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Tony knew about dimension travel, but he'd never really thought about it being his problem. Dr. Strange was the dimension guy with the Infinity Stone to match, so it was his problem first. After that, it was Richards's problem. After that... well, yeah, it probably fell to Tony, by virtue of him being the next big name superhero. People could choose to go to Captain America for help, but how would he know how to get them home? Therefore, Tony. It's not like he'd thought about it very much, but a portal opened in his workshop, and someone dropped on the concrete so it was time to think about it. Tony winced sympathetically because that had to fucking hurt.
He rolled back the chair a little and leaned back to look at them. "You okay?"
"Peachy keen," the man said drily. He pushed himself up to a sitting position, and- huh. That was definitely different. It was Tony, but a little off. He had a goatee too, but it was a different design. He looked taller-- what an asshole-- and his eyes were blue. Other than that, they were basically the same. Different pieces of wear and tear from body to body, but they were both Tony Stark. He was clad only in an undersuit, black and skin tight of course, and a silver wedding ring on his left hand. "What universe is this?"
"Uh, the good one?"
"You don't have a designation?" the other Tony asked, sounding tired.
"Not that anyone's told me."
"You don't look surprised to see me. I can't be your first dimension crossover."
"You're probably not the world's first, but you're my first."
"Aw, I'm honored. Don't worry honey, I'll treat you right," he crooned.
Tony laughed. "Your Bucky okay with you hitting on other people?"
"Bucky?"
"You're not with him in your universe?"
Other-Tony shook his head.
"Huh. I saw your ring and assumed," Tony said, holding up his own left hand in demonstration. His ring was a link off of Bucky's arm before he got an upgrade. It would've been more romantic if it had been straight from Bucky's ring finger on the same spot, but the size hadn't been quite right.
"Ah, no it's not like that," other-Tony said with a wry smile. "He killed my parents in my universe, so that would be a little awkward. Besides, he's head over heels for Steve."
"Then who are you married to?"
"No one."
Tony blinked at him. "Uh huh. Who did you used to be married to?"
"You have a Madame Masque in this universe?"
He shook his head.
"Well. Back in the day we got married. Never got around to officially divorcing, but when your wife is wanted for mass murder in eleven countries and she's been declared dead twice, nobody expects for you to stay faithful."
"You're still wearing the ring," Tony pointed out.
Other-Tony pretended not to hear him and got to his feet, looking around at Tony's workshop. "Nice set-up you've got here."
Yeah he probably should've expected that. Tony wasn't always honest with himself, so this matched up pretty nicely. "Really? Not going to tell me that your own is a decade ahead?"
"Not a decade. Maybe a couple years, but no version of me has ever been that stupid."
"Ooo how flattering. You want to meet Bucky? Maybe he'll like you being an ass as much as he likes it in me."
"If I may, sir," Jarvis cut in, "Mister Stark is on his way down to the workshop at this very moment."
Other Tony frowned. "You still have Jarvis? And Bucky took your name?"
"I told him not to, but he insisted that Bucky Stark sounded better than Tony Barnes. I thought we should just switch last names, but he said that was stupid."
Other Tony snorted then started laughing, and Tony was going to choose to believe that meant he was on his side instead of Bucky's.
"Besides, what do you mean 'still have Jarvis'? Does- does something happen to him?"
Other Tony was still laughing, so it took a while before he answered. "In my universe, yeah. Don't worry though, I'm sure if it was going to happen here, it would have happened already."
"You don't know that for sure."
"Neither do you," he said, rolling his eyes.
Bucky opened the door, looked between the two Tony's and raised an eyebrow. "Is this a weird gift for me, or was it an accident?"
Other Tony looked Bucky up and down slowly, undressing him with his eyes. Normally Tony hated when people did that, but Bucky had brought up an interesting proposition, whether he'd meant for it to be one or not. "I'm game for it being a gift," Other Tony said with a smirk.
"I am all for this idea," Tony chimed in, nodding enthusiastically as he looked at Bucky.
"Good for you," Bucky said, laughing a little. "But I came down cause I'm starvin'. You're both invited so long as th' sex talk waits until after I've had my first plate."
"Deal," Other Tony said immediately, getting to his feet.
"Sounds good to me. Let me just-" Tony saved the work he had up and closed it all down. "Don't wait up for us, J."
"Do you want for me to locate Doctor Strange, or are you keeping him the next few weeks?" Jarvis asked drily.
"Hold off for now, it won't kill anyone if we're a couple hours late in the search."
"As you say, sir."
"He's a bit more cheeky than my Jarvis ever was," Other Tony noted. "He seems more... real here. Do you mind if I take a look at his code when we get back?"
"Yes."
"Tony, he's you," Bucky said.
