Oh, God...
May. 29th, 2018 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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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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Date: 2018-08-08 12:21 am (UTC)So he rolls with it, shaking his head. "I'm overwhelmed by your hospitality. Were you planning on eating or sleeping at any point, or are you going to just spend all night working?"
He'll sit on the couch, no argument, leaning heavily against the arm and resting his chin in his hand. And when DUM-E rolls up with a glass, he accepts it gingerly and pats the robot without awe or fear. "Is this channel secure? Any chance this conversation is being overheard or recorded?"
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Date: 2018-08-08 01:03 am (UTC)The arc reactor is going to have to wait. Tony shoots out of the water, around a passing ferry boat, and shoots towards the Tower, unaware that he has a familiar set of eyes on him. The other Tony, still leaning against the car hood, takes that as his cue to start a count in his head to fifteen minutes. It should take about that long for Steve to get Tony out of the Tower and that’s enough time for him to make his way over.
“So where did you learn that kind of language? Are you catching up on a hundred years of history by watching procedural television shows?” Tony asks as he jets towards the landing platform on the edge of the Tower and heads towards a machine he lovingly calls his valet. Audible T, just like the Brits. It will remove the armor from him so that he can join Rogers in his sunken living room, without even needing to worry about a secure connection. In fact, he’s speedy enough to continue his line of conversation in person, looking so much younger than the man Steve is sleeping with. But just as cocky. “All of my lines are secure. SHIELD know that their pet is off leash? Or are there agents skulking in my Tower? Coulson?”
JARVIS assures him that they’re alone but Tony still looks behind the bar.
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Date: 2018-08-08 01:27 am (UTC)That ought to either catch his interest or get his goat. Maybe both. And Steve chooses to leave it at that, until Tony makes his entrance.
There, that's the face he remembered. The one he wanted to punch at first sight. He didn't expect to feel the same impulse any longer, not now that he knows more about the man Tony is, and was, and will become, but--he surprises himself a little. It's not a rush of hostility he feels, but there's a powerful urge to wipe that cockiness away and replace it with something humbler. Is it just because it irritates him, or is it because he knows there are layers upon layers of vulnerability beneath, and he prefers Tony when some of those are laid bare?
"Nice to meet you, too," he says dryly. "First of all, I'm here alone. Second, I was never their pet, and Fury will be very disturbed if he hears about this conversation, and it'd be to both our advantages to make sure that doesn't happen. You wanna pat me down next? I don't have Coulson tucked in my pocket, promise."
That's not supposed to be innuendo, but once the words are out of his mouth, he realizes it sounds that way and takes a drink of his water in an effort to cover up the momentary awkwardness.
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Date: 2018-08-08 01:48 am (UTC)Tony doesn’t need foreplay here. Nor context, which amounts to the same sort of thing. He watches Steve with an understated intensity, lines forming on his forehead and around his lips as he tries to keep himself suspended in a casual sustain.
“I’m all for disturbing Fury, though. I owe him a little disturbance. But if you’re running away, there’s no room at this Inn, Captain. You’ll have to find somewhere else. Could suggest a circus. You’d make a good strong man.”
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Date: 2018-08-08 02:13 am (UTC)He doesn't go any closer, unwilling to look threatening, but his hands go back into his pockets. "I'm from the future," he tells him, expression going from wearily amused to deadly serious in a fraction of a second, those terribly, terribly blue eyes zeroing in on Tony's face. "In a couple days, you're going to meet the Steve Rogers that just popped out of the ice. There's a difference; you'll figure it out. But I've just seen the end of life as we know it, so I'm gonna need you to hear me out. I don't expect you to just accept everything I tell you as gospel. I know you better than that. Just pay as much attention to what I'm saying as you do to coming up with ways to insult me, okay?"
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Date: 2018-08-08 10:57 am (UTC)He could also have predicted his younger self’s reaction, which is an arched eyebrow and a smirk.
