Oh, God...

[shieldborne]

Infinity War Open Post






THERE WILL BE SPOILERS.

Drop me a prompt, or ask me to drop you a prompt. Open to doomy pre-IW foreshadowing, fix-it AUs, post-IW angst, character interactions that should have happened but didn't on-screen, crossovers, and whatever else anyone can come up with.

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[starkingenuity]

“Gear’s outside,” Tony promises, leaning on the table with one hand, fingers splayed. Bruce tries his best to explain the technicalities behind being linked, throwing all sorts of pseudonyms out for it, but it just seems to confuse everyone. Tony lets him finish though, amused at how many times he needs to push his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

It’s cute. He even says it, but no one takes him seriously. Tony manages to insult and flirt with everyone so much that it’s impossible to really know when he’s being genuine.

“If some of us never meet, at least we’ll all be alive,” Tony says.

He’d rather not know Peter and still have him in this world.

“We know that the Tesseract is the space stone. And we know that the scepter is the mind stone. We have enough information on the former to craft a weapon to destroy it,” Tony eventually continues, only to have Thor drop his axe on the table with a thud.

“Only one worthy may lift this, friend Stark,” Thor boasts. “It is why I must attend to this task with you.”

But Tony shakes his head in response. “Rogers lifted your last sword in the stone just fine,” he says, well aware that there will be shock all around for that.

Steve had been such a good sport, playing it off like he couldn’t move the hammer. But Tony is no fool. And it’s gotten harder and harder over the years to trick him.

Thor turns one blue and one brown eye towards Steve with a frown. “Does Stark tell the truth?”

[shieldborne]

"Will we?" Natasha frowns. "Even if the Chitauri invasion is stopped in its tracks, they'll still be out there. So will a lot of other fires we put out."

"I think," Steve tells her, "this is going to involve a lot of trial and error. If Tony and I succeed and come back and you're all wearing cute little HYDRA uniforms, we'll know we have to try again."

This is about as arrogant as a group of human beings can get, and Steve knows it. They think they can change a few things and get a better outcome, but there is no way to track the ramifications of their actions (well, maybe Strange could have, but he's not here right now), and once they get started on this, they've made their bed and will have to lie in it, no matter what. No one in the room has pointed this out. No one in the room is going to point this out. Half the life in the universe really is enough for them to throw caution to the wind.

The fact that Steve and Tony are on the same side of this argument seems to be enough for Natasha. She nods slowly, misgiving still written on her face, but she's with them, and in for both a penny and a pound.

Steve, for his part, would rather invite Thor along than have this particular secret aired right here and now. He actually pales when Tony brings it up, eyes widening. "How--" he begins, "You saw--?"

And then there's no point denying it. He looks at Thor helplessly. "What the hell would I want to rule Asgard for? And we didn't need the complications. I felt it move and I stopped trying to lift it. But, Tony...that was a while ago. People change."

[starkingenuity]

“People change. But not you,” Tony says with a stubbornness that is both legendary and horrendously annoying. He embraces both equally.

He doesn’t really want to get involved with the argument about what may or may not happen in their new future. The Chitauri will have no reason to come here if Thanos doesn’t. But if he’s hell bent on taking out half of each world he visits anyway and does show up, then the Avengers will all be in place to take care of him.

Loki will still be with Thanos and cause Thor to come back to Earth. Natasha and Barton will be in operation with SHIELD. Steve will be awake... and for he and Steve, their memories won’t change. If they live through this and they choose to keep the new future they create, then they will undoubtedly be relics, left overs in a world where they already exist.

But that’s all right. Peter will be alive, a snot nosed kid that Tony evidently met at some point dressed in an Iron Man costume. And Bucky— Well they can do that over, rescue him before he’s sent after Fury.

It will be fine. Tony demands that it will.

Right now, they need to focus on the damned axe that one demigod is looking hurt over and Steve is being too modest about. Tony tilts his head towards Steve. If there’s one man in the world you can always bet on, it’s Captain Lumberjack.

[shieldborne]

"Despite all evidence to the contrary," Steve can't hold back the mild snark, "I am a person, not the embodiment of the American Dream."

The sarcasm bodes well for this venture. It's a return to some form of normality between him and Tony--although maybe better than their previous normality, because at least they understand one another a little bit better now.

"I'm sorry," he tells Thor. "I should stick to honesty, huh? It's usually my comfort zone. Can't blame me for freaking out, though, right?"

