A different Charlie Spencer
“My son’s dead,” The woman hissed, her eyes blazing, “And I blame you,” she finished, slamming the picture against Tony’s chest.
Tony swallowed, and slowly closed his eyes as the woman began to walk away.
“OK, but do you also BLAME Tony for saving that young man’s life, and YOURS in New York? And was he supposed to just ignore what he saw when he did save New York, stick his head in the sand, and wait for an invasion to happen again on a grander scale—because his innovations MIGHT JUST MAYBE cause problems when they never had before,” Pepper Potts asked as she strode up to the woman who spun at Pepper’s comments.
“How DARE you,” the woman began.
“Save it. I know who you are and what you do. Will the request for money be coming next week or the one after,” Pepper asked dangerously.
“Pepper,” Tony started, not shocked by her defense of him, but certainly horrified at how she was speaking to a grieving mother.
“No, Tony. You ALWAYS do this. You take the blame for EVERYTHING, and then run completely off the rails trying to fix things that were NOT your fault.”
Pepper turned to the woman.
“First, the UN investigative task force found that neither Tony nor Dr. Banner were responsible for Ultron because they could not have foreseen how alien technology might possibly corrupt the MOST advanced computer security systems on Earth. Additionally, Tony’s compromised state (and I’m not talking about his PTSD, I’m talking about the mind manipulation that was later discovered along with the video files of the mission where the Avengers re-acquired the scepter from a Neo-Nazi terrorist organization) was a mitigating factor that he could have in no way prepared for or avoided.”
Ms. Spencer stood straight and hissed like an angry cat.
“Second, and more important . . . Mrs. Mariah Jameson, you are not the mother of Charlie Spencer, and this is an actor’s head shot, Tony; and I would have expected you to notice that! This is “Natasha the underwear model/legal assistant resume” all over again! Charlie Spencer doesn’t exist, as Friday notified me in the short minute and a half that she had to listen to this tripe because you muted her AGAIN. This is a ploy for money of the variety that SI constantly fends off because YOU WILL NOT ACCEPT that you are not responsible for everything that goes wrong in the world, Tony Stark!”
Tony gaped and the woman blanched.
“I’m Ms. Spencer,” she yelled.
Pepper rolled her eyes and pulled up the image of the man from the picture. Except he was on stage, and clearly acting. It was a picture for an upcoming stage production in one of the lesser- known New York theatres.
“You can see yourself out OR I can have you removed Ms. Jameson. And you’ll be hearing from our lawyers,” she added with a smirk as the woman glared, but hurried off.
“Ultron wasn’t my fault,” Tony said.
“Is that a question or a statement, Tony? Let Steve and the others blame you all they want. Put that manipulative little bitch up in the Compound like you owe her anything because of some adolescent, sordid revenge story—like there is ANY excuse to sign up to be a Neo-Nazi—but DO NOT make any more decisions for the Avengers based on their STUPID, faulty reasoning. YOU should know better, Tony Stark. If you aren’t willing to say anything to Bruce about being to blame for Ultron, then neither are you. And it’s just as much the Avengers and SHIELD’s fault for ignoring your very valid fears about how to handle future invasions.”
“It’s not my fault,” Tony said more emphatically, and Pepper smiled.
*****
Tony signed the Accords. He did not ask Vision to watch over Wanda in the Compound after Lagos because she is an adult and is responsible for her own mistakes, not him. He did not go to Romania to help Steve, Sam, and Barnes because they are all adults, and they are responsible for their own mistakes. When Steve, Barnes, Wanda, Sam, Clint, and some Bug dude showed up in Germany, an Accords committee asked that Tony, Rhodes, Vision, and the Widow to work together to bring in the ex-Avengers that were currently aiding and abetting a known terrorist (the Winter Soldier), and bring them in for questioning as a demonstration of how the Accords might work.
Tony and his team did not pull their punches. Tony took out the Witch first with a sonic device and then placed metal cuffs on her hands and feet. Rhodey easily took down Barton—he shoots a bow and arrow for crying out loud! Tony used his laser to sever one wing from Sam’s falcon wings before catching him and cuffing him as well. Once Steve and Barnes made it to the closest jet and Widow let them go, Rhodes easily knocked out Widow with a knock out dart and cuffed her while Tony used an EMP on the jet to stop it before it made it out of the hanger. Tony used his sonic paralyzer (despite REALLY hating that thing) and cuffed both super soldiers. The task force brought everyone in, and Tony went home. Later, when they asked where the bug dude was, he said “Who?”
Pepper was quite happy with how things turned out. She treated herself to a pair of shoes and got engaged to the man that was FINALLY starting to get it.