✓ | parted [ ➁ ]

[ chapter four ]

When Andi entered the room, everyone was already seated. Wanda and Rhodey took the seats at the front of the table, with Natasha and Vision right behind them. Behind Vision was Sam, and Steve took the seat that faced him, leaving Andi to sit at the single chair that was at the end of the table, between Sam and Steve. Andi noticed how Tony was sitting away from the group, on an armchair. She got the feeling that he knew what this whole gathering was about, and she didn't think it was going to be a very good thing.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt," Secretary Ross was saying, standing at the front of the table and addressing them all. "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'."

Andi swallowed. No, this was not going to go well at all. She still had no clue what this was going to end with. Were they getting some kind of warning for the chaos she caused back in Lagos? Or... or was it worse?

"What words would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha spoke up, looking at him with a coy smile.

"How about dangerous?" He replied. "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?"

So this was definitely about Lagos. Andi shifted uncomfortably in her seat and rested her arms on the desk. Briefly, she glanced over at Tony, who looked like he was making an effort not to look her way.

Secretary Ross moved away from the centre of the room, and on the glass wall ahead, a projection appeared. It was a map of the world, with a few spots in certain continents highlighted. Each one was zoomed in on, only to show destruction.

"New York," Secretary Ross said, as the screen showed images of what happened not that long ago, when Loki invaded the city. Andi hadn't been there for that, since she'd been stuck in a lab, but Tony had told her about what happened. She just never realised how intense the destruction had been.

"Washington, D.C." Andi didn't know much about this one, except that Steve was involved, and so were Nat and Sam. And Bucky.

"Sokovia." This one was extremely familiar territory, since Andi had been directly involved. She watched as the screen showed the entire city of Sokovia lifting into the sky, all while a battle raged on on top of it. The entire city had been destroyed, and while she liked to think they evacuated everyone, she knew that not everyone survived. Like Pietro.

"Lagos." Andi bit down on her lip as she watched the footage of vines pushing Rumlow and the explosion he caused right into a building where several people perished. Briefly, she met Wanda's gaze, and she looked about as uncomfortable as Andi felt, which prompted Steve to speak up. "Okay, that's enough."

"For the past four years," Secretary Ross began speaking again, once the screen turned off, "you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."