Thanks as always for your patience guys when I take a week off - this chapter is definitely the better for it, I didn't want to rush this one. Enjoy x

Avengers Facility, Upstate New York

"Say what you're gonna say, punk."

Steve glanced up at Bucky's wry tone. They were on one of their walks through the forest around the Facility. The Facility was becoming more crowded these days, with more and more people brought in to work on the Amended Accords, so it was getting harder to stay out of sight of everyone but the Avengers. The forest was one of the few places they could roam freely.

But Steve had been walking more quietly than usual, looking contemplative even as he climbed over tree roots and held back branches that Bucky couldn't reach with his one arm. Bucky had known the guy since before sliced bread, he knew when something was on Steve's mind.

Steve eyed Bucky a moment, then shrugged. He let out a breath. "I just wanted to say that… I'm happy for you, Buck." He turned to smile at him.

Ah. This was about yesterday, when they'd got the news about the others being let out of the Raft, and Bucky had completely forgotten himself.

But Steve stayed smiling. "It worried me at first, you and her. I tried to… warn you off, I suppose. But now I've seen it, it makes sense." His mouth curved. "You're both very similar."

Bucky snorted. "Similar?"

"Yeah. Smart, brave, fast with a joke, pain in my ass…" Steve laughed at the look on Bucky's face. "I've seen for a while how good she is for you. I don't think I got a real clear idea of who you were now, until I saw you with her."

"Who I am now," Bucky said, trudging down the forest path. "So not… like how I used to be?"

For a moment there was no sound other than their footsteps in the underbrush. Warm sunlight filtered down through the canopy.

"I don't think any of us are," Steve said softly. "She's not, either. But I've never seen her smile like that, the way she does with you. Tony sees it too, I can tell." Bucky nodded. Meg had said it offhand - my brother figured out about us - and had then had to talk him through his initial panic. Tony, for his part, had been… surprisingly normal. Bucky suspected Meg had warned him off from being… from being all Tony about it.

Steve smiled again, as if sensing Bucky's thoughts. "Y'know, when I met Maggie she was… brilliant, and funny, and driven, but she kept so much of herself hidden. It meant I didn't entirely trust her. Now, with you, she's more honest. She slows down. It's nice."

Bucky thought about that for a while, his eyes on his hand as he walked. "I got real lucky, Steve," he said softly. The last few weeks… he'd have said they felt like a dream, if he hadn't felt so present, like he was able to enjoy every moment. He slept easier with Meg beside him, and waking up next to her... it felt exciting. Like the day had already started better for having her there.

"You sure did," Steve agreed, which made Bucky laugh. Steve clapped him on the shoulder. "Ain't no way you'd have landed a woman like that in 1944."

"I hardly landed her," Bucky laughed. "She.. she picked me and started running, and I'm sure as hell not going to stop running with her." He smiled down at his hand. "I really don't want to screw this up."

"You won't," Steve said confidently. "And if you do, you talk about it, you both work on it. You've done it a hundred times already."

Huh. Surprisingly wise. Bucky blew out a breath and nodded. "I gotta get myself right, too. Somehow figure out… how to go legit. I can't go on the run again, not when we've only just started."

Steve's hand squeezed his shoulder a little tighter, then released. "We'll figure it out. We're still… still waiting for something to happen with those amended Accords, but the blood's in the water, now. No way of taking it back."

Bucky wondered who the sharks were.

He let out a long sigh, and for a few minutes they walked in silence.

Then, Bucky glanced at his friend. "We gotta get you a dame."

Steve sighed and tipped his head back. "Maybe you haven't changed much after all."

Vision played chess by himself in the common room, one hand on his chin and his eyes, despite being focused on the game, somehow far away. There was a StarkPad open on the table beside him, displaying the images of the captive Avengers on the Raft. They were the stills Maggie had captured when she hacked the Raft.

