Lessons In Love: Chapter Fifty-Eight: Fire in Your New Shoes (Part 2)
Baby Tony immediately started flying through the air. He left Steve and Stephen back in all the dust that followed him. His heart was hurting. Tony was beginning to realize exactly how strongly he felt about the two of them.
All the stuff that his older self said about them was slowly chewing on his head.
As he thought about them, Tony felt a sharp pain. He also felt a throbbing sensation somewhere in the pit of his chest. Tony felt it in that moment, and he needed to get farrr far farrrr away.
So, off he went. The youngest member of the Vishanti trio sped off into the evening sky and he didn't look back.
Baby Steve Rogers and Baby Stephen Strange stayed behind. They both were looking off in the same direction where Tony went, and they formed their own thoughts about it.
They both looked at each other after a time, but then they just headed toward their own rooms. Steven R and Stephen S didn't say anything to one another. They just took their own thoughts and left.
Steve silently retreated to his room and he washed the day away. He took a quick shower and changed his clothing. As he got dressed, the would-be-soldier noticed a blinking light.
The transmitter was blinking. Steve had that in order to maintain a communication link with Bucky. Steve slowly swallowed and he picked up the device. He almost pressed the button to activate it.
Steve hesitated for a moment, and he walked across his small bedroom instead. Steve sat down on the small bed and he rest his head on the thin pillow. He held the transmitter up to his eye level, then he pressed the button to receive the message.
It appeared in a text form. A light was displayed out of the transmitter and Steve was able to read what Bucky had written to him.
He apologized for what he said in the garage. Bucky realized that he overwhelmed Steve, but he wanted him to understand his intention.
Steve kept reading, and his heart kept beating at a pretty wild pace. His body was very warm, and he needed to shift his legs around on the bed.
The blonde finished reading. He started composing a message of his own, but his hands were shaking a little bit. Steve wasn't very good with technology. Everything about it was foreign, but he did his best and sent a response.
On the other side of the Kamar taj, Stephen went to Victor's room first. He wanted to see his brother. He let go of his thoughts about Clea and any thoughts that he had about Tony's random flight.
Stephen got to Victor's door and he gently knocked. He heard him walk toward the door and he smiled when it opened. The brothers took a moment to look at each other, and Victor made a quick comment.
"You're taller. You look ..."
Victor thought that his older brother looked ...older. He also felt like he had to look upward another inch or two. The young one figured that Stephen had gotten approximately two to three inches taller. Victor was convinced of it and the comment made Stephen arch an eyebrow.
Say what now?
"Well, I guess that makes you even shorter."
Stephen returned the comment as his brother gave him a hug. The would-be-sorcerer returned the embrace and he rest his face against Victor's head. Some truth to what was said came to light.
Stephen felt his brother in his arms, and he began to see that his shoulders were naturally resting in another part of his arms. It also felt like he had to lean down a little further as they embraced.
Victor was right. Stephen realized that he was standing taller, or his height had increased somehow. The sorcerer-in-training became puzzled, but he said nothing about it.
As Stephen S and Steven R contemplated and dealt with their own things back on the earth's surface, Tony continued flying quickly through the sky.
He kept trying to calm himself down. His heart was on overdrive or something, and the youngling was obsessively paying attention to the information about his heart rate and vitals. Tony never really understood that he had an anxiety issue.
The Tony Stark that belonged to Earth Dimension 3000-21 was very young. He also had never experienced any of the dangers that he was supposed to, so his issues with anxiety hadn't really surfaced.
Now they were kinda in his face, and the palm of his hands felt very hot.
He raced through the sky as fast as his uncertainty felt, and he didn't pay attention to anything that could have been considered dangerous.
Tony just kept going as he tried to settle whatever was going on beneath his skin. The brunette thought that he was going crazy. He closed his eyes, but then his suit suddenly brought him to a complete stop.
Baby Tony quickly opened his eyes, and he stared directly at his older self.
The older Tony was in his own suit. He was solidly standing in his path, and his arms were gently crossed.
