Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I’m gonna miss this place.”

“So am I.” Steve planted a kiss in Tony’s hair. “But we can come back.”

“That you can, Steven,” Thor said, smiling at the two of them. “Asgard is open to any of the Avengers if they ever wish to come.”

“Thanks, Thor,” Tony said, grinning back. “We might just take you up on that.”

“As the invitation was intended,” Thor said, his smile turning mischievous. “I hope you have enjoyed your time here.”

“It was exactly what we needed,” Steve said sincerely. “Thanks again, Thor.” He reached out with his free hand to clasp Thor’s. “Do you know when we’ll see you again?”

“As the Bifrost has been repaired, doubtlessly sooner than expected. But the Dark Elves have still been causing trouble in the realms, and my father wishes for me to take care of it.” Thor shrugged. “I know not how long it will take. But if you have need of my aid, I will come. Simply call for Heimdall and he will hear.”

Tony couldn’t help a smirk. “Next time I get stranded somewhere unknown, I’ll do that.”

Steve tightened his grip on Tony. “Let’s hope it doesn’t happen again.”

“I don’t want it to either. But best to be prepared.” Tony smiled charmingly up at him and reached down to squeeze his hand, thumb lingering over the ring he’d made Steve here.

Steve rolled his eyes, although his lips twitched. “I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Is it working?”

“Maybe.” Steve did consent to a kiss, leaning into it for a moment before withdrawing and facing a visibly amused Thor. “We’re ready.”

“Very well.” Thor bowed his head and then stepped back, looking up at Heimdall. “When you are ready, Heimdall.”

Tony had to admit he was excited about this. The last time he’d traveled via the Bifrost he’d been out cold, but this time he could take in the experience and relish it.

Steve held the bags they’d gotten here in Asgard. They were filled with souvenirs they’d collected for their friends. Tony didn’t really have anything to hold onto aside from Steve, not that he minded.

Rainbow light filled the area, and Tony felt the technology hum loudly in the back of his mind. He looked into the light curiously, mouth dry as he caught sight of what looked like a tunnel of light. He couldn’t see the destination, and the light swallowed him and Steve up before he could try.

The humming peaked in Tony’s head, and he pressed a hand to his temple, trying to drown it out by focusing on the light speeding past them. It didn’t really work, but at least he managed to push it back some, although it soon began to feel like his skull was going to vibrate out of his head.

There was a sharp sensation in his chest, almost like a shock. Tony clutched it, fingers digging into the skin around his energy source. For a moment he thought he might have imagined it, but then it happened again.

And then: Analyzing technology…

Tony flinched as Extremis whirred into activity in his brain. After so long of doing virtually nothing with it, it felt ridiculously loud. And it wouldn’t stop despite his best efforts at ordering it to.

His chest shocked him again, and then there was warmth tingling through him, energy coursing through his limbs and setting him on fire. He jerked away from Steve’s grasp, stumbling several steps away from Steve despite the other’s protestations.

“Tony!” Steve reached out for him, but Tony waved him off, nearly keeling over as he clutched his chest tightly.

The warmth was unbearable, and Tony needed it to stop. It was too much energy, far too much energy coursing through him, and he needed. To. Make. It. Stop.

And then he was yanked off the stable platform he’d been standing on, feeling something whip past him. It was the same sensation as before when the Bifrost had first activated, but now it was far too close to his own skin. And it was far too bright, far too loud, and Tony really needed it to stop or he’d claw his skin off.

He landed on something hard, jolting his knees and sending shooting pains through his legs. His body was tingling with the aftereffects of whatever had happened, and Tony was having trouble feeling his fingers.

He opened his eyes, found his vision to be far blurrier than he’d like, and then tried to clear it by rubbing his eyes.

For some reason, this ended up with him collapsing into a sorry pile on whatever he’d landed on. Something that was hard enough that his elbow started hurting as well.

Where the hell was Steve? He’d been right there with Tony.

Where—

When Tony next felt his limbs to be in working order, he realized that he’d passed out. He’d passed out, and now he was lying on something far softer than the surface he’d passed out on. He could also feel his limbs and that tingling sensation was gone, so that was a bonus.

But he also had no idea what had just happened. The Bifrost was supposed to be one of the safest mechanisms of traveling there was. That – whatever it was – shouldn’t have happened.

But it did, and Tony needed to figure out what it had been and fix it. He also needed to figure out where he was.

He kept his eyes close, just taking a breath and focusing on his hearing. He could sense some technology inside the same room with him, although he couldn’t say what it was beyond a guess that it was a communications device and something else that felt like JARVIS but not quite.

“Why the hell did you bring him in?” a man’s voice demanded. “You’ve endangered us all!”

“I don’t think this is the same one,” another one said. “He has this strange energy about him.”

“Yeah, so maybe he’s a clone.” The words were sarcastic. “What were you thinking, Cap? You should’ve just left him out there!”

“I couldn’t,” another, very familiar voice said quietly.

Tony opened his eyes just as the first voice snapped, “Why not?”

He breathed out a relieved “Steve,” only to be brought up short when he realized that he didn’t recognize two of the people sitting in the room. One was a red and green guy with a red cloak who was actually some sort of robot or android judging from the humming Tony was sensing from him. The other was a powerfully built black man with a white shirt that hugged every muscle and left nothing to the imagination. And the third…

The third was Steve.

But a Steve with a uniform that Tony hadn’t seen before. It was made out of some sort of chainmail, and on the sides of his hood were actual wings instead of the painted ones Steve had. He looked far grimmer than Tony had ever seen him, and he did not seem pleased to see that Tony was awake.

Tony slowly sat up, drawing himself up against the wall, the blankets bunching up around his knees. He swallowed lightly, reached up almost unconsciously to check that his ring was still around his neck where it should be, and then he smoothed down the shirt he’d gotten in Asgard. He was thankful for once that the fabric was dark and thick enough that no light shown through.

“You’re awake,” Steve said finally, his voice emotionless.

“Yeah.” Tony curled his fingers in the blankets, letting the soft fabric soothe him. “Thanks for taking me in.”

The android guy looked hard at him. “His eyes are brown,” he observed. “This isn’t a clone.”

The other guy grunted skeptically, glowering in distaste at Tony. “Could still be a fake to root us out.” He turned his glower on Steve. “Why did you bring him in?”

Steve didn’t respond. “Who are you?” he asked Tony.

“I’m Tony Stark,” Tony answered, keeping his tone confident. “But probably not your Tony Stark.”

“Why do you say that?” Steve’s voice was even.

“I was on the Bifrost,” Tony said, “with my Steve. Something happened, and I ended up passing out wherever you picked me up.” He picked at a loose thread. “Our Richards deals with the multiverse occasionally, and I know there’s not another Steve Rogers where I’m from, and I don’t know who you are”—he nodded to the two strangers—“so that means I’m not where I should be.”

He paused for a moment, then rested his head against the wall. “And I want to go home. Was Jotunheim not enough?”

Steve blinked, a flicker of surprise crossing his face. “I don’t know about sending you home,” he said eventually. “I’d usually send you to Richards, but there’s a slight issue with that.”

Tony frowned slightly on hearing Steve address Richards so formally. His Steve was quite familiar with Richards and had resigned himself to Tony’s rather antagonistic relationship with him. “What is it?”

Steve didn’t quite meet his eyes, but stood, turning to leave the room. “It’s a war,” he said finally, not quite turning his head to speak over his shoulder. “And your other self is on the enemy’s side.”

With those foreboding words, Steve left the room.

Tony stared uncomprehendingly at the door. What?

Determined to get answers, he turned to the two remaining people in the room. “What’s going on out there?” he demanded.

The black guy sniffed and sat back, arms folded imperiously across his chest. The android seemed to consider the question.

“There’s a bill being considered in the government,” the being said eventually. “The Captain and your other self have conflicting ideologies as to what’s right.”

“It’s a fucking civil war,” the other man snapped, glaring. “And you’re responsible for it,” he spat at Tony. “So I don’t care what you’re saying about being from an alternative universe, I don’t trust you. And as long as you’re here, you’re going to be watched.”

Stunned, all Tony could do was blink.

What…the hell?

He wanted to go back home. Tony really, really wanted to go back home. This hadn’t been in the plans when he and Steve had finally left Asgard. But then again, when did anything follow a plan?

