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Captain America was turning out to be one hell of a let-down. Talk about never meeting your heroes. The moment Tony had met the man, he’d been overly hostile, something even Natashalie was confused about.
He’d then spent the whole time they were on the helicarrier trying to get Tony kicked off since he was ‘clearly dangerous’.
Fury and Coulson were baffled and then Rogers made it even more confusing when he demanded that Agent stay at his side at all times.
Just… what the hell?
Bruce was watching the man warily and edged more towards Tony as Rogers went on about making sure Loki was contained and shutting down arc reactors because of their danger and how they needed to get the Hulk off the helicarrier.
Tony discretely stepped in front of Bruce.
“You okay buddy?” he asked softly.
Bruce shrugged, looking skittish and anxious.
Thor was watching Rogers with unease as well. The Captain seemed to immediately take a liking to some people, namely Romanoff and Thor while being wary of Bruce and outright hating Tony on sight.
“I shouldn’t be here,” Bruce muttered as Rogers continued talking absolute bullshit.
Thor looked down at the other scientist and then at Tony.
“This… Steven Rogers,” he asked hesitantly. “Is he your leader?”
Tony scoffed loudly enough that he drew the attention of the room.
“Oh hell no. I’m half-convinced that he lost brain cells in the ice.”
Fury didn’t even look like he was going to disagree with Tony for once. Was this out of the ordinary behaviour for Cap? Or was he always this… controlling?
And talking of the dear Captain, Rogers turned a glare on Tony. The billionaire only raised his chin defiantly.
“Who the actual hell do you think you are?” Tony demanded harshly. “And don’t give me that crap about ‘I’m Captain America’. That doesn’t mean shit. Sure you’ve got the fancy serum and shield and spandex. But you’ve got no authority. You woke up like a month ago! There’s no way you have any clue about what’s going on in the modern-day world. You don’t know politics, or the government, or basically anything important. And you walk in here demanding shit? I’m supposed to be the asshole in any given room. But fuck you outdid me in a spectacular way!”
“Stark-” he started growling, taking some threatening steps closer.
“Let’s break this down alright?” Tony wasn’t cowed and stepped closer as well so he wouldn’t get too close to Bruce. “You’re trying to tell the Director of SHIELD what to do about the alien prince that is threatening an alien invasion. Who died and made you king of the world?! I’ve got my issues with Fury and we don’t get along but I can at least say I respect him enough to do his job. He’s a spy. He’s THE spy. But apparently you know better? And what’s that shit about Agent needing to follow behind you like a puppy? I know he’s a Captain America fan but do you really need your ego stroked that often? And every time Natashalie tries to leave you call her back to ask something stupid. What’s that about? She’s supposed to be doing her job, not babysitting you. She was supposed to be down in that cell interrogating Loki like twenty minutes ago! On top of that you’ve been ordering the other alien prince around like you’ve got the divine right to have all your orders followed. And that absolute shit about getting Bruce off the helicarrier. What the hell?! He’s the only person who can reliably track the tesseract! You know, the thing we need to find?! I’m a genius but it’s not my field so without him I wouldn’t be able to find it unless I had weeks to work on it. And then we get to the best part. What the actual hell is your problem with me Rogers?! We’ve never met before! I know most people don’t like me since yeah, I’m an ass most of the time and that’s all the media sees. But you’re acting like I’ve personally offended you and killed your puppy. So, no, I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying so that I can do my job and prevent this invasion from happening. Because guess what you moron? I live on this damn planet too! So even if I am nothing more than a villain, which is how you’re treating me, I’m still going to do my damn job since I wouldn’t want to die!”
Silence fell in the room after his tirade. Not a single person stepped forward to defend Rogers.
“Now, Bruce and I have to track the alien artifact. So how about you fuck off and do your ego stroking someplace else?”
He turned to continue working with Bruce when suddenly Rogers grabbed him by the upper arm and spun him back around. Tony grit his teeth at the tight grip that was possibly bruising his bone.
“You don’t talk to me like that Stark!” Rogers yelled in his face, other hand fisting in Tony’s shirt.
