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cap_ironman2010-04-16 02:01 am
(FIC) You Were Made For Me ch.V
Author: GlasgowSmiles
Rating: PG-13
Warning/Spoilers: Character deaths (in alternate universe). Alternate universes.
Pairing: Steve/Tony and pre-Steve/Tony
Word Count: 1,158
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_iro
And Chapter One: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_iro
And Chapter Two: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_iro
And Chapter Three: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_iro
And Chapter Four: http://community.livejournal.com/cap_ironman/505481.html
Additional A/N: Watched a thing (on I think... Reelz network?) about Superhero movies, saw RDJ describe the Tony Stark role as a total nerdgasm. This happened somewhere between two and three in the afternoon, it's now two in the morning, I'm still having one. Ahem, anyway, back to your regularly scheduled programming of a super-short chapter. Am pleased to have working links again!
“You talk to him.” Reed Richards was in a mood by the time Tony got back to the mansion.
“Talk to who?”
“You know. Him. He’s you. I can’t get a word out of him—this is the second time! I’d think a man of—I’d think men of science—I mean, I know you’re limited to one discipline, but I had hoped that the spirit of scientific exploration would—“
“Slow it down. And maybe you should switch over to plain English, for us guys who are ‘limited to one discipline’.”
“Don’t get snippy with me. I’m sure that if it was the other Reed Richards who showed up on our doorstep and not the other Tony Stark, we’d be working together with no problems, instead of storming off in a huff after every other trip and trying to smash the hub with a hammer every time I turn my back.”
“The other Reed Richards,” Tony snarled, grabbing him by the front of his lab coat. “just lost his wife. The other Tony Stark, similarly a widower, is trying to keep your damn hubris from killing us all. And I don’t know why you think I can talk to him, because I hate myself! And if I were me, I’d hate me, too!”
He stormed off before he could see Steve coming around the corner.
“I’ll talk to him.” He volunteered.
“Which one?” Reed sighed.
Steve shrugged. “Both of him.”
“You really have a problem with the other Tony?”
Tony shook his head. “He seems pretty pulled-together, actually. Way more than I’d be—way more than I am, and I—“
“Tony... you don’t—Nothing. So you’re just giving Reed a hard time? Is this one of those scientific rivalries?”
“Not really. I’m better than he is at what I do. And he’s better than I am at what I don’t do.”
“Well, you don’t... You can’t really mean—Tony. You don’t have to hate yourself, you know. You’ve done a whole lot of good with your life. You shouldn’t focus on what you’ve done wrong.”
He sighed. “I fly into a good fit of miserable rage, and you come along and just, just ruin it, don’t you?”
Steve grinned and slung an arm across his shoulders. “Glad I could help.”
The other Tony wandered in, giving Tony a significant look and receiving a scowl in return.
Steve waved him over, still smiling, and as an aside to Tony said “I’m still not convinced you guys haven’t teamed up to give Reed Richards a coronary.”
“If Reed Richards wants to explore a universe where Dr. Victor Von Doom is the ironically-named savior in a world plagued by the threat of the evil Avengers, then Reed Richards is welcome to it, but I don’t think he’d like what he saw. He’s a pretty vicious and malevolent prick in that universe.”
“A universe where we’re all evil?” Steve’s eyebrows rose. “I can’t imagine that...”
“I can’t imagine a world with an evil Captain America, but maybe the rest of it.” Tony elbowed him.
The other Tony shrugged. “I didn’t see one. Got to meet the evil Tony Stark, though. Kind of creepy. I think he wanted to kidnap me and keep me chained up in his basement. Did I say ‘kind of creepy’, because I meant really, really creepy. It’s possible he would have killed me.”
“That’s one of the less disturbing possibilities.” Tony said. “Normally when I want to chain someone up someplace, it’s—sorry, was I talking? Anyway, it’s not in a basement, and my purposes are not evil.”
“You’re... talking about the Raft, right? I can’t think of very many non-evil reasons to chain people up...”
“Yeah.” The other Tony grinned, pulling up a chair and leaning back smugly. “Enlighten us, Tony. Why else would you want to chain people up?”
“I was talking about the Raft. Evil universe? Sounds like fun. Why don’t you go give Richards all the details?”
“Mm. I’ll leave you two alone, then.”
“Steve, Steve, I think I was wrong. I think I’m going to kill him.”
Steve laughed. “It’s nice. You do get along with yourself, see?”
It was Thursday evening and Tony Stark was very insistently not going out of his mind. Pepper had chased him out of the office, and now he was sitting at the Avengers’ dining table nursing a cup of coffee and willing the rest of the team to avoid the entire area.
It only stood to reason, then, that the other Tony would breeze right in, pour himself a cup, and sit down in the chair opposite.
“Stressed?”
“What gave me away? Was it the cloud of pain, despair, and misery surrounding me? It was probably that, wasn’t it? Or the jangling, un-calmable nerves, because I took the advice of a couple of complete LUNATICS, and now I have a date, only he doesn’t know that, does he? Because I don’t date men! Yeah, yeah, I’m stressed. I’m pretty damn stressed.”
“Are you taking him dancing? Because if so, I think he’ll figure it out pretty fast.”
“No. No! No, we’re going to an art gallery. I said I needed help buying a painting, of all the things I...”
“Yeah, that’s not very obvious. You’ll need to work on that.”
“No! No, obvious is bad!” Tony shot to his feet and began pacing. “I don’t want him to think I’m trying to date him.”
“Well... aren’t you?”
“I DON’T KNOW!”
Clint’s head poked into the room. “You wanna keep this no-doubt insightful argument with yourself down?”
“NO!”
“We’ll try and be more quiet.”
“DAMMIT, NO!”
“Tony, breathe. Breathe. Are you breathing?”
“I can’t tell.”
“That’s not good. Inhale. Exhale. Better?”
“Worse. I’m much more clear-headed now that I’m breathing. What have I done?”
The other Tony sighed and pushed him into a chair. “You just asked a very attractive man whose company you enjoy if he would accompany you to an art gallery.”
“And lunch.”
“Ooh, there you go, that’s good. And lunch.”
“He doesn’t know about the lunch yet.” Tony moaned. “He thinks we’re going straight there at noon. But it’s not, it’s lunch, we have two hours for lunch, he doesn’t even know. What’s wrong with me?”
“... Honestly, loads. On the plus side, you have a date.”
“Don’t even say that.”
“When’s it for?” The other Tony perched on the edge of the table and leaned forward.
“Tomorrow.”
“Good luck with that. You could just tel—“
“That’s funny.” Tony looked up, expression of fury in place. “I thought you were about to say ‘you could just tell him’. But you wouldn’t say that, because you want to keep all of your appendages and teeth. There is to be no telling. It’s not a date. It’s just two guys, having lunch, and buying a painting. And that’s all it is.”
“Suit yourself.”
“I do! I... am—I have! Self, suited. Goodnight!”
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Wow, I get confused writing a comment so you get kudos for keeping your whole story clear and making sense.
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And Tony doesn't know how he's going to handle his not-date with Steve, either! *evil grin* But I do, it's written, so no worries. Well, no worries for everyone who isn't Tony, at any rate.
Yay, I'm making sense! That's a bit rare for me, so it's probably the nicest thing I could read in a comment... I worry about clarity, especially since there's... well, two of him.
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