Tony's POV
Tony’s POV
“You know, as a general rule, my patients follow their doctor’s orders and stay in the bed they’ve been assigned while remaining attached to the monitors I’ve painstakingly attached to them.” Doctor Strange sidled up beside him. “Of course, you would be the one to buck the trend.”
“Yeah, yeah. That’s me, Tony Stark, always marching to the beat of his own drum,” Tony snarked back even as he stared at the boy in the bed before him. “And spare me the whole sainted doctor routine, bud. I don’t have the patience for it today.”
An eyebrow arched in judgement, clocking his patient’s foul mood immediately. “I’m not surprised to hear that. Even I can admit that your day has been rather trying. Be that as it may, I’d appreciate it if you’d be a bit—“
“No,” Tony shut him down. “Just stop, please. I don’t need to be anything except in real clothing—“ he tugged at the collar of his hospital gown, “And in this chair, being in as foul a mood as I want. And don’t try to convince me that you did all of the grunt work yourself, by the way.” Tony shot back then mumbled a quiet ‘pompous ass’ under his breath. “I know for a fact that Lydie and her compatriot were doing a whole lot of running around for a few minutes there at the beginning so just give it a rest.”
“Okay, then,” Doctor Strange replied after a pause. “I see how this is going to go.” He waited another beat and went on. “First, I will not apologize for having to delegate certain aspects of your care to your more than capable medical staff, Mr. Stark. And it only made sense for Dr. Bonwick to work with Mrs. Parker, if you’re about to complain about that. Her fever spiking was rather unexpected and it only made sense that he be the one to deal with her condition, especially after she became so agitated.” Doctor Strange waited for the man to say something.
The billionaire said nothing.
“And she’s resting comfortably, in case you were wondering.”
Tony at least gave a curt nod at that. He’d heard the hushed voices and movement in her room, but couldn’t bear to go and check on his dear friend. He’d promised May that he’d take care of Peter and after such an abysmal start, by Peter’s side he would stay.
Doctor Strange continued, “And if it makes you feel better, I am sorry that it left you with me as your only means of physician care once Peter was stabilized. As for the rest, I’ll never disagree that nurses are the backbone of the healthcare system. However, that does not negate the fact that you’re supposed to be in the room across the hall and attached to the aforementioned monitors. Now, come on.” The sorcerer put a strong hand under Tony’s arm and gave a gentle tug up. “I’ll help you get back.”
Not taking his eyes off the unconscious boy situated under the warming blanket in the bed in front of him, Tony pulled his arm away and shook his head. “Nope. That’s not gonna fly, Dumbledore. You can keep your damned hands off of me. In fact,” An idea came to the man, “How’s about this—“ Tony barely blinked before he made the unexpected offer, “I’ll donate a new wing to your old stomping grounds, and you can stop talking—In fact, you can pretend like none of this happened. Sound good? I’m sure New York Hospital could use an upgrade to their neurology department... a whole bunch of new state of the art equipment for good measure, and I won’t have to deal with the urge to punch you in the face for trying to move me again.”
“Mr. Stark... Tony. Please.” Doctor Strange grew serious. “Peter isn’t going anywhere, and you need to rest while you recover and we evaluate the changes to your heart medications. While you may not have had a “standard” heart attack,” Doctor Strange physically air quoted, “you still experienced a serious cardiac event. We have yet to determine if there’s any long term damage and the increased dosage of beta blockers can still cause—”
“... blah, blah, medical shit, blah, blah, blah, more medical shit. Look, I don’t care about that right now. I feel fine, have felt fine for the last hour and a half, and I don’t know what else I have to do to convince you and Pepper that I don’t need to be in that bed!” Tony’s voice grew louder and he went on.
“Tony, please—“
“Damn it! How are you not getting the fact that I need to be here for when Peter wakes up?”
In one smooth motion, Tony’s chair was being spun around to face Doctor Strange. “Tony. Please pay attention to what I am about to say.” Doctor Strange paused to make sure Tony was focussed. “In the four hours before those ninety magical minutes you are boasting, your blood pressure was fluctuating so badly you couldn’t sit up without swaying and tipping over. For the love of all that is holy, will you please get back in your bed before you push your luck and keel over?”
Tony glared. He would never admit that his tirade had left him a little lightheaded—and hoped that his shallow breathing would translate as barely suppressed rage. “No.”
Doctor Strange glared right back. “I’m not an idiot, Tony. I can see you struggling.”
“Yeah, struggling to not knock your damned teeth out.” Tony seethed. “I said I’m not leaving Peter and I meant it.”
