"What. did. he. do.? Pepper asked, her words coming out pointed and terse as her frustration increased with every passing moment.
Hermione rubbed her face tiredly and sighed into the cellphone pressed against her ear. "Well, I'm not even sure what to call it, but it seems to have named itself 'Vision'." She answered.
"I don't understand any of this." Pepper responded. "Explain it to me once more."
"From what I have been told, Tony uploaded JARVIS' software into a body that had been created in Dr. Cho's cradle in Seoul. With the help of Thor's lightning and something called a 'mind stone', Tony and Bruce were somehow able to actually bring Vision to life."
"And Ultron?"
"The team is on the Quinjet as we speak en route to Sokovia - We believe this is going to be the final confrontation." Hermione responded.
Silence encompassed the two friends before Pepper cleared her voice on the other end of the phone.
"This is all going to be horrible, isn't it?"
"Most definitely." Hermione said honestly, seeing no reason to lie to her friend.
"How bad?" Pepper asked, not even sure she wanted to know.
"Well," Hermione began tentatively. "Ultron, in a twisted form of logic, plans to commit global genocide by using a device he created to lift the city of Novi Grad thousands of feet into the air and dropping it. If he succeeds in dropping the city from a sufficient height, the result would recreate a meteoric impact that would kill everyone on Earth."
Pepper groaned. "Yeah, that seems like a worst-case scenario if I've ever heard one."
"Listen, I'm sure it's going to be fine. The team is strong, and they've trained for this." Trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince Pepper. "Everything is going to work out perfectly."
"Over one hundred and fifty people have been declared dead and dozens of others are still missing in the wake of the battle in Novi Grad last month. The devastation to the city is widespread as first responders have been working tirelessly attempting to pull survivors from the wreckage. The Avengers, the vigilante group seemingly at the helm of this horrific catastrophe, have issued no comment since the-"
Hermione clicked the television off with the wave of her hand as she turned to Tony, who had been glued to the screen ever since the team had returned from Sokovia.
"Enough, Tony." She chided gently. "You've been watching the news for weeks. Stop torturing yourself."
"Well, I suppose it's only fair since I did technically let a murder-bot loose on their entire city, right?" Tony responded with some heat.
"Listen, I've been in this tower with you every day for weeks, keeping an eye on you when Pepper is away, but I can't keep watching you self-destruct like this. You've got to figure out a way to work through this."
Tony stood up quickly, stalking towards the floor-to-ceiling window and gazing over the city's skyline. A classic Tony Stark move whenever he was upset. Taking a deep breath, Hermione had to strain to hear the man's mumbling.
"What?" Hermione asked in confusion.
"It's my fault!" Tony yelled with emotion.
"Oh Tony." Hermione sighed sympathetically. "Being an Avenger is an incredibly hard job. One that is constantly taking a toll. And yeah, you made a mistake, but the job is full of choices. Sometimes you'll get it right, and sometimes you get it wrong. But the thing that sets you apart from others is what you choose to do after you get it wrong."
Tony stood there for a moment before glancing over his shoulder at Hermione. "Pretty inspiring there, Glenda." He snipped sarcastically.
Hermione narrowed her eyes at the billionaire, maintaining eye contact with him until he began to squirm in discomfort.
Coughing uncomfortably, Tony bumped Hermione with his shoulder. "Thanks, Granger."
Beaming, she wrapped his arms around his waist quickly. "I care about you, you silly idiot."
Looking towards the ceiling and sighing heavily in mock-frustration, Tony groaned before looking back down at the woman accosting him. "I suppose I can sometimes catch a glimpse of why Pep seems to love you so much." He said with an eye roll. "If I squint."
"Tony! I believe that's the nicest thing you've ever said to me!" She exclaimed.
Rolling his eyes in his signature-Tony way, he slung an arm over Hermione's shoulders and began leading her towards the door. "Come on, Witch. Let's go get some take out from that new Thai place down the street."
The pair began walking towards the door, unaware that their day was about to get a lot weirder.
"Hermione!"
Tony spun around instantly at the sound of the unknown voice, almost slinging Hermione to the floor in the process as he gazed upon the man who had just entered his living room through a giant sparking orange circle.
"I'm sorry." Tony said, immediately falling back into his old friend - sarcasm. "Unfortunately, we aren't accepting visitors into the tower today. We apologize for the inconvenience. Please feel free to exit back through the giant glowing hole by which you arrived."
Ignoring Tony completely, Stephen locked eyes with Hermione and tried again. "Hermione! Please - I need your help."
"Stephen?" Hermione questioned in surprise.
"Please, Hermione. There's no time. I need you to come with me." He said frantically.
"I'm sorry, am I missing something here?" Tony asked incredulously. "You KNOW this weirdo?" He asked Hermione, jabbing his fingers towards the stranger.
