The vehicle holding Steve, Sam, Bucky, and T'Challa pulled into the facility and three of them stepped out while Bucky was escorted in a restraint pod.

"What's gonna happen to him?"

"Same thing that ought to happen to you," a man replied. "Psychological evaluation and extradition."

Sharon Carter introduced him. "This is Everett Ross, Deputy Task Force Commander."

"What about a lawyer?" Steve asked.

"Lawyer, that's funny," Everett smirked. "See their weapons are placed in lockup. We'll write you a receipt."

Sam eyed his wingsuit as they took it away. "I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that."

"No worries. I've made sure it's being placed in a secure area," a familiar voice said, and Steve let out a soft sigh of relief as Jess stepped over. "Everett."

The commander sighed. "Jess."

"I take it you two know each other?" Steve questioned, eyeing the two.

Jess cracked a small smile. "We dated."

Steve opened his mouth to comment, only to close it. Nope. Not stepping on that land mine.

"You'll be provided with an office instead of a cell," Everett informed the group as they walked. "You owe Jess for that."

"We owe Jess for a bit more than that, I think," Steve commented, making Jess smirk.

"Oh, trust me. I'm tallying up what you owe."

"Do me a favor though," Everett said seriously. "Stay in it."

"I don't intend on going anywhere," T'Challa declared and Jess shot him a look.

"Yeah, you better, because you and I need to have a talk."

Natasha joined the group as well, giving Steve a look. "For the record, this is what making things worse looks like."

"He's alive."

"Which I've already told you, will be made certain of if you all would cooperate," Jess replied from in front of them as they started to enter the office. "And before you make some stupid comment about ensuring his death, King T'Challa, do remember: you are a king." Her eyes latched onto his, all friendliness gone from her face. "While it is your duty to ensure that there is persecution, it is not your duty to do so on foreign soil to someone who is not from your country under the pretense that just because you are a king, means you may do as you wish. The rules are different here. And while wanting retribution for your father's death is understandable, needless killing based on revenge is not."

"I am doing this for my country, who has lost their king," he snapped, and she rounded on him, forcing him to pull to a stop as she faced him down.

"You are doing this for yourself. Because a true king would rather he be made an example of in front of the country he wronged. They would want him punished through long-standing suffering, not something swift like death. Revenge is not what the Black Panther was made for."

"And what would you know about the Black Panther?" He snarled and she didn't even flinch.

"More than you know." She turned away and continued walking with the others silently following after her display. "I haven't just been sitting around since the accords. I've been reading up on everything. Barnes, Wakanda, rumors and myths, terrorist organizations, the lot. You'd be surprised what sorts of information you can get if you research long enough."

Steve leaned towards Natasha. "When was the last time she slept?"

"Plane ride here, I think, but I could be wrong," she murmured back, shooting him a look. "Thanks to this mess, she's been pulling all-nighters to try and help you guys. I mean it when I say you owe her."

Steve sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck as they stepped in to hear Tony on the phone.

"No. Romania was not accords-sanctioned. Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup."

"Try not to break anything while we fix this," Natasha said, stepping away to help.

"Consequences? You bet there'll be consequences," Tony said seriously, eyeing them as they walked in. "Obviously, you can quote me on that because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

"Consequences?" Steve questioned him when he hung up.

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something," Tony said, giving Jess a kiss on the temple and squeezing her hand with a questioning look—rubbing a thumb under her left eye.

"I'm fine," she informed him as Steve gave them a look.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?"

"Technically, it's the government's property," Natasha informed. "Wings too."

"That's cold," Sam grumbled.

"Warmer than jail," Tony hummed, kissing Jess and heading out. "And try not to run Jess any further into the ground. We've got a dinner date."

"Does he know you dated Commander Ross?" Steve questioned Jess as she pointed at Tony, who had locked eyes with said commander and giving him an "I'm watching you" gesture.

"Oh, yeah."

"That must be fun."

"More than you know."

"Hey, you wanna see something cool?" Tony asked Steve, who had been watching the security footage of Bucky. "I pulled something from dad's archives. Felt timely. FDR signed the Lend-Lease Bill with these in 1941," he explained, sliding the box over the table and opening it to reveal two fountain pens. "Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

"Some would say it brought our country closer to war," Steve argued, seeing where he was going with this as they both took a seat.

"See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to… What do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?"

"Did Jess sneak away? I haven't seen her," he mused, trying to divert the conversation.

"We're kinda… Well, not kinda…"

"Pregnant?"

