AVENGERS BIG BANG: THE TWICE-TOLD TALE (STEVE/TONY, NC-17) II

[arysteia]

Title: The Twice-Told Tale
Author: arysteia
Beta: vaudevilles
Artist: realproof
Pairing: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark (Captain America/Iron Man)
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: some violence, explicit sex, references to WWII
Word Count: 15,789

Summary: For someone he'd hero-worshipped for so long, Steve Rogers in the flesh is a pretty big disappointment. For one thing, he keeps looking

Comments

[x_los]

REALLY ENJOYED this. As much for Tony and Howard's emotional arc as for Tony and Steve's. Why doesn't Steve in the present tell Tony in the present this might happen, once he figures it out, and to have a backup plan for it, but not to leave until Steve remembers him leaving? I guess he has Tony's account of Greg's life to go on, and some personal knowledge that the 'Greg' he knew probably wouldn't have spent the remainder of his life like that, and an abiding faith in Tony's ability to figure out how to deal with this sort of shit, and that might have forestalled him--but yeah, this story made me think about character and how it influenced plot action, and that's always a good feeling to come away from a story with, so thanks!

[x_los]

It's also just a good parallel structure, with them each having a period of not telling each other/knowing more about the other than they can let on.

[j_gabrielle]

UGH. So much awesome. If this fic were a blanket, I'd cocoon myself in it and never leave

♥

[mahaliem]

This was excellent. While I loved the Tony/Steve aspects, I particularly adored the moments Tony had with Howard. Tony Stark's relationship with his father has always seemed to be such a whirlpool of pain in his life and I'm so happy that you helped resolve it.

[taiyou_to_tsuki]

You know, I was perfectly happy to go on reading this as a tentative and tender exploration of Steve and Tony's relationship as it develops when you hit me over the head with surprise!plot. And what a plot it was.

I loved this. I love that the story unfolds gradually in such a way that the reader isn't aware of it, and the inevitable conclusion is almost as much of an "aha!" moment for us as it is for Tony. There's some beautiful symmetry in how the little things that establish and develops their relationship - the "Stark family resemblance", the discussion in the library - also ends up being the resolution to the story.

Also, time travel. I'm a sucker for stories with time travel. Someone take the Doctor Who fandom away from me.

TL;DR I adored this fic, it was all kinds of sweet and compelling. Thank you for sharing. <3