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When Rhodey hears raised voices coming from the Avengers’ lounge area, it takes him about half a second to guess who the most likely culprit is. He shakes his head as he walks toward the door in disbelief. What is he doing here? I thought the whole point of quitting the team was to, you know, quit the team! But here he is again, like he needs the ego boost. Rhodey, entering the room, forces a smile. Tony stands in the center of the room, like he always does when he argues. Behind him, Steve and Sam sit on a couch next to each other, Steve leaning forward like he’s about to respond. Rhodey glances to the left and sees, jumbled together like teenagers at a sleepover, Barton, Romanov, and the twins. They’re clearly in this for the entertainment. Time to enter the conversation.
“Tony! It’s been a while, so good to see you again after all this time.” Rhodey doesn’t try to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
Across the room, Steve snorts quietly to himself. Though Steve runs the New Avengers, Rhodey’s military experience means he often ends up planning the missions with Steve. They had been running a lot of missions recently. That gave Rhodey and Steve a lot of time to talk. Recently, they had been talking a lot about Tony.
“Miss me, Rhodey? I could’ve sworn I was just here a few days ago. Kinda feels like SHIELD can’t do anything without me, honestly. I feel like the IT department. But without the slacking and the fun.”
Talking a lot about how Tony needed to stop coming by so much. He was a great guy to have next to you fighting aliens and robots. To have hanging around impressionable new Avengers and Agents? Not so much.
Rhodey knows it’s probably a good idea to change the subject, but his curiosity gets the better of him. “So what were you guys talking about? Sounded like one heck of a discussion.”
“We were talking about the riots in Baltimore.” Steve stands up, speaking in a conciliatory tone of voice. “We just happen to have some… differing opinions on the situation.”
“You and Tony were arguing? I didn’t know you were interested in this, Steve.”
Steve smiles a little sheepishly. “I’ve been talking to Sam about it a lot recently.”
Pretty serious stuff for pillow talk, Rhodey thinks. But they are serious guys, I guess.
“I have to admit that I didn’t pay much attention to it at first,” Steve continues, ”but after Sam tore me a new one, I started looking into it more. He was right. This is an important time, and there are opportunities here for real change.”
“Superhuman or not, everyone’s got things they can learn,” Sam adds from behind him. “Speaking of which…”
“Speaking of which,” Clint butts in, “Your best buddy over here has some real interesting opinions. You never taught him any manners?”
Rhodey sighs, a nice long one to let everyone know exactly how many times he’s tried teaching Tony some manners. “And how well is it working out for you, Barton?”
Clint just chuckles in response. Children, all of them.
Rhodey looks at Tony. “What did you say this time?” Do I even want to know?
“I just suggested that, maybe, perhaps, rioting isn’t the best way for them to get what they want. I wasn’t trying to provoke, just stating the facts. I -”
“The facts?” Steve is getting riled up. “That’s not a fact, Stark. That’s your opinion. And frankly, your opinion is not one that means a whole lot in this conversation, though I’m sure you think differently.”
“Why doesn’t my opinion matter? If there’s anything I’m an expert at, it’s getting what I want. I actually do think that should count for something.”
Steve and Tony step toward each other with each sentence.
“You’re not an expert in getting what you want, you’re an expert in getting what you want when you already have billions of dollars and the President on speed dial. That’s why your opinion doesn’t matter. You have no concept of what these people’s lives are like.” Steve smirks, and his next words are condescending. “There hasn’t been a time in your life when people weren’t paying attention to you.”
“But why does that matter? I’m not talking about money here, I’m talking about goals. Their goals. They want to have change happen, they want to be heard. That’s not gonna happen if people don’t respect them.”
