for criminals behaving badly."
"But I crashed…" Wanda started. Pietro shook his head and rocked her back and forth.
"Shh, shh; prestani, sestra." he whispered.
"So...where's my kid?" Steve asked, justifiably. Christy would have usually surfaced by this point, flinging herself at Steve like a projectile.
"Bucky took her to the Old Man's place." Pietro explained.
Steve nodded. "Probably just as well. I'll text him later, tell him to stay the night if they can. We're probably gonna have to see someone about all this."
Later, after they had all showered and eaten something, Wanda sat in her room watching the news broadcast. She had insisted on being alone, and although Pietro had clearly been reluctant to leave her in that state, he'd respected her wishes.
"What right does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have…?" The TV blared.
To what, exist? Wanda thought bitterly. All I wanted was to see justice done. And now the world hates me.
The TV suddenly switched off. Wanda spun around to find that Steve had entered the room.
"It wasn't your fault." he said quietly.
"No, please, turn it back on." Wanda said. "They're being very specific." And more brutally honest than you.
Steve sat down next to her on the bed. "I should've clocked that bomb long before you had to deal with it. It's just…Rumlow said 'Bucky,' and...all of a sudden I was a sixteen year old kid again in Brooklyn. I forgot everything…even that he's safe now." He paused, and said thickly, "People died. It's on me."
"It's on both of us." Wanda said quietly.
Shaking his head, Steve replied, "Look...with 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 with that, next time...maybe nobody gets saved."
Wanda stared down at her hands. She knew he was right. Steve, maybe more than any of them, had experience with the sacrifices that had to be made in combat.
But still…
Vision materialized through the wall without warning, wearing neat slacks and an argyle sweater.
For a moment, Wanda's all-consuming guilt was swept to the side by mild shock and fond exasperation. "Vizh, we talked about this!"
The android looked embarrassed. "Ah, yes, but…the door was open, so I assumed…"
Wanda groaned mentally and made a note to be more specific next time—her exact words had been, "don't come into my room without knocking unless the door is open," after a certain incident in which she hadn't been…fully decent.
Recovering some of his dignity, Vision went on. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving."
Steve nodded. "Thank you. Be right down." He stood up and headed for the door. Wanda followed in his wake.
"I'll...use the door." Vision said. Louder, he added, "Oh, and apparently he's he's brought at guest."
Steve looked puzzled and slightly alarmed. "You know who it is?"
"The Secretary of State."
"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 have found something forty years in the army had never taught me... perspective."
"Is this man here for anything specific, or is he just going to keep talking? Because then I am leaving!" Pietro sent to Wanda.
"Hush!" Wanda sent back.
They were all seated around the base's biggest conference table: Steve, Sam, Rhodey, Wanda, Natasha, Pietro, and Vision. Tony sat in a chair a short distance back. Steve was thanking his lucky stars that he'd texted Bucky not to come back until tomorrow. Natasha was thinking the same way regarding the fact that Bruce was currently in Seoul with Helen Cho, working on some project. She'd nearly lost her cool when Tony had walked in with General Ross.
"How could you?" she'd hissed. "You know Bruce's story as well as I do! How could you cozy up to this guy?"
Tony had just looked at her with dazed eyes. "Bruce isn't here, right? Besides…it's for the best."
"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'."
Natasha narrowed her eyes. "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" she asked coolly.
"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 with what they leave behind?"
Steve breathed out slowly. Oh, yeah, I called for search and rescue and paramedics earlier because I was so unconcerned with what we left behind. And it's not like Tony has an entire relief fund for cryin' out loud! Not to mention all that airlifting we did in Sokovia! Where were the governments of the world then?!
But he could sense that his arguments, however sound, would be brushed aside by the Secretary. Steve knew his type.
Ross had a screen drawn up that showed the sites of various catastrophes that the Avengers had been involved with over the past four years. He pointed to each in turn. "New York. Washington D.C. Sokovia. Lagos."
"Where's Harlem?" Natasha wanted to ask. Badly. But she held her tongue.
Wanda shuddered at the footage from Lagos. Pietro looked ready to spring on General Ross in a cloud of righteous fury, so Steve quickly said, "Okay. That's enough."
The man nodded. "In 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 we've come up with a solution." He placed a large, thick, book-like document on the table.
"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 a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."
It was as if a bomb had been let off in the room.
