White.

All he could see was a blurry white wall of light when he opened his eyes. He tried to blink it away a few times but it was no use as of now and he was too exhausted to try any harder. So he closed his eyes again, drifting off for another unknown amount of time.

When he awakened again sometime later the white he saw was now a light gray, and when he blinked he noticed the familiar ceiling of a hospital. But what the hell was he doing in a hospital? And why the hell was he laying down and not preforming surgery?

The doctor sat up quickly then even though his vision had not yet fully returned to him. He hated being in hospital beds as he grew to remember, even more so after his accident. Now it made sense, he wasn't preforming surgery because he couldn't. The thought of laying there helpless under the watchful eye of a most likely less competent doctor scared him more than anything else he could remember, though he didn't remember much at the moment if he were to be honest.

"Hello?"

There wasn't an immediate answer which struck him as odd. It wasn't often hospitals were low staffed and even more odd low on patients. That's when he remembered. Everything. The time stone, Dr. Banner crashing through the Sanctum stairway, Thanos, the snap, Tony.. It all came back to him in such a rush that he had to hold his head to keep from getting dizzy. It didn't stop the headache though which annoyed him ever so slightly, but he wasn't concerned with that right now. Right now he needed to find out what was going on. How the hell was he alive and who else was still left on this planet? What would they do next? And where the hell was Tony? Wong?

Just as he stood and ripped off all of the hospital gear and his gown the cloak of levitation exited from it's seat eagerly and floated upright in front of him as if it were inspecting him. It'd been sitting on top of where the rest of his clothes had been, guarding them. It took him a moment to put his clothes back on, and as he glanced at the cloak he noticed it seemed to be waiting for him to fall. He hadn't though, and it seemed relieved as it returned to it's place on his shoulders. The cloak had a mind of its own when it wasn't seemingly reading Stephen's. It gestured towards a table by his bedside just as the question popped into the sorcerer's head about where his sling rings were. "I swear I'll never get used to that."

After they were carefully placed back on his fingers he'd pause, taking a breath and holding up his hands to test and see if they were still shaking. When he saw they were back to normal he'd make a circle with his left hand, sparks coming to life just as a figure appeared in the doorway.

"Ya' know, ya' gotta be more careful with that or else someone's gonna see you and freak the hell out." As if the other man's words had been water the sparks died almost instantly as Dr. Strange looked over and saw none other than Tony Stark standing in his doorway. His nanotech had been slinking back into it's housing unit as he stood there with his usual expression. "I'm sure watching people turn to dust may have desensitized everyone just a bit." Strange replied, letting his hands fall to his side. "And how did you-?" "Know to come? I made sure Friday alerted me when your vitals shifted." The genius gestured idly to his monitor that he now noticed had a red and gold addition to it. Stephen couldn't help but smile, shaking his head as he should have anticipated that answer. "Right.." There was a long silence then, just like on Titan. As uneasy as it made him feel he wasn't sure how to keep it from happening so he just rode it out until something came to mind. "I'm assuming Wong-?" Clear blue eyes caught Tony's face just as a slightly pained expression passed over it. The look gripped Stephen by the gut with it's cold hands, and then suddenly he felt empty. Another shorter silence, this time his focus was on controlling the mix of sadness and anger that wet his eyes slightly. "Then how did you get me-?" "You should still be resting, doctors said it'd be at least another week till' you-" "I think I can handle myself Tony. Probably better than they can." Old hints of his former arrogance were showing, but he suppressed it easily enough. It would seem the realization that the only man he'd really call his friend was gone now made him agitated. Still, he tried his best not to take it out on Tony. "Strange-" "I'm fine. Tell me who's all left." That caught the Avenger off guard, and Stephen watched his eyes carefully this time as not to miss what they could tell him that he wouldn't. "-come with me. I'll show you."