There was yelling in the background and then suddenly Rogers was lifted off his feet. Thor threw him back and away from Tony, stepping between the scientists and the super soldier.
“I have never seen such dishonourable behaviour.” The god thundered. “You would attack a man who is supposed to be your shield brother because he does not agree blindly with you? You would attack him when his back is turned?!”
Bruce had stepped forward to check on Tony while Rogers looked shocked that Thor sided against him. Then Coulson stepped up to the inventor as well.
“Mr. Stark, I apologise for his behaviour. We don’t know where this is coming from. We’ll remove him immediately.”
Tony nodded at Phil as Romanoff and Fury both hauled a stunned super soldier out of the room.
“That was Captain America? The guy from all those stories?” Bruce asked dubiously.
“Apparently. Don’t know what the hell my dad saw in him.” Tony moved his arm and grimaced at the dull ache in his upper arm. Okay, maybe a cracked bone instead of just bruising.
What the fuck was wrong with that guy?
JARVIS, being the overprotective AI that he was, hacked the cameras as soon as he deemed Steve Rogers a threat to Tony. He then patched the conversation that was happening across the helicarrier to Tony’s earpiece while the genius was working with Bruce, now with Agent guarding the door and talking quietly with Thor who wanted answers regarding what just happened.
Tony kept working as he listened in.
“What the fuck was that Rogers?!” Fury thundered.
“Stark is dangerous Fury! I can tell,” Rogers insisted. “He’ll only cause us problems later down the line! He shouldn’t be near our team. I don’t even feel comfortable having him as our consultant.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?! Stark was picked out for the Avengers before you were even defrosted Rogers!”
Tony’s eyes widened slightly at that little bit of info.
“What?” Rogers sounded just as confused as Tony felt.
“Sir?” Even Natashalie sounded mystified.
“Oh fuck don’t tell me you took that crap report seriously Romanoff,” Fury sounded exasperated. “Stark is one of the most intelligent people in the world. He’s a billionaire and has a highly sought-after suit of armour in his possession. As a consultant the man stays out of the grasp of the WSC!”
Oh. Oh. Things were starting to make a little more sense now to Tony. Some small something that had coiled in his chest at his rejection from the Initiative loosened.
“Peggy would have fucking killed me if I let them get their hands on her godson.”
“Godson?!” Rogers choked.
“Why didn’t you tell me Sir?” Romanoff sounded confused still.
“I thought it was obvious,” Fury deadpanned. “If you fell for that Romanoff then you need to take a damn good look at your ego. I’ve noticed it’s started to get out of control. You’re an assassin and honeypot, not a profiler.”
“…Yes sir,” Tony had never heard Romanoff sound so shaken before.
“Now Fury,” oh fuck, could Rogers sound any more condescending?!
“No, shut up Rogers. I don’t really care what you do. But stay far away from Stark. I don’t want to risk him pulling away from the Initiative. The damn team was built around the man for fucks sakes!”
Well consider Tony stunned. This put things in a new light. If Fury was trying to protect him from this WSC… then he needed to re-evaluate some things.
He rubbed his face tiredly as JARVIS cut the connection, probably meaning the conversation was over and Fury was storming off dramatically.
He needed to talk with Fury at some point. About those weapon designs he’d seen in the systems too…
But first the tesseract. They were getting very close to getting a lock on it. Tony leaned down to look over Bruce’s shoulder at the screen.
“Got it,” Bruce murmured.
They both froze while Coulson and Thor looked over.
“Oh shi-”
The room exploded.
Half an hour later the group was sitting in a conference room. Bruce was half asleep on the table. Tony had managed to talk him down from hulking out when they fell through the floor but he was still drained. Coulson had been in the room with Thor still so he’d talked the thunderer through keeping the helicarrier in the air, after convincing him not to go after Loki yet since there were too many lives at stake.
Romanoff had run into Barton on her way to check the cells and she’d knocked some sense into him.
Literally.
