Loose Threads

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

"No heart rate detected."

...what?

"No! No, there has to be something we can- we can do something, we- Jarvis, charge up my gloves, we can- there's still time, there's still–"

Tony? What...

"That's not how that works, Tony!"

Bruce? What's happening?

"How do you know! You're not a fucking doctor!"

"Sir, Mr. Banner is correct. Shocking a patient with no heartbeat cannot restart the heart. I suggest CPR."

CPR?

"Tony! Tony, stop! It won't work!"

"Why not?! It worked on me, it can still- there's still time, please–"

"Look. They put something in him, and whatever it was, his body couldn't handle it. There's nothing we can do. He's gone."

Gone? Who are they talking about? Who's gone?

"Mr. Stark, please. It's okay."

Peter! Peter's here, he'll know what's going on...

"No! No, it's not okay! I was supposed to protect him, and now he's...he's my fucking kid, and I let him...this should have never happened, I never should've let him stay here! Oh God..."

"Tony, maybe you should sit down for a minute-"

What the hell is going on? Why can't he move? Where's his body? He can't see- he can't breathe. He needs to breathe, needs his heart to beat. Is it him who they're talking about? But he's not gone, he's RIGHT HERE-

Breathe.

Breathe, he has to breathe, and then everything will be okay.

BREATHE!

All at once, Ace's previously very-dead body surged up from the bed, and he sucked in a strangled, choked-off gasp of air. He hunched over, gripping his chest as the very odd feeling of his heart re-starting washed over him. He could feel the blood start rushing around his veins again, feel it when every system of his body started working again. And then it was all drowned out by someone wrapping their arms around him in a tight hug.

"Oh my God," Tony muttered, squeezing Ace against his chest. "I'm not even gonna ask how you just did that, oh my God."

"T-Tony," Ace sputtered, still heaving in lungfuls of air.

The man pulled back, searching Ace over for any sign of pain or discomfort. And boy, was Ace uncomfortable. His brain felt overloaded by the amount of information it was being fed, every nerve, every cell in his body, he could suddenly feel. He couldn't process any of it, but every time he tried to ignore it, he could feel things start to stop working again. If he didn't make his heart beat, or his lungs expand, they wouldn't.

Tony started to pull away, but Ace latched his hand onto the man's wrist, feeling acutely the way his pulse thudded under Ace's fingertips. He zeroed in on that, and little by little, everything settled down. The information slowed down- it didn't stop, and Ace knew if he reached for it, it would come rushing at him again, but it wasn't overwhelming anymore. His heart kept beating on its own, now, and his breathing slowed down. His head hurt, though, and he leaned towards the man.

"Tony," he muttered, and Tony caught him in another hug, gentle and warm, and it eased Ace's migraine when he pushed a hand through Ace's hair, massaging his scalp.

"I got you, kid. Don't worry. Everything is fine now. You're okay. Jarvis, how are we looking?"

"All vitals are stable and holding, sir. It appears there are no immediate side effects."

"Good. Okay, that's good. Okay. We're okay." Ace wondered if this is where Peter picked up his habit of repeating that same mantra in stressful situations. It would make sense, he and Tony were a lot more alike than either of them realised.

"Sir, Dr. Strange has arrived. Shall I send him up?"

"Yes, do that. I have a feeling we're gonna need his help with this one."
-
Stephen would never complain about being the Sorcerer Supreme, but he would admit that it did get a little boring sometimes. There were only so many threats to face, and they certainly didn't schedule in every month. He used to trail after Wong, but eventually even that got boring. He had resigned himself to re-cataloguing the contents of the New York sanctum when his phone rang.

"Dr. Stephen Strange, who is this?"

"Hello, Dr. Strange. My name is Jarvis–"

"Oh, Tony's AI."

"Well-observed, sir. There has been a bit of a situation, and your presence is required at the tower as soon as possible."

"Situation?" Stephen was immediately thinking about who might've heard him think he was bored and decided to enact some karma by threatening the planet. "What sort of situation?"

"The sort where your medical expertise may be required."

Ah. So they needed a doctor doctor. Despite not having practised medicine for a couple of years, now, it was still widely known that Stephen used to be one of the top neurosurgeons of probably ever. "Alright. I'm on my way." He didn't wait for Jarvis to reply before he hung up.

It took maybe ten minutes for Stephen to actually leave. He packed a bag of anything he might need that the tower wouldn't have (which wasn't much) and called Wong to come babysit the sanctuary. He was only as late as he was because Wong decided to stop for food on the way over.

"Is- is that dim sum?"

"Don't blame me, the last time you were gone for 'personal business', you weren't back for three days!"

Stephen ignored the comment, and opened a portal directly to the Avenger's main floor of the tower.

"Welcome, Dr. Strange. Mr Stark has been notified of your arrival, and would like me to direct you to the infirmary." The elevator opened invitingly, but Stephen had faster ways of getting around.

"What happened?" He asked when he stepped into the infirmary. From what he could see, no one was bleeding, unconscious, screaming in unbearable pain, or dead. Peter, Tony and Bruce were crowded around a figure on the bed, one who Tony had tucked into a hug. Stephen could barely make out his strawberry blonde hair over the top of Stark's arm.

"Stephen, oh thank God," Bruce said. "I'm gonna get an IV ready, Peter you wanna fill him in?"

Peter, who Stephen had met no more than a couple times, but had always been a happy-go-lucky kind of kid, was pale and shaky. Shock, Stephen immediately thought. "Yeah," he muttered. "Yeah, I can do that." He seemed reluctant to stray too far from Tony and who Stephen guessed was his patient, so Stephen guided him to the bed closest to the others, and they both sat down. Stephen's cape, which had always had a soft spot for youth, wrapped itself around Peter's shoulders snuggly.

"Oh, thanks. Um, where to start, haha..." Stephen waited patiently while Peter gathered his thoughts, eyes trying to find any injury or sign of something wrong on the boy that Stark continued to hold as Bruce prepped an IV needle. "So, um, I guess...Ace just died? And came back, all his own."

"What?!"