CHAPTER DEDICATION CJ/Oddball: An asnwer to your review is also down below.

I think I'll keep Katherine a surprise twist for now, hehe, but yes she will be taking Zemo's place.

Now, Ally Maria Halt. I DO want to continue it at some point and it's on a temporary hiatus, for how long, I honestly have no idea. Past the episode I've half-way written, I haven't watched anymore Doctor who from that point on. I might start it up again soon since I only want the fanfic to go on for the one season Ally is currently in + the special with David Tennant. I don't have a plan to ever put it under dis-continued though.

Thank you for participating in my new fanfic tradition!

This chapter is dedicated to you for leaving an amazing comment every chapter!

Captain America: Civil War | Shattering Relations | Two Sides of a Coin

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodes butted back at Sam, trying to solidify his side of the argument. They were battling on the decision of this Sokovia Agreement and have been doing so with repeat arguments for the last couple of minutes. Everyone around them stayed quiet, either listening intently to what each of them had to say or keeping the fact that they've already decided to themselves.

Ever since the Secretary left, everything and everyone had been feeling either tense or thoughtful about what had just been discussed about their time as a team. Overall, there wasn't yet a full consensus on a unanimous decision. There were obviously big issues to really think about on both sides of the equation but which was the option that would allow them to really benefit and stay as they are; a team?

"Fine," Sam rose his hands up into a defending position but he still wasn't going to back down. "So, let's say we agree on this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of criminals?" He wasn't about to agree to something that might end him up in a cell for making decisions to save a life. Even though he had worked for the government for the better part of his life, the last few years have really given him another view into what really happens behind the scenes. Meeting and becoming an Avenger has really changed on how he thinks in general and for the better, of course.

"117 countries want to sign this, Sam." Rhodes boldly emphasized on the number of countries, "Seriously? You're just being like 'No, that's cool. We got it'" He did a mock imitation of Sam acting like a cool guy who couldn't care about any other side than his own, adding in the wave of his arms to prove the point.

Tony let out a tired sigh and brought a hand up to his face, covering it as the squabble filtered through his banging head. He had a headache, one that didn't seem to want to go away. It came down on him shortly after discovering more about the young boy that had been killed during the Sokovia attacks. There had been so much to it that his head was paying the price for learning the information he had. He understood where both Rhodes and Sam were coming from but he had already made his own decision on the outcome, one that he was sure a couple of people in the room were seriously considering, just as he had.

It wasn't a light decision to just make on the spot.

Sam just shook his head in response, scoffing loudly, "How long are you going to play both sides?-" His voice had raised a little more and was a lot louder than when he first started the argument. Eventually, this disagreement finally caused someone else in the room to interrupt any more counter attacks.

It was Vision, the one who was technically the youngest in human terms. Although some could argue he was older then all of them combined given by the jewel encrusted into his forehead. "-I have an equation." He stated a little hesitancy in his voice from speaking in the middle of their argument. Although, he knew his words would be of interest to everyone in the room so he pushed it away quickly as everyone turned to him.

Vision sitting on one end of the nearby couch with Wanda sitting close to him in the middle of it. He leaned against the side arm, his fingers fiddling with a small chess piece he had grabbed from the game laid out on the small front table. Instead of sitting at the business table, they were all now gathered around in another part of the building. The area that's more of a comfortable living/kitchen area. It was the main go-to place to talk to each other without feeling bombarded by anything big.

Although, it probably didn't feel like that right now given the circumstances.

"Oh," Sam couldn't help but sarcastically roll his eyes, "This will surely clear it up." He was frustrated that no one seemed to even partially agree with him other than Steve and Bucky, the two American Heroes, his best friends. He knew which side they were on for this dispute. He understood that there were over a hundred countries that wanted them to sign but it would also be taking away their rights in certain areas. They might not be able to perform the best that they can. He didn't want to be at fault for someone dying if the Governments' weren't going to send them in for a mission.

Tony who just kept his head looking down and his eyes lightly shut as everyone in the room waited for Vision to start talking and reveal to them what this equation was.

Vision cleared his throat, feeling the majority of eyes in the room lay on him, "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." He revealed, the data already piled nicely in his head and in the correct order. Everyone was listening intently. Steve had to pause himself since he was currently reading through the several hundred-paged agreement. "During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate." Since he was a combination of Jarvis, Ultron's creation and the golden gem stuck in his head, he remembered everything he had been as Tony Stark's personal and intelligent AI.

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Bucky questioned with no anger or defense in the question, only curiosity. It would make sense if something like that was happening since it was a good logical conclusion. There had to be a balance in the world to keep it stable. Well, as stable as it's ever going to be, that is. There were also times that Avery had mentioned things like that happening if it should ever come to pass.

The sudden thinking of his lost love suddenly made him feel down and partially dead inside. He looked away, finding a cloud outside to be more interesting at that very moment that the conversation to make his mind come off her.

