Lagos and London
"Alright, now Allie, come on," Steve said, holding up his shield. "You can't hold back with this."
Allie had been working daily on learning and using her powers properly in the room Tony had designed for her. Steve had been in there to help her train from time-to-time, but most days, Allie spent hours working alone. She hadn't told anyone, but she had been having nightmares about what had happened before she found the Compound. Those nightmares had made her afraid to hurt them, though she knew she would never intend to do so.
While she wouldn't always allow her brother in the room when she was experimenting and training, Steve constantly researched the topics. He usually didn't have the foggiest idea of what he was actually reading, working with Tony when he found new information.
Standing in the corner of the room and waiting to join Allie was Wanda. She stood with her arms crossed against her chest, biting the inside of her cheek as she watched. Allie swallowed, taking a deep breath and nodding at her brother.
"I'm ready," Allie crouched, small fragments of ice coating the tips of her fingers as she held her hands away from her body.
For a moment, all was quiet in the room. Then all at once, Allie had brought up her hand, catching her brother off guard as she sent a wall of ice in his direction. Wanda's eye twitched and she sucked in a breath as she watched Steve lose his footing.
She seemed to make the face more than once as she watched the siblings' sparring match. Allie had seemed more confident in her abilities, consistently hitting her brother. It had knocked the wind from his chest once or twice before she had aimed for his leg, a blinding force of ice directed at it before Steve blinked and realized he was trapped on the floor.
"Wow," he blinked and looked back at his sister. "Alright then. Do you mind undoing that?"
"Why? Is it a little too familiar?" Allie frowned at him.
"That was low," he narrowed his eyes at his sister. "But yes."
Allie smirked before obliging, earning a glare from Steve. He leaned down and rubbed his leg as if to warm it. Wanda shook her head at Allie and walked to stand beside her. As he stood up straight, Steve looked between the two.
"Now I'm rethinking this whole idea," he looked between the two.
Wanda and Allie had begun training together, combining their powers to see what they could do together. A few times, Natasha had supervised them, but for the most part, they had worked with Steve.
"You'll live," Allie gave a grin. "You always do."
Wanda snickered softly, earning them both an appalled glare from Steve. In spite of the two seemingly ganging up on him, he was happy to see Allie having a close friend again. He supposed he could handle the remarks they made if it meant they felt better during training.
"Alright," Steve nodded at the two of them. "Go for it."
And they did. Shades of orange, red, and blue flitted and flew around the room. Small fires lit on training dummies that were unfortunate enough to have been behind Steve as his shield was covered in a frost.
Steve had been able to hold the two and their powers off for a few minutes, but when they had looked to one another, he couldn't hold off the mix of Allie's fire and Wanda's telekinesis the sent him backwards.
"You've improved," he coughed out as he shook his head with a groan. "That's good."
"Well, yeah," Allie looked over at Wanda. Muttering under her breath, she whispered to Wanda. "And yet it doesn't look like we'll ever do more than that."
"Allison," Steve's voice was firm as he looked at her. Looking at her, his face softened. "That's not it. You know that that's not it."
"Right," she frowned, though she didn't know if it was more at her brother or at herself. She wasn't entirely sure that she was ready to go and fight, but she wasn't sure she was content to just sit around.
She had never been a fan of staying behind. Then again, she had never had powers. She had been trained to use weapons, not to be the weapon. She was conflicted, and it seemed that her brother understood, even if just a bit.
"You two can go," Steve glanced to the door.
Allie and Wanda obliged, leaving together and leaving the entire training facilities altogether. They walked in silence, giving small greetings to those who saw them. Passing the large windows along their way, Wanda stopped Allie.
"How do you really feel about it?" Wanda's voice was soft as she looked out at the crowded foyer.
"A little less terrified about it," Allie admitted to her. "But it's still a lot. I don't know that I'll ever be used to it. I mean, it's been close to a year since they did this to me. Has it ever started to feel normal to you?"
