This is the start of Captain America: Civil War and Jess will definitely be changing things. The only downside is this movie involves a lot of talking thanks to the politics of it all. I'll try to squeeze as much of the action in this as I can, but don't be surprised by the amount of just... talking. It probably won't be as long as the other movies I've typed up. And after this, I'll be doing Doctor Strange.

I stared idly out the window at a small sparrow jumping from branch to branch on the outer edge of a bush—mind a million miles away from where I currently was. I wonder how Tony's holding up. He had that presentation at MIT today and… I hated that I had to miss it. Pepper was supposed to go, but she canceled last minute and asked me to cover. Then, this happened.

"—ess. Jess."

"Hm?" I turned to the African American woman who was seated across from me.

She sighed, closing the notebook in her lap and setting it aside along with her glasses, leaning back in her armchair and eyeing me. "You want to explain to me what's bothering you this time? You haven't said a word for the last five minutes."

"Sorry," I murmured, giving the window one more glance, but the sparrow was gone. "Just… distracted. Thinking."

"About him?" She pressed, making me grimace and scratch at my forehead for a moment. "I noticed he didn't come with you today. Any particular reason? The kids miss him."

I snorted. "They would. I'm surprised you let him stick around in your waiting room with them. He's a trouble maker."

"You're avoiding the question."

I glanced away, knowing she was right. "He had a presentation today. Showing off some invention to MIT kids. He's giving them all scholarships. Funding their projects and stuff."

"And you're concerned because?"

"I was supposed to be there," I muttered. "I don't like leaving him alone at those things."

"Because you feel responsible for him?"

I frowned at her. "What? No. I just know how people can get with him. He can show as much charity and goodwill as he wants, but…" I looked down at the cup of coffee in my hands that I'd forgotten about. "There'll always be someone who hates him for stuff out of his control."

"We can't appease everyone, Jess."

"I know that."

"Then, you also know that you can't feel responsible for Tony or any of the others. Isn't that why you started coming back to therapy? You were getting overwhelmed. You kept taking on everyone else's problems instead of focusing on your own."

I huffed through my nose, lifting my coffee. "What else was I supposed to do? If I didn't jump in, then people would have died. Do you want me to take that back? Because I won't."

"No. It is incredible what you all have done for the world, but as you said, people will be upset and won't always see the good you're doing. You have to accept that. All of you, Jess. And you can't take that burden from the others. They have to learn to deal with it too."

I grimaced at the cold coffee and her words. "So, what? I'm just supposed to walk away when they're being hurt by people?"

"Not necessarily. You can comfort them like you do with Tony, but you shouldn't be placing the blame on yourself."

"Even when I could have done more?"

"You're already doing more," she pressed. "You started a whole entire company in order to clean up after them. As insurance to make sure that they are as protected from the public as they can get. However, this means you get all the backlash instead. How many phone calls do you get in an hour from families who were left in the aftermath?"

I grit my teeth, remaining silent and looking away, not wanting to think about it.

"And how many emails do you get that hold death threats—not only towards the others but also yourself?" She waited a moment, though she knew I wouldn't answer. "What I'm trying to help you understand, Jess is that you cannot protect them from everything. You can't clean up all their messes. You can't make everyone in the world happy. You can try your damn hardest, but there will always be those problems you can't fix. Those people you can't help. And you need to accept that, take a step back, and re-evaluate your own life. What can you do for yourself?"

"I… don't know," I muttered.

"All right, then how about this? When was the last time you visited your mother's grave?"

I stiffened, a knot immediately forming in my throat and she hummed.

"That's what I thought. Here's another question. Have you been avoiding it because of who's buried beside her?"

I clenched my hands into white-knuckled fists. "He didn't deserve to be."

"But he is. And I think that visiting her grave is something that would really help you move past some of the baggage you're carrying from your childhood."

"I won't forgive him."

"And I'm not saying you have to, but your nightmares have been frequent, have they not? Nightmares about him?"

