i'd trade all my tomorrows (for just one yesterday)
Chapter 2
"This is my fault," Peter rambles, his fingers tugging at his curls. "All my fault...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry–"
"Kid, kid, stop saying you're sorry. And what do you mean it's your fault?"
"I'm the one who brought us back here! I wished that we could go back, and then the Time Stone went all glowy, and now look at us!" Peter's voice grew strangled. "Stuck in 2016."
Tony grabbed onto both sides of Peter's face, forcing his kid to look him in the eye. "And I'm glad for it, Pete." That, at least, got Peter to stop fidgeting and instead look up at Tony hesitantly.
"Are you sure? Because I messed up, so, so bad–"
"Peter." Tony interrupted. "Kid. Come on, calm down, m'kay?" Peter took a deep breath. "You – kid, you've done good." Peter begins to protest, but Tony cuts him off. "No, Peter, don't argue this. Do you even realize what amazing thing you've done? How many people you've saved by bringing us back?"
Peter's eyes widened, and it sort of hit Tony then, too, that they could keep the world – no, the universe – from the devastation that Thanos wrought when he snapped his fingers. Shit, those five years without his kid – yeah, they were torture, but he knew people who went through much, much worse.
He promised himself that this time, they wouldn't have to.
"We're gonna save them all," Peter whispers to himself, and though Tony knows, realistically, that saving everyone is a fool's dream, he doesn't contradict Peter. Instead, he swallowed hard and nodded once, telling himself that he would try his damn best to make that a true statement.
Tony gave himself exactly two seconds to get it together and then stood, ruffling his kid's hair as he did.
He turned to face his teammates.
Teammates. He scoffed inwardly at his wording. Their so-called 'team' was a joke at this time. It had been barely held together at the seams when the Accords were proposed, and then it had broken apart when the secrets and miscommunications led to Tony getting a shield slammed into his chest.
That hasn't happened yet, and never will, he reminds himself, but it doesn't do much to quell the feeling of betrayal that he still gets whenever he sees Rogers.
Sue him.
He'll work with Rogers, to an extent – he's not stupid enough to go after Thanos with the Avengers split like they were last time – but he can safely say that he will never fully trust the man like he did before. Still, Rogers is good for end-of-the-world type situations, and he could use his help in the Thanos department.
Tony looks at Natasha, who has her arms crossed, a tiny crease between her brows as she stares at him, no doubt trying to figure out what just happened. Standing beside her, Steve wore a slightly dumbfounded look on his face as he stared at Peter, who stood a bit behind Tony.
"Tony…" Steve started, his voice hesitant, "you want to tell us why the kid–"
Tony can practically feel the disapproval in his tone, and yeah, bringing Peter to Germany was one of his more questionable decisions, but to be fair, he wasn't expecting Peter to actually have to fight the people who had once been his family. Stupid of him, he knows.
"–was going on about you dying?"
Peter flinched. Tony tensed up at the familiar, demanding tone he heard from Steve, then slowly – slowly – took a deep breath, and let it all go. He reached for Peter's hand, gripping it tightly to remind both him and his kid that they're alive.
"Not now," Tony said, his voice a bit gruff. He cleared his throat. "Get the rest of your team over here, Rogers. Including that Ant-guy. And Barnes."
At that, T'Challa stepped forward angrily, his shoulders tense, and hissed, "Stark, just what do you think–"
"Barnes didn't kill your father, T'Challa. He was framed." Tony said wearily, scrubbing a hand down his face. Peter squeezed his other hand a bit tighter, and Tony appreciated how it seemed to ground him. He squeezed back. Mentally, he went over his plan. Step one - get everyone caught up on the fact that I know best.
T'Challa freezes at his words, and his eyes narrow at Tony. "And how do you know that?" He asks suspiciously, his accent thick.
"I'll tell you once Cap gets the rest of his team here, Kitty, you can put those claws away."
Steve stared at Tony for a long moment. Tony stared back. He wasn't sure what Rogers was looking for, but he must've found it, because soon enough he was reaching for his earpiece and calling the rest of his team over.
Step two - get the Infinity Stones.
Tony is proud that he doesn't flinch at Barnes' appearance. He knows – really, he does – that it wasn't his fault. Hydra was the one who killed his parents, Tony knows this, he knows that Barnes had no control over his body – but he also knows the trigger words aren't out of his head at the moment and Tony can't help but worry that he'll snap and go all Winter-y on their asses. Also, it's kinda hard to look at the person who strangled his mother in the eyes and not give in the urge to punch him in the face.
So.
He's proud of his restraint.
God, he thought he'd gotten over this. He had seven years to come to terms with how his parents died. Being back in 2016 is definitely fucking with his brain.
