The Sapphire Spirit | Book One~Captain America: Civil War

C H A P T E R 14

Steve sat at the table, grimacing as he studied the Accords. The room watched while Rhodey and Sam argued back and forth. Tony sat in his chair, one hand over his face as if nursing a headache. Everyone else was gathered in Tony's plush seats for a debate. I didn't get up. Instead, I sat at my seat at the conference table, aside from everyone else. As I twiddled my thumbs, I couldn't shake what Secretary Ross had said. Everytime I closed my eyes, the images from the screen flashed under my eyelids. I was certain I wouldn't rest easy that night.

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

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam snapped.

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

"How long are you going to play both sides?"

"I have an equation." Vision addressed the room.

"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam scorned. Steve looked up from the Accords to listen.

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

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked, a slightly accusing tone laced through his words.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. 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.

I looked over at Tony, who was lying on the couch, one hand still over his face.

"Tony," Natasha started. He removed his hand to look at her. "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal."

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve said, looking slightly distraught.

"Boy, you know me so well." He got up and winced, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He walked to the kitchen and grabbed a mug.

"That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony put his phone in the fruit basket on the counter and tapped it.The phone projected the image of a smiling young man. Tony looked down, then back up, pretending to notice the picture for the first time.

"Oh," he said, feigning surprise. "That's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. 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. 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."

I looked at the faces of the others. They looked particularly affected by what Tony was about to say. I wasn't there when the Battle of Sokovia went down; I was still being used as a lab rat back then. One girls' night in the Tower, a few months ago, I had asked Wanda let slip that she had a brother. That's when they told me what had happened in Sokovia. I could only imagine how the team felt, knowing that this young boy, this innocent boy, could've made the world a better place, in ways we could not.

Tony went on. "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 a**." He took a pill with some coffee, then faced the us.

"There's no decision-making process here. 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."

"Tony," Steve said. "Someone dies on your watch, you don't give up."

"Who said we're giving up?" Tony asked indignantly.

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame." Steve tried to keep his cool.

"I'm sorry, Steve. That-that is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey said as politely as he could. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

"No, but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change." Steve said evenly.

"That's good. That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing." Tony reminded us.

"Tony, you chose to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve countered. "What if this panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if there is somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony sid bluntly.

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said miserably. No one denied it. It wasn't a question. It was a statement; The truth.

"We would protect you." Vision said sincerely.

"Maybe Tony's right." Nat said suddenly. Tony looked at her in surprise. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off-"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her a** a few years ago?"

"I'm just... I'm reading the terrain. We have made... some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back." Natasha defended.

"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony asked Natasha.

Natasha gave him a smile of regret. "Oh, I want to take it back now."

"No, no, no. You can't retract it. Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed; I win."

I studied the scene unfolding before me, knowing Tony would eventually ask me to sign. But... would I?

Steve's phone buzzed in the silence, and he pulled it out to check the notification. He stood there, just staring at the screen for a good ten seconds.

"I have to go." Steve said suddenly. He stood abruptly, dropped the Accords on the coffee table and briskly walked from the room. Trying to draw as little attention to myself as I could, I followed him. I found him at the bottom of the stairs, leaning against the banister with his head bowed. I quietly went down the stairs, trying not to startle him.

Once I was beside him, I called his name quietly: "Steve?" When he turned to look at me, I could see the tears threatening to spill. "Steve, what's wrong?"

"Chloe..." His voice broke and he took a shuddering breath. "Chloe, you... you remember Peggy? The girl I told you about?"

I nodded, already fearing the worst.

"My first love...." He trailed off. "Anyway, I just got a notification from the doctors. She passed. In her sleep."

And then the tears came. I looked at him in surprise. Here I was, standing beside one of my father figures while he cried over his late love. I didn't know what else to do.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, hugging him. "When's the funeral?"

"Three days from now." He said, trying to keep his voice steady.

I nodded, feeling hot tears welling up. "I'm coming."

He pulled away and looked at me. "Chloe, no. That's when the Accords are being signed. Natasha's going as a representative and Tony wants you to be there."

"Wait, you just assume I'm going to sign?"

"Aren't you?"

I stood there, contemplating it. "I don't know."