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space-mermaid-writing · 4 months

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Wednesday [IronStrange]

Summary:Tony fights Strange and his weird wizards on a regular basis. So when he is woken up by Jarvis and being told Strange is sitting in his kitchen, waiting to talk to him, Tony just knows that something is not right. What he does not know yet is that it will be a string of very long days.

Relationship: Tony Stark/Stephen Strange

Tags: enemies to lovers, time loop, time shenanigans, hero/villain, hero Tony Stark, villain Stephen Strange, morally gray Stephen Strange, being a villain is a point of view, protecting the timeline, suicide but it has no consequences whatsoever, open ending, hopeful ending, Stephen needs a hug, Stephen and the never ending day, angst, hurt/comfort, fluff, eventual smut, all the stuff you love

Ko-fi | Read it on AO3 | Masterlist | Word count: 4.5k | Next

Author’s note: This is for @Hayan for the IronStrange Winter Holidays Exchange 2023 @ironstrangehaven Massive thanks to @rattledazzlebones for doing the beta in a short amount of time <3 New chapters every 2-3 days. 7 chapters in total. Happy Holidays!

Chapter 1: "Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen."

It should have been a quiet night for the Avengers. Their presence at the fundraising gala was purely for PR reasons to get people to donate more. And for once it was for a really good cause.

It was why Tony was even more annoyed than usual when some sorcerers – who made his life already harder on a daily basis – crashed the party. After causing some disruption, they promptly attacked the host.

Tony, Steve and Natasha had their hands full keeping the magic ninja monks at bay while the visitors got evacuated.

Tony blasted one of his strongest beams right at the leader of the sorcerers, who threw up a shield at the last second.

“That's all you've got?" Strange taunted, hovering in the air with that stupid cape of his. His black hair was brushed back, except for a single lock that'd fallen down the middle of his forehead. He was gray at the temples and still managed to keep his youthfulness.

He was everything Tony hated. Magic… yeah that was it. It didn’t help that he was also an attractive and snarky asshole on top of it all.

Tony dodged the spell thrown at him, but didn't have time to catch his breath as Strange closed in on him.

This game of cat and mouse between them was nothing unusual and sometimes Tony lived under the impression that Strange was enjoying it far too much. This annoyed the engineer all the more.

Despite what the wizard may have thought; this wasn't a game. Actual people getting hurt were at stake.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to show up at a party you were clearly not invited to, Maleficent?” Tony growled.

Strange was up close now, moving his hands for another spell. Tony managed to grab his cape and yanked at it in order to hurl the man through the air. But the cape latched onto his armor and refused to let go.

Yeah, he forgot about that.

God, he hated magic so much.

__________________ A few days later__________________

Tony woke up to the voice of Jarvis announcing: “Sir, Doctor Strange has appeared in your kitchen.”

Tony opened his eyes wide. "What?" He was sure he had misheard or that Jarvis was joking with him. Only he knew that Jarvis would never make a joke like that. It was too absurd for his usually dry humor, similar to Tony’s own.

“He is sitting at the table and said he won’t leave until you talk to him. He said it’s urg-…”

Before the A.I. had spoken, Tony had already jumped out of bed and hurried off.

“Calibrate Mark 43.”

“Already on stand-by, waiting for your command.”

Jarvis was great.

Tony slowed his steps as he approached the kitchen. Strange had nerves to break into his home. He changed the smart watch he always wore into a gauntlet. With his suit as backup and Jarvis to watch his back he felt safe enough. This was his terrain and Strange would regret the day he intruded into his sacred home.

Tony stopped short in the open doorway.

Strange was indeed sitting at the table, his hands resting on the top of the table. He was wearing his blue robes and that weird red 'it's a cloak' cape. He looked… surprisingly tired, with dark circles under his eyes. His hair was tangled, as if he hadn't paid attention to it after getting up and hadn't even looked in the mirror once.

It wasn't what Tony had expected. Still, he wasn't stupid enough to let his guard down and his gauntlet was still pointed at him.

“Hello Stark,” the sorcerer greeted him neutrally. His face almost blank. Tony thought that the man wasn’t acting wary enough for someone who was currently sitting in his arch-nemesis’ home.

“Strange; you look like shit. What are you doing here?”

