A/N: RUNNING SERIES FANS ASSEMBLE!

Well I'm back at it again, except my Vans aren't white. Can you believe it's been almost a year since I last updated. I knew it was time to polish off the old laptop an unexpected amount of fav/follow alerts started appearing in my email. It's time to get this story back and I hope you all are ready for the next adventure.

Welcome to the first chapter of our next adventure titled, "Running Blind"

R. E. R.

(Spoilers ahead, if you haven't seen CACW)

Webster's dictionary defines a hero as, "a person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities."

Katie sat in the dead of night sitting on the floor of her living room watching yet another late night special on the events of Sokovia, and New York, and Washington and how in the center of it all were the Avenger. Once upon a time Katie thought they were heroes, but at this moment and over the past year, she didn't feel like much of one. She didn't feel admired, because the world was split between those who supported them and those who thought they should be locked away.

She flicked off the television when she saw the lights flicker from outside. She stood to her feet and walked over to the window, and peeking through the blinds.

"This has to be some kind of record or something." came the very rough, sleep filled voice of her husband from behind her. He walked over peeking through the window as well to witness the scene of her brother stepping out of a red pickup truck and walking around to the drivers side and leaning in for a very long and disgusting kiss with the blonde behind the wheel. "Isn't that the librarian?"

"No, that is the teacher." Katie muttered with a shake of his head. "My brother is such a man whore, it's ridiculous." she turned to face Clint, whose hair was very wild above his head, and she chuckled. "Did the lights wake you?"

"No, the empty side of our bed woke me up." Clint said before walking over and placing a hand on the side of the television and sighing. "Still warm." he turned back to Katie. "This is getting crazy."

"To you it's crazy. You're fine with just walking away-"

"No-" Clint stopped taking a deep breath and lowering his voice to not wake the sleeping child upstairs. He walked over to stand in front of his wife. "My whole life I only knew one way of life and then I met you and you changed everything-" he pointed to the ceiling. "That little girl up there, changed everything. So no, it's not easy for me to just walk away, but when I see what I'm walking toward, when I see what's waiting for me on the other side, that makes it a little bit more bearable."

The front door opened, and the sound of a low humming came from the man who was obviously a bit intoxicated. Matthew suddenly stopped when he spotted Katie and Clint standing there in the dark.

"I know it's past curfew mom and dad, Jimmy had a new tow and I guess time just got away from us." Matthew joked before going into a fit of laughter. "Why the hell are you two up?" he pointed to Clint. "You're usually dead to the world, and you're-" he pointed to Katie. "You're usually sneaking back upstairs in hopes that no one notices that you're having trouble sleeping." the man shook his head before turning and walking toward the kitchen. Both Katie and Clint followed the man, just as he pulled a carton of milk from the refrigerator and brought it to his mouth.

"So when is this vacation of yours over?" Clint asked before the man could drink from the carton. "I mean I'm sure the CIA is missing it's top agent."

"Oh stop with the flirting, my sister is right there." Matthew said looking over to Katie who rolled her eyes before walking over and plucking a glass from the cabinet and placing it in front of her brother. "Is this your way of telling me to use a glass."

"It's my way of telling you that if your mouth comes in contact with that carton, I will rip it off." she replied with a smile before turning to Clint. "I'm going to bed now." she walked over to the man who brought an arm around her. "You coming?"

"In a minute, I'm going to talk to Matt for a moment." Clint replied glancing over to the man whose head was in the refrigerator. "I'll be right up." he placed a kiss to her lips before the woman pulled from his grasp and disappeared out of the room.

"If this is about me coming in late, I sort of assumed that because I was an adult that it wouldn't be that much of a problem." Matthew said before grabbing a carton of left over Chinese and bringing it to his nose for a sniff.

"I don't give a rats ass about when you come in as long as you don't wake up my daughter when you do."

"Which probably won't happen. That kid sleeps like a rock." Matthew said grabbing some noodles from the carton and bringing them to his mouth. "You guys are very lucky." he glanced back over to Clint who didn't seem to be in the joking mood. "You're worried about her."

"There's something on her mind that she's not telling me about and it's getting to her." Clint replied with a shake of his head. "Has she said anything to you?"

"No, but I'm not surprise. My sister has spent her whole life running, and now she's standing still." Matthew said. "She's still getting use to all of this, but I'm sure she'll come around."

"I hope you're right." Clint muttered before turning.

"Hey C." Matt called. At some point over the last year Clint and Matt had actually become somewhat of what some would call friends. Matt had even stopped calling the man Agent Asshole, and now had a more endearing nickname that Clint appreciated. Clint stopped and turned back to the man. "Nice hair." Matthew laughed and Clint simply sent a glare to the man before turning and heading back to his bedroom.

