The Story of Adelaida Barnes | MCU

ii. okay, that's enough

Addi and Wana sat in Wanda's bedroom in silence. They were watching the new report on the TV. Wanda had accidentally killed eleven citizens of the reclusive African country of Wakanda. Addi had her head placed on Wanda's shoulder and she was absentmindedly playing with Wanda's hair. The TV suddenly shut off. "It's my fault." Wanda said. Addi lifted her head. "You know it's not. You lost control." Addi whispered, running her fingers through Wanda's hair. "That's not true." Steve said from the doorway. "Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific." "I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it." Steve said, entering the room.

"Rumlow said 'Bucky' and all of a sudden I was a sixteen year old kid again, in Brooklyn." Steve said. He lifted Addi and sat down on the bed with her on his lap. He turned to look at her. "I'm sure you felt the same way when he mentioned your dad." Addi nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. "And people died. It's on me." "It's on both of us." Wanda said, looking down. "All of us." Addi chimed in. "This job... We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that... then next time... maybe nobody gets saved."

Vision appeared through the wall. "Oh god, not again." Addi groaned. "Vis! We talked about this." Wanda scolded him. "Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." He trailed off. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr Stark was arriving." He told them. "Thank you. We'll be right down." Steve said. "I'll use the door. Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest." Vision said walking to the door. "We know who it is?" Steve asked him. "The Secretary of State."

                                                                                                 ***

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack, and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the army had never taught me. Perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable 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'. General Thaddeus Ross explained to the Avengers.

"What word would you use, Mr Secretary?" Natasha spoke up. "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?" General Ross pulled up a screen. "New York. Washington DC, Sokovia, Lagos." Wanda looked away. "Okay, that's enough." Steve commented. "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."

A stack of documents was handed to Wanda. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by one hundred and seventeen 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." Addi stood up from her place between Natasha and Steve and walked to the other side of the table. She wrapped her arms around Wanda and Wanda placed a hand on hers. An image was pushed into her mind.

Addi pulled away. "You want to lock us up?" She asked, the anger in her voice making her accent slip out a bit. "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve told General Ross. "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of thirty megaton nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

Rhodey spoke up. "So, there are contingencies." "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna, to ratify the Accords. Talk it over." General Ross went to leave but Natasha spoke up. "And if we come to a decision you don't like?" General Ross turned around. "Then you retire."

                                                                                                   ***

Rhodey and Sam were arguing behind everyone. Addi blocked out what they were saying. She couldn't believe the government wanted to lock her and Wanda up just because they were enhanced superhumans. Vision interrupted them. "I have an equation." "Oh, this will clear it up." Sam commented. "In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period, the number of potentially world ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

Steve looked up from the Accords. "Are you saying it's our fault?" He questioned. "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." Vision explained. Natasha noticed something. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve chimed in. "Boy, you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." Tony said and walked towards the kitchen. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?" Addi looked away, knowing it was her. "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He sighed and pulled up a picture of a boy on his phone.

"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." Everyone sat in silence.

"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." Tony took a sip of his coffee. "There's no decision making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundary less, we're no better than the bad guys." "Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve said to him. "Who said we're giving up?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Rhodey interrupted him. "I'm sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA." Steve interrupted him this time. "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." "That's good. 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." Addi rolled her eyes. Of course Tony had to talk about himself.

"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 told everyone. "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony basically shouted. "You're saying they'll come for us." Wanda said gesturing to her and Addi.

"We would protect you. The both of  you." Vision said. "Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said and everyone stared at her. "Mom." Addi said, looking at her in disbelief. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..." Sam interrupted her. "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" "I'm just reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." Tony looked at her. "Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you, or did you agree with me?"

"I want to take it back now." "It's too late." Addi said. "No, you can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed, I win." Steve's phone went off and he looked at it before leaving the room. "I have to go." He said. Addi walked out after him and found him standing next to the stairs with a hand on his face. "Steve?" She asked. He looked at her and Addi noticed that he was crying. "She's gone, Addi." She walked down the rest of the stairs and wrapped her arms around him, letting him cry into her shoulder.