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Tony wasn’t even supposed to be in Scotland.
He was supposed to be in New York reworking Stark Tower since the place was still a wreck after the invasion. Pepper had shown up not long after everything was truly over and cried for about an hour on him. They both knew that she couldn’t handle the stress of him being Iron Man when they were together. It’s why they broke off their fledgling relationship and decided to stay friends instead. Pepper went back to LA while Tony somehow ended up in Scotland. He had told Jarvis to take him to a random Stark property he hadn’t been to before.
Now he was in a small cottage, now fully stocked and ready for housing someone again, on the border of a rather dark forest in Northern Scotland. Apparently it was from some distant relative and it got folded in with the rest of the Stark estates. The problem with that is that since it was folded in and not bought outright, Tony had no clue it existed and therefore had no upgrades.
He was sitting in a dark cottage by candlelight and fighting visions of wormholes in New York. Lovely.
It is on night three that Tony gives up and throws on one of his gauntlets before marching out into the woods because fuck it, he’s curious and he can’t sleep anyway.
As soon as he steps foot into the forest, Tony immediately feels like he’s being watched. That feeling is no stranger to him. From looks of disgust, admiration, envy, fury, he’s felt them all. This one, however, is very much the feeling of being prey. It wasn’t anything normal, either. There was something warning him that something out here was intelligent. Figuring him out.
And then Tony fell in a hole like goddamn Alice in Wonderland.
Later, the genius may be able to explain some of the things he saw while he fell. The cosmos perhaps? A dying star if he was guessing right. Various universes branching off of each other like a cosmic tree with unlimited branches? Likely. Yet he fell past wonders he could have never imagined into a dark void. No, he couldn’t do this again. He didn’t have his suit-
“It’s alright. You are going to live.” A gentle voice spoke and suddenly the velocity at which Tony was falling began to slow until something seemed to grab him and lift him somewhere else completely.
One second he was in the void (oh god not again) and the next he was on a crystalline platform in a similarly made dome. For once, Tony Stark was entirely speechless. What the fuck had just happened? It was after he wheezed that a flurry of movement caught his eye from across the space. A tall man in a cape whirled around with honest shock on his face. He was an odd looking man. Brunette with streaks of grey at his temples, cheekbones you could cut yourself on, gorgeous sea glass colored eyes, dark bags under his eyes that seemed to go on for miles, and he was pale enough for Tony to question if the man would sparkle in sunlight like a type of vampire he seemed to resemble. Combine that with the man’s attire and the figure looked like he was middle aged man attacked by a Hot Topic store but he made it work well.
“How- how did you get here?!” The man stammered as he slowly grew closer. Strange, it didn’t sound like the person who had yoinked him out of the void.
“I……have no idea other than falling through a hole in the universe and seeing way more than I ever expected to see.” Tony replied, still a bit shell-shocked.
“Seriously, no one is supposed to be able to reach here.” The man retorted and Tony took the second to try and pull himself together.
“Where is here?” He asked and the man smiled sardonically.
“Welcome to the remains of my universe, Tony Stark.”
“Wait, how do you know who I am?!”
“You existed here as well, once upon a time. Are you Iron Man as well?”
Tony blinked at the man in response.
“Yeah, I am.”
“Good.” The man seemed satisfied before his eyes widened in surprise. “Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not used to visitors around here. My name is Stephen Strange.”
“Appropriate name.” Tony can’t help but quip and the man, Stephen, smirks.
“Ha, ha. Now, tell me how you happened to arrive here.”
So, Tony tells him. He tells him a lot of things. Things he hadn't even talked to Rhodey or Pepper back home. Stephen is a man trapped in a husk of his own universe and doesn’t have judgement, only compassion and understanding. It’s why Tony finds himself sharing his entire story. There’s no ulterior motive here, no possible thing Stephen could want from him so Tony slowly lets his guard down.
