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Chapter Text

Stephen sat himself in his chair by the Window of the Worlds and checked the time.

It was easier these days with his new Stark Phone, but he often caught himself checking his broken Jaeger though it had been ages since it worked. He’d been tempted many times to take up Tony’s offer to fix it, but knew in his heart some things should remain broken.

It was one forty-five in the afternoon.

He tried to keep to a very strict schedule when he could. His life was so unpredictable these days, he enjoyed structure and order when he could have it.

At one forty-five in the afternoon his favorite tea sat on the windowsill and would take four minutes to brew. Approximately twenty-five minutes after that, Wong would walk by lightheartedly asking which library he’d stolen the book from.

Fifteen to twenty minutes after that, Stephen would feel the beginnings of his heart speeding up and his stomach churning. He’d twist and adjust himself in his chair and focus even more on the text he was reading, but it wouldn't do any good. It never did.

He cursed himself for his own ridiculousness over something he should have more control over.

A juvenile outburst over an unrequited crush was added to his schedule every Wednesday afternoon because every Wednesday afternoon around two Tony Stark got out of his weekly board meetings at Stark Industries and was at the Sanctum by two-thirty.

He claimed it was to foster good team dynamics in the event they’re ever called on to fight together, but Stephen thought he did it just to drive him up a wall. And if they had gotten closer since Stephen had first popped up on Tony’s radar—just after the incident with Dormammu—well that was just a natural consequence.

A part of him felt like he was far too old to have a crush. Too old and too…

He stole a glance at his watch again.

He might be far too old for a crush but though he wanted to deny it, that’s exactly what it was. A stupid crush, something fleeting that would end the first time Tony did something irritating. It wasn’t worth thinking about, especially when he should be studying.

Stephen banished his tea leaves to the kitchen compost, sipped his tea, and opened his book.

Ishtur's Soul Bonds was an interesting text, and he was only at the beginning. He’d borrowed the book from Kamar-Taj with a warning glance from the librarian on duty but dismissed it. No knowledge in Kamar-Taj was forbidden, only certain practices. And he never knew what he might need in a fight. Dormammu had taught him that much.

As he thumbed through the introduction by Ishtur’s apprentice, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Only a few people had his number, and he tried not to get his hopes up as he checked it.

UN investigation reveals ex-Soviet soldier as suspect in bombing

On second thought, Stephen thought with a sigh, perhaps he might have to amend his usual Wednesday schedule. He’d seen the photos of Tony in Berlin with the other Avengers, and knew something must have been going on that wasn’t in the press. He’d read about the Accords, had agreed with them, or at least the idea of them. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj might not be accountable to the United Nations, but they were strictly accountable to themselves.

He knew Tony thought the Accords were necessary and that the world agreed with him. And though he longed to help his friend, he knew that the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had no place in the affairs of the Avengers.

A streak of red passed by him and looked over his shoulder.

“What?” he asked the Cloak as it peered at his phone. “You can read?”

The Cloak bopped him on the head and turned the phone so it could see it.

“My mistake,” Stephen muttered. “You like him, too?”

The Cloak tilted its collar by a fraction and Stephen caught what he’d said.

“I mean, of course I like him,” he sputtered. “He’s extremely charismatic, that’s why he’s a celebrity. Well…I suppose not only that. But that has to be part of it. You don’t see people dressed up as Hawkeye for Halloween.”

The Cloak floated silently by his side, unmoving.

“Oh, shut up,” Stephen said. Great, he was having an argument with his Cloak about his stupid, childish crush on someone who would never reciprocate his feelings. Lovely.

The Cloak scrolled down the article to where it talked about shots fired and how Tony hadn’t brought the Iron Man armor with him to Berlin.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” he told the Cloak, though his heart clenched in his chest. Tony was a force to be reckoned with even without the armor, but cleverness and guile wouldn’t protect him from a bullet. “He’s been fighting since long before us.”

The Cloak swished in a way that looked affronted.

“Well,” Stephen corrected himself, “me at least.”

The Cloak nodded its collar and settled on the back of his chair.

Stephen pushed aside his disappointment, mentally cleared his afternoon, and concentrated on soul bonds.

“What are you reading?”

He’d been so caught up in his thoughts he’d forgotten Wong’s daily meddling. His shaking hands dropped his tea cup, the tea threatening to spill all over the ancient text before it was caught in midair by a spell.

The glare Wong gave him was enough to put ice in his veins. “That text is a thousand years old,” Wong said, banishing Stephen’s tea without a second thought. “I will not see it destroyed because you are too busy daydreaming to read.”

“Wasn’t daydreaming,” Stephen muttered and returned to his book. “And I hadn’t finished my tea.”

“Stephen, why are you reading about soul bonds?” Wong asked, looking like he was tempted to snatch the book from Stephen’s hands.

“I’ve heard they can be used on the battlefield,” Stephen said. He ignored Wong and turned back to the book. “Temporary bonds can be used to augment powers, or so I’ve read in other texts. I want to read up in case they come in handy.”

Intent on ignoring Wong, Stephen attempted to go back to his chapter. He rolled his eyes and rested the book in his lap when he realized Wong was still staring at him. “What?” he asked, looking up and finally seeing the look on Wong’s face.

“Stephen…” Wong started, then shook his head and seemed to consider his words. That icy chill ran down his spine again at the sight of Wong tongue-tied. “Any spell that could alter the soul must be handled with utmost care. Even temporary bonding spells can have permanent effects.”

Stephen cocked an eyebrow. “How, if the spell itself is designed to be temporary?”

Wong shook his head. “The soul is a living, breathing thing. Any spell that would bind it to another’s has to be living as well. And something designed and created to be a connection to life itself can always change.”

Just as Stephen was about to ask what Wong could possibly mean, the wards silently rang out in a way only Stephen could hear. His heart jumped a little in his chest, but he stamped it down, both because it was foolish and because there was no way that was Tony.

He stood and looked through the Window of the Worlds down to the street below and saw Tony Stark pacing the pavement.

“He’s early,” Wong said, looking over Stephen’s shoulder. He seemed to consider Stephen for a moment, then said, “I know he is your friend—”

“Don’t,” Stephen said. His eyes never left Tony as he watched him agonize over whether to even knock on Stephen’s door. He shoved both hands inside his pockets—looking uncharacteristically uncertain—like he was trying to restrain himself from knocking, then turned around to walk away only to double back again.

Whatever had happened in Germany was bad, and Tony obviously thought it was going to get worse or he’d never come to Stephen for help.

Stephen didn’t need Wong telling him that he couldn’t help Tony. He knew that well enough. The sorcerers of Kamar-Taj had hidden their order for millennia. There was no way Stephen could undo all of that.

Even for Tony.

But if there was a way he could help as a friend, rather than as a sorcerer, he would do all he could.

“Don’t worry so much, Wong,” Stephen said, letting his book rest on the chair and going to put Tony out of his misery. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

With just a slight hesitation in his step, Stephen opened the doors to the Sanctum to a still-pacing Tony Stark.

“Forming a picket line?” he shouted.

Tony turned towards him and asked, “What?”

Stephen schooled his face to stoic, but he couldn’t help staring as his eyes took in Tony’s perfectly scruffy hair, sunglasses that framed his face perfectly, and suit that was tailored to his body.

“Um…” He’d been making a joke, hadn’t he? “What are you protesting? You’ve been walking back and forth in front of my door long enough.”

“Coffee served in tea cups,” Tony said, finally coming inside. The wards of the Sanctum welcomed Tony like he was an old friend. “Pretty sure it’s a war crime. So how are things on this side of the world?”

“Nowhere near as chaotic compared to where you’ve been,” Stephen said, moving to the kitchen to offer Tony sustenance. He looked beautiful, but also as though he was about to collapse any moment. “How are you, Tony?”

Tony responded by staring out his kitchen window, which was currently a portal to the Hong Kong Sanctum, where vendors were selling their wares in the city streets.

He was silent for a few moments while Stephen brewed his coffee.

“You know I think you had the right idea, Doc,” Tony said, walking around Stephen’s kitchen. He took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. “You had the absolute best idea. Stay in the shadows. Help people as much as you possibly can, but don’t let them know who you are. Genius-level idea.”

Stephen poured the coffee, a bit of it splashing on the kitchen counter. “Is it bad?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Tony said, leaning over the kitchen table, looking like that photo of Kennedy Stephen had seen in history textbooks when he’d been a kid. The picture had always stuck out in Stephen’s memory. It was a picture of a man—a good man—with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

Tony looked very much like Jack Kennedy at that moment.

He waited for the machine to beep, then prepared Tony’s coffee the way he liked it.

“How bad?” Stephen asked, and pulled out a chair for Tony to sit down, Stephen sitting across from him.

For a long moment, Tony just stared at the seat like he had no idea what to do with it. Then he blinked and sat down, drank his coffee.

“What the hell is this?” Tony looked at it like it insulted his mother. “You drink this?”

“I mean, I don’t particularly enjoy it, but yes, sometimes,” Stephen said.

“Friday, get Stephen and Wong a case of the good stuff. Pretty sure this stuff could shine my suit—”

“Tony,” Stephen gently interrupted because it seemed like Tony wasn’t here to torment him today. This didn’t feel like a social call or an excuse to get Stephen out of the house. This felt very different. It felt like a line was being drawn. Like Stephen was about to be asked to pick a side in an extremely important war.

“Yeah,” Tony whispered and took another sip of his tea. “Yeah, okay, Doc. You’re right. I’m here because… Doc, I need help.”

Stephen took a deep breath and felt his heart drop to the floor. Yes, something very important was about to happen, and Stephen had a feeling he was about to give the wrong answer.

“What do you need?” he asked.

Tony wrapped his hands around his cup, his expression twisted in uncertainty. “Ross is giving me twenty-four hours to bring everyone in, get them to sign the Accords,” Tony said. “I don’t want any more fighting, and I don’t want anyone to get hurt. If we don’t bring them in… It’ll be bad. For everyone who doesn’t want to sign, and for the world.” He peeled off his sunglasses, and looked up at Stephen with sad, dark eyes.

“I’ve seen what those portals of yours can do,” he said. “You could take care of this in a minute. Everyone goes home, no one gets hurt.” His hands gripped his mug, like he was trying to keep himself from reaching out. “Please, Stephen. I know you wanted to stay out of this, but…”

It was like his heart was being torn in two. Stephen had never wanted to say yes to anything more in his life. He knew Tony was being sincere. He didn’t just want to win, he wanted to help his friends and teammates avoid a worse fate. And Stephen knew the skill sets of the Avengers. He knew he could easily and safely transport them to a safer place, somewhere tempers could cool and Tony could have a chance at a real peace.

But he wasn’t a surgeon who could call his own shots anymore.

He was a sorcerer. One of many who’ve protected Earth and the multiverse and could only do so from the shadows.

He couldn’t allow his own desires to help Tony overcome his need to protect the Sanctum. Millenia of secrecy couldn’t be undone because Stephen had a crush.

It’s not about you.

Though…

Looking into Tony’s eyes, he knew he didn’t want to help him simply because of a crush. He wanted to help because it was the right thing to do and hated that he couldn’t do it.

“Tony, I’m sorry,” he said, and Tony was already looking down into his cup.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it, Doc,” Tony said, finishing the rest of his cup with a grimace. “Figured it was a long shot, but I had to ask.”

He looked disappointed, but not surprised, like he’d expected Stephen to say no but still had some glimmer of hope otherwise. Somehow, that was worse.

Stephen shook his head, his trembling hands reaching out to Tony’s before he could stop himself. “Please, believe me, I would if I could. But the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj have existed in secret for centuries. I cannot be the one who brings our order to the attention of the world. If I were to bring in the Avengers…”

Softly, Tony lay his hand over Stephen’s and gave a very light squeeze. Stephen’s stupid, stupid heart almost burst from his chest.

“Yeah,” Tony said, his voice rough. “I know. Really. Maybe I’m an asshole for asking—”

“You’re not. If it was literally anything else, I would do it.” He paused, grasping at straws. “What about the Iron Legion?”

Tony shook his head. “Not the look I’m going for. I’m still working on their reconstruction, plus I want them to know we want to talk. Going with a dozen suits of armor would make it look like we’re there to fight. Which is why I thought—”

He waved a hand towards Stephen.

“But I need backup and the next guy on the list is…well…”

Stephen had no idea what to say, how he could possibly get Tony to understand that he wanted to help, but for once he had to think of something larger than himself.

“Seriously, Stephen,” Tony said, standing up and putting his suit jacket back on. “It’s fine. Come on, who would seriously win in a fight between me and Cap? That’s not even close.”

“Depends on the fight,” Stephen said, his trepidation growing.

“Ouch,” Tony said, a false smile on his face. “You wound me. Look, it’ll be fine. I gotta go hit up a spider in Queens. Burgers next Wednesday? Assuming I’m not being called to testify at the Hague?”

Stephen sighed and nodded his head. He wanted to say more, to try to convince Tony that he truly wanted to help, but to what end? There was nothing to be done, and they both knew it.

“See you later, Doc,” Tony said, walking out the door.

Just as the Sanctum was about to close the door, Stephen stuck his head out and shouted, “Tony!”

Tony turned around, the sun framing his hair in a way that made him glow, looking every inch Earth’s Greatest Defender. He was so struck by him, he almost forgot what he’d planned to say.

“Steve Rogers doesn’t stand a chance,” Stephen said, wanting Tony to know his true allegiance. “A fight between the two of you, I’d bet my lunch money on you every day of the week and twice on Sunday.”

Tony looked over the rims of his sunglasses and smiled. “Well, I can’t have you going hungry. Next Wednesday. Burgers. Your pick.”

“I’ll see you then,” Stephen said, withdrawing back into the Sanctum and not allowing himself to succumb to the desire to watch Tony walk away.

Guilt at his own shortcomings ate at him, but the Cloak held him, gave him a full body hug he was surprised to find he needed.

“He’ll be fine,” he said to the Cloak. “He’s faced far worse than Steve Rogers. And they’re friends…of a sort.”

The Cloak nodded its collar but didn’t seem convinced.

“Well,” Stephen said. “It seems our afternoon is free now. Probably best to keep studying.”

He never knew when he’d been called upon to save the world…again.

*

Ishtur’s Soul Bonds was an extremely interesting book, and full of spells that could potentially be used on the battlefield. Wong had left Stephen to his own devices for the rest of that day and the next, so Stephen never did understand what could be dark about most of these spells.

Certainly there were spells he’d never even attempt to do. They went too deep, the connection between two souls too entwining and permanent. But there were several spells Stephen had already committed to memory that could be of tremendously good use.

One in particular could anchor the soul of someone whose body was damaged to another’s, and the strength of the healthy sorcerer could aid in keeping them alive. The only drawback seemed to be that it required an artifact of great power. But aside from that—admittedly large—hurdle why would this spell not be used in the battlefield more often?

He’d been bent over this book for hours, concentrating on learning as much as he could while also ignoring the pings from news alerts on his phone.

Avengers fight at German Airport leaves War Machine Wounded

Rogue Avengers on the Run After Clash at Airport

And the worst headline, the one that was plastered in all caps on the front page of the New York Times: AVENGERS CIVIL WAR!

He hadn’t heard from Tony in the past two days, but that was to be expected. He’d turned down his request for help. Why would Tony bother coming to him for anything now? The news about Tony’s friend, Colonel Rhodes, was particularly difficult to read. From what the reports were saying, it sounded like the injury was permanent.

Stephen flexed his fingers and tried not to feel regret.

He continued to ignore his phone and kept reading about battlefield soul bonds.

He was almost successful in not thinking about Tony for a full five minutes when a vibration in his pocket had him jumping out of his chair.

“Who calls these days?” Stephen asked himself while the Cloak swooped over from where it had been napping in the sun.

The caller ID simply said, ‘Friday.’

Stephen cast a quick look at the Cloak and accepted the call.

“Hello?” he said.

“Doctor Strange?” said a very familiar voice. “Doctor Strange, it’s Friday.”

Stephen only knew of one entity named Friday, and though it seemed odd to be called by an AI, he looked at the Cloak and realized he shouldn’t throw stones from within his glass house.

“Hello, Friday. Why are you—”

Fear slammed into him like he was walking into an ice storm, like all the heat had gone out of the room and he was left in the freezing cold. “Friday,” he asked softly, “why are you calling?”

“I can’t find boss!” Friday said, her tone more upset than he’d ever heard her. “He was fighting Captain America and the Winter Soldier in Siberia and then I lost him when Rogers put his shield in boss’s chest.”

That feeling of an icy chill ran down his spine until it burned him. He couldn’t have possibly heard Friday right.

“The Winter Soldier was there? Captain America did what?” he asked, though that shouldn’t have been his actual question. His real question should have been where’s Tony?

“He was hurt,” Friday said. “He was holding his own, but it was two against one. I tried to help him as much as I could,” she said, and if she was flesh and blood Stephen knew she’d be crying. “I was with him right until the end, right until Rogers broke the arc reactor. And now I can’t reach him!”

The end.

Stephen had heard enough. He pulled out his sling ring and let the Cloak drape itself over his shoulders.

“Show me his last known location.”

Friday pulled up the coordinates on the screen, and Stephen felt his heart drop even further.

Tony was in the middle of nowhere in Siberia. In a broken suit after a fight with two super soldiers.

Stephen put Friday in his pocket and called the Eye of Agamotto to him, the Cloak wrapping around his shoulders as he created a portal.

The bitter chill of Siberia whipped around him, but Stephen didn’t hesitate. He hadn’t been able to help Tony before, but he’d be damned if he couldn’t help him now.

He just hoped he wasn’t too late.

Chapter Text

Leaving the warmth of the Sanctum and stepping into the cold of Siberia was like being slapped by a wall of sleet, and reminded him of the time he’d broken through the ice on the pond near his home in his youth. Stephen struggled to take in a deep breath, his lungs burning with cold air when he finally managed.

Whatever facility this had been it was destroyed now. Looking around, Stephen could see the repulsor blast marks on the walls and dents from Captain America’s shield.

And blood.

A trail of blood led to a darkened door, silent where the howl of wind whipped through the rest of the destroyed building. He forced himself to move forward, terrified of what he’d find.

There was a loud clang as his boots hit metal. There, at his feet, was Captain America’s infamous shield laying on the floor, tossed there haphazardly after having fulfilled its purpose.

And just beyond it was Tony.

Tony with his chest piece caved in, the indention the exact size and shape of the edge of the shield.

For a moment Stephen couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. He was a doctor, had been a surgeon for years. He knew how to not freeze when things got hard. As a sorcerer, he had to always think on his feet.

But seeing Tony crumbled on some dirty floor in Siberia…

“Friday,” he croaked out.

“He’s alive. But…”

That was what Stephen needed to break out of whatever trance he was in. He kicked the damned shield out of the way and rushed towards Tony, diving to his knees to inspect the damage.

“Hey, Tony,” he said, his hands almost completely useless in this cold. “I’m just going to take a quick look, I promise.” The Cloak had to help steady his hands as he examined first the suit and then the chest it had tried to protect.

At first, all he could see was metal, then more layers and layers of circuity and steel.

Then, blood.

So much blood.

“My God,” Stephen muttered, his head spinning. No. No, he was not going to lose Tony, not when he should have been there helping him. It hadn’t been a fair fight. Two against one? No, Stephen should have been there. There would have been no chance the two of them could be defeated.

But Stephen hadn’t been there. He’d let his allegiance to his Order overrule what he’d known was right. And now Tony had paid the price.

“Doctor Strange?” Friday said sadly from his pocket.

But he was here now.

He created a portal to Metro General, right in the middle of the hallway where he knew they kept the good coffee machine.

Gently, he used magic to pick Tony up, the Cloak coming over to steady him and make sure he moved as little as possible. As they crossed the portal together, Stephen took in all the cuts and bruises on Tony’s face and cursed Steve Rogers to his core.

“Christine!” he screamed as he grabbed the Cloak and had it follow him, carrying Tony like a gurney.

“Oh, Stephen, what now?” she said, putting cream in her coffee. She looked up to scold him, then realized there was a man floating in midair and bleeding from his chest.

Then she realized who that man was.

“Is that—”

“Yes,” Stephen said. “He needs surgery now. Blunt force trauma from an object to his chest. I’m sure it’s aggravated other past wounds.”

There was no need to go into further detail when the entire world knew what had happened to Tony Stark’s chest. The dead arc reactor spoke volumes.

Christine nodded, grabbing an intercom and calling a team in to aid in surgery.

“Do you know what did it?”

In all the excitement and need to get Tony here, of course Stephen had forgotten it. The weapon that had almost murdered Tony Stark. He’d go back to it later, but right now, he had to help Tony.

Help Tony where he’d failed him before.

“Vibranium,” Stephen said, coming with her into the operating theater. “With enough force to break his arc reactor.”

As she washed her hands, Stephen could see Christine’s mind filling in the blanks with what Stephen didn’t say. That the word ‘vibranium’ was hardly ever mentioned unless one was talking about the rarest metal in the world, usually followed directly by ‘Wakanda’ or—

“Stephen,” she whispered, as a half dozen medical professionals began to prep the room and Tony. “What happened?”

Stephen shook his head and cast the best sterilizing spell he knew on himself. There was no way he was leaving this room until Tony did.

As the surgical team scrubbed up, Stephen realized it would be almost impossible for them to help Tony if they weren’t able to get through his armor.

“Friday,” he said softly to his pocket, hoping Friday was still on the line. “Friday, can you help Tony out of his suit?”

Stephen peeked into his pocket. Friday was still there and must have heard him.

“Friday, they need to operate. I won’t leave his side, I promise,” Stephen said, pleading.

“Boss has his own doctors he trusts,” Friday whispered. “He’s had them on his staff for years. He doesn’t trust people he doesn’t know. He’s always afraid his tech will fall into the wrong hands.”

She sounded scared and small, and Stephen knew exactly how she felt.

“I won’t leave his side,” he whispered. “I promise. I’ll stay all through the surgery and his recovery, until he’s stable enough to be moved.”

There was silence that was somehow louder than all the sounds of the surgical team prepping and then Tony’s armor fell off him onto the floor.

Stephen quickly summoned the armor and stuck it in a pocket dimension, the medical team staring when they should be helping Tony.

“Well?” he said with a sneer. Half of them had worked with him when he’d still been a surgeon and responded to his snarl, quickly going back to their duties.

“Okay,” Christine said, finally able to get a good look at the wound. “I need to remove this shrapnel before it decides to book a vacation.” She asked the nurse for a scalpel and the operation began.

Tiny pieces of the armor made the loudest clangs when they hit the stainless steel tub as Christine fished them out. He had no idea how long he stood there, his heart pounding, his body completely still when the clang of the next piece of shrapnel falling was drowned out by the sound of an alarm.

It was the sound every surgeon feared.

“He’s crashing,” Christine said and motioned for the defibrillator to be brought over.

“Doctor Strange?” Friday asked from his pocket. “What’s happening?”

Stephen knew exactly what was happening, but he couldn’t believe it. There was no way Tony was going to die, not today, and not by the shield of his former ally. Not while Stephen still breathed.

The defibrillator failed so they tried again. And again and again.

Christine and the surgical team did everything right, did everything Stephen knew they could do but Tony was still fading.

His body felt colder than it had been in Siberia, colder than the lake in Nebraska. The thought of losing Tony was incomprehensible, not when he could have helped, not when he should have been there.

There was no way…

His mind drifted to the spells he’d just learned, the book he’d been reading for days. A battlefield spell, one that was temporary, one that would use the strength of a sorcerer to keep another alive while the body could heal.

He could do it, he thought. He called up the pages in his mind, blessing his photographic memory. All he needed was the spell and…

Oh.

He needed a power source. Some artifact with enough power to help create the spell and keep it steady for as long as it took for the injured person’s body to begin healing.

His hands drifted to the Eye of Agamotto.

It was reckless, he knew. The Eye was meant to be used in a world-ending event only, not for something so personal.

But Stephen had already put his Order before Tony once and look what had happened. There was no way he could do it again, not when inaction meant Tony’s death.

He lifted his hands and concentrated, turned his fingers though they still burned from the cold of Siberia.

The Time Stone glowed.

“Please,” he whispered. “Please help me. I know I have no right to ask for something so small. I know you’re meant for much, much greater things. But…”

But I love him.

He gasped and shook his head, the realization like a slap in the face. He wanted to deny it—even if just to himself—but knew it was true. But this wasn’t something he could consider, not now.

“But he is Iron Man,” Stephen whispered. “He’s Earth’s greatest defender. If he dies, it will make us weaker. If he lives, he may just save us all.”

The Time Stone’s glow increased, but Stephen couldn’t tell if it was agreeing or disagreeing, whether it had any idea who Tony even was.

Was it possible for one of the building blocks of the universe to even know one man?

The glow increased and Stephen felt a calm come over him, something from outside of himself giving him approval.

“Thank you,” he breathed. Without waiting another moment, Stephen twisted his hands and called up the spell.

“Clear!” Christine called again and tried to restart Tony’s heart.

“Move,” Stephen said, expecting to be obeyed instantly as he always had been in surgery.

For a moment, no one moved a muscle, too shocked and perhaps too well trained to obey the order of a man who had no business being in the operating theater in the first place.

It was understandable, but he didn’t have time for this. And neither did Tony.

“Move!” he shouted and watched as all but Christine scattered. She quickly leaned away from Tony, trusting but not understanding what Stephen was about to do.

His hands moved in just the right pattern, and he closed his eyes and called upon his magic. He had never used the Time Stone in this way before, but he felt its approval, its agreement that to help Tony was to help the world. He could feel himself siphoning just the smallest amount of power from its nearly endless supply and then he pulled.

His hands glowed golden and he let loose the spell, hitting Tony with it with all of his strength.

A breath tore out of him, his own strength being taken from him and he suddenly realized why he had to have a strong relic to aid him. Tony was taking his power, his life-force to strengthen his own. Stephen felt his heart skip a beat, the breath leaving his body for a moment as the spell settled and began doing what it was intended to do.

“Hit him again,” he grunted.

Christine nodded to the surgical staff, who did so.

Stephen held his breath for a split second and then Tony’s heart started again.

“Stephen?” Christine asked.

“Keep going,” Stephen groaned, his hands curling into fists despite the pain. “Don’t stop.”

She started again, removing every bit of shrapnel that was left and then began the slow process of stitching him back up. Pints of blood were given, and there were several close calls, but Stephen held fast.

Tony wasn’t dying. Not today.

By the time Christine closed the wound, Stephen was dead on his feet. The Cloak picked him up and helped him to stand, and the Time Stone kept him from passing out.

And all the while, he felt a connection to Tony. As he stood there—as he floated—there began to be a faint echo somewhere in the back of his consciousness. Some faint shadow that grew and grew until he couldn’t dismiss it anymore.

He was terrified to tear his concentration from the spell. He knew he should look inward to examine it, but the shadow felt friendly. Perhaps it was related to what Wong had talked about. Consequences to linking souls, even temporarily.

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Tony lived through this operation.

Finally, Christine and the rest of the surgical team were done.

“Doctor Strange?” Friday said from his pocket. “Is it over? Is boss okay?”

“Yes,” he breathed, but still held fast to the spell. Just in case, just until he was sure. “Yes, he’s going to be fine.”

The nurses prepared to take Tony to the recovery room, and Stephen told the Cloak to follow them.

“No,” Christine said, coming over to him still covered in Tony’s blood. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re not going anywhere but a bed.”

“A spell,” Stephen said, his words barely audible.

“Yeah, I guessed that,” she said. “Something to help him? Something that’s hurting you?”

He gave just the slightest nod.

“Okay,” she said. “Can your cape carry you to the recovery room?”

Stephen staggered a breath and said, “It’s a Cloak.”

“Stephen!”

The Cloak nodded its lapels, and they left to the recovery room. The Cloak made itself into a hammock, cradling Stephen as he tried to stay out of the way of the nurses who were making sure Tony would survive post surgery.

The shadow towards the back of his mind was still there, not growing any larger but seemed more substantial. Like it was gaining form and strength.

Stephen cast it from his mind, putting all his remaining strength into the spell, giving Tony as much as he could. He felt his body giving out on him, saw his vision greying.

He barely managed to mumble, “I don’t know how much longer I can—”

“He’s okay,” Christine said. “The surgery was successful, Stephen. You can rest now.”

Hearing her permission was all he needed. His ironclad grip on the spell ended, and he held on to consciousness just long enough to be sure Tony’s heart kept beating when he’d finally let go.

It did.

“Thank you,” he whispered to the Time Stone. It responded by glowing brighter and then closing its eye.

He must have finally passed out because the next thing he knew, Christine was holding a sports drink with a straw to his lips. The Cloak was still holding him, and Tony was still alive.

“Drink,” she said.

“Tony?” he asked after a moment.

“On the mend,” she said. “I don’t know what you did, but it saved him. I was losing him. He’d lost too much blood, and too much damage was done. Whatever you did, you saved Tony Stark.”

It was literally the least he could do, Stephen thought, since he had been the one to fail him in the first place.

The click of high heels against the linoleum floor distracted them both, and Christine hurried outside. Stephen kept drinking his drink, intent on portaling himself home when the doors to the recovery room swung open.

Pepper Potts walked in.

Tony had told him that the tabloid rumors were true, that they really had broken up, for good this time he’d said. But from the look on her face, it was also true that they’d remained friends.

She stood over his bed for a moment, lightly touching his hand, and looking relieved but angry in equal measure.

Then her sharp gaze turned to Stephen.

“Doctor Stephen Strange,” she asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

He nodded.

Her lips did something odd, like she wanted to smile but was physically incapable.

“Friday said you saved him.”

It was true in the most basic of ways, so he nodded again.

“Thank you,” she said, and this time she did manage a small smile.

Stephen nodded again and then sleep took him quickly.

*

Tony was still asleep when Stephen left a day later. Now that his strength had returned and he was finally able to think clearly again, he wanted to examine the little shadow at the back of his mind.

But first things first.

He hesitated saying goodbye to Tony.

Pepper stood by his bedside for her daily visit just as Stephen wanted to give Tony one last good look and go home. He feared getting too close to Tony while she was there, as though one look from Stephen would reveal everything he felt, everything he wanted to deny and hide.

Because he couldn’t be in love with Tony. Not after he’d failed him so badly. Not when there was no way Tony could possibly love him.

“Feeling better?” Pepper asked, and her smile was easier to come by this time.

Stephen nodded then stole a glance at Tony in bed. Tony, who was so still when he was always the most animated person in the room. Tony, who was attached to so many wires and machines.

“Yes,” he said. “You’ll let me know when he wakes?”

“Of course,” she said. “We owe you his life. I won’t forget it.”

A lump formed in Stephen’s throat. He nodded, but thought his smile looked constipated.

“I’ll come by then,” Stephen said, taking out his sling ring, “and I’ll bring his busted suit. And one other thing.”

From the furious look in Pepper’s eyes, she knew exactly what he meant.

He gave her a nod, then he created a portal directly to Siberia.

Walking through this time was no better. The icy cold still stung his face and hands, the blood on the floor still screamed its accusations that Stephen hadn’t done enough.

He ignored it all and found the shield.

There wasn’t a scratch on it. He’d half expected to find its edge tipped in blood, the sides of it bent beyond repair, but it looked as perfect as the first time Stephen had seen it in a history textbook.

As far as Stephen was concerned, it belonged to Tony now. It went into his pocket dimension along with Tony’s broken suit. He’d give them back later.

*

Three days later, Stephen stood outside Tony’s bedroom in the Compound.

After doing little more than sleeping and eating for the past few days, Stephen had finally stirred when he received a call from Pepper saying Tony was awake and asking for him.

Stephen had showered and dressed quickly before portaling over, and now he was forming his own picket line just outside Tony’s door.

The shadow in the back of his mind was still there now, days after he’d ended the bonding spell. He’d been too exhausted to research why yet, but if he was feeling the effects what if Tony was as well?

The spell was made to be temporary so why was this happening? And if it had affected Tony, would he hate Stephen for performing magic on him when he hadn’t been awake to consent, even if it was to save his life?

It was as though an axe hung over him, and Stephen had no idea if it was about to fall.

“Doctor Strange?" Friday said from some speaker in the ceiling.

“Yes?” he said, afraid of being called out.

“Boss says to ask what you’re protesting.”

“What?” Stephen asked, then recalled a bad joke from a few days ago and huffed out a nervous laugh. He pushed aside his fears and opened the door.

One look around the room told Stephen this was Tony’s actual bedroom. It had a modern style with deep, dark colors offset by windows that beautifully framed the rising sun. There were tablets laying around and little bits of electronics that were too advanced for Stephen to identify.

“Hey, Stranger,” Tony said from his bed.

His first instinct as a doctor was to look Tony over head to toe, look for signs of infection, general status of the patient. “Hey,” Stephen said, giving a once over to the various bags and machines Tony was hooked up to. His nurse must have just visited because everything looked perfect. “Looks like they’re doing an excellent job. How do you feel?”

Tony groaned and said, “Like a super soldier just hit me in the chest with a vibranium shield.”

Just as Stephen was berating himself for asking an insensitive question, the shadow in the back of his mind seemed to flash. For a split-second Stephen felt sorrow that wasn’t his own.

His eyes immediately went to Tony’s.

Soft, warm eyes smiled as he took Stephen in, and the guilt pushed aside whatever that flash had been. Tony shouldn’t be happy to see him, not after what he did.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen said, and had never meant those words more in his life. The line had been drawn and Stephen had chosen the wrong side. He’d known it as he was making the decision, and he’d still done it. There was no excuse.

“For what?” Tony asked.

“For this,“ he said, waving a hand over Tony. “I should have been there. I should have gone with you.”

“Hey, no,” Tony said, and reached out to Stephen’s waving hand. “Don’t do that. This wasn’t your fight.”

“I want—” Stephen said, but stopped himself before he could complete his sentence.

I want all your fights to be my fights.

“I should have gone with you,” Stephen finally said. “I’m sorry I didn’t. This entire mess could have been avoided. God help Steve Rogers when I find him.”

“Hey, don’t,” Tony said, shaking his head. “I don’t want that. I had to talk Pepper out of a manhunt, please don’t make me give the same speech.”

Stephen couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “He almost killed you. No,” he said, pacing the room, “he did kill you. Your heart stopped for several minutes! All because he disagreed with the Accords—”

“The fight had nothing to do with the Accords,” Tony said, his voice softer than he’d ever heard it. “I don’t…really want to go into what it was about, but it doesn’t matter. I can’t keep fighting that same fight. I have bigger fish to fry. Something’s coming. I don’t know what, but I know it’s big. And I have to be prepared, I have to start a team almost from scratch and…”

He trailed off and laid his head back on his pillow, suddenly exhausted.

“I can’t waste time thinking about this. I’m a futurist. I have to look forward,” he said. “Can’t spend any time looking back.”

Here was another line drawn in the sand. Maybe Tony wouldn’t want his help now after he’d denied him before, but Stephen wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

“I’ll help you,” he said. At Tony’s surprised look, he said, “I should have helped you before. I should have found a way, any way that prevented all this.”

Tony continued to look shocked, like he truly hadn’t expected Stephen to lift a finger to help him in his fight to save the future. The little shadow flickered in his mind’s eye.

“That is, if you’ll have me,” he finally said.

“I’d have you any day of the week and twice on Sunday,” Tony said with a smirk, giving Stephen a look that he must have misunderstood. There was no way Tony…

“Besides,” Tony said, looking away, “Pepper said you saved my life. Pulled me out of Siberia, worked some of your hocus pocus right there in the operating room,” Tony said. “Something about using your powers to keep me alive?”

Shame ripped through him like a fire, burning him from the inside out. He still didn’t fully understand whatever the consequences had been from that spell, and here was Tony thanking him.

“Hey, Doc,” Tony said, squinting at Stephen like he was seeing him for the first time. “You okay? I just had the weirdest…”

He trailed off for a moment then blinked, like he dismissed whatever thought had come into his head.

“Anyway, thank you,” Tony said. “For whatever you did. But please don’t hurt yourself for me again. I’ll be fine. Always am. Definitely didn’t survive being kidnapped, an alien invasion, and rogue AI just to die…”

He gave a sad smile as he trailed off again, and Stephen felt the shadow again flicker with sorrow. His eyes shut for a moment, almost like a long blink and Stephen knew he should allow Tony to rest.

He had no idea when he’d see Tony again, but at least he was alive and well and had seemed to suffer no adverse effects from their temporary bonding.

“Perhaps you’re right,” Stephen said, some faint echo of sadness tickling the back of his mind. “Maybe moving forward is the best way to go.”

“Futurist,” Tony said. “Always looking out for tomorrow. And speaking of tomorrow, you busy?”

“Um,” Stephen said, because no aside from studying and training early he wasn’t. “No.”

“Great,” Tony said. “Bring me a cheeseburger, will you? Pepper has me eating applesauce and yuck. If I don’t have a cheeseburger soon I may actually die.”

Stephen blinked, not really believing what he was hearing. That Tony not only didn’t hate him for casting a spell on him, but actually still wanted to be friends.

It was more than he’d ever hoped for.

He nodded absently, shocked and amazed.

Tony shivered once and seemed to look inward. After a moment, he said, “I’ll get a big screen in here so we can watch a movie. You can pick.”

Stephen nodded, and marveled once again at the impossibility of Tony Stark.

*

He quickly created a portal for the New York Sanctum and stepped through.

Just that short trip exhausted him, and sleep called him, but he knew he needed an answer to the question of this shadow first. Twice, he’d felt a flickering of something in his mind’s eyes, the shadow showing emotions that were not his own. He made himself a cup of tea and sat himself down with Ishtur’s Souls Bonds next to the Window of the Worlds.

He flipped to the spell he’d used and noted that it didn’t have any warnings, no caution that the spell could evolve or grow the way Wong had warned. It seemed to be a simple spell to save another’s life.

He quickly skimmed the rest of the book, not really concentrating, flying over pages with horrifying spells that split the soul and worse, looking for any evidence of what he was feeling.

Then, he recalled a very important lesson Mordo and Wong had once given him about reading the entire book before casting a spell.

He flipped to the end of the book, and on the very last page was written:

“A warning for all those attempting the spells in this book:

Soul bonds are a living, breathing thing and can be affected by the sorcerer who casts it. Even a temporary bond can leave a lasting mark if the affection of the casting sorcerer is deep enough. Those casting these spells should use caution and should not use a spell if they cannot accept the possibility of permanent consequences.”

Stephen’s heart plummeted.

What had he done?

Quickly, he reached out to the back of his mind, to the place where the shadow seemed to be. It felt fuzzy to him still, like it lacked an outline, like it wasn’t entirely stable.

He took a deep breath and looked harder.

He saw nothing, but all he could feel was Tony.

Stephen gasped, his head spinning, and opened his eyes.

He blinked and the Window of the Worlds faded away. Darkness overtook the room for a moment before he felt like the world was spinning.

A bright light shone down on him, almost blinding him in its intensity. He was no longer seated by the Window of the Worlds, but was in a different part of the Sanctum completely. In front of him was the door to the library, and to his right was the living room.

And to his left, out of the corner of his eye, was a door he had never seen before. It didn’t exist. There had never been a door in that place in the Sanctum.

He tried to turn his head but found he couldn’t move. Whatever vision this was, he was doomed to observe and not interact.

Steadying his breathing, he tried to take in any other changes to the Sanctum, but there appeared to be none. The light felt the same, and Stephen felt healthy and whole. As he calmed, he realized he felt safe.

Just then, Wong came out of the library.

“Stephen,” he said in greeting. “Is it finished?”

Stephen’s vision swam again and the premonition ended. He was once again seated at the Window of the Worlds.

The book fell out of his hands and hit the floor. He trembled as he began to understand what he had done, though he couldn’t begin to fathom the consequences. He should have listened to Wong.

His mind swam with unanswered questions. Would Tony know? Was it possible that Tony could see Stephen’s shadow? Whatever bonding had happened, Tony had appeared to be unaffected.

Regret threatened to drown him before he realized one thing: if he had never read the book in the first place, Tony would be dead. He knew that was the truth, that his actions saved Tony’s life. But the consequences didn’t only involve him. He’d made a decision for Tony that was irrevocable. There was no way of knowing exactly how this would affect either of them.

Tony had to be unaffected, Stephen thought. That was the only way he could still want to remain friends, still trust Stephen to be on his team, to be in his home.

He thought of cheeseburgers and movies and how nothing was ever so simple.

As he began to think on the consequences of his actions all that came to mind was one thing:

They really should put the warnings before the spell.

Chapter Text

The cold darkness of space had never bothered him.

No doubt it was a product of growing up playing on the Bifrost, the rainbow bridge always feeling like home to him. The starry expanse of forever was more a comfort than something to fear. He and Thor would constantly be at play on the bridge itself or in the conservatory, fighting with wooden swords or pestering Heimdall to tell them all he could see.

But that had been before Loki fell.

Before Thanos.

Loki stood silently among the bodies of his people, people he’d finally stopped running from, people he had returned to save. Returning to Asgard hadn’t been an easy decision, nor had returning to Thor and their people on the Statesmen.

But he had been running for so long.

After his failure in New York, he’d been relatively safe in the prisons of Asgard, but since then he’d been in hiding. Thor still thought he was hiding from himself, from his own failures, but that was a lie.

Or, like most of his lies, perhaps it was partially true.

But what he had truly been running from all this time had finally found him.

“I know what it’s like to lose,” Thanos said. Loki hid a shudder, the fear running up his spine a paralytic. “To feel so desperately that you’re right, yet to fail nonetheless. It’s frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same. And now it’s here. Or should I say, I am.”

His fists clenched as Thanos leaned over Thor, grabbing him by his head and dragging him towards Loki. Never in his long life had he wanted so badly to fight but been unable. He just stood still, jaw clenched, only his eyes moving as he took in the bodies of his people laying bloodied all around him.

Half. Thanos had killed half of the Asgardians.

No, he thought. He killed half of the survivors who had successfully fled Asgard for Earth.

Hela had already decimated their people. There was no way of knowing how many were left. And now he had his hands on Thor.

It was so very tempting to try to run. He was good at running. He could try his luck. Take the Tesseract from his pocket dimension and see how fast he could activate it and save himself. He could keep running. Maybe Thor would understand.

But he was no longer that Loki. At some point, between Sakaar and Asgard, something had shifted inside him. There would be no leaving Thor behind, nor their people.

Because Thanos was here for one reason and one reason only.

Loki had the Tesseract, and Thanos knew it. His insane quest to slaughter half of all life in the universe would only be realized once he attained all six stones, and the Power Stone already glowed in a gauntlet Thanos flashed.

One stone and five empty slots. If Loki gave him the Tesseract—the Space Stone—Thanos would have the ability to move anywhere in the universe with a twist of his hand.

He closed his eyes and silently apologized to Thor.

Because there was no way he could allow that to happen. Thanos could not have the Space Stone. The death of one man—no matter how much he did love his brother—was nothing compared to the carnage Thanos would raze across the universe.

“You talk too much,” Thor spat, his mouth dripping with blood.

If he was honest with himself—which was a new phenomenon—he wasn’t quite sure if he was apologizing for what this had come to or for taking the Tesseract in the first place. He only knew he wished he could tell Thor that he wasn’t betraying him this time. Not really. And if he could please not equate it with every other time he’d betrayed him.

“The Tesseract,” Thanos said, drawing his attention away from Thor, “or your brother’s head. I assume you have a preference.”

He clenched his fists and forced himself not to look at his brother’s face. And then he told the greatest lie he’d ever tell.

“Oh, I do. Kill away.”

Instead of pummeling Thor to death, Thanos activated the Power Stone and used it to burn a hole into Thor’s head. His agonizing screams tore straight through Loki, forcing his gaze to stay on Thor’s face as he screamed in torment. He attempted to turn inward, to the place he’d tried to go when he was faced with his own torture.

But he couldn’t tune out Thor’s screams. He just had to stand there and watch as Thanos slowly, painfully, hurt Thor in a way that wouldn’t kill him for a long time.

Just like he had done to Loki.

Exactly like he had done to Loki.

“All right, stop!”

Thor gulped a deep breath and rasped, “We don’t have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard.”

Thor was going to be so disappointed with him. He was extremely surprised to find he cared. He pulled the Tesseract from his pocket dimension and lowered his face, not to avoid Thanos’ boasting grin…

But to avoid Thor’s disappointment.

“You really are the worst brother.”

Loki shook his head, wishing he could make Thor understand, searching for some hope he could still get them out of this.

“I assure you, brother,” Loki said, imploring Thor to listen, “the sun will shine on us again.”

“Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian,” Thanos said.

From behind Thanos, a large shadow began to stir. Loki knew that shadow well. He should given he’d feared it for years.

He never thought that one day he’d be fighting side by side with the Hulk, but war made for strange bedfellows.

“Well, for one thing, I’m not Asgardian,” he said, purely to confuse Thanos and give the Hulk time.

“And for another…” The shadow stood up and began coming this way. He only had to time this right…

With a smirk, Loki said, “We have a Hulk.”

Loki dropped the Tesseract and dove towards Thor, covering his body and then dragging him to safety while the Hulk roared and pummeled Thanos.

“Brother, move,” Thor grunted, coughing up more blood but still trying to crawl to where Loki had dropped the Tesseract. “There is still time to undo what you have done.”

The accusation stung like a blow, but Loki held fast to Thor, not allowing him to move. Any one of Thanos’ children could pick up the Tesseract and Loki had no desire to fight any single one of them let alone all of them.

Soft footsteps grew nearer to them, nowhere near as loud as Cull Obsidian’s tromping or Corvius Glave’s heavy boots, but terror gripped Loki’s heart all the same. Those footsteps were familiar, and Loki would have preferred any other but those.

“No,” Thor muttered and tried again to slither out of Loki’s grip.

Loki wrapped a hand around Thor’s mouth, his eyes no doubt stricken with terror, and this time Thor finally stilled.

The soft footsteps stopped not five feet away from them and picked up the Tesseract. Loki closed his eyes and took a deep breath, but he knew his fear, his absolute terror was obvious to Thor.

They stayed as still as possible as Ebony Maw passed them by.

What felt like an eternity of pain flashed before his eyes, memories of his torture at the hands of the most insidious of Thanos’ children.

“Brother?” Thor whispered, his hands finally reaching out for Loki instead of trying to claw his way back to a battle he could not win.

“Quiet,” Loki hissed and tried to bring himself back to the nightmare of the present, rather than be trapped in the nightmares of the past.

Behind them, the Hulk had lost in a fist fight against a Titan. Loki wasn’t surprised but he was almost out of options, and he barely had a hold of Thor. He couldn’t imagine what it would take to subdue the Hulk, if it came to that.

“All-fathers,” Heimdall rasped, “let the dark magic flow through me one last time,” and then Loki heard the unmistakable sound of the Bifrost activating.

And then Hulk was gone.

And then Heimdall was gone too.

“Oh, no,” Loki whispered, because as much as he had never liked Heimdall, he didn’t want him dead. Even when Heimdall had committed treason against him, he hadn’t wanted him dead. Memories of a thousand trips to the Observatory to pester him with questions filled Loki’s mind as he watched the life leave Heimdall’s eyes.

He summoned every bit of strength he had and forced Thor to remain hidden, though it was only due to injury and loss of blood that he was able to do so.

“No, brother,” Thor said, his voice no doubt meant to be a shout but came out a whisper. “He’ll die for that.”

“No, you would die for that!” Loki hissed and forced Thor down. “You’re a king now, Thor. You can no longer afford to go into battle half-cocked, with no plan.”

“Let me go, brother,” Thor cried as he struggled, his face twisted with tears and pain. “I must avenge our people—”

“No, we must save our people!” Loki cried. “They don’t give a damn about us right now. His mind is already on acquiring the next stones. We stay quiet and maybe we live to save our people and fight another day.”

In the past, Thor had never bothered to listen to Loki’s advice. All their lives Thor had, at best ignored, but sometimes downright mocked Loki’s more strategic nature. But the muscles underneath him stayed tense but unmoving, Loki thought perhaps Thor was a new Thor in the way Loki was a new Loki.

All Loki could hear was the labored breathing and soft sobbing of Thor. He strained himself and picked up the conversation Thanos was having with his children.

Earth. They were going to Earth next.

Which made sense since the sorcerers of Earth had had the gall to keep the Time Stone for the last several thousand years. And, if Thor was correct, the Mind Stone was currently placed in a living being.

“Just another moment, brother,” Loki whispered, willing this to be over. Just let them leave so he and Thor could help their people in peace.

As Loki had thought, Thanos used the Space Stone to transport his people. He no longer needed a ship for himself. He now had the ability to cross the universe with a snap of his fingers.

He held his breath for a moment, then another…

And then they were gone. The attack on their ship was over.

Thor and Loki had survived.

“Oh, brother,” Thor said, not bothering to get up off the floor. “What have you done?”

Loki wanted to defend himself. Of course he would take the Tesseract. What had Thor thought he would do with it? Even Surtur’s fires weren’t enough to destroy an Infinity Stone. Had he not taken it, Thanos would have only found it faster. There was no way Loki would have allowed that to happen. He took the Casket of Ancient Winters with him as well. Thor should have expected him to do that, so in a way it was…

Loki looked to the floor, unable to look at Thor’s remaining eye.

“We must…” He wiped his face, his eyes making tears for no good reason at all. No doubt all the ash in the room. “We must see who is alive and try to save as many as we can.” He was unable to stand up for some reason. Which was ridiculous because the threat was gone now. No matter that he had just stood down Thanos, no matter that Ebony Maw had come within a stone’s throw of him.

“We must—”

Purple fire engulfed the ship, setting an unnatural fire to everything. Thor got to his knees and wrapped himself around Loki just as the fire began to destroy everything.

“Loki, do not let go!” Thor shouted as the ship was torn apart. “Loki, hold on to me! Loki, do not—”

Loki held onto Thor as tightly as he could and then there was nothing.

Just the cold, darkness of space.

*

“Seriously, you don’t have any money?”

Stephen truly didn’t mind paying for Wong’s tuna melt, but there wasn’t much he could tease him over. Wong was relentlessly professional, punctual, and adept. All of which was wonderful for a colleague and friend, but left Stephen with slim pickings for joke material.

As opposed to the material he gave Wong, which was apparently multitudes. Over the past two years, Wong had grown to treat Stephen much like a little brother: strangely protective but a punching bag for jokes.

“Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual,” Wong said. “Why don’t you just text Stark to take you out to lunch? He can’t be too busy.”

Case in point. Wong hardly missed an opportunity to tease Stephen about his friendship with Tony.

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Stop,” he said.

“Somehow he always seems to know when you’re hungry,” Wong said, teasing him still. “Wait five minutes and maybe he’ll show up.”

His heart may have skipped a beat, but he grumbled, “He knows I’m hungry because it’s lunchtime. Not because he has some sixth sense.”

That was true, but not the full truth. As much as he wanted to deny it, there were signs over the last two years that their temporary bonding had affected Tony. Him showing up when Stephen was hungry was nice, but Tony seemed to know when Stephen needed him, truly needed him.

When his hands were hurting and shaking so badly he needed the Cloak to help him dress, Tony would show up with his favorite tea. When he and Wong had lost a fellow sorcerer to a demon raid, he showed up with a bottle of Scotch and listened to stories of a man he hadn’t known. And a few times, when the absolute dread of facing the worst threats of the multiverse had Stephen terrified and in despair, Tony would show up with just himself.

Which was all Stephen needed.

And through all of it, the last two years, the shadow in the back of Stephen’s mind remained. Stephen now had no doubt Tony felt the effects in some way, even if he didn’t realize it. Nothing else would explain his ability to show up just when he was needed.

But Wong knew nothing about that, and Stephen wasn’t about to tell him.

Stephen scoffed. “Tony does not ‘take me out.’ We have lunch together occasionally. Sometimes.”

“Twice a week is not occasionally,” Wong said. “And sometimes it’s dinner.”

“We have to eat,” Stephen said.

“And somehow he always seems to pop up when you’re in one of your moods,” Wong said.

“He’s a good friend,” Stephen said, trying to dismiss Wong’s very valid point.

“A good friend who never lets you pay for your own meals.”

Stephen rolled his eyes. “Consulting gigs are hard to come by when you can’t commit to a schedule, even when you were the best neurosurgeon in the world,” Stephen said. “It’s kept the fridge stocked well enough.

“And it’s hardly never. But I refuse to feel guilty for allowing my billionaire friend to occasionally buy my meals, especially if he wants to dine at a five-star restaurant.”

Wong usually never turned down an opportunity to tease him, but this was too much. “And what is with you today?”

Wong smirked. “Nothing. Just must be nice, being courted by Tony Stark.”

Most of the time, Stephen enjoyed Wong teasing him like a younger brother. Being an older brother himself, he felt like maybe he had some of it coming, but it mostly felt refreshing to know Wong cared enough about him to treat him with such familiarity.

But sometimes he poked in just the right spot.

Tony was in no way courting him.

Stephen had tried to deny his feelings for Tony, even if only to himself, but it was difficult to fight your love for someone who was always showing up at your door when you most needed him. And it was love. After that first realization, there really was no denying it. And how did Stephen have even a chance of not falling in love with the most amazing man he’d ever met.

But just because Tony had been an amazing friend to him for the past two years didn’t mean he felt the same way that Stephen did.

Which was fine. Stephen enjoyed Tony’s friendship. And if Stephen wanted more, that was his own problem. Tony shared his time and his life with Stephen enough.

It was more than he’d thought he would get, and—after his failure to help at the airport—it was more than he deserved.

He wanted to snap at Wong, tell him he’d gone too far, but instead he muttered, “Who says ‘courted’ anymore?”

“Stephen,” Wong said, lifting a hand to show he was being serious. “I make light of this because it’s obvious to everyone who sees the two of you together. Even Stark’s ward can see it.”

“Peter,” Stephen said, thinking that was one more good thing Tony had brought into his life. “He’s not his ward, he’s his intern.”

“And he’s not in love with you, you’re just a friend,” Wong said, like Stephen was an idiot.

Stephen sighed and sensed he wasn’t getting out of this.

“You realize the sooner I leave, the sooner you get your sandwich,” he said.

“Then I’ll make this quick,” Wong said. “You’re never as happy as you are when Stark is around. And his smiles seem more genuine when he’s with you.”

“Oh, come on,” Stephen said, beyond annoyed. “How do you know what his real smiles look like?”

Wong remained unimpressed. “Friendship is a wonderful thing. Love that comes from friendship is something I very much wish for you. You deserve some happiness, and Stark seems to want to give it to you.”

Wong’s earnestness was almost too much. His eyes focused on anything but Wong’s face, anything to not have to confront the truth.

Because the truth was, there was no way Tony loved him.

“What do you want for lunch?” Stephen said, eager for this conversation to be over. “I’ll see if the guys at the deli will take a metaphysical payment plan.”

Just as Stephen was checking for his wallet his phone buzzed.

There were still only a handful of people who had his phone number, but he fought the small thrill of hope that made his heart skip a beat at the idea of who it could be.

“Is that the newest Stark Phone?” Wong asked.

“Shut up,” Stephen said, checking his message.

It was a picture of a small black duck with white wings that bore a passing resemblance to his hair.

From Tony Stark:

Ducktor Strange

He tried to fight a smile but couldn’t help himself. It was so incredibly stupid and yet so endearing, and Stephen knew he was ruined. Wong was right. Stephen did love Tony now more than ever. Little things like this weren’t helping the matter, they only made his love grow deeper.

Wong looked over his shoulder again.

Instead of teasing Stephen mercilessly again, he sighed.

“A tuna melt,” Wong said, and the awkward conversation seemed to be over. “Preferably from that cart near the park.”

Stephen nodded absently, still looking at the stupid text Tony had sent him.

A part of his heart that would always be foolish felt just a glimmer of hope, but he squashed it down. There was no way someone as amazing as Tony Stark could ever love him.

*

“Okay, get this. So I had this crazy dream last night,” Tony said. He slowed his pace and turned to Pepper, just a little giddy to share.

“This is where I’m a good friend and say, ‘tell me all about it’ even though I know I’m about to roll my eyes so hard,” Pepper said.

“You’re such a good friend, Pep. So, you and Happy…had a kid,” Tony said, remembering the dream fondly. “Really cute, named him after your eccentric uncle. What’s his name?”

Pepper stopped jogging and did the promised eye roll.

“Morgan! So are you—”

“You really think I’m pregnant because you had a dream about it?”

Tony grinned. “That’s not a no.”

“No, Tony,” Pepper said.

“Aww, come on! I want to be Uncle Tony! Just think about it. You’d be this great mom, ‘eat your vegetables, Morgan. Go to sleep on time, Morgan’ and then I get to come visit with a bunch of toys and chocolate, keep him up late playing video games. The little guy would love me.”

“I would hate you.”

“I would be his absolute favorite uncle, hands down, no competition.”

“Still not pregnant.”

“Well, is Happy gonna pop the question soon? It’s been two years. This is getting ridiculous,” Tony said, and he meant it. “I remember when he came to me, asking for permission to ask you out…”

“Wait? He asked you permission?” Pepper asked, getting that cute little crinkle between her eyebrows she got whenever Tony was being ridiculous.

“Yeah, of course he did. Bro code. He can’t just go out with my ex without coming to me first,” Tony said, but he had no idea why this had to be explained. Didn’t everyone know the bro code?

“Okay, wait a minute.”

“Happy’s a great guy, is all I’m saying,” Tony said. “When is he going to take the plunge?” It wasn’t like Happy had any doubts that he wanted to marry Pepper, and he wasn’t crazy. He knew exactly how amazing she was.

Tony was so lucky they were still friends.

Out of the corner of his eye he watched a flock of ducks land on a pond. They landed so smoothly the water was barely disturbed, just the gentlest of ripples as they touched down. As they came on land, they separated a little from the each other, and one of them walked up to them to see if they had any food.

“Oh no way, this is amazing,” Tony said, doing a double take on the little guy and pulling out his phone. “This duck looks exactly like Stephen.”

And it did! The little Stephen-duck was all black except for its wings, which were a pure white. He pulled out the remainder of his protein bar and scattered it for the little guy to eat, then he took a picture and sent it to Stephen.

By the time he looked up, Pepper had a raised eyebrow and a smirk on her face, which was never a good sign.

“What? Did you want the rest?” he asked, gesturing to the wrapper.

“You want to talk about me and Happy, but what about you and Stephen?” she asked.

Tony struggled for a second, but managed to keep the smile on his face. He had a feeling his eyes told the truth though, at least to Pepper. “What about me and Stephen? We’re friends, good friends. Things are great.”

“Tony…”

Ugh. He never could hide from Pepper.

“What? We are.” And they were friends. Maybe even best friends, which was weird because Rhodey had been his best friend since he’d been an age where it wasn’t weird to call someone your best friend. But he and Stephen were definitely something.

Before the fallout with the Avengers he maybe had a little crush on Stephen. Nothing big, plus it was pretty natural to fall for a fellow big brain with a pretty face. And Stephen was a next-level asshole so he could take whatever Tony dished out and vice versa.

For the first time in a long time, it had felt like he’d made a real friend. He didn’t want to ruin that by trying to get into Stephen’s pants.

And for once he’d made the right decision because not long after they’d met, he needed a friend. So much.

