Chapter Text
Tony woke slowly to the sounds of metal feet hitting wooden floors. The fact that he could feel himself on top of another human was both comforting and worrying considering the previous sounds only seemed to happen whenever Ultron was visiting. Was his murder-bot child less likely to actually kill someone now? Yes. Would that actually stop Ultron from killing someone other than Tony that he thought needed to die? Hell, no. Thus concern for the human basically being unintentionally shielded by Tony lying on top of them.
This was going to suck, wasn't it?
"From what I understand of what happened Doctor Strange meant no harm," Vision's voice pointed out.
"I understood that just fine, Viz," Ultron snorted. "I would have already killed him if he had aimed to hurt Stark unless we needed him alive to fix whatever he broke. Instead Strange managed to mostly fix what you broke in Stark even if it just turns out to be a temporary patch for his repair functions to fix what it can."
"Quiet, trying to sleep," Tony mumbled, knowing both of his tech children would hear him.
"Can I at least get up yet?" Stephen's voice resonated from the chest under Tony's cheek.
"No, I'm comfy and I don't want Ultron deciding to hurt you," Tony complained, unable to stop the last part from escaping his lips.
"Ah, the brain injury is likely to keep you from filtering your words," Stephen offered awkwardly. "I can stay if you're that concerned but I will eventually need a bathroom trip."
Tony grumbled but conceded the point. He was going to need a bathroom trip himself at some point and he couldn't drag Stephen in there with him. His attached bathroom was too small for that after all.
When Tony eventually got up for the bathroom and let Stephen go first he checked the room. The damage from yesterday's fight had been healed by the building overnight and cleaned up. He wasn't sure if his tech kids had helped on that front or not but didn't feel like asking. Wong was still out cold but had been placed on a sleeping pallet on the floor next to the bed. The Sanctum had kindly provided his morning coffee next to a cup of steaming tea that Tony presumed was for Stephen.
"So? How bad is it?" Ultron asked Tony bluntly.
"If I hadn't insisted on Stephen casting the support spells and accepting a permanent bond between us there is a good chance I would have needed 24/7 care for awhile and a chance that I actually wouldn't have recovered at all. The fact that I was speaking and able to focus enough to make choices was actually a really good sign," Tony admitted quietly. "I'm far better now but it's a short cut in some ways. Magic isn't a fix all and I'm gonna have to keep Stephen close for awhile. I don't think the way my brain is healing even at this really fast rate is safe to do away from him. Between my own magic rushing to fix things and the way his is cushioning my brain separating too far is going to be dangerous for awhile. He had to patch up my sense of myself in my mind before we could get anywhere on cushioning and supporting the rest of my brain. If he hadn't... Well I know enough about how that stuff registers on a magical level to know I was very close to being a vegetable."
"From a medical stand point you would have been considered to have had a severe stroke or seizure," Stephen said as he came out of the bathroom. "For that reason I'm going to insist on some things in case you still have problems even with the now permanent support our entwined magic is providing."
Tony nodded and reached for his coffee only to have it snatched away. When he looked at Stephen for an explanation the man gave it.
"The caffeine could cause further damage or alter how your brain is healing. It could also force you to stay awake when your body insists on sleeping to fix some of the more delicate parts of your brain. Either way you're going to be sleeping a lot for the healing to be done and we want you to do so to help your brain heal," Stephen explained. "If you get sleepy we need to get you into a bed both because of the energy needed to heal the damage but also so it heals correctly when whatever section is being worked on by your body."
"We could kick start it into overdrive," Tony said slowly, frowning over the problem.
"There's a cost to that kind of magic on top of the resources that would be stripped from the rest of your body to accomplish it," Stephen pointed out, shaking his head no. "I would class that as emergency only both because of the primary effects and also for the shear stress it puts on the body and area to be healed."
