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Tony Stark, in a fit of frustration, threw the keyboard against the wall. It smashed with a clacking sound as he fell into the chair in front of the computer. A simple, boring computer, with an actual screen, no JARVIS, and nothing cool to latch onto. He ran his fingers through his hair when he heard the door to his lab open with a whooshing sound. "Jeez, Tony, maybe you need some lessons in anger management from the Hulk," his best friend, James Rhodes, said. "Heh, very funny," he said with a straight face. He leaned back in his chair. "Well, this sucks," he stated. "My toys have been taken away from me, Pepper is pissed about me running off with the Avengers, the whole world thinks everything is my fault, and my best friend ran off in the Helicarrier to who knows where.""Well, you always got me," he said."Yeah.""And not all your toys were taken away. What about FRIDAY? Isn't she the new JARVIS?"Tony sighed. "Yeah, but she's not the same. She's...unstable at best right now, really. It's gonna take a lot of work to make me like her. What's up with you and your merry band of new Avengers?"Rhodey sat down in the chair across from Tony. "Same as usual. More training. Thor is a different story, but Wanda's powers were created in a lab. By HYDRA. From a stone. And so were Vision's, but he's...a robot? I tell you man, when we were kids I never thought our world was gonna be this strange."Tony snorted. "Yeah, I don't think any of us did. Makes you wonder if there's some version of us out there living a less crazy life. With like, world peace. No aliens invading. No people with superpowers. Nothing. Just a simple existence. You think a world like that exists?"Rhodey shook his head. "Alternate universes? Man, that's way too science fiction for me, Tony. Come on, things like that don't exist.""Yeah, well, I didn't think mind altering gems of power existed either. Or big blue aliens who want to control the world, but look where we're at. I mean, you heard Thor's vision. We're gonna have a war on our hands someday, a war about containing little stones of power that have world altering powers contained in them.""I guess, dude. I guess anything's possible. Anyway, Pepper sent me down here. She wants to talk to you about something. Wouldn't tell me what.""Mmm, probably to yell at me some more about endangering myself and almost dying in order to save the world. Again.""Yeah, probably not best to keep her waiting then."Tony got up from his chair and clapped his best friend on the back before leaving the lab and heading upstairs to find out what his girlfriend wanted from him. Hours later, and lots of yelling of concern and one too many drinks, Tony was fitting himself for sleep. He needed rest. Like, a decent good night's sleep that didn't involve images of his best friends dying or robots invading the world or crazy power wielding goths who can get in your mind and bend reality.Except that's not the sleep that Tony got. He tossed and turned, and when he finally did find his way into REM, it was fraught with nightmares about the world burning. There was chaos and smoke and he was left standing alone in the middle of a smouldering circle, watching the world fall away before his very eyes.Just as he was beginning to panic, the fire licking his feet, choking on the acrid smell of flesh burning from the bodies beneath him, he heard his name being called. "Tony?" the voice said. It was familiar, like someone he was supposed to know, but didn't. "Tony?" it called again. A man's voice. "TONY!" it yelled, and he was gasping, awake, but unclear where he was.He took a few moments to focus his mind, gain purchase of who he was, details he remembered, and ground himself in reality. When he stopped hyperventilating, he remembered the voice, felt hands pushing his hair away from his eyes, stroking it, and whispering to him. He looked up at the voice, in a daze at the blond hair and deep blue eyes, like every fantasy of his had just come true. "Steve?" he murmured.Steve smiled at him crookedly. "Yeah, it's me. You were having another nightmare. You all right there?""Yeah...yeah, I'm good. It's just...the dream...it felt so real.""Wanna talk about it?" Steve asked.Tony shook his head slowly. He was trying to remember the details, trying to find that world that he was in. Something about...robots? A suit of armour? Super soldiers frozen in ice? A shield painted like the American flag? "I...I think we were superheroes," Tony said eventually. "I was in a suit made of metal, and you...had enhanced strength. They called you Captain America...you were biologically enhanced."Steve chuckled. "That's funny. Me with super strength? I don't think I'll ever be super strong. Still little old Steven Rogers, the skinny asthmatic kid you somehow happened to fall in love with."Tony smirked. "Yeah." He looked over at Steve, remembering how the tiny man could fold into him, how his hands dwarfed Steve, how much he loved being able to count the man's ribs with his fingertips. Steve wouldn't be Steve anymore if he weren't small and skinny."And you? With a suit of armour?" Steve continued. "No offence, Tony, but you hate weapons like that. You're the lead of a Fortune 500 company dealing with clean energy, focusing on trying to clean up our earth, not destroy it with nuclear weapons. Strange the things we dream up, huh?""Yeah. I much prefer this reality," Tony admitted, pulling the smaller man in for a kiss.The two were interrupted by a small body plopping itself down on Tony's chest. The wind was knocked out from him for a second before he got his breath back."Bucky, watch out!" Steve admonished. "You've gotta be more careful when it comes to your dad's heart, okay? We still haven't gotten the test results back from the doctor.""Sowwy," the little kid (Bucky? His son?) said, staring guiltily up at Tony and Steve with the most beautiful dark eyes Tony had ever seen.Steve smiled and kissed Bucky's forehead. Bucky giggled. Okay, the kid was kind of cute. His kid.Details rushed through his brain, details of his life that seemed a million miles away after that super realistic dream he had just had. He saw images of him and Steve, when they met freshman year in a political science course. They married five years later, after Tony's father had died, and he'd inherited the old man's company, the legacy that he was destined for. He remembered Steve was an artist. He ran a museum in downtown New York, where the couple lived with their two kids. They had a daughter, Natasha, who was 17 and a spitfire. And their five year old son, James, named after his best friend Rhodey who was away in the Air Force, who looked at his father like he hung the moon. They were a normal, happy family. Not superheroes. Not broken. Not saving the world one alien or robot at a time.Tony groaned and looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was 7am Thursday morning. He had to make sure his kids ate their breakfast before he dropped Nat off at her high school and drove Bucky to pre-k for a few hours. "Okay, kiddo," he said. "Why don't you go get dressed and I'll make you pancakes before school?""Really?" Bucky asked, eyes still wide, a huge grin on his small face. "Okay!" He bounced back off the bed and ran to his room next door. Tony and Steve, now alone, kissed each other softly before both sliding out of bed and getting ready for the day.Tony was downstairs mixing the pancake better when Steve grabbed his keys from the kitchen counter, Bucky holding on to his leg as he walked. "I gotta go to work, buddy," he said."Nooo," Bucky whined."Yes. I'll see you when I get home tonight, okay? I'll read you a bedtime story.""Promise?" Bucky asked."Promise."He let go of Steve's leg sullenly while Steve picked him up and put him in the island chair. "Love you, kiddo," he said before turning to his husband. "Love you too," he said, pecking Tony's lips before heading out the door."Ugh," Tony heard from the stairs. "You guys are so gross!" Natasha complained. She walked into the kitchen, ruffled her younger brother's hair, and opened the fridge and got out the carton of orange juice. "Pancake day?" she asked Tony."Yep," he said, pouring the mix into the pan. He turned to say good morning to his daughter. "What are you wearing?" he asked her. "Is that...do schools really let kids wear that?"Natasha rolled her eyes. "Stop being an old man. My outfit's fine.""Your stomach is showing.""Like two seconds of it. It's called a crop top, dad.""And your shorts?""High waisted. They're cute.""They're short.""That's why they call them shorts.""Your other dad know you wear this stuff?"Natasha shrugged. "I look cute. That's all that matters.""Whatever you say. You working after school today?""No, Loki gave me the day off. I don't work until Monday until 6:30. You going to be able to take me or do I need to ride the train?""I'll take you.""Cool. Thanks." She took a sip of her orange juice and slid into the seat beside her little brother. "Hey, солнышко[1] (solnyshko)," she said. "What'cha doin' in pre-school today?""Colouring!" Bucky said."Yeah? What are you colouring?""We're learning shapes!""Man, I wish my homework were as easy as learning shapes. Wanna do my calculus homework for me?"Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. "Daddy, what's cal-coo-lus?" he asked, mispronouncing the word."It's a complicated math procedure that no one uses or has a need for.""Amen to that," Natasha said under her breath. Her cell phone buzzed and she took it out of her pocket, smiling as she texted someone back.Tony turned the burner off and put a plate of pancakes on the island. He got out the maple syrup and helped Bucky cut up his pancakes into bite sized pieces so he could eat it better."That the boyfriend?" he asked Natasha."No. It's just Foggy," she said, locking her phone and putting it back in her pocket."Hmm," Tony hummed. "So when do we get to meet this elusive Matt Murdock?"Natasha snorted. "Uh, never.""Wrong answer. Come on, Nat. I'd really like to meet the guy my 17 year old daughter is spending all her time with. It would make me feel a whole lot safer if I knew him.""Dad, it's not like Matt and I are fucking every five seconds."Tony covered Bucky's ears. "Watch your language around your brother.""Sorry," she said."So you're not...having sex?"Natasha wrinkled her nose. "Dad, this is not a conversation I want to have with you.""Will you please just humour your old man for a second? Your other father's been worried about you coming home pregnant and he's too scared to talk to you about protection and I just want to make sure you're being...safe.""Dad, I said it's not like that, okay? Matt's Catholic. He wants to wait and I'm respecting his wishes.""You're dating a guy who's Catholic?"She shrugged. "Yep. Can we stop talking about sex now?""Yeah, okay." Tony lifted his hands off Bucky's ears. "Finish your pancakes and I'll drive you two to school.""Mhmm," Nat said, checking her phone again before drowning her pancakes in syrup.  After dropping the kids off at their respective schools, Tony dropped by Stark Industries headquarters to get a little work in. He stopped by Pepper Pott's office first to check in on his CEO and see what's new. "Hey Pep.""Hi, Tony," she said, not looking up from a file she was reading."How goes things?""Took your morning meeting with the board. They're deliberating on the new energy bill. Should come to a consensus around lunch time. I'm gonna need your approval and signature on the paperwork.""Good deal," he said. "But I meant how goes things with you, personally."Pepper looked up at him. "I'm good, yeah. I'm okay.""Promise?" "I promise. I haven't had any run-ins with Happy since the divorce was finalised last week. I'm just trying to take one day at a time.""That's good. No, that's useful. Hey, Steve wants to have you over for dinner sometime. And I'm sure our kids would love to hang out with their cool aunt sometime soon, so let us know if you wanna stop by sometime. You know, when you're not busy. Running my company."Pepper smiled warmly at him. "Tell Steve I'd be honoured. I'll let you know when I'm free.""Awesome. I'll be down in my workshop if you need me.""Okay."Tony took the elevator to his R&D workshop underground and started working on his father's project, the Arc Reactor. He was trying to create a self sustaining energy field that could run by itself for a year before running out of juice and needing to be recharged. He was so close to figuring out how to get it to work properly. He just needed to keep digging and find which element was the stabilising agent.He spent the rest of his day working on his project, taking a small break when Pepper came down and forced him to eat and sign the bill, which went through. Then he got back to work until he had to leave to pick Bucky up from pre-school. The kid was in a good mood, as usual, chattering about learning how to count, and how to sound out words, and kept chattering on about it as they walked in the front door of their mansion and opened his backpack to show Tony what they had been working on. He paid attention to his son until he was finished and asked if he could watch a movie and have a snack before he had to do his homework. Tony agreed and he cut up some apple slices for his kid and they watched The Lion King together for the twentieth time that year. Not that he was complaining.He was helping Bucky with his homework when Natasha walked in the door, talking to someone on her cell phone. She waved to them and walked up the steps, her door slamming. A few minutes later Steve walked in the door and Bucky lost all his concentration, wrapping around his father like a starfish."Good day?" he asked his husband. Steve looked exhausted."Good day," he confirmed, shifting Bucky onto his right hip as he kissed Tony. "Pizza okay for dinner tonight?""Yeah!" Bucky shouted."Hey, Nat?" he yelled from the stairs.Her door opened. "Yeah?" she asked, walking towards the stairs."What do you want on your pizza?""Uh, whatever you guys are having. I don't care." She still had the phone to her ear."You wanna come down here and join us?" Steve asked.Natasha huffed. "I'm on the phone.""With Matt?" Natasha rolled her eyes. "No, Daddy, not with Matt. Why do you guys always think I'm talking to him? I have other friends too, you know.""Okay, sorry."Natasha put the phone back to her ear and started to walk off. "Ugh, sorry Karen, my dads were being annoying." The conversation faded from their earshot as her door closed again.Steve looked at his husband with a bemused look. "Well, we definitely have a teenage daughter," he said."Yep. One who's not having sex with her boyfriend," Tony revealed.Steve looked at him in surprise. "How did you manage to get that out of her?""I told her you were too afraid to ask if they were using protection."Steve hit his husband's arm. "What did she say?""She said Matt was Catholic and wanted to wait, so they're waiting.""Catholic, huh?""That's what she said.""I think I like him.""You've never even met him.""Still...""Dada?" Bucky asked."Yeah, bud?""Will you teach me how to draw pretty?""Absolutely."Tony left the two of them at the dining room table with Steve's sketchbook and his charcoal pencils in order to call the pizza place. He ordered two larges, one with pepperoni, and one with veggies on it so they could seem like a healthy family, and watched his husband sketch the tree in their backyard, helping teach Bucky how to do the same. He watched them until the doorbell rang and he paid the pizza guy."Nat, dinner!" he yelled.He placed the pizza boxes on the island and got out paper plates for them to eat off of. Natasha burst down the stairs, phone still attached to her ear. "Hey, can Karen come over?" she asked."It's a school night," Steve said."Yeah, but her dad's been drinking. And she doesn't like being around drunk people."Steve and Tony looked at each other again. They knew there was more to the story than that, but they kept their mouths shut."As long as her mom knows where she is.""Cool, thanks!" She kissed Steve's cheek. "Hey Karen, the dads said it was cool," she said into the phone.Five minutes later Karen was at the door and they both grabbed pizza before heading back up into their room to talk about whatever they had been talking about on the phone. Tony couldn't keep up anymore. His teenager was confusing."Guess it's just us tonight, bud," Steve said to Bucky.They say on the couch and watched a couple episodes of Young Justice before Steve declared it bath time. Bucky pouted, but Steve promised to read him an extra bedtime story and all was forgiven. He let Steve give Bucky a bath while he cleaned up the kitchen and turned off all the lights.That night in bed, after making out with his husband a bit, they turned out the lights. His arms around his husband's smaller body, listening to the slight wheeze in his chest, Tony Stark fell asleep, and had the best night's sleep he'd had in his whole life. [1] Russian for "sunshine." Because Bucky is the opposite of sunshine. At least in the comics.

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Once Natasha's bedroom door was shut and locked, she turned to her best friend. They sat their plates of pizza on her bedside dresser."Let me see," Natasha said, her voice low and dark."Nat, it's not that big of a--""Karen, your dad's not supposed to hurt you. Like hell it's not a big deal. Now let me see what he did."With hesitation, Karen peeled off her top. There were bruised littered on her ribs, her upper arms, her torso. Some were yellowed and fading, some were stark purple and fresh. Natasha vibrated with anger. No one should be able to fuck with her best friend. No one should be hit like that. No one deserved to be thrown around like that. She gingerly took Karen's wrist in hers, pressed softly on the skin. Karen hissed in pain, but she didn't move out of Nat's grip. Natasha very gently rolled the wrist around and felt the bones. "Well, it's not broken," she said. "Just a sprain. You want my ace bandage?""Yeah, thanks."Natasha grabbed the wrap form the medicine cabinet along with a packet of paracetamol. She wrapped up Karen's wrist as much as she could without hurting the girl. "You want painkillers?" she asked. "It'll help the swelling go down."Karen shook her head. "Nah, stole some of Dad's liquor on the way out. Should dull the pain enough."Nat arched an eyebrow. "Just his liquor this time?"Karen sighed. "Nat, it was once. I stole his heroin once.""Yeah, once is all it takes to get addicted.""I didn't actually take it. Thought about it. Sold it instead."Nat made a soft noise. "Why'd you call me?" she asked."What?""Why didn't you call Foggy? He's your boyfriend. Aren't you supposed to talk to him about this kind of stuff?"Karen sighed again and sat down on Nat's bed. She followed. "Foggy...doesn't understand. He has a good life. A normal family. Lots of prying sisters and a mom who actually gives a shit. It's good to have that kind of support from his family, but...I don't know, sometimes it's just too much for me to handle, you know? I don't want everyone in my business about it.""And so naturally you come to me? A teenage girl with two dads who gives a shit about me and an annoying younger brother? If you wanted someone to understand your family dichotomy you should've talked to Matt."Karen laughed. "I thought about it. But Matt, even if he's not judging you, you know he disapproves of your actions. He does it all the time. I'm not trying to hate on your boyfriend, but he's just a really good guy. He believes in justice and the law and God and I just feel...lesser in his presence for not putting my trust in any of those things. He'll want to tell the authorities and he'll just make the situation worse. You know how to keep your mouth shut."She wasn't wrong. Natasha carried around everyone's secrets. She had a way of getting the dirtiest things out of people and used it for blackmail whenever she needed to. If she was going to work as an international spy someday, she needed to get started on her training now."And, well, your dad gets it. He's cool with me hanging around every time you say my dad's drunk because he knows, doesn't he? Everyone remembers him being an alcoholic before you were born; it's in all the old reports. And his dad was like that, too. Don't you ever wonder if Howard ever hurt him? Why he is the way he is?"Natasha had wondered. She'd heard her dads talking to each other in hushed whispers really late at night when they thought she was asleep. She'd learned that Howard, her grandfather, was in beyond asshole territory. Tony used drugs and drinking as an excuse to bond with his dad, because it was the only way he could spend time with him. He tried to do things to impress him, and nothing was ever good enough. No matter what he did. He was always on the receiving end of Howard's temper, unless they were drinking together.She learned things about Steve, too. How his father had been in the war, came back with PTSD. That he had violent outbursts, and Steve would get caught in the middle of it, trying to protect his mother. When he realised what he was doing and how he was hurting his family, he killed himself. Took a shotgun to his mouth. Steve had found the body and decided he didn't want his life to end up like his father's.Natasha sighed. "What kind of booze did you steal?" she asked, changing the subject.Karen grinned and pulled out a bottle of Jack Daniels.They spent the rest of the night drinking straight from the bottle, getting drunk. Natasha pretended like she didn't notice Karen's bloodshot eyes were from crying. She ignored Matt's calls for the rest of the night and snuggled into bed with her best friend, drunkenly laughing with her and making light sabre noises as they watched Star Wars together. Natasha's phone buzzing woke her up the next morning at an ungodly hour. Her mouth felt like cotton balls and her head was just as fuzzy, but she answered it anyway. She didn't want it to wake Karen up. "'Lo?" she whispered."Tasha? You okay?"Natasha closed her eyes. "Yeah, Matt, I'm fine.""You didn't answer my calls last night. I called Foggy, but he said he hadn't heard from you either.""Sorry. Emergency girl night with Karen. I didn't want to talk to you while I was drunk."Matt laughed softly. "Okay. You still drunk?""Mm, no, but I'm hungover. I might smell like whisky today. You might wanna stay away.""I'll be okay. Is Karen all right?"Natasha swallowed. No, she wanted to say. "Sure," she said instead."Okay. See you in a little bit.""Bye," she said.Natasha stumbled out of bed and walked down the stairs blearily to get a glass of water. She was chugging down her second glass when Steve walked into the kitchen. He crossed his arms over his chest, nose curling at the smell of alcohol."Really, Nat?""Not now, Daddy, please.""Yes, Nat, now."Natasha sighed heavily and the glass clanked against the counter as she set it down. "What?" she said."Is this going to be a regular occurrence from you?""Drinking?""And keeping secrets. I want to trust you, but I don't know what's going on with you. Now I'm glad you guys stayed home and got drunk instead of going out somewhere, but you're still 17 and still living under our roof. And you know how alcoholism runs in the family. I just want to make sure you're okay."Natasha snorted. "It doesn't run in my family. Adopted, remember?""Natasha, your parents were Russian. That's like the very definition of alcoholic.""Negative. Russians know how to hold their liquor. Ever heard of Russian vodka? One shot of that and you'd be on your ass."Steve glared at her, not amused. "Natasha," he said.Her dad still had the ability to scare her and she had no clue how. Steve was 5'4 and weighed practically the same amount as she did, and yet he still made her swallow in fear when they had serious discussions. "Sorry," she said.Steve tucked a piece of his daughter's fiery red hair behind her ear and held her chin up so she looked him in the eyes. "What's going on with your friends?""Karen just needs a place to stay, is all. She doesn't want to stay with Foggy's family. They ask too many questions.""And she's always welcome here, but I want to know what's going on with you.""There's nothing going on with me, Daddy, promise.""Does it have to do with Matt? Some reason why he's never around? Why you don't want us to meet him? He's not secretly a drug addict, is he?""What? No, Daddy. He'd kill himself before he did drugs. God, he's so squeaky clean you'd be impressed I managed to find someone who's not an asshole, despite everything."Steve pinched the bridge of his nose. "There's more to it than just you being 17. Even Peggy's worried about you."Aunt Peggy, who wasn't really her aunt, grew up with her dad. Her family practically adopted him after his mother died and they had been best friends ever since."Well, tell Aunt Peggy I'm fine.""Can we at least meet Matt? So I know it's not him corrupting my daughter."Natasha froze. "Why do you want to meet him so much?""He's your boyfriend. I want to meet the guy my daughter spends her time...kissing."Natasha rolled her eyes. "Daddy...""Please, Nat. Just...ease your dad's mind. I worry about who you spend your time with.""You and Dad aren't going to embarrass me are you?"Steve laughed. "We'll try not to. Tonight's a Friday. You think he can come over for dinner? I promise we'll leave you two alone if you want to hang out after dinner, but please. I would like to sit down and talk with him, to get to know him. No intimidation or tricks."Natasha sighed, defeated. "Fine. I'll ask him at school today. But please be nice. And for the love of God, please don't stare too much."Steve frowned. "Why would I stare?" he asked after her, but she was already halfway up the stairs and away from him. He shook his head and got started on making breakfast for his kids. The first thing that happened to Natasha when she and Karen were dropped off at school was get rocks thrown at her. From the roof of the science building. She rolled her eyes, told Karen she'd see her later, and found her way to the roof, which she wasn't supposed to know about or be on, but fuck rules.She approached Clint, who was tossing rocks up in the air, waiting for her. "What do you want, птичка[1] (ptichka)?"No ears today, he signed.Natasha sighed. What did you do now? She signed back.Clint grinned. Loaned them to Parker for science. "My friends are idiots," she muttered under her breath. Want me to hang out with you today?
Boyfriend's looking for you. I'll be fine. Text me in class so I don't get bored.
She gave Clint a hug and climbed off the roof to find her boyfriend. She found him on the bench outside the library, where he usually was, talking to Wade about something, looking pained at the other man's rambling. She chuckled. Sometimes Matt was too polite.She shoved Wade out of the way. "Move, asshole," she said.Wade spluttered. "Ex-squeeze me? I was educating your boyfriend in some very important, no girls allowed, business."Natasha glared at him. "Does it look like I care? Leave."Wade scanned the crowd until he found Peter. "Peter, buddy, wait up!" he said before taking off in a blur of red.Matt was sitting there, a smile on his lips. She wished she could see the smile reach his eyes, see the crinkles he gets at the corner of his eyes when he's amused. He was wearing his sunglasses today. "Hi," he said.She smiled softly. "Hi." She grasped his chin in her hand and leaned in to kiss his lips.He breathed a laugh. "You weren't joking about smelling like booze. What is that, Jack?""Good guess. Sorry.""It's okay. Not my first time smelling it. What's up? Karen said you just took off?""Clint's on the roof again. He gave his hearing aids to Parker, and I quote, for science. So he's completely deaf today and refuses to go to class. I was making sure he's okay.""Don't let him get you in trouble."Natasha smirked. "I'm sure I can talk my way out of any trouble. But that reminds me, my dads want to meet you. Tonight...for dinner?""You're finally introducing us? Do they even know everything about me?"Natasha hit his arm playfully. "They know your name. And that you're Catholic. And we're not having sex.""Nat!""What? They asked. And they won't let it go, so I just figured we'd get it over with, if you want to.""I'll be there. I'll get Foggy to drive me over.""Thank you," she said, kissing him again.The bell rang and they both groaned. Natasha walked Matt to his classroom. "I'll see you at lunch," she said. "Probably. If Clint doesn't want me."Matt laughed. "Go spend time with your friend. Pietro and I were having a good discussion yesterday we didn't get to finish."Nat arched an eyebrow. "You two were discussing when his dad and Mr Xavier were going to admit their feelings for each other and hook up.""And it was interesting."She laughed. "Okay. See ya, дьявол[2] (d'yavol)."She texted her dad when she got to the classroom that dinner that night was a go, and a reminder to be nice and not embarrassing.This was going to be a nightmare. Nat's little brother Bucky was, thankfully, on a play date with some friend named Sam that he'd met in pre-school. She was just happy she didn't have to deal with her annoying little brother for a night, especially since she was nervous for her dads to meet Matt. It's not that Matt was a bad guy, or that that she was embarrassed by him or anything, she just wanted to keep her private life and her friends away from her parents.She and her group of friends were all a little screwed up in the best ways. They generally called themselves the Merry Band of Misfits, because they all just fit in with each other, while the rest of the school looked at them like they were weird. There was no judgment there with any of them.Clint was raised by carnies with his older brother after their parents died. He'd also lived on the streets for a few months before he was picked up by the police for petty theft and was put into foster care. He'd been deafened in an explosion and kept it a secret from everyone but a select few, because he hated feeling helpless.Karen's mom worked all the time to distract herself from the fact her son was killed in a car accident, her husband was an abusive alcoholic and a drug addict, and to ignore the fact her daughter was headed in the same direction.Wade Wilson's parents were scientists who, honest to God, did experiments. On their own son. One experiment backfired on them and set fire to the lab, which Wade was caught in. He had burns covering a lot of his body, which made him self-conscious and made people stare, so he made up for his discomfort by being a loudmouth jerk. But a loveable jerk. On occasion.Frank Castle's family was slaughtered by the mob when he was a kid and grew up with a lot of anger issues. The entire school was afraid of him, except Natasha, who welcomed him into their group with open arms.The Maximoff twins, Wanda and Pietro, grew up in a Romani household in Transia before their house caught fire and their family got caught in the flames. They were forced to move in with their ex-convict father, the infamous Erik Lehnsherr, and his daughter Lorna. Their accents and their Jewish/Roma heritage didn't win them any favours. Pietro hated his father and Wanda was mentally unstable but the nicest person you'd ever meet.Pietro's girlfriend Crystal grew up with parents who were Wiccans, so everyone at school thought she worshipped the devil. She just had a thing for the elements, which made people look at her like she was crazy. Plus she was known to date around, which grated on Natasha's nerves every time she heard someone mutter 'slut' around her.Wanda's boyfriend, Victor Shade, was the newest member of their group. His parents were evil scientists intent on world domination, according to him, so he actually moved in with Erik. He was well-spoken and a perfect match for Wanda and nothing like his parents. Natasha had met his father once. He scared the shit out of her.And well, then there's Matthew Murdock, son of boxer Battlin' Jack Murdock, murdered after a bad boxing match. He'd never met his mother and spent every year since he was 10 living in an orphanage run by nuns.Natasha's got her own complicated history with her biological parents. Her own dads wouldn't really talk to her about it every time she asked, but she could see the hesitance in their glances when she brought them up, and knew it had to have been bad. She'd been trying to brush up on her native tongue so she could travel to Russia when she graduated and look up her parent's files.The only one who was not remotely screwed up was Franklin "Foggy", Mr "my parents want me to be a butcher but I really want to be a lawyer" Nelson. He had a huge family, all girls for siblings, and embarrassingly nice parents. But he and Matt had been best friends since they were 11 and he'd follow that idiot to his death. He adopted the group and welcomed them with open arms, even if he thought they were crazy sometimes. He was the glue that kept them all together.Needless to say, Natasha was thinking about all this, and (not) freaking out about her parents meeting Matt tonight. She really liked him, and she didn't want her parents to ruin the good thing she had going on. She knew they wouldn't really understand her friends or what they did in their spare time together. It's not like they were all innocent flowers, and she just didn't want her parents to worry, or worse, actually catch her after school activities.Foggy had texted her and said he was on his way to drop Matt off and there were knots in her stomach. She'd drank three cups of coffee and both her hands and her legs were shaking with her nerves. Tony was glancing at her, trying not to laugh, and Steve was trying to calm her down and tell her that it was going to be all right.When the doorbell rang, she jumped out of her seat as fast as she could and got to the door before either of her parents knew what was going on. She opened it and smiled nervously at the two men on her doorstep. "Hey, Foggy. Thanks for driving him.""No problem. Good luck meeting the parents, man," he said to Matt. Foggy waved goodbye to Natasha and got back in his car. Natasha led Matt into the foyer."You're wearing your glasses," she commented. He was doing that a lot now. But never when it was just the two of them. She liked to see his eyes."Makes people less nervous around me," he said. "I want to make a good impression."Natasha squeezed his hand. "You will. You want to keep the cane with you or do you want to keep it up here?""I trust you to lead me around." He handed his cane to her and she placed it next to the umbrella rack. Then she took his forearm and led him to where her parents were waiting in the living room, a deep sigh on her lips trying to get rid of her nerves."Uh, hey guys, this is Matt. Matt, these are my dads, Tony and Steve.""Hello, sirs," Matt said. "I would shake your hands, but I can't exactly see where you are in order to do that."Natasha waited while it sunk in to her parents that Matt was blind. She was dating a blind guy. Completely not what they were expecting, but they didn't let it rattle them too much. They just shared their customary glance at each other like they were reading each other's minds, and then turned back to their daughter and her boyfriend."It's nice to finally meet you, Matt. I'm Steve," her father said."Uh, yeah, I'm Tony, but that's Mr Stark to you.""Dad!" Natasha complained."Come on, I can't mess with him a bit?""No.""Fine. I'll be nice.""Thank you.""I hope you like stir fry, Matt," Steve said. "It's what I made for dinner. Natasha said that was okay.""That's perfectly fine, sir; thank you for inviting me over.""It's Steve. And your manners are excellent."Matt laughed. "That's what growing up with nuns will do to you.""Let's go sit down," Steve said. Natasha guided Matt to the couch across from where her parents were seated."Nuns?" Steve asked, not wanting to pry but wanting to at the same time."Yes, sir. I grew up in a Catholic orphanage after my father died.""I'm so sorry.""Oh, it's okay. He died when I was 11. I've had time to adjust.""Still, losing a parent isn't the easiest thing."Steve asked Matt a few more questions about being Catholic, how he was liking high school, and how he and Natasha got together (which embarrassed the hell out of her), but the more polite her parents were, the more she relaxed. It helped Matt was squeezing her hand in reassurance and remaining calm throughout the entire meeting. He was the one meeting her parents and she was the one nervous about it. Matt never got nervous.They ate at the kitchen table and talked some more about hobbies and interests, future career goals, and the like. True to their words, her dads weren't being too embarrassing or awful and seemed to genuinely like Matt, which was a good thing for her. They didn't bombard him with questions about his dad's death or him being blind. Instead, they treated him like they would anyone else.After dinner and a bit more talking, Natasha told them she and Matt were going upstairs. Away from parental company."Leave your door open!" Tony said as she guided Matt up the stairs."Aye aye, [3]оболочки глава (obolochki glava)," she said."Stop calling me that! Why does she keep calling me that?"Steve laughed. "I don't know...shell head.""You too? Come on, guys."Her parent's laughter reached all the way up to Natasha's bedroom, and the door that did remain open.“When’s Foggy picking you up?”“He said 8:30ish.”She checked the clock on her nightstand. “We have about an hour.” She snuggled up against him in her bed (over the covers) and laced their fingers together. “So what did you think?” she asked.“I like your parents. A lot.”“No lying?”“No lying.”“You know I can’t tell if I can’t see your eyes.”“Yes you can. You remember the technique I was teaching you? Try closing your eyes and focusing your hearing on my heartbeat. That’s really all you need to be able to tell if someone is lying or not.”“Easier said than done, Дьявол (d'yavol).”She rested her head on his shoulder. “You really liked them? Even Tony?”“Yes, even Tony.”Natasha hummed. “They liked you, too.”“They’re dying to know about me being blind. And my dad’s death.”She sighed. “Yeah, I know.”“You can tell them, you know. It’s not a secret.”“I know. I just think people’s personal life should be private. I didn’t want to talk about it unless you were okay with it.”“You’re sweet.”Natasha scrunched up her nose. “No, I’m not.”“What are you doing this weekend?” he asked her.“Target practice with Clint.”“Mind if I tag along?”Natasha turned to look at him. “I thought you hated me learning how to fight.”“I do. But you’re going to do it anyway. I’m trying to be supportive of the fact all my friends are in a super-secret club of future assassins.”“Vigilantes and anti-heroes, not assassins.”“Tell that to Frank. I think he wants to murder the whole world.”“We’ll keep him in check.”“And Wade?”“Probably won’t kill people unless he’s been hired to. Probably.”Matt shook his head. “How did I become good friends with people who are so cavalier about killing people?”“I don’t know,” Natasha said. “It’s not like any of us have killed anyone yet. We’re just planning on taking the law into our own hands when it’s needed. The law can’t take care of everything, Matt. I know you and Foggy have wanted to be lawyers your whole lives, but you can’t save everyone. We can.”“And here I am trying to be supportive. So can I come?”“Yeah, you can come.”She settled her head back on Matt’s shoulder and they spent the rest of the time in silence, small touches of comfort and familiarity between the two. Foggy picked him up around 8:45 and as soon as she watched them drive away and shut the door her fathers were sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for her.“So?” she said. “Does Matt pass your test?”“I liked him a lot,” Steve said.“Yeah, he’s not bad,” Tony admitted. “You know who his father was, right?”“Yeah,” Natasha said. “But his dad never wanted him to box, so he doesn’t. It’s not like he really could, anyway. He’s blind.”“About that,” Steve said, “you could have warned us.”“I did,” Natasha said, with a smile, “this morning.”Steve snorted. “Telling me not to stare at him is not the same thing as telling me your boyfriend’s blind.”“So was he born that way?” Tony asked.“No,” Natasha said. “He saved an old guy from being hit by a car when he was 10. A truck swerved not to hit the man and the chemicals in the back of the truck leaked out into Matt’s eyes.”“Seriously? The guy saved someone’s life and got blinded for it?”“Yep. Sucks. Matt’s pretty cool about it, though.”Steve nodded. “He’s a good kid. Thanks for letting us meet him.”“No problem. I’m hanging out tomorrow with him and Clint, if it’s cool.”“Sure. Have fun. Text us to make sure you’re not dead and come home on curfew.”“Will do. Night.” She kissed both her dads on their cheek and dashed up to her room to study more Russian. [1] Russian for "little bird." Clint is Hawkeye. It's a pet name Nat uses.[2] Literal Russian translation is "devil. It's her pet name and an inside joke about how the "Murdock boys got the devil in them."[3] Russian for "shell head." That's Tony's nickname in the comics when he's in the Iron Man costume. She also called him shell head in Age of Ultron.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Here was the thing Tony Stark was angsting over: everything appeared normal with his daughter. Yeah, Matt was a good guy. Her friends—the ones that he’d met—seemed nice, if a little…weird. But he wasn’t one to judge. Despite the fact that weren’t any obvious red flags, something still felt off to him.He knew Steve would probably kill him if he knew he was planning to snoop on his daughter’s whereabouts, and if Natasha knew he was itching to search her room for any evidence, she’d probably never forgive or trust him again. But he wasn’t going to let that happen. Tony knew something wasn’t right; he could feel it in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to know what was going on. He had a feeling his daughter was in trouble, and if that was the case, he needed to be prepared. With lawyers on hand, just in case it was something really bad. Something he didn’t want to know about.When Natasha walked out the door that afternoon to take the train to wherever she, Matt, and Clint were meeting up, Tony followed her. He left a note on the fridge for Steve to tell him he was working on a project and would be home later that evening and not to worry, and tailed Natasha. The three teens met outside an abandoned warehouse. He tried to get close to see what they were doing in there without giving it away he was spying.When he got close enough, he saw Natasha wielding a bow and arrow and Clint guiding her on how to shoot it and hit the target, which had been set up a good distance away from the two. She shot her arrow at the target, almost making her mark, but slightly off. She and Clint kept working on their aim until it was nearly perfect every time. Matt just sat there calmly, listening to the hiss of the arrows in the air, not even looking the least bit bored. He blatantly wondered what blind people did for fun or how they staved off the boredom. Tony was forever bored.They practiced for what felt like forever to Tony, but in reality it probably wasn’t that long. Natasha sat down next to Matt, who handed her a bottle of water. She drank half of it, then turned to Clint. “You think I’m good enough for tonight?” she asked.Clint shrugged. “Maybe. I’m leaving a lot of tonight’s mission up to Frank and Wade, though. They don’t have any problems getting their hands dirty.”Matt tilted his head, listening to their conversation. “What’s tonight?”Natasha and Clint shared a look. Clint nodded his head a bit and Natasha bit her lip. “We’re going after Fisk.”“Damn it,” Matt cursed. Clint raised his eyebrows. It was probably the first time he’d heard the other man curse. “Fisk? Are you kidding me, Tasha? He’ll kill you!”“He can’t kill all of us,” she reasoned. “Besides, we probably won’t even get close to him. We’re trying to get information out of Wesley.”Matt snorted. “You’re not getting information out of his boyfriend. Are you insane? It was one thing when you wanted to deal with Anatoly and Vladimir, okay? I get it. You guys are Russian. They might have known your family. They might have talked to you and trusted you. You could have infiltrated their ranks. Dealing with Wesley is going to get you on his radar. You can’t get past him and Nobu if you want to live. They’ll tear you apart.”“We’ll be fine.”“No, you won’t, Nat. I’m not going to sit around and listen to you all get murdered. Wesley is not going to sit back and let you all intimidate him into going after Fisk. It’s not going to happen.”“We won’t get murdered.”“Yeah, that’s what his father thought. I talk to Karen, you know. She found out Fisk bludgeoned his father to death when he was 12 years old. What makes you think he’d hesitate to do the same to you?”“Because I’m good at what I do, Matt. I’ve been training for this. I can do this. I can be whatever he needs me to be. I can still infiltrate. Trust me. Let me interrogate Wesley tonight while they confront Fisk.”“What are you going to do, sleep with him? Make him fall in love with you?”Natasha shrugged, even though she knew Matt couldn’t see. “If that’s what it takes.”Matt huffed. “This isn’t what I signed up for.”Natasha clenched her jaw. “Then leave. I’m not changing my mission. I can’t fight with the law like you and Foggy, Matt. That’s not the way I work. I was trained to be an assassin. I’m a spy. It’s what I do. And it’s who I’m always going to be. I’m not going to change.”“I need to think,” Matt said. He grabbed his cane and walked out of the warehouse. Tony slunk more into the shadows, his brain trying to wrap around the information he’d received.He didn’t know who Wesley, Fisk, or Nobu were, or how his daughter and her friends had come in contact with him. And what was Natasha talking about, being trained to be an assassin? Since when? Where had their daughter been getting that kind of training? It didn’t make sense. She was 17 years old. Tony would have known…wouldn’t he?Images started flashing in his mind of stuff, memories or dreams. Things half forgotten. 
“God, you're good. You are mind-blowingly close to this. How do you do it? You're a triple impostor, I've never seen anything like it. Is there anything real about you? Do you even speak Latin?”

