It Will Not Be
“Captain,” T’Challa greets.
The Rogues were slumped in their cells. Half of them were asleep and half were daydreaming on how they would kill Tony Stark.
Steve practically collapses to his knees when he hears the King. “T’Challa, thank God you are here. We’ve been asking to see you since we arrived and they wouldn’t let us.”
T’Challa stands in front of the Captain’s cell, an unreadable expression on his face. “Yes, the guards were just doing their job as we were not expecting visitors today,” he says in his heavy accent.
“We were not planning to visit or we would have warned you earlier, but we were attacked-” Steve starts.
“Yes, your video has gone international. I have seen it, but I have questions,” T”Challa interrupts.
“Of course. We would not mind answering them, but...do you think we could get out of these cells?” Steve asks.
“King,” One of the guards pipe up, stepping forward in warning.
“It’s just that Bucky just had his arm cut off and we have been on the run all day so we are extremely tired and hungry,” Steve continues.
T’Challa stares at them all for several moments before turning to leave. “Release them and settle them in their previous quarters. Watch them and have them meet me in the dining hall tonight,” he says to the guards.
The guards nod and move to open the cells. Steve cannot help the smile on his face.
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Rhodey burst into Tony’s hospital room where he had been pacing outside. Pepper, Happy, Vision, and Sam all jump when he walked in.
“I have to go to the UN,” Rhodey announced. “They can’t just detain Tony.”
“Why don’t you just call them?” Pepper asks.
“My phone is broken and I can’t remember their number. There’s no way to find it since it’s a classified government number,” Rhodey sighs.
“How did you break your phone?” Happy tilts his head.
“Unimportant,” Rhodey huffs.
“I’m coming with you,” Sam says, standing.
“No, I will go alone and explain the situation. I need you to keep looking for the Rogues and watch over Tony,” Rhodey said, grabbing his things and walking towards the door.
The others watched him go, holding their breath.
------------------------------------------
The UN members were still sitting in the same spots they had occupied all day. They were waiting for more news to come in and in the meantime were still debating each other off the record.
Rhodey burst through the big doors causing everyone to suddenly quiet down.
“Colonial Rhodes, welcome. Please, take the floor,” the moderator said in shock.
“I’m not here for long, I just need to clear up a few things,” Rhodey said tensely, walking to the front of the hall.
“Yes, you also need to clear up why you all have been out of contact when we have been reaching out to you all day,” someone speaks up.
Rhodey sighs. “I don’t know why Steve and the other Rogues have been ignoring your calls, but Tony has been in the hospital since earlier and my phone is broken.”
Several people started asking questions. “One at a time!” The moderator spoke up.
“Shouldn’t we be calling you and Tony the ‘Rogues’ now since he attacked Captain America?” the United Kingdom representative speaks up.
“Well Tony-”
“Yes, did he attack Captain America?” the Austrian representative asks.
“No, Captain America attacked him!” Rhodey shouts.
“I knew it!” The German representative shouts.
“Then how did Barnes’ arm get blown off?” The French representative asks skeptically.
Rhodey pauses. “I don’t know-”
“Were you even there, Colonial?” the French man asks.
“Well no-” Rhodey shifts.
“Then how do you know what happened? We cannot trust your word. You are biased,” the French representative dismisses.
“How do you know Barnes’ arm was blown off? You weren’t there either,” Rhodey shoots back.
Everyone is quiet.
Rhodey sighs. “Look, all I know is when we went down to the workshop, Tony was beaten bloody and the Rogues were gone. Tony would not have attacked the Captain or Barnes, and if he did, it wouldn’t be for no reason. He was disabled to begin with-”
“What?” The moderator interrupts.
Rhodey frowns, sighing. He knew Tony would not want the whole world to know he was crippled, but the UN needed to know in order to not detain him. Hopefully his friend would forgive him. “Tony is in a wheelchair-”
“When did this happen? Why did we not know about this?” the German representative jumped up.
“Almost a year ago. Tony was crippled during the fight at the airport when he was shot out of the sky. He had a spinal injury and was paralyzed from the waist down,” Rhodey explains.
“A year ago? This makes no sense. We saw him about a month ago,” the English man spoke up.
Rhodey looks confused. “A month ago?”
“Yes, he has attended several video meetings in the last few months,” the moderator adds. “He was not in a wheelchair during any of them.” He looks at Rhodey skeptically.
