Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU)
A/N: This is kind of like an alternate universe of Civil War. Everything happens up until Ross confronts the Avengers about the Sokovia Accords. In my eyes, the Sokovia Accords are unnecessary and are a hindrance to the effectiveness of the Avengers. But how the Avengers reacted to the Accords was not in their favour, this is how they should've reacted, in my eyes.
Chapter 1: How The Avengers Should've Dealt With The Sokovia Accord
All the Avengers, excluding Bruce and Thor, the former who still hasn't been found ever since the Ultron debacle and the latter who returned to Asgard shortly after said debacle, were sitting in the conference room with Tony's guest, the Secretary of State, Ross.
Ross began. "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some… who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."
Sitting more upright in her seat, Natasha countered. "I must disagree with that last statement Secretary. A vigilante is a group of people who undertake law enforcement without legal authority. Most often because local law enforcement is… inadequate." She looked Ross dead in the eyes. "The Avengers, however, were a SHIELD 'project', and SHIELD was a government agency. But ever since SHIELD fell, the Avengers separated from it and have become a separate entity of its own."
"Yes, that is true. But the Avengers are a private organisation run by a group of enhanced beings and funded by Stark Industries, which is also, a private industry." Ross explained calmly, pointedly looked at Tony. "6 years ago, Tony Stark declared that he managed to privatise world peace. Now, the Avengers have managed to privatise world safety and protection, and that is not something we can tolerate any further."
Moving away to reveal the glass screen behind him, which began playing videos of major catastrophes that had happened in the recent years, including New York, Washington DC, Sokovia and Lagos.
"Okay. That's enough." Steve said, sensing Wanda's guilt and discomfort.
"For the past 4 years you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but the Chitauri invasion of New York and the fall of SHIELD in Washington DC was not at all related to the Avengers." Rhodey spoke up. "The Chitauri invasion happened due to SHIELD's meddling, which may I remind you is a government agency, with the Tesseract to create weapons of mass destruction. The Helicarrier incident that happened in Washington DC was solely due to Project Insight, a government funded project which, without Steve, Sam and Natasha's intervention, would have ended up killing nearly 20 million people. Including you Secretary."
"I agree with Rhodes. It seems we, the Avengers, have mainly become your janitors, Secretary. Your projects have had extreme consequences even with our intervention. If you're planning on making the Avengers a public organisation, you're only removing your last line of defence when something you do goes wrong." Sam added, narrowing his eyes at Ross while Steve and Tony glanced contemplatively back at each other.
"Yes, that may be true. But need I remind you that the entire Ultron offensive happened, because of the Avengers. Had Stark not created Ultron, Sokovia wouldn't have been destroyed and hundreds of lives wouldn't have been lost." To which Tony ducked his head in guilt and shame. "Lagos as well, your 'intervention' has caused the death of over 20 innocent people."
Steve, suddenly quite frustrated, interrupted. "Well, would you have preferred we do nothing in both of those circumstances? Had we done nothing during the Ultron offensive, worldwide extinction would be what would've happened. Had we not prevented Crossbones and his terrorist gang to escape with the biological weapon, it's likely that the remains of HYDRA would have access to a weapon that could kill millions of people, Secretary."
"If what Sam says is right and that you're planning on making us a public organisation,that would mean we'd need your permission to go anywhere." Natasha added, looking at Ross and his assistant with her death stare. "Tell me Secretary, did you or any government officials know that Crossbones was going to attack the biological research facility in Lagos prior to it happening?"
Ross went silent, unwilling and unable to answer that question, narrowing his eyes at Natasha.
"Just as I thought. So, had you approached us with this before the attack and if we all signed some document to prove that we agreed with it. HYDRA would have a biological weapon of mass destruction now, and I'm pretty sure no one would want that."
"Still, the deaths you cause due to your intervention are unforgivable. Ultron was a result of your research and development, and the survival of our species was put on the line because of Ultron, which was your creation. Who's to say something like that won't happen again? What if when something like Ultron happens again due to your meddling and unsupervised development, the Avengers are unable to stop it?" Ross proposed, his tone laced with annoyance.
"FRIDAY, bring up the holograms, I need to run a couple simulations real quick." Tony spoke up for the first time, but mainly to his AI, which caused Steve to glance back and raise an eyebrow at Tony, who only winked in response.
"May I remind you about the event with Abomination all those years ago Secretary Ross?" Natasha asked, her tone innocently deceiving, knowing she caught Ross in a trap, if his suddenly pale face was any indication. "Had Bruce not stopped Abomination from rampaging in Harlem, thousands of people would have died, and you would've had a direct hand in those deaths, that much is undeniable, isn't it Secretary?"
This time, Ross kept silent, not knowing what to say next as the Avengers responses were not the ones he expected.
