Chapter 39: What We Have To Lose...

The two girls were sitting in silent horror, processing what they had heard. Bucky had attacked the UN? How many were dead? What was going to happen now?

Catra was the first to speak up, frantically coming to her father's defense. "It can't have been him! We wiped out HYDRA!" She said in a panic.

"Did we, Catra?" Adora questioned. "They tend to stick around like a damn plague."

"We took out most of their leadership, hell you executed Pierce yourself!" Catra replied, beginning to pace around the room.

"And how much did they scramble his brain?" Adora asked, leaning forward and beginning to nervously wring her hands together. "For all we know they still have some kind of activation phrase…"

Catra gave off a yell of frustration. "Why!? Why is it every time I get something good, some stupid bullshit takes it away!" Adora quickly jumped up to her feet and rushed over to hug Catra and try to calm her down. Catra returned the hug and began to cry in her arms. "I just find out who my dad is, can't find him for years...and when he resurfaces he commits a terrorist act.."

Adora stroked her girlfriend's hair and looked back at the TV. "I'm worried about my father too." She quietly said. Catra looked at her face and quietly nodded in acknowledgment. "I hope he doesn't do something stupid over this. Not now."

Not long after, Catra and Adora took a flight to Berlin. Steve had indeed done something stupid and interfered with the attempt to Arrest Bucky. This resulted in himself and Sam being taken into custody alongside Bucky, and an unknown enhanced who was later revealed to be Prince T'Challa, son of the late King T'Chaka. Neither of the two girls exchanged a word on the way to Berlin. Catra had wanted to speak up, but she had noticed a look of silent, cold fury on Adora's face. It was clear to her that Adora was in no mood to speak. She in fact dreaded how Adora would react to seeing her father again after this recent debacle.

As they were arriving at the Joint Counter Terrorist Center Building, Adora looked over at Catra. "Catra, listen." She began gently. "I understand why you wanted to come...but please, don't go near Bucky."

"Adora, he's my father-" Catra began.

Adora quickly interrupted her. "And we don't know what state he's in right now. He could still be under HYDRA control for all we know." Catra looked away from her and crossed her arms. "Look, I don't like this either. My dad just screwed up severely and potentially got himself in line for a court-martial and prison time."

"He saved my father's life." Catra told her bluntly.

"And how many other people died?" Adora replied. "This isn't an ideal situation for either of us, but things are a lit powder keg right now. Don't take any risks."

Catra scoffed. "Fine. I'll probably stay in another room anyway. I don't want to be in the same room as Stark."

"That's understandable. I barely want to be in the same room as dad." Adora said under her breath as they pulled in.

"No. Romania was not Accords sanctioned." Tony said, on the phone to Ross, as Adora sat at the table next to him. While Tony spoke, Natasha lead Steve and Sam into the room. Steve immediately noticed the furious glare his daughter was giving him as they walked towards Tony. Natasha explained to the two that Ross was supervising the cleanup efforts, and advised them to not break anything while Tony tried to fix the impending PR nightmare. Tony looked directly at Steve and he continued to speak. "Consequences? Oh you can bet there will be consequences. Obviously you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else?" Tony was assured that there was nothing else, and hung up.

"Consequences?" Steve asked.

"Yes, consequences dad. You went against the Accords." Adora coldly replied from her position at the table.

"Yeah and Ross wants you both prosecuted. Had to give him something." Tony added.

"I'm not getting that shield back am I?" Steve asked, half-jokingly.

"Technically it's the government's property." Natasha reminded him. "Wings too."

"That's cold." Sam replied.

"Warmer than Jail." Tony reminded him, before he was sent out of the room. Tony then took Steve by the shoulder and guided him to the table, where Adora had not taken her eyes off him.

"I have got so much I want to yell at you about, Rogers." Tony said, rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache coming on. "But your little girl? She's pissed off."

"Is she now?" Steve asked, walking around the table and looking at the various monitors around the room. He then turned his gaze to Adora.

"Yeah. I am!" Adora replied, glaring daggers at him. "Dad, what the fuck did you think you were doing?!"

