Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or Doctor Strange (really, anything Marvel related = I don't own)
A/ N My version of Wong is also mostly based on the animated movie verse. Since I'm basing them off the movie, Strange has only been learning magic for about six or seven years in this fic. So be prepared, this version of him doesn't know everything yet. Also, I've started to read the Dr. Strange comics :), so expect there to be some somewhat accurate details about their magic.
Strange and Stark
Ch.2 Figuring Things Out
After stepping out of the shower, during which he managed to both remove the vomit and reopen his head wound, which stung a lot under the hot water, Stephen pressed a clean white towel to his head to slow the bleeding. He was tired, given the situation, and decided to just dress in pajamas. This time he went with a pair of black flannel pants and a black shirt, decent apparel around guests.
Clutching the towel tightly to his head, he went downstairs to the guest bedroom that he set Stark up in. By the time he arrived, the other Avengers were already at their teammate's side. Everyone looked up at his entrance. Only two people moved towards him though: Wong and who he presumed to be Dr. Bruce Banner. The good doctor immediately started guiding him to a chair and motioned for him to sit down.
Banner looked at Stephen's head, sighed, and said, "Here, let me clean that up for you. I guess you would be Dr. Strange?" At Stephen's nod he continued, "I'm Dr. Bruce Banner. And those people," he pointed at the others in order, "Are Natasha, Clint, Steve, and Thor. I'm guessing you already know who Tony is." Dr. Banner then proceeded to remove the towel from Stephen's wound, clean the wound, and bandage it.
Once Banner was done, the other Avengers looked like they wanted to question him. However, Wong pulled Stephen to the side first. Wong asked, "Stephen, why couldn't I trace your magical signature with my magic?" It was a valid question.
Stephen raised his hands and answered, "It has something to do with these bracelets they put on me. I can't use my magic right now. I'd have to examine them to figure out the exact spell though."
Wong took Stephen's hands in his and looked over the bracelets. His serious expression spelled out his worry for Stephen at his findings. Wong explained, "These bracelets not only restrain your magic, they drain it too. If they were only restraints, then you would feel as if your magic was bursting to come out. Since however they are also draining your magic, you'll probably feel something different. Am I correct?"
Stephen looked at Wong. He admitted, "You're correct. I feel a slight burning sensation around my wrists where these bracelets are."
Wong whispered a short incantation and hovered his hands over the bracelets. He seemed worried at what he found. The bracelets were impervious to magic. Stephen, knowing the spell, could guess at what Wong's expression meant.
Of course, the Avengers, who had been listening in the whole time, had no idea what the spell revealed, however, judging by the serious expressions still on Wong's and Stephen's faces, it was bad. When Clint spoke it seemed to break the two out of their thoughts, "We're not all mystics here. Just what did you find out?"
The two exchanged a glance before Wong fielded the question, "I found out that I cannot get those bracelets off of him by magic. However, he is in danger until they are removed. Whoever kidnapped him and your friend knows that. They might make another attempt while he is vulnerable."
"So…. Basically we have to protect him too?" Clint inquired with a sigh.
Stephen answered, "No you don't. I'm not your responsibility. Take care of your teammate." He rubbed his hand down his face wearily and yawned. "If you have any questions, it would be best if you ask now, otherwise goodnight."
With that, Stephen got up on wobbly legs and headed for the door. The Avengers, seeing his plain fatigue, let him go without questions. He then made his way back up to his room and tucked himself into his bed, falling into a deep and dreamless sleep.
When Tony awoke, he was laying on a strange bed, in a strange house. He cracked open an eye and looked out. Surrounding him were his five teammates and one stranger. However, he didn't see the man he met just before passing out. This troubled him slightly. He had to wonder what happened to him…
Oh well, his head hurt and now was not the time to focus on it. Instead of focusing on his musings, the engineer decided to close his eye and just listen in on the conversation going on around him.
Bruce was saying, "-we need to get those bracelets off him." That raised the question of who, and why. Who were they talking about, and why do they have to remove bracelets from them?
Wait… bracelets… wasn't that man wearing a couple? It'd make sense then. Assuming the bracelets had a bad effect on him that would be why he's not present. That meant he was still alive, good.
Natasha was talking now, "Wong, weren't you just saying that magic is essentially energy? If those things are draining his magic, then that would be why he's really tired, right?"
Magic? He almost shuddered at the thought of it. Technically, it was science that was so complex it couldn't be explained. That's why he wasn't very fond of it. He liked having explanations about things, and it irked him that he didn't know how magic worked. He made a note in his head; magic is basically energy.
The others continued the conversation, unaware that he was conscious. Whom he guessed to be Wong was explaining, "That's right Ms. Romanoff. Stephen would be very tired after having his magic or energy drained from him. What I worry about is what would happen if we don't remove those bracelets."
Tony's mind raced after Wong's explanation. If they didn't get the bracelets off of Stephen (the man with the green eyes?) then he would probably die, or end up in a coma at the least.
The others seemed to reach the same conclusion, if the silence suddenly reigning supreme in the room was to be believed. Tony figured now would be as good as a time as any to let them know he was awake.
Tony opened his eyes, wincing at the bright light, and spoke, "Why don't you just cut off the bracelets?" He thought it was obvious, if one wants to remove something from something, break it up into pieces that could be removed.
Most of them started at his voice. Only Natasha and Wong didn't. Natasha had a secretive smile on her face, indicating that she knew he was awake already. Wong on the other hand, didn't seem like someone one could surprise easily.
Bruce looked embarrassed. "I guess it didn't occur to us. I mean we were so focused on the magical aspect of the problem," Bruce responded and looked to Wong, "Is that possible?"
