outofthedome (outofthedome) wrote in chances_rpg, @ 2021-11-24 10:06:00 |
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Current mood: | calm |
Tony | Steve
WHO: Tony Stark (Animated) & Steve Rogers
WHAT: Getting to know each other over drinks.
WHERE: Local pub.
WHEN: Wednesday, Nov. 24
STATUS: Completed via GDOC
WARNINGS: PG
Tony knew James was old enough to handle his own dinner, but he didn’t want to leave him alone for the meal. It may have been silly, but Tony worried about James being alone too long. The boy was used to his siblings, after all, so Tony made sure to be home for dinner as often as possible. However, once the dishes were cleaned, he left James to join Steve for drinks at the local pub. He didn’t feel guilty leaving James for only a couple of hours, but he still made sure the boy knew where he was going and when he would be back.
Tony wasn’t sure what to expect of Steve. They had spoken a few times, but Tony knew he couldn’t expect Steve to be his version. Still, he worried he wouldn’t be enough for Steve. Steve had his Tony in San Francisco, after all. It was selfish, but Tony couldn’t help wishing some of his old friends would show up too. Nonetheless, he pushed his feelings aside as he slid into a booth with a drink in hand.
A rather flustered Steve rushed into the room, stopped by the bar to grab a drink that might as well have been water, and then looked around to spot Tony (not other-Tony, just Tony, a Tony, this Tony; the multiverse was so complicated) before heading his direction with pint glass in hand. "I'm so sorry I'm late."
He wasn't actually, but he assumed with Tony already sitting there that he was. Truth was, the damned turkey had made him scatterbrained since it popped up days ago. Half the time, he didn't know whether he was coming or going. It was gone now, but he still hadn't managed to get his head to reset. It was probably hearing Nick Fury constantly during all his waking hours for five days straight that made him doubt his own reality.
Steve still gave the other man a contrite smile after he shook his head a little. "I'm usually more put together than this, but my last job ran a little longer than I'd thought. How've you been? How's"—his throat stuck on asking about his son from another dimension, and he was sure he was flushed crimson from the neck up. He had to swallow just to get the muscles working again—"work?"
“You're fine,” Tony replied. He wasn’t exactly a stickler for time and the other man seemed frazzled. “I’m good,” he continued. “Work is good. I’m doing research at a college while Tony and I work on getting a shop together.” He grinned. “Your turn for idle chatter. How are you? The job?”
Even feeling called out out for his polite, if not obvious stalling tactics, Steve couldn't bring himself to actually be annoyed or anything by it. No, he just laughed quietly at himself and shook his head. "I'm good. Probably keeping myself busier than I should, considering I no longer am being called upon to save the world on a regular basis. Let's see, this morning was sitting on some project planning for Rebuilding Together, and then I put in some hours over at Shanti."
Steve had the good grace to wince. "That really sounds like humble bragging, doesn't it. Is that what it's called? I've really gotta get better at that. But, yeah, it's going well, I think. Especially without those damn turkeys. I can't imagine you were able to get much work done with them around." Shifting in his seat a little, he bought himself a couple of seconds by taking a swig of his beer before he set it down with a sigh. "I'm kind of guessing we're not actually here for small talk, though. You gotta know I have about a million questions."
Tony laughed. “Humble brag? Now what would I know about that?” He winked and took another sip of his drink. However, his expression grew more serious when Steve mentioned questions. “Ask away. I might have a few of my own.”
Yeah, some things were definitely the same, despite their different worlds, and something about it put Steve at ease. He sat back and told himself to relax as much as he could. "Well, at the risk of getting to the big stuff first—what exactly happened? I got the bare bones minimum from James, but how did things get so bad on your world?"
Tony exhaled. He knew the question was coming, but it didn’t make talking about it any easier. “I built Ultron,” he admitted. Guilt flashed across his face momentarily as he let his confident mask slip. “He was able to hack other droids and make them into an army. It was too much for the Avengers. We fought as hard as we could, but when it was obvious we wouldn’t all make it, you— well, Steve in my world, got the children to me and asked me to protect them in the dome I built in the Arctic. We knew...we knew the children were our only hope and, of course, we wanted to protect them from harm.” He shook his head, obviously overcome with emotion as he thought about that dark day. “I thought I had all the kids, but Clint and his son managed to get away. I didn’t know about it until years later when Ultron found us. It turned out Clint raised his son to lead a group called the Scavengers, who protected the people and fought against the Ultron bots. Clint eventually fell too, leaving poor Francis to protect the world with his group.” He paused. “Do you want me to keep going?” It was a lot to digest and he didn’t want to overwhelm the other man.