"Young Lady-"

"No, don't 'young lady' me right now!" Adora replied, standing up and looking at him. "You interrupt an attempted arrest of a wanted fugitive, you cause absolute chaos in Romania trying to help him escape, you drag Sam into this whole thing, all while blatantly refusing to sign the Sokovia Accords. Which, need I remind you, could have gotten that whole thing authorized, and allowed you to legally be the one sent after Barnes?!" Steve was taken aback by the way Adora was speaking to him. He'd seen her upset, he's seen her sad. This was pure rage, unlike anything she'd ever shown him. "Do the words 'Complete SHIT-STORM' mean anything to you?!" Steve could only look away from his daughter's tirade. "Lemme tell you something dad. You're not always right! What was the ONE thing mom told you? Don't make things worse! And now here we are! What happens if your little stunt lands you in prison, or shuts down the Avengers for good?!"

"Adora, they were shooting to kill, they didn't plan to arrest him at all." Steve finally replied. "If they had already made up their mind, why would signing the Accords have been any different other than watching my friend die."

Adora opened her mouth to reply, and nothing came. She stood there for a moment in silence, trying to find a proper response. Eventually, she gave up trying and defaulted to her usual response. "We need to follow the orders of the people in charge, Dad." She finally said. Though Steve's words had shaken her up. For the first time since the Accords were proposed, she had no argument in their favor.

Natasha finally spoke up, pulling Adora from the conversation. "Adora, that's enough." She had said. Her voice caused Adora to finally, slowly, return to her seat. Her hands still shook with a mix of anger and worry, however, and her face was still red from all her yelling.

"Now that that's done, you wanna see something cool? I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely." Tony said, pulling out two old fountain pens in a black box and setting them on the table in front of Steve. His point was being made very clear. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."

"Some would say it brought up closer to war." Steve replied.

"See? If not for these you wouldn't be here." Tony told him bluntly. "This is a...ah….what's the word for it."

"An Olive Branch." Adora replied. "We're trying to patch this up before it gets worse."

"Right, that's it."

"Is Pepper here, I didn't see her." Steve said, trying to ease the tension in the room. This unfortunately didn't work.

"We're kinda...well, not kinda…" Tony stammered, rubbing his head.

"Pregnant?"

"No. Definitely not. We're on a break." Tony finally stated. "It's nobody's fault."

"I'm so sorry Tony, I didn't know." Steve said, regretting his choice of words instantly.

"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA... and then Ultron. My fault." Tony began explaining. "And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her." He stood up and paced while continuing. "I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference. In her defense, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work."

"You know, I'm glad Howard got married." Steve mentioned, sounding a bit nostalgic. "I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh, really? You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times." Tony sarcastically answered, Adora noting the bitterness in his voice. "God, I hated you."

"I don't mean to make things difficult." Steve quickly replied.

"I know, because you're a very polite person." Tony snarked again.

"You just do it without thinking." Adora then deadpanned under her breath. Steve was rather hurt by how angry his daughter seemed with him, but he continued to try and explain his side.

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

"Bullshit." Adora spat.

Tony agreed, and replied at the same time. "No, you don't."
Steve smiled thinly, "No, I don't. Sometimes…" He began. But Tony interrupted.

"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth." He stated firmly. Adora gave him a brief annoyed look, but could understand the stress he was under. She also was stressed beyond rational thought. "But I don't wanna see you gone."

"Neither do I dad." Adora told him, pleading.

"We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign." Tony motioned again to the pens and made his pitch. "We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center… instead of a Wakandan prison."

"He murdered their king. They're furious at him." Adora added quickly.

Steve slowly picked one of the pens up, and seemed to be considering their offer. "I'm not saying it's impossible. There will have to be safeguards." he told them

"Sure. Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated…" Tony began, only for mentioning Wanda to get Steve's attention.

"Wanda? What about Wanda?" He asked, looking between the two.
"She's fine. She's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company." Tony explained. Steve suddenly got a disgusted look on his face, and Adora realized things were breaking down.

"Oh God, Tony!" He yelled.

"It's called house arrest dad! It's better than a damn Cell!" Adora replied.
Steve continued his tirade at Tony, seemingly not acknowledging her. "Every time! Every time I think you see things the right way-"

Tony was quick to defend himself. "What? It's a 100 acres with a lap pool. 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." Steve argued. Adora's rage began to build and she shouted back.

"She's a murderer dad! Everyone out there wants her head!"