"Come with you? Where are we going?" Hermione said, already beginning to walk towards the portal and ignoring Tony completely.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the phone." Tony interjected while pulling Hermione by the shirttail back into place beside him. "I'm not sure how I feel about being the first one to have to tell you this, but we do not walk through glowing orange holes with strangers that suddenly appear in our living rooms." He said to Hermione as if she were a child.
"I don't have time for this foolishness!" Stephen yelled angrily before turning to Hermione. "Hermione….please." He said with emotion.
Hermione moved immediately towards the portal, grabbing Stephen's arm as they prepared to step through.
"Hold up." Tony said, interrupting once more. "If Hermione is going through a glowing circle-thing with a stranger, then I'm coming too. I don't want to have to deal with Pepper if she finds out I watched Hermione march willingly to her death without me stopping her."
The group stepped through the portal and landed smack dab in the middle of Hermione's living room.
"What the hell?" Tony said, looking around and realizing where they were. "Are we in your apartment, Granger?"
Hermione was about to retort back when she gasped suddenly, seeing the body splayed out on her table. Rushing towards the woman, she quickly began running diagnostics.
"What's happened to her? How long has she been like this?" She spouted out quickly as she began grabbing supplies. Feeling a sense of dejavu wash over her, she rushed to her kitchen cabinet and began grabbing several vials.
"She was stabbed, fell off a building, crashed through a pane of glass, and hit the pavement less than ten minutes ago. I brought her straight here. After the way you healed me, I knew you were her best chance."
"After YOU healed HIM?" Tony said, accusation and disbelief easy to detect in his voice.
"Yes, I healed him, ok?" She said as she began pouring potions down the unknown woman's throat. Spinning on Stephen, she continued. "Speaking of which, why is it that every time you show up, someone is dying on my kitchen table?"
"I know, I know. I swear I'll explain everything. Please just heal her!" He pleaded frantically.
"I'm TRYING, Strange!" She yelled back. "This should relieve most of the pressure to her brain." Hermione murmured to herself as she grabbed a shimmering purple vial.
Suddenly, Hermione's entire body went rigid, the purple vial being held in her outstretched, yet unmoving hand.
"What the bloody hell-" Hermione grunted.
"What?" Tony asked. "What's with the hold up?"
"I….can't….MOVE!" Hermione growled, apparently attempting to force her limbs into obeying her. "It's like someone's put a body bind on me!"
Tony snorted. "Alright, Granger. Enough with the suspense. Go ahead and save the weird lady."
"DOES IT LOOK LIKE I'M JOKING, STARK?!" Hermione bellowed at him.
Stephen looked between the unknown woman's limp body and Hermione before realization came to him.
"She's stopping you from saving her." Stephen said to Hermione, who was trying to use Tony to move her frozen body.
"What?" She demanded, looking up. "Why would she do that? She only has minutes left if she doesn't let me intervene."
Suddenly, every light in the apartment flickered making Tony and Hermione look around in confusion.
Looking up, Stephen quickly entered the astral dimension without another word. Seeing the Ancient One fleeing through an exterior wall, he gave chase.
"What are you doing?" He shouted out at her retreating form. "Release Hermione so that she can save you. You're dying! You have to return to your body now. You don't have time!"
The Ancient One stood serenely in her astral form, overlooking the city.
"Time is relative. Your body hasn't even hit the floor yet." The Ancient One began. "I've spent so many years peering through time, looking at this exact moment. But I can't see past it. I've prevented countless terrible futures, and after each one, there's always another. And they all lead here, but never further."
"You think this is where you're supposed to die?" Stephen asked, although he already knew it to be true.
"Do you wonder what I see in your future?" She asked, changing the subject.
"No." Stephen replied immediately before changing his answer. "Yes."
"I never saw your future, only its possibilities. You have such a capacity for goodness and love. You always excelled, but not because you crave success, but because of your fear of failure and rejection."
"It's what made me a great doctor." Stephen defended.
"It's precisely what kept you from greatness." The Ancient One corrected him. "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."
"Which is?" Stephen asked, completely confused.
"It's not. about. you." The Ancient One stated with passion. "When you first came to me, you asked me how I was able to heal Jonathan Pangborn from his paralysis. I didn't. He channels dimensional energy directly into his own body."
"He uses magic to walk." Stephen said to himself in realization.
"Constantly. He had a choice: to return to his own life, or to serve something greater than himself." She replied.
"So, I could have my hands back again? My old life?" Stephen asked in surprise.
"You could." She answered. "And the world would be all the lesser for it."
Stephen floated quietly as he contemplated her words.
After a moment, she spoke again. "You know, your friend in there would have saved me if I had allowed it."
