Full summary: In 2002, the first Kaiju rise up from the depths. Soon after, Stark Industries - led by Howard Stark and his son, Tony - creates the first Jaeger. The tide shifts, yet the Kaiju evolve to match.
In 2004, Steve and Bucky wake from the wreckage of the Valkyrie. Not knowing what else to do, they join the fight yet again and a new legend is born. But then Bucky falls from their Jaeger during battle, leaving Steve to feel the echoes of his death in the Drift, lost and susceptible to memories which are not his. Not long after, the Winter Soldier arises, Howard Stark dies, and Tony Stark becomes Iron Man.
Five years later, three men whose lives have been torn to pieces are thrown together without their consent - but who really controls one's own life in these dark days of war?
Note: Hi everyone! Thanks so much for taking the time to check this out. I've always loved Steve/Bucky/Tony and Pacific Rim, and so I've always wanted to merge the two. I just never got around to it... until now! And oh man I have so much to share about this! I suppose it will have to wait as I slowly reveal the story to you. :)
So, I can't promise regular updates (I have some bad chronic health issues, especially in my hands), but I can promise that I will try very hard to update both this and my other Stuckoni (yes, fem!Tony) soulmate fic, Hanging From a Cross of Iron, as often as I can (I'm working on Cross chapter 9 right now!). I know it's been a while, but I am really excited about this, so I know that will help spur me on! I really just want to start writing again, so I can be happy again, y'know? So I'm going to aim to write regularly, but with no set schedule, if that makes sense. Let's just call it a part of my physiotherapy. :P
Anyway! Here's my fic! Please consider feeding your author (and her kickass beta, Annaelle). xoxo
(This will be a slow burn longfic, merging many of the canon elements of the MCU, including superheroes, with Kaiju and Jaegers and Drifting and all that other fun stuff from the Pacific Rim universe. This will eventually end up in a closed triad relationship between Steve, Bucky, and Tony.)
Now on with the story!
Tony landed on the airstrip outside of the Anchorage Shatterdome, setting his suit down between the cargo containers belonging to him. He'd sent them by air—even if naval cargo ships weren't slower, the Kaiju threat had forced almost every last ship off of the Pacific Ocean, as well as many other bodies of water across the world, large or small, simply out of paranoia—so that they could be here in advance of him. It looked like some of them had already started to be unpacked, which was a good sign, because it also meant that his team and staff had arrived as well.
There was no one he trusted with his things except for his own people, and every last one of them had been his long enough that that trust went as deep as it ever could for someone like Tony Stark. Rhodey wouldn't be here for another few days, but those few others who were his… his lab couldn't be in better hands.
He reached up and pressed one of the hidden latches that would release his helmet, the hiss-click getting carried away in the wind of the blustery early September evening. He took a moment to look out on the waters of the Gulf of Alaska with his own two eyes, squinting them against the light that was still being thrown by the sinking sun to admire the beauty of the area.
It had been quite some time since he'd last been here. It wasn't his favorite location—but most of that had to do with the people who populated the Dome rather than the weather or sights surrounding Anchorage. Well, the people from both Science and Engineering Division… He hadn't really met any of the others in the Domes around the world—the politicking and sales and optics had always been for Howard and Obadiah to deal with.
Since his father's death four years ago, and… Stane's shortly after, it had fallen on Tony's shoulders, who had quickly shunted it onto wonderful, sweet, and stubborn as hell Pepper, and Tony had been able to avoid interacting with almost anyone he didn't want to. Unfortunately, sometimes there were just things Pepper couldn't handle, and Tony had to relocate himself to deal with the issues, such as upgrades and experimental tech… or when one of your father's former colleagues kept badgering you and badgering you until you found some way to make it look like it was your idea to move all the way out into the middle of nowhere.
At least it was lovely here. And there was no sand. A definite plus. Honestly, it was one of the more beautiful Shatterdomes; inside, outside, and the surrounding areas all included. A work of art both natural and technological.
Amazing what one could do with government money in out-of-the-way places.