"No, definitely not," he chuckled. "Not the right time, for either of us. It's nobody's fault. Well, that's a lie," he sighed, looking at one of the security videos and pointing it out to him. "There she is. Working things out with King T'Challa, hopefully."

"She's really helped us," Steve mused.

"She's doing her best, against her therapist's orders."

"She mentioned her therapist. I didn't know she had one."

"Always had one. Just hasn't visited since she was younger, after her father."

Steve went quiet for a moment. "What made her go now?"

"Stress. Hasn't been sleeping, between nightmares and those visions," Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I try to do what I can but doesn't always work."

"I'm sure she appreciates it."

"Oh, she does, but… A few years ago, I almost lost her. I offered to trash all my suits, but do you know what she said?" He cracked a smile. "They're a part of me. She was willing to accept Iron Man as a part of me. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA and then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, we never stopped. Because the truth is, we don't want to stop. I don't want to lose her. I thought maybe the accords could split the difference. She's getting more involved with the Avengers, and I don't want anything to happen to her, just as she hopes nothing will happen to me. The therapist is because she's struggling to handle everything at once. The accords? Those will give her a break. She desperately needs one."

He got up with a sigh.

"In her defense, I'm a handful, but all of us? That's too much for one person to handle, and she's been trying to be that one person. She's not like my mother. Mom always let Howard handle everything while she settled for being the assistant, the mother, the side-kick. Jess has more fire to her, pun intended." Tony smiled.

"I don't mean to make things difficult."

"I know because you're a very polite person," Tony snorted, pulling on his suit jacket.

"If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't. You know how I know that? Because you and Jess are similar in that aspect. It's why she's pushing herself so hard right now. She's watching us throw ourselves south and is fighting to hold the rope that will keep us up top… Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth, but I don't want to see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign. We can make the last twenty-four hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center instead of a Wakandan prison, and Jess can finally stop worrying about every move we're going to make."

Steve got up, picking up the pen. "I'm not saying it's impossible, but there would have to be safeguards."

"Sure. Jess already got them to agree to most of her changes. She has a list if you want a more detailed analysis of what she's altered, and I think it's pretty good. The perks of having an ex-lawyer for a girlfriend. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended further. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated."

"Wanda?" Steve questioned. "What about Wanda?"

"She's fine. She's confined to the compound currently. Vision's keeping her company."

"Oh, God. Tony. Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way—"

"It's a hundred acres with a lap pool," Tonya argued. "It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony."

"And it was my decision," Jess said, stepping into the room and making him look to her in shock.

"You decided this?"

"And I made sure not to have my flight here sooner in order to be there to explain it to her," Jess sighed, moving to take a seat as Tony hastily got up to get her coffee. "I asked for her not to leave. Vision will monitor her to dissuade her not to go but will not force her to stay. I warned her that if she did leave, she risked not only physical harm from angry civilians but also mental. Unless you think she should have no warning of what she may experience when she steps outside to newscasters' questions, civilian insults, and other verbal attacks."

"Give her a break!" Tony snapped at Steve. "She's doing what has to be done to stave off something worse. How many sleepless nights does she have to take before you see all the work she's putting in to keep all of you from getting into trouble?"

"Tony, that's enough."

"No, it's not enough," he argued. "You're practically dead on your feet and not once have any of them even thanked you! You're putting yourself on the line for them, and for what! For them to argue every move you make, even when it's the best anyone can do? You shouldn't have to put up with that! You're trying and they're not even… they're not even the slightest bit grateful."

"You don't have to sign it, Steve," Jess said, stunning both of them as she calmly watched him. "It's everyone's choice to sign it or not. I've probably made as many changes as they would allow and made it the best it can be for all parties involved. If it's not good enough for you now, no one will make you sign it. I just want to warn you, if you don't, I won't have any control over what happens afterward. I've done my best to make this work out and would… appreciate you signing it to make things easier, but much like it's Wanda's choice to stay or leave the compound, it's your decision whether or not you want to sign."

He was quiet, watching her and thinking about what her and Tony had said and done. Even now, Jess was waving Tony away as he grumbled about her being too nice, and he could see how exhausted she was. All for us…

"I'll sign them."

Tony looked up, stunned, but Jess nodded. "Thank you."

He shook his head. "No. We should have thanked you ages ago. I'm sorry, Jess."

She cracked a tired smile. "It's fine. We've all been a bit stressed."

There was a knock on the door and they turned to Everett.

