∆ {4¹¹} {LIABILITY} ∆ 

"I DON'T SUPPOSE you have any idea where they are?" Secretary Ross inquired, sounding annoyed and disappointed as Roxi shifted in her seat, a tourniquet tied around her shoulder to slow the bleeding while a medic worked on stitching the wound shut. It hurt far less than it used to, and Roxi had decided that if it only gave her the level of pain that she felt now, that she'd been shot far to many times in her life than she should've. Then again, it was a risk when you spent 13 years of your life in the espionage business and then the next four as one of the most public figures in the world, even if the rest of the world knew the least about her compared to the other Avengers.

"We will. GSG 9's got the borders covered, recon's flying 24/7. They'll get a hit, we'll handle it." For the most part, Roxi and Natasha had allowed Tony to do the talking, especially because he seemed to have become some sort of leader to those who had signed the Accords. He also had an exact stance that he seemed to want to appear as holding, so the two women had thought it better to let him handle Secretary Ross, though Roxi hadn't found herself likely to intervene in any case. She'd never been especially good with politics. She preferred to simply follow orders, whether it be from Fury and SHIELD or from Steve or Tony. Either way, she knew her place, and it was not at the head of anything.

"You don't get it, Stark, it's not yours to handle. It's clear you can't be objective. I'm putting Special Ops on this," Ross intervened, keeping his back to all three mildly pissed off Avengers, as if not wanting to see their faces.

"And what happens when the shooting starts? What do you, kill Steve Rogers?" Natasha asked quickly, her tone serious as she looked directly at the Secretary of State, ignoring the fact that she could feel Roxi's eyes lingering on her in something like pride, with a certain fondness developing as the ice-eyed woman noted that the redhead was wearing the jacket that she had so recently taken off so that the medic could patch up Roxi's arm. 

"If we're provoked," Ross replied, his voice quiet in a form of exasperation that Roxi hadn't heard in years. She gestured for the medic to leave as soon as they had finished with her. No more innocent people had to get caught in the crossfire of their disagreements, not when they seemed to be going to end so violently. She couldn't see this ending well in any way, and she hated it. Her priorities would still remain the same though, she would make sure of that. Her team's, her families' lives would come before whatever conflict or argument that the Avengers currently held. If someone died because of this, she doubted that she would be able to forgive herself.

"Barnes would've been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people, who would be alive right now. Feel free to check my math." Roxi frowned internally at Ross' words. After all, without the Accords, without the pressure of the government, without the meeting in Vienna, Barnes wouldn't have been suspected as a victim in the first place. For once, she felt the urge to open her mouth and argue, but she didn't. After all, Ross was still holding that fearful curiosity about her, and Roxi didn't doubt that he would lock her away without a second thought if she showed some sign of not following Ross' rules, or the Accords. The fear of the unknown was such a powerful thing, because fears came from not being able to grasp a concept, being nervous of what a person didn't know, because what they didn't know, could hurt them. It could kill them, and Roxi, in the government's eyes, was an unknown variable that could destroy the entire experiment that they had so carefully set up. So she did keep her mouth shut. Besides, Tony spoke up before she would've had time to.

"All due respect, you're not gonna solve this with boys and bullets, Ross. You've gotta let us bring them in."

"And how would that end any differently than last time?" Ross asked, now facing Tony, standing in front of him and quite literally looking down at the Stark man where he sat in his seat, so unperturbed by the idea of standing up to someone who held so much power over them - at least in that moment of time - that some part of Roxi was surprised.

"Because this time, I won't be wearing loafers and a silk shirt. And she," Tony gestured in Roxi's direction who was watching him with careful eyes, still feeling slightly betrayed by his actions a few days prior, "Won't be sitting by a window trying to get her energy back after saving probably a hundred people's lives." That helped. Tony knew that Ross had a problem with Roxi, and he wasn't going to let him hurt his friend, not when they had come so far over the past year. While Roxi still felt inclined to hang on to the sting that had hit her heart a few days ago after her conversation with Tony, she knew that she needed to put it aside for the sake of her team - all of it, not only Tony's side.

"72 hours, guaranteed," Tony promised, with both Roxi and Natasha watching the conversation with identical, minimal looks of caution.

"36 hours. Barnes. Rogers. Wilson," Secretary Ross corrected, beginning to walk out of the room.

"Thank you sir," Tony accepted, knowing that for the government, this leeway was the largest amount he'd get.

