Show Yourself Into The Unknown
Summary: The one where Thanos is dead, Tony has weird dreams instead of nightmares, the Avengers watch dubious Disney movies and mystical creatures are more than real. Oh, and the Cloak totally ships it.
When Stephen had said he'd need training in controlling his magic and that Elsa'll need time and exercise to regain her instinctual control over her powers, he had sort of been expecting to find Kamar-Taj on the other side of the portal once he stepped through.
Instead, he found himself on what appeared to be an abandoned hiking path somewhere very high on what appeared to be Mount Everest.
Though he figured this was probably the best place for this kind of training to occur, anyway. No one was around for miles upon miles, the cold didn't bother Tony and Elsa was an ice dragon, among other things. Not to mention that the view was spectacular. In a way, it almost reminded Tony of his first glimpse of Ahtohallan, if not quite as beautiful.
"Come on," Stephen called and beckoned them to follow him. Elsa and Tony turned around to see that he was slowly making his way up a trail that seems to be suspiciously well kept for an abandoned hiking path. "There's a rest stop that Kamar-Taj has made into a safe haven for when we send out people here for missions or training. It's ours for the foreseeable future, until you've mastered all that you need to."
"Are you telling me people actually come here often?" The genius asked as he took Elsa's hand - not because she looked like an nine year old but because physical contact calmed them both and he could feel her anxiety skyrocketing at the prospect of Tony so close to ice and snow after she had almost killed him with her own - and the two followed after his soulmate. The Cloak of Levitation, being the melodramatic piece of outerwear that it was, was whipping around in the harsh winds extra hard to make Strange look even more mysterious and dramatic.
"Not often, but regularly, yes," the sorcerer replied over his shoulder as he trudged through snow and over wet but surprisingly not slippery rocks. Tony figured it was done by magic and let it go. "Sometimes we don't have a choice, as there is a few ley lines that idiots like to mess with around here, be they from our or a different dimension. Other times, this is the only safe place to practice particularly strong spells so we can see what effect it has on our world. Usually, such spells should be done in the Mirror Dimensions, but everything that happens there doesn't affect the real world, let's call it, so we sometimes can't say how effective it was, hence we do it here."
"But isn't it a bit, I don't know, cold?" Tony may not feel it but he knew it was well bellow freezing temperatures here.
"Well, yes-"
"Should you really be out here?" Stark cut in, remembering how much the cold bothered the man's hands and completely disregarding the fact that his and Elsa's little trip into the Flow had healed all of Earth from their injuries and ailments.
"It's fine. The damage is repaired and the pain is gone. My hands don't shake and even most of the scars were erased. The cold doesn't bother me anymore than the average joe. The more important thing here is to get your training underway and finished before we need to fight off the Empirikul. That's our priority right now. A little general discomfort at the cold won't kill me."
Tony nodded with a disbelieving sound, making Stephen turn around to throw a glare at him, which the billionaire expertly ignored given how often Pepper, Happy or Rhodey had thrown such a look his way since he'd met them. Instead, he looked down to Elsa, who was already looking up at him, having registered his thoughts even before he could voice them. He did, for Stephen's sake. "Can you do the same thing you did for me and make him impervious to the cold?"
"Even if she can't," the sorcerer cut in before the dragon could answer. "We need to make sure she has her control back before she attempts using magic. It could be extremely dangerous otherwise, and not just for the two of you, but for everyone else as well."
"The enchantment is easy and I could do it in my sleep, Sorcerer Supreme," Elsa replied, sounding a bit annoyed. She probably hated all of the babying everyone's been dishing out as of late. Tony kind of agreed. He wasn't made of fucking glass! "In fact, I have. In prenatal sleep, at that."
"Yes, well, your control wasn't shot then. I has been since then, rather recently might I add," Stephen drawled, coming to a stop with arms crossed, trying to look imposing with the extra height he had on both dragon and her Ib. Neither was impressed nor intimidated. "We shouldn't risk it. Do you honestly want to gamble with the possibility you might hurt Tony if you try? I know it wasn't your fault, but you nearly killed him the last time you used your powers and he nearly died in an attempt to save your life. Just give him some time to recover from that before experimenting with your new or old limits."
Stark glared at Strange when he felt Elsa mentally flinch away from that space between their shared souls where they always burrowed into when needing the comfort of knowing the other was there and alive. Elsa looked more stoic as she replied than anyone wearing a nine year old's body had any right to be. "My power will never again hurt Tony. But I see your point, Doctor Strange, and I agree. I won't experiment until you've deemed my control acceptable."
Stephen nodded, pleased, and the tension left his body. Tony held tightly onto Elsa's hand in case she tried to draw away from him even more, but she didn't and she, in fact, returned to that shared place between them. Silently, they continued on their way to the hut that would be their home for the foreseeable future.
The first day was rather tense between all three of them. Tony purposefully ignored Strange outside of any professional interactions because of the shock method he had used against Elsa until the man looked like he was drowning in guilt. Tony forgave him by dinner time and they prepared a schedule they were hoping to keep to. Elsa had left it to them, heading off to sleep so they can have some privacy. Tony had blushed a bright red when he got a very suggestive mental eyebrow wiggle that no nine year old should ever make at their ... whatever! They just shouldn't. He's just glad Stephen, despite being connected to his soul, was not privy to his connection to Elsa.
