Stephen sits on the couch with a cup of tea in his hands. He glances over at the unconscious man laid out on the other couch. The Sorcerer had given Tony a once over. And had not found anything that would need immediate medical attention. The Cloak of Levitation is holding Peter's bottle of juice, while said baby is sitting on the man's chest. It's a strange sight to see. A once hyperactive teen had been turned into a child by magic. How unfortunate. How...uninteresting for the Sorcerer Supreme. Without a doubt, this is a simple fix. A fix even Loki can do.
Turning his gaze to the five other children in the room, Stephen sighs. And these were Earth's Mightiest Heroes? Now they're a bunch of small kids that can't even be left alone in a room by themselves. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Much to the Sorcerer's annoyance. Or was it amusement? One can never tell with a character like Strange.
"So, a package arrived and it was opened without caution. Then they were turned into children and a baby. Is that correct?" Stephen set the cup on the table and rubbed his hands. A dull ache starting to creep up.
"Yes." Pepper nodded.
"And they call themselves 'Earth's mightiest Heroes', how dumb they were." Stephen sighs, shaking his head.
"Well, you did miss Stark swan dive." Loki wheezed, wiping a tear from his eyes. It may have only been an hour after Tony had fainted, but Loki still found it funny to laugh about.
Stephen raised a brow. "And why did he do that?"
"Peter called him—" Pepper started to say, but is interrupted by a baby.
"Daddy!"
Peter's whine is loud and one can easily tell that he's not very happy about Tony being unconscious. If the little bounce and pulling at the man's shirt is anything to tell by. The Cloak tires to gain the child's attention. But it appears that said spiderling is not interested in interruptions. Pepper sighs and walks over to the little spider boy. Meanwhile, Loki chuckles under his breath. Stephen sighs, it seems the only mature ones are him and the CEO.
"He said it again." Loki snorts.
"Hmmm, funny." Stephen's voice is dry and humorless. Why was he contacted again? Why is he dealing with this? This isn't even his problem.
"It is!" Loki huffed, noticing the blank tone of the Sorcerer. Did this guy not know how to have fun? "The voice has it saved."
"Voice?" Stephen hums, a brow raised again.
"That would be me, Mr. Strange." Jarvis answers. "I'm sir's A.I. I run the tower."
The sudden voice of the A.I. causes Strange to jump in his seat. This causes the cloak to become aware of its master instantly. The cloak turns it's collar to its master. In normal response, the sentient fabric would have rushed to it's master's aid. And at this moment it is ready to aid, but it can tell that that's not necessary. So the cloak floats near the woman holding the baby. The corners of the cloak holding the bottle of juice dutifully.
Once Strange had calmed his heart and breathing, his eyes turn to the cloak. A sigh and a wave of his hand let the magical outerwear know that he's ok. The cloak visibility relaxing, the collar giving a small shutter. Like it's giving a breath of relief. It then turns its attention to Peter, since the said boy is reaching an arm out to the cloth. Stephen picks up his cup of tea and sips at it while leaning into the couch.
"It's Doctor Strange, not Mr. Strange," Stephen says as he finishes his tea, seeming to ignore what the A.I. had said moments ago.
"Understood." Jarvis states. Stephen nods at this.
"Tony said there's a spell that's been placed on the powder that came from the package." Pepper brings the Sorcerer's attention back to the problem at hand.
"Odin took my powers away. So, I can't reverse it." Loki grumbles. Nice one Odin, the one time Loki needs his magic and it's been snatched from him like a baby losing its candy.
"So, that's why you called me?" Stephen asks, voice monotone. Though there's a hint of amusement. So that's why this spell wasn't reversed sooner.
"You going to help or not?" Loki snarled. The Norse being is not in the mood to be laughed at. Though, he'll laugh at someone else's misery.
"Mom's mad." Clint snickered, hiding behind Loki's leg.
Stephen felt an eyebrow raise. Mom? The god of mischief is called mom! The urge to laugh is strong, but the Sorcerer can keep it down. Though barely. The fact that one of the children had called Loki mom is a very funny concept. Do the others call him mom too? This may be more interesting than what Strange had first thought.
"Mom?" The corner of the male's lips pulls up.
A hiss leaves Loki's lips. "Say something and I'll send you free-falling."
Strange felt his lips pull further, a smirk forming. The cloak catches his eye and the fabric shakes its collar. Clearing the levitating outerwear is not amused like its master. A shame really, this is very entertaining to the master of the mystic arts. And it seems he's not the only one.
