It was easy to see the doubt and confusion on Steve's face, but never fear dear Captain, there was always a method to Tony's 'madness'. He may have been many things, but he would not throw his teammate to the dogs. Standing up from his seat, he adjusted his suit, giving Steve an encouraging pat on the back as they passed--at least he was trying to be, or at least assure any doubts that Rogers may have had.
As Tony took his seat on the sand, he could see the wolfish grin on the Lawyer's face, hungry for more. It was almost hilarious. "Mr. Stark, is it not true that you've been associated with Charles Xavier for quite some time? A Ms. Emma Frost and Dr. Henry McCoy as well?"
"I have. They're both long time colleagues of mine, though I have known Charles in passing word for 'quite some time' it's only recently that I've actually met him."
And there the prowling began, the wolf stalking slowly, moving into a circle. Tony wished he could uni-beam him. "I see. And is it also true that you knew the circumstances Mr. Lensherr's so called 'rescue'?"
"Ah, no actually. Steve called me up the night before and asked if I could watch the kids--the students at Xavier's school, you know. The ones the soldiers were sent to kill. Innocent chil--"
"Mr. Stark--ahem--I'd like you to stick with the specific questions. Now those 'children' you were protecting, innocent children--no innocent child kills and stops two entire platoons of special force officers. Or did you do all of that yourself, Iron Man?"
Smirking, Tony finally sat up, folding his hands into his lap. "I'd say those innocent children were doing what any other American would, should they be met with brutal force. Life or death. To insinuate that they are not innocent or equal to a regular American citizen would go against your proclaimed 'undecided' statement--"
"That's not what I was--." "Oh, yes it was. If this was really about the concern of the safety of Americans, you wouldn't be fighting our help. If Xavier was a regular man being held captive and tortured within his own government, if those children were being attacked by our beloved troops with no cause for harm in their own home--if they weren't mutant, Mr. Fitzgerald, there would be no issue."
Mr. Lawyer wolf was done prowling for now, but the venom was out. "That's not for you to decide, Mr. Stark. The fact remains that those men were merely following orders. You, those children, Magneto, Thor, and Mr. Rogers acted against them--killed them, without thought to that fact. Or is this untrue?"
"It's true. But the 'fact' is, you weren't there. You weren't giving those orders, and you were not at that school, watching children scatter and fight for their lives merely because they were existing. You weren't there with Steve, fighting the men he thought stood for justice because he knows what's right. Those men following orders are no more innocent than the biased racism that is shown those mutants."
"That doesn't negate that--" "That they were fighting for their lives. If a gun is aimed at you and you can deflect the bullets, are you going to take them because the man shooting is giving orders?"
The Judge slammed his gavel before Tony could antagonize the Lawyer any further. A good thing too, because Stark was already out of his seat, leaning against the post and Mr. Fitzgerald looked as though he would go ahead and take the jail time appointed for strangling him. "Order!"