Chapter Text
Stephen Strange is lonely and he absolutely despises love.
Everything he loves has been stripped away one way or another, everything ruined by him. His amazing friendship with Christine had been torn past salvation after he'd started a relationship he realized he could put no effort into. He'd mistaken his platonic love for his friend as romantics and realized his mistake too late. What once consisted of game nights and Chinese takeout dinners had burned into awkward hellos in the hospital hallways. He ruined his career with his arrogance, paying no attention to the road and sentencing his hands to an eternity of tremors.
Stephen Strange. Stephen Strange. Stephen Strange. The shaky, misaligned words still haunt him whenever he sees a pen, whenever he catches his hands shake, whenever he sees his awards around the apartment. Because his name was something he once loved and he can no longer bear to write it down.
His family doesn’t talk to him anymore anyway, not since he told them he was gay. He’d realized it after the failed relationship with Christine, why he couldn’t put himself into the relationship. It had taken him weeks to find courage. He, the arrogant doctor, took weeks to find the courage to say two simple words, and it had cost him every person he loved. He’s heard the tone of a rejected call more than he remembers his family’s voices.
Stephen Strange is lonely.
But he despises love. He despises what he cannot have. All because he is too arrogant. So proud and yet so undeserving. Acting higher than angels and yet too small to talk to God.
Stephen despises feeling so small. Being gay has certainly made him feel tinier. Puny, as Thor would put it. He feels like everyone can step on him and he’s fallen so low that he doesn’t have the right to tell them to stop. Because he’s so small and so, so tired.
Normally, Stephen wouldn’t have the time to think about how tired he was. He wouldn’t even have time to breathe, what with every new client at the hospital that begs hours in the operating room that he has to save. Hours where his client’s family howled and sobbed outside because they just loved their relative so much.
With all the light blue operating gowns, the blues of his parents’ eyes, the blue uniforms Christine wore, Stephen has only one conclusion.
Blue is the coldest color and orange is the warmest.
Stephen had come to like orange. The orange of his magic had given him a new sense of purpose, that if he couldn’t save people in the operating room, he could save people anywhere.
He knows there are people just like him out there. People who help in unconventional ways because they failed at doing it conventionally. Tony Stark reinvented Stark Industries to stop making weaponry and came up with Iron Man. He’d visited the museum to see the Captain America exhibition. Steve Rogers wanted to serve in the army to help his country. Being too scrawny and weak, he volunteered for a special program instead which gave him the power he needed to be of use. He’d saved America.
He failed at being a doctor, but he’s a kickass Master of the Mystic Arts.
For the first time in a long time, Stephen felt love for something once again. For the first time in a long time, Stephen felt useful.
It didn’t matter if he still dropped glasses when he tried to hold more than one. It didn’t matter if he could no longer write his name. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t wear buttoned shirts and it didn’t matter if eating became a hardship.
Because he feels free with the orange sparks they call magic.
Because he loves magic. Because the magic gives him meaning. And so the orange of it had led him to the belief that orange was the warmest color. Orange is love and meaning and familiar and warm and home.
Wong is concerned at times. Albeit being a man who refrains from his own material and physical needs in respect of his personal beliefs, Wong tells Stephen that while he’s glad he’s so devoted to the magic, that it is not healthy to participate in the belief that his only purpose in the world was magic. But Wong doesn’t see what Stephen sees, doesn’t feel what he feels.
Wong feels the grandeur of the magic but he doesn’t feel the warmth of it. The Cloak understands.
“You should find someone,” Wong mentions out of the blue as they’re doing a routine clean-up of the Sanctum Sanctorum. “You have all this spare time. The world isn’t always in danger. It can survive a few hours with you off enjoying yourself.”
“I’m very busy, Wong.”
“Doing what? Practicing spells you’ve mastered long ago?” Wong responds. Stephen doesn’t have a good counterargument so he lets Wong continue on about how as much as the magic is important, Stephen should take care of himself every once in a while.
Stephen’s never heard anything more wrong.
He doesn’t deserve to rest. He doesn’t deserve love. He surrounds himself with the magic because he believes this is all the love he deserves.
Wong doesn’t think orange is the warmest color.
Tony Stark has a headache and is now in New York in search of ibuprofen.
He's just left Spiderman's apartment in Queens — the young Peter Parker had 'eagerly' agreed to help him fight against Steve Rogers and his team of loyal companions. Eagerly, if you count it after Peter's countless problems and Tony's ready solutions. With Tony's solutions on hand, the boy had been more than happy to assist the Avenger. Tony told him to go for the legs. That idiot uses the shield for the top half of his body only.