Too bad this government money came in the form of S.H.I.E.L.D. and its Director, Nick Fury. Seemed like he couldn't escape his father, no matter how hard he tried. But, he supposed, he'd probably have to win the damn Kaiju War in order to escape practically three quarters of all things Howard.
Well, nobody could say that Tony Stark wasn't ever up for a challenge.
But first thing first… he needed to figure out what the hell Nick Fury and his partners wanted with him. Something beyond the obvious, because there was nothing obvious about him, Coulson, or Hill.
At least he'd been planning on making an extended visit to the Anchorage Dome for the last little while. Fury's machinations had given him a good reason to stop by and work on upgrades, even try out that new Jaeger idea he'd based off of one of the older models taking up space in the Anchorage hangar.
He'd do his thing, pretend he wasn't keeping an eye on Fury—well, he'd at least try to… no promises—watch his back, and keep contingencies in place.
Because, well, he had a damn war to win.
Starks may have become crazy good at keeping wars going, but this was one Stark who would end a war with great fucking prejudice.
"Mr. Stark," a voice called out to him, cutting into his thoughts as much as it cut through the sound of the strong wind.
Tony looked towards where the voice was coming from, and couldn't quite decide on whether he should smile or frown at the sight of who had been assigned to greet him.
"Coulson," he greeted, settling for a quirk of his lips as he strode towards the other man. The sound of the wind was loud but not nearly loud enough to wash away the satisfying sound of the armor's boots thumping across the concrete of the airstrip. He pulled the helmet of his suit fully away from his head, settling it against his left hip with his left arm and resolving to work on the fully-retractable helmet for the Mark VIII. "How's the cellist doing?"
Coulson raised an eyebrow at him, but there was the slightest hint of an uptick at the corner of his mouth. "You leant us your private jet," he replied dryly, answering the question with a deflection, refusing to divulge anything more than what he wished to, and only when he wished it.
Good to see Coulson never changed, at least.
"It was picking up dust, Agent. You know it, I know it—it may as well have been put to good use." Tony gestured dismissively with one gauntleted hand.
Coulson inclined his head just a fraction, face smoothing out once again as a group of airmen passed them by. There didn't seem to be any privacy in the future, Tony could see as he eyed the increasingly crowded space on the way towards the hangar, so it didn't surprise him in the least when Coulson murmured, "She and I both send our thanks," and left it at that before starting into what they were both there for.
Well. Tony wasn't entirely sure what exactly he was there for, but he was sure Coulson knew, so that would serve them well enough for the time being—until Tony could hack Fury's system or annoy him half to death until he acquiesced and just came right out and told Tony what the hell he wanted him there for.
Until then, well, spies would always be spies.
"How long has it been since you've last been to the Shatterdome, Mr. Stark?" Coulson queried as he pressed his palm to the biometric lock on the smaller door recessed into the larger—much larger—hangar bay doors. He turned around just in time to catch the raised eyebrow Tony was giving him, and smirked just the tiniest bit in return.
Honestly, from Coulson that was as much of a win as he'd ever get.
"You know very well it's been over five months, and even then I was only here for, what, twenty minutes?" He shook his head when Coulson gestured towards a lockbox large enough to fit his suit, comfortable enough with wearing it as long as it would take to put it away for real in the lab.
"You were on the phone with Ms. Potts the entire time, if I do recall."
Of course he recalled, the jerk.
Tony narrowed his eyes just a little bit, but before he could say anything, Coulson headed him off with a, "Well, a lot has changed since then, which means it's been at least three years since you've seen the interior of the Dome."
And then they were passing through the second hangar door and into the Jaeger bay itself, and Tony completely forgot what he was going to say, mind unnaturally still for one moment before it burst back into multiple trains of thought all at once, once again.
