"Thaddeus Ross. That son of a bitch is the Secretary of State now?" Kayla growled when Steve told her of Tony's guest. "You know he spent years looking for Doctor Banner. He hates the Hulk."

"Well, I'm sure he hates the rest of us too." Steve murmured as he opened the door to her apartment, ushering her inside. "Stay here. I'll fill you in once he leaves."

Before Kayla could protest Tiffany walked up beside them, holding a tablet with a security feed of the debriefing room where Ross and Stark were waiting for Steve and Wanda. "Sam got me set up. We can watch from here." She explained, squeezing between the pair to find a comfy place on the couch.

"Be careful Steve. Don't trust him." Kayla warned, signaling Steve it was time for him to face the music of their actions in Lagos.

When Steve walked into the conference room, everyone was already there, seated along an oak table. Steve found an empty chair next to Natasha, Tony sat in the corner nearby away from the others. He already knew what this was about.

"Nice of you to finally join us, Captain Rogers. Take a seat." Thaddeus Ross ordered as Steve pulled his chair out, eyeing the man cautiously.

The man took a deep breath and began a story about how he had a heart attack during a round of golf. Kayla watched with baited breath, biting at her fist as she watched the feed on the small tablet.

"This man is a snake," Kayla muttered, eyes narrowing as he spoke to her team. He was calling them dangerous.

Kayla could see Ross turn on a screen behind him, showing images of New York, and then of D.C. She squirmed as a photo of her parents standing in front of the rubble of the Triskelion. Suddenly her attention was brought back to Ross's words.

"I notice you're missing someone. Both your missions in Sokovia and Lagos feature this woman." Ross pulled up a photo of the back of Kayla, her long hair braided as she threw Cap's shield at Rumlow. "Who is this mysterious blonde? She seems to always be hiding her face?"

Tony shifted uncomfortably, looking to Steve, but Steve simply shrugged. "She's not around." He answered simply, but Ross wasn't done poking the bear.

"She looks an awful lot like Kayla Ellis in this photo." He switched the photo to show a side profile of the blonde, her mask off as she circled Rumlow. "But she's been dead for over a year, hasn't she? You should know? She was your girlfriend wasn't she?"

Steve's jaw set tight, but he didn't answer. Rhodey spoke up, seeing the meeting going south way faster than he expected. "Sir, Cap lost his girl in a brutal way. This isn't her. Is there a resemblance? Sure, but she's dead. Don't harass him about it."

Ross considered Rhodey's words but his gaze stayed locked on Rogers, gauging the Captain's reaction. He gave none. Ross shrugged, "It was just an idea. But it's good she's not with you all because if the Avengers were harboring the former President's Daughter there would be even more hell to pay. But I'm not here to throw blame, I'm here to offer a compromise to protect the team."

The moment Kayla's chest started to deflate from Ross's accusations, her breath caught in her throat when he offered a compromise. What kind of compromise?

"For four years you have operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution: the Sokovia Accords." Ross placed a massive document on the table and the Avengers took turns passing it around. Approved by 117 countries. It states the Avengers will no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only if and when the panel deems it necessary."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel like we've done that." Steve defended, staring at the table as Ross circled the table around the group.

"Safer yes. But also more damaged. This has been in the works for a long time, but, you've had friends in high places. President Ellis worked hard on your behalf after the death of his daughter, but President Anderson isn't as much of a fan." Ross stared at Steve and the soldier finally looked up, a look of indifference on his face. "President Ellis insisted you didn't need supervision. But he's not President anymore, and he's come to accept the Accords as the best option for the team because, without them, you're all facing prison. He can't ignore the damage you've caused and quite frankly, there's no control within the Avengers itself. Do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? Where is this mystery woman who you are keeping in the dark? Right now we don't know anything about her except she seems to have advanced abilities and a less than professional relationship with Captain Rogers." Thaddeus Ross stared straight at Steve, pushing him to the brink. "Perhaps if you agree to the terms of the Accords, the panel may grant you some anonymity. If you work with us, we'll keep some of your secrets a secret."

