Chapter 4: I'll Come Running Home to You
"Well, the kid and I were making scrambled eggs, your favorite," Tony says, serving a large amount to the skrull.
"Thank you," it says kindly. Tony makes silent eye contact with Peter. Their Stephen hated eggs, he usually only took coffee or tea to go and sometimes toast. Growing up on a farm, their Stephen had grown a distaste for the food and would turn green at the meer sight.
"Hey, where were you earlier?" Tony asks with a light smile, one that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hmm? Oh! I had to help Wong with the library. A student decided to use a spell they weren't quite ready for and made a mess," the skrull easily supplied.
Okay, so he knew a decent bit about them then. Wong, the library, the stone…
"That doesn't sound good," Tony says, trying not to make obvious his scrutiny.
"Nope, took a lot of time. It was quite messy," the imposter says.
"Uh huh," Tony says, walking around the fake to grab the newspaper. Blood. He saw blood on Stephen-not-Stephen's hand.
"Oh honey, what happened?" Tony says in sincere concern. Did this thing kill the real Stephen?
"Just a little misshap, I cut myself by accident. It's honestly nothing," the skrull says looking straight at Tony. The other man backed off, he didn't want to jeopardize his husband's life over breakfast. He had to find Stephen, his Stephen, and fast.
"Where did Peter go?" The skrull asks, noting the teens absence.
"Oh, he went to school," Tony said, turning on the sink to do dishes. He couldn't look at that 'thing' any longer.
"On a Saturday?" the skrull asked, a challenge.
"Yea, he got in trouble for all the schooling he missed being Spiderman this week," Tony responded. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the figure relax. Really Peter was calling in reinforcements. And Tony was going to stick close to the imposter until his real husband was safe.
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"But Wong! We have to find him now!" Peter screeched at the librarian. Wong was doing multiple spells to try and find Stephen but there was stronger magic blocking him.
"I am trying Parker, but you stubborn-headed father was on a suicide mission. He didn't tell me where he was going! All I have is a name, Kl'rt, and unless that means something to you then we still have nothing," Wong rages.
A silent minute passes.
"I actually think I know someone who can help," Peter says, pulling out his phone. A few moments after he sends a text, lightning blinds both librarian and teen.
"Peter? What is the urgent matter?" Thor questions in concern.
"Stephen has been taken," Wong states before Peter can choke it out.
"What do you mean he's been taken?" Thor presses in disbelief.
"A skrull is impersonating Stephen to get the time stone. We need your brother's help and quickly, we don't know how much time Stephen has. He's been gone for two days and he was on a magic tear for weeks before… he was weak before he left, he's probably barely surviving now," Wong admits. Peter shoots a look of horror at Wong. He knew Stephen was running himself into the ground, but he didn't realize the extent the Sorcerer had gone to.
"I'll summon my brother immediately," Thor announces before disappearing into another room.
"Wong, h-how bad was mom before he left?" Peter asks hesitantly. Wong gave him a sad look, but remained quiet.
"Oh," was all Peter could say. And the guilt took over. He was so MAD at Stephen for weeks. He was mad that Stephen was gone so often, leaving him and Tony alone. He almost hated him. Hated him for making Peter feel as though he were abandoned.
The guilt rocked him to his core.
This whole time Stephen was killing himself to protect his family. And his family essentially abandoned him. Taking his efforts and sacrifices for granted.
"Whatever you're thinking, stop. Stephen knew what he was doing when he left on his magical bender. I even tried to stop him, but he was so stubborn about eliminating all the threats he could… he wanted to keep his family safe," Wong said. Peter snapped his eyes shut as the man's words washed over him.
"I know, but I still wish he would have talked to me and dad. We could've helped him," Peter admits quietly.
Wong looked at him sincerely.
"He'd rather die then put you and Tony in danger again after what happened with Thanos," Wong states. And Peter knew it was true.
"We have to find him Wong. We just have to," Peter whispers as he holds himself. He really just wanted Stephen to swoop in and hug him.