Wanda let out a laugh. "No," she shook her head. "I don't think it ever will. My whole life is changed because of this."
"Like mine," Allie nodded. Taking in a deep, but shaking, breath, she stopped for a moment. "Maybe I'll feel a little less like a freak one day."
"Maybe," Wanda pursed her lips and dropped her eyes to the ground.
Each of them seemed to be at a loss for what to say on the subject. It was difficult for each of them to reconciled who they once had been with who they were now. What abilities they now had. It was undeniable that they had invaluable skills and talents to offer, but they each understood that they missed the days before their powers.
But they left it at that for the day. Instead, they went back to their living area, walking past the lounge and to Wanda's room. And just as the two had become accustomed to when unwinding for the night, Wanda shared her favorite sitcoms to Allie.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
"Hey Spark," Allie heard Tony's voice calling as he entered the lounge.
Sitting on the couch, a blanket over her lap, Allie had taken to reading one of the books Wanda had given her at Christmastime. She had thought she was alone in the lounge until she had heard him, not even realizing that Tony was in the building still.
Steve had gone overseas with Wanda, Sam, and Natasha to track down a threat in Lagos. Allie and Steve had had discussions leading up to the mission, ultimately deciding to have her stay home at the Compound. While she had felt apprehensive about going on a mission, Steve had kept quiet about the lead possibly being Bucky. He wasn't sure what Allie would do if she were there.
She had had company at the Compound. There was a number of agents that had been training at similar times to her, stopping to talk and get to know her. Vision had been around, exchanging pleasantries with her when they would see one another.
Tony had been working with her on-and-off through the months following her arrival, helping her to research her abilities. While there were plenty of thoughts and theories about pyrokinesis and cryokinesis, whose names she discovered during her research, there was no evidence to its existence. There had been a few days that she wondered how The Lab had even thought of them.
"I didn't realize you were still here," she admitted, closing the book and looking up at him. "Weren't you supposed to go to MIT?"
"I'm on my way to it," Tony nodded, walking in and looking at her. "You need anything before I leave? I'm going to be gone for a couple days."
"Oh? You care if I need help?" she laughed and earned the rolling of Tony's eyes. "I'll be fine."
"Yeah, and that'll be the last time I offer you help," he gave a wave of his hand as he turned on his heel to walk down the hall. "Try not to burn the place down."
"Will do," she grinned, shaking her head as she glanced back to her book. "Have a good presentation!"
"Will do!" he mocked her.
Allie had sat with her books for the next few hours, enjoying the private time. There was still live within the Compound, but it was nice to have the lounge and kitchen to herself. She had even made herself a nice lunch, putting away the leftovers for whoever came back to them first.
It was only slightly after she had finished her lunch that Vision had been calling her name throughout the living area. Frowning as she looked up from a book she had gone to continue reading, she looked up to see him turning around the corner.
"Miss Rogers?" he asked.
She looked up from the book to him and paused at the look on his face. He wore a concerned expression. She hadn't known him as well as she knew Wanda did, but she knew that she would trust whatever he was about to say.
"What is it?" her voice held a concerned confusion.
"You might want to see this," he said and turned on the television in the lounge. Quickly turning on the news, Allie gasped.
On the screen, the news coverage was frantic. There had been an explosion in Lagos, and as she listened to the coverage, it had been a result of Wanda's powers. Sharing a look with Vision, it seemed that they both had been concerned about her. She felt nauseous as she looked at the causalities that were reported. She couldn't help but remember the similar news reports from her rogue days in Europe.
Vision and Allie didn't let the other out of their sight for much more than the restroom or when it was time to sleep. It was horrible to wait for their friends to return, agonizing even. She couldn't continue on her reading, to worried to focus as she waited for her brother and her best friend.
