Stark for President

Chapter 1 The Avengers Civil War

Thaddeus Ross's point of view

Picture it, The Avengers compound in Upstate New York. I was there on military business. I had information that I needed to pass to the Avengers, about their future and what would be expected of them now that the Sokovia Accords were about to be ratified and become international law. I had to tell the Avengers that their time defending us would be over if they didn't toe the line. They would sign the accords and adhere to them, or they would be severely disciplined — even facing the prospect of jail time should they fail to toe the party line.

I had just spent the better part of three hours and 45 minutes lecturing The Avengers on what was wrong with them.

"Picture it, 5 years ago, I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back swing." I began.

Their eyes ranged from outright hateful but understanding to outright indignant. The outright hateful but understanding eyes belonged to Bruce Banner — the young gentleman who had been involved with my daughter Elizabeth (known as Betty) for the better part of a year and a half when he turned into the beast.

"Turned out, it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass. I found something 40 years in the army never taught me: Perspective." I continued, pausing once again to see their reactions to my words. Bruce Banner was slightly green under the chin. His eyes held a glint of green within them too. The monster within was evidently near the surface, so I stepped as far away from him as I could without making it evident that that was what I was doing. Stark had unfortunately noticed that I was trying to distance myself from Banner, and he scowled at me. I continued to speak to cover the awkwardness.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You've… fought for us. Protected us. Risked your lives. While a great many people see you as heroes. There are some… who would prefer the word 'vigilantes'. And others who would like to see you imprisoned for your actions".

I added, again pausing to allow the gravity of my words to sink in.

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Natasha demanded, giving me a cold, hard look, "Are you going to tell us about the secrets SHIELD keeps from its employees?" she spat viciously. Rage was evident in those cold, hard green eyes of hers as she glared at me.

"How about 'Dangerous?' What would you call a group of U.S.-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind them?" I replied, there was a short pause as again I let the gravity of my words sink in. before I continued,

"For the past 4 years, you operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement, the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution. The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries. It states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. You will operate under the control of the United Nations as a Peacekeeping corps, or you retire. We cannot allow this to continue. We obviously appreciate your help, but we have to go about things differently."

I allowed the proverbial bombshell to drop and explode before I continued,

"You will be under the supervision of a United Nations Panel, only when and if that Panel deems it necessary. You will obey them, or you will reap the consequences."

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that." said Rogers. This statement raised my ire and the ire of several others in the room.

"Tell me, Captain, do you know why there are so many countries baying for your blood? You rock up to events unexpectedly, you create chaos while you claim to be 'helping', then you leave without clearing up after yourselves and the governments of the world have had enough! You need to be put in check. You need to be held accountable for your actions and the damage they cause, and it has to be done sooner rather than later. If you don't cooperate, you'll go to jail and the UN will freeze all of your assets." I growled.

"And we don't want to risk that, ergo, I am inclined to agree We have to be put in check and the sooner we get used to that the better."
"That's very noble of you Stark, but you are not the only one on this team. There are… 1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12…13…14…15…16…17…18 of you and you've brought your son into this mess, Stark… what would your father say?" I asked, arching an eyebrow

"Stark doesn't have a son" Rogers protested.

"Yes he does, Peter Parker. Spider-Man" said Barton
"Stay out of this Rogers, it has nothing to do with you" said Banner, his voice an angry hiss.
"You know as well as I do that he would have had me join the fight too…" said Stark. Romanoff blanched at the mention of Howard and Peggy Stark. Her eyes suggested that she knew something that no one else did.

"Be that as it may. Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords. So, talk it over. Make your choice, and then you will appear at the UN to clarify that the choice you make is the choice the UN wants."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Stark asked, an eyebrow raised

"Then you retire." I replied "you step out of line, you retire, you don't obey the committee, you retire, you create or cause chaos or havoc of any kind, you'll go directly to the Raft where you'll be kept in solitary confinement do I make myself clear?

Blank stares greeted me.

"Look, let me level with you. If you don't do it now, it will be done to you down the line. You might as well do it now and save a load of time and bureaucracy."

Deciding to let them sweat, I left, taking my bodyguards with me.

