Dedicated to smilingxqueen I never thought I'd write a stony story, but anything for you! I hope you will like it 💙.
They were back. He couldn't believe it. He thought he would die in space, but he was back on Earth. Back home.
The entry hatch opened, and Tony walked out with the help of Nebula. And then there was Steve. His Steve. Tony gripped Steve's arm while he was helping him stand on his feet. Steve was alive.
"Couldn't stop him," was the first thing he said. He kept his eyes on Steve. He was afraid that once he looked elsewhere, the love of his life would turn into dust too.
"Neither could I."
"I lost the kid," he said, and Steve gave him a compassionate look.
"Tony, we lost..."
"Is, uh...?" Tony struggled to ask about Pepper. He needed his best friend with him. He needed her to be alive. But before Steve could say anything, there were two hands around his neck writhing him in a hug.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God!"
"It's okay," Tony said. But it wasn't.
"We should go inside," Steve murmured.
"That's probably a good idea. You need to see a doctor," Pepper agreed, helping Steve support Tony. He didn't need her help with his strength, but she wasn't going to leave Tony. She let him go that day in the park, and she still blames herself. It was a nice day. They were on a walk, and Tony was telling her about how he wanted to take his relationship with Steve to the next level. She was happy for him.
And now? He looked as if he was on the continuation of death. And he probably was. She hated that.
"It's been 23 days since Thanos came to Earth," Rhodey said. The hologram in front of them alternated photos of people who had turned into dust.
"World governments are in pieces. The parts that are still working are trying to take a census. And it looks like he did... he did exactly what he said he was gonna do. Thanos wiped out fifty percent, of all living creatures," Natasha continued.
"Where is he now? Where?"
"We don't know. He just opened a portal and walked through," Steve answered.
Tony looked around. There were not many of them, and he wondered if the rest of them had turned into dust, just as Peter had in his arms.
"What's wrong with him?" he asked as he noticed Thor sitting on the bench seemingly deep in thought behind the glass door.
"Oh, he's pissed. He thinks he failed. Which of course he did, but you know there's a lot of that's going around, ain't there?"
"Honestly, until this exact second, I thought you were a Build-A-Bear," he said, trying not to panic.
"Maybe I am," said the raccoon, and Tony grinned faintly. He was sure that if there were other circumstances, they would be friends.
"We've been hunting Thanos for three weeks now. Deep Space scans, and satellites, and we got nothing. Tony, you fought him."
"Who told you that?" he asked in surprise. "I didn't fight him. No, he wiped my face with a planet while the Bleecker Street Magician gave away the stone. That's what happened. There was no fight," he said and watched Steve's reaction. He could see a little hesitation at the mention of the planet. A few seconds of worries before Steve's face began to look important again. A few seconds. That was it.
"Okay."
"He's unbeatable," he said, looking at the hologram that was right in front of him.
And there he was.
A 16-year-old boy smiling at him from a photo.
A 16-year-old boy begging him to save him.
"Did he give you any clues, any coordinates, anything?" Steve asked and Tony lost it. It was too much.
"Pff! I saw this coming a few years back. I had a vision. I didn't wanna believe it. Thought I was dreaming," he snorted.
"Tony, I'm gonna need you to focus," he said and Tony wanted to laugh. He wanted to laugh at the absurdity. He thought about Steve all the time he was lost in space. He was glad to see him tonight when he landed in the backyard. But now he wanted to hit him.
"And I needed you," he said honestly. "As in past tense. That trumps what you need. It's too late buddy. Sorry. You know what I need?" he asked and stood up. "I need to shave. And I believe I remember telling all you-" He wanted to go to Steve but lost his balance and nearly ended up on the ground. But fortunately, there was Pepper who caught him.
"Tony, Tony. Tony!" He gave her a look, and she let him go, though she didn't like it.
He once had this with Steve. One glance was enough and they knew what the other thought.
"Otherwise what we needed was a suit of armor around the world! Remember that? Whether it impacted our precious freedoms or not- that's what we needed!" he snapped and he managed to get closer to Steve without any trouble.
"Well, that didn't work out, did it?"
"I said, "we'd lose". You said, "We'll do that together too." And guess what, Cap? We lost. And you weren't there. But that's what we do, right? Our best work after the fact? We're the Avengers, we're the Avengers. Not the Prevengers."
"Okay." There was Pepper again.
"Right?!"
"You made your point. Just sit down," she begged him.
"Nah, nah. Here's my point. You know what?"
"Tony, you're sick," she warned. She knew he would say something he would regret.
"I got nothing for you, Cap! I got no coordinates, no clues, no strategies, no options. Zero. Zip. Nada. No trust. Liar."
Steve looks affected by Tony's words. They just stare at each other for a moment. Then Tony riped his arc reactor from his chest and shoved it into Steve's hand.
"Here, take this," he said and then he felt on the ground.