The meeting with Peter had been a success, so where is the headache coming from? Said headache is Steve Rogers. Said ibuprofen is the new Avengers he's been looking for. He'd asked FRIDAY to look up super-powered or enhanced people around the country and she'd supplied him with the spider boy from Queens, a strong woman, a bulletproof man and a blind lawyer in Hell's Kitchen and a sorcerer in New York City, specifically the Greenwich Village neighborhood.
Since Natasha had decided to switch teams last minute and Clint had dropped by to kidnap Wanda, Tony was at a loss. He wanted to outnumber them, hoping that this will cause Team Cap to stand down instead of fight. So far, Peter and Jessica Jones had agreed, Jessica's reason being so that she could 'beat A-hole so hard he'll see all the stars on the flag'. Luke Cage and Matt Murdock had declined, wanting to stay out of it. That leaves the sorcerer. FRIDAY had gone ahead to print the address of the wizard, 177A Bleecker Street.
"177A Bleecker Street, Happy."
"Turn that off, Wong."
"You're the one that introduced it to me," Wong retorts as he turns up the volume of Beyoncé's Single Ladies. Stephen rolls his eyes as he leaves the library, the Cloak of Levitation settling on his shoulders when a knock on the door cuts through the Sanctum Sanctorum. Surprised by the presence of a visitor, Stephen answers the door while Wong comes up behind him in curiosity.
"Anthony Stark?" Stephen questions. What would a world-famous billionaire want to do with a disabled-neurosurgeon-turned-sorcerer?
Tony waves dismissively, "Call me Tony. Can I come in? Okay." He saunters into the building casually, glancing around the room, "Wow. Nice place. Bit spooky, but it's cool."
Wong glares in irritation, "Who said you could enter?"
"Thought you did. You didn't? Well, I've entered already, might as well stay," Tony shrugs. He turns to Stephen, who was shutting the door and says, "You. Uh, Stephen, right? Yeah, I need to ask you something."
Stephen narrows his eyes at the intruder, walking up to him, "You barge into the Sanctum Sanctorum and demand to speak to me?"
Tony pauses before he nods, "I guess."
"What do you want?"
"Well, I don't know if you've heard, but recently there was the failed mission. Then the King of Wakanda died in a terrorist attack perpetrated by Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier. A solution was put in place. The Accords, signed by over a hundred countries, where the Avengers will remain inactive unless called upon by higher authorities. I'm for it, Steve Rogers isn't. Now there's an argument," Tony summarizes.
"In short, you're asking me to join your side," Stephen says.
Tony nods, "Yep. So what'll it be, Doc?" Stephen exchanges a look with Wong and Tony watches them carefully, trying to 'listen in' on their visual conversation but ultimately failing.
Stephen finally answers, "Fine. I'll join your side. I've always thought the Avengers should be kept in check anyway."
"Perfect. So I have a spider boy, a wizard and a woman with super strength. Nice. God, I get to see a wizard fight a witch."
Tony finds himself in the Avengers compound with Vision, Rhodey, T'Challa, and Stephen. He's waiting on Peter and Jessica before he gives them an overview of the upcoming fight.
"Mr. Stark tells me you practice magic," Vision says as a conversation starter, referring to Stephen.
He nods, "Yes, why?"
Vision indicates the green gem on his necklace before he taps his own yellow one on his forehead, "Are these magic related? Do I possess magic abilities?"
Stephen stares at him curiously before he shakes his head, "I don't think so. Magic is something you learn, not something you gain by owning a stone, unfortunately. I could teach you something sometime if you wanted." Vision replies to the idea with slight hesitance, to which Stephen is unfazed, all too familiar with the speculation in regards to the topic of magic. Peter bounds into the room then, excited by the faces he's met with. Following close behind him is Jessica, dressed in a dark leather jacket and looking sick and tired of everything.
"Okay, great. Everyone's here. Right, so just to get introductions out of the way. This is James Rhodes the War Machine but we call him Rhodey. Vision, King T'Challa who's the Black Panther, Doctor Stephen Strange, Peter Parker who's Spiderman and Jessica Jones," Tony fires off as Peter sits himself down next to the wizard, Jessica collapsing ungracefully into a chair. T'Challa gives her a strange look as Jessica raises a challenging eyebrow in return before turning her gaze to Tony.