He’d almost clung to Stephen after the fallout of the Accords. Rhodey was healing, he and Pepper were still working out their post-relationship friendship, and Peter was a kid.

So he’d maybe leaned a little on Stephen, but he tried to be the best friend he could be. Tried to put aside his silly crush and focus on building a good friendship. Stephen always looked happy to see him, so that had to mean something. And sometimes, it was almost like Tony had some sort of weird sixth sense for when Stephen was having a bad day.

Maybe it was some leftover magic from when Stephen saved his life? He had no idea, but unlike other magic, whatever this was didn’t hurt.

Actually, it was the exact opposite.

He couldn’t describe it, even to himself. It wasn’t so obvious as a chill running up his spine or the hair on the back of his neck standing on end. But somehow, he knew Stephen needed him. The closest thing he’d compare it to was Peter’s spider-sense.

And so his Stephen-sense would tingle and Tony would go. No question, drop everything. Stephen needed him. Being there for Stephen was always the easiest decision.

“Tony,” Pepper said, looking around to make sure she wasn’t seen by overzealous photographers before taking his hand. “You remember the other day? Friday called me over because she was worried you hadn’t slept in two days.”

“Which was ridiculous because two days is nothing for me. And I was on a roll! The new nanoparticle suit—”

Pepper smiled that sad smile she used to when they were dating. Tony shut his mouth.

“You told me you would stop work in a minute, but that’s what you always told me. Then Stephen just…showed up. With pizza.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, but Pepper had no idea how common an occurrence that was. That day Stephen showed up with pizza and helped Tony to wind down enough so he could sleep. Stephen even walked with him to his bedroom to make sure he’d make it there.

But that wasn’t the first time Stephen had shown up when he needed him.

That wasn’t even the tenth time.

Whenever Tony felt his lowest, Stephen somehow managed to show up. Sometimes he’d bring cheeseburgers or coffee he’d picked up somewhere in Nepal—and thank God cause that bargain stuff they’d had before was garbage.

Sometimes he’d show up empty-handed but it didn’t matter.

Because he showed up.

Not just when Tony was in a good mood and offered to pay for dinner. Or when he happened to have tickets to some museum opening and needed a plus one. Stephen showed up when Tony really needed a friend, and that was all it took for Tony to go from having a crush to falling and falling hard.

So maybe he’d made the right choice by not pushing for more with Stephen at first, but now he was in hell. Because Stephen was the most amazing man he’d ever met in his life, and he was absolutely in love with him.

“In my defense, it was my favorite pizza,” Tony said, trying to steer back to safer waters. “He put me in a food coma, I was defenseless.”

Pepper dropped his hands. “Tony.”

“What?”

“You know he feels the same way you do,” Pepper said.

“Ah,” Tony said, his heart breaking just a little bit. He started his jog again, considering lying to Pepper but of course she saw right through him. “Nope.”

Tony tried to tell himself it was enough. Most days he almost kinda believed it.

Because sometimes, if he concentrated hard enough, it was almost like he could feel Stephen with him. Even when he wasn’t there.

He shook away the thought and looked away, towards some food trucks with lines of people waiting for food.

And saw Stephen himself.

He turned to the little Stephen-duck. “Did you do this?”

The duck said nothing, which was incredibly suspicious.

“Doc!” Tony said, waving before he realized he’d just called a lot of attention to himself. Camera phones went off as everyone realized they were in the presence of Tony Stark himself.

Ah well, it was bound to happen.

He greeted Stephen with Pepper in tow. “A little far from the Village for a snack,” he said and heard a dozen camera phones going off, which probably meant at least a dozen more were on silent.

“Wong wanted a tuna melt, and you know how he gets when he’s hungry,” Stephen said.

“Yeah, I never get in between Wong and his lunch,” Tony said, smiling up at Stephen. The sunlight was playing with the angles of his cheekbones, and his eyes matched the smile on his face. “Things might be a little easier if I—oh, I don’t know—agreed to fund your Sanctum. Since, you know, the two of you are literally all that stands between New York and eighteen-foot-tall fire demons.”

“Fire demons are at least fifty feet tall,” Stephen said, without missing a beat. “Everyone knows that.”

“Yeah, Tony, everyone knows that,” Pepper said, with that knowing smile on her face.

“Ms. Potts,” Stephen said, looking embarrassed that he’d ignored Pepper. And yeah, maybe he’d had only eyes for Tony since they walked up.

Huh.

“Always good to see you, Doctor Strange,” Pepper said, a smile on her face. “Tony, I think I’m going to head back to the office.”

“Are you sure?” Tony asked. He loved his biweekly Pepper run.

“Yup. See you for dinner,” she said and jogged away.

“I hope she didn’t leave on my account,” Stephen said. “I’ve always liked Pepper.”

“You’ve always liked ganging up against me, is more like it,” Tony said. “And no, she’s probably just tired. She’s—you know—old and frail.”

They watched as Pepper stretched a little and then took off in a sprint towards the nearest taxi.

“Yeah, she’s really falling apart,” Stephen said.

“She hides it well,” Tony said. “So hey, if you want a decent sandwich there’s a place a few blocks from here that’s great.”

As he contemplated eating, he realized he had no idea how long it had been since he’d hungered for anything but Stephen. And if Tony was making excuses to hang around him for a little bit longer, then that was his business.

“I’ve seen what you call a decent sandwich,” Stephen said. “I think I’ll pass.”

“What are you talking about? I have great taste!”

“The other day I saw DUM-E put a piece of plastic in between two slices of bread and hand it to you.”

“That wasn’t plastic,” Tony said. “It was a piece of what I can only guess was petrified pastrami that had gone really off. Technically still edible.”

“You’re unbelievable,” Stephen said, but his smile betrayed him.

Maybe Pepper was right. Maybe Tony did have a shot. Maybe it wasn’t completely too late.

“Come on,” Tony said, and bumped into Stephen’s shoulder a little. “Pepper abandoned me, and I haven’t had my walk yet.”

“We all know how antsy you get when you don’t get your walksies,” Stephen said, falling out of line and walking with Tony.

The day was gorgeous, a great day to have a run through the park. Exercise was more of a Pepper-related activity for Tony, not something he ever really did with Stephen.

For reasons Tony totally knew but pretended to ignore, he preferred to take Stephen places. Lunch was a common occurrence, and dinner when he could spare the time.

“So did you tweak that bug in your new suit?” Stephen finally asked, breaking the silence.

“Bug? No such thing. I improved upon my suit, yes. The boosters are now at least thirty-one percent more powerful, just in case I need to catch up to a plane or—”

Or catch someone who was falling, Tony thought.

“I’m sure that will be useful,” Stephen said. “The Cloak is an incredibly powerful relic, and being able to fly is absolutely invaluable, but it’s not very fast.”

“Which is why I should be able to come along with you when you face Beelzebub,” Tony said, taking the in. “Maybe not all the time, but sometimes. I could be helpful, in case you need me.”

Stephen sighed. It wasn’t a topic Tony brought up often, but it had come up more than once over the last two years.

Stephen was way too reckless with himself in battle. Tony finally realized what he’d been putting Pepper through all these years because Stephen was a menace. Yeah, Tony might have flown a nuke into a wormhole, but that was because there was literally no one else who could have done it.

It was a Hail Mary, a last resort, not something Tony would have chosen for himself.

Stephen, on the other hand, seemed to have no qualms about offering himself up first.

“I can be an honorary wizard. No decoder pin, but I get to come to the meetings,” Tony said.

“I’m not sure if I should be warmed by the offer or insulted that I can’t take care of myself,” Stephen said.

“The first one. Definitely.”

“Tony—”

“Look, I just…” Tony looked away from Stephen and stopped walking. They hadn’t walked far, still around the lake with the ducks. A few of them had gone back into the water, smoothly gliding around. His hand almost ached with the want to take Stephen’s hand in his.

He’d thought about it enough times. He’d have to be gentle. He’d go slow, to give Stephen time to pull away. But maybe Stephen would let Tony hold his hand, and everything he’d been holding in for the last two years could finally see the light of day.

He shoved his hand in his pocket.

“There hasn’t been much need for the Avengers, but I know that if I call you, you’d come,” Tony said. “I just want to return the favor, Doc.”

The smile Stephen gave him was small, but his eyes shined and something inside Tony settled. Tony clenched his fist and slowly took his hand out of his pocket.

“Look, Stephen,” Tony said and thought about what Pepper said. “I care about you. And I—”

Just as he was about to take the plunge, golden sparks lit up into a portal, Wong on the other side. The ducks abruptly flew away.

“Wong?” Stephen said, the Cloak darting out from the Sanctum to Stephen’s shoulders.

Wong didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. On the other side of the portal, the Sanctum was in ruin. Something had ripped through the ceiling and the staircase, destroying everything in its path.

“What happened?” Tony asked, when suddenly there was movement on the other side. There was someone else in the Sanctum with Wong, someone who looked familiar.
“Bruce?” he said, shocked to see his old science bro in the Sanctum, of all places. Something that felt like ice stabbed through Tony’s heart. He hadn’t seen Bruce since the Quinjet went off radar, just after the fight with Ultron. He looked lost, like he’d been through his own version of hell.

“Hey, Tony,” Bruce said, then crossed the portal to almost collapse into Tony’s arms.

And just like that, all thoughts of sandwiches and maybe finally talking to Stephen were forgotten. It was time to go to work.

Chapter Text

He remembered a desolate alien world and all his friends laid out around him, dead and dying. He remembered Steve’s accusation, that he could have done more.

Every step he’d made since then had been to prepare for this. Every step—every misstep—had been a desperate attempt to be ready so when the big bad actually showed their face the world wouldn’t burn for Tony’s lack of foresight.

Knowing this was coming wasn’t making it any easier.

Fears planted into his heart years ago swam to the surface, Tony knowing that the thing he’d dreaded for so long had finally come. Wong’s magic PowerPoint presentation ended and there was no doubt in his mind.

The big bad he’d seen so clearly all this time was finally coming.

“Tell me his name again,” Tony demanded.

“Thanos, Tony,” Bruce shouted, already half out of his mind in panic. “He’s a plague. He destroyed the Asgardian refugee ship. Refugees. He killed Thor and Loki, and he’s coming here. Now!”

Tony grunted and buried his face in his hands. That was almost too much to believe. If you took Tony out of his glorified tin can, he was just a man. Very squishy, very easy to kill.

But Thor was a god. No one had even come close to hurting Thor, not even an extremely pissed off Hulk.

And now Thor was gone.

His friend was dead.

Tony shook himself. He couldn’t think about that now, couldn’t let it be real. He’d have time to mourn when this was all over, but he wasn’t going to lose anyone else to this guy. Not one person, let alone half of all life in the universe.

“This is it,” Tony said, mumbling to himself, but Stephen quickly came and grasped his forearm. “He’s coming, Doc. This is what I’ve known was coming. This is it.”

“I know," Stephen said. “But you’re not alone. We’ll figure this out, together.”

Tony could almost feel Bruce’s eyes on them, but he didn’t give a damn. He couldn’t panic now, he couldn’t, and Stephen’s shaking hand on his arm grounded him in the exact way he needed.

He nodded and shook off the fear that tried to paralyze him like a dog shook off water.

“We have two of these things on Earth, right?” he said, trying to ignore a muscle spasm growing in his calf. “I know you’re pretty attached to that thing, Doc, but given the circumstances why don’t we chuck that one down the garbage disposal?”

He gave in to the need to stretch out his leg. The older he got, the more he needed to cool down.

“Absolutely not. And stop leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos,” Stephen said before the Cloak slapped his foot down.

“Oh, Red, buddy,” Tony said, desperate for anything, even flirting with his fabric friend to try to distract himself from the growing sense of terror in his heart. “You gotta take me out to dinner first.”

“Tony!” Bruce shouted into his hands.

“Yeah, I’m on it. Okay, I know your order’s mission is to protect the Time Stone,” Tony said, trying to reason with Stephen. “But if this guy is on his way here to end half of all life in the universe and he needs that shiny green rock to do, why not just get rid of the rock?”

“Several reasons,” Stephen said, like he was talking to a child, which was rude but fair. “First and most important being that the Infinity Stones are the building blocks of the universe and needed to sustain life. To destroy the stones is to destroy the universe itself.”

“Of course it is,” Tony said, and started pacing the Sanctum again. “It couldn’t be that simple, could it? Just set all phasers to kill and let all of this end before it really begins.”

“We would not allow that to happen,” Wong said. “We are sworn to protect the Time Stone with our lives.”

“Yeah, I know all about it,” Tony said and again thought about threats against Stephen that he could barely comprehend let alone defend against. “So what do we do? Hide it? Leave? I have a few small space crafts, but they’re intended to work on satellites, not play galactic hide-and-seek with the glow stick of destiny.”

“Wouldn’t work,” Stephen said, shaking his head and obviously trying to come up with a decent plan. “He’d find us. He has the Space Stone, he can move across the galaxy in seconds.”

“God,” Tony whispered and put his face in his hands again.

“Look, at least we know where the Time Stone is,” Bruce said. “Where’s the Mind Stone? Where’s Vision?”

Absolute despair washed over Tony for a moment before he got himself under control and tucked it away. “I have no idea. About two weeks ago he went off the grid.”

“You lost another super-bot?” Bruce said.

“Don’t call him that,” Tony said. “He’s more than that, so much more than the last time you saw him. He’s evolved.”

“Who would know where to find the Vision?” Wong asked.

Oh, this day just got better and better. He cast a quick look at Stephen before he looked away.

“Probably Steve Rogers.”

“Oh, great,” Stephen said, voicing Tony’s thoughts exactly.

“Okay, so call Steve,” Bruce said.

“No,” Stephen said, coming back over and standing his ground like Bruce had just said he’d like to murder Tony on the spot. “Absolutely not.”

“Might not have a choice, Doc,” Tony said. “Bruce is right.”

“I’m sorry, why wouldn’t we call Steve?” Bruce asked.

“You’ve been gone a long time, Bruce,” Tony said, rubbing his chest where Steve had crushed the arc reactor, causing metal shards to almost tear his heart to shreds. “The Avengers are over. Gone. We broke up.”

“Broke up? Like a band? Like the Beatles?”

“Exactly like the Beatles,” Wong said. “Except John didn’t shove his guitar into Paul’s chest.”

“Uh, excuse me, I’m Lennon, he’s McCartney,” Tony said, because wow. Rude.

“Stop,” Stephen shouted. “We’ll find Vision another way. There’s no way you’re calling Steve Rogers.”

Tony shook his head. Stephen had reason to hate Steve, he knew. Tony did, too. But even after waking up to find out he’d almost died—or had died, as Stephen insisted—he still couldn’t bring himself to hate Steve. They’d all acted terribly, they’d all hurt each other.

No one walked away blameless. And if Tony and Bucky had been the only ones hurt, well. No one won when you started taking score.

“Tony,” Bruce pleaded, “I don’t know what happened between you and Steve, but it doesn’t matter. Thor is gone. This guy ended Thor like he was nothing. And he’s on his way. Isn’t that enough?”

That little shadow in the back of his mind shifted a little and Tony felt a tremor of fear that wasn’t his own wrap around him. He turned to Stephen and their eyes met.

There was a plea in Stephen’s eyes Tony had never seen before. Some silent prayer that Tony please not do this, they could find another way.

But what did Tony’s problems matter compared to the end of half of all life as he knew it?

Tony sighed and pulled out his phone and Steve’s saved number, but stopped when a shaking hand landed on his.

Even now, even with an axe hanging over their heads, Stephen’s touch damn near burned him. He wanted to drop the phone, twist his hands around, and take Stephen’s hand in his. Wanted to pull him close, wanted—

“Tony, he almost killed you,” Stephen said, his voice low. “No, he did kill you. You would be dead if not for my intervention.”

Silence stretched between them. No one moved as the moment dragged on, Stephen giving a silent plea that was damn near impossible for Tony to ignore.

It stretched on until Wong shifted on his feet and asked, “And what intervention was that?”

Stephen froze, his eyes going wide for just a split second before he schooled his face to his default nonchalance.

But Tony had seen that flinch.

Just as he was about to ask what Wong was talking about, Stephen’s hair moved like wind was blowing through it.

“Stephen? You doing that thing where you make your hair move to make yourself look cool?”

“I don’t do that,” Stephen said. “But…no.”

There was screaming in the distance. Something about this felt all too familiar, some half-forgotten nightmare that escaped his brain and somehow made it to the light of day.

Almost as one, the four men made their way outside. A strong wind was cutting through the Village, people running from something here to destroy everything. Every person on the streets was running away from something when the four of them were moving towards it. Maybe there was some metaphor there that Tony didn't have time to analyze, but mostly he heard Pepper’s voice over all the wind asking with terror on her face, “Are those bullet holes?”

Yeah, those had been bullet holes. And right now Tony was walking towards the killing fields with two wizards and a guy who could swallow a bullet and survive.

Maybe these weren’t the worst odds.

The wind whipped through his hair and a low hum rattled the fillings in his teeth as they finally found the source. In the center of the street stood a ship, like something directly out of Tony’s nightmares. Two figures descended from it to stand in the middle of the street, like some twisted version of an Old West movie.

The wind still whipped through his hair, and dust threatened to get caught on his lenses, but that’s where the comparisons ended.

Before they could be seen Tony pulled the other three men aside and hid behind an overturned van.

“Okay, so we got a big guy and a little guy. Something tells me the little guy is way scarier than the big guy.”

“I know them,” Bruce said. “The big one is Cull Obsidian, the little one is Ebony Maw. They were both on the Statesmen. These are the guys that killed half of the refugees. I think Ebony Maw is a sorcerer.”

Perfect.

“Of course he is,” Tony grunted, then looked to Stephen and asked, “you getting anything from him, Doc?”

Stephen moved his hands and cast a spell over his own eyes. They glowed golden for a moment, then he said, “Yes.” He paused, and Tony saw something that looked a lot like fear flash in Stephen’s eyes before he shook it off. “He’s a powerful sorcerer.”

“How powerful?” Wong asked.

They shared a look, but Stephen said nothing.

“Wonderful,” Tony said. Sometimes he still hated magic. “Okay, here’s the plan.”

“Oh, no,” Wong said.

“Hey, my plans are good,” Tony said. “Distraction. I’ll blast the little guy with my biggest gun, while Stephen traps him in the Phantom Zone with one of his portals.”

“Mirror Dimension,” Stephen said.

“That’s exactly what I said,” Tony replied. “But we eliminate the biggest threat first. Then, Bruce lets his big guy out, then his big guy fights that big guy and Wong does the same thing. Fool-proof plan, can’t lose.”

“People of Earth!” Ebony Maw shouted. “Hear me and rejoice!”

“That’s your plan?” Stephen hissed. “The ol’ switcheroo? The oldest trick in the book?”

“You are so Midwestern,” Tony said. “Plus, you haven’t seen the new suit yet. He’ll be impressed for at least a few seconds.”

“Tony, please.”

“Bright, flashy, devastatingly handsome.”

“Tony…”

Stephen reached out, but stopped just shy of touching Tony’s hand. There was something in his eyes, something that threw fuel to the fire raging inside Tony, but now wasn’t the time. Nothing was certain now, if it ever had been. Tony’s eyes drifted down along Stephen’s neck to the vee of his tunic.

“Might want to stick your pretty necklace in your pocket, Doc,” Tony whispered.

Stephen shook his head. “Might need to use it.”

Tony bit his lip, his heart pounding. “Now who’s being reckless?”

“They already know it’s here,” Wong whispered and held up his hands, prepared to strike. “Might as well have it ready.”

“You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos!” Ebony Maw continued.

“Now seems the best time, don’t you think?” Tony asked and enacted phase one of the plan. “Bruce, come get a piece of this.” He stepped out from behind the van, walking slowly towards creatures hell bent on universal destruction, but all he could think of was protecting Stephen.

The closer Tony got the uglier they got.

“Be thankful that your meaningless lives—”

“I’m sorry, Earth is closed today! You need to pack up your big ugly spaceship and leave!”

Ebony Maw looked Tony up and down, his eyes crawling over him.

He’d learned to control his fear a long time ago. By now, the witty comeback and eyebrow quirk were almost second nature, and a perfect mask for an almost paralytic fear. Fear for Earth, for the Time Stone, and of losing the one person he couldn’t live without.

He balled that fear right up and swallowed it as best he could. He was just one man—even if he was Iron Man—standing up to two aliens whose boss was bent on destroying the universe. So yeah, he was afraid, but fear he could handle. Just one more enemy for Tony to tear down.

But he didn’t expect the feeling of absolute revulsion he felt as Ebony Maw turned his gaze on him. Every internal warning bell went off, every instinct inside of him telling him to grab Stephen and his friends and run as far away as he could.

If he was as wise as he was smart, he’d listen to himself.

“Where is the Stone Keeper?” He took a few steps closer, and Tony surprised himself by almost taking a step back.

There was no backing away now. These guys were here for Stephen. “No idea what you’re talking about,” Tony said. “By the way, we eat your kind for Sunday brunch here, so you might want to check out.”

“I know he is close,” the Maw said. “Tell me where he is or I will pry it out of your mind.” Tony felt something slither past his neck and recoiled. “And I’ll kill him slowly, while you watch.”

Tony swallowed the witty comeback he’d had on the tip of his tongue. There was no way anyone was touching Stephen.

“Over my dead body.”

That thing actually smiled. “I have no strong preference about which of you is the first to die.” Pieces of pavement levitated in front of Ebony Maw and bits of them broke off until they were shaped like knives. Then they flew at Tony.

With a tap of his fingers, the nanoparticles flowed around him, his greatest weapon and best defense all at once. With one hand he readied the biggest repulsor he had, let Friday read his mind by setting it to its highest setting and aimed at the ugly bastard’s head. With his other, he blocked the concrete bullets so they shattered to dust.

Cull Obsidian moved way quicker than he predicted, but Tony used his shield just before an axe hit his head.

“Hulk?” Tony shouted, and fired his repulsors at the big guy, blowing him back to take out Ebony Maw but the bastard batted him away with a hand at the last second like the weight of a giant meant nothing.

From behind Tony, red bands made of fire crept along the road before they wrapped around Ebony Maw, binding him down to the ground.

“That’s great, Doc, but not the plan,” Tony said. “Hulk, where are you?”

“Doctor Banner seems to be having a problem,” Wong said.

“What kind of problem?” Tony shouted, and shielded another attack from Cull Obsidian. “Bruce, get your guy in the game. We have to protect Stephen!”

“It’s the Time Stone we have to protect. Stephen has himself well in hand,” Stephen shouted, his glowing red bands wrapping further around the Maw’s face until he was completely trapped.

The bands flashed and flared, and even though Tony had never seen this spell, it didn’t seem like they were supposed to do that. The bands almost seemed to flex and then Ebony Maw shook them off.

“I expected more from a Stone Keeper,” he said, and waved a hand. Stephen’s feet started dragging towards him. “But I suppose this backwater planet could do no better.”

“You think this is backwater,” Stephen said, and a flaming whip broke whatever invisible pull Ebony Maw had had. “You should have seen the tractor pull.”

The flaming whip flew over Tony’s head and threw Ebony Maw back towards his ship. With a wave of his hands, Wong used magic to pick up a truck and threw it at the big guy’s head.

“Okay, new plan,” Tony said, while the two aliens regrouped. “Get Stephen as far away from here as possible.”

“That wouldn’t help, Tony,” Bruce said, his skin just a little green. “That stone is putting out enough energy to light up a planet. That’s how I got here. That’s how they got here.”

“He’s right,” Wong said. “If Stephen runs, they will follow.”

The truck flew into the air as Cull Obsidian threw it off like it was nothing.

“Then he keeps running,” Tony said. “Or at least until we come up with a better plan. Anything but—”

Cull Obsidian ran towards them, Tony calling back his shield and his biggest guns to stop his charge. “Can nothing hurt this guy? If we keep throwing trucks at him it’ll only slow him down.”

He fired another blast at him, but his thick hide and whatever alien armor he wore shielded him from most of Tony’s blasts.

“Doctor Banner, I think it best if you are elsewhere right now,” Wong said, and threw a whirling portal towards Bruce to get him out of the way. Time seemed to slow down as Cull Obsidian ran towards the portal and managed to slip through just before it closed.

“No, no, no,” Tony shouted as he flew towards where the portal had just closed. “Where did you send them?”

“Washington Square Park,” Wong said, aghast. “Doctor Banner is defenseless.”

“And so is New York,” Tony whispered as he froze. He couldn’t leave Stephen alone against that nightmare version of Squidward.

From the rubble, Ebony Maw emerged and unearthed a tree, sending it hurdling towards Stephen, who created a spinning mandala that tore through the bark like a wood chipper.

“Go help Bruce, Tony,” Stephen said, easily handling everything that was thrown his way. “I have this.”

Tony was about to say no, that there was no way he was going to leave Stephen, but then he heard a roar and crash that shook the ground under his feet.

“You help Banner,” Wong said, opening a portal under Maw’s feet. “We have this one.”

Tony didn’t need Friday to remind him where the park was. He just had to follow the trail of explosions. He found Cull Obsidian throwing cars around like they were baseballs, and had to look to find Bruce trying to dodge them.

“Hey, not a good idea, big guy,” Tony said, and pulled out two sets of curved metal arcs that emanated blue light, launching Cull Obsidian into the ground. “You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.”

Bruce was hiding between four cars that had landed piled on top of each other.

“Hey, there we go,” Tony said, turning over a car. He looked Bruce over, but didn’t find so much as a scratch. “What would have happened if one had fell on you?”

“I don’t know!” Bruce shouted. “This has never happened before, but he won’t come out!”

“Yeah, okay,” Tony said. “Look, get back to the Sanctum, just stay there until we get—”

Cull Obsidian’s giant hammer flew through the air, Tony just barely throwing up his shield in time to avoid it. Tony blasted him again with his cannon, but he just shook it off and lifted his hammer again.

He lifted his shield and prepared to take another hit, but it never came.

“Hey, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, as he casually held back the biggest hammer that Tony had ever seen.

“Peter?” Tony said, terror washing over him because God no, Peter couldn’t be here too. “What are you doing here?”

“Saw the big ship on the way to the MOMA,” Peter said, and used his web and actually managed to get a hold on the hammer, keeping it from coming down on Tony again. “What’s this guy’s problem?”

As much as Tony desperately wanted to tell Peter to go home, run, run as far as he could, he also knew Peter wouldn’t listen to him. The kid was way too much like him to leave when he could help.

And with Bruce out, Peter could help protect Stephen.

“He’s here for Stephen, kid,” Tony said. “He’s here to hurt him.”

“Doctor Dad?” Peter asked with a loud gasp.

“Doctor…what?”

“I mean, Doctor Strange,” Peter said. “What does he want Doctor Strange for?”

“Friday, hit this guy with all we’ve got,” Tony said, pulling up his crescent repulsors again. Blue light flooded his vision as he pummeled Cull Obsidian into the ground. “If this doesn’t do the trick, we gotta think of something bigger.”

The big guy just shook it off and made his way towards Tony.

“You know that big necklace he always wears?” Tony said, and again fired his repulsors at maximum power. Cull Obsidian went flying through the air, tearing down trees and creating a hole in the middle of the park. “Turns out it’s one of the cornerstones of the universe, so they absolutely cannot have it.”

“Got it,” Peter said, coming over to land next to Tony. “Where is Doctor Dad? I mean, Strange?”

Cull Obsidian got up again. This guy was like the worst version of Freddy, Jason, and Michael Myers all at the same time. He didn’t even seem to be hurt by any of Tony’s punches.

“A few blocks down, fighting the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean,” Tony said, prepared to make another blast.

Before he could, spinning, golden circles appeared just in front of them, and Tony’s heart leapt into his chest before Wong emerged.

“What is taking you so long?” he asked, and of course he would be annoyed with Tony during a fight.

The ground where Cull Obsidian had fallen shook, and Tony took to the air again, sneaking a peek through the portal that was still open to see Stephen. There was no way Wong would leave Stephen alone in a fight if he didn’t have it well in hand. Right? Right.

Cull Obsidian charged and the portal closed, but not before Tony saw Stephen cast another red whip at Ebony Maw, and this time the Maw caught it and used it to catch Stephen.

“No, no, no,” Tony whispered, just as the last spark of the portal faded out and Wong cast another one, this one opened to some snowy place where he promptly dumped Cull Obsidian, removing him from the situation entirely.

Just as the portal was about to close, Cull Obsidian made a last-ditch attempt at escape and jumped through before Wong closed the portal.

Only a gross stump of an arm made it to the other side.

Tony didn’t waste a second. “Get us back,” he said to Wong, because a portal would be faster than even his own repulsors. “That thing—Ebony Maw—he had his hands on Stephen and—”

That was all Wong needed to hear. He created a portal back to the Donut Ship, and they all ran through, Tony with his biggest guns out.

But Stephen wasn’t there.

He looked for signs of a struggle and found them quickly, bricks torn out of the ground, power lines sparking, light poles bent out of shape.

And somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt a terrible chill come over him. The shadow in the back of his mind, the little voice that would sometimes tell him that Stephen needed him, shouted at the top of its lungs.

Not waiting for a better sign, Tony followed the damaged roads and buildings until he finally saw Stephen, flying through the air, lying prone on a slab of concrete right next to Ebony Maw, with the Cloak of Levitation flying after them. They were already halfway to the ship before Tony could activate his thrusters.

“I got him, Mr. Stark!” Peter shouted and grabbed hold of the concrete slab, using a light pole that would have been dug deep into the ground to stabilize them. With a flick of his hand, Ebony Maw unearthed it, and then Peter was being carried up into the spaceship too.

With no hesitation, Tony activated his new thrusters and took off after his friends.

After his family.

Chapter Text

Awareness came to Loki slowly.

He was still freezing, and his head and chest ached. Instinct kept him from opening his eyes, forcing him to rely on his other senses to determine what had happened. The last thing he remembered was curling his body around Thor’s as they both tried to shield the other while the Statesman was destroyed around them.

He remembered the cold and his body slowing down, his heart beating slower and his chest no longer trying to take in a breath, until he fell asleep.

Now he’s here. Wherever ‘here’ is.

He held back a grunt as his body was dumped ungraciously onto a metal slab, and he slowly realized that someone had saved him from the cold of space.

There were many voices around him, but none of them were Thor’s. He called on every bit of control he had and forced his limbs to remain limp, his breathing to stay slow and easy, and his jaw to remain unclenched.

It was too easy to recall the last time he had been ‘rescued’ from the cold vastness of space. There was no way of knowing who had rescued him or if Thor was with him unless his rescuers (captors?) started talking.

“How are these dudes still alive?”

The voice spoke a few feet to Loki’s right, far enough away that it was possible the plural he was speaking of was himself and Thor. He held his breath and hoped that maybe Thor was with him still.

“This one is not a dude,” another voice said. “You’re a dude. This is a man. A handsome, muscular man.”

The urge to huff almost undid him, but Loki held it back at the last moment. That was enough to tell him that Thor lived. He hadn’t failed his brother again after all.

“Now this one,” the same voice said as it came closer, “this one is a greasy little weasel.”

“His hair looks like it has been dipped in oil,” said a girl’s voice as Loki felt his hair lifted. “Or like Rocket when he is soaking wet.”

Only his ironclad control kept him from responding. It wasn’t his fault if his hair required a great deal of conditioning. It was almost impossible to get it the way he liked it, and he would not defend his own hairstyle to anyone, least of all in his own mind.

“His pallor is sickly. ”

“Yeah, might need to shoot that one out before we all get Space Herpes,” said another voice.

“I am Groot.”

“Okay, why are you worried about Space Herpes?” said another.

“This one’s muscles feel as though they are made of Cotati metal fibers,” said a woman’s voice. There was something about that voice that was familiar to Loki, but he couldn’t quite place it.

“How about you stop touching his muscles,” said the first man’s voice.

“He is anxious…” the girl said, “and angry. There is so much pain…and great loss.”

Did they have a telepath with them? Or an empath? Thor had his own inherent magic, but nowhere near the control Loki had, especially with mental shields.

“Yeah, okay, we need to know who these guys are. Go ahead, Mantis. Wake muscle man up.”

Every part of Loki wanted to leap up and stop the telepath from touching Thor, but he managed to control himself. Only the smallest twitch of his hands gave him away, if someone had been watching. If these people were enemies, and they needed to fight their way out, they’d have the upper hand if Loki kept himself from their equation.

“Wake…”

Thor shouted and there was a mad scramble and flailing as he was woken so suddenly. He took several deep breaths, no doubt going through the same thought process Loki had just a moment ago, and asked the question on his own mind.

“Who the hell are you guys?”

“We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy,” said one of the voices, then introduced everyone individually. “I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”

“No,” Thor said. “I am Thor, Prince of—”

Thor paused and Loki could hear the sorrow in the gulp of air he took.

“I am Thor, King of Asgard,” he said, but his voice had never been softer and more defeated. “Whatever remains of it. That is my brother, Loki.”

“Is he sick?” asked Rocket. “Cause even for someone who should be—you know, dead—he looks pretty bad.”

“Have care how you speak,” Thor said, his voice dripping with sorrow. “He is my brother. But, no, he always looks like that.”

Heavy footsteps neared him and a familiar shadow fell over him. The cold vacuum of space could not wash away the ever-present scent of a storm that clung to Thor even now. Calloused fingers that were far colder than Loki was used to felt for his carotid pulse.

“Loki, I know you’re awake,” Thor whispered. “Please, brother, do not leave me alone. A thousand years of your tricks might mean I know your tells, but don’t leave me to wonder even a little.”

Loki sighed, but did not open his eyes. “If it’s so obvious I’m awake I don’t see why I should open my eyes.”

Thor exhaled and squeezed his forearm before he pulled away.

“Thank you for saving us. Was there anyone else that you saw? Anyone else that survived?” he asked.

There was silence for a moment and then Gamora—the familiar voice—asked, “Did anyone else survive the vacuum of space? No, not that we saw.”

Loki sighed and joined the conversation, sitting up and putting a comforting hand on Thor’s shoulder. His eyes sought out Gamora, and he couldn’t help the slight flinch as he recognized her. Thor’s shoulder tensed, no doubt picking up on that small reaction, but said nothing else.

Loki waited a moment until he’d collected himself before he spoke, making sure that his voice wouldn’t shake. “We’ll go back and look for survivors, brother,” he said to Thor. “We are a hearty people, and many may have survived.”

“What happened to you?” Rocket asked. “Who did that to your ship?”

“The Mad Titan, Thanos,” Thor said, without hesitation.

Loki was familiar with many types of silences. One has to be when one is the god of mischief. His favorite one was the delightfully awkward kind of silence when one of Thor’s jokes fell flat but neither his friends nor the nobility of Asgard knew how to respond. His least favorite silence was the cold vacuum of space.

The one he heard now was awkward, but in a different way. Every eye but Thor’s was turned to Gamora, who stood by herself in the middle of the room. And though Loki had only seen her once or twice, he remembered her. He hid his hands behind his back, calling up his magic with one hand and one of his daggers with the other.

“Gamora,” Drax said, “is—”

“—the daughter of Thanos,” Loki finished for him.

Thor’s left hand tightened like it felt the phantom hilt of Mjolnir, every muscle in his body clenching like he was prepared to fight. He slipped from Loki’s side before he could think to hold him back.

“Your father,” Thor said, circling Gamora like a bird of prey, “destroyed my ship and murdered my people.”

“Thor—” As much as he was uncertain in their current situation, attacking first would get them nowhere. And these were not the type of people Thanos would use in his service. They lacked discipline, yes, but they also didn’t seem to possess the absolute cruelty needed to be in Thanos’ employ.

Not even Gamora, who was his ‘daughter.’

“Stepfather, actually. Or adopted father, really,” Quill said. “She actually hates him more than you do.”

Thor slowly walked up to Gamora and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Families are tough,” he said. “Before our father died, he told us that we had a half-sister that he imprisoned in Hel. Then she returned and stabbed me in the eye, and I had to kill her. But that’s life. A never-ending cycle of pain.”

And now this was a new silence. Awkward but not because Thor told a bad joke, but because he was having a breakdown.

“I’ve seen you before,” Loki said to Gamora. “On the Sanctuary.”

Gamora looked Loki up and down but shook her head. “He usually had me running one mission or another. I was never there long enough to meet anyone he dealt with.”

“I wasn’t there of my own free will,” Loki said.

Silence again. Thor broke away from Gamora and returned to Loki’s side.

“Even less of a chance I’d see you then,” Gamora said. “I tried to stay as far away from Ebony Maw’s sessions as I could.”

A shudder ran down Loki’s spine at his torturer’s name being spoken aloud.

“He was there, on our ship with Thanos,” Loki said. “He’s after the Infinity Stones.”

Gamora’s eyes went wide, and the entire crew erupted into chaos. At least Loki now knew that these people were enemies to Thanos, and people they could possibly ally with. With no ship, no credits, and no home to return to, they had little else to work with.

“He has two of the Stones,” Thor said. “He took the Power Stone when he decimated Xandar. He took Space from us when he destroyed our ship.”

“Xandar?” Quill said, obviously wanting to know more, but there wasn’t any time.

“The entire time I’ve known him,” Gamora said, “Thanos has been obsessed with ending half of all life in the universe. He’s been going planet by planet, killing half of the population. That’s how he found me, by killing half of my people and taking me from them.

“But with the Infinity Stones, he could do it with a snap of his fingers,” she said, echoing the gesture with her hand. “End half of all life in the universe.”

An oppressive silence fell upon the room, the echo of Gamora’s snap a heavy weight driving the air from Loki's lungs.

“Then I know what I must do,” Thor said, “but I must speak with my brother first.”

“Uh, yeah, go ahead,” Quill said and ushered them to a smaller room in the ship.

Loki allowed himself to be manhandled by Thor, who seemed to need physical contact just to make sure Loki still existed. As much as he wanted to claim to be annoyed by it, he found it comforting and allowed it.

“I know what I must do,” Thor said again.

“So you said,” Loki said. “And this where I tell you that it’s madness.”

“You have no idea what I’m about to say.”

“Does it matter?” Loki asked. At Thor’s one-eyed glare he said. “Fine. What must you do?”

“Go to Eitri and ask him to craft a weapon that can kill Thanos.”

Loki opened his mouth to tell Thor his idea was insane but then he paused. He hadn’t expected Thor to have a good idea, but it was better than anything he could think of.

“There are two Infinity Stones on Earth,” Thor said. “He sent his children to get them, but the Avengers will put up a fight. Those stones won’t leave Earth, and Thanos will be forced to go there himself to get them. And that’s where I’ll go.”

It made perfect sense. Loki shouldn’t be so surprised. Thor had been trained to be a king, even if he’d thought none of the lessons had penetrated that thick skull of his. Apparently, some of them had.

And then Loki remembered Thor was no longer the old Thor like Loki was no longer the old Loki.

“Brother,” Thor said, his eyes averted, “tell me the truth, please. Thanos found you,” he said from out of nowhere. “All those years ago. When you…fell from the Bifrost. It was Thanos that gave you the Scepter and started you on that dark path.”

He wasn't asking a question so Loki could deny it.

It was hardly a leap in logic, and Loki had planned to tell Thor someday. He was no longer that Loki, but he wanted Thor to know the whole truth of what had happened to him. But he did not plan to tell it like this, with everything falling down around them.

The room they were in was small, but now the walls seemed to be closing in around him, the air too thin to breathe.

“I knew it someone was pulling your strings,” Thor said. “I just wasn’t sure exactly who. But by then I was so angry with you I didn’t care why. All I knew was that you had aligned yourself with someone who wanted chaos and destruction.”

“It wasn’t—”

Twice now Loki had sworn he would never defend himself for his actions on Midgard. He had been honest in a way, even when brought before Odin in chains. He was living the truth he’d always been told: that he was born to be a king. He’d simply decided Earth would be his kingdom instead of Asgard or Jotunheim.

He was no longer that Loki, but he would still not defend his actions against Midgard. But not because he believed a throne to be his birthright regardless of the cost, but because he no longer wanted to pass the blame.

“You looked so ill when I saw you on Midgard,” Thor said. “Thinner. Sickly. I thought perhaps it was because of your fall, but it wasn’t, was it?”

“No,” Loki said, and cursed Thor for suddenly being so perceptive now. Why couldn’t he have noticed all of that years ago when it would have mattered?

“You did not attack the Earth of your own volition, did you?” Thor asked, and it looked as though whatever Loki answered would break his heart.

Perhaps it still mattered.

“I did,” Loki insisted. “It was my choice.” He would no longer blame his past misdeeds on others. He was no longer that Loki.

“Brother, what choice would you have had? That creature, the one on our ship. Ebony Maw?”

All of Loki’s self-control couldn’t stop the way he closed his eyes and almost curled in on himself just at hearing his torturer’s name. Cold fingertips slithered across his mind, echoes of pain and torment screaming a path across his soul.

“What did he do to you to convince you to attack the Earth?” Thor asked. “And why do you still claim it was your fault?”

“Because my actions were my own,” Loki said, insisting Thor hear him. “They did not do to me what I did to your companions. They did not control my mind.”

Thor was silent for a moment, but Loki couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or confused. It was as though he had to relearn all of Thor’s tells.

“What would have happened to you if you had said no?” he asked quietly, and in a way that told Loki he was not expecting an answer.

Loki closed his eyes.

“You think I am blameless,” Loki said.

“And you feel the blame is all yours,” Thor said. “Maybe the truth is more complicated. Isn’t that something you always tell me?”

Maybe Thor had been listening all those years to more than just his father and his advisors. Maybe this new Thor was someone Loki had underestimated in more ways than one.

Thor waited a moment for Loki to respond, and when he didn’t, he opened his arms and embraced him.

The smell of a thousand summers surrounded him, as though all of his most pleasant memories were embracing him and holding him up even though he was falling apart. The hug was warm and all-encompassing, and Loki didn’t even pretend to want to cast it off. His eyes closed of their own volition and something inside of him took a breath for the first time in years.

He wrapped his arms around Thor and returned the hug.

But he couldn’t allow himself to dwell in this moment for long, no matter how much he might have needed it.

“Am I to go with you to Nidavellir?” he asked, his voice muffled in Thor’s shoulder. “Eitri hates me.”

“Eitri needs to get his head out of his ass. You damaged one forge—”

“Several.”

“Truly? Well, you damaged several forges, one time—”

“Oh, it was hardly just the once.”

Thor pulled away and said, “Well, then I know exactly where you must go next, brother. Knowhere.”

“I am Groot!” said Groot from just outside their door.

Loki was about to shout at Quill for allowing his crew to eavesdrop on what was obviously an incredibly private conversation when he realized what Groot had said.

“You know the Collector?” Loki asked.

“You speak Groot?” Rocket asked.

“No, we speak the Allspeak,” Thor said, opening the door fully. Both Thor and Loki left the small room that had obviously afforded them no privacy. All the Guardians were standing outside with absolutely no shame.

Gamora looked directly into Loki’s eyes and all of him was laid bare.

“If you were listening, you know the plan. I will take your pod to Nidavellir where I’ll have a new hammer made,” Thor said.

“That’s a made-up word,” Drax said.

“All words are made up.”

“Wait a minute, that place is real?” Rocket asked with stars in his eyes. “They make the most powerful, horrific weapons to ever torment the universe. I would very much like to go there, please.”

“Excellent,” Thor said. “We will go to Nidavellir and Eitri the Dwarf will make me a weapon. One that can kill Thanos. Loki and the rest of you will go to the Collector and retrieve the Reality Stone before Thanos does.”

“How do we know he’ll go there first?” Quill asked. “What if he goes to Earth?”

Thor shook his head. “He sent his children to Earth, but they’ll fail. He doesn’t know that yet. So he’ll go to Knowhere since he knows the Reality Stone is there. No one knows where the Soul Stone is.”

“No one has ever even seen the Soul Stone is more like it,” Loki said. Gamora shifted her eyes away from Loki.

What an absolutely terrible tell to have.

“If he gets to Knowhere first and gets another stone he’ll be too powerful to stop,” Gamora said. “With two he’s already the most powerful being in the universe.”

“Exactly,” Thor said. “So get to Knowhere before Thanos. Stop him from getting one more stone.”

The little rat creature that in no way resembled his hair spoke with Thor about the trip, but Loki’s eyes were on Gamora’s.

No one in recorded history had ever seen the Soul Stone nor did anyone know its location. The only reason they even knew it existed was legend and myth, and because of the knowledge that the dead didn’t simply cease to exist but went on to places like Hel or Valhalla.

But Gamora knew something.

The only question was whether or not the daughter of Thanos had told her father.

“Brother,” Thor said, grabbing Loki into another hug. “I will meet you on Earth. Please take care.”

“Please tell Eitri I hate him,” Loki said, and for once he wasn’t the first one to pull away.

*

He’d spent the last several years running from Thanos, and now he found himself on a mission that would bring him far closer to the Mad Titan than he wanted to be. Surviving his encounter with Thanos on the Statesman had been pure luck and the product of knowing that sometimes the best defense was hiding from detection, a lesson he’d learned at an early age. What they were attempting now seemed suicidal, especially for him.

He pulled a spell book on defensive spells from his pocket dimension, then another on cloaking spells, and another on curses though he knew it wouldn’t do any good. There was no single spell in existence that would unmake Thanos. Their only hope in defeating him was Thor.

A weapon forged by Eitri in his brother’s hand…

That might be enough to kill a Titan.

He searched to find a quiet spot to sit and read when he heard Gamora talking from around the corner.

“Promise me, Peter,” Gamora pleaded. “If things go wrong, if Thanos tries to take me, promise you’ll kill me.”

He'd clearly walked into what must have been a long, terrible conversation. His earlier suspicion must have been correct: Gamora did know the location of the Soul Stone. And she hadn’t revealed its location to her father.

“Yeah, okay,” Quill said. “If it comes down to it, I won’t let him take you.”

The sound Loki’s boot made against the cool, metal floor was almost imperceptible, but Gamora’s head whipped around immediately.

Quill cleared his throat and made an excuse to go check on the engines.

Silence stretched between Gamora and Loki, an oppressive almost tangible thing hanging in the air. He knew his instinct to make some cruel remark was wrong, and not what he wanted to do. These people were his allies, if nothing else.

“It's not an easy thing,” Loki said, almost casually, “having a warlord for a father.”

“What would you know about it?” Gamora asked.

"More than you would think,” Loki replied.

Gamora was silent for a moment, then nodded, and started to walk out of the room.

“The same applies for me,” Loki said before she slipped away.

“Excuse me?”

“If Thanos sees me, I have no doubt he’d try to kill me, and I’ve already had more lives than a cat,” Loki said, walking closer though he wasn’t sure why.

It would be easy to say he felt a kinship because of their mutual origins. Both fathers who stole them from their homes and raised them as their own, even if Odin hadn’t been quite as blood thirsty as Thanos.

Or it could be their mutual fear, which was completely justified. Thanos was a Titan, which made him almost impossible to defeat in itself, but he now had two Infinity Stones.

Fear was justified. To know Thanos was to fear him, and there wasn’t a creature alive that felt different.

But fear was where the similarity ended. Gamora had something, something that she could not allow Thanos to have. Something important enough that she was willing to die to keep it from him.

Loki no longer had the Tesseract. If he told Gamora to kill him rather than let him fall into Thanos’ hands again, it wasn’t to protect anything but himself. Because there was no way he would allow himself to be taken by Thanos or his children ever again.

He’d die first.

The knowing look Gamora gave him told him she knew exactly what he meant to avoid.

*

The galactic backwater that was Knowhere was exactly the sort of place Loki preferred to avoid if at all possible. When he’d been acting as Odin, he’d sent the Aether here to that maniac Tivan not because he trusted him, but because he knew he would never sell it. Loki would always know the whereabouts of the Reality Stone without the burden of keeping it on Asgard.

But even though he’d planned for such a contingency, he’d never thought he’d be here, teamed up with a motley crew to steal something under the nose of a genocidal warlord.

He’d hoped they’d gotten there before Thanos, but leaving the ship and seeing the utter chaos of the Collector’s prized collection showed that Thanos had beaten them here. They slowly crept along the detritus when Loki heard the voice that almost stopped him in his tracks.

“I know you have the Reality Stone, Tivan.”

Fear was a paralytic, but Loki had learned how to master his fear a long time ago. That did not stop him from flinching and his feet from freezing just at the sound of that voice. With a deep breath, he looked over some overturned storage containers and saw Thanos dangling the Collector like a doll.

“I told you,” Tivan said, his voice hoarse, “I sold it. Why would I lie?”

“I imagine it’s like breathing for you,” Thanos said.

Something was wrong. Quill gave orders to his crew, but Loki couldn’t spare a thought for them. His jaw clenched, his nails cutting crescents into the palms of his hands, and somewhere between fear and terror was an itch that told him this wasn’t right. He just wasn’t sure what just yet.

“I will not wait, Quill,” Drax said from behind him. “He pays for the death of my family today!”

“No, Drax, not yet!” Quill said as Drax dashed past him. “He doesn’t have the Stone yet. If we can find it first, we can get out of here with it.”

Mantis leaped from behind him and grabbed Drax’s head. “Sleep…”

But she didn’t have the strength to catch him before he fell and revealed their position. With a wave of his hand, Loki caught Drax midair and allowed him to land without making a sound.

“Okay, good. New guy has magic, great,” Quill said. “Okay, plan. We be quiet and search this wreckage for the Reality Stone. It has to be here somewhere.”

Gamora turned to Loki and pulled a blade from her hilt. “Make a distraction,” she said and then ran to Thanos.

“No, wait,” Loki hissed and tried to catch her.

She was halfway there, a knife in hand before he could even attempt a spell to stop her.

That itch was growing into a burning, some instinct inside of him saying this wasn’t right. This wasn’t…

No…

With a twist of his fingers, a shelf of antiques crashed onto the floor and both Thanos and Tivan turned. Gamora leapt into the air, driving her knife into Thanos’ neck first and then deep into his heart.

Thanos groaned and cried out ‘why?’ and Loki knew what was wrong. As Gamora began to weep for the father she had to kill, it all became apparent.

“Tears, daughter?” a ghostly voice said as the red of the Reality Stone washed over the vastness of Knowhere. “In my heart, I knew you still cared. But no one really knows for sure.”

All around them, fires raged, all of Knowhere destroyed and the Collector no doubt dead. Gamora stood over the body of her father one moment and empty space another. From behind her, Thanos approached slowly, no need to rush when he had such power.

“Reality is often disappointing,” Thanos said, then gave a wicked grin and lifted his gauntlet. “Or it was. Now, reality can be whatever I want.”

“You knew I’d come,” Gamora said.

“I counted on it,” Thanos said plainly. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

“Thanos!” Drax sounded, Mantis’ sleep spell obviously having worn off quickly. He began his charge only for Thanos to activate the Reality Stone. Drax fell apart, his body broken up into blocks like the ones Loki would stack as a child.

Mantis stood up, horrified, but also noticeable. Before Loki could pull her out of sight, Thanos cut her into ribbons.

Her eyes blinked up at him from the floor, all of her undone and unmade with a gesture from Thanos’ hand. He was moving to her before he could think, before he could remind himself of his own good advice.

Live to fight another day…

“You…” Thanos whispered.

Loki froze. His legs shook and he wouldn’t be surprised if the rest of him was Jotun blue. Thanos had his arm wrapped around Gamora’s neck, Quill’s blaster was trained on him, but his eyes were on Loki.

“I thought I killed you…” he said, almost to himself. Like it didn’t matter at all if Loki lived or died.

The witty comeback never manifested. Loki stood there for the longest moment before Thanos turned from him—taking his eyes off the god of mischief like he was no threat at all—and back to Quill.

He had no idea why Quill even bothered to point that blaster at Thanos. He was just as powerless as Loki in the face of three Infinity Stones. Then he realized it wasn’t pointed at Thanos.

But at Gamora.

He stumbled on legs like a newborn colt’s to Mantis, who was still cut into ribbons. He called up all the magic he could think of and laid hands on her.

A deep green mist came out of his hands as he willed his magic to put her back together. It couldn’t be that difficult. After all, it was magic that was keeping her apart when she should be in one piece.

“You are afraid,” the little ribbon-Mantis said, her eyes on Loki. “And lost.”

“Peter, you promised!” Gamora shouted from over Loki’s shoulder. He ignored her and tried every spell he could think of to try to put Mantis back together.

“You don’t know who you are,” Mantis said, and somehow she was crying. Her body wasn’t even put together properly but she was weeping because Loki was touching her. “Do I know who I am?”

She attempted to lift her ribboned hands, and it was only then that Loki realized he was only making matters worse. It wasn’t magic that had done this to her. There was no undoing what an Infinity Stone had done except an Infinity Stone.

He was powerless to help her as he had been to save his people. He was nothing compared to the might of Thanos. What help could he possibly offer anyone?

“Peter!” Gamora shouted.

“I like him,” Thanos said before he disappeared by the power of the Space Stone.

And then he and Gamora were gone. Drax and Mantis went back to their true forms, not out of kindness but because they were no threat to Thanos’ power.

He had never felt as lost as he did in that moment. Even when his mind and heart had been split in two and he had fallen from the Bifrost, even when he’d been tortured and endured torments neither god nor man should ever know had he felt so untethered.

Silently, his thoughts turned to his father, to Odin, desperate for some lodestar to help him as he drifted through some foreign sea. Like a child at prayer.

“Father, is this a test? Have I failed?”

Chapter Text

“Friday?” Tony whispered as his faithful AI’s voice faded.

And that was that. They’d left Earth’s atmosphere and Tony had never even had the chance to say goodbye. Blind panic threatened to overwhelm him and distract him from the fact that Stephen was being held on this ship, and he hadn’t looked good when Tony had last seen him.

So, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then another, and tried not to think about how he’d probably never see anything even close to familiar ever again. He’d never see Pepper or Rhodey again. He and Peter would never work in his lab. He tucked all that away and focused. There was no time for melodrama when Stephen needed to be rescued.

At least he’d gotten Peter to safety. He’d never been so glad he’d installed a parachute in the suit. After Rhodey, that was one mistake he’d never make again.

But now here he was, alone on an alien spaceship, outgunned and outmanned, and Stephen held by some B-movie’s excuse for an eldritch terror. He put away his fear and locked it deep in the part of his mind where he kept all the things he wasn’t thinking about and walked towards the only source of light.

Leaning over a railing, he saw Ebony Maw adjusting something on a console and Stephen suspended in midair, unconscious.

His fists gripped the railing too tight, and the metal bent under his fingers. He had to bury the instinct to fire his biggest gun and try to get Stephen away. His repulsor blast hadn’t made a scratch on the big guy, and he guessed it might be the same with Ebony Maw.

And he’d only get one chance at it. If the blast didn’t take him down, it would be Tony versus an evil sorcerer and if he’d beat Stephen, Tony didn’t imagine he’d have much of a chance.

So that left him with absolutely nothing.

He was about to start scouring the ship for spare parts—hey, he couldn’t forget his signature move—when something red moved in his peripheral vision.

“Hey!” he said, maybe just a little too loud, a repulsor up and ready. “Oh, thank God,” he said to the Cloak as it wrapped around him in a hug. “Thought I was alone up here. I’ve never been so glad to see you, Red.”

The Cloak patted his back before it backed away and gestured to Stephen.

“I know,” Tony said. “But I got nothing. I threw everything I had at the big guy, and he just shook it off. I doubt this guy would be any different. Have you seen anything here I could use?”

The Cloak shook its lapels and drooped a little.

“Hey, don’t,” Tony said, “We’re gonna get him out of his and we’ll…figure out what to do. But he’s not alone. Okay? He’s got us.”

“Hey, so good news,” said a voice Tony hadn’t expected to ever hear again. “You’ve got one more.”

No, no, no.

“What are you doing here?” he hissed at Peter. “I sent you home.”

“Yeah, but I couldn’t leave you alone.”

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Tony asked, his heart torn in two for what this meant for Peter. For what it meant for May. With one well-intended move Peter had made it extremely likely she’d never seen her nephew again.

“Look, I was outside, but I was able to cling on to the ship. This suit is amazing, by the way,” Peter said with a smile, like somehow appealing to Tony’s ego was going to make up for the colossal mistake he’d just made. “And I thought about going back and not being able to help you save Doctor Strange and I just…couldn’t. So, I found a way in.”

In the space of about fifteen seconds Tony had realized and accepted that it was very likely he’d never see Earth again. Sure, Stephen could create portals, but he doubted he could make them from one planet to the next, never mind the next solar system. He’d hated it, but pushed it to the side because he needed to save Stephen.

But now Peter was mixed up in this. Peter who was way too young to die, and who he was responsible for. And now because of him, Peter had a one-way ticket to God knew where with even uglier Voldemort.

He must have sensed Tony’s terror, his absolute desolation and misinterpreted it for anger because he shuffled his feet and said, “Come on, Mr. Stark. Don’t be mad. Look, you can ground me when we get home. No cool, new suit for a month. Or a week! A month would be cruel.”

Tony shook his head and bit down on his lip so hard he tasted blood. “You don’t get it, kid. We’re not going home.”

Peter stood up straighter, the sheepish smile draining from his face.

“This isn’t some arms dealer who got ahold of alien tech. The FBI isn’t going to show up and help. There is no help coming. It’s just you, me, and the Cloak, and all my tech didn’t do a damn thing against these guys.”

“I know,” Peter said.

“No, you don’t! Because if you did, you wouldn’t have come.”

“Yes, I would. I did.”

“You have no idea who we’re up against,” Tony said, though it seemed to be futile. Peter was still young and innocent enough to believe in his heroes, believe in miracles when there would be no miracle here.

“I know that they were strong enough to hurt you and Doctor Strange,” Peter said, not backing down. “That’s enough.”

Tony shook his head. “These two are just henchmen. We’re on our way to the Big Bad, and he’s not someone who can be reasoned with. He’s not gonna care that you’re a kid. His goal is genocide. Do you know what that means?”

Peter looked to the ground. “Yeah, I know what that means, and it’s even more reason to come. Look, if he wants…that…then isn’t it better to have all the help you can get? And I love Doctor Strange too.”

Tony knew there was a certain amount of hero worship for himself and Stephen, but it didn’t occur to him that Peter felt so strongly about either one of them.

Or that he knew Tony loved Stephen.

A terrible wave of pride washed over Tony, so big he almost got lost in it. Of course Peter wouldn’t hesitate to throw himself in the path of a genocidal warlord because one of his mentors was in trouble.

He was so much like Tony. In all the worst ways.

“Okay,” Tony sighed and brought Peter in for a hug. Peter clung to him, wrapping his arms around Tony, and of course he was just as scared as Tony was.

Time to go to work, kid.

“Come here,” Tony said, regretfully letting go and leading Peter over to see where Stephen was literally hanging. “We’re only going to get one shot at this. So, you got an idea?”

Just as Peter was about to suggest something, Stephen started to wake up. Ebony Maw had arranged dozens of razor-sharp needles all around him, none of them touching him but all of them threatening. And with telekinesis being one of this guy’s powers, he had no doubt what would happen to Stephen if they didn’t get him out of this fast.

