Tony threw back the rest of his drink as Pepper motioned him towards the stage. Time to make a big speech and see how much money he could get these people to throw at the Foundation. He squared his shoulders and walked swiftly to the stage steps. Tony held his head high with a smile plastered over his face, time to shine. Bright lights shone down upon him as he approached the deep grey podium, Tony was getting tired of the dull world he lived in, unable to see the brilliance of his own work. Hell, maybe only a quarter of the world could see the brilliant light he had made for humanity.
He reached the podium and pulled his cards from his pocket, fully intending to completely ignore what was written on them. But first he smiled broadly and looked out over the audience, eyes skipping here and there until his world changed. Strange tints and flickers began to spread across his vision and he found his eyes watering in their beauty, oh god, he had seen his soulmate. His breath stuttered and he could feel the sweat begin to bead on his brow, quickly he looked down at the cards. Tony quickly complained about how bright those lights are and started reading. His eyes darted constantly back over the audience, trying to see if anyone was reacting to the change of sight. But everywhere Tony looked, his audience was in awe of being in the presence of the great Tony Stark, and none seemed shocked.
Except Pepper when he glanced at her, but he knew that was just because he had given the speech word for word as she had wanted him too. And as the last words passed his lips Tony looked at her sharply and she knew something was wrong. He gave a last wave and nearly ran from the stage. Demanding Pepper tell him what color her dress was. Eventually she gave in and told him.
"Red, but not as light as the red of your hair." And then she knew. "Pepper, my soulmate is in this room!"
At a table near the back of the banquet hall, Stephen Strange was bored. Christine was the one who had been invited to this shindig and he could care less about Tony Stark's need to somehow be more than what he was; a war machine. No, Stephen was only there to keep her company and relish in the free alcohol. He was at the bar when Stark was welcomed to the stage and taking a drink as he turned to get his first glimpse of the billionaire.
His drink spilled down the front of his tuxedo as the world changed in that instant. He turned back to the bar, coughing at the scotch that had gone down the wrong way. The bartender handed him a towel and he found himself staring at it. Trying to remember if anyone had told him what color it was. The bartender asking him if was alright had him moving at last to mop the front of his tux. He patted his chest in a daze, eyes catching on the beautiful colors of the watch he wore. He knew what colors it was, silver and gold inlay and a deep brown band. Brown, Tony Stark's eyes were brown, they were beautiful, and he could hardly imagine how they would look from up close.
Tony left the hall to panic in the hallway, how on Earth was he going to figure out who his soulmate was. Pepper had gone to see about a copy of the guest list, but really, if they hadn't gone searching for him now, he was never going to know. If they decided that being Tony Stark's soulmate wasn't worth it, he was never going to find out. Tony could only hope that they would approach him. And the very idea that they might not scared him shitless.
Stephen had already left. He had texted Christine that he was leaving, thanking the universe that they had driven separately. Stephen couldn't imagine trying to explain to Christine that Tony fucking Stark was his soulmate. He sped for home, and when his phone rang he answered it immediately. Needing something, anything to not have to think about what he had discovered. That call certainly put a stop to his thoughts. The last thing to run through his mind before the devastation of the crash consumed him; was to marvel at just how bright the blood dripping from his hands was as it glistened against the steel.
On the other side of the world, as Tony Stark endured the excellent hospitality of his captors, Doctor Stephen Strange slept. His nightmares would sometimes flicker into monochrome as the captor's accidentally stopped his soulmate's heart, and then would return to full color, the Doctor none the wiser to how close he had been to losing his soulmate.
On the other side of the world, as the novice sorcerer Stephen Strange confronted Dormammu, Tony stark read emails on his phone. The billionaire looked up as his CEO asked him which tie he wanted, the orange or the navy, and froze at the sight of his choices. Light or dark grey . Tony's breath grew short as he shifted his eyes to see the dull color of her hair, no longer the flame that represented her heart. He clenched his eyes shut, barely hearing Pepper's voice as she calls in concern, only to open blurry eyes and see smears of color dazzling in their sudden renewed brilliance. As on the other side of the world the novice sorcerer succeeds in his defiance and is given his bargain.
As the Iron Man flew up through the portal to throw the missile at the invaders...
Stephen Strange collapsed with a scream in front of his students. The magic no longer bright before his eyes.
And as Tony Stark, woke up to the roar of the Hulk…
Stephen Strange wept in his quarters as the news feed returned to color.
When Tony Stark disappeared after a visit to Siberia...
Stephen waited, he barely slept as he feared the color would be gone when he awoke.
But Tony Stark announced his good health at a press conference...
And Stephen fell asleep against Wong and finally slept through the night.
Tony couldn't believe it. He had traveled to an entirely different planet but was still surrounded by idiots. He had gathered with his fellow fighters, except that strange guy who had wandered off, and could not believe this was who he had to fight with against Thanos. It was as the thought… We're all gonna die … began to cross his mind, that the world he saw began to flicker…color to grey to color again and again and he felt sick to the depths of his soul. Tony was terrified at the knowledge that he had already lost.
The alien woman's voice barely broke through his thoughts, but Tony turned to see the stranger convulsing in the air. His only thought was that he did not want to lose anyone else right now and he ran up to him. Catching him as he fell the moment they connected…the same moment that the color returned. But this time, the color returned gradually. First in the stranger's eyes, so many colors, and then spiraling out to the entire world.
"I got you..." ... you're mine...you're my soulmate...
"Hi." With that single word Tony knew that Strange, no Stephen, knew they were soulmates and every word that followed brought fear of the future. "…Only one."
"Tony." No…no…no… "It was the only way."
He watched his soulmate fade away.
Watched the universe bleed the color from his world until there was nothing left.