2
It took some time for FRIDAY to finally reach Tony (she didn’t bother setting it as priority, after all, she was a busy AI and she had a ton of things that needed to be done!). Save for Scott, they were all gathered in the Common Room.
“Yeah…?” Tony’s low, controlled baritone filled the room. It was clear his mind was elsewhere.
“Tony!” Steve barked, waving the printout of Tony’s email to him as if the genius was able to see through the telephone line. “What is the meaning of...of this?!”
“Hell, if I know,” came the rich, amused voice of the tech genius.
Natasha sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Tony…” her voice sounded world weary, as usual when dealing with the genius, “these petty displays of yours are getting increasingly tiresome.”
“Yes, you are so petty Stark!” Wanda shouted furiously, her eyes and fingers leaking red. “We do not dance to your tune, so you withhold our money? Ego much?” she sneered. It was a phrase she heard on a reality show and it felt appropriate to Stark.
“Baby Girl, give me visual…” Tony requested calmly.
“Sure thing, Boss…” FRIDAY chirped back.
In seconds, Tony was able to see his former associates in the Communal living space where they were collectively posturing--arms crossed forebodingly, faces twisted in disapproving, imitating scowls of righteous fury. Behind them, the living room looked like a tornado had hit it. Garbage was strewn left and right as none of them made any attempt to clean up.
And they saw Tony, in all his bespoke glory--sharp and neatly groomed. As well as the Accords Committee who were sitting around the conference table regarding the Avengers and their surroundings with poorly concealed surprise.
Save for Clint and Steve, the others instantly assumed conciliatory expressions. Steve continued to look ill-tempered, Clint couldn’t be bothered to give a fuck.
Steve gave a token nod to the Accords council members, silently bristling with wrath.
Because that was another thing! Any meeting between the Council and an Avengers, as a matter of formality, should have included him. Specifically, any meeting with Tony. It was quietly understood among the Avengers that Tony needed to be kept on a very short leash, to ensure that the tech genius, in his ‘enthusiasm’ did not screw them over any further.
He had little doubt that Tony’s runaway mouth was already fermenting trouble for the rest of them. Manfully he refrained from giving Tony the sharp side of his tongue.
But there couldn’t be a better time to push for benching Tony. He just needed to be very clear and firm. They would understand. “Councilmembers, please excuse my manners, but this has been an ongoing problem with Stark since we’ve returned. His continuous, childish antics have become seriously detrimental to the smooth functioning of the Avengers.”
He ignored Natasha’s harsh “Steve!”.
She had advised caution but his mind was made up. Besides, T’Challa had contacted him last week to tell him that Bucky would be arriving in the States in a few days. He had no intention of allowing Stark to be here when Bucky arrived. “I hate to do this, but this latest form of acting out has pushed me to a decision that I do not make lightly. Tony Stark can not be part of the Avengers.”
Natasha muttered softly, sotto voice, “Steve, you fucking idiot.” She, more than anyone, understood the delicate balance that had to be maintained with Stark. It was a choreographed dance of put downs, flattery, gaslighting and carefully executed manipulation.
And it had been working beautifully. For the most part, Stark remained in his lab and simply shelled out funds and equipment...just the kind of mark she loved.
Tony’s smile widened to a smirk at the fleeting look of dismay on Natasha’s face. “Funny you should say that, as that was just the thing we were discussing,” Tony stated cheerfully. He made a sweeping gesture and FRIDAY widened the camera mode obligingly.
Pepper was a smoldering ice queen, her eyes cool and collected but oh, so dangerous. Natasha felt her heart sink at the sight of SI’s CEO. Deep red lips curved upwards in a smile every bit as fake as Tony’s ‘greet the press’ smile.
Shit, was all Natasha could think as her mind scrambled for a way to extricate her and Clint from the sudden cliff the Avengers were approaching.
This time, she knew it wasn’t her imagination that noted the odd glow in Pepper’s eyes.
Everett Ross’s smile in no way touched his eyes. “Well, with Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts’ help, we have formed a second team called the New Avengers. This team will be led by Colonel Rhodes.” Rhodey grinned cheerfully, waving at them.
