Welcome to "I rework an entire movie so only the beginning happens because I don't like it!" I hope you enjoy your stay. I'm sorry to any Maximoff or Vision stans. Also Fuck Stane! Also also, I may or may not be rehashing something in used in my fic More Than He Seems. Sorry, not sorry. I'll see you at the end. Also, I used Google translate for the Italian because my Italian sucks. I'm fluent in French not Italian.

ps. I may or may not have shed a few tears while writing a part in the middle. You'll find out soon.


When baby Nicola was 10 months old he said his first word. He'd been babbling whenever someone talked to him or he wanted attention, but until that point, Nicola hadn't said anything that even remotely sounded like a word. But once Nicola started talking he was unstoppable.

It all started on a sunny afternoon right before Tony's birthday. The Avengers were out and about doing their own thing, Steve was cleaning up after lunch, and Tony was trying to get Nicola to eat just a little bit more of his smashed peas.

"Dai, bambino, solo un altro piccolo boccone. Ancora un altro per la mamma?" (Come on bambino just one more little bite. Just one more for Mama?)

Nicola swatted the spoon full of smashed peas out of Tony's hand with a giggle. Tony just sighed and knelt down to pick up the fallen spoon. But, just as Tony was cleaning up the mess he felt a little foot kick his shoulder and heard a little shout of "Mama!"

Tony sat up instantly and looked at his baby boy. His baby boy that had just said his first word!

"Steve!" shouted Tony and the man came running over from the kitchen only to see Tony on the floor with a huge smile on his face.

"Watch this. Nicola Bambino, di mamma." (say mama)

"Mama!"

Steve looked on in amazement as Tony smiled even brighter and pulled Nicola out of his highchair and into his arms.

"That was his first word!" cheered Steve once he was drawn out of his head at the shock of the situation.

"It was! Steve! I'm his first word! I'm his first word!"

Steve just responded by pulling his husband and son into his arms and giving Tony a kiss. Tony was so scared that he'd turn out like his own father and that Nicola would grow up resenting and fearing him from day one. The fact that Nicola's first word had been Mama was just what Tony needed for a little self-confidence boost.

From there Nicola picked up new words like a sponge. His second word was Dada and Steve vehemently denied that he'd cried. Nicola's third word was No! That very quickly became his favourite word and the word most often used at mealtime especially when confronted with those dastardly smashed peas.

Soon enough it was Nicola's first birthday. It was a quiet affair with just the Avengers, Happy, and Pepper. Rhodey had recently become an official Avenger so it was even more of an excuse to celebrate. There was a cake and balloons. Nicola took great joy in having more fun with the wrapping paper then with his gifts. Tony and Steve took a fuck tonne of pictures. It was a great day.

That night, after Nicola was put to bed, Tony took Steve off to their room to give his husband a special birthday present of his own. So, in the light of the Fourth of July fireworks streaming through the windows, Tony and Steve had their own little private party complete with a little surprise from Victoria's Secret.

Unfortunately, the jovial mood didn't last for very long after.

In early August the Avengers were called out on a mission. SHIELD had located the HYDRA base that was housing the sceptre that Loki used during the New York attack and it was the Avenger's job to retrieve the sceptre and gather intel while taking down the base.

Tony was worried about this mission. This was his first mission since he'd gotten pregnant and had his darling baby boy. Tony didn't want to leave his baby. He wanted to stay at home with Steve and Nicola and just ignore the world. But he couldn't do that. Tony had a responsibility to the world and his team to help protect people as Iron Man. This was his job and Tony knew that. But he didn't have to like leaving his baby.

"Are you sure you'll be alright watching three kids by yourself while pregnant?" Tony asked Laura one last time as the Avengers prepared to board the jet.

"I'll be fine Tony. Cooper and Lila are old enough to handle themselves for a bit if I need a moment and Nicola is such a calm baby. We'll be fine."

Tony looked a bit skeptical but he trusted Laura to call Pepper of Happy if she really needed help with all the little gremlins. So, Tony could only give his baby one last kiss along with Steve and boarded the jet along with the others.

