Chapter Text
On the sunny morning of July 15th, 2012, Bruce and Maya made a breakthrough.
Tony was pulled from his board meeting and Stephen from the New York Sanctum. They met Bruce and Maya in the Stark Tower labs. The four of them formed a circle around a potted fern. With unsuppressed glee, Maya snipped a stalk from the lush plant. The wound burned red. Tony watched in awe as a long and slender stem materialised from the embers. Thin flakes of ash fanned out to either side and formed the leaves. The dark substance changed in colour, mimicking the hues around it like a chameleon. Maya held the stalk she’d removed beside the regenerated one. The two were identical.
“This thing isn’t going to explode in my face like last time, is it?” Tony took a step back.
“This is the part we removed twelve hours ago.” Bruce retrieved a smaller piece of the plant. It had shrivelled overnight. “We tested the same formula on different species.” Bruce marched to a row of plants contained in separate glass domes. “None of them reacted violently. We had to dilute the formula to keep it safe. The regenerative effect will wear off after a few months, but guys…I think we’ve got it.”
Tempted with such unprecedented scientific breakthrough, the group worked late into the evening. With the formula established, translating it into serum form was a breeze. Maya squealed in delight as she held a sample of the completed serum in her hands. She shook it. The orange liquid sloshed in its container, glowing amber as it was disturbed, but dimmed after the surface had calmed. They named it the Extremis Super Serum. Maya proposed to run another round of tests. While Bruce and Maya made their way to the blast chamber, Stephen quietly slipped out of the lab.
Tony found him in the lounge. Stephen was sitting on the couch and had his head between his hands. He looked deep in thought. Tony walked over. He took one of Stephen’s hands and studied the scars. “Jarvis ran the formula through some calculations and found no flaws. With luck, the serum will be ready by the end of the month. We should sit on it, just to be safe. Yeah-yeah, I know that’s not what I did two years ago, but desperate times, desperate measures. We are not in a hurry now.”
Stephen remained oddly silent. Tony furrowed his brows. Before he could ask any questions, Stephen straightened and looked Tony in the eyes. “I’m not going to use the serum,” Stephen said.
Tony opened and closed his mouth. “I don’t understand,” Tony finally said. He held up the sample of the serum. “Look at this. It’s stable now. Are you seriously going to say no to getting your hands back?”
“When The Ancient One passed, she cleared up a lot of mysteries, including how the patient I rejected was able to walk again with a broken spine. My magic is strong enough to heal any wound. I can fix my hands, but at what cost? The use of magic has a price. The loss of my hands granted me mastery over another force. I must respect that balance to keep my power.”
Tony felt the tremor coming from the hand that was clutching his own. “But you can go back to being a surgeon. You can have your old life back.”
“The world needs Master Strange more than it needs Dr. Strange.” Stephen took in the sadness in Tony’s eyes and chided, “Oh, stop it. It’s not because of you. This is my decision to make. I chose to remain as a sorcerer even when I wasn’t an Avenger, in a universe where I hadn’t met you.”
“This is the reason you left for Nepal.” Tony sighed and slid down the couch. He rested his head on Stephen’s lap and propped his feet on the armrest.
“I know, but circumstances change; priorities change.” Stephen massaged Tony’s head, earning him a hum of approval, “Though I won’t say no to that super soldier formula. I’m over feeling drained after every battle.” Tony captured the hand that was tangled in his hair and kissed it.
“That baby’s ready whenever you are, Stephanie.”
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Stephen became Master of the New York Sanctum. Together with Wong, Sol Rama, and Minoru, the Masters of Kamar-Taj rebuilt the London Sanctum. Without a Sorcerer Supreme, Earth was vulnerable against threats from other dimensions. The Masters stood vigilant. They knew their hard-won peace would not last.
Tony took official command of the Avengers. The compound grew. Tony kept watch over the potential recruits but maintained his distance as he didn’t want to alter their course of flight.
Rhodey was having a great time in the Air Force. His work as the exclusive liaison between the Avengers and the United States Armed Forces earned him a much-deserved promotion. He slowly took control over the Iron Legion, much to General Ross’ chagrin.
