Chapter Text
14,000,605 possibilities, and with each one that had passed before his eyes was a devastation that was worse than the previous. Every small victory slowly built a false hope of winning the entire war. But each piece of the board, every player in the game of war was simply swatted away like flies. Those victims were but simple civilians, and each time Stephen lived through it the more he saw the horror and disbelief dawning on their faces. Entire cities once-bustling turn desolate despite the howling cries of those left to live and breathe in the dust left behind.
Stark started as a mere nuisance, his playboy billionaire attitude was the only real trait he had. And yet Stephen saw the broken look in his eyes, saw past the flashing smile and sarcastic remarks to see the man suffering behind a thin veneer plastered on for the public to see.
He was the same after all, a broken man hiding behind magic and an infinity stone. It wasn't hard to witness the Earth's best defender silently crumble and break deep down behind the facade of being Iron Man. It was agony to stand by and simply be unable to help. Time and time again, he watched the fall of the Earth's best defender. Always in battle, be it with Thanos or his inner demons preying upon him.
Tony was strong enough for a kid from Queens, for the citizens of Earth and the entire universe. But never for himself. If Peter was lost so was Tony's will to fight. If Pepper or Rhodey happened to get caught in the heat of battle the fire in his eyes would die and leave a shattered shell of a man behind.
Stephen had fought fourteen million, six hundred and five futures with and a select few without the man. He grew to admire the sheer strength the man had, the cost of losing was too great. Bargaining with Dormammu was a nightmare but it was nothing to each loss to Thanos and seeing all the work diminished into nothing, now that was pure and utter hell.
Perhaps it was around the first million futures that he felt his heart-stirring from more than fear and pure adrenaline. The need to survive and find a way to achieve victory was accompanied by an infuriating ache at the sight of Tony's. Be it a comeback, smirk, or a well-timed attack Stephen came to find himself caring for the ignoramus that charged into combat not caring about whether or not he lived or perished.
Look where it got him. Look at what he left behind, or rather whom. The very people that broke him when they were lost, were lost without him. Five years were lost to Tony, and now everyone had to face the next Vishanti only knows-how long.
"Someone needs to return the stones to their rightful spot, I know Its a rough time right now for everyone, but the sooner they are returned the sooner we can get back to our lives." Fury looked exhausted, the remaining Avengers and various heroes sat in the conference room. Stephen and Wong represented the sorcerers at large. The final battle with Thanos had shattered the secrecy that they had held for so long. Thus far only those involved with the battle knew that the order existed. And it would be kept that way until a new threat forced their hand once more.
"The ancient one said that if we didn't return them to the exact moment in time we took them then whole new timelines and universes would be created." Professor Hulk spoke from the front of the room, the stones gleamed on the hologram as though the projections knew they were the cause of the meeting. Every somber hero eyed the projections, so much sorrow and loss caused by some immensely powerful pebbles. No one wanted to handle them let alone think about them, it would just more suffering.
"I will return the stones." Wong glared at Stephen, the sorcerer had hardly left his rooms at Kamar-Taj since Starks' Funeral and had refused to speak about what had occurred on Titan. He was attempting to drown his sorrow with his studies and mystic duties. Strange simply ignored him in return and stared at the stone projections.
"Are you sure you can handle it, this isn't exactly the time for a magic show." Stephen scowled at Director Fury, jaw clenching at the insinuation that the grandeur mystic arts was a simple party trick.
"The time stone has been in the possession of the order for millennia. Returning the stones unseen will be easier with the assistance of the mystic arts. It will reduce the chance of corrupting the timeline further." Director Fury simply nodded once, the gathered ex-avengers stared at the sorcerers warily.
"If you had an infinity stone that entire time, why didn't you prevent any of this? We could have prevented all of it!" Clint was at the edge of his seat seething. Stephen stared coolly at the archer unimpressed by his tone.
"Why didn't you listen to Stark and help prevent Thanos from reaching Earth?" The room went deadly silent at the response. The remainder of their faults and loss hung heavily in the air. The cost of one man for victory was still a harsh reminder that not everyone can be saved. And that the earth had just lost its best defender.