At the same time that she thought she couldn't imagine what Wanda was thinking and feeling, she knew better. She could imagine exactly how Wanda was feeling and what she was thinking. After all, wouldn't she be terrified and guilt-ridden about causing something like that? She did know that kind of guilt.
When Steve, Wanda, Nat, and Sam had finally returned, Allie was pacing the length of the lounge. Wanda was the first one she embraced. Over Wanda's shuddering shoulders, Allie looked at her brother. He seemed just as concerned and as if he was weighted down by guilt as well.
The time following their return was no picnic. It seemed that Lagos and Wanda Maximoff were the only two things that news anchors could say. The rest of the world could have been ending, and they still would have focused on that day.
Tony had been in-and-out as he made his best attempts to keep operations running as Steve found himself taking care of Wanda. Allie was by Wanda's side seemingly the entire time. It was almost like the two had locked themselves in Wanda's room to watch sitcoms. Though, it didn't distract them from everything that happened.
"You know, I didn't mean for it to happen," Wanda said sadly a few days after. They were sitting on her bed under a thick comforter as they watched I Love Lucy.
"I know you didn't," Allie said, wrapping her arms around Wanda in a tight embrace. "We don't mean for things like that to happen. Steve explained everything of what had happened. It wasn't your fault."
"But could you say that you would have done the same thing?" Wanda frowned.
Allie kept her lips pursed. If she were honest, after her brother had confessed that the man who died, Brock Rumlow, had been one of the men to torture and use her husband, she would have wrapped that fire tighter and tighter around him until it outlined him. She would have made sure he felt that pain.
Knowing that that wouldn't have made her friend feel better, she simply nodded her head. "I would have done what I felt was best in the moment to protect those who needed it. Don't forget, you saved my brother."
Wanda didn't seem convinced. The next day, Allie could hear her brother's voice flowing out of the doorway to Wanda's room as he talked to her. He made his best attempts to comfort her, to help her see past what had happened in Lagos, but it didn't seem to work.
Allie worked around her room before Natasha knocked on the door. Looking back at Nat, she tilted her head just slightly to the side. She received a tired sigh in return.
"Tony's here," Nat looked at her. "Along with the Secretary of State. They want to see all of us."
"See all of us? What for?" Allie asked with furrowed brows, though her stomach plummeted. The last time she had seen the Secretary of State, he had been reluctantly agreeing to allow her to stay with her brother.
"Well, there's only one way to find out," Nat sighed, glancing down the hall to see Vision retrieving Steve and Wanda.
Allie's hand flew to her locket as they all made their way to the conference room. Everyone seemed to sit around the table looking at one another before the Secretary of State acknowledged each of them with a small nod of his head. It was as if they were back in school, and attendance was being taken. Allie sat between Nat and her brother, watching Wanda begin to stare off at the table.
There were times in life that Allie wished she could tell people to just spit out what they were going to say when unnecessary stories were being told. Secretary Ross's story of his heart attack was one of those moments. She kept her mouth shut, however, deciding that it wasn't the time to smart off to someone who already didn't like her.
It seemed that the entire table was slowly realizing why Secretary Ross was there. And it caused a number of them to fidget uncomfortably in their seats. Allie was feeling her heart thudding against her chest as her veins felt like ice was coursing through them.
Vigilantes. That was the term used to describe them. She wasn't surprised that she was regarded as one, that much had been clear to her from the moment she came. Maybe it was just that it was difficult to hear people referring to her brother and his colleagues that way.
She found she was able to stomach most of the conversation, but it was when they were shown footage of different battles or attacks that had involved the Avengers or any one particular person that Allie swallowed harshly. She felt as if she were going to be sick.
She saw footage of the attack on New York. She watched the footage of the fight in D.C., turning to look at Steve. Being able to see what had happened, she understood just how much destruction had been caused that day.
Images and aerial footage of Sokovia were shown. It was the first time that Allie had seen the footage since she had gotten to know Wanda. It devastated her to see what had happened to Wanda's old home. She looked to her friend who couldn't look at the screen for a moment.
