Chapter 18: It's A Hard Life

INTERSTATE -76 E

Tony and his newfound friend had a full tank of gasoline, plenty of snacks, plenty of liquids, and they were headed East on the 76 towards Manhattan. He found out his driver's name was Charlie and the two of them had one thing in common...
Music.

Tony offered to play one of his cassettes and the guy laughed at him. He showed him how to operate an iPod and Tony was absolutely captivated with the technology.

"So you have HOW many songs on this thing?"
"I have over a thousand songs. I know that's a lot. Do you really not know what an Ipod is?" The guy couldn't believe it.

Tony shook his head no and he continued to look through the tiny machine.

"QUEEN! I love this band."
"Same here. Shame what happened to Freddie."

Tony looked up at him.
Uhhhh...
"What happened to Freddie?" Tony didn't like the tone of voice that Charlie used.

"He DIED kid! Back in the nineties. He died from AIDS.."

WHAT?! Tony was about to fucking cry!
"I haven't made it to the nineties yet man! I'm just a baby." Tony frowned and he started to tear up a bit. Freddie Mercury didn't make it to the future?
Tony wondered who else was dead that he liked.

"Kid what planet are you from? Hahah you're either full of shit or mentally ill." HAH Tony laughed at Charlie that was a good one.
He was probably both.

Saaa poor Freddie.
It depressed him too much to think about it. He sighed and put on a Queen song.
"Ok in Freddie's honor." He put one of his favorite songs on. The piano played in slowly and Charlie nodded his head in agreement.

"Good song." He mentioned as Tony continued to navigate through the iPod thing.

GAHH he wanted one so badly.
He heard Freddie's voice and he tried not to burst into tears. The song reached one of his favorite parts and Tony started to sing along.

"I feeeeel like no one ever told the truth to meeee, About growing up and what a struggle it would beeee. In my tangled state of mind, I've been looking back to find where I went wroooong.."

Yeah, Tony started to go big because he had to honor the dead.

"TOO MUCH LOVE WILL KILL YOU, If you can't make up your minddddd. TOOORNNN between a lover and the love you leave behhhhiiiind. YOU'RE HEADED FOR DISASTER 'cos you never read the signs. Too much love will kill youuuu.. eeeevery time..."
Charlie LAUGHED at him.

Wahh Tony was upset haha. Ok? he got embarrassed and he changed it to The Rolling Stones. When he heard Queen it officially made him sad.

"Beast of Burden?" he asked the driver.

"Beast of Burden works for me."
The two cruised onward. Manhattan was soooo far away but Tony could hardly wait.

MEANWHILE IN TONY'S LAB

Thor and Clint left with Pepper. Steve wasn't very confident that they could fix the situation but what could he do about it.
His brain was already on overload as it was.

"I need to take a piss." He heard Bucky say as he looked up at the cryotube. Oh wow. The poor guy didn't have a bathroom in there. How horrible.

Steve looked at Bruce and Natasha.
"I say we let him take a piss," Natasha spoke first and Bruce nodded. It was inhumane to keep him trapped like an animal in there.

Steve was only unsure because he didn't know where Bucky was at mentally.
He decided not to think about that as he stood up. Great, they didn't have Tony around to mess with the cryotube.

He wondered, How the hell do you open it? Steve scanned through Tony's things. Bruce walked over and he pressed a button.

"Tony showed me a few things just in case we needed to get in there. Don't worry Cap we've got this." Bruce and Natasha tried to alleviate some stress from Steve's shoulders.

The man had been going, going, going non-stop since he was given the mission to protect Tony. Steve didn't know it, but he didn't really look good. He lacked rest.
For him it wasn't much of a problem, he had the ability to not sleep longer than any normal person, but that didn't change the fact that he needed to rest.

Bucky stood up from his chair and he walked towards the opening. He stepped out and he stared at Steve. Steve gave him a smile. It was a small smile. Steve felt broken. Natasha approached Bucky.

"I'll show you where you can take your piss." She said to him as he continued to stare.

Bucky changed his focus to Natasha. He remembered her.
Bucky didn't want to say anything about it. He just motioned for her to lead the way. He looked at Bruce and then he looked at Steve.

Bucky forced himself to look away. He saw his arm on a table and he fought the urge to go for it.

"Am I a prisoner?" Bucky asked as Natasha started to lead him to the closest restroom.