Maggie, between two meetings and holding back a yawn, came across this scene and decided she couldn't walk past. She sat down opposite Vision on the common room couch, and began to silently play against him. He dragged out the game, but eventually defeated her.

Maggie knocked her king over, then looked up into her friend's face. "Still running probabilities, Vis?" For a few days it had been all he could talk about; 34% probability the captive Avengers are released on parole. 42% probability the United Nations accept the Amended Accords. No one else in the Facility had enjoyed hearing the numbers, and Maggie doubted Vision enjoyed giving them.

He had also been anxiously following the news of Wanda, Sam, Clint and Scott's transfer from the Raft. They were all currently in a New York penitentiary, and Maggie, Pepper, and Tony had deployed an army of lawyers. No sign of visitation or parole yet on the horizon.

"I cannot seem to make my mind not perform the calculations," Vision said hesitantly, as he cleared the chessboard. "But I have been practicing the grounding techniques you taught me and they have been helping somewhat."

"We'll get them out," she said reassuringly. "Natasha says that with the way the wind's blowing, there might even be chances of full pardons on the horizon. Maybe even for her and Steve."

He nodded slowly, but she could see something still troubling him.

She smiled. "Don't tell me the statistics on that."

He returned her smile, but only for a moment. "You do not mention a pardon for Bucky."

She tipped her head back. "That's… a little more complicated. But hey. One thing at a time, I'll get there. Don't rush me."

He nodded. "You… care a great deal for him."

"Yes." She levelled her gaze on Vision, watching the calculations and shifts in his deep maroon face.

"I believe… I observed that. Several months ago."

She smiled. "I'm not surprised. You're very perceptive. You may have known before I did."

He rubbed a hand along his metal jaw. "I wonder if that is a common thing. One's peers sensing a connection before oneself." He looked off into the middle distance.

Maggie's heart twisted for him. It was scary enough navigating the world as a regular ass human. What must it be like to be the first and only of your kind?

She reached out and laid her hand on his, making him glance up in surprise. "Part of learning to be a person," she said cautiously, "Is allowing yourself to be happy, Vision. And your peers…" she raised an eyebrow, "just want to see you happy as well."

"Yes," he said, a little puzzled. "I know."

She sighed and patted his hand. "You probably dislike the phrase go with your gut as much as I do. It's annoying. But Vision…" she glanced at the StarkPad, at the image of Wanda. "Go with your gut."

He appeared to catch her meaning, and his brow knotted. "I believe… you may be very perceptive as well, Ms Stark." The use of her last name told her how troubled he was. She squeezed his hand, trying to think of what else she could say to ease his anxieties.

But the common room door slid open just as she opened her mouth.

"Hey, Maggie, are you - oh, sorry."

Darcy winced as she realized she'd walked in on a moment between Maggie and Vision, and made to retreat, but Maggie held up a hand.

"No, it's okay. What's up?"

Darcy eased back in through the doorway. She'd arrived at the Facility a few days ago, to help them develop their Amended Accords. Jane Foster had been called in too, to consult on how intergalactic contact might impact the Accords legislation, and Darcy had volunteered to come with; not because I'm a particular expert in anything yet, she'd said, but I'm a good all-rounder. And I can remind you people what a regular human looks like. It had convinced Maggie. So Jane and Darcy (completing her astrophysics work remotely) joined the steadily growing crowd of people at the Avengers Facility.

Darcy adjusted her glasses. "Steve asked me if I could talk to the guy from the UN Division Roster of Experts on his behalf, since he's officially not here, but to be quite honest I don't feel qualified to speak on behalf of the Avengers, so could you come with?"

Maggie smiled. "For what it's worth, Darcy, Steve wouldn't have asked if he didn't think you could do it."

Darcy's cheeks flushed. "Okay, and I love that in principle, but would you please come babysit me?" Her eyes darted to Vision. "Only if you're not busy."

Maggie glanced back at Vision, her hand still on his. He dipped his head once, and his fingers squeezed hers for a moment before he pulled away.

