So, I've noticed I've put myself into quite the pickle. I just remembered the fact that I killed Peggy off about a year ago now, given the timeline I've been using. Peggy's death was supposed to be in next two chapters … oops. Oh well, I'll think of something.

Captain America: Civil War | Shattering Relations | 117 Countries and a Proposal

The Avengers' building was quiet throughout and everyone left just kept to themselves. Bucky, on the other hand, was just sitting in his office staring at a computer screen that kept replaying the same videos over, and over again. He was leaning back in his chair, his neck resting against the back while his arms were crossed against his chest. For weeks after the Lagos incident, he still couldn't get his mind off what had happened. Just as everyone else couldn't, especially Wanda.

The young girl had been cooping herself up in her room for 95% of the time. Sometimes when people passed, they could hear the TV playing in the background. A few people tried to talk to her, tell her it wasn't her fault – but she wouldn't listen. All she would say is that she wanted her brother but he hasn't been reachable ever since he left the United States to travel around the world. And not for fun or business. As it turns out, the Maximoff siblings may have a distant relative. They found a lead to this person in Italy but from the last Wanda had heard, Pietro was tracking this person further south.

It wasn't much, but it was hope that they weren't alone (blood-wise).

"11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers' and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria last month." The thin blonde reporter from MSNBC said as flashes of the lasting devastation were shown on the screen. There were medics carrying out people who were injured, but most would catch the site of the multiple body bags being carried out of the building. A map of where the location popped up on the screen as she continues, "The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos, when the attack occurred."

The headline of the news piece said 'Avengers' Indictment?' and how the world is reacting to the violence inflicted.

Bucky watched as a man replaced her, one he had seen a couple of times now. It was the current King of Wakanda; King T'Chaka. He was around his mid-fifties by the looks of it, he had pearly white hair and overall, he was a bit overweight. He was dressed nicely in a suit and spoke diplomatically into the single microphone stationed in front of him. He was sitting at a long rectangular table, clearly talking to the press that was standing in front of him as the camera captured his speech.

"Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil and not only because of the actions of criminals, but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them." The camera zoomed in on the King's face and he looked partially angry. He was demanding that the Avengers' be accountable for the deaths of those 11-innocent people, despite the devastation they had prevented with containing the biological weapon, "Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all."

Before the reporter could say anything more, Bucky decided it was finally time to stop watching what the world had to say about them for now. Picking up the remote, he pressed pause to make the videos stop playing. Shaking his head, he sighed and threw the gadget back onto the table. Leaning forwards with his elbows touching the table, his hands rubbed downwards on his face tiredly.

He understood what everyone in the world was saying, he did. They made a mistake, everyone does. He himself made the mistake of freezing when Rumlow made the comments he did on Ava. The woman he loved that was still missing. He shouldn't have done that; his pause had given the bastard the opportunity to make the move that he did. If Bucky had been more attuned to the situation he was in, he could have prevented those eleven lives from being lost that day.

It wasn't Wanda's fault for those people ending up dead. If it's anyone's, it's his own.

His head has just been so out of place since Ava went missing that he's surprised the messing up hadn't happened sooner. He just needs to know where she is.

Is she safe? Does Hydra actually have her again just as Rumlow had mentioned? He didn't want to believe it but every day she stays out of the limelight, the possibility of her still being out there, free with her newfound memories is rapidly diminishing each day.

He had no idea what happened that day, everything went in such a blur. It kept playing in his head repeatedly and bugging the hell out of him at the same time. He suddenly lifted his head from his hands as sounds pierced his room walls. It was a man talking and it sounded like it was coming from a TV.

"They are operating and above international law." The man said. Given the choice of words and whose TV it's likely to be coming from, Bucky already knew what this person was talking about. "Because that's the reality if we don't respond to acts like these."

Wanda was sitting on the edge of her bed, one leg pulled up to her chest as she continuously stared at the TV screen in front of her. The TV was sitting on her chest of drawers, turned to face her by the half-wall window. Her right hand was resting against her chin, covering her mouth and nose. The man on the news kept going over the same things, showing the same moments of footage that was left from the chaos she had created back in Nigeria. There was a small tear in the corner of her eye, one that refused to be dried away no matter what.