“Tony, please—“
“No! If you’re so eager to play doctor, why don’t you stop harping on me and do something more to take care of the kid, huh? That would make me feels LOADS better.” Tony finally forced himself to look away from Peter’s face and stare at the wires and monitors attached to his kid. He’d be forever grateful that Peter had only needed the chest tube for a few hours before being removed. Yay for his Spidey-healing! If only he’d wake the hell up.
Tony could feel his chest tightening again, knew for certain that all of this was his bloody anxiety and almost spoke up, but stopped himself as he noted the uncomfortable look that crossed the doctor’s face as he looked at Peter, too. Tony couldn’t let it pass without note. “What? Is there a problem with the kid that I need to know about?”
Doctor Strange seemed startled at the question, peaking Tony’s curiosity.
“Well, is he okay? Really?”
“Peter is fine.” Doctor Strange clipped out, not bothering to keep up the compassionate doctor routine. He seemed to consider something for a just a few seconds, nodded in determination at an unspoken decision, and then started backing toward the door. “But I can see that all I’m managing to do is upset you, which is definitely not what the doctor ordered. As I’m of no use here, I’ll go update your charts. Dr. Cho is wrapping up her business in Wakanda and will be contacting me as soon as she and her team are ready to make the trip to the tower.” He glanced at his watch. “Once she arrives, most likely within the hour, Dr. Cho and your staff will be taking over all med bay operations and, you’ll be please to note, I will then take my leave.”
“Hold up, Strange—“ Tony finally twisted in his seat to look directly at the man.
“Don’t worry, Stark. He’s stable, I promise— and there is no reason that he won’t stay that way. Dr. Cho will have my notations for reference, but for now there’s nothing to do now but let him rest and heal. Now if that’s all, I’ll inform Dr. Bonwick that you are remaining here against medical advice and instruct the nurses to conduct frequent checks.” He gave a nod of farewell, “And with that, I’ll leave you to Peter.”
But it was all too easy, to just let the man walk away, and Tony wasn’t having it. He knew that he’s seen something, and now was not the time for secrets. Not when Peter was at risk and Doctor Strange was acting so... strange. “No way, Doctor. We’re not done here. I didn’t say anything back in Wakanda because I thought I was imagining it, but now... Something else is going on, and you’re going to tell me.”
Doctor Strange stopped in his tracks, his confident air faltering again.
Tony pounced. “I’ll make you a deal. You explain to me why you’ve been avoiding Peter since the final snap and I’ll—“
Doctor Strange opened his mouth to protest but could only inhale before being cut off.
“No, don’t even try to deny it. I knew something was off but couldn’t figure it out!” Tony stood on shaky legs and lurched toward the man. “You pawned him off on Cho as soon as he got to Wakanda after the battle, actively avoided his room when he was conscious, and then—“ Tony was getting his froth up now, “And then you bailed when we asked for transport back to New York! Hell, you’ve barely looked at him since I woke up in the med bay!” Tony’s anxiety was battling for dominance with his frustration. “He was hypothermic, concussed, bleeding, and needed to have his damned lung reinflated and it’s like you can’t be bothered to even check his vitals now that the worst of it is over! Geez! Were you like that as a surgeon? I mean... I can’t even imagine how you must have treated him when you all came back! Shit!” Tony paused to pull in a few breaths, then continued, more earnestly. “I know the kid can be a little much, Strange, but what happened? Did something else happen on Titan that I don’t know about?!”
Doctor Strange stared at the man for a moment, analyzing, before he finally stepped forward and reached out and then spoke, “You’re in no condition to be up like this. Let me help you get--“
“I said I wasn’t leaving him.” Tony protested.
Doctor Strange smiled sadly, “I know. I’m just helping you back to the chair. Is that alright?”
Tony didn’t have to think. The sudden de-escalation made for a fatigue he knew he couldn’t shake so he gave a curt nod and allowed the sorcerer to lead him the few steps back to his spot beside Peter before he could embarrass himself by dropping to the floor. “I’m only doing this so you’re not distracted while you explain what the deal is, Doc.” Tony wasn’t backing down.
“Of course you are,” Strange placated him, but Tony knew he’d keep pushing harder. He listened as the sorcerer grabbed a blood pressure monitor and stethoscope that lay discarded on the bedside table. “Now stop talking and let me make sure you’re not going to drop before your wife can get back and make you listen to reason.”
That caught him off guard. “Playing the Pepper card... not cool, Gandalf,” Tony retorted.
Doctor Strange focussed on wrapping the blood pressure cuff around the genius’s arm. “Can it, Iron Man. I’ve known you for—“ The man paused and thought. “Well, I guess I’ve known you for a week give or take five years, but I’ve got your number.” The band tightened and both men remained silent as they awaited results.