"You doing alright darlin'?" asked Steve as they started to fly over the Atlantic.

"I don't like leaving our baby. He's still so little and leaving just reminds me that he's going to grow up and not need us anymore." Sighed Tony as he finished doing one last check of the Iron man armour.

"Nicola will be fine Tony. Laura's keeping an eye on him. And as for him growing up and not needing us, that doesn't matter. Even if Nicola doesn't need us anymore that doesn't mean that he'll stop loving us. You're a good mom Tony and Nicola loves you very much. Nothing will change that."

The rest of the flight was pretty calm. Everyone finished their last gear checks and Steve started running everyone thought the strategy they were going to use. Everyone knew that plan and what to do once they landed in Sokovia. The only wild cards were Tony and Rhodey. They received so much data from JARVIS and processed it so much faster than they had the all good to make split-second decisions on the field. Explanations could wait when lives were on the line.

The Avengers hit the ground running. Thor, Tony, and Rhodey went out towards the base to do some scouting while everyone else including the Hulk started to take down the smaller bunkers in the forest surrounding the city.

"SHIT!" shouted Tony as he got closer to the main bunker and ended up ramming into a forcefield.

"Language!" shouted back Steve over the coms. He instantly regretted that. He'd been so used to watching his language around his son that it just slipped out.

With everyone giggling over Steve's little slip-up, they missed a new player on the field. It wasn't until Clint got knocked over and called an old man that they realized that there were more people fighting back against them.

"We have an enhanced on the field. Looks like some kind of super speed. Keep an eye open."

It turned out that the speedy kid wasn't the only enhanced on the field. Once Tony was able to take down the forcefield with a little help from Rhodey, they were able to infiltrate the base. Steve started at the top of the tower with Sam as back up while Tony took down the lower levels and started the information transfer back to SHIELD after he'd gotten out of his suit. Everyone else finished the clean up outside and got Clint transferred back to the jet. He'd taken a small hit and was being a bit of a baby about it.

"Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door. Please be a secret door." Chanted Tony as he put some pressure on a section of wall that was giving off a pretty serious draft. Hopefully, it would lead somewhere important.

"Yay!"

As Tony descended the slightly damp stairs downwards he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He wasn't alone here be he couldn't see anyone else. Something was off about this place. Something felt like it just didn't belong. Tony didn't know how to explain it, but it felt like he was about to walk into another reality. Either way, he soldiered on. The sceptre had to be down here he just knew it.

While Tony made his way into the underbelly of the base, Steve and Sam had the opportunity to take down Strucker. He was… surprisingly easy to take out. He didn't even put up a fight. He just stood there and talked and Steve and Sam got closer. He was so calm and nobody knew why. Well, they didn't know until Steve got magically pushed down the stairs by a woman with flaming red hair.

"We have a second enhanced on the field. Do not engage." Announced Steve over the coms as he got back up and clocked Stucker in the face. The man went down like a sack of potatoes.

"Guys, I've got Strucker." Spoke Steve as he and Sam finished tying the tyrant up.

"Yeah, and I've got… something bigger."

Tony had finally gotten to the basement of the hideout and was shocked by what he saw. There were piles upon piles of old, used, rusted metal and robots. There were giant Chitauri Leviathans suspended ominously in the air. Their dead eyes stared back at Tony and he felt his breathing pick up. Tony's hands shook as he walked further into the room. Seeing all of this took Tony right back to the Battle of New York. Right back to the wormhole, and falling, and having a heart attack not long after. He hated to think about what had happened.

But, just as Tony's thought were about to take a turn for the worst, he spotted it. Right in the corner of his eye was the deadly blue glow of the sceptre. It was just sitting there on a table as if it had been abandoned when they attacked the base.

"Thor! I've found it. You should start heading over to my location."

"I'll be right there. I just need to make sure that Clint's alright." Spoke Thor in his usual booming voice that continued to short out everyone's earpieces.

