Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

SHIELD had never truly understood the dangerous consequences of their methods. Not until the day that they pushed Tony Stark over the edge.

Not until the day that Natasha Romanoff poisoned Pepper Potts in her attempt to slip into the PA spot to spy on a dying Tony Stark.

Pepper ended up in the hospital and Tony?

Tony ripped SHIELD to shreds. He crashed their helicarriers, he exposed their agents, he dumped all their secrets and files onto the internet.

Fury could only watch in horror as his organisation burned. As Natasha was almost killed and barely escaped an enraged Iron Man. As Coulson was badly injured when he tried to slip into the hospital where Potts was being treated.

They’d miscalculated.

They’d pushed Tony Stark over that thin line between hero… and villain.

And there was no going back now.

Iron Man wasn’t tolerating any shit now. He was going out and destroying everything that he decided was a threat.

And no one could point the finger at Tony. He’d masterfully played the dying victim worrying at his girlfriend’s hospital bed, while the evil organisation SHIELD stole one of his suits and wreaked havoc over the world.

They tried reaching out to Rhodes. Surely the military man would step in to stop his friend before this got worse.

Instead, he arrested the agents sent to speak to him, using a sonic device that paralysed them to take them down.

Before the police could arrive, he’d whispered a message to one of the agents to take to their bosses.

“Pepper is my friend too. And Tony’s my brother. You did this to yourselves.”

SHIELD’s last, desperate hope was that Potts would wake up from her coma and rein Stark in.

However, when Pepper did eventually wake up to find Tony anxiously watching her, when she heard the story and found out that he wasn’t dying anymore because he’d hacked SHIELD for the information they’d been keeping from him, when she heard about what he’d done…

Pepper had smiled and cupped his cheek before saying, “Tony dear, you’re being terribly ineffective in taking over the world.”

And Tony had smiled and kissed her and the fate of the world had been sealed.

Tony stepped into the public spotlight as a full-on villain, still perfectly placing all the blame for his change at SHIELD’s feet. Pepper played the grieving girlfriend, cursing SHIELD for ‘pushing a good man too far’. Rhodes gravely promised to protect the world with the War Machine armour from his former friend.

It was all a masterful act and the public ate it up. SHIELD realised just how screwed they really were.

Tony was the perfect distraction, dramatic and flamboyant as he played the villain, attacking SHIELD almost exclusively as they desperately tried to pull themselves together.

Pepper meanwhile gradually began taking over the business world and winning the hearts of the public with her heartbroken pleas for Iron Man to come back to her. Everyone was supporting that storyline. It was a redemption story just waiting to happen when the time was right. Redeemed by the power of love and all that.

Rhodes was suddenly shooting up the ranks in the military, having earned his superiors’ respect for choosing to fight against his old friend turned villain. He accepted the promotions gracefully, continuing to amass influence and allies.

When SHIELD found Steve Rogers, they thought that they finally had a way to fight back. Until they threw Captain America at Tony the first time and he was soundly defeated with Iron Man barely getting a scratch. Not to mention the public didn’t react well to anything that had SHIELD’s name attached and Rogers proudly declared who he was fighting for.

He’d apparently decided Iron Man was his arch-enemy and was determined to take him down.

Tony found his attempts amusing but always got bored about ten minutes into the fight and knocked him out.

So Tony Stark and his friends were taking over the world. And SHIELD was the only ones to know about it as the public ate up their performance eagerly.

If SHIELD ever tried to point the finger at Potts she had the perfect ammunition of the poisoning incident. And Rhodes’ reputation was too pristine to touch.

Either way, it didn’t matter. SHIELD was considered just as villainous as the next evil organisation by now and no one was hoping for them to get a redemption arc.

Well… there was technically another group of people who figured out Iron Man’s plans and honestly? They were in awe of it.

“That attack on the SHIELD base? Where Iron Man saved that child and ‘tried’ to hide it? That was masterfully done,” Loki brought up the common conversation topic in their group.

“It really was,” Victor nodded. “Potts is using it as another way to point out that the ‘good Tony Stark’ is still in there. Her performance is quite brilliant.”

“I am jealous of that group. I mean, I’m more of a solo act myself but their teamwork is impeccable,” Agatha sighed, watching the news coverage of Iron Man’s latest attack.

