United We Stand. Divided We Fall.

Part 12

It was mid-morning by the time we landed back at the compound and boy did it feel good to be home. Rhodey seemed to be the only one there and he was in a holographic meeting with the Secretary of State when we arrived.

Sam held Vision up and I added a little of my power to help him stay upright. Steve and Nat walked straight up to the Secretary with no fear as if we weren't some of the most wanted criminals in the world.

"Mr. Secretary," Steve said.

"You've got some nerve," Secretary Ross replied, "I'll give you that."

"You could use some of that right now," Natasha told him.

"The worlds on fire," Ross said turning to Steve, "and you think all is forgiven?"

"I'm not looking for forgiveness and I'm way past asking for permission," Steve replied. "Earth just lost her best defender, so we're here to fight. And if you want to stand in our way, we'll fight you too."

I sighed inwardly. I knew that everything Steve was saying was true but the way he was going about things is the exact reason I became an outlaw at sixteen.

Ross turned back to Rhodey. "Arrest them."

Rhodey nodded. "All over it." And that ended the video call. "That's a court-martial," he said with a shrug. Then he smiled. "It's great to see you, Cap."

They shook hands. "You too Rhodey," Cap said. Nat chuckled and gave Rhodey a hug. I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around Rhodey's neck. It really was good to be home.

"God, you grew up," he laughed.

"Eighteen now Rhodes," I replied smiling.

"Wow. You guys.......look like crap," he said taking us all in. "Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam said.

"I think you look great," someone said coming into the room. I recognized his voice as the guy I spoke with on the phone. This was Bruce Banner. "Yeah, I'm back."

Nat looked at him in surprise and wistfulness. "Hi, Bruce." I got the feeling something happened there.

Bruce stood there awkwardly, fiddling with the sleeves of his ripped jacket as if he didn't know what to say. "Nat."

"This is awkward," Sam whispered from behind me. I fought the urge to laugh. Something definitely happened between them.

To put an end to the awkwardness I stepped forward with my hand out. "Hi, you must be Bruce, I'm Kate, we spoke on the phone."

He shook it and smiled awkwardly, "Nice to meet you, Kate."

After all that awkwardness, Cap moved us all into the living room where we traded stories. Bruce told us about Thanos. A titan who was looking for all six Infinity Stones so he could wipe out half of the universe or something. We told him about how they attacked Vision in Edinburgh. Sam uploaded a holographic image of the two aliens standing over Vision to the desktop and Rhodey was studying it intensely.

"So, we gotta assume they're coming back, right," he said.

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda replied.

"We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?" Bruce asked.

"After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal," Nat said.

"It was too hard on their families, they're on house arrest," I finished.

"Who's Scott?" Bruce asked.

"Ant-Man," Steve replied.

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?"

"You get used to it," I told him. The poor guy looked so flustered.

"Okay look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe, and he is not gonna stop until he gets...." he faltered. We all knew what he was trying to say.

"The Mind Stone," I said for him.

"Well then we have to protect it," Nat said stepping forward.

"No, we have to destroy it," Vision said. He had been unusually quiet and had been leaning up against the window staring out at the sky as if waiting for them to attack him again.

"I've been giving a great deal of thought to the entity in my head. About its nature. But also, its composition," he turned to Wanda. "I think if it was exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source, something very similar to its own signature perhaps, its molecular entity could fail." he was standing right in front of Wanda now and we all knew what he was asking of her.

"Yeah, and you with it," she said. "We're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it." At this point, the conversation was just between the two of them.

"That's too high a price."

"Only you have the power to pay it." Wanda pulled away from him.

"Thanos threatens half the universe. One life cannot stand in the way of defeating him," Vision said this time addressing the whole room.

"But it should," Steve said.

"Cap, Visions right. If we get rid of the stone Thanos can't win. Bruce if you're right and he already has two stones and his minions have another, well then who's to say that this isn't the only way to stop him," I said.

"At the cost of Visions life? How could you say that?" Wanda asked me. She looked so hurt and betrayed that it pained me to continue discussing it.

"I know. I know it's a horrible thing to think let alone say. And Vision I say this with the least amount of offence but it's one life versus millions of others, versus half of the universe. If we destroy the stone he can't win," I said. No one wanted to look at me.

"Kate, Vision. We don't trade lives," Steve said looking at me angrily.

"Captain, seventy years ago, you laid down your life for how many millions of people? Tell me, why is this any different?" Vision asked. He turned to Steve, face to face. Steve opened his mouth to argue but Bruce interrupted.

"Because you might have a choice. Your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. Jarvis, Ultron, Tony, me, the stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another."

"Your saying Vision isn't just the stone?" Wanda asked.

"I'm saying that if we take out the stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that?" Nat asked.

"Not me. Not here," Bruce shook his head.

"Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast," Rhodey said. "Ross isn't gonna just let you guys have your old rooms back."

"I know somewhere," Steve said.

I know that the last couple of updates have been a bit all over the place but I was really busy last weekend and I'm working tomorrow so from now on updates will be on Saturdays because I'm not sure how long I'll be working on Sundays for and it's kinda just easier.
Thanks again fro reading this, see you in a week.