POV JOHN (Tony, the living God)
“Darling, I think we should order…” The Brit was just entering the workshop to pester his husband to eat. He knew as the God of Death, Tony didn’t need to sleep or eat or even breath like human. But he liked eating together with his life partner.
Since he was young, John had always been a romantic, even as he joined the military under the Queen. He always pictured himself eating together with his partner and doing the whole ‘how was your day’ routine. Cuddling to each other on the bed as they watched the Telly. Going on a date to rekindle their romance, all the normal couple stuff that normal people did.
Since Tony, John also knew that life would never be the same. The former soldier almost gave up on his dream of the perfect normal marriage life if it weren’t for his husband. Thank God (literary), Tony was as romantic as he was (playboy, his arse).
His genius husband loved their weekly date night, and one time he even rented the whole theater just so that people wouldn’t disturb them. Of course John ranted on him for wasting so much money, though he couldn’t stop the warmth from spreading inside his chest or his smile.
Tony was like an octopus and he was a great small spoon, which satisfied John’s protective streak. His husband just looked so peaceful and innocent, despite being the most dangerous being in the world. Although, to John he was simply, Tony the chatty inventor, whom he adored, after that first three months in the cave and later felt in love with even after that barmy thing he did (erasing his memory, John would never let that one bollocks thing pass).
Unfortunately, as powerful as he was, Tony still has his old flaws, like forgetting about the time.
So, as usual they always ate lunch together, which Tony indulged for John’s sake, to John’s amusement and fondness. Yet, he forgot the time and now John must picked him up from that secret basement laboratory he had (for the hundred time, honey, it’s WORKSHOP, not Dr. Frankenstein Laboratory)
But then John stopped on his track.
He knew his husband, and that man in AC/DC black t-shirt and black jeans, might looked like his husband, but he was most DEFINITELY not his husband.
“Oh John, thank God you’re okay, sweetheart,” the man that sounded like his husband said in relief.
The stranger took a step forward, which prompted a step backward from John. A flash of hurt and confusion pasted on his husband’s impersonator face before it was gone and changed into something that John always dubbed as Tony’s ‘Stark men are made of iron’ shite.
Goodness, even that expression was the same. Who the bloody hell is this?
***
POV TONY (The Brit and His Impossible Git)
“Damn you, Richards,” Tony muttered under his breath as he looked down on the floor. The tenseness on the Brit's shoulders answered Tony’s fear.
1 hour ago…
“Honey, it’s fine. My fri… Okay I can’t really called him my friend, a colleague… “ Tony crossed his arms and thought for a moment before he snapped his finger and grinned,” a fellow scientist…”
John cut him off before he finished his sentence. “I know Reed Richards, Tony.” He told him exasperatedly. “We lived in the same city, for goodness sake.”
“So, you know that…”
“No. I’m going with you.” His husband said in that stubborn tone that usually told Tony that he wouldn’t budge on the topic. “They always got into their stupid inter-dimensional travel or universe hopping, bloody hell whatever it was. What if when you were working on their machine, you got zapped and went away…”
“Okay, you have a point. You can come with me.” Tony put his hand on the back of John’s neck to stop him from his nervous rambling and also the sudden increase in temperature around them.
He knew well how good John in controlling his power. But when it came to his family, especially Tony and Rosie, John could get very antsy and overprotective. Tony feared what would happen to John and the world when something did happen to him and their daughter. Probably the second Genesis Flood.
The inventor just have to make sure that would never happen and he believed that his husband would never let that happen to the world they all love. So yeah, Tony knew John was just worry about his safety because he loved him, so why not. What’s the worst thing that could possibly happen? Tony was going to help Richards fixed the damn machine.
After all, Richards will owe him for it, and Tony do so love to collect it when the time present itself.
Damn himself for thinking like that, Tony cursed.
The moment the man who looked exactly liked his John stepped away from him, pained Tony more than he would ever admit. Looking up at that other Doctor now, The billionaire realized that at least he was on another universe, not another dimensional.
Thank... Oh God!
John was standing closed to him when the damn machine suddenly turned on. It was good (or not really) that they were the only two around the machine when it happened. Reed and Sue were going out for lunch with their kids at the time. Hopefully they come back soon and realized what happened or he and his husband would be stuck here in a different universe.
Their daughter needed them. Needed both of her fathers to be around. Oh Rosie...
“Uhm, I dunno what to say but…” Tony scratched the back of his neck as he tried to find an explanation. “I have a long version and a short one. But the conclusion will still be Reed Richards.”
For a moment it was silent, then this universe John huffed,” Huh. Alright, that explains so much.”
“Really? You believed me?” Looking dumbfounded, Tony spluttered on. “ That’s it? I don’t need to convince you about my identity? What if I was lying? What if I was an alien disguise as your Tony or I dunno… Amora maybe?”
Not-his-John gave him a condescending look as if Tony, the genius was stupid. “You think JARVIS would have let you live, if you were one of those people?”
“Well…”
“And my husband would have known. He’s scarily knowing when things as simple as a paper cut happen to me,” Not-his-John said, smiling adoringly probably thinking about his Tony.