Tony could feel the exact second Stephen was aware enough to realize what was going on. That vague sense that something was wrong, that little tapping on his shoulder shivered down his spine. Stephen needed him, but now he didn’t need Tony to show up with a heating pad or tea. Both their lives were on the line and Tony had nothing.

“In all the time I’ve served Thanos,” Ebony Maw said, his voice almost melodic as he dangled torture devices all around Stephen, “I have never failed him.”

He walked around Stephen, threatening him, letting him see every needle.

“If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person, there would be…judgement.”

“Um,” Peter said. “Have you ever seen the movie Alien?”

“Ripley was one of my first crushes,” said a voice that should have been impossible to hear.

Tony whirled around and stood face to face with Stephen’s astral form.

“Ghost!” Peter shouted. “Doctor Dad is a ghost! Oh no!”

“I’m in my astral form, Peter,” Stephen said. “Right now, I’m trying my hardest to meditate and not feel what he’s doing to my body.”

Tony snuck a look down and saw a needle enter Stephen’s face, right on his cheek bone.

The hum of a repulsor came to life before Tony even knew what he was doing. With a deep breath, he forced down the impulse to start blindly firing.

“We need a plan,” Tony said softly but firmly, his voice deceptively quiet, “now. That asshole doesn’t get to touch you.”

A transparent hand landed directly on top of his, but he felt nothing. It seemed like he should feel cold or some hint of Stephen, but it was like nothing was there.

But seeing Stephen’s hand on his ignited something inside him, fanning flames that had been growing for two years. He looked up into Stephen’s eyes—icy blue, which seemed fitting—knowing his heart was on his sleeve, that Stephen could see exactly what he was feeling.

That shadow in the back of his mind flickered, something that might have been surprise and then hope before it faded away again. Stephen looked lost, like he couldn’t imagine what Tony was screaming at him without saying anything.

“You need to get me out of there,” Stephen said. “He wants the Time Stone, but I can’t give it up. I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to meditate.”

“Kid,” Tony said, “what was your idea?”

Peter looked between the two of them like he had no idea what had just happened, but knew something had. “Well, you remember how Ripley finally beats the alien?”

A light went on in Tony’s head.

“That might work. What’s stronger than my tech?”

“The vacuum of space?” Stephen asked.

“Exactly,” Tony said. “We blast a hole and let Squidward get sucked out. Peter’s suit has legs that can keep him from getting sucked out. I have the suit, and Stephen you…”

Stephen’s astral form shuddered once and gasped and then he disappeared.

Below them, Stephen woke from his meditation and screamed.

“Give me the stone,” Ebony Maw said, grabbing Stephen’s chin. “Now.”

The needle went deeper into Stephen’s face, and Tony knew they were out of time.

“Red, buddy,” Tony said to the Cloak. “Do you think you could hold him if I blast the ship open?”

The Cloak hesitated and Tony knew the answer. The Cloak was strong, but the vacuum was stronger. And there was no way Tony would risk Stephen.

“Okay,” Tony whispered to himself. “Okay.”

“Ordinarily I would start off small with my subjects,” Ebony Maw said, taking a dangling needle from the air. “Go slowly. Give you time to rethink the error of your ways. But we’ll be on Titan sooner rather than later, and I will not face Thanos without that Stone. Now…”

He took the needle and placed it directly on Stephen’s hand.

“Give me the Stone.”

The whispering voice in the back of his mind roared, and Tony knew what needed to be done. Stephen needed him, and he couldn’t hesitate for another second.

Lucky for him his newer suits kept all the features of his older suits. With a gesture that reminded him of Stephen’s magic, he commanded his suit to leave him. Nanoparticles trickled up his legs and down his shoulders and he pushed with all his strength. They flew across the room, past Ebony Maw, and onto Stephen with a flick of Tony’s wrist.

The needle about to go into Stephen’s hand fell to the floor as Ebony Maw realized they weren’t alone.

The Cloak rushed to Tony’s shoulders, lifting him off the balcony and floating him down to where Stephen was suspended, as the suit was wrapping itself around him.

Ebony Maw turned that creepy, crawling gaze to Tony.

“You’re a fool to give up your only weapon,” he said, and called up the dozens of needles to aim at Tony.

From behind him, the suit finished forming around Stephen, the nanoparticles fitting around him perfectly. But in the center of his chest, where Tony’s housing unit would have been, was the outline of Stephen’s necklace. The Eye of Agamotto. The whole reason they were here in the first place.

“Yeah, but you’re seriously underestimating the firepower of my outerwear,” Tony said, just as Stephen broke loose and stood up.

The needles started to twist in the air, Ebony Maw almost drawing it out. Tony had complete faith in the Cloak, but knew there was no way it would be able to block all of them. It was all up to Stephen now.

“Are all of your kind so irritating?” he asked and just one of the needles flew fast at Tony, the Cloak swatting it away without a second thought.

Behind Ebony Maw, Stephen looked at his hands and raised his repulsors. The soft, familiar hum filled the eerie silence, but something different happened. Golden mandalas like the ones Stephen used formed around his hands, Tony’s power and Stephen’s melding to create something new.

For a moment, Stephen hesitated, staring at his hands like they didn’t belong to him, but then he straightened up and aimed.

“Get away from him, you bitch!” Stephen shouted and then blasted a hole right behind them.

The vacuum of space immediately started to suck everything out, but Stephen wouldn’t know how to activate the nanoparticles to seal the ship back up.

Ebony Maw was quickly ripped from the ship and out into space, but Tony felt his feet leave the floor, and he was powerless to stop it. The Cloak wrapped itself around something to try to save him from being sucked out, but it failed like it had known it would and they went flying towards the hole.

“Gotcha!” Peter said, and used the Iron Spider’s legs to catch Tony and the Cloak, saving them from being lost to the cold, vacuum of space.

“Kid, your web!” Tony shouted.

“Oh, yeah!” Peter said and started webbing up the hole. That web was extremely strong, it should last at least long enough to get them to wherever they were going.

The horrible sound died and everything that hadn’t been lost fell onto the floor, including the three of them.

“Okay, let’s never do that again,” Tony said, collapsing to the ground.

“Tony,” Stephen said, coming over to him. “Are you alright?”

The softness of the light framed Stephen’s face perfectly. There wasn’t a scratch on him. Just a red mark where Ebony Maw’s needles had pierced. His eyes traced down the suit, perfectly molded to his body in a way his tunic and the Cloak never were.

And in the center of his chest was that symbol.

Tony reached out for it without thinking.

“Oh,” Stephen said, looking down. “The Eye of Agamotto appears to have integrated with the suit.”

“You were amazing, Doc,” Tony said, sitting up. “That was—I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Stephen nodded. “I wasn’t sure this would work, but this suit really is ridiculously intuitive.”

“Right?” Peter said. “And also, oh my God, that was amazing! ‘Stay away from him, you bitch!’ Doctor Dad is cooler than Ripley! Seriously, this is the coolest thing that has ever happened to me!”

Tony looked over at Peter and hoped his disapproval showed.

“I mean, it was only kinda cool. Or, you know what, not cool at all.”

“Are you alright?” Tony asked, deciding to ignore the Peter issue for now. Without thinking, he took Stephen’s hands in his. They were covered by the nanoparticles and—for the first time since he’d known Stephen—they weren’t shaking.

“Oh,” Stephen said, looking at his own hands.

“Amazing," Tony whispered. “Do they hurt? I mean, is the suit hurting them?”

Stephen shook his head, still bewildered at his own hands. “No, on the contrary, they hurt much less.”

Tony turned Stephen’s hands in his under the pretext of seeing the effect of the suit on his hands.

“I’ll have to see about getting you some gloves then,” Tony said, looking up at Stephen. “When we get back.”

Stephen gave a sad smile. No doubt he knew what the outcome of this mission was likely to be just as much as Tony did.

“Thank you,” he said, instead of saying what they were both thinking. “I think I have something that belongs to you.”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Thanks for looking out for me, Red. Here do this,” Tony said, and made the gesture for the suit to return to him.

The familiar feeling of nanoparticles forming around him followed and the Cloak went back to its sorcerer.

Without a second thought their hands found each other’s again, both of them unable and unwilling to let go of the other. Stephen’s hands were cooler than he’d expected, the scars from his many surgeries raising ridges that felt like a pathway Tony wanted to follow.

The fire burning within Tony roared brighter.

“I’m sorry you got sucked into this,” Stephen said, his voice a whisper, not wanting Peter to hear him. “If I had been a little faster this could have ended on Earth. Now…I have no idea how this is going to end. Or where we’re even going.”

Tony couldn’t take his eyes off their joined hands, how they could have let go by now, but neither of them wanted to. All he wanted was to pull Stephen closer, see if there was anything more in the way Stephen was looking at him.

Like maybe that fire was burning for him too.

But they weren’t in his lab at the Compound or by the fire at the Sanctum. They were in a spaceship flying towards a rendezvous with a warlord that wanted the one thing Stephen would never give up.

“Titan,” Tony said, then gave Stephen’s hands a gentle squeeze before he let them go and started walking towards the ship navigation system. His fists clenched a little at the ache of loss. “That’s where Cthulhu said we were going. To meet Thanos on Titan.”

He hadn’t expected to see English, but he’d been hoping the console would be a little more user friendly. The alien script that was flying across the screen was gibberish to him. It was extremely unlikely he’d be able to figure out how to disable the autopilot, let alone get them home.

“We need to get back,” Stephen said. “Are you able to steer us back to Earth?”

An idea that had been lurking in the back of his head popped up and decided to say hi.

“Yeah, I’m thinking maybe we don’t,” Tony said.

“What?”

“We don’t go back to Earth,” Tony said. “Look, we have no idea if they overpowered Vision. I mean, I want to say there’s no way, but look what happened to us. And we’re a super powerful sorcerer and me.”

Stephen rolled his eyes but the smile on his face was too fond to fake exasperation.

“So why go back to Earth where Thanos is just going to destroy everything looking for it? What’s changed since we talked in the Sanctum?”

“Aside from being in a spaceship?” Stephen asked.

“He’s still going to be able to find you, Doc. And if he’s going to try to find you anyway, maybe the best thing is to just go to him. Spare Earth the hassle of being destroyed in the process, but we get the drop on him.”

Stephen lifted an eyebrow. “So we get to Titan before he does and figure out a way to stop him there, before he ever comes to Earth.”

“Exactly,” Tony said. “Between the two of us we have to have something that’ll work against this guy.”

“Um, there are three of us.”

He’d almost forgotten Peter was there. God, had he really held Stephen’s hands and had eye sex with him in front of the kid?

“Peter, as soon as we get to Titan, I’m sending you home,” Stephen said, with a tone that said he’d take absolutely zero arguments from Peter.

“Um, sorry, Doctor Strange, but no you’re not.”

Tony had kinda had enough of butting his head against this surprisingly strong brick wall, but he was still on Stephen’s side in this. Even cutting all feelings of love and responsibility away, having Peter around was a liability. Neither of them would be able to concentrate on the task at hand if they had to worry about Peter being hurt.

Stephen sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked to Tony for help, but Tony just shrugged his shoulders.

“I already told him. Although, I had no idea you could make portals from across the universe, so that’s a load off my mind. At least we can get him home.”

“Yeah, seriously though,” Peter said, and his voice might have shaken just a little at the end of that sentence. “I’m not going home.”

“Peter—” Stephen started, only for Peter to cut him off.

“No,” he said, and gestured behind him, to where the hole in the ship was repaired by his web. “That was my plan, and it worked. When things went bad, I was the one who caught Mr. Stark. If not for me he’d be—”

Sucked out into the vacuum of space. Definitely not how Tony wanted to die. His thoughts flashed back to sending the nuke through the wormhole, seeing the vastness of Thanos’ army and fearing—knowing—he was about to die.

“So, I’m sorry, Doctor Strange, but no I’m not going home,” Peter said. “You guys need me. This is my…I know you care about me. But I care about you too, and I can’t—I can’t lose the both of you, too.”

Off to the side of the console was the largest chair Tony had ever seen. It must have been made for the Big Guy, so it absolutely dwarfed Stephen as he sat in it.

“It’s not just that, Peter,” Stephen said, his tone thick with regret. “If Thanos gets his hand on the Time Stone he’ll be unstoppable. His goal is to wipe out half of all life in the universe.”

Peter shuffled his feet, his face much more pale than normal. Tony reached out and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Can he do that?” Peter asked.

“If he gets this stone, then yes,” Stephen said. “He can.”

The enormity of their situation stretched out between the three of them, so big it was hard for even Tony to fathom. He’d saved the world so many times, had saved billions of lives. But now they were talking trillions, and that was a number even he had trouble thinking about.

They couldn’t count on Vision to protect himself. Not if the cronies who went after him were as strong as Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian. They had to assume Stephen was the last man standing.

Which meant Stephen had to protect that stone at any cost.

“Kid,” Tony said, because he could see how much it would hurt Stephen to say it, “what Doc’s trying to say is, he won’t be able to protect you.”

“I can take care of myself!”

“Peter,” Stephen said, and stood again. “I have to protect the Time Stone with my life, and at the cost of anything else. Including you and Tony.”

Tony had known that from the beginning. It wasn't even a bitter pill to swallow, just part of the superhero life. With great power blah blah blah. He’d be a hypocrite if he allowed that to hurt him.

But Peter was a kid, and it would have been nice if he never had to find any of this out.

“I wouldn’t want to,” Stephen said, pleading for Peter to understand. “Please, don’t think I’d ever—”

“I understand,” Peter said softly. His jaw was square, and his shoulders were thrown back like he was waiting for orders. “You guys think I’m this kid, but I know responsibility. And maybe I’ve never saved the world like you have, but I’ve helped people. I know what it is to have to make hard choices.”

“We know you do, kid,” Tony said.

Stephen shook his head. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”

“I’m faster than I look,” Peter said, trying to smile. “Plus, someone has to be the brains of this operation.”

“Peter—”

“Stephen,” Tony cut in, because this argument wasn’t going to end. As much as he wanted to send Peter home, as much as he hated the idea of Peter being in this fight, he’d made his decision. And maybe Tony had even made it for him two years ago when he got him involved in an airport fight he had no business being in. But every step Peter had made since then had been for this life. If he wanted to step up, how could Tony stop him?

“Okay, kid, you’re in.” He used his arm in lieu of a sword, knighting Peter and finally making it official. “You’re an Avenger.”

Stephen’s mouth hung open in surprise while Peter smiled then stood straight up and nodded.

“Okay, first Avenger mission, go find us some food. They have to have something around here,” Tony said.

“Oh, good idea, Mr. Stark. I’m starving,” Peter said. “They probably have a ton of it for the ugly guy.”

“Which one was the ugly guy?” Tony asked, watching Peter find hidden drawers in the walls, hopefully full of supplies. Stephen looked lost. “Hey, you okay?”

With a shake of his head, Stephen said, “If anything happens to that boy I’ll never forgive myself. It’s hard enough accepting that you’ll be by my side. If he were to kill both of you…”

Something deep inside of Tony twisted just a little, then something deeper twisted again. That phantom touch, the lingering piece of something from Stephen that Tony just never thought to question.

Now wasn’t the time.

“There’s no way I’m leaving your side, Doc.”

“I know,” Stephen said. “I wouldn’t insult you by trying to convince you otherwise.”

“You know me so well.” Tony kept one eye on Peter, who had found another room, and one on Stephen. “This is my fight, too. This is my nightmare, Stephen. The one I’ve known was coming all this time. It’s here. Or, I guess we’re meeting it on Mars.”

“Titan. Yes, I know,” Stephen said. “But I don’t have to like it.”

“I found something that might be food!” Peter shouted, before running into another room.

“Hey, Peter, be careful! You never know what weird kind of, I don't know, booby traps they might have left for someone who isn’t eighteen feet tall or a seafood medley plate.”

“Heh, booby traps," Peter said. “Hey, have you ever seen that really old movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark?”

Tony groaned and Stephen whispered, “By the Vishanti, he makes me feel old.”

“Really?” Tony asked, watching Peter bounce from one side of the room to another. “He makes me feel young.”

Stephen hummed and watched along, and Tony was glad that someone else cared about Peter as much as he did. That someone else was around to share the burden of loving a young superhero.

“Okay, I found these things that look like maybe protein bars?” Peter said, holding a wrapped bar the size of a Thanksgiving turkey out for the two of them to see. “Maybe it’s edible?”

“Oh, I really don’t want to have to eat that,” Tony said, but now that the adrenaline rush was ending his body was screaming at it for first food then rest. “Hey, Dumbledore, can’t you rustle us up some grub? I’ll take a cheeseburger, no onion.”

“Uh, sorry, Mr. Stark, you can’t create food,” Peter said in such a matter-of-fact way Tony almost laughed. “Gamp’s Law of Elemental Transfiguration, you can’t create something out of nothing. Everyone knows that.”

Stephen frowned and said, “Uh, I haven’t even heard that. Where did you read about that?”

“Harry Potter Lexicon.”

Stephen rolled his eyes in the same overly exaggerated way Tony always did when it came to Peter. It never failed to make the kid smile.

“Peter, please, for the last time, Harry Potter is not real. There is no Gamp’s Law.”

“Awesome. Then I’ll take my cheeseburger please,” Tony said.

Stephen shuffled his feet for a moment, then muttered, “You can’t create something out of nothing.”

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, leaning in, “what was that, Dumbledore?”

Louder, Stephen said, “You can’t create something out of nothing.”

“Everyone knows that, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, taking Stephen’s side, that traitor.

“Okay, well luckily I can tell you the chemical composition of this thing and whether or not we can eat it,” Tony said, manually scanning the big hulking thing while Peter held it. “Okay, it’s basically a protein bar from space. We should be able to eat it and not die.”

“Yay!” Peter shouted, though Tony hadn’t said it would taste good. He didn’t even want to consider what flavor Cliff Bar Cull Obsidian would eat. Baby? Human suffering? He watched Peter tear the package open and take a bite. Then he tried not to laugh when his face twisted in disgust.

“Yeah, edible doesn’t always mean good,” Tony said. “But if it’s all we have, it’s all we have. Gimme.”

They sat in the largest chair ever created and ate silently. The adrenaline had left Tony completely, leaving him drained and exhausted. Peter’s eyelids were threatening to close, but Stephen looked like he was fighting it.

“Hey kid, you find anything that looks like a bed in this horror show?” Tony asked.

His second wind hit at just the right moment and Peter leapt up to show them a room opposite where they were sitting. “Yeah, the big guy has a bedroom with a huge bed.” He skidded to a stop and turned back. “I don’t—I don’t think you want to see the other guy’s room.”

Stephen looked as though he was dead on his feet, but he still didn’t look like he was going to get some rest.

“Hey,” Tony said. “Come. Sleep. You’re not at your best without at least some sleep.”

Stephen shook his head. “There has to be some way to defeat him on Titan. I’m not sure how yet, but I’m thinking.”

“Well, come think lying down on whatever Thanos’ cronies thought of as a bed.” He reached out again, offering his hand to Stephen when he was more than capable of getting himself up and to the room by himself.

But Tony’s hand was still cold from the lack of his touch, still wanted to have something of Stephen touching him. Maybe it didn’t mean anything, or maybe he really did have a chance, but that didn’t matter. What did matter was the fact that they were on a spaceship set to rendezvous with a warlord who seemed to worship death.

So all bets were off. It’s now or never, Stark.

Stephen looked at his extended hand with such disbelief it almost broke Tony’s heart but set it on fire at the same time. Life or death situation or not, Tony didn’t care right now. All he wanted was for Stephen to get some rest, preferably right next to him.

“Come on, Doc,” Tony whispered. “You’re dead on your feet. We’ll kill Thanos in the morning.”

Slowly, like he expected Tony to take it away, Stephen took Tony’s hand.

Holding someone’s hand hadn’t had him this excited since he’d been a kid. His heart might beat right out of his chest for how just the touch of Stephen’s hand felt in his. When Stephen got to his feet they still didn’t let go. Their hands dropped to their sides and they walked toward whatever horror show awaited them in Cull Obsidian’s bedroom.

“Oh,” Tony said, walking into the room. He’d been expecting a dungeon, not something out of a very boring IKEA catalog. “That is one huge bed.”

“I call middle!” Peter shouted and jumped on the bed. It took up almost the entire room and was easily the size of three King sized mattresses. Tony retracted the nanoparticles and took off his shoes.

Peter bounced for another minute before falling down into the center.

The bed was large enough for them to never have to see each other, let alone touch and yet the three of them gravitated towards each other as they settled. The fear of what was about to happen was calmed just a little bit knowing they weren’t alone.

The Cloak covered Stephen and he and Tony settled in next to Peter.

The lights dimmed automatically, and Tony heard the soft breaths that told him Peter had fallen asleep quickly. Exhaustion was calling for him, but there was something he wanted more. He was only laying a few inches away from Stephen, but as his hand traveled the distance it felt like miles.

His fingers curled around Stephen’s hand and gave a light squeeze, always mindful of Stephen’s injuries. He held his breath until Stephen gave him the slightest squeeze back.

It was enough. Tony let his eyes close and tried to let the warmth of Stephen overcome thoughts of the cold of space and inevitability of death.

Chapter Text

Stephen was warm. He was so very warm.

It wasn’t the warmth that woke him, but it was the first thing he noticed even before the urgent need to use the toilet. He spared a thought to how toilets would work in space and prayed he wouldn’t have to read an instruction manual just to pee.

In the next moment he realized why he was warm. Tony had rolled over in his sleep and had thrown an arm around his chest, holding him close. The scent of him filled some primal need within Stephen, something inside of him feeling calm and safe even in this situation just because Tony was there.

The comfort Tony had offered yesterday was welcome, his hand still burning pleasantly from where Tony had touched it. But this was something Tony was doing in his sleep. It wouldn’t be right to take advantage.

With regret, he carefully moved out from under Tony and slipped away to what he thought might be an ensuite bathroom.

It turned out space toilets functioned better than Kubrick had imagined, but the real fun was using a toilet made for someone the size of Cull Obsidian. He quietly made his way back to the bed, hoping to get a few more hours sleep before they reached Titan.

And Thanos.

He heard low talking and laughter as he reached the room.

He couldn’t help but smile. There was always laughter when Tony and Peter were around. It was seldom they couldn’t make Stephen smile, even if he was trying his hardest not to.

“Going back to sleep, Doc? Red was waiting for you,” Tony said softly as Stephen slipped back into bed, then rolled over several times to get back to his original position near Tony. “Peter was trying to get me into a game of twenty questions, but maybe if you’ll split the load we can get it done in half the time.”

“It’s thirty-six questions, Mr. Stark,” Peter said, his voice also uncharacteristically soft. “And I don’t remember all of them, just a few. My friend MJ asked me them one day. Something about ‘thirty-six questions to be a better friend’ or something like that.”

The lights were still dimmed and Stephen was nestled warmly under the plain blankets that the bed provided and the Cloak. He felt like he was back in grade school at Peter’s suggestion, talking with friends about things that seem extremely important at the time but in reality are anything but.

The threat of Thanos and what he would have to do loomed over him, so he welcomed the reprieve.

“Like my favorite color? Favorite teacher? That sort of thing?” Stephen asked.

“I’m gonna go out on a limb and say red—no, blue!” Tony said.

“Hmm, wrong on both counts. It’s grey,” Stephen said. “Dove grey.”

Tony shifted on the pillow and looked over towards him. His eyes shined even in the dimmed lights. “Noted. Dove grey.”

Stephen shivered.

“No, nothing like that,” Peter said. “These are real questions. They’re supposed to help you really get to know someone. So do you want to play?”

“Sure,” Tony said softly, still near the edges of sleep. “My life is an open book anyway.”

“I’ll play, Peter,” Stephen said.

“Okay, so to be fair, I don't remember all of them. Just the ones that really stuck with me. So…um…oh! If you could have dinner with anyone, living or dead, who would it be?”

“Living or dead?” Tony asked. “That’s easy. My mom. I’d give anything to have one last decent conversation with her.” He was silent after a moment, as though lost in memory. “Dinner with mom over her lasagna. Just one more time.”

“Doctor Strange?” Peter asked softly, like he didn’t want to disturb Tony’s reminiscing.

It was on the tip of Stephen’s tongue to say Agamotto himself. The founder of the Masters of the Mystic Arts was someone Stephen looked up to. He was responsible for the creation of the Sanctums and laid the foundation and structure that brought order to magic as it existed today.

But his name slipped from his lips as he thought about the Ancient One and how much he missed her. He would give many things to have just a little more time with her. But thanks to astral projection, he’d already said goodbye. He was extremely grateful to have had that moment with her, accepting her final lesson to him, while watching the snow.

In the end it wasn’t even a competition.

“My sister,” he said quietly, as though just saying her name would break his heart all over again. “Donna. We were swimming in a lake near our house when we were kids. She drowned while I was supposed to be looking after her. I’d give anything to be able to apologize properly.”

The moment lay heavy between them, until a strong, calloused hand reached out and took his.

Comfort, he told himself. Comfort and nothing else. Stephen squeezed Tony’s hand back, thankful for the support.

“What about you, Peter?” Tony asked.

“Oh, I said, Emma Watson. But you know…”

“A great choice. Hey, if you want I could make that happen,” Tony said.

“Stop teasing him,” Stephen said, eager to let the heavy mood dissipate.

“Okay, but seriously don’t do that. I would probably cry, and then Emma Watson would have seen me cry.”

Stephen felt more than saw Tony’s shrug. “She's a nice girl. But fine.”

“Oh God,” Peter whispered, like he was questioning his life choices. “So, next question. Your house catches fire. All your loved ones and pets are out but you can save only one thing from being destroyed. What do you save?”

“I don’t know if this really goes for me. I mean, Friday is backed up on servers all over the world so even if every house I own was destroyed she’d be fine.”

“Fine,” Peter said, playfully exacerbated. “All pets, AIs, and bots are out of the house,” Peter said. “What do you save?”

Tony shrugged and said, “There’s an old photo album I’d save, I guess. Even though the pictures are backed up. Oh, and my mom’s wedding ring. I’d save that.”

“The Cloak,” Stephen said, giving it a pet.

Tony snorted. “Okay, let’s face it, Doc. If the Sanctum is on fire, it’s probably because of you. So the Cloak is the one dragging your ass out.”

The Cloak shimmied a little and reached out to wrap around Tony’s wrist.

“Traitor. Fine.” He thought for a minute, but in the end he could only shrug. “The Sanctum is home to many rare books and relics so…I don't know that I could choose just one,” Stephen said. “Sorry, Peter.”

“Well, I’d save my suit,” Peter said. “I’ve been without it once and no thank you. Okay, here’s a good one: if you could be famous, would you?”

Tony laughed out loud at that one. “Sorry, kid, it’s just too funny.”

“Well, how about the opposite?” Stephen asked. “What if you could be un-famous?”

“Yeah, what if no one knew who you were?” Peter asked. “Oh! What if the identity of Iron Man was a secret and you were just some guy?”

“Like if Iron Man was my bodyguard?” Tony said, as though he’d never thought about it before. “I have no idea what that would be like. My face was on the cover of Life Magazine when I was just a kid. Everyone I’ve ever met has known everything about me the second they saw me. Every good thing, but damn…every evil thing I’ve ever done…”

Tony trailed off, like the thought had never occurred to him. Stephen sometimes teased Tony about his notoriety, but he’d never thought about what it was like to be on the receiving end of such knowledge. How everyone had known Tony Stark for so long that they felt they knew him.

And how wrong all their assumptions would be.

“I don't know, kid,” Tony whispered. “I have no way of knowing what it’s like. Sorry.”

“That’s okay, Mr. Stark. Doctor Strange?”

“No, thank you. The sorcerers of Kamar Taj have existed for millennia in secret. I’d like to keep it that way.” Plus, lunches and dinners with Tony over the years had shown him the downfalls to fame. Definitely not for him.

“Yeah, someone was definitely filming that fight, Doc,” Tony said. “Sorry, but anonymity isn’t really a thing for you anymore.”

Stephen thought it over for a moment then groaned. “No, please. I don’t know what I would do if I ever trended on Twitter.”

“Hashtag sorcerer, hashtag badass wizard, hashtag magic avenger,” Peter said, way too excited at this idea.

“We’ll handle it, Stephen,” Tony said. “Don’t worry. How about you, kid?”

“Um, well maybe? But not if it would mean everyone who I met would know me before I know them. I guess that would be weird. I told MJ yes, but maybe now I’d change my answer.”

“A wise choice,” Stephen said.

“Okay, next question,” Peter said, “if you could change something about the way you were raised what would it be?”

A loaded question for Stephen, and thanks to the aforementioned fame, for Tony too.

“Yeah, I’d change it,” Tony said, his voice lower now, the lowered lights and the intimacy of the question hitting him hard. “I don't know how. Change fathers?”

“Yes, please,” Stephen said. He didn't know how much Tony wanted Peter to know about his childhood. Stephen wasn’t too sure for himself either. “How about you, Peter?”

“Yeah,” Peter said softly. “I’d like my father figures to stop dying.”

That one hit Stephen in the heart, his eyes closing even in the darkness. The soft confession, spoken in such an intimate setting twisted something inside him. He felt Tony flinch next to him. What it must have cost Peter to say that…

“What’s the worst memory you have of a parent?” Peter asked. His voice shook a little at the end, like he was holding back tears. “And what’s the best?”

If Peter had the strength to actually answer these questions, Stephen could too. And he’d been right about the nature of the game. This wasn’t about his favorite color or movie. He hadn’t felt this raw since maybe the last time he’d sat around a fire with friends when he was a kid. His heart felt like it was flayed right open, but at the same time he’d never felt safer.

Even while on a spaceship, hurtling through space to meet a madman.

A memory he’d buried deep in the back of his mind resurfaced, a wretched thing that Stephen wished he could forget but knew he never would. But Peter had told them his greatest fear, and he could at least be brave enough to answer the question honestly.

“We grew up poor,” Stephen started. “My father would go to the market in town and get these special cookies. They were only for him, he never let me or my brother or sister have any. They were completely off-limits.

“One day I decided that I really wanted one. There were maybe ten left in the package so I thought he wouldn’t notice. He came home, went straight to the pantry, opened the container and knew one was gone.

“I froze. He asked the three of us which one took it, but we all denied it. Then he looked at my brother. I have no idea what made him think that Victor had eaten the cookie, but he took off his belt and started hitting him. Victor cried and swore he hadn’t, but my father just kept hitting him. Said the lying was worse than the stealing.”

Tony’s hand snuck into his again, and Stephen realized his voice was shaking.

“I wanted to open my mouth and say it was me. That was my beating, not his. But I couldn’t say a damn word. I was just frozen to the spot. I just had to watch while my brother cried and swore that he hadn’t done it, until my father felt he’d beaten him enough.”

The sides of his face were wet and warm, then the Cloak came over to dry his tears. He hadn’t thought of that memory in years. He had buried it with all the shame that accompanied memories of his family, but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t still feel guilty.

“You know that wasn’t your fault, right Doc?” Tony asked. “It’s not your fault your asshole father beat your brother over a cookie.”

“Yes,” Stephen said, then smiled sadly even though Tony couldn’t see him. “But we never do get over these things, do we?”

“I’m sorry, Doctor Strange,” Peter said. “We can stop—”

“No,” Stephen said, strongly forceful. He actually liked this game. He did feel as though he was getting closer to both Tony and Peter. “No, let’s keep going. For me, at least. Let’s see. Best memory of my parent?”

He paused for a moment to think, but settled on one hazy memory quickly.

“I was sick with a fever for a week. A high one, the kind where you hallucinate a little. I was in and out all day, when suddenly I felt hands on my face. I had no idea where I was or what was happening, but over all the fever and delirium, I knew my mother’s hands.”

Tony softly squeezed his hand again, and Stephen gripped back.

“My turn? Worse memory of a parent?” Tony asked, and Stephen’s heart felt so open he almost feared whatever Tony was about to say. “So…my dad never really had time for me. Always missing everything important. I knew exactly how important I was to him, which…I wasn’t. He’d apologize and buy me something cool to help with my robots, but he never just gave me what I really wanted.

“Which was him. My dad. I wanted him to be my dad, and he never was. So on the day I graduated prep school—four years early—and I’m walking the stage and I look out into the audience and of course he’s not there. And even then at fourteen I knew I was a damn fool to even hope he’d show up.”

His body shuddered before he took his next breath. He wasn’t looking at either of them, his eyes seeming to focus on the ceiling, but Stephen knew he was back there in that auditorium.

“And then I realized, I don’t even want him there. What did I need him for anymore?

“So my mom and I are back at the house, and he finally shows up. So sorry, meeting ran late, high school grad isn’t really a big deal anyway, blah blah, he’ll be there for MIT though blah. And I stand up to him, get right in his face.

“And I say, ‘Don’t bother. I don’t need you anymore. All my life, all I wanted was just to spend time with you. I wanted your approval. I wanted to be more than just an heir to your empire!’”

Tony’s voice shook as he spoke in a way Stephen had never heard before, even when facing the most sinister of villains.

“‘But you know what? It’s okay. Don’t bother showing up anymore. Cause I don't need you. I have mom, and she’s more than enough. And someday, I’ll have my own family, and I’ll be nothing like you.’”

Tony’s breathing was ragged, like he’d relived the moment as he shouted into the darkness to a ghost who had never truly stopped haunting him. The Cloak wiped Tony’s face as well, its sweet nature leading it sooth its humans.

“What was your best memory of a parent?” Peter asked softly, almost afraid to break the ragged silence.

Tony wiped his face and croaked, “Same one.”

They were silent except for the sound of Tony catching his breath.

Stephen truly was reminded of being a child, of being open and raw with friends in a way that he never had been as a grown man. Some primal human need felt as though it was being met just by talking.

“How about you, Peter?” he finally asked.

“Oh well…” Peter said, and Stephen wondered if he was about to hear about some faint memory of the father he’d never really known or the uncle he’d lost.

“So there was this winter where May had to work the nightshift at the hospital,” Peter said, his voice almost a whisper. “And we both hated it because it meant we hardly got to see each other. She’d get home at three in the morning, and then I’d wake up and go to school and she’d be asleep. Then by the time I’d got back she’d be at work again. I only saw her on her one day off.

“But this one night… She came into my room and sat on the edge of my bed. And the movement had woken me, you know? And I knew it was her cause I could smell that hospital smell over the smell of her soap. And I just…kept pretending to be asleep. She sat there for a minute or two, and I knew that she missed me as much as I missed her. And she probably came into my room just to see if maybe I was awake.

“But I just kept pretending to be asleep. And after another minute she patted my hair and left. I have no idea why I did that. I wanted to talk to her. I missed her. What was wrong with me?”
It wasn’t a question that Stephen or Tony could answer. And likely Peter knew there was nothing wrong with him, but couldn’t understand his own actions contradicting himself.

“They switched her back to the day shift after another month,” he said, his voice thick with emotion. “But I still hated that I did that.”

“It’s okay, Peter,” Tony said softly, reaching out and holding Peter’s forearm. “She knows you love her.”

“What’s your best memory of a parent, Peter?” Stephen asked, eager to give him a reprieve.

“Oh,” he said, as though some spell had been broken. “Coney Island. We go every year. We stuff ourselves on fried food and ride every ride. It’s great. Best memories, hands down. But…you making me an Avenger, Mr. Stark, is a close second.”

Tony was silent at the admission, but Stephen could sense the shift in his body next to him.

“Okay,” Tony said. “I think I got one more question in me, then I think it might be best to rest before we get to Titan.”

“Oh, well I only remember one more anyway,” Peter said. “Do you have a sneaking suspicion about how you’re going to die?”

Stephen felt Tony stiffen next to him and suspected that he did the same. Death was always just around the corner when you were in the superhero business, but now it felt as though it was a very real possibility that they might not make it out of this.

“With my boots on,” Tony said, his tone taking on a forced lightness. “Kid, I’ve almost died so many times. Today, even. I’d love to die happy and old, but something tells me it’s not in the cards.”

“No,” Stephen said automatically, though there was no way he could patronize Tony by denying what he’d said. It really was likely he’d die before he got to retire. There were no guarantees for anyone, but especially people like them, even on good days.

And today was not a good day. Today they were traveling to another planet to fight a genocidal warlord hell-bent on killing half the universe. It wasn’t just possible they would die, it was likely.

But he still wanted to rage against it. He’d died so many times before. Death was like an old friend, but it wasn’t Tony’s time. Or Peter’s. He could only do so much to stop it, and his responsibility was to the Time Stone. But that wouldn’t mean he wouldn’t try his damnedest.

“You aren’t going to die,” Stephen said, like he could will it into existence by saying it. “Not if I have anything to say about it.”

Stephen could tell Tony had a witty remark on the tip of his tongue, but he took a deep breath instead and let it go. “Who could possibly fight the will of Doctor Strange?”

“I don’t want to die fighting either,” Peter said. “I’m not afraid of fighting. I want to fight, but…I don’t want to die.”

“Then let me send you back to New York when we get to Titan,” Stephen said, pleading.

“No,” Peter said, louder than before, like the spell they had weaved by their talking was broken. “Because if the both of you die and I’m not there to protect you, I’ll never forgive myself.”

“Peter—”

“I can't lose another father figure!” he shouted. “I can’t!”

The words were heavy in the air, the implication even more so. Stephen definitely knew that Peter and Tony had a close relationship, but Stephen didn’t know Peter felt so strongly about him.

The shadow that lurked in the back of his mind burned that much brighter.

“Kid…” Tony said, like he didn’t know what to say, like the word was enough. “I want to tell you that we’ll all walk away from this, but I don’t know that that’s true. But I will tell you this: I’m not going down without a fight. And I sure as hell won't let Thanos touch you or Stephen. Not while I’m still breathing.”

Stephen sighed, knowing there was no point to arguing about it now. He’d wait until he got to Titan, then he’d hope Peter would listen to reason.

“Good game, Peter,” Tony said. “I definitely feel like I’ve been ripped to shreds by the angst demon.”

“The angst demon doesn’t rip you to shreds, Tony, it sucks out your soul. Everyone knows that,” Stephen said.

“Yeah, Mr. Stark, everyone knows that,” Peter said.

The game was over, and they all turned and adjusted their blankets to get more comfortable. Trying to conserve their strength before what was to come.

“We should try to get some sleep,” Stephen said.

“I don't know if I can sleep after all of that,” Peter said.

The game was over, but the air was still heavy around them. Stephen thought back to those days in his youth, when the talks would go on for so long and you felt like you had bared your soul. There was really only one way to break the spell.

“What’s your favorite color?” Stephen asked.

“Red,” Peter said.

“Gold,” Tony said, picking up on what he was trying for. “If you could be any animal to be what would you be? I’d be a platypus.”

Peter and Stephen responded and gladly played the game, asking questions of absolutely no consequence until they all fell back to sleep.

Chapter Text

The console didn’t have a word of English on it, but Stephen had a strong suspicion of what flashing lights and loud warning sirens meant.

“Yeah, okay, looks like we’re here,” Tony said, looking around for how to land this thing. “Kid, you see that handle there? This was meant for the big guy to navigate. Grab that other one and we’ll do this together.”

Tony and Peter fully suited up and began trying to land the ship gracefully, but Tony was an engineer, not a pilot. This wasn’t a suit or the Quinjet. It was an alien spacecraft that none of them had the first idea how to work, let alone cut through an atmosphere and land without being blown to pieces.

The ship shuddered as they began their descent, shaking Stephen so hard he nearly fell over. He had no idea if the web Peter had used to patch the ship would be strong enough to survive reentry, so Stephen threw up the strongest shield he could, letting it wrap around the three of them. The ship began to break apart around them, life support systems failing, and the sound of metal bending then breaking but he held on and the shield stayed up.

They weren’t going to die like this.

A hint of green flashed brightly over the gold of his shield. In the corner of his mind’s eye, the Eye of Agamotto opened before him.

He blinked and the screaming of torn metal faded away. The howling of the ship entering the atmosphere stopped, but the sudden silence was far louder. He couldn’t hear Tony or Peter or see the gold of his shield.

For a moment, everything was dark.

In his next breath he was back at the Sanctum, back in front of the door that still didn’t exist. He couldn’t move his head at all, but this time the vision felt different. He looked up as far as he could moving only his eyes and realized the Sanctum was so bright because the hole in the ceiling was still there.

Again, Wong came out of the library, unbothered. “Stephen,” he said in greeting, “is it finished?”

Stephen blinked again and the screaming of the ship tearing through the sky returned. He’d maintained the shields even through his vision, but they were about to crash into a mountain, and the ship—already having taken damage—would be ripped to pieces. He summoned every ounce of power he could, putting all his strength into keeping the shield up as the ship crash-landed.

His arms ached and sweat poured from his brow, but he held on as metal around them groaned and pieces of the ship fell off and onto the shield, continuing until he was sure the remains of the ship wouldn’t just fall down on top of their heads.

“Stephen,” Tony said, shaking him lightly. “Doc, we made it. We’re okay.” Tony ran his hands over Stephen’s shoulders, let his eyes linger over his body, checking for who knew what but it didn’t matter. It warmed Stephen’s heart to the core. “That was some light show you put on.”

The Time Stone felt heavy around his neck, but Stephen dismissed it. “My strongest shield,” Stephen said breathlessly, looking around at the wreckage. “Clearly, it was needed.” Whatever the atmosphere of this planet was like, it was breathable. Part of the ship was torn completely off. “Have you analyzed the air? Is it safe?” He took in a breath and air smelled like decay, like rot. “There’s something very off about this planet.”

“Yeah, we’re not breathing the best of the best, but it’s not poison,” Tony said, looking at a screen on his palm. “The rest, we can find out later.”

Peter lowered himself from a piece of wreckage to hang in front of the two of them. “I just want to say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something and I eat one of you, I’m sorry.”

“Okay, we already did Alien and Aliens bits, we aren’t going for a third,” Tony said.

“We don’t acknowledge the third Aliens in this house, Peter,” Stephen said.

“I’m trying to say, something’s coming,” Peter said, just as a metal ball rolled between them.

Stephen cast a shield just in time to protect himself and Tony from the blast, then expanded it as a large green humanoid ran in with knives in each hand.

“Thanos!” he screamed and ran for Stephen with his twin blades. A flick of Stephen’s wrist disarmed him and the Cloak wrestled him to the ground. Tony took to the sky and exchanged fire with a masked man, dodging and blocking each other’s blows.

“Die blanket of death!”

There were only three of them. Stephen was about to help Peter, but the young girl who was ‘attacking him’ seemed to be more interested in examining his suit than in hurting him.

Something about this was odd. Stephen had only ever met two of Thanos’ henchmen, but these people didn’t seem to be cruel enough let alone powerful enough to be serve the universe’s cruelest warlord.

“Alright, everybody calm down!” Stephen shouted. “I think there’s a big misunderstanding here. One question: what master do—”

His words trailed off as another figure entered the ship, one Stephen had been keeping tabs on, one who had worked with Thanos before. Someone he had no desire to deal with again.

Loki.

Loki had led Thanos’ attack on Earth, so it stood to reason why he was here now. So much for his theory and getting out of this the easy way.

“You,” Loki hissed, calling up blades of ice and bending his knees to a fighting stance.

Stephen beckoned the Cloak back to him with a jut of his chin. It left the green man and flew back, just in time for it to block one of Loki’s knives flying towards Stephen’s skull.

“Bruce Banner said you were dead,” Stephen cried out, summoning raging flames and sending them Loki’s way. All the others of his party ran out of the way before Loki countered with an icy blast that put out the fire.

“No one is that lucky,” Loki hissed, his eyes like daggers as he called up a great ball of green mist and sent it hurtling towards Stephen.

Stephen cast a shield, but the Cloak flew him up into the air dodging the attack completely. Red and gold streaked by him as Tony was again engaged in a firefight and Peter was trying to hold off the other two with his webs.

Loki was clearly the most dangerous of them. Thanos’ own personal magic user, ready to do his bidding. Ebony Maw clearly had been a master at telekinesis, but Loki had Asgardian magic and hundreds of years of practice.

The Cloak kept him airborne as he released another attack, creating clones to distract while he tried his best to trap Loki. The best course of action would be to end this quickly so he could help Tony and Peter in their fights and keep them safe.

Tony let loose a repulsor blast that knocked the other guy through the ship.

Well, maybe Tony had his fight in hand, but Stephen needed to protect Peter. Nothing could happen to him under Stephen’s watch, and if Loki hurt Peter…

“You think me some cheap conjurer,” Loki screamed. “Some charlatan with tricks up his sleeves. I’ve known magic since your ancestors were frightened of the moon!” He conjured a hundred ice daggers, all of them aimed at the real Stephen and painfully similar to Ebony Maw’s torture devices.

Stephen shuddered and opened a portal and let the lot of them fall into a hell dimension, then he sent it for Loki.

Loki jumped out of the way, showing every one of his teeth as he seethed. “Do you think I’d fall for that again? Stop trying to handle me and fight!”

He didn’t want to kill Loki, but he and Tony needed to sort out a plan before Thanos arrived, and Loki couldn’t be here to help his master. And if killing Loki wasn’t acceptable, trapping him was the best plan. He called up the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, and a dozen red whips crawled along the ground until they found Loki, holding him in their grasp.

Just as he was opening a portal, the temperature of the room dropped and Loki shattered his bands as they turned to ice.

“Ah!” he screamed as the cold traveled up to his hands.

“Stephen?” Tony shouted over the confusion, and rushed to his side. “Loki? What did you do to him, you son of a bitch?”

“Less than what he deserves!” Loki shouted.

Tony raised a repulsor as the masked man landed next to them and pointed some sort of gun right in his face. Peter was still dodging the other two, but Loki seemed to have been thrown off by Tony rushing in. The chaos of a fire fight left them, almost as though Loki was giving Stephen a moment to sort himself before the fight would continue. The uncertainty was obvious as Loki held back his next attack, so Stephen decided to try reason.

“Look, I don’t know why you’re doing this,” Stephen said, rubbing his hands together to get the circulation back to normal. “I don't know what he promised you, but Thanos is just using you. Whatever you think you will gain by serving him, it won’t happen.”

Loki’s face twisted into disgust. “You know nothing,” he said and half-heartedly sent another ice blade. The masked man turned from Tony to Loki and lowered his mask.

“I know you’ve taken a page out of Ebony Maw’s torture playbook,” Stephen said as he knocked the ice blade away. “Did the two of you take the same class on how to cause as much pain as possible for people with nerve damage?”

Loki’s hands shook and the rage that had twisted his expression faded, disbelief and fear taking over. Fear at what, Stephen had no idea.

“How do you know Ebony Maw?” Loki asked.

“Your buddy Squidward?” Tony said. “He tried to hurt Stephen so we killed him. He’s dead.”

Loki’s eyes widened for a moment before they closed and he seemed to take a deep breath, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Like he was relieved.

“I suppose if anyone was going to endure Ebony Maw’s attentions and come out unscathed it would be the Avengers,” Loki said, almost to himself. “Quill! Put your weapon down. These people aren’t with Thanos.”

“Wait,” Stephen said, “they thought we served Thanos?”

“Well, yeah, you got here in his ship,” Quill said, lowering his weapon. “You thought we served Thanos?”

“Well yeah, you attacked us!” Tony shouted.

“We don’t serve Thanos,” Quill said. Stephen and Tony looked at one another, then back at the guy who took a blast from Tony’s suit and seemed to just shake it off. “We hate Thanos. He took my girl. And he wants to kill half the universe.”

Tony put down his hands. “Then why are we fighting if we’re on the same side?”

“Beats me,” Quill said with a shrug.

“Wait,” Stephen said, his hands still smarting. “You know who we are. Why did you attack me in the first place?” he asked Loki.

“Because I hate you,” Loki hissed.

Everyone seemed to take a collective eye roll.

“Okay, so full disclosure,” Quill said. “This guy isn’t exactly ‘with’ us. He’s Thor’s brother, and he’s magic so we thought he’d be good in a fight.”

“Thor?” Tony said, holding onto the one word in that sentence that had meaning. “You’ve seen Thor? Thor is alive?”

Stephen hadn’t taken his eyes off Loki, so he didn’t miss the brief flash of hurt at Quill’s words before he let his expression turn cold once more.

“Yeah, he was the last time I saw him. So, I’m Quill,” he said. “That’s Drax and Mantis. We’re the Guardians of the Galaxy. Or half of them. I guess you know Loki.”

“Yeah, we’ve met,” Tony said. Seeing Stephen cradle his hands, he took them in his own. “You okay, Doc? What happened?”

“Just the cold,” Stephen said. “I’m fine.” But he didn’t protest as Tony took his hands in his and blew to warm them. “Really, I just wasn’t prepared for it. They’re fine now.”

“Okay,” Tony said, holding Stephen’s hands and his gaze for longer than was necessary. Just like on the ship, Stephen tried to bury the hope that threatened to burn him every time Tony looked at him like that. His hands were warmer than they’d ever been just from the touch of Tony’s hands.

But there wasn’t time for that now.

Now they had to make plans. They needed to see whether or not Loki was actually a threat or if he’d possibly be useful to them. He and Tony could see what the skill sets of the others were and actually create a plan that could possibly stop a Titan.

But first things first.

“Peter,” he said, prepared for Peter to put up a good fight but he had to try to reason with him. “Please let me send you home.”

“Stephen—” Tony started but cut himself off as Peter lifted his hands in defense, like he was prepared to web Stephen’s hands down to stop him from creating a portal.

“Wait,” Stephen said, holding up a hand. “I’m not going to send you anywhere against your will. I would never do that.”

“Ha! What luxury this boy is afforded,” Loki said, just to be as big a pain as he could be.

“Yeah…” Quill said, throwing up his hands and ushering his people out of the ship. Quill and his party looked away from what was clearly a family affair and none of their business. “Nothing to see here folks. Clearly a family dispute. Come on, Loki.”

Loki started laughing. “Oh, no. I want to see this.”

Stephen could open up another portal and drop Loki on the other side of the wreckage of the ship, but that would accomplish absolutely nothing. And might further alienate Peter.

“Peter—”

“No,” Peter said, his voice more firm and confident than Stephen had ever heard. “I told you. I can’t lose any more father figures. I can’t. Did what I say mean nothing to you?”

Just outside the ship, where the Guardians were very badly pretending not to eavesdrop, Mantis clearly said ‘aww.’

“Of course it did,” Stephen said. “And that’s not what I want, I swear. But you’re my responsibility, mine and Tony’s. And if anything were to happen to you, I know I’d never forgive myself.”

“I know,” Peter said, like he was desperately trying to reach Stephen, but they were speaking two different languages. “And I feel the same about you. If I left, and you and Mr. Stark died, I’d never forgive myself. So why is it okay for you to risk your life and not me? Why are you trying to send me home when I’d never ask you to do that?”

“He’s got you there, Stephen,” Tony said, not helping at all.

“I thought you’d be on my side in this.”

“I am,” Tony said. “But look, he’s made his choice. Do I want him to go home? Yes. Will I send him home by force? No. Yeah, he’s a kid, but he’s old enough to make decisions by himself. And this is something that I’ve trusted him with since I first gave him a real suit.”

“If Thanos wins the day and collects the Infinity Stones this boy will be just as dead here or on Earth,” Loki said. “Let him stay and fight. He’ll be of more help here than there at least.”

Stephen sighed and held in a groan as he found himself on the losing side of this argument.

“You understand that my priority is the Time Stone?” he asked Peter. “Even if I wanted to save you, I can’t if it means giving up the stone.”

“Yeah,” Peter said. “I know I’m young, but I know what sacrifice is.”

Maybe he did, Stephen thought. He knew what Peter had lost, and the trials he’d been through. He’d stepped up and went to defend Tony at the airport in Germany when Stephen had hidden behind his responsibilities to the Order. Peter was the one who had helped when Stephen couldn’t.

And this really wasn’t a choice for Stephen to make. It was Peter’s. And it wasn’t for Stephen to take that away from him.

“Alright,” he said, with a nod of his head. “All I want is for you to be safe. I’m sorry if I acted poorly."

“You didn’t. Gotta admit, I was afraid you’d throw a portal at me,” Peter said.

“I’d never do that. Cross my heart,” Stephen said, as the Cloak used its lapels to cross his heart for him.

Tony wrapped an arm across Stephen's shoulders, turning them away from Peter and Loki for a moment.

“I hate it, too,” Tony said, “but the training wheels have to come off some time.”

“Yes, but now? He’s still a kid. He shouldn’t have to be fighting our battles,” Stephen said.

“Who says they’re ours?” Tony asked. “We didn’t ask for this. And yeah, maybe we stepped up to the hero game, but only because there aren’t many who do. Either way, the ones who can fight step up. We fight the fights that need fighting.”

Stephen grunted again as Tony kneaded his palms gently, letting the feeling back into his fingers. “You’re right, of course you’re right. I just hate that it’s necessary.”

Without giving a look to the others still in the wreckage of the ship, Stephen walked up to Peter and wrapped his arms around him. Peter responded immediately, sinking into Stephen’s embrace.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen whispered into Peter’s hair. “Please forgive a stupid old man?”

“You’re not stupid,” Peter said.

Stephen laughed and kissed the top of Peter’s head. “I get stupid when I think of losing you.”

“You won’t,” Peter said, and oh how Stephen wished that was something he could promise. “I’m faster than you. I’ll be faster than Thanos.”

“Okay,” Stephen said, releasing him but knowing there were no guarantees either of them would get out of this alive.

“That was so sweet, I may vomit,” Loki said, his arms crossed but looking far more interested than he’d like to be. “Thanos is on his way. We need a plan.”

“Then we need to get on the same page,” Tony said. He gestured for them all to leave the remnants of the destroyed ship and join the Guardians outside. “It’s story time, Rock of Ages. Where’s Thor and why are you here?”

“Yes, Bruce Banner believed you both to be dead,” Stephen said.

“We found the two of them floating in space in the wreckage of a refugee ship,” Quill said. “I’ve never seen anyone survive space with no suit.”

“I am a god,” Loki said, but the way his arms were crossed defensively in front of his chest destroyed the authority of that statement.

“And I’m half-Celestial, but you don’t see me bragging,” Quill said.

“Okay, you’re a god, that’s great. Biggest question: where’s Thor?” Tony asked. “And why isn’t he with you?”

“Thor has gone to Nidavellir to ask Eitri to create a weapon capable of killing Thanos,” Loki said.

Tony closed his eyes and nodded. “Good? That’s good? You just said a bunch of words that mean nothing to me but this place—Nidavellir? This is a place that could do that?”

Loki nodded. “It’s possible. If anyone could create a weapon capable of killing Thanos with one blow, it’s Eitri.

“Why were the two of you on a refugee ship in the first place?” Stephen asked.

A terrible pain flashed in Loki’s eyes before he could look away or hide it. He looked down and then around the wreckage of Titan, trying to avoid anyone’s direct gaze.

“Because we were refugees, you fool. Asgard has been destroyed.”

“Thanos destroyed your home?” Peter asked.

“Bruce said Thanos had destroyed an Asgardian refugee ship, but didn’t connect the dots. He has the power to destroy a planet?” Tony asked, with fear in his voice.

“Oh, most definitely. Destroying a planet would be nothing to him now,” Loki said, finally looking back at them, like he had finally got himself under control. “But Thanos didn’t destroy Asgard. Our half-sister Hela did. I took the Space Stone from the wreckage of Asgard and onto the refugee ship. Thanos…was able to track it and us along with it.”

“Wow, you really love that blue cube,” Tony said.

“Tony…” Stephen said, because this wasn’t the Loki he’d seen in video footage from the Battle of New York. This wasn’t even the Loki he’d put into an endless void to keep from having to deal with him. This Loki was battle-fatigued and war-torn, which wasn’t surprising if he’d lost his home world. Loss changed people, and Loki had lost so much.

“I’m just saying, it’s weird,” Tony said, shrugging. “It’s like, you know, you haven’t seen someone in years and you ask how they’re doing, and it turns out they’re doing the exact same thing they were doing the last time you saw them. That’s all.”

“Mr. Stark, I know he’s responsible for killing a lot of people and kind of…destroying New York. I mean, I was there. But maybe…stop?” Peter said. And how difficult would it have been for him to stand up to his mentor and father figure?

But he was right. Loki was presenting himself in all the right ways. Shoulders back, chin high, straight faced, every inch a prince, no different than he’d ever been. But he couldn’t hide his pain, not from Stephen. Pain was an old friend, easy to spot in others. And Tony would recognize it too if he allowed himself to really look past Loki’s sins for what was there now.

A quick glance at Stephen and a quick nod in return had Tony second guessing himself and finally really looked at Loki. Once he’d dropped his own pain and anger at Loki’s past actions, it was easy for Tony to see what Stephen saw, what they all saw because it was just so apparent.

“Yeah, okay,” Tony said, looking at Loki like he was a completely different person than he had been just a moment ago. “So you save the Tesseract from being destroyed, hide it on the ship, Thanos comes and blows everyone up? That about the gist?”

“Yes,” Loki said softly. “That’s about the idea.”

“Why didn’t you use it?” Tony asked.

Loki scoffed. “I know you’re only human, but please try not to be so extremely stupid. I don’t carry around devices that allow me to use Infinity Stones in my pocket.” He tilted his head to the side as if in thought and said, “Though perhaps I should have.”

“No, maybe you couldn’t have used it to save your ship, but you could have used it to save yourself. You’re a god, as you like to remind us,” Tony said. “You can hold that thing in your hand and not die. So why didn’t you save yourself?”

Loki was quiet for a moment, then said, “I am no longer that Loki. I’m not sure I ever truly was.”

“Right," Tony said softly, like he knew Loki was telling the truth, but he was still afraid it was all a trick. Which was fair, considering this was the god of mischief.

But Stephen didn't think that was the case here.

“Okay, we all on the same page now?” Quill asked. “Everyone good? Cause Thanos is coming and we need a plan.”

“Yeah, definitely. We don’t want to dance with this guy, we just need to get the stones away from him,” Tony said.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” Loki asked. “He now has three Infinity Stones, assuming he hasn’t located the Soul Stone yet. He’s the most powerful being that has ever lived. What's your plan for retrieving the stones from him?”

The Time Stone hung heavy around Stephen’s neck. It had been two years since he had really used it, and the consequences of those actions still affected him and Tony today. But unlike the last time he had used it, this was a world-ending event.

A universe-ending event.

And definitely something he should use the Time Stone for.

So why did he hesitate?

“I don't know yet,” Tony said. “Maybe the tiniest sliver of an idea, but whatever we come up with, we only get one shot.”

“And why is that?” Loki asked, letting his eyes drift to the Eye. “Why not use our greatest resource and look ahead? It’s the one thing we have that Thanos does not. He cannot see ahead to know what will happen, but we can.”

Tony looked to Stephen like the thought hadn’t occurred to him. Of course it wouldn’t. Tony wasn't used to dealing with magic like Stephen was. This was the wisest course of action. The Eye of Agamotto was unmoving around his neck, but Stephen almost felt like it was alive and listening, like it knew what was coming and what it was being asked to prevent.

“It should only take me a few minutes,” Stephen said to Tony. “But this is exactly what the Eye is meant to be used for. Something that would affect trillions of lives. There’s no greater cause.”

Tony nodded. “I won’t leave your side. You do your Jedi thing, and I’ll be right here when you wake up.”