The second day, Stephen led them to the biggest plateau on the mountain and they started training. By meditating. In a fucking blizzard. Tony needed two hours just to stop glaring at the Sorcerer Supreme before he can go on with the show. Which didn't exactly work out as planned, as the second when both Tony and Elsa tried to focus, they slipped into the Flow and since Tony was already displeased by the blizzard, it immediately stopped. Stephen had to put up similar wards around them as in the Temple of Ahtohallan to separate them from the Flow long enough for them to come back to themselves. The first day of official training didn't go well, to say the least.
The third day was filled with tension as they now knew what could happen. Slipping into the Flow of Existence itself was not something they should allow to happen al that often. There were many things that could go wrong with a single wrong breath, let alone thought like the day before. Usual methods of meditation were risky, so Stephen physically held onto Tony's hand to act as his anchor while the genius did the same with and for Elsa. Energy kept buzzing through their bodies from that mere contact as the Flow tried to embrace the two dragon kin, but Strange kept them grounded almost expertly. He had no place in the Flow. Its currents won't accept him.
It took them a better part of two days before they finally managed to get meditation down right and by that time, Tony was exhausted. The dawning of day five should have been him and Elsa finally meditating without an anchor, but that just had to be the day they got a call from the Compound. It was, of course, Rogers, who else. Tony did not appreciate his breakfast being interrupted after not having eaten anything in two days. "What the fuck do you want, Rogers? I'm busy."
"Language," the blond responded immediately and Tony was about to respond with something even worse just to spite him but Stephen was there to arch an eyebrow at the good Captain.
"Mr Rogers, we have a busy schedule and are, due to an unfortunate complication, lagging behind. We'd appreciate it if you would get to the point and leave us be." Polite and to the point, a silent 'screw you'. Neat.
"Doctor Strange, we'd appreciate it if you would take this more seriously," Rogers said in return and Tony felt the need to reach through the screen of his phone and strangle the muscle bound idiot. "One of your accomplices showed up today to tell us that the rift was slowly starting to open up again. We don't have time for mistakes. You'll need to adjust your schedule accordingly."
"Rogers, just put Loki or Thor or Valkyrie or Wong on the line. If we don't have much time, I'd rather not waste it on your nonsense," Stark snapped, already gesturing for FRIDAY off screen to connect to the phone given to the trickster god. Loki answered before Steve could say something else.
"You had need of me, friend Stark?"
"Rogers said there was a situation with the rift?" The Asgardian looked mighty confused by that before realization set in and Loki sent a fierce scowl at the heavens, as though cursing them for having to deal with idiots or creating idiots the likes of Steve Rogers.
"Nothing we haven't been aware of, I assure you," Loki said with a long suffering sigh. "Wong and another sorcerer went to check on it and reported here a couple of hours ago. It is opening, but at the speed you and Lady Elsa predicted. You still have time to get your affairs under control."
"Then why the hell did you bother us, oh Captain my Captain?" Tony growled at Rogers, making the blond's shoulders roll back, as though preparing for a fight. Tony swiped across his screen to end the call before turning back to the Frost Giant. "How did the others react? How are preparations going?"
"Better than Rogers and about as good as expected. Maximoff is still bitching at the Vision, though, for whatever reason. I think they got into a verbal spat some time after you left. Though I had been under the impression that Maximoff had at least one brain cell and would have been smart enough to back off after Nebula threatened her with a knife at her throat." Loki actually sounded something between impressed and incredulous that such stupidity existed.
"Yeah, the rouges actually have only two brain cells between them that they share and they both belong to Barnes and Lang. Preparations are going well?"
"Well, as I've said, they're going as well as can be expected. We're trying to keep track of the rift and determine where it will be upon opening. Captain Marvel has returned with the ones calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy and she and Valkyrie seem to have taken charge. Nebula helps, but she's usually there for the intimidation factor if anyone becomes too annoying. Thor's spoken to our people, so we will definitely have support there and your Colonel seems to be working with the one eyed Director on preparing the planet for a swift evacuation from wherever the rift opens. That is our main concern at the moment. Banner attempted to make an algorithm that might predict when and where it may happen but he says he doesn't have all the necessary data."
"Tell him to send what he has right now to me. Elsa and I ought to know the parameters he's no doubt missing," Tony instructs before thanking Loki and wishing him good luck. He ended the call and turned to his two soulmates. "Well, shall we get started?"
"Finish your breakfast, Tony. You won't do the world any good if you collapse out of exhaustion and malnutrition." The brunet in question snorted but didn't try to fight the taller man on it. He was hungry.
The rest of the day was spent properly meditating and giving both Tony and Elsa an opportunity to get their center balance back in control. Tony had fun familiarizing himself with the magic forces that hummed through his home planet - it was a whole new world, looking at it through the colorful glowing energies that made up every being and piece of matter in existence, all of them directed by the Flow that was no longer trying to drag Tony and Elsa back into its currents, thankfully - while Elsa worked on getting her control back into an iron grip.