She knew deep down she shouldn't keep watching these bad things being said about her – but she couldn't help it. She just kept watching, partially hoping it would just become a bad dream and that this was nothing but a terrible nightmare. But it had already sunk in – she was at fault for killing eleven innocent people that day and those lives would fall heavily on her shoulders every day.

It was a lot for a teenager to take on.

"What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri-"

The TV screen suddenly shut off, reverting it back to its black immobile screen. Wanda blinked in light surprise and it was then that she recognized footsteps by her bedroom door. She must have left it open at some point, or she was just too invested in what the newsman had to say about her to listen to the surroundings.

She didn't move but just waited on her bed in the same position she had been sitting in for the last hour or so. She didn't turn away from the screen, still picturing the comments the public had to say about her. Her tongue ran over the front of her teeth as the layer of salty water thickened over her pupils.

"It's my fault." She declared emotionally, feeling a heavy weight on her heart as she sniffed a little.

Wanda knew there were only two people that were truly likely to come see her rather than the rest. Bucky or Steve. Her brother wasn't here, Natasha was probably in the training room again, and everyone else was just … gone for the day. They had their own things to do and it wasn't like she was a child that needed constant supervision. Although, the public seemed to have a different opinion on that front.

Bucky was the one to announce his presence in the end, "That's not true." He countered her statement, shaking his head sadly. He was standing in the doorway, leaning against it with his arms crossed against his chest. He was looking towards her with the remote in his hand. She must have left it on the table next to the doorway at some point.

Wanda turned her head towards him but had a smile on her lips, though, it wasn't one of happiness, it was of shame and misery. "Turn the TV back on," She countered, with a sure look on her face, "They're being very specific." The people on the news were clearly talking about her majority of the time. They say her name, refer to her special abilities, and even refer to her as 'the kid'. They seem to ignore her brother completely but at this point, she was glad he wasn't involved in the bad public mess like she was.

"I'M the one who should have known better when it comes to Rumlow." Bucky shook his head at her words, pushing himself off the doorway before slowly making his way over to the bed. "And I'M the one who should have realized the guy was baiting me, long before you had to be forced to deal with it." Approaching the bed, he lowered himself into a seating position next to the young girl, sitting beside her. "It's just - … the moment he said Ava's name and what supposedly happened to her, I just - I lost it."

"People died." He continued, "And it's on me."

"It's on the both of us." Wanda finally corrected him, realizing that trying to take him away from blaming himself wouldn't work. Just as it wouldn't work for herself. It was the same with Pietro too, he also was too stubborn to take the blame away from himself when something bad happened. But she saw the point the super soldier was saying – they both contributed together to the deaths of the eleven Wakandans. It made her feel better about how to take what happened, but only a little tiny bit. It wasn't that much.

Bucky sighed as he leaned forwards, his elbows connecting with his knees, "This job…" He started, feeling the younger girl turn to him to look intently as he spoke, "We try to save as many people as we can and sometimes, that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, then next time … maybe nobody gets saved. We made a terrible mistake and we'll have to live with that for the rest of our lives. All we can do is learn from the experience and use it to prevent the next time from happening."

The room turned silent as Wanda took in what the American hero had just said – although, it was only for a couple of moments because a new guest had entered her private domain … unannounced.

Vision.

He suddenly appeared through the wall and was now standing near the doorway in which he should have entered from. Unlike what he usually wore for battle situations, Vision was wearing clothing a normal middle-aged man would wear to work, excluding the business coat. He wore a black sweater that covered a plain white dress shirt and the bottoms he wore were some gray work trousers. The others were more casual in what they wore, Vision usually was not.

The only person in the room who was mildly startled by the beings' entrance was Bucky but it was more of a surprised reaction. This wasn't the first time the guy had just burst through a wall without giving anyone a warning beforehand. But it was a first time for him to see the guy enter Wanda's room unannounced.

Wanda and Bucky looked over their shoulders towards the guy and each wondered why he had interrupted their conversation.

