Re: Dr Strange!
That had been unwise for many reasons; he would undoubtedly feel guilty about what he'd done later, but right now, all the dark power he'd grabbed dropped away, and he was promptly slapped in the face with exhaustion that nearly staggered him. Loki's babble of delight and praise was like sugar cake, something that provided an immediate rush of energy that he knew wouldn't last, but would be enough. There had been a reason he'd done what he'd done, after all, and it was entirely centered on the need to free Loki.
He tried to smile as he stepped closer to the circle of runes, tried to comfort and reassure even as he assessed Loki's condition. It was perhaps worse than he thought, but better than could be expected, given the surroundings. He would have to fully diagnose later, but he itched with the need to pour fluids and warmth into him; the brightness of the Cloak against the gray scrubs was a start. "You were quite well-hidden," he said, and his voice was still rough with fatigue and unsteady with near-grief. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."
But he had this to deal with. Stephen examined the runes with the same care that he'd examined Loki, and this was something that he couldn't rip apart, or use reflexes and old knowledge in a new way. He stretched out his hand, and if the fingers trembled, it was exhaustion rather than injuries he no longer had. Carefully, he sketched a sphere, a green glowing circle of runes, and pressed it forward until it encountered the resistance of the runes, and started vibrating.
It was like finding the correct resonance that shattered a glass with sound alone; the magic eating rune tried to draw from a magic-repelling rune, and the contradiction made the laws of magic complain until one of them shattered.
And it wasn't Stephen's.
He felt the effect immediately, a stream of magic trickling back into what had been a dammed pond, an easing of a metaphysical pressure. There was more, but he needed to take another breath, and let the magic readjust itself in the room.