Work Text:
Steve opens his eyes. The first thing he sees is blue. All around him, above him, even the air feels blue. For a second, he thinks he’s outside and looking at the sky, an impossible sunny day beaming down at him – blue all around him.
Then he notices the… walls, yes, those are walls. His vision is still pretty blurred, he’s lying on the hard ground and – probably hit his head, or something. He doesn’t remember falling.
Just a moment later, voices start to fill up his ears. Two voices, to be precise, both of them male, both of them with a heavy New York cadence – yet so different from each other.
They seem… arguing? No, that’s not properly arguing, Steve decides. The tones are— worried, maybe, excited? Scared? One is strong and sure about what he’s saying. Steve doesn’t know what he’s talking about – it’s all a bit blurred around the edges, still. But the sound of it penetrates his foggy mind as he blinks a couple of times, focusing slowly, almost like an old camera lens.
He’s only able to capture a few words in between the fog. Portals… Multiverse… Reality… -041…
Those words seem to kickstart his brain into sharpness. He knows that kind of talk. “Tony?”
He’s not even sure he managed to say the name correctly, but the silence he gets in response is telling enough. He blinks two times more, then tries to sit up.
“…y there,” one voice says. It’s so similar to Tony’s, but it’s not the same.
When Steve’s brain decides to clear out, the first person he properly see, crouching down next to him, is… not his Tony’s.
Steve barely has time to feel disappointed, though, because he takes a good look at this Tony and the first adjective his mind comes up with is ‘breathtaking.’ The man is breathtaking.
He has a perfectly trimmed goatee, brown Bambi eyes just as deep as his Tony’s, deeper bags under his eyes and a light frown, which makes the whole appearance just a tad cuter.
“Tony?” he asks.
“You know who I am?” not-his-Tony asks in reply.
Steve watches as another man approaches him. He’s blonde, tall and built, and Steve doesn’t need to see the striped shield to understand that’s— himself. A version of himself. This Tony’s Steve.
He helps Tony standing up, then puts himself right next to him, shield in front of them both. Protecting Tony.
Steve smiles at that.
Of course, in every world of the multiverse, he’s going to protect Tony. It’s such a deeply rooted feature of himself he can’t imagine anything different.
“Who are you?” the other Steve asks.
Steve almost chuckles. Of course he’s slower than Tony – that’s another constant in the multiverse, he figures.
Wow, the multiverse. He’s really in another universe, like his Tony said. He really did it – he really figured out a way to travel across the multiverse.
Steve feels a pang of longing. He already misses his Tony like a limb.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself,” Steve says. He straightens his back because his legs still feel a bit numb, and looks at the other Steve. “I’m Steve Rogers, I’m from Earth-12041.” He shifts his gaze back on Tony, taking in his wonder and excitement, crystal clear on his face.
His expression is so similar to his Tony’s that he doesn’t even think before saying, “Gosh, you’re magnificent.”
There’s a beat of silence when Tony’s eyes widen and he blushes, and Steve feels a pang of love so strong it takes every ounce of willpower not to close the distance and shower him in kisses.
“Uh…” Tony says tentatively. “Thank you?” he says in a small voice, the words almost sounding like a question.
Before Steve has the chance to reply, the other Steve takes a step forward. “What are you doing here?”
“Oh c’mon, Steve—” Tony cuts in, cheeks still flushed. He looks at his Steve. “Don’t be rude to your nicer counterpart.”
Steve can feel the rigidity of the other Steve at Tony’s words, and frowns a little. That’s when he would make a clever, teasing comeback, and that’s where his Tony would up the game and start filling their bantering with innuendos. This Steve, though, doesn’t reply – he just stands there, posture stiff and shielding Tony with his whole body, and—
Wait a second. He looks at other Steve, standing next to Tony and looking so much bigger than him. Is this Tony really—?
His legs are back to feeling normal, so he goes and stands up, testing his theory.