"Okay." Maggie stood up. "Babysitter incoming."

After sitting in on Darcy's meeting with the representative from the UN Division Roster of Experts (where she barely had to say anything, of course), Maggie realized she had a spare half an hour.

Normally she'd go spend this time with Bucky, but she knew he was out in the forest right now (one of the only places he could go these days). So instead, she retreated to her workshop.

The doors slid open, revealing her workshop just as she'd left it over a month ago. Paper on the desks, cactus behind protective glass, Bucky's chair in the corner. She hadn't been back since everything in Europe, too busy with paperwork and legislation. There'd been no time for engineering or science. She thought of her broken wings, somewhere in Accords custody. She desperately wanted to make new ones.

Maggie sighed and walked in, running her eyes over her desks and refamiliarizing herself with ongoing projects. Most of the machines were powered off, but one blinked with an intermittent green light, making her frown.

It was her sequencing machine. She checked the readout, and was met with the words SEQUENCING COMPLETED, RESULTS UPLOADED TO OS.

Shit. Rikki's DNA swab. It had been processed weeks ago, and the machine had uploaded the results to her computer system, which would have compared the results to all known samples and databases they had access to.

Maggie checked the time. Still got twenty minutes before my next meeting. She pulled up a chair, powered up her main holoscreen and found the results file for Rikki's DNA comparison.

She remembered her warning to Rikki: all we might find is the genetic link to your mother, and abuela. Rikki had seemed resolved despite the risk of disappointment. Maggie hoped the kid didn't end up disappointed.

She brought up the results, checking the cross-referenced DNA links. Maria Ochoa, that was their mom, Luisa Ochoa, that must be the grandmother, several other links to the Ochoa side of the family, and…

Maggie's hands sprang from the holoscreen so quickly it was as if she'd been burned. She flinched back, then leaned forward, her eyes widening as she took in the sample name at the bottom of the results list. She glanced around, as if looking for someone to confirm what she'd found, then back at the screen.

Holy shit.

The next day, Maggie sat down with Rikki.

She'd invited the kid back to the Facility, brought them to her workshop and sat them down. Rikki looked positively terrified, glancing around the workshop as if something might jump out at them.

Maggie didn't beat around the bush. She leaned forward on her stool, eye to eye with the teenager, and said: "I found your family."

Rikki sucked in a breath, then all at once their eyes welled up, and they had to double over in the chair. Maggie let them have a moment; Rikki didn't cry or shake or freak out, just sat there for a few moments, processing.

Then Rikki sat up again. "You… found them?" Their voice cracked.

"Yes. I'm not surprised you didn't, though, none of them have signed up for 23andMe or anything like that. I'm lucky I had anything on file." Rikki didn't appear to process that, so Maggie continued, in a soft voice: "Your father is still alive." Rikki blinked. "You have aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. You have great… great-uncles." Her voice failed. She scanned Rikki's face.

A few tears spilled below Rikki's glasses. "Do they know about me?"

Maggie shook her head. "I don't think so. But I feel certain that some of them are going to want to know you."

Rikki reached up to wipe away the tears. "Who… who are they? What's my dad's name?"

Maggie swallowed. "His name is William Proctor. He's a scientist, and as far as I can tell he and your mother had a brief relationship sixteen years ago, which she broke off. He moved to Vermont. Pretty sure he doesn't know about you. So… that's your father. And if you go back further than that, your family are… the Barnes's."

Rikki frowned and looked up. "Like…?"

"Yeah. Like that Barnes." Maggie let out an overwhelmed breath, her gaze on Rikki's face, their dark hair, the shift of their eyes. The kid fidgeted, pushing hair back from their eyeline. Maggie had spent all last night restless, eyeing Bucky's sleeping face, searching for similarities. "Bucky Barnes is your grandmother's brother. So I… I'm going to do my best to be impartial here, Rikki, but Bucky… I know him very well."

Rikki stared. "You do?"

