Level: Gomez

by ChokolatteJedi

Summary:

Tony Stark is hit with a burst of magic in the middle of a battle. Things go awry quickly. Fortunately, Rhodey will always come back for Tony.

Chapter 1: Tony POV

Notes:

For the Day 21 Tropetember prompt: "De-Aging"
Also for the Marvel Rare Pair Bingo square: "Unwanted Transformation"

"Stark, report!" an unfamiliar voice barked in Tony's ear, shocking him awake.

"Mmm?" he managed to reply. His face and chest hurt — his everywhere hurt, really — and he was having trouble catching his breath.

"Tony, that was a pretty hard hit. Are you alright?" a different voice asked.

"More importantly, what was with the light show right before you did your meteor impression?" came a third.

Tony finally forced his eyes open, only to find himself contained in some kind of box, with a limited band of light across his eyes giving him an exterior view. "What the—" he croaked.

There was a cacophony of voices again for a moment, before they suddenly cut off. "Hello, young Sir," JARVIS said smoothly.

"J?" Tony squinted, trying to see if he could find his computer through the narrow window. "You th— there, buddy?"

"I am, Sir," JARVIS reassured him. Tony was impressed, and then immediately suspicious. JARVIS wasn't that good at emotions yet. This was his voice, but it wasn't his JARVIS. "If you will bear with me for a few minutes, all will be explained, Sir," Not-JARVIS said.

"Yeah, sure," Tony agreed quickly. "Not like I got anything better to do."

There was a strange noise, and suddenly Tony was being lifted up. It felt like a bridal carry, but he was still contained within the dark, hard space. His small window shifted to what he guessed was the sky, and then it was spinning around with a rush of noise and vertigo.

Tony bit his tongue reflexively and managed not to vomit, but it was a close call. "It will be easier if you close your eyes, young Sir," JARVIS said calmly.

Part of Tony wanted to resist — wanted to try to track their movements, as impossible as they felt — but he also really didn't want to puke inside such a confined space. Giving in, he closed his eyes, and slowly his body settled down a little. The flight wasn't long, and soon they were on the ground again with a thunk. Then they were walking, somehow but all Tony could make out was a series of ceilings and doorways.

Finally, they exited what had felt like an elevator, passed through two more doors, and arrived at what he supposed was their destination, given that he was placed on the ground.

As the person who had carried him clomped away, Tony heard familiar whirring. "Dum-E? U?"

"Indeed, Young Sir," JARVIS said with a fond chuckle.

No! Tony mentally corrected himself. This was Not-JARVIS talking. JARVIS wasn't capable of fondness, and his chuckle was still a work in progress.

The whirring of his bots was followed by hisses and mechanical clicking, and suddenly the box around him opened up. Tony scrambled away from it, blinking rapidly to assimilate the bright lights he was now exposed to.

Dum-E and U both trilled their notes for confusion and alarm. Tony quickly spotted them, looking a little sleeker than he remembered, and realized that what he had thought was a box actually appeared to be a suit of armor. "What the hell?"

"Young Sir," Not-JARVIS said, as a holographic video began playing in mid-air. "This is the you who left this lab approximately two hours and forty five minutes ago."

Tony's jaw dropped as he watched an older version of himself — was that a gray hair!? — work on a table with more holographs. Then he jumped, startled, and jogged over to a small platform. The suit of armor walked up and encased him, and he took off through what appeared to be a tunnel in the ceiling.

"Young Sir, the year is currently 2012. What is the last date you remember?"

Tony's throat was dry again, but he managed to squeak out, "This morning when I woke up, it was November 28th, 1988."

oOo

It took almost an hour, and a good bit of footage, but Tony was finally convinced that this wasn't some kind of elaborate kidnapping attempt. He was also convinced that this JARVIS was actually the future evolution of his own, though it was a bit of a mind-screw to think that, at 25, this JARVIS was actually older than Tony.

JARVIS had shown Tony a series of video clips — with most of the context stripped away — of himself through the years, and he could easily see how the face and body he saw in the mirror became the one that had gone out to fight supervillains in an armor suit in this time. He wasn't all that impressed that his older self had turned into some kind of knock off Howling Commando, running around and saving people, but JARVIS refused to clarify anything else at the risk of creating anachronisms.