"Vis!" Wanda looked towards Vision with more of a scolding look, "We talked about this." Edging her voice towards a knowing one because this conversation had already happened a couple of times in the past. She never liked anyone coming into her bedroom the way Vision did just unannounced. She liked to have the upper hand, just in case it wasn't someone she knew trying to get into her room.

It was unlikely – but it was a simple and effective precaution.

"Yes, but-" Vision felt the need to explain himself, defend his actions of bursting into her room via a wall instead of an already open door. He glanced towards the door, gesturing his arm over to it, "-the door was open so I just assumed that …" He stopped when he realized Wanda was just staring at him with a raised eyebrow and Bucky was just simply looking at him weirdly.

Vision cleared his throat, pushing away his argument for the better, "Lieutenant Barnes wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving." He turned specifically towards Bucky, "Captain Rogers has already been informed and so has Miss. Romanov."

"Right," Bucky nodded, remembering having requested that earlier this morning. "Thanks, we'll be right down." He sent the man a grateful smile for telling them. Tony had something planned that apparently needed to be looked at as a team. He never went into the details, so this would be the first time he was hearing about anything the meeting was going to be comprised of.

Vision gave a small smile accompanied by a nod, "Right, um-" He glanced over to the door again, "I'll … use the door." He said slowly, almost hesitating as he started walking slowly towards the exit. "Oh," He suddenly remembered, needing to mention something else that might be of importance, "And apparently, he's brought a guest."

Bucky's brow furrowed with confusion when this was mentioned. There was a curiousness in his eyes because Tony had never mentioned that anyone would be joining him, "You know who it is?" They weren't expecting anyone else but judging by the look on Vision's face – the visitor didn't look good for them.

There was a pause before the answer finally came, "The Secretary of State."

Nope. This couldn't be good at all.

Everyone was sat around the long table located on the third level of the building. The area was looking over the railing and towards a hallway that held multiple doors. This was the table where most of the serious discussions happened, whether small or big, it didn't matter. The Avengers' all had their places around the rectangular placement with their very own comfortable, highly expensive desk chairs. This place was separated from the rest of the building and was only accessible by a walkway across the room that was with the room, many feet above the air.

Around the table were two security personnel and standing at the end of the table was the Secretary of State. Thaddeus Ross. Tony, Natasha, and Rhodes were the only ones who had really seen the man before today so this was basically the first chance the others were meeting him for the first time. Unfortunately, it wasn't on a good note. All seven of the remaining Avengers' were watching as the older male started talking.

"Five years ago - I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing." Secretary Ross admitted, imitating holding a golf-racket in his hands while shifting his position to a sidewards stand. "As it turned out, it was the best round of my life because, after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the army had never taught me." Everyone was more than a little confused at this point, unable to understand where he might be leading with this. Their answer came soon after, "Perspective."

"The world owes the Avengers' an unpayable debt." The Secretary continued, shoving his hands into his pants pockets. "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 didn't quite like the idea of him talking down to them, "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" She asked, interested to know what his answer was. She couldn't quite tell what his purpose was for coming today – she couldn't quite figure it out. There was something he wasn't saying – that much she could tell.

Secretary Ross looked towards her, then glanced around the table as a whole, "How about … 'Dangerous'?" He respected the Avengers deep down, but realistically, they were posing as a threat if the wrong turn was taken. The Avengers' needed to be contained in some way or restricted – they can't just able to run loose wherever they pleased anymore. Yes, they had done a great service to this country – the world, even. But there needed to be a limit on what they could do. That's what he was going to be sorting out today, hopefully.

The room stayed silent.

"What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they chose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind"

The Secretary started slowly walking from his position with his hands attached behind his back. He began pacing around the table, looking down at the team as if they were children waiting to be scolded by their teacher for detention. In his previous place at the front end of the table, a large holographic screen appeared in front of all of them with a map of the world showing. The water areas were colored in black while the countries and all other land masses were shaded in a light gray. All over the world, there were several apple green dots littered about – pinpointed on different countries or continents.

The Avengers' could only watch as clips started to fill the screen the moment Secretary Ross announced the location names.

"New York."