"Might I also remind you that it is because of Wanda that the hundreds of people watching Captain Rogers and Crossbones fight survived Crossbones's sacrificial explosion. It is unfortunate that over 20 people died in the explosion that happened next to the office building, but due to circumstances, there was no viable way to save everyone." Vision added, looking blankly at Ross. "Tell me Secretary, if you had to choose to save 20 lives and result in the death of 2 superheroes and over a hundred civilians or inadvertently kill 20 people but save over a hundred civilians and 2 superheroes, which option would you choose?"
Ross, who was stunned into silence by the Avengers passive-aggressive nature, didn't answer, which Vision used to his advantage.
"You see Secretary, we are faced with extremely difficult decisions every mission we partake in. And usually, those decisions need to be made in split seconds." Vision tapped his fingers on the table and continued. "I can't help but realise that at the beginning of your speech, you told us that the world owes us an unpayable debt, yet shortly after, you only reprimand us for our actions that resulted in the world owing us said debt. Isn't that a little misleading and contradictory Secretary?"
Steve, glancing back towards Tony, who now has stopped fiddling with his holograms and is just staring at one of them, asks. "Tony. You want to add anything?"
"Yes, actually... When you guys were dealing with Crossbones in Lagos, I was introducing my newest invention to a group of university students, called BARF." Tony paused, carefully studying everyone's faces, but only found curiosity in them. "When I finished, I met this lady, who just happened to be the mother of a boy named Charles Spencer. He's a great kid, computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. But first he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, wanted to be of service. So that resulted in him being in Sokovia, right when Ultron decided to make it an asteroid… We dropped a building on him as a result."
Tony's face was laced with guilt and regret, but he continued. "She blamed me for her son's death. So that got me thinking, that we need to be accountable for our actions, that we need to be put in check. As Bruce said on that Helicarrier 4 years ago, we're a ticking time bomb, an accident waiting to happen. Hence why we need supervision, and there just happened to be rumours spreading of something called the Sokovia Accords."
Sam and Natasha exchanged a indiscernible look while Steve furrowed his brow at the name and concept.
"So, logically, I discussed some things with Secretary Ross here, and ended up inviting him here to... discuss a few things with you guys. Clearly, it's not going as well as he and I had hoped."
"So you're agreeing with these Accords? You're really willing to give away our freedom to the UN? Is that why you've been keeping silent this entire conference? Were you fiddling with your holograms only to conjure up some simulation that'll try to get your point across to us?! Cause it's not gonna work Tony!" Steve said, voice rising every sentence. But he said his last sentence much quieter and sadder. "I thought we were in this together, Tony."
Tony's eyes softened, even under the intense scrutiny of everyone in the room, apart from Steve, who was just looking down at the floor.
"Don't worry Steve, I got your back." Tony said softly. "FRIDAY, send the simulation data onto the conference screen, I wanna show everyone something."
In a matter of seconds, the data had finished it's transmission and was ready to be displayed on the screen. Tony stood up and walked to where Ross had previously been standing when he was showing his own video.
"So, I know you may be wondering what I have in store for you, and that's a good question. The answer to which, lies in this simulation I created."
The simulation began playing, showing hypothetical footage of a decimated area that once looked like a city, which was shown to be New York, there were no signs of life as far as the eye could see. On the top right hand corner, it said the death toll was approximated at over 8 million. Then footage of 3 Helicarriers firing down upon the citizens of Washington DC and surrounding cities, again, the death toll was approximated to be 20 million and over, with major political leaders dead.
Instead of showing another catastrophe, the simulation showed protests against the Avengers in cities across the globe, saying that they were too slow to react, or were puppets of the government, or were insensitive to smaller and less threatening crises. The simulation then changed to a scene where the area surrounding Avengers Compound was mobbed by angry protesters, holding signs, flags and 6 different poles, each had a different Avenger on them, all of which were burning.
The screen turned off, indicating that the simulation ended.
"Tony, what was that?" Rhodey asked, still horrified at what he just saw.
"That? Oh, nothing much, just a simulation on what would've happened had something similar to what the Sokovia Accords been given to us to sign when the Avengers were being set up." Tony answered coolly.
Tony's revelation caused everyone's eyes to widen, but most prominently, Ross's.
"So Ross, you sure you're gonna make us sign those Accords of yours? Because I think it's best we stay in our own hands, don't you think? Wouldn't want a death toll of nearly 30 million people on your conscience now would you?" Tony asked in mocking tone, only serving to infuriate Ross further.
"I refuse to believe such a morbid and unrealistic simulation. The Accords aren't going to hinder the Avengers, they will only make you a more controllable organisation. The Accords give you supervision and oversight, we would not hinder your performance." Ross countered adamantly.
"I assure you Secretary, I've run the calculations 10 times, the same result comes out each and every time. But isn't it fairly obvious why New York is decimated? Or why Helicarriers are in the skies firing down upon civilians?" Tony asked rhetorically moving closer to where Ross stood while the rest of the Avengers sat and stared at the exchange.
"Maybe something about you sending a nuke to New York to deal with the Chitauri invasion? Or maybe because SHIELD was a government agency and HYDRA, hidden inside SHIELD, would have no problem at all entering their algorithm into the Helicarriers since there would be no reason for you to send the Avengers against your own agency." Tony explained rather matter-of-factly.
