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Tony loves Peter. That's a simple, undeniable truth: the world revolves around the sun, gravity exists, and Tony loves Peter. They exponentially grew closer after the Rouges left, and after a year and a half, they are father and son in everything but blood.
Tony also loves Rhodey. That is also a simple, undeniable truth. He has loved Rhodey ever since they met, and after all the shit Tony has put him through, he's surprisingly still by Tony's side. After some painful trials and failures, Tony has learned that Rhodey is the only person in the universe that he can fully trust.
Tony loves them, but they need to stop planning how to chop Rogers' head off.
"Kid, you don't even have to stomach to do that," he moans in response to another gory suggestion Peter makes. The Rouges are coming back in a week, courtesy of the Council (they don't like it more than Tony does, but they need every hand to defeat Thanos).
"You don't know what I'm capable of," Peter promises darkly. "Also, I'm just planting the idea into Colonel Rhodes' mind, he might find it useful."
Rhodey looks like he's actually considering going through with the plan, and Tony can feel a headache coming.
"Please guys, I get the appeal, but try not to murder Rogers. He'll be dead, you'll be arrested, and we'll lose three fighters. It's a lose-lose-lose. Be reasonable - and, wow, I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth."
Corner of Rhodey's mouth lifts up with a fond smirk, and he hauls Tony up to his feet. His legs have grown stronger, and Tony feels a surge of warmth in his chest when the man can support both of their weights for a second. Nevertheless, he quickly finds balance and sneaks an arm around Rhodey's waist. It looks like a gesture of love for any outsiders, but Tony is also subtly supporting his best friend.
"C'mon Tones, time for bed, you look like you seriously need some rest," Rhodey says. Tony doesn't even try to put up a fight. He hasn't slept in nearly 48 hours, and he can't do work binges as much as he used to. He's not getting any younger after all. So he nods, rubs the small of Rhodey's back for a brief second, mumbles out a goodbye to the pair, and goes to bed.
Hours later, he wakes up in a way he hasn't in years: haunted by red tinged nightmares.
*
It's no suprise to Tony when the Council tells them that the Rouges are back early. The first thing Maximoff did was to seep into his mind, after all. It's scary to see that she has grown more powerful in her absence, her radius is wider than ever. He tells FRIDAY to make an appointment with Charles Xavier as soon as possible.
Turns out, with the confidence that they had finally gotten their pardons, Barton insulted the princess, an astroundingly stupid move even for him. Unsurprisingly, the king dumped them all into the Council's lap immediately and washed his hands off of them. The Council wants Tony to take them in, and Tony simply can't find the energy to fight back. The Compound is huge after all, he might never run into them as long as everyone respects his boundries - which, Tony doesn't expect them to do, but he's not above locking them out if it comes to that.
So he gracefully accepts the Council's request. The Council promises to arrange a shuttle for them. Tony flies back with the armour and shuts himself into his suite.
He's not sure how to feel about their return. Of course, ever since the threat of Thanos was confirmed, they are recruiting more people than ever. The X-Men are focusing on finding more offensive-skilled mutants, the Defenders are digging out local enhanced civilians who never took part in combat before, and Tony's new team is working globally thanks to Tony's resources. It feels good to know that his money is being used to find the right people for the right reason, unlike past experiences.
According to Thor, Thanos will come in a few months, so Tony knew that the Rouges would be returning soon. However, knowing and living it aren't the same thing. He can feel his chest tightening, his vision becoming fuzzy, sweat damping his palms. He wishes Rhodey or Peter were there, but Peter is at school and Rhodey is a busy man.
It takes him a minute to calm down and start thinking properly. The Rouges are supposed to go over the Accords and sign before they can come to the Compound, so he supposes he has time. He can call in a favour and ask someone else to do the welcoming ceremony in his place.
*
Matt is the perfect choice, Tony thinks. He looks unthreatening but authoritive, he's not easy to piss off, can hold his own; and since he's a lawyer, he's likely to be taken seriously. Tony asks FRIDAY to pull up live feed as the shuttle arrives and purges out superheroes.
Matt, God bless him, accepted his request without hesitation, and now stands just outside the door with a pristine smile on his face and his cane in hand. Tony tells FRIDAY to remind him that he will be making a big donation to Nelson and Murdock.
"Welcome," he greets the Rouges. They all look worse to wear, because of hours spent going through legal documents no doubt. They seem to appreciate coming "home" after all that. It's kind of ironic really, how they spit in Tony's face and then take his offerings without batting an eye.
"My name is Matt Murdock, and I'm a lawyer. I will be showing you the renovated compound and answer any questions you might have. If everyone is ready, we'll begin. Follow me."
Rogers follows Matt, leading his little ducklings. It looks like nothing changed after all, they still bow down to Rogers. Tony, the only one who challenged him, is out of the picture, and they're all good. It hurts more than he cares to admit.
