[REWRITTEN] You Chose The Wrong Side

The whole explosion that destroyed the remnants of Raft was to put it simply: Massive. Everybody could see it even from the other side of the City. It took some time, but the remaining heroes managed to get to the now c trashed and destroyed Raft before it completely singed to the bottom of the Sea. They found two bodies, both burned to the point of almost not being recognizable.

The worse-looking one was Graviton, whose flesh was fully melted away from his skeleton. The other was Tony, who was looking slightly better, but still pretty messed up. His armor was gone, just like his left hand. What surprised everyone was when Tony suddenly gasped for air and his whole body started glowing with weird orange color. His breathing was heavy, scared almost as if he was choking on his own lungs, but he was still alive.

The Vision quickly rushed him to the nearest hospital but as soon as the doctors took one good look at him, they just shook their heads and told them that there is nothing they can do for him. He was a lost cause. So, Carol kinda freaked out and told those same doctors that if they don't want to be a lost cause too they better shut up and get to work. Apparently, she still can pull out that scary look that had Tony shaking and nodding with anything she said because that was the exact same thing those doctors did. They took Tony and hooked him up to life-support and did everything they could to keep him alive.

The waiting part was the worst. The Vision told them all that Dr.Helen Cho was on her way with The Cradle so they could transport him back home, but neither of them said anything else for another 3 hours until Helen finally arrived in a  New SHIELD Quinjet, along with Fury and Rhodey. Helen immediately went inside the operating room Tony was in and took control of the whole situation, ordering Doctors around, who at first wanted to protest but when they saw the looks of the people outside, they shut their mouths again and did whatever Helen ordered and after another 2 hours, Tony was semi-stabilized and out of immediate danger.

Then the time to ask questions and get some answers came, much to Carol's inner distaste. It's not like she didn't miss Rhodey or Hope, but she wasn't in any mood to talk. The only thing she wanted was to beat someone up and who else could she beat up than the only man who could've called her and inform her that her Fiancee didn't die in Afghanistan as she originally thought he did.

That's right.

Carol thought that Tony died in Afghanistan, back in 2010. Fury himself was the one who told her personally. She was taken and Brainwashed by an alien race called Kree in early 2001 and reprogramed to believe she was one of them until 2007 when she accidentally got to Earth and met with Fury, who took her to Maria Rambeau, who was Carol's best friend from college and work. Carol had small flashes of her previous life but nothing significant but it was enough for her to turn on Kree and want revenge. So she left Earth and fought against Kree for another 3 years until she remembered everything from her Human life, unfortunately, Tony was "dead" so she left again, and this time she had no plans of returning if Earth wasn't in grave danger and Fury would need her help to protect it.

She honestly didn't expect Fury to ever call, and she as hell didn't expect to meet with Fury in a Tower that had a big red STARK logo on the side of the building or meet with Rhodey. She also didn't expect to learn that Tony was alive all this time and in Prison surrounded by super-villains. She didn't have time to throttle Fury, who knew about her relationship with Tony then, but she does have time now.

Carol flashed in front of Fury, who already expected that she would, and slammed him into the wall so hard that the plaster fell off the wall on the impact with his body. Fury grunted from pain, but that didn't stop Carol from lifting him up by the collar of his jacket into the air with burning, glowing, yellow eyes. The others quickly jumped to their feet in surprise but one cold look from Carol stopped them in their tracks and they were reduced to simple spectators of the scene.

"So, Nicky, is there something you would like to say to me?" She snarled into Fury's face.

"Danvers, I understand that you are pissed." Fury choked out, holding his hands up in surrender. "But this was the only way for Stark to become who he is today."

"And who died and made you the god?!" Carol hissed her eyes glowing even brighter.

"We needed heroes." Fury argued back. "We were vulnerable. More and more enhanced individuals were coming into the light every day. People with abilities that could destroy countries in days. Stark managed to create something that would be able to keep us all safe. We needed him. We needed Iron Man and if he knew you were still alive, he wouldn't continue his hero journey." He then met her eyes and signed. "And neither would you."