"Yes. I haven't told him about you yet, but I feel sure that he'll want to know you. And to be completely honest, I would love to see him gain some family." Maggie shook her head, still staring at Rikki. "You remind me of him, you know. I didn't put it together until I saw the results."

"I do?" Rikki was still staring, eyes wide behind their glasses.

She nodded, then half smiled. "The way you clench your jaw when you get stubborn." She tapped her own jaw. "He does the same thing."

Rikki touched their own chin wonderingly. Maggie let the kid think for a little while. The first thing they said, hesitantly, was… "I don't… I don't know what to do."

"Take your time," Maggie said. "You don't have to do anything with this information if you don't want. And I won't tell anyone."

Rikki glanced up. "Thank you." And they smiled, and the way their face lit up made Maggie's heart swell in her chest.

Maggie spent the next few days in a kind of daze, while still somehow getting a lot of work done. Rikki didn't come back to the Facility, but they did stay in touch over the phone - the kid seemed shocked, but was handling things well. And talking to their abuela about it.

True to her word, Maggie did not tell anyone Rikki's news. She didn't like keeping the secret from Bucky, but Rikki deserved that much. Bucky could tell something was up but didn't hassle her about it.

Maggie kept a closer eye on the tabs she had been constantly keeping on Bucky's family; his only surviving sister Shirley, who was mentioned in a few recent news articles as 'refusing to comment' on anything to do with Bucky's supposed crimes in Europe. Then there were Shirley's children, and the children of his other sister, Rebecca Barnes-Proctor. Including William Proctor, her youngest son. William Proctor used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., apparently following in his uncle's footsteps, but had moved to a private green energy lab after the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. The other sister, Nancy had never had children. One of Shirley's children, Andrea, was a lawyer who'd actually been on their shortlist for defense lawyers for their friends on the Raft.

The Barnes were a tight knit family, as far as Maggie could tell. They had guarded Bucky's memory with dignity for decades, only shared a little with museums like the Smithsonian to preserve his stories, and had kept themselves to themselves since it had been revealed Bucky was still alive. Maggie knew Steve had visited them sometimes, less so nowadays, and she knew Steve had not told them where Bucky was, just that he was safe.

As Maggie sat through more meetings and made more calls and wrote more paperwork, in the back of her mind she tried to imagine losing Tony for that long. What would it be like to think he was dead for decades, only to have him return, and then not know where he was or how he was doing? She'd lose her mind.

She found herself checking on Shirley, the sister, more than most, even after finding out about William Proctor.

The Barneses, she reflected, were people with a lot of integrity.

While she was processing that, outside the Facility, the wind shifted.

Zemo was charged and imprisoned in Germany, and somehow the news broke fully about him; there was a wave of support for the victims of his attack on the UN (including Wakanda, though they'd gone oddly quiet). But there was also a tidal wave of support for the Avengers. And then, practically the next day, more news broke: that it had been a handful of Avengers acting outside of the Accords and Ross's orders that had finally brought Zemo to justice. The balance began to tip in their favor.

And then other things began to leak - these things always happened, of course, but having Pepper Potts with her very close media contacts involved didn't hurt. Ross's authoritarianism and open hatred for enhanced people, how the Accords had actually slowed any effective response to the events unfolding in Europe, and how Ross had flat out ignored evidence from the Berlin Police that Bucky had not been behind the UN attack.

In Rikers prison, Scott Lang apparently had no qualms about keeping his mouth shut, and news of the underwater prison in the Atlantic guarded by a nondescript paramilitary force quickly spread through the correctional facility and then beyond.

There had always been objections to the most stringent parts of the Accords; the enhanced register, for one, and the circumnavigation of the justice system. Now, objections got louder, and more widespread. President Ellis was forced to issue a statement that the US Government was reviewing the events in Europe in June, and the USA UN Ambassador is currently in rigorous discussions about the ongoing application of the Sokovia Accords. Ross gave a speech the same day declaring complete faith in the Sokovia Accords and claiming that those speaking out against the Accords are in an extremist minority, and pose a significant danger to the ongoing safety of American and global citizens.