Tony couldn't even argue against those commands since he'd been the one to make them, over the past year of his JARVIS's life. He and Rhodey had spent many a late night watching Sci-Fi movies and shows and coming up with impossible scenarios based on them, then creating the appropriate protocols for JARVIS if he ever encountered such an occasion. It wasn't JARVIS's fault that so many of the things Tony wanted to know fell under the TOMTIT Benton Protocol.

He was actually enjoying himself a bit, forgetting about his various aches and pains, and focusing on what he could glean of the future around JARVIS's restrictions, when a large clamor suddenly drew his attention. The lab door opened with a whoosh and a group of people piled inside. All but one were wearing spangly outfits, including a Captain America cosplay. The one exception was only wearing a pair of ripped pants, and — lack of dress aside — he looked the least like he'd gotten into a fight with someone.

"Stark!?" the group called out in various timbres of disbelief and anger.

"J, doesn't this place have some kind of lock down?" Tony complained.

"It does," JARVIS replied. "However the Doctor is able to override it for matters concerning team health. And this situation certainly applies."

Yeah, Tony couldn't exactly fault him there, as much as he might like to. "Hang on, one of these people is a doctor?" Tony eyed them all again, taking note of the anger brewing in the blonde. "Please tell me it isn't the Cap cosplayer."

"Actually, that is the real Captain America," JARVIS said in an odd tone.

Tony rolled his eyes. "So the old man finally fished him out of the ice, huh? Whatever. Which one is the doctor?"

"Doctor Banner?" JARVIS prompted.

Oddly enough, shirtless guy was the one to step forward. "Alright, I can roll with that," Tony decided. "Now as I understand it, the doc has a medical override, but the rest of you don't. So get the fuck out."

"Language," Captain America scolded, which, yeah, now Tony was determined to just curse even more.

"Unfortunately, there is no medical equipment in this lab," JARVIS told him apologetically. "However, Doctor Banner can escort you down to the appropriate facility."

"Fan-fucking-tastic," Tony muttered, just to see if he could give the walking flag an aneurysm. As he followed the others out of the lab, Dum-E gently tugged on Tony's shirt when he passed. Pausing, Tony accepted the small earbud that the bot passed him, and palmed it until he could find a discrete moment.

The entire group followed him and the nudist doctor into the elevator, though Tony resolutely tuned out their questions and kept his mouth shut. He wasn't giving them any information until he could confirm some things with JARVIS, though he did make a note of the name "Pepper" when the living recruitment poster mentioned talking to her about SI. They soon made it down to a well stocked medical lab, and Tony managed to lose most of his entourage when he resolutely refused to strip in front of strangers. All but the doc and spy chick — Tony had seen plenty of spies in his life, and she wasn't even trying to hide it — left then, and they graciously allowed him to slip behind a screen for the actual process of getting into a gown.

He took the chance to immediately slip on the earbud and make sure that it was tucked deep out of sight. "JARVIS, who the hell are these people?" Tony hissed, muffling his words in his shirt as much as possible to keep from being overheard. "I want names, duration, and levels, at least."

"Very well, Young Sir," JARVIS replied quietly in his ear. "Present are Doctor Bruce Banner. Duration: 6 months in person, 12 years by reputation. Level: Bletchley. Alternate persona including physical transformation: the Hulk. Duration: 6 months in person, 2 years by reputation. Level: Mothra."

Tony quickly absorbed that. In his own private code, Bletchley meant that Banner was someone he could science with, and consider an ally, but they weren't exactly friends yet. He should be wary, but could probably trust him with the medical necessities. Mothra, on the other hand… Well, Tony would do his best not to piss off the Hulk if he made an appearance.

"Next?"

"SHIELD Agent Natasha Romanova. Duration: 2.5 years, though using an alias initially. Level: Snivellus. Formerly titled Claudius."

Well that was a betrayal waiting to happen, though he clearly couldn't get rid of her for some reason. It probably made sense to the adult version of him who actually lived in this time. "The others?" Tony asked quickly.

Finding out that Rogers was a Howard — no surprise there — and that the rest of the team consisted of two Fallstaffs — good for a laugh, but not reliable — while being led by another Claudius/Snivellus was disappointing, but not exactly surprising.