The first clip blew up on the screen. Appearing before them was one of the original creatures they had to face just after being announced as a team. It was one of those flying metal snakes that had come through the sky portal – an extension to the Chitauri race that was following, more of less, Loki – Thor's brother. The video continued as the worm flew between buildings, damaging them with a costly bill attached. The screams of the people below hit everyone's ears and the sound was on quite loud.

The video finally turned to the Hulk who was flying from building to building, clinging to the sides as if they were bars of a ladder. In the meantime, he was destroying things as he started smashing the villains. The camera that had captured this made it look as though everything was buried alive as rubble poured down from above.

James Rhodes was the first one to look away from the carnage – he was never in that fight, and wished that he had been given the chance since he had a suit specially made for that kind of fight. The video still didn't look good from any standpoint, though.

The video finally minimized back into the world map but the Secretary wasn't near enough done yet.

"Washington, DC."

Bucky was the first to recognize what this video was from because it had been a memorable day for him. The memory would never leave him because it was around the time he found out Avery was still alive. The video showed the three Shield hovercrafts in the air – the ones Hydra had intended on taking over to rip away hundred of thousands of lives, possibly millions in the end or more.

The video played of people running away in fear, followed by each hover finally crashing to the ground in smoke and fire. One right into the body of water that was right next to Shield's headquarters.

This time; Sam looked away from the recorded carnage, just as a short clip of people getting crushed underwater started to play. He had always felt guilty about what happened in the end, about how it ended. He had been a part of taking those three planes down but in all honesty, it wasn't completely their fault that it happened in the first place. It could be shifting the blame, but there was a lot of fault to go around, not just to them. They were the people who had stopped a catastrophe from happening. S.H.I.E.L.D was the main source of the fault for letting this happen, an organization he had never been a part of, and of course, it was Hydra's ultimate fault regardless.

"Sokovia."

The Hydra mess was replaced with one of their latest faults – the Ultron mess Tony and Bruce had created in their very own lab. It hadn't been intentional for Ultron to become what it did, but it was still at most their fault in the end. They both knew it. Luckily they were able to stop the robot in time before the end of the world had become an occurrence.

People screamed in the video as everyone watched when Sokovia was lifted into the sky. It rose higher and higher on a town-size boulder. Buildings were collapsing on themselves and everyone at the table could take a wild guess to say that there may have been some civilians cowering in fear inside.

Vision turned away and now stared down at the table.

"Lagos."

The latest mistake started playing on the screens – a more vivid and excruciating clip for Wanda appeared before her, ones much worse than the news anchors had been showing on their platforms. First, it was the explosion itself that was created by her powers, following that was all the carnage left behind by her mess. The dead bodies with their eyes still open, crying children looking for their parents, the sounds of the first responders – Wanda finally had to look away with shame, her eyes starting to water up again. She kept them in, though, needing to stay strong.

"Alright." Bucky finally spoke up in a demanding tone, seeing how badly it was affecting not just Wanda, but everyone else at the table. Not all the things this man was showing could have been fully prevented. There are always going to be fights were casualties are highly likely and it was never going to be completely possible that everyone was going to get out alive. Especially not with some of the things they've come across in the past couple of years. The Lagos catastrophe could have been prevented, yes, and they'll hold that fault till the day they die. "That's enough."

Secretary Ross knew his message had gotten across. So, with a turn towards one of his men, he motioned them to turn the holographic screen off.

The screen finally went away along with all the clips of the past.

"For the past four years," He finally started on the reason why he was here today. "You've operated with unlimited power and no supervision."

Steve glanced over to Bucky because they both seemed to be thinking the same thing. The way this was going, it didn't sound good for any of them. They kept silent as the man continued to talk, wanting to see how this was going to go.

"That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate." Secretary Ross paused, looking to each of the Avengers' one by one, "But … I think we have a solution." He reached out for the very thick book one of the suited men passed to him. Carefully, he placed it on the table, sliding it to Wanda first. The book itself was probably more or around 500 pages and was held together with a navy-blue binder on the left side. On the front was a world symbol with a name written above.

"The Sokovia Accords."