“Those poor little mortals really are eating out of his hand. They’re coming up with the reasons for his attacks for him. I’m quite certain that time he just wanted a doughnut,” Amora sipped at her drink. “It’s so embarrassing how easily he’s managed to take Thor down the last two times.”

“That’s because Stark learns. Thor doesn’t,” Loki reminded her dryly.

The four villains watched the television for a moment.

“Dammit, where can I sign up to join them?” Agatha whined. “They’re having so much damn fun.”

“They make the rest of us look like amateurs,” Victor sighed in agreement.

“It’s a real blow to the ego,” Amora agreed.

“I can ask Sir if he is open to looking at resumes,” a British voice spoke up from Victor’s phone. “I do not believe it is something he has considered yet.”

The villains looked at each other for a moment.

“We all forgot about the sentient AI that can hack literally anything didn’t we?” Loki asked.

“Yes,” Agatha facepalmed.

“Most people do,” JARVIS reassured them. “I’m often underestimated.”

“Are you in the Whitehouse yet?” Victor asked curiously.

“I’ve always been in the Whitehouse,” JARVIS replied simply.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“Alright, that’s it. It’s pretty clear that there’s no stopping Stark,” Loki declared. “I’m going to sign up.”

“Me too!” Agatha bounced in place excitedly. “I do hope they’re into open relationships. Stark and Potts in bed with me? Oh what a dream…” she fanned herself.

Loki couldn’t really deny that that was a rather pleasant image.

Amora looked caught up in her own fantasising. Loki knew she had a thing for Rhodes. Her crush on Thor had cooled after watching him get beaten down by a normal mortal.

If you could really call Anthony Stark ‘normal’.

“What about Red Skull and his plans?” Victor asked but he was already typing out his resume on his phone.

“Sir is quite aware of HYDRA’s plans and he’s already made his own,” JARVIS helpfully offered.

They all shuddered a bit. They suddenly really didn’t want to ever get on Stark’s bad side.

Look at SHIELD after all.

The door opened and a truly miserable-looking sight entered. A soaking wet Winter Soldier slid onto a seat and ordered a Vodka. It must have been a rough mission.

Loki silently slid a tablet over to the Soldier who raised an eyebrow.

“We’re all signing up to hopefully join Stark,” Amora explained. “He’s well on his way to world domination after all.”

“His AI offered to pass it along,” Agatha added. “I wonder if JARVIS is in your arm?”

JARVIS suspiciously stayed silent.

Winter seemed to consider this information for a moment. “Iron Man would make a more than acceptable handler,” he decided.

Amora patted his arm sympathetically. “What happened with this one?”

“He electrocuted himself,” Winter answered blandly. “Good handlers are in short supply lately.”

“Tony Stark would make an excellent handler,” Loki agreed. “And a rather excellent overlord.”

“I’m pretty sure that their plan is to make Potts the overlord,” Agatha admitted.

“That’s… rather terrifying,” Victor murmured.

They all hurriedly finished filling out their resumes and transferred them to JARVIS

“Uh, J? What is this?” Tony asked, staring at the files in bewilderment.

“Applications to be your minions Sir,” JARVIS supplied helpfully.

Tony stared for a moment, munching on his liberated doughnuts. According to the public the store had been a front for SHIELD. In reality, he just wanted doughnuts. He gave the cashier a nice tip though.

“Huh. Why do I need minions? I’ve got minions.”

“Harley and Peter do not count Sir. They cannot actively help you.”

“I wonder if anyone is ever going to notice that I never attack Tennessee or Queens,” he mused, opening the files.

He stared for another minute.

“Huh…”

“They are smart enough to know when they are beat,” JARVIS explained smugly.

“Apparently. Okay, sure, whatever. Bring ‘em on board. Let’s give Fury a heart attack shall we?”

“Very well Sir.”

Working for Tony Stark was not what the villains really expected.

First off, he gave fantastic benefits. They got paid and got days off. Not to mention holiday bonuses.

Secondly, their job was to essentially ‘do whatever the hell you want to as long as you irritate SHIELD’.

So that meant that Victor could spend hours in a state-of-the-art lab talking to a sentient AI. Loki could study his magic texts in peace and routinely bother Thor. Amora often joined him, although she wasn’t too interested in getting Thor anymore. She was interested… elsewhere.

