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[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

Comments

[woundedwinter]

The taps are quick in succession and Bucky feels his entire arm go dead and drop to the kitchen tile with a sound thunk. They're frankly both lucky that it missed their feet. Stunned he looks up at Stark for a moment before bending down to pick up his arm.

It wasn't the first time Bucky had been without the arm, but that wasn't the disconnect sequence he was used to.

That's troubling.

"Uh-huh," he drawls before fitting the arm back to the socket on his shoulder, giving it a sharp rotation and flexing his hand to bring everything back on line. "They must have put in a fail safe," it should be clear from his tone he's less than pleased about the development.

[starkingenuity]

“Smart,” Tony says, obviously impressed. “You can’t blame them. I would have found a way to muzzle you too.” Tony snorts with his lips pressed together. “Damn, the dog jokes don’t work anymore. I have so many of them too. I haven’t seen you in a few decades.”

And the fondness in his eyes, as startlingly cold as they are, is evident as he talks. Bucky had been important to him. They’d been complicated of course, but he’d been important. They had history. More than Barnes and his Stark had.

“I guess I’ll have to fall back on the old Manchuria Candidate stuff,” he grumbles in amusement to himself. “How’s Rogers? Lung or heart issues creep up during the fun last night?”

Probably not. But Stark is curious about his work.

[woundedwinter]

"I swear I'm gonna find a wolf and ask for the friggin bite if you keep up with jokes like that." Only because they're marginally worse than Sam's cyborg cracks. They mean well enough, harassing the people that they care about, so Barnes doesn't let it get to him.

It does take the span of a surprised blink to remember that vampires have keen senses of smell and he hasn't showered yet. He can likely smell what they've been up to.

"No, he's fine. Reflexes and strength are right where they should be, his heart and lungs sound stronger than ever. He's finally sleeping."

[starkingenuity]

Tony nods, though it looks like someone sped up the video. He can’t always remember to be so measured when it comes to his little gestures and he doesn’t always try as hard as he should now that he’s back in the company he likes. “That makes 0 for 27 complications. First one I’ve actually cared about though,” he replies. “I’d really like it if we could stop the rest of the kids. I don’t know how progressive you guys are but sign me up for extremely late term abortion.”

Tony lifts his head slightly, cocking it to the side.

“I have a past and future husband who’s stirring. By the way, we’re going to Wakanda this afternoon. Gift for Stevie if they still have it. I’ve taken the jet keys too so don’t try to do your own thing. Daddy knows best.”

[woundedwinter]

The change in his movements is weird, but everything lately has been on the weird side so he makes no comment about the nod. "Steve's got the makings of a plan. We need to do more research on the GRC and what they're doing that's got the Flag Smashers feeling like they have to act like this."

After all, one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist. Steve will want all the facts before they move again.

Mention of Wakanda drums up an old ache and he nods. Someday soon he'd like to take Steve there. "Talk to Shuri. Sam needs a stronger suit, something laced with vibranium and any other tricks she's perfected."

His nose wrinkles, "Don't ever call yourself that again, man. Seriously."

[starkingenuity]

“Fleabag-you never minded.” It’s an all out lie. Barnes would never have called him Daddy, but that doesn’t mean he can garner an intense, delicious satisfaction from the look he knows Barnes will give him.

Once that is achieved, he mentions leaving the suit of armor to him before he darts out of the room, basically unseen as he’s much too quick for even Bucky’s enhanced visions.

He’s back in bed before Bruce likely realizes he’d left, though he’s much cooler to the touch now as he cuddles against the other man.

[seven_phds]

No doubt Tony can hear Barnes mutter 'asshole' before letting him alone and puttering around in the kitchen to start feeding people.

Bruce gives a dozy hum at the cool press of skin, familiar in all the right wonderful ways as he shifts, a large hand reaching out to draw him in nearer. "Hnn. There you are." He had started to wake, wondering whether or not the day before had been some kind of a dream until Tony was there with him again, fitting up against him as perfectly as he ever did.

[starkingenuity]

“I had to go harass Barnes,” Tony murmurs, gladly scooped in towards Bruce to murmur against his ear, hoping the prickle of his mustache tickles his not quite husband.

He already knows that he shouldn’t feel this way, but the love he’d had for the boy that grew up to be his everything has transferred so easily and completely to the bigger, greener version he happily lays with now.

“It used to be my second favorite pastime. How did you sleep?”

[seven_phds]

The brush of facial hair against his ear draws a snort but Bruce doesn't pull away. He's missed this. While his rational mind understands that this isn't the man that he fell in love with, his heart can't deny what it feels. For the first time since Tony took the stones and ended the battle with Thanos, Bruce feels complete.

"Why do I feel like harassing Barnes and Steve is going to become your new favorite pastime?"

