Forfeiture

the light that led to hope

Stephen had gone back to the place he had once called home. Where he and Tony would lay down together and enjoy each other's company. He stepped inside the bedroom and felt hot tears forming. Remembering everything again. "Did I trigger something in him?..." He walked further in, looking at the dead flower that was discarded. The night he gave it the mechanic was a night he wished he could go back to. Remembering Anthony's sweet face when receiving the beautiful gift. He crouched down and picked up the brunette's ring and held it close to his heart. "I-I'm the reason it all happened.." he sniffled and shut his eyes.

Suddenly a portal opened and Wong stepped out, looking sadly at him since he knew what had happened. The New York sanctum had been destroyed because of Tony, and they needed Strange to help rebuild, but that could wait. "Stephen..." he said in a grave voice, looking around the dark and messed up room. "How bad is it..."

"Oh Wong.." Stephen sniffled and turned to face him. "I suppose it's...it's.." Strange wiped away more of his tears and went over to the bed, picking up his own ring. Staring at the two rings for a few seconds. "It's terrible...." He felt so lost and alone without Tony. The sorcerer also felt guilt for the majority of what's happened being his fault.

Wong conjured up a handkerchief and offered it to his friend with a heavy sigh. "Was he possessed by a dark spirit perhaps? Or maybe he got a hold of something he shouldn't have and it drove him mad? He destroyed our sanctum, Stephen. This is why relationships out of our jobs are STRICTLY prohibited," he said in a rather harsh way, but his expression softened when he held something out to him. "His helmet... if you wanted it, I salvaged it for you..."

"I highly doubt he was possessed Wong..." Stephen looked at the helmet. "I would've noticed...no I guess perhaps something snapped in him..." Strange gently took the handkerchief and wiped his tears though they still fell anyway. "I'm pretty sure I'm the reason he snapped ..." He mumbled as he carefully took the helmet in his shaking hands. "I loved him Wong..."

"I know you did. Hell, the whole WORLD knows you did. Date someone like Tony Stark, the media's gonna notice very quickly. But what in the living world would've caused such a person to turn like that so suddenly? He was an avenger after all, and now people are fearing that mutants and heros alike are going to turn, just like him... People are terrified now, Stephen. I think that what happened in the end was a good thing-"

Stephen put down the helmet on the bed and stood up, giving Wong a broken and dark expression. "How dare you say that what happened to my fiance was a good thing!" he angrily said, voice almost cracking. For a moment he remembered that he couldn't call Tony that anymore. The mechanic threw his ring like it was nothing and Stephen had broken things off... "He was everything to me. He gave my life meaning that I thought would never have again..." the sorcerer sat back down and put his head in his shaking hands.

"If you had let me finish, I was about to say that what happened in the end was a good thing because HYDRA no longer has access to the most powerful weapon on the planet," he rolled his eyes and sat down next to him, shaking his head. "I won't lie when I say that it might've been something he wanted, Stephen. Usually when things go bad like this for someone who's made such a mess... they tend to not want to face... the aftermath of it all and they... die." He looked at Stephen. "Has Stark ever tried to commit before?"

Stephen felt like breaking down all over again. "O-Oh gods yes he has!" Strange cried in his hands and shook his head. "I-i should've done more! I should've cared for him more then maybe none of this would have happened!"

Wong patted his back in attempts to comfort him, feeling sad that this all happened to his friend. "There is absolutely nothing more you could've done for him, Stephen, don't you dare blame yourself for this... he made his choice, I believe, and chose not to live with the consequences of his foul actions..."