#spacemermaidwriting

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags: enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 4.5k | Next

Author’s note: This is for @Hayan for the IronStrange Winter Holidays Exchange 2023 @ironstrangehaven Massive thanks to @rattledazzlebones for doing the beta in a short amount of time <3 New chapters every 2-3 days. 7 chapters in total. Happy Holidays!

Chapter 1: "Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen."

It should have been a quiet night for the Avengers. Their presence at the fundraising gala was purely for PR reasons to get people to donate more. And for once it was for a really good cause.

It was why Tony was even more annoyed than usual when some sorcerers – who made his life already harder on a daily basis – crashed the party. After causing some disruption, they promptly attacked the host.

Tony, Steve and Natasha had their hands full keeping the magic ninja monks at bay while the visitors got evacuated.

Tony blasted one of his strongest beams right at the leader of the sorcerers, who threw up a shield at the last second.

“That's all you've got?" Strange taunted, hovering in the air with that stupid cape of his. His black hair was brushed back, except for a single lock that'd fallen down the middle of his forehead. He was gray at the temples and still managed to keep his youthfulness.

He was everything Tony hated. Magic… yeah that was it. It didn’t help that he was also an attractive and snarky asshole on top of it all.

Tony dodged the spell thrown at him, but didn't have time to catch his breath as Strange closed in on him.

This game of cat and mouse between them was nothing unusual and sometimes Tony lived under the impression that Strange was enjoying it far too much. This annoyed the engineer all the more.

Despite what the wizard may have thought; this wasn't a game. Actual people getting hurt were at stake.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to show up at a party you were clearly not invited to, Maleficent?” Tony growled.

Strange was up close now, moving his hands for another spell. Tony managed to grab his cape and yanked at it in order to hurl the man through the air. But the cape latched onto his armor and refused to let go.

Yeah, he forgot about that.

God, he hated magic so much.

__________________ A few days later__________________

Tony woke up to the voice of Jarvis announcing: “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

Tony opened his eyes wide. "What?" He was sure he had misheard or that Jarvis was joking with him. Only he knew that Jarvis would never make a joke like that. It was too absurd for his usually dry humor, similar to Tony’s own.

“He is sitting at the table and said he won’t leave until you talk to him. He said it’s urg-…”

Before the A.I. had spoken, Tony had already jumped out of bed and hurried off.

“Calibrate Mark 43.”

“Already on stand-by, waiting for your command.”

Jarvis was great.

Tony slowed his steps as he approached the kitchen. Strange had nerves to break into his home. He changed the smart watch he always wore into a gauntlet. With his suit as backup and Jarvis to watch his back he felt safe enough. This was his terrain and Strange would regret the day he intruded into his sacred home.

Tony stopped short in the open doorway.

Strange was indeed sitting at the table, his hands resting on the top of the table. He was wearing his blue robes and that weird red 'it's a cloak' cape. He looked… surprisingly tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was tangled, as if he hadn't paid attention to it after getting up and hadn't even looked in the mirror once.

It wasn't what Tony had expected. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down and his gauntlet was still pointed at him.

“Hello Stark,” the sorcerer greeted him neutrally. His face almost blank. Tony thought that the man wasn’t acting wary enough for someone who was currently sitting in his arch-nemesis’ home.

“Strange; you look like shit. What are you doing here?”

There was the hint of a smile on the sorcerer’s lips. “I need your help. I’m stuck in a time loop and we believe that part of it is a science problem. And you’re the best man to solve a science problem.”

“Funny, haha. There, I laughed. Now leave.”

Strange didn’t move an inch. “We did various scans and readings of me and the Eye of Agamotto. You used a project named ‘back to the hot tub time machine’ as reference, but only five percent of it applies to this situation.”

Now Tony was one-hundred percent suspicious. “How do you know about that project? That’s classified information!” It was stored in Jarvis' database and Jarvis was anything but hackable. And he would never give this data out just like that. Especially not the sorcerer. And, “Who is ‘we’?”

“This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation. You and I have been working together on this problem for a few weeks. Well, for me it’s been weeks. You don’t remember anything.”

“Prove it,” Tony demanded.

Strange sighed and stood up with Tony following his movements with his weapon. “I appeared in your kitchen because it’s the safest place for me, without having your A.I. or you shooting me on sight. By the way, before we start working, you will offer me a coffee.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “In eight seconds you will get a call from your lawyers regarding the launch of a Stark hearing pro aid. 3… 2… 1…”

Jarvis spoke up again. “Incoming call from Pearson and Specter.”

“Tell them I’ll call them back.” “Tell them I’ll call them back.”

Tony and Strange spoke at the same time and Tony glared at the sorcerer. Strange didn’t seem to be perturbed about it and continued his case. “But this won’t be enough proof for you. You want something more personal. We spoke of this before and you told me to tell you: camellia flowers. They were your Mom’s favorite.”

The engineer stared at him. He was good. Tony was almost inclined to believe him. It was a clever piece of information he had offered him. Something barely anyone would know but nothing that the sorcerer could use against him.It got Tony thinking.

“So if this is true – and that’s a really big ‘if’ – have you tried to check your magic? It sounds like a magic type of problem.”

“Please believe me when I tell you that I checked that thoroughly.” There was a haunted look in Strange’s eyes, adding a deeper tiredness to the already present one. “You suspect an exceptional phenomenon in the plane of time, presumably the fourth dimension, as it is often called." At least by those who had never been to the actual fourth dimension. It lay exactly between the seventh dimension and the blue shadow dimension, and some sorcerers liked to use it as a small vacation destination. "So far the scans have revealed nothing, although you made some groundbreaking observations regarding the scientific view of time. You said, ‘it’s not an arrow of time but more like a moebius strip’. Oh, and you and I also checked if other people are affected by the loop – so far we found none.”

Tony was definitely hooked now and finally lowered his arm. He didn’t think Strange was an expert on the engineering science front and those sounded all like things he would consider in such a case.Hell, people with superpowers were real, so why not time repeating itself?

“Alright, let’s say I believe you and will help you. What-…”

“We agreed that you can keep all the data you collect. Plus an I owe you from me. No limits as long as it’s safe for the fate of the universe.”

“That’s quite the-…”

“Promise. Yes, I know. I desperately want Wednesday to end.”

Tony scoffed, kinda irritated by the sorcerer’s behavior. He was known for and proud of his fast mind but this was a lot to take in and he had been woken barely ten minutes ago. “You know this-…”

“Interrupting and ending sentences is annoying? I’m trying to save some time here. Can we move on?”

“After I’ve had a coffee,” he muttered, making a beeline to the machine Jarvis had already gotten started on the kitchen counter. He needed his first cup before he continued this conversation. This was too much Strange at once. An especially annoying Strange.

“D’you want one too?” He didn't know why he was even asking. It wasn't like he had to be polite to someone he normally fought with and who had just broken into his kitchen. He had spoken the words before thinking about them and was just now realizing that another thing Strange had said earlier had come true: 'Before we start working, you're going to offer me a coffee’.

Strange seemed to realize what he was thinking, because there was a small smirk on his lips. “Actually, I prefer tea. And before you say anything: you do have some chai in the back of that cupboard. Miss Potts stored it there once. By the way, you have a meeting scheduled with her at 11, which you should cancel or she won’t be pleased and make an appearance. Same goes with the boy that drops by after school.”

Tony, who had taken a look into the pointed cupboard and had actually found tea there, whipped around, his gaze sharp. “You met Peter?”

“You made it very clear from the beginning that you don’t want to pull him into this. Hence why I tell you it.”

It sounded logical. Tony couldn’t argue with it. “J, clear the day. We have to fix a groundhog day.” He eyed the sorcerer. “If this is an elaborate plan to isolate me to dispose of me quietly, I’ll have you know that Jarvis has an advanced offense and defense mechanism.”

Strange’s face sobered up like he was having an unpleasant memory. “I am aware,” he said in earnest.

To be honest, after hearing this threat a hundred times, it lost its effect. But he had experienced first-hand what Jarvis was capable of. And that hadn’t been nice.

By now he knew what he could get away with in Tony's presence. Whether the man liked it or not, he had gotten to know Tony well in his time trapped in this repeating day. His quirks.And what ticked him off.

If anything, Stephen had to be careful not to get too personal and too familiar with him. This was still the first day for Stark.

It was always the first day.

In his eyes, Stephen was still the enemy. It was tiring in its own way. But Stephen was sure that he was the answer to his problem. He felt it. At least he thought he felt something else other than just resignation and stagnation.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him and he realized he had spaced out. "Thank you."

Ton-… Stark deliberately ignored it and put more space between them again. “Let’s start. We have… how long until the day resets?”

“Midnight,” Stephen said and added as explanation, “It starts with me waking up and ends at exactly midnight. No matter what I do. My death doesn’t end the loop.” He tried that since it was kinda his to go solution for loops. “Although I don’t know if the loop stops immediately afterwards or continues until midnight.”

“I see.” Tony did not address the fact that those deaths were probably self-inflicted and instead asked, “What else did we try? Give me a roundabout.”He can’t keep the sarcasm fully out of his voice. It still sounded unbelievable. And he was also not overly fond of letting Strange into the sacred place that was his personal lab one floor below. It felt very personal.

“We did various body scans and blood tests of me while I was performing magic and without doing it. Nothing out of the ordinary was shown in the records.

“We tried to get reading at midnight when the set-back is, but I get sent back before I can read it and you don’t remember, obviously.We scanned the Eye of Agamotto, which is time magic, but it’s not the cause of this.And we tried to recreate what I did before the loop started to see if there had been anything that had set it off. Without result.”

This allowed Tony to cross the first four points off the list he had just drawn up in his mind. “What about the physical aspects of the reset?”

“I appear as I did the first Wednesday morning. All physical alterations made during the loop are gone.”

“So you did look like shit that first morning?” A mean smirk accompanied that dig.

Stephen scoffed. “The mental state is not wiped clean. If I am tired it will show on my face.” He brushed a strand of hair from his face. At one point he just hadn’t seen the point of caring anymore to put energy into a spotless appearance. Nobody would remember what he looked like today anyway.

With a small gesture he put a glamor on himself to mask his flaws. With it he looked more like his usual cocky self, beside his still tired eyes.

Tony found he liked it better before the spell. “Cool party trick. Point taken. I take it your time-magic necklace can’t take you back in time before the loop started?” He glanced at the golden eye pointedly.

Strange shook his head. “Time travel is no option.”

Tony’s eyes became a dangerous glimmer. “I bet I could invent time travel.”

“You would need more than a day for that,” Strange chided.

“True, but if I start now, you can give me my notes tomorrow and after that… wait! Have I thought of that in the past?” He noticed Strange sighing. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” the sorcerer managed to sound annoyed and exasperated at the same time with that single word. “You overestimate my ability to understand your science mumbo-jumbo. I have a very good memory but not on rocket engineering.”

Stephen had been at the top of his field because he had an outstanding mind and a lot of dedication to something he was interested in. Medicine… magic…But there was a difference to what Tony was able to do. He was a genius and brilliant in all his fields.

And right now the engineer was gleeful as he handed him a Starkpad. “Write down what you remember. I’ll work with that.” The gauntlet had long been transformed back into a watch and Tony got a second cup of coffee by a machine in his lab. He put some sugar in it and stirred it with a spoon.

“The last thing I thought would happen today was to be in a group project with a wizard. God, just saying it is weird. Let's rephrase it: a tentative truce? A temporary work group? Nope, still weird,” Tony decided.

“Let’s just…” Stephen gestured to the Starkpad and Tony nodded.

“Yes, let’s.”

And so they started working.

As soon as Tony got Strange’s notes he was absorbed into his own world. He asked for some specifics in the writing, but otherwise seemed to grasp it immediately.

Strange insisted on a lunch break – it was way after lunch time – but refused the bagels in Tony’s kitchen. Instead he disappeared for a moment to get Quesadillas.Tony didn’t complain.

Given that he only had one day, Tony progressed far too slowly for his liking. He played with various ideas based on the notes while Strange pointed out some details he remembered Tony had said on the Wednesdays before.

All in all, they had made little progress that evening. As the sorcerer had said: he couldn't invent time travel in one day. And Strange didn't really seem convinced that it was the right approach either. The later the hour approached, the more harsh words were exchanged between the two.

“You know you’re not the most reliable source to pass my records,” Tony said at one point, circling between two screens, because sometimes moving helped him think.

Strange was very frustrated. That kind that builds over several days of stagnation. “Yeah well, I tried to write everything down but it disappears every morning. So, excuse me for coming empty handed.”

“I thought you had a photographic memory. This would be much easier and faster if I had full access to my own notes.” Tony suddenly had an idea and he stopped walking. “Did you ever try… pulling me into the time loop?”

