Chapter Text
Strange walked in the field of wheat stretching infinitely forward, it was so large he couldn't see the end of it. He took his scythe and mowed down large chunks of wheat dropping right into his bucket, his lunch today.
He took his bucket back to the small ranch he called home, got inside and it was even more spacious than it looked from outside. the golden walls and velour covering the floor was incredibly soft and shiny. "I'm home!"
Childs came running to him, a young girl with her brother, little strange he called them. "What are my strange little creature doing! I'll eat both of you if you don't let go in three, two..."
They scattered right away, giggling and laughing aloud. Strange went to the kitchen to drop his bucket of wheat and began processing it into a soft, meaty loaf of bread. His hands steadily slicing this loaf of bread to make thick sandwiches for his family. Just as he was about to put the condiments, a sleek pair of hands embraced him from behind with a soft voice speaking into his ear. "I'm home, darling. What are we eating for diner?"
He answered. "Sandwiches, I felt like it today."
She snickered. "Yeah right, make sure not to grow lazy like your dad, you two."
Both kids agreed. "Nuh-uh!"
He kept on making these sandwiches. "Can't a man have one day to rest in the week?"
The woman was seated at the table. "I never said that, I know we've been eating good this past week."
Both kids agreed. "Huh-uh!"
Strange stacked these sandwich together into a tower, sliced it in four and they had a long club sandwich for dinner. "I can never rest with you all, you're all so Strange!"
Both kids laughed at this dumb joke. The woman wasn't impressed. "Really, is that the best you could come up with? We may need to call a real doctor to fix your funny bone, because it's broken."
Strange served the meal, one slice for each of them. The kids started eating right away, not even waiting until everyone was served. "Hey, you rascals, it's impolite to eat before everyone has been served."
They, once again, agreed. "Nuh-uh!"
"They are taking after their father pretty well, don't you think?"
Strange looked at the last slice he had to give to his wife. "Who do you think raised them so well!?"
He dropped the slice right on her plate and she took a fork to take a bite. "Let's enjoy this succulent meal, grace from your father."
both kids agreed. "Huh-uh!"
Strange sat down, took a bite of his own meal, it tasted incredible, once again, he surprised himself. "I love you all, but especially you, Christine."
He finally took the time to look her in the eyes, or where they should have been, since there remained only a blank visage without any feature, she kept sticking the fork where her mouth should have been, to no avail. "It's really good, you're a really good cook! Making plain sandwiches taste so good takes real skills, it's almost magic!"
Strange took upon himself. "There, you spilled some on your shirt, let's clean it right away."
He flicked his hand and the shirt cleaned up fully. "It's that easy!"
He looked over his children, both in awe at his magic. Their eyes as widened as they could be. "Dad! That's awesome! Show us more!"
He reluctantly agreed. "All right, but we'll need to go to the basement for that, are you ready to enter the basement?"
One ominous wooden door contrasting heavily against the luxurious background, it stood there, with no lock and no handle, it simply opened. The concrete stairs heading down were wet, both kids looked down, conflicted in their emotions, they wanted to learn more magic, but at the same time, the basement was unknown and it scared them both. "Nuh-uh! We're good!"
Christine embraced them both from behind. "One day, Stephen, one day, we'll be waiting for you down there. Reach for us."
Stephen Strange woke up in his luxurious suite, fitting for a sorcerer supreme... ex-sorcerer supreme, the whole timeline shift kept messing with his head. five years gone in less than a second, that would obviously mess with anyone's head.
He woke up succinctly, cold sweat dripping from his forehead onto the luxurious pillows. Yet another awful dream, what could be its meaning? According to arcane books he had read, dreams can be a window into the multiverse where all these different thoughts converge into the mind of the dreamer, sometimes even showing full cinematic events through the eyes of your peers from a different universe.