Carol froze for a moment before her face shined with realization. "You knew." she whispered. "You knew I would leave Earth when you told me he was dead." She tightened her grip on him and punched the wall next to his head. "You knew that he was alive!"

"What is she talking about, Fury?" Rhodey demanded with a dreadful suspicion in his voice, while Vision, Hope, Clint, Jane and Scott just looked confused.

"He knew where Tony was in Afghanistan." Carol answered instead with a deadly glare. "How else would he know that Tony would become Iron Man at that moment in time? He knew and he did nothing to save him."

"Director?" Clint called out with a look of disbelief but Fury didn't even blink, confirming everything Carol just said. "Are you kidding me?! You send us to live with Tony who paid for everything you asked of him and you didn't save him when he was kidnapped by The Ten Rings?! He was tortured for a whole month before he started working on Mark 1!"

"It wasn't that simple, Barton. You should know that better than anyone in this room."  Fury hissed, looking at the Archer who glared back at him. "Yes, I knew where Stark was and I also knew what the Ten Rings did to him." He looked at Carol and held eye contact with her.  "We got the intel on his location and condition only two days before you came back to Earth. Coulson was the one who was preparing a Strike Team to get Stark out but during one of the scout missions, one of our guys on the inside saw Stark's suit and reported it back to us. Eventually, Pierce made the decision to wait and see what would Stark do. I simply followed my orders and hoped for the best."

"For the best..." Rhodey repeated in disbelief before he exploded. "I spent two months desperately looking for him you Son of a Bitch! I searched every corner of that desert 10 times over before I found him and you are saying that you knew where he was for a whole month?!"

"We always had our eyes on Stark." Fury admitted, releasing a tired sigh. "We wanted to know if Stark was like his Father so we could recruit him in the future. That's how I knew who you were, Danvers. I knew you because of your connection to Stark."He then looked at Hope, who was glaring daggers at him. "We also wanted to recruit you in hopes that you could take the position your Father and Mother left behind but your Father refused to let you anywhere near SHIELD."

"I wonder why." Hope sarcastically muttered. "So if Dad wasn't keeping the truth about Ant-Man and The Wasp away from me what would you do with me? Manipulate me into joining your Boy Band like you did Tony?"

"Possibly." Fury nodded without shame. "There would be a problem with Stark because of your family bond, but yes. You would be recruited for The Avengers instead of Romanoff."

Hope blinked. "I'm sorry... What?"

"What family bond?" Scott asked at the same time, looking between Fury and Hope with burrowed eyebrows.

"Ms. Janet Van Dyne was Sir's Godmother." Vision answered instead, looking at Hope with a soft, shy smile. "I also believe that makes you my Aunt."

"I guess?" Hope admitted, awkwardly.

"What did you mean that Hope would be on The Avengers instead of Natasha?" Jane asked with curiosity on her face. "I thought that the Team came together on their own. Or that's what Thor said."

"Well, that's obviously not the case." Fury sarcastically pronounced as Carol let him drop to the ground. "Stark and Banner were always supposed to join The Avengers as the two original members. Van Dyne was supposed to be the third, but Pym refused to share The Ant-Man and The Wasp secret with her and threatened us if we would approach her on our own."

"Of course he did..." Hope signed and shook her head. "That's still just three members. There were others, no?"

Fury nodded. "Thor was the fourth candidate but he was obviously hard to reach so we had to cut him off. At the same time, Rhodes became War Machine and was originally supposed to be the fourth member. Barton was fifth and Rogers was sixth and final."

"That seems like a really farfetched team."  Scott noted. "I mean, Hope was obviously out, Thor wasn't even on Earth and I heard that Dr. Banner was in hiding before the Invasion of New York."

"Yes." Fury admitted. "That's why the whole Avengers Initiative was scrapped right after Stark became a Consultant for us and reactivated only during the Invasion of New York."

"Why was Ms. Romanoff sent to Sir?" Vision curiously asked. "You said that she wasn't an Avenger at that point in time, but you made it seem like that whole operation was a test run to see how would Sir act in a Team with her specifically."

