Chapter Text
Stephen knew it was going to be a rough day when he awoke to a fierce ache eating away at his body. Obviously, his hands were the primary source of affliction, but lingering pains from his distant accident and current life as a sorcerer certainly made themselves known.
Groaning, he reached over to his bedside table, grabbing a useless dose of Advil. After about five more minutes, Cloak took it upon itself to bring over his hand wraps.
What was he going to do this weekend without Cloak?
Rogers had this great idea to bring together the Avengers and some of their regular “consultants” (namely Stephen and Peter) for a weekend of team bonding. Apparently, they were supposed to spend their time out in the woods, learning more about each other and building trust. Or some bullshit like that.
Stephen was actually not completely against the idea until Rogers added the caveat that there was to be no usage of weapons, suits, or most importantly, powers.
Everyone readily agreed, leaving Stephen greatly outnumbered. But, he figured not too many people had to use their powers or tech just to function most days.
Daily life was unreasonably difficult for him. His lack of fine motor control and struggle against chronic pain didn’t bode well for him, hence his dependence on magic and Cloak to perform basic tasks.
This was going to be a long weekend.
Deciding to get the most out of his last hour with magic, he shortcutted his way into getting dressed and packing his bag, making sure to include his pain meds, TENS unit, heating pads, and some comfortable clothes.
Decked out in his finest joggers and t-shirt, he decided to pull on a large hoodie, effectively hiding most of his bandaged hands and wrists. He didn’t need anyone asking questions about that.
He pulled Cloak off his shoulders, apologizing for their forced separation.
Opening a portal, he stepped out about a block away from the Avengers tower where they were all meeting. Even the short walk up to the entrance was a bit taxing without Cloak’s support. He could feel the deepening tightness in his lower back and a sharp burning in the shoulder carrying his duffle bag.
By the time he reached the tower’s penthouse, he was sure he looked like hell. His shaky hands being on full display without the usual cover from Cloak only added to his self-consciousness.
“Okay, everyone,” Rogers began. “Welcome to team bonding weekend. In the spirit of normalcy, we are going to be taking a van up to Syracuse.”
“You are kidding, right?” Tony shot back. “We own a literal quinjet.”
“No, Tony. It's a good exercise to get familiar with sharing space for extended periods of time,” Rogers replied.
“Come on, Mr. Stark! It’ll be fun! Road trip!” Peter exclaimed, way too energetic for it being about 7 in the morning.
“Fine. Only because you are so excited about it,” Tony gave in.
Stephen kept drifting throughout the conversation, desperately trying to accept the concept of riding in a car for any length of time, especially around people he didn’t know very well. As much as he hated to admit it, he definitely had PTSD associated with his accident.
He’d tried in the last few years to ride in cars occasionally, and he certainly had gotten more comfortable, but it still made him incredibly anxious. Not to mention the physical toll that sitting in a car for five hours would take on him.
“Hey, Merlin,” Tony’s called, pulling Strange out of his train of thought. “You okay?”
“Huh… Yeah, yeah. I’m fine,” he stuttered back, shoving his hands into his hoodie pouch.
Tony gave him a knowing look, and frowned slightly. Stephen was fairly certain that Tony had run an extensive background check on him when he first started helping with Avengers business. It was more than likely that the man knew almost everything about him, or at least whatever was documented online.
“Do you want to drive?” Tony asked, trying to discern what would make the experience easier for Stephen.
“No, I have no desire to ever drive again,” Stephen returned quietly, certain that everyone else was out of earshot.
Tony simply nodded, understanding that nothing beyond hounding Rogers to forgo the van ride was going to help. And Strange definitely didn’t want that attention.
Before he could fully grasp what was going on, Stephen was on the back bench seat, sandwiched between the van’s side door and Peter. Tony sat on Peter’s other side. Luckily, Peter was quite small, so Strange had some room to breathe. Probably Tony’s doing.
Ahead of them, Clint and Natasha sat in the second row while Steve drove and Banner sat shotgun as the navigator.
Stephen took a large dose of Benadryl before they even left the garage in an attempt to quell his motion sickness from sitting so far back in the vehicle. And if it made him a bit drowsy, then that was an intended bonus.
By the end of the first hour, Strange had settled his nerves for the most part, partaking in subtle breathing exercises and calming techniques. But the ache in his back and shoulders wasn’t helping his attempt at an easeful trip. The cramped space and restricted seating position had already started assaulting his damaged body.
Normally, Cloak would act as a sort of brace whenever he started hurting, and he rarely stayed in one position for any quantity of time. He felt trapped. Aching, uncomfortable, and trapped.
Shifting almost constantly, Stephen stuck his hand behind his back to offer some semblance of support. Luckily, Peter had fallen asleep against Tony within the first fifteen minutes, so Strange didn’t have to worry about tipping him off or jostling him.
A little while later, he felt a hand lightly touch his upper arm, making him jump slightly. Tony.
“Need to stop?” Tony mouthed almost silently. The rumble of the road drowned out any sound waves that did escape.
Stephen stared at him for a couple of seconds before hesitantly nodding.
“Hey, Cap,” Tony shouted up to the front, but not before covering his hands over Peter’s ears and checking to see that the sleeping Clint in front of him had his hearing aids out.
“What, Tony?”
“Can we stop at the next gas station or something?”
“Seriously? It’s only been like two hours.”
“Yes, seriously. The bladder wants what it wants,” he called back, winking at Strange.
