Steve makes a decision
“What’s this about, Tony,” Steve asked, crossing his arms as he and Nat sat down at the conference table. Tony had asked them to drive up from the Compound and meet at the Tower (Stark Tower once more—and they would need to talk about that before leaving today).
“I have something to show you before we begin. Three things actually. The first is this.”
Tony passed over a report, making sure that it went to Nat before Steve. He slid a second file over immediately after and then crossed his own arms as he sat back in his seat.
Nat read for a few minutes before looking back at Tony, cocking her head and then passing the file over to Steve.
“This is about Ultron,” Steve asked, flipping haphazardly through the report, much too fast to actually be reading the information.
“It is,” Tony nodded. “It basically says exactly what I told you guys. Bruce and I were no where near an interface. My technology was highjacked by the scepter, or an entity in the scepter, which now resides in the Vision. Ultron was neither my program nor my technology, rather it was information that was residing in the stone as implanted by Hydra through what appears to be about two years of research—that Wanda Maximoff took part in.”
Steve sighed, and then stared hard at Tony.
“I know that Ultron was an accident, Tony. I know that you didn’t set out to destroy an entire city. I know enough about you to know that you wouldn’t purposely try to hurt people, but putting the blame on Wanda is not going to take away your guilt.”
“You misunderstand, Steve. This isn’t about taking away my guilt. It is about doling out consequences for what has happened.”
“And what consequences are you facing, Tony,” Nat asked softly.
“Well, besides the fact that the Avengers were seeking to intrude on my research and development of various technologies that are ABSOLUTELY necessary to prepare a defense for what is still out there, I was looking at possible jail time in addition to several hundred thousand dollars in fines above and beyond what I’ve already donated to see to the rebuilding efforts for Sokovia. I was looking at being removed from my alumni-student mentor positions with MIT, which I take very seriously. And I was looking at losing my license as an engineer . . . permanently, as a result of misconduct in the field with sever collateral repercussions. The findings in that report as well as what I’m about to show you changed all that—though I have agreed to stop all personal production of my work barring communications for SI until I’ve undergone treatment for PTSD,” Tony added. “Fri, if you would.”
“Of course, boss,” the AI responded, and a large hologram of Tony’s position in the battle at Strucker’s base came up.
“What’s this,” Steve asked, looking confusedly at the fight taking place. He actually hadn’t seen any of Tony’s footage from that battle.
“Do you watch the footage that War Machine and I provide after missions, Cap,” Tony asked, a subtle reprimand present.
“If I have time,” Steve responded, but it was clear that the answer was no.
“Right,” Tony responded, rolling his eyes. “Well, here’s the gist of it, Cap. Maximoff wasn’t exactly honest when she apologized to everyone for getting in their heads. Well, rather she WAS honest, but her apology didn’t include everyone that she should have apologized to. You see, she got in my head first,” Tony said, and the footage began to roll once more.
The three of them watched as Tony moved up to the scepter and informed Thor that he had found the artifact. They then watched as Tony looked over the data and technology from New York that Strucker had clearly been manipulating. It was at that point that Maximoff moved into the field of vision and the red began to flow from her fingers into to Tony’s eyes.
His response was dramatic. Her jerked away, clearly upset by what he’d seen, grabbed the scepter and rushed out, trembling and eyes rolling like a startled horse. He looked, quite frankly, insane in that moment. Steve grimaced, but Nat was stoic as they watched.
“We’ll speak to her,” Steve said seriously, sitting up and giving Tony a reassuring look.
“That’s not all. Once I recovered this, I went looking for what I could from the base,” Tony said, and a different image was raised.
The Maximoff’s stood side by side. Pietro was watching as Tony moved to the scepter and reached for it. Wanda was smiling like a lunatic.
“You’re just going to let him take it,” Pietro asked in an angry, though garbled voice.
“Wait,” she said, and her voice was no more reassuring than the face that was projected. “He will destroy himself . . . and the Avengers with him,” she added, giving him a twisted grin.
Tony stopped the footage.
“There are a few things to discuss here. First, Maximoff was very obviously involved in my actions with the Ultron AI and the scepter. She wasn’t just his hench-woman, she had an active roll in his creation that she kept quiet. Maybe it was to protect herself, but it could have just as easily been to see me suffer further now that her original revenge scheme fell through. I won’t trust anything that she says on the matter since she didn’t come forward when we settled her into the Compound,” Tony said.
“Tony,” Steve began, but Tony held up his hand to stop Steve.
“I’m not finished. Part of her installation as an Avenger revolved around her expressed belief that she was not working for Hydra, but had come into the fold to work as a SHIELD agent. Cap, I’ve got videos of Maximoff clearly torturing more than just enemy agents. Hydra picked up innocent victims in the area for her to . . . train on. She tortured and murdered hundreds. Whether it was for SHIELD or Hydra no longer matters. As I said, this is about consequences.”
“What are you talking about, Tony,” Nat asked, sitting forward, and Tony knew that she had figured out that something was up.
“I called you here for another reason. Wanda Maximoff is being picked up and taken for trial as we speak,” Tony said softly. “This is non-negotiable. Not only do I have a very good reason to refrain from giving that woman any assistance, what I found from her time with Hydra would be more than enough to convince me that she deserves whatever she gets. Steve, you may hate what I’ve done with my life and how I see the world, but even you admit that my intentions have always been good. That is clearly not the case with Maximoff. Her intentions have never revolved around the patriotism that you try to attribute her with. She will do anything—lie, cheat, steal, murder—to achieve revenge. It’s not enough for her to want to do better now. She has to pay for what she’s done first,” he added.
“And what does this mean for the Avengers,” Nat asked, clearly accepting what Tony had said. She was clutching Steve’s arm with an iron grip, her nails drawing blood as she tried to force him to remain still.
“You have a choice. You stand with a willing volunteer for torture and murder, or you let Maximoff reap what she has sown. I will not support her. So, if you do—then our time together is at an end.”
“That’s fair,” Nat said with a nod.
“Nat! Wanda put her trust in us!”
“Steve,” Tony said, sitting forward. “I know you don’t like me much. I’ve done all I can to help you feel at home despite our differences, but I hope you know . . . I’ve put my trust in you as well. Will you betray me now,” Tony asked.
Steve stared at the brown eyes that were swimming with something on the edge of being broken. He swallowed and looked at Nat. Something that she saw in his gaze made her eyes go wide and round—a tell that he had never seen from her before.
Then Steve looked at Tony and reached for his hand.
“You’re right.” Tony smiled, but it slowly dropped as Steve continued to hold his hand and stared at him with something more than what this conversation was about. “Tony, there’s something I need to tell you.”