The fallout from Lagos was bad. Several people died and more were injured. The news was coming after Wanda and the girl was scared. She felt so guilty even though Steve and Cassidy tried to talk to her and make her understand that sometimes bad things happen on missions they can't always control. She hadn't come out of her room much the past month and she was too afraid to leave the compound.

Cassidy hadn't even left the compound in the last month. She had been having nightmares about Rumlow and the gun aimed against her temple. She could never erase the terrified look on Steve's face as he wondered if he would have to watch her die.

She'd become almost numb; it was like she couldn't feel anything anymore because she was afraid all she'd feel was pain and guilt. She'd been pulling away from Steve unintentionally and she could see that she was hurting him. She didn't mean to though, it's just after everything that happened in Sokovia and now Lagos and being a constant shoulder for Nat since they still hadn't found Bruce yet, it was all starting to become too much for her.

She just wanted to feel normal again.

She was sitting on the ground against the building when Tony pulled up with a black SUV behind him. The Secretary of state got out of the black car and Tony motioned for him to go inside, walking over to her. He plopped down next to her and looked out over the lawn.

"Ah, it's so nice not having Thor destroying the lawn every day." He joked. Cassidy looked down to where she was picking at the grass with her fingers.

"Come on kid, lighten up." Tony said softly, nudging her shoulder. Cassidy tried to give him her best fake smile, the smile she'd been giving everyone, but it didn't work on him though.

"I just want it to all go away Tony, I don't want to feel like this anymore." Tony sighed and stood, holding his hand out to her.

"Come on, I think I have an idea that can help us all"

Cassidy followed Tony into the compound and down to the conference room where the rest of the team and Senator Ross were waiting. She took a seat by Steve and tensed slightly when he put his hand on her leg. He noticed.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack." Ross started. "And dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the army had never taught me. Perspective."

Cassidy had a bad feeling about this. She glanced over at Tony, who nodded at her.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some, who would prefer the word 'vigilantes."

"What word would you use Mr. Secretary?" Nat asked.

"How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US-based enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders, and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who frankly seem unconcerned about what they leave behind."

Ross steps out of the way and pulls up several videos up on the screen. Clips of New York and the destruction the Hulk left behind. Washington DC. The Helicarriers crashing into the ground. Sokovia. An entire country destroyed because they couldn't stop Ultron. Cassidy's hands started shaking and her breath became shallow when the videos from Lagos came up. Wanda couldn't even look at the screen and she felt Steve's hand squeeze her thigh.

"Okay, that's enough." Steve told him. Ross nodded and turned the tv off.

"For the past four years, you've 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." Ross picked up a very large book and dropped it on the table with a thud.

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, you'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place." Steve said. "I feel we've done that."

"Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked. Cassidy looked over to Nat, who was staring at her lap.

"This is the middle ground." Ross told them.

It was Rhodey who spoke up. "So, there will be contingencies?"

Ross nodded. "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Steve looked back at Tony, and it dawned on him that Tony had been planning this meeting with Ross for days. Cassidy was hurt that he hadn't said anything sooner, and she knew Steve would be pissed too.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asked. Ross stopped and turned to look at her.

"Then you retire."

Cassidy followed everyone down to the common area to talk it out. Clearly she knew what side Tony was on, but she honestly wasn't sure herself. Steve would probably side against the Accords, he didn't want to be controlled and Cassidy knew that.

Steve was looking over the Accords while Rhodey and Sam bickered in the background. Guess they knew what side Rhodey was on.

"How long before they lojack us like a bunch of criminals?" Sam asked.

"117 countries wanna sign this." Rhodey told them. "117 Sam, and you're just like 'no that's cool, we got it',"

"I have an equation." Vision interjected.

"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 as a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked.

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

Vision had a point. Across all Shields files, the amount of other worldly incidents rose after Tony outed himself, more so after Thor landed on earth. The Avengers being around is just asking for all enhanced individuals, aliens, and anyone that thinks they could take over the world, now has a reason to want to come out.

"Tony." Nat said. "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve told her.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Boy you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He got up and went into the kitchen, bitching about the coffee grounds in the sink, which may or may not have been Cassidy, but she wasn't about to open her mouth.

Tony threw up a picture of a young boy and told them that he had died in Sokovia while doing mission work there. That's why they needed the Accords. Cassidy felt like maybe they needed to be controlled, maybe they didn't need to be able to go off wherever they thought they were needed. Maybe they should let the government decide that for them.

"We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game."

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

"Who said we're giving up."

"We are if were not taking responsibility for our actions."

"Maybe this way, we can," Cassidy said softly. Everyone's head snapped in her direction and she took a big breath before she spoke.

"Look. We save the world, and we do a damn good job of it, but look at the destruction that we leave in our wake. We can't just throw money at a country or city we've destroyed and think that it's gonna make it all better. Maybe we need to let someone else decide when the Avengers are actually needed." She glanced at Steve and he was glaring at her as if he was seeing red.

"If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve said in a tone Cassidy never wanted to hear again. "What if this panel send us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there's somewhere we think we should go and they won't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later." Tony told them.

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

"We would protect you." Vision told her.

"Maybe Tony's right." Cassidy choked on her water and looked to Nat with wide eyes. Hell really had frozen over. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off…"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass?" Sam asked.

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

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

"Oh, I want to take it back now." Nat said, regretting her words.

"I have to go." Steve said, getting up and leaving. Cassidy stood and went after him, finding him in the stairwell.

"Hey, is everything okay?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Peggy died." Cassidy's heart broke for him and she stepped to him and grabbed his hand.

"I'm so sorry Steve." Steve pulled his hand away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"How could you side with Tony over the accords?" He asked. Cassidy looked down, putting her arms around her middle.

"I'm just tired of all the death and destruction Steve, aren't you?"

There were a few moments of silence before Steve spoke.

"I have to go to her funeral. I'll see you when I get back." He turned and walked down the stairs, leaving her there shocked.