Free The Ultimates: Against All Enemies by Alex Irvine

when we've got a new Chitauri conspiracy on our hands, because if it isn't, then you're pretty much the shallowest son of a bitch I ever laid eyes on."
    Tony turned to Fury. "So my medical history is public now, Nick? This is how they tell you to build team unity?"
    "What I came to say is this," Steve said. Fury held up a hand to stop him, but Steve pointedly didn't look at him. "I was going to say it to General Fury, but since you're here, Tony, I'll say it to both of you. The people need this. And I'm going to make sure they get what they need."
    "Soldier, I don't have to tell you that's not your job."
    "Maybe not," Steve said. "But I'll do the jobs that need doing, whether they're supposed to be mine or not."
    In the silence that followed, Fury thought: so this is how it begins.
    Eventually someone had to say something, and as might have been expected, it was Tony. "There's going to be a review of Stark Industries' defense contracting policies," he said. "Even with all the skimming and no-bid lard, I can make more money doing other things. Headaches like this are the last thing I need."
    "Your financial decisions aren't really what we're talking about here," Fury said.
    "Well, I don't appear to have much to say about national security or the typical courtesy that one might hope would be extended when one's proprietary tech is going to be stolen and farmed out to a glorified machine shop," Tony said. "So it looks like my finances are the only thing I can talk about. General, I don't suppose you have a bottle in your desk."
    As a matter of fact, Fury did, but he wasn't about to break out the bourbon at ten in the morning. Not even for Tony Stark. "Afraid not," he said.
    "And I don't guess that Captain America here is about to go up on espionage charges?"
    "I don't see how that's in the national interest," Fury said.
    "Ah. National interest. There was a time when intellectual property was part of national interest. I guess that isn't the case now."
    "Oh, for Pete's sake," Steve said. "Are you really going to get self-righteous about this?"
    "No, Steve, I'm going to stay angry You might be able to bamboozle the general here with your line about the people, and dirty jobs, and whatever else, but I'm going to tell you what that is. You've always been a latent fascist wrapped in a flag that we all happen to love, and we've cut you too much slack for it. Not anymore."
    Steve took a step toward Tony. "Knock it off," he said.
    "Go to hell," Tony said. "You want to take a swing at me, go right ahead. Who are you serving?
    Whoever fed you SKR TechEnt, why do you think they did it? Do you think they care about the people?
    "Who are 'the people,' anyway?"
    "They're the ones I rode a Nazi rocket for," Steve said, moving even closer to Tony. "They're the ones I got shot up with experimental chemicals for. They're the ones I pledged my life to, and if you're about to say that they don't know who I am and don't care what I've done, I'm here to tell you that doesn't matter. I believe in them. You don't believe in a damn thing except your bank balance."
    "The people, huh?" Tony said. "Shouldn't you say der Volk?
    Faster than Fury could see, Steve leveled Tony with a pile-driver right hand. Tony went over backward, banged his head against the wall, and sprawled next to the ficus tree Fury had brought with him from the last SHIELD headquarters. Then something happened that Fury never would have figured: Tony shook his head and got to his feet. Blood streamed from a cut under his left eye, and he couldn't quite focus his eyes, but he got up. Fury's opinion of Tony Stark changed in that moment. Before then, he'd always thought that Tony without his suit was just an unusually smart rich guy... but anyone who could take a shot from Captain America and get to his feet was more than your ordinary CEO.
    "Don't ever say that about me again," Steve said. He was breathing hard, from anger rather than exertion.
    "Ever."
    "You wouldn't be so pissed about it