"That depends, are you still a slave to Hydra?" She smiled at Steve and left the lab. Bucky followed her. Bruce walked over to Steve and he sat down beside him.

Steve just sighed heavily and he set his head on the table.
His brain was mush. He was worried sick about too many things.
"I think you need some rest Steve," Bruce advised as Steve shook his head aggressively and then he pulled his head off the table. He sat up and stared at some wall.

"I wouldn't be able to rest. He's gone, and it's all my fault. How could I mess up that badly?"

"Because you're not perfect and people make mistakes. You're allowed to make mistakes Steve. Now, you need a psychological rest, not a physical one."

He cringed and looked away. Steve didn't even know where to begin with that statement and he was sick to hear it.
Yeah, he knew he wasn't perfect. But he wasn't supposed to be STUPID either. That was the problem.

"Let us watch after Bucky and you go get a few hours of sleep."
"NO Bruce. Thank you for the concern but I will be fine." Steve barked as Bruce stood up slowly. He stared down at Steve and tried not to take it personally.

Steve was beyond stressed. Bruce said nothing else and he walked over to the control panel that Tony made for the cryotube.
"I'm sorry.." Steve apologized immediately and he just rest his head on the table again.

He hated not knowing the outcome of things. He was a tactician by nature and when he couldn't predict the outcome of something in his head it freaked him out.

Natasha stopped at a door and she waved her hand in front of it. There was the bathroom, have fun. She noticed that Bucky didn't answer her question.
He stopped at the door and he looked at her.

"You still a slave to Hydra or what?" she asked again. She stood with a hand on her hip.
Bucky stared at her hip. He lifted the arm that was still attached and he touched her side that he shot through.
She probably had a scar there. Bucky was sure of it.

He dropped his hand and looked at her.
"I'm nothing. I don't belong to Hydra." Bucky left her with that thought and he headed into the restroom.

He really really had to take a piss.

At the same time, Clint and Thor spoke to Nick Fury. Clint decided to fill him in and bring him up to speed because he didn't know if he'd need his assistance.

"For the record, Thor has the ability to manipulate time so the next time you feel the need to time-travel, just ask."

"Well it doesn't work quite the way Barton describes, but I do have ways to alter time and do things none of you mortals can fathom." Thor grinned.

Fury just stared.

"Right. Whatever guys. Look, this video feed was sent to us from our base in Michigan. It's where we moved the time machine just in case STARK decided to go on a "destroy all the tech" spree. Watch the video feed from a few hours ago." Fury showed Thor and Clint a screen where they saw the younger Tony speak with a S.H.I.E.L.D agent.

"THAT LITTLE SHIT! You mean to tell me he made it to this fucking time?"

"Obviously." Fury rolled his eye.

"That would explain our Anthony disappearing. The person in the past cannot exist in the same realm as the one in the future. The younger one kicked the older out entirely."

Clint and Fury looked at Thor.
"Sooo...what does that mean? Is Tony floating off in space or something?"
"Not exactly. I don't have the proper words to explain it. But it can be fixed we will have to take the intruding Anthony out of this dimension."

Translation: they had to put him back where he came from.
Clint was sooooo thrilled to be dealing with the younger Tony again. NOT.

He sighed and scratched his head.

"The older Tony showed up in his suit. Why didn't he kick the younger one out of that dimension or whatever?"
"Because the older Anthony going back in time does not alter the younger Tony's future unless they interact in certain ways. Only the Adult Tony is affected in this situation and the youth is the cause.

Thor hoped that made sense. The two men followed what he said. Clint growled because he didn't want to deal with the YOUNGER TONY GGHHHHAAAAHHHH.

"So where is he? Did your guys GET HIM?" Clint asked. Fury's stare was as cold as ICE.

"No."

JESUS FUCKING CHRIST! Clint started to RAGEE he got so pissed off.
"PERFECT! Do you know how hard it is to keep that little shit in line?" Clint and Fury started to butt heads.

"You are actually telling ME this? Wow, I've only had to deal with TONY STARK since he was an infant. He's all yours now. I've cut the damn umbilical cord."
"LET'S GO THOR. I can pretty much GUESS where he is headed."

The archer started to stomp down the hallway and he plowed his way out of the room. Demon Tony (Clint's official nickname for him) was on the hunt for Steve. Steve Steve Steve BLOODY FUCKING STEVE.
Thor followed after Clint and he walked up beside him.

