Chapter 7
The Australian delegate frowns, even though it's not actually directed at Tony. They're almost five hours into Tony's statement by now. But at least they've covered most topics at this point and hopefully they will be done soon.
"So, let me summarize the scepter's role in all of this, Dr. Stark. You assumed that there is some sort of artificial intelligence contained within the Chitauri's scepter. You and Dr. Banner attempted to extract some of its coding to test it as a template for the Ultron program. And you postulated that the scepter itself might have interfaced and induced the program's completion and activation, giving credibility to your assumption that the scepter contained some sort of artificial intelligence."
Tony nods obligingly. They've been stuck on the topic of the scepter for almost an hour now. Good god, he is exhausted.
"But you also revealed that this very same scepter played a role during the Chitauri invasion, that Loki used the scepter to bring several agents and scientists under his control, even tried to do the same thing to you, which was only prevented due to the arc reactor technology that was still embedded in your chest at that point somehow disrupting its effects. You also stated that the scepter was able to influence an entire room of superhumans and trained agents either in a psychological or emotional manner, increasing their aggression towards each other and almost resulting in active conflict."
Tony wants to snort. The beginning of the Avengers. What fun that had been.
And he wants to kick Fury for apparently keeping everything to himself, so now Tony has to fill in the blanks. The UN had been entirely unaware of the scepter's recurring involvement in the various happenings of the past years. So, Tony had been stuck with explaining everything. Which definitely hadn't been any fun at all.
It's the Latvian delegate who continues. "But SHIELD kept the scepter after the invasion. And it was then used by HYDRA in their attempts to create superhumans. Attempts that were clearly successful as proven by the Maximoff twins."
Tony nods again to confirm the delegate's statements. That about sums up everything the scepter has fucked up in the few years since its appearance.
Now, the room is mostly silent as everyone considers the implications - clearly Tony isn't the only one somewhat exhausted by the seemingly unending interview.
Finally, the Australian delegate focuses back on Tony. But instead of asking Tony just what in the world made him even consider using the scepter that had already done so much damage to create an AI or anything really - something Tony wouldn't be able to answer, because he really has no fucking clue whatsoever why that had ever seemed like a good idea in the first place - the delegate seems to be focused on something else entirely.
"According to your statement and based on the video evidence from the HYDRA base where you retrieved the scepter, the scepter somehow gave Pietro Maximoff the ability to accelerate all movement well beyond visibility for the human eye. His sister Wanda Maximoff, however, gained some sort of psychic powers, not only allowing her to manipulate the physical world around her but also to manipulate minds, possibly even emotions."
Pretty much all of the delegates are frowning now. Clearly no one particularly enjoys the thought of someone with the ability and willingness to mess around with people's sense of self.
At some point Tony had gone digging through the security footage of the HYDRA base – to figure out what the fuck had even happened there – and up to that point he hadn't even known that Maximoff had been standing next to him at the time the vision had toppled him into that pit of helpless terror.
Well, he had assumed that she had been responsible somehow – because the sudden appearance of a mindfucking HYDRA witch at the same time as Tony's sudden vision was a bit too much coincidence - but she had apparently been standing right next to him, his eyes glowing the same color as the force winding around her hands. And he hadn't noticed. Neither had JARVIS. That in itself was already disquieting.
But watching her so very easily and unscrupulously send all of them into some sort of dream-like state, had been truly terrifying.
The Australian continues. "During your raid of the HYDRA base, Wanda Maximoff induced some sort of wake-dreams for several members of your team, an apocalyptic vision in your case which by your own testament led you to consider the necessity of a planet-wide defense system and ultimately led you to design the Ultron program."
Tony wants to close his eyes at the reminder. The vision immediately springs to the forefront of his mind, but thankfully the terror that had plagued him in the days immediately afterwards has finally somewhat abated by now.
And they have already spent quite some time discussing the implications of Maximoff's powers and her involvement in the Ultron mess during his interview. Tony hopes they won't be getting back to rehashing everything again.
But the Australian delegate is clearly still on an entirely different track, watching Tony intently. "Considering the previously noted ability of the scepter to manipulate negative emotions and the fact that Wanda Maximoff's powers come from that very source, have you considered that the scepter itself might have manipulated your fear in order to maneuver you into giving its own coding life? That she might have even linked your fear to the scepter somehow?"
