Guest: Not for a few months, at least. Outside a rare one-shot, I'm taking a sabbatical of sorts from writing Arrowverse fan fiction.

New York

Morning

Merlin was sitting at his regular table in the café, deep in thought. It had been three days since Arthur had left and, unfortunately, they had been unsuccessful in locating him. Gwen's contacts at the New York Bulletin had not turned up anything, and Merlin's own job at the police station hadn't given him any new leads. Arthur was apparently lying low for now.

Merlin was broken out of his thoughts when a cup of coffee was placed in front of him.

"You alright? You seem preoccupied," Morgana noted.

"Fine. Just a lot on my mind," Merlin said honestly.

"Wanna talk about it?" Morgana asked and he chuckled.

"I'd take up too much of your time and I don't think your boss would appreciate that," Merlin pointed out.

"Probably not," Morgana agreed before paused. "I get off at six. Maybe we can go to dinner and talk?"

"Are you asking me out on a date?" Merlin asked after a moment.

"It's only a date if you want it to be," Morgana said with a shrug.

Merlin was racked with indecision. Part of him felt that getting so close to Morgana was a bad idea. But, he reasoned, the only way to figure out how much she knew was by getting close.

"Okay," Merlin gave in. "But it's not a date."

"Well, pick me up for our not date at six," Morgana said amused before walking off.

As he watched her walk away, Merlin wondered what he had just gotten himself into.

Safe house

Same time

In the safe house, Clint was trying to make it more bearable for his family. In the basement, he was tightening a bolt on the water heater before putting it down. Turning it on, he smiled as he saw it working.

Walking up the stairs, he found his wife in the kitchen, drinking coffee.

"Water heater's fixed," he said as he closed the basement door.

"Good," Laura said and it was silent for a moment.

"I'm trying Babe," Clint said and she looked up at him.

"I know you are. I don't blame you for this, neither do the kids. You did what you thought was right, I knew who you were when I married you," Laura said as he sat down across from her. "You can't blame yourself."

"But I do. I trusted him," Clint said lowly, clenching his hands into fists. "I trusted Tony Stark with you and our kids. And he exposed it to Ross. I never should have trusted him."

"You made the best decision you could have at the time. No one but Tony Stark is responsible for what he said and did. Don't blame yourself for his actions," Laura told him.

Clint opened his mouth to respond when he paused. Then, he jumped to his feet.

"Get the kids and head into the basement," Clint ordered.

The tone of his voice let Laura know this was not up for debate. As she called out for the kids, heading over to get Nate from his carrier, Clint opened the closet, grabbing his bow and quiver.

As Laura took the kids downstairs, Clint rushed up to the second floor. Using the window as a vantage point, Clint opened it and notched as a car rolled up onto the driveway. The car stopped and Clint was tense before the passenger side door opened up and Natasha Romanoff got out. Clint nearly dropped the bow in relief.

"You gonna shoot or open the door?" she asked, looking at the window with a smirk.

Chuckling, Clint put the bow down before beginning to walk the stairs.

"It's alright, you can come up now," Clint stopped to shout towards the basement before walking towards the front door.

Laura, Nate in her arms, emerged from the basement with Lila and Cooper just as Clint opened the front door. On the front porch was Natasha, along with Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson and Wanda Maximoff.

"Auntie Nat!" Lila squealed as she rushed towards Natasha.

As Natasha hugged Lila, Laura and Cooper joined Clint in greeting the other Avengers entered.

"Mrs. Barton," Steve said politely. "It's good to see you again, although I wish the circumstances were better."

"Me to. And please, call me Laura," Laura said politely before turning to Sam and Wanda. "I don't believe we've met though."

"I'm Sam," Sam said politely, holding out a hand to her.

"Laura," she said politely, turning to eldest son. "This is Cooper. And you've already met Lila."

"Nice to meet you kid," Sam said politely.

Cooper simply nodded, not sure what to think of Sam just yet.

"And you must be Wanda," Laura said as she turned to the final member of their party. "I've heard so much about you."

"How you doing kid?" Clint asked her, his eyes concerned.

"Better," Wanda said, her hand unconsciously going to her neck, where the burns of the shock collar had been healed by the Wakandian medics.

"Wakanda's medical care is pretty great," Sam noted.

"Where's Lang?" Clint asked, noticing the absence of Scott for the first time.

"He stayed behind in Wakanda, said he couldn't leave his daughter. T'Challa said he'd help Scott work out a deal with the government," Steve explained.

"Well, I hope he knows what he's doing," Clint muttered.

