Chapter 10
"I honestly wasn't expecting anything in return," Pepper heard the Sergeant say. She frowned when he added "And what did you mean about the first pardon?"
She was silent for a moment as she looked towards Tony who was trying to get over his hangover on the couch before quickly putting her hand over the phone. "Tony didn't you offer Barnes a pardon in Germany?" She asked as she remembered Tony pulling quite a few strings and calling in favors.
"Uhm…. Rodgers refused to sign because of Wanda," Tony mumbled and Pepper let out a string of curses before turning back to the call and saying "Can I get back to you on that? Friday will send you the compound coordinates." She quickly ended the call and turned to Tony who was looking slightly more alert.
"Tony what happened?!"
"They wouldn't let me talk to Barnes directly in Germany," Tony confessed. "So I told Steve to sign the Accords to make the last 24 hours legit. He signs and Barnes gets transferred to a psych facility in America instead of a Wakandan prison."
"And this was before you found out Zemo had impersonated Barnes?" Pepper asked and Tony nodded. "Then why didn't he take the deal?"
"He had a strong opinion on Wanda being confined to the compound," Here Tony scoffed.
"That's ridiculous! The compound is state of the art. What did he have to complain about?!" Pepper questioned. "The woman even had a whole spa and pool there!"
"The fact that Wanda was confined there. It seemed to him it was the same as placing her in a small cell," Tony said and the look in his eyes told Pepper exactly what he thought of the whole situation. "Mind you I did try to tell him she had the run of the building and access to all the amenities but he just wouldn't have it. I probably should have kept my mouth shut on the documents being amended so that he and Wanda would be reinstated."
"No Tony you shouldn't have!" Pepper growled as she placed her hands on her hips. "The way I see it he turned his back on the mental wellbeing of his childhood friend for a teammate that was still living a pretty cozy life instead of being confined in a prison cell. He shouldn't have been the one to make the call about Barnes either. He wasn't his guardian, we didn't even know if the Sergeant was in his right mind to make informed decisions," Pepper muttered. "Didn't you run this through Barnes' lawyer?"
"Barnes didn't have a lawyer, at least I don't think he did," Tony confessed as he remembered the interrogation. "They let the shrink interview him without one."
Pepper groaned so loud that it startled Tony. "Oh god, this is a PR nightmare waiting to happen. It's a massive cockup!"
"Pepper breathe….." It was now Tony's turn to calm the woman that looked to be having a massive aneurysm.
"Tony, any lawyer worth their salt is going to look at this situation and file a lawsuit for human rights violations." Pepper explained. "The Avengers might even be brought under the microscope for letting this happen."
Tony blinked while looking perplexed as Pepper kept explaining, "This happened in Germany so the European Convention on Human Rights and the UDHR is in play here and it requires that access to a lawyer should be provided as from the first interrogation of a suspect by the police, unless it is demonstrated in the light of particular circumstances there are compelling reasons to restrict this right." She uttered. "The Anti-Terrorism taskforce let a civilian psyciatrist through to speak to Barnes. They would have had no reason to claim a lawyer should have been restricted."
"Oh,"
"Yes Tony, oh!" Pepper was now seated on one of the plush chairs. "As I said, this is going to be a PR nightmare. I need to make some calls."
He watched Pepper retreat to the office momentarily, the clicking of her heels distinctive, and he mentally kicked himself. How could he not have realized. Sure Pepper had worked in Legal before she became his PA but had he been so out of it to not have seen the legal ramifications? His only focus at the time had been to bring Rodgers and the others in after the screwup in Budapest and ensure that they didn't get prosecuted by Ross. Which was a feat of itself seeing as the old windbag had it out for them and Steve's face looked oh so punchable at the time.
"Friday?" Tony asked while he mentally went over the events in Germany again to see if he had screwed up something else as well.
"Yes Boss?" came the reply.
"Tell me when Barnes leaves for the compound. I want to be there when he lands." He said and then as an afterthought asked "You still have eyes on them don't you?"
"I do Boss but do you think going is wise? Perhaps Miss Potts should handle this." Friday suggested with a note of worry in her voice.
"I need to talk to him either way Fri and it might be now or never," Tony stated as he knew he may lose his conviction due to nerves. "And get me all the files and research data you have on Extremis. It's best to have that ready as well."
"Should I include your data boss?" Friday asked, causing Tony to still. "You haven't told Miss Potts about the seriousness of your injuries and it is highly likely she will see it,"
"No, don't include that," Tony muttered. "I'll tell her when I feel it's time. She gets that crazy look in her eye whenever Extremis is mentioned." and boy did he not want to burden Pepper more with that. Her battle with the unstable serum was still fresh in Tony's mind. He'd watched her deteriorate as he tried to search for a method to stabilize the compound. If it hadn't been for Natasha bringing him the final research SHIELD had pulled from Killian's servers he'd never have figured it out.
"Keep Dr. Cho on call as well," Tony said as an afterthought. Pepper had relayed to him what Barnes had explained about the two children and he figured Dr. Cho might have better bedside manners than him.
"Tony I need to head back to the office for a bit," Pepper said as she came out of the other room where his study was. She then directed a question to Friday "How long would it take Barnes to reach the compound?"
"GPS Data shows an estimated flight time from Argentina to New York at approximately 11 hours. The Quinjet could cut that travel time to a fourth."
"So about 3 hours if he takes the Quinjet." Pepper muttered and then turned to Tony "You going to be alright?"
"Yeah, I actually need to see a man about a horse,"
"What?!" Pepper looked somewhat incredulous.
"Don't worry about it Pepper," Tony assured but that just got him more of a frown directed his way.
"Every time you tell me not to worry about it I have to worry about it. At least take Vision with you as backup," She responded with a shake of her head before bidding Tony goodbye.
"I don't need backu-," Tony started to say as the elevator doors closed but then he thought about it. It might be good that he and Vision head out for a bit. "Friday could you get me our favorite pirate's coordinates and ask Vision if he wants to go on a quick road trip?"
Within minutes Vision phased through the floor and while his expressions were minute he still seemed happy to see that Tony was doing well. "Sir, I see you are functioning well,"
"Vision, please call me Tony," the man responded. The use of 'sir' made him think of JARVIS and he wanted to get to know Vision as his own person. Tony then realized something and let out a laugh "You're basically my grandson so no need to be so formal,"
"As you wish Si-Tony," Vision corrected.
"Yeah, where are we going Friday?" Tony asked.
"Essex boss," The AI answered.
"England?"
"Connecticut Boss," Friday informed them with some glee in her voice.
"Well come on Vis, we're going to give ole Blackbeard a visit." Tony said as he suited up. Vision flew after him looking perplexed and both reached Connecticut within half an hour. When landing the android felt more than slightly out of place. It was a quiet town, with a population around 2500 and people stared at them as they landed on the sidewalk. No one here had probably seen superheroes up close before and Vision was slightly wary.
"Si-Tony, are you sure we're in the right place?" The android asked as Tony left the Ironman suit in Sentry mode before entering a small Arts and Craft store. There behind the counter Vision recognized the cashier restocking the superglue with glitter as the former SHIELD Director Fury, whom Tony greeted with "Why hello Dread Pirate Roberts, fancy meeting you here."
Fury seemed awfully calm as he turned to look Tony up and down, "Why are you here Stark? It can't be because of the new owl-shaped post-its I got in."
"You owe me Fury and I'm collecting today," Tony replied as he leaned casually on the display case.