"You're here because you either support the Accords or you just want to beat the shit out of someone," Tony starts, and T'Challa and Jessica both abort their random rivalry for a smirk of solidarity. T'Challa had a grudge against Bucky, and Jessica just had a grudge against everyone. She wants the Avengers in check because she's constantly blamed for the mess they make, so now that something like that is in place, the only ones who are her enemies are the ones against it — Team Cap.
"Strange, magic's your thing, so you should neutralize the Scarlet Witch or something, see if you can disable her for a while. She's the biggest threat on Rogers' team," Tony says and Stephen nods, watching the billionaire giving each member orders on who to fight and what to do, going through plan after plan. The Iron Man is pretty, even the circumstances under which they met doesn't stop Stephen from recognizing and appreciating the fact. He's barely listening at the point, only hearing something about Peter staying far away from everyone before Tony calls his name.
"Strange? Strange. You okay there, man? You just kind of zoned out," Tony snaps his fingers in his direction. The rest of the new Avengers are glancing his way.
Stephen nods quickly, "Yes, yes. Fine. Keep talking."
"Jessica, you can handle the Black Widow and Hawkeye, I'm sure. Maybe Captain America. Can you handle him?" Tony asks.
Jessica nods, "I'll take anyone. But if he's stronger than the average guy, I should probably take him."
Tony gestures to her to signal that Steve's all hers as T'Challa reminds, "Barnes is mine." Tony replies with a face that says nobody is arguing and he assigns Rhodey, Peter, and Vision to nobody in particular before FRIDAY informs Tony that Team Cap has been spotted at an airport garage.
"Mr. Dr. Strange?" Peter says in his quiet voice.
Stephen raises an eyebrow at the young boy, "Yeah?"
"You've been staring at Mr. Stark a lot while he's talking," Peter observes and Stephen stares at him wordlessly, not knowing how to respond before he counters, "Well, it's rude not to look at someone when they're speaking." Peter glances between Tony and Stephen before he settles on an 'okay', jumping over to talk to Jessica who looks more than ready to hurl herself out the nearest window.
Tony Stark speaks to someone on the phone on the balcony, out of earshot. To evacuate the airport, more than likely. He glances about the scenery before he pauses, turning back to the room to count the number of people. His eye catches Stephen’s, and before the doctor can look away, Tony shoots him a meaningless wink before he looks back out at the city.
What was it about his face?
Steve drives into the sixth level of an airport parking garage, parking his old car by a grey van before getting out. He's greeted by faces he's grown to trust. Clint greets him first, calling him by the nickname he's familiar with, and he says, "You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."
Clint gives him a grin and answers, "Hey man, you're doing me a favor. Besides, I owe a debt."
Steve thanks him for having his back and he gives the scarlet witch a look, where she responds, "It was time to get off my ass."
"How about our other recruit?" Steve asks, nodding towards the grey van.
Clint replies as he pulls open the side door, "He's rarin' to go. Had to put a little coffee in him, but... he should be good."
When the door opens fully, the engineer tumbles out, squinting against the sunlight as he asks what timezone it is, gaining no response from anyone. He soon recovers when he settles his sights on Steve, completely enraptured by the American legend as he starts shaking his hand, "Captain America."
Steve shakes his hand politely, "Mr. Lang."
Scott continues staring at Steve in awe, hands still shaking as he rambles about how much of an honor it is to meet him and the other Avengers. "Jeez. Ah, look, I wanna say, I know you know a lot of super people, so... Thinks for thanking of me. Hey, Falcon!"
Sam answers the overeager man, "What's up, Tic Tac?"
Scott says nervously, "Uh, good to see you. Look, what happened last time when I..."
Sam cuts him off, saying, "It was a great audition, but it'll... it'll never happen again."
Steve cuts right to the chase, getting impatient with the overstretched introduction, "They tell you what we're up against?"
Scott shrugs, "Something about some... psycho-assassins?"
Steve pauses but doesn't correct him, only saying, "We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man." Scott responds with nonchalance like this isn't a new concept to him, and Bucky insists that they should get moving.
Clint informs them that they have a chopper lined up before German comes through the speakers, where Bucky immediately translates it for them, "They're evacuating the airport." Sam deduces it to be Stark and Scott greets his deduction with surprise before Steve orders the rest to suit up.