"Whatcha doin?"
He was supposed to be heading toward a little graduation ceremony. Not randomly flying around in no particular direction.
Big Tony waited for a response. He watched his younger self remain silent and chew on his bottom lip. He could see that his baby self wanted to start screaming.
Baby Tony wanted to explain everything to him and leave. DISAPPEAR. But, he was unable to do any of that at the moment. He just floated around in front of his older self, and he started touching the center of his chest.
He tried to rub at the ache. The older Tony watched what he was doing with his hand. The older Tony Stark waited patiently as his younger self felt ready to speak.
"HOW do you keep them from killing one another. You didn't answer me at all. I friggen need to know, right now."
The fiery little Tony was demanding. He wanted an honest answer, and he looked more than a little frustrated. He didn't like that his older self was keeping things from him. Baby Tony had came to a pretty scary realization, so the honesty was desperately needed.
He looked like he wanted to cry. His older self could see him through the translucent suit, and he softly sighed.
"Are you with them both? How could you possibly do that? I'm wiggin out over here about what you said."
HE NEEDED TO KNOW HOW IT WAS DONE. The ache in his chest was too much. His older self felt like the right question wasn't being asked. Baby Tony was taking the long way to get to his point.
Big Tony kept quiet and he waited to hear what he really wanted to tell him. He could see the pain that he was in. The taller brunette's eyes were still focused on that hand on his chest.
"They both... they're both in love with other people. I feel like I am just some passing thought, or just ...a distraction."
Baby Tony closed his eyes. He said how he really felt and warm tears started slipping down his face. He clenched his fist over his chest and the words started slipping out. The truth slipped out and his older self took in a slow breath.
"I seriously want this thing ripped out of my chest. I feel like my heart is broken in there, and they don't even know it."
Baby Tony realized that he loved them. He loved Steve and Stephen. He didn't understand how something like that was possible. He was confused and it felt like he was suffering.
"Mini-me, you need to be careful what you wish for."
His older self was hovering there with what was left of a very broken up body. Big Tony's heart actually had been physically removed from his chest cavity. He had the metal ribs and all the scars to prove it.
He stared at his younger self. His body was completely unharmed, and the older brunette wanted it to stay that way. He started to feel like he needed to say something to his younger self.
It was time to fill him in on things that were pretty scary. He watched him wipe at his tears as he contemplated what to tell him.
"I'm always with them both. We are always together, even when we're not."
Baby Tony looked up when he heard that response. It didn't alleviate anything that he felt in his heart. Tony had never been in love like that before, and the feeling was not welcomed. It didn't feel like sunshine and rainbows at all.
Baby Tony felt sick, and he started crying a little more than before.
"Outside connections for those two are important, because you are a Stark. I personally believe that we are destined to go out with a bang. So ... I suggest you just love them now, however you can."
Baby Tony would find his own way. The older version of himself knew it from experience, so he decided not to answer those stubborn questions.
He knew that his younger self would be fine. It all would come out in the wash eventually.
"I believe that, more so now than before, because of our alignment with Hoggoth. Those two might have to live on without you, so it's best if you just love them, and trust that they love you too."
The details about that didn't matter. Big Tony knew that what he said wasn't a comfort. Every Stark out there had an impending doom around every corner of life. He was convinced of that, and so he decided to start sharing it with his younger self.
The sooner he prepared himself for it, the better.
Baby Tony kept a soft focus on his older self. He remembered him telling him all about Hoggoth as they worked on the suit. He was the last survivor...
The brunette recalled something about the strong feel Hoggoth had for preservation. His older self told him that it made him feel like his need for preservation was heightened after he aligned with Hoggoth.
He also remembered what his older self said about sacrifice. Love, sacrifice, and self-improvement for an impending preservation.
"Does it still hurt?"
Big Tony pointed at his chest. The young one looked down at his hand. A few tears still slipped down his face as he thought it all over. He slowly gave a few nods as his response.
His heart hurt very badly. It hurt even more than before, because he understood exactly what his older self was telling him.
Chapter: END
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