Chapter 1

Battered in victory. The fight with Ultron had taken a great toll on the Avengers. The press had dubbed them the World's Mightiest Heroes, but now they were the world's most notorious heroes. What seemed like seconds after the fight with Ultron ended then Thor left for Asgard to deal with the vision Wanda gave him, Tony Stark retired from the hero business because of what he had accidently created and unleashed on the world; Bruce Banner feared the beast inside of him that he willingly left Natasha Romanov behind and went off with SHIELD; and Clint Barton resigned from SHIELD in order to spend more time with his kids and wife on a farm in Iowa. The team was gutted.

Wanda Maximoff, Natasha Romanov, Sam Wilson, and Steve Rogers travelled with Clint on a Quinjet to his farm for a respite from the media furor over all the destruction and loss of life, as well as the call for the Avengers disassemble by politicians because no one controlled them. The newly created synthetic human the Vision and James Rhodes, War Machine, left with Stark for the West Coast. Stark's guilt was even greater than his ego.

The erstwhile leader of the now splintered Avengers, Captain America, sat strapped into his seat in the back of the Quinjet reviewing everything that went wrong not with the fight but with his life. Ultron might have been the greatest threat they had faced so far, but it was something more personal that Steve Rogers was obsessed with. Over the past few years he had finally moved on from being in love with Peggy Carter to falling in love with the Black Widow. Natasha and Peggy shared more in common that people realized. They were both strong women, who fought for what they believed. Both were tougher than most men Steve had fought with and both he had his undying admiration. Steve Rogers had a type and it was Natasha Romanov.

Because of flying a Hydra weapons plane into the ocean and ending up frozen for seventy years, he lost the chance to have a life with Peggy. Ironically, it was his search for his childhood friend Bucky Barnes that led Steve to missing his chance with Natasha. While he and Sam went off on a fruitless search for Bucky for eight months, Natasha worked closely with the remaining Avengers and grew closer and closer with Bruce. Even though he left her for the moment because he feared the monster inside him, Steve could read the devastated woman across from him well enough to know that she loved him and she would return to him when he returned from his temporary exile. And Bruce would return. He always returned from these self-imposed exiles. Anyways, Bruce was a friend and Steve would never be less than a gentleman to a friend's girl. He was old fashioned like that.

"Cap, you okay?" asked Sam, who sat next to him. "You look like you're in pain."

Steve looked over at Wanda, who sat away from everyone. She was silent and miserably mourning the loss of her brother. Teh young woman was damaged and in end of a somewhere where she could be part of something greater than herself. In comparison to some he had nothing to complain about.

"I'm fine, Sam," he said. "I'm just replaying things in my mind."

"Don't," said Sam. "They'll be time later to think about things like that. It's time to decompress and let go."

"Never was very good at that," sighed Steve.

"We are tem minutes out from my house," announced Clint over the communication system. "I let Laura know we are coming. Cooper and Lila are looking forward to seeing their Auntie Nat."

For the first time Natasha looked up from staring off in the void and looked towards the cockpit. A sad smile cracked her lips for a moment. Steve looked down at his boots. He started to wonder why he agreed to join the group to go Clint's safe house. Beside wanting to make sure that Nat was going to be okay, he was ready to face Fury and SHIELD.

"Make sure everyone is buckled in," Clint ordered and the Quinjet began it descent.

A quick perusal and Steve saw that everyone was already buckled up. He looked over at Sam. His friend and fellow soldier looked bone tired. He could use some time resting on a farm. Steve would make sure everyone was settled in then he'd leave and seek out Nick Fury and the new incarnation of SHIELD.

Avengers

Laura settled Natasha up on the second floor in one of the spare bedrooms. Wanda took the other one, while Sam and Steve were going to share the living room. Sam was already asleep on the sofa. It was decided by Steve that the kids should stay in their rooms. He didn't need comfort to sleep. What he did need was something to occupy his time, so he ended up in the front of the house cutting firewood again. The simple physical act of cutting wood kept his mind off things he didn't want to dwell on.

"Because of you we are going to have enough firewood for two winters," Clint remarked.

Steve put the ax down and turned to see Clint extending his left hand, which had a cold bottle of beer in it. Steve took it then took a swig of the cold liquid. It tasted good. If only he could get drunk, though.

