Lessons In Love: Chapter Seventy: Birds (Part 4)


The older Tony and the older Stephen had very rosy looking faces when they entered the realm of Oshtur. Steve allowed them in. The soldier even guided them, and he immediately knew what was up.

"Our younger selves are.. uhm.."

The older Stephen felt compelled to explain the rosy cheeks. He glanced over at Tony as the two of them approached the temple. Steve just held a smirk, and then his eyes locked onto his little red corvette.

Tony didn't plan on explaining anything. He just gave Steve a perky smile, and tried to cool off where he stood. Tony thought that those two could talk about it or work it out.

Tony started looking at the temple. He couldn't enter it. Stephen and Tony could only remain outside. Parts of the temple reminded Tony of his parents house.

His eyes wandered, and slowly focused on some pretty Easter Sunday colors. The brunette registered that Steve was still having his chat with Clea Strange.

"Oh, I know what they are up to. My younger self is in a pit of despair."

Steve was exaggerating a little. He had his hand on his heart, and he explained the emotions that he felt from his younger self. Baby Steve was depressed.

They all knew what was going on out there, because all four of them were linked to the baby versions of themselves.

They did it to make sure that they were ok, and they also did it for something strategic. Clea, Steve, Tony, and Stephen had established back up plans for their backup plans. It was the way they constantly operated out there in the multiverse.

One element was missing, but that detail wasn't needed at the moment. Stephen walked toward his wife. It always seemed like he became a bit more focused or fixated around Clea.

Tony and Steve had seen it many times. Something within Stephen seemed to click and he was almost mesmerized by her. Clea had that wizard wrapped up tight.

Especially if they were going to have a child. Tony thought it over as the two magical lovebirds began their staring. The brunette thought it was cute. He had to look over at Steve before he started talking.

"So, this mini-meeting is missing someone. Stephen plans to torture the children, and you are asking me to take over the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme. Where does Tony fit into this?"

Steve was very down to business. He looked relaxed, but he was in his "I have questions and I need to know things" mood. Tony loved watching him. He waited to hear what the grand wizard had planned for the entire group.

"Thor isn't needed yet. He can remain missing, for now. Tony will be doing what he does best."

Stephen pulled his focus away from Clea. It was getting harder for him to do that because he wanted to start some sort of... nesting, with her. He felt ready to be a father, but he understood that nothing was ever going to be normal for them.

He turned his focus toward Tony and Steve. The two of them were all ears, since they were kinda involved. Tony had his arms crossed. He wondered what he did best.

"I've always suspected something about that Surveillant Council. Roma has been trying to pull a fast one on me, so I need Tony to gather information. Go snooping."

That was it. Stephen gave him a small smile. He looked happy when he did it, and it made Tony turn his head to the side.

"You want me to gather information, on Roma?"

They already knew that she was a guardian of the Omni-verse. She outranked them all, and watched over everything that Stephen did.

Actually, she watched over what EVERY Stephen did. She had jurisdiction over every single dimension that they were part of. Roma even outranked Thor.

That was a gigantic task to take on. Tony's jaw was almost on the floor. Steve was pretty perplexed with the development as well. The soldier rubbed the side of his face, and he asked Stephen to start explaining himself.

"I think she has been planning something. I can't see what it is, or figure out why she intentionally tried to create another Vishanti trio. Roma specifically decided to use versions of us that are very vulnerable."

Stephen thought that the young ones were very corruptible. He suspected that Roma intended to use a docile trio and mold them however she saw fit.

The question was, why? Stephen needed to know, and he was beginning to figure it out. Steve was listening, but they all could see that he was deep in thought.

"Roma was not happy that we intervened. I also found the council thing to be pretty odd."

Steve commented, but he kept thinking the situation over. He looked at everyone in the group, but his thoughts settled on Clea.

"She should stay here with Oshtur. When the time comes, I think it's too unpredictable for you two to live in Agamotto's domain."

Steve didn't trust Agamotto. His gut was telling him that they would be safer with Oshtur. Stephen held a small smile as he listened to Steve's opinion. The sorcerer was glad for it, but knew that it wasn't that simple.

Stephen and Agamotto shared a body. They shared a wife, and they were going to share a child. He refrained from commenting on that, and Stephen decided to focus on the other person in that comment.

Clea was welcome to voice her opinion. He wasn't sure if she wanted to, but he was curious to hear it.

Clea had been following along the entire time. She didn't say much, and preferred to just quietly observe. Her jurisdiction was different from Stephen's.

They ruled the Dark Dimension together, but Clea spent more time on the other side. She got to hear more of the talk that was spread between all of the darkness and dread.

"I think this has everything to do with the death of the other Steve Rogers. I think Roma is trying to eliminate the Infinity Stones. She is testing who is essential, and watching the ripple effect."

