Fanfic / The Days of Reckoning Are Upon Us

The Days of Reckoning Are Upon Us is a collection of Marvel Cinematic Universe one-shot fics by Ana (Anafandom), found on Archive of our Own.

In these stories MCU Team Cap face the consequences for a lot of bad choices as determined by the author, and also for a lot of AU bad decisions that the author has created as answers to prompts. For instance, what if Wanda had been the one responsible for brainwashing Bucky Barnes into being the Winter Soldier? As these are all unconnected short stories spoilers will be left unmarked.

Tropes present in the story:

• Accusation Fic: The various one-shots really rip into a lot of the Avengers more questionable actions, especially Steve Rogers', Wanda's, and Natasha's. The fic is biased, to say the least.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: A few prompts make Wanda one of the ones who helped brainwash Bucky.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • In the story mentioned under Body Horror, Erskine is presented as a manipulative, cruel monster who was using Steve. Colonel Phillips on the other hand isn't and his efforts to prosecute him result in the man killing himself.
  • In 2 other stories Sam and Sharon are revealed to secretly be HYDRA agents. In Sam's story, during Winter Soldier, he murders Steve and Natasha, but the day is still saved. In Sharon's, it's revealed that her actions during Civil War were to further HYDRA's efforts to control the Avengers. It's implied either she is executed or commits suicide for her failure. In both stories case the purpose was to show the stupidity in trusting strangers over others whom they had worked with for years.
  • Many prompts have Steve so focused on his own personal issues over saving people's lives that the resulting mass casualties drive him past mere Adaptational Jerkass and straight into this territory (ex. Prompt 146, which has him leave the entirety of Bucky's division to die once he found Bucky).
  • In Civil War, Steve didn't kill any of the cops that tried to arrest Bucky, and went to great lengths to make sure none died. Here, in the relevant prompts, Steve does kill them, though out of negligence from not pulling his punches enough.
• Anyone Can Die: In later chapters, Anafandom starts keeping a running tally of how many times certain characters have died. As of chapter 40, almost every named character has died at least once or twice.
• Armor-Piercing Response: In one of the many stories where Bucky surrenders himself in Civil War, Steve tries to remind Bucky of their promise, only to get shut down.

  Steve: You and me, to the end of the line, remember?
  Bucky: This is the end of the line.

• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Boil the collection down to a list of one sentence summaries and you'd get some like this; Steve managed to go to war without the serum and he got his squad killed, the Commandos attacked a 'HYDRA base' that turned out to be a civilian factory, Steve goes to prison a bunch of times, Steve dies a bunch of times, and then the likes of; Steve gets berated for correcting Tony on his language as they are all grown adults and Tony is entitled to swear if he wants or Tony doesn't take "Big man in a suit of armor, take that away and what are you?" lightly and delivers a Badass Boast and "The Reason You Suck" Speech.
• Badass Boast: As part of an Insult Backfire version of the argument from Avengers Tony delivers the following speech:

  Steve:Big man in a suit of armor. Take that away and what are you?

  Tony: What am I? I'm the guy who built the suit in the first place. In a cave. With scraps. Right under the noses of the terrorists who thought they could break me and bend me to their will. I’m the guy who miniaturized this (he tapped the Arc Reactor in his chest) taking it from a pretty but mostly useless fashion statement to something that has totally revolutionized energy technology. I'm one of the world's leading experts in computer programming, engineering and robotics, and the foremost expert in Artificial Intelligence. I'm the guy who graduated MIT summa cum laude at age 17, the guy who has four masters and three PhDs in various fields. I'm the guy who turned Stark Industries from a US-based million dollar company to a multination billion dollar company, making it one of the largest and more important companies in the world, employing more than 600 thousand people worldwide. I'm the guy who is single-handedly responsible for 60% of all SI patents. I'm the guy who has received countless awards for various contributions to the fields of engineering, computer programming and robotics. I'm the guy who continued my mother's charitable work, helping thousands of people around the world. I'm the guy with an IQ of 180 – which means highest genius, just in case you aren't aware. If you take the suit out, none of that would change. I would still be that guy, and I would simply build another suit.

• Be Careful What You Wish For:
  • One story sees Wanda helping Steve make Bucky "forget all about Hydra and the Winter Soldier". She deliberately wipes Bucky's mind completely, leaving him with no memories at all.
