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“So, do I need to figure out how to wire money across the multiverse now?”
Steve turned to see Tony standing in the entrance of the gym with a smirk.
“How long've I been down here?”
“An hour or so? Maybe two. Figured you needed a breather after the last one.”
Steve nodded as he unwound the tape from his hands, looking at the mess he'd made from the bags he'd managed to punch into oblivion.
“Damage could’ve been worse. Seems all the Tonys of the multiverse have figured out the Steves's coping mechanisms.” Tony gave him a sheepish smile, but didn’t answer, instead looking down at the tiny bundle Steve now noticed in his arms. “Where are his parents?”
“Steve’s at SHIELD making sure they don’t freak out about our arrival, and Tony’s with Sam trying to figure out if they can see what I’m doing wrong that we keep being shot to other universes instead of home. Figured he could use a break since he’s trying to save my ass and all-“
“Our asses, Tony. We both got ourselves in this mess. And, watch the language in front of the baby.”
Tony stifled a laugh, presumably not to wake up the baby, who he shushed and bounced gently in the process. If I had ovaries, they’d be dying right now, Steve thought to himself, ignoring the way his heart flipped and flopped just the same.
“I don’t think ass is a bad word. And, doubt that’ll be his first word. He’s only a few months old. With us, we’ll this earth’s us anyways, as his parents, he’s bound to learn much worse.”
“Speak for yourself,” Steve replied innocently as he made his way to the nearby bench where his borrowed water bottle and towel were waiting for him.
Tony met him there, muttering about his back being too old for this when he sat. Steve took long pulls of his bottle, trying to avoid looking at Tony and the baby – Peter his name was – nestled perfectly in his arms in a bundle of soft blankets.
“Hey,” Tony said quietly, nudging Steve’s foot with his own. “You okay?”
Steve only nodded, afraid that if he said yes out loud, his voice would completely betray him. When he thought he could form a convincing sentence, he spoke. “It’s all just- it’s a lot. Meeting all these different versions of us.”
“It is,” Tony agreed.
They weren’t sure how long they’d truly been away from home now, but it felt like months to Steve. One of Tony’s tech rivals had been presenting at the current edition of Stark Expo, and dropped tech that hadn’t been tested, boasting teleportation. Steve was backstage with Bruce and Tony and they’d been able to stop Hammer’s live demo before it occurred. Which had been a good thing since it failed. And a bad thing since it failed, misfired and was about to hit Tony before Steve had jumped into place, shielding Tony. And got both of them sent to what they quickly found out was part of the multiverse that Doctor Strange fellow kept going on about. With the help of their multiverse counterparts, Tony had tried to fix the device he’d been holding, which was likely the cause of everything that had gone wrong, but they just kept hoping from one earth to the next instead.
“I figured that last one might have been weirder for you and that’s why you needed to tell that punching bag about your feelings,” Tony continued, making Steve pause.
In the last universe, they’d found their counterparts – like they always managed to do easily, which had made things a bit simpler – but the Tony they’d expected turned out to be a woman. And even Steve had to admit Natasha Stark had been incredibly attractive. But then, when is Tony Stark not your biggest fantasy, Steve thought. My Tony still has a better ass though.
Steve tried for as normal a tone as he could muster but between the exhaustion of the dimensions they were travelling through, and the general feelings of seeing him and Tony together everywhere but where he hoped they’d be, it was getting to be much. “Why do you think that? It wasn’t any worse or different than the previous ones.”
“Yeah, but, we were married.”
Steve chuckled. “We’ve been married or dating in all the places we’ve visited so far,” Steve pointed out.
“True. But with my counterpart being a woman… I just figured seeing a version of what you can’t have in our world-“
“Wait, you think I’m upset because you, in our universe, aren’t a woman? So I can’t date you?”
“Um, yes? I think? I’m assuming, really- okay, my arms are killing me, mind taking him for one second?”
Steve agreed, extending his arms so Tony could transfer the sleeping child to him. Steve soothed Peter back to sleep after he fussed a little from the transfer.
“Gosh, he looks even tinier in your arms.” Tony gave Peter a wistful smile.
“He’s really sweet.” Steve took a deep breath and released it slowly, deciding to be brave and address Tony’s assumptions. “You’re not completely wrong on why I holed up down here, but it’s not for the reason you think either. Don’t feel like you need to do anything with what I’m about to tell you though. It’s only fair, really.
“Seeing Steve and Natasha married and with a kid on the way didn’t bother me, Tony. I get what you’re thinking since we’re not- and I’ve never given you reason to believe I wasn’t, you know, straight. But, um… it was actually this little guy that did me in today.”
Steve smiled down at Peter who was still perfectly passed out in his arms.
“What do you mean not straight?”
