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Tony Stark woke with a start, and wondered why the hell he was waking up at all immediately. He had died. That wasn’t something that you wake up from. He had snapped his fingers knowing that would be his end because the human body wasn't cut out to handle the kind of power that he was wielding in order to use the stones to undo what had been done. And he… he had been okay with dying. They had won, and from the look on Strange’s face this was always how the single timeline that beat Thanos was going to end. Except he wasn’t dead. He was… he looked around at his surroundings confused by what he saw.
He wasn’t in a hospital, where he would expect any half assed attempt at saving him to take place. But he didn't know where he was in truth. All he could see was one giant.. Empty room filled with a sickeningly red light that frankly made his skin itch. It reminded him of things that he didn’t want to remember. Of Wanda, and her powers. Powers that she had used against him, even if no one had been willing to listen to what he had experienced in the aftermath of Ultron. He needed to figure out what the hell was going on here, and get away from this light.
Almost as soon as he thought that, he heard a tired sigh and spun around to see… Wanda. She didn’t look anything like what she had the last time he had seen her, but it was her. And she didn’t look any happier at being in his presence than he was at being faced with her. The woman, who looked like a run down version of the person he had fought in Slovakia, glared at him when she noticed that he could see her.
“The things that you can imagine Stark… I must admit that I got caught up in seeing what your worst nightmare would be. I thought it would be over quickly, but after that first scene… your mind kept going, kept building onto it. I should have broken myself away, and ended it but I was curious. In your mind… even when I did my best to ruin you, you did not seek vengeance against me. And you never sought vengeance against any of the ones whom you call a team when they betrayed you over and over again either. I let myself forget that it was me who was in control, that what I was living was a lie and that was a mistake. My investment in seeing how it ended trapped me alongside you.” She hissed, as if he was at fault for whatever was going on.
That was actually par for course actually, so he believed that she did blame him even though it was her actions that had caused whatever this was. Wanda had never let him forget that she blamed him for everything that had gone wrong in her life. But seriously, she wasn’t making any sense here. It sounded like… she had never stopped messing with his mind? But he remembered the nightmare vision she had made him see being brief, for all that it was a catalyst for his worst decision in his life. He had left with the spear and… everything had gone to hell minus a few bright spots. He didn’t regret Pepper, Morgan or Peter at all. When he didn’t respond, she threw up her hands. He flinched, but red didn’t come swarming from her hands. No… nothing happened and that made her shriek.
“Do you see now?! I am drained from your fantasy, because eventually I wanted out and I found myself stuck because you kept living it out and draining me. I cannot end this even now that you have gone and killed yourself! I do not know when I will be able to drag myself out of your cursed head. I should have listened to my brother and just let him kill you when you came for the spear. I do not even know where he is, or how much time has passed for him, as he didn’t take me far enough away from you to break the connection. I almost wish that he would have ended your life, but I know that he would not have chanced something happening to me.” she snarled. Tony took a step back, his mind rejecting what she was telling him.
All those years, everything that had happened… it couldn’t have been a lie. He had lived those years, dealt with the broken bones and betrayal and rose above it all to find love… to have a child that he had never imagined he would ever have, because having children scared the living hell out of him. He had always been afraid of becoming his father, but Pepper and Morgan had taught him that he wouldn’t. If Wanda meant what he thought she did… then none of it had happened. Morgan… Morgan didn’t exist now that whatever Wanda had trapped him in was over. And that… That was worse than Tony accepting his death to save everyone.
A twisted smile took over the frustration on Wanda’s face as she watched him move away from her, delight dancing in her eyes. This… This was just another way to hurt him wasn’t it? They were trapped in the remains of whatever she had done, and she still felt the need to hurt him for something that he didn’t do.
Gold thread’s surrounded her form suddenly, tightening around her, and reminding Tony of someone that shouldn’t exist if everything that he had lived was just a lie. As she started cursing and struggling Tony turned once more and found Stephan Strange not far behind him. The Sorcerer Supreme was glaring at Wanda, and Tony had a moment where he could convince himself that maybe she had lied. That the last several years of his life had been real and Wanda had just taken the chance of kidnapping him while he was injured to inflict one last torture on him. But then Strange’s eyes landed on him and he saw no recognition from the other man. This Strange… did not know Tony. Hadn’t saved Tony by handing over the stone on Titan.
“Dr. Stark. I am pleased to see you aware of your surroundings. From the reading’s that your A.I. and friends were able to take it was not believed to be the case. Dealing with Maximoff and removing her from your mind will be much easier this way though, since you won’t fight against her manipulations ending. All you will need to do is wake up once we are gone. And you shouldn’t delay before doing so. Your body… has been through much stress in the last few months that you have been trapped here. Measure’s had to be taken recently when the stress of whatever she has done to you caused your heart to stop and those trying to save you couldn’t get it to start again without taking those measures.” Strange murmured. Tony grimaced, and took a deep breath to center himself. Wanda had been telling him the truth about what they had lived through after all and… years hadn't passed..