"I think the younger Anthony will be looking for Steven. Do you agree?" Clint nodded his head. YES, HE AGREED.

"That's exactly where he is headed. Demon Tony is going to go straight to his idiot soul mate. We might as well go back to the tower and wait for his junkie little ass to show up."

That was what Clint intended on doing. He wasn't going to run around and chase Demon Tony all over the place.
No thanks!

"What is a junkie little ass?" Thor asked as Clint started to laugh loudly. That was hilarious.. the two headed back to the tower to update the others.

Everyone EXCEPT STEVE.

It didn't take them long to return to the tower and when they did they both headed down to the lab. Clint saw Natasha and he smiled at her immediately. Thor headed straight for the lab to talk to Bruce.

"We Scooby-Doo'd the Tony mystery.." He said as he heard a toilet flush.

Clint arched an eyebrow as the door opened.
AHH! HOLY FUCK The Winter Soldier walked out of the bathroom?!
Clint jumped for cover. Unfortunately for him, the nearest thing to hide behind was, Natasha. Bucky smiled at him and thought he looked like a coward.

"What is HE doing out?"
"He needed to take a piss," Natasha said as Clint reappeared from behind Natasha. He glared at Bucky. The guy used his face as a punching bag ok? That shit was not cool.

Now he was all nonchalantly using the bathroom? ALONE with Nat? Clint wondered, Just what universe was this? Ugh, he ignored it as best he could.

"Our Tony was shipped into another dimension or whatever because his Satan-worshipping younger self crossed over to THIS time. I'm sure he will be heading this way to get to his precious YANKEE. So, Thor and I will put our feet up and wait for him."

Bucky listened to the conversation.

"Sounds good." Natasha smiled at him.
"Are you positive he will come here?" Bucky asked for no reason in particular. TCh really? Clint looked at Bucky.

"Yeah. He'll be here. Are you really following all of this?" Bucky's shoulders raised.

"Anthony Edward Stark has disappeared and a younger version of him is on his way to get a Yankee? It's not too hard to follow." Bucky shrugged and headed with Natasha down to the lab.

Clint held a scowl on his face. Who did that guy think he was? Clint was about to beat him to death with his own arm.
He stepped into the lab and both Thor and Bruce waved for him to be quiet.

"Steven is asleep," Thor whispered as Clint looked over at the table where Steve sat.

He was dead asleep with his head on the table.
The poor guy.
Clint frowned and gave them a thumbs up which meant he understood. He tiptoed over to a chair and he took a seat.

All they had to do was wait. If Tony navigated his way from Michigan then they had a while before he'd arrive.
That gave Steve plenty of time to get some rest.

Clint put his feet up and decided to take a little cat nap as well. He adjusted in the seat and got as comfortable as possible.

It was nap time for him.

ON THE HIGHWAY TO MANHATTAN

The two had to stop and sleep until morning but then they were back on the road to Manhattan. Charlie was awake thanks to the energy drinks and the gorgeous sunlight.
Tony kept him company through most of the trip, but every now and then he would doze off.

Right before 3 pm, Charlie turned onto the exit NY-495 E which would take them right to Tony's destination.
He looked over at Tony and then he looked at his side mirror

He wondered what possessed the teenager to run away like that. Charlie would never argue with a gun and two-thousand dollars.
Tony was covered with beef jerky wrappers.

The truck came to a full stop. Tony woke up the moment he felt Charlie shift into park.

"You've arrived young man. See that huge tower straight ahead?"
Tony shot up and his hair stuck out in every direction imaginable.

He wiped his slobber off the side of his mouth and he stretched his arms.
"That's the place?" he said as he yawned.
Technically Tony was home. He was born in Manhattan but it wasn't like that mattered.

"Thanks so much Charlie! Here you go." Tony dug for the money that was in his bag. He handed it over and he opened the door.
"Take care of yourself kid!" he yelled as Tony hopped out of the truck.

"I always dooo!" Tony said as he hurried over to the HUGE tower. He looked up..up up up.

"Woww.." Tony was shocked.

He walked up to what looked like the front door. Tony knocked on the glass. Was the entire place made out of glass?

Inside the tower, Bucky was back in the cryotube. His babysitters were Natasha and Thor. Bruce went to his floor, Clint was up in his nest. He watched TV to pass the time, and Steve was in his room. He woke up from his deep sleep and took a much-needed shower.