Rhodey curses in his head at his friend. “He is in a wheelchair, I promise.”
“Once again, you have no proof. If Mr.Stark was crippled he should have alerted the UN,” the Italian representative shouts.
Again, chatter started up as the representatives yelled at each other.
----------------------------------------
Peter pants as he finally arrives at Shield Medical Center. He uses his small stature to slip into the elevator and rides it up to the ICU. Once he steps out, he runs through the hall, glancing at the rooms left and right for any sign of Mr. Stark.
Reaching the biggest room at the end of the hall, he notices a familiar face.
Peter freezes in front of the black man that sits in a chair next to the closed door. The man, who was looking down at his phone, whips up his head as he notices Peter approaching. “Can I help you kid?”
“Uh, yes,” Peter’s voice cracks. “I’m looking for Mr. Stark. Tony Stark. Anthony? Stark. Iron Man,” Peter fumbles.
“Why?” The man looks him up and down flatly.
“I need to speak to his friend Rhodes. Jake? Jack? James? John? Something Rhodes. I know that,” Peter stutters.
Sam rolls his eyes. “He’s not here kid.”
Peter’s face drops. “Okay, thanks.” He turns to walk down the hall, wondering what to do next.
“Wait,” Sam says. Peter turns back around. “Your voice sounds familiar.”
Peter immediately blushes and looks down at his sneakers.
“Are you that kid from the airport? The one with the gimmick? A red suit with things shooting out of him?” Sam asks.
Almost impossibly, Peter blushes harder. He checks down the empty hall before moving closer to Sam. “Yeah, i’m Spider-Man.”
Sam immediately scoffs. “Man? You’re like 10. Should be Spider-Boy.”
Peter frowns. “I’m 15! I’m a man!”
Sam laughs harder while Peter waits angrily.
“Do you know when Rhodes is getting back? Or where I can find him?” Peter huffs.
“He’s at the UN right now.”
“The big building on 1st Avenue?” Peter asks.
At Sam’s nod, Peter takes off running down the hall.
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“Please, take your seats,” T’Challa says as the Rogues walk into the dining hall.
The team all circle the table, eyes wide at the large amount of food that sits cooling.
Steve sits across from T’Challa at the other end of the large table. Wanda and Clint sit at his sides while Natasha sits next to Clint, Scott sits next to Wanda, and James sits next to Natasha, closest to the king.
Several servers come to lay napkins in their laps before T’Challa gestures for them to eat.
“I hope you do not mind, but I would like to get straight to business,” T’Challa says after a few minutes. He had barely touched his food, plate looking not dissimilar to the super soldier next to him.
Steve nods, forking another piece of steak.
“In your video, you stated Mr. Stark had attacked you and he is the cause for Mr.Barnes’ missing arm. Can you explain from the beginning what happened?” T’Challa asks, leaning forward.
Steve swallows slowly before placing down his cutlery. “James was in Tony’s workshop and I had come down to tell him something when I heard James say something about Howard. Tony hates talking about his father and immediately got angry. He put on his Iron Man suit and started shooting at us. He shot at Bucky’s arm and I had to fight him back to get him to calm down. I got Bucky out of there and then I was finally able to get Tony to stop. Then we all packed up and left and came here,” Steve recounted.
James fidgeted in his chair, keeping his eyes on the fancy table.
T’Challa was quiet for several moments. The team continued eating, waiting anxiously for a response. “So he attacked you for saying something about his father?”
Steve nodded.
“What did you say, Mr. Barnes, about his father?” T’Challa asked, turning to the quiet man.
James opened his mouth but Steve answered before he could say anything. “Just that he knew him, something super general. But Tony went crazy over it.”
T’Challa nodded slowly, eyes staring holes into each of the table's residents. “Why did he attack you, Mr. Rogers, if he was upset at Mr. Barnes?”
Steve paused. “Because…because he was mad. He was just going crazy trying to hurt both of us.”
T’Challa frowned deeper at that answer. “Besides your arm Mr. Barnes, were either of you hurt?”
“Yes, Tony hurt us a lot but we heal quickly because of serum, remember?” Steve answered.
“Was Mr. Stark hurt as well?”
“Not too bad. He was yelling at me when I left. He took my shield,” Steve says.