“Fallaces sunt rerum species.”

“And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?”

“I did.”

“Before I worked for S.H.I.E.L.D., I, uh... Well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call.”

“Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.”

“And what are you now?”

“It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.”

“Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter, Sao Paulo, the hospital fire?”

“You don't understand. Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Take you out and stuff something else in? You know what it's like to be unmade?”

“You know that I do.”
 
“I know who killed Fury. Most of the intelligence community doesn't believe he exists. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier. He's credited over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years.”

“So he's a ghost story.”

“Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran, somebody shot at my tires near Odessa. We lost control, went straight over a cliff, I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering my engineer, so he shot him straight through me. A Soviet slug, no rifling.”

“The truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things to all people all the time. And neither am I. “

“That's a tough way to live.”

“It's a good way not to die, though.”

“You know, it's kind of hard to trust someone when you don't know who that someone really is.”

“Yeah. Who do you want me to be?”

"When I first joined S.H.I.E.L.D., I thought it was going straight. But I guess I just traded in the KGB for HYDRA. I thought I knew whose lies I was telling, but... I guess I can't tell the difference anymore.”

None of those made any sense to Tony, but it nagged at his mind. Like it should matter. Like it was gospel.He turned his attention back to Natasha and Clint. “You okay, Nat?” Clint asked.She sighed shakily. “Yeah, apart from the fact my relationship is probably over, I’m good.”Clint winked at her. “I’m pretty sure he’s too in love with you to leave, no matter what he might disagree with. And if he does, you’ve got me as backup.”Natasha laughed. “What about that Pietro?”Clint shrugged. “Does it look like he and Crystal are breaking up anytime soon? My crush is useless.”Natasha hugged Clint. His arms wrapped around her protectively, his chin resting against the top of her head. Her face was crushed against his chest and her eyes were closed, breathing deeply in, feeling safe in the arms of her best friend. “I love you, Clinton Barton, you know that?”“Back at ya, Natasha Stark-Rogers.”They held on for a few more seconds and then Natasha groaned, pulling back. “I’m gonna go see if I can catch up with Matt. Text me when we’re all meeting up later tonight.”“Will do.”She gathered her purse from where she left it and ran out the warehouse doors in the direction Matt had walked off at. Tony waited a few minutes until the coast was clear and then made his way back to their house. None of this was making sense to him. What kind of fucked up shit was his daughter getting into? Who were these people she was after?Natasha had been asking a lot of questions about her past lately. He and Steve had sat down with her and showed her all the information they had on the adoption, the story the agency had fed them, along with any personal information. Apart from knowing her birth name was Natalia, and that her parents had been murdered, there hadn’t been much to tell Natasha. They thought she had taken it pretty well, but maybe she found something else out that he and Steve hadn’t. He didn’t know what to think anymore.In order to clear his mind and figure out what was going on, Tony went down to his workshop to actually get some work done on his project. He didn’t feel comfortable lying to Steve, and he felt a little guilty not immediately consulting his husband about what he overheard. But maybe it was nothing, and he was totally overreacting. Or maybe they were playing a game. Kids did live role playing stuff all the time. Maybe it was like that. Maybe nothing was really going to happen that night.At least, that’s what he told himself as he worked on his project until his eyelids grew heavy from overwork and he fell asleep right there in his workshop.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Natasha took a deep breath and looked at herself in the mirror. She looked...kind of hot. Clint called her mature looking, and she guessed that was true. She traded in her usual look of crop top and high waisted jeans for a silk blouse and a pencil skirt and heels. Her normally straight hair was curled in beach waves that framed her face. She tucked the hair behind her ears. She had been letting it grow out for the past few months.Tonight’s mission was finally becoming a reality. She was letting the others handle everything with Fisk. Her mission was just Wesley. She was supposed to seduce information out of him, or get him to trust her in some way. They needed unfettered access to where Fisk keeps all his information. She just needed a location, a password, and her hacking skills would do the rest of the work. Wesley wouldn’t even know what hit him.Maybe it was naive for Natasha and her friends to think they could make New York a safer place. But people she knew were buying drugs, were overdosing, on the drugs that Fisk was providing the city with. Karen included. Her father was a deadbeat who used to work for Fisk and gets his drugs as long as he kept his mouth shut, and what had been happening with her friend lately had been freaking her the fuck out. Karen could lie to her and pretend she wasn’t using, but Natasha knew the truth. She was going to be damned in Fisk took another friend from her. Not after Elektra.Clint whistles behind her. “Damn. You clean up nice, Ms. Stark-Rogers.”Natasha turned around to face Clint, giving him the most confident smile she could muster up. “Why, thank you, Mr Barton. You ready for tonight?”Clint held up his quiver. “Yes, ma’am. I’ll have eyes on you all night. If anything goes wrong, I’ll step in.”“Well, aren’t you my knight in shining armour.”Clint snorted. “Yeah, you wish it was like that.”Natasha’s phone buzzed on the bedside table. She rushed to check it, hoping it was Matt. It was just Foggy, giving her the time and location for the charity function tonight.“Your boyfriend text you back yet?”“Nope,” Natasha said. “He probably hates me.”Clint shrugged. “He’ll get over it.”“I hope so.”“I know so. I’ve seen the way he acts with you. He’s head over heels for you. If he wants to make it work, he will. Give him some time.”“I know. But let’s not think about that now. I’m supposed to be in Wesley mode, remember.”“Right. You know that dude is a tough nut to crack, right? I mean, he’s disgustingly loyal to Fisk. I’m not exactly sure how you’re gonna get him to confess any information, but I guess if anyone can do it, you can.”“I appreciate the vote of confidence.”“No prob, Natasha. You ready to go?”  Clint held out his hand for her to take, and with one last deep breath, they were out the door and on the way to completing their first mission.To be fair, this wasn’t some stupid plan that her and her friends concocted out of nowhere. Natasha had hacked into some private government facility trying to find info on her adoption and her life back in Russia and she made a mistake. It got her on their radar. A few months ago, the leader came to her, told her he had been watching her and her friends and thought they had potential. He said all the right things to get her and her friends to do this mission, told them it was training, like they were interns. If they could do this kind of stuff, it would be a guarantee they would get a placement with S.H.I.E.L.D. once they graduated.Natasha’s friends weren’t exactly well off. I mean, they weren’t called the social outcasts for nothing. None of them had good lives. She figured if they took this job, their futures were all guaranteed. Then no one would have to worry about money. Plus, she was into to the whole super spy thing. She was good at it. Alexander Pierce told her so.And if she really wanted to impress him, she would hide all her personal feelings and learn how to get the mission done. It’s what she was good for. And she was going to pull it off without a hitch.Once they entered the venue for the charity function, Natasha grabbed a flute of champagne from the tray and discreetly searched for Wesley. Once she spotted him, she nodded to Clint.“You got eyes on him?” he asked.“Yep, talking to the mayor.”“Right. I’m gonna go get in position. I’ll be watching you from above, okay?”“Sure, маленькая птичка (malen'kaya ptichka). See you when the mission is over.”Clint saluted her and disappeared into the crowd, leaving Natasha alone with her part of the mission.  Clint easily found his way up high and out of view of the charity goers, able to look over everything going on without a hitch. He had studied the blueprints of the venue beforehand, knowing exactly where all the air vents and rafters were to keep him out of view. Clint liked high places. Almost as much as he liked his bow. And Pietro’s stupid smirk and sexy accent, but that was beside the point. Clint was good at seeing things from a distance. His hearing was shit, but his eyes and his target were good. And that’s all that mattered tonight.Clint got eyes on Natasha almost immediately. It wasn’t hard to find her in a crowd, with her flaming red hair on display. She was the most beautiful girl in this place. He often thought about if he had been straight, and if he and Natasha hadn’t started out as amazing friends, they would probably be together now. But that wasn’t a thought he could really entertain right now, not when they were in the middle of a mission.He watched Natasha put on a seductive smile, and saunter over towards Wesley’s line of sight, and work her magic. Clint felt a bit like he was intruding on the moment, watching Natasha and Wesley interact. To make up for the lack of hearing, he’d become adept at reading lips, and could definitely understand everything Natasha was saying, even if he couldn’t see Wesley’s responses. It seemed like too personal of a conversation for him to encroach on, but he needed his eyes on Natasha. The boys had it handled with Fisk; Frank was looking out for Wade. Not that either of them thought Wade or Natasha needed backup, but it was better for them to be safer than sorry. Plus, Mr Pierce was watching all of them to be new recruits for S.H.I.E.L.D., and Clint was going to age out of the system soon, and he would be without his foster family or any money for a serious career, and this was his chance to do some good in the world, and not become his older brother.The evening was going off without a hitch. He had his eyes on Natasha, he was texting back and forth with Frank about their progress. Everything was coming up cherries for them as the night droned on, and the crowd began to thin as the event was coming to an end. Natasha and Wesley were making their way towards the couches in the lobby, champagne flutes still in their hands.Everything was still going fine, until Clint saw Wesley ask Natasha if she wanted to go to a more private setting. “Shit,” Clint whispered under his breath, tensing up. He saw Natasha mouth that she needed to tell her roommate not to wait up for her. Seconds later he got a text from Natasha stating she was leaving with Wesley and to follow their car. She shared her location with Clint, and he was going to use it to track her to their final destination.Clint hated taking his eyes off Natasha, even for a second, but he scrambled from his place in the rafters and made his way to the roof. He quickly texted Frank with the info and waited for Natasha and Wesley to leave the venue and get in their car.Finally they were outside, entering one of Fisk’s endless supplies of limousines fitting for the occasion. Clint mentally jotted down the license plate in case something went wrong, and watched the car pull away and out onto the streets of Manhattan. He followed Natasha’s location on his bike, careful to keep a look out for the limo in the traffic while doing so. He followed them to an abandoned warehouse in Hell’s Kitchen. Probably one of the places they were manufacturing the drugs.Clint parked his bike a ways away from the building and travelled the rest on foot, canvassing the building for any other of Fisk’s minions. When he didn’t find any, he quietly made his way into the building, searching for Natasha and Wesley. He turned his hearing aids up just a touch so he wouldn’t be completely without sound. All caution was thrown into the wind as he heard two voices loudly arguing with each other.He ran towards the sound of their voices, trying to stay in the shadows in case he needed to bail Natasha out of a bad situation. He took a moment to assess the situation: Wesley, with a gun pointed at Natasha. Clint grabbed an arrow and drew his bow tight, waiting for their next moves, unafraid to strike Wesley if the moment called for it.Everything was playing out like a movie as Clint waited with bated breath, feeling like he was outside himself. He didn’t feel like it was him, hiding with an arrow poised at the man with the gun. He didn’t feel like it was him who let the arrow fly straight into Wesley’s chest as he pointed the gun at Natasha’s temple. He didn’t feel like it was him as he watched Natasha struggle to get the gun out of Wesley’s hands, watched as the gun went off, fired into Wesley’s throat, watched as his lifeless body slid to the floor of the abandoned warehouse.Clint blinked over and over, trying to stave away the shock of the moment, before coming back to himself and rushing towards Natasha. Her hand still held the gun; it was shaking uncontrollably. He gently took the gun from her hand and placed it on the floor, then gathered his best friend in his arms. He just held her as she shook; he was terrified of getting caught, but knew he needed to take care of her, too.“Are you okay?” he asked her quietly as she pulled back from him.“Uh huh,” Natasha said, her voice shaky with uncertainty. “It’s what we had to do. It was self-defence. Pierce said stuff like this happens on missions all the time. We did nothing wrong.”Clint didn’t feel like they had done anything right, but he kept his mouth shut, for Natasha.“Fuck,” she said. “I killed him. He’s dead. What the fuck are we gonna do?”“We’re gonna call Pierce, and he’s going to take care of this, okay? And then we’re gonna go home and act like nothing’s wrong, because we can’t afford to freak out anymore, okay?”Natasha took a long, deep breath. “Okay,” she said. “Okay. Let’s talk to Castle and Wade first. Are they still with Fisk?”Clint shook his head. “I don’t know.” He took out his phone and texted Frank, then dialled Pierce, filling him in on the events. Pierce gave them a rendezvous location, and they were off for a debriefing.It was late when he snuck back into this foster parents’ home. He crawled into bed after taking off his bracers and placing his bow beside his bed. He scrolled through the contacts on his phone until he got to Pietro, pressing the call button before he could chicken and back out.Despite how late it was, Pietro answered on the second ring. “Hello?” he asked.Clint opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out were sobs.“Clint?” Pietro asked. “What’s wrong?”“Can…can you talk? Tell me a story? Anything?”“Of course,” Pietro said. “Did I ever tell you about growing up in Mount Wundagore?”“No.”“Well, let me tell you. It all started with my parents…”Clint fell asleep that night listening to Pietro’s voice on the other line, grateful to have a friend like him.

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When Tony woke up, he knew something was different. Everything was different. His lab was different. It was the same in some ways, but…there was no FRIDAY. No Iron Man suits. Nothing familiar like that. He didn’t understand. Had Pepper purged everything after their fight? Tony knew she was still upset about him being Iron Man, but he didn’t think she would go this far. They talked last night. Hell, they had smoothed things over. It was fine.But there was no other explanation for why all of his stuff would be missing, why his lab looked like his lab, but didn’t have the same technology he’d become accustomed to. Really, what the hell was going on? Was he hallucinating? He’d had some to drink last night, but he didn’t think he’d drunk enough for this.Or, maybe after the debacle with Ultron, S.H.I.E.L.D. (or what was left of it) had finally decided to take government action and seize all of his belongings so he couldn’t be a threat to society anymore. Damn Fury if he had anything to do with it. He was just about to call Nick and give him a piece of his mind when a girl walked in his lab.“Dad?” she said, eyes red and puffy from crying, her hands shaking at her sides. “I fucked up, and I don’t know what to do. I thought I could handle it on my own, and I can’t…I need your help, Dad, please.”What. The. Fuck. Was. Happening?Tony peered closer at the girl. Where the fuck did she even come from? Why was she calling him Dad? The thought of ever being a father left him with a bad taste in his mouth and certain thoughts that he would screw everything up. Pepper and he had a pregnancy scare a couple months back and Tony had had a panic attack, not ready to be responsible for a little baby that depended on him for everything. He was terrified he was going to turn into his father.The more Tony stared at the girl, the more he began to recognise her: the green eyes, the red hair, the stance…“Dad?” the girl asked again. “Are you listening?”“Natasha?” he whispered.The girl peered at him. “Are you okay? Are you…oh, Jesus, please don’t tell me you’re drunk.”“No,” Tony said defensively. “I’m not drunk. I only had one drink.”The girl (Natasha?) stared at him some more. “Dad,” she said calmly, “What happened? You were sober for longer than I’ve been alive. What…does Daddy know?”“I don’t…” Tony wet his lips and swallowed. “Natasha, you’re not making any sense. Why are you so young? Where am I? Where are my suits? Where’s FRIDAY? Where’s Pepper?”“You’re in your lab, at home,” Natasha said, sitting down next to Tony. “I don’t know what suits you’re talking about or what FRIDAY is, but Pepper is at work, running your company.”“Stark Industries?” he asked.“Yeah, the one and only. You remodelled it after grandpa died and changed it from a weapons manufacturer to a clean energy resource facility.”“Fuck,” Tony swore. “I’m in the wrong world. I’m not in the same place anymore, am I?”“What are you talking about?”“I’m in the wrong world. I don’t know where this is, but in my world you’re not my daughter, you’re my colleague. And I’m Iron Man, and I’m dating Pepper, and this is all wrong. How the fuck did I get here?”Natasha scrunched up her nose. “Ew, you’re dating Pepper in some alternate world?”Tony stared at her. “I’m telling you I’m from another world, and that’s the part you’re focusing on?”Natasha shrugged. “I work at a magic shop. Loki tells me stories about a magic gem that can alter realities and create new ones. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities.”“Oh,” Tony says dumbly.“So, you and Daddy aren’t together in your world.”“I’m gay? I’m married and gay?”Natasha nods.“With kids. Gay and married with kids. Are there more of you?”“I…I have a brother, yes. His name is James, but we call him Bucky. Daddy talked you into naming him James Buchanan, after the president.”“Fuck. That sounds like Steve.”“You know him in your world?”“Yeah, I know him. We work together. We’re a group of superheroes called Avengers. We…avenge things, and stuff. Occasionally deal with aliens wanting to take over Earth.”“Oh. Wow. Yeah, we don’t have superheroes here. At least, not in real life. Just comic books.”“I don’t know how to deal with having a family. I’m not….it’s not something I’m used to.”“Well, Daddy’s taking Bucky to a playdate before work, so it’s just you and me. We don’t have to go upstairs if it makes you uncomfortable to see the Other You and his life. We can just stay down here.”“Yeah. Okay.”“You know, when you met Daddy, you hadn’t ever had a nuclear family situation, either. I don’t know what it was like for you, but Grandpa Howard wasn’t a nice guy. Not that I would know, because he died before I was born, but I can hear you guys talking sometimes. About how scared you were to be parents, because you thought you’d turn out just like them. How you were convinced you all were going to screw me and Bucky up. But you got past that fear, and hey, I think you guys did a good job.”Tony shook his head. “Figured Howard would be horrible in more than one universe. But you and your brother…you’re still intact, right? I mean, Steve and I didn’t royally fuck up or anything did we?”Natasha smiled softly. “Nah, you guys are just the regular embarrassing kind of parents. No major trauma here. Or well, no trauma from you. Not that I can remember it.”“There was trauma?”“I was adopted after my parents were murdered in Russia. I was kind of a problem child for a while, but you and Daddy changed that. I mean, Bucky and I both came from shitty backgrounds, and you helped us.”“Oh.”The two lapsed into silence for a minute, until Tony’s brain caught up with him. “I’m sorry, did you say Loki?”“…Yeah? I work at his magic shop?”“Fuck, the dude has a magic shop?”“Yeah…why?”“It’s just…Loki’s not a good guy where I’m from. He’s kind of an evil alien sorcerer who tried to rule Earth and stuff…”“Oh. Okay, well, he’s not a bad guy here? I mean, magic doesn’t exist. Or, I thought it didn’t. Or…I don’t know how these things work. Science isn’t my strong suit.”“Eh, I bet you’re decent at it. You’re pretty great at lots of things, Nat. You’re a better hacker than I am.”That perked her up. “Yeah? I hack things there in your world?”“Among other things…that I’m pretty sure are way too grown up for you to hear. What are you, like 15?”She glared at him. “I’m 17.”“Wow. Yeah, that death glare is still the same. Still scares me. I love it.”“Glad to know I’m a badass in multiple universes.”“I wouldn’t call you a badass just yet. More like a mini badass.”Natasha glared at Tony again.“So,” he said. “This place, your life…what’s it like? Me and Steve? Your friends?”Natasha shrugged. “I mean, it’s normal. Though I don’t really know anything else.”“Okay, but…you said I deal in clean energy? Have I patented the arc reactor yet? I found a way to harness the technology I started at MIT, didn’t I?”“Yeah, I think it’s the project you’re working on now, actually. You keep saying it’s gonna change the world pretty significantly.”“Okay. And Steve? Please don’t tell me he’s some obnoxious righteous patriotic motherfucker fighting for our country.”Natasha snorted. “I can’t say no to the first part, but Daddy’s not a soldier. They’d never let him into the army. He’s got too many health problems.”Tony blinked. “Oh, shit. He didn’t go through Project Rebirth.”Natasha frowned. “What’s that?”“Steve…well, Steve from my world, was born back in the 1920s, tried to get into the army during World War II. They did some experimenting on him, made him into a super soldier. He went from skinny, asthmatic kid to like…holy muscles. Got super strength and hearing and all that good stuff. Fought in World War II, crashed a plane into the Atlantic, got frozen in ice for like 70 years, and then came back to us.”“That’s…literally the most fucked up thing I have ever heard in my life.”Tony snorted. “Yeah, well, it gets even more fucked up when you hear it was my father Howard that worked on the project that made Steve into a living sculpture.”“Yeah, that is fucked up.”“Wait, you’re like five. Are you even allowed to say fucked up? Won’t Steve scold you and tell you to stop using such vulgar language?”Natasha laughed. “Yeah, but he’s not here, now is he?” She smirked. “You’re not really my dad, so I don’t think you can punish me either.”Tony dragged a hand across his face. Fuck, he really needed a drink. “Yeah, I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to discipline a fucking teenaged girl. Right, so back on Steve. What does he do?”“Oh, yeah. He’s an art dealer.”“No shit?”“Yeah. He draws too, but he doesn’t like to sell his art.”“Huh. Didn’t know the guy knew anything about art. And…you? Like, you go to school and stuff?”Natasha made an amused expression. “Yeah, I’m in high school.”“Your friends?”“I have a few.”“Do I know any of them? Just rattle off some names and I’ll see if I know any of them in my world.”“Well, my best friend is Clint Barton—”“Ah, I knew Legolas would pop up somewhere! He’s your best friend in my world, too. Kind of a package deal.”“Good to know. Then there’s my boyfriend Matt and his best friend Foggy, and our other friend Karen.”Tony frowned. “Don’t know any of them.”“Then there’s the Maximoff twins--”“Wanda and Pietro?”“Yep.”Tony sucked in a breath. “Yeah, I just recently met them. Not sure how much I like them, yet.”“Their dad scares me.”“Their parents are still alive?”“Yeah? Well, their biological dad is?”“Okay. Good to know. Anyone else?”“The twins are dating Crystal Amaquelin and Victor Stone. Then there’s Wade Wilson and Frank Castle.”“Yeah, don’t know any of them either. No Bruce Banner? Or Thor? Jane Foster?”“I don’t know a Bruce, but I know Jane and Thor. Thor is Loki’s older brother, and he’s married to Jane.”“You know a Sam Wilson?”Natasha smiled. “Yeah, he and Bucky are attached at the hip. Best friends forever, apparently.”Tony blinked. “Right. That’s…really weird.”“Why, do they hate each other or something?”Tony hesitated. How was he supposed to tell this Natasha her cute little brother was an assassin from HYDRA who had tried to murder them and was currently AWOL? He decided not to mention it; some things she didn’t need to know. “Something like that,” he muttered instead.“So we’re like super cool superheroes? The Avengers?”“Yeah, you bet,” he said.“How’d we become superheroes?”“It was mostly S.H.I.E.L.D.’s doing. You and Barton were working as agents, Banner and I got roped into being consultants, and Thor showed up because his brother was literally trying to rule Earth. We’ve been kind of stuck together ever since.”Natasha looked at Tony with wide eyes. “S.H.I.E.L.D. exists in your universe? They’re some kind of secret government facility?”Tony’s brows furrowed. “You’re telling me you know who they are?”Natasha’s resolve crumbled. “Yeah, that’s what I was coming down here to tell you earlier. But then you weren’t you.”“What did you do?”Natasha tensed. “What makes you think I did anything?”“S.H.I.E.L.D. isn’t gonna talk to a kid unless you got on their radar—and not in a good way.”Natasha let out a breath. “I got caught hacking into their file system, okay?”Tony snorted. “Why did you do that?”She shrugged. “I was looking for my parents. Or my past. Back in Russia. I didn’t find anything…but then the director approached us to train, basically guaranteed us a spot in S.H.I.E.L.D. once we graduated. It was too good to pass up.”“Damn, Fury is really recruiting them young this time. I think I’m gonna yell at him about that when I get back to my own world.”“Who’s Fury?”“Nick Fury? Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.?”Natasha shook her head. She didn’t know who that was.“Well, fuck me. That’s something different. Who is it instead? Hill?"“I don’t know who that is, either. The director is Pierce.”Tony let out a slew of curse words under his breath. “Alexander Pierce?”Natasha nodded.“You’ve been working with him?”“Yeah? Is that…is that bad?”“Fuck. Natasha, he’s not S.H.I.E.L.D. He’s HYDRA.”“…The Nazi group?”“Yes, trust me. Not that long ago in my world we found out HYDRA had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. back when it was founded and had been growing in strength since. Pierce was the head of HYDRA until you and Steve took him down.”“That’s….that’s not good,” Natasha swallowed.“No, it’s not. What has he made you do?”Natasha looked down at her shoes, too ashamed to meet Tony’s eyes. “We had a mission last night,” she whispered. “I was just supposed to get some intel from this guy named Wesley, who works for Wilson Fisk. Things went a little south, my cover was blown, and…there was a power struggle with a gun.”“He’s dead?”“Yeah.”Tony peered at her. “I think something big is happening,” he said, “Something that all the universes are experiencing, regardless of the rules in the universe. Something happened in that battle that brought the Avengers together. Someone got in my mind. Someone bad, who wanted to rule the world, remake it in his own image. I think, if he gains enough power, he can conquer not just one world, but all of them. I think things are only going to get worse before they get better.”Fuck. Tony could feel a headache blossoming. How was he supposed to get anything done in this stupid universe where he didn’t have FRIDAY or any of his Iron Man suits? How was he going to shield the universe from this kind of shit?And he told everyone! This was what he was worried about! This was why he built Ultron! He was trying to save the world from that thing that had been inside his mind—that thing that was probably inside Loki’s mind as well, using him as a pawn. The poor bastard hadn’t been the Big Bad they defeated. That thing was still out there, waiting. Tony fucking knew it and no one had believed him. He was just trying to protect the world, and all the got was flak for it. A typical day in his life, but at least he was right. At least he knew there was something out there that needed fighting.“Look, Nat, I know I’m not your dad. But I like you in my universe, and I like this version of you. And I like that some version of me gets to be happy and settle down and not be a total fuckup 24/7. So if I can save the whole universe and all of its realities from whoever it is that wants to take over, I’m gonna do it. Okay?”He pulled the younger Natasha into his arms for hug. Shit, he knew he wasn’t her Tony, but that didn’t stop him from wanting to protect her.“Okay,” she muttered against his chest. They stayed in the lab for the rest of the day, trying to figure out what to do, until Steve called them away for dinner.Fuck, family dinner with his fucking husband—Steve, of all people—and his two kids was the most awkward thing Tony had ever experienced. He didn’t know how the hell he survived it. He had gotten used to his version of Natasha, and it was less weird, but every time he saw tiny Bucky—just a baby, for Christ’s sake—all adorable, and not evil, and happy, he couldn’t stop thinking about the footage he’d seen in his universe of the man with long, greasy hair and a metal arm that went around killing things for sport.And Steve…Jesus, Steve. This Steve was so different from his Steve. All he and Steve did was fight, their bravados and opinions constantly clashing with each other. Sometimes Tony thought that even if he did everything perfectly, Steve would still have something to complain about. But this Steve…aside from the physical difference (Tony had to admit he still thought Steve was attractive without the rippling muscles and washboard abs), this Steve was more at ease with himself. He had an abundance of smiles, and tiny touches of affection, and an excited nature that couldn’t seem to be tamped down. This was Steve as he should be, without the super soldier serum and the war and all his friends who died as he was stuck frozen in ice for 70 years.The personality transplant jarred Tony, but he thought he liked it. Albeit, the fact Steve was so goddamned happy all the time would probably start to grate on his nerves before long, and then they would be back to bickering nonstop like they always did. But still, it was a vast improvement from the holier than thou version he currently had in his home world.Seemed like this Tony was a better version, too. Lighter. Happier. Maybe he could use a dose of that. Maybe he could learn from his mistakes and let himself settle down with Pepper and be happy in his own world. Maybe, after all this shit was done and dealt with, he could retire, and just live normally. That was the dream, wasn’t it? The dream he had never allowed himself to dream. But now, maybe he could. Maybe this was the start of something good.That night, as he lay in bed with skinny Steve wrapped around him like a starfish, Tony carding his fingers through his hair, (what? Just because he was with Pepper in his own universe didn’t mean he had to be an asshole and deny his husband something comforting in this one. It wasn’t like he was cheating; it was just fingers in this guy’s hair.) he wondered how the hell he was going to defeat this force trying to destroy them all. And worse, how he was going to make it back to his own universe so he could warn his team of their impending doom.