“Months… it’s only been months?” He croaked, feeling like he was going to be sick. Years of life had been lived in a matter of months. A look of concern passed over the other man’s face, and there was something knowing in his eyes. As if perhaps he had lived through time that didn’t pass in the real world.
“Indeed. It has only been a few months. Before I was… alerted to the situation they had no way of ending the connection between the two of you. Though I have been told that they did try what they could within their means. They were afraid that separating you would cause damage though, so separating the two of you was not among their attempts.” He said briskly enough that Tony snorted.
It seemed like whatever dream Wanda had forced him to live had been able to capture the other Doctor’s snark perfectly. He would need to see how many other things the dream had gotten right. If Thanos came… they would be better prepared. He shivered, and looked at the Red Witch. She was glaring at both of them, but seemed to have calmed down.
“According to Red, separating us might have worked. I… I’m just finding out that she didn’t stop by making me see my worst fear here Strange. To me I lived years and just freaking died.” He murmured, looking back. There was a sort of understanding in Strange’s eyes, but it was almost hidden by surprise.
“I did not introduce myself to you Dr. Stark.” The other man said bluntly, a question hidden in his words. Tony snorted, and rubbed his face.
“In whatever the hell she had me living, I knew you and all about your magic cult. If anything else of what I lived is correct then I was right all along and something big is coming, so get her the hell out of my head so I can wake up. I’ll deal with the whole living a lie and what I lost when that lie ended when I have the time, like I always do.” He snarked back, getting tired of this oddly red room and Wanda.
That and the anger was building now that there was evidence that the Witch hadn’t been lying. So much anger, because he had no idea how the hell he was going to just deal with the fact that none of what he remembered living had been true. This… This wasn’t going to be easy to just sweep under the rug and forget about. Strange looked concerned, but seemed to accept his words.
“Very well. I’ll be taking her back to my… Cult as soon as her consciousness is no longer suppressing your own. We should be able to restrain her there. I have had one of my colleagues studying all of the records your people were able to find in order to neutralize her. After you have had some time to recover.. I would like to speak on what you have lived. She gained her powers through a stone, and perhaps that connection was used to draw on the abilities of others in order to accomplish this.” Strange informed him, his words making Tony freeze.
“The Infinity Stones.” He breathed, making Strange’s eyes sharpen.
“Indeed. Those stones. We really do need to talk soon Dr. Stark.” Tony snorted, but nodded.
“I’ll give you a pass on making an appointment with my secretary since you’re here dragging the trash out.” He joked, drawing another round of swearing out of the young woman. Strange rolled his eyes, and waved his hand and suddenly she was silent. It was almost enough to make Tony laugh, but he wasn’t sure when the next time he would be able to do that without sobbing afterward would be.
“I’ll be in contact soon then Dr. Stark.” Strange murmured, before passing him and grabbing a hold of the sullen looking Wanda. Tony watched as the other man made a gesture, before a damn portal opened. This was… odd. If he was right they were in his head and Strange was just going to portal out of here with Wanda? How in the hell did that work? The magical Doctor dragged his prisoner out, leaving Tony in a now orange cast room. The red was gone, leaving behind a color that reminded Tony of the physical manifestation of Jarvis’ soul.
Jarvis… Jarvis who was alive. Because if Tony had been trapped inside some simulation for months then he hadn’t taken the spear and Ultron hadn’t happened. And if Ultron hadn’t murdered Jarvis then of course he was alive out there, just waiting for Tony to wake up. That.. That was terrifying because he had mourned Jarvis for years, and he didn’t know how he was going to react when he was faced with him alive again.
It had nearly destroyed him when he had finally accepted that there was nothing that he could do to bring his A.I. back. Activating Friday had very nearly done the same thing, because it had been admitting that he had failed to save the one being that had always been by his side. And now he was just supposed to wake up to a world in which that had never happened? A world where Jarvis wouldn’t understand why he was so upset, because Tony didn’t think that he would ever be able to explain any of what he had gone through to anyone.
Not waking up wasn’t an option either though. There was too much to do out there, to much to prepare for and if Strange was anything like the one in the vision or whatever the hell it was that Wanda had forced him into he would be coming back to drag Tony back into the land of the awake if he needed to. Tony didn’t doubt that the sorcerer had given him the chance to come out of this on his own to help him prepare himself. And he was thankful for that chance, really he was. Because he really didn’t know how he was going to face anyone without breaking down right now.