Wait, no. Step two - recreate nanotech suits and other tech from the future that can help. Step three - get the infinity stones.
Everybody is staring at him. He looked towards Natasha. God, it's good to see her alive. He'd forgiven her a long time ago for switching sides. He knew she was just trying to keep everything from imploding, it wasn't her fault it didn't quite work out as she had hoped. "Are there any cameras or microphones that could pick up what I'm going to tell you?" She shook her head, and Tony let out a long sigh.
Step four - fucking obliterate the purple fucking bastard.
He's gotta tell them.
God, they're gonna think he's gone insane – or maybe they won't, it's not like they haven't had their entire worldview turned upside down before (cough aliens cough). "You guys are gonna want to sit down for this one," he says, and he pulls Peter into his side as he sinks down onto the concrete. The rest of the team follow his example a bit hesitantly, and soon enough, they're all on the ground.
"Okay, first of all, kindergarteners could do better than this – come on now, guys, it's not that hard to sit in a circle," Tony started, smirking at the scowls he received for his snark. Vision looked somewhat lost as he attempted to fold his legs into an acceptable criss-cross applesauce position next to Wanda. "And second–" He's cut off by the sound of his phone ringing, blasting some pop song that he had programmed in as a joke. He flicks his eyes to the screen to see 'PEP' written across the top, and his heart clenched. Pepper. "Um…gimme a sec, I gotta take this." He doesn't remember this happening before, and it's all he can do to stop himself from getting too excited. This could mean nothing, he reminds himself before he puts the phone to his ear, turning slightly away from the others.
"Tony? Tony! Are you okay? Do you remember?" Pepper's voice is tense through the phone, and Tony's heart lifts at her question. Oh thank God, he thinks. He doesn't know what he would've done is his wife hadn't remembered him.
"Thanos? Yeah, I remember," He says softly, and he hears a soft sob sound through the phone.
"Oh my God," Pepper whispers, "Oh my God. I– You– Tony, you died. Died, Tony! You weren't supposed to die! And then Peter – oh my God, Peter – he broke, Tony, and then all of the sudden everything was green and all I could think about was Morgan and how she would never– how she would never get to see you again, and how devastated Peter would be–" she cut off suddenly, and Tony could just barely hear the deep, heaving breaths she took as she struggled to stay calm because all he could think about was Morgan. Morgan, his daughter, who he had somehow forgotten wouldn't exist in this time, who may never exist, and – shit, how was he going to do this without her? How could he go on knowing that he had gotten Peter, gotten his son back, but had lost his baby girl? A hand – Peter's – grabbed onto his own, and he clutched it like it was his lifeline.
His hands shook at the thought of never seeing Morgan again, and he had just begun to spiral into what was sure to be a fucking wonderful panic attack when he heard "Mommy? Are you okay?" sound through the phone. He went still.
"Morgan? Pepper, honey, first I need you to breathe, and then I need you to tell me that you have our daughter right there next to you," he said, somehow managing to keep his voice calm.
There was a pause as Pepper got her panic under control. "Yes, Tony, Morgan's right here."
Tony released the breath he hadn't known he was holding, and loosened his grip on Peter's hand. He let out a hoarse laugh. "Okay, okay – good, that's good," he murmured, drowning in the feeling of sheer relief that was coursing through him. "Can you put her on the phone real quick?"
There was some shuffling, and then Morgan spoke. "Daddy?"
"Hey there, Morguna," Tony said, "how're you doing, kiddo?"
"I'm hungry. Can we get cheeseburgers?"
Tony chuckled. "Yeah, we can get cheeseburgers. Alright, can you give me back to your mom? I love you 3000, sweetheart."
Step five - live happily ever after.
"I love you 3000 too, daddy."
There's some more shuffling before Pepper speaks. "So you're okay? And – and is Peter…?"
"Peter's here too, and I'm fine," Tony reassured her. "We're both fine. Are you okay?"
There was a pause. "I'm…I'm pretty sure I'm in shock, but other than that, I'm fine. And Morgan's okay too, just a little confused."
"Where are you?" Tony asks.
"We came back to my New York office. Luckily, no one was around. I already had FRIDAY fix any footage that caught Morgan just appearing out of thin air, but I called you before doing anything else. Where are you?"
"Germany." He can hear her breath catch. "We came back before the fight started, don't worry."
"Are you…are you telling them?"
"Yeah, I was just about to when you called."
"Okay," Pepper said, "okay. I need to see you, so after you finish with them, come to – oh, we still have the penthouse, don't we?"
"Right." Tony snapped his fingers. "We haven't sold the tower yet – actually, I've just now decided that we're gonna keep the tower, make a note – so we'll meet you there in–" he checked his watch "–around four hours. Tell FRIDAY to get us cheeseburgers, the ones from that place that I like."