"Tony!" Steve shouted worriedly. So he had some emotions after all, Tony thought.
"I'm fine. I..."
And then it was black.
Steve was sitting next to the hospital bed where Tony was lying. Thanos was dead now, and he could focus only on the man in front of him. The problem was that Tony still didn't wake up and he was getting a little nervous, even though Bruce said it was normal and Tony would wake up before they knew it.
"The last time I felt this way was in 2010, after my birthday party," Tony groaned and Steve quickly shifted his gaze to him to make sure that the man in front of him was really awake and that he wasn't just dreaming.
"Tony!" he breathed, and a huge stone fell from his heart.
"I guess it wasn't just another terrible dream," he murmured, rubbing his eyes.
"No," Steve whispered.
"I lost him. He was my family. He was like a son to me."
"I know, Tony."
"Yeah, you know. But did he know? He begged me, Steve! He didn't want to die and I just stood there watching him turn into dust," he said with tears in his eyes.
"There was nothing you could do. No one could. I'm sure he knew how much you care about him," Steve tried to comfort him.
"How could he? I never told him! And just before he disappeared, he apologized to me! HE apologized to ME! Just because I told him that when he died I feel it's up to me."
"I know it's hard, but we're gonna make it. Together," he said, trying to grab his hand, but Tony flinched.
"It was here before," he snorted.
"Tony. That's not fair. How could I be there? And why did you go to that ship by yourself?"
"Oh, I wasn't alone. Peter was there even though I sent him home!" he cried.
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"That's the thing, Steve. I don't want anything from you anymore. What I wanted from you, was to tell me how much you missed me. I wanted you to hug me. I wanted you to tell me you love me. But instead, you just stood there asking for information."
"We had a task ahead of us. Do you think none of what you said I didn't want to do? Do you think I almost didn't lose my shit when you said the bastard threw the planet at you?!"
"And that's always it, isn't it? You're a soldier. First duties, then personal life. Maybe you've been in that ice for too long. A lot of people think I don't have a heart, but maybe it's not me who doesn't have it..."
"What do you mean? Tony, I love you," said Steve, slightly desperate. He knew it wouldn't be easy, but he didn't like the direction of the conversation.
"But is that enough? We weren't happy."
"What are you talking about? We were happy!"
"We were, but then Ross came and our happiness went aside. Who are we trying to fool? I did what I could, Steve, but the truth is we weren't happy. It was a bit better with Peter, but we still missed something that wasn't there anymore. And I tried. I wanted to move us further. I wanted to move in permanently, get a puppy or something. But I can't do it anymore. I think this is the end for us, Cap."
"Do you really want that?" asked Steve, broken.
"Yes."
"Now, we know what it sounds like.." said that Lang guy, that Tony didn't like much. After half a year, his ex-boyfriend with Lang and Natasha walked here and he left them because he wanted to show that he had a character, although it was difficult for him to see Steve after so many months.
"Tony, after everything you've seen, is anything really impossible?" Steve asked, and Tony grinned. And it was here again. Duties first, personal life second.
"Quantum fluctuation messes with the Planck Scale, which then triggers the Deutsch Proposition. Can we agree on that?" he asked, but his answers were only puzzled looks from all three of them. "In Layman's terms, it means you're not coming home."
"I did," Lang said, and Tony wanted to punch him. How could they come to him with something that neither one of them could really understand?
"No, you accidentally survived. It's a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you wanna pull off a... What do you call it?"
"A time heist?"
"Yeah, a time heist. Of course, why didn't we think of this before? Oh, because it's laughable? Because it's a pipedream?"
"The Stones are in the past. We can go back and get them."
"We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back," Natasha explained.
"Or screw it up worse than he already has, right?" he snorted.
"I don't believe we would." Oh, he forgot how optimistic Steve could be.
"Gotta say, sometimes I miss that giddy optimism. However, high hopes won't help if there's no logical, tangible way for me to safely execute said time heist. I believe the most likely outcome would be our collective demise."
"Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel. That means no talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events-" God, a few more minutes and he really going to punched him.
"I'm gonna stop you right there, Scott. Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the universe is based on Back To The Future?"
"No," he replied hesitantly.
"Good. You had me worried there. 'Cause that'd be horse shit. That's not how quantum physics works."
"Tony... We have to take a stand," Natasha said and he laughed.
"We did stand. And yet, here we are. I wish you'd come here to ask me something else. Anything else," he said, finally looking at Steve. "Honestly, I... I missed you guys," he added. He hoped Steve would say something, but he just stood there again.
Duties first, personal life second.
"What are you reading?" Tony asked as he joined Pepper in the living room.
"Just some papers for tomorrow's meeting."
"How is my company doing?"
"You know-"
"I figured it out, by the way."
"You know, just so we're talking about the same thing-"
"Time travel," he said, and she gave him a shocking look.
"What? Wow... That's amazing, and... terrifying."