Rogers had fought off the rest of the intruders although Tony thought throwing brainwashed men off the helicarrier was going a bit too far…
Tony himself was distracted with talking to Pepper on the phone, ordering that Stark Tower be evacuated.
“You’re sure it’s Stark Tower?” Fury asked sharply, Coulson at his side as usual.
Tony nodded sharply as he hung up. “Saw it on the screen just before the explosion. Damn bastard is using my tower. And people call me a diva.”
“The arc reactor?” Coulson asked.
“Safely deactivated. It only powered the tower so it won’t impact anyone else. They won’t get a spark of power from it.”
“You should have turned off all the reactors,” Rogers snapped.
“I’ve got reactors powering hospitals and factories Rogers,” Tony couldn’t believe this man. “They can’t be easily turned off. I’m not getting into this argument again. I’ll leave in the meantime. You guys follow.”
“You don’t give the orders around here Stark!” Rogers yelled.
Thor pushed past the man as he stood. “May I accompany you Lord Stark?”
Tony spluttered. “Lord? Where’d that come from?”
“You are the protector and benefactor of a large amount of people who rely on you,” he answered easily. “On Asgard you would be a lord and everything I have seen proves that you have earned it.”
“Uh, okay. Whatever. Sure you can come along Pointbreak.” Tony walked out of the room with Thor trailing him.
Bruce snickered into the table. “Lord. I’m teasing him for that one later.”
Barton snorted. “I kinda like the guy. I never thought I’d see Tony Stark flustered.
Romanoff stayed silent.
“Alright, suit up everyone. You’re back-up to those two. We need to stop Loki before he picks another reactor,” Fury barked.
Everyone ignored Rogers’ protests.
The group sprawled out around the table in the shawarma place. The owner was giving them funny looks but Tony had flown a nuke through a just-forming portal so no one was actually too mad having him around.
Loki had managed to get his portal to start opening but by then the WSC had sent a nuke in for… reasons, and Tony had to grab it and fly it up and through the portal. Only a few aliens managed to get through and were swiftly dealt with by Hulk and Clint (guy could shoot scarily well), while Thor dealt with his brother and Romanoff got the sceptre. And then the portal was closing and Tony was falling. Thankfully the Hulk caught him before he could get hurt. Romanoff had been studying him with a new expression since then and Tony didn’t know what to make of it.
Rogers, on the other hand, was beaming like an idiot and going on about how the team had come together beautifully.
Tony and Romanoff exchanged an incredulous look over the table. Rogers hadn’t even done much in the end… He’d knocked a couple aliens off their flying bikes. That was it. Oh, and screamed orders into their comms constantly. Even when he didn’t know where they were.
Bruce hummed non-committedly from where he was face down on the table.
“The world will be protected with the Avengers around,” Rogers was saying.
“We need more,” Tony murmured.
“What?” Rogers scowled at him.
The others all looked at him as well, Bruce peering at him with one eye.
“There was an armada through that portal,” Tony admitted. “The nuke only got one ship.”
“We’ll deal with it when they get here,” Rogers said dismissively.
Tony and Romanoff exchanged another look and this time Barton got in on it.
“When you say armada,” Romanoff trailed off.
“I mean a fuck ton of alien ships,” Tony completed blandly.
Barton swore and Bruce thunked his head against the table. Thor looked thoughtful. “My brother would not bring only a small force to get what he wanted. He would bring an army.”
“We didn’t fight an army. We fought a scouting party,” Barton added.
“We’ll be fine as long as we work together.
Tony finally turned to stare at the man incredulously. “We are literally six people. A baseline human in a tin can. A baseline human with a bow and arrow and an uncanny ability to hit his targets.”
“Thanks,” Barton toasted him with his coke.
“A baseline human with thighs of death.”
Romanoff’s lips actually twitched in a smile at that.
“The Hulk which, yeah, he’s awesome but he can only be in one place at a time. A super soldier who also can only be in one place at a time. And Thor who isn’t even on earth all that often. And you’re saying, that we shouldn’t worry about an invasion because the power of friendship will carry us through?!”
Barton snorted, choking on his coke.