  • In prompt 119, Bucky gets his draft letter and thinks about how more than anything he doesn't want to go to war. Later that same day he takes a punch meant for Steve and hits his head on a rock. The resulting brain damage means he can't go to war but he also has chronic migraines and seizures.
• Black-and-White Insanity: Steve is portrayed as having this. His way is right and moral but any view that is different from his is considered ill-informed at best and outright evil at worst.
• Body Horror: One story shows the serum not being ready and Steve suffering unnatural uneven growth and even some atrophy, because of it. He dies hours later.
• Boring, but Practical: In prompt 136, Steve is confined to a lab after Erskine is killed as doctors try to recreate the Super Serum. While they fail to recreate it, they do develop several vaccines and other medical advances from his blood. Dr. Bernstein even points out that using Steve's blood to cure diseases is far more important than having a Super-Soldier fighting in the war, even if it seems less impressive.
• Broken Pedestal: Steve Rogers is often hit with this, usually with either Bucky or Sam wondering if they ever really knew him, though Sharon Carter has also had her idealized version of Steve shattered.
  • One story displays that his actions have lead the army to lose respect for Captain America, citing the decision to revert the Iron Patriot back to War Machine.
• Brought Down to Normal: In prompt 132, Steve is injected with an "anti-serum" by Hydra that eventually reduces him back to the scrawny frail man he was.
• The Bully: For all his claims of "fighting the bullies", Steve is often a bully himself, using physical intimidation or outright violence to get his way when someone disagrees with him.
• Cold-Blooded Torture: Prompt 149 is almost entirely Steve, Natasha, and Sam getting slowly beaten to death by members of SHIELD who lost their families in the data dump.
• Collateral Damage: When Peggy shoots at the vibranium shield, one of the ricochets hits a technician in the shoulder.
• invokedConfirmation Bias: Fury's main problem with Natasha's profile of Tony Stark is that she interpreted everything in a way that confirmed her initial assessment of the man, even things that contradicted said assessment, such as thinking Tony not telling his friends he's (apparently) dying means he doesn't care about them.
• Conscience Makes You Go Back: After beating Tony to near death in one story, Bucky runs back and does everything he can to save the man.
• Complaining About Rescues They Don't Like:
  • In prompt 98, Wanda is tried for mind controlling the populace of Novi Grad to make them evacuate during Ultron's attack.
  • Downplayed and justified in prompt 101. The future Howling Commandos are happy they were rescued but the fact Steve wasn't authorized doesn't sit right with them as it's clear he doesn't respect the chain of command and is liable to just do what he wants. That he had Howard Stark fly the plane is even worse as they know losing Stark would be devastating for the Allies.
• Conservation of Ninjutsu: Averted. Even a Super-Soldier like Steve or Bucky will fall under the weight of superior numbers, especially if their opponents use better tactics, such as utilizing high ground and snipers.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: In prompt 124, Tony accepts Steve's offer to "put on the suit and go a few rounds". Since Tony's in a suit that can shrug off tank rounds, it goes poorly for Steve.
• The Dead Have Names:
  • After hearing the rest of the 107th was killed in prompt 146, Bucky spends time reviewing the names of every one of his soldiers.
  • In prompt 149, a group of former SHIELD agents recite the names of family and friends they lost due to the data dump while beating Steve, Sam, and Natasha to death.
• Death by Adaptation: Happens a lot, one of the main consequences in the collection is that Steve or his allies, or even Tony whom the author is a defender of, is killed because of the actions of Steve or his Allies. Tony is only ever collateral damage, not responsible himself.
• Defiant to the End: A downplayed example in prompt 149. Unlike Sam, Natasha doesn't beg for mercy or forgiveness from the former SHIELD agents torturing her to death, but only because she knows it won't help.
• Didn't Think This Through: In prompt 103, Hulk's fury at Natasha makes her realize she probably shouldn't have triggered him against his will.
• Disappointed by the Motive: One story features Ultron being appalled that the reason Wanda and Pietro want Tony Stark dead is because he built the missile that killed their parents. He even asks if they ever considered killing the ones who fired the missile or the ones who ordered it.
• Disappointed in You: When reviewing Natasha's assessment of Tony Stark, Coulson admits he overestimated her abilities and thought she'd get an accurate picture of the man.
• Does Not Know His Own Strength:
  • One story has Steve redoing boot camp on Fury's orders. Not only does he get reprimanded for frequently breaking equipment, but he accidentally punches another recruit hard enough to leave the man in a coma.