"We're going to start the interrogation and psych evaluation."

The group nodded, getting up and moving to where the security videos were once they'd brought the accords for Steve to sign.

"I'll get Sam and the others as well."

Jess nodded, before coming up beside Everett as the evaluation began.

"I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?"

"Who is he?" Jess questioned.

"Theo Broussard. He was unanimously agreed on by the United Nations for the evaluation."

"But not the Avengers, which is a part of the accord," Jess argued, pulling out an iPad and looking the man up. "If anything goes wrong, it's on the UN."

"Nothing's going to go wrong, it's just an eval."

"And I've already told you, this whole thing stinks. Something bigger is going on, and everyone needs to be thoroughly checked by both sides of the accords, especially when there's a half-brainwashed enhanced involved." She paused then, eyes scanning the iPad quickly before speaking. "Get someone in there now."

"Excuse me?"

Her gaze snapped up as she showed him the picture on the iPad. "That's not Theo Broussard. He's at least ten years too young. We have an unknown in there with Bucky, and that's the worst possible thing. Steve! Get down there! Whoever's with Barnes is not a friendly! I repeat, not a friendly!"

"On it!" He shouted, hurrying out of the office with Sam as Sharon looked confused.

"Sharon, give them access to their equipment!"

"But—"

"Do it!" Everett added and she nodded, hurrying out as the man cursed. "Shit. How could he get past our systems?"

"Your systems are shit," Jess complained. "You need more than just an ID with a picture. Everyone should have more than one way to confirm their identity. You should have your own photo of them, a fingerprint, DNA, something. This is why they are so suspicious of the accords. You lot don't understand what it means to be paranoid of everyone being a potential threat."

"We're trying—"

"Then, try harder," Jess said seriously. "Everett, you're a good guy, but trust me when I say the Avengers know more about protecting their own asses than any government. I amended the accords for that very reason, giving both sides something they can live with and it's been maybe forty-eight hours and the government has already screwed them over on this. So, you let them know." She stepped forward and prodded him in the chest. "As of now, I've gotten every one of the Avengers to sign the accord and until the government gets their asses in gear, apologizes for double-crossing them, takes responsibility for whatever is about to happen in the next few minutes, and meets with all of us to ensure these accords are either dismissed as stupid or followed properly, I'm in charge."

"You?"

"Read the accords," she snapped, starting to head to the controls for the cameras. "I was nominated by both the Avengers and the government as the neutral mediator between the two. Meaning, if anything isn't done right, I'm in charge of fixing it. And this?" She flipped one of the security feeds to a news report of Theo Broussard found dead in his hotel. "This is something that wasn't done right."

Everett hesitated, looking to Natasha and Tony who shrugged.

"You heard the woman."

Everett sighed, loosening his tie. "I'll make the calls."

The lights went out then along with the cameras and Tony used Friday to try and get a location on the outage.

"Send medics too, Tony," Jess reminded him. "Everett, keep as many of your staff away from there as possible. If that guy is brainwashing Barnes again, he won't be stopped by your soldiers. Let's keep the death numbers down, shall we? And get comms going for as many as you can."

"Evac all civilians," Everett said into his walkie. "Get me a perimeter around the building and gunships in the air."

"Make sure they only target whoever that fake psychologist was!" Jess called out, moving to join Natasha and Tony as they sped out of the room.

"Please tell me you brought a suit," Natasha grumbled.

"Sure did. It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-piece, two-button. I'm an active-duty non-combatant."

"Then, I guess it's a good thing I made friends here, isn't it?" Jess grit out as she spotted someone. "Sharon? If you would."

Sharon hurried over. "Follow me."

"Sam, Steve, I need info," I called through a radio I'd taken from a down's soldier. "Please tell me you weren't stupid enough to not grab a comm."

"This is Sam. Our target is heading up the northeastern staircase. The Cap was thrown down an elevator shaft and Barnes is—"

"Literally in the next room," I muttered, taking a deep breath and letting it out. "Sam, keep updating on the location of that fake psychologist. We'll try to slow down Barnes until Steve gets here."

"We're in position," Natasha said through the comms and Tony activated his watch to cloak his hand in his Iron Man suit.

He fired off a sonic blast, deterring Bucky from attacking more soldiers and drawing him towards the two of us. Tony gave me a pat on the shoulder before meeting with him as I called out.

"The gun first!"

"On it!" He chimed, using a flash to try and blind Bucky momentarily and managing to disarm the gun Bucky had before it went off.