T’Challa stares before taking a bite of his food. Throughout the conversation T’Challa’s face barely changed from its expressionless look that carried suspicion in his eyes. Steve was happy to see a bit of the suspicion fade by the time he finished his questions.
“I am sorry to hear that gentleman. As before, you all are offered residence here in Wakanda until this is all cleared up. I am afraid I will have to get in contact with the United Nations to inform them of your whereabouts, but I will do that after dinner,” T’Challa says.
“Thank you so much, T’Challa,” Steve nods, returning to his food.
James stays quiet, prompting a look from T’Challa but the King says nothing.
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Rhodey curses loudly as he walks down the steps of the UN headquarters. He was rushing to get back to Tony and wanted to tell the others of the meeting.
“Rhodes. Mr. Rhodes?” He hears.
Rhodey turns around to see a teen running towards him, almost tripping on his untied shoelaces. The teen wore khakis, and a patterned button up shirt under a slightly too big jacket. The kid’s hair was a mess and he looked rustled as if he had just run all over the city.
“Who are you?” Rhodey frowned.
“I’m Peter. Peter Parker. We met at the airport. Well I guess we didn’t meet really. It’s hard to meet someone when you’re too busy fighting. But if meeting counts as-”
“Okay, stop,” Rhodey huffed. “Are you that kid with the pop culture references? Something-Spider?”
Peter sighed. “Yes, I'm Spider-Man,” he whispered. “But that’s not important. Friday told me to-”
“Friday as in Tony’s AI?”
“Yes, that Friday. She has evidence-”
“I know. But the UN said the shield doesn’t matter. There’s no proof that the shield hit Tony unless there was a video...Friday….” Rhodey trails off, eyes widening. “Smart, kid!”
Peter takes off after Rhodey who rushes to his car.
When they arrive at the compound, the pair jump into the elevator to head to the workshop.
“Friday said you know how to turn her back on,” Peter said when they reached the dark and quiet lab.
Rhodey looked at the large table of buttons. “I don’t know how to do that,” he said finally.
“What!” Peter shouted. “She said you knew how!”
“At some point I probably did. But it's hard to hang onto all that code and buttons and things Tony spits out. I’ve given up on trying to understand years ago,” Rhodey sighs.
Peter frowns, thinking. “Friday said she also saved the video footage on a file on the Stark Database.”
“That, I know how to get into,” Rhodey grinned. He immediately started typing in a series of access codes, eventually bringing up a hologram of billions of blue folders. “What was the folder called?”
Peter froze. “I forgot.”
“You forgot?!” Rhodey yells. “You had one job!”
“Actually I had several jobs! Give me a second, I have to think,” Peter says, pacing.
“Oh yeah, take your time. My paralyzed friend is about to be detained by the United Nations, but oh yeah, take your time!” Rhodey huffs.
Peter freezes. “Paralyzed? Mr. Stark is paralyzed?”
Rhodey sighs. “Yes.”
Peter waits for Rhodey to expand, but when he goes back to flipping through folders, Peter looks away and saves the questions for later. “I think it starts with 2S,” Peter says.
Rhodey types it in and is relieved when the 6,903,456,234 folders goes down to 82,453,268. “Anything else you can remember?”
Peter is quiet for a while. “I think it's 2S0T and something else.”
Rhodey nods, typing it in. 6,703 folders. “If you could just remember two more characters we’ll probably be good.”
Peter sighs, squinting his eyes closed. “Try 2R.”
There are 13 folders. Rhodey uses two hands to grab the hologram and widens his hands while gesturing around him. The 13 folders surround them, waiting to be opened. “You start at this end, and i’ll start down there. Go through each folder and look for the video.”
Peter nods, grabbing a chair and starting on folder 2S0T2R5.
The two go through several folders, some filled with complicated code even Peter can’t understand, some filled with SI business plans, and some filled with random transcripts of Tony’s scientific mutterings he told Friday to catalogue. Finally, Rhodey calls Peter over, the holographic video casting a glow on his face.
“2S0T2R0 has three videos in it. One with security footage, one with footage from the Iron Man helmet, and one that was created by Friday,” Rhodey says.
They pull up the security footage to watch first before following with the helmet video. They finished with Friday’s video, which merged the two videos and also blurred out important things around the workshop- like classified work Tony had laying around the lab and license plate numbers.
While they were watching, Peter couldn’t help but glance at Rhodes throughout the video, watching his emotionless stare. He thought he saw a tear crawl down the side of the Colonial’s face but it was gone before Peter could comprehend it.