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“Tony? Tony, come back to us,” a soft female voice said. It sounded tinny and faraway from Tony, and he wasn’t sure if he was dreaming the voice or if it was real. “Tony? Are you with us?” the voice asked.There was a sharp sting on his cheek, like he’d been slapped. But it seemed faraway, numb, like it wasn’t really happening to him. “ANTHONY STARK!” a booming voice demanded. He knew that voice. It was Thor.“I’m here,” he said automatically. He was beginning to realise his surroundings. He was in a room. A warehouse maybe? No, a workshop. His workshop. In Avengers tower. He was in his workshop, seated at his computer, with Jane Foster and Thor Odinson standing above him. He was in his body, but he wasn’t, at the same time. Tony could see himself, eyes slightly unfocused, not really coherent.“What did you do?” Thor asked. “What magic have you meddled with, Man of Iron?”Tony’s brow furrowed. “Magic? I haven’t been messing with any magic. I swear it. Magic isn’t real.”He didn’t know why he knew things about this world. Why it seemed so familiar. He was Tony Stark, husband and father. Why did he have memories of a life where he was a superhero? A dream of a different world with robots and aliens raining from the sky? People with magical powers? Why did it feel so real? Tony was only dreaming. Thor and Jane weren’t real. He wasn’t really an Avenger.He tried desperately to cling to his existence, the one he was terrified would melt away, the one where he got his happy ending with Steve.“Where’s your mind at, Tony?” Jane asked, more soft and sympathetic than her boyfriend. “Where are you right now?”“In bed,” he said. “Trying not to worry about my daughter.”“Okay, good, Tony. That’s good. Who is your daughter?”“Her name’s Natasha. Steve and I adopted her when her parents died.”“Steve Rogers?” Jane asked.“He’s my husband,” Tony replied.Thor put his hammer down on the ground and crouched next to Tony, studying the man. “I do not understand. You and the Captain are not married in this world? You are dating Miss Potts.”“Thor,” Jane chided. “His mind’s not in this world. He’s somewhere else. I think, based on his brain waves, he’s in another consciousness. One where he’s married to Steve. Leave him alone.”“Of course. I am sorry, Jane.”Jane smirked at her boyfriend."Wait, what do you mean, another consciousness?" Tony asked. His mind felt like it was wrapped in cotton. He couldn't think straight, couldn't remember what was going on or where he was supposed to be. His daughter was doing something dangerous tonight. Only he remembered that she wasn't his daughter, not really. He couldn't understand what was going in.Jane sighed, trying to figure out the best way to explain to Tony what was going on. She didn't know very much about the world he was stuck in, what kind of career Tony had. For all she knew, he wasn't a scientist there. He could run a car dealership, for all she knew. And it wasn't like magic was very easy to explain, anyway. Thor had tried, but sometimes she just couldn't wrap her mind around the concept."Your mind is essentially stuck in two worlds, Tony. Do you believe in alternate universes? Infinite realities?"Tony looked hopelessly lost, sitting in the chair surrounded by the tools of his workshop. "You mean like science fiction stuff?""Well, yes," she said."I guess it's possible," Tony said. "I had a dream that I was a superhero the other night. I guess something like that could exist in another world parallel to mine.""See, that's the thing, Tony," Jane said, getting excited. "You don't know me in that world of yours, do you? The one where you're married to Steve?"Tony frowned and peered closer at her. "No. Should I know you?""No. For all we know, I don't exist in your world. But here, on this world, we know each other pretty well. I'm Jane Foster. We talk science together. And when you're not busy running your own company, you're well...you're a superhero."Tony just stared at Jane, who stared back. While Jane was staring expectantly, Tony had a completely blank look on his face, devoid of any emotion. He didn't even blink.Jane shifted a little, nervous energy pent up. Why was taking to Tony about this so hard?"Do I have a red and gold iron suit?" He finally asked.Jane sighed in relief. "Yes!"Tony nodded. "That was in my dream. Everything felt so real there. I was a superhero and so was Steve. He had like an American flag on a shield. And I think Bucky wasn't a kid because he had a metal arm, and he shot Natasha once. She was a Russian assassin, not my daughter. We were part of a group together. I don't remember what we were called."Jane thought it was best to let his mind work itself out. "Right," she said. "It felt real because it was real. This is your world, Tony. This mad, crazy world where all of us just got done besting a psycho robot named Ultron that you accidentally created. You went down here to work three nights ago and never came back up. You've been sitting here in this chair, asleep, your mind somewhere else. This world where Steve is your husband, where Bucky and Natasha are your children."Tony swallowed. "So that world, with them, it isn't real?"Honestly, Jane didn't know. She looked over at Thor for support on this subject. He knew more about magic than she did."No, Man of Iron," Thor said in his booming voice, "that world is real. Even if it exists in your mind. Every world is real.""But...I'm not actually married to Steve. Does Steve even exist in this world? Are we even together?" Tony felt panic dredge itself up, stick in his throat. He doubled over in the chair, trying to gain purchase of himself, to breathe clearly. Goddamn it. He hated these stupid panic attacks.Jane and Thor cast another look at each other. "Yes, Steve exists in this world," Jane reassured him. "You saw him with the shield, remember? He and all of your friends, your group, live here with you.""Where's here?" Tony asked."Stark Tower. Or Avengers Tower. I'm not sure what you're calling it these days.""I have my own tower?" Tony asked, incredulous."No, friend Tony, you built your own tower," Thor said, grinning like a mad man. He had never seen someone build just a powerful building before with their own two hands and the help of some robots. He'd seen his mother and brother use magic to build things, sure. But that was magic. Tony used science and mechanics."I built my own tower," Tony repeated slowly. "I don't have a house?""You do. The old Stark mansion. But that's in Malibu. Here in New York you just have the tower."Tony nodded. "You didn't answer my question," he said."What question?" Jane asked."Are Steve and I together?"She pursed her lips. "As far as I know, you're just friends. But I live in London nine months out of the year, so I could be wrong. Why don't you ask Steve when you see him later?"Tony rubbed at his forehead with the heel of his palm. "I don't think I'm going to like this reality," he muttered.Thor hummed. "Yes, this cursed magic. I am very grievous I cannot figure out what is ailing you, my friend. Perhaps I should seek council with Heimdall."That was the last thing Jane wanted. Thor went back to Asgard and there was no telling when she was going to see her elusive boyfriend again."Unless you can remember what you were doing when you got sent to the other world?" Jane inserted."No. I just remember waking up in bed with Steve with flashes of memories from here. I don't know what I was doing here. This is...this is my workshop, yeah? Was I working on a project?""We could ask JARVIS!" Thor boomed.Jane put a hand on Thor's chest. "No, we can't, sweetie. Remember, JARVIS is no longer with us, yeah?"Thor's posture deflated. "Right," he uttered morosely."Wait, Jarvis died?" Tony asked, eyes wide in alarm."You remember JARVIS?" Jane asked."Of course I remember Jarvis! He was my butler growing up! When I went off to college I left him behind but I always kept in touch with his family. We get together every Christmas.""Oh. You mean Edwin Jarvis. No, unfortunately he passed away many years ago here on this world. What I meant was the artificial intelligence you created. You named him after your butler.""I created an artificial intelligence?"Thor was back to his proud self. "Yes, my friend! I thought you were a sorcerer when we first met! The talking ceiling was most fascinating! JARVIS sees and hears everything and can talk back! He can do things for us, like order groceries or take your phone calls for you. He's incredible! Was incredible."Tony rubbed at his forehead again. "This world is so different from my own. I had a simple life that was normal. A husband, two kids, a modest house in the suburbs. There wasn't magic or superheroes or anything like this. I work in clean energy, for fuck's sake! I'm environmentally friendly!"Jane smiled. "You do that here, too. Stark Industries is the biggest name in clean energy. In addition to that, you also sell a bunch of electronics that won't kill our environment. You're bigger than Apple.""But am I happy?" Tony asked."Well, I don't know. I suppose so," Jane said. "I don't see why you wouldn't be." She sighed. "Why don't you get some sleep? We'll figure this out when we wake up in the morning. Maybe you'll remember something in a dream again, or you can talk to the rest of your team tomorrow and they can fill in some blanks that we can't.""Yeah, that sounds good," Tony said, not even trying to argue. He was tired and confused and hoping this was just a really vivid dream. Natasha found out he was following her and she drugged him, or something. He's gonna wake up tomorrow and his life will go back to being normal and boring, just the way he liked it.Jane and Thor helped him find his way to his bedroom (this tower was fucking huge! How many fucking floors did they need?) and after brushing his teeth and getting into some comfortable clothes, he collapsed onto his bed, praying when he woke up it would be in Steve's arms. He didn't wake up in Steve's arms. He woke up, by himself, in his bedroom at this tower, in the world that was and wasn't his own simultaneously. He was homesick for something that probably never really existed at all. And didn't that fucking suck.Tony's stomach growled at him and he decided he needed to go make breakfast and have at least three cups of coffee before he could even begin thinking about what he was going to do. He found the kitchen easily enough. He put a pot on and got busy making scrambled eggs and pancakes, his favourite. Because he could use a little normal right now."Wow. Tony Stark cooking. Never thought I'd see the day," a husky voice said from behind him.Tony's spatula went clacking onto the counter as it fell from his hand. He wasn't ready to face this voice, what this voice would do or say or act. He had to remind himself she wasn't his daughter in this universe. They probably didn't even like each other. She was a Russian spy, and a lot older than 17, and probably only mildly tolerated him.What the hell. He had to face this reality sometime. He turned around with a strange grimace on his face. "Yeah," he said. "I guess I don't normally cook, huh?"Natasha snorted. "More like never. I didn't think you even knew how to do anything in a kitchen besides make coffee."He shrugged. "Guess you don't know me as well as you thought you did.""Guess not."Natasha was beautiful. She had on a tank top and shorts and was barefoot, not a stitch of makeup on her face. Her red hair was pulled back into a messy bun. She must have just woken up or something. And yet, it took Tony's breath away. Not in a like, oh my god she's so hot way, because hey, he's gay. But more like in an awed way. He was blown away by his daughter, that someone that amazing was part of his family, and he guessed the thought that this is what his daughter would look like when she was all grown up kind of choked him up. He's a sappy old gay dad. What did he expect?"What are you making?" she asked."Pancakes and scrambled eggs. You want any?"She smirked. "Maybe just a little. You might have poisoned them or something. I'm training with Clint later today and I need to stock up on some protein."So she and Clint were still friends in this universe. Good to know.Natasha parked herself at the island while Tony got to cooking. They lapsed into silence while he cooked and she watched, fascinated at his skills. She really hadn't known her friend possessed any kind of useful skills like that. She just assumed Pepper did all the cooking or that JARVIS ordered in for them.When he was done cooking, Tony placed two plates on the island and the two dug in. Tony debated while they ate about talking to Natasha, trying to sneakily figure out how to talk to her without revealing he was technically from another world. Or reality or mind set or whatever. He didn't want anyone other than Jane and Thor to know."Natasha, we're friends, right?"Natasha's fork clanked against the plate as she put it down, looking up at him. "I guess," she said. "As much as I can be friends with anyone.""And you and Clint are friends?""Yeah," she answered slowly, the word dragged out."Are you dating Matt Murdock, by any chance?"Natasha's eyes turned stormy. "How do you know that name?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous.Tony swallowed and shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. It was the first time he had really seen Natasha--this Natasha, anyway--angry, and he wasn't so keen to see it again. "I saw you with him once, a while ago. I was surprised you actually had a functioning relationship with someone who wasn't S.H.I.E.L.D. Or you know, screwed up in some way like all of us are."Natasha's eyes softened. "He's just an old friend I was dropping by to say hello to. Please leave him alone.""What if I need a good lawyer?" Tony grinned at her. Natasha rolled her eyes."No."Tony shrugged again, this time at ease. "Okay," he said easily. "I'm sure I have a really good lawyer, anyway. Apparently I'm rich and everything, so..."Natasha stared at him for a moment, her head cocked to the side. "Tony, are you feeling all right?" she asked.Tony gave her a weak, watery smile. "No," he said truthfully, not willing to elaborate. He turned away from Natasha and focused on meticulously washing the dishes he used to cook breakfast for them. He bit his lip the entire time to keep from having a panic attack or bursting into tears, whichever one threatened to come first. He wasn't sure he liked this reality. He missed his old one. He just wanted to find his way back.He heard Natasha's chair scrape from behind him and her soft feet padding over near him. She let out a soft sigh as she approached, but she didn't touch Tony. Tony didn't like to be touched. Or handed things. But that was a whole different story that had nothing to do with this universe he was stuck in."Look," Natasha said. "I know we aren't close. And you're still pissed I posed as your secretary in order to evaluate you. Hell, you're probably pissed I didn't recommend you for the Avengers. But we've been through shit together. We're a team now. And I defend my team. And if you need to talk, I'm here. I'm not the most warm or fuzziest person, but I'm a good listener, and I tell things to you straight. If you ever find yourself needing that, I'm just two floors away."Tony swallowed and nodded, but didn't trust himself to speak. He heard her move away from him and out of the kitchen, leaving him alone to finish washing the dishes and face the rest of the day. When he was done cleaning up, Tony decided he was going to explore the rest of his house, or mansion or tower or whatever Jane and Thor had called it last night. He had only seen the lab and his bedroom and kitchen space, which wasn't too terribly different than what he'd had at his home with Steve. But this Tony in this world seemed a lot different than him, and he didn't know what to make of it. If they were truly this band of superheroes like everyone kept mentioning, then maybe he had files on them somewhere, so he could navigate this world as long as he was stuck in it. And hopefully figure out a way back, if there was one.Tony found himself back down in the lab, then. He knew fairly well how everything worked down there. His own lab had HUD screens and holograms and graphics, that was the norm in his world, but he didn't know about this whole AI business, or whatever JARVIS had been.He brought up the home screen and clicked into the files drive, searching for what he was looking for. He found a folder marked "Avengers Initiative" and started from there. The file was locked, of course. Why wouldn't it be? Tony was at a loss for a password since, hey, not his life here, so he just ran an algorithm to hack in (ha, hacking into his own files. He used to do that when he was 10 in order to improve his security system).But he was good at what he did, and so he eased into the file without a hitch, and there were the names of every single member of the Avengers in alphabetical order: Bruce Banner, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanoff, Steve Rogers, Thor Odinson, and Tony Stark.Tony settled into his chair, clicked the first name, and got to reading on his life here.  Name: Robert Bruce BannerAge: 46Birthday: December 18, 1969Birthplace: Dayton, OhioCurrent Whereabouts: Kolkata, IndiaAlias: HulkParents Names:
Brian Banner, Father
Rebecca Banner, Mother (Deceased)
Siblings and Other Family:
Jennifer Walters, Cousin
Morris Walters, Uncle
Elaine Banner Walters, Aunt (Deceased)
Known Affiliations:
Avengers
Lovers:
Betty Ross, Former Fiancé
Occupation:
Nuclear Physicist
Doctor
Childhood: All of Bruce's childhood, his father was abusive and an alcoholic. One day, his father shot and killed his mother in cold blood and was put in prison for the rest of his life. Bruce went to live with his aunt and uncle. He grew up there very close to his cousin, studying science and trying to remain peaceful so he didn't end up like his father. He studied nuclear science all his life.The Incident: As a graduate student in college, Bruce was working on a project in his school's lab. He and other scientists were trying to recreate the effects of Project Rebirth using gamma radiation. Bruce volunteered to experiment on himself. The experiment backfired and an explosion rocked the lab. Bruce was then split into his human side and when he became angry, a green beast intent on death and destruction named Hulk formed. Hulk has limited intelligence, understanding, and verbal skills. He has been on the run ever since. Name: Clinton Francis BartonAge: 44Birthday: January 7, 1971Birthplace: Waverley, IowaCurrent Whereabouts: S.H.I.E.L.D HeadquartersAlias: HawkeyeParents Names:
Harold Barton, Father (Deceased)
Edith Barton, Mother (Deceased)
Siblings and Other Family:
Barney Barton, Brother
Known Affiliations:
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Avengers
Lovers:
Natasha Romanoff, Former Girlfriend
Bobbi Morse, Former Wife (Deceased)
Phil Coulson, Presumed
Occupation:
Circus Act
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent
Avenger
Childhood: Clint's parents ran a drug front from their farm in Iowa. When they got into a disagreement with local crime lords, they were murdered. Clint's father was extremely abusive and controlling. Clint and his brother were put into foster care, but ran away after a few homes and joined the circus. Clint then trained with circus archer Trickshot into becoming a master of archery, unable to miss a shot.The Incident: When Trickshot used him to steal, Clint ran away from the circus and lived on the streets, pick pocketing to survive. He tried to steal from Agent Phil Coulson, who turned him into S.H.I.E.L.D., and thus began his training. Name: Natalia Alivanovna RomanovaAge: 33Birthday: November 22, 1982Birthplace: Stalingrad, RussiaCurrent Whereabouts: S.H.I.E.L.D. HeadquartersAlias: Black WidowParents Names:
Unknown
Siblings and Other Family:
Vindiktor, Brother (Deceased)
Known Affiliations:
Red Room
Avengers
S.H.I.E.L.D.
Lovers:
Clint Barton, Former Boyfriend
Bucky Barnes, Former Boyfriend
Alexa Shostakov, Former Husband
Matt Murdock, Former Boyfriend
Occupation:
Assassin
S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent
Avenger
Childhood: Natasha was taken away from her parents, assumed murdered, when she was a baby in order to serve the Soviet Union. She was born and bred into an assassin in the Red Room. She was trained every day to fight, to kill, how to manipulate to get what she wants. She was bred to be a killer. Her mind was also altered, as well as her physical chemistry, with a modified version of the Project Rebirth serum. Memories of being a ballerina in Bolshoi and an entire family and life were implanted in her mind that never happened. Her graduation ceremony was sterilisation.The Incident: She met Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, when he was handed over from HYDRA to the Soviets during the Cold War. He helped train the girls in the Red Room and was tortured and his mind manipulated in the process. He and a young Natasha fell in love and were punished for it with sterilisation. After he completed his missions, they were going to put Bucky back on ice until he was needed again. His last act before being frozen was breaking Natasha out. She ran away, got married to a crime lord in order to survive, killed and stole her way through Russia and the US, an assassin for hire, until Agent Clint Barton, sent to kill her for her crimes, chose to take her in and make her an agent instead. Name: Steven Grant RogersAge: 97Birthday: July 4, 1918Birthplace: Brooklyn, New YorkCurrent Whereabouts: Brooklyn, New YorkAlias: Captain AmericaParents Names:
Joseph Rogers, Father (Deceased)
Sarah Rogers, Mother (Deceased)
Siblings and Other Family:Known Affiliations:
Howling Commandos
Avengers
Lovers:
Peggy Carter, Former Girlfriend
Howard Stark, Presumed (Deceased)
Bucky Barnes, Presumed
Occupation:
Artist
Soldier
Avenger
Childhood: He lived as a very sick, very poor kid. His father entered the army during World War I and came back with PTSD. This led to drinking and violence, taken out on him and his mother. He shot himself when he realised the kind of person he was, leaving his mother to fend for both of them alone. She worked as a nurse, taking as many shifts as she could to support Steve and his medical needs, until she got sick and died. His best friend Bucky moved in with him and helped Steve take on jobs drawing, etc. for money.The Incident: He was selected by Abraham Erskine for Project Rebirth after witnessing a small and determined Steve try and fail to enter the army three times. Using unknown chemicals and formulas, small, sick, and skinny Steve was turned into a man with enhanced healing, strength, and durability. He then toured the US selling bail bonds during the war until he led a rescue mission in order to recover his friend Bucky's faction behind enemy lines. Him and his group of Howling Commandos continued to fight in the war against HYDRA and Red Skull until, in order to save the world, Steve flew a plane into the Atlantic and was frozen and missing for 70 years. Name: Thor OdinsonAge: UnknownBirthday: UnknownBirthplace: AsgardCurrent Whereabouts: AsgardAlias: ThorParents Names:
Odin Allfather, Father
Frigga, Mother
Siblings and Other Family:
Loki Laufeyson, Brother
Baldur Odinson, Brother
Known Affiliations:
Aesir
Lovers:
Sif, Former Wife
Jane Foster, Girlfriend
Occupation:
Prince of Asgard
Childhood: Thor grew up very loved and respected in Asgard, as a prince who would someday take the throne. He and his friends in the palace of Asgard went on many adventures and were never left wanting.The Incident: As he was about to receive the throne of Asgard, the Aesir's ultimate enemy the Jotunns attacked. He led a war against them that ravaged their city in Asgard. Thor was then banished from Asgard and sent to Earth without his powers in order to learn a lesson of grace and humility, so he would be worthy of the hammer Mjolnir again. This led to him discovering his brother Loki had set him up, determined to outshine his brother. It was also discovered Loki was adopted, the son of a Jotunn kidnapped when they were children for a war alliance. Loki let go of the Bifrost and fell to the abyss, leaving them all stranded on Asgard and mourning. Name: Anthony Edward StarkAge: 45Birthday: May 29, 1970Birthplace: Malibu, CaliforniaCurrent Whereabouts: New York, New YorkAlias: Iron ManParents Names:
Howard Stark, Father (Deceased)
Maria Stark, Mother (Deceased)
Siblings and Other Family:Known Affiliations:
US Military
Avengers
Lovers:
Unknown Number of Women
Pepper Potts, Girlfriend
Occupation:
Owner of Stark Industries
Childhood: Tony's childhood was very lonely. His mother was depressed and his father was an abusive alcoholic who would rather work than pay attention to his son. Tony grew up in the hands of their butler, Edwin Jarvis, until his death due to old age. Tony grew up self loathing, following in the footsteps of his father. He put an act on for the media of a self indulging asshole, but showed a story of hating himself and depression behind the curtains.The Incident: While making a weapons demonstration for the Jericho Missile in Afghanistan, Tony was blown up by his own weapons and held hostage by Afghan war criminals. His heart was kept alive by a battery and then later with the Arc Reactor, built by Tony himself. While held prisoner, he built his first Iron Man suit and escaped. He later discovered business partner and close family friend Obadiah Stane purposely set up his kidnapping and was trying to take over his company. He stole the Iron Man suit idea, tried to kill Tony, and was taken down in an epic fight that turned Tony into a hero instead of the Merchant of Death.  When Tony was done reading, he sat back and rubbed a hand across his face. There wasn't a huge amount of detail in the files, lots of details were redacted for safety, but he had still learned more about the Avengers lives than he knew beforehand. For instance, he learned that Steve's home life was basically the same...except apparently his husband wasn't his husband, he grew up in the 20s instead of the 80s, he had some super soldier serum running in his veins, he was frozen in time for 70 years, and apparently was rumoured to have had a thing with his father. That was a lot to process.Another thing hard to process for Tony? The idea of him being in a relationship with someone other than Steve. While it was clear Steve was single and adjusting to 21st century life, Tony's file told a different story. What kind of weird universe was it that let him and Pepper have a relationship? Like, who let him sleep with Pepper? Not that she was awful, by any means, it's just...he and Pepper had been best friends ever since they met in college and she was the only person he could turn to when his parents died, and they were just...friends, nothing more. Sleeping with her seemed like...such an awkward thing.In fact, it was really awkward, and Tony knew from experience. Back in his first year at MIT and her first year at Harvard, they had gotten drunk one night and Pepper let it slip that she was a virgin. Tony had laughed at her because she was fretting about it and then had to explain that he thought it was awesome she was and that led to a whole discussion about how she just wanted to do it and get it over with and one thing led to another and...well, they didn't have sex because it was weird, but they fooled around a little and then it was just awkward because Tony was gay and hadn't fully realised it yet.But apparently he wasn't gay in this universe. And apparently aliens existed. And his daughter was bred to be an assassin in love with Steve Rogers’s childhood best friend, who was her younger brother in their world.Everything was so upside down and he wished for normal now more than ever before. He wanted to go back to his two normal kids and his normal husband who grew up living with his cousin Peggy and where Jarvis wasn't an artificial intelligence and he didn't have an arc reactor keeping shrapnel from entering his heart and killing him and he sold solar powered technology and didn't fly around in a metal suit for a living. He wasn't a fan of comics books in real life and really didn't want to live in one.And yet...until they could figure out how to get him back to his own universe, he was doomed. He wondered if he should just come clean to the rest of the Avengers. Jane and Thor knew the situation and if they updated the rest of the group on the science or magic or whatever brought him here, then they would have to believe him. And then he wouldn't feel the pressure to be someone he wasn't.He wasn't too keen on telling the group about his other life on this other earth. But then again, maybe they wouldn't be interested in the specifics. Oh, who was he kidding. They were a group of superheroes, of course they were going to be curious. They always needed details after everything was said and done.Tony shut off his virtual computer and exited the lab, chewing on his lip, trying to decide what to do. He was concentrating so hard he didn't even realise until it was too late he was about to run head first into Pepper, the one person he didn't want to see."Oh, good, you're in the lab and you haven't screwed anything up today, like, I don't know, build a murdering psychopathic robot intent of taking over the earth."Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, yeah.""I need you to sign this paperwork real quick before the meeting with the new investors. Just sign here and here." She whipped the files out from under her arm and pointed to the signature line on the sheets of paper. She clicked a pen and handed it over to Tony, who didn't even know what was going on or what he was supposed to be signing."Uh, what's this for again?" He asked.Pepper quirked an eyebrow and looked at him. "Just sign the papers, Tony. I don't want to be late for the meeting.""Not until you tell me what the papers I'm supposed to be signing are for.""Since when did you care? You made me CEO of your company for a reason. I do all the dirty work and you show up when I tell you to and sign whatever I put in front of you without asking.""And now I'm asking," Tony said. If he got back to his world in one piece, he was going to make sure he didn't fuck this Tony over.Pepper huffed. "It's a legally binding document saying these investors are investing their money in the new Stark Phone I proposed to them last week. It's just a formality so that we are all in agreement and legally in business together, okay?"Okay, so no dirty business. Good to know. "Okay," he said, taking the pen from Pepper's hand and signing the documents. "Good luck at the meeting," he said to her.It took Pepper a few seconds to take the file Tony was handing back to her. "Why are you being nice?""What, I can't tell you good luck?""No." She crossed her arms over her chest. "What did you do this time, Tony?""Nothing." Was Tony not even nice to his own girlfriend? What kind of person was this Tony?Pepper heaved a huge sigh. She sounded so tired, like she had been through his with him before many times over the years. "I swear to God if you created something else that's going to take over the world, or if you fucked with Steve or the rest of the Avengers again I will leave this tower, Tony, and I won't come back!"Tony's mouth went dry. No, really, what kind of a person was this Tony Stark? He didn't think he liked him very much. "I didn't do anything, Pep," he said in a small voice. "I'm sorry I tried to be nice. I won't do it again."And without waiting for a response, Tony entered the passcode to get back into his lab, shut the door behind him, and sunk onto the couch, praying he could just shut the world away for a little bit. The problem was, he couldn't. And so he drank until he couldn't think straight. And then he drank a little more until he couldn't see or walk straight. And then a little more so he would pass out and not have to think about anything at all.And that's how his teammates found him: passed out on the couch, with a whole empty bottle of vodka on the floor beside him and a half empty bottle lying next to him on the couch. Natasha slapped him until he began to come to.With Tony's senses dulled, though, he wasn't really sure what was going on, or where he was. The only thing his mind really focused on was the sound of Steve speaking. Steve saying, "So he isn't dead?" as if he had actually been worried about the man.Of course he had been worried! If Tony had looked like he was dead...why wouldn't his husband be relieved that he was okay? That brought a drunken smile to Tony's lips. His husband was so adorable when he was worried about him."I'm fine, baby," he slurred, trying to force himself upright on the couch and bring himself to open his heavy eyelids. "'M still alive."He heard someone choke trying not to laugh, a thud, and then a pained groan, and Tony really needed to know what was going on. "Why am I drunk?" he asked, finally opening his eyes to see a blurry haze of people staring at him.He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when his eyes landed on Steve. Steve was...buff? "Hmm," he mused. "Steve?"He saw Steve swallow. "Yeah, Tony?""I thought you were smaller."A series of emotions he couldn't suss out played across Steve's face for a brief moment, and then it was gone again. Tony wondered what he had said wrong."Yeah, Tony, I was," he said."Oh. Okay." Tony giggled. He didn't know why that was so funny.The group of Avengers all looked at each other, not knowing how to handle this. Tony leaned back against the couch, still upright, and sighed."Why am I drunk?" he repeated. "I thought you all were supposed to stop me if I wanted to drink. I can't end up like my father. I can't do that to my kids.”The Avengers looked at each other again. This was news to them. "Your kids?" Natasha asked.Tony nodded. "We made a deal we wouldn't drink in front of them. I'm not Howard. I don't want them to see me like this. They're not home, are they? James is so young and he won't understand, just like I didn't understand when I was five and my father hit me for the first time."Natasha knelt down in front of Tony and held his face in her hands. She gazed into his unfocused hazel eyes, staring hard, trying to figure out what was going on with him. How did he suddenly know things he didn't used to know, like Matt Murdock, or how to cook? Why was he talking about kids she was sure he didn't have? "Who is we?" She asked gently."Me and Steve," he said, as if it was obvious and he were offended she even had to ask."Rogers?""Well, yeah. I've only been married to him for 20 years."There was that choked laugh again, but this time no one stopped him. The others were too busy trying to absorb whatever Tony was trying to tell them.Natasha stayed focused, though, even if she was confused. "Tony, you're not married to Steve, okay? He was frozen in ice 20 years ago.""No, I know. I'm married to Pepper here. But in the other world we're together and we're married and we're happy, and I really want to go back there.""To this other world?"Tony nodded, sloppy and still drunk. "'M tired," he slurred. "If you don't believe me, just ask Jane and Thor. They'll know what I mean." And then Tony passed out again, leaving the Avengers confused and at a loss for words, desperately wanting to talk to Jane and Thor. Which is the first thing they did after making sure Tony was breathing and wasn't going to die of alcohol poisoning. They sat them both down in the communal kitchen, Avengers staring at the two others in silence, until Natasha finally spoke."Why does Tony think he's married to Steve and that he's in another world?"Jane sighed and placed a hand on her forehead. "I told him not to say anything," she said, annoyed."Well, what's going on?" Steve asked. "I would really like to know why he thinks we're together.""Okay," she said. "We don't know exactly what happened, why, and if we can reverse it, but this Tony is not our Tony, okay? After his fight with Pepper over Ultron, he went down to the lab and then never came back. And Thor got worried. So I went down to the lab to check on him and we found him passed out at his lab desk and I tried to wake him up and he started spouting on about this really vivid dream he'd had about being in another world. It was this world where he wasn't a superhero, but a regular guy married to Steve and they had two kids and everything was different. And when I started telling him about his life here, he remembered having a vivid dream in the other world of him being Iron Man and that Steve was Captain America and somehow he's shifting between alternate realities. It's not in his head, I've analysed the particles in the air and they're an element that's not from this world. I thought he was just going crazy from lack of sleep and stress or something, but it's real. This Tony is really from a world where he's married to Steve, and apparently Natasha, you're his daughter, and I didn't exist, and it's all really weird and we don't know how to get him back or if the other Tony is stuck in his place in the other world.""So you're telling me Steve and Tony are actually married in some other world where none of us are superheroes?" Clint asked. "This is like the perfect plot for a fanfiction. I wonder if anyone's ever thought of his before.""I'm sure they have, Clint, now let's focus on the situation at hand, please," Natasha said."Yes, Mom," he muttered."Essentially," Jane said, "other worlds exist. And somehow Tony cracked the secret of travelling between them. This isn't science fiction anymore. It's real.""Okay," Steve said. "So what else is different about our worlds? I mean, are all of our lives completely different? Our childhoods, our relationships, everything?""I don't know,” Jane said. "You'll have to ask Tony when he's sober and willing to talk about it. This is as much as we know since finding him last night. We're gonna work on a way to send him back. I thought I would have an answer sooner so things would go back to normal, but as usual Tony can't keep his big mouth shut."The Avengers spent the next hour or so talking to Jane and Thor and running through different theories and solutions until they were all talked out. They decided to order some Chinese food and watch some movies they deemed as classic, getting in some team bonding and helping Steve acclimate more to the 21st century all in one go. They fell asleep there together on the couch, momentarily free of worry and their minds away from the Tony Stark situation. When Tony was finally up the next day around noon with the worst hangover of his life, he ventured into the kitchen for some paracetamol, a glass of water, and like four cups of coffee. He was in the process of preparing himself a cup when he noticed the Avengers huddled together, asleep on the couch and on the floor in the entertainment centre, the menu screen for the movie Les Miserables on the TV. He turned the TV off and stared at the group as they slept, wondering how his slip up last night was going to affect everyone in the house.The secret was out. Now they knew. And none of them could go back to pretending they didn't know what was going on now. He didn't know if they thought he was crazy and they were planning like a rehab intervention or something for him, or if they had actually spoken to Jane and believed the totally and frankly absurd notion that he was from another world. If it hadn't happened to him, he wouldn't have believed himself either. And yet, here he was.As the coffee pot gurgled, the Avengers began to stir, starting with Clint and trickling down to the rest of the group. Tony snuck back into the kitchen, the coffee pot full to its limits with the strongest amount of coffee he could make. When he turned back around, the group was all making their way towards him."Coffee?" He asked.They all replied with groans and death glares, but not surprisingly took him up on his offer. Soon as everyone had coffee mugs in front of them and enough breakfast food to go around and they were all seated at the kitchen table, Tony decided to take the plunge and just get it over with."So about last night..." he started."Yeah, about that," Clint said. "Do I exist in this other world of yours? I'm not some like, circus freak or some crazy assassin or something, am I?"Tony stared at him. Clint believed him? "Uh, none of the above, actually.""But I exist?""Yeah. But do you all really want to know about his other world? Once you know, you can't go back. Trust me, I wish I could and not know about this world, but we don't always get what we want.""I'm sure, at least," Clint said. "So I exist, right? I'm still like a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and stuff?""Uh, no. You're actually a 17 year old high school student and Natasha's best friend who happens to be deaf."Clint and Natasha looked at each other. "Uh, okay. And Natasha's your daughter?"Tony nodded warily."Like, are we talking biological daughter, or...""No, she's adopted.""Right. Because you and Steve are married.""Yes, because we're married," he confirmed, avoiding eye contact with Steve. "And also because I'm gay.""Okay, well that answered my next question about whether or not you and Pepper were ever a thing in that other universe. You weren't, right?""No. She's always just been my best friend." Excluding that drunk party, but Tony was not about to reveal that to these people he didn't even really know."I'm with Matt Murdock?" Natasha asked.Tony looked up at her in surprise. She seemed so unaffected by all of this. He suspected she was just as freaked as the rest of them, she just knew how to hide it better."That's why you asked if I knew him yesterday, right? Because I'm dating him?"Tony nodded. "For a few months now, yeah.""Is he still blind in that world?" She looked like she didn't want it to be true."Yeah," Tony said. "Sorry.""Don't be. You didn't blind him." She changed the subject, then. “So I have a brother? James? Also adopted, I'm assuming?""Yeah, but we call him Bucky. Apparently in this world he was Steve's best friend and not his son, so that's weird.""What about Peggy?" Steve almost silently asked.Tony looked up at him, then, seeing Steve's eyes full of longing for the other woman."She's alive. She's part of our kids’ lives. Babysits Buck when we need her to. Comes to dinner once a month."Steve nodded, relieved.Natasha drummed her fingers on her thigh for a moment before squinting and asking Tony, “Where is Bruce?”"I don't know," Tony said honestly. "I'm assuming since Steve was never a part of that whole super soldier thing, he never tried to recreate the serum and the gamma accident never happened."Tony looked at all of their confused and shocked faces. "Well I couldn't live here not knowing all the differences, okay? I have files on all of you I stole from S.H.I.E.L.D. down in my lab."While Natasha was relieved Bruce might have a happy ending in some alternate universe, Steve was lesser than pleased."Wait, what do you mean I was never given the super soldier serum?"Tony looked at him. "Steve, superheroes don't exist in my world. You weren't born in the 20s. There was no reason for Project Rebirth to exist or you to have been a part of it.""So I'm...what? Skinny Steve there? Five foot four with enough medical issues to fill a whole book?""Of course," Tony said, like it didn't bother him."And you still married me?" Steve didn't understand why Tony would marry the other version of him. None of the girls had ever looked at him until after Project Rebirth. Why would Tony have looked at him?"Steve, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you just because you have muscles. I met you at an art gallery opening, you were funny and kind and passionate about art, and I fell in love with that. I do care more about what people look like, you know."And for the record, I like Skinny Steve. He can fit in my arms when I hold him at night. Okay? I like that version of you. I wanted to marry that version, and I'm sorry you can't love that version of yourself."Steve scoffed. "That's a bit hypocritical, don't you think? You can't even love yourself.""Maybe this version of me doesn't, but I put the self loathing behind me in college when my parents died. I let go of that negativity. And I have a good life and a great family and I'm happy with who I am. You don't know anything about me, Steve.""Fine, maybe I don't," Steve conceded."Ooookay," Clint said. "Can we talk about something else? Like why I'm deaf or if Natasha still has red hair in that world or who our other friends are?"The tension between Steve and Tony dissolved then, and he focused back on Clint. "Uh, I think it was from an explosion? You don't really talk about it. It had something to do with your brother.""Oh, so I'm back in foster care, yeah?""Group home, actually. And yes, Natasha still has red hair and she's still Russian.""I'm totally dating someone hot, right?"Tony laughed. "Actually, I think you're crushing on some guy named Pietro, but he has a girlfriend."The smile slipped from Clint's face. "Oh," he said.Tony looked around the room at all the sad faces. "What? What did I say?""Pietro just recently died, Tony," Natasha informed him. "He got shot protecting Clint."Tony blinked, surprised at the revelation. "Oh, shit. Sorry, man. Does he still have a twin sister, Wanda?"Clint nodded. "She's not taking it well.""I would think not. I bet their dad is having a meltdown, too.""Uh, their dad's dead on our world.""Huh. I didn't think Erik was able to be killed. Weird.""Right," Clint said, not knowing how else to respond. "So what else is different? Please don't tell me you live in California full time, because gross.""No, we live here in New York, the Stark mansion. It wasn't a tower in my world.""Right. And Thor and Jane don't exist?""Well, they might, but I don't know them.""Uh huh. And Pepper?""She's my best friend. We met when she was studying business at Harvard and we've been close ever since. She works for me and my company, and she married and divorced my head of security, Happy.""Ew," Clint said. "What about Rhodey?""Oh, he's my best friend. Our son is named after him, actually.""What about Sam Wilson?"Tony snorted. "Sam is Bucky's best friend from pre-school.""That's weird," Clint commented.Something dawned on Tony then. "Oh, Thor!" he yelled."Yes, Friend Tony?""I'm pretty sure you did exist! Natasha worked at a magic shop your brother Loki owns. So if he's on Earth and human and everything, you probably are too."Thor gave him a watery smile and crushed him with a hug. "And he's a good person?""Far as I can tell.""Thank you for this news, Friend Tony. This comforts me greatly.""No problem, Big Guy."Thor ended the hug and Tony breathed a sigh of relief now that he could breathe again."I don't think there's anything left to really tell you all. Just that I really liked that world, and I really want to get back to it. I'm just not the kind of person who could handle living in a world full of superheroes, you know?""We get it, Tony," Jane said, "and we're working on a way to get you back. We just have to do some more experiments and figure out exactly how you travelled between worlds. We'll figure it out and you can go back to your life, okay?"Tony smiled at her, grateful. "Okay, thanks. So what do you people do for fun around here?""Shoot things with arrows," Clint said."Eat lots of food!" Thor stated jovially."Watch movies?" Steve suggested."Good! Sounds great. We should have a movie marathon and eat lots of junk food! I need something to distract me from this world. I sure hope movies are the same. Les Mis still ended with Jean Valjean dying and singing with everyone in heaven, right?""Yes, Tony."He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. Because I would hate for movies to be different. It would be tragic if Star Wars was different and Darth Vader turned out not to be Luke's father."Clint groaned. "Way to ruin the end of the movie, man!"Tony blinked. "Wait, you haven't seen Star Wars?""Nah, man, not a lot of time to watch movies when you're a kid in the circus and when you're out on missions for weeks at a time."Tony snapped his fingers. "It's settled then! We're watching Star Wars! It would be fatal if we didn't!"Natasha snorted. "He sure sounds a lot like our Tony when it comes to bossing people around.""Agreed," Clint stated.And that's how the group of Avengers relaxed for the day before setting off on trying to send Tony back to his world and figuring out why he was sent here in the first place.