"Congratulations, you're also a Tony Stark. You're not seeing his code. You're real pretty, but I don't know if you're trustworthy so you're staying away from him."
"So you're letting me be near your husband but not your AI."
"Bucky doesn't need me to defend him, Jarvis does."
The look in Other Tony's eyes could only be described as approval.
"Well how about we grab some chow and you c’n forget all about it," Bucky suggested with a smirk.
Tones-- aka, Other Tony, because apparently he liked that as a nickname even though Tony could not stand it-- didn't really... look happy, afterwards. He'd definitely been happy during, and even directly after they slept together, but when it came time to go to sleep, he was staring at the ceiling with eyes that could only be described as haunted. Tones was good at pretending everything was fine, so it had been easy to do that until Tony and Bucky fell asleep since they didn’t know him that well.
And now he couldn't do anything but feel miserable. This had been a nice diversion, but eventually-- maybe tomorrow morning, a week from now, or six months from now-- he'd have to go home. If he was anybody else, that might be fine, but there was one problem: he hated home. It hadn't been so bad, once, but Giuletta wasn't who she'd been when they got married. She'd promised him that she was done with revenge and trying to get her old life back, but she'd... lost it. She'd gotten paranoid, and nothing Tones did stopped her from spiraling. She died, and he cried, and he had a funeral, and then she came back a couple weeks later with a wild look in her eye and no apology for not telling him that she was alive sooner. And then she died again. And she came back again. By that point, she was so unstable that ending their relationship had barely been a footnote in the other bullshit that was happening in their lives. He'd thought that was the endgame. Him and Giuletta against the world. Instead, it had devolved into the back and forth complete misery that everything else in the world did.
He was here, for a little while, and it was a nice reprieve. No matter how long he was here though, it wasn't going to be long enough. This place was pretty nice. There were still heroes and villains, but there was also a Tony that hadn't lost his company and drunk himself to the edge of death. This Tony had gotten married, and it was a happy marriage, not one filled with lies and distrust.
"What are you thinking about?" Tony asked, and Tones nearly jolted in surprise.
"Eh, nothing," he said noncommittally. They were both talking in low voices to not wake Bucky up.
"Uh huh." It was clear that Tony didn't believe him, but he wasn't in the mood to defend himself. What would it matter? He'd be leaving soon, and he wouldn't see this Tony or Bucky ever again. Tony was smaller than him; he was a little shorter, and his shoulders less broad. He rolled over and tucked himself into Tones's side, and Tones put an arm around him automatically. "How long are you going to be here?"
"I dunno."
"You don't have to rush," Tony said tentatively. "Me and Bucky talked, and you're welcome here for as long as you want."
"Good to know," Tones said neutrally. Tony was only offering because he didn't think he'd be around long enough for it to matter.
"Your other universe will survive without you, won't it? We could use you here. Steve will be pissy about it, but he doesn't like it when things change. You don't have to answer right now, you can think about it for a while. As long as you want, really," he added in an even quieter voice. "It's not like you have to decide unless you leave, cause that would be a pretty clear answer, right?" There was a long pause, and Tony shifted, then yawned.
Neither of them said anything, and Tones closed his eyes. Someone cuddled up next to him certainly couldn't hurt his chances at getting to sleep.
"Kinda... kinda love havin' you here, y'know?" Tony mumbled.
Tones didn't consciously feel better from that statement, but he managed to fall asleep, so clearly something good had come from it.
"You're staying, right?" Bucky asked. Tony had gone to the bathroom, and Bucky had propped himself up on one elbow as his metal hand traced the lines of Tones's body. "I mean, it's been a while, and you haven't mentioned wanting to go home."
"Two weeks," Tones corrected, because it hadn't been 'a while', it had been two weeks and that's it.
"Right, it's been two weeks. And I know, if it were me, I'd be itchin' to get back to my universe."
"That's because you have things to miss." Shit, that sounded bad. "A husband that loves you, a team that's more like a misshapen family than people you were ordered to be around..." Tones shrugged. "It's a pretty good life."
"So why not make it your life? Lord knows we've got the room."
"And make this universe deal with two Tony Stark's? I'm not sure they've done anything to deserve that."
"Hey, that's my husband and boyfriend you're badmouthin', so watch it."
Tones paused. "Boyfriend?"
"That's what you are, ain'tcha? And you wouldn't leave me high an’ dry, would you?" he added with a smirk. "I've gotten used t' two Tony's, I can't go back now."
"That's the most pathetic excuse I've ever heard," Tones said weakly.
"Well," Bucky said, leaning down to press a soft kiss to his chest, "is it working?"
Tones sighed; it had worked, and they both knew it. Tony would probably be over the moon. And though he wouldn't admit it, Tones was too.