"On top of that, She's not a US citizen." Tony argued back.

Steve wasn't moved at all. "Oh, come on, Tony, Adora!"

Adora immediately shot back. "Hundreds of people were blown up by her not having a basic grasp on physics!"

Tony refused to back down as well. "And they don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction."

Steve was getting more heated and shot back again. "She's a kid!"
Tony was fed up at this point and finally lost his cool."GIVE ME A BREAK! I'm doing what has to be done… to stave off something worse."
Steve gave a dismissive, angry nod and put the pen back. "You keep telling yourselves that-"

He didn't get another chance as Adora jumped to her feet, knocking her chair over loudly in the process. "Grow the fuck up dad! This isn't the 1940's anymore!" She yelled, storming out of the room quickly and in tears.

Catra was sitting silently in the waiting room she'd been placed in. She wanted to go speak to her father, but none of the guards would be willing to let her. Not only that, but after the day he had, it clearly wouldn't be the best time to bring up her relation to him. On top of that, she was beginning to get stressed out and fidgety over Adora. She know better than anyone how poorly Adora would react to stressful situations. Indeed, she recognized her childhood friend was slipping back into her military programming, trying to remain distant from the problem. Adora had convinced herself the Accords were the right call, and was clearly in no further mood to argue. It's likely that if Catra wasn't a factor, she would also probably be advocating for Bucky to either be executed or locked away forever.

While she was thinking, the door suddenly flew open and Adora stormed in, eyes puffed red from tears. She tried to say something, but before she could, Adora grabbed a chair and smashed it against a wall. "STUPID, STUBBORN OLD MAN!" She yelled, slumping against the wall.

Catra got to her feet and cautiously made her way over to Adora, gently squeezing her hand. Adora looked back over to her, but remained where she was. "I...take it things didn't go well."

"No Catra, things did not go well!" Adora snapped back, causing Catra to jump. Adora took a deep breath when she realized she spooked her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled." She pulled Catra into another hug. "He looked ready to sign Catra."

"Why didn't he?" Catra asked, genuinely confused as they broke the hug.

"Because he doesn't agree with our handling of Wanda." Adora told her, resting her arm on the wall.

"What do you mean 'our handling of Wanda'?" Catra asked. She hadn't heard anything had been done with Wanda.

"House Arrest at the compound until further notice." Adora coldly told her, much to her shock.

"House Arrest? For the last month?" Catra stammered out in shock.

"For her own protection. You know how many people out there want to see her locked away in a padded Cell. Or hang?" Adora told Catra bluntly. "She's lucky we stopped Ross from throwing her to the wolves."

"Isn't that harsh Adora? Lagos was an accident-" Catra began, but suddenly Adora wheeled around and pointed at her.

"No! Don't you dare start with me too!" She growled. "I've had my fill of stubbornness today!"
Catra was taken aback, but stood her ground. "My god Adora, what's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me?" Adora repeated, scoffing and letting out a bitter chuckle. "What's gotten into me is that my father, the man I admire, the greatest superhero in history, doesn't seem to understand that he's on the verge of tearing the Avengers apart!" She punched the wall and had her back to Catra, not letting her see the tears forming again. "What's gotten into me is that we can't protect anyone! No matter what I do, no matter how much I try to fix things, people still die." She turned back to face her friend. "And now Dad's going out of his mind trying to help Bucky, to the point he's willing to tank his own reputation and risk destroying the best family you and I have had in our entire lives!"

Catra wanted to continue arguing, until a rumble shook the facility, and the power cut. "What the fuck?" She looked around, her eyes adjusting to the dark. "A Blackout."

"Son of a bitch." Adora growled, heading for the nearest door. "Catra stay here."

"The hell does that mean?!" Catra angrily asked.

"There's a good chance Barnes has escaped, and I don't want you to get hurt!" Adora replied, checking her pistol. Catra gave her a shocked look, but she reassured her. "Non-Lethal rounds only. Look, stay here, and wait." And before Catra could finish, she ran out of the room to find the source of the chaos.

All while a German voice shouted over the intercoms. "Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert. Ich wiederhole: Der Ostflügel ist kompromittiert!"

Catra however, wasn't willing to stay behind. If Adora was going to be too laser focused on her father, she was going to go to someone who would actually be willing to help her. Quickly she rushed around the building, hunting for Sam or Steve.

