Civil War is a mess. One I never intended to touch on, at least not on the main timeline. Then I realized that I couldn't call myself Team Iron Man and simply ignore the whole thing. Initially I outright hated Team Cap; later on I realized they had some points right. Doesn't mean Tony was wrong though. You'll see in the fic itself, I tried my best for Rose to explain things. I hope you'll like how I handled things.
Dreamcast: Georgie Henley as Rose Alfdis, Taraneh Alidoosti as Kendra Hall and Jensen Ackles as Esteban Burke.
Wonder Woman makes an appearance here. She's actually been mentioned before, but not as directly as here. For her story consider the 2017 movie. Only she came in contact with the JL after it was formed (and all the stories are the ones from Smallville, with the changes shown in BoR).
The song for this chapter is "Hero" as sung by Ruelle.
Blue (Rose)
Peace is more than just the absence of war, it's trust, and security and truth…
"He's my friend..."
"So was I."
The first time I knew something was wrong… at least in recent times, was when I woke up gasping, terrible images still flashing in the back of my head: Tony's bloodied face, staring into her attacker as he drove his own weapon into the Arc Reactor… Captain America's shield being dropped to the stone floor, scratches marring its surface… Steve and Bucky walking away from a horribly injured Tony, abandoning him… and those two phrases echoing in the cold and darkness.
I had no idea what the hell was going on. Why were Tony, Steve and Bucky fighting against each other? Where were Pepper, Sharon and Sif? They would have never allowed things to get to that point, if it had been in their hands…
That was the beginning, and things only got worse in the following weeks. My dreams showed me tragedies, horrible, immeasurable: a battle of Sokovia where almost two hundred people lost their lives (instead of the less than twenty that we lost in reality), where I lost my match without having the chance to truly be with him, again; a disaster in a South African city I'd never been to, where Hulk went into a rampage for reasons I did not know, killing thousands; a Wanda who allowed grief to turn into rage, and that rage turned her into a force of evil, rather than one of good; and then there was the battle in a German Airport, where Avengers fought against one another, where the team was destroyed in ways more permanent than actual death.
In mid May Marge Sholto died. I didn't know the woman that well, Hakon and our parents had been the one more closely in contact with that family, but still, when Tony called me to tell me about the funeral, I immediately told him I'd go. Was there early enough to end up involved (though only in the background) with the press conference during which they all finally revealed the truth about Peggy and Marge to the world.
I made sure to watch them all very attentively through the whole weekend, and by the end of it I still wasn't sure how the hell they were supposed to end up on opposite sides of a war. It just didn't make any sense! Yet the dreams/visions just kept getting worse as the days passed. And then I heard whispers about the Accords…
They were more than whispers, in fact. I was very well connected, even if nothing had happened since the mess with HYDRA in '16 to require the 'Rose of Chaos', I still had quite a lot of contacts, and even more friends. And then there was Great-Aunt Kathryn… while she and Nicholas Fury apparently were still moving around for the most part, she was quite good friends with the Royal House of Wakanda, and it was them, particularly King T'Chaka himself, behind the proposal of the so-called Accords.
I was trying to device a way to get to Wakanda so I might be able to talk to them, find out what was going on exactly. I wasn't exactly against the Accords, not in the most basic terms, the idea of them, from what Aunt Kathryn told me: keeping watch over super-heroes, make sure civilians were safe, but more importantly, that they knew they were being heard… it sounded alright in theory, I knew it'd be a lot more complicated in the practice. And since I was still considered by many as the head of the Gifted Alliance, I really felt I needed to know what was going on with those Accords, exactly. I was beginning to consider simply sending a message and hope they'd see it sometime soon, when I got a call from my sister:
Karl Mordo had been captured and put to trial for his actions in the past few years, things had gotten serious enough that, somehow, it had all ended with Stephen ascending to Supreme Sorcerer, while Sachiko took his place as Master of the NY Sanctum (I had no idea what could have happened to cause that, exactly). I was invited to the festivities, of course. However, the real reason for the call was to thank me; they knew I'd talked to Mordo, what I'd told him. They were convinced that if it hadn't been for me, for my words that day, he might have gone on attacking sorcerers, until Stephen might have been forced to declare him a Rogue, perhaps even fight him directly one day. I wasn't sure I'd been that instrumental, but was happy that he'd made the choice that would lead to his happiness, his and his match's.
I made it to NY just in time to celebrate with Stephen, Sachiko, and everyone else in the Sanctum, had pretty much made up my mind to take a day off and then go to Westchester to see Destiny and, hopefully, with her help I might be able to understand my own visions better. All those plans went out the window when I met none other than Lex Luthor, behind the wheel of a silver Porsche, just outside Avengers Tower.