As the images changed, Allie quickly realized what it was. Horrified, she felt the dread wash over her. Why was he showing this? Why did she have to see it? Why was he showing everybody.
"I believe it's safe to assume that these were all you, Miss Rogers?" the Secretary of State asked with an almost smug expression.
Fire. Everywhere on that damned screen was images of fire that she had created. The burned buildings and the covered bodies that were whisked away from the scenes. Wanda had looked up at her when she realized what was being shown. Steve felt his annoyance and anger bubbling as he noticed Allie's expression.
Allie had turned from the screen, fighting back terrified tears. His lips had turned into a thin and unamused line as he looked back at Secretary Ross. He could hear Wanda's gasp as Lagos was shown. When he noticed her looking away, he looked back at Ross.
"That's enough," Steve spoke up, looking between the two women. Neither had looked back up. "Why show us those?"
Secretary Ross's answer was The Sokovia Accords. A thick set of documents was placed on the table for them to pass around. He laid out his opinion that the Avengers needed to be under a committee, though Steve adamantly disagreed.
Ross left the document with them, allowing them to discuss before the Accords would be ratified in Vienna. One hundred seventeen countries had agreed that the Accords needed to be put in place. As soon as they read the stipulations and rules, Steve and Allie both found that they disagreed.
Steve had already pushed back against the idea of people telling the Avengers what to do. He believed that they helped to make the world a safer place, even if others disagreed. If they had to rely on governments and committees to give them permission, in many cases, it could be too late by the time they got there.
Allie didn't much care for the rules the Accords would put in place for people like her and Wanda. Tracking those with powers? Having to register the moment you have powers? It stripped her of her privacy. It didn't allow her to be free.
"It's suppression," Allie argued as Rhodey made a suggestion that it wasn't a bad idea.
"No, it's accountability," Rhodey shot back.
"Accountability?" Allie roared furiously. "It strips us of any privacy we still have! It strips us of our rights! How do you not understand that? They want us to wear tracking bracelets. They want to run tests and keep documentation on us and our powers. That's absurd!
"Is it? Because before you came here you were practically an arsonist," Rhodey continued, his arms crossed, and his eyes narrowed at her.
Allie fell silent as she stood across from him. Around them, the others had gone silent as well. Eyes were flitting between the two. Wanda watched as Allie carefully flexed her hands in frustration.
"I already know what it's like to not have my privacy. I know what it's like to be an experiment that's kept under lock and key," Allie spat at him. "I've made mistakes, but you all have too."
"We didn't sign up for science experiments," Rhodey continued to argue. "That's the difference."
"Oh really?" Allie snapped. "My brother? His abilities come from a science experiment conducted, in part, by Tony's dad! Wanda? A science experiment. Me? A science experiment. That damn reactor that I was told kept Tony alive for how long? A science experiment! Ones we signed up to either start or to continue. So do not tell me that I'm the only one.
"I'm not going to surrender my right to privacy," she continued sharply. "This entire shitshow treats people like me and Wanda like we're something dangerous. Like we can't be trusted."
No one uttered a word. It didn't take Allie long to look between certain faces to realize that they did think that people like Allie and Wanda were dangerous. Her jaw tightened and her eyes dropped to the tabletop.
"I see," she pursed her lips.
Steve looked over at his sister as he held the Accords in his hands. He may have had reasons to not agree that differed a bit from hers, but he understood and agreed with where she was coming from. His lips parted as he thought of something to say, but it didn't seem that he had something to add in time.
Allie had taken one look around the room, realizing that she may have had fewer friends than she thought she did. If that was what they thought, then she wouldn't stay in the room. Storming out of the room, the sounds of her footsteps echoed around before the others looked back to each other and continued to debate the Accords.