Adora rushed her way into the main area of the building, safety off, andf arrived just in time to see Tony in a fight with Bucky. Tony was using a single Iron Man gauntlet to try and disable Bucky and keep him at bay. Bucky ducked the next blast from his glove and traded blows with Tony. He had managed to take aim at Tony's face and fire the gun, but thankfully Tony had the Iron Man-glove over the barrel, blocking the bullet. A brief look of fear spread across Tony's face, a look shared by Adora. Tony managed to pull the gun barrel loose, but then Bucky sent him flying with his metal arm. Sharon and Natasha both rushed Bucky, managing to land kicks and punches. Adora rushed over to help, but Bucky flipped Sharon head over heels before she could get there, smashing onto a table. Natasha leapt on Bucky, attempting her Hurricanrana. He proved too strong however, and grabbed her by the throat, slamming her down and beginning to choke her.

"You could at least recognize me!" She told him. He only let go when Adora put two Rubber rounds in his back, getting his attention. As Natasha gasped for breath, Adora threw her pistol at his face. He managed to knock it aside with ease, but Adora used the diversion to get right in his face and haymaker him across the jaw.

"Don't you dare touch my mother!" She yelled, ducking a wild swing and landing a kidney punch, then going for an arm bar. He managed to break out, and Adora quickly ducked and weaved around his blows, trying to get her punches in where she could. She silently cursed over not having access to a stun rod or her sword, which would have made disabling him much smoother. Eventually though, Adora felt his metal fist strike her in the face, throwing her back against a pillar, which cracked on Impact. As she strained to get to her feet, She caught sight of T'Challa tackling Bucky and beginning to chase him down. She quickly limped her way over to check on Natasha, who had only just managed to catch her breath…

Outside, Sam had picked something up off the ground and examined it. He was startled then by a hand on his shoulder, only to find relief when he saw it was Catra's.
"Where's my father?" She asked him quietly.

"Caps going after him, come on." Sam replied, the two headed off into the crowd.

Once the chaos had died down, Adora was getting some medical treatment and listening to the eventual result of the battle. Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes had fallen from the helipad into the river and were both missing. Large numbers of the guards were either dead or incapacitated. Sam wison had also gone missing in the chaos. As she winced from the stinging of Iodine on her wounds, she looked over at Natasha. "What else am I not being told." She asked sternly.

The soldiers giving their reports looked at one another nervously, and excused themselves from the room.

"Mom, what else am I not being told." She repeated, glaring at Natasha. Natasha sighed deeply and took her hands. The same way she would when telling Adora news she wouldn't want to hear. And this was no exception.
"Adora. Catra has also gone missing..."

Tracking down Steve and Bucky wasn't too hard. It took time, but Catra and Sam finally found him in an abandoned warehouse. The two approached as Steve was sitting next to a sweating, disoriented Bucky with his prosthetic arm in a vice. "Hey, Cap!" Sam yelled as the two ran over.

Bucky slowly turned and examined Steve a moment. After a flash of recognition, he spoke. "Steve."

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve Cautiously asked.

"Your mom's name was Sarah...You used to wear newspapers in your shoes." Bucky repeated, giving a weak smile, and looking around the room. He was briefly confused at the sight of Catra, just watching him.

Steve turned to the others with a confident look. "Can't read that in a museum."

Sam however, wasn't as easily convinced. "Just like that, we're suppose to be cool?"

Bucky looked at him in confusion, then horror. "What did I do?"

"Enough to cause a stir…" Catra admitted.

Bucky slumped his head sadly. "Oh, God, I knew this would happen. Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do was say the goddamn words." He said, his voice quiet.

"Who was he?" Steve asked. Catra was now confused at the situation before Steve took to him. "Bucky's doctor set him off."

"I don't know." Was all Bucky could say.

"People are dead. The bombing, the setup. The doctor did all that just to get 10 minutes with you." Steve told him firmly. Catra was silently relieved that her father was at least not guilty of the UN bombing, but still kept a wary eye on him. "I need you to do better than 'I don't know.'"

Bucky tried to remember what he could about the event. "He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where." He explained.

Catra tilted her head, confused again. "Why the hell would he need to know that?" She asked him.