The Avenger's base looked just the way Stephen remembered it from his visions. This was often a place he would watch when he visited the astral plane. One could learn a lot by just siting and listening. "We're still making a list of those who're still unaccounted for, but I think we've just about got it." Tony activated a hologram that floated in front of the both of them displaying a collage of those who'd they presume missing during the snap. Missing sounded much better, but Stephen couldn't help but pinch his chin at the bold lettering. "I'm on here." Was more of a statement than a question which made Tony perk up and promptly mark him as safe right then and there. "Yeah, uh.. you weren't looking too good for a while there. Thought we'd lose you." Stephen's clear blue eyes stared off, brows knitting as he tried to remember what all happened on Titan. Tony could sense this and gently slapped his hand on the man's shoulder which made the sorcerer look him in the eye curiously. "What all don't you remember?" Tony finally asked, which caught Stephen off guard since he thought the man would just keep avoiding the subject. "I remember the fight on Titan. Vividly. Thanos tried to kill you and left after he got the stone. I remember everyone turning to dust, but after that I don't remember anything." Tony was quiet for a moment which was normal when it was just the two of them. However Stephen could tell he was planning out what he would say next. "You don't remember getting us home?" That surprised him, this whole time he thought Wong had done it or Tony used his suit somehow. But Stephen himself had gotten them home? And he didn't remember it at all? That was concerning."Yeah you-.. after you threw down with Thanos you were hurt pretty bad." He gestured to Stephen's bandaged side. "Lost a good amount of blood. I thought you were a gonner and tried to get you back on the ship but you opened up one of those portal thingies instead. Almost took my head off." He allowed himself to laugh at that even though Stephen hadn't. "-hah.. you ah.." He looked pained now, and Stephen tried his best not to move lest he be taken from this thoughts and try to direct the conversation elsewhere. "You were gonna stay on Titan." And then again the silence that seemed to always manifest showed it's head, and Stephen knitted his brows as he felt it descend. "Lucky for you I decided to save your magical ass- again." Tony tried his best to lighten the mood by chuckling, but even his face betrayed him. Stephen noticed himself but wasn't really sure what to say. That was remedied soon enough. "You know, a thank you would be nice!" Tony allowed himself to chuckle louder this time, letting his hand fall easily from the other man's shoulder. Stephen's eyes never left the floor however, and it was almost as if Tony could read his mind. "Look, Strange. What happened-" "I was hoping I would have turned to dust myself." He admitted turning quickly away from the Avenger and taking a few steps. "Then I would have been spared having to explain." "Strange-" "No, let me finish." He turned back to face the other man again then, arms unfolding from in front of his chest. "What I saw in the stone-.. I said what I was supposed to say, to ensure our victory. I just-.." His eyes instinctively found the other's, and in that moment he was horribly aware of how the other man was looking at him. He'd been waiting for this explanation, and Stephen suspected it was why he was so concerned with keeping him alive. That made his eyes find the floor again, expression growing solemn. "I got a bit ahead of myself when I saw him aim that glove at you. In truth, I knew he wouldn't have killed you but I suppose I was afraid even still." The look of disappointment on Tony's face was clear as day, but there was something else mixed in. Perhaps Stephen would have been able to pin it had he just looked at the other's face, but he made no such movement. "I could tell you exactly how that reality would have played out, though it would have been hard as a pile of dust. Now that I'm here, and the reality has changed I don't know.. I don't know how this will end."

The Avengers had all halfway piled into the room by then, having been listening for some time it would seem. Captain America seemed to be the most understanding out of them, the rest just sort of stood there speechless– and by the rest he meant Natasha, and Bruce. He could feel his shame growing, so much so that he hadn't noticed Steve walk over and place a hand on his shoulder until it pulled him from his thoughts. "You did what any of us would have done." That made Tony look up at him then, another odd mix of emotions floating on his features as Captain America removed his hand. Stephen watched as Steve glanced back at Tony who was now staring blankly at his cloak, and walked back to where he'd come from. "We'll figure this out, like we always do." Natasha offered, Bruce nodding from beside her and Steve smiling halfheartedly. Tony was the last of the Avengers to speak, finally looking Stephen in the eye. "I guess I was wrong about you.. moral compass and all." His hand waved dismissively but not rudely, and Stephen thought he noticed a half smile for a second but as soon as it appeared it was gone. The silence that hung over them all stayed for longer than Stephen was expecting, so he took the initiative to break it. "I should return to the Sanctum, pour over the scripts there to see if any of it will be of any use to us. I'll be in touch." He added quickly, opening a portal with his sling ring and promptly stepping through it.

