Afterwards

1.2K 76 25
                                    

      My hands shook more than usual.  I was sitting in the waiting room of a hospital.  There was light chatter around the room.  A door quietly closed.  I look up to see Steve Rogers exiting, his eyes slightly puffy.  Thor and Banner get up to enter the room next. 

      "I don't think I caught your name."  I turn to see Rogers taking a seat next to me.  

      "Doctor Stephen Strange.  I helped Tony fight on Titan."  I informed him.  He nods.  

      "Steve Rogers.  But I'm guessing you already know that."  I shake his hand.  

      "How is he?"  I ask, my voice threatening to crack.  

      "You know how Tony is.  He won't let this stop him.  And of course he's still cracking jokes."  

      I give a small sigh of relief.  "So...he's not in pain or anything?" 

      "He plays it off like he's not, but you can see it in his eyes.  We've all witnessed how tough he is, I think he'll be fine."  He sucks in a breath.  "It kills me to see him like this.  I think it might be my fault."  

      "I'm sure he doesn't blame you for it."  I reassure.  Thor and Bruce exit the room.  I stand.  "It was nice talking to you."  I head towards Tony's room, the Cloak trailing at my heels.  I open the door, my eyes landing on Tony right away.  

      "Hey Wizard.  It's nice to see you again."  I smile at the formerly annoying nickname.  It felt great to hear it again.  

      "It's nice to see you too."  I take a seat next to his bed.  Tony lifts his prosthetic arm.  "Not bad, huh?"  

      "Not bad at all."  I smile at him.

      "What?"  He questions, a confused look on his face. 

      "I'm just glad you're alive.  I watched you die so many times out of 14,600,005.  I missed you."  My voice cracks a little.  

      "I missed you too, believe it or not."  Cloak pats his head, twirling his hair around.  Tony chuckles at the mischievous, magical cloak.  "I missed you too.  Does it have a name?"  He looks from the Cloak to me.  

      "The Cloak of Levitation.  I just call it Cloak usually."  

      He nods.  "I like Levi.  It's short and sweet."   Cloak, or Levi, seems to like this.  It wraps itself around Tony's head.  

      "Just like you."  

      "Oh?  Making short jokes now, aren't we?" 

      "I'm always making short jokes.  Just not always verbally."  We both laugh.  Levi attaches itself back onto me.  "Traitor."  Tony mumbles under his breath.  

      "How are Pepper and Rhodey handling this?"  

      "They're just surprised I managed to live.  Honestly, I can't blame them.  I didn't think I'd make it out alive either."  He answers.  

      "And Peter?"  I ask.  

      "He's okay.  He's still adjusting to being back from the dead.  He's a remarkable kid, when I was his age, I'd never be able to recover from what he has recovered from."  He runs his hand through his hair.  An awkward silence fills the room.  There were so many things I wished I could say to him.  He looks me in the eyes.  

      "I'm hungry."  He says to no one in particular.  I laugh.  

      "What do you want to eat?"  

      "Shwarma."  He replies.  I open a gateway, Shwarma falling out.  He grins.  "I could get used to this."  He eats silently.  He sighs in satisfaction.  "This is way better than hospital food."  I chuckle at the short genius in front of me.  

      "Rogers blames himself for this."  I inform, nodding towards his prosthetic arm.  "I don't know why."

      "Steve and I have a history.  We fought.  He hurt me, he left me.  He thinks if we hadn't argued over the accords, Thanos could've been killed the first time around."  He sighs.  "But I'm alive, right?  Everything's fine now.  And I don't blame Steve one bit."  I find myself staring at him.  A knock at the door breaks my trance.  

      "You two done in here?"  Natasha Romanoff steps in the room, smirking.  "Let's wrap this up, lovebirds.  It's my turn."  

      "See you soon, Tony."

      He smiles.  "Bye, Wizard.  Bye, Levi."  I leave the room, watching Tony greet Romanoff.  One out of 14,600,005.  I'm glad this is the one.  Could you imagine if it ended differently?  

IronStrange OneshotsWhere stories live. Discover now