Bucky's response unfortunately made the already worried kitten far, far more terrified. "Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier."

"WHAT!?" She yelled, her fur going on end.

"Who were they?" Steve said, immediately getting to the point.
"Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in HYDRA history. And that was before the serum." Bucky explained to the group, clearly shaken himself.

"They all turn out like you?" Sam asked.

"Worse."

"How is that even possible." Catra deadpanned. "I've fought you, it sucks."

"The doctor, could he control them?" Steve asked next.

"Enough."
"That man said he wanted to see an empire fall." Steve replied, beginning to piece things together.

"Fuck me, with five Winter Soldiers he could.." Catra realized in horror.

Bucky nodded. "They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize, They can take a whole country down in one night." He elaborated. "You'd never see them coming."

Sam then stepped up to Steve and sighed. "This would have been a lot easier a week ago."

"If we call Tony-" Steve began before Sam interrupted.

"No, he won't believe us." Sam Pointed out.

"Even if he did…" Steve continued.

This time Catra finished his sentence. "Who knows if the Accords would let him help."
Steve grimly nodded. "We're on our own."

"Maybe not." Sam said, looking at Catra, who's face suddenly fell when she knew what he was thinking. "Catra and I know a guy."

"I'll find someone who can help us get Catra's equipment, and get Wanda out of the Compound." Steve said, before glancing at Catra, and motioning for Sam to step out for a moment. "But first, Bucky?" Bucky looked up at the two. "Someone here wants to talk to you, privately."

"Thank you, Captain Rogers." Catra said, slightly choking up. Steve stepped out with Sam as Catra pulled a chair up in front of Bucky and thought of what to say next. "This...is probably gonna be a bit of a bumbshell for you Sgt. Barnes...so...I'll just cut to the chase." She looked Bucky right in the eyes, and gave a soft smile.

"Hi….Dad."

To say Secretary Ross was angry with recent developments would be an understatement. As Adora continued to nurse her injuries with ice, she sat with Tony and Natasha as Ross confronted them over the escape. "I don't suppose you have any idea where they are?" He pointedly asked.

"We will." Tony confidently replied. "GSG-9's got the borders covered. Recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit. We'll handle it."

"You don't get it, Stark. It's not yours to handle." Ross suddenly shot back. "It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this." Adora's jaw dropped at how unreasonable Ross was being. She began to already hate working under the pretentious asshole, especially since he was suggesting putting her father and Catra in the line of fire.

Natasha was immediately on the first line of thought as everyone else, and spoke up for her daughter. "What happens when the shooting starts? What, do you kill Steve Rogers?"

"If we're provoked." Ross declared, matter of factly. Adora began to tighten her grip on her seat. Ross's demeanor was beginning to grate on her already. But she signed, so he was officially her Commanding Officer. She began to breath slowly to steady her nerves and let him continue. "Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math."

"All due respect, you're not going to solve this with boys in bullets, Ross. You gotta let us bring them in." Tony told him. Adora nodded in agreement, not wanting the Renegade Avengers harmed. If they could talk them down, or bring them in peacefully, it would be best for everyone.

Ross however wasn't moved. "How would that end any differently from the last time?" He asked pointedly, looking down at Tony.

"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt." Tony snarked back. "72 hours, guaranteed."

"36 hours." Ross replied. "Barnes. Rogers. Wilson. Catra." He turned and began to leave the room, before looking at Adora, eyes narrowing. "Is that going to be a problem, Miss Rogers?"

Adora glared back at him, but sat up straight and saluted. "No sir." She replied. Despite putting on her Loyal Soldier mask, Adora silently thought about how good it would be to slug Ross in his smug face.

"Thank you, sir." Tony added. The moment Ross was gone though, he sluimped against his chair and exhaled heavily. "My left arm is numb, is that normal?"

"Severe Stress and a beating from a Super Soldier? It's probably normal." Adora deadpanned, standing up and looking Tony over. Natasha also patted Tony on the shoulder and made sure to ask if he was alright.

"Always." Tony lied through his teeth. His beating had already begun to form a nasty black eye. "36 hours, jeez."

"We're seriously understaffed." Natasha sighed.

"Oh, yeah. It'd be great if we had a Hulk right about now. Any shot?" Tony asked, prompting Adora to facepalm.