Strange looked up at that change of tone and topic. “What?”

“Think about it. If there’s a possibility it will work… you wouldn’t have to start over again and again on your own. You wouldn’t need to convince me anew every single day. We’d have more time.”

Stephen laughed hollowly and his words were bitter. “If there’s anything I have, it’s time.”

“And how far did that get you?”

“Fuck you.”

But Stephen actually thought about it. It would solve a lot of the technical issues he was facing while trying to break out of the loop. But he still was hesitant to agree. “You don’t know what it means. I have been in a time loop once. Another. It was worse than this one.”This time at least it didn’t end with his death every single time “People around you will forget everything every single day. It will drive you mad."

“Exactly. You shouldn’t endure that alone.” Tony pointed at him.

“Why offer? We’re enemies.”

That was the question, wasn’t it? The same question why Tony had agreed to help Strange in the first place that morning. Every morning.

Tony wondered if those Wednesdays had all the same course of events or if there were alterations. Like Tony not even willing to listen to the invading sorcerer in his kitchen.He found his answer rather easily.

“And that won’t change. But this is bigger than you and me. I want to live my life and not be stuck in the same day.”

“You won’t remember it tomorrow,” Strange pointed out.

“That’s even worse! Who knows how much time we have lost due to this time loop?”

Strange's reply was so quiet that he almost missed it. “It’s been 835 days.”

Tony stared at him in shock. He had thought about a few weeks at most. 835 days was… over two years. Two years of being the only one that remembered what happened the day before. Two years of the same interactions, the same conversations, the same meals in a row.

Tony didn’t understand how the sorcerer was still functioning at all after all this time. How he hadn’t gone insane or lost his motivation at all.

“That’s it. I’m joining you.”

“We don’t even know if it’s possible,” Strange argued.

“And we won’t until we try it. What are our options? I’m sure there are some.” He saw the way his words had made the sorcerer think and waited for the man to talk.

“There might be a spell.” Tony grimaced. That wasn't what he had wanted to hear. “It would create a temporary bond between us. If there’s a chance for you to be pulled into the time loop, it’s that way.”

Suddenly, Tony was no longer convinced of his idea. But before he backed down, he at least wanted to get more information. “You won’t mess with my mind, will you? I may have some second thoughts if so.”

“The mind is not involved with the spell. It’s a link between two souls.”

Tony snorted. That sounded rather made up. But then again, so did time loops. “How does it work? Are we becoming ‘soul mates’? And will that be enough to pull me into the loop?”

“It’s more complicated than that, but basically; yes. Although I’m not a hundred percent sure if it will work.”

“We didn’t try it before?” Tony asked, surprised.

“No.” Stephen shook his head. “At this point you made it very clear that you dislike magic. And I don’t expect you to link your soul to someone you can’t be sure won’t exploit the link”

“It can definitely be undone?”

“Tony,” Strange said unexpectedly softly. “You don’t have to do this.”

It sounded so familiar. This was a man Tony had thought a villain, still thought so if he was honest. But Strange had spent who knew how many of those 835 days with the engineer that for him he no longer was just ‘Stark’. And it showed.

Tony was also curious what the two of them were capable of. He knew that the wizard was a smart and witted man. Personal differences aside.

“Oh, we’re definitely doing this,” he managed to say with more confidence than he actually felt.

“What?” Strange didn’t predict this. “You never said yes to this. In fact you always agreed that this is something you will never do.”He tried to think about what he did, what he said to Tony differently this time that he’d changed his mind.

“See. Your reaction proves my point even more. You’re stuck in the same day with the same dialogues. You need something new. Sure, I hate magic from the bottom of my heart. I really do. But since souls aren’t a thing this won’t probably work anyway and I won’t remember this tomorrow. And then you can rule it out too. It’s basically science what we’re about to do.”He had to talk himself into it, because the prospect of magic did scare him.

Still, Strange hesitated and scrutinized the engineer with his clear blue eyes before he finally nodded in defeat. “Okay. The spell has no long lasting side effects for you and needs to be reapplied daily. You'll barely feel it. So if you change your mind any other day, it's totally fine."

Tony nodded as a sign that he had understood and was ready. It was probably better to get it over with before he realized how dangerous and stupid this was.

Instead Jarvis offered – as so often – a voice of reason. “Sir, I strongly advise against this.”

“Noted.”

“Sir-…”

But Tony shook his head, cutting the A.I. off. “Strange is not going to hurt me.” He looked the wizard in question in the eyes and his gaze made it clear that if Strange did hurt him, hell would be breaking loose.

The sorcerer nodded. “You have my word.”

Tony wasn’t sure how much Strange’s word was worth, but he seemed sincere enough, and since this whole thing had been his own idea he decided to move things forward. “Let’s start.”

For the spell they had to stand in front of each other. Strange moved his fingers through the air and a yellowish glowing thread appeared, following his movements. It almost looked like it was woven in a delicate pattern.Fear twisted in his chest at the sign, even though it seemed perfectly harmless and totally different from the magic he was used to.

“Give me your hand,” the sorcerer told him and Tony offered it. Strange sought his gaze to confirm one last time. Tony raised his eyebrow, but didn't back down.

Strange wove the thread around Tony’s wrist and hand, and then around his own.

The magic faded into their skins and Tony felt a tingle up his arm. Like it fell asleep – but warmer and more pleasant. It resonated with something deep inside of him.The thread that connected them faded as well and Strange lowered his hands.

“That’s it?” Tony asked, looking at his skin. There was no trace of magic. “Did it work?”

“The spell worked. I will know tomorrow if it stays through the reset.”

It was only one word but it told so much about the situation Strange was in. ‘I will know tomorrow’ not ‘we’. Because although they had apparently worked together on this problem for so long, the sorcerer was still alone in this.If the spell didn’t do what they hoped it would, Tony won’t remember this ever happened.

Strange was alone in a vast pool of people, cursed with awareness and knowledge. Trapped in monotony.No wonder he looked so tired this morning.

“Let’s go back to inventing time travel,” Tony said, switching topics and moved his arm to pat Strange on the shoulder. But the cloak slapped his hand away before he could even touch the man.Tony glared at the piece of fabric that ruffled in return. Like a red watchdog.

“Are you two done?” Strange asked with a side-glance.

“Your… thing started it.”Yeah, Tony proved once again to be very mature.

“You’re an adult man, Stark. I’m sure you’re above these kinds of things.”

Tony kept his mouth shut. No matter what he said, he would only lose.

By the end of the day, they hadn't made any significant progress. Tony made him memorize some equations anyway. Just in case Tony wouldn't remember them tomorrow.

It was a few minutes before midnight when Stephen felt the pull. It was familiar by now, expected. It didn’t hurt. He just knew the time had come. Another day he failed to find a solution.

Turning his head to Tony he noticed the engineer was watching him. He knew what question was on his mind. He had answered it so often.

“The reset feels like I blacked out for a moment. Everything goes dark. Then I wake up in my bed.”

“No time in between?”

“I don’t think so.” Stephen shrugs.

Tony looked at his watch. They were down to a few seconds. “See you on the other side.”

Strange smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 2.6k | Previous | Next

Chapter 4: “I know it’s a lot to ask.”

“I’m not messing with your head, Tony. I swear.”

It was the first thing Stephen said to him the next day.

“I know.” Tony sighed. “At least I’m about 99 percent sure.”

The sorcerer bit his tongue. But this was probably the best that he would get. And there was something else on his mind he wanted to address.

“I want to try something. Maybe you were right that I’m the problem. We can test that. I told you that my death doesn’t break the time loop. But I still don’t know if it triggers a reset.”

The engineer looks up from where he was assembling his welding tools. “You mean you want to… what? Die? Kill yourself? Me to kill you?”

Stephen nodded and Tony put his tools down. The sorcerer had said he had done it before and then woke up to see another Wednesday. Still, it didn’t bode well with Tony. Death was something final. Usually.

“You don’t seem to be concerned about it at all,” he voiced carefully. “Are you sure it’s necessary?”

Stephen knew how it must seem to outsiders that he was almost too willing at the prospect of dying. “It’s not the first time I would die in a time loop.”

“A time loop? Not particularly this one?”

Of course Tony noticed that little detail.

“I told you I’ve been in one before,” Stephen said. “But it was different. I controlled it and I used it to trap an entity in it. It was reset by my death.”

Tony was horrified. “How many times?”

“I lost count,” Stephen admitted softly. It had been too many, if he was being honest.

The engineer sighed. “I don’t think you should do this. There’s probably a healthier option.” Seeing Stephen’s facial expression, he added, “but knowing you, I can’t argue you out of it anyway. So how do you want to do this?”

He placed his hand on Stephen's shoulder; a normal gesture for him. He was always handsy with people he was comfortable with. Which – huh – when did he become comfortable around Stephen? Maybe the same time he started calling him by his first name. Still, it was a moment of realization.

Being lost in thought, he didn’t notice Stephen had winced when Tony touched him and that there was a slight blush on his face.

Whenever the two of them stood close to each other – which was more often than not these days – Stephen had to hold himself physically back to lean towards the engineer even though he was yearning for contact. All the time alone in the time loop had taken a toll on him. So much so that a harmless gesture like a hand on a shoulder felt like a tight hug.

He took a step away to get some physical space between them and focused on the topic at hand.

“A painless way would be preferred. I don’t want to use magic, because I’m not a hundred percent sure it won’t affect our bond.” Neither Stephen nor Tony wanted to risk that. “And I’d rather have it done here and not risk someone finding my body. I will record a statement in case something goes wrong, so you’re clear on the legal side, and to explain it to Wong.”

“You really thought this through, hm?”

Stephen answered with a single nod. He had. The cloak floated over from where he had been playing with one of Tony’s bots and smoothed over his shoulders. Stephen patted over the corner of the fabric and gestured to a Starkpad. “Can I use that?”

Tony made an inviting gesture. “It’s all yours.”

With the pad in hand Stephen retreated to a corner of the lab to record his statement. His voice was quiet – the message obviously a private one – and Tony tried not to eavesdrop.

Jarvis took the moment to also start a private conversation via another device.

“Are you sure this is a good idea, Sir?”

Most days Jarvis was quiet when the Sorcerer was present, but he carried out every request from Tony immediately. The engineer knew that his A.I. was watching everything closely, and every now and then Jarvis raised concern, like now.

“It’s probably not, but we haven’t made a lot of progress lately. And if he insists…” It was clear from his voice that Tony didn't like the idea.

“It could be a trick.”

“It could be,” he said noncommitedly. Tony didn’t really believe it to be a trick. By now he knew Stephen quite well. The sorcerer gained nothing from dying and framing Tony; or whatever the implication had been. “Just let it slide for today.”

He had reassured Jarvis so many times before: it’s just one day. Tomorrow will be different.

It was never tomorrow and that was frustrating. He didn’t regret joining the loop – perhaps because he knew that there was a way out for him – but it still wasn’t always easy to handle.

Stephen had finished his recording and handed the Starkpad to Tony. “If anything should happen, give it to Wong. It tells you where you will find him.” The sorcerer hesitated for a second before he added, “please don’t watch it if it is not necessary.”

Now Tony was absolutely curious, but he honored the request and stored the device in a drawer.

“So?” he asked, not sure what point the sorcerer wanted to make.

“I assume you’re quite equipped,” Stephen said and if this was any other situation Tony would have made a joke about it. But now he just nodded and walked to a locker where he’d stored some weapons. He had used them to test bullet impacts on Iron Man armors’ surface structure in the past. He grabbed a gun and put it on the table next to Stephen.

“I’d prefer you don’t do this.”

Stephen was silent. What he was about to say Tony would even like less.

He waited until the engineer looked at him, before he raised his shaking fingers in front of his chest. “These are not good for anything with precision. I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you-…”

“Absolutely not!” Tony protested vehemently. He was not going down that route. Sure, he worked with the Avengers and part of his job description was to neutralize threats. Forcibly if necessary. But this was different. He wouldn’t outride murder someone. No matter what nickname the press used to give Tony Stark.

As if he had read Tony’s mind, Stephen argued, “You are a weapon manufacturer.”

“Former.” His tone was biting. He knew it was something that would stick with him forever, even if he tried to do better, to change. He had made his amends with it. Hearing it from Strange had hit him unexpectedly and it hurt more than it should. It made him become defensive.

“I don’t know what kind of impression you have of me, but I don’t take lives lightly!”

“I will survive it.”

“But first you will be dead! This isn’t a game, Stephen. Even if today starts tomorrow anew. Killing is still killing!” Tony didn't understand why that wouldn't go into the sorcerer's head. Just because there were no physical consequences didn’t mean it was okay to go out and murder people randomly. That was what psychopaths would do. And Stephen wasn’t even a random person on the street. Tony couldn’t kill him. He wasn’t even sure if he could truly hurt him in any way – which would probably become a problem after this was over and they were on different sides again.