“This will work,” Rhodey said after the video ended and they lapsed into darkness again. “I’ll send it to the UN now.”
“No, we should post it online,” Peter said.
“Why?” Rhodey paused.
“Because, the internet is saying bad things about Mr. Stark. They should see the truth too,” Peter said.
“I don’t think Tony will like that,” Rhodey sighed and collapsed onto the lab stool.
“They need to see it Mr. Rhodes. They need to see that Captain America is the bad guy. Maybe once we get the internet on our side, the UN will be too.”
Rhodey thought for a few moments before letting out a long sigh. “Fine, post it.”
Peter’s face lit up. “Where should we post it from? I mean I have a Youtube account but I only have like four subscribers because I only post me playing Among Us but this would be good publicity for my account since i’m trying to-”
“I got it, kid,” Rhodey interrupts. The kid rambled just like Tony and while he was used to it, they were kind of in a rush here.
Rhodey logged onto the Stark Industries database and posted the account through there since it was untraceable.
Only seconds later, the video started blowing up with views.
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Steve, Wanda, and Clint pushed back their chairs, stuffed with food. “Thank you so much for this fantastic meal, T’Challa,” Steve said.
Scott, James, and Natasha wiped their mouths and placed their cutlery down respectfully. “Yes, thank you,” Natasha said.
“It is no problem. I can escort you back to-”
“Wait,” James interrupted, clearly fighting with himself. “I need to explain-”
“King, there is something you need to see,” a woman interrupted. She used her bracelet to open a hologram and she enlarged it to show the room. It was a news cast showing a video of the security footage from Stark Industries.
The team were silent as they watched the video. Everyone’s eyes were wide as they watched Steve and Tony fight. James wanted to vomit and Steve was ready to bolt. When the news cast finished, everyone turned to Steve.
“Mr. Rogers?” T’Challa said slowly. “What did I just watch?”
-------------------------------------------------------
Rhodey walked into the hospital room huffing with Peter on his tail. “Okay, we did it.”
Rhodey paused when he finally realized why everyone was huddled around the bed.
“Hey sour-patch,” a husky voice smiled.
Rhodey had to fight to keep his knees steady as he stumbled over to his best friend. “Tones,” Rhodey said tearfully.
“Miss me?”
“Never,” Rhodey smiled.
“Hey Underoos,” Tony rasped. Rhodey turned to see Peter hovering by the door.
“Hi-Hey Mr. Stark,” Peter’s voice cracked.
“Get over here, Spiderling.”
Peter approached the bed slowly, frightened by all the wires and tubes surrounding Tony’s bed. “Are you going to be okay, Mr. Stark?” Peter said softly.
Tony sighed, looking Peter in the eye. “I will be fine, Peter.”
Peter held his gaze for a bit before nodding.
“Happy, can you take Peter home now? I don’t want Aunt Hottie to get angry,” Tony says.
“But-” Peter starts.
“Nope, it’s late. Go home, we will call you in the morning,” Tony says firmly.
Peter nods, following Happy out of the room.
As soon as the door closes, Tony’s face tenses and his eyes closed.
“How are you really, Tones?” Rhodey asks, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I can’t move, Rhodey,” Tony says softly.
“What?” Rhodey frowns.
“I can’t move my body!” Tony huffs.
Rhodey looks down at Tony’s body which he now notices is in the same position from when he left. His friend’s arms look pale and they lay limp at his sides. “But Dr. Cho said…”
“Dr. Helen Cho explained that the cradle fixed his spinal fracture but he still has to go through physical therapy to get everything working again,” Vision explained. “As of now, he regains little strength but is not totally ‘paralyzed’.”
“Can you feel anything, Tones?” Rhodey asks.
Tony opens his eyes. “I can feel my arms and my legs but I can’t feel down to my fingers and toes. My chest is on fire though.”
“Do you remember what happened?” Rhodey asks.
“Yes, I remember Captain Dickwad rammed his shield into my chest with the intent to kill me, how could I forget?” Tony rolls his eyes.
“It’ll be okay,” Sam says.
“No, it will not be. Steve tried to assassinate me and now I can’t move my fucking body, how are things okay?” Tony lashes out.
Everyone is quiet.
“Is now a good time to let you know the UN is summoning you?”