He stands up at Tony's cue, and it still looks like touching the axe is the absolute last thing he wants to do. "It's better if you stay here and keep an eye on your people," he tells Thor, "but I'm not touching it unless you give me permission. Rocket told me what you went through over it."

The raccoon, meanwhile, just rolls his eyes. "Pal, if I could pick it up, I'd take it. But if you lose it, I will personally rip off your nutsack and shove it up your--"

"That hardly seems necessary, Rabbit," Thor interrupts, and makes an invitational gesture to Steve. "Steven is a friend."

"Yeah, well, that axe has Groot's old arm attached, so I got a right."

Steve glances at Tony 'just like old times?', and grasps the wooden handle of the weapon. It comes up easily when he hefts it, no heavier in his grasp than an ordinary axe, and no one looks too surprised at this point. "We'll get the rest of Groot back for you," he tells Rocket, and clasps Thor's arm with his free hand.

"Thank you."

[starkingenuity]

Just barely holding his tongue, Tony internalizes a comment about putting the ‘arm’ in ‘arms.’ He vaguely recalls mention of a tree person being recently dead and joking over anyone whose fate had been decided in a cosmic coin flip is something even Tony won’t do on his most tasteless day. Getting along is a priority, because their chances of success are incalculable. In the engineer’s book, that skews them towards the notch right about Impossible on the scale of probability. Banner had suggested that there was no telling if opening up the quantum level of reality would do anything more than create a black hole and end their neck of the woods the moment Tony pressed the button.

They had all immediately decided not to bring up the potential. Either they attempted to Avenge their colleagues or they go about rebuilding.

‘Rebuilding’ had more or less been thrown off the list with pitchforks and torches.

With Steve grasping the axe, Tony leaves the room. Rocket jumps off of the table to follow and the rest filter out behind them, Thor taking up the rear. There’s more conversation on the way out to the lawn, mostly voices raising questions that couldn’t be answered fully, and though Rhodey does attempt to dissuade Tony from this course of action, Tony can do nothing but hug him. It lasts too long (though it’s no where near the embrace they had shared when Rhodey found him wandering around the wilderness in Afghanistan) and when Rhodey pulls back, there’s a heartbroken look on his face from whatever it was that Tony had whispered against his ear.

Waiting for the group is a set of armor much larger than the Iron Man power suit that they’re all used to. This one is jet black with navy accents and a shadow embossed star surrounded by three concentric rings on the chest radiating from the arc reactor set within the metal. It’s obviously made to Steve’s specifications. Tony had been busy over the years.

He pulls the prototype of the nanotech reactor from his pocket and slips it around his neck. One touch and a more familiar armor forms around him. “Banner?” Tony’s voice is metallic, projected from the helmet as FRIDAY boots up the HUD. “You’ve got the tether cord?”

The scientist holds up a short piece of rectangular plating with clamps meant to attach one reactor to the other. Part of Scott’s suit has been welded to the center.

“Then we’re good to go.”

[shieldborne]

See, working for the greater good flies out the window when you start considering the possibility you might create a singularity and destroy spacetime itself. It's for the best that no one mentions this to Steve. He would probably go ahead with it anyway, but he doesn't need the additional tension in his life.

It's not until they're halfway across the lawn that it hits him that this is a one-way trip, no matter how you slice it, and he pauses in his tracks. It may look like he's just studying the armor Tony's set up, but he's not really seeing much of anything that's actually in front of him. He's seeing the nose of an aircraft tearing through fluffy white clouds as it plummets toward the arctic sea.

"Steve?" Natasha puts her hand on his elbow, and he shakes himself out of it.

"I'm all right." He smiles weakly, then gives in and hugs her. Thor gets an armclasp, next, and then a few uncertain fist-bumps are exchanged between him and the others.

He comes to stand beside Tony, eyeing the armor that's apparently for him with blended awe and trepidation. "It's beautiful," he tells Tony. He'll ask whens and whys later.

He's going to need some kind of direction, though, if he's meant to get into the suit.

[starkingenuity]

Of course it was a one way trip. The people here, standing with them, will either cease to exist as they are now or will potentially carry on with their loved ones gone and the world in shambles if realities happen to break off and diverge. Tony isn’t up to date on his multi world theory but Bruce had filled him in a little while they worked.

Tony doesn’t know if the majority of the remaining Avengers understand that, but he knows that they would all give their lives for the cause.