Clint found Katie already curled up in their bed, her eyes closed as she feigned sleep in an effort to get out of talking to him. Clint slipped into bed beside her, bringing an arm around and pulling her back to his chest before pressing a kiss to her head.

"Talk to me." Clint whispered and he heard the sigh escape the woman's lips. "Is it the dreams?" he knew the weird dreams about purple men and weird gloves and the fact that they weren't going away was weighing on the woman. Katie turned in his arm, her eyes going to his and even in their dark room where the only light came from the moon, he could see them and even after all this time they still took his breath away.

"It's weird." Katie said placing a hand on the side of the man's face. "To want something so badly, to fight for it and to run as fast as you can until you get to it, and then you get it and something still feels missing." she closes her eyes and lets out another deep sigh. "Maybe I'm going crazy."

"Or maybe you're just really happy here, with your adorable daughter, and your ridiculously handsome husband. You're not used to the happy and now that you have it, you're questioning it." he lent forward, pressing a kiss to her lips. "And now it's time to stop all questions and just enjoy this life. This new life." he leaned in for another kiss, this one deeper, slower and filled with only an ounce of the passion he held for the woman. "A new life filled with lots of married sex." the woman laughed as Clint's lips began trailing along her neck.

"Oh yeah?" she muttered her eyes fluttering closed as his lips meet a sensitive spot along her neck. There were definitely parts of this new life that she could get behind.

The next morning Katie stood on the porch, not even attempting to hold in her laughter as she watched Clint and her brother paint the barn. Matthew looked as if he may keel over at any moment, and Katie couldn't help but watch his lazy brush strokes. He promised that he would help paint the barn, and Clint had a thing about promises. It's why he didn't care how late Matthew came in last night, or how hungover he was, the man was going to follow through on his promise.

"You should see this, sweet face." Katie says before walking over and picking up her daughter who'd been on the porch as well, playing with blocks. "You see your dadda and uncle, that is what some would call a funny sight. They watched as Matthew went to dip his brush in the paint, and when he whipped it out, splattered paint on the side of Clint's face. It made Matthew laugh, as Clint turned a glare to him.

"I told you to just let me sleep." Matthew said. "And now you're covered in paint. Well not completely, but I could fix that-" Matthew dipped his brush in the paint once again.

"Matt, I will kill you with my bare hands." Clint said watched the man stand up straight.

"Not in front of my little buddy." Matthew said nudging his head toward the house. Clint looked over to see Katie holding their daughter in her arms just as another splat of paint hit his face. Matthew just continued to laugh, and so did Katie from her spot on the porch.

"She's young." Clint says turning back to Matthew before dropping his brush in the paint. "She won't even remember this day." Matthew dropped his brush as well and began backing away. "How do you want to die?"

"Underneath Kim Kardashian, which doesn't happen today, so see ya!" and with that the young man turned and ran off. Clint stood there for a moment, before looking over to his wife who couldn't stop laughing.

"Come in for breakfast, after you kill him." Katie said with a shake of her head before turning and walking back inside the house. "And that is why girls are smarter than boys." there was a ringing from somewhere and Katie placed Natalia in her play pen before searching out the sound. "I know your father hid my tablet, but where-" she stopped by the bookcase and saw the thin tablet hidden between two books. "Your father is horrible at hiding things." the woman plucked the tablet from the shelf before walking over to sit on the couch before answering the call. Soon all she saw was the back of someone's head, but she knew whose big head it was. "Mr. Stark?" suddenly the man turned around, a smile coming to his tired face as he saw the woman.

"I was this close-" he brought his thumb and index finger in the camera's view to show his point. "To showing up on that farm and making sure Robin hood didn't bury you underneath the corn stalks."

"He hides my tablet. I think he doesn't want me to talk to this guy who calls all time of day." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I don't think he realizes that said guy doesn't give up that easily."

"Well not on you." Tony replied and Katie smiled. "Now, enough of your face, where is the brat that's probably going to inherit my millions." Katie sent the man a pointed look. "I'm kidding, sort of. I'm just toiling the idea, nothing's in stone."

"Well it's a good thing you're going to live forever." Katie replied before standing to her feet and walking over to pick her daughter into her arms. "Look who it is Tai, it's your godpappy."

"Tai? She's not an Asian dish, Kitten." Tony said waving toward the little girl. "Tell your mama you're a baby bird." the little girl laughed, as she began saying speaking her native baby language. "Did you hear that?" he turned to Katie. "She just called me dadda."

