Change of Dynamics
It was the first time Tony gave a speech after the snap.
He was on bed rest thanks to certain people, and not allowed out of the tower very much.
But now the masses needed answers, and many remaining politicians were practically begging for Tony to give a speech. Pepper had to reluctantly agree it could be a good idea, as he could speak about all of the programs S.I was developing in order to help those who need help after what happened.
So up he went, with a fine suit, and his best press grin ready to work his magic and speak to the people.
Security of course became a big concern, and Pepper practically drilled that into Yelena (those two became friends so fast, it is scary, more scary than Thanos himself) that she needed to make sure everything was prepared.
But her concern was legitimate. Amist all of the sorrow there is also anger. And there are people that are blaming the remaining Avengers on what happened. He could somewhat understand, the heroes they counted on them saving them had been defeated. Then again, none of them knew that the force that Thanos was.
The terrorist group, the Watchdogs, was trying to use this to fur full their anti super hero agenda. So far they had little takers but......they still want to try.
Though of course, Rogers and Romanoff were the biggest targets, as unlike the others who either were still around with the law or weren't in the planet, those two had been out there as fugitives. The government had asked Tony to help with the security of the compound, something that Tony kindly responded with a reminded that he would have NOTHING to do with those two.
"I want eyes on all nearby high apartments." Yelena spoke as he finished getting ready. "Who knows who might try to become a sniper of the hour."
"Yes mam." One of the agents supplied by SHIELD said.
"Friday, did you check everyone coming in and out ?"
"Yes mam. All people have been checked perfectly, and none of them have concerning back grounds."
"Good....So I think we are as ready as we can."
"You can never be prepared greatly for this things, There are always angry crazy people out there."
"True enough. Doesn't mean one can't try."
"Excuse me Mr. Stark." A woman said. "You are up."
"Ok then, time to show my charm. Wish me luck ?"
"Break a leg out there."
With a smile, Tony went out and into the cameras.
Time to shine.
"Before we begin. I just want to say my deepest apologies to everyone that lost someone on the snap. It is a big tragedy. So let me explain in detail what happened. Two months ago, Earth was attacked by an alien warlord named Thanos. Thanos sought six cosmic gems named the Infinity Stones, which would grant him the power to eliminate half of life in the whole universe. Two of those stones were here on Earth. As you know, New York was attacked, and the guardian of the stone, Dr. Stephen Strange, was taken hostage alongside the local hero, Spider-Man. I had to take go in and try to help them. Meanewhile Vision was attacked for the stone in his head, which he was able to escape with the help of Wanda Maximoff. On earth, Colonel Rhodes along side Vision, Bruce Banner, and the former Avengers lead by Steve Rogers, tried to stop Thanos alongside the Wakandian army. As for me, me and my accosiates fought the titan himself on his home planet, alongside galactic heroes known as the Guardians of the Galaxy. I am sad to say that in the end, Thanos proved two powerful for us. He defeated both groups and took all the stones, snapping his fingers and......well, he got his wish. Twenty two days after, most of the remaining Avengers went along side Captain Carol Danvers to try to undue what Thanos did. But it was too late, Thanos had destroyed the stones, leaving what he did unable to be undone. Thor killed Thanos in the end, but it was too late."
Tony said some more things about what happened, and then he opened for questions
"Dr. Stark, where you on the mission to try to undo what Thanos did ?" A reporter asked.
"No. In our fight Thanos stabbed me and then I spent twenty two days stranded on space, some of them with no food or water. When Captain Danvers rescued me, I was barely able to stand."
"Do you know something about the destruction of Asgard ? Why are they rebuilding."
"As from what I know. Asgard was destroyed before Thanos came in, by Thor's older sister Hela. Thor with the help of Doctor Banner, who had been stranded in space ever since Sokovia, a hero known to them as the Valkyrie, and Loki, who I now know in good faith had been under Thanos's mind control when he attacked New York. And before you ask questions about him, Thanos killed Loki when he attacked the Asgardian ship. Loki sacrificed himself so his brother could escape."
"Excuse me Tony, I got some questions." A familiar voice said.
"Well if isn't my favorite reporter. Good to see you alive Christine. Sure ask ahead."
"Thanks, and before that, I am too happy to see you here. First question, from what we know, Colonel Rhodes and Ms. Potts both survived, so did some of your closets Avenger friends like Doctor Banner. Did you loose someone on this ?"