Steve is dressed in the familiar reds, blues, and whites of his Captain America uniform. He remembers being told once that he wears a flag on his chest and thinks he fights for his nation. He remembers being told that there are no flags in the future. He remembers telling Tony about that once and when Tony asks him about it, he remembers telling him he doesn’t give a shit.
Steve strides through an underpass and jogs onto a private runway, heading for a grounded chopper. An electro disabler slams onto the chopper and Steve looks up to see red and gold, black and grey, descending. There’s another color combination, one Steve doesn’t recognize yet finds familiar all the same — his reds and blues, duller on the other man, come down next to Tony. This man bears no star on his chest.
Tony’s mask retracts and he makes a snarky remark, “Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport. Don't you think that's weird?”
Rhodes agrees and Steve starts, “Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this.” Before he can continue or Tony can respond, Steve sees a black figure leap over a truck, greeting, “Captain.” He remembers him. King T’Challa, the Black Panther of Wakanda. He attacked his boyfriend.
“Your highness.”
“Anyway, Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help an ex out?” Tony says. Steve is just the slightest bit hurt by how easily the term ‘ex’ rolls off Tony’s tongue, but he doesn’t know if it wounds him as much as the new face next to Tony in red and blue.
Red and blue.
“You're after the wrong guy,” Steve says.
Tony responds, “Your judgment is askew. Your old war boyfriend killed innocent people yesterday.”
Steve insists, “And there are five more super soldiers just like him. I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony. I can’t.”
The woman with them, long dark hair and dressed in black, says loudly, “Hey! Flag Waver, you know what's about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?”
Steve stares at her, unknowing of the new woman in Tony’s arsenal, and Tony rolls his eyes, “All right, I've run out of patience. Underoos!”
Steve’s shield flies off his arm and now there’s web encasing his hands. His eyes squint against the sun to watch his shield attach itself to the arm of a red and blue spider boy. More reds and blues. Tony comments that the kid did a nice job and the spider boy rambles about how he could've stuck the landing better, then he starts compliment Tony's suit before he gets cut off. Tony stares at him in slight annoyance as he says, “Yeah, we don't really need to start a conversation.” Peter started awkwardly talking about how he’s a big fan of Captain America and that his name is Spider-Man before Tony stops him.
“You've been busy,” Steve says, indicating the three faces he doesn’t recognize.
“And you've been a complete idiot. Dragging in Clint. 'Rescuing' Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave, a safe place. I'm trying to keep… I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart,” Tony says desperately, willing Steve to understand.
He replies simply, “You did that when you signed.”
Tony blinks at him, shooting him a cold look before he says, “Alright, We're done. You're gonna turn Barnes over, you're gonna come with us. Now! Because it's us! Or a squad of J-SOC guys… with no compunction about being impolite. Come on.” Steve looks away and Tony can’t help the pang of hurt in him.
Sam radios Steve and informs him that the Quinjet is in hanger five, north runway. Steve nods to himself and holds his hands up, an arrow cutting through it and setting his hands free, “Alright, Lang.”
Peter is about to warn them before a man appears on the shield and he feels it pulled off his arm. He hears Rhodey ask what the hell that was, as the man returns to full size, passing the shield back to Steve, “I believe this is yours, Captain America.”
Tony glances around and frowns, “Oh, great. Alright, there's two on the parking deck. One of them's Maximoff, Stephen, you’re gonna grab her. Jess, you want to take Cap?”
Jessica smirks and nods as Rhodey tells them, “Got two in the terminal. Wilson and Barnes.” T’Challa starts running towards the terminal, calling dibs on Barnes. Peter asks Tony for instructions and is told to keep his distance.
Scott faces Jessica and he says gently, “Look, I really don't want to hurt you.”
Jessica smirks and wrings her fists, “I wouldn't stress about it.” She kicks him in the groin and he groans before miniaturizing, throwing her head over heels. Jessica glares in irritation and smacks him off her wrist effortlessly, sending him slamming into a nearby truck and leaving a large dent in its side. She looks over at the terminal to check on the kid, seeing him handling himself fine against Bucky and Sam. She turns back just in time to see Tony fire rockets that explode just beyond Clint and Wanda while Stephen traps them with magical binds, orange sparks flying off them.
Steve fights hand to hand with Jessica and he’s frankly taken aback by how well she is keeping up with him. She takes his hits and returns them just as hard with no effort. War Machine locks on to Steve and he says, “Sorry, Cap. This won't kill you but it ain't gonna tickle either.” He smacks Steve's shield with a mace, blasting him back.
“Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings,” Tony says.
Wanda accuses, “You locked me in my room.”
Stephen raises an eyebrow and Tony catches it, countering, “Okay. First, that's an exaggeration. Second, I did it to protect you. Hey, Clint.”
Clint greets him back and Tony asks, “Clearly, retirement doesn't suit you. You got tired of shooting golf?”
Clint shrugs, “Well, I played 18, I shot 18. Just can't seem to miss.” He fires an arrow and Stephen realizes he’s too slow to deflect it but luckily enough, Tony is fast enough to do so himself.
Tony cockily remarks, “First time for everything.”
“Made you look.”
A car slams past Tony. Both Stephen and Tony look up as dozens more come crashing down on them. Wanda directs the cars into their path as Stephen redirects some of them, knocking a few out of Tony’s way before he throws an attack at Wanda. She loses control of the cars and they start falling onto Tony and him. Stephen moves some of the cars with portals and Tony fires at them, but Stephen gets caught under a pile of cars while Tony manages to escape with minimal injury.
“Multiple contusions detected,” FRIDAY informs.
Tony replies with sarcasm, “Yeah, I detected that too.”
Clint helps Wanda up and as he aids her in recovering from Stephen’s attack, Tony pushes cars off Stephen and checks on the doctor’s vitals, relieved to see that he’s fine, the Cloak having protecting him. Steve kicks Rhodey out of the air, then sends Jessica reeling. Rhodey's mace is broken. Scott throws Steve a miniature truck and holds up a device, ordering, “Throw it at this. Now!”
Steve throws the mini-truck at Scott’s device and the truck enlarges, tumbling towards War Machine who exclaims in exasperation as the truck lands and explodes. Scott and Steve watch quietly before Scott comments, “Oh, man. I thought it was a water truck.” Steve throws him a strange look and Scott rushes out an insincere apology before they run off, making Rhodey irritated.
Tony helps Jessica up and she asks, “Is this part of the plan?”
Tony turns to the fight, replying, “Well, my plan was to go easy on them. You wanna switch it up?”
Clint spots the Quinjet and indicates to Wanda, “There’s our ride.” Steve calls out to his team to get moving and they start running towards it before a fizzing stream of energy slices across the runway, stopping them.
Vision hovers overhead. “Captain Rogers. I know you believe what you're doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now,” Vision says firmly as the rest of Tony’s team arrives, stopping in a line right across from Steve’s. Now that the full team is assembled, Steve takes in the three strangers. The spider boy, the wizard and the superwoman.
“What do we do, Cap?” Sam asks.
“We fight.”
Jessica says sarcastically, “This is gonna end well.”
The two teams stride towards each other with grim determination etched on their faces. As they start breaking into runs, Peter realizes, “They're not stopping!”
Tony replies, “Neither are we.”
Steve blocks a punch as Tony lands. Clint fires an arrow at Vision which Stephen returns with a portal. War Machine flies after Falcon and Bucky trades blows with T'Challa. An explosive arrow misses Tony with Stephen’s help. Jessica throws Scott to the side like he’s nothing as Peter swings through the air, struggling to evade vehicles projected by Wanda. Stephen comes to his aid, providing him portals to jump through to avoid the cars. Bucky manages to score some hits on T’Challa and Clint and Jessica battle fist to fist. Clint pins her down with his bow and Jessica spits in his face as she spins him over with her legs. As she's about to kick his head, her foot stops and glows bright red. Wanda projects Jessica down into rubble.
“You were going all out,” Wanda says in confusion.
Clint nods, glancing at Jessica, “Yeah, I don’t know how she’s doing it. She ain’t a super soldier like Rogers.”
“I didn't kill your father!” Bucky says.
T’Challa replies bitterly, “Then why did you run?” T'Challa pulls Bucky's hand off his neck and spins him, fly-kicking him backward. His hands sprout claws and he aims for Bucky's neck before Wanda stops his hand. She waves her arms and sends T'Challa crashing into a passenger gangway just as Stephen sends magical binds wrapping around her, throwing her aside as he prepares another attack.
Peter swings past and Steve snaps the web with his shield, making Peter land and complain, “That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all.”
Steve warns him, “Look, kid. There's a lot going on here that you don't understand.”