"No she didn't." Katie replied as she walked over to sit on the couch, Natalia in her lap as they looked to the screen. "And Clint's not in here, so you can stop trying to upset him."

"Where is the man who kidnapped my family?"

"Outside murdering my brother for throwing paint on his face." Katie said, with a light chuckle. "Hands down the funniest thing I've seen today."

"Video or it didn't happen." Tony replied.

"Sorry no proof for you to file away and watch when you need to good laugh." Katie said as Natalia began touching the screen. "So where's Pepper, this wedding better knock my socks off with how fabulous it's going to be. I mean I've heard of planning every detail, but Tai will be in college by the time there's an actual wedding." Tony dropped his head for a moment. "What?" he looked back to her with a smile and a shake of his head.

"Nothing, I've only been saying the same thing, but it's her day." Tony replied clearing his throat. "But that's actually not why I called you."

"What's up?"

"There's going to be a meeting tomorrow with the Secretary of State-"

"Wait, you're meeting with General Ross?"
"Well no, he's now in a bigger role, which only makes him a bigger ass, but I digress." Tony sighed. "We messed up. We were kicking ass and not paying attention to the things we should've been paying attention to. He wants to meet with us and present a plan."

"What plan?"

"I don't-" Tony shook his head. "Just come to the meeting, please."

"That's going to be hard since Clint is very adamant about us staying away from all things Avengers." Katie said with a shake of her head before placing a kiss to her daughter's head. "He seems to think that we should focus on this."

"And what do you think?" Tony asked.

Katie turned away because honestly she didn't know. She wanted to be happy and content here with her family, but it was life she'd never experience. She was always fighting, and she didn't know how to just stop.

"That's what I thought. I'll send a plane-"

"Tony, stop. I can't just fly off to your new Avenger's Home for Wayward Children." Katie replied. "I have a daughter who I've never been separated from."

"Then bring her with you. She's growing way to fast, and these ridiculous video chats are not enough."

"There's still one hitch in your plan."

"Barton, I know and I've thought about this. In the middle of the night, pack your and baby bird's things and just disappear without saying a word." Tony replied and Katie just stared at him. "It will work, trust me."

"I trust you, but not when it comes to matters of my marriage." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "I'll talk to him."

"And I'll send you the flight information. See you soon, kitten."

"Maybe."

"Oh, who are you kidding. You're coming off of pure curiosity." Tony said before looking to Natalia. "And I will see you soon. I already have your room all set up, all the toys you could ever dream of."

"Tony-"

"Ah ah, private convo with my goddaughter." he snipped. "And when you get here, we are going to ditch your mom and eat cake and ice cream until we have tummy aches."

"I hate you." Katie said and the man looked up to her with a smile.

"Love you too kitten." the man said with a wave before ending the call.

Katie sat the tablet on the table before turning to girl to face her, who smiled at the sight of her mommy.

"This isn't going to be a pleasant conversation, sweet face." Katie said before placing a kiss on the girls head and standing to her feet.

Matthew sat on the floor crawling around, chasing his niece who couldn't stop laughing. He was glad that the little girl wasn't paying attention to the raised voices coming from above them.

"I don't get it Kat!" Clint said with a shake of his head. "This was supposed to be it. I wanted it. You wanted it. Are you telling me that now it isn't enough."

"Of course that's not what I'm saying." Katie replied walking over to him. "I'm saying that I wish I could be the woman who can turn off the instincts and who can turn off the desire to help. I wish I could just be content with pretending as if the world didn't want to lock us away."

"Not us." Clint said with a shake of his head. "Tony and the others they're still out there, they're still making stupid mistakes. That explosion in Lagos, that was them-"

"No, that was us!" Katie replied. "It's still our team. They're mistakes are our mistakes, their victories are our victories. That doesn't stop because we're here."

"It does when we have a little girl downstairs who depends on us to keep breathing. And that-" he pointed toward the window. "Going out there, risking our lives, that's another chance for us to be taken away from her, and I won't let that happen. I refuse to let that happen."

Katie looked at the man for a moment not surprised by his argument. Clint Barton was in love with that little girl. She held his heart, and he would do anything to save her the pain and grief that they both had suffered growing up.

"If Ross is meeting with the Avengers, this has to be some sort of tactic to be put on a leash. He wants to put us in a box and let us out when he deems necessary."

"Is that a bad thing. Regulation, rules." Clint countered and Katie walked over to him, placing her hands on his chest.

"We've worked for people who had regulations and rules and if we didn't break them we wouldn't be here. To them the Avengers are a weapon, one they want to control as they see fit, but that's not right. And I would like to let the secretary know that."

"So you're going?"

