(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 24 - Offers and Lies

Chapter 24 - Offers and Lies

Summary: Tense negotiations shatter as unexpected danger strikes the facility.

Still wearing his three-piece suit, the same one he wore for the signing event in Vienna earlier this day—or was it yesterday? Damn, so many things got screwed up in the last few hours it was already hard to keep track of time.

Right now he was walking down the entrance hallway of the German UN facility where Steve, Sam, and Barnes were held. On his right side were walking Rhodey and Agent Ross; on his left were T'Chaka and T'Challa.

"Rogers and Wilson received an office to stay in with orders not to leave," Agent Ross updated them, then he grumbled, "It was a headache for me to arrange, but it was an order straight from the president."

Tony let out an irritated sigh. "That man is making me regret all the pain I went through to save his life. You don't have to worry for long, James Bond."

Rhodey smirked at the white-haired agent and said smugly, "Told you Tones is on that."

The agent seemed quite satisfied himself, and it fell onto Tony to return everyone to the issue at hand. "What about Barnes?"

Rhodey frowned. "Funny enough, after the entire chase thing, he actually calmed down. Right now he is in a secure module designed for a super soldier; we are waiting for the psychologist to talk with him and give his own assessment before we can start talking about what to do with him."

Tony nodded, and Agent Ross went on. "Rogers and Wilson, on the other hand, are a different story. The president already sent the deals he made for Rogers and Wilson."

Rhodey side-eyed Tony for a moment. "I thought one of the big advantages of securing Fury as the accords representative was to delay stupid decisions like that."

Tony gave his best friend a small smirk. "Don't worry. Nick knows what he is doing; I trust him." Then he spoke to his AI. "Fri, mind giving me the highlights of this deal?"

After a moment, Friday's voice came, and it was colored with disdain. "Basically, as long as Rogers and Wilson sign the accords, the entire incident will be shoved under the carpet and forgotten. Rogers even retains his position as leader of the Avengers."

Tony let out another agitated sigh. "I guess the only reason Fury managed to get the others to agree to this is the fact he knows Rogers won't take the deal." He then looked at Rhodey with a pleading look. "Is it okay there's a part of me that hopes he's right?"

Rhodey put a reassuring hand on the genius's shoulder and said gently, "Of course it's okay, Tony. I hate the idea of him getting away with everything again. But you just have to do your part. You offer the deal, and whether he takes it or leaves it, it's on him."

Tony nodded with gratitude. Logically, he knew what Rhodey said was right. Everything would depend on Steve's decision. But what if he chose not to take the deal? Where would they go from there?

Tony patted the side pocket of his suit jacket, still feeling the two objects he stored safely in place. Originally, he took them out of storage for the accords signing because it felt appropriate that another resounding moment in superheroics history would be signed by those legendary objects.

They were close to the office where Steve was when he spotted a familiar face and called with a wide grin on his face, "Sherry-Bear!"

The blonde turned immediately with daggers shooting out of her eyes, straight at him. Still, his grin didn't falter even when she hissed at him, "What did I tell you about that nickname, Tony, especially in public?"

Tony raised his hands in the universal signal of surrender. "Fine, fine. How are you doing, Agent 13?"

Sharon rolled her eyes in a fond way before replying in a much softer voice, "I'm doing fine, Tony. How about you?"

Tony smiled gently at her. "It's good to see work keeping you a little busy; I would hate to see my little cousin moping around for too long. I think I can say I'm in the same boat as you."

This time Sharon smiled widely at him and rubbed his arm a little. "Thanks, Cus. I'll see you later, I hope."

Tony gave her the smile he reserved only for his family members and replied, "You can bet on it."

With this, the blonde went on her way, though for some reason Tony could feel shivers going down his spine as she went around the corner before he heard her steps pausing.

They kept on going until they finally saw him. It was easy to see the man was pacing through the glass door and walls of the office.

Tony took a deep breath and said casually, "Well, wish me good luck."

Without waiting for a response, he pushed the door and went in.

Steve's attention was drawn immediately to him, and he smiled, though Tony could obviously see that it was a fake smile. "Tony."

Tony gave the man a nod and returned with a smile of his own. "Steve."

The leader of the Avengers sat across from him and asked calmly, "Are you here to tell us we are arrested?"

Tony put the file Ross handed him earlier as well as the two objects from the pocket of his suit and set them next to each other before speaking. "No, Steve. Some important people worked hard to make this deal possible."

Tony pushed the file toward Steve and explained, "As long as you and Sam sign the accords, this entire thing can be forgotten, and you get to go back to the compound and run the team. Deals don't get any sweeter than that, Steve."

The blonde looked at Tony with disappointment. "You know I can't do it, Tony. The safest hands are our own; I still believe it, despite what everyone else wants to say."