Steve opens his mouth and stops, realizing how close they’re standing. He takes a step back to try and keep things civil. “You’re so close to being right, Tony, but you just can’t take the last step. They do want change, and they do want to be heard. That’s right. But it’s also not going to happen if nobody’s listening. Change, respect, all of it. They can’t get respect if nobody’s listening.” He shakes his head sadly. “I don’t like it any more than you do. Probably a lot less. But listening has to come first, before anything else can be solved. And this, these protests and these riots. These are the only way they have of being heard.”
Steve stops, looking morose at his own analysis. Sam takes his hand and Steve sits back down, resting his head on Sam’s shoulder. Sam speaks from the couch. “That’s exactly it, Tony. All the protestors want is for you to listen to them, and you won’t stop preaching at them long enough to do it.”
Tony considers this. Rhodey hopes Tony is done, but he knows his friend better than that. He won’t give up the argument yet. If he can’t come up with a response to that, he’ll try to change the angle to one he can win.
“Why does Steve’s opinion matter but mine doesn’t? Isn’t that a little, I don’t know, hypocritical, or something?”
“Steve listens to me,” Sam says. “He listens to the protestors on the news. You started this conversation by telling me I was wrong. That’s the difference.”
“Of course Steve listens to you,” Tony says. “I’m sure when you two are done with your naughty games he’s very receptive to anything you have to say. I say we need an unbiased opinion.” He turns away from Sam to look at the pile of bodies on the couch. “Barton! What do you think?”
Clint smirks at Tony and signs something to Sam; Sam bursts out laughing. Tony looks between them several times, as if to say, “What did I miss?”
“He said it’s a little sad that a deaf guy is better at listening than you,” Sam explains. The rest of Avengers laugh, but Rhodey doesn’t. He knows Tony isn’t going to be able to let that one go.
Rhodey is right.
“Alright, so Robin Hood’s opinion matters too. What about Speedy over here? Does he get a say?”
Sam looks at Pietro and they both shrug. “Sure, why not?”
“So why does every white guy but me get to have an opinion?” Tony asks, exasperated.
A silence falls over the room as the Avengers exchange confused glances. Finally, Pietro breaks the silence. “What are you talking about?”
Now Tony looks confused. “Everyone but me. You, Steve, and Barton all get to have an opinion, but I’m the only white guy who gets shut down.”
Another pause, shorter. This time, Clint breaks the silence with the smack of his palm against his face. Wanda starts giggling, triggering laughter in Romanov as well. Tony stares at them, not sure what’s happening. Rhodey sees Steve chuck an empty plastic water bottle at Tony. Because it’s Steve throwing, it hits Tony square in back of the head. At that, Rhodey can’t help but join in the laughter as well. Eventually, fed up, Tony yells, “What is so funny?” at the group and Pietro obliges to explain.
“Have you been outside your country before, Stark?” he asks. “Have you thought to maybe not make assumptions from appearances?”
Rhodey doubts that idea has ever crossed Tony’s mind. Appearance has always meant a lot to Tony. It’s made him successful, but it also makes him blind.
“Did you ever even ask them about themselves?” Clint says. “If you want us to think you know everything, you’re going to have to do a little better than that, Stark. Wanda and Pietro are Romani.”
“We have talked with Sam and Rhodey about the similarities between our struggle and those found here.” Wanda’s voice is quiet and a little sad, but she never needs to struggle to make herself heard. “It is as Sam has said. Many people do not listen to those in need. They do not want to break the spell of their own lives, to see things in the world the way they really are. Most in our country do not listen to us, to our people. Most here do not listen to those who protest. If you do not listen, your opinion is not valid. It is not, as you claim, based in fact.”
Rhodey nods. “That’s exactly it, Tony. You always want to think you’re logical and scientific, but when you don’t listen, you’re basing your thoughts on bad data. It’s as simple as that.”
Everyone but Tony nods in agreement. Tony looks around, realizing that he doesn’t have any backup here. He opens his mouth. “But I still think –“
A chorus of boos greet his words. Steve and Clint both throw pillows at him. Tony takes the hit, falls comically to the ground, and finally stays down.