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The meeting was long overdue.
Everyone settled into their seats and Tony looked around the table. The Defenders were all together like usual and he caught Jessica’s eye. She gave him a grin, lounging in her seat.
Carol and Rhodey were discussing something quietly on the other side of the room. Despite the rough start thanks to Rhodey’s wariness, the two got along very well now.
Logan was slouched in his chair, already looking bored. Loki and Strange were next to him and in some kind of heated argument about magic.
Thor and Bruce sat across from Tony. Bruce had seemed a lot more peaceful since Maximoff’s trial while Thor was quiet and often lost in his thoughts.
Sharon was sitting rigid in her seat and already glaring at the door. Tony hoped that she didn’t shoot Rogers again. That would make it three times he got shot between her and Laura and Tony was pretty sure the Council would start to complain about it at some point.
Hope was typing away at her tablet while she waited and Peter was jittery in his seat next to Tony, in full uniform since he didn’t trust the Rogues with his identity.
The genius looked up when Agent Coulson came in. He’d volunteered to go fetch the Rogues and no one really wanted the job so they hadn’t complained.
Clint was practically walking on Agent’s heels, still looking exhausted from everything that had happened. He was currently benched until he’d been through therapy and was cleared to return to duty. There were also talk of sending him to live with Laura again for a while if the two sorted out their relationship.
Behind Clint came Barnes, gaze on the floor as he trailed the other two men.
Wilson and Lang followed, both looking like they hadn’t slept very well recently. Maybe the whole Maximoff situation had finally knocked some sense into them.
Last came Romanoff and Rogers. She was muttering something to him, no doubt last-minute instructions on how to act so they could get what they wanted.
They sat down, Rogers with that determined ‘I am right’ expression.
This was going to be a long meeting…
When everyone was seated, Carol opened the meeting with the basics. A greeting and a mention of the Fantastic Four not being able to attend because of Doom.
“That guy needs a new hobby,” Jessica muttered under her breath.
“Right, now onto the reason we’re here,” Carol pretended she couldn’t hear the Defender. She was good at doing that with most of them. Or else they’d never get anywhere between Tony, Loki and Jess with their snarky comments. “As I’m sure everyone is aware, the Rogues have returned.”
“That name is very disrespectful-” Rogers tried to interject but Carol continued talking right over him.
“Due to recent events this meeting was pushed back so we have quite a bit to get through. First, Agent Barton.” She turned to look at the man who straightened up immediately. His caustic comments had evaporated after Maximoff’s magic was cleared from his system. “Therapy sessions have been set up for you and you’ve been temporarily benched until you’re cleared by them.”
Clint nodded, ignoring Rogers who immediately started protesting and saying that Clint was fine.
“For the moment, Agent Coulson has volunteered to act as your handler. If you have any issues then please go to him and also check in with him daily.”
Clint glanced at Coulson, relieved. Phil nodded back slightly.
“That isn’t necessary-” Rogers tried again and Carol’s patience ran out.
“Private Rogers!” she snapped, making his jaw click shut. “You claim to have military experience so stop interrupting a superior officer and listen. There will be a time for team members to speak later.”
She glared at him for a moment before focusing back on the meeting when she was satisfied that he had shut up. He was scowling at the mention of ‘Private’. Turned out that the Captain title had only been honourary and didn’t hold any weight in the military.
“On a related note, Wanda Maximoff has been stripped of her magic successfully. Follow-up tests show no sign of any magic. She was been locked up in a high-security prison following her trial.”
There were a few relieved murmurs while Rogers continued to look upset.
“On orders from the Council, the rest of the Rogues were scanned for any magical influence and none was found. As a result, only Agent Barton’s crimes are being reviewed and charges might be dropped, rendering the pardon’s conditions null and void.” She waited until Clint nodded again.
“Alright,” she turned to the table at large. “Update on the planetary shield?”
