A Civil Decision

By Michael Weyer

Shorter than my usual fics but it popped in when I saw "Civil War" and just struck me as so obvious. All comments welcomed.

It had been over 70 years since Steve Rogers last fought in Germany but sadly, that looked to be ending.

The symbolism wasn't hard to miss: A line burned into the ground with the two sides divided up. Captain America stared forward to see Iron Man and his group moving in. Tony, War Machine, Vision, Black Panther, Black Widow and that…Spider kid. Steve had no idea where Tony had dug that kid up but didn't really care as they had bigger issues at hand.

He glanced at his forces to see Falcon, Bucky, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Lang all standing ready. Nodding, he began to race forward, the others following suit. Tony began leading his squad in as well, the two sides charging at one another. Steve knew this was going to be rough but he had to do it for what he believed was right. He steeled himself as he began to run forward…

And it was then that a blast of lightning erupted downward to strike between them. It raked outward, the shockwave knocking everyone back. Hands went up to protect from the sudden glare that soon faded to show a muscled figure in an armored suit gazing around with a stern expression, his cape fluttering behind him. He looked about before calling in a bellow that echoed as loud as the lightning had.

"Stay this madness!"

"Oh, wow," Spider-Man whispered. "It's Thor...it's Thor, so cool, it's Thor!"

The God of Thunder glanced at each person around him with a hard face. "I leave this world for but a year, an eye blink to my people and you are trying to kill each other?!"

"Thor…" Iron Man winced as he stood up. "Good to see you…A heads-up would have been…"

Thor glared at him as he hefted his hammer and Iron Man held up his hands. "Okay. Fine…not the joking mood…"

Thor looked to him then to Steve. "I come seeking aid against what I have discovered and I find you battling each other? And for what?"

"It's…complicated," Tony said. "The government thinks we should have some oversight and I think it's a good idea…"

"I think it tears into our freedom," Steve retorted. "We need to be autonomous to do our job, not answerable to any government wanting to put us under their thumb."

"As long as you stand with that murderer," the Black Panther hissed, pointing at Winter Soldier. "You will not be going anywhere!"

"I didn't kill your father," Bucky snapped. "It wasn't me."

"Liar!" The Panther was about to move but Thor put up a hand as he looked to Captain America. "You believe him?"

Cap nodded. "I do."

Thor looked to Iron Man. "Is his word not good enough?"

"His word doesn't really count to the international community right now," Tony responded. He moved forward. "Look, Thor…I wasn't sure when you were coming back but…We could use you."

"To be your private enforcer?" Steve snapped. "Answering to the U.N.? Or maybe you want to recruit more high schoolers?" He nodded to Spider-Man.

"Says the man who's working with a convicted felon!" Tony fired back, pointing at Ant-Man. "Oh, yeah, I got the info on this guy, Pym was a pain in my dad's backside and now he's following suit!"

"Uh huh, and you're doing a great job keeping the line," Ant-Man responded.

"Hush, grown-ups are talking."

"Then why he's here?" Lang nodded to Spider-Man.

"Dude, come on, I'm an insect-name, you're an insect-name…"

"Gentlemen," the Vision cut in. "We have other issues at hand."

Tony looked back to Steve. "Listen, this is the best chance you have. Come in now, we can do our best to handle this, otherwise…"

"There's more at stake, Tony," Steve snapped. "If you don't want another half-dozen Winter Soldiers running loose…"

"Ross doesn't care."

"Ross better care. So should you. Or are you so worried about one kid dying on our watch…"

"Just one of many."

"I've been in war, Tony. I know what it's like to lose people, never say I don't." He stepped forward carefully. "But giving up what we stand for won't fix that."

"This is happening, Steve. With or without you so if you don't get on board…"

"Enough!" Thor bellowed. "Children…You stand here bickering like children when doom is upon us all!"

"What doom?" The Vision asked.

"Thanos."

The name echoed in the air for a long moment before Ant-Man coughed. "Sorry, what is that? I mean, it sounds all foreboding but…"

"The Mad Titan," Thor intoned. "A madman with the power of an eternal. It is he who has been searching for the Infinity Stones." He nodded to the gem in the Vision's forehead. "It was he who gave Loki the Chitauri to use to attack and he who was behind an attack on Asgard to gain more power and information. Across the gulf of space, he plunged an entire galaxy into conflict merely to gain one Stone. He has battled across the cosmos for more. And now…he is coming to Earth."

