Chapter Text
Tony was lost.
….That made it sound so, so much worse than it was. But it was still concerning.
It was supposed to be a favor for Strange. Go back in time, get a book he’d once owned, come back and bam, done!. But… something had gone wrong. Strange had assumed the worst, and called the first person he could think of that was within a reasonable distance.
Peter
“So, what happened exactly?” Peter asked, looking at the book that Stephen had on his table, opened to a page concerning some alternate time travel methods.
“Tony went back in time to get me a book that he once owned - a rare first edition of an alchemic text that he’d bought on a whim, but could not remember “when” precisely he owned it - as he’d lost it at some point in his adulthood” Strange explained “It was supposed to be a simple fetch, not taking more than a few jumps through time….. But I fear has been… lost to time, so to speak”
Peter leaned forward - his brow furrowed and his concern growing. Stephen took that as a signal to continue.
“The spell I used was powerful, but had its limits. In order to maintain the structure of time when one travels, if they stay too long in your past self, your future memories will be repressed” Strange continued.
“So he’s…. Quantam leaped? And he doesn’t even remember?” He summarized
Stephen paused, taking more than a moment to think about what Peter had just said. “... Yes, that is a crude way to put it, but yes” the doctor confirmed.
“So, what do you want me to do?” Peter asked.
“You have to go get him, obviously” The wizard was looking in a cabinet for something
“ … Wait, I’m time traveling?” He pointed to himself
“Yes”
“... As game as I am for this, why aren’t you asking like, Rhodey? I mean, if this is like, same-body Quantam Leap… well I mean, I was born in 2001”
“Anyone else I send back in time will be sent back to their previous body. There is no way of knowing when, or how far they would be from Tony. its too big a risk.”
“So i’m… less risky?”
“.... Unfortunately, yes” Stephen sighed “If i had an adult that could help me, I would get them”
Peter pouted slightly. “Okay, so uh… how would I do it?”
“I would send you back in time to a place we’re Tony will be. The spell is complicated but it will acclimate you to the time period regardless of age” he started to explain
“Wait, “regardless of age”?”
Stephen looked away from Peter, with an awkward, shirt collar tugging look.
“Because you were not born in those times, when i send you back, your age might…. Fluctuate”
“... Wow, that’s not assuring”
“If I could comfort you better, I would, but I will not sugar-coat” Stephen confirmed
Peter huffed “Okay… okay so, what’s the full process here?”
Strange floated over a small earpiece “To start, Stark invented this using residual energy from the stone. I will be able to contact you no matter “when” you are so long as you have it in your ear”
Peter nodded, grabbing it from the air and looking it over as Strange continued.
“I will send you back in time to where and when Tony is. You have to see if it is “our” Tony”
“How?”
“Well, only our Tony will know you” Stephen further elaborated “introduce yourself. Use your full name. If he recognizes you, then you have found our Tony”
Peter took in a deep breath. “That's a lot”
“That's not all, but its a start. I will not do this if you do not want to” The good doctor pressed “I will find another way”
Peter let out his breath, and thought about it for all of 5 seconds
“Let’s do this”