“Well, at least in this universe, a Tony still married to a John, huh.” Tony grinned playfully. “We Tonies wouldn’t be able to survive without our Johnies.”
Not-his-John snorted, agreeing.
Before long, not-his-John (he got to stop calling him that in his head) brought him up to the penthouse. Tony sat on his (other Tony's) couch while the other man prepared him a cup of coffee.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure JARVIS would find your husband, Stark.” Watson reassured him. They concluded on the elevator ride that it seemed easier to call each other by last names.
Sighing, Tony fiddled with his iron man gauntlet, his only protection in this strange universe. “My John is a worrywart. And there’s something you should know, Watson. He’s not… You know…”
Damn. How could he put John’s uniqueness in a word? A light bulb appeared in his mind.
“John is unique,” Tony exclaimed.
Watson walked back to the living room with a cup of coffee and a cup of tea, for himself. “So is my Tony.”
“Well…” Tony looked frustrated. “My husband is more than ‘unique’.” He whispered in a secretive way at Watson's direction. “He is not what he seems to be.”
“Mine as well,” the Brit calmly put the cups on the coffee table.
With flailing arms, Tony tried to get his point across to the other John. He needed to stress on his John’s unique powers. “He is very powerful. Like scarily powerful.”
He raised his cup to Tony, smiling serenely. “I drink to that, because mine too.”
Now, Tony just felt like he needed to one up the other man. He was of course very proud of his husband’s strength and power over anything with water base. Quietly, he told Watson. “In my universe, not many people knew this but my John can control water. Even fight using it.”
This prompted the blonde-haired man to hold his cup midways and looked interestedly at Tony.
His reaction delighted Tony. “ He can also transform the water into ice and he can…” The inventor whispered,” control blood as well.”
Blinking, Watson said,” Ah, because a human’s body is consists of water, which was more than half of them are in the blood.”
“Yep,” Tony smirked triumphantly, as if saying ‘can you one up that one?’.
Smiling behind his raised cup, Watson answered Tony’s challenge with,” In my universe, not many people knew this but my husband was cursed in Afghanistan and now he has the power of a God. God of Destruction, to be more specific.”
That… That was…
Before Tony could squeal and somewhat feel a bit envy at his other self from this universe, suddenly the Windows broke, blowing the pieces everywhere around them. Watson, the former soldier that he was, managed to pull Tony backwards behind the couch.
“Bollocks,” the man cursed, and Tony noticed Watson’s knee was bleeding over his torn slacks. “Tony is not going to like this.”
“Yeah, I think my John wouldn’t loving this either,” Tony muttered as he wiped the blood oozing from his forehead down to his eye.
“He will be angry,” the doctor sighed resignedly, as bullets started hitting glass and metals around them.
“Furious,” Tony coincided, nodding as he checked over his transformed gauntlet.
Looking sour, Watson expressed his displeasure. “As if I couldn’t have protected myself. I was a soldier, for bloody sake.”
The inventor grumbled in agreement. “Iron man here.”
“But, he is concerned about my well-being because…”
“He couldn’t help himself because…”
“He loves me,” they both said it at the same time, then looked towards each other in surprise.
“Yeah, those are our lions.” Tony grinned cheekily, lifting his hand in a clawing posture. “Roaaaar.”
Chuckling, Watson told him with twinkles in his eyes,” Couldn’t agree more, mate.”
“DOOM has come to challenge you, Iron Man. Come out now and brace yourself with DOOM’s grand entrance.”
“Oh, not him again!” Tony palmed himself on the face. “I just faced this clown yesterday.”
“Yes, this particular clown is an annoyance to us as well,” Watson replied dryly.
“So, what say you, me British mate,” Tony spoke in English accent, smirking,” should we go out and charge?”
“Brilliant idea, my good fellow,” the doctor replied amusingly as he pulled his gun out of his pocket. “By the way, you have a horribleaccent, mate.”
***
POV JOHN (Tony, the living God)
They were just started shooting back for a minute or so with the couch as their protective barrier, when suddenly they heard two distinctive voice shouting somewhat similar phrase.
“I WILL KILL YOU!”
Tony appeared with his sandstorm, which he later will clean under John’s watchful eyes. Then he was awed by the way his other self arrived at the penthouse. The other man came with a flow of water underneath his feet, looking like an avenging angel.
In a flash, thousands of ice shards struck the remaining DOOM Bots, leaving the machines crashing onto the floors. As for DOOM, he just suddenly dropped down onto the floor in a thud, lifeless.
Resigned, John began to take a step towards his husband. In his rash decision to calm Tony, he forgot that his knee has been injured and didn’t have time to stop himself from flinching.
His silly husband was standing up in front of him in a second. Even after five years of knowing Tony and his incredibly wicked ability, John still feel amazed at how much love was given to his ordinary self by this remarkable man. His fascination was cut short when his genius started holding him and searching all over him for sign of wounds.
“It’s alright darling, just a few scratches here and there.”
“Yeah, sweetheart.” Stark chimed in to his counterpart, whom was doing the exact same thing as his Tony. “Just the usual day at work.”