Tony hadn’t just suggested Steve as his copilot because they’re trying to mend fences or behind he’s physically stalwart either. He chose Steve because he’s the most capable of keeping it together. There are cracks in the foundation, sure, but the building is still sound.

Besides, Steve understands better than anyone the power of true loss. And he’s the most adaptable person on the planet, whether that’s through design or birth, he’s not sure, but it doesn’t make it less true.

For a moment, Tony is left running preliminary baseline scans in the background of his HUD screen and staring at Steve as he stops. The faceplate of the helmet dissolves away. “Uh. Cap? Technically we have as long as you want but—“

Oh. Tony takes for granted how his tech works. It’s user friendly, obviously, if Rhodey, Pepper, and Banner have all piloted his armor, but Steve has trouble with the XBox. “Just walk closer. It will open and you can just step in through the back.”

FRIDAY brings the armor around the Captain and greets him merrily as she powers on his HUD. The rest is intuition mixed with mechanical know-how. The AI assists him in how to use the armor, how to access data and scans through eye and voice control, and how to let his mind move the machine as it would his body for optimum results. “We have spent a long time analyzing your movements so this armor should be easy for yah to get along with. The Boss has also installed a shield component if yah like. Cross your forearms in front of your chest to activate it. But nae now. We’re ready to get yah on yah way.”

Tony had already moved into place by then, face to... well. Chest... with Steve. He just hopes that the tether is long enough.

[shieldborne]

Steve isn't prepared to cope with realities diverging. It would mean, inevitably, abandoning the living, as far as he's concerned, and as much as he wants Bucky and Sam back, Natasha has given him a hell of a lot. She's also the most resilient person he's ever known; he has no doubt she'll adapt to whatever reality they make, but he can't pretend he's not feeling some very real grief in the face of departure.

"...take care of each other," he adds, like he can't stand not to have some kind of final goodbye, even when he's pretending it's not a big deal. Just another mission. "Till we get back."

No making dance dates this time.

Rocket is the best equipped to break the tension. "Yeah, yeah, we'll be here to pull your asses out of the fire when you screw up. Get goin'."

Steve and technology don't blend well. He's competent with his phone, and anything he really wants to learn how to work, he will, but like many old people he has a minor mental block for devices he doesn't feel are his business. Tony's armor has, up until now, been one of these. Now it's going to have to be Steve's business, though, so he steps up and into the suit with a looks of visible trepidation.

It's far less uncomfortable than he feared, although there's a moment of claustrophobia until he discovers how easy it is to move around and let the armor move with him. "FRIDAY? I never mentioned this before but your accent sounds just like my mom's did when she was really ticked off with me."

That's a good basis for a human-AI relationship, right? He picks up Stormbreaker again, carefully, then peers through the mask at Tony. "This is going to be really counter-intuitive for me; you get that, right? I'm grateful, just keep in mind there's gonna be a learning curve."

Tony, you get to be mama bird for a Steve duckling today.

"But I'm ready. Let's do this."

[starkingenuity]

Though one might not have known it six years ago, and even Tony himself had never considered it, the older man is very willing to give himself up to help someone else. It’s not suicidal and that someone else needs to be worth it, but he’s not as selfish as he looks on the surface. He feels differently about this than Steve does too. If the universe rights itself, and the last six years are wiped completely off of the books, rendering every living thing changed, it will be like giving these people a second chance, and one that doesn’t end in the literal returning to dust of their loved ones. Sure, it will also negate a lot of experience, but none of them (save for Steve and Tony) will even know it. If they end up failing, or if the universes diverge at the point they’re traveling to, then the only thing that they will be depriving their friends of now are themselves.

Tony’s already given Bruce access to his accounts. The version of FRIDAY left behind will ensure that the Avengers will be funded for many more years to come and that all of the Stark Imitative money will go to rebuilding civilization. He trusts the people that are left to do what’s right by the world, even if the world no longer includes him.

Besides. They’ll miss Steve a lot more.

As Bruce hooks up their reactions to the tethering device and sets up the calculations, Tony brings up Steve’s image in the corner of his HUD and his face flickers into view on Steve’s. The conversation is private, not because it needs to be but because Tony really does believe that Steve’s image can be as important as Steve himself.

They’re more than their costumes. But their costumes inspire as much as the men and women inside of them.

“I designed your armor knowing that,” Tony says, simply. “I know you’re going to fight against it at first and it’s ready for that. Trust me, Rogers. I know you.” And that’s a pretty scary thought.

