Double Agent (Fem Reader X Tony Stark)

Chapter 32 - Accords

When we get back to the Compound, I walk into the room I often stay in when we have late missions. I run a hot bath and relax for a bit, trying not to think of Tony.

But I couldn't help but start to cry. Maybe this time we really are over. We both want different things....we both have different lives.

I was supposed to go and support him at his speech...I was supposed to be there for him today. But I wasn't

I look up as I hear a knock on my bathroom door. "Y/N?"

"Come in, Wanda." I sit up.

She walks in and looks down at me. "Secretary Ross is here....meeting in five."

I step out and wrap a towel around me as she turns, "Wanda? It wasn't your fault. I promise you, none of us blame you. We all were distracted."

"Thanks, Y/N." She nods, turning to leave.

I quickly change, not bothering to cover up the bruise on my face. I walk into the meeting room to see Tony sitting in the corner. He looks up at me, then looks down at his hands.

I sit beside Wanda and look down at the table. She reaches over and squeezes my hand, offering me a comforting smile.

Secretary Ross steps in front of us. "Five years ago... I had a heart attack... and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. 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 unpayable 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."

"What word would you use, Mr Secretary?" Nat asks.

"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?"
He turns and shows us videos. "New York." We see people screaming, a Chitauri leviathan. "Washington, D.C." the videos show us the carriers firing at each other. "Sokovia." We see the city flying, people screaming. "Lagos." He shows us people screaming, the building on fire.

I look over as Wanda puts her head down. "Okay. That's enough." I say.

"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. The Sokovia Accords." He hands us a document. "Approved by 117 countries... it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization." He then sets down another book. "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 nods.

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Steve only looks down. "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 nods.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna... to ratify the Accords. Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" I ask.

"Then you retire."

We all sit in the living room, all reading over the accords. I was sitting beside Nat, I just finished looking it over and handed it to Steve. Behind him, Sam and Rhodey were fighting. "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honour... which is one more than you have." Rhodey says.

"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?"

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

"How long are you going to play both sides?"

"I have an equation." Vision speaks up.

"Oh, this will clear it up."

"In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man... the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period... the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate." Vision says.

Steve looks up, "Are you saying it's our fault?"

"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 points.

I look over at Tony as he lays across the couch and frown. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal." I say, he removes his hand from his face and looks at me.

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve says.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony stands and walks over 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?" He sighs angrily, Tony places his phone aside and a hologram of a man pops up. "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. He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass. 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 says.

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

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame."

"I'm sorry, Steve. That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not Shield, it's not Hydra." Rhodey says.

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realised what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands... I shut it down and stopped manufacturing." Tony nods.

"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."

Tony shakes his head, "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty."

Wanda looks up, "You're saying they'll come for me."

"We would protect you." Vision nods.

I sigh, "Maybe Tony's right. 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 asks me.

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

"We need to win their trust back." Nat agrees with me.

"Focus up. I'm sorry. Did I just mishear you... or did you both agree with me?" Tony asks.

"I want to take it back now." I shake my head

"No, you can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay. Case closed. I win. I have won both Romanoffs."

Steve suddenly stands up, "I have to go."