tony ;;
the knowledge that a multiverse exists doesn’t surprise him. tony knew that other worlds existed, but he just never thought he’d have to face repercussions of such firsthand. it makes him wonder who’s the one in the right universe — him ? or the others ? or, even more curious, if all of them have been misplaced.
the thought is too… bendy. wishy-washy. it’s not as concrete of a hypothesis as he’d hope, but it’s something, alright. &, of course: most science had started as wishy-washy until tests were done to prove otherwise.
tony knows he had it lucky. at least, compared to his other self, who he’s sure died in some permanent fashion. the thought is saddening, sure; but tony can’t help that. he’s not his other self. sure, they share the same name… but he’s not the tony that the others seem to know. &, frankly, he’s not going to sit around & pretend he is. he moved here to heal after his coma, & somehow: he’s acquired a flock of kids, he’s reunited with bruce & stephen, he’s been sober for months, & things are good. they can be so good if tony would let himself be happy, & he’s trying to be ! he deserves to be ! tony should not have to be guilted for not being the person everyone else expected him or wanted him to be. so no. he’ll grab the chance that he has to be happy.
so if he wants to have a mechanic shop, let him !
he’s just working on replacing a spark plug when he hears his name called, looking up to see a kid he doesn’t recognise behind him. he may not recognise the kid… but the kid surely recognises him. a ghost from his other self’s past, perhaps ? who knows. something about the kid makes him feel especially horrible for not knowing him. “ yeah, kid ? you alright ? ”
this isn’t his tony, if he even has any right to call him such. but he knows, if aliens exist, surely parallel dimensions must exist as well. harley isn’t just some dumb kid, regardless of what people think, he’s smart. maybe not as smart as any iteration of tony stark, but he’s smart enough to know that if “norse gods” are real, it’s only right that there should be more than one tony stark.
he’s smart enough to know that his tony is dead and not coming back. he’d been to the funeral.
this isn’t his tony. but he’s a tony, a living tony, and that’s more than good enough in his opinion.
he reminds himself that this tony didn’t come crashing into his life, didn’t keep in touch up until the very end, didn’t unknowingly become the only real father figure in his life. but it’s alright because at least he’s here.
“i uh-” he coughs, clearing his throat, trying to temper his voice to avoid getting too choked up. “yeah, i’m fine, i’m sorry i didn’t mean to just come barging in. you uh, don’t know me, right?” he doesn’t mean to sound so dejected, really. “sorry, it’s just, i knew you. a version of you. he, um, he had a big impact on my life. i know you’re not him but...i’m happy you’re here, and alive. you look better than he did, happier, and that’s good. really good.” harley realizes he’s probably weirding tony out big time but he just can’t stop the stilted word vomit.
“shit. i didn’t come here to freak you out, i promise. i just saw the sign and wanted to say hi and it kind of spiraled out of control.”