Steve's phone buzzed in his pocket, and as he took it out to read it, he felt as if a large rock had plummeted into his stomach. In just one text, the Accords were suddenly the furthest thing from his mind.
════ ⋆★⋆ ════
Allie detested funerals. She didn't think anyone actually liked them, but she knew that her hatred for them ran deep. Maybe it was because of her memories from her mother's funeral. Maybe it was the fact that she had been so young then. Maybe it was because she was saying goodbye to someone she had once considered very close.
She had memories of her mother's funeral. They never really left her, after all. She remembered sitting on that wooden pew, listening to wait a priest said in honor of her mother. Bucky had sat beside her, taking her hand in a comforting gesture.
She wondered if maybe she hated funerals so much because she never had a chance to hold one for Bucky or Steve back in '45. Granted, she now knew that neither of them would have needed a service as neither had truly died.
Allie did have an appreciation for the concept of funerals, however. There was a permanence that they held when it came to the person's death. It was a final goodbye to them, a way to honor them. There was no endless loop of "dying" and coming back.
Sitting in the Cathedral beside her brother, she was heartbroken. Peggy had been their friend and a good one at that. She had believed in the pair, even when it may have seemed unconventional. She may have even gone on to be her sister had that damned day not happened.
She felt her brother turning to look up at Peggy's niece as she gave her eulogy, glancing over and noticing his surprised expression. It seemed that he knew her, and at her slight glance to Sam, it seemed he knew her too. She looked back to the woman, curiosity pricking at the back of her mind.
All things considered, it was a beautiful ceremony. Allie had thought it was a perfect way to honor Peggy. At the end of the funeral, Sam and Allie had allowed for Steve to have a moment to himself in the cathedral. They had chosen to step outside for fresh air.
"You know, I'm sorry," Sam let out a small sigh as Allie pushed her hair away from her face. "I know she was your friend too."
"It's odd," Allie pursed her lips, keeping her eyes trained on a hazy point in the distance. "Seventy years ago, she and I sat in a room talking and listening to a radio when Steve put himself in that ice. She went on to live her whole life, but me? I'm a science experiment that's been let out in public."
"Allie," Sam's voice had was soft. "You're not a science experiment."
"Yes, I am," she looked at him, her eyes squinting in the sunlight. "Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, I'm an experiment that has eyes on her. I screwed up with what I did in Europe before making it to New York. I have to be careful about everything I do, or else I have to face being thrown into a prison."
"I take it that the two of you are definitely not signing the Accords?" a voice called their attention. Turning, Allie and Sam noticed Nat standing nearby them.
She was dressed nicely for the United Nations, and Allie felt guilty. Allie bit the inside of her lip as she shook her head no. Nat gave a soft sigh, but smiled at her nonetheless.
"I can't say that I'm surprised," Nat admitted with her lips still quirked into that soft smile. "Is your brother around?"
"He's still inside," Allie glanced back at the doors of the cathedral. "I wanted to give him a moment."
Natasha nodded, walking past them to the stairs of the church. Pausing a couple stairs up, she turned back to Allie. Thinking for a moment, her lips parted, and she looked Allie in the eye.
"For the record," Nat began. "I don't think you're dangerous. Powerful? Yes. Absolutely, but your intentions are good. That's what matters."
"Thank you," Allie smiled at her, watching as Nat turned back around and left the two behind. Turning to Sam, she went to say something before the clicking of heels took her attention once more.
The woman that had given the eulogy walked up to the two. She greeted Sam politely before she turned to Allie. Realization seemed to dawn on her as she took in Allie's appearance.
"I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met," the woman extended her hand out to Allie. Allie took her hand and shook it. "I'm Sharon."
"I'm Allie," she swallowed and frowned. "I'm sorry for your loss. I loved your aunt. She was a good woman."
"Aunt Peggy always had stories about you that she would tell," Sharon smiled, her eyes off to the side as if filtering through a plethora of pleasant memories. "She had always told me that you were one of the strongest people she knew."