He'd given up the illusion of drinking midway through Tony's recounting of the events of his “world, and instead gazed grimly at the other man. Steve's own history with Ultron had been a virtual blur of violent events with barely a moment to breathe in between. Even the travel time spent globe-trotting was a blur. No, if he was going to absorb this, it would have to be all at once. "He gave Tony a grave, unsmiling incline of his head with a quiet, "Please."
Tony shot him an understanding look. “Well, when the kids were a bit older Ultron found us and kidnapped me. The children were supposed to fly to safety with Vision, but he went offline and they decided to come find me instead. They rescued me, and we joined Bruce in his hide out. Eventually the kids and Bruce defeated Ultron. We had just started going around ridding the world of the last of the bots when I landed here.” He let out a humorless chuckle. “I don’t like the idea of my kids at home without me so I keep hoping we are merely copies of ourselves and I’m still somehow there with them.” Perhaps it was a fanciful thought, but the multiverse was vast and mostly unknown. “Did I nail all your questions?”
Steve was quiet for a little while. Mostly he was trying his best to keep things pieced together, although he had a reasonably good idea of the timeline—except for one thing. It made his stomach clench, just to think about it, but he needed to know. "I know Natasha and I—" He paused, flushing, but didn't see the need to elaborate that particular bit of things. "Did we bring James into the world before or after Ultron became a threat?"
“Before,” Tony answered quickly. “We had relative peace. So many of you settled down…I didn’t. I was obsessed with making sure our world stayed safe. It is my fault, not yours.” He gripped his glass so hard, he had to remind himself it could break. “I shouldn’t have survived, but I made sure the kids knew their parents through tales of our adventures. Keeping them safe…it was all that kept me going.” He looked Steve in the eye. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. It was something he wished he could say to all the Avengers.
At first, he didn't feel comfortable with the apology, but Steve could recognize its importance to the other man. It didn't matter if he was a proxy for the man Tony had known. God knew Steve had attempted to track down the survivors of the War and their family members, as much to check on them and see what kind of lives they lived—or didn't, in some cases—as confirm with himself that his choices had been right and made a positive impact. It wasn't the most altruistic of motivations, but there were plenty of things he regretted. Like not starting a family. Steve nodded, which was as close to acceptance that he could offer, given the circumstances. "I can't imagine the stress and pressure you and the kids must have been under, but— Were they able to be kids at all? Ever? How many were there?"
Tony visibly relaxed as he started talking about the kids. “There are four - James, Torunn, Azari, and Pym. And, oh, yes. They are little troublemakers just like most of their parents,” he said with a laugh. “James and Torunn were older when they came to me so they had a harder time adjusting sometimes. James felt the pressure to be Captain America and hated waiting in the dome for the 'action' so to speak. And Torunn? She often prayed to Thor to come back to Earth for her. Azari and Pym were younger when everything happened so I think they had an easier time letting loose and enjoying themselves without all that pressure on their shoulders.” He glanced away for a moment to hide the tears welling in his eyes. He missed his kids. “They are good kids. Their parents would be proud of them.”
Four kids, plus Barton's, who apparently came after the fact. A potential future Steve had never bothered to picture for himself, except before the serum—and even then it had been a pipe dream. No one wanted someone sickly like him. And after… He didn't have the luxury of considering a family. Not with the war and the ice and the team and all the knocks that came from living a superhero life. Steve's throat went tight, and he had to swallow around it a couple of times before he gave the other man a shallow nod. "I'm sure they would have been."
He pushed his lips together until they formed a thin line. There was something enormous to this feeling swelling in his chest. If Steve hadn't gone toe to toe with Thanos himself five years ago, he might have been fidgeting now. As it was, his shoulders were tight with the effort of not moving a muscle other than to take another drink. "I don't know what the protocol is here, to be honest. I wasn't prepared to be a parent where I'm from, and I'm really not looking to interpose myself here between you and James. From the sound of things, you were always more of a father to him than I—than he could have been even in your world. That said, I wouldn't mind getting to know him better, along with you. But I'm sure it's going to be awkward either way."