"Huh....I don't think there is a single person that didn't loose someone. You are right Christine. As far as I go, I did get lucky. Many people I care about survived. By I did loose some people I care about. Like one of my oldest friends Happy Hogan. Or the new head of the Maria Stark Foundation who became a close friend, May Parker. Nick Fury, who was my god father, also gone, I have no idea if my cousin Sharon Carter made it out. Last, I lost my protogee. A brilliant boy named Peter Parker, who had a huge future ahead of him, taken out of his hand."
"I see......allow me to express my condolences for those you lost. Though I must ask, with Mr. Hogan gone, does S.I have a new head of security ?"
"We do, but for security reasons we can't reveal her name yet."
"Well then. Second question, what are your thoughts about the rouge Avengers ?"
"I think we should only name the two individuals that matter. James Barnes, Sam Wilson, and Wanda Maximoff are confirmed victims of the snap, though the latter was in the process of making herself a deal with the UN i need to add. Such a shame, she and I had just started a new when she was taken. Clint Barton and Scott Lang are MIA, probably dead from the snap as well, and the two had already made deals. That just leaves Steve Rogers, and Natasha Romanoff, who as you probably have heard, have been pardoned given they do community service."
"And do you agree with it ?"
"Heavens no. I think that Mr. Rogers and Ms. Romanoff should be held accountable for what they have done. I absolutely do. They did not express remorse like some of the others did, yet the government got desperate to have Captain America back. But let me make this clear to you all. Iron Man and Captain America will NEVER work again, unless the apocalypse has come again. I have already told the government, and the Accords council of this, but I will tell you as well. I have nothing to do with Steve Rogers. I am not funding him, not giving him home to live for free, nothing. His future messes will be his too clean. I already made public what happened on Siberia. Which funny story, according to Ms. Maximoff, Rogers lied to his team about what happened, saying I attacked him and Barnes to no reason. So it is clear now, that I will have no connection to that man."
"That was quite a rant. I like it." Christine was probably already thinking on a story. Then again, she had been one of the leaders in destroying Captain America's reputation, specially in the US. Her power as a reporter was something Rogers could not hope to even understand.
Tony looked forward on what she was gonna write. But he had little care about how it could affect him. The Government was gonna be on his ass trying to get him to back up on his words. They were already dealing with a lot of black ash, he was only gonna make that worst. But it is their stupid choice and that is theirs to deal with.
"As I know, the Accords Council will be holding an meeting with the Avengers and those who wish to remain later this evening. I can confirm that Steve Rogers will not be getting the leadership position back as that will stay with Colonel Rhodes. You will have to wait until then for more answers about the Avengers, as I will not be joining the roaster for some time. I believe my presence is needed in more areas at the time. Though of course, Iron Man is willing to help if law enforcement needs me, and the protocols from before are still active. Now I wish to speak about the relief programs S.I is developing....."
Tony suddenly felt someone tackle him and he fell to the floor.
"Its just me !" Yelena said. "We got a sniper !"
Sure enough, a gun fire was heard. He should have know.
People scrambled while police and SHIELD got them too safety.
Another man tried to get close to him, but Yelena quickly used her own widow bites on him.
"Friday, give me a suit."
An armor came in and wrapped on his body. Tony quickly detected the sniper and got to the apartment before he could fire.
"Hello !"
He blasted the man, who fell to the floor in pain. Tony quickly went into the apartment and saw the familiar watch dog tattoo.
"Oh great, I was wondering when you were gonna show up."
"So this is one of the three groups that was supposed to come here."
"Yes." Coulson said. "But your new security head managed to stop the other two before they got here. She is impressive."
" She surely is." His eyes went to Yelena, who was interrogating the watch dog agents.
"I can't believe Natasha had a sister, and never told us anything." Phil shook his head.
"I mean, in her mind where she has to take care of herself. She could see that as a threat to her place on SHIELD."
"I suppose you are right. Still, we were all clueless about her. Clint might have known but......we might not have a way to know about him."
"Yeah." Tony can't imagine. For all terms and purposes, Clint had been a fun guy to hang around. He even wrote a letter of apology from his behavior on the Raft. Loosing his whole family however....he has no idea what that did to him.
"If you stop talking about me, i got some information for you." Yelena said.
"Please do."