"Loki is on his way!" Thor announces triumphantly, entering the gloomy room.
For a moment, there's hope.
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"Hey babe, I was thinking about a vacation. Us and the kid going out and escaping for a bit, where do you want to go?" Tony asks nonchalantly, taking in every movement of the 'thing' in front of him.
"I can't even think about vacation until the stones have been dealt with… you know as well as I do that it's a beacon for danger," not-Stephen responds.
Tony feels like bashing his head against the counter. For the past hour he's been trying to get information out of the imposter in front of him and for the past hour 'it' has managed to evade or redirect his attempts.
Maybe it really was Stephen, only he could infuriate Tony to this degree.
Then an orange portal formed and Tony felt hope rose in his chest. He tried not to let his disappointment show when it was Wong, Peter and, to his surprise, Loki.
"Ah, visitors," the Skrull announced with sarcasm. Peter went to stand by Tony and the other two turned on the Skrull.
"I see… it was the name wasn't it? Pericoloso? Huh, I thought he was too broken to try to pull something like that on me. My mistake," the imposter says rising and dusting off the robes he wore in a nonchalant way.
"Where is Stephen?" Tony snarls. And Peter takes a fighting stance beside him.
"Oh! This is an intervention then? Good luck with that. I took down the SORCERER SUPREME, and believe me that was no easy feat. Took him ages to break. Do you know what he sounds like when he cries? Quite glorious, really. I prefer the sound of his screams myself," the Skrull taunts. Tony sees red and both he and Peter are lunging.
"Wait!" Loki blocks their attack while Wong keeps a watchful eye on the Skrull.
"He's baiting you! You kill him, or try, and you're killing Stephen Strange," Loki turns to the Skrull, "That's how this works right? You've linked Strange to you in some way so if you die then he dies too."
The Skrull looks at him with an appraising gaze.
"Not bad! I suppose Asguardians are smarter than Earthlings," the imposter says teasingly.
"Where is he?" Tony demands again.
"Alive, for now. That's all you need to know. If you want your precious sorcerer back, then I'm going to need that time stone. Today," 'it' demands.
"As soon as you get the stone you'll just kill Strange anyway," Loki says in an almost bored manner. Tony wanted to throttle him as well in that moment.
"Maybe, and maybe not. I mean, there are four of you and one of me. Surely between two sorcerers, a spider boy and Ironman you can protect your dear Stephen," the Skrull baits.
"Take us to Stephen and I'll give you the stone," Tony bargains. An empty chuckle escapes the imposter's lips.
"I do that, and again we have that four to one problem. No. I'll take the weakest link with me and the three of you can sit here and wait for us to return," the Skrull counters staring at Peter.
"What's to say you don't take Peter too?" Tony challenges. The Skrull turns to him with a cruel smile.
"Taking the boy as a prisoner does nothing for me. I'll be using him merely for my own amusement! The doctor will try to retaliate when he realizes I have Peter alone with me, and even better perhaps is Peter will be able to see my handiwork. Relaying that information to you… well it all will paint such a beautiful chaos. And I live off of chaos," the Skrull smiles sinisterly, "besides, I wanted to kill him yesterday but your doctor pleaded for his life. Maybe I can get him to plead again without even trying."
Tony had to cover his face with his hands to quell the fire that rose in him.
"So, to be clear, Peter going with you is just to mentally and emotionally scare and torture Stephen, him and probably me?" Tony deadpans.
The Skrull shrugs with a sick smile. And Tony wishes he'd chosen a different face because his Stephen should never look so evil.
"I can do it. I'll do it," Peter volunteers. Tony opens his mouth to argue but they don't have much in the way of options.
"Finally, a reasonable man! Good thing I didn't kill you then," the Skrull says rising.
"If you hurt the boy, Dr. Strange or try to flee then I will track you down and show you the same mercy you've shown us," Loki says crowding the Skrulls space.
"Fleeing gets me nothing. I want that stone and this arrangement ensures I'll have it," the Skrull snaps.