Tony didn't have time to ask more questions before Romanova sought him out, and his curiosity had to be put on hold. He participated grudgingly in the medical exam, while managing to get in a few pointed jabs about Romanova's expertise as a nurse and her reason for hanging around watching him run about half naked. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to make her leave. Still, he refused to discuss what had caused his black eye and other bruises, save that they had happened before he woke up in the armor, so he'd managed to maintain a small bit of dignity and privacy.

Finally, after drawing what seemed like an unnecessary amount of blood, Banner confirmed that Tony could leave. Before Romanova could blink, Tony had bolted past the changing screen and into the hallway.

"Close doors, J!" he shouted, then cheered in victory when they slid closed in Romanova's face. "To the lab, full lockout," Tony instructed. "If the doc wants to discuss something medical, he can come alone or talk to me on video. I want top tier blackout, no overrides. Whatever that's currently called."

"Understood, Young Sir," JARVIS said as Tony slipped out of the elevator and into the lab where he'd been previously. The doors locked behind him, and the windows even turned opaque.

Tony let out a sigh of relief and then collapsed onto the ratty couch in the corner. After taking a few minutes just to catch his breath (and ensure that no star-spangled asshole broke through the surprisingly sturdy glass) he removed the ear piece and tossed it onto the table. Seeing an SI branded tablet on the table reminded him that he had unfinished reconnaissance to do.

"Hey JARVIS, what about that Pepper person? She's with SI? What's her status?"

"SI CEO Pepper Potts, formerly your PA. Duration: 13 years. Highest Level: Edwin. Current Level: ToddCopper," JARVIS promptly replied.

"Damn," Tony muttered. If she'd only known him for 13 years before getting tired of him, there was probably no point in even asking… "What about Rhodey? Is he still at Level: Edwin?"

"He is not, Young Sir," JARVIS began. "Current L—"

"Mute," Tony snapped. He really didn't want to hear how far in Level Rhodey had fallen. If even Rhodey had abandoned him… Well, Tony would figure it out, because he always did, but he deserved some time to wallow, first.

Dum-E rolled over to the couch and awkwardly tried to pat him on the shoulder. Tony gave him a small smile back. "Alright, Dum, why don't you show me where the sugar stash is in this place." Dum-E beep happily at him and spun around to show the way. At least he would always have JARVIS, Dum-E, and U.

Chapter 2: Jim POV

Notes:

For the Alternate Whumptober prompt: "Communication Barrier"
Also for the Marvel Rare Pair Bingo square: "Taking Care of Someone"

As Jim came in for his approach to Stark Tower, he eyed the landing pad in the penthouse. "JARVIS, can you get me a clear path to wherever Tony currently is? I want to see him before I get ambushed by any Avengers."

"Plotting route now," JARVIS replied easily, taking control of the War Machine armor. It had taken Jim a while to get used to the loss of control when JARVIS moved the armor for him, but now it was something he barely noticed.

Jim wasn't going to second guess the fact that Tony had told him to remain in DC this morning when the threat was first announced — none of the intel from SHIELD indicated it would be anything but a minor nuisance — but he was definitely going to talk to him about changing their medical proxy protocols. Jim should have been informed the second the team realized something was wrong with Tony.

Of course, JARVIS had already alerted him, and Jim had immediately started extracting himself from his meetings, but he still hadn't officially heard from Rogers or the others. And that was infuriating.

As the elevator doors closed, Jim realized that JARVIS had brought him in through the helipad instead of the armor walkway, and he suspected that there had indeed been an ambush waiting for him. Fortunately, with JARVIS on his side, Jim was able to take the elevator directly to Tony's lab, without anyone else calling it away. The lab was locked down, as JARVIS had warned, but given the medical circumstances, Jim was easily able to override it, and also the mute on JARVIS.

The doors opened with a woosh, and Jim heard a familiar sounding clang, followed by an angrilly muttered "Fuck!" He was fairly certain that Tony had just jolted up and hit his head on whatever he was underneath.

Sure enough, a moment later he saw Tony wiggling out from beneath the hot rod in the corner. "JARVIS, who the hell can override my highest lockdown?" Tony got to his feet and his jaw dropped when he saw Jim, his anger draining instantly. "Platypus?"