The machine beeped and Strange heaved a tired sigh as he pulled at the velcro of the cuff and placed the apparatus back where he’d found it. “I don’t know how, but by some miracle, your numbers are no worse than your last check.”
In a previous life, Tony would have played it smug, now though, he was relieved. One less thing to worry about. “Does that mean you’ll get off my back?”
“Not until I hand you both off to Dr. Cho,” Doctor Strange answered.
“So you’ll stay and tell me why you’re being an asshat to my kid?”
Doctor Strange spoke only to the first part of the question. “I’ll stay because I apparently can’t trust you to not do something stupid when my back is turned. So we’re going to make a deal. I won’t hook you back up to all of the machines—“ The man looked around the room then closed his eyes as his hands wove in an intricate pattern and sparks began to fly. It took perhaps ten seconds, but it was enough of a spectacle to tear Tony’s eyes away from Peter and gape in awe as equipment shifted and a medical bed identical to Peter’s appeared in the newly cleared space. “There.” Doctor Strange seemed satisfied with his handiwork. “And you’ll stay in bed until you get a second opinion, seeing as you seem to think I’m an asshat.” Doctor Strange pointed at the bed. “Get in, Tony.” The fresh linen pulled back on its own in invitation.
Damn it. Even Tony Stark knew when to concede, and as exhaustion settled over his bones, he knew that this was one of those times. “Fine.” He gave Peter’s limp hand one last squeeze, then pressed it to his lips before lovingly placing it back under his blanket. With a grunt, he forced himself up off chair and shuffled over to the bed. “I hope you’re satisfied,” he muttered as he passed the other man.
“Supremely,” Doctor Strange drawled.
“Asshole,” Tony retorted and climbed into his newly arrived bed.
“You are not the first person to say that... and not even the first one today, Stark.”
“And I’m sure I won’t be the last—HEY! HEY!? What the hell, Strange?!” Tony protested as the man clipped the pulse oximeter to his finger. “You said no machines!”
Doctor Strange smiled deviously and kept moving. “No, I said not ALL of the machines. You’ll notice that I’m not going to attach nearly as many electrodes this time, and I’ll leave the IV out for now if you’re vitals continue to track well for the next few hours and you stay hydrated.” With an expertise that belied the scarring across the back of his hands, the doctor tugged at the neck of Tony’s hospital gown and placed each electrode, then snapped each lead to its partner. “I’ll have one of the nurses do manual blood pressure checks every thirty minutes so you can be more comfortable. If you can keep yourself out of trouble, AND if Dr. Cho agrees, you may be sleeping in your own bed tonight.”
Tony rolled his eyes. “You’re really having a hard time getting that I’m not leaving the kid, aren’t you?”
“Now, Tony,” Doctor Strange shook his head condescendingly. “I’m hearing you, but you seem to be forgetting that you’re going to need some time to recover too.”
And that was the end of Tony’s rope.
“Holy fuck!” Tony finally lost it. “That’s it! Enough! Are you even listening to me!? How many times do I need to tell that I am not the priority, you dumbass! And, for the record, your bedside manner sucks and if you had ANY sense, you’d know that I’ll be okay ONLY once he’s okay!” Tony was seething as he began pulling off the electrodes that had been placed again. “You know, this has been pretty shitty as doctor experiences go... definite one star out of ten. Do not recommend.” And then Tony, as he stood up from the bed, shot low. “I wonder if you’re any better in one of those fourteen million other outcomes you saw?”
Silence.
“Don’t.”
But Tony was just getting started. “No. You don’t get to tell me what to do. Just because you have the luxury of seeing how tickety-boo everything is going to work out, doesn’t give you the right to ignore my concerns for HIM!”
“You can’t understand—“
“No, you can’t understand! I read up on you after the first snap, STEPHEN.” The disdain dripped off Tony’s tongue like venom. “Neurosurgeon extraordinaire, penthouse apartment of Park Avenue, ego the size of the eastern seaboard—lost it all in car crash that should have killed you, right?”
“Tony. Stop.”
“Oh, no. I’m just getting started. I think the tabloids mentioned something about,” Tony tapped his chin in faux thought, “Oh, that’s right! No visitors save for one ex-lover who you eventually abandoned in your search to regain the use of your hands? That must have been tough, huh? No one at your bedside to be with you when you woke up after procedure after procedure—I couldn’t imagine how someone so revered would feel to feel cast off by most everyone after something so tragic and life-changing.” Tony could feel himself tiring, so he moved back to the empty chair, dropped down gracelessly as he scolded. “How dare you try to relegate my kid to that same fate.”
