"They're still in there?" The question was rhetorical; Dawson had walked by the conference room where Steve, Natasha, Sam and the rest of the Avengers team had been meeting with Secretary Ross. That, and the walls were all made of glass. Easy to see in, easy to see out. Still, Q nodded and continued to flip through the magazine she had been distracting herself with for the last hour. The government official and his lackeys, along with Tony Stark, had ushered the team into the conference room with formal and terse greetings.
"Know what they're talking about?" Unlike the first question, the follow-up required an answer. Discarding the magazine, she shifted her attention to where Dawson was dumping coffee grounds into the garbage disposal.
"The Accords." she replied as he went about making a new pot of coffee in the French Press. Both of them knew what the Accords were about, hell it was the reason they had come back in the first place. She just wasn't expecting Ross to be the one who delivered the documents.
"About time." he sighed, sounding almost relieved. It had been over a month since they arrived at the compound. Both of them were starting to wonder if the Accords were actually going to be a thing, or another false threat from the government. "What happened in Lagos finally pushed the other countries to sign, huh?"
"Apparently." Raising her eyebrows up, her head turned in the direction of the conference room Steve and the others were in. Neither Q or Dawson had been invited to the meeting - not surprising either of them considering they weren't Avengers. Though the Accords would still concern Q, if anyone were to find out about her time in the Hydra facility.
"Good." he made a face and picked up his coffee mug, "This is good." A puzzled expression appeared on her face as he settled onto the couch next to her.
"You think the Accords are a good thing?" she voiced her confusion, which made him pause mid-sip.
"I guess...Maybe." he answered vaguely, gaze shifting over to her, "You don't?" His question made her pause for a moment, considering it for a second.
"I...don't know." she settled on while her eyes flicked over his shoulder to the direction of the conference room, "Steve definitely won't." she knew that much to be true. Thoughts of Hydra infiltrating SHIELD without anyone noticing and using the division to their advantage flitted through her head. Steve, and she, had no idea until it was too late. She wondered how many ops were Hydra controlled, how many innocent lives had been lost, and how many times had she helped further Hydra's plan because of her blind devotion to SHIELD. The agency may not have always followed the moral high ground, but Steve did.
"Nat might." he pulled down the corners of his mouth as he considered what side his quasi-girlfriend would choose. Not that she was one for following along with government orders, but she was one for self-preservation. The Accords would be the closest thing to it at this point.
Before either one of them could say anything else on the matter, Q spotted Secretary Ross walking away from the conference room with his personnel, "I don't like Ross."
"Who does?" he scoffed, both of them were well aware of the shit Ross had done prior to meeting with the Avengers. Like the project he led that illegally experimented on prisoners or how he lied to Dr. Banner which led to him becoming the Hulk. He was just like every politician in Washington: dirty and self-serving. "Looks like the meeting's over though." he took in a breath, like he was preparing himself for what was about to happen.
A few moments passed before the rest of the Avengers filed out either one after the other or paired off. Sam was talking quietly with Steve, gesturing a bit to get his point across and Steve nodded to show he agreed. The group was headed straight for the common area where Dawson and Q had been sitting for the last hour. With all the different types of personalities in the room, the subject of the Accords would turn into a debate.
At the mere thought of what was coming, her fingers drifted to the wristbands that would send out a little vibration so she could have something to focus on before anything else started. Like trying to figure out who would be on the side of the Accords versus who wouldn't be, the arguments that would come from it, and the possible solutions. There were too many outliers. Too many of them colliding together. She needed to be there, but she couldn't be there.
As the group got closer to the common area, she reached into her pocket for her noise-cancelling earbuds. Slipping them into her ears, she let her hair cover up her ears so that it wouldn't be noticeable to anyone sitting around her and started her pink noise playlist. She greeted Steve with a small, timid smile and he immediately handed her the large, almost textbook-like document. Though he didn't say anything, his face said it all - looking grim and serious. The rest of the Avengers took open seats around the room - Wanda the furthest away from Q, while Sam and Rhodey chose to stand on either side of where Steve was sitting in the chair next to the couch Q and Dawson were sitting on.
Her gaze turned to the cover of the document where: THE SOKOVIA ACCORDS was stamped across the center. Heavy in her hands, the sheer thickness of it alone reminded her of the packets she used to make for her Friday Fury meetings. Though as she flipped through it, she realized most of it was just flowery, political language that didn't mean anything. What mattered was the important parts like how the Avengers were no longer to be a private organization. Instead they would operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deemed it necessary. Collar and leash.
A quick glance around the room proved that not everyone was on the same page. Even without hearing the conversation happening, she could tell from body language. Clearly, there was some division on the decision to sign versus not to sign. Battle lines were being drawn, sides being taken. One side: that the Avengers should sign the Accords. Made up of Tony, Vision, Rhodey. The other side: that the Avengers shouldn't sign the Accords. Made up of Steve and Sam. Wanda and Natasha were still in the middle. As were she and Dawson.