Wong was already nodding, cast deep in thought by Tony's remark. It made him look like a wise monk realizing something valuable from a student in Tony's opinion. Wong motioned to everyone to follow him and left the room. Having no orders to stay, Tony gingerly got up and followed after them.
They quickly traveled up the winding stairs at the end of the house. The stairs led into a big hallway, with rooms spaced out on both sides. Wong motioned for them to be quiet and silently approached a slightly ajar door and knocked.
When there was no answer, Wong just opted to peek in instead. Whatever he saw satisfied him, as he quickly opened the door and gestured them through.
From the inside, Tony deduced it was Stephen's room. After all, why else would he be sleeping on the bed? However, he seemed too still to be sleeping. Perhaps that was the exhaustion taking its toll. Off to one side of the bed, a dresser stood with a picture on the top. Tony couldn't see the picture though; the mid-morning sun coming through the windows glinted off of it.
They made their way over to his bed as a group. Stephen was only half tucked in, the blankets covering only up to his chest, as if he had just thrown the blankets over himself and passed out. Of course, his general appearance alluded to this outcome. The magician's skin was pasty, and his breathing was a bit labored, as if he did not have the energy to take deeper breaths.
Once Bruce reached the bed, he checked on Stephen. The doctor placed his hand on Stephen's temple to try to get a quick read of his temperature. He then checked his pulse and listened to his breathing. He then reported, "Dr. Strange seems to have developed a fever and has a little trouble breathing. We need to get these bracelets off. Tony, can you come tell me what these are made of?"
Tony came in closer to the bed and picked up one of Stephen's (or should he call him Dr. Strange?) hands and examined the bracelet on that wrist. It was not made of any element or compound he knew and he knew all of them… at least he knew all the earthly ones.
So, it was unearthly. He explained as much and then followed up with, "Although it isn't of this world, it might still be able to be cut with strong metals such as vibranium or adamantium. However, vibranium is only found in Wakanda, and adamantium is made from vibranium and steel. Although…" his eyes narrowed in thought. Who did he know who had adamantium claws again? He continued, "You could ask Wolverine to cut them off for you. He has adamantium claws that come out of his knuckles. You could find him with the X-men."
Once Tony finished speaking, Wong nodded to him in thanks. Wong spoke, "I hope we meet again in better circumstances, Avengers." He then turned to his unconscious charge, picked him up bridal style, and disappeared into thin air.
Needless to say, the Avengers were stunned. Did Wong even know where the X-men lived? Whatever the answer, it was clear that they should go back to Stark tower. They went back and all the while everyone was thinking about the impressive display of magic they'd seen.
Wong appeared just outside of the X-men's mansion. He did indeed know where they lived. After all, he has met Charles Xavier before. It was a few years prior to his meeting Stephen, and was a cold winter day… basically, Charles was able to see him fighting off some demons despite his concealment spell. Charles approached him and asked about it. They exchanged information about what they did and that was it. They barely interacted, and when they did, it was letters, used to exchange information on their own unique worlds around them.
Wong glanced down at his friend in his arms. Stephen's bandaged head lolled to the side, resting on Wong's shoulder in sleep. Even though he looked pale, Stephen's limp form still brought a smile to Wong's face. They were very close. It came from living together for six years. They were like brothers, Wong being the older of course.
Wong sighed and cradled the young man in his arms. He needed to continue on. He needed to get those infernal bracelets off of Stephen.
He walked on towards the gates. Once he went through, he got noticed by some of the kids playing on the yard. Soon, they all went in, presumably to tell Charles that they had visitors.
Within a few minutes, Charles Xavier was rolling out of the front doors of the mansion, flanked by a small gruff man and a tall white-haired, dark-skinned woman. He noticed Wong and his young charge and immediately started their way.
Once Charles rolled within talking distance, he started speaking, "Wong, would that be young Stephen whom you have written so much about?" Charles wrung his hands in worry, "Whatever happened to him?"
Wong sighed and replied, "I'll explain later old friend. Right now I have a favor to ask of the one called Wolverine."
Charles responded, "Well ask away. He's right here." Charles gestured to the man.
Wong turned to Wolverine and asked him, "Will you cut these bracelets off of him with your claws?"
Wolverine blinked. Clearly, that was not what he was suspecting. Sighing, Wolverine nodded, came up to the two men, and unleashed the left claw of his right hand. He picked up one of Stephen's wrists and examined a bracelet. He then proceeded to carefully saw through it on both sides, causing it to fall apart, split in half. Wolverine then repeated the process with the other bracelet. When he was done, the broken bracelets lay on the ground, smoking with released magic while Stephen's wrists were revealed, blackened and burnt by the physical manifestation of his magic forcibly leaving him.
Wong nodded to Wolverine in thanks and turned as if to leave. Before he could call up his magic to teleport them back to the sanctum, however, Charles called out to him, "Perhaps it would be best if you stay the day. After all, you did say you'd explain, Wong."
Wong stopped in his tracks. He did tell Charles that he would explain… and he will. But staying for the day? He'll have to think about it. There were pros and cons. On the plus side, he would finally be able to go out and investigate, leaving Stephen in the care of the X-men. But the opposite side of the coin? The X-men themselves would be put into danger then, if Stephen's unknown enemy should return. He sighed; he'd have to decide about it after talking to Charles.
Wong turned back to the three and spoke, "Very well, Charles. I'll explain. But first, let's get Stephen settled and fix up his wrists."
Charles then started rolling back to the mansion, his two comrades strolling beside him. Wong followed after, Stephen in his arms.
A/N Finally done with chapter 2. I'd like to thank the two people who have reviewed along with those who favorited and followed :) If anyone would like to help me by being my beta for this, I'd be glad to accept. Otherwise, I'll just beta it myself.