Pepper… she wasn’t his wife or the mother of his child anymore. Morgan was gone, had never existed except in his head. And Tony wouldn’t be able to look at Pepper without remembering the trials they had gone through as a couple and the child that they had lost. That wouldn’t be fair to her, and explaining his memories of the child that he had created in his delusion to her wouldn’t be happening. There wasn’t any reason to do that.
He would just… have to stay away. Because if he tried to recreate their relationship, their family it would feel fake. And be a torture in itself. Tony knew that he couldn’t be what Pepper needed, not really. She deserved better and he would make sure that she got it. At the end of the day that’s all he could really hope for right? Seeing Pepper happy while he tried to find the same for himself in a world that… wasn’t the world that he had died for.
Sadness was swallowing him whole now, as he tried to imagine what he was going to be waking up to. If he was a coward then Tony would just refuse to wake up. He wouldn’t have to live in a world without his child if he just stayed here, staring at the walls that, while oddly colored, were soothing. Even if he didn’t know how he would handle Jarvis in the waking world, the reminder of his steadfast presence would always be comforting. He could almost imagine living the rest of his life staring at the walls, until eventually his body failed him for good.
But he knew that wouldn’t really happen. Like he had already acknowledged, if he took too long then Strange would be back. And even if the other man couldn’t force him to wake up he could just stay and annoy him. Then there was also the fact that Tony had never been a coward. He couldn’t just stay trapped in his own mind when he knew that there were people worried about him in the waking world and that there was every chance that the dream Wanda had trapped him in had truths about upcoming danger. He couldn’t just stay here and chance that Thanos came after an unsuspecting earth… right?
He knew that he couldn’t, he just wished that he could take more time before he had to face all of this. Tony sighed, and watched as the light flickered across the wall. Really it did look like Jarvis’ core self. Always moving as the A.I processed data. And it was something that he had lost himself watching many times before. It had always been something that could calm him whenever other options had failed. It was interesting to see that it was such an absolute that his mind would recreate it when he needed it the most. Several long moments passed, and Tony could feel himself calming down.
“Very Good Sir.” Jarvis’ voice broke through his tentative calm, making Tony jump. He resisted the urge to look around, knowing that it wasn’t likely that he would actually see his A.I. because it wasn’t like Jarvis had a physical body. Even here, in his mind it wasn’t like he would suddenly just show up. But hearing his A.I. brought Tony back to something Strange had said. Wanda’s little party trick had caused some serious stress to his body, which given what he had gone through over the years that he had lived was understandable. That last part… Where Tony had died…measure’s had to be taken to keep him alive in the real world. Fuck. He knew just what kind of contingency plans he had back then, and some of them could have had some unexpected effects.
“Hey buddy. So The kind Doctor didn’t just wander off with no guarantee that I would even want to wake up after the shit show that i’ve been through.” He answered, his voice breaking just a little even though he wished that it wouldn’t.
“Indeed. It was hypothesized that once Maximoff’s influence was removed that I would be able to… communicate with you. Forgive me for the length of time in between their departure and my arrival. When your mind was no longer suppressed… there was a sizable quantity of information to process. Much of it makes me… unsettled. What you experienced was not something that I could foresee or prevent. In the future I will endeavor to make sure that is not the case. Our new connection may allow me that ability.” Jarvis responded. Tony grimaced a little, understanding whatever had been done to keep him alive had made it so Jarvis and he were now more intimately connected then he had ever dreamed of. And that connection came with the unintended side effect of him knowing the events that Wanda had forced him to live through. Good thing he knew that Jarvis was able to keep secrets.
“We’ll need to talk more about just what was used on me Jarvis. It’s been a while since I had those plans in place for me, so I'm a little fuzzy on the details. But one thing I do know? You can’t tell anyone about anything in that information you’ve processed buddy. I’m not dragging any of the others into whatever delusion I lived in. Not Pepper… not anyone.” He informed the other firmly. The light representing Jarvis’ core pulsed in what Tony knew to be an aggravated manner.
“Sir, I must protest. While I understand why you do not wish to talk about the time that has passed with you with Ms. Potts, due to the intimate nature of the memories you hold, I believe that you should speak with what you have experienced with someone that you trust. After… your disappearance you would have benefited from speaking about your experiences there as well. I do not wish to see you suffer alone again.” His worry wart A.I. protested, making Tony smile. Jarvis urging him to include others in his problems was a familiar experience. One that he had sorely missed. But what his A.I didn’t consider was that he wouldn’t be alone. Not now that he had him back.