There was the hint of a smile on the sorcerer’s lips. “I need your help. I’m stuck in a time loop and we believe that part of it is a science problem. And you’re the best man to solve a science problem.”

“Funny, haha. There, I laughed. Now leave.”

Strange didn’t move an inch. “We did various scans and readings of me and the Eye of Agamotto. You used a project named ‘back to the hot tub time machine’ as reference, but only five percent of it applies to this situation.”

Now Tony was one-hundred percent suspicious. “How do you know about that project? That’s classified information!” It was stored in Jarvis' database and Jarvis was anything but hackable. And he would never give this data out just like that. Especially not the sorcerer. And, “Who is ‘we’?”

“This is not the first time we’ve had this conversation. You and I have been working together on this problem for a few weeks. Well, for me it’s been weeks. You don’t remember anything.”

“Prove it,” Tony demanded.

Strange sighed and stood up with Tony following his movements with his weapon. “I appeared in your kitchen because it’s the safest place for me, without having your A.I. or you shooting me on sight. By the way, before we start working, you will offer me a coffee.” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “In eight seconds you will get a call from your lawyers regarding the launch of a Stark hearing pro aid. 3… 2… 1…”

Jarvis spoke up again. “Incoming call from Pearson and Specter.”

“Tell them I’ll call them back.” “Tell them I’ll call them back.”

Tony and Strange spoke at the same time and Tony glared at the sorcerer. Strange didn’t seem to be perturbed about it and continued his case. “But this won’t be enough proof for you. You want something more personal. We spoke of this before and you told me to tell you: camellia flowers. They were your Mom’s favorite.”

The engineer stared at him. He was good. Tony was almost inclined to believe him. It was a clever piece of information he had offered him. Something barely anyone would know but nothing that the sorcerer could use against him.It got Tony thinking.

“So if this is true – and that’s a really big ‘if’ – have you tried to check your magic? It sounds like a magic type of problem.”

“Please believe me when I tell you that I checked that thoroughly.” There was a haunted look in Strange’s eyes, adding a deeper tiredness to the already present one. “You suspect an exceptional phenomenon in the plane of time, presumably the fourth dimension, as it is often called." At least by those who had never been to the actual fourth dimension. It lay exactly between the seventh dimension and the blue shadow dimension, and some sorcerers liked to use it as a small vacation destination. "So far the scans have revealed nothing, although you made some groundbreaking observations regarding the scientific view of time. You said, ‘it’s not an arrow of time but more like a moebius strip’. Oh, and you and I also checked if other people are affected by the loop – so far we found none.”

Tony was definitely hooked now and finally lowered his arm. He didn’t think Strange was an expert on the engineering science front and those sounded all like things he would consider in such a case.Hell, people with superpowers were real, so why not time repeating itself?

“Alright, let’s say I believe you and will help you. What-…”

“We agreed that you can keep all the data you collect. Plus an I owe you from me. No limits as long as it’s safe for the fate of the universe.”

“That’s quite the-…”

“Promise. Yes, I know. I desperately want Wednesday to end.”

Tony scoffed, kinda irritated by the sorcerer’s behavior. He was known for and proud of his fast mind but this was a lot to take in and he had been woken barely ten minutes ago. “You know this-…”

“Interrupting and ending sentences is annoying? I’m trying to save some time here. Can we move on?”

“After I’ve had a coffee,” he muttered, making a beeline to the machine Jarvis had already gotten started on the kitchen counter. He needed his first cup before he continued this conversation. This was too much Strange at once. An especially annoying Strange.

“D’you want one too?” He didn't know why he was even asking. It wasn't like he had to be polite to someone he normally fought with and who had just broken into his kitchen. He had spoken the words before thinking about them and was just now realizing that another thing Strange had said earlier had come true: 'Before we start working, you're going to offer me a coffee’.

Strange seemed to realize what he was thinking, because there was a small smirk on his lips. “Actually, I prefer tea. And before you say anything: you do have some chai in the back of that cupboard. Miss Potts stored it there once. By the way, you have a meeting scheduled with her at 11, which you should cancel or she won’t be pleased and make an appearance. Same goes with the boy that drops by after school.”

Tony, who had taken a look into the pointed cupboard and had actually found tea there, whipped around, his gaze sharp. “You met Peter?”

