Chapter 3
A/N - Wow. It has been a fucking long time since I wrote anything. I'm slowly trying to get back on a schedule.
Sam and Rhodey had been arguing for a good 15 minutes since General Ross left, while Steve read through the Accords.
Madison had been quiet. Almost too quiet for Pietro's liking.
"Kolibri?" he asked, smoothing a hand over her hair.
"I have an equation", Vision interjected.
Sam scoffed. "Oh, this will clear it up".
"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate".
"So you're saying we caused all this?" Madison said, standing up.
"No, I..."
"Some of us didn't ask for this, Vision". As much as she was grateful that Loki had given her her powers, Madison would give anything to go back to being normal. Madison's hands lit up and her eyes started glowing green.
"Legko tam, Kolibri. Legko", Pietro whispered, rubbing his hands up and down her arms to calm her down.
"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invited challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand", Vision explained.
Natasha turned to Tony who was laying down. "Tony, you're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal".
"It's because he's already made up his mind", Steve said.
Tony sat up. "Boy, you know me so well. Actually I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache". He got up and went into the kitchen area. "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?"
"Tony!" Madison snapped. Tony was known for being a bit of an asshole, but she hadn't seen him act like this in a while.
He set his phone down and a picture of a young man appeared on a hovering screen. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. He 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 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".
Pietro and Wanda looked uncomfortable like they always did when their homeland was brought up. Why did everything have to come back to Sokovia?
"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass", Tony said.
"We can't save everyone, Tony", Madison told him.
"Can't save everyone? Can't save…? Let's stop for a moment and talk about how you decided to save this asshole and his sister when they were the ones who caused it in first place?"
"Who's the one who built Ultron? If we're throwing out criticisms".
"Who's the one who comforted you after the Battle of Manhattan, huh? Was it anyone else in this room? No. It was me".
The room was silent for a few moments.
"I saved Pietro and Wanda because I fell in love, Tony", Madison told him, "People change".
"What about Charles? Didn't he deserve the chance to find love? You act so innocent when you're not. Little Madison Barton. 'Daddy's little girl'. Like or not, you played a part in this. Grow up and take responsibility".
Angry tears filled Madison's eyes, eyes that had begun to glow with green fire.
"Madison, no!"
A hand grabbed her wrist as she was about to throw a fireball at Tony.
"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check!" Tony argued as Steve and Pietro tried to calm Madison down, "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, if someone dies on your watch, you don't give up", Steve told him.
"Who says we're giving up?"
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame".
"I'm sorry, Steve", Rhodey said, cutting in, "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…"
"No, but it's run by people with agendas and agenda's change", Steve argued.
"That's good. That's why I'm here. Isn't this what you were arguing a moment ago, Madison? People could change? 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's somewhere we need to go and they don'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. That's the fact. That won't be pretty".
"You're saying they'll come for me. For us", Wanda said, looking at Madison. Both Wanda and Pietro knew that Madison would never let that happen, but it was still a possibility.
"Maybe Tony's right", Natasha said.
"Mom", Madison said, not believing her ears.
"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.
"Sam's right. Tasha, we took down SHIELD so we wouldn't have to deal with this", Madison said.
"I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back", Natasha told them.
"Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asked, "Okay. Case closed. I win".
"I have to go", Steve said, standing up.
Madison was on his heels. She followed him downstairs. "Hey, what's going on?"
He turned away from her.
Madison put her hands on his face and looked up at him. "Don't shut me out. Please".
Tears gathered in his blue eyes. "It's Peggy. She's…"
"Oh my god", Madison said, wrapping her arms around him.
Steve's head dropped to her shoulder.
"I'm so sorry", Madison told him. Madison knew Peggy was the love of Steve's life. She couldn't imagine ever losing Pietro.
Legko tam, Kolibri - Easy there, Hummingbird
God, you guys have no idea so much I have planned. I just want to tell you all of it, so I'm trying desperately to drop hints here and there. Feel free to comment with your theories, but I will neither confirm nor deny them.