He was soon knocked back into the tables and Sharon and Natasha rushed forward to try. They put up a decent fight until Sharon was thrown into a table and Natasha pinned by the throat until I smashed a table over his head.

"Whoops," I muttered, expression serious and I did my best to keep up with him as he attacked, jabbing a fork into a joint in his metal arm that appeared to only upset him further.

He swept my legs out from under me, but I used the momentum to roll back up only for a chair to swing towards my temple. I blocked it with my arm, but that left my side open and a harsh fist slammed into my ribs, leaving me cursing and partially winded. I brought my arm down though, trapping his metal one against my side and swung a leg up to kick his temple. He grabbed it with his free hand, swinging me around and throwing me off balance before jerking his metal arm free and slamming a fist into my left shoulder. I bit back a cry of pain as something snapped, only for a blur of black to rush in and fight Bucky off me.

"T-Try not to kill him, T'Challa!" I called out. "He's been brainwashed!"

"Normally, one would be more concerned for me," he scoffed, getting flipped as well but managing to roll onto his hands and feet. "I'm a king."

"And I'm in charge of this mess," I bit back. "Did we not agree I'd work something out for the both of us?"

"Fine, but I am free to beat him to a pulp," T'Challa grumbled, rushing off after Bucky as I waved a hand.

"Yeah, fine, fine. Christ, what did that man break?" I winced, fingering where he'd hit me before Tony came up behind me and helped me sit up—scanning me with his glasses.

"Fractured your clavicle."

"Joy. Not much to do about that," I muttered, tapping my comms. "Sam, update?"

"He's gone. Snuck off in the fleeing civilians."

"Great," I hissed, allowing Tony to help me up. "Everett, get his picture out to everyone. We can't let him get away. Not when he knows how to control Barnes."

"I'm already on it. I'll send you information on him as soon as we know who he is."

"You have anything on where Barnes or Steve are?"

"Cameras have them on the roof."

"Tony," I hummed, and he nodded, rushing out to go check. "I'm going to try and get a hold of Steve, Everett. And you can tell the government that as of right now, the accords are nullified until this mess is dealt with. They can't follow the rules everyone agreed on, then neither can we."

"Jess, they won't be happy about that."

"And what are they going to do?" I pressed. "Because as of right now, I literally have everyone on my side. The Avengers, Barnes, the Wakandan King, and the task force—because you know better than to get in an argument with me." I smirked as Tony came over the comms.

"I can still hear you, and they're both in the wind. Helicopter's destroyed in the river."

"I'll deal with that. You just let them know, Everett. If they want to fight me on this, I can get every enhanced to stand down and watch them try to catch him all on their own. They have no choice but to take what I'm offering and that's allowing me to run things until we have this terrorist under control. And I'm not talking about Barnes."

"You know, this is why people thought I was crazy when I dated you back in college."

"You're welcome."

"I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" Secretary Ross questioned, Jess pointedly ignoring him as she typed away on her laptop. "Or, if you do, you won't tell us."

"The government broke the accords first when they allowed someone we didn't approve of to take charge in doing Barnes' psych eval," Jess replied, her cold gaze lifting to meet his. "This disaster is on them, not us."

"They're not going to just let you do as you want, Jess."

"And like I told Everett, I'd like to see them try and stop us. I go public with this? Let everyone in the world know that not only was Barnes framed by a terrorist and wrongly imprisoned, but the UN broke the rules of the accord within the first two days of it being finalized and allowed a real terrorist to escape because of it? The public would be in an uproar. So, you tell me. What do they want to do?" She leaned back in her seat, closing the laptop and crossing her arms over her chest. "Because I can call them off, but it means the government is on their own trying to stop a terrorist determined to ruin us all and the public will find out how badly they screwed up."

Secretary Ross ground his teeth but knew he had no choice. "What do you want?"

"Absolutely nothing. The government doesn't have to do a single thing other than do what they always do: turn a blind eye to what the Avengers are up to. Though, the help of the task force would be appreciated."

He eyed her. "And what about the damages? Because this is beginning to look like another Sokovia, another Washington D.C."

"And if you look at the statistics of all those incidents, far less trouble was caused than you initially thought. You can thank my business for that," Jess replied, picking up her coffee mug and shooting him a look. "My company has worked hard to help the people since before the Avengers were even a thing. I've made sure towns and cities are evacuated the moment I believe a fight is going to take place. I've ensured that said places are rebuilt in record time and that no one has to go homeless or jobless because of a villain attack—not an Avengers' attack, a villain's.

