Pick a Side

Isabel wasn’t an important person. Not like some of the people she worked with.

She didn’t say this because she thought she was lacking in any way. It was simply a statement of fact; in a few generations no one would remember her. She was a paper pusher. Her boss, Stuart Smalls, was making his way into textbooks with his work as an investigator.

Isabel knew she wasn’t important, but when Stuart started investigating the creation of Ultron, and the Avengers response, something changed.

As she read over the documents Stuart had gathered while investigating, she felt like she was losing her mind. The Avengers seemed to report to no one, when Dr. Stark was involved, they liaised with local governments, but the rest of the time they seemed to do whatever they wanted.

There was no command structure, no built-in review system, or plans to prevent loss of life. There was just a group of overpowered people running around, fighting whoever they thought were the bad guys. Stuart had tasked her with contacting Captain Rogers.

After a few failed attempts to get his phone number, she’d finally managed to reach him.

“Hello,” He picks up on the first ring.

“Hello Captain Rogers, I’m Isabel Marino,” She greets. “I’m calling you on behalf of Investigator Smalls, he has a few questions for you.”

“What?” Captain Rogers asks. “What investigation?” For a moment she wonders if she misheard him. How could he not know?

“The investigation into the creation of Ultron, and the Avengers response,” she explains, feeling slightly dumbstruck by his confusion.

“Ask Stark about the creation. The Avengers dealt with Ultron,” he says. “Everything’s fine now.” There’s a click and a dial tone in her ear. She sits there, slowly hangs up the phone, and tries to comprehend how a destroyed city could ever be considered fine.

“Fine?” She mutters to herself. A city destroyed; a body count still rising. Fine. She pulls herself together, logs the call, and skims over the transcript of Investigator Smalls call with Dr. Stark. She’d been following all the evidence released about Wanda Maximoff.

Barton decided to make her an honorary Avenger for the battle. Well, I had assumed it was just for the battle considering the woman was part of Hydra, but apparently, he meant it. After the battle I explained that I wouldn’t be working with her, or giving anyone who worked with her money. Rogers, Barton, Romanoff, and Wilson all decided they would rather work with her than with me, so I came back her for clean up, and they fucked off.   

The Avengers had invited Wanda Maximoff onto the team, they were willing to give up Tony Stark for Maximoff.

The Hulk and Banner obviously chose my team. Natasha had pushed Bruce off a cliff to get him to hulk out.

She did what? Isabel felt like she was losing her mind, it felt like the world didn’t make sense any more. The heroes of the battle of New York were assaulting each other, and helping Hydra terrorists?

By the time she got through the full transcript she felt jittery, and upset. She’d worked through a lot of cases with investigator Smalls, but this was different. People needed to know about this.

When she checked her email, she found an email from one Christine Everhart. It contained a phone number. She stepped out of the building for her break, and with shaking hands Isabel made the call.

Isabel had given her all the information she needed. Christine had rushed to analyze it and create the press release. She had always suspected something was wrong with the Avengers, always expected that at some point she’d be running a hard-hitting story exposing them. She’d expected Tony Stark to be at the center of any scandal.

Instead, he came out smelling like roses. He’d refused to work with Wanda Maximoff because of her crimes, he was working to repair the damage done, he was cooperating with investigators, and giving them full access to his systems.

Captain America: Team Hydra

It was a bold headline, but she was ready to back it up, and thanks to Isabel she had plenty of evidence.

After the disaster that was SHIELD fell due to an agreement to allow Hydra agents into their organization, Captain America has learned nothing. Less than a year later he’s agreed to allow a Hydra agent onto the team shortly after the woman attacked his teammates, and a city. This woman worked with Ultron, worked with Hydra, and is now being considered an Avenger.

Why?

A great question, and one I am struggling to answer. Tony Stark took one look at the woman who unleashed the hulk on an innocent city (click here to read more) and swore to never let a cent of his money help her.

She had more reading to do, but with the first article completed and released she had more time to read through the documents Isabel shared with her.