And Tony just stares.
Because somehow that question hadn't even occurred to him until now.
Tony spins on his chair in his workshop, head leaned back, sightlessly staring at the ceiling.
He is so incredibly tired, but he simply cannot sleep.
Vision came to visit yesterday evening and they had spent several hours talking. It had calmed something in Tony to see his baby doing so well.
Ever since Rhodey's assertion that they were going to put JARVIS back together, hearing Vision's voice doesn't hurt as much anymore. And Tony is ever so glad that he can finally spend some time with who could be considered JARVIS' son without flinching.
And going by Vision's relieved expression the android had clearly noticed the difference immediately, making Tony feel even worse at realizing that he must have been entirely aware of Tony's reticence to spend time with him. Vision's willingness to come to the tower despite knowing it would be at least somewhat hurtful for both of them definitely spoke of the android's amazing character.
And Tony was just so damn proud!
It had done both of them good to talk and once he got going, Vision had practically buried Tony in questions. About everything, from the purpose of cat videos on youtube and the nonsensical rules of anime card games all the way to international diplomacy and setting boundaries in interpersonal relationships.
And Tony definitely feels like an ass for just ignoring Vision in the past weeks, for simply throwing him in the deep end, just because he hadn't been able to get over hearing JARVIS' voice from someone who wasn't JARVIS.
But Vision's questions had not only driven home just how young the android still was, but also made Tony wonder just how his baby boy was being treated over at the Compound. Vision hadn't complained in any way, but some of the questions he had asked - especially those about setting personal boundaries and about keeping your own counsel regarding which of your thoughts to discuss and which to keep to yourself - were eating at Tony.
And now, Tony was split on how to handle his suspicions about the team's treatment of his baby. He didn't want to overstep his bounds, didn't want to drive a wedge between Vision and the very few relationships he had. But he also couldn't just ignore the fact that Vision had thought it necessary to ask those questions in the first place.
He was afraid that if he pushed too hard, the only one suffering would be Vision either by losing the team or by losing Tony. He would rather be the android's safe haven if there was ever a point in time Vision felt like he needed to get away or seek help.
And going to visit the Compound himself wasn't going to accomplish anything because the team had made their relief at getting rid of him very fucking clear. If he showed up there now, everyone was going to be immediately suspicious. Tony would also love to avoid being in any sort of proximity to Maximoff right now…
Maybe Tony could ask Rhodey to go visit the Compound to check out how the team dynamics had changed in their absence. Whether Tony should be worried.
So, when Vision was leaving, Tony had told him that he was welcome at the tower any time, whether to chat with him or with his bots - who simply adored their newest addition to the family - or just to sleep in the city for a night.
And Vision's small, honest smile at the offer had warmed Tony all the way down to the gooey center of his old, shriveled, shrapnel-free heart.
But once he was alone again after Vision's visit, Tony had found himself missing JARVIS with a ferocity that made it difficult to breathe.
So, he had spent the next 14 hours digging through his servers again.
And now, he is so tired that he doesn't dare touch any of JARVIS's old code anymore because he is afraid he might mess something up in his exhaustion.
He has been awake for 42 hours now and still, he simply can't get his mind to shut up.
Worrying about Vision makes him think of JARVIS - who would have long since figured out whether there was anything strange about the way Vision was being treated at the Compound or whether Tony was just being paranoid - which makes him miss his friend even more intensely.
But remembering JARVIS means thinking about Ultron, which means thinking about his end-of-the-world vision, which means thinking about Maximoff. Again.
Maximoff, who has taken over his spot on the team he had once called his family. The witch, who hates him and willingly joined HYDRA for her vendetta. Who had brought death and destruction before her change of alliances but is still being sheltered by the team beyond reason. Who doesn't seem to feel any sort of moral dilemma at messing around in other people's heads and has yet to show any regret in the aftermath.
Tony sighs.
He has been trying to push the Australian delegate's question from his mind for days now. The question about whether the scepter might have contributed to his feelings of desperate, helpless terror after the vision – of whether the scepter might have spontaneously latched onto Tony's fear or whether Maximoff might have even purposefully made the scepter feed into Tony's terror.