We met with Trish and the children in a beautiful restaurant, where we all had breakfast together. I was delighted to see my friends again (and my godson!). It had been so long, I made a mental note to make the time to go to Kansas and spend at least a weekend there, visiting. I so wanted to see my goddaughter, and all my friends… it shocked me to realize how long it'd been since I'd seen most of them. I had just taken to spending most of my time either with the X-Men or with the Sentinels, taking the chance to be with my daughter, like I couldn't all those years. And while she might be a grown woman, she wanted me there, so I took advantage of that.
Breakfast was almost over and a voice in the back of my head was beginning to whisper that I could very well forget about the day off and head to Westchester already, when I noticed Lex staring almost intently at me.
"What…?" I asked, confused by his attention.
"You're worried." He stated, canting his head to a side.
I couldn't help the slight smile on my lips, Lex had always been able to read me so well… even before he knew the truth about me.
"I may not know what is going on exactly, what you might be involved in, or might have seen… but I know you, and I've seen that look in your eyes before; something is coming, or it might even be happening already, and it worries you, a lot." He explained evenly.
"That's true." I admitted, letting out a breath. "I'm afraid I cannot explain it to you, not because I don't trust you, but because not even I know what's going on exactly."
"That's alright, I didn't explain you to tell me anything." He assured me. "I just hope that, whatever might be happening, that you'll make sure to look after yourself too. The last things any of us who love you, would want, is for you to hurt yourself while to keep us all safe."
"Thanks Lex."
For a while, none of us said a word. Then, after the check had been paid (I insisted, as he'd paid the last time we happened to meet during one of his business trips), he spoke again.
"Oh, one more thing, I almost forgot." He said, pulling out a piece of paper. "When I told Carter I was hoping you would be in NY today so we might have breakfast together we assured me you would be, apparently Nelson told him, and also informed him that you were in need of some help. You've been away for a while, so you might not be aware… I'm sure you remember Kendra?"
Kendra Hall, Carter's and Shayera Hall's daughter, of course I remembered her. The last time I'd seen the girl she had been fifteen-going-on-sixteen, back in early 2011, when Checkmate had taken her, Courtney Whitmore as well as the children (Connor, Sarah, John and Joseph) hostage in an attempt to control the JSA, and the budding League. I imagined Kendra must have since finished high-school, college and made a life of her own; I still wasn't expecting what Lex said next:
"She got married in October of 2017, to none other than His Highness, Crown Prince T'Challa, of Wakanda… apparently they're a match."
Yeah, I definitely had not seen that one coming.
xXx
Kendra remembered me, which was a good thing. She hadn't been as involved with the superhero gig as his parents, though she could fight as well as them and had been trained to use Hawkgirl's wings; she wasn't that interested in being a superhero though, said it wasn't really her style, though she would certainly fight to protect those she cared for. In any case, that was another good thing, because it meant she focused more on the woman she'd known as a teenager, her parents' friend, rather than on the symbol that was the Rose of Chaos.
We were on a private flight, the plane small and advanced enough that we made it to Wakanda in a time I was sure no airline could ever hope to compare with.
There was an entourage waiting for us, when we arrived. Half a dozen women I recognized were warriors even before I finished walking down the steps to the plane. I'd heard about them, the Dora Milaje. Even with all my travels, I'd never had reason to enter Wakanda in the past. I'd been looking for allies, and while I'd heard more than a few stories about both the Doras and the fabled Black Panther, I also knew they were a very isolationist nation and did not believe that the time it would take to convince such people to join me (if I ever managed, that is) would be worth it in the end. In deference to their own status though I stopped on the very last step, looking each of them in the eye and tilting my head just enough to bare the side of my neck briefly.
Kendra turned back when realizing I wasn't right behind her, cocking her own head to the side as she caught the end of the little ritual.
"What's going on?" She asked, confused.
"Nothing's wrong." I assured her, hurrying towards her once I caught the very small, single nod from one who appeared like she might be the leader of the Doras. "I'm just showing your protectors the respect they deserve as fellow warriors."
It was obvious she didn't understand it. While she might have been trained to fight, she wasn't a warrior, not like I was, like Carter and Shayera were, like the Dora Milaje clearly were.
There was some ceremony upon our arrival to the private meeting room where the whole Royal Family seemed to be waiting for us. I bowed to each of them in turn, in slightly different ways to denote my acknowledgment of who they were, and where exactly I stood in relation to them. I did not sit down until bid to do so by Prince T'Challa. Also, through it all I focused on speaking Xhosa as best as I could; it wasn't perfect, but the closest I could get to Wakandan, considering that due to the country's isolationist measures there was no way I could have learned their language.