But thoughts aside, they are ready to go. It looks like he and Steve are going to dance, how close their armors are, but Tony still places his gauntlets on the Captain’s waist and nods his shellhead.

“Let her rip, Banner.”

The ride is not pleasant. Space and time dissolve around them and while it feels like they’re shrinking, the physics of this particular motion is completely beyond even Tony’s ability to understand them. They’re falling and flying and twisting for so long that by the time it stops, Tony’s actually passed out in his armor. FRIDAY has to reboot herself as the pair fall onto asphalt, causing the poor taxi drivers around them to swerve onto the sidewalk and pedestrians to pull out their phones to post their experience to Youtube and Twitter.

[shieldborne]

Steve has always been ready to hurl himself into the line of fire. Of late, it's taken on a darker turn, like some part of him is looking for an excuse, and that's...not ideal. But even before the serum, he was ready to throw his tiny body on a grenade to protect a bunch of cadets whose interactions with him prior to had mostly been limited to ignoring or laughing at him. Even now, he couldn't fully articulate why that was important to him. It just was.

And he didn't see it in Tony when they first met, although part of that may have been the influence of the Mind Stone in Loki's scepter. Now, though, he sees. He also sees some strategy here, in Tony's choice to bring him along. They're probably the best options available to keep one another sane, the way they prod at one another's weaknesses while knowing, very clearly, one another's strengths.

Even at a reduced size, having Tony's image pop up so close to Steve's face makes him feel like they're about to fight, or kiss, or something. It's weirdly intimate; his gaze locks with Tony's, eyes flickering back and forth like he's trying to read him. There aren't enough words for how that 'I know you' makes him feel. The thing is, he believes it.

"I trust you, Tony," he says quietly, and when the gauntlets grip his waist, he puts his own on Stark's shoulders.

There's really no way to brace oneself for the ride they undertake here. There's a moment where Steve cries out in genuine fear; the guy jumps out of planes without a parachute, falling shouldn't be frightening, but this is more than that. He's terrified of losing contact with Tony, and when they land, he's mercifully conscious, with a death-grip still locked on the other man. The first thing he does is curl over his fallen teammate, to protect him from the cars swerving around them. As if they could hurt him in the armor.

"Tony?? FRIDAY, is he okay?" Steve is oblivious to the civillians around them, for the moment. There is no immediate danger other than the cars, and they're quickly coming to a halt.

[starkingenuity]

“I dinnae think his body could take the forces, Captain, but he’s already coming around,” FRIDAY says, actually keeping her voice more soothing then frantic. She doesn’t want to be thought of as always telling poor Steve off, after all, not when it had taken her boss so long to be friends with him again! She’s trying to put her best foot (metaphorically) forward here. “Boss? Boss-- Ah, there he is!”

The little image of Tony returns to Steve’s HUD and the body beneath him shakes a little before easily lifting Steve from on top of him. The crowd would have seen Iron Man before, but this new, larger version will be new to them. He has FRIDAY zero in on a potential date as he sits up, horns blaring loud enough to almost disrupt his thought, and is pleased to discover that they’re only a week off.

“Okay, I’m okay,” he says, less soothing than FRIDAY attempted to be, and uses one repulsor and his back vents to get himself upright again. As expected, from the way that Steve had tried to protect him, he’d figured out the armor well enough, but he doesn’t have time for praise. “We’ve got to get out of public sight before one of our other selves gets wind of this.”

FRIDAY is already actively jamming cellphones and CCTV cameras, but she’s not a super computer. Tony made sure of that after JARVIS died and Ultron went rogue.

[shieldborne]

He meant it as a compliment, that observation about the accent. His parents were both Irish, but Sarah's accent--or rather the accent she picked up from her own family--came out when she was angry or passionate about something. Steve's does the same thing, although it's a different type of accent.

Steve huffs a sigh of relief and moves away as Tony stirs. "Don't scare me like that."

He's on his feet again fast, further evidence he's managing to adjust to the suit. And he would point out that their outfits aren't exactly inconspicuous, that whether their other selves hear of this or not it's a pretty safe bet Nick Fury will catch wind of it, but instead he opts to have faith in Tony's analysis and planning.

He glances around to figure out where they are, and finds himself wanting to laugh a little. It's a familiar area. Not quite the old neighborhood in Brooklyn, but within a few miles of it. He puts a hand on Tony's arm and gestures down an alley. "This way. There's an abandoned church."