Now he was stuck in an alternate universe where there was a full on civil war involving superheroes and no one was talking. It was his worst nightmares come true with SHRA, and it was all over a frigging piece of parchment. (Figuratively, speaking.)

He could still so clearly remember Richards telling him about that alternate universe with he and Steve on opposite sides of a war and the end result of that war being Steve’s death. He could remember that almost happening in his universe, but he’d gotten shot instead.

And now he was in a universe like that one. One where he was in a house filled with volatile superheroes that eyed him mistrustfully even though he’d already established that he wasn’t their Tony. It didn’t stop the black guy built like a powerhouse from glaring at Tony whenever he walked into a room. It didn’t stop the android guy in red and green from watching him suspiciously from the shadows (it was hard to be covert when the guy you were spying on could literally sense technology).

And it didn’t stop this Steve from brushing him off whenever Tony tried to talk to him. And Tony did. Want to talk.

He needed to get this sorted out. He needed to figure out what the hell had gone wrong here because this shouldn’t have happened. His engagement ring was a heavy weight around his neck, and Tony reached up to clutch it in his hand, closing his eyes and breathing.

Steve Rogers and Tony Stark should not be on opposite sides of a war. It was why it had gotten to this point.

And Tony needed to get the two of them to sit down and talk. But this alternate Tony was out of his reach in S.H.I.E.L.D. and the government, and Steve could barely look him in the eye (pain and guilt evident in his body).

Tony could guess why. He’d already used Extremis to look into various media around the fight. He’d seen photos of Captain America and Iron Man meeting in the streets, superheroes lined up behind each of them. He’d seen them shaking hands, and then seen what Steve had done.

Tony could extrapolate from the pictures, but he didn’t trust the media. He needed to get the news from the source. And who cared if Steve was ignoring him?

Tony wasn’t Tony for nothing. And he could figure this out before he finagled a way to get back home (it involved Reed Richards much to his mild displeasure). It was a different universe, so Tony didn’t think that asking Heimdall how to get home would work here. So Richards it was.

But he wasn’t going to leave it like this.

He wasn’t going to let Steve die because he couldn’t talk to his Tony.

So Tony tucked his ring back under his shirt and left his room, determined to track down Steve.

He ignored the way the other superheroes skittered around him uncertainly, fixed on the communicator that he’d sensed on Steve’s body from the first day he’d woken up in this house after Steve had brought him in (because he’d looked like a dying cat according to one Peter Parker in an offhanded comment to a superheroine dressed like a spider). It was in the library, and Tony wasn’t at all surprised to find the android and the guy built like a powerhouse (Vision and Luke?) in there.

Steve’s eyes widened on seeing Tony enter the room, and he got up from his chair as if to leave the room.

“Stay,” Tony said bluntly, closing the door and standing in front of it with his arms crossed. “You and I need to talk.”

Steve tightened his lips briefly, eyes hard. “We should do this alone.”

“So you can worm your way out of it again? No. We’re doing it now. They can stay.”

Tony heard some shuffling from outside the door, sensing a few other communicators join the spree.

“What do you want?” Steve asked.

“I want to know what’s going on,” Tony said. “There’s a war going on out there, and no one’s told me what the hell you guys are thinking.”

“I told you already. This isn’t your fight.”

“Isn’t it?” Tony rapped his fingers against his arm. “It’s about the SHRA. I know that much. What I want to know,” he continued before Steve could say anything, “is just what the hell you’re playing at here. Both of you. The government’s biting at your heels, and you’re at each other’s throats? Who’s brilliant idea was that?”

Luke stirred, mouth opening, but he shut it upon the look Steve gave him.

“It was Stark’s,” Steve said, returning his gaze to Tony. The use of Tony’s last name made his chest hurt, never mind that it wasn’t even him Steve was talking about.

“No.” The word was harsh. “There are two sides to a war. You’re just as culpable as he is. So it’s up to one of you to take the first step and play nice. I read about that little meet-up the two of you had. But since the paper’s the paper, I wasn’t going to take it at face value. So I want you to tell me the truth. Why did you short out his armor?”

Steve crossed his arms against his chest, face hard. “It was an ambush,” he said shortly. “He said he wanted to talk.”

“So your answer to that was shutting off his armor? Instead of – I don’t know – talking?”

“He was going to take us in,” Luke burst out, standing in one explosive movement.

“Did he say that?”

“He didn’t listen,” Steve said.

“I didn’t ask about that,” Tony bit out. “Did. He. Say. That. Explicitly?”

Steve’s jaw visibly tightened. “No.” The word was clipped.

Tony kept his face still through an effort of will, only opting for tilting his head slightly. “So you just decided to shut his armor off for kicks?”

Steve curtly shook his head. “You don’t understand.”

“Then make me.” Tony raised his eyebrows, giving him a distinctly unimpressed look. “All I’m hearing are empty excuses. You’ve given me nothing to impress me with your lauded decisions.”

“You want to understand?” Steve asked quietly, eyes dropping. He closed them momentarily, taking a breath. “Then I’ll tell you. SHRA is a bill passed by the government to force superhumans to register like criminals. To give up their secret identities and come into the public. They’ll be forced into ‘schools’ to train their abilities. What’s not on the paper is that the government will have their own private superhuman army.

“And Stark supports it.” Steve’s hands clenched into fists curled on his arms. “He’s compromising.” The word was a sneer, evidently something the Tony from here had told him. “But there can’t be any compromising with this. It’s wrong.”

Tony kept his voice carefully even as he said, carefully, “None at all? Not even to…repeal it?”

“That’s what we’re doing.”

“From here, it looks like you’re throwing the equivalent of a giant tantrum and smashing things because you’re not getting your way. And last I checked, you’re not three.”

Steve barked out a harsh laugh. “I should’ve known you wouldn’t understand. You’re a version of him; of course you’d think the same.” His eyes flicked over Tony’s still form. “At least you don’t have Extremis.”

Tony stiffened. “Extremis?” He kept his voice blank out of sheer force of will.

Steve’s lips tightened, and he looked off to the side, jaw visibly tense.

“It’s a nano-tech virus that rewrites the body to a different hardware,” Vision said. “It tells the brain to rewrite the body.”

“It makes you a computer,” Steve said curtly. “And that’s what he did to himself.”

Tony couldn’t imagine doing that to himself on purpose in any universe, although he could be wrong. “Did he have a choice?”

The reply was bitter. “He always has a choice.”

Tony barely stopped himself from screaming; he bit his tongue, almost to the point of drawing blood. “So he should’ve died.”

That had Steve’s eyes snapping to his. “What?”

Tony gave him a bitter smile. “So instead of turning himself into a computer, he should have died. Is that what you’re suggesting? Because I can’t picture myself doing it any other way.” He shook his head. “That’s not the point. You two have been friends for how many decades? And now you’re at each other’s throats because of a fucking piece of paper?” His voice rose to a shout. “What the hell is your problem with compromising?”

“There is no compromising with something like this,” Steve snarled, marching right into Tony’s space. “You give an inch, they’ll take a mile. You take a stand, and they have no choice but to see you there. They have no choice but to stop.”

“Or they’ll blow you up,” Tony said emotionlessly.

“Is that what you’d do?” Steve demanded. “Blow us up for not listening?”

Tony blinked. “You’re making it really hard for me not to punch you right now. What did you just do to my self here? You shut off his armor. Because you weren’t willing to listen!”

“He didn’t listen!” Steve shouted. “He went behind our backs and worked with them!”

“They’re the government. Are you seriously trying to sell me the spiel that you’re going to go against the interests of the people because you have a moral issue with what’s going on? If you have an issue with it, then work with the system!”

“Working with the system’s what got us here!” Steve growled. “They’re not willing to listen to us!”

“Because you’re acting like a bunch of lunatics willing to set fire to the goddamn Capitol because no one will listen to your whines! Get off your moral high horse and talk!”

Steve didn’t respond immediately, chest heaving. His cheeks were flushed in anger, and his eyes narrowed. “So we can compromise our values to sink to theirs? There’s no compromising with this.”

Tony saw red. “You self-righteous sanctimonious prick.” And then he punched him right in the face.

He didn’t hold back his strength, using every bit that Extremis gave him, and Steve went down hard, a sickening crunch sounding as his nose broke.

“Cap!” Luke and Vision leapt to their feet, about to apprehend Tony, but they were pinned back to the wall a second later. Tony forced the door shut as well after hearing a small commotion outside.