"You do us, and Wakanda as a whole, a great honor, my lady." The King said seriously.
"We thought you might be accompanied." Queen Ramonda commented thoughtfully.
"My match has training with the Avengers today." I explained. "Both he and his sister have taken very well to the team." I made a pause before agreeing. "He might pick me up when the time comes, if His Majesty is willing to grant him leave into his lands, of course."
"As long as he means to harm to my people, he will always be welcome in Wakanda, as will you, my lady." The King assured me with a regal nod.
Finished with the pleasantries, it was finally time to get down to business.
"What has brought you to Wakanda, Lady Rose?" T'Challa wanted to know.
I tried to convince them to call me by my name, but it was slow going, probably the same how I kept using respectful titles for them, even after they insisted that I not use their royal ones.
"I believe you know already the answer to that question, Panther-King." I told him in a respectful but still strong voice. "I'm here because of the Accords."
I was right, of course, T'Chaka had known already that's why I was there. His wife quite probably suspected (judging by her lack of reaction), their children of the other hand… Princess Shuri looked startled for a moment, before she clearly began contemplating all possibilities, Prince T'Challa's was more visceral, and it took everything in me not to call on fire the moment my instincts began screaming about such a predator looking at me like that. Even then, I couldn't stop a couple of candles on a corner of the room from lightning, flames burning high and bright. Princess Shuri jumped on her seat and when I realized what was going on I blushed, mortified.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, Your Majesties!" I exclaimed, willing the fire to vanish.
The Queen was immediately assuring me everything would be alright, while the King simply shook his head. What truly surprised me was the honest curiosity on the Prince and Princess's faces. It didn't occur to me until later that, from everyone in the room, Kendra was really the only one who'd ever seen me controlling fire. Also, with them being isolationist, there was a chance none of them had met many gifted… except those that might be born in their own country, and I knew that Elemental gifts like my own were pretty rare outside of certain races (like the Jotnar and Eldjotnar in their respective realms, or some believed to be mythical races in our own).
"Again, my apologies to you all." I murmured quietly. "I'm afraid that, with my own history, any perceived threat makes me react, even before I'm aware of it."
"That's perfectly natural in a warrior-princess such as yourself." Queen Ramonda nodded. "You have nothing to apologize for, fire-flower."
"When Ekaterine last visited, she told us she knew people who would be very interested in meeting with us regarding the Accords." King T'Chaka said thoughtfully. "To be honest with you, I was expecting Ekaterine's niece, I understand she's married to an Asgardian Prince?"
"She is." I nodded calmly. "She's also my mother. The world may know me mostly as the Rose of Chaos, but I was born Rose Alfdis, daughter of Loki and Nightingale."
xXx
The Accords were a huge document, not quite as dangerous as I feared them being, though there were a few points I insisted on discussing with them before the ratification of the document. As it happened, things were happening very quickly where the Accords were concerned, almost too quickly in fact. I had no idea how things had gotten so far without me hearing about it, with all the contacts I had all over, it shouldn't have been possible. And then I learned the truth: that the Accords hadn't even been proposed to the UN until early in the year, and no one had seemed that worried, or even interested about it, until the Abomination escaped its super-secret prison to go on a rampage in Virginia! That had been in late February, Sif and James himself had gone in to deal with the matter, with Steve, Sharon and Bruce in the background (they'd chosen not to send the Hulk in believing that two such beings would create more destruction than entirely necessary). Then, by the start of March, everyone was suddenly interested in the Accords.
Even then, six months was a very short time, considering that 117 Countries had managed to agree to ratify the Accords, and there were more pending. I had no idea what the hurry might be, but I didn't like it; especially when I learned it hadn't come from Wakanda, or even the UN, but from the US, specifically, from the man representing the US in the deals concerning the Accords: Secretary of Stat Thaddeus Ross.
By that point I'd had enough visions to know it was a very bad idea to allow that man to be in any way connected to the Accords. Not sure I could pin the whole mess I'd seen in my dreams to him, but still, he'd been bad enough. So I got advantage of Pietro dropping by on his free day and convinced him to take me to San Francisco briefly to see my brother, I knew that if anyone could find enough dirt to bury a man like Ross, Hakon could, military law was his thing after all. And I was sure he'd be able to draw the simile with men like Stryker and Trask, which meant he'd push all the harder to get things done.
I stayed in Wakanda for the most part, during those weeks. Eventually we came to the conclusion that my whole trouble with the Accords could be summarized in one point:
"Anonymity." I announced. "That's the real issue here. Anonymity, or rather, this document's refusal to allow it."
