It was getting ugly inside the Avengers HQ.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have," Rhodey said, arguing with Sam as Steve opened the Accords and read through it. The rest of the Avengers sat down and contemplated everything Secretary Ross told them. Wanda sat with Percy as he stared at the floor, zoning out, fist on his face. Wanda had her head placed on Percy's shoulder.

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam argued back.

"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it,'" Rhodey retorted.

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam said.

"And what about this guy here?" Rhodey suddenly said, pointing at Percy. The man in question perked up as all eyes were on him. "What was that little display Ross showed us about you? When did that happen?"

Percy took a deep breath as next to him, Wanda rubbed his shoulder. "It's okay, we won't judge you."

"I might," Rhodey contradicted.

"Percy," Steve encouraged. "Go on."

Percy cleared his throat. "That happened before I joined the Avengers. A while back. I was sort of … a vigilante, I guess, of the seas. But even before the events of Hong Kong happened, I rescued an ambassador that had been kidnapped and held for ransom by this ex-SHIELD agent, Tony Masters."

Natasha perked up at the mention of SHIELD.

"I rescued the guy but Masters managed to escape after SHIELD intervened. That's a bit of a long story," Percy continued. "Some time later, I get word that Masters is in Hong Kong. And it's kind of known around in Asia that the docks in Hong Kong is a sort of trading post for some of the worst corrupt people. So naturally, I went to investigate. Now, at first, I was only there for Tony Masters … but that turned into something way bigger …"

…

Atop a dock crane, Percy and Tony Masters duke it out in hand-to-hand combat. Percy blocked Tony's punch and swung back, striking his face. Tony enraged, punched Percy's stomach. Percy fired back, striking his chest and then his face again. Tony stumbled back and Percy kicked at his chest, sending him toppling. Tony managed to hold onto one of the legs of the crane before he decided to slide down to the bottom. Some nearby workers looked at Tony oddly before Percy jumped off the crane and summoned his trident and slammed it into the ground as he landed. Workers were really starting to notice them now and they got the attention of some undesirables.

A ashy-pale man in a suit stood with some other sketchy-looking people in business suits along with a guy wearing an FBI coat. The ashy guy looked enraged at the sight of Percy, who's still running at Tony. The other guys in business suits walk away while Percy manages to catch up to Tony and throws him backwards. Tony stands to his feet as Percy rushes him and is kicked away by Tony. Percy is then punched from behind by an unknown source and he falls face-first to the ground.

"You interrupted my meeting," the unrecognizable ashy guy said.

"Who the hell are you?" Percy responded, puzzled more than anything as he rubbed the back of his head.

"I … am … TOMBSTONE!"

Percy rolled away just Tombstone two-fist pounded the ground and caused a crack to appear in the asphalt. Tombstone reacted quickly and grabbed Percy and unexpectedly started to pummel the shit out of him. He tried to counter, but he found out the hard way this guy was as hard as … well, a tombstone. Punching him felt like punching like solid stone, and it hurt Percy's fist more than it hurt him.

Tombstone punched him hard one more time and Percy crashed into a pole. Percy grunted, the sense of getting beat down unfamiliar to him as Tony confidently stood next to him.

"Wow, he's really putting in work on you," Tony said, sounding impressed.

"What? You gonna join him?" Percy replied bitterly.

"I might," Tony mused.

Percy cracked his back as he stood up. "Nothing a little stretching won't shake off." He suddenly kicked Tony's stomach and sent him flying into a pile of barrels. One popped open and started leaking oil. Tony grunted as he laid in pain.

"You didn't see that coming," Percy boasted.

Now it was Tombstone's turn to attack Percy. He tried laying a good kick to the nether region but even that didn't work. Tombstone grabbed Percy and threw him, sending him flying into a container. The force of his throw popped the container right open and revealed what was inside.

Missiles.

Percy looked between the missiles and Tombstone. "Was this what you were getting?"

"Yes, but then you had to go interrupting the meeting," Tombstone growled. "And now, I don't get any missiles."

"They're here," Percy suggested. "You can still take them."

"Hm, maybe I will," Tombstone said and charged. "Argh!"

Percy rolled out of the way as Tombstone barreled past him and into the container. He came out with a missile in his hands. "Or maybe, I will do something ELSE with it!"

He flung the missile at Percy and he dove out of the way as it crashed into the barrels of oil. Percy could only watch as it caused a massive explosion that killed Tony Masters on the spot.

"You killed him!" Percy said, looking more disappointed than mad. "I was gonna turn him in. That was a lame way to go." Tombstone, unaffected, picked up another missile. "What? You gonna throw another missile at me?"

Percy summoned his trident to the rescue and flung it at Tombstone, hitting the missile which detonated in his face, knocking him flat out cold. The explosion also caused the other missiles to spark up, which spelled trouble for Percy.

Percy's face fell. "Oh … shit."

One by one, the missiles launched out of the container and Percy ducked to the ground as one whistled past him and missed him by an inch. Missiles started crashing and exploding everywhere. Dock workers that were still at the docks were now running for the lives as missiles flew everywhere and unfortunately for Percy, some of them were hit. Tombstone was clearly dead by now, having had a missile blow up in his face and Percy could only watch in devastation was the entire docks was lit up in flames caused by his attempt to stop Masters and Tombstone. The cherry of top was when a missile struck the crane and it fell on top of some escaping employees.

It was an utter devastation. And it did not look good on Percy's part.

…

Thinking back on it, Percy knew what Wanda felt when she let that bomb explode on the building in Lagos. The exact thing had happened to him at Hong Kong. He was back then, young and enthusiastic and a bit overzealous maybe. He was just getting started on this vigilante business. If it did that mission now, it would have been a different story. He would have been careful with how he approached it.