None of the Avengers had any doubt as to the latent menace in that cheerful, bloodthirsty grin. “Mr. Stark will be joining that team along with,” Ross picked up a sheet and slipped on his glasses, not that he needed to as he had memorized the list. “Dr. Stephen Strange, Spider Man, Hope van Dyke, Vision, Robert Drake, Jennifer Walters and Bobbi Morse--this is in addition to the Defenders--Luke Cage, Danny Rand, Jessica Jones and Daredevil.”
He studied another piece of paper. “And as your team will be severely lacking in air support and strength, Colonel Carol Danvers, Angelica Jones, Hank McCoy, Logan and Warren Warrington II have agreed to fill out your ranks, strictly on a temporary basis, of course; at least, until you can recruit others more to your liking.”
Ross exchanged satisfied smiles with his fellow council members; and hid a smirk at the look of chagrin on the Avengers’ faces. “And as such, since Dr. Stark will be a member of the secondary team, the Accords Council will be undertaking the expenses usually associated with the Compound.”
His face pulled in grave lines. “As Dr. Stark is aware, the UN and various countries of the world have provided a fairly large bucket in which expenses relating to the various superheroing groups can be charged. However, this amount is not infinite. Therefore, we will be moving to provide salaries to all Avengers of $25/hr. This will be based on a 20/hr work week to provide some funds for your personal expenses but as a result, there are some things that you will each need to pick up the slack.”
He beamed cheerfully around the room, pretending not to see the dismay in the eyes of the Avengers. The sputtering almost made him laugh; heroically he avoided looking at Tony Stark.
Steve glared at Tony. “Isn’t this going a bit too far?” he bit out. “Councilmember Ross, this is what we’ve been living through for months...anytime Tony doesn’t like something, he throws these ridiculous, childish tantrums that accomplishes nothing but further disruption of the team.”
Nat groaned silently and rubbed her forehead. When she dared glance up, a winsomely conciliatory smile on her face, it died under Pepper’s frozen stare.
Clint waved a hand, his lip curled in sneer. “Ease up guys, Stark’s out of our hair so all’s good.”
“Yep…” Tony replied cheerfully, taking great enjoyment as the realization was beginning to sink in the minds of some of his former friends. “Totally out of your hair...never to darken your doorstep again…I. Am. Gonnnnne,” he said, stretching out the word with relish.
Sam inhaled sharply, his eyes widening in sudden realization. “Oh. Shit…” He looked at the billionaire with an expression of dismay, who winked at him and smiled winsomely.
Steve, however, only heard that Tony wouldn’t be coming around anymore. His expression cleared though he eyed the tech inventor suspiciously. “So this is a complete break?” he pressed, making sure of Stark’s meaning.
He didn’t feel reassurance at the quiet laughter that rippled around the table. “Completely sure,” Tony assured him solemnly, though his lips twitched. “You guys are completely on your own. Scott will continue maintaining your equipment and I will upgrade them as I please”
“Thank you, Tony, I’m sure it wasn’t easy and I’m sorry I had to be so harsh with you, but I think we both can agree that this is for the better,” Steve said earnestly, all smiles now that he had gotten his way. No more Tony challenging his every decision or arguing with him.
Nat groaned and sat heavily. She covered her face as Steve happily pressed the Avengers’ Self-Destruct button. She wondered if anything of the last fifteen minutes had penetrated that thick head of his.
“Alright then, Mr. Rogers, I think we’re done with your part,” Ross said with an inquiring look around the table. He pretended not to notice Roger’s instant frown. “Does anyone have any questions for Mr. Rogers? No? Very well then, we’ll let them go while the rest of us hash out what we need from the New Avengers.”
“Wait…” Steve tried to protest. As the leader of the Avengers, he needed to be involved in whatever decision making process taking place in the Tower. But it was too late, the call ended.
Scott was leaning in the doorway, munching on an apple. He had delivered the new equipment and was collecting a couple of things from his previous lab. “So, you guys heard?”
Natasha turned to look at the engineer, her gaze flat and deadly. “You knew..”
Taking another bite of his apple, Scott nodded. “Yeah, Tony sat me down and told me a couple days ago what he planned to do.”