Peter laughs internally, “Mr. Stark said you'd say that. Wow.” He fires webs that stick to Steve's shield and ankle and he pulls, causing Steve to slide towards him. Peter kicks him backward, then rolls clear. “He also said to go for your legs.” As Steve runs to get his shield, Peter webs his hands and pulls. Steve grits his teeth, using effort and strength to spin and somersault, propelling Peter through the air.
Sam dodges an attack from Tony and he asks, “Clint, can you get him off me?”
Clint nocks an arrow and double-checks if Scott is on the tip of the arrow, “Buckled in?” Scott nods in anticipation and excitement as he lies down on his stomach, tightening his grip on the tip of the arrow, “Yeah. No, I'm good. I'm good, Arrow Guy. Let's go. Let's go!” As Clint fires it, the head splits and Tony shoots at the shards. Scott dives between Tony’s splayed fingers and slips inside the Iron Man suit at the shoulder joint.
Steve catches a web and drags Peter towards him, knocking him down with the shield. Peter recovers and pulls himself up on top of a gangway as Steve asks, “Tony tell you anything else?”
Peter answers, “That you're wrong. You think you're right. That makes you dangerous.”
He swings down and Steve leaps to kick him back onto the gangway's leg and Steve says, “Guess he had a point.” He throws his shield at the leg and the gangway falls onto Peter who holds it up, albeit with a bit of struggle. Steve smiles, “You got heart, kid. Where are you from?”
“Queens.”
“Brooklyn,” Steve grins, running off and leaving Peter holding the gangway.
Clint fires arrows at the hovering Tony whose arm-lasers malfunction. He automatically asks FRIDAY what’s wrong and she answers, “We have some weapon systems offline.”
“Oh, you're gonna have to take this into the shop.”
“Who's speaking?” Tony asks.
“It's your conscience. We don't talk a lot these days.”
“FRIDAY?” Tony calls and she responds, “Deploying fire suppression system.” Scott begins sprinting through narrow banks of components, chased by a rolling cloud of carbon dioxide before he gets ejected from the suit.
“We gotta go. That guy's probably in Siberia by now,” Bucky tells Steve.
Steve nods, “We gotta draw out the flyers. I'll take Vision. You get to the jet.”
Sam cuts in as he’s pursued by Rhodey, “No, you get to the jet! Both of you! The rest of us aren't getting out of here.”
Clint frowns as he narrowly dodges a possibly-fatal punch from Jessica, “As much as I hate to admit it, if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it.”
Sam reminds, “This isn't the real fight, Steve.”
Steve nods again and asks what’s the play, where Sam says they need a diversion, something big.
“I got something kind of big, but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half… don't come back for me,” Scott says. Steve looks around to try to locate Scott but fails, assuming that Scott is in his shrunk form.
Bucky squints in confusion and asks, “He's gonna tear himself in half?”
Steve shares Bucky’s sentiments and asks, “You're sure about this, Scott?”
Scott responds, still running and sounding out of breath, “I do it all the time. I mean once… in a lab. Then I passed out. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss. I'm the boss!”
He leaps from mobile stairs and lands on Rhodey's back as he flies past. He operates his suit's wrist, shuts his eyes and activates a remote. Scott grows into a towering Behemoth and grabs Rhodey's leg, laughing triumphantly.
“Holy shit!” Peter exclaims in amazement and surprise.
Rhodey says, out of anything else to comment, “Okay, tiny dude is big now. He's big now.”
“I guess that's the signal,” Steve mutters and he and Bucky make a run for it as Sam cheers Scott on.
“Give me back my Rhodey,” Tony orders, flying over. Sam is about to fly feet first into Tony when Stephen opens a portal, sending Sam crashing into Bucky and Steve instead. Tony is struck by one of Clint’s explosive arrows, however, but Peter catches Rhodey with his webs.
Scott kicks a bus towards T’Challa and Vision descends, bracing himself as he splits the bus in two, protecting T'Challa from harm. T'Challa spots Steve and Bucky sprinting past. Chasing Sam, Tony evades Scott swinging the wing of a plane at him and he says, “Okay, anybody on our side hiding any shocking and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose, I'm open to suggestions.” Sam arrows towards Tony, firing Redwing which cracks into Tony's helmet.
Scott blocks T'Challa's path and says, “You wanna get to them… you gotta go through me.” He sweeps his gigantic foot through the crates T'Challa's standing on, smashing them to pieces. Scott is engulfed in explosions as Rhodey swoops towards him with Peter clinging to a web stuck to his back. He fires more webs and wraps them around Scott's arms.