“You made it very clear from the beginning that you don’t want to pull him into this. Hence why I tell you it.”

It sounded logical. Tony couldn’t argue with it. “J, clear the day. We have to fix a groundhog day.” He eyed the sorcerer. “If this is an elaborate plan to isolate me to dispose of me quietly, I’ll have you know that Jarvis has an advanced offense and defense mechanism.”

Strange’s face sobered up like he was having an unpleasant memory. “I am aware,” he said in earnest.

To be honest, after hearing this threat a hundred times, it lost its effect. But he had experienced first-hand what Jarvis was capable of. And that hadn’t been nice.

By now he knew what he could get away with in Tony's presence. Whether the man liked it or not, he had gotten to know Tony well in his time trapped in this repeating day. His quirks.And what ticked him off.

If anything, Stephen had to be careful not to get too personal and too familiar with him. This was still the first day for Stark.

It was always the first day.

In his eyes, Stephen was still the enemy. It was tiring in its own way. But Stephen was sure that he was the answer to his problem. He felt it. At least he thought he felt something else other than just resignation and stagnation.

A cup of tea was placed in front of him and he realized he had spaced out. "Thank you."

Ton-… Stark deliberately ignored it and put more space between them again. “Let’s start. We have… how long until the day resets?”

“Midnight,” Stephen said and added as explanation, “It starts with me waking up and ends at exactly midnight. No matter what I do. My death doesn’t end the loop.” He tried that since it was kinda his to go solution for loops. “Although I don’t know if the loop stops immediately afterwards or continues until midnight.”

“I see.” Tony did not address the fact that those deaths were probably self-inflicted and instead asked, “What else did we try? Give me a roundabout.”He can’t keep the sarcasm fully out of his voice. It still sounded unbelievable. And he was also not overly fond of letting Strange into the sacred place that was his personal lab one floor below. It felt very personal.

“We did various body scans and blood tests of me while I was performing magic and without doing it. Nothing out of the ordinary was shown in the records.

“We tried to get reading at midnight when the set-back is, but I get sent back before I can read it and you don’t remember, obviously.We scanned the Eye of Agamotto, which is time magic, but it’s not the cause of this.And we tried to recreate what I did before the loop started to see if there had been anything that had set it off. Without result.”

This allowed Tony to cross the first four points off the list he had just drawn up in his mind. “What about the physical aspects of the reset?”

“I appear as I did the first Wednesday morning. All physical alterations made during the loop are gone.”

“So you did look like shit that first morning?” A mean smirk accompanied that dig.

Stephen scoffed. “The mental state is not wiped clean. If I am tired it will show on my face.” He brushed a strand of hair from his face. At one point he just hadn’t seen the point of caring anymore to put energy into a spotless appearance. Nobody would remember what he looked like today anyway.

With a small gesture he put a glamor on himself to mask his flaws. With it he looked more like his usual cocky self, beside his still tired eyes.

Tony found he liked it better before the spell. “Cool party trick. Point taken. I take it your time-magic necklace can’t take you back in time before the loop started?” He glanced at the golden eye pointedly.

Strange shook his head. “Time travel is no option.”

Tony’s eyes became a dangerous glimmer. “I bet I could invent time travel.”

“You would need more than a day for that,” Strange chided.

“True, but if I start now, you can give me my notes tomorrow and after that… wait! Have I thought of that in the past?” He noticed Strange sighing. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yes,” the sorcerer managed to sound annoyed and exasperated at the same time with that single word. “You overestimate my ability to understand your science mumbo-jumbo. I have a very good memory but not on rocket engineering.”

Stephen had been at the top of his field because he had an outstanding mind and a lot of dedication to something he was interested in. Medicine… magic…But there was a difference to what Tony was able to do. He was a genius and brilliant in all his fields.

And right now the engineer was gleeful as he handed him a Starkpad. “Write down what you remember. I’ll work with that.” The gauntlet had long been transformed back into a watch and Tony got a second cup of coffee by a machine in his lab. He put some sugar in it and stirred it with a spoon.

“The last thing I thought would happen today was to be in a group project with a wizard. God, just saying it is weird. Let's rephrase it: a tentative truce? A temporary work group? Nope, still weird,” Tony decided.