I didn't want to admit it, but she didn't need me to say it to know. The bags under my eyes were proof enough.

"And it seems you and Tony both have the same problem. When things from your past begin to crop up, you immerse yourself in work, especially if it's work that you feel is punishing."

"I'm not…I-I'm not trying to," I mumbled, feeling like a scolded child as I sank a bit into the armchair.

"None of us mean to, but when people have suffered like you have or like Tony, they tend to feel that being punished by others is the only way to ease their conscious. So, they begin to go looking for it. They poke people's buttons to make them angry because they believe they deserve to be yelled at. And right now, you are doing just that and have been doing that since you were first introduced to me. Except this time, you have a supporter to help you through things and you're not using him."

"I shouldn't have to use him."

"But things would go by faster if you did. You would be getting more of the help you needed if you just shared your concerns with him."

"I shouldn't pile my problems on top of his."

She sighed once more. "Jess, that's not what you're doing. You're sharing your concerns and in return, he will ease that burden and share his own concerns. You're not piling on top of his worries, you're exchanging pieces of them. Just enough that neither of you feels pressured by the other."

"I… guess."

"And in regards to your other problem, I still believe you should have a discussion with everyone as to what your role is in this team. You can be someone who supports them, but you can't be the only thing that supports them, or else you'll be harming yourself to the point that not even I will be able to help you."

"But I can't be one of them," I pressed. "My powers. They… They're not—"

"You are just as capable as the others on that team, Jess. Whether with or without your abilities, and they know that as well as I do. My suggestion to you, is to figure out where you stand. If you are comfortable taking a backseat and doing the planning or technological view of things like Maria, then do so. If you feel that to be too confining, then ask in regards to moving to the middle or even front lines."

"I can't be on the front lines. First off, Tony won't allow it."

"Like that would stop you," she joked, making me crack a small smile.

"And the others wouldn't appreciate it. As it was, with Slovakia…" I paused, remembering back to that fight I was in. "They treated me like glass. I only got away with doing what I did because I refused to listen to them telling me 'no.'"

"You were rather injured at the time."

"Yeah, but they've done it before. Tony especially. And now that I have these… these visions, I feel… I feel like…"

"Like they'll begin to feel obligated to keep you safe," she concluded as I nodded.

"After my father…" I swallowed thickly. "After him, I became a lawyer, because I didn't want people looking at me like they did when they found out what sort of life I had. I wanted to be someone strong and capable of backing herself up because…"

"Because you believed nobody else would."

"He made sure of that," I murmured, wringing my hands together as they shook slightly. "And Tony's gotten better about things. He… He can tell when I can't handle being touched, o-or when I want to. He treats me like I'm strong and I'm grateful for that, but… I feel like we're in this sort of loop. I get scared for him doing something reckless and he laughs it off. He gets scared when I do something reckless and I get scolded. I know he doesn't mean to, and… it honestly doesn't bother me that much."

"Mind you, it does bother you if you're bringing it up," she noted, placing her glasses on once more and starting to make notes in her notebook.

I shot her a small frown but continued. "I just feel a bit suffocated, is all. I feel like I could do the same things he's doing. Be that hero or whatever you want to call it, but when I try… I either self-implode—too afraid of my own powers to do anything—or make him worry to the point that he feels responsible for me, and I don't want that."

The timer went off then and I resisted a groan. Our session was up.

"What I recommend, is that you sit down with the others and discuss what you can do for the team. What your position is, what they want from you and you want from them. I also suggest you go over some of the things we talked about with Tony, including visiting your mother's gravesite. Take him with you, if you feel intimidated by your father, but talk about it as well. He is your support just as much as you are his. Same with the team. Now," she stood up as I did the same, and she gave me a small pat on my shoulder. "I'll write up a prescription for medication to help you sleep and something for your panic attacks as well."