“Listen Stark, this isn’t about you and your ego.”
Romanoff rested her head in her hand, an inaudible sigh escaping her.
“When did I make this about me?!” Tony asked incredulously. “I’m saying we’re not enough! We need more than a six person team to defend the entire world Rogers.”
“We’re the Avengers,” Rogers argued stubbornly.
Tony stared at him for a long moment. “No, I’m a consultant. And you know what? I think I’m happy to keep it that way if you’re going to be leading this team.”
“Time bomb,” Bruce muttered.
Tony poked the other genius in the side. “Come on Brucie. I said I’d show you my lab. You can crash at my tower for now.”
Bruce yawned and gave a sleepy nod, sitting up. “I think I’d prefer consultant too,” the scientist muttered.
Romanoff glanced sidelong at Rogers before speaking to the two men. “I’ll pass along your decision, and reasons, to Fury.”
Tony locked eyes with her and for the first time saw something other than distaste. He saw apology. He nodded at her and steered Bruce out of the building.
“We’re not done here Stark!” Rogers yelled after him.
“Yeah you are,” he heard Barton say. “Geez stop acting like an asshole Cap.”
“I don’t believe he knows how,” Thor admitted thoughtfully.
Barton started choking on his drink again as he laughed.
The next time Tony saw Rogers was when they were seeing Loki and Thor off. The Captain still looked sullen and was glaring at Loki.
“We should keep him imprisoned here,” the man muttered. “His crimes were on earth.”
“Because that went so well the last time,” Tony drawled.
He could have sworn that Loki was smirking behind the muzzle.
The two alien princes disappeared in a bright flash of light and Tony was thankful for his sunglasses as everyone else was blinking the spots out of their eyes.
Rogers immediately turned around and demanded a meeting with the Avengers that were left. Glancing at Romanoff and Barton revealed pinched expression. Well, they’d been dealing with Rogers all night so… Tony didn’t blame them.
Tony groaned as even he and Bruce we dragged off by Rogers to SHIELD. While there, and mostly ignoring Rogers’ glares, Tony noticed Barton’s behaviour. He wasn’t looking at anyone as they walked through the halls but he was getting a hell of a lot of glares from the agents.
Well, fuck. It wasn’t his fault he got brainwashed by Loki.
He put that aside for now as they got to the conference room where Fury and Coulson were already waiting. Rogers beamed at Coulson but the man only stared blankly back. He hadn’t been impressed by Rogers’ behaviour.
“How’s your arm Mr. Stark?” he asked.
“He’s fine Phil,” Rogers rolled his eyes.
“His bone is cracked Captain,” Coulson replied icily, making Rogers start in surprise. “We checked after the battle.”
“It must have happened during the fight,” Rogers argued.
Everyone looked at him in disbelief.
“Right…” Tony drawled. “I’m fine Agent. Just got to take it easy on this arm for a bit,” he gestured to his left arm. It ached but it wasn’t unbearable.
Bruce on the other hand scowled at Rogers at the reminder of what happened.
Rogers ignored all of them and launched into a speech (demands) of how things should go. He wanted the team to be put under his command so that they could go and do superhero things all over the world.
Tony raised an eyebrow when he said that Tony should build their gear and finance them so that they were separate from SHIELD.
Bruce had clearly zoned out while all the spies were staring at him incredulously again.
“How about no,” Tony cut in when it was clear he wasn’t going to stop anytime soon. He had things to do today. “Stark Industries doesn’t make weapons anymore. And financing a vigilante group so that it can run separate from any government organisation is just asking for trouble. Plus, and I know I’ve said this before. I’m a consultant.” He said the last bit slowly to make sure Rogers understood him.
“This isn’t about you Stark. You need to let go of your ego and be a team player,” Rogers snapped.
Tony looked around the room. “Are we having the same conversation?” he wondered.
“I’m wondering that myself,” Romanoff muttered, massaging her temples.