“You…” Her hands clenched in fists. Sam eyed her uneasily, thoroughly disgruntled, while Steve looked quite pleased with himself. Scott took another noisy bite of his apple.
Wanda had already grabbed her StarkPad, plopped down happily and navigated her way to her favorite shopping site.
Clint raised a hand lazily. “For those of us that probably missed the subtitles, why don’t you explain what’s going on.” He looked at Nat.
“Stark cut us loose,” Natasha bit out.
“I thought that’s what we wanted?” Clint frowned at his partner. She bent on him such a withering look of contempt that he flinched.
“Let me elaborate,” Natasha said with saccharine sweetness. She waved a hand expressively at the Compound and themselves. “Stark’s money has paid for everything, including the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the things we buy...do you think we’ll be able to order whatever the hell we want on a UN budget? Afford anything exotic? How about those upgrades to your arrows, Clint? Do you think the UN will be able to afford Stark’s consulting fees to upgrade our equipment?”
Realization dawning, they looked more than vaguely disturbed. “Wait,” Wanda lifted her head to stare at the spy, “does this mean I will not be getting my new clothes?”
Natasha laughed cynically. “You’ll be lucky to be able to afford rags.”
Scott slowly chewed as his eyes wandered over his chagrin looking teammates. He began laughing softly. “You still don’t see it do you?”
“See what?” Sam glared at the engineer.
“Not only has Stark withdrawn his financial and legal support, in a couple months, the UN won’t even need you guys...now that they have a brand new group that don’t mind oversight, that are actual friends.” Giving them a mirthless grin, Scott turned and strolled away, leaving stunned silence in his wake.
None of them heard a car start and leave the premises.
“But...we are the Avengers....” Wanda protested shakily.
“Yeah, but New Avengers implies that they are the newer, better version of us,” Sam replied, his voice also shaken.
Steve’s shoulders squared. That famous profile of noble righteousness fairly glowed with conviction. “Well, then, we’ll have to show them that WE are the better Avengers...accept no substitutes.”
“We are so fucked,” Sam heard Natasha mutter under her breath. And deep down inside, he agreed.
Three days later, they received a call to Assemble. Each of them knew this was their chance to prove who were the superior Avengers. Additionally, their new members had arrived.
Dr. Doom was attacking New York City, showering the City That Never Sleeps with dozens of Doom-bots.
“Wanda, you’re on Dr. Doom,” Steve ordered crisply as they entered the quinjet, “the rest of us will square off against the Bots. Clint, I need you up high and calling out a pattern; Falcon, I need you in the air leading them to me and Black Widow. Ant-Man, I need you to get inside one of the Bots and figure out how to disable them.”
“We’ve done this before, team,” Steve added, sharing an encouraging smile all around. “Let’s make it count....we’re fighting for our future.”
Logan and the others exchanged glances. “And us…what do you want us to do?” While admittedly they hadn’t had much time to practice, still they could be useful.
Steve did a stutter-step, his mind blanking. He quickly rallied. “Hang back, watch how we work. That’ll give you some pointers as to where you’ll be most effective.”
The five newcomers merely looked at one another before nodding. Their expressions were inscrutable. It irritated Steve, made him feel as if Stark was back, judging him.
Having received their orders, the others nodded grimly. “And if any damage has to take place, make sure it’s the Stark Tower,” Clint cackled, drawing a laugh from Sam and Wanda.
“Coming into range, Captain America,” FRIDAY suddenly announced over the comm. Guilty looks spread over everyone’s face, they had forgotten the AI was on the channel.
Deliberately Steve tapped his comm, switching to another channel, one that he had made Tony create. After Ultron, he had grown increasingly uneasy about the AI in the Compound. The others followed suit.
If she could sneer, FRIDAY would have. She monitored ALL electronic transmissions...including the one that was supposed to be so ‘secret’. But if they wanted her gone, then she wouldn’t say a word.
Not even the fact that they were about to fly into an electronic net the Doom-Bots had deployed.
Nope, not a peep would they hear from her.
Watching through long range scanners, Tony made a face. The battle was being displayed on the 85-inch television.
“Ooooh, that’s gonna hurt,” Rhodey muttered, his hand sneaking into the bowl to withdraw a handful of popcorn.