Everyone but Steve knew that the younger Tony was on his way but it had already been over ten hours. They were all restless and they waited.
Steve was still in the same boat he had always been in. He didn't want to deal with Tony or Bucky.

Steve wanted to crawl under a rock. Sure, that was a horrible attitude but he felt that way and it was inevitable at that point. He turned his shower off and he grabbed a towel.

At the same time, Natasha headed upstairs to the common room to get some food. Preferably coffee

Tony was still outside. He knocked again and then he eventually kicked the door.

"HELLO?!" He said out loud as if someone would hear him.

The front door HAD No DOORKNOB. What the hell?
"Yes sir? Did you need to enter the tower?" A very familiar voice surrounded Tony.

He gasped and stared at the glass. He searched for the face.

"Jarvis?"
"Yes, sir. I'll open the door for you." The AI took Tony's voice identification and he opened the door.
Whoaaaa...

Tony stepped inside and he looked around.
HE LOOKED ALL AROUND THAT SWEET HOUSE! It looked like one of those resorts in the magazines.
Ok down to business.

"Jarvis? Where is Steve?" he asked his butler even tho he couldn't find him anywhere.

"He's on his personal floor sir." Ok, Tony really liked being called SIR. It started to grow on him.

"How do I get there?" he asked as he saw an elevator open.

"Sir, since you lack the ability to navigate your own home the elevator will take you to his personal floor. Would you like me to alert him about your arrival?" Wow, Jarvis was being a boob. Tony ran across the room.

"Uhh, no Jarv. Don't tell him I'm arriving." Tony rest his back against the elevator wall as the doors closed.

Natasha headed back to the lab. She drank her coffee down and then she saw a smaller Tony Stark run into the elevator. She almost spit her coffee all over the floor. The elevator door closed and she rushed to the communicator on her wrist.

"Barton he's here. He just got into the elevator. " She looked up at the floor that Tony was going to. Steve's.

She set her coffee down and started to run quickly up the many stairs to catch up with him.

"He's heading to Steve's floor."
Clint jumped up and accidentally kicked his television.

THAT LITTLE SHIT WAS THERE!
Clint hopped down from his nest and he started to run to Steve's floor as well.

"ALL HANDS ON DECK! ALL HANDS ON DECK DEMON TONY IS HERE!" Avengers fucking assemble.

Clint booked it up the stairs. He ran right into Natasha and she wanted to punch him.

"DEMON TONY!"
"I know! Shut up and go." She pushed him ahead of her.

Tony looked around curiously as the elevator doors opened. UHmm. Tony kinda changed his mind. He was nervous to see the Yankee again.

He bit his lip and he stepped into Steve's floor? His room?
Tony walked into the opening of the room and his breath was caught in his throat.

There was the Yankee. He wore nothing but a towel. Tony blushed really badly and forced himself not to look at his strikingly attractive body.

"I'M SORRY!" Tony yelled as he turned away. STEVE ALMOST HIT THE DAMN FLOOR!

HOLY HELL. Steve yelled really loudly because that was the absolute LAST thing he expected. He held his towel and his mouth hung open wide.

Tony laughed and approached Steve.

"I guess we're even now Yankee, you just barged into my room remember? So, turnover is fair play." Tony laughed at his own joke.

He awkwardly grinned and looked around the room.

"TONY?!" Steve stared.

"Hi." Tony waved at him and he bit his lip.

HOW THE HELL?
"How did you get here?"
"I hitch-hiked. It all makes sense now you were from the future. And you live with the older me? Where is he?" Tony set his bag down and he walked in Steve's direction.

"NO, Tony how did you GET HERE?" The teenage Tony was in the present time? That had to have been the reason why the adult Tony disappeared.
Tony got mad and he walked even closer to him.

"You said "you will be seeing me again someday. And when you do I want you to know that I'm going to love you." DID YOU REALLY THINK that you could just take off after saying shit like that?! Huh? Leave things like that? I don't think so, pal." Tony crossed his arms and glared at him.

Steve said nothing. He knew that was a mistake and he paid dearly for it.
"I went to Fury's work and FOUND YOU. Then I hitch-hiked here. Got it?"

Steve couldn't say a word. He stared at the younger Tony and tried to calculate what to say. He wasn't able to say anything to him, because Tony was in his space in less than a second.