  • In prompt 99, Steve fighting Natasha leaves her wheelchair bound after one of his punches fractured her skull. When it's explained she might never wake up from her coma or be brain damaged for the rest of her life, Steve's confused and horrified as he didn't think he "hit her that hard".
• Domestic Abuse: Some snippets, such as 127, portray Wanda's and Vision's romance this way, with Wanda manipulating Vision and blaming him for "making her" attack him.
• Dramatically Missing the Point: Steve Rogers (and by extension Team Cap) seem to not grasp that his (their) actions have serious consequences such as the death of civilians, property damage, negative public perception, and etc due to his (their) arrogance, stubborness, and/or being dense.
• Driven to Suicide: In one story, Bucky shoots himself after losing his arm saving Steve's life during the war.
• Easily Forgiven: Averted. In one of the stories, the team (except Steve) flat out refuse to work with Wanda and Pietro against Ultron, citing that the two tried to kill them just yesterday. Even if they feel bad about their actions, Wanda still knowingly unleashed the Hulk on Johannesburg.
• Entitled Bastard: Steve Rogers and by extension the Rogue Avengers feel that they deserve high praise and blind loyalty due to being "heroes" despite breaking laws, destroying property that could be avoided, and lost lives that could have been prevented with better planning.
• Everyone Has Standards: In prompt 157, Bucky muses that the only reason Steve hadn't gotten killed yet was because everyone knew how fragile he was and nobody wanted to be responsible for his death. Even people who kicked his ass didn't use their full strength.
• Fake Defector:
  • In a couple stories, Wanda only pretends to join the Avengers because it suited her at the time.
  • In prompt 121, Wanda stays loyal to Hydra and intended to deliver all of the Avengers to them but eventually settled for half the team since Tony and Rhodey were never around and Clint retired.
• Fanboy: Scott admits to having a "man crush" on Tony Stark, citing that pretty much every engineer does due to the engineering marvel that is the Iron Man suit. When Hank Pym derides said suit as "some cute toy", Scott shuts him down by saying that it is a miracle of engineering that no one has ever fully replicated, even those who had access to the power source and/or schematics.
• Fearless Fool: Steve Rogers, all the time. In his book, anyone not willing to charge headfirst into a Suicide Mission, even if there's a safer alternative, is a gutless coward.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: In prompt 113, Steve struggles with things in the 1970s because he'd gotten used to life in the 2010s and finds himself talking about things that don't exist yet.
• Flawed Prototype: One story shows that the Super Serum wasn't fully tested yet and instead severely mutated Steve Rogers, leaving him with a body that ultimately failed a few hours later.
• Freudian Excuse: The man Steve picked a fight with during Captain America: The First Avenger for talking during the news reels lost his brother in the war and hated being reminded of the war as a result.
• Glory Hound:
  • One of Tony's (many) The Reason You Suck Speeches towards Steve is that he needlessly escalates situations to violence because "bureaucracy and diplomacy are boring" and Steve finds it "more manly and heroic" to solve his problems by punching people, all so he can be the hero of the story.
  • A number of snippets interpret Steve's lying on enlistment forms even when he's unfit to serve as him wanting to fight in the war and be a hero rather than actually wanting to help the war effort in a realistic manner.
• The Greatest Story Never Told: Lampshaded by Scott when he simply tips off the FBI to Darren Cross, thinking that even if he wasn't a superhero and no one ever knew what he did, it felt good to be a hero.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • In one story, Ultron kills the Twins after hearing how ridiculous their vendetta against Tony Stark is, then decides to let Tony try to convince him to preserve humanity because he feels sorry for him. The result is an Ultron who isn't totally pro-human, but is at least tolerant of them.
  • Another story sees Zemo deciding against destroying the Avengers as a whole because of Tony's humanitarian efforts in Sokovia. Instead he arranges a meeting where he shares the video of the Starks' assassination in exchange for information on Wanda and what exactly happened with Ultron.
• Horrible Judge of Character: Steve's tendency to trust the wrong people tends to bite him in the ass.
• Hypocrite:
  • A common flaw of Steve's in various stories, such as declaring his hatred of bullies while physically threatening someone for disagreeing with him. Or another story where Steve mentally derides the Wakandans for "needing to be in the spotlight" then later being upset that he's being ignored for the more grievously injured Bucky.
  • Scott calls Hank Pym out on declaring "All Starks are thieves" when not only is Hank talking about committing theft, he went to Scott to have him steal from the Avengers, and thus Tony Stark.
