open arms, mcu ✓

fourteen

chapter fourteen
╰ ( civil war )

💫 ━━ PAISLEY and Ryder had moved to the couch where they sat and watched everyone else argue. The older people ( tony, steve, nat, and everyone else other than the two kids ) had been voicing their opinions on the matters at hand. In the younglings eyes, it was practically like a reality tv show: the arguing, the pacing of someone, the crossed arms, the frowns and jokes.

"What about them?" Tony points towards Paisley and his adoptive son. "Do we decide if they are labeled dangerous? Or do we place them underneath this law, which might give the a chance to be normal."

Steve frowned, "They aren't normal. They'll never be normal. None of us are normal."

Paisley looked up from the bracelet that's wrapped around her wrist. "What would my dad want?" The question was directed towards Wanda, Paisley managed to make the room quiet, no one daring to speak over her.

"He would just want you to be safe." Wanda moved towards her niece, crouching down in front of her and taking Paisleys hands in her own. "He would just want you to be safe, no matter what it took."

"Tony's already made up his mind." Steve announced when Wanda had finished talking.

Tony Stark rolled his eyes and moved off the couch he had been lazily laying across. "Boy, you know me so well." He runs his forehead, as if it'll make whatever he's feeling go away.
"Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort."

Paisley moves away from the couch she had been sitting on, moving to go stand beside Tony. She places her hand on his hand, working her magic to help take away any kind of pain he has. "Juice?"

"Of course." Tony chuckled and looks down at the sink in front of him. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

Paisley and Ryder share a look, one that everyone catches. It's them, it's always them who makes it just a little harder for Tony to live with them. Tony managed to miss the look as he poured Paisley a cup of apple juice. He handed it to her, and she smiled back. "Thanks, Tony-pony."

"Of course, Pais ... 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." Theres a photo of a young man smiling. "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 — 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."

Steve turns his head towards Tony, he's managing to keep a straight face. "Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

Tony tilts his head. "Who said we're giving up?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Tony tells Steve, but his words reach everyone. He doesn't want to be blamed for anyone else's death. That's why he's so keen on signing.

"I'm sorry. Steve. That - 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."Rhodney speaks up, arguing slightly with Steve as he does so.

Paisley frowns from where she's sitting. The words ringing in her head. HYDRA. It won't leave and it's swarming all her thoughts. She can focus, and it feels like she's drowning now.

Ryder notices first. He pulls a doll from the side of the couch, slowly placing it on Paisley lap. He watches her focus on the doll, and not the way her mind is racing.

Steven shakes his head. "No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

Tony walked towards everyone, moving the glass of juice that Paisley had left on the floor to one of the many side tables. " 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, 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 is trying to tell Tony that signing is wrong, that they're giving up being the Avengers.

"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 points out, and he isn't wrong, if it doesn't happen now, it'll happen at some point.

"You're saying they'll come for me."  Wanda looks up from her hands, from the rings on her fingers. She keeps her head steady, her emotions hidden somewhere deep insides. "For Paisley."

"We would protect you." Vision, the robot sitting beside Wanda speaks up.

"Maybe Tony's right." The whole room looks towards Natasha in shock. In surprise. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off —"

Sam Wilson questionably looks towards the black widow. "Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?"

Natasha smiles before she continues to talks "I'm just — I'm reading the terrain. We have made ... some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"She's right, trust goes two ways." Ryder speaks, looking up from the toy truck he had been playing with. "It's a two way street. Works both ways. Just like respect."

"Well stop teaching you, you're to smart, kiddo."

Steve's phone buzzes and he stands abruptly. He looks at the room before he quickly announces that he has to go. He leaves, and he looks back one, gazing at Paisley.