The War Within | A Tony Stark Series

c: Love Hate

Monroe's POV

"So let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it going to be before they low jack us like a bunch of common criminals," Sam points out as Tony rolls his eyes from the chair he's slouched on. The team was gathered in a lounge area discussing whether or not the Sokovia accords was something we should all have our names on. Steve, Nat, Stark, Vis, and Wanda sat on the yellow chairs as Sam, Rhodey and I stood behind the captain.

"One hundred and seventeen countries want to sign this. One hundred and seventeen, Sam," Rhodey declares as if that's supposed to change our minds. From where I stood, I just glared at the sight of Tony's annoyed expression. Hand over his head as if our mere presence is causing his ongoing migraine. For a split second, our eyes locked causing mine to sadden. I turned away to turn my attention back in the discussion.

"How long are you going to play both sides?"

"I have an equation," Vision throws out.

"Oh, this will clear it up," Sam remarks.

"In the eight years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially. During the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve takes offense.

"I'm saying there may be a causality," Vision declares. I scoff and move my glance back at Tony sitting rather quietly. "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe. Oversight... oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand."

"Tony. You're being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal," Nat points out.

"It's because he's already made up his mind," Steve interjects.

"Boy, you know me so well," Tony states sarcastically as he stands from his chair, rubbing the back of his head. "Actually, I'm nursing an electromagnetic headache." I roll my eyes as he makes his way over to the kitchen area. "That's what's going on, Cap. It's just pain. It's discomfort. Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?" Tony sets down a device on the fruit basket laying on the counter. A holographic photo of a young boy appears with confusion rising in us all. "Oh, that's Charles Spencer, by the way. He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam, which sounds fun. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia."

The room fell silent at the mention of the city. I could only find myself checking on Wanda. He can't seriously be pushing the blame on us for what went down. We tried to save as many as we could. Our priority was everyone above ground.

"He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. We won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were kicking ass," Tony finished.

"We didn't ask for a murder-bot invasion, Tony. You know that more than anyone," I finally chimed in. Defending our stance because everyone else had given in to their guilt. Stark set down his cup of coffee and turned to look at me.

"There's no decision-making process here. We need to be put in check! Whatever form that takes, I'm game," Tony softened his voice at the last sentence.

"You can't be serious," I narrow my eyes, certain now that he knows the meaning of the words he speaks.

"If we can't accept limitations, if we're boundaryless, we're no better than the bad guys."