“With great power comes great responsibility.” Uncle Ben’s words were haunting him, driving him to do better. He’d been avoiding his friends for the last week. He was busy, between school and spider-man he didn’t have much free time.

“Surprise!” May shouted when he opened the door to reveal Ned and MJ sitting at his kitchen table.

“What’s up loser?” MJ greets, and Ned waves at him. They’re both a bit subdued. The ghost of Ben hanging over the group.

“Hey,” He greets. “I’ve missed you guys.” It’s the truth.

“We’ve been here.” Ned says, jumping up to pull him into a hug. “We’ll keep being here.”

“Yeah.” MJ joins for a moment, wrapping an arm around him. Eventually Ned releases him, and they walk over to the kitchen table. He glances over to see tears in May’s eyes as she prepares something, and silence settles over the room.

The TV is on, volume set to low. It’s the only sound in the room other than the sizzle of the stove.

“You’re telling me that Captain America welcomed a Hydra Agent onto the Avengers?” The newscaster asks, tone incredulous. “Why would he do that? Didn’t we see with SHIELD that allowing Hydra in is always a mistake?”

“I couldn’t tell you John,” His partner said. “It seems to have caused a rift within the Avengers with those helping out in the aftermath of the Sokovia disaster refusing to associate with Hydra agents.”

“Who is it that’s helping out?” he asks, and May leans over to turn the television off, cutting off the news.

“Can you believe it?” Ned asks, “I read online that Captain America is working with Nazi’s to take over the government.” Peter nearly rolls his eyes.

“I doubt that’s true,” he doesn’t want it to be. Spider-man wants to look out for the little guy, just like Captain America does. “There’s gotta be some sort of explanation.” The Avengers were the good guys, Ironman saved his life, he grew up on Captain America comics.

“There is.” MJ says, as Peter jumps up to help May serve the food. “Propaganda. Captain America is just a myth perpetuated by the US government to inspire patriotism, and encourage military enlistment.”

“But, he’s Captain America,” Ned says, “he’s a hero.”

“He’s also a human being.” Aunt May cut in, “He’s just as capable of fucking up as the rest of us.” She finishes getting the beans and rice on the table, as Peter passes out plates.

“So, you think this is all just a mistake? Not something malicious,” Peter asks. He wants that to be the case.

“Who knows?” May shrugs.

“I think it’s a misunderstanding.” Ned states, scooping food onto his plate. “This all looks great Ms. May.” He gives her a thumbs up.

“Well, I think all the power went to his head.” MJ says. “I think the serum made him big, and strong, and powerful. Then he woke up here with people believing all the propaganda about him, and all that power went to his head. Whatever he did had to be right, because he’s good and he had the power to do it.”

“Absolute power corrupts absolutely.” May mutters, taking a bite of the food. “This is so bland, Peter can you grab the garlic salt?” He feels like there’s a rock in his stomach.

“You think that kind of power would corrupt anyone?” He asks, as he gets up. He’s just a kid, he just wants to protect people. Just wants to keep others from hurting the way he’s hurting.

“I’m not sure. I think that it can be lonely at the top. Having powers, the way they do, and having people treat you like you can do no wrong, it’s got to go to your head. You need people to ground you.” May says, “Luckily you guys don’t have to worry about crazy super powers, and you can just be kids.” Peter can’t help it, he freezes.

It feels like there was a bucket of ice water dumped on him.

“It would be so cool though.” Ned says. “I’d love to be a super hero, helping people, saving the day.” MJ hums.

“I think, if I had powers, I’d just look out for the little guy.” He says, and it tastes like ash in his mouth. “The Avengers can protect the world; I’d just protect Queens.”

 “What would give you the right?” MJ cuts in, “And how would you protect Queens? You have no authority to arrest people, neither do the Avengers to be honest. Would you be killing people?”

“Of course not!” Peter splutters.

“The good thing is you don’t have to worry about it.” May says, trying to calm them down.