"That's not possible," T'Challa stated. "The whole point of the Accords is the ensure, to its best ability, the safety of people, both gifted and not, in all the countries that have agreed. To make the so-called heroes have accountability, we cannot guarantee that when we don't even know who it is we're dealing with!"
I did not answer for a while, giving him time to calm down,
"What you seem to be forgetting, Panther-Prince." I just couldn't help the slight dig, I knew who he truly was, who he was meant to be. "Is that not everyone can be like us, like most of the Avengers. And even me… the world knows me, yes, but they know me as the Rose of Chaos. Even the government, back when I dealt directly with them, they knew me as Alfdis Eisenhardt, and while the name wasn't exactly fake, it's not the one I was born with. I changed it, before first going into a meeting with them all, why? Because I wanted to protect my family: my parents, my brother, my uncle and aunt and cousin… all those who'd nothing to do with my decision to step into the spotlight, to fight for what I believe in. Most of them are actually perfectly capable of protecting themselves, as should be obvious once you understand who they are… but I just didn't want to take the chance. And what about the heroes whose family could not protect themselves? Spider-Man has an aunt, a fiancé he's set to marry before the end of the year, and she too has family… All of them, people who wouldn't be able to protect themselves, if Spider-Man's enemies were to come calling."
"It's not like we're giving the information to enemies..." Shuri began.
"Please!" I just couldn't help interrupting her, I couldn't. "Princess! We're none of us that naïve! No, you're not giving the information to the heroes' enemies, but there are bad people everywhere. And it doesn't even have to be someone bad working with the UN, it's as easy as a villain kidnapping one of those good men and women's families, or threatening someone they love, or simply getting a hacker to get the information for them!" I let out a breath, running a hand through my head as I forced myself to calm down. "Don't take me wrong. I understand what you want to do with this. And I definitely agree. Peace Accords are as necessary now as they were fifty years ago, perhaps even more so; but you need to make sure to protect the gifted as much as you intend to protect the baseline humans. While they might be more vulnerable than us, that doesn't mean we're invincible, not by a long shot."
"She does have a point." T'Chaka's statement put an end to the argument instantly. "We shall work on this before presenting the final draft to the UN Panel for consideration next week."
What followed was probably the most grueling few days of my life. I only left the meeting room to eat, sleep and shower, didn't even check my phone most of the time. Which was pretty much how, the night after we finally declared the Accords finished to everyone's satisfaction, I checked my phone and was surprised to find almost half a dozen messages from Hakon. The first three were announcing that Ross had been arrested, indicted and then released on bail, all in a lapse of two days. I was quite surprised that the courts seemed to be moving so fast… but decided I didn't know enough of military law to be sure of anything. There was another couple of texts complaining about several people in high places, apparently including the president himself, blocking things from going through. I was quite prepared for the last one to be bad news, except it was exactly the opposite; no one knew exactly what had happened, but the trial was to begin the following day.
Ross trial delayed things for us as well, the UN seemed to have trouble knowing how to proceed when the man who'd been spearheading the whole thing was facing trial for 'crimes against humanity' (it was the press using those words, but considering that Ross's proven crimes went from harassment and aggravated assault, all the way to illegal imprisonment, human experimentation and possibly even several accounts of murder… well, they weren't exactly wrong).
I was in DC when the trial finally came to an end, several weeks later. Ross actually got lucky, he didn't get capital punishment, not even prison time… then again, everything he'd worked for his whole life was gone, he'd lost any and all medals, titles, money and anything else he might have had, and he was effectively going to spend the rest of his life in what was little more than house-arrest, alone. Perhaps that was the worst possible outcome for him.
(I didn't find out until much later, but it turned out that Betty Banner had gotten someone to arrange a private meeting for her with the president; no one knew what she said to him exactly, but whatever it was, it made President Cockrum pull his support; Ross was formally arraigned the next day)
xXx
I was invited to the meeting at the UN HQs in NY to officially discuss the Accords. My first surprise came when I saw the words on the cover of the finished document: 'Pax Accords'… the Peace Accords. According to King T'Chaka's explanation, the name was chosen in honor of the Goddess of Peace, because that was what we all wanted to achieve with those Accords. I might have been a bit high on my own ego, but all I could think about in that moment, was that only one person had used those words to refer to the document through it all: me.
The next surprise, the actual shock, came when the new representatives of the US arrived to the meeting. I'd known already Hakon could be there, and I recognized the second, if only from visions: Air-Force Major Esteban Burke; the third I'd never seen, but I recognized his name when he introduced himself: Gral. Bartholomew Higgins, he was the man who'd phoned Hakon the morning after Ross's conviction. I had no idea what all three of them were doing there together.
