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“Tony,” Steve’s voice echoed through the workshop, cutting off AC/DC as Tony fiddled with Clint’s bow. “Another Gwen has come through the portal and needs us now.”
Tony sighed. He’d been really excited about this multiverse travel thing he and Pym and Lang had worked out - especially since Reed Richards was furious Tony had figured it out first. At first, the Avengers had used it for vacations - if they were out of universe, people really couldn’t get a hold of them - but then, slowly, problems from other universes started knocking on the proverbial door.
It started with a battle wounded Tony from a different Thanos battle, begging for their help in finding Infinity Stones, then a very pregnant Pepper had come to warn Steve about a coming attack from Earth 2192 and pleaded with him to come back with her to that world. It had gone quiet for a few months and then King Steven of Rogerandia had come through, informing them of a war with Staneistan and that he required their immediate assistance. That was the first one Tony and Steve had gone on alone - and they were shocked to discover that they were married in that universe as well.
It tumbled on and on after that. They were genetically determined soulmates in their own universe (which was a fun discovery back when they couldn’t be in the same room without fighting), but it seemed they were some version of that in most of the places they visited. After a few trips to a few different multiverses, they also discovered that word of them spread - they had defeated Thanos, the whispers affirmed, they can help you.
And they did.
But Tony was a bit tired of seeing the worst versions of himself and his husband scattered throughout the multiverse. He was always running into someone with his face that still sold weapons or was flat out evil or… well, that Superior Iron Man nonsense was still something he only talked to his therapist about and the Avalon Protocol?
Tony shuddered at the brief memory and told Jarvis to shut it down. He wandered up to find Steve in the Command Center, talking to a very tired looking Gwen Stacy, in full Spidey-Gwen regalia.
“Miles Morales is the one who told me about you guys,” she said as Tony entered. “He said you might be the only ones to help Bucky.”
“Bucky’s in your universe?” Steve asked.
“He’s here too?” Gwen said. “Huh, I rarely meet him. Well, he can’t be the same in mine and yours, since in mine he’s married to Tony.”
Tony snorted. They’d encountered this before - where he was married to Bucky, or Bucky was married to Steve, or all three of them were married - and he wasn’t exactly opposed to that last one but he was exceptionally afraid of mentioning it to Nat.
“What does he do in yours?” Steve asked.
“He’s a reporter,” Gwen said. “He’s actually my Peter’s boss. He also runs StarkBucks, which is his and Tony’s coffee chain that makes semi-decent coffee, but Bucky refused to marry Tony until Tony started dismantling War Machine.”
There was a beat of silence before Tony realized she wasn’t talking about Rhodey. “I think that means something different between us.”
“Oh, it’s his weapons company. Massive, literally everywhere,” Gwen clarified.
“Of course I still make fucking weapons,” Tony muttered and Steve reached for his hand.
“That’s actually why I’m here,” Gwen said. “Tony was shutting down War Machine - they’d pivoted to green tech and Bucky was thrilled and we had this big party and everything and then three days ago, Tony told Bucky it was all a mistake and he started putting money back into weapons.”
“Now there’s something I’ve never done in any universe I’ve met me in,” Tony replied. “Usually when I see the light, it’s permanent.”
Gwen nodded. “That’s what Miles said, too, and my Bucky is freaking out. He thinks it’s got something to do with Stane.”
A chill ran up Tony’s spine. “It always has something to do with Stane.”
“We have a movie in our universe,” Tony explained to Bucky from Earth-65, “called Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The premise is that you can have traumatic memories erased, but of course, that means your whole life is altered, so it’s a cautionary type tale.”
“Sounds delightful,” 65Bucky laughed. This one had short hair and human arms and was missing the air of torture survivor that their Bucky carried with him. It hurt Steve to spend time with him.
“Well, it’s what’s happening to your husband,” Tony explained, “except that Stane is simply deleting pieces of him.”
Bucky’s face blanched and he looked at Steve. “In my universe, you’re married to Sharon, and were roommates with Tony back in your early 20s.”
“Oh, God, did we kill each other?”
“Basically,” Bucky laughed. “But adorably. I bring it up, though, because Sharon is the head of cyber-security for War Machine and might be able to get us into Stane’s files.”
“I can get us into Stane’s files,” Tony said indignantly and Steve had to bite back a grin.
“What do I do here?” Steve asked.
“You draw comic books,” Bucky said with a smile. “I’m actually trying to talk you into doing political cartoons with me and Peter.”
“Oh, I think I’d like that,” Steve said.
“Focus,” Tony said, firmly but not meanly. “We’ll do the awkward multiverse introductions after we prevent my brain from becoming Swiss cheese.”
“So they were us, just in another universe?” Tony looked at his family from his hospital bed.
“We are classified as Earth-65,” Gwen affirmed. “They’re from Earth-19999.”
“And they just… okay, I need to read up on particle theory again,” Tony replied and winced slightly.
“How ‘bout you do that after you recover a little bit, huh?” Bucky grinned at his husband and reached for their best friend’s hand. The idea that Steve and Tony were meant to be in each other’s lives had occurred to them before - Gwen had told them about the multiverse and that the three of them were in a permutation everywhere she had heard of - but this was the first time they’d met themselves and see the power with their own eyes.
“Thanks, Gweny,” Tony rasped, letting the significance of the words hang in the room.
“Anything for the man made of iron,” she whispered and looked at Steve, Tony, and Bucky in turn, “and the ones who make him bend.”