I grunted, not pleased about either, but knowing that my attacks had definitely gotten worse as of late, especially after a nightmare.

"I'll see you again in another two weeks unless something comes up for you. And I appreciate you coming to see me with what's going on right now. I know it is a bit hectic for you and your business."

I nodded, giving the television in the corner of the waiting room a glance. It was on a kid's program but scrolling along the bottom was a news alert about the King of Wakanda addressing the people killed during an Avengers raid. Her hand touched mine, pressing the prescription note into it and drawing my attention away from the television.

"Talk to him, please, and don't place anymore blame on your shoulders. You have enough to deal with already, without adding others' pain on top of it."

"…Thank you."

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing," the Secretary of State said, acting as though he was swinging a golf club as he stood at the head of a table full of Avengers. "Tuned out it was the best round of my life because, after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me. Perspective." He eyed the group of augmented humans, an assassin, an AI and Tony—seated in a chair beside Jess as she massaged the bridge of her nose. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought of 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 quipped, seeing where this was going.

"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?"

Steve's eyes shifted to Jess, knowing that her business had been built for this exact purpose, but she avoided his gaze—keeping her eyes locked on the Secretary of State for now in stubborn silence as a screen was brought up.

"New York, Washington, D.C., Sokovia, Lagos," the Secretary listed off before Steve stopped him.

"Okay. That's enough."

The Secretary stopped the videos of destruction. "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." He passed a paperbound stack to Wanda, who soon passed it to Rhodes. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by one hundred and seventeen countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

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

"Tell me, Captain. Do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So, there are contingencies," Rhodes confirmed.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the accords," the Secretary announced as Steve shot another pointed look at Jess and Tony. "Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

"Then, you retire."

The man left and the group began to debate. Sam and Rhodes getting heated as Tony rubbed at his face, Jess got a strong drink, and Steve began the long reading of what was entailed in the accords.

"I have an equation," Vision spoke up, making them stop finally.

"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. 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 questioned.

"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."

"Boom," Rhodes smirked.

"Tony, Jess," Natasha spoke up then, eyeing the silent couple. "You're both being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because they've already made up their mind," Steve declared.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony scoffed. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort," he said shortly, making Jess down more of her drink as he got up to go get coffee. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

"Jess?" Natasha pressed, the woman still having not said anything.

"Leave her out of it," Tony snapped, a bit heated, but Jess waved him off.

"It's fine."

"It's not fine. You've been sticking your neck out for the Avengers since the beginning. You shouldn't have to be dragged into this."

"I've already been dragged into this, Tony," Jess said shortly, before calming herself. "And I haven't picked a side."

Steve frowned. "You're neutral?"

"Undecided," she corrected. "I've been told the gist of the accords, but I still need to read them over more thoroughly. As for what I think about it in general…" She paused, getting up and finishing her drink before rinsing out her cup. "It's… morally difficult. It's an over-extensive Trolley problem."

"Trolley problem?"

"A train is racing down a track that splits into two. On the left track is five people. On the other is six people. You're at the switch to change the track. What do you do?"

The group was quiet as she eyed them.

"Natasha, you would kill the five to save the six. Basic math. But you, Steve would try to save them all. You'd pull the train off the tracks to save eleven, but what if you did that only to find out the train was full of children who needed immediate medical attention and you've just ruined their chance of survival?"

Steve looked down solemnly.

"That's all this is. You took down someone who could have killed many people. You saved those many people, in exchange for killing people you didn't know would be in danger. The people you saved are either thrilled or never knew they were in danger to begin with. The people you killed had family, were important to a political figurehead, had possibly saved people themselves and had already earned the respect of a country. It was an accident." She glanced at Wanda. "It wasn't your fault, and there was a moral choice that needed to be made. The people in that market or attempting to get the bomb out. It was a choice that saved more than it killed, but in the end, people were still killed."