Giant Scott punches Rhodey in the air and swings a gangway towards him as he recovers. Rhodey opens fire and the gangway disintegrates. Scott tries to stamp on him who dives clear, evading a lunge of Scott's hand before he gets struck by something. He shouts in shock as Wanda waves her hands, flinging vehicles into his path. Stephen quickly arrives, using his magic binds to stop Wanda. The vehicles collapse and Stephen slams her onto the ground before throwing her aside.
Scott orders Peter to get off him and is distracted, not noticing Vision curling into a ball and ramming into him. Vision spots Steve and Bucky approaching the hangar as Scott tries to recover from the hit. He simply floats through Scott's chest to get to them and Scott exclaims, “Something just flew in me!”
Vision fires a shining beam of energy from his mind stone and the control tower collapses towards the entrance of the hangar. Wanda struggles to slow its collapse and Steve and Bucky continue running before Rhodey descends behind her, firing a sonic disruptor. Wanda clutches her head and screams in agony, breaking the spell. The tower falls all around Steve and Bucky but they are quick enough to make it into the hangar where Natasha is waiting for them.
“I’ve been waiting,” she says. “The Quinjet’s ready. Just board.”
Steve raises a hand in an apologetic salute, “Sorry we took so long. Thank you, Nat.”
She cocks her head as if to say it’s nothing before she nods behind them, “On your left.” She raises her gun to the left of the area behind them, stunning T'Challa who's arrived behind them.
“Go.”
Steve and Bucky run for the Quinjet as she keeps T'Challa at bay. She shoots him a final time before she jumps onto the Quinjet, taking off.
“Hey, guys, you ever see that really old movie, Empire Strikes Back?” Peter calls out.
Stephen narrows his eyes, asking, “Jesus, Stark, how old is he?”
Tony clicks his tongue in annoyance, “I don't know, I didn't carbon date him. He's on the young side.”
Peter continues, swinging towards Scott, “You know that part where they're on the snow planet with the walking thingies?”
As he begins wrapping webs around the joints of Scott’s legs, Tony catches on and Stephen nods upward, “Go high.”
Peter swings around and around Scott's legs as Tony and Stephen power towards his head, both landing blows together. Peter cheers loudly as Scott topples, a flailing limb catching Peter and sending him flying just before Scott slams into the ground on his back.
He returns to normal size and removes the face-plate of his helmet, grimacing, “Does anyone have any orange slices?”
Tony lands by Peter and retracts his helmet, concerned. “Kid, you alright?”
Peter struggles before Tony reassures him that it’s only him and that he’s done. Of course, Peter argues that he has to keep going before Tony threatens to call Aunt May. Stephen sees the love and concern Tony has for the kid, even while barely knowing him so early into their friendship. He misses it.
Outside, Vision kneels beside Wanda and gently holds her in his arms as she pants for breath. He apologizes and she returns it, Vision pointing out that it is all just as he predicted — catastrophe.
Piloting the Quinjet, Steve looks over his shoulder and spots Rhodey encroaching to the right and pushes forward on the thrusters. Tony flies beside Rhodey and Sam follows them.
Rhodey says, “Vision, I got a bandit on my six.” Sam fires small explosives that erupt and buffer Rhodey. “Vision! Do you copy? Target his thrusters, turn him into a glider.”
Vision finally responds, taking aim and firing his head laser. Sam sees it coming and ducks into a tumble. The laser overshoots and slices through the core on Rhodey’s chest plate, causing the suit to lose power and sending it into a spinning free fall. B oth Sam and Tony make a dive to try to catch Rhodey who yells, “Tony, I'm flying dead stick!”
As he plunges, the suit emits black smoke from its failure. Tony swoops down towards him just as Sam does. Rhodey's eyes start to close. Peace.
Stephen’s cloak is already making a move to catch Rhodey while Stephen tries to open a portal from how far away he is from where Rhodey’s at. It doesn’t work and he watches helplessly with Peter and Jessica as Tony tries to catch up. Rhodey crashes into a wide, grassy field just before Tony lands nearby. His helmet retracts and he pulls off Rhodey's faceplate. His eyes are closed and there's blood on his face.
“Read vitals,” Tony orders, stressed.
FRIDAY tells him, “Heartbeat detected. Emergency medical is on its way.”
