Chapter Text
This is such a weird, petulant line. TONY chooses how he spends his time and money. He obviously has way too much of both. And he's so unaware of his privilege that he's pouting at not being the person who leads the team. The other thing is that this is in response to Maria Hill calling Tony "Boss." Maria's been with Stark Industries since the end of Winter Soldier, so either Tony is NEVER actually doing any work, or he's suddenly decided to be a brat. Either way, not a good look.
***
Maria Hill waited for the quinjet ramp to lower. As she saw Tony step out, she said, "Lab's all set up, boss."
Tony pointed at Steve and said, "Uh, actually, HE's the boss. I just pay for everything, and design everything and make everyone look cooler."
Maria looked at Steve and found him looking back. Then they shrugged and stepped away from Tony. When they were out of earshot, Steve asked, "Is being called Boss another of Tony's quirks? Like that weird thing about not allowing anyone to pass him anything?"
Maria replied, "I know! What's up with that? He had millions handed to him by his dad, along with all of Howard Stark's inventions and a whole company. Yet Tony won't let you give him a pen so he can sign the thing you've been chasing him down to resolve?"
Steve grinned and said, "Bet you're wishing you still had a Shield squad to spar with right now."
Maria grinned back. Then they discussed Strucker and the Maximoff twins.
As Steve stepped into the elevator, he said, "Maybe Tony's remark is his usual quirks. But maybe not. Can we keep an eye on him?"
***
Their vigilance paid off when Steve and Maria overheard Tony trying to get Bruce involved in uploading Ultron to the internet using Loki's scepter. They went to Thor, who immediately walked down to the lab, yanked the scepter out of the equipment, and used Mjolnir to pin the glowing part of the scepter to the floor.
Thor said to Bruce and Tony, "If either of you are worthy, I will not interfere with your plan."
Of course, neither Bruce nor Tony could move the hammer. And when the rest of the team found out about their plans, there was some serious discussion about what the hell Tony was thinking. And Ultron never got uploaded, so Sokovia was intact.
No one trusted Tony much after that, so the other Avengers stood together when Secretary Ross tried to push a different version of the Accords a few years later. It made for a much brighter future for everyone.