The bay was beautiful. The Jaegers were… Christ, whatever they'd done to them made them look sleek and gorgeous and refined and elegant and oh boy, he just couldn't wait to see what was under the hood, so to speak. His fingers itched to get into them, onto the cool metal of the Jaeger closest to him, and hopefully they hadn't butchered his coding he swore to God after the last time they were through if they had and he actually kind of liked these bastards when all was said and done, much better than the San Francisco Dome, and—
"T'Challa actually let you have vibranium?" he practically squeaked, jumping out of the suit and throwing it into sentinel mode as he threw himself up the nearest scaffolding staircase and towards the nearest place he could actually lay his hands against the rare, cool to the touch metal.
"Oh my God, what did you use to blackmail him?" he yelled over his shoulder as he climbed under the railing and right onto the boot of the Jaeger itself, completely ignoring the disgruntled looks techs and engineers were shooting him. "He wouldn't even let me play with it last time I asked!"
He pressed his bare hands to the metal, relishing in the coolness of the metal beneath his fingers, the coolness he'd known would be greater than any other metal in these conditions based on the last time he'd laid his hands on it—quite some time ago, truth be told.
He nearly jumped out of his skin when Coulson's voice came from far closer—just on the other side of the railing from him—than where it had last been. "Do you truly think we could find something on the King of Wakanda and have it stick? No, he's too much Earth's darling at this moment." Tony didn't take his eyes off the dark blue-grey metal beneath his fingers even as he released a snort of amusement.
True. Definitely true.
"And for another thing," Coulson continued, "he is only loaning it to us. We've worked out an agreement, and a specialized contract details a specified few who are the only ones who can deal with its shaping, repair, and handling in other special circumstances."
Tony finally looked over his shoulder at Coulson. "Is that why Fury wants me here?"
"Not quite, Mr. Stark, though that is one of the things he would like to speak with you about."
Tony hummed noncommittally, setting aside for later the answer to whether that would be enough to get him to stay—even though he was pretty sure there was a hell of a lot he could put up with if just to play with vibranium for a few hours, let alone weeks or months or…
Later.
"We can discuss it later," Coulson added, stepping back and indicating with an economy of movement that Tony should follow him back down the scaffolding and stairs.
See? Even he and Agent could agree on things once in a while.
Once they were back on the floor of the hangar, Tony took the chance to take a proper look around, channeling his thoughts into observing as many details at once instead of haring off in a single direction at a billion miles a minute.
It was… well, it had changed a lot. And it was even more impressive a sight to see, as much as he wished he didn't have to say that about Fury's Dome.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., bring the suit back to the lab, will you?" he directed absently to the suit, eyes already taking in what he had missed when he'd made a beeline towards the nearest Jaeger a short time ago.
It really had been quite some time since he'd spent much time here in this Dome. Well, really much time since he'd spent time in most of the Domes. Ever since Afghanistan, he'd thrown himself right back into the Research & Development department of his company, rather than go right back to trying to run the company as CEO like he'd been trying to do for the few months between his father's death and his... kidnapping. Instead, he'd let his insanely competent Pepper continue to do so—after he'd taken out the trash, of course.
Sure, his company was still the leader in Jaeger tech. Sure, all of the Jaegers needed to be maintained, and maintained properly—but there were mechanics and engineers and people actually trained for that. Who wanted to put up with Tony Stark and his infinite amount of issues when they would do just fine with someone much easier to handle? And why would Tony want to deal with them when he didn't have to; when he could just spend his time with his head in his lab or in the clouds? He kept an eye on things—no sense repeating the same mistake as had happened with Stane, though it wasn't like he really thought Pepper was like that…
Well. He hadn't thought Stane was like that either.
Point being… it had been a long time since he'd really interacted with the people who used his tech. That had been his father's job, and now it was Pepper's.
It was even larger than he last remembered it being; they'd obviously expanded it, and by a factor of three at least. The hangar looked almost like it went on for miles, only able to do so because of the large support towers holding up the arch of the ceiling far, far above them, and latticed girders probably as large as a Jaeger finger around.