Fury hesitantly glanced at Carol and then back at Vision. "I would rather not say."

"Why?" Carol dangerously pressed on.

"Because Natasha is a Black Widow." Clint quietly spoke up while looking down. "The Black Widows aren't just assassins and spies. They are master manipulators and... sex objects." He glanced at Fury with sadness in his eyes. "That's why you send Nat to Tony, isn't it? You hoped that Tony would fall for her beautiful eyes so she would have a better grip over him. That's why she acted so goofy with him even after we reunited in 2014, despite him being in a romantic relationship with Potts."

"Sir was aware of all of this." Vision stated and all of them, except Fury and Rhodey turn to him with questionable looks. "He knew what SHIELD ordered Ms. Romanoff to do but he was loyal to Ms. Potts, so he just flirted and.. cuddled with Ms. Romanoff, while also in presence of all of The Avengers, so there would be no assumptions that he and Ms. Romanoff were in a romantic relationship."

"Yeah... that didn't quite work." Clint uncomfortably grimaced. "For the first two months since The Avengers reunited, all of us thought that Tony, Pepper, and Nat were in an open three-way relationship."

"I remember that." Jane muttered, running a hand through her long hair. "You have no idea how much time I spend explaining to Thor what a threesome was." She flinched at the memory and shrunk down on herself, flushing red.

"I changed Romanoff's orders immediately after I found out that she was still trying to get into Stark's bed." Fury quickly added after he saw the look Rhodey send his way. "Instead of focusing on Stark, Romanoff was supposed to look out after Banner, act as his Handler. That weird romance thing they had was all from their side. Not my orders."

"How the hell was this a team?" Scott asked, generally confused while looking disgusted and horrified. "I thought The Avengers were heroes but you are making The Black Widow, The Greatest Female Hero of this century into nothing more than a robotic whore! My Daughter has posters of her in her bedroom!"

"Lang..." Fury released an exhausted and tired sigh while placing a hand on his sweaty forehead. "The World isn't black and white. All of The Avengers have blood on their hands, even Stark. The picture of The Avengers that the public created after The Invasion simply doesn't exist. None of them were perfect but all of them were on our side, ready to fight for our World and protect it." He took a deep breath and looked down. "And now Rogers and the others went Rogue and it's our job to capture them."

"Ours?" Carol snorted in disbelief with a dark chuckle. "You think that I will work with you after what you did?"

"How do you even know Tony?" Clint asked with a raised eyebrow. "It sounds like you know him but you never specificated what your relationship with him was-" He is cut off when a Doctor comes out of the room and walks right past them. Immediately, Clint jumps over the small table and grabs him by the arm with a sweet smile. "Hello, Buddy. How is Tony doing?"

"Ehmmm." The Doctor uncomfortably shifted under Clint's gaze. "I can't really say if you aren't a family or relatives...Sorry."

Rhodey was about to say something but before he could open his mouth, Carol was in front of the Doctor holding her left hand up for him to see a beautiful diamond ring. "I'm his fiancee."

The doctor looked up at them all, then signed and proceeded to answer them. "Mr. Stark appears to be out of immediate danger. I don't really understand what Dr. Cho is doing with him, but from what I heard, she placed him in a Cradle that is full of some orange substance called... Ex- Extra..."

"Extremis." Jane finished for him and the Doctor nodded.

"Yeah! That's right. Extremis." The Doctor smiled and looked directly at Carol. "I will be honest with your, future Mrs. Stark." Carol didn't wince at the name. "Normally, I would tell you to say your goodbyes, but whatever Extremis is doing to him, is healing his body at an astonishing level. Now, I know that this procedure is surely not legal, but seeing as you saved my home, my city, my family, I will let this one slide and not inform the authorities, but I think it will be for the best if you move him as soon as possible because this town will be surely overruled with paparazzi in a few hours."

Carol bit her lips but nodded. "Thank you, Doctor."