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That answer came three weeks later when Steve moved something on one of Tony's lab desks and accidentally knocked over a small yellow stone.It was like a tingling feeling and then it was like waking up from a fog, in a strange kitchen in a house he didn’t recognise instinctively, but still knew all the same. Steve stared at the yellow stone in his hand, and then shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans.Steve looked at the kitchen table he was sitting at, looked around the kitchen itself. There were a child’s drawings on the fridge and a tonne of pictures of a family, a family he wasn’t a part of. And yet, he was. As he looked at it, he saw it was a photo of him, Tony, Natasha, and Bucky. He swallowed, because seeing this here, seeing how happy they looked, how Skinny Steve didn’t seem at all bothered by all of the things that he is, somehow he knew that the Tony in his reality belonged back here, and it wasn’t just a weird hallucination. It was real, and this world meant something to this Tony.He heard the click of a key sliding open the lock towards the front door of their house, and scrambled up from the kitchen table, terrified and feeling extremely out of place. This wasn’t his home. This wasn’t his world. He was not like the Steve of this world, he was just imposing into someone else’s life, and his heart was hammering in his throat like mad…He heard a sigh, and a sniffle, and the door being shut maybe just a little too loud for Steve’s sensitive hearing to handle.“No, I’m telling you, I don’t know what happened, Pepper. Okay? I just…found him like that. It’s fucking sickening. Who does that? Who leaves a five year old fucking bleeding in the street like that? Who’s so fucking heartless like that?”It was Tony. This world’s Tony? He was not cruel enough to believe the Tony from the other world would be heartless enough not to care about a bleeding five year old, but he didn’t know how this whole…parallel world thing worked. Did his Tony get transported here and the other Tony get stuck in his world, or no? The science was kind of making his brain hurt a little bit.This Tony definitely sounded hurt, though. His voice was cracking, like it physically hurt him to get the words out.“No, they banished me from the hospital. I’ve been a wreck since it happened and I haven’t left his side or slept in three days and they all told me I had to go home and shower and get just a couple hours of sleep. But Pepper, I can’t get ahold of Steve and it’s freaking me out and my kid’s in the fucking hospital, I don’t know how they can expect me to just sleep!”Steve swallowed as Tony came into view. This Tony was an absolute wreck. His hair was sticking up at all ends, like he’d endlessly been running his hands through it, tearing it out in worry and frustration. His normally carefully pressed suit was missing the jacket. His shirt was pushed up onto his forearms, his buttons were undone, and the blue was marred by blood soaked onto the front of him. His eyes were bloodshot and the rims were red, and Steve didn’t think he’d ever seen someone so utterly wrecked in his entire life.Tony stared at him, blinked a couple times, and then said into his phone, “I’m gonna have to call you back, Pepper,” and violently shoved his phone into his back pocket.“What the fuck,” Tony whispered. Steve could see his hands shaking. He didn’t know how to handle this.“Uh,” Steve unhelpfully said.Tony raked his eyes over Steve. “Who are you?” he asked.Steve shrugged. “A Steve from another universe? Apparently?”Tony closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily. “Right,” he muttered. “From the universe with the superhero Tony?”Steve nodded. He guessed they came in contact at some point, but he wasn’t going to pry. Not when his (their?) son was in the hospital.Steve cleared his throat. “Did something happen to Bucky?” he asked softly.Tony’s chin wobbled, like he was trying to hold back tears.“Hit and run. He was just lying there in the middle of the road. No one said or did anything. He was just lying there and….” He sighed heavily again, raking his hand through his hair. “Anyway, he’s out of surgery now. His left arm had to be amputated and there was some brain trauma, so they don’t know if he’ll wake up and if he does what the extent of the damage will be.”Well, shit. Steve wasn’t the greatest at comforting people, but he tried anyway, if the situation called for it. He put a hand on Tony’s arm. “I’m so sorry, Tony,” he said. “But I think there’s a way I can help.”“How’s that? Gonna use your superhero powers to track down the asshole that did this and kill them or somethin’?”Steve smiled sadly. “No,” he said. “But I think I found the reason for all of this switching between universes. I think someone is screwing with all of us. In my universe, my Bucky fell from a train, which caused his left arm to be amputated. He woke up without any of his memories. I think our lives are bleeding into each other, and that once we stop the thing switching us into different universes, things will go back to being normal.”Tony nodded. “Natasha was acting weird, too. And I was having memories of conversations we’ve never had, about S.H.I.E.L.D. and missions and things I know nothing about.”“I really hope that things will go back to normal, but it’s not a guarantee. At the most, I can assure you you’ll be able to find your Steve again, and if things don’t go back to normal, you’ll have him as a crutch to lean on. I’m sure he’s a lot stronger and tougher than he looks, yeah? Get through this together; you owe each other that much.”“Okay,” Tony said. He was trying not to break down. It was the most emotion Steve had ever seen from him. “You figured out what was making us switch through universes?”Steve nodded and pulled the yellow stone out of his pocket. “Yeah, it’s this thing. I was in Tony’s lab, and I was searching through his things, and it was underneath some papers, and it fell to the ground, and I picked it up, and suddenly I was here, so….”Tony peered at it, then grabbed the yellow stone from Steve’s hands aggressively, turning it over and over in the palm of his hand. “I know this,” he said. “Loki sells this in his store. He sells more like it, in different colours. They all do different things, or so he claims. I don’t remember what yellow represented but…this is definitely the stone from his store. An Infinity Stone, I think he called it.”Steve frowned. “You think Loki is behind this? But…this originated from my world. You told me that magic and superheroes aren’t real in this universe.”“And the Loki from your universe couldn’t have started it?” There was fire in Tony’s eyes now.“No, on account of him being dead.”The fire went out of Tony’s eyes. “Oh,” he said softly.Steve sighed. “Yeah, but his family’s not. This sounds like something that his family might have done. His father once stripped Thor of all his powers and sent him to Earth just to teach him a lesson. Maybe someone is trying to teach us a lesson.”Tony snorted. “Yeah, like what? That in every iteration and every universe, we belong together, or some sappy shit like that?”Steve frowned. “Well, no. I’m not gay. But maybe it was to help me get a better understanding of you. I’ve been so hellbent on hating the other you. I never really gave him a chance. I just assumed he was an arrogant alcoholic who didn’t know how to deal with actual people so instead he just buys them with his money. But I’ve seen how kind you are, and I don’t think that my Tony could ever be as heartless as I’ve made him out to be. I don’t think it’s possible. Maybe this was to teach me not to judge him, to learn there’s a lot more to Tony Stark than meets the eye.”“Okay. But then what was your Tony supposed to learn? How to not be a dick?”Steve smiled softly. “You thought so, too?”Tony shuddered. “He reminds me of Howard,” he whispered.“I’m sorry. I don’t know what kind of a man Howard became, but I don’t think he was a positive influence for either Tony.”Tony nodded.“I don’t know how the stone works. Do you think we can go to Loki’s magic shop and ask him about it? Maybe he’ll have a hint as to getting us home.”Tony sniffed. “Yeah, we can do that. Let me just, uh…grab a bite to eat or somethin’ and then we can head out.”Steve chuckled. “I was thinking of going tomorrow, after you’ve slept and showered and checked in on Bucky. Yeah?”“Okay,” Tony agreed. “But if my phone rings, answer it, and wake me up if it’s about Buck, okay?”“Done,” Steve said.He watched Tony trudge his way up the stairs and disappear into their shared bedroom. Only when Tony was safely behind a closed door did Steve let out a breath. Oh man, what did Steve get himself into this time? After a few hours of restless, no good sleep, Tony sighed and decided it was time to go face the music. He cringed at the idea of going downstairs to a Steve that wasn’t his. He missed Skinny Steve. He wanted his husband back. This new Steve seemed nice enough, he guessed, but he wasn’t his husband. It seemed cruel for the universe to make him go through this alone.He silently slipped downstairs and grabbed a drink from the fridge. Steve was on the sofa, flipping through some sketchbooks of his husband’s. Tony wondered if this Steve was an artist, too.“Any news?” He asked, hoping there wouldn’t be any bad news.“Pepper texted to say he hasn’t woken up yet. Natasha finally fell asleep. She said to take your time.”Tony nodded. No news was good news, he guessed. “Thanks.”“Sure,” Steve said softly.Tony cleared his throat and clapped his hand together. “So, shall we go visit Loki? See what he’s up to?”Steve closed the sketchbook in his lap and stood up from the couch, nodding his head.“Great,” Tony said. “I’ll drive.”He led Steve to the garage and unlocked the doors to his 2010 Porsche Cayenne Turbo S and he drove in silence to Loki’s magic shop, a place he’d been dozens of times to drop in and just say hi to Natasha while she was working.The thing is, Tony had kind of gotten to know Loki in the few months Natasha had worked there. He had never bought into the “magic” the magic shop claimed to help with, but the store had good business and Loki treated Natasha fairly. He was nice, respectful, and had maybe been a little bit broken. From what he knew from all their conversations, Loki had been abandoned at birth and placed into the foster care system. When he was a kid, he was placed with the Odinson family, and remained in their foster home until he aged out of the system. He hadn’t gotten a long too well with his foster father, but his foster mother was nice and his jock foster brother hadn’t been too bad. As far as Tony could tell, he had just been a kid that felt a little lost. Nothing seemed off or too unassuming about him.He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to feel about Loki maybe having something to do with all the shit they were going through now. Or that he was some kind of enemy in this superhero alternate dimension that this bulky Steve was from. And what the hell? How the hell did Skinny Steve, with a shitload of medical issues, somehow NOT have any medical issues and looked like he spent his whole life playing quarterback? He really didn’t like this other world. He wanted his back to normal and to forget that other world and other life existed.He also didn’t like the fact that he and Steve weren’t together in this world. Steve himself said he wasn’t gay, which meant they weren’t married in that world.Tony drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and sighed, finally breaking the silence. “So,” he said, “you’re not gay.”“Uh, no, but I know we’re married in this universe. Which is cool. I’m not homophobic or anything.”Tony nodded. “Am I married to another man in that universe?”“I’m not sure I should tell you.”Tony snorted. “Why? It’s not like we’re going to change fate if you tell me. I’m just curious, I just want to know that I’m not going to spend the rest of my life alone.”“Well,” Steve said, lips pursed. “I don’t think you’re gay my universe, either. You’ve been dating Pepper for a long time.”“Pepper? Really? Well, I guess if I were straight, Pep would be the one I would want to be with. Makes sense.”Steve nodded. “You’re not alone in my world, Tony. You’ve got a great group of friends who have your back. If you’re worried you’re like your father, you’re nothing like him. Trust me.”“Trust you?” Tony snorted. “How do you know anything about Howard?”“He and I were friends long before you were ever born.” Steve sighed. “Long story short, I grew up in another time period. Crashed my plane in the ocean during World War II, and spent the next 70 years trapped in ice but still alive.”“That sounds really fucking awful. No offense.”“Yeah, it wasn’t great waking up and finding out everyone I loved was either dead or so old it didn’t matter if they were alive anymore.”“You leave a girl behind in the 40s?”“Yeah,” Steve said softly. “Her name was Peggy. She had a good life without me.”“Carter?”Steve shifted in his seat. “You know her?” Tony had told him Peggy was a part of their lives in this universe, but he needed confirmation again, just to be sure.“Sure. You two grew up together here.”Steve nodded. “Our worlds are really different.”“You don’t have to tell me,” Tony muttered.The two lapsed into silence again as Tony kept driving to Loki’s magic shop. He pulled in and killed the engine, took in a shuddering breath.“Okay,” he told himself. “You can do this.”He and Steve exited the car and entered the door, listened to the chimes as they entered. Tony headed straight to the check out counter to see Loki while Steve hung out, pretended to browse around. This was Tony’s world. Best to let him do his thing while Steve offered support if he needed it.Far as Steve could tell, it was just a bunch of crystals and herbs and stuff. Things that were supposed to aid in magic and healing and spells. He wasn’t sure how much they were supposed to work. The only people he knew with magic had their powers naturally, not with the aid of these things.Steve tensed slightly, and then tried to force himself to relax, as he saw Loki walk out from the back. This Loki wasn’t so different from his own: same long, greasy black hair, same facial expressions, same dark style of clothing. He didn’t look manic or evil the way he had during the Battle of New York, though. He just looked like one of those band members who played emo music that Wanda liked to torture everyone with loudly at four AM.“Hello,” Loki said, in his post British accent. Steve always wondered how he sounded British when he was from Asgard. “What brings you all in? Natasha isn’t scheduled to work today.”Tony cleared his throat. “No, I know. I’m just stopping in on my way back to the hospital. Natasha’s gonna have to take some time off from work. Bucky was in an accident and it’s not looking too good at the moment.”Genuine concern flashed on Loki’s face. Steve guessed he wasn’t so bad here, after all.“Oh, no, Tony, is there anything I can do to help?”“Well, I was wondering if you can tell me about the stones, on the wall over there.” Tony nodded to the wall with six stones of all different colours. "Did the colours mean something special?”“They’re from a story my mother read to me when I was younger. They’re called infinity stones. Or sometimes infinity gems. They’re six stones that were created at the beginning of universe that hold immense power to whoever wields them all.”“What kind of power?” Steve chimed in.Loki turned to assess him. “There is the time stone; it can affect time. The legends explained that you can go forward or back in time, or bring things to different places in time. One stone allows you to travel through space. Another gives you physical power. Another can preserve your soul after death. Another can grant telepathy, while the last one can give one access to the multiverse.”Steve perked up at the last one. “The multiverse? That’s access to all of reality? Different timelines and universes?”“Yes,” Loki confirmed.“And this was a bedtime story your mom told you?”“Well, it came from her ancestors, and it was written down, but yes. Some still believe it’s true. But I’ve had these stones in my shop for years, and far as I know they don’t hold any real power.”“How does one access their power?” Tony cut in.“With something called an Infinity Gauntlet. It’s a gauntlet made of pure gold that’s held in the weapons room in Asgard, supposedly. The Allfather, Odin, owns the gauntlet and keeps it hidden away so no one will be tempted to use it for ill will. Once you insert all the gems into the gauntlet, you’ll have unfettered power at your fingertips. But like I said, this is just a story I grew up with. I don’t actually believe in the mythology behind it.”“Right, of course,” Tony said, “It’s nothing but a myth in this universe. But could it be real somewhere else in the multiverse, in another universe?”Loki frowned. “Well, I suppose. Studies of the multiverse aren’t really my area of expertise. You’d have to ask my sister in law Jane about that.”“Right,” Tony said again. “Is there any way we can touch this reality stone you have?”Loki shrugged.  “Sure, be my guest.” He got the reality stone off the wall behind him and handed it to Tony.The second his fingers touched the stone, he was transported somewhere else. A world, or a void in between worlds, made of just infinite blackness as far as Tony’s eyes could see. He scanned around nervously, before his eyes saw a figure slowly walking towards him in the distance.He braced himself and waited for this figure to make their way to him before sizing the figure up. Tony had to crane his neck upwards to take in the figure. He was a tall alien with purple skin and a weird, deformed looking chin. Tony wasn’t sure what race of alien this creature was supposed to be, or who this even was, and he was slightly terrified. He wasn’t like the other Tony, or the buff Steve he had encountered. He came from a world without magic and without superheroes or aliens or anything mystical whatsoever. He wasn’t sure how to process the idea that the multiverse really existed, and within this multiverse held millions of different universes where the mystical was a normal occurrence.“Hello,” the purple alien said to him. “You are not the Tony of my universe,” he said.Tony cleared his throat before speaking.“No, I don’t suppose I am,” he said.“Hmm.” The purple alien bent down in order to be eye level with Tony. He cocked his head to the side. “What have you got there?” he asked.Tony looked at the reality stone, still clutched in the palm of his hand.“You’re the one after the gems, aren’t you?”He smiled. “Yes. My name is Thanos, from the world of Titan.”“I guess you know who I am.”“Indeed. The name Tony Stark means something in the multiverse. You know, I’ve met another version of you before. I hope he’s doing well.”Like fuck you do, Tony thought.“Why do you want the stones?” Tony asked instead of voicing his thoughts.“Why, for power, of course,” Thanos said, like it was the most obvious answer in all of the multiverse.“Do you know the story of Titan, my son?” Thanos asked, no longer kneeling at eye level with Tony, but rather sitting in the inky black void.I’m not your son, Tony thought, but again, chose to keep his thoughts private. This Thanos guy shared the shit out of him.“No, can’t say I do.”Thanos hummed again. “Titan was once a poor, starving planet that barely had enough money to feed all of its citizens. Thousands of people were begging for scraps, unable to fend for themselves or their family. In order to rectify this, half of Titan’s population was…sacrificed, so that it could once become rich and thriving.”“Okay…”“I am the one who proposed and carried out the decision,” Thanos informed Tony. “That has become my job. I go to planets that are suffering and sacrifice half the population in order to keep the rest of the population alive.”“And that’s what you want to do on Earth?”“Sort of,” Thanos said.“Sort of?” Tony parroted back at him.Thanos sighed. “I’m tired,” he stated. “I wish to retire, to raise my daughters in peace. If I acquire all of the gems, I can, with just the snap of my fingers, erase half the population of the multiverse, so that all of the world’s problems will be fixed in the blink of an eye.”Fuck that, Tony thought. “Right. So you want to play General Kodos.”“Who?” Thanos asked.Tony sighed. “It’s a Star Trek reference. This general guy on the colony Tarsus IV did the same thing after most of their crops were destroyed by a fungus. So he rounded up half the population and murdered them so the rest of the population wouldn’t starve to death.”Thanos nodded. “I like this General Kodos. He and I have a shared value and goal in mind. Mine is just on a larger scale.”“You’re not going to do it,” Tony said. “You don’t have all the stones. And there’s no way in hell that you’re getting all of them.”Thanos laughed. “Is that so, Stark? Do you really think you can stop me? I have the gauntlet needed to harness the stones of power. I have one of the stones already. You really think you can stop me?”“I know so. Me, personally, I might not be able to. But the Tony of your universe? The one with Steve and the other superheroes? They’re going to come after you. And they’re going to stop you.”Thanos was still laughing. “No one can stop me,” he said. “Not even your Avengers. Good luck, son of Earth. In the end, you will be defeated. I truly hope you survive the culling.”Tony opened his mouth to speak again, but the stone in his hand lit up and suddenly he was back in Loki’s magic shop, blinking. He looked at Steve, then looked at the clock on the wall, and realised that no time had passed while he was in the void. Nothing was amiss.Tony placed the stone back on the counter and thanked Loki for his time. He had to find a way to get Steve back to his universe so that he could warn the others that Thanos was coming.Once Tony and Steve made their way to the hospital, they went straight to Bucky’s room. The only two people currently in the room were Natasha and Peggy, and since the hit and run incident both had been informed of the crazy world jumping fiasco happening. Granted, Natasha already knew and had met the other Tony when they had switched places.Tony didn’t know exactly how it happened. One second he was in the other world with the Avengers, Wanda carefully probing into his mind to see if anything magical could be done to send him back, and the next second there he was, at the playground. He had looked around to search for Bucky, memories of the other world he had just visited escaping from his mind, and that’s when the incident happened: a big, black SUV just came out of nowhere and hit his five year old son. He thanked all the gods of the universe that he hadn’t been completely run over, otherwise he would be planning for a funeral instead of waiting for him to recover from his injuries.“No news?” he asked tiredly as he and Steve entered the hospital room.He heard Peggy’s sharp intake of breath and Natasha muttered, “Holy crap,” as he assessed this other person who was supposed to be her father.“Geez,” Natasha said. “The other version of my dad said you were bigger from the super soldier serum, but this is really weird.”Tony looked back at Steve to see how he was processing Natasha as their daughter and a young Bucky hooked up to tubes, lying in a coma in the hospital bed. Steve was doing neither, though. He was frozen in the doorway, face ashen, just staring at Peggy.“Peggy?” Steve whispered.Nervously, Peggy stood up from the chair she had been sitting in and smiled at Steve. “Hello,” she said in her post English accent. She had been living in America since she was a child, but that British accent had clung to her all these years. “You’re certainly not the Steve of this universe,” she chuckled.“You’re alive,” Steve said, stunned.“Er, well, yes.” She looked at Natasha for clarification.“Um, Steve was born in the 1920s in that other universe, and met the other you during World War II, so you’re probably kind of…dead in his world,” Natasha helpfully supplied.Something in Steve clicked and seemed to register there was someone else in the room besides Peggy and turned to assess Natasha. “Oh. Hi,” he said, holding out a hand for her to shake.She took it gingerly, shaking his hand. “This is kind of weird,” she said. “You’re my dad…but you’re not. At least when I met the other Tony they looked a lot alike, but…”“Right. Sorry, I don’t look much like your dad,” Steve said, embarrassed.“No, it’s okay. It’s not bad, it’s just different.”Steve’s eyes drifted to the hospital bed where Bucky was lying. “Is he going to be okay?” he asked.“The doctor said he had some internal bleeding, but that’s under control,” Peggy told him. “His arm was badly crushed and there’s a chance of some brain swelling, both of which they're keeping an eye on. Only time will tell.”Steve closed his eyes as a strange emotion Tony couldn’t place played on his face. “The universe demands balance,” he said.“Pardon?” Peggy asked.“In my world, Buck fell from a train during World War II and lost his arm. He had some brain damage as well, lost some of his memories. My world is bleeding into yours. I’m so sorry.”“It’s not your fault,” Tony said. “It’s Thanos’s.”Steve frowned. He’d never heard that name before. “Thanos?”“Yeah, some purple dude I met when I touched that stone back at Loki’s.”“Wait, something happened when you touched it?”Tony nodded. “Time didn’t pass here, but I was in some kind of void. This Thanos guy is trying to get all the stones so he can murder half the multiverse population.”“What?”“Yep. The guy is certifiable. Apparently it’s like his job, or something. I don’t know, the guy is insane. But he’s from your universe. I think he’s attacked your Earth before.”“He has,” Natasha said. They turned to look at her. “When I was talking to the other Tony, he said he’d slipped into the void after the Battle of New York and met someone. They’ve been in his head for years, scaring him enough that he felt he needed to build something to protect Earth, to defend it.”“That’s why he built Ultron,” Steve chimed in. “He was trying to build a robot that could keep Earth insulated from outside forces trying to conquer it. It backfired, but his plan must’ve been because he saw Thanos, you’re right. Shoot, Thor said Loki fell into the void and thought he was dead and then he came to Earth trying to conquer it with his sceptre. That must’ve been Thanos’s doing, because there’s no way it was that easy to stop a master sorcerer like Loki.”“Okay. But now the question is how to stop him from getting all the stones? He said he already had one. What’s to stop him from gaining all the others?” Tony asked.“And where are all the others?” Natasha asked.“We have one on Earth,” Steve said. “Vision, this other robot Tony created, he has the stone from Loki’s sceptre in his forehead, powering him. The others could be in space somewhere. I’m sure Thor would know.”Steve sighed heavily. “I don’t know how to get back to my universe, though,” he said.“You still have the other stone from your universe in your pocket, yeah? Maybe if you just…think about going back to your world, you’ll go back, no questions asked?” Tony chimed in.Steve shrugged. “It’s worth a try.”He took the yellow stone out from his pocket again, rolling it between his fingers. He kept a steady mantra in his mind, pleading for the universe to send him back to his world, to let him explain to the others what they were up against.After a few minutes of nothing happening, he sighed. “It’s not working,” he mumbled.“Yes, it is,” Natasha said. “It started glowing. I don’t think you have enough energy to harness it. What if…what if I help you?”“Then you’ll get sent back with me. You don’t want to go there.”“But it’ll get you back where you need to go! You need to warn the Avengers of what’s coming. You have to defeat Thanos. If that means I have to get transported into another world, then I’ll accept that. This means more than that.”“Natasha,” Tony said quietly.“Dad, it’s worth it. You know it is. And besides, the other you is smart. If I get stuck there, he can find a way to send me back.”“I don’t like it.”“Dad, the whole freaking multiverse is at stake here.”Tony pursed his lips. “Fine. But only because someone needs to stay back here with Bucky am I letting you go alone. Please, do not get stuck there, stay out of the fights, and don’t get yourself killed, you hear me?”Natasha nodded and rushed into her dad’s arms. He cradled the back of her head, clinging to her desperately, afraid to let go but afraid of what it would mean if he didn’t. “I love you,” he told her.“Love you too,” she said back.Once he let go, she moved over to Steve and placed her hand on the stone. “Let’s do this,” she whispered, using hers and Steve’s energy combined. The stone glowed with the force of their thoughts, and they disappeared into the multiverse, leaving Tony and Peggy behind.