Tony grumbled but had to concede that he was already feeling tired again. He got his bathroom trip out of the way and obediently got back into bed. He barely managed to eat the bone broth and toast the Sanctum delivered for him before falling back asleep.
~~~
Stephen sighed heavily as he checked Wong now that Tony was asleep again. He had two patients and a technically hostile environment with insufficient supplies. Wong seemed to be mostly fine despite still being out cold. He would have to check his friend when he woke up for a concussion but Wong wasn't displaying anything too worrying yet.
Ultron and Vision were a puzzle in their own rights. Stephen would try to protect his friend and his new bondmate but he wasn't stupid enough to think he could successfully accomplish that if either Ultron or Vision decided they needed to be hurt or punished. Then there was the food situation. The Sanctum couldn't provide properly prepared food for them all of the time. The morning drinks and toast and bone broth were stretching it's ability to provide safe to eat foods without actually cooking or using the kitchen. Even those things were a sort of emergency measure for the Sanctum Master in case they got sick and couldn't call for help or backup in time.
"Someone is going to have to either use the kitchen to make food or go on a food run at some point," Stephen told both Ultron and the restrained Vision. "The Sanctum is reaching it's limits for providing food on an emergency basis. It's meant to keep the Sanctum Master alive long enough to call for help if they get incapacitated but not much else. Toast for something solid and mostly liquids for nourishing them. Soups with solid components are really pushing it."
"Hm, we'll see," Ultron said, clearly displeased.
"We could contact Friday and request a regular food delivery?" Vision suggested. "If it's for Mr. Stark I don't see why anyone would object to paying for it with his food account."
"We do have sandwich making items on hand," Stephen pointed out with a groan. "It isn't like we have to use knives or utensils to make the food. Besides even with the food preservation spells eventually the fresh foods will go bad. They need to be eaten and they would help both my patients recover."
"Valid," Ultron conceded. "I just don't think I can risk leaving any of you alone right now. Vision has shown spectacular idiocy. I don't know you or your pal and Stark has a habit of both escaping and doing extreme damage on the way out."
Stephen studied him for a minute before mumbles from Tony in his sleep briefly distracted him. When he turned back to the rogue AI he found himself under thoughtful scrutiny.
"You aren't going anywhere no matter what else you may convince me of," Ultron warned with soft menace. "I need Stark functional if not happy and you are the only one here with medical training. Then there's this new bond magic thing keeping him stable."
"I understand," Stephen said carefully.
"Think of me as a murderous but protective son and we should get along fine," Ultron said bluntly.
"Ultron leave Stephen alone," Tony complained sleepily.
Stephen glanced over at him and watched him drop back into proper rest. The way Tony was acting protective of him was somewhat sweet but also worrying. The fact that he woke up to scold his murder child for threatening Stephen also showed how concerned he was about Ultron actually following through.
"You don't have to worry about me threatening Tony or posing a risk to him. It would be counterproductive considering I suspect we accidentally tied our lives together a bit more permanently than originally intended," Stephen admitted. "In this state with how fresh the bond is there is a very good chance that if he dies then so do I but I can't honestly tell you if the reverse is true. His condition is far more fragile than he is probably willing to admit."
"See that you keep to that mindset," Ultron growled and turned away from him to focus on Vision for some reason.
"Stephen?" Wong rasped. Relief rushed through Stephen as Wong finally woke up.
"Stay down, Wong," Stephen ordered softly. "You were knocked out and I need to check you. We also aren't exactly safe despite being in the Sanctum."
"What was that about a bond? What new idiocy did you do?" Wong asked groggily and tried to sit up anyway. Stephen sighed and forced him to lay back down before answering.
"I am now bonded to Stark. I can give you a run down later but suffice it to say that we aren't equipped to deal with who is holding us captive at the moment and Stark, Tony, is hurt from the mental invasion we interrupted. He broke your sleep spell on him early on and I had to get permission to cushion his brain. Things slipped," Stephen admitted. "I don't want to talk about it but I can't exactly be safely separated from him for long and I don't know when it will settle enough for us to be more than a room's worth away from each other. I also don't want to risk pushing it considering how our minds and physical brains are currently linked together to support each other."