Sam tossed Steve a look. The blonde's face was solemn, but his eyes held a hint of anger. He'd trusted an organization before, and look how well that had turned out. Frankly, Sam felt like he was in the same boat. Add that to the fact that they had never even been consulted about any of this…
"Forgive me if I don't understand…" came a slow, Slavic-accented drawl.
"So help me, I will murder you, Pietro!"
Pietro ignored Wanda's mental voice. He was not going to let this man, Secretary of State or no, sit here and make his "family" look like terrible people.
"You see, I am a bit confused." he pointed at the screen. "You say, New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia; that we are unconcerned with what we leave behind. But…that makes it sound as though it was the Avengers' desire to make chaos. New York was an attack by aliens. And D.C…the hellicariers that got destroyed saved thousands from dying." He stared the General down. "Perhaps your name was one on that list of targets, Mr. Secretary."
"Young man, that is quite enough!" the Secretary thundered. But Pietro wasn't finished.
"And Sokovia…" his eyes burned. "I was there. My country. And it was not the United Nations that airlifted my people to safety…it was the Avengers. SHIELD." He gestured around the table. "Them…them I trust. You, and your 'council'…forgive me if I am a bit wary."
Ross nodded slowly. "You make your point. But, unfortunately, this is what will be for the greater good. We will not have another Ultron. Or Lagos. That is what these Accords are attempting to prevent. Trust me, this is the middle ground." He turned to leave. "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 dared to ask,
"Then you retire." Ross said bluntly.
Natasha gave a small, tight smile.
"Retire" he says. As if. He's got us cornered and he knows it…
Thirty minutes had gone by since the Secretary's departure, and the tension had only gotten worse.
"117 countries wanna sign this." Rhodey was saying to Sam. "117, Sam, and you're just like, 'Nah, it's cool.'"
"How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam cried.
"I have an equation." Vision said, like a child with a new discovery.
"Oh, this'll clear it up." Sam muttered sarcastically.
"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, a number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurable rate."
Nobody could really argue with that logic.
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked.
"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!" Rhodey said triumphantly.
"It's not oversight that bugs me, it's the fact that the government has a very bad track record of being that oversight!" Steve said in exasperation.
Tony was sitting flopped on the couch, his hand pressed over his face.
"Tony…" Natasha said. "You're being uncharacteristically hyper-nonverbal."
"That's cause he's already made up his mind." Steve snarked, feeling slightly betrayed. Tony had come marching in here with the Secretary like a good, dutiful "parent" come to clean up a child's mess. And Steve didn't enjoy being made to feel like a naughty child.
And since when is Tony Stark on the side of government control?
It was soon clear why.
Tony flashed up a picture and told the story of a young man, one who had apparently died in Sokovia. These days, it always came back to Sokovia.
"We need to be put in check!" he cried. "And whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limits, we're boundryless, we're no better than the bad guys."
"'We' need to be put in check? We didn't make Ultron."
Tony shot Pietro a glare so fast, Steve was half afraid it was about to get physical.
"Look, kid, you're lucky you didn't get arrested, mouthing off to the Secretary like that."
"Arrested?!" Pietro went purple with rage. "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought this was America! But apparently, I'm back in the old Soviet days mama and tata told me about, where you got arrested for telling the truth!"
"Pietro, can it!" Steve said, authority oozing from his voice like honey. He gave the younger man a look. "That was uncalled for." he added, with quiet reproach.
Tony didn't need to be reminded of Ultron by anyone. He did too good a job of reminding himself.
The arguing continued on for another few minutes. It seemed increasingly impossible for any sort of agreement to be reached.
And then, Steve's phone beeped.
He looked down. The text sent a shockwave through his body.
She's gone. She passed in her sleep.
And suddenly, his whole world went gray.
He stood up in a quick movement. "I have to go." Rushing out of the room, he barely made it to the stairwell before he collapsed.
She's gone… Was all he could think. Gone...gone...gone...
"I think it should work now." Bucky said, giving the beat-up riding mower a light push.
Clint nodded assent. "It better. I got it cheap, but I was hoping to get a few more years outta this thing."
In his quest to find things he was good at that didn't involve killing, Bucky had re-discovered that he wasn't half bad with mechanics…and actually enjoyed tinkering around with odd metal things (like his arm). Hence, the reason he and Clint were out in the barn, trying to resurrect the old mower.
