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The mission was simple, Scott thought. Stop the evil magician from destroying the city. Simple as that. No one was supposed to get hurt.
They were facing off against a young illusionist by the name of Dahlia Divine. Specializing in experimental tech, Dahlia claimed to be a world-renowned "telekinetic", when really she's just being assisted by some fancy tech.
"T'Challa, keep the citizens safe," Carol ordered once they arrived to the scene.
"Can you not take her down yourself?"
Carol shook her head. "No can do. One shot from me and she's dead. She's just a teenager. We shouldn't kill her." She turned to Scott. "Lang, disable her armor."
Scott gave a thumbs up.
"Strange," She looked over at Stephen. "Restrain her."
Stephen nodded quietly. The four dispersed to do their jobs.
"Let's do this, Stephen!" Scott whispered to him enthusiastically.
Stephen shook his head. "On the battlefield, I'm 'Strange'."
Scott shrugged. They had been dating for two months already, and Stephen still didn't want to make their status public. He didn't see what was so wrong with coming clean to their teammates, but he just nodded and listened to him.
"Okay, Strange. Let's do this!"
Stephen flew into the air and faced Dahlia head-on. Scott jumped from the Cloak and into a small opening in her armor. He didn't have time to watch his boyfriend work his magic as he worked to incapacitate her gear. Luckily, Stephen distracted her long enough to let him deactivate the tech.
"Aaaand, there we go!" He gleamed as he cut the last few wires, rendering her telekinesis nonfunctional. He made his way out of the equipment and whistled for Ant-onio (2.0). Once he was on the ground, he grew back to normal and watched Stephen's light show.
He marveled at his grace as he fired spells left and right, careful not to let his guard down while also making sure not to brutally wound the teenager. With her main power disabled, Dahlia launched at Stephen in the sky, resorting to physical violence. Stephen blocked her attacks like they were no big deal.
"Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!" He hollered, reaching his hand out. Red wires wrapped around the girl, subduing her. He lowered her onto the ground, smiling with confidence.
"Wooo, Stephen!" Scott cheered. Stephen turned around to face him.
"Strange," he corrected.
Scott rolled his eyes. "What? I'm celebrating, you won!"
"I was just doing my job," Stephen insisted. "You don't have to yell my name at the top of your lungs. Would it kill you to be professional for once?"
While they were busy bickering, Dahlia struggled to get one of her arms free.
"So supporting my boyfriend is 'unprofessional'?"
"Don't tell anyone we're dating! If any of my enemies knew I was dating someone--"
"They would what? Try to fight 2 Avengers at once?"
"It's not about that! If your would just listen to me for once--"
"That's what I'm doing! That's all I've been doing! Listening to you try to insist that we have to keep our relationship under-wraps. We've never had a public date, you know. Can't we just be a normal couple for once?"
"It's not about that!" Stephen yelled over him.
Managing to get one of her arms loose, Dahlia raised a fully-charged arm cannon at Stephen.
"I care about you, Scott!" Stephen snapped at him. "You know that. I don't care if I die. But I have enemies from all kinds of dimensions. If they found a way here, they could unleash damnation beyond your wildest imagination. And if they somehow found you…" he trailed off, not wanting to complete that thought. "...I don't think I could ever forgive myself."
That response made Scott's heart drop. Stephen lowered his head in silent contemplation over his words.
"Stephen…" He raised his arm to the sky, as if trying to reach out to him away up there.
"Uhh, guys?" Carol muttered into her com, busy holding up a building. "I realize you two have some relationship drama going on right now, but can we cut the--" Her eyes widened as she turned around and saw what Dahlia was about to do. "STRANGE, LOOK OUT--!"
POW!
When Scott looked at the crime that unfolded in the sky, he felt his heart stop. Dahlia had blasted Stephen in the head using the last of her suit's power. The sorcerer's serious grimace melted into a stunned expression. He floated in the air for a moment, before his eyes rolled back and he fell from the sky.
"STEPHEN!"
Scott's eyes widened as he saw Stephen rapidly descend to the Earth, completely helpless. He didn't account for this. How the hell could he have accounted for this?
He disregarded Dahlia. He didn't have a plan. All his brain was telling him to do was panic as he watched his love about to die right before his eyes.
The first thing he thought to do was grow. He fiddled with his suit and quickly grew 30 feet taller. Usually, he reserved that mode for no-other-option emergencies. But right now, he couldn't think about any worse emergency than this one.
He reached out his giant arm, trying to catch the sorcerer before he could collide into the Earth. He almost screamed once he saw he was just a few inches out of reach.
"Almost there..."
He grew a few more inches, his stamina swiftly draining by the second. He reached our his arm further and further, until...
"I got you!"
Stephen landed into his palm, lying on his back. Scott brought him to his chest and examined him up close. Although he was saved from death, he still wasn't in good shape. Scott's panic didn't cease once he noticed that his boyfriend was unconscious and barely breathing.
"C'mon, wake up..."
Scott swiftly shrunk down and cradled Stephen's unconscious body. He tried to ignore his own weariness as focused on getting Stephen to wake up. He hyperventilated as the worst-case scenario began to dawn on him. He gently shook him, trying to get him to open his eyes.
