After Tony's creation turned on the Avengers and nearly caused the end to a country, he moved their HQ upstate but came in and out. Erina was with him, all the time.
"Are you really going to propose this to us?" she asked as he drove them to the new building, referring to the Secretary of Defense's impending visit to follow their arrival. "I know things went badly during Cap's last mission and Ultron was a negative, but should we really be told when we can or can't save people in need?" she followed up her question with an even bigger one, causing Tony to sigh.
"E, I want the Avengers to stay together and this is the only way," he explained, pulling into the driveway. "If we don't sign this document then we are effectively retired and liable for jail time if we use our skills."
"I just don't see how the government can control us," she replied, still baffled, "I will support you and sign this because I still want to save people, but I don't fully agree with it."
"Neither do I," he agreed as he began rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes closing briefly.
"Another headache?" she asked, leaning closer so she could massage the top of his shoulders nearest to his neck, to relieve some of the pain.
He relaxed into her touch as he nodded, "Yep, my suit is giving me electromagnetic headaches. I'm working on a fix but right now, I'd prefer not to put in on," he admitted.
"Because of the headaches only, or are you ready to say goodbye to Iron Man?" she asked, concerned.
Tony leaned forward, pulling away from her touch, looking into her eyes, "No, E. I am very far away from wanting to end my time as Iron Man. My only reservations for putting on the suit is the pain it causes right now," he leaned toward her and placed his lips to hers. When he pulled back, he asked, "Are you ready to go in there and fight with our friends?"
"Maybe it won't be a fight," she asked, hopefully, "But, yes I am ready."
Tony led Erina into the facility and straight to their conference room next to the kitchen, where the team was waiting. "What's going on, Tony?" Steve asked, his confusion apparent on his face.
"Let's just wait for the secretary to arrive," he replied, taking a seat in the back corner, not at the table with everyone else. Erina took a seat between Steve and Nat where she stayed silent, not wanting to upset Tony by adding anything to the table.
Nat knew why she was silent and didn't ask her anything. The Secretary of Defense arrived and laid out the document, the Sokovian Accords, and explained why it was necessary by showing clips of the all the destruction caused by the Avengers trying to save the world. Once he left, the group moved to the kitchen sitting area and began the discussion. Erina frowned when she saw Tony lay back on the chaise lounge with his eyes closed, her heart hurting to see him in pain.
Rhodey began the conversation, "This is necessary. The people making this decision are qualified and we should do it."
Sam replied, "They want to put us on a leash and have the say on who we save and when. I'm sorry but that doesn't sound necessary or like a good idea to me."
"The Secretary has a medal of honor, which is one more then you have, but you just say 'it's all good, we've got this,'" Rhodey replied.
Vision interjected, "I believe the Secretary to be correct, also. Based on an equation between the events and our existence has a significant rise over time. In the last eight years, since Mr. Stark announced he was Iron Man, the threats we've faced or have come to our world has increased at a rapid rate."
Tony sat up, his expression showing the pain he was in which made Erina want to go to him, but she stayed put. "We need to be put in check. People, innocent people, lose their lives when we're out there playing superheros. How can we do that? How can we cause people's lives to end and sleep at night?"
Steve shook his head, "Erina, you're with him, right?"
Erina nodded, "Not because of he and I, but because I would rather be able to fight the bad guys side by side with you then be retired long before my time," she explained her stance.
"This document causes us to lose our choice and allows people with agendas, like Hydra, to decide who we save and who we don't. If we have no say, then we are just soldiers following blindly and I've done that. I won't do it again," Steve stated, his opinion on the matter, firm.
Tony nodded while he was running water in the sink to take a pill with, "Who's putting coffee grounds in the garbage disposal? Am I renting a bed and breakfast to a biker gang?" he exclaimed, frustrated. He then replied to Steve, "I want to do this because if we choose to sign then we still have control. But if we wait until someone just throws us into some force, then we have our hands tied."
"He's right, Steve," Nat agreed, "At least this way, we'll be together and we'll have one hand on the wheel."
"Did you agree with me?" Tony asked, his face shocked while Nat rolled her eyes. "There's no decision making process here, guys. We either sign and get behind this or we retire. You have until Friday," he added as he left the room to lay in the dark. Erina stayed with the team, giving him a chance to breathe.
"We're in Berlin and we can't go see anything because we have to arrest our friends," Erina whined as she sat in the conference room below the base where Bucky, Steve and Same would be brought, along with King T'challa.
Tony frowned, "We have important business to take care of. Maybe someday we'll get to travel the world for fun. For now, we will have to arrest the people we care about and try to undo this mess."
The 'prisoners' arrived moments later and Tony pulled Steve in for a private meeting which Erina knew was his last ditch effort to try and convince Cap to sign the accords and end this. She made her way out of the room and found Nat.
"Is the psychiatrist here to talk to Barnes yet?" she asked, getting Nat's attention.
Nat nodded, "Yes, I think he's about to start his questioning," she looked back at the room where Steve and Tony were talking, "Is he still trying to get Steve to sign?"
Erina nodded, "Yes and to no avail. Tony and Steve have different perspectives on this issue because they come from different times, though you'd never notice looking at them. I hate all of this because it's tearing this team apart," she admitted, also looking back at them.
Natalie agreed as their attention was drawn away from their conversation to the evaluation going on, on the screen above. As the man questioned Barnes, the power to the building went out.
Erina watched Steve and Sam race to Bucky's location as she made her way back into the room where Tony was leaning down on the table, "Could this all go anymore wrong?" he asked. His question was answered by gunfire as Barnes had been 'triggered' and was making his escape.
"Did you bring a suit?" Erina asked, concerned by the state he was in from his suit and all that was going on within the Avengers, "If you don't, then you should sit this out."
Tony shook his head, "I don't, just the three piece on my body. Let's go take care of this," he stated, his voice displaying the extreme exhaustion he felt.
Erina didn't argue the matter further as she followed him out to the main level where the noises were coming from. They peeked around a column and saw Bucky taking down everyone and everything in sight. T'challa had become the Black Panther to join the fight, but he was no match for Bucky.
Erina was about to tell Tony to let her go out first, but he was already out there, using a device from his watch to stun Barnes but the effects lasted mere seconds before he was back in his element, slamming Tony onto a table.
Erina inhaled sharply at the sight of Tony in trouble and channeled super strength before she made her way into the same battle. She attacked from behind, gaining the element of surprise but, like Tony, it only lasted a moment before Bucky threw her over his shoulders and slammed her against the floor, his hand firmly around her neck.
Erina gasped for breath as she tried anyway to fight him off, but luckily Steve appeared and took the fight outside, allowing her to cough and choke once her neck was free as she gathered her breathing, regaining control.
Tony recovered first and was at her side, almost immediately, "Did he hurt you?"
Erina shook her head, "I'll be ok, what about you? He threw you down hard and you have no protection on," she commented, beginning to feel around his body with her hands for injuries.
"Sh E," he soothed, no pain Barnes caused could be worse then what he was experiencing, "We're both ok, and that's what matters now. But now, they escaped and we are going to have to fight our friends in a very real way. Let's get cleaned up and call in everyone we can," he strategized as he stood and offered her his hand to help her up.
She sighed as she took his hand and stood with him, her heat aching from his pain and the pain of everyone around her, sometimes her mimicking skills took off more from others then she'd like. They went back down where they'd been before the attack to work out a plan, joined quickly by Nat.