Strange didn’t look happy about his declining, his lip almost pouting. “Jarvis can do it then.”

That suggestion upset Tony even more. “Don’t you dare to pull my child into this! I won’t teach him to kill someone just because they asked for it!” He pointed accusingly at Stephen.

They were both still standing at the table, the gun between them. Tony was so very angry that Stephen had dared to ask him such a thing. He was angry Stephen didn’t seem to care about his own life. And he was angry that he had to tilt his head and look up at the man.

The sorcerer was adamant to push through with his idea. “Well, then you either do it voluntarily or I will make you do it.”

"How are you going to do that?"

“Magic,” Stephen simply said.

Tony yanked back as if he had been slapped. “You promised you would not mess with my head!”

“I don’t need to access your head to control your arm.” It was the equivalent of a threat.

Tony was very tempted to take the gun and kill him right at this moment. And maybe that was the sorcerer’s plan.

He couldn’t believe it. He felt angry, betrayed and foremost, fear that Strange would actually make his words reality.

“You wouldn’t dare,” he snarled. “Why risk this?”

“It’s important to know. For science,” Stephen dared to quote Tony and the engineer hated the implication he would justify anything in the name of science. “You should understand.”

“I’m sick of you! I don’t care how you proceed but I want no part in this.” Tony threw his hands in the air before he turned and left the lab.

He barely stepped out of the room when he heard a shot; right before everything went black.

_____________________

“Sir…”

Tony jumped out of bed as soon as Jarvis' voice woke him up. He was still angry. Angry and a little bit relieved that Stephen was alive. But mostly angry.

“That bastard!”

He stomped straight to the kitchen, pulling his watch into a gauntlet on the way. He pointed it right at the sorcerer who was leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Fuck you, Strange!”

Stephen froze. It had been a while since a weapon had been pointed at him when he arrived in the morning. And for a moment he wasn’t sure about the reason why. Did something go wrong?Did his death break the bond between them?

There’s panic in his eyes and the overthinking prevents him from speaking. Tony used this moment to step closer, the flashing repulsor still raised.

“You’re an absolute asshole! What were you thinking?” Standing now right in front of him, he grabbed Strange by both shoulders.

The cloak moved out of his way, probably approving the lecture Tony gave the sorcerer; and also trusting him enough not to actually hurt him. If Tony would stop and think about that, he would have an opinion about it. But right then his focus was solely on Stephen.

“What if it didn’t work? Did you even think for one second about the consequences?!”

Relieved, Stephen realized that Tony did remember and was just angry with him. He could handle that. Or so he thought. “There are no consequences. The time loop resets-…”

“I’m talking about me!” Tony cut him off, his voice raised. At this point he was almost shaking Stephen. Trying to shake some sense into him. “If the day hadn’t been reset with your death. If I had gone back into the lab, see you lying there… if… “

The image of Stephen with a bullet in his head, blood all around him was burned into his brain. He had been in the field long enough to know how a bullet to the head looked like.

Even thinking about it tightened his chest and made his heart ache. He would have blamed it on the arc reactor in his chest, but when he blinked, he noticed that his eyes were moist.

Tony knew how to mask his emotion. He had been trained in PR since the age of five. So seeing the man like this right in front of him surprised Stephen.

What surprised him even more was when Tony yanked him forward and roughly planted his lips on the sorcerer’s.

The engineer was annoyed, evidently, voice harsh and filled with authority, and yet? Yet, there was something else, a heat that had pushed the words out of his mouth. It pushed them together, lips pressing together with a firm urgency, teeth digging into Stephen’s lower lip.

Stephen gasped in surprise, grabbing onto Tony’s toned arms for support. He was overwhelmed by the man, his proximity, his familiar smell.

Tony pulled back first, not done with his rant. “I hope you’ve achieved what you wanted, because I’m not going to let you do that again. I refuse! I don’t ever want to hear you suggesting it!”

Stephen looked wrecked – his lips swollen and a blush on his cheeks – and he was too stunned to speak.

Jarvis was not. “Sir, I’m not sure if I can follow what’s happening.”

“I’ll explain it to you in a minute, J.”

It must have seemed strange to the A.I., downright crazy: the appearance of Doctor Strange in the kitchen, calmly requesting to see the engineer; Tony yelling – that part was probably understandable – and them kissing.

But Tony had already decided that they weren't going to talk about it. It had been the heat of the moment and wasn’t the main topic right now. He had let himself be tempted. The engineer sighed. “Your death restarts the loop, by the way,” he informed the sorcerer and turned to walk to the coffee machine. He needed a strong one. “You know what that means.”

Stephen followed his movements for exactly one step forward before he stopped himself. He was reluctant to change the topic and watched Tony fixing himself a cup, before actually realizing what the man had said.

“It changes nothing.”

“It changes everything”, Tony grumbled. “Don’t you see? That means it’s directly linked to your person.”

“It could still be due to the time stone I’m wearing.”

“Yeah? Well, let’s try that. Give the stone to me and kill me.”

“No!” Stephen protested so vehemently it surprised the engineer and he turned back to him, with the coffee in his hand. “I won’t risk your life.” Stephen knew he was a hypocrite for saying that but he couldn't help it.

“You risked yours,” Tony pointed out.

“That’s different.”

“How?”

“You are too important to the timeline.” Stephen shook his head. He didn’t want to explain what he had seen in the future. It wasn’t pretty, but it was inevitable. If they took the right path. And if Tony played his part.

None of that mattered if they didn’t stop the time loop.

Stephen looked down at his chest, then up at Tony. “No more deaths. But you’re going to wear the Eye of Agamotto.”

“What?” Tony thought he hadn’t heard it right.

“It’s a variable we haven’t tried yet. Just to see if it changes anything”, the sorcerer explained.

“Okay, if you’re sure.”

Strange had told him before that he would never hand it to someone. And he had been pretty adamant about it. To the point that Tony didn’t suggest it anymore. And usually Tony was very persistent about his ideas.

They must be running out of options.

Tony watched Stephen pull the chain over his head. “What? Like right now?” He put the coffee aside for a second.

“You’ll wear it during the day and the reset.” Stephen stepped right into his personal space and put the necklace around his neck. Tony didn't have the ability to activate the eye in any way. "Be careful with it," he warned him anyway. “The fate of the whole universe depends on the safekeeping of the time stone. I’m trusting you with it.”

“No pressure,” Tony mumbled but his eyes were solemn. Warmth flooded him thinking about how much faith Stephen put in him.

The eye felt heavy on Tony’s chest. A chunky piece of jewelry. It lay above the arc reactor. The feared feeling of magic did not appear and Tony was both happy and disappointed about that. He didn’t know what the fuss was about, but Stephen’s words prevented him from commenting. He sensed that this was a big deal.

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 4.2k | Previous | Next

Chapter 2: "It's Wednesday. Again!"

Tony woke up by the voice of Jarvis. “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

Tony opened his eyes wide. “What?”

“He is sitting at the table and said he won’t leave until you talk to him. He said it’s urg-…”

Before Jarvis had time to finish, Tony had already jumped out of bed and hurried off.

Tony stopped in the open doorway.

Strange was indeed sitting at the table, his hands resting on the top of the table. wearing his blue robes and that weird red cloak. He looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes, but with some unwilling hope in them.

“Hello Stark,” the sorcerer greeted him neutrally. Only then did he realize that Tony wasn’t wearing any gauntlet. Whenever he came to talk to Stark in the morning there had been some kind of weapon pointed at him. Still, he tried not to show too much euphoria. There could be some other explanation.

Tony stared at him. “Jarvis, what day is it?”

“It’s Wednesday the 5th, Sir. Shall I call backup?”

The engineer grinned, ignoring the question. “It’s Wednesday, again.”

Strange stood up so fast, his chair fell down backwards. “You remember?”

“I do.”

The sorcerer looked at him with a mixture of disbelief and awe. “It worked?” he checked anyway.

“It worked.”

They shared a long look. Longer than was likely appropriate for a hero and a villain standing in front of each other – unless they had some form of deeply suppressed feelings for each other. Which the two of them definitely did not.

That was the moment Jarvis chimed in. “Sir?”

Tony remembered that his A.I. didn’t know what happened and realized his behavior must be highly confusing. “Breakthrough in a time loop problem. We don’t threaten the wizard for the day, unless he does something sketchy and not authorized. Clear the day, we’ve got work to do. But coffee first.” He walked to the coffee machine, but stopped halfway and turned back to Strange. “And tea for you. I’ve got some iiiin…” he thought about it enthusiastically for a moment, then pointed to one of the kitchen cupboards, “… there.”

He opened it and the same box of chai was in the back. Not yet opened.

His good mood was contagious and both men moved highly motivated into the lab as soon as their beverages were ready.

This was indeed a big breakthrough for Stephen. It was the first time in two years someone remembered a conversation they had on the previous day. Not having to explain himself meant a great deal.

He knew working with Stark had been the right decision.

On the downside, Jarvis still got reset and their notes from the day before were lost. But thanks to the fact Tony made him memorize the important parts and to Stark’s own mind, they were much faster in getting to the point where they had stopped the previous loop, so that there was actually some progress instead of just replicating everything over and over again.

Tony looked up from the Starkpad he was scribbling on to Stephen. “We should do some more tests. For once I’ll actually remember the results and have more data to work with. We should also run the same tests on me to see if something changed since I joined you.”

"That would have been more effective if we had some before-and-after comparisons," Stephen said.

“Jarvis is constantly monitoring my vital signs, so he’ll be able to provide the control data.”

The doctor tilted his head, hearing this, and tried to phrase his next words carefully. “That kind of data controlling can be seen as rather invasive.”

Tony understood his concerns. The frequency of data breaches was becoming a growing problem in society. But Strange didn’t know Jarvis like he did. Where Tony was, there was Jarvis.

“He has reason to. My powerhouse of the cells hasn’t always been this clean.” He tapped on his shirt where the lights of the arc reactor glow gently under the fabric. It was probably the understatement of the decade, but he didn't want to open the bottle that was the story of his palladium poisoning.

It was also the story of another seemingly unsolvable problem he had solved in the end. With the simple solution of inventing a new element. Easy peasy. Time travel couldn’t be harder, could it?

Tony was glad the sorcerer let the topic slide anyway, and they started to do various scans and blood tests on both Strange and Tony.

There wasn’t much of a change in Tony’s results. Stephen still pointed out that his magnesium levels were low and calcium high – like the doctor he was.

Tony had run several in-depth background checks on him the first time he had encountered him. His doctor title and his PhD was a medical one.

While Jarvis was processing more data, Tony pulled up a list he had written in the last hour. “I’ve got some more ideas we should try out: first, I’ll monitor you at midnight when the reset is happening. Then we should alternate between time zones to see if midnight PST is a fixed point of time or if it varies.”

Those were good points and showed how thoughtful of a scientist Tony actually was behind his PR persona and Iron Man mantle.

“Can we pull Jarvis into the loop?”

Strange shook his head. “While it would be interesting to test if he has a soul the spell could latch on, it only works on organic humanoids. Besides that, there should only be one link at a time or it can become harmful for the ones involved.”

Tony made a sound of understanding and put that point at the bottom of his list. For now they had enough other options.

“Speaking of,” Stephen continued, “we should renew the spell. If you are still interested.”

“Yes, sure. Let’s do it. J, don’t freak out. I’m about to get involved in a magic trick.”

“And just when I thought the day couldn’t get any weirder…” the A.I. said in the most dry voice.

Tony raised his hand and watched the same yellowish thread as yesterday being woven around his wrist. Again, he felt the warm tingle up his arm. This time they went right back to work afterwards. They ordered food in and threw around ideas while running more tests for the rest of the day.

A few minutes before midnight, Tony pointed his scanner back to Strange. “You said you think this is part of a science problem. Could it be that someone accidentally or knowingly built a device that caused this?”It would be a classic super villain trope.

Strange considered it. “It is possible. Maybe I’m not affected because of the Eye.”

“Right. Time magic?” Tony eyed the necklace and Strange nodded. “Maybe I should wear it to see if you’re not affected without it. But then it would be a pain in the ass to explain everything to you if you don’t remember this anymore. Maybe we use a third neutral party we instruct…”

“I swore an oath to protect the time stone,” Strange interrupted him sternly. “I will not hand it to anyone.” He did that stern face thing, which unfortunately was kinda hot.

Tony deflected that thought immediately. “Alright, Gollum. Got it. No touchie.” Although he had been allowed to scan it earlier.

