(FIC) You Were Made For Me Ch. II

[glasgowsmiles.livejournal.com]

Title: You Were Made For Me Ch.II
Author: GlasgowSmiles
Rating: PG-13
Warning/Spoilers: Character deaths (in alternate universe). Alternate universes.
Pairing: Steve/Tony and pre-Steve/Tony
Word Count: 2,147
A/N: I enjoy alternate universes, and seeing them meet. Also, I tend to keep my chapters short, and I try to post them regularly as I can, so if you're a fan of bite-sized bits of fic, read on, and if you prefer getting the whole story at once, then wait until it's finished and I'll have links to previous chapters.
Summary: A warning arrives of a potential threat from an alternate universe, and Tony Stark reaches new levels in self-loathing.

Intro here:  http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/502031.html
And Chapter One: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/502581.html

“What happened to you?” Steve rushed forward, half tripping over himself to reached a slightly battered-and-bewildered looking Tony Stark.

“It’s my own fault. At least it’s half my own fault. Pop my shoulder back into place?”

“Sure...” He said, not sounding sure at all. “Uh... which Tony are you? I mean, not that it really matters, I guess. I just like to know who I’m talking to.”

“I’m the other one.” He looked pained before Steve even did anything. There was a sharp intake of breath, and then he relaxed, but the pained look continued.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“No.” He smiled wryly. “You never do.”

“So what happened?”

“Richards didn’t want me smashing his machine with a hammer.” The other Tony gave a one-sided shrug. “Ben Grimm grabbed my arm. I would’ve been fine if I just let him, but I tried to yank free, and then there was the momentum from the hammer...”

Steve frowned.

“Relax. Ben didn’t do anything to hurt me, really. I just kind of wrenched my shoulder out of place fighting against him. He wasn’t even holding onto me hard. I mean, for him. Not his fault that nutjob Richards turned him into a freaking rock monster, right? Not his fault that nutjob Richards is going to be the death of us all... Well, a little his fault, as it turns out, but—“

“Why were you trying to smash one of Reed’s machines with a hammer?”

“It was a copy of the one we built. Except we built it so we could get a warning out. And if he dials up the wrong universe, well, he might as well send out an engraved invitation to the monsters that killed m—that killed his wife. And Hank’s. And...”

“Yours?”

“Husband.” He admitted. “There’s less of a stigma in my universe. The people who do have a problem are generally regarded as backwoods mouthbreathers. Apparently it’s not the same here.”

“No. No, not really. But it’s not that bad. I mean, boy, where I’m from...”

“Your Tony—I mean, your universe—You probably shouldn’t let him know I said anything, he probably wouldn’t want you to know.”

“Is he...?”

“I don’t know. I assumed he was, but he... rejected the notion pretty soundly when I brought it up. So...”

“Well, not that it’s my business anyway. Huh. It’s funny, imagining Tony Stark married. I mean, to anybody.”

“You’d be surprised. I can be the loyal type.” He sighed. “Anyway, Richards won’t see reason on this one. I don’t know what will happen... Just hope for the best.”

“I always do. And you—“

“Prepare for the worst.” He smirked. “What makes us a good team, I imagine. In any universe.”

“Yeah. Probably so.” Steve smiled warmly, patting him on the good shoulder, frowning when the other Tony winced anyway.

 ---/-/---

“I’ve been thinking.” Tony Stark approached himself. “If Richards’ machine works, and if he doesn’t doom us all to some kind of hell on earth... What if you could find another universe? One that needs an Iron Man. You’re more than welcome to stay here, but... well, think about it. Someplace where people aren’t always calling you ‘the other one’.”

“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought much about it. I... guess I haven’t been giving much thought to the future at all. The present is hard enough.”

“Well, like I said, you’re welcome to stay. But... if it’s too awkward, then... well, now you’ve got options.”

“Yeah. When does he plan on testing it?”

“He said he’d bring it over here. You wanna guinea pig?”

“I’ve got the most experience. And if anything goes wrong, I can handle it.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah. Thought you might say that.”