At the same time, they were both ranted by their worried husbands and flinched at their voices.
“Alright?! What… just what?!” Tony spluttered around, looking unbelievably annoyed, exasperated, and agitated at the same time. “This is not ‘alright’. You’re hurt. Look at your knee. This is not a scratch, John. What the hell! He’s dead, so dead and I’m going to bring him back again just to kill him again.”
“’Just the usual day at work’?” His counterpart’s face was looking red by the seconds as he gazed at Stark’s bleeding forehead. He touched the cut carefully, which enacted a low squawk out of Stark. “You have a cut you git! This was just supposed to be a simple fix and go for that bloody stupid machine, not this! We’re not supposed to be transferred into another universe. You didn’t even get to bring your suit, Tony!”
Stark’s eyes met his and their expressions mirrored each other.
“It’s not like DOOM just called and said that he was stopping by. How were we supposed to know?” Stark shrugged.
“He’s right, honey. You do know that our home is a beacon for the bad guys, right?”
Pinching the bridge of his nose, he continued, “I was a soldier you know and I wasn’t exactly alone, dear.” John told his husband calmly. “I’ve got Stark here. We can handle Mr. DOOM for a minute. We’re not defenseless.”
“It’s not like you guys wouldn’t come back to save the day, anyway, “ the other billionaire said trying to appease his own husband by caressing his cheek.
“We can take care of ourselves,” John nodded in agreement.
“Yep,” Stark concurred, crossing his arms in front of his chest. “There is no damsel in distress here. Did you see one, Watson?”
“No damsel here.”
They both glared at their husbands, challenging them to rebut their (probably similar) old disagreements about safety and protection.
Both of their partners mumbled their apologies. Then after a long coaxing, finally Tony grudgingly and reluctantly restored Mr. DOOM back alive and sent him home packing. After all, they couldn’t just annihilate a leader of a country, even one as irritatingly as DOOM was.
After that, Tony healed their cuts and the doctor ordered some food and they all ate together in the kitchen. First, his Tony apologized profusely to him about the reason why he disappeared from the lab earlier. Apparently, he felt a similar aura to John came through Central Park and he felt the need to investigate. When he found Stark's husband, they had a bit of a scufle because of their suspicion of each other's presence and similarity to the other live partner. That’s why their husbands arrived together.
Soon they were talking about their lives and the differences. What differed their paths but still drawing them to their respected husbands.
Apparently, the most notable differences between him and Stark’s John was his power, their sister and the fact that he was kidnapped by Ten Rings to save Tony. While he and his alcoholic sister were estranged, his counterpart had a wonderful relationship with his sister until the day she died.
In Stark’s case, his past and John’s husband was mostly the same except for the highlighted part where he and his John met when they were young. They even formed a long time friendship which later changed into a relationship and ended with a marriage.
He found out later that their counterparts have a daughter and John couldn’t help but felt envious at their stories about their beautiful daughter. As the couple showed a picture of the two of them with their beautiful daughter at their wedding party, John couldn’t help but felt in a love a little bit at her cuteness and beauty.
He stole a glance at his husband, whom looked thoughtful and he wondered if perhaps they had the same thought.
It wasn’t long before JARVIS announced the incoming of an unknown portal in the living room. It was time to say farewell.
When he wanted to give the photo of the happy family back to them, his counterpart refused and winked. “Keep it.”
He couldn’t say anything besides thanking him. The other man probably knew what his thoughts were. They are both John Watson, after all.
After they left, John felt Tony’s arms around him, embracing him from the back. Despite being the God of destruction, Tony always made him felt warm inside and safe.
“So, what do you think about adoption?”
John’s lips curled into a smile at the suggestion.
***
POV TONY (The Brit and His Impossible Git)
They went home after the whole debacle of being transported to another dimension. After tucking Rosie into her bed, they went to lie down in their own bed.
He turned around on the bed to look at his husband. “Do you think they will do it?”
“Adopting?” John cocked his eyebrow. “I think they will. “
“I hope so.” The billionaire sighed. “Watson looked a bit lonely. A little boy or girl will lighten up their marriage life.”
“Are you worryed about him?”
“Did I hear jealousy?” Tony asked cheekily.
“What if I say you did?“ Challenged his husband with mirth in his eyes.
“Then I would say,” he took a stray hair out of John’s face and told him with a serious face. “You’re the only John for me. Even if there’s a million John from other universes, I would still pick you.”
The smile he got that night could light up even the darkness in that wormhole Loki opened a year ago.
"But your counterpart is interesting. Did you notice how his eyes splints in two?" There was a hint of interest and amazement in his voice.
"Yeah, he looked so cool!" Tony squeeled. "I can't believe that's me in that universe!"
"Uhuh."
Then Tony stopped and gave John a watchful gaze. "Should I be jealous?"
"Well..." John smiled funnily and then turned his back at him. "I think I'm off to Bedfordshire, now."
"You...What?" Tony was dumbfounded. "John!"
Without him knowing, John held his laughter back and let his husband flustered for a while longer. Afterall, it's payback for accidentally transporting them to another universe.
***