Say it Back - [ironstrange]

20: The book

May 21st

"Stark!" Where the hell am I? "Stark! Can you hear me?" You're yelling of course I hear you.

Tony looked up and saw himself on his knees in the middle of the field, surrounded by his teammates while his coach was kneeling down in front of him. His heart was beating in his chest like a mallet to a drum but it felt like an ice pick to wood.

A nice, stabbing pain.

His throat was dry and he heard himself wheezing as he took breaths. Something was definitely wrong. It was normal that Tony had to rest more than the others in the team, but this was on another level.

The last thing he remembered was throwing the ball to Thor, his vision going black and one last bump into his back. Probably someone running into him by accident.

"I'm here," Tony breathed. Coach put a firm hand on Tony's shoulder and motioned for Steve and Thor to help Tony stand and over to the bleachers.

He knew why he passed out. He was still worried. Still only thinking about Stephen and Kaecilius. Whatever happened to Tony when he was stabbed seemed to have made a deeper cut than he thought, and now when he hears of Stephen actively fighting that same guy... let's not talk about it.

"Are you okay, Tony?" Whenever someone in the team was injured in anyway, coach Coulson would soften up and really show the boys they were in good hands. They were. They all knew that Coulson could seem tough on the outside but he was a care-bear.

"Yeah... I— I just need a min. That okay?" He asked.

"Take your time. If it gets worse, you tell me."

"Uh huh." Tony nodded and took off his helmet. He forgot to bring water. Damnit. It felt like he had swallowed a few liters of sand that had small pieces of glass cutting into his throat.

The nicest person on the field ran up to Tony again with a water bottle ready to in hand. Who is that? Boy wonder: Steve Rogers.

"You can have my water. Take it easy from now on." He patted Tony on the shoulder before running off to keep practicing again. Tony smiled coyly and took many sips of the ice cold water. He could hear ice cubes rattling around in there.

Neat, he thought while sighing from satisfaction.

&

Stephen snuck into the sanctum, now wearing the cloak which looked ridiculous in his regular clothes. He looked around for the Ancient One, hoping not to see her at all. All he wanted was to find Wong and ask him about the Ancient One and about Kaecilius, hopefully he'd be more truthful than her.

He figured that since Wong was the Kamar-Taj librarian he'd be there, so that's where he portal-d. To his old room there. So small and humble, so atmospheric and the perfect environment to study. He should go there more often.

Stephen thought he would astral project into the second life once his phone started ringing and buzzing in his pocket. It was so silent and he was on edge. He exhaled before picking up the phone to see who would call at this inappropriate time.

Tony. Of course.

Stephen answered.

"What do you want?! I'm in the middle of something halfway across the earth!" He whisper-yelled.

"That's why you had a book in Sanskrit in your room!" He shouted like it was the biggest revelation in the history of forever. "Because you're an ancient wizard!"

"Can this wait, please, dear?!"

"Oh... wait, I'm sorry please don't trap me in some spell! I will leave you alone!" And then Tony hung up. He knew that whenever Stephen called him a pet name he was angry, and now when Tony knew he was a wizard *cough, sorcerer* he was terrified.