(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 19 - Ignorance is unavoidable

Chapter 19 - Ignorance is unavoidable

Summary: A date night is shattered by a disaster that threatens to tear the Avengers apart.

Tony was sitting on the couch of his living room with Wanda. In front of them, the TV was playing the Disney movie Wall-E.

Wanda apparently always liked cartoons, but in her home, some of those movies were not allowed for the public, so she took great pleasure in seeing them now, and Tony was never against reliving some childhood through a good old movie.

There was a bottle of wine with two glasses sitting on the table. On his lap was resting the large bucket of popcorn Tony prepared for both of them, and already on more than one occasion, their hands would brush when both of them reached for the food at the same time.

The first time, both of them pulled their hands away quickly and were determined to remain focused on the screen, but by the third time, not only did they not pull away, but they would also even allow their hands to linger for a long moment.

That was not the only indication Tony had of this being a date. When they first sat down on the couch, they both took opposite sides with a lot of space left between them. But as time kept passing, they were kind of drawn to each other, slowly closing the gap. Now they were glued to each other's side with her head laying on his shoulder. Her long auburn hair tickled his chin every time he turned to look down at her face.

They were just about to reach the climax of the movie when suddenly the screen froze, the lights suddenly turned on, and Friday's concerned and remorseful voice echoed in the room. "Boss, I'm sorry to interrupt your date, but we have a major emergency."

Tony's entire body tensed, and even Wanda sat back up straight, her expression worried. Tony looked at the closest camera and said firmly, "Talk to me, Fri."

Instead of answering verbally, the screen changed to show the news. The image behind the anchor, which unsurprisingly was Christine Everhart, showed a collapsed building with even a few flames still burning around.

What horrified Tony the most was the title underneath it: 'Captain America sends a bomb into a building in Lagos, almost 100 people confirmed dead.'

Tony wasn't sure he was seeing right. "What the fuck, Steve?"

Wanda's horrified voice spoke next to him as the woman kept watching the screen of her phone. "Shit. Shit. Shit. Rogers and Romanoff sent me a message about a lead in Lagos and wanted me to join them. It was a few hours ago. I had my phone on silent since I left the compound."

Tony put a hand around her shoulder and reassured her. "It's not on you. You are not his damn babysitter. What the hell happened there anyway?"

As if hearing his question, Christine began to speak from the screen. "Around four hours ago, Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America, along with two more selected teammates of his, Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, and Sam Wilson, aka The Falcon, entered illegally to Lagos using the Avengers private jet."

Tony facepalmed at this piece of information. "How many times do I have to tell him that he has to let people know when he is flying around the world?"

The blonde on the screen kept speaking. "The next thing we know is that the group of three found themselves engaged in battle against the criminal Crossbones, once known as Hydra operative Brock Rumlow. They engaged the criminal in the middle of a street full of bystanders doing their daily chores. Witnesses from the area confirmed there was no attempt at evacuation of civilians or even a warning issued by any of the captain's team, even though there were reports of all three of them blending in with the crowd for about an hour before the attack."

Tony shook his head in exasperation. "Well, that's going to make things a hell of a lot more difficult."

Christine, though, was a long way from finished. "Rumlow, who was in Lagos to steal a bio weapon, was reported to succeed in his mission..." The woman paused, listening to something said in her earpiece before speaking again. "A new report coming straight from the research lab Rumlow broke into reveals that they were aware of the criminal's plan and prepared a fake vial for him to steal so the authorities could track it and arrest him. For this reason, the authorities of the country didn't see it fit to summon the Avengers for the operation."

Wanda frowned. "Was it an accident that Rogers received a lead to that particular place on exactly the same day Crossbones made his move? Sounds too convenient."

Tony could only nod in agreement. "You have a good point."

"After losing the fight against Captain America, Rumlow reveals he's wearing a bomb vest and says something that caused the American soldier to freeze long enough for the terrorist to pull the trigger on his vest. For some unknown reason, Steve Rogers saw it as a reasonable action to punch the man as hard as he could into the building behind them. The moment the terrorist was in the lobby of the building, the bomb went off, taking the first two floors down in a blaze and bringing down the rest of the building soon after," Christine finished the recount of how the building reached the state it was in the picture.

