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Who said anything about assuming it would go away?

[Steve meets Tony's eyes with a hard look. If the man really thinks he'd just sit and do nothing on a matter that really meant something to him, he doesn't know much about Steve Rogers. That, or his world has some very different rules that Steve doesn't like.]

I think they're the ones that need to be set straight.

[Oh hey, it's almost like he's had this exact conversation before. And weirdly, that seems to cut Tony off at the knees, making him let out a tired sigh rather than whatever he'd been about to say.]

Look, you can't just fight the entire world forever. [What is he saying, this is Steve Rogers. Of course he can.] Sometimes you have to be willing to compromise.

[ Steve bristles, because part of him does agree. He did go to far and he does feel a measure of guilt for it. But he'll be damned if he shoulders all the responsibility for that one. The compromise was asking too much; claiming too much from him, and he'd rather fight the entire world than submit to unjust demands from it.

Somewhere there is a middle ground, but Steve is still sore that instead of reaching it, they only managed to burn everything around them. It's a problem from his world, not related to the man in front of him, but Tony is bringing up bad memories. ]

You think compromise is going to make everything go away? People like that don't stop when they get what they want once. They'll keep redrawing the line until they take everything.

The issue isn't to make it go away, it's to make the situation into something everyone can live with. You keep talking like compromise means giving up.

[And honestly, Tony isn't sure which Steve he's talking to anymore. Maybe it doesn't matter, they're similar enough in this.]

It's not a moral failing if you don't win every fight.

If that's true, then I hope your compromise was something you can live with.

[Steve holds firmly to his opinion. He doesn't know the people from Tony's world and he can't really say what decision would be right for them, but his personal feelings just hearing certain words put him on edge. The suggestion they have still holds a tense weight with him.]

Maybe for you there's no moral question, but to me, it would have been more than just losing a fight.

But why, though?

[The sudden burst of frustration is clearly too strong to be directed at just this conversation. Tony sets his teeth for a moment to keep anything else from spilling out, then shakes his head sharply.]

And no, it wasn't, thanks. But you already knew that.

Because it cost lives.

[Steve snaps back, but seems to regret it after the fact. He realizes that at this point the question should be over with. He should be moving on. Somehow, Tony always manages to get under his skin no matter what world he's actually from. He isn't entirely sure why that is, which makes it worse.]

It matters because allowing them to take advantage of us is just another step toward letting them take us all apart. Shut us down because we're inconvenient to them. People like that don't care about safety, Tony. They only care about power.

[But that last part hurts. Tony is right that Steve doesn't need to be told how much it ended up hurting everyone in the end. He holds back the rest of his frustration. It's not like he has clear words to say anyway.]

[Tony twitches back a little despite himself, taken off guard by the vehemence of it. When he replies again, there's a hint of caution to it. He's not actually afraid of Steve, either of them. But given the current conversation, he can't help but remember how exactly this fight ended last time.]

Okay, I think deciding that about the entire UN might be overstating things slightly.

[It's difficult to catch the pause in Steve's response. He tends to hold his ground even when he's holding back, so his hard-lined expression doesn't shift or waver. But instead of leaping to another accusatory statement, his focus changes slightly. The strategist in him finds a different detail to pick out of what Tony just said.]

I'm not talking about the United Nations.

Okay, so...what are you talking about, then?

[Which is possibly a question he should have asked much sooner. Trust any Steve to be able to goad him into a fight he didn't even realize he was having.]

I'm talking about SHIELD trying to have people detained and imprisoned for not signing on to give personal information before they were legally allowed to demand it. And they shouldn't have been allowed to at all.

[Steve knows on some level that he's not mad at this man. He's just mad. But it's hard to come out with what he wants to say when all he feels like doing is yelling.]

It's not you. But a world like that? I will fight it. Maybe the way he saw it there was enough of a reason to fight back.

Wait, what, SHIELD? Why would they?

[This is just getting more and more confusing. The SHIELD Tony knows is a spy agency, why would they be detaining anyone?

He shakes his head like he's trying to clear it.]

I kind of feel like we're having two different conversations.

[Tony's surprise certainly throws Steve off. He did realize on some level they were dealing with separate issues, but he didn't consider just how different their situations were.

Carrying a chip tends to do that.]

Maybe you should tell me what exactly went on between you and Captain America.

[Tony pauses, then lets out a long breath. He really does not want to rehash this whole thing again, but for the sake of not having yet another argument...]

It's called the Sokovia Accords. [He shifts restlessly, not quite looking at Steve has he talks.] It's...the idea was for some level of accountability. That a lot of countries were looking at this group of primarily American fighters who would turn up, do a shit load of damage, and then vanish again. People were scared.

[And maybe the Accords didn't actually fix any of that, but god Tony had wanted it to. Wanted it too much, possibly.]

But it would have meant answering to the UN, waiting for permission to deal with a situation, things like that.

[Steve gives Tony a long, serious look, and then sighs. It's a heavy exhale that is audible and as much a grumble as a breath. His arms are crossed in front of him, but some of the tight posture does go slack. Steve is tired of all of this. Tired in a way he can't seem to properly express.]