Tony's point of view

"So… basically… we need to sign the accords, or we're through?" Jay asked
"Yes" I answered

"I don't think they can do that," Said Rogers
"They can, and they will, and they will do things that are one hundred times worse if we don't comply. We could end up on The raft, I could lose Stark Industries, Pepper could go to jail along with us, they might see her as an accessory to all this because she is the CEO of Stark Industries. I could lose custody of my children and that's not all, Bruce could lose his licence, Jay could get dishonourably discharged from the Air Force. Not signing is not a risk I am prepared to take. I'm signing the accords. I am working on fixing things with Pepper, but we're in a very, very fragile place right now"

"If we sign that document it means we surrender full control of our actions, I don't like that one bit, we could be manipulated through it, We could be coerced into doing things that we know are wrong, but the committee has said we have to do." Rogers said angrily, "And that is something I am not willing to allow to happen. I've worked far too hard for that"

"No Steve, it means that if we sign, we will be held accountable for our actions and there won't be such a mess to clear up or so many needless civilian casualties" Bucky explained "I don't want it to happen either, but we have no choice. I could do with a long rest. I want to stop the madness. I want to get my mind right. I want to break free."
Jay's point of view

An argument broke out, tensions were running high and the Sokovia Accords were the root cause of the fight.

"If we sign the Sokovia Accords, it means we will surrender control of our actions and our own free will and may be prevented from helping at all" Rogers yelled
"if we sign, we will be held accountable for our actions and there won't be such a mess to clear up or so many needless civilian casualties" Tony countered

"Enough you two, we need to discuss this calmly and rationally like adults"

"I have had it with you, Rogers. You are a spoiled idiot, nothing more, nothing less." Tony snarled, his brown eyes lighting up with a rage I hadn't seen there since the night our parents were attacked, "I have worked my fingers to the bone for this team, I have made armour and weaponry and shields and what thanks do I get? From half of the team I get thanks every day or every other day, but from your half of the team you sonofabitch, I get nothing, and I'm sick of the lack of gratitude. From now on you, Wilson and Lang will be paying rent. I can't charge my siblings rent. That would be mean-spirited and since they're grateful and have done nothing wrong… I'm not going to punish them."

"He's not an adult, he talks about me being spoiled when he is the most overindulged being I have ever met in my life and the most immature."

"I might be a child at heart, but at least I'm not a Capsicle! At least I know what Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. Snapchat, Twitch, and YouTube are without an army of people helping me like I'm some helpless old man. Face the facts you asinine decrepit dementia-addled old oaf, you are out of your depth! If left to your own devices, you'd struggle to cope on your own."

"I'll give you a helpless old man! You are nothing but a spoiled, obnoxious, overbearing BRAT, Anthony Edward Stark. You pretend to be doing good things, but in reality you're a self-serving blow hard. I think you're a man out for his gain, regardless of whom you're charging. You are constantly finding holes to slither your way into in the hope of finding loose change, only to cry when you're bitten by another snake. You're a man who says 'I love you' whilst looking over a woman's shoulder into the mirror…"
"Now come on, check your temper Capsicle, it wouldn't do for you to lose your temper, raise your blood pressure and have a stroke now would it I mean at your biological age, that's a very real possibility."
"I'll give you a stroke" Rogers growled.
"Sorry, Cap, I don't swing that way It's OK if you do, I'm not prejudiced. If I did, I wouldn't be with Pepper now, would I?"

"I don't understand, what are you babbling about?"

Sam leaned over and whispered something into Rogers' left ear, he looked horrified, and then he whispered "I thought that was illegal" said Steve
"It has been legal here since 1961, and in most of Europe since the mid-60s on average—some countries did it earlier and some later, as Tony said, it is fine if you are… we're not prejudiced" said Sam
"But Sam, I can't be… I'm catholic. The Catholic Church absolutely forbids it." said Steve

"You don't have to let your faith influence your choice. You can be without being a fully practising catholic. You could have a shrine to Our Lady and say the Rosary and worship God in your own way. The Catholic Church has a horrible attitude towards disability. So a lot of disabled people who are baptised catholic don't attend church because the attitude of the church towards disability is inhibitive and prejudiced…" said Sam

"I'll think on it… I don't even know if Bucky…"

"Guys, can we please focus on the task at hand? The Sokovia Accords."

"We're going to need the entire team for this"