"I think I should." Katie replied as Clint lifted his eyes from hers and sighed. "But you don't agree."

"I don't, but I'm not going to stop you. That's not how we work." he looked back to the woman before bringing his arms around her. "It's a meeting. You go to the meeting and then you come back."

"You're not coming?"

"Someone has to stay with Tai-"

"Well I thought we could just bring her along. She's never been to New York, and I'm sure the others would love to see how big she's getting." Katie said and Clint just shook his head. "You don't want them to see her."

"I don't want them near her." Clint replied looking back to his wife. "We have successfully created a world for her that doesn't include people who are super soldiers and flying metal suits and I would like to keep it that way for as long as possible." Katie sighed, knowing that the overprotective father inside of her husband was not going to bend on this. "Just go and come back."

"Ok." Katie replied looking up to the man with a small smile. "Go and come back."

The next morning, as expected, there was plane in front of their house. Clint stood at the open door just looking at the plane, wanting nothing more than to tell his wife that she wasn't getting on it. He knew that was impossible because no one told her what to do. He walked over picking Natalia up in his arms, before placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I don't know what to do bud." Clint whispered holding the girl to his chest. "I really don't want her to go." he heard footsteps and turned to see Katie coming down the stairs, in a gray pant suit, her now long hair combed back into a pony tail. "You look very unlike my wife." Katie rolled her eyes as she walked over to pluck the girl from his arms. She began kissing the girl. "What's up?"

"One of the few memories I have of my mother was her leaving me." Katie said looking over to Clint. "I promised myself that I would never do that to her and now-"

"Now you're going to a meeting." Clint replied. "And then coming back." she let out a deep breath, but nodded.

"That's the plan." Katie said smiling down to the little girl in her arms. "Let's just hope things stay on plan." she combed the girls short dark curls with her fingers. "Alright sweet face, there are some things I'm going to need you to do for mommy. One I need you to take care of your daddy." she glanced over to see the smile on Clint's face. "He's going to worry and I'm going to need you to distract him for a little bit."

"Never gonna happen Kat." he said and Katie shook her head before looking back down to her daughter.

"And two I'm going to need you to make sure your daddy doesn't kill your uncle. They're like best friends now-"

"Lies Rinny!" Matthew called from his spot on the couch where he'd been napping. "That man is my mortal enemy."

"Who lets you sleep underneath his roof!" Clint countered and Matthew just waved him off.

"And Three, we need to get our mommy, daughter psychic connection all geared up." Katie said dropping her forehead to the little girl's. "I promise that I will be there when you need me, alright." the little girl simply reached up and place a small hand on Katie's cheek causing a tear to fall from Katie's eye.

"You're such a girl." Commented Matthew who'd sat up and was now watching them.

"Come over here and say that." Katie said glaring over to the man before drying her eyes with her hand. She placed a kiss to Natalia's head before handing her off to Clint. She looked from the little girl to her husband and sighed. "Tell me to stay. Tell me that you don't think I should go and that you'll just die if I leave." Clint chuckled before leaning forward and placing a kiss to the woman's lips.

"I don't want you to leave, and I think a little part of me does die when you leave me, but you believe something Kat, and if you don't see this through then it's gonna eat away at you." Clint replied before smiling down to the little girl tugging on his shirt. "We will be here waiting for you." Katie sighed, placing a hand on the little girl's belly before walking over to Matthew and placing a kiss on top of his head.

"Ew, Rinny cooties." Matthew groaned before Katie smacked his head and headed for the door. She'd only made to the porch before she stopped.

"If you're gonna be this dramatic, you might as well just stay." Clint said from behind her and she couldn't help but laugh. She turned back to him with a smile. "We love you mama."

"I love you too." Katie replied with a final wave before turning and heading toward the plane.

Katie sat with her eyes closed for most of the plane riding, just counting the seconds until she landed. It still amazed her that after all these years and as many planes she'd been on, being up so high still made her nervous. Her phone suddenly rang and she began reaching through her bag, still keeping her eyes closed before finally grasping it.

"Yep." she greeted and there wasn't a reply. She heard someone there though, and background noise coming from the other end. "Is someone there?" still nothing, and she sighed because this wasn't the first strange call she'd gotten. She didn't mention it to Clint because she knew he'd probably overreact, and since the calls never went beyond strange breathing, she simply didn't want to worry him. "Look this is getting old. You're obviously calling me for a reason, and I doubt it's to listen to my voice. Just grow a pair and speak." only more breathing and she sighed. "Alright, this has been fun, but when that cat lets go of your tongue, give me a call back." and with that she ended the call. She opened her eyes and looked down to the unknown number that she could never trace and just shook her head before turning to look out the windows. Soon the familiar emblem appeared and she just knew that she was finally there.