"I can be down there in a couple of minutes Tony. Sam and I are just finishing up with Strucker."

"Take your time Steve. I've got it handled."

Tony did not have it all handled.

Just as Tony was getting closer to the sceptre he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Tony stopped and looked around for a second before he felt some hands near his face and his vision went all red with a yellow tint. Tony blinked his eyes a few times to get his vision straightened out but what he opened his eyes again he wasn't in the same room he'd started in.

The place where Tony was now could only be described as a wasteland. The ground was all torn up, the sky was clouded over with layers of smoke and ash, he was surrounded by the remnants of what must have been a huge building.

Tony slowly stepped out from where he was and saw that he wasn't alone. He was far from alone. There were screams and shouts coming from every direction. Tony had found himself in an active battlefield. He looked out over the scene and saw a giant ship in the sky along with hundreds of Chitauri ships. A giant purple man was commanding his forces against who must be the heroes. Tony tried to go and run so he could find a suit but stopped the second he saw a couple familiar faces. He saw Clint going wild with his bow, Thor summoning lighting, Rhodey flying with a fucking raccoon on his back, and Steve was leading the charge with a broken shield.

Tony looked on in confusion. This wasn't right. Nothing about this was right. First of all, everyone looked different. It was just slight differences but it was enough to throw Tony off. First up Clint's hair looked funny. It was done up in a bad mohawk that just didn't look good. Thor looked really different. His hair and beard were longer and he was looking a little bit heftier. He was still kicking ass and taking names as lightning shot from the strange axe he was holding, but Tony wondered what had happened to Thor to have him looking like that. Tony looked up at the sky and saw that Rhodey's suit was different. It was more refined then the current model Tony was fine-tuning for him. And then there was Steve. He looked so much older and battle-worn. Like he's been carrying deep secrets and lost love on his shoulders for years.

This was not his Steve. This was not his world.

And when Tony saw himself streaking across the battlefield towards a kid swinging around in a red and blue metal suit he knew that this wasn't his home. The alternate Tony looked so thrilled to have that kid back. Tony wondered what had happened. The Alternate Tony also looked way different. He looked like Loki had never hit him with the de-ageing spell. His hair was greying and his eyes looked weary. He looked so sad and scared.

And then the fighting got worse. So many players were going down. There was a breach in the dam holding back the water, people were running out of ammunition, it was a nightmare. And that purple guy, he just stood there and smiled at the scene. Tony caught some people including a group of amazing badass ladies take hold of this glove and try to get it to this ugly brown van. Tony wondered why Natasha wasn't there with the rest of them. She'd surely have gotten a kick out of the whole situation.

But things continued to get worse. So many more people started to fall. Tony saw Steve go down as well as Thor and he wanted to run and help them but he couldn't move. The world was dying and he couldn't move. Soon enough Tony saw a blonde woman wearing blue, gold, and red grapple with the purple guy only to get knocked down as well. The purple guy put the glove on his hand with a yell of victory. He could feel the loss and fear in the air.

It looked like the purple guy was seriously about to win the fight when Tony saw a man in a fucking sentient cape hold up one finger with a sad look on his face. Alternate Tony's face fell before he rushed forward to grab at the purple guy. He didn't do well and was thrown back. Tony's heart sunk.

"I am inevitable." Sneered the purple man as he snapped his fingers.

But nothing happened. The man snapped his fingers again and looked on in confusion as he turned over the glove and saw empty places were stones used to sit. That was when Tony looked over at his alternate self. The man was kneeling on the ground. The stones were carving deep wounds in the armour and his face and arm were slowly burning. Tony wanted to shout and scream for is alternate self to stop but he couldn't make any sound come out. Tony was scared and he saw the same emotion mirrored in his alternates eyes. He was scared but also determined.

"And I… Am… Iron Man." Spoke his alternate self before he snapped.

The world went white and suddenly Tony was back in the dilapidated bunker.