“Look, if I get to the other side and it’s bad, then I’m smashing the Traveler, first thing. And if I don’t check in within a twenty-four hour period, then I need you to destroy the hub, too.”

“Deal. If we don’t hear back from you, after a day, we’ll... assume the worst.”

The other Tony forced a smile. “Or... you could assume I found a nice, Stark-free universe and decided to settle down. It’s nicer that way. Less likely, but nicer.”

“Right. That’s a good plan, too. Either way... The first thing you do, right? You break your half. I don’t want those things getting St—getting through. Getting started, you know, wrecking my universe.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

They sat in silence until Reed arrived with the new machine and the Avengers circled around to regard it with a mixture of interest and apprehension.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Steve asked.

“As well as anyone could.” Reed responded calmly. “If our visiting Tony Stark can punch in a set of coordinates which differ from his starting point?”

The two Tony Starks exchanged a glance.

“I’ll go.” The other Tony stood. “Hey... remember what I told you. And swing is not the same as country swing.”

“Ugh.” Tony grimaced. “Do you know how many of my own internal organs I would rip out before I voluntarily learn any dance with the prefix ‘country’?”

“Good to know. You might want to learn how to give a good backrub, too. Just saying.”

“Shut up and go... find new universes.” He crossed his arms and turned away, willing himself not to blush. Steve looked faintly amused by the exchange. “Dammit.”

There was a flash of light, and then, only one Tony Stark. Reed continued monitoring his hub device, but eventually, only he and Tony remained in the room.

Then, a second flash of light, and the other Tony was on the floor, panting for breath, with an unconscious woman in his arms.

“What happened?” Tony helped move her onto the sofa.

“Omit no details!” Reed pulled out a Dictaphone. “Describe our parallel. I want to catalog as many of them as we ca—“

“The girl first, Richards.” Tony elbowed him.

“She was running across a lawn area—the kind they sometimes use to pretty up the spaces between office high rises? There was an explosion, a piece of debris knocked into her, she hit her head on the curb.”

Reed, noticing the bleeding woman on the sofa, straightened up and put away the Dictaphone. “I’ll go find a first aid kit.”

“I picked her up, just in time to realize I’ve been hopping between universes without my armor, and there was a missile heading straight for us. The only way to get out of the way in time was to hit the back button and bring her here. I guess... when she recovers a little, I can take her back. Once things have cooled down.”

“Right. Trust all of us to transport you to the middle of a super-battle.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Well... I’ve been meaning to replace this couch, anyway.”

“Good thing. You’ll never get blood off of white leather.” The other Tony dabbed at the cut on her temple. “Doesn’t look too bad...”

“Her arm’s scraped up. She probably caught herself before she could bang her head too hard on the ground.”

The woman stirred, then opened her eyes. Then promptly closed them again. “Please...” She groaned. “Tell me you guys are twins, because I don’t want to be seeing double...”

“Close enough.” Tony said. “Doubles from alternate universes. Actually, he and you are from alternate universes, if you want to get technical. I belong here.”

“What?” She touched the tacky drying blood at the side of her face and struggled to sit.

“You’ve been temporarily shifted into a different universe.”

“Oh, hell no!” She tottered to her feet, rounding on one Tony first, then the other. “Where’s my briefcase? Where’s my—“

“Lady, you dropped it when you were caught in the explosion. We both would have been a smear on the pavement at best if I hadn’t brought you back here. Whatever you had in it—“

“That’s a multi-million dollar smear on the pavement you just left behind, buddy!” She poked him in the chest. “That briefcase is worth more than your LIFE!”

“Well, I highly doubt that.” Tony raised his eyebrows. “My life is at least in the billions...”

“Yeah, but in my universe, nobody’s going to be cashing in their insurance any time soon, so she could have had half a sub sandwich in there and it’d still be worth more than I am.”

“Would you just—you have got to get me back there!”

