Chapter Text
“There was more than one,” Stephen blurted out one day, years later.
Tony stirred the scrambled eggs in the pan distractedly. “Hmm, what’d you say sweetheart?”
“Timelines where we beat Thanos. I lied. There was more than one.”
Stephen looked over his shoulder toward Tony. From his position slicing oranges at the kitchen island, he was unable to see his husband’s face. He saw the tension in his shoulders, though.
Hastily, Stephen turned back toward the cutting board in front of him.
There was a long pause. Stephen began to wonder whether Tony would acknowledge the admission, or just keep cooking breakfast as if nothing had happened.
“Why did you lie?” Tony asked in a carefully even tone.
“Because there's only one future that I would ever want to live in.”
“What, do I leave you for The Scarlet Bitch in the others?” asked Tony. The joke fell flat, it was obvious from his voice that he was struggling to keep his emotions in check.
“We… we didn’t have a life together in the other timelines,” Stephen explained cautiously, once again looking over his shoulder at the other man.
“In the other futures, did Pepper…”
“No. You and she never survived in the same timelines. When she lived, you died.”
He couldn’t tell Tony the full truth - that he had only survived in this singular timeline. And he most likely would never tell him. It would stir up too many of the old nightmares, for both of them.
Tony seemed satisfied with his answers, though. The set of his shoulders relaxed. He switched off the burner and turned away from the stove to face his husband. Crossing the short distance between them, he wrapped his arms around the other man’s waist. Stephen leaned backward into his touch.
“I don’t know what the other timelines looked like,” said Tony, his lips pressed to the nape of Stephen’s neck, “but this one is pretty damn near perfect.”
“It is the most perfect by far. Trust me.” Stephen spun around in the other man’s embrace as he spoke, so he could look him in the eye.
“I do.”
And as Stephen leaned forward to brush his lips against Tony’s, he was swept away by the simple action.
One future in 14,000,605. A 0.000007% chance.
They had beaten the odds, and Stephen was determined to make every last second count.