Chapter 228: C221
After the Avengers gathered in the small town, Leon and Natasha took charge of assigning tasks but did not participate directly in the battle.
Tony Stark, perhaps driven by instinct, had assigned young Peter Parker and Typhoid Mary to protect the evacuated civilians rather than engage in combat. Tony felt that Peter's inexperience made him ill-suited for the fight, while Typhoid Mary's unstable mental state posed a potential risk. Moreover, Tony wanted to ensure that the evacuated civilians were safe from opportunistic predators who might take advantage of the chaos.
After all, war, no matter how justified, is rarely clean or honorable—it's about winning, sometimes at any cost.
When Leon eventually appeared and the tide turned decisively in their favor, the battle ended with a hard-won victory. Peter, for his part, took the situation in stride; his sense of responsibility outweighed any frustration about being sidelined. Protecting people, after all, was still a vital part of the mission.
Typhoid Mary, however, was livid. Her more aggressive personalities—Bloody Mary and Typhoid—thrived on combat, and being relegated to the sidelines was a personal affront. Worse still, Leon had appeared during the battle, but she had been stuck elsewhere, unable to prove herself to the man she admired. Her simmering frustration nearly drove her to attack Tony outright.
The tension between them grew so palpable that neither Peter nor Mary attended the Avengers debriefing.
...
Meanwhile, Tony stood on the balcony of Stark Tower, wearing a crisp white shirt and holding a thick-bottomed wine glass. The city stretched out below him, alive with activity. Though the strange cold wave had come and gone, its suddenness left people uneasy, speculating about its cause.
Logan lounged on a nearby sofa, a cigar in one hand and an expensive glass of whiskey in the other. Storm sat to his left, her arms crossed, while Colossus occupied the seat to his right. Logan glanced at Tony's back, about to speak, when the elevator chimed.