Sam swoops down and lands on his feet. As he retracts his wings, he apologizes. Tony doesn’t hear it, shooting Sam backward with a blast of energy from the palm of his suit. Vision glides to the ground just in front of Sam and stares speechlessly at what he has done.
Tony can only hold Rhodey in silence.
Stephen watches from afar. Peter presses a hand to his mouth in shock and Jessica sighs, muttering a quiet ‘oh, fuck’ under her breath before she turns to Stephen, “Should we walk over?”
“Maybe it’s best to leave him alone. We’ll be here if he needs us,” he responds. Jessica nods and she frowns, turning back to shoot Wanda and Clint a poisonous glare.
Stephen can tell Rhodey thought he was going to die. He knows his eyes were shut because he had come to peace with it. He knows Rhodey was okay with it because he was going to die doing what he thought was right.
Stephen wonders what that’s like. To believe so surely that you are right that death is only a minor inconvenience. His whole life, he’s believed himself to be wrong in everything except his career. His sexuality was a trying time for him where he and everyone around him believed so strongly that he was wrong. He believed he was wrong in desiring love, in desiring purpose. His career was the only thing that he knew he was right in. When that was gone, the magic became that.
And maybe it was unhealthy for Stephen to base his entire life’s worth on only one aspect of his life that can easily change.
But it makes sleeping so much easier to know that your life depends on only one thing.
“You okay, Doc?” Jessica asks as she comes to sit next to him on the jet that Tony got to pick them up. Peter is on a helicopter with Tony being sent home while Rhodey is on another vehicle to transport him to a hospital, which leaves Jessica, Stephen, T’Challa and Vision on the jet.
“Fine,” he says. The Cloak comes off his shoulders and settles onto Jessica’s experimentally before it decides to stay there.
Jessica eyes the sentient cloak suspiciously, then elects to ignore it, continuing, “It’s just… I recognize that look. That look where you think this is all you will ever be.”
Stephen raises an eyebrow, “Excuse me?”
Jessica nods.
“Yup. You think that because you are a wizard, that you have to use your magic for good. So you choose to become a superhero. To find purpose. I’ve been there. After my family died in a car accident because I was too self-absorbed and I got these freak powers, I wanted to become a superhero. But why? Because I was excited with these newfound gifts that I thought I had to do something. And guess what? I actually didn’t want to do anything. The superhero life is not mine to live, because I don’t care about anyone but myself,” Jessica says.
Stephen listens intently before asking, “So what has that got to do with me?”
Jessica sighs and rolls her eyes as she continues, “Everything. Are you sure being a superhero is your only purpose in life, Strange? I’m sure you have better things in store than to throw a couple of orange whips and creating portals.”
“I protect reality as you know it.”
“Yeah, but why do you do it?” Jessica asks. “Because you feel obligated to? Or because you want to?”
Stephen falls silent.
“When Kilgrave controlled me, made use of me to kill people, to… satisfy his dirty needs, I was devastated. When I got free of that trapped life, I gave up. I indulged in alcohol and wouldn’t bother fixing my door and tidying up my apartment because what was the point? Nothing I’ll ever do will make me feel clean ever again, so why bother?” Jessica says. Stephen listens, only hearing about this ‘Kilgrave’ for the first time. “It took me years to come to terms with the fact it happened, but nothing will change the fact that it did. Then he came back and I set out to find him so he couldn’t hurt anyone again. See that, Doc? A purpose. Then I hunted him down and snapped the neck of that son of a bitch.
“I think it’s the same for you. You were what, an A-List neurosurgeon or something, right? You thought your purpose was in saving the lives, but your self-absorbed ass only tells me that you were in it because you wanted to feel worth. Or maybe you found comfort in the money you earned in exchange for the people you saved. I don’t know. I don’t care which one. But then you had that accident and it destroyed your hands. You fell into some sort of dark hole and then boom. You found it. Purpose. The magic. And what’s the purpose of that? You save people with this magic, but the only reason you pursued it was to fix your hands. Why? To return to your life in the operating room. All for what, Strange? What’s truly your purpose?”
“I just want to feel like I’m worth something,” Stephen says shakily, Jessica’s words hitting him in places he didn’t know he could feel.
“Your worth isn’t just in the fights. I know how we can feel like that sometimes, but it isn’t. My sister Trish taught me that. Find your worth in someone. It’s a hell lot better than finding worth in something,” Jessica says before she stands and leaves Stephen alone with the sounds of the jet’s engine.
Someone.
Who could love me? I’m out of my mind.