Steve finally looked up to meet the gaze of the Secretary of State, and the older man showed no mercy as he continued to convince the team that this is the best option. "Believe me, this is the middle ground. Three days from now the United Nations meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over."

As Ross walked to the opposite end of the table, Natasha asked the question on everyone's mind, "And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

Ross met her gaze, eyes cold and threatening, "Then you retire."

This caused Natasha to smile slightly, never one to back down from a threat. Kayla though grabbed onto the tablet and threw it across the room, shattering it on the wall next to the fireplace.

"Jesus Kayla!" Tiffany jumped up from her place on the couch as Zawadi dodged under the table. "What are you doing?"

"This is all my fault." Kayla stared into the burning fire on that June day, following the dance of the flames intently.

"How is any of this your fault?" Tiffany exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air as she sat farther back against the pillow again.

Kayla's eyes never left the fireplace, her words barely above a whisper as her guilt overtook her emotions, "Because if my parents knew I was alive, my dad would still be President, and he would have never let this happen."

Tiffany scrunched her face disapprovingly, not appreciating her friend becoming a martyr for something she couldn't control, "You don't know that. You heard the Secretary, this has been in the works for a while..."

"I would have never let it pass. I would have stopped it. I could have protected them from the politics of it all just by still being alive. But I was selfish, and now they have to pay the price. My father gave up everything because I died. My father gave up on them because they couldn't save me."

"You are being overdramatic right now, you know that?" Tiffany mumbled, standing to get a broom to sweep up the broken glass and plastic lying against the wall.

"If my father was still President, the Accords would be different. And the reason he's not is because I am dead." Kayla finished, finally dragging her eyes away from the fire. "I have to fix this."

Tiffany sighed, not looking up from her work, "How are you going to fix this Kayla?"

A wicked smile grew on the girl's face as she looked toward her best friend. "I"m going to Vienna."

Tiffany met Kayla's eyes and tilted her head to the side, a warning for her oldest friend, "What good will that do? You have no power there."

"My father is going to Vienna," Kayla stood slowly, kneeling to grab a piece of the broken tablet, "I need to know his thoughts."

"You're going to tell him you're alive?" Tiffany prodded hopefully, but her friend just shook her head, blonde curls bouncing at the movement.

"I never said that."

Tiffany stared at her friend, annoyance written across her face as she stood from sweeping, "How long are you going to hide from your responsibilities? You can't have it all. You can't be an Avenger and hide in the shadows. You can't give your opinions to the United Nations without telling them you're alive."

Kayla rose from the place she was cleaning, tossing the broken plastic in the trash as she made her way to the door. "I'll think of something."

"Where are you going now?" Tiffany moaned as Zawadi nudged the little brunette with his snout for attention.

"I'm going to go discuss the Accords with the team. Obviously, we can't sign them."

Tiffany scoffed at her words as Kayla flew open the door, "You don't have a say one way or another. You're dead, remember?"

Kayla stopped, but she didn't turn around. "I may not be able to sign, but I do have a say in my own life. It's my own, for the first time in a long time. I'm not going to let the government control me again." With that, Kayla began to walk briskly toward the debriefing room. When she got close, she stood around the corner, listening for Ross.

She heard the man's gruff voice as he said goodbye to Tony, and she panicked when she realized she was on the way to the exit, so she ducked into a storage closet while she listened to him leave.

As he passed the door, she heard him tell his aid "Captain Rogers is going to be a problem. I'd prepare the Raft, just in case."

Kayla narrowed her eyes as she watched him walk past the crack in the door, and eventually out of the building. She slowly opened the door, keeping her eyes locked on his direction in case he doubled back for some reason. Then she made her way toward the living room of headquarters, where she could already hear the team arguing about the Accords.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have!" Rhodey spat at Sam as Kayla approached the door.

She entered to find the two men bickering behind Steve, who sat at a table studying the Accords intensely. He didn't even raise his eyes when she walked into the room.