Agatha could come and go as she pleased, taking great delight as she irritated the sorcerers and that silly little Scarlet Witch that had recently joined the Avengers.

And Winter was free from HYDRA and quite satisfied with his new handler. He’d been the first to actually meet Tony Stark. The inventor had quite literally walked into him in the kitchen after they’d moved into his huge mansion of a hideout.

Adorable Bambi eyes blinked up at Winter and the infamous Winter Soldier melted.

“Coffee?” the sad little whine had Winter producing the requested cup in moments and Stark perked up and downed the entire thing. It was quite impressive.

“I like you,” Stark patted Winter on the chest. “Plus you killed my abusive ass of a father. So you get points there.”

Winter had known that Stark had had a terrible relationship with both his parents. An abusive father and a neglectful mother meant he truly hadn’t been all that torn up about the murder. And of course he'd known. JARVIS knew everything.

“You are my new handler?” Winter asked.

“Sure, if you make me coffee like that I’ll be your anything sweetheart,” he kissed Winter’s cheek and wandered out of the room after pouring a new cup.

“Mission accepted, protect Tony Stark.” Winter nodded firmly to himself. Bambi eyes like those deserved to be protected even if they belonged to one of the most dangerous men on earth.

Victor met Tony when he came nose to nose with the genius after lifting his head from his latest project. The inventor was crouched down and watching him work, wide eyes burning with intensity.

Abruptly a grin stretched across his face, genuinely excited in a way Victor didn't normally see in others when around him.

“Science!” Stark yelled, practically pouncing on Victor.

Somehow, he got dragged into a three-day science binge and Winter had to kick them out of the lab for their own health at JARVIS’ orders. Tony had pouted rather adorably and whined.

“Science!”

He was a terrifying force in the Iron Man armour. But he was also damn adorable. Victor just knew he was going to have trouble saying no to the man.

Winter’s unimpressed expression told him that the assassin had already figured that out and was disappointed in him.

Those sad eyes were lethal weapons though! Lethal!

Loki and Amora officially met Tony at the same time when he walked into the room they were practicing magic in.

“I will pay you to prank Thor.”

Loki cocked his head. “You already pay us.”

“I’ll pay you extra. Just make his life a living hell for a week.” Stark’s eyes were dark and nowhere near the ‘Bambi eyes’ that Victor and Winter had described.

“Why?” Amora asked.

“He yelled at Pepper. And that is unacceptable.” And with that, Stark turned around and left.

Loki and Amora looked at each other and shrugged. They spent the week hitting Thor with various spells that caused him pain or discomfort and even left a flerken in his room once. He had… issues with flerkens.

The next time they saw Tony he was all smiles and hugged them both. “You guys are so much better than the order with the stick up their butts.”

Tony and Agatha met and promptly ended up in bed together. It turned out that Tony and Pepper were actually in an open relationship. One that Rhodes was a part of.

“How was it?” Amora asked Agatha the next day at breakfast.

Agatha smiled dreamily. “If he was still a good guy I’d flip sides for him.”

“For the sex?” Amora sounded surprised.

“For the sex,” Agatha sighed. “And for the fact that he’s sweet enough to bring me breakfast in bed.”

“Why are you eating breakfast here then?” Victor asked.

“To rub my fantastic night in your faces of course.”

And well, they were jealous of course. With that option suddenly available and Pepper Potts striding into the room in all her terrifying glory?

They were tempted. And you should never tempt a villain.

Chapter Text

Steve glared up at the tower, a symbol of everything wrong with this time. Howard would be disgusted with what his son became. 

A liar, a monster, a villain.

And it infuriated Steve to admit that he'd won. He'd gained the love of the world, destroyed SHIELD and turned the people against their heroes.

They had to fix this. It galled him to be here though, the plan to appeal to whatever shreds of humanity remained in Stark.

Steve didn't hold out much hope but Natasha was insistent that they attend the meeting. 

The different hero teams in America had been invited to a meeting with Tony Stark to discuss conditions for them to continue their work.

Conditions. Steve scoffed to himself. More like ways for Stark to keep control of them so that they didn't become a threat.

Now that he'd quite literally taken over the world, he controlled everything. In the span of two years, Stark practically owned the world, never mind just controlled it.

He had the people's love and support after 'returning to good' with Potts' and Rhodes' support. The world was praising him for regaining himself despite what SHIELD did.

