Chapter 2
Tony Stark felt everything fade away as he stared at the empty holes where the infinity stones had been not a moment ago. Had this all been an illusion conjured up by Thanos? Was he still stuck on Titan with the kid and Bleecker Street Magician? Had they failed?
He could feel his breaths coming out in pants, his mind whirling through thousands of possibilities. Unable to take in his surroundings as he tried to rationalize what had just happened. Was Pepper alright? What about Morgan—Oh god, Morgan!
“Hello?Sir? Sir! You must calm down!”
No… That voice.He was dead. Ultron had killed him all those years ago. He had lost him due to stupidity and arrogance, believing that he could control forces that were not to be messed with. His child—dead, because of him.
Spots of nothingness entered his vision and his throat contracted when it wasn’t able to pull in enough air. The last thing that Tony saw before unconsciousness claimed him was a familiar face with kind brown eyes, flecked with an iridescent green.
———o0o———
When Tony resurfaced, he almost passed out again at the people he saw standing in front of him.
Edwin Jarvis and Howard Stark looked down upon him, faces marred with concern.
And then all the memories came flooding back. The disappearance of half of all life—A time heist—The final battle—Fuck!
“Sir? Are you alright?”
That forced a bitter chuckle out from the very depths of Tony’s soul as he looked up into his deceased butler's eyes. The sound so broken that both Howard and Jarvis flinched. Tony could still smell the blood and grime from the battlegrounds where he fought Thanos for the second time. He could still hear the soft whisper of Peter’s, “Mr. Stark? I don’t feel so good.” And Strange’s, “It was the only way—We’re in the Endgame now.” Of course he wasn’t alright.
“Where is Thanos?”
Thanos. The Mad Titan. The alien that had been haunting his every move since New York. The threat that he had warned everybody about, only to have it dismissed as trauma or exaggeration.
“Who’s Thanos?”
And that’s when things started to click together.
Assuming that he was not in a hallucination or illusion created by Thanos, the only other explanation was that he was sent back in time. Obviously, he had been pulled out of 2023 right before his death as no human could survive the full might of all six infinity stones.
“What’s the date?”
Howard looked at him in irritation, “What? Do you have amnesia or something? You can’t just appear in my house and not expect me to have some questions—”
Tony scowled up at the rendition of his father, “Just tell me the goddamn date!”
“February tenth. Sheesh, you could have at least—”
“Year?”
“Wha—?”
“YEAR! Tell me the year!”
Howard looked taken aback at his tone, eyebrows drawing together in confusion, “It’s 1945.”
Tony stood up, ignoring the protests of his weary body and started to pace, cursing under his breath. Of course they chose Cap to go back in time! A man who didn’t even understand the computer, more less the in’s and out’s of time travel! He must have used the stones to go back in time and live his dream life with Peggy. It may have destabilized the original time branch. After the heist it had already been precariously held in the flow of space time. Steve must have upset the balance. For all that Tony knew, the timeline that he was from could have been completely destroyed. But if he had ended up here, some other people may have as well.
Tony pushed aside the thoughts of his family. He could not think about them now or else he would completely break. The thought of losing Pepper, Morgan, Peter and Harley. It was too much.
“Listen to me! I don’t know who you are or where you came from but you are on my property and I want answers!”
Tony glared at Howard, lips curled up in an ugly sneer. “You want answers, do you? I’ll give you some fucking answers! You’re precious little Captain America has just complicated things beyond reason! How am I supposed to fix this!?!”
Jarvis took over the situation, leading an irate Howard to an adjoining room before he could explode into an argument with a stranger over a recently deceased friend.
But Tony was not paying attention to them anymore. He had to figure out if anybody from his timeline had been transported here with him or if he could somehow ascertain the accuracy of his hypothesis. Of course, after all they had gone through something like this would have to happen. Hopefully it could be fixed. Because if not—everybody that he had tried his hardest to protect may be dead.
———o0o———
Loki coughed, he could still feel the mad-titan’s hand around his neck, squeezing tighter and tighter. Preventing blood flow, squeezing veins, breaking tendons and at the brink of snapping the bone.
And then he had ended up here. Back in his Asgardian chambers. But he could still feel the calloused hand as it lifted him from the ground and closed around his neck. “You will never be—a god.”
He had died, but this was not Helheim.
Bringing his hand up to his neck, Loki stumbled over to the mirror before recoiling as if struck.
That was not him. Well, it was, but he seemed decades younger. His face unlined from the burdens of rule and the agony of torture. His body slimmer and less developed. The only thing that betrayed his age was the wisdom and weariness in his gaze. The eyes that were once full of hope and love, smoldering like pits of despair.
“Brother! Loki! The Warriors Three and Lady Sif wish to go on a hunt! There has been another sighting of the Golden Boar! We must leave right away and honorably slay the mighty beast!”
Loki turned around, conjuring daggers and raising them up defensively as Thor ran into his room. The youngest Odinson frowned as he took in Thor’s appearance.
He was younger as well, the humbling that he had received from Jane Foster had not seemed to have happened yet as he still exuded arrogance and foolish bravery.
The golden boar… Hadn’t he heard that before?