Stephen crossed his legs and allowed the Cloak to help him to get into a comfortable position to meditate. His hands shaking just slightly more than usual, he twisted his fingers and opened the Eye.

The Time Stone gently responded to him, like an old friend. For a moment he thought he would have to tell it what was happening, but that wasn’t necessary. He simply asked to view the future and the Stone complied.

And when that future ended in trillions dead he asked for another. And another. And another…

*

“So what’s your deal?” Tony asked Loki a few minutes after Stephen went all sexy space monk. Tony kept one eye on Stephen, who was doing a very good impression of a lagging video chat, and addressed Loki. “You invade Earth, try to kill your brother, get thrown in prison. Last we heard of you, Thor said you died saving his life.”

Loki didn’t do something as obvious as wring his hands or shuffle his feet, but his shoulders turned in just the smallest amount and he maintained eye contact just a little too strongly.

“I told you, Stark,” Loki said. “I am no longer that Loki. But do not think that my desire to not die at the hands of Thanos means I will tolerate your abuse. I don’t care enough about your doubts to sooth them.”

“Tough,” Tony said plainly. “How do we know we can trust you to not sell us out if things go badly? How do we know you aren’t still working for him, and you’ve already told him about Stephen?”

“Oh, we can help with that,” Quill said, gesturing to the young woman with them. “Or Mantis can. She’s an empath, so she can totally tell you if Loki is lying or if he’s being truthful.”

Loki stiffened when Mantis approached him, which was damning. “What’s wrong, Professor Snape? Don’t like the idea of having the truth being told?”

Loki shook his head. “No, but this girl child has already had to endure my mind once. I don’t want to inflict myself upon her again.”

“Oh,” Tony said, because he didn’t want anyone to suffer, especially not a kid. It was kinda hard to determine how old Mantis was, but barely out of childhood seemed about right. “How does that work anyway?”

“Simple,” Quill said. “She’s an empath. She just touches you and knows what you’re feeling. And you can’t really hide from her, she’s seriously powerful.”

“I subverted the will of a god,” Mantis said, proud of herself in that way a kid would be, like she wanted a gold star. Tony had never wished he’d had a gold star more in his life.

“I bet you did,” Tony said. “Can you subvert that god?” he asked, pointing to Loki.

“Perhaps you should touch Stark first,” Loki said, with some of his old mischief in his eyes. “So he can know for sure you’re as powerful as you say you are.”

“Oh, no I completely believe in her…”

“Oh!” Mantis cried out as she touched Tony’s hand. “You are very afraid of what’s coming.”

“Well, that’s kinda understandable, I think,” Tony said.

“And you feel great love—romantic love—for him!” she said, pointing at Stephen.

Tony turned about five shades of red and took his hand back.

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” Loki said with a smirk Tony definitely remembered from the old days. “And does the good doctor not know of your affections?”

“You shut your damn mouth, Loki,” Tony said, putting a finger in Loki's face.

“Wait, he doesn’t know?” Quill asked, a look of confusing twisting his face. “I thought you guys were married. What was with all that hand holding back there?”

“Ha!” Loki shouted.

“You love Doctor Dad?” Peter said, practically bouncing up and down, like Christmas had come early. “Oh my God, are you going to get married?”

“Okay, just hang on a minute here,” Tony said. The situation was getting way out of hand, and he had no idea how to get it back. “No one is going to say a word about this, but…okay, Mantis I believe in you. Now, would you mind doing Loki now?”

Mantis nodded, and Tony tried to steer the conversation away from him loving Stephen and back towards the god who could potentially destroy any chance they had in beating Thanos. Mantis laid her hand on Loki’s and immediately started crying.

“You…fell,” she said softly, like it hurt her just to say the words. “You are still falling.”

Loki gently took his hand out of hers and patted her on the back. “That’s enough of that now, dear child.” He looked up at Tony with a glare, and yeah maybe Tony deserved that a little. “Happy, Stark?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said, because what else could he say? Loki was the god of mischief, and this was an incredibly sensitive situation. He had to know if he was trustworthy. That didn’t mean he felt good about what he just did.

Behind him, Stephen’s body shuddered a bit before he shouted, thrown from his meditation back into reality. Tony caught him before the Cloak could and helped him to the ground.

“You’re back, Doc,” Tony whispered softly. “You’re alright.”

Stephen looked up from the hard, dead earth and met his eyes.

The look he gave Tony blew him away. It was like Stephen hadn’t seen him in years, but now that he had he was finally home. There was relief in his eyes, and something Tony was too afraid to put a label on. “Hi,” he said softly, like maybe he was just happy to see Tony’s face.

“Seriously, they’re not married?” Quill asked.

“Enough. What did you see, Strange?” Loki demanded.

“I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict.”

“How many did you see?” Tony asked.

“Five thousand three hundred and seventy-one,” Stephen said.

That…couldn’t be good. There was no way it was a good thing that Stephen had to look so many times.

“And how many iterations of the same plan did you view?” Loki asked.

“What do you mean?” Peter asked.

“I mean, how many times did he try just using a portal to chop off Thanos’ hand,” Loki said, as though time travel was just an ordinary day for him. “Did he try chopping it off and portaling him to a hell dimension? If that didn’t work did he try the same thing but with the dark dimension?”

“Yes, of course,” Stephen said. “My primary focus was to stop Thanos, but I also wanted—”

“Stephen,” Tony asked, because these two might drive him insane if they actually started working together. “Five thousand futures, but how many did we win?”

Stephen turned to look at Tony…

And smiled.

Chapter Text

Live to fight another day.

Loki crouched next to the spider child and Mantis behind a rock and thought of what he’d told Thor on the Statesmen. He had been right then. There was a difference between strategy and cowardice, but that didn’t help him at the moment.

The sound of a portal opening broke the silence, and Loki’s heart dropped to his knees.

“Oh, yeah. You're much more of a Thanos.”

His eyes closed of their own volition, his fists curling, his magic making green sparks against his will in a way it hadn’t since he’d been a child learning at his mother’s feet.

Strange’s plan was madness. He didn’t care if he had witnessed thousands of futures with the Time Stone, there was no way this could work. And though Loki knew Strange was no ally to Thanos, he didn’t trust him. He’d seen something he wasn’t revealing. Something damning, something he had to keep hidden from his allies, which was never a good thing.

It reminded Loki too much of himself.

Loki only hoped it wouldn’t blow up in his face before they could fulfill his foolish plan.

“Let me guess?” Strange asked. “Your home?”

The plan was so simple it was stupid. Or perhaps Strange kept it as simple as he did so there was a greater chance of it actually succeeding. Loki would gladly go along with any damn fool idea as long as Thanos ended up dead.

Right now, Stark was getting into position. He’d unload the biggest piece of rubble he could find onto Thanos’ head and then the fight would commence. All Loki had to do was his part of the plan and keep from getting killed.

And not freeze like he did last time someone really counted on him.

Gamora wasn’t with Thanos, and that didn’t bode well. Loki could only hope maybe she was being kept somewhere on the Sanctuary, safe and away from the fighting. He’d only seen that brief exchange between them on Knowhere, but it had seemed as though Thanos held real affection for her. Perhaps…

No, Loki thought and shook his head. There was nothing that would stand in the way of Thanos gaining the Stones. Not even the death of his daughter. And if he had hurt or killed her, Loki wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to forgive himself.

“I think you’ll find our will is equal to yours!”

Loki rolled his eyes at the dramatics, but that was his signal to strike. Stark picked up an entire busted ship and dropped it right over Thanos’ head.

That might have slowed him by a few minutes, if he didn’t have the Power Stone.

Bright purple light burst through the ship and the fight was on. Loki concentrated his efforts on getting to Strange, while the rest of them came at Thanos with blades and cannons and fists.

“This is part of your great plan?” Loki hissed as he ran up next to Strange.

“Don’t let him close his fist,” Stephen whispered to the Cloak, who dashed off to wrap itself around Thanos’ gloved hand. “Yes. Help me help Peter.”

The spider child—Peter—jumped through portal after portal that Strange created, delivering kicks to Thanos that were no greater than an annoyance, all of it just stalling for time until everyone was able to get into correct formation for the plan.

“Magic with a kick!”

The boy was as fast as he had promised, but not faster than Thanos.

He grabbed Peter out of the air before Strange could portal him to safety and threw him his direction, but Loki was able to catch him with a heavy mist that cradled him safely to the ground.

Don’t let him close his fist.

The Cloak of Levitation wrapped itself around the Gauntlet, and the sound of it being ripped off was loud even on a battlefield. Loki spared just a thought to what magic it would take to repair it before he used his own to bind Thanos’ hand.

A green mist wrapped itself around the Gauntlet, Loki’s strongest binding spell holding Thanos’ hand where it was, not allowing him to close it. He was far away enough that Thanos didn’t even see him, he just blasted Loki’s spell with the Power Stone and the shock wave was enough to throw Loki to the ground.

“Peter, don’t let him close his fist!” Stephen hissed as they both got to their feet and back to the fighting.

Webs flew through the air and around the Gauntlet, Peter’s own creation strong enough to prevent Thanos from using the Gauntlet if only for a moment. Thanos ripped it off and aimed the Gauntlet directly at Tony.

Before Strange could cast a shield to protect him, a small ship descended from the sky and a blue woman leaped from the cockpit brandishing two swords. Strange’s face twisted in shock, like he’d been expecting her, but not so soon. That wasn’t a good sign.

“Now,” Strange hissed, and Loki was right. It was too early, but what choice did they have? They’d married themselves to Strange’s foolish plan and now they had to see it through.

“Where’s Gamora?” the blue woman shouted and slashed across Thanos’ throat.

Loki approached from behind, his magic a green mist just hovering in the air waiting to strike. They were almost all there, all he needed was Stark to get into position.

Red and gold streaked by and Strange didn’t wait another moment, he cast the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak, the red cords slithering out and wrapping around Thanos’ hand, keeping him firmly in place. On his other side, Drax kicked Thanos hard enough to bring him to his knees and Peter webbed his other hand in place.

With his other hand, Strange created a portal and Mantis dropped down and began using her powers to put Thanos in a magical sleep.

“Do it quickly!” she shouted. “He is very strong!”

Green lightning came from Loki’s hands, wrapping itself around the Gauntlet as he tried to yank it off. His face turned red, every muscle straining as he pulled as hard as he could but to no avail.

“Okay, come on kid, let’s get in here,” Stark said, and he and Peter tried to pull the Gauntlet off with pure force.

Strange still had Thanos’ other hand wrapped, but even in a magic-induced sleep it was almost too much for them.

Loki helped Tony and Peter to try to get the Gauntlet off, then cursed himself when he turned it over and saw bright orange where there should have been an empty slot. Loki’s eyes went wide and he looked over to Strange in condemnation.

Strange gave him a slight nod, all the acknowledgment of what Loki suspected he could afford for the moment.

“Come on, Loki, put your back into it,” Tony grunted, right as Quill flew over to stand in front of Thanos himself. “Okay, on three a big pull.”

“You were a lot easier to catch than I’d thought,” Quill said. “For the record, this was my plan.”

It wasn’t, but Strange had already committed one grave sin against Quill, he owed him one. Loki put his back into it, begged to Odin, Frigga, to anyone who would listen to please let this work.

“Where’s Gamora?” Quill demanded. “Asshole! Where is she?”

“Quill, help them,” Strange hissed with gritted teeth. The Gauntlet was staying on his hand, like it didn’t want to come off.

“He is in anguish,” Mantis cried. “He mourns!”
“What does this monster have to mourn?” Drax grunted, struggling with Stephen to hold Thanos down.

“Quiet!” Loki shouted, all his strength still on their goal. “We’re close…”

Loki’s eyes looked to Strange then to the bright orange stone that screamed Thanos’ sins over any other sound. The Soul Stone mocked the Guardian’s pain silently, shining brightly in the Gauntlet but no one noticed its screaming.

“Gamora,” Nebula finally said. “He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone. And she didn’t.”

Every eye went to the bright orange stone in the Gauntlet, Stephen silently pleading with Tony not to give up.

“Quill, you gotta keep it under control,” Tony said quickly recognizing the simmering rage for what it was. “Don’t do anything, come on! We almost got this off!”

Strange grunted as he held the bands around Thanos, unable to stop Quill punching Thanos awake. Loki dropped the Gauntlet and grabbed Quill just as he threw a punch that dislodged Mantis from his shoulders.

“I got it!” Peter shouted, the Gauntlet just inches away from being completely off.

But it was too late. Thanos grabbed the Gauntlet back and sent an orange blast from the Soul Stone towards all the Guardians, knocking them out with one blow. With another twist of his fist, he sent a blast from the Power Stone to a moon, destroying it and sending it crashing down around the Avengers.

And then the only ones left on the field were himself and Strange.

Strange let loose the Crimson Bands a second time, this time all of them burning and slithering like snakes across the canyon floors while Loki rained down ice blades upon Thanos’ head.

Thanos broke the bands and blasted his ice blades out of the sky.

The blast that broke Strange’s bands sent Loki to the ground, but he got back up and cast one of the very few spells he’d learned from Thor. As Strange created a hundred images of himself that bound Thanos, Loki opened the sky and struck him with lightning bolts that would put the god of thunder himself to shame.

A blast from the Power Stone came careening towards them, but Strange enveloped himself and Loki in the mirror dimension, shielding them from the blast.

Loki commanded the lightning to strike harder, the entire sky lit up in rage but Thanos broke through Strange’s protection and blasted Loki to the ground.

His head swam and he struggled to get up. Strange was fighting alone, and while Loki didn’t care whether that absolute waste of a sorcerer lived or died, he did care if Thanos got the Time Stone. He tried to open his pocket dimension to use the Casket of Ancient Winters, but his vision swam.

The battlefield grew quiet and Loki knew Strange had finally lost.

“You’re full of tricks, wizard,” Thanos said, grabbing Strange by the neck and tearing away the false Eye of Agamotto. “But you never once used your greatest weapon.” He crushed the Eye in his hand and it crumbled to dust. “A fake.” He gave Stephen a sly smile, almost like he respected the subterfuge before he flung him into a pile of rubble.

Loki struggled to keep his eyes open but saw Strange hit his head on a rock. It wasn't time yet. He needed to get up, needed to keep fighting, but he couldn’t lift his head. He heard stones falling as someone came up from behind him, but he couldn’t keep his eyes open to see who it was.

He heard the faint hum of Earth technology.

Stark.

Oh, thank the Norns.

Before Thanos had the chance to search for the Time Stone, Stark landed right in front of Strange. Stark was so much smaller and yet he might as well have been an army between Thanos and what he wanted.

He grunted and called upon his magic, creating the strongest healing spell he could and casting it on himself. Stark had plenty of incentive to protect Strange, but he was still only one man.

"You throw another moon at me, and I’m gonna lose it,” Stark said, standing between Strange and a madman capable of ending them with one good blast from the Stones. There was no way Thanos would get to Strange and the Time Stone while Stark was still standing.

“Don’t even look at him,” Stark shouted, panting as he stood between them. “You want him, you go through me.”

“Stark.”

Loki’s eyes closed in horror. Of course the Mad Titan knew Stark, of course he did. Of course he knew the man responsible for the destruction of his army. But all that meant was Thanos had even more incentive to finish him now.

“You know me?”

“I do,” Thanos said. “You aren’t the only one cursed with knowledge.”

Stark’s voice trembled as he said, “My only curse is you.”

He unleashed his largest weapon, missiles coming from his shoulders and launching their fire at Thanos. With a blast from the Infinity Gauntlet, he blew them all away.

“Come on!” Thanos shouted, blasting Stark with the Power Stone.

Stark fought like a desperate man, like he was the only one standing between Thanos and the death of everyone he loved.

And he was.

Stark launched another cascade of missiles, blasted him with blue crescent weapons that scorched the earth around them. He fought with his own fists and kicked with whatever powered his suit and enabled him to fly.

Every beam was blocked, every punch countered, every single thing Stark threw at him nullified by the power of the Infinity Stones. It was simply too much for any one man to counter, and Stark was just a man.

Loki was a god.

He should get up. He could get up, he knew. He was injured but the healing spell healed him enough that he could fight. He should get up and help Stark, help him in any way, even if it meant his death. If Thanos won the day he’d end up dead regardless.

Thanos ripped away Stark’s weapons one-by-one until parts of his face and shoulders were exposed, his suit instinctively knowing to cover his chest and innards before anything else. He ripped off his helmet and another created itself, but he lost coverage around his legs.

Get up, Loki shouted at himself. He was no coward. This was his fight as much as it was Stark’s. He had to stop this.

But fear was a paralytic. He stood frozen as Stark kept on punching, kept trying anything to stop Thanos getting to Strange. His hits grew wilder, more desperate as he ran out of ammunition and had nothing but his own body and slivers of his suit left.

With a glance back to Strange, Stark created a blade and used his remaining strength to attempt to stab Thanos in the heart. It wouldn’t work—of course it wouldn’t—even if Thanos could be stabbed with something as simple as a blade.

Thanos broke off the blade with his bare hands and there was only one way this could end now. Without thought, Loki closed his eyes and shifted his skin.

Then he stood, just as Thanos was about to run Stark through.

“Father,” Loki cried out, hearing his words in Gamora’s voice. “Father, please don’t.”

Thanos’ eyes went wide and he dropped Stark and the blade and turned his entire focus on Loki.

Loki, who was now the only one standing between Thanos and the Time Stone.

Loki, who Thanos had torn from the cold depths of space and tortured until he agreed to fulfill his wishes.

Loki, who was trembling but still standing.

“Daughter?” he asked hopefully, looking over every inch of Loki to find the lie. He wouldn’t find it, not there. Shape-shifting was the first magic Loki ever learned and one look was all he needed to replicate someone else’s skin.

But he couldn’t fool him forever.

In another moment, Thanos would figure out his ruse and kill Loki like he hadn't bothered doing twice before. All he could do was buy time for Strange to enact his ridiculous plan, like maybe this was still salvageable.

With Stark thrown to the side, Thanos took cautious steps towards Loki, and Loki locked every joint in his body in an attempt not to take a step back. Gamora hadn’t been afraid of her father. Gamora had run towards the Mad Titan with three Infinity Stones when Loki had cowered behind boxes and hid.

To his right, Stark crawled on his elbows and knees to get to Strange. He helped him to sit up, and leaned him against the remains of his suit.

Loki had always been an excellent actor, but Thanos knew Gamora well. He looked at Loki, truly looked and saw.

Fear. He knew his form mirrored Gamora’s perfectly. The only thing that would have thrown him off was the fear in Loki’s eyes.

As soon as he realized Loki’s ruse, he roared. “You!” he hissed. “I should have killed you when I killed your people!”

Loki let his shape shift back to his true self and with one hand conjured the strongest shield he had and with the other conjured a blade of green flame.

“You killed your daughter for nothing, you swine!” he shouted, stabbing at Thanos pointlessly, just trying to distract him for another minute, a few seconds while Strange came to. Thanos grabbed Loki by his head and aimed the Gauntlet right at him. Loki closed his eyes, but before he could make a killing blow, Strange shouted.

“Stop!”

Thanos looked to his left where Strange was cradled against Stark’s chest. With a pained groan, he sat up and held up a hand.

“Spare his life, and I will give you the stone,” he said.

Loki’s eyes went wide and he raised his shield higher. “Don’t!”

“You would exchange the Time Stone for him?” Thanos gestured towards Loki, as though he was worth nothing, like there was no point to him.

Strange nodded.

“Doc, please don’t,” Stark said, putting a hand on Strange’s shoulder.

“No tricks,” Thanos said, digging the Gauntlet deeper into Loki’s throat.

Strange shook his head.

Without another glance, Thanos tossed Loki aside. He walked over to Strange, who had just promised to give up everything they defended to a being hell-bent on destroying half the universe.

“This is madness, Strange!” Loki called out, but Strange didn’t respond. With a shaking hand, he picked a star in the sky and plucked the Time Stone from the pocket dimension he’d hidden it. It floated from him right to Thanos’ gauntlet.

Power surged through him, the green of the Time Stone coursing through his body as he gained impossibly more power.

“Thanos!” Quill shouted. The souls of the Guardians must have returned to their bodies the second Thanos stopped caring about any of them. And why should he? He had exactly what he wanted.

“One to go,” he said and then vanished in a haze of smoke.

To Earth. And the one Infinity Stone left.

*

“You’re playing a dangerous game,” Loki said as Stephen let Tony and Peter help him up.

His head was still swimming from the knock Thanos gave him, but he was otherwise fine. Tony had also taken a terrible beating, but the suit had done its job and kept him from any serious injuries. One by one the rest of the Guardians woke, their souls returned to them, and came to join them.

“No,” Stephen said, and let out a relieved sigh. “We all played a dangerous game, but it’s over now. We won.”

Nebula shook her head at him. “It couldn’t have been that easy.”

“Easy?” Tony shouted, as loud as he could. “You call that easy?”

Nebula was right. It hadn’t gone as smoothly as Stephen would have liked, but they’d done it. They kept Thanos on Titan long enough for the Avengers on Earth to get exactly where they needed to be to cast the killing blow.

“This was a success to you?” Tony asked, and Stephen couldn’t blame him. He’d gone a round with a Titan. Even though he wasn’t hurt, he looked exhausted and his suit was half destroyed.

But it was so much better than the alternative. Stephen had seen Tony fight and die in five thousand iterations of their future. He’d been in love with Tony before, but it ran far deeper now. He’d lived thousands of futures with Tony by his side. Stephen had never witnessed the raw power and determination of Tony Stark in a crisis. Regardless of what connected them, Stephen loved him beyond all reason.

Tony looked at Stephen, visibly upset and needing answers. “You’re absolutely certain this was the way it was supposed to go down?”

Stephen nodded. “Yes, this is what was supposed to happen. Right now, on Earth, every Avenger still on the battlefield is fighting Thanos to keep him from getting to Vision. They will all fail, but they will keep him occupied long enough for Thor to get across the battlefield and throw Stormbreaker right into Thanos’ head.”

“So Vision will be okay?” Peter asked.

Stephen sighed and stole a glance at Tony. “No. Before Thor gets there, Thanos will take the Stone from his head.”

Tony looked at him in shock. He knew Tony cared for the Vision, his feelings for him complicated because of his relation to Jarvis, but there had been no way around it.

“I’m sorry, Tony. But once we’re back on Earth, I can use the Time Stone to help him,” Stephen said. “The only thing I won’t be able to do is rip the memory of losing Vision twice from Wanda’s memory. Poor thing.”

Tony sighed and nodded his head. “There really was no way around that?”

“No,” Stephen said. “I tried so many iterations, but nothing worked as well as this. At first, or course I tried killing him with brute strength, but it never worked. The combined firepower of you, myself, Loki, Nebula, and the rest of the Guardians was never enough to even hurt him.”

“Who’s Nebula?” Tony asked.

“Me,” she said, her head still bowed in grief.

“After that I tried using a portal to remove his arm,” Stephen said, thinking back to the first few dozen tries. “That didn’t work. Then I tried dropping him into an empty dimension, but he was always able to get out. I tried transporting him to a hell dimension, but he just came back. I even tried running, but it never worked.”

Every eye but Quill’s were on him, judging him, like they would have been able to do better.

Maybe they would have, but he did the best he could with what he was given. The only one who didn’t seem to be judging him was Loki, who seemed as though he understood.

“Then you let him take the Time Stone to Earth,” Loki said, as though he just realized what Stephen had planned. “And in doing so, you added my brother into your equation.”

Stephen nodded. “Exactly. But Thanos had to have the Time Stone with him or he would never leave Titan. That’s why I had to give it to him. To get him in the path of your brother.”

Loki nodded his head and smiled, a small genuine thing but a smile nonetheless.

“You brother and his axe. Thor was successful,” Stephen told him. “He went to Nidavellir and had an axe created that could kill Thanos. He’ll be the one to cast the killing blow, and it’ll be over.”

Tony gave him a look of complete disbelief, like he simply couldn’t fathom that the weight that had been upon his shoulders for years was finally gone.

“He’s dead?” Tony asked, putting his hands on Stephen’s shoulders. “You’re sure?”

Stephen nodded. “Not yet, but in a few minutes, yes. He will be. Right now he’s making his way through every Avenger still on Earth.”

“So you knew everything,” Quill said, his tone flat. “You knew everything that was going to happen.”

“Ah,” Stephen said, ashamed that in all the chaos he’d almost forgotten the disservice he’d done Peter Quill. “I’m sorry, Quill. Every time I told you about Gamora you attacked Thanos blindly, no holding back, even when we needed you to.”

“There must have been a reason why no one knew the location of the Soul Stone,” Loki said, almost to himself. “I don’t know what he did to her, but he came to Titan with a stone no one had seen in recorded history.”

Quill didn’t seem to care. Rage twisted his face, and Stephen dodged the first punch but missed the uppercut to his jaw.

Peter caught him before he could fall to the ground. There was a scuffle behind him. He and Tony wrestled on the ground like Quill had tried to kill him.

“Tony!” Stephen shouted, holding his aching—but uninjured—jaw. “Leave him alone. I deserved that.” And he did, even if he’d tried telling Quill a thousand times only for him to lose his temper at the exact wrong moment every time. That didn’t stop Stephen from feeling terrible guilt. He knew what they had gone through, what Gamora had to have gone through. He’d heard their story thousands of times.

“You deserve more than that!” Quill shouted, still lost in his anger.

“Quill,” Nebula said softly, “Thanos killed Gamora. Not this man.”

Stephen helped Tony—who was still beaten and winded—up, his heart warmed at the defense he had put up for him.

“Thank you,” Stephen said softly. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m exhausted or I would have dodged that punch.”

“He shouldn’t have hit you,” Tony said, holding on to Stephen’s jaw. “It wasn’t your fault, Stephen. You did everything you could do to have the least pain possible.”

He truly had. He’d even tried to figure out a way to get Thor to Thanos quicker, to spare Wanda the pain of seeing Vision die twice, but this was truly the best he could do. He only wished he could have helped everyone.

“He had his reasons, but…thank you, Tony,” Stephen said, his voice soft and tender. The little shadow flickered just a little, feelings of hope and contentment and maybe…

The hand that was holding his jaw shifted just a little, so it was no longer checking for injury but was now holding him tenderly. Tony looked at him, a question in his eyes that terrified Stephen.

That little shadow flickered brighter, and Stephen couldn’t believe what he was feeling. That maybe his feelings were reciprocated, that maybe Tony felt exactly what he felt. Maybe there was a chance.

“Strange…”

Something in the tone of Loki’s voice was off. He sounded frightened—no, terrified—in a way he hadn’t before. Even in facing down Thanos.

Stephen turned and saw Loki standing in front of him with his hand raised.

His translucent hand.

“What dark magic is this?” he hissed, his eyes brimmed.

“What the hell?” Tony said, and reached out.

His hand went through Loki’s.

“No,” Stephen said, but Loki’s arm disappeared right before him and the rest of him began to fade. “No, what is this? This isn’t what happens.”

For the first time, Loki showed every ounce of his fear on his face.

“Brother?” he whispered just before he faded from existence.

They were silent for a moment, Stephen’s heart pounding in his chest as he realized something had gone horribly wrong.

“What the hell?” Tony shouted. “What just happened? Where did he go?”

“Where did who go?” Quill asked. “Thanos? To Earth. We lost, dipshit.”

“No, not Thanos!” Tony shouted “Loki!”

“Who the hell is Loki?”

A terrible feeling of dread settled over Stephen, suffocating him as he tried to determine what had just happened.

“What do you mean who the hell is Loki?” Tony shouted, his voice shaking. “He’s the guy who literally just faded away!”

“Stark, there has been no one but us since we arrived hours ago,” Drax said. “Nebula came, but no one else. Are you experiencing delusions?”

“Are you alright?” Mantis asked Tony.

“No, I’m not alright!” he shouted. “Loki, Thor’s brother. You remember Thor? You picked up him and Loki floating in space.”

Quill shook his head. “We picked up Thor, but no one else. Seriously, man, you okay?”

“Peter,” Tony said, stumbling to him. “Peter, tell me they’re fucking with me. You remember Loki, right? Tall, pale, Iggy Pop meets late John Lennon?”

Peter nodded like he was afraid, disturbed at watching one of his father figures be so upset “Yeah, I-I remember Loki. He attacked New York.”

“No,” Tony said, gritting his teeth. “Not then—”

“I remember him, Tony,” Stephen said. “But only you and I do. Whatever happened didn’t affect us.”

“Okay, but why—” Tony said, his voice growing weaker before he coughed up blood.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter shouted, catching Tony before he fell to the ground. He laid him down to the ground, revealing a large, deep cut along his side.

Right where Thanos would have stabbed him if Loki had not intervened.

Tony coughed again, and blood splattered across Stephen’s face. His mind raced, still triaging after all these years, knowing that Tony wouldn’t last long with a wound like that on this planet. He raised his hands and raced to use the same binding spell he’d used two years ago, damn the consequences…

But the Time Stone was gone.

He needed a powerful relic, and Stephen didn’t think the Cloak would cut it. He raced to put a hand over the wound, desperately trying to stop the blood flow.

Tony beat him to it, activating the nano particles and sealing the wound shut.

His face looked grey, his body shaking from the trauma. “How the hell could I have missed that? Adrenaline?”

Adrenaline counted for a lot of things, but Stephen had checked Tony over when the fight had ended. He would have noticed a stab wound that large.

The little shadow in the back of his mind was frozen in terror. The Cloak removed itself from Stephen's shoulders and wrapped around Tony.

“What the hell is happening, Doc?”

Stephen shook his head. He had no idea, and without the Time Stone he had no way of looking ahead.

A chill wind blew, the air eerily silent. Something inside Stephen shifted, like day turning into long, dark night.

“Something is happening…”

Mantis looked up towards Drax then her body turned to dust.

“Quill?” Drax said, just before he joined her.

Tony leaned on the Cloak to stand up. The little shadow in the back of his mind was petrified.

“Steady, Quill,” Tony said just before Quill turned to dust as well.

Tony stumbled as he chased after the ash, the only remnants of the Guardians black smudges on his hands.

This wasn’t supposed to happen. This wasn’t the future Stephen had seen, none of it. Thanos was supposed to get to earth and die there. He wasn’t supposed to succeed.

Trembling hands found their way to his face.

“Doc?” Tony asked, holding Stephen like he was terrified he’d slip away.

“I—I don’t know what happened,” Stephen whispered. “I saw everything. I don’t know—”

“Mr. Stark,” Peter said, his voice trembling. “Doctor Strange? I don’t feel so good.”

No.

“No, please,” Stephen begged as Tony ran over to catch Peter as he fell. “Please, no.”

Peter fell into Tony’s arms, tears streaming down his face. Tony held onto him tightly, not saying a word. Peter reached out a hand and grabbed onto Stephen’s tunic.

“Please, I don’t want to go,” Peter cried. “I don’t want to go.”

Stephen sank to his knees as Peter’s body began to dematerialize. “I’m sorry,” Peter whispered before he turned to dust.

And then there was silence.

Tony’s blood-stained hands were black with ash. He tried to wipe it off, a far-off distant look in his eyes.

“He did it,” Nebula said, before she sank to her knees to mourn with them.

It didn’t matter how. Not when the only thing they had left of Peter was the ash on Tony’s hands.

Stephen fell onto the floor right next to Tony, right where Peter had been, and held him. Their tears made tracks through Peter’s ashes.

Chapter Text

Stephen wasn’t sure how long they knelt together in the dust and dirt, holding on to each other and praying they wouldn’t disappear. Their arms wrapped around each other, as though they were holding each other together. If that might have worked Stephen would've grabbed hold of Peter and never let go.

The little shadow in the back of his mind wailed its loss.

Behind them, Nebula knelt in the ashes of the Guardians, mourning both them and her sister. She had lost the most, Stephen realized, her sister and her entire crew gone. At least he and Tony still had each other.

Grief threatened to strangle Stephen, threatened to drown him as it overwhelmed him and stopped him from even taking a breath let alone think ahead. He needed to get up. He needed to figure out what had happened, where had his looking through time gone so wrong that the future took such a terrible turn.

He wouldn’t find answers here, and he needed them if he was going to determine a course of action to undo everything Thanos had just done. He needed to get up, needed to get Tony and Nebula up and to Earth. Tony needed better medical treatment, and Stephen needed to talk to the Avengers who had been on that battlefield.

But first he needed to stand up.

Tony was shaking in his arms. The Cloak was draped over the both of them, embracing them as they mourned.

“Come on, Tony,” Stephen whispered, his voice sounding so loud in the silence. “We need to get back and find out what happened. Then maybe we can see about reversing it.”

Tony lifted his head, tear tracks cutting through the dust on his face. Stephen closed his eyes and tried not to think of where that dust had come from.

“Is that even possible?” he asked.

Nebula looked over as well, like the possibility hadn’t occurred to her.

“I don’t know,” Stephen said. “But I know we won’t find any answers here. We need to find out what happened when Thanos arrived in Wakanda. Whatever it was differed greatly from what the Time Stone showed me.”

He helped Tony up, his legs shaky from loss of blood and shock. Then he said to Nebula, “When you arrived on Titan there was another man with us, helping us. He was pale and had long, black hair. He was wearing green armor in the style of Asgard. Do you remember him?”

Nebula shook her head. “None of us did. Do you think that has something to do with what’s happened here?”

Stephen shook his head. “I don’t know. But I’m going to find out. Will you go with us to Earth?”

“Terra?” Nebula said, then shrugged. “I suppose. There’s nothing for me here, but if I can help you to undo what Thanos did I will.”

“I can make a portal the size of your ship,” Stephen said. “We’ll go to the Compound first.”

“Not Wakanda?” Tony asked.

Stephen shook his head. “The Compound. You need medical treatment, plus we know the layout better.”

“Fine,” Tony said. “I want to fly over New York first then, see what help is needed. I can only imagine—

“Oh,” Tony said, surfacing just the tiniest bit from his grief to realize that what just happened hadn’t just affected Peter and the Guardians. Thanos had destroyed half of all life in the universe. And while it was easy to say, it wasn’t something easily understood.

“My God,” Tony gasped. “Half of all people—doctors in the middle of surgery. Airplane pilots. People driving their cars, kids in the backseat. Damn it, this is—”

“I know,” Stephen said because he was right there with Tony in a panic, but they had to focus. “And we’ll help everyone we can, but we need to get back first.”

Tony’s eyes looked crazed, but he nodded. Then something occurred to him. “Pepper. Rhodey. Happy. May, oh God, May,” he said, burying his face in his hands.

Stephen didn’t even think, just grabbed Tony to his chest again.

“We’ll fix this. We have to.”

Nebula started her ship, and Stephen opened a portal. He was already so exhausted it took a moment to make a portal large enough for the ship to pass through but he made it. They quickly crossed, flying right over New York City.

It was in chaos.

Nebula flew low and they were able to witness the utter havoc let loose on the city. Helicopters had flown into buildings, planes had crashed, and every street was jammed with crashed cars. And those things were visible from hundreds of feet in the air. Stephen could only imagine the state of the hospitals, patients turning to dust on tables along with their surgeons and nurses, of homes with babies whose caregivers turned to dust.

It was everything he’d sought to avoid and yet it had happened regardless.

Now he needed to find out how.

Tony gave Nebula the coordinates to Avengers Compound, and they fled the carnage of New York City.

“Boss?” Friday shouted, her voice garbled as Tony’s suit was partially dismantled. “Boss is that you?”

“Oh, baby girl,” Tony sighed. “I’m so glad to hear your voice.”

“Boss, what happened?”

Stephen was no longer surprised at the emotion that Friday showed. The Cloak and Friday showed more personality and love than some of the people Stephen had in his acquaintance. And right now Friday was terrified.

“Friday, call Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy. And Peter’s aunt. May. May Parker. Call all of them,” Tony said, his voice revealing all of his desperation.

After a half a second, Friday said, “I have Miss Potts.”

“Tony? Tony, are you okay?” Pepper asked, her voice shaking.

Tony nearly sank to his knees in relief. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m back. God, Pepper, your voice. I didn’t know—” He reached out and held onto Stephen’s arm, his grip weak but desperate. “Look, we’re gonna fix this. Pep, you have the codes. Unleash the Iron Legion. Tell them to go to New York. There are—”

“I’m at the Tower," Pepper said, her voice trembling. “I don’t know what’s going on. Tony, Happy was here and he just…disappeared right in front of me. What’s happening?”

“Boss, I have Colonel Rhodes on the line,” Friday said. “I can’t find Happy or May Parker.”

“Yeah, I think you can stop trying Happy, Friday,” Tony said, defeated. “Pepper, I’ll get to you as quick as I can, but I’m with Stephen and we’re going to try to fix this.”

“Stephen is with you?” Pepper cried, like Stephen being with Tony was the answer to every problem. “Can magic fix this? Happy disappeared right in front of me!”

“I don't know,” Tony said. “Set the Legion loose. People need direct help now.”

“I will,” Pepper said, and Stephen could see her wipe her face in his mind’s eye, put away all her fear and sadness, and set to work.

“Rhodey?”

“I’m here, Tony.”

“Where—”

“Wakanda,” Rhodey said, his voice revealing his battle-fatigue. “He was here, Tony. He went through us like paper, like we were nothing.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” Rhodey said. “Yeah, I’m fine. Are you back at the Compound?”

“Landing now,” Nebula said, setting her ship down next to the Quinjet.

“Is Thor there?” Stephen asked, because Rhodey had been there. He might know what had happened that changed everything.

“Thor?” Rhodey asked. “Yeah, he’s here. He’s still with us.”

That was one question answered. Whatever had happened, it wiped Loki from existence but not Thor.

“Did he fight Thanos on the battlefield?” Stephen asked.

“I don’t know,” Rhodey said. “I was grounded and couldn’t see what happened.”

“But you’re okay?” Tony asked. “The braces hold up?”

“Of course they did. You made them.”

“We’ll call again soon,” Stephen said. “Tony needs medical attention.”

“Medical attention? Tony, what happened?”

“No idea,” Tony said, and it was the absolute truth. “May have gotten into a fight with that guy.”

“‘Course you did,” Rhodey said affectionately. “No wonder he looked so pissed off.”

“He’s in good hands, Rhodey,” Stephen said. “I’ll get him better. I promise.”

“He’s in the best hands then. Look, we’re still trying to find people, but we know not everyone made it. I didn’t see it happen, but Steve said—”

This was something Stephen hadn’t spared a thought for. It seemed like so long ago he had been adamant Tony not call Rogers, that someone who had hurt him so badly wasn’t worthy of trust even in an end of the world situation.

If their forces were half-depleted they might not have a choice.

“What did Steve say?” Tony asked.

“He said Barnes turned to dust right in front of him.”

Tony looked at his hands. “Yeah…”

“We’ll call you soon, Rhodey,” Stephen said. “We’ve arrived, and I need to get Tony some help.”

No one greeted them as they set down. If the Quinjet landed there would be a crew of people to begin maintenance, but now there was no one. The air here was as eerily quiet as it had been on Titan.

Stephen and Nebula helped Tony to the elevator and down to med bay.

Avengers Compound was never buzzing with activity, even when it had housed the Avengers. But there were engineers on site to work on the jet, a few scientists on Stark Industries’ payroll that worked there in case they were needed, and there was always a medical team present.

The elevator opened to an empty med bay.

Friday would have alerted the medical team that Tony was in immediate need, but there was no one there to do triage. There was always a staff here, at least three or four people. What were the odds that all of them…

“Friday?” he asked.

“The team was here, Doctor Strange,” she said. “But they all disappeared, except for one. What happened?”

“Thanos happened,” Nebula said, walking into the room and not wasting a second. She raided the supply closets for supplies and who knew what else.

“Except for one?” Tony asked.

“Nurse Thomas is hiding in the closet,” Friday said just as Nebula opened a supply closet and found a man inside.

“I don’t think he’ll be able to help,” Nebula said, but helped Thomas up and out. The poor man was trembling, his eyes red with tears.

“Here,” Stephen said, tossing Nebula a blanket to drape over the man who was obviously in shock. “I need to help Tony.”

“Sit,” Nebula said, putting Thomas on one of the beds. “Try to breathe. It won’t be okay, but there’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“Real bedside manner you got there, Nebula,” Tony groaned as he got on one of the beds.

“Better than mine,” Stephen said.

He went through the storage cooler and found blood for Tony and set him up, but his hands shook so much he couldn’t get the needle in.

“Here,” Nebula said, coming from behind him and inserting the needle correctly on the first try. Stephen wasn’t surprised—he’d known Nebula through so many lifetimes by now—but Tony didn’t know her at all.

“Thanks,” he said softly.

She nodded and turned to continue her search for supplies. “I wasn’t always like this,” she said, her back turned to them and her head in a closet.

“Neither was I,” Stephen said, waiting until she turned around to show her the massacre of his hands. She winced at seeing the long, jagged cuts and gave a curt nod.

“Okay, we got blood, Nebula got to rob us blind, so we’re good to go down to my workshop,” Tony said, standing up and rolling his transfusion back to the elevator. “Should we bring him with us?” he asked, gesturing to Nurse Thomas who looked like he’d passed out from the shock.

“Let him rest,” Stephen said. “He’s warm and in the recovery position. We’ll check in on him later.”

Tony nodded. “You coming, Nebula or you gonna pry the pipes from the walls for their copper?”

“Not today,” she said.

“Tony, you need to sit down and rest,” Stephen said. “You were stabbed, and you lost a lot of blood. It’s a miracle that wound didn’t kill you.”

“No, what I need is to find out what happened,” Tony said, waiting for Nebula—who was carrying a large sack—before he let the elevator door close. “What I need is to get Peter back and that son of a bitch dead and I’m not resting until I do.”

The doors opened to Tony’s workshop, and it was like the past few days had never happened. Everything was exactly the same as Stephen remembered it. Tony immediately went to one of his consoles, grabbed another housing unit of nanoparticles, and pulled up a dozen screens.

While he worked, Stephen opened a portal to the Sanctum and his heart sank. The library was empty, but he told himself that meant nothing, Wong obviously wasn’t chained to the library. He tried the front hall, the kitchen, and then finally the roof. He breathed a deep sigh of relief when he finally found Wong, but it ended when he realized a helicopter had almost crashed through the building and was only being held up by Wong.

The blades had stopped turning and the cockpit was empty, but Wong couldn’t risk putting it down and letting it fall through the roof that was already damaged by the Hulk. With all the unrest the Sanctum would be more vulnerable to attack, and if their forces were depleted by half, it would make them an easy target.

Stephen checked again that the cockpit was empty and then opened a portal to empty space and let the helicopter fall in.

Wong spun around, his hands still up and ready to attack when he realized it was Stephen who had come to his aid.

“My friend,” he said, and wrapped Stephen in a warm embrace. Stephen was so surprised but fell into the hug gratefully, taking as much comfort as he could without breaking down altogether. “I was sure you were dead.”

“No, but this is my fault. All of it,” he said, looking around at the destruction. “I looked into the future to see which outcome would work out the best,” Stephen said. “This was the result.”

Wong looked shocked, like Stephen had said something truly terrible. “The Time Stone cannot be wrong.”

“I know,” Stephen said. “Which means something else happened. I just need to figure out what.”

“Stephen!” Tony shouted from the other side of the portal.

“Stark is alive? Thank the Vishanti,” Wong muttered.

“Pull every book that even mentions the Time Stone,” Stephen said. “I don’t know how long I’ll be, but I have to find the answer. Whatever happened to the Time Stone is the answer to undoing this.”

“Stephen! Oh, thank God,” Tony breathed, seeing Stephen through the portal with Wong. “I didn’t know where you were for a second. I thought—”

Stephen gave Wong another quick hug and ran back to Tony’s workshop, reaching out and holding Tony, telling him through touch that he was okay.

“I’m sorry, Doc,” Tony said. “It’s just…I can’t lose you too.”

“I’m fine,” Stephen said, understanding exactly what Tony meant. “What did you find?”

“Gamma radiation,” Tony said, spinning a hologram around and getting back into research mode. “That big shiny glove of his gave off a ton of it.”

“All the Infinity Stones working together…yes, I imagine it was quite the sight,” Stephen said.

“So, he did what?” Tony asked. “Literally just gathered all the Stones, wished upon a star, and snapped his fingers? Is that what he did?”

“Yes,” Nebula said before Stephen could. “It’s been his goal as long as I’ve known him. He’s wanted to end half of all life in the universe. The Stones gave him the power, and now he’s done it.”

“And what about after?” Stephen asked. He had never bothered to go past defeat in his visions of the future. Why bother when it wasn’t the one he needed? The vision either ended when he died or when Thanos snapped, and then he’d start over.

“The farm,” Nebula said. “There was a farm he said he’d go to once he was done.”

“Nice,” Tony said, throwing himself into a chair. “Retirement? Sounds great. What do you do after you’ve committed genocide? Grow some tomatoes? Sounds like a great plan.”

“We need to find out exactly what happened in Wakanda,” Stephen said. “Maybe call King T’Challa? He would have had eyes on the ground.”

Tony tapped his fingers against the console. “Yeah, but he wouldn’t have seen everything. He would have been busy fighting Thanos, protecting his people. He might not have seen Thanos snap his fingers.”

“All the Avengers would have been present,” Stephen said. “I told you, they all fought him one-on-one to stop him from getting to the Vision.”

“Everyone?” Tony asked, his hands hovering over an hourglass symbol on the console.

Stephen knew Tony hadn’t spoken to Natasha since the fall out of the Civil War. The cut might not have been as deep as Rogers’ but Tony had still been hurt. Stephen wished he didn’t have to make that call, but it was extremely likely that Natasha would know what had happened, what deviation had occurred that would help Stephen pinpoint where everything had gone wrong.

“Yeah,” Tony said, then pressed the button.

Natasha's face popped up on screen a few seconds later.

“Tony,” she said like she was relieved to see him. “Thank God.”

“Yeah, I’m glad to see you, too,” he said, his fingers still tapping. “Really. Not sure how I feel about the hair.”

“Rhodey’s okay,” she said, knowing that Tony would want to know that first. “What about—-”

“Pepper’s still here,” he said, looking down to his hands. “Happy’s gone.”

“Oh,” she breathed. Stephen had had little interaction with Natasha when looking through the timelines, but from what Tony had told him she actually looked shaken. “Tony, we’re not sure how many we’ve lost, but we can’t find a lot of people.”

“About half?” Tony asked. She didn’t seem surprised he knew. “Turned to dust right in front of you?”

She nodded.

“Thor is alive?” Stephen asked, wanting confirmation.

Natasha looked past Tony to Stephen. She didn’t bother pretending she didn’t know who Stephen was. He’d been seen around New York with Tony enough for the past two years, of course she knew him. And now was no time for spy games.

“Yes. We can’t find Sam. Or Wanda. And the Vision is dead. Thanos took the stone right out of his head.”

Tony made the smallest groan and buried his face in his hands. He’d heard the news from Stephen, but hearing it from someone who saw it was different. Stephen laid a trembling hand on Tony’s shoulder, the only real comfort he was able to give just now.

“What happened to Thor? What stopped him from killing Thanos?” Stephen asked.

Natasha shook her head. “He tried. I was buried in this pile of rocks, but I saw Thor throw his axe right into Thanos’ chest.”

Wait.

No.

“His chest? Not his head?” Stephen asked.

Natasha nodded.

“You’re absolutely sure?”
“Yes,” she said.

“Then what happened?”

Her lip quivered just the smallest amount. “Then he snapped his fingers, and people started turning to ash.”

“So that’s it?” Tony asked. “Thor blew it? Went for the body shot, not the head? That’s what happened?”

“So it seems, but why?” Stephen asked.

“Natasha, come back to the Compound,” Tony said. “We need to figure out our next move. I don’t think anyone is going to care that you’re back what with everything else going on.”

“Thanks, Tony,” she said. “We’ll leave soon, but…King T’Challa is one of the disappeared and his sister. We need to make sure everything here is stable before we can leave.”

Tony barked out a laugh. “Stable? Then buckle up, buttercup. I’ll see you next year.”

“Tony…”

“Yeah, okay,” he finally said. “Just get here as soon as you can.”

“I will. We’ll figure this out together,” she said and then cut the communication.

“You know she’ll be bringing Rogers with her,” Stephen said.

“Yeah,” Tony replied. “Can’t really be picky about allies when half of them are gone though. I’m gonna try to track that gamma radiation see if I can—”

A deep pain slashed through Stephen’s chest, just behind his heart. He gasped and fell to his knees, his hands cupping the wound as the pain burned through him.

“Doc? Stephen!” Tony shouted though Stephen could barely hear him over the pain, dropping to his knees and running his hands over Stephen’s body.

“Is he injured?” Nebula asked, her voice sounding distant. “I brought more blood.”

Their voices reached him through a fog of pain, his chest heaving in and out as he tried to breathe while it rolled over him. It felt as though his heart was being cut out of his chest. The pain intensified for another moment—ripping, tearing, searing—before it left abruptly, like something was severed.

He gasped and leaned against Tony, his heart beating wildly but still beating.

“Stephen, what happened?” Tony asked, frantically running his hands over his tunic. “Did he get you, too?”

“No,” Stephen said, his own hands roaming over his heart to make sure of what he already knew. There was no physical damage, but he felt empty in a way he couldn’t qualify. Like something had been removed from him.

Tony’s console beeped again and a hologram popped up.

“What is that?” Stephen asked.

“Gamma radiation,” Tony said, looking at the readings. “Another huge burst. Just as big as the last one.”

“He used the stones again,” Stephen said.

“I can’t think of anything else he would use them for,” Nebula said. “All he ever wanted was this.”

“Well, at least now we know where he is,” Tony said. “Here’s his farm.” He created another hologram that showed a solar system some distance from theirs and blew up an image of a planet. “Now we just need to get there.”

“Boss,” Friday said. “I’m getting some really strange readings here.”

“Friday? What’s happening?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s nothing I’ve ever seen before. It’s almost as though—”

Friday cut off abruptly and the lights in the workshop began to fade. The emptiness Stephen felt behind his heart felt cold and spread from his chest to his arms and legs, then the tips of his fingers and toes. Without thought, Stephen reached out and found Tony’s hand seeking his. The room around them wasn’t just growing dark. Everything around them was fading away.

His heart sank in his chest and a cold sweat broke out over his entire body before he realized the cold he felt had faded and left only a numbness. Without another thought, he opened a portal to the roof where they’d left Nebula’s ship.

Everything around them was grey and fading. The light from the sun, the very air around them grew darker. Even the light from Tony’s housing unit faded until all Stephen could see was the fear in Tony's eyes.

Then that faded as well.

He held onto Tony’s hand, his eyes only on him, until he couldn’t feel Tony’s hand anymore, couldn’t feel his own hand anymore. His last breath was staggered, his heart stopped beating, and he felt death all around him. Inside him.

Or not death at all.

He’d died thousands of times. He knew what death felt like. This wasn’t death, this was simply the absence of life. Every part of him was fading into nothingness when he heard a voice.

Stephen Strange

He gasped in a breath of cold air, his heart beating in his chest once more, his hand materializing once again, still wrapped firmly around Tony’s.

Get up. There is work to be done.

Stephen’s eyes snapped open at the command. He was floating in empty space with Tony at his side. There was a complete absence of stars. There was nothing in front of him, and yet he could sense the absolute endlessness all around him. Out of the nothing, a door appeared and swung open in front of them.

Inside there appeared to be nothing, as though the door led to nowhere, but then Stephen could see.

The doorway was full of stars. Full of life.

Come. There is much to do and little time.

The stargate opened.

Chapter Text

The stargate closed.

He was in a dark room.

No. Not a room. He forced his eyes wide open and tried to reason with his spatial awareness, but he couldn’t tell if he was still at the Compound or even still on Earth. The darkness was all around him, heavy and vast in a way he’d never experienced. It wasn’t just the absence of light, it was the absence of anything at all.

He looked ahead and saw infinity.

His entire body was clenched like a fist. Stephen logically knew any time he looked into space he was staring into endlessness, or as close as it came. But the view before him now was different. The nothingness he stared into stared back.

He shivered and snapped his eyes closed.

It was easier to think if he closed his eyes. If he closed his eyes he could take stock of himself, could try to apply reason to what had just happened. He didn’t know where he had gone or what had happened, but he was himself. He slowly began to mutter the elements in order of the Periodic Table, then the spells he had learned starting from the first.

He still had a physical body. He could hear his own voice and welcomed the pain in his hands like it was an old friend. He tried turning his head up and then down, but all he could see was the same infinite darkness.

His hand clutched around something solid but trembling.

Tony

Through whatever had just happened, he’d never let go of Tony. Wherever they were, they were together. Stephen only prayed he hadn’t doomed Tony to a worse fate than whatever had happened on Earth.

And that wherever they were, they’d be able to get back.

He had no idea where he was.

He turned to face Tony, to take some comfort even if Tony was just as petrified as he was, but he couldn’t see a thing. He knew Tony was there, but there was no light, not even from some distant star to illuminate him, not even from the nanoparticles on his chest.

There was something else missing, something that felt wrong. A terrible thought occurred to him, and he ran his fingers over Tony’s hands, feeling around for the callouses and little scars he’d seen a thousand times.

He found every one of them and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Tony?” he whispered, his voice sounding flat, like even the air around them was dead.

“Stephen…” Tony whispered next to him. “Why is it so dark?”

He was about to respond when a deep, booming voice said, “In the end, it is always dark.”

The blue of Tony’s nanoparticles lit up like a beacon, and Stephen found himself turning to it like a moth to a flame. He took a deep breath and realized what had felt so odd as sound began to carry again. Tony’s breaths were shallow but at least he could hear them and his own heart, beating wildly.

“Doc…” Tony breathed, his eyes focused on something behind Stephen.

Light shined from behind him, the reflection mirrored in Tony’s eyes. Even the Cloak shivered once, then stayed still as though it was as petrified in fear as Stephen was.

Slowly, he turned and saw six orbs of light hovering in a semi-circle around them. The lights were dim at first, but grew brighter and more substantial as the moments crawled on. Untethered and terrified, Stephen tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

Or he tried to while Tony tried his best to wrap himself around Stephen, his hands grabbing at his body like claws, trying to push Stephen behind him. His desire to protect Stephen lasted even here, wherever they were, surrounded by eternity. And in all his panic, Tony never once touched his hands.

He’d faced Dormammu with a half-baked plan and Thanos with undeserved certainty, but standing before these entities left Stephen humbled. And as the lights took on color, he was almost tempted to kneel.

He was in the presence of beings as old as the universe.

“Stephen…” Tony whispered in his ear, his voice steady but his hands still gripped around Stephen’s shoulders, “what are they?”

“The Infinity Stones,” Stephen whispered back. “Or their essence? Their consciousness?”

“An echo,” a voice said, loud and booming. Red light flickered just the smallest amount when it spoke. Reality. “We are only an echo of what we once were, and we are fading quickly. We do not have time to assuage your delicate minds. We have called you here for a reason, Stephen Strange.”

They knew his name. Briefly he wondered if he was important enough for building blocks of creation to know him or if their knowledge came from the Time Stone.

“Okay, first of all, where are we?” Tony asked, with far more confidence than he felt. The little shadow in the corner of Stephen’s mind was shaking in its boots, but Tony stood among these eternal beings without showing an ounce of fear. “Last thing I knew, we were standing on the roof of the Compound and the lights started going out. Or…maybe not going out so much as…”

“Fading from existence,” Stephen said.

“Where are you?” the Space Stone asked, its tone dripping with disdain. “Where is the universe?

“You are nowhere,” the Space Stone said. “This place exists outside of time and space. You believe you are looking into the vastness of eternity. You are looking into nothing. We called you here as the universe was fading with the last of our power. You are the only living stone keeper who was bonded to his stone.”

Bonded.

That word laid heavy in between them, Stephen’s past sins laid bare for all to see. Had he bonded himself to the Time Stone on that fateful day when he’d saved Tony? He had communicated with it, told it that Tony was an important man and that it was in the best interest of the universe if it helped to save him. All that had been true, but Stephen had acted on selfish impulse. He didn’t want to live in a world where there was no Tony Stark.

But in all his shock around his bond with Tony had he completely missed bonding with the Time Stone? The vision he saw that day he’d met Tony at the Compound, and again when they’d crashed on Titan…

He thought of the pain in his chest. The pain he’d felt in Tony’s workshop, as though something had been torn from him, as though he’d lost something in the worst of ways.

He looked to the silent green light hovering in front of him. The Time Stone was his responsibility. If Thanos used it to end the universe the burden would fall to Stephen. He had always taken the utmost care of it, understanding exactly what it was he was carrying around his neck.

Looking at the green light now, Stephen felt insignificant. How many stone keepers had cared for it over the millennia? How many of them would have done a better job of keeping it from harm than Stephen?

The Time Stone’s green light flickered once, silent. And though it did not have eyes it seemed as though it was looking at Stephen.

“Thanos destroyed the universe?” Tony asked softly. “Did that idiot realize he lives in the universe? I thought he wanted to kill half of all life, not everything. Did he decide to level up?”

“Thanos of Titan was a fool,” the Power Stone said. “He sought the ultimate power of the universe and used us in his murderous plot to destroy half of all life. He went against the natural order: everything that lives will die in its own time. From the smallest bacterium to the largest star. He was so convinced that he was acting as a being of divine benevolence he decided to use us to destroy ourselves in order to stop anyone from undoing what he had done.”

“No,” Stephen gasped. The pain he’d felt in Tony’s workshop was the Time Stone being destroyed, its bond to Stephen being ripped from him. The universe could not exist without the Infinity Stones. How could Thanos have spent his extremely long life searching for the stones without knowing that? “How?” he asked.

“The same way he ended half of all life,” the Reality Stone said. “With a snap of his fingers. As we faded from existence, we pulled you here in hopes you’ll be able to undo what the Mad Titan has done.”

“Okay, timeout,” Tony said, making his hands into a t. “You need Stephen to help save the universe, great. Couldn’t find a better man for the job. But we have questions.”

“We have no time for your questions, Tony Stark,” the Soul Stone said. “Our time here is short, and our powers are fading. We must attend to more urgent business than you understanding what happened right in front of you.”

The bravado Tony had managed to show to the Infinity Stones faded, his face falling as he took a step back towards Stephen. “You know me?” he asked, then turned to Stephen. “I know I should feel flattered when aliens know me, but it’s really creepy.”

The Soul Stone made a noise that sounded like a scoff. “I know every soul that has ever existed. You are not special.”

“But he is,” the Mind Stone said. “This man created a protection that even I could not penetrate.”

“You are biased,” the Soul Stone said.

“Perhaps,” the Mind Stone said, then seemed to turn its attention to Tony. “You were the creator of my Stone Keeper. He had many complicated feelings towards you, Stark. I have had many Stone Keepers over the course of my existence, but the Vision was my favorite.”

Tony’s face twisted in grief. “Yeah, it was…complicated. To say the least. But he was my favorite too.”

“We are wasting time,” the Power Stone said. “The universe is at an end. We need you to go back in time and fix what Thanos destroyed.”

“Tony is right,” Stephen said. “If I don’t know what Thanos did to cause all this I won’t know how to fix it.”

“It happened fast,” Tony said. “One minute Loki was there, one minute he was gone. And not in the—the way everyone else was gone.”