All lies, a masterful act. But they all fell for it.

Stark Industries was in every country and controlled the economy worldwide.

The other governments jumped on any suggestion Potts made, essentially creating a dictatorship without anyone realising.

But Steve knew the truth.

These villains needed to be taken down and Steve would do it someday soon.

But for now, they had to play along.

He glanced back as Natasha placed a hand on his arm, concerned. She was such a good teammate, a true example of a redeemed hero. Stark was nothing more than a fake.

Behind her, Clint stood with tension clear in his frame. Sam was standing and talking quietly with Thor while Bruce lingered in the back with Scott.

Wanda was glaring at the building with hatred while Pietro hung back as well.

They'd been right all along about Stark being a monster.

Steve shook himself out of his thoughts. They didn't have time for this. They needed to be alert and on guard for traps.

"Let's go," he murmured, grateful as the team fell in behind him.

No matter what Stark did, he would never destroy the Avengers. They'd do this, together.

And he'd finally free Bucky and bring him home.

Inside they were met with a familiar face and Wanda snarled in anger.

Agatha Harkness smiled in response, as smug as always. The witch was dressed in a vibrant purple pantsuit and black heels. She was holding a tablet and was clearly perfectly at home in the lobby.

Ever since the witch had joined Stark she'd been driving Wanda to the point of tears, calling her a pathetic excuse for a witch. She always targeted the poor girl and Steve hated bullies.

"Avengers, lovely to see you again," she smirked. "Why, I haven't seen you since the HYDRA debacle."

Steve had to suppress a wince. Learning that HYDRA had been lurking in SHIELD this whole time had been a blow.

"Still cleaning up that mess then?" She asked innocently.

He clenched his fists so hard that his gloves strained under the pressure. Harkness just smiled in the face of their anger.

"Come on now, the others are all already here," she told them, turning to lead them toward the elevator. "And remember, the Tower's defence system will activate if any of you make an aggressive move here. And JARVIS is much faster than you are."

Steve scowled at her back. He couldn't wait for the day that good finally triumphed over evil.

She led them to a conference room after a very awkward elevator ride during which Harkness hummed some infuriating song under her breath the entire time.

He was relieved when they reached the meeting place to find the other heroes waiting.

The Defenders were sitting tense and clearly agitated, Jessica Jones throwing a venomous glare at Wanda. The woman had had a grudge against the poor girl since meeting her. Steve didn't understand it.

The X-Men had sent a group as well. Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Hank McCoy sitting close to Charles Xavier who looked far too calm for the situation. Even Wolverine was present, standing behind them and leaning against the wall.

Across from them sat some representatives from that Order of the Mystic Arts that Steve barely knew anything about. He couldn't read their expressions.

The Fantastic Four were also present, all looking much more anxious than the other teams. It was understandable considering how young their team was in comparison.

There were even a couple of solo heroes present. Spider-Man was looking relaxed with his feet up on the table. There was an unfamiliar boy next to him who looked bored. The Wasp was trying to hide her nerves as she tapped on the table and Scott kept glancing at her.

And Deadpool.

Why was Deadpool here?

The Avengers settled in between the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, eyeing Harkness warily as she typed away on her tablet. Not even a minute later, when Steve was contemplating asking if Stark would be late to his own meeting, the man himself walked in at exactly three o' clock.

He was flanked by both Potts and Rhodes with Harkness easily falling in beside the woman. Loki, Amora and Doom followed close behind and Steve's heart sped up when Bucky walked in last. It hurt to see that blank expression still on his friend's face and his lack of recognition. Steve was going to make sure that Stark paid for using Bucky like this.

He had to focus again as Stark spoke, his group settling into the remaining seats.

"Well looks like everyone's here," he clapped his hands. "You know who we are and hopefully you know each other already. So we don't need to waste time on introductions. We're all busy people and need to get back to work."

He looked around the table. 

"First, we'll clear some things up. I know there have been many rumours about alliances and me having spies in superhero groups. So we'll address those first. Rather get everything out in the open so we know where we all stand."

Steve eyed the other groups warily. He knew there wasn't a chance of spies in the Avengers but he was concerned about the others.

"First, the solo heroes," Stark started and Steve listened closely. He needed as much information as he could get. He knew that the rest of his team was doing the same. Steve subtly glanced at Wanda to find her looking frustrated. So Stark was still blocking her somehow… that wasn't good.