The question had truly shaken him. Because the implications of that...
It would mean that he and Bruce might have been caught in an vicious cycle of working on trying to figure out a way to protect their planet by analyzing the scepter only to have its proximity amplify their fear which would have made them work harder to figure out the AI within the scepter and thus would have made them spend even more time in direct vicinity of the scepter giving it even more chances to influence them... Who the fuck even knew whether prolonged exposure to mental manipulation like that would have increased or decreased their resistance against that sort of interference.
And if Maximoff had been aware of doing so…
But there is also no way to prove anything. Because it's fucking magic. Tony hates that non-quantifiable, reason-defying, esoteric, handwavy bullshit. Fuck magic!
Tony has been trying to push those thoughts out of his mind, because he simply doesn't want to fall into that black hole of desperation again, but right now he is too tired to navigate his thoughts into a different direction.
He needs a distraction.
"FRIDAY, my girl, would you get Susan Storm on the phone for me?"
Tony sighs as the sound of the dial tone immediately fills his workshop.
The crowd laughs as Tony throws his best showman smirk at the interviewer.
She answers with her own camera smile. "And what about you and Ms. Potts, if I may ask? You have been spotted together on multiple occasions just this week. Have you maybe rekindled your relationship?"
"I should be so lucky." Tony waggles his eyebrows, getting another laugh from the crowd. "But no. Our meetings have been strictly SI business."
Which is at least mostly true.
He has been spending a lot of time over at SI recently, not only because of all the things that he is currently sorting out with SI's help but also because he suddenly has a lot more time on his hands after retiring from the Avengers. Dear god, the team had taken up far more of his time than he had realized.
But now he suddenly has the time to talk to his fellow tech nerds at R&D regularly again. It's adorable how excited the entire department gets whenever Tony walks through the door.
And he has even attended a few board meetings recently to help Pepper push through some of the things on her agenda. As he is still a majority share holder, having him there makes everything easier for Pep, no matter how much she likes to complain about having to wrangle him.
So, yes, Tony is spending a lot more time with Pepper, but they have in no way rekindled their relationship. And they won't. Tony is ever so glad that they have actually managed to recover their friendship despite their rather tumultuous attempt at a relationship and he has no interest in risking that by another go at romance.
No. Tony has his three friends back with him. And that is far more than he had dared to hope.
Although, the current hot topic in the media actually isn't his love life for once.
Ever since the UN's inquiry, the internet has been falling over itself while trying to interpret Tony's exoneration, everyone playing pingpong with 'expert opinions'.
So, Pepper insisted that Tony give a few interviews now since he finally doesn't have to refuse comments anymore as he had been asked to while the investigation had still been running.
For once, the media is pretty split on how to handle this topic. The more reputable outlets seem to actually be taking the fact that it was the fucking UN that exonerated him into account. While the tabloid media are of course going with the established model of 'let's act like Stark is a 21 year old partying playboy, has no accomplishments of his own and always buys his way out of trouble'.
Sometimes Tony would really like to shake them. He has been all about accountability for years now. Iron Man, anyone?
But John Oliver did a piece on the UN just two days ago and used Tony's exoneration as one of his examples. And suddenly, everyone is an expert on the inner workings of the UN.
And no matter how tiring that is, at least Tony now doesn't have to waste any time explaining what the UN actually does. At this point, he is grateful for small mercies.
So, he has already given an official statements to the press, attended several press conferences and even let Stephen Colbert needle him a bit.
And lastly, he is now subjecting himself to questions from one of the many celebrity scandal show hosts. Which is something Tony would have loved to avoid, but the thing about juicy stories is that there are no party lines in scandals. This show's audience spreads through all voting groups which is exactly what Tony wants. The broadest audience possible.
And it will be child's play to lead this gossip host away from the hard questions while still making her feel like a journalistic bloodhound.
Heh.
Which brings him back to this wonderful situation and his deliberate mention of SI.
The host answers his grin with her own best camera smile. "Is this SI business in any way related to the UN's investigation into your involvement with Ultron?"
Going by the triumphant gleam in her eyes, she clearly thinks herself quite clever.
