Chapter Twenty-Six : Enhanced Persons

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     It was probably obsessive at this point, how she kept watching news broadcasts and reading articles about what happened in Lagos. Of course every news outlet was talking about the Avengers and how people died during their mission but more specifically, they were talking about Wanda. Every news channel was questioning her character and her competence to be an Avenger on foreign grounds given her history with HYDRA and her being a Sokovian immigrant. Valencia even found a few articles mentioning her own history as a HYDRA assassin. She knew that once the information was out, everyone would know what she did but nothing could prepare her for the day the general public would put her every move under a microscope and question whether or not she was one of the good guys. She could imagine how Wanda was feeling.

     "You two are gonna drive yourselves crazy," Steve said as he turned off the TV that Wanda and Valencia were watching.

     "I tried to tell them that," Pietro said while shrugging his shoulders.

     "Terrorists. They think we're terrorists," Wanda sighed.

     "Just the alt right conservative conspiracy outlets," Pietro pointed out and Wanda shook her head.

     "It doesn't matter. Conspiracy or not, they don't think we're trustworthy because of HYDRA. And if you were there when it happened, they'd be calling you a terrorist too but you weren't so you don't get it," Wanda snapped while Valencia rubbed her shoulder.

     It wasn't fair. They were all there but they were the only ones being singled out. She spent weeks since the accident playing different scenarios in her head and what she could've done to prevent innocent people from dying needlessly. It didn't matter that they stopped Rumlow and he was gone when innocent civilians were dead because of a fight that had nothing to do with them. She should've done something to contain the explosion. She could've contained it but she didn't think of it. She was usually quick to act but the one time she wasn't, people got killed.

     "You can't be too hard on yourselves. I lost focus after Rumlow said Bucky's name. I made a mistake and you tried to fix it," Steve said as he stood against the wall.

     "People died because of us. That doesn't just go away," Valencia said.

     "Look. Whether it's your fault or my fault, the truth is that we try our best to save everyone. But sometimes, we can't so we have to learn to live with that," Steve replied.

     Valencia sighed as Vision walked right through the wall and she stood up and pointed at him while looking at Wanda. "Does he always do this? Is this, like, a common thing here?" she questioned as Wanda smiled sheepishly.

     "I'm so sorry to interrupt, but we have a guest and Mr. Stark would like each and every one of us," Vision said.

     "Do you know who it is?" Steve asked.

     "The Secretary of State. Thaddeus Ross," Vision answered before leaving through the door.

     "What the hell kind of name is Thaddeus?" Pietro asked while looking at his sister who only shrugged her shoulders as she stood up.

     "Oh, this just keeps getting better and better," Valencia said sarcastically as she left the room and found Natasha, Tony and Rhodey sitting at a huge table.

     The rest of them sat down as Valencia looked at the man with grey hair who was wearing a black suit. If Wanda was nervous about what this man had to say, she was pretty good at hiding it. Valencia knew that she herself was nervous about what he was going to say. No doubt that he had a lecture for them about what happened in Lagos but probably also for the other times cities got destroyed during a fight.

     "Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my back-swing. It turned out to be the best round of my life because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me: Perspective," he said and Valencia sighed.

     "Cool story. What's that got to do with us?" she asked as she leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed and Rhodey nudged her knee with his own as a warning to not be rude.

     "Believe me, the world owes the Avengers an un-payable debt. You guys 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'," Ross said.

     "And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked.

     "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, quite frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" Ross questioned.

     "How about the only ones who give a shit to actually do something about what's been going on in the last couple of years since no one else will?" Valencia asked while shrugging her shoulders.

     Tony sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose while Rhodey looked down while shaking his head but Valencia didn't care. None of the people in power were doing anything to stop what happened or even try to prevent it from happening. And who was he to say that they weren't concerned about the damage that got left behind? Who was he to assume that they didn't care about the people who got hurt when they were only trying to help?

     Ross cleared his throat as the screen lit up and video footage of the results of their fights appeared. While Valencia wasn't near where the aliens attacked in New York, she still remembered how it was all anybody could talk about. The footage of the three helicarries in Washington D.C. brought back the memories of that fight. She could practically feel the vibrations in her skull and hear the ringing in her ears after she was hit in the face with a vibranium shield. The scar on her thigh from the knife felt like it was itching as she remembered how she almost died that day and was completely willing to die. She glanced at Wanda and Pietro as they watched how their home country was destroyed before they were faced with what happened in Lagos. Footage of smoke from the building after it got blown up and dead bodies lying in the rubble. Valencia's knee bounced nervously as Wanda looked away.

     "That's enough," Steve said firmly and the screen went dark.

     Valencia exhaled steadily through her pursed lips as she wiped her clammy hands off with her jeans and clasped them together over the table before looking at Ross.

     "For four years, you have operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate but I do think we have a solution," he said as he placed a thick document hundreds of pages long on the table.