"God, it is you, Tones," Jim choked out. He strode forward, meeting Tony in the middle and pulling him in for a hug. It felt different, of course, their bodies not quite clicking together the way they used to when both were the same age. Finally Tony squirmed slightly, and Jim pulled back, though he didn't release Tony entirely.

While Tony did his own visual inspection, Jim cupped his cheek gently, taking in the black eye, and raised an eyebrow. "Howard, I assume?"

Tony nodded. "Thanksgiving," he scoffed. "Of '88, I guess I need to specify."

With that, Jim could place him in the timeline of their college years. "That would be the fight about your latest degree," he realized.

"Yeah," Tony shrugged, then winced slightly. Jim remembered that his chest was pretty well bruised at this period too, and made a note to get him some of their Avenger strength bruise balm soon. "But more importantly, what are you doing here?" Tony sounded far more confused and surprised than Jim thought was warranted.

"Didn't you check your files?"

Tony rolled his eyes. "All these people walking around like they own the place are Fallstaff Level or lower," he complained. "So there obviously isn't anyone better to choose from, if I'm letting them ride my coattails. JARVIS told me that that Pepper woman had only known me for 13 years and she'd already degraded down to ToddCopper. When he said you weren't at Edwin level anymore either…"

Jim dragged Tony into a comforting hug; he could easily fill in the blanks. "You thought that since you'd known her for so long and she'd fallen off the wagon, I must have gone that way too."

"Yeah," Tony mumbled into his chest.

"Sir did not give me a chance to explain." JARVIS added.

Tony flinched, and Jim hurried to reassure him, rubbing his hands up and down Tony's back. "That's fine. That's fine. No harm, no foul. It's been a very long day for you, Tones. I'm not mad."

Tony melted into him the way he always did, and Jim took advantage of his pliant state to drag them a few steps over to the desk Jim tended to use when he was working in the lab. He plopped down in his own chair, with Tony on his lap.

No matter his age, Tony was touch starved, and he immediately nuzzled in close, his breath tickling Jim's neck. "Where do you live? How long can you stay?"

Jim laughed. "Tony, I live here, with you."

"In the tower?"

"Yeah. I was in meetings with the brass down in DC, or I would have been in the battle with you. You made me an awesome suit of armor, just like yours."

Tony melted into him even more at the praise, and Jim took a moment just to stroke his back comfortingly.

"Now, Tones, look up my file," Jim gently instructed him when Tony pulled back enough to meet his gaze.

"JARVIS?"

"Air Force Colonel James Rhodes. Duration: 25 years, 3 months, and 11 days. Level: Gomez."

Tony was clearly confused by the new designation; this Level hadn't even been conceived of in 1988 when his memories stopped. "Spell it out, please, JARVIS," Jim prompted.

"Young Sir, Gomez is an Addams Family reference, created specifically for your husband."

Tony's jaw dropped, and Jim shifted his weight slightly to free up his hand so that he could show off his ring. Tony touched it reverently. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, brat," Jim teased.

Tony quickly looked down at his own hand, which was empty.

"It slid off your finger when your hand shrunk." JARVIS quickly explained. "I thought it would be prudent to leave it there, so it is safe in the gauntlet of your suit, ready for when you're back to normal."

Relief was quickly followed by confusion, and Tony frowned. "Do the others know? The tailcoat brigade?"

"They don't." Jim said evenly. "You gave them their own suites all on one floor, and they automatically assumed that I have a suite on your floor. They've never asked further."

"How is that possible? Do we not talk about us?" Jim could see the twinges of younger Tony's low self esteem, and wanted to cut that off before Tony assumed the worst.

"The military had regulations for a long time that made being caught as gay a dischargeable offense. You insisted on keeping our relationship quiet to protect my career. Though you fought like mad behind the scenes, by the way, and helped get that order repealed. But because of that, we kept it private. We don't kiss in public, and you haven't decided you trust the Avengers enough yet to tell them. Pepper knows, though, and our friend Happy. And Mama, of course."

Tony flung his arms up in the air. "Then what the hell are these people doing in my tower?"

