Summary:
My take on Cap's walking out of the Accords meeting after receiving THAT text message. What would have happened if Stark had been a little more obnoxious (as per usual) and tried to stop Steve leaving?
Warning: Spoilers for Captain America: Civil War (which if you haven't seen yet, you definitely should!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or any of the characters. I'd be quite happy if I owned Chris Hemsworth, but unfortunately I don't.
…
"If we don't do this now, it's going to be done to us later. That's a fact. That won't be pretty."
Steve rubbed his forehead wearily, trying to maintain a clear perspective. He understood where Tony was coming from in his argument to sign the accords. He knew there had been casualties and he knew that Tony had been hit hard by the deaths of civilians – especially those in Sokovia, where he felt a level of responsibility for creating the AI which had destroyed the city. But in every situation they had faced, the Avengers had made the call which would save the most innocent lives possible, and they needed to focus on that. All of the scenarios which Ross had thrown in their faces to convince them to sign these Accords would have been infinitely worse if their team had not been involved: the Chitauri would have destroyed Manhattan and made Loki ruler of earth, millions of people would have been eliminated by Zola's algorithm, and earth's population would have been destroyed when Ultron dropped Sokovia. Through their own choices, the Avengers had saved billions of lives. Surely the rest of the team could see why the safest path was to keep their right to choose?
"Maybe Tony's right", Natasha broke in. Steve turned to her, surprised. He knew that Natasha was not a fan of Tony Stark, despite having worked with him on multiple occasions, and he could not recall a single time she had agreed with him on something. Tony also seemed shocked, his eyebrows shooting upwards as he turned to look at her.
Natasha shrugged apologetically, her eyes darting to Steve and away again.
"If we have one hand on the wheel we can still steer", she explained. "If we take it off…"
"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss our ass a few years ago?" Sam demanded. Steve remained silent.
"I'm just –" Natasha paused, carefully considering her words. "I'm reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
"I'm sorry", Tony leaned forward, unable to restrain himself any longer. "Did I mishear you or did you just agree with me?"
"Oh, I wanna take it back", Natasha cringed, shaking her head.
"No, no, no, you can't retract it", Tony insisted. "Thank you. Unprecedented."
Steve's phone vibrated and he pulled it out of his pocket, hoping it wouldn't bring any more bad news. He felt an almost physical pain shoot through him as he read the short and succinct text message: 'She's gone in her sleep.' He was vaguely aware of Stark bragging that he'd 'won', but the entire argument seemed to have become less relevant in the past few seconds.
"I have to go."
He stood, slapping the Accords draft down on the table as he turned to leave.
"Hey hey, hold on a second", Tony said, straightening up. "You can't just walk out of here in the middle of a discussion."
"I can and I am", Steve replied, not looking back.
"Oh sure, that's a great attitude Cap, just great!" Tony called sarcastically.
"Come on, Tony", Sam started, but the billionaire ignored him.
"You know what I think?" Tony challenged, raising his chin. Steve sighed and turned back to face the other man.
"I think that you just want to avoid confrontation. You know that I'm right and you don't want to accept res –"
"Just shut your damn mouth, Tony!" Steve exploded. The other Avengers stared at him in surprise. Despite Tony's frequent needling of the Captain – and the rest of the team – it was extremely rare to hear Steve raise his voice.
"We can deal with this later", Steve said, his voice softer now but leaving no room for argument. He shot a warning glance at Tony, then turned and exited the room.
"What the hell was that all about?" Tony demanded, looking around the room. Rhodey simply stared at him. Sam shrugged. Wanda looked blank. Vision scratched his forehead.
"Obviously there was something in that message that he didn't want to hear", Natasha said quietly. Tony turned to her.
"You think?" She stared at him expressionlessly.
"Well, I didn't want to hear from Charlie Spencer's mother that he'd been killed because of us! But you know what?" He looked around the room. "I think we need these Accords, I think we need to be able to accept some limitations because otherwise this is just going to keep on happening."
"If we hadn't been there many more would have died", Wanda said quietly.
"Yeah but that's not the point!" Tony said, frustrated.
"Actually I think that is the point for Steve", Natasha said slowly. Tony tilted his head quizzically.
"Whose side are you on again?" Natasha ignored him, addressing the room at large.
"I think these Accords are important for us to gain back people's trust. But I understand what Steve's saying – we've acted on our own steam in the past and we've saved millions of lives."