• I Am a Monster: After being confronted by the brother of one of the men she accidentally killed, Wanda declares herself a monster and states Steve is one as well for defending her.
• I Hate Past Me: In prompt 147, Natasha comes to the conclusion that she hasn't truly changed since she worked for the Red Room and decides she wants "to be better than who she was", starting with telling Tony that HYDRA probably assassinated his parents.
• I Will Fight No More Forever: Some prompts, such as 133, make it clear that Bucky doesn't want to be an Avenger any more than he wants to be the Winter Soldier. He just wants to stop fighting for good and live his life in peace.
• Insistent Terminology: Steve Rogers always insists that Wanda is "Just a Kid", even when others point out that she's 26 and only a few years younger than Steve himself. He also insists that he's "fighting the bullies" whenever he gets violent with anyone who disagrees with him.
• Insult Backfire: A few of the softer stories are basically this, the Badass Boast, "The Reason You Suck" Speech combo is one example, another is when Tony calls Steve out on assuming everyone believes in the Christian god (based on his line "There's only one god and he doesn't dress like that" in regards to Thor in the first film being reused) Steve derides him for not believing in God, only for Tony to quickly point out that none of the others are Christians either.
• Jerk Jock: Steve is regularly portrayed as such, often condescending towards anyone who isn't a frontline fighter like himself. Examples include "refusing to be bossed around by pencil pushers who don't know what they're doing" when Pepper refuses to let him use Stark Industries money for personal expenses and a SHIELD report that openly states Steve has no appreciation for anything but combat ability.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Colonel Phillips in one story refuses to let Steve take the Super Serum, citing that a scrawny asthmatic kid with functionally no training would make for a terrible super soldier. Erskine's argument that being weak means Steve knows the value of strength is also shot down as someone who's never had any power is more likely to abuse it when they finally get some. Sure enough, Steve tries to physically fight Phillips over being denied the chance to take the serum.
• Just a Kid: Steve Roger's main defense for Wanda (and sometimes Pietro), despite them both being in their mid-20s. Tony in particular points out that at 26, he was running Stark Industries, Sam was in the Air Force, and Steve was fighting the Chitauri invasion.
• Karma Houdini Warranty: In many prompts, Team Cap faces consequences as a result of:
  • The public finding out about Wanda working for Hydra and Ultron.
  • The public finding out about what happened in the Siberian Hydra Bunker.
  • The Hydra File Dump
  • Team Cap's actions being recorded by a random civilian and posted on the internet.
  • Tony no longer cleaning up Team Cap's messes.
• Killed to Uphold the Masquerade: Deconstructed in prompt 123. After Wakanda comes out as being an incredibly advanced nation, several African nations start investigating citizens who went missing near the Wakanda borders. When T'Challa is forced to admit that people were killed or imprisoned to protect Wakanda's secrets, his nation is politically crucified.
• Know When to Fold 'Em:
  • Since Bucky's only motivation is to make sure he never becomes the Winter Soldier again, he tends not to listen to Steve's insistence they run and/or fight authorities and instead surrenders, which gets him the psychiatric help he needs.
  • That Steve doesn't understand this is one of his more consistent flaws. The very first story sees him and his mother homeless because he won't stop getting into fights with "bullies" and his hospital visits cost his mother her life savings.
  • As a king, T'challa is a Slave to PR by necessity and in some stories has to step down as king and/or give up Bucky and Steve, despite his canon response of "Let them try", in order to protect his country. Though occasionally it has to be explained to him that for all their advanced technology, Wakanda simply cannot stand against the entire world.
  • Any stories that deal with Civil War or the aftermath generally see Sam and/or Scott surrendering when they realize they've lost.
  • A few post-Age of Ultron prompts see the Avengers implode without Zemo's interference, causing him to declare the whole thing as "good enough" and cease his plotting.
• Lack of Empathy: By her own admission in one story, Black Widow views everyone and every thing as a tool (including herself) and doesn't understand why some of her actions (forcing Banner to Hulk Out for example) might be seen as wrong. She gets better after seeing a psychiatrist and genuinely apologizes to Banner, though she still has some trouble understanding why she needs to apologize.
• Leeroy Jenkins: When the Howling Commandos are set to take out a Hydra factory, Steve ignores that there's more civilians in the area than there should be and refuses to abort the mission or scout the area. Steve's insistence on charging right in results in several civilians dying before they realize it's not a Hydra factory at all. Naturally, Philips is furious with them for not even considering gathering intel when the situation looked off.