“Who put you up to this? Pepper? Is this Coulson’s newest way to break the I...oh. That joke is probably too soon. I know he’s been very excited about your updated costume. He scanned in hand drawn sketches. It’s cute. Or creepy. Depends on how you’re swinging I guess.”
This Tony hasn’t met implausible yet. He hasn’t lived through aliens trying to kill him yet. Just people.
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Date: 2018-08-08 12:28 pm (UTC)(He doesn't think putting him up to troll Tony like this would be Coulson's style, but he does have to acknowledge it would be a pretty good prank, if it was. Also, goddamn it, Coulson drew sketches? He wants to see. He had no idea the man could draw--but there's no time now.)
So, okay. Nothing's gotten through yet, so no more Mister Nice Cap. He puts on a faint, superior smile and takes a few steps closer. "Okay. You better not tell Coulson what you did with all those Captain America trading cards you used to have. He'd be horrified. Did you have any input on the outfit? I hear you were really into the red boots."
He leans an elbow on the bar. "You told me yourself. Eight years from now."
Didn't he promise to try not to give this version any ideas? Whoops. Granted, the older Tony didn't explicitly tell Steve he used to jerk off to that one trading card--he just means Coulson would be horrified they were destroyed--but there's room for interpretation in that innuendo.
Well, bringing his sexual history in helped convince the younger Steve. Might as well try it here, too.
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Date: 2018-08-08 12:53 pm (UTC)“I think Coulson and a younger me might have shared tastes,” Tony replies tightly, eyes narrowing, “so he probably would just be jealous that I had more trading cards than he did.” Tony doesn’t know that Coulson has the whole collection. In pristine condition. He hasn’t had to see the blood splattered on them yet.
Honestly, if this plan works, he never will. And that should be a relief to Steve.
“So you and me are besties in eight years, I develop a time machine and I send you back without any Quantum Leap references to warn me... about what? Skynet coming online?”
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Date: 2018-08-08 01:35 pm (UTC)"Yeah...he's going to ask me to sign them, in a few days," Steve says, expression softening minutely.
"We handled the Technological Singularity just fine, don't worry about that. Just be nice to JARVIS," he tells him dryly. He gets the Terminator reference. Quantum Leap is a little more obscure and not something he's encountered yet. He'll ask the other Tony later. It'll give him a chance to roll his eyes and be superior and he probably needs the emotional boost.
Of course, Ultron won't be a problem if this plan works. They'll destroy the Mind Stone. Tony will have to develop technological crises on his own steam, then.
"Believe it or not, the problem is HYDRA," he tells him grimly. "Hear me out. In a couple days' time, SHIELD is going to call on you because the power source Red Skull used in the 40s, which your father dredged up from the ocean--and I'm still pissed off about that, by the way, but that's on him, not you--"
Maybe that will make him feel a little better about this, knowing that Howard is on Steve's shit list. "The cube. The Tesseract. Whatever you want to call it, it's going to be stolen from SHIELD. They want your help tracking the guy that stole it."
"The Steve Rogers from this time period will be there, too, and a handful of other people with a lot of talent and crushing personality disorders. It'll be fun; that's not the problem. The problem is SHIELD can't be fully trusted, because HYDRA's infiltrated it."
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Date: 2018-08-08 08:11 pm (UTC)Tony is really not pleased by the connection his future self has with Rogers. That he would tell anyone about his tug rituals seems implausible at best. Rhodey doesn’t know about the teenage situation, nor should he. You don’t just offer that information up.
Not even Pepper knows and they have sex on as regular a basis as Tony can manage with his brain dragging him into the abyss at every waking second.
It bothers him. It really bothers him.
“Why are you telling me this? Tell Pocket Coulson. Tell yourself. I’m not an international spy for a questionable government agency.” Tony appreciates the shared distain for Howard here, but it’s not enough to instantly cause them to bond.
