Forfeiture

a love restored

Tony had remained in his room for the longest. Some hours ago he managed to get some sleep but of course it wasn't the good kind of rest. He woke eventually to find himself not on his bed but on a couch. It wasn't his couch however, he looked up and noticed that he was in….the sanctum? Stark stood up and looked around, confused as to why he was there. Then he heard a voice call his name, it wasn't a familiar voice. It sounded like a woman. "Tony Stark" she would softly call.

Tony felt fear inside him and scrambled back, trying to call for a suit of armor to help both defend and fight for himself. “W-Who’s there?...” he called out in a shaky voice, tripping and falling onto the floor. “S-Stay back! I-I’ll fight if I have to!” 

"Do not be afraid mister Stark" the woman revealed herself, though she seemed transparent, she wasn't completely there. "I am called the ancient one" she smiled softly at him. "And I am here in regards to Stephen's actions.."

Tony was momentarily shocked and his eyes widened. Then he started to become more scared and stumbled to his feet, holding his hands up in a pleading sort of way. “No, it wasn’t his fault! I was the dick in that situation, he was just doing it to save my life! Please if you have to punish someone, punish me, and-“ 

The ancient one laughed a bit. "I don't think you understand. I didn't bring you here for any sort of punishment...no I bring you here for something better. Stephen you can come out now" The florist owning strange came and stood next to her. He looked at Tony's expression. "I'm just as confused as you, I was walking by and it felt like this place was calling me...then I met her" The ancient one looked at Stephen. "Look at me strange.." Stephen faced her and she lifted her hand and placed it on his forehead then strange fell to the ground, passed out.

“Stephen!!” Tony forgot about all his fear and rushed over to his boyfriend, falling to his knees next to him and held him in his arms. He was horrified, what if this crazy witch-lady killed his Stephen! “What did you DO to him?! Stephen! Stephen can you hear me!” he felt like he could cry from all this fear and confusion. Why was he even here! Did this bald woman kidnap him just to kill his love right in front of him or something? “Fix him! Fix him right now, or I swear you’ll pay!”

"You can't affect what's not physically here" she said plainly but then grinned a bit. "Just watch..." when the mechanic looked at Stephen there was a glow around him and some sort of aurora surrounding him, he was lifted from Tony's arms and the glow surrounded the florist completely.  Soon it went away and coming down slowly was Strange in a different outfit ( pic above ).  His eyes flutter open and he looks up. "Anthony...?" 

Tony’s bambi eyes widened as he gazed down at his boyfriend. Something in Stephen’s eyes seemed to have changed, they were no longer hazy and confused. They seemed sharp and new, just like how they had been when he-... Tony didn’t know if he dared believe what could be true. He feared it would just lead to disappointment, but he couldn’t ignore the magic involved, plus the new outfit. “A-Are you okay? This magic witch-lady kidnapped us or something and she did a spell on you... not that you would probably understand anything anyways...” he sighed heavily. “I’ll just tell you it was all a Dream tomorrow...”

"Huh?" Stephen sat up and gasped at the sight of the woman he once knew. "Ancient one?". She smiled at the sorcerer. "Hello stephen" she had a proud look on her face, like a mother proud of her child. "You risked this life to save this man.." she gestured at Tony. "So I gave you back your title as Sorcerer Supreme with a bit of an upgrade towards it" Stephen felt like his mind was all over the place. "I'm so proud of you Stephen, now go and live your life" she smiled at the two and soon she had vanished. 

Tony blinked a couple times, a little shaken by that and then shrugged, turning his attention back to Stephen. “Well I don’t know what the hell that was... Wait, if she gave you your title back, then does that mean you remember everything again?... Like I don’t have to just pretend that you’re the same person anymore?... Because I don’t know how much longer I could hold onto that lie for...” his hopeful expression darkened somewhat as he watched Stephen for an answer.