Faultlines

Faultlines

When the briefing room door closed behind Steve Rogers, Tony stayed behind in his seat. His olive branch had failed spectacularly. That's what he got for trying.

Steve thought he was right, that much was obvious to Tony, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out just how Steve had arrived at that particular conclusion. He, after all, should understand the danger of powerful people without oversight. His judgement was clouded by grief for Peggy Carter and survivor's guilt concerning Barnes. Given some time, he would come around to his senses. And so would the others, who were just following the lead of their Captain. Tony just hoped that until then he would be able to protect them, all of them.

Tony heard the door open behind him, feeling a sudden rush of relief. Steve came to his senses, he thought and turned around expectantly. It was not Steve. In fact it was quite possibly the last person Tony expected to see in Berlin that day.

"Harry?", Tony got up and took a step towards his little brother, reflexively expecting a hug, but Harry stood tall and rigid, his face unmoving. Tony let his eyes wander over Harry with the deeply ingrained concern of a much older sibling. As always when Harry was in what Tony liked to call his "CEO-Persona", Harry's expansive black suit didn't have a single crease (Magic, Tony was sure) and his black hair and short beard were as well-styled as ever.

"Tony.", Harry simply stated, much of the warmth Tony normally associated with him, missing from his voice. It's like talking to an angsty teenager again, Tony thought, but there was a deep coil of foreboding threatening his ability to breathe.

"What are you doing down here? Heck, what are you even doing in Berlin?"

"I was having a drink with Sam when we saw the news about Vienna. He went to get Steve, I had to take the kids back to school first, then came here."

Several aspects of this really did worry Tony, but he went with the most pressing thing first: "Why weren't the kids in school? Is something wrong?"

"They got a couple of days off to go to Aunt Peggy's funeral.", Harry's voice was so sharp, Tony was halfway convinced it could actually cut him, "They set with Sam for a bit, because Steve and I were pallbearers."

Tony flinched. Peggy's funeral. He had thought about going, should have gone, really, he just couldn't bring himself to. Not right now.

"And you? You forgot?", his brother asked, his voice, normally so calm, rising dangerously.

"No. Of course I did not forget.", Tony hurried to explain, "I just didn't have..."

"If you say 'the time', I swear I am going to bloody punch you."

Tony stared at him in shock. Harry had pretty much stopped both shouting and cursing when he became a father, in fact Tony and Rhodey had often teased him about his need to be a good role model, but right now the younger Stark looked much more like his teenaged self, ready to tear the head of everyone asking him how his day went.

So Tony went to his default setting: confrontation.

"Do you even know what is going on around here?! What we are dealing with right now?!"

"Actually I do. But what I don't know is how you could not find the time to come to London. Steve did. Sam did and he didn't even know her. Aunt Peggy. Aunt Peggy, Tony! Dad's best friend. The woman that stood with us over Mom's and Dad's grave and took us home with her over Christmas. But no. Of course you had better things to do."

"With what happened in Laos? They were talking about prosecuting Wanda. The UN got involved and Captain fucking America refuses to sign the one thing that could actually get us out of this mess.", in his partially guilt-fueled anger Tony pushed the Accords in Harry's arms.

Harry stared at the Accords before wordlessly opening them and thumping through them, his emerald green eyes narrowing behind hexagonal glasses.

"You signed this?", he asked, after what felt like a lifetime to Tony.

"Of course I did.", Tony huffed, "It's the only option."

"Sam told me about how they want the Avengers to be regulated, but this... Tony, this say 'enhanced individuals'."

"Of course it does. There are very powerful people out there that..."

But again Harry cut him off.

"You mean like me?"

"What? No. This is not what this is about. And besides: No one actually knows about your powers. They still think what happened in New York was due to tech I developed."

"That is not the point!", the anger was back in Harry's voice now, "That includes almost everyone I know. Like... my children."

"This is about potentially dangerous individuals. They can not be left simply running around!", Tony was getting really angry now.

"What? You signed this. You work for them now. Will you tell them everything? Will you register my kids? Because I am sure Lily and her current obsession with purple are a real threat."

"Be fair, though, Harry, in a couple of years she will be just as capable of killing someone with the flick of her wrist as you are."

Tony was so distracted by the sudden realization of how he was talking about his niece that he didn't even see his brother's fist, before it very violently connected with his face, causing him to very suddenly sit down very ungraciously while staring up at Harry in horror. He might have thought his brother looked like hitting him earlier, but for him to actually do it?

Harry had gone white in anger, his fists were clenching and unclenching rapidly. I must not tell lies

The door was pushed open again, Steve, Sharon and Sam hurrying inside. They had obviously seen the confrontation from the outside. Steve put a hand on Harry's shoulder as if to calm him down, but no one was actually saying anything.

"I have seen this before, as you hopefully remember, people having to register for how or to whom they were born. Prosecuted for their very existence. I lost friends, family to this kind of thinking. And you stand there and tell me, that it's the only option?! Do you even see yourself? Dad was so ashamed for so long. About the things he did during the war. And if you'd ever actually listened to him instead of being angry, you would have known that that was also the reason he looked for Steve so determinedly. And now here you are. Supporting registration and persecution, if they do not comply? You built Ultron. You even built the engine systems for the insight carries that could have killed millions. When exactly will you realize that you are part of the problem?"

Tony was staring at his little brother in horror. Harry, who used to follow him around like a puppy. Harry, who had come and found him in Afghanistan. Harry, who had agreed to become CEO, so Tony could focus on inventing. Harry, who always had his back.

"Harry.", Steve tried carefully, his hand still firmly on the other man's shoulder.

Harry turned towards him, his eyes still blazing in barely contained anger. It was exactly that very unfortunate moment, with Tony still frozen on the floor, that Ross entered the room and tried to assess the situation in front of him.

"Mr Stark the younger, I assume, how the hell did you get in here?"

Harry finally turned away from Tony and towards Ross, shaking of Steve's hand in the process. Tony couldn't see how exactly Harry was looking at Ross, but even he seemed rattled by the deafening silent treatment. When Ross opened his mouth again to add something, there was a trademark loud crack and Harry vanished without a trace. Ross gaped like a fish, but the others did not seem surprised at all.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Harry James Stark has left the building.", Sam deadpanned.