"Where's Thor?" said Jay
"Where's Bruce?" I replied
"We're here. I am inclined to side you with Friend Stark, your argument is accurate. We need to be held to account for all of our actions, and we should pay compensation to the Midgardians for the trouble we caused them" said Thor.
"Thor, whatever you do, DO NOT mention that in front of General Ross" I said sternly
"I agree with Tony myself, even though I can't stand Ross. If we paint this the right way, we can help Professor X and his students as well" said Bruce, "Because you know they'll be next to be selected for… evaluation"
"Is Pepper here?" Rogers asked and I gave him a look
"No, she and I are currently on a break. I understand, I'm a handful, she's got a lot to get used to."
"Look, Tony, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I think maybe this time you've lost Pepper for good. I mean it's entirely plausible that she might have figured out that she could do better than you, I mean you're the equivalent of a man-child and she deserves better. She is a beautiful and intelligent woman, and she's a high-powered executive. She's your CEO, which means she's technically your boss."
"WHAT?" I yelled, punching the spot on the wall where Steve's nose had been moments earlier, he saw my fist coming towards him and ducked.
"How dare you talk of Lady Pepper in that disrespectful, demeaning fashion! If I had Mjölnir, I would use it to turn you to dust" said Thor
"Thor, I think we need to let Steve and Tony fight this one out, bro." said Bruce

"What did you say about Pepper?" I demanded. Fixing him with my iciest glare.

"You heard me" he replied.
I pulled my tightly clenched fist back so that it was hovering millimetres from Rogers' nose, my other hand was tightly around his throat, he was beginning to turn purple, but I didn't care, he crossed a damn line! I was trembling with rage… no one tried to stop me from choking Steve out.

My voice was an absolute death whisper

"If you ever say anything like that about Pepper or me again, I will kill you slowly and painfully with my bare hands and feet. I will enjoy the experience, you will not I will torture you to within an inch of your life you sonofabitch" I hissed, "Didn't your mother ever teach you that if you don't have anything nice to say, then you should keep your mouth CLOSED? And that it's not polite to say things about the loved ones of others? That is so typical of you… you're of Irish descent, aren't you?" I added with a deadly snarl.

"You are skating on extremely thin ice already, Capsicle, so I would not advise you to try my patience any further. I am warning you right now, you sick twisted manipulative son of a motherless goat, you are no better than the rest of us. Let me remind you who the real boss is around here and who pays for everything and builds everything. That's right, I know exactly what you're all about Mr-thinks-he-is-too-good-to-sign-the-accords, I'm the one who wears the iron pants around here. Keep it up, and you'll find yourself at the bottom of the Long Island Sound wearing concrete boots and a rope round your neck! I will not tolerate you destroying the team from the inside out because you're too much of a ridiculous bed-hopping relic to know your ass from your elbow. You wouldn't know what is good for the team if it jumped up and beat you up! You are no leader".

Rogers snorted and guffawed at the same time

"Me? Destroy the team from the inside out? Ha! That's bloody rich! You're the one who is forcing us into a choice which is not a choice at all! If we have to choose between signing the accords and retiring, I choose retirement every time. If I have to choose between obeying some government coward like Thaddeus Ross and retirement, I choose retirement every time because it's better than dealing with bureaucratic egomaniacs like him."

My patience ran out.

"SIGN THE ACCORDS NOW OR FACE THE CONSEQUENCES LATER"

I yelled, glowering at the former Capsicle.

"NO" he spat, stepping a little closer to me.

"I SAID SIGN THE DAMN ACCORDS OR YOU'RE GOING BACK ON ICE" I replied, backhanding him across the face with as much venom as I could muster.

"I SAID NO! I MEANT NO!" he growled, shoving me away, hard and knocking me flying backwards.

Bruce's point of view

An enormous fight broke out between Steve and Tony and they both said some terrible, horrible, unforgivable things.

"Peggy Carter was a whore, she was mine before she even met Howard" he said. I had just taken a sip of coffee and I did a spit-take.

Tony's point of view
"Your mother must have been a saint to put up with the stinkiest, nastiest, most vile piece of shit in the entire universe… you!" I replied

"You have some nerve speaking about my mother, when your own was a slut who opened her legs for everyone… she was a filthy dirty disgusting, bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuutal, bottom-feeding trash bag HO HO HO HO HO! Mr Jarvis, Bucky, me, Howard, all the Howling Commandos, Colonel Phillips and Senator Brandt had their way with the easiest lay in the military! She used to do threesomes with the Howlies! Two of them at a time! I'm amazed she hasn't got more kids from all the people she fucked, and believe me when I say she liked it both ways…"

"You're just jealous and hateful because I am not an only child and you are! You're just jealous because my parents were proud of me, which is a lot more than I can say for your parents. Your father was a PTSD addled drunken wife-beating rapist and your mother was a vapid Jezebel."

Bruce's point of view

The fight turned physical. I left the room. I could feel the Hulk at the apex of the surface, and I didn't want to fight him to keep him in check.

"GRRR, Hulk friend in trouble. Hulk Smash mean Captain America right out of Avengers Tower"
"Not going to happen, buddy."
"Why puny Banner not allow Hulk to smash?"
"It's not our fight, dude."