“With Shuri’s help we’re getting a lot closer. Plans almost crashed and burned when someone in Wakanda had a fit over us testing with vibranium but we smoothed that over by promising to use Starkanium instead. We’re going to start producing it in mass quantities next week,” Tony spoke up.
“Then someone else in Wakanda finally caught onto the fact that Starkanium is basically synthetic vibranium and there was mad panic for like ten minutes,” Rhodey smirked. “King T’Challa had to calm everyone down and yell at a few people before we could continue.”
There were some chuckles around the table.
They continued talking for a bit, Carol asking about a specific project someone was working on, like the continuous legal things for Matt and Jess’ new intel on any enhanced willing to help.
Logan added that the mutant’s school had upped its security thanks to Tony and in general it went well.
Tony could tell that a lot of this flew over the Rogue’s heads. They looked stunned at the amount of work being done.
Finally though, all that was out of the way and they had to open the meeting up to questions and complaints.
Rogers jumped on the opportunity like a rabid shark.
Carol wasn’t going to let him get a long-winded speech in though. They weren’t going to baby the Rogues anymore. They’d just been informed of the rules of the Compound and Avengers Initiative in front of the rest of the team.
No more excuses.
“-accommodations really aren’t up to standard-”
Carol cut him off. “Why exactly do you think you deserve luxury living when you don’t pay for it?” she asked.
He blinked at her in shock.
“We’re Avengers-"
“So because you’re superheroes you’re better than everyone else?” she asked, tilting her head.
“No!” he protested but she had already turned her head.
“Hey Jess. Where do you live when you’re not stationed at the Compound to keep an eye on unstable witches?”
Jess tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I do believe I live in a crappy apartment above my office. And I pay for it all myself.”
“What about you Logan?”
“Normally live at the school and work there as a teacher to pay for it.”
“Hope?”
“I live in a penthouse like Tony. And like Tony I pay for it myself with my money earned from running a business.”
Carol turned back to Jess. “So Jessica. Because Tony and Hope earn more than you, do you think you’re entitled to their money so that you can live in the same accommodation?”
“Oh hell no. I don’t want to have someone else paying for my life. I’m an adult thanks.”
Rogers was turning red while Wilson and Lang looked away.
“That’s different-"
“How?” Carol challenged. “Because it’s Tony? Because you feel entitled to his money?”
“He always paid for us before!”
“He thought you were friends before. Then you shoved a shield into his chest and that kinda makes people less generous,” Jess sneered.
“Wait, what? His shield? In Stark’s chest?!” Wilson demanded.
“Hmm,” Carol eyed them. “I’m guessing that Rogers has a long list of complaints, most of which relate to Tony in some way. Wanting access to his money or his tech or his time. Let me tell you right now. None of those things are going to happen. This,” she gestured at the table. “Is the closest you will ever come to Tony again. Now, while on the topic. We have some issues with your behaviour to address. Wilson, Lang, you’re fine. You’ve been following the rules laid out for you. Barton, any rule-breaking is being ignored for the moment due to your situation. Romanoff and Rogers however.” She turned her hard gaze on them. “Romanoff. You have attempted to hack Friday a total of five times. You will be fined for those attempts and they have been added to the charges looming over your head should the pardon ever be revoked. The fire you started also resulted in property damage and the event is being reviewed by the Council to decide if further disciplinary action is required.”
Romanoff’s lips thinned in displeasure at being called out.
“You seem to have forgotten that everything in this building is being recorded at all times. Even if you can’t see the camera. And then you, Rogers. You have broken your restraining order twice. Once more and the Council has decided that your pardon will be revoked. Your complaints about living conditions have been thrown out as you are here only due to the fact that the world is under threat. You seem to be under the impression that you are irreplaceable and that we should treat you like you’re special or important. Sorry to say, but spies are a dime a dozen right now. Super-strength? We’ve got Logan and the Hulk. Plus Asgardians. A guy who can fly? Tony built those wings. We can train anyone for them. A guy who can shrink? We’ve got Hope. And that suit doesn’t even belong to him. We can train anyone to use it. You are not as important as you think you are Rogers. But I think there’s one particular rule you need to learn. You see, one of the base foundations of our team is that we don’t keep secrets.” She nodded at Rhodey. He stood up and pulled Tony and Spider-Man up, shooing them out of the room. Tony looked pale but he didn’t complain.