Ross was speechless, he had come to the Compound, confident that he'd be able to get the Avengers to sign the Accords with little resistance, but what he got was the complete opposite of that. And the worst part was that there was logic behind their arguments, logic that the UN had not accounted for, and hence, he had not prepared for.
"With all due respect Secretary Ross, it seems to us that the Accords are not something that should be considered if Mr Stark's simulation anything to go by." Vision closed his eyes and laced his hands together, his entire form radiating a sense of contemplation and serenity. "I understand why you and the UN had thought of the Accords as a way to keep us under supervision. I also understand that the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate, and so has the number of known enhanced persons ever since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man."
"Which is why the Accords were created. With oversight, collateral damage will decrease, decreasing the number of grudges held." Ross explained as he looked at Wanda from across the table. "Also, any projects the Avengers want to start, they have to get through the UN before said project can begin. Which will stop anything like Ultron from happening again. The number of world-ending events has risen in the past 8 years due to your reckless behaviour, the only solution, is supervision."
"I'm afraid you don't understand Secretary. Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict… breeds catastrophe." Vision paused, getting pointed looks from the rest of the team, all seeming to ask what his point was.
"But… our strength merely invites challenge, it doesn't bring it up nor create it. We only shorten the interval between different catastrophes. This is because we give our enemies more opportunities to attack than there would've been before. However, as well as that, we also present more opportunities to be able to stop our enemies once and for all. Secretary, there being an increased number of conflicts in the past 8 years is a small price to pay for the elimination of terror from this world, wouldn't you think?"
Sam and Rhodey hummed in agreement as Wanda simply nodded. Ross only narrowed his eyes further and deepened his frown.
"Well, I suppose I'll take your silence on this being settled then. So, here's the plan. Secretary, you can go back to your fellow politicians and tell them that the Avengers are no way in hell signing the Sokovia Accords." Tony said smugly.
"Well then, you'll all be relieved of duty." Ross answered, quite simply.
Tony burst out laughing at Ross's at the ridiculousness of Ross's statement. "You're going to make us retire?! And then what? What happens when Loki comes back with an even bigger Chitauri army? What happens when HYDRA decides to mount another attack on another major city? What then?" Tony smirked at Ross's silence, continuing. "Face it Ross, like Nat said 2 years ago. You need us."
Ross was seething at Stark's mocking of him, not in all the years he's had this job has anyone ever mocked him. This was unacceptable, and so punishment was due.
But before he could say anything further, Steve Rogers's large frame stood infront of him, effectively ending the entire meeting with the Avengers just like that.
"Secretary Ross, I suggest that you leave and re-discuss these Accords with the UN and come back to us when you have a more… suitable solution to our 'reckless behaviour'."
Ross was effectively cornered, there was no way he'd be able to get the Avengers to sign the Accords at this point, so he did the one thing he could do, he left.
Steve, quite happy with the turn of events, looked back to the conference table, seeing the entire team joking and messing around about the absurdity of the Accords, all apart from Tony.
Tony was sat on his chair, away from the conference table, away from everyone else, his head ducked down and his hands covering his eyes and forehead, as if he was suffering from a headache. The scene alone was enough to slap the smile off of his face.
Crouching down next to Tony, Steve prodded. "Tony? You alright? What's wrong?"
Tony was silent, for so long in fact that Steve thought he didn't hear him. "Cap, do you think I'm that much of a hindrance to the team?"
"What?"
Lifting his head, Tony stared straight into Steve's eyes. "Face it Cap, I've done nothing but create problems. I mean look at Ultron, all me. Wanda and Pietro, they were against us at the start of the Ultron mess, again, all me. The whole reason why Ross was even here, yet again, all me. Just a few minutes ago, you even accused me of trying to convince you to sign the Accords."
"Well, were you?"
"At the start, I was. But after hearing some of your points, I changed my mind. Which is why I made the simulation, so I could get our point across to Ross, so he could get the hell out of here."
Tony tried to duck his head again, but Steve wouldn't allow it, still staring into each others eyes, unrelenting. "Tony… You aren't a hindrance to us, you're anything but that, Ross said it himself, you fund everything we do, you supply us with everything we need. Everything the Avengers own is literally supplied by you, Tony. So don't cut yourself short. We all make mistakes, you're no different Tony, just makes you human."
Tony huffed, crossing his arms as he sat upright. "That's ironic coming from you Mr I Never Do Anything Wrong."
Steve smiled sadly, deciding that it was time Tony knew something. "Tony, you don't know how wrong you are. I do plenty of things wrong, but I'm about to fix one of those things."
Steve took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. "I have something to tell you Tony, but I think it's best we do it somewhere… more private." He held out his hand so Tony could follow him, which Tony took with some hesitation.
"Before I do though, I have to say, I'm sorry for keeping it a secret Tony."