"One of this men, was just a kid, forced into the watch dogs against his wheel cause being on the wrong part at the wrong time. They threaten his family if he didn't join. As soon as I assured him his mom, sister, and boyfriend were gonna be safe, he spoke without hesitation. It seems this guys have the founding of a Senator Ellen Nadeer."
"Nadeer. She always gave us trouble but we never had a way to hold her....until now. Thank you Ms. Belova."
"Anytime Director."
Coulson turn to his agents, but before he left, he had one final thing to say.
"By the way, have you spoken with Thor since he got here ?"
"Haven't have the time. I heard from Jane he is doing well, but is devastated."
"We have had some....weird readings on the ruins of Mjornir, if he can, I should take a look."
"Well I was planning on visiting him and Bruce so...sure, I can tell him."
"Thanks....oh, shit. I almost forgot the most important thing. We found Sharon, she's alive on madripool."
Now that.....that was the best news all day.
His cousin, little Sharon, is still alive.
"Thank you, truly. I will see her be brough back home."
He said goodbye to Coulson and left with Yelena.
"Who is this Sharon Is she a girlfriend or..."
"Oh hell no. Sharon is my cousin ! She is family to me. Besides Sharon is many things, but she is not straight. The last thing she will ever do is get in bed with a man."
"Oh..."
"I need to get her, and pay Thor a visit. You are up for a trip ?"
"Sure. And it is on my contract that i must go so.....when do we leave ?"
"Senator Ellen Nadeer has been arrested today after it was discovered she secretly provided the terrorist group the Watchdogs, after a failed assassination attempt on Tony Stark, an act that most people are calling, extremely stupid with the way it was handled. Nadeer has been removed from her post, and is currently awaiting trial, the woman yelling that she is doing the right thing by getting rid of all enhanced. On other news..."
Steve sighted after he saw the news. He is greatly relieved that Tony is ok. Very relieved. indeed. If his love died, then he did not know what he would do.
But another part of him can't help but be disappointed. This would not have happened if Tony didn't insist on putting such a distance from them. Steve had already apologized, there is no reason to continue it. If he had been there, Steve would have stopped it from happening.
And the slander that he said against Natasha and him was just not fair. They were fighting to do the right thing. The people were just confused. He stopped watching the interview about that point. When some idiot reporter asked of Tony was gonna continue with the Avengers, the answer was quite obvious.
He plans to tell Tony this when they finally meet at the meeting.
A UN secretary had called for a meeting about how the Avengers would continue on after the snap. No doubt that Steve would be made the leader of the team for sure, but he needs to be clear he won't allow the government to control him.
Tony is also bound to be here. And he and Steve can finally talk, they can put everything behind them and start anew. And then they can explore the new path, when Steve reveals his feelings to Tony, and he will see he is the perfect match for him.
"Mr. Rogers, Ms. Romanoff." A secretary greeted them. Steve had to grip his fists. He still can't believe they actually took his Captain title from him. It was not fair. "Please come in, Colonel Rhodes is waiting inside."
They nodded at her, and enter the room.
Rhodes was there, speaking with a african american man he did not know. On the table, Bruce was also there, sitting at his side was the woman Steve believed that he and Thor spoke about. Danvers was also here, and Steve was greatly suprised at that, he expected her to be in space. Besides her was a woman, that once again, he didn't know. Then there was a set of four people. Three men, and a woman. All unknown to him.
Steve looked around, but Tony was not there....
Natasha went pass him and went to speak to Bruce.
"Hey Bruce."
The man turned to her, a....strange glint on his eye.
"Romanoff." He said coldly. Before turning back to his companion. One that Steve didn't miss how she glared at Natasha.
Steve felt disappointed at Bruce. Natasha had tried to speak to him, and he was always cold towards her. She did what she had too in Sokovia. He should be over it by now.
"Rogers, Romanoff." Rhodes finally spoke to them. "Please take a seat, we will start shortly."
Steve and Natasha sat down, and waited.
Rhodes ended up talking with the man, and then sat down himself.
"Ladies, Gentlemen." The man said. "My name is Secretary Fredrwick Browly. I am the new US representative of the Accords Council after Everett Ross died on the snap. So let us begin..."
"Wait." Steve said. "Where is Tony ?"
Rhodes and Bruce turned to look at him. "What ?"
