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He wasn’t surprised when he found himself in a different dimension; one that wasn’t his own. He knew the multiverse existed, thanks to Steven Strange. They had battled aliens, time travelled, fought a mad titan hell bent on courting Lady Death, why wouldn’t the multiverse exist?
Tony knew with his luck, it was only a matter of time before the multiverse became a pain in his backside, another ball he had to juggle.
Considering everything Tony had been through lately, this was not the worst thing that has happened. Usually, the end of battles mean broken bones, bruises, his suit out of commission until he can upgrade it. So the fact that it hasn’t happened this time means he should technically count it as a blessing.
The most recent battle, the one to defend the universe, had cost more than usual. He was now the owner of a prosthetic arm, and more than enough content for his nightmares to draw from for the next millenia.
So really, the fact that he found himself in a dimension that was relatively similar to his own, and had no glaring dangers, was definitely a minor miracle.
In the grand scheme of things.
But at the same time, it’s so, so, much worse.
There’s a saying.
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.
Whoever came up with that saying clearly doesn’t know what they’re talking about.
Because this?
Tony would almost rather put himself through the final battle with Thanos again rather than spend another second in this version of reality.
It’s not that it’s horrible.
It’s the fact that it’s the complete opposite.
Tony is jealous of this dimension’s Tony, he can wholeheartedly admit that, even if it’s only to himself.
It was glaringly obvious that he wasn’t in his own dimension almost immediately after he woke up.
The wedding band was a pretty good indication, but so was literally everything else. He had never been on a date with Sam, much less been married to him for three and a half years. His team wasn’t as close knit as this version was, not tainted by the years of lying and deceit. Maybe the closest thing to his version of reality was Peter, but even that was different. This version of Tony hadn’t hesitated Peter after a car crash had made him a double orphan, and he and Sam had adopted an adorable toddler called Morgan. This version of Tony has movie nights with the whole team, making dinner with his husband, lab days with Peter, helping Morgan with her homework.
Long story short, this version of Tony had everything he had ever wanted, maybe even more. He had things Tony hadn’t even dared to dream of, just in case he couldn’t let the dream go, and then he’d be disappointed.
When was the last time he had actually got what he wanted, no strings attached?
He wasn’t sure.
As he crawls into bed and curls up against Sam, who immediately wraps his arms around him even in his sleep, he tells himself that he’s got one more day. Just one more day and he’ll start working on a way to get back to his own reality.
Tony first told himself that a month ago.
He can’t stop feeling guilty, lying to everyone around him, but he also can’t bring himself to stop. This is the most content he's felt in as long as he can remember. For some reason, even the alien attacks in this dimension are few and far in between, and can mostly be handled by the newer generation of superheroes.
The original Avengers, as in the original team plus Sam and Bucky, are mostly on reserve, only called in for the major emergencies. They spend more time training the new recruits, and finally relaxing after years of being New York's only defense against the less than human opponents.
Tony’s days are now filled with laughter and love. Sam hugs him from behind as he’s cooking his mom’s famous Fagioli al Forno. He’s a tangle of limbs with the other Avengers as they argue who’s turn it is to pick a movie (Natasha almost always wins for some reason - but Bucky’s homemade cupcakes more than make up for it). He and Peter are building a car together from scratch down in the lab, and Peter beams whenever Tony praises him, ruffling his hair. He can hear Sam read their daughter her daily bedtime story as he’s cleaning up after dinner; she’s currently obsessed with The Tiger Who Came To Tea, and both he and Sam had read it so many times they could probably recite it from memory.
But at the same time, it hurts, because he knows it won’t last.
Nothing good ever does.
Sooner or later, something will happen, and his secrets will be revealed and he’ll be forced to go back to his own dimension, forced to give up everything he’s ever wanted, with no way of getting it back.
+++
“What do you mean you can’t find him?!” Sam exclaims, staring at Dr Strange. “You’re a literal sorcerer! Why can’t you do your glowly circle thing and get him back?!”
