A whole 2 days passed before Tony was getting ready to leave for the Sanctum again. After all, he had a book to return. That was all, definitely. Too bad that the book didn't really help. He would need another one.

He entered the Sanctum, ready to greet Wong on the couch again. He'd probably have to endure another snark remark- Tony stopped.

Wong wasn't there. Even worse, the usually really comfortable couch was in ruins. Christ, it looked like a lion had attacked it. A quick look around confirmed his fear, the whole Sanctum was a mess. Tony's heart skipped a beat. Stephen.

"Stephen?", he vaguely called out. No one answered. "Stephen.", he tried again. Silence. Slowly, he approached the stairs. There was something, something distinctive. He recognized it as... a grunt. A painful grunt.

Tony lost it.

"Stephen!", he screamed while practically flying up the stairs, taking 3 steps at a time. It wasn't that he doubted the sorcerer's power but he knew that everyone had a breaking point. He was scared of what he might find upstairs.

A nightmare awaited him. He wasn't sure if anything was still intact, broken pieces and bits were covering the floor, transforming it into a minefield. He froze when he spotted- in the middle of a giant pile of broken glass- a pool of blood.

"Stephen?!", he hauled while making his way to the back, desperate to find him. "Where are you?" He needed an answer, he needed to know that he was.. not okay.. but alive.

"Tony?", finally came the quiet question. Tony wanted to scream in joy, at least until he spotted the origin of the voice.

Stephen Strange was half-hidden under what might have been a display case at some point, head completely buried. Tony quickly made his way over to him and crouched down in front of him, carefully removing any obstacle from the sorcerer's face.

He looked like a trainwreck. There were cuts and bruises everywhere, an especially nasty one under his left eye. Well, that explained the pile of blood earlier. He'd clearly been shoved into glass.

And punched.

Tony's blood started to boil. "What happened to you?", he asked, voice soft and encouraging. Given any other situations, the beaten up man would have made fun of him for sounding so whiny. But right now, he seemed to welcome the attention, a strange gleam appearing in his beautiful eyes.

It shouldn't be possible to still look that good after having gotten his ass kicked.

The tall man tried to lift his hand and dismiss the situation with a wave but got interrupted by Tony seizing him by the shoulders.

"Don't you dare to tell me now that you are fine. You aren't fine, Stephen. You look like a mess." Without thinking about what he was doing, he lifted a hand to the sorcerer's face and gently pushed a lonely curl out of it.

They both froze. Tony wanted to slap himself. He was such an idiot. Coughing a bit too loudly, he lowered his hand again. "Well, yeah.. let's um.. let's get you up." With some difficulty, he managed to drag Stephen into his room.

Thankfully, his bedroom was the only place which didn't fall victim to the destruction. After Tony sat him down on his bed, back cushioned with some pillows, he took a chair and took the place opposite him.

"Now, do you need me to call a doctor?" Most of the injuries looked trivial, none of the cuts were too deep but Tony wasn't going to risk anything. Stephen was a doctor, well, had been before all the magic stuff started. He knew what would have to be done.

"No. I am fine, Anthony." There it was again, Anthony. He had been Tony a few minutes back. The genius shook his head. This wasn't the time, Stephen was wounded.

"I don't really believe you but I'll let it pass for the moment." There were way too many questions floating inside his head but one had to be answered straight away. "Are they still here?"

Stephen looked at him in confusion for a moment before catching on. "Uhm, no." He wiped some blood off his cheek which highlighted his perfect cheekbones way too much. "It was just a basic attack, nothing special. Some low-level demon."

Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Stephen, you want to tell me that a low-level demon managed this kind of destruction? One little breeze and the house will break down. Not to mention what it did to you."

The sorcerer's jaw twitched, a clear sign of annoyance. He didn't mean to offend him with his comment, he was genuinely confused. "I didn't mean to- I just. I have never seen you so beaten down."

Tony frowned, only now realizing that they were completely alone. "Where is Wong?" For a second he panicked but then again, Stephen was calm and collected. Nothing happened to him, then.

"Wong is at the Kamar-Taj.", he answered. "Along with the Cloak of Levitation." That answered one of Tony's unspoken questions. The damn thing might be a pain in the ass but there was no denying it was very loyal and protective of its... owner? He wasn't sure.

"He wanted to do some research. Couldn't have picked a worse time I guess." Stephen sighed. "This shouldn't have happened. He is going to kill me."

Tony shook his head in disagreement. "This shouldn't be your main concern. The most important aspect is that you are fine." The sorcerer tilted his head to the sight, a small smile finally appearing on his bruised face.

"Tony Stark putting one's health over everything else? Maybe the demon actually pulled me into a different universe.", he softly teased him. Tony only shrugged in return.

"Of course, as long as it isn't my health." He almost flinched. It had intended to be funny but actually hit way too close to home. "You make it sound like I don't care about the people."

Stephen made a face. "I'm sorry, Anthony. I know that it isn't true." He ran a hand through his messy hair, trying to tame it and failing completely. "And you should really take better care of yourself."

Tony waved him off. "This isn't about me. How about you contact Wong?" This conversation was starting to take a rather bad turn. "I'd do it but I have no idea how."

He watched with distaste as the other man shook his head, dismissing the idea. "I want him to come back to at least a somehow respectable Sanctum." He carefully stretched his sore muscles. "I guess I gotta start cleaning up-"

"We aren't finished, Houdini.", Tony interrupted him, ignoring the angry look he received. "I won't leave until you tell me how you ended up buried under ruins. You are one of the best fighters I have ever met."

The sorcerer dropped his head, almost looking like he was ashamed. The genius frowned, that was uncommon.