"The very short, minimally anachronistic version is that aliens happened, and superheroes became a thing. I'm in the process of being transferred over to the Avengers full time, without having to retire from the Air Force. We're slightly stalled because, as a Colonel, the military wants me in charge of the team. But SHIELD — yes, Aunt Peggy's SHIELD — wants Rogers, because he's a figurehead and he's tangled up in their webs. That's what the endless meetings in DC that I was caught up in today are all about."

Tony immediately got that determined look Jim knew so well. "I'm gonna fix that."

Jim laughed and cuddled him down under his chin to keep him from leaping into action. "Your adult self and I already came up with a plan. That's why when the call to assemble went off today, you told me to stay in DC and keep everything on track. Trust your older self who has all the information and knows the nuances of the situation."

"You know I don't do well sitting still." Tony huffed.

"Who said we had to sit still?"

That earned him a suspicious look. "You wouldn't let me kiss you when you were nineteen and I was underage. You're really gonna hook up with me now that you're fifty?"

"I'm 44, you little brat," Jim complained, tickling him. "And no, that's not what I meant. What I meant, is that we're going to order pizza, watch movies, play with your bots, and come up with outrageous designs for flying cars and hoverboards and things."

Tony grinned. "I guess I can handle that." Then he quickly turned wary. "I guess if you're 44, Howard would be 95. He didn't make it that long, did he?"

"No, you haven't had to put up with him for a long time." Jim promised.

"Good," Tony sighed in relief. "And Mom?"

"You had less time with her than you'd like," Jim said diplomatically. He really didn't want to risk Tony going off on some half-assed plan to save her if he returned to the past with his memory intact.

"Isn't that the story of my life?" Tony pouted briefly before shifting gears. "Is that really Captain America out there? Howard's long lost love?"

Jim snorted. "Yeah, it's really him."

"Is he as big a dick as Howard made him sound?"

"Bigger," Jim sighed. He'd been thoroughly unimpressed with Rogers since the moment SHIELD had revealed his continued existence.

"Typical," Tony scoffed.

Jim could see the potential for Tony to start dwelling, so he deliberately shifted his legs as though to dump Tony out of his lap, making him laugh. "But enough of that! This is a Howard and Rogers free night! Go play with your bots while I pick out a movie!"

Eyes still twinkling with laughter, despite his bruises, Tony darted up to kiss Jim's cheek, then slipped off of his lap, "Aye aye, Colonel!"

Jim watched him go for a moment, trying to remember if Tony had smiled that brightly the first time they'd lived this day, or if the confirmation that he'd eventually escaped from Howard's reach was responsible. Quietly, JARVIS said, "Your pizza will be delivered in fifteen minutes. What kind of movie did you want to watch?"

"Pick something from our comfort food playlist, but nothing made after '87. Let's not introduce anachronisms on the off chance this is time travel related." Jim sighed deeply. "Any sign of the reactor?"

"No, it appears to be his actual younger body, bruises from that period and all." JARVIS confirmed. "I can't detect any hints of Palladium or Starkanium, and he is not emitting an energy signature consistent with the arc reactor."

"Well that's something. I assume Bruce is working on whatever happened?" Since the Avengers hadn't kept Jim in the loop, he'd need to wait until Tony was asleep to review the footage and test results.

"Yes, and they've called in Prince Thor as well, hoping to get his input if this is magical in nature."

Jim nodded; that made sense. "Maintain Tony's override, but extend it to cover our entire space, not just the lab. Keep all of them off of our floor, including the vents. I don't want Widow trying to get her hooks into him right now, or Rogers setting him off by bringing up Howard."

"Yes, Colonel." JARVIS quickly agreed.

"And do your best to keep him from wandering downstairs where he can run into them?"

There was a decidedly judgemental pause. "You have met Sir."

Jim laughs. "Yeah, I know, JARVIS. But if we use logic instead of demands, and distract him with movies and science and cuddles, maybe we'll get through this in one piece."

"Reasonable as always, Colonel."

"Sour Patch!" Tony called, as the opening strains of the Ghostbusters theme filled the lab.

"Coming, Tones!" Jim called back, following him over to the corner where the projector was set up and letting Tony drag him down onto the couch.

Hopefully soon Bruce or Thor would have answers, and he'd be able to get his husband back.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Gomez 'Verse