It doesn't occur to him that they can fly in these things, but it might not be the best idea to take to the skies at the moment, anyway. Not if they're trying to get out of sight.

[starkingenuity]

Two power armors trying to stride down the street would be far more conspicuous and so Tony makes the decision to take the middle ground. FRIDAY confirms the position of the church and rather than teach Rogers the ropes about how to make his repulsors work together, he tell the AI to override controls briefly and have Rogers follow him. “Don’t move,” he tells the Captain. “Your strength could pull the armor apart. FRIDAYs got you on autopilot.”

The two armors take off one after the other and zip down the streets towards the church fifteen feet off of the ground, just over power lines and street signs. Tony banks a hard right and the Iron America armor does too, and just as gracefully. Luckily, the church really isn’t all that far away and they both land in the rear courtyard. The great stone building rising above them means different things to both men. Tony finds it to be a waste of space, especially considering how little good religion ever did the world. Steve— Tony doesn’t know, really. The guy’s talked enough about there being a God that he assumes that Steve is still a believer. Despite everything.

The nano suit dissolved from Tony but the Iron America armor hadn’t been constructed like that and so all it does is split down the back and more or less step off of Steve before going into a compact, dufflebag size and shape shell.

“You’re going to have to do the heavy lifting here, Cap,” Tony remarks as he fluffs up his hair. How did he wear it six years ago?

[shieldborne]

When they get back to their own time, they can tell whatever version of Romanoff is there about this moment. She'll laugh and laugh. Steve is not built for stealth, and everyone knows it. It's not usually Tony's M.O. either, when it comes down to it. But what they really need here is speed and decisiveness, and they both have that.

Tony opts to prove his decisiveness without asking Steve's permission, which is not unexpected, but he doesn't have to like it. If he notes Steve's expression in the display, there's about three seconds of annoyance followed by a moment of fright. There's something about being out of control in a skin-tight, full-body metal chrysalis, and Steve has never enjoyed feeling like an unwilling passenger in his own body. He can't really enjoy the exhilaration of high speed flight at that rate, although the distraction of it helps keep him from actually freaking out.

He's panting a little when they land, nonetheless, rattled. There's no reproach forthcoming, though. He picks up the shell immediately and looks it over for a strap or some other way to carry it, coughs, and asks, "What happens if you throw up in one of these? That was a rough trip."

He heads slowly for the side of the building, where there's a set of stairs that lead down to a basement door. The faded plaque beside it reads 'Saint Dominic's Catholic Church, Est. 1927'. What does it say about Steve Rogers that he pats his pockets and comes up with a set of lockpicks like it's no big thing? Hotwiring cars, breaking into cathedrals, it's all in a day's work anymore. "The caretaker knows me. We'll be okay here unless the other me decides to drop in for a visit. When are we?"

[starkingenuity]

“Its yours. You puke in it, you clean it up,” is all that Tony says, hands slipping into his pockets as the reactor worn around his neck glows slightly. It’s almost as if FRIDAY, whose server is currently hosted in the device, is laughing.

His eyes trail up the façade slowly. He might not appreciate the opiate of the masses, but he has to admit, sometimes the architecture is stunning. This thing has been here for almost a hundred years.

Sort of like Steve himself.

About to ask why they’re here, Steve manages to answer him with a gesture. At least that answered Tony’s question about Steve’s affiliation. Evidently, the Captain had been visiting this place after he had been defrosted. Some people have unshakable faith. Even if they’ve decided to stark a lockpicking side gig. Tony has a multitool for standard B and E, not that he ever needs to use it of course, given his name and his face, but he doesn’t offer to do the dirty work today and admires instead how agile Steve’s fingers can be.

Must be all of that drawing.

It’s cooler inside the building than it is outside. Stone will do that for a space, keeping in the cold even on warm days. “April 30th. Five days before the invasion,” Tony murmurs, his already soft voice even softer. He might not be a believer, but the building still imposes itself upon him.

[shieldborne]

"Thought maybe you'd have found a way to automatically convert it to bio-fuel or somethin'. Maybe next time you upgrade." Steve's lips twitch, under the beard, into something resembling a smirk.

He's good with those lockpicks; it's quick and clean. He's not quite a safecracker yet, but he's clearly done this before, and he tucks the set away in his pocket again without a word.

