Chapter 6 - Tiebreaker

Coulson looked around at his team, unsure how to address the latest political power play that may have affected them. "I wanted everyone here this morning while we have some downtime to address the situation I know is on everyone's minds lately."

May nodded. "We'll have to take steps."

Skye bit her lip. "Sorry, what's going on?"

Coulson took a deep breath. "The United States government has banded together with councils from around the world to introduce the Sokovia Accords after the battle with Ultron."

Fitz grunted. "Basically, it gives the government control of enhanced people and grants them the ability to track them."

Skye gaped. "Is that…?"

"Legal?" Coulson interrupted. "Now, yes. Is is ethical? Well, that's where there have been disagreements."

Bobbi bit back a grimace. "It looks like the Avengers have splintered. Stark and Romanoff agreed to sign. Cap and Barton refused."

Coulson nodded. "I talked to Talbot and he's sending a thorough document about how this will affect our day-to-day operations."

"Well, it won't," Hunter frowned before Skye coughed quietly. "For most of us, I'd assume. No?"

May shook her head. "It gives them sanction on how best to use our resources. After the many mishaps from the Avengers, it allows them to avoid Sokovia-level damage."

Hunter folded his arms. "Or keep the Avengers from saving countless lives. It's a catch-22, May."

"I don't see it that way."

Fitz was all but vibrating at this point. "How can you not? What makes you think the government know the best way to use us or the Avengers? If they had their way, they'd probably have kept them from beating Loki in New York."

Coulson swallowed heavily, Loki lingering in his mind more than he'd like to admit these days. "I have to agree. We're in our positions for a reason, Fury assembled those specific people for the Avengers for a reason, because they have insight. How are the councils around the world going to know the best way to handle a superhuman threat?"

Simmons spoke for the first time during the discussion. "Look at what happened in Lagos. That wasn't an extinction-level event, yet the Avengers were sent in and ended up causing even more damage. And why? Because of Wanda Maximoff."

Skye turned to her. "You can't just put every enhanced person in a box like that and…what? I assume there's biometrical tracking, registration. We have rights too."

"You know I didn't mean it like that, Skye, I just…can't help but feel like it might be worth a try."

Fitz shook his head. "It's just a way for the government to have more control over something they don't fully understand."

Coulson held up a hand, effectively silencing everyone. "Right, this is getting out of hand."

"But you agree with Rogers?" May wondered.

Coulson eyed her carefully. "Interesting that you'd phrase it like that, but yes. With the amount of inhuman and enhanced people we've saved and helped, I can't in good conscience support a regime that pacifies them in such a dehumanising way. I don't want Skye wearing a tracking bracelet because they're scared she's going to level a city when we have the resources to monitor her."

Skye nodded, forever touched at how much Coulson believed in her.

Mack cleared his throat. "Even it means keeping people safe?"

"What about keeping them safe?"

Mack tilted his head. "I don't follow."

Skye took over, knowing where Coulson was going with this. "You don't know that if every enhanced individual registered with the government that that's something that would be accessible to the public? The record gets out and you know what would happen then? They'd start to hunt us. If you start to make a big spectacle out of every enhanced ability, it villainises us."

Fitz nodded. "General Ross fast-tracked this didn't he?"

Bobbi nodded on behalf of everyone.

"His history with Bruce Banner is common knowledge, this doesn't feel like a well-thought out piece of legislation, it just feels like personal revenge."

Simmons frowned. "But Ross didn't write the thing. And 117 territories have agreed to enforce it."

Hunter sighed. "And the United States are just powerless to change the opinion of foreign dignitaries, aren't they? Saying that everyone agreed to it is short-sighted."

Simmons was a little shocked at how insightful Hunter was being, but chose not to dwell on it. She wouldn't admit to being secretly impressed by his argument, whether or not she wholly agreed with it.

Hunter acknowledged Simmons' shock and tightened his mouth. "What we really need to be focusing on is what we do about this."