Rumors and news of the Amended Accords leaked further, until the existence of the document was all but confirmed for the public.

And in the wake of these new revelations and released statements, there came a flood of calls and requests and demands and pleas to the Avenger, asking what their stance was, and what they would do next. As far as the world was concerned, the Avengers had been silent since the events in Europe in June. At first this had been expected, but now, when all the conversations happening across the world and in the UN seemed to turn back toward the mystery of the Avengers' position, their silence became fascinating.

People wanted change, and were turning toward the Avengers Facility to look for it.

"It's time," Natasha said one morning, almost out of nowhere. They'd only just sat down for their regular check-in meeting, with just the core group of them: Steve, Bucky, Maggie, Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, Natasha, and Vision. Rhodey was in a wheelchair now, for small periods of time.

Natasha looked around at them, as they all glanced over in confusion at her prophetic statement. She spread her hands. "Clint and the others are on the brink of parole, Steve and I are on the brink of a pardon, the Accords First Amendments have been circulating the UN and various governments for weeks, and despite all of Ross's efforts to silence and control us, now the public wants to hear what we have to say." She nodded decisively. "It's time."

"So… we arrange a meeting with the UN?" Rhodey asked, spinning a pen around in his fingers. "They'll have us, they've been talking about arranging a meeting with us for a while, right? Especially that Gonzalez guy, he said the Amendments-"

"No," Natasha cut him off. "We speak. On our own. For the first time." She leveled a gaze at them all, and through a window behind her the forest shifted in a breeze. "We've never done that. Every time one of us has spoken, it's been a part of someone else's process - Tony took the reins in the hearings after the Battle of New York, and I'm the one who spoke at the Senate Enquiry after the Triskelion. And Tony, when you spoke up in support of the Accords the first time you did it at the UN Headquarters in New York." She shook her head. "If we want this to change, we need to speak on our terms."

"Okay," Tony nodded. "We do have a press room, we can call a conference for tomorrow. You and Steve can't speak, for obvious legal reasons, but-"

"I can write a speech for Tony," Pepper added, leaning forward. "Him and Rhodey-"

"It has to be Maggie."

Everyone at the table turned to Steve. It was the first thing he'd said since they sat down, and his voice had been clear, and unquestioning. As if stating a fact. He looked up, his brows set and his eyes clear.

Maggie blinked and glanced around. Tony, Rhodey, and Pepper looked surprised, and beside her Bucky's eyebrows had risen at his friend's tone, but Nat was just nodding. Vision steepled his fingers.

"Me?" Maggie asked, breaking the sudden silence.

Steve straightened. "Of course it has to be you," he said seriously. He touched one of the ever-present copies of their First Amendments on the table. "These Amended Accords are yours. If it weren't for you, we'd all be… who knows where we'd be? We wouldn't be together." He glanced around. "Even if I could speak on the Avengers' behalf right now, I wouldn't, because it wouldn't be right. And Tony, no offence, but it's not right if it's you, either." Tony shrugged, apparently curious about what else he had to say, and his eyes darted to Maggie with something like consideration in his gaze.

Steve sighed. "If we're going to speak, it can't be about covering up for our past mistakes, or justifying our poor decisions. People have heard from Tony and I, countless times, about what we stand for, and our direction for the Avengers." He turned fully to face Maggie. "They've never heard from you. Just you, I mean. Don't let us get in your way this time. You go out there and speak to them, and tell them something new."

Maggie stared back at Steve, touched and alarmed and a little terrified to be seen so clearly. Bucky's knee nudged against hers, under the table. She opened her mouth and closed it.

And she nodded.

The next morning, Bucky poked his head into the bathroom of Maggie's suite. "Wow," he murmured.