But he kind of just ... jumped at the occasion. And all that happened. He had to live with that. And he took full responsibility for it. But that didn't take away the fact that those two criminals had to be stopped.

Percy looked at Wanda, who was looking at him in a new light. Both in a good way and in a bad way. Like she knew now that Percy knew exactly what she was feeling, but perhaps, it wasn't all that great that it happened.

"The next day is when I found out the actual ... amount of damage that had been caused," Percy said. "Tombstone died, who I found out his real was Lonnie Thompson. Guy underwent some sort of procedure to turn his skin rock-hard. Tony Masters, he died. Those government officials, a missile hit their car as they were leaving. They died, too. But … a lot of dock workers died. And that's my only regret about that."

"Was it worth it?" Rhodey asked.

"In the grand scale of things," Percy started. "Tombstone and Tony Masters would have both hurt and probably killed a lot more people. I stopped that. Especially, Tombstone. That guy was basically a mob boss. I know how they operate. So yeah … I'd say it was damn well worth it."

Rhodey was looking at him bewilderedly.

"I'm sorry lives were lost," Percy said. "I really do try my best to keep innocent civilians out of my mess. We all do. In Lagos … we did. The bomb have would have killed several innocent civilians anyways … along with Steve."

Steve and Percy made eye contact.

"There's not much anybody can do about that," Percy continued. "Government workers like Secretary Ross, they don't get that. They're not in the playing field. They don't understand what it's like to be out there, risking our lives. They sit behind their desks and make rules they don't even understand. These … Sokovia Accords, it's all bullshit."

"Someone gets it," Sam muttered.

"Those people didn't have to die," Rhodey contradicted.

"I saved lives, Rhodey," Percy argued. "Tombstone especially, he would killed a lot more people than … than those that died at the docks."

"I disagree," he retorted.

"Then I guess, we can agree to disagree," Percy said, shrugging and finishing the topic there.

"I have an equation," Vision interjected.

"Oh go ahead, Vision," Percy replied, his tone clearly one of annoyance. "Let's hear it."

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate," Vision stated.

"So … what, it's our fault?" Percy questioned.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict … breeds catastrophe. Oversight … oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand," Vision said.

"Boom," Rhodey said.

"Boom what?" Percy questioned, pointedly scowling at Rhodey. "No offense, Vision, but you didn't really say anything productive. I mean, what are we supposed to do? Sit back and let it happen? Let the authorities handle the Nordic god of mischief … or a power-hungry AI? Or HYDRA? Oversight or not, we're the only ones capable of stopping these kinds of people."

"Exactly my point," Sam agreed.

"Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal," Natasha suddenly commented, looking over to the man in question, who was laying back on his couch.

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve muttered.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony muttered back, getting up from the couching, wincing and holding the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort." He walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a mug. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He put his phone in the fruit basket and tapped it. A holographic image of a young man was projected from the phone. Tony then made a show of pretending to notice it for the first time.

"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where, Sokovia."

The Avengers looked affected and Percy sighed, knowing where this was going.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." Tony took a pill and drank his coffee. "There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

Percy couldn't believe what he was hearing. Tony was … actually in favor of this? Rhodey was a government stooge, he expected it from him.

But not Tony.

Guess all the mental beatings he'd taken finally took a toll on him.

"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up," Steve argued.

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony said.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames," Steve said.

"I'm sorry. Steve. That - that is dangerously arrogant," Rhodey interjected.

Percy cut him off. "It's not arrogant. It's the truth. People died on our watch and we have to take responsibility. But we do try our best to save as many lives as possible." Percy and Wanda looked at each other. "It's all any one of us can do."

"This is the United Nations we're talking about, Percy," Rhodey argued. "It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change," Steve retorted.

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing," Tony said.

"Tony, you chose to do that. 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 there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own," Steve said.

"Exactly," Percy agreed.

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty," Tony said.

"You're saying they'll come for me," Wanda said.

"Absolutely not, not if I have anything to say about it," Percy immediately replied. "And we also do have another option."

"Like what?"

Percy shrugged. "Maybe … we call it quits."

Wanda grimaced.

"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha said.

Percy stared at Natasha, slack-jawed.

"If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off -"

"Nat, y-you're joking, right?" Percy asked.

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam added.

"I'm just … I'm reading the terrain. We have made … some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back," Nat said.

Percy shook his head. "Of course that's what she thinks."

"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asked.

"Oh, I want to take it back now," she retorted.

Tony waggled a finger at her. "No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed - I win."

Steve seemed to check his phone and see something upsetting before he abruptly stood up. "I have to go."

Wanda's face dropped into her hands. "This is bad."

Percy rubbed her back.

"Maybe it's for the better," Wanda suggested, sounding conflicted.

Percy sighed. "Honestly … maybe we do need to be kept in check, but definitely not under the United States government. Or any government for that matter. Like Steve said, politicians have agendas and we're gonna end up being more like super-powered soldiers. And unlike soldiers, we're supposed to have the right to go anywhere we want. Soldiers choose the army. We wouldn't be able to. I know for a fact the government will have us doing shit we don't want to do."

"I'm scared, Percy," Wanda admitted.

Percy grimaced. "Maybe we should do the other thing Ross mentioned."

"Retire?"

Percy shrugged. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea. I'd take that over the Sokovia Accords."

"And we would go live like normal people?" Wanda asked.

"As normal as we can be," Percy said. "While being well … an Atlantean who controls water and a Sokovian who can move things with her mind."

Wanda snorted, smiling. "Yeah. As normal as we can be."

Wanda leaned her head on Percy's chest and he kissed the top of her head, smelling her shampoo. "Don't worry, Wanda. I swear on my life, I won't let anything bad happen to you."