"We can't do anything if we're at each other's throats about it. We need to be a democracy," Fitz replied.

Coulson took a moment to think.

"Okay, how about this? We each get a vote about whether we agree with the Accords or not," Coulson said smoothly. "Everyone's vote is weighed the same and whichever perspective comes out on top gets to decide whether we continue to operate as normal."

Simmons raised a sculpted brow. "You're our Director. Surely your vote is just going to win in the end."

Coulson put his hands up. "We need to make a decision and I'll respect whatever the outcome is. I just can't have us debating every little assignment we go on to decide whether it follows the Accords or not."

"It does seem fair," Bobbi supplied.

May nodded. "Okay. So who agrees with signing the Accords?"

May raised her hand, along with an eager Simmons, a resolute Mack, and a hesitant Bobbi.

Hunter elbowed Bobbi playfully. "We never could agree on anything, could we?"

She grinned. "Part of me thinks you're doing this on purpose just to oppose me."

Coulson cleared his throat. "So that's four for signing, which means Skye, Fitz, Hunter, and I are against sining."

"I guess we're deadlocked," May sighed.

"I guess we'll never properly agree with each other," Mack replied swiftly.

Fitz looked up suddenly. "Not true. There are nine people on this plane."

Mack did a quick headcount. "You sure about that, Turbo? I only count eight."

Coulson and Skye nodded their agreement.

Fitz smiled wryly at them all. "Have all of you forgotten about the prisoner of war we have stashed away in the basement?"

"Oh, not fucking Ward," Skye groaned.

Fitz stepped back. "I hate this as much as you do, believe me, but it seems to be the only way to seal the deal."

"Well, we can't just all swarm into the basement and debate ethics."

"Fitz and I will go," Simmons suggested. "I haven't spoken to Ward since he tried to kill me, so it'll be nice to catch-up."

Fitz shivered. "I forgot how scary you can be when you're in revenge mode."

Simmons grinned evilly. "Pray it's never towards you."

Skye raised her eyebrows as she led Fitz towards the basement.

"Any idea how he might swing?" Bobbi wondered.

Everyone turned towards Skye.

"Okay, I hate this," she barked. "But I think he could go either way. He hates the government about as much as anyone so he wouldn't want them interfering even more than they already are, but he also hates the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D with a passion. This really could go either way."

"Great," Hunter groaned. "We're awaiting our next steps from him."

"Blame Fitz," Mack grumbled.

"I think you mean thank Fitz for being able to solve a problem," Fitz shot back.

Jemma tugged on his arm. "Let's just go before another argument breaks out."

Fitz and Jemma straightened their stances before pushing the button that removed Ward's invisible wall. The panel slid back and the man looked up, surprised to have visitors. His facial hair had grown out and was becoming a little unkempt.

Jemma sighed before pushing the unmute button.

"It's really good to see you both," Ward muttered, knowing that it likely wouldn't matter to them.

"Save it," Jemma held up a hand. "You left me for dead, I don't want to hear anything from you."

Ward's eyes turned to Fitz. "Thanks for coming back."

Jemma's eyes bulged. "Coming back? Fitz, please tell me you haven't been visiting this monster."

Fitz's jaw hardened. "I needed answers, Jemma. Of course, I didn't get any, talking to him is like talking to a box of sand."

Ward grinned. "Yet here you both are, obviously needing something from me."

Fitz spat. "Don't look so smug, the only reason we're here is because you have a pulse, which could change in an instant so don't fuck around."

Hearing Fitz curse was enough for Ward to shut his mouth.

"Good," Jemma smiled. "Fitz."

Fitz sighed. "Hypothetically, if there was a mandate that demanded supervision for gifted people by the government in order to dictate how they operate, would you sign it?"

"Hold on, that's not what it is," Jemma frowned. "If the legislation was in place to safeguard the talents of these people, would you sign it?"

Ward frowned back at her. "What the hell is this? Some kind of inhuman thought experiment?"