When she stepped of the plane, she wasn't sure why she expected some big welcome home party. Instead she arrived on the helipad on the top of the facility and saw no one in sight.

"Ok." she said looking around in case she was wrong. "I guess I'll just show myself inside." Katie walked slowly, unsure of where she was going. She'd had a hand in the design, in the security setup, system configurations, but that was all done from the comfort of her farm. So as she walked, she felt like a fish out of water. Faces walked past her, none familiar, and no one who gave her a second glance. She wasn't even sure where she was supposed to go and so she decided to stop someone wearing a security uniform.

"Excuse me-" the guard stopped and looked over to her. "I'm seriously lost, and-"

"Where is your employee ID card?" the guard asked interrupting Katie. The woman quirked a brow before glancing over to the people who walked past, each wearing a badge clipped to them with their face.

"I'm sorry, I don't have one." she said with a smile. "But if you-"

"No one is allowed entry into this facility without proper identification." the guard said once again interrupting her and her patience was wearing very thin. "How did you get in here?"

"The roof, I was dropped off, I just need to find-" the guard suddenly grabbed her arm and jerked her down the hall. "Hey! What the-what the hell are you doing?"

"You've intruded on private property and you shall be punished accordingly." the man replied, his grasp tightening around her arm as he practically dragged her down the hall. Katie seriously didn't like to be man handled, and so without warning she jerked out of the man's grasp. When he tried to reach for her again, she grabbed his arm, pulling it before sending a kick up to his face followed by an elbow in his side before pushing him into the wall. She was about to run, but she suddenly realized the people who were once just passing her were now stopped, with guns aimed right at her.

"So much for a warm welcome." Katie muttered before raising her hands. "C'mon, someone here knows who I am!" she began spinning around, before spotting a security camera and looking up to it. "Friday, call your boss and have him get his ass down here, now!"

Tony stood staring out the window as they awaited for the others to file into the conference room. He knew this was the right thing to do, he just hoped the others felt the same way. Tony's phone rang, and he slipped it from his pocket about to answer.

"Is everyone here?" Secretary Ross asked, looking to the faces that sat around the table before glancing over to Tony.

"Not quite." Vision said from his place at the table and everyone looked at him. "Tony, you may want to answer your phone." They all turned to Tony who looked down to his ringing phone before bringing it to his ear.

"Friday, what's-" his eyes widened before he rushed from the room.

Katie spun around, eyeing every person with a gun aimed at her, and she'd had enough.

"Alright, I waited long enough." Katie said dropping her hands to her side. "Friday, activate protocol P.S.Y.C.H!" suddenly every gun was jerked from hands, and shot to the ceiling where they stuck in place. "I created that protocol, in the event real enemies came here with very big guns." eyes went back to her and she noticed them starting to inch closer. "You know what fine, I haven't had a good fight in a while." she began stretching a bit. "Who's first?"

"Anyone move a muscle and you're fired!" a familiar voice spoke from somewhere in the crowd. Everyone looked around until the crowd began to part and out walked Tony. "Alright people, new rule, before you attack someone in my building, please make sure she's not my best friend!" he glanced around them with a shake of his head. "Alright, go about your business." no one moved as they glanced up to the ceiling and Tony did as well with a chuckle. "I knew you hijacked Friday." he looked back over to Katie. "You're such a liar."

"No, I'm a realist." Katie replied before looking over to the guard who grimaced as he stood to his feet. Katie walked over, to hold out a hand and guard simply looked at it before taking it and allowing her to help.

"You're Katherine Barton, aren't you?" he asked and Katie simply nodded. "Sorry, no one's really seen you around here, it won't happen again."

"Don't worry about, it's his fault." Katie replied pointing back to Tony. "He was supposed to meet me on the roof, with an over the top welcome party."

"And I so meant to, but I was never informed you were coming, which I assume is your fault, since I figure that you probably made Friday deny all requests for your whereabouts." Tony said and Katie glanced over to him. "So in reality this is your fault." he glanced up to the ceiling. "Now give these people their guns back."

"Sorry Tony, but I don't think anyone is too excited to have a bunch of guns fall on their head." Katie replied before looking up to the ceiling. "Friday, take the weapons to confiscation." suddenly a panel in the ceiling opened up and all the guns slid inside before the ceiling closed back up again. She looked around to the people who watched with wide eyes. "I bet you know who I am now." she turned to Tony before punching him in the arm. "Now where's this meeting happening?"

They found themselves in an elevator alone. Katie was fixing her blouse as Tony watched with a small smile. She felt his eyes on her and she looked up to see him staring.