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Natasha and Steve plopped into the other universe, right back into Tony’s lab where it had all started. Immediately Natasha keeled over and threw up on the floor, prompting Tony’s robot DUM-E to come and clean it up. She sat down in a lab chair, clutching her stomach and waiting for it to settle down.“Are you okay?” Steve asked.“Ugh,” was her response. “Hopping universes is not a fun experience.”Steve stood there, unsure of how to help her.Suddenly the door to Tony’s lab burst open with a flash of red. Wanda walked in, hands raised, and then dropped her magic as soon as she saw Steve.“Steve!” she said, hugging him ferociously. “You’re back!”“How long have I been gone?”“16 hours. FRIDAY alerted us when there was a surge of energy from the stone and showed us footage of you disappearing. You went to the other universe didn’t you?”Steve nodded.“Who’s this?” Wanda asked, staring now at a young Natasha.Natasha stood up on shaky legs and went to shake her hand. “Natasha.”“Wanda.” Wanda cautiously shook young Natasha’s hand. “You two should come up to the common area. We’ve all set up base there.”“Good idea,” Steve said, while he and Natasha followed Wanda into the elevator and up to the common area.Once they reached the space, the other members looked back at them as the elevator dinged and they all stepped out.“Holy shit,” Clint said, laughing. “Nat, is that you?”The older Natasha got up from the couch and walked towards the younger version of herself, inspecting her. “I don’t understand,” she said. “Tony, when you and Steve switched universes, the other version switched places with you. How come there are two of me in the same universe?”Tony shrugged. “Ask the universe. I don’t know its secrets.”The older Natasha rolled her eyes.“Um, hi,” the younger one said.“Sup,” Tony said, lifting a hand to wave, but keeping his eyes on whatever he was working on. “Good to see you again.”Young Natasha smiled. “We come bearing news.”“Oh? Do tell.”“The other Tony figured out what’s happening. The guy you said that’s been in your head all these years? His name’s Thanos.”“Thanos!” Thor’s booming voice cursed. “Yes. My mother used to tell me and Loki bedtime stories about him and his home planet, Titan. Father has the gauntlet that controls the infinity stones in his weapons room.”Tony blinked up at Natasha, abandoning his work. “Big ass purple dude with some seriously weird chin action going on?” he asked.“That’s how you described it, yes,” Steve said dryly.“Told you I wasn’t crazy. Told you all and none of you believed me.”Steve sighed heavily and rolled his eyes. “Yes, Tony, you were right. Are you satisfied?”Tony grinned at him. “Maybe.”“Okay, so what does this Thanos want, exactly?” Wanda interjected. “What are these infinity stones?”“There are six stones of power,” Thor told her, “that give you the power to control the multiverse.”“He wants to murder half the world,” young Natasha said.“He used Loki to try and take over Earth so he could search for the stones,” Steve also informed them.Thor frowned. “Yes. That makes sense. My brother fell from the Bifrost into the void. He must have met Thanos there. He tricked or brainwashed my brother into doing his bidding.”Clint made a sound of protest. “Uh uh. Fuck that. Your brother used that sceptre thing to mind control me into working for him. He’s not getting off the hook just because someone bigger and badder than him got their hooks into him. He’s still responsible for his actions. He’s still getting an arrow to the eye next time I come face to face with him.”Thor opened his mouth to argue but the older Natasha deftly stepped in between them. “Okay boys, you can argue about this later. We need to focus on the mission at hand right now, and that’s stopping Thanos before he gets all these stones.”“How do we do that?” Clint asked.“We find them and destroy them all,” Tony said.“Okay. And how do we do that?” Clint repeated.“Oh for the love of…”Thor chimed in, “There is one stone on Knowhere. Sif and I gave it to the Collector for safe keeping. There is another one on planet Xandar.”“Then there’s one in Vision’s head,” Tony supplied. “That’s three out of six.”Steve shook his head. “Thanos already has one of the stones. We have another, in case you’ve forgotten all this universe hopping.”“So four out of six, and we somehow have to get the fifth one away from Thanos and locate the last one.”“I can travel back to Asgard and ask around,” Thor said. “Heimdall sees all. Surely he knows there this other stone is.”“Good. Cool. Chop chop,” Tony said.Thor called on Heimdall to open the Bifrost and with a rainbow flash he was gone from the place he once stood.“Dude, that’s so freaking cool!” Young Natasha muttered under her breath.“Great. Now, where’s Vision?” Tony asked.He headed off towards the elevator doors but Steve deftly blocked his path before he could reach them. “Now, wait just a minute,” he said. “Taking the stone away from Vision will kill him.”Tony blinked. “So?”“So, he’ll die, Tony. Don’t you think that matters?”“No. He’s a robot, not a person.”“But he still has emotions and pain receptors. That should matter, Tony.”Tony thought about it for a second. “Nope, not if it means saving all of the multiverse.”“You can’t just go around murdering things, Tony!”Natasha stepped in again to diffuse the situation. “Okay, okay. Both of you, stop. Before we start doing anything, we need to figure out how to destroy these stones, which means research. Can we do that first?”Tony and Steve kept glaring at each other, emotions charged, before Tony backed down. “Yeah, sure thing. FRIDAY, scan the stone for me, would ya?”“Scanning now, Mr Stark,” FRIDAY said.Young Natasha looked up at the ceiling in surprise. “Your house speaks!” she said excitedly.Tony grinned at her. “Yeah, kind of. I didn’t tell you about FRIDAY?”“Uh, no!”“Ah, well, I built an AI and wired it into the mainframe. Where I go, she goes.”“That’s so cool!”“I know.”Steve rolled his eyes. How could he like the other Tony so much and absolutely loathe this one?Tony drummed his fingers on the desk while they waited for FRIDAY to scan the stone, and then sighed when he got bored. “Well, this is suuuuuper boring,” he told them. “It’s gonna take FRIDAY some time. She’ll tell us when we get the results. We should do something else in the meantime.”“Right.  Can we torment your younger self, Nat?” Clint asked.The older Natasha hit Clint on the back of his head. “Be nice to me.”“But why? You totally love me! We’re best friends, even in this totally non superhero universe!”“Doesn’t mean you can torment the other me.”“Can I ask her questions?”“No.”“But whyyyyy?” Clint complained.“Because I know what kind of questions you ask, Clint. Be nice.”Clint pouted and muttered, “You’re no fun.”The younger Natasha bit back a smile and fought off the urge to laugh. She and her Clint had a similar dynamic. But as much as their interaction amused her, she still felt a pang in her chest. She missed her best friend. And to be quite honest, she was super worried about him. What was she missing out in in her world? What was going to happen to Clint after they killed Wesley? Now that she knew Alexander Pierce wasn’t a good guy? Were all her friends in danger?“So, Tasha,” Tony said. “The younger one,” he clarified when both Natashas turned to look at him. “What’s up in your world? With the situation you were in? Any updates?”Natasha bit her lip. “To be honest, I haven’t really had any time to think about it. There was…an accident.”“What? Is everyone okay?”“Bucky got hit by a car. So, not really.”“You’re fucking kidding me. He’s a five year old kid. Who the hell runs over little five year old innocent, adorable kids?”Natasha shrugged, her throat thick with impending tears.“Fuck. Is he going to be okay?”Natasha shrugged again. “It’s pending.”“I’m so sorry, Tasha. That’s so not okay.” Tony took the young girl in his arms and held on tight to her. She fit perfectly against him, his chin coming to rest on the top of her head. She inhaled the scent of this Tony, revelling in the fact he smelled and felt just like her dad did. She wondered if she could ever get back to her universe after this ended, and if she couldn’t, what that meant for her relationship with this world’s Steve and Tony.“Do your dads know what’s going on?” Tony asked her, not even bothering to let go of her, even though the other Avengers were in different state of either awe at his affection or awkwardly trying to look away from the intimacy of the scene.“The other you knows. I don’t know about the other Steve since he was stuck here.”“Yeah, about that…how are you here? Not that it’s not good to see you and the Capsicle again, but…this isn’t your world.”“Steve needed my energy to get back here. And you all needed to know about Thanos. I took a risk. I said goodbye to Dad, so at least he knows where I am, and he trusts that I’m safe with all of you.”“Well, nothing we can do about it now. Want a tour of the compound?”“Hell yes!” Natasha said, feeling more chipper, and eager to take her mind off the dark things. She followed Tony to the elevator, making small talk with him as they went, until they were gone, leaving the rest of the Avengers in the common area without them.“Huh. Who knew Tony Stark had a heart?” Clint asked.Natasha hit him on the back of the head again.“Ow!” he complained.“Tony’s not heartless,” she said. “He’s not half bad when he’s acting like a decent human being.”“Yeah, but even you have to admit it’s strange that another version of you and Tony Stark are bonding. He hugged her.” Clint mock shivered.“It’s not that weird,” Natasha argued. “Tony’s her dad in the other universe. I bet her dad looks a lot like him, so she feels comfortable around him, unlike Steve over here.”Steve chose that moment to tune out of their conversation, and focus his attention onto Wanda. She was off to the side, studying the stone on the table with an intense expression. The tell-tale sign of her magic was visible by the red in the air. He got up from where he was sitting and went over to Wanda.“Can you read anything off of it?” he asked her.“It feels the same as Vision,” she said. “I think all of the stones have a certain mystical energy, a signature, to them.”“That’s good, right? That means you can tell where the stones are?”“Maybe,” she said. She spent a few more seconds analysing the stone with her magic before she dropped her hand and the red energy disappeared from the air. “I’m not sure the stones can be destroyed,” she told him.“Maybe we can find a way to stop Thanos without destroying the stones,” he said quietly. “We can’t destroy Vision’s stones, and, to be honest, we need this one to send Natasha home to her world.”Wanda opened her mouth to respond when Clint called out to them. “Guys, there’s nothing we can do about this situation tonight. We probably shouldn’t mess with anything until FRIDAY says we can. We should just watch a movie or something instead.”Steve sighed. He didn’t want to watch a movie when he could be doing something useful. He didn’t really know what he could do that would be useful, but he was itching to do something. He’d been sitting still for too long. But Clint was right. Tony had taken Natasha on a tour of the tower in order to distract her while he waited. Thor was off to Asgard to search for the other stones. There was nothing to do but be useless.“Sure,” he said, not wanting to rock the boat.“We should watch Parks and Rec. You’ll love it, Steve.”Steve doubted he would, but he agreed anyway, just because he was too tired to argue with Clint right then. So he shut his mouth, allowed Clint to order them all pizza, accepted the tea Natasha made him, and pretended that his mind wasn’t searching for every possible outcome to end this conflict with the mad Titan.He’d never felt more useless in his entire life.

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Thor broke into a grin as he took in the familiar sight of Heimdall at his post in Asgard. He clasped hands with the all-seeing man in lieu of a greeting.“Heimdall!” he boomed. “Might I have words with you?” he asked.Heimdall bowed his head in assent and led him away from his post into a more comfortable setting. “What is it you wish to know?” Heimdall asked.“The infinity stones,” he said.Heimdall nodded. “Yes. There has been some buzz about the stones as of late.”“Do you know where these stones are located? We are afraid a Titan named Thanos is planning to wield them for evil purposes.”“The stone you’re seeking is on Jotunheim.”Thor frowned. “That close to home?”“Yes. I believe your brother has hidden it for safe keeping. Perhaps you should speak with him about it. He is here on Asgard, if you wish to speak with him.”“Loki is on Asgard?” Thor dared not get his hopes up at the thought of his brother still being close to home. He had thought his brother dead at one point, only to find out he had survived slipping into the void. He did not fall for that ploy again after Jane was possessed by the Aether. He knew his brother was alive and well, free from the chains that had once bound him. He had no idea his brother had stayed in Agard, however, as much as he hoped to have been able to speak with him again.“Yes, I would very much like that,” he said.Heimdall nodded knowingly. “He’s taken up residence in your father’s chambers.”Thor stiffened. “Is Father all right?”“He’s safe,” Heimdall said. “He is not on Asgard, but he is aware of the situation.”Thor relaxed. “Thank you, my friend,” he said, and went off in search of his mischievous younger brother.He took pauses along the way to greet the Asgardians around him, friends and others that he had fought with, glad to see him alive and well. On any other day he would take taken time to converse with them over a feast, but he did not have time to reminisce with those of his home world. He had more pressing matters at hand.Thor once again took pause outside of his father’s chambers. He had to steel his mind for a conversation with Loki. Conversations with his brother were always dangerous—one never knew which way the conversation would go. Thor had had many pleasant conversations with him, and many that left him with a bad taste in his mouth. Talking with Loki required a delicate choice of words and anticipating Loki’s mood and motives.Thor knocked on the door and waited for Loki to open the door for him. The door opened and Thor blinked, the face of his father glaring back at him. So Loki had shapeshifted into the guise of their father. He always was clever.“Brother,” he said, simply, and the illusion melted and Loki shifted into his Asgardian form, complete with a sly smirk Thor had become accustomed to.“Thor,” Loki said, caution in his voice. “Come to send me back to the Asgardian dungeons?”“I’m not here to harm you, I merely wish to speak to you.”“What about, dear brother?” Loki sneered the last word, like it was poison, making Thor flinch. Loki had been very vocal about not considering Thor his brother, now that they both knew Loki was adopted. His disdain for Thor was evident in everything he did. But Thor would never give up on Loki, no matter what.“Thanos,” he said, not keeping up any pretence.Any bravado Loki had had disappeared at the mention of the Titan’s name, leaving Loki pale and nervous. “Where did you hear that name?” he hissed, grabbing Thor by his red cape and pulling him into his chambers. He closed and locked the door behind him.“He’s the Titan who convinced you to conquer Earth, is he not?”Loki trained his eyes on the floor. “How do you know about that?”“I have my sources,” Thor told him. “He’s after the infinity stones.”Loki was quiet as he continued to stare at the floor. “I know,” he said softly.“Then you know what that means if he gets a hold of them all.”“Yes, I’m well aware of what that means, Thor.” The vitriol was back in Loki’s tone. Thor had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at his ill-tempered younger brother.“Will you help us stop him?” he asked.Loki laughed humourlessly. “No,” he said.Thor frowned. “Why not?”“Because your Avengers want me dead.”“They don’t need to know you’re helping. All you have to do is tell me where you hid the stone on Jotunheim.”“Oh, that’s all, is it? There’s no hidden catch to any of this, is there, brother?”Thor shrugged. “No.”Loki scoffed. “Why should I help you? Maybe I want to see Thanos win.”“You don’t,” Thor said. “I know you, brother. We may not always agree on everything, and we may have very different approaches to situations, but I know you. And I know you don’t want him to win.”Loki hummed. “Are you forgetting I worked with him in the past?”“No. But I do not believe you were doing it of your own free will. Your sceptre held one of the stones.”“I was of sound mind, Thor. He did not brainwash me into helping him.”“Then he blackmailed you. You were vulnerable, brother. You had just fallen into the void after learning you were adopted. He manipulated you.”Loki’s eyes flashed green. “Or maybe I enjoyed the chaos he represented. Maybe I wanted to see your precious Earth burn.”“I don’t believe that for a second, Loki.”“And why not?” Loki asked.Thor shrugged. “Because I believe you’re better than the chaos in your mind. I believe you’re more than the god of mischief. It’s a part of you, but I do not believe that’s all you are. There is good in you, and I do not believe you want to see the world burn, especially if there’s a chance Thanos could take away your life or the subjects you want to rule over.”Loki raised an eyebrow. “All the more reason for me to work with Thanos.”“Or all the more reason for you to defy him and help make sure we win the war against him.”“And what do I get in return for helping you and those pathetic excuses for heroes out?”“I’ll give you Asgard,” Thor told him.Thor clearly caught Loki off guard, as shock was evident in Loki’s eyes, the green of his magic receding into his clear blue.“I won’t challenge you for the throne. Asgard is yours. I’ve been spending more time on Earth with Jane and the Avengers, and it’s begun to feel like home.”Loki pursed his lips, weighing the pros and cons to helping Thor find the infinity stone.After a few uncomfortable minutes, Loki gave him his answer. “Very well. I shall give you the stone. You are still not welcome in Jotunheim.”Thor grinned. “Thank you, brother.”“Don’t call me that,” he heard Loki mutter as he walked past Thor and opened the door. “I will retrieve the stone for you tomorrow. You may stay in your old chambers tonight if you wish to.”Thor nodded, knowing their conversation was over. Tomorrow he would receive the stone from Loki, and then he would be off to Knowhere and Xandar to retrieve the other two. It did come as somewhat of a shock to Thor that, as promised, the next day Loki did give him the stone. Thor had woken up that morning, had a breakfast feast in the hall as he caught up with his friends. He kept an eye out for those coming and going in the hall, but Loki was absent entirely. After breakfast, he took the time to walk around Asgard, visit its people and its shops to see what had changed since he’d last encountered them.Asgard could have been in any state with his brother on the throne; Thor was not denying that his brother could be a little power hungry and generally didn’t always have everyone’s best interests at heart. However, he also knew Loki loved his home, and would never want grave harm to come to Asgard. Walking around and surveying the land, Thor had to admit that Loki on Asgard’s throne wasn’t much different from Odin’s rule. Heimdall had said Odin knew Loki was ruling, and Thor wouldn’t dare imagine his father would leave Asgard in his brother’s hands if he didn’t somehow trust him nor have his eye on the situation. This comforted Thor, and gave a new spark of hope in his chest that Loki had come to his senses and was trying to do some good in the world, in his own mischievous, slightly warped way. It meant there were redeeming qualities in him after all.By mid-afternoon Thor retired back to his chambers and was surprised to discover Loki on his bed, thumbing through some of Thor’s old Asgardian textbooks he had taken off his shelf.“Brother,” Loki greeted without looking up at Thor.“Loki,” he said back.“I have your stone,” he said. “Do you know where the others you seek are?”“Yes,” Thor said. He did not offer any locations.Loki nodded his head, still thumbing through the textbooks. “Do you really think the Avengers can beat Thanos?”“I do.”Loki shut the textbook and placed it on Thor’s bed beside him. “I only joined Thanos for survival,” he said quietly. “I did not think anyone could stop him if he got his hands on all the stones. I did not have faith that any Earthly heroes could rise to the occasion. As such, I did not want to die. So I allied myself with the group I thought would win the war.”“Wanting to survive doesn’t make you a bad person, Loki.”“Doesn’t it, brother? I have done a lot of selfish things.”“So have I.”Loki scoffed. “Oh, don’t pretend you weren’t the golden brother, Thor. You could have gotten away with everything I did without a slap on the wrist while I had to suffer in the dungeons of Asgard. Do you know what they did to me down there, brother? I only let you see what I wanted you to see. The truth was much grimmer.”“Father always said you were treated fairly,” Thor argued, though he swallowed at the genuine pain in Loki’s voice.Loki laughed bitterly. “After all of Odin’s lies, how can you still believe anything that comes out of his mouth? No, dear brother, I was not treated fairly. I was chained to three rocks, unable to look away from the entrails of my dead son. Skadi placed a snake on top of my head and laughed as its venom dripped onto my face. I received this torture every day for months with little reprise.”Thor shook his head. No, that wasn’t right. That kind of punishment was only for the worst Asgardian criminals, the ones who would no doubt be sent to Helheim with their death. Loki was a prince of Asgard. He had led the Jotuns into the throne room, sure, but in his defence he had just found out he was adopted as a spoil of war, stolen from his home of Jotunheim. He was wanted as a war criminal after attacking Earth, but those crimes should have had no bearing on his Asgardian sentence. His father had approved these heinous acts to be committed on their son? He had really ordered the death of one of Loki’s sons? Thor felt bile rise in his throat at the thought. He would have to seek council with his father after the war with Thanos and demand some answers for himself.“I did not imagine such things would have taken place,” he said, apologising in the only way he knew how.“Do not feel pity for me. Your only crime is your ignorance. Here, take the stone and stop Thanos.”Loki held the stone out and Thor took it, pocketing it. “If you wish to join me on my search for the stones, you are welcome to,” he said, genuinely meaning.Loki pursed his lips in thought for a moment. “I think not, brother. I would much rather stay here and rule Asgard than fight the man I once aligned myself with. But I wish you and your Avengers well in this war. And know if you win, you are welcome back in Asgard as long as you choose.”“Thank you, brother.” He clasped Loki’s forearm and watched as his brother walked out of his room and down the corridor to his chambers.Thor set off that night to Knowhere with a newfound love for his brother, and a hope that one day he wouldn’t mend their relationship, but rather build it into something better in the future.