"Mom's mad now." Clint has a large smile on his face. Seems this child likes to cause trouble.
"That's not funny, Clint." Steve chased Clint. Even as a child the super-soldier had that 'don't make me give a speech' in his tone.
"Boys, stop." Loki snapped.
The two kids nodded and zipped their lips. Natasha had a bored expression, the child leaned on Pepper's leg. Meanwhile, Peter had been transferred to Loki's arms, the baby happily nibbling on the God's shirt. Bruce is peeking out from Loki's leg with a curious expression. Wide brown eyes blinking at the Sorcerer. Thor is laying on an armchair, sleeping. If the rhythmic rise and fall of his chest is anything to go by.
"I agree, you're mom." Stephen snickered.
Loki scrunched his nose in annoyance. But this then his face light up. "Oh look at the time. I have somewhere to be." The god smiles at Stephen. "Thanks for babysitting."
"Hey! I didn't—" Stephen stammered as Peter's placed into his arms and Loki bolting for the elevator. The ache in his hands now becoming painful. He isn't able to hold things for long. Let alone a baby.
"Mr. Loki is no longer in the building, Doctor Strange," Jarvis stated as Strange was about to get up.
The sorcerer sighs and leans back into the couch, his hands trembling in pain. Though a sigh of relief is heard as the cloak helps hold the baby spider. The sympathetic look from Pepper does help the man relax. He wouldn't be surprised if this has happened to her. Knowing the man that Tony is, it's very likely.
The other kids blinked and looked around. They're confused about what had happened. When did Loki have to leave? Where did he leave too? And these strange man is there babysitter? When was all this set up? They looked at Pepper and she was shaking her head. It seems that she was not amused by what happened.
"Well, that's great," Stephen grumbles, slumping. He doesn't have the time for this.
"Yeah, he's dating me."
All heads turn to the voice that had spoken. Tony is now sitting up on the couch he had once been laying on. The man's hair is disheveled and his face is filled with tiredness. Stephen feels the same as Tony looks. And having a babbling baby in his ear isn't helping the sorcerer's train of thought. He had to study the spell on the powder and find a reverse spell. But that means he has to go to SHIELD and find where they have this package at. All Stephen wanted was to get something warm for lunch and it seems that's too much to ask for.
"And that's concerning." Stephen scoffs, annoyance written on his face.
"You'll get used to it," Pepper says as she places her head in her hand.
"Want to take this one off of me?" Stephen motions to the baby gerbiling on him.
Tony snickers as he sees peter is drooling on the other man's robes. At least it isn't his shirt that has globs of baby drool on it. If one was not the wiser, Stephen could have been mistaken for the baby's father. And the sorcerer's tired expression did add to the image. Poor Stephen, what had Loki dragged him into?
"You look like a dad with that face." Tony chuckles, didn't help that the kids were nodding in agreement too.
Stephen blinked and huffed. Shaking his head, the former surgeon sighs. Why him? What did he do to have to deal with this? "Do you want my help? If you do, then please take the baby off of me."
"Fine, fine. Spoiled sport." Tony stood up and walked over to the other couch. Once Peter saw him the baby smiled and giggled. Holding his arms out to the older man. "Come here, Petey."
Stephen sighed as the baby is removed from his person, his arms and hands relaxing in relief. "Thank you."
Tony nodded, he turned to Peter and made a silly face. This made the baby giggle. "Hey, there little guy."
Stephen sighs and leans into the cloak. He's tired, oh so tired. Stephen had not slept in about two and a half days and last night the sanctum had been attacked. And he's running on empty. Though the tea had cream in it, it's not enough to hold back the pain of hunger. His stomach tightens in protest of no food.
"Sir, Doctor Strange seems to be suffering from a severe lack of sleep." Jarvis alerted Tony to the condition of the Sorcerer.
"Yeah, Jar. I kind of had a feeling." Tony chuckled. Of course, he'd know when someone looked like the walking dead. He, himself is a pro at it.
"Ok, wizard," Tony says as he adjusts Peter in his arms. "Take a nap. The last thing we need is something happening to you."
"Normally, I'd disagree with someone like you Stark." Stephen snorted. He'll let the wizard comment slide for now. "But this time I have too. Seeming as I'm the only one that can fix this."
"Right!" Tony explained. "Jarvis set up a guest room."
"Of course, Sir," Jarvis replied.