Jones interrupted the man with an unexpected question.

"There are at least three people in this room who can read minds and influence them. I want to know that we're safe from that."

Instead of getting angry like Steve expected, Stark only nodded at her.

"Of course, I understand your concern. The Tower is one of the most well-warded locations in the world. No mind magic can successfully take place here and if the caster pushes it too far, it will rebound on them."

Jones turned to look at Daredevil who gave a slight nod.

"He's being truthful," he confirmed.

Steve still didn't know what he thought about the man's ability to tell when people were lying. It felt a bit invasive honestly.

Loki spoke up next, making Steve tense even more.

"Laws are being drafted to outlaw mental magic and protect citizens from it. You will find most of us find the practice distasteful."

Steve couldn't believe that he'd said that with a straight face. And that Daredevil hadn't called him out on it! If anyone would use that kind of magic, it would be Loki. He had no morals. Not like Wanda.

These so-called laws were probably just a trick as well. Or a way to control them even more. It was probably a way to hurt poor Wanda.

Steve fumed in his seat as Strange spoke up. The sorcerer sounded as arrogant as ever.

"We were given a chance to study these wards since we sensed the great amount of magic surrounding the tower. Mental magic will not work here. It should even dull telepathic abilities of mutants to an extent, although possibly not entirely."

They looked over at Xavier who nodded calmly.

"I believe that I would have to actively try and listen to actually hear anyone's thoughts. It is a pleasant change to not have to rein it in constantly."

Jean Grey nodded. "I'm not catching any passive thoughts either."

That seemed to appease Jones as she settled back again.

Stark waited a moment before speaking again.

"Like I was saying, the solo heroes first. Spider-Man and I have already worked out our own deal and he'll continue his good work in Queens with the option of further training if he wants to join in for any big battles."

Steve looked at the hero in shock. He'd already spoken to Stark?

"Is that why you never attacked Queens?" Daredevil asked.

"Yup," Stark nodded, but didn't elaborate. "Hope, any insight in the documents we sent you?"

Scott inhaled sharply as the Wasp smiled at Stark.

"I'm most of the way through it. I suggested some amendments but you seem to have most of it covered. I won't have any problem signing them Tony."

He grinned at her. "Great! Bring them over when you're done. You and Aunt Janet should come for dinner."

What was going on?

Hope chuckled. "Mom adored you even before you saved her from the Quantum Realm. It's not a question that she'll be over for a dinner."

Stark waved it off. "Loki and Victor are mostly to thank. Turned out we needed a bit of magical science. It still hurts to say that."

Strange smirked for some reason and Van Dyne laughed again.

Stark turned to the teenager next to Spider-Man next. 

"Harley, you know the rules. No superhero-ing until you finish your training."

"I know I know Mechanic," he rolled his eyes. "Finish the training then I get to be Iron lad."

Steve was so confused. Iron lad? Stark was corrupting this boy?!

"Deadpool, you just keep up what you're doing. I know no one can tell you what to do."

Deadpool saluted him. "Yes sir boss man."

Stark shook his head like he was amused before looking to the sorcerers.

"Stranger Danger, everyone good with the contract we've got with your order?"

What? They'd betrayed everyone?!

Strange nodded. "Mordo put up some fuss but whatever Colonel Rhodes said to him put a stop to his rebellion."

"I've had years of practice talking sense into arrogant assholes," the colonel shrugged. "I gave Mordo the number of a good therapist too. Guy needs some help with his issues with the Ancient One."

What was happening?!

"Great! You guys govern yourselves and handle dimensional threats then."

"And you don't rename the planet," Strange said dryly.

Stark pouted. "I make great names."

"No you don't," Pepper told him immediately. "You can't rename the Earth."

Stark pouted again. "Whatever." He moved on. "Reed, you guys good?"

"We wanted to ask if someone can help us with the legal language in the document Tony. It's a bit dense for us," Susan Storm said.

"I know a lawyer who can help," Daredevil offered.

For some reason, Stark smirked.

"That would be appreciated," Susan told him with a smile. "Other than that, as long as Victor leaves us alone, we're good."

"Still upset Susie?" Doom asked.

"Yes," the Fantastic Four deadpanned.