Tony groaned mentally at the stupid words coming out of the man's mouth. Still, he stayed calm and pulled one of the pens that he set on the table, reminiscing a little. "You know, those pens were used by Howard and Erskine to sign the contract that allowed your creation. I think it would be a good symbol for me to show you that the accords can be something better after we work on them. They can be something we will be proud of one day."

Steve stared at the pen still on the table but still looked reluctant to sign, so Tony tried to play his final card. "If you are worried about your friend downstairs, I promise you once you all sign, we will be able to get him the help he needs—the best in any field. I will personally make sure of it."

Tony expected the last statement to encourage Steve. After all, he did all of this just for Barnes, so the man could have a second chance in life, and Tony was offering a better life at that.

But surprisingly, the moment Tony finished his offer, something intimidating flashed in the American Idol's blue eyes. His entire body stiffened as if getting ready for a fight, and his tone was hard and cold as steel. "I won't let you put a leash on Bucky!"

What the hell?! Tony blinked at his supposed friend before asking, outraged, "Who said anything about a leash?! Haven't you been listening to me?"

Steve stood sharply, and Tony had to fight the urge to flinch back as the buffed man snarled, "Is that why you wanted this? So you could put leashes on everyone who doesn't follow you like Potts and Rhodes?"

Tony scowled. "Steve, what the hell are you on about? Pepper is the CEO of SI; more often than not, she is telling me what to do and not the other way around. When did this even become about me?"

Steve scoffed. "Isn't everything?"

Tony had a brief flashback to their first argument on board the helicarrier before the invasion. Tony shook his head. "Steve, I'm just trying to help you; this deal is the best chance you'll get to go back home, scot-free, without even a fine. You can't be so stubborn as to reject it."

Steve turned his back to him, his eyes returning to the blank screens on the wall as he said with firm dismissiveness, "I won't sign our freedom away, Tony. You can keep the pens."

Tony frowned before he let out a heavy sigh, packed the file and pens, and began heading toward the door.

Before he could leave, the door opened and in walked T'Chaka. Steve's attention was now moved to the Wakandan king.

The king smiled at Tony and said, "I hope you don't mind me intervening for a moment."

Tony had already given it his best shot and gotten nothing in return; there was no harm in giving the older man a try, so he just shrugged as a reply.

The king then turned to Steve and began speaking in his usual wise and calm voice. "Hello, Captain Rogers. I'm the king of Wakanda, and I would like a word."

Steve smiled politely at the politician, giving him a nod.

The older man kept smiling. "You must understand there are severe consequences to the recent choices you made. Even if they were mistakes, you cannot deny the atrocious results of them. People are not asking for you to be locked away, as most people in your situation would have been by now; they are simply asking for accountability so something like these events won't happen again. Is it such an unreasonable request to make of you?"

Steve frowned but stayed polite as he replied, "Your Majesty, countries have agendas. I cannot entrust the safety of the world to people like them. So with all due respect, I refuse to give up my freedom to protect the people so a few pencil pushers will be able to feel like they are in control."

Tony had to hide a wince. How stupid was Rogers not to realize Wakanda was one of the main forces behind the accords? Not only did he insult the UN by not understanding what the body even was or what it stood for, he then directly went on to insult the king to his face.

T'Chaka just kept smiling and replied in the same calm and collected voice, "Hmm, I see. Very well, Captain Rogers, just remember that whatever happens from now on are the consequences of your choice, no one else's."

Steve scowled at the king, but the older man turned to Tony and simply said, "I believe it's time for us to take our leave. The psychologist just arrived."

Once they stepped out of the office, Rhodey got closer and told him firmly, "You gave it your best shot, Tones—you and the king—and still Rogers refuses to make the right decision. Don't take it on yourself."

Tony nodded absent-mindedly before asking a completely different question. "Did you notice how he became aggressive once I mentioned helping Barnes?"

T'Chaka nodded with a thoughtful expression. "Indeed. I find it odd the man would go so far for a single individual only to reject the very thing he was fighting for when it was offered to him on a silver platter." His stare then narrowed on Tony. "I believe it has more to do with the origin of the offer rather than the offer itself."

Tony let out a deep sigh. "Wanda said the same thing. For some reason, it looks like Steve really doesn't want me to be in the same room as his cyborg friend. Though I don't know why; it's not like I have anything personal against the guy. Sure, I think he should be arrested and interrogated for any vital information he has, something Barnes should have done on his own after DC, but it's not like I'm going to kill him on sight."

Agent Ross nodded. "Yes. It's clear Rogers is hiding something; my question is if he has any sort of endgame plan here. What? He thinks the world will just allow him to bring a Hydra assassin into the Avengers?"

Rhodey groaned. "That's exactly what he would expect. Maybe even try to use Wanda's powers to 'fix' his mind."

Tony shrugged. "I guess the best we can do for now is wait for the psychologist to finish his assessment, and then we would..."

Before Tony could finish the sentence, he was interrupted by loud alarms echoing through the entire facility as well as flickering red lights.