Chapter Text
Logically he knew that he shouldn't be hurting. There were no bruises that wouldn't heal, all his limbs were still attached, and Extremis was functioning. He should be doing fine.
The crack of bones as he stretched made him wince though and Tony rubbed a hand over his eyes as he leaned down to gather water in his palms. The first splash to his face was cold and he sighed, exhaling longer as the cold seeped down his neck. One more splash and he huffed through his mouth.
The mirror was a blur for a second when he straightened and then he could see the blue of his eyes staring back at him. Gaunt was usually a word he reserved for his paler teammates and Hank on the occasions when he was doing particularly bad. Or himself when he was drinking and starving and trying to find a reasonable way to die.
He wasn't drinking right now. He and Carol had that unspoken pact for that. They wouldn't let each other do that, no matter how much the situation seemed to deserve it.
"What are you looking at?" he muttered under his breath and swiped at his reflection with a hand, streaks of wet trails distorting his image satisfyingly.
It was sometime past 12 am when he padded back into his bedroom and the carpet under his feet would trip him if he got any more wobbly. It was exhaustion, he knew. He had been running on exhaustion and adrenaline for the past decade or so but the last few months were trying to beat his past records. They had lived through intergalactic wars, vengeful gods, and magic trips that still sent him reeling if he thought about it.
Somehow, the SHRA debacle was beating them all in driving Tony into the ground.
He wondered if Steve was doing just as bad and shut down that thought immediately. It was fine, he was getting better at the bitterness, and Extremis had more distractions if he went deeper down that rabbit-hole.
Debating between getting a sandwich before getting back to work or trying to catch some sleep, he was halfway out through the room when he got the alert.
Intruder identified in the lab. Human life form. Lab under lockdown. Unauthorised code attempted.
"Well, there goes tonight," he sighed and it should have been ironic at some point, the way he wasn't truly alarmed about an attack. He was tired enough to bypass all the layers and get to the fight if needed, "Let's hope it's not Hill again, though who knows if she's human at this point -"
Identity confirmed - Steve Rogers
He blinked and was out the door even as the armour slid over his skin, moving simultaneously as Extremis flashed newer info.
Some days he wished he had the mutant gene, specifically Nightcrawler's powers. He could go with magic and risk having Strange's whole shtick but that was too much nonsense to bear. Invisibility might be good too. Anything other than having a suit of armour around him as he had to waste precious seconds to go down the levels and stand before the door to his lab.
He wasted a few more seconds hovering right outside the door nonetheless. If he was going to fight Steve tonight, he might as well give himself a few seconds.
The readings showed that the intruder wasn't being threatening or going through anything inside and after tonight Tony would throw up at the thought of thinking Steve as an intruder. But for now, he was fine.
The door opened soundlessly and he could see a figure casually standing at the far end of the lab, loitering near the assembling station. It was a new suit, he registered absently, taking in the dark blue uniform. Stealth his mind provided as a reasoning and Tony could appreciate that. The hood was off and there was no shield in hand. It was strange.
It was stranger that Tony could identify that this wasn't their Steve just by the back.
"I wouldn't touch anything if I were you," he called out and god, was that a quiver in his voice, "Things explode around here."
The Steve, whoever this was, didn't freeze at his voice but did turn more hesitantly than his own Steve Rogers. His Steve didn't do sheepish, not when moving around Tony's space, not in a while. Definitely not in the middle of a late-night attack.
The guy slowly faced him and Tony waited till he moved a step forward, till the light hit his face better.
Huh.
"Are you a clone gone wrong or from a different universe?" he asked and the guy frowned a bit, confusion flickering for a second before his shoulders settled. He was still blonde and still had blue eyes but everything else was just wrong. Maybe different in some other place but Tony had always been specific so this was just the wrong guy.
"Is this - are you Tony? You're Iron Man, right?" the intruder tried to take in the armour, eyes making note of all the things he clearly didn't recognize, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting this."
"This?"
"I'll tell you if you tell me who you are, buddy," the guy quipped, seemingly relaxing with every passing beat and eyes dipping to Tony's hands before meeting his faceplate, "This isn't the armour I'm used to."
"You're not the Steve I'm used to either," he replied but let the armour retract, raising a brow as his eyes adjusted to the brightness, "Why don't you tell me why my records recognise you as Steve Rogers when you're someone else?"