• Life Isn't Fair: In more than one story Steve complains about a situation being unfair (generally because he has to do something he doesn't want to). Any time someone hears him, this trope is the response.
• The Load:
  • Any time Steve is sent to the frontlines without being given the Super Serum, he drags down his entire platoon due to being physically incapable of keeping up, usually resulting in the deaths of his comrades and/or himself.
  • In prompt 130, Steve's mother berates him for getting in yet another fight and getting himself hurt, declaring that he's only making their already hard lives worse.
• Loving a Shadow: In prompt 113, Peggy tells Steve he's in love with the idea of her, citing that they barely knew each other before he went under the ice.
• Make It Look Like an Accident: In prompt 136, Steve breaks out of the lab he's in and shows up at a military base to show off his abilities and hopefully get sent to the front lines. A HYDRA agent stationed there shoots him in the head and acts like he jumped the gun in reacting to the man who just flipped a car, rather than deliberately killing the Allies sole Super-Soldier.
• Meaningful Rename: Or at least Meaningful Repaint, one short references the fact that Iron Man 3 and Age of Ultron the War Machine/ Iron Patriot suit had been returned to the original paint job, as opposed to the Captain America inspired one it held in the aforementioned film, citing that the events of Winter Soldier as causing Captain America to be a Broken Pedestal for the army.
• Military Maverick: Deconstructed with Steve who will ignore orders to go do what he thinks is best only to learn the hard way that the U.S. Army is very much not Mildly Military. Even if Steve succeeds, he's still harshly punished for disobeying orders; more often, he barely even starts before getting caught.
  • In prompt 101, Steve's refusal to follow the chain of command first results in the Howling Commandos never forming (as all of the other members aren't comfortable with a leader who will ignore orders) and later getting taken away from the war front to be used as a lab rat so they can recreate the Super Serum.
• Mind Rape: Wanda's actions are openly referred to as such by the Ancient One in one story while Wanda is taken away to either have her powers sealed or to be imprisoned for the rest of her life for her crimes.
• Mistreatment-Induced Betrayal: A few prompts have members of Steve's team turn on him when he makes it clear he only cares about "saving" Bucky. In prompt 99, Natasha testifies against Steve at his trial when the injuries he gave her from trying to stop him in Berlin left her wheelchair bound.
• Morality Pet: Tony acts as one for Hulk in any story showing the latter's point of view. In one such story, Hulk avoids "smashing" non-hostiles on the grounds it would upset Tony.
• Mundane Solution:
  • One story has Bucky proving his innocence in the Vienna bombings via the fact his downstairs neighbor can testify to the fact he hasn't left his apartment all day.
  • When told about the plan to steal the Yellow Jacket suit to stop Darren Cross, Scott refuses and instead tips off the FBI while Hank and Hope argue about her using the Antman suit.
• Must Make Amends: A story where SHIELD botched their initial interactions with Tony particularly badly has them returning the vibranium shield to him as a peace offering since not only is it worth billions, but it also belonged to Tony's father.
• My God, What Have I Done?: It is not uncommon for Steve's allies or even Steve himself to suffer these at some point in the stories.
  • In prompt 109, Hope is horrified to learn the final battle between Cross and Scott killed both and badly injured Cassie.
  • Stated verbatim by Wanda in prompt 112 after she watches a newscast covering the devastation in Johannesburg.
  • In prompt 131, Clint finds himself asking what he's doing during the fight at Leipzig. It only gets worse when Wanda's attack on Natasha kills her. Clint kills Wanda and helps Tony end the fight, then promptly hangs up his bow for good.
• Naïve Newcomer: The most common portrayal of Sam is a man with good intentions who trusted the wrong people because he didn't know the situation.
• Never Be Hurt Again: In prompt 112, Wanda reminisces that in Natasha's mind she saw the woman's "compulsive need to never be weak again, to be the best".
• Not What I Signed on For: Used at times by various Avengers with Sam being the most common and Scott and Clint right behind him. Sam states it verbatim after they collapse a tunnel in Bucharest (killing dozens) and Steve refuses to call Tony in to help deal with the other Winter Soldiers.
• Oh, Crap!: Black Widow has a moment when she asks Tony if he needs to step back from the Vienna bombing and realizes that despite his reassurances, Steve never told Tony the Winter Soldier killed his parents.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Steve's focus on getting through to Bucky during Winter Soldier means he doesn't stop Hydra's missile attack in time, Bucky breaks free of his conditioning long enough to whisper a horrified, "Steve, what have you done?".