Clea shared her thought about the original subject. She couldn't comment about Agamotto. That subject made her nervous. The woman felt a little warm where she stood, and she looked over at Stephen.

Wheels and theories started spinning around in his head. They all watched him as he began to think.

"It's always connected.."

Stephen didn't finish his thought. He started re-tracing what he knew, and the Sorcerer Supreme went from there. The death of Steve Rogers in Earth Dimension 3000-21 led to an establishment of a vulnerable Vishanti Trio.

It also led the three of them to have an encounter with Galactus. Stephen decided that part of the puzzle wasn't important. He focused on the possibility that Galactus was a distraction.

"The space stone was on the ship.."

Stephen just kept talking out loud. At that point, he was walking around like some friggen crazy person on a mission. Tony wanted to hand him a Sherlock Holmes pipe, and kick him down the road.

All of Stephen and Clea's mumbo jumbo made Tony snap his focus over toward his main man. Hoo hooo... Steve looked cute over there.

His mind was busy as well, and Tony had to grin.

.

~~~~ Baby Steve had to go on a long run. His heart was in a bit of pain, and he needed to get far away from Bucky. Steve convinced himself that it wasn't a forever thing...

He just couldn't be around him at the moment. Steve felt very defeated, or discontent with the conversation that happened on the roof.

Bucky already told him that he wasn't interested in being in a relationship. But then he said that he lied, so Steve was very confused.

He ran for a very long time. He knew where he was and where he was going, but his surroundings were very different. His home was extra crowded, noisy, and Steve was unable to think.

He stood on the sidewalk and looked out at all the madness. All of it started giving him a bit of a panic attack. Steve tried to breathe normally. He let out an exhausted sigh, and looked up at the sky.

It was much quieter up there. Steve thought of that because his heart and his mind was overloaded. Steve keep looking up at the night sky, and something very bold caught his eye.

Steve's eyes moved to his left, as a shiny Stark Industries sign lit up on the side of a building. Steve stared at it. He remembered the conversation that he had with Tony about being something called a billionaire.

That building was enormous. Steve kept looking at it. In that moment, Stark Industries drew him in. Steve started heading toward that big ugly building. He stopped at the bottom, and hunted around for the front door.

Steve could see his reflection on the glass as he walked up to the entrance. He noticed his size and also realized that there weren't any full size mirrors at the Kamar taj.

He still wasn't used to seeing the changes in his body. When Steve thought of himself, he always held his smaller frame in his mind.

His hands shook a little. Steve was very nervous as he pushed open the fancy glass door. He walked into some other form of reality. Steve couldn't believe what he was seeing.

The front lobby of Stark Industries made Steve hold his breath. He stepped slowly into the space, and his eyes wandered around everything in the room.

"You lost?"

Some man behind a counter spoke to Steve. He had a bit of an attitude in his voice. Steve stopped abruptly, and he turned his focus toward the man.

"I'm.."

"I said, are you lost?"

The man wasn't very patient. He was used to stragglers heading into the front lobby. It was a nuisance for him, but Howard Stark always wanted the front door to be open.

"I'm.. I am. Yes."

Steve felt very lost. He wasn't just confused about Bucky. Steve Rogers was confused about why he was there. His older self never helped him with that, and he never gave him an explanation for the serum.

He only told him that he would figure it out. The older Steve helped him physically adjust to his body, but the rest of it...

The man in the lobby was on the phone with someone. Steve became very distracted at that point, so he didn't listen to any details about what was said. The man was describing him on the phone, and quickly hung up.

"You can go upstairs. The top dog wants to see you. So, get going."

The man pointed toward the right side of the lobby. Steve's nerves picked up and he struggled to find a reply. Top dog? Steve looked where the man pointed. He saw a beautiful elevator.

"Take it to the top."

That was all the man had to say. He continued his crossword puzzle, and he didn't give Steve any further attention.

Steve did as he was told. He headed toward the elevator. The would-be-soldier pressed the arrow for up.

He stepped into the elevator and looked at all the numbers on the panel. The building had so many floors. Steve kept staring. The elevator eventually operated itself. The "Top Dog" was impatient.

Howard Stark was watching Steve on a monitor in his office. He activated the elevator and sent the blonde up to his personal floor.

Howard was hoping to have a conversation with Steve. They could have spoke about anything over breakfast, but he knew that it wasn't the right time.

Tony's father stopped everything that he was doing. He stood up from his desk and fixed his tie. Howard headed out toward the elevator. Steve was quietly trying to process what he was doing. He did understand that it felt right for him to randomly head into that building.

Steve thought of it like a lighthouse. It felt like those bright and shiny lights on the logo lured him in.

It felt like he was being brought out of the dark.


Chapter: END

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