For Some Time

Chapter 2

"What the hell was that?" I look to Steve and Nat as the Secretary leaves. Steve holds his head in one of his arms and my hand with the other. He stares blankly forward for a few moments, undoubtedly thinking through our options. I turn my head to Tony. "You knew about this, and you didn't bother to tell us until three days before?" He can't look me in the eyes. If we're being honest, I don't think I could look myself in the eyes, either. I can feel the opalescent anger protruding from them.

Tony stands and walks towards the door, walking out to the living room of the compound. I take a deep breath to keep myself from exploding. Steve motions for all of us to follow Tony out.

Once in the living room, everyone takes a seat. Steve takes his place in a chair at the front of the room, Sam and Rhodey on either side of him, and begins reading the Accords. Vision and Wanda sit on the couch to his right, Nat at his left with Tony standing beside her. I'm next to Natasha, arms crossed defensively. Rhodey and Sam are arguing already, but they're the only ones who have spoken.

"Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have!" Rhodey yells at Sam, who looks confused at how this pertains to the Accords.

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it going to be until they lo-jack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam retaliates. Steve glances at Sam for a moment, but soon continues reading.

"One hundred seventeen countries want to sign this. One hundred seventeen, Sam, and you're just like 'no, it's cool'." Rhodey throws his arms up in confusion.

"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam yells back. I look for Tony's reaction to all of this. He's now laying down on the couch to my right, eyes closed and holding his head with one of his hands while shaking it. I try to stifle a laugh, this is a serious conversation after all, but the absurdness of this situation is baffling.

"I have an equation." Vision speaks up.

"Oh, this will clear things up." Sam crosses his arms and turns to listen.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark has announced himself as Iron Man, the number of noted enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a consistent rate." Vision calmly explains. This time I can't contain my scoff. Everyone looks at me.

"Are you saying it's our fault?" I raise an eyebrow at the android and give him a questioning glare. Sam smirks and joins me.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict, and conflict..." He pauses to look up at me. "Breeds catastrophe. Oversight is not an idea that could be dismissed out-of-hand." I study him for a moment, thinking about his words. They make sense, but only to a being who hasn't spent his whole life around humans. There will always be conflict, no matter who is in charge. Even with oversight, our existence still invites challenge, but it gets rid of our ability to make sure that the challenges don't become catastrophes.

"Boom." Rhodey says, looking at Sam and I. I roll my eyes.

"Tony, you're being uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal." Natasha glances over at Tony on the couch.

"That's because he's already made up his mind." Steve says, closing the document he was reading.

Tony stands and starts towards the kitchen. "Boy, you know me so well. Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain." He stops in front of the sink and glances in. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He plods his way over to the counter to finish making his cup of coffee and pulls up a picture of a handsome young man.