• Painful Transformation: One story shows Steve's transformation going wrong, see Body Horror. Another sees Scott's Giant Man transformation cause severe and permanent sensory damage.
• Pay Evil unto Evil: In prompt 143, the Winter Soldier spends his days hunting down and killing every member of HYDRA he can find.
• Plausible Deniability: In prompt 100, Ramonda convinces T'Challa to turn in Steve and Bucky, saying they stowed away on his plane. While Steve tries to argue they were offered sanctuary, it's the word of an international terrorist versus royalty and no one believes him.
• Please Wake Up: When Natasha dies in prompt 131, Clint initially tells her to "quit playing around".
• Poor Communication Kills: A regular problem though sometimes averted, such as in prompt 111 when Tony tells Wanda she has to stay at the compound until her visa is no longer in jeopardy and acknowledges it's not her fault but people are angry and want someone to blame.
• Pragmatic Villainy: In prompt 143, Dr. Pawel expresses concerns about Wanda due to her temper and poor control, specifically citing that one of the guards she drove to suicide almost opened fire on others first.
• Prompt Fic: It is the substance kind. A person can suggest a prompt in the comments.
• Protagonist-Centered Morality: Any time someone he doesn't know dies because of his actions (directly or indirectly), Steve is liable to brush it off as "You can't save everyone". No matter who Steve says this to, they always respond The Dead Have Names and both they and their families deserve better than to be written off as collateral damage.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Connected to Badass Boast after delivering said boast Tony whirls around to tear into Steve, Word of God claims he is being effected by the mind stone which was in the scepter in the room at the time

  Tony: You, on the other hand, would be nothing without the serum. A serum you did not invent and that you have no idea how it even works. Without it, and without the shield my father made, you would be nothing but a pathetic little twig with delusions of grandeur. You lied on enlistment forms – which is a crime, by the way – because you were so desperate to matter, never thinking that your poor health would be nothing but a liability in and to the army. And you obviously never considered helping the war effort in any other way, effectively spitting on all the people who didn't serve, for one reason or another, and yet did their best anyway. You survived being used as a lab rat and started thinking you were god's gift to humanity. Well, guess what? The world did just fine without you for 70 years. In the 3 months I was held captive in Afghanistan, the world felt it through the drop in SI stocks and the economical consequences of that. My contributions to the world will live on long after I'm gone while you were nothing but a propaganda icon. You're strong? Well, the Hulk is a lot stronger. You are no longer all that special, so stop pretending you are. You are not better than me.
  And if you keep trying to intimidate me, or if you lay a finger on me, I promise you will pay for it. You’re a fucking bully and I’ve dealt with people like you all my life. I will not be cowered and I will not surrender. I didn't start this little pissing contest, but you can be sure I will end it – and it won't go well for you. You don't know a fucking thing about me, so who the hell do you think you are to talk to me like this? Stop acting like a spoiled child and back the fuck off! Obviously my father didn't know you as well as he thought he did, because he hated assholes like you.

• Reasonable Authority Figure:
  • During an interview, Sam admits to Pepper that he didn't realize there was a procedure for requisitioning resources for Avengers business while he was trying to find Ant-man after the latter broke into the Avenger Compound. Pepper lets him off with a warning and an order for all requisitions to be approved by Maria Hill first, since Sam was working on actual Avengers business and had simply not known better. Steve on the other hand is denied Avengers assets for his missions because he insists "it's personal" and as Pepper puts it, no one is allowed to use what's essentially company funds for personal expenses.
  • Tony makes it clear that while not signing the Accords will result in a lot of trouble for some of the Avengers (Steve and Wanda in particular), the terms of the Accords aren't set in stone and they can sit down and change anything that makes them uncomfortable. Furthermore, for several of the Avengers, not signing simply means they have to retire.
• Revealing Skill: In prompt 140, Happy tells Tony that the maneuver "Natalie" performed on him is one takes a long time to master, immediately outing her as a spy.
• Revenge Before Reason: Steve will refuse to work with Tony, such as signing to Sokovia Accords or asking for help to find Bucky, even if it'll help him because "he doesn't want Tony to win". How bad this turns out for Steve varies, but it never ends well, especially if Bucky learns he could've gotten the psychiatric help he needed if Steve just swallowed his pride.
