𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐀𝐒𝐌━︎━︎ W. Maximoff ✓︎

𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐫

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR:
I WOULD DIE

THEY ALL SAT THERE, SALEM holding Wanda's hand as she stared blankly at the table that was in front of her. Steve was holding the Accords in his hands, Tony was sitting on the couch with his head in his hand, his eyes closed. Natasha was placed on the other couch with Vision on the other side of it. Salem's thumb ran carefully across Wanda's hand, hoping to calm the woman down knowing the true meaning of the accords. Sam and Rhodey were standing there, looking at one another and arguing. It was giving Salem a headache.

     "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey snapped.

     "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 shot back, his arms crossed over his chest. Tony opened his eyes just to roll them, shaking his head slightly before closing them again.

     "117 countries want to sign this. 117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"

     "How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam looked at the man, his eyes narrowing.

     "I have an equation." Vision spoke up, making them both turn to look at him.

     "Oh, this will clear it up." Sam muttered.

      "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 explained to the group. Salem glanced away from the table, turning her head towards Vision and giving him a look of disbelief. Was he really siding with Tony on this?

     "Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked, glancing at the android before turning the page in the accords.

     "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."

     "Boom." Rhodey said, earning an eye roll from Sam.

     Natasha finally spoke up, her eyes looking at Tony as she rose a curious eyebrow. The man would usually have a lot to say, but so far he had said nothing. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal."

     "It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve said, a bitter under tone.

     "Boy, you know me so well." Tony snapped at him. He stood up, walking over to the kitchen. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He grabbed a cup from the cupboard. "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?" He looked at away from the sink before looking at the group of avengers and then pouring himself a cup of coffee whilst also placing a device on a table that showed a hologram of a young boy. He pretends not to notice before pointing at it and saying, "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."

     The group, especially Wanda, looked down at his words. Salem squeezed her girlfriends hand slightly, clenching her jaw as Tony continued. "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." He takes medication before continuing. "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 calmly spoke, looking up at him.

     "Who said we're giving up?"

     "We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve told him.

     "I'm sorry. Steve. That―︎that is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey spoke up. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

     "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 stop manufacturing." Tony told him, walking to stand right beside of Steve's chair as he talked directly to him.

     "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 quickly defends.

     "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 responded.

     "You're saying they'll come after me." Wanda said with a frown. Salem was quick to snap her head towards her girlfriend, shaking her head as she met the woman's eyes.

     "We would protect you." Salem told her. "You know I would die before letting someone lay a hand on you." Wanda looked at her, frowning slightly before looking away and giving the girl's hand a squeeze.

     "Maybe Tony's right." Natasha finally said. Tony looked at her surprised, so did everyone else. Salem almost felt betrayed. She looked at the woman who was practically her mother in disbelief. Natasha wasn't really agreeing with Tony, was she? "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off―︎"

     "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam cut her off, disbelief clear in his voice.

     "I'm just . . . I'm reading the terrain. We have made . . . some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." Natasha told them, making her case.

     "Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asked, looking at the woman with raised eyebrows.

     "Oh, I wanna take it back now." Natasha said, lightly shaking her head.

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

     Suddenly Steve looks at his phone, Salem watching as the man's facial expression changed drastically. She frowned gently before watching as he stood up. "I have to go." With that, he left the room.