“Wha I miss?! Wha I miss?” Jennifer slid into the room breathless as she hurried back from the kitchen. She had a bowl of vegetables and slices of fruit.
“They just flew into an electrified net,” Rhodey replied laconically, his eyes trained on the screen.
“Awwwwa, their little plane is gonna go down,” Jessica deadpanned, deepening her voice on the last word. “Oooooh, yep, I think the plane just took out that building’s left corner.”
“Clean up, aisle 5,” Jennifer called. She had a sudden thought. “Hey, shouldn’t we be down there at least evacuating the people?”
Struck by that sudden idea, they exchanged startled looks and several swear words before they were scrambling to suit up. They raced out the building.
When Falcon was knocked out of the sky, Carol and the others sprang into action, a plan already formulated.
Angel soared into the sky, neatly snagging the falling, out of control Falcon. His pearly wings beating the air gracefully, he adroitly dodged multiple Doom-bots.
Firestar had been busy, shooting targets out of the sky or simply disabling them while Carol took point. Her powerful shots took out several bots, leaving nothing behind.
As for any of the Doom-bots on the ground, both Beast and Logan were highly effective in dealing with them.
And they were all ignoring Steve’s increasingly angry orders over their comms. After all, he hadn’t told them to switch, so they could easily be forgiven for ignoring him.
Interestingly to note, the five newcomers only caused minor damage--to the street and one car; Steve and the others had destroyed several cars, damaged buildings, knocked out windows and destroyed two storefronts in their efforts to deal with the Doom-Bots and Doom.
Then Captain Tight Pants had to ruin all their fun by switching to the proper channel. But by then, they had already made a huge dent in Doom’s forces but with less damage to existing structures.
“Angel or Firestar, one of you needs to come and pick Ant-man up! Ant-man, get inside one of the bots and see what damage you can do! Wolverine, Beast…on me and the Widow! We can clear up the bots on the ground. Marvel, I want you feeding the bots down to Wanda so she can take them out,” Steve ordered harshly. “Clint, keep spotting the patterns!”
There was silence before Carol drawled, “So explain to me why I need to waste time to throw the bots in the air DOWN to the Scarlet Witch? Especially, since I can just take them out while I’m in the air with them?! And why divert air support--we’re taking down multiple targets--just to pick up one person…who will only take down one target? I’m confused about this plan of yours.”
Listening in, Tony and the others were having a field day laughing; they had gotten the people off the streets, and now were just enjoying the shitshow.
“Marvel, just do as I order…!” Steve snapped harshly.
“Captain…” Firestar prompted, doing a lazy loop to come up behind a Doom-Bot. She effortlessly melted it to its constitutional parts.
“What?”
“It’s Captain Marvel,” she replied patiently, zeroing in on another Bot. “I’ve noticed you don’t say her costume title. She’s Captain Marvel, though technically, I guess she could use Colonel Marvel. After all, the Air Force did promote her once she returned from outer space.”
“It’s because I’ve already gone through Officer Training School,” Carol interjected cheerfully. Sighting carefully, she took out a Doom-Bot that was creeping too close to the Black Widow on the ground. The woman was already occupied with two Bots, a third would have been way too much.
“Officer Training School? What’s that?” Firestar ‘innocently’ asked. She sped through the streets, whipping around a corner only to stop, turn and incinerate the Bot that had been following her.
Several of the New Avengers were leaning against the wall, barely able to stand upright for laughing so hard.
“It trains soldiers that want to move into leadership roles. It generally teaches how to command, lead and basically think past the ‘Oh, shit, here they come!’ moment when engaging the enemy,” Carol said, rising straight in the air, two Bots on her six before she jack-knifed and blew them to bits. “All the military branches have a version of OTS and…”
“Enough chatter!” Steve’s voice was clipped. “Either carry out my orders or ground yourself! I’m not going to have you countermanding my orders, do we understand each other…Captain Marvel?”
There were a few seconds of cold, contemplative silence over the comms.
Abruptly Captain Marvel and Firestar met in the air. They hovered there before Angel lazily appeared from around a bend in the building with a long trail of Bots chasing him. He flew at the two, abruptly arching high into the air. And leaving the Bots to the two women.
He took off for more.
