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𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝟔
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐍𝐄𝐖 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍

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Night had quickly come and gone when they arrived at the Avengers Compound. Charlie was both nervous and excited as she walked through the halls. She was glad to be back in a place that offered some sort of safety after fighting two giant aliens not even twelve hours ago. But, on the other hand, Thaddeus Ross introduced the Sokovia Accords to them the last time she was here before a civil war broke out. That was the reason her life was messed up now and the reason why she couldn't see Alex, Peter, or her family. The Compound was also the last place she saw the Avengers together in one place. So even though she welcomed the safety with open arms, Charlie also felt a bit of resentment for the compound in the pit of her stomach.

The Barton girl couldn't help but interlock her fingers with Pietro's to help her calm her nerves as they walked behind Steve and Natasha. Behind them, Wanda and Sam were helping Vision walk through the halls. Despite the Maximoff girl's efforts to heal his wounds, the Keeper of the Mind Stone still felt the pain from Clovis Glaive's staff. That thought alone was enough to terrify Charlie. She always thought that Vision was invincible with Wanda being the only one that could hurt him, but I guess the Barton girl was wrong.

They were heading toward a very familiar voice, one that belonged to a person Charlie hadn't seen since their battle at the German airport. It wasn't long before they made it to the central hub of the building, where Rhodey was talking to the hologram of Thaddeus Ross. The group of heroes stopped in the doorframe of the hub as Thaddeus just stared at him. Charlie could barely see his face over Natasha's shoulder, but she knew he was annoyed to see them. The staredown continued for what felt like an eternity to the Barton girl before Steve broke the silence surrounding them. "Mr. Secretary."

The Ross man just stared at Captain America for a long moment before slowly walking towards him. He didn't stop until his holographic form was standing a few feet away from Natasha. "You got some nerve. I'll give you that."

"You could use some of that right now," the Romanoff woman responded without even attempting to hide her smirk.

"The world's on fire," Thaddeus continued as he moved to stand in front of Steve, "and you think all is forgiven?"

"I'm not looking for forgiveness. And I'm way past asking permission. Earth just lost her best defender. So we're here to fight," the Rogers man declared while keeping a stoic look on his face. Steve just stared at the holographic image of Thaddeus Ross before taking a single step forward. "And if you wanna stand in our way...we'll fight you too."

The Secretary kept his eyes glued to Captain America for another moment before slowly turning around to face Rhodey. "Arrest them."

"All over it," the Rhodes man responded before waving his hand through the air to make the holograms disappear. Silence filled the room until a faint beeping sound broke it.

"That's a court marshall," Rhodey explained as a smile appeared on his lips, "it's great to see you, Cap."

A grin soon formed on Charlie's lips as she watched Steve and Rhodey shake hands before the latter moved to give Natasha a hug. It wasn't long after that when the Rhodes man's attention landed on Charlie before his grin grew. "You too, Barton Jr."

The archer couldn't help but roll her eyes as she stepped forward to give Rhodey an overdue hug. As soon as they ended their embrace, the Rhodes man's eyes scanned over everyone standing in front of him. "Wow. You guys...really look like crap. Must've been a rough couple of years."

"Yeah, well, the hotels weren't exactly five star," Sam responded with a small smile on his face right as Charlie stepped back to stand beside Pietro once again.

"Uh, I think you look great," a familiar voice said, causing everyone's smiles to drop as they turned to look at the newcomer, only to find Bruce staring back at them from the other side of the room. The Banner man gave them all an awkward wave as she slowly stepped further into the room. "Uh, yeah, I'm back."

"Hi, Bruce," Natasha greeted while keeping her eyes glued to the man in front of her as if he was about to disappear at any second.

Bruce fiddled with the cuffs of his sleeves for a moment before a small smile appeared on his lips. "Nat."

"This is awkward," Sam muttered under his breath, earning a small laugh from Charlie while Pietro, Wanda, and Vision looked over at him with blank faces.

What felt like an eternity passed before they finally moved into the living room down the hall. If Charlie was being honest, she was grateful that it wasn't the room they had their meeting about the Sokovia Accords in. It was already hard for her to be back at the Avengers Compound and she really didn't want to add to it by standing in the room where the meeting took place. The Barton girl still remembered watching her heroes arguing with each other about what they believed. She never thought she would see the day that the Avengers fell apart. But she didn't just see it, she was part of it. And now they were a shattered team left to deal with a power-hungry alien and his followers.

That had to be the definition of dealing with the consequences of their actions.

While Charlie and Pietro took a seat on the sofa, everyone else stood around the room. It wasn't long after that when Wanda began telling them about what happened in Scotland before Steve, Natasha, and Sam showed up. The Rogers man quickly took over after that to tell Rhodey and Bruce about their battle in the train station. The two men were silent as they listened to the story, not knowing what to make about their current situation. It wasn't until Natasha pulled up a holographic picture of what Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight looked like that Charlie saw the panic in their eyes.