"No, thank you." The Doctor smiled at them all with a warm and grateful smile. "All of you saved us and we will be forever in your debt. I'm glad that I will be able to tell my kids that The Avengers are back and from what I see... They are better than ever before." His answer stunned them all to the point all of them lost their voice, so he took it as his gue to leave them to his thoughts and walked away.

"Doctor?" Rhodey called out behind the Doctor who stopped and turned around. "Do you think we could... We could go and look at him?"

"A small glance won't hurt anybody, but I  wouldn't recommend it." The Doctor answered with a grimace. "He is healing but he is still... Burned pretty badly, so if you have a weak stomach..."

"We understand." Vision nodded and the Doctor vanished behind a corner.

"I will wait outside." Scott said as they all looked at the doors."I don't actually know the man, and I really have a weak stomach..."

"I will stay out as well." Jane said with a supportive smile. "While I would love to see Tony again beyond the battlefield, I also have a weak stomach and I am already throwing up every day like crazy."

"Why?" Clint questioned in alarm. "Are you ill?"

"What? No! I'm completely healthy.  " Jane shook her head and pointed at her belly which has a small bump. "I'm pregnant!"

"What?!" Rhodey and Clint exclaimed at the same time, giving each other weird looks, while Scott grinned like an idiot, Hope and Carol just smiled, and Fury facepalmed. "A Human and Asgardian Hybrid." He muttered silently so nobody would hear him. "Just great... I will stay out here as well."

"You weren't invited to tag along." Carol snarked with a dark smile, while Vision opened the doors and She, Hope, Vision and Rhodey walked inside the operating room, where The Cradle was standing vertically, with Doctors and Helen running around the room like crazy people.

Tony floated in the Cradle, surrounded only by an Orange water that was Extremis. There was a respirator mask covering his nose and mouth, allowing him to breathe. His whole body was visibly healing but he was still badly burned, but at least his features were back so it was easy to recognize it was him. What surprised all of them was how peaceful he looked. He looked like he was in no pain which was obviously impossible, but it was like he was only in a dreamless sleep. Sleep that he apparently desperately needed for a long time.

****

“What have you done?!” T’Challa angrily demanded as he ran into the house that currently houses The Rogue Avengers, as they are known by the public now. A small part of Dora Milaje, and Princess Shuri, followed closely behind him, their spears ready for a fight and face expressions hard.

“What do you mean your Highness?” Steve questioned with confusion visible on his face, as he stood up from the dining table where He, Natasha, and Sam ate. "Is something wrong? Did something happen to Bucky or Wanda?!"

Things didn't go according to the plan. Wanda had a serious concussion after Graviton hit her in the head with some brick and had to be hospitalized, so Steve dropped her in the Royal Palace, but whenever he tried to go visit her, the Guards didn't let him in, no matter how much he insisted. Clint and Scott stayed behind to fight against Graviton, and they had found no new information about them, no matter how desperately Natasha searched the Internet. Sam himself felt guilty for leaving Scott, Clint, and even Tony behind to deal with Graviton on their own, but he understands that they had no chance to fight against Graviton without their equipment.

Steve still can't believe that some guy just took Sam's wings for himself. Those wings were built by Tony himself. How was that even possible? Steve always thought that Tony had built some defense mechanism that wouldn't allow anyone to use their tech against them.

"Ms. Maximoff and Sergeant Barnes are both fine. Barnes is still in cryo and Ms. Maximoff is currently in one of our medical rooms." T’Challa responded with a deadly glare directed at all three of them equally. "I'm talking about what transpired on Raft! What the hell were you thinking, Captain?! All of the inmates except Graviton are running free around the world. Their blood is on your hands, Captain!"

"He is not a Captain anymore, Brother." Shuri corrected with a spiteful voice. "The Military has officially revoked his title this morning, or did you forget?"

"What?" Steve breathed out, too stunned to say anything else. "What do you mean that the military had revoked my title?"

