When all the videos finished playing, Steve stood up in the silent atmosphere.
"Alright, guys, you've all seen it. Thank you, Stark, for collecting these video materials for us. Does anyone have anything to say now?"
No one spoke, and Hong Fei sat to the side, quietly observing.
Steve might have anticipated this situation; he clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention and began:
"This is clearly someone deliberately targeting us, with the goal of shifting everyone's attention away from the lawsuit and even making us public enemies. I know that no one here wishes for what we just saw to happen. In short, I don't want anyone to be influenced by the other side at this time."
"But those things did happen, after all."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone turned to look. Banner seemed a bit shy from being stared at, so he scratched his head and continued in a low voice:
"I'm just stating the fact, I don't mean anything else."
"I know what you mean, Dr. Banner." Steve nodded. "Our original intention was to repel the invaders; no one wanted to hurt any civilians."
At this moment, Tony looked at Hong Fei. Hong Fei wore a smile. Tony haughtily turned his head away.
Steve continued: "I don't know what you all are thinking, but now I can tell you why I chose to file the lawsuit right now, shortly after the war ended."
Subsequently, Steve began his long speech, the content being nothing more than what Hong Fei had told him before, until finally, he gave his own summary.
"Every war breaks out for a complex reason. The war we faced this time had no warning. If Thor hadn't told us that Loki brought a massive army, we would all have been kept in the dark. Loki caught us off guard, yet our response was timely enough. Facing aliens that humanity had never seen before, every one of us did what we could. We achieved victory, that is indisputable. The people who sacrificed were indeed innocent, but if we hadn't stood up back then, the Chitauri might still be rampaging on Earth now. They wouldn't care about human lives, and the number of casualties would certainly be higher."
Suddenly, Tony stood up: "Captain, what exactly are you trying to say?"
Steve replied immediately without hesitation: "What I want to say is that someone is trying to stir up debate or even hatred among ordinary people against us, and I hope that at this time, we can stand firmly together."
Tony shook his head and said: "Stand together for what? To help you fight a lawsuit and send people from S.H.I.E.L.D. and the military to prison? Do you think that's possible?"
"No, the lawsuit has nothing to do with any of you, that is my personal…"
"Sorry, Captain, it's not really unrelated just because you say it is." Tony took out his phone and manipulated the television screen; soon, many comments were projected: "Please, look for yourself. Everyone thinks we are together. As a representative, you have all of us standing behind you. The whole world thinks we pushed you to fight this lawsuit."
Steve turned back to glance at them, his brows furrowing slightly.
Tony continued: "I agree with some of your points, for example, making the guy who ordered the nuclear missile launch take responsibility, but I do not approve of you recklessly taking all these people to court, and even making it public to the whole world."
"Why?" Steve countered.
"Just because we have only just recovered from the painful lesson of the alien invasion. How many days has it been?! People's eyes are full of news about the alien invasion. You starting a lawsuit at such a time will only make the situation worse. You just said we need unity, yet what you are doing has deeply affected that unity!"
"Stark, I don't think our unity includes those people."
"If we don't seize this chance to establish order within our ranks, what happens the next time we're in this situation? Someone might launch a nuclear missile at us again."
Tony jabbed a finger toward Hong Fei. "Did the missile even hit you? I could've sent it into space without your help!"
Steve crossed his arms. "And what if there hadn't been a portal? Where would you have sent it then?"
"Uninhabited areas. Space. I had options." Tony shrugged.
"And what if you weren't there? What would we have done?"
"Relax, I've got an Iron Legion now. My production lines are still running as we speak."
"Stark, you can't solve everything." Steve's voice was calm but firm.
Tony snapped, his voice rising. "Yes, I can! Jarvis has run the simulations. Even without outsiders—even without any of you—I could've handled this invasion on my own!"
"Fine," Steve shot back. "Then tell me, how many lives were you prepared to sacrifice?"
The room fell silent. Banner stood, stepping to Tony's side. He tugged gently at Tony's arm, his voice low. "Tony, we all know what you're capable of. Sit down. Let's talk this through."
Tony's jaw tightened, his breathing heavy, but he allowed Banner to guide him back to his seat. Steve turned away, picking up his water cup.