“But I do.” He blurts out, because suddenly the idea of keeping this a secret seems like a terrible idea. “The truth is, I am Spider-man.”

Vision didn’t know what to think when the Avengers fell apart in front of him. He felt an affinity to Wanda, possibly due to their shared origins, the mind stone thrummed with energy when he was near her. He also felt an affinity to Dr. Stark, to Sir. He knew it came from JARVIS, from Tony Stark’s creation.

It was strange, these warring pulls. Wanda was passionate, when he spoke with her, he felt the energy pulse around him. She believed the world had wronged her, that Dr. Stark had wronged her.

When he spoke with Dr. Stark, he felt calmer. The man was a whirlwind, talking quickly, jumping from topic to topic, and yet there was a steadiness to him. A focus.

When he went online it wasn’t difficult to find voices for both sides. There were those that believed Dr. Stark had made up every terrible thing that the media said about Wanda. There were those that painted Wanda as a villain. It was hard to parse through all the information.

“Did you release the Hulk in Johannesburg?” He asked. Wanda yelped turning to face him.

“Vision, you can’t just sneak up on me like that.” She said, holding a hand to her chest.

“My apologies, I just wanted to know, did you release the Hulk in Johannesburg?” He asked again, she took a breath, and the power around him pulsed.

“I didn’t have a choice,” She said, “after what Tony Stark did to my family.” He cut her off.

“I am asking a simple question; did you release the Hulk on a civilian population?” She scowled at him, face going scarlet with frustration, and he felt bad.

“You’re making it sound terrible,” She says voice pitching up in a way Vision hasn’t heard before. “Pietro and I did what we had to do to survive.”

“Yes or no, Wanda.” Vision wanted to get to the bottom of this.

“Yes, okay? Is that what you want to hear?” She growls, and the magic around him seems to sharpen with her anger.

“If that is the truth, yes. I am trying to understand.” Vision explains. “How did doing this help you and Pietro survive?” He’s having trouble connecting the dots, surely Dr. Banner is far less dangerous than the Hulk.

“It harmed the Avengers.” She said, and he cocked his head to the side, trying to understand.

“Correct, how did this help you and Pietro survive?” He repeats, and her face gets slightly redder as she crosses her arms over her chest.

“You don’t understand.” She huffed, stomping her foot in frustration.

“Correct, that’s why I’m asking.” He isn’t sure why she seems so angry with him, he simply wants to understand. “Based on previous conversations you view Tony Stark as evil due to the casual disregard he showed for human life while creating weapons, and the effect this had on your childhood, and family. However, you have shown this same disregard for human life when setting off the Hulk in the middle of a civilian population center. I am struggling to reconcile this.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” She screams, and a wave of red pushes him back.

“Perhaps,” Vision agrees. He knows he has much to learn, and he walks back through the wall, leaving her to her anger. “Perhaps not.”

He thinks for a moment, thinks of her rage, of her actions, and makes a decision.

“Hello Friday, can I speak to Dr. Stark? I would like to join team tinman.”

Laura Barton wasn’t sure what to think when she started reading the news. There were dozens of stories about the destruction of Novi Grad, and the Avengers saving the day. She had felt relief, learning that Clint had survived, and saved the world once again.

He called her.

“Hey honey, I’m coming home,” He said.

“For how long?” It was a common question, he frequently came and stayed for a few weeks, or months. There was always a time limit, and as much as she loved him, she’d grown to resent him too.

“I was thinking forever this time,” He said, and her heart soared in her chest.

“Are you sure?” She asked, her voice barely a whisper. She couldn’t believe it.

“I’m sure. I love you. I’ll be home in a few hours, okay? Tell the kids I love them.” He hangs up before she can say anything else. She can’t believe it; she’s never felt so excited to see him. She wants to tell the kids, wants to tell the world.

There’s a part of her that doubts him, the part that remembers how jittery he gets during the longer stays at home, but she pushes it down. He’s never offered to stay before, he wouldn’t say it if he didn’t mean it.

A few hours.

Just a few hours.

