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cap_ironman2010-04-12 06:02 pm
(FIC) You Were Made For Me Ch.III
Author: GlasgowSmiles
Rating: PG-13
Warning/Spoilers: Character deaths (in alternate universe). Alternate universes.
Pairing: Steve/Tony and pre-Steve/Tony
Word Count: 1,407
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
And Chapter Two: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/503530.html
Tony watched awkwardly as this new Captain America embraced Natasha Rogers, nee Stark, over the smoldering remains of the Iron Woman armor. They exchanged words he couldn’t make out and didn’t particularly want to, in hushed but urgent tones, and try as he might to ignore them, the kiss he caught them sharing looked pretty hot.
Actually, it looked really, really, blisteringly hot.
“I really don’t need to be thinking about Cap’s mouth like that.” He groaned. Apparently out loud, because she turned around to smirk at him.
“You are not ‘one-hundred percent into the ladies’.” She laughed.
“How do you know?”
“Because your Steve’s not a girl. And,” She looked back at her husband. “We’re completely made for each other. So, following that line of logic...”
“Your logic is faulty.”
“My logic is never faulty, Mr. Stark. Do you want a tip?”
“No. If anything, I would like to be short a tip I already got.”
“... Well, no, that one’s out... Hm, I doubt you’d look as good as I do in a low-cut little black dress—although I imagine it would be hilarious. Oh, that’s definitely out, you can’t even do that one without at least a b-cup...”
“I don’t wanna know. If there’s nothing else, my own universe awaits. Good luck, best wishes, and I guess if you’re ever invaded by legion upon legion of destructive monsters, wipe ‘em out fast before they can dig in and multiply, and don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys.”
“Wait,” She stopped him before he could hit the button that would take him back. “Honestly, because in a way I’m pretty self-serving... It’s all well and good to be the expert on everything new and shiny, and I’m not saying don’t show off because, come on. How could you not? But... maybe once in a while, go to a museum or something and don’t be the expert for once. Let him tell you all about something he likes. It’s kind of fun, and probably the reason that our Avengers’ mansion is so much better decorated than yours.”
“Okay, you saw one room.” He hissed. “You can’t build a judgment on one room. My mansion is tastefully appointed, and one afternoon at an art museum isn’t going to magically make it better, not that it needs to be.”
“Maybe not. But, like I said... you’ll have more fun that way. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Steve thought I could have died, so now he’s going to drag me off to bed and keep me there.” She grinned. “For hours.”
She returned to her husband, who had already begun picking up the pieces of her armor. Tony hit the button and wound up back home, where his Steve was standing nervously by as Reed Richards grilled the other Tony for information.
“Steve?”
“Yeah?” He gave Tony a gentle thump on the back.
“There’s nothing wrong with the mansion, right?”
“Well... you probably want to get a new couch. I don’t know if you can get blood out of white leather.”
“Told you.” The other Tony said.
“Say, wait a minute...” Steve paused, a troubled look passing over his face. “Did she say... did she say we were married?”
“Fascinating.” Reed made a quick note. “If either of you noticed any other differences...?”
“NO.” Tony snarled, stalking out of the room. The other Tony smiled beatifically, spread his arms, and followed.
Steve looked resolutely at the carpet, one hand plucking at invisible lint on his slacks, the other gripping the armrest of his chair. Pepper sighed and brought a cup of coffee over to him.
“I don’t know where Tony is. You can wait for him if you want, but—“
“He went to a parallel universe yesterday.”
“Of course he did.” Another, deeper sigh. She took the chair next to his. “Fantastic.”
“I mean, he’s back and all. And he was fine. I... I only talked to the other Tony—gosh, I feel kind of weird calling him that. To him, I’m the other Steve, aren’t I? I only talked to him a little. And I, uh, only met the... the third one... for, like, a second...”
“There’s a third Tony now?”
“Oh, no, Miss Potts, she went back to her own universe.”
Pepper blinked. “That’s a joke, right?”
