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Damage Control.
Of course, the comics actually have an organization with that name, but still, it is the name they have appropriated as well. Accurate enough. because damage control is all they can do.
That, and try to keep the off page moments as sane as possible. Which is a major challenge even at the best of times. And this…
“Everyone okay?” Steve asks, eyes going instinctively to Tony.
It is only less than an hour after the on-page massive battle. Heroes fighting heroes. Captain America fighting Iron Man. Civil War, because Writers wanted something grimdark.
Tony raises an eyebrow “I should be asking whether you are okay. In case you got hit in the head too hard to remember, you’re the one who just went several rounds with Iron Man armor.”
“I’m fine. You know I heal fast.”
“Not that fast.”
Being in a Comic Book has its advantages, one of them being that injuries are never as realistically horrible as they would be. But even the Writers had admitted neither Tony nor Steve would come out of that fight unscathed.
If Hill had her way, both of them would still be in the med bay. But of course, that much common sense from this pair would be too much to expect, won’t it?
“At least they didn’t kill anyone this time” Strange comments. “I was getting really worried back there.”
“So were we all” Steve admits.
Hill nods. She can only imagine what it must have been like for him and Tony, in that fight, not able to stop themselves, not knowing whether the Writers would actually make them kill each other…
“I thought they were going to… I thought I was…” Steve stops.
Tony grins “No way they’ll make you kill anyone, Cap. You’re the American Dream. Can’t have blood on your hands.”
“Well, given how they are taking everyone else out of character…”
That would definitely have been a hit-hard moment. Captain America, killing Tony Stark… Maria Hill glances at Strange. “Was that how it was supposed to go down, Stephen? Did you change it?”
Strange shakes his head “No. Told you, it’s too late to change any of the plot. That was the Writers.”
Of course, the entire fight was out of character even in the setting of the Civil War. A strategic blunder Steve Rogers would never make. If he had actually been the one in the driving seat, the prison break would have been over and done with before anyone on the Pro-reg side even knew what was happening.
But then again, that is pretty much par for the course by now. The Civil War event has completely butchered all characters. The off-page moments are spent putting themselves back together, in more ways than one.
“Has anyone gotten hold of Deadpool?”
“Afraid not” Coulson hates to make that admission. But no choice. “He’s dropped right off the face of the earth. Possibly literally.”
The Merc With A Mouth has the most…overreaching superpower among them all. The ability to mess with the Fourth Wall. If he really didn’t want to be in a storyline, he wouldn’t be. Assuming he manages to stay sane long enough to make sure what he wants.
Right now, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Civil War disaster – a sentiment all of them can get behind. But unlike all of them, Deadpool can escape, and has. Which is a major problem, given he is the only one who has seen exactly what is going to happen.
“He said there would be more than a couple of serious character deaths” T’Challa points out. None of them needs reminding. “A couple in the beginning…and one last one, a major one, to wrap things up on a tragic note.”
Wrap it up on a tragic note – the sooner those damn Writers got over their grimdark phase, the better.
“No kidding, I genuinely thought it was going to be Tony” Peter admits “I mean, back there in the fight…”
Steve winces. Hill knows he is mentally back there in that fight, standing over Tony’s prone form, the shield raised in his hand and ready to strike.
Maria Hill, Director of SHIELD, is not a sentimental type. But she is deeply thankful the Writers didn’t choose to enact that last bit of travesty. Forcing Steve Rogers to kill… No, that is not something they can come back from.
“Well, any clue where they’re going to go from here?” Tony asks.
With Wade missing, there’s no sure way to tell what is coming next in the on-page moments. Strange can occasionally see what is coming, but right now he is claiming the Eye of Agamotto is proving uncooperative.
Hill is not sure she can take his word for that. Well, to be honest she is pretty sure she can’t take his word for that.
“The Civil War technically ended, right?” Peter asks “I mean, they had Cap surrender…”
Tony grins at that. Captain America surrendering. Giving up. Well, at least the Writers are making sure everyone will be perfectly able to tell apart their on-page and off-page selves.
“The sooner this mess ends, the better” Steve agrees.
“Sure. The problem is what else might happen before the end” Hill says, her eyes on Stephen Strange. The Sorcerer’s expression is of course unreadable. “They’re not going to let it end on a lackluster finish like this. What do you think will happen in the plot next?”