Wong cursed in Hindi, Mandarin, and Japanese but let Stephen check him over.
"Headache?" Stephen asked.
"Yes," Wong grumbled.
"No concussion, thankfully. If I can talk them into letting you go I want you to cover for me as Sanctum Master and basically ignore what we wind up doing. No backup from the Order. At some point I'm going to be dragged to visit Dormammu so there's no point in losing people trying to avoid it," Stephen warned. "If I don't make it back within three months I want you to act as my stand in for Sorcerer Supreme."
"Stephen?" Wong asked warily.
"There is a chance that Dormammu won't allow me to return and if I have to force the issue then it might take me time to get back," Stephen sighed. "I trust you and I think you would make a good Sorcerer Supreme. You and I both know that having a lack of Sorcerer Supreme for even three months is taking a significant risk. So I am pre-emptively recommending you as my replacement if something happens to me, which also makes you my stand in. Unlike my predecessors I haven't trained anyone yet to take my place and I honestly think the Ancient One's methods were stupid in that regard. She used time viewing too often and probably wasn't able to adapt properly to things she hadn't seen yet or were hidden from her method. Using those methods scares me and you've stepped in more than once to stop me when I went to use it without sufficient reason, which I appreciate."
Wong sighed but accepted the Eye of Agamotto from Stephen's hand and put it on. It would be returned to its place in Kamar-Taj when he next visited the main temple.
A metal hand reached down to grab Stephen by the collar and physically lifted him away from Wong. Wong shouted in alarm but Stephen got over his startled reaction and quickly went limp. He wanted to give Ultron absolutely no reason to harm or punish any of them. The Cloak of Levitation wiggled furiously but Stephen grabbed an edge and squeezed it in silent warning. Levi subsided sulkily but didn't do more that slow Stephen down slightly when he was physically dropped on the bed next to Tony.
"Your friend is awake and clearly fine. Your focus is to remain on Stark," Ultron ordered grumpily.
"Yes, Ultron," Stephen said, resigned, as he got comfortable next to Tony on the bed.
~~~
Dormammu pondered his startling failure to enter Anthony's dreams for his normal lessons. The reaction from the spell work spoke of damage on the receiving end and it made the Dark Lord suspicious of what his nephew had gotten himself into since last they spoke. The servants he had gifted Anthony at his request would be ideal to investigate things but if they were assigned to other duties co-opting them could cause his nephew problems.
The memory of the dream spell spitting sparks and arching as it tried to connect decided things for him. Dormammu forcefully summoned the main group leader and his second from those so recently gifted to his nephew. They landed lightly on the stone nearby, their travel portal closing behind them.
"Kaecilius, I allowed my nephew to claim your group with the unspoken understanding that one of your duties was to keep him alive," Dormammu growled. "So why is it that he is injured enough that I can not enter his dreams to continue his lessons?"
"I am afraid that I do not know, my lord," Kaecilius said carefully. "He collected us and installed us in his current residence but left us behind when he went after whatever target you gave him. He has not returned since and even his lover is unaware of his status as she inquired of it from us after he disappeared."
Dormammu thought about that for a minute and decided something must have gone very wrong. He had take the measure of the Sorcerer who had locked him in a time loop and harming Anthony like this was not a measure he would have taken lightly.
"Find me Stephen Strange. Find out what he has done to my nephew, Anthony. I want to know what happened and what is being done to fix things," Dormammu rumbled angrily. "If Anthony is injured I want him and Strange brought to me. If it is deemed unsafe to move him then I want regular reports on his status and I want them brought to me as soon as is reasonably possible."
"Understood, my lord," Kaecilius said stiffly before they hurried off to complete their task.