The engineer looked back at his screen. “I think I’m getting something. An increase of power similar to-…”

_____________________

Tony woke up to the voice of Jarvis. “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

He got out of bed and walked into his bathroom. “That’s fine. We’re working on a time loop problem. Start the coffee machine and clear the day.”

It was a weird feeling to wake up without actually going to sleep before. Just as Strange had described it. Like he had blacked out for a moment. A very long moment. He put on a fresh shirt, although he hadn’t worn the one from before yet. Then he walked to the kitchen.

Stephen had made himself at home and had taken the operating coffee machine as a sign to help himself to some tea.

“You’re earlier than usual,” Tony noted with a glance at his watch.

“Normally I take some time before I come over. Meditating and trying not going crazy over having the same conversations over and over again. That didn’t seem necessary today.”

Tony nodded in understanding and emptied half of his mug. “So, there were some readings. Similar to you using magic. But different.”

“Different how?”

“Hard to say. I got reset as well before I could get a better look at it. We should try again today and also change the time zone. I could fly us to japan.”

“Or, you know, I can open a portal straight to it to save some time.”

Tony froze.

“That’s not an option,” he said after a pause a second too long.

“Why not?”

Of course Strange asked. It was a fair question. Tony didn’t really want to talk about it though. The memory of the attack on New York, and the nuke and what he saw in space, made him shudder.

He became defensive. “It’s just not an option, okay?”

Stephen crossed his arms, willing to bring his point across. “Not really. Flying by plane, even with a private jet, costs a lot of time and we’re not able to do much while on it. It’s a waste of time and I don’t understand why you insist on it,” he pressed.

“Because I don’t want to step through a portal ever again! Nor do I want it in my home or anywhere else near me!” Tony shouted angrily and it made Strange pause and look at him through his eyes as a doctor. He noticed the shaking shoulders and the hands balled to fist.

It was fear that was showing underneath the outburst.

In a neutral voice he asked, “How do you think I get into your kitchen every morning?”

Tony closed his eyes shut before opening them again. “I’ll just pretend you didn’t ask that. For the sake of both of us.”He was this close to throwing the man out and having a minor breakdown in the middle of his lab. For a moment he thought Strange would continue arguing, but the sorcerer remained quiet.

Silence spread. In lack of something better to do and just to do something Tony looked into his empty coffee mug.

Then, suddenly: “I can’t take a car to the airport.”

Strange’s voice was stripped of all emotions. Tony, who had come across an article from a car crash in 2016 while doing his background check on the wizard, nodded. “How about we just travel individually?”

That worked for both of them. They also agreed that instead of going to Japan on the other side of the world, they would just go to Malibu, California. That was still a time difference of three hours and they could work in Tony’s personal lab in his mansion.

~~

Sitting in his private jet, Tony was regretting his latest life choices.

The rush of excitement he had felt the first day facing this unique problem and the scientific urge to solve it had faded quickly. It shouldn’t surprise him. Barely anything good ever came from the wizards.

Why did he even agree in the first place?

Curiosity killed the cat.

Working with Strange was annoying already. All the reasons why Tony didn’t like him were shoved right into his face. Stupid magic giving him stupid anxiety attacks.

It took a lot of willpower not to have a drink in his hand right now. He played with his phone in his hand to distract him from that thought.

It was a five hour flight to Malibu. They had arranged a time when they wanted to meet and Tony had provided a photo of his front door because apparently wizards needed visuals to create portals. That was an interesting fact. Though it raised more questions.

“How did you get into my penthouse in the first place then?” Tony surely would never invite him, even if he didn’t remember. Especially if he didn’t remember.

He didn’t like Strange’s answer a bit. “As a sorcerer I have other means to get good looks of places. It is more polite to ask beforehand but you understand I was in a unique situation.”

Tony did understand but it still felt like his home had been invaded and that just made him more angry. Sure, nothing was stopping him from turning around and going back to New York, forgetting about this whole ordeal – literally. But that was the thing that made him agree to this in the first place: not remembering felt like being ripped of his own choice. Of his life. Of his free will. Besides the scientific aspect to it he wanted to explore. And of course his ever present urge to help. Even if it was his nemesis.

Tony sighed. “Jarvis, call Rhodey.” He needed someone to talk to and his friend always had advice. Most of the time Tony chose to ignore it, but he appreciated it anyway.

It took some time until Rhodey answered the call. “What’s up, Tones?”

“Honey bear, good to hear your voice. Are you at work? Am I interrupting you?”

“Kinda, but it’s fine.” Rhodey quietly gave instructions to someone in the room. Then it sounded like he stepped out. It couldn’t be too important if he was willing to talk to Tony without complaining directly about him calling.

“Good. I’m always happy to distract the best Colonel the air force has ever seen.” He could practically hear his friend rolling his eyes and smiled fondly.

“I want that printed on a plate,” Rhodey said. “So, what’s up? Why are you calling?”

“Like I said, I just wanted to interrupt you. Maybe annoy some generals if they happen to be nearby. You know me; I can’t resist.”

“Tony…” His voice was warningly and Tony knew if he didn’t want his friend to hang up on him he had to speak now or forever hold his tongue. Tony had never held his tongue once in his life.

“Alright, you got me. Did you happen to notice anything unusual today? Or yesterday. Like globally.”

“Why? What happened?” Rhodey was all business in an instant.

“It’s complicated, but it’s not a crisis – yet. Probably won’t be one in the future,” Tony explained evasively.

It didn’t reassure Rhodey at all. “Do I need to call someone?”

“No. You won’t even notice there might be a problem. I’m working on it. And that’s the thing, you know. I’ve been consulted on this project by someone I would have never guessed. In the ‘I kinda hate his guts’ sense. But this thing, it’s bigger than us.”

There was a pause in which Rhodey took in what he had just been told and all the layers to it Tony hadn’t said. He really knew his friend well.

“Sometimes we have to put our differences aside, Tony. If it’s really that important.”

He was right. Of course he was.

“And if they annoy you too much you can always screw them and do it alone. They came to you after all.”

“For this I actually need him too. For once my own abilities aren’t enough.” It wasn’t as hard to admit as he thought it would be. He wouldn’t even know there was a problem without Strange’s soul spell thing.

“Wow, I definitely want that printed on a plate,” Rhodey said, thoroughly impressed. “Wait, we’re not talking about Doom, are we? That guy’s mad and you shouldn’t work with him on anything.”

Tony snorted. “No, it’s not him. I respect Victor’s work even if I don’t approve of his aesthetic choice. He is way too dramatic and phantom of the opera like.”

He deliberately didn’t mention that Strange was the person in question, because he didn’t count as one of the good guys either. Quite the opposite in fact.

While War Machine had never joined one of the matches they had with Strange, the wizards had managed to cross all branches of the military often enough to be on their list.

“Alright, I guess I’ll continue working on the project. But what do I do if he keeps pushing all my buttons?” Tony asked.

“You’re smart and very petty. I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

“That I am.” Tony smirked. “Thanks platypus. You’re the best.”

“I know. Call me before you come into a situation where you need to hide a body.”

“No promises.”

When Tony ended the call he felt much better already.

~~

When he pulled up in front of his mansion, Strange was already waiting for him. The speck of blue looked so very out of place and the first thing out of Tony’s mouth was, “Do you ever wear something normal?”

Stephen looked down at himself. "This is practical and comfortable." He sounded reserved, as if he was trying not to provoke another argument.

Tony led him into the house. “We are doing science here. This isn’t a magic field trip. Jeans and a t-shirt would be sufficient.”

He didn’t get an answer but when turned around the sorcerer had changed his outfit at some point in the last five seconds, and was now wearing dark pants and a burgundy shirt under his cape. Tony looked up and down on him, but it was hard to tell what he thought about it under the dark-tinted sunglasses he was wearing. And boy, was he glad he was wearing them. He had never seen the sorcerer out of his ancient robes and he hadn’t been prepared for it. Who would have thought that the wizard could rock a normal outfit?

Instead of commenting on it, he changed the topic.

“We should set some ground rules.” They probably should have done this on the very first day. Strange gestured to him to continue.

“You know Jarvis is monitoring everything. We’re working together on this but he will tell me if you do something suspicious. He has the authority to intervene at his own discretion should he deem it necessary. Besides coming and leaving through the kitchen, I don’t want any portals in my house. I don’t want to see any portals anywhere near me at all. And I want you never ever under any circumstances meddling with my head with your magic.” Tony stressed that last point.

Stephen had already realized that these were all sensitive issues for the engineer. There was nothing in the rules that he hadn't expected.

“What about emergencies regarding the portals?” he asked.

Tony thought about it. “It has to be a world threatening or a life-or-death scenario to make it an emergency. Since both didn’t happen on a Wednesday, I doubt it will be on future Wednesdays.”

Stephen accepted it with a nod.

“So, what are your rules?” Tony asked the man. “Don’t look so surprised. This goes both ways.”

It didn’t happen often that Stephen was surprised by someone’s request. Especially since he was trapped in a time loop, he was used to knowing exactly what everyone was going to say. Or at least able to predict it vaguely. But he hadn’t been prepared for this. In fact, he had been ready to comply with almost any demands Tony would have made, simply because he needed his help. And Tony didn’t ask for this. He was there because Stephen had pulled him into this mess. Right now, Tony was looking at him expectantly, so the sorcerer pondered a moment about the question.

“Since you stopped forgetting everything, I will be more guarded to certain information regarding the order of the Mystic Arts to protect it. You’ll understand that some details are too sensible to share with someone who will probably continue to fight me after this is over.”

“That’s not really a rule, but sure. It’s NDA 101.”

Still, it was the only thing that came to Stephen's mind right then. When he added nothing more, Tony shrugged and led him to his lab downstairs. Most of the tools and equipment he had taken with him when he moved to New York, but it was still fully equipped.

"We should do that bonding spell, before we miss the slot," he reminded Strange. It should be funny that he of all people, Tony Stark, hater of all magic, had to remind his enemy Doctor Strange himself, a certified wizard – or whatever – of a spell that affected them both. Voluntarily. But somehow he had a feeling that after their argument earlier, Strange would be reluctant to even bring it up, let alone perform the spell.

And he was right, because Strange stopped looking around the lab and turned his head to Tony instead. “Are you sure you still want to? I understand if you changed your mind. This is a unique situation.”

For someone called a villain he was very considerate here. Once more Tony wondered what their lives would be like, if maybe they had met under different circumstances. They worked pretty well together, aside from having different opinions on magic. And the sorcerer definitely looked handso-… nope he wouldn’t go there. Not now. Not here. Not at all, with any luck.

“Now you are repeating yourself every day. I told you: I don’t like it if someone messes with my head. I want to remember what I did and what happened. I did my fair share of blacking out in college and in my early twenties. Been there, done that, moving on. If you ask me the same question again tomorrow, I’ll be pissed.”

Strange looked relieved. He didn't admit it, but he was glad that Tony had decided to stay with him. It had only been two days, but it felt like the engineer was now the only thing keeping him sane. If he was honest, he loved the fact that Tony was unpredictable. Had always been, but now even more so.

Hearing Stark’s reasons, he understood. He didn’t know what happened to the engineer that caused him to guard his mind so ferociously, but as a brain doctor and someone who relied on his own mind a lot, it wasn’t hard to imagine how frightening and confusing it must be to not remember something so big as whole days. He had presented Tony with his own formulas and theories, but Stark had lacked the context and the path to get there. It must have seemed to him as if a thought that he hadn't even had yet, but which he knew was his, had been extracted from his brain and then served to him as a finished dish. Or as if someone else had taken over his body and his mind for a while and then just left, while Tony never noticed that someone had been there in the first place.

They settled the bond before they plugged in the scanners. There were still a few hours till midnight in New York, even more in California.

“We should do a world wide scan too. You know, just to rule out that someone built a time loop machine,” Tony explained.

Strange raised an eyebrow. “Your scanner has that kind of range?”

“No, but I can link it to my satellite and cover at least 65 percent of Earth with it. We’re doing the other side tomorrow. It will take a few seconds longer to give me the results, but with some luck I can take a look at them before we get reset.”

It was as good a plan as any and they started to work on it. Well, mostly Tony, since he was the engineering expert.

He was deep in thought, focusing on the equations on the Starkpad in front of him when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hm?”He turned his head, expecting to see Strange. But instead the Cloak of Levitation floated in front of him.

“What?” Tony asked.

Hesitantly, the cloak held out a corner to him like a hand. Was it meant as a peace offering?

Fine, if it meant that it would be less rude to him.

Tony raised his own hand and shook the offered fabric.

Satisfied, the cloak then returned to Strange's shoulders. The sorcerer didn’t acknowledge the exchange, nor did he look up from his own work, but there was a small smile on his face.