“There’s going to be a trial” Steve supposes “I mean, I did get arrested… Maybe they’ll finally talk about what the Registration actually means.”
Steve Rogers, occasional comic book artist himself, has already gone off on tangents several times about how he would have tackled the plotline. According to him, it is an intriguing storyline… Freedoms Vs Security, Power and Responsibility, Politics of Powers, etc etc.
If only the Writers would actually pay attention to the nuance instead of escalating to punches thrown less than two pages in. His words, not hers.
“That would mean the plot taking a far more…cerebral direction than it has shown signs of till now” Strange muses “Possible, but…”
“Unlikely” Hill agrees, not sharing Rogers’ optimism.
“The death” Tony interrupts “let’s not forget that. Unless Wade was actually pulling our legs – and I don’t know whether I want to kiss him or kill him if he ever admits that is what he did – there’s another character death due.”
“Maybe Wade just got it wrong. Or maybe the Writers changed their mind – I mean, wouldn’t blame them. Given how dark the entire arc got, they may be afraid of losing readers if they actually killed a major character.”
That is one consolation – the majority of the readers hate the plot as much as they themselves do. It’s only the Writes who think this plot makes sense. The Readers are on their side.
That… That’s not enough, nowhere near enough, but it is something. The Readers – the people who have fallen in love with them, even if they too know them only as pictures and words on a page – don’t want to watch the heroes battle each other.
Maybe it did work that way. Maybe the Readers saved them all… But that is the best case scenario. SHIELD Directors don’t get to count on best case scenarios, whether on-page or off.
“Maybe…” Reed frowns slightly “Maybe it’s already over? Goliath? Bill Foster…”
There are several barely hidden winces around the table. That was one of the worst moments in the arc. Bill Foster – Goliath – dead. Just stricken dead by an insane copy of Thor. An insane copy the Writers wanted Tony and Reed to be responsible for.
Did they actually think they could do that and still have anyone think the Pro-Reg side is in the right? And then his burial…turned into a damn black comedy moment – couldn’t shrink him down, indeed! Almost everyone present wants to punch the Writers just for that alone.
“Do you think they will bring Goliath back?” Peter asks, a quiet hopefulness in his tone “Is he…popular enough?”
Bill Foster was a friend. A good man. A man with a family, friends, who misses him like hell. But of course, that doesn’t matter when it comes to bringing people back.
“I…” Tony hesitates “I don’t think so, kid. He’s… You know, they brought him out of retirement – that usually means they’re gonna kill for real.”
Peter nods, blinking rapidly behind the mask. He has known that too, but it is not something he wanted to say out loud. Killed, just for the sake of a story moment…
They don’t know we are real. Hold on to that, Pete. They don’t know. It isn’t their fault.
Raging at the Writers won’t help. They may be the true target, but they are unreachable.
“His nephew – Tom – is taking it really hard.”
“Yeah… I ran into the kid at the funeral – didn’t really handle the encounter well…”
There are other deaths too, but thankfully most of those took place off page – off page enough for them to fake it. Not for Bill, though.
“So, maybe…” Reed continues “Maybe it is done? The death Wade saw?”
Tony shakes his head. “Nah. Bill Foster… Don’t get me wrong, he was a great guy…But he doesn’t count as major.”
“And this death – whoever it is – has actually got Deadpool disturbed” T’Challa points out “That is part of the reason he’s disappeared from the plot. Claims he doesn’t want to be around when it happens.”
Hill raises an eyebrow “Okay, so it’s someone Wade Wilson cares about?”
That definitely ought to narrow things down. If he is sincere about it, which she doubts very much.
“Or someone whose death would unleash serious collateral damage” Reed supposes “On-Page or Off-Page. Maybe Wade just doesn’t want to be around for the fallout, if fallout there is going to be.”
Steve shakes his head “It’s Wade Wilson – if he’s expecting fallout, he’d be at Ground Zero.”
“Fair enough…”
“We’ve got only a couple of issues to go” Peter sounds like he can’t be sure whether to be relieved or worried about that. “So whatever’s going to happen would be happening soon. Do we have anyone who’s…I dunno, posted in danger zones or something?”