"Laura is dealing with Nat and Wanda. I married well," he said.

"You sure did," smiled Steve in agreement.

"Nat is going to be alright," Clint said.

"In time," Steve took another swig of his beer. "Eventually, Banner will return to her."

A snarl crossed Clint's lips. He shook his head.

"Nat is like a sister to me, Cap. He's not right for her," stated Clint.

"He's a good man," replied Steve. He believed the words were true, yet it still hurt to say them.

"Yeah, maybe. He gets lost in his own pain and problem. Nat needs someone to protect her, look out for her," said Clint. "She deserves some like..."

Clint didn't finish his sentence, but he looked into Steve's eyes. Steve could tell that he had something more to say but he wasn't going to say it. Clint wasn't going to pressure Steve right now.

"What are you going to do?" he asked Steve.

"I thought tomorrow you could drive me into town, so I could rent a car. I'm going back to DC in order to talk to Fury, see where things stand. I think the world needs the Avengers, but...," Steve paused. "I'm not sure that I'll be apart of it." eHeH

"The Avengers need a leader," stated Clint.

"There are others who can lead, maybe even lead better than I did," said Steve.

"Nay, Cap, you did as well as could be done with personalities like Thor, Stark, and a raging Hulk," smiled Clint.

Steve smiled in return.

"Why don't you stay around a couple of day before you leave? Let Sam rest up and then he can fly you both back in the Quinjet. Technically, I stole it from SHIELD, so you can return it for me," grinned Clint.

"Maybe," nodded Steve.

"Laura is going to fix chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes with white gray, and corn on the cob for dinner," said Clint. "Eat, relax, and don't think for a while."

"I'll try, Clint," agreed Steve. He picked up the ax and rested it on his right shoulder. "I have some more wood to cut in order to earn my dinner."

"Jeeze, Cap, I think you have already earned enough several dinner and a couple of breakfasts," chuckled Clint.

"If you don't need more firewood then give me another task to do. I need to keep busy," stated Steve.

"Laura has been on my ass to fix the roof. It leaks in certain places. You up to some manual labor fixing the roof?" Clint asked him.

"Get what you need and I'll meet you up on the roof," smiled Steve.

Clint watched as Steve jogged over to the porch then he used his acrobatic skills to go up the porch then continue to the second floor and finally up onto the roof. Shaking his head and laughing, Clint walked towards the barn to get the ladder and the tools and material they would need.

Avengers

Sam woke after a nap that lasted several hours. He could smell food being prepared, so he got up and made his way into the kitchen. Much to his surprise Clint's wife was cooking dinner, while Wanda was cutting up cucumbers, carrots, onions, and celery for a salad. The kids were using crayons and paper while seated at the dining room table. Clint, Steve, and Natasha were nowhere to be seen.

"Hello," he said softly.

Laura looked over her shoulder and smiled, "Clint and Steve are on the roof fixing holes. There is cold beer in the fridge."

"Where's Natasha?" he asked.

"In her room," Laura said in a tone that let him know that she needed time alone. "She'll be down for dinner which will be ready soon."

"Anything I can do to help?" he asked.

"I heard from Wanda that you took quite a beating. Just relax," she said.

Sam looked at Wanda, who looked up at him with an expression of indifference on her face. She didn't like being read.

"I'll go check on Clint and Steve," said Sam.

"Tell them they have fifteen minutes to get everything done," said Laura.

He nodded and used the kitchen door to exit the house. Walking over to the ladder he called up. Clint answered, "Finally awake."

"Yeah. Your wife said you two have fifteen minutes to finish up," said Sam.

"We are done," called down Clint, as he stuck his head over the side of the roof to look at Sam.

Before Sam could call back to Clint, Steve jumped off the roof with the tool chest in his right hand. He landed on his feet, as if it was just a shirt jump down. Sam looked at him and shook his head.

"Show off," he teased Steve.

"Just taking the shortest way down," said Steve.

Clint came climbing down the ladder with his tool belt around his waist. He got to the bottom and had a big smile on his face.

"Steve, because of you my roof is fixed and I have more firewood then I know what to do with," said Clint. "What do we fix tomorrow?"