“Nothing doing. Not with missiles flying around. Don’t worry,” He turned to Tony. “As I was getting us out, I saw Thor, so whatever it was, the parallel Avengers are on it.”

“Which is where I should be.” She snapped.

“You’re an Avenger?”

“Yeah. As long as I’m in a parallel universe, I don’t see the harm in coming out about it. I am.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back up, if you’re an Avenger, how come neither of us have ever seen your, you know, equivalent before?”

“How the hell should I know? Why would you have?”

“Well, because we’re Iron Man.” Tony snorted, rolling his eyes.

“If your universe has an Iron Man,” The other Tony added.

“Well...” Her brow furrowed. “Once. I mean, once or twice. But neither one of you is him. Still, he’ll get a kick out of it when I tell him.”

“Wait—if we’re not Iron Man, who is?”

“Rhodey.” She said, matter-of-factly. “Was. A couple of times.”

“If there’s no Iron Man, who founded the Avengers?” Tony demanded.

“If I—we—If you don’t have anyone like one of us, who bankrolled the Avengers?”

She stared at them in disbelief. “I did.”

“... Did what?”

“Started the Avengers. Led the Avengers. Put up the capital for the Avengers. I did—and do—all of it.”

Tony sat down hard and ran a hand over his face, tried to ignore the slight tremor. “Miss... what did you have in that briefcase?”

“My armor. Without which, I am as useless as any mere mortal in a fight against whatever-it-was you thought you’d ‘rescue’ me from, and now my team is fighting it without me, and—oh, hell... And they’re going to find my mangled, charred armor and think who-knows-what, and Steve...”

“I’ll go suit up. We’ll get you back.” Tony said, making a beeline for his own armor. He passed Reed and Steve with the first aid kit.

“Heard you guys brought back a visitor.” Steve said.

“Try not to talk to her.”

“She’s awake?” Reed smiled. “Good, good. Do you think she’d mind answering some questions abo—“

“Not now.”

Steve and Reed brought the first aid kit to where the woman was still haranguing the other Tony for saving her life, but when they arrived, she stopped, mid-point, and looked up, a dazzling grin briefly lighting her face before turning to a polite smile.

“You must be this universe’s Captain America.” She held out her hand, completely ignoring Reed Richards and the proffered first aid.

“Uh, yes, ma’am. Are you doing all right? Is there anything—Are you sure you don’t want a bandage or something for your head? Or your arm?”

“Hm? Right. Good idea. Thanks.” She giggled softly. “Wow, I half-wish I could take you home with me...”

Steve turned red. “Well, that’s... flattering, ma’am? But I really can’t, uh—I’m sorry, have we been—You seem to have me at a disadvantage.”

“Natasha Rogers.” She smiled, still ignoring Reed even as he bandaged her arm and recovered his Dictaphone. “Nee Stark.”

“Relative of yours, Tony?” Steve asked.

“Actually, I think she is me. Which is severely weirding me out, considering my zero interest in, ah... the ladyparts.”

“Hey, the only ladyparts I’m interested in are my own.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder. “I’m a man in at least two universes? That is weird. No, that’s beyond weird. If I’m a man, then... I mean, what about my... What about Steve?”

“What about me?”

“Well, my Steve is married to me.”

“I’m sure he’s a very lucky version of me.” Steve blinked. “You’re, um, real pretty?”

“I am real pretty.” She affirmed.

“I’m queer.” The other Tony shrugged. “Although this universe’s Tony Stark claims to be one-hundred percent into the ladies.”

She looked the other Tony over carefully. “Well... at least I don’t make a bad man. Hey, do you think this means there’s a universe where we’re a man and Steve’s a woman? Or one where we’re both women?”

“I’ve only been to three, mine included.” Another shrug. “So I couldn’t tell you.”

“All right.” Tony jogged back into the room, helmet under one arm. “Set me up with the device, let’s do this thing. Ready to go home, Miss Stark?”

 “Mrs. Rogers.” She corrected, smiling sweetly and accepting the offer of one of his arms. “Ramblers, let’s get rambling.”

---TBC---