As it happened, the answer was an obvious one, one so obvious it had somehow never occurred to me. While Hakon had been called to serve as liaison for the US with the UN in the matter of the Accords (was even offer to have his military commission renewed, with a promotion to Major General included) he couldn't do it. It was a conflict of interest, because he was a gifted, and thus a subject of the Accords, himself. As it happened, Lt. Coloner Burke too had been offered the same deal, and while he wasn't gifted himself, a member of his family was (though he refused to reveal who). In the end, though, both were willing to serve as advisers for the new Secretary of State, Gral. Higgins himself.
And so it began.
Things were both easier and harder than I expected them to be, than they'd been in my visions. Not that the visions were gone at all. At least I got an explanation for it. From Helena of all people! Apparently Tamara Walker had been ranting about crimes Karl Mordo needed to pay for, crimes he'd never committed… it'd eventually come out that in her search for a way to capture Mordo (and quite possibly to get something against Stephen too) she'd come across a spell that was supposed to allow her peeks into parallel universes. Supposedly she'd done it to find out what Mordo (and Stephen) were going to do before they did it, and 'protect' the world from him/them. While it had allowed her to find Mordo and capture him, the crimes she insisted he should pay for, he'd never committed in our universe. I was also beginning to suspect that her so-called peek had been more than that, a lot more. She was behind my sudden visions, and the reason I couldn't reconcile what I saw in those with reality, was because they weren't of mine (and while that helped calm me some, I couldn't help but wonder how things could have been so different, mostly in a bad way, in some other universe… though, in the end, I really didn't have the time to worry about that).
At first President Cockrum had wanted to have the first meeting with Captain America. Even with everything I'd already done to try and make things better, I just wasn't sure if it would be enough. Thankfully, in the end I didn't need to be the one to try and explain why that wasn't a good idea. Brigadier Gral. Burke (he'd gotten the same deal as Hakon) did that, pointing out that while the Avengers might be the 'newest' superhero team, they weren't the only one, and definitely not the one with the most experience, even if they had fought an alien invasion. Some of the other people might feel left out, or that they weren't taken seriously, or that it was all just a political move; they (we) needed to include as many different groups as possible from the get go.
Cockrum was a reasonable man, or at least, more so than either of his predecessors (Ellis had had HYDRA in his backyard, and McKenna was the one to allow Stryker and his attrocities; while Cockrum had supported Ross, a case could be made for the man not having known quite how bad things were on that front); he agreed and invitations were sent out.
It was so that to the second meeting arrived several different individuals, and they each took turns introducing themselves:
"Daisy Johnson, also known as Quake, leader of the Sentinels and Queen of the Inhumans." My adopted daughter introduced herself regally.
We were keeping our own connection under wraps, just like I was still keeping most of the civilian names I'd had, under wraps. They were the kind of information that the governments, and even the UN, simply did not need to know.
"Steve Rogers, Captain America, leader of the Avengers." The blonde introduced himself.
Sharon was there as his second, I'd insisted on that, though she wasn't required to introduce herself, as was the case with Grant who, as always, was standing with my daughter.
Tony was there too, though while he did introduce himself as Iron Man and an Avenger, in that moment he was there because he'd offered his services to outfit the UN Task Force that would be serving with the superhero teams. A Task Force that would be lead by Phil and Darcy (everyone was aware of Darcy's own status as a mutant, and had decided it was a good combination, a baseline human and a gifted who were good at working together); it was also why Skye and Grant had taken command of the Sentinels, though all non-gifted members of the team would be moving to work for the Task-Force (meaning Melinda, Trip, Bobbie, Lance and FitzSimmons), leaving the Sentinels as one more superhero team (formed mostly by humans, as well as an enhanced and a single human; as Grant had refused the offer to lead one of the teams with the Task-Force to stay with his wife).
And on and on the introductions went. Charles and Erik were there as joint leaders of the Mutant Community, while Jean and Rogue acted as leaders of their respective X-Men teams (with the backing of their own matches). Reed Richards attended to represent his team, though reminding everyone that they were retired and would only act if it was a matter of the world being at stake (which was just fine for everyone). Stephen, Muse (Cassie Blake-Conant) and Warren (Piper Halliwell) presented themselves as joint representatives of the magical community, each of them speaking for a different group. Jeremiah Holdsclaw had been chosen to represent the several tribes of skinwalkers in America, while Vivian attended as the alpha of loup-garou pack; both quite willing to work together, they were basically the same, even if from different continents.
Perhaps the greatest shock for everyone in the room, was when the last guest introduced himself.