There is nothing in the building here except broken pews, empty fonts, candle-benches, and the stained glass windows high on the walls. Any statuary has been carefully removed by the congregation that abandoned this place. Perhaps the edifice itself has some value as a historic relic; otherwise it would be a t-mobile store by now.

Steve's hand trails absently over the empty holy-water font as he passes. It's a habit. He also looks up at one of the windows, meeting the eyes of the figure pictured there. Saint Michael the Archangel.

"Five days," he repeats. "All right. I can tell you what facility the cube is at right now, but it was destroyed before I got involved with SHIELD, so as far as the layout, I haven't got a clue. Are we going there, or are we waiting until Loki shows up to take it from him?"

In a nutshell: will it be harder to take the damn thing from a Norse deity or out from under Nick Fury? It's kind of a tough call.

[starkingenuity]

“You’re going to have to shave,” are Tony’s first non-whispered words. Walking into the nave of the cathedral has been a buzzkill from the grand austerity of the exterior. It looks the way Tony might have expected Religion, embodied, to appear: broken, once loved, no longer needed. He has no time for this.

He waits for Steve to turn towards him, tempting those eyes to look reproachful, before he continues. It gives him some odd joy to have the other man oppose him.

“And I’ll need to bleach your hair back to the original color.”

Tony looks older than he had six years ago. He has grays that he partially covers in vanity, deeper lines than he ever thought possible, and he’s pretty sure he’s even shrunk. Steve, on the other hand, has a body given to him by science. And science isn’t letting him age at a natural profession. Steve Rogers, if blond and fresh faced, neatly groomed and put in brighter colors, is timeless.

And he’s the one everyone will look at. SHIELD would have just defrosted him, after all. And that means that for them to walk into this joint, Steve is going to have to be on point.

And Tony will just put on some rose colored glasses and exude the awesomeness most people know him for.

“But first we’re going to need a place to stay. No offense, but I’m not sleeping in the place where some guy in a dress told you that you’d go blind from jerking off. By the way, you won’t. Enjoy. Thankfully I have the same credit card account.”

[shieldborne]

Steve could just as easily say the cathedral is a nice metaphor for the state of the two of them. Pretty and impressive on the outside, empty on the inside except for broken flotsam and jetsam other people have left behind. But his views on religion are different. He's slow to respond to Tony's goading because in his head the words are running silently:

Saint Michael Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil...

Steve's named after an entirely different saint, but the archangelic patron of law enforcement and the military gets more of his attention. But even Steve isn't much of a practicing Catholic any longer, and at last he turns to raise an eyebrow at Tony.

"Your plan is for us to wander into the facility as ourselves? That'll make for trouble down the road. For the record, I didn't dye my hair dark. It just looks that way when it's longer." And dirtier. And out of the sunlight more often than not. Being on the run does some shit to a guy's signature look, okay?

"Romanoff leached all the blonde out of my system." That's probably a running joke between them.

"If we're doing makeovers, I'll paint your fingernails, but you're on your own for your pedicure." He's smiling now. "Wait, are you sure about the not going blind?? Wait here, I'm going to the men's room--"

No, he's not.

[starkingenuity]

The cheek! The off-color joke! Tony Stark is almost impressed. The smile on his face is genuine, the slight tinge of sparkle in his eyes can’t be faked. “I’m living proof of being fully sighted,” he says, now outright grinning. Steve’s lean into the humor has managed to break down some of the wall that Tony’s been forced behind, a better dressed Fortunado whose Montresor took pity on him at the last moment. “So take all the time you need. I’ll wait here.”

He even makes a small gesture by leaving against an empty alcove that likely once held a status of the Blessed Virgin, her pure heart on display for all to see, or perhaps with a babe in her arms. Tony is a poor substitute for everything she had stood for in Steve’s childhood.

“And when you’re done then, yes, you can do my nails. It’s been awhile since I’ve pampered myself.” He even glances at his cuticles. The guy works with his hands. He tries to take care of them, all right? “But don’t think you’re getting out of doing something to lighten that mop of yours. You need to look the way you did before we met. And after we’re done destroying the damned stone, we’ll invite ourselves out to Starbucks and explain everything. This isn’t Doctor Who, Cap. We won’t destroy the world if we meet up with ourselves. I’m sure you two will get along.”

And Tony sort of wants to make sure that he and Steve have a better foundation for friendship. His early on arrogance might ruin that, but Tony’s pretty sure he’ll listen to himself.