"I'm saying…" Vision said slowly while taking a quick pause, not wanting to pass around blame because, in this equation, the blame would also be because of him too. In any sense, the blame wouldn't solve anything and nothing that's happened so far could have been stopped. It probably would have happened eventually. Anything can happen; the present and future will just have to adapt to it's new up and comings to counter those changes. "…I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge and challenge incites conflict. And conflict … conflict breeds catastrophe." Looking down, he finished, "Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

Though he didn't really state which side he was with, it was clear that he was sticking with the data accessible to him.

Rhodes couldn't help it but exclaim what was, maybe, 75% true, "Boom." His head glanced back over to Sam with the words as Vision supposedly declared he was on the side of signing the agreement. In response, Sam just shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. He still wasn't convinced signing their rights away would solve anything – if anything, the agreement will make some aspects worse to deal with or handle in the upcoming future.

"Tony-" Natasha finally spoke up for the first time since the meeting ended, her head pointing towards the man lying on the couch. He looked tired and weary. It looked as though he had been ignoring everything that was going on around him. She watched as his hand dropped from his face like it's lost the power to stay up and cover it. His eyes opened a touch and they were aimed straight at her. "-You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

Steve muttered loud enough for everyone to hear before Tony even had a chance to speak, "It's because he's already made up his mind." Honestly, out of everyone, he had been sure that Tony would be the first one to say hell no to this agreement lying in his lap. Strangely enough, it almost felt like it was a betrayal that Tony was going to side with the Governments and sign this unbinding contract that would hold them in a web. He shook his head, eyes, and heart full of disappointment at the decision his friend was making.

Tony's attitude towards the entire thing hadn't changed from the moment Secretary Ross brought up the agreement or till now. Some things Steve could tell what was going through his friend's mind but the one thing he couldn't understand was why the man was acting the way he was. Natasha was the one questioning on why he wasn't acting like himself. It was like something else was plaguing Tony's mind, something that was more important than the book he had lying in his hands.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony drawled, rolling his eyes at the comment the Captain made in regards to his knowing decision. He slowly got up from his personal couch while nursing the back of his head where most of the pain was coming from. He decided to impute them of what he was trying to deal with, "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He got louder as he moved into the kitchen off to the side, wanting a coffee to keep his eyes open and awake. "That's what's going on, Cap." The usual level of his voice started returning to normal while adding a tickle of sarcasticness. "It's just pain and discomfort."

Turning his head away from then, he looked down at the sink. He practically growled with frustration when he saw a pet peeve of his waiting to be dealt with. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He near-enough snapped but it was mostly because of how tired he was. In the past few weeks, he's barely had any sleep that he could actually count as a good night nap. He grabbed the coffee grounder off to the side and turned around to the kitchen's island counter.

As the room was droned into silence, the only action came from Tony as he grabbed the phone from his pocket and stationed it on top of the bread basket. It was sitting on the edge of the island's counter and the phone was pointing towards the rest of the team. With one simple tap, a single hologram popped up for everyone to see, much like how the map had done when Secretary Ross was giving his presentation of horrible memories. The hologram featured a young black male that looked to be in his mid-twenties but it was quite possible that he could be younger than that.

Tony paused for a single moment and stared out into space as if he were waiting for someone to comment on who this young man was. Eventually, a sigh left his lips as he returned his attention back to the group when no one had spoken up. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid." He commented, thinking back to all the accomplishments he was able to find on this guy. A star pupil and one to look out for in his potential field. But then, that won't happen now, would it?

He's dead … because of the Avengers'.

Because of him.

"A computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA and had a floor-level gig at Intel planned for the fall." Tony put his strength into the coffee grinder as he continued, barely glancing up at them, "But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk." He pursed his lips, gritting his teeth, "To see the world, maybe be of service."

Everyone in the room seemed to suddenly realize where this might be heading and why Tony had been acting so strange the entire day since arriving with Secretary Ross. Silence drew on in the room of superheroes.

"Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do." His attention was far away from the grinder now, his head turning up towards the team with an almost desperate look in his eye, coupled with a bit of anger. It was pointed towards every one of the people in this room but mostly for himself. He understood that there were things that had gotten out of their control during that fight in Sokovia but to really dig into the lives that were truly lost that day, it really stung him. Never has he ever really done anything like that before. Sokovia had the biggest death toll in all the fights they've been in as of late. "He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. And guess where? … Sokovia." He started pouring the elements of his coffee together so the steam was piping hot when the water was poured.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose." He continued, keeping the same lines of emotion running through his tone, "But then, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass." He threw paracetamol into his mouth and quickly drowned it down with a sip of his coffee, ignoring the burning hot feeling scalding the back of his throat. He had to cough a couple of times to rid the feeling away as he placed the cup back onto the countertop.

After gaining his ability to talk back, he started to pace towards the edge of the island and leaned his back against it. "There's no decision-making process here." He confidently told them, crossing his arms over his chest, "We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations and if we're boundary-less … we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony," Bucky was the one to finally speak up after his teammate had finished giving his input on what should happen. He understood what was happening, this was guilt and he knew it far too well, and so did Steve. But, it still doesn't change the fact of the matter that this agreement would most likely completely tie their hands, one way or another. "When someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked, not backing down from his previous statement.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions." Bucky clearly said back to him, "This document, it just shifts the blame and ties our hands at the same time."