Stark chuckled. "Don't know why you're so against it Susie. Victor is great in bed."

"Ewwww!" Spider-Man, the Human Torch and Harley cried out simultaneously.

"Yes yes, you're sleeping with them all," Strange said impatiently. "We know this. Moving on now? I have a date."

"Oh with Christine?!" Harkness perked up. "I knew my pep talk would work."

Wong smirked. "It did. They had a very healthy talk about communication and boundaries. They have dinner tonight. Thank you for that Agatha."

Harkness preened. "I'm that good."

Strange just rolled his eyes again. "Moving on?" He asked.

Stark was snickering while Steve watched blankly. They were talking so… casually. Like they knew each other.

What was going on? Did they all give in to Stark? The cowards! 

"Right right," Stark waved a hand. "Charles, everything good with you guys?"

"The school is running as well as ever Tony. Nothing's changed since you've been donating long before you got fed up with the world and fixed it."

"They want to know when you'll be visiting again," Hank McCoy added. "The kids love your visits."

"I'll drop by next week. Got tea with Erik this weekend. We're going to argue about humans and mutants again. It's lots of fun."

"It is frustrating him that you make good points," Charles said in amusement. "But he took your advice and sent the younger mutants with him to the school. They're settling in nicely."

Was Stark blackmailing the X-Men through the children? Threatening to hurt them?!

Steve was almost shaking with rage.

Stark looked at the Defenders next.

"You guys still happy to stay in Hell's Kitchen. Can't tempt you out with anything?"

"We're happy as small-time heroes," Daredevil told him with a smile. "But we did read through the documents and we're happy to sign as local heroes, international only in emergencies."

"Fiiiiiiiiine," Stark groaned. "But I'm joining you for drinks sometime. I've heard rumours of how much Jessi can drink and I've got to see it for myself."

The Defenders all smirked.

"He'll get the eel," Luke muttered in amusement.

"Iron Fist, I'll see you and Wasp at that meeting on Friday right?"

Iron Fist gave him a thumbs up. "No problem Tony."

"Sorry about being aggressive earlier," Jones sighed. "Being near the witchy bitch there gives me anxiety."

Steve was outraged to find her pointing at Wanda. None of these people were true heroes, giving in to a man like Stark.

"No worries. I set up precautions. Loki and Amora are almost finished with your amulet too."

She gave them a genuine smile. "I appreciate it."

"After what you gave us last Tuesday? It's nothing," Amora said with a wicked smile.

"Well, Rhodes did invite me."

"It was a lovely surprise Jessica," Loki assured her. "One we would be happy to repeat."

Steve looked between everyone frantically as some people complained again about bedroom talk being banned. 

It was just the Avengers. Everyone else had given up. 

It was just up to his team to save everyone.

He straightened as Stark looked at him and met his gaze stubbornly. He would not bow to this bully.

"And then it's just you guys," he mused. "You've always been a nuisance."

"We won't bow to you," Steve said defiantly, lifting his chin as he glared back.

Stark only seemed to find it amusing.

"You believe in your team that much, have complete faith in them?" He asked with a confident smirk.

"I do," Steve said proudly. "We are the Avengers."

He didn't like it as Stark's smirk turned smug.

"Boys?" He asked sweetly.

Steve's head whipped around and he stared in shock as Clint and Pietro stood and moved to stand behind Stark.

What?

The billionaire leaned back in his seat and lifted his hands.

"I did mention spies. And Hawkeye and Quicksilver make the best spies, don't you think?"

He couldn't- they wouldn't-

"Pietro?" Wanda asked in a small voice.

Steve turned to find her on the edge of tears. The rest of the team looked just as shocked.

"Can I leave now?" Bruce asked while they were reeling. 

Stark smiled warmly at him. "Course you can Brucie. I told you that I would have made an excuse for you if you wanted to skip this. I still can't believe that they didn't realise you were already a Stark Industries employee."

Steve watched in stunned disbelief as Bruce stood up as well.

"None of them have realised that Jane and Darcy work for you as well," he said dryly. "They're blind and see only what they want to see."

There were some murmurs of agreement while Loki and Bucky smirked at each other.

This couldn't be happening.

"Why?" Steve asked, shaken to his core.

Stark looked at Clint and Pietro. "Do you want to vent?"

They both nodded but Clint went first.

