Chapter 23
Steve looked around the new compounds open kitchen. Everything was grey and sleek, shiny and modern. He hated it. The grounds were massive and there were already people arriving with supplies and equipment. Exposed beams and concrete, high ceilings and open balconies; it was Stark all over again. Why couldn’t Stark ever design a place that was comfortable, that he would want to be in?
“So how do you like it?”
Steve half turned to look at Natasha behind him, “it’s alright.”
The look she gave him was skeptical, “no, really, how do you like it?”
Steve turned back to look at the kitchen and table in front of him before turning and leading the way back, Natasha followed. “It’s just like Stark.”
“Yeah, he tends to think if it costs a lot of money its better. Usually Pepper is in charge of any decorating. She actually has a sense of style.”
“What do you think?”
“Eh, I don’t really care. I mean, he asked for my opinion, but this is as good as anything. As long as he got my rooms right. I’m used to it, it’s not that different from SHIELD.”
“That’s true,” Steve remembered that, Stark asking if they had any preferences. He’d actually tried to set up an appointment with the interior designer for him. As if Steve was interested in all of that, he had more important things to do. Looking around at all the grey tile and chrome he regretted letting Stark do what he wanted. ‘I should have known it would be ugly.’
“Rogers, Romanoff.” Miss Hill’s voice came from behind them.
Turning to look at Maria Hill, Steve saw the stack of paperwork in her hands.
“Now that the compound is ready to be moved into, we have some paperwork to go over. Would you like me to have one of the lawyers go over it with you, or are you okay with reading it yourself?”
“Paperwork?” Steve walked over to Miss Hill.
“Yes. Stark Industries is a multinational, multibillion-dollar company that employs over two hundred thousand people worldwide. It further directly supports approximately eight hundred thousand people through related industries who rely, to a large extent, on Stark Industries by either selling things to, or buying things from them. All of that means they have a massive impact on the world economy. Dr. Stark and Ms. Potts have always been very mindful of that. Ever since SHIELD fell, Tony and the SI board have been maneuvering to create some barriers between the Avengers and SI.”
“Barriers?”
Natasha turned her head slightly towards Steve as she answered, reaching out to the stack of paperwork Miss Hill was holding. “Legal and financial. If the Avengers get in trouble with the law or are sued by someone because their car got totaled by the bad guy of the week, SI will be safe. No one can go after the Avengers hoping to get Stark’s money.”
Steve was confused, “what?”
“It will be good for us too. Do you know how many people have sued Stark over the years? It’s probably in the hundreds. That’s what happens when you have the kind of money Stark does, everyone wants a piece of it. This will keep them from bothering us, when what they really want is Stark.” Natasha was flipping through pages as she spoke. “And no one will try to go through SI to get control of us. We’ll be separate.”
Steve nodded and took his own stack, “so what are these ‘barriers’?”
Miss Hill straightened up and took the tablet that had been tucked under her arm in hand. “Basically, it solidifies the legal entity of ‘The Avengers’ and specifies who is responsible for the team. The ‘owners’ if you will. At this point in time that would be you two and Agent Barton.”
“Thor is considered an alien, and so has no legal identity. Dr. Stark has been working with the UN to try to get his legal identity established and there is a preliminary agreement in the paperwork that states that once Thor can be included, he’ll be grandfathered in; if he accepts. You'll have to get his signature the next time you see him.”
“As both Drs. Banner and Stark are only listed as consultants on the Avengers roster, they are not owners of the Avengers brand. Wilson has no ranking at this time, that will have to be something the three of you decide on.”
Natasha looked up in surprise, “Stark didn’t list himself as an owner?”
“No. He is listed as a consultant as well as a donor. The Avengers have been incorporated as a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Dr. Stark has listed his contributions as a donation.”
“Hm,” Natasha nodded knowingly.
“What?”
“It’s for tax purposes. He can ‘donate’ all the money he wants, and he won’t have to pay taxes on it if we’re listed as a charity. He’s saving money. He’ll probably still try to act like he’s in charge, but we can put a stop to that and point at these papers. He’ll argue, but he wrote the papers. It’ll be his own fault.”
Natasha had answered before Maria could, and neither of the two noticed as her eyebrows went up in surprise briefly.
Steve wasn’t surprised; wasn’t that always the way the rich became rich. By letting everyone else pay. But it looked like this time, Stark had shot himself in the foot trying to save money. “He’ll keep paying for everything, right?”
“That’s another thing,” Maria tapped her tablet to turn it on, “you are aware of the Avengers merchandise, correct?”
Seeing their confirming nods, she went on, “as The Avengers have been separated entirely from SI, and you two and Agent Barton are now the owners of The Avengers brand, you are also now in charge of the merchandising. Several companies have already licensed The Avengers images and the money coming in from that should be more than enough for normal operating procedures. As well as significant amounts to charity.”
Steve jerked his head back a little in surprise, “so Stark isn’t going to keep supporting us?”
“I guess he got bored.”
Maria ignored Natasha’s comment, “as I understand it, Dr. Stark was attempting to set it up so that The Avengers could operate as independently as possible, not reliant on anyone. If Dr. Stark died tomorrow, you would still be supported.”
Steve was taken aback; he hadn’t thought of it that way. He supposed that was a good thing, Stark thinking ahead like that. And that way they wouldn’t have to be so careful to pander to the billionaire. He couldn’t throw a fit and cut their funding. Explaining his reasoning to Nat, she agreed.
“So what do you need for that?” Natasha asked.
“I need to know who is going to be in charge of all of that. Dr. Stark always included, in all the contracts he set up for Avengers and Iron Man licensing, that every product had to be approved individually. He didn’t want sub-par ‘official’ merchandise out there.”
Natasha and Steve stared at each other. Neither one of them wanted to do that, it sounded boring. Steve sighed before looking again at Miss Hill, “can’t you do it?”
“I can assign someone to do it. But you will have to explicitly explain to them what your criteria are and be available if they have questions.”
“That sounds good. If that’s all, I think we have a lot of paperwork to read and sign.”
Steve agreed. The two of them adjusted their individual paperwork as Maria said goodbye and walked away.
Steve waited until Miss Hill had left before looking down at the stack of papers in his hands. “Is this really necessary?”
“It’s not a bad thing. I am surprised though, Stark acknowledging that he’s not in charge. It’s a little more paperwork now, but in the long run it’ll save us time. People won’t be trying to go through us to get at Stark when he offends them or does something stupid.”
“You’ll read it?”
“Sure. If there’s no problems we can sign them.”
“Okay. Thanks.”