Maggie looked up, meeting his eyes in the mirror. She'd expected flirtatiousness, and Bucky was never completely without flirtation when he looked at her, but she was startled by the seriousness in his face. He took a moment to really look at her, as she leaned toward the mirror fixing her eyeliner.

A surprising amount of time had been put into the outfit - you need to come across as professional, but approachable, Natasha had explained. Powerful, but not frightening. An Avenger, but also a regular person.

With all of these contradictions Maggie today wore a dark, sleeveless jumpsuit with a high neckline and a high waist - the outfit made her look tall, while also emphasising the well-earned strength in her arms and highlighting her sleek prosthetic which emerged from the long trouser leg into a pair of dark red heels. The suit was a grey so dark it was almost black, inlaid with subtle panels of burgundy. She'd braided her hair back into a loose chignon, strands coming loose onto her shoulders and the nape of her neck.

Bucky swallowed, eyes tracking back to her face. She thought he was going to ask are you ready? But he just nodded once. "You've got this."

Maggie shot him a thankful smile, then turned back to look at herself in the mirror.

She blew out a breath. She had the strange sensation that for a long time she'd been just glancing at herself in the mirror without really seeing herself. For months. Years, maybe. She gripped the sides of the sink and forced herself to look.

Dark eyes stared back out of a familiar face. The white scar from the Chitauri blade stretched across her cheek and to her ear, and an older, fainter scar was just visible through her eyebrow. Her lips were pressed together, and her brows were set. She took several long breaths. The look in those dark eyes became familiar.

I am Maggie Stark, she told the woman in the mirror. And I am taking what I want.

She could see the path so clearly, now that she wasn't afraid of what she wanted. She wanted her family, and she wanted them together. She wanted to be on the same team as her brother. She wanted to keep helping people, but she didn't want to make them afraid. And - her eyes darted to him in the mirror - more than anything else she wanted Bucky; more a need than a want, really, like he was the blood in her veins.

Maggie wanted all these things. Her chin lifted. And so she was going to make it happen.

She was a product of all the strongest people she knew. Her father, brilliant and flawed; her mother, kind in a world where it was so hard to be. Her brother, who raised her to be as loud and large as life, who raised her to be a hero. Pepper showed her how a woman could be in command with a smile on her face; and Rhodey, who humbled her in the best ways possible and who had taught her to fly.

She was a product of brave, bold Peggy Carter who never lowered her voice; and she'd learned from Natasha's cool determination, Clint's loyalty, Bruce's control, Thor's passion, Wanda's creativity, Vision's soul. Steve, who'd seen her, had told her to tell them something new. The man she'd been sure she'd follow into battle for the rest of her life, had told her to take the lead. And Bucky; so much of herself she had learned from him; his willingness to be vulnerable with those he trusted, his humor, his drive to make himself a person, his steadfast loyalty. Maggie was all of these people, all of these things.

Maggie was the Wyvern.

She had a mission, and she was going to see it through.

She turned to Bucky, and the light in his eyes responded to the fire in hers.

She nodded. "I've got this."

The Avengers Facility press room broke into a buzz of murmurs when Maggie stepped through the door.

She wasn't alone; the Avengers press liaison team had already set up the stage, which had a podium emblazoned with the Avengers logo in the centre and a giant version of the logo on the back wall. It was all sleek, glossy surfaces in white and silver, like the rest of the Facility. Pepper and a couple other Avengers staff walked in with Maggie and quickly found their places on the sides of the stage.

Maggie walked alone, however, to the front of the room.

The press room was completely full. The Avengers press team had sent out a general invitation to the media in New York, and every major newspaper, TV channel, journalist and reporter had secured a place, as well as every minor one that could. There were at least twelve international media groups represented as well. They were all seated in ascending rows up to the back of the room, like a theatre, a sea of staring faces. Camera crews had their allotted section at the front, the eyes of their cameras just adding to the feeling of being stared at.