Rhodes shook his head from where he sat, now leaning against one of the couches, "I'm sorry, Bucky," He started, seeing his point while trying to solidify what both he and Tony had been saying throughout this entire discussion. "But that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about." He carried on even as the super soldier shook his head, "It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D, it's not Hydra-" Steve was the one to cut him off before he could continue further.

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

"That's good." Tony stated, inserting himself in also with his opinion on the line, walking forwards to the rest of the team, "That's why I'M here. 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." Steve countered, proving his point with his friend's own example, "If we sign this then we surrender our right to chose." He shut the agreement lying on his lap, no longer wanting to even read anymore because he was adamant about not signing this, not one bit. He was sure his own sister would have agreed with him on that too. "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 paused, trying to get that through their heads, "We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

Tony looked at him seriously, "If we don't do this now, it's just gonna be done to us later on." He warned, knowing exactly how these people work after having worked with them for numerous years, and hacked a lot of their records in earlier years. "That's the fact and it won't be pretty." His eyes flickered over to the only teenager in the room and she clearly noticed.

"You're saying they'll come for me," Wanda said softly, understanding where this was heading by the direction of his eyes coming to her. Her actions alone had caused the deaths of seven people in Lagos, Nigeria. There were sure to be a lot of people wanting justice, for her head to be on a stick. She wasn't much of an Avenger yet and wasn't as high profile as the others. The world could do without her being in it as far as the victim's family members were concerned. She was suddenly thankful that Pietro wasn't in the States right now and probably wouldn't for a while yet. She wasn't about to make him catch a flight back to the United States when he was on his own mission. She was the one who wanted to stay and now she'll have to pay the price, whatever that may be.

"We would protect you." Vision vowed the instant her words stopped, his voice strong and adamant. He glanced over at her as she did to him. There was a gratefulness in her eyes and he returned to her a small smile. He wouldn't let anything happen to her. He felt strangely very protective of her.

Silence echoed in the room.

"Maybe Tony's right."

Natasha suddenly surprised them all by saying those exact three words without hesitation in her tone. Tony's head was the first to snap over to the Black Widow, his eyebrows reaching sky high at the statement the former spy had just told them. Natasha didn't continue right away but did talk slowly as if she were thinking about what she was to say at the same time. "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 wondered out loud with shock, staring at the redheaded woman weirdly. It started to feel like everyone was experiencing opposite day today.

Natasha felt the need to defend herself, "I'm just … reading the terrain." Her eyes flickered over to Bucky and Steve who certainly didn't like what her decision was, "Over the years, we have made some very public mistakes and what we need to do is win their trust back."

This was supposed to be a serious conversation but Tony had to backtrack it for a moment, his ears still unable to believe what had just been said about him from their very own Natasha Romanoff. "Hold on, hold on. I'm sorry but … did I just mishear you or did you actually … agree … with ME?"

Looking up at Tony, she started to second-guess herself after all, "Oh, I want to take it back now." Letting a cringe form on her lips, looking as though she was disgusted and horrified with herself.

"No, no, no…"

Bucky turned away from them again and shook his head. He couldn't believe it, more than half of everyone here seemed to be in favor of this agreement and didn't they see what was happening? This stack of papers was going to tear up their team, their friendship.

His fingers reached up to the necklace hidden underneath his shirt where the engagement ring was still hanging. And again, he couldn't help but wonder and fear where Avery was right this second. It's been too long since she went missing and he longed to hold her in his arms once again. He had Steve with him but still, his heart was feeling empty and alone. They needed to find a way to find her – to get her back.

He glanced over to Steve who was staring down at his phone, ignoring everyone as they continued to talk, just like him.

Shaking his head after having enough of being here, he got up from his seat without another word and walked away, vaguely saying that he had to leave. He wasn't going to continue with this conversation because clearly everyone had already made up their mind. So, no more discussion was needed to be made. They were on two sides of a coin and sooner or later one is going to disappear. He just hoped they were all going to be on the same side and make it through like they've always seemed to be able to do.

~ Author Note ~

Sooo … long time no see, huh?

Well … there's a few reasons why this chapter wasn't two weeks ago when I wanted it too. It was because I just wasn't feeling as happy and I think a part of me just gave up, to be honest. In the end, only one amazing person decided to leave me a comment on the little yearly tradition I wanted/hoped to start with everyone back in chapter 5. (This person does every chapter, but this one was special to me) Thank you so much CJ/Oddball:! And thank you to those few people who take the time to leave me a comment too every once in a while, you're amazing people, thank you so much also.

I think a part of me hoped way too much to expect more that one or two people would actually leave me a comment for this new tradition I wanted to start. But, no worries, I'm used to disappointment so … I'll get over it and continue on.

Anyway, the next chapter should be up by next Sunday night/Monday morning and it'll completely step past Peggy's funeral (since she died back in Saviours) and go straight to the UN meeting. There will be some original scenes included in there too so don't worry. Dawn of a New Day will also be updated by then too.

As usual – follow, fav, and review.