"Really Tony? Considering his history with Ross, You really think he'd be on our side?" She asked exasperatedly.

Tony sighed and shook his head. "No."

"I have an idea." Natasha spoke up.

Tony quickly answered, "Me too. Where's yours?"

"Downstairs." Natasha said, smiling. "Where's yours?"

"I was tracking this Enhanced in Queens." Tony said. "Seems like a real up-and-comer. I'm gonna go see if we can get him"

"Sounds good Tony." Adora said. "Long as you make sure he does things by the book." Tony and Natasha both looked at Adora after she spoke. "I don't want to fight Steve or Catra. I've fought Catra enough. I hope we can talk them down. But if things do come to blows, we do it by the book." She started to leave the room. "Nobody dies, nobody gets hurt too bad. I'd never be able to live with myself…"

Back with Steve's crew, they had taken refuge under an Over-pass. Catra, Sam and Bucky were piled into a rather small Volkswagon that Steve had stolen as a getaway vehicle. While he spoke with Sharon Carter, who had gone out of her way to recover Steve and Sam's equipment, the three found themselves rather cramped. Sam sat in the front, Bucky behind him, and Catra to the left of her father. HE had, of course, been caught of guard by the revelation of being her father. They discussed how it could have been possible, and Bucky admitted it was likely they got his genetic material on one of his missions. How that lead to Catra's birth, he didn't want to think of. Despite it though, Catra saw a slight shine in his eye as they spoke. He was actually happy to have heard the news, she was his daughter. He had family in a world where he had lost everything, even his own identity. And Catra was happy to have a father. They both hoped that if and when things slowed down, they would have the time to catch up, to be a proper family. To just enjoy life.

At the moment however, their focus was on the task at hand. Or at least Catra's was. Bucky had another thing on his mind. "Could you move your seat up?" He asked Sam, in front of him.

"No" Was the reply, prompting a stifled laugh from Catra.

As they attempted to make themselves comfortable, Sharon and Steve's conversation suddenly turned into sharing a kiss. Sam and Bucky smiled and nodded in approval, and even Catra felt some happiness seeing it. She only wished Adora was around to see her father finally find love again. Soon, Steve returned the equipment to the car, and got behind the wheel, Sharon leaving in another direction.

"I really hope your guy has my stuff too." She said to Steve.

"I told him to grab everything you'd need, Catra." Steve replied, beginning his drive to where they'd meet his contact, the Leipzig/Halle Airport. "Including that new weapon Tony whipped up for you. It's good for non-lethal disabling, right?"

"Yeah." Catra responded. "That way I don't have to rely on my claws. Especially not now."

Adora calmly pulled on her uniform, brought to her by Happy Hogan alongside some kid Tony had brought along. The boy practically fanboyed over her when they met, claiming to be a huge fan of the Avengers. He's said his name was Peter Parker, and he looked about as old as the girl Adora found herself continuously running into, Kira Moon. She had debated asking him if he knew who she was, but tried her best to keep her mind on the mission ahead.

Pulling on her boots, she gritted her teeth and her hands shook. What if Catra and her father wouldn't listen, wouldn't surrender? She knew the two were too stubborn for that, thinking about the first time she had fought Catra, when they were both much younger. When she was still with the Followers of Inperatio, still under the thumb of her psychotic mother. That woman had done all she could to tear them apart, ruin the friendship, the love they had built for one another over the years. And Adora had just let it happen because she was taught to be blindly obedient to authority.

As she pulled on her gloves, and began to set her armor over her chest and shoulders, she questioned if she was making the same mistake again? Blindly trusting Authority, and driving a wedge between herself and Catra. She didn't want to admit it, she couldn't. The Avengers needed the Accords, didn't they? She couldn't be wrong, the UN couldn't be wrong. She knew her father would fight tooth and nail to protect Bucky. Despite what they'd seen years ago, he still had faith in his childhood friend.

Just like she had in Catra.