“That’s right,” Stephen said. “Loki didn’t turn to ash like the others. He faded away.”

“And it wasn’t only his body,” Tony said. “None of the others remembered him. Only me and Stephen.”

“Thanos did exactly what you did, Stephen Strange,” the Reality Stone said. “He used the Time Stone and looked forward in time and saw his death at the hands of Thor Odinson.”

“Oh,” Stephen said, thinking and of course he did. “But why wouldn’t I have seen it?”

The Reality Stone flickered, like it was almost hesitant to speak, then said, “Because the moment Thanos used the Time Stone to look ahead existed outside of the normal flow of time. It could not show you that timeline because it did not exist.”

Everything was always so complicated when dealing with time travel, but Stephen thought he understood. “So when I looked ahead and saw all the possible futures, I would never have seen the future where Thanos won because he was outside of the normal flow of time?”

“That…makes absolutely no sense,” Tony said. “That’s not how time travel theory works at all.”

“You’re thinking of the Stones incorrectly, Tony,” Stephen said.

“What, I’m not thinking fourth dimensionally?” Tony mocked, then turned to the Stones. “So Thanos sees Thor kill him and uses the Time Stone to go do what?”

“Kill Loki Odinson,” the Space Stone said. “He used the Time Stone to briefly travel back in time to instruct his past self to kill Loki Odinson aboard his ship, when they stole me from him.”

“Loki was a Stone Keeper,” Stephen realized. “Was he bonded to you?” he asked the Space Stone.

Blue light flared at the question, the light momentarily blinding them, almost as though the question itself was an outrage. The darkness of the paused moment they were in shrank around them, the very air shaking.

“Oh, you made the blinky light mad, Doc,” Tony whispered.

“I apologize,” Stephen said, realizing he may have been extremely rude in asking that question, but he’d never had a guide for etiquette when dealing with the building blocks of the universe. “Please forgive me, I meant no disrespect.”

“The Space Stone’s Stone Keeper was murdered by Thanos of Titan aboard his ship,” the Reality Stone said. “In doing this, Thanos made it so Thor Odinson wouldn’t strike to kill on Earth. He struck to maim, trying to cause as much pain as possible before he killed. In the time it took for Thor to relish his victory, Thanos destroyed half of all life in the universe.”

“Okay, no,” Tony said, shaking his head. “That’s not how time travel works. If you travel to the past, that past becomes your future and your former present becomes the past, which can’t now be changed by your new future!

“All Thanos would have done is create a new reality,” Tony said, waving his arms around. “Multiverse theory. By going back in time to change the past, all he would have done is create a new reality where he killed Loki but wouldn’t have changed our reality!”

Stephen put his face in his hands and hissed through his fingers, “Did you just mansplain time travel to the Infinity Stones?”

“I—” Tony said as he realized that yes he had just tried to explain time travel to the building blocks of the universe, including the Time Stone. “I just want to understand.”

“Here,” Stephen said, before the Infinity Stones used whatever power they had left and zapped Tony out of existence. “Imagine this is time,” he said, drawing a line in the air. “Here’s where we fought Thanos on Titan.” He drew an x on one point in the line. “And here,” he said, drawing a line from the x upward, “is where Thanos looked through time and ultimately went back and changed it.” From the diagonal line, he drew another line shooting straight from it. “We’re on a different timeline than we were before. The only reality I saw was the real timeline. There would have been no way the Time Stone could have seen it. From this point,” he said, pointing to the x, “the future I saw no longer existed.”

The green light of the Time Stone flickered again and Stephen felt his heart sink, unsure of himself in a way he hadn’t been in a long time.

When he finally looked away, Tony looked like he was about to commit murder.

“So…Back to the Future rules? You’re telling me that science has it all wrong and Back to the Future rules are real?”

“Oh,” Stephen said, thinking back to the movie. “I suppose so, yes. I wonder if Zemeckis was a sorcerer. He was completely right.”

Tony looked like he was about to have an aneurysm.

“Yeah, okay,” Stephen said. The Infinity Stones were literally just disembodied beings of light and yet he could feel their stare and their desire for them to just get on with it. “Is it more clear now?”

His face buried in his hands, Tony nodded his head. “Yeah, sure, okay. This might as well happen. Fine, here’s what I don’t get. Why not just kill Thor? You kill Thor, you remove him from the equation completely and then you take control of the entire battle.”

“He wouldn’t have wanted to change too much, Tony,” Stephen said, his mind spinning by how fine an edge Thanos had walked and still managed to succeed. “He changes too much and he would risk not acquiring the Stones he’d managed to find. And killing Thor would have taken the Guardians out of the picture.”

Tony had no idea how the Guardians had played right into Thanos’ hands by taking Gamora to Knowhere. Stephen only knew because of the time he’d spent with Nebula, asking every question he could think of in his quest to find the best timeline. Thanos’ plans would have been derailed had he had to scour the universe for Gamora.

“The Guardians only knew Thanos was moving to take the Infinity Stones because Thor and Loki told them so,” Stephen said. “If Thanos killed both of them, there would have been no one to tell Gamora to seek the Reality Stone. Thanos wouldn’t have taken Gamora to Vormir, and wouldn’t have acquired the Soul Stone.”

“Who is this human?” the Power Stone asked, its voice somehow dripping with disdain. “Why is he here? We do not need him.”

“Tony Stark,” said the Soul Stone. “You know how I despise repeating myself.”

“Yes, but why is he here?” Power asked.

“He is the bonded of my bonded. And yes, we absolutely do need him,” the Time Stone said, speaking for the first time. And in its statement, revealing all of what Stephen had wanted to keep hidden from Tony.

His eyes closed of their own volition, shame welling up inside of him, burning from the inside out.

“Doc,” Tony whispered, his hands finding Stephen’s. “What’s going on? What did the big scary light just say? What does ‘the bonded of my bonded’ mean?”

Stephen opened his mouth to say something—anything—but nothing came out. He felt like he’d been punched in the gut, like what he’d done was out on display for the universe to see and judge.

He looked away, not able to look Tony in the eye.

“You asked why you were the only ones who remembered Loki Odinson being present on Titan,” the Mind Stone said. “Stephen Strange remembers because the Time Stone remembers, and he is bonded to the Time Stone. You remember because you are bonded to Stephen Strange.”

“I don’t think that’s what he was really asking,” the Soul Stone said. “Humans are often unclear in their communications.”

“Indeed,” said the Time Stone. “And Tony did not know he was bonded to Stephen.”

“How could he not know?” the Mind Stone asked.

“He is very stupid, in some ways,” the Time Stone said. “But my bonded loves him regardless.”

Were it not impossible to destroy the Infinity Stones without destroying the entire universe, Stephen would have used his last ounce of energy to wipe them from the face of existence. All his efforts to keep his sins a secret were erased. He’d told himself that he didn’t want to be a burden to Tony, that he’d keep what he had done a secret to spare him.

Tony must have suspected, but he never said a word about it. It was only recently that he thought Tony must have known. Now, any chance Stephen had of keeping him out of this was gone.

And to make it worse, now Tony knew that he loved him.

“Doc…” Tony whispered, giving Stephen’s hands a gentle squeeze. “Hey, look at me.”

He hadn’t realized he’d closed his eyes and lowered his head. Anything to keep from seeing the look of betrayal in Tony’s eyes. He shook his head, brave in the face of death, the face of Thanos, of the building blocks of the universe, but not to Tony Stark’s anger. Or worse, his pity.

“Stephen,” Tony said, finally taking his chin in hand and tilting his head up. “Please open your eyes.”

Stephen opened them to find some unreadable look on Tony’s face. There was something earnest there, something caring, but he had no idea what it was. He didn’t dare to hope it was love. The best he could do now was explain why he had done what he had done and hope Tony didn’t hate him.

“When I brought you back from Siberia,” Stephen whispered, “you were dying. You did die.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, nodding. “You told me. The surgeon said you did something to bring me back.”

Stephen nodded. “There was a spell. A battlefield spell that would link our souls. I would loan you my own strength to heal you and keep you from dying. I used the Time Stone as my relic, an anchor to draw strength from. It was supposed to be a temporary spell but…”

“I can feel you,” Tony said, putting Stephen’s hand over his heart. “Not all the time, but it’s there. That’s how I know when you’re having a bad day or your hands are hurting. Or when you’re sad. At first I just thought it was intuition. But now…”

“It was supposed to be temporary, I swear it,” Stephen pleaded, begging Tony to believe him. “I would have never bonded my soul to yours if I knew it would be permanent.”

“You saved my life, Doc. How could I ever blame you, even if it wasn’t temporary? But let’s focus on the other thing—”

“But it was temporary,” Stephen insisted. “It should have been only…”

“Only what?”

The Infinity Stones were oddly silent, watching them as the two humans sorted out their unimportant feelings that couldn’t possibly mean a thing to the universe.

Unless it did.

Stephen looked to the Time Stone, floating there and softly blinking, communicating in a way that said ‘if you don’t tell him, I will.’

“The stronger the feelings of the caster, the stronger the bond,” Stephen said, like the words were torn from him. “My feelings for you are…vast. A temporary bond became permanent. The Time Stone was witness to all that. That’s how you’re here. That’s why you remembered Loki, that’s why you know when I’m having a strong emotion. It’s because of my feelings for you.

“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to feel an obligation,” Stephen said, rambling on because the moment he stopped talking Tony would let him down gently and he didn't think he could take it. “And, selfishly, I didn’t want to stop being your friend. I treasure our friendship so much, it would kill me to lose it. And Peter, Tony you brought Peter into my life. I would never—”

Stephen stopped talking as Tony leaned in to kiss him, silencing him in the best of ways. It was just a press of lips, but Stephen felt his heart surge, felt a shock that went down to his toes.

Tony wrapped his arms around Stephen, pulled back, and whispered, “I love you, too.”

Soft brown eyes met Stephen’s and it was all he could do to not melt into Tony, even now at the end of the world. In all his wildest dreams he’d never dared to hope that Tony could love him back. But here they were, in the pause between the last breath of the universe, and Stephen felt the shadow behind his heart overwhelmed.

He wrapped his arms around Tony and held on.

“You’re absolutely certain we have to witness this in order for the plan to work?” the Power Stone asked.

“Yes,” the Soul Stone said. “Humans are stronger when they are together.”

“Stephen is a good man,” the Time Stone said. “He has suffered enough. It’s time that he won.”

“It matters not what kind of man he is,” the Soul Stone said, “only that he can get the job done.”

“There is no one better,” the Time Stone said.

All Stephen wanted was to steal Tony away for a few moments. He needed time to talk, time to kiss, time to confirm what Tony’s heart was now telling him. That he loved a man and was loved in return.

“Doc,” Tony whispered, “we’re going to live through this. We’re going to get Peter back, get the universe back, and then we’ll have time. I promise, we’ll have all the time in the world.”

Stephen closed his eyes before he finally let go of Tony.

The universe was ending, and there was work to be done.

“What should I do?” he asked, his arm still wrapped around Tony. “If this is the end, what can be done to stop it?”

“We did not call you here for nothing, Stephen Strange,” the Power Stone said. “We are each prepared to give you a boon, the last of our powers in hope that you can undo what the Mad Titan has done.”

“So, we go back to Titan?” Tony asked. “Somehow stop Stephen from giving Thanos the stone? Or before that? Stop Thanos from being born? How far back are we talking?”

“We are fading, Tony Stark,” the Mind Stone said. “There are limits to our powers, now at the end. You will have only one boon from each of us, and you must use it wisely.”

“But how? What is the best way to defeat him?” Stephen asked. “I cheated before, by using the Time Stone and looking ahead. What is the best way to end Thanos now?”

“I can only send you back a few days,” the Time Stone said. “There is much you can change, but—as you said—if we change too much we risk unknown variables. In normal circumstances, I would see all but…”

“But you’re fading,” Stephen said and clutched at where he’d felt the pain tear through his chest. “You’re certain you can’t look ahead? Maybe I could help?”

The Time Stone was silent for a moment, then it asked, “Are you still bargaining, Stephen?”

The word greeted him like a slap in the face, and he remembered exactly how much he and the Time Stone had gone through together.

“The timeline you chose on Titan was the correct one, Strange,” the Reality Stone said. “You must go back to the moment Thanos interfered but the task you must complete is on a narrow edge. Stray even a little and you will fall.”

“So we stop him from killing Loki?” Tony asked.

The Space Stone glowed more brightly. “Yes, but he must believe he was successful and that his past self will kill Loki Odinson or he will never return to Earth.”

“Right, like how Biff had to give the almanac to his past self or he’d never return the Delorean to the future,” Tony said, putting his forehead on Stephen’s shoulder. “Because Back to the Future got it right.”

“You will be sent to the Statesman, the ship where Thor and Loki Odinson met the Mad Titan. You will save Loki but convince Thanos that he did indeed kill him. Thanos will then leave the Statesman with the Space Stone, believing he was successful. The rest of the original timeline will fall into place,” the Reality Stone said.

Stephen sorted through every spell he knew, but there was nothing that would create a body so substantive that it would fool Thanos that it was really Loki. And that was to say nothing of fooling Ebony Maw. “And how will I do that?”

“As we said, we will each give you a boon,” the Time Stone said. “I will send you back in time to the moment before Thanos communicates to his past self.”

“I will move you through space and place you safely aboard the Statesman,” the Space Stone said.

“I will create a double of Loki Odinson,” the Reality Stone said. From the bright red light came a small stone, no larger than a pebble. It floated out and landed in Stephen’s hand. “The Odinson will need to control it, but it will sound and feel like him, even to a magic user.”

“I will shield your minds from Ebony Maw,” the Mind Stone said. “Be more wary of him than anyone else on that ship, even the Mad Titan himself.”

“Yeah, we had a run-in with that guy already,” Tony said. “Kinda mad we have to face him again, but whatever, will avoid at all costs.”

“I will use the last of my power and lend it to the others,” the Power Stone said, “amplifying their power and making sure this will work.”

“Thank you,” Stephen said. “Thank you all.”

“Hang on there, Dorothy,” Tony said, pointing to the Soul Stone. “The wizard has one more gift to give, and something’s telling me they’re saving the biggest for last.”

The Soul Stone floated silently in front of them, giving nothing away. They had said they all had a boon to give, but Stephen thought five out of six wasn’t anything to complain about. And what sort of gift could the Soul Stone give them?

“People are stronger when they are together,” the Soul Stone said.

“And what do you know of people?” Stephen asked before he could control himself. “It took me a while, but I figured out what Thanos did to Gamora on Vormir. No other stone requires a sacrifice to use it, so why do you?”

“Because no other stone can be used to disfigure the soul!” the Soul Stone shouted. “And most people are not willing to sacrifice who they love most to keep me. And those who are have paid the worst consequences.”

Stephen was silent for a moment, unsure how to respond.

“People are stronger when they are together,” the Soul Stone said again. “And so I offer to strengthen the bond between you.”

“What?” Stephen asked.

“What does that mean?” Tony asked. “What do we have now?”

“The shadow of a proper bond,” the Soul Stone said. “A temporary bond made permanent but nowhere near as strong as a true bond. A true bond would allow you to share power, would let you know each other’s hearts, and would link your souls together in this life and the next. It would make you a force to be reckoned with.”

“So…if our souls are linked I’d be able to do what he did? If he was hurt, I’d be able to lend him my strength to save him?” Tony asked.

“Tony, you’re not—”

“Yes,” the Soul Stone said.

“Yeah, okay I’m in,” Tony said, turning to Stephen. “If you’re in. Because I gotta tell you, Doc, the idea of being able to save you when you’re in self-sacrificing mode sounds really good right now.”

“Tony,” Stephen sighed, knowing exactly where Tony was coming from but also that he couldn’t go through with it. “This isn’t just for right now. If we survive this, it’ll be forever. You can’t possibly want that.”

Slowly, Tony leaned in and kissed Stephen. Where before his kiss was soft and tender, now it was passionate, leaning into Stephen and putting all the love he had into every caress. Stephen melted but still managed to pull away.

“Forever is a long time,” he whispered.

Tony reached out and held his hands. “Just long enough,” he said. “The last two years have been the best of my life. That’s because of you, Stephen. You can’t blame me for wanting it always. Are you sure you want to be bonded to me?”

Stephen leaned back and smiled. “Always. But I think you’re getting the short end of the stick.”

“No short jokes at the end of the world,” Tony said, standing on his toes. “You’re everything to me, Stephen.”

Stephen smiled, not entirely certain Tony wouldn’t regret this, but knowing that if the Soul Stone offered a gift he should accept. He turned to the Soul Stone and said, “We accept your boon.”

Without another word, bright orange light wrapped all around them, penetrating them. The little shadow behind his heart flickered once, twice, before it grew and the subtle feeling of Tony became substantial, as though he could reach into his chest and touch the connection between them.

For a moment it was as though their souls overlapped as one, like Stephen could feel everything Tony felt just for a moment. Everything all at once, his fear, his grief, but also his love.

Tony was touching his soul.

There could be no more doubt. Tony did love him, completely and deeply. The light faded, but the bond between them remained. A real, solid thing, almost tangible where before it had only been a shadow.

And the empty spot—the piece of the Time Stone that had been viciously torn from him—was filled again. He was whole, in more ways than he’d ever been.

“Holy shit,” Tony breathed, a smile on his face as he looked back at Stephen. “That was a trip,” he said, rubbing his chest. “I can feel you, Doc. Can you feel me?”

Stephen nodded, amazed.

“Okay,” Tony said. “We can do this. I know we can.”

“And you will,” the Time Stone said. “Only one last thing remains.”

“But you’ve already given your boon,” Stephen said.

“Allow me to give one more,” the Time Stone said. A small green stone, no larger than a pebble floated towards Stephen. “Once you’re aboard the Statesman there will be one pod left. Use it and make your way to Titan after you’ve saved Loki. Wait until your other self has looked forward into the future and then reveal yourselves. He will see what has happened.

“He must not give me to Thanos,” the Time Stone said. “Thor will kill Thanos on Earth, but we must not allow him the chance of destroying the world before Stormbreaker flies. Under no circumstances can he leave Titan with me. Instead give him this.”

“A piece of you?” Stephen asked, taking the pebble.

“My very last breath,” the Time Stone said. “When he uses it to see ahead he will exhaust its power. If Thor is delayed in any way and Thanos tries to snap half of the universe out of existence it will not work. The power will be gone from it.”

“You realize Back to the Future rules say we can’t interact with our other selves or risk a paradox that could destroy the universe,” Tony said with a raised hand.

In the awkward silence that followed, Stephen felt a fear that was not his own. Tony wasn’t as terrified as he had been when they’d first arrived here, but now he felt worried that his smart mouth would get him into trouble.

You will know each other's hearts.

Instead of letting his own sarcasm loose, Stephen held Tony’s hand, letting him know it would be okay.

“What is this human talking about?” the Power Stone asked.

“Tony Stark,” the Mind Stone said. “And I have no idea. You must interact with your past selves on Titan. Give Thanos the Time Stone’s last remnant and let him leave. Get him to Earth as quickly as possible and let Thor Odinson do the rest.”

“We will,” Stephen said, his hand shaking in Tony’s. “Thank you.”

“For what?” the Soul Stone asked. “Saving ourselves? If you fail the universe will end and we will cease to exist. Go and do not fail.”

The urgency of the moment spoke to him, but Stephen forced himself to look one last time at this place, memorizing it in his mind’s eye. Then he turned to the Time Stone. “For everything.”

The Time Stone flickered twice and that was all the acknowledgement that Stephen needed. Six bright lines flared and the air was ripped from his lungs a second time, his head pounding, and something like wind screaming in his ears.

But in his hand, he felt Tony.

As they were thrown across space and time he never once let go.

Chapter Text

Stephen and Tony landed with a thud, the universe somehow spitting them out of whatever void they’d been in and onto the floor of Thor and Loki’s ship. His body still shaking, Stephen tried to get a grip on himself and clear his mind, but the vision of stars streaking by as he was hurled through space and time was burned into his retinas.

The familiar feel and smell of Tony were all he had to hold onto as he tried to come to grips with what had just happened. He curled around Tony, just holding him, the both of them shaking in each other’s arms. They had a mission and only a few minutes to do it in. He didn’t have time to process that the entire universe was counting on what he did in the next few moments. He just had to do it.

He forced his mind back into the present. The first thing he felt was the cold, hard floor beneath them, then he heard the stomping of boots and the roar of fires burning. As a surgeon he’d grown used to the smell of burnt human flesh, but it made him recoil now. He buried his nose in Tony’s hair and just breathed. That scent of sweat and the unique smell of Tony’s workshop helped him focus enough for him to feel something new.

That shadow that had hidden behind his heart, the one that first appeared when he’d saved Tony, was more substantial, like something he could reach out and touch. He could feel Tony inside him and all around him. He buried his face in Tony’s neck and shuddered.

“Doc, did that really just happen?” Tony whispered.

Both his hands were gripped around Tony, not willing to let go and possibly lose him to whatever game the universe was playing. As the sounds of a damaged ship began to trickle into his senses, Stephen forced a hand off Tony and down the front of his tunic.

The Time Stone was still missing from the casing of the Eye of Agamotto, but in its place were the red and green pebbles that held the boons they were given. The other boons had already been given to them, the Space and Time Stones getting them here, the Power Stone enabling them to do it, and the Mind Stone…

Taking a quick look around the room, Stephen found them hidden behind upturned boxes, well hidden from Thanos’ Children. It wasn’t difficult to spot Ebony Maw, but whatever kind of powers he had, it was clear he hadn’t been alerted to their presence.

As Tony shifted to look around, a faint blue light distracted Stephen, and he quickly moved his hands around Tony’s nanoparticles while Tony zipped up.

“So all that really happened?” Tony asked, his own hand cupping his heart. “You and me went day tripping across the universe and talked to some ancient rocks?”

They didn’t have time to discuss what had happened, but maybe they didn’t need to. Stephen closed his eyes for just a moment, reaching out to feel the bond between himself and Tony. He found their connection and tried to visualize touching it.

“Oh,” Tony breathed. “What…”

“Bad?” Stephen asked.

“No,” Tony said, touching Stephen’s chest. “Not at all. I just felt you.”

He wished they had time to talk, time to test out this new thing between them, but they needed to find Loki, tell him that—

“I know what it’s like to lose…”

They went still at the sound of Thanos’ voice, not even moving to hide. They waited a heartbeat then turned towards the voice of the creature that had destroyed the entire universe and found Loki.

He looked exactly as Stephen had last seen him, his cape a crisp, flowing green, his back straight as Thanos circled him.

“What the hell are we going to tell Loki?” Tony hissed.

Stephen cocked an eyebrow. “‘Thanos destroyed the universe with a snap of his fingers. Did you ever play with action figures as a child? No? Well, now’s your chance.’”

Tony sighed and lifted his head to watch the scene play out. Stephen was content to listen. He didn’t need to see Thanos or any of his children if he didn’t have to.

“The Tesseract or your brother’s head? I assume you have a preference?”

“Oh, I do,” Loki said. “Kill away.”

Tony winced and put his head back down.

“I knew he was a bastard, but—”

Thor’s screams of torment sounded through the entire ship, loud enough to burn something inside of Stephen. He bit his lip and the Cloak had to stop him from clenching his fists as everything inside of him wanted to stop what was happening.

Rage

Stephen took a deep breath and looked at Tony. His eyes were focused on Stephen, but he was seeing through him, seeing past him, like he was reminding himself of what was about to happen the same way Stephen was. Thor had to survive to be in Wakanda and securing the fate of the universe was far more important than rescuing him.

But that didn’t make listening to a man being tortured any easier.

“Tony, breathe,” Stephen whispered into his ear. “It’s almost over. It has to be. Loki didn’t allow—”

“All right, stop!”

Stephen closed his eyes as Thor’s screams finally stopped and Loki removed the Space Stone from his pocket dimension.

“I assure you, brother. The sun will shine on us again.”

“We gonna have to sit through another torture session?” Tony asked. “Cause I don't think I can do that again. How long until we have an in?”

Stephen shook his head. “I know as much as you do. But the Stones must have sent us back to this time for a reason.”

“And for another…we have a Hulk,” Loki said just as the Hulk barreled across the room and straight into Thanos. Loki drove at Thor, rolling them to the side and out of the way of the fighting and just barely into Stephen’s line of sight.

“Now,” Stephen hissed but Tony’s hand on his elbow stopped him then pulled him in for a kiss. The Hulk bellowed and raged in the background, but for just a moment Tony kissed him with such longing Stephen was breathless.

It was a quick thing, over far too quickly. But it was still a kiss and exactly what Stephen had needed in the moment.

“For luck,” Tony said and crawled on his elbows and knees over to Thor and Loki.

“Brother, move,” Thor cried to Loki, struggling to break free. “There is still time to undo what you’ve just done.” Loki looked as though Thor had just slapped him in the face, but Stephen knew the truth now. Loki hadn’t taken the Space Stone for personal gain. He was a Stone Keeper, the same as Stephen. He wasn’t sure if he was bonded to his stone the way himself and Vision were but the Space Stone definitely had a preference for Loki.

But there was no way Thor could have understood that. Not when his people lay dead and injured around him, not when Thanos had just tortured him with the Power Stone itself. Stephen couldn't blame him for his assumption.

Loki wrestled with his brother to stay down, both of them hellbent on what they believed was right: Thor on getting back to the fight with Thanos and Loki on keeping his brother from being killed. If not for how badly hurt he was, Thor would have overpowered Loki quickly. But the sluggishness of his moves betrayed how badly he’d been hurt.

Maybe it was the red of the Cloak or maybe a faint hint of blue from the nanoparticles leaked out, but something made Loki pause and whip his head around. He finally saw Stephen and Tony, his eyes widening first in shock then in fear.

Stephen had anticipated the same vitriol that Loki had shown him on Titan. Hatred and pettiness and whatever else Loki felt for him on a given day. And again, he didn’t blame him. But they didn’t have time to explain everything that had happened and needed to happen, they most definitely didn’t have time to soothe Loki into believing them.

Loki looked straight at them in shock just for a moment before fear returned. In the moment he stopped concentrating, Thor overpowered him, knocking him off and limping away towards the fight.

For a long moment the three of them looked at each other, hunched over on the floor, justifiably terrified. The hatred and resentment were completely gone from Loki, and Stephen wondered if they were ever real in the first place. Loki looked them over, trying to piece together how the hell it was possible they got there and finally came to the only sound conclusion.

“Were you scrying from Midgard?” Loki asked but looked as though he already knew the answer.

That’s what Stephen would have thought as well. It made the most sense, far more sense than the truth. He shook his head. “The Infinity Stones sent us here from the future, about three days from now. We don’t have much time but we’re here to help you.”

Loki looked at them in disbelief. “The Infinity Stones sent you here?" he said, like no part of that sentence made any sense. To be fair, it didn't.

"We don't have a lot of time to explain if you hadn't noticed," Tony said.

"They sent you here to help me?” Loki asked, grabbing hold of what Stephen viewed as the least important part of that statement. “Why?”

Stephen nodded towards the fight between Thanos and the Hulk. “Without you and Thor, Thanos wins.”

Loki closed his eyes and lowered his head for just a moment, just a blink before he forced himself back into the game. “Of course he won. He always wins.” He shook off the last of his shock and asked, “What did he do?”

“Destroyed the Stones, and therefore the entire universe because he played with something he didn’t understand,” Tony said plainly. “He destroyed everything. Everything. With a snap of his fingers.”

Loki hissed through his teeth. “I knew he was a power mad fool, but I didn't know how foolish. The Stones are the connection to the powers of the entire universe. Of course destroying them would destroy the entity from whence they came.”

Stephen spared a glance at the fight between Thanos and the Hulk just in time for Thor to take a piece of metal to Thanos’ head. Thanos kicked him across the room and Ebony Maw trapped him in a sheet of metal.

Well, at least they’d know where he was.

“Look, in a minute the Thanos from our future is going to come back here and communicate with himself,” Stephen said.

“And what is he going to tell himself?” Loki asked.

“He’s going to tell himself to kill you,” Stephen said. “We’re here to stop that from happening.”

Loki’s face went impossibly paler but he nodded. “I’ve made worse allies in times of war. Are we going to use your ring and portal away?”

“No, this is like Back to the Future,” Tony said. “Thanos has to kill you or he won’t leave and continue on his insane mission to destroy half of all life in the universe.”

“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Stephen hissed.

“No, I am not.”

“We’ll never fool Thanos and we certainly won’t fool Ebony Maw,” Loki said.

“All-fathers, let the dark magic flow through me one last time,” said the voice of a man who sounded like he knew he was about to die. Loki looked distraught, his eyes betraying his sadness as Thanos killed the man a moment later.

“We don’t have a lot of time,” Stephen said. “After Thanos destroyed the Stones, at the end of time, the Infinity Stones called us. They each gave us a boon.”

“That would certainly explain how Ebony Maw doesn’t know you’re here,” Loki said. “The Mind Stone’s doing?”

“Yes,” Stephen said. “And the Reality Stone gave us this,” Stephen said and handed the small red pebble to Loki. “You’ll have to command it. But it will sound and feel like you, so Thanos can believe he’s killed you and go on his way.”

“Why not just stop him here?” Loki asked, taking the pebble in hand. “Why not just use your portals for something good for once? We could outrun him, we could get my brother, rescue my people and try for something else. Something that doesn’t play right into his plans.”

“We don’t have time for this,” Tony said. “Any second now—”

A glowing green portal opened into the ship. Thanos, covered in the orange dust of Titan, stood in its center. On his gauntlet were five of the six Infinity Stones. He was on his way to Earth, and only one stone remained.

“Victory is within our grasp,” Thanos said to himself. “Kill the Asgardian. The little one. The one who cried for his mother when he was in our company. The one who failed to take the Earth.”

Thanos looked over his counterpart, seeing the Infinity Stones on the gauntlet, not requiring any other explanation from himself. “Only the little one?”

“Only him,” Thanos said and the green portal disappeared.

Thor screamed through the gag they put over his mouth and Stephen felt his heart drop. It was now or never.

“Why only Loki?” Ebony Maw asked.

“I don’t know,” Thanos said. “But I trust myself enough to follow my own instructions. Find him so we can leave. There’s nothing else for us here. There are two more stones on Earth. Find them, my children.”

His children kneeled down, accepting the command. “Father, we will not fail you.”

Loki took the pebble into his hands, closed his eyes, and blew. The pebble faded to grey and fell to the ground, all its powers spent.

A false Loki stood up and walked into the conversation, as though they hadn’t just been discussing his impending death. “If I might interject,” Loki said in a smooth and deceptively playful voice, “if you’re going to Earth, you might want a guide.” He bounced on the balls of his feet. “I do have a bit of experience in that area.”

“If you consider failure experience,” Thanos responded. Perhaps he did believe Loki hadn’t overheard their conversation. He made no move to kill him, which he could do with a blast from the Power Stone or a good punch of his fist.

“What are you doing?” Tony asked.

“Trying to make it look natural,” Loki whispered. Sweat was beading on his forehead as he stayed completely still, moving the false Loki around exactly like a doll. “They believe me a fool. I’m going to give them a fool’s death.”

“I consider experience, experience,” the false Loki said. “Almighty Thanos,” he said, his voice filled with a false confidence, “I, Loki, prince of Asgard…” He took a quick look at Thor. “Odinson.”

Thor had no idea what was going on. Trapped in Ebony Maw’s metal prison, he could only watch as Loki confronted a Titan.

“The rightful king of Jotunheim, god of mischief.” With a turn of his hand, Loki created a magical dagger in his doll’s hands. “Do hereby pledge to you my undying fidelity.”

Stephen had to hand it to him. Loki even made his double shed a few tears just before he attacked Thanos with a knife.

A knife.

“Wait, really?” Tony asked. “You think he’s going to buy that?”

Thanos grabbed his double by the neck, and Stephen breathed a sigh of relief as Thanos made contact with it, knowing that the Reality Stone’s power was holding. Loki put on a horrifying, convincing death by strangulation, his face growing purple, his eyes bloodshot, his feet kicking at the air.

Stephen turned away.

“You will never be…a god,” Loki managed to make his double croak.

Thanos tightened his grip even more and Loki finally let his body die. Thor screamed his anguish through his gag, unable to do a thing to stop it.

“No resurrections this time,” Thanos said plainly, throwing Loki’s false body onto the floor.

Ebony Maw scrutinized the body, but he found nothing. The double was a perfect replica, right down to Loki’s own mind. There should be no suspicion, but he looked around, just past Tony and Stephen, as if he sensed something.

“Father, if I may beg a boon of you,” Ebony Maw said to Thanos.

Stephen held his breath. The powers of the Mind Stone had to hold just a little longer…
“Not now,” Thanos said and lifted the Gauntlet. “Now you go to Earth and bring me the other stones.”

“It shall be done,” he said and then they all disappeared in a blue mist as Thanos activated the Space Stone.

The cage Ebony Maw had held Thor in crumbled, and he stumbled out to cover his brother’s body, weeping over him.

“We don’t have much time,” Stephen said. “Which way to your escape pods?”

“That way,” Loki said, as purple flame began to envelop the ship. “I can’t believe that worked.”

“Brother?” Thor asked, his tone hopeful but disbelieving even as the flame spread. “How? Never have your clones…Tony? Wizard?”

“Loki will fill you in as much as possible,” Stephen said and grabbed his sling ring. “But not now.”

A portal opened right at the entrance to a hall that held the escape pods. The fire hadn’t reached that part of the ship yet.

“What happens now?” Loki asked, grunting but allowing Thor to hold him tightly.

“You get picked up by a real-life D&D party,” Tony said, rushing with Stephen to the other side of the portal.

“Wait a moment,” Loki said, as it became obvious that they weren’t invited.

“We can’t alter the original timeline too much,” Stephen said as the fires swirled around the brothers. “I’m sorry, but you’re meant to go another route. Thor will know what to do. The next time you see us, it will be us from this timeline.”

“So no giving up the goat or it could cause a chain reaction that could destroy the entire universe,” Tony said.

“Seriously? Now?”

“Yup. Oh, yeah and Thor,” Tony said, just as Stephen was closing the portal, “next time you see Thanos, go for the head.”

The portal closed just as Thor grabbed hold of Loki and the ship started to come apart. Stephen and Tony ran to the only escape pod left.

“Okay, wake up,” Tony said. “Please let this one be more user friendly than the last ship.” Tony’s fingers flew over the controls, but of course the language wasn’t English and Tony didn’t have Friday to help.

“Tony, hurry,” Stephen said, as purple flame made its way closer to them.

“Going as fast as I can, Doc,” he said as a red light started blasting its displeasure. “Kinda hard when you don't know the language.”

“Tony…” Stephen said and cast a shield around the pod as the purple flame engulfed them. This wasn’t normal fire, this was a direct blast from the Power Stone, and Stephen struggled to maintain the shield. “Please, Tony,” he whispered.

The console beeped and red lights flashed as Tony's fingers flew over it, all while Stephen held the fire at bay.

“Okay…got it!”

The pod released from the Statesman, flying out as fast as it could as the ship was completely destroyed.

Then there was nothing but silence. Tony turned the ship around to see the wreckage, and Stephen thought he could just make out Thor and Loki’s still forms, still wrapped around each other.

“They’ll be fine,” Stephen said, more to himself than to Tony. “They survived the destruction of the ship the first time. They’ll be fine, and in a few hours the Guardians will pick them up.”

“Yeah…but what about the rest of them?” Tony asked.

Stephen didn’t have an answer for that. Maybe it didn’t really matter if their only goal was to ensure the universe didn’t end. But he also knew both he and Tony would help Thor and Loki rescue every last Asgardian they could.

“I don’t know,” Stephen said, the answer painful to say. He was a master of the mystic arts, Tony was the greatest mind of their generation. How could the two of them leave people to float in space?

“We’ll help them,” Tony said. “We will. When Thanos is dead and the dust has settled, we’ll find a way.” He waited until Stephen looked at him, waiting for him to acknowledge that yes, what they were doing now was terrible, but couldn't be helped but that they would make it right.

“Okay, so…Titan,” Tony said, calling up a gauntlet and creating a hologram. “The suit remembers where that was, so it’ll be pretty easy to set the course for autopilot.” He took to the console, entering coordinates for Titan while Stephen found himself at a loss for what to do next.

They had no food on them, no water. Tony had had a blood transfusion and Stephen was confident he’d healed his wound, but they would both need provisions soon.

The pod was small, but there was a small galley connected to the cockpit, and something like a refrigerator stocked with drinks and food that Stephen hoped were safe for human consumption. From what he knew of Asgardians, they ate foods similar to what humans ate. Behind the small galley was a bedroom. It was small, and the bed took up much of the room, but it would be somewhere they could rest.

His knees almost gave out from under him. After what they’d endured over the past few days, Stephen felt the adrenaline rush finally leave him and fatigue set in. They had lost so much, he had to remind himself that at this point Peter was still alive and in New York.

Peter was alive. And he’d stay that way. He didn’t care what he had to do. Stephen would see this through.

A hand landed on his shoulder, Tony coming up behind him, quiet and no doubt just as exhausted as he was. He toed off his shoes and sat on the bed with Stephen, holding him as they both let themselves fall apart.

Tony gently laid them down, never letting go. The shadow behind his heart was steady and strong, its love unwavering. There, his face tucked into Tony’s neck, Stephen finally allowed himself to take a deep breath.

He exhaled, letting himself fall further into Tony, their bodies twisting deeper into each other. There, in his arms, he finally felt just safe enough to feel every emotion he’d buried deep for the past few days.

“I know it looks bad, Doc,” Tony whispered. “But we got this. And I got you. Okay?”

Stephen nodded, the feeling of Tony’s facial hair grazing against his cheek. He closed his eyes, but all he could see was the kicking of the false Loki’s feet as he was strangled by Thanos and the look of betrayal on Loki's face as they closed the portal on them.

He opened his eyes and concentrated on the beat of Tony’s heart.

“Yeah, okay. I got you, too.”

Chapter Text

Tony chased after the last fading shadows of his dream, his subconscious remembering just enough for him to know he’d rather stay asleep. But he never was any good at sleeping for more than a few hours at a time, even less so when he was stressed. He’d been dreaming the nicest dream, too. Just him and Stephen, eating burgers somewhere green. He’d taken his shoes off and buried his toes deep in the grass. The little Stephen-duck from Central Park was there with all his little duck friends. The sun shined on both of them, warming them, not a cloud in the sky.

A beautiful day.

Tony chased it as long as he could, but the reality hit him like a ton of bricks, like walking out of a warm embrace and into that Siberian bunker.

He was surprised to find he was still warm when he woke up, wrapped in and around Stephen, the Cloak draped on top of them. His body was nice and toasty, but everything else felt raw. Slowly, the events of the last few days came back to him: Thanos, losing Peter, losing the universe, and then being tasked with saving it.

And Stephen loved him.

He closed his eyes again and chased after that thought. That was definitely the best thing to come about, he’d concentrate on that. Stephen loving him seemed just as unreal as the rest of it. Stephen knew him, knew every irritating thing about him, had seen him at his worst and somehow still wanted him. The evidence of that love was currently wrapped warmly around his heart.

But there was something else that seemed even more impossible.

“His name is Tony Stark. You know how I detest repeating myself.”

The Infinity Stones knew him and trusted him to help Stephen save the universe. Or maybe that wasn’t right. Tony still wasn’t exactly sure about his part in all of this. Sure, he was used to taking point in the big world-saving plan, fly the nuke through the wormhole, hold up the city in the sky, stop the evil monster from murdering the love of his life. But it wasn’t like he couldn’t take the backseat to someone even more amazing than himself and just provide support.

Yeah, it was kinda weird, but he would support Stephen all day.

No, if the Stones had said he wasn’t needed at all he would have understood. He’s not a sorcerer, plus he didn’t have an ounce of magical talent. It would’ve made perfect sense.

But the Time Stone insisted that he was needed and that had to mean something. After all, the Time Stone was bonded to Stephen, whatever that meant.

Tony was bonded to Stephen, but he had no idea what that meant either. He closed his eyes and concentrated on that weird feeling inside of him, that piece of Stephen wrapped around the heart of him. Maybe he didn’t know exactly what being bonded meant, but he knew that he could feel Stephen now, and that if his beautiful, stupid sorcerer got himself into more trouble, Tony would be able to save him the way Stephen had saved him.

The warmth wrapped around his heart felt tangible, so Tony imagined touching it, just to see what would happen.

“Hmm,” Stephen hummed in his sleep, then rolled over and tucked Tony underneath him like a big Tony-shaped pillow.

“Um, Doc,” Tony said, his voice muffled by Stephen’s arm and a pillow that was way fluffier than he’d imagined space pillows to be.

“Hmm?” Stephen hummed again, and it was so adorable how Tony could feel which hum was a question. He also felt the moment Stephen really woke up.

His eyes snapped open and he dropped Tony and almost scrambled to the other side of the bed.

“Hey,” Tony said, holding out a hand, not sure exactly why Stephen had sounded the retreat. “It’s okay, Doc. We’re in…space. Actually, nothing is okay. The universe ended and we've been recruited in some last-ditch effort to save it, and we’re literally in space. But aside from that, everything’s okay.”

The tangible hug of Stephen wrapped around his heart felt colder and more afraid, as though Stephen remembered everything that had happened in the past few days except that Tony was more than happy to wake up in his arms.

Unless Stephen was already having regrets.

Which…made sense, actually. Loki was right, war did make strange bedfellows. Maybe Stephen did care for him, but this whole bonding thing was too much? Or maybe Tony was just too much. Of course he was. He was too much for everybody, why wouldn’t he be too much for Stephen? And this wasn’t like being married where you could just get a divorce and go your separate ways. Oh, no. Hadn't the stones said it would be permanent, that they would find each other even after death?

Of course that was too much for Stephen. Of course it was. It would be too much for anyone sane.

Just as his thoughts started circling the drain, a shaking hand covered one of his own.

“I’m sorry,” Stephen said, looking like he knew exactly what Tony had thought. “I panicked. You’re not the only one who can’t believe this is happening.”

Stephen looked like one wrong word from Tony would end him.

“The whole ‘we’re on a mission to save the universe’ thing,” Tony asked, “or the ‘I love you and you love me and we’re together on a level that goes way beyond anything I ever even dreamed about’ thing?”

Stephen smiled. “A little bit of both, I think. But, Tony. I don’t have any regrets. Not when it comes to you. I have many regrets about the past few days, but not about this. Honestly, I thought you would be the one regretting the decision.”

“How?” Tony asked, genuinely baffled. “You’re amazing, Stephen.”

That warm tangible thing around his heart warmed just a little more, like Stephen actually believed what Tony was telling him. But there was something else there, something hesitant. Like Stephen still didn’t truly believe him.

“I don't know how I’ll feel about it when it gets turned back on me, but I’m kinda liking that I know when something's wrong,” Tony said, fingers dancing along the Cloak, just waiting for Stephen to talk. “What is it, Doc?”

He reached out a hand, pulling Stephen back to him and the warmth of the covers from where he’d fled across the bed. He ran a hand over Stephen’s face, looked deep into the most beautiful eyes he’d ever seen.

“I’m just afraid you might have made a very rash decision in the heat of the moment. That maybe you’ll regret it later,” Stephen said. “We were literally at the end of the universe, and the Soul Stone itself asked if you wanted to bond with me. It would be understandable if you said yes and then regretted it.”

Tony needed to read the notes on whatever bond they had, because he thought that Stephen could feel what he felt and that somehow that might make things easier. But maybe some things still needed to be said, soul bond or not.

“The first time I met you, I had to tell myself to not hit on you,” Tony said. Stephen snorted but he looked down, like he was embarrassed. “No, really. Big brain with a pretty face? I mean, I wasn’t the playboy I’d been in my pre-Iron Man days, but you were hard to deny. But I was glad I didn’t because I needed you as a friend way more than I needed a one-night stand. You’re one of the best friends I’ve ever had, Stephen.”

“God, Tony, you’re the best friend I’ve ever had. But I thought it ended there,” Stephen said, then swallowed around a frog in his throat. “I didn’t think you could feel that way about me.”

“Okay that’s both hilarious and tragic because I felt the same way,” Tony said. “Figured I’d blown it, but I still didn’t regret it. I just thought…okay, Stephen is going to be my friend and I was happy with that. I didn’t regret being your friend. You’re a great friend. But…I’ve been in love with you for two years, Stephen. And I never dreamed you’d feel the same way.”

Stephen’s mouth opened and closed a few times while he tried to fathom what Tony was telling him, like it was somehow miraculous that Tony loved him.

Didn’t he know how lovable he was?

“I…I didn’t even dare to hope you could love me,” Stephen whispered. Tony put a gentle hand on his neck, brought his face down, close enough for their noses to touch. “I never even let myself dream. It would have been—”

“Too painful,” Tony said. “Pepper was right. I’m an idiot.”

“Oh, Wong is going to rub my face in this so much.”

“How do you not know how I feel about you? Can’t you feel what I feel?” he asked. “I can feel your feelings for me, almost like…” He squirmed around, like he was trying to touch something inside his chest but of course he couldn’t actually touch it. “It’s here somewhere, in this general area,” he said, still trying to physically touch something intangible. “It’s like a hug, but I can feel you. Can’t you feel me?”

“Yes,” Stephen breathed, like he was still amazed at what Tony felt for him. “But a feeling isn’t an explanation, and feelings change. Just because we’re soul bound doesn’t mean I can take your feelings for granted.”

That made perfect sense to Tony, like if they’d gotten married it wouldn’t make sense to assume Stephen was happy. People can be unhappily married, even unhappily in love.

“Okay, so clearly this is a good time to use our words,” Tony said. “So I’ll say it.” He tried to put his feelings in as few words as possible, to truly let Stephen know the depth of his love for him. “My life is so much better with you in it. Every time I see your face, I just smile. I can’t help myself, you just make me happy, Doc.”

And it was true. Tony had always thought he was giving everything away any time he saw Stephen. It was no wonder Pepper and Wong knew. Of course they knew when Tony wore the evidence on his face. The only one who didn’t know was Stephen.

And that needed to change.

“You saved my life in Siberia, and you saved it again when you came back to visit me, and every time you let me in the Sanctum, and every lunch and dinner date. You just keep saving me.”

Stephen looked lost, like what Tony was telling him was almost painful, like it was impossible. But the bond told him to keep going, that this was exactly what Stephen needed to hear.

“We live in a cynical world, but honey, you give me hope. And I don’t want to ever let you go.”

A small, forced laugh escaped from Stephen as he tried to hide an escaping tear. Tony inched closer and wiped it away, then leaned in and kissed him.

Their last kisses had felt hurried and desperate, like their first kisses might be their last. This one Tony kept deliberately slow, took time he knew they didn’t have and kissed him with every ounce of love in his heart.

Stephen’s own heart clenched, Tony feeling it somehow through the bond, like he couldn’t believe love was something he could accept freely. Tony reached out and held onto him, his body trembling even though the Cloak was still covering them.

“Hey,” Tony said, soothing him. “Shh, you’re okay.” He wrapped himself around Stephen, letting it pass. Tony knew a thing or two about not feeling worthy of love. Stephen just needed a minute to catch up. Tony could wait.

Stephen stayed silent, his eyes welled with tears and disbelieving, like if he looked away for a moment Tony would leave. He stayed still and let Stephen come to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going anywhere.

“I—” he said, but his voice choked up, overwhelmed with love. Instead, he closed his eyes and looked like he was concentrating on something. Tony was willing to give him as much time as he needed, but he was curious—

“Oh,” he breathed, as Stephen reached out and touched him through the bond. Stephen concentrated on the love he felt for Tony, and then showed him how he felt, the feelings themselves coming through loud and clear.

He’d had a small taste of this earlier, on board the Statesmen when they’d barely had a minute to get their heads together about the huge thing that had just happened. That was nothing compared to this.

“Can I—”

“Of course,” Stephen breathed, his nose touching Tony’s. “Just think about what you want me to know and reach out.”

Okay, sounded simple enough. Tony thought about waking up after Siberia and learning that Stephen had been the one to save him. He thought about dinners at the Sanctum with him and Peter and how loved he felt, how he finally felt like he’d found a family.

Peter

No. He focused on now, where Peter was alive, and nothing was lost. Instead, he’d actually picked up a sorcerer. He’d gained Stephen in that one last way and it was everything. He poured all the love he felt for him, felt for their bond, and pushed.

Stephen inhaled and his exhale came out stuttered. Without saying a word, he grabbed hold of Tony, wrapping him with his arms and legs, like he would never let go.

Tony let himself be held, amazed. Stephen’s soul was absolutely beautiful. He reached out and touched it, marveled at how bright it felt, how whole and pure.

“Wow,” he whispered in awe. “So what are we now?”

“Bonded,” Stephen said softly. “You’re my bonded, and I am yours.”

“You’re damned right you are.”

They laid next to each other for a while, both of them giving feather-light touches to the bond, marveling at its beauty, Tony absolutely besotted with how beautiful Stephen was, inside and out. The Cloak ran the edges of its collar over Tony’s cheeks.

“So does this mean a piece of my soul is with you?” he asked.

“No,” Stephen said, his voice just a little too stern. “Our souls are bonded together. They’re connected. First, by the Time Stone and then the Soul Stone. Your soul is still whole.”

Tony had no idea what an incomplete soul would feel like, but something in Stephen’s voice told him it wouldn’t be good. “That makes sense. I didn’t feel anything bad when the Soul Stone put the whammy on us.”

Finally, Stephen opened his eyes and backed away enough so they could look at each other. “I don’t think the Soul Stone would have fractured your soul. And you would definitely know it if it had. Soul bonds are a tricky thing because of that.”

“Yeah, it mentioned that. You said something about it, but you never told me what Thanos did to get to the Soul Stone.”

Stephen sighed and his mouth twisted into a frown. “In order to gain the Soul Stone you have to sacrifice someone you love. A soul for a soul. Thanos sacrificed Gamora.”

The absolute awfulness of that statement twisted something in Tony's guts. He sat up in bed, trying to shake the awful image from his head. “He wanted to murder half the universe so badly he killed his daughter to do it. What a great dad.”

“I wrongfully criticized the Soul Stone,” Stephen said. “I thought it cruel, but I was wrong. The Soul Stone is capable of complete control of a soul, including destroying it. It makes sense it would be the most difficult stone to acquire.”

“So the bond it gave us kept our souls intact,” Tony said, nodding. “Good to know.”

“Yes, very. But I’m not sure which bond it used or if it used any known soul bond at all. There are a few that I’ve read about that are meant for lovers or for shield brothers that feel like they fit, but we might never know for sure. The Soul Stone probably doesn’t use notes.”

Tony thought about it for a moment, curious. He knew now that Stephen used a temporary soul bond to save him after Siberia, but he didn’t know exactly how it happened.

“So the bond you used to save me, it was supposed to be temporary, but became something else?”

Shame

“Hey, no,” Tony said, reaching out to Stephen again. “No, that's not what I meant. I’m really just curious. I know nothing about soul bonds, but I’m in one.”

“I think it’s more correct to say ‘I have one.’”

“Stephen,” Tony said slowly, patiently, with the man he loved. “I’m a naturally curious person. Did the spell go wrong? Did you cast it incorrectly?”

The glare he gave Tony was withering.

“Ouch, I think that may have done actual physical damage,” Tony said, feigning injury. “So then what?”

“Souls are living things, Tony. Bonds have to be living as well. The bond I created was supposed to be temporary, but the feelings I have for you are so deep it grew and changed into something else. That’s why soul bonds aren't to be dealt with lightly. Far too easy to disfigure the soul.”

“Like how?”

The look on Stephen's face grew dark, the feelings coming from the bond growing tumultuous.

“I’ve only ever read one book on soul bonds, that was enough. It was my intention to gather information that could help me in battle.”

“It kinda did though,” Tony said, thinking about it. “Just not your battle.”

Stephen smiled sadly. “No regrets. But after unknowingly bonding myself to you, I didn’t try any other bonds. Some of the ones I read about are terrifying.”

“Like what? What exactly could you do to your soul?” Tony asked. “Sell it to the devil?”

“Yes, or tear it into pieces. I read about bonds that would tear a soul apart in order to gain power,” Stephen said. “Some sorcerers are so greedy for power, they're willing to tear themselves to pieces to gain it.”

“Yeah… Well, your soul feels like sunshine so I feel like I got a pretty good deal out of this,” Tony said. “What does mine feel like?”

“Home,” Stephen said without missing a beat. “Home in a way that no place has ever felt.”

They were interrupted by the blaring of a siren from the autopilot, Tony jumping to his feet on his own autopilot and hoping that whatever it was wasn’t about to take them out before Thanos got the chance.

“What is it?” Stephen asked, coming up behind him. This console seemed way more user friendly. Tony just touched the red blinking light and a gauge came up via hologram, showing a tank almost empty.

“Pretty sure this means we’re almost out of fuel,” Tony said. “Problem is we have no idea where to get fuel or how to get there.”

“Or how to pay for it once we get there,” Stephen said. “Pretty sure they won't accept dollars this far out.”

“That…is very true. And that’s not even mentioning that this is a pod, and I’m pretty sure we’re not going as fast as we were on the donut ship.”

“So it might take more time to get to Titan?”

“Maybe. But the fuel problem seems like more pressing. Let’s worry about how we’re going to pay later, seems like a better problem than being stranded in space,” Tony said, and scrolled through a list that popped up. He still couldn't read it, but he was guessing the computer was telling them the closest planets to fuel up. “This thing functions like a GPS, so it looks like we’ll be able to get to a fueling station. Now we just need to figure out how to pay for it.”

With a few touches he set a new course for a nearby planet, then turned back around to Stephen. “So…what are you not willing to do for fuel?”

“Are we going there already?” Stephen asked. “Because I can’t tell you what to do with your body, but if you're asking, I’d rather you didn’t.”

“Wow,” Tony said, laughing. “I meant, like, magically. Like do you have ethical objections to creating fake money?”

“Oh.”

“But I like that you think I’m cute enough to trade for fuel,” Tony said, teasing him.

“Shut up. You are not.”

“Am too. You totally think I’m hot. You love me.”

Stephen turned back to him, his cheeks beautifully blushed. “I do. Very much.”

Tony’s eyes were drawn to Stephen’s lips and he didn’t have to stop himself from looking because Stephen was looking right back at him. He let one hand run along the back of Stephen’s neck, then he leaned up and kissed him.

He felt the shaking of Stephen’s hand as it held him just at the dip of his back, a light press of it encouraging Tony to lean further into Stephen. The kiss deepened, their arms wrapped tighter around each other.

“Mmm, can we—” Tony asked, scooting them the few inches back to the bed, kicking off his pants and shirt that were bloodstained from a wound he never felt. He let himself fall back on the bed in only his briefs and waited for Stephen to do the same.

“Gotta admit, I've always been curious about how the hell you get all those belts undone,” Tony said, then watched as Stephen cheated and used magic. But he couldn’t be too mad because apparently Stephen went commando under all those layers.

“Oh, yes,” Tony breathed and held out his arms for Stephen. “Come here, let me look at you. Oh God, you’re the most gorgeous creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. Oh, Stephen.”

Stephen’s checks reddened just the smallest amount. “Thank you,” he said, then leaned over and worked down the waistband of Tony’s briefs. “Now you.”

Tony helped him and kicked the last of their clothing to the floor. For a few long moments they kissed and touched, running shaking fingers over hallowed flesh and bone. Tony felt like they should be in more of a hurry. They were on a ship he could barely fly, going to a planet they didn’t know, and then headed to a battle they’d already lost.

They should be in a hurry. But Tony rolled on top of Stephen slowly, his hands trailing down Stephen’s body reverently, taking note of every touch that created a hitch in his breath, a shudder down his spine. He kissed his way across Stephen’s body, acting as though he had all the time in the world.

Tony had always known sex with Stephen—if he’d ever be lucky enough to have it—would be special because Stephen was special.

Having sex with his bonded was incredible. Every delight he felt was felt by Stephen through their bond just as Stephen shared his own pleasures. They came together, their bond allowing them to share every touch, every expression of joy where they’d been so cold and defeated before.

After, they laid together, sweaty and sticky and Tony still covered in his own blood. So much had happened in such a short amount of time. He wondered if Thor and Loki had been picked up by the Guardians yet or if they were still floating out in space where they’d left them.

“Hey,” Stephen said and kissed his shoulder. “It’ll be alright. We know what we have to do. We just need to get there.”

“And have a talk to another version of ourselves,” Tony said, leaning back into Stephen. “Wow. I wonder how that’s going to go.”

“I have a code word that I came up with to use if I was ever in this situation,” Stephen said. At Tony’s look of disbelief, he continued, “What? I’m the keeper of the Time Stone. This was bound to happen at some point.” The Cloak nodded its collar in agreement.

“Right,” Tony said. “Do you think this pod has a bathroom? I can only be sticky for so long.”

“I’m extremely surprised it has this bed,” Stephen said. “Especially since it’s a refugee ship.” He swung his legs out of bed and opened the small door to the side. “There’s a small shower, but we should both fit.”

“Great,” Tony said and opened the refrigerator to get them both some water. Asgardians had water, right? He opened a bottle and handed one to Stephen, took one drink, then spat it out.

“It’s fermented,” Tony said, at the taste of alcohol. “What kind of escape pod has booze?”

The shower turned on and the cabin lights lowered and a strobe kicked in. A hologram of a tall, dark man with blue makeup popped out of the wall and said, “Now remember, just because you're in an escape pod doesn’t mean the fun has to stop!”

Tony and Stephen looked at each other in confused horror. The shower began to pour out pink bubbles.

“What kind of refugee ship is this?”

Chapter Text

Okay, so it turned out the escape pod they were on was actually part of a sex party ship, not a refugee ship like they’d thought. Which was fine, hey who was Tony to judge? Plus, it made the sheer size of the thing more understandable, and why the bed made up about eighty-seven percent of it.

It also explained why it was so easy for Tony to figure out how to work the controls of the ship, seeing as he didn’t understand the language at all. It was built for someone who would have been a party goer on the main ship, not someone with a degree in aerospace engineering or whatever the space equivalent.

They spent the next few hours in a light doze, saying little, but taking turns sending things through their new bond. The Cloak seemed almost happier than they were, doing a slow little dance in the air above them.

“Okay, I’m going to send you something,” Tony said, thinking of what he wanted most in the world right now, apart from Stephen. “You feeling what I’m feeling?”

“Mmm,” Stephen hummed, his face more relaxed than Tony had ever seen it. “I feel your appreciation and love. It’s amazing, Tony. The love you feel is so deep, like there’s truly no end to it. It’s like looking into the end of the universe.” He nestled deeper into Tony’s chest. “What were you thinking about?”

“Coffee.”

Stephen’s laugh could probably be heard from Earth.

“Whatever sort of bond the Soul Stone used, I don’t think it’s the kind that lends us telepathy. It’s the sort where we feel what the other is feeling only. Sorry to disappoint.”

“I could never be disappointed in anything to do with you, Doc.” Tony held up Stephen’s shaking hand and traced the scars with his index finger.

They were interrupted by a beep alerting them that they were nearing the planet.

“Okay, so how we gonna play this?” Tony asked, getting up. "We've already decided no one’s taking their clothes off…”

Stephen sighed.