"The footage of Mr. Rogers releasing all of the inmates from Raft was been leaked to the press by an unknown hacker." T’Challa started to explain with gritted teeth. "The manhunt on all three of you, as well as Ms. Maximoff and Mr. Barnes officially began this morning in the whole world, not even those Countries that signed The Sokovia Accords. There is an order to shoot to kill if you don't surrender and show any signs of hostility. If you are going to be captured, there is a number of crimes you are going to be accused of and in Ms. Romanoff's case, there was even a word about a life sentence."

"Life sentence?!" Natasha screeched with angry wide eyes. "No Prison Break is worth a life sentence, plus I wasn't the one who released them."

"But you are not being sentenced with only your crime on Raft." Shuri darkly remarked. "All three of you are also going to be dealing with your earlier crimes like The Info Dump and Avengers Civil War."

"I was cleared of all charges from the Info Dump." Natasha harshly pointed out.

"Mr. Stark made sure that you wouldn't be prosecuted." Shuri pointed out with an innocent smile that made Natasha want to throttle the young Princess, something that the Dora Milaje noticed and immediately took a protective step in front of her.

“Tony can fix this.” Steve suddenly spoke up, looking at the ground while everybody turned to him as if he was crazy. "I just need to have one quick conversation with Tony and we can fix everything!"

"You don't know what happened after your departure from Raft." T’Challa noted with a frown, looking at Shuri.

"It is not public knowledge yet. I only know about it because it was discussed in the UN meeting this morning." Shuri shrugged at her brother before turning to the three confused ex-Avengers in front of them. "Graviton died in an explosion that sank Raft back under the Sea. Mr. Stark was in the center of that explosion as well and as of right now, is presumed dead but nothing is confirmed because Director Fury is keeping it a secret for now."

Steve’s heart skipped a beat. Tony had danced with death many times, surely he didn't die in something like an explosion! But then again, under all of that armor, Tony was only a human.

"You are saying... that Tony is dead?" Natasha whispered so quietly that nobody was almost able to hear her.

"We don't know." T’Challa stated his face softening for a moment. "But we did see the footage of the Raft’s explosion and it was massive. Nobody could survive that. Not even Tony Stark." He then turned at Steve and glared. "When I offered you sanctuary, Mr.Rogers, I honestly thought that you were an honorable man who was put in a difficult situation at the time. It pains me to admit that I have made a grave mistake of judging your character."

Steve flinched. He never wanted things to happen this way... "Your Highness, I…”

"This is a difficult situation for me." T’Challa regretfully admitted, glancing at his Sister who had a look that just screamed "I told you so" He looked down and signed. "When I brought you here I believed that you and your teammates would find a way how to redeem yourself for your actions, but that's obviously not going to happen anymore."

"Now wait a minute!" Steve interrupted, taking a step forward to the Young King, who was immediately surrounded by his loyal guards, making Steve take two steps back, and held his hands up in surrender. "We are The Avengers. I'm sure that the people understand that I did a mistake-"

"A mistake?!" Shuri darkly laughed, shaking her head in disbelief. "Mistake is if you paint your nails red instead of black. This is a freakshow. A total mess and it is on your head! Those people you are talking about, hate you right now, even Americans are horrified by your actions and are denouncing you and demand you to be imprisoned, Mr. Rogers, and you three are no longer The Avengers."

"What are you saying?" Sam asked with a confused look on his face. "We are The Avengers."

"The Avengers are a brand formerly owned by SHIELD and then Mr. Stark." Shuri slowly spoke as if she was speaking to a child. "After The Sokovia Accords came on the scene, Mr. Stark sold all Avengers rights to The UN and The UN gave control over The Avengers Initiative to The New SHIELD and its Director, Nick Fury." Shuri notices the bright look in Natasha's eyes and rolled her own eyes. "The New SHIELD was appointed by The UN to locate you so whatever you are thinking, Ms. Romanoff, it's not going to happen."