"I'd argue that she was stronger than me," Allie gave a sad smile. "She was a good friend."
The three stood together, beginning to make small talk before a set of footsteps captured all of their attention. Steve had finally come out of the church to join them. He greeted Sharon warmly, inviting her to go to lunch with them before he would walk her back to her hotel.
When she had agreed, Allie and Sam had grinned at one another. There was a glint in her brother's eyes that she had seen once before. Sam and Allie let the two walk a few steps ahead of them. Looking between Sharon and Steve, Allie turned to her friend.
"You know, you're going to have to fill me in on this entire thing I've missed," she nodded towards her brother and Sharon. "I haven't seen him smile like that since 1945."
"It's been a wild few years," Sam smirked at her.
"I can tell," her grin grew.
Throughout their lunch, Allie kept her eyes trained on her brother and the woman he had invited to eat with them. She studied the way he looked at her, blinking as she realized that something was there.
She and Sam had continued to walk a few steps behind Steve and Sharon as they walked back to her hotel. The two had seemed to be engaged in a conversation that would not include the two of them.
Sam had touched her wrist slightly as he nodded to the lobby. News coverage of Vienna was playing on the television, a rock settling into Allie's stomach as she thought of the Accords.
"You know, just so we're clear," Sam started with a small grin. "I don't think you're dangerous either. You're a good person."
"Somehow, I feel like it could still be debated," she scrunched her face at the thought. "And I'll try not to be offended by you saying that now after we've been friends for the past few months."
Laughing softly and glancing over at the television in the lobby, the two watched news of the Sokovia Accords being put into place. Allie's face dropped and her lips turned into a thin line.
"If I had been there, you know in Lagos, would this have been even worse?" she glanced back at him.
He tilted his head from side-to-side in thought. "Maybe. But, then again, maybe not. It's not good to think like that though."
"When I go home, I'm going to start working even harder on figuring this whole fire control thing out," she looked down at her hands. "I know I can create it, but I still don't know if I can control a natural fire. I've been a little afraid to try."
In the news coverage, they watched with a sinking feeling as the King of Wakanda stood up to address the United Nations. They listened to what he had to say, though Allie was reminded of how she had been treated during the meeting the Avengers had with Secretary Ross.
It seemed to happen in slow motion, the way an explosion appeared on the screen. Sam and Allie looked to one another and back to the screen, almost convinced they had imagined what they saw. Maybe they secretly had hoped they both had imagined the sight. But there it was, the smoke covering the camera and shouting voices could be heard.
Looking to one another, they turned on their heels and rushed to find Steve. He stood by the elevator talking to Sharon. Allie felt a bit guilty that he looked like he was enjoying their conversation.
"Steve?" Sam interrupted Steve and Sharon.
The two looked over at him, glancing over to Allie as well. Sam looked back at her and the direction of the television they had just stood in front of before looking back to his friend.
"What is it?" Steve looked between Sam and Allie and took in their horrified expressions. "What happened?"
"You're gonna wanna see this," Sam swallowed. "It's the United Nations."
"Did something happen with the ratification?" Sharon's brow rose.
"There's been a bombing," Allie looked to Steve.
The moment the elevator opened behind Sharon, she was ushering the three into it. Taking them to her room, Sharon took out her phone to begin making calls. Sam and Steve stood behind the couch, chins in their hands as Allie sat on the cushions, elbows on her knees and her hands wringing as she waited to hear if their friend was okay.
There was no mention of if Natasha was alive, instead it was listing the death toll. The sight didn't exactly fill the group with hope. Eventually there was footage of people being evacuated from the building, but it was quickly interrupted by a "Breaking News" headline.
It appeared that an official suspect had been identified. As the man's image appeared on the screen, Sam and Steve's eyes went straight to her. Sharon realized what was being shown, and she too seemed to take a breath and look at Allie.
The bombing suspect was none other than her husband.