Chapter Text
Tony scrambled forwards to catch the collapsing Wizard-Doctor Strange as he came out of whatever magic floating trance thingy he had been caught in. Peter was by his side helping him catch the man as they made sure he didn't land on a piece of sharp metal or something. His eyes were blown wide and he seemed to have aged deep in his soul. The grip that Tony found on his arm as he tried to move from holding the man though was solid as steel.
"Hey, doc, you okay?" Tony asked gently.
"We won't win here, not standing our ground, not without sacrificing half the universe in a game of Russian Roulette that only barely might leave the right combination of people still alive and able to act to stop him. We're too far into the Endgame to try for anything but a pyrrhic victory," Strange said, blind to his surroundings.
"Too bad we can't use time travel then," Tony grumbled.
The way that the doctor's head snapped around and his eyes focus laser like on Tony was almost unnerving.
"Would you be willing to try? It was an option I couldn't see down. I had to view only possible options that went forwards from this point," Strange said intently.
"I'm coming too," Tony's Spiderling immediately insisted.
"Your Aunt would kill me," Tony retorted.
"Not if it saves his life and that is part of the decision. Trying to go back will immediately doom this version of the universe and any who go may have to pass through several before arriving at our goal. If we are lucky it will only be one or two stops but unless most of us are willing to die and burn through our souls to get you there directly I have to come with you," Strange warned. "A permanent link would be formed to help keep us together. The easiest is to remake us as family since it will link us as needed and give enough altered genetics to avoid an automatic rejection from the universe and time we land in as already being present."
"Can you take from those of us you leave behind as part of the adoption? Allow us to live through one of you?" Mantis asked quickly.
"Yes," Strange said, somewhat uncertainly. "The person donating would have to be part of the spell and the easiest way would be as fuel. I can make it easier on them by knocking them out first but...."
"And you're a doctor so you hate the idea of something like that," Tony said perceptively. "You hate the idea of having to sacrifice anyone. So why is the time travel an option if it sacrifices this iteration of the universe?"
"Because it's already doomed. We can't keep the remaining stones from Thanos and the moment he destroys them the universe starts to collapse in a way that fixing what we can only slows down," Strange admitted tiredly. "If one or more of the Stones is willing to contribute then we might have a chance to delay things for another two hundred years. It would still remove the chosen team from this universe and time but it would also temporarily disrupt the physical form of the stone until it can reform. Time is the best option both because it can't be forced to rewind or fast forward to force the stone to become available if it is the one dispersed but also because I have it on hand."
"I would probably be the best choice if you need enough power for fuel," Quill said firmly as he stepped forwards in grim determination. "My dad was a Celestial and he tried to use me as a battery to basically remake the galaxy into copies of him with seeds spread out and shit. We killed him when he tried."
"Me as well, Ego was also my parent," Mantis said, earning shocked looks from her companions.
Strange drew in a harsh breath but before he could answer Peter spoke up.
"How would you make us family?" Peter asked intently.
"It would be easiest to make you my son and Stark my brother or some other version similar. I do understand that you might want to... Switch up the potential combination but any link has to be close. We could make you our combined child and then accept and adoption from Quill from his human side for one of us, which you would be included in. I can't afford to change myself too much or my own abilities will be affected, not on this first leg of the trip. I planned to seek out a suitable donor at our first rest stop for lack of a better term," Strange admitted reluctantly. "It might take time to re-establish my control which is part of why I would be aiming for a past time period as a primary part of the first trip. We can get to the correct universe on the second or third attempt if we have enough of a time buffer."
"Which will automatically become a split off from wherever we land for this universe when we get back and the family changes will make sure we don't accidentally kill our younger selves or die just for arriving," Tony concluded.
"You ask them to surrender everything for a faint hope of a chance," Nebula observed as she came out of the shadows. The Guardians startled at her sudden appearance but held off on attacking her which the trio noticed but politely ignored.
"If you have a better idea then I would love to hear it," Strange shot back sarcastically. "In my look forwards I worked with all of you deeply and you have shared secrets with me over each of those relevant time lines. I don't have another option for you Nebula! I just don't. I'm not God the Creator of All Things! I am just a man who acts as a guardian for a power he left in this universe and tap Interdimensional energy for power to work spells. That's it!"