"No. SI had no involvement of any kind with the Avengers' or my actions during the Ultron affair."
"But what about you personally? You have previously admitted direct fault for Ultron's creation in the week after Sokovia, haven't you?"
Hnpf. Tony hates soundbite-interviewers. They are endlessly dull.
Tony has been in the limelight ever since his birth. Phrasing his answers in a way that won't give anyone a chance to use parts of his sentences as soundbites out of context is second nature for him.
So, he just nods magnanimously and says, "Well, almost. I carry a large part of the responsibility for the program's creation. However, the court determined that I was not actually at fault for Ultron's actions due to extenuating circumstances."
He can see, her frustration at his answer. Come on, honey, take the bait.
"Why the emphasis on responsibility, not fault?"
Good girl. Here, have a cookie.
"The responsibility for Ultron's creation lies with several people, me included. We wrote a program with the main directive to protect our planet, however due to outside interference Ultron entirely deviated from this purpose. The program was designed to help organize a worldwide defense in case of another alien invasion. You know, just in case. Thus, the UN concluded that the robot's actual actions were not our fault."
The crowd is now utterly silent.
Tony knows that so far he hasn't made his thoughts on the likelihood of another, bigger invasion at all clear to the public in the past. He doesn't intend to do so now, either.
He is neither going to tell the general public about the fleet of spaceships on the other side of the portal nor about his reasons for suddenly feeling like he had to design Ultron. He would very much like to avoid starting a mass panic, thank you very much.
However, he will at least remind the people as a whole that there is in fact a potential threat. That they have made extraterrestrial contact. And that not all life in space is friendly.
Fury really dropped the ball on this one. Insight was a cute attempt, but really, three helicarriers? Tony still doesn't get SHIELD's conviction about how those three helicarriers would have helped them protect their entire fucking planet.
So, they would have had the Avengers – an American superhero team – plus three self-sufficient helicarriers. That's four cities they could have protected at once. Yay? It was a start but they still had nothing to defend from a large-scale attack and they would still have been fucked if the next alien invasion wasn't conveniently restricted to four sites of attacks.
It really would have been helpful if Fury had been willing to jump over his own shadow and share some information with the rest of the world.
Thankfully, Rhodey's meetings with various Generals have generated quite a bit of interest at this point. The US armed forces – all of them, including army, navy and airforce - have actually started a sort of think tank about how to defend at least their entire country from an unknown threat from outer space, if not the entire planet. And they are actually coming up with some decent ideas.
Thank the fucking gods.
Although, regrettably this is also eating up most of Rhodey's time currently.
Because his platypus has a unique perspective as a military man, who is also a genius and who has a comparatively close relationship with some of America's superheroes. And his friendship with Tony is definitely another reason, because the military – unlike the politicians - understood long ago that Tony trusts Rhodey. And that he trusts him for a reason.
The military actually tries to avoid forcing Rhodey into a position where he would have to choose between his loyalty to his country or to his best friend. They probably realized that the odds aren't necessarily in their favor in that scenario.
Not to even mention that trying to manipulate or force Tony into helping their country is a ridiculous activity anyways, seeing as Tony has spent his entire life doing just that. With enthusiasm.
It's mostly politicians who like to play those games. There sure are a lot of idiots in politics.
But point is, that his Rhodey bear now spends most of his time arguing with other nerds in the military about how to best protect their country and whether their ideas could be expanded to protect their entire planet if it comes down to it.
Seeing as Tony will most likely be involved in any of their larger world protection projects anyways Rhodey has even officially been given permission to discuss any of their more developed ideas with Tony.
Some of those ideas are so insane they could have come from Tony himself. In one of his three day inventing hazes. Let's just say, there are some definite space nerds in the airforce.
However, there are some feasible ideas being thrown around as well. Such as sending dense arrays of detection probes into space as an early warning system. Or giant force fields either to contain an invasion to a single site or to protect entire cities if need be.
Tony is fully behind either of those, especially the force field idea.
But of course, because there are politics involved, the implementation of those ideas is now being hindered by some asshats in DC. Because a threat that might wipe out the human race is apparently not enough reason to divert some funding in the military's direction.
Which is endlessly pissing Tony off. So, he is doing something about it.