"I know - I've seen her heal wounds just as severe as yours before tonight with great success." Stephen answered. After another moment, he spoke again. "So, why didn't you let her heal you?"
"As I said, this is my time." She responded vaguely. "I've been on this earth for hundreds of years. I've come to realize that sometimes things must happen a particular way to ensure that better things exist in the future." She finished with a small smirk. "But please, do apologize to her for me. I'm sure she was quite uncomfortable."
"Well, that explains nothing." Stephen deadpanned.
"You must go now. Dormammu will not wait." The Ancient One said after a few moments of silence.
"I'm not ready." Stephen replied honestly.
"No one ever is. You'd think after all this time, I'd be ready, but look at me - Stretching one moment out into a thousand, just so I can watch the rain."
Stephen looked out at the oncoming storm as the Ancient One continued. "We don't get to choose our time, Stephen. Death is what gives life meaning. I hope you find what makes yours worth living."
Looking over, Stephen realized she was gone. Sighing heavily. He quickly returned to his own body.
"Does anyone else feel as though they just missed something mystical and life-changing?" Tony asked the group as soon as Stephen was back from the astral dimension
Hermione gasped and stumbled as she finally regained the use of her body. Quickly checking over the woman on her table, she slowly looked back towards the two men.
"She's gone." She said in defeat.
"I know." Stephen responded quietly. "I spoke to her in the astral dimension before she died. She told me to apologize to you for preventing you from saving her."
"I'll call Fury to help take care of the body." Tony said gently before stepping outside.
After a few moments of silence stretched between them, Stephen began walking quickly to the living room.
"I've got to go."
"Dr. Strange, I don't understand any of this!" Hermione said in frustration at the man's retreating back. "You've shown up twice now, counting on me to save your life and the life of your friend or whatever." She said as she gestured to the woman's still form.
"A woman just DIED, Dr. Strange. She just died on my kitchen table, and you are seriously going to say 'I've got to go again' and leave a stranger's dead body on my kitchen table without any type of explanation? I don't even know her name, for Christ's sake." Hermione said, holding eye contact with Stephen until he was forced to look away in discomfort.
Gently levitating the body into her potions workshop and covering it with a clean sheet, Hermione closed the door and rounded back on Stephen.
"I deserve at least a few answers."
Stephen took a breath. "You're right. I'm sorry. I know I've been an ass and have demanded a lot from you." Gesturing towards the door Hermione just closed, he continued. "Her name was 'The Ancient One'. That's honestly the only name I've ever heard her called. She was the Sorcerer Supreme for the Masters of the Mystic Arts. I am one of the Masters of the Mystic Arts. Her job was to defend Earth from any mystic threats from any dimension. She was killed by a man named Kaecilius. One of his zealots was responsible for the injury I had sustained on the day I came to you. Kaecilius is a follower of Dormammu. With the Ancient One dead, there is no one left to stop him. You see, Dormammu is a primordial inter-dimensional entity who wields apocalyptic levels of supernatural power. He is the Destroyer of Worlds. A being of infinite power and endless hunger, on a quest to invade every universe and bring all worlds into his Dark Dimension…..And he hungers for Earth most of all."
"Wait. Did I miss something?" Tony interjected from beside the door he had just entered. "Because I could have sworn that when I left this room five minutes ago, Earth wasn't about to be destroyed by a...I'm sorry...a Domammu?"
"Do you ever take anything seriously?" Stephen asked with growing anger.
"So if the Ancient One is gone, who is going to stop Dormammu?" Hermione asked, ignoring Tony completely.
Stephen remained silent and continued looking at her.
"You?!" Tony laughed. "You're going to single-handedly stop an intergalactic being, and you've been a wizard, for what? Less than a year?"
"Do you have any better ideas, douchebag?" Stephen shot back. "Unless you've been hiding an alternative for interdimensional travel?"
With Tony remaining quiet, Hermione spoke up. "Do you need us to go with you?"
She immediately shot a look to Tony, keeping him from interjecting his two cents again.
"No" Stephen replied grimly. Waiting a moment, he continued. "I know that you must have questions…"
"A few hundred immediately come to mind."
"If I make it out of this alive, I promise I'll answer them all. After all, I suppose you did save my life."
"I did." Hermione agreed. "Good luck, Dr. Strange." Hermione added.
Stephen smirked. "Call me Stephen." He said as he stepped through the portal.
In an instant, Tony and Hermione were standing in her apartment alone. The only evidence of the chaos that had occurred being the corpse that was still residing in her potions workroom waiting to be picked up by Fury's men.
Silence hung between Tony and Hermione as they tried to process what they had just seen and heard.
"Well, you would think that Gandalf could have spared a moment to drop us back off at the tower." Tony said derisively.