“Let’s just…” Stephen gestured to the Starkpad and Tony nodded.

“Yes, let’s.”

And so they started working.

As soon as Tony got Strange’s notes he was absorbed into his own world. He asked for some specifics in the writing, but otherwise seemed to grasp it immediately.

Strange insisted on a lunch break – it was way after lunch time – but refused the bagels in Tony’s kitchen. Instead he disappeared for a moment to get Quesadillas.Tony didn’t complain.

Given that he only had one day, Tony progressed far too slowly for his liking. He played with various ideas based on the notes while Strange pointed out some details he remembered Tony had said on the Wednesdays before.

All in all, they had made little progress that evening. As the sorcerer had said: he couldn't invent time travel in one day. And Strange didn't really seem convinced that it was the right approach either. The later the hour approached, the more harsh words were exchanged between the two.

“You know you’re not the most reliable source to pass my records,” Tony said at one point, circling between two screens, because sometimes moving helped him think.

Strange was very frustrated. That kind that builds over several days of stagnation. “Yeah well, I tried to write everything down but it disappears every morning. So, excuse me for coming empty handed.”

“I thought you had a photographic memory. This would be much easier and faster if I had full access to my own notes.” Tony suddenly had an idea and he stopped walking. “Did you ever try… pulling me into the time loop?”

Strange looked up at that change of tone and topic. “What?”

“Think about it. If there’s a possibility it will work… you wouldn’t have to start over again and again on your own. You wouldn’t need to convince me anew every single day. We’d have more time.”

Stephen laughed hollowly and his words were bitter. “If there’s anything I have, it’s time.”

“And how far did that get you?”

“Fuck you.”

But Stephen actually thought about it. It would solve a lot of the technical issues he was facing while trying to break out of the loop. But he still was hesitant to agree. “You don’t know what it means. I have been in a time loop once. Another. It was worse than this one.”This time at least it didn’t end with his death every single time “People around you will forget everything every single day. It will drive you mad."

“Exactly. You shouldn’t endure that alone.” Tony pointed at him.

“Why offer? We’re enemies.”

That was the question, wasn’t it? The same question why Tony had agreed to help Strange in the first place that morning. Every morning.

Tony wondered if those Wednesdays had all the same course of events or if there were alterations. Like Tony not even willing to listen to the invading sorcerer in his kitchen.He found his answer rather easily.

“And that won’t change. But this is bigger than you and me. I want to live my life and not be stuck in the same day.”

“You won’t remember it tomorrow,” Strange pointed out.

“That’s even worse! Who knows how much time we have lost due to this time loop?”

Strange's reply was so quiet that he almost missed it. “It’s been 835 days.”

Tony stared at him in shock. He had thought about a few weeks at most. 835 days was… over two years. Two years of being the only one that remembered what happened the day before. Two years of the same interactions, the same conversations, the same meals in a row.

Tony didn’t understand how the sorcerer was still functioning at all after all this time. How he hadn’t gone insane or lost his motivation at all.

“That’s it. I’m joining you.”

“We don’t even know if it’s possible,” Strange argued.

“And we won’t until we try it. What are our options? I’m sure there are some.” He saw the way his words had made the sorcerer think and waited for the man to talk.

“There might be a spell.” Tony grimaced. That wasn't what he had wanted to hear. “It would create a temporary bond between us. If there’s a chance for you to be pulled into the time loop, it’s that way.”

Suddenly, Tony was no longer convinced of his idea. But before he backed down, he at least wanted to get more information. “You won’t mess with my mind, will you? I may have some second thoughts if so.”

“The mind is not involved with the spell. It’s a link between two souls.”

Tony snorted. That sounded rather made up. But then again, so did time loops. “How does it work? Are we becoming ‘soul mates’? And will that be enough to pull me into the loop?”

“It’s more complicated than that, but basically; yes. Although I’m not a hundred percent sure if it will work.”

“We didn’t try it before?” Tony asked, surprised.

“No.” Stephen shook his head. “At this point you made it very clear that you dislike magic. And I don’t expect you to link your soul to someone you can’t be sure won’t exploit the link”

“It can definitely be undone?”

“Tony,” Strange said unexpectedly softly. “You don’t have to do this.”

