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Tony only noticed how much time he and Stephen had been travelling together when Stephen asked to stop somewhere for his third haircut. That drew Tony short. He needed a haircut as well.
He frowned. “Stephen?”
“Hm?” came his distracted reply.
“How long have we been travelling together?”
There was a thoughtful pause. “I’m not sure. Six, seven months?” He sounded unsure.
“JARVIS, how long has Stephen been with me?” Tony called.
“Seven months, six days, sir,” he replied.
They both sat there in befuddled silence. “ Really?” Tony said incredulously.
“Wow,” Stephen said, seeming surprised himself.
“Er, I’ll set the coordinates for a station to cut our hair,” Tony finally said.
“Alright.”
After their haircut later, they were wandering around curiously, as Stephen rarely got to go with Tony on stations, but Tony had made sure Stephen could come with this time. When they turned a corner Tony caught sight of a familiar insignia on another man’s coat that made him freeze. It was one of the pirates that had been tracking them a few weeks ago that they had lost.
“Stephen, we need to get to the ship. Quickly,” he said lowly, his hand straying to the small of Stephen’s back. He knew Stephen had seen the man as well and nodded minutely and they both slowly backed up, trying to go back around the corner. But almost as they were about to be out of sight, the man happened to glance over and first caught sight of Stephen, and then Tony. His eyes narrowed and his lips turned to a sneer.
They didn’t stick around much longer to see what else he did, as they both turned fully around and bolted off. They were about halfway there when Tony glanced back and saw several more men with the insignia following them, blasters in hand.
Tony sucked in a quick breath and swallowed as they turned another corner, seeing the ship in the distance. “Stephen, pull out your blaster,” he ordered breathlessly.
Stephen didn’t say anything but he heard, opening his coat and pulling out a small blaster and flicked off the safety.
Tony could only think, damn, wish I’d gotten around to making my nanobots mobile, before a blaster bolt shot in front of his feet, making him yelp and trip in surprise. Stephen skidded to a stop and tried to pick Tony up, but was waved off. “Go! Open the ship!” he ordered, scrambling to his feet and taking off again.
By then, though, one of the men had caught up and tackled Tony to the ground, gripping him by the hair and slamming his head into the ground repeatedly. Agony spread through his skull and his vision grayed. There was a very distinct ringing in his ears. He had enough conscious thought to pull out his own blaster and to thumb off the safety and blindly shot behind him. There was a loud cry and the weight above him slid off.
The people following them slowed down, eyeing Tony warily since he’d sat up and pointed his blaster at them. What they didn’t know was that they could have been within five feet of him and he’d probably have missed. Everything was spinning around him and it was taking all his willpower to keep his eyes open and the blaster steady.
Footsteps came up from behind him and he thought that one had circled around, but it was just Stephen, putting his arms under Tony’s armpits and hauling him up.
“Follow us to the ship and we’ll shoot,” Stephen growled, holding Tony up, who still had his blaster raised.
The two left just raised their hands and backed away, saying nothing. Stephen knew they’d follow them once they took off, but currently he was more worried about Tony, who was becoming more and more unresponsive as Stephen had to basically drag him back to the ship.
Tony was deteriorating rather fast, one pupil huge and another barely visible while his thoughts were blurring together and his legs weren’t working correctly. He was barely able to register that he was on his ship. He did feel himself get gently set in Stephen’s usual chair and felt a hand hastily smooth through his hair, the part unbloodied.
“You’re gonna have to hold on, a little bit, Tony. I have to get us in the air before I can put you in the infirmary,” Stephen said hurriedly, and Tony vaguely heard Stephen messing with the controls and the engines starting.
Tony had passed out before they were even off the ground.
When he next woke up, he was in the infirmary. Everything was still blurry and he felt a little nauseous, along with a pounding in his skull. He just… couldn’t figure out where he was. Who’s ship was he on? When he thought about it, he couldn’t really remember anything except his name and some vague details about innocuous things like machinery and nanobots, for whatever reason.
He blinked slowly, noting that he was drugged, when an unfamiliar man walked in looking exhausted and froze at the sight of Tony.
“Tony…”
Tony felt uncomfortable, unsure of how to feel toward this man. Was he a prisoner? Had they done something to his memory? He looked at him warily. “Who’re you? Why am I here?”
The man’s face fell, shoulders hunching up. “I’m uh, I’m Stephen Strange. Your… partner. We were running from some pirates and one bashed your skull against the ground, that would be why you, I’m assuming, can’t remember much,” Stephen explained carefully.
“Partner… as in, us, together, romantically?” He found that hard to believe, what with the species of the man in front of him.
Stephen’s eyes were guarded, but Tony could easily see the hurt and wondered why he felt bad. “Yes. Romantically. I’m not like most of my species. Now, from what the machines are telling me, you’re still healing, so brain function is likely to restore. Would you like me to sedate you so you can sleep through some of it?”
Tony swallowed before reluctantly deciding to trust Stephen. “Alright. You’re sure they’re gonna come back?” He tried to keep the fear out of his voice, but Stephen still caught it.
“As sure as the machines can tell me. Don’t give up, it’s only been a few hours. Even twenty years ago you’d still be asleep. Medicine these days is amazing,” he rambled, walking over and grabbed a bottle from the side and filled the IV with the medicine. The world spun for a few moments before his eyes slid closed.
This time when he woke up, the pain was a little less and the nausea was gone, and his vision was near normal. He remembered the last time he was awake but it was very blurry. He did remember not recognizing Stephen and felt horribly guilty. He was glad at least that his memories were back, but some were fuzzy.
He struggled to sit up, limbs feeling weak before he fell against the pillow behind him with a grunt. He could only wait impatiently for Stephen to come check up on him and for Tony to grovel for forgiveness.
Thankfully, it was only about twenty minutes before Stephen cautiously walked in, looking at Tony warily. Tony smiled guiltily at him. “I’m sorry for not remembering you,” he said quietly.
Stephen was visibly relieved, coming over and falling into the chair beside Tony. “Glad you’re alright. I was really worried for a while there. You.. weren’t doing well,” Stephen said, voice hoarse.
“How long have I been in here?” Tony asked gently.
“Six days.”
“And how many since you’ve slept?”
Stephen was quiet for a moment before letting out a self deprecating laugh. “I’ve taken hour naps, but it’s been six days since I’ve slept through the night,” he admitted.
Tony sighed and scooted over, grimacing at the feeling of disconnect his body still felt. He then patted the small spot beside him with a raised eyebrow.
Stephen stared at the spot for a moment, before he sighed in resignation and tugged off his boots and got undressed before sliding in beside Tony. “You’re showering when we wake up,” Stephen mumbled when Tony shimmied back into a lying positon.
“Do I stink that bad?” he asked with a frown.
“Mhm…” Stephen hummed, curling his body around Tony’s, head nestled on Tony’s chest.
“Can’t stink that bad if you’re laying there,” Tony mused, petting Stephen’s hair gently.
“M’tired and you’re comfy,” he muttered. Tony just hummed in reply and waited for Stephen to fall asleep. He contented himself by listening to Stephen’s slow breathing, slightly frightened that his memories will slip while he’s asleep, but the call to sleep couldn’t be ignored.
Within minutes, Tony was fast asleep, head to the side and mouth wide open.
When he woke up, his memories were still intact and he and Stephen spent two days on a spa resort.
All too soon they went back to travelling, as Tony could never stay away for long. Stephen pretended to put up a fight, but knew it wasn’t worth the effort.
He’d do anything for Tony, and Tony knew he’d do the same for Stephen.