Seeing the look of shock on the boys' faces made Tony's heartache just a little. The look of disbelief hurt even more. He was wearing the face of their dead friend. Of course, they would be shocked and in disbelief at the sight of him. He was faced with a similar feeling of seeing the boys.

"I'm sure you can tell I'm not really the Tony you knew." He whispers, voice careful and kind as he speaks to them. There's silence on the other end of the phone and Tony gathers his thoughts. "I'm from a different universe." He explains, lifting his eyes and smiling kindly at them. He watches them relax slightly and feels himself relax as well.

"Yeah, your um," Peter begins, pointing up to his own eyes. "Your eyes are different." Tony laughs a little at his observation.

"You still have your reactor." Harley pipes up, looking at the bright light that shines through Tony's shirt.

"I know it's confusing and maybe a little odd, but when I heard you two were on this Earth, I thought it would be best to meet you. Especially after hearing about what happened." Tony swallows and the air is thick with the threat of panic. "I know you were good friends with the Tony of this Earth and I'm sorry for your loss."

"Do we exist on your Earth?" Peter asks and Tony tries to calm his rapidly beating heart. He bounces his knee and nods.

"Yeah." He chokes out, voice threatening to crack with the threat of tears looming at the back of his throat. Tony watches as Harley and Peter share a look. It's Pepper who breaks into the conversation before they can ask the question he knows is burning at the front of their minds.

"This is a conversation you three can have face to face." She says, and Tony sends his thanks to her via a shaky smile. She returns it with a less shaky smile. "So, let's get you two into the car that I know is waiting outside and you three can meet tony." And gosh, isn't that a weird sentence to hear. He's sure it sounds even weirder to the two boys in front of him, but they don't show their reaction to the sentence, they just nod and Tony can see tears glistening in their eyes.

So, with a wobbly smile and a shaky finger, he ends the call and breathes heavily into the room.

"This is gonna be rough." He mumbles, running a hand through his hair. He feels someone press down on his shoulder and he glances up. Rhodey smiles down at him and sits in front of him. Happy had left with Pepper and Sam was keeping Morgan company outside. He feels bad for the girl. He doesn't spend much time with her and he knows she just wants to be with him.

They haven't found the courage to tell the child that Tony isn't really her father, but if Tony knows this child like she's his own, she's already figured it out.

"You gonna be alright?" Rhodey asks concern clouding his eyes. Tony clasps a hand on top of Rhodey's as it still sits on his shoulder. He squeezes it and sends his friend a watery smile.

"I don't know." His voice breaks and tears fall. Rhodey brings the smaller man into his hold and rocks him back and forth. He's about to see two kids that he hasn't seen in a long time. He remembers feeling his heart jolt when he first saw them through the phone and he doesn't know if he'll survive seeing them face to face.

"We can call this off if you need to. You're worked up already and I know you got your heart mostly working, but all this panicking can't be good for it." Rhodey whispers to him and Tony's thankful for the support his friend lends him. Tony sniffles and shakes his head.

He pushes himself out of his friend's embrace but doesn't break the light hold Rhodey's arms still have on him. He brushes his hands across his eyes, trying to clear out any of the tears that still linger there. He clears his throat and smiles brightly at Rhodey.

"You'll stay, right?" He asks, trying to keep his panic at bay. Rhodey smiles at him and nods.

"This is something you should do yourself, but you know I'll be right in the other room." Tony nods and thanks his friend.

The sound of tires and car doors opening and closing is what brings Tony out of his cheerfulness and back into slightly panic.

"It's gonna be okay," Rhodey tells him. Tony nods and shifts on the couch. Rhodey's arms drop from his friends back and he squeezes his hand instead. "You got this."

"Mr. Stark?" Tony sucks in a breath and turns his head to face the two boys standing in the doorway.

"Hey, kids." He says shakily. All too quickly, he's body-slammed by the two boys. The air leaves his lungs and he can feel tears running down his neck and he realizes they aren't his tears. Tony's hands move from their spot in the air and down to the boys' backs. He pats them, then rubs up and down in a comforting motion.

He flicks his eyes up past the boys' head and locks eyes with Pepper, then sees Rhodey next to her with Happy behind them. They're crying and that starts up the tears for Tony once more. He sobs and ducks his head in between the boys' shoulders.

It seems like years have passed once the tears mostly stop. The two teens raise their head and smile at him.

"Hi." He breathes out. He shifts and clears his throat. "I guess I can do some explaining now if you'd like." The two nod their heads so fast, Tony's afraid they might pull something. He chuckles and shifts, dislodging the boys from his neck. They stay plastered to his sides on the couch. "I'm gonna make this as short and simple as I can because, in all honesty, I've had way too many panic attacks today to be safe." He laughs in an attempt to wash away their worry, but it only makes it bigger. He quiets their worries and tells them the short version.

"My home was taken over by an alien." Tony swallows and realizes this is going to be difficult no matter what. "Um, he killed a lot of people that I loved." His voice cracks and he feels the boys' press closer to them. "I lost my wife, my daughter, and my friends. They wanted me to make something, and when I wasn't working hard or fast enough, they killed people. I don't know how it happened, but at some point, a portal opened up beneath me and I ended up on your Earth."

"However, they've figured out how to open that portal and they're trying to get into this universe and either take me back or try to take over your world."

"You can't go back with them," Harley whispers, anger in his voice.

"They'll have to go through us," Peter says, and that sends Tony over the edge. His breathing picks up and his ears ring.

"D-don't say th-that." He can hardly hear his own words and as his world darkens once again, he hears his daughter's voice.

"Daddy?"