She opened the trunk that had come with her uniform, and laid eyes upon her sword. She gripped the hilt of it and slowly lifted it out, looking along the length of it's blade. She didn't plan to use it, only as Insurance. Steve had his Shield, Catra her claws. Sam was usually armed with a firearm. She didn't expect them to try and hurt her, but the added protection of her sword provided her with a sort of comfort. This weapon had carried her victories against the Followers, proven valuable against HYDRA and Ultron. It was also currently the only thing related to Thor left on the planet. She gave it a practice swing, making sure she would only ever use the blunt of the sword to strike. Then held up in front of her. Gathering all her willpower, she closed her eyes and muttered something she would always say to psyche herself up before battle.

"For the Honor of Greyskull."

For whatever 'honor' remained in what was to come.

In the Airport Parking Garage, Steve and his team pulled up beside a grey van that was in waiting for them. Catra was rather shocked when she saw Clint Barton and Wanda exiting the vehicle while they left theirs. "Cap."

"You know I wouldn't have called If I had any other choice." Steve told Clint, sounding remorseful.

"Hey man, you're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt." Clint replied, grabbing a duffle bag out of the back and throwing it to Catra. "One Wildcat suit and associated equipment."

"Thanks Clint." Catra replied.

"Also, Thanks for having my back." Steve added, looking at both Clint and Wanda. Catra was wondering how Clint managed to sneak her past the Vision, but felt at ease having somebody of Wanda's power there to help them with the Five Winter Soldiers. And, if necessary, the Pro-Accords Avengers.

"It was time to get off my ass." Wanda said, smiling slightly at Catra, who waved back.

Steve then looked the two over, and continued. "How about our other recruit?"

"He's rarin' to go." Clint replied, walking over to the side door of the van. "Had to put a little coffee in him, but… he should be good."

Unfortunately, he was in fact, not good. Scott Lang, or as Catra knew him 'Ant-Man' was sprawled out across the back seats, severely jet lagged and half asleep. Clint shook him awake and he leapt up with a jolt. "What timezone is this?"

"Come on." Clint said, annoyed, as he helped him out of his seat. "Come on."

Scott managed to get to his feet, rather embarrassed at the whole situation. His embarrassment turned to joy at the sight of Steve. He quickly grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously, smiling like a doofus. "Captain America."

"Mr. Lang." Steve replied politely.

"It's an honor." Scott told him, before coming to a realization. "I'm shaking your hand too long." Steve simply nodded, and Scott let go, looking around the area, Starstruck. "Wow! This is awesome! Captain America." HE looked over at Wanda, who was eyeing this strange man like he was an idiot. "I know you, too. You're great!" He told her, much to her shock, and she smiled in response. He then turned back and felt Steve's shoulders, amazed by the living legend before him. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so….thinks for thanking of me."

"Trust me, Bug Boy. Wouldn't have been my first pick." Catra deadpanned. Scott them turned to look at both him and Sam.

"Oh, hey guys!" He replied cheerily.

Sam smirked a bit. "What's up, Tic Tac?"

"Tic Tac?" Catra asked incredulously.

"Uh, good to see you." Scott replied, before cleaering his throat and awkwardly thinking of what to say next. "Look, what happened last time when I-"

"It was a great audition." Sam replied.

"But don't expect it to ever happen again." Catra added, smirking at him and showing her fangs. Scott nodded and nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"They tell you what we're up against?" Steve asked him, hoping that Clint caught the new guy up to speed.

"Something about some...psycho-assassins?" Scott replied.

"That's the gist of it." Catra deadpanned, leaning against a nearby car.

Steve continued, feeling it right to give him proper warning. "We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man."

Scott simply scoffed. "Yeah, well, what else is new?" he replied. Catra could tell there was some subtext to what he was saying. This man had clearly had his own run ins with the law.

Bucky walked over to the group, wanting to leave as quickly as possible. "We should get moving." He said, urging them to hurry.

"We got a chopper lined up." Clint had begun to say, until they hear the PA system come to life. A German voice made an urgent sounding statement on repeat, and when Catra peeked outside, she saw people beginning to leave, very quickly.

"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky had said, and everyone present exchanged knowing looks.

"Stark." Sam stated, confidently.

Scott was rather surprised to hear the name. "Stark?" he repeated in surprise.

Steve looked at everyone present and nodded. "Suit up."