Loki moves for Peter, who skeptically approaches.
The Skrull places a hand on Peter's shoulder and they disappear in a swirl of black.
"Did you do it?" Wong asks Loki.
Loki nods.
"I also sent Peter with his nanotech bracelet. I slipped it into his pocket," Tony adds.
"So all we need to do is wait for them to get to Stephen, Peter to make contact, and we will be there in a minute," Loki maps out.
Tony knows this will be the longest, probably 5 minutes, of his life.
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Peter feels his legs crumble when he takes in his other parental figure. Stephen is being suspended by two bear trap looking vices on his hands. His robes have been torn into pieces that have completely fallen to show his bloody torso. Varying marks brandish his skin, bloody streaks and violet bruises. His face wore similar marks, his left eye swollen shut.
But his hands, his hands that were already abused beyond repair, now looked absolutely mangled to the point of no salvation.
"M-mom?" Peter gasps taking shaky steps forward. The sorcerer's head was bowed, bloody locks of hair falling forward. His good eye glances at Peter briefly but they were void of emotion.
"Get out of my head Kl'rt," he hissed. Peter took a small step back at the venom in his voice. But moved forward again and gently wrapped his arms around the hurt man.
"We're going to save you, okay? Just hold on," Peter whispers into his ear. He hears the hitch in the sorcerer's breathing.
"No illusions this time, Strange," Kl'rt announces, coming from the shadows in his 'Stephen' form.
"No, no, no! You can't be here! Peter, you need to leave, now!" Stephen says gaining new strength and rising to his full height.
"It's okay, it's all part of the plan," Peter soothes. Stephen has just enough time to feel a new type of magic at the base of his neck, where Peter's hand had been, when a portal mirroring his own forms. Tony, Loki and Wong come flying through.
They enter a quick scuffle with Kl'rt while Peter activates his own suit and goes to work freeing Stephen. The battered man tries to hold back a slew of profanities as his broken body cries out at every action.
"I'm so sorry, I'm so, so, sorry," Peter chants as he tugs and pulls at the chains and clamps. Finally one comes undone and Stephen can't hold back a wail of agony as his weight falls onto his still-bound hand. His body barely holding his weight.
"Oh god," Peter whispers, moving around behind him to the other hand.
Stephen already knows what he sees. Lash marks, bruising, burns and a carved word.
Weak
"I'm fine, I'm fine," Stephen comforts the frozen teen. A blast barely missing them both has Peter back to his task though.
He's quicker with the second clamp, having learned from the first one, and Stephens body crumples to the floor upon release.
He blacks out for a moment from the pain.
"Mom? Mom!" Peter cries out gently patting at his face. Stephen wants to comfort him but his pain is drowning him so all he can achieve is a groan. Anything else and he's afraid he'll be screaming.
Peter looks up for help and finds Wong and Loki each holding an arm and shoulder of Kl'rt with Tony behind the creature, arm wrapped around its neck.
"You kill me and you kill him!" Kl'rt screams.
The God of Mischief smiles.
"I severed that link as soon as Peter touched him, a bit of transfer magic if you will. I'll sort it out better once you're good and dead," Loki vows.
That was all the clarification Tony needed before he swiftly shifted his arm and the creature's head snapped and fell to its chest, its form shifting into its true self.
As soon as the action was done, Tony hustled over to Peter's side by Stephen.
"Oh, Steph," Tony whispered like a prayer. He pushed the initial shock aside and turned to Wong, who was releasing the cloak.
"I need a portal to the infirmary at the compound now! Cloak, help me with him," Tony demanded. He had called Bruce prior and had a team on standby for their arrival.
"T-Tony?" Stephen whimpered from his haze.
"Here! I'm here babe. I've got you, you're safe. Okay? You're safe now Steph," Tony vows, kissing the Sorcerers heated skin.
Fever. Not good.
The cloak wraps around Stephen and lifts him off the ground. Tony hovers over Stephen's limp form and they rush through Wong's portal.
Stephen's heart stops.
Tony feels like his just might too.