Maggie kept her attention resolutely on the podium, over-conscious of her gait as she walked (she'd never quite been able to get rid of the slightest suggestion of a limp from her prosthetic), the sound of her heels on the bright white floor of the stage, the lights burning hot on her skin, the itching feeling of over a hundred eyes and the constant hum of murmurs. The irregular snapping of cameras made the hairs on the back of her neck rise.

She had no notes or material to fuss with, so she kept her hands loose by her sides. She thought about the others, waiting back in the common room with the live footage streaming direct from this press room (thanks to the dozens of news channels reporting live). Maggie was no stranger to being photographed and filmed, but today felt so different from the paparazzi hounding her as a kid, or the media covering her career as an Avenger. She felt sure she must look very small, walking alone onto this stage.

She wasn't a slow walker, so she arrived at the podium far sooner than she was ready to. She faced the podium and set her hands on either side of it like she'd set her hands on her bathroom sink that morning. Its surface was cool, and she pressed her skin into it.

Then she looked up.

Conscious that her every movement would be analyzed here, she did not let her eyes widen or her teeth grit at the sea of faces before her, the pens poised over notepads, the cameras adjusting to focus on her face. She just stared back at them. Natasha's voice rang in her mind: don't be too scary. So she softened her face a little; not a smile, but a little more approachable.

She glanced to Pepper. Pepper shot her a thumbs up and nodded encouragingly, like a soccer mom. Maggie almost smiled.

She glanced back to her waiting crowd. She picked out a few faces, just to calm her nerves, then cleared her throat.

The murmurs died.

"My name is Maggie Stark," she said clearly, silently thanking her lucky stars she hadn't stuttered or her voice hadn't broken. "And I'm here to break my silence."

Her hands pressed harder to the edge of the podium. No one in her audience spoke. None of them dared even whisper.

Maggie glanced down a moment, then forced her gaze back up. "I wanted to give this speech - a version of it, at least - at the United Nations conference in Vienna. I had a copy of the Sokovia Accords in my bag, covered in notes in red pen." She smiled. "Questions I had, concerns, things that weren't accurate that I wanted to bring to their attention." Her smile dropped. "That document has been destroyed now, along with twelve lives in the Vienna bombing. Because of a man who wanted to tear the Avengers apart. We stopped him," she said firmly. And I won't do him the service of speaking his name aloud. "He's faced a court of law, and will likely be in prison for a long while for his crimes. But there are more crimes that I want to address today."

She peeled her hands away from the podium so she could gesture more freely, and so they wouldn't focus on her white-knuckle grip. Her chin lifted. "Let me be clear. I speak on my own behalf, but also on behalf of the Avengers." A few camera shutters snapped. "We agree with the principle of the Sokovia Accords." She let that sit for a few moments, saw a few people take down the quote on their notepads.

"We became the Avengers in a world new to superheroes. There was no blueprint for what we were, no rulebook. The world has changed now, and we agree that oversight and responsibility are not only necessary, but right." She glanced around. "If you look at history, accountability and honesty are principles which have seen the world through its most turbulent times, and we want to reflect those ideals." She let a small frown settle on her brow. "But we've learned other lessons from history too. Legislation passed as a knee-jerk to tragedy inevitably turns out to be too restrictive of our basic principles of human freedom and dignity. Take the Treaty of Versailles," she said, opening one hand. "Or the Patriot Act. Humanity is best when it learns from these mistakes and does not repeat them."

She nodded. "We want the Accords. We want oversight, and accountability."

Maggie felt suddenly boxed-in by the podium, so she stepped out from behind it, her heels clicking on the floor. "But you can't expect a man who fought against the tyranny and totalitarianism of the Nazis to accept legislation that asks individuals from a certain group to register their names, DNA, and powers on a list, to then be issued with a tracking bracelet. You can't ask any of us to accept that." She looked around at the front row, suddenly a lot closer. "No free-thinking person on this planet should accept that."

"You can't ask us to accept legislation which legalises the indefinite detainment of people without trial or a lawyer. We are amazed that the United Nations, authors of the International Declaration of Human Rights, and champions of worldwide freedom, were willing to accept this."