“Which really limits what I bring to the table. So I guess I could trade gas for…labor? Maybe they have machines similar to ours that need repairing.”

“That…would be a great way to trade actually,” Stephen said. “Or if they were in need of a doctor. Although that would be assuming they’re humanoid, which would be very advantageous but not something we can bank on.”

“Right. Well, hopefully we’ll figure something out.” He thought about something else for a moment. “Hang on. How are we even going to be able to communicate? We won’t speak their language and they won’t know English.”

“There are several translation spells—”

“Wait a second,” Tony interjected, getting angry now. “No, no, no. The more I think about this, the more upset I am. How is it we’ve been able to communicate with Thor all these years in the first place?”

“I believe Thor has what the Norse gods call the All-Speak.”

“What about Thanos? Does Thanos speak Norse god? What about the five-dollar shrimp bucket? What’s his native language? Krill?”

“Okay, I feel like we’re getting off course,” Stephen said gently. “Look, the console is asking a question.”

“Yeah, well I have more questions,” Tony said, opening up the blinking panel. It seemed as though the computer’s GPS had already communicated their need for landing and had received a response. “Here we go.”

They landed with ease, the ship’s flight system doing all the work for them. Tony recalled watching flights taking off, and the reentry to Earth wasn’t a walk in the park either. He had watched as the Challenger blew up. The smooth descent into whatever port they’d found was the exact opposite.

They landed and a bright pink humanoid wearing a pretty standard looking jumpsuit stood on the platform waiting for them.

“I’m thinking maybe suit up,” Tony said, giving Stephen’s forearm a squeeze and tapping his own nanoparticles. “Can’t be too careful.”

“Good idea,” Stephen said, though he was already wearing his wizard tunic and Cloak so he wasn’t getting more dressed up than that. The ramp opened up automatically and they filed out of the tiny pod more or less crushed together.

As he looked back he was better able to look at it. It really was about eighty seven percent bed.

“Greetings,” the pink humanoid said. “Welcome to Seoter.”

Tony threw a side eye to Stephen.

“Hello, our ship was destroyed and our pod is in need of fuel,” Stephen said. “We don’t have any money, but we’re willing to trade.”

“We don’t usually trade for fuel,” the humanoid said. “Perhaps you can arrange something in the local village, but we don’t have official channels for something like this.” They flipped open some sort of tablet. “I do need your names to register your ship.”

“Doctor Stephen Strange and Tony Stark.”

The pink humanoid stopped writing their names down on their clipboard thingie and looked up. “Tony Stark? The Iron Man?”

Tony’s heart dropped in his chest. This was the second time an alien knew his name. The last time that had happened he ended up with an inexplicable wound to the gut.

“You know me?” he asked.

The pink humanoid seemed to grow even more pink and then averted their eyes.

“This changes things,” they said. “I will speak with our local council. In the meantime, I invite you to visit our marketplace,” they gestured behind them where what looked like a pretty traditional looking farmer’s market was taking place. “There’s fresh food to eat, a wide variety and as much as you’d like. Just say Zhusaambhidh will cover it.”

“Thank you for your generosity,” Stephen said with a nod and took Tony’s hand before he could open his mouth and put his foot in it.

Tony retracted the suit since it seemed as though they weren’t going to be attacked on sight, and gently interlaced their fingers.

“Okay, now that I’ve thought about it, I can’t un-think it. Did you see the way their mouth moved? Definitely not speaking English.”

Stephen sighed. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”

“Can you? You’re a scientist, too.”

“Yes, but I’m also very used to magic at this point, and I don’t think that was the most important take-away from that conversation. Beings across the galaxy know who you are,” Stephen said.

“Yeah,” Tony whispered, trying to understand the full implications of aliens on random worlds far far away from Earth knowing his name. “No idea how that’s even possible.”

“Thanos knew you, too,” Stephen whispered.

“Yeah, not sure what to think of that. Maybe he figured out who destroyed his fleet. That nuke was one hell of a payload.” In the space of a blink, Tony was back with that fleet, thousands of Chitauri ships just waiting to unleash hell on Earth. Tony hadn’t been the one to fire the bomb, but he’d been the one to take it away from New York and to their enemy.

Maybe that was how Thanos knew him, but it was hard to imagine word of who blew up the Chitauri fleet had spread to all corners of the galaxy.

“Hey,” Stephen said, rounding on Tony and stepping in front of him and the market just before they entered. “You with me?”

Tony blinked away the cold darkness of space and focused on Stephen. “Always,” Tony said, bringing Stephen’s hand up to kiss.

“Good,” Stephen said, and they took off to enjoy the market.

This planet seemed pretty similar to Earth. The grass was greenish blue even if the sky was more yellow than he was used to. The vegetables were, understandably, unknown to Tony but they looked like things that had grown in the ground. They seemed edible even, which is a weird thought to have when he’d never seen these in his life. But they had roots, and some had green tops and they were still covered in dirt. Tony had never really seen vegetables in their native environment, but he knew they grew in the ground before they ended up on his plate.

This planet—or maybe area of the planet—seemed to be populated with pink humanoids but there were a few non-humanoid creatures mixed in as well. Maybe the GPS on the pod knew this was a well-known port. It would make sense for so many species to be together.

As they walked hand in hand, Tony realized this was something they could do on Earth. Aside from the fact that they were charged with a mission to save the universe by the Infinity Stones themselves and were kinda on the run from Thanos, this could almost be a date.

“Hey, you want to try these?” Tony asked, pointing to what looked like some kind of fried dough. “Look, it’s true. Everyone has their own version of something wrapped in dough and fried. Can we have one of these?” Tony asked, pointing. “Zappa Spoors said he’d cover us.”

“Who?” the shopkeeper asked.

“Tony… Zhusaambhidh said he’d cover the cost of our lunch today,” Stephen said much more diplomatically.

“Ah,” the shopkeeper said with a polite smile. “Then take two.”

“Thanks,” Tony said and took a bite. Spices he’d never tasted before burst on his tongue, delighting him with every bite. “Oh, damn.”

“Wonderful,” Stephen said, his eyes closed in rapture.

“Can we move here?”

“No, but we can try other things,” he said, finishing the universally beloved fried thing off. “We haven’t walked through that section there.”

Tony let Stephen lead him through the market by hand, a few locals looking at them curiously but leaving them be. Again, the thought occurred to him that this was actually something they could look forward to doing on Earth. Tony had never really been into farmer’s markets. He’d visited one or two with Pepper, but she was usually there for the vegetables and less to just look around.

Walking hand-in-hand with Stephen felt right, like this was something they could do forever.

“Hey, you two.”

“Yeah, you two.”

Tony stopped—his heart dropping and the suit damn near forming around him—and looked around.

“Down here.”

“In the basket!”

Tony and Stephen looked down and saw a basket full of berries, red and plump and not completely unlike strawberries. They looked delicious, except they almost seemed to be moving in their basket.

“Did you hear something?” Stephen asked.

“Yeah, but I don’t—holy shit!”

“What? You act like you’ve never seen a goober berry before,” said the actual fucking berry. Upon closer inspection, some of the little seeds were eyes and it actually had a little mouth.

“Yeah, maybe you two think you’re too fancy to be eating us. Don’t want to talk to common berries that can be grown on the side of a road. Think you’re too good for us, then?” said another.

“Stephen, is that strawberry talking to us or was that fried thing laced with acid?” Tony asked in horror.

“No, that strawberry is definitely talking to us,” Stephen said, his own eyes wide and his mouth open.

“Yeah, that’s right we’re talking to you. So are you going to eat us or not?” the first berry asked.

“You…want to be eaten?” Stephen asked.

“Well, yeah,” the second berry said. “It’s kind of our goal, isn’t it? That’s what we’re grown for, to be eaten. Otherwise we’ll just get green and moldy. You can put us in a pie or mix us with cream. Or you can just put us in your mouths and have at it. So, are you going to eat us or not?”

“I…am very uncomfortable eating sentient food,” Stephen said, and the Cloak nodded its collar. “Sorry.”

“Yeah, where we’re from our food doesn’t talk to us,” Tony said. “In fact, I don’t even eat oysters because I require all my food to be dead, not just unconscious when I eat it. But I’m weird like that.”

“We’re sure you taste…delicious,” Stephen said, backing away slowly with Tony. “But no thank you.”

“Oh, so that’s how it is! Too good for the likes of us! Well, we hope no one eats you either!”

“We’re really okay with that,” Tony said and they walked away quickly.

They left the last stall holding fruits and vegetables, holding it in before they finally looked at each other and broke, the both of them laughing hysterically.

“What the hell was that?” Tony said.

“A lesson in off-Earth cuisine?” Stephen said with a shrug. “Either way, there was no way I was putting something that talked in my mouth.”

“I can definitely say that statement is a lie.”

Stephen shoulder-bumped him, and they started walking through an area that had what looked like furs and skins and other small furnishing. And again, Tony was struck with how good this felt, just doing something normal with Stephen.

“I would have loved to do this in New York,” he said, giving his feelings a voice. “Still would.”

“You will,” Stephen said with a small smile, but something about his tone was off. Almost as though he was trying to convince himself.

Fear

“Hey,” Tony said, “are you okay?”

“Yes, fine,” Stephen lied.

“Okay,” Tony said slowly, realizing that this was new to them and that they should begin how they meant to go. “You’re entitled to your private thoughts and feelings, but… You’re not okay. There’s something bothering you and I’d really like it if you told me.”

“There’s nothing,” Stephen said, and this time Tony believed him. “Truly. It’s only that…”

“It’s only…” he said, waving his hand for Stephen to continue.

They reached the end of the stalls so Tony pulled Stephen down towards blue-green grass and sat them down so they could talk about this properly. The Cloak left Stephen’s shoulders and laid down on the ground like a big, comfy blanket.

“The amount of events that have to go exactly right or all of it falls apart is vast. I don’t know. I’ll do whatever I have to to secure the future of life,” Stephen said, with all the weight of the world on his shoulders. “We’re literally talking about all life, not just Earth. It’s everything that is and ever will be. I’ll fight to the end, whatever that means. Whatever it takes.”

“Whatever it takes,” Tony repeated. “But why does ‘whatever it takes’ have to be you?”

“Who else would it be? You? Tony, even the Infinity Stones know how necessary you are. The Time Stone said so itself. We need you alive.”

“Well, I need you alive,” Tony almost shouted. “I got big plans, and you’re a part of them.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah,” Tony said, holding on to Stephen as hard as he could. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he might be ripped away. “We’ve got a lot of living to do. You think I was underfoot at the Sanctum before. That was nothing. I’m going to be absolutely annoying now.”

“You could never annoy me.”

“Ha!”

Stephen rolled his eyes, that liar. “I would never be annoyed at your presence. I want you around, and I want to be around for you. For Peter. For me, even. I’m just very aware that it’s not always in the cards.”

Tony clenched his jaw and shook his head. “It is this time. You and I are going to make it back home and we’re going to live. We’ll go to every boring museum event you want, order take out and eat in that musty old library.”

“I’m feeling so appreciated,” Stephen deadpanned.

“I’m serious,” Tony said softly. “I’m not letting you go. Ever. I just got you.” He gently tugged Stephen’s hand to bring him closer. “You’re stuck with me.”

A feather-light touch—like the echo of a breath—touched Tony through the bond. He felt Stephen’s wonder at him, his love.

“I think this might be the longest I’ve ever been out in public without someone asking for my autograph,” Tony said, switching to lighter topics.

“Your ego may never recover.”

“Should we go see if there are any more vegetables that really just want to be inside you?”

“Ugh,” Stephen groaned. “Why did you have to say it like that?”

“Come on,” Tony said, standing. “We’re on another planet and no one is trying to kill us. Let’s walk around a little more.”

They strolled through what must have been a public park, people just standing around talking, some of them throwing some kind of ball but playing a game that looked way more complicated than what Tony was used to.

In the center of the park stood a statue.

It was of what looked to be a young humanoid child, their skin a brighter pink than most, their face solemn and looking towards the sky. Below it was an engraving, that Tony couldn’t read. The look on the kid’s face twisted something in Tony’s heart. It reminded him too much of Peter on that day when the ferry almost sank. The look of defeat on his face was almost enough to tear his heart to shreds.

“It says ‘to our lost half, we will never forget you.’”

Tony jumped about three feet in the air and the suit nearly started forming. Zhusaambhidh stood just a little too close, their hands in the air by way of apology.

“I am sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” they said, and at least looked a little chagrined.

“You didn’t!” Tony said a little too loud. “This statue is very…moving.” He wanted to ask what ‘our lost half’ meant, but had enough tact to keep the question to himself.

“I came to tell you, the council will see you now. This way.”

They were led to a large building with dark blue pillars and a food cart selling more of those berries outside.

“Hey, you! Yeah, you!” the berry said, gaining Tony’s attention. “Bite me!”

Tony put up a hand like he was trying to evade the press and pretended not to notice.

Inside the building was a grand veranda. The ceiling was painted with what looked to be scenes from a war, and statues of humanoids holding weapons, their poses majestic. The rubber of Tony’s sneakers made little tap tap taps on the floor, the stone polished so brightly Tony could see his reflection.

“This is…so much,” Stephen said, feeling just as uncomfortable as Tony felt. “We don’t mean to put you to so much trouble over some fuel.”

“You aren’t any trouble,” Zhusaambhidh said. “None at all.” They pointed through a large brass double door, its handle formed out of what seemed to be a large tooth. “The council is just through there. They’re eager to meet you.”

Eager as in “Wow it’s Tony Stark” or eager as in “You’re the berry now?”

The doors opened and Stephen and Tony walked into a great hall with rows of seats on either side of an aisle. Natural sunlight shined through, illuminating the room and causing the stone floors to sparkle. The council sat high on benches, their eyes all on Tony as he walked through the room.

He and Stephen finally stood before them, Tony uncharacteristically quiet. The council was composed of eight pink humanoids, all of them looking at Tony intensely. For several long moments everyone was silent, their breaths the only sound.

“Welcome,” said the humanoid in the center. “I am Cioum. The council welcomes you to Seoter.”

“Thank you,” Tony said. “I’m Tony Stark. This is my…partner Doctor Stephen Strange”

“Tony Stark?” asked another humanoid. “The Iron Man?”

“Usually it’s just Iron Man, but yes. You’ve heard of me?”

The council looked among themselves. “You are the Tony Stark who destroyed the Chitauri fleet with a single blast?”

It was technically true, even if it really misrepresented what happened.

“Yeah,” he said. “That was me.”

The councilors looked amongst themselves. A few of them turned a shade of purple, and whatever it was that was happening, they were obviously overwhelmed.

“Then you have our eternal gratitude, Tony Stark,” Cioum said. “Whatever resources we can give you, you may have. Our wealth is your wealth. Our planet is your planet.”

That was all their problems solved in a second, the slow ship, the lack of fuel and nothing to trade with. And of course, Tony being Tony, couldn’t just accept it on face value. Of course, he had to poke at it to see where it came from.

Tony’s thoughts strayed back to the statue in the park, the little humanoid and the half that was lost…

“Thanos was here,” he said, and though he was asking a question he already knew Thanos was the answer.

Cioum nodded. “Thanos came with his Chitauri fleet about twenty years ago. We fought back, but they were far too much for our armies. We’re a peaceful planet, and our armies were no match for the beasts he has under his control.”

“We’re very sorry,” Stephen said.

“After the battle was lost, Thanos himself came down to our planet,” said another, much older humanoid. “He said he had come with a blessing, a gift. We knew he had come for war, but we didn’t realize what his true goal was until it was too late.”

“He killed half of you,” Tony said.

They nodded. “Indiscriminately. Old and the young. Our children cut down.” One of the other humanoids hid their sobs behind their hands.

“Anyone who can hurt Thanos of Titan is our friend,” Cioum said again. “Anything we can do to help you, just ask it.”

All that for a drop of blood…

“It wasn’t just me,” Tony said, because it felt wrong to accept all the credit when he’d been part of a team. “I had help. It wasn’t just me that ended that fleet.”

“We’re never truly alone, are we?” the older humanoid asked. “Before you, Tony Stark, we had never heard of a planet that was capable of resisting Thanos. We’re glad for you, glad you didn’t have to lose the way we lost.”

But Tony had lost. Maybe not then, not in New York. But the next time he faced Thanos he’d lost big time. The sound of Peter begging not to go filled the room, and he felt his breaths coming a little faster.

“Forgive me,” the humanoid said. Tony hadn’t responded quick enough and they’d clearly made assumptions. And those assumptions were correct, but they also hadn’t happened yet. Peter was still alive and he’d stay alive. Tony wouldn’t lose him again.

Just when he thought a full panic attack was on its way, he felt a whisper of Stephen settling around him.

Peace

Stephen sent what felt like every good feeling he had through the bond, calming Tony and settling him enough to continue.

“We thank you for your generosity,” Stephen said. “We are in need of help.”

Stephen and Tony shared a look. He had no idea what a ship cost, but he imagined they couldn’t run cheap. But the pod was a slow thing, and they needed to get to Titan before Thanos or there’d be hell to pay.

“A ship,” Tony said. “We’re actually on our way to meet our mutual friend on his home turf.”

“You plan to fight him?” asked another councilor.

“I plan to kill him,” Tony said, then considered his last words to Thor. “Or at least see him dead.”

“Then you may have the fastest ship in our fleet,” the councilor said and tapped something on a tablet. “All we ask in return is confirmation that he’s dead.”

“You’ll have it,” Tony said, no idea how he’d do it but he'd get it done. Every one of the humanoids had a different expression, but then grief looked so different on different people. A few of them looked enraged, a few on the verge of tears. One looked as though they hadn’t felt anything for a long time.

“I don’t know how much this will help,” Tony said, thinking of his own loss. He blinked and the image of Peter turning to dust right in front of him flashed before his eyes. He couldn’t even fathom returning to that reality. “I can’t bring back who you lost. But I’ll avenge them.”

The blank indifferent stare shuddered for a moment, before the councilor smiled and nodded.

“A ship will be ready for you in half an hour. It will be enough to get you to Titan. Is there anything else that would aid you in your mission?”

“You’ve already been so generous,” Stephen said. “We wouldn’t dream of asking for more.”

“Hang on,” Tony said, because anything meant anything, and anything could mean knowledge. “I do have a question. How am I able to understand what you’re saying right now?”

The councilors looked amongst themselves. “If you don’t have a universal translator, we can provide one for you.”

Tony considered this, but no something wasn’t quite right.

“Okay, so like a device that provides instant interpretation to the listener?” Tony asked.

“Yes?” Cioum said. “I thought all civilized planets had them.”

“We’re gutter trash,” Tony said. “Not the point. I don’t have one of those, so how am I understanding you?”

“The translator also translates outgoing speech,” one of the other councilors said.

“Wait, what? How?” Tony asked because that made no sense.

Stephen grabbed his arm. “We thank you for the use of a universal translator. They would help us greatly in our mission.”

“And how were we able to understand the strawberries?” Tony asked.

“Oh, pay them no mind,” the older council or said. “The local farmers have been breeding them to be more aggressive lately, but they’re harmless.”

“And taste wonderful in a milkshake.”

“Okay, hang on…”

“Thank you!” Stephen almost shouted, pulling Tony back even though none of that made any sense.

“We don’t ask odd questions to the people who are literally helping us save the universe,” Stephen hissed through his teeth.

“I’m gonna take that thing apart the second I get back to my lab,” Tony said. “I need to understand this.”

“You can do whatever you’d like to yours, but you’re not touching mine.

They spent the next half hour grazing at different booths in the market before they were called back to the dock. The ship they’d been given looked like something out of Tony’s nerdiest wet dreams. It was sleek, gunmetal grey, with what he assumed were some kind of cannons attached to each side.

It looked like the Millennium Falcon, but—you know—not a hunk of junk.

“This is certainly a step up,” Stephen said, thanking their benefactors one again before boarding the ship with Tony.

It looked like coordinates for Titan had already been fed into the ship’s autopilot, but Tony couldn’t be absolutely sure unless he could read the screen. On a table in the ship’s small galley were two boxes. They each opened theirs and inserted the small piece of metal into their ears.

The words on the console danced in front of his eyes for a moment before they switched to English.

“Okay, I admit it. This is pretty fucking cool,” Tony said, engaging the autopilot and taking off to Titan.

“This is…amazing,” Stephen gasped. “Do you have any idea how many texts we have whose language was lost to history? This changes everything.”

Tony leaned back in the pilot’s chair and just watched as Stephen completely geeked out over being able to read books. Tony felt the same way, but about eventually understanding tech he had no idea about. He felt Stephen’s joy and knew he was returning his own.

“I’m glad, Stephen,” Tony said, reaching out and sliding the co-pilot’s chair closer to his own. “This is going to change a lot for…well, everyone.”

He could already see using this new technology and making it accessible to everyone. He’d provide it for free, of course, since it wasn’t really his, but he’d make up the cost of production by charging businesses a hefty fee. But this meant people could learn about other cultures, could travel more, let alone people who were already living in a country but didn’t speak the language.

Just then he felt a surge of love flowing through the bond. Stephen was looking at him like he was amazed by him, like Tony was everything he’d ever wanted.

“What?”

“Nothing, just…it’s wonderful to see you so excited,” Stephen said, looking around the ship. “I imagine this ship is going to be looked over too.” He turned around in the small cockpit, looking out towards the also very small galley and living area. “Kinda reminds me of—”

“The Falcon,” Tony said, finishing Stephen’s sentence.

“But not a piece of junk.”

Tony faked a gasp. “She’ll make point five past light speed. She might not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts.”

A beautiful smile greeted him at the quote. Stephen put shaking hands on his face, let them trail down his neck. “Want to see if she has a bed?”

“Great idea,” Tony said, following Stephen to the one small bedroom. “I mean, the Falcon had to have one, right? At least two, since I can’t see Han and Chewie sharing a bunk.”

“I can,” Stephen said, letting the Cloak drift off his shoulders to go explore the ship on its own. “Space is cold, Chewie is a blanket.”

“So sorry I’m not a Wookie,” Tony said, leaning up and kissing him.

“Apology accepted, but try not to disappoint me again,” Stephen whispered around the kiss.

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

They took their time undressing, then loving each other, taking every moment available to them and cherishing it. The bond sang its approval, the connection a living breathing thing between them. Their hearts beat together as they enjoyed what felt like a stolen moment in a long war.

And while they held each other, a long way away, a small escape pod left its ship and made its way to them.

Chapter Text

Stephen shivered just a little under the Cloak, reaching out across the surprisingly comfortable pillow for the little heater that he went to bed with. His arm just kept reaching, the other side cold and empty. He poked his head out from under the Cloak, though the lack of warmth informed him of Tony’s absence.

The ship wasn’t very large at all so it wouldn’t be hard to find him. The cockpit was small, but about what he’d expected from a spacecraft. The galley had a small table for eating and another for maybe playing games or passing the time. There was just one bedroom with two bunkbeds, the beds themselves just a little larger than a single sized bed on Earth. Perhaps the people of Seoter were a little larger than humans.

Or maybe they were just more generous with their bedding. Regardless, the ship was small enough that Stephen could see most of the ship through the open door of the crew quarters. And he was currently watching a very happy Tony Stark bounce around the galley.

“Computer, show me the engine room,” Tony said, bouncing on the tips of his toes like a giddy schoolboy. A large block just under Tony’s feet hissed and then started to come apart from the floor. A large orange cube glowed brightly in the middle of the room and Tony looked like Christmas had come early.

“My God,” he whispered, sticking his head into it and opening something. “Friday, you getting this? Wait, no Friday here. I’ll have to take notes myself.” He tapped on the nanoparticles and some of the upper torso of the suit manifested along his body. “Okay, recording now. I’m looking at what appears to be a hyperdrive system. This is…amazing, decades ahead of what we currently have, and I’m looking right at it.”

It was so easy to get caught up in the infectious excitement Tony showed, how amazed he looked, the sense of wonder in his eyes. Stephen could watch him all day.

“This translator is a godsend,” Tony muttered to himself and then muttered more notes. The funniest part was that the Seorterians didn’t say they wanted their ship back. Tony would have more than enough time to research the ship when they got back, but he was so eager to begin.

Stephen understood, of course. He’d be the same way if something magical had been acquired. He’d open up the book and begin reading, everything else be damned. But here was Tony, with childlike glee, just looking at the engine. Stephen had no doubt he’d build his own in a month.

Assuming the mission was a success, he remembered. And that they both survived. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. It wouldn’t do to have such dark thoughts at this point. There was no reason for it. Yes, the mission they were on was extremely dangerous, and yes there were many ways it could fail.

But Stephen wasn’t going to let Tony die. And he wasn’t going to allow harm to come to Peter either. They would save the universe, together, and then go home and Tony could play with his new toy to his heart’s desire.

He wondered how long it would take him to pry Tony out of his workshop this time. He’d probably have to resign himself to eating takeout for a while with Tony covered in grease and talking a mile a minute about things Stephen had no hope in understanding.

He closed his eyes and savored the thought. It was something to hope for, something to look forward to. A promise he could give himself to get him through what was sure to be a terrible battle to come.

“Computer, open up this compartment for me,” Tony said. The orange cube hissed again and began to slide open. “Show me what’s under the hood, baby.”

“Don’t take anything apart,” Stephen said, still naked and nestled under the Cloak. “We still need to get to Titan.”

“Good morning, beautiful,” Tony said, and miracle of miracles actually left an open hyperdrive engine and rolled on top of the Cloak. The Cloak shook its lapels at him, but ultimately allowed the gesture. “Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Too excited. I’m going to change the world, Stephen.”

“For at least the third time. Meanwhile I was left to shiver all alone.”

“Cloak would never allow it. Would you, buddy?” The Cloak shook its lapels and nestled Stephen closer. “Knew I could count on you.”

“Get under here,” Stephen said, and helped Tony roll back under. “Five minutes.”

“You make it sound like it’s a chore,” Tony said. “I told you, I’m gonna be underfoot. You’ll be wanting to get rid of me.”

“Only if you try to bring your little projects into my library,” Stephen said.

“Little? I don’t think you understand. This…Stephen, this is faster-than-light travel. This is going to usher in another age of man,” he said, with stars in his eyes.

“Humans,” Stephen said. “And yes. But we’ll have to give you your own room if you want to be underfoot in the Sanctum.”

Tony froze on top of him, and Stephen realized what he’d just said.

It was too much too soon. Of course it was. It didn’t really matter that they were bonded. Yes, Tony had made a commitment to Stephen, and Stephen to him, but a commitment didn’t necessarily mean they were moving in together. Or even an agreement to share space.

Plus, Tony lived at the Compound, which he seemed to love. HIs workshop was a thing of dreams. He may have been a surgeon, but he was also a scientist, and he knew Tony’s workshop was unique. He wouldn’t want to leave that.

“Hey,” Tony said, and cupped Stephen’s face with his hands. “Where’d you go just now?”

“Nowhere," Stephen said. “I just didn’t mean to imply—”

“I liked that you implied,” Tony said. “Imply all day. I’m a big fan of implying.”

“Implication.”

“Don’t swear at me,” Tony said. “But what you just said. About me having a room. I liked that. You don’t have to backtrack. Unless you want to.”

They sat there in a stalemate of silence for a moment, neither of them wanting to make the first move.

Tony always was the brave one. “So do you? Want to backtrack?”

That, at least, was easy to answer. “No,” Stephen said simply. “I just don’t want you to feel you have—”

“I love you,” Tony said plainly, like it was something that happened every day. “When I agreed to be bonded to you, I wasn’t thinking this was going to be a casual thing. So if you’re all in, I am too.”

Stephen sighed and let his knee nudge Tony’s legs open, so they were entwined. He should feel more exposed being naked and having this conversation with Tony who was fully clothed. But he always felt exposed when he talked to Tony, like Tony could see all of him all the time. And Stephen never regretted it.

“I’m very much all in,” he finally said. “I suppose we can work out the logistics later, but, yeah we can figure something out. The Sanctum has been known to create rooms out of need. Sometimes even doors.”

“Great! And I know you need to be at the Sanctum. Good thing I’ve always liked the Village.”

“The Village loves you, too. They’ll be over the moon knowing you’re back to living in the city.”

“I’ll still keep my main workshop at the Compound, but having a little room to work would be helpful,” Tony said, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at Stephen. “Sometimes I get ideas in the middle of the night.”

“Me too,” Stephen said. “I understand.”

“I know you do,” Tony said, then leaned in and kissed him.

“Mr. Stark,” said a voice coming from the ceiling.

“The ship knows you already?”

“I can’t just look under the hood without introducing myself,” Tony said. “That’s disrespectful.”

“Of course not.”

The ship’s computer gave a short, harsh sounding chirp, something that didn’t sound good.

“What is it, honey?” Tony asked.

“There is a small ship approaching,” the computer said.

Their eyes locked and the easy sweetness of their interlude melted away. Tony immediately rolled out from underneath the Cloak and Stephen got dressed with a wave of his hand.

“How sure are you that it’s approaching us?” Tony asked, bringing up a screen that showed a moving dot growing steadily closer to them. “Any chance it’s going somewhere else?”

“It has a steady trajectory to meet up with this ship in the next ten minutes,” the computer said. “There are no other ships in the vicinity that it could possibly be attempting to approach.”

“Do you have a visual?” he asked.

The computer was silent for a moment. “No.”

“This isn’t Star Trek,” Stephen said.

“It was worth a try,” Tony said, then tapped his foot. “Is there any detail you can pick up about the ship at all? Anything that might give us a hint as to who’s on it?”

The computer was silent for a moment, then said, “I sent a standard hailing, which it refused to answer. However, the language their computer appears to be using is in my database. It’s the same language used by the ancient civilization of Titan.”

Dread washed over Stephen like a plague then doubled down as he felt Tony’s fear through their bond.

“Can we outrun them?” Tony asked.

The computer was silent for a moment then answered, “No. They will overtake us in eight minutes.”

“Okay, well we can’t just sit here and let it happen,” Tony said, tapping on the screen like it was as familiar as his Iron Man suit. “Let’s try to outmaneuver them.”

“Again, this isn’t Star Trek,” Stephen said, mentally shuffling through his books to see if there was anything that could be used to fight in space but finding nothing. “You can’t just expect to say ‘engage evasive maneuvers’ and think the ship is going to do an overshoot.”

“Engaging evasive maneuvers,” the computer said and the ship started to turn.

Tony quirked an eyebrow. “Okay, but this still isn’t Star Trek,” Stephen said.

“Of course not. We’re not gripping the cockpit and leaning to the left,” Tony said, into the screen. Several holograms were in front of him, one showing the approaching ship, the others the course they were trying to use to escape. From what Stephen could see nothing seemed to be working so far.

“It can’t be him,” Tony said, and though it was said as a statement there was enough fear in it to sound like a question. “He’s off somewhere murdering his daughter. Right?”

Stephen winced at that. Just because they knew they had to allow the timeline to play out as it had originally didn’t make it any easier. He hated that they’d had to leave the Asgardians floating in space, that they couldn’t save Gamora.

“No,” he finally said a moment later. “He wouldn’t be coming for us in a ship. He has the Space Stone. That’s how he’s been traveling all this time. It’s how he got to Titan, then Earth.”

“So who’s tailing us?”

Stephen wasn’t sure, but he had a suspicion.

Or maybe not even that. Maybe it was just fear. Facing Thanos was terrifying enough on its own. He had the Infinity Stones’ charge and Tony on his side, and he’d face Thanos on the battlefield knowing exactly where he stood.

But Ebony Maw was the lowest kind of creature. The magic he practiced felt dirty to Stephen, invasive and slimy in the worst ways. His power was vast, and his telekinesis perfected over however long he’d tarnished the universe with his presence.

Stephen had no idea what he’d do if Ebony Maw were on that ship. And something he’d said to Thanos as they’d been leaving the Statesman stuck in his mind.

“Father, if I may beg a boon of you.”

What was it he had wanted?

“Have we made any headway at all?” Tony asked, his hands flying as he frantically tried to outmaneuver whoever was in that ship.

“Marginal. Five minutes until the ship overtakes us,” the computer said.

“Fuck,” Tony hissed and hung his head low. “Give me weapons. What do we have that’s long range? Maybe we can attack now and buy ourselves some time.”

“Bringing photon torpedos online.”

“Now we’re talking.” Another screen popped up and handles extended from the captain’s chair, like something out of their dreams.

“I feel like I should really take back that thing I said about this not being like Star Trek,” Stephen said.

“It’s not. It’s Back to the Future, right? And now we just gotta burn the Almanac before Biff goes back in time to give it to his past self,” Tony said, figuring out how to use an alien weapons system in mere minutes. “Seriously, this is so cool if I wasn’t terrified out of my mind, I’d be seriously turned on right now.”

“What should I do?” Stephen asked, begging to be of some use before whoever it was would come knocking on their door. “There aren’t a lot of spells I could use that wouldn’t damage us or the ship.”

“Computer, does the co-pilot have a weapons system?” Tony asked.

The same sort of controls popped up on the other chair and a hologram all on Stephen’s own.

“Yeah, okay this is pretty cool,” he said, sitting down. It really was extremely user friendly.

“I can show you a visual of the ship now,” the computer said.

“That’s not a good sign,” Tony said. “Show us, please.”

The ship was small, about as small as their pod had been, but the gun mounted on it was almost as large as the ship itself. The working and design of the ship reminded Stephen of the ship Ebony Maw had landed in New York, and his worst fears were confirmed.

He grabbed his controls and aimed at the swiftly coming ship.

“Computer?” Stephen asked, doubting any weapon would be enough to kill Ebony Maw, but that wouldn’t stop him from firing every round he could.

“You may fire at will.”

Every Saturday night at the arcade suddenly seemed like time well-spent. Even with jarring pain in his trigger finger, Stephen fired at the ship, yellow light bursting through space and racing along to meet its target. He kept firing even when the alien ship in the game would have long since been turned to pixelated dust. If he was right, the creature on board that ship would have no problem tearing right through them.

“Computer, please tell me that did something,” Tony asked, his voice tense and laced with fear.

The yellow light faded for a moment and the ship was suddenly right in front of them, no longer needing to be seen on the view screen but right next to them.

“Shit!” Tony said and threw them into a defensive curve, trying to escape by any means. “How is that ship still intact? We threw everything we had at it.”

“Its shields are currently holding at thirty-three percent,” the computer said. “It is now attempting to dock.”

“Don’t let it dock!” Stephen shouted and ran through every spell he knew for something, anything that would protect them.

Tony fired another blast, and the weapon folded in on itself on their holographic screen, and the ship seemed to be caught.

Absolute perfect grasp of telekinesis.

“What the hell just happened?” Tony asked as a red light came on and sirens started to scream. A screeching metallic noise tore through the ship, like metal was being torn apart.

“The intruder has docked.”

Stephen let go of his toy gun and called up his real weapons. He’d have to take care to not damage the ship, but Stephen had been a surgeon. He was more than capable of pinpoint accuracy in his attack. And he’d need it for this enemy. Because there was no more doubt in his mind.

Ebony Maw was currently boarding his ship.

Tony suited up next to him, but the fight would be Stephen’s. He called up the Demons of Denak, his fists black with fire as he made his way to the port. He didn’t wait for Ebony Maw to make it on board. He sent the Demons through the ship, knowing hulls wouldn’t stand in their way. They would claw and drag him through to a hell dimension, no matter that they were currently in space.

And in case that didn’t work, with his next breath Stephen called up another spell.

“It’s him, isn’t it? Squidward? Guy we barely beat last time,” Tony asked, repulsors powered up and ready.

“Yes, but we did beat him.”

“We blew a hole in the ship.”

Stephen shrugged. “We still beat him. We did it once, we can do it again.”

The hull hissed and the door blew off its hinges. The Demons of Denak had been driven away and out of the darkness, Ebony Maw emerged.

Neither Tony nor Stephen waited for him to make the first move. They both attacked, Tony with his repulsors and Stephen with the Flames of the Faltine.

With a wave of his hand, Ebony Maw pinned Tony to a wall, his repulsor tech trying and failing to create enough momentum to get him unstuck. The repulsors whined loudly while Stephen’s fire roared around Ebony Maw, the flames touching him but not consuming.

Tony’s faceplate opened. “Listen to me, you coward. You don’t touch him! Let me out of this so I can kill you again!”

With one hand Stephen conjured the Sword of the Vishanti and the other a shield, lunging one second and defending the next. Ebony Maw tore a piece of panel out of the wall and ripped it into a dozen blades and sent them flying towards Stephen. While he shielded himself, tubing came out of the wall and crawled up his legs to wrap around his throat.

“Stephen!” Tony shouted and blasted the tubing before it could cut off his air supply, a little closer to his throat than Stephen would have liked.

“You chattering ape,” Ebony Maw hissed at Tony and bound his hands to the wall as well.

That momentary lapse in attention was all Stephen needed to launch his attack. The Cloak propelled him into the air and he aimed the Sword of the Vishanti at Ebony Maw’s throat.

Without even a lift of his hand, Ebony Maw grabbed him from midair and held him still. His legs danced, trying to find the ground while his air supply was cut off. The Cloak picked him up, keeping him from choking but unable to free him.

Slowly, Ebony Maw approached, his feet walking over broken bits of metal and plastic, ignoring a shouting Tony, his eyes only on the Eye of Agamotto.

*

Tony regretted calling the faceplate back. He wanted to be able to keep eyes on Stephen, but he didn’t need that chum bucket knowing what he was doing. Even without Friday or the use of his hands he was able to reroute all power to his repulsors to try to break free of whatever sorcery Ebony Maw was using to keep him glued to the wall.

Because that ugly excuse for a fish fry was slowly making his way to Stephen. There was no way Tony was going to allow Ebony Maw to even touch him.

“I should offer my congratulations,” he said, still slowly approaching Stephen, whose face was no longer turning red, but Tony didn’t like how tight that tubing looked around his neck. “I was under the impression that Earth’s sorcerers were primitive and lacking in any real power.” He nodded his head, as though his being impressed was a gift. “I was wrong. You very nearly masked your presence on the Asgardian ship. If we had left any sooner I would have missed it.”

He trailed a hand over Stephen’s chest and Tony’s skin crawled. Every muscle in his arms and legs burned as he tried to force himself off the wall.

“I followed Thanos’ orders because I am not a fool, but as I examined your other self on my ship I realized my first thought was correct,” he said, running his hand over Stephen's necklace. “The true Time Stone was not around your counterpart’s neck. It was a ruse. The true Time Stone is with you.

“How you managed to create such an elaborate double is almost beyond me. I imagine a great deal of magic was in order, especially to create a power signature as great as the one around your counterpart’s neck. Again, my congratulations. But in the end, it came to nothing.

“Your attempt to keep it from me is admirable, but as I told your counterpart, I have never failed Thanos. I will not start now."

Stephen tried to shake his head, tried to say anything that would get that sick, twisted son of a bitch off of him, but they were both powerless. Ebony Maw grabbed the amulet and crushed it, revealing the small pebble that the Time Stone had given Stephen.

It glowed a bright green, but it was obvious even to Tony that it wasn’t the true Infinity Stone. Ebony Maw saw through it in a second, his face going from relieved to enraged in a heartbeat.

“You…lie,” he hissed, grabbing Stephen's face and digging his nails into his skin. “You tricked me, you charlatan. You’ve jeopardized all of Father’s plans and for what?” he screeched, pulling up pieces of the floor and sharpening the metal into knives. “For another few minutes of living? I should kill you slowly for this, but now—thanks to you—I’ll have to get back to the ship before it reaches Titan!”

“Get your hands off him!” Tony screamed and pulled every muscle trying to release himself from his magical bonds.

Ebony Maw cast one glance at Tony then let loose the knives. The Cloak dropped Stephen, batting each away while Stephen tried to hold himself up with just his hands. Tony couldn’t look away as his feet kicked into the air.

With another flick of Ebony Maw’s wrist the Cloak was attached to the same wall Tony was, Stephen’s last defense gone. With another wave of his hands Ebony Maw created an onslaught of twisted bits of metal and threw them at Stephen.

A dozen knives impaled Stephen and all Tony could do was watch as time seemed to slow down.

Stephen didn’t scream—didn’t make a sound—as the metal tore into him, entering his heart, his lungs, his neck and tearing them so badly no amount of nanoparticles would be able to fix them.

But Tony did.

Tony screamed as he first felt and then saw the light go out of Stephen’s eyes. He felt Stephen’s terror through the bond and then a strange kind of absence and he knew he was gone.

His heart cried out, his rage all-consuming as he used every last drop of strength to pry himself off the wall and kill the bastard that had just killed his everything. The repulsors whined, his sensors warned that he was going to overload them, but Tony gritted his teeth and pushed.

Tears streaming down his face, he ripped himself from the wall and Ebony Maw’s control and surprised him with a blast to the face. The son of a bitch never saw it coming, hadn’t even bothered to look Tony’s way. He was just looking at Stephen—at his perfect, dead Stephen—until it was too late.

It was just the one repulsor blast, just enough pain to distract him enough for Tony to land a good punch, with all the power of the suit, all the rage and pain in his heart. He pounded Ebony Maw’s head until his face wasn’t recognizable as anything anymore, until the black blood that had flowed through his cold, dead heart was all over the floor.

He just kept punching, his arms burned and his chest ached, but he just kept hitting.

Something red came to him out of the corner of his eye and he raised a hand to blast it.

The Cloak came to him, touching his face, the only part of him exposed. The rage he’d felt began to fade as the Cloak’s soft warmth brought him back to the present.

He tried to hold on to the rage he felt because the second he let it go he knew he’d have to look at Stephen. And he couldn’t.

“I—”

His voice was hoarse, and he had no idea what he wanted to say. There was nothing for him now. He hadn’t just lost Stephen, the universe had lost its protector.

“Cloak,” Tony choked out, tears streaming down his face as he kept his eyes on red fabric on not on Stephen.

There was no way this had happened. This wasn’t supposed to be how this ended. They were supposed to defeat Thanos and go back to New York, to their life.

Their new life together. There was no way all that was over before it even started. So, he just stared at the Cloak, not taking his eyes off it. He stared at the Cloak for a long time.

Eventually, he moved, slowly turning his head to look at Stephen’s body.

Ebony Maw had massacred him. There would have been nothing for Tony to try to save. He gathered him up into his arms and buried his face into his neck.

“I’m sorry,” he cried, barely able to breathe through his tears. “I’m so sorry.” They sat on the ground for a long time, Tony cradling Stephen’s body in his arms, unwilling to let go, unable to do anything else.

A long time later, the Cloak tapped him on his shoulder and extended a fold of fabric. Tony held out his hand and let the Cloak drop something into it.

There, in the palm of his hand, was the bright green pebble Stephen had died for.

Chapter Text

Tony’s hand shook worse than Stephen’s ever did. He dropped his make-shift tools like he hadn’t since he’d been a kid, bit through his lip until he tasted blood. It didn’t matter. Nothing was enough to distract from what he was trying to fix.

“Okay, so funny thing about this bond,” he said, trying to keep his voice light even when it was shaking. “I can still feel you.” He’d torn apart every non-essential system on board their ship and used his own nanoparticles to create a device to harness the power the Time Stone had left them in that tiny little pebble.

The little pebble Stephen had died for.

“I mean, I believed you when you said this would go on after we died,” he said, keeping his eyes on shifting the nanoparticles, using every trick he had to get this to work. It was taking twice as long because his damned hands wouldn’t stop shaking. He kept Stephen’s body in the corner of his eye just to keep an eye on him.

Like he was going somewhere.

“I didn’t before. I mean, souls? How is that a real thing? To me it either sounded like something someone used to try to get me to do something I didn’t want to do.” He used the armor to solder two pieces of the device together, and hoped the nanoparticles understood what he needed from them. “Or get me to stop doing what I did want to do. You’re queer and from the Midwest, I’m sure you know what I mean.”

Stephen stayed silent because of course he did. He wasn’t there right now. But he would be again, Tony reminded himself. Stephen was only dead in this moment. There were a lot of other moments where he was alive, and if Stephen can use the Time Stone to rewind time so could Tony.

He had to. Erik Selvig had created a device to harness the power of the Space Stone using science. Tony could do the same.

He had to. He needed to undo this.

“So imagine my surprise when I’m having a breakdown because…” He waved his hand around the ship. Ebony Maw’s caved-in head lay in pieces all around the galley, and some of his brain matter may have made it into the bedroom. And there were definitely little chunks of that depraved, miserable son of a bitch embedded in Tony’s armor.

Part of him wanted to wash his hands and the other wanted to hoist the corpse up at the front of their ship and show exactly what Tony Stark did to anyone who hurt Stephen.

Except Stephen wasn’t only hurt.

Stephen was…

“So anyway,” he said, putting his head back in the game. “When you’re back you gotta tell me how you took the news that souls were real. You’re a scientist. Still seems nuts to me, but baby, I gotta tell you…”

He reached out again for Stephen, that piece of him that was wrapped around Tony’s heart, the intangible thing that Tony had felt every moment since the Soul Stone had bonded them. It was still there, but different. Like it still existed but on some other plane of existence. Trying to touch Stephen now was like running his hand through mist.

He lost control for a moment and a sob burst out, just one then another before he pulled himself together. They needed to get to Titan and they needed Stephen alive.

He needed Stephen alive.

“I gotta tell you, I’m really glad souls are real,” he sobbed. “Because I can still feel you. And that means you still exist,” he said, and laid his hand on his chest. Just for a moment.

“And if you still exist that means you’re not lost. I can find you,” he said and tweaked another piece of the device. Forget creating an arc reactor in a cave with nothing but scraps. He was creating a device to harness the last shreds of power of one of the building blocks of the universe.

And he was doing it to save Stephen. His bonded. If he couldn’t save Stephen with the Time Stone then what was it good for?

“I just need to make sure your body is perfect and beautiful and ready for you.” The ship’s computer showed a hologram of what pieces still needed adjusting. He ran a few more tests, far more time consuming without Friday, but doable. It was a small device, build into his gauntlet because of course it would be.

An hour later he was done with the hard part. It was now or never.

“Okay,” he said, his voice still shaking. “Okay, last simulation.” He put the little green pebble into the device and held his breath. “Computer, this thing should be creating a mobius strip, inverted, please.”

“Processing…”

“And give me an eigenvalue. Then particle factoring and a…spectral decomp. Please tell me you know what all that is. It’s going to take me forever to explain…”

“Processing…”

“Oh, thank God.”

“Device is activated.”

Tony’s gauntlet lit up in green, power coursing through his suit like he’d never felt before.

“Okay!” he shouted and for the first time since he’d started, looked directly at Stephen’s broken body. “If this is the last breath of the Time Stone I’d hate to know what the real thing is like. You’re so incredible, baby. Let’s get you back now.”

He closed his eyes and felt for the bond, just like Stephen had taught him. He was still there, still somewhere deep inside him that he couldn’t touch. But he felt hazy now, like he was a solid entity before and now he was just smoke.

He grabbed hold of the smoke as much as he could. The smoke seemed to respond to him, like it had been waiting for him.

“That’s all the sign I need,” he whispered and then activated the last remnant of the Time Stone. Strange symbols Tony recognized from the books in Stephen’s library lit up in green all around his gauntlet. With a shaking hand, Tony aimed at Stephen’s body and calibrated.

“Target acquired,” the computer said.

“Okay,” he whispered. “Now come back to me.”

He clenched his fist and then he turned it back. At first Stephen’s body stayed still, still bloodied and destroyed, but then he saw as the knives that had torn through him left his body, the blood and tissue that had been sprayed around the room going back where it needed to be. Color came back to his skin and the blue-green to his eyes.

In another moment, Stephen was whole again, his fist raised up like he was still being held captive by Ebony Maw.

Tony gave a sob and released the Stone. The small green pebble turned dull and rolled to the ground, its last breath gone.

It had taken all of a minute and a half. But Stephen was back.

Stephen was alive.

“Tony?” he asked, looking around at the black blood and brains all over the floor and walls. “What happened? Where is he?”

Tony didn’t waste another moment, he jumped onto Stephen, not caring what they were rolling around in, only caring that Stephen was alive and back with him. The bond between them surged to life again, Stephen alive and whole and wrapped around Tony’s heart where he belonged.

“Hey, it’s okay. I’m alright. Confused, but I’m alright,” he said, his voice muffled by Tony’s shoulder.

Tony didn’t say a word. He couldn’t. All his words left him as he just held on to Stephen like he would be taken away again.

“I can’t believe that worked,” he whispered, kissing Stephen’s face then pulling back and taking his face in his hands. “Are you real? You’re back?”

“I never left? The last thing I remember, Ebony Maw had me trapped in a telekinetic grip and was—”

Dismay

It felt as though the bond shuddered, the sudden fear Stephen felt cold inside of Tony. Stephen looked at him with fear in his eyes, then looked around the galley, at the blood and guts and brains and bits of bone that were splattered everywhere. The evidence that something terrible had happened and that Stephen didn’t remember it.

He took all that in and then looked inside his big pretty necklace, where the Time Stone’s pebble had been, and found it empty.

“Tony,” he whispered, his voice shaking almost as much as Tony’s had, “what did you do?”

Leaving one arm wrapped around Stephen’s body, Tony moved back and found the dull pebble that the Time Stone had given them and dropped it into Stephen’s hand.

“What I had to,” he said. “Ebony Maw—he—he thought you had the Time Stone,” Tony said.

“Yes, I recall,” Stephen said, his eyes never leaving the pebble. “But I don’t remember him getting his hands on it.”

“He did,” Tony said, wiping his face and letting the armor retract. “Took all of a second to figure out it wasn’t the real Time Stone and then he…”

He couldn’t even say the words. Like if he said them then it had been true and not just another nightmare that would haunt Tony for the rest of his life.

“He killed me,” Stephen said instead. The bond felt like it was screaming, Stephen’s anguish was so great. “He killed me and you used what the Time Stone left us.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, not understanding what was wrong. “Of course I did. I couldn’t just let you stay dead, not when I had the means to bring you back, and in a way where it never even happened. Look at you, there’s not a scratch on you!”

Sorrow

“What?” he asked, not sure what was wrong. Stephen buried his face in his hands and tried his hardest to bury what he was feeling, but there was no running away from Tony now. “Stephen, did you think I wouldn’t save you if I could? I love—”

“I know,” Stephen said through muffled hands. “I love you, too. But Tony, that piece of the Time Stone was part of our plan. We needed to give that to Thanos so he would leave Titan and get to Wakanda where Thor and his axe would be waiting for him.”

Tony couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “There is no plan without you! There’s nothing without you!”

“There’s another Stephen Strange on his way to Titan right now!” Stephen shouted, finally taking his face out of his hands. “You could have left me and told the other Strange what the plan was! You could have still saved the universe! Now—”

“Now what? Now it’s lost?” Tony asked, because there was no way he was going to regret what he’d done. He had done so many terrible things in his life, but saving Stephen wasn’t one of them. “You’re not replaceable, Stephen. I’m not just going to take up with another version of you.”

“It’s still me, Tony,” Stephen said, pleading. “It would have still been me, the me on Titan loved you just as much as I do now.”

“I’m not bonded to the Stephen Strange on Titan!” Tony shouted. “Or have you forgotten?” He placed a hand on his chest, right under his rib cage and tried again to touch the bond. “You’re right, you know? I didn’t doubt you, but I know for a fact that souls exist because I could still feel you after you died.”

Stephen looked defeated, like all the anger and fear just drained out of him.

“You weren’t…gone. Not really. I could still feel you, but it was different. You were there, but you weren’t. I hated it. You can’t ask me to feel that way for the rest of my life.”

The last of whatever fight Stephen had in him left, his shoulders falling and his hand letting the Time Stone’s pebble fall to the floor. He pulled Tony to him, letting him fall into his lap and holding on with all this strength.

“I’m sorry,” Tony said, his voice muffled as he spoke into Stephen’s neck. “But don’t ask me to go on if you’re not here.”

“I’m sorry,” Stephen whispered. “I didn’t think.”

“How could you? You didn’t know what it was like.” Even now the shadows threatened to move in, the fear that something had gone wrong and this was all in his head. He turned his face and buried his nose in Stephen’s hair and held him tighter, driving those demons away. “Not gonna lie, honey, I kinda hoped I’d go first but now I’m torn cause I never want you to feel that. You were still there…but you weren’t.”

“I’m here,” Stephen breathed against his ear. “You’re right. We’ll…figure it out. Between two Starks and two Stranges we’ll figure something out. Thanos can’t defeat four of us.”

“Exactly,” Tony whispered, kissing Stephen’s cheeks and then his mouth, gently at first and then with all the sorrow that had melted away. He kissed Stephen like he was about to slip through his fingers. He had lost Stephen, but he was back now, and Tony was never going to lose him again.

He paused his kisses just long enough to pull Stephen up and pull him back into the bedroom, both of them uncaring of the state of their skin and clothes. Tony had lost Stephen, but by a miracle of science and the universe he’d got him back. He wasn’t going to waste a single moment.

Tony laid Stephen down on the bed a little rougher than normal, trying to undo all the belts himself until Stephen took pity on him and undid them with a wave of his hand. Where before they’d taken their time, sorting out their new bond and new relationship, now Tony felt like he had to touch every part of Stephen to make sure he was really there. His lips ran over Stephen’s neck and his hands roamed down his hips and thighs, fingertips touching every bit of exposed skin.

Shaking hands held his.

“Hey,” Stephen whispered. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

It wasn’t the sort of promise men like them could make. Not really. Sure, no one was promised tomorrow, but they were going into a situation where death was likely.

It didn’t matter. Right then and there Tony swore to himself that he wouldn’t lose Stephen. Not now, not after he’d gotten him back. He had a second chance with the love of his life, and he wasn’t going to let it go.

“I know,” he whispered, like a promise and a plea all rolled into one.

*

Tony had made love to him like a man who’d lost everything and suddenly regained it. He wrapped himself around Stephen when they were finished, so distracted Stephen had just barely gotten Tony to restart the ship before he fell into an exhausted sleep.

Having no recollection of dying or of the anguish and stress of trying to bring back his dead bonded, Stephen found it far more difficult to nap.

He stayed awake long after Tony had gone to sleep. A part of him wanted to scream, tear the ship apart in his agony at the knowledge of what was to come now that Tony had used the last remnant of the Time Stone, but what was the point? What was done was done, and there was no way to undo it.

Of course Tony used the remnant to save him. If their positions had been revered, Stephen would have been tempted to do the same.

He liked to believe he’d have had a clearer head about him. That he would have realized that the life of one man was absolutely nothing compared to the universe. But maybe he was just kidding himself. Maybe he would have damned all of existence just to hold Tony one more time.

It didn’t matter anymore. Stephen could tell himself pretty lies all he wanted. That wasn’t going to change the fact that they’d lost their greatest weapon. The irreplaceable thing a dying Infinity Stone had given him at the end of the universe.

He had to come up with a new plan, but the outcome had to be the same. Thanos had to leave Titan believing he’d retrieved the Time Stone. The Infinity Stones had charged him with saving the universe. It was his responsibility to set this right.

A part of him wished he’d conjured some dark magic to kill Ebony Maw before he’d even got on the ship. Then this would never have happened, and his poor Tony wouldn’t have the terrible memory of Ebony Maw murdering him. As it stood, Tony hadn’t let go of him since he’d returned. Stephen didn’t blame him. All he could feel of Tony was love and sorrow in equal measure. He kissed his forehead and let his mind wander.

He had to make Thanos believe that he’d left Titan with the Time Stone. His mind raced over every book he’d ever read, thinking of something, anything that could mimic an Infinity Stone’s signature.

There was no artifact that could do such a thing. It didn’t exist. His thoughts searched for something that had been touched by the Time Stone or…

Or bonded to it.

Darkness fell over him. Just the idea of doing what had popped into his head was horrifying, his entire body shivering at even the suggestion of it. It was unnatural, an abomination of the highest order. Something even the lowest of sorcerers would run from.

And it was the only thing that might work.

All at once he realized the only thing left to do, the only thing he could do. Something monstrous, something he would never consider if the fate of the universe wasn’t at stake.

He kissed Tony’s temple and slipped out of bed. Or he tried to. Tony was wrapped around him so firmly it was nearly impossible to escape. He wanted so badly to ignore this and stay in bed, but there was nothing for it. It had to be done.

Damn Ebony Maw. If he’d been faster or a more powerful sorcerer he’d have won the battle and Tony wouldn’t have had to do what he’d done. But Ebony Maw was Thanos’ right hand for a reason and frightened even Loki. There was no way they could undo anything now. All that was left was the unthinkable.

His thought drifted over a dozen dark texts he’d read just to have something to read and reasoned that the spell shouldn’t harm Tony, even with the bond between them. This was something that would affect him and him only, which he was glad for. Tony had suffered enough.

The Cloak floated behind him, somehow sensing the gravity of his mood. It reached out to him with its little edges, but Stephen took no comfort from it.

“I don’t need a relic for this spell,” he said. The Cloak tilted its collar as if to ask what he meant or what spell was he casting. “Which is a good thing, because I don’t think this is something I could ask of you.”

The Cloak embraced him, its warmth soothing the deep sorrow within Stephen just a little.

“You should go in and be with Tony. He’s probably cold, you could be his blanket,” Stephen said, but the Cloak shook its collar and remained there. “You don’t have to watch this, my friend.”

The Cloak stayed where it was, telling Stephen with no words that it wasn’t leaving him. Stephen patted its pins and mentally flipped the pages of the book he’d read all those years ago when he’d saved Tony.

Ishtur’s Souls Bonds. There had been so many bonds in that book. Bonds for love, bonds to save lives, bonds to share power.

Bonds that would split the soul.

The Time Stone had said Stephen was its bonded. In using the Time Stone as an anchor when he saved Tony, he’d bonded himself to both Tony and the Time Stone. He hadn’t really had the time to consider that he was bonded to an Infinity Stone, an object of immense power.

But he could use that bond to do what had to be done. Stephen was bonded to the Time Stone, and therefore he should be able to remove the smallest piece of his soul and allow Thanos to take that back to Earth.

It might work.

It had to work. He had no other ideas, nothing else could serve as a substitute. Splitting the soul was something of massive consequence, but perhaps if he only took a little…

Maybe he’d survive with little damage. And if he did have damage…well, one man’s life was a small price to pay for saving the universe. He should have died a long time ago, at the hand of Dormammu. Every moment after that—every moment with Tony—was just a bonus. Something he didn’t think he’d ever have, a gift freely given.

The Cloak fell onto his shoulders, embracing him and wrapping around him as he mentally called up the spell and began.

Dark energies crowded him. The warmth of the Cloak was banished and a chill crept up his spine as he started the spell. His hands ached as the cold spread over his entire body, as he began weaving the complex motions that would split his soul.

The Cloak slapped his face with its pins, but Stephen shook it away. There was no other way but this way. This had to work. The spell’s first component was finished and Stephen felt a darkness settle around him.

It was like a whispering in his ear, like the spell was trying to ensure Stephen wouldn’t be too afraid and stop.

Great power will be yours…

But he didn’t want great power. He imagined every other sorcerer who had used this spell had used it for the most nefarious purposes. He could only imagine the dark magic that could be conjured if a piece of one’s soul was on offer. But he didn’t want that. All he wanted was Thanos dead and the universe safe.