He kept his hand up, holding Luke and Vision in place as he looked down at a bloody-nosed Steve Rogers. “You could’ve worked together,” Tony said. “Figured out a compromise that meets the government halfway and actually appeases the people and also takes care of most of the superhuman population for people like Spider-Man when they were first starting out and could’ve used the help. Something like – I don’t know – an organization like the UN that would take into account both humans, superhumans, and mutants and make sure everyone’s best interests are met. You could’ve done that. Or, alternatively, you could start a civil war that divides the superhuman community and gives the government every single reason they ever had for even pushing this damn thing through on a silver platter. But, you know, it’s your choice.

“And as the leader of the side opposing the government, I think that’s a pretty big one.” Tony met his eyes with a hard stare, ignoring the faint struggles coming from Luke and Vision. “Don’t you?”

Steve got to his feet, eyes flicking between the two people on the wall and Tony. “What?”

“We had it back in my universe,” Tony continued, keeping his voice pitched loud enough so the eavesdroppers in the hall could hear him. “SHRA. It was partly my fault that it started moving through the government, what with them finding out I’m a mutant and all”—there was dead silence in the hallway—“but I did my damn best to stop it. But we couldn’t. So Steve and I, we compromised. We sat down with Richards and hashed out an alternative plan while Fury brought the case to the Supreme Court. Because in this case, there was no stopping it. It would’ve happened again, and we needed to stop it and bring something to the table that would fix it.

“We compromised,” Tony repeated. “And it worked. But you two have made such a mess here that it’s going to take something big for it to work. And that means you need to stop acting like an overwrought toddler and actually talk.”

Steve looked down at the floor, hands clenched into fists at his sides. Tony let Luke and Vision slide down, releasing his grip on them. He kept the door shut, not wanting more people in here.

Finally, after a long pause that by Tony’s Extremis was around seven minutes, Steve breathed out a soft, “I can’t.”

Tony chanced taking a step closer. “Is this about some stupid pride thing? Because it’s not worth it. Don’t throw away your relationship because of pride.”

Steve’s chuckle was broken. “Imagine that. Tony Stark telling me not to be prideful.”

“I’m allowed to be hypocritical,” Tony said. “I’ve swallowed my pride for a lot of things, but you, Steve Rogers, will never be something I regret. And I would bet my suit that your Tony feels the same way. He’s already tried to reach out to you. It’s your turn now.”

Steve took a breath, looking up to meet Tony’s eyes. “It’s not about pride. There’s no way he’d listen to me.”

“Did you not hear me say I’d bet my suit? He’ll listen to you.”

“Cap, you’re not listening to him, are you?” Luke asked disbelievingly.

Steve didn’t answer, but he did pull out his communicator.

Tony allowed himself a sigh of relief and slumped just slightly, feeling the warm weight of his ring nestled against his skin.

He hoped this worked.

It was only several hours after Steve placed the call that the Tony native to this universe showed up at the prearranged meeting place. Steve had suggested a meeting the next day, but for whatever reason (a reason Tony knew full well why), this Tony had opted for the quickest possible meeting time.

And although Tony thought it best that the two talk it out alone, Steve insisted he come along.

“Because I don’t know if I can hold back,” Steve said, not meeting his eyes.

Tony’s mouth had gone dry at the insinuation, but he nodded once, swallowing. “I’m gonna stay back,” he said. “I won’t talk.”

Now Steve looked at him with faint suspicion. “Why?”

“He needs to hear it from you, not me. Trust me on that.” If Tony knew anyone well, it was himself. Even if it was a him from another universe.

It was just the two of them who left for the mansion, the other superheroes milling in the background as they left. Tony could feel their stares boring in his back, but he didn’t care. They needed to think for themselves, not take someone else’s words at face value. And from what he could tell, no one had thought this through. No one except for his other self, and he’d gone and done the wrong thing.

Why hadn’t they talked from the beginning? Or had this Tony tried and been shot down? But why, after decades of friendship, couldn’t they see it through?

Tony had barely known his Steve for three years, and they’d weathered the storm. Was it because they were in a relationship? The other universe Richards had pointed out had had a female Tony who’d gotten married to Steve, and they hadn’t had this mess.

But he kept his mouth shut and let Steve lead him through the back streets until they reached the mansion. Upon seeing the wreck it was, Tony had to bite down on his lip to keep back his startled cry.

Yet somehow Steve sensed it, and he looked back at Tony with a wry twist of his lips. “It happened only a short while ago. Problems with having volatile superheroes under one roof.”

“You don’t say,” Tony managed, squeezing through the broken gate after Steve.

They ended up in the main area of the mansion, rubble all around them. Tony’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the picture hanging on the wall of the Avengers, but a much larger group of Avengers than he had in his universe. In the middle were Captain America and Iron Man, standing so closely together that Tony ached to reach out to his own Steve and draw comfort from his presence.

Pulling himself together, Tony gave Steve a nod and moved further back, keeping just in sight so no one would think he was trying to ambush anyone.

It didn’t take long before Tony sensed the hum of the suit. It felt different from his own, although Tony couldn’t pinpoint why. It even looked different, carrying the familiar red and gold colors of Tony’s first suits rather than the one he had now.

This Tony drew to a stop several feet away from Steve, nervousness in every inch of his bearing.

They didn’t speak for several long minutes, just staring at each other.

It was Steve who finally made the first move, slinging his shield off his back and placing it carefully against a wall. Then, reaching up, he pulled his hood off, revealing messy blond hair. There was no trace of the broken nose Tony had given him yesterday (which he didn’t feel guilty about it because the guy had deserved it).

“Can you take your mask off?” Steve asked quietly. “I’d like to talk to you face to face.”

There was a barely noticeable hesitation from the other Tony, but then he reached up, unlatched the helmet, and took it off.

He looked exhausted. Exhausted and in no condition to be doing anything close to what he was doing right now. He had a rather messy goatee, the angles not as sharp as Tony usually liked to keep them. And his eyes were blue with pale shadows under them.

They darted past Steve and to where Tony was standing, widening slightly. “Who…?” His voice was hoarse.

“He dropped in from another universe,” Steve said. “I just…” He took a breath. “We need to talk, Tony.”

“And him?” The other Tony pointed at Tony.

“Just pretend I’m not here,” Tony said, giving a small smile. He put his hands up. “I’m just here for backup for both of you.”

The other Tony looked vaguely perplexed, opening his mouth to talk before Steve interrupted with a pleading, “Tony.”

That stopped the other Tony, and he turned his gaze back to Steve, tilting his head to the side. “I thought you were done talking.” He sounded like he was trying to force amusement into his tone, but he failed rather miserably.

Steve winced. “I’m sorry. I know…that was a mistake. Please. Are you willing to listen?”

“I’ve been listening, Steve.” These words were accusing.

“I’m willing to now,” Steve said. “I don’t want to fight.”

The other Tony sighed, the armor disassembling off him and into pieces next to Steve’s shield. He stood there virtually naked except for a golden undersuit that covered him from head to foot, including his feet much to Tony’s jealousy (he still hadn’t fixed that problem with his).

“I never wanted to fight, Steve,” the other Tony said wearily. “But you forced my hand.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve said, the words agonized. “I’m sorry I did. But I’m willing to listen. I- I want to work with you on this.”

There was something extraordinarily painful about seeing hope crawl into the other Tony’s eyes. “Really?”

“Yes,” Steve answered firmly. “But first…can you tell me what you were thinking?”

“Can I…?” The other Tony shook his head once, twice, and then reached up to pull down the hood of his undersuit, running a hand through black hair. “Yes,” he said almost eagerly. “I can.”

“You didn’t support it first,” Steve said quietly. “So why…?” Why change your mind?

“It’s a flawed bill,” the other Tony said. “But what they were proposing otherwise was so much worse. And I couldn’t let that happen. They – they were going to experiment on you. Experiment on Peter. I needed to stop it, and the only way to do so was to support SHRA and control the effects from the inside. It’s what we’ve been doing from the beginning.” He stopped there, fidgeting.

“Why not stop the bill from passing altogether?” Steve prompted, voice gentle.

The other Tony seemed utterly relieved at Steve’s continuing willingness to listen. “Because it’ll happen again. It’s what this has been working towards, Steve. The people are frightened of us, and we need someone to hold us accountable. We need someone to tell us when we go too far. At its best, this bill would’ve done that.” He looked down. “But that’s not the case.”

