Chapter 16
Dark clouds had gathered, and the whole world was in darkness. Stephen walked out of the Sanctum to see people frantically running from something.
"Hey, what's happening?" Stephen asked them.
"You... you're the reason for all of this," a man said, staring at Stephen.
"Doctor Strange?" Stephen heard Peter's feeble voice.
He turned to see Peter disintegrating.
"Peter, are you okay?" Stephen asked, running towards him.
"I'm not feeling well," Peter said, whimpering.
Stephen watched as he disappeared from his hand.
"Stephen, why would you do that?" Tony asked, disappointed.
"I want to save you," Stephen said.
"You saved nothing, Stephen.
You caused all of this. Look around you—you destroyed our reality," Tony shouted.
"I..." Stephen started, tears welling in his eyes.
"YOU CAUSED THIS!"
The voice rang in Stephen's ears from everywhere.
"No!" Stephen yelled, covering his ears.
But he could see reality disintegrating in front of him.
"Steph?" Tony called.Stephen woke up, hearing him and whimpering in his sleep.
"Hey, baby, wake up," Tony said, patting him.
Stephen opened his eyes, panting heavily.
"Tony?" Stephen called, his eyes teary.
"Yes, you're okay. It's just a dream," Tony said soothingly.
"I'm so sorry. Please don’t hate me," Stephen whimpered.
"Hey, it's okay. Come here," Tony said, pulling him into a hug.
Stephen calmed down and fell asleep. Tony held him tightly, assuring him that he'd be there for him.
The next morning, Stephen woke up alone in his bed. He sat up, leaning against the headboard, remembering the events of the night before. Tony had seen him at his worst. He thought Tony must regret dating him.
The dream felt like a warning of what was to come.As Stephen sank into these thoughts, Tony entered the room with a cup of tea.
"Hey, good morning," Tony said, sitting beside him.
"Morning," Stephen replied in a small voice.
"Here, I made tea for you," Tony said, handing him the cup.
"Thanks," Stephen said, taking it.
"Do you want to talk about last night?" Tony asked.
"I'm sorry you had to witness that," Stephen said.
"I've had worse nights. This isn't new to me," Tony replied, holding his hand.
Stephen stayed silent.
"Stephen, you can talk to me about it..." Tony said.
"I don't want to talk about it," Stephen snapped, then immediately regretted it when he saw Tony's disappointment.
"Alright, I've made breakfast for you. Come when you're ready," Tony said, walking out.
Stephen felt terrible. He always hurt the people who loved him. He was such a shitty person.
When Stephen went outside, Tony was sitting on the couch, sipping his coffee and scrolling on his phone. Stephen quietly sat beside him.
"Tony?"
"Yeah," Tony said, without looking up.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you," Stephen said.Tony set the cup down and looked at Stephen.
"It's okay. I've been through it too. PTSD, night tremors... everything. But I need you to talk to me," Tony said.
"It's not PTSD or night tremors. I think it's a warning from the universe," Stephen said.
"What are you saying?" Tony asked.
"I told you, I tampered with reality to win the battle against Thanos. The bill is coming due. This universe might collapse, because of me" Stephen said.
"You did that to save the universe," Tony said.
Tony was wrong. Stephen had done it to save Tony, but he didn't want to say it aloud. He didn’t want to make Tony upset.
"Yes, but we were supposed to lose," Stephen said instead.
"There has to be a way to fix this," Tony said.
"I don't know, Tony," Stephen said, desperation in his voice.
"Hey, we’ll find a way to fix this. I’m with you on this," Tony said, pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you," Stephen said, smiling.
"Anything for you," Tony said, returning the smile.
"I should go to the Sanctum today," Stephen said.
"Peter will be here. Don't you want to see him?" Tony asked.
"Yes, but I want to fix everything as soon as possible," Stephen said.
"Alright, you can go. Can I get a kiss before you go?" Tony asked.
Stephen leaned in and kissed Tony, causing him to lie back on the couch. The two of them were going for more than just a goodbye kiss when...
"Boss?" Friday called.
But the duo didn’t hear her.
"Boss?" Friday repeated.
"What is it, Friday?" Tony asked, pulling away, annoyed.
"Peter is here," Friday said.
The adults turned to see Peter standing there awkwardly, blushing.
"Oh shit," Stephen said, quickly sitting up and adjusting his disheveled clothes.
"Uh... Mr. Stark, I’ll be in the lab," the boy said and quickly left for the lab.
"Friday, why didn’t you inform me earlier?" Tony asked.
"I informed you the moment he arrived, boss," Friday replied.
"How did he get here so fast?" Tony asked.
"He opened a portal directly to the tower," Friday said.
"You taught him to open a portal?" Tony asked.
"I didn’t," Stephen said.
"Then how did he do that?" Tony asked.
"I don't know," Stephen said.
"I think we need to talk to him," Tony said.
"Yeah," Stephen agreed.
They walked to the lab, where Peter was working on something without looking up.
"Peter, can we talk?" Tony asked.
"Yes, Mr. Stark," Peter said.
"We’re kind of dating. Sorry you had to see that," Tony said.
"I get that," Peter said in a small voice.
"Aren’t you okay with that?" Stephen asked.
"Of course, I am. Why wouldn’t I be? I’m actually happy for you guys. But it was embarrassing to see you two..." the boy said.
The adults chuckled at that.
"Sorry, we’ll be more careful," Tony said.
"Peter, how did you open a portal?" Stephen asked.
"Uncle Wong taught me," Peter said.
"Uncle Wong? He allowed you to call him that?" Stephen asked, surprised.
"Yes, I called him that accidentally, but he said he's okay with it," Peter said.
"Okay, then I should leave now," Stephen said.
"Okay, bye, Stephen," Tony said, holding his hand.
"FYI, I’m not looking. You can kiss," Peter said.
Tony and Stephen laughed at that.
Stephen created a portal and walked through it to get ready for the day. His focus was entirely on finding a solution for the problem. He went to the Great Library, sure he would find an answer in one of the ancient books.He grabbed a bunch of books and sat in a corner, beginning to read.