Rogers stood up and towered over Tony. “Listen Stark. This is what’s going to happen. You will maintain and build the team’s gear. You will fund the team’s missions and living expenses. You will provide housing in that tower of yours until you have built a suitable location for the team to move to. And you will hand the Iron Man armour over to someone more trustworthy and take your place as a supporter of the team, not as a teammate.”
The room was dead silent as Tony peered at Rogers over his sunglasses. “No,” He answered simply.
Rogers puffed up and Tony kept going. “Or what? You’ll force me to? You’ll beat me up? You’ll threaten me until I give into doing what you want?” he sneered.
“I’ll do what I have to do,” Rogers replied darkly.
The people in the room moved before either of them could blink. Barton was on the table with his bow out and an arrow pointed at Rogers. Romanoff was on the other side, Widow Bites charged and primed to fire at the Captain. Coulson had his gun out and pointed straight at Rogers’ head and Bruce was turning a little green and breathing deeply.
Rogers looked around in shock. “What?”
“You just threatened a man with bodily harm if he didn’t give you his money. If he didn’t do exactly what you wanted. That is illegal Rogers,” Fury bit out. “I’m pretty sure it was illegal in your time too so there’s no excuse for this behaviour.”
Roger spluttered. “It’s-It’s Stark!”
Romanoff raised an eyebrow. “That doesn’t mean the law suddenly doesn’t apply.”
Tony raised both eyebrows at all the SHIELD agents in the room. They all grimaced.
“We made mistakes in the past,” Coulson admitted.
Romanoff twitched. “We did.”
Tony just about gaped at her. He did not expect her to admit to not being perfect.
“Now, take a step back Rogers,” Fury ordered.
There was a tense moment as Rogers turned to glare at Tony again who didn’t back down, still slouching in his seat. Then the man took a few steps back.
“Well, I think that this proves that you are not fit to lead any team,” Fury continued.
Rogers spun around and stared at Fury in shock. “What?!”
Everyone still had their weapons out.
“You just tried to intimidate someone who was supposed to be on your team into doing what you wanted. You threatened to harm him if he didn’t. That is not leader material. I’m not even sure you’re safe to place on the team.”
Barton moved to drop off the table and stand next to Tony, bow still up. Tony kind of liked him.
“Hey Birdbrain, want a place to crash?” he asked softly while Rogers got into an argument with Fury and Coulson.
Barton looked down at Tony in surprise.
“I saw how the other agents were acting. It’s not your fault that that all happened. So if you need a safe place to crash then drop by the tower.
Barton was quiet for a moment before giving a slight nod. “Thanks Stark,” he whispered gratefully.
Movement on his other side made Tony turn his head to look at Romanoff. She was staring at Tony in surprise and gratitude as well.
“I was wrong about you Stark. I’m sorry,” she murmured.
Tony shrugged. “You wouldn’t be the first who assumed.”
The three looked back to the argument taking place.
“What an asshole,” Tony commented.
“Agreed,” Clint, Natasha and Bruce all said together.
Things only got weirder with Rogers from there. Clint, Natasha and Bruce moved into the Tower with Tony. Coulson soon followed to be their fulltime handler while Rogers was outright taken off the roster until he went to therapy.
Which he was very resistant to.
So the Avengers formed and the others sort of decided that Tony would be a great leader. He wasn’t sure where they got that idea but they were stubborn on the decision.
They also borrowed Rhodey from the military to take Rogers’ spot.
The Avengers were there when he had to deal with Killian and having a team backing him was such a novel experience.
He kind of liked it.
Then suddenly something was happening in DC and Rogers was running after the Winter Soldier with some guy named Sam Wilson.
It turned out that SHIELD was infested with Hydra. While Rogers was chasing the assassin they took care of the infestation, JARVIS combing through the servers to get the information they needed and exposing the terrorist organisation to the world. Tony grounded the helicarriers when Hydra tried to use them (like he didn’t have a backdoor into his own tech) and they took out all the members of Hydra they found.
Meanwhile Rogers and his new buddy had lost the Winter Soldier and came back frustrated. He seemed furious and… panicked? To see Tony helping out with the operation and he almost tried to drag the billionaire off the property.