Steve took a careful step forward, hands twitching at his sides. “Why didn’t you come to me with this, Tony?”

“You wouldn’t have listened.”

“I’m listening now.”

The other Tony’s lips twisted into a painful grin. “You didn’t at first.” The words were so quiet that Tony almost couldn’t make them out.

“I’m sorry,” Steve repeated, and he took another step. “But I am now.”

“Yeah.” The word was quietly wondering. “You are.”

“So why, Tony?” Steve pressed.

“Because…” The other Tony closed his eyes. “I didn’t want to bring you down to my level.”

“Wasn’t that my choice?” Steve asked quietly. “It’s my choice whether I choose to stand by you. You took that from me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do it again,” Steve said. “Don’t make decisions for me without asking me. I’m not perfect, Tony. I brought myself down because I started this without listening to you. Because you tried. And I wasn’t willing to listen.”

“I knew you wouldn’t,” the other Tony said. “I knew from the start you wouldn’t.”

“We’re not numbers, Tony,” Steve said. “You can’t predict to a t what we’ll do and how we’ll react. Maybe there’ll be another variable.” He took another step forward until he was so close that all he had to do was reach out and he had the other Tony in his grasp. “And maybe this variable will tell me that I’ve been a self-righteous sanctimonious prick who shouldn’t be leading.”

Tony hadn’t said that. The first part, yes. But not the rest. Although it had been implied.

“And maybe,” Steve continued in a low tone, “I’ll realize that I’ve been behaving like a self-righteous ass who shouldn’t have turned his back on his best friend. And you shouldn’t have let me.”

The other Tony was shaking slightly, looking down at his feet. “I couldn’t let you do what I’ve done – what I’m doing.”

“You shouldn’t have done it alone.” Steve reached out, wrapped his arms around his friend, and pulled him into a hug. “You shouldn’t have let yourself be alone,” he murmured, pressing his cheek into the other Tony’s hair. “We’re a team, Tony. And teams help each other out. Will you let me do that?”

The other Tony didn’t respond. But he did lean very slowly into Steve’s embrace. And it wasn’t long before the slight shakes dialed up to full-body tremors, and then he was crying in Steve’s chest, face buried in the chainmail.

Taking a moment longer to study the two of them, Tony gave a small smile and slipped out the back, giving them some much needed privacy. He felt like a creep from listening in on that intensely private conversation. And he didn’t see why Steve needed him to do so, since he hadn’t been anywhere near engaging in a brawl with the other Tony.

Once outside, he took a seat on a step, taking his ring out of the shirt and playing with it. The metal felt warm in his fingers, and if he closed his eyes he could almost pretend that the wind playing across his hair was Steve breathing. But it was just a bit too cold, and Tony was too weary to continue to pretend.

He heard them approach him from behind about half an hour later. The burst of humming from inside the mansion only two minutes earlier had forewarned him, although he didn’t bother putting the ring back inside his shirt.

“Is there a reason you’re dressed for a Renaissance fair?” the other Tony asked.

“I was in Asgard,” Tony answered, looking back at him. “Didn’t have a whole lot of options up there.”

Steve saw the ring. “What’s that?”

“This?” Tony displayed it for a second before tucking it back under his shirt, standing as he did. “I’m engaged. And I’d like to get back to my fiancé now. I’m pretty sure he’s worried about me.”

Only Steve looked surprised at the pronoun. The other Tony seemed rather jealous.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” the other one asked.

“I don’t know if I’d call him lucky considering it’s me, but he’d probably scold me for saying that.” Tony grinned wryly. “It’s Steve.”

Both of them froze in surprise.

“What?” the other Tony asked, sounding stunned.

“My Steve,” Tony repeated, rather enjoying this. “We’re engaged. I tried to get him to agree to a shotgun wedding on Asgard and actually wrangled something, but he said it won’t count on Earth, so we’re doing another one.”

Steve cleared his throat. “Congratulations.”

Tony smiled, nodded in thanks, and glanced at the other Tony, who was looking down at his feet. He was obviously envious, and for something Tony could clearly understand. He’d read the longing in his body language throughout the entire conversation. He only hoped that they could figure this out.

“We can get you to Reed,” the other Tony said eventually, meeting Tony’s eyes. His blue ones looked happier now than they had before. “He can help you get back home.”

“Oh, thank God.” Tony couldn’t stop the relief from seeping through the words. “When?”

“Now’s good.” The other Tony smiled at Steve. “I think it’s a good time as any to show that the two sides are becoming one.”

Tony didn’t say “thank God” again, but it was pretty damn close.

Reed Richards’s address was the same it was back in Tony’s home universe. He was also pretty surprised but thankful to see the other Tony and Steve working together civilly. He was ecstatic upon seeing Tony standing there because this was the first time an alternate self had come through who wasn’t evil.

Upon which both the other Tony and Steve looked shifty and refused to answer any questions.

So while Tony answered the questions Richards had about his home universe, Richards darted around and calibrated machines to figure out how to send Tony back, keeping his head close to Tony but stretching out the rest of his limbs to fiddle with the machines. Tony hoped he knew what he was doing.

And then since the machines were picking up a strange energy signature from Tony, he had him strip. Tony did so reluctantly, willing his face blank as the energy source in his chest drew stares from everyone.

“What is that?” Steve asked.

“It used to be an arc reactor,” Tony answered slowly, warily watching Richards attach various sensors to it. “But then Extremis happened.”

“You have it, too?” the other Tony asked curiously.

“Not willingly.” Tony refused to elaborate anymore.

“Is there anything in particular about this I should know?” Richards asked.

It was when Richards heard the explanation about vibranium and the Bifrost that his eyes lit up and he seemed to have a way to get Tony back home.

“I can calibrate it so that it seeks out the match,” he explained quickly, his head and arms stretched out in three different directions.

“But no rush,” Tony assured him, not wanting something to go wrong and end up with him underwater on a planet with no oxygen.

As they waited for Richards to pull it all together, Tony found himself just standing there looking pretty while the other two occasionally murmured things to each other (Tony pretended they were sweet nothings).

Eventually tired of just standing there, Tony went and inspected some of Richards’s inactive machines. They were either rather large or rather small, and Tony was never quite sure what they were for other than the small guesses he could make.

He also occasionally threw glances to Steve and the other Tony, heart panging as he read the palpable longing and desire in Tony. He could see a similar desire in Steve, but he wasn’t so familiar with this Steve’s mannerisms that he was completely certain about it. But he was certain enough that he wasn’t going to leave without saying something.

So he meandered over to them, giving Steve a look. “I need to talk to you,” he said.

Steve nodded, gave the other Tony a reassuring look, and then followed Tony to the other side of the room.

“Thank you,” Steve said before Tony could say anything.

“It’s fine,” Tony responded before he could think. “Really, I’m glad it worked out. But I’ve got one other thing to say.” He took a breath and nodded to the other Tony. “Just tell him, okay?”

Steve’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“Tell him everything. Trust me when I say it’s returned.”

Steve’s ears turned slightly pink. “It’s not the right time.”

“There’s not going to be a right time. My Steve practically confessed in a hospital room. He then proposed in a different hospital room after I was shot.” Steve looked vaguely disturbed at that. “The right time’s what you make of it,” Tony continued softly. “I think he needs to hear it, and so do you.”

Steve looked over his shoulder at the other Tony, who was looking over Richards’s shoulder.

“It’s been so long,” Steve whispered, looking down at his hands. “I thought it wouldn’t come to anything. And when he turned his back on us…I was so angry.” His mouth twisted. “You’re right. I need to tell him. He deserves to know.”

“I can leave satisfied knowing I helped get a version of me and Steve together,” Tony said, pleased.

Steve snorted. “Only you.” His tone was fond.

“I’d say only me, but there are two of me right now so it wouldn’t be quite true.” Tony smirked and reached out to pat him on the arm. “I’d say sorry about the nose, but I’m not really.”

“No, I deserved that.” Steve fingered said nose. “I’m going to keep an eye on that,” he promised.

“Sometimes you need to compromise,” Tony said. “Remember that.”

“I will,” Steve promised. “I will.”

Tony looked him in the eyes. “Good.”

“We’re ready here,” Richards announced.

“That’s my cue,” Tony said, smiling at Steve.