[shieldborne]

What the hell is it about you, Tony Stark, that makes Steve capable of joking even when curling up in a ball and dying seems like the more sensible thing to do? Steve has been accused of being far too serious for his own good, but Tony's smart mouth seems to bring out something lighter within him. Something cheeky and off-color. And the grin he gets feels like a reward.

His gaze flicks to Tony's hands, and he does sort of admire them. It's nothing he's ever felt compelled to vocalize, but it's nice to see a guy who doesn't have to work at all, who nevertheless can't stop working with his hands. Of course, Steve has no idea how to do anyone's nails, but if the opportunity to put glittery gold nail polish (to match the suit) on Tony arises, he probably will.

"All right, so we're going to the drug store to get bleach and shaving supplies, fine. For the record, I don't think I will get along with myself if that comes up." It might be worth it to watch two Tony Starks talking at each other, though.

"But it might be a good idea anyway. Just...to make sure we don't get our other selves locked up in Federal prison for raiding SHIELD."

[starkingenuity]

‘At’ is probably the very best word to describe what any conversation between two Tony Starks might be like. It had been somewhere around his seventeenth birthday, while attending MIT, that the caring and loving, if rambunctious, kid had finally decided to adopt a Me First And Only mentality. The boarding school he had been forced to before then had been easier on him, but the kids (and professors) at the prestigious institute had shunned his antics. Being the youngest, smartest and most talented person in his class had hardened him worse than Howard’s neglect ever had.

Though Tony’s ordeal in Afghanistan had reversed that particular course, and though he’s softer and more mild than he’d been when he was Steve’s age, 2012 hadn’t produced all that great of a vintage of Stark, despite what People and Time Magazines might have had the world thinking.

All of that will have to come later, though, once they sit down and have a heart to heart about how this had been a one way trip and that they can’t just live in the new future where everyone is healthy and happy and more constituted than dust particles.

The armor and the axe are carefully stowed behind a large stone that only Steve can move where the altar had once stood and the two of them, with Tony keeping his face pointing away from everyone he can, buy what they’ll need at a Duane Read store with minimal effort and no cause of alarm. It’s not until they get to the Four Seasons that there’s any real problems. Tony is recognized by the staff, which is not an issue considering his name is on the credit card, but the front desk clerk, a tall, dark skinned gentleman with peculiar green eyes, can’t stop staring at Steve the entire time that they’re checking in.

Handing over the keycard, noting the lack of luggage, and stepping around the desk to direct the party to the elevators, he slips a small note into Steve’s hand that Tony sees, and can’t help but comment on. Immediately. “Uh. Can we help you?” If this guy happens to be a Captain America fan, or if he’s the grandson of a Commando, they’re in trouble and Tony is going to have to come up with something fast before anyone can mention taking selfies.

The younger man, thankfully, looks dutifully shocked and apologetic. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark,” he says, voice rich with embarassment. His eyes sneak momentarily towards Steve before they drop again. “I should have been more professional than give your bodyguard my personal number while we are both working. But I uh… I want to assure you it was so that he can get in touch with me if you need anything special from the hotel!” Well, that last bit is a lie but Tony keeps his mouth shut on it, frowns, and hands Steve the drug store bag a little roughly.

Steve’s not going to hear the end of this, because the moment the annoyed-seeming Stark gets into the elevator and the door closes, he errupts with laughter. “Well hey! You’ve got yourself a date! Scraggly Lumberjack was bound to be someone’s type,” he says, rocking back on his heels.

[shieldborne]

It's not that Steve isn't self-aware, it's that he's a little too self-aware and has to block it out. Talking to a years-younger version of himself, one with a tighter grip on period sensibilities and a giant chip on his shoulder, sounds like a bad time all around. That, and it's bound to be disorienting for the younger version, who hasn't been out of the ice for long by this point.

They'll cross that bridge when they come to it, though.

At the store, Steve quietly shoves a Hershey bar onto the counter with the other things Tony's buying, like a toddler trying to slip candy into Mom's groceries. Partly he's trolling, partly he's actually feeling hunger for the first time since the fight with Thanos. Either way, he's pretty sure he'll get away with it because Tony doesn't want to make a scene.

At the hotel, he's a sober shadow behind Tony's left shoulder, although he too notices the look he's getting. He doesn't react beyond staring back mildly until the note is pressed into his hand, and then he goes from serious and vaguely threatening to comically confused in a split second.