Okay, he’s slightly taller than the other Steve, probably bigger too.
This means…
“You’re so tiny!” he exclaims, his eyes back on Tony.
Steve watches Tony’s horrified expression, and takes in the scene in front of him. The top of Tony’s head barely reaches Steve’s eyes. He’s leaner than his Tony, less muscular, and his legs look so short.
Steve’s overwhelmed with fondness. He wants nothing more than just hold this Tony in his arms and never let him go, protect him from everything and everyone, forever.
He can’t wait to tell his Tony all about this. He’s sure even him would become smitten as soon as he’d land his eyes on tiny Tony.
“Excuse me?” Tony squeaks, and Steve has to refrain from laughing. God, he wishes he had more time here. He’s definitely bringing his Tony, next time.
Steve notices that the other Steve is smirking and has lost some of the stiffness. He lowers his shield just a bit, and Tony turns his attention back to him. “Really? You choose now to let down your guard?” he asks, appalled. “You know, that’s the perfect moment when a supervillain would strike – when you lower your shield and decide to trust him. That’s pure tactical mind, and here I thought you were the tactical one—”
Okay, so this Tony blabbers even more than his Tony. Steve didn’t think it would be possible – but in all fairness, he didn’t think travelling through the multiverse was a possibility either, and yet here he is.
The other Steve is chuckling a little. “Oh, so now you think he’s a supervillain, not when he appears in the lab out of nowhere, no, when he comments on your height—”
“That’s pure bullshit by the way,” Tony talks over Steve. “Your shield is the size of a dinner plate and you still insist on using that, instead of letting me upgrade your armor –”
“Yeah, it’s my shield, I’m not going to battle without it.”
(Steve could relate to that. The very thought is unsettling – when he’s forced to fight without his shield, it just feels wrong, like a part of him is missing.)
“Villains should really aim for your legs and that’s it, I don’t understand why they don’t think of that,” Tony mumbles, and at that, Steve just has to laugh.
The laugh makes both Tony and other Steve turn towards him. The mood feels a whole lot lighter now, so Steve decides it’s okay to let his own guard down as well, and be himself. “As much as I love watching myself bicker with you,” he looks at Tony, amused, “I don’t have much time here. I’m going back to my world in –” he checks his GPS-watch on his left hand, “fourteen minutes and nine seconds.”
Both Tony and other Steve watch his hand, not taking their eyes off even when he lets it fall. Steve’s fingers move unconsciously to caress his wedding ring, and that is what prompts them to look back at his face.
Steve lets his eyes fall on Tony’s left hand – Steve still has the shield on his left arm – and finds nothing. Huh.
He can feel the others’ curiosity, but he knows they won’t ask – so he decides to sort of answer the unasked question anyway. “So if you have any questions about this, I’ll try to answer them myself. For the specific ones,” he looks at Tony again, “I’ll gladly take them to my Tony, and we can try to come back here together – so you can geek out all you want,” he finishes, smiling.
His fingers are still stroking the ring – and Steve can see the moment when they realize what he’s saying. They both blush, Tony a light shade of red, other Steve to deep scarlet. They carefully avoid looking at each other, both their eyes fixed on Steve.
Oh.
Oh.
Steve feels a bit sorry for them. He doesn’t even remember a time when he and his Tony weren’t together, but he can’t imagine his life without him, without being able to kiss him and hold him whenever and however he wants. He’s such a constant and a big part of his life, Steve feels empty on behalf of other Steve and not-his-Tony.
“He says hi, by the way,” Steve continues. “My Tony. He told me to say hi to our ‘awesome counterparts’ and that you would be interested in my GPS-watch,” he finishes, looking at Tony.
Tony seems shaken back to reality as he blinks a couple of time. “Uh, yes! That’s not what allows you to be here though, am I right?”
“You’re right,” Steve nods. “This is more of a multiverse slash time GPS, it allows me not to get lost in the quantum realm.”