It was complicated. Q could see both sides of the argument, being someone who would be both indirectly and directly affected by the Accords. She would have to sign the set of documents eventually, if anyone found out about the super soldier serum that was in her system. Part of her believed she would sign them; she needed supervision just as much as her Captain America boyfriend. Be held accountable for whatever she did, whenever she exercised her enhanced abilities and what came after it. But also she knew from the beginning that Steve would be against the Accords. It would put limitations on the Avengers, and other enhanced beings. Make them be at the service of a panel of government officials who might not always know what was best. Which could end badly.
Paying no mind to the argument that was happening around her, she pulled out the note that was in the cover of the document to read to herself. The United Nations was set to meet and ratify the Accords three days from then, and all the Avengers were expected to sign the documents.
Suddenly, Dawson's hand moved in front of her eye-line, fingers snapping together though there was no sound. It did what he intended for it to do: get her attention. When she lifted her head, she saw that those around her were looking at her expectantly. The pit in her stomach formed just as it did when she was in school and wasn't paying attention in class, only to have the teacher ask her a question. She would've known the answer, had she been paying attention.
"Sorry," she pulled her earbuds out, wincing a bit as the general sounds of the room drifted in, taking over the soft pink noise sounds she had been playing, "What was the question?" Blinking, she let herself quickly become accustomed to the room again, her fingers moving to the bracelet on her wrist.
"Thoughts on that reading material you've got there." Nat's eyes pointedly followed her words to look at the Accords document that was resting in Q's lap. She was laying on the other couch, on her stomach while Dawson stood behind the couch Q was sitting on, weight resting on his elbows.
"Oh, uhm," she hesitated for a second, gathering her thoughts, "I don't think it concerns me." she carefully said, hand running over the smooth cover of the document, "Considering I'm not an Avenger." Her lie of an explanation got a scoff from Tony,
"You're Avenger-adjacent, Office Max." he gestured to her with a free hand, the other holding a mug of coffee, "Biblically so." his eyebrows rose in a knowing manner and out of the corner of her eye, she caught Steve making an exasperated face at the other man. Dawson's face scrunched up in a grimace, never one who liked being reminded of what went on behind closed doors.
"This would be the precedent set for all enhanced beings," Steve shifted in his chair, a look of concern crossing his face as the meaning of what he said came through. He was talking about Q without mentioning her by name. Only a few people in the room knew about what really happened in the Hydra base. What she had been turned into, "We sign this, and then every enhanced has to as well. Abide to the rules, and if they don't..."
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda finished for him, accent thick with dread. Before anyone could bother to placate her, Dawson mumbled out:
"Maybe they should." which got looks from everyone in the room. Some concerned, others confused, whereas Q was the only one in silent agreement, but didn't dare make it apparent, "If you don't sign them, I mean." he backed up his comment, "Full offense, Wanda, you've done some straight up terrible, horrific things." he motioned to team they were surrounded by as a clear example. But the girl's eyes also darted over to where Q sat before quickly looking away, "And I get you're trying to make amends or whatever, but this document prevents others like you from causing destruction and chaos and hurting innocent people. Signing the accounts makes it so you're held accountable. Makes it so innocent people don't get caught in the crossfire anymore." he released a bit of anger held toward Wanda that he had been pushing down since arriving at the compound. It sucked seeing how easily the team forgave someone who not only fucked with their heads, but also really hurt his best friend. The younger girl let her head drop a bit in shame, fingers tangling together a bit in nervousness.
"Damn, Van Der Beek, laying it on thick, huh?" Tony asked as he walked over from the kitchen area to rejoin the group. He cast an annoyed glance at the man, pushing up from where he had been leaning with his elbows against the back of the couch.
"Man, I'm agreeing with you." Something that Q never would've thought she'd hear come out of Dawson's mouth, "Can't you just take the win and run?" Dawson had always, dramatically, thought of Tony as an enemy of sorts. Someone who thought he was better than him only because he had a name to support him. The two being on the same side of an argument had to be the sign of end times.
"Oh, no I am, believe me." Tony spread his fingers out and pointed to himself before pointing back at Dawson, "Very lucky to have you on the team." the sarcasm in his voice was evident, but didn't negate the fact that Dawson had joined the "for" side in the debate. The surprise of Dawson agreeing with Tony Stark aside, Q couldn't believe it. Both of them had been more in the middle of the debate when first talking about the Accords, but clearly something had changed in the last few minutes.
"You, of all people, Mister Fuck the Government, really think that they should sign this?" she held up the set of documents, "Be under the foot of some sort of panel that tells them who's worth being saved and who's not? Even after SHIELD and Hydra?" she raised her eyebrows in disbelief. This was the man who created an entire program that gave him access to every single database around the world. The man who, pre-SHIELD, made his living off exposing the seedy underbellies of corrupt companies and agencies. Siding for agreement with the Accords - something that would go against everything he had fought for, wasn't like him.
Not responding for a moment, he settled back down on his elbows so that he was resting against the top of the couch again, "And you're not?" he rose his eyebrows in a way that made it known what angle he was going to take in the argument.
Pointing out her thoughts and feelings toward there being some sort of supervision toward the Avengers and other enhanced beings when it came to saving the world. The collateral damage was always too much, too many innocent lives were lost, and it needed to be righted in some way.