Ignoring the by-play, Beast had managed to triangulate the source of the signal. There was a central Doom-bot controlling the others. A quick word was all it took to hurl Logan at the central Doom-Bot.
His claws made short work of it.
Soon, all the Bots began falling.
Carol floated gracefully down to the ground, her eyes fixed on the fuming Steve Rogers. She spared a smirking Scarlet Witch a glance. “If possible, please extend your net to catch any of the falling Bots to avoid any unnecessary damages to the city.”
“You’re not the boss of me,” Wanda tossed that sassy remark at the mannish woman with a glittering smile.
Steve stood frowning at the woman. “You ignored my order,” he stated harshly. There was a vein pulsing in his forehead, denoting his anger.
Something Sam was regarding with unease. “Steve, man, maybe you should…”
“Shut up, Sam…!”
Throwing his hands up, the aforementioned man backed away, shaking his head.
Carol tried for diplomacy, well aware of dozens of security cameras on various buildings. “Captain America, perhaps we can discuss this…”
By now, even Clint was looking uneasy. He cast a desperate glance around, his eyes widening in angry disbelief.
Steve harshly cut her off. “I gave you an order, which you promptly disobeyed. When a superior officer gives an order, it is to be OBEYED! Have I made myself clear?!” he barked at her.
Wanda’s malicious grin widened.
A single blonde brow arched over Carol’s eye. “When I came back from outer space, the first thing the Air Force did was catch me up on anything I might have missed during my time off-planet.” She glided forward, her eyes turning cold.
“I would strongly suggest you acquaint yourself with the changing nature of military orders and decorum. Any soldier given an unlawful order has a duty to themselves, and to the ones they protect, to voice their protest of such order. They do not have to comply with an unlawful order. Furthermore,” now her lips curled in a sneer, “it will be a cold day in hell before I allow some jumped up, tinpot Fake captain give me an order. I earned every last one of my strips…did you?”
With that, she shot back into the skies leaving a gaping, stunned silence behind.
By the time the Avengers made it back to the Compound, the video of Steve and Carol’s confrontation had garnered several thousand views…and the amount of people viewing it was growing wildly.
It was evident that the clip would be going viral.
Within a month, the Avengers were finished.
The Avengers, led by Steve Rogers (no one was using ‘Captain’ as it became quite clear, since he never made it through Basic, there was no way he could be a Captain), had made international news.
--Wanda was brought up on charges of fraud, embezzlement (she obtained the credit card info from several staffers to purchase clothing for herself) and identity theft; she was also in violation of her Accords contract in which she was not allowed to use her powers on others unless specifically given an order by the Accords Council.
Ultimately, Wanda was offered the choice of a re-education program regarding the use of her powers and transferred to a European branch of superheroes; or she would be stripped of her Avengers’ status, her powers bound and imprisoned.
Wisely, she took the first option.
Unfortunately, she was killed a little over two years later trying to enact revenge on Stark who she blamed for all her troubles.
--As it was made evident his lack of training, Steve was immediately remanded to a special development program designed to provide him with the necessary leadership development he was woefully lacking. It was supposed to have been only a twelve-week course, however, it was extended to 16 weeks due to Steve being obstinate. By the three month mark, and with no improvement on Steve Rogers attitude, the Accords Council was regretfully informed that it would be best if Steve simply went through Basic again (at a closed base, of course!). Then he would be accelerated through specialized college prep courses that would provide crucial information relating to military, geopolitical studies and world history.
Though he railed much against ‘Stark’s bully boys’, Steve behaved himself long enough to get through the program.
Unfortunately for him, Shuri took fiendish delight informing Bucky of everything that had been happening while he had been undergoing BARF.
An enraged Bucky rejected Steve for accepting a HYDRA volunteer into the Avengers. When Steve tried to protest, saying that she was just a ‘kid’, Bucky merely pointed out how ‘that kid’ had been killed trying to kill Tony Stark.
Demoralized, Steve ultimately dropped out of the program. He was last seen wandering around America on his bike and when that failed him, he walked with a backpack slung over his shoulder.
--Sam was so entwined with Steve, that he was almost stripped of his Avengers’ status (Stephen had even examined Sam to see if he had been under Wanda’s influence).