“No. There’s a girl Tony. She’s real pretty, if you go for that kind of thing.”
“Does she have the goatee?”
Steve snorted. “No, she really is pretty. About as pretty as you.”
“Captain Rogers, don’t flatter me.” She let out a soft giggle before punching his shoulder. “Thanks, some days I need that. Wow, a female Tony... Wonder what kind of reputation she must have...”
“Anyway, I... I think I came to talk to you. Because, you know Tony—our Tony, I mean—better than anyone, don’t you? And I know he goes out with a lot of beautiful women. And, I, um...” He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided meeting her gaze a moment. “And I know the other Tony—well, I don’t know what else to call him!—he... doesn’t go out with a lot of beautiful women. And the third Tony is a beautiful woman, and she says in her universe, she’s married to me. Which is probably nice. I mean, I guess it is. Except...”
“Except what?” She took his coffee cup back. It was just getting cold, and in danger of being spilled.
“Well, before I got frozen, I figured you had to like girls. And if you didn’t, there was something wrong with you. And, I mean, I know a beautiful girl when I see one! And it’s not that I don’t like, you know, beautiful girls. But... now I’m unfrozen, and you can see fellas like that on television! I mean, before kids go to bed, and they aren’t just bad guys or weirdos, you, you root for ‘em sometimes, too. You know what I mean?”
“I know what you mean. Does it bother you? That the other Tony—“
“No!” He started to stand, then sat back down. “No, it doesn’t bother me at all that he’s—well, like that. It wouldn’t bother me if anyone was, but it... it bothers me that...”
“That what?”
“Well, that the other Tony’s that way, and then the Tony that’s a girl, she’s married to another me! But... Tony, our Tony... well, he’s—he’s not like that, is he?”
“I don’t know.” She reached out and patted his shoulder. “I’m not sure I understand... would it be a problem if he was?”
“It’s kinda... it’s kind of a problem he isn’t. If you know what I mean.”
“Captain...?” She thought she did. She was almost a hundred percent certain she knew exactly what he meant.
“’Cause, see, I woke up in the future and he was one of the first friends I made. He was practically two of the first friends I made, you know, in a funny way. Before he told me he was, you know, himself. I mean, I halfway figured he was, but... well, he didn’t have to tell me, but he did. It was nice. He was nice, even though to be honest, when I first saw him, in the armor? I thought he was kind of scary. Sounded that way, too, but I got used to him, and I got to really like him, and suddenly it was like, you could really like a guy. I mean really like a guy? And you, you wouldn’t necessarily get in a lot of trouble for it. And maybe the whole world wouldn’t think you were wrong for it. And... I don’t know, maybe it’s stupid. I’ve been shrugging it off for all these years, ‘cause—well, he’s Tony Stark. And you don’t expect some things. But...”
“But in these other universes, the two of you are together.” She finished.
“Yea—Universes?”
Pepper paled. “Oh. You didn’t, ah, know about... other Tony.”
“I was his husband? The one who died?”
“Maybe.” She got up and turned away, busying herself with some papers. “I don’t really know.”
“Miss Potts?”
“Okay, I know! Look, don’t—don’t think too much about it, all right? And... give our Tony a chance. I don’t know if he’s gay, but I’m not sure he’s straight, either, so... I guess, just... don’t give up. Okay?”
“Sure thing. Thanks, for, um...”
“Yeah.”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
---TBC---
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In my modly capacity, you now have an author tag, x: glasgowsmiles; and how are you doing your html in your links?
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Also, thanks! This time I mean for the author tag, which I herewith shall use. *gleeface*
I've always just copied and pasted for links. It has never before so steadfastly refused to work. It's all I know how to do, but please, if there is a better way, let me know.
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If html, try this - Intro [a href="http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/502031.html#cutid1"]here[/a] only replace the square brackets with the pointy ones.
You also don't need the #cutid1 bit.
This will be neater and more compact - when you get up to ten parts or whatever, you'll start to have a lot of space devoted to links!
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