"Oh, and, Ryder's not going with you. She'll stay here, in Berlin, while you bring them in." Ross wasn't finished. Roxi felt an anger sear inside of her with the Secretary's newest announcement. She wasn't going to sit by and watch her team fight each other without being there to support them, and keep anyone from dying. Both Natasha and Tony had opened their mouths immediately with and began to talk over each other, and Roxi could hear the dulled down outrage lacing the edge of Natasha's sharp voice.

"-She's a liability. We don't know enough about you, and as evidence suggests, you don't have enough control over your power to be useful in this situation. In fact, you're more likely to be a hindrance." Ross' voice cut over the two others, everything after the first sentence directly at Roxi as he met her eyes, as if waiting for her to say something. She wouldn't. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction, and she wouldn't stay behind either. Instead, for now, she simply leaned back in her chair, retaining eye contact, with nothing but an impassive, calm look on her face. Ross didn't hold enough power over her specifically, to stop her. He didn't know enough about her, and that was why he was keeping her behind. He wanted to keep her on a leash, like some sort of animal that he didn't want to learn to work with, but to submit to him, and Roxi would never do that, especially not to a man such as Ross.

With that, the Secretary of State left the room, though Tony and Natasha's eyes both remained on Roxi, who simply stood up, and walked over to the pair of them, waiting for someone to speak as she rested a gentle hand on Natasha's shoulder.

"My left arm is numb. Is that normal?" Tony's usual light-hearted sarcasm was the first thing to break the silence of the room, once he realised that Roxi still wasn't planning to say anything. Natasha didn't dare move her eyes from Roxi, and Tony's eyes would flicker back to her periodically, concerned for how she would handle what Ross had told her. It was Natasha's turn to stand up now, taking hold of Roxi's hand as it slipped from her shoulder and walking over to Tony, placing her other hand on his shoulder, rubbing it gently as Roxi took a seat on top of the table in the middle of the room.

"You all right?"

"Always," Tony replied instantly, before looking down at the table and letting out a soft mutter of "36 hours, geez." Roxi wanted to  comfort him, but wasn't sure how to. She didn't want to appear too close to him, especially when cameras where still trained on them. Building like this were always bugged. It was part of the reason why Roxi had bought such a small house after New York.

"We're seriously understaffed, and without Ryder," Natasha shot a soft look in the woman's direction, squeezing her hand a little tighter, "We're at even more of a disadvantage."

"Oh yeah. It's be great if we had a Hulk right about now. Any shot?" Roxi was fairly sure that all of them knew that she wasn't going to stay in Berlin and let her team fight without being there for them, and silently thanked the two people with her that they hadn't brought it up.

"You really think he's be on our side?" This was a conversation that Roxi had never really expected to have. Sure, they'd brought it up before, but that had been at parties, and none of them had ever dreamed that it'd be a situation like this. They were discussing which of their former teammates would be on which 'team' within them. Tony's side, where they would be able to retain some jurisdiction and control, or Steve's side, where they'd be outside the law.

"No."

"I have an idea," Natasha supplied, her face still serious, set on the side of Roxi's own calm face as she considered her 'idea'.

"Me too, where's yours?" Tony responded, looking up at Natasha as Roxi let a small, fond smile drift onto her face as she observed their antics, waiting until they'd finished, with every plan to join in. This would likely going to be one of the last calm moments that they would have in a long time, after all.

"Downstairs. Where's yours?" Natasha replied steadily, a brow risen in slight confusion as she looked at the billionaire. Roxi was intrigued as well. What Tony was planning, Roxi had no idea, but as long as it was safe, and it helped them settle this well, then she knew she would be on board.

"Queens."

"Really, 'caus mine's right here." Roxi's statement was added last, and she found herself smirking slightly as they just managed to catch the low words that she'd muttered. The audio in here wasn't likely to be great - it was a massive building and they needed to split budgets after all - and it was the best way of communicating that there was no way in hell that Roxi was going to stand by and do nothing as her family fell into disrepair. To her relief, neither of them replied in that moment, still looking surprised about the volume of her words, which had been barely louder than her breaths that had been slightly laboured since she'd been shot by Bucky. Though, it may have had something to do with what it was that she'd said.

She wouldn't let their opinions dissuade her from her choice. Roxi was done being controlled, no matter who it was by.

{A/N:} Yeah, this chapter is okay-ish. Sorry that the quality of these last few has been a bit lower than average. Also, another update. You guys seeing a trend? Honestly this had been so much goddamn work. I've already written three and a half chapters today, even if they are quite a bit shorter than average.

But yeah. Happy Wednesday. Thanks :)

Pls vote, comment, let me know what you think, etc.,

2030 Words

Written: 24 / 04 / 2021

Published: 26 / 05 / 2021