His phone pulsed in his pocket. Frowning, he pulled it out. It was a text from Sam.
Peggy Carter passed. You need to get back to base stat. Bring the kid.
"Aww…damn." Bucky hissed. Steve's gonna be a wreck…
"What's up?" Clint asked. Bucky passed him the phone in silence.
Clint shook his head. "Steve…he's gonna be a mess, and tryin' to act like he's not. You'd better get on the road."
Bucky nodded and made to head out of the barn, when Clint's phone started chirping the familiar Skype ring.
"It's Tasha…" Clint muttered absently. Both men huddled by the phone.
"Wilson text you?" was the first thing she asked, looking straight at Bucky. He nodded.
"Good." She let out a deep sigh. "Well, everything's gone to hell around here. I'll try to fill you in before you come home to chaos."
"What happened?" Clint asked, concerned. Natasha sounded very, very stressed. "How was Lagos?"
Natasha gave a thin smile. "Wanda crashed Rumlow through a building…"
The car ride back to the base was near-silent. Christy had a pensive look on her face. Bucky had tried to explain what was going on as best he could.
"Why do they wanna ruin everything now?" she asked finally.
"Who?"
"The government people!" Christy exclaimed petulantly. "They didn't do anything for three years of crazy, and now this!"
Bucky sighed. "They're not trying to ruin anything, doll. From what Tasha told me, it honestly sounds like they're trying to help."
Still, that knowledge didn't endear him to the Accords. It sounded like a trap, to him. He didn't want to sign away his life to anyone's control ever again.
"This was a lot easier when SHIELD was still a thing." Clint had said. And it was true. It had apparently finally reached the collective powers-that-be's attention that there was no SHIELD, no World Security Council, no nobody. Just Tony Stark's funding and Steve Rogers' leadership.
And that evidently wasn't good enough.
They reached the base and went inside. Everyone had more-or-less scattered, but Natasha was in the Common Area.
"He's in his room." she said. "Sam's with him."
"Thanks." Bucky tossed back. Without another word, he and Christy strode into the bedroom.
Steve looked up at them, his face splotched and red, eyes bloodshot. "Hey…" he said weakly, trying to smile at Christy.
Christy plunged next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Don't try, Dad. I know you're not happy."
Steve's face screwed up. Christy tightened her hug and started to sing a wordless tune under her breath.
Bucky shot Sam a grateful look. Sam nodded back, and then turned to the pair on the bed.
"Hey, mini-Cap, wanna make some hot chocolate?" he asked quietly.
Christy nodded. Hot chocolate was their signature "everything is terrible" drink, reserved for nightmares and all-around bad days.
"I'll make you hot chocolate Dad." she said, squeezing him once more. "And then we'll do whatever you want."
Steve gave a soft, choking sob. "I…I wanna hear what you did while I was gone."
"Okay. I'll tell you. But first, I'll let you talk to Uncle Bucky."
Sam gave her a "well done, you caught on" smile, as they left the room.
Bucky sank down on the bed. "What's goin' on in that head o' yours, Stevie?"
Steve shook his head. "I knew she was going." he whispered thickly. "And I knew…when I woke up that, there was no chance…nothing, I mean, she was over ninety, Buck." He faced his friend, raw pain in his eyes. "So why does it hurt so bad?"
Bucky sighed. "Because it was real, pal. 'Cause she was your friend and more, and not just another pretty face. 'Cause you loved her!"
Steve flopped back on the bed and buried his face in the pillows, his body shaking. Bucky kept his hand on Steve's back.
"That's it…" he muttered. "Go 'head and cry. Let it outta ya, Stevie. You always bottle everything up, stupid punk. You don't have to be strong this time. I got ya. Go ahead and be weak…you got a whole team to give you strength. And you got me."
Steely resolve tightened in his chest.
"You'll always have me."
Accords or no Accords…he would stay with Steve. 'Till the end of the line, back, and back again.
Dun-dun-dun! Tune in next time for everything going even more wrong! (And canon divergence!)
Sestra/Sestrica- sister/little sister
Brat- brother
Prestani- be quiet
Mama and Tata- mom and dad
Hope you enjoyed. In the meantime...
Reviews are wonderful things...and, for the record, I know the site is being buggy with reviews, so if you were going to hold off leaving one, DON'T. I mean, I can't tell you what to do, but know that I don't care. I'm saving all the review emails until the site gets back to normal. I just want feedback!