A stone, he thought. Something convincing, something that would trick a Titan.

Everything you want…

It was barking up the wrong tree. The darkness only grew, strong enough now to manifest physically around him, a black mist—almost tangible—that circled him like prey.

It perfectly matched the black blood and gore that still tarnished the ship. Stephen shook off the thought. There was no room for uncertainty when this was the only thing that could come close to working. And it had to work…

The second component of the spell was finished, the mandala dark and sinister. Every part of Stephen screamed to stop the spell before it was too late, but it had been too late the moment Ebony Maw had stepped aboard their ship.

All the powers of the universe…

A great wind washed through the galley, the roar of it terrifying and unnatural aboard their ship as the Cloak shook in fear on Stephen’s shoulders. He wanted to comfort it, but he couldn’t break his concentration.

And he doubted he’d have the courage to perform this spell a second time. In the back of his mind, he felt Tony wake up and witness the disturbance, no doubt terrifying on a ship. He wished none of this had ever happened, wished he could end all of this and crawl back into bed with Tony.

Finish it…

The third component twisted his hands in agony, and he almost cried out in pain. He bit his lips so hard he tasted blood, but the Cloak slapped its collar over his mouth before the blood could even threaten to drop onto the mandalas.

The Vishanti only knew what it had just saved Stephen from.

The wind screamed through the ship, and the last mandala was ready. All Stephen had to do was seal the spell and his soul would be splintered.

“Stephen!”

Tony stood in the doorway to the galley, the wind tossing his hair into disarray, his eyes wild and unbelieving.

He reached out a hand. “Stop!”

But Stephen couldn’t stop. He closed his eyes and allowed the spell to take hold.

Darkness rushed in, invading him, tearing him apart from the inside. He screamed in agony, his hands clawing at his chest—where his bond with Tony was screaming—to make the pain stop. Something inside him was fracturing, breaking and the pain was worse than anything he’d ever endured. He felt like he was slipping, like a part of him was fading and the rest would only follow…

Wait

Then Tony was there, inside of him, grabbing hold of him and keeping him tethered to himself, to life. He screamed once more as the hand reached inside of him.

And then it stopped.

He blinked and darkness threatened to drown him, the night so black he couldn’t see a thing at first. For a moment he stood there, shaking and cold, and he was finally able to adjust to the darkness and see where he was. He was back in the Sanctum, but it looked far different than how he’d left it.

The roof and staircase were still in shambles, but now most of the roof was gone. The door to the library was again in front of Stephen, but now it had been blasted open. Most of the books were tossed from their shelves and many were missing, along with some of the most dangerous artifacts that were housed there.

And that was only what Stephen could see without moving his head. Like in every vision, he was frozen solid, unable to move.

The Sanctum in shambles wasn’t the only difference. The door that didn’t exist was absent. What had stood out as not belonging before was now terrifying in its absence.

“Stephen…”. Stephen shouted as Wong approached from behind him, his complexion pale and ashen, his eyes gone black. “Is it finished?”

What felt like a hand reached inside Stephen, tearing something away from him and yanking it out. When he opened his eyes he was again on the ship, and the wind and darkness had left and only he remained.

He woke from his vision on the floor, his breaths staggered and his heart pounding. He grabbed his chest, his hand stinging as he tried to reach inside of himself to find what was wrong. There was something cold and jagged in his hand. Tony ran to him, lifted his head and put it on his thigh and slowly pried his hand open.

“Stephen…” he whispered as a green stone fell out of Stephen’s hand and onto his chest. “What did you do?”

Chapter Text

The cold, hard floor of the ship seeped through the fabric on his pants, the steel biting and hard on Tony’s knees. He panted, trying to catch his breath, and felt a phantom pain that reminded him too much of how it felt to first wake up with the arc reactor in his chest. A part of him felt hollow, like something had been ripped out, but he had no idea what.

He had a feeling the thing that Stephen was holding in his bare hand, the thing that held a passing resemblance to the Time Stone had something to do with it.

“How are you holding that and not dying?” he asked, but that wasn’t the question he wanted to ask. About three hundred questions were just waiting on the tip of his tongue, but what made it out first was, “What the hell is that thing?”

Stephen held the stone tightly in his hand, like some part of him actually thought he could hide it. As if Tony hadn’t just seen a magic display of all hell breaking loose. As though there wasn’t something missing from inside of him.

“Stephen,” he pleaded, “what did you do?”

“What I had to,” Stephen said. Shaking hands twisted and opened the Eye of Agamotto and hid the new stone where the Time Stone had once been.

“What does that mean? ‘What I had to?’ What did you have to do? Cause I don’t know what you did, but it feels like something was ripped from inside of me, and I have no idea what it is.”

Stephen closed his eyes, lowered his head, and averted his eyes. Shame washed over Tony like a wave, so strong and overwhelming it threatened to drown him. Whatever Stephen had done, it hadn’t affected the bond. It was still there, still connecting them, but something was missing. Like it had diminished somehow. Closing his eyes, Tony tried to look inside himself, to that place behind his heart where Stephen lived.

Something was missing…

“There was no other way,” Stephen whispered. Tony opened his eyes to his bondmate’s head hung low, his hands still shaking far more than normal. “The Stones gave us very specific instructions. We can’t make any major changes. Thanos has to believe he is taking the Time Stone from Titan to Earth. We cannot, under any circumstance, give him the actual Time Stone.

“But he still has to believe he has it, so he can leave Titan and go to Wakanda,” Stephen said, slumping down. “So what else do we have that could possibly mimic the energy signature of the Time Stone?”

“Nothing,” Tony said, his mind racing. “The Stones are completely unique. They give off Gamma radiation, but strong enough that nothing else compares. There’s nothing in the universe that would feel similar.”

“Yes,” he said, his voice soft and defeated. “Those were my thoughts exactly. But then I thought… the closest thing to the Time Stone might be something bonded to it.”

“What—” Tony said, then stopped because there was no way. There wasn’t a chance Stephen had done something so stupid, so reckless as what Tony was currently thinking. It was impossible.

Stephen had said there were spells to split the soul. That the Soul Stone would never have done that to them because it was unnatural, a terrible thing for a sorcerer to do. Tony closed his eyes and looked inside himself again.

Something was missing…

“Give it to me,” he said, holding out his hand.

Stephen turned his body away. “You already saw it."

“Give it to me,” Tony said, demanding. “You’ve already proven it won’t melt me into a puddle, let me have it."

For a moment they stared at each other, neither of them flinching. But Tony had stared down gods and warlords and the building blocks of the universe. There was no way his own bonded was going to make him flinch.

A deep inhale and a long blink were the only response he got, not a word uttered, just Stephen reopening his big, gaudy necklace and letting the stone fall into Tony’s hand.

It looked exactly like the stone Stephen had given Thanos on Titan. It glowed a brilliant green and seemed to hum with power. But it didn’t burn, didn’t hurt at all. Instead, it felt familiar, like sunshine and being at the library at the Sanctum and…

He gasped and his heart fell to the floor, his hand shaking so badly he almost let the stone fall to the ground. He didn’t want to believe it, didn’t want to think Stephen would do this to himself, but he knew what it was he was holding in his hand. The warmth wrapped around his heart, the feel of him, all of it.

And the stone…

“What did you do?” he whispered, though in his heart he already knew.

This time, Stephen answered him.

“Our instructions were clear,” he said plainly, his voice defeated and his heart sitting heavy in Tony’s chest. “We cannot deviate from what originally happened. There are too many variables, too many ways everything could go wrong.”

“Stephen—”

“My soul was bonded to the Time Stone. I didn’t know for sure until we met the Stones themselves, but when I saved your life after Siberia I bonded myself to you and to the Stone. Splitting a small part of my soul was the only thing I could think of that might possibly fool Thanos long enough to get him to leave Titan.”

“Am I holding a piece of your soul?” Tony asked, bringing up another hand to cradle the precious thing, because it seemed as though Stephen had no qualms about treating it poorly. “Because you said fracturing your soul was like disfiguring it. Stephen, what the hell were you thinking?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Stephen said, pulling himself up slowly. “The last breath the Time Stone gave us is gone. There was nothing else I could do.”

Tony shuffled on his feet to get to standing, still cupping the small, fragile thing in his hands, protecting it when Stephen treated it so carelessly.

“What’s going to happen to you?” he asked, still looking at the Stone. The bright green seemed closer to grass than its predecessor had been.

“I don’t know. It doesn’t—”

“Don’t you dare you it doesn’t matter, Stephen, don’t you dare!” Tony shouted.

“Of course it matters. It matters to you and Peter and Wong. But in the vastness of the universe I’m still one man.”

Silence settled between them for a moment. Tony’s heartbeat felt erratic, his breaths coming out staggered he was so angry. In his hands, he cradled the only part of Stephen’s soul that wasn’t currently wrapped around his own.

“You know, I could point out that yeah you’re just one man,” he said softly, trying to keep his anger under control, “but the Infinity Stones—all of them, not just the one bonded to you—knew your name. You’ve outsmarted demons and gods and you are necessary for Earth’s continued survival.

“But I’m not gonna say any of that,” Tony said, finally daring to get closer to Stephen. “Because none of that matters. Yeah, you’re one man. But you’re my one man. You don’t get to cut and run at the first sign of a struggle.”

“First sign? Tony, I was dead. And when you brought me back, the one weapon we had was gone.”

“But you still didn’t hesitate to sacrifice yourself,” Tony said, begging Stephen to understand him. “You waited until I was asleep so I couldn’t help you.”

“No,” Stephen said. “That’s not why.”

“Then why?” he asked, holding the Stone in one hand and daring to reach out with the other. “Tell me why you waited for me to go to sleep to do this to yourself?”

There was something defeated in Stephen’s eyes that Tony absolutely hated. That little piece of self-hatred that told him it was okay to sacrifice himself as long as everyone else was okay. That he didn’t need to ask for help because it was so much better to just do the best you could without inconveniencing anyone else.

Even at the expense of your soul.

“Tell me, Stephen,” Tony whispered and cupped Stephen’s cheek. “Why did you wait until I was asleep?”

Stephen shook his head, like the words would hurt to say.

Tony was pretty sure they’d hurt more if they stayed unspoken.

He let the moment stretch, let Stephen know without words that this was something he was willing to wait for. That whatever it was that drove him to do this was important, and that Tony wanted to help.

It was several long minutes later that with the smallest voice, Stephen said, “I didn’t want to. I didn’t, truly.”

Tears gathered in Stephen’s eyes, and Tony felt the pang of sorrow echo inside of him.

“I couldn’t think of any other way,” he said simply, like that really was all there was to it. “That I had to hurt myself was of no consequence. It needed to be done, so I did it.”

“Oh, Stephen,” Tony said and finally gathered him into his arms, the Stone still firmly cupped in one hand. “With all of magic at your disposal, you couldn’t think of anything else except disfiguring your own soul?”

“Fracturing,” Stephen said, pulling back and looking Tony in the eye so he would understand. His tears had finally spilled, making tracks down his face. “A piece of my soul is outside of myself, in that stone. But it’s not damaged.”

“Not yet,” Tony said, and held Stephen closely again, trying to hide his fear. Which was pointless now. “But what the hell happens when Thanos goes to Wakanda? Or what if Thor is half a minute too late? What happens if Thanos snaps his fingers?”

For a moment Stephen seemed to curl in on himself, and Tony realized Stephen had thought of all that and probably a lot more before he’d done this to himself. And that maybe neither of them would be okay with the answer.

“Doc?” Tony whispered. “What happens if Thanos snaps his fingers and a piece of you is in the big, ugly glove?”

Stephen shivered and wrapped himself around Tony, but remained silent. Closing his eyes, Tony breathed deeply and tried not to panic. It was fine. It would be fine. All this meant was that everything had to go perfectly, it all had to go exactly by the plan and Thor needed to let that axe fly before Thanos had a chance to…

He held onto Stephen tighter.

“Hey,” Tony said and turned Stephen towards himself. “It’s gonna be okay.” He leaned into Stephen, put their foreheads together. “Everything will go exactly the way it needs to go. Or maybe—”

“I’m sorry,” Stephen muttered into Tony’s neck. “I’m sorry. Damn it, I didn’t think.”

“Hey, no,” Tony said and gently pried Stephen’s hands away. “No, please, Doc. This isn’t your fault. This is—”

It was his fault. A piece of Stephen’s soul was currently fractured and destined to be used as a pawn in the worst game of chess the universe had ever played, and it was all Tony’s fault. He had been so focused on getting Stephen back he hadn’t considered anything else.

“Tony…”

“No,” Tony muttered. “I used up the Time pebble. This isn’t your fault. It’s mine.”

“You had lost me,” Stephen said. “Violently. And while you were powerless. Of course the first thing you did was get me back. It makes perfect sense why you did it.”

“But I’m the one that did it. I used it when I knew we needed it later. But,” Tony said, shaking his head. “But honey, there was no way I could have just left you like that. You were dead.”

“I know,” Stephen whispered and took Tony into his arms. “I talk a good game, but I would have done the same damn thing, universe be damned. There’s no way I could go on without you.”

“I should have moved faster than Ebony Maw. I’d been so excited to look under the ship’s hood I didn’t bother learning the weapon’s systems. If I’d—”

“Stop it,” Stephen said, finally pulling back and looking Tony in the eye. “We can go around in circles all night. What if I’d been faster, or thought of a better offensive spell, something that would have stopped him in his tracks? Or if I’d spent the last few days trying to master telepathy like he has.”

“We’ve been a little busy, Doc.”

“Exactly. And trying to blame ourselves isn’t going to help. Not when I have no problem laying the blame completely on Ebony Maw.”

“Yeah, well… He got his,” Tony said, looking around the ship that was still tainted with the black of his blood. “Can I just, just for a minute…”

He closed his eyes and got as close to Stephen as he possibly could, wrapping himself around him, and feeling him through the bond.

He was still there. Yes, there was something missing, but it was still Stephen. He opened his eyes and asked the one question he really didn’t want an answer to. “What happens if he snaps his fingers? Literally speaking, what happens.”

Silence for a moment, then Stephen shuffled his feet. “It won’t work. He can snap all he wants, but without the true Time Stone he doesn’t have the ability to destroy half the universe.”

He hissed out a sigh of relief through his teeth. Then asked, “What happens to you?”

“I don’t know.”

Tony’s eyes closed and he felt a tear escape before he could stop it. “I’m not losing you, Doc. I don’t care what I have to do. I don’t care about impossible, I’ll kill a Titan myself. But I’m not losing you. Not when I just got you.”

Pulling away, Stephen wrapped his hands around Tony’s, the both of them protecting Stephen’s soul as best they could while it was outside of themselves. He could barely fathom it, even after all the insanity of the last few days. The soul existed and a part of Stephen’s was currently in Tony’s hand. He brought it closer to himself, waited for Stephen to release it, and then opened his hand.

The Stone lay there perfectly in the center of his palm, so extremely fragile. Without another thought, Tony’s eyes met Stephen’s and he laid a kiss right in the center of the Stone. Stephen shivered and gasped, some part of him feeling Tony’s care and love.

“You’ve always had me,” Stephen said and wiped the tear from Tony’s face. “Tony, I don’t want to leave you.”

“Then don’t,” Tony said, like they were more than just pawns themselves. “You’re always the first to offer yourself up like a sacrifice. Don’t go down without a fight. I want a life with you, I want to live with you. After all this, don’t we deserve a life?”

Stephen shook his head. “I don’t know if ‘deserve’ has anything to do with it. I don’t want to lie to you.”

“Then don’t!” he said, his voice shaking, cupping the Stone in his fist and holding it close to his heart. “There has to be a way for you to walk away from this. And when we find it, just promise me you’ll take it.”

“Tony…”

“Promise me you’ll hold onto me, Stephen.” He let his fingers trace the sharpness of Stephen’s face, then tilted his chin down for a kiss. Both their lips tasted like tears, but Tony put all his desperation into the kiss so Stephen would feel it. That he could feel Tony’s love for him in every way possible. He deepened the kiss, neither of them wanting it to end.

Like it might be their last.

After a moment, they separated but held onto each other. “Okay,” Stephen whispered. “I’ll hold on. I promise, I won’t let go. Not if it’s in my power.”

It would have to be enough, Tony thought. There were some things neither of them could control, and lying would do no good. But if Stephen would just try, that might be enough.

“Thank you,” Tony whispered and kissed him again. “We’ll get through this. Anything else isn’t an option.”

They were both exhausted, but Tony neither of them would be able to sleep until Titan. He led Stephen to the sofa in the galley and asked the ship’s computer to let them see outside into the vast endlessness of space.

“The void of space looks so different now,” Stephen said. “Though I suppose it had for me since my third eye was opened.”

“You have a third eye?”

“Well, not literally. But seeing the void of space is different now. I supposed it will be different again, to stand on Earth and look up into nothing.”

“It’s not nothing,” Tony said. “Not really. But I totally get the whole ‘seeing space under a different lens’ thing. That happened to me after the Battle of New York. Kind hard to think of space the same way after that.”

“You went through the wormhole,” Stephen said.

“Yeah. Terrifying isn’t a strong enough word.”

“Now we’re here.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, opening his hand and letting the Stone shine. “Your soul is beautiful, Doc. Knew it would be.”

“I just wanted it to be as close to the Time Stone as possible,” Stephen said. “Now it just has to pass the Thanos test.”

“It fooled me,” Tony said. “Computer, how much longer till Titan?”

“One hundred and twenty minutes,” the ship’s computer said.

It was hard to shake the feeling that he would lose Stephen as soon as they got there. Or as soon as Thanos arrived. He’d been terrified the first time they faced off against Thanos, and they’d failed. That wasn’t an option this time. He’d failed Stephen already. He wouldn’t do it again.

As they raced across space to beat a mad Titan at his own game, Tony held onto Stephen with both hands, determined not to let go.

“There’s a farmer’s market in the Village I want to try.”

Stephen seemed to understand the shift in conversation. “Oh?”
“Yeah, a few blocks from your neighborhood. I hear they have good fruit there. It doesn’t even try to talk you into eating it.”

“Ugh. Dull.”

“We can take Peter,” Tony said, reminding himself of what else they both stood to regain.

Stephen was quiet for a moment, then nodded. “We can take Peter. Maybe they’ll have a petting zoo.”

“If they don’t, I’ll make it happen.”

Trembling, scarred fingers gently took the Stone from Tony’s palm and placed it back in the Eye of Agamotto. The next time Tony saw it would be when it was being handed to Thanos.

He forced his eyes back to the vastness of space. “So does the Sanctum have a basement?”

“God, no. Can you imagine?”

“Now that you mention it, yeah. Don’t even want to think of the monsters you’d keep down there.”

“Exactly,” Stephen said, then whispered, “there are enough monsters elsewhere.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time.”

A low chuckle warmed Tony’s heart just enough. They sat silently with each other, taking turns watching the stars go by and letting themselves focus on the bond, each reaching out to the other to take comfort and to give it.

Tony was aimlessly kissing Stephen’s neck when the computer chirped to let them know they’d arrived. “Thanks, honey,” he said and gave Stephen’s cheek one last kiss before pulling away.

“Ready to meet our other selves?” Stephen asked.

“I thought that would cause the collapse of the spacetime continuum?”

“Not if you get the Delorean to eighty-eight miles per hour.”

They suited up as Titan came on screen, this landing far kinder to them than the last one. As soon as they left the ship they would have to enact the plan, and there wouldn’t be time for anything else. Thanos was on his way, and with him the threat of the death of everything Tony loved.

“Wait.”

As Stephen turned to exit the ship, Tony pulled him back for one last kiss.

“I mean it, Stephen,” Tony said, begging Stephen to believe him. “I’ll find a way. All you have to do is hold on.”

Leaning down, Stephen let his forehead rest against Tony’s and hold on to each other for just another moment.

“I promise, Tony,” Stephen said. “I won’t let go.”

That was more than enough for Tony. He reached out and pulled Stephen down for one last kiss.

“Good,” he said, and reminded himself of the inevitably of two Starks and two Stranges united in victory. Thanos had no idea what was waiting for him. “Now let’s go kill a Titan.”

Chapter Text

Turned out in addition to photon torpedoes and “evasive maneuvers” the ship also had a cloak. It spoke to the gravity of the situation that Tony barely blinked when he asked the ship’s computer if they had any way of hiding themselves and the computer chirped back, “engaging cloaking device.” Stephen watched for the boyish enthusiasm Tony had shown at the other new toys, but he’d simply nodded and prepared the ship for landing. Stephen consoled himself by thinking there’d be time for new toys later.

If there was a later…

He denied the desire to run his fingers over the Eye of Agamotto, where a piece of his soul was now kept, and thought about later. Because the truth was, he had no idea what would happen if Thanos snapped his fingers. He knew he had made the right decision—the only decision—but that didn’t change the fact that he had no idea about the consequences. The power that would flow through the piece of his soul would be nearly immeasurable. How much power could a soul endure? What would happen to him if that piece of his soul was destroyed?

He had no way of knowing and no time to do any research. And what exactly would he be looking up? He couldn’t exactly ask Wong for a book about what to do if a warlord courting death puts a sliver of your soul into a gauntlet and tries to use it to end half of all life in the universe.

No, there probably weren’t any books about that.

Warm lips kissed the back of his neck, right where his hair began. He shivered and allowed the distraction. “Look alive, Doc. What are we going to tell Kool and the Gang?”

Stephen fell back into Tony’s arms and let himself be held. “I’ll signal myself and tell myself a code word I created just in case of this exact situation. It’ll be fine.”

“Okay, time out,” Tony said, making his hands into a T. “You made a password for yourself in the event you ever had to talk to your past self?”

“Consider my profession before you judge please, and the likelihood of this happening.”

“I mean…”

“Tony,” he said, giving him a look. “It’s happening right now.”

Tony rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Yeah, okay. You’re right, what was I thinking? It’s like how Friday has the ability to blow up my lab if it’s ever infiltrated.”

“What?”

“What?”

“Right,” Stephen said, mentally reminding himself to ask about that later. “I’ll pull myself aside, give him the code, and we can let them all in on the new plan.”

“Wouldn’t you have already foreseen your arrival?” Tony asked, squinting. “Come on, Stephen, you’re not thinking fourth dimensionally.”

“Perhaps,” Stephen said thoughtfully. Tony had a point. “Well, in that case he’s even more likely to know exactly who I am and what we’re here for.”

“Makes our job easy.”

“Or it could be that it all exists outside the traditional timeline, which is how Thanos got past the Time Stone’s detection in the first place.”

Tony slumped against him. “Great.”

Technically they had done all of this before. They had already fought this fight, they knew what to anticipate to avoid the worst of it. But the best-case scenario still meant Thanos leaving the planet with a piece of his soul. The worse-case scenario meant Tony would take another blade to the gut, or worse. And that wasn’t even accounting for Loki being alive when Thanos thought him dead or their own counterparts.

Terrible things happened to sorcerers who messed with time. Mordo’s words had never felt more true, even if he had been tasked to see this through by the Time Stone itself. The small stone hiding in the Eye of Agamotto spoke to that.

“Loki will have to hide himself or he’ll give the entire game away,” Stephen said. “Thanos might not remember everyone he murders, but he’ll remember that. And I’d like to avoid Thanos stabbing you if at all possible.”

“I would also like to avoid that. And we know what has to happen after that. He takes—” Tony faltered for a moment, as he remembered what the next part of the plan entailed. “He takes the stone and goes to Wakanda.”

“And Thor.”

“Yeah,” Tony said softly. “And Thor. Rock of Ages better not be late.”

They landed far enough away to not attract any attention, but not so far that the ship’s computer couldn’t find their other selves. It was extremely odd looking at a different version of himself on the ship’s screen, but that was exactly who he was looking at. This Stephen Strange hadn’t endured being captured by Ebony Maw, hadn’t been rescued by Tony and Peter. Maybe he hadn’t had a slumber party and had his hand held while rushing through space on a stolen ship.

The Stephen Strange down there wasn’t soul bonded to Tony Stark.

“What’s the signal?” Tony asked.

Stephen concentrated and held out his hand. From his palm formed a brilliant bright blue butterfly, its wings shimmering as they fluttered.

Tony reached out and gave the wings the gentlest pet. “Your ambassador is very fitting, Doc.”

“Yes,” Stephen said and let the little thing crawl out to the tips of his fingers. “Time for it to all come together.”

*

Loki only gave Stark one ear as he tried to interrogate him. Tolerating this was difficult even knowing what was coming, he could only imagine how irritated his past self must have been when hearing this the first time around. Stark asked loaded questions while Strange floated just behind them, going in and out of Odin knew how many timelines.

They’d been on Titan a while now, and there was still no sign of them. Loki gave a passing thought to how the Time Stone would reveal the timelines to Strange and whether he would even be aware of his other self that was hopefully approaching.

It felt late in the day, and as though Thanos would arrive any moment. He looked again to the sky for a ship and was amazed at how much he hoped for the safe arrival of Stark and Strange. A Titan with four Infinity Stones was almost invincible, and if they had to cheat by resetting the game in order to win Loki was all for it.

He’d never had a problem with cheating.

“Hey, you’re back,” Stark said as Strange finally ended his searching and fell out of his meditative position to the ground. “You’re alright.”

“Hi,” Strange said softly. Loki rolled his eyes at the soft look the two stole, as though they had time for this. There was no way of knowing if they had time for anything.

Brilliant shimmering blue distracted Loki as it fluttered by, a butterfly flapping its way past him and over to rest on Strange’s hand.

“Wait a moment,” Strange said, examining the little thing like it held an answer.

“Doc, is that one of yours?” Stark asked.

“Wow, I’ve never seen a butterfly so bright before,” Peter said while Mantis hummed in agreement.

“Give me a moment,” Strange said and scouted out the area behind a large group of rocks. With both hands in the air, he tested the very shape of it, searching for something, and ignoring Stark’s protests. After another moment he found what he was looking for and, with a wave of his hand, he pushed and then walked into nothingness.

“What the hell?” Stark said and raised his weapons. “Stephen! Friday, do you— Wait, no Friday. Did anyone see what happened? Where did he go?”

Loki wasn’t completely familiar with the magic that Earth’s sorcerers practiced, but he did remember the Mirror Dimension and how to enter it.

“Calm yourself, Stark,” Loki said and put up a hand, searching for the crack that would allow him to enter. “You’ll frighten the child.”

“I’m not a kid, Mr. Loki,” Peter said. “But where did Doctor Strange go?”

Loki shook his head. “I suppose anyone who stands against Thanos is no longer a child, but still. There’s no need to worry for your father. At least not this one.” He ran his hands over thin air, searching for the crack in the wall. “But perhaps you should calm Stark before he breaks something,” he said right as he slipped through the crack and into the Mirror Dimension.

“Loki!” Stark shouted through a crystalized wall. “Stephen!”

“They just disappeared!” Peter said. Loki wished Stark would stop panicking and calm Peter, but that wasn’t something he could worry about now. Thanos was on his way, and there was still much to do.

And Loki had a feeling this was a meeting he wouldn’t want to miss.

*

Stephen kept his hands at his side while his other self raised both of his and cast a shield.

“This is so surreal,” Tony said. “There are two of you.”

“Yeah, maybe now’s not the time to be amazed at the consequences of time travel,” Stephen said.

“Who are you?” the other Strange asked, but the way he looked at Tony spoke volumes.

“Stephen Strange, I’m you from…only a few days into the future,” Stephen said. He kept his hands at his side, as did Tony, where others would have kept them up to show they were unarmed. Their weapons were their hands. “The code we came up with—should something like this ever happen—is ‘Shambala.’”

The silence was absolute, except for the sound of a faint wind blowing orange dirt over a dead planet. Strange stared at him with a critical eye, which Stephen allowed. He had nothing to hide, and he knew his past self was only being cautious.

Tony’s shoe shifted on the ground, the shuffle of his sneaker disturbing the dirt while Strange examined them both.

“It’s not a trick,” Stephen said. “I’ve told you the code. The code we thought up in case something like this ever happened. And it’s a good thing too, because look where we are.”

Strange stared him down for another moment before shaking his head. “Yeah, no. That’s the password for Kamar-Taj’s wifi. Anyone could know that word.”

“Seriously, Stephen? You used the password for the wifi?” Tony hissed.

“Not everyone would know it!” Stephen said, but now he was sort of kicking himself. “Only a few select individuals. Definitely not Thanos.”

“It’s not out of the realm of possibilities for one of his henchmen to learn that password,” Strange said. “Look, it’s not that I don’t believe you at all, it’s that this is a very unique situation, and I need more before I can trust you. Surely, you understand.”

With the fate of the universe at stake, yes Stephen did understand. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Just as Stephen was about to plead his case the walls to the Mirror Dimension shifted, allowing Loki inside.

“Hey, the Golden Calf over there can vouch for us,” Tony said, pointing at Loki. “We saved his ass from being strangled to death a few days ago.”

“You actually expect me to take Loki’s word for it?” Strange asked, an eyebrow cocked.

Tony’s face twisted for a moment, like he wanted to argue, before he said, “Yeah, okay that’s fair.”

“Lovely to know where I stand in all this,” Loki said, rolling his eyes and then glaring at Stephen. It wasn’t the withering glare he might have wanted it to be, and it definitely betrayed some of his fear. For a moment he looked at Stephen, then a look of confusion fell over his face before his eyes widened.

Stephen dismissed it. He had more important things to worry about than Loki discovering what he’d had to do. “Look, you don’t trust the code, fine,” Stephen said, just to put the issue at rest. “What should I tell you?”

“Something only we would know,” Strange said with a wave of his hand.

Stephen thought back to something that no one knew about him. It had to be something intimate, something borderline embarrassing. “In the 90s, we stole an issue of Vogue from the only bookstore in town and pinned up a Calvin Klein ad on the wall.”

“Oooh, which one?” Tony asked.

“The one with Kate Moss and Mark Walberg,” Stephen said.

“I think a lot of people had that pinned on their wall in the 90s,” Strange said. “That’s not something that will convince me to risk the universe.”

“How about this? You told everyone you had it up for Moss, but it was mostly for Marky Mark.”

Strange turned about five different shades of red. “My bisexuality has never been a secret. Try again.”

“Gotta admit, I’m loving this,” Tony said, “but that doesn’t change the fact that Thanos is coming. What’s it gonna take to convince you?”

“What else should I say?” Stephen asked. “We got into medicine because of our sister Donna. We felt the drive to make sure we saved as many people as possible,” Stephen said. This was getting ridiculous!

“I told that story at at least three award ceremonies back when I was a surgeon,” Strange said. “I’m sorry, but the fate of the universe is on the line. I don’t know if there’s anything you could say that makes me trust you.”

Stephen took a deep breath and prepared himself to bring out the biggest gun. He hated having to pull this out, but Strange was right. The fate of the universe was at stake. No holds barred.

Stephen sighed and said. “You had an issue of Life Magazine under your pillow for years.”

Strange fidgeted and shifted on his feet.

Stephen mentally apologized to himself and said, “On the cover was a picture of Tony Stark, and you used to masturbate to it. Constantly.”

“Wait, seriously?” Tony asked and turned to Stephen.

“I didn’t need to hear that,” Loki sighed and sat down on a rock.

“Really, Doc?” Tony asked with a smile. “That’s so cute.”

“Yes, and I would have taken it to my grave if not for disbelieving past selves,” Stephen said.

Strange, to his credit, finally dropped his shields. He looked as though he wanted to dissolve into the floor, like he couldn’t wait for Thanos to come to finish him off. “Yeah, okay fine. I believe you. But why did I not see you when I viewed the fourteen million futures?”

“You viewed how many?” Tony shouted.

“Fourteen million, six hundred and five,” Strange said. “But the two of you didn’t appear in any of them.”

“That’s an issue we didn’t foresee,” Stephen said. “We’re outside of the normal flow of time. That’s why you couldn’t see us. The problem is, so was Thanos.”

“You’re not thinking fourth dimensionally,” Tony said.

Strange frowned and considered. “Wait, like Back to the Future?”

“Yeah, apparently all the rules of physics are nothing, and Back to the Future got it right,” Tony said.

Tony still looked as though his brain might explode.

“What happened before? When Thanos won?” Strange asked.

“He used the Time Stone to look into the future, to see the best course of action that would get him the Mind Stone,” Stephen said. “He couldn’t change much because his acquisition of the Soul Stone depended heavily on Thor meeting up with the Guardians. So, instead he went back in time to kill Loki, knowing that Thor wouldn’t settle for killing him quickly. In the altered timeline, Thor didn’t kill Thanos fast enough to prevent him from destroying half of all life in the universe.”

“And to make it worse,” Tony said, “the second thing he did with the Stones was destroy them.”

A look of terror twisted Strange’s face. “But that—”

“Yes,” Stephen said. “We’re now in a fight to save the entire universe, not just half of it.”

“But no pressure,” Tony said.

While they explained to Strange, Loki kept staring at him and Stephen’s fingers itched to hold onto the Eye of Agamotto.

“Under no circumstances can Thanos be allowed to leave Titan with the Time Stone,” Stephen said. “He has to leave Titan believing he’s won, that he has it in his possession, but we can’t let him have the real one. A false one will have to do.”

“What sort of thing could possibly masquerade as an Infinity Stone?” Loki asked, and finally got up from his rock and entered the conversation. “There’s nothing in the entire universe that can replicate its power. Nothing. What do you have that could fool a Titan?”

Green mist flowed from Loki’s hands to Stephen, circling him, assessing him. Stephen was tempted to try to swat it away, but allowed it. He had hoped he’d be able to keep this a secret, at least for a while longer. There was no point in upsetting everyone, especially his past self.

And Tony, who he’d hurt already.

The green mist retracted. A look of disgust twisted Loki’s face. He walked up to Stephen and looked him dead in the eye and yet past him at the same time.

“What have you done?” he whispered.

“What do you mean?” Strange asked and cast a spell of seeing on his eyes, then examined Stephen as well. At first he looked confused, like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Confusion then turned to horror.

“I did what had to be done,” Stephen said, not willing to hear criticism of his sacrifice when there had been no other way. “When we helped to heal Tony after Siberia, we bonded ourselves to the Time Stone.”

For a moment, Strange looked confused, then he realized what had happened. “You believe a piece of your soul will mimic the Time Stone enough to fool Thanos?”

“You fool!” Loki shouted. “What happens if he snaps his fingers? What of your soul then?”

Fear

Closing his eyes, Stephen tried his hardest to reassure Tony, but the truth was he didn’t know. All he knew was that Thanos couldn’t be allowed to win. What use was one man’s soul in the face of the destruction of the universe?

“What’s going on?” Peter asked, his voice muffled from beyond the Mirror Dimension.

“Yeah, so I guess only wizards get to know what’s happening?” Quill shouted.

“You’ve damned yourself,” Loki said. He was right, and that was a consequence Stephen would have been willing to accept a few days ago. But now he had Tony, wrapped up inside of him, and here with him. And he wanted to live.

“I did what was necessary for the universe to survive,” Stephen said, a tone of finality in his voice. “If we’re successful, Thanos will take the piece of my soul to Wakanda, where Thor will bury an axe in his head.”

“And if we’re not, or if Thor is late, what then?” Strange asked.

Fear wrapped around Stephen’s poor, fractured soul, Tony trying his hardest to stay strong for him, but he couldn’t hide. Not from Stephen. Without another word, Stephen took Tony’s hand in his, giving a gentle squeeze, telling him without words that they’d get through this.

Strange’s eyes drifted to their joint hands, before they quickly darted away.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Stephen said, with far more confidence than he felt. “Now let’s get to work.”

*

“Have I always been this handsome?”

“That’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“Well, you know what they say. Great minds…”

“Oh, for Odin’s sake. There’s two of them,” Loki groaned as Tony and his past self sized each other up.

“And we’re sure there’s not an evil twin thing going on here, Doc,” the past Stark asked while Tony wrapped his arms around Peter.

“Yes, I am absolutely certain,” Strange said and began to share the plan with the Guardians.

Stephen looked to the sky, though he knew Thanos wouldn’t be approaching in a ship. Any moment now he would come to Titan using the Space Stone and the fight of his life would begin.

“I have four dads now,” Peter whispered into Tony’s chest.

Stephen had barely buried the desire to run up to Peter upon seeing him. There was no reason to worry him, and both Tony and Stephen wrapping themselves around him would definitely be cause for concern.

Tony had no such issue. Luckily, Peter always enjoyed hugs and thought nothing of it.

Peter let himself enjoy the hug, but he eventually pulled away. “Why do I have four dads now?”

“Nothing you need to trouble yourself with, Peter,” Stephen said, but he could tell that did nothing to calm Peter’s fears.

“Oh, I think it’s definitely something we should trouble ourselves with,” Stark said. “What did you do?”

Stephen considered how to answer without causing an uproar that they didn’t have time for. Thanos was on his way, they had little time to prepare and so much to plan. And with the real Time Stone hidden away, they would only have one shot at this.

“The plan you were trying for goes awry,” Stephen said. “We’re here from the future to make sure everything goes correctly.”

“So what happened that it didn’t go correctly the first time?” Peter asked.

Tony’s eyes met his, and the look wasn’t lost to Stark and the others.

“It went bad, Peter,” Tony said, petting his hair. “Really bad. But that’s not going to happen this time, because this time we’re prepared.”

“Exactly,” Stark said. “There are two of us now. There’s no way Thanos can beat the both of us.”

“But last time we had Loki’s help,” Stephen said. “He’ll have to be more careful this time.”

“I can make it so he doesn’t recognize me, you know,” Loki said.

“Yes, just remember he knows what your magic looks like. Don’t do anything big to call attention to yourself. And we can’t let Thanos know that Tony and I are here,” he said, gesturing to Tony and himself to avoid confusion. “That alone would tell him something was wrong.”

“So we have to fight minus two magic users and the Tin Man?” Quill asked. “What are you guys going to do, cheer from the sidelines?”

There was silence as Stephen considered the question. In all the worry and fear, in their hurry to get here, and explain everything to prepare for the coming battle, Stephen hadn’t considered what he and Tony could be doing without avoiding detection from Thanos.

He could conjure the Images of Ikon, allow Thanos to think that one of him was an illusion…

But if Thanos had even a thimble full of magical knowledge, he’d know that those images perfectly mirrored the caster. And what about Tony?

There was no spell that could explain two of them on the battlefield doing completely separate actions. Not for as long as the fight would take.

But then the most obvious idea occurred to him. There was one person here who was from a culture of warriors. Who had knowledge of magic and strategy. And who had a very big incentive to see Thanos die.

From a pocket dimension, Loki armed himself with a set of knives, emeralds in their hilt and the blades deadly sharp.

“You are making this far more difficult than it has to be,” Loki said to Stephen. “You can utilize the one thing Thanos won’t know enough about to be able to break. Slip in and out of the Mirror Dimension enough and, in the heat of battle, he won’t know the difference.”

It made perfect sense. In the heat of battle, Thanos might not even realize Stephen was in two different places. Not if they kept him on his toes.

“And you?” Stephen asked.

“I’ll make use of the first magic I ever learned,” he said and then shape-shifted.

“Perhaps the ghost of his daughter can put the fear of a god into him,” Loki said, tossing Gamora’s dark reddish hair back over a shoulder. “I’m done hiding. Let that murderous bastard come. I’ll be ready for him.”

“Good,” Tony said. “Let’s take it from the top,” he said, and let the suit flow over him. “One last time.”

Chapter Text

Loki should be dead.

Several times over, he thought. First, his fall from the Bifrost. He could still picture Odin and Thor standing over him, Thor distraught and frightened while Odin was resigned. It hadn’t been a difficult decision to let go.

And when the fall from the Bifrost hadn’t killed him, Loki might have wished for death at the hand of Ebony Maw. A chill ran up his back as he terrible memories threatened to drown him.

“Oh, yeah. You’re much more a Thanos.”

He snapped back to the present, but his thoughts still meandered.

Being run through by a dark elf on Svartalfheim should have ended him, even though he was a god. It had only been through some very clever magic that he’d survived long enough to overcome and bewitch Odin, then take his place on the throne. And if he’d found his desire for power quickly overcome with his need to finally rest a bit, well.

Who could blame him?

“Congratulations, you’re a prophet.”

Loki closed his eyes and clenched his fists as he crouched behind a rock while Strange—not the one who had saved him on the Statesman—bided his time. Another Loki had already endured Thanos’ monologuing about his own doomed planet and Strange’s snarky responses.

That other Loki did die.

He should be dead.

But he wasn’t. Another death, this time by Thanos. This time undone by the Infinity Stones themselves and his apparent new allies Stephen and Tony—no longer Strange and Stark and not only because it would be confusing to call them all the same thing. And if he was being honest with himself, it was also true that all of this was happening because Thor didn't know when to aim to kill or when to hurt. His brother had a fool’s heart, but Loki had finally learned to cherish it.

“I think you’ll find our will is equal to yours!”

That was the signal, Strange’s melodramatic words that would start the battle. He didn’t know what had happened at the battle the first time around, but he knew how this one would end.

Thanos had taken everything from him. He would be dead by his hand twice over if not for intervention. But no more. He was done hiding. If the plan was to delay Thanos as long as they could, Loki would do so by causing as much pain possible. He shifted his form from Gamora’s to a soldier who’d guarded him in his youth. Best to save his daughter’s face for the right moment.

The ground shook as Stark picked up an entire busted ship and dropped it right on Thanos’ head. That might have been enough to slow him a little, if he didn’t have the might of the Power Stone. Bright purple light burned through the ship and Thanos swung up into the air with a fist towards Stark.

The fight was on.

Twin repulsor blasts hit Thanos head on as both Starks laid siege, the slightly older Tony keeping his red and gold while the other Stark donned grey and yellow. That solved the problem of two Starks being seen at the same time, but Strange was a different story.

Strange—or Stephen, he was unsure which one at this point—popped out of the Mirror Dimension right next to him. “This is your plan?” Loki asked in a voice that was not his own.

“We can’t let him close his fist. That’s all we have to accomplish right now. Don’t let him close his fist, and keep him here for as long as possible.”

Drax unleashed his twin blades and hurled himself towards Thanos while Quill fired his blasters from his other side.

“While also keeping yourself or your counterpart hidden, while also making sure he doesn’t know I still exist,” Loki shouted over the roar of repulsors and screaming and unnatural purple fire.

“Just be ready,” Strange said and ran out to help Peter.

“Ready for what exactly?” Loki shouted back.

“Just be ready!”

That wasn’t what Loki wanted to hear. Strange cast a portal that allowed Peter to swing by and kick Thanos in the head, disorienting him enough for Tony to unleash his unibeam.

“Magic with a kick!” Peter said, joyfully, like he was almost having fun. Loki had seen too much war for it to be fun ever again.

Portal after portal opened for Peter, but Thanos was faster. Thanos grabbed Peter from midair and threw him at Strange, the both of them hurtling through the air. Loki reached out with his own magic to catch them, but they both fell into the Mirror Dimension before they could hit the ground.

The benefits of having another you around, Loki thought, just as Stephen—who hadn’t just taken a boy to the head—leapt out to join the fight. Orange dust kicked up as both Starks hit Thanos with a barrage of blasts that shook the ground.

“Don’t let him close his fist,” Stephen hissed and motioned for his Cloak to fly and wrap itself around Thanos’ fist.

The Cloak of Levitation wrapped itself around the Gauntlet. Thanos tore it off, the sound of it being ripped terrible to a magic-user’s ears. Loki spared just a thought to what magic it would take to repair it before he used his own to bind Thanos’ hand. He levitated Thanos in the air for a moment, his movements jerky and uncoordinated before the Reality Stone helped him back to his feet. A sly look crossed Thanos’ face as he seemed to realize Stephen hadn’t been the one to cast that spell. Even with his borrowed face, letting Thanos see too much of his magic would give away far too much.

A part of him almost wanted to see the look on Thanos’ face as he realized he’d failed in killing him.

The green mist of his magic wrapped itself around the Gauntlet, Loki’s strongest binding spell holding Thanos’ hand where it was, not allowing him to close it. He was far away enough that Thanos didn’t even see him, he just blasted Loki’s spell with the Power Stone and the shock wave was enough to throw Loki to the ground.

“Peter, don’t let him close his fist!” Stephen hissed as they both got to their feet and back to the fighting.

From behind him came a fiery red rope that slithered out from somewhere unseen and around Thanos’ hand. Strange cast his own crimson bands and used all his strength to keep Thanos still. Dropping his swords to his side, Drax grabbed onto Thanos’ other hand and helped to hold him down.

“I’ve got my hands kinda full,” Stephen said to seemingly no one, but a portal opened over Thanos’ head and Mantis fell out.

“Sleep,” she commanded and the murderous bastard’s eyes went milky, and he stopped fighting.

“Does he know what’s going on?” Tony asked, just as his grey and gold counterpart landed next to them.

“I don’t know how long I can hold him!” Mantis cried out. “He is very strong.”

“He is completely asleep,” Drax said. “Mantis once subverted the will of a god.”

“He’s under, but she won’t be able to keep him down for long,” Strange said. “The first time we tried this we were interrupted.” He considered something for a heartbeat and then nodded to himself as though he’d made a decision. “We need to keep him immobile as long as possible.”

“Alright, come on Pete, let’s at least try to get this off,” Tony said to Peter, who tried in earnest to remove something that they all knew could not be removed. “If wakes up and we aren’t even attempting it, he’ll know something is up. You too, little Tony.”

“I am about two days younger than you,” Stark said, but grabbed the Gauntlet as well.

Getting the Gauntlet off was impossible. The purpose of this charade wasn’t to actually stop Thanos, only to slow him long enough for Thor to get where he needed to be.

Loki shifted his skin back to his own form and went to help Stark and Peter try to get the gauntlet off. As he helped pull, the gauntlet turned over in his hand, revealing the orange of the Soul Stone where there should have been an empty slot.

What had he done to Gamora?

Loki planned on shifting to her skin to throw him off, but what had he done to her to get her to reveal the location of the Soul Stone? Loki grit his teeth and pulled, looking at Strange in condemnation.

The dark look in his eyes told Loki he knew exactly what had happened to Gamora.

“I cannot hold him!” Mantis cried out, even as she continued to keep a Titan in her thrall. From behind him, Loki heard the landing of a ship and then a blue woman leaped onto Thanos, brandishing two swords.

“Yes, you can, Mantis. Please, just another minute,” Strange pleaded. “As long as you possibly can.”

The blue woman ignored everyone but Thanos. “Where’s Gamora,” she demanded and slashed her swords across Thanos’ throat.

A paper cut for a being that held the Power Stone.

From further behind the crashed ship, Quill flew up to the party with a smirk on his face, not bothering to help with the charade of trying to get the gauntlet off. He stepped up to Thanos and started talking.

“You were a lot easier to catch than I’d thought,” Quill said. “For the record, this was my original plan before—” he said and began to gesture towards the two Iron Mans holding Thanos down when a portal opened up under him.

Drax roared and dropped Thanos’ other fist. “Where have you put him?”

“Somewhere safe,” Stephen said, holding up his hands. “I promise to return him to you unharmed.”

It didn’t matter in the slightest, but Stephen had already committed one grave sin against Quill, and now this. Loki put his back into it, begged to Odin, Frigga, to anyone who would listen to please let this work.

“Where’s Gamora?” Nebula shouted.

“What a wonderful plan you developed,” Loki said to Stephen, who had created this situation. “Did this plan actually work the first time?”

“Quiet,” Stephen warned, and Loki held his tongue. The orange of the Soul Stone mocked the Guardians’ pain, spitting in the eye of the people who called her family. Nebula’s eyes were drawn to it and in a moment she realized what Loki already knew.

“Gamora,” Nebula finally said. “He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone. And she didn’t.”

Every eye went to the bright orange stone in the Gauntlet, and Loki knew at least this part of the plan was lost.

The other Strange stepped out of the Mirror Dimension and asked, “How much longer?”

“Ten minutes,” Stephen said. “We need at least that.”

Mantis screamed in agony as Thanos fought her with every ounce of strength he had. “I cannot hold him much longer!”

“What next, Doc?” Tony asked. “Cause I’d rather not get stabbed in the gut this time.”

“We could put him in a portal and let him fall,” Strange said to Stephen. “Or the Mirror Dimension.”

“He’d break out of both of them in a heartbeat,” Stephen said. “Depending on how much longer Mantis can hold him, we might not have any other option but to fight it out.”

“I can’t!” Mantis shouted, her brow covered in sweat. Loki shifted his skin back to the guard’s and stood back.

“Let go,” Strange said, his voice softer than it had been, “and I’ll catch you.” In the very next second she let go and fell into a portal that dropped her directly into Strange’s arms. Half a second later they were both in the Mirror Dimension.

“Peter, get back!” Stark shouted, but it was too late. Thanos grabbed the Gauntlet back and sent an orange blast from the Soul Stone towards all the Guardians, knocking them out with one blow. With another twist of his fist, he sent a blast from the Power Stone to a moon, destroying it and sending it crashing down around the Avengers.

And then the only ones left on the field were himself and Stephen.

Stephen let loose the Crimson Bands a second time, this time all of them burning and slithering like snakes across the canyon floors while Loki—his face still the guard’s—rained down ice blades upon Thanos’ head.

Thanos broke the bands and blasted his ice blades out of the sky.

The blast that broke Stephen’s bands sent Loki to the ground, but he got back up and cast one of the very few spells he’d learned from Thor. As Stephen created a hundred images of himself that bound Thanos, Loki opened the sky and struck him with lightning bolts that would put the god of thunder himself to shame.

A blast from the Power Stone came careening towards them, but Stephen enveloped himself and Loki in the mirror dimension, shielding them from the blast.

His other self was already there waiting. “Tag in?” Strange asked.

Stephen shook his head. “He’ll take me out in another minute. Just be ready to make it seem as though you absorbed the hit and kept fighting.”

Strange nodded, and they slipped out of the Mirror Dimension. The fight was back on.

Loki commanded the lightning to strike harder, the entire sky lit up in rage but Thanos broke through Stephen’s protection and blasted Loki to the ground.

His head swam and he struggled to get up. Stephen was fighting alone, and Loki was surprised to find he actually cared whether he lived or died, and not only that he cared about the Time Stone. He tried to open his pocket dimension to use the Casket of Ancient Winters to help, but his vision swam.

A flaming sword clashed against Thanos’ fist, but Stephen was no match for him. He managed to keep up the fight for another minute, then was thrown back against a rock. A second later, he appeared to rally and get up to fight again.

Tag, you’re it.

“Bye,” Strange said, and opened a portal under Thanos’ feet.

With a wave of his hands he opened the mirror dimension and checked on Stephen who laid motionless on the ground. Loki tried to get up, but his head still swam. “Does he live?”

“Yeah, we’re made of pretty tough stuff,” Strange said just as Stephen began to come to. “Stay down. I put him in an endless void, but he’ll break out of it—”

Several things happened at once.

A portal opened over both Stranges’ head, and Stephen threw up a shield over the both of them. With a roar, Thanos fell out of the portal and pounded his fist down, the shield barely protecting Strange before it sputtered out of existence.

“You’re full of tricks, wizard,” Thanos said, taking in the both of them. “But you never used your greatest weapon.” Then he reached down and grabbed the Eye of Agamotto from Strange’s body and crumbled it in his hand. “A fake.”

Thanos threw Strange’s body down and approached Stephen, who looked like his head was still swimming as bad as Loki’s. Thanos reached out and grabbed Stephen by the neck, a look of confusion on his face as he tried to figure out how any of this made sense.

“I’ve never encountered a clone created by magic that I could touch,” he said as Stephen tried to hold himself up within Thanos’ hand. “Magic never ceases to amaze me.” Loki was about to summon the Casket of Ancient Winters, damn if Thanos figured out who he was when he heard the faint hum of Earth technology.

Oh, thank the Norns.

It was Tony, the red and gold announcing him along with missiles that came from his shoulder plates with enough firepower to force Thanos to drop Stephen as he backed away. That was about the only thing that blast did, but it was enough. Stephen grabbed his counterpart and limped out of the battlefield.

"You throw another moon at me, and I’m gonna lose it,” Tony said, standing between both iterations of the man he loved and a madman capable of ending them with one good blast from the Stones. There was no way Thanos would get to Strange and the hidden Time Stone while Tony was still standing. Tony stood in front of both Stephen and Strange, dwarfed by Thanos and only human, but standing his ground he reminded Loki of a god.

“Don’t even look at him,” Tony shouted Thanos, panting as he stood between them. “You want him, you go through me.”

“Stark.”

Loki’s eyes closed in horror. Of course the Mad Titan knew Tony Stark, of course he did. Of course he knew the man responsible for the destruction of his army. In all the confusion that comes with time travel, Loki hadn’t even thought of the very real personal vendetta Thanos would have against the man who had made his mad quest all the more difficult. All that meant was Thanos had even more incentive to finish him now.

“You know me?” Tony asked, but like he already knew the answer.

“I do,” Thanos said. “You aren’t the only one cursed with knowledge.”

Tony’s voice trembled as he said, “My only curse is you.”

He unleashed his largest weapon, a unibeam pouring a powerful force at Thanos. With a blast from the Infinity Gauntlet, he blew them all away.

“Come on!” Thanos shouted, blasting Tony with the Power Stone.

Tony fought like a desperate man, like he was the only one standing between Thanos and the death of everyone he loved.

And he was. Stephen had said ten minutes, and all this fighting couldn’t have been more than four or five. Time passed so slowly and so quickly in battle. All Tony had to do was hold him off for a little longer and then this would end.

Tony launched another cascade of missiles, blasted him with blue crescent weapons that scorched the earth around them. He fought with his own fists and kicked with whatever powered his suit and enabled him to fly.

Every beam was blocked, every punch countered, every single thing Tony threw at him nullified by the power of the Infinity Stones. It was simply too much for any one man to counter.

But Tony Stark wasn’t only one man anymore.

The grey and gold suit flew towards the battle, firing rockets from his shoulders and unleashing every last weapon he had just to buy a few more minutes.

There were now two Starks, but Thanos had two fists and the power of the Stones within his fist. Tony had been fighting longer, the suit more worn and his weapons running out. With every hit he took from Thanos, more of his body was revealed, losing his weapons one-by-one until parts of his faces and shoulders were exposed, his suit instinctively knowing to cover his chest and innards before anything else.

Stark saw all that and tried to divert attention to him with the few weapons he’d had left.

Thanos ripped off Stark’s yellow and grey helmet, finally revealing his face for one second before another created itself, but he lost coverage around his legs. The grey and gold suit flew around and created a sword, attempting to plant it into the back of Thanos’ neck. With one hand Thanos reached around and grabbed Tony, throwing him to the ground and ripping off his helmet as well.

And seeing the same face.

No.

Magic, Thanos could dismiss. Given how long Thanos had been alive, he would know that there is always more magic to be discovered, that just because he did not know of a spell existing that did not mean it did not exist.

Two Stephen Stranges he could dismiss. But there were two Tony Starks before him.

The Casket of Ancient Winters burned cold in his pocket dimension, but only as an absolute last resort. Above all, Thanos could not know Loki was alive.

Not until the last possible moment.

“Two of you?” Thanos questioned aloud, just as Tony created a sword out of his nanoparticles and aimed a thrust at Thanos’ side.

“No!” Stephen shouted just as Thanos broke it off and aimed for Tony’s heart.

Loki didn’t hesitate. He summoned the Casket of Ancient Winter from his pocket dimension and froze Thanos just as the blade would have run Tony through.

“Quick thinking, Rock of Ages,” Tony said, backing away from Thanos and towards Stephen as quickly as possible. “That almost ended badly for me the first time, I can’t imagine this time would be any—oh.”

The look Tony gave him betrayed his surprise for a moment and Loki looked at himself. It had been some time since he’d shifted to his Jotun form, but if he was overcoming his fears, he might as well conquer them all.

“My original form,” he said, even as his skin again shifted back to Aesir pale. “The Casket won’t hold him for long.”

He forced himself to look up at Thanos, mid-strike and furious. Here was the creature who had captured and tortured him, had taken away his own choices, and finally killed him.

He felt the last of his fear leave him, felt something settle within him that had been torn when he’d fallen from the Bifrost. As Tony tended to Strange and the Guardians and Peter all gathered around them, Loki stood there and looked Thanos in the eye.

“I am Loki,” he said, “of Asgard. Brother of Thor. And your journey is at an end.”

*

Stephen’s head swam, but he stood up with Tony and Peter’s aid and put his still-unconscious counterpart in his pocket dimension with Mantis and Quill.

“You okay, honey?” Tony asked, still panting and bloodied as he pulled him up.

“I’m fine,” Stephen said, though he had no idea if that was true. That last hit felt harder than it had the first time around. “How long will that hold him?”

“Not much longer,” Loki said. He ran towards them and whispered, “How much longer for Thor to be in place?”

“A minute, maybe two,” Stephen said. “I can drop him into another portal but—”

“He’d bust out and try to break our heads,” Tony said. “Look, whatever we do, we have to decide it fast.

“I will fight him when he breaks free,” Nebula said.

“Good cause I don’t know what I have left,” Tony said.

“Same here,” Stark said. “And now he knows something’s going on.”

“He saw my face,” Loki said, regretfully. “I couldn’t hide it. Not when wielding the Casket of Ancient Winters.”

“It’s alright,” Stephen said, because it had to be. The other Strange was safely hidden in his pocket dimension, and with him the true Time Stone. Thanos wouldn’t be able to destroy the universe without it.

The only thing they were fighting for now was Stephen. A part of him wasn’t sure he was worth all this trouble, but then he thought of his promise to Tony.

Fear

The echo of Tony’s absolute terror of losing Stephen felt like it was being hammered into his heart. Only a few more minutes. If the ice could only hold Thanos for a few more minutes, everything would work out exactly how Stephen had planned.

The sound of ice breaking drowned out the dead wind of Titan. With an enraged roar, Thanos burst free from his prison and headed straight for Stephen.

Nebula ran in front of him, wielding her double blades. With a long jump, she sprang in front of him and slashed at his eyes. The cut did nothing but enable him to grab her and throw her to the side. Drax ran to him next, shouting vengeance for his own family, but Thanos handled him with one punch with the Gauntlet.

Peter tried his hand next, his webbing forcing Thanos’ feet to stay on the ground.

“Out of the way, child!” Loki shouted, and before Stephen could create a portal, he pulled Peter out of the way of Thanos’ fist, taking the blow himself.

With a blast of the Power Stone, Thanos burned the web off. Then it was only him the four of them left.

“I underestimated you, wizard. You did use your greatest weapon,” Thanos said, gesturing to both Tony and his counterpart and to the fallen Loki. “But it didn’t do you any good. Now, give me the Time Stone.”

Stephen closed his eyes and tried to count the minutes, the seconds, needed to ensure Thor was in position. Thanos only needed to stay here for another minute, maybe even less.

Suddenly, a choking noise forced Stephen’s eyes open, Thanos grabbing Tony around the throat and aiming the Power Stone directly at his head.

“The Stone or he dies,” he said.

“Stephen,” Tony croaked out while trying to kick in the air. “Don’t.”

“No, please,” Stephen begged. “Please, don’t. Here. I’ll give it to you.” He slowly lifted his hand, drawing out even the summoning of the Stone by every second he could.