The screen changed to show the images of ten people with dark skin and shaved heads; Christine's voice then turned somber. "During the street fight, as of now we have 20 confirmed deaths, while the death toll due to the collapsed building was over 80 people. 11 of them are from the newly formed Wakanda's relief and peace organization."

Tony flinched. "Oh shit. It had to be Wakanda. Damn it, Steve, what the hell did you put us in?"

The images changed into the images of the three idiots who started all of this. "With the international community crying out loud for accountability, the three American citizens left the scene as soon as Crossbones's death was confirmed, leaving death and destruction behind without anyone to answer for it. By now it's a known fact that Tony Stark is no longer part of the Avengers team due to personal reasons among the members; during his tenure, Dr. Stark was constantly securing border approval from the countries the Avengers visited, as well as setting up relief efforts for any damage caused by the team. For the past year, Captain America and his cohorts have been traveling the world in the same manner as today and leaving far more death and destruction than ever before," Christine's voice informed the public.

An image of Tony himself was pulled in one half of the screen and Steve took the other half. Meanwhile, Christine's voice became demanding. "At this point, we must start questioning the Avengers' behavior. Is Steve Rogers fit to lead the team, or should Dr. Stark, who has already proved to pay attention to international law and borders, take the reins? Speaking of which, is the Lagos mission even official Avengers business? Signals are mixed as while Avengers sources were undoubtedly used, only three members of the current seven took part in it. The world no longer demands just answers; it also demands some changes in the current status. Due to this, the UN has announced a few minutes ago..."

The sound was cut and the video paused when Friday announced, "A priority call from Mr. Fury, Boss."

Already knowing what it was going to be about, Tony sighed. "Accept the call."

The screen was filled with the image of Nick Fury, who was sitting inside a jet if the background was any indication. The man didn't wait a moment. "I guess you saw the news, Tony."

Tony nodded in return. Nick let out a breath before saying in his gruff voice, "The UN has announced that the Sokovia Accords will start to take effect starting next week."

Tony already assumed as much from Christine's comment before Nick called. "It's earlier than even our worst predictions."

Nick nodded with a frown before informing Tony, "It was the king of Wakanda who pushed the matter after the deaths of his own in Lagos. The old man didn't waste much time, if you ask me."

Tony returned his own frown and commented, "Wakanda was probably one of the most eager countries who pushed those accords into existence in the first place. They seem to have some personal stake in it."

Nick grunted in agreement, but with neither of them having any way of knowing why, the previous director changed the subject. "Right now I'm on my way to the compound to present the accords to the idiots; I suggest the two of you watch it."

Tony nodded. "Of course, Nick. And good luck with this."

The dark man shot Tony a quick glare before the call was cut off.

Tony closed his eyes for a moment. He really hoped that Steve would listen to Nick. After all, the two of them had to pull a lot of strings to make sure Nick was the one representing the accords instead of the president's original choice.

Fortunately for them, with Bruce around and with his rising reputation due to all the relief efforts in Sokovia, it was easy to remind everyone of Ross's numerous crimes and human rights violations. Combined with his own daughter's testimony against him, not only was it enough for Ross to be dismissed as a candidate for the accords council, it forced the president to send the recently appointed secretary of state into retirement.

Tony was still thinking of ways to get the man behind bars for what he did to his science bro, but that project could wait.

"Maybe I should go and be there with them to sell my cover," Wanda asked, her tone making it obvious she didn't want to leave.

Tony shook his head. "If I know Nick, and I do, he is probably already walking into the compound now, so there is no point for you to leave." Wanda let out a relieved sigh, and Tony added absent-mindedly, "Of course, we also need to consider the worst-case scenario and make sure if things come to it, you stay protected by me rather than fall under Rogers's sights."

Wanda looked at him with wide eyes and a large smile; Tony wasn't sure what made her so happy, but he was more than glad to return his own smile to her.