"As I said before. This is a very difficult situation for me." T’Challa repeated with a voice full of authority."Part of me wants to drag you before The UN panel myself, but I cannot do that because I would risk  Wakanda being under many political sanctions from the United Nations as an act of revenge for my reckless mistake." He signed and quickly moved towards the exit, not looking at them as he continued walking. "You will not leave this house without my permission. Consider yourself on house arrest. Your internet privileges are also revoked till further notice."

"What?!" Steve exclaimed in outrage. "You can't do that!"

"I am The King of Wakanda, Mr. Rogers, and this is my country. So yes, I can and I just did." T’Challa coldly responded, not even looking behind his shoulder as he just continued walking. "Define my orders again, Mr. Rogers, and I will throw you out of here personally. Do not test my patience any further."

T’Challa let the Dora Milajte and Shuri walk out of the house before him, before he slammed the door behind him, quietly cursing himself under his breath for his rash decisions. He knows that he should've helped Stark in Siberia and brought both Rogers and Barnes to face justice in the court of law, but his own guilt for his actions was eating him alive. He should've offered Barnes a good lawyer and help with his triggers, not hid him from the rest of The World. And he as sure as hell shouldn't allow Steve Rogers to enter Wakanda. Now, everything T’Challa can do is pray to Bast that nobody will learn that The Rogue Avengers are here.

He doesn't even want to think about the alternative...

****

"So..." Clint awkwardly trailed off, sitting down next to Jane with a comforting and friendly smile. "You are expecting a baby."

Jane looked down and smiled. "Yep."

"Do you know what it is going to be?" Clint asked with a clear curiosity on his face.

"I'm not sure." Jane bit her lips. "I freaked out when I found out because Me and Thor kinda broke up? Again..." She signed and rubbered her eyes." He came back to Earth three months ago and told me that he would be going on a bigger Journey across The Nine Realms because they were apparently in chaos. I kinda freaked out as every time he would leave for longer than a week so... Well, you know how we are..."

"Wait..." Clint stopped her. "So Thor doesn't know that you are Pregnant?" Jane shook her head and grimaced. "Yikes..."

"Yeah..." Jane rubbed her belly and smiled. "I guess we are just fated to be together. I want to be surprised by its gender but I honestly think it's a girl."

"Girls are nice. A brightful spirits! You and Thor will have your hands full! Maybe this Kid will finally force him to be more mature." Clint awkwardly exclaimed with a chuckle. "Did you think of any name yet?"

"I did." Jane smiled. "Freya. After Thor's Mom, Frigga.Freya Foster-Thorsdottir? Is that how Norse names work?"

"I think so." Clint shrugged. "Either way, she will be a Princess, and not just metaphorically."

"That she will be." Jane chuckled.

"Ehh. I have a question." Scott shyly lifted his hand up, looking at Fury. "What is going to happen to Me and Barton? Officially we are still inmates too, you know..."

"Not anymore." Fury cryptically shook his head. "I was talking with Stark about a New Avengers Team before this whole Raft fiasco. All Seven of you proved that you can work together as a Team, and with Rhodes, there will be Eight of you."

"Wait... You want us to become The New Avengers?" Scott asked with wide eyes.

"You already are." Fury dryly answered as if it was a done thing.  "The whole World saw what happened on Raft. The People saw you fighting Graviton and #NewAvengers is trending ever since this morning. I just need to do the paperwork and it's official."

"Uh, Hello?" Jane waved her hand. "I cannot be an Avenger! This was a one-time thing. I'm pregnant for Christ's sake!"

"I respect and acknowledge your condition, Foster. I'm not expecting you to risk your life in your condition." Fury said looking at her. "But, that Hammer chose you for a reason. It's like you said before. This life is your fate, Lady Thor." Jane opened her mouth to respond but Fury was quicker and decided to joke a bit. "Besides, where will you find better Babysitters for your Daughter than in the company of The Avengers."

"You are speaking as if this New Avengers thing was a done deal." Clint noted with a glare. "I remember Danvers clearly stating that she will never work with you. And Van Dyne seemed like she is on the same page as her."

