Chapter Text
Steve tried to contact Tony again, of course he did. But Tony had a rather overprotective boyfriend with an even more overprotective sentient Cloak so he didn’t get close.
He and Natasha tried to use everything to get to Tony again.
They used the remnants of SHIELD until Fury nearly shot Steve for his little kissing stunt.
They tried to use the media but the world was enamoured with ‘IronStrange’, the new power couple and they were still wary of that video reaching the public.
They tried to use disasters and Avenger missions. But didn’t clue in on the fact that Tony retiring from the Avengers meant that they lost Iron Man too.
Not to mention that Vision left to join Tony and Sam retired as well since he felt disillusioned with superheroes after Steve’s actions.
Things were going well. Tony and Vision worked to take down the rest of Hydra with Stephen and Wong’s help. Stephen worked at his magic and eventually got promoted to Sorcerer Supreme.
Tony was so damn proud of his magic man.
He’d finally been working up the nerve to ask Stephen the question he’d been considering for over a year now, he’d even suggested a nice walk in the park where he could pop the question.
And then everything went to shit.
Again.
And a Squidward wannabe alien kidnapped his boyfriend.
Tony was so pissed he was seeing red without Maximoff’s help this time. Somehow he ended up on the spaceship with the Spiderling (who refused to stay put). Tony had met the kid in New York when some idiots tried to mug him. Spider-Man had swung in to help and ended up getting hurt.
And Tony gained a mentee somehow.
Ah well, he got along with Harley so that was fine.
What wasn’t fine was him following Tony into space to save his kidnapped boyfriend.
Who, as established, was taken but a Squidward wannabe.
The gall! of Squidward to kidnap his boyfriend!
“What the hell kid?!” Tony hissed in a whisper. “I told you to stay on Earth!”
“But Mr. Stark! Dr. Strange is like my other dad figure!” Peter whisper-yelled. “You’re not ready to be a widow! Or widower? Mr. Stark? Would you be the widow or widower?”
Tony facepalmed
Whatever, he’d deal with this later.
First, ugly Squidward torturing his boyfriend.
That wasn’t going to fucking fly.
…Tony may have gone a bit over the top when he attacked Squidward but the guy had it coming and really, Stephen had helped him add magical enhancements to his suit. It was fucking badass now. More so than before anyway.
After fussing over Stephen for a bit he finally let his boyfriend stand who then caught sight of Peter gaping at them.
“Whoa Mr. Stark! You blew him straight through the wall! That was awesome!”
“Why is Peter here?!” Stephen asked in horror.
“That was my question,” Tony deadpanned. “Suffice to say he’s grounded.”
“Aw come on!”
“Double it,” Stephen deadpanned and Peter fell silent.
For a few seconds anyway.
“Hey Dr. Strange? If you died would Mr. Stark be the widow or widower?”
“Oh definitely the widow.”
Tony squawked in outrage. “Excuse you! I’d make a fine widower I’ll have you know!”
It was that conversation that echoed in Tony’s head when Peter crumbled to dust in his arms and he heard Stephen’s heartbroken apology for leaving him again before the man disappeared into nothing as well.
Tony was so thankful that he still had Rhodey.
He stumbled off the spaceship with Nebula’s help straight into his best friend’s arms.
“I lost them,” he sobbed into the man’s chest as he collapsed.
Beyond Rhodey he could see Pepper and Happy, both looking distraught. They all liked Stephen, he’d become a part of their family.
A raccoon ran up to Nebula only to break down at the expression on her face.
There was also Natasha a short distance away from them, shoulders hunched in an uncharacteristic display of defeat. A blond woman that Tony didn’t recognise was walking towards them but another blond beat her to it.
“Tony!” Steve shouted and Tony wanted to scream at the unfairness.
Why did Rogers get to stay? Why couldn’t the stones have taken him instead of Stephen? Instead of Peter?
Rhodey tensed and twisted around, still holding Tony and keeping him shielded from Steve.
“Fuck off Rogers,” He snarled. He hadn’t wanted the man near Tony after what he pulled.
“Rhodes-”
“No,” Rhodey cut him off. “No. For once, leave Tony be.”
“But he fought Thanos! He might know something! So we can fix it! Bucky got taken. I’ve got to get him back!”
Of course it was about Barnes. Rogers had been over the moon when the man finally, tentatively, turned himself in. At least it had kept him away from Tony for a while.
“Is that all you can think of?” They were surprised to realise it was Natasha talking. “So many died in the Snap. Vision is gone. Sam is gone. T’Challa is gone. Clint’s… whole family is gone…”
Tony inhaled sharply. No, not Laura and the kids. Please no.
Natasha raised red-rimmed eyes to glare at Steve. “The world doesn’t revolve around Bucky. And while you’ve been doing everything in your power to keep him safe, you neglected to try and save the rest of the world.” She let out a bitter laugh. “And I was right there with you because my priority was keeping myself safe. And now I’ve lost the only people who saw me as something other than what the Red Room created.”
She took a deep breath. “I’m done,” she whispered. “I’m… done. Being… the Black Widow. I want to be Natalia Romanova again. But I don’t even know who that is.”
She closed her eyes before turning to look at Rhodey and Tony. “I need to tell you something. Not… not now. But I should have said something long ago. I was too caught up in thinking I had something over you Tony. I was always too caught up in trying to control you. Because you are one of the only people I’ve ever been truly afraid of.” She gave a wry smile, no amusement reaching her eyes. “I’m done with the secrets, and the spy game. I lost Clint after… Maximoff. Through my own fault. I thought encouraging you and Steve together would… I don’t know, tame you. Make you less dangerous. It only ended up making you my enemy.”
