A/N: Sorry it's a little late. Hope you enjoy and please review!

Winter Comes

"So, what do you think?" Coral asked Jennifer Walters over their video chat.

" … I think you should sign it," Jennifer said after a moment. Coral blinked and smacked her lips before looking away.

"Really."

Jennifer sighed and shrugged. "Look, I don't know Ross personally, but I know him by reputation; and he will not stop until he has the Hulk back in his grasp, defeated and alone. If that means going through you to do it, even better." So I'm just another tool. "It's not a bad deal. You have assurances that your sisters and the other Enhanced people you know will not be harmed, they will probably just be asked to sign the accords as well." Great; a pyramid scheme that doubles as a watch list and a hit list. "This is just a foot in the door. It puts you on more equal footing to negotiate in the future." At this point, I'm not even sure there's going to be a future.

"I've gotta go."

"What?"

"I've gotta go," Coral said, shutting her laptop.

According to the news, anyone who was anyone was supporting the Sokovia Accords. And considering Norman Osborn, CEO of Oscorp, Editor J. Jonah Jameson of the Daily Bugle, and Trish Walker of TrishTalk had all published praising statements of the Sokovia Accords, it wasn't hard to see why. Still, she couldn't help but be a little disheartened by one news update.

"When asked about the accords, Thor the God of Thunder gave a brief statement, saying that though he is not of Asgard (Earth) and therefore cannot take any official position other than neutral, that he supports the idea of the Accords and believes in having a Watcher keep the Avengers in check. This directly contradicts Dr. Jane Foster's earlier comment that she would never support the Accords and doubted that the God of Thunder would. The two were spotted arguing over his statement in a New York restaurant before the part-time Avenger returned to Asgard," the newscaster said in that somewhat uncanny news reporter tone. Coral closed her laptop and groaned, rubbing her head.

Well, if Thor and Vision are the two most moral members of the Avengers according to Mjölnir, then shouldn't I follow their lead? a part of Coral said.

Another part of her said: You're really going to let a magic hammer decide for you? Besides, they mean well, but Vision had been alive for a year and Thor may not have read the whole thing yet.

Frustrated, Coral turned from coverage of the Accords to coverage of Nigeria.

If I had been there and not allowed myself to be locked up by them, I could have covered crowd control in Nigeria and we wouldn't be in this mess, Coral thought to herself. But if I hadn't let myself be taken, we would have started the war much sooner. And it wouldn't be us against us it would be us against the world.

Or maybe not. There was no way for her to know.

So, screw theoreticals, Coral thought to herself. Time to focus on the facts.

117 out of 198 countries in the world had ratified this treaty. Among them were the most powerful and populated nations in the world. But also, many of them were fascist states such as China, Russia, and Latveria. If she signed herself over to them, she would have to stop talking to her revolutionary friends, as she would never be able to know if she was being watched. And that's if they didn't order her to hand them over like how she would have to hand over her sisters.

Meanwhile, the UN bombing had Bucky Barnes at the scene… but they also lived in a world of mind control and photostatic veils, meaning anyone could have done it with enough resources and motivation, neither of which the former Winter Soldier had. Yet HYDRA had not come out to take credit for the attack, so that meant it wasn't them using Barnes or orchestrating this affair. At least, not directly.

The Winter Soldier had broken out of the Joint Counter-Terrorist Centre, Sam Wilson and Steve Rogers being accused of aiding and abetting him… but the cameras had gone out with the power and Coral's Spy Senses were tingling with suspicion over the fact that the power had gone out at all.

Scarlet Witch had escaped the New Avengers Facility where she had been put under "house arrest" aka lawful internment, aided by the now-not-retired Hawkeye (she was going to strangle Barton for doing this to Laura and his kids). Vision had been pushed through about five hundred feet of solid earth as a result, though it seemed his feelings were hurt more than his body. This meant there was no dissenting person she could talk to at the moment.

Coral was stuck. She wanted to talk to Coulson, but she didn't know where he was. She wanted to talk to Bruce, but no one knew where he was. She wanted to talk to Nat, but she already knew Nat's position and wasn't sure her friend could be unbiased (or even if Nat would be willing to talk to her, as she hadn't ever since Coral had refused to escape).

So, left with no other choice, she wrote to the only person who would never turn her away.

This is bullshit, Susan Storm wrote to her over Coral's carefully encrypted secret line; even then, she only had about two minutes before the prison found out and cut the line.

I'm not telling them anything, if that's what you're worried about, Coral wrote.

That's not what we're worried about, Johnny commented.

You should be. They might come after you. In any case, I need you guys to get the word out; everyone who has powers or training needs to lie low for a while. Go to Canada or one of the other countries that didn't sign the treaty if they can, the point is, don't be home when the Counter Terrorism Task Force comes knocking, she wrote.

… What are you going to do? Susan typed after a long pause.

… I don't know. But be ready when I decide.

Coral was staring at her laptop screen, though she saw nothing. She honestly had no idea what to do. If she didn't sign, she was a dead woman. If she did sign, she would betray everything she had ever lived for. That's when she got an email. At first, it seemed like junk that had somehow managed to slip through her preset filters. But the moment before she hit delete, she recognized the domain. It was the same name she had used when infecting Nick Fury's computer with the coded virus that would lead him to the Viper's Nest. Decrypting it, she found the following quote that Coulson had told her many times as a Mercenary / Agent of SHIELD: "Compromise where you can. Where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye, and say 'No, you move.'"

Coral sighed and thought it over. Maybe there's a way for me to compromise… and stand my ground.

Straightening up, Coral looked at the facts and started planning.

Once she had her strategy as firm as her resolve, Coral Julie King picked up her phone, dialed the number, and said, "This is Viper… I'm in."