His mind was racing. He had no idea what had just happened. Tony fell to his knees as he felt tears fall down his face. His hands were shaking and he felt so incredibly empty inside. It was if he'd just died. Tony was scared. Stupidly, incredibly scared. He had no words to prosses what he'd just seen. It was like he just watched all of his worst fears come to life.

"Tony! Anthony!" shouted Steve as he entered the room. Tony didn't respond. He didn't move. He couldn't move.

Steve knelt down in front of Tony and took his shaking hands in his. Steve looked so scared as he tried to get through to Tony, but Tony just sat there and shed silent tears as he looked off with unseeing eyes.

"Anthony darlin', what happened? What happened sweet thing?" pleaded Steve as he pulled his catatonic husband into his arms. Tony just let Steve hold him as his mind raced.

Seconds later Steve saw movement out of the corner of his eyes. The two enhanced individuals. The woman was sitting on the floor while the man was comforting her. Something bad must have happened down here.

"Thor! I need back up right now to my location!" commanded Steve through the coms. Thor was there seconds later with containment for the sceptre.

"What happened here?"

"I don't know. Tony's really not doing well. We need to get him back home as well as the sceptre. We also need to take the two enhanced into custody."

Thor nodded and got to work securing the sceptre. The two enhanced came into custody without a fight both too shaken by whatever happened. Steve didn't pay then any mind. He just took his beloved into his arms and made his way to the jet. Tony stayed silent the whole time and just clung to Steve with shaking hands.

"What the hell happened?" asked Rhodey as Steve stumbled onto the jet with Tony in his arms.

"I don't know." Was all Steve could say as he sat down on a bench and cuddled Tony close in an attempt to bring his husband some comfort.

Not long after, Thor returned with the sceptre after placing the enhanced in SHIELD custody and the jet took off speeding towards home. The atmosphere in the jet was considerably subdued as they quietly talked about the mission and what to do next. Steve didn't really contribute to the conversation. He just sat there with his husband in his arms and offered all the comfort he could in that cramped little jet.

With less than an hour into the flight Tony's demeanour changed. For the longest time, he just sat there with Steve staring off into space, his mind racing with what he saw. But as they got closer and closer to home, all the emotions with what he'd witnessed seemed to catch up with Tony and in seconds he was bawling his eyes out.

"Tony darlin'. Shh. It's alright baby. I've got you. You're safe." Soothed Steve as he held Tony closer.

Everyone on the jet was concerned. Sam put the jet on autopilot and soon enough the whole team was gathered around offering some form of comfort. Tony was the most vulnerable and most valuable member of the team. They hated seeing him hurting.

After a little while Tony finally began to calm down. His breath was still shaky and his arms were a bit red from where he'd tried to scratch himself before Steve stopped him. He looked like a wreck and the team needed answers so they could better protect their friend.

"Tony, can you tell us what happened?" asked Natasha.

And oh how Tony wanted to lie and keep all of this bottled up. He wanted to spare everyone else the pain of what he saw. Hell, he didn't want to relive it himself! But, because of Loki's stupid curse he was stuck telling the truth about what had happened in the basement.

Tony told them everything. Every horrible detail. He left nothing out. Once he'd started talking he couldn't stop. The words just spilled from his lips as his breathing became more frantic. Everyone's eyes widened as Tony spoke. The fact that he was giving very specific details about what he'd seen had everyone worried. This wasn't some normal mind manipulation. This was something much viler.

"But this wasn't a normal vision. I know it wasn't. it felt so different. This was real. It was all real. Somewhere out there that really happened. Please believe me. Please believe me…" pleaded Tony as he shook in Steve's arms.

"Hey Tony. Shh. I believe you alright. I will always believe you but if you don't calm down soon I'll need to take you to medical once we land. You're working yourself up so much that you're going to get sick." Worried Steve but Tony was no longer listening. His face was stark white and he looked ill.