That is his main goal for this interview today. Nothing wrong with lending the military a hand at gathering funding. And there are definite benefits to being easily the most famous person in their country.
Just watch him work his magic.
The host looks completely thrown at his sudden mention of aliens.
"You are referring to another attack like the one in NYC?" She asks slightly wide-eyed, clearly not having expected this turn.
"Hm, regrettably so. As much as I would like to think otherwise, it just makes sense to assume that if some creepy crawlies from space can try to invade us once, they might try again at some point. And it would be best if we were a little better prepared than last time."
There. That will put some pressure on the assclowns in DC. If their voters start calling them about protecting their country from alien invasions, Congress will promptly discover the leeway in their budget to finance the military's ideas.
Tony has already been slipping these mentions of possible alien attacks into all of his recent interviews. Much to the delight of the military bigwigs. During the last meeting in DC, General Morey - one of Rhodey's personal favorites - actually winked at Tony when the budget was mentioned. That old bat is getting crazier with every decade added on to his service.
But at least his plan to mobilize the public in order to pressure DC into financing planetary defense seems to be working. Whoop-dee-fucking-doo!
The host, however, clearly hasn't picked up at all on what Tony is doing. "But what about the Avengers? Didn't they easily defend New York last time?"
Again with the soundbites.
"Which is why what we were trying to build on with the Ultron program. Last time, we were lucky to learn of the invasion before it really got started and we were then able to contain it to a minimal area. The Ultron program was intended as an early warning system as well as a way to quickly organize forces anywhere in the world in case of another, similar threat."
"So, the Avengers would defend us again as they did last time?"
Well, at least she is somewhat persistent. But there is no way he is going to start a mass panic by discussing why the Avengers simply aren't enough to defend their planet.
Time for a change of topic.
"Of course, the Avengers as well as Iron Man will always do their best to protect as many people as we possibly can but we should be better prepared if only because there might be more than one site of attack next time."
Let's see whether...
"Why do you keep mentioning the Avengers separately from yourself or Iron Man? A while back you gave a statement about retiring, but surely Iron Man is still part of the Avengers?" The host promptly asks.
Thanks for playing.
"Iron Man has indeed retired from the Avengers. I am now no longer part of the team."
The crowd murmurs and there is honest horror in the host's eyes at his statement.
"But surely your retirement from the team is only temporary?"
Well, so far Tony has kept his separation from the team pretty quiet. He gave an official statement about his retirement of course and there was some initial outcry after the announcement, but after a while the public had seemingly decided to simply ignore it. Probably in the hopes, it might go away.
And Tony hadn't done anything to hinder their head-in-the-sand handling of the news.
Now, however, as the deal with the DIA is coming to a close, it is time to remind the public of Iron Man's separation from the Avengers again.
Because in no way does Tony want the public to think that he left the Avengers in order to avoid being under the government's purview. That is actually the last thing he wants. It would hinder the work he is doing on the Accords significantly.
Tony affects a tired smile - not that he has to pretend much, the bags under his eyes see to that.
"The Avengers team was originally assembled to fight the never seen before threat of an alien invasion in New York City. At that point, we were the first and also last line of defense. However now, the Avengers are well established. The team works well together," - no, it really really doesn't - "and there are several new recruits bolstering the ranks. Iron Man himself isn't needed for every single mission anymore."
She is looking almost offended now and there are even some exclamations from the crowd. Tony sometimes forgets that New Yorkers have claimed Iron Man as theirs and get rather pissy if anyone says otherwise.
Before she can go off on some tangent, Tony continues.
"That isn't to say that I stopped being Iron Man. I am happy to work with our various agencies, be it the Avengers to help on specific missions or the Fire Department to get a cat out of a particularly high tree. I am Iron Man. And that will not change. However, right now, there are other things that desperately need to be worked on and which I simply haven't had the time for due to my Avengers' duty."
The host looks somewhat placated again and the audience has finally stopped murmuring.
"What kinds of things?"
Dear god, this interview is predictable.
Still, Tony lets none of his boredom show on his face as he begins explaining SI's forays into clean energy, his clean-up and rebuilding projects in cities affected by the Avengers' various missions, his collaboration with the armed forces, the UN's project for clean water, for planetary defense and so on and so on.
