Project 43: Healing

Compromise

"Oh. Five years ago I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing. Turned out to be the best round of my life," the graying man in a suit explained making Elias roll his eyes. He wasn't in the mood to have some big ego man try to teach him some life lessons. The whole situation seemed absurd. It was like the Avengers were being scolded like children after a fight.

"Because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the army never taught me. Perspective," the man continued his monologue.

"The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt."

Elias let out a sigh. He had hoped the man would have gotten to his point by then, but he seemed to be painting a picture with his words Elias didn't want to see.

"You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives, but while great many people see you as heroes, there are some who prefer the word 'Vigilantes'"

Finally, the man caught Elias' attention. He had shown something about himself and the way he thought. He was going to give them some sort of a warning, maybe even an ultimatum. Something Elias would finally want to listen to.

"What word would you use Mr. Secretary?" Natasha asked, wanting the man to explain himself even tho she and everyone else in that room could already see what the man really thought.

"How about dangerous?" The man proposed passionately. Elias could see how much those words angered Wanda. The woman looked at Secretary Ross with a look that could have killed him if he didn't have such a huge ego shielding him.

"What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders..."

The emphasis on 'enhanced' told Elias everything he needed to know. The problem wasn't so much with what the Avengers were doing. They were too powerful and now this man or someone else was scared of that power.

Steve and Sam exchanged looks as they both tried to understand what was going to happen. Elias was almost amused by how much his brother hated the man speaking in front of them and how bad he was at hiding it.

"...and inflict their will wherever they choose? And who frankly seem unconcerned about what they leave behind," Secretary Ross ended.

Elias suppressed a scoff at the absurdity of the man's claims. He saw how much the people in the room cared. He saw how distraught they had been after Lagos, and he knew that they did everything they could to save everyone. Sometimes it just wasn't enough.

Still, he didn't say anything and just waited for the man to get to his true point. Someone like him couldn't have gone all the way to the Avengers Compound just to tell them they were dangerous.

The man turned on the holographic screen in the room and stepped to the side, revealing a world map with yellow dots here and there. Quickly the map zoomed in to New York and different images started flashing in front of their eyes.

"New York," the man said as if they weren't able to read the text on the screen.

The video was one of many Elias had seen before. He had been living in Greece when the Attack in New York happened and even there, the videos and pictures were everywhere.

In the video, Ironman was flying away from some sort of armored spaceworm that crashed into the nearby buildings on its way. Soon it cut to people running away and screaming, buildings falling on cars, guns going off, and, hulk jumping around, smashing everything in his path.

Elias didn't understand how it was fair to blame the Avengers for the damage in New York. It was downright ridiculous to blame the people who saved countless humans and took down an otherworldly God who wanted to take over the entire earth.