Six Jaeger bays took prominent position in the hangar, the original four and then two more which had obviously been added when they'd torn out the back wall and expanded. Permanent and articulated walkways were built into the bays surrounding the Jaegers, all of which were in use since Jaegers required almost near-constant repairs, checks, and rechecks. The bulk of the extra space that had been added to the hangar housed what looked to be storage filled with stockpiles of extra parts, much of it ready to go—wasn't government money great sometimes?—and a state of the art gym and range encased in soundproof glass that took up the whole back part of the hangar, on top of which, near the very top of the hangar, was a brand-spanking-new LOCCENT. Of course Command had new digs as well.
There even seemed to be a… was that a fully-articulated Jaeger simulator? Holy shit, it was. Who the hell had built them that, and who did he have to bribe to put it through its paces? He'd been toying with building his own for the last while, but had never quite gotten around to it. There always seemed to be something else that needed doing.
Okay. Okay, staying here for a little while might not be quite as bad as he'd thought. All this would make dealing with Fury worth it—shit, why'd he have to go and tempt fate like that—and he might even get out of the lab once in a while, at this rate.
He'd have to put up with people, but it wasn't like he couldn't just whip out his press persona and let that carry him for the few weeks he'd be here, tops.
Or he could just ignore them like he'd been doing to Coulson. Oops. "Sorry Agent, got a little lost in the moment there." He shot a smile at Coulson, but the man only blinked at him. He'd become all too familiar with Tony's nature in the months following his return from Afghanistan.
Worked for him.
It was just the rest of them who'd have to learn how to deal with him.
Suddenly realizing how absolutely surrounded by people he was, Tony longed for the cool quiet of the lab that awaited him. The sounds of Jaeger maintenance was loud in the hangar, but he could still hear and feel the thrum of the literal thousands of voices who shared the space with him. It was a little much to deal with at the moment, especially when he knew he still needed to speak to Fury.
"Alright, let's get this over with. Lead the way, and let's see what you lot want."
Coulson looked at him just a little too knowingly, but kept his silence—and didn't that speak volumes, too—as he turned and started to walk for one of the elevators a few dozen yards to their left. They easily wove through and around people, carts, trolleys, and even a few children, cats, and dogs—what the hell?—and into the elevator. Even inside, Tony could hear the voices and sounds of the hangar, but at least when the doors opened on the top level, the sound was a hell of a lot more muted.
There weren't as many people in the long and pristine hallway that led towards the Director's office, thank God. Or rather, the Directorship's office, because although Fury was on paper the head of the Shatterdome, it was all three of them—Fury, Coulson, and Hill—who shared the position in reality. Even he knew that, and he was rarely ever here. What no one really knew was exactly what went on behind closed doors, but Tony wasn't sure he wanted to know. All people knew for a fact was that they were three former co-pilots who had then become heads of one of the most efficient and powerful Shatterdomes—and a government spy agency on top of that, as if that weren't enough—and they were scarily proficient.
Tony knew a little bit more about them than most others who didn't work with them on a regular basis, and he knew enough to suspect what the Directorship—and Fury in particular—wanted from him, but even so, he knew he'd have to keep his guard up at all times around the three of them together. Coulson by himself was a different story, but he liked to think they were sort of friends, at least.
Fury and Hill, though? Nope. Not in this lifetime.
So as Coulson opened the door to his—their—office, Tony Stark made sure he was prepared for anything.
Anything… except for this.
Anything, anyone, except for the man whom his father had idolized, the man whom his father had compared Tony's every move, action, thought, and word against—the man whom his father had loved more than his own flesh and blood, who seemed to fail him at every turn.
Anyone except for the man whom Tony had been dead set on avoiding at all costs for the entire length of his stay, however long that may be. The man whom he'd been avoiding for every single one of the seven years since he'd come out from the ice.
Anyone except for Captain fucking America.
Note: Come find me on Tumblr (juuls) - and my beta as well (cuthian).
Next chapter we'll get some more backstory from Steve's PoV. I've altered the timeline in the MCU a decent amount, but I promise I'll make sure it becomes clear as we go. And if it isn't, please feel absolutely free to ask me questions and I'll answer them as best I can!
Let me know what you think! Much love, and until next time.