#title thing

Oh yum.

Okay. Hmmm.

IM2 AU, I think. Angsty.

The symptoms of the palladium poisoning hit Tony a little harder - to the point where he can’t quite hide it as effectively as he did in the movie (not gonna talk about my bitterness that so many viewers totally missed out on the sheer magnitude of how the poisoning was affecting him. nope. not gonna do it.)

Or maybe it’s just when Tony first starts noticing symptoms.

He’s having trouble thinking clearly.

He’s tired.

He drank a glass of champagne at Pepper’s charity thing one night - just the one - and had to duck into the bathroom when his stomach rather violently rebelled.

And then the black starts seeping across his chest and he figures it out.

He has an idea of how long his body can last - heavy metals and their dangers was something he knew a thing or two about - but he needs to know how long his mind will. He needs to know the timeframe he’s got for trying to figure out a solution or set his affairs in order.

God, he’s got so much to do still.

So he goes to see Doctor Stephen Strange - who is not just the top neurosurgeon, but one of the best neurologists - on the down-low for a consultation. Not a surgery, nothing that will ruin his perfect record, so Stephen accepts. 

And Stephen, of course, is absolutely appalled - both at Tony’s state and that Tony believes he has no options and is, therefore, going to just let himself die in the slowest and most agonizing way possible.

“Why don’t you just remove the reactor?”

“If only I could, Doc.”

And Stephen finds out about the shrapnel.

So Stephen insists on doing a full evaluation of how Tony is being poisoned before he’ll tell Tony how long he’s got left. Tony snarks and is frustrated, but he’s tired and the poisoning makes his thoughts feel like molasses, so he lets him.

“Why not replace the casing for a more efficient design that will prevent the palladium from reaching your bloodstream?” Stephen asks, brainstorming to himself out loud.

“I’d still die on the operating table, Doc,” Tony reminds him tiredly.

Finally, Tony just asks for his answer. Stephen gives him a few months. At best.

Tony thanks him for his time and goes back home.

But it plagues Stephen.

He comes up with solutions and scraps them. Comes up with solutions and scraps them. Calls Tony sometimes to brainstorm. They come up with the chlorophyll solution. Though it’s more of a stopgap measure. Stephen finds the creative back-and-forth to be incredibly stimulating, which only drives him more to find some sort of solution. He observes more cardiothoracic surgeries, trying to find some method that will help. Trying to see if he could improve some method to help.

Tony invites him out to Malibu as the finishing touches are put on the Expo. Shows him all of the failed solutions - every permutation of every known element - and tells him it’s hopeless. Tells Stephen to forget him. Tells Stephen to not let this haunt him. He could never have been saved. This iron heartbeat of his was only ever staving off the inevitable so he could fix his own personal failings.

Stephen calls the hospital to tell them he’s going to take some vacation time for some research.

He starts haunting Tony’s workshop, he pesters Tony until they’re both brainstorming on how they could improve surgical tools and medical tech. They make incredible things. Tony loves it. Tony saves it all to a file to have JARVIS give to Pepper after...after he’s gone. But he saves it with a melancholy smile.

He really has loved every moment of working with Stephen Strange.

Far and away, Virgil’s least favorite thing about the words etched across his shoulders is their ambiguousness. ‘By the way, I love you.’ What did that even mean? What was he supposed to do with that? According to his parents, it’s whatever the last words you say are to the person in life that you care most about. According to Virgil, it’s irritating and an annoyingly popular conversation piece. According to his little brother, Patton, it’s incredibly sweet, and he can’t wait to meet whoever it is that makes Virgil feel so strongly.

Virgil has avoided using any combination of those words as if the phrase itself were a pariah, all the way through the tumble down the stairs, all the way through the ambulance ride, all the way through the humming lights of the hospital, all the way to Patton’s bedside. His parents couldn’t even be there, too busy for another fall, another false alarm, Patton got hurt all the time, so why bother worrying? Why bother being concerned about the incessant itching on Virgil’s shoulders as he whispers through his broken sobs.

This is an absolutely correct headcanon. How did you know I LOVE that? Italian Maria raising Tony to know his heritage is LIFE.

Anyway.

For this one, I’m actually just gonna give you a plot I came up with a while back that I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to writing.

TW for mentions of domestic abuse and child abuse bc Howard Stark.

Kinda wanna steal this for my IM3 AU, but it doesn’t quite fit.

So. IM1 AU.

Stephen and Christine are hanging out on a rare night they both have off. There’s a blaze across the sky. 

“Make a wish, Stephen,” Christine would laugh.

And Stephen would make a wish, pretending that Christine was being silly and childish so she wouldn’t ask what he wished for.

Several minutes later, they’re both called in.

To perform surgery on Tony Stark. Who crashed in an experimental suit of flying armor.

Pepper there to have them sign NDAs bc they really don’t need news getting out of their CEO nearly killing himself just after he’s gotten back from captivity. And bc they need to keep this so close to the chest, Stephen gets stuck doing follow-up where he’d usually pass it on to someone else so he could move on to the next big surgery.

He gets to know Tony - snarking ensues - and they fall in love.

Oh nice.

For this, I’d do a post-Endgame fic and have Stephen dreaming of Tony - alive, healthy, and so happy in love with him. And then the dream always turns. Shifts to some memory of those alternate timelines that Stephen worked so hard to avoid. Shifts to Tony dying.

Stephen always wakes crying out for Tony, knowing that he’s long-dead.

Wong hands him a book on blocking out dreams one day, but Stephen can’t bear the thought of using the spells within.

The nightmares are worth it - just to see Tony happy for the little bit that he can.