He also almost got shot for his efforts by Coulson.
They figured out why pretty soon. Natasha found the information about the Winter Soldier and came to Tony, pale but determined.
The Winter Soldier was Bucky Barnes.
The Winter Soldier had killed his parents.
Rhodey and Clint kept him in the penthouse while he screamed and cried, grieving all over again.
And then when Tony showed up to help track the assassin, there was Rogers.
“It wasn’t him!”
Tony stared at him in disbelief. “You knew?”
The man flinched and looked horrified.
“Were you even going to tell me?!” Tony demanded.
“I won’t let you hurt Bucky!”
“He was the weapon dumbass! I want Hydra to burn! Not him!”
Rogers took a step back, looking stunned.
“Fuck what is wrong with you?”
The rest of the team wanted to know the same thing and he was kicked out of the base.
It only got worse from there. Rogers kept trying to join them on their missions to search for Barnes but he was always denied. His buddy Wilson was also detained trying to help him get information and the wings were confiscated from him.
Considering they were stolen that made sense.
While they were on one of their trips to find Barnes, one of the few Thor joined them for, they ended up finding a Hydra bunker with Loki’s sceptre inside. They fought a couple of enhanced that had it out for Tony specifically but a visit from the Hulk knocked the two out. The Hulk was very fond of his Tin Man.
Rhodey crouched down next to where Tony was leaning against the wall. His head was killing him from whatever that bitch had done to him.
“Think she got into my head,” he muttered.
Clint was suddenly there, eyes wide and so so angry they had to keep him away from the little witch in case he tried to kill her.
They rushed Tony back to base to undo whatever she did and it took them reaching out to the Sorcerer Supreme to get the magic out of the inventor’s head. The man also helpfully took the witch into custody since they could hold her. The other enhanced was sent to a cell on the RAFT to await trial.
Tony had made damn sure that the RAFT stayed humane despite Ross’ best efforts and it was the main prison for enhanced now.
And then Rogers showed up again and demanded to see the two enhanced terrorists.
And that’s when Tony started to get really suspicious. Up to now, Rogers just had a knack for showing up where the action was happening as long as it happened in the USA.
But those twin enhanced? No one should know about them. So how did Rogers?
And who was this Vision he was demanding to see?
They took him into the base and asked those questions only to have the man try and change the subject to ask about the threat Ultron presents.
Tony narrowed his eyes. “How do you know about the Ultron program?” he asked.
Rogers looked smug. “See! I told you he was dangerous. Ultron is a dangerous AI that’s going to try and destroy the world!”
Tony exchanged a glance with Bruce. “Rogers. The Ultron program was scrapped months ago. It was a joint venture with SHIELD and we decided it wasn’t going to work.”
The man’s expression went slack for a moment before he got angry.
“And you’re just going to go back to it!” He accused.
Tony tilted his head. “No. Like I said, it’s been scrapped. I’m making another AI but she’s being coded like all my others.”
“Friday,” Rogers realised.
Now Tony bristled. “How the fuck do you know about Friday?” he demanded.
Where the hell was Rogers getting his information from? He could see his team looking just as concerned about this. Was there a mole? A leak in their systems?
The man stayed stubbornly silent.
So SHIELD arrested him for espionage.
“Where’s Wanda?!” he demanded as he was hauled out of the room again.
Tony frowned. “Maximoff? She was stripped of her powers by some sorcerers this morning.
The door closed on his horrified face.
Tony dug into their systems but couldn’t find any sign of hacking. How did Rogers know this stuff?
They kept him contained and regularly interrogated while the team got back to work. They’d almost completely taken out Hydra when they finally found Barnes. They brought him in and put him straight into therapy while Tony worked on BARF to get the code words out of his head. He wasn’t ready to be buddies with the man but he wouldn’t let him suffer from the effects of what Hydra did to him.
Somehow Rogers found out about Barnes being found and he made a lot of noise trying to escape until the team headed over to the RAFT.
“Where’s Bucky?!” he demanded, looking like a madman. “What did you do to him?!”