Rogers seemed to realise where this was going and he panicked. “You can’t!”
“Why not?” she asked. “Afraid of the consequences?”
“It wasn’t Bucky!” he yelled.
“No. It was you,” she responded coolly. “Friday?”
A video appeared above the table.
Rogers could do nothing as it played.
Tony leaned against Rhodey as they waited outside.
“She really decided to do it huh?” he asked quietly. Carol had asked permission but he hadn’t been sure she’d take this step.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter asked worriedly. “Are you okay?”
Tony gave him a strained smile. “I will be. Just bad memories.”
Peter hesitated before launching into a long ramble about his day at school and what he and Ned got up to. Rhodey smiled as Tony relaxed slightly as he listened to the kid. Goose appeared out of nowhere and started winding between his legs until Tony bent down to pick her up.
It wasn’t long before a bang and shouting drew their attention though. They hurried back into chaos.
Rogers was on the floor, holding his bleeding nose while Clint was being held back by Jessica, yelling at him. Wilson was standing up, pale and staring at Rogers in horror. Lang was backing away from them, looking sick and shaking his head slowly.
Romanoff was still seated, looking mostly unaffected and warily watching the room. “Clint,” she tried.
“Shut up!” he yelled. “Shut the fuck up! You never changed! You just pretended to so you’d get the protection of SHIELD. Fuck! I let you around my children!”
That seemed to affect Romanoff at last and she stood up to step closer him.
“Don’t think I won’t punch you because you’re a woman. You know me better than that Nat. Or I thought you did but apparently the master profiler didn’t notice when I was being brainwashed!”
Romanoff flinched back at that a little. Jessica seemed to consider something.
“You start spouting shit then I’m letting him go to punch you,” she warned. “If someone got into my head my team would know. You let it happen because suddenly he was agreeing with you about Tony.”
Clint let out a bitter laugh. “Can’t ever accept that maybe, just maybe you were wrong.”
“Clint I-"
“Why did you lie about the data dump?” he cut her off and her eyes widened. “You said you took out anything important. But you threw out my family’s address too. Ross almost got them you bitch!”
She took a horrified step back.
Carol surveyed the room. “Alright, I think that’s the end of the meeting. Barton, Barnes, you requested a move from the East Wing.”
Roger’s eyes snapped up at that.
“We had a vote and agreed you can move into the West Wing but Friday will be watching you closely.”
The two nodded.
“But-" Rogers tried to protest, voice muddled thanks to the broken nose.
“You have no authority here Rogers,” Carol informed him dismissively. “Neither Barnes nor Barton feel safe in the East Wing anymore. So they don’t have to stay. We don’t make team members stay around someone they are uncomfortable with.”
He flinched a little at the jab about Maximoff.
“Right then, remember your warnings. From now on, three strikes and you’re out. There are no second chances after this.”
Goose looked down at the downed man and hissed. Tony tightened his grip on her a little, not wanting to explain to anyone why Captain America got eaten by a death cat from space. After a moment she subsided and rubbed her head against Tony’s chin, eyes still moving between the Rogues.
Carol stood between Rogers and the rest of the teams and waited for them and the Rogues to troop out, staring down Rogers and Romanoff who had moved to help him up. “Go clean yourself up. Unless you want to press charges against Barton. In which case the reason he lashed out will be evidence. Give me a reason to show that video to the world Rogers. And see your reputation burn,” she narrowed glowing eyes on him before stalking out of the room, leaving only Rogers and Romanoff behind.