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“Stephen!” Tony came to a halt. “I wasn’t expecting you today. Wait, it is Thursday, right?”
Stephen smiled. “I can’t just drop by to visit my boyfriend?” He asked.
Tony grinned, pleased. “Of course you can.” Their relationship was still in the early stages, but Tony felt like they really clicked, in a way he hadn’t quite experienced with anyone before. “So,” Tony said as he led the way into the kitchen, “weren’t you off in some other dimension?”
“I got back early.” Stephen replied.
“And?” Tony had come to look forward to Stephen telling him all about each dimension he visited, how it was different from their own, sometimes even what structural role it played within the architecture of the universe. It was becoming a familiar game between them for Stephen to present him with something that couldn’t yet be explained by science, and then Tony would brainstorm wild ideas for how the leading scientific theories could be modified to account for it.
“I wanted to see you,” Stephen said, voice warm.
“Well, obviously.” Tony preened, but something felt off, all of the sudden. He glanced back at Stephen as he waited for their coffees to be ready. He looked fine, normal. He smiled warmly as he met Tony’s eyes.
Except, he was standing just slightly oddly, wasn’t he? And despite still being in his sorcerer’s outfit, the Cloak of Levitation was nowhere to be seen.
Tony frowned, trying to figure out what might be wrong. “Are you skipping out on some task Wong wanted you to do or something?” He asked.
Stephen regarded him for a minute. “Only if you count re-shelving some books.” He shrugged, and moved towards Tony, eyes flicking down to his lips. “I didn’t think it was important enough to come before seeing you, Tony.”
He crowded Tony back, into the wall. For a moment, Tony went with it, slightly bemused. But it really didn’t feel right. Tony tried to slip sideways around Stephen, but was suddenly blocked as Stephen lunged forward.
Pinned against the wall, Tony squirmed downwards, trying to get away without hurting him. Something had to have happened to him, something must have gone wrong in that last dimension he had visited for him to be acting this strangely.
“Hold still,” Stephen hissed, and Tony’s heart dropped. His voice was suddenly all wrong. Was this even really Stephen?
Tony dropped his weight down hard, and swept a leg forward, sending them both tumbling. For a moment, it seemed like he’d gotten the upper hand but ‘Stephen’ was on him again in a split second, pinning him to the ground with an arm across his right shoulder and neck, nearly choking him.
He had some sort of strange wooden rod in his other hand now, and he plunged it forward, aiming for Tony’s chest. Tony shifted, throwing up his free hand to block him on instinct.
The rod sank into his shoulder instead of his chest, and Tony gasped. The sensation of the rod – some sort of relic, it must be – entering him was nauseating. He could feel his flesh part for it like it was as sharp as a razor, and it spread a sickening sort of cold as it invaded his body. As Tony tried ineffectually to pull away, it felt like he was moving through molasses.
A vicious grin of triumph spread across ‘Stephen’s’ face. It didn’t even look like him anymore.
“Good enough,” he grated, and laughed. The hairs on Tony’s neck stood on end. It didn’t sound a thing like Stephen’s laugh, there was no warmth or amusement in it, only a sort of ugly vindictive triumph.
He grasped the relic with one hand, pinning Tony in place with the other, and pushed the relic sideways, dragging it at a snail’s pace through Tony’s flesh. A wheezing noise escaped Tony, the closest he could come to a scream. It was like someone dragging razor wire through his body. Skin, muscle, and bone all parted for the relic.
“Once I pierce your heart with the Cane of Cruor, you will die,” ‘Stephen’ gloated. “And then, I will throw your paramour’s body down upon it so that it pierces his heart as well.”
Tony’s heart stuttered. No. He couldn’t let that happen. He couldn’t let Stephen’s body be used to kill him, it would devastate Stephen. But there was nothing he could do. When he tried to move it felt like he was encased in ice, frozen in place. No matter how hard he willed himself to move, nothing happened.
Suddenly, the glowing mandalas Tony was familiar with from Stephen’s magic bloomed around them, and Stephen’s body jerked to a stop, frozen. Rapid footsteps sounded, and Wong came into view, the Cloak of Levitation beside him.
“Can you get that out and then put pressure on the wound?” Wong asked the Cloak, voice tense. The Cloak darted over to Tony, and proceeded to do just that. Tony gasped in relief as the sickening cold retreated. He was still stiff, but he could move, now. “Just hold still Stark. I need to banish this revenant and free Stephen.”
A minute or two later, Stephen collapsed forward onto Tony’s chest. For a moment, he just buried his face in Tony’s shirt, but finally he looked up. His expression was stricken, and he was starting to tremble all over.
“Hey,” Tony said softly, bringing one clumsy hand up to stroke lightly through Stephen’s hair. “We’re okay. We’re going to be okay.”
Stephen pressed a shaking hand to Tony’s injured shoulder over the Cloak. “We need, to get you to the hospital,” his voice cracked slightly as he said it. He took a shuddering breath. “We’ll be okay once you’ve had medical attention,” he finished more firmly.