Something seemed to amuse the man for a minute and Tony realised he was lingering too long on Tony's eyes and the edge of the helmet where the armour had disappeared.
"I am Steve Rogers," he clarified, spreading his hands outwards in a sign of showing no harm. "I'm supposed to be the Steve Rogers of Earth-199999 but apparently my system mistook that for this place. Which is - what's this Earth?"
"Earth-616," he answered without thinking and almost bit his tongue but the guy, the weirdly wrong Steve Rogers, just nodded thoughtfully, "You're hopping universes?"
"Didn't plan to, it was just supposed to be time-travel," Rogers looked down at his hands and frowned a little at his glove, "We don't have the tech for multiverse travel so far. At least, I think we don't. But -"
Tony waited as Rogers lingered, noting the way the man was thinking over something while unseeingly staring at the nearby table.
"But?"
Rogers blinked at the reminder and inhaled before offering a small smile. A peace offering.
"Things went wrong," he took another step forward but it was casual, no tension in gait or shoulders, "This is the second place that isn't my timeline. There was a guy in the previous place, a Reed Richards? He said it would go right this time."
Right. That was a splendid thing to happen tonight. Reed damn Richards. Tony had a good mind to call him right away and throw this whole thing at the man. Interdimentional travel was supposed to be a Fantastic Four thing and Reed had been making less noise than he usually did about his discoveries nowadays. If a Reed of another universe had gone wrong, he would either have had a more experimental system or he had calculated wrong.
Tony didn't like downplaying Reed's calculations, especially with the overall alliances he was in, so he hoped for the first option.
"Did you travel through a portal?" he asked as he quickly gave commands through Extremis to check on Earth-199999, "You said system."
There was silence in reply and Tony blinked, frowning as he stared at Rogers, who was looking somewhat concerned now.
"What?"
"Your eyes - I'm sorry, who are you?" Rogers asked and this time his tone matched more of Steve's firmness, "You didn't introduce yourself."
Tony considered not answering but he could clock the shield lying a little to Rogers' left and a growing readiness in the man's arms. He could fight, Tony surmised, it wasn't a problem.
Then it clicked. Oh. His eyes.
"I'm Tony Stark. Iron Man," he assured and God he'd forgotten the weird look Steve got whenever he used Extremis, "Still human, don't worry. You've never seen Extremis?"
"You have Extremis?!" Rogers' voice rose sharply and yeah, apparently all Steve Rogers hate it, "Is it because of your reactor?"
"Wow," Tony drawled as he took in the growing concern on the man's face, "I take it you hate it?"
"Of course," the tone was blunt and if Tony had to hear more disapproval he would actually walk away, "It's unstable, isn't it?"
For all that Tony missed Steve, missed being in the same space with him, he definitely didn't miss this. Was this the story in all their universes?
"Let's focus on your problem, shall we?" he reminded and Rogers looked like he was going to argue, "You said Earth-199999?"
The face of this guy showed less than that of his own Steve but he could tell that the man was struggling for a minute before he let go, nodding to the answer.
"Well," Tony looked through the data for a beat and paused, growing serious as he made sense of what Extremis was showing him, "Wait, this doesn't make sense."
"What are you doing?" Rogers asked and Tony blinked out of the feed, frowning at the man's confusion, "Why do your eyes keep going black? Where are you staring at?"
What was this guy playing at?
"What do you think Extremis does, Rogers?"
"It's an unstable version of a enhancement serum, isn't it?" the answer was immediate and okay, maybe he did know, "Healing factors, exothermic manipulation, superhuman strength. Too similar to the serum."
Wait. Exothermic manipulation? What?
"Okay, so this one is different then," he cleared his throat and waved around the lab, "A little similar on the healing but it's more - cybernatic interface."
There was a pause before Rogers spoke again.
"That sounds like an AI in a human, Tony," the man seemed wary and Tony was getting really tired.
"Do you want to go back home or not, new guy?" he sounded sharper than he had intended but kept going, "Because I can tell you that you've got bigger problems on your plate."
Rogers didn't flinch but didn't interrupt either and Tony took a breath before breaking the news.
