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“Bruce, please listen to me.”
“No, Tony. You listen.”
Tony threw his hands into the air and turned away from Bruce, back towards Stephen. Tony glanced up at Stephen and saw a placid, cool expression. Tony rolled his eyes.
“Is there like, a rule that all doctors have to be a pain in the ass?”
“Tony, if anybody is being a pain in the ass here, it’s you.” Bruce’s voice was trembling.
Tony saw the corners of Stephen’s mouth twitch up for a few seconds, but his face was soon back to its neutral, unresponsive state. Tony turned back toward Bruce.
“Bruce, look. This can’t get any simpler. I have your soulmark.” Tony held up his right arm and gestured toward the inside of his elbow. Emblazoned on his skin was the lower case symbol for the Greek letter Gamma, kelly green with a bright violet outline. Bruce couldn’t bring himself to look at it.
“And I have Stephen’s soulmark.” Turning toward Stephen, Tony tugged the collar of his shirt down far enough that his collar bone was exposed. There was a black hole, but it wasn’t really a hole in his body, even though sometimes it felt that way. It was a black circle with flames licking its circumference, and it looked like the portals Stephen could conjure at will.
Neither Bruce nor Stephen said anything, so Tony continued to make his argument.
“And I’ve seen enough of the both of you -” Tony looked at both of them pointedly, for emphasis, and to make them feel a little uncomfortable because he was feeling petulant - “To know that both of you have my soulmark. Stephen’s is behind his left ear and Bruce, yours is on your right shoulder blade.”
Tony glanced down at the inside of his wrist on his right hand, rubbed his thumb over his own soulmark - a triangle, blue-white just like the arc reactor, one side outlined in bright red, another side a warm yellow. He looked up and saw Bruce doing the same, his fingers worrying over the Gamma symbol on his wrist.
“Where’s my soulmark, Bruce?” It was the first thing Stephen had said in several minutes, and the sound of his voice sent a shiver down Tony’s spine.
Bruce shrugged. “Left shoulder blade. I always used to joke that it was like I had wings. What about you? Where’s your Gamma?”
Stephen blushed a light pink and crossed his arms across his chest. His cape seemed to tighten against his frame, like it was trying to hide Stephen’s body from prying eyes.
“It’s, uh... on my hip. My right hip,” Stephen muttered.
Tony couldn’t help but smirk. “See? We all have each other’s soulmarks. We’ve all found each other. This is all good news! So why are you fighting it?”
“Why am I fighting it? C’mon, Tony. You’ve seen the Hulk.” Bruce’s face grew sullen.
Tony shrugged. “Of course I’ve seen the Hulk. I mean, Stephen hasn’t because you and the green guy have some issues you’re working through -”
“Did you ever notice that the Hulk doesn’t have soulmarks?”
Tony’s face fell.
Bruce attempted to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “Yeah. There’s a reason why I left in the first place, Tony. And you have Stephen now...so why does it matter?”
Tony huffed. “It matters to me. You both matter to me. Why is this so hard to understand?”
Stephen had walked over while the two of them argued. He stook a step in between Tony and Bruce. “Look, I’m not one to play peacekeeper, but maybe we should all take a breather and give each other some space to think.”
“Et tu, Strange? Really?” Tony crossed his arms and turned away from both of them, taking a few steps away before stopping. He took a deep, shuddering breath.
Arms were wrapped around him, and he knew it wasn’t Stephen because Stephen’s chin would be resting on his shoulder. It was Bruce’s forehead pressed against the back of Tony’s neck that gave him away.
“Maybe we were meant for each other before,” Bruce muttered against Tony's skin, “and you and Stephen are supposed to be together now.”
Tony turned into Bruce’s embrace and hugged him tightly, face buried in the crook of Bruce’s neck. “But you’re here. And he’s here. And I’m selfish and I want both of you. You were meant for each other too, you know. We all have the marks...”
Tony’s voice trailed off, and he looked up to find Stephen’s face, to see if Stephen saw what Tony saw, felt what he felt.
What he saw was Stephen preparing to open a portal.
“Stephen, what -”
And then Tony was falling, clutching Bruce to his body, hoping that this wasn’t the moment the Hulk decided to reappear.
Both of them landed in a crumpled heap on the floor of Tony’s lab. After recovering from the shock of the impact, Tony and Bruce stared at each other and then looked up. The portal had already closed.
“Did he just -” Bruce didn't finish his thought.
“Yes, he did, that son of a bitch.” Tony stood up on shaky legs. “Friday, dial Stephen Strange.”
“Yes, sir,” Friday responded.
It rang and rang. Finally, Stephen answered his phone.
“Tony -”
"Strange, what the fuck are you playing at? Open up a portal back."
He could hear Stephen chuckling softly.
"What's so funny?"
"You only call me Strange when you're mad at me."
"I think I have every right to be angry, the three of us were in the middle of an important conversation -"
"No, Stark."
Tony's breath hitched and he couldn't decide if he was heartbroken or enraged. He went with anger because it was easier to emote.
"What? What do you mean, no? Do it right now!” Tony’s voice broke and it made his command sound less intimidating.
"He needs you." Stephen's voice was barely a whisper.
The flames of anger inside of Tony smoldered as quickly as they had engulfed him.
"What if I need both of you?"
"You don't need me."
"What do you mean? Look, we all have each other's soulmarks, therefore we are all soulmates, therefore -"
"Soulmarks mean nothing!”
Tony flinched at Stephen’s violent tone.
“Nothing?” It was all Tony could manage to spit out.
Stephen continued, his voice softer, but the venom remaining. “So I have both of your soulmarks on my body. So what? That doesn't mean we are all guaranteed happiness with one another. Maybe it just means we were supposed to meet. Or maybe it means nothing at all."
Tony gaped. Here he thought that Stephen was going to be the easy sell in this fucked up situation. "So that's it? You're making me choose between you or Bruce?"
Another laugh, devoid of all feeling. "No, Tony. I'm making the decision for you. For us."
Neither of them said anything for a few beats. Tony felt a hand on his shoulder, turned around to see Bruce’s face. Sad. Resigned. Like he just knew Tony would pick Stephen over him.
“Is this really the best case scenario?” Tony whispered, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. “In all of those millions of futures, the one you choose is the one where you leave? Again?”
In Tony’s mind, all he could see was Stephen’s face disappearing into ashes.
“Bye Tony.”
“Stephen, wait -”
The line went dead. Tony absent-mindedly ran his hand over the spot where Stephen’s soulmark was burned into him and wondered if this was what it felt like to have an actual black hole in your chest.