Arachnophobia

5.3

Alex
I woke up to the now familiar sounds of the heart monitors beeping and the breathing tube shoved down my throat.

I ripped all the pads off of my body and took the tube out of my throat. I started coughing and hacking but it's fine.

I noticed the nasal tube thing connected to an oxygen tank and quickly turned that on and put the tube over my head and into my nose.

"Hey! What are you doing, Alex!" Helen yelled, and I quickly waved my hands and pointed to the pen and notebook. Helen sighed and gave it to me.

I need to attend the meeting because I'm an Avenger.

Helen sighed and nodded, grabbing a wheel chair. I shot a web string onto the ceiling and lifted myself off the bed and onto the wheel chair.

Get my mask.

Helen nodded and ran somewhere. She came back with it and helped put it over the thing on my nose.

"I'll take you to the meeting room." Helen said reassuringly. I noticed a huge animal sprinting towards us. The thing jumped onto me and pushed the wheelchair down.

"Winnie! Get off of Alex, you be gentle!" Helen yelled, and Winnie got off of me. He had gotten a bit bigger since I last saw him. Helen picked up my chair and checked for any wounds.

"You're good. Maria! Get the vest you made for Winnie and the leash for him." Helen yelled out, and I saw Maria Hill come out and put some vest on him and leashed him.

"Hey Parker welcome back. We got Winnie trained to become a guide dog.. or just an attack dog or something. You'd have to ask Romanoff. He's trained now though." I nodded thoughtfully and stroked Winnie's fur as he wiggled some next to me.

Thanks Maria. Will be helpful.

Maria nodded and walked off with an agent. Helen and Winnie continued the journey of bringing me to the meeting room.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. 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." Ross said, looking around the room. "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Nat said, basically challenging 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 activates a screen behind him. News footage from past Avengers and SHIELD matters flash on the screen as he speaks.

"New York." A Chitauri leviathan. Terrified citizens. A soldier firing a gun. The Hulk smashes into a building and sends a dust cloud to engulf the camera. Rhodey looks regretful. He glances behind him at Natasha.

"Washington DC." The three Insight helicarriers, firing on each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing up a massive wave, engulfing citizens and the camera. Steve and Sam looks down for a moment while Nat stayed focused.

"Sokovia." Terrified citizens, running. The city rising. A building falling over. Wanda stares at the screen, as does Tony.

"Lagos." The burning building. Paramedics moving a body. A dead girl. Wanda is particularly affected by the footage from Lagos. I saw her whole demeanor change.

"Okay. That's enough." Steve says sternly. Secretary Ross nods to an aide and the images disappear.

"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 places a thick document on the desk and passes it to Wanda.

An aide hands him a thick book, which Ross slides across the table to Wanda. She picks it up, then slides 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."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve says. I agree with him. We've done whatever necessary to.

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? Or who is Spider-Man and where they have been for the past few months? They are your teammate and yet you don't even know them." Steve looks up and meets Ross's eyes. "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."

"So, there are contingencies." Rhodes said, and Ross brushed him off. "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Steve glances at Tony. "Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat said, and Ross shifted his view over to her.

"Then you retire." Ross said coldly, then looked at Steve. "Think it over." He said again, and then left, ignoring me and passing Helen, Winnie and I as he walked out and I rolled in.

"You can't." I said, my voice just barely audible. Steve turned and everyone else did as well. "No sign." I huffed, looking at my arm and realizing that stupid cast with a metal pole was still there.

Thought that healed a while ago.

"I'm sorry, you have a say in this all the sudden? We have been defending your identity for the past how many years, and, and not to mention you don't know what's happening." Tony seethed, and I shook my head.

"Saw all. No sign." I said, and Winnie sat at my feet now. "Alex, maybe you should go back to your room." Steve said, and I shook my head.

"No! No sign. Accord stupid!" I yelled, standing up and stumbling to Tony now. "Hey hey woah!" Nat yelled as her and Sam both came over to stop me from getting closer to him.

"Accord destroy family!" I said angrily. My back was hurting so much but it could wait a while. "I'm sorry kid, but I still don't care. I'm signing it." Tony said, getting up and walking away from me.

Hi guys, I was taking a bit of a break. We're back though 🤺