(no subject)

[bottledblond]

Not every universe in the far and wide cosmos is as lucky (however unlucky itself that seems) to encounter Thanos during a time where people live who can do something about it. Steve Rogers, a particular version of Steve Rogers who had only just suffered through his first night of basic training in New Jersey as part of the Army’s Project Rebirth and thus had not yet become Captain America, bent to untie his shoes and saw his hands begin to disintegrate. He doesn’t panic, panicking is for people who do not live like every breath is their last. Instead, he blinks in surprise as the barracks fill with shouting. He has time to contemplate two things. One, he wishes he’d done more with his life. And two, he hopes Bucky will do all right.

He’s still thinking about that last issue when he exhales his last in a universe where Captain America never existed and finishes it bent over in the ruins of the barracks, roof half open to the sky and walls a burnt and ashy gray.

It takes him an hour to get to the road and by then, his asthma is already getting the best of him. He blacks out for the second time ‘that day’ and wakes up staring at the ceiling of what is obviously a hospital.

It just doesn’t sound or smell like a hospital. Sure. People are running around and yelling, but it smells painfully clean, artificially so, and there are machines he’s never seen before connected by wires to his body. He does the thing people should never do and yanks them loose. The machines squawk strangely and frantically and Steve is almost out of bed when two large men in green pajamas force him back.

Nothing makes sense to him for days. People come to talk to him, to find out who he is and who his family is. Evidently Steve Rogers is a popular name, because they bring in more people to talk to him, to ask him questions about his life, but no one has any answers.

He explodes, as he’s wont to do when frustrated, demands answers, but nothing they say makes sense.

By then, the war is over. Not World War II, which has evidently been over for over half a century, but this new war. And Bucky Barnes had been told of his presence. Steve is in bed, arms crossed, looking dour and getting an infusion of something that honestly is helping him breathe better when Bucky bursts into his now private room. It’s been two months

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[starkingenuity]

Tony doesn’t have time for this. The door is opened. The world is back the way it had been a century ago and sure, great, Barnes isn’t a werewolf and Steve is from a different timeline, but you mention Bruce Banner and things aren’t going to go so well.

The vampire half bum rushes, half lifts Barnes against the wall with his toes barely touching the ground. Steve doesn’t know how it happened, but he’s on the floor, having been shoved over a rolling chair. His elbow feels bruised but not broken or dislocated. Even so, he doesn’t pick himself off of the ground.

“My husband died,” Tony says, lips curling and eyes a brilliant gold. “What do you know about Bruce Banner, Bucky?”

[woundedwinter]

Christ but he's fast.

Bucky doesn't fight the hold, doesn't struggle because this reaction is honestly a good one. Tony loves Bruce which means he might be able to reunite the two. Give them some happiness again. He gives Steve a 'hold on' signal with his hand while never taking his eyes off the furious vampire.

"Because in this world you were the one who died. Bruce is here Tony and he's been mourning the loss of his husband since the battle at the compound. He's been mourning you."

[starkingenuity]

At least that’s enough for Tony to set Bucky’s boots back on the ground even if he doesn’t let him go. Sam, behind them, rolls his eyes. Trying to line up different versions of people doesn’t seem like a good idea to him. It’s why he’s not going for Steve. This isn’t the Steve he knows. And the Tony Stark they knew wasn’t a vampire.

He tries giving Bucky the high sign but of course he’s ignored. Typical.

Tony leans in, entirely too close, their chests and hips almost perfectly in line. He dips his head to sniff at Bucky’s neck, the tip of his nose touching the other man’s throat as he moves.

“Daylight,” Tony murmurs. “I want to talk to him.” He doesn’t need Bucky to turn his comm on. Tony figures it out easily, capable fingers making quick work of the device in Bucky’s ear. “Bruce?” It’s just a hunch he’d be on the other end. “If not, connect me with him. Doctor Bruce Stark. Surname might be Banner.”

[woundedwinter]

Fuck. That is way too close for comfort and he's ready to put a hand between them when Stark flicks on his comms and demands to speak to Bruce.

There's a very long silence on the other end and Bucky can hear ragged breathing on the other side. He uses his arm to put some space between him and Stark. "Bruce, it's Barnes. It's Tony from another time line, but it's him and I think you can tell that he'd like to see you."

He nods at the voice on the other end.

"Bruce is coming." And Bucky switches off the comm again. "In your world, did Bruce manage to merge with Hulk?"

Might come as a shock for him to see his almost-husband as a seven foot tall green guy.

[starkingenuity]

Bucky would be surprised by what Tony thought was shocking. Or the lack of what Tony thought was shocking.

The arm between them causes him to step away, but only after he hears Bruce through Barnes’ earpiece. He’s about to let Bucky go completely when he speaks up. The vampire almost looks like he wants to crush his windpipe, but he doesn’t.