[starkingenuity]

“Not Rogers. The guy used to hate me. It’s my second chance with him,” Tony says firmly. He’s already told Bruce the whole story about being Howard Stark, about grooming Steve every step of the way, about killing Sarah Rogers (which he’d never told Stece about) because he’d been afraid she’d pass on her TB to her son and that Tony had needed him. It’s not his best moment, but she was dying anyway. And it gave Steve a kick in the pants towards Rebirth thanks to Erskine’s plant at the Fair.

He’d even orchestrated Bucky’s draft. The number would have come up soon enough, he figured. He’d just helped the card lotto along.

And that Steve and Barnes had known about.

“First Me was human. Maybe the Other Howard did some of those things but I’d rather try and make it right with the kid. I’m done pulling historical strings.”

[seven_phds]

He wants to make things right. Bruce smiles in the dim light and continues to smooth his large hand along Tony's side and back. "You're right. The other Howard did a lot of what you did in order to get Steve where he wanted him to be, ignoring signs that Barnes was alive."

But this Tony, the one safe and still in his arms, he won't do that. Bruce has faith in him.

"We pull back, we retire. No need to pull any more strings unless they need us for something big."

[starkingenuity]

“Retire? You’re still just a kid yourself,” Tony says, eyes glowing in the darkness of Bruce’s shadow. “Or did you already make your billions and are ready to spend your days fishing?”

Tony’s fingers aren’t idle. As Bruce rubs his back, the vampire traces muscle along the other’s neck and the curve of his shoulder. Little, affectionate touches, are not something he’s known for with anyone else.

“I think a good, long vacation would be good,” he agrees. “But only until you’re ready to back to space with me.” He has some insider knowledge about that.

[seven_phds]

Bruce shakes his head, his smile fond. "I'm ready to spend my days with you. Fishing, in the lab, a little of both is fine with me." His hand stills for a moment. "But I don't want to step back into the fight." He lost enough battling Thanos. "Not unless they need us."

That had been their plan before Steve came to the cabin, looking for help to build a machine for Scott's ridiculously named 'time heist'. Partial retirement, spending more time with each other and away from risk.

He sits up a little, brow furrowing. "Back to space?"

[starkingenuity]

“Hmm mmm. You’ll love it,” Tony says, propping himself up. “Just you. And me. And okay, yes, millions of other people, out in the stars.”

He does have decades on the time they’re in now and while he might not have all of his intricate notes, he’s pretty sure that they can easily invent long distance space flight to leave the solar system.

“And not just to the moon.” Tony’s Bruce had never run off after Ultron. He’d never gone missing for two years. Hulk was never a space gladiator. “We could build a cabin on some other moon. Not all stars are deadly to me.”

[seven_phds]

"Wait," he sits up with him, eyes bright with excitement in a way Tony should find familiar, excitement at a new breakthrough or a new application for one of their ideas. "Wait you're telling me that humans are traveling in space?"

Bruce might still be touching him, but this new knowledge is fascinating and he's ready to hear everything about it. "In your time, we've been to space?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony shifts so Bruce doesn’t feel crowded, or like he might hurt Tony in his haste to sit. He watches the other man with an amused smile, his eyebrows lifting.

“Do you know Danvers? Glowy lady, previously in the Air Force, now embracing her part alienness?” He’ll tell Bruce about her if he doesn’t, plotting out Kree worlds that humans have been to, that he knows of. “And there was someone named Quill I met once. Kept trying to say he was human royalty. Mostly just an asshole. Humans have been up there for a long, long time. The rest of us were only just catching up when I blipped here.”

[seven_phds]

"Carol? Yeah, we've met. She helped save the other Tony Stark's life after Thanos wiped out half of the universe." A few more things they'll have to compare as far as differences between their worlds. "But I've never been to space myself, a lot of us haven't."

"So humans are regularly in space? Not just a few select people, but anyone?" Think of the discoveries they could make, think of the things that they could test and explore in space. The possibilities are literally endless and he can't help the way that he lights up considering them.

[starkingenuity]

“Moon, a whole city. It’s very nice there. Once we build it, we should spend a long weekend, at least. Mars is mostly just hamster tubes but it’s getting there. And then some asshole that stretches weirdly and a rock man have a satellite in space. That’s the nicest one yet. Less of a hotel. More like an office building. And there have been a few colony ships to Kree worlds I never really kept up with.”

Tony knows he’s not being as open about this as Banner obviously wants, but he doesn’t want to taint this world with the last. Thanos wasn’t a plot point where Tony had been from. But massive nuclear wars had been, a few years after Bruce’s death. It’s what prompted Tony and Richards and Davers and Shuri and dozens of other bright minds to build the moon up for all mankind.

“I think the moon is a good retirement project.”