“People just tend to assume, because of Peggy I guess, and since I don’t really date it doesn’t come up.” Steve finally looked back at Tony who had the most adorably confused expression on his face. “I like guys, Tony. I’m gay. So, no. Seeing Steve and Tasha together didn’t bother me. But seeing all those other versions of us together? It does something to me. And seeing this Steve and Tony married with a kid… that’s the life I never let myself imagine. But I want that. I’d like that, so much. And seeing them – and in some weird way, me – have that life that I can’t let myself dream of having. It isn’t easy.”
Tony let out a soft oh before putting a hand on Steve’s bicep and squeezing. “Thank you. For telling me that. It means a lot that you trust me with this. But you know… you can still have that, Steve. I’m sure you’ll find someone who’ll want to get married and have kids with you. You are many people’s sexy times fantasy. Gay or otherwise.”
They held each other’s gaze for a beat before Steve’s mouth decided to get ahead of his brain. “Part of the problem is, I want the same partner as all the Steves we’ve met have had too. But the one from my universe, obviously.”
Tony’s mouth fell open and he pointed to himself, but stayed quiet long enough that Steve couldn’t contain a smile anymore at the picture before him. Steve nodded and that seemed to wake Tony from his stupor.
“You like me? Me?”
“I do. A lot.”
“But I thought you hated me! I know we’re friends now but. What?”
“I could say the same for you. But no, I never hated you. I was just so angry when I got pulled from the ice and missed out on my life… I just hated everything and that wasn’t fair to you. The more I got to know you, the more I liked you and I learned to love this new place. And I just kept falling for you more and more. But you were with Pepper and I didn’t think you were interested in boring old me.
“For some unexplained reason, I can see myself doing this with you. Having a life and kids. Maybe a dog. Which is crazy, since we’re not even together. And seeing them have it…”
Steve wasn’t sure when tears had started forming, but he could feel them rolling down his cheek. And then he felt Tony’s hand cup the side of his face, and his thumb wipe a stray tear away. Before he knew it, their foreheads were pressed together and Steve was leaning into the touch of Tony’s hand, and he wished they were home. That all of this was real and his. Not some other Steve’s life.
“The good news is, I think this world’s Tony will get us home,” Tony answered, and Steve realized he’d spoken those last few words out loud. “The even better news is, I like you too, Steve. I have for a very long time and I am genuinely shocked you like me back. The not as great news is I’m not quite ready for kids. But, you know, take me on a date or two and I might change my mind?”
Steve let out a burst of laughter that startled Peter and made both him and Tony start fussing over the baby.
“Apparently I wasn’t so good at keeping it under wraps, cause Nat figured it out. And Mrs. Stark-Rogers too. She said I really shouldn’t wait before something horrible happened before I told you.”
“There are some smart Natashas around us.”
Steve looked at Tony when Peter had settled again. “When we’re home, can I take you out on a date? Whatever you want to do, I don’t mind.”
“Yeah, I’d like that. Can I kiss you now? I don’t think I can wait until we’re home.”
Steve nodded and he felt Tony’s hands, warm and solid, on either side of his face as he leaned in to kiss him, wishing his hands were free to pull Tony closer. Before Tony could deepen the kiss in any way and move it past a chaste brushing of their lips together that was sending Steve’s every cell into overdrive, someone in the room cleared their throat.
“Told you they’d get together before they left,” Tony-from-this-universe told his friend Sam, who was handing him a 10$ bill. “Peter’s magic, I’m telling you.”
“Yeah, yeah. Your kid is cute.”
All four of them laughed, before Steve asked what they needed.
“Well,” Sam answered, “we think we figured out how to send you back home.”
Tony smiled and nodded. “My Steve is on his way back, just in case. But you should be home by the end of the day.”
“How did you figure it out?” Tony asked, looking at Steve with so much awe and joy etched on his face that Steve couldn’t help but lean in for a quick kiss.
“We’ve dealt with time travel before,” Tony answered as Sam snorted. “We just fiddled with it and found this frequency that I think is your home. I’ve got a drive with all the coding for you. Someone named Bruce, is trying to find you?”
“That sounds like home, yeah,” Steve smiled.
“If I may steal my child back, that would be great, and we can go and wait for my husband in the kitchen while I feed this adorable little monster.”
As if on cue, Peter started fussing and burrowing in Steve’s shirt just before his dad scooped him from Steve’s arms. Him and Sam headed for the stairs, Tony in full dad mode and talking to Peter who just wanted his bottle already.
With Steve’s arms free, he wasted no time pulling Tony close to him and right in his lap.
“We get to go home,” Steve breathed out in relief against Tony's neck.
“We’re going home,” Tony echoed. “And I get a date.”
Steve laughed. “Yeah you do. And who knows, maybe kids someday.”
“Someday, maybe.” Tony kissed him again. “I mean, unless you want to just steal theirs. He really is cute.”
“We are not stealing their kid.” Steve kissed Tony’s smiling lips, wondering if he’d ever get tired of it. “Let’s go home.”