"Would God help, if we asked?" Peter blurted out.
"Yes but I already did ask. He was the one who told me that I had permission for whatever we wanted to try so long as it's before the fight with Thanos," Strange admitted. "My heart was giving out as I strained to look forwards. He literally held the pieces together and eased me out of it or you might have found a corpse when the power dissipated enough to get to me. I took the chance to ask for help."
The brush of amusement felt by the three full humans sent a wave of power and energy through them that made them share a wide eyed look.
"What was that?" Mantis asked with a frown. "I felt your reactions but not what caused it."
"Uh, God patted us on the back... I think?" Tony half squeaked.
"What if we didn't control the outcome?" Peter asked tentatively. "Here me out. What if we listed it as a petition to invite God to act? Lay it out like normal or whatever but instead of the human trying to force the outcome let God take the controls? Would that work?"
"If I lay it out to accept outside power but specifically add the petition to the controls as a cut out for me to be removed from the driver's seat... Maybe?" Strange muttered. "I would still need a fuel source but if I drop the adoption source fetch and tie it in as part of the petition then I might get away with only using the Time Stone for the battery and it would disperse the stone for double the amount of time."
"Let's go with that," Tony jumped on it. "You, me, and Peter for the team. The Guardians can protect our backs while we do this because I don't know how close that bastard is to finding us but your reaction says to me that we wouldn't have to wait long for him to show up."
"Then stay where you are. Peter you need to be touching both of us and whatever you do don't either of you let go. This is not going to be a fun trip," Strange ordered.
Once Peter got a good grip on them Strange opened the amulet and started chanting, quickly engulfing them in a golden-green glow. The snap of their disappearance broke the trance of the others as air rushed in to fill the gap of where the trio had been bare minutes beforehand.
"So you guys want to set up an ambush for Thanos anyway?" Quill asked.
"Hells yes!" Rocket growled.
The Guardians of the Galaxy fell that day providing a distraction from what had befallen the Time Stone. Though he searched relentlessly for it the dread Mad Titan never again found any sign of it.
~~~
Tony wrapped himself tightly around the Wizard and his kid, allowing the magic that had been cast to hold them gently within an egg like shell. This shell shielded them from whatever they were passing through for all that it also blinded them from seeing what was around them and where they were going. They did not see the enraged Fallen Angels rushing after their transport nor did they become aware of the loyal Angels getting in the way and fighting those who had once been their siblings. Still yet blows landed against their shield, knocking their ball about and sending it careening in different directions. A sharp command came at one point, halting both groups in their tracks and forcing them to let the ball of power holding three humans progress without further harassment.
The shield ball bounced between universes and rolled through various worlds before it got caught in the tangled net of magics reaching out past the edges of it's world. This sent the shield ball rolling around down the edges of the net into a funnel effect focused on what had caused the net in the first place. The shield ball hit the weakened point of the dimensional wall that the net had breached through, breaking just enough to let the shield ball and the three humans within it through. The shield ball's integrity pulled at the edges of the breech, unintentionally dragging them together and sealing the breach behind them. When it finally rolled to a stop it was in a twisty cobblestone alley in London at the foot of some marble stair with strangely tilted pillars holding up the entrance to a very special bank. It unfolded, spilling out it's trio of passengers practically into the arms of the guards stationed outside the bank.
The two goblin guards looked at each other and at the three unconscious humans sprawled at their feet. Before they could reach a decision a different goblin rushed out of the bank exclaiming something in their native language and started furiously checking the three humans. Once the new goblin was satisfied that they weren't immediately going to die orders were snapped out at the guards. The guards scrambled to obey, calling for help from other goblins within the bank.
That day the alley full of shops was treated to the astonishing sight of three humans being carefully carried into the bank with several goblins fussing protectively over them.
~~~
Stephen breathed hard as he felt the prickle of unknown magics against his skin. He was stuck, unable to move. Unable to locate or protect Tony and Peter, his family. He could feel the magic holding him floating and also contained. He wasn't strong enough to break it or reach past it to get an idea of what was around him, not woth what he had already spent of his strength to start the casting of the travel spell. The fact that gentle incorporeal hands had lifted it from his grasp just as he was about to pass out not even a quarter of the way through casting it had been proof enough for him that they were on the right course... for now.