Both of them were on the opposite side of where they should've been in the argument. If her assumptions were correct - which they almost always were those days thanks to her newfound abilities, both she and Dawson were choosing the same side that their partner would choose. Devotion and loyalty to Steve and Natasha. For once, Q wasn't being selfish. And for once, Dawson wasn't choosing Q over Natasha. Proving to their significant others where their loyalties lied - despite their personal preferences.
"Q's right." Steve agreed with her, stopping the argument between Dawson and Q before it furthered, "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?" he made valid points for his side of the argument. "The safest hands are still our own." he summed up, shifting his body in his chair a bit to take on a more Captain-like posture.
"But if we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off…" The hypothetical Nat posed lingered in the air for a moment.
Though Q hadn't heard her choose the side for the Accords, it almost made sense that she did. Even despite being the same woman who told Congress to kiss her ass a few years before, Natasha was self-aware enough to know that they were treading dangerous waters. It was safer for all of them to play the game for a bit, long enough to gain the general population's trust back.
"This isn't something we can go back on, Nat." Steve shook his head a bit, knowing her thought process, "We sign this, we're done for. We can't undo it." he stressed his point a bit, desperately wanting everyone to see the negative side to the Accords. It may have been created by the United Nations, an organization that was responsible for maintaining international peace and security among other things, but it was still run by people with agendas. And agendas changed. People changed. The government didn't always follow the moral high ground. That much he knew for certain - dating way back to the forties when he was selling war bonds.
"I think you're missing the point, man." Dawson spoke up, hands opening a bit, "The Accords will show that you guys truly do want to help. That you're not just some assholes running around in skin-tight suits."
"They shouldn't have to sign something to prove that when they've been proving it every time they save the world." Q glanced over at Dawson's profile, "In time, the Accords will prevent that from happening. They'll just be some sort of...trophy squad or whatever." Again, both of them were arguing the side they didn't really agree with. Like some sort of high school mock debate. Dawson didn't really think the Accords were going to prove anything, while Q didn't really think that the Accords were going to prevent anything.
"Alright, we're going around in circles." Tony clapped his hands together. The sudden sound made Q flinch and then wince in a bit of pain, "Let's sum it up: the Accords are a good thing, something we need in order to keep the band together." he kept talking, motioning with his hand as he did, but Q didn't pay any attention to him. Instead, she shifted her gaze over to Steve who was looking at his phone. His brow furrowed for a split second, creasing his face with a sadness of some sort, before he abruptly got up from his chair.
"I have to go." he unceremoniously excused himself from the team meeting. The rest of the group was left to watch him walk away without an explanation.
"Steve," Q pushed the Accords off her lap and got to her feet. She followed after her boyfriend without pause, worried about him. Whatever he reacted to on his phone had nothing to do with the Accords. No, this was much more personal.
She found him in the stairwell, leaning against the railing of one of the landings, head in his hands. In the in between of the top floor and the bottom floor, the future and the past - the present being the landing. His shoulders were slumped just like they had been when he carried the grief and guilt of what happened to Bucky.
"Hey, hi," she moved to comfort him, not knowing what the cause was behind the slump of his shoulders but recognizing the posture. Sliding one hand up his arm, she gently tugged his hand away from his face. The one that had been covering his tears in case anyone discovered him. Protecting himself, "You're okay, baby." she reassured him, immediately pulling him into her arms, "It's okay." his arms snaked around her waist. Tightening around like he was either trying to anchor himself to her or to prevent her from drifting away. With his face buried into the crook of her neck, she could feel the wetness of his tears against her skin. Steve rarely, if ever, cried. Something about being raised in the forties and then also being held to the standards that were placed on him as Captain America. There had been no time for tears, no time for mourning, no place for emotions.
"What happened?" she asked, pulling away enough so he could lift his head and look at her. Moving her hands so that they were cupping his face, she used her thumbs to gently wipe away the tears on his cheeks.
"Peggy, uh..." he trailed off, blinking a bit as he tried to find the strength to say what had happened. He might have had the brawn that rivaled some gods, but no amount of physical muscles would be helpful in this situation. How could he possibly have the strength to say what he knew out loud? And if did, that would mean it was true. He didn't want it to be true.
"Oh, Steve," Q was smart enough to understand what he couldn't say, "I'm so sorry." she sympathized with him. Her gut twisted in sadness, if only for Steve. Even though she had only met Peggy a few times, she knew how important she was to Steve. How, for a long time, she was his only connection back to the world he knew. The past life he lived.
Soothing him, she pulled him back into her arms. Let him find the familiar spot in between her shoulder and neck. Hide himself from the reality he was currently in. Mourn his lost love with someone who loved him.
At the moment, it was the safest spot in the world.
A/N: Battle lines have been drawn! Friends facing off against friends! Choosing sides despite personal preferences! The complicatedness continues. Hopefully you liked this chapter - I always feel a bit weird writing scenes that are already in the movies bc I don't want them to be boring/repetitive and for Q and Dawson to just be there ya know? Hopefully they contributed something! LMK all of your thoughts and what not. I love all the reviews you all give - and really want to get to 1k haha