Bird Set Free | Natasha Romanoff ✓

Chapter Thirty-Two

The mission had ended horribly.

The team was still reeling for their failure, they had succeeded in the point of the mission but how many lives had been lost because of it?

"You alright, Quila?" Natasha asked Aquila who was sitting on the couch, the TV remote lying beside her.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Aquila replied, pulling Natasha to sit beside her, before settling herself to lay across Natasha's lap. "Where's Steve?"

"He's comforting a certain teenager."

"Ah." Aquila trailed off. "She took it hard, didn't she?"

"We all did," Natasha said smiling down at the woman below her, before placing a quick kiss onto her forehead. "But at the end of the day as long as we try our best, that's what matters."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"Excuse me, Aquila, Natasha." The two women looked up to see Vision enter the room. "Mr. Stark has arrived. And he's brought a guest with him."

"Who is it?" Aquila couldn't help but ask, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"The secretary of state."

Aquila tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes dramatically. What had Tony fucked up now?

All the Avengers had gathered in the conference room, waiting for Secretary Ross to start talking.

It was quite weird for Keira not to be there, as Aquila assumed that considering Tony had come back for good it seemed, she would have to. Tony suddenly passed where she was sitting across from Natasha and Aquila quickly whispered her question to him.

"Tony, where's Keira? Did something happen with Bea?"

Tony had clearly heard her but still didn't say anything as he continued walking to his seat at the back of the room away from the rest of the team.

"Strange," Aquila muttered to herself under her breath. "Very strange."

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned 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 prefer the world 'vigilantes'."

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked sweetly, her eyes briefly meeting Aquila's before drifting away again.

"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?" Secretary Ross said, his eyes scanning the room for everyone's reactions, before starting up the presentation behind him.

"New York."

A Chitauri leviathan. Terrified citizens. The Hulk crashing through a building. Soldiers firing guns. Images of the original Avengers flickered across the screen.

"Washington D.C."

The three Insight Helicarriers, firing on each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A shot of Aquila flying past the wreckage. A Helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing up a massive wave, which engulfed the citizens and the camera.

"Sokovia."

More terrified citizens, running throughout the city. The city rising into the air. A building falling over, crushing the people underneath it.

"Lagos."

A burning building. The paramedics moving a body. A dead girl.

The team around her were all affected in their own ways at the images being shown across the screen. Aquila scrunched her eyes up slightly, even though it wasn't entirely their fault, there was some truth behind Secretary Ross' words.

"Okay, that's enough."

"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 picked up a thick document before sliding it towards Wanda. "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." He paused letting his words settle over the team.

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." Steve replied.

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross argued back, and Aquila fought the urge to make a cutting retort back, knowing that in this situation, she needed to be quiet. "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," Rhodey said, tapping his fingers lightly on the cover of the Sokovia Accords.

"Three days from now, the UN meet in Vienna to ratify the Accords," Ross replied to what Rhodey had said. "Talk it over." He suggested before he started to walk out of the room.

"And. . . what if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asked the Secretary.

"Then you retire." Secretary Ross replied, raising an eyebrow.