"It's been approved by 117 countries and it states that the Avengers' shall no longer be a private organization." Wanda slid the large book across the table and towards Rhodes when he silently asked to see it. "Instead … they'll operate under the supervision of the United Nations panel when and if that panel deems it necessary."

Bucky couldn't help it; he scoffed under his breath with a shake of his head. He leaned back in his chair as he stared at the Accords, unable to believe this was happening. He crossed his arms over his chest and continued to listen on with the conversation, not imputing what he really wanted to say.

Steve, on the other hand, spoke out what they were both thinking, "The Avengers' were formed to make the world a better place." He said, knowing that if they sign these Accords, their rights to help people are exponentially limited. It's not something they should even begin to consider if they wanted to stay the team they wanted to. "I feel that we've done that."

Secretary Ross just stared over at him with a poker-face, "Tell me, Captain," He began, speaking as seriously as he has done through this whole conversation, "Do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" He questioned, "Or that sister of yours? The woman who should have been incarcerated for her crimes the exact moment she was found last year." He wasn't playing games and you could tell that he clearly didn't like Ava given by the way he didn't say her name out loud and the way he said his words.

Steve could only stay silent but his fist did curl at the notion that his sister should have been imprisoned for the crimes she technically didn't commit. She hadn't been in the right state of mind – her actions were made by Hydra, forced upon by an organization that was the evil version of S.H.I.E.L.D. He wasn't liking this man one bit after only meeting him this one time – he could tell Bucky was feeling the exact same thing.

If the Secretary had seen their reactions, he didn't call on it because he simply continued, "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there would be consequences." He started walking back to the front of the table, the place he had started at before the meeting began. "Compromise. Reassurance. THAT'S how the world works. And believe me, this-" He pointed towards the Accords, "-is the middle ground."

"So-" Rhodes was the first to speak, feeling as though he had to, "There are contingencies." He more stated than asked a question, placing his hand on the book in front of him. Out of everyone in the room, barring the Secretary, he probably had more experience with being involved with these types of things from his time span with the US Government.

Ross just gave a small nod, explaining further, "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords."

Steve looked behind his shoulder to a very surprisingly silent Tony Stark who just sat in his chair away from the table, looking down at the phone he fiddled with in his hand. The super soldier narrowed his eyes towards Tony, trying to figure him out. It wasn't like Tony to stay silent or bow down the Government's wishes – never. Not even when they were looking for Loki – he was all for hacking into S.H.I.E.L.D's mainframe to figure out what their endgame was. He practically lived for disobeying orders. By this point, there would usually be a lot of back chatting and quips being made but there was just … nothing.

Tony just stayed quietly to himself … until he said the only one thing he's said since arriving today, "We'll talk it over." He said for everyone, knowing a full decision shouldn't be made on the spot, even though he's already made up his mind, personally.

The Secretary of State took that answer for everyone's response. Having nothing else to say, he started making his journey away from the table with his two men following close behind. Before he could fully leave the room to the Avengers', there was someone who still wanted to ask a question on behalf of everyone.

Natasha.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

She slowly looked up from the table, gazing towards the Secretary's retreating back. Just by thinking for only a couple of minutes on what had just been brought to them, there was a lot to think about. There were pros and cons for each side and personally, she wanted to be on the side that kept them independent. Just as they have been for a while now. Although, there were other issues to think about now that needed to be discussed further as a team. This wasn't going to be an easy thing to agree on, she predicted, given by the looks on her teammate's faces.

Everyone else looked up with Natasha and now stared at the Secretary too. They wanted to know just as much as she did on what would happen to them in that sense if they disobeyed on the better world decision.

Secretary Ross only said three words before leaving the room in complete silence.

"Then you retire."

Note: The next chapter will only have the Cleveland scene which probably won't be too long. The chapter after that will be about the same length as this one or more.

If I don't update before New Year's Day (I'm hoping I will Saturday) – HAVE A HAPPY 2017 … and let's hope it doesn't suck as much as 2016 has been. Anyone else heard that Carrie Fisher has also just passed away today … WHAT! NO! RIP Carrie Fisher and let the force be with you!

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