THE SECRETARY OF STATE, Thaddeus Ross, is standing at the head of a table. The room is brightly lit , the walls a dark blueish colour. Around the table, Rhodey, Natasha, Steve, Tony, Sam, Vision, and Wanda are gathered around, most of which are just wearing casual clothing, having not bothered to get smartly dressed for the meeting. "Five years ago, I had a heart attack." He told them. "I dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. 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 un-payable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives . . . but while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some…" He hesitates, looking up at them. "…who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."
"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked him, sitting back in her chair.
"How about 'dangerous'?" Ross replies firmly, his hands leaning on the table. "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?" Ross activates a screen behind him, stepping aside so they can look at it. News footage from past Avengers and SHIELD matters flash on the screen as he speaks. "New York." He lists. He shows a Chitauri leviathan, terrified citizens, a soldier firing a gun, the Hulk smashing into a building and sending a dust cloud to engulf the camera. Rhodey looks regretful. He glances behind him at Natasha. "Washington DC." The three Insight Helicarriers, firing on each other. The destroyed Triskelion. A Helicarrier crashing into the Potomac and throwing up a massive wave, engulfing citizens and the camera. "Sokovia." Terrified citizens, running, the city rising, a building falling over over the edge and crashing into the ground. Wanda stares at the screen, as does Tony. "Lagos." He switches the screen to show the burning building, paramedics moving a body, a dead girl. Wanda is particularly affected by the footage from Lagos, her face falling with shame and guilt.
Steve sees this and intervenes. "Okay." Steve interrupts him, sounding annoyed at the intrusion. "That's enough."
Secretary Ross nods to an aide and the images disappear from the screen. He looks back over at them. "For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision." Ross reminds them. "That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution." He places down a thick document on the desk and slides it over to Wanda. She looks down at it, before handing it over to Rhodey. "The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries.." Steve looks up at him. "It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organisation. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel, only when and if that panel deems it necessary."
"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place." Steve argues. "I feel we've done that."
"Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?" Ross asked him harshly. Steve looks up and meets Ross's eyes. "If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes…you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground."
"So, there are contingencies." Rhodey wonders.
"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords." Ross informs them and Steve glances over at Tony in thought. "Talk it over."
"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Natasha asks.
"Then you retire." Ross tells her and Natasha stifles a smile.
Ross walks away from the room, leaving the others to discuss it over with each other. Steve picks up the Accords from the table, flicking through it and reading it in depth. The others look at each other, thinking it over. In the back Rhodey and Sam are shouting at each other. "Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is one more than you have." Rhodey argues with him.
"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 asks, annoyed.
"117 countries want to sign this." Rhodey reminds him. "117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, that's cool. We got it.'"
"How long are you going to play both sides?" Sam questions, his voice firm.
"I have an equation." Vision says, his voice monotone but still sounding slightly casual, his hand draped over the chair he is sitting in. His blue jumper contrasting well with his colourful skin.
"Oh, this will clear it up." Sam remarks.
"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 asks carefully.
"I'm saying there may be a causality." Vision corrects. "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." Sam smiles.
Tony sits near the corner of the room, avoiding making conversation with anyone. One hand is draped over his head, his eyes closed slightly. "Tony. You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal." She notices and he removes his hand from his face, looking over at her from where he is slouched on the couch.
"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve realised.
"Boy, you know me so well." Tony retorts. He gets up and winces, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." He admits. "That's what's going on, Cap." Tony reminds him, picking up a mug. "It's just pain. It's discomfort." He looks in the sink and sighs. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" He puts his phone in a basket and taps it. The phone projects an image of a smiling young man. He looks down, then back up, and pretends to notice the picture for the first time. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way." He points to the image. "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." The other's look affected by his words, turning away slightly. "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 ass." He takes a pill with some coffee, then faces the others. "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, someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve argues.
"Who said we're giving up?" Tony wonders.
"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blames." Steve tells him, pointing to the file on the table.
"I'm sorry. Steve." Rhodey apologises, despite not having actually read it. "That - that is dangerously arrogant. 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 reminds them.
"That's good." Tony answered. "That's why I'm here. When I realised what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stopped manufacturing."
"Tony, you chose to do that." Steve said firmly. "If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. 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 argues.
"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda said softly, speaking for the first time, looking up at them.
"We would protect you." Vision reminds her.
"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha admits and Tony looks over at her in shock.
"If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off -" She starts to say.
"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam interrupts her, his eyebrow raised.
"I'm just…" Natasha sighs. "I'm reading the terrain. We have made… some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."
"Focus up. I'm sorry, did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?" Tony said.
"Oh, I want to take it back now." Natasha jokes.
"No, no, no. You can't retract it." Tony replies. "Thank you. Unprecedented. Okay, case closed--I win."
Steve's phone suddenly buzzes, and he pulls it out to check it, looking at it from where he's holding it under the table. A text message reads: 'She's gone. In her sleep.' "I have to go." Steve tells them before quickly getting up. He drops the Accords on the coffee table and quickly exits from the room.