As he walked over to Richards, Tony gave his other self a warm smile. Then he stood on the platform indicated by Richards.

“It’ll be painless,” Richards promised. “And quick. You’ll be back in no time. And thank you.”

“Thank you,” Tony sighed. “Because you’re saving my ass here.”

There was a flicker of light at his feet and a rise in the humming, and Tony saw Steve take hold of the other Tony’s hand and link their fingers together. The other Tony stared at him, stunned disbelief written all over his face, but Steve simply gave him a soft, warm smile that was as bright as the sun.

As the humming sound peaked and the light became almost unbearably bright, Tony felt the brush of another Extremis against his own and the whisper of soft words. Thank you.

Then he was gone.

Chapter Text

Next time Tony shouldn’t listen to any alternate counterparts of him when they took him to Reed Richards and then relied on his expertise to traverse the multiverse. Because something had gone wrong.

Tony was pretty sure he’d remember if his universe played host to gigantic freaking insects and the giant woman taking care of the mess. It was something rather hard to miss, and all Tony wanted to do was turn around and go back to the last dimension and demand a do over.

It was the least that he was owed.

“Hey, watch out!”

There was enough time for him to turn before getting clocked upside in the head by what looked like an ant.

Coupled with the dizzy exhaustion Tony was barely fighting from his inter-dimensional travel, he stood no chance.

“He really does look like you, Tony. You sure you didn’t do anything out of the ordinary?”

“Bruce is still running the DNA test.”

“I can’t have been the only one to see that rainbow light.”

“No one saw Thor, did they?”

“Just this guy.”

“Shh! He’s waking up!”

Blurry as he was, he recognized the voices as his own (that sounded really eerie not coming from his throat), Ororo’s, Logan’s, and Steve’s. But obviously they weren’t his team because of that giant woman and those freaking insects.

They’d laid him out on something soft, which Tony greatly appreciated considering he was still sore from the wild ride that his last trip had turned out into. Whatever Richards had done had failed, as Tony’s trip had turned from calm to turbulent in the blink of an eye and also seared his retinas with the play of rainbow light.

Fucking Bifrost.

There was a hushed silence around him as he debated the pros and cons of opening his eyes.

“Did he say Bifrost?” he heard Ororo whisper.

Oh. Had he said that out loud?

“Yes.” That was Steve.

Making sure his mouth was shut, Tony carefully opened his eyes, finding himself surrounded by familiar faces. They were all in costume, too, though the other Tony’s faceplate was up. And for some reason, Ororo was there.

“Should I say hi?” Tony asked eventually, slowly sitting up on the couch. The dizzying exhaustion from before was gone much to his relief.

Steve’s armor was chainmail and leather like the last one he’d seen. “Who are you?”

“I’m a Tony.” Tony spread his hands and wiggled his fingers. “Hi.”

“You smell like it,” Logan grunted.

“Then you’ll understand when we say that we’ll be waiting on the results,” the other Tony said casually, his eyes sharp.

“Oh yeah, no problem.” Tony nodded, only to stop upon thinking about what that DNA test should show. “You should probably know ahead of time that I’m a mutant.”

Ororo’s eyebrows rose, and Logan huffed, probably scowling behind that atrocious yellow mask of his. Whose bright idea had it been to give him such an eyesore of a uniform?

“Interesting,” the other Tony remarked, the corner of his mouth ticking up. “D’you mind me asking what you do?”

In answer, Tony looked to the side, eyes catching on a lamp. He lifted it up about a foot and held it there as he returned his gaze to the other Tony.

“Telekinesis,” Ororo noted, nodding.

“I suppose you’re not one then,” Tony said to the other Tony. “The other one wasn’t either.”

“Completely human,” the other Tony confirmed.

“What do you mean by the other one?” Steve asked.

“Because Reed screwed up,” Tony said tiredly, running a hand through his hair. “He was supposed to send me back home, but instead I end up here. And the last universe wasn’t mine either.”

“Were you at a Renaissance fair?” the other Tony asked, gesturing at him.

“Asgard, actually. Steve and I were coming back from vacation.” His hand went up to check that the ring was still there.

The other Tony glanced at Steve fondly. “We should go there next time.”

Steve’s answering look was just as fond. “Instead of Paris, you mean?”

“Go big or go home.” The other Tony’s eyes crinkled in a grin.

An unassuming looking man in a lab coat walked in, wireframe glasses sitting on his nose. “He’s definitely you, Tony,” he started talking, not even looking up from the paper he was holding, “but he’s also a mutant – oh.” Bruce – since he definitely looked like a Bruce, just younger and with light brown hair – had caught sight of Tony. “You’re awake.”

“Good to have you here then, other me,” the other Tony informed Tony happily, stretching out a hand to haul Tony off the couch.

“Why is there a floating lamp?” Bruce asked, staring at it.

Tony put it down, raising an eyebrow at the look Ororo gave him.

“Well,” Bruce started again, shooting Tony a curious look. “this is a first for us. We don’t usually get visitors from other dimensions.”

“Trust me, I don’t want to be here.”

Steve gave Tony a concerned look. “Is there anything we can do about that?”

Tony smiled weakly. “Get me back home?”

“We’ll help you there,” the other Tony assured him. “I’ll get in contact with Reed.”

“Like the last one managed to get it right,” Tony groused, folding his arms over his chest.

“We’ll get it right this time.” There was a gleam in the other Tony’s eyes that Tony recognized.

There was a sudden change in the frequencies of the communicators they had, and Tony shamelessly hacked into the other Tony’s armor and eavesdropped in on what sounded like Peter requesting backup.

Fingers to his cowl, Steve looked apologetically at Tony. “Sorry, we’ve got a call. Are you going to be good here?”

Tony pretended he had no idea what they were talking about; Logan looked at him suspiciously. “Sure.”

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” the other Tony advised him, his face knowing before the faceplate came down.

“That’s a very long list, Iron Man,” Ororo said dryly.

“Come on,” Steve urged them, ushering them out. Bruce sounded like he was complaining about ripping his clothes, to which Ororo tugged off his lab coat and threw it aside.

Tony gave them about two minutes before he stripped off his Asgardian clothes, letting his undersuit out of his pores before the suit melted out as well, clicking into place seamlessly. The HUD morphed into existence in front of Tony’s eyes, figures and stats coming into existence as the sensors analyzed his surroundings.

But Tony was more interested in the jet taking off that contained the Avengers, and he hacked into their intercom, tracing the steps they’d taken to the roof so he could follow them.

Where they were going was immediately apparent because there were two giant people facing off, one of whom was the strange woman Tony had been distracted by when first arriving. The other was a rather ugly looking brown-haired man who seemed to be shouting at the woman.

Tony slowed down, keeping slightly below the jet’s line of sight. He did get to see the man grab hold of the jet when it came too close and throw it at the woman, who recoiled at the impact, which had to be painful no matter how big one was.

Before Tony could react, another man with a silver helmet popped into view, surging up from nowhere with various pink sparkles around him. He grabbed hold of the first man’s shoulder and started fighting, only to be thrown back in a suddenly enormous pile of ants.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Tony was really growing to dislike ants.

Not that it mattered in the end, because the ants ended up winning, and Tony watched with a sort of horrified fascination as they viciously attacked the enemy.

The others didn’t even notice him landing by them until the helmeted man called the ants off and shrunk the other man with them. The other Tony was the first to notice, and he started in surprise upon facing Tony.

“I don’t recall lending you a suit,” the other Tony stated, his voice modulated by the suit’s voice synthesizer. “Not that I have any like that.”

Tony grinned behind the faceplate. “It’s mine.”

The other Tony gave off a sense of skepticism. “Where were you packing it?”

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”

“Oh my God!” Peter flailed into Tony’s attention. “I thought we agreed on no cloning! It always ends in murder!”

The other Tony cocked his head. “I don’t remember that.”

Tony flipped up his faceplate, giving Peter a look. “I’m not a clone.”

Peter was silent for all of a second before saying, “It’s not even a good clone! Your eye color isn’t even the same!”

“Put the faceplate down!” the other Tony hissed as Ororo asked Peter, “Is there something you want to tell us?”

“Why?” Tony asked, folding his arms across his chest. “It’s no secret—”

“Yes, it is.” The other Tony forced his faceplate down, clicking it shut.

“He just wants to think that,” Logan informed Tony. “It’s really an open secret.”

“I just notice things like eye color!” Peter said.