"Earth-199999 doesn't exist"
***
It was really strange to see a Steve Rogers who showed heartbreak and sorrow on his face rather than masking it as anger. Tony had lived with Steve for a decade, off-and-on being teammates and always having a front row seat to his moods. It wasn't hard to know when Steve was sad and when he was angry. If you knew him well, you could tell the difference.
He wasn't as open and vulnerable about it as the guy in front of him though. Or maybe he had just stopped being so in front of Tony.
"Take a breath," Tony advised as Rogers processed his barrage of information that spilled out as soon as he dropped the unwitting bomb, "I'm sorry, I just meant that you had gotten the numbers wrong, not that - you're fine, your world is fine, I promise. Take a breath, Rogers."
"I'm fine," blue eyes glanced up at him and Rogers tried for a small grin, taking a deep breath, "It's fine, Tony, just a worst case scenario moment. Not panicking."
"Uh-huh," Tony put his hands down from where they had risen in some weird attempt to coax down the panic, "Okay, so you're not technically wrong but your Earth right now isn't Earth-199999. That must be why Reed got it wrong. Or maybe he didn't course correct and check with the changing pattern. Either way, we know the right location."
"Which is?"
"616," Tony could feel a chuckle bubbling at the unimpressed look on Rogers' face, "You could check it yourself, I can give you the data. Your Earth is called 616 now. You guys had some high levels of cosmic energy and some strange Quantum Realm shifting around. I admit, Reed is more into this. Or Strange, for the multiverse travel. But this isn't as bad as it sounds."
"Can two Earths be the same?"
"Technically no, but it looks like there's been some re-arrangement so I'm guessing my Earth is now some other number. All of this is mostly just Reed and his classification, there's no cosmic numerical system."
Rogers nodded even though Tony could see that he didn't fully understand. They were still in the lab because he wasn't sure about letting Rogers out of it yet and the guy didn't look like he was big on staying around. He also didn't look like he was suspicious of Tony anymore so that was a good place to be at.
"Can you send me back? To my Earth?" Rogers asked after a beat, eyes flicking around the lab before meeting Tony's gaze, "Or maybe get this world's Reed Richards?"
"I can do it myself," Tony reassured even though it would be better if he just called Reed. He didn't want to talk to Reed though. They'd had another argument today and tomorrow he had to go back to working with the man, so he was going to take one night off. Anyway, this wasn't tough. He knew enough of portals and multiverse dimension calculations to do this. "You wanna sit down? This will take an hour or so."
Rogers sat on a bench not too far away from where Tony brought up his screens, conveniently angled so he could watch but also not be staring directly. It was comfortable, much more than it would have been if the man had insisted on asking what he was doing. Steve used to do this sometimes, back when they were in the Mansion, come and sit while Tony worked on the armour or security systems. He'd pick a closer spot though, pick up one of the nearby stools to be in Tony's orbit.
He had never claimed that he didn't miss Steve, even during the short times they had stayed apart, but this was a different level of ache. It felt like mourning something that wouldn't come back.
"It's late, isn't it?"
"Hmm?" Tony blinked as he focused on the calculation in front of him, noting the shift of clothes to his side, "It's somewhere around working hours."
"At 2 am?"
"You could sleep if you need to," Tony quipped, lips quirking into a hint of a smile as he heard a sigh, "I can't let you go up but there must be something on the couch down there."
"I meant for you," Rogers replied and this time Tony cut him a glance, getting a shrug for his effort, "You could sleep a while and we'll deal with this after a break?"
That made Tony pause, turn fully to face Rogers. The man was still on his bench and there was no hint of discomfort on his face. He looked around the same age as Steve but the hair and suit made him look a little out of place. He didn't have Steve's bone structure or his shade of blonde, but there was a vibe that said this was a Steve Rogers too. Maybe it was the way his hands rested against his thighs or the calm in his eyes, which were more cerulean to Steve's azure.
It still made me fond that he knew the difference between the two. He'd spent far too long being an artist's best friend to not hear lengthy discussions about this.
"I'm fine," he replied, swallowing the wince as his shoulders twinged when he craned his neck, "This is more important."
"You look tired, Tony," Rogers pointed out but his voice was gentle, like he was talking to someone else and -
"I'm fine," he repeated, this time with more surety because he didn't want pity from a guy who didn't know him, "This isn't even late for me."
