Eyyy, this is just a oneshot featuring Nicole's take on the Sokovian Accords. Basically an expansion on the meeting with Ross during the one trailer, sort of a break to my writer's block involving Marvel (I'm sorry Star Wars sucked me in deep omg). Written with very little context, but it's been buzzing around in my head for awhile now and I finally got it down on paper (figuratively speaking). Ties in with Breaking the Ice and the greater Age of Miracles 'verse.

As always, feedback is welcome and highly encouraged. And I love you all.

"New York. Washington DC. Sokovia." Nicole remained impassive as she watched the feeds Ross was providing, fingers curling white-knuckled around the armrest of her chair when she saw Wanda visibly flinch back.

Steve, who hadn't missed the reaction, pulled his hand away from his face as he straightened. "Okay, that's enough."

"Captain, people are afraid." In this one situation, in that one statement, Ross wasn't wrong.

Tony stepped forward, hands clasped behind his back as he looked around at all of them. "That's why I'm here; we need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game."

"People are calling the Avengers heroes." Ross added. "Though there are some that would use the term vigilantes. There needs to be some sort of accountability."

"Accountability?" Nicole could almost laugh if it weren't for the utter seriousness of this otherwise absurd situation. "They thought you would be the best person to talk to us about accountability? That's fucking rich."

"Nicole…" Natasha gave her a severe look across the board table, green eyes locking on her in a subtle warning.

This time the redhead did let out a bark of laughter, well aware that there were several sets of eyes on her. "No—no I'm sorry but this is fucking hilarious. You're here to talk to us about accountability. You, Ross, who's never had to face the repercussions of what you did? You're going to tell us that we need to be held accountable. Whatever form that takes? Really?"

"Are you saying that we should just be allowed to run around blowing up cities?" Tony demanded, looking at her in surprise.

She shook her head, though she still couldn't help the bitter amusement, because this was ridiculous. "That's not what I'm saying at all Tony. We've entered a new age where our world is strife with aliens, super powered people, impressive technology and—apparently—magic. The Inhumans are further proof that we're not nearly as special as we thought we were, and in the rise of extraordinary individuals we definitely need some sort of system to protect the public. We need accountability."

"But this isn't that." Uncurling her fingers, Nicole jabbed a finger to the screen. "This is not accountability. This is someone looking to pass the blame for situations that we had no hand in causing."

"No hand in causing?" Now it was Ross' turn to look at her incredulously. "You really think you're blameless in any of these situations?"

"Blameless? Hell no. I accidentally blew up a deli during the battle of New York. But let's take a look at each of these examples of yours. Let's take a look at accountability." Unable to contain her building anger, Nicole pushed out of her chair. "The battle of New York was an alien pretending at god who was drawn to our planet by SHIELD's interest in the Tesseract. SHIELD's interest, which was funded and approved by the US government. At the time when the Avengers responded to stop a madman who was already trying to conquer our planet, we were under the control of the World Security Council. And… oh, I'm sorry, what did the WSC decide to do again Tony? They wanted to nuke Manhattan."

"They wanted to destroy a city with over 1.6 million people on it, never mind the surrounding neighborhoods of New York. Did the public ever find out about that? About how a global government system was willing to sacrifice over a million lives, as well as destroying one of the largest centers of trade in the world? Which would have led to an economic collapse that would have ruined so much more. And it wasn't just a decision they were considering making; they had deployed the missile. Rather than letting the Avengers handle it, when we had the chitauri quarantined to one relatively small part of the city, they decided a nuclear weapon would be a better choice. They didn't even know if it would work!"

"Nicole—" Natasha began more urgently, but the taller woman continued, eyes flashing in frustration.

"Washington, where we revealed and effectively unmasked a terrorist organization that was about launch a campaign that would kill millions, if not billions of people. A terrorist organization that had successfully infiltrated and corrupted our government. Yes, there was damage, and yes there were innocent lives lost, but in comparison?" She could feel her veins starting to warm as she glared down the table.

"Who approved project Insight again? Wasn't fucking me, that's for sure. Wasn't Steve, or Tony, or any of the Avengers. No it was the United States government, once again. The United States government, at the behest of the WSC." And that's what got her about this entire situation; the Avengers and affiliates were called out in response to something that they literally had no control over.

But no, they were the ones doing the hard work to keep people safe and the politicians would rather heap the blame on their shoulders instead of take responsibility for their role in creating each situation.

"Now, the only one of these three inherently diverse situations that you could even kind of blame us for is Sokovia. But, I'm sorry? I have no idea how the finer intricacies of robotics work. I'm not the one who decided to use alien technology—from a fucking mind control spear—to build an AI." Nicole threw a dark look at Tony, who at least had the sense of being to look ashamed. "So excuse me if I happen to think this whole mess is bullshit."

