“What are you doing?
Stark?!”
The voice rang out
angry and worried through his helmet, yet it remained distant, faraway, and
completely meaningless as he looked upwards into the vast gaping hole in the
sky. The terrifying maw looming larger and larger over the lone figure, still
he stood tall as the world disintegrated into panicked chaos around him.
People fled for
safety in droves as a single lone figure in the black and silver metal armor,
stood motionless, waiting. A familiar iconic shield on his back, now tarnished,
and faded with age. He made no move to get away, staring calmly towards
inevitable death.
Just like before, it
had all happened so fast, the gathering storm over the city erupting violently.
A large gaping hole between worlds meant to bring about the end of days. And it
had all occurred exactly as he had predicted.
Only he’d neglected
to tell Avengers the entirety of it.
He had lied to them
about exactly when the attack would happen, and he’d felt not qualms with that.
This was his fight.
As the hour had drawn
near, he’d quietly suited up, waiting patiently under where he knew the storm
was going to break.
“Stark, get out of
there!” the voices in his helmet were ceaseless, pointless noise. His entire
being focused on the space above him, the black oblivion opened wider.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“What the hell was he
thinking?” Clint yelled through the link as they flew at top speed towards the
figure.
“It looks like Stark
plans to take on the entire invasion himself,” the archer grunted, trying to
focus on getting them there quickly.
The others grew
grimly quiet, as they got their first sickening look at what was to come.
Suddenly, a crackle
of static broke sharply across the link, a voice so different yet so familiar
to them. It came raspy and low. “Are you with me, love?”
The question was so
quiet and tender it was heartbreaking. Steve felt his breath hitch in his
chest.
All eyes focused on
the solitary man in the heart of the storm. The comm crackling again with
static, hissing as if it was malfunctioning. Yet, under the back feed, very
quietly they heard another voice; one they knew all too well.
“To hell and back.”
His blood turned to
ice as Steve Rogers gasped, freezing and unable to look away.
“I’m seeing double,”
Tony breathed, landing next to his lover heavily, trying to reconcile his mind
to what his eyes were seeing. Stark wasn’t standing alone anymore. Another person
was beside him, hazy and indistinct, yet wearing a very distinctive suit. Only
the red, white and blue were covered in blood, dark gaping wounds visible on
the back of his costume.
Steve opened and
closed his mouth several times, but no sound came out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The portal was open
now, he could see them beginning to crawl outwards. Stark tightened his hand
around the small device. Taking a deep breath, he pressed several buttons,
watching as the timer began to tick down.
Without hesitation,
he took off straight into the portal. Pushing higher, he made directly for the
main ship, that ever-present voice in his head.
“I’m
with you, love.”
Clenching his jaw, he
put all power to his thrusters, the large warship growing bigger in his field
of vision. Chest aching, heart thrumming, he tasted blood. Gritting his teeth,
he used the last of his strength, hurling the device at the hull of the beast.
Flipping out of the way as several smaller ships took exception to him.
Turning, he began
falling back through space, a smile curling his lips as he plummeted towards
Earth. An ironic sense of déjà-vu pulling at him. In his head he counted down.
“Showtime…” he muttered, a scant second before the yellow and red explosion
engulfed the war machine.
Laughing, he closed
his eyes, stretching his arms outwards as the blast rippled through him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Avengers stared
uncomprehending upwards at the spot where the dark metal figure had
disappeared. Tony swallowing thickly as memories boiled in his mind, it had
seemed like yesterday he’d flown that nuke.
They couldn’t see
Stark, but they could see the enemy coming. Each crouched hands tightening
around weapons as they readied for battle. Steve was all business, working through
a strategy as they approached, preparing for a hard fought siege.
When the explosion
threw all his plans to hell.
Shocked, they watched
as no more than a dozen or so small vessels made it through before the large
ship ponderously approaching, dissolved in a ball of fire. The ominous portal
in the sky disappearing instantly.
“Holy shit…” Clint
breathed, as the few attackers disoriented and confused by the sudden turn of
events hesitated.
“Well, let’s deal
with these guys,” Steve said softly, managing to collect himself.
Tony paused a moment.
“Steve, I’m going to see if he made it through,” he spoke softly, his voice
saying he was not all that optimistic about the possibility.
“We got this Cap, you
go too…” the Black Widow was already moving Hulk, Thor, and Clint hot on her
heels.
Without a word, they
were off. Iron Man flying the perimeter of the blast radius, carefully checking
from above, as Steve worked from the ground up.
“Anything?” Tony
asked a while later, disheartened to hear Steve replying in a negative.
The Cap was slowly
beginning to think Stark hadn’t made it back. Trying to come to terms with the
idea, he hesitated when something caught the corner of his eye.
Turning quickly ready
to fight, he paused lowering his shield cautiously, spotting the shadowy figure
several feet away. Raising his shield again, he carefully approached but
whatever it was seemed to grow more insubstantial as he got closer.
