SailorSedna052
KenyanHammer: Thank you for the kind reviews
The next week, Laura returned to New York… on official orders from King T'Chaka.
To help present and address what he and other world leaders had been working on through the United Nations.
It directly involving The Avengers after the mistakes in Lagos.
She was speeding around the driveway up to the compound and pulled up to the foyer.
Parking next to Tony since she informed him on what was going on with the United Nations.
Shutting her supercar off, she leaned back into her seat.
Feeling her headache pounding against her skull.
She didn't want to do this.
She knew not everyone would agree.
Especially Steve.
She herself didn't particularly agree with the proposal either.
With everything that has happened with SHIELD, her general lack of trust and well… paranoia.
She also had to work directly with the Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross.
She respected the fact that he was a decorated veteran of the army but she didn't agree with his politics.
And what he wanted to do with The Avengers.
But she had her orders and she couldn't refuse them.
Reaching over to the passenger seat for her bag, she took an aspirin with her coffee.
Grabbing both, she took a deep breath before heading out to meet the others inside.
She and Tony gathered The Avengers to the conference room.
Secretary Ross joined them with his procession of agents.
She was sitting at the head of the table, dressed professionally.
Her hands clasped on the glass table top.
Tony sitting in one of the chairs behind her as Ross addressed them in front of a TV.
"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass... I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an un-payable debt. You have fought for 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" he said and Laura frowned, not agreeing with that.
"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Nat asked him.
"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?" Ross argued.
He turned on the TV which began playing past montages of their battles.
"New York." It showed images of A Chitauri leviathan.
New Yorkers fleeing for their lives.
Soldiers and cops shooting at the chariots.
The Hulk smashing into a building and sends a dust cloud to engulf the camera.
Laura closed her eyes tightly.
Taking a deep breath through her nose.
"Washington D.C." The screen showed the three Insight helicarriers, firing on each other over the capitol.
The destroyed Triskelion and one of the helicarriers crashing into the Potomac, and a massive wave from it engulfing nearby passersby.
Laura feeling guilt about the fallout.
"Sokovia." the TV showing the city rising high above the Earth.
Apartment buildings collapsing.
Laura glanced over to Wanda who saw the distress on her face.
Feeling sorry for her about her and Tony's fatal mistakes.
"Lagos." it shoulder the burning hospital.
Paramedics carrying bodies away on stretchers.
Laura hitched a breath, getting everyone's attention.
She covering her mouth after she realized how loud she was.
Steve frowned.
"Okay, that's enough." he asked Ross who turned the TV off.
"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." Ross said and an aide handed him a thick document.
He placed it on the table and slid it to Wanda who passed it to Rhodey.
"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 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." he decreed.
Laura silently not agreeing to it.
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve argued.
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross countered, matching his eyes who couldn't come up with an answer.
"If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes… you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground." Ross explained.
"So, there are contingences?" Rhodey asked.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. The Avengers will be represented by Princess Laura" Ross said, gesturing to her across the table, everyone glancing back to her.
Steve glanced back to Tony and then to Laura.
She saw the look of betrayal on his face and looked down in shame.
"Talk it over." Ross suggested and began to walk out.
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asked him.
"Then you retire."
Ross left them to discuss the accords.
All of them regrouping in the common room.
Well, the discussion turned into an argument.
A heated argument.
Laura opted to slouch in one of the chair next to Tony.
Pinching the bridge of her nose.
Her headache turning into a migraine.
She knew this would happen.
And hated herself for it.
For turning the others against each other.
Rhodey and Sam were arguing for and against the accords as Steve read the document.
"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey pointed out.
"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam argued.
"A 117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, "No, that's cool. We got it. " Rhodey asked in disbelief.
"How long are you going to play both sides?" he asked with annoyance.
"I have an equation." Vision spoke up, getting everyone's attention.
"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam said dryly.
"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." he pointed out.
"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked him.
"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." he suggested.
"Boom." Rhodey said smugly.
Nat glanced back to Laura and Tony, who've been uncharacteristically quiet throughout the argument.
"Laura, this is your document. Anything you'd like to add?" she asked.
Laura looked up and frowned.
"It's not "my" document. I have a life outside of this now and I'm here on official orders. My personal opinion doesn't matter here." she said, getting up from her chair.