With a man like Ross involved in these things, who knows what could happen.

"So what's the plan now Cap?" Clint asked later as the Avengers all sat around the kitchen table, Laura having taken the kids upstairs so they could talk privately.

"Innocent people are in danger, from our own government," Steve said after a moment. "I have to help them. Even if that means going against them."

"I figured you'd say that. I can't go with you this time. With Ross knowing about my family…I can't take that risk," Clint said regretfully.

"We know Clint," Natasha told him kindly.

"We just came to make sure you were all alright," Steve assured him and Clint smiled weakly.

"Thanks Cap."

Suddenly, they all froze when they heard someone knocking on the front door.

"You expecting someone?" Sam asked Clint.

"No," Clint said lowly.

On instinct, they moved into position. Clint grabbed a small knife that he concealed under his sleeve as he headed towards the door. Steve and Wanda moved towards two hidden vantage points close to the door, ready to intervene if there was a threat. Natasha and Sam stepped further back, both bringing out pistols to shoot if necessary. Wearily, Clint turned the door knob and opened the door, staring in surprise at who was on the other side of the door.

"I leave you all alone for five minutes and you can't even stop arguing long enough to deal with the UN," Nick Fury said, annoyed as he glared at Clint.

New York

Afternoon

In a New York Police Department precinct, the Captain was in his office when his door opened. He looked up to see Brett Mahoney walk in with purpose.

"Mahoney. Shouldn't you be at your desk?" The Captain inquired.

"No, I'm where I should be," Brett said as he walked up the Captain. "I've wanted to be a cop my whole life, because I wanted to help people. To put away the criminals. But with these Accords…all we do is go after innocent people for Accords violations. Three days ago was the last straw. Foggy Nelson may be a pain in the ass, but he's a good man. If he's the kind of people we put away now, then I'm done."

To the Captain's shock, Brett placed his badge and gun on his desk before walking out of the room.

As Brett walked out of the station with his head held high, Merlin watched him go uneasily. If someone like Brett Mahoney was quitting the force, it was a sign of how bad things were. Maybe Arthur was right, Merlin thought as he looked down at his own badge. Maybe it was time to make a stand.

Safe house

Same time

"Seriously, you couldn't stop fighting long enough to tell Ross where to shove it?" Fury ranted as he and the Avengers stood in the kitchen.

"Most of us did," Natasha said pointedly. "Tony wouldn't listen to reason on the Accords. He was too consumed with his guilt over Ultron."

"Um, didn't you sign them to?" Sam asked pointedly.

"Someone had to keep an eye on Tony," Natasha shrugged.

"We all did the best we could," Steve said, looking at Fury unflinchingly. "Mistakes were made, on both sides, but what's done is done. And I don't think you came here to tell us how disappointed you were."

"You're right, I didn't," Fury agreed after a moment. "There are actually bigger problems."

"What, worse than the Accords?" Clint asked for clarification.

"I still have contacts in the government. And they say that someone else is pulling the strings," Fury said and the room was silent.

"You mean that Ross is a figurehead?" Wanda asked.

"I'm not sure. But my contacts say that Ross is meeting someone. He's been heard in his office, talking to someone. A woman. But they know she's not someone Ross wants certain people to know about, he denies any meetings when confronted about it and she always leaves later on, discreetly," Fury explained.

"Maybe Ross has something going on he doesn't want anyone to know about," Clint suggested.

"If Ross was having an affair, there are far more convenient places he could meet her besides his office," Natasha argued.

"Ross's appointment to Secretary of Defense never made much sense to begin with," Fury said as they turned back to him. "His role in Banner becoming Hulk and Harlem has always been an open secret in DC. That anyone would trust him enough to let him have such a position in our government is next to impossible."

"So you're saying this woman might be pulling Ross's strings?" Sam asked.

"I don't know," Fury admitted. "But too many things are happening at once: The Accords, this woman meeting with Ross, Zemo, it all feels too convenient. And when things happen like this at the same time, usually someone is behind it all."

New York

Night

In a restaurant, Merlin walked in, feeling underdressed. It was a nice restaurant and he hadn't had time to go home and change, so he was dressed in more casual clothes. But it's not like it was a date or anything, Merlin thought to himself.

As he looked around, Merlin spotted Morgana, reading a menu while sitting at a table for two. As he approached her, Merlin's unease lessened slightly as he saw Morgana was also dressed in casual clothes.

"Hey," Morgana said as she looked up from her menu and saw him.

