Tether

Part 9

There was no light at the end of the tunnel, no waiting around in mythical purgatory. There was just one moment and then the next. Stephen sat up, feeling like it had only been a moment ago that Tony had been hovering over him, begging him not to leave. Everything had gone according to what he had seen.

'Doctor Strange?' Peter bent over him. 'What happened, did we die?'

'We did, Peter. We've been gone for five years.' Stephen took the offered hand, feeling the Cloak at his back. The yellow sky of Titan hadn't changed in the time he'd been gone, the destruction of Thanos's homeworld a forever testament to what the Titan was trying to prevent.

What's the line between hero and villain, Doctor Strange?

'Where's Mr Stark?' Peter asked, glancing up at the Guardians sharing their own reunion of hugs, before turning his focus back to Stephen.

'Back on Earth, preparing for our last stand. We need to get going, we need to help get reinforcements to the battle,' Stephen told him, refusing to stop and think.

'Wait, what's going on?'

Stephen watched as the Cloak floated over to a jutted rock, a handprint of decayed, rusted blood imprinted on it, a reminder of Tony from years ago.

Whatever the cost, we need to take it, Stephen.

'Why has your voice gone all...I dunno, robot-like? Wait, did you know!' Peter sidestepped until he was in Stephen's line of sight, anger scrunching the bridge of his nose.

'We don't have time for this. We need to stand with the Avengers if we have any chance of defeating-'

'Do you have any idea what that would've done to Mr Stark?' Peter hissed, talking straight over Stephen's pathetic attempt to deflect.

'I know I'm just a stupid kid, but I saw how upset he was when he watched you die, when I...' Peter swallowed, taking a huge breath. 'You left him thinking we were dead. He waited years to find you again!' Peter slammed his fist into Stephen's shoulder, shoving him back a few centimeters.

'Hey! What's going on over there?' Quill called.

'Yes, I knew. There are so many variables that can go wrong with the timelines, Peter. We only have one chance at saving life as we know it, so yes. I will manipulate things to save trillions of lives.'

'I thought Mr Stark was important to you?'

At that moment, Peter did look like a child, eyes wide with tears, not understanding why Stephen was saying what he was. He felt a little crack in the façade he was trying to hide behind, the distance he was putting between himself at the situation.

He clutched at this one small thing, hiding behind what Tony had asked him to do, knowing that if he wavered for even a second, his soul would tear into tiny pieces.

'He is.' Reaching over, he squeezed Peter's shoulder. 'And I know these five years would've been devasting for him, I know that better than anyone.' It felt like a cruelty saying it out loud, and he closed his eyes to center himself, memories of Tony lifeless on the hospital bed playing behind his eyelids.

'But Tony told me we had to take this one chance to win. This is what he wanted.'

Blinking back the tears, Peter nodded, reaching up to clasp his elbow, avoiding his hands.

'Now, we need to go and finish this. Can I count on you?'

'Always. Let's go.'

***

He couldn't see Tony on the battlefield, but he knew he was there, somewhere among the Avengers. Everything had gone the way the Time Stone had shown him, every minuscule detail needed so they could make their last stand.