"I am Kal-El, of Krypton, one of the three remaining children of a lost planet." Clark was in full Superman get-up. "I am also Superman, one of the leaders of the Justice League."
Chloe was with him, in her Cyan persona, though she didn't speak.
The shock as certain individuals found out that there were more 'aliens' living in our planet was quite evident. While Superman's introduction to the world in Metropolis hadn't exactly gone unnoticed, the League was good at dealing with things before they called global attention (they had managed to stop a possible alien invasion and no one outside Smallville had known a thing!); and even the first-page expose Clark and Chloe had done regarding the JSA and Checkmate hadn't been quite enough to make people realize there was more going on in Kansas than most would expect.
Later on Chloe explained to me that after discussing things they'd decided to leave the JSA in the past, to keep with the fiction that they'd all died in 2011, during the last confrontation against Checkmate. The League was said to have been formed by new heroes, seeking to honor the lost team; and since Checkmate were the only 'outsiders' who'd ever known who all were part of the Society, the rest of the world were none the wiser.
Those were a grueling few days. Most misgivings were handled quickly and easily enough. Steve had his doubts concerning the UN, which was understandable considering that his point of reference was the League of Nations, which had proven to be a failure what with WWII and everything… Sharon, who had more experience with global diplomacy, was able to settle his doubts for the most part. We also all agreed on all members of the Task-Force being as much under constant supervision as the gifted themselves; after all, we wanted the Accords to be equal for all.
There were long talks concerning the representatives. Where it came to superheroes, they all had to sign, whether it was with their legal name or an alias, that was up to them, though they needed to provide a reliable way to get in touch with them; to facilitate that part Tony offered the latest StarkPhones, untraceable unless a particular order was entered from a main server, an agreement was reached on who and under which circumstances that order could be given (basically when it was a matter of life-or-death, either the hero's or a civilian's). The gifted (mutants, metas, inhumans, etc), who weren't involved with any 'heroing' did not need to sign, though if they ever needed help they could seek their representatives; also, if they committed a crime, that same representative would be called in and the case would be handled directly by a team from the UN.
The next point that concerned us was the military involvement on the US's part. That one kept the argument going on for two days, we seemed to be going on circles in a seemingly never ending discussion, until I decided enough was enough.
"Can you not see how unfair it is?" I finally offered. "This Accords, they're supposed to be of all the Nations, and the Gifted, with the UN, not with a specific country, much less their military. Can you not see how it makes things look, when the US insists on involving their military? If you want to be more involved, by all means, send some of your people to join the Task Force. But understand, they will no longer be part of your army, they will not answer to you, but to the UN. From where I'm standing that's not a bad thing, if we want to be equals and all that."
Eventually Higgins agreed, and it was agreed he'd not be returning the following day; Hakon and Esteban though, would, as they'd be joining the Task-Force themselves. (I was also quite sure many former SHIELD Agents were likely to end there, sooner or later).
Eventually we arrived to the last day of the talks, everything seemed to be ready. There would be an official event in Vienna (as Higgins final contribution was suggesting that the Accords distance themselves from the US a bit, in order to better assure the possible signers of equality, both between the various nations, and those gifted and not) where the Pax Accords would be ratified and whoever was missing would be invited to sign.
If there was one thing I never expected, it was to become a point of contention in the Accords myself. Apparently no one expected it when I refused to commit to anything, to joining any teams, or the Task Force itself.
"You don't see it, do you?" I asked when I got tired of so many people insisting on the same, over and over. "I am the Rose of Chaos… and that's a symbol to more than just you."
"You know them." Surprisingly, Esteban was the first to understand it. "You know all of them, or potentially all of them. It's only to be expected, after all, you're the Head of the Gifted Alliance. You cannot work for the UN, it wouldn't be fair; because you either lead them, or work for us, you cannot have it both ways. And neither can we."
No, we couldn't, the potential for some kind of abuse, on either side, was just too great. They could try to use me to get to someone, or I could (purposefully or not) interfere, believing I knew better. It was better if we did not give either side chance for such abuses.
"I am the Rose of Chaos." I repeated, softly. "I am proud of that, of everything I've achieved for my people. But this time, this time it's better if others take charge."
It was, I'd already interfered enough as it was. Even what I'd done already could have done horribly wrong; I could have made things worse, instead of better, if I'd failed to understand my visions, or if things had been any more different between the two realities. Through my life I'd grown so used to having all the answers… I needed to take a step back, let other people be in charge. Perhaps I was finally, after so long, beginning to understand why Mama and Papa had chosen to not to interfere with things all those years prior…
xXx
I didn't stop having visions. Even after distancing myself from the last leg of planning for the Pax Accords. They kept coming, every night, sometimes even when I was awake. They shifted, like variations of events; made me suspect that the peek hadn't been into one alternate universe, but several. It was beginning to drive me to distraction.