Jay's point of view

"Your mother was a heartless tart and your father was a wet noodle"

SLAP

"At least my father kept it in his pants, which is a lot more than I can say for yours"
"You vapid ignorant sack of shit. Don't you DARE talk about my parents. You didn't know them"
"I did know them"
"No, you did not".

"Yes I did"
"No, you did not. Get out of this building now and don't you dare ever come back. You and your scam artist friends are OFF THE TEAM, YOU'RE THE ONES WHO MAKE THIS TEAM MISERABLE, BORDERING ON DAMN NEAR IMPOSSIBLE TO BE ON!"
"IF IT'S A WAR YOU WANT STARK, IT IS A WAR YOU WILL HAVE, BUT BE WARNED, I AM SUPERIOR TO YOU IN EVERY WAY. MY TEAM WILL ANNIHILATE YOURS".

"You wish, bitch! Bring it on, blondie. Any time you wanna fight back and be a man and not a mouse, be my guest. I'll annihilate you then toss you out the window, come downstairs in the suit, bring you back upstairs, annihilate you again and then toss you into oncoming rush hour traffic!"

Jay and Clint had to separate Tony and Steve. Tony got one final parting box on Steve's ears before the fight actually ended.

Steve turned and marched out of the room I watched, horrified, after the fight. Tony went upstairs to his office. I heard the door slam shut and lock a few minutes later.

Tony's point of view

I called Pepper, on her direct line. The phone rang twice and then a voice said

"Virginia Potts?"
"Hey Pep… guess who" I said
"Tony?" I could hear the smile in her voice
"Yeah…it's me."
"Hi… how are you?" she asked
"Physically, I am fine…" I began, trying not to give away too much.
"Emotionally?"
"Emotionally, I am anything but fine… the team just fractured into two distinct factions. Some others refer to it as a civil war."
"Oh… I'm sorry Tony"
"It's OK, I just… I had a major blow out with Rogers and there are now going to be two teams. I'd give it all up in a New York minute if you told me you were coming home. I don't mean to sound needy and childish, but I miss you… terribly. You should have heard the things Rogers was saying about my mother… It took all of my willpower not to knock him out the window and send Point Break and Legolas to go get him before feeding the bastard to the Hulk. He called my mother a whore… while I was standing there."
"Oh no, that's horrible. I hope you chewed him out for that! I am coming home Tony… but the thing is, we have a lot to discuss. I miss you too, but I'm still trying to come to terms with everything…"
"Do you want to go to Couples Therapy? I think we might benefit from it."
"I would love that, I think we could really benefit from it."

"Do you want to start dating again before or after we do that? I'm a little horny… I want to… you know… on the phone"
"Before. I'm a little horny myself. I'm on the plane coming back from a conference in Malibu… Lordy be, it was so boring!"

"OK, What are you wearing?"

"A navy-blue skirt suit"
"Underneath?"
"Purple underwear"

"Is the underwear lacy or plain?"
"It's lacy"
"Is it sheer?"
"Yeah"

"Do you have the… v— that I got you?"

"Yes, I've been using it a lot recently"
"Little Tony is Thrilled to hear that"
"Well, I'm sure he is, he's been lonely, I bet"
"Definitely… do you have— and are you on or due your…"
"Not for another two weeks yet and yes, I have some… the jasmine and raspberry scented one you bought me when we were at that energy conference in Japan, remember?"
"Ohh yeah, I remember! That was a fun flight back"

"I know it was"

"OK, put the first two fingers of your right hand inside your— and scissor them…"
"OK…"
"Now, put a little— on your other hand and slip it inside your bra and rub your nipple"
"OK… let Little Tony out to play…"

"OK… he's out… and don't worry, I've locked myself in the washroom in my office…"
"Imagine I'm there with you… I'm on my knees in front of you. I take your length in my mouth and…"
"Virginia Anne Potts, you naughty, incorrigible, saucy minx"
"I'm swirling my tongue… you know where…"
"Damn right I do… OK, imagine my hand is… you know… and my other hand is… on your ass…"
"Where are we?"
"Imagine we're both on the plane… in the executive bedroom… door tightly locked and AC/DC blaring…"
"Are you on top or am I?"
"You're on top… we're snogging… giggling like a pair of horny teens… I'm about ready to… pop my cork… and you sit up and lower yourself onto my throbbing length… without protection"

"Right…"
"And then I start spanking you, hard, because you're a very, very naughty girl. Drooling over pictures of actors instead of pictures of me"
"How did you know?"
"I always know… we're both really close to the point of no return, so I stop spanking you, and we flip over so that I'm now on top… my hands are cupped over your tush, and I'm pressing you close to me."
"MMMMM! Tony, I want to do this tonight for real… in our bed! We'll use protection — I eventually want a kid, but not right away"

"OK. your hands are on my thighs… your right-hand sneaks in between us and coaxes me towards… and then it happens… we hit the point of no return"
"And have platinum membership of the Mile High Club!"