“Mom, you’re smiling like a maniac.” Cooper says, giving her a wary look.

“Your father’s coming home,” she shares, unable to keep it in, “to stay.” Cooper looks skeptical, although there’s hope shining in his eyes.

“To stay?” He asks, and she nods.

“That’s what he said.” It would have been easy to get caught up in the excitement, she very nearly did. Except her phone pinged.

What’s this about your husband adding a terrorist to the Avengers? The text message from her mother reads, with a link to an article.

Captain America; Team Hydra

The headline rings in her head, and she skims through the article for Clint’s name. It reports that he had added Wanda Maximoff to the Avengers team, and sided against Tony Stark about her continued inclusion. Wanda Maximoff a Hydra agent who worked with Ultron to further his plans of destroying the world.

I have no idea

She messages back. It feels like crashing, she’d been so excited, but now there’s a million questions running through her mind. Is this why he’s retiring, because he got caught trying to add a Nazi to the Avengers? Because Tony Stark is apparently refusing to fund them if she’s a part of the time.

Does he care about them at all? Did they even factor into his decision to retire? Why did he even want to add this woman to the team? What could possibly lead him to trust her so quickly?

Call me

Her mom replies, and Laura does.

“Sweetheart, are you okay?” her mom asks, the moment she picks up, and Laura isn’t sure. Her emotions are at war inside her.

Steve didn’t have a lot of time for the news, he didn’t care much for the pettiness of the newspapers, or the showboating Tony liked to do to get their attention. He’d asked someone help him stop it from always popping up.

When his phone rang, and some investigator tried to question him about Ultron he’d pointed them at Tony and hung up. It wasn’t his problem, especially now that Tony had childishly split off from the rest of the Avengers.

“Have you seen this?” Agent Hill asks, holding up her phone.

Captain America; Team Hydra

The headline read, and he almost laughed out loud at the absurdity of it.

“I don’t read that garbage,” He shrugs, “you shouldn’t either.” Seriously, thinking that he was Hydra, how ridiculous.

“Well, everyone else does.” Hill cuts in. “This is all over the internet now.” He blinks at her, waiting for something that explains the urgency in her voice. “We can fix this though, we’ll release a statement clarifying that Wanda Maximoff will be arrested, and that the Avengers will be working together.”

“Why would she be arrested?” He asks, and her mouth falls open. This is exactly why women shouldn’t be given power he thought. Peggy was an exception, clearly Maria wasn’t cut out for this.

“She’s a terrorist.” Maria finally managed to get out. Steve rolled his eyes.

“She’s just a girl, she helped us against Ultron, and she’ll help us again.” He explains, unsure why she can’t understand this. “She’s a good kid.”

“She’s a grown woman, that attacked a civilian population, and worked with the killer robot, she needs to answer for her crimes.” Maria explains.

“Oh, come on.” Steve says. “She didn’t do anything that bad.” Maria’s face goes a weird shade of red, and then she takes a breath. Calming herself. Steve thinks that’s a good sign.

“We are going to land, and you are going to get out of my sight.” She whispers.

“What? Maria, you’re being unreasonable,” he can’t believe that she would kick him out like this, they just saved the world.

“It’s Director Hill,” she snaps, “and I learned my lesson when nearly half of my agents got killed in the data dump. I will not work with a supposedly reformed Hydra agent again. Especially one who’s been reformed for barely a day.” She’s starting to yell, and he can’t believe she’d let her emotions get the better of her like this.

“Maria, think this through,” he talks softly, trying to calm her.

“I have. You’re on your own Rogers,” She states with finality. He shrugs. He doesn’t need SHIELD anyway, he’s Captain America, and he still has his team. “We’re arresting Wanda today.” She adds.

“You can’t do that.” He snaps.

“You’ll find we already have.” She replies, and he goes rigid, hand clenching as he resists the urge to reach for his shield. He still needs to find Bucky, that’s the priority. Wanda can wait until they’re able to get her out together. She’ll have to.

"Fine."