"Coulson flipped sides," he said simply, making Natasha gasp softly. "He came and talked to me, explained what Tony was actually doing. And I agreed with a lot of it. So I joined him. Tony cares more about innocents than SHIELD ever did."

Natasha leaned forward. "Clint, why-"

"Laura's a mutant," Clint said softly. "I only stayed with SHIELD to protect her and my kids. Phil was the only one who knew. Considering he's more often than not in our bed, he's family. He wanted to protect them too."

Surprisingly, it was Logan who spoke up next.

"Keep your friends close and your enemies closer."

Clint nodded his head. "Yeah. Tony gave me the chance to protect them without SHIELD since he's so pro-mutant. Finding Laura's dad was just a bonus."

"Fucking surprise to me though," Logan muttered.

Clint only grinned at him before turning back to the Avengers. 

"The kids are in Xavier's school now and Laura got a job there. They're safe and I don't need SHIELD anymore. I've been feeding Tony information since before the villains wised up and joined him."

Steve felt cold with shock at that. He'd betrayed them from the beginning?

They'd never noticed?

Natasha was ashen as she stared at Clint who didn't seem to care.

Wanda was still watching Pietro with wide eyes and her brother finally spoke up.

"Agatha noticed that your magic was always on me and got suspicious," he said softly. "She went to Stephen who checked me the next time we went to get rid of Amora's spells. He stripped all magic off me and we found out that you'd been controlling me for years. Since we got our powers actually. When we found out that they were HYDRA and I wanted to leave, you couldn't have that. So you made me stay."

The room was silent for a long moment before Jessica snarled. "Mind raping bitch!"

She looked about to attack and Steve quickly put himself between them.

"This is all lies, Wanda would never do that to Pietro!" He declared.

Clint and Pietro scoffed and rolled their eyes but it was Bucky who spoke with a heavy Russian accent.

"Oh, she would. That bitch erased your old pal after all and left just me for HYDRA to play with."

"Hmm," Stark mused.

"Steve-" Natasha started.

Scott and Sam threw themselves away from the table but Steve didn't even notice in his rage-filled grief as he turned on Wanda who looked abruptly terrified.

"You killed Bucky!"

Chapter Text

Tony watched the sentencing of Steve Rogers with boredom for the most part. To think, all it had taken to take down Captain America, the greatest strategist to ever live, was to goad him into killing a member of his own team.

It had worked out like a charm. Of course it had. He’d planned it all.

He’d used the death of the Scarlet Witch to his benefit and had Rogers charged for first-degree murder with most of the witnesses testifying against the man. None of the other teams said anything against him which was why they were still free to do whatever they wanted really. He wasn't into micromanaging people’s lives so as long as they left him alone, he didn’t care what they did.

Spinning Clint’s and Pietro’s redemptions was simple as well. They were so horrified by what Rogers did that, of course, they realised the errors of their ways and joined Tony. Pietro had done a masterful act at grieving his dear sister.

The final nail in Rogers’ coffin, of course, was his darling Bucky. With a little bit of coaching, Winter had been able to impersonate the man easily. James Buchanan Barnes was truly gone, a fact that Winter did mourn in his own way. But he was also willing to play the part if it got Rogers locked away for good.

So when the man tried to claim that Maximoff had killed his best friend, ‘Bucky’ had appeared in court as a nervous and rarely seen second personality that was ‘protected’ by the Winter Soldier.

Rogers never stood a chance. Tony would have pitied him if he wasn’t so annoying.

He was finally out of the way though and SHIELD was no more. The governments were working a lot more smoothly than they ever had before and the superhero teams were protected by laws that also ensured that they would be held accountable if they went down the wrong path.

Mutants had rights at last and they were educating everyone on the fact that people were still human, even if they didn’t look like everyone else. 

The world was marching on at a steady pace with very few hiccups that he had to deal with personally.

Which, of course, meant that he had more time to spend with those he cared about. Pepper was pregnant now and Tony was over the moon. They’d just been married a couple of months ago and he couldn’t wait to be a father. Harley and Peter were just as excited to play big brothers to the new baby.

Rhodey was currently busy with the military but he’d promised to be home in time for the birth. 

In the meantime, he had his villains to keep him company. He was glad that JARVIS had convinced him to take them in and he still didn’t regret it. They were a riot to have around and kept things interesting.

