The Sanctum Sanctorum was quiet now.
After the upgrades and warding runes had been completed, Tony found Stephen standing alone in the atrium, gazing out a window that looked over nothing in particular. Tony stepped forward, his voice low but steady.
"Can we talk? Privately."
Stephen turned slightly, one brow arching in curiosity. "Of course. What is it, Stark?"
Tony exhaled, like he was already tired of the conversation he hadn't started yet. "In the future you saw… was Spider-Man involved?"
Stephen's expression darkened. "Yes. Peter Parker."
He folded his hands behind his back. "Every outcome where he lived, he fought. Bravely. Selflessly. In every timeline I saw… Peter dies a hero. Or lives with the kind of scars no kid should carry. He's… important."
Tony's face shifted from curiosity to steel. "How long have you known his identity?"
Stephen hesitated, then said quietly, "Since the moment Bruce fell through the roof of the Sanctum. When he kept asking for you, I consulted the Time Stone. It showed me… possibilities. Timelines branching like shattered glass. Some where Earth burns. Some where it's saved barely. In all of them… Peter, you, Loki, Wanda, Vision, and yes myself were central."
Tony took a long, heavy step back. His voice was suddenly sharp. "And you didn't think we deserved to know that? That I deserved to know that?"
Stephen's face remained composed, but his voice softened. "Tony, I understand why you're angry. I would be too. But if I share too much, too soon… it changes outcomes. It breaks balance. Some victories aren't really victories. I've seen timelines where we 'win' only for the universe to crumble under the weight of that win. We don't just need to stop Thanos. We have to do it the right way."
Tony's fists clenched. "I don't need a lecture on balance. I need answers. Because I'm standing here with a half built plan and a team that barely looks me in the eye, and you " he pointed, voice lowering "you've been sitting on an intergalactic cheat sheet."
Stephen looked at him then, not with condescension, but with weariness. "I'm sorry. I truly am. I know you like to be ten steps ahead. I know how it feels to carry the burden of everyone's survival. But I've lived those steps, Tony. And every one of them ends in fire if I make the wrong call. I'm not your enemy. But I'm not your assistant, either."
They stood in silence.
Then, Tony took a breath. Closed his eyes. When he opened them, some of the fury had ebbed.
"Alright. You're coming to the Compound. We're going to put every piece of this puzzle on the table. Every branch you've seen. You and me we're going to work through them. Because two genius heads are better than one."
Stephen gave a cautious nod. "Agreed. But why the Compound?"
Tony smirked faintly. "Because it has F.R.I.D.A.Y. And my liquor. I told Happy to take the jet back. I figured I might need a lift home. And let's be honest—you don't exactly stock the good stuff here."
Stephen raised a brow, amused. "So that's it? Booze and an AI?"
Tony turned, already walking toward where Stephen could conjure a portal. "You got it, Dumbledore. Come on. We've got a multiverse to unbreak."
Stephen chuckled softly, and with a flick of his fingers, the Cloak of Levitation settled across his shoulders. A portal shimmered to life.
Later, at the Compound, Stephen followed Tony into a private lounge tucked behind the main lab. Stark tech lined the walls, glowing with quiet precision. Tony wordlessly told F.R.I.D.A.Y. to lock it down, then made his way to the bar.
Stephen watched him disappear behind the sleek counter, the clink of glass and the low hum of the AI filling the silence.
His fingers tapped the armrest once, then stilled.
His mind drifted not to Tony, but to the millions of futures he had seen splinter and collapse.
To the weight of choosing this one.
To the knowledge he couldn't yet share.
Stephen's jaw tightened.
Was it relief he felt? Or dread?