𝚃𝚘𝚗𝚢 𝚂𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝙳𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚂𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚍

ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴇᴇᴛɪɴɢ

ꜱᴜᴍᴍᴀʀʏ: It was finally time for that meeting. Steve thinks that this is the perfect chance to finally be heard.

He didn't expect that going up against a real Captain would be this difficult though.

===============

The meeting was long overdue.

Everyone settled into their seats and Tony looked around the table. The Defenders were all together like usual and he caught Jessica's eye. She gave him a grin, lounging in her seat.

Carol and Rhodey were discussing something quietly on the other side of the room. Despite the rough start thanks to Rhodey's wariness, the two got along very well now.

Logan was slouched in his chair, already looking bored. Loki and Strange were next to him and in some kind of heated argument about magic.

Thor and Bruce sat across from Tony. Bruce had seemed a lot more peaceful since Maximoff's trial while Thor was quiet and often lost in his thoughts.

Sharon was sitting rigid in her seat and already glaring at the door. Tony hoped that she didn't shoot Rogers again. That would make it three times he got shot between her and Laura and Tony was pretty sure the Council would start to complain about it at some point.

Hope was typing away at her tablet while she waited and Peter was jittery in his seat next to Tony, in full uniform since he didn't trust the Rogues with his identity.

The genius looked up when Agent Coulson came in. He'd volunteered to go fetch the Rogues and no one really wanted the job so they hadn't complained.

Clint was practically walking on Agent's heels, still looking exhausted from everything that had happened. He was currently benched until he'd been through therapy and was cleared to return to duty. There were also talk of sending him to live with Laura again for a while if the two sorted out their relationship.

Behind Clint came Barnes, gaze on the floor as he trailed the other two men.

Wilson and Lang followed, both looking like they hadn't slept very well recently. Maybe the whole Maximoff situation had finally knocked some sense into them.

Last came Romanoff and Rogers. She was muttering something to him, no doubt last-minute instructions on how to act so they could get what they wanted.

They sat down, Rogers with that determined 'I am right' expression.

This was going to be a long meeting...

When everyone was seated, Carol opened the meeting with the basics. A greeting and a mention of the Fantastic Four not being able to attend because of Doom.

"That guy needs a new hobby," Jessica muttered under her breath.

"Right, now onto the reason we're here," Carol pretended she couldn't hear the Defender. She was good at doing that with most of them. Or else they'd never get anywhere between Tony, Loki and Jess with their snarky comments. "As I'm sure everyone is aware, the Rogues have returned."

"That name is very disrespectful-" Rogers tried to interject but Carol continued talking right over him.

"Due to recent events this meeting was pushed back so we have quite a bit to get through. First, Agent Barton." She turned to look at the man who straightened up immediately. His caustic comments had evaporated after Maximoff's magic was cleared from his system. "Therapy sessions have been set up for you and you've been temporarily benched until you're cleared by them."

Clint nodded, ignoring Rogers who immediately started protesting and saying that Clint was fine.

"For the moment, Agent Coulson has volunteered to act as your handler. If you have any issues then please go to him and also check in with him daily."