_____________________

“So, it is linked to the Pacific Time Zone,” Strange greets him the next Wednesday morning in his kitchen. With a flick of his hand, Stephen conjured a bag from a bakery he had stopped by. Today felt like a breakfast day. He placed it on the kitchen table and Tony went to inspect it immediately.

“Yepp.” Tony popped the ‘p’, before he took a bite of a biscuit. It was filled with chocolate. “And, unfortunately, there’s no sign of a big time loop machine so far.”

“Would have been too convenient.”

“Yes, we don’t want to make it too easy, do we? Let’s work on breaking out of the loop. Where did you get these?” He waved the biscuit in his hand.

“Paris.”

“At least the Parisians are good for something,” Tony remarked, taking another bite.

Equipped with tea, coffee and the bakery's bag, they went into the lab. They filled Jarvis in on what was going on and then started working.

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 3.5k | Previous | Next

Chapter 3: What wizards do

Starting from scratch every day sucked.

But then again, with each new Wednesday that began, they could discard another theory and hypothesis. So in that sense, failure was a success, as it narrowed down their remaining options. Eventually they would find the right path. Hopefully.

_____________________

“What do you even do? I mean your wizard circle. Most of the bad guys we fight are pretty forward with their agenda. But you… there’s no pattern, no ultimate goal we know. You rob seemingly randomly, meddle with political and military business alike, and we traced several ‘accidents’ back to you. But then, sometimes, you save people? Don’t think we don’t know about that.”

Stephen wasn’t sure how much he should reveal. He wasn’t exactly sworn to secrecy, but he also never talked to outsiders about the purpose of the order.

Christine knew a bit of it. Fragments she collected during medical emergencies. Just enough to not ask questions she didn’t want answers to.

When he didn’t say anything, Tony continued. “I take your silence to that question means it’s something I won’t like and that I should ask myself if I really should help you with this.”

He might not be wrong about not liking the answer, Stephen thought. But at that moment he decided to tell him anyway. He wasn’t sure why. Why should he be concerned about what Stark thinks about his motives?

“We are protecting the timeline.”

“The what?”

Stephen put his Starkpad down. “Are you familiar with Brand’s theory of decision branches?”

“You mean that every decision everyone ever faces is like a parting of ways? Depending on the decision made there’s a different version of the future.”

The sorcerer nodded. “We – the order of the Mystic Arts – make sure that the future is steered in a certain direction.”

Tony gaped at him. “If you influence decisions, you’re stripping people of their free will!” This was bigger than he had thought, and he tried to wrap his mind around it.

“No,” Stephen clarified. “We don’t care if you can’t decide between ham or beef on your sandwich. But if it happens that a lost super soldier will be needed in an upcoming battle, we will make sure that we stay in the ninety-five percent of the futures in which he will be found.”

“Bullshit! You didn’t know where Cap was.”

“You’re right, we didn’t. But we knew what needed to happen for him to be rediscovered. On this we just observed; but in other cases we need to intervene.”

He didn’t mention that the Ancient One probably also knew about the kidnapping of Tony Stark and his whereabouts in Afghanistan. And that she let it happen anyway because Iron Man was a key element for what was to come.

That had been long before Stephen ever heard about a place named Kamar-Taj.

Sometimes he wondered where his own car accident fit in all this. But he didn’t think too hard about it. He had made his peace with it and had adapted to his new life.

Tony still wasn’t convinced. “How can you know about the different futures?” He glanced at the golden necklace and hit the mark once again. “Time magic?”

“Yes. It allows me to watch all possibilities of the future.”

Tony clenched his fists, ignoring the screwdriver he was still holding, and narrowed his eyes. “You’re basically telling me, you’re playing god and get to decide which future you like most. Sounds like an awfully lot of power for one single man to me!”

Stephen glared right back at him, raising his voice. “Do you think I asked for this? I just wanted to find a cure for my hands. But then my mentor died and I happened to have a solution to get rid of a world consuming entity, and coincidentally I was able to use the Eye without accidentally destroying the whole time continuum! And after that I filled in for the ones we lost during the fight. This,” he pointed at his chest where the Eye of Agamotto rested, “is bigger than me. It’s not about personal favoritism; about who is the next president or whoever. A threat is coming, whether we like it or not. Whether we’re prepared or not. It’s about no less than half of the life of the whole universe. Every planet out there will be concerned. So, yes, if I have to send a mugger into a side street to make sure the mantle of Batman will be picked up in the future, I will do that.”

Stephen had gotten carried away with his words and revealed more than he had actually intended. He was angry and tired. With a burden on his shoulders he hadn't asked for, but tried his best to hold anyway. At the end of his rant he wasn't sure if his words were solely meant for Stark, or if he did need to convince himself to some degree that he was doing the right thing.

The hurt that had bled through from between the words had taken Tony by surprise, and he realized that the expression that always lingered in those blue eyes was the mark of a man who had seen too much. Of a man who cared deeply, even if he tried to convince himself he didn’t.

Tony recognized it, because he found the same expression whenever he looked into a mirror.

“Half of the universe, hm? Can’t argue against that – if you tell the truth.”

“I do.” Stephen slouched in his chair. He yearned for rest. Not just sleep but being stripped from all responsibilities. But he knew that that day was far away.

“I also can’t believe you brought a Batman reference into this.”

It was an attempt at a joke and to make amends. Stephen acknowledged it with a hint of a smile.

Silence spread and they turned back to their individual tasks. Stephen had already said more than he wanted to and Tony thought about the words he had heard.

“Can’t your necklace tell you a future in which we get out of this loop?” he asked after a while.

“Unfortunately, I can’t seem to access it during the loop, which is highly irritating.”

The more Tony learned about it, the more he got the feeling this was a magic problem after all. Then something occurred to him: something was coming. Could it be…?

“That threat you mentioned… does it come from space?”

“Yes. As I said: the whole universe will be affected.”

“Hm.” The engineer pondered. It could be what he had seen when the Scarlet Witch had meddled with his mind.

But if he were to finally know for sure it was true and to not be able to do anything about it currently… whatever he did, it would be gone tomorrow. And he was already working on one problem that wouldn’t let him sleep. He didn’t need to add more nightmares and panic attacks to it. He would talk to the wizard after this groundhog day was over. It might even be important enough to use the IOU he was being promised. Even if only to know if the vision he’d seen had been true or false. For his own peace of mind.

_____________________

Twelve days in they had collected a lot of data but were still short of a solution.

Tony learned that even if his body was rested in the morning, having his mind working nonstop was not healthy. He was used to pulling all-nighters, but it felt like his tiredness had reached a new level.

Frustrated, Tony buried his face in his hands. He wasn't used to being stuck in a project, and the fact that he couldn't talk to anyone else about it except the wizard didn't make it any better.

Someone put a blanket around his shoulders and when he looked up, he realized it was the cloak that was hugging him sympathetically.

At first the engineer tensed up at that realization, but then he patted the red fabric. “Thanks, buddy.” It wasn’t really helping but he figured it was the thought that counted.

Strange looked at him in sympathy. They had just performed the spell to create the bond between their souls earlier; the warm tingle still echoed in his chest. It was a familiar feeling by now.

“You should take a break tomorrow, Tony. Why don’t you sleep in and meet with some friends?”

“What about-…?”

“It can wait for another day. I’ll do some meditating and meet you before midnight.”

A break sounded really fucking good. Tony already felt guilty because he had canceled his meeting with Peter so often. Even if he knew that it didn’t matter because the boy didn’t remember it.

The look on Stephen’s face when talking to him was gentle and Tony realized that the sorcerer cared. It warmed his heart and made his stomach flip. Uh – oh. The magic man shouldn’t care. And Tony shouldn’t like the thought of Strange looking out for him.

Tony definitely needed that day away from him!

_____________________

It was weird not being woken up by Jarvis' voice stating the words he had probably memorized for life by now.

Between midnight and waking up it felt as if he at least got some sleep and when he looked at the clock it was three hours later than when Strange usually showed up.

“Good morning, Sir,” Jarvis greeted him as soon as Tony moved out of the bed. “I’ll prepare a coffee for you.”

“Thanks. What day is it?” The engineer asked, just to make sure.

“Wednesday the fifth. You have a missed call from Pearson and Specter regarding the launch of the Stark hearing pro aid. You also have a meeting with Miss Potts scheduled at eleven and you told Peter to drop by after school.”

“Move everything that doesn’t need my immediate attention to tomorrow. And invite Rhodey for lunch.” Today he wanted to have his family around him.

“Of course, Sir.”

~~

The meeting with Pepper was very boring. Tony loved it. He was signing papers and they were discussing some new branches of SI and when to launch the next Starkphone update.

It was a constant problem that Tony developed the technology he was offering to the market far too quickly and every now and then he needed to be reminded that people needed to adjust to and accept change. Those things weren’t to rush.

Tony couldn’t relate to that but he trusted Pepper as CEO to make the right decisions.

Rhodey dropped by for lunch in his armor and brought tacos. It was faster than being stuck in New York’s traffic, plus he hadn’t exactly been in town.

They sat on the roof and listened to the sirens and the honking in the streets below.

“Remember that project I told you about?” Tony asked his friend after taking a sip of his soda. “The one with the guy I don’t really like?”

Rhodey looked at him, knitting his brows together. “No. What project? And what guy?”

“We talked about it, Rhodey bear. I called you from the pla-…” Then it hit him. When he had been on the plane on his way to Malibu, he had wanted to say. On another Wednesday.

Of course Rhodey didn’t remember.

“I meant to call you,” Tony steered back. “Probably fell asleep before I had the chance.”

“You? Asleep willingly in the middle of the day?” Rhodey shook his head. “How exhausted have you been? I thought Jarvis kept an eye on you to keep you from pulling all nighters.”

Tony shrugged, an easy smile on his face he didn’t really feel. “He tries his best. You know how I am.” He took another taco and offered Rhodey the last one.

“Tell me about the project,” his friend said. “And since when are you working with partners…wait, we’re not talking about Doom, are we? That guy’s mad and you shouldn’t work with him on anything.”

It was like having a déjà-vu. Tony answered evasively and changed the topic soon after. Rhodey noticed that he was hiding something but he didn’t push it yet.

Fortunately – he would forget it again tomorrow.

Peter arrived in the afternoon long after Rhodey had left. It was great to have the bundle of energy around.

He talked a lot, about school, his friends, and last night’s patrol.

Tony just listened to his rambles while they plugged the Spider-Man suit into Jarvis and ran a check-up – everything was fine besides a small bug which was quickly fixed.

Then Peter told him about May and their trip to the planetarium last weekend. That had been only a few days ago, but to Tony it seemed like weeks had passed. Because for him it had.

He sent Peter home early in the evening, because he knew May would wait with dinner and also because he didn’t know when Strange would come over.

Afterwards, when he was alone in his lab he had nothing left to do for the day. He just took a look at his workspace, where he had spent so much time with the wizard.

A terrible thought occurred to him: what if Strange didn’t come? If he deemed it best to continue searching alone for a solution.

Tony would forget everything.

Some would call it a blessing not to know but Tony had never been one of those. He had always been pro knowing.

Oddly enough, thinking about not remembering Strange tightened his chest.

They were enemies. At least they used to be. But now he’d gotten to know the wizard. And what he had seen intrigued him.

He wasn't sure that he approved of what Strange told him about the timeline and his work and Tony would most definitely not stop fighting him if necessary. But the things that had used to infuriate him, he now found charming. The way the stoic sorcerer expressed his opinion with a single raised eyebrow; his sharp wit and of course his intelligence with a hint of arrogance that was absolutely legitimate.

Strange was hard working, dedicated and had an exceptional mind. It was a dangerous combination.

Tony should know better by now than to get distracted by a handsome face and sharp cheekbones.

There were still two hours left until midnight. Tony had never been good at being patient.

If Strange didn’t come there was no way for Tony to contact him. He didn’t know about his whereabouts, just that he was located somewhere in central New York.

“Sir,” Jarvis spoke up. “Doctor Strange has just appeared in the kitchen.”

There was disapproval in his voice. Tony had instructed the A.I. and told him of their expected visitor. But that didn’t mean Jarvis had to like it.

“Tell him to come to the lab.”

There was a surprised pause from Jarvis. Then, “Are you sure?”. Not many people were allowed into Tony’s private lab.

“Absolutely. I told you: time loop. You can scold me all about it tomorrow.” If Thursday ever arrived.

Shortly after the door opened and Strange stepped in. Ever since their trip to Malibu he had traded his robes for casual clothes, which still seemed out of place to Tony – even though he had suggested them himself. But still, today there was something different about his outfit.

“Where’s Levi?” At some point Tony had gotten on a first name basis with the piece of fabric.

“They stayed home. I just came by for the spell.”

