Re: Steve and Tony
"You capitalize on it," Steve shot back, stepping closer himself, apparently not above using his height to loom a little bit in Stark's direction. Those inches he had on his side were immeasurably satisfying, the knowledge that Stark couldn't get in his face to intimidate him, not really. "If you think I'm that important to the Districts, then people will be pissed when I die. You use that - you use me, you use Wanda, you use Scott - the Victors that people are sympathetic to, the ones the Districts will respond to."
He took a deep breath, one that made his shirt strain against his expanding chest, and stared down at Stark unflinchingly. "One of us is still going to make it out. If it's Wanda or Scott, that's your rally point. If it's Natasha, even - if she opened up about what Stane's been making her do - you don't think that'd resonate with the Districts? You don't think people could relate to that?"
It felt cold and callous, to think about exploiting everything Natasha had been through in order to win sympathy points with the Districts, but when Steve thought about the way his stomach had twisted when he'd realized what Natasha's true life looked like, he couldn't imagine that it wouldn't have a similar impact on the Districts. It had always been too easy to look at the Victors and see a charmed life - Steve himself had fallen into that same trap, had played right into Stane's hands, even though he was someone who should have known better. Exposing the rotted underbelly of the pretty picture Stane had painted was an opportunity to garner support - one they couldn't afford to waste. And while Steve suffered no illusions about the likelihood of his own survival, he could at least do everything in his power to make sure their chosen Victor was the last person standing.
If he was honest, he couldn't help but lean toward that person being Scott, because his daughter deserved to grow up with her father still living, but Natasha might actually be the better choice. Clint, surely, would do everything in his power to protect her, and she was smart enough, ruthless enough, to fight her way out, even if the rest of her allies were already dead.
It was sickening, to think about picking one of his friends over another, to think about choosing anyone who wasn't Clint, who had been damn near a brother to him for so many years. But Steve would take that weight, that burden of making a strategic choice, whichever would be best for the revolution ahead.
He took another breath, but this one had a hitch in it, and his shoulders slumped just slightly, his head dipped down, the horror of this conversation pressing down on him. "It's not about your ability to hide us," he said, returning to Stark's earlier point. "It's about what Stane would do to the Districts. I can't - Tony," he said, and when he raised his gaze his eyes were pleading. He wasn't sure he'd ever used Stark's first name, but calling him Stark right now didn't feel right. They needed to be together on this, needed to be on the same page, on the same side, and unfriendly distance wouldn't do them any favors. "If I could see a way to get us all out of there without sacrifice scores of people, I'd do it. But staging an escape - it'll be the Districts who pay the price. I can't support a plan that makes them cannon fodder. I can't."