The guy just gave him his number?? That hasn't happened in...ever, as far as he can recall. He can't quite stifle the sheepish smirk, although he accepts the bag that's shoved into his hands without complaint. "I'll keep it in mind," he tells the stranger quietly, and manages to keep his poise as the elevator closes.

And then he pointedly flips Stark off with both hands. "Excuse me, I'm pretty sure it's the existence of the beard that prompted that. No one's ever handed me their phone number before."

That may partially be the intimidation factor, though. It takes some guts to hit on Captain America.

[starkingenuity]

It takes all the guts in the world to hit on Captain America. The guy is a legend, he’s got the most well known face in the world, and, given that there are countless of books written about him, documentaries made about him, and college courses centered on his life and even his art, most people feel like they know Captain America. Only the truly fanatic would ever openly flirt with him.

Steve’s admission that the beard caused the flirting and that no one has ever given him their number actually stills Tony, mid laugh. “You’re kidding me.”

He almost feels a little queasy about that. He’s probably spent the last six years (minus the two that they were apart), making fun of someone that probably has never even been on a date. How sad is that? Steve is probably the best guy on the planet and no one’s ever given him a chance? Tony doesn’t know, really, about Peggy. He doesn’t know about Sharon either. He doesn’t know a lot about Steve at all, despite those books and documentaries and the fact that his father was obsessed with him.

He, like everyone else, just knows facts. He knows Steve’s birthday and his eye color. He knows his art (perhaps too intimately since he did go snooping), he knows about the war and Project Rebirth…. And that’s it.

“Before we shave your chin sweater off, maybe you should go grab a beer with him tonight.” Tony’s only half joking. Everyone in the 40s was homophobic. Still, it might be good for the guy to make some connections. Especially with how close to the edge he’s been wandering.

[shieldborne]

"Well, I set up a Tinder account, but I put in my real age, so I only get messages from people in Assisted Living facilities," he deadpans. Christ, it's like the conversations with Natasha all over again. "'Likes long walks on the beach, watching Lawrence Welk, and punching Nazis...'"

He doesn't actually like Lawrence Welk, though. It's too modern.

He shakes his head. "Anyway, best stick to business. He was kind of pretty, but that's not what we're here for."

Define homophobic. There were things you definitely did not talk about, but that doesn't mean they didn't happen, and they happened around Steve's neighborhood all the time. He never got a second glance from most women, but there was a time he could have taken up sex work for other men, if he'd ever been capable of dropping his guard enough to accept their advances without snarking at them. It's all a little strange to him, even after living in the modern era for years, but the dropping taboos are one of the nicer things about the way the world has changed.

He actually looks a little bit wistful as the elevator lets them out on their floor. He's been in the run a while now. It was nice to not be recognized. He glances at the paper before tucking it in his pocket. He has no intention of using it, but it's a sliver of something approaching normalcy. He's had more kisses than dates in his lifetime (Peggy, Natasha, Sharon), which is probably a weird state of affairs.

[starkingenuity]

“Lawrence Welk.” Tony can’t bring himself to say anything else because he’s pretty sure that he’s just managed to put part of a finger on why Steve is Steve. And, maybe, why Bucky came first. That’s just a little plot hole to query later, though. Maybe what Pepper told him once about what she had learned in one of her art classes in college was true. When a person draws someone they intimately love, it’s visible in their art work. And that Love was something theorized in the pencil sketches found that Rogers had done of Barnes growing up and during their campaign in Europe.

But that’s a thought for another time.

Tony follows Steve and the chocolate and the shaving kit down the hallway to the set of double doors at the end. There’s a beautiful brass plaque that describes the room as the Presidential Suite and potted plants that are either fake or very well taken care of at either side of the archway. Tony taps the keycard on the reader and pushes his way inside. They won’t be here long, but there’s a bed and two couches and a massive bathroom to use. Steve’s grooming might take some time but Tony had been managing his own grooming for his entire life until Pepper made him comfortable enough to allow her to cut his hair for him.

Thinking about her now has him moving towards the well appointed bar to pour himself a drink.

“Got a favor to ask,” he says, looking at Steve’s reflection caught in a highly polished picture frame hung above the bar. “Whatever else that happens, keep me away from Ms. Potts. The one here isn’t mine.” He downs half of his glass before he turns, clearing his throat from the burn. “Okay, Rogers. Let me likely be the first person in your life to tell you take off your clothes. This is going to be messy.”