Tony stared at the broken woman in bewilderment. He’d suspected that the last few years were hard on her. The world turned on her quickly without his support and left her with only Steve's protection who dragged her all over the world until he found Barnes.
And then he promptly dropped her to focus all his attention on his long-lost friend.
Natasha had been left alone and vanished until this battle probably drew her out.
He wondered what she needed to tell him. Judging from Steve’s pale face, it wouldn’t be good…
“That bastard!”
“I’m sorry.”
“You kept this from me!”
“I’m sorry.”
“Am I… Am I just not human in your eyes? Do you think I don’t have feelings at all?!”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
“Get out.”
She did.
It took a year of work, of dragging Ant-Man out of the Quantum Realm, of studying what he knew of the Time Stone with Wong’s help, of long lonely nights with just the Cloak for company and longer days with Harley glued to his side.
But Tony finally did it.
The Time Heist was on. Their ragged little group came back together. Things went wrong and some went so badly wrong it was almost funny in a morbid way.
Natasha didn't come back while a grief-stricken Clint did.
The wrong Nebula came back.
Bruce snapped.
And Thanos attacked.
They fought. They fought so fucking hard, Thor, Tony and Carol leading the charge against the genocidal purple grape.
They were still losing.
And then portals opened up everywhere and Tony’s world stopped as he caught sight of Stephen across the battlefield, Peter flitting in and out of sight near him.
They had to win. They had to.
“How many futures did you see?” Tony had asked back on Titan.
“14,000,605,” Stephen had answered in a grave tone that sent chills down Tony’s spine.
“And how many where we win?”
“One.” Stephen’s voice broke. “But it’s still not an acceptable one.”
“But if it’s the only option-”
“Please Tony, I’m begging you, find another option.”
Tony hadn’t understood what Stephen had meant until he had snatched the Infinity Stones, until they were settling into the gauntlet and fiery pain was starting to race through his body. Tony met Stephen’s fearful gaze across the battlefield again, he’d never seen his boyfriend so terrified before.
“Find another option."
Stephen had asked that. Had begged really.
Thankfully, Tony specialised in the impossible.
“Rocket!” he called, ignoring Thanos charging at him and the agony spreading through him. “Remember that dance party story you told me?”
Rocket’s eyes widened in realisation before he was suddenly snapping out orders as Tony fell to his knees, clutching his arm and breathing hard. Carol got between him and Thanos, buying him some time.
“Make a chain!”
The Guardians caught on first and Peter Quill practically slid to a stop next to Tony as he grabbed his shoulder, Nebula not far behind him. As people grabbed on the pain lessened, the power spreading out and getting shared across a lot more than just one measly human.
Tony looked up to meet Thanos’ disbelieving gaze.
“You know, when you think you’re right, but a whole lot more people think you’re wrong, then generally you’re wrong,” He rasped, lips quirking into a smirk. “You think you’re inevitable. But guess what? We’re the Avengers. And co. So fuck off.”
He snapped.
And the world turned black.
Tony came awake slowly, well aware of his aching body from the first flicker of consciousness.
“Tony?”
The voice brought him closer to awareness and he finally managed to pry his eyes open. He was met with the sight of a haggard-looking Stephen but it still brought a smile to his face.
“Stephen.” His throat hurt as he spoke but he didn’t care. “You’re back.”
Stephen’s smile was watery and he leaned down to press a barely there kiss to Tony’s forehead.
“Yes. Because of you. And because you excel at the impossible, you’re still hear too…”
Tony hummed, fingers twitching as he wanted to reach for his boyfriend but he was still too exhausted to move apparently.
He fell back asleep to the feeling of Stephen running his fingers through his hair.
It turned out in the end that while Tony didn’t die like in the future Stephen saw, he did lose his arm thanks to being the main conduit for the Infinity Stones’ power.
Stephen was wracked with guilt over it but Tony considered it a small sacrifice to have his family back. He could build a new arm but he couldn't build a new family.
He also learned some unsurprising gossip when he was fully conscious and recovering. Steve had tried to volunteer to take the stones back to their proper timelines but Wong had shut that idea down quickly and went himself.
Stephen admitted that he saw an almost certain future of Steve staying in the past and possibly causing severe damage to the stability of the timeline as a result.
Tony just shook his head at more of the man’s selfishness and then dismissed him from his thoughts.
He as determined to never see Steve Rogers again if he could help it. And since he was quite set on permanently retiring this time, that would be a lot easier now.
Tony woke up to sunlight shining in his face and he enjoyed the feeling of peace from having Stephen wrapped around him. He turned in the sorcerer’s hold, causing the man to stir and blink sleepily at him.
This, Tony realised, was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life. Waking up in bed with Stephen, living the domestic life, raising two troublesome teenagers.
This was all that he wanted.
“Tony?” Stephen asked, voice rough from sleep still.
“Marry me?” Tony whispered, making the man’s eyes widen in surprise.
They stared at each other for a long moment before Stephen’s eyes softened and a small smile curled at his lips.
“Yes,” he answered simply.
Tony beamed and threw himself forward to kiss his new fiancée.
This deserved a celebration.
And then he’d get the ring he’d been carrying around since that walk in the park out of his jacket pocket, and give it to the man he made it for.