And that’s only because little skinny Steve Rogers opens his mouth. “Mister Stark, please.”

Oh jeez, really? Tony glances Steve’s way and releases Bucky. “Don’t give yourself an asthma attack,” Tony says. “Your future husband— current? Future? Hm,” he pauses, “doesn’t do it for me like this. Pity. You used to taste...”

He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t have the will to once he hears stomp-running. It makes his head tilt slightly, but he doesn’t shy away from the sound and heads to the bottom of what will be extremely tight stairs for Bruce to navigate.

[seven_phds]

Husband? Bucky's eyes go wide at the implication. There's a hell of a lot to unpack in what Tony casually throws off, so at least that hasn't changed.

Broad shoulders force their way through the stairs, metal groaning as he shoves his way down. Nothing is going to stop Bruce from getting down those stairs once he registers the voices speaking.

TonyTonyTony

He shoves his way down, tearing off his glasses because he can't even trust them with the sight before him. His shirt is taking a fair amount of damage but he could care less. He had to see for himself. Tony. Alive. Whole. Not the man he had cradled through his final breaths after he saved the universe, promising him that it was all right, that he could rest.

"Tony?"

[starkingenuity]

This isn’t the Bruce he’d held for his last few breathes, hair white curls where it hadn’t fallen out and eyes bloodshot with crimson tears streaming across his cheeks. The person that finally gets down the stairs has to duck his head, is green, is alive and is saying a name he hasn’t gone by in half a century.

If Tony could cry, he would do it right now. Instead, he tilts his head up and presses his lips firmly together to keep them from trembling.

“Sort of,” he finally responds, his eyebrows bunching up on his forehead. “H-He found a way to make it— You two figured out a way to make it stable?” There’s a shaking emotion in his voice. Tony can almost feel a sob catching in his chest. “It’s so good to see you, kid,” he whispers.

[seven_phds]

This isn't his Tony but now Bruce understands the way Barnes reacted to seeing Steve again, how fiercely he wanted to protect him and keep him near rather than find some way to set him back in the time stream.

Somewhere the Ancient One, or even Strange, are probably rolling their eyes at the lot of him but he can't bring himself to care.

Bruce steps forward, resisting every urge to haul him into his arms and hold on. "Yeah. Yeah we found a way to make it stable. I couldn't have done it without him."

Behind him, Barnes is nudging Steve and Sam back up the stairs to give them a few moments. Work can wait a little longer.

He can't stop himself, extending his hand to Tony. "It's so good to see you too Tony. I've missed you so much."

[starkingenuity]

“Don’t give him all the credit,” Tony says, drinking in every twitch of Bruce’s face and reveling in the sound of his voice. “We’re not all real great with it.”

He sees the other three leaving but he doesn’t care. There’s death up there for him right now anyway and he has some people who lied to him to kill.

Right now, all Tony wants to do is reconnect. It doesn’t matter if this isn’t his Bruce. His Bruce is as dead as the Tony that belongs to this world is. Without hesitation, Tony runs a hand up Bruce’s palm like a Hulk lullaby and laughs with joy and pain when he stays just as he is.

“Did you do something to your hair? I really like it.”

[seven_phds]

Bruce feels the tingle along his hand as Tony touches him, fingertips cool along his forearm and down to his palm. His hand closes gently around his, giving Tony plenty of time to move away if that's what he wants. "Yeah, well. Credit where it's due. We always made a hell of a good team."

Right. Because it's his hair that's different. His smile is mournful as he steps in closer. Gold glimmers at the hollow of his throat, a simple ring kept on a chain, never taken off since the day he'd buried his husband.

"Yeah? The other you complained about it, said he liked the messy professor look better."

[starkingenuity]

“We did fall in love with the messy professor it belonged to,” Tony agrees, letting Bruce hold his hand as he continues to marvel at him. They’d tried to make Bruce human with the Hulk an internal creature and it had not gone well for them. But putting Bruce’s consciousness in a somewhat diminished version of the Hulk had obviously been the way to go.

And by whatever or whoever started the first spark of life, Bruce is beautiful like this. Tony’s unblinking eyes drink him in.

“I think it goes pretty well with this look. You’ve obviously started lifting weights. Taking care of yourself is so important,” Tony says, though the last word comes out sputtered and he drops his head into his free hand.

Vampires don’t really have pretty cries. They’re dry and it looks like their coughing or choking. The hand in Bruce’s grips harder than before, though he can’t quite manage to hold onto it.

“I-I have so much I want to say to you— Do you want to get dinner? I’ve always liked watching you eat.”