Thankfully the jet landed at the tower about 10 minutes later. They'd radioed ahead to let medical know what was going on. Clint was quickly looked after on the jet while Steve carried Tony down to medical. Steve knew it was bad because Tony wasn't even fighting going down to medical. Dr. Cho ended up sedating Tony just so he could get some much-needed rest and oxygen. She ended up doing some brain scans. There was magical residue that matched with the scans they'd just taken from the Maximoff girl they'd just captured, but there was also residue that matched up 1% with readings taken from the sceptre.

While Tony was sleeping off all the trauma of the day in medical, Steve left for a little bit to check up on everyone else. Clint was fine and his wife was fussing over him and the others were shaken but holding steady.

"Thor, that sceptre. I suggest taking it to Asgard. It's only causing harm here and I'm sure you're people are more equipped to deal with magical artifacts causing problems." Spoke Steve as he reached down and pulled his son into his arms from his highchair.

"Of course. I don't like the idea of an Infinity Stone being here on Earth."

"What's an Infinity Stone?" asked Sam.

"I will explain everything once I get back. It's a very long explanation and it will work better once everyone is feeling a bit better." Everyone nodded. It had been a long day and they needed the rest.

Soon after, everyone separated for the evening. Steve took Nicola down to medical so they could be with Tony. Tony was still sleeping and Nicola was down for the count so Steve placed his baby next to Tony and climbed onto the bed as well. He felt better in the tiny room in medical with his husband and son. He could protect them there. Nothing would hurt his family while he had them all together and safe.

About an hour later Tony slowly woke up. He was looking better now that he'd had some sleep and time to calm down.

"Hey there sleepy head." Joked Steve as he scooped Nicola up and placed him in Tony's arms.

"Hey, Steve." Smiled Tony sleepily as he looked down at his son.

"How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Sorry for freaking out like that." Sighed Tony and Steve frowned.

"Tony you don't ever have to be sorry for that. From what you described your reaction was justified. Shoot, even I was freaked out and that was just from hearing everything. Never feel sorry for being human Tony."

Tony just frowned but didn't fight Steve. Tony trusted Steve and if Steve said that he was allowed to react the way he did then Tony would believe him.

"So… when do you think I can get out of here? I'm hungry and I want to sleep in our own bed."

"We can leave right now. Dr. Cho said we could go after you woke up."

Steve gently helped Tony to his feet and held him and his son close as they made their way back up to their room. Steve got Tony and Nicola situated in bed while he got some food ready. He grabbed some baby food for Nicola and made a dozen grilled cheese sandwiches for Tony and himself. The family spent the rest of the night together. They just needed time to be a family after the cluster fuck that was their afternoon.

The next morning the entire team was called out to SHIELD HQ to figure out what to do with the Maximoff twins. Tony was pissed about having to go. He was just in medical and had honestly had a really bad day the day before. He was not prepared to deal with Fury's bullshit.

Once the team got there Fury and Hill were leading them to the cells they had specially made to deal with magic users. They'd made the cells after the whole Loki thing but it looked like neither of the Maximoffs were putting up a fight.

"Alright, you mother fuckers. Talk. Give us all the information you know about HYDRA and maybe, just maybe, we won't lock you up with all the other HYDRA scum we've managed to capture." Demanded Fury once everyone was seated and ready.

The twins got right to talking. They didn't have a whole lot of information on where bases where but they sure did know a whole lot about all the illegal human experimentation going on. They were able to give names as well as what little they knew about the formulas used to alter people's bodies. Apparently HYDRA wanted another superweapon after they'd lost track of Barnes.

"But that doesn't tell us why you joined up with Nazi terrorists in the first place." Hounded Fury.

"Because of him." Hissed Wanda as she pointed at Tony. "a decade ago one of his weapons hit our house and killed our parents. The bomb didn't go off. We sat there in the rubble for 4 days waiting for Tony Stark to kill us. He's a murderer. He should be dead, not our parents."

The team looked on a bit incredulously. A decade ago Stane was the one dealing under the table. He was the one stealing defective weapons to sell to terrorists. Also, it was stupid to blame the maker of the weapon and not the one who fired it.