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Date: 2018-08-08 08:33 pm (UTC)Then again, if Peggy couldn't, maybe no one could. Still, he feels responsible, and these days there's a nasty little doubt in his brain, whispering that he went down with the Valkyrie because he wanted to. It's both true and a lie. His confidence wavers a little, gaze dropping. "I failed. Maybe...there wasn't any point in me dying, anyway. But I'm here now."
He shakes his head. "I'm telling you because you have the expertise to hack SHIELD's system and pull out information. What the hell is a guy recovering from freezer burn going to do in the face of that kind of technology? Write letters to the editor? At this time in my life, I'm a brawler, and a soldier, and an artist, and that's what I know. I'd get myself killed, alone, now. Given a few years to acclimate, sure, but we don't have a few years."
He looks up at Tony again. If what he's saying carries a one-two punch of sincerity, it's because he means it. Telling Stark about Thanos isn't happening; it's bad strategy. He's barely ready to believe this much. But Project Insight is a global threat, too, and Steve takes it personally. "I've got other work for the younger version of me. He and I are going to make sure the cube gets destroyed. And Coulson's a good man, one of the few you can really trust within SHIELD, but I don't see him accepting all this just on my say-so. Not right away."
"I'm counting on you being inquisitive enough to find out, whether you believe me or not." And that's the truth.
"Project Insight could kill tens of millions of innocent people. Just look into it."
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Date: 2018-08-09 08:03 pm (UTC)Eight years might be long enough to repair that, of course, but that doesn’t explain why Steve knows intimate details about him. Maybe they’re friends, that’s cool, but holy shit, this sounds like so much more than a friendship.
“Oh. I’ll look into it.” He can’t help but move behind the bar and put two glasses on the polished wood. His dad told him Cap couldn’t get drunk but he drinks alone enough. Steve can at least appreciate the taste of fine, aged Scotch.
“So how am I in bed?” Tony asks, mostly looking for reaction to test his hypothesis. He might not rigorously follow the scientific method but sometimes it’s useful. There’s very few reasons Steve would know intimate details about him. Either he starts fucking Steve in the future or his Future Self died to send Steve back and decided this was the best information to use to gain his trust.
The latter is more plausible but he imagines men from the 40s would be homophobic enough to bark at his uncouthness or at least blush. He’s hoping for the blush.
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Date: 2018-08-09 08:36 pm (UTC)Unfortunately, Tony's very acute guess throws him off balance. The memories of lovemaking are very fresh in his mind, and his first time was only a couple nights ago, so naturally he turns a gratifying shade of pink, which seems to go all the way down his neck and vanish under his collar. Tony gets a brief glare for his trouble, which quickly softens and drops to the floor.
"Pretty demanding," he says. "Thorough. But surprisingly kind."
He clears his throat and straightens a little. "But don't go hitting on the younger version of me, if you know what's good for you. He's not ready, and I am in no way worth screwing up what you've got with Pepper for."
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Date: 2018-08-09 08:44 pm (UTC)Why would he and Pepper ever break up? Certainly not for Captain America— The answer comes to him a moment later and he recaps the bottle and leaves it on the bar before grabbing his drink.
Steve is here to thwart an apocalypse. Pepper must have died.
And Tony’s absolutely an any port in a storm sort of guy. Or had been before Pepper straightened him out.
“Now I can at least die happy,” he says, sarcasm dripping from his tongue. He keeps looking up at Steve as if he expects him to start undressing. And that’s ridiculous. “So message received. Captain America spy work will commence immediately. I trust you can show yourself back to the future?”
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Date: 2018-08-09 08:55 pm (UTC)Tony's words say he's being dismissed, but there's a glass on the bar that was clearly intended for him when it was poured, even if Stark has changed his mind since. And Steve can't just go. So he picks it up and takes a surprisingly conservative sip of the contents. He still drinks like he's a 95 pound asthmatic more often than not, even if he could knock back a couple bottles and never feel it.
"Not much point going back to the future. I'm not even sure, if this works, whether I'll keep on existing? Might just crumble into..."