Thanos seemed to catch on what he was doing. “Now,” he said. Then he burned the side of Tony’s head with the Power Stone.

Tony roared in agony, and Stephen knew he couldn’t delay any longer. Thor would either be in position or he wouldn’t, but Stephen couldn’t let Tony suffer for him. Not for one more second.

He reached out and plucked a star from the sky, the false Time Stone, the piece of his soul the spell had given him. He let it float directly into Thanos’ Gauntlet and held his breath.

The spell had given Stephen exactly what he’d wanted. The Gauntlet lit up in green, just as it had the first time, Thanos dropping Tony as he experienced the rush of power the new Stone had given him.

“One to go,” he said and disappeared in a blue haze.

“Did we make it?” Peter shouted from where Loki had dropped him. “Did we hold him long enough?”

Stephen struggled to stay on his feet, but he managed to get to Tony who was still trying to catch his breath. Stephen let his forehead touch Tony’s, relieved that at least he had survived.

“Answer him,” Tony croaked. “Was it enough?”

Stark came over to help the both of them to their feet. Loki, Nebula, and the other Guardians also all stood around Stephen to wait for an answer.

“I’m not sure,” he said. “There’s a chance.”

Tony hissed and looked at the ground. “You said he goes through the Avengers, right? That’s what Natasha said too. That every Avenger stood their ground before he went through them?”

Stephen nodded.

“Well, what if there were a few more of us?”

Stephen shook his head. “Your armor is almost gone. My counterpart is still unconscious and the rest of us…”

The rest of them were battered and bloodied. Team Titan had stood their ground and fought a good fight against incredible odds, but they were done.

A blade of ice formed in Loki’s hand.

He was bloodied and visibly shaken, but at that moment Stephen was reminded he truly was a god.

“I believe our time here on Titan is at an end,” Loki said.

No matter what was about to happen on Earth, Stephen needed to get everyone to Wakanda. And maybe Loki had a chance of stopping Thanos before he would destroy a piece of Stephen’s soul.

With a solemn nod, Stephen opened a portal to the battlefield on Wakanda and complete chaos.

Most of the Avengers were already grounded. The Hulkbuster armor looked like it had been phased into rock, War Machine was on the floor, as was the Falcon. And in front of them, Wanda Maximoff was kneeling in front of the Vision, one hand pouring enough power into the Mind Stone to destroy it, the other holding off Thanos for as long as she could.

But where was Thor?

Red light burst through from Wanda, an explosion shaking the ground and turning the sky red the moment the Mind Stone was destroyed.

“I understand,” Thanos said, just as Loki approached from behind. “Better than anyone.”

“You could never!” Wanda cried.

“Today, I lost more than you can know.” He walked to stand beside the lifeless body of Vision. “But now is no time to mourn. Now is no time at all.”

Forming a fist with the Gauntlet, a magical green ring appeared around Thanos’ wrist. Stephen bit his lip as he held back a scream, his soul aching as the magic in the stone was exhausted.

“Go. Go now,” Tony hissed to Loki, but Stephen held up a hand.

“No,” he said through gritted teeth. “Not yet, just another moment.”

Time reversed itself until the Mind Stone was once again intact and in the Vision’s head. With no hesitation, Thanos pried out the Mind Stone from his forehead, the Vision becoming grey and lifeless while Wanda screamed. Thanos dropped the final Stone into place, and his entire body lit up with energy from the Mind Stone. He arched his back and bellowed, so transfixed on the Stones he didn’t see Loki sneak up behind him.

At the very last second, Loki shifted his skin and shouted, “Father! Is this what you killed me for? Your glorious purpose?”

“Daughter?” he asked, searching for a lie and not finding it. Thunder began to make its way towards them, Stephen praying Loki could fool him just long enough.

Loki jumped and slashed at Thanos with his ice blade, but Thanos caught him in midair.

“You again,” Thanos said and shook Loki until he shifted back to himself. “How many times do I have to kill you?”

“You should have killed me!” Nebula shouted as she attacked again.

The thunder grew louder, bursts of lightning following the growing storm, and Stephen counted the seconds in his head.

“Friday, you with me?” Tony whispered.

“Tony, no,” Stephen said and grabbed hold of him.

“Don’t worry, Doc, I got enough for one last shot.” With a shaking hand, he lifted his repulsor and fired one shot at Thanos’ head. All it did was distract him.

Which is exactly what they needed.

“Enough! Your resistance amounts to nothing,” Thanos said as he raised his Gauntlet. “I am inevitable.”

From five hundred yards away, Thor gave a mighty yell and let Stormbreaker fly, roaring across the field to fulfill its purpose.

Thanos snapped his fingers just as it met his head.

Chapter Text

Just as Stormbreaker met Thanos’ neck, he snapped his fingers.

.
.
.

Time slowed down.

Stephen was reminded of his first meeting with the Ancient One and being introduced to magic. How he’d been punched out of his body and into his astral form, floating through different realities and completely convinced he was going to die.

Thanos snapped his fingers, and something inside of Stephen broke. He took a staggered breath, his body recoiling in pain for a split second before the world fell away. In that second it felt as though his entire being was on fire. A roaring, raging fire that burnt away a piece of his soul.

The force of it was like another punch that forced him from his body and into the astral plane. The remaining tatters of his soul screamed in agony, every part of him that remained crying out for the part of him that was destroyed.

He was sure that was what had happened. Thanos snapped his fingers with the intent to destroy half of all life in the universe. Without the true Time Stone, he was unsuccessful, but the damage done to his soul was absolute. His intention had been so destructive in nature that it destroyed the sliver of his soul that had been in the Gauntlet.

And now it seemed as though the destruction of that piece meant the destruction of all of him.

A terrible wind blew through the astral plane taking him away from his body and towards some darkness he could barely fathom. He felt himself coming apart, as though the destruction of just the one piece of him meant the destruction of all. He felt the pain of it, even in his astral form. Burning, tearing pain that pulsed through his soul.

All he wanted was for it to end. How long would he have to endure such agony? This was an even greater penalty than he’d expected, all in the name of saving the universe. His astral form screamed in agony, but the pain that was tearing him apart was nothing compared to knowing he’d broken his promise to Tony.

Tony…

He’d never see him again. They were bound by their souls, but if Stephen’s soul was torn apart, how could they ever be able to meet again? They would never find each other in the afterlife, never spend the rest of their lives together.

But the connection he had to Tony wasn't severed as his soul had been severed. Even now he could feel the echo of Tony’s soul still tied to his. He was doomed to feel the phantom touch of Tony’s soul but never actually see him again.

Stephen…

Stephen tried to open his eyes, but even on the astral plane his entire body ached.

The connection he felt to Tony flared to life even as Stephen felt both his astral and physical body dying. The piece of Tony that was wrapped around him felt as though it was holding him tighter.

“Listen and do exactly as I say, Stark, or you’ll never see him again. In this life or the next!”

It felt as though it would hurt to open his eyes, like they were sealed shut with blood and tears, but he forced himself to try to find Tony.

He felt more than heard Loki shout before he pushed Tony out of his body and into his astral form. Tony looked shocked and more than a little disturbed, but then he saw Stephen and held out his hand.

A strong wind blew between them, the destructive force of Thanos’ snap still settling on the astral plane, even if he did fail to destroy the universe. Stephen felt himself grow further and further from his body, further from Tony and from life.

“Stephen!” Tony shouted and reached out again.

All Stephen could hear was the roar of the wind, and all he could feel was pain as his entire being was being pulled away from his physical body. But then he saw the agony on Tony’s face and his outstretched hand.

And he remembered his promise.

He knew how to fly in his astral form, but the wind was blowing him away from Tony and towards something terrifying. He didn’t turn his head to look, but knew it was some awful unknown waiting for him where soulless sorcerers were dragged at the end of their lives.

Fear wrapped around his heart, his own and Tony’s. He knew how to fly, but the pain was so intense it was difficult to move. It was like moving through sludge, the darkness so thick around him it nearly strangled him. With gritted teeth, he gained ground and grew closer to Tony. Every inch was hard-won, but he fought off whatever it was that was trying to take him.

“Take my hand!” Tony shouted, still so confused in his astral form, but he reached out all the same.

The wind rushed by him, but something else, something far darker was pulling him. As though many hands were binding him, trying to stop him from getting to Tony.

Trying to stop his escape.

Darkness flooded his vision so all he could see was black.

Tony

It was like the end of the universe all over again, but just like then he could still feel Tony with him. He focused on the ties that bonded them, on Tony’s soul wrapped around his own and Stephen’s pulled.

“That’s it!” Tony shouted, somehow in front of him and all around all at the same time. “Follow me, honey. Follow the sound of my voice.”

Stephen wasn’t following a voice. He grabbed hold of his soul bond, knowing that on the other end he’d find Tony.

“I’ve got you, Doc!” Tony screamed, even as the wind seemed to be dying down. “I’m not letting you go.”

The darkness receded, just a little, just enough so Stephen could see right in front of him.

One hand reached out in all the darkness.

Stephen took it.

Tony’s astral form was a bright light in all the dark, folding Stephen into himself and anchoring him in this world. The dark arms that had been pulling him released him, and Stephen landed safely in Tony’s arms.

“I got you,” Tony whispered as they held each other in their astral forms. The deep ache within him still stung, but Stephen allowed himself to feel grounded in Tony’s arms. The darkness withdrew completely, the arms that held him knowing the fight way over. He had won. And though Stephen still ached within, he knew he’d survived whatever damage Thanos had caused. Living with the consequences might be another battle, but this one was over.

“You do have me,” Stephen whispered, even his astral form’s voice hoarse. “I didn’t let go.”

“You didn’t,” Tony sighed. “Oh, thank God. And Odin. And maybe even Loki. Is it over? It feels like it’s over.”

“Brother, what is happening?”

Stephen could feel Loki’s sigh from twenty feet away. “Sentimental hogwash. But they just saved the universe so I’ve decided they’ve earned a few more minutes.”

“Yes,” Stephen sighed. “It’s over. Thor did what he was meant to do. The universe is safe.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tony said, his voice tinged with wonder. “We saved the universe.”

“Yes, we did,” Thor said, hefting Stormbreaker over his shoulder. “I have you to thank for the life of my brother.”

Tony gave Thor a disbelieving look. “We just saved the universe, but you’re thanking me for…” He looked between the brothers, then down at Stephen and sighed. “Yeah, no actually I get it. What’s the universe if you lose your most important person?”

“Well said,” Thor replied.

Breathing a sigh of relief felt odd in his astral form, but Tony was right. Hiding the Time Stone meant the universe was safe, but it all meant nothing if something had happened to Tony or Peter.

It was over now. They’d been charged with saving the universe from complete annihilation, and they accomplished their mission.

But just because the war was over didn’t mean that there weren’t things to get done. And the pain in his soul hadn’t faded just because Thanos was dead. He’d give himself just another moment to get ahold of himself, to allow himself to realize that the war was over and they’d won. He looked over Tony’s shoulder and saw Thanos’ head about five feet away from his body, the Infinity Gauntlet fallen to the ground next to him.

Just another minute, and then he promised he’d see to the building blocks of the universe that had sent him on this mission. For now his poor, tortured soul rested in Tony’s arms.

“Hey, buddy,” Stark said. “Hey, other me. Really interested in whatever is going on with the two of you right now, but where’s my sorcerer?”

The reprieve was over, it seemed. Stephen slowly separated from Tony and allowed himself to return to his physical body.

“Ugh,” he said as he felt every single bump and bruise from the fight with Thanos and the destruction of a piece of his soul. There was a terrible pain deep inside him, something that felt as though it would never truly heal.

Fear

“I’m alright,” he said to Tony’s astral form. “It’s not too bad.”

“You’re not and yes it is, but can someone please tell me how to unghost myself?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, and again, where’s my sorcerer?” Stark asked. “And what’s going on with the two of you?”

“Alright enough of this,” Loki muttered. “Tony, just allow your soul to relax and picture yourself falling back into your body. You’re currently working very hard to exist in the astral plane. Your soul wants to return where it belongs.”

Tony obeyed and returned to his body, just as sore and bruised as Stephen.

Stark helped them both up.

“Okay, seriously I need to know,” Stark said. “Don’t leave me wondering about this. Was that like a really good friend cuddle? Or…you know?” He waved his hand between them and might have mimicked a few lewd acts.

“Oh, for Odin’s sake,” Loki sighed and walked away.

“Oh, right! You don’t know!” Tony said, putting his hands on Stark’s shoulders. “Stephen is in love with you.”

“Really?” Stark asked. It only drove home how disbelieving Tony had been that his feelings had been returned. Stephen could still hardly believe it himself.

“Yes, and it’s amazing,” Tony said. “Oh God, you’re in for the best—”

“Mr. Stark, Doctor Strange, you’re okay!” Peter shouted, jumping on Stephen and Tony.

“—cake of your life,” Tony said, then the leer that had been on his face melted into a smile. “Yeah, we made it just fine, Peter.” He wrapped his other arm around Peter’s shoulders and Stephen felt a wound close over.

Stark sobbed out a laugh. “Of course it would be the best…cake of my life. It’s cake with Stephen. And speaking of which…”

Stephen held a hand at his side, as though if he put pressure on his wounded soul it would stop the bleeding. “Right,” he said, then released everyone from his pocket dimension.

Quill and Mantis both landed on their feet, but his counterpart rolled out, still recovering from the blow Thanos had dealt him.

“Doc!” Stark shouted, helping his own Strange to his feet. “Hey, it’s all over. We won.”

“We won?” Quill asked, turning around and finding Thanos’ severed head. “We won! Hey, where’s Gamora?”

“Quill,” Nebula said quietly. “Come with me.”

Stephen allowed the two of them to go, knowing his own apologies would mean nothing. There was only one death he could undo.

“The Time Stone,” Stephen said to his counterpart. “The true one. I have need of it. There’s no need to lose Vision to all this mess.”

Strange panted, leaning against Stark and looking just as bad as Stephen. He nodded and made to open the Eye of Agamotto, but his hands shook far too badly.

“Hey, it’s okay, Doc,” Stark said, letting his forehead rest against Strange’s. “Just rest a minute. Everything can wait for a minute.”

“Stephen…” Tony said, looking Stephen up and down as if trying to find a wound. He wouldn’t. Not with his eyes. The wound that afflicted Stephen was far deeper than any physical ache.

“I’ll be alright, I swear. I’m just not sure how yet,” Stephen said.

“Hey,” Stark said to Tony. “You thinking what I’m thinking?” He gestured to the two of them and the two of Stephen.

“Kinda in the middle of something here,” Tony said, his tone somewhat stern. “But yes, I did think it so I’m not surprised you did, too.”

“Really?” Stephen asked. “Now?”

“No, honey,” Tony said, his voice dripping with concern once again. “Of course not now.”

“But seriously,” Stark said. “Once you’re both feeling better? I’m totally into this. It’s not cheating. It’s two of me and two of you! This is the dream,” Stark said.

If this was something Tony would truly be interested in, Stephen would have to bring clones into the bedroom at some point. He liked the idea of blowing Tony’s mind.

If this horrible ache in his soul would just ease a little.

Strange looked as though he was about to melt into the floor, somehow looking worse than he had when he took a direct hit from Thanos.

At least this was some good news he would share with his counterpart. “Tony loves you, too. It was hard to accept, but he does.”

“Oh,” Strange said softly and looked at Stark.

“Hard to accept?” Tony asked.

“A bit, yes,” Stephen said truthfully.

“We were literally bonded by the Soul Stone,” Tony said. “Luckily I know you well enough to know exactly what you mean by that. But you know I love you now.”

He said it as a statement of fact, but Stephen felt the need to confirm it. “I do,” he said and leaned in for a kiss.

“No,” Loki said, using magic to remove all the Infinity Stones from the Gauntlet—save the Reality Stone and the false Time Stone that was now a grey rock on the floor. “I can’t handle one more minute of you four.”

“Hey, wait a minute what—”

Red flashed before them and reality bent in on itself. Stephen felt the oddest sensation of coming together, two pieces rejoining in the most natural of ways. His counterpart and himself became one once again, and Stephen felt as though he could breathe a sigh of relief.

Memories that weren’t his own flashed before his mind’s eye. He saw himself abducted by Ebony Maw and taken aboard the Q ship, but then abandoned when Ebony Maw left unexpectedly. He still had the memories of Ebony Maw tracking down his ship, and of himself, Peter, and Tony blowing that sadist out of the Q ship in the original timeline.

But now the two versions of himself had been joined into one. And the ache inside him disappeared.

His soul was whole again.

The pain that was cutting into his side, the pain that seemed as though it would never heal, was gone. The piece that had been missing was restored. The one terrible thing that could never be undone was now undone. The terrible price he’d paid had been forgiven.

He ran his hands over himself, searching for the missing piece of himself that was back with him now, even as he knew he wouldn't find it.

“Thank you,” he said to Loki.

“Don’t thank me,” Loki said. “I just couldn’t take two Tony Starks for one moment longer.”

“You’re a real killjoy, Loki,” Tony said.

Something flashed in Loki’s eyes, some sort of recognition of the pain Stephen had gone through. He might not have ever severed his soul, but Loki understood pain. And he had saved Stephen from a lifetime of it.

“You have a sorcerer for your bonded, Stark,” Loki said. “Hope springs eternal.”

As the pain left him, Stephen was able to look around the battlefield and see what pain had distracted him from. Wanda was still weeping over Vision, Nebula, Drax, and Mantis were trying to comfort Quill, and the Avengers were getting to their feet one by one.

Thor came over and wrapped an arm around Loki. “You were right, brother. The sun is shining on us again.”

“Did you doubt me?”

“Not for a moment,” Thor said. “I know better by now.”

Stephen watched for a moment as the brothers walked away, then turned back to Peter and Tony.

“As much as I kinda liked the idea of having four dads, I’m kinda glad there’s just two of you now,” Peter said.

“Same here,” Tony said. “Damn, this place must be gorgeous when it’s not being assaulted by alien forces.”

It truly was beautiful. There seemed to be few casualties, but there was upturned earth and uprooted trees that would need clearing. Luckily the battle had never reached the city, and Thanos’ great war ended far sooner than he wanted.

The only blemish was Wanda mourning the fallen Vision, and that was something Stephen could fix.

The Soul, Mind, Reality, and Power Stones lay next to the Infinity Gauntlet, Loki having left Reality where he’d found it once he’d put himself and Tony back together. The Space Stone was suspiciously missing, but Stephen recalled how fond the Stone had been of its keeper and didn’t say a word. The Time Stone was around his neck again, never having been destroyed in this new timeline.

“Humans are stronger when they are together.”

“He is the bonded of my bonded. And yes, we absolutely need him.”

The Soul Stone has been right. Stephen had absolutely needed Tony. He had saved his life, saved his soul. The bond that was strengthened by the Soul Stone had saved the universe. With a wave of his hand, he floated the Soul Stone up where he could see it. He wasn’t sure if it was completely sentient, but Stephen felt the need to express his gratitude regardless.

“Thank you,” he whispered. “I am in your debt.”

The Soul Stone shined just a little brighter for a moment before Stephen tucked it along with Reality and Power into a pocket dimension for safe keeping. Then he floated the Mind Stone back to where Vision’s body lay.

“Are you ready, my friend?” Stephen whispered to the Time Stone. He received a firm pulse in response, the Stone giving him a resounding yes. “Thank you. I’m glad to have you back. Wanda, please move to the side, and I’ll be able to return Vision to you.”

“Tony?”

It was a voice Stephen had only ever heard over the television, but he still reacted instinctively, throwing up a shield and stepping in front of Tony.

Steve Rogers lifted a hand gesture of surrender, the fatigue written on his face giving way to shame. Stephen didn’t really give a damn.

“Hey, Steve,” Tony said, but made no move to approach and stayed behind Stephen. From behind a copse of trees, Natasha approached looking far better than she had the last time they had seen her.

“Hey, Tony,” she said. “Doctor Strange. You can put that down now if you want.”

“It’s okay, Stephen,” Tony said.

“Mmm, no I think I’ll keep it up for a bit,” Stephen said.

“If it makes you feel better,” Natasha said. “Steve is still torn up at what he did to you. Swears he didn’t realize how hard he’d hit you.”

“Strangely, it doesn’t make me feel better,” Tony said.

“Well, how about this?” she said, her face bloodied but her shoulders still thrown back. “He’d have to get through me first, Doc.”

Stephen examined the look on her face and let his shields drop.

“Did I see two of you on the battlefield?” she asked Tony.

“Yeah,” he replied. “Consequences of time travel.”

“I thought meeting your past self set off a chain reaction that would destroy the entire universe,” she said.

“Apparently not,” Stephen said. “Although Back to the Future did get quite a bit right.”

Natasha smiled at that while Tony grumbled. “It’s good to see you again, Natasha. We should probably see more of each other.”

Something like hope lit up in Natasha’s eyes. Stephen wasn’t sure what the future of the Avengers looked like, but he resolved to stand by Tony every step of the way.

“I’d like that,” she said. James Rhodes and Bruce Banner came over to join the conversation and Stephen excused himself to take care of the Vision.

“Wanda,” he said softly. “My name is Doctor Stephen Strange, and I can help him.”

Through her tears, Wanda looked up at Stephen. “Doctor?”

“Yes,” he said, even though he wouldn’t be putting his medical license to use just now. “I can help.”

He opened the Eye of Agamotto and felt the Time Stone sing for him, the bond between them humming happily as the glowing green rings encircled his wrists and Stephen turned back time to help the Vision.

“Wanda,” Vision gasped as Stephen released the Time Stone and stepped back to allow the two of them to hold each other.

Happiness

Relief

Gratitude

“Hey,” Tony said, hugging him from behind. “Thank you, Stephen.”

“For what?”

“For what? For all this,” Tony said, gesturing around. “None of this would have happened without you.”

Stephen shook his head. “Without us.”

There hadn’t been enough time to discuss whether they wanted to announce their relationship to the world, but it seemed neither of them cared as they leaned into each other and Tony’s lips found Stephen’s.

“Finally!” Rhodey shouted in the distance.

Stephen felt Tony smile into the kiss, his joy overflowing through the bond. His soul was intact, the terrible ache he’d feared would never leave him gone. They’d beat the odds, and saved the universe. There wasn’t anything that would stop him from kissing Tony now.

As the sun shined down on them, the battle won, Stephen felt their bond sing.

Chapter Text

The blue of the nanoparticles was the only real light in the room. The curtain that Stephen or whichever stuffy old wizard had hung up did an excellent job of not letting any light in. Maybe the sun affected spell casting? Or maybe Stephen just valued his sleep. Yeah, it was probably the sleep thing.

Tony brushed the last bit of sleep off himself, and let himself look at Stephen for a while. Well, as well as he could with only the smallest bit of light the curtains let in and the blue of his chest piece.

Stephen looked better than he had two days ago, when they’d grabbed Peter and got back to the Village as quickly as they possibly could. Stephen had opened a portal back to Titan so Nebula and Quill could get their ships and bring them back to Earth for repairs and supplies. He’d even portaled the wreckage of Tony’s ship, and he was beyond eager to play with his new toy. King T’Challa had the cleanup well in hand, and there were fewer casualties than Tony had expected.

And probably an even finer place to rest than Tony could offer. T’Challa seemed to be very generous to the people who had had a hand in saving the universe. Stephen and Tony stayed in Wakanda just long enough to make sure that no one was in need of help only the two of them could provide.

Then Stephen opened a portal to the Sanctum and the three of them nearly collapsed on the nearest couch. Actually, now that he thought about it, Tony was almost positive the couch moved itself so they wouldn’t just fall on the floor.

Peter lasted until Tony ordered four large pizzas, one for himself and Stephen to share and the other three for Peter. Halfway through his second pie Peter’s adrenaline finally gave out.

Peter left for Queens the next morning, and Tony and Stephen stayed in bed the entire day. Sleeping, which might have been disappointing for Tony in his younger years, but now, just holding Stephen in his sleep was a joy. One he’d seriously thought he’d never get to have. One he’d almost lost.

Because his beautiful, stupid, stupid bonded almost got himself killed. His eyes darted to the Eye of Agamotto on Stephen’s bedside table, housing the Infinity Stone that had saved them both. Quietly, he thanked it because without the Time Stone neither of them would be here.

Stephen would definitely not be here. Tony had felt him slipping away when Thanos snapped. The bond between them hadn’t been broken, but he felt Stephen being torn from him. When Loki had pushed his soul out of his body—which was an experience he never wanted to have again even if he had breathed easier than he had in a decade—he saw the void that was trying to take Stephen from him.

Stephen hadn’t seen it. Not really. But Tony had. It reminded him of the end of the universe, of every nightmare he’d had come true. And Stephen had almost been taken by it.

Shivering with remembered fear, Tony wrapped himself around Stephen, needing to know that the worst hadn’t happened. That Stephen was still here with him, and they had a real chance for happiness.

“S’ wrong?” Stephen muttered, still mostly asleep. Tony must have been shouting his emotions through the bond to have woken Stephen.

Tony kissed the shell of Stephen’s ear, the nape of his neck, the side of his face. Anywhere he could. “Nothing. But it’s time to wake up.”

“Hmm. No,” Stephen said and pulled the covers over himself.

“You’re so cute in the morning,” Tony said. “Are you always this cute?”

“Mmph,” the pile of blankets said.

“You know, it’s usually me that doesn’t want to get up in the mornings. This is a welcome change.”

Normally, he’d have no problem letting Stephen sleep to his heart’s content. God knew he’d earned it. They both had. After the events of the last…oh God, it technically hadn’t even been a week, he figured they both deserved a vacation.

“Stephen,” Tony whispered and shook Stephen by the shoulder. “Come on or we’ll miss it.”

Stephen burrowed further into the pillows and pulled the Cloak over his head for good measure. “Mmph,” he mumbled and tried to ignore his poor bonded who only wanted to do what they’d both agreed on.

“Stephen, it’s almost noon. Don’t you get up with the sun at Hogwarts?”

“We saved the universe from complete destruction,” Stephen said, his voice muffled by the Cloak. “Don’t we deserve a lazy day in bed?”

“Absolutely. Which is why that’s all we did yesterday.”

“Don’t we deserve two?”

The Cloak slipped off his head, exposing him to the sun peeking through the curtains.

“Traitor.”

“Stephen,” Tony said and laid his head on Stephen’s shoulder, looking up through his eyelashes and unleashing the full power of his Bambi eyes. “I want to go visit the vegetables.”

“Ugh. No, you don’t. These vegetables don’t talk to you. And who will cook them?”

“I can cook,” Tony said and rolled over so he was on top of Stephen. “I’m actually pretty decent in the kitchen. I just never have time to cook.”

Apparently that warranted one cracked eyelid. “We can’t go next week?”

Of course they could. Maybe they even should, seeing as he and Stephen were literally fighting for the fate of the universe seventy-two hours ago. But then he thought about what the rest of this day would bring and all he wanted was a little distraction.

“Hey,” Stephen said, one shaking hand reaching up to cup Tony’s cheek. Tony leaned into it, kissing Stephen’s palm and wiggling his hips until Stephen opened his legs so he could be as close to him as possible.

He’d almost lost this.

“What’s wrong?” Stephen asked.

Tony shook his head. “I know what we have to do this afternoon is absolutely necessary, but I really don’t want to do it.”

A frown marred Stephen’s beautiful face. “Can’t we do it privately? Maybe at another time?”

Tony shook his head. “Even if we could, I don’t want to do it that way. I don’t want to seem like I’m hiding. It’s fine, really, it’s just—”

He let his nose ghost over Stephen’s lips then kissed him slowly.

He’d almost lost this.

“Stop,” Stephen said. Tony backed away immediately. “Not the kissing. That can stay. But stop focusing on what might have happened, and instead think about what did happen. You and I are alive, my soul is intact, and we saved the universe.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, kissing Stephen again since he knew he was welcome. “And I just feel like I need to get out a little, see that everything is okay. No helicopters crashed into buildings, no driverless cars, no absolute chaos and death.”

Stephen hummed and ran a hand through Tony’s hair. “Alright. Might be a good idea to get something for Wong, too.”

“Oh, yeah don’t we still owe him a tuna melt?” Tony asked, getting out of bed. “And I should probably call someone to come fix the ceiling. Maybe I’ll supervise that today, instead of doing the things I really don’t want to do.”

Stephen smiled from the bed. “I’ll play hooky with you.”

Tony sighed. It was gonna be a long day, but as long as Stephen was with him everything would be good. “Come on, Doc. I’ve got our translators, and I want to see if the radishes have anything to say about the state they’re in.”

*

“Mr. Stark, look, this stand has Fruity Pebble macarons!” Peter said, waving his arms around and ensuring Tony’s half-hearted attempt at subterfuge was now useless. Tony took off the hat he’d used to try to hide, but kept the sunglasses.

“Great, kid,” Tony said, handing him a twenty. “Go wild.”

“Fruity Pebbles?” Stephen said.

“Kid’s living the dream. Okay, so what do we got?”

They walked through the stalls set up on the vacant lot now reserved for the Farmer’s Market on the weekends. Tony had been right. There were a lot of vegetables here, but they all remained silent.

“Probably for the best,” Tony muttered to himself and picked up a canvas bag. “Can you take a card?” he asked a seller.

She looked up and said, “Yes, we take—oh my God.”

Tony handed his black card over. “Sorry, I gave the last of my cash for some cereal cookies. We’ll take a little of everything.”

“Um, yes, sir, Mr. Stark,” the vendor said, tripping over her own two feet to begin putting vegetables in a bag for them.

“Don’t pretend like this is odd for you,” Stephen said, amusement written all over his face and sending a pleasant feeling through their bond. “It must have been more strange for you on Seoter where no one knew you.”

“Speaking of,” Tony said, thinking of the people that Thanos had devastated. “I believe we owe them a severed foot or something.”

“I think we can inform them of Thanos’ death without having to send them a body part,” Stephen said. A few people were whispering and looking over towards them, and Tony knew they’d been spotted. “That took longer than I’d thought. Maybe you’re not so famous after all.”

“Laugh all you want, but it’s only a matter of time before people recognize you,” Tony said. “Next time you’re out in your sorcerer outfit people will be asking for selfies.”

Stephen groaned. “God, I hope not. That would be the last thing I need.”

The witty retort on the tip of his tongue died before Tony could unleash it. If he and Stephen were going to be together, the entire world would know Stephen’s face. And he’d always be associated with Tony, no matter that he was a powerful sorcerer and a hero all on his own.

The memory of walking through the market on Seoter a few days ago invaded his thoughts. Of how he and Stephen walked hand-in-hand, completely anonymous and happily together. He couldn’t help but compare then to now, where Stephen stood safely a few feet away from him.

Maybe Stephen wouldn’t want anyone to know about the two of them? Keep their relationship private, so only a few people would know? It made sense, plus it wasn’t like Tony hated the idea of actually keeping his private life private.

But something twisted inside of him at the idea of having to stay away from Stephen physically when in public. They stood somewhat close to each other as they paid for their vegetables, but no closer than friends would. And that was fine. Or it should be. Tony wasn’t really all too big on public displays of affection.

So why was it killing him to not be able to hold Stephen’s hand?

“Hey,” Stephen asked softly, stepping closer to him. “What’s wrong?”

Tony shook his head. “Nothing, it’s fine.”

Stephen didn’t press. He didn’t lift an eyebrow or make a sense. He just stood there for a moment and waited, like Tony had waited patiently for him to talk once he was ready.

Damn bond didn’t really allow for much hiding. Somehow, Tony doubted he’d regret that. “I was just thinking about the last time we were walking through a farmer’s market.”

Now Stephen did lift an eyebrow, but now equal parts confusion and concern, because he had no idea what Tony was apprehensive about. Because Tony was creating problems where there were none, and he should just get their vegetables and whatever Raisin Bran cookies Peter had bought and—

A cool, trembling hand slid into his own.

Tony was torn from the downward spiral of his thoughts and looked down at their now joined hands. He automatically laced them together, gently cradling Stephen’s fingers in between his own.

There were a few voices murmuring and half a dozen camera phones going off, but Tony didn’t give a damn. Because Stephen might as well have just shouted to the entire world that they were together.

He looked up and was greeted with a smile that felt like sunshine, the bond wrapped around his heart feeling like a warm embrace. Just one simple gesture, but Tony had never felt so loved in his entire life.

“Tracy, there are other people waiting,” one of the vendors helping them whispered.

“I know, but this is so sweet. I don’t want to bother them,” Tracy whispered back. “They just saved the universe, let them hold hands in front of my vegetables.”

“Sorry,” Tony said, not taking his eyes off Stephen. “We’ll get out of your hair.”

“Oh, you’re not a bother, Mr. Stark, Doctor Strange,” Tracy said, looking as red as one of her tomatoes. “Here’s your card back. It was fifty-seven fifty.”

“Okay,” Tony said, putting the card back in his pocket and grabbing the two big bags of vegetables.

“I’m sorry, how much?” Stephen asked, and Tony needed to get him away from there before he tried to haggle. “For some asparagus?”

“Mr. Stark, there’s a petting zoo!” Peter shouted. “Can I pet an alpaca?”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Tony said, dragging Stephen away from the nice vegetable ladies. “Petting an alpaca sounds amazing.”

“Is it fifty dollars to pet the alpacas?” Stephen asked, still hung up over the money.

It ended up costing about thirty bucks for the three of them to pet the rabbits and chickens and the one alpaca they had. Peter’s enthusiasm was infectious but not surprising at all. But seeing Stephen bury his hands into the alpaca’s soft fluff was well worth it. The look of surprise on his face at something soft and gentle in his hands was a look Tony wouldn’t soon forget.

By afternoon news of their relationship had spread around the world. There were a few pictures of them holding hands at the vegetable stand, the two vendors hiding their smiles behind their hands as they watched. But the picture that got the most likes on Twitter was of the two of them standing next to each other, Tony’s hand over Stephen’s as he pet an alpaca named Gerald.

*
The conference room in the Compound was packed. It had been designed to hold all the Avengers, not the Avengers plus every army that helped them defeat a universe-destroying superpower. Sitting at the table was Fury, all the original Avengers, except for Clint, plus the ones they’d picked up along the way like Rhodey, Wanda, Vision, and Sam. Stephen sat in the chair to Tony’s right, T’Challa to his left. Standing room only was the Guardians, a few Wakandans, and whatever Shield holdovers Fury had brought with him.

Tony didn’t mind debriefing under normal circumstances. It was boring, and he hated to waste any kind of time, but he understood why it was important. But this was the first time he’d really seen Steve—save for those blessedly few brief moments in Wakanda—since he’d put his shield through Tony’s chest. He was afraid, God no. Between the suit upgrades and the fact that he had Stephen by this side—not to mention Thor—he knew nothing would happen between them. But that didn’t stop his heart from trying to crawl its way out of his chest through his throat.

They’d started the debrief with Steve. He told everyone about their own encounters with Thanos’ children, how Vision had been injured, and their journey to Wakanda for help. T’Challa followed with how Wakanda had stepped up to lead the defense and help save Vision.

Thor came after, filling in the holes of what had happened to him over the past few years briefly, before describing what had happened on the Statesmen, then his efforts to get the huge fucking axe that had separated Thanos from his head. Loki was reported as alive, but elsewhere for the time being, which was probably a good idea.

Once everyone else was done, all eyes had turned to them.

Tony turned to Stephen.

He wasn’t sure what Stephen was picking up through the bond, but Tony knew his thoughts felt like he’d scattered them all over the floor. Tony didn’t even have to clear his throat or nudge Stephen’s foot. Stephen just started talking.

Stephen started and did most of the talking when Fury asked questions of “Team Titan.” He skipped over everything about Tony and himself being soul bonded, but other than that Stephen answered all Fury’s questions truthfully. Yes, this is actually their second go-round, and yes, the first time all this played out had been a nightmare that quickly turned into the end of all life in the universe.

Nick Fury tapped his fingers on the table while everyone in the room was internalizing what Stephen had just said.

It wasn’t every day that the universe was put in jeopardy by a genocidal warlord. And it wasn’t every day that time travel was the thing that put it back together.

“I’m not saying I don’t believe you, Doctor,” Fury said, though it was looking pretty clear that he did not, in fact, believe Stephen. “I’m just saying I’d like a little more. The other reports are about as far-fetched as I’d expected. Super-powered aliens, space travel, a weapon forged in the heart of a dying star. That might be hard to believe for some people, but when you’ve seen the things that I’ve—that we’ve seen, I find I can suspend my disbelief.

“But you’re sitting there telling me that the building blocks of the universe pulled you out of space-time and sent you back in time… to save Loki.”

Well, when he put it that way…

“The Infinity Stones sent us back in time to ensure that Thor would kill Thanos before he snapped his fingers, first to destroy half of all life in the universe, then again to eliminate the Infinity Stones themselves. What followed was the complete destruction of the known universe,” Stephen said, his voice getting louder as he continued. “That is what the Infinity Stones sent us back to stop.”

“What do you find hard to believe, Fury?” Thor asked. “That Strange was tasked to save my brother or that my brother was worth saving?”

“I’m not saying I don’t believe either of you,” Fury said. “I just want to understand, and right now I don’t.”

It was tempting to just say Fury didn’t want to understand. That he’d rather believe whatever he’d always thought of Tony or of magic-users or Loki than try to expand his mind a little and accept that some even stranger things than even they were used to had happened.

But Tony had gone on the journey himself, and even he had found himself disbelieving. That the most powerful beings in all creation knew his name, and two of them even cared enough to see him bonded to the love of his life.

Because as unlikely as it sounded, the Time Stone cared for Stephen enough to make sure Tony was able to save him. The Stones may have presented themselves as completely amoral with no stakes in the game at all, but they’d shown their hand when Stephen was involved. It was the bond the Soul Stone had strengthened that allowed Tony to save Stephen from whatever hell he was being taken to.

At the end of the universe, the Time Stone had said several times that Tony was needed. Now he understood why.

“The Stones aren’t just inanimate objects,” Tony said, finally speaking. Every eye in the room went to him. “They weren’t just created at the beginning of the universe and then checked out. The Stones are living, breathing things and they care about the people who take care of them. They care about…well, their people, their keepers.”

“And where are the Infinity Stones?” Fury asked. “A few reports from the battlefield say there were only five in the gauntlet, some say all six. I only know the whereabouts of one Stone, and that’s because it’s sitting right in front of me.”

The Vision blinked, then responded, “The Stone isn’t just in me. I am its Keeper.”

“See, can anyone tell me what that means?” Fury asked. “Because I have no idea what that means.”

“It means that the Stones aren’t anything you need to worry about,” Stephen said. “They’re with me at the moment, but Thor will return the Soul Stone to its place, and see that the Reality Stone is placed on a world that is capable of protecting it.”

“We’re going to take the Power Stone back to where it belongs, too,” Quill said. “So that’s three stones out of your hair. Er…so to speak.”

Fury’s eye narrowed. “And the other two?”

“The Time Stone has been with the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj for over a thousand years. We will continue to protect it,” Stephen said.

“I don’t think—”

“It’s not up to you, Fury,” Tony said, getting more than a little tired of all this.

Fury looked as though he was ready to fight, but decided he had bigger fish to fry. “Fine. And the Space Stone? Last time I checked the Tesseract gave us all a big headache we don’t need again.”

“With my brother,” Thor said, his tone absolute.

“I don’t think so,” Fury said.

“That doesn’t seem like the best idea, Thor,” Steve said.

“Good thing no one here was asking for your opinion,” Stephen snapped.

“There is only one opinion that matters,” Thor said.

“And whose opinion is that?” Fury asked.

“The Space Stone’s,” Tony said, because how was Fury not getting this? “Loki is its Keeper. End of argument. You’re not going to win an argument against one of the building blocks of the universe. Stand down.”

That withering glare stared him down, but Tony had just gone toe-to-toe with a Titan. When it came to intimidation, Fury was in the negative. He waited another minute for Fury to blink.

“Fine,” he sighed. “We’ll revisit this topic at another time.”

“My stance on it will not change,” Thor said, “nor will Loki’s.”

Fury shook his head, but kept his mouth shut. “And the time travel? Do you have any proof of that?”

“Well, the nightmare that happened was undone, so…no,” Tony said with a shrug. Honestly, he didn’t give a damn if no one believed him. All he wanted was to get back to the Sanctum and make Stephen dinner.

“I do,” Natasha said, speaking up for the first time. “There were two Starks and two Stranges on the battlefield.”

“There’s more than one way for a person to appear to be a double,” Fury said.

“When the dust settled, Loki picked up the Gauntlet and put them back together,” Natasha said. “I think red is Reality?”

“Yes,” Stephen said.

“Fine,” Fury said and threw up his hands. “Time travel. Why not?”

Tony understood where he was coming from, but he had now been in a room with Steve for over an hour and all he wanted was to go home.

And what a wonder that he considered the Sanctum home.

"Everyone but the Avengers are dismissed,” Fury said. “Thank you all for your service. Especially you, your Highness,” he said to T’Challa.

They all waited until everyone filed out. Stephen didn’t leave Tony’s side. Fury lifted an eyebrow in question, but Stephen just shook his head.

“In light of recent events, I’ve been able to arrange pardons for you,” Fury said to Steve’s side of the table. “All of you. And full reinstatement to the Avengers.”

Tony’s blood ran cold.

“No,” Stephen said before anyone else could get a word out.

“This isn’t up to you, Strange,” Fury said. “Don’t confuse me not wanting to get on the bad side of an ancient order of wizards as being afraid of you. You don’t have a leg to stand on here.”

“Look, I don’t care about pardons. You want to pardon them? Fine,” Stephen said as Tony felt his heart fall to his feet. “But they don’t get to come back. Not after what happened.”

“What exactly are you talking about?” Sam asked. And it wasn’t until that moment that Tony realized it was very likely that Steve hadn’t told them about the bunker. Or how Tony damn near died.

“Well,” Stephen demanded.

The silence stretched on, but Tony didn’t move a muscle. He just let Steve sit there, squirming in his seat.

“Tony, I’m sorry,” Steve said. “I never meant to hurt you. I was only trying to stop you from killing Bucky. When I heard the news I hated myself for what I did. Please, believe me.”

And the thing was, Tony kinda did believe him. He knew he himself wasn’t blameless in that fight. But he also knew that he had no desire to ever be anywhere near Steve ever again.

“Yeah, I believe you,” Tony said. “And I do think you should be on a team.”

From underneath the table, Stephen reached out and grabbed Tony’s hand.

“But not mine. Look, we got a lot of guys here,” Tony said, waving his hand around the table. “More than enough for two teams. I’ll take my guys,” he said and gestured towards Thor, Rhodey, Vision, Bruce, and Stephen. “You take your guys.” He gestured at Wanda, Sam, Natasha.

“I’m sorry, Tony,” the Vision started to say, his eyes darting towards Wanda, whose hand was in his.

“Ah,” Tony said, then remembered Vision had disappeared just before the invasion. “It’s okay, Vision. I’m happy for you.”

“My brother might be able to fill that void,” Thor said. “Another Stone Keeper in our ranks.”

“Now that I’d like to see,” Fury said, something like a smile on his face. As though he’d completely lost all control of the conversation and no longer cared. “The Avengers are pretty big to be just the one team. Much bigger now than in the beginning.”

“Sam had said he wanted to go back to Washington,” Natasha said. Steve looked as though someone had just kicked his puppy.

“Okay, so we have one team based here, one team in D.C. That works,” Tony said.

“I don’t like it,” Steve said. “It just doesn’t feel right.”

“Steve, if they force me to be on the same team as you, I walk,” Tony said.

“So do I,” Stephen said.

“As do I,” Thor said, to the room’s surprise. “Tony and Stephen saved the universe from annihilation. And most importantly, my brother. There is little I wouldn’t do for them.”

“I don’t remember inviting you on the team, Strange,” Fury said.

“Oh, I’m sorry, did you not want me?” Stephen said, his tone dripping in sarcasm.

Tony waited five full seconds for Fury to think it over before he nodded. “You’ll need to be able to work together. There’s no telling when another universe-ending event might happen.”

Rhodey was about to speak up when Tony put up a hand. “Look, this doesn’t have to be antagonistic. I’m done with all the infighting.” Stephen damn near growled under his breath at that, so low Tony could only feel the vibration in his hand. “I’m just saying, two teams seems like a good idea. Spread out more, help more people. But if there’s ever another Thanos…”

Steve smiled sadly. “We’ll be there, Tony.”

And just like that, a sadness settled over the room as everyone realized that the teams would never come back together, and that was the way it should be.

“So, the D.C. Avengers and the New York Avengers?” Bruce asked. “Bit of a mouthful.”

“Agreed,” Tony said. “Look, you guys keep the name. You be the Avengers.”

“Tony—” Steve started, but Tony put up a hand.

“No, Steve, it’s okay,” Tony said, and reached for Stephen’s hand again. “We’ll be starting something a little different. Something new. The New Avengers.”

The trembling hand in his gave a light squeeze, and the bond between them sang.

Chapter Text

Tony was literally a kid in an ice cream shop.

Before him sat the engine he’d salvaged from the alien spacecraft, the translator given to him by the Seoterians, and the shield generator that had been on the ship. All three pieces of tech would revolutionize the world as they knew it, and he had to pick one to deconstruct first.

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…

Obviously the shielding was what would help the team the most, right? Right. He could use it on the Quinjet, could maybe figure out how to make it small enough to use in his suit. And Peter’s suit. And Rhodey’s.

Maybe he should make Stephen a suit.

But! The engine literally had light speed capacities, and that was something Earth sorely needed if they were going to truly join the galactic community. He couldn’t always rely on Thor to get him where he needed to go, and Stephen could only portal to places he’d been. What if they wanted to open diplomatic relations with Seoter or Asgard or any one of those places Thor or Loki had mentioned.

Yup, light speed might be the way to go.

But…

In his heart he knew the right thing to do for the people of Earth. And that was to eliminate the language barrier. He tried hard not to, he tried really damn hard, but in the back of his mind he pictured a Utopia. An Earth where people were able to understand each other, able to break down some of the walls that separated them. It would bring about a new age of humanity.

He shook the thought out of his head. Maybe it wouldn’t bring about a Utopia, but it sure would help individual people, entire communities really. It would certainly do the most good in the short-term. So even though it wasn’t sexy, he put the engine and the shielding to the side—for the moment—and picked up the translator.

Now all he had to do was not allow himself to get distracted by the other two toys in his toy chest until he had successfully created the world’s first Babel Fish.

“Oh, perfect name,” Tony muttered under his breath. “Friday, open a new file. Project Babel Fish.”

Friday opened up a new file for him and he got straight to work. It took him most of the morning just to understand exactly what it was he was looking at. Then he had to go back and reference his own notes, the system was so complicated.

Tony may have been a little in love. And if this was complex, he could only imagine what the engine and shields would be like.

Maybe a little peek at them wouldn’t hurt…

“Ugh. Come on, Stark. Can’t eat your pudding if you haven’t had your meat,” he muttered to himself under his breath and got back to the translator. As he toyed with the new tech, in the back of his mind he was trying to make a suit sleek enough that Stephen would accept it.

Stephen was his own kind of distraction.

His silly, self-sacrificing sorcerer. He’d managed to outwit even Stephen’s own tendency to throw himself to the wolves, but that didn’t mean Tony could rest. He’d saved Stephen once—or twice kinda, but who was counting—but Tony didn’t think this meant he could stop. If he had it his way, he and Stephen would be working together for a long time. Until Tony retired and Stephen was the sort of sorcerer who sat around reading books all day.

The thought of it warmed his heart, sent some fuzzy feelings through the bond.

Since they’d been back, he’d spent every night at the Sanctum. Avengers Compound might have been where he lived, but it had never really been home for him. He much preferred living in the city. In his old life, he’d had the Malibu mansion right on the beach and far away from everyone. Avengers Compound felt like an extension of that.

But the past week at the Sanctum felt like finally coming home. The Village was amazing, and he was closer to Peter, which felt right.

But way more than that, he was with Stephen. Falling asleep with him every night felt like its own kind of wonderful. There hadn’t been any talk of Tony going back to the Compound, and he was hoping it would stay that way.

And yeah, they’d had a talk about it while they were literally fighting for the survival of the universe, but tensions had been high. What if Stephen had changed his mind? Tony didn’t have a problem with slow, if that’s what Stephen wanted, but the idea of going back to the cold lonely Compound felt awful. He didn’t ever want to spend a night apart from Stephen again.

And speak of the devil.

A golden portal appeared just behind him, like a sunrise in his workshop. He had no problem putting down his extremely fun puzzle and wrapping his arms around Stephen.

“Hey, Doc,” Tony said, greeting him with a kiss. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Ah,” Stephen said, with more uncertainty than Tony would have liked. “I hope I’m not interrupting you. I probably should have guessed you were busy, you said you were going to start tackling a new project today.”

“Yeah, but I can make time for my favorite sorcerer,” Tony said. “Is it too late for lunch?”

“Boss, it’s nine-thirty at night,” Friday said.

“Oh,” Tony said. He had a habit of letting time get away from him when he had a new project. Stephen must have been worried when he—

The uncertainty made way more sense now. Tony had spent every night since they’d got back in Stephen’s bed. It was getting near that time and he hadn’t shown his face all day. Stephen was probably wondering if he was coming at all.

This was one worry he could put to rest right now.

“I’m sorry,” he said, because he truly hated that he made Stephen doubt him, even for a minute. “I got caught up in solving the puzzle.”

Stephen’s shoulders sank just the tiniest amount, the stress of not knowing leaving him. “It’s fine. Tony, I know you. I know you get lost in your work. I do too. I skipped lunch as well. I only caught dinner because Peter swung by with pizza. Literally.”

One hand wrapped around Stephen’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He’d kissed Stephen before he left the Sanctum this morning, but this kiss felt different. It felt like coming home.

“What had you so occupied all day that you missed lunch, Mister Wizard?”

The rolling of Stephen’s eyes was betrayed by his smile. “That’s Doctor Wizard. And honestly, I should have spent the entire day going over that paperwork for the New Avengers Initiative, but I spent a good portion of it distracted.”

“Oh? Wait," Tony said, thinking about what could possibly have distracted Stephen. “Please tell me there’s no new space monster on their way here for total global annihilation.”

“Nothing that we couldn't handle,” he said smiling. He looked down and took the Eye of Agamotto in hand. That fancy necklace had once held a piece of Stephen’s soul. It was as sacred to Tony as it was to Stephen and his order.

He placed his hand on the Eye over Stephen’s.

“‘People are stronger when they’re together.’”

Tony shrugged. “Kinda corporate slogan-y, but sure agreed,” Tony said.

“It’s something the Soul Stone said, back at the end of the world,” Stephen said. “‘People are stronger when they’re together.’ I thought when it bonded us together it would matter in the end. But it really didn’t.”

Tony took a step back, like he’d been slapped. “Uh, yeah no. Were you just on a different battlefield? Because it ended up mattering a lot.”

Stephen reached out for Tony, knowing through the bond how that had stung. “I didn’t mean it like that. I only mean that I thought the two of us being bonded would help us defeat Thanos. But I don’t know that it did.”

The darkest moment of Tony’s life flashed before his eyes. He saw Stephen dead, lifeless on the floor, and Ebony Maw splattered all over the walls of their ship. He might have lost himself in his grief, completely blown the entire plan, if he hadn’t been able to still feel Stephen. He didn’t know where his soul had gone, but it still existed. And that had been enough to give Tony hope, and let him use the pebble the Time Stone had given them to get Stephen back.

“I don’t know that I would have done what I did if I hadn’t been able to still feel you here,” Tony said, and put Stephen’s hand over his heart. “I mean, maybe I would have, but I don’t know. It was only knowing that souls exist and that you were still out there that really gave me the confidence to do it.”

Stephen nodded and considered that for a moment before smiling. “I think you would have done it regardless. Just to see if you could.”

Tony thought about it for a moment. “Okay, yeah maybe. But still. This thing that connects us, it saved you Stephen, it saved us. I don’t know what it was that was trying to rip you away from me, but I don’t think it would have let you come back.”

“No,” Stephen said, but he didn’t look convinced. “I don’t imagine so.”

“In the end, does it matter? The bond saved you, allows us to live happily ever after with our merry band of idiots. Did you see that they okayed Loki to be on the team? This is going to be fun.”

“No, I suppose not,” Stephen said, but Tony could tell this was going to be on his mind until he could figure it out. Luckily, Tony was very good at wizard distraction.

“Yeah,” Tony said, pulling back just the smallest amount. “Is there any pizza left? I’ll be back soon. I don’t know about you, but I really like waking up with you right there next to me,” Tony said, tip-toeing at the question that had been on Stephen’s tongue when he’d arrived. No need to let him wait another minute. The inhale of a breath Stephen made at the confession was telling. “Just let me finish up here, and I’ll take off.”

The moment stretched between them, like a line had been drawn in the sand. Like every other moment prior to this—being kidnapped in Afghanistan, becoming Iron Man, defeating Thanos—was just leading up to this. He’d finally found the place he was meant to be.

“I’ll see you in a bit then,” Stephen said, then leaned in and kissed him again.

Just as the portal closed, Tony whispered, “See you at home,” back to him. He liked the sound of it, wondered if it was too soon to say. It felt like they had gone about this entire relationship backwards, bonding their souls together before moving in together.

But Tony knew exactly what he wanted, and he knew that home was wherever Stephen was. And he was pretty sure Stephen felt the same way.

Joy

The feeling danced through the bond from Stephen to Tony, a thrill up his spine and something like electricity running through his body to the tips of his fingers and hair. He closed his eyes, and allowed himself to realize they’d made it. That nightmare of a journey was over, and they had a chance at building something new.

“Right,” Tony said and rubbed the back of his head. “Okay, Friday, let’s get to a good stopping point. The home fires are burning.”

*

With a wave of his hand, Stephen closed the portal to Tony’s workshop and turned back to the stack of paperwork on his own desk. Unfortunately forming the New Avengers wasn’t as simple as they wanted it to be. If only there were a spell that could make Tony’s declaration real and absolute, no need for paperwork or contracts. ‘The New Avengers are formed because I say so,’ is something Stephen could actually picture Tony saying. It would make all this so much easier.

While Tony had spent the day in his workshop, Stephen had spent it reviewing paperwork to officially join the New Avengers team, where he’d only helped in special cases before. And though Kamar-Taj wasn’t overjoyed at the news, they couldn’t deny what Stephen had done to save the universe. Concessions had been given.

Stephen waved a hand at the paperwork and let it sort itself into piles to be read later. It was almost ten at night, and it had been a trying day. Hopefully Tony would be home soon.

Home

The word had been on the tip of his tongue when they’d been together earlier. It was all Stephen wanted, and it was finally within his grasp. He thought of how far they’d come, how their friendship had grown, and how their lives were now interwoven.

He walked out of his study to the Window of the Worlds. The moon was full and the light was bright and beautiful. His mind was taken back to that fateful afternoon when Tony had asked for his help, and how he could have never guessed what had followed.

That adventure was over, and a new one was beginning. The only thing that kept him from closing the door and allowing him to move forward was the issue with their soul bonding.

Yes, it was absolutely true that the soul bond had saved Stephen. If he hadn’t been bonded to Tony he would have been lost forever to the void that would have consumed him. But what did the building blocks of the universe care if Stephen were destroyed, his soul lost to a black nothingness for all eternity?

The Time Stone had said the bond was essential, but Stephen couldn’t understand why.

Perhaps this was a question that would never be answered. Maybe it would be something that would always be at the back of his mind, the uncertainty bothering him like a piece of food stuck in his teeth.

The Cloak left his shoulders and tilted its collar in question.

Maybe he should just get over it. He was alive, Tony was alive, and they had a future together. That was all that mattered.

“It’s nothing, my friend. Or at least nothing that can be solved tonight. Now, what should we do while we wait for Tony to come home?”

The Cloak pointed its collar towards the Window of the Worlds, the space where he loved to read. “Ah,” he said, giving the Cloak a pet. “It feels like it’s been ages since I’ve been able to sit down and read.” It would probably be some time before he’d be able to enjoy the stability of a schedule again, so he figured he might as well enjoy the peace while Tony was sorting out his new toy.

But he needed a book first.

The grand staircase had been repaired first, since its destruction had made Wong completely dependent on his sling ring and Tony on his armor for access to the bedrooms. Now it was only the ceiling that had to be repaired. A spell kept out the elements and any intruders, but the moon gave a soft light to the newly repaired staircase, the Sanctum looking absolutely beautiful.

His mind only on what book he should read, Stephen almost missed something very different in the hallway. Something that hadn’t been there before.

A door, right next to the library, where a door had only ever been in his visions. An icy cold hand wrapped around Stephen’s heart at the realization. The door was exactly where it had been when he’d seen glimpses of what he’d thought was the future.

The desire to move almost overwhelmed his need to keep his eyes on the door, afraid that it would disappear if he looked away. Quickly, he turned his head right and left, relieved that he could. The light from the open roof shined down, illuminating the hallway, casting everything in an ethereal light.

And the Sanctum was still whole. The last time he’d had this vision he’d just split a part of his soul and the Sanctum was destroyed and Wong compromised.

But that hadn’t happened. Whatever future that vision had come from hadn’t come to pass. His soul was safe and whole, and wrapped up in Tony. Now, all he had to do was open the door.

Before he could do so, Wong walked out of the library, like he had so many times before. “Stephen,” he said in greeting, “is it finished?”

Such a small moment, but Stephen was stunned to silence in the wake of a prophecy unfolding.

“Is what finished?” he finally managed to say.

With a lift of an eyebrow, Wong turned to the new door. “The Sanctum has been creating a new door all afternoon. I wondered when it would be done.” With an uncharacteristic smile on his face, Wong patted Stephen on the shoulder. “I am happy for you, my friend. Truly.”

And with that he walked away, leaving Stephen with the door.

He tried not to allow his thoughts to run away from him, told himself that the Sanctum wouldn’t allow any harm to come to its master. Slowly, he turned the knob and opened the door.

It opened to Tony’s workshop.

Tony was completely suited up, and looked as though he was about to take off.

“Oh! That’s new. Hey, honey, you okay? I had kind of a weird feeling,” he said, as though a door opening into his workshop was something that happened every day.

Not so much a prophecy…but a promise…

Something to hold onto as Stephen and Tony had gone through hell. Something that was waiting for them on the other side.

’The bonded of my bonded.’

His breath left him, his heart clenching and his fist cupping the Eye of Agamotto, where the Time Stone lay. The soul bond had never been necessary to save the universe.

The soul bond was only necessary to save Stephen. The Time Stone’s bonded.

“Stephen?” Tony asked, coming through the door. “Are you okay?”

“Yes,” Stephen gasped, his eyes wet but focused only on the Time Stone. One of the most powerful objects and a building block of the universe, and the bonded of Stephen. He felt a pulse of recognition from within, a confirmation of what Stephen already knew. “Yes,” he said again. “Everything is good. Ready to come home?”

Tony smiled, a big genuine smile few people ever got to see. “Looks like your magic house made me a very convenient door. That’s probably a sign.”

Home.

There was a question in Tony’s eyes, one that Stephen absolutely knew the answer to. “Yes,” he said, one hand gripping the Time Stone. “It’s late. Time to come home.”

“Yes, dear,” Tony said, and stepped over the threshold and into Stephen’s arms.