In the nearest Women's bathroom, Catra was slowly changing into her uniform. The first thing she'd done when Tony got it for her was find and remove the tracking device, so there was no worry about that. She pulled her shirt on, slipping her arms in the black sleeves and looking at herself in the mirror. This was it. Her against Adora. Again. The one situation neither of them wanted to find themselves in. She ran all the possible scenarios through her head. She could try to convince Adora again, but that was unlikely. Adora never changed her mind when she made a decision. She could avoid contact with Adora during the battle? That wouldn't be possible, as Adora was too dangerous to be left out of sight for more than a minute. She could have Wanda disable Adora early on? That was a poor idea, as Adora could be left badly injured by accident.

She pulled her new weapon out of the duffle bag and unfolded it. It was a long, Red colored metal staff, segmented in three places to allow it to easily fold and be stored at her waist. She flicked the switch on the side, causing both ends to light up with low voltage electricity, similar to the Stun Rods she used as both a Follower and a member of SHIELD. She then gave the staff a few practice swings, and twirled a short kata with it, before folding it back up with a flick of her wrist, and placing it at her side. She didn't intend to use it on Adora, but it was the only weapon she had that could stand up to Adora's Sword, as well as the Iron Man and War Machine armors. Also, it was designed especially for non-lethal use, unlike her claws. If she had to fight, she wanted to disable, not wound.

She slowly pulled on her finger-less gloves and looked back in the bag. All that remained was her maroon headpiece. Slowly pulling it out, she examined the rather incredibly made metal guard. Memories of her birthday, when Tony Stark gifted this to her, flowed through her mind. She slowly set the headpiece on her face and let out a long breath. Then…. she gripped the necklace she was wearing. The Catseye pendant Adora had given her for her birthday. She had worn it nearly every day since. It was one of her most prized possessions, a sign of Adora's love for her. Carefully feeling it, and gripping it tightly, she tucked it into her neckline, hoping that if fighting broke out it wouldn't be lost in the chaos. She looked at her now completed outfit in the mirror.

Catra Santos, the Wild Cat. Former Avenger. She didn't feel right associating with the team anymore. Not after willingly turning her back on them to protect her father. She pressed her hand on the mirror, thinking back to when her and Adora were children. To the promise they made.

'I won't let anyone hurt you if I can help it, and It doesn't matter what they do to us, you know? You look out for me, and I look out for you. Nothing really bad can happen as long as we have each other.'

"But what happens….if we're the people who hurt us?" She said quietly to herself, unaware that she'd let her claws out and dug them into the mirror, clawing deep groves into the glass. "We don't have each other anymore because of that fucking law. Please Adora...no matter what happens today...I hope you can forgive me."

Pulling her hand away from the mirror, she set out to join the others and hopefully leave before things escalated any further than they needed to. Before she and Adora would be forced to trade blows once again.

To Be Continued…

*Looks at last chapter where I made a joke about not wanting a 6k word chapter. Looks at this chapter's word count of 6.8k* Um...oops?

This chapter ended up going much, MUCH longer than I had initially intended. Then again, this is build up for the big moment, the moment this story has been building up to.

Now I expect I might get a little flak for my portrayal of Adora this chapter, but I have my reasons. As stated in the chapter itself, Adora does not react well to stress. Roll With It, the episode where Mermista is investigating the mole in Brightmoon, Her capture by Catra in the Crimson Wastes, her obsession with speaking to an imprisoned Shadow Weaver, the ENTIRE story about the Heart of Etheria and the beginning of Season 5, all these moment show how poorly Adora reacts to a stressful situation. She lashes out, she gets emotional, she says stupid things. And things right now are VERY stressful, especially after Steve's actions in Romania.

I also spent time deliberating on the Introspective moment of the two suiting up for the big showdown. Elaborated more on their mindsets going into the battle, and their thoughts on the Accords further.

I would like to take this moment to say the Airport fight is the end of the Civil War arc. Adora and Catra will not be going to Siberia due to the story I have planned for the two after this arc. Furthermore, considering that the Siberian Conflict is more of a straight Tony VS Steve fight, it just feels wrong to put them in the middle of that. One short filler episode afterward, and we'll be starting the final Original arc of the story. This is an arc I've had planned since the story began, a finale of the sort of "MCU She-Ra Trilogy" that I had planned since the end of the first arc. I hope you all enjoy , and continue to enjoy this work all the way through to Endgame.

I do not own She-Ra or the MCU.

NEXT TIME: Divided We Fall….