"Tony, I mean he is an Avenger, he should be here."
Rhodes sighted. "Tony is not an Avenger, he retired."
"What !"
That can't be true, Tony is an Avenger !
"What do you mean he is retired ?" Natasha asked.
"He chose not to come back to the team. That is all."
"But what of Iron Man, did he give up the suit ?"
"Mr. Stark is still a signee of the Accords." Browly said. "That does not require him to be an Avenger. He has assure that should Iron Man be truly needed, he'll be there."
Rhodes nodded. "As it stands, Tony is looking for other ways to help with the snap, as himself, rather than as a super hero. There is little Iron Man can do about that, but Tony Stark on the other hand, can help a lot of people."
Steve sat silently. How come Tony doesn't want to be an Avenger ? Doesn't he want to fight alongside Steve ? This is all wrong.....
"I also heard that Thor has decided not to return to the team." Browly said.
"Indeed. His focus is on rebuilding Asgard and helping his people." Bruce said. "He will be a reserve like Tony."
Steve couldn't believe it. First Tony and now Thor is not returning as well.
"And of course, I am just for emergencies, I will dedicate mosty to lab work."
"Right. As much as our old members are sadly gone, we had to get them to new members. We will be joined by Captain Danvers, who has decided to stay on Earth, Agent Johnson from SHIELD, AKA, Quake, the Valkyrie, who is acting as the Asgardian member in the team, and the Defenders, which are Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Danny Rand, and Daredevil."
“Daredevil, isn’t he gonna tell his name ?” Natasha asked.
“Signes aren’t required to make their identity public. Tony made that clause long ago.”
He didn’t tell them the person that was made for was no longer here....
Steve shook his head. “This can’t be. If we are gonna be a team we need to trust each other.”
“Hey, if he doesn’t want to tell you, he doesn’t have to.” Jessica Jones said. “That’s the law.”
Steve shook his head. “If I’m gonna lead this team, I need to know everything about everyone.”
All in the room stayed silent at that.
“Ok.” Daisy said. “I’m making it clear. I won’t follow this man into any sort of battle. Not after what his done.”
“Yeah. Same for me.” Valkyrie said. “I had enough shitty leaders.”
Rhodes closed his eyes like he was praying for patience.
“Rogers. I don’t know where you got that idea. But I’ll tell you this once. You are not the leader of the Avengers. You are not in charge here !”
Steve couldn’t believe it. “I’ve lead this team before !”
“Yeah, and you made a international mess with it. One that left me paralyzed. Tony almost dead, and many people actually dead. You ignore borders and do what you please. Not to mention you still have to do the community service you were sentenced to. And either way, Colonel outranks Captain, which you were never truly one, so deal with it.”
Steve stayed silent at that. How could Rhodes treat him like that ? It won’t go well for him, when he and Tony reuinite.
Browly coughed. “Anyway. Mr. Rogers. Colonel Rhodes will be leading the team. And Captain Danvers will serve as the second in command. Now onto more regulations...”
Steve couldn’t believe all of this. Why can’t they still realize that the Accords are dangerous. The best hands are their own. They should all know this.
They kept talking about new rules and regulations, and Steve couldn’t understand, why can’t things go back to how they where ?
“What do you mean we need to find a way to provide for ourselves !”
“Mr. Rogers. The Accords Council pays for missions, not just for being an Avenger. If you want extra money, you must find employement.”
“Like all of us.” Jessica said. “You aren’t an special cookie. Get a job like everyone else.”
“Well Tony did use to pay for everything they wanted.” Bruce said.
“And Mr. Stark has made it clear he wants nothing to do with him so....welcome to the trap world.” Like finished.
“I can already tell this two are gonna be a wonder to deal with.” Carol mumbled.
Steve gripped his fists. This newbies can’t tell him how things should go. He is the first Avenger !
But it then cleared to him. Tony, Tony is the key to fix this.
With Tony at his side, Steve can get rid of all this pointless rules, and reclaim the leader position.
He can also get Tony to come back to the team, to him. His place is here, with his family.
And when Steve shows him how much he loves him, he will see that Steve is right.
Then they’ll be together, and everything will be perfect.
With that in mind, Steve halved listened to the meeting. He was resolved on meeting with Tony as soon as possible, and finally start fixing everything. He might not have Bucky anymore, but he will still have a life he dreams of. One that he deserves.