The muffled voices around Stephen brought him back to his surroundings. Blurred between single sharp tones and underwater dampened voices his understanding of where his body was shifted. Water against his skin was so soaked in the magic that he hadn't realized that it was more than just the magic until whoever was around him had started speaking. He could use that and he did.
The spell sliced from between Stephen's fingers to burst the magic and water around him, dropping him coughing up liquid to the stone floor he had been suspended over. He felt a hand landing on his shoulder and scrambled away from it, instinctively tossing up shields between him and whoever touched him. The sounds of shock from human or similar vocal chords wasn't the comfort that it could have been as he tried to get his vision clear enough to assess the situation. He felt ragged with his veins aching as if they had been burned from the inside and they very well might have been during the trip.
Tony and Peter, he had to find them!
"Wizard! Calm yourself!" A gravely voice snapped out in clear British English.
"Sorcerer, I am not a wizard," Stephen snapped back automatically, too used to Tony's teasing throughout the witnessed alternate timelines to respond otherwise.
"Sorcerer then... You are in the healer's ward.your companions are a few beds over. They were in marginally better condition for not being the caster of whatever spell or ritual you worked," the voice said carefully.
"Wizards and Sorcerers use different methods of casting magic," Stephen explained almost apologetically, still largely blind. "My... Tony likes calling me a wizard in reference to several stories back home despite knowing perfectly well that I am a Sorcerer. I apologize for my reflexive response."
"Ah, and the shields?" The voice asked gruffly.
"We were not in a safe location prior to casting the travel spell," Stephen said simply. "I can not elaborate further beyond saying that it is highly unlikely our potential opponents would be able to follow much less actually reach wherever we are... I also can't see at the moment so I am hardly a threat."
"Two apprentice healers are about to approach to help you on to a bed. Try not to hit them please, good help is hard to find," The voice snarked dryly.
Stephen sighed and nodded his understanding. He warily allowed the hands of something that didn't seem like normal humans to help him up and on to a low bed. He could feel the Cloak of Levitation still on his shoulders but at the same time his friend was worryingly limp. The amulet around his neck that once housed and hid the Time Stone was now an empty but comforting weight.
"I am your primary healer and for your companions as well," the gruff voice told him as he heard it coming closer accompanied by the sound of leather stepping on stone. "You are at the Gringotts London branch. You and your companions practically crashed into the bank's front door and the guards there. A seer had apparently been running through the bank to meet you so arrived in time to order the guards to bring you inside before the Wizards could try to collect you three."
"If this is the Harry Potter universe I'm going to have some sharp words for whoever thought this was a good joke," Stephen grumbled, unknowingly freezing everyone in hearing distance. "I really don't want to deal with an evil or mentally ill Dumbledore and I certainly don't want to deal with an idiot Dark Lord Voldemort that was stupid enough to split his soul multiple times. Never mind what it did to his sanity or the effects of such dark soul magic on himself. Then there is the amount of people he slaughtered while everyone just cowered. It's not only stupid it proves that none of them should be considered adults regardless of age. Hell, even just petitioning the non-magical government or hiring a hit man would have stopped things. One bullet to the head is all it would have taken. Not that the book series wasn't well enough written but once I learned magic the sheer number of stupid things beyond what was done just from a common sense point of view was.... frustrating. At least he had the excuse of being a teenager for coming up with a reshuffling of his birth name for his Dark Lord name... Of course if taken like that he could have been considered mentally unfit at sixteen after casting the first soul splitting ritual... Then again it wasn't like he performed it correctly either. Using an accidental death when the ritual calls for a deliberate murder is just asking for trouble."
"How do you know any of that and what is this Harry Potter universe?" The gravely voice asked carefully. The glaring at everyone around to keep them quiet went unseen by the temporarily blinded Sorcerer.