Hey, why waste free press if it is offered so readily.
Waste not want not, and all that.
Pepper will be delighted.
"M- Mr. Stark?"
Tony has been waiting for the Spiderling to finally call him after their rooftop meeting a few days ago. Somewhat disappointingly, the kid is still wearing his mask.
But Tony still grins at the screen. "I told you to call me Tony, kid."
"R- right, Tony. Wasn't quite sure that part wasn't a hallucination. Sorry... Hi Tony!" The Spiderling babbles into the phone.
"Hi kid!" Tony cheerfully greets back.
"I- Mr. Stark, I mean Tony, I wanted to ask... Or rather, I meant... Did you-" The stuttering tapers off, as the kid is clearly lost for words.
Tony just waits him out. He knows all too well what it is like when genius and enthusiasm and insecurity mix to the point of tying your tongue into knots.
Finally, the kid almost whispers. "You know?"
"Of course I do." Tony replies easily as he continues realigning some of the delicate wiring in the suit's left glove.
"But how?"
"I'm Tony Stark. I know things. And if I don't, I figure them out." He throws a charming smirk at the camera.
There is silence on the other end. Clearly, the Spiderling is at a loss of how to proceed. He has obviously realized that Tony knows about his identity - why else would he have set up the kid's phone to read 'Hi Peter!' on the welcome screen - but still unsure whether to actually admit to anything.
And the last thing Tony wants is to put even more pressure on the kid. No, he just wants the Spiderling to know he can rely on Tony.
Tony isn't so arrogant to think that he has enough influence over a teenager he just met to talk him out of being a superhero right away. But as far as FRIDAY could figure out, the kid also doesn't have anyone else to contact amongst superhumans.
Which Tony cannot let stand.
Because at some point the Spiderling is going to run into something he can't handle on his own and then Tony wants the kid to have someone to call. If that someone has to be Iron Man, well, then so be it.
So, he finally puts down his tools and turns to give the kid his full attention.
"Why don't you come by the tower at some point so we can talk? I would love to hear about the netting you use. The tensile strength of that stuff is off the charts. Who manufactured that?"
"I- I did."
"Now, that makes it even more interesting." Tony grins. "Just stop by whenever. Although, better you call first and FRIDAY will let you know in case I'm not available. Seriously, I feel like I'm spending all my time in meetings these days..."
"Friday?" The kid sounds more than confused.
"My AI. Say hi, baby girl."
"Hello." FRIDAY greets promptly.
"H- Hi?" That apparently didn't help with the kid's confusion any.
"Just call me and if I'm not available, FRIDAY will answer for me and let you know when I'll be back at the tower."
"Alright." The Spiderling still sounds hesitant.
Tony tries to reassure him. "Really, kid. Just call anytime. I mean it. No holding back, okay?"
"Okay." At least he is starting to sound less hesitant now. "Um, Mr. Stark? I mean Tony?"
Tony snorts in amusement. "Yeah, kid."
"I, um, I'm kinda... already here?"
Tony raises his eyebrows and the kid obligingly turns his phone to show Tony his own tower from the outside. The kid is apparently sitting on the roof of one of the neighboring buildings.
Tony blinks at the screen and then he promptly snorts a laugh. "Really, Spiderling. Next time lead with that."
A/N: I'm currently considering whether to give this story a pairing or not and because you guys have been so awesome, I decided to just leave it up to you :) So, do you prefer this story to have a pairing or not? And if you do, which one?
Notes: No Team Cap (just no), no Tony/Rhodey ('cause friendship is forever!), no threesomes (because I don't think I'll be any good at writing that) and the only non-slash pairing I can at least vaguely imagine is Tony/Pepper (if there is overwhelming agreement on that). Hm, other than that I like most pairings I've stumbled across, including Tony/Strange, Tony/Quill, Tony/Bucky, Tony/Wayne, Tony/Logan, Tony/Loki and Tony/Thor (usually also Tony/T'Challa but I feel it doesn't really fit this story). Also, I'm definitely open to other pairings if you have any ideas and I can just as well write this without pairings.
So, let me know!
Thanks for your reviews!