Sam continued to argue with Rhodey as Tony laid on a couch, hand draped over his face, but Kayla could see him release an exasperated sigh as he rolled his eyes.

Finally, Vision raised his hand to get the team's attention, looking around the room to see if they would listen, "I have an equation."

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam quipped but Kayla shushed him harshly as she walked up beside the pilot, turning to Vision who sat beside Wanda.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced he was Iron Man, the number of known enhanced individuals has grown exponentially. In that same period, the number of potential world-ending events has has risen at a commensurate rate."

Kayla contemplated Vision's words, the meaning behind them. Steve finally looked up from his studying to listen to Vision, not liking the equation at all. "Are you saying it's our fault?"

"Potentially," Kayla mumbled, causing Steve to turn in his chair to face her. She took a deep breath, giving a deep nod before continuing, "Vision's right, kind of. Before Iron Man the world was simple, it was peaceful in its own way. There were wars between humans. But after Iron Man," Kayla met Tony's eyes, "We've had much greater threats than humans against humans. That being said, without the Avengers the Battle Of New York would have been a slaughter. Everyone would have died, not just in New York but over the world. The world needs the Avengers now because the rest of the worlds out there know the Avengers exist."

"But the Avengers would still exist under the Accords, we would just be governed. We wouldn't have to pick and choose our own battles, only the ones where we are truly needed. The Avengers didn't need to be in Lagos, you chose to be because of personal reasons." Rhodey looked between Kayla and Steve. He didn't outright accuse them of the devastation, but he might as well have as blatant as his stares were.

"Tony," Natasha interrupted as she stared at the billionaire with soft eyes, "You are being uncharacteristically non- hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve sneered, turning his head lazily to Natasha to answer her question.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony responded as he stood, massaging the back of his head. He went to the kitchen to grab a coffee mug complaining about them leaving coffee grounds in the disposal. Natasha watched him curiously, then her gaze fell to Kayla who was leaning over Steve to read the Accords.

Suddenly Tony's phone pulled up a photo of a young man none of them had seen before. "This is Charles Spencer by the way. He wanted to make a difference in the world I suppose." Tony looked at the photo for a moment before turning to his team, "Not that we'd know, we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass in Sokovia."

The color drained from Kayla's face as the image filled her brain. Poor kid. Barely younger than her. Dead. Because of them. She bit her tongue and sniffled, trying to hold back tears. She couldn't help but notice her fiancé seemed unaffected.

Tony downed a pill with his coffee before rounding the counter, before crossing his arms defensively. "There's no decision-making process here! We need to be put in check, and whatever form that takes I'm game. If we can't accept limitations we are no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, someone died on your watch, you don't give up," Steve argued, just as defensive as the other man.

"Maybe you should. Did she not die in your arms?" Tony pointed at Kayla with his right arm, "You get a second chance with the woman of your dreams and you throw her right back into the fire. If you sign the Accords you can be with her. You'll only be called if the panel thinks you are needed." Tony crossed the kitchen to stand in front of Kayla, giving the blonde his full attention. "Don't you want that? To live a life without fear or danger."

"Unless its life or death. Then we get thrown back in. Only if the mission would kill the common man." Sam bit back, standing between Tony and Kayla, but their gazes never moved, only locked on each other.

"We are fighting those fights anyway Sam!" Rhodey joined, stepping closer to Kayla to argue with Sam again. "It's our job. But we can't just blow stuff up wherever we want, cause damage, destroy lives, and not be held accountable for it."

"This document just shifts the blame. We aren't taking responsibility for our actions if we don't have control over them." Steve added, still seated at the table, looking over his shoulder to Tony. "Even if it's the United Nations, even if 117 countries signed this, it's still an organization like the World Security Council. People with agendas and agendas change."

"That's why I'm here Steve, I realized I was hurting people and I stopped making weapons." Tony saw an opening, something Cap could understand. "I realized my weapons were in the wrong hands. Just like you realized S.H.I.E.L.D. had fallen into the wrong hands."

