Tony felt nervous. Steve was from before him in time since he thought Thanos won, which meant there was still a lot left unsaid between them. Steve didn’t know they made peace and fought one last epic battle together. What if he wasn’t interested in rekindling their friendship? That would hurt Tony, whether he could admit that to anyone else or not. Needless to say, he was glad he was tinkering in his lab when Steve agreed to meet him. The lab was Tony’s home turf, which calmed him.
The directions were clear enough, and even Steve had to admit the ship was impressive, if not unbelievable. He was pretty sure he just saw someone use a wand to clean something up they’d spilled. He wondered if he should stop and ask about it but decided he’d better go see what Stark wanted.
“You must be in heaven here,” he said as he rounded the corner into Starks realm. “It’s more impressive than Stark Tower.” Steve didn’t smile, his voice and stance a little guarded.
“Hey, now,” Tony said with a slightly teasing tone, “let’s not go that far.” He set down what he was working on and gestured for Steve to take a seat if he wanted. “It’s good to see you,” he added, even if he’d seen his other version not that long ago. “You must be in shock here though.” Steve was already a man out of time and then they dumped him on a futuristic ship. “Can I help?”
“I didn’t see a level for a park in any of your buildings,” Steve wanted to go explore that, but that could wait. “This is a warmer welcome than I expected from you,” Steve answered, his eyes narrowing a little bit. “I’m fine.” Was he fine? Physically, yes, mentally, he was sound, but he was still unsure about whatever all of this was.
“That’s why I moved upstate. More greenery.” Less ghosts too, but he didn’t mention that. Tony shrugged. “In my time, we came together to defeat Thanos. I figured out time travel and we went back in time to collect the infinity stones. We…I used the stones to snap and get our people back.” He didn’t want to mention how much they lost too. If Natasha wanted Steve to know about her death, that was her business. Tony released a breath. “Steve…listen. You were…are one of my best friends. What happened between us…I felt very betrayed. I still have mixed feelings about it, but I have to believe you did what you thought was best.”
Crossing his arms, Steve didn’t say anything right away. There seemed to be a lot more to what Stark was saying, mainly due to the number of details left out. There were a few things that Steve wanted to say, among them that he didn’t come here to argue, but the realization of Tony using the stones stopped him from saying anything other than, “Wouldn’t using the stones kill you, though? You must have found a way around that.”
Tony was quiet for a moment before he shook his head slowly. “No. Even I couldn’t outplay the stones.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I had to do it for my family. For Peter. Thanos couldn’t win.”
“Right,” Steve said with a sad smile. “There's nothing like landing on a ship in the multiverse to learn one of the few people you actually trust becomes a martyr.” The words were filled with emotion. I feel like there is a lot more to it than just, well, a snap.”
Tony laughed a little. “You’ve had quite the day,” he agreed. He picked up on Steve mentioning he trusted him and his heart felt lighter. “There was a massive battle. We nearly lost again. The snap was the only way around it.” He shrugged. “Bruce did the first snap to bring everyone back. He could withstand the gamma, but his arm was pretty burned. But that also opened up the floodgates to Thanos and his followers. The battle was bad, Cap, but then all of a sudden everyone we lost showed up to help us fight.” His eyes glistened with emotion. “That is what it was all about. Reuniting families and loved ones, right?”
Letting out a long, slow breath, he finally took a seat. It was enough information to have anyone feeling a little lightheaded. “Let me get this straight. We somehow traveled through time, got the stones, engaged in another battle, almost lost again, lost you but got everyone else back?” Steve knew they’d do anything to make things right, but even to him this sounded, well, crazy.
“Almost everyone. We lost another Avenger, but I think that is their story to tell,” Tony replied quietly. He leaned against his workbench and crossed his arms. “I know this is a lot,” he added. “But I wanted you to hear it from me.”
“Right,” Steve knew better than most that there were always losses in war, but for some reason, he always thought they’d all make it through and survive. “You know, for once, I wish having a drink would actually do something to me.” He quipped, looking back up at Tony. “I don’t really know what to say, thank you seems like not enough.”
Tony waved a hand. “None of that. You would have done the same if you could.” A wistful expression crossed Tony’s face. “I just wish I had more time with my family, you know? Morgan was here for a bit, but she left recently. Same with Pepper. Peter is here at least.” Having Peter kept him sane; otherwise, what was the point of being on the ship?
“I would have. It should have been me,” Steve meant that even more. He didn’t have a family in the sense that Tony did. He was single. He had the Avenger family but not a family-family. “Peter is here?”
Tony merely shook his head when Steve said it should have been him. “We don’t trade lives, remember?” Tony visibly brightened then. “Yeah! Pete is here! He is safe and healthy and that is all I can ask for right now. I really hope you get to know each other.”
Steve grunted with a small smile but nodded. He let the subject change drive his next comment though. “He seems like a good kid, excitable, but a good kid.”
“He’s the best,” Tony praised. “So much better than I could ever be. He’s going to do so much good both as Spider-Man and as Peter Parker.” Pride shone on Tony’s face. “He’s not my bio kid, but…I love him.” Seeing Peter and Morgan together meant so much to Tony and now Steve at least had a chance to get to know Peter. Maybe Morgan would return. That would make things nearly perfect.
Steve smiled. “I’m glad you’ve got him here, it’s good to have something to live for and fight for.” He nodded once with a pang of almost jealousy but he shoved it down fast. “Who else is here?”
“Several Avengers. Rhodey, Sam, Nat, Thor, Barnes, Strange, Wanda.” Tony ticked off names. “There are others from our world too. Coulson, Bruce’s cousin, Jen. Rose Ward.” He was sure he forgot a few, but those came to mind first. “You’re in for quite the reunion, Cap.”
He nodded as he smiled a little more as he rattled off the names. “Bruce has a cousin? And who is Rose Ward?” Those were the only two that Tony had listed that he couldn’t put a face to a name, but he had a feeling he was going to have a lot of people to meet.
“He does! I’m going to have drinks with Jen later. Rose is SHIELD. You’ll like her, I think.” Tony, never able to sit still for long, started pacing. “I’m glad you are here, Steve.”
“I’ve got a lot to catch up on, it seems,” Steve said with a smirk. “Well, I think I might go see if I can find some of the other Avengers, and I told someone named Emmeline I’d have a drink with her, she seemed to indicate she was friends with one of you.”
“I don’t know her too well, but she is always friendly,” Tony replied. He stopped pacing long enough to clamp Steve on the shoulder. “Go on then. I’ll see you again soon.”
Standing up, Steve reached out to return the gesture before stepping towards the door and pausing. “It’s good to see you, Tony,” he smiled before turning to leave. There was a lot he needed to figure out.