(MCU) Forged Reality: Chapter 6 - In and Out

Chapter 6 - In and Out

Summary: On the way back from Sokovia, Tony receives troubling news—something that kept happening during his first stop as well.

Tony leaned back in his chair, his fingers rubbing the side of his temple trying to ease away his headache.

Tony and Bruce were inside the jet on their way to the new Avengers Compound which Tony had spent the last year building for the specific purpose of the team. Some might complain that it was too large for such a small group of people, but Tony really hoped that now that they had the room, he and Steve could start recruiting more people to the team.

After all, six people, even if some of them were enhanced, couldn't hope to win against what he saw beyond that damned portal. That was the first purpose of the Iron Legion, but with them out of commission for the near future, Tony realized they needed to focus on recruiting.

Still, Tony felt obligated, not to mention he made a promise on public broadcast, so he spent the last few days in Sokovia helping rebuild and set up the most urgent institutions like hospitals and schools.

When he and Bruce arrived at Sokovia to offer their help, they received a very mixed reaction, Tony more so than Bruce.

Some were looking at him with pure hatred, just like the Maximoff twins did. Others looked like they just wanted him to leave them alone, even slightly afraid of him; there was even a group that looked simply indifferent to his presence and kept business as usual. They were his favorite group.

Tony was surprised when a small boy and his mother approached him and thanked him from the bottom of their hearts for saving the boy's life. And they weren't the only ones who seemed happy Tony was there.

After the impromptu interview, some people in the first two groups began to warm up to Tony, and by the end of the few days Tony worked with both his mind, muscles, and his suits, he was sort of popular with most of the people in the relief center.

Though it did worry Tony when he heard some whispers about how the Sokovians began to grow angry that no other Avenger besides Tony and Bruce showed up to help. Tony could relate; he tried to reach Steve to convince him to lend his help for just one day so their image could recover, but Cap seemed to be very busy right now and didn't pick up any of his calls.

Actually, now that Tony thought about it, Steve seemed very reticent and busy since the fall of SHIELD, which was weird considering as far as Tony knew, the man didn't have that many ties with the agency beyond his employment there, something that Tony picked up for him and many others.

Before Tony could think any further on that matter, his phone vibrated in his pocket drawing his attention.

Tony pulled his phone to glance at the screen. He let out a heavy sigh seeing it was another comment on the article Christine published a couple of days ago about him. Sometimes he wondered if he made the wrong choice all those years ago.

*Flashback*

It was a week since the legendary conference where Tony announced, 'I am Iron Man'. Tony was very busy working with Nick, now that they no longer had to work exclusively from the shadows.

But still, there was something he knew he needed to do, something that had been weighing on him for a while now.

He was led to the private room in the restaurant he reserved, wearing one of his best suits and holding a bouquet of flowers.

When they reached the door, Tony gulped a little as they opened to reveal a blonde woman, wearing a brown business jacket and skirt. Her arms were crossed in front of her, and she looked very annoyed.

With a frown on her face, she asked, "So the great Tony Stark thinks he can leave a woman waiting, even after he was the one to beg for this meeting."

Tony gave her a sheepish smile and raised the flowers to her eye level, saying, "Apologies, Ms. Everhart. These things took longer to make than I thought."

Christine raised an unimpressed eyebrow and asked flatly, "Are those for me? Are you aiming for round two with me, Mr. Stark?"

Tony let go of all pretenses and went serious as he said, "No, Ms. Everhart. I asked you to come here so I could apologize to you."

Christine's usual mask fell apart revealing her shocked face. Her lips moved, but no voice came out for a long moment.

Tony smiled at her and gestured toward the set table in the center of the room. In what seemed like mechanical movement, she followed his suggestion and sat down across from him.

Once she was sitting, it looked like she regained her professional demeanor. She picked up the glass of wine that was set next to her and took a sip while staring at Tony. All the recently announced Iron Man could do was wait there silently.

Eventually, she set her glass down and said calmly, "Okay, I'll bite."