Natasha took a step forward. “He’s currently in therapy.”
“You need to keep Stark away! He’ll hurt Bucky!”
She scoffed. “Hardly. We got the name of the man who ordered the hit on the Starks. We arrested him yesterday.”
“My parents got justice,” Tony added. “Something you were trying to deny them.”
The man looked confused and Tony shook his head, leaving the room.
Things had been going great. The Initiative was highly successful and growing every year. The Accords were in place and protecting all enhanced. Rogers had been taken to a psychiatric facility when he started spouting shit about being from the future. The ice must have really addled his brain cells the doctors said.
Tony couldn’t help but wonder though. Rogers knew a lot of things he shouldn’t. He wondered about a lot of things but never asked Rogers about it. The man couldn’t maintain a civil conversation with Tony so that was a lost cause.
But when the world’s superheroes came together to defeat Thanos, having been warned by Thor and Loki when the Asgardian refugees landed on earth, Tony’s curiosity was eating at him.
So when Stephen Strange came and asked Tony to visit Rogers with him, the inventor couldn’t say no.
They waited in the visiting room until the ex-superhero was led in, wearing power suppression cuffs. He immediately scowled at Tony when he saw him.
“Come to gloat Stark?” he sneered.
Tony just leaned back and looked at Stephen.
“Thanos came and he was defeated,” the sorcerer said in a calm voice, making Rogers freeze. Tony watched in interest as the blood drained from his face. “There was never a snap. There was no time heist. It seems Mr. Rogers, that taking you out of the equation actually fixed a few issues. The Avengers trust each other and are a solid team. The world trusts them and they work with the government. SHIELD is intact and clear from Hydra which has been eradicated. Barnes is receiving treatment and the code words were dealt with thanks to Mr. Stark’s technology.”
“How…” Rogers croaked.
“I am the protector of the Time Stone,” Stephen said simply.
Rogers glanced at Tony.
“Oh no. Mr. Stark was simply the only one who noticed something was off. He would have come on his own but you would never give him the answers he needed. So I brought him here.”
“So Rogers is actually from the future?” Tony asked, putting the pieces together.
Stephen nodded. “A future that was falling apart after the Infinity Stones were destroyed by Thanos when he got what he wanted. Half of the universe was snapped into dust. The Avengers came together after five years and performed a time heist, borrowing Infinity Stones from different timelines and then returning them once Thanos was defeated. The universe was still falling apart though, so with a little magic and science the Avengers were able to build something that would actually change their present. Mr. Rogers was not the one who was going to be sent back in time. They were still arguing about it as you would have been the best choice but you’d died killing Thanos. Mr. Rogers snuck into the room with the machine and sent himself back to the beginning of Loki’s invasion to create his ideal world.”
Tony gaped. “But he was crap at it! Everyone thought he was nuts!”
Stephen nodded, ignoring Rogers’ protests. “Yes. But it worked out since removing Mr. Rogers, removing his influence and reputation, the blind trust others had in him, was what saved us. The world was much better off without him.”
Tony absorbed that while Rogers fumed.
“What was with his attitude towards me?” He asked finally.
“You were the only one who didn’t blindly follow him.”
“And he hated me for that,” Tony shook his head, laughing softly. “But the timeline is good now?”
“Yes,” Stephen nodded.
“So are you finally going to let me out of here?” Rogers asked sullenly.
“Oh no, you returning would only bring more trouble. The world is safest with you right here,” Stephen gave Rogers a smile as he stood up, Tony following. “Thank you for doing us such a huge favour Rogers. Thank you for taking Captain America out of the equation.”
Rogers shouted desperately at them as they left but neither of them turned around.
“Well, to the future I guess,” Tony mused as they walked out of the building.
“To a good future,” Stephen agreed. “And congratulations.”
“On what?” Tony asked but the sorcerer was already portalling away.
Tony rolled his eyes and got into his car, driving back home.
He did get his answer when he walked into the house to find Pepper holding a pregnancy test.
“That bastard,” Tony muttered faintly before he swept his wife up in a delighted hug.
The future really was bright.