"Just answer the damn question."

"I need to make sure I'm getting this," Ward paced inside his tiny cell. "So the government have introduced a set of rules that determine how The Avengers operate and prevent global catastrophes?"

Fitz and Jemma nodded.

"Okay," Ward pondered. "I'm going to need more information. What do the government have access to?"

Fitz, surprised that Ward was answering so casually, shrugged. "Well, they're able to have final say over whether The Avengers should be sent to deal with something. The way they see it, putting them on a leash would put a stop to these larger threats."

"And it includes inhumans too?"

"Yes."

Ward thought about it for a long moment and snorted. "No fucking way would I sign that."

Jemma put her hands on her hips. "Why not?"

Ward shrugged. "As much as I fucking hate them, we'd all be dead without the Avengers. Loki would've destroyed New York, then the whole country, and then the rest of the world."

"But seeing destruction on that scale, they would probably have sent them out."

"Yeah, after everything's already burning to a crisp," Ward scoffed. "The only thing worse than the Avengers is the government."

Fitz nodded. "That's probably the most sensible choice you've ever made."

"Even over saving Jemma's life?"

Jemma grimaced. "Any points you got for that were wiped out the moment you joined HYDRA."

"Your views on good and evil are so biased, Simmons."

"And yours are based on a foundation of prejudice. Let me guess, you probably thought the Nazis had a point."

Ward blanched. "No fucking way. Whatever you might think, HYDRA and the Nazis aren't synonymous with each other."

"I don't want to hear any HYDRA propaganda, Ward," Jemma shook her head.

"Okay," Ward shrugged. It didn't matter to him either way.

"We've got what we came for. I would say thank you, but I hate you," Fitz quipped, turning to the door.

"See you soon, Leo," Ward replied solemnly.

Jemma hit the mute button and the rest of Ward's words were drowned out. Fitz turned back and met Ward's eyes for a second, trying to read his lips. Shrugging, he punched the other button and the panel slid back into place, as though Ward had never existed. That was the way they wanted it.

The pair trudged back upstairs and were met with expectant eyes.

"Well?" Skye pressed. "What did that weasel have to say for himself?"

Jemma sighed heavily. "He said he wouldn't sign the Accords."

"And you explained it to him properly?" May had her beady eyes on Fitz, who scowled.

"No May, the two smartest people on the team failed to accurately explain a simple concept," he drawled, to May's irritation.

"So that's it? Decision made?" Bobbi confirmed, looking around the room.

Coulson nodded. "I believe so. We'll continue to operate as though the Accords don't exist. Unless Talbot or someone else directly steps in, we go about our business as usual. I don't want any in-fighting about this."

Mack sighed. "Sure thing, boss."

Coulson looked around the room and studied the team. "Anyone has a problem with the decision, bring it to me. No arguments, got it?"

The team nodded. As much as the entire situation was causing heated debates and testing allegiances, the team had respect for each other's opinion, even Ward's in a twisted way, so the final decision was just that. Final.

"I also want to say that we need to be more vigilant in regards to the inhumans we have on our radar. In places where the Accords have been unanimously signed, they might to retaliate out of anger, or those who support the Accords might start to…"

"Hunt them," Skye finished, steel in her voice.

"We won't let anything happen to you, Skye," Hunter whispered from across the table. She shot him a thankful look. "I can't believe any of you would've wanted to sign that thing."

"Hunter…" Coulson snapped.

"No, we should have this out. Might prevent some unfriendly sniping down the line."

"Aren't you tired of us always being at each other's throats?" Mack asked.

"Course I am," Hunter replied. "But this team doesn't work until we're all on the same page. And from the looks May has been giving me, I'd say we're not."

The team turned to look at May, who shrugged. "You've never liked an opinion that wasn't on the same lines as your own."