• Revenge Fic: This is a fic for someone who thinks that Tony gets a bad deal and that Steve get away with too much.
• Rule of Drama: Anafandom readily admits some things are/might be inaccurate (legal and medical information in particular) but done in such a way for the sake of the story.
• Scare 'Em Straight: Once or twice Steve is arrested for lying on enlistment forms then later released to make him realize how serious an offense it is.
• Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Steve thinks he's doing this when he disobeys orders or break laws but it's actually closer to Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!. Unfortunately for him, neither works.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Members of Team Cap, especially Sam and Scott, tend to bail when they realize Steve only cares about Bucky.
  • After being rescued from an internment camp in prompt 101, the 107th have no interest in joining a team led by Steve and instead argue to be discharged, citing that they've done their duty and just want to go home.
• Secret Test of Character:
  • Natasha gets reamed out by her supervisor in Stark Industries over the poor quality of her work but, at her hinting, implies that it can be overlooked for sexual favors. When Natasha agrees, he calls security on her for being a spy of some sort.
  • In another story Natasha's mission in Iron Man 2 is revealed to be this, with Fury and Coulson already in possession of a more accurate profile of Tony to compare to Natasha's, she fails the test.
• Selective Obliviousness: So far as Steve Rogers is concerned, he's a hero and doesn't have to follow orders, deal with press, or "listen to bullies" (people who disagree with him). Naturally, reality disagrees and Steve frequently finds himself in trouble, usually prison.
• Self-Serving Memory: Steve near constantly views things in a way that makes himself (and those he cares about) look better, often at Tony's expense.
• Shame If Something Happened: After Tony murders both Bucky and Steve in prompt 145, he offers that T'Challa certainly could tell the Accords committee about what he did, but only if he's willing to admit why he's in Siberia unauthorized to begin with and maybe have to share where he got his fancy bulletproof suit from.
• Shell-Shocked Veteran:
  • Bucky is often shown readily surrendering if it means he won't have to fight any more and never reacts well to Wanda due to her Mind Control powers and past as a Hydra agent acting as a Trauma Button for him.
  • In prompt 153, Clint refuses to fight against Loki after being freed from his mind control, barely able to hold back a panic attack long enough to insist on not getting involved. After the Chitauri Invasion, Clint hands in his resignation and retires for good.
• Slave to PR: A fair amount of focus is spent on the idea that supers aren't universally loved and adored and need to deal with public opinion, especially after someone dies during one of their missions. Steve's disregard for the media and T'challa's recklessness both tend to come back to bite them, with the latter often having to step down as king due to public outcry.
• Skewed Priorities:
  • Steve's priorities are Bucky followed by his ego and himself then everyone and everything else. This becomes particularly tragic in a story where Steve spends so long trying to get through to Bucky during Winter Soldier that he fails to prevent Hydra's missile attack which kills millions.
  • In prompt 124, Steve tries to continue his fight against Tony even when the Helicarrier is obviously under attack.
• So Proud of You: Tony says as much to Peter in one story after the latter webs up and cocoons the entirety of Team Captain America at the airport in Berlin, especially when Peter rips apart Steve's argument against the accords and points out the for all his proclaimed hatred of "bullies", Steve is being a bully himself.
• The Sociopath: Most of the stories portray Steve as someone who has no problem lying to his allies when it suits him, feels a constant need to be catered to and acknowledged, and refuses to deal with "boring stuff" like reading and diplomacy, instead simply focusing on fighting "bullies".
• Stating the Simple Solution: The Avengers in general, and Steve Rogers in particular, are frequently called out for not simply informing the proper authorities, especially when conducting operations in foreign countries. Most commonly, if they had proof Bucky Barnes wasn't responsible for the Vienna bombing, why not simply present said evidence to the authorities.
  • In one story, Scott points out that if Cross is selling the Yellowjacket suit to Hydra, they should call the Avengers or the authorities, and then refuses to go steal Avengers technology. While Hank and Hope are arguing over if she should wear the suit or not, he follows through with his idea and calls the FBI. All the bad guys are arrested and sent to jail, and Scott never becomes Ant Man.
• Suicide Mission: To Steve's dismay in one story, neither Howard Stark nor Peggy Carter are willing to fly into enemy territory on the off chance he might be able to save some captured soldiers.