I saw Mama, in her coral pink dress, facing Captain America and his 'team', all on her own, Natasha called her 'Princess of Death'… I saw Mama walking through a government building, then there was a shot and she was falling… Mama and Papa, surrounded by humanoids in foreign uniforms, looking at a seemingly innocuous metal sphere… Iron Man, Vision, Spider-Man and a bulkier War Machine standing together, the only Avengers left… Vision twisting on the ground as a creature tore the mind-gem off his forehead, with Wanda wailing in despair and denial in the background…
Finally the time came, and we all met in Vienna for the ratification of the Accords. I was the first to sign, supposedly as a gesture of good-will, and to set an example to those who might still have their doubts. Then came the superheros, one by one, and the community leaders, and then the human leaders of the UN Task Forces (apparently that one had been Esteban's idea too).
A man tried to create chaos bombing the summit but failed, Muse caught on to what he was planning and Sachiko (the Sanctum Masters and Wong had insisted on accompanying Stephen and Helena) sent the bomb into the Mirror Dimension, where it blew without causing lasting damage. The man, Halmut Zemo, ended becoming the first to experience UN justice in relation to the Pax Accords.
There was a bit of a 'get together' following the formalities, and I attended, knowing it was expected of me. It wasn't bad, got the chance to stop and chat with some people I hadn't seen in quite a while, it was nice. Eventually Esteban approached me:
"Ma'am..." He greeted me with an exaggerated bow. "Might I introduce to you my dear wife? Though I do believe you've met each other before..."
Beside him was standing a honey-brown eyed brunette, almost six feet tall, muscular, in a gorgeous floor-length dress; I had, indeed, met her before.
"Hello Diana." I greeted her with a smile. "Seems destiny smiled at you, finally."
"That it did." She smiled, pressing her side to her husband's own. "That it did. And you my friend? How has destiny been treating you?"
As if summoned with some silent signal, Pietro was by my side a fraction of a second later, an arm around my waist. Esteban actually blinked a couple of times, as his mind did his best to catch up with what had just happened; Diana just smiled. Neither of us needed to say anything else, not really; we understood exactly what was going through the other's mind.
I wasn't exactly surprised when Phil and Darcy approached me, though their choice of topic of conversation certainly did:
"Why did you allow the Accords to happen?" Darcy asked, blunt as ever.
I was still trying to process what she'd just said, when Phil intervened.
"It's not an accusation." He clarified. "It would never be that. It's not that we expect, or even want you to control things, but we're surprised. We know you're, to some degree at least, behind former-Secretary Ross's sudden fall from grace. Really, Tony has been trying to achieve that in some way since he first befriended Bruce, though he never considered putting the people you did on the job."
"Hakon is both a lawyer and a military man." I explained succinctly. "He's also had experience with military men being monstrous bastards. It's likely that the only reason he hadn't acted before was because he did not know how bad Ross was. That's what Matt and Nina were there for; everyone else… that wasn't on me."
"Still, the Accords…" Darcy insisted.
"I support the accords, you know? I always have." I thought it best to start with that. "Even back in the seventies, when those deals between the mutant community and the military were made… they may not have worked as well as we all hoped, but I supported things then, and I still do now. Also, the deal being made with the UN lends for a more positive outlook on things."
Not a word was said, but I could see they were just waiting, they knew there was more.
"You know, most of the world blame SHIELD's negative stance on mutants on Howard Stark, they say he hated them." I commented suddenly. "But that's not true. I would know. Uncle Howard was always fascinated by gifted people, from the moment he met my brother, that never faltered. Aunt Maria on the other hand… her dad was Jewish, he died in the camps, she and her mom barely got out of there in time. When the Brotherhood first came into being… she was afraid of Magneto, of him becoming a new Hitler, didn't understand what Erik had been through that made him act like that. Uncle Howard knew what his wife's reaction would be if she ever so much as suspected someone of being mutant or gifted. He intentionally ruined his relationship with Charles, both to keep him away and to make him understand the danger of revealing himself and his school to people who's stand he couldn't possibly know. He still helped where he could, donating money through me whenever he could, and keeping an eye out for not only Charles, but any and all Gifted." I took a deep breath. "The deal with the military… it was supposed to help, to make things better, and for a while it did. Of course, with HYDRA buried everywhere it was only a matter of time before it failed." I swallowed quietly, forcing myself not to remember a bitter goodbye… "I still believe in the spirit of that alliance. I was never against the Accords. The only reason I interfered at all was to make sure both sides would be protected." I shook my head. "We all know something like this would have happened sooner or later. If not today then next month, or next year, it was always going to happen. And the longer we waited, the worst things might have ended up being."
