Thaddeus Ross stood at the head of a table. Rhodey, Natasha, Steve, Tony, Sam, Vision, and Wanda were gathered around the man.
"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back swing. 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. The world owes the Avengers an un-payable 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."
"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha 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?" Turning on a screen behind him Ross turned back to the group as footage flashed up. "New York, Washington DC, Sokovia, Lagos…" he said as the footage showed a burning building and Paramedics moving a body. Steve shifted uncomfortably.
"Okay, that's enough." He said as Ross nodded to an aid and the images disappeared.
"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That is an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." Placing a thick document on the desk Ross passed it to Wanda who took it tentatively, sliding it to Rhodey the rest looked back to Ross. "The Sokovia Accords, approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organisation. Instead, they'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; I feel we've done that." Steve told Ross firmly.
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked him. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise, reassurance, that's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." He continued as Steve looked away angrily.
"So, there are contingencies." Rhodes commented.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. Talk it over," he told them as Steve and Tony's eyes met one another.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked.
"Then you retire," Ross answered simply.
The Avengers had all gathered at the HQ, Steve sat studying the accords as the other talked amongst themselves.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey said glibly.
"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?"
"117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, "No, that's cool. We got it."
"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam answered back angrily.
"I have an equation," Vision said quietly.
"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam replied.
"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."
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked.
"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." He finished.
"Boom" Rhodey replied.
"Tony, you are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal." Natasha said to Tony who was lying on a couch.
"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve interjected.
"Boy, you know me so well." He said as he held the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." Walking to the kitchen Tony grabbed himself a mug. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Putting his phone in a basket and tapping it. Tony looked at the projection of an image of a smiling young man. "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." Seeing everybody blanche at his words Tony continued on. "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." Taking a pill with his coffee, he looked to the others. "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."
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve replied.
"Who said we're giving up?" Tony countered angrily.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." He replied.
"I'm sorry Steve. That… that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA." Rhodey chimed in,
"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve said coolly.
"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 stop manufacturing."
"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 stood with hands on his hips as he spoke.
"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."
"You're saying they'll come for me?" Wanda asked.
"We would protect you," Vision told her.
"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha interrupted surprising Tony. "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 a few years ago?" Sam asked.
"I'm just . . . I'm 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." Natasha rolled her eyes.
"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed-I win." Steve's phone buzzed in his pocket, pulling it out he slowly read the message on the screen, 'She's gone. In her sleep'
"I have to go," he said quickly as he stood sharply and dropped the Accords on the coffee table leaving everybody staring after him. Once outside he couldn't help but stop at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the banister he bowed his head.
Alice sat in the Cathedral, packed with mourners she watched as Steve carried the coffin draped with the Union flag down the aisle. She could tell by the redness in his eyes that he had been crying, looking to the alter she saw that a candle burned by a framed photograph of Peggy Carter in a military uniform. The label read 'Margaret 'Peggy' Carter', seeing that Steve was heading her way she gave him the smallest of smiles and as he sat beside her in the pew she wordlessly put her hand on his knee. When he grasped it in his own and squeezed Alice turned forward and swallowed the lump in her throat. She had been to countless funerals, her occupation sometimes spilling into her life. She had seen numerous people go to their next life. She had spoken at some, been a guest at others. When Steve had come into their living quarters with a face full of sorrow it wasn't the first time she had seen it. She had been quiet, supportive, asked if he wanted her there. She had gone with him. Seeing all the people paying their respects had been more than she had expected. Steve had had another life and now more than ever she realised that. Her black dress and petite hat felt inconsequential compared to the pomp and circumstance that surrounded her.
"And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words." Alice didn't see Steve's eyes fall upon the young woman but she heard him take a breath and when she glanced at him she could see something playing out over his features she couldn't work out.