"Maybe," Rogers made a face like he didn't know how to place that, "but you look more tired than just a long day. Maybe someone else could do this? You could call -"
"There's no one else," Tony cut him short and this is why he hated alternate universes, this is why he hated worlds where things weren't as messed up as his own, "If you haven't noticed, nobody's coming down. Reed's busy at his place. I've got this."
There was silence for a while and Tony exhaled as he continued with his work. He didn't need to think about the way this guy said Tony, the dips and inflections of affection clear in two syllables. He didn't need to think about everything looking wrong with this Steve Rogers and everything right about the way his eyes still lit up with concern. He definitely did not need to think about why the man was being careful with a Tony Stark who wasn't even his own.
Somewhere along the quiet, Rogers took a clue and went over to the couch so he could sit comfortably. Tony wasn't looking at him but he had always been keenly observant about measured footsteps.
It was comforting in a way, the mindless calculations and rewriting of equations. It was far better than making containment plans with Maria or working on another LMD of a friend with Hank being passive-aggressive through it all. He had spent too many nights at SHIELD in the past few weeks but coming back home felt too cold. Today had just been a pit-stop to get away from the boiling tensions in the camp.
Maria thought Tony needed to be more firm regarding Steve and his allies. Carol didn't say it the same way but she kept shooting him worrying looks whenever Steve's name came up in any discussion.
He really didn't know why any of them thought he had any control or power over Steve Rogers leaving or staying. Steve had made it clear that he didn't.
"You live here alone?"
He blinked and frowned as he realised that Rogers had spoken up again, looking over to see the man stretching his feet out on the couch but not fully resting. Was he still watching Tony?
"What?"
"You said nobody would come down here," Rogers pointed out, "Does that mean you live here alone?"
"Why?," he briefly considered the dangers of revealing too much but was too disinterested in caution, "It's different in your world?"
"Yes," the answer was immediate but Rogers didn't elaborate and Tony imagined this man's team, still happy, still together.
His fingers flexed against the screen for a second before he brought his hands down on the table. The cold smoothness felt familiar under his skin and Tony tried to remember a time when this was a warmer memory.
"Things are a little...rough, right now," he settled on finally, not looking up to see the reaction, "I'm sure you've had the same."
"The team broke up?"
"Yeah, you could say that," Tony huffed a tiny laugh and he was so exhausted, God, "But we've had that before."
For a pause Rogers didn't say anything and Tony wondered if this man was so different to his own Steve's persistence.
"Is it the Accords?"
"What?" Tony blinked hard before he looked up, "The what?"
"The -," Rogers floundered for a minute, trying to find the right words, "Is it about politics?"
Good God.
"SHRA," he answered and his hands clenched, just once, before unfurling, "Yeah, it's about politics and we call it the Superhuman Registration Act."
Rogers nodded like he could make sense of it and Tony didn't know what to make of that. Did this mean they did this in every universe? Was there ever going to be a space where they didn't have to do this awful stretch?
"It's a mouthful," Rogers said at last, a wan quirk of his lips flashing before his gaze slid down to his feet, "I'm guessing everyone left?"
"Sounds like you already know the answer to that," Tony offered and Rogers exhaled quietly, a slow nod, "What's it called in your world?"
"Sokovia Accords," Rogers said quietly before clearing his throat, "It was called the Accords for a while."
Sokovia?
"Was?" Tony pointed out and Rogers blinked up at him, "You said 'was', as in past tense."
"It's been a while," the man replied, his tone neutral and a faraway edge to it, "Or not so long. I haven't thought about that in years. Well, we did work - it's been a while since it happened"
Right. Tony didn't know if he wanted to parse out the broken away sentence or if he wanted to think about how the man still seemed okay in Tony's presence. If they had gone through this, in another world, it had been some years ago and hadn't made the guy hate Tony Stark of any universe.
For a minute it was difficult to swallow and then Tony let it go.
"So," he asked instead, "is this your first time with time-travel?"
"Not really," Rogers bobbed his head in a vague head-tilt, "It's the first time alone, though."
"Who came along the last time?"
"Tony," the name shouldn't have surprised him but he knew that his face wasn't fast enough to mask it when Rogers continued, "He's the one who created it."