It had been weeks since Tony heard from most of the remaining Avengers. He guessed it was to be expected. He still hated Rodgers and Natasha seemed to be glued to his side as they tried to find a solution to half the universe being turned to ash. Bruce checked in on him from time to time, bouncing ideas off of him on how to fix Vision but after the Time stone had been ripped from his head he was unsure of how to bring him back. Or if he should bring him back now that Wanda was gone. He had just finished picking at his food when Friday suggested he finish at least half to help his mood. He was already on his way to the shower and not feeling very ungry eve as she called out another wear 'boss'. In response he put her to sleep, allowing security functions to stay online as he sighed deeply and began to disrobe.

His tower had been lonely ever since Pepper left. The snap had been the final nail in the coffin, the one before that being him leaving Earth to go fight the monsters that ended up winning in the end anyway. The toll was too great for her and he really couldn't blame her for that. He did find it funny that now that it was all over he hasn't had much of a reason to put on the suit and would have had more time to spend with her. Tony beat himself up about it every day until he couldn't anymore. She'd lost people that were important to her in the snap and took some needed time off, but if she didn't feel like returning he would understand that too. The world wasn't the same, the motivation to create was lost and a dark cloud seemed to hang over Earth even after 3 years had passed since the event. Life went on, but repairing all that was erased from losing half of the population was a long and grueling process. There weren't enough depression meds out there to correct pain the world was left with.

He sighed as his shower switched on, automatically set to notify him when it reached his favorite temperature. Tony looked in the mirror and ran his hand over his signature facial hair which he had let go for a while until he was almost unrecognizable. Somehow he mustered the strength to trim it back to it's original glory, though depression made him sluggish at the task.

He didn't notice after a while that the shower was still running, brown eyes downcast as he let the sink run and slowly wash away the foam from his razor. He was just drifting off into his thoughts again when Sparks ignited behind him and almost scared him into slipping on the condensation of the floor. Instead he turned around with the razor outstretched towards the intruder, nanotech climbing up his arm quickly and encasing it until it too was a weapon. Dr. Strange called his name as he finally looked up from a book he'd been glued to before he dropped it and raised his hands defensively at the sound of his repulsor. "Jesus Tony, it's me!" He shouted, only to be taken aback again by the man's almost naked form. "Jesus-!" "Yeah?! Shouldn't that be my line?!" Stephen closed his eyes and stepped back, the portal fizzing out unexpectedly. "-I apologize, I didn't realize you were-" Tony only lowered his glove when he realized he was still holding his razor as if it were a weapon, but not before looking it over in confusion and tossing it shortly after. "...Well? Mind telling me what was so urgent that you felt the need to pop up in my bathroom?" "Uh- right, I uh.." The sorcerer tried his best to bend down and reach for the book he'd dropped without looking at the other man. Tony stared down angrily at him and finally sighed and rolled his eyes. "It's not like my dick's out Strange." "Right." He quickly scooped up the book then, fumbling with re-finding his page. "Aaany day now.." "Sorry, I was reading and I happened upon-" But then the room went black, both of the men standing there in silence before red lights came on and an audible alarm sounded.

Intruder alert- Intruder alert- activating system s-

"Friday!" And the room was dark again, long enough for the shower to switch back on before the regular lighting did once again. Stephen was standing there, stone faced with the book upside down in his hands while Tony glared at the other. The best Strange could do was flash an awkward pseudo-smile before pointing at the bathroom door and excusing himself to wait for the other outside.

"So." Tony poured a glass of wine for them both, sighing lightly in his dark green robe. "Please tell me whatever the hell you found was worth all of this nonsense." Dr. Strange had been reading over what he meant to show Tony again, only looking up when the glass was offered to him before returning his eyes to the page. Tony took a sip of his drink expecting him to say something but gave up and eventually sat in front of him, moving closer to get a better look at the old book. "So what? What is this old thing?" As if he'd forgotten the other man was there Stephen looked up suddenly, trying to play off his obvious rudeness by grabbing the glass and taking a short sip of the expensive wine Tony'd given him. "I was reading over about the Time stone and I noticed this." He scooted closer in order to let the other man see the passage he was stuck on, delicate as the book was old and falling apart. "I thought you might find this interesting, look at the part about the Time stone's existence." Tony was busy observing the Doctor, noticing how intelligent the man looked with a book in his hand. He snapped out of it and looked down at the passage, suddenly interested himself and moving closer to read it over. "That's an interesting catch.. but what do we do with it? We don't have the time stone." The passage had been about the nature of the stone. While it could effectively rewind time, it was also elusive in it's existence in said time. It's existence all depended on when and how it was used, and Strange thought this could mean there were different versions of the Time stone that could exist at any given time. The rest of the passage was positively vague, but who better to ask for an opinion than Tony Stark? He could tell it'd been puzzling the doctor for a while, even when he looked at him for an explanation his eyes were still on the page rereading the passage over and over again. "Strange." Tony called gently, pulling the other man out of his thoughts. The look in his eyes made him halt the verbal assault he was planning to unleash on him out of—was it pity? He could tell he hadn't slept and was driving himself completely mad with what that passage could mean. Tony could tell by the dark circles, the slight shaking of the mans hands, the unkempt hair, and the similar look the other man's facial hair had taken to his own just an hour before he arrived. He was thankful that he'd at least gotten to trim before the sorcerer popped in on him.

