When everybody had taken a seat, Stephen peered over the table to Tony who stared with sad eyes into the room. The engineer must have felt his gaze because he pulled out his glasses and put them on.
Suddenly, a portal opened behind Wong and Stephen.
One of the masters of Kamar-Taj stepped through and stopped startled when the remaining Avengers and the visitors from Wakanda raised their weapons, ready to attack. (...and where did the raccoon get this enormous gun from?)
While Stephen cast a protective spell and tried to calm the Avengers down, Wong hissed annoyed, "Now is not a good time! What is the matter?"
"Master Wong, Master Strange there is a problem that requires your presence," the other sorcerer stammered.
"What do you mean?"
"Mordo. He is gone."
"How did that happen?" Wong asked.
"That doesn't matter now," Strange interrupted, "Have you looked for him in the New York Sanctum?"
"No, why would we look there?"
"Check if he is there! If he is, leave him there, if not, report back! And no further interruptions, unless there's a real emergency! And I'm talking end-of-the-world-emergency, understood?"
Clearly, the sorcerer wanted to object, but eventually, he replied, "Yes, Master Strange." He turned and vanished into the portal and left them alone with the battle-ready Avengers.
Captain America demanded to know, "What was that? Some sort of teleport mechanism?"
"It was a magical portal," Strange explained.
"Magic? Really?"
"Is that so difficult to believe, Captain Rogers? In a world where super-soldiers and thunder-gods from outer space exist – is it so unbelievable that magic could be real?" Stephen asked amused.
"I'm sorry, but who are you and what are you doing here?" Rhodey barged in.
"That is a good question, and you deserve an answer. My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. I am a Master of the Mystic Arts and the Sorcerer Supreme of an earth that is very similar to this one in a parallel universe." He pointed at Peter and continued. "This is my son, Peter. We got here by accident."
"I met Doctor Strange before," Bruce Banner stated. "What happened to him, if you are not from this universe?"
"He vanished in the snap." Stephen sat down again. "Just like this Universe's version of Peter." Cautiously, he glanced to Tony, who didn't react. "If there are no objections, I think everyone should introduce themselves to the others and tell how we experienced the last couple of days, to get a more comprehensive picture of the events." He looked around, and nobody disagreed. "Good. It is only fair that I shall begin." Stephen told the others everything that had happened to them from the morning when Bruce Banner crashed through the roof window of the sanctum and the ensuing fight on Titan to the encounter with the astral form of the other Stephen.
"You mean there is hope? To bring them back?" asked Steve Rogers aloud.
To bring Bucky back? was the question, that Stephen read in his face.
"It is not impossible," answered Strange cautiously. He didn't want to raise false hopes. After all, despite what the other Stephen had told them, there was no guaranty that they even had a chance to succeed.
After that, they told their stories, one after the other: Rocket, the talking raccoon, explained how the Guardians had picked up Thor after Thanos had destroyed the ship of the Asgardians and how he traveled with him to Nidavellir to create Stormbreaker.
The next to speak was Steve Rogers. He reported about the assault on Scarlet Witch and Vision by the Children of Thanos.
Nebula told how Thanos had tortured her to get Gamora to reveal the location of the soul stone to him and how he came back with the stone but without her sister.
Then Bruce Banner took over. He ranted how the Hulk had let him down and that he had to fight in the Battle of Wakanda in the Hulk-Buster Armour.
James Rhodes tried to calm him down and summarized the events of the Battle of Wakanda and the victory of Thanos.
Shuri informed them that she had taken over the position of her brother and was now the queen of Wakanda.
The last one to tell their story was Tony. He explained how his battle on Titan differed from Stephen's: Strange looking into 14 Million possible futures with the time stone, the fight against Thanos, how the mad Titan had thrown a moon at him.
"...and then Strange gave up the stone to save my life. Thanos disappeared, and a short time later everyone except Nebula and I turned into dust."
Stephen could see that he was struggling to retain his composure.
A couple of deep breaths later Tony finished his recount, "Nebula and I took the ship of the Guardians and came back to earth, where I met the Peter and Stephen from another universe. After that, I did everything in my power, to bring the remaining Avengers back together."
"But where did Thor go?" Peter asked.
"He left earth to search for surviving Asgardians," Rocket explained. "He won't come back."
Nobody dared to speak for a moment; everyone was lost in their thoughts.
"What do we do now?" Banner looked from Stark to Rogers to Strange.
"Perhaps I have a plan," Stephen thought out loud, "and it is as simple as it is impossible."
"What plan?"