Partially up the stairs, Steve is still slowly dying inside. He’s not exactly avoiding Bucky, but since he can’t hear what’s going on downstairs, he has nothing to do but smile off to the side and not hold his gaze for too long as the awkwardness grows.

Luckily, Sam is willing to be the asshole they all need right now. “So Stark is a vampire, and you’re a werewolf? Is there a reality where I’m some cool monster too?” Better than to bring up that in Stark’s world, Steve picked Bucky too.

[seven_phds]

As Tony starts to break down, because Bruce has always recognized the signs, he tugs a little to bring the vampire into his arms. Not his husband but still so much like him that he can't simply see him like this. He wants to hold him close, to feel the familiar way that Tony fits against him like he belongs there. Has always belonged there.

"Yeah Tony. We can do that. Anything you want once the sun goes down."

Barnes and Sam still have questions and they'll get their answers soon enough, about the serum and the Flag Smashers and be on their way and Bruce can try and see how well he and this version of Tony will fit against one another.

In the stairwell, Bucky is still reeling from the last five minutes, trying and failing to process all of it at once. In another world, in another life he still has his arm, he's a werewolf and married to Steve. Two out of three isn't that bad. So he settles for a smirk at Sam, "Yeah probably. Frankenstein? Some half-bird half-human type?"

[starkingenuity]

“I was the only one of my kind. I can’t believe there are others here,” Tony murmurs against Bruce’s chest. He can let it all sink back into a steady pain again, rather than the heavy thud of anguish he’d been feeling from the moment he heard the name of his late partner come out of his mouth. “Might have to schedule a whole week of dinners just to go over the differences.”

And because Tony is a Tony no matter what timeline he’s from. He’s hedonistic. He wants it all.

After a few more moments, the vampire’s head peeks up the stairs. “Okay you idiots. Before you spring me properly I’m guessing you came for the serum for him? You’re in luck. I have a few more vials left. Better than before too. No electrodes required.”

[seven_phds]

A massive hand smooths down his back. "As many as you want," he promises. Anything. This isn't his husband but it's still Tony Stark and Bruce has been his for ages now.

The trio in the hallway try not to gape at the very casual offer even as Bruce face palms fondly at him. He's missed being able to do that.

Bucky doesn't mention that he'd been planning to steal at least one vial to offer Steve anyway. But before Sam can argue he shoots him a look.

"Steve's choice." Not his, not Sam's, not anyone's.

[starkingenuity]

Tony doesn’t pay them much attention. He’s been trapped down here for the better part of two months, pumping out serum in exchange for a blood donor. They’ve left him rather weak, probably because the blood he’s been given has been from drug addicts and hemophiliacs, but Tony doesn’t know that the people of this timeline deal with the occasional vampire enough to be able to control them.

Even one as terribly old as he is.

He is going to destroy his work, though, after he tosses a black vial case towards Barnes. He expects the man will catch it. “Do with it what you want,” he says, setting the ignition to the test lab to set fire to the chemicals inside the control case. It’s satisfying to watch it burn. “But this new and improved. No big muscles. No physical change at all. Just the super stuff without the rest.”

Steve isn’t sure what to say. He’s got a lot to think about. “Can... can we table it?”

[woundedwinter]

He snatches it out of the air and tucks it away safely. "At least they're not getting any more of the serum to make any more fighters." It's a start and better than what they had before.

"It's dawn out there Tony. You got anything down here to protect yourself against the light? We can debrief in the air."

And he nods at Steve, "Yeah Steve. It can wait. We've got bigger problems."

[bottledblond]

Speaking of bigger problems, Tony goes very, very still, the amusement vanishing from his face. “Eleven humans. Fighting. One a whole lot better than the others.” Tony rolls his shoulders before he shrugs at the lab coat. “My best time in direct sunlight has been two minutes ten seconds.”

Which is honestly unheard of, and Sam balks. “That’s a lie. Vampires got ten seconds, tops.”

“Yeah? And a man I’ve known for 90 years is not a werewolf. Your point?”

At least that tells Tony that the vampires most are familiar with here are very young. Only a few hundred years or so. That still gives him an edge. He smiles at the version of his husband in this world. “Do you still Hulk Bound? If not, give me coordinates and click the quinjet back door open for me.”

Steve is still awfully quiet, but at Sam’s insistence, he follows behind him upstairs just as Tony blows the whole lab.

[woundedwinter]

"We've met," Bucky drawls. Two minutes in the sun is a long damned time and while he doesn't argue like Sam does, it is information to file away for later consideration.

At the entrance to the container, Bruce signals FRIDAY to ready the jet and polarize all of the windows to filter out any harmful sunlight for vampires. The AI complies and he gathers his almost-husband in his arms and is gone in one massive leap.