"A fairly popular book series marketed as children's stories but they cover themes that are a lot more adult as it gets into covering the second war with Voldemort. I think they eventually called it the second blood war? I'm not sure. I read the books under duress since my best friend threatened to ensure I had to run three straight hospital shifts as an emergency room doctor without coffee. The choice was clear. I read the damn books," Stephen explained, getting understanding chuckles from his unseen audience. "The focus of the books is a young boy attending a school for magic and covers his seven years of education with a Dark Lord hunting him. The boy was named Harry Potter and the Dark Lord was born Tom Marvolo Riddle but took the name Voldemort from an anagram of his name. One of the reasons I was complaining is that there is a bank called Gringotts down the main London shopping alley for the secret society of Wizards run by Goblins. The alley is called Diagon Alley. With how my time as a Sorcerer has progressed I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we really did wind up accidentally in that universe. I can't speak for Tony or Peter, my companions, but it would be just my luck for it to happen.... I'll probably piss someone off badly enough to need to defend myself if we did land in that version of Gringotts and your location name isn't just a coincidence."
"Did these books list any Goblin names?" The voice asked carefully.
"...We're in that version of Gringotts and the Harry Potter universe aren't we?" Stephen asked with a groan.
"If your information is found to be true then the Horde will pay for your care and anything you need to craft a new life," the gravely voice said satisfied.
"I can't promise anything I told you about that universe is true or matches this one," Stephen snorted. "It's from a bunch of kids stories. Why am I being so chatty anyway? This isn't normal for me."
"That would be the ward we had just set up to encourage you to be honest about anything that might help us heal you. Had you waited ten more minutes we would have pulled you from the enchanted Aero Waters ourselves," the gravely voice laughed. "I am Healer Willowbark, current head healer of the Gringotts London branch healing ward."
"Great," Stephen grumbled. "Okay, as a fellow Doctor I should inform you that my companions and I shouldn't be separated and that less than two years ago my hands were crushed. They did what they could but my fellow surgeons at my work could only save my hands enough not to amputate them. I have a number of metal pins in them which could interact with anything you might try to heal me further. Tony has a device in his chest that you need to leave alone and if you can't afford to leave it for whatever reason then wake him up. Explain to him what's wrong before you do anything. The device is his own design and it was only placed to save his life. Peter has some spider based abilities which includes enhanced metabolism, enhanced healing, and boosted senses."
"We will keep that in mind," Healer Willowbark promised. "Now, I am going to run you through a check up and we will see what we can heal. Your eyes should be fine if the reason for the loss of sight was leaving the Aero Waters the way you did. If it is something else then I will see what can be done to repair or replace them."
Three hours later Stephen was asleep again on a bed with Tony and Peter in the next two beds down. Both adults were sleeping through doses of Skele-grow as the bones in Stephen's hand and the missing parts of Tony's rib cage were re-grown. They would be checked again in the morning before their meeting with the bank branch manager.
Peter had kidnapped the arc reactor and the attached nanites almost as soon as they were pulled free from Tony only to wall crawl up to the ceiling and web it into place, glaring lightly at the watching medical attendants and healers. By that point the Cloak of Levitation was awake and animated again so it pulled free of Stephen to help Peter guard the equipment secured to the ceiling while they worked on Tony. Peter had also been argued back into bed less than ten minutes later by Healer Willowbark. The Cloak of Levitation stayed with the bundle of technology and webbing protectively once Stephen waved at him, granting permission.
Healer Willowbark looked over her mostly sleeping healing ward and decided that she had an hour or two to try to give these visitors a bit of help. Her son was going to have his hands full as the bank manager no matter what after all. It was best to get things moving on making sure no one tried to snatch these three from the Horde and her son would be quite pleased with a little forewarning.
~~~
Twin-Axe set aside the latest report and pondered over what news his mother had brought him from the healing ward. They had sequestered the humans there almost three days ago and their progress was coming along nicely. Only personal names had been provided but the lack of family names wasn't really an issue. The way they had refused to answer questions after the first one got caught in the modified truth ward was both sensible and annoying.
Willowbark had been unamused by their stubbornness but had allowed it so long as they had cooperated with getting treated for their injuries both old and new. What had tipped the scales wasn't their own injuries for the two adults but the ones on the younger one. Willowbark had apparently frightened more than one apprentice by the list of curses she had employed when she had checked his general condition. She had compared it to some enhancement list or something and calculated backwards to what would have happened to a normally untreated wizard or warrior. No one was pleased by how unconcerned the child was about such severe injuries having been given to him and then healed.