Obviously, not all dreams were like this, the random dream where he saved the princess in his youth from a mythical dragon and became prince of the mushroom kingdom was just that, a dream where his inner thoughts and desire transcribed in the form of images in his brain, nothing more, nothing less.
Sometimes, he wondered how many dreams were actually peeking through this impossible veil, the multiverse was a complex things even for such knowledgeable people like the sorcerers. The ancient one could have taught him so much more if she was still alive.
He promptly woke up from his bed, dressed up well in a smoking and tie, today was a memorable day he wouldn't have missed for anything in this world, Christine's marriage.
He wasn't just lucky he got to come back at just this present time, it was planned, one of the 14 million futures he got to witness, one of the only ones where Christine lived...
His watch in hand, broken from the first time he got to Kamar Taj, a memorabilia of his failure as a human being, his failure as a mentor to Christine who willingly, from the grace of her heart, gave him this watch.
Ready, he gobbled a light breakfast before departing for the wedding, he couldn't afford to be late.
Wanda woke up to noises coming from downstairs, was it time already? She stood up, stretched a bit from her nap and went downstairs to greet those visitors disturbing her peace. "Who's the rascals making all that noises! Mom will be furious!"
Both children, her children looked at her, the hand straight inside the cookie jar and pulling one more cookies right in front of their mother. "Wah! It's the monster under the bed!"
They tried to scatter, but every door led back to the living room where Wanda waited for them. "You will answer for your crime against the order of this household! Diner is right around the corner!"
She grabbed them both in her arms so they wouldn't run off, they were now caught. Wanda became slightly more serious. "It's important to eat your fill during lunches, because snacks aren't healthy to young boys like you two."
They both reluctantly let go of their prizes, mom's famed cookies. "Okayyy."
She reassured them. "Don't worry, we'll have one for desert, it's also important to get plenty of sugar for these developing brains."
The smile on their face widened. "Uhm!" And they both left running into the yard, playing with all the toys they could want.
Wanda swore to herself these children would never miss anything more, they already missed their dad, they didn't need more to worry about.
The front bell rang, someone came to visit? She answered the door to doctor Strange in his robe. "Good morning, doctor. What can I do for you today?"
Doctor Strange asked her simply, "Can I come in? I'd like to discuss some important matters with you today."
Wanda reluctantly opened the door to this doctor of the arcane. "I hope you are not bringing bad news here, this is a quiet household and I wish it to remain as such."
Doctor Strange sat at the table in the kitchen looking out into the yard. "How are the kids?"
"They are as feisty as ever, they just don't learn their lessons do they? Such is the fate of a parent!"
Strange smiled, he had no ideas. "That's great! In due time, they will learn. What about you, Wanda, holding up to the task?"
Wanda relinquished. "It's very difficult, raising them is hard work, especially since I'm alone, I have no more time to myself and it's increasingly difficult to answer every one of their demands without magic..."
Magic, and more specifically, sorcery ruined her life at... it ruined her life until now! She was determined to give these boys a natural and fulfilling life!
Strange asked again. "But, are you holding up?"
Wanda, without hesitation. "Yes, I would trade them for nothing in the world! I just, maybe wished they could have their dad with them too."
Strange reassured her. “We all want what’s best for our children, even Vision would agree with this and that’s why… that’s why you must keep your heads up! You’re not alone, I’ll help you get through with this and you’ll come out stronger out of this ordeal! Believe!”
Wanda was now more assured than ever. “Yes, I’ll push through all that shit so my children can live normal lives!”
That’s the spirit, Stephen Strange stood up and walked over to the children, patting their head as they kept playing, but curiously wondered who this strange man was. “Mister? Are you going to hurt Mother?”
Strange wore his sweetest smile. “Of course not, youngling, I’m here to make sure she recovers fully.”
He squatted beside them and whispered to them. “In truth, I’m here to make sure she grows well, just like she’s doing for you two. She’s still just a child who needs guidance in this world and I’ll help her reach her potential as the greatest witch of our times.”
