The Ultimate Fix-It Fic

6| 117 Countries

Rhodey and Sam were having a staredown.

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

"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 retorted.

Rhodey shook his head. "A 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 demanded.

Vision was about to contribute to the discussion, but Natasha beat him to it.

"Guys." Everybody looked at her when she spoke; even Rhodey and Sam's bickering ceased. "We talked about this in March. Why are we even having an argument?"

"Because we never really decided on which side we would be on!" Rhodey said. "All we talked about was what we would do to prevent it."

"I have an equation," Vision offered. "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."

Steve sat up. "Are you saying it's our fault?"

Vision winced slightly. "I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge." He glanced around the silent room. "Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

Rhodey looked at Sam. "Boom."

"I don't know about you guys, but I've made up my mind." Tony got up from the couch. "I'm gonna sign. Not because it's what's legal– god knows I don't do legal– but because we need to. 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."

"What's the problem, Tony?" Steve asked.

"Charles Spencer," Natasha said. "There was a kid on that rock back when we were fighting Ultron."

"He was a good kid," Tony added. "3.6 GPA, had a floor-level gig at Intel for the fall. But he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. And he went to build sustainable housing for the poor. In Sokovia."

Everybody looked affected.

" 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." Tony swallowed a pill and took a swig from his mug.

"So," Nat cut in before the others started to talk again. "We need to talk about which side we're swinging."

"If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose," Steve pointed out. "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."

The same argument from March, from everyone.

Natasha sighed. "If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty. But–" she hesitated before relenting– "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 butted in.

Nat paused for a beat. "I'm just... I'm reading the terrain. We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." She forced the words out of her. She hated the way she said it, but– "Staying together is more important than how we stay together." Natasha tried to convince herself of this.

"Are they going to come for me if I don't, though?" Wanda asked from her seat next to Vision. "Would I also be arrested like..." she hesitated. "Like Dr. Banner?"

Nat suppressed the need to swallow. "Maybe."

Steve got a text and he stood up quickly. "I need to go," he muttered, and he went down the staircase."

Natasha saw Tony looking at her from the corner of her eye. She nodded, and he sighed.

She took a breath and released it.

Everyone looked at her expectantly.

"Look," Nat started, "I'm not going to tell you what you're going to go. I'm not going to tell you what you should do. But... this is what I'm going to do.

"I'm signing."

There was a small wave of shock for some people.

Natasha sighed. "This–" she gestured around the room vaguely– "I can't leave this. I can't retire. There are people who need me. And after I sign, I use it like a weapon. I'll figure it out. But I know how to deal with conditions. This is a chance for you guys to wipe your hands clean from the mess we made, starting with Ultron."

Everyone made general noises of disgust.

"They might arrest me," Wanda offered.

"It's the law, and I can't stop this," Rhodey gestured to his War Machine caller that Tony made him.

"We can't be boundary-less," Tony said quietly.

Natasha's phone rang and she picked up.

"Miss Romanoff!" Peter's excited voice came through. "MJ and I got a good mark! For the multiverse theory project!"

"Good job, Pete," Nat replied, smiling softly. "How about, on Saturday, you two swing by the new building and we can catch up then?"

"Sure! I'll see you then, Miss Romanoff!"

Natasha sighed as she hung up. Everyone was looking at her again.

"I'll be in my office later if anyone wants to talk." Nat told them. "Disassembled."

Everyone else milled off, but Tony stayed in his spot back on the couch.

"What are we going to do?" he asked.

Natasha smiled wryly. "Sign the accords and be shunned."

"I'm talking more in general."

"Die?" Nat guessed. "If we both die at the right time, I bet people would be upset."

Tony chuckled. "But when?"

Natasha shrugged.

"Have you had any progress on Bruce?" Tony asked after a stretch of silence.

Nat shook her head. "Matt took a personal month." She thought back. "The only other person who wanted the job was this lawyer named Jennifer Walters and she's... she hasn't graduated."

Tony put his hand over his face. "My god."

"You don't have one."

"Exactly."