She took another step forward. "We want the Accords," she repeated. "But we ask that you consult us on it. Not because we want to get away with anything, but because really, there are no greater experts on what it means to be a superhero, ethically or practically, than us." She let that sink in for a beat. "We've been called tyrants, and brutes, and weapons of mass destruction. But we're not weapons." She put a hand to her chest, over her heart. "We are people. Pretty smart people, if I do say so myself. And there are some things that the Sokovia Accords, in their current form, just get plain wrong."

She took a breath. "So we've been in discussions for change. You'll have heard about it, and if you haven't, you've heard about it now. We firmly believe that the new iteration of the Sokovia Accords, which truly reflect those ideals of regulation, of moderation, and of protection, are the right - and the only - way forward." She looked around again.

"And we believe we're not alone. For months, lawyers, journalists, politicians, and the public have been questioning the purpose and efficacy of the Accords in their current state." She leaned forward, just a little. "We have the Secretary of State with us." Ross would hate her for saying it, but his office had been collaborating with them. "We have Wakanda with us." The nation that had swayed the passing of the Accords in the first place. "We have countless diplomats and legislators and changemakers with us."

She held herself a little taller. "We are united in this. We ask the United Nations and its respective states to join us in this too. To amend the Accords to reflect the true nature of what they were meant to be: a set of guidelines for the ethics and legality of enhanced groups like the Avengers, with a built in - and fair - accountability system. Similar to laws for military or law enforcement groups."

"Not a system built to target and persecute all enhanced individuals. Not a knee-jerk reaction. Not a system that tramples on human rights. We believe that the Amended Accords are a fair middle ground, and one that may satisfy those out there with concerns on both sides of the debate."

She took a step back toward the centre of the stage, her skin burning from the lights and her crackling nerves. But her breath came slow, as if her own words had calmed her. She took another breath, and locked eyes with a few members of her audience.

"We have the privilege of being led by our Captain," she said in a clear voice, "who has never been afraid to stand up for what he thinks is right, despite the personal consequences he may face. And the privilege of being led by my brother, who recognizes where the path has gone wrong, and is able to see the most creative solutions to fix it."

She spread her hands. "We are together in this. And we'd like for you to be together in this as well."

There were a few stunned seconds of silence after Maggie finished.

Then she realized that they were waiting for her to do something - to speak more, maybe, or to leave. But no one dared speak until she broke the spell.

So she nodded once, and said: "I'll take a couple of questions now."

Over a hundred hands shot up and the camera flashes nearly blinded her as the room broke out into noise again, and she blindly picked a few people out of the audience. She answered a few questions - a blur, really - and then one of the Avengers staff gave her a signal, she thanked those in the room for their time, and headed for the door again.

Pepper had to open the door for Maggie, recognizing that Maggie's hands were shaking too badly to operate the doorhandle.

They spilled out into the empty foyer outside the press room, and Maggie felt as if she'd forgotten how to walk, how to breathe. The hairs brushing her shoulders felt like livewires, and her knees felt like they were made of rubber - she wobbled a little on her heels. She turned wildly to face Pepper when she heard the door close behind them. Pepper's face was a blur under bright strawberry-blonde hair.

"I - I don't know if they-"

Pepper grabbed both of Maggie's fidgeting hands and pulled her close. Pepper's grip felt like being pinned down in a hurricane, and Maggie forced herself to take a breath and look into her eyes.

Pepper held her gaze and whispered close: "You were perfect."

Reviews

Guest: So glad you enjoyed catching up, and that you're enjoying it!

Strawberrycheeze: Maggie's not afraid to rely on a little old 'I save your life, you do me a favour'.

Shorttrooper: I am definitely not a lawyer for the US government, but I do have a bachelors degree in bullshit! I'm glad you're loving the Bucky/Maggie (Buggie) moments and I promise to deliver more. As for Rikki… WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE REVEAL!