• Survivor's Guilt: After the rest of the 107th is killed in prompt 146, Bucky is wracked by guilt that they were killed because Steve saved him^note Because the base had been discovered, HYDRA had to evacuate quickly and decided to simply kill the other prisoners rather than transport them.
• Sympathy for the Hero: Ultron expresses some sympathy for Tony when he realizes people blame him for things that he's only tangentially responsible for at most.
• Taking You with Me: In prompt 138, Mike Travers, the museum security guard from Captain America: The Winter Soldier, uses a legal defense that he knows won't earn him a not guilty verdict, but will see Steve Rogers in prison as well^note Travers lost his job due to Steve stealing his old uniform from the museum and eventually went on a crime spree with an alien weapon he bought on the black market.
• Talk to the Fist: At times, Steve decides to respond to someone disagreeing with him and/or insulting him by punching them. It never ends well for him.
• Tap on the Head: In prompt 119, Bucky is knocked unconscious by a punch meant for Steve and hits his head on a rock on the way down. Afterwards, he has chronic migraines and seizures, leaving him unable to even live alone anymore.
• That Man Is Dead: One story sees Bucky decide that he's neither the Winter Soldier nor Bucky, but James (his actual first name) and turn himself in for his crimes to get psychiatric help years before Civil War.
• These Hands Have Killed: In prompt 118, Shuri is horrified to learn that during the car chase in Busan, she ran over and killed one of Klaue's henchmen^note In canon she did run a Mook over but because she was driving the car remotely, didn't know what it was and T'Challa told her not to worry about it.
• This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Since only two members of Team Cap have above normal strength, Peter is perfect for webbing up all of them to end the fight quickly and easily. For good measure he also webs up Black Panther when the latter tries to attack an incapacitated Bucky.
• A Tragedy of Impulsiveness: Defied by Scott in prompt 148. When Steve Rogers calls seeking his help, Scott acts like he agrees then takes some time to look up what exactly is going on. This is also an example of Taught by Experience as he's already gotten in trouble with the law twice for "leaping without looking".
• Trauma Button:
  • Hydra and Mind Control for Bucky. In one story he learns Wanda is former Hydra and has mind control powers and freaks out. When Vision demands his surrender, Bucky immediately complies on the condition they keep Wanda away from him.
  • In another, Scott tries to back out when he learns what's going on with Team Cap, only for Wanda to incapacitate him with her powers... until Bucky, realizing what's going on, shoots her in the head because of his own experiences with mental torture.
  • In any story after Age of Ultron, Wanda acts as one for Bruce Banner, Hulk, and Dr. Cho.
• Unfriendly Fire: In prompt 136, Steve breaks into an army base and is shot dead by a Hydra agent pretending he was reacting to a threat.
• Unwitting Pawn: Used all the time by Steve and his team to convince others to help them. Most commonly, they lie to Clint by telling him Tony's keeping Wanda prisoner and to Scott by only telling him "Captain America needs your help".
• Villain Respect: Ultron is rather impressed that Wanda managed to get the Avengers to defend her despite trying to kill them mere days ago.
• War Is Hell: A few stories have Steve learn firsthand the true nature of being a scrawny asthmatic kid in a war when he gets sent to the frontlines without getting the Super Serum. In each case, Steve ends up The Load and gets his comrades killed trying to save him. In another story, Bucky chews Steve out for always getting into fights and lying on enlistment forms, all because he wants to "fight the bullies". It's Bucky's last night in the country before he's sent to the frontlines and he's terrified that it might be his last night at home ever and he'll come home in a coffin. Every sane soldier is, whereas Steve just sees it as a chance to be a hero.
• What Measure Is a Mook?: A recurring point brought up is that Steve and Natasha dumping all of SHIELD's files on the internet led to a lot of agents and their families getting killed due to their identities being compromised. Likewise, Steve and his allies are ripped a new one over the cops they kill who were just trying to do their jobs and arrest a potential terrorist (Bucky).
• What the Hell, Hero?: If Steve isn't killed then he is likely to get this at some point.
• With Friends Like These...: To Scott's horror, when his transformation to Giant-Man causes severe sensory damage to him in one story, the rest of Team Cap (except Sam) bail immediately while Team Iron-man do their best to save his life.
• With Us or Against Us: Steve Rogers seems to have this view.
• Yandere: Any story about Steve that takes place during or after Winter Soldier shows him as violently obsessed with Bucky, even to the point of ignoring the disappearance and/or death of his other teammates.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: A couple stories have Bucky call Steve "Punk" to make him shut up and listen for once.