“What’s mine?” Steve asked.

Peter stopped for a moment to look at him. “Blue.”

“You looked.”

“Of course I looked! You’re standing right there.”

“Come on, guys,” the woman Tony had yet to learn the name of said, swinging her arms over his and the other Tony’s shoulders. “Let’s go.”

“Is that Josten guy taken care of?” Peter asked.

“All bottled up,” the woman said, smirking. “I think Hank’s got plans for him.”

Steve had gone to talk to Hank, and Tony could see Hank rather bashfully grinning at whatever the other told him.

“So who’re you?” the woman asked Tony, squeezing the arm around his neck.

“Tony.”

The woman looked at the other Tony. “I thought we said no cloning.”

“There was no cloning, Janet.” The other Tony sounded disgruntled.

The now-identified Janet turned back to Tony. “So you’re another one.”

“Thank the multiverse.” Tony flipped his faceplate up to grin at her, only for the other Tony to flick it down again. “Hey, hands off.”

“When you’re not walking around with my face in a suit like mine, then we can talk.”

“Send me back home, then you won’t have to worry about me outing you,” Tony fired back. “I’m generally bad at keeping secrets.”

The silence radiating from the outer Tony just screamed disbelief, which Tony should’ve expected considering that it would be nearly impossible to fool himself.

Steve came back. “Iron Man, is the jet still good to use?”

The other Tony heaved a sigh, head twisting to look back at the jet. “You’re not supposed to throw them around.”

“That’s a no then,” Peter observed.

“Mind giving me a ride?” Steve was grinning at the other Tony.

“You don’t even need to ask.” The other Tony pulled away from Janet and took the few steps separating him from Steve, bringing him close in the hug-and-fly maneuver Tony and his Steve had used several times.

Tony didn’t say anything until the two took off, the rest of the Avengers gazing after them. “Are they together?”

“Ha!” Peter pointed at Tony. “He sees it, too!”

“No one thought you were imagining it, Spidey,” Ororo soothed him.

“But none of you wanted in on the pool!” Peter pulled out a notebook from seemingly nowhere and flipped it open. “Are you interested?” he asked Tony.

“I feel weird betting on another version of myself and my fiancé, but why not.”

Janet’s head snapped to Tony. “You’re engaged? To Steve?”

“Getting married?” Hulk grunted from behind Logan, peering at Tony curiously.

“Got hitched on Asgard as a way of getting Steve out of a tight spot, but he said it didn’t count, so we’re gonna do it again.” Tony pointed to a date in Peter’s notebook. “As soon as I get back anyway.”

“That doesn’t sound romantic at all,” Janet said dubiously.

“Trust me, it was very romantic. All dash and daring and sex.”

Peter paused in his scribbling. “I didn’t need to know that.”

“Is he gentle or rough?” Ororo asked curiously, coming in close.

“No, come on,” Peter moaned, bringing his hands up to his ears.

“Depends on the mood,” Tony answered thoughtfully, thankful for the faceplate that hid his grin. “He’s a full body blusher.”

“I knew it,” Janet hissed.

“Tell me more,” Ororo demanded, grinning.

This was a side of Ororo that Tony hadn’t seen in his universe, but it was one that he would happily oblige. It wasn’t like his own team was particularly eager to hear the details on his sex life, and Pepper and Rhodey had both told him more than once that they didn’t need to hear about the sex noises Steve made.

Logan and Hulk left the premises just as the story was getting good, while Peter had gone off to poke at an anthill, muttering under his breath.

“While you guys were off dancing around the city doing who knows what, I contacted Reed,” the other Tony said once they arrived at the tower. He raised an eyebrow at the faint blushes Janet and Ororo were sporting. “What?”

“Nothing,” Janet mumbled, eyes skittering to Steve before a bright red blush suffused her cheeks. “I’m going,” she squeaked, waving her hands and slipping out the room.

Ororo narrowed her white eyes at Steve. “I can almost see it,” she said as if to herself, swishing her cape behind her as she followed after Janet, probably to gossip about the stories Tony had told them.

“You don’t want to know,” Peter mournfully informed Steve. “You don’t.”

Steve stared at him, a frown on his face. He had a truly delightful head of cowl hair that Tony could never resist running his fingers through. “Okay?”

“What did you do?” the other Tony demanded.

“I didn’t do anything,” Tony said innocently, ignoring the cough of “Liar” Logan gave.

“I doubt that,” Steve said dryly.

The other Tony whirled on him. “There’s no need for that tone.”

Steve put up his hands, face innocent. “I didn’t say anything.”

“I know that look,” Tony said, shooting a glance at Hulk, who happened to be devouring his third box of pizza since Tony had come back.

“Let’s just go to Reed,” Steve said, inelegantly changing the subject. “He says he wants to meet you.”

“How lovely,” Tony said, meaning anything but that. “Are we flying?”

“Since the jet has yet to be repaired since we arrived, we’re using our suits,” the other Tony said, stepping closer to Steve. “Coming with, Cap?”

“This I really have to see,” Steve said, grinning at Tony and pulling on his cowl, hiding the hair much to Tony’s regret.

“Good luck,” Logan told Tony seriously from next to Hulk, eating his own pizza slice.

Seeing as how Richards would doubtlessly run another gamut of tests on Tony and probably uncover Extremis, which the other Tony didn’t seem to have, Tony thought he would need it.

Tony did.

The first thing the others saw was the way his armor melted into his skin, revealing his undersuit. Tony didn’t remove that, since then he’d be naked.

“That’s really something,” Richards said, looking younger than the one Tony was familiar with, though the grey streaks were the same. “What is that?”

“A feature of the Extremis virus,” Tony explained shortly, shifting uncomfortably. “Is that gonna be a problem?”

“I’ve not heard of Extremis before,” Richards said, shooting a curious look at the other Tony, who shook his head, “but it shouldn’t interfere with my results if you know what we’re looking at.”

“I don’t,” Tony admitted grudgingly. “This is the second universe I’ve visited, and the first wasn’t as friendly.”

“I’m not surprised,” Richards said. “From what I’ve seen, ours is one of the more peaceful ones.”

“We seem to do a lot for a peaceful world,” Steve noted wryly.

“Have you had any cataclysmic events or people dying?” Richards asked, eyebrows raising.

“Nix on the first, but yes on the latter,” Tony said. “Though I guess that alien invasion we had in ours could be categorized as cataclysmic?”

“They usually are.” Richards held up a scanner. “Stand there, please.”

Richards was a lot politer and nicer than the one Tony was familiar with, and he actually chatted with the other Tony while he did his scans, only pausing periodically to ask Tony a question as to Extremis or the energy source in his chest.

“My counterpart was right about that,” Richards said, gesturing at the energy source, “but he took too big a chance just using it.”

“So what?” Tony asked, covering the energy source.

“Tony and I will build something else that you can use if it happens again,” Richards said, “so you don’t have to rely on me being around.” He shrugged, smiling ruefully. “I’m not nice in every universe, nor am I always there.”

“You mean like a watch or something? Like in Doctor Who?”

“We can’t build a TARDIS,” the other Tony said, sounding regretful.

“Thank God,” Steve muttered.

The other Tony elbowed Steve in the side. “But we’ll figure something out,” he promised.

“If you don’t mind sticking around, we can get started on it,” Richards said, looking down at the computer screen that held all the data he had accumulated.

“Not like I’m able to do anything else,” Tony said bluntly.

“I’m sure you’d be able to figure something out,” Steve said, sounding fond.

Tony found himself smiling at him before he could think the better of it, helplessly charmed as always by Steve.

The other Tony looked between them, face amused. “I’ll go over what Reed’s got. Join us when you want.”

Taking that as implicit permission to talk to Steve, Tony went to stand by him, leaning against the wall with his shoulder. “Come here often?” he couldn’t resist asking.

Steve snorted, face crinkling in amusement. “That line work on the people you usually try it on?”

“I don’t usually use that line,” Tony said, grinning. “It’s too corny for my taste, and my Steve would just make a face and probably hit me with his sketchpad.”

“So you and your Steve…you’re together?” Steve’s eyes flicked down to the ring in plain view on its chain.

“Engaged,” Tony confirmed, smiling wistfully. It turned mischievous a second later. “What about you and Tony?” Ugh, okay, he was never saying that again; it was just too weird.

“What about me and Tony?” Steve’s tone was far too carefully modulated to be natural.