Tony let out a sigh of relief, before leaning back in his chair and saying the words he practiced with Pepper with as much genuine emotion as he could, "I don't have any excuse to offer you. I was a playboy, this much was never a secret, and usually I'm not as rude as I was with you. Nonetheless, the way I acted the morning after was very wrong and I know it; you deserved better. So I deeply apologize for all of this."

There was a tense silence for a long moment in the room, which was broken when Christine's reply was, "I don't buy it."

Tony felt a lump rising in his throat; he couldn't really blame her, and he didn't expect her to forgive him, but did she have to say it like that? Tony took a deep breath and tried again, "I promise you my apology..."

Christine raised her hand to cut him off, and once his voice trailed off, she spoke firmly, "I don't doubt your apology; it's the fact that you said you have no excuse. I studied you before I approached you at that party, so it won't be as easy for you to fool me. So, let's hear it."

Tony was taken aback. Was she offering to hear him out? Why? Pepper said that she wouldn't care for any reason he could give her, that he should just apologize and leave it at that.

Still, seeing the look in the reporter's eyes, Tony made the decision to tell her, "Stane woke me up with the Jericho project update he needed; I kind of needed to work on it that night instead of well, what we did."

Christine hummed in an unsatisfactory manner and Tony took the cue to keep talking, "I guess your comment also left a very bad taste I wasn't sure how to handle."

Christine frowned and looked like she was thinking about something before her eyes widened and she said, "The merchant of death comment?"

Tony flinched and nodded. Christine let out a sigh and said both gently and firmly, "Look, I appreciate the apology, and I forgive you."

Tony's gaze snapped to hers and he was sure he looked completely shocked. The blonde just chuckled, "It wasn't like I was expecting anything other than a fun night out of it, maybe a scoop. I was pissed about how you had Potts throw me out the moment I woke up, but you owned up to it and explained everything, so we're good."

Tony could feel one of the many knots in his stomach loosening and started to close his eyes with relief when Christine's voice cut in again, firmer that time, "That being said, don't expect me to give you any special treatment at my job."

This time it was Tony who chuckled before replying, "I wouldn't dream of it, Ms. Everhart. As long as it's the truth, I will never complain."

Christine shrugged. "Fair enough." Then there was a mischievous smile on her face as she declared, "Oh, by the way, there is something I want in return for my forgiveness."

Tony could feel his entire body tense and he frowned, asking, "Oh? And what will that be?"

Christine smirked as she pulled out a notepad and a pen before saying, "Your story. All of it."

Tony considered it for a moment; there were many ways this could go wrong, but he was always a believer of accountability and transparency when possible, so after a deep breath, he agreed.

Well, Tony supposed JARVIS would be able to let Pepper know he would be late tonight.

*End Flashback*

Thinking about the title of the article, Tony couldn't help but chuckle mentally. So, this is what she did with all the info he gave her. Tony was surprised when he didn't see her using it for the next month after their dinner. When he asked her, she said she was keeping it for a moment she would gain the most by publishing it. Tony could only accept the fact then.

Before he could think of it any further, his phone began ringing. He was surprised to see the name on the screen: 'UN Secretary'.

Tony frowned and answered the call on speaker; even though he was frowning, he kept his voice cheerful as ever, "Madam Secretary, to what do I owe the pleasure? After all, our call is scheduled for next Thursday."

Tony could hear the small smile in the woman's voice as she answered, "You are right as usual, Dr. Stark. I just thought you would appreciate a heads up beforehand."

Tony tilted his head in confusion and asked carefully, "Heads up about what?"

The woman on the other side of the phone took herself a moment before responding, "Due to recent events that included the Avengers, Wakanda especially, along with many other countries demanded that the accords be signed sooner than previously planned."

Tony felt his heart stop for a moment, and he asked tightly, "How much sooner?"

The secretary let out a heavy sigh before replying, "As soon as possible; current prediction stands around two years."

Two years?! During the last meeting they had, the accords weren't supposed to come into effect for another five at minimum. There were still so many clauses Tony couldn't possibly allow into the official document; the legal team he assigned to this matter was already working overtime.

Now, there was no chance for them to get the entire thing up to what Tony could consider beneficial. Still, they had little choice in the matter, not that this would stop Tony. It might be harder to change laws after they were announced, but not impossible.

