Stephen was sitting in the lounge room at the Avengers compound reading a scroll when he heard the door open. He knew Tony wasn’t supposed to be back for another ten- ish minutes so he didn’t even bother checking to see who it was. He heard someone mention his name and then looked up to see who it was. Wanda Maximoff And Steve Rogers had come in and were sitting opposite to him, staring at him.
Stephen hated these two more than any of the other previously rogue Avengers. Steve, was always such an asshole to Tony, and Stephen had always wanted to shove him through a portal and just leave him there. Steve’s best friend, Bucky Barnes, has killed Tony’s parents and he showed no remorse for it. Maximoff, had gone through Tony’s head, which is against the laws of magic and had just been a straight up bitch all the time.
Stephen looked up again and saw that they weren’t exactly staring at him, but his hands. He knew how ugly his hands were. They were covered in scars and shook most of the time. Stephen had no interest in talking to these pathetic excuses for people, but apparently the feeling wasn’t mutual.
“What happened to your hands?” Steve asked. Not trying to sugar coat anything, just blunt and rude. Fitting for him.
“I have no interest in telling you.” Stephen replied shortly. He could see that Steve wanted to argue, but he knew Strange was infinity more powerful than him.
“Did Tony do it? I wouldn’t be surprised.” Wanda said rudely. Stephen wanted nothing more to snap her neck at that moment, but couldn’t think of anything to say. Tony, the man that always calmed Stephen down after getting frustrated on how he couldn’t do anything, who told him that he loved him no matter what, who helped him fall back asleep after his nightmares. They thought Tony did this?
“I would watch your tongue.” Strange said, in a low voice. “I could strip you of your magic without a second thought. I’m surprised no has done it yet.”
“If you’re so powerful,” Steve mused. “Why don’t you fix your hands?” Strange felt like he had just been punched in the gut. From the sound of his voice it wasn’t a question out of just curiosity. At that moment, he heard something at the door and looked to see Tony. From the expression on his face, he had heard the entire conversation. He stood there, looking shocked. Like he didn’t know how to react.
“What did you say?” He said, his voice cold.
“Well, he struts around like he’s all that, but is he?” Wanda added. Stephen didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t look up from his hands.
“Well, I don’t know.” Tony snapped. “He was a neurosurgeon before becoming sorcerer supreme. What did you do? You couldn’t successfully enlist in the military, so you got injected with high tech steroids, Captain. You didn’t even earn that rank.” He turned to Wanda, seething with anger. “And you! When will you learn that even if you can do something, you shouldn’t! At least Stephen can control his magic. I will not hesitate to bench either of you, so I would watch what I say.” Tony turned on his heel and pulled Stephen out of the room.
Stephen followed him out. Tony silently led him into their shared room and Stephen sat on the bed and stared at his hands. He didn’t want to let what the rogues said get to him, but he hated when someone mentioned his hands. Tony seemed to notice the issue and sat down next to him.
“Don’t listen to what those rogues say. They don’t know what they’re talking about and the thrive off of being assholes.” Tony said.
“But..what if they’re right? All of you are special and deserving of theses positions. I’m just a broken doctor who can bend reality.” Stephen said sadly.
“No, you’re not. You can do a lot more. And even if you can’t, you’re a good person who earned their place, and weren’t given it, like others. And you would never use your powers to hurt someone intentionally, or go into their brain.” Tony said. Stephen smiled and relented, and feeling victorious, Tony stood up.
“Now, c’mon. It’s movie night and your turn to choose.”