And the butterflies that burst from your fingertips

Ten: Showdown

The words had only just left his mouth when an explosion tore through the sky, rattling and shaking the plane violently. Tony's expression morphed from one of shock to that of a leader, determination showing in every line of his face. Stephen found himself ready to follow Tony's lead, instinctively recognising that he was the one to listen to in this situation.

"You've got your powers again, right?"

Stephen nodded quickly, ignoring the fact that it hurt a little to not know how Tony felt in response; that didn't matter at that moment. What mattered was making it out of this alive.

"Then you might want to portal us out of this damn plane."

Stephen nodded again, this time with a small smile. "Sure thing."

Stephen went through the motions to open a portal, and was almost surprised when it actually worked- and was it his imagination or had it opened faster than usual...? Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Stephen pushed Tony towards the portal, then followed him through.

The two of them stepped out onto the ground, and that was when Stephen realised something. "Tony. What happened to the butterflies?"

"I got sick of them following me around so I got greenhouse specially built and trapped them in there. Don't worry, they're safe."

"I wasn't worried ," Stephen retorted. "I was just curious ."

"Uh huh." Tony gave him a disbelieving look. Stephen could have leaned over and slapped him, then, or maybe even punched him for good measure, but he knew bigger things were at stake here. They needed to focus on defeating Mordo, not get into a fight over some damned magical butterflies.

Then it hit him. Why try learning a completely new spell when he could use the spells Mordo kept using against him?

"Tony," Stephen said slowly. "I think I just worked out how to defeat our magical friend."

Tony turned to him, eyes wide. "You're sure?"

"It could work. Or the spell could quite literally tear me apart."

Tony was silent for a moment, and then he slowly met Stephen's gaze. "And you're not afraid of dying?"

Stephen flashed Tony a grin at this. "I died hundreds of times fighting off Dormammu to protect earth a good few years ago. Death doesn't scare me nearly as much now as it used to."

Tony fell silent again, then offered Stephen a smile that was obviously forced. "Well then, you've got a sorcerer to stop."

"And powers to return and a world to save," Stephen added with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Then he turned to open a portal, and just as it snapped into view, Tony called out to him.

"Wait!"

Stephen turned, and Tony met his gaze. For a moment, there was nothing but the fizzling sound of the portal behind Stephen.

"I... just stay safe, okay?"

"Can't make any promises, Stark," Stephen replied with a small smile before turning and stepping through the portal into the Sanctum, which snapped shut behind him.

"Wong?" Stephen's voice echoed around the Sanctum and received no reply. He could only hope Wong was just out or sleeping or something, and that Mordo hadn't harmed him in any way.

He set about finding the book he needed, making a beeline for the Ancient One's private texts. From there it was fairly easy for Stephen to locate which contained the vacuum spell, and it didn't take him long to memorise it.