“Come on.” Tony shifted so he was shoulder to shoulder with Steve. “No need to be shy; I’ll be gone by tomorrow.”

Steve looked doubtful, so Tony pressed further. “There’s something going on between you two. Peter’s got a pool running, though I’m the only one in on it since no one’s willing to put in money considering how obtuse you two seem to be.”

Steve shook his head, rubbing a hand over his face. “No.” The word was soft.

“‘No, damn it, Peter’ or ‘No, nothing’s going on’?”

His response was a sigh. “The latter.”

Tony frowned, giving him a dubious look. “Right. You know, I have trouble believing that considering I know that look on his face – since it’s my face, really – and I know you.”

“We’re not the same people,” Steve reminded him sharply.

“Obvious considering I’m a mutant and have something called Extremis; also obvious considering you’ve got different Avengers on your team than I do back home. But fundamentally we’re the same.” Tony slid closer to him, dropping his voice. “What’s scaring you?”

Steve studied him for a long moment, eyes tracking over every inch of his face. Then, finally, he turned back to where the other Tony and Richards were both bent over the computer and seeming to be arguing. When he did speak, it was so quiet that Tony almost didn’t hear it. “Why me?”

Tony’s own response was slow in coming. “That’s the question I asked myself actually.” His smile was self-deprecating as Steve met his eyes, shocked. “Why would he be interested in me? I’m a former weapons manufacturer with a lot of blood on my hands, and I can’t ever wash that clean.” He shrugged, smiling lopsidedly. “I’ve given up answering it—” Steve’s face twisted skeptically, so he corrected himself, “Okay, so I haven’t, but I’ve just stopped asking it where he can hear. I can enjoy a good thing, you know.”

“Never doubted it,” Steve murmured.

“I don’t believe that.” Tony didn’t meet his eyes. “Don’t ever doubt your worth, Steve. Not here. Besides, I hear relationships thrive when both partners are on equal ground. Communication is apparently also a thing.”

Steve was silent. Then, “The same goes for you, too, you know.” His smile was gentle as Tony looked up at him. “You’re also worth it, no matter what universe you come from.”

Tony’s breath hitched, and he swallowed, finding himself unable to meet Steve’s all too familiar but unfamiliar eyes. Not for the first time, he wished for his own Steve’s presence. It wasn’t like he was overly attached to Steve, but at least he normally had the option of contacting him. Here he didn’t even have that.

“Hey, Tony,” the other Tony called, apparently uncaring of the oddness of doing so, “think you can help us out here?”

Tony gladly went, shooting Steve one last glance out of the periphery of his vision. “Yeah, sure. What do you need?”

The ring was a warm, comforting weight at his collarbone.

Come late evening, Steve had put his foot down and taken both Tonys back to the tower to rest and recuperate. There was little doubt as to whether Richards would do the same, but Tony let Steve take them back to base. They’d gotten through most of the information anyway, and Richards was just going to run over the data and see what his counterpart could have missed.

“Best scenario, you’ll be back the day after,” the other Tony told him once they were back. “We still want to build that device.”

“Sounds great,” Tony said honestly. And it did, since the device that the other Tony was talking about would let him do universe hopping by himself without Richards’s help. It was up in the air as to how it would do this, but Richards promised to have an answer by the morning.

“No shop talk,” Steve chided them.

“Sorry, dear.” The other Tony smirked at him.

Tony himself gave Steve a pointed look, raising his eyebrows meaningfully. He was behind the other Tony, so the other Tony couldn’t see.

When Steve ended up ignoring him, he rolled his eyes and turned to the other Tony. “Are you going to put me up on the couch?”

The other Tony looked scandalized. “What kind of host would I be?”

“One who didn’t expect an inter-dimensional visitor?”

“A visitor’s a visitor,” the other Tony insisted. “Come on. Cap, I’ll see you in the morning. Have a great night.” He gave the other a soft smile before putting his hand on Tony’s shoulder and guiding him away.

It wasn’t until they out of earshot of Steve that the other Tony spoke again, shooting a look down at Tony’s bare feet. “I’ve gotta ask, why don’t you have shoes?”

“I didn’t get it right the first time,” Tony said grudgingly, brushing a thumb over the material of the undersuit. “And I had issues making it out of the material so it’d be uniform and not separately attached. It all goes in my bones because of Extremis.”

The other Tony had a speculative gleam in his eye. “I think we can figure something out.” His lips quirked into a smile. “Want to see my workshop?”

Tony shot a glance over his shoulder as if expecting to see a disapproving Steve bearing down on them. “Please.”

The next morning, Steve eyed Tony and the other Tony disapprovingly, probably because the two of them were on a caffeine high from having stayed up all night.

“You didn’t go to bed,” he told the other Tony accusingly.

“Please don’t fight before breakfast,” Peter begged, eating some of the most sugary cereal Tony had ever seen.

“We’re not fighting,” Steve said, not looking at him.

“You have your disapproving face on.”

“That is his disapproving face,” Tony agreed.

“You speak from experience?” Ororo raised her eyebrow at him, smirking.

“So much experience.”

“I can see that,” Janet said, grinning widely.

“How would you know I didn’t go to bed?” the other Tony demanded. “Not that I’m saying I didn’t,” he added belatedly.

Steve frowned at him, mouth turned down. “I just do.”

“Claiming I’m on a caffeine high is not proof.”

“Fine, I was waiting, okay?” Steve’s ears were flushing red, and Ororo and Janet shot Tony knowing looks. “I was waiting outside your room.”

The other Tony’s eyebrows lifted. “Why, Captain, I didn’t know you had it in you,” he said in a breathy tone.

Steve looked like he was torn between laughing and scowling. “I was waiting,” he repeated. “And you never showed.”

The other Tony turned serious. “What I do at night isn’t really your business, Cap. Come on; what’s your problem?”

“I want it to be my business!”

The silence was so thick one could have heard a pin drop. Even Hulk had stopped eating (Tony had been rather disconcerted to be met with Hulk instead of Bruce, but Peter had assured him that this was normal).

Steve went red, eyes darting around helplessly, as he avoided looking at anyone.

A minute into the uncomfortable silence, Steve met the other Tony’s eyes and mumbled, “Can we talk privately?” He didn’t even give the other Tony a chance to respond, just grabbing his hand and pulling him out after him.

This left the rest of them sitting there in a stunned stupor.

“I’m not quite sure what just happened,” Janet said finally.

“You and me both,” Logan grunted, eyes narrowed at the doorway Steve and the other Tony had disappeared through.

“I’m sure it isn’t anything bad,” Tony said eventually, suppressing the urge to hack into one of the cameras and spy. It wasn’t his business.

Peter tilted his head thoughtfully. “How much do you wanna bet they’ll come back here ravaged?”

After a thoughtful silence, everyone shook their heads.

“That’s a sucker bet,” Janet said. “Let’s go on how many hickeys we can see.”

“Steve has a healing factor,” Tony pointed out. It had been a cause of irritation for Tony as nothing he’d done had stuck until the morning, while anything Steve did to him had. Though his healing had sped up after Extremis…

“Tony doesn’t,” Ororo mused. And this Tony didn’t have Extremis. Tony definitely hadn’t sensed anything technological on him either aside from what seemed like a high-tech electromagnet not too unlike the arc reactor.

“Then none,” Tony said, grinning as everyone looked at him.

“I’m sorry. You don’t remember what you told us yesterday?” Janet sounded skeptical.

“Give it a couple months, sure.” Tony shrugged. “Right now? Nah.”

“Why are we listening to him?” Logan demanded. “The relationship ain’t gonna be the same.”

“Same strokes, bud,” Tony pointed out, swigging down the last of his coffee. Ororo gave him a pointed look when he reached for more, and he made a face back.

“I can’t in good conscience let you have any more unless it’s decaf,” Ororo told him.

Tony pulled a disgusted face. “That disgusting stuff?”

“I dunno,” Peter said. “I like it with whipped cream and sprinkles.”

“You mean that’s what you’re drinking instead of hot cocoa?” Janet sounded dismayed.

“There’s no hot cocoa here,” Peter said, gesturing at the kitchen.

“Are you kidding me?” Tony protested. “My Steve loves hot cocoa. Best thing if he can’t sleep.”

“Tony’s probably hidden it then,” Ororo said, nodding.

“Then I’m gonna find it,” Peter proclaimed.