     The Sokovia Accords. Ross explained how it was approved by a hundred and seventeen countries and what this document meant for them. They would have to operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when that panel decided it was necessary. So many thoughts went through Valencia's mind but the most prominent one was how this had to be some sick joke. There was no way Ross actually expected them to agree to working under the supervision of a government organization after what happened with SHIELD.

     While the document was passed around, Ross was telling them that they had three days to decide before the Accords were ratified. And if they refused, they were done.

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     Valencia sat on the couch with her legs crossed while Steve read the Accords as Rhodey and Sam argued right behind him. She took the time to read the document and she was already sure that she wasn't going to agree. The whole thing just screamed "bad idea" to her and some others as well but there were some who were in support of the Sokovia Accords.

     "Let's say for argument's sake that we do agree to sign this thing. How long until they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?" Sam asked.

     "A hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this and you're like, 'Oh, no, it's cool, we got this'," Rhodey said.

     "How long are you gonna play both sides?" Sam questioned.

     "I have an equation," Vision spoke up and Valencia sighed as she looked at the ceiling frustrated.

     "This should clear it up," Sam said.

     "In the last 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," Vision explained and Valencia glared at him while Steve looked up from the document.

     "Are you saying it's our fault?" he questioned.

     "What I'm saying is that 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," Vision said and Valencia snorted as she shook her head.

     "That. Is. Complete. Bullshit," she chuckled. "You're suggesting that we asked for this to happen by just existing and that is bullshit. 'Enhanced individuals', as this document likes to call people like me, Wanda and Pietro, started coming out because they see the horrible shit that is going on and people like Ross' lack of balls to do anything effective to stop it. Also, keep in mind that some of these 'enhanced individuals' never asked to be enhanced in the first, whether they were born with it or it was something they acquired through illegal human experimentation," she said as she pointed at herself, Wanda and Pietro. "We didn't ask for this."

     Everyone was quiet for a moment before Natasha looked at Tony who was lying down with his eyes closed and arms crossed. "Tony? You are being uncharacteristically non-hyper-verbal," she noted.

     "That's because he already made up his mind," Steve said while looking at him.

     "Boy, you know me so well," Tony said sarcastically as he stood up and grabbed a cup near the sink.

     Everyone listened as he complained about coffee grounds in the garbage disposal and Valencia shifted awkwardly. He continued to talk about a young man who died while they were fighting in Sokovia. It was safe to assume that they all were already feeling guilty enough about innocent people who got hurt or killed during their battles, especially after having to rewatch everything Ross showed them a few hours ago. Tony has made it very clear how he felt about the Accords and that they should sign it but Valencia disagreed heavily.

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

     "Who said we're giving up?" Tony questioned.

     "We are if we don't take responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame," Steve said.

     "That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations, Steve. This isn't the World Security Council, this isn't SHIELD, this isn't HYDRA," Rhodey said.

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

     "That's good. When I realized what my weapons were capable in the wrong hands, I stopped manufacturing and I shut it down," Tony said.

     "Tony, that's different. You chose to do that. If we sign this document, we give up our right to choose," Steve countered.

     "And what happens when their agenda changes and you have to do something that you know is wrong? Or if you need to do something you know is right but they won't let you? Do you still think that's a good thing?" Valencia questioned.

     "Valencia's right. We may not be perfect, but the best hands are still our own and if we agree to this, we no longer get a say," Steve said.

     "Listen. If we don't do this now, it will be done to us later," Tony said.

     "They'll be gunning for us," Pietro said as he bit the inside of his cheek.

     "Okay, but maybe Tony is right. If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer," Natasha said and Sam scoffed with his arms crossed.

     "Aren't you the same lady who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" he questioned.

     "Also, we wouldn't have one hand on the wheel, we would all have our hands tied behind our backs," Valencia pointed out.

     "I'm just saying. We have made some very public mistakes and we need to win their trust back," Natasha sighed and Valencia laughed sarcastically.

     "Is no one else thinking about how this document is a colossal violation of human rights and civil liberties? Enhanced individuals are still human beings. If we sign this, any anonymous enhanced person will be forced to reveal their identity which could put them in even more danger. Not just them, but their loved ones too. Tell me how that helps anybody. People born with their powers will have to wear a tracking bracelet at all times. If you ask me, that sounds like something they do with criminals. They will also have to undergo a power analysis to categorize their threat level. If an enhanced person breaks the law, even if they're doing the right thing, or if they violate the Accords or stop anyone from enforcing the Accords, they'll be arrested and detained indefinitely without trial. And if I remember correctly, everyone has a right to a fair trial. Of course, unless it's an enhanced person. How any of you can support this, I have no idea," Valencia said as she stood up and walked out of the room.

     "Where are you going?" Tony asked.

     "To use the bathroom! Am I allowed to do that or do I need permission from the United Nations panel as an enhanced individual?" she questioned as she left.

     Thaddeus Ross can kiss her ass for all she cared.