As much as Nick wanted to justify it, his math was still wrong. It was all so fucking selfish, and Tony watched Nick so closely while he tried to put it together for him and skimmed through his files, unable to read Nick's expression and guessing what he saw on the screens looked a lot like soldiers. When he went on to explain how he picked them, they sounded even more like ordinance.
His voice low, not nearly as sharp as it had been, Tony said, "You have Howling Commandos." Most of them were still alive and on this very boat, they both knew that. "And they get the job done without powers. What are you doing here, Nick?" Tony's anger had dissipated, exhausted and ineffectual, but his incredulity remained and for a second he had to press his fingers to his lips to give himself the time to see this from Nick's perspective. Okay, it wasn't WWII or Korea or even Cuba anymore, Nick needed a team with a little more kick and stamina left in them. But he had a whole army of trained soldiers, grown men and women, some of them extraordinarily powerful and gifted to pick from. Nick knew exactly what he was doing when he made this list of lost things. "You see kids like this," Tony said, pointing to their faces, Alex not even old enough to shave, "and you think, we have to get them somewhere safe, where they will learn to control their powers and know there is kindness in the world, whatever their background is. You don't take advantage of that." Maybe Tony was naive, he hadn't been around as long as Nick had, but he didn't see any way to come around and really believe Stockholming a bunch of desperate children was good for the world.