Both children looked wondrously at this strange man in robe. “So our mother will be strong!? So cool!”
Strange finally headed back, addressing Wanda one last time before leaving. “Be careful, miss Maximoff, there may be troubles up ahead but if you ever need help, I’ll gladly provide some!”
Doctor Strange was a nice man, he’s been checking on her ever since… forever, he’s always checked up on her every morning to make sure she raises her children well. He was a good man and he assured her that her every need would be fulfilled as long as she remains in this house, her and her children. That could be lonely sometimes, but her children didn’t seem to mind, and she didn’t really mind either, because as long as she had her children, she could endure anything thrown at her. “Thanks for everything, Doctor Strange.”
And the doctor flew away with his mystical cape, disappearing behind the houses, leaving Wanda alone in her large house identical to every other house in this seemingly endless neighborhood.
Strange stood in the middle of Kamar Taj, looking at the large library of books, he read them all, all but one.
The darkhold stayed in the forbidden lecture of the library, books that were too dangerous to read or even lay eyes on. Cagliostro’s studies of time sat right next to it ever since the zealot Kacillius used it to summon Dormammu, it’s been restored and hidden there so no more accidents could occur.
Doctor Strange now held the book in his hand, the darkhold and its many secrets. The curiosity was killing him, what could be hidden within its page that was so dangerous and why shouldn’t he look preemptively?
Wong grabbed the book within his hands. “Be careful, Strange, I know it can be tempting to read the most forbidden of manuscripts, but they are forbidden for a good reason.” He locked it back behind the enchanted chains of the library, unable to be detached by any normal sorcerer.
“Don’t you think there’s something in there that could explain the universe? What about dreams? You think the darkhold could hold the answer for these questions?”
Wong nodded his head from side to side. “Even if there was, it would only be one answer out of many. The darkhold doesn’t hold the truth of the universe as much as the sorcerer supreme’s requiem. Some forces in this universe are simply beyond our understanding and steering clear of their path can allows us to never worry about them.”
Strange rebuked. “I’ve been having these nightmares for the past few months now! Ever since the… ‘Incident’ with Spider man. They always show me an alternate universe where I could be happy, where everything turned out right! And I want to know how they did it so that…”
Wong sternly warned him. “Do not even think about it, Strange. This could be the biggest affront you could ever bring to the world, some things are better left unchanged, because a simple flap from a butterfly’s wings…”
“…Can create tornadoes at the other end of the world, I know how it works, it’s exactly how we defeated Thanos, one little change that rippled into a tumultuous chain of events that reversed the outcome of the infinity war, the war over the infinity stones… Speaking of this, what happens now that the infinity stones were destroyed? How are these forces regulated now?”
Wong replied solemnly. “Somethings are simply beyond our comprehension, Strange, they were probably governed by something from beyond our universe, maybe even beyond our realm. The fact their destruction didn’t collapse the universe is proof they were never the sole proprietor of their capacity. Speaking of, aren’t you gonna be late? You don’t have the time stone, so you better get to that wedding before it starts.”
Indeed! Strange instinctively looked at his watch, but it was broken and the clock on the wall indicated a different timezone. “You’re right! I almost forgot!”
Wong snickered. “After pestering us about it for weeks, you better make the best of it now, live in the present!”
Strange changed his clothes, hid his robe below his suit and tie. “I’ll make sure of it!”
With his sling ring, he opened a portal straight into the venue in the man’s bathroom and jumped through the hoop, closing the portal behind him and leaving someone stranded on the floor of Kamar Taj. “Huh! Where am I? What happened!?”
Wong sighed, Strange was still too careless to handle the job of sorcerer supreme. “Don’t worry, sir, I’ll send you back to the wedding.”
This poor man who simply backed into a portal unaware, would now be fully aware of the arcane prowess of the sorcerers, but he’d be stuck for a while with strange dreams about portals and such.