"You're such a weirdo." Katie said before the man suddenly engulfed her in a hug. She laughed as she hugged him back. "I don't know how you can miss me, when we literally talk practically everyday,"

"Talking on the phone is not this." he replied pulling back with a smile. Katie placed a hand on his cheek and smiled back. "Nothing beats this. So where's my baby bird."

"Her daddy wasn't too keen on the idea of letting her off into the world of superheroes and villains just yet." Katie said.

"So he's become one of those dads." Tony said with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, one of those dads who would do anything to protect their kid from the bad stuff for as long as possible." Katie replied as they turned back to the doors.

"He's going to suffocate the kid and she's going to rebel and get things pierced and start dating some guy named Kato." Tony said with a shake of his head. "At some point you're going to have to realize that leaving him will be the best for everyone."

"You know at some point I'm going to hit you if you keep telling me to leave my husband." Katie replied as the doors finally opened. They headed toward the conference room, when Katie suddenly stopped.

"Why are we stopping?" Tony asked and Katie sighed.

"Ok, so I never told you this, but I was once held for a week in a secret facility by the US military, that was lead by our secretary in there." Katie said staring at the door. Tony looked at we with slightly wide eyes, unsure if she were joking or not.

"Ok, why?"

"Well when you hold a man at extinguisher point, who you're afraid as a rage monster inside of him, you take that woman and you lock her in a room and you ask her every question under the sun until you realize she knows nothing." Katie says tilting her head slightly as she looks at the door. "One whole week of a windowless room, a cot, a toilet and General Ross who I just wanted to rip the mustache right off of his face." she glanced over to Tony. "Does he still have the mustache? "

"He does." Tony replies with a nod. "I think he'd like it safely attached to his face though."

"Of course he would." Katie replies taking a step forward, only for Tony to quicken his step to block her.

"This is a peace meeting, remember that." Tony said with a pointed finger.

"Sure, peace, pieces, I can do both." Katie replied taking a step forward, but Tony didn't move. "You want me to play nice, fine, but one snippy comment and his mustache will be safely attached to his body, just might not be his face." Tony rolled his eyes before reaching forward and pushing open the door. He stepped aside to let her in first, her eyes going to the man seated at the head of the table, impatience written all over his face.

"Finally." Ross huffed standing to his feet as he looked over to Katie. "Ms. Banks-"

"I haven't been Ms. Banks for a long time now, Mr. Secretary." Katie says, trying her hardest to remain calm and non violent.

"That's right, you married the archer fellow." the man said and Katie let out a snort before turning to the others. "I'm going to stop talking to him now, and I will yell at you all later for not having some ridiculous welcome home banner or at least some balloons." She let her eyes go to the familiar faces of her family that she hadn't seen in a long time. Steve, Natasha, and Rhodey sat on one side of the conference table as Sam, Vision and Wanda sat on the other. Tony chose the chair in the corner of the room to make his seat.

"Well we've had bigger issues to deal with that didn't include getting you a piñata." Natasha replied, her voice filled with unapologetic sarcasm. Katie turned back to the woman, finding herself actually missing these conversations.

"Is that your way of telling me that you missed me?" Katie asked and Natasha just rolled her eyes.

"Well there's the fact that Stark didn't inform any of us that you were coming." Steve said standing to his feet and walking around to the woman. "A year has seemed like a lifetime." Katie smiled bringing the man into a hug. "We've missed you and Clint around here."

"We've missed you guys too." Katie says pulling from the hug. "Now all of our time is filled with dirty diapers, and vomiting, and that's just Matthew."

"How is Natalia?"

"At some point today, we are going to have a very important meeting, right?" the secretary asked and they all turned to him. "I hate to interrupt your reunion, but I do have an important job, and that includes being here."

Katie lets out a deep sigh before turning back to Steve with a smile.

"Tai is fine, growing everyday. I have lots of pictures that I'll show you later." she replied before looking around for a seat. "Let's get this thing over with before I kill the secretary of state."

"Was that a threat, Ms. Banks?!"

"It was." Katie affirmed looking over to the man. "A big fat, blatant threat, and this will be the last time I suggest that you do not refer to me as Ms. Banks." she turned and both her and Steve took their seats. Katie found herself sitting beside Vision and Wanda. Vision turned to Katie with a smile, and Katie simply held out a fist to which he bumped with his own.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack." The Secretary began and Katie rolled her eyes looking over to Tony who gave her a pointed looking before turning back to the man. Katie chose to ignore what she assumed was the ramblings of an old man until he finally got to the reason they were here. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word "vigilantes".