"And here we go," Skye whispered, knowing that the team was about to fracture itself in a new way than before. They would be okay, they always were, but something would change. She appreciated May, Mack, Bobbi, and Simmons having their own points of view about the situation. None of them were powered like her and she couldn't expect them to feel as indignant as she did about the Accords. There was a part of her that was a little put out that they weren't ready to defend her rights, but it was something that she would just have to let go in the ensuing conversation.

She watched Fitz passionately argue with Simmons about her right to exist, and operate as a human being with unfiltered decision-making abilities and she couldn't help but smile. Her friendship with Fitz ran deeper than a lot of people thought and he was one of the people who would always have her back, even against Simmons it seemed.

Coulson was the other person who had always had her back no matter what, and he caught her eye briefly before turning back to the conversation.

Hunter was more of a wildcard. They got along and were friendly, but they didn't know each other on a deeper level. They hadn't discussed much about their lives before SHIELD and Skye didn't really know much about his relationship with Bobbi, at least from his perspective. Bobbi had divulged some details that had left her amused, bewildered, and more than a little turned on.

But here Hunter was, all but slamming his fist down on the table to defend her and people like her, without any reticence. She knew really that it wasn't just about her, that there was more to the conversation regarding governmental control and the monitoring of threats by organisational bodies that didn't know as much as they did, but it still touched her to know that he had her back.

As they argued, something was niggling at her in the corner of her brain, scratching back and forth in a less than satisfactory way. And, really, she knew the only way she could quell it.

She silently slipped out of her seat, ignoring the eyes that followed her as Fitz and Simmons levelled up their intensity with each other.

Skye tried to drown out what Simmons was saying next as she descending to the basement, sliding back the panel to see Grant Ward.

"Skye…you said you would never…"

Skye willed herself to stay strong, to not let her once happy memories flood through the wall she had built around her and stay in their rightful place: the past. "Yeah well, I need to know why you wouldn't sign the Accords."

Ward's brows shot to his hairline as she paced from wall to wall. "I'm surprised you care what I have to say."

"I generally don't. But this is important."

"Well, Skye, I'll tell you what I told Leo and Simmons. The only thing worse than the Avengers is the government."

Skye didn't like that the person she hated most in the world was on her side, but she knew he was about to make a good point. "Elaborate."

"What happened in Sokovia was horrible. But the government are lying to themselves if they think they're doing this to save the world. They're doing this to keep Tony Stark in check. He's always had too much money, too much power, too much freedom ever since he took up being Iron Man. This way, they can muzzle him at least a little bit."

"And the inhumans?"

"An afterthought. A way to keep the general populace happy and still look like they're trying to protect people. Stark knows everything about everything that happens in DC and ever since Romanoff leaked SHIELD intelligence, they're started to understand how much Stark actually knows. Things they'd rather bury. He signed them, right?"

Skye nodded.

"Makes sense. Not signing them would draw too much attention to him. Attention he wouldn't want. After what went down with Ultron…he doesn't need the bad press rebelling would bring him."

"So this is just about Tony Stark?"

"In a way," Ward nodded. "Obviously, the government hates anything they can't control or predict, the inhumans are just another thing that they have to admit they're not ready for. This way, they can try and protect themselves. For them, it's actually a fairly smart move. Even though it's bullshit."

"Right."

"And Skye…"

"What?"

"I know this isn't going to mean anything coming from me, but don't let them break you. The government, the Accords, or those on the team that voted against you. They don't know what you're going through."

Skye felt a strip of rage lick its way up her back. "A while ago you were the person I'd want to tell about all of this."

"I'm still the same person, I never changed."

"But I did," Skye snapped and turned from the room.

She would think about Ward's words often as time moved on, hating the fact that they were from him. They were good words, ones that she'd end up living by, but she'd never be able to reimagine that someone else had said them, or get rid of the sound of Ward actually saying them.

As she made her way back to the team, she thought about the future of the lives of so many inhumans who would now be targeted or worse simply because the government didn't understand it. Ward had been right and she knew it.

A lot of things would have to change.