Also, though they might not know it just yet, something was coming. Either Thanos, or something else entirely. It was better if a system was already in place, and people more or less used to it, before disaster struck and we needed to act. Better if civilians knew who they could trust, believe in, rather than have them put their lives at risk in the middle of a battle because they didn't know what to do, who was supposed to be protecting them.
I could see that Darcy and Phil still weren't completely convinced but they'd decided not to insist, that would have to be enough for the time being. Deep down they probably knew I was right, the Accords were always going to happen, and better they did with us having a say in them, than when the whole world came to hate or fear us. I'd already seen the world go to hell once, humans at war with the gifted until there was nothing and no one left, the last thing I needed was to live it. It was also an understanding I hoped none of them would ever have, that they wouldn't need to.
As the night approached its end I didn't notice when I began to sing, it just felt right in that moment:
"This wind it blows
Cuts to the bone
The hunger grows
We're getting closer and closer"
"And everyone's watching
It all unfold
Everyone's watching
Who's gonna take the throne?
Everyone's watching
Who's gonna run the show?"
"Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone to lay it all down on the line
Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone who's gonna fight fire with fire"
My visions worried me. Was I condemned to see the tragedies of several universes for the rest of my life, unable to do anything to help them? Or was it that there was something I was meant to see and it just hadn't come to me (or I just hadn't paid enough attention to it) yet? I'd consulted with other precogs, but while some of them had seen things from other realities, none of them had it as serious as I did. Was it a curse, a blessing or something else altogether? I both craved and feared the answer.
"The ground it shakes
These iron chains
It's made to break
Who's gonna rise up to save us?"
"And everyone's watching
It all unfold
Everyone's watching
Who's gonna take the throne?
Everyone's watching
Who's gonna run the show?"
"Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone to lay it all down on the line
Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone who's gonna fight fire with fire"
Something was coming, that I did know for sure. Even without being able to truly parse through all my visions; it was an instinct deep inside me. Something was coming, it was going to be big, and nothing and no one would be the same once it was all said and done… it might concern Thanos, and the Infinity Stones… I wondered if we were ready for it; the part of me that was Goddess of Faith wanted to believe that we would be, that all would be alright; but the other part, the part that had seen so much darkness, from both my universe and others, wondered if we were doomed already…
"Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone
Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone"
"Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone
Everybody wants a hero
Everybody wants someone"
"I know what it's like to lose. To feel so desperately you're right, yet fail all the same. Dread it, run from it; destiny still arrives."
A hole in the sky, something coming out, at first it looked like a shadow, or a cloud, or perhaps insects… only it turned out to be something much, much worse… an enemy army, aliens, a new attempt at invasion… except this time they had no intention to conquer, only destroy.
"Death follows it like a shadow."
It was Thanos, he was there, and his mere presence was enough to freeze anyone's blood, to almost rob them of their breath. It was an instinctive fear, even those who'd never seen him, had never even heard about him, knew he was probably the most dangerous being they'd ever see.
"We cannot keep reacting, keep waiting for the attack to come so we might respond. It's time we act first. It's time we take matters into our own hands."
"If we keep waiting… there might not be an Earth left by the time we act."
"I once told Loki that if we couldn't protect the Earth we'd damn sure avenge it. Seemed like the thing to say at the time. Now I realize how stupid it was. Avenging is pointless, we need to protect."
Vision screamed and moaned and twisted, fighting to free himself but it was pointless, the being above him was too strong; the moment the claw pried the yellow infinity stone from his forehead Vision's eyes flashed from yellow to blue. In the background Wanda could be heard wailing.
"No dirweg Meril (Be watchful Rose)! Ohta naa deno' lle (War is upon you)."
I woke up drenched in sweat and tears, Pietro's arms around me seemingly the only thing keeping me together. Something big was coming indeed, and I had no idea what to do. The visions had been bad enough, and then those words at the end, I was reasonably sure that had been Mama, and her speaking elvish would seem to be confirmation of that. Then the phone rang, it was Helena, Tamara had just escaped confinement. I knew it inside, that's how it began…
Yes, that's how it begins... I don't have much to say right now. Except to wonder what you imagine is coming, and hoping you're eager for it.
Next week we go back to space, for Loki to tell the story of the last part of the trip among the stars. And show how it all comes together.
Thanos is Coming! War is Coming!
See ya next week (please don't forget to leave a review!)