He pulled Steve into a kiss. Steve gripped that towel and closed his eyes. The Tony in front of him had done everything he could to find him. Steve couldn't believe it. He didn't hesitate and he just returned the kiss.

Clint and Natasha burst into the room. Thor took the elevator because Tony was no longer using it. Everyone turned to stone except Steve and Tony. Clint's jaw dropped to his chest.

Steve and Tony broke out of the embrace and they looked at the three people that entered his room. Steve held onto that towel tight and he watched his companions surround the younger Tony. They ignored the kiss they saw and they just went for their target.

BABY TONY NEEDED TO GO. Clint, Natasha, and Thor created a barrier between Steve and Tony.

"WHOA are you ZEUS?!" Tony asked Thor as he stared at him. He looked at Clint and he started to laugh.

"HAHAH HI JAMES ROMANOV. Did you miss me?" Tony was actually happy to see him. Natasha looked at Clint oddly after she heard that name.

"Hell no. I didn't miss you. BRAT." Clint yelled at him and then he looked at Steve.

"Oh, Steve. Demon Tony is on his way, totally forgot to mention it sorry." Clint found that funny he turned his attention back to Tony.
Tony stared at Natasha.

"What do you people want?" Tony asked because he felt kinda cornered.
The sexy spy lady was pretty scary. James Romanov was an idiot, and then the Zeus dude had a huge hammer.

"GET OUT OF MY WAY. I gotta talk to him."
"Oh, we are soooooooo getting in your way." The archer said to him as Tony quickly stomped on Clint's foot. He stomped hard and Clint yelled out loud.

HE WAS SO SICK OF THAT LITTLE SHIT! He shoved Tony and the two started to attack and claw at each other. Clint was in a straight-up rage and he didn't care if Tony was in chibi form. Thor pulled the two apart. It was the most awkward fight any of them had ever seen.

"You're a feisty little thing," Natasha said to Tony as she pulled him over by his ear. She thought he was adorable.

"He's a MONSTER."
Tony kicked at Clint. His Reebok shoe landed right on Clint's groin.

HE WAS KICKED ON THE COCK AGAIN! AHHhhh Clint hunched over and tried to crawl down into the fetal position.
Tony jerked away from Natasha and he backed up into Thor.

"I'm sorry little fire, but your adventure ends here." Natasha grabbed Tony's arms. He tried to get away but he had zero chance of doing so. Steve had seen enough and he had to intervene.

"STOP! Let him go." Steve yelled at his friends and they froze where they stood. Steve refused to let Tony be mistreated. It didn't matter which version of Tony it was.

Steve had a thought as he watched the exchange. He walked around Natasha and he approached the younger Tony.

"See. We need to talk so, BACK OFF." Tony barked and Steve gripped Tony's wrist.

"You're smart Tony. You've already figured out that guarded person I told you about, right?" Steve looked down at Tony with a small smile.

Tony gulped and nodded his head. The guarded person was HIMSELF, older? It was hard to understand but he comprehended it.

"So, you know that means you can't stay here Tony," Steve spoke quietly and Tony's face slipped into a frown. He wanted to scream at him. Before he could Steve pulled him over and he began to whisper some information that only Tony could hear.

Tony's eyes shot open as he listened. After a moment he backed away from Steve. Tony processed what he heard and he took a step back.

"That is the only solution I can give you Tony." Tony and Steve stared at each other for a moment longer.

Clint, Natasha, and Thor remained confused. Tony thought for a moment and then he formed a smile.
He understood.

Tony looked at the three room invaders.

"Take me back. Do what you gotta do." Tony shocked the three and then he looked back at Steve.

"Goodbye again Steve."

He was ready to go. Thor approached Tony. He touched the hammer to Tony's forehead. His mind went blank and Tony's arms fell to his sides.

Thor picked up the motionless Tony and he looked over at Steve. Steve had a very sad and worried look on his face.

"Do not worry Steven. Everything will be corrected I promise you." Thor had to take the younger Tony with him.

He left them all behind and he didn't care to fill them in on what he was going to do.

Thor was gone. Tony was gone. His backpack remained on the floor and Steve stared at it. Clint was still rolled around in agony.
"WHAT DID YOU SAY TO HIM?" Clint was so sick of it.

Notes: Guys I am on a roll with this story hahah Hope you all love it as much as i do! Thanks for reading as always and FEEDBACK/ COMMENTS ARE LOVE!