"Yes, but think of the cost", Tony argued. "Crazed gods, HYDRA, Ultron; we may have saved lives but a lot of people still died."
"And who was it that made Ultron, Tony?" Sam asked.
There was a collective intake of breath from the group as Tony slowly turned to face the Falcon. There may have been mixed opinions about the Accords, but none of the others would have dared to poke at that particular sore spot, knowing how much of a trigger it was for Stark. He had suffered from major PTSD after the Chitauri invasion, and again after Ultron, and they all knew that he still felt tremendous guilt for his hand in creating the genocidal AI.
"I pay for that mistake every day. Every. Single. Day." Tony said quietly. "That's part of the reason we need these Accords. To prevent that kind of thing from happening again."
"I'm sorry, man, but I'm just saying." Sam raised his hands. "I don't think feeling guilty is reason enough to sign this thing. If you want to sign, fine by me, but I think Cap has the right idea. I'm not gonna hang around waiting for the UN to call while people are dying. Not if I can help them."
The group fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts. All eyes turned to Natasha as she stood.
"I'm gonna go find Steve", she told them. "Whether we sign this thing or not, we're supposed to be a team. And teams look out for each other."
…..
Steve plodded down the flight of stairs and came to a halt, leaning heavily against the cool metal railing. He should have expected it, really. Peggy was 95 years old; she had lived a long and full life. But he had missed it. While he was frozen in the ice, she had gotten married, had children, seen them give birth to children of their own. She had created a lifetime of memories without him. And now she was gone.
Steve slammed his fist into the wall, feeling a brief flicker of satisfaction as the plaster caved inwards. It was followed immediately by regret; Tony would have to pay to fix that wall. Even though the cost would mean nothing to the billionaire, Steve still felt guilty for damaging his home – especially after Stark had been generous enough to offer him an entire floor if he wanted to live in the tower. While Steve had ultimately decided to get his own apartment, he appreciated the gesture and the thought behind it.
He needed somewhere to vent his frustration, sorrow and anger. He moved away from the railing and continued down the stairs, picking up speed until he was running, leaping down 3, 4, then 5 stairs at a time. After 16 floors he stopped, having reached the main gym/training room of the complex. There was an elevator he could have taken of course, but Steve generally preferred the stairs – he still felt a twinge of anxiety in any small, contained space since having been frozen.
He headed straight to the punching bag, not bothering to strap his hands before swinging at it so hard that it burst off its chain and flew about 10 feet across the room. He grabbed a second bag impatiently, clipping it onto the chain and unleashing a quick volley of punches before smashing his right fist into it with as much force as he could muster and again sending the bag flying. He heaved a third bag from the pile against the wall and hung it up, reigning in his full strength as he struck it over and over. His knuckles split as he continued to pummel the punching bag, leaving bloody prints on the canvas.
He focused on the rhythm, the fast-paced, continuous thud of his bruised knuckles against the punching bag. He savoured the pain, channelling all his emotions into the physical act of hitting something. His mind was filled with thoughts of Peggy, still struggling to believe that she could be gone. Even if he couldn't see her, surely the vibrant woman he had known couldn't have simply ceased to exist? It didn't seem right that there could be a world without Peggy in it.
He continued to rain blows upon the punching bag, blood running down his knuckles like the tears he could not allow himself to shed.
Thud.
Peggy's dead.
Thud.
Peggy's dead.
Thud.
PEGGY'S DEAD.
The chain snapped.
…
"I thought I might find you here", Natasha said with a grin, folding her arms over her chest and leaning back against the wall. Steve grunted, affixing yet another punching bag to the chain. The Black Widow frowned as she took in his bruised and bloody knuckles, but didn't comment.
"So, these Sokovia Accords… pretty serious stuff, huh?" she asked.
"I guess so", Steve agreed, not looking at her. She watched him pummel the bag for a few more seconds before speaking.
"Do you want to tell me what was on that message to get you all riled up?" she asked.
Steve sighed, looking at the floor. "You noticed that, huh?"
She shrugged one shoulder apologetically and paused, waiting for him to say something.
With an explosive hit, Steve knocked the final bag across the room and turned to her, tears glinting in his deep blue eyes.
"Peggy's dead", he told her.
…
Thanks for reading! It would be great if you could take the time to drop me a review to let me know your thoughts. This was only intended to be a one-shot, but if I get enough interest I might do a second chapter.
Camelotpointe x