Stephen felt a small smirk manifest on his face, somewhat touched that Stark actually cared for some reason.
“Fine. There’s a rest stop in a couple miles,” Cap announced.
Stephen had never been so glad to smell the cloud of urine and exhaust that seemed to emanate from rest stops.
After Cap’s announcement to return to the van in 10 minutes, almost everyone headed off to the bathrooms or vending machines.
Tony shifted up to Clint’s old seat, leaving Strange to stretch out on the bench seat.
“At first, I just thought it was a car thing from your accident. But, there’s something else going on, right?” Tony questioned, quite boldly in Stephen’s opinion.
After a few moments of silence, Stephen decided to come clean, at least with Tony. It was logical to have someone in his corner.
“My accident did more than just fuck up my head,” Strange asserted vagely.
“Meaning?” Tony didn’t back down.
“It ruined my hands, obviously,” Strange said, holding up a scarred, shaking hand into Tony’s view. He’d taken off the prominent bandages when he shed his sweatshirt as the temperature started rising.
“And it fucked up the rest of your body,” Tony stated.
“Yeah,” Strange confirmed. “It’s usually not so bad when I have my cloak and can use magic to help. And when I’m not stuck in a car.”
Tony nodded. “I used to have pretty bad chronic pain when I had the arc reactor in my chest,” he began. “Not to be that asshole who tries to make it about himself. I just thought you should know that I can empathize. And run interference with Cap, if you want.”
Stephen nodded slightly in agreement, closing his eyes and relaxing his head against the seat, partially out of embarrassment and partially out of a need for relief.
Unfortunately, it was only a few minutes before they could hear the others start to approach the vehicle. It was honestly a miracle that this team could ever successfully accomplish a surprise attack with how loud they were.
Stephen quickly sat back up, but decided to move to the other side of the bench, not wanting his more troubling shoulder to have any possibility of getting bumped by Peter.
Tony didn’t question it, and instead, sat in Strange’s old seat just before Peter climbed in between them once again.
After several more pain-filled hours, they finally arrived at their campsite. Stephen let out a sigh of relief at the sight of cabins instead of tents. Thank God.
They all unloaded from the van and ended up standing around in a poorly constructed circle awaiting Cap’s instruction.
Apparently it was much colder upstate than Stephen had expected when he had taken off his hand wraps and sweatshirt. Everyone else seemed to be fine, if not a little chilly, but Strange was struggling.
He had greatly impaired blood flow to his hands, resulting in his fingers feeling absolutely frozen. Numbness to the point of pain.
He felt that rubbing his hands together would garner too much attention, so he settled for shoving them in his pants pockets and internally pleading that they went inside soon.
Tony nudged his arm slightly before pressing a couple of those HotHands packets against his wrist.
At a questioning glance from Stephen, Tony succinctly explained, “Grabbed a pack at the last gas station.”
Stunned at Tony’s forethought, he accepted the heaters and slid them down into his pockets.
“Okay. Cabin assignments,” Cap announced. “Clint and Natasha, you are in Cabin 1. Banner and I are in Cabin 2. Stark, Strange, and Peter, you guys are in Cabin 3.”
Relieved at his roommate situation (or at least half of it), Strange gave Tony a small nod.
Everyone started walking to their assigned cabins as Cap shouted, “Meet back at the firepit in an hour!”
Groaning at the notion of going back outside, Strange trekked alongside Tony and his ward to their weekend housing.
In their cabin, there were two twin-sized bunk beds. Great.
“Hey, Pete,” Tony called. “You good with sleeping up top? That way us old guys don’t have to climb any ladders.”
“Yeah, for sure!” Peter replied, rapidly scrambling up to the bed above Tony’s.
Stephen, again, nodded at Tony in thanks. He definitely wasn’t up to climbing.
The three of them unpacked some of their things and straightened up the cabin. Tony went back into the hallway to check out the bathroom situation and set out his toiletries.
Walking back into the main room, he called, “Hey, Merlin. Did you bring any--”
“Shhh! Mr. Stark!” Peter interrupted in a quiet tone. He pointed down at Strange.
Said wizard was completely passed out on the tiny bed. Unfortunately, he was quite a tall and lanky man, so he didn’t fit very well, but he still didn’t look like he would be waking up anytime soon.
Pain and anxiety can wear you down. Tony knew that for sure.
“Is he okay?” Peter questioned, staring at the dark circles around Strange’s eyes and listening to the eerily quiet tones of his breathing.
“I’m sure he’s fine,” Tony lied. “It’s been a long day for us non-superhuman people.”
“Sucks to suck,” Peter teased, laughing softly.
Tony and Peter made their way out to the team bonfire right on time, sans sorcerer.
Everyone else had already gathered around, talking and starting to roast hotdogs and marshmallows on the provided sticks. It was evident that the team was wondering about the lack of the wizard, but no one was going to say anything. Except for Steve, obviously.
“Hey, Tony,” Steve said. “Can I talk to you over here?”
Tony followed Steve to a secluded section of the woods, just out of earshot of the fire.
“Where’s Dr. Strange?” he questioned. “Everyone is supposed to be participating. Especially him if he wants to become a more natural part of the team.”
Tony didn’t even know where to start with that, but he figured most important things first.
“He fell asleep about a half hour ago. I think he had a late night,” Tony skated around the truth. “Not all of us are enhanced supersoldiers.”
Clearly not pleased, but not wanting to cause a fight on the first night, Cap simply nodded and walked back to the group.
Yeah, this was going to be a long trip.