"Oh God-" Stephen slammed the book shut, suddenly realizing what he'd done. "Tony, dammit.. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pop in on you like this I just thought that you could make sense-" "It's fine Stephen." Dr. Strange stopped what he was doing, taking his fingers away from where they had been pinching the bridge of his nose. That was the first time Tony Stark had ever called him anything but Doc or Strange. In truth, he wasn't sure how to react, or why he'd be being calling him by his first name all of a sudden. A comfortable amount of silence passed before Tony spoke again, gently taking the book from his lap. "When's the last time you've slept Doc?" That seemed to snap him out of whatever trance he'd been in, much to the Ironman's relief. "Ah.. I've been in my astral form for some time, but I suppose I haven't slept for almost 5 days now." Tony nodded at that, suddenly standing. "We can look at this tomorrow, you need to get some sleep." As did Tony but Strange needed it more, he could tell he wasn't paying any mind to his health either since the last time he saw him. "No, I have to make sense of this. I'm so close to cracking the code-" Tony interrupted the man with a firm hand on his shoulder, squeezing until his light blue eyes were locked on his own. "No one's going anywhere, nothing is gonna change while you're asleep. Besides I can't have you busting into my bathroom every time you think you're onto something. If you want I can come by the Sanctum this week, but only after you've gotten some rest. You're burning yourself out Strange." "That doesn't matter, I can-" "Enough, end of conversation." "Tony this important, I can't just waste my time sleeping when the Time Stone could be within our grasp." Ironman sighed at that, throwing his hands up in frustration. "Unlike everyone else, I'm not going to just waste my time not trying to figure out how to undo thi-" But this time he was interrupted by the sound of metal hitting flesh instead of the man's voice.

By the time he realized that Tony had slapped him he was already being helped up, a warm streak of blood running down the corner of his now busted lip. "You-" "And I'll do it again. You don't think I've been spending every day of my miserable life trying to figure out how to fix this? This has been what I've been fearing since day one! Since New York Stephen so I know better than anyone how much this hurts! You're not the only one trying to think of something.. we all are." Another long silence, then finally Stephen smiled, licking his injured lip and wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. "You've probably wanted to do that for a long time." He looked at the blood on his hand thoughtfully, almost getting dragged away by his own thoughts until he felt another sensation at his cheek. It was warm- more blood streaming from a cut made by the man's metal hand where he'd slapped him. It wasn't Stephen who wiped it away though but Tony himself, and without the red metal encasing his hand this time. "Yeah, well.. Can't say you didn't deserve it." The scientist finally let out a laugh, cupping the man's cheek with a tissue as the new wound refused to stop bleeding since it was a bit deeper than he'd anticipated. In truth, he felt bad for hitting him so hard.

Stephen felt his face growing warm and not from the heat of the other's hand. It was an odd sensation, one that had him placing his hand over Tony's and pulling it from his cheek rather gently. He could see the pained expression on the other's face, one of remorse so he smiled quickly at him and swiped one last time at his cheek. "You're right, I should sleep." He snatched up the book in one hand, his other balling into a fist nervously. "I really do apologize for the trouble Tony. I didn't have my wits about me this evening. I- apologize." Tony Stark stood quietly, watching as the other made moves to leave. What had come over him just then? And why had his armor encased his hand without him activating it? It not like Stephen was a real threat.. but then he remembered how he'd programmed the suit to activate whenever his heart rate became abnormal. Bu what about this man could have had that effect? "Goodnight, Stark." The sparks were what pulled Tony out of his thoughts, but too late as they suddenly died and the other man was gone.