His eyes slide over to the photo on the desk, one of him and Peter working on the Iron Spider suit. The pain in his chest eases a little.
"Where's Tony?" asks Romanov.
"Mr. Stark is occupied at the moment," Matt responds curtly. "Let me show you where you'll stay."
"Do you need help?" asks Rogers, ever the gentleman. Matt's smile gets tight, and he shuts the man down pretty quickly. Rogers exchanges a glance with Wilson, who simply shrugs.
Matt takes them to the guest area. The living room and the kitchen are barely used - the Compound doesn't usually have overnight guests.
"The kitchen will get stocked every week, if you run out of food early, you will need to pay out of your own pocket for more. But don't worry, there's plenty in the fridge and in the cabinets. You can also find a couple of laptops in the living room."
"Only two?" Tony hears Maximoff whisper to Barton, who nods in fury.
Ungrateful bitch.
Tony takes a deep breath and takes the feed with him to his own kitchen to get some coffee. He impatiently waits for it to be done, then finds a cup and fills it to the brim.
"There are only three people who are full or half time residents in the Compound, so apart from them, everyone else stays in the dormitories if they stay the night. Mr. Stark will allow you to stay for a month till you can find your own living accommodations."
"Mr. Stark will allow us to stay?" spits out Barton with venom in his voice. "Oh, how shall we thank the great Mr. Stark?"
"Where am I supposed to go?" demands Maximoff. The sight of her red glowing fingers makes Tony nauseous. "I have nothing in this country."
Rogers reaches out and rubs her arm. "You have us, Wanda," he states. "We won't let you suffer."
Oh, that hurts. The mind raping Nazi got to be a part of the team, but Tony didn't. He never got assured like this. He pushes the thought away - their validation and support isn't something he seeks anymore. He's done with back stabbers.
"Let me put it like this," Matt says, ignoring them. "Every penny Mr. Stark and the Council own goes to the preparements for the oncoming war. This means they cannot spare money to support fully grown adults who can support themselves just fine."
This seems to shut their mouths for a second. But then Rogers demands: "We can understand that, but why can't he give us basic necessities, like private rooms? That can't be that hard."
"In what army does every soldier get their own room?"
His words seem to light up a fire waiting to blaze. The Rouges seem furious to be classified as simple soldiers. They all start protesting and it's impossible to make out a word they're saying.
Matt sighs and lifts up a hand, somehow managing to quite them down. "Okay, I think we need to have a little meeting. I believe you haven't been very well informed about your place in this war. Please follow me."
This wasn't a part of the plan. Tony frowns as he cradles the cup close to his chest. Matt leads the Rouges into a small conference room and takes the head of the seat. The others sit down as well, clearly upset but also curious.
"Now, I'm going to be honest with you. Not all of you are that important in the grand scale of things. For example, Miss Romanov, your espionage skills don't have much use in the battlefield. You are a baseline fighter - a well trained one, but baseline. Don't forget, we will be fighting with all we have. Every single country will use their armies, every branch: Navy, Air Force, Special Ops, you name it. You will be average amongst all those people."
Romanov, unsurprisingly, doesn't even frown when she's called mediocre. Tony suspects the news aren't exactly news to her.
"Let me help you visualise where you stand. Here are some heavy hitters we'll be using in the battle. FRIDAY, could you pull up some non-classified files? Thank you."
"This is Captain Marvel, probably one of the most powerful beings one could ever meet, I thank God every day she's on our side," Matt says, pointing at Carol's picture that FRIDAY pulls up (Tony has no idea how Matt can tell where the hologram is). Tony can admit that Carol doesn't look that threatening. He had made the same mistake before she met her, but the woman carries herself with a rightous self confidence that comes with being nearly indestructible.
"Charles Xavier, possibly the most powerful telepath in the world. Can freeze people in the middle of an action, can control them like puppets, he could influence you from another country; and this much is what we can tell when he's being peaceful. Erik Lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, a powerful and aggressive mutant with metallokinesis ability - he can bend whole ships into themselves, we expect one of the highest kill counts from him."
A picture of the two mutants sitting next to each other in a meeting appears. Magneto's infamous glare and Professor X's calm but unfriendly demeanor is directed at whoever is sitting across them. Tony can't but help but admire them - they're two sides of the same coin, on opposite sides but have each other's back no matter what. He suddenly feels a powerful yearning for that kind of a safety in a relationship.
"And we have Thor and Loki as well as Bruce Banner, I don't believe an introduction is necessary. I could go on with that list for a while. So do you see where a buff man who heals a bit quickly or a guy who can shoot arrows fall in that scale?"
It looks like the Rouges are shocked into silence by their insignificance. Finally, something seems to shake their delusions of grandeur. Tony feels incredibly delighted.
"Anyway, I think my presence is no longer required here. I wish you all a good evening," Matt says, and before anyone can say a word, he leaves, not using his cane to find his way out.