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Back at the Avengers tower, the heroes were waiting for Thor to come back with the three stones and were running tests on the stone inside Vision’s head. Tony didn’t have the capacity to remove the stone without breaking Vision, but the more Wanda studied the stone with her magic, and studied the way that Vision processed information, she thought she had formed a successful way to remove it without taking Vision permanently offline. Vision was a self-learning synthezoid, meaning he had data inputted, but from there he could learn independently and form his own personality and further his knowledge. Vision had learned enough in his creation that he could be separated from the stone and it wouldn’t have made much a difference in what he knew and how he processed information.The vibe in the tower was awkward and tense. Natasha and Clint generally hung out separate from the others, trying not to be rude but really not wanting to interact with Natasha’s younger self in case there were major consequences to interacting with your alternate self. Vision and Wanda spent most of their time together, studying his stone. Steve had taken to spending most of his time in the gym, punching bags until his arms were shaking with exhaustion, or calling Sam up and going for a run until his legs were jello and he forgot the awful situation they were in. Tony spent most of his time in his own section of the lab or in the common room in a corner with the younger Natasha. He seemed to be spending all of his time with her and it had begun to irk Steve. Why was Tony spending so much time with someone who technically wasn’t his daughter instead of helping them understand the power of the gems?One night after an intense workout session, Steve entered the communal kitchen to grab a drink of water before turning in for the night. His super hearing picked up whispering, and as he focused on the voices he discovered it was Tony and the other Natasha. Annoyed beyond belief, Steve went in search of the two, wanting to give Tony a piece of his mind, but stayed outside the door, listening to their conversation as he approached.“I don’t know why Steve hates me so much here,” Steve heard Tony say. “And I don’t know how the universe can decide to make us hate each other in this world and literally be married to each other in another. I mean, how does that even work? Is it that thing where the choices we make in life matter, and if he and I had made different choices in our life we might like each other more in this world?”“Well, to be fair, you like Steve in this universe,” Natasha commented.Steve quirked an eyebrow at that. Tony did?Tony huffed. “Yeah, but he also annoys the living crap out of me. He acts like he’s some boy scout, that he has some kind of moral high ground over the rest of us. It’s like no matter what I do, he’s not going to like any decision I make because it’s not the way he would have done it.”“Are you sure you’re not just projecting?”“Projecting? Jeez, who are you, my therapist? Kid, what would I be projecting onto Steve?”“Oh gee, I don’t know, your own self-loathing? Maybe Steve doesn’t really hate all your decisions. Maybe you’re just always on the defence about things and pick a fight with him as a way to protect yourself. Instead of having him agree with you, you just assume he’s going to disagree with you and you fight a battle with him when in all reality it would probably be solved between you two easily.”“Who taught you to be so smart?”“You did. Or, the other you.”Tony chuckled.“Have you ever actually sat down with Steve and had a discussion about his issues with you? I mean, why do you think he doesn’t like you?”“Because I flaunt how rich I am.”Well, that was part of it, Steve thought. But not the whole truth. He didn’t hate Tony, he just didn’t understand him. They came from two different worlds.“Look, I had a shitty childhood, Nat. Nothing I did was ever good enough for my dad. And I don’t have a single clue why he hated me so much. I tried to do everything he wanted of me. I didn’t spend my childhood like a normal child, playing, I spent it all building things, trying to be as smart as my dad was, to prove to him his company would be safe in my hands someday. And you know what that got me? Nothing. My father taught me to hate myself. To assume everyone wanted something from me. To assume no one would love me for me, that I needed to put on an act. I used drugs and alcohol and sex because that’s what people expected of me, not because I always wanted them. I make big grand gestures and buy people things because I genuinely believe that’s why people keep me around, why they like me. Because why would anyone love Tony Stark for Tony Stark?”“Does anyone even know the real Tony Stark?”Tony was silent. Then, “Rhodey does. I met him in college, so he was there when my parents died, when I went off the deep end. He always saw past the mask. He called me out on my shit. He was the one that would sit up with me when the nightmares got bad, or help me control my breathing when I had a panic attack. He’s the first person who’s ever told me he didn’t want my money, he just wanted to hang out with me, and that was enough.”“Tony, if you never let Steve past your barrier, how is he ever supposed to know that the man in the tabloids isn’t the real you? That you’re more than that?”“I don’t know,” he mumbled.Natasha laughed quietly. “Exactly. Come on, Tony. I know you’re emotionally stunted but—”“Uh, excuse you!” Tony spluttered.Natasha laughed harder. “Sorry, but it’s true! You are.”“Yeah, but you don’t have to call me out on it.”“You said you wanted honest. I’m honest.”“You’re brutal, is what you are.”“Is there a difference?”“Yes!”“Regardless, you’re never going to get on the same level as Steve if you two don’t hash things out. You think he thinks he’s better than all of you, he probably assumes you think you’re better than everyone else. Just try to find some common ground with him. Open up a little.”“And if he still doesn’t like me? Or, god forbid, he pities me. I don’t think I can be on a team with him if he pities me.”“You both had shitty fathers. That’s something that connected my dads together, knowing they shared that kind of hurt and understood what it’s like to carry the scars of emotional abuse. My Steve didn’t judge my Tony for that. And trust me, my Steve is opinionated and stubborn and is not easy to talk to when he’s mad or insulted. I don’t think Steve’s underlying personality is that much different. So he would understand, at least, a little bit about why you are guarded and put on a front.”“I guess.” Tony didn’t sound convinced.“Which means you’re not gonna listen to anything I say and you’re gonna continue to suffer in silence.”Steve had to hand it to this Natasha, she kind of knew Tony down to a T.Tony sighed heavily. “Nat, what if I am myself around them and they don’t like me? Okay, not just Steve, but the rest of the team? What if they only like me because I can buy them cool things and make them cool weapons and give them a cool place to live? What if I’m completely myself with them and they decide they hate who I am?”“But what if they don’t, Tony? I mean, aren’t you lonely? You’ve kept yourself separate from the world for your whole life. You’ve never completely opened up to anyone before. So you say Rhodey loves you for who you are, but he’s gone in the Air Force all the time and isn’t always there when you need him. You have Pepper, but she’s your girlfriend, not a platonic friend. Don’t you want friends? Don’t you want those people who are always going to have your back? A support system?”“I’ve got my science, I’ve got my Rhodey, my Pep, my Brucie…isn’t that enough?”“I don’t know, Tony, is it?”Steve heard Tony swallow thickly.“I don’t know,” he whispered.“Isn’t it about time you found out?”“Really, how did you get so wise?”“Not that long ago I didn’t have any friends apart from Clint. It was just us; he was the only person I let past my defences besides my parents. And I was really sad, and really lonely, and I spent my time playing video games instead of exploring the world. And my dads sat me down, and we had a heart to heart, and the other you said the same thing to me. And now I have Clint, and I have my other friends, and I have my boyfriend. And all of us are a little weird and a little broken, but we’re kindred spirits. We get each other in a way that’s comforting. And we don’t always have to like each other or the decisions we make, but at the end of the day we’re always there for each other. And now I don’t know what I’d do without them. You deserve a chance to find that for yourself, Tony. Everyone deserves people they can be real with. And I don’t think the Avengers would be here if they didn’t want the same thing.”“You have pretty great parents, huh?”“Yeah, I do.”“I’m sorry I’m not more like your dad.”“I’m not.”Steve swallowed, and backed away from the door, now feeling more like he was trespassing on a super intimate moment than spying to hear what Tony was saying about him. He grabbed his water cup from the counter in the communal kitchen and rode the elevator to his floor.As much as Steve was embarrassed by the fact he’d been listening in on Tony and Natasha’s conversation, he was also kind of glad. He had gotten a little bit on insight into Tony’s world. It wasn’t like Steve didn’t know that Tony had an inferiority complex in there somewhere, and he felt he had to make up for his lack of social interaction with money and cool inventions, but every time he thought he saw pieces of the vulnerable Tony, it was counteracted by Tony being arrogant, selfish, and generally unpleasant to be around.Steve was frustrated, down to his core. Frustrated because he had misjudged Tony before getting to know him. He believed all the gossip and the stupid tabloids that Tony was a self-proclaimed ladies’ man and an attention whore and wanted nothing more than to party his way through life, flashing his money around like a badge every time he got in trouble. He was frustrated because now he knew there was more to Tony than the tabloids showed. He knew Tony wasn’t the genius billionaire playboy philanthropist he claimed to be, and yet he insisted on only showing people that awful side to himself. Steve just wanted him to be real with them, that’s all.And maybe they did take Tony for granted sometimes. They were always coming to Tony, asking for him to fix their weapons or asking if he could make them new ones, and they didn’t even bat an eyelash at the amount of time, work, money, or resources it might cost Tony to do that. On top of being Iron Man, Tony also had his company to run, and wasn’t a full time superhero or agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. like the rest of them. He didn’t have an unlimited amount of time to spend with them. And yet, he always seemed to drop everything in order to please them. They said jump, Tony asked how high. And they never even thanked him.Natasha had been dead on about Steve being arrogant and stubborn when he was mad. If Steve realised he was wrong about something, he still insisted he was right, because he didn’t want to wound his own pride. Steve knew he had key things to work on with himself, and maybe he was taking a lot of things out on Tony by not being a bigger person, by not admitting his own faults. Steve knew he was wrong sometimes, and he knew he wasn’t on some moral high ground like Tony thought. But Steve wasn’t doing anything to show Tony he wasn’t like that, either. Both of them had a perceived notion of the other, and both of them weren’t doing anything to discourage that notion. They could both be better people.In fact, Steve would be. For now, he would hold his tongue and try to get along with Tony best he could. After they defeated Thanos, then they could get everything out in the open, come to some kind of understanding. It seemed that the other Tony and Steve had actually learned how to communicate with each other in healthy way, and that’s why their relationship worked. Maybe if he and this Tony talked, they would actually become friends. Steve and Tony were never going to be a couple in this world, but at least they didn’t have to be at each other’s throats all the time.Steve fell asleep that night coming up with mock scenarios of him and Tony talking through their issues.

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It was a few days later and Steve hadn’t exactly gotten the courage to discuss his friendship failings with Tony, but he had taken time to be more understanding of the genius, the situation they were in, and actually heard him and his theories out instead of jumping to conclusions and automatically opposing everything. Sometimes it was hard to Steve to bite his tongue and not comment on some of Tony’s less than savoury things he had to say—what could Steve say, something about Tony’s personality still rubbed him the wrong way. He chalked it up to growing up in a different time period than the other man—but all in all it was necessary they at least try to get along if they were all going to work together to defeat Thanos.It was a regular afternoon they found themselves in, bouncing around theories together.“So, what exactly are we going to do to stop Thanos when he shows up for the stones again?” Clint asked.Tony shrugged. “Does anyone know if the dude has any weaknesses we can use against him? Like, how strong he is? Weak points? What the stone he has does so we can prepare for that little piece of magic?”Everyone involved in the conversation shook their heads. Tony scrubbed a hand over his face and sighed. “Okay. Good talk,” he mumbled, turning back to some kind of information FRIDAY was showing him.Steve chewed his lip for a minute, debating about whether to speak up or not, and decided it was worth it to bring it up. “Do we know what will happen if we destroy all of the stones so no one else tries to wield their power? The universe created them for a reason. If we get rid of all of them, will it have lasting consequences?”“That is a good point, Steve Rogers,” Vision said. He frowned for a moment and concentrated, seemingly perusing the database of information. “I don’t see how there could be any lasting consequences, based on the data I have collected. Presumably destroying a stone will just erase its power, never giving a single person the power to control the universe. Nothing less, nothing more.”“Okay. Does anyone know if this has happened before? Thor and Loki both told me that their mother used to tell them the story of the infinity stones as a bedtime story. If this story has been around a long time, then someone has tried to control all of the stones before Thanos. If we can find a story about another botched attempt, we could see how they defeated this person and use it to our advantage.”The wheels of Tony’s chair scraped against the floor of his lap as he turned around in it to face Steve. “Good idea, Capsicle. You wanna go to the library and research old books that might have information? Take the redhead with you. She likes research.”The older Natasha narrowed her eyes at Tony. “Call me Redhead again and I will decapitate you in your sleep.”Tony grinned at her. “Come on, Nat. You can teach Steve how to look up old stuff on Microfiche. It’ll be a blast.”She was still glaring at him murderously, but eventually agreed. “Fine. Steve and I will go do some research to see if this kind of thing has happened before.”She nodded at Steve to follow her out of the lab, and he gladly did, happy to be doing something useful for once. Looking through old documents and books? That was something he knew how to do. He couldn’t wait to finally be a help in this situation.“Great. Now that they’re gone, how close are you on getting that stone out of Vision’s head?” Tony asked, addressing Wanda.Wanda’s red magic flared in the air and then dissipated as she turned to look at Tony. “I still can’t figure out a way to remove it without hurting Vision. I contacted someone who might know more about the situation than I do. I am just waiting to hear back from them.”“Cool beans. Anyone done any research on the Titan race?”“I actually did the research,” Clint chimed in.“I’m shocked, Legolas. Who knew you were useful?”“You know I can read.”“Really?”“Ha ha. Do you want to hear what I found out or not?”“Explain away.”“So, the Titans are an offshoot race of the Eternals. I guess they had some kind of fight with the Kree race and split off from them, settled down on an exoplanet called Titan, hence the name. They were originally a peaceful race that prospered and were science based, and then the leader died. Then the planet started to go into a famine, and in order to save the planet, half of the population was exterminated. They prospered again, and that was that.”“Great. So these Titans have the skillset of both Eternals and Krees. That sounds like a not so good combination.”“Yeah, but it’s nothing we haven’t fought before, right? This dude is just another alien. All of us together can surely take down one Titan, don’t you think?”“Maybe if he didn’t already have a stone. We don’t know which stone he has. We have the reality stone, but we don’t know which other stone does what. Maybe if we figure that out…”“I have the mind stone,” Vision said. “It is the stone from Loki’s sceptre that he used to mind control everyone when attempting to take over Earth.”“Yeah, don’t remind me,” Clint grumbled.“Which leaves, what? Time, space, power, and soul?”“Pretty much. These legends don’t say which colour goes with which power. I asked Jane to look in some of Thor’s books from Asgard, but from what she told me the colours vary from book to book, so that’s a dead end,” Clint said.“Great. So we won’t know anything until Thor gets back with the stones and we can scan them for their powers. Awesome. I hate being useless and not having all the information.”“Sooooo, another movie night until the others come back with info?” Clint asked.“Sure, Legolas. Go pick out a movie.” Tony was exhausted. Trying to save the world without all the details was the worst. “Guys!” Steve said, bursting into the common room with Natasha at his heels. “We know who the infinity gauntlet belongs to!”The rest of the Avengers paused the movie they were watching and kept their ears open for the news.“Get this, Thor said his father had the gauntlet in his weapons room, because it belonged to his father, Odin. His mother’s bedtime story was their own history. Odin built the gauntlet and tried to seize the power of the stones once a long time ago and it didn’t go as planned. His second in command tried to steal the power from him, and he sealed her in the underworld and made the nine realms forget she ever existed.”“How do you know this?” Tony questioned.Natasha shrugged. “I asked around for anyone who had any authentic Asgardian history books, did a little bit of hacking, and found something I wasn’t supposed to see. This sidekick Odin had? Was his daughter, Hela.”“Thor has a sister? Does he know this?”“I don’t think so, or he would have mentioned it.”“Are all of his siblings evil? How did Thor turn into the golden retriever in an otherwise snakey family? Maybe he’s the adopted one, not Loki.”“Wait, but what happened after he sent Hela away?” The younger Natasha chimed in. “Did he keep trying to gain the stones and their power, or what?”“No,” Natasha told her younger self. “While he was sealing Hela in her underworld tomb, Frigga and Heimdall took the stones and scattered them throughout the universe again. Odin never tried to find the stones again, and instead kept the infinity gauntlet in the weapons room I guess as a trophy.”“But how did Thanos get the gauntlet out of the weapons room? Do we think Loki is still helping him?”“The gauntlet in my father’s weapons room was a fake,” Thor said as he entered the room, a rainbow bridge appearing along with him.“Thor! Buddy!” Tony chimed in happily. “How do you know that?”“Something did not sit right with me after my visit to Asgard, so after I collected the stones, I went back to Asgard and had a conversation with Heimdall. He told me the full story, which I see you all have learned as well.”“So you didn’t know you had an evil older sister your father tossed away like she was nothing?”Thor sighed. “No. I learned quite a few things about my father these past few days that I was not aware of.” There was a sad downturn of his mouth, as if Thor was emotionally tired and disappointed. The young Natasha had a feeling the Asgardian’s world had just been turned upside down yet again, and he wasn’t taking it very well. She reached out to Thor, giving him a hug, and invited him to sit down on the couch next to her.“I’m so sorry, Thor. Did you get a chance to talk to your father, confront him with everything?”Thor shook his head. “My father no longer runs Asgard. He has surrendered all control to Loki. Willingly.”“Hold up, your evil murderous brother is controlling your home planet? After everything that he did?” Clint burst.“You do not know all the details of what has been done to him, friend Clint,” Thor said tiredly.“I don’t fucking care if the dude was hung by his toenails for a century. He doesn’t deserve to be the ruler of Asgard, not after everything he did.”“He was being mind controlled.”Clint snorted. “Yeah, sure he was.”Thor was about to respond when Vision interjected. “Clint, Thor may be right. His sceptre was mind controlling you, but who was to say that by holding it, it was also mind controlling him?”“It could be true,” Natasha piped in. “When we were all on the Helicarrier and arguing with each other, that was the mind stone trying to control us. None of us were even touching it and it was still trying to influence us, just by being in the same room as it.”“Whose side are you on, Natasha? You know what that thing did to me?”Neither younger or older Natasha had ever seen Clint look so hurt and shocked at Natasha’s words. “I’m sorry,” she said quietly, “but I’m just trying to see things from both sides. Even if he was mind controlled, what Loki did to you doesn’t get erased or make it easier to forgive him. But you have to be open to the possibility that that’s really what happened.”“No. I don’t.” Clint crossed his arms over his chest. “You know what? Fuck you all,” he said, storming off.Natasha thought about going after him, but then decided he needed to cool down. Besides, she was probably the last person he needed to see. If only Phil Coulson were alive, they’d have someone to diffuse the situation. Coulson was always good at talking both her and Clint down from a ledge when they needed it. It’s what made him such a great handler. Alas, that was gone and done, no thanks to Loki.“Can we go back to the conversation at hand?” Steve asked. “Thor, you said the gauntlet was fake. What happened to the real one?”“Held in a separate safe place Heimdall and my mother chose where my father would not go searching for it. I do not think they accounted for someone else daring to search for it. Thanos must have gotten a hold of its location and used it for the stone he had already acquired.”“You got the stones, though, right?” Tony asked.“Yes, I have the stones,” Thor confirmed. He took them out of his pocket and set them on the table in front of them. The three stones were coloured purple, green, and orange. “I do not know their powers, but your FRIDAY can tell us, can she not?”“Of course she can, buddy. FRIDAY, scan the stones for us, will ya?”“Scanning now, sir,” FRIDAY said.“Thank you!”Wanda’s red magic nudged the stones on the table, getting a feel for their power. “They feel just like the other two,” she said. “When do I get to destroy them?”“Let FRIDAY scan them for their powers and composition so we can figure out which stone Thanos has in his arsenal. Then we can come up with a plan to defeat him and use the stones against him. Once he’s been defeated, you can have at it.”Wanda frowned. “We aren’t destroying the stones before we go after Thanos?”Tony sighed. “Do you think we can defeat him? Just us, without the power the stones can provide us with?”Wanda shrugged. “We can manage.”“Well, I don’t want to risk any of us getting hurt or dying. Not on my watch. If some of us can use these stones, then we can defeat him, and then we can destroy the stones so no one is tempted to use their powers ever again.”“And what about us? What if wielding these powers makes us all power hungry? What if we don’t want to give up the stones after Thanos is defeated? Then what?”Tony shrugged. “We’ve been using the stones fine so far. Both Steve and I have controlled the reality one, and I don’t think we’ve had any negative side effects. Rogers, you feeling particularly grouchy about parting with the stone?”Steve frowned. “No. I don’t think so.”“Me neither. How ‘bout you, mini Natasha?”She shook her head. “Not even a little.”“See? And Vision’s had that stone in his head for a while and he hasn’t tried to mind control any of us and go rogue. At least, I don’t think so.”“You are right, Tony, the power has not corrupted me,” Vision confirmed.“I still don’t like this idea,” Wanda said.“Fine, then you don’t get a stone to control,” Tony quipped. “But you do remember your powers came from one of those stones, right?”Wanda shifted uncomfortably. That was a chapter in her life she would rather like to forget about.“Seems to me you’re using a stone without actually using it. If you’re telling me your chaos magic is going to eventually corrupt you—”“That’s not what I’m saying,” Wanda interrupted. “I just think this gives Thanos an easier chance to steal the stones from us.”Tony nodded. “Okay. I hear ya. So let’s leave it up to a vote. All of us have a chance to turn the tides. Are you yea or nay on using the stones to defeat Thanos? Vision?”“Yea.”“And you, Thor?”Thor frowned. “Nay?” he said.“Noted. Natashas?”“Yea,” Older Natasha said.“Same,” the younger one chimed in.“FRIDAY, do you want to ask Clint what his opinion is?”“I can tell you right now he’s not going to be in favour of it,” the older Natasha said.“Okay. Steve, you’re our tie breaker. Three yeses, three nos. What’ll it be?”Steve didn’t know what to think. He could see the benefits in both, but he seemed uncomfortable that the decision came down to him. What if he said yes and Thanos got all the stones and the multiverse was defeated? Or the power did corrupt them and the multiverse got defeated? But what if they didn’t use the stones, people died, and nothing got solved? Could Steve really handle it if his decision was the one that ended up with the outcome being less than favourable on their part?In the end, he decided it didn’t matter. People have to make tough choices in war. Sometimes it’s the right one, and sometimes it’s the wrong one. Only time would tell. Steve just had to weigh the pros and cons, really look inside himself, and come to a conclusion and stick with it. It’s the only thing he could do in this sort of situation.He thought about it for a while, none of the other Avengers pressuring him to make an announcement on his decision. Rather, they let him be, knowing the decision was weighing on him, and allowed him to fully think it all through.Eventually, he reached the decision.“Tony?” he said.“Yeah, bud?” he responded.Steve swallowed. “I say yes.”There was a sparkle of something in Tony’s eyes, maybe it was gratitude, that Steve couldn’t quite place, and he thought that this was maybe the turning point in their friendship. Finally the two agreed on something, and they had both come to their conclusions independent of each other, and weren’t fighting over it. Steve was trusting Tony’s judgment for once, and he could see that clearly meant a great deal to him.“Okay,” he said quietly. “Then that’s settled.”There was a beeping sound at Tony’s console.“FRIDAY! What news do you have for me?”“Sir, my scanning of the stones is complete.”“Yeah? What’s the diagnosis?”“The purple stone holds the power to control space, while the green one is the soul stone, and the orange one controls time.”“So what’s left? The power stone?”“Yes. If Thanos is in control of the power stone, this will make him physically very strong. You will need all of your strength combined to be able to defeat him.”“Super. So, who wants to control what stone? Can I keep control of the reality one? Is everyone cool with that?”The other Avengers nodded.The older Natasha ran her fingers over the stones on the table. “I’ll have the soul stone, if that’s okay.”“Sure. What about you, Thor?”Thor shook his head and held up his hammer. “I have Mjolnir. I do not need a stone to wield.”“I…” Steve started. “Is it okay if I control the time stone?” He looked at it a little wistfully.Tony noticed this, concerned. “Steve, you can’t use it for anything other than defeating Thanos, do you hear me? I know you wish you could go back in time, see Peggy, maybe save Bucky, but you can’t do it. That messes with the whole space time continuum and it’s generally frowned upon in literally every science fiction thing ever.”Steve frowned. “I know I can’t use it for that, Tony. No matter how much I want to, I know we have a mission on hand. I’m focused on the mission.”Tony searched his eyes for any hint of insincerity, then nodded. “Okay. Well, Wanda doesn’t want a stone, which means Clint has to be the one to use the space stone.”“Wait, what about me?” the younger Natasha said. “Why can’t I have a stone?”“Because you’re staying out of the fight, kid.”Natasha crossed her arms over her chest. “I can fight, you know.”“No, I don’t know. I want you to be able to go home safely to your dads in your own universe. I will not be responsible for your death, you hear me?”“That’s not fair. My dad knew the risks when he let me come to this universe—”“Nat! I’m not discussing this with you! You’re sitting out! Please!”Natasha pouted. “Fine,” she grumbled. “Treat me like I’m five. It’s totally fine.”“I’m not—” Tony sighed. “I’m not trying to treat you like you’re five, Nat. I promise. If you were 18, this would be a totally different discussion. But you’re not. And I’m not having a kid fight this battle against a mad Titan us adults don’t even know if we can defeat. Okay?”Natasha nodded, slumping her shoulders. “Yeah. I get it.”Tony nodded and then clapped his hands together. “Okay, now who wants to do some infinity stone training?”

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The Avengers were at a bit of a standstill as they learned how to properly use the gems to their advantage, fighting with them until they were semi-confident that they would be able to use them as an aid in defeating Thanos. Tony let the younger Natasha run different simulations provided by FRIDAY for them and calculate what their strengths and weaknesses were. Clint was not happy about them using the stones instead of destroying them, but Tony argued they needed the reality gem at least to help Natasha get back to her own world, and that Wanda still hadn’t successfully detached the stone from Vision’s head.That was, until Wanda figured it out. “My contact got back to me on a way to safely remove the stone,” she said, flinging the email from her phone onto FRIDAY’s network so they could all see it. “Essentially, we just have to re-map all of his neurons, and then we can safely remove it. He’ll retain all of his knowledge and personality, but he won’t have any of the power that the gem provided him.”Vision perused the e-mail and nodded. “This seems like a decent plan. Tony, do you have a way to re-map my neurons?”Tony nodded. “I’ve been working on rebuilding JARVIS ever since his code was used to create you. If I can plug you into the system and very delicately form a line by line copy of the code, not only can I rewire your code, but I can get JARVIS back up and running.” Tony frowned. “Not that I don’t love you, too, FRIDAY, but JARVIS was my first baby.”“No offense taken, Mr Stark,” FRIDAY said.“Are we really doing this?” Steve asked. “Can you do it without harming him?”“Steve, I know what I’m doing. I mean, I’ve never exactly done this before, but when working on experiments I know how to handle things as slowly, delicately, and accurately as possible. This might take days of being out of commission while I work on your neurons, Vision. You’re gonna be offline for a while. That okay with you?”“Yes, Tony. If it helps save the universe,” Vision said.“It will. I’m gonna need you to lie down in the medical wing, and I’ll bring all the equipment I need and we’ll get you offline and re-mapped. Steve, if you want to monitor his progress just to make sure I don’t make any mistakes, you’re welcome to.”Steve stared back at him, surprised. “You’re gonna let me monitor your work?”Tony shrugged. “Yeah, why not? We’re all on the same side here, want the best for Vision, so on and so forth. No need to argue about it.”“That’s a first,” Clint grumbled, and the older Natasha dug an elbow in his side for it.“Wait a minute,” the younger Natasha said. “You’re doing all this before you kick Thanos’s ass? Doesn’t it make more sense to wait until after since he’s gotta use the stone to defeat him?”“It’s in case anything goes wrong,” Tony said. “It’s better to have the neurons downloaded onto my network so that when we are finished with Thanos, we know we can easily remove the stone and keep Vision in one piece.”Natasha frowned. “Okay,” she said.That began the process of Tony painstakingly re-mapping every single neuron that Vision had and comparing it to the code he had created for JARVIS to see what parts were alike and which parts were different. It took Tony a long time and a lot of hard work to complete the process, and he mentally cursed Bruce for taking off in the Quinjet and being out of reach. Things would have gone a lot more quickly and smoothly if he had the other scientist at his disposal. Alas, he was all alone, with only the prying eyes of Steve and Wanda watching over him to make sure he didn’t make a mistake.It did indeed take days to complete the process, all the while the other Avengers continued to experiment with the stones. They learned how to bend perception, change harmful objects into less harmful ones, travel back in time when a simulation didn’t go as planned so they could do it over, and even travel through different rooms in the blink of an eye. If they could all use their gems seamlessly, they would be able to overpower and confuse Thanos long enough for Wanda to use her magic in order to destroy his power stone. At least, that was the plan. They had no way of knowing if they would actually succeed or not.When they’d exhausted themselves with fighting and once Vision’s neurons were successfully uploaded and waiting to be re-inserted after the big showdown, there was nothing left to do but make Thanos come to him.“The last time I spoke to Thanos,” Tony said, “was by touching the reality stone, and it transported me into some kind of void where I got to see him. Maybe if I focus on that again, I’ll be able to seek him out wherever he is, and make him come to us.”Steve nodded. “Right. Home field advantage. It’s always easier fighting on your own turf. You have enough energy to control the stone on your own?”“I think so,” Tony said.“Okay. Good luck, then. We’ll see you when you get back, I guess?”Tony rolled his eyes, but didn’t comment. He grabbed the yellow stone off the lab table and shut his eyes, focusing all his energy on finding Thanos. Then Tony’s perception seemed to shift and the world once more fell away from him as he found himself in a pitch black, seemingly endless void. Just like last time.Tony’s eyes searched around the void for the ugly purple Titan, and his eyes came upon him a ways away, just sitting down in the void with his eyes closed, like he was meditating or something.“Hey, assface!” Tony taunted, watching as Thanos turned around to face him.The ugly alien with his ugly ass chin grinned at Tony. “Anthony Stark. So good to see you again. I see you’ve learned how to use your stone.”Tony narrowed his eyes. “Enough chitchat,” he said, walking towards Thanos. “You want all the stones for that hideous gauntlet of yours?”Thanos flexed the gauntlet, showing off the one stone, nestled neatly into its space where it was supposed to be. “Of course I do.”“Yeah, well we’ve got ‘em on Earth. All of them.”Thanos tilted his chin skywards. “You have all the stones?” he asked.“All but the one you’ve got on that ugly thing.”Thanos smiled slowly, a big, ugly, devious grin that made Tony’s mouth go dry and his body shrink inward. The dude was terrifying.“Thank you for doing all the work for me, Stark. I knew you were a smart one, gathering all the stones for me. All I have to do is pick you ants off one by one and then…” Thanos snapped his fingers. “You’ll all dissipate into dust.”Tony chuckled darkly, even though he was pretty sure he was extremely terrified that Thanos actually would make them all dissipate into dust. “Just try us, buddy. You’ve never faced the Avengers before. We’re Earth’s mightiest heroes.”Thanos continued his ugly leer, but it took more of a condescending dip to it. “I’ve fought much braver, stronger, and honourable men than the Avengers, my child. However, none of them have amused me as much as you have. Perhaps after I control the stones, our paths will cross again.”“We’re prepared to fight you, to defeat you from taking over.”“And I’m sure you’ll all fight valiantly. Until we meet again, little Stark.”Thanos snapped his fingers again and suddenly Tony was back in Avengers tower. He noticed just like last encounter that no time had passed.Tony sat himself down on the couch as his body shuddered violently. “Ugh, that guy gives me the creeps,” he muttered.“Tony?” Steve asked, concern colouring his tone. He reached out like he was about to touch Tony, check his body over for any harm, but decided against it at the last moment and withdrew his hands, settling on sitting next to Tony on the couch instead. “What happened?”“I told him we had all the stones here on Earth, and we would fight him, take him out if he tried to get them. The dude thanked me for doing all the hard work for him.”“Did he say what his next move was?”“He called us ants. And that he was going to take the stones from us, and I quote, ‘dissipate us into dust.’” Tony shivered again. “I really don’t like that guy.”“Great,” Natasha said. “So he’ll be on his way to Earth to retrieve the stones. He must have some way to tell where the stones are?”“I guess. Probably he can. I’ve got a sizable piece of land I bought a few years back. It was supposed to be a secluded area for weapons testing back when I was still in the weapons business, but never actually built anything. It’s just a flat 600 acres or so of easy terrain for us to fight him on. We could easily get there and wait for him to come to us.”“Cool beans. Then let’s head out and end this fucker,” Clint said.The other Avengers nodded and got up to get their things ready.“Uh, except for you, Natasha. The younger Natasha,” Tony said.Natasha made a sound of protest. “Why can’t I come?”“Safer for you here. I don’t have any security precautions out there like I do here in the tower.”“I know I can’t fight, but now I can’t come with you all?”“Please don’t argue with me. I’m trying to get you home to your dads.”Natasha crossed her arms over her chest.Tony sighed. “Fine. I’ll hook up my HUD camera to the tower so you can see everything I see in the field, okay?”“Okay,” she grumbled. “Can I be on the comms, too?”“Sure.”“So I’m basically your guys’ Oracle?”Tony paused for a moment. “Yeah, I don’t know who that is, but sure.”“Barbara Gordon from Batman comics,” Steve whispered to him. He winked at Natasha. “Great codename for the field. See you on the comms, Oracle.”“Bye, guys. Please stay safe.”“Always,” Tony informed her.Natasha watched as the Avengers vacated the tower, leaving her alone and a nervous wreck. She spun around in the chair she was sitting in half a dozen times. “Do you think this plan is going to work, FRIDAY?” she asked the AI.“I hope so, Ms. Stark-Rogers,” it answered back.Staying on the sidelines sucked.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