“Dammit, Stark!” Doctor Strange grabbed the blood pressure cuff again and knelt before him. “Do you really think that little of me?”
With no hesitation, “Yes.”
He dropped his head in defeat, seemingly knowing where the conversation was leading. “I guess we’re going to do this now, then?” Doctor Strange sighed. “I’d rather hoped that once the dust settled, and we were all recovered that I’d simply get an invitation to one of your Avenger debriefs and get it out of the way for everyone.” He closed his eyes and braced himself. “Just say it, then. I’m sure you’ve been waiting a long time.”
And Tony delivered. “YOU GAVE HIM THE FUCKING STONE!”
It was out in the universe.
“I had no choice.” Strange calmly replied.
“We lost!”
“The battle, Tony, but not the war. It was a gamble, and our only chance at eventual victory.”
“But it wasn’t you’re gamble to make!”
“Whether you choose to believe it or not, Tony, it was.”
“Hubris.”
“No. Fact. I saw fourteen million six hundred five different outcomes to that fight, and giving him the time stone was the only way we’d come out the other end!”
“But what if there was another way? There had to be more options!” Tony was flagging by the moment.
Doctor Strange said nothing but went about securing the Velcro cuff and checking Tony’s blood pressure again. “There we go, definitely higher than I’d like. C’mon,” He stood up and motioned back to the bed. “No more electrodes, just let me watch the blood pressure and oxygen levels while we talk, deal?”
Drained, Tony didn’t say anything as he stood, then stumbled, and finally whispered a quiet ‘thanks’ as his temporary physician caught him and helped him to the bed mere feet away.
“When we were in the soul stone, I kept looking, Tony. I promise you I did.” Doctor Strange assured him softly. “I only found one other hope in all that time, and even then, it had still hinged on giving up the time stone. I made the right call.”
Tony looked him the eye, “You remember what happened after you were dusted?” He asked incredulously.
Doctor Strange smirked, “As Guardian of the Time Stone, I hold a different affinity for the infinity stones, so yes. I remember.”
“So five years?”
The man laughed to himself, then shook his head, “Yes, five years, but it was nothing compared to the ten years I once spent dealing with an inter-dimensional entity named Dormammu. Now he was a real dick.”
Tony chuckled along, relieved at the break in tension. He was so damned tired.
“You should rest... and I won’t make you leave, either. I just...” Doctor Strange trailed off as he lifted Tony’s legs and brought them onto the bed.
“Gosh. Can you just finish a thought without making me think the worst? Please?” Tony all but begged.
Doctor Strange brought the bedding up to Tony’s waist and then attached the monitor to his finger again. “It’s just that it’s important for you to be okay, too, that’s all. I can’t blame you for being concerned for the boy, but remember that you can’t pour water from an empty bucket.”
Tony rolled his eyes, “Please tell me you didn’t get that off of Facebook.”
“It was an ancient Samarian scroll, thank you very much.” The doctor frowned at Tony’s O2 stats. “Here, let’s get you on some oxygen.” He moved to grab some supplies, but Tony stopped him.
“Hang on. First off, liar. Totally Facebook.” He pointed an accusing finger.
Doctor Strange smiled slyly, “You’ll never know, now will you?”
“Funny.” Tony closed his eyes and inhaled deep. “But second, just give me a second before you start freaking out about numbers. I’m pretty sure it’s just my stress... which is a pretty normal occurrence when I’m around the kid.” He thumbed over to the boy still resting in the other bed. “He’s why I’m grey, Strange. I swear it.”
Doctor Strange grinned. “Alright. A few minutes and we’ll see what happens, but rest.”
So he did. Tony spent a few minutes just breathing, appreciating the lessening of the lightheadness with each inhale and exhale.
The blood pressure cuff tightened and something beeped. “There we go. Feeling better?”
“Yes.”
“Perfect. Maybe next time, you’ll listen to your doctor from the get go?” The doctor chided gently.
Tony opened his eyes and met the Sorcerer’s own. “Or maybe you can tell me what the second possible outcome was?” Doctor Strange flinched, ever so slightly, and Tony understood. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it?”
Tony could see the conflict on his face. He looked at Tony, then over to Peter, still completely unaware of the conversation happening around him. With a sigh, Doctor Strange seemed to come to a decision, then sat himself down on the chair Tony had just occupied. “Dammit.”
Tony sat up in anticipation. “It’s about time.”
“BUT—“ Doctor Strange said firmly, “If I find you are getting too upset, I’m calling it. I don’t care if I have to sedate you, you’re calm or you’re out. Got it?”
“Got it.”
And Doctor Strange opened his mouth to speak—