Timeline #2 - Change Into A Person
Tony had a headache.
Like, a really really bad headache. A him-sized headache, in fact, and he was very much considering apologizing to all his friends if this was the kind of headache they always got after the antics he pulled.
“Tony? Tony, are you okay?” Steve’s anxious face swam into view, his gloved hands cupping Tony’s face, and Tony realized he’d been standing in the middle of a battlefield that was now empty of enemies with his eyes squeezed closed and a scrunched-up expression for a while now, waiting on something horrible to happen.
Yeah, that wasn’t weird or embarrassing at all. But in his defense, he’d just had a fuck ton of knowledge poured into his head – the least shocking of which was that the multiverse? Was apparently a real thing? That actually existed outside of bad scifi novels?
And from there it just got weirder because apparently the universe (universes? Timelines? Confusing fuck-all parallel realms of existence?) had decided to pick him to be its inglorious savior – or at least, a version of him. From a different one of the timelines. No, he was not pouting that he wasn’t the Tony Stark that got picked to save everyone’s asses. And actually the more he thought about it, the more he was glad it wasn’t him. Having to save 14 million universes before getting to return to his own? Jesus, that Tony Stark was going to be one even more messed up sonuvabitch when he finally got home.
But that unlucky bastard had been living his life for the past two years, and now it was time for Tony to take it back. Not that he was displeased with the developments, if he was being honest with himself. The stones had showed him what was going on, let him experience it like he was living it, so Tony had already been able to go through the process of grieving for Pepper, of bonding with Steve, of getting past Steve’s pigheaded, stubborn need to always be fucking right that was so simultaneously infuriating and wonderful that he just wanted to violently make out with the man for a few hours – and – and – wait, where had he been going with that again?
Oh, right, reclaiming his life. Might be a good idea to start by stopping his creepy staring-silently-into-space circus act.
“I’m fine, worrywart,” he said flippantly, batting Steve’s hands away and giving the super soldier a reassuring smile. He didn’t look particularly reassured. Tony didn’t blame him.
“Are you certain, Man of Iron?” Thor called, brow pinched with concern as he made his way over, Valkyrie and Nebula hot on his heels. Tony didn’t need to turn to know that Rhodey had already come to stand beside him; he could feel the James Rhodes Concerned Mother Hen Routine activating without even looking his way. “You became very pale,” Thor continued, and Tony just gave him a quick, easy grin.
“I’m good, Point Break,” he said, wiggling his fingers at him. “See? Everything’s working just fine.”
“I would not go that far,” Nebula muttered, and Tony raised a questioning eyebrow. “I still maintain that your head has not worked right since before I met you.”
Tony gasped, clutching his chest in mock-offense. “From my own daughter? Such betrayal! I didn’t save the universe for this!”
A sudden loud groan drew everyone’s eyes to Rhodey, who had his face in his hands. He peeked through his gauntleted fingers at them. “Do you all really not realize this is the beginning of the end? He’s going to be insufferable,” his platypus lamented dramatically. “Do you remember how he went on and on after he flew a nuke into a wormhole in New York, Cap? Thor?” The dawning comprehension and fear on their faces was fairly amusing to watch, even though Tony was also feeling vaguely insulted. “It’s going to be so much worse now. He gets to pull the ‘saving the entire universe’ card, god.”
Universes, Tony thought but refrained from saying.
“Fuck,” Captain America whispered very, very quietly, and Tony whirled on him.
“Cap! Language!” he scolded, giving his boyfriend (partner? Significant other? Ugh) a shit-eating smirk. Steve tilted his head back, and Tony heard him counting very slowly to ten, and he snickered.
But he was distracted from his amusement by the sound of a very loud THUD behind him, and he turned, the rest of the team with him tensing momentarily, then relaxing. A blue-and-grey armor was standing across from him, its face unreadable until the helmet retracted, and then Tony had to resist the urge to beg its inhabitant to pretty pretty please put the helmet back up because Harley looked furious.
“You’re not dead,” he shouted, and Tony’s eyes went wide as the kid stomped over to him, looking murderous.
“No, but it’s looking like I might be in another couple of seconds,” he said, bewildered, as Harley got in his face, poking him in the chest, face red and livid.
“I thought you were dead, you absolute fucking asshole! You said goodbye, after I fucking asked you not to leave me, and you were going to just do it anyway?” Tony was frozen, unable to do anything but listen as Harley raged, and then the kid started pounding Tony’s chest with his words, metal ringing through the crumbled ruins. “You were going to leave me behind after you promised you wouldn’t! I thought I lost you.” And he punctuated the last word with a particularly hard hit that made Tony stumble back a couple of steps, Steve stepping forward with some concern, but Tony waved him off without taking his eyes off Harley. Harley stared at him for a moment more, fury and pain warring in his eyes, and then he launched himself at Tony – and flung his arms around Tony’s midsection, burying his face in Tony’s still-armored chest. “Don’t you ever do that to me again, you bastard,” he murmured.
Shocked, Tony’s arms closed around his kid with a small clank, looking at Steve helplessly, baffled at the sheer level of emotion Harley was displaying. Steve only smiled softly at him, and Tony swallowed noiselessly, humbled and amazed that someone cared about him like this.
“I’m sorry, Harl,” he said finally, one hand coming to rest in the kid’s hair. Harley finally pulled back, and Tony could see the kid’s eyes were red-rimmed. His guilt level hitched higher – just in time for another voice to pipe in.
“I have to second Harley, Mr. Stark,” Peter said quietly, and Tony’s head jerked up to see his other son standing a few feet away, mask held in one hand and looking at Tony with the saddest eyes he thought he’d ever seen. Tony felt this heart drop a little at hearing Peter call him by his last name; he’d been ‘Dad’ for a while, he knew from his memories that Peter had been calling him that.
“Petey?” he called out tentatively, and Harley let go of him, pulling back ever-so-slightly to look at his brother. Peter shook his head, silent, and Tony fought down the urge to just immediately start shouting out apologies, giving Peter a moment to process.
“Mr. Stark, I – “ Peter choked off, looking away, and Tony could hear some of the others in their group cough and start to shuffle away, clearly embarrassed to be watching the family drama unfolding before them, but Tony’s gaze was focused on his boy. Finally, Peter turned his head back, looking Tony in the eyes, expression hard but heartbreakingly broken. “You were just gonna go? Just like that?” he asked softly, and Tony swallowed.
But he forced himself to answer truthfully, forced himself not to sugarcoat it or hide anything from his kid. “If it meant protecting you? You and your brother and sisters? Yeah. Yeah, just like that, Pete,” he said, his voice quiet but firm, holding Peter’s eyes.
And then he only had to wait a moment more before Peter was following in Harley’s footsteps and launching himself into Tony’s arms. Tony stooped down to catch him, letting the boy wind his arms around his neck and tugging him close. He pressed a kiss to Peter’s cheek and closed his eyes, one tear slipping out.
He was here. He was here, and his family was okay, and his Peter was in his arms, his Harley, Rhodey, and Steve at his side, and his Morgan and Happy at home. He couldn’t ask for anything better.
Silently, gratefully (and as weird as it felt), he fervently thanked the Tony who’d stepped in and saved his universe so that he could have this moment of perfect happiness.