“Several” Hill glances at the files in front of her, though she doesn’t need her memory jogged. Several major characters… Too many. Too many friends. “Can’t count on that. The Writers aren’t going to bother about what is probable and what is not.”
Of course. If they’d only be predictable…Or at least use some common sense…But then again, given the world they have created, common sense and predictability is probably too much to be expected.
“If only we knew…”
“Would knowing help?” Strange asks. The Sorcerer Supreme has been uncharacteristically silent throughout the meeting.
Hill frowns at him “Do you know, Doctor?”
“Crossing the Fourth Wall is beyond even my powers, Director Hill.”
“That is not what I asked.”
Strange sighs “I don’t know.”
“Doctor, if you are withholding information…”
“Really. I don’t know, Hill. Not for certain. I can only guess, and your guess might be as accurate as mine.”
“You have a guess, though” Tony leans forward “Stephen, who is it? Or who do you think it is?”
“I would have told you if I knew for a fact, Tony. But I don’t. I’m only guessing, and I might be wrong.”
“Your guesses tend to be more accurate than other people’s facts, Stephen” Steve’s eyes lock onto his.
“What good would it do to know? We can do nothing to change it. we can only just…Just wait for it all to come crashing down. Why know the inevitable? Isn’t it enough to face it when we absolutely have to? Why torment yourselves in advance?”
“Doctor…”
“Stephen, we…”
“The New Warriors knew their deaths were coming. Did we do them a favor by telling them? Did we help them by letting them know they were being marched to their deaths? Remember how they died? The actual deaths were instantaneous, they would have had no time to feel pain, vaporized instantly. If they hadn’t been told in advance what was going to happen, I’m willing to bet most of them wouldn’t even have known what was happening at all. But instead we told them. We made sure they knew, that they endured hours and days of anticipatory agony, waiting for it. Waiting for a tragedy they could not change. A tragedy no one could change.”
“They deserved to know-“
“Did they? Or did they deserve some last moments of normal life?”
“Doctor. What would you do if a patient has a terminal diagnosis?”
“I never took cases that would have terminal diagnoses. And if I did, that meant they would not be terminal.”
“Not my point.”
“Stephen” Steve interrupts “I would want to know. If it were me. I would want to prepare, say goodbye. Make arrangements.”
“You are an Avenger. You always have your arrangements made. So does practically everyone here. We all face death every day. We all know when we get out of bed in the morning that we may not see the sunset. What preparations can we make that are not already made?”
A cold shiver goes down Tony’s spine “So it is someone in this room?”
“Is it Tony?” Steve demands, the professional veneer slipping for an instant “Are they going to use that fight as foreshadowing or something and…”
“Who is it?”
Strange holds up a hand, halting the clamor “I’m being honest. I do not know. I could not see – possibly because I didn’t want to, didn’t dare to. I could only get a confused glimpse. There wasn’t any collateral damage at the death, that I know. It doesn’t happen in a fight or a battle or anything. And… A funeral, a funeral that practically all would attend. A world in mourning. I couldn’t see who was dead. I just saw the funeral. “
“A world in mourning” Steve echoes. “A hero, then. Not just a major character, but a super hero. Someone the world would mourn, even after the whole mess. Even after the Civil War tore the world apart.”
“Stop. Please.” Strange interrupts the hum of speculation that has broken out “We can’t waste time wondering who it is or how it happens. Those are things we can’t change, and knowing in advance won’t help. Believe me, I ought to know. Let us just prepare for what we can control. For the aftermath.”
He knows, Hill tells herself. He knows – or guesses, to be more accurate. But as Rogers said, a guess from the Sorcerer Supreme… Unlike most people in the room, though, she knows when to back off from a battle. He won’t tell them, and that is that. Pestering him further will be a waste of precious time.
“Alright” she keeps her voice firm, keeps it the way it needs to be to redirect the conversation “We need to address the civilians – let them know that the major conflict is drawing to a close. If the War is ending, at least there won’t be anymore situations where they might get wrapped up in.”
That, at least, is something to be thankful for. Now, whatever is left, whatever is going to happen, will be confined to them, not to the people they are sworn to protect. No more Stamfords.