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked, that sarcasm still dripping from her words.

The Secretary turned to her, and answered without hesitation." How about "dangerous"? What would you call a group of US based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned with what they leave behind?"

"Girl Scouts of America." Katie answered and the man turned a glare in her direction. "I'm sorry Mr. Secretary, but that seems like a over dramatized statement that I think you and your friends over in the oval cooked up as some sort of justification for what you want to do."

"And this-" the man stepped aside as the screen behind him lit up. "New York-" soon images from the horrid day appeared on the screen. Alien ravaging the city, along with the hulk who jumped from building to building not caring much about what was destroyed or who got caught in the crossfire. "Washington D.C." the screen changed once again to a video footage of the helicarriers used in Alexanger Pierce's Insight, being blown from the air, then as they drop to the water, civilians once again caught in the crosshairs. "Sokovia." Once again the screen changed to a horrific scene, one that doesn't sit well with anyone. They watch the city that is now hovering, building collapsing, and people just forced to await their end. "Lagos-" Another image of the aftermath of an explosion, and people lying dead in the street. Katie noticed Wanda turn away.

"Ok." Steve says, "That's enough." The video ends and Ross walks back to stand in front of the table.

"In the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."

"Tell me Mr. Secretary, former Military General-"

"Katie-" Tony warns, and she waves him off not about to let this guy totally diminish the successes that stem from these missions.

"No, because you and the government you serve seem to have a pretty good idea about how this works, how fighting beings from different planet, and fighting highly intelligent robots is supposed to play out." Katie said standing to her feet. The secretary opened his mouth to speak, but she wasn't finished. "Oh that's right, you don't. You fight wars. You think you've perfected how to fight wars, and that's what you think you can help us with. So please tell me, oh wise and all knowing General Ross, how do you fight a war without casualties."

"Unnecesary causalities-"

"Casualties are never necessary!" Katie snapped angrily as she took a step forward, and everyone stood. It was Sam who was closest and chose to block her from getting close to the man. "They're not planned, but it doesn't mean we don't try to prevent them."

"The problem is that your trying to prevent them, doesn't actually prevent them!" the man countered. "But-"he turned to the others with a nod. "We think we have a solution." he turned to one of his security, who handed him a book with lots of pages.

"I think we should sit." Sam said looking to Katie and she turned to him and just nodded before returning to her seat. Everyone else did the same, as Ross sat the book down and slid it to Wanda first.

"But I think we have a solution: The Sokovia Accords. Approved by a hundred seventeen countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of the United Nations Panel only "when" and "if" that Panel deems it necessary.

"The Avengers were created to make the world a better place." Steve stated and they all turned to him. "I think we've done that."

"Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor or Banner are right now?" Ross asked and Steve simply turned away. "'Cause you can bet if I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes, there'd be consequences." the man turned and walked back to the head of the table, which he seemed most comfortable. "Compromise, reassurance. That's how the world works, and believe me this-" he pointed to the accords. "This is the middle ground."

"So there are contingencies." Rhodey spoke finally and Ross nodded.

"Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna to Ratify the accords. So, talk it over." Ross said nodding to his associate before the pair begins moving toward the door.

"I'm sorry, did you just say three days?" Katie asked looking down to the book. "That thing looks longer than the bible." she looked back over to the man. "How are we supposed to make any kind of informed decision in three days."

"You're all remarkable people, I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"And if we come to a decision that you don't like?" Natasha asked.

"Then you'll retire." the man said with a nod before he and his associate turned to leave.

"This is bullshit." Katie said stand to her feet and walking over to pick up the accords. "It took them longer than three days to come up with this title." she tossed it back on the table with a shake of her head. "I'm out of here-"

"Wait!" Tony called and she looked over to him. "We have to at least talk this out. Weigh the pros and cons."

They ended upstairs in the common area. Sam and Rhodey seemed to be engaged in an intense debate about the accords. Katie sat beside Steve, her eyes scanning over the pages as he flipped through them. She shook her head before looking over to Tony who she would assume would have a lot more to say, and yet he sat slouched on the couch just listening to everyone.

"I have an equation." Vision spoke and everyone turned to him.

"Oh, this will clear everything up." Sam said sarcastically crossing his arms over his chest.

"In the 8 years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially." Vision stated. "And during the same period, a number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurable rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve asked.

"I'm saying there may be a causality. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand." Vision said and Katie shook her head.

"That is a very simple theory." Katie said glancing over to the being who took amusement in her statement. "Tony told the world he was iron man, so others found the strength to finally step out an accept that they were different, just as bad people decided they didn't like different and wanted to fight them. That's nothing new. There are good people and bad people in the world, just because we choose to be good, doesn't mean we can control the outcome. There are some things we just couldn't have prevented, but what we did do was do our very best to fix everything."

