A/N
Hello, hello, hello!
Just to say, in the gap between the last fic and this one, a version of Age of Ultron did happen, but Quicksilver didn't die. That is why he and Scarlett Witch appear in this story and throughout the rest of it...
Kim was running her hands through her hair as Tony and Steve were locked in a shouting match across Coulson's office. Stood next to her was a, now clearly, pregnant Laura, looking helplessly at the two with one of her pale hands over her mouth.
"Stark can you stop talking for one minute?" Shouted Coulson over the top of Tony yelling something about 'responsibility'.
"What?" He half yelled, turning away from his son-in-law.
Coulson glared at him for a second, before closing his eyes for a second.
"We need to be united right now. You two especially can't be fighting now. Not after everything you two have achieved together. I realise that this will affect both of you but it will affect us all. Skye will have to register. Wanda and Pietro will have to register. Even Thor will have to, and you two are using this as an excuse to fight again. It's not just you two we have to think about. So stop being selfish and start acting like grown-ups." He said, looking at both of them with a look of utter distaste and loathing before turning and walking over to Kim and Laura.
"Are you two okay? How's everything going Laura?" he asked, the natural kindness returning to his face.
"Getting there. At the moment a little bit nervous about what will happen and how it will effect this little guy's future." She said, smiling softly but never meeting his eyes.
Kim looked away, her eyes resting on Skye in the next room, who was feeling her pulse and shaking violently. She had her eyes closed and was smiling softly at what May was saying to her. The room shook slightly and Kim felt Laura grab her arm to steady herself. Skye suddenly had tears running down her face and she stood up and the trembling stopped.
Steve walked forward, and touched Laura's arm softly. She gave him a half smile and followed him out of Coulson's office, waving goodbye as they went.
Then Tony stormed forward, his voice raising.
"He can't just lead my daughter out of here without giving her a chance to express her opinion. Laura!" He shouted the last part, and Laura turned around slowly from the corridor outside Coulson's office.
"Yes?" she asked, in a small voice the Kim had never heard her use before.
"Is that it then? You're becoming a fugitive and turning your back on me for him?" he asked, his voice shaking.
Steve whipped around and stood in front of Laura, more rage than ever clear on his face. Kim and Coulson ran out of his office and looked on helplessly.
"How dare you-" Steve was cut off by Laura stepping in between them.
"That is it." She said, clipping the end of each word.
"What?" Asked Steve; not looking at her.
"I'm staying here. You two have a full out war for all I care but until you sort out your differences, I'm staying here." She looked at both of them, challenging either one to say a word.
"Laura-" Tony said, but Laura cut him off by turning away and marching back into Coulson's office and slamming the door.
"Look what you did!" Said Steve, shouting so much that May and Skye appeared at the end of the corridor looking inquisitively at the scene. Skye had tear marks on her cheeks that she hadn't bothered to wipe away.
"Me? You started this by for, for the first time in your life, not following the law." Shouted back Tony, and by the end of his sentence FitzSimmons, Hunter and Bobbi were at the other end of the corridor.
"How can I follow the law when it goes against everything I've ever fought for?" retorted Steve, as a door opened next to Coulson, and Natasha, Clint, Sam, Rhodey, Vision, Wanda and Pietro stepped out, looking worried as their teammates continued to shout at each other.
"You always follow the law, that's what makes you Captain America!" shouted Tony as a man and a woman, holding hands, rounded the corner and pushed their way through the gathering crowd.
The man had tousled brown hair and was substantially taller than the red-haired woman, who wore a black dress and cream trench coat. The man wore a blue checked shirt, with some sort of blue vest poking out from underneath it and black jeans.
"Tony?" asked the man, detaching his hand from hers and walking forwards slowly.
Tony whipped around and relaxed when he saw who it was.
"Peter. Thank God you're here. You support the act, right? Maybe Cap will agree if Spiderman agrees."
Peter sighed, rolled his eyes and turned around quickly to raise his eyebrows at his girlfriend.
"Yeah, I support it." He said, looking uncertainly at the crowds either side of the corridor,
"Hang on… you're Spiderman?" asked Fitz, pushing his way forwards to stand next to Coulson and Kim with his mouth hanging open.
"Yeah…" He said slowly, turning towards the girl once more and winking.
"Peter, MJ, it's good to see you." Said Coulson, shaking Peter's hand and trying to diffuse the tension.
"You too, sir." said Peter, smiling at Kim and Fitz, who nodded their heads at him in turn.
"Peter." Said Steve, stepping towards him cautiously.
"Yeah?" he answered.
"You know what it means if you support this, right? Your secret identity, which you've worked so hard to keep since you were 15 will be gone. Think about May and MJ here. Can you afford that?" Steve said, his stormy blue eyes full of warning.
"What choice do I have? Sign it and keep my family safe, or go to jail and risk them dead at the hands of the Green Goblin or worse. I can't risk that. I can't risk them." Replied Peter, who reached behind him and took his girlfriend's hand.
Steve nodded, and cast a longing look towards the still shut door of Coulson's office, before looking Tony dead in his dark brown eyes and taking a step backwards.
"Well then, whoever wants to can join me can. I'm not standing for this and no-one who doesn't want to should. Laura, I know you're listening… I love you and I'll see you soon. Coulson, I'm so sorry for all the trouble I'm about to inevitably cause." He heaved a small sigh and then pushed Coulson into Tony and Peter and ran in the opposite direction, throwing FitzSimmons in one direction and Bobbi and Hunter in the other and disappearing down the corridor.
Tony staggered to his feet and glanced at his team-mates, who had all gone impeccably pale, even Vision was looking pale, which was odd for a robot.
"Well?" he asked them, staring them each in the eyes accusingly.
Sam swallowed tentatively, before sprinting in the direction of Steve, closely followed by Wanda, Pietro, Clint, Natasha and Vision.
"Don't try and stop us, Stark." called Natasha over her shoulder as she turned the corner and disappeared from sight.
Tony put his hand on his forehead and glanced at his allies that were left: Peter, Rhodey and Coulson… was Coulson an ally though? He had that weird man-crush on Steve which made things hard to tell sometimes.
"Do I have the support of S.H.I.E.L.D, Director?" he asked, getting uncomfortably close to the man who had been there since basically his beginning as Iron Man.
"I think so… as long as my powered Agents have the choice to follow you or Steve as well. I won't make them go against their principles." Replied the dark-haired man, glancing at Skye with a questioning look in his brown eyes, asking a question without speaking that would inevitably be answered later.
Tony agreed, then what remained of the Avengers left S.H.I.E.L.D. to find more allies, with Tony promising Skye a place on the Avengers if she chose to join them.
As soon as they left, Kim went to fetch Laura from her hiding place in Coulson's office.
When she entered, Laura was sat on one of the chairs facing Coulson's desk with tears still flowing down her pale face and onto her turquoise sundress.
"What did he do?" she asked shakily, her hands fumbling with the golden ring on her finger.
"Oh, you know… just pushed Coulson into your dad and Peter then ran off, knocking FitzSimmons, Hunter and Bobbi into a wall." She said casually, pushing her mousy brown hair out of her face.
Laura chuckled slightly and wiped her eyes, getting up and walking towards the door.
"Something bad's about to happen. I can feel it in my bones, Kim. Something will happen and someone will have to pay the price. Whether it be Tony, Coulson, Steve… any of us. Someone will pay, and nothing will be the same." She said, with so much warning in her British accent that Kim so often found comfort in when she had had enough of the American twang of her friends and colleagues.
"I know." She replied, and followed Laura out of Coulson's office.