Steve looked up. He noticed Natasha's face looking out of one of the windows on the second floor. There she was. She was looking down at them. He looked at Clint. There was nothing for him to do here, but he needed to do something. Sokovia had been a mess. Was it an avoidable mess? Steve wasn't sure. All he was sure of was that he was the leader of the Avengers and that if trouble was headed their way, it was his duty to take the blame as their leader.

"I'm not sure. The world might need Captain America might be needed come in and face congress or the media," said Steve.

"Leave that to Stark. He has dozen of PR men and lawyers on his staff to help him with situations like this," said Clint.

"He's right, Cap," added Sam.

"I'm the leader of the Avengers, guys. I've never not done my duty," Steve said.

Clint shook his head then said, "Let's get cleaned up and get ready for dinner."

"Before I do I'd like to make a phone call," said Steve. "Do you have a Starkphone?"

Clint reached into his jeans and pulled out his Starkphone and then he tossed it to Steve. He caught it then walked away from the house to make a call. Sam watched him go.

"Who is he calling?" asked Sam.

"Knowing Steve he is calling Stark and checking on the rest of the team," said Clint. "Come on and help me put things away."

Steve walked a good distances from Clint and Sam then he dialed a number he used only once before. Seven rings later and finally someone answered.

"Hello," said a familiar voice.

"Fury, we need to talk," said Steve.

"I'm glad you called, Captain, because we have a goat rope here in Washington. Congress wants to talk to the Avengers and certain countries what the Avengers arrested. Stark is lawyered up, Thor has gone aback to Asgard, and the rest of the Avengers are in hiding. I just got SHIELD back on its feet, but it isn't ready to take on too many enemies," Fury growled. "Something needs to be done."

"I have an idea, Nick," said Steve.

"What is it?" asked Fury.

Avengers

They sat at the dining room table. Clint sat at one head of the table and Steve was given the place of honor to sit at the head of the other end of the table. To Steve's right sat Sam and to his left Wanda. Clint had Natasha to his left and his wife to his right with his kids sitting across from each other in the middle. Laura was now almost seven months pregnant so Clint and Steve brought the food out. Clint carried the salad and mashed potatoes and gravy boat. Steve carried in one hand a large platter filled with chicken fried steaks and in the other hand a basket filled with corn on the cob. They placed the food on the table then sat down.

Clint looked at Copper, "You want to say grace?"

Cooper smiled then said, "Grace."

"Good enough for me," said Clint, who grabbed the mashed potatoes, plopped two large spoonful on his plate and passed it on.

Steve grabbed the platter with the steaks and put two steaks on his plate. Clint knew his metabolism took more food than a normal man's. As the food got passed around and placed on plates, Steve kept sneaking looks at Natasha. She was pale and her eyes had the redness of someone who had been crying. He wanted to say something to her, but he knew there was nothing he had to offer.

"So, Steve, I hope you are going to stay with us for several days. Things tend to get done when you around," said Laura with a smirk, as she looked at her husband.

"I can't help it if he can't sit still and needs to keep busy," said Clint.

"I have no idea what my plans are, though I think I'll be called into duty before I want," Steve admitted.

"You've done your duty, Cap," said Sam.

"I was watching your television earlier" Wanda spoke up in her Eastern European accent. "It appears that several countries are calling for the arrest of the Avengers and that they be put on trial for the damages done to Sokovia."

Steve looked down at his plate. He expected this sort of media after his conversation with Fury. The Avengers and Ultron nearly decimated that country. Too many innocent lives died during their encounters with Ultron. Too much collateral damage. Steve never believed that collateral damage was acceptable and he gave Fury a way to lessen the pressure and cool tempers.

"Damn them," spat Clint. "Every human in the world would either be dead or enslaved by Ultron if it wasn't for us."

"Calm down, Clint," said his wife.

"Those who survive the brunt of a war only know the injustices and losses, and not the good of the cause," said Wanda.

Clint looked at her but didn't speak. She lost her brother.

"Someone has to pay for what happened," added Natasha.

Clint looked at Natasha and said, "Really, Nat?"

"She's right, Clint. Someone needs to pay for the lives lost and the damage done," said Steve.

"Who? Stark? I could have kicked his and Banner's asses when they accidently created Ultron, but they don't deserve to spend time in an international prison," said Clint.