Natasha nudged Barton with her elbow. He shook his head, mouthing, "Quiet." Luke and Matt, the two brothers, shrank deeper into their corner, saying nothing.
Natasha glanced at Hong Fei, but he remained impassive. He knew if he spoke up, things would escalate fast. Tonight, he was here to watch, not to intervene.
Natasha sighed and stepped forward.
"Alright, everyone. I think I understand where Captain is coming from. He's saying we shouldn't let those videos shake us. We didn't do anything wrong. In fact, we could've done nothing at all. The outcome proves we made the right call. What we should focus on now is helping those who were hurt in this war, not doubting ourselves."
Steve nodded.
Natasha continued, "I support the lawsuit Steve filed. The war might be over, but someone has to answer for what happened."
Tony leaned forward. "So that's why you're dragging S.H.I.E.L.D. and General Ross into court?"
Steve's voice sharpened. "Stark, I've explained this! Fury's private research on the Tesseract drew Loki's attention. You know he used it to create weapons of mass destruction!"
"I get that Fury needs to answer for his actions," Tony countered, "but why take down S.H.I.E.L.D. and Ross with him? I'm no fan of S.H.I.E.L.D., but they've been protecting this world. And the military should be our allies, not our enemies."
Banner cleared his throat. "Uh, sorry, Tony, but S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't innocent. That nuclear missile came from one of their fighter jets."
Barton added quietly, "The military has plenty of generals."
Seeing the tide turn against him, Tony's breath hitched. Then, as if anger itself were mocking him, he let out a bitter laugh.
"One general's already in court. You think the military's going to play nice after this? As for S.H.I.E.L.D., you're only seeing the bad. What about all the good they've done for the world?"
"I joined S.H.I.E.L.D. because I believed it could help me better fulfill my responsibility to protect people," he said, meeting Steve's gaze.
"But if S.H.I.E.L.D. loses the public's trust, who will we act on behalf of in the future? Captain, you said it yourself—no one person can solve everything. We need to stand together."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. was supposed to be the platform that united us," he continued, his tone sharpening. "But look at what's happened. You were the one who walked away first, and now you're demanding unity. Don't forget—you're an Avenger too."
Steve fell silent, unable to refute the point. Hong Fei, watching the exchange, chimed in with a grin: "Brilliant! Fight!"
Steve hesitated, then let out a heavy sigh.
"I'm sorry, Stark. I can't explain everything to you right now, but you need to trust me—S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't as perfect as you think it is."
Tony, already frustrated, shot back without thinking, "Of course it's not perfect! But we can make it better. You're the one who didn't give us a chance to fix it."
Steve's thoughts turned to HYDRA, the shadow lurking within S.H.I.E.L.D., but Tony remained oblivious to the connection.
"At this point, even if I object, it won't change anything," Steve said quietly. "I won't interfere with your lawsuit, and I won't discuss this publicly. But I still think this is a mistake."
Tony stood abruptly, buttoning his jacket as he glanced around the room.
"I received an invitation regarding the post-war relief fund, but I won't be attending. I've already signed an agreement with the federal government to establish a special 'Department of Damage Control.' We'll share data—consider it a gesture of respect for our past collaboration. Goodbye, everyone."
With that, Tony strode out of the room. Natasha exchanged a look with Steve, who nodded silently, prompting her to hurry after Tony to see him off. When she returned some time later, she shook her head in response to the questioning looks around her.
Steve took a deep breath and forced a tired smile.
"Let's call it a night. I don't want to say any more about S.H.I.E.L.D."
He paused, then added, "No matter what problems you face in the future, you can always reach out to me. For now, the Avengers haven't disbanded. We're still a team."
At his words, everyone rose to say their goodbyes. When Banner shook Hong Fei's hand, he wore a simple, grateful smile.
"Thank you for stopping him back then."
"No problem," Hong Fei replied, patting Banner's arm warmly.
As the others left, only Steve, Natasha, and Hong Fei remained in the room. Steve turned to Hong Fei with a bitter smile.
"Sorry you had to witness all that."
"It's fine," Hong Fei said with a shrug. "If I hadn't seen it, I'd think something was wrong. After all, that's Tony Stark for you."
He glanced at Natasha curiously. "Why are you still here?"
Natasha smiled faintly. "I'm coming with you."