Stairway to the Stars

02

Sam was still chasing the other mercenaries. Sam flew up and took out his two, then searched their bags for the payload before saying, "He doesn't have it. I'm empty." Natasha was chasing the soldiers through the crowd.

"Out of the way!" Natasha ordered as she tackled one soldier and engaged him in combat. When the other soldier arrived, Natasha hurled a basket at him to distract him. She used her skills to fight them and ended up face-to-face with one soldier. They pointed their guns at each other. A moment passed. Then, the other soldier produced the vial.

"Drop it," mercenary one demanded. "Or I'll drop this. Drop it!"

"He'll do it!" mercenary two cried. Redwing descended and fired at the soldier with the vial. He dropped, and in the moment of distraction, Natasha fired at the other soldier, then caught the falling vial.

"Payload secure," Natasha said. "Thanks, Sam."

"Don't thank me," Sam replied.

"I'm... not thanking that thing."

"His name is Redwing."

"I'm still not thanking it."

"He's cute. Go ahead, pet him."

Steve, Bucky and Rumlow were still fighting, neither one seeming to have the upper hand.

"Come on!" Rumlow cried as he pinned Steve and Bucky to a building and extended a blade from one of his gauntlets. "This is for dropping a building on my face."

Steve and Bucky grabbed Rumlow's arm and pulled the gauntlet off, only for Rumlow to reveal another knife. Steve and Bucky bested him. Defeated and on his knees, Rumlow removed his mask, revealing a scarred face.

"I think I look pretty good, all things considered," Rumlow said.

Steve and Bucky asked, "Who's your buyer?"

"You know, he knew you. Your friend, your pal, his brother, your Phillip."

"What did you say?"

"He remembered you two and the girl. I was there. He got all weepy about it. Till they put his brain back in a blender. He wanted you to know something. He said to me, "Please tell Rogers, my brother and Bea. When you gotta go, you gotta go." And you're both coming with me." He activated his bomb vest and Steve flinched as Rumlow's armor ignited, but Wanda kept the blast contained around Rumlow who grimaced in agony. She lifted him into the air before she lost control, and the explosion finally blossomed, devastating entire floors of a nearby office building. Wanda saw what happened and was scarred by it.

"Oh my..." Steve began as he stared up. "Sam... We need... Fire and Rescue... on the south side of the building. We gotta get up there."

AVENGERS COMPOUND

Steve caught Wanda watching a news report on the Lagos attack and how they blamed her for it.

Bucky had gone off somewhere, not having said where he was headed.

News Anchor #1 said, "11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria, last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos when the attack occurred."

King T'Chaka spoke. "Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil. Not only because of the actions of criminals, but by the indifference of those pledged to stop them. Victory at the expense of the innocent, is no victory at all."

"The Wakanda king went on to..." Steve, who was watching the news, turned the computer off, but sound drifted towards him from another room.

News anchor #2 said, "They are operating outside and above the international law. Because that's the reality, if we don't respond to acts like these." Wanda is sitting on her bed, watching the news on her TV. "What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeri-" The TV turned off. Steve set the remote down and leaned on the door frame.

"It's my fault," Wanda said.

"That's not true," Steve told her.

"Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific."

"I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it," Steve said as he walked over. "Rumlow said "Bucky" and... all of a sudden I was a 16-year-old again, in Brooklyn." He sat beside Wanda. "And people died. It's on me."

"It's on both of us."

"This job... we try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, next time... maybe nobody gets saved." Vision materialized through the wall.

Vision interrupted Wanda and Steve by walking through the wall into Wanda's room.

"Vis!" Wanda called. "We talked about this."

"Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." Vision replied, gesturing at the door and stopped. "Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr. Stark was arriving."

"Thank you. We'll be right down."

"I'll... use the door. Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest."

"We know who it is?"

"The Secretary of State."

---

The Secretary of State, Thaddeus Ross, was standing at the head of a table. Rhodey, Natasha, Steve, Tony, Sam, Vision and Wanda were gathered around.

Secretary Ross had summoned the Avengers to a meeting.

Secretary Ross began speaking. "Five years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. 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 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 would prefer the word "vigilantes"."

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha questioned.

"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 activated a screen behind him. News footage from past Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. matters flashed on the screen as he spoke. "New York. A Chitauri leviathan. Terrified citizens. A soldier firing a gun. The Hulk smashed into a building and sent a dust cloud to engulf the camera. Rhodey looked regretful. He glanced behind him at Natasha.

Secretary Ross continued. "Washington DC." The three Insight helicarriers firing on each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing up a massive wave, engulfing citizens and the camera. Sam looked down. "Sokovia." Terrified citizens running. The city rising. A building falling over. Wanda stared at the screen, as did Tony. "Lagos."The burning building. Paramedics moving a body. A dead girl. Wanda was particularly affected by the footage from Lagos. Steve saw and intervened.

"Okay. That's enough," Steve said.

Secretary Ross nodded to an aide and the images disappeared before he continued. "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." He placed a thick document on the desk and passed it to Wanda. An aide handed him a thick book, which Ross slid across the table to Wanda. She picked it up, then slid it to Rhodey. "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."

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

"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Steve looked up and met Ross's eyes. "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.

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

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

"Then you retire." Natasha stifled a smile.