It didn’t take any of the Avengers long to settle in to their new base when they reached the land. FRIDAY was already wired to the bones of the property, and there was certainly enough space for all of them to carve out. They simply deposited their duffle bags where they pleased, made sure they had all of their costumes and playthings ready for when Thanos arrived, and then waited. Thanos was fighting them on their turf. They really had nothing to do but sit, contemplate, and see how long it would take the mad Titan to make his way down to Earth.The team found themselves drawn to each other that night, doing what they normally did on a night when they were all stuck together: make food, gather around the living area, and watch some good movies. Clint had found the fridge stocked with beers and Steve busies himself making a dish he knew everyone would enjoy, and they all gathered around, waiting for Tony to make his presence known.He emerged later that night after testing out the comms with the younger Natasha. He wanted to make her feel included in the mission. That was something Steve really appreciated about his new side of Tony he was witnessing. Not only was he adamant about keeping her out of harm’s way—something he wholly agreed with—but he even saw the genius go the extra mile and make sure he stayed connected to her; he made sure she knew that they were all right and let her assist them in any way they needed. Steve liked that Tony didn’t just dismiss her, that he cared about her feelings and had the foresight to recognise she may be worried or feeling lost, not knowing what was going on. It was…well, Steve wouldn’t say sweet, but it made Steve positive that if he were to make an honest woman out of Ms Potts someday, he would indeed be a wonderful father in the future.With a sigh, Tony plopped down on the couch right next to Steve and sank deep into the cushions. Steve handed him the plate of pasta he made, and Tony dug right into it. Steve noted the way his eyes turned to glance at Natasha and Clint drinking his beer, but how Tony didn’t indulge himself. Curious, for Tony to be completely sober. Steve wondered if he’d ever seen a truly sober Tony in all the years he’d known him. There was a first for everything, wasn’t there?“What if this is our last night alive?” Clint asked. “I mean, the world can’t end tomorrow, can it? I can’t die without having sex one last time.”Natasha rolled her eyes and took a swig of her beer. “Somehow I don’t think the world cares about your sex life,” she quipped.“Does that mean you’re volunteering?” he asked, waggling his eyebrows.“You’re disgusting,” she shot back. He pretended to pout.“You may not be getting lucky tonight, Legolas, but robot and witchy over there probably are,” Tony whispered.Steve turned to look in the direction of Wanda and Vision. They were seemingly wrapped up in their own little world, whispering together, hands clasped tightly, unaware of what anyone else in the room was doing. He missed that. He wondered if he’d ever have that again. He swallowed the lump in his throat.Thor was all smiles. “Young love!” he sighed. “I am very glad they have found each other.”“Me too, buddy,” Tony said. “Hey, how are things with Jane going?”“Excellent!” Thor informed. “She is back in London working but I have informed her of our events. She wishes us all luck and has ordered me to stay on Earth with her after this is all over.”Tony frowned at that. “You’re gonna stay here?” he asked. “But with all the family drama…I mean, you just found out your brother isn’t actually evil, but you’re older sister you didn’t know about is.”“Yes, that is most troublesome. Perhaps I will stay here until her research is finished and then take her up to Asgard with me. She deserves a break, no?”Tony nodded. “Sure.”“And you? How are things with Virginia?”Tony shrugged. “To be honest, we haven’t really spoken much since the Ultron thing happened. I think she’s frustrated with my lifestyle. She doesn’t like being put in the middle of feuding superheroes and villains. I don’t think she belongs in this world.”Thor patted Tony on the back. “Well, if you two are meant to be, surely the gods will smile upon you and make it so.”Tony smiled softly. “Sure, buddy,” he said.Steve pretended to pay attention to the violent movie Clint had picked out that was playing on screen, but he found he couldn’t turn his mind off. He pretended to be tired, cleaned up the dishes, and then retreated to his room. His fingers itched at his side, pulsing against his leg. He was restless.Steve didn’t know why he brought his art supplies with him. He hadn’t had need of it for a long time. He started to draw when he first woke up from the ice, but this future, these people…it left his passionless. Out of ideas. He hadn’t drawn since that day he teamed up with the Avengers.But now…his fingers wanted to take up that piece of charcoal and create. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to draw, just that he did. He took the sketchbook, his charcoals, and a kneaded eraser out of his bad and sat down on the bed, ready to draw the first thing that came to his mind.After a few minutes and as the object started to take shape, Steve reared back in surprise and almost threw the sketchbook across the room. He could see in the dark shape of the eyes, in the dense muscles, in the light that coalesced from the chest. Why in the world was Steve Rogers drawing Tony Stark?Steve carefully tore the page out of the sketchbook, crumpled the page up, and threw it in the garbage can. He put the supplies back and turned out the bedroom lamp. This never happened. No, Steve never drew Tony Stark. He wasn’t prepared to deal with what that might mean. Steve was woken up early that morning by a blaring siren noise that spread throughout the compound. He blinked wearily for a few minutes, adjusting to the abrupt wakeup call.“FRIDAY?” he asked.“Mr Rogers, good to see you awake. Thanos is on his way. Mr Stark has asked me to have you all awake and ready to fight.”Steve grunted, wiping the sleep out of his eyes. He jumped up, made his bed meticulously, and then dressed in his superhero costume, gathering his shield as he headed out the door.The other Avengers filtered in one by one, all of them fighting the sleepiness that had plagued them and clearing their mind for the fight ahead. Tony was last to make it out, handing them the comms system, which they all eagerly put in. Each of the Avengers tested the comms system out, made sure they were all on the same channel, and could easily communicate with each other.Before heading out, Steve heard Tony address FRIDAY. “Hey FRIDAY, can you patch to the Avengers mansion and make sure Ms Stark-Rogers is on the line?”“Certainly, sir,” the AI said. “Patching through to Ms Stark-Rogers now.”“Tony?” The younger Natasha said almost right away.“Hey, kid, you’re all the comms with all of us.”“Sup,” Clint said.Natasha huffed a laugh over the comms. “I guess it’s time then, huh?”“Yeah,” Tony told her. “FRIDAY detecting Thanos entering Earth’s atmosphere. No doubt he knows exactly where we are, so…fighting is going to happen. A lot of it. Do you still want to be patched into my HUD?”Steve thought that meant that Natasha would see everything Tony saw through his helmet. He didn’t know what HUD meant exactly, but that’s the gist of what he understood when Tony tried explaining it to him.“Yes,” she said, determined. “I would like to know what’s going on in the battlefield.”“Okay. If you think of a way we can beat this son of a bitch that we didn’t think, or in the heat of the moment notice something coming at us that we don’t, let us know. We could use your observing skills.”“Got it,” she said.Tony sucked in a slow breath, then let it all out. “Okay. Everyone ready to rock and roll?”Steve nodded along with Clint and the older Natasha. Vision simply turned to Wanda, who let her crimson magic come out to play. Thor waved his hammer Mjolnir in the air, and then they were off to fight the alien.Steve though it was such a shame that all of the aliens, sans Thor it seemed, didn’t seem to have the best intentions. Bucky sometimes came home from work on the days when Steve was too sick to get out of bed and brought home whatever books he could afford at the time. Sometimes they were science fiction books written by Olaf Stapleton or the horror fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Steve sort of guessed if Earth ever made contact with humans, it wouldn’t be as…bloody and violent as it was in reality. He thought after everything he’d seen in the war he would have been disillusioned by everyone in general, but he still had that optimism intact. He hated being proven wrong when it came to aliens wanting to take over their homeland. Earth was theirs to protect.Steve gripped his American flag painted shield, and prepared for the fight of his life. Tony was a bundle of nerves as he sensed Thanos’s hulking form in the distance striding towards them, just like he had done in that creepy void. All of their training they’d done was guess work; he didn’t know if they actually even stood a chance of besting the demented purple monstrosity. But Tony was determined to bring that bastard down for good, or to go down fighting for the security of Earth. He knew the media had branded the Avengers ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’, but in that moment, he couldn’t argue with that term. These five humans and one Asgardian were going to fight for all the others who couldn’t fight for themselves. His Rhodey bear was off on a mission and away from the fight like he wanted, Coulson was off resting somewhere like Clint and Natasha wanted, and Sam Wilson was back in DC working for the VA program like Steve wanted. He’d warned Pepper, Thor had warned Jane, and all their loved ones were tucked away. Not that it would matter if things went sideways, but in case they won, no harm would come to them in the process. Fighting for these people was worth it, and Tony was going to do his damnedest to make sure all these people had a home when they were done. Clint wasn’t a prayer at all, and didn’t really believe in any of the gods that others claimed to, but he sent a small little prayer to whatever deity might exist that they would work in their favour that day as he climbed to a tree and posed with his bow and arrow ready for firing. He wasn’t even sure how he got mixed in all this superhero bullshit. All Clint really wanted to do was chill on his couch in his apartment in his underwear, watch old cartoons, and drink coffee by the pot. But apparently the universe decided that wasn’t in the cards for him. As much as he wanted to be lazy, he couldn’t have abandoned Nat or Coulson at S.H.I.E.L.D. even if he’d tried. And then he couldn’t not respond to the call when the fate of the Earth was on the line. So he fought along with other people, simple humans, who never asked for this responsibility, or even really maybe wanted this responsibility, but continued on nevertheless. If no one else was going to do it, Clint was damn sure going to stand up and do it. Even if he was just a dude who learned how to shoot an arrow by circus man who then tried to kill him and turned his brother against him. He would always make the decision to fight over everything else, and he hoped to all the possible gods that they recognised that. Natasha’s mind was blank as she prepared for the war with Thanos. Her senses were heightened, sharpened, and her body was poised for deadly action. She had everything she needed to succeed on her part in this war. She would not pray. She would not worry. She would block everything out, and fight like her life depended on it. Wanda was seething with anger, but was careful not to let her magic consume her before she could use it on the Titan. She wanted to punch a hole in his heart, rip it out with her bare hands like she had done with Ultron. She lost her family, her place in this world, and the only thing she had left to fight for was the others just like her, struggling and treading water in a world that was falling apart. She was just trying to make the world a little easier to exist in. And she would take all of that hurt and anger and confusion that had built up inside her over the years, and pour it into the fight with Thanos. That ugly bastard wouldn’t know what hit him. Vision didn’t much care for fighting the humans’ war. After all, he wasn’t really human. He was just a synthezoid, creating from a mix of J.A.R.V.I.S.’ consciousness and Ultron’s metal manipulation. His only stake in the war was Wanda. It was…strange. But Vision felt something different for her than the rest of the humans. He couldn’t really put a place on it. All of is supplemental research told him it was romantic feelings, but he didn’t honestly know the different between platonic and romantic relationships, or how to navigate them. He tried to explain that to Wanda last night, and she had simply smiled at him, taken his cold metal hand in hers, and told him she would teach him. He was fighting for her, and the other Avengers who had taken him in and taught him kindness. No, this war wasn’t his, but he would fight it nonetheless. For her. And for the possible future with her. Thor’s skin was vibrating, itching for the kind of fights he and the Warriors Three had been subject to in Asgard. He would not doubt relish in this fight, and then have a celebratory feast with the rest of his brothers in arms when they defeated the Mad Titan. Thor was eager to put this man in his place, torture him after all the torture he put his brother through. Loki had done a lot of bad things in his life, and Thor had forgiven him for a lot. It was a relief to know Loki had not willingly worked with Thanos that day during the Battle of Manhattan. That just meant all that misplaced anger and mistrust had to funnel itself somewhere, and Thor chose to use it to obliterate the man who had ensnared and mind controlled his little brother. He couldn’t wait to see Thanos go down. The Avengers braced themselves as Thanos came to a stop right in front of him. Thanos was tall, big, and a distinct purpleish pink colour. He had on battle clothes, as well as the infinity gauntlet on his arm, and was smiling condescendingly as he towered over the petty humans. He was confident he would win this war. After all, he did conquer many other planets before this one. Gaining control of the entire multiverse, to him, seemed like a piece of cake. His biggest conquest yet.Sure, he’d failed to secure Earth the first time around, but it was really rather foolish of him to place his trust in a bunch of disposable Chitauri soldiers and that blasted, slippery God of Chaos. This time, he wasn’t trusting anyone but himself to get the job done.“Coming alone against all of us, are you?” Tony taunted, displaying a bravado he definitely did not feel inside.Thanos just simply grinned. “We meet again, little Stark. For the last time, hopefully. I will say a prayer for you and your fellow teammates when I’ve laid your entire world to waste.”Tony snorted. “Just try us, asshole. We’re not as hard to get rid of as one might think. After all, we have the stones of power.”“All but one, it would seem.” Thanos’s eyes darted to each of the Avengers, categorizing each weapon they were carrying and who was wielding which stone. He wasn’t very confident they knew what they were doing with the stones. “Do your underlings even know how to control the power they wield? Or will they end up destroying themselves in the process?”“I don’t care how much time you’ve had with that stone, we’ll still manage to beat you,” Wanda sneered at him. Thanos detecting the slightest of an Eastern European accent in her voice. Interesting.His eyes then slid to Thor, clutching Mjolnir tightly in his fist. “Thor!” he said jovially. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. Your brother Loki told me so many things about you when he came to me, sick and injured after he fell from the void you pushed him off of. The secrets he told me about you…” Thanos tsked and shook his head at the same time. “Well, let’s just say I know your tells. It’ll make defeating you an absolute pleasure.”Thor wanted to argue that his brother had let go of the Bifrost that day, and not that he’d pushed him, but arguing at this point was futile. He would not let Thanos get to him. He had to stay levelheaded and not let his temper make him decide rashly, like he always did. He had to focus today. So he bit back any comment he could have made to the contrary and simply said, “We shall see who wins, Thanos.”Thanos frowned, but didn’t push Thor any further. He was stronger than he’d ever been at this point, stronger than all of the Avengers combined, and he would take them down, no matter what. Being defeated wasn’t an option.Tony let out a heavy sigh. “Are we done talking now? You’re boring me. I’d rather we get to the fighting now.”Thanos turned to him, that signature half amused, half condescending smile stuck on his face. “Wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” he said, before catching Tony off guard and punching him straight in the stomach with the gauntlet just because he could. He took pleasure in watching Tony double over in pain, choking on it, blood dribbling between his lips. Thanos had not pulled his punch, and, after all, he was the keeper of the strength gem.“Are you okay?” Natasha’s voice cracked over comms system. She’d grimaced as she watched the footage from Tony’s HUD display, still annoyed she couldn’t be there to wipe that stupid smirk off that purple asshole’s face.“Peachy,” Tony coughed out. “I’m okay.”Natasha didn’t think so, but she didn’t comment further. She waited to see how the fight was going to pan out. She had confidence in the Avengers. After all, it was all of them plus the stones against one alien. He hadn’t brought backup. He was alone. And it wasn’t like all those stupid action movies where the good guy was teamed up against like ten bad guys and he defeats them all because they all came at him one by one, allowing him to effectively win. All of the bad guys would be descending upon Thanos all at once. In what universe did he think he was going to win?And yet, it did niggle at Natasha that he came alone. He didn’t bring anyone else to the fight? She still found that hard to believe. And hard to believe that he was so confident against all the odds. Sure, he had the gauntlet, but other than that and strength on his side, it looked like an easyish win for the Avengers. He had to have something up his sleeve.Before Tony could really catch his breath after Thanos’s super punch, the fist with the gauntlet slammed right into his jaw and he was back on the ground, struggling to get back up.Steve wasn’t having it, and charged at Thanos. He threw his shield at him like a frisbee, hoping to strike in a vulnerable place, but Thanos caught the shield and sent it spinning right back at Steve, who was pushed back several steps as he deftly caught it.Natasha, meanwhile, was trying to sneak behind Thanos and try her signature move out on him. If she could get her thighs around him, choke him out before he did any more damage to him, and then that would be that. But the problem was Thanos was alien of great height. He was a lot bigger than a human. He was like all of the Avengers combined. In a word, massive. And Natasha couldn’t find a way to reach him or take him down without climbing the tree Clint was in and dropping right down on his shoulders. It was too risky, even for her. She was trained in hand to hand combat, thanks to Yasha and the Red Room, but it was hard to really take down someone who was easily five times your height and weight.That just meant they were going to have to use their infinity stones and take full advantage of their powers, just like they had practiced. The soul stone didn’t really help Natasha any. It really just gave her the ability over life and death, to the place between the living and the dead. She could call on lost and dead souls and get advice from them, but she hadn’t learned how to bring them back to the living yet. It didn’t really give her any special advantage. It wasn’t a problem for her, though. She had her weapons, her fists, and her mind, and she knew the others could use their stones to trick Thanos.Since Thor and Wanda didn’t have any stones to help aid them, they used their enhancements to try and gain control of Thanos. Thor had Mjolnir, and was using it to fly at Thanos and attack him as best he could. He kept trying, and Thanos kept deflecting or taking every blow from the hammer as if it were nothing. Wanda was trying to get in physical contact with Thanos while also using her magic to battle him and absorb any blows he tried to throw her way. She was trying to gain control of his mind and change his view of reality the way she had done with the Avengers before she joined their ranks. If Thanos was stuck inside his mind, he couldn’t fight him properly.But however hard the Avengers tried to bring Thanos down, they couldn’t. They were attacking him on all sides—Thor bashing him in the skies with Mjolnir, Wanda attacking him with her magic, Natasha using her spider bites to shock him, Steve using his shield to break him down, Tony hitting him with his repulsor rays, Vision using the mind stone’s power, Clint firing all different kind of trick arrows at him from his perch in the tree—but nothing slowed Thanos down. Nothing was making him tired.Natasha watched the footage nervously from the compound, fidgeting in her seat. “Maybe it’s time you guys use the stones,” she said nervously. “Make him think he’s lost the infinity gauntlet, or transport him through time or to another part of space, or something.”She saw Steve grit his teeth as he tried to attack Thanos and was swatted out of the way, his back hitting the ground hard. He grunted in pain. Tony stuck his hand out to help Steve up, patting him on the back as he did so. “You okay, Cap?” he asked.“Never better,” Steve said grimly.Tony beamed at him. “That’s the spirit. Nat’s right, though. The tactic we’re using now isn’t working. We need to take the gauntlet off of him. Any suggestions on how to get it off?”Steve shrugged, but Wanda’s voice chimed in over the comms. “Like Nat said, use the stones to trick his mind into seeing something different. Who’s using the reality stone?”“I am,” Tony said.“Can you make him think that the gauntlet is something else? Or turn it into something else?”“I don’t think the reality stone works that way. So far I’ve only been able to use it to travel through and create different realities.”“I can do it,” Vision said. “I can bring anything I wish to life just by believing in it. Perhaps I can appeal to his heart.”“If he has one,” the older Natasha muttered.“He does,” Vision informed her. “During our research of Thanos, I discovered he has two daughters, Nebula and Gamora. He must love them, want to protect him. If I can conjure a projection of them, have him believe they are really here, maybe we can make him hesitate. Or distract him long enough to find a way to retrieve the gauntlet from him.”“It’s worth a try,” Tony said. “Agreed?”Steve nodded at him. Both Clint and Thor chimed in their agreement.“Then go for it, Vision.”And so he did. Tony didn’t know how he did it, but above their heads, an aircraft came into view. It came down to Earth and landed in the space not far from where their battle was taking place. Two women exited the spacecraft and walked towards them. One of them was a woman with green skin and a look on her face that seemed displeased with her surroundings. The other woman had blue skin, and looked like she was made of little different bits of machinery. Tony got FRIDAY to scan her, and found out she was indeed made up of mechanical pieces that had replaced her real body parts. He couldn’t even begin to guess why. He was pretty sure he didn’t want to know why.“Thanos,” the green one said, a scowl on her face as she looked up at her father.Thanos blinked at the appearance of both his daughters, like he couldn’t even believe was his eyes were seeing. “Gamora,” he said back.“Really?” she fired at him. “You’re trying to take over Earth?”“Of course I am,” he said, frowning. “You know this was my goal.”Gamora scoffed. “Yeah, but I never thought you would actually try it. Is your ego really that big that you think you can conquer the world? What do you stand to gain from that?”“I want to rule,” he said, like it was simple and easy to follow. “I want to be their gods, and I want my daughters to be my side while I conquer.” He smiled at both of them. “My two girls, side by side. I thought I would never see the day.”“No, I bet you couldn’t image we would ever get along, could you, Thanos? After years of pitting us against each other, years of us fighting for your affection and attention. You wanted us to hate each other.”Thanos frowned. “No, I never wanted you two to hate each other. I wanted to turn you both into warriors. Fighting against each other was the easiest way to show your strengths and weaknesses, get you battle ready.”“You tortured us,” Nebula said, coming to stand next to her sister. “You made her fight against me. And every time she won a fight against me, you would take off a piece of my body and replace it with a machine. You turned me into this.”“You don’t like it? The power it gives you?”“I hate it,” Nebula snarled at him. “And I hate you.”“Hmm,” Thanos said. “I don’t think you really do. Despite the fact that I tortured you, as you said, you never said no to anything I asked you to do. I’ve conquered worlds before, and you even helped me. You stood by my side for years. Why is now any different, Nebula?”“Because she’s finally had enough of your bullshit, Thanos,” Gamora said. “And this time you’ve gone too far. I was young when you stole me from my home. I was young and naïve and just lost my entire planet, and found myself in your care, and I was desperate to be loved, to matter, to be safe, even if it meant the person who murdered my planet became my father. You stole my childhood and you’ve ruined so many lives, and you’ve finally gone too far. No one wants you to be the ruler of their universe, Thanos. You’ll never be a god.”Thanos sighed. “How disappointing,” he said. He flexed the fingers on the hand that held the infinity gauntlet, watching the power stone glint in the sunlight. He then reached that hand not in front of him to strike Gamora, but behind him, pulling Natasha off of him. She had been steadily climbing her way up towards the gauntlet while Thanos was distracted by his daughters. She had been so silent and light in her motions that any normal person wouldn’t have even noticed she was advancing on them.Thanos held her in his arms, his hands big enough to crush her if he wanted to. His eyes assessed Natasha grimly. “Did you think you could distract me with that magic trick?” he asked her. Without waiting to receive a response, he plunged his hand into Natasha’s chest, breaking through muscle and bone, pulling out her heart. After making sure she was dead, he took the soul stone from her and put it on his infinity gauntlet. Then he released her body, and she crumpled to the ground, eyes still open, but lifeless. There was blood around her open mouth, and a gory open chest cavity where her heart used to be.Everyone stared in horror at the scene before them. They didn’t actually think Thanos had in in him. But with the death of Natasha, it only made them more determined to beat him. To kill him. To make him pay for the death of their teammate, their friend, their family. All bets were off, and there was no more playing nice. Not anymore.“You can’t beat me,” Thanos said, crushing Natasha’s heart with the gauntlet until it turned to dust.Tony ground his teeth. “Watch us,” he said, before taking a hold of Steve and flying them into the sky.Steve peered back at Tony as they kept flying higher and higher, away from the scene below them. He couldn’t read Tony’s expression with the face plate in the way. “Uh, Tony?” he asked. “What are you doing?”“I just need a moment to think,” he mumbled. “FRIDAY, turn off all comms except mine, Steve’s, and baby Natasha’s.”“Of course, sir,” FRIDAY replied.“Tony, you son of a bit—” Clint said before his comms shut off on him.“Baby Natasha? Really?” Natasha said. Her voice was wavering.“Yeah. How you doing?”“I just watched me from an alternate reality get murdered by a purple alien, so not very well.”Tony grimaced, and flipped open his face plate. Steve could see tear tracks on his cheeks. It seemed Tony Stark really did have a heart after all.“We need to come up with a plan before the rest of us get murdered,” he said.“And you’re including me?” Natasha said.“You’re the brains of this operation. I have a suit that protects me, and Steve’s a super soldier. And to be honest, I don’t trust anyone else. This all started with me going to that alternate universe where we’re all a family. It started with us, and I want it to end with us. Is that okay?”Steve nodded, searching Tony’s desperate expression. “Okay. What do you have in mind?” he asked.“We need that gauntlet off of him, and it’s clear that anything we throw at him he’s going to notice, so we can’t really sneak up on him.”“Agreed. So what’s your solution?”“One of you chopping off his hand so you can steal the infinity gauntlet?” Natasha piped up. “Think about it, it’s kind of perfect. Steve can…I don’t know, chop it off with his shield or Tony, you can burn it off with your beam things and then just take the gauntlet. And then that leaves him wounded enough for the others to stop him.”“I don’t think I have enough power to do that,” Steve said.“I can use my repulsor rays to slice his hand off.”“Okay, so problem solved.”“I want him to burn. I want him to hurt. I want to rip his heart out like he did Natasha, pay for what he did to her.”Steve swallowed, and placed a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “We can get her back,” he said.Tony’s pain shuddered away, and his face hardened. “No,” he said.“Why not? We have the time stone. We can go back in time and save her, and then use what we know to take Thanos down.”“No,” he said again.“Why not?” Steve asked, exasperated. “We have a real chance to save one of our own! Why can’t be take it?”“Because we would be using the stones for our own personal gain! If we do it once, what’s to stop us from continuing to do it? How does that make us any better than Thanos? I don’t want the power of these stones to consume us, Steve. I don’t want to rely on their power. We use it to stop him, and then we never use them again. That was the deal.”Steve took a couple of calming breaths. “I see where you’re coming from Tony, but I’m sorry, I can’t agree with you on this one. I say we save Natasha, take Thanos down, and then destroy the stones. Just this once, and we never used them for our own gain again. Just once.”Tony’s hands were shaking as he still held Steve in midair. Steve held on tighter to Tony, afraid of falling.“Guys,” Natasha chimed in. “You can argue about this later. You all need to stop Thanos first. Then put it to a vote, like you did before about using the stones in the fight. Okay?”“Yeah,” Tony said quietly. Steve just nodded.Tony lowered his face plate again and sucked in a huge breath. “We got this, right, Spangles?”Steve rolled his eyes. “What are we doing?”“I’m gonna fly us back down to Thanos and the others. I want you to fucking smash your shield into his ugly face and I’ll take off his hand.”“You think that will work?”“Who the fuck knows, Steve? But we’ve gotta try something.”Steve nodded. “So let’s do this.” He held up his shield, bracing himself as Tony started to fly them back down at an alarming speed. Then he just launched Steve at Thanos, his shield hitting the alien square in his face. Steve kicked his feet straight into Thanos’s chest as he did so, earning a small grunt from him. Steve went into a frenzy then, not stopping to think about anything other than the task at hand. He wrapped his legs tightly around Thanos’s torso as he bucked and tried to fling Steve off of him. He held steadfast though, and kept bringing his shield down on Thanos’s face over and over again, letting go of the rage and directing it towards taking down their enemy.He distantly heard the sound of the other’s comms being turned back on, but he tuned them out for the most part and kept hitting Thanos as hard as he could muster. Over and over again, hoping he was doing some kind of damage.“Fuck, are these things back on?” Tony asked.“Yeah, fuck you,” Clint said, his voice devoid of any sort of emotion whatsoever. That Titan asshole had just murdered his friend. He didn’t really have anything else to live for at this point.“Look, we came up with a plan.”“And you didn’t think to include us in it?”“Honestly, no. I didn’t need you for this part. I needed Steve. And he’s doing this job wonderfully, but, ugh, shit.” Tony stopped taking for a second and he settled down on Thanos’s arm. He failed to calculate that Steve attacking Thanos meant that Thanos was going to move around a lot. That made Tony’s job of severing his hand even harder. If he couldn’t get a clean cut, then their mission wasn’t going to be accomplished.“I need to cut his hand off,” Tony finally said. “But I need him to be still. Wanda, is there any way you can get inside his head and stop him from moving? Make our jobs easier?”“I can’t do it without physical contact,” she said. “I’ll need to be right there, where my magic can reach his mind.”“Okay. So here’s the plan. Steve’s currently hitting him in the face with his shield. I’m gonna cut his hand off, and then he won’t have the gauntlet. Thor, can your hammer smash that gauntlet and the stone?”“I believe so,” Thor said.“Good. And can you fly Wanda up so she can keep Thanos still?”“Yes.”“Okay. So once the gauntlet is destroyed and Wanda’s mind controlling him into being still, you’re gonna come in Clint.”“What do you need me to do?” he asked.“I need you to use the soul stone and get him into space where he can’t go anywhere while we call for backup.”“Fuck backup,” Clint said. “I’m gonna use that stone to kill that motherfucker and spread his body all over space.”“Or we can see if this plan works, then we can use the time stone to go back before he murdered Natasha, do it all over again, and then call Fury so he can decide what we do with him.”“Or we can just kill him.”Natasha sniggered over the comms link.“Clint, I don’t think we can kill him,” Tony said. “I don’t think we’re capable of it.”Clint groaned. “Fine. But why call in Fury? Why can’t be just send him to Asgard like he did Thor’s evil little brother?”“No!” Thor said, panic in his voice. “You don’t know what the dungeons of Asgard did to my brother, the torture he endured! I won’t sentence Thanos to that.”“Does what I want even matter?”“Not really,” Tony said.“Fine. Burn the motherfucker’s hand off. I’ll be ready with the space stone when you need me.”“Thank you.”“Whatever.”Clint watched from his perch, firing all his remaining arrows into Thanos, because that’s the only thing he really could do. They weren’t going to kill him, but at least he could make him feel a little bit of pain. He watched Steve unwaveringly keep smashing his shield into Thanos’s face over and over and over again. He watched Tony sitting on Thanos’s arm, trying not to fall off while also trying use an energy laser to sever the gauntleted hand off. He watched Thor grab Wanda and fly his hammer into the sky, getting her within reach of Thanos’s mind. Her scarlet magic rippled in the air, and Clint saw Thanos go completely still for a couple of seconds, and then slightly move, struggling against Wanda’s magic.Still, she was strong enough to keep him mostly still, and that was enough for Tony to cleanly cut off Thanos’s hand, gauntlet and all. If Thanos had had control of his mind, Clint was sure he would have been screaming in pain. He hoped it really fucking hurt.“Thor!” Tony screamed.He wand Wanda descended back down to the ground, the latter letting go of her control of Thanos’s mind. Tony flew through the air, grabbing hold of Steve again as he did so. Thor used the force of his hammer to smash the gauntlet into pieces, the stone and the gold gauntlet falling apart into a bunch of tiny little pieces.“No!” Thanos shouted, falling down on his knees, trying to gather all the tiny little pieces and fit them back together again. There was blood and bruising all over his face, ruined from the force of Steve’s shield, but he was still relatively unharmed and still in fighting condition.“Did you really think you could beat us?” Tony asked, shooting a repulsor beam right into his face. The blast knocked him onto his back, and once again Wanda was using her magic to keep Thanos under her thumb and docile.“I guess that’s my cue?” Clint said over the comms.“Yup,” Tony responded. “Want me to come over and get you?”“No, that’s okay. I’ll climb down myself. Wanda, can you control him long enough for me to get him into space?”“I think so,” she said, her voice a little ragged.“I can take over from there,” Vision said. “You can take me into space with you and I’ll use the mind gem to control him.”“Thank you,” Wanda said.Clint made his descent down from his perch, being fast but cautious as he came down. When his feet touched the soil, he raced over to the rest of the Avengers. He passed Natasha’s body on the way over, and fought with himself not to glance over at her ruined form. He pressed down the urge to vomit at the thought of his best friend, just discarded on the ground, her chest ripped open, exposing her inner workings. But he had a mission, and he would grieve for her later.He pulled the stone from his pocket and nodded to Vision. “Ready?” he asked.“Yes,” Vision responded, taking over control of Thanos from Wanda. Clint wished them into space, and waited.To his surprise, the comms link was still working from their place in space. He didn’t think something like that could reach this far, but apparently Tony was a genius and knew how to make his tech functional.“Are you calling Fury?” he asked.“Not yet. We have to take a vote,” he said. Tony didn’t sound thrilled about it.“Tony, come on,” Steve said, pleading with him.“Steve wants to use the time stone to go back to before Natasha died,” Tony said in resignation. “I don’t think it’s a good idea because it leaves so much room for error. We have Thanos under control now, but there’s no guarantee that we can do it again if we go back. Do we take that risk or not? We all have to decide.” “If it were Wanda, I would want to go back for her. We cannot leave anyone behind. I say yes,” Vision said.“No,” Wanda said. “It’s too risky.”“I’m sorry, but no,” Thor said. “I agree. We already have Thanos in our clutches. We cannot risk him escaping.”“My vote is yes,” the younger Natasha said.Clint almost really did throw up this time. He forgot that the younger alternate version of his best friend was still alive. It seemed unreal, that his Nat was dead and she was still there.“Three yeses, three nos,” Tony informed them. “Clint, what are your thoughts?”Clint almost said yes automatically. He wanted his Nat back, no doubt. But he thought Natasha should have a say in what happens. “Let’s ask Nat,” he said.“Um…Clint? How do we ask someone who’s dead?” Steve asked. He sounded apologetic for even mentioning Natasha was dead.“With the soul stone. We go back in time before Thor destroys that soul stone, and use it to go into the soul world, talk to Natasha, and see what she wants.”“That is a good idea,” Nat said on the comms. He grimaced at the sound of her voice.“All in favour?” Tony asked. The rest of the Avengers agreed.“Okay, Steve, it’s up to you. You think you can go back to that precise moment?”“No pressure at all,” Steve murmured. “Yes, I can do it.”Before Clint knew it, he was back in the tree, watching the events unfold beneath him. Wanda was using her magic to control Thanos into submission, and Tony had already severed his hand from his body. It was lying there on the ground, waiting for Thor to destroy the gauntlet. Before he did so, he pocketed the soul stone, allowing them access to Natasha’s soul in the afterlife.Clint again climbed down from his perch and joined the rest of the Avengers on the ground. They gathered around Natasha’s body. Her skin was already taking on a sallow pallor, paler than he’d ever seen her before. He reached down and closed her dull, lifeless green eyes, not able to stand seeing them open any longer. He brushed her hair out of her face.“Can I go?” he asked.“Of course,” Thor said, handing the soul stone out to him.Clint grasped the stone, and thought about Natasha. He instantly found himself in the in between. It was an empty, black void, devoid of anything he thought the soul world would look life. It was just him and the blackness and his endless thoughts of Natasha.Slowly, he began to see her coming towards him from the distance. As she approached, she didn’t speak, and Clint scanned her face trying to catch any flaw in her form, any suggestion that this wasn’t really her. He couldn’t find any.“What are you doing here?” she asked him.“I came to find you.”“Shouldn’t you be stopping Thanos?”“We have,” he said. “Or we’re close to it.”“So why are you here?” she asked again.“We want to bring you back!” he blurted out. “Steve wants to use the time stone to go back before Thanos kills you.”“No,” she said. “Absolutely not. If I’m alive, there’s a greater risk of you all not capturing Thanos.”“Yeah, but we’re retaining our memories when we go back in time. So this time we know how to stop Thanos and we can repeat everything we did to capture him.”“Do you all have a contingency plan?”“What?”“For if everything doesn’t go perfectly the second time and he gets away? Do you have another idea of how to stop him?”“No,” Clint admitted.“Then don’t save me.”“You don’t understand, Nat. I can’t breathe without you. Do you get that? There’s been so much shit in my life. So much hurt. I’m not a good person. But you make me believe I can be. You’re the only one who’s ever believed in me, the real me. Who’s ever understood me the way I need to be understood. You’re my best friend. I don’t know how to go through life without you.”The ghost of a smile formed on Natasha’s lips and she reached to grasp Clint’s neck with her head. “Clint,” she whispered. “You’re my best friend, too. But I would rather be the only one dead than all of us dead.”“We won’t let it come to that! Please, Nat, do this for me. It’s the only thing I’ll ever ask of you again. This is me cashing in the debt you owe me. Please.”She pursed her lips. “You’re cashing in my debt?”“Yes,” Clint said. He was desperate.“You do realise you may be dooming all of us to a gruesome death?”“I’m aware.”Natasha nodded. “Okay. Then do it.”Clint hugged his best friend fiercely and whispered, “I’ll see you on the other side.” Then he let himself slip out of the soul world.He was back in the real world, on the cold ground, holding Natasha’s broken body in his, the rest of the Avengers staring at him.He looked up at each of their faces.“So?” Tony asked.“Are you all sure you want to save Natasha?”“Does she want to be saved?”Clint nodded, unable to use his words.“Then we’ll do it. Steve?”“Got it,” he said. “When exactly do you want me to go back to?”“The beginning of Vision’s distraction,” Tony told him. “We can still use that as a cover for me to fly you up to him and attack. We do everything the same way. Steve attacking, Wanda controlling him, me chopping of his hand, Thor destroying the gauntlet. Understand?”They all muttered their assurances, and then Steve let out a huge breath. “Here goes nothing.”“….pitting us against each other, years of us fighting for your affection and attention. You wanted us to hate each other.” Clint realised he was back at the scene of Gamora verbally attacking Thanos. Just like that, Steve turned back time, Clint was back in his perch, watching everything go down.“FRIDAY, shut off all comms but mine and Natasha’s for a moment,” Tony said, and Clint was temporarily cut off from communicating with the rest of the team. If he had to guess, Tony was filling Natasha in on what had happened and what the new plan was without any distractions.A couple minutes later, the comms were back up. “Steve, you ready?” Tony asked.“Bring it on,” Steve said.Clint watched again as Tony held on to Steve, flinging him at Thanos’s face. Steve, again, bashed in Thanos’s face with his shield as Tony took his place on Thanos’s arm. Thor flew Wanda close enough to control Thanos’s mind, while Vision and Natasha kept an eye on the situation, ready to jump in at a moment’s notice if the situation went sideways.But it didn’t. Wanda kept control of Thanos enough for Tony to get the hand off. Thor used Mjolnir to shatter the gauntlet and the power gem. Clint found himself sliding down from his perch and grabbing Vision as he hurled them into space, just like last time.He waited and waited as on the surface his teammates called in Fury, appraised him of the situation, and what they were going to do about it. Vision kept immaculate control of him and they hung out in space until Fury reached their hideout. They came back down again. Fury’s expression was thunderous as he took in Thanos, his missing hand, his bashed in face. Then he scoffed.“Can any cell hold him?” he asked Clint.“Unclear, sir.”“Then who can inform me if this alien can be contained or not?”“He has two adopted daughters, sir,” Vision said. “We can send a message to them and they can inform us of how to keep him subdued.”“I don’t like the idea of inviting any more aliens into our space.”“It’s the only way to find out for sure, sir,” Clint chimed in.Fury studied him, then acquiesced. “Fine. But they don’t come into the atmosphere. We obtain the information from communication in space only.”“Yes, sir.”“Let’s get him into a holding cell and knock him the fuck out until we know what to do with him. And the we’re going to have a nice, long debriefing session that none of you are allowed to skip and you’re all gonna tell me what the fuck you all were thinking.”“Yes, sir,” Clint repeated.“Come on, then.”The Avengers followed Fury onto the Helicarrier. They brought Thanos into medical, and once he was put under, they followed Fury into the debriefing room, spending the next few hours going over ever excruciating detail of the last few weeks of their existence. Sometime after the debriefing and when they were all getting checked out at medical, Clint took a seat next to Natasha, who was getting stitches over a pretty bad wound on her forehead. He laced his fingers through hers and sat there until the S.H.I.E.L.D. doctor left them alone. They didn’t say a word to each other, but Natasha simply placed a hand on the side of Clint’s neck and pulled him into her chest. She understood. And that was all he needed in the world. When everyone was cleared from medical, they made the trek back to the base the younger Natasha was staying at. She hugged them all long and fiercely as they stumbled in through the door, and then yelled at them to all go to sleep, that she would talk to them all later about what happened. None of them left their bed for a day straight. When they finally emerged from the depths of their bedroom, Tony took them back to Avengers tower, where they all placed their infinity stones in a neat little row on a table in Tony’s lab and let him deal with destroying them.

