UNKNOWN GUEST

79 They're Falling Apart

"What's going on here?" Uncle Clint's voice sliced through the thick, tense silence in the room, breaking the standoff like a pin dropping in a cathedral. 

Tony, who had been pacing restlessly, stopped. He shook his head, clearly frustrated. "Cap is obsessed with this 'freedom' thing. Freedom, freedom," he muttered under his breath, waving his hand dismissively as he began to walk away.

I wasn't about to let him walk off that easily. "Wait a minute, Mr. Stark," I called out, stepping forward. He paused but didn't turn around right away. When he finally looked back at me, he let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes dramatically. The eyeroll—typical Tony—irritated me instantly, but I held my ground.

I moved in front of him, standing firm. "I don't think Cap is the obsessed one here. He's not flat-out rejecting the Accords. He just wants some amendments. People have agendas, and the Avengers' purpose has always been different." I tried to keep my voice steady, but the weight of the conversation made it harder.

Tony shook his head again, still brushing off the conversation. "What's so different about it? The UN wants to protect humanity, just like we do. We have to be accountable for our actions. It's that simple."

"Is it?" I shot back, feeling the frustration welling up in my chest. "Let me give you a little history lesson then." I took a breath, organizing my thoughts. "The Iraq War—almost ten years. The civil war in Syria? Still going on. Afghanistan? Almost two decades of fighting. The Middle East? That conflict's been dragging on for what feels like forever. Do you know what all of these have in common? The so-called 'peacekeepers'—the ones we're supposed to trust now—failed miserably to bring any real peace."

Tony didn't respond, his expression growing more guarded. I pressed on.

"Remember the Chitauri invasion in New York? Who ordered the nuke on the city? The same people we're about to hand over control to. You want to trust them? Giving them control won't fix anything. It'll just shift the blame. We screw up? It's on them. They screw up? It's still on us, and we're just the puppets."

I could see his jaw tightening, but he stayed silent.

"And about Lagos," Tony finally said, his frustration breaking through. "What happened there was worse. Wanda has to be accountable for that—"

I didn't let him finish. "Can you stop with this 'accountability' for God's sake?" My voice cut through the room like a sharp blade, catching his full attention. "Forget about Wanda for a second. If it comes to accountability, I think you should be prosecuted first. Don't you think?"

Tony's expression shifted, his face falling as if the weight of my words had struck a nerve. His eyes flickered, a brief flash of guilt, but he said nothing. I knew I had touched a sensitive spot.

I wasn't done yet. "Terrorists got their hands on ballistic missiles—Stark Industries missiles. Who was accountable for that? When Ultron wreaked havoc across the world, destroying cities, and nearly ending civilization—who was accountable for creating him? Not you, right? It was a 'mistake.' Everything gets brushed aside as a mistake. What happened in Lagos was a mistake. If not for Wanda, Cap would have been dead by now. But mistakes are meant to be learned from, not used to chain people down in the name of accountability."

I'm sorry, Uncle Tony. But you're pushing this too much. You're doing too much. I couldn't meet his eyes after that, and without waiting for a response, I shook my head and walked out of the room.

As I walked away, I knew they weren't going to listen to me. Not today, and probably not ever.

I leaned against the kitchen counter, my thoughts swirling as I stared at the faint glow of the evening sun streaming through the window. The quiet thud of approaching footsteps pulled me back into the moment, and when I turned around, there she was—Wanda. She moved with a slow, deliberate pace, her eyes narrowing slightly as they locked onto mine.