There was no protocol in a situation like theirs, but Tony would be lying if he said he wasn’t intimidated by having Steve Rogers around. Oh, he’d never admit it out loud, but Steve had been his friend, but also his adversary in many ways. And now? James had a version of his father back and...well. Steve was right. It was awkward. Still…
“I’d never deprive James of knowing you,” Tony replied. “Or you of him. I don’t want him getting disappointed or...you either. James always worshipped The Soldier...I gave you all code names when they were young…” He cleared his throat. “I know the Steve in my world wanted to be a father, but you didn’t ask for this.” He smiled wistfully. “And, yes, I love James and he is my boy, but I know he always wanted to know Steve. I may not share things well, but the kids are different. Not things, first of all,” he added with a small laugh, trying to lighten the situation. “What I’m saying is you should know him if you want to.” And it sounded like he wanted to. Tony would unpack his own feelings later. James was more important.
The idea of being worshipped by anyone for anything always sat badly with Steve. He'd been shaped and molded into an image that had only ever been him on an extremely surface level. The trouble with pedestals was that it gave a body a long way to fall. His fallout with the other Tony had been proof enough of that. Steve sat back with a sigh that resolved with a dry chuckle. "If only people knew the real me," he pushed out quietly into the space between them, where he could feel the weight of all those expectations. "What's that old saying? It's never a good idea to meet your heroes? I'm really hoping he's ready for some disappointment, because I think you'll find I'm not someone to be idolized. Don't get me wrong, I still want to meet him, but I got all the same cracks and bruises as the next person—it's just all done up in this 'All-American' package." He rolled his eyes to show exactly what he felt about that. "Heh, I'm really doing a bang-up job of convincing both of us that this is a good idea, aren't I? I just—the last thing I want to do is break the kid's heart, and I'm afraid that's just what I'll do."
“What? You're not perfect?” Tony teased. “No, no, I get it,” he said in a more serious tone. “I think he’d be more disappointed if you didn’t want to know him,” he admitted. “Just be honest about who you are and everything will be fine.” He gestured to the bar for another round of drinks. “What cracks are there in your world? Tony mentioned aliens and Thanos. How did you manage with all that?”
Steve winced and shook his head. "We didn't," he admitted with the tone of a man who had seen too much for too long. "We lost. Half the universe, in one snap of the bastard's purple fingers. But before then, we had Ultron too, and we barely made it out of that one, but not without wrecking an entire eastern European country. And then there was—there was Bucky. And everything with Tony. The other Tony, obviously." A sore spot he and his old teammate had never recovered from. It just got shoved down and scabbed over again and again. Kind of seemed like it would do more harm than good to pick at it now, so he just didn't. Big, brave man. "Things got really ugly where I'm from. We went back to various points in time to get the Infinity Stones, but we lost a lot along the way. Too much. By the time we got back and Bruce did a snap of his own, none of us knew if the cost was worth it. And I still don't. Because I wound up here. Some perfect hero to be idolized, huh?"
“No one should be idolized unless they're me,” Tony joked. He thanked the waiter who brought over their drinks and slid one toward Steve. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” he added. “It sounds like your world had a lot of shit to deal with and you did the best you could. It is all any of us can do at the end of the day.” It was easy to say those words, but Tony wasn’t too good at practicing them. “Maybe this place is a fresh start for you.”
"A fresh start for a lot of us," Steve murmured over the top of his second glass. Being hard on himself was basically hardwired into his DNA at that point, but he knew what Tony was trying to say, and appreciated it. "I'm not sure about the whole idolatry thing, but I've definitely always admired you. I still feel safe in saying that, because from where I'm sitting, you two aren't all that different, except you got to be a parent way before my version did. It suits you both." He winced with a laugh. "I think I just made an Iron Man pun. Don't tell your business partner. I'd never hear the end of it. But also, thanks for agreeing to this, for letting me get to know you, and James through you. Got any particular thoughts about pool?"
Tony was touched by Steve’s words, but he laughed when Steve made his pun. “You have my solemn oath,” he teased while holding a hand up. “And pool? I play. You down to lose?”
Steve rolled his eyes, but there was a grin sparkling behind it. "Bring it on, Shellhead."