Beginning to think it
was some sort of trick of the light, Steve was turning to resume the search
when he thought he heard the small moan. Freezing ears straining he waited,
barely daring to breath. It came again, faint, barely there, but discernable.
Quickly, he was
amongst the rubble of the collapsed building. “Stark?” He called, trying to
pinpoint where the sound was coming from. The noise was fainter this time, but
Steve had finally spotted the battered figure.
“Stark! Tony, I found
him!” he yelled over the comm, hurrying to the man’s side. It took the soldier
a moment to realize what he was seeing. The metal clad man lay amongst the
debris with a large iron bar jutting through his chest, very near where his
heart would be.
“We need medical,” he
said shakily, falling to his knees beside the other. Carefully, looking for a
way to remove the helmet, before finally just using a tear in the metal to pull
it the rest of the way off.
The familiar scarred
face was deathly pale, as Stark panted breathing shallowly. Blood trickling
from the corner of his mouth, making a startling contrast to his gray
complexion. “Stark? You with me?” he asked gently, reaching out to touch that
beloved face.
Slowly, the injured
man opened his eyes, the glowing red orb whirring as he painfully turned to the
big blond beside him. The blue glow in his chest flickering weakly. “Steve…” he
murmured, normally sharp gaze hazy and unfocused.
“I’m here,” he said
softly taking a metal hand in his own.
His eyes closed, before
struggling to open again. “…did…it…” he wheezed, chest hitching as he struggled
to breathe around the metal bar running through his lung.
“You did, you saved
us,” Steve confirmed before pressing on. “Why, Stark? Why didn’t you wait?” He
couldn’t help it, why had the man done something so foolish? It had been a
suicide mission.
The pale, scarred
lips pulled in a smallest of smiles. “Make things right.” He coughed, the
wheeze getting worse, chest pumping hard trying to work.
“Steve!” Tony cried,
landing beside them tugging his helmet loose. “God…” he hissed, face grim as he
spotted the metal bar pinning the man down. Red staining the concrete below
him.
“S’ok…alright,” Stark
managed, eyes drifting closed again. He squeezed Steve’s hand in his tightly,
gasping, gurgling as his chest filled. Steve held back just as tightly, tears
gathering in his eyes.
He could feel his
Tony pressing close to him, as the man who saved them all gasped wetly, one
last time chest stilling. The flicker fading out completely. The tears fell as
Tony, his Tony, held him tight.
“I’ll
take it from here.”
Both men started at
the voice, staring uncomprehendingly as a man crouched opposite the body of
Stark. Steve shocked to find himself looking into his own eyes, cloudy and
lifeless. He jerked back into Tony, who was eyeing the apparition before them.
It was Steve, Captain
America, or at least at one time it had been, before the three large gaping
wounds in his chest.
“Tony...” the
man said, looking at the dead man pinned by the bar. Lovingly, he reached out,
touching him briefly.
The pair watched,
detached as the body disappeared, leaving only the iron bar.
“Thank
you,” the dead man said, standing slowly as those dead eyes turned to
look towards a figure standing a few feet away. Steve and Tony glanced as well.
“Been
waiting on him a long time,” the dead Cap grinned
at them.
Steve finally managed
to find his voice. “It was you, wasn’t it? The one he was always talking to.”
The ghost simply
smiled. “Good bye,
Tony and Steve…he gave us a second chance, don’t waste it.”
He was walking away,
towards the waiting other.
As they watched the
pair clasped hands before fading out completely, leaving them alone amid the
debris once more.
Tony exhaled, feeling
like he’d been holding his breath for hours. “I’m not sure what just
happened…but after the last couple weeks, I’m willing to believe in the
impossible,” he mumbled
Steve nodded slowly
in agreement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“It feels like it was
some sort of dream,” Steve mumbled, speaking for the first time since they had
left the ruins. Tony hadn’t forced him, as he too was still trying to come to
terms with what had transpired.
After all, it wasn’t
everyday your future self showed up to save the world, and a dead Captain
America talked to you.
The pair were
currently cuddled together in Tony’s bed, the TV playing softly in the back
ground as Steve lay with his head on his chest.
“I know what you
mean,” Tony mumbled, running callused fingers through blond locks.
“Do you think we
changed the future?” Steve asked hesitantly, giving voice to his true fear.
Thinking of the things Stark had told him, of all the horrors that lay ahead.
Tony was silent a
long moment. “I’m not sure if we can fully. Everything we do impacts our
choices and decisions. Fate, destiny, cosmic interference, whatever you call
it, argues what will be and we can do nothing to change it.”
Steve was looking at
him now, face solemn, drawn and worried. “What I do know, is he saved you. Gave
us a fighting chance, and I hope to God wherever he is…he finally found the
same happiness I have.”
Steve was
smiling softly, beautifully. “Never knew you were such a romantic.”
Tony shrugged pulling
him in for a sweet kiss. “Only for you.”
They kissed again, losing
themselves in one another, the future unknown save one simple truth, whatever
it brought they would be together.
Tony Stark had found
his redemption, and he was not going to waste it.
End.
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