It sounded so familiar. This was a man Tony had thought a villain, still thought so if he was honest. But Strange had spent who knew how many of those 835 days with the engineer that for him he no longer was just ‘Stark’. And it showed.

Tony was also curious what the two of them were capable of. He knew that the wizard was a smart and witted man. Personal differences aside.

“Oh, we’re definitely doing this,” he managed to say with more confidence than he actually felt.

“What?” Strange didn’t predict this. “You never said yes to this. In fact you always agreed that this is something you will never do.”He tried to think about what he did, what he said to Tony differently this time that he’d changed his mind.

“See. Your reaction proves my point even more. You’re stuck in the same day with the same dialogues. You need something new. Sure, I hate magic from the bottom of my heart. I really do. But since souls aren’t a thing this won’t probably work anyway and I won’t remember this tomorrow. And then you can rule it out too. It’s basically science what we’re about to do.”He had to talk himself into it, because the prospect of magic did scare him.

Still, Strange hesitated and scrutinized the engineer with his clear blue eyes before he finally nodded in defeat. “Okay. The spell has no long lasting side effects for you and needs to be reapplied daily. You'll barely feel it. So if you change your mind any other day, it's totally fine."

Tony nodded as a sign that he had understood and was ready. It was probably better to get it over with before he realized how dangerous and stupid this was.

Instead Jarvis offered – as so often – a voice of reason. “Sir, I strongly advise against this.”

“Noted.”

“Sir-…”

But Tony shook his head, cutting the A.I. off. “Strange is not going to hurt me.” He looked the wizard in question in the eyes and his gaze made it clear that if Strange did hurt him, hell would be breaking loose.

The sorcerer nodded. “You have my word.”

Tony wasn’t sure how much Strange’s word was worth, but he seemed sincere enough, and since this whole thing had been his own idea he decided to move things forward. “Let’s start.”

For the spell they had to stand in front of each other. Strange moved his fingers through the air and a yellowish glowing thread appeared, following his movements. It almost looked like it was woven in a delicate pattern.Fear twisted in his chest at the sign, even though it seemed perfectly harmless and totally different from the magic he was used to.

“Give me your hand,” the sorcerer told him and Tony offered it. Strange sought his gaze to confirm one last time. Tony raised his eyebrow, but didn't back down.

Strange wove the thread around Tony’s wrist and hand, and then around his own.

The magic faded into their skins and Tony felt a tingle up his arm. Like it fell asleep – but warmer and more pleasant. It resonated with something deep inside of him.The thread that connected them faded as well and Strange lowered his hands.

“That’s it?” Tony asked, looking at his skin. There was no trace of magic. “Did it work?”

“The spell worked. I will know tomorrow if it stays through the reset.”

It was only one word but it told so much about the situation Strange was in. ‘I will know tomorrow’ not ‘we’. Because although they had apparently worked together on this problem for so long, the sorcerer was still alone in this.If the spell didn’t do what they hoped it would, Tony won’t remember this ever happened.

Strange was alone in a vast pool of people, cursed with awareness and knowledge. Trapped in monotony.No wonder he looked so tired this morning.

“Let’s go back to inventing time travel,” Tony said, switching topics and moved his arm to pat Strange on the shoulder. But the cloak slapped his hand away before he could even touch the man.Tony glared at the piece of fabric that ruffled in return. Like a red watchdog.

“Are you two done?” Strange asked with a side-glance.

“Your… thing started it.”Yeah, Tony proved once again to be very mature.

“You’re an adult man, Stark. I’m sure you’re above these kinds of things.”

Tony kept his mouth shut. No matter what he said, he would only lose.

By the end of the day, they hadn't made any significant progress. Tony made him memorize some equations anyway. Just in case Tony wouldn't remember them tomorrow.

It was a few minutes before midnight when Stephen felt the pull. It was familiar by now, expected. It didn’t hurt. He just knew the time had come. Another day he failed to find a solution.

Turning his head to Tony he noticed the engineer was watching him. He knew what question was on his mind. He had answered it so often.

“The reset feels like I blacked out for a moment. Everything goes dark. Then I wake up in my bed.”

“No time in between?”

“I don’t think so.” Stephen shrugs.

Tony looked at his watch. They were down to a few seconds. “See you on the other side.”

Strange smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes.

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