It helps that Stephen eventually does the same. When Tony has finally talked himself out (and that had never happened before), Stephen took up the mantle and spoke of his own life. Being a neurosurgeon, Christine, the accident and her death, becoming a sorcerer, falling to the temptation to change a fixed point. It shows Tony that not only has Stephen absolutely learned his lesson but that Tony would have easily fallen for the same temptation. The two are very much alike and while no time passes here, Tony guesses it would be like three days passing at home at least. He certainly feels like he’s been on one of his work binges.
“So, Tony Stark. Would you vouch for Stephen Strange?”
They had finally taken a break. Stephen may not have needed to eat or sleep but Tony sure did. Thankfully the sorcerer could conjure anything Tony needed. Tony did his best not to abuse that. Then those days turned into weeks. Weeks into months. Tony honestly has no idea how long he was in this broken universe but Stephen was so fascinating that he was never bored.
Tony had just woken up from sleep when that voice that had pulled him from the void suddenly appeared behind him. Startled, Tony jumped up in a panic but Stephen only looked confused.
“Uatu? What are you doing here?”
Uatu turned out to be an incredibly tall giant-headed bald man with glowing eyes and a blue robe. Tony wasn’t going to question things anymore.
“I come to offer Tony Stark a choice. If he can bring you out of here and back to his universe while carrying you, you may finally leave.”
“What, you want me to do a trial? For Stephen to leave this hellhole he’s trapped in? Why couldn’t you help him in the first place?”
“I cannot interfere, that much is true. But I can bend the rules. If I happen to leave a gateway open that only you can cross through to get back to your home universe, I’m only helping you get back to where you belonged. You have to walk the path so there is always a stable connection and flying wouldn’t have that. If you happened to be carrying Stephen since he wouldn’t be able to use the path himself, I couldn’t stop you.”
Well, Tony always did love Greek tragedies and loopholes.
“I’ll do it.” Tony replies simply and Stephen startles.
“What?!”
“Stephen Strange, you’re worth it.” Tony stated. It was a fact. Stephen didn’t see himself worthy of anything other than eternal suffering. That much was clear from their conversations. What Tony saw was a highly dedicated, extremely powerful, person who made a mistake. A costly one, but he had taken full responsibility and punished himself for it. It was time for Tony to help.
“Due to the instability of the pathway, Stephen you won’t be able to maintain your human form. You will lose control of your shifting.” That had been another interesting conversation but Tony hadn’t pushed too hard.
“We can’t do it, I’ll end up killing you. Some of my forms are monsters, Tony.” Stephen stared at him, pleading, but Tony was going to do right by Stephen Strange.
“Time to load up, Stephen. We’re going home.” Tony declared. With a small huff of disbelief, Stephen handed over a small orb to Uatu before standing in front of Tony. With a wave of his hand, Uatu created a pathway of light that disappeared into the darkness. Tony picked Stephen up in a bridal carry and looked back at Uatu.
“If you lose him, he’s gone forever.” Uatu warned and Tony gave a sharp nod. Stephen would be fine with that, but Tony couldn’t abide by that. Oh, how his life had changed in such a small amount of time.
Tony started his trek.
Stephen would shift forms every so often. Trying to keep a spell up so when he was incredibly large (because apparently he was part dragon and part tentacle monster) Tony could still carry him and carry him, Tony did. It was two days of straight walking. No breaks. So many different sides to Stephen Strange that Tony carried but it was never a burden. He had always considered the walk in the desert after he was kidnapped or trying to get his spare arc reactor when his was pulled from his chest were the longest walks of his life.
Tony didn’t care.
Stephen Strange deserved freedom.
It finally ended, not by going through a doorway or any sort of light show. One minute, Tony was walking on the path and the next, Stephen was back to his human form and they were standing at the entrance to the forest that started it all and facing the cottage.
The two stared at each other for a moment before they were wrapped up in giggles and Tony finally collapsed, leaving them in a pile in the ground. Tony had no hesitation when Stephen kissed him passionately and he returned the favor. He was home.
(Tony wouldn’t be as happy when he finally connected to his system again only to realize he was gone for half a year and Rhodey, Pepper, and Jarvis were going to read him the riot act. His sorcerer made it worth it, though.)