This sure as hell wasn't how he expected the day to go and honestly Bucky is glad for a moment of quiet for the three of them before they head to the jet.
"Hm. That was.. unexpected. Come on, we better get out of here."

[bottledblond]

They arrive at the tail end of a battle, a few stray people gunning for them but otherwise, Sharon’s taken care of the majority. Sam and Bucky are able to get one a piece while Steve basically sails through the fight without looking.

There’s a lot on his mind, though he does two-step out of Bucky’s way once or twice before the three are free of the fray. Sharon refuses to go with them, which only partially ties up a loose end. Sam leads the way up the ramp and the smell of burned hair greets them as they head into the darkness of the ship.

Tony is a little singed, but otherwise unhurt and getting the tour of the quinjet. It’s about fifty years or so behind what he remembers, but he’s already thinking upgrades.

He can’t help it.

“Where to?” Tony asks, and then defers to Bruce. “Sorry. Old habit. I have no where else I’d rather be anyway.”

[woundedwinter]

"Don't ask me," Bruce smiles at Tony, "I was just called in to give these three a lift to Madripoor."

Bucky sits down, checking the case again to make sure that it's safe. "We need some way to track them down. With the serum off the market, everyone in the world is going to be hunting down the Flag Smashers."

The Power Broker, in particular.

"Any Stark-Banner properties in the area we can hole up in for a bit?"

Bruce nods. "I'll get us there." A safe place in Central Europe. Larger vampire population which means friendlier locations for Tony to move around in.

[bottledblond]

Tony is going to be astounded that there is such a thing as vampire enclaves in this particular timeline. He’s also going to wonder how he could manage to be human now rather than when he very barely remembers being alive. But those are thoughts for another day and time.

Bruce occupies the majority of his mind and he intends to keep it that way.

The jet is quiet as Bruce pilots them across the water. It takes very little time for him to put them down in a slow, rotating circle on the lawn of a fine looking house with ivy crawling up one side and a bricked in garden wall.

“This is beautiful,” Steve breathes. “Buck, this is exactly what I thought of when you were reading the Hobbit to me. Minus all of the dashing waterfalls,” he whispers, momentarily distracted away from the discussion they’ll need to have.

[woundedwinter]

The villa is lavish but still small enough to feel welcoming and Steve's whisper pulls him out of his reverie. He nudges his knee with his own. "Yeah, 's almost like Rivendell."

Maybe when their lives slow down he can show Steve the movies.

Maybe.
They've still got so much to discuss.

Bruce is already discussing ways to get Tony settled into this new world and far be it for him to argue. God knows he didn't want to lose Steve when he was given back to him.

His eyes cut over to Sam. "Let's leave them to it for a little. We all need more solid rest and tone to figure out our next steps."

[bottledblond]

There’s no objection from the scientists. They want to spend a few moments alone obviously and Steve is absolutely not going to argue with that even if he desperately wants to grill Tony about the other timeline. Maybe it would give him a direction to go here. Bucky as a werewolf is an odd enough thought, and that’s even before considering that there’s whole groups of other species of creatures living here.

“I’m turning in,” Sam says, holding Bucky’s gaze even though he knows it upsets him. He wants the guy to cool it with Steve, if only because he can’t risk loosing his allies with the Flag Smashers still out there.

And because the serum is a temptation he knows he has no bios ones discussing even if he has a whole lot to say about it.

Steve wishes the other man a good night before his eyes roll up towards Bucky.

“Can we talk?”

[woundedwinter]

At least this time everyone has their own rooms? When Sam turns in, Bucky meets his look evenly because damnit he's really trying here even if it's harder than anything he's done lately.

The request gets a nod, but they don't say anything until they're back in one of the other rooms for the night. For Sam's sake Bucky will probably find a reason to sleep on the couch or in the corridor. He genuinely doesn't want to hurt him even when he knows there's a vet good chance he's gonna screw that one up too.

"Yeah sure. C'mon."

Take the serum, don't take it, it's a crap shoot either way.

[bottledblond]

“He said the Bucky he was friends with married me. Eh. Steve.” The words come out of his mouth the moment Bucky closes the door to the bedroom at the end of the hallway. Maybe even before the door officially closes.

Should he talk about the serum. Probably. But he’d promised himself that he wouldn’t harbor this secret once the mission was over and it is over. Bucky might hate him, but somewhere, sometime, the guy fell in love with him. Obviously, it was a version of him with strength and power, with a pleasing outward physique.

It doesn’t make Steve’s eyes burn any less as he stares at Bucky in the darkness.

“I... Buck, I know this might seem out of no where, but back at the bar, when I thought we might not make it, I wanted to tell you that...”. Steve draws in a breath. “The way I care for you, it’s the way Tony Stark’s Steve cares for that Bucky. I’m not expecting anything here, pal. But I need you to know.”