...dust. That was a bad place to let his mind go, and Tony gets a glimpse of color draining from his face before he downs the entire contents of the glass. Futilely.
"...anyway, don't worry if you don't see me again after this."
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Date: 2018-08-09 09:44 pm (UTC)One that makes him wish she was around so he could feel her up a little and get over this weird vibe of attraction he feels for those intense blue eyes looking at him.
Tony sinks a little into the couch opposite the one he’d initially told Steve to sit on. The white one. Not the black.
“Sorry about the mess in the future then. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you stick around to know me for a decade after this.” Maybe reassurance is all Steve needs to take a hike so he can see if Pepper would be willing to get some red boots?
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Date: 2018-08-10 01:29 pm (UTC)"But since you asked, I was pansexual before the word was coined. But that wasn't something we discussed in my day. Not in polite company."
He comes back around to sit on the black couch, even though he's more than ready to flee this conversation. "Listen, there's a couple other things you ought to know..."
He's fumbling for a hook, and abruptly he wonders if he should tell him that HYDRA was responsible for killing his parents. Like he should have told his Tony a long time ago. It would definitely be a massive distraction, but it would also be an emotional overload, and coming from a Steve Rogers he doesn't really know and already resents...
That wouldn't end well. And Steve doesn't much care if the man turns on him physically, but he can't afford to be kicked out just to assuage his guilty conscience. He made a mistake he cannot undo. He'll have to live with it.
"Fury isn't working with HYDRA. Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton are clean, too. Them and Coulson. But the corruption goes pretty high-up. I can't tell you with any certainty who is and isn't involved at this point. Be careful. No one's too high profile for them to kill."
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Date: 2018-08-10 11:35 pm (UTC)Looking at Steve now feels a little like looking at Pepper. The guy must really know him, and that’s comforting. The only trouble is that Pepper won’t be gone for too much longer and Tony really doesn’t want to lose the moment. Not when Steve has a lot to tell him. Tony is still battling his guilt and trying to atone for all of the lives he’s taken through the weapons he’s produced.
What better way to atone than to save the entire damned world?
“JARVIS, order from that place I like,” Tony says, pulling himself off of the couch to pour himself another drink.
“Burgers or pizza, sir?” JARVIS has obviously had to guess multiple times in the past.
“Pizza,” Tony says, already at the bar again. “The Captain and I are going out before Ms. Potts returns. I want the pie waiting for us.”
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Date: 2018-08-13 08:52 pm (UTC)Not so with this younger Tony, but he's still comparing and compiling, if with less desperation. The weary look he's getting worries him. He doubts Tony's had enough liquor to get more than buzzed, unless he'd been day drinking before Steve showed up...
But suddenly, the older Tony's certainty that Steve was going to get dragged out for pizza proves well-founded. He wants to laugh, but curbs the reaction into a brief grin. "I'm not sure I understand your junk food obsession, Tony, but I gotta admit, your taste in pizza is second to none."
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Date: 2018-08-13 09:06 pm (UTC)It’s extra cheese and birch beer again, and they’re back in that corner by the door to the office and stock room. People are giggling and texting around them, but Tony’s eyes are fixated on Steve, drinking him in and turning him over as if trying to decide what the best angle to bite into might be.
They’d spoken at length In the car about HYDRA, and JARVIS took down names and places to search while his human creator had pizza with a man more out of time than ever before. Now, Tony is less interested in work. You don’t work while you have pizza unless it involves watching TV too. The news keeps him informed of where he needs to go next, but it’s also entertaining.
“So I’ve been thinking that when I get closer to retirement, I’ll run for president. Is your me President?”
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Date: 2018-08-13 10:51 pm (UTC)He does make sure to pull the brim of his hat down and angle his face away, though. He doesn't want to be in the background of any chance snapshots.
