Without You {𝟙𝟚} | Marvel √

chapter four

The Avengers Compound was starting to become very tense. The Avengers all gathered around in a lounge room, situated in their own way. The majority of them sat while Sam and Rhodey stood, arguing behind Steve, who examined over the Accords silently. All the while, Allie leaned back in her chair, legs criss crossed over a table, listening to all the commotion around her,

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

"So let's say we agree with this thing..." Sam began as Tony rolled his eyes with his hand covering his face, "...how long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

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

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam asked.

"I have an equation," Vision suddenly spoke up.

"Oh, this will clear it up," Sam murmured.

"Yes, please, anything to get these two to stop arguing," Allie muttered, her head almost hurting. Rhodey shot the girl an annoyed look before they all glanced over at Vision.

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

Allie narrowed her eyes at him, blinking as Steve asked, "Are you saying it's our fault?"

"I'm saying there may be a causality," Vision told him, "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 said, turning to Sam, who shook his head annoyed while Allie rolled his eyes.

"Tony..." Natasha said and Tony removed his hands to look at her, "You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve told her.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony muttered before he got up, wincing as he clutched onto his head. He then headed over to the kitchen area of the lounge, grabbing a mug, "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort— Who's putting the coffee grounds in the disposal?" He the turned back to everyone in frustration, "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He then pulled out his phone from his vest jacket, placing it into a fruit basket. He then tapped his finger on it and a projection of an image of a smiling young African American man. Tony sighed before looking at the image, "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA.," he began pouring himself a cup of coffee as he continued, "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..."

He looked up at everyone with a stern expression across him, "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 told them and they all froze, affected by this. Allie sighed, closing her eyes in grief. But kept it all on the inside, "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."

Allie opened her eyes, staring at the Stark intently as he sipped on some coffee. He placed the mug down before he turned back to everyone, "There is no decision-making process here," he said, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. He stared at each one of them for a moment before continuing on, "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."