That did make sense. He had expected Reed but if it was just time-travel, it could have been Tony too. Multiverse travel was more Reed's speed.
"It's not the same here, right?" Rogers asked and Tony raised a brow at him, "We don't have a Reed Richards in our world. Or maybe we haven't found one yet. Do you guys have Scott Lang?"
For a second he felt the words like a punch to the gut. The pain was so sharp that he nearly flinched, wanting to curl into himself. Just the name shouldn't bring memories so strong that he could taste bile but hearing Rogers ask about Scott with that casual curiosity made his head spin for an instant.
Just an instant and Tony was back.
"Ant-Man?" Rogers continued, clearly misinterpreting Tony's expression as confusion, "Is that -"
"We have a Giant-Man," Tony interrupted and it was a damn lie because Hank wasn't Scott, it wasn't a comparison in any way, but Rogers didn't need to know that, "I get it. Dr. Henry Pym ring a bell?"
Rogers frowned but nodded.
"We have a Hank Pym," he said like he was parsing the name out, "I've never met him, not well enough, but he's the one who gave Scott his particles. Is that the same guy for you?"
Particles? Oh. Pym Particles.
"Yeah, same guy," Tony exhaled before getting back to his work, "So you used the particles for something?"
"Quantum Realm," Rogers said, like it was obvious, and Tony almost froze, "Between that and Tony's work, we had time travel. I don't think we ever expected a multiverse though."
"Or maybe Stark hadn't seen it right"
"We didn't know," Rogers repeated and this time it was sharp, making Tony eye his face. The man looked colder than a minute ago but it was directed at Tony and not whoever his Stark was, "This wasn't Tony's fault."
"Maybe you trust him a little too much," he replied and he didn't know why he was making it worse but it felt wrong, it felt weird seeing the confidence when he wasn't sure about his own Steve, "Don't tell me you don't know he screws up."
"You don't know him."
"I know Tony Stark. I am Tony Stark."
"You don't know my Tony Stark," Rogers insisted, his tone brooking no argument and that was - Tony fought hard to not scream at the confidence.
"You said you had your - Accords," Tony pointed out with a humourless laugh, "I'm pretty sure we both know you weren't on his side in that. Still think he doesn't screw up?"
"The -," Rogers broke off to control his incredulity before speaking in a measured tone, "You think this whole thing, your SHRA is only on you? We disagreed on the Accords but how is it Tony's fault?"
"If you believed him, why would you disagree?!"
"I didn't disagree with him, I disagreed on the Accords" Rogers wasn't yelling but he was getting there, "That wasn't what went wrong."
"Of course," Tony scoffed under his breath, "he went against your principles. That's always personal to you."
"It went personal because of me!"
The words echoed in the silence of the lab and Tony felt the stillness between them as Rogers faced him with a clenched jaw. There was no hint of lies or misinterpretation on his face and his eyes met Tony's head-on.
"What -"
"It was personal because of the things I didn't say," Rogers said quietly, swallowing hard but not looking away, "It wasn't the Accords, it was us."
"Is that what he said?" Tony demanded because this wasn't right, in what world did Steve Rogers look like this and talk like this and defend Tony over principles, "Because I can tell you, that's just another case of guilt-tripping."
"Guilt - Geez," Rogers took a deep breath, exhaling slowly like it was taking him all his control to not lose it, "He didn't guilt-trip me, you don't even know what happened. Don't blame him for things you don't know."
This was all too much and Tony focused on getting Rogers back to his world as soon as possible. Tomorrow he would have to face his own Steve and all of this, the trust and protection, would be a lie. Steve would look like the friend he had apparently lost.
He wondered how long it took for Rogers and Stark to be friends again. He didn't want to ask.
There was no more discussion while he worked and he ignored Rogers as he re-calibrated the data to fit the new destination he needed. Rogers, for his part, was fine with keeping silent and not letting any more curiosity out.
By the time he was done, Tony felt clearer than he had an hour ago. Work was simple. It didn't involve landmines of words and interpretations. He was good at it. He almost wished he didn't have to do anything else.
"We're set," he called out, voice a little cracked but he licked his lips when Rogers looked up from the couch, "If you get on the portal block, I can send you back to wherever you got waylaid from."