"Hey," Merlin greeted as he sat across from her. "Sorry I'm late, work ran a little longer than I expected."

"You're not late," Morgana quickly assured him. "I just got here a few minutes ago actually."

Merlin nodded as he picked up a menu. But he was only half paying attention, his mind focusing on this evening. He needed to get close to her, he knew. Most importantly, he needed to get Morgana to trust him. That might be the key to figuring out how to determine how much Morgana remembered and what her role in these events might be.

In his family butcher shop, Theo Nelson was cutting some meat when he paused, hearing something.

"Hello? Anyone there?" Theo called out.

There was no response. Theo almost thought he'd imagined it when, suddenly, he was grabbed from behind. Theo dropped the butcher knife he was holding as he was slammed against the wall. Theo looked startled at a man dressed in a black mask that covered the top half of his standing in front of him. Theo had heard the reports enough to know who this man was.

It was Daredevil.

"Please, I didn't do anything," Theo pleaded fearfully.

"You helped your brother try to smuggle Luke Cage out of the city," Daredevil pointed out.

"So what, now you're for the Accords?" Theo asked fearfully.

"No, I'm not. And I'm not here to beat you up," Daredevil said, releasing Theo and lowering his hands to his side. "I'm here to help you."

"Help me? Help me how?" Theo asked, bewildered and confused.

"Someone called in a tip that you were helping Luke Cage get out of New York. The only way they could have known that was if they worked at your butcher shop," Daredevil explained and Theo took a moment to process this piece of information.

"No. We treat our employees like family, they'd never rat me out," Theo said in denial.

"Not willingly," Daredevil agreed. "Not unless someone forced them to."

"What, like blackmail?" Theo asked in confusion.

"Exactly like blackmail. Someone with something to lose was forced to by someone else to turn you in. And I need your help to figure out who," Daredevil said.

"My brother's in prison because of those damn Accords. Just tell me what I gotta do," Theo said eagerly.

In the city, Spider-Man was swinging from his webs across the city when he heard a cry. No, not a cry, a woman's terrified scream. Immediately, he began to swing towards it.

Less than a minute later, he found a woman, who couldn't have been much older than Wanda Maximoff, was being held down by a man in an alley. He was clearly trying to force himself on her. Enraged, Peter was about to intervene when someone else beat him to the punch.

Literally. Someone else entered the ally and punched the man in the face. The man loosened his grip on the woman when the unknown person suddenly kicked him in the side, forcing him off. As the man rolled away and pulled himself to his feet, the unknown person stepped into view of a nearby traffic light, revealing their identity.

It was a blond man, mid to late twenties, Peter had to guess. He had piercing blue eyes and his chin had a few days' worth of stubble on it. He was wielding a sword as a look of pure rage marred his handsome face.

"A man who forces himself on a woman is not a man at all," he sneered.

"Why don't you mind your own business man?" the would be rapist snarled as he got to his feet.

Pulling out a knife, he foolishly attempted to strike the blond man. However, the blond man blocked with his sword. He swung his sword and, to the shock of the man, the woman and Peter, his knife seemed to explode. The attacker was thrown back, hitting the alley wall with such force that his neck snapped. His lifeless body went down to the ground in a heap and the blond man stared, startled. He hadn't been expecting such a display of power, clearly.

Then he shook his head, lowering is sword as he turned to the woman, who was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Are you alright?' the blond man asked gently, kneeling down while at the same time maintaining a distance.

"Yes. Thank you. Thank you," she repeated, tears welling up in her eyes.

"You need not thank me," the blond man said as he offered her his hand, which she took. "I merely did what was right."

"You're a hero," the woman praised as he helped her to her feet and the blond man smiled tightly.

"No, I'm not," he said simply. "You should get home or to the police. It's not safe for you out here."

"Wait," the woman called out as the man turned to leave. "Who are you?"

The man was silent for a long moment. Peter waited, as curious as the woman as to the identity of this man.

"Ronin. You may call me Ronin," he said before he walked off, disappearing into the shadows.

And Peter used his webs, swinging after the blond man. He wasn't sure what to think of Ronin (which Peter kind of doubted was his real name) but he figured he should at least track him down. You can never be too careful after all.

I know the Avengers have mostly been absent from the story so far, but they'll start to play more of a role from this point on.

Natasha signing the Accords never made any sense to me. Between Hydra and the Red Room, she has even more reason than Steve to distrust the government. The theory that Natasha was a double agent for Team Cap makes a lot more sense to me.

And now Arthur has officially adopted the name of Ronin. And I think we all know what follows now.