"Exactly!"
"Ooof! That was a workout…"
"Too right, it was"
"I can't wait to see you"
"I can't wait to see you, either. Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
"Yes I would."
"OK, Jay and I will make something fabulous and…"

"OK"

I felt the presence of a shadow in my office

"Pep I'm sorry, honey, I have to go, but I'll come and get you at 7"
"OK"
"Miss you"
"Miss you too"

"Safe trip"

"Thanks… Love you"
"Love you too"

We hung up. I turned around and, like the creepy arachnid that she is, Natasha was standing in the corner of my office. I put a leather glove on my hand and wrapped it around her throat, tightly.
"What do you want, Romanoff?" I hissed.
"I have to tell you something… it's about your parents"

"Save it. Schedule an appointment, and we can talk then. I'm going on a date with Pepper tonight, and we just did some very naughty things on the phone…"
"OK, Tony, but I need to do it sooner rather than later."

Pepper's point of view

The date was wonderful, Tony and Jay had made shawarma from scratch and served it with rice and lentils, we talked for four hours.

"Are you sure you want to do this again? Put yourself through being with a dangerous, out of control superhero wannabe who doesn't really want to be a superhero any more, Pepper?"

"You're none of those things, Tony. I have accepted Iron Man as part of you."

"I missed you, Pep"
"I missed you too, Tony"

Reeling her into my arms, I kissed her gently on the lips. She intensified it and slid her hands inside my boxers with skill.

"Bedroom… NOW!" she demanded, our lips still pressed very tightly together.

"I'm starting to…"
"I can feel it on my thigh… I'm going to give you and Little Tony a workout."

We continue to the bedroom. By the time we reach the door, we're almost totally naked, I slide her bra off, and she slips my boxers down. I reach into the drawer on the top of my nightstand, and my fingers close on a box. There are five silver wrappers inside. I pluck one out, unwrap it and slip it on before encouraging Pepper to impale herself on my length. She obeys, I flip her over so that I'm on top, and it doesn't take too long before we're both at the point of no return.

Afterwards, I pull Pepper into my arms and hold her. We spend the next four hours very intimately

My phone beeped, eyes clouded with sleep, I groaned and slipped it off the nightstand.

"Rogers is challenging us to a duel." was all Bruce's message said.

"Count me out, I'm on a date with Pepper. Not going to give that up for the world… or the Avengers, now that I've finally got her to accept everything… I can't risk that, aside from which we just got back together, if you get my meaning."
"We need you… Thanos is coming, this is the beginning of the Endgame. I get your meaning loud and clear, Tony. Wake Pepper, bring her downstairs, we can talk properly then. We don't have much time."

Pepper's point of view

Tony woke me up

"Pep… baby, I need you to wake up and look right at me, OK?"
"OK… what's wrong, Tony?"

"Thanos is coming."

"What do we need to do?"

"We need to fight. Get into the Rescue armour and get ready to join the fight of our lives."

"OK"
"Before you do, Pep, I need you to sign the Sokovia Accords… the rest of team Iron Man have signed. None of Team Cap have, but you know what? they're adults, they can make their own damn decisions. After what that son of a bitch said about you…they're on their own! I'm washing my hands of all of them! Let them answer to Ross and his consequences. I'm not taking anyone on this mission who hasn't signed the Accords."
"OK, I appreciate the effort to be responsible."

"Oh it's more than that Pep, I'm hell-bent on not giving that asinine motherfucker Ross the satisfaction of being able to pin ANY crimes on me. That sonofabitch should have been dealt with ages ago. Typical of the muppet brigade that is the Ellis administration."

"I've missed your rants about Ellis. Uncle Vince and Aunt Linda can't stand him either. They want Shane to run, but he won't. Not after what he went through when Marissa left him. He also knows he'd be called a hypocrite for running."
"How would you feel if I ran for President?"
"I think you'd make a great President, Tony, but we'd need to discuss it because it's not an easy job. There's a lot to consider."

"Thank you Pep"

We went downstairs and spent the next two hours preparing for the battle. Tony, Bruce, and Jay taught me to use the armour

"Tony" said Nat, "I REALLY need to talk to you and Pepper, immediately, it's time-critical."

"OK"