"My time?" Rogers asked as he stood and Tony shrugged.
"That depends on where you were last"
"Right," Rogers nodded, rolling his shoulders before moving forward to pick up his shield, "I can handle it from there, thanks."
They walked over to the space together and Tony let Extremis confirm the data one last time before looking at Rogers.
"Well, good luck, Captain," he offered a hand but Rogers looked thoughtful before he clasped it in a handshake, "I hope you get back home safe."
"Thanks, Tony," Rogers smiled a little before straightening up to look him in the eye, "I know I'm not the Steve Rogers of your world -"
"He has better cheek-bones and hair."
" - and you're not my Tony either," Rogers didn't let go of the hand but raised a brow, "He's got brown eyes and a human brain."
"Wow," Tony laughed a little, imagining himself with brown eyes, "that almost sounded mean."
"I mean it," Rogers shook his head fondly, "Thank you. You clearly have a lot going on right now and this wasn't the best visit."
"Always happy to help Captain America, Rogers," Tony insisted and sighed at the doubtful look, "I know what I'm saying. We've been friends for a decade."
"So you know he doesn't hate you?"
Tony let go of the hand and Rogers let him.
"It's different here, it's -"
"No, listen to me," Rogers used the tone that Tony usually heard when Steve wanted his full attention, "He doesn't hate you. I don't know why you hate yourself but if he's been - a decade isn't a short time. He can't hate you on a dime just because you're trying to stand by your beliefs."
"I lied to him. I kept things from him."
"So tell him the truth," Rogers said simply and there was a calm in his eyes, like he really knew what he was saying, "Tell him the truth, Tony."
"He already knows now, it's too late"
"Not everything. He doesn't know everything. Does he?" Rogers shook his head in exasperation when Tony shot him a stunned look, "I know this story. I've been here before -"
"You have no clue what you're talking about"
"Do you need him?" Rogers asked and Tony felt his breath catch.
"What?"
"Do you need him?" Rogers repeated, softer this time, like he understood the sore spot, "Yeah, I know. Believe me, I've done this. And it always comes down to this one thing. Do you need him? Do you trust him?"
In a way Tony was glad he hadn't asked if Tony loved him. He couldn't stand it if he had.
"You know the answer to that," he said instead, rough and thin through his teeth, "He's clearly told you, your Stark."
"He wasn't the one who lied in my world," Rogers offered a small smile, bittersweet, and shrugged at Tony's expression, "I told you, it's the same story but it wasn't on him. And yes, I did tell him. Took me a while, longer than it should have, but I did."
"How did that go?"
"I told you he doesn't live alone," Rogers answered and that -
Okay then.
"I'm not saying this to change anything," Rogers continued, like he had to clarify before he left, "This is your world, this is your life. You'll have your own future. But you just spent an hour trying to help me get back home and you're alone. Call me selfish but I've never been okay with that."
"So," Tony cleared his throat and looked down at the portal block before looking back at Rogers, "Is this some sort of repayment?"
"Maybe just some friendly advice," Rogers grinned, looking so alien to the grins he had seen on Steve's face, but the same warmth, "Whatever happens tomorrow, try believing in him. Tell him that. If he still doesn't listen, then maybe just get better friends."
"Are you asking me to break up with my Steve?" Tony laughed and it was fine, the vagueness of the question was fine because Rogers didn't bat an eye.
"Only if he's foolish," the guy quipped, looking away at the portal block, "Alright, so I just stand there...?"
"I've got this, yeah," Tony nodded and moved away to let Rogers take his position, walking towards his system to key in the renewed location. It really was a benefit to having a decent working relationship with Reed that Tony wasn't fully rusty about this. He'd get Rogers to his original world. He wouldn't be able to do anything more but the man seemed to have a grip on the next step himself so it would be fine.
As the portal connections came alive, Rogers looked straight at Tony and smiled.
"You're going to be fine, Tony," he said and Tony smiled back at the confidence, as unwarranted as it was.
"Be safe, Captain," he replied and watched as the energy went to full throttle, blinking in blue, before Rogers was swallowed into the portal. His eyes flicked over to his screens as the sound of the energy dying down buzzed.
"Be safe, Steve," he muttered to himself and exhaled, closing his eyes to the silence remaining.