Day six was spent in much the same manner, not that Tony minded. If it weren't for the urgency of the situation, he would have been content to explore all of this for the rest of this new, young year and longer if he needed to.
As it was, when the seventh day came and Stephen said it was time he taught Tony how to control the magic he got from his and Elsa's soul connection, he was more than ready and eager to learn. Stephen was all for teaching him simple but strong defensive spells but Tony started off the training session with a demand for a magical spar.
"No offense, but you're not ready for that, douchebag," Stephen said with an affectionate huff.
Tony returned it with a mock haughty sniff. "Then I guess you won't have trouble beating me."
Stephen narrowed his eyes and accepted his challenge.
The genius billionaire found it amusing how quickly a man renowned for his photographic memory could forget that Tony had literally had Ahtohallan in his head and had dived into a river that was all of Existence. Dragons didn't emerge from that unchanged and a human like Tony suddenly would?
Needless to say, Stephen was surprised when Tony, in true Frozen nerd fashion, sent an ice attack at his new soulmate, only throwing up a shield at the last second. Tony laughed at his incredulous expression and started making spikes emerge from the ground at random, the Cloak of Levitation eventually having to take its master off the ground with how much flailing about Stephen was doing to get out of the way. But the sorcerer got serious when he experimentally shot an attack at Tony and the shorter man brought out an ice shield over his forearm and flung it away.
It got pretty intense after that.
Elsa was not amused by the amount of bruises and frost bites they returned to her meditating spot with.
That night, Tony found he couldn't sleep for some reason and not knowing what else to do, he went outside to gaze up at the clear sky and count the stars until sleep may come to him. Only to his surprise, his dragon seemed to have had much the same idea. Elsa was rather hard to spot in the white dress she'd magicked to match Frozen 2's Elsa's dress, what with her incredibly pale hair and paler skin. Tony still knew she was there just by the way his soul was reacting.
He sat down next to her on the snow and watched as sparks that matched her dragon form in color danced between her hands and fingers. "It seems you have most of your control back."
"I still fear to use any significant spells," the dragon replied softly to his observation. "Hell, I am hesitant to return to my own natural form! I'm scared, Tony. I'm scared I'll hurt people if I don't have this truly under wraps. I'm scared I'll hurt you."
"You won't," he reassured her, smiling gently as he grabbed the snowflake shaped pendant she'd made for him and brought it up between them so he can show it off. "You gave me this, remember? And now that I'm actually learning magic, I'll know what to do and how to stop it if you ever lose control again. You don't have to carry all of these burdens alone, Elsa. It took me literal years to figure that out but now that I have, I refuse to allow any one of my precious people to think they have to do it all alone. You know you can lean on me, right?"
"I am of the opinion that too many people have already leaned on you and many are still leaning on you, my Ib," Elsa said in a sorrowful voice, looking up at him with grieving eyes. "I fear the burden you carry may crumble you."
"Maybe, but even if I carry most of the weight on my own shoulders, I still have help. I have Rhodey and Pepper and Happy. I got Harley and Peter. Bruce and Thor are there sometimes and Carol and Hope try to be there as often as they can after we became friends. And as of recently, I've got Stephen and now I've got you. The burden is heavy but while I never let anyone else take it off of my shoulders, I allow them to support me, to be my pillars, my safe harbors when the storm becomes too much. So you can lean on me, Elsa," he told her softly and threw an arm around her shoulders. She snuggled up against him and they pretended to need each other's body heat to keep warm. "We may be the only ones of our kind anymore, but we're not alone in this world."
"Sometimes I wonder if it would be easier if we were."
Tony stayed quiet for a moment, gaze far off into the distance, remembering each time he lost someone, when he got hurt or was betrayed, the way his heart had broken and the way the world had beat him down and continued beating him despite him having thrown in the towel and then having to get back up and fight for them all over again.
"Sometimes, I do, too."
They stayed there the whole night and in the morning, when Tony woke up to Stephen gently shaking his shoulder, eyes full of worry for him staying outside the whole night, Elsa was gone.
"Where is she?" He demanded the second drowsiness evaporated and he realized his other soulmate was not where he last remembered her being. The one before him looked as lost as he did, perhaps even more so since he didn't even know that they had been outside since before the asscrack of dawn.
"I don't know. Do you want to go looking for her?"
But before he could respond and they could organize a search party, a deafening cry thundered from the heavens and from the clouds descended a familiar, if much larger shape than either man was used to. Elsa landed hard enough to make the ground tremble under her feet, wings on proud display as she straightened up to look at the two goatee geniuses, her scales as bright and beautiful as the first time Tony had seen her. Only this time, she wasn't the size of a bigger house cat. No, she was now considerably bigger than the hut they had been staying in for the past eight days. Like, some seven to nine times bigger. Tony had a feeling he'd be barely taller than the length of a single of her fingers.
Elsa rumbled a pleased purr that nearly caused an avalanche when she saw how dumbfounded the two men looked. "I'm back."
Tony couldn't help his elated grin.