“Find what?” the other Tony’s voice asked.

They all turned eagerly to look, but aside from too rough hair and slightly swollen lips, there didn’t seem to be anything out of place. Then Tony saw the way Steve’s collar wasn’t tucked into place and the other Tony’s shirt was rucked up on one side and not the other, and he gave them a pointed eyebrow waggle that had Steve blush and the other Tony smirk back.

“No hickeys,” Janet observed mournfully.

Steve started, staring at her. “What?”

“Oh, hon.” Janet looked sympathetic. “Did you two think you were subtle? Because you weren’t. At all.”

“But congratulations,” Ororo added gracefully.

“Thanks?”

The other Tony rolled his eyes and clapped Tony on the shoulder. “Ready? It’s time we head over to Reed.”

“Depends. Is Steve coming with?” Tony grinned up at them.

Steve narrowed his eyes at Tony, though his pink ears gave the game away. “I’m coming.”

“That’s one place I’m glad not to be,” Peter declared, putting up his hands as Steve and the other Tony looked at him.

“You just wait, Pete,” Tony said, grinning as he mentally ruffled Peter’s hair and getting a small squawk of surprise for his efforts. “You’re on the same team with them.”

“Aw nuts.”

“I think your energy source is what’s powering the jumps,” Richards told Tony once they were in his lab.

Tony furrowed his brow. “You’re sure?”

Richards nodded. “From the data and information you’ve given me on Extremis’s capabilities and the energy source, it’s the best explanation. I don’t have an explanation for why my counterpart wasn’t able to send you home, but my guess is that Extremis somehow interfered.”

“Okay, fantastic.” Tony folded his arms across his chest. “So how do we stop it?”

“We can’t.” Richards shrugged. “But you can.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Tony couldn’t stop the disbelief from entering his voice. “I still don’t know what Extremis is fully capable of, and I’m the one using it!”

“No, I’m not.” The corner of Richards’s mouth lifted in a small smile. “But I think I have a solution for you so that you can control your jumps. If this happens again, all you’ll have to do is wait to recharge and then you jump again.”

“Until I get back home?”

“Optimally I send you back. But if it doesn’t work, at least there’ll be a failsafe.”

“You willing to give it a shot?” the other Tony asked, his face sympathetic. “We could use your help building it.”

Tony shook his head, rubbing his face. “I just want to go home,” he said finally. “Screw whatever I have to do, I want to go home.”

Steve’s hand was a comforting weight on his shoulder, but it wasn’t what he needed. “You will.”

“Sometime.” Tony dropped his hands, giving Richards a resolute nod. “Okay. Let’s get started then.”

Richards sent them away in the evening, needing to run a few more tests to be certain that the device they had put together would work properly. It looked a bit like a phone, though its only abilities were scanning for similar energy sources to Tony’s and then latching onto them as the destination for the jump. It used Tony’s own energy source to power it, and Richards had assured him that it wouldn’t suck him dry. It should, in fact, become more efficient with each jump, using less and less. Of course, the goal was to only make one more jump, rendering the device moot.

Tony thought it likely that he’d need it, but then he was also somewhat of a pessimist.

Steve noticed, even going so far as to corner him in the library (this Tony had a library; well, Tony did, too, but he didn’t have this many books. He thought) for a talk.

“It’s going to be fine, you know,” Steve told him.

“You and my Steve would get along fabulously,” Tony answered, running his fingers along the spines of some science books.

“No doubt.” Steve was silent for a few minutes.

Tony almost thought that Steve would leave it when he spoke again. “I wanted to thank you.”

Tony glanced over his shoulder at him. “For what?”

“Tony and me.” Steve had a small smile on his face. “You were right.”

“I usually am,” Tony said airily, only getting an unimpressed face for his efforts. “But you’re welcome.”

“Do you usually match-make?” Steve sounded amused.

“Ha, no.” Tony remembered the last Steve and Tony he’d seen and how broken their relationship had been; he hoped they were on the path to fixing it. “It’s just…” He trailed off, wondering at how to put this into words. “It might be narcissistic of me, but I want to see myself happy. And whatever I can do for you…” He looked back at Steve with a half-smile, shrugging. “I always will.”

“It’s not narcissistic,” Steve said softly. “And thank you. I don’t know how much longer it might’ve been if you hadn’t talked to me.”

Feeling his face warm, Tony looked away, waving a dismissive hand. “You would’ve figured it out eventually. I’m sure that your team would’ve ended up doing something one way or another.”

Steve grinned, snorting. “Yeah, you’re right. I would’ve liked to see that.”

“Worthy of any romantic comedy,” Tony agreed.

“But you wouldn’t know about those.”

“Thor likes watching them on movie nights.”

Steve quirked his eyebrows. “Thor’s on your team then?”

“Yep.” Tony gave him a curious look. “Where’s yours?”

“Asgard.” Steve glanced to the side, giving Tony a sly smile. “The rest of the team thinks he doesn’t exist,” he admitted.

Tony let out a bark of laughter. “Hoo boy. Would that I could see the looks on their faces when they see he does.”

“It should be amusing,” Steve agreed, grinning.

“The only thing in question on my team was whether he was really a Norse god. He put that to rest pretty quickly by summoning a thunderstorm out of the blue a week later and letting it have at New York for a day.” Tony smiled at the memory and way Thor had given them all unimpressed looks when they had assured him that they believed him now. Only Steve had still held out on it, clinging rather stubbornly to his Catholic upbringing.

“You miss them,” Steve noted softly.

Tony shook himself out of his morose thoughts, sending Steve a rueful smile. “Yeah, I do. It was been a month on Asgard for Steve and me, and we were heading back when this crazy whirlwind happened.” He shrugged. “I just want to get back.”

“You will,” Steve reassured him. “I’ve no doubt you will.”

Tony dropped his head, eyes on his fingers. “Yeah, that’s something I’ve got to hope for.”

He wanted a hug, but there was none forthcoming, at least not from this Steve. Hunching his shoulders, Tony forced himself to take a fortifying breath, only to freeze a second later when solid, warm arms wrapped around him, pulling him into a heated hug that he had sorely missed.

It took Tony absolutely no time for him to give in and bury his face in the crook of Steve’s neck, shuddering as he desperately tried to restrain his sobs (because Stark men did. Not. Cry).

“You’ll make it back,” Steve repeated, his voice a reassuring balm to Tony’s soul. “You will.”

“I expect you to make it back this time,” Richards told Tony the next morning.

“And if he doesn’t?” Janet demanded. “Is there a way for you to tell?”

“There may be, but that’s still uncertain.”

“You don’t have to go now,” Ororo told Tony. “You can stay here until something more definitive has been found.”

“That’s sweet of you, but I can’t wait any longer.” Tony smiled at her, looking round at the rest of the team that had wanted to be here this morning. “We’re as certain as we can be. Anything else is just going to be speculative guesswork.”

“He’s right,” the other Tony added. “In any case, he’s not dependent on anyone helping him now with the jumper we built.”

Said jumper was a heavy weight in his pocket, but it was a reassuring one.

“Be safe.” Steve’s mouth was thin, his face worried.

“Safe as I can be,” Tony said wryly. “I make no promises, though.”

“That sounds more like the Tony I know,” Peter said, nodding. “Good luck.”

“I do my best to be safe,” the other Tony said mock indignantly.

“We know you do.” Steve wrapped an arm around his waist, squeezing. He addressed Tony next. “We probably won’t see you again, but it was great meeting you.”

“Same.” Tony nodded at all of them, stepping back on the platform Richards had designated.

“If you die, we’ll hunt you down and kill you ourselves,” Logan threatened gruffly.

“Wow, uh…” Tony snorted, grinning at him. “Thanks.”

“Happy nuptials!” Janet said, smiling brightly. “Give your Steve a kiss from me!”

“And me,” Ororo added.

Tony’s grin broadened in amusement. “Will do.”

“Give him a big one from me,” the other Tony said, winking. “And safe travels.”

“Everyone said their piece?” Richards asked, hands at the controls that would send Tony hurtling through the multiverse one more time. “Tony, you ready?”

Brushing his hands down his clothes and double checking that he had the jumper, Tony nodded, jaw tightening. “I’m good. Thanks again, Reed.”

Richards flashed him a small smile, nodding. “Activating in three…two…one—”

Let’s follow the yellow brick road once more, Toto.