"He wants the Stones," Wanda stated with concern.

"To conquer the universe?" Hawkeye sardonically asked.

Thor shook his head. "No. He has no wish to conquer. He is in love with Death, literally. All he cares for is to please her with as many corpses as he can."

"Death is a woman?" Scarlet Witch asked.

"Makes sense to me," Clint muttered, throwing a look at Natasha. She gave a small shrug of "yeah, I agree."

Thor continued. "If he gains all the Stones together, Thanos will have the power of a god. Power to warp all of reality as he sees fit. We will be nothing but pawns to him, toys to play with…or discard."

A silence filled the air before Tony narrowed his eyes. "You're serious about this."

Thor glared at him. "Have I ever struck you as a man of humor, Stark?"

"Point."

"He…may well be correct." All eyes turned to Vision who rubbed at the stone in his head. "I feel the power of this stone constantly. Even as I try to explore it, it seems to resist me. But now and then, I feel…a pull.. from afar."

Thor nodded. "It is feeling the other Stones falling into Thanos' hands." He looked from one side to the other. "This is no exaggeration. No trick. If Thanos assembles all the Stones, he can obliterate this entire world with but a snap of his fingers. We must prepare for him or fall and will require all our strength."

Steve looked to Tony. "Some of us won't be open to that. Not without making sure we have authorization."

Tony crossed his arms. "Without that oversight, Cap, we are in serious trouble, they won't let us do the same things anymore."

"Things are not black and white," Thor intoned. "Each of you has a point." Thor looked to Steve. "I understand your mistrust. You trusted SHIELD and they ended up being the enemy. You do not want to put your faith in such oversight again." He moved forward, staring at Cap. "But to mistrust everyone is not the way to live, Captain."

Steve sighed. "They're trying to restrict us, Thor. To stop us from going where we may need to go."

"Captain, I once nearly started a war with the Frost Giants by attacking them when I thought I was in the right. It caused my exile to Earth because I was headstrong and foolish. Even we of Asgard have our rules and learned long ago that to act without wait can be a terrible thing."

"We're trying to save lives, Thor. We can't just stand back and let it happen when we have the power to stop it."

"I know power, Captain." Thor held up his hammer. "And I know that the need to handle that power is a greater responsibility than to use it."

"Wow, that sounds like a good line," Spider-Man muttered.

Thor turned to Iron Man now. "I know what drives you, Tony Stark. You feel the guilt of Ultron, over the pain and death he caused. You blame yourself and I know that guilt as well. I have felt it." He moved toward the other man. "But letting that guilt consume you can affect your judgement and I believe that is happening here. Giving up control to your government is not a smart action, you know that." He looked to each man. "Compromise…You have not even tried compromise?"

"I don't believe this," Natasha muttered. "Thor is the voice of reason."

"There will be no compromise," Black Panther snarled. "Not while that murderer lives!"

"I didn't kill your father!" Bucky snapped. "I was set up!"

"That psychiatrist at the SHIELD facility," Cap added. "He was using an old code to set Bucky off. I'm betting he's the one who set him up in the first place to get at him. He's trying to reactivate a bunch of other Soldiers Hydra created."

Black Panther was moving in but Thor stepped before him. "I understand you are a king," he stated. "Think as a ruler, not as a man filled with vengeance. If Captain America says this is true, then it's true."

"Believe him," Black Widow piped up. As Panther whirled on her, she shrugged. "Trust me, Rogers couldn't tell a big lie if his life depended on it, let alone a crazy story like that."

"If there is one thing I learned with Loki as a brother…it is to recognize deceit and manipulation." Thor looked between Iron Man and Captain America. "For now, Thanos is our prime concern. If he comes, none of this matters, there will be no government to be beholden to or to attack, all will be wiped away in his madness. Whatever compromises must be made to prepare for him, make them."

Steve sized him up. "He's that dangerous?"

Thor nodded. "Greater than Loki or Ultron combined."

Steve was quiet before glancing to Tony. "You mentioned some…safeguards. Some regulations to give us more of a say."

