Chapter Text
‘Here?’
Rhodey winced. ‘Well, I had to keep them somewhere where we could keep an eye on them.’ He nodded to the monitor she’d just been watching. ‘You’ve seen what they’re like when they think they’re being “held prisoner”.’
Tony sighed. ‘He’s got a point.’
‘Hm.’
***
Steve led what was left of his team into the common room.
Rhodey had called them to say that Tony was back. Steve had led everyone to meet him. Steve wasn’t sure what he expected. An apology, maybe? Well, Bucky was no longer here for him to apologise to, as bad as that made Steve feel. Some resolution to their disagreements, anyway. What he wasn’t expecting was to enter the room and see two new faces.
The blonde woman looked at them. ‘These are the squatters, I take it?’ she asked Rhodey.
‘Squatters?’ Steve demanded. ‘Ma’am, this is our home!’
‘No,’ she said calmly. ‘This is Tony’s home, which he has graciously allowed you to live in. Rent-free, I might add.’
Tony hadn’t even lifted his head to acknowledge them. He was just bent over some sort of device with Pepper, his hand propping his head up. And completely ignoring them. Rhodey, for his part, had turned away. It almost looked like he was smirking. When he turned around again, though, his face was composed.
‘Let me introduce Captain Carol Danvers of the US Air Force,’ he said. ‘She’s spent the last few years in space and picked up Tony and Nebula after Thanos’s big snap.’
‘And wasn’t that a surprise,’ she remarked.
‘Because Tony was in space?’ Bruce asked.
‘That too,’ Carol said. ‘But also because this Tony Stark and the one I remember are completely different men.’ Her eyes narrowed and Steve began to feel anxious. ‘But I can say for certain that you don’t have the context to know that.’
At that moment, Pepper looked up, almost smirked, and nodded behind Carol’s back. Even Rhodey was nodding along.
Carol looked all of them over. ‘Right. We’ll begin.’ She turned to Scott Lang first. ‘I’d almost ask who you were, but I did a background check. Why did you come to the battle at Leizpeg?’
‘Cap called,’ Scott said.
‘Is that all?’ Carol asked. ‘Were you given any explanation why?’
‘We—’ Steve began to say.
‘Shut it!’ Carol turned on him. ‘I asked Mr. Lang the question, and Mr. Lang will answer.’ She turned to Scott. ‘Well?’
‘Sam said the world was in danger and Cap needed my help.’
‘Did he say what kind of danger?’
‘Well, no, but he said Stark was in the way and Hank always said “never trust a Stark” so—’
Carol interrupted him. ‘Hey, Tony, did you ever know a Hank?’
‘Uhh.’ Only now did Tony turn, and that was to answer her. ‘I think my dad used to complain about somebody by that name.’
Scott looked startled.
Carol smirked. She then turned. ‘Mr. Barton. I believe you were retired. Why did you return to action?’
Clint looked annoyed. ‘Steve said—’
‘Oh!’ She interrupted him. ‘So another case of “Cap called” then?’
Barton’s jaw snapped shut.
‘If you were so bored with civilian life, why did you retire?’
Barton said nothing for a moment. ‘Well, Tony got us locked up.’
‘Tony does not have the authority to lock anybody up,’ Carol said, as if talking to a stubborn child. ‘In case it slipped your mind while working for Fury, crossing international borders without a passport is illegal. Smashing up public property, like an airport, is illegal. You were all legally arrested and detained in the only prison that would hold you.’
Scott suddenly started to look very uncomfortable.
Carol turned. ‘Romanoff, I did some reading on your Black Widow Program. And I shared my findings with Tony.’
Natasha looked slightly annoyed. ‘The files exaggerate the training.’
‘I don’t think they do,’ Carol said. ‘After all, you’ve always jumped sides depending on who you think is going to win. That’s why you defected to S.H.I.E.L.D., after all.’
Steve had had enough of this. He stepped up. ‘Leave—’
Carol glared at him. ‘Where are your 1940s manners, Mr. Rogers? You just wait your turn.’
Steve flinched back.
Carol went on. ‘In fact, I suspect the only reason you didn’t defer to Thanos was because you never had a chance to before he was gone. And, despite what you like to tell yourself, you’re of no use to him. You’re just an ordinary Terran. He has plenty of assassins that are unwaveringly loyal to him. He doesn’t need one like you.’
‘Agreed.’
Steve’s gaze snapped to the side of the room. There was a blue woman sitting on the couch, watching the TV. Rocket was sitting with her. He hadn’t even noticed them there. Steve ignored the news that they were all watching, which seemed to be based around Tony (again!).
‘Thor.’ Carol addressed the Norse God. ‘Is there a particular reason you didn’t give Tony any safety measures to observe when it was decided he would examine the sceptre.’
‘Safety measures?’ Thor sounded confused.
