Divided |2|

five

Pietro was still asleep when Victoria entered his room. The teddy she had slipped into his arms was now laying on the floor.

She smirked, and sat next to him on the bed. "That's not very nice, Pietro. I think you hurt his feelings?"

"Whose?"

Pietro's sleepy voice was to die for.

"The bear I gave you for Christmas. You were cuddling with him and then threw him off the bed!"

"I thought I was cuddling with you."

"So, you'd throw me off of the bed?"

"If tempted, yes."

Victoria gasped, smacking his arm playfully. He just smiled and shifted onto his back. He looked up at her with a sleepy smile, before moving his hand to caress her cheek.

"Come on, sleepyhead. We have a meeting with parliament."

"What do you mean?"

She ignored him and stood, holding her hand out for him to take. He sat up, taking her hand and pulling her closer to him. His lips met her's and Victoria was lost for a second. But when she remembered Ross, she pulled away.

"No. Later. We need to go."

Pietro picked her up and together they arrived to the conference room, a giggling mess. Steve sent an amused glance to the couple, as they took their seats on his side of the table. Victoria gave an innocent shrug when Ross walked into the room. He gave a small nod, and clasped his hands together before speaking.

"Five years ago... I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out it was the best round of my life, because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass... I found something 40 years in the Army had never taught me: perspective. The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us... protected us, risked your lives... but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some... who would prefer the word vigilantes."

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha smiled sweetly at him, and any fool with eyes could see how fake it was.

"How about dangerous? What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals... who routinely ignore sovereign borders... and inflict their will wherever they choose and who—frankly—seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" He gestures to the screen behind him, where a map of the world was projected. "New York."

Victoria saw the nightmare that haunted her father, what forced the Avengers into creation. The Battle of New York. Aliens stormed around the city on the screen. She was still a child when it happened, and she remembered how her family watched helplessly as her father risked his life—after being brainwashed by Loki—to save New York.

"Washington DC."

Victoria looked at Steve as he, Sam and Natasha tensed up. This was their mess, but they saved millions of people too. It's where Bucky first came into play, a man that Victoria has yet to meet. She turned back to the screen, and watched as S.H.I.E.L.D/HYDRA helicarriers were brought down.

"Sokovia."

The name made Pietro flinch. Victoria grabbed onto his hand, and the speedster squeezed it tightly. Wanda kept her face steady as she watched the destruction of their home. Victoria gripped into Pietro's hand just as tightly when the video showed the town falling.

"Lagos."

There was an awkward shift in everyone's moods at the mention of the most recent disaster. Wanda looked down when she saw the damage, causing Steve to frown. "Okay, that's enough."

"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." Ross took a large folder and placed it in front of Victoria. "The Sokovia Accords – approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a primate organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."

"So, what?" Victoria pointed to the folder. "We just wait for a couple hundred people to die, before your panel decides who we get to save?"

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place," Steve brought up. "I feel we've done that."

"We have fought aliens and robots, for heaven's sake! Surely that counts for something?"

"Tell me, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now? If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes... you can bet there'd be consequences."

"Wow." Everyone in the room turned to Katja, who had been quiet the whole time. She locked eyes with everyone in the room, before continuing. "Of all the time that I have been in this country, I've come to one thought. You are scared."

"Scared?" Ross stood up straighter. "Now, I wouldn't—"

"You seek control – control of every part that happens in your country. And when you cannot control something, you fear it. That's why people fear natural disasters, is it not? Thor and Banner? They are people, Mr. Secretary."

"Thor is a literal God, and Banner—"

"Is what? A monster?"

"As I asked, do you even know where Thor is at the moment?"

"What my brother does—or where he is—does not concern anyone other than his family or his people." Katja crossed her arms. "And just so you don't try to bomb and destroy space in search of him, my brother is in various realms fighting for peace of all nine. Which is much more than you or your army can say."

That makes so much sense. She spoke like Thor, she moved with practised grace and Pietro did say she wasn't ordinary. She mentally face palmed, she felt so stupid.

"That's enough, Katja."

Ross looked at Steve, who sent a hard look to Katja, before speaking again. "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."

"So," Rhodey spoke up. "There are contingencies."

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Steve turned to look at Tony, accusingly. "Talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?"

"Then you retire."

Ross walked out of the room after answering Natasha's question. The air was tense, and the first to break it just happens to be the ticking time-bomb, Katja. She got up, her chair scraping, and stormed out. Pietro looked to Victoria, and she sent him a subtle go-ahead. He followed the girl, and Victoria played with her sleeve.

This is bad news, she thought to herself. This won't never going to end well.

***
a/n

Two updates in one day! How fun. Lemme know what you guys think. X