In the end, they placed Sam and Steve in the same training program; it was there that a large majority of Sam’s views regarding the mythology surrounding Captain America’ died; he could not resolve the idiocy that was Steve Rogers with Captain America; he stepped back and took on a role within the Avengers as a flight instructor.
--Clint and Natasha, as ‘New’ SHIELD refused to have them back, became outright mercenaries. Technically, Natasha became one and convinced Clint to join her; they had been doing pretty good until a former SHIELD agent that had been burned in the Great Data Dump recognized Natasha and told his employer; the pair were never seen again.
--Bucky was offered citizenship in Wakanda and gladly accepted and became a proud herder of goats.
Several months in, he penned a letter to Stark (it took him six months to compose it) in which he apologized abjectly for both his part and the Winter Soldier. He sent the letter with a blanket he had made for the tech genius. The blanket was made from the hairs of the goats he raised and it was dyed in the familiar colors of Iron Man; he also included in the letter that he just wanted to be left alone and in peace.
--Scott Lang contented himself with video calls with his daughter. Shifting over to the New Avengers, he worked steadily, helping to resolve problems with gear with unfailing cheer and eventually becoming an invaluable member of the team. Tony even began throwing more work his way, making sure the man had the credit; Scott even started getting patents under his name (which went a long way of reducing his Child Support debt).
It took over a year of putting in the effort for him to actually see the difference.
One day, as he was on a call with Cassie, there came a knock on his door at the Tower. Impatient with the interruption, he put the call on hold to answer the door. When he opened the door, there was his little girl, holding her phone and grinning mischievously up at him with an unsmiling Maggie and Joe behind her. His little girl launched herself into his arms. Scott wasn’t ashamed to say he was crying. When he finally looked up, Maggie and Joe were gone.
--With all the Avengers gone, it was decided to do away with the name, leaving only the New Avengers title functioning. Carol took over leadership of the New Avengers, making Rhodey her second so that when she went on her frequent space trips, there was someone familiar to act in her stead. On one memorable return, she brought back the Guardians of the Galaxy along with several treaties and Articles of Alliances.
Five years later, when Thanos finally arrived at Earth, the universe was more than ready.
Still, thousands died defending the planet. However, in the middle of the battle, Thanos was confronted by several familiar faces. Faces he hadn’t seen in over a thousand years.
The Eternals opted to take on Thanos himself, leaving his armies to the people of Earth.
Earth and her allies succeeded in stopping the Mad Titan from enacting his gristly plan.
After Thanos' defeat, Stephen, Carol and the Guardians took on the onerous task of scattering the Stones throughout space and time--hopefully never to be used again.
In the aftermath of the battle, Steve spotted Bucky in the distance, his arm around a beautiful, dark-skinned dame. A bittersweet smile touching his face, Steve turned and walked away.
In the years that he had been gone from the Avengers, he had had a chance to get reacquainted with Steve Grant Rogers…and it would have surprised many people that he didn’t really like the arrogant, self-righteous bully.
So he began to change, and continuing that change, he wrote a long, heartfelt letter to Tony Stark. A real letter that took full responsibility, acknowledged his own petty jealousy and envy without trying to put the burden of his mistakes on anyone but himself.
In the succeeding years, long after Iron Man and War Machine retired, a new Captain America joined the Avengers. With dark hair and storm-gray eyes, he had a decidedly different approach to conflict than the previous incarnation of Captain America. This new hero was quieter, not as much willing to put himself forward but always willing to listen.
Bucky Barnes as Captain America was a welcome change.
Reading the article on his tablet, Steve definitely approved of the change. With that, he drank the rest of his coffee, paid his tab at the roadside diner then mounted his bike to continue his self-imposed journey to help the ‘little people’. Or rather, the ones so far away from the big cities that they frequently got lost or forgotten.
Whether they needed a strong pair of hands or a financial helping hand, he had both to spare. The latter was thanks to mysterious deposits to his banking account.
Watching Steve ride off, Tony turned around--FRIDAY would continue her efforts of spying on the former Avengers but Tony had already put the man out of his mind as he bent his attention towards his latest project: Space Iron Man.
For the first time in a long while…both he and Rogers were both in a good place.