“There’s something interfering with my portals, so I can’t track down the exact dimension that Tony is in,” Dr Strange explains calmly, way too calmly in Sam’s opinion. But then again, he’s not exactly thinking straight.
It’s been a week since Tony got hit by a strange beam in the latest alien attack. Seven days since the team had been slightly off. It’s been one whole week since the Tower’s resident coffee-addicted genius had vanished without a trace, and they were all feeling the effects of it.
Without realising it, Tony had become the heart and soul of the team, and without him, the team just wasn’t right. Bruce had retreated into the labs, barely coming out without someone encouraging him to socialise. Clint didn’t have his pranking buddy, and pranking the tower’s inhabitants just didn’t feel right without Tony. Tony was the one who listened to Thor regaling tales of Asgard, Tony was the one who painted his nails with Natasha, Tony was the one who did all the futuristic stuff with Steve, the one introducing new science stuff to Bucky.
But it was Sam who was missing him the most.
The rest of the team had long since realised his crush on Tony, and seeing as he was probably the most emotionally stable out of all of them, they’d assumed that Sam knew, and was just planning his move.
In reality, Sam did very much not know, at least up until Tony went missing. It was only then that he realised how much time he spent around Tony, and how much he cared about him.
It took Tony to go missing for Sam to realise that he loved Tony, how messed up is that?
“So search for him! Even better, take me with you!”
“Do you know how many alternate dimensions there are? It would take thousands of years to go through them all, and even then, there’s a big chance that we wouldn’t find Tony.”
This makes the Avengers even more worried. Tony could be out there, all alone, facing the worst, and they can't do anything because they don't know where he is.
Little do they know, Tony's going to be delivered back to their dimension pretty soon. In fact, right about….
Now.
Dr Strange and Sam are interrupted from their arguing by a blinding flash, and the entire team is immediately on guard. They haven’t had an attack on the actual Tower in a while, even the villains seem to know that’s the one place that is out of bounds.
But it seems like this would-be attacker hasn’t got the memo.
Yet, when the light is back to a regular amount, as in they can actually see and aren't blinded by it, they're shocked to see Tony curled up on the floor.
Naturally, they think he's hurt, and all immediately rush up to him, which causes Tony's eyes to fly open.
"Wha-? Where am… Where am I?" He asks, eyes darting around, immediately subtly assuming a defensive position, which doesn't escape the attention of anyone in the room.
"You're back home Tony, back to your original dimension," Steve, who's the closest to Tony says comfortingly, and is shocked by Tony's reaction.
"No!" He immediately zeros in on Dr Strange. "You have to take me back! I have to get back!"
"That was not your world Tony. Whatever you saw there-"
"You don't understand! I have to, I have to-"
"You can't, Tony," Dr Strange cuts him off. "Whatever sent you there was unstable magic. I can't send you back there, even if I wanted to. I don't know where you went."
To everyone's surprise, Tony immediately rushes out of the room, but Sam isn't going to let him go that easily, not after the week they've had.
"Tony, wait!" Sam catches Tony's wrist as he's leaving the room, and he spins around to face Sam. He's struck by the sheer feeling in Tony's eyes. He can't quite name it, but it's a mixture, all swirling around in his whiskey coloured eyes, and it gives him the courage to go on. He doesn't care that he's doing it in front of the whole team, he just needs to get it out.
"Look, I," he sighs, before starting again. "I don't know what you saw there, in that other dimension," Tony tenses, so he barrels on. "But you being gone… It made me think a lot. And I was wondering if you want to go grab a coffee with me?"
Tony freezes, before hesitantly looking Sam in the eye.
"Like, like a date?"
Sam relaxes, smiling. "Yeah, like a date."
Tony pauses, before smiling brightly back. "I'd like that."
Tony knows he can't get back what the other Tony had, but maybe, just maybe, he can have his own version.
No strings attached.