Tony shook his head and talked back toward his phone, "I appreciate the call, Madam Secretary."

The woman chuckled and said, "Always a pleasure, Dr. Stark," before she ended the call.

Tony leaned back in his chair and released a heavy sigh. As if he didn't have enough issues on his plate.

"Those accords are the documents you sent me to read?" Bruce asked when he came to sit next to Tony.

Tony nodded, and Bruce's face frowned as well. "That will be a problem, Tony."

Tony chuckled without any humor and responded dryly, "Tell me about it, Brucie-bear. We'll just have to deal with the blow when it comes."

Bruce could only nod in agreement and to reassure Tony, "Whenever it comes, me and the other guy will help you."

Tony smiled at him, then he saw the new compound and said, "Looks like we're here."

Bruce looked over Tony down the window and his eyes widened. "It's huge, Tony."

Tony just smirked. "I know."

FR FR FR FR FR

Tony entered the room with a smile and called, "Steve! It's been a while, old man."

Steve was standing in one of the meeting rooms of the new compound. He was wearing casual clothes, as in a white t-shirt and khaki pants. The moment he landed, Friday already told him that Steve asked to meet with him, though Friday put an odd emphasis on the 'ask' part as if she didn't approve.

Steve turned toward Tony, already having that disapproving frown on his face that made Tony's chest clench a little. His voice was dry as he said, "Tony, you should have been here when we came."

Tony frowned in return. "I was in Sokovia, helping to fix the damage we caused."

Steve began to glare at Tony as he retorted, "You mean the damage you caused, by building a murder bot you kept a secret from the team."

Tony had to hold back the wince from both the accusation and the glare aimed at him; still, he tried to reason with his friend, "I was cleared from that. Bruce and I had nothing to do with Ultron; it was all Hydra."

Tony hoped Steve would be glad to have Hydra as the culprit of this, so he could say he defeated them again, but something was different this time; it looked like Steve was looking for a way to blame him specifically.

The blonde's glare grew harsher, and he said in an intimidating voice, "Don't shift the blame so you can shake away the responsibility of your actions, Tony. Howard would be very disappointed in you."

Tony could feel his palms clenching into fists at the mention of the bastard who hated Tony for most of his life and killed his mom. Tony barely noticed it, but he could feel something warming up inside of him.

Steve then seemed to exhale heavily but still spoke flatly as he announced, "And that is why you are no longer a member of this team."

Tony's hands went slack, and he reeled back in shock. "Excuse me?!"

That was when another voice, a deceptively soft one, spoke from behind him, "You must see it's for the good of the team, Tony. Until everyone can trust you, it will be better to give them some space."

Tony turned to see the newly arrived Black Widow who stood there with what was obviously a fake apologetic look.

Tony's heart ached with the implication that the team didn't trust him anymore, even though he was pretty sure she was exaggerating. After all, he knew at least Bruce was on his side, as well as Rhodey.

Romanoff seemed to notice his moment of silence and decided to push on, "And with Pietro and Wanda now on the team, you have to understand it will be better to give them a chance to settle here before bringing up the past, which they will always relive as long as you are here."

Tony could point out a lot of things that were wrong with that statement, but he held his tongue and instead replied with an emotionless voice, "Fine. I'm off the team, got it."

Tony was about to leave when Steve called to him again, "Tony. One more thing. Our new recruits will need their own cards to access the Avengers accounts."

Tony frowned. What Avengers accounts? Tony was the one to pay for everything that he and Natasha were buying using those cards. Not to mention how incredulous Tony felt that the man had the gall to demand more of him after kicking him out of the team.

Natasha probably read his expression as she gave him another mock apologetic look and said, "Don't forget, Tony, you are under contract as a consultant, even if you are no longer a member of the team."

Tony scoffed internally. That contract went out in flames when they burned down SHIELD. Still, as much as it pained him, the world still needed them for now, and as he learned today, he would just have to tolerate this for another couple of years before the UN would take over.

He gave them both a curt nod of understanding before leaving the room.