The Sapphire Stark (Steve Rogers)

Chapter 11

- Lagos -

Wanda and I are sitting at a small cafe, drinking coffee. I look over at her as she adds sugar to her cup and stirs it. I glance around at our surroundings for a brief second as I hear Steve over our coms, "Tay, what do you see?" "Standard beat cops. Small Station. Quiet street. It's a good target." I looked at Wanda who nodded towards an ATM, "There's an ATM in the south corner, cameras." "Copy. Both cross streets are one way. Wanda, do you see that Range Rover halfway up the block?" We both turn our heads to look, "Yea, the red one? It's cute, not your style though Cap." I smile at her and laugh slightly. Natasha walks into the small cafe and sits down a few tables behind us, "it's also bulletproof, which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for us."

"You guys do know Taylor and I can move things with our minds, right?" I give her a quick glance, "I second that, we could just take them out." "Fair point but looking over your shoulder should become second nature for you two." Nat replied.

"Anyone ever tell you you're a little paranoid?" Sam speaks up over coms. "Not to my face. Why? Did you hear something?" I could practically hear the smirk in her voice.

"Eyes on target, folks." "Folks, babe we have to modernize your vocabulary." I heard him sigh and I smiled, "Taylor, not now. This is the best lead we've had on Rumlow in six months. I don't want to lose him." Wanda winked at me from her seat and passed me her cup of coffee. I took a quick sip, "Who really is this guy anyway and why is he so important?"

"Used to be a SHIELD agent but secretly worked for Hydra, as you know. We thought he went down with Hydra/SHIELD, hell, there was no way I thought he'd make it out of that building crash, but he did. He kinda hates us." Sam said. I looked over my shoulder and saw his small drone, Redwing, approaching the garbage truck passing by.

"Truck's loaded for max weight and the driver's armed." Sam announces. "So it's a battering ram?" Nat asks.

"Wanda, Taylor, go now! He's not hitting the police, he's hitting the institute." Steve shouted into our coms. Wanda and I get up quickly and run out of the cafe towards the Institute for Infectious Diseases. The garbage truck slams into the gateway, paving the way for two truck to rush in after. Soldiers in black armor emerge from the trucks firing their guns around the courtyard.

I watch Steve's movements carefully as he takes out several of the soldiers, "I make seven hostiles." "I make 5." Sam flies in using his wings to block gunfire taking out the soldiers. Wanda and I fly in and land next to Steve and Sam. "Rumlow's on the third floor." Steve nods at Sam and looks at at me, "Give me a boost?" I smile and get ready to send Steve up to the third floor and into the window. "Wanda, just like we practiced, get the gas out." She nods at him before I teleport him up. I watch as gas starts filling the building while Wanda uses her powers to remove it. I fight off a few of the men alongside Steve inside of the building.

"Rumlow has the biological weapon." Steve announces over the coms.

"I'm on it." Natasha says, from what I'm assuming is a motorcycle based on the sound. "Nat, I'm on my way to you." I say before grabbing Steve.

"Sam. He's in an AFV heading north." I stand next to Steve on the balcony and grab his hand, opening a portal to teleport us further down the street. We are immediately cornered by some mercenaries and before I can knock some of them out, I see something shiny out of the corner of my eye.

"Steve!" I watch as a mercenary throws a bomb towards Steve and I. He hits it with his shield and I trap it in a forcefield and send it into the air to detonate safely away from the citizens. I don't notice Rumlow quickly approaching behind me, knocking me down to the ground. "Taylor!" Steve yells as Rumlow holds a gun to my head.

"Taylor Stark...Hydra's best. I always heard about you but sadly we never got to work together." He gives me a sinister smile and a wink. "Don't talk to her!" Steve charges at him and they begin to throw punches at one another. I get up slowly and look back and forth between them, "Steve -" "Taylor go help Nat. I'll deal with Rumlow." "Steve I'm not -" "Taylor. Go."

I hate his stubborn ass sometimes.

I run through the crowd and make my way to Nat who has two soldiers at gunpoint, one holding the biological weapon. "Drop it. Or I'll drop this." One of the mercenaries says. I get behind them quickly and shoot them both in the back, catching the vial in a wave of blue before it could hit the ground. I hand it to Nat, "Payload secure. Thank you, Taylor." I nod at her as we hear Steve and Rumlow still fighting over the coms.

"And you're coming with me..." I hear Rumlow say before a blast goes off, being flung into a nearby office building in a wave of red. Wanda. Nat and I run towards the explosion and I see Steve, unharmed, and comforting Wanda, "Sam...we need...fire and rescue on the south side of the building." I grab Wanda and pull her into a hug, "It's all my fault..." I shake my head and grab her face, "No. Hey look at me, it's okay. You didn't mean for that to happen."

- back at the Avengers compound -

"Rumlow said Bucky and I froze. It's like I was a 16 year old kid in Brooklyn again. Those deaths are on me." I sat next to him on his bed and rubbed his back gently. "Steve, don't beat yourself up, it was an accident." I set my head on his shoulder and felt him kiss the top of my head. "I should've been more alert. Wanda saved my life." He let out a deep breath and pulled me into his lap, resting his head in the crook of my neck. "You didn't do anything wrong baby. Accidents happen." I run my fingers through his short hair. "Taylor, people died." I could hear the sadness in his voice as he struggled to hold back tears. "Look at me." I put my hands on his cheeks and look into his deep blue eyes, "you have saved so many people." He sighs and rests his forehead against mine, "I know, I just wish I could do more." I give him a soft kiss and stand up.

"I'm gonna go check on Wanda." His hands rest on my hips before falling back on the bed. I walked over to Wanda's room and knock on the door, opening it slightly. She was sitting at the edge of her bed watching a news report on our latest Lagos mission. I walk further in and grab the remote, turning off the TV.

"It's my fault."

"Wan...that's not true. We all made mistakes."

"No, turn the TV back on. They're being very specific." She glanced down at her hands.

"I should have stayed with Steve, Nat could have handled those guys on her own or with Sam." I shook my head and wrapped my arm around her. She rested her head on my shoulder as Vision appears through the wall. "Vis! We talked about this." She looks over at him. "Yes, but the door was open so I assumed that..." he gestures towards the door, "Ms. Stark, your brother is downstairs with the Secretary of State, Captain Rogers is on his way down now." "Thank you Vis." He nods and exits through the door.

Wanda and I stand up and make our way down to the conference room where Secretary Ross is standing at the head of a table with Rhodey, Nat, Sam, Vision, Tony, and Steve. Wanda and I walk in, sitting next to Steve. I grabbed Steve's hand under the table and give it a slight squeeze. He smiles at me and looks back at the Secretary.

"How about 'dangerous'? What else would you call a group of US based enhanced individuals," he pauses to look specifically at Wanda and myself. I feel Steve's grip on my hand tighten before Ross continues, "who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" News footage from past missions appear on the screen behind him as he talks, "New York, Washington D.C., Sokovia, and now Lagos."

I look around the room and focus my attention on my brother who has a pained expression on his face and looks visibly shaken. "Okay. That's enough." Steve speaks up and Ross dismisses the images of what happened in Lagos. "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 sets a thick book down in front of Wanda. I lift it gently with my powers and push it away from her, earning a glare from Ross. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries...its 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."

I zone out after this statement and solely focus on Tony who has been uncharacteristically quiet. I see Steve look from me to Tony out of the corner of my eye. "Talk it over." Ross states and walks towards the door. "And if we come to a decision that you don't like?" Nat asks. "Then you retire."