𝗀 𝗁 𝗈 𝗌 𝗍 | | 𝗌 𝗍 𝖾 𝗏 𝖾 𝗋 𝗈 𝗀 𝖾 𝗋 𝗌

𝖿 𝗈 𝗋 𝗍 𝗒 － 𝖾 𝗂 𝗀 𝗁 𝗍

꧁ 𝟤𝟢𝟣𝟨, 𝗎𝗉𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗇𝖾𝗐 𝗒𝗈𝗋𝗄 ꧂

NOT LONG AFTER ROSS LEFT the compound, the Avengers gathered, studying the Accords, deciding what they would do about it. Steve sat with the book in an armchair, Marta leaning against the armrest, her arms crossed over her chest. Tony was slouched on a couch, hand over his face, Natasha sitting in front of him. "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey said to Sam. They had been arguing for a while.

        "So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam retorted, and Marta sighed quietly. She was tired of having the same conversation.

        "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'" Rhodey said. Marta placed her hand on Steve's shoulder, lacing it around the back of his neck.

        "How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam continued.

        Vision spoke up, sitting next to Wanda, across from Marta and Steve. "I have an equation." he voiced, silencing Sam and Rhodey.

        Sam rolled his eyes. "Oh, this will clear it up." he mocked.

        "In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate." Vision said, and Marta felt Steve tense up under her hand.

        "Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked, almost daring Vision to say that it was.

        "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 said, appearing to be agreeing with Rhodey.

        Natasha looked at Tony. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal." Natasha said smoothly.

        "It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve jumped in, Marta sighing.

        "Steve." Marta said quietly, her husband looking up at her once.

        Tony scoffed. "Boy, you know me so well," he stood up, rubbing the back of his head as he moved to the kitchen. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony ranted, placing his phone down, an image of a young man popping up.

        Marta was sick of Tony's games. "Who is he, Tony?" she asked monotonously.

        Tony pretended to notice the picture for the first time. "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," Tony strained, anger taking over his face. "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," Marta's fingered lingered on the back of Steve's neck. "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, and Marta instantly thought of Thomas and Bucky. She was supposed to protect them.

        "Who said we're giving up?" Tony quipped.

        "We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve explained, and Marta sighed quietly, locking eyes with Natasha.

        Rhodey spoke up. "I'm sorry. Steve. That–that is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D." he said.

        Marta looked down at Steve. "It's not Hydra." she spoke softly, Steve meeting her eyes briefly.

        "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." he said to the group.

        "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 stop manufacturing." Tony said, walking towards Steve.

        Steve shrugged Marta's hand off of his skin, sitting up. "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. We can't trust that they won't come for Marta." Steve said, and Marta's expression changed. She hadn't even really thought of that possibility.

        "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 urged, trying to get Steve to agree with him.

        "You're saying they'll come for us." Wanda said, looking at Marta.

        "Maybe not, if we sign." Marta said, refusing to meet Steve's eyes.

        Vision tried to backtrack. "We would protect you." he said, mainly to Wanda.

        Natasha spoke softly. "Maybe Tony's right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off–" she began, speaking more to Steve than anyone else.

        "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam brought up. Marta wasn't awake for that event.

        "I'm just reading the terrain. We have made... some very public mistakes." Natasha explained slowly.

        Marta looked at Steve. "We need to win their trust back." she said, and he knew what she was referring to. She needed to earn the people's trust back.

        "Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony interrupted, flabbergasted.

        "Oh, I want to take it back now." Natasha said, sinking in her seat.

        "No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed. I win." Tony grinned.

        At the same time, both Marta and Steve's phones buzzed, and they took them out of their pockets, reading the message they were sent. She's gone. In her sleep. There was only one person this text could be referring to. Marta looked at Steve, her eyes breaking. "We have to go." Steve said quickly, placing the Accords on the table as he followed Marta out of the room.

        Steve stopped walking at the base of a staircase, leaning against the railing, and Marta fell into him, her face tucked in his chest, his broad arms wrapped around her frame. Peggy was dead. Their last remaining friend from their time. She was gone. "We saw her last week. She remembered us." Marta said quietly, holding Steve tightly.

        Steve wiped at his eyes. "We have to go there." Steve said, and Marta nodded.

        She unwound herself from her husband. "Give me a minute." she turned and walked back up the stairs, into the room where the team was still sitting, the Accords on the table.

        "What happened?" Natasha asked.

        "Give me a pen," Marta said, ignoring Natasha's question. Rhodey tossed Marta a pen and she flipped the Accords open, signing her signature beside her name. The Avengers couldn't go on the way they were going. "Peggy's dead. If we want to keep doing what we're good at, saving the world, we have to sign this."

꧁꧂