"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD... but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy." As Steve squeezed Alice's hand once more, almost to the point of it being painful Alice knew that this woman meant something to him, how she wasn't sure and it certainly wasn't the time and place to ask. That would simply have to wait. "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related." As the woman looked directly at Steve Alice felt the urge to pull her hand away but resisted. "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise where you can. But 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."
Steve stood alone in the isle, hearing footsteps he expected to see Alice but it was Natasha walking towards him.
"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out that she was alive, I was just lucky to have her." He told her quietly.
"She had your back, too." She replied.
"Who else signed?"
"Tony, Rhodey, Vision."
"Clint?" he asked.
"Says he's retired," she told him smiling slightly.
"Wanda?"
"TBD, I'm off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords. There's plenty of room on the jet." Steve sighed and bowed his head. "Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together."
"What are we giving up to do it?" shaking his head he looked back up at her. "I'm sorry, Nat. I can't sign it."
"I know," pulling him into a hug Natasha saw Alice standing tentatively in the large doorway. "I'm glad you're not alone Steve," she told him. Steve looked up and seeing who Natasha was looking at smiled.
"Thank you."
Alice had silently stayed by Steve's side as they had arrived at the wake, allowing him to decide who to speak to and where to sit. This was friends and family of a woman he had loved another lifetime ago, seeing his hand shake she gave it a squeeze and as her eye's travelled to his she saw that he was looking at Sharon Carter.
"I'll be back in a minute alright," she told him gently. Going to the bar she ordered two beers and took them back to him, all the while Steve watching her closely. "Go and have a chat," she said as she handed him the drinks. Steve creased his brow at her.
"Alice I…" he started.
"Steve, go and have a chat alright. It seems that you two have some things to work out." She told him pointedly. Steve slowly nodded, torn up in his own emotions.
"Alice I…" he started once more and Alice laughed, pushing him away and looking at him through her lashes wordlessly telling him not to worry. After a pause he moved away from Alice and towards Sharon who looked at him and smiled.
"Hey Steve," she greeted him as he jutted his head towards an empty seat near the window. Walking next to her Steve set the two beers down and watched as Sharon sat opposite him.
"So…" he started, not quite sure what to say.
"My Mom tried to talk me out of enlisting... but, um, not Aunt Peggy. She bought me my first thigh holster."
"Very practical," Steve grinned as his thoughts were more about Peggy than anything else.
"And stylish," Sharon added.
"CIA has you stationed over here now?" he asked.
"Berlin, Joint Terrorism Task Force."
"Right, right. Sounds fun," he said as his eyes quickly scanned the rest of the room. Not seeing Alice worried him.
"I know, right!"
"I've been meaning to ask you, when you were spying on me from across the hall..." Steve asked.
"You mean when I was doing my job," Sharon replied.
"Did Peggy know?" he asked her quietly.
"She kept so many secrets, I didn't want her to have one from you." Sharon said gently. "I thought I saw you here with someone?" Sharon asked tentatively and Steve smiled.
"I am, Alice." He answered, watching Sharon smile at him warmly.
"Aunt Peggy would approve I think, she looks like a great woman." Steve nodded slowly, feeling fortunate to have had so many wonderful women in his life.
"She is, thank you Sharon." Steve saw Sam walking towards him.
"There's something you gotta see."
Alice felt someone grab her hand from behind, as she turned away from the crowd she saw Steve pull her out and away.
"Are you alright?" she asked concerned, her eyes searching his.
"There's been an explosion…"
"Oh God!" Alice exclaimed as her hand came to her mouth.
"I have to go," he told her quietly as she nodded quickly.
"Of course," she answered.
"Alice, I need to tell you… I need to let you know…" Steve struggled with his words, his thoughts being pulled in all directions.
"It's alright Steve, it can wait."
"It can't wait Alice," he told her.
"No," she agreed. A tear in her eye. "But it will have to," kissing him softly she pushed against his chest. "Go Steve, I'll see you at home." Her words struck him like a freight train, 'home', he had a home.