"You chose that Tony, if we sign this we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if they won't let us go somewhere we need to go? We may not be perfect but the safest hands are still our own." Steve argued, looking around at Natasha, Vision, and Wanda, trying to sway those who hadn't already decided.

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. It won't be pretty." Tony looked from Steve to Wanda, then back to Kayla. He knew his only chance at swaying the Captain was to sway his fiancé.

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda deadpanned, eyes locked on Stark.

"Yes. They'll come for you, they'll come for all of us." Tony looked to Wanda, then Steve, "They'll come for Kayla. They'll figure out who she is and then they'll take her back to her family and you'll never see her again. When they realize what she's created the government is going to commission her to create more serum and then we are back to where she started in this mess. Ross says he'll keep some secrets if we sign now. Sign now and you get to have your wedding. Reject the Accords and you might not be around to see it. None of us will."

Kayla grasped the back of Steve's chair, Tony's words sinking into her mind. The Accords were going to tear her world apart. Steve didn't turn around. He looked down at the table, wheels turning in his head. He didn't like being backed into a corner. He didn't like being bullied into doing something he didn't want to do.

"Maybe Tony's right."

Everyone, including Tony, turned to Natasha in shock. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take both hands off-"

Sam scoffed at Natasha's opinion, "Weren't you the woman who told the government to kiss your ass a few years ago?"

"I'm just reading the terrain." Natasha defended, stealing a quick glance at Wanda before turning back to Sam, "we've made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back. If they don't trust us they'll lock us away. And then who are we helping?"

"No one. We all lose." Kayla muttered.

"Are you okay?" Wanda asked, rising to step towards Kayla. She could see Kayla was struggling internally. She didn't want to sign the Accords. She didn't want to sign her life away. But she couldn't risk the fate she'd have instead if they didn't sign them. Finally, Steve turned to face his fiancé, and the look she gave him told him everything he needed to know.

She was siding with Tony.

"Kay, we can't sign this. We won't be free. How do we know they won't find out about you? If they are in control they'll know when you go on missions-"

"Then I won't go on missions." Kayla whimpered, "Then I'll stay home and you will too. Unless they really need us. We could have a real life."

"I can't turn away Kay. The world needs us. You know I can't turn my back on them."

Kayla nodded, sniffling back tears, "I know you can't. I know."

"I would sign if this is what was best for the team, but it's not. Believe me, it's not." Steve assured his girl, placing his hand on hers.

"I'm going to Vienna," Kayla said simply, offering no more plan or explanation. "I want to hear what they have to say."

Suddenly Steve's phone buzzed and he looked down, his expression falling drastically. "I have to go." He rose and walked away quickly, leaving Kayla at the back of his chair.

"He'll come around. Give him time." Natasha assured the blonde, but Wanda and Kayla shared a glance as Sam glared at the redhead.

"No. No, he won't. He's made up his mind, just like you have." Kayla turned to Tony. "I'm not going to sway him. But I'll talk to him."

"Yeah, tell him to act his age and not leave in the middle of a meeting just because people aren't agreeing with him." Rhodey sneered as Kayla took a step to leave.

"Watch your mouth, Rhodey," She threatened, green eyes hard as she looked over her shoulder, "He's still your Captain."

Author's Note: Thank you so much to d'elfe for leaving such a detailed review! Is it weird that I appreciate you seeing her immaturity? It's definitely on purpose, Kayla is all over the place by design. She can't decide what she wants because none of her options are great. When she started seeing Steve in secret it was fun to date Captain America, but now that this is her life she doesn't like her fiancé Steve being Captain America. It's very hard for her, because the two of them want different things, but they love each other. Of course the things coming ahead may or may put a strain on their relationship. I have all of Civil War written and the thing I love to play is that we as the audience know what's going to happen, even when the characters don't. So when some should, say, lie, we know it's not true and see the impending conflict that they don't.