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The next time America appeared, she had brought a picnic basket. Stephen watched silently as she set up a veritable spread of Earth foods, from donuts to deli sandwiches to drinks.
"Doctor St- Stephen? I came back, just like I said I would. And I brought food this time! Just... I didn't know what you wanted, so I got a bit of everything that my universe's Stephen and Wong like to eat."
Stephen blinked, drifting closer. He hadn't eaten anything in so long, the magic roiling in his soul sustenance enough for his own body, but the smells... it had been so long.
"You're not a hallucination, are you?" Stephen asked quietly, wincing when America spun around with a yelp and a half finished mandala around her wrists. "Sorry, sorry, I should have made some noise before I snuck up on you."
"No, you're... you're alright. Sorry. A bit jumpy after all the multiverse... stuff." America cleared her throat and waved vaguely at the last word. Stephen nodded sympathetically and sat down cross-legged, looking at the spread with curiosity.
"How did you find me here? There should be no way you could be able to..." Stephen trailed off, unsure of how to finish the sentence. He'd seen the multiverse, had made friends from other universes. There would be no reason someone would be unable to find him. It was more like no one had any reason to be looking for him, and wasn't that a depressing thought? The number of people who knew he was alive could be counted on two hands, one if you disregarded the two locked in eternal battle in their own pocket dimension.
America shrugged, taking a big bite out of one of the deli sandwiches. "I've always been able to travel the multiverse. Right now, though, I've got it under control. Previously I just jumped whenever I was under stress."
"Ah." Stephen accepted one of the sandwiches that America pushed towards him, slowly unwrapping it. The smell of ham hit him like a punch to the face, and he had to take several deep breaths to calm himself down. It almost tasted too strong, he mused as he took his first bite of food. But the textures, the taste... magic might sustain him now, but nothing could beat the taste of real food.
"Good?"
He looked up to see America watching him, her half eaten sandwich forgotten on her lap.
"Yeah." He swallowed. "Don't get me wrong, sustaining on magic is fine, but eating real food beats that any day."
America smiled. She had a nice smile (when was the last time anyone smiled at him? Christine? Peggy? The Guardians?).
Stephen took another bite of his sandwich.
For someone who had been trapped in a pocket dimension for eons, Stephen looked surprisingly sane. On the surface, at least. America couldn't vouch for anything else, but he just looked tired. Ashen skin, eye bags so deep they were purple and fingers that seemed just a little too sharp, but other than that, he was still fundamentally Doctor Strange.
Which made her wonder why. Why had he become like this? She had snuck a look at his hands while he was savouring his sandwich and was surprised to find that they were scarless and completely steady.
"I can see you staring, Miss Chavez."
She jerked guiltily, ripping her gaze from his hands and focusing on his face instead. "Sorry, I just-"
"Curious about me? You can ask me two questions. It's only fair." Stephen offered. "You told me how you could find me, and you brought me this picnic."
"Really?"
Stephen arched an eyebrow. "Is that your first question?"
"No!" America smiled to herself. Even now, his sarcasm was still intact. "Um... what happened to make everything... like this?"
"You're not beating about the bush, are you?" Stephen sighed, setting down the sandwich. She couldn't be sure, but it looked like a dragon head snuck out from under his cloak and snapped it up.
"It happened a long time ago. Essentially, instead of losing my hands in my fateful accident, I lost Christine. My heart." Stephen bowed his head, grief etched into every weary line of his form. "I couldn't accept it. I broke taboos, hundreds of them, trying and trying to reverse an Absolute Point. Well... I did, and this was what happened."
"Oh." America whispered. "That's terrible."
"A dear friend once told me that there is a fine line between devotion and delusion. Love can break more than your heart. It can shatter your mind." Stephen raised his shoulder in a half-shrug. She couldn't help but think that her universe's Stephen wouldn't be caught dead doing something so casual and had to hold in a snicker.
"You seem sane to me." America pointed out. Stephen looked momentarily surprised, before he glanced down at his hands.
"Yes, well. I've had time. There's not a lot of things you can do here. Other than think."
"Do you miss anyone?" America asked.
"Christine." Stephen said immediately. "Wong. The Ancient One, and sometimes Mordo. That's it."
"That's it?"
"That's it." Stephen confirmed. "And maybe the deli around the corner of the Sanctum. Is there where you got these sandwiches?" He smiled when America laughed unexpectedly.
"Yeah, I got those from there. Wong loves the tuna melt there."
Stephen smiled wistfully. "I know."
When America stepped through the portal, she was met with Doctor Strange and Wong, both with very unimpressed looks on their faces.
"Where did you go." Wong said. "We tried everything to find you, but you just... vanished."
America took a deep breath. "Okay. I know this might sound a little crazy, but I made friends with something in another dimension. I've been visiting him."
Doctor Strange raised an eyebrow, and America took it as encouragement to keep going.
"I met you, Doctor Strange."
"Other... me? You went back?" Doctor Strange looked vaguely panicked at that, but America waved her hands to catch his attention before he dove back into the multiverse.
"No! Well, yes! But he's harmless."
Wong snorted. "In no universe is Stephen 'harmless', America."
"Point taken." America admitted. "But he didn't mean me any harm. I just talked to him. I also brought him a picnic. He- he lost Christine, instead of his hands."
Wong and Doctor Strange froze.
"Christine?" Doctor Strange whispered at last. "I- I lost Christine in that universe?"
"Yeah, and it really messed you up. I didn't pry, but you looked terrible there."
"Excuse me." Doctor Strange swept away, a portal to the New York Sanctum opening in front of him. "I have to go."
Wong cast her a look. "He's not mad, just worried."
"What, like a mother hen?" America snorted.
"Yes. Exactly like a mother hen. He fretted a lot when you were missing, America." Wong sighed deeply. "Exploring the multiverse is dangerous. As much as Stephen hates to admit it, he has grown attached to you. Every time you leave this universe, there is a chance that you might disappear from his life entirely."
"Oh." America felt like someone had hit her over her head. "I... I thought he just wanted to protect me from causing anymore multiversal breaks."
"That too, but Stephen is a kind person at heart. He... well, it's not my story to tell. You should ask him."
America nodded numbly, watching Wong walk away.
"Yeah. Okay." She said out loud. "I'll... I'll ask him."