"That's right," he murmured, and for a moment there was silence. He sat down beside her on the couch and she grabbed his hand.
"What will happen now?" she asked.
"I don't know. The only thing I'm sure I don't want to lose you. You're my family."
"He was your family too," she said carefully. She didn't understand how a teenager had managed to get so much of Tony's attention and admiration. And then she met him and she liked him too.
"Yes, but I can't help everybody."
"It sorta seems like you can."
"Not if I stop. I can put a pin in it right now, and stop."
"Is that what you want?"
"I sometimes feel I should put it in a locked box and drop it at the bottom of a lake... go to bed," he confessed.
"But would you be able to rest? Just think about it, Tony. You can have him back. Everything calms down for a while and Steve and you- "
"There's no Steve and me," he retorted.
"But is it really true? I know you miss him, that you still love him. What did you think today when you saw him again after six months?"
"For a moment I thought everything would be fine again. I wanted to kiss him so much. But then I went back to reality. We've had the same problem again, Pep. He's a soldier. And I can't blame him because he always was a soldier. What he does, does well, so I have to let him do it. Even if it hurts me."
"Oh, Tony..." she sighed and pulled him into a hug.
"Lightning won't help you, pal. It's gotta be me. You saw what those stones did to Thanos. It almost killed him. None of you could survive."
"How do we know you will?" Steve asked.
"We don't. But the radiation's mostly gamma. It's like...uh...I was made for this."
"Good to go, yeah?" Tony sighed.
"Let's do it."
"You remember... everyone Thanos snapped away five years ago and just bringing them back to now, today. Don't change anything from the last six months."
"Got it."
"Friday, do me a favor and activate Barn Door Protocol. Will you?"
It was a terrible sight. Bruce was obviously in big pain and had a lot to do to cope. Tony was scared. They lost Natasha already, he didn't want them to lose Bruce too. He grabbed Steve, standing beside him, by the hand. Steve squeezed his hand encouragingly and Tony calmed down. Only he and Pepper had that effect on him.
And then he finally snapped.
"Bruce!" Steve shouted, letting go of Tony's hand to go to Bruce.
"Don't move him," said Tony, who was right behind him.
"Did it work?" Bruce asked. But no one had an answer for him.
The phone rang.
Clint looked at the lit display of his phone and couldn't believe his eyes.
"Guys... I think it worked" he said and immediately picked up the call.
"Did it really work?" Tony asked hopefully.
"I think so," Steve said with a smile.
Tony was so happy that he got carried away by the moment and kissed Steve before he knew what he was doing.
"Oh, I'm sorry," he said as he pulled away from him and realized what he had done.
"Don't be," said Steve gently.
"Guys, it looks like everyone will appear where they disappeared," said Clint, who was no longer on the phone.
"I need to go," Tony blurted out and walked away.
"Tony! Where are you going?" Steve called after him and followed him out.
"If Clint's right, Peter's on Titan! I have to get him."
"Let me go with you. This time we'll do it together," Steve said, and Tony paused for a moment. They were together in the past and managed to work together. And to tell the truth, he really didn't want to go into space alone.
"Okay-" he began but was interrupted.
"Mr. Stark!"
"Please tell me you hear that too," he murmured, and Steve gave him a smile.
"You should probably turn around," he said, and Tony did so.
"Hey! Holy cow! You will not believe what's been going on. Do you remember when we were in space? And I got all dusty? I must've passed out, Because I woke up, and you were gone. But Doctor Strange was there, right? He was like, "It's been six months. Come on, let's go home." And then he started doing the yellow sparkly thing that he does all the time. What are you doing?"
He hugged him. He couldn't help himself.
"Oh, this is nice. Did I miss some cool stuff?"
"You're here and that's cool. Never do that again, okay?! I love you," he blurted. He had to tell him all before he disappeared again.
"I love you too. I'm a little hungry," he said, and Tony laughed and pulled away.
"Of course you are. I'm sure there's something inside, so go, I'll catch up with you later."
"Okay. Hello, Captain," he greeted Steve on his way inside.
"Hi, Peter. Nice to see you with us."
Peter disappeared inside and they were alone again.
"I was thinking ..." Steve began, and Tony gave him a look.
"Yeah?"
"I think this belongs to the museum," he said, staring at his shield.
"What?" Tony asked, confused.
"I think it's time to step aside. The world will be fine, they are much younger and better here than I am."
"Are you sure?"
"I am. Apart from that, why should I save the world when then you're not in my life?"
"What do you mean?" Tony asked, holding his breath.
"I mean, would you give me another chance and would you go out with me?" he asked, and Tony stared at him for a moment.
And then he kissed him. For the second time on that day. What could he say? He had a weakness for this man.
"I love you," he said as he pulled away from him, but not too far.
"Does that mean yes?"
"Of course that means yes. Can I say no to America's ass of your?"
"Good, because I love you too," he said, and this time it was him who kissed Tony.