"Yeah well thanks for forcing these accords of yours on the rest of us without even a say." Sam quipped.
She frowned, unable to come up with a response.
"Tony, you've been uncharacteristically non hyperverbal." Nat also pointed out.
"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve stated.
"Boy, you know me so well." he said sarcastically.
Getting up, wincing, and rubbing the back of his head.
"Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." he said as he walked to the kitchen, grabbing a mug to pour himself a cup of coffee.
"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?" he said, annoyed at the mess.
He dropped his phone on the counter, projecting a graphic of a smiling college student.
"Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. 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 snapped, silencing everyone else.
"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Watson is right about this. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary less, we're no better than the bad guys." he argued.
Laura looked down to the floor, hating all of the attention.
"Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve argued.
"Who said we're giving up?" he countered.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve said.
"Steve, this doesn't shift the blame. It' accepting responsibility. The United Nations along with most of the world want this." Laura spoke up.
"No, I'm sorry Laura but this is going to be run by people with agendas, and agendas change." he argued and she silently couldn't help but agree.
"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, Watson and I shut it down and stop manufacturing." Tony reminded them.
"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 is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own." Steve suggested.
"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty. I say, it should be done by someone we all trust." Tony said, indicating Laura.
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said.
"We would protect you." Vision reassured her.
"Maybe Tony's right." Nat said, surprising everyone.
"I'm just… I'm reading the terrain. We have made… some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." she reasoned.
"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony joked.
"Oh, I want to take it back now." she said with a smile.
"Talk about it amongst yourselves, either way this is what's going to happen after Lagos and Sokovia which I believe both of us are to blame." she reminded him and everyone else.
She reached for her bag and clasped Tony's wrist.
"I've gotta go." she walked out to the stairwell and leaned against the wall.
Putting her face in her palms.
After a minute she heard the doors open to see Steve walking in.
"Steve…" she said but stopped, seeing his face look distraught.
"Steve, what's wrong?" she asked with worry.
"I… She…" was all he could say.
She quickly embraced him, unaware of the deep loss he just experienced.
One week later.
London.
In a crowded cathedral, a funeral was taking place.
For Peggy Carter.
Laura was sitting next to Sam in the front row, smoothing out her black dress with her hand as Steve led the pallbearers down the aisle.
Carrying Peggy's coffin which was draped with the Union Jack.
They placed the coffin down and he joined them.
The priest stepped up to the podium.
"And now, I would like to invite Sharon Carter to come up and say a few words." he introduced her.
Agent Thirteen walked up the steps which Laura raised an eyebrow too.
Steve was looking down but Sam elbowed him, getting his attention.
"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD… but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy. She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I never told anyone we were related. I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either. And she said, compromise where you can. But where you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to… move it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in they eye and say "No, you move."
After the funeral concluded, Laura went to get Nat who decided to come but stay out of the spotlight.
The pair were walking up the aisle towards Steve who was alone in the cathedral.
"When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out that she was alive. I was just lucky to have her." he said thankfully.
"She had you back, too." Nat comforted him.
"Who else signed?" he asked.
"Tony, Nat, Rhodey and Vision." Laura answered.
"And yourself?" he asked, already expecting her to have signed.
"I'm going to offically sign it at the ceremony in Vienna with King T'Chaka but I'm already adhering to the Accords." she answered.
"Clint?" he asked.
"Says he's retired." Nat said with a faint smile.
"Wanda?"
"TBD." she replied.
"You know, you can come with us to Vienna, if you want." Laura suggested and he bowed his head.
She frowned.
"Just because it's the path of least resistance doesn't mean it's the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together." Nat tried to get him to join them.
"What are we giving up to do it?" he argued one again.
Laura just shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Laura, Nat. I can't sign it." he repeated.
"I know Steve. I know." she said with a sigh.
"So why are you here?" he asked them.
"To be with our friend when he needs his…" she said and the two each embraced him.
The two left to depart for Vienna, walking out of the cathedral.
"So, am I finally going to meet this secret boyfriend now husband of yours." Nat joked and she smiled.
"Yes, although I wish it was under better circumstances." she said as the two got into the back of a car which began to drive them to Heathrow.
"Well he still has to get my approval."