“I know you protest. You always do, but I have to insist Jay. I’m already going to be waking up to overly worried friend’s and people I don’t think I can trust if the rest of the Avenger’s are around. I don’t need everyone knowing just what happened. If I think I need to talk about it to anyone other than you or the Doc… Then I’ll think about telling Rhodey. Will that make you happier?” Tony teased, brushing by the topic of his… current team. Shit. He really needed to find out if anything else in Wanda’s twisted world reflected the world that he was going to be waking up to. If it did then he was cutting them off. Full funding withdrawal everything. He wasn’t going to be paying Roger’s bills if it was going to end like it had in his memories. He would find Barnes and get him help without involving Captain Righteous.
“Speaking of them… Jay I’m really glad that we can speak like this. I need you to look through the files we snatched off the net after Nat and Roger’s decided to blow Shield wide open instead of asking for help. See if you can find anything relating to the night that my parents died. With the Doc being the same as whatever the hell Wanda made me live, I need to know if Roger’s is hiding the same secret. If his buddy killed my parent’s it’s time for a full separation between SI and the Avengers. I almost died in Wanda’s world because Roger’s would rather use my money for his little hunt than to be a human being and talk to me and give me time to process everything. And I did, process it that is. Barnes was just the weapon in all of that and you can't blame a weapon for doing what it was made for, so we can work on bringing him in from the cold if we need to but I won't be used by Rogers again.” he added, speaking before Jarvis was able to respond to his previous question.
“I began searching for similarities between the events in your memories and those in the outside world as soon as I processed the Data when it became available to me, Sir. I do not intend to allow those situations to occur again either. As for speaking to Rhodes, that would please me. He has been concerned and frustrated during your coma. Each event that almost killed you inside of the simulation that you were trapped in correlated with an event of near death that he was also unable to prevent, except it was within a much shorter timeframe highlighting just how dangerous the situation was.. It was he who authorized the use of the Lazerus formula when your vitals would not stabilize during your death. He holds a great amount of guilt for having to change you to save you.” Jarvis informed him. Tony took a deep breath.
“Well fuck. That’s going to be fun to deal with.” He muttered. His platypus wasn’t ever going to let go of the fact that he had been the one to make the call to change Tony in order to keep him alive. Tony didn’t even know the full changes that he had gone through in order to survive, but with it being Lazarus that had been used he was betting that being able to talk to Jarvis while unconscious was only the tip of the iceberg. He was probably lucky that Jay wasn’t just responding to his thoughts, even though he was sure that the A.I. knew everything that he was thinking. Because thoughts were just more Data right? Just like his memories of the life that he had lived under Wanda’s spell had been. This was going to take some time to get used to.
“As unenthusiastic about facing those at your bedside currently you may be, it is perhaps wise to consider waking soon Sir. Doctor Strange has returned from taking Maximoff to where she will be kept for the foreseeable future. He seems to be getting agitated as I have confirmed that I am able to communicate with you, but you have chosen not to wake.” Jarvis informed him after a moment. Tony groaned. Of course Jarvis was being a tattle tale about his reluctance to wake up.
“You’re lucky that I don’t donate you to a college Jay.” He warned, grinning slightly as he realized that yes he was once again taunting Jay with unspeakable punishments. The walls pulsed, almost like Jay was laughing at him.
“I perish the thought Sir. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself without you to worry about.” The A.I. responded dryly. Tony rolled his eyes at the response, but started preparing himself for what came next. He had to wake up, and deal with all the drama and emotions that would come with. And… And part of him still didn’t want to. He knew his friends would be there. That Pepper would be there and honestly the thought of facing a version of her that wasn’t the mother of his child was heartbreaking.
Seeing a Pepper who didn’t know Morgan, didn’t love her just as much as he still did even knowing that she was just some… dream that he had been forced to have was going to break his heart. And it would keep doing that until he was able to shove the messy emotions that all of this caused into a little box and forgot about them.
“Jay… could you distract Pepper for me? I think I need a little bit of time before I face her.” He asked after a moment. Jarvis didn’t make a sound to acknowledge that he had heard, but the lighting on the wall pulsed and he knew that he had been heard.
“I have attempted to direct Ms. Pott’s attention elsewhere. I am unsure of how long that will be a solution though. She is aware that you are free from Maximoff’s control and has expressed her desire to see you awake. In the time since you were found unresponsive there were concerns about the long term effects of what had been done to you. I have also taken the liberty to prevent notifications of Dr. Strange’s success from reaching the other’s on your team, so they will not be present.” Jarvis replied a bit later. Tony nodded to himself, this was the best that could be done. Pepper in any version of reality was stubborn and wouldn’t be distracted from her goal for long.
“Alright. Thanks Jay. I think… I think that it’s time to wake up now. I’ll see you on the otherside.” Tony murmured, before closing his eyes. He had no idea how to force himself awake from this state to be honest. And maybe it would turn out that this had really all been one bad dream and he would wake up in unimaginable pain but alive in the world Wanda had created, but he had to try. He took a deep breath, before exhaling and concentrating on opening up his eyes.