Steve looked up at her silently, jaw tight and a contemplative look on his face and Nicole wondered if he was going to say something. She found that she didn't care, not when Thaddeus-Fucking-Ross had the audacity, the unmitigated fucking gall, to tell her that she needed to be held responsible for her misdeeds.

"Let's call this what it is; we're scapegoats. Everybody's in an uproar—and I don't blame them for that—and instead of placing blame where blame is due, you're going to blame it all on us." She hissed, sneering down at the Accords and resisting the urge to set them on fire. "You want us to be held accountable? So do I. I don't want super powered individuals running around with no supervision; that's dangerous and it's stupid."

The redhead lifted the thick book and gestured with it. "But this is a load of fucking shit that you're pushing at us with emotional fucking manipulation trying to guilt trip us. Who exactly would we be reporting to under the Sokovian Accords? The United States government? You? It'll be a cold day in fucking hell before I let you fucking lecture me on what I should and should not be held responsible for. Not when you've operated with reckless abandon without facing any sort of consequence."

"This is a waste of my fucking time." They all stared when the Accords hit the table, the cover page smoking ever so slightly from where her thumb had been pressed into it. "Talk to me when you've got something other than this fucking joke to offer me."

Without waiting for response Nicole swept out of the room, slamming the glass door behind her. She winced internally when she heard the shatter followed by familiar pattering of it hitting the floor but refused to let it show on her face when she turned around. The rest of the team, and Ross were staring at her with a variety of expressions on their faces. Wanda was openly shocked, her hand pressed to her lips in surprise, while Tony looked like a mix between shocked and angry. Natasha was unsurprisingly stone faced, as was Steve, while Sam, Sharon and the others were completely taken aback by her display.

Ross looked absolutely furious.

"Yeah," Nicole spat, voice lifting in tone. "I accept full responsibility for that. Fucking bill me, asshole."

With one last rude gesture the redhead was storming away from the room with a snap in her step and an impressive scowl on her face. She made it as far as the lobby, heading directly for the elevator and fully intending to go for a walk somewhere that wasn't full of complete and utter jackasses when she felt a firm grip clamp down on her arm.

"Did you really think that was a good idea?" Sharon hissed, yanking her around so that they were facing eye to eye. "You just made a complete spectacle of yourself."

"I've been doing that since I started fighting aliens in fucking battle armor, Sharon." She shrugged. "The Sokovian Accords are utter trash and you have to realize that. So if you came to fetch me and bring me back—"

"That's not why I came after you." Sharon interrupted. "Though what you did was completely childish. You're letting your personal feelings towards Ross—"

"My personal feelings towards Ross—!" Nicole paused as she realized she'd been shouting, sucking in a deep breath as she struggled to bring her emotions back under control. "My personal feelings towards the Secretary of State have minimal impact on my stance. They want us on a leash, they want to turn us into their own personal weapons and I won't stand for it."

"I will not let myself be collared and used to fight someone else's battles. Not again." Nicole would rather die than let her actions be controlled by a corrupt body again.

"This isn't HYDRA, Nicole." Sharon shook her head, lips pursed into a thin line. "This isn't going to be the same."

"No, it'll be much worse because this time around we should know better!" She thought of the past couple of years, thought of the botched way the government was handling the Inhumans issue, the way they bumbled and fumbled with rooting out HYDRA and all of the backhanded actions taken on behalf of the ATCU. She thought of Bobbi and Hunter, who'd had to burn themselves from their work when they should have been praised as heroes.

"I can't sign those Sharon. I can't. You're not wrong in that we need some sort of restraining body to oversee us, but the Accords aren't the solution. Right now I still believe that the safest hands are our own." Sharon stared her down, and for a moment Nicole worried that they were about to head into another fight.

She didn't want to fight with her friends anymore, she was tired of the constant arguing and fighting and separation that was happening around her. But she would if she had to because this was something that Nicole absolutely could not back down from. If she did… it would be like turning her back on something she'd spent years dedicating her life to.

Sharon seemed to read the hesitance in her brown eyes because the blonde relaxed marginally, fingers loosening on the material of her jacket. "This isn't going to be easy."

"I know. It never is." The tension drained from Nicole's frame and she reached up to rub at her temple. "Fuck I can't believe I broke that door."

Sharon offered her a thin smile, bordering on amused. "It was actually rather—"

The CIA agent was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot, and Nicole whipped around in instantaneous reaction as her friend reached for her own weapon. The shooter was stalking forward, dark hair moving in the breeze generated by his momentum as the handgun aimed. Nicole felt her stomach drop when she saw the familiar shine of a metal arm under the sleeve of the red shirt, heart stuttering in her chest.

"Bucky?"