"That is also true." Vision said with a nod. "It doesn't change the facts."

"Theoretical facts." Katie countered.

"You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal." Natasha said looking over to Tony, who sat slouched on the couch listening to everyone.

"It's because he's already made up his mind." Steve says looking back down to the accords.

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony snips standing to his feet and heading back to the kitchen. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort." he began rinsing out a cup, and let out a sigh. "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a Bed and Breakfast for a biker gang?" he turned, placing his phone on the table, before swiping a hologram to appear. Soon the face of a young man appears on the screen. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor-level gig, an intel plan for the fall." Tony turned to the screen, and shook his head.

Katie listened to Tony's speech of a young man whose life ended too soon when he decided to go volunteer in Sokovia. She soon realized the basis behind Tony's decision. It was guilt.

"And whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony, if someone dies on your watch, you don't give up." Steve says glancing over to the man.

"Who said we're giving up?"

"We are if we're not taking responsibility for our actions." Steve countered closing the book and holding it up. "This document just shifts the blame."

"Sorry, Steve, that... that is dangerously arrogant." Rhodey argued. "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the World Security Council, it's not S.H.I.E.L.D., it's not Hydra." Katie let out a snort. "But I guess you think different?"

"I do." Katie says standing to her feet and looking over to Tony. "You feel guilty, we all are because we couldn't save Charles, and we couldn't save the others who were with him. But I'm sorry, I don't think the answer is strings." she shook her head. "We've done strings, moving and shaking to the beat of someone else's drum." she looks over to Rhodey. "I know you believe wholeheartedly in the sanctity of our government, but they're just people and to them The Avengers are a powerful weapon."

"And they want to just point and shoot us wherever they want?" Rhodey asks. "That's crazy."

"The thing is, that it's not crazy. I can't say that it will happen, but in the off chance that it does, in the off chance they aim us at an enemy we don't think is an enemy, or they tell us to stand down from someone who we think really is an enemy, what then." Katie looked around the room. "Everyone in this room knows that there have been mistakes made-"

"That's an understatment." Tony mutters and Katie shakes her head.

"Katie's right, these are people. People have agendas and agendas change."

"That's good!" Tony said. "That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down. Stopped manufacturing."

"Tony, you "chose" to do that. If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose." Steve countered turning to the man. "We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

"If we don't do this now, it's gonna be done to us later. That's the fact. That won't be pretty." Tony says.

"You're saying they'll come for me." Wanda says, and they glance over to her. The explosion in Lagos at her hands was still weighing on her.

"If they come for you, then they come for us, and I don't think that's a fight they want." Katie replied turning back to Tony. "And you don't fall on your knees to big brother government telling you they'll stick your head in the toilet if you don't let them copy your homework."

"Sometimes you have to grow up. This is me growing up and realizing the whole honey with bees theory may actually make sense."

"Except we don't need to catch bees." Katie replied with a shake of her head. "We need to protect the world without the puppet strings."

"Maybe Tony's right." Natasha said suddenly, and everyone turned to her not really believing those words really came out of her mouth. "If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off..."

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?" Sam asked

"Natasha misses the rush of taking orders." Katie says ignoring the glare the woman sends her. "This is pointless." she looks over to Tony and sighs. "Sign it, don't sign it, I no longer care."

"Katie-" Steve started and Katie held up a hand to stop him.

"Don't. This team was created for a reason, and the moment that thing is signed, then we lose it."

"And how does that happen?" Tony asks and Katie turns back to him.

"The only check and balances we ever needed came from the people in this room. It's why we were chosen. It's why when you speak, Steve counters it with his boy scout of America routine. It's why when he speaks, you counter it with logical scientific theory. In the end a decision is made, but if we sign this, and our opinions no longer matter, what we want to do no longer matters, what's the point." Katie grabs her bag. "So sign it, don't sign it, I don't care." she looks over to Wanda. "Someone comes for you, I will be there." she turns for the door, but stops and looks over to Tony. "There's a difference between growing up and just plane forgetting who you are."

"I didn't forget who I am Katie." Tony said, her name sounding so strange coming from him. It's how she knew that there was a shift in their relationship. One she wasn't sure could ever be shifted back. "I'm just choosing to be different." Katie looked at him for a moment before turning and walking out the door.

A/N: Very intense first chapter, but we see the lines people are finding themselves behind, even Katie. The thing is, Katie doesn't like lines. We will see that very soon.

So First chapter...whatcha think?