cap_ironman | Bingo Fill: Before the Blow Up

Before the Blow Up (1317 words) by AnonEhouse
Rating:Gen
Warnings:None
Universe: Avengers Assemble (Animated)
Genre:Gen

Synopsis:
Alternate ending for the Avengers Assemble episode 'The Age of Tony Stark', when instead of simply reversing Tony's de-aging, the Time Stone restored Tony to his proper age and also sent him and Steve into the past.

A fill for the Time Travel square on my Bingo card.

"Well, on the bright side, I'm not a little kid any longer," Tony said. He put the Time Stone into his pocket and stood up. Reluctantly he moved out of Steve's hug. That had been the good part about being temporarily turned into a child. This... whatever it was, wasn't good. For a last gasp as he removed the stone from the arc reactor, it had apparently sent him and Steve into the past, somewhere else as well as somewhen. Lucky for Manhattan which had already filled their quota of rampaging prehistoric reptiles and future murder-bots, not so lucky for them.

Steve was in full costume, but didn't have his shield. Tony didn't have his armor and his arc reactor was shining through his shirt. They were standing on a street made of stones fitted tightly together, surrounded by donkey carts, chariots, and a crowd of people dressed mainly in tunics. Some were barefoot, while others wore leather sandals laced up the leg. Definitely not current New York styles. They were staring at him and Steve, but not openly hostile. At least not yet. There was muttering in a language that seemed vaguely familiar, but the exact meaning eluded him.

"This is why I wanted you to learn how to handle yourself out of the armor," Steve said. He squared his shoulders.

"I do know how." Tony smiled brightly. "Working a crowd is easy. Hi! Steve and I are new in town!" He waved at his arc and then at Steve. "Look, we're gods! You don't want to make us angry."

"I don't think they're buying it," Steve said. "We're apparently not god material."

"Speak for yourself."

"What would you think if you saw two oddly dressed people wandering around in your city?"

"Street buskers," Tony replied immediately.

"Yeah. Hold still and act like a clown."

"Excuse me?" Tony yelped because Steve had bent down and grabbed him by the ankles, lifting him above his head, and turning like he had done on the old war bonds movies Howard had shown Tony. Only with Tony instead of a motorcycle with three pretty girls sitting on it.

"Do something funny," Steve said, not even a little out of breath.

"This is undignified."

"So is being stoned to death."

"Good point." Tony flapped his arms and crowed like a rooster.

The crowd began snapping their fingers and grinning. A few of them even clapped. Tony took a bow, trusting Steve not to drop him. Steve set Tony back on the ground. A man wearing a toga came through the crowd, which parted for him as if he was someone special. He smiled and said something, rapidly and confidently.

"I... got nothing," Tony admitted. "How about you, Steve?"

"A word here or there sounds like Italian. Beyond that, you've got me."

The man in the toga waited a moment longer, and then shrugged and made 'follow me' gestures with his hands. Steve and Tony exchanged a glance before nodding and following him through the narrow street. "Look, this is a fun city." Tony pointed at the walls of the shops and residences lining the streets. Most of them had pottery penises embedded above the doorways. "Wow, everyone's a dick and proud of it."

"The phallus symbolism was meant for good luck in many ancient cultures," Steve said dryly. "It's not dirty. It's... artistic. These people are obviously art lovers."

"You can say 'I saw it first' if we find that lady with no arms, maybe she'd even still have them."

"The Venus de Milo was found on the Greek island of Milos." Steve pointed out an entryway mosaic of a collared dog inscribed with the words 'Cave Canum'. "We're somewhere within the Roman Empire."

"Seaside tourist town," Tony added, pointing out the slightly varied clothing and features of the people they passed. "Maybe they come here for the art." Occasional glimpses through open doors revealed murals and tiled floor pictures and there were fountains with statuary. Steve took it all in avidly, Tony noticed. "We could stay a while."

"No, we can't," Steve said. "We left Red Skull in the tower." Steve's fists clenched. "We should have already left, but I didn't want us to make a scene and disrupt history."

"Once I figure out the Time Stone, I should be able to return us a moment after we left. Give me a few hours to think this through. Trust me, I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a toga."

Steve glanced sideways at Tony. "Got the legs for it."

Tony grinned.

The man in the toga led them to a large building. An attendant at the door took some coins from him and stood aside. They could hear voices from inside, and the sounds of water. There was a fresco of curvy reclining nudes above the door. Their togaed acquaintance said something and gestured inside the building. "Bathhouse?" Tony looked at Steve. "Is he saying we stink?"

"Well, you do spend a lot of time in the armor, Tony. Come on."

Since he didn't want to appear a rube, Tony only glanced at the beautifully tiled mosaic floor and the frescos and stucco work on the walls, but he was slightly distracted by the fact that the bath was apparently co-ed. Not that he minded, but it was distracting, like he said. So he wasn't prepared when Steve abruptly stopped in front of him.

"What?"

"Um," Steve said. "Nothing. It's... a changing room."

"Of course it ..." And then Tony saw the frieze stretching around the room above the wooden shelves laden with clothing. Probably as a memory aid to recovering your belongings, the frieze was... memorable. Explicitly so. "We have to leave. Now."

"Tony, what's wrong?"

"Steve. I know where we are. I know what happens here." Tony groped in his pocket for the Time Stone. "We've got to go."

Steve grabbed his arm. "Not here. Come on." He pulled Tony outside and around the building, through a garden and then a gate following a rough path until they reached an unkempt rocky area overlooking a bay where the water sparkled that shade known as Mediterranean blue. He pushed Tony down to sit on a boulder. "Tony."

"It's Pompeii. We can't warn them about Vesuvius erupting, Steve. We can't."

Steve looked at the mountain looming nearby and then whirled to look back at the city.

"We can't, Steve. They die, it's history."

After a long moment, Steve nodded. He asked harshly, "Why did the Time Stone bring us here?"

"It's just a rock. It didn't have a reason for the dinosaurs or the Hydra squadron or the killer robots." Tony pulled the Time Stone from his pocket and stared at it. "Random chance."

"Really? If it was random, why didn't we get passenger pigeons or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, or any other harmless visitors?"

"You think the Stone is hostile?"

"I think it has an agenda, a purpose." Steve's eyes narrowed. "It brought us here, together, to experience a no-win scenario."

Tony nodded slowly. He held the Stone up and stared into the heart of the glowing orange gem. "What do you think that means?"

"I don't know. But I think we should figure it out together." Steve put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "I think if the Stone is trying to tell us anything, it's that we need to stay together, united."

Tony stood up and put his arms around Steve, hugging him tightly. "I feel like I should say something deep and meaningful here."

"Yeah." Steve patted him on the back. "Go for it."

"There's no place like home," Tony said. He closed his eyes and thought fiercely about his tower, about the Avengers, about his city and his home and the future. And maybe, the future he could share with Steve.

Steve laughed. "I recognize that quote."

The Time Stone flared.

Bingo Fill: Before the Blow Up

no subject