"Danvers will stay because of Stark." Fury stated with an almost regretful expression. "She won't leave him alone. Not again. Love is a tricky thing and from the footage I saw, deep down, Stark will always love her too." He glanced at Scott for a moment before looking back at Clint. "Van Dyne won't leave either. She will stay because Stark is her only living family besides her Father. She won't leave because of her past friendship with Danvers and Rhodes, and she will stay because of Lang."

"I didn't agree to join any Team!" Scott loudly exclaimed.

"So you want to go back to Prison?" Fury dryly asked.

"No..." Scott muttered, grimacing at the thought of Prison and Cassies disappointed eyes. "Okay, fine! I will be on this team. BUT! I won't be part of a toxic Team like the old one apparently was." He looked at Clint and apologetically grimaced "No offense."

"None taken." Clint sadly smiled, looking down. "I am retired, Director."

"I can see that." Fury sarcastically noted. "Clearly you got put on Raft because you were rebuilding the roof on your house."

Clint signed in defeat. Everything Fury is implying is true anyway. Clint honestly thought that he could lead a normal life on a Farm but that simply isn't who he is, even Laura told him so many times. He is a Man of Action. "I will talk to Laura about it."

Fury nodded in understanding, before glancing at Jane who huffed. "I won't be going into any battles until my Baby is born. I am not one of your agents. I am not Tony. I will put my Kid in front of the responsibilities that will come with accepting this place on this team. You get that, right?"

"I do." Fury said. "Trust me, Foster, I am not so cold-blooded as it seems. Maybe I have to spend a lot of time around these guys but for some reason, I honestly want your Kid to have a good life, just like Barton's kids, Stark's metal kids, and now even Lang's Kid. Stark once had a speech about Legacy and I  believe that he was right. Legacy is important and these Kids. They are The Avengers' Legacy. Our legacy."

Jane's expression softened and she slowly nodded. "I'm in."

Just then, the doors opened and out came Rhodey, Vision, Hope, and Carol. All of them looked sick, distressed, and just sad. Vision even looked traumatized. Hope immediately dropped in the seat next to Scott and leaned her head on his shoulder, which honestly surprised Scott because he thought she was angry at him, but he said nothing because he saw the haunted look in her eyes. Carol glared at Fury for a few seconds before she just walked away from them with Vision following slowly behind her without a single word.

"Helen said that we will be able to transport him in the next morning." Rhodey quietly said, also sitting down at the seat in front of them. "He is healing but... He still looks really bad."

"Helen said that he might be mentally scarred after this experience." Hope spoke next, not even lifting her head or moving her eyes. "According to every Doctor in that room, Tony shouldn't be alive right now, not even with his Extremis enhancement. That explosion should've killed him..."

"I think you were right." Rhodey choked out, looking at Fury. "I think you were right about him suppressing his depression. Tony really wanted that he would die on Raft. He even said goodbye to Friday while he was still fighting with Graviton."

"Then it is up to us to show him that he still has a reason to live for." Fury responded with a voice full of confidence, hoping to give them all some inspiration and hope. "This was the mistake the first Avengers did. Rogers was trying too hard to shape them into a fighting unit while they were supposed to become friends. Family. Can the eight of you become that family?" He asked a then pointed at Jane. "Can you give these kids a safe place and people that will protect them and love them? Can you help a broken man like Stark to find the will to live? Or are you going to fail as the last Team did?"

"We can try." Clint spoke for everyone and they all nodded. "I know that Tony will fight with us on this but we won't let him push us away as his first instinct will tell him. I want this Team to work. Maybe even more than I did the first one."

"Tony is my best friend since college." Rhodey spoke up next. "I never gave up on him even if he gave up on himself. I don't plan to give up on him now. When I joined The Avengers after Sokovia, the Team dynamic was just professional, nothing friendly. I want to give this Team a chance and who knows. Maybe we really can become a family. God knows I need one."

"So it seems we have our first mission." Scott cheerfully exclaimed with a smile. "Save Iron Man from his inner demons and become a Family!"

Fury for the first time in a long time truly smiled. "Then let's get to work.”