"Stephen? Stephen, wake up!" He begged, out of breath. He tried to restrain a sob when he didn't get a response. "It's me, Scott!" Please...please just...wake up."
Stephen's body lied limp in his arms. Scott began to cry as he pulled Stephen in for comfort, desperately looking for a pulse. He almost fell into his body, on the verge of joining him in the realm of unconsciousness.
"I love you!" He yelled, holding Stephen close. He didn't even care that his coms were still on. Emotion erupted out of him by the second. "I love you so, so much! I love you! So please, open your eyes."
He couldn't be dead. He knew he couldn't be dead. But that didn't stop him from crying into his shoulder, continuously begging for him to wake up.
After a few silent moments, Stephen slowly blinked opened his eyes.
"Sc...Scottie?"
Scott pulled away from him in shock. Stephen groaned, placing a hand on his head. He almost collapsed, but Scott supported his weight.
"Stephen!" He exclaimed tiredly, grinning ecstatically. Tears began streaming down his face again, this time coated with joy. He grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. "You're alive!"
Stephen struggled to look up at him and noticed the exhaustion in his eyes, coupled with utter joy that he was alive.
"You...grew?" Stephen questioned. Scott nodded, still holding him tight. Stephen sighed. "Scott...you could've...could've gotten hurt..." he reprehended, before wincing in pain.
"You would've died!" Scott interjected.
Stephen shrugged tiredly, screwing his eyes shut. "So? You shouldn't have tried to sacrifice yourself for me. You have a family. Who would care if I died--"
"I WOULD!"
Stephen opened his eyes ever so slightly to see Scott on the verge of tears.
"I care!" Scott continued, at the top of his lungs. "I care about you! I care about you so much!" He tenderly grabbed Stephen's hands, careful not to trigger any irritation. "I love you, okay? Stop saying stuff like that about yourself. You matter, Stephen."
Stephen looked at Scott with momentary surprise. And then, out of nowhere, he laughed. He laughed like Scott just said the funniest joke he ever heard.
Scott, still shaken from the outburst, didn't understand why he was suddenly chuckling. But it was cute. It was almost adorable. He hadn't heard Stephen laugh in a long, long time.
Both of them began senselessly laughing like children. They laughed so hard they almost started crying.
Stephen's chuckles vanished as he caressed Scott's cheek and wiped away his tears.
"Don't cry over me, Scottie," He said sweetly. He accompanied the sentiment with a kiss on the cheek. "I'd never want to hurt you."
He swayed a bit in his motion, dizziness beginning to overtake him once again. Scott grabbed his shoulders and tried to steady him as best as he could. However, his attempts were futile once Stephen tiredly collapsed into Scott's chest, barely conscious.
"I love you," He mumbled as his eyes closed once again.
Scott held Stephen in his arms, brushed out some messy hair over his eyes, and grinned. He was alive, and that's all that mattered.
"I love you, too."
The first thing Stephen saw 2 hours later when he woke up in the hospital was a familiar set of beautiful green eyes.
"Good afternoon," Scott whispered, beaming as he watched his eyes flutter open.
Stephen grinned, his last memories still fresh in his mind.
"Hi."
"Hi," Scott replied, bending down to kiss him, making their foreheads meet. He delicately took his hand and knitted their fingers together, his thumb gently rubbing his scars.
They let the moment last for a few seconds. Just them being in love. No monsters. No villains. No powers. Just love.
"You've got some guests," Scott said, breaking their silence. Stephen looked over his shoulder and saw Cassie running towards him, Hope walking right behind her.
"Uncle Stephen!!" Cassie exclaimed.
"Hi, Cassie," Stephen replied with a smile. "Nice to see you. How are the magic lessons going?"
"They're great! Maybe one day, I can be your sidekick."
Stephen nodded, entertaining her. "Maybe."
"Her teacher's pretty impressive " Hope interposed, joining the discussion. "Card tricks, water glasses, the whole shebang. I bet Scott's been wondering if he could learn some real magic for himself."
She nudged Scott's shoulder and Scott nudged back. "Hey, close-up magic is real magic!"
From there, it was just a nice, normal family conversation. In the midst of this lighthearted reunion, it suddenly dawned on Stephen that he had been missing something.
He missed this. He missed having a family he could talk to. He missed having a boyfriend he could love. He didn't even know how much he missed this until now. And it was nice. It was nice to be normal for just a few minutes.
He grabbed Scott's hand, momentarily bringing him back in their own private Heaven.
"I love you, Scottie," he muttered to him.
Scott replied with a kiss.
All was well.
In the city, Carol was busy cleaning up the remaining wreckage of the battle. T'Challa, having finished assuring that all the citizens were safe, walked by to help her.
"So," He began some small talk. "Lang and Strange are an item?"
Carol shrugged, barely looking up from picking up some trash.
"Can't say I expected it," She snickered. "Also can't say I didn't think about it."
T'Challa raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
Carol smirked and offered him a glance.
"Have you seen the way he stares at him when he's doing...you know?" She dramatically imitated Stephen's hand movements with a grim expression. "It's the same way Maria stares at me when she sees me in action," She beamed.
"It's love."