I Am Iron-Man

Chapter 28

Tony's POV

A couple of hours after the meeting with Charles Xavier, it was time to leave for the meeting with Coulson. Just like before, I couldn't convince Clint to stay home, so I was forced to bring him with me. Coulson gave me the address of where the base was, so off we went to the base.

"Clint, are you sure that you're going to behave? I don't want to bring you there only to have you try to kill him or something", I asked Clint for the eighth time since we started to drive to the base.

"I'll be fine. I just want to have a peaceful conversation about what he had to fake his death and have me thinking that he was dead!", he shouted as he finished his statement.

"Look, I know that you're upset, and you have every right to be, but right now, you need to put any grudges you have against him behind. And focus on the big objective, first, we get him to work alongside the New Avengers, then you can talk to him about how you felt, like a civilized adult would do"

"Fine, I'll do it for the rest of the team", we continued the drive in peace until Clint started speaking again. "So, you know that the rogues are coming back in nine months, how do you feel?"

"You know, I had the exact same conversation with Josh earlier"

"Well, I guess that great minds think alike"

"But to answer your question, I'm not exactly okay with it, but I'll be fine"

"I just hope Jessica doesn't go on a killing spree when they arrive"

"Speaking of which, I'm putting you on duty for watching her to make sure that she doesn't do that"

"What?! Tony, you know that maniac can't be tamed or controlled! I can't stop her from killing everyone. Heck, she tried to kill me one time!"

"I remember that, you threw smoke bombs at her, and she chased you into the air vents in my labs, where you had to hide out with me because apparently, she wouldn't kill you when I'm there"

"Exactly, she'll listen to you. Anything you say, goes. At least for her"

"Good point. Okay, if I can promise that I'll make her listen to you, then will you keep an eye on her?"

"Yeah, I guess, but I won't be happy about this"

"Well, that's life for you, buddy"

After a long drive, we finally arrived at the base. It was way smaller compared to the other SHIELD base, but it was suitable. I looked over at Clint and he seemed to be a little more relaxed.

"Clint? Are you okay?"

"A little bit. I guess I'm more happy to see Coulson than be upset"

"Well, that's good to hear. Are you sure you're ready to do this? You can always stay in the car"

"Come on, Tony. I'll be fine. Besides, I'll be seeing him anyways. Might as well, resolve any grudges while I'm here"

"Ok, here we go then". We walked into the building where we were immediately greeted by a woman whom I assume is an agent here.

"Hello, I'm Melinda May. And I'm certain you're Tony Stark. Phil always talked about you and who's this?"

"I'm Clint Barton"

"Oh, Phil mentioned you a lot. I can tell that you two worked with each other when he was at the old SHIELD"

"Yeah, we did, at least until I thought he was dead"

"Right, he didn't mean to hide for this long, but I think you should hear it from him instead. He's in his office, I'll take you there". We followed Melinda to Phil's office, where he was sitting in his chair, doing paperwork.

"Agent, long time no see"

"Tony, good to see that you're doing well after the breakup with the Avengers. Clint, nice to see you as well"

"Yeah, wish I could've seen you earlier, but you know. The whole 'I thought you were dead' thing kind of got in the way"

"I wanted to tell you, Clint. But I didn't want to risk having the new SHIELD being found by the old SHIELD since I cut contact from Fury"

"Well, I still wish that you told me, but I'm glad that you're still alive, though". Thank goodness. I thought that I would have to tranquilize Clint to stop him from killing Agent.

"Ok, now that's settled. Let's get back to the possible partnership with the new SHIELD"

"Agreed. But first, I would like to inform you that I'm no longer a Captain America fan. Ever since the SHIELD information dump, I started to lose respect for him. Including most of the members of the new SHIELD. The "Civil War" incident crossed the line for him"

"To be honest, the "Civil War" crossed too many lines to the point where it can't be recovered. You'll be surprised that Rogers called him to join his side. Obviously, I refused"

"No kidding. I'm glad that you refused. I can't imagine you becoming a fugitive. Anyway, back to the topic. Like I said in my letter, I was impressed that you're creating a new team called the New Avengers, so were my team members. They wanted to help out your new team and I agree"

"Well, as much as the team needs all the help that they can get, I just don't trust SHIELD. Honestly, I don't want anything to do with SHIELD"

"I can assure you, Mr. Stark. My team and I are nothing like the old SHIELD. We don't want to control or manipulate people. All we want to do is to protect and save people, but we don't care about getting fame from it"

"Come on, Tony. I know that you have some bitter memories from the former SHIELD, but we could use some help. Besides, you always trusted Coulson when he worked for the former SHIELD", Clint whispered to me. Well, he did have a point. I did trust Coulson when he helped me during that incident with Stane.

"Well, ok. We can have an alliance. Just have yourself and the rest of the team sign the Acts, then we'll be set"

"Great, we'll get right on that"

"Great. Look likes we'll be seeing each other a lot"

"Yeah, just no more faking your death this time"

"I'll try to resist"

Once we left the base, we returned back to the tower and told everyone the good news. The team's getting bigger by the day. Hopefully whenever this threat comes to Earth, we'll be able to stop it. If not, then Earth could be doomed.