Steve stood up.
"Maybe."
He pushed the document back to the center of the table.
"But I can't sign this."
The federal representative's expression changed.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. representative reached up and pressed his earpiece.
Tony stood up too.
"Steve."
Steve glanced at him.
That look was calm.
And very sad.
"Tony, don't let them turn your guilt into chains."
With that, he turned and left the conference room.
No one dared stop him.
A few minutes later, the news spread through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal system.
Captain America had refused to sign the preliminary agreement.
Captain America had left the oversight meeting.
Captain America's whereabouts were unknown.
Twenty minutes later, the national media got hold of another piece of news.
"Captain Rogers refuses to cooperate with federal security framework"
By evening, the headline had become:
"Captain America defects? Superhero ranks officially split"
The split gave no one any time to adjust.
New temporary regulations were pushed through within forty-eight hours.
The federal government established an extraordinary abilities public safety coordination group.
The New York police and federal special agents began joint operations.
The first batch they approached happened to exclude the Avengers.
Street-level heroes were pushed in front of the cameras first.
In Hell's Kitchen, two masked vigilantes refused to remove their masks after putting out a fire and were pinned against a police car on the spot.
Because those two masked vigilantes had set the building on fire while experimenting with their abilities.
In Queens, a young man who could discharge electricity was taken in for questioning because he had not registered.
The electricity he discharged had knocked out an entire block's electrical grid.
In Brooklyn, a retired soldier who used homemade armor to help move rubble was accused of illegally using high-risk equipment.
Two gangs at the Brooklyn docks