"...Politics." That's the long and short of it. "Politics, emotional compromise, and a lie that lasted for three years longer than it should've. No one walked away clean."
But almost everyone walked away. It was easier to talk about it like this, tucked up close, not having to watch Bruce's face as he outlined every way he'd fucked up. "...After New York- there was a lot of collateral damage. There always is whenever we tangle with something big that wants to murder humanity. Then the nuke happened and- people got antsy. After the Helicarriers, Roxxon, after Sokovia? It got worse. People were afraid of us. Of our disregarding sovereign borders and flying in to make a mess, sweeping back out when we deemed the day saved."
Maybe he was a little bitter. A lot bitter.
"The Sokovia Accords were a document that would mandate accountability that came around at the worst fucking time. I'd tapped out, Rogers was trying to train up the new team and lock down the remaining Hydra or former Hydra cells still running around stirring up shit, Peggy was on the decline and he still hadn't found Barnes. Pepper and I were taking a break. Ultron, Sokovia, being with the Avengers again after I promised I'd quit? She couldn't take it. None of us were in a good place when this slammed down the pipeline. I was the one that handled politics so...the Secretary of Defense came to me with an ultimatum after an incident in Lagos where Maximoff attempted to contain an explosion and wasn't able to manage it as well as people thought she should've. Civilians died. Wakandan Citizens died. It was a mes. Because of that we had to sign or forcibly be retired and I got slammed in the face with a huge mallet of 'my baby died because you fucked up' about A woman's son that had a bright future and died in the fallout of Sokovia where he was assisting relief efforts and building affordable housing. So. I was off my game. Rogers was shook, Maximoff was shook, the rest of the team was trying to handle shit and Rhodey was trying to keep the brass off the initiative's back demanding some kind of trial for Maximoff's assumed carelessness. While we're arguing should we sign, shouldn't we sign, Aunt Peg-"
Tony's voice went thick, scraped raw over remembered grief. He took a deep breath, peeling back enough to massage his face with a hand. "Peggy Carter passed away. Rogers leaves for the funeral, I try to scramble to get us more time or to get everyone on board so we're at least steering the thing, get it amended, workable, it's not something we can do if we're not in the damn car- and there's an explosion where they're being signed, killing the King of Wakanda who spearheaded the Accords. James Barnes is assumed the culprit and that sets Rogers off trying to find him. It's a clusterfuck from the start and it only gets worse."
ENTER TL; DR
But almost everyone walked away. It was easier to talk about it like this, tucked up close, not having to watch Bruce's face as he outlined every way he'd fucked up. "...After New York- there was a lot of collateral damage. There always is whenever we tangle with something big that wants to murder humanity. Then the nuke happened and- people got antsy. After the Helicarriers, Roxxon, after Sokovia? It got worse. People were afraid of us. Of our disregarding sovereign borders and flying in to make a mess, sweeping back out when we deemed the day saved."
Maybe he was a little bitter. A lot bitter.
"The Sokovia Accords were a document that would mandate accountability that came around at the worst fucking time. I'd tapped out, Rogers was trying to train up the new team and lock down the remaining Hydra or former Hydra cells still running around stirring up shit, Peggy was on the decline and he still hadn't found Barnes. Pepper and I were taking a break. Ultron, Sokovia, being with the Avengers again after I promised I'd quit? She couldn't take it. None of us were in a good place when this slammed down the pipeline. I was the one that handled politics so...the Secretary of Defense came to me with an ultimatum after an incident in Lagos where Maximoff attempted to contain an explosion and wasn't able to manage it as well as people thought she should've. Civilians died. Wakandan Citizens died. It was a mes. Because of that we had to sign or forcibly be retired and I got slammed in the face with a huge mallet of 'my baby died because you fucked up' about A woman's son that had a bright future and died in the fallout of Sokovia where he was assisting relief efforts and building affordable housing. So. I was off my game. Rogers was shook, Maximoff was shook, the rest of the team was trying to handle shit and Rhodey was trying to keep the brass off the initiative's back demanding some kind of trial for Maximoff's assumed carelessness. While we're arguing should we sign, shouldn't we sign, Aunt Peg-"
Tony's voice went thick, scraped raw over remembered grief. He took a deep breath, peeling back enough to massage his face with a hand. "Peggy Carter passed away. Rogers leaves for the funeral, I try to scramble to get us more time or to get everyone on board so we're at least steering the thing, get it amended, workable, it's not something we can do if we're not in the damn car- and there's an explosion where they're being signed, killing the King of Wakanda who spearheaded the Accords. James Barnes is assumed the culprit and that sets Rogers off trying to find him. It's a clusterfuck from the start and it only gets worse."