"You do know that the weapons weren't Tony's fault, right?" asked Steve as he looked over at the twins with fury in his eyes. "The weapons were stolen and sold under the table to terrorist organizations by Tony's old business partner Obadiah Stane. He was the one fucking shit up."

Soon there was shouting and Tony started to curl in on himself. He was still feeling like shit from the day before and this whole situation wasn't helping.

"I thought this information was public knowledge?" questioned Tony softly once there was a break in the shouting.

Everyone stopped to look at Tony. Steve went over and pulled his husband into a hug while Fury started to look uncomfortable.

"You're hiding something, Nick. What is it?" demanded Steve as he looked on in anger.

"Well, SHIELD may have covered up the fact that Stane was dealing and stealing under the table and that he'd taken Stark's reactor to make his own suit before Stark and Potts ended up killing him. We didn't need the news getting out that terrorists had some of the most powerful weapons in the world." Explained Fury sheepishly.

And Tony, for all his fear and uncertainty, snapped. The whole reason he became Iron Man was for accountability and this just wouldn't do.

"Fury! How could you condone covering up Stane's actions!? The dealing under the table to HYDRA and terrorists was his damn fault and yet I'm the one blamed for it! The public needs to know what the hell is going on! I won't stand by and let ignorance win!" shouted Tony as he let go of Steve and got all up in Fury's face.

"How could you let this happen? People out there died because of Stane's actions. People out there are suffering because those weapons might still be out there and I don't know where they are because you've been hiding this information. How DARE you stand there and keep the truth hidden. How DARE you say you fight for the people when your lies are getting people killed."

Tony then proceeded to SLAP Fury in the face before Steve and Rhodey pulled him off of the director. All of the Avengers were fuming. Fury had no right to lie about all of this and risk the lives of many, including their own resident genius.

"Tony stop. He's not worth it." Spoke Rhodey but it wasn't a reprimand. He was more impressed by Tony's backhand then anything else.

"I'm calling Pepper. I need to set up a press conference. The public needs to know what happened." Grumbled Tony as he exited the room. Steve and Rhodey followed close behind while the other Avengers stayed to deal with Fury and the twins.

Once Pepper knew what was going on she agreed to set up a press conference for Tony. She agreed with him. The public needed to know the truth.

Three days later Tony was all dressed and ready for the conference. He wore a plain blue suit and had an orange stress ball in his pocket to keep his hands busy to help avoid a complete meltdown while he was regaling his tale to the masses.

"Tony are you sure you'll be alright to do this press conference. You took a big hit not even a week ago." Asked Steve as Tony got ready to go out.

"I'll be fine Stevie. I have to be. The public needs to know stuff like this. The sooner people know the sooner I can rest." Sighed Tony and Steve gave him a big hug of encouragement before Tony stepped out onto the stage and stood that the podium while cameras flashed a people began whispering. Tony stood there for a moment before taking a deep breath and beginning.

" Good afternoon everyone. I wish I was here under more exciting and happy circumstances. I wish I was here for some new product launch or something fun with the rest of the Avengers. Truth be told I should still be at home resting after taking a hit in the last mission. And yet I'm here. I'm here because something important has been withheld from the public without my knowledge concerning the creation of the Iron Man armour and the history of Stark Industries. This is going to be a long story so I ask that you leave your questions until the end. The world needs to know what happened so that people stop getting hurt."

"I'm sure that you all you remember back in 2008 when I was kidnapped for three months in Afghanistan. It's hard to forget, especially if you've seen the things I saw out there. "I saw young Americans killed by the very weapons I created to protect them." Does that ring a bell for anybody? It should, it's from the press conference I put on the second I got back from captivity. Does anyone wonder how I know that? It was because Obadiah Stane, former COO of Stark Industries, was selling Stark weapons under the table to terrorist organizations without my knowledge. That was the whole reason he had me kidnapped and nearly killed in the first place. He didn't want me finding out and ruining his plans."