Pepper flourished in her role as the CEO of Stark Industries. She took advantage of the publicity generated by the voting results and launched the new generation of Stark tech. She was well on her way to making Tony a trillionaire. Nowadays, Happy drove Pepper wherever she went. The two were getting closer. Tony was glad for them. He told Happy to go for it and that he deserved to be Happy. It earned him a ginormous eye roll.
In the wake of the World Security Council’s dissolution, S.H.I.E.L.D. went deep underground. Tony never heard from Clint or Natasha again. He still had the means to contact them, but he had no desires to.
Steve and Bucky busted Zola’s bunker. They provided Tony with a copy of the server in exchange for the lead. Bucky had no interest in joining S.H.I.E.L.D., but he could use an excuse to stay mobile and disable more Hydra facilities. He and Steve formed their own anti-Hydra co-op. They received regular updates from S.H.I.E.L.D. and left a trail of explosions in their wake.
Thor made regular visits to Earth. Sometimes, he’d bring Loki too. Thanks to his efforts against the Chitauri, Loki’s sentence had been shortened to a fraction of its original length. He could spend time outside of his cell under Thor’s supervision. Loki tried to hide it, but he was impressed by Stephen’s progress. The two would spar in the Mirror Dimension while Thor kept Tony company.
Thor told Tony the All-Father had taken his warning to heart. On the surface it appeared as if nothing had changed, but deep down, Asgard was preparing for the Dark Elves in secret. With the help of Tony, Stephen, Jane, Darcy, and Selvig, the Asgardians ended the Convergence and seized the Aether from Malekith. Thor took the Reality Stone back to Asgard with the promise of finding a safe hiding place.
Having received a handsome bonus for her work on Extremis, Maya started her own company. She was determined to take Extremis to the next level. With the formula stable, she could work towards a wider distribution. Maya patented the formula under many names. Herself, Bruce, Tony, and Stephen were the first that came to mind, but out of sentiment, she included Aldrich Killian too. She had a long and arduous road ahead of her. In ten or twenty years, the Extremis Super Serum could be made available to the public.
Bruce returned to travelling the world. He stayed under the radar but had given Tony his number so he could always be contacted. Last time Tony checked, he was somewhere in Thailand. Like all scientists who rarely saw the sun, Bruce had fallen victim to terrible tan lines. He tried to cover them up with an oversized Hawaiian shirt. He sent Tony a selfie of him lying on the beach and drinking from a coconut, which reminded Tony that he had a long over-due holiday with Stephen too. The pair left for Venice the following evening.
As Tony sipped wine with Stephen on a gondola ride, Justin Hammer rang out of the blue. Tony’s knee-jerk assumption had been that there was something wrong with the Iron Legion, but as it turned out, Hammer had rung to apologise. He confessed that he never meant to hurt anyone, and that he was thankful for Tony who had given him a second chance. He’d reflected on his actions. Hammer admitted that he never hated Tony. All the petty one-upmanship had been backward attempts to win Tony’s approval. He envied Tony’s effortless genius, but with all that had happened, he was at peace with himself now. Hammer introduced his boyfriend to Tony and Stephen. They met during community service. The four of them had a pleasant conversation. Hammer’s boyfriend even asked for Tony’s autograph, much to Hammer’s embarrassment.
Tony and Stephen spent a full week in Italy. They toured the country, binged on gelato, and collected ancient pasta recipes. The pair would’ve stayed longer, but they had both been twiddling their thumbs out of boredom. Stephen declared the impromptu end of their vacation after he caught Tony hiding in the bathroom, working on his Stark pad. They returned to New York refreshed and ready to rock ‘n’ roll.
Tony began his second chance at life alone and afraid. He calculated his every move. Behind every change he made to the timeline were weeks spent at the drawing board. Tony worried over if he could lead Earth down the right path, the best path, but there was no such thing as certainty in a universe full of mysteries; options were all they had. In time, Tony had learned to embrace uncertainty. Time travelling was a form of divergence. It was the manifestation of chance, and chance was what had given him the opportunity to begin anew.
Tony was no longer afraid. He had a team behind him, and they would catch him the next time he fell.
Whatever challenges the future could throw at them, he and the Avengers would face it together.
Anew.
-Fin-
Tony and Stephen will return.