Steve spoke up then.
"He'll stay with the Avengers. We aren't handing him over to S.H.I.E.L.D."
Fury looked at him.
Steve didn't look away.
"On this, Tony and I agree."
Banner added, "From a medical and psychological stability standpoint, he shouldn't be subjected to frequent pressure from new organizations right now. Especially not treated as someone to be handed over."
Natasha raised her eyes.
"At least not right now."
Clint raised a hand.
"I vote for letting the other Spider-Man keep eating, sleeping, and playing video games. Protecting minors starts with not stuffing them into S.H.I.E.L.D. folders."
Tony glanced at him.
"He'd really appreciate your choice of words."
Clint said, "Then I'll try to avoid talking to him, for my own mental safety."
Fury looked at everyone in the conference room.
"Is this a collective refusal to cooperate?"
Tony raised his hand and disconnected Fury's call outright.
The screen went black.
Two seconds later, another call request popped up.
Tony rejected it again.
The third time, the subject became a simple, blunt command.
Answer.
Tony pressed the button again, expressionless.
The world fell quiet.
Natasha glanced at him.
"Mature."
Tony said, "Thank you."
Steve didn't smile.
He looked at Tony.
"We're not finished talking."
"I know," Tony said.
The "Interim Framework for Oversight of Metahuman Public Activities" was still displayed on the shared screen.
The blue text was as cold as a row of blades yet to fall.
Tony looked at it for a few seconds, then raised a hand and closed the document.
"That's enough for today."
Steve was silent for a while.
"We'll continue later."
"Of course." Tony tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Adults excel at leaving problems they can't solve today for later, then pretending they'll be easier later."
Rhodey was getting ready to disconnect