"I did but then you lost it…"

"After you said you were keeping Wanda prisoner." Steve held up a hand to cut off Tony opening his mouth. "Okay. First, we need to stop those soldiers. How much time we have left on that deadline?"

"26 hours."

"Fine, enough to get there, stop him, find out what's behind all this and then we can work on these safeguards."

"Now hold up," War Machine said, his face dubious. "Even if we agreed with this cosmic lunatic coming to wipe us out, Ross won't listen."

"Hate to say it but he's got a point," Falcon said. "Hell, I've seen plenty of weird but aliens? That's going to be a hard sell."

"Which is why I have brought some he would listen to." Thor held up his hammer, then brought it down, causing another blast of lightning ripped through the area.

"Dude, would it kill you to warn us about that?" Spider-Man yelled as he wiped at his eyes. He blinked a few moments to take in the figures now standing beside Thor. "Um…is that a raccoon?"

The creature snarled as he hefted the very large cannon in his hands. He was between two green skinned figures, one a muscular man, the other a gorgeous woman with reddish hair. Behind him was a handsome man with blonde hair in a long coat over a jumpsuit. Towering over them was what looked like a tree with a face glancing around.

"Wow," the man whispered. "Earth. Man, good to be back."

"I am Groot." The tree rumbled.

"Ah, you get used to it."

"Okay, screw this, I'm outta here," Clint announced, holding up his hands. "Talking trees is where I draw the line."

"Well, we've got Legolas, why not an Ent too?"

"Shut up, Stark."

Thor motioned to the newcomers. "They have fought Thanos and his forces before. I ran into them in that galaxy I mentioned and we realized how we had common cause."

The man looked to the two leaders of the Avengers and grinned. "Hey, there. Peter Quill, better known as Star-Lord."

"Who?" they both asked in unison.

Quill rolled his eyes. Beside him, the green-skinned woman had removed a large blade from her back and balancing it as she glanced around. "They do not seem much," she intoned.

"Just try," Widow snapped. The green woman looked her over and smirked as if thinking that wouldn't be a bad idea at all.

"Easy, Gamora," Peter intoned. "At least until I can get some pudding set up…"

"Why would you wish food for a battle?" the green skinned man intoned.

"Not for…never, mind, Drax." Quill looked to the group. "So, yeah, Thanos? Big bad mother, very nasty guy and you really don't want him on you bad side."

"What makes you an expert?"

"He is a ruthless, murderous sociopath," Gamora said. "He cares for nothing, he desires nothing but to exterminate all life and is an absolute monster."

"You know him?" Widow asked.

"He is my father."

Tony looked her over. "Huh. That…actually makes you sound even sexier."

"I am Groot?"

"He does strike me as always like that," Quill noted.

Thor glanced to Iron Man. "They can back up my story, enough so that even Ross may listen."

Iron Man took a deep breath. "Okay, okay, I'll try."

"I am Groot."

"That one is not doing the talking."

"Ugh, just what I needed," the raccoon muttered. "Hanging out with more of Quill's obnoxious species."

"Or that one."

Tony looked to Steve. "Okay, fine, make this jump. But you're taking backup." He nodded to Natasha. "Just to make sure."

"I am going as well," Panther stated. "If this is true…if my father's killer is elsewhere…then I will seek justice." He glared at Bucky. "If this is a trick…" He flexed his claws but Winter Soldier just gazed at him steadily.

Cap nodded. "Thank you, Tony." He looked to the caped figure. "And…Thor. Thank you as well."

"Soooooo…no fight?" Spider-Man piped up. "Really?"

"Sorry, kid, maybe next time," Iron Man said.

Thor was sober as he marched forward. "The fight of our lives is upon us all, my friends. One that decides not only this world but our entire reality."

"Um, can I call my aunt then? She might be worried about me late for dinner."

Steve moved to the Quinjet with Bucky, Natasha, Panther and Falcon following him. He glanced back to see Tony talking to Thor and Quill as Ant-Man seemed to be sizing up Groot and the raccoon thing was smirking at Vision over something. There would be issues on handling the Act and all that but for now…now, they were all on the same page, getting ready for a massive battle for the fate of the world.

And somehow, it made Steve feel right at home.