In the bedroom too.

Things were going great until some upstart Titan tried to ruin things.

The arrival of the Guardians of the Galaxy brought both the concerning news of Thanos and the sexy combination of Peter Quill and Gamora. Tony was very open to meeting them and hearing their warning regarding the Titan and his quest to gather the Infinity Stones.

The arrival of Captain Marvel soon after only added legitimacy to their claims and an old friend that Rhodey very quickly ran off with.

It was good to see Carol again and she didn’t seem surprised at all to find that Tony had taken over the world.

“Was just a matter of time,” she assured the Guardians. “It was inevitable really. He was just too nice in the beginning to do anything drastic.”

They won the group over soon enough though and started planning for Thanos.

Well, they threw around ideas while Tony got down to actually solving the problem.

“What do you think?” Rhodey asked from the doorway of the lab, watching Tony run through multiple simulations of how the fight could possibly go.

“I think I’m gonna nuke him,” Tony mused, spinning a hologram of a spaceship design. “I’ve just got to make sure he can’t teleport out or manipulate reality or something. We don’t know which Infinity Stones he already has after all.”

“What’s the plan for making sure that doesn’t happen then?”

Tony spun in his chair to give Rhodey a wide smile bordering on manic.

“I’m going to make a fucking giant arc reactor.”

Rhodey stared at him. “Huh? What’s your bucket list got to do with this?”

“I know that’s on my list but it’s actually for a proper reason Honeybunch.” Tony gestured at the hologram. “Giant arc reactor equals giant arc reactor field. Which will nullify any Infinity Stones since it’s reverse-engineered from one.”

“... Tony, be honest. You could make a nuke with a regular reactor that would do the same thing, couldn’t you?”

Tony stared at him with wide puppy eyes and Rhodey caved almost immediately.

“Fine! You can put your giant arc reactor in space! But if it shifts any planetary gravity fields, then you’ll have to fix it.”

“Yay!”

“Dude-”

“Don't say it.”

“But Harley-”

“Don’t say it Peter!”

“...that’s no moon!”

“Peter!”

“It’s a space station!”

“Peter!!”

Harley attacked his brother while the rest of the family watched the footage of the ‘battle’, if you could call it that.

What it actually was, was Thanos’ fleet coming to a dead stop when the Death Reactor (Tony named it, they shouldn’t have let him name it) uncloaked in front of them.

It was almost sad how easily it nuked the entire army, Thanos included.

The Guardians were on standby to pick up the Infinity Stones from the debris.

“You know, that man scares me sometimes,” Carol mused as Pepper soothed Morgan. The baby had been early and Pepper liked to joke that she was as impatient as Tony.

“He always scares me,” Loki piped up. “But it’s also a turn-on.”

“Fair,” Winter agreed.

“At least that’s one thing he can tick off on his bucket list,” Rhodey sighed.

“Dare we ask what else is on there?” Victor asked warily.

Pepper and Rhodey looked at each other and shrugged.

“Let’s just say that after that orgy, he could tick off the ‘sleep with supervillain ‘insert name’’ from the list.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“I feel quite flattered actually,” Agatha admitted. “He’s so sweet. I've never been on someone's bucket list before. Who else does he want to have sex with?”

“An alternate version of himself,” Rhodey said. “That’s one of the safer options. I hope he works on that next.”

The villains’ eyes all widened as new possibilities sprang up in their minds.

“Oh, that does give a girl fantasies,” Agatha sighed.

“This should keep them all busy for a bit,” Rhodey told Pepper as they walked off. “And fixing alternate universes should avoid more Death Reactor-level plans.”

“Oh but he’s so happy Rhodey,” Pepper sighed. “He’s so proud of his Death Reactor.”

“It is a good Death Reactor,” Rhodey agreed. “But he’s also made lightsabers Pep.”

She fell silent for a moment. “Actually, alternate dimension travel does sound a little bit safer. I’ll mention it to him when he’s back. I really don’t want him reenacting Stars Wars. He gets so into his roleplay and the next thing we know, he’ll have blown up a planet.” 

“Much rather avoid that,” Rhodey agreed. “Think of the paperwork.”

They both shuddered and went searching for their genius. Time to give him something else to focus on. The multiverse would just have to deal with Tony’s attention for a while. 

They’d be fine.

Probably.