"Because that's what the government has overlooked in this accord. The Avengers don't just go out and cause destruction because it's fun or because their powers are just uncontrollable. They go out and they fight people willing and able to cause more destruction. You can put rules on the Avengers, but all that's going to do is make it easier for the villains. Now, you lot worry about looking the other way, while I worry about the aftermath and the Avengers worry about your terrorist. Understood?"

"I could put special ops on this."

"And when the shooting starts, what? You kill Steve Rogers?" Natasha challenged.

"If provoked."

"Which would only add to the fuel I can throw to the media because now you're threatening to kill an iconic American Icon," Jess drawled, sipping her drink. "Just admit it, Secretary Ross. You have no moves."

"I want Barnes."

"No."

"He's a wanted criminal!"

"He's a brainwashed veteran who is being controlled by the real terrorist, who I will gladly let you tear into," Jess snapped back, standing and facing him aggressively. "And I'd like to see you try and argue that in a court setting because I'll tell you right now, you won't win against me."

He pursed his lips, barely holding back his anger. "Do you have proof?"

"I'll have it within the hour," Jess replied, relaxing her shoulders and like a flip of a switch, she calmed down and placed her coffee back on the table. "Tony and I are looking into the information I've received from Steve and Barnes."

"So, you know where they're at."

"And I'm not telling you," she emphasized. "And don't try to be cocky about it, because Tony and I have an isolated system that none of your tech-savvy morons will be able to try and sneak in. Now, I will send you the proof that Barnes is just being controlled as soon as I get it."

"How do I know you won't just fabricate this so-called evidence?"

"Because I honestly have no connection with Barnes," she shrugged. "If he did this of his own free-will, I'd hand him over to you no problem. He's not my friend."

"But Steve is."

"Sure, but here's the thing about me. I don't stick my neck out for my friends unless there's a good reason, and I'm the type who doesn't coddle people. If I found out Pepper Potts was a drug kingpin, I would ensure she gets arrested and punished accordingly, no matter how much Tony wanted her safe. I'm a lawyer, Secretary Ross, and I will stand by my morals no matter who the opposing side is. So, stop insulting me and get out before I lose my patience."

He left then and Jess let out a long exhale, sinking back into her seat and dropping her head into her shaking hands.

Tony got up, massaging her shoulders as Natasha eyed her.

"You all right?"

"I need a vacation."

"I offered you one after Ultron," Tony hummed, managing to ignore her when she glared at him. "I do believe you said no to every place I offered, and we had a lovely night in, instead."

"I need like… a month where you all just stay out of trouble and don't threaten to run me out of my business due to lack of destruction."

"Well, what's the plan for now?" Natasha questioned. "Even with the task force, we're severely understaffed."

"Steve and Sam are getting a couple for their side."

"We need a couple for ours," Tony hummed, giving Natasha a look. "Where's yours?"

"Downstairs. Where's yours?"

Tony smirked. "Queens. Jess, actually, you haven't met him yet."

"Should I be worried?"

"Depends. How good are you with kids?"

Jess shot him a look. "Kids? You're bringing a kid into this?"

"Now, hear me out. I've been keeping an eye on him, seeing how he does, and he's your friendly neighborhood hero type. He won't get into too much trouble and if he does—"

"He goes straight home," Jess said seriously. "I mean it. The slightest injury or wrong step and he goes home."

"Of course! His aunt would honestly kill me otherwise if you haven't done it first."

Jess shot him a glare before shaking her head.

"And once we get everyone together?" Natasha asked and Jess leaned back.

"Put on a show, I suppose."

"What, seriously?" Tony questioned in disbelief. "Didn't you just tell the Secretary of State that we weren't going to cause a mess?"

"We're not," Jess replied, opening her laptop and turning it around so they could see. "I've got the perfect—no civilians, no military interruption—place where everyone can let off some steam while solving all our problems I one go."

Natasha looked it over suspiciously. "All our problems?"

"All of them."

"The accords, everything?" Tony asked as well, equally concerned.

"If this goes well, the accords won't be a problem. Wakanda will have their king return in good spirits. Barnes will be safe and may even have a chance to redeem himself and get rid of any brainwashing problems. The missing Avengers will be ignored. And I'll be able to take a long-deserved break along with the rest of us."

"Sounds good to me," Natasha smirked.

"Can't wait," Tony agreed, smiling and giving Jess a pat on the shoulder. "Now, you ready for a round trip to Queens?"