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Natasha didn’t go home to her own world immediately after the battle with Thanos was over. She and the others took about a week to decompress from the fight and to heal their injuries and psyches. Natasha hadn’t had a huge role in the defeating the Titan—Tony had stayed firm on her not being able to fight—but she was on their comms system the entire time, and FRIDAY had been showing her the footage from inside Tony’s Iron Man helmet, so it was basically like she was in the field with them. She wished she could have done more, but she was also glad Tony wanted her safe enough to be able to go home to her own dads.After they chilled out for about a week, Tony hooked Vision up to a bunch of wires and put him a deep sleep so he could remove the stone without essentially killing the synthezoid.Wanda was glaring daggers at him the whole time. She gripped Vision’s hand tightly in hers, and didn’t let go, even though Vision was adamantly telling her he was going to be fine and that Tony knew what he was doing.Wanda growled at that. “Does he?” she asked.Tony arched an eyebrow at her over the console. “You’re the one who gave the formula. Why don’t you ask your source if it’s legit? Far as I can tell, all the calculations are perfect. Don’t worry your pretty head, little witch, your robot boyfriend will be good as new in no time at all.”Wanda continued to glare at him, but didn’t argue any further. Natasha stayed to see Vision go under. She helped Tony painstakingly disconnect the neuron paths that kept the stone wired to his mainframe. After a long few hours, they were allowed to remove the stone without killing him. Wanda wouldn’t let either one of them touch him, and she removed the stone gently, with her scarlet magic guiding the way. Once it was removed, she and Tony loaded his mind back to his mainframe, making sure he worked the same as he did with the stone in.All things considered, luck really was on their side. Natasha wished this Shuri girl, Wanda’s connection, was somewhere in her universe. She though they would make good friends.No, Natasha stayed until everyone was alive, well, and recovered from the fight with Thanos. Only then did she feel she could safely leave this strange world behind and go back to her own home.The day she was set to leave was an emotional one for her. She missed her own world, but she sure was going to miss all of the Avengers she had gotten to know. She wished she had a way to keep in contact with Tony and Steve and Wanda, but the multiverse wouldn’t allow her to do that. She would go the rest of her life wondering how things on this world were going.“Hey, kid,” Tony said quietly behind her. Natasha’s breath shuddered and tears started to spill over her cheeks as she turned to look at him.“I don’t want to go,” she said.Tony approached the chair she was sitting in, and knelt down until he was eyelevel with her. “What if I told you I won’t destroy the reality gem once we send you back to your world? Would that help?”Natasha swiped a hand over her tears. “What do you mean?”“I’d like to pop in and visit you from time to time, see how you’re doing. Promise you’re gonna do good things from now on, like not getting involved with Alexander Pierce and killing people.”Natasha laughed weakly. “Yeah, I really made a mess of things. I really gotta clean that up when I get home.” She sighed heavily. “You’re really gonna keep the stone and come visit me?”Tony shrugged. “Sure. Until I build a machine that lets me jump into the multiverse and visit different worlds. I’m gonna miss you, and I’m not ready to say goodbye.”“Does Steve know you’re not destroying the stone?” He was gonna be pissed if he found out Tony kept different rules for himself and not the other Avengers.“He knows,” Tony said, surprising Natasha immensely. “He’s letting me keep it if I agree to let him keep the time stone. I’m letting him keep it on the agreement that he just observe history and not try and change it. The Capcicle can’t be playing Doctor Who on us.”“Wow.” Natasha shook her head. “Dare I say you two are friends now?”“I think the term ‘friends’ is stretching it. But we’ve come to an understanding. He…may not be as terrible as I had initially expected.”Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m glad to hear.” She secretly hoped Tony and Steve cut all the bullshit and eventually become boyfriends, but that wasn’t really for her to decide. She was just so used to seeing them as her parents that she just wanted every version of the world’s Tony and Steves to be together like hers were. That was probably wishful thinking, but she was still holding out hope they would make it somehow.“All right. You ready to get this show on the road?” Tony asked.“Not really,” she said, but she stood up anyway and made her way out of Tony’s lab. They took the elevator to the common room, where the rest of the Avengers were waiting to say goodbye to her, send her off with well wishes. She gave each of them a hug, including her older self, who hugged her tighter than anyone else.Then she turned to Tony. She wrapped her arms around his middle and clung to him desperately, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks. Tony kissed the top of her head, hugging her back just as fiercely. “We will see each other again, okay?” he whispered. She nodded, and reluctantly let go of him.“I’m ready,” she said, even though she didn’t think she truly ever would be.Wanda handed Tony the yellow stone and they both touched it, combining their energies to send her back to her world.She came to in her brother’s hospital room; the first person her eyes saw was her father Tony.“Dad!” she burst out, jumping right into his arms.She was clinging to him so tightly she didn’t notice that her Tony and the other world Tony had locked eyes. The other Tony saluted to her dad and her dad nodded and thanked the other Tony. He disappeared back to his world without another word.“Are you okay?” Her dad asked.“Yeah, I’m okay,” she said. “We defeat Thanos and most of the stones have been destroyed, so he can’t try to take over the multiverse ever again. Tony wouldn’t let me fight with them, so I had to say behind and monitor their progress.”“I’m glad everything is good. And we’re all really glad you’re back. Your brother is awake.”“He is?” she asked. “How’s he doing?”“He lost the arm and he lost some of his motor function that he’ll have to work out in physical therapy, but he’s got all of his memories and he’s kept his spirit. He kept asking where you were. Your boyfriend and Clint kept asking, too. Said it was urgent. Does this have to do with Fisk?”The blood drained out of Natasha’s face. “How do you know about that?”“I followed you one day. Or, the other Tony followed you and I have his memories. Or…I don’t know. This multiverse travelling is too confusing. Point is, I overheard you talking about it, and while you were gone there was a big thing on the news that Fisk and his assistant Wesley were missing.”Natasha chewed on her lower lip. “I screwed up, Dad.”He sighed. “I know. And your dad and I will help you deal with it. And then you’ll be grounded. For like, the rest of your life.”“Sounds fair,” she said.Tony spluttered. “Uh, excuse me? Where’s the daughter that argues with me over everything and tells me I’m ruining her life when I try to punish her?”“She grew up?”“Maybe she did,” he mused. “Well, your dad and Bucky are in the activities room if you want to go say hi to them.”They headed out of the hospital room to the activity room designed for the longterm patients. Bucky’s eyes lit up when he saw his big sister.“Tasha!” he yelled and hobbled over to her as fast as he could. His balance was off and it looked like he couldn’t control his movements as much as he used to be able to. Natasha’s throat felt thick as her tears threatened to spill again.“Hey, солнышко (solnyshko),” she said, clearing her throat. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”“It’s okay, you’re here now. Do you wanna play Candyland with Dada and I?”“I’d love to,” she said.Bucky put his tiny hand in hers and led her over to the table, where he and Steve were in the middle of playing the board game. She sat down in between the two and immediately hugged her other dad.“Welcome home, Nat,” Steve whispered to her, rubbing her back and kissing her forehead.“Good to be home,” she murmured.“What colour do you wanna be, sissy?” Bucky asked her. “I’m blue and Dada is red.”“I’ll be green,” Natasha said, and spent the day at the hospital playing games with her family. That night Tony took her home so she could shower, change, and sleep in her own bed for a change. He and Steve were taking shifts, switching who slept with Bucky at the hospital every other day so the other could take a breather and refresh. Natasha was immensely happy to be in her own space again, with her own clothes and her own room.After she’d showered and changed into pyjamas, she went downstairs and sat on the couch next to Tony, who was watching the news. “How long was I gone?” she asked.“Two months, give or take,” Tony informed her. “I called your school and told them about Bucky and requested your teachers give you work to take home while you’re on a hiatus, so you didn’t miss much.”“Except everything going on with my friends.”“What did happen there, Natasha?”“This guy named Alexander Pierce approached me and my friends, said he was from this secret government facility called S.H.I.E.L.D. He basically told us to train so that when we graduated he could recruit us into the program, and that he’d give us a trial run with a mission we had to complete.”“Let me guess, the mission went awry.”“Completely.”“You can spare me the details. Will you be in any legal trouble if what happens gets out?”“Yes.”“Do you trust this Pierce guy?”“That’s the thing, Dad. I told the other Tony about it, and on his world S.H.I.E.L.D. is run by someone named Nick Fury. Alexander Pierce is this neo-Nazi guy, the one who tortured and turned his world’s Bucky into an assassin.”Tony nodded. “I’m gonna hire a lawyer. We’ll deal with it. But you have to promise me you won’t get yourself mixed up in this kind of stuff again. I understand you want a career dealing with government facilities, but you’re going to do it the legal way. You’re gonna go to college, and apply for a government program and go through recruitment that way. And I am going to fully vet any government agency that tries to sink its claws into you. Got it?”“Yeah, I got it. I’m sorry, Dad. This whole mess happened because I was trying to find out more about my birth parents and my life in Russia. I didn’t think I would get caught hacking into their files.”“You hacked into a government agency?”Natasha shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard.”Tony sighed. “I guess I’m taking your computer away, too. Do I need to set parental controls or have you learned your lesson?”“Definitely learned my lesson.”“Okay. We’ll deal with all of this stuff tomorrow. Go get a good night’s sleep, okay?”“Okay. Night, Dad.”“Night, Natasha.” Natasha slept fitfully that night. When she woke up the next day, the sun was shining through her curtains. She checked her cell phone, which had been horrifyingly dead when she got home to it last night. She had plugged it in for power and was assaulted with a bunch of calls and texts from her friends. She sent a few texts to Matt, Clint, Karen, and Foggy, and waited for them to respond back as she descended the stairs towards the kitchen.Steve was home now instead of Tony, and Steve had made her waffles with chocolate chips in the batter. When he saw her make her way to the island, he put a couple waffles on a plate for her and pushed the maple syrup her way.“Good morning,” he said.“Hi, Daddy.”“Your dad tried to explain to me everything that happened, but I still don’t think I really understand. I just want to know that everyone and everything is safe and that things are going to go back to normal now.”“I think there’s no going back to the old normal, but yeah, everything is safe.”“What was that other world like? Your dad said we were all superheroes, but didn’t tell me really anything else other than they fought to save the world.”“It was different. You and Dad aren’t together in that world.”“Really? Who’s he with then?”“Pepper.”Steve snorted. “Really?”“Uh huh. And you were born in the 1940s and went through from kind of super soldier program during World War II that cured all of your illnesses and make you really buff and apparently hot. And then you were frozen in ice for 70 years and then came back to life.”“That sounds like a plot from a comic book.”“I know, but I swear it’s true there.” Natasha took a bite of her waffles and chewed before speaking again. “You and Dad were different, but good different. I think I’m really gonna miss them.”“Well, at least you still have us,” Steve offered. “Hey, you didn’t meet the other version of Bucky, did you?”“No,” Natasha said. “I don’t think he was—” she was interrupted by the sound of their doorbell ringing.Steve left Natasha at the kitchen island in order to open the door. When he came back, he was trailed by her friends.“I’ll let you all talk,” he said, heading for the stairs.“Long time, no see, Nat,” Clint said.“Sorry. I was busy saving the world. Sort of.”“Sort of? Your dads wouldn’t tell us anything that was going on. We thought you were dead. Your boyfriend almost broke my nose when he punched me.”“Wait, he punched you? Matt!”Matt shrugged. “I thought something happened to you when you didn’t show up for school after your mission.”“I thought you said violence wasn’t the answer.”“Even I make mistakes sometimes.”“Really, where were you?” Clint asked.Natasha sighed, and took another bite of waffles. “You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”“Try me.”“I used a magic gem to transport myself into another universe in order to stop an alien named Thanos from destroying half the population.”Clint stared at her like she had two heads. “Yeah, definitely don’t believe you.”Clint winked at her, though, and Natasha smiled and winked back.“What did I miss around here?” she asked.Clint grinned. “Guess who hooked up with Pietro?” Clint pointed at himself.“No freaking way! See, I told you things would work out! What happened?”“After that crazy mission I spent all night talking to him on the phone and then like last week Pietro found out that Crystal was cheating on him with some older guy named Norman Webster. He broke up with her and I took my chances on asking him out on a date. He said yes, of course.”“Um, of course! He’d be an idiot if he said no.”“Duh. I’m totally the best there is. He’d be crazy not to like me back, yeah?”“Crazy,” Natasha agreed.“Karen is in rehab,” Matt said, breaking in with the bad news.“What?” Natasha asked.Matt shrugged. “When you shut down Fisk, there wasn’t anyone else willing to take over his drug runs. Karen couldn’t pretend like she wasn’t an addict anymore, and realised she needed help. The situation with her parents still isn’t a good one, but Foggy’s family agreed to let her live with them until the foreseeable future.”“Well, I’m happy she’s getting the help she needs. Fuck, I think we all need therapy after what we’ve all been through.”“Yeah,” Clint said quietly. “That mission was really fucked up.”“Listen, my dad’s gonna hire a lawyer. I found out Pierce isn’t who we thought he was. He’s not one of the good guys.”“We’re gonna be okay, right?” Clint asked.“We’ll be fine, promise.”Natasha tried not to look at Matt as she talked about the mission. He’d told her it was stupid and dangerous, and she hadn’t listened. They had a lot to talk about, and she wasn’t sure what to start with. Or when she would ever catch him alone long enough to talk through all of their issues.Clint made that a little easier on her claiming he really had to pee and heading off towards her bathroom.“Hi.” Natasha said shyly, after gathering the courage to speak.“Hi,” Matt said. He felt his way over to where Natasha’s voice was and she helped guide him onto the stool beside her.“So, I think we have some things to talk about,” she said. “Starting with, are we okay? Or are we broken up? Do you even want to speak to me any more after everything that happened?”“My feelings for you haven’t changed, Natasha,” Matt told her. “But if anything like this happens again, I’m not going to stick around for it. I don’t want to be with someone like that.”“Like what?” she asked.“Reckless. Who disregards rules. Who shoots gun and shoots people and gets the government to cover it up for her.”“You know I want to work in espionage someday,” she pointed out. “You’ve always known that.”“But that’s different. I can handle that. But you’re working outside the law, Natasha. There are rules. You have to follow them.”“Okay,” she said. “It won’t happen again. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry for what happened between us, and I’m sorry I didn’t listen to what you were trying to say.”Matt took her and in his and laced their fingers. “I’m sorry, too. Do you think we can both try to be better people and communicate with each other more?”Natasha smirked. “I think we can do that.”Clint noisily made his presence known and he walked back into the kitchen. “Well, it looks like you two patched things up,” Clint drawled.Natasha rolled her eyes and flipped him off.“That’s offensive, Natasha! I’m offended!”“Whatever, Clint. You love me anyway.”“Yeah, I do. So much I’m gonna let you watch me scare the pants off of me playing Until Dawn.”Natasha perked up. “Really?”“Yep. Missed you that much.”Coming home had never felt as good as it did now.

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Six years later, Natasha was bone tired after stepping off the plane from the long case she had been working on. A case that ended brutally and unhappily for pretty much everyone involved. In the end, they’d caught the perp, but that didn’t erase all the damage he’d caused or the people’s lives he’d taken and ruined.She inserted the key to her front door into the lock and flicked on the foyer lights, her hand going straight to her gun when she saw someone sitting on her couch.“Whoah, hey, someone’s a little trigger happy,” the person said, standing up to face her.Natasha’s tension melted at the sight of Tony Stark. The other Tony Stark.“Oh my god, Tony. Don’t ever sneak into an FBI agent’s house without notice!”She dropped her keys on the table and set her bag down by the door and rushed into Tony’s waiting embrace. Hugging him felt just like it did when she was 17 years old.“An FBI agent, huh?” he asked as they pulled away from each other.She smiled. “Yeah. Just got back from my first case as an agent. I’m brand spanking new around the office.”“Well, congratulations! I always knew you’d do something great with your life.”They settled back down on her couch. She looked over Tony, noticing he looked a little bit older, but not by much. There were new creases in the corners of his eyes and his hair was more salt and pepper than it used to be, but it seemed like the same old Tony she knew and loved.“And Matt?” Tony asked. “What about him?”Natasha held up her hand to show him the engagement ring she’d gotten when he proposed after her college graduation.Tony whistled. “Look at that bling!”“Yeah. We’re waiting to get married until after he finishes law school. He’s at Columbia now, absolutely killing it. He’s gonna make a great lawyer one he passes his Bar Exam.”“Looks like you’ve got a good life up here. What about your parents? Bucky? Clint?”“Clint’s married! To Pietro, of all people. They adopted a little girl named Luna last year.”“Never thought I’d see him settle down.”“Yeah, me either, really. My parents are good. Still disgustingly in love, still doing what they love. Bucky’s in a good place, too. He finished his physical therapy after the accident and when he was old enough my dad Tony made him a pretty advanced prosthetic arm that he doled out to the market not long after.”“That’s awesome, Nat.”“What about your world? Still superheroing?”“Yep, still superheroing. Put a ring on Pepper’s finger, got married. Took this kid Peter under my wing, met the king of Wakanda, and hung out with some more aliens other than Thor.”“That sounds super exciting. I’m happy for you. And Steve?”“Ah, Steve quit the superhero business once he found Bucky. They took off on some kind of spiritual road trip together. Bucky posts photos about it on Instagram all the time.”“That’s really weird,” Natasha said. “Are Steve and Bucky like…together together?”Tony shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. They seem happy, though, so either way, no skin off my nose.”“I guess. I’m happy things have worked out for both of us. For all of us,” she said, leaning against Tony and shutting her eyes.“Me too,” he murmured. “We all turned out okay, despite the circumstances. That’s a pretty big accomplishment, I’d say.”“Huge accomplishment,” Natasha agreed. “Thanks for coming to visit me, like you said you would.”“Of course I came to visit. I couldn’t stay away from you forever. You know, even though we met during a really shitty time, I’m still really glad we met. I’ve never had a kid in my world, not one that I know about at least, but if I ever have a daughter, I want her to be just like you, Natasha.”Natasha smiled up at Tony sleepily. “I love you too, old man.”They sat there on the couch for a while, the Tony from a different world holding the younger Natasha as she fell asleep. When she would wake up the next morning, with a crick in her neck, Tony would be gone, just a figment of her imagination. But for now, they were together again, in one universe, under one roof, and all was right in the world.