His eyes widened when she began leaning forward toward his face; he wanted to do the same when the sound of an opening door came from the screen in front of them.

Tony let out an irritated groan, as did Wanda, but the two returned their attention back to the screen nonetheless.

Nick entered the room with his usual dramatic fashion, his long trench coat billowing behind him. He stopped when he reached the end of the large table in the room; across from him sat five people: Steve, Natasha, Wilson, Rhodey, and Vision.

Steve smiled at the familiar face. "Fury. Do you have any new information for us?"

Fury stared at the man for a moment. He seemed to consider the blonde critically before answering with an even tone, "You could say that. I'm here due to your recent fuck-up."

Wilson was the one to retort to the spy, "Sir, while I understand the anger, we did accomplish the mission."

Fury glared at the former soldier. "While I can spend the entire day proving you are wrong, I have better things to do. I assume you have been following the news."

Vision and Rhodey gave a short nod, while Rogers and Wilson looked away; Romanoff looked smug as she replied, "You know I have better sources than the news, Fury."

Fury released an irritated groan. "Fine, I will summarize for you. For the last two years, The Avengers have been a separate entity which operated as you wished. While Stark was on the team and willing to deal with the red tape for you, the world was willing to reluctantly accept it for a while, but after your last screw-ups, it's no longer the case. The world can't allow you to do as you please... that's why..."

Fury reached into the case he was carrying and pulled out a copy of the accords. He threw them to the middle of the table. "Those were suggested."

The three problematic Avengers had frowns on their faces; eventually, it was again Wilson who asked, "What is this?"

"I believe this will be the Sokovia Accords," Vision commented in a calm, British voice. Once the three looked at him with further confusion, he explained, "The news have been mentioning them for a while. Though I believe it was said they wouldn't become official for another year."

"Thank you, Vision," Nick grunted. "Those accords, signed by 117 countries, are basically a governing agency over the Avengers. No longer will you be allowed to fly around and choose what to do on a whim; you will follow procedures and be under the purview of the accords council."

Steve frowned. "Those papers just shift the blame. We may make a couple of mistakes, but still, the safest hands are our own."

Tony felt his blood freeze hearing those words from the American Idol. It seemed Tony was not the only one who had issues with those words. Rhodey turned to him and said with a flat voice, "Those are very dangerous words, Rogers."

Fury took it from there, his voice stern. "I assure you, Rogers, no blame is shifted; you will have to answer for everything you did, but at least by signing this document, you will show your willingness to work with the rest of the world and get out of it with a slap on your wrist."

"And what if we don't wish to sign?" Natasha asked calmly.

Nick looked at her flatly and answered, "Let me be clear. You have two options here. You either sign this document and keep your Avengers status in the new system, or you choose not to. In that case, you will be dismissed, your Avenger status revoked, and you will live life as ordinary civilians. These accords will go into effect starting next week; you have until then to choose to sign. If you won't, I would start looking for suitable jobs."

Wilson scowled at the papers and commented, "That's very short notice."

Fury returned the scowl and pointed out the simple fact, "It's been on all media for a few months by this point; Tony, me, and the government have been sending all of you emails about them for weeks. The fact you don't know about them is on you, Wilson."

The captain's fanboy blushed in embarrassment for a moment; Natasha decided to change the subject. "What about Stark and Clint?"

Nick shrugged simply. "Stark, Rhodes, and Vision already promised to sign. Barton, on the other hand, pointed out he retired and as such has no intention of signing them."

Steve let out a heavy sigh and shook his head sadly. "Can't you see, Fury? If we sign this, the Avengers will become nothing more than the government's attack dog."

Nick glared at the ignorance on display. "Don't be stupid, Rogers. The UN is not a government, and you had no issue working for me..."

The spy was cut off by Rogers's phone receiving a notification. The blonde, ignoring everything else, read it before standing up abruptly, mumbling, "I have to go," before turning to leave the room.

Fury looked actually surprised that Steve would dare to do it and screamed out, outraged, "Get back here, mother..."

Tony himself was confused and could only ask himself, "What the fuck, Steve?"