International politics is always difficult to navigate. I can see the concerns that would raise. Being outsiders moving in will scare a lot of people. But official sanction wouldn't necessarily stop being from being scared or hurt.

Eventually, you might be giving up more than you realized.

[At least discussing Tony's Avengers makes it easier for him. Steve doesn't come off quite so harsh.]

Did you talk about it?

Of course it doesn't stop anything, but people get a lot less worked up when they think there's at least someone you'd have to answer to.

[Was it really so strange, to want to make people feel safer? It had seemed to make so much sense, at the time.]

Yeah, we talked. But they wanted everyone to sign immediately and then everything else went to hell. And. [He shrugged.] Just kept getting worse.

You aren't going to make the public feel better by pretending to be something you aren't.

[Surprisingly, Steve doesn't sound angry or belligerent this time. He understands, or thinks he understands, where Tony is coming from.]

If people are really frightened of what you are, then you shouldn't hide behind concessions and other names just because they know them better. Sometimes they have to see the part that scares them to realize that it's there to help.

[Of course, he'd thrown down the mask and publicly broken off from both SHIELD and the Avengers, taking on a whole load of issues alone, but that's Steve's way.]

I don't think you were wrong to want to work with them.

[Hey, look who managed to find real opinions beyond anger?]

But I think if they were that desperate for an immediate signature than maybe it was more about them than it was about you or the people you were all trying to protect. People tend to react too quickly when they are afraid.

They wanted immediate signatures because Ross is an asshole.

[That just comes out tired. He'd known exactly who he was dealing with, he'd just hoped that he could get around the worst of Ross' bad habits. That will show him.]

I know it wasn't great. But it was something we could have worked with, made better. The other options coming down the pipe...were not as malleable. This was supposed to head the worse options off.

Ross.

[Oh. Oh, now he's got an idea of what happened. It's honestly probably still the wrong one, but Steve's anger has shifted away from Tony and onto the real frustration that always seems to want to control and contain the good along with the bad. Not just Thaddeus personally, but what he represents.]

...Tell me.

[For the first time Steve is actually asking for information. And maybe it not being his own home actually helps him step down enough to ask, but it's still a step toward resolution.]

What were the other options?

[Something about the way Steve says the name makes Tony flick a considering look at him. So his universe has to deal with one of those too, huh? Pity.]

You name it, it was suggested. [Tony blows out a long breath like he's trying to force some of the tension out of his body.] Containment. Confinement. 24 hour tracking. None of it was sustainable, but that doesn't stop some yahoo from floating the idea. It was...

[If we don't do this, it will be done to us. Tony could only wish it was that easy.]

The Avengers were supposed to be SHIELD's pet project, but when SHIELD fell no one really knew what to do with us. And things just kept getting worse.

[Steve catches the look, meeting Tony's eyes with something alert and familiar, like he's expecting that sort of look out of him. It's instinctive for him to wait for Tony Stark to give him subtle, silent cues. He's not even sure Tony always realizes he does it, but Steve catches them. He doesn't blink. Ross is an obstacle. He's used to jumping over those.

What he isn't ready for is the news of SHIELD coming down. It's not entirely a shock -- It's SHIELD, and the risk is always there. But this is his first time hearing it. He tenses slightly.]

The Avengers don't belong to SHIELD. I understand that you wanted to help, Tony. You did what you could. But the Avengers aren't the government's task force. And they shouldn't be. Not when there are people who want to throw that on the table to begin with. Pretty soon, they realize they've got their pet superheroes that they can lead around or else and the or else gets tighter. What did they tell you? That you'd all get free movement eventually? That you weren't the threats, but they still wanted you to stay close?

[And he sounds irritated again. Restless. But he doesn't raise his voice.]

It's not your fault.

It's not that simple.

[But Tony just shakes his head slightly. He's so tired of this argument, and it's abundantly clear that it's never something they're going to agree on. Though every time Steve brings something up it sounds a lot worse than anything the Accords themselves have suggested. Which sort of makes him wonder if that's Steve's own worst case scenario's talking or...what?

Who knows. He rolls his shoulders a little, then makes himself drop them down.]

You realize SHIELD started us, right? The Avengers Initiative. And I wasn't even supposed to be part of it.

Sometimes it has to be.

[Of course it's not simple, he wants to say. It never is. But they have to draw a line somewhere or they'll always be driven back, put in their boxes and locked into things they don't believe in. He does look openly confused when Tony keeps going.]

Avengers Initiative?

[There's no recognition as he echoes that back.]

Who came up with that one?

[One of Tony's eyebrows lifts slightly at the blank look he's getting. So apparently this is one of those things that didn't go quite the same. Interesting.]

I don't know, Fury? Whoever was in charge of fancy project names? It was in place before I ever got involved. Apparently.

[Lord only knew what Fury had been intending to do with it.]

[Yeah, things are definitely different. Steve is realizing just how different too, with the way Tony treats the Avengers like someone else's project.]

That doesn't make sense. I couldn't imagine the Avengers existing without you. And with or without SHIELD, they still belong to us first.

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