Tony brought up an image on his phone of a young boy. "Charles Spencer. 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. 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," Jess said soft but stern and he ground his teeth, but turned his gaze back to his coffee as she looked at the solemn others. "My therapist told me something yesterday… We can't help everyone. We can't save every person or make everyone happy. We can try, but there will always be unhappy people or people who dislike us for what happened to them personally when the bigger picture meant saving many more people. That train could have been hurtling at one person on the left and twenty people on the right, but the family of that one person will still be angry."

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check," Tony declared. "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 argued.

"Who said 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," Rhodes cut in. "That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's good. That's why I'm here," Tony explained as Jess sighed softly again and begrudgingly refilled her drink despite having made the short decision to stop. "When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped 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's somewhere we need to go and they don't tell us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's going to be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

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

"We would protect you," Vision pressed.

"Maybe Tony's right," Natasha spoke up. "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 raised a brow.

"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 questioned in disbelief.

"Oh, I want to take it back now."

"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay. Case closed. I win."

"Enough," Jess silenced them, drawing attention back to her as she reached a hand out towards Steve, who handed her the accords. "Here's what we'll do. I'll read this over thoroughly. I'll find what I think we could fix, alter, propose, whatever. They said this is the middle ground, then they can't be allowed to be the only ones writing it."

"Jess," Tony started, but she shook her head.

"No, Tony. This needs to be done. We can't have infighting now. You saw what it did when Ultron was around. We need to look at this together and fix it. Together." She held up the accords. "I'll read through it and come up with suggestions. We can meet up again and I'll discuss it so everyone can agree on it here, then propose the changes to the UN panel and more importantly, the Wakandan King, who was the most affected."

"As great as that is, you can't be the only one working to fix this," Natasha pressed.

"I'm an ex-lawyer. It's not the first time I've read a thick booklet of political bullshit. It's something I can do, so I'm willing to do it. However, I want you lot doing something as well."

"Uh, sorry. I'm not great at focusing on political bullshit," Tony quipped, and Jess rolled her eyes.

"I wasn't going to ask you to. I want someone to look at what happened in the market. Security cameras, television cameras, everything. It's too coincidental that there were so many Wakandans around the moment you guys had to deal with someone trying to steal a chemical weapon."

"You think it could have been planned?" Steve questioned, leaning forward with the slightest bit of hope.

"I think it's suspicious, and with the political mess that is Wakanda coming out of the shadows, I think we need to be certain that what happened to them was caused by our mistakes before the UN can give us a time limit like three days to suddenly throw this at us." She waved the accords. "This is thick for a reason, meaning they've been considering it for a while, possibly adding signatures one at a time depending on what sort of mess we happened to make that day or that month. This disaster with the Wakandan people just so happened to give them a good enough reason to throw it at us."

"Meaning they didn't have a reason to until now," Tony realized.

"Exactly. This is most definitely a political move. Whether it's because the other countries all want a share of what the US now has or if they're simply scared of what the Avengers could do to their own secrets, I don't know. But what I do know, is that this whole thing stinks and I already have a migraine that could have been avoided if those people in power just got off my back for more than two seconds. And, on the offhand that it was simply just our mistake… it's best to be certain and take precautions when it comes to the signing. I'll do my best to work out negotiations once I have your guys' agreement on the amendments, though suggestions to what you can do to help ease tensions would help, even if it's something as simple as more training simulations for new recruits."

Tony reached over and kissed her temple as he tugged her waist to his side. "You're amazing, you know that? I'll book you a spot at this great massage place. You know, to get those people off your back."

"Cute," Jess mocked sarcastically.

"Is there anything else we can do?" Steve asked, everyone eyeing her, and she watched them seriously, noting how odd it was for the group to be looking to her as if she were leading them.

"Yeah, actually. If I'm going to keep sticking around here saving your asses, I want a name."

Steve blinked. "A… A name?"

Jess smirked, starting to walk out. "You heard me. I'm not just some desk worker. I'm an Avenger. So, start thinking."