As soon as Steve finished his explanation, Rhodey pulled his eyes away from the picture to look at everyone in the room with him. "So we gotta assume they're coming back, right?"

"And they can clearly find us," Wanda added while keeping her eyes glued to Vision, who was leaning against the wall next to her.

"We need all hands on deck," Bruce declared as his attention moved to Charlie, "where's Clint?"

"After what happened with the Sokovia Accords, my dad made a deal with the government. It was really tough on our family," the Barton girl explained while thinking back to the last time she spoke to her father in person, "he's on house arrest. So is Scott."

"Who's Scott?" the brunette man asked as he spun around to look at everyone in the room with him.

"Ant-Man," Pietro responded in a tone that made it seem like that piece of information was obvious.

"There's an Ant-Man and a Spider-Man?" the Banner man questioned without even attempting to hide the confusion in his voice. He simply watched as everyone nodded in response to his question before he shook off his confusion and continued speaking. "Okay, look. Thanos has the biggest army in the universe and he is not gonna stop until he gets...Vision's stone."

"Well then we have to protect it," Natasha said with determination in her voice.

"No, we have to destroy it," the Keeper of the Mind Stone declared, drawing everyone's attention to him, "I've been giving a good deal of thought to this entity in my head. About its nature. But also its composition. I think if it were exposed to a sufficiently powerful energy source...something very similar to its own signature, perhaps...its molecular integrity could fail."

Charlie tried her best to hold back her smile after seeing the confused look on Pietro's face. He would constantly wear that look whenever they were helping Shuri in Wakanda. It never ceased to bring a bit of joy to the Barton girl, knowing that she would have to explain everything to him at a later time. However, Wanda's next words were enough for both of their previous emotions to fade from existence. "Yeah, and you with it. We're not having this conversation."

"Eliminating the stone is the only way to be certain that Thanos can't get it," the synthezoid argued, earning an annoyed look from the Maximoff girl.

"That's too high a price."

Vision just stared at Wanda for a moment before carefully placing his hands on her cheeks. "Only you have the power to pay it."

Tears began forming in the Maximoff girl's eyes as she pushed herself away from Vision and walked into the kitchen. Pietro didn't hesitate to get up and follow his sister before taking her into his arms to comfort her. Everyone watched the siblings have an inaudible conversation before the Keeper of the Mind Stone drew everyone's attention back to him.

"Thanos threatens half the universe," he announced while looking around at everyone in the room with him, "one life cannot stand in the way of defeating him."

"But it should," Steve declared before looking down at the floor to take a moment to think. It wasn't long after that when the Rogers man looked back up to meet the synthezoid's gaze. "We don't trade lives, Vision."

"Captain, seventy years ago, you laid down your life to save how many millions of people?" Vision argued as he walked closer to Steve until he was standing a few feet away, "tell me, how is this any different?"

"Because you might have a choice," Bruce announced, drawing everyone's attention back to him before he continued speaking, "your mind is made up of a complex construct of overlays. J.A.R.V.I.S., Ultron, Tony, me, the Stone. All of them mixed together, all of them learning from one another."

Wanda instantly looked over at the Banner man after listening to his explanation. It wasn't long after that when Pietro returned to his seat next to Charlie while his sister stared at Bruce with a hint of hope in her eyes. "You're saying Vision isn't just the Stone?"

"I'm saying that if we take out the Stone, there's still a whole lot of Vision left. Perhaps the best parts."

"Can we do that?" Natasha asked after taking a few steps closer toward Bruce while looking between him and Vision.

"Not me, not here," the Banner man sighed, knowing that he was taking away a bit of the hope he was giving them.

"Well, you better find someone and somewhere fast," Rhodey said before crossing his arms over his chest and letting out an irritated sigh, "Ross isn't just gonna let you guys have your old rooms back."

While their conversation continued, Charlie couldn't help but look over at Pietro, only to find him already staring back at her. By the look in the speedster's eyes, the Barton girl knew he was thinking the same thing she was. They both knew that if anyone was able to get the Mind Stone out of Vision's head without tearing him apart, it was the same person who got HYDRA's programming out of Bucky's head. Charlie just hoped that Shuri wouldn't be mad at her for bringing her another project without so much as a warning. After receiving an encouraging nod from Pietro, Charlie let out a long sigh and turned her attention back to the group in front of her.

"I know someone who's smart and has the technology to do it," the Barton girl announced, drawing everyone's attention to her. Not even a second after that passed when she saw the realization forming in Steve's eyes. After staring at him for a moment longer, Charlie let out a sigh and continued speaking. "I know she'll help, but I can't guarantee it'll work."

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