"I always thought the leaders should accept the punishment," smiled Steve.

Sam and Clint looked at Steve as if he was insane. He was their leader.

"You're kidding, right, Steve?" asked Clint.

"What are you talking about, Clint?" asked Natasha. She was barely paying attention to the conversation before but now Clint had her attention because of his tone.

"Steve, you don't think you deserve to be in prison for what happened in Sokovia, do you?" asked Clint.

In he distance they heard the sound of two Quinjets landing in the front yard. Clint looked at Steve. He had a sudden realization what Steve had done and he couldn't believe. This was wrong.

"Steve? You didn't do what I think you did?" asked Clint.

There was a loud knock on the door. Clint got up and went to answer the door. Steve pushed himself away from the table and stood up. He looked at Laura and smiled.

"Thank you for dinner, ma'am. I'm sorry that I didn't get a chance to finish the meal," he said.

In came Nick Fury along with a SHIELD STRIKE team. Finally, Natasha found herself in the present. She forgot about Bruce and what could have been.

"Fury, what are you doing here?" she growled then stood up and took a defensive stance.

Fury looked at Steve and shook his head then said, "You didn't tell them."

"It's my call and no one else's," he answered.

"Fury, this is bullshit," snapped Clint.

Several of the STRIKE team lifted their weapons and pointed them at Clint. Steve tensed up and Fury sighed.

"Stand down, everyone!" Fury yelled. He looked at Steve, who walked over to him and offered him his wrists. Fury looked at one of his men and nodded. The agent came over and placed Adamantium restraints on Steve's forearms.

"Captain Steven Grant Rogers, I am taking you into custody for the World Court and United States Congress for your role in the loss of life and property in Sokovia. You will be held in SHIELD custody until a grand jury can be convened," stated Fury.

Steve nodded.

"I'm sorry, Cap," said Fury softly.

"It was my idea," smiled Steve. He turned and looked at Natasha, who was now just standing there in a state of shock. "Hold on to my shield for me, please, Nat. I trust you with it. Clint knows where it is."

"Take him away," said Fury.

Two members of the STRIKE team grabbed an arm of Steve's and led him away. The rest of the team followed, except for Fury. He waited until the STRIKE team and Steve were gone before he spoke.

"The pressure to do something was building and starting to get out of control. There was talk of going after Stark, putting Banner in prison, banning Thor from coming back to earth, and putting you here in prison. Steve made the call to be the scapegoat in the hopes that I and a few others can calm tempers and stop the hanging party before it happens," explained Fury.

"This is so damned wrong. Cap shouldn't be treated like this," said Sam.

"I know, soldier. But it's his call. The Avengers need some good publicity now. It'll help Rogers. Call Stark and see what you can come up with," said Fury. "I'll keep working behind the scenes to make this go away."

"What if you can't make it go away?" asked Natasha.

"The Captain America is going on trial as a war criminal," sighed Fury. "Call Stark and get his head out of his ass."

Fury turned and exited. Clint looked at Sam and then at Natasha. Before Natasha was broken and sad but now she looked to be furious and ready to fight for Steve. It made Clint want to smile because it meant her feelings for Rogers was deeper than she realized, maybe even deeper than her feelings for Banner and that made him happy.

"I think if Captain America is convicted of crimes he didn't commit that we should break him out of prison," Wanda stated.

Clint smiled and Sam nodded his approval. Natasha looked at the younger woman with a glare that had a hint of jealousy.

"I'll call Stark," said Clint.

His wife looked at him with an expression of amusement.

"So much for your retirement," she said.

"I got to help him, hun," said Clint.

"I know," said Clint.

"Kick their ass, dad," added Copper much to the chagrin of his mother.

Clint grinned then left the dining room in order to make the call. Natasha sat down. She looked at the food on her plate and growled.

"I won't let him sacrifice himself for us," she said to no one in particular.

"You care about him," said Laura.

Natasha looked up at Laura.

"He's my partner, just like Clint is my partner. We've been through a lot together," she stated.

Laura smiled then said, "He's not a brother to you, though, is he?"

Natasha knotted her brow and thought about it for moment then said, "No. I don't think of his as a brother."