Chapter Text
So far, Stephen had had a good day. He had gotten up early to study a spell before heading out to Stark Tower, where he had sparred with some of the Avengers, as he had promised he would do from time to time. Then, Tony has invited him in his lab to show him some of his last experiments and they had had lunch together when their stomach had been too loud to be ignored anymore. Tony Stark had a great mind and a equally great heart; and he had that twisted sense of humour Stephen adored. A conversation - serious or not - with him was always a delight.
So, when he came back to the Sanctum, yes, Stephen was in a good mood. It wouldn’t last. As soon as he had entered the kitchen to make some tea, Wong went across him:
“Master Gasun visited us, today.”
No “Good afternoon”, no teasing about my visit to Stark Tower... Bad news.
“I’m sorry I missed him, how is he?”
“Bad. He doesn’t know how long he will still be able to keep the Sanctum of Hanoï.”
Wong’s face hadn’t changed while saying it, no frown, no wince... Maybe the situation wasn’t too terrible...
“Why?”
“Because the bailiffs come to the Sanctum every other week to tell him to pay his outstanding electricity invoices. The Sanctum of Hanoï is too expensive to maintain on his own funds.”
Ah.
“I understand, I’ll visit him myself tomorrow and give him some money. Gasun is a great Master, I’ll open the treasure of Kamar-Taj for him. He should have told us he was in a difficult situation earlier, we would have helped him.”
“Stephen...” Stephen knew this tone of voice... Quiet, sorry; far from Wong’s usual sassiness. “The treasure of Kamar-Taj is almost empty, sorcerers from there are just able to keep it afloat enough to purchase their food...”
“What?!” How could Kamar-Taj be this poor? “Wait, wait, how is it possible? Where did all the money go? Who is the paymaster?”
Wong had a sad smile before answering “I am the paymaster of Kamar-Taj; library and cash management come together, it’s why I can assure you we’re bankrupt. All the money went to maintain the main Sanctum, to feed our sorcerers and to install the Internet twenty years ago.”
“To install the... Ok, well, the maintenance still needs to be assured, the sorcerers to eat and supressing the Internet won’t give us any more money. We need to find a solution.”
The librarian leaned back on the kitchen counter, looking up. Then, the ghost of a half-smile pass on his face. He had an idea.
“You know... Some sorcerers have... How could I tell it? A second job. They’re usually the ones who haven’t a Sanctum to guard, though, it would be too much work, but...”
“But what?”
“Well... Since I’m almost always here, the New-York Sanctum is safe, but since I also have to often go to Kamar-Taj for the Library, I can’t take another job myself but... Maybe you could?”
The right answer would have been no, between his Sorcerer Supreme duties, the spells to learn, the new recruits to train, the Sanctum to keep, the meetings and sparring sessions with the Avengers, Stephen surely had no time for another job.
“Ok. I can’t possibly be a surgeon again, but I could phone to Christine tomorrow in the morning and ask her if Metro General need a consultant, or something.”
It stung to say such a thing, to admit he would never be a neurosurgeon again. But people he had vowed to lead and protect needed him. It wasn’t about him, it was about them and about making sure they were in the best conditions to help him to protect the World. Stephen had learned his lesson.
The half-smile was back again on Wong’s lips when he spoke.
“It would be very generous of you, but a consultant’s pay would never be sufficient. I have another idea but... I’m afraid you won’t agree.”
Hell, since when was Wong concerned by Stephen’s agreement to anything?!
“Don’t you dare speak about making balloons animals! Stark would be far too pleased!”
The situation was serious, yeah, but Stephen couldn’t help the fond smile escaping him. Yes, Tony would never stop laughing if he spotted Stephen doing such a thing. On second thought, maybe it wasn’t a bad idea...
“No, no, see: I happen to have a cousin, who has a wife, who has an aunt, who herself has a nephew who has a brother-in-law who’s also my nephew, but on the other side of the family, who owns a modelling agency, here in New-York. Maybe I could call him and ask him if he could engage you, as a favour?”
Wait, what? A cousin who has a wife whom her aunt has a nephew who...
Stephen, crossed eyes, wasn’t answering; so Wong deliver his last blow.
“Mmmh, yes, I knew you wouldn’t agree... Well, I assume I will have to tell to Master Gasun to give up on the Hanoï Sanctum. And you will have to discharge several sorcerers from Kamar-Taj, I can’t keep feeding them all, maybe we could take one or two of them with us? I’ll phone to Master Kyoko to see if he can take one of them as well, Beijing Sanctum is a little less poor than...”
But Stephen was back from his family tree nightmare and interrupted him.
“No, no, no, it’s OK, call your nephew. If it is what must be done to rescue our fellows, I’ll do it, it’s not a problem. And I’m sure it’s hardly difficult to pose for some pictures from time to time, it won’t kill me. It’s Ok.”
Most people would have thought Stephen would never ever agree to enter a modelling agency, but Wong wasn’t “most people”. Most people had never forgotten Doctor Strange had been an arrogant and selfish asshole. But they keep forgetting he had also willingly died billions of times to save the Earth from the Dark Dimension. Wong didn’t.
And Stephen wasn’t finished: “I will visit Master Gasun tomorrow, still.”
“Why?”
“I’ll give him our monthly Internet budget: we don’t absolutely need Internet here if we have it at Kamar-Taj, do we? It won’t be a lot, but I hope it will be sufficient to help him until my first pay check.”
From this moment, never tell Wong Stephen Strange is a selfish bastard if you don’t want to endure an endless fall until your dying day.
***