Although he had long since stopped questioning Tony's willingness to stay in the time loop, his voice sounded uncertain today. As if Tony had changed his mind after a day off.It was probably a justified fear.

“Sure, let’s do it.”

By now Tony knew the movements the spell required by heart. The yellowish glowing thread that connected them. The warm tingle that resonated with something deep inside of him.

Relief flooded through him. He knew he would remember.

Strange had a similar expression on his face, but for a different reason. Then he turned to leave. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Do you have somewhere to be in the next…”, Tony glanced at his watch, “hour and a half?”

The sorcerer stopped and shook his head.

“Do you wanna grab a beer and watch a show? I bet we can find something you haven’t binged yet in all of the free time the loop gave you.” It was a lighthearted joke because it wasn’t hard to guess that entertainment hadn’t been on Strange’s priority list.

“I don’t own a TV, so you’re probably right.”

“You don’t… don’t tell me you were serious about not having a phone. I thought you were just reluctant to give your number.” Tony shook his head in disbelief. “Do you write your letters with ink on parchment in the light of oil lamps? Or is that too advanced already?”

Strange made an amused noise. “We do have electricity and I’m happy to inform you that we own a laptop.”

“A laptop? Like in one? For how many people?”

“Wong and I share.”

“Unbelievable,” Tony muttered.

He took the sorcerer upstairs into his living room where they got comfortable on the couch. Almost the entire opposite wall served as a screen. Tony barely used it himself. Mostly for movie nights with family and friends.

They agreed on Doctor House and watched until midnight.

_____________________

“Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

“Clear the day, J.”

_____________________

Somewhere in between, Strange became Stephen and Stark became Tony. They still argued almost every single day.

_____________________

“We could order pizza,” Tony suggested, going through the take out delivery services in central New York.

“We had that yesterday.”

“Sushi?”

“How about soup?” Stephen offered instead. They hadn’t had that yet.

“Who eats soup when they’re not sick?”

“Soup is a perfectly normal meal.”

“Mhm…”

_____________________

“I think we’re friends now.”

“God, don’t say that.”

_____________________

Pepper arrived with the elevator. Jarvis didn’t announce her because, for one, she was family, and secondly, he was very suspicious of what was going on in the lab.

Pepper stopped dead in her tracks as soon as she saw who else was present.

“Can you pass me the tongs?” Tony asked the sorcerer who didn’t even look up from his own work and just made a gesture whereupon the tool floated to the engineer. Tony picked it out of the air. “Thanks.”

“You should consider wearing gloves,” Stephen suggested. “You have a fully equipped lab and still manage to ignore any safety rules.

“Since when do you guys tolerate each other?” Pepper’s voice made them both freeze and they looked at her, as if they had both been caught doing something sensitive.

Tony had forgotten to clear the day. At least he thought so. He should be used to it by now, since he had to repeat it every single day. It was somewhere between day 45 and 52. Tony had lost track of time. One day bled into another and it was always Wednesday. He wasn’t used to repeating any request to Jarvis though. Normally, Jarvis knew more than him.

“‘Tolerate’ is a strong word. We’re working together on a problem,” Tony said while Stephen opted for the smarter option: staying silent.

Pepper put her hands on her hips. “Are you solving that problem or are you two creating it?”

“Haha, funny. We’re-…” Tony suddenly had an idea and he turned to the sorcerer. “What if you’re the problem?”

“Pardon me?” Stephen sounded confused as well as insulted.

“You’re the only one remembering the time loop. It starts with you waking up and ending with you at midnight.” Tony explained. “So whether this is caused by magic or by science: it is linked to you.”

Pepper watched their interaction with a healthy amount of wariness. “Jarvis, what is happening?” she asked the A.I.

“Sir said they are stuck in a time loop and the day is repeating over and over for them.”

“Have you any proof for that?”

“Negative, besides that they seem pretty friendly with each other.”

Pepper's face hardened. She had been there the last time Tony had been working together with magic, and had seen how bad it had ended.

“Tony,” she said louder to get his attention.

He stopped his bickering with the doctor and turned his head to her. “Yes, dear?”

“You know he,” she nodded to the sorcerer, “attacked you at the fundraiser gala just a few days ago?”

Stephen had indeed. But that seemed a lifetime ago.

“I know what it looks like, Pep. But I assure you: it’s alright. Everything is fine, really,” Tony reassured her but his words only raised her distrust.

“How can you be sure he is not messing with your head?”

“I am not,” Stephen protested immediately.

“Pepper, please.” Tony made a step towards her, raising his hands in a soothing gesture.

Pepper retreated a step backwards, not trusting anything that was going on here. “Jarvis, call the Avengers,” she told the Jarvis. “There’s been a breach in security.”

“Pepper no! Jarvis, don’t!”

But it was too late. Jarvis had basically just been waiting for an excuse to intervene.

The Avengers assembled promptly. No need to mention that the day didn’t end well.

[space-mermaid-writing]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers. Let’s spread the self-love 💗

This looks fun! I'll only pick fics I wrote in English tho. (fyi I have like 50 more in German. But those are old and from another fandom)

1. The witchling and the god [Loki / Witch!Reader] AO3 link Why a favorite: I started writing it because of a simple idea. It was never meant to become that long and deep. But I really like how the fic turned out. A pleasant surprise :D

2. The black cat with blue eyes [IronStrange] AO3 Link Why a favorite: Stephen in cat form (temporary) and a lot of trauma. Do I have to say more? I put so much analysis in this.

3. You don’t always have to be okay [Doctor Strange / Reader] Why a favorite: Short but soft. I wrote it in the night; that always means I put a lot of myself in it. This oneshot is a comfort blanket that gently wraps around you.

4. Cuddles [Alpha!Loki / Omega!Reader] Why a favorite: what can I say? I don't remember why I even first started reading a/b/o...maybe as a joke, maybe because I was curious what the fuss was about. Joke's on me: it became a favorite trope of mine. 'Cuddles' is the only a/b/o related thing I've ever written but I'd love to explore that verse more in the future.

5. In space nobody hears you scream [Mirror! Leonard McCoy] AO3 Link Why a favorite: Bones is my favorite Star Trek character in all timelines. But what if he was slightly unhinged? What if everyone was slightly unhinged? But Bones, Kirk and Spock would still strike some kind of unlikely friendship? I love what I wrote in this peace. Especially the banter between Bones and Kirk.

After some consideration I deemed these my favorites. I will now continue to pass the message on :)

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 2.4k | Previous

Author's Note: This is the last chapter :)

Chapter 7: “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

A long and frustrated noise of Tony got their attention. He took another deep breath to regain what was left of his countenance, before he finally returned to them. “I think I’m ready to continue this conversation.” He eyed the Ancient One, whose glowing was fading. “You don’t look so good.”

She looked down to her own hands, seeing it too. “I’m afraid it is time for me to go. It was good seeing you again, Stephen. Don’t be too hard on yourself.”

The projection of her became weaker and weaker and flickered before she was gone completely. Stephen stared at the empty space, deep in thoughts. He felt so many things, happy and sad and so very very guilty.

Then Tony cleared his throat. “Can we return to…” he gestured to their bodies. “I really need to make sure I’m not actually dead.”

“Of course.” Stephen straightened his shoulders and turned towards him. “Close your eyes, focus on the feeling of your body.”

Tony did as instructed, but frowned. “How is this supposed to-…”

Before he could finish the sentence, Stephen gave him a push of magic with the flat of his hand against Toy’s forehead that forced the engineer back into his body. It wasn’t as polite, but was easier and quicker than giving the man a magic lesson in astral projecting he was pretty sure Tony wasn’t interested in. He followed suit.

Tony gasped and opened his eyes. It felt like he was emerging from water. He was not fond of that feeling.

In an instant he was on his feet and moving. Looking at his hands he made sure he wasn’t transparent anymore but very solid. He patted his arms, legs and face; just to be sure. It did calm him a bit, but when his eyes met Stephen’s they were still haunted by what just happened.

“That was… something. Let's not repeat that until further notice.”

The sorcerer just nodded, watching Tony. He knew the engineer was an expressive person, who processed things by getting them out of his system.

“So, that was your mentor. Did she tell you how to get out?” Tony asked.

“She told me everything I need to know.”

“Alright, great. Do it then. You should get out of here.”

There was a sudden distance between them. Stephen felt the need to pull Tony into his arms and he took a step forward. “Tony…”

The engineer retreated the same length. “I mean it. Get out of here. End this whole thing before I have time to have an existential crisis.” Tony took another step backwards, before he turned sideways and threw his hands in the air. “I mean you’ve got no point in staying here. This isn’t real. None of this has been.”

Ah yes, there it was. The existential crisis was already fully in motion. How could something that wasn’t real feel so real?

The cloak moved onto his shoulders and gave him a comforting hug. Stephen followed more hesitantly, as he wasn’t sure if he was truly welcome. When Tony didn’t protest, he crowded his personal space and lifted Tony’s head gently with his shaking hands on his cheeks.

“This doesn’t have to end.”

“Yes, it does,” Tony’s words were no more than a whisper. “We’ve always known that our time… this was limited. I just didn’t think it would be this final.”

It was true, but Stephen didn’t want to hear it. “Now that I know what the problem is, I’m sure I can find a way to break the loop. I’ll gladly stay here – either at your side or away but in this possible future. So you will get to grow old.”

Tony teared up. Stephen shouldn’t offer this. It was too much. “Don’t say that. You don’t know me. I don’t know me either. I don’t even know if I’m not just a version you made up. If this is just your imagination. I don’t…”

“When I’m watching possible futures, I have no influence on the persons’ behavior. I’m just doing that: watching. You are yourself.”

“But still, I’m not real.”

“You are a possible version.”

The sorcerer didn’t understand. Tony sighed quietly, taking Stephen's hands into his and pushing them down from his face. “Why are you offering? This is just a simulation. A test run. You need to get back to your life. There is a Tony Stark out there, waiting for you.”

“I like this Tony Stark right here in front of me.” Stephen had gotten to know the Tony behind the facade. The man was funny and charming and had a heart way too big for this world. And while these were universal traits of Tony Stark, the one in the actual present still saw him as a villain and would act hostile towards Stephen.

Stephen didn’t want that.

Tony saw it in his face: Stephen wouldn’t leave voluntarily.

Not because he was delusional and couldn’t differ between what was reality and… whatever this was. But because he was a lonely man, who found a place where he felt loved; where he wasn’t alone anymore.

Tony shoved his still very present existential crisis deep down, bottled it up and replaced it with determination. He knew what he had to do.

He could go the anger route and try to get him to rage quit. Blaming Stephen would be easy, even if hurtful.

But the sorcerer would probably see right through that one. And Tony didn’t want to hurt him deliberately; even if it was for his own sake.

No, anger wouldn’t work. But making him think he will help would. With some guilt sprinkled in it.

“I’d hate it,” Tony confessed and it wasn’t even a lie. “Living and knowing that this world isn’t real… I would despise my life and question everything. Nothing would matter anymore, Stephen. Even with you at my side, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be enough.

Stephen's shoulders sagged. “You don’t have to know. Without the bond you would forget that. But you will live.” It was a last attempt to win a lost find. He knew it.

Tony shook his head. “You know I’d hate that even more. And even if I forgot, you would know every time you look at me. It wouldn’t be the same.” It was a bluff, he wasn’t actually so sure about that. But the deep sigh the sorcerer let out told him that he had hit the mark.

Stephen clenched his jaw and bit his lip, but he couldn’t hide the sorrow in his eyes.

Tony gave him his best fake smile. Not the PR one, that was bright and flashy.

No, it was a quiet one, reserved for family and friends. One, no one ever had figured out was fake. It was too close to his real one. Reassuring and gentle. Even though Tony felt quite the opposite of that. But for Stephen's sake he pulled himself together.

“Please, Stephen. Do me this favor. See it as the big IOU you promised me. Don’t make me live a life that won’t ever be.”

The sorcerer's resistance crumbled. Still, “I’m not sure I can stop this just like that. I mean I hadn’t even been aware of what this was.” And creating a bond with Tony, that was literally made to keep the both of them together, would make the task considerably more difficult.

“You’re the Sorcerer Supreme.” Tony encouraged him and ran his fingers through Stephen’s white streaks. The sorcerer leaned down to kiss him, but Tony stepped back, denying him this intimacy. “Besides,” he said instead, “I need you to do something when you’re back out.”

“Anything.”

“You told me your timeline will face a threat from space. I need you to go to me… to Tony Stark and talk to him about it. He might know something.”

His words actually surprised Stephen. “What do you mean? What do you know?”

“I wanted to talk to you about it after this is over. But I don’t want to spill the details in case you are wrong and his and mine’s minds don’t line up. But it is very important that you check that. Can you do that for me? Please?”