"We go to Thanos, get the stones back and undo the snap..."
"That's it? That's your whole plan?" Tony remarked.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"That sounds stupid."
"I know." Stephen nodded. "But do you have a better idea?"
"...No."
Steve Rogers crossed his arms in front of his chest. "So, you suggest we all go to space and fight Thanos to get the stones back?"
"Not all, Captain Rogers. I advise that we keep our group as small as possible. The Avengers are needed here on earth. Someone has to inform the public what happened, coordinate help efforts and overall be the beacon of hope people need right now."
"What? You want to turn us into a symbol?"
Stephen considered that for a moment. "Yes, I think so, Captain Rogers."
"But we are so few!" Bruce Banner interjected. He sounded desperate.
"No." Shuri, queen of Wakanda, stood and spoke. "The Nation of Wakanda will stand at your side!"
"As will the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj!" Wong looked at Shuri. "It is time for us to step out of the shadows."
Stephen felt a lump in his throat and had to swallow. Wong's offer touched him because he knew how substantial secrecy was for the sorcerers of Kamar-Taj.
"And who goes to space?" Rogers aimed to sound business-like, but Stephen could hear in the wavering of his voice how touched he was.
"Nebula and Rocket would be the obvious choice. Also, I should accompany them," Stephen answered.
"I'll go with you!" Peter said.
"No! You stay here!"
"But..."
"No discussion! We're going to talk about that later." The cold glare in Stephen's eyes told Peter that the doctor wouldn't allow any further discussion of the matter at the moment.
The others had witnessed their exchange awkwardly.
"I'm gonna go with you," Tony stated out of the blue.
"No!" Pepper and Stephen shouted in unison.
"The Avengers need Iron Man," Stephen pointed out.
"Why?" the billionaire asked deadpan. "Why do the Avengers need me? Rogers and the others have done pretty fine without me the last two years. No one needs me."
"I think the public..." Stephen began, but Tony interrupted him.
"I'm not gonna stay here and let you turn me into the poster boy of the Avengers while you are out there and have all the fun!"
"That has nothing to do with fun!"
"You can't force me to stay behind. Smiling and waving to the crowd like a trained monkey, completely useless, while out there is a war to be fought! I go, and if you don't want me with your little party, I'll go alone!"
The doctor steamed. "You stubborn..."
"I think Stark would be a useful addition to the team," Nebula intervened.
"Yes, let him go. If he wants to fight a war so badly, let him." The resignation in Rogers' voice was unmistakable. It seems Tony's words had touched something in him, but Stephen didn't understand what it was. The eyes of the two Avengers met, and there was an understanding between them that the doctor wasn't able to interpret. "I know how it feels to smile and wave at the crowd when you know you could make a difference if you were out there to do something."
Stephen took a deep breath. "So, I'm outvoted on this topic. Well then, the four of us it is." He turned to Rocket. "How fast can we leave?"
"I would like to check the Benatar over to be safe, but that shouldn't take longer than one or two days."
"Good. That gives me time to make some preparations of my own." Stephen nodded.
After that, they discussed what the next steps for the Avengers would be, how Wakanda and the sorcerers would assist them and so on and so forth.
Stephen spaced out sometime in between. He started to make a mental list of all the things he had to take care of before they started.
When everyone started to get up, he looked around, startled.
"Meeting's over, Stephen." Wong had put his hand on the doctor's shoulder. "I'm going to bring Shuri and Okoye back to Wakanda. We figured that's the fastest way for them to get home."
"Yeah, sounds reasonable. Pete and I go back to Kamar-Taj."
Wong nodded. "I'll see you later, then."
They got up and left the conference room, Peter trailing silently behind them. Once Wong and the others where out of earshot, the teenager confronted Stephen. "That's so unfair! You can't treat me like a child. I'm not twelve anymore! And worst of all, you made me look like a joke in front of the Avengers!"
Stephen felt a pang of guilt when he realized that he had, in fact, embarrassed Peter in front of everyone the boy looked up to. Nonetheless, he wouldn't budge in that matter.
"It is too dangerous! You will stay here, end of story!"
"You didn't say that to Tony..."
"He is Tony Stark! He does whatever the fuck he wants, no matter what I say!
Peter glared at him. "And so will I, because I am Peter Stark!"
"No, you won't, and you'll do as I say because I'm your father!"
"No! No, you're not! Tony was my father, and you adopted me just because of him. So, don't you dare play the daddy-card on me now!" With that, the teen pulled his sling ring over his fingers, conjured a portal and left Stephen standing alone in the corridor.