Tony's calculating, analytical gaze makes Steve feel slightly more vulnerable than he'd like, but it's a small price to pay for ice cold birch beer. Maybe it will feel satisfying to Tony to watch Steve genuinely enjoy his meal choice.
He blinks at the suggestion, then looks thoughtful, because politics is a long way out of his wheelhouse, but he wouldn't be surprised if his Tony has been involved in ways other than getting caught up in the Accords. He's going to ask later. "No...but honestly, we could do worse then President Tony Stark. I don't think you'd enjoy the process, but if you're serious and the world doesn't blow up, go for it. At least one of the two of me will vote for you."
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Date: 2018-08-13 11:21 pm (UTC)The whole process takes half an hour. It takes longer for the other Tony and Steve to get to Brooklyn, actually, but Tony isn’t planning on following the pair. Steve used to be their leader and he trusts his judgement on this. It’s up to him to tell as much or as little as he wants.
Tony is just about to leave the Tower when the smell of a familiar perfume causes him to look over his shoulder. He hadn’t even heard her come back. “Have you been working this whole time?”
Tony finds himself smiling and shrugs. “You know me,” he says, which seems to take the woman aback.
“Yeah, Tony, I do and—“ she starts but Tony cuts her off, heading out of the room.
“Hold that thought. Be right back,” he says. He finds it odd, stepping into the elevator, how much he doesn’t miss her. Maybe it’s because she’s not really Pepper. She’s a Pepper from years ago, younger and more willing to put up with his shit.
And Tony doesn’t need that anymore.
That’s probably why he’s not at all bothered, and sitting behind the wheel, when Steve returns. He tilts his head back against the headrest and smiles up at the blond. “Two more days. How do you want to play this, Rogers? Because if I know you like I think I do, we’re going to have to get you a new uniform.”
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Date: 2018-08-14 03:14 am (UTC)Younger Tony is both better and worse than he remembered. Or maybe he just has an easier time seeing through the sandpaper facade, even as it rubs him the wrong way. In the end, he's terribly, terribly human. Flawed, brilliant, hungry for regard that has no relation to his family name or the number and size of his bank accounts. He's just...Tony.
That having been noted, he's still glad to get back to his version. Steve's state of mind is mercurial enough that having to modulate it over the course of the evening has gotten exhausting, and he's glad to be in the presence of a Tony Stark that's reliably a bit more tactful. He slides into the seat beside him and reaches to run his fingers through his hair at once, like it's some kind of sensory thing he needs to clear his mind from the past couple hours.
"You mean a new, new uniform, or an old one?" He smiles wryly. "I kinda hate to just rob the Smithsonian again. What did you have in mind, and does it involve the red boots?" He's getting a lot more mileage out of that sartorial decision than he ever thought he would.
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Date: 2018-08-14 10:56 am (UTC)No one will need Tony to find HYDRA. JARVIS will be able to do it on his own, working with the other Avengers. He will never become Vision, but that doesn’t mean he can’t join the team in Tony’s absence.
And he and Steve can make sure HYDRA goes down before it can ever officially pop back up again.
Turning back towards those blue eyes, ones that radiated affection in the darkness, Tony can’t help but smile. “It’s got everything to do with those boots. SHIELD should have a few prototypes laying around. There’s a few not so bright and Disney-Prince.”
Tony doesn’t think he wants to play break and enter any more tonight though.
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Date: 2018-08-14 01:29 pm (UTC)Actually, under the right circumstances, Steve is betting he could get him to purr.
He has no idea what's in store for the younger version he's just encountered. It's probably better that way; their plans can't afford the argument and sheer moral horror that would spark. Is that suicide or murder, killing a younger version of yourself? Time travel is full of ethical complications.
But since he is innocent of any plot other than their own, he laughs softly when Tony teases him, eyes brightening. "I love you and your unexpected footwear kink," he tells him with impulsive sincerity. "But I hope you're kidding about busting into SHIELD for them. Are we going shopping or something? I had pizza, but you should probably eat."
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