Stephen answered with a single, stern nod. As if he could ever resist Tony’s big brown doe eyes asking for anything that was within his powers.

Good, Tony thought. That task would help the sorcerer focus on his return. And it was an opportunity for him and that other Tony Stark to talk; outside of their battles. It was all Tony could do.

“Do you want to go see someone before… I go?” Stephen asked him.

Tony swallowed hard at the thought of Peter, Pepper, Rhodey and Happy. The prospect of never seeing his family again hurt him immensely.

“No.” His voice sounded hoarse and he cleared his throat. “I’d rather be over with this. What do you need in order to do this?”

“Really not much.” He could do it right here. It would be like meditating. But instead of clearing his mind, he needed to find his way back to his own world.

Stephen glanced uncertainly at the engineer. “I understand if you want to leave.” He really wasn’t good with sendoffs.

And Tony considered the option. But he didn’t like the thought of spending his last remaining time alone. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to stick around.” He saw the look on Stephen's face. “This isn’t a goodbye. You will see me again.”

He winked at him but even for him it felt hollow.

They stood in front of each other and looked at each other. Both men were unsure what to do. There was so much and yet nothing they had to say to each other. In the end, it was Tony who moved first, backing away to give Stephen some space to do his thing. The sorcerer didn't stop him.

Instead he sat down, at the same spot as earlier, in a familiar meditating pose. He tried to shake away that heavy numbness that had taken possession of him ever since the Ancient One filled him in.

He controlled his breathing in order to concentrate.

It proved difficult to get into the right mind space. He felt the closeness of Tony, even though the man was on the other side of the room, sliding down the wall into a sitting position. The engineer’s face was no longer able to hold his mask and he was glad that Stephen had closed his eyes.

For a moment, Stephen considered staying and just letting Tony forget about him. But he would never be able to look him in the eye again.

He moved his finger as if to close the Eye of Agamotto, which lay still on his chest. Searching for the awareness of his own, real body – not this one right here – turned out to be quite difficult. He had to force himself not to glance over at Tony.

Then he noticed the smallest of connections to somewhere else. If he hadn't known what to look for, he would have missed it.

It was like a small thread. He hung onto it and followed it.

~~

Stephen opened his eyes wide, panting. His vision was blurred and when he blinked, he realized there were tears. His body felt exhausted even though not much time could have passed since he had sat down.

He was back in his study in the Sanctum. Alone. The Eye of Agamotto lay open on his chest, still glowing. Stephen closed it with a gesture.

The cloak helped him get on his legs. They felt more wobbly than usual when he watched the future timelines.

The feeling of the bond still echoed in his chest, although this soul had never experienced it. But he noticed the difference, the absence of it and he realized just then how solid the bond had become in that future. Stephen longed to have it back.

He stretched his limbs, which were stiff from sitting, and stumbled towards the hallway. There he met Wong, who was on his way to the library.

“Wong! What day is it?” he asked with a conspicuous amount of urgency.

“Tuesday.” Wong raised a brow. That wasn’t a weird question for a sorcerer with the ability to manipulate time. But the sighing of relief that followed was. “Are you alright?”

Stephen vaguely remembered the Tuesday before the time loop started. Being back helped his memory, while the future he saw slowly faded like a dream. He recalled that on this particular day he went to check the timeline in order to make plans for their future course.

Stephen had never been more relieved that it wasn’t Wednesday. He also never answered Wong’s question.

_____________________

Stephen still waited until Thursday to visit Stark. Just to be sure.

_____________________

Tony woke up to the voice of Jarvis. “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

Tony opened his eyes wide. "What?" He was sure he had misheard or that Jarvis was joking with him. Only he knew that Jarvis would never make a joke like that.

“He is sitting at the table and said he won’t leave until you talk to him. He said it’s urg-…”

Before the A.I. had spoken, Tony had already jumped out of bed and hurried off.

“Calibrate Mark 43.”

“Already on stand-by, waiting for your command.”

Jarvis was great.

Tony slowed his steps as he approached the kitchen. Strange had nerves to break into his home. He changed his smart watch he was always wearing to a gauntlet. With his suit as backup and Jarvis to watch his back he felt safe enough. This was his terrain and Strange would regret the day he intruded into his sacred home.

Tony stopped in the open doorway.

Strange was indeed sitting at the table, his hands resting on the top of the table. He looked… surprisingly at home. For once he didn’t wear his blue robes but dark pants and an ordinary looking sweater under that weird red ‘it’s a cloak’ cape. As if he had been over visiting dozens of times.

It was not what Tony had expected. Still, he wasn’t stupid enough to let his guard down and his gauntlet was still pointed at him.

“Hello Stark,” the sorcerer greeted him with the smallest of smiles. Tony thought that the man wasn’t acting wary enough for someone who was currently sitting in his arch-nemesis’ home.

"How did you get in here?"

Strange just chuckled, as if Tony made a good joke, and nodded at a paper bag from a french bakery sitting on the kitchen table in front of him. "I brought breakfast."

This didn't reassure Tony one bit, nor did it make him fret less about the sorcerer’s unannounced visit. "You have about ten seconds before I will blast your face off," he announced.

"We need to talk," Stephen told him. “What do you know about Thanos?”

[space-mermaid-writing]

Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags:enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 4.3k | Previous | Next

Chapter 6: Soul-Bonded

Stephen woke up and stared at the ceiling. He was in his Sanctum’s bedroom in his own bed. He hadn’t been fast enough to finish the spell.

How could he forget? He had been too captivated by Tony; too distracted. Now he paid the price for not focusing on the task.

Without the bond, Tony wouldn’t remember, and Stephen had to start anew, trying to convince the Avenger to help him.

They were back at square one.

His fingers stroked the crook of his neck where he had felt a bruise building yesterday when Tony had been too enthusiastic with his teeth.

There was nothing now. No mark. He didn’t feel sore.This body had never been touched this way by Tony. Never tasted him.All that was left was the memory. And Stephen was the only one who had it.

Frustrated, he turned onto his belly and shoved his face into his pillow. He refrained from screaming into it, but just barely.

When he finally got up, his movements felt mechanical. As if rehearsed. His mornings always followed the same pattern. He changed into his robes and went into the kitchen, like every morning. There he met Wong, with whom he had the same interactions as every Wednesday. Stephen could predict everything.

He realized that he couldn't go to the Avenger’s tower today. He wouldn't be able to stand Tony. Not if he didn’t remember. More than that; he was being hostile towards him. Not after what happened yesterday.

Another day off wouldn’t harm anyone.

He should work on a solution, but there was no one left to judge. He was all alone in the vastness of people.

He disguised the cloak as a scarf and left the Sanctum through a portal.

~~

Stephen wasn’t a sentimental man. Neither had he been when he grew up nor later in his career. He wasn’t one for dwelling in the past, for seeking out places or people he grew apart with.

A lot had changed when he joined the Mystic Arts. He became a different man – or maybe he broke down to his core – his essence – the thing that defined him. And he was built anew.

He had found his roots. Partly old traits, partly new.

So, he didn’t know why, but after some wandering around and going to random places, he found himself outside a small town in Nebraska.

It was raining in Nebraska that Wednesday. And he knew if he went to the farm a mile in the north he would find his father outside anyway, looking after the horses.

Stephen hadn’t been here since he graduated college. And then only to pack the last of his belongings. Maybe it had been a last attempt to fix things with his parents too. But that had failed and he had never looked back.

He turned the other direction and walked through a small forest that was close to the lake that had been so very cruel to him; taking what had been dearest to his heart when he was young.

Stephen knew he only tortured himself coming here, but it felt like he deserved five minutes of self-pity.

A spell prevented him from getting wet. It floated like an invisible disc above his head.

The smell of damp forest was something he had almost forgotten living in a big city. It felt rural, earthy on his tongue. The steady pitter-patter of drops on the leaves was calming in a different way.Stephen wasn’t the typical nature lover but he acknowledged the beauty of it.

The path led him uphill to a cliff that bordered the forest. He had an indescribable view over the landscape from there. No houses, no roads, no humans.

He used to go there with his siblings when they were young. It had always been a place to reflect and to be quiet. To be just together.Today Stephen’s only company was the cloak – and Stephen was thankful to have it.

As if it had read his thoughts, the cloak-scarf patted his cheek.

Returning to this place after all these years, made Stephen wonder what would have been if he hadn’t walked away from his parent’s house. If he would have had a similar career, maybe as a country doctor. Or if he would have taken over the farm.He couldn't see himself there, though. Never had been a fan of that life.

But if he had stayed, he might never have lost his hands. Had never found his way to Kamar-Taj.Had the Ancient One seen that possibility?

Thinking back, Stephen always wanted to become a doctor. After what happened to Donna he had just worked on it with more determination. But the event had also been the reason that Stephen and his parents drifted apart. It had made it easy for Stephen to leave.

It had been an event that set a path for many things.

What if it had only been a means to an end?

Anger rose in Stephen, thinking about that. Surely there had been other ways for him to join the order other than losing his sister!

It was pointless to think about it; it was in the past. There was no way to reverse it.

But still, his inner child that never got completely over it, made him question his role in the order now.

Stephen had spoken the truth when he told Tony that the power he held by directing the timeline was something he didn’t ask for nor he particularly wanted. He accepted it as it was – but sometimes he wondered how different his life could have been.

He wouldn’t have met Tony though. That would have been a shame.

Or maybe they would have met under different circumstances. Not as enemies.

In another lifetime Stephen could imagine that he would have brought Tony to this place to enjoy the view. He had missed his chance in this one.

Stephen wasn’t sure if he could go through everything again, explaining to the Avenger what was going on. Pretending not to know the man the way he did. He wasn’t sure if he could even convince the man to join the loop again anyway. Last time had been an exception. One in a million. Stephen didn’t know how he managed to do it. It had been sheer luck.

The sound of an engine disrupted his thoughts and he looked up, expecting to see a plane in the sky. But instead he noticed something way smaller, that was heading straight towards him.Next thing he knew was the Iron Man armor hovering in front of him.

Stephen looked at him in surprise, especially when the faceplate opened and revealed the Avenger.

“Fancy seeing you here, doc. I didn’t take you for the hit and run type.”

The sorcerer breathed in sharply. Could it be?

“Do you…?” he asked breathlessly, because it shouldn’t be possible. They didn’t manage to place the bond in time.

“Yes, I do. Everything.” Tony found it irritating to talk to him from midair, so he landed on the cliff and stepped out of the armor.

He immediately regretted it, because the rain hit his face. So he ducked under Stephen’s invisible umbrella. “Make some room, will ya? Do you know how long it took-…”

Stephen cupped his face and pressed a kiss on his lips, before he hugged the engineer. His hands were shaking badly, taking in the familiar scent of workshop Tony – Soap, machine oil and coffee.

“I thought I lost you.”

Tony felt a little overwhelmed by this greeting.

He had also been glad that when he woke up it was still Wednesday and that he’d remembered what happened. When the wizard hadn’t shown up he had been worried and set out in search of him. Tony was relieved to find him well and uninjured.This reaction just now just held a lot of emotion he decided to analyze later. Instead, he returned the hug and patted the sorcerer's back, because he felt that the man needed it.

He waited until Stephen pulled back.

“Sorry, I…” Stephen wasn’t exactly sure what he was sorry for. A lot probably.

“It’s fine.” Tony cleared his throat. “So… I’m not complaining, but why do I still have all of my memories?”

That was a good question.

Stephen drew from his magic and a big mandala appeared under their feet, moving upwards and through them; scanning them.

Tony staggered; he still wasn’t comfortable with spells he didn’t recognize. “Hey!”

“It’s just a quick diagnostic spell,” Stephen explained, his focus on the faint glowing on their wrists where the bond normally would manifest. “It seems like the bond is still in place.”

Tony saw it too. “But we didn’t do it. You said we had to redo it daily.”

“Yes, under normal circumstances this is necessary.” The sorcerer made a thoughtful face. “The bond can become stronger if repeated frequently over a longer term. That shouldn’t be the case here since the reset is both physical and magical. But apparently it happened nevertheless.”

“Fortunately, or I would be back to square one. What are the consequences though? Are we bonded permanently now?” Tony sounded way less concerned about it than Stephen would have thought. It was more like an off handed question, simply because he was curious.

“I don’t think so. The link is weak and will still fade over time. It just needs longer for it.”

“Good.” Tony took a look around. “Let's go home, okay? I’m not a fan of the rain,” he complained although he seemed perfectly fine pressed to Stephen under the spell.

The sorcerer could extend its radius, but he liked the way Tony lingered in his personal space.

“Yes,” he agreed anyway. “Just… how did you find me? I never talked about this place?”