‘Yeah,’ Carol said. ‘You know, things to do to makes sure what did happen wouldn’t? Don’t tell me you expected a Terran to already be aware of these measures?’
‘That would be stupid,’ Rocket agreed. ‘Terrans don’t have everyday access to that kind of data.’
Thor bit his lip.
Rhodey threw in his two cents. ‘And that’s not even mentioning swinging around an electricity-based hammer in the same building.’
‘Wow.’ Rocket turned around. ‘I mean, I knew you weren’t a big thinker, Thor, but I didn’t think you were that stupid.’
Steve folded his arms. ‘Well, Tony shouldn’t have been messing about with it in the first place.’
‘Excuse me,’ Tony said, not looking at him. ‘Who told me he wanted the thing studied?’
Steve’s jaw and arms both dropped. He couldn’t believe Tony’s gall! He also couldn’t believe it when the room was soon filled with sniggering.
Carol recovered. ‘And, Dr. Banner, don’t think I’m unaware of your part in this. And the fact that you took off afterwards and left Tony alone to deal with the fallout, and to deal with the rest of these idiots adding Maximoff. I’ve got three words for you: dick move, bro.’
Bruce, for some reason, looked shame-faced.
‘Wanda was just a kid!’ Steve insisted.
‘No, she was in her mid-twenties,’ Carol said. ‘I don’t know where you got the idea that she was a kid from but she was physically, legally, and technically an adult.’
‘I think she put that impression out,’ Rhodey said. ‘Every time I saw her she seemed to put effort into looking young and unsure.’
‘Oh?’ Carol asked. ‘I see. Playing the victim.’
‘She suffered a lot!’ Steve insisted. ‘She doesn’t need to have it thrown in her face.’
Carol smirked. ‘You mean like you totally don’t throw Tony’s past in his face.’
Steve drew back. Where had that come from? ‘What are you talking about?’
Carol folded her arms. ‘When you first came in here, I said you didn’t have the context to understand how Tony is different now from when I knew him before. His parents died when he was just 17. A certain amount of “acting out” was expected. The media may have liked to ham up his flaws, but no one blamed him for having those flaws. In fact, during his time as a weapons contractor, those flaws were ignored by the military. Back then, there was context – which you missed. I didn’t. I’m military, and I’ve been friends with Rhodey since Command School.’ She smirked, almost cruelly. ‘You know, that place you never went to.’
Rhodey looked interested. ‘Really? He never went to Command School?’
‘There was a war on!’ Steve insisted.
‘So?’ Carol and Rhodey asked in unison. They then looked at each other and smirked.
‘See,’ Carol stepped forward, ‘I became disillusioned with you early on in my military training, Rogers, because I actually sat down and did my homework. You know what I discovered?’ She began counting off on her fingers. ‘You barely completed a week of boot camp before Erskine scooped you up, “Captain America” was actually a stage name and not an actual rank, you only “punched Hitler in the face” as part of you war bonds sales gimmick, so it was not really Hitler, and certainly not a real punch. You weren’t really in command of the Howling Commandoes, and you weren’t even a real soldier.’
As she’d been talking, Steve had been getting angrier and angrier. Who did she think she was? Then she dared to suggest he wasn’t a real soldier, and that was it. Steve charged at her. He wasn’t sure if he was going to punch her or knock her down some other way. But then she did something he wasn’t expecting.
As he approached, she pulled her fist back. There was a golden glow and then something hit him in the chest. It hit him so hard, for a moment he felt his asthma was back. The next thing he knew, he was looking across the room. Nat, Clint, Bruce, Thor, and Scott had previously been behind him. Now they were in front of him, and staring at him with wide eyes.
Rhodey let out an appreciative whistle. ‘Nice, Car.’
‘Why do you think I was off-world for 20 years?’ she asked, before casually sauntering up to Steve. ‘I heard you were supposed to be a tactical genius, but I guess that was just part of the gimmick. All you are is a brute with no discipline. And you dare call yourself a soldier? I’ve met Fury, Rogers. You were chosen to be the leader of the Avengers not because you were well-suited, but because you’re charismatic and easy to manipulate.’
Natasha and Clint looked at each other and...kind of...shrugged?
Carol then turned her back on him and walked over to Tony and Pepper. ‘How many have you found?’
‘Enough.’ Tony lifted his head. ‘You really think they’ll help?’
Carol nodded. ‘With S.H.I.E.L.D. in tatters from the snap, their main reason to keep their heads down is gone. And I think every single one of them would have lost someone. They’ll step up.’
Nat frowned. ‘You’re talking like we haven’t lost. Thanos decimated us.’
Carol scoffed. ‘Your naive belief that winning a single battle wins anyone a war is no concern of mine.’
Tony handed her the iPad. ‘You’re up, boss.’