"I'll see you guys soon, Tony. I love you."
"Love you too." He ended the call, and then turned to face the rest of the team, who were looking at him in various states of disbelief. "Where was I?"
"Kindergarteners," Peter supplied helpfully.
"That's right – first of all, you guys are worse than kindergarteners. Second of all, we're from the future."
Silence.
Rhodey lets out a nervous laugh. "Come on, Tones, tell us what's really going on."
Tony looked straight at him, his eyes serious. "Rhodey, we're from 2023. I died – after saving the entire universe, I might add – and then the Time Stone took it upon itself to throw us back into our 2016 bodies." Rhodey looked at him skeptically. "I'm serious, Honeybear! Come on, after aliens, time travel shouldn't be so hard to believe."
"I…Jesus, Tones, you died?" Rhodey's voice dropped to a whisper.
"Yeah, hell of a way to go, too." Tony joked. Peter stiffened and Tony thought it might be best to move on.
"So tell us something only someone from the future would know," Natasha said, her voice betraying nothing.
Steve spoke up. "We could always have Wanda–"
"No!" Peter and Tony spoke at the same time.
Tony took a deep breath. "No, we're not doing that." He had already had her in his head once, and that was one too many times.
Steve nodded reluctantly.
Tony thought for a second. "Okay, I know the secret you and Rogers are keeping from me."
Natasha's expression was indecipherable. "So, what is it?"
Tony paused, his eyes flicking towards Barnes. "Uh…the Winter Soldier – HYDRA – killed my parents."
Barnes froze, and Steve quickly moved in front of him protectively. "It wasn't him, Tony!"
"I know that," Tony said quietly. "It was HYDRA, they controlled him. I'm not going to attack him, Rogers."
Steve had the decency to at least look abashed. "Sorry, Tony, it's just that–"
Tony laughed humorlessly. "I know, you would do anything to protect Barnes. Just – promise me you won't go and slam a shield into my chest and leave me for dead, 'kay?"
Steve's eyes widened, affronted. "I would nev–"
"You did." Tony cut him off, keeping his voice carefully void of emotion. He pulled Peter closer into his side.
Rhodey looked horrified at the revelation.
T'Challa chose this moment to cut in. "So if Barnes was not responsible for my father's death, then who was?"
"A Sokovian named Helmut Zemo. His family was killed during Ultron's attack, so he decided to punish the Avengers by ripping them apart." Tony paused. "In my timeline, he succeeded. You let him rot in prison for the rest of his miserable life."
"This is so cool!" All eyes turned towards Scott. He grimaced. "Uh, I mean – sorry, it's just, like, time travel. You've actually time traveled. Like, for real. It's– it's just– sorry, I'll shut up now."
"So we believe him?" Clint asked, his eyes narrowed on Peter and Tony.
"Yes," Natasha replied, and that was that.
Tony checked his watch. "Okay, we've got to go, Pep will kill me if we're late. To the Quinjets, chop chop, let's go!" He clapped twice.
Steve hesitated. "Um, Tony, what about Ross? And the other Winter Soldiers?"
Tony cursed. "Damn, I forgot about Ross. He's got to go. The other soldiers are already dead." He paused, then turned to the Wakandan King. "Can you provide Rogers and his team with asylum while I sort out the Accords? Also, I recommend cryostasis for Barnes until the Princess figures out how to remove the trigger words."
T'Challa hesitated for only a moment before nodding. "You will explain everything, though?"
"I'll head over to Wakanda after I'm finished with my family and fill you in. Let me tell you, the future pretty much sucks, so there are some big changes I'm planning on making," Tony said. "Okay, Vis, Rhodey, Pete – oh, and Nat and Scott, and whoever else – you guys are with me. Everyone else goes with Hello Kitty over there. We'll meet up in Wakanda soon as I can get away."
Everyone stood and began to group up. Tony pushed Peter towards the Quinjet, then forced himself to walk over to where Barnes and Rogers stood. "Hey," he said and the soldier stiffened. "I don't blame you. I blame HYDRA. So–" He held out a hand and smirked. "What do you say we put it all behind us?"
Barnes looked down at the proffered limb hesitantly, before swallowing hard. "No – no, it was my fault…I killed them, how can you even stand to look at me?" His voice was rough with disuse, guilt and disgust in every word.
"You didn't want to kill them, right?"
"Of course not!" Barnes glared at him. "But I did!"
"No, HYDRA did," Tony pointed at him. "You had no control over your actions, so it wasn't your fault. There, I said it, that means it must be true. Now shake my goddamn hand so I can leave."
Slowly, Barnes placed his non-metal hand in Tony's and gave it a firm shake. "…Thank you," he whispered, and Tony nodded before pulling his hand away and walking towards the Quinjet where Peter stood waiting.