Tony chuckled as if he had made a good joke. “Please,” he said, stepping back into his suit. “I’ve been studying your signature for weeks, and I own a satellite. I can track you down anywhere on this planet.

In the past his words would have been a threat, but now they were reassuring.

_____________________

Curious, Tony looked around the Sanctum. Somehow it was exactly as he had expected; and yet different.The cloak slapped his fingers as he tried to take a closer look at a crystal ball on a chest of drawers in the hallway.

“Hey!” He glared at the cloak.

“I told you not to touch anything,” Stephen warned him, who had already gone ahead but now turned to face him.

“Why? Is this thing cursed?”

“No, but that’s the drawer where Wong stashes his secret snacks.”

“It’s not so secret if you know about it.”

But Stephen was already moving again. “And don’t talk to the snakes in the living room.”

Tony hurried to follow him. “You have pet snakes?”

“They are neither pets nor do I ‘have’ them. They just live there.”

The engineer decided to store follow up questions away for later because Wong crossed their way, stepping out of a door. As soon as he saw Tony he stopped and scowled at Stephen.

“You better have a good explanation for why Stark is here.”

Tony found it interesting that the man’s first instinct was to scold Stephen and not threaten Tony.

Stephen remained calm. He had had this conversation a few times before.

“I invited him.”

“Care to explain why?”

Tony intervened because he wasn’t one to stand by in any conversation about his person. “We’re currently experiencing a time loop and trying to break it.”

There were various emotions in a short time on Wong’s usually so stoic face; above all he was surprised and alarmed. He scrutinized both men carefully and their lack of urgency seemed to reassure him that there was no immediate danger.

“I’ll take it, you already-…”

“Discussed this with you and the council of elders? Yes, we browsed all libraries known to us. I even consulted Doctor Voodoo, Doom and Mordo.”

Wong’s eyebrows went up. “How did that go?” he asked at the same time as Tony blurted out, “You know Victor?”

Stephen looked from Wong to Tony and answered the engineer first. “Of course I do. He’s a respected member of the Mystic Arts. Why are you on a first name basis with him?”

Tony snorted. ‘Respected’ wasn’t a word he would use in the same sentence as Victor von Doom. And was that jealousy he heard?

“Because he’s a pain in my ass, that’s why,” he answered.

Stephen looked at Tony sourly, not convinced by it.

Wong clapped his hands once to get their attention and back to the topic. “How did the meeting with Mordo go?” he repeated his prior question.

“Exactly how you would think it would go.” Mediocre at best. He noticed Wong’s eyes wandering to the Eye on his chest. “I tried the time stone. It’s no use,” Stephen said before the other sorcerer could even open his mouth.

“That’s highly-…”

“Concerning, yes. But I also had several hundred reruns without any signs of the universe collapsing, so I think we’re good on that end for now.”

“You could go and-…”

“Nope, we tried that. And also that other thing you have in mind. Several times actually.”

Wong pressed his lips together, somewhat irritated.

There was the hint of a smirk on Stephen’s lips; riling up Wong was still fun. He hadn’t done it in a while.

“I’m going to see if any relic shows interest in Tony. He’s a variable that changed since he joined the loop,” he finally explained why the Avenger was in the Sanctum. He gestured to Tony to follow him and they continued their way to the second floor.

“Wait!” Wong called after them a moment later. “He joined you? He wasn’t involved from the beginning? Strange, what did you do?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” Stephen yelled back, because he wasn’t having that conversation right now.

Tony chuckled at his side. “You know, being on this side of these conversations where you know what they are going to say is way more fun.”

The second floor was where the relics were on display. Stephen told him to just walk through the room and look around. He followed a step behind and watched for any reactions.

Tony took advantage of finally being allowed to inspect anything in this weird house that was definitely bigger on the inside, and took his sweet time.

“So, you guys have a council of elders. Are they calling the shots?” It was a casual attempt to make conversation. At least that was what it seemed like.

Stephen wasn't sure what he was getting at and answered evasively. "They have some influence, but technically they respond to the Sorcerer Supreme. And that’s me.”

“I heard that term before. What does it mean exactly?”

Stephen recited from a book, “‘Sorcerer Supreme is a title granted to the practitioner of the mystic or magic arts who has greater skills than all others or commands a greater portion of the ambient magical energies than any other organism on a given world or dimension’.”

That made Tony look up from the showcase with armor parts. “Wow okay, Gandalf. That’s quite the flex. Does that mean you have no boss that might have a solution to this? A manager? A mysterious, wise hermit that gives his answers only in riddles?”

“I did have a mentor.” There was sadness resonating in Stephen's voice. “She would have known what to do. Unfortunately, she died and her responsibilities fell to me." With a nod he told Tony to focus back on the relics and Tony did that.

"Isn't there a spell to consult her spirit?" he asked nonetheless. “C’mon, you literally have magic at your disposal.”

“The magic you have in mind is highly frowned upon and has dire consequences I do not wish to evoke.”

Sometimes the wizard really sounded like he came straight out of a fantasy novel. But Tony didn’t comment on it this time since he was all for not evoking dire, magical consequences. But still… “Are you really telling me you have all this stuff here and there’s nothing that can help? Like a phone to the afterworld. A strand of their hair that will answer simple yes or no questions. Maybe they left a secret diary with answers.”

Stephen rolled his eyes because Tony was talking nonsense. “If there was a personal item of hers she put a lot of her essence into, we might use that. But she only left a few belongings behind and none of them qualify.”

The Ancient One had really lived detached from material. If she really had been as old as Mordo had told him, maybe belongings hadn’t mattered anymore.

The cloak moved around him and he looked down when it tapped on the Eye of Agamotto.

“What?” Stephen asked, because the time stone was no use in this.

The cloak tapped again and it dawned to Stephen what it was trying to say.

Tony watched them. “I like that face. It’s your face when you get an idea.”

“My mentor was the keeper of the Eye of Agamotto before me.” He took the bronze necklace in his palm. “She used it to guard the timeline; and put a lot of time and energy in it.”

Tony was on board immediately. “You think that’s our personal item?”

“In a way. It’s not really personal, but maybe there’s enough of her aura left in it.” He couldn't use the time stone to look into the future. But a phone that didn’t have service could still be used to look at the gallery. Maybe he would find something in it. It was an infinity stone after all. “It’s worth a try.”

Tony agreed and followed the sorcerer to another room. This one was barely furnished and had more of an Asian temple vibe. The floor was covered with bast mats and reminded Tony of a yoga studio that Pepper had once dragged him to. Tony was proud to say that he tried everything at least once, but he had quickly realized that he wouldn’t give yoga a second try.

Stephen sat down in the middle of the room, his legs crossed. Tony was a fan of chairs – it felt like his back was too old for this. But he didn’t want to complain and settled on the mat next to the sorcerer’s, albeit less elegantly.

“This might take a while,” Stephen warned him. Normally when he used the time stone to look into the future, he needed mere seconds to minutes. His body also went into this weird twitching state.For what he was about to do he wasn’t sure about the physical effect.

Tony just nodded, having no idea what to expect at all. He watched Stephen as he opened the necklace with a gesture.

The green stone that rested in it had just a faint shimmer instead of glowing brightly like it would normally do when activated.

Stephen recalled the spell's instruction in his mind, the various components he needed for it, while moving his fingers through the air. He had to draw magic from different dimensions. It wasn’t an easy spell by far; mastered only by few. It was to be seen if he was among them.

He drew a big circle with his hands, before he rested them on his knees – as if he was meditating; his eyes closed. The sensation was similar to astral projecting. He felt the moment he left his body and was now floating two inches in the air, invisible to the normal eye.

At first he thought something went wrong. He didn’t mean to astral project. But when he turned around, he saw the Ancient One’s projection standing on the other side of his body, looking at him. She appeared translucent and very greenish.

“Hello Stephen.” Her smile was as inscrutable as ever.

Seeing her like this; like not a day had passed made Stephen tear up. “The spell worked.”

“Of course it did. I never doubted you.” She sounded like a proud mother.

Stephen stepped past his forward slumped physical body, closer to her. “I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Few things are truly permanent.”

Stephen felt transported back to when he was just a student of the Mystic Arts, seeking answers. And he had no trouble admitting it. “I need your help. We’re trapped and I can’t find a way out.”

“I know.” There was sorrow on her face, but it was gone as fast. Her gaze turned to Tony. “This is a conversation Mister Stark should join.”

She walked over to the man, who had leaned closer to Stephen's body to inspect him, but didn’t quite dare to touch him. The Ancient One took his hand that lingered halfway in the air towards the sorcerer – and she pulled.

“No!” As soon as he realized what she was about to do, Stephen was alarmed. Tony wouldn’t appreciate it to be forced into magic unexpectedly.

But it was too late.

The surprised form of astral Tony appeared while the engineer’s body toppled over onto the mat.

“What the…?”

He panicked when he noticed his own ghost-like appearance and his body lying on the floor deathlike. He gasped for air – and immediately realized that astral projections could not breathe.

In an instant Stephen was in front of him, using magic to manifest his hands on the engineer’s shoulders without reaching through him. “Tony, it’s fine. Your mind left the physical world for a moment, but it won’t do you any harm, okay? I’m here. You’re fine. Everything is fine.”

His voice calmed the man down, but he was still on edge.

“Okay,” he mumbled because he trusted Stephen. Then he noticed the other figure and turned his head to the bald woman who watched them with interest. “Who are you?” His sharp voice could be taken as rude but he was only five seconds away from an anxiety attack and Stephen's presence and his soothingly rubbing fingers on his shoulder were currently the only things preventing that.

The woman didn’t seem to mind anyway. “I am Stephen's former mentor. The one he came to when he needed guidance. Back when he thought he had to fix his hands, and now when he thinks he is stranded in a time loop.”

“Am I not?” Stephen asked her, startled.

“In a way you are.”

The sorcerer had completely forgotten how cryptic her advice and answers always had been and how quickly he got annoyed by them.

For Tony the conversation helped him to distract him from the fact that he was a ghost, and he focused on the lady. She definitely knew something. “Care to elaborate on that?”

The Ancient One was clearly amused about his manner. The way a parent was with an impatient child. Tony didn't like that, nor the fact that he had an unusual amount of respect for her – and didn't even know exactly why.

She turned back to Stephen. “I didn’t have time to teach you how to look into the futures safely, and for that I’m sorry. The timeline didn’t offer it. Which is ironic if you think about what we carry in there.” Her eyes were on the Eye of Agamotto that she had guarded for centuries. Then pulled herself out of whatever thought she just had and stepped between the two men’s physical bodies, looking down on them. “You lost yourself, Stephen. You are too much in your head.”

“I’m too much in this time loop,” the sorcerer complained. “The stone didn’t offer any solution. I can’t even use it properly.”

“And why is that?” She gave Stephen time to think about it; like the patient teacher she was.

“I don’t know.” It frustrated Stephen. “Is it because time is involved?”

The smile was back on her lips. “Exactly. You ask different questions that all have the same answer.”

“What is the answer?”

His eyes met the Ancient One’s. She was waiting, maybe contemplating how much she should tell him. He wasn’t sure what she saw in him – he had always had the feeling that she could look directly into his soul – but finally she gave in.

“You aren’t trapped in a time loop, Stephen. You are trapped in the time stone, looking into the future.”

For a moment, Stephen was too stunned to speak. How could that be? Usually he had a good instinct when he watched the timeline. He knew the feeling and could pull himself out at any time. But this here was different.

“Is this… what will happen in the future?” He wasn’t sure if he had the strength to go through it a second time.

“Everything is possible. But since you accidentally created this loop it is highly unlikely that it will happen in your timeline. As for you, Mister Stark,” she addressed the engineer who was listening to all of this, “I am afraid this potential timeline you are currently experimenting will cease to exist as soon as Stephen steps out of it.”

Tony understood the consequences. There wouldn’t be a happy ever after for him. “Will I… remember? Out there?”

The Ancient One shook her head. “No.” The word was so simple, yet so much empathy swung in it.

Tony breathed raggedly, realizing the implication. He turned away and walked a few steps, his shoulders shaking uncontrollably.

“Tony…” Stephen wanted to comfort him, to wrap his arms around him, but Tony stopped him by raising a hand.

“Just… give me a moment.”

Stephen stood helplessly next to his mentor. “Why did you tell him?” he asked her. He saw the engineer’s anguish, and it hurt him even more to know he caused this.

“Because you were right that he will help you break out of this.”

[space-mermaid-writing]

Writing prompt: A detective arriving at the crime scene.

Detective: “Well, what do we have here?” Forensic scientist: “Murder.” Detective: pointing at the bloody body “I mean, what about him?” Forensic scientist: “Oh, that. Well, he’s dead.”