Tony’s eyes light up.
Yeah, that’s quintessential Tony Stark.
Steve smiles as Tony takes him to one of the tables. Steve would love to look around and taking in all the blue surrounding him, but he can’t keep his eyes off Tony. He’s so tiny and excited, it’s like all the energy and life and the very essence of Tony Stark is compressed in a smaller version of the man he loves. He’s absolutely mesmerized.
Tony keeps talking and asking questions and Steve replies the best he can, occasionally memorizing some to bring to his Tony.
The other Steve watches them intently. Steve tries not to mind that, his prime focus fixed on Tony, but he knows that if things were reversed, he’d like to be included. Especially if Tony was talking with another version of himself and ignoring him.
So he includes Steve too, trying not to laugh at other Steve’s baffled expression when he tries to convince him that yes, he’s there because his Tony wanted to try out this little experiment, Steve, I’m bored. No evil masterminds casting him away, no stuff to figure out in order to come back, just some coordinates on his watch.
Steve figures he must have arrived pretty early in the life of this version of Tony and himself. If other Steve is still surprised that Tony would figure out how to time and universe travel because he was bored, then he still has a lot to learn. Tony had told him it’s barely September 2012, and yeah, he was meant to get there in September 2013, but he’s sure his Tony is going to fix that as soon as he gets back.
And yeah, coming back was going to be easier, because Tony had attached the coordinates for his return to the Tower’s time zone, day and year, so Steve is pretty confident he won’t get back in a whole different year.
When the watch beeps the three-minute alarm, Steve has observed enough to know that Tony and other Steve are full on pining for each other – Steve recognizes himself in the looks and gestures of other Steve, and sees the looks and body language of Tony whenever he talks to his Steve— so very similar to his own Tony’s.
Steve shakes other Steve’s hand, smiling. Other Steve looks like he wants to keep asking questions.
“You’re coming back, right?” Tony asks him.
Steve turns to look at him, biting his lower lips, and smiles. “Of course I am. Might take a little, but I promise I’ll be back as soon as Tony’s fixed the watch, and villains decide to let us free for the weekend.” Tony smiles at that. “I’ll see if my Tony can come, too.”
Tony nods. “He should be able to leave as well, provided he sets everything correctly.”
Steve nods. His watch now beeps the two-minutes alert, and that makes him shift his attention back to other Steve, hand still in his.
He’s looking at Tony, fond and – hopeless.
Steve almost sighs.
Hand still grasping other Steve’s, he brings him into a loose hug. “You know,” he whispers, very quietly, “It’s very hard for me to imagine a world where I don’t love Tony.” He feels other Steve stiffen just a little, but he doesn’t let him go yet. “I look at you, and see proof of what I’m saying. I’m sure every version of Tony feels the same way, too.”
Steve lets him go and smiles at the other’s face. It’s a mixture of shock and uncertainty, and Steve nods at him. Trust me, he says with his eyes, fingers unconsciously rubbing at his wedding ring.
The watch beeps its one-minute alert, and Steve goes to hug a confused Tony. He’s just adorable, with the Bambi eyes and the slight frown, and he’s so small Steve feels his heart burst. He takes him in and squeezes him hard, feeling Tony missing a beat in his arms and hugging him back just as strongly. Steve loves the feeling of dwarfing Tony like that, and if he holds on for more than necessary, chests pressing together and hands stroking all over his back, well, you can’t really blame him.
The watch begins to beep its ten seconds countdown – and seriously, that’s a lot of beeping, that’ll have to change – and he moves away. He takes one hand on Tony’s cheek and lets it linger there, Tony’s adoring face shifting to longing for a second before he sighs.
Steve strokes his thumb on Tony’s cheek, and smiles. “Goodbye, tiniest Tony,” he says. He barely has time to register Tony’s cheeks color and his eyes widen in indignation, before the reality in front of him dissolves and he’s pulled back to his universe, his world. His Tony.
Home.