Yes—Around half a century ago Thor had dragged him along on another ‘adventure’. However, the big oaf had forgotten to mention the important fact that the boar had entered dragon territory on Vanaheim. It had taken incredible feats of seidr in order to get them out unscathed. Afterwards, he had been berated for retreating like a coward when all he had been trying to do was save their lives. And to think—He used to crave Thor’s praise and respect. How pathetic.
“Brother? Come—We must go immediately!”
Something must have happened as he had obviously ended up in the past. Perhaps it was foolish of him to have left the time stone within the midgardian sorcerer’s hands. Maybe he had caused this while trying to stop Thanos. One could never rely upon inexperienced mortals—A lesson that Loki had learnt long ago.
“I’m not coming, Thor.”
“But you must!”
“No Thor. I am going to stay in the library. I have research to do.”
Loki could feel his lips twitch at the expression on Thor’s face. A mixture between disbelief and anger.
“You would rather spend your day in the library than out fighting? Are you truly as cowardly as that brother?”
Loki’s amusement evaporated just as quickly as it had come. Cowardly. He had been betrayed by everybody he had trusted, lost his mother, been tortured and possibly killed by a being with power that Thor could only ever dream of. The one thing that he was not was cowardly.
Taking a calming breath, Loki locked away his fury and crunched his teeth together.
“I am not coming, Thor. Unlike you, I do take our training seriously. If we do not finish the assigned lessons how do you expect that we rule after Odin steps down?”
“Be that way then Loki. I will go and return victorious!”
“No you won’t.”
Loki took distinct pleasure in the bewildered look on Thor’s face.
“What do you mean, brother?”
“You forgot that the boar is in dragon territory. If you attack in their domain you will invite their wrath—Or were you not paying attention during the session on Vanaheim?”
As amusing as Thor’s rapidly reddening face was, Loki sighed, waving his weapons away.
“Thor, it is a foolish endeavor to try and take on the full might of a dragon herd. Perhaps you should wait until the boar has exited their territory—”
Thor cut Loki off before he could continue his explanation. “—Why should I listen to a trickster like you? Deceiving is your natural state.”
Loki flinched. He had forgotten just how ignorant Thor had been before he had met Jane Foster. Never caring for what his actions could cause. Or his words.
But he could not waste his time contemplating the past. No, Loki had much more important things to be doing. Thanos was a conundrum—a threat—and yet he was here, somehow still alive when he should be dead. I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again.
All Loki had to figure out was what happened and how he had ended up in the past.
Easy enough, right?
———o0o———
Insomnia had become a normal quantity for Stephen ever since the final battle. He would find himself haunting the Sanctum after midnight, a cup of tea slowly growing cooler as it rested by his side. The night of Tony’s—No, Stephen did not have the right to call the man by his first name. Not after what he had done—Dr. Stark’s funeral had been one of the worst experiences of his life, right under the loss of the Ancient One, the bargain with Dormammu and the whole Thanos extravaganza.
Mrs. Stark-Potts had cornered him, her face stricken in mourning as she demanded answers. Next to her, a solemn Peter Parker stood, head bowed and shoulders slumped. All the young, innocent energy that he had possessed just days before was replaced by grief. The kid’s childhood cut short by unexpected loss. And it had all been Stephen’s fault.
The most awful part, however, had been Morgan. She seemed to realize the somber going-ons around her, but she seemed unable to grasp the fact that her father was never coming back. Her inquisitive brown eyes had stared up at Strange, full of confusion and hope.
“When is daddy going to be coming home?”
At that moment, Stephen had felt like the monster others had always claimed him to be. It did not matter that what he had done was the only way to defeat Thanos without mass casualties. Because as little Morgan had looked up at him and asked for her daddy, Stephen knew that what he had done would never seem to be worth it. Not when Tony Stark had ended up dead.
Rubbing at his temples, Stephen let out a groan and lowered his head to the wooden table. Closing his eyes, he could feel himself slowly give way to the ever-present lethargy in his bones. But every time he came close to oblivion, the sound of a snap echoed through his mind. The soft sobbing of Mrs. Stark-Potts underlaid the sound of her yelling. “Why did it have to be my husband!?! He was never going to put that thrice-damned suit back on again! He was retired—This is all your fault! And you call yourself a doctor… Tony is dead because of you.”
Strange could feel the tears line the inside of his eyelids but he did not allow them to fall. He did not deserve the relief of releasing them. The sound of a rough whooshing filled his mind as he tried to block out all emotions. Shhhwwwshhh!
But as the sound grew in volume, he pried his eyes open, only to fumble out of his chair in shock.
For before him stood a woman who he knew was dead.
He had seen her at her last moments. Heard her voice, the last time she would ever speak.
“It’s not about you.”
The Ancient One stood in front of him, eyes wide in shock and wonder as she looked down upon a man who was not of her time. A man that she had only seen in visions gifted to her by the Eye of Agamotto.
Stephen took a shuddering breath. He could feel his heart beating rapidly inside his chest as if yearning to be let free. She looked exactly as he remembered, shimmering yellow robes and all.
The Ancient One bent down and reached out, her hand stopping just short of Stephen’s shoulder. Her eyes traveled up and down his frame as if viewing things that no one else could see. Her mouth twisting up in a compassionately mysterious smile.
“Master Strange—I was not expecting to see you for quite some time.”