"Once I managed to escape using the first model of the Iron Man suit, that I might add I made in a cave, he acted all happy and yet fought me at every turn. It was pure luck that I discovered what he'd done. But by then the damage was done. People had been hurt. Innocent people who should never have gotten hurt because of Stane's actions and my own ignorance to them. Not long after I'd discovered what Stane did, I was almost killed a second time. This time at his hand. He ripped the arc reactor from my chest to power a suit of his own. You all remember the right I had against a much larger version of my suit the night before I came out as Iron Man, if you don't there's footage of YouTube. It was Stane in the suit that night. And he didn't die in a plane crash like I found out was said. He died when Pepper overloaded the arc reactor at SI's Malibu branch to save my life."

"Now why am I telling you all of this? All of the gritty details of my own trauma that personally I'd like to leave in the past. It's because I believe in accountability. The fact that this was hidden from you by the very organization that says they want to protect you is monstrous. SHIELD has been hiding this from you all for years without mine or Ms. Potts's knowledge and this is unacceptable."

"I will admit that there was a hell of a lot of ignorance on my part. I'm sorry for not checking the information SHIELD put forth sooner. If I had then this never would have been covered up. I wish I'd checked things sooner but then again at the time I was just almost murdered a second time by my godfather and then dying of palladium poisoning. But that's no excuse. I should have been more attentive."

"The fact that this was covered up is despicable. I want my son to grow up in a world where people are taken accountable for their actions. I refuse to let this deception continue. I only found out that this was being kept a secret myself a few days ago. I'm dory for taking so long to get this information out there but we did have to gather all the information so that nothing was hidden. No more deception."

Everyone was shocked as Tony finished talking. The fact that something big like this was hidden from everyone was a shock. The room erupted into chaos as people began shouting out questions. Tony tried to answer as many as he could but he was getting overwhelmed and exhausted. Everyone could see there weariness he was carrying and the pain he was feeling. Plus the fact that he was supposedly still on rest from the Avengers' last mission from only a few days ago pushed the press into actually not being complete assholes for once and letting Tony got back home so he could rest. They could ask more questions later. For now, they all had the story of the century.

The second Tony walked off the stage and behind the curtain, he collapsed into Steve's waiting arms and started crying. That whole conference was incredibly emotionally taxing. He was just so completely done for the day. Steve just held him and told him how good he was. It was the least he could do for the man he loved.

In the days that followed the press conference two things happened. First of all, SHIELD was in hot water with everybody for keeping the under the table sale of deadly weapons a secret from everybody. Second of all, despite past opinions of the man, the public rallied in support of Tony for coming out and telling the truth.

Tony was surprised. He thought that people would hate him for sure, but that wasn't the case. The public was praising the fact that Tony had told the truth as soon as he'd found out that it was being hidden from everybody. People started calling him "The People's Avenger". He was the one who was out there sticking up for the people and owning up to his mistakes. Nobody blamed him for Stane pulling the wool over his eyes. Anyone who remembered Stane saw that he was a master businessman. A master manipulator. Stane had been in Tony's life for a long time before the incident. It was enough time to manipulate Tony into only seeing what he wanted him to see.

And as for SHIELD, let's just say that they were in some hot water with the government and the UN. But that wasn't the Avengers problem.

Yet.


Alrighty, I guess it's explanation time. I'm guessing that for those of you who saw Endgame some of the scenes in Tony's vision looked a little familiar. There's a reason for that. The mind stone can control visions and is slightly sentient. The mind stone was also the stone that MCU Steve was able to return to this world after MCU Tony defeated Thanos. So, the stone "saw" the events of the MCU. So with the stone coupled with Wanda's powers which also came from the stone, Tony was able to see what happened. Yes I know that was lengthy but I liked the idea so I ran with it.

On another note, we've official avoided Ultron happening and with it the accords! Yay me! I'll still have Ross be an ass next chapter but I need some conflict and a reason for Fury to call someone a mother fucker. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Leave a comment of you feel so inclined. I'll be seeing you all soon. -Shadows