-Unbetaed and a non native speaker so please kindly point out any mistakes.
It was five days later after Wong found Stephen that Christine had the chance to visit him in the Avengers Compound. She'd like to visit sooner but ER doctors were always busy—especially now since they needed to treat the newly revived people who were injured before the snap.
She had kept in touch with Wong after Thanos' infamous snap (She still couldn't believe the snap was literal and plenty of magic and jewelleries were involved). Wong told her that Stephen was one of the casualties. She cried and leaned on Wong's stoical shoulders. No matter how Stephen treated her in the past, he was a changed man and she knew deep down that he was always a good man. She knew Wong also grieved for Stephen but unlike her, he needed to remain strong.
They exchanged embarrassing stories about Stephen and how dorky he could be. She wanted to keep good memories of him.
It was exhilarating to know that those people who died because of the snap could come back to life. It couldn't undo all the deaths and destructions caused indirectly by the snaps like the passengers of a bus of which driver died because of the snap but at least there were more people alive now compared to a few months ago.
She was hoping to see Stephen soon but her hope was dashed when he went missing. She already stopped hoping when Wong called her and told her the good news. Well, mostly good news. The condition Stephen was in now was not great. Wong didn't divulge too much but he said he would live.
She feared the worst like he was blind or missing a limb so she breathed a sigh of relief when she viewed from outside the medical window that at least he looked intact despite the cuts and bruises. Some of them have turned black. He looked so frail and thin though. Stephen had always been lanky but now he was definitely under-weight. Perhaps she could prescribe something to increase his appetite. She knew Stephen was capable in prescribing himself but from Wong's description he was currently lacking the drive to take care of himself.
The biggest change that shocked her was that Stephen was clean shaven. She needed to ask him about that.
She stepped into the room and cleared her throat. Stephen looked up from his reading. It was something to do with engineering. She scrunched her nose. That didn't make sense. Stephen's interest had always been biology and medicine, not engineering.
There was no sign of recognition from him but at least he wasn't afraid of her. From what Wong said, that was a great progress.
"Hi, my name is Christine Palmer. You can call me Christine. We used to work together a lot. I'm a doctor too."
Stephen stood up and raised his right hand hesitantly. She stepped forward and shook it. "I'm Stephen. Are we friends?"
She could feel the slight tremors from his hand. She squeezed it slightly to show some support. "Of course we are. We are close friends." She wanted to add we were lovers but she thought Stephen didn't need that kind of pressure, not in his current condition.
"You must be a saint then. I've read about myself in the past. Spider-Man has taught me how to search the Internet using Friday. I don't want to be friend with myself." He looked disgusted.
Christine knew that Stephen often loathed himself even back in his surgeon days. That was the reason he acted like a jerk and pushed people away. She just didn't expect him to still hate himself. Didn't Wong say he behaved like a child? Did children hate themselves? She wouldn't know because she grew up being loved by her family.
She was still holding his hand. She put her left hand on top of her right hand and put them in front of his heart. "That was the old you. But I always knew that you have a good heart buried underneath. It was hard to find but after you joined the cult, you revealed your true self." She remembered how he became much gentler and kinder after he joined the cult.
"Did I join a cult? I heard a cult is a bad thing. The cult with Mo.. with him was bad," Stephen's eyes were as big as saucers. It'd be comical if the situation was not dire.
Christine released the hand-holding and hugged him. "Sweetie, not every cult is evil. I'm pretty sure the one you join is not evil, just weird."
Stephen looked down at her expectantly. "Are you sure?"
"Positive. We're friends. Why would a friend lie to each other?"
"Mo..he said that we were friends and I was wrong. I defied the natural order. He told me that I was evil and needed to be cleansed."
Christine would personally kick Mordo's ass if she ever saw him. Post-cult Stephen was one of the nicest people she had met and she had met a lot of doctors without borders. Mordo had ruined his confidence and self-image. She hugged him tighter. "Are you going to trust someone who hurt you or people who are your friends?"
He looked at her again. "Friends?"
"Correct. What did Tony Stark say about you?"
"A pain in the ass because I didn't want to be awesome facial hair bros."
She released her hug. It was her turn to stare at him. "Why would he say that?"
"Because I shaved my beard."
She rolled her eyes. That was so typical of Tony Stark, at least the version the media liked to exploit. "Why did you shave your beard?"
"I looked up at my old pictures from the internet and I was clean shaven. I just thought that was what I usually looked like."
She giggled in spite of herself. Stephen did nothing wrong but somehow he still could offend the great Tony Stark. She touched his chin. "Well, I got used to your beard but I can get used to your old you as well." She refrained herself from adding the look that she fell in love with. "Don't worry about it. You decide what you want to look like. Don't need others to dictate you. Why are you reading engineering books?" She saw there were a pile of them in front of him.
"Tony said that it was quiet time for the Avengers so not many of them get injured. He said my mind shouldn't go to waste so I should sharpen it by reading these books. It could open my horizon and I could be a sounding board when he had ideas because I would at least know what he's talking about."
That did sound like the Tony she heard from Wong. "Do you enjoy reading them?"
He shrugged. "It's all right. I understand what they talk about but they don't interest me greatly."
"Because there is no magic in them?"
Stephen looked startled and stepped back. "Magic is bad. Why would anyone learn about magic?"
"Magic is like a knife. It's neither good nor bad. A surgeon can use it to save people's life whereas a criminal could use it to rob people. It really depends on individual. I know you're a good man and you only use magic for good. Don't let others tell you otherwise." She couldn't believe she gave a pep-talk about magic. She— an ER doctor who didn't believe in any superstition! She would really kick Mordo's ass.
"Is it true?"
"Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
Stephen just nodded and accepted it.
The old Stephen, even the late-for-the-cult-meeting Stephen would fight tooth and nail to stand firm on what he believed in.
She apparently had categorized Stephen into different states: the arrogant-confident-jerk super neurosurgeon Stephen, the post-accident broken-but-still-a-jerk Stephen, the I-accidentally-joined-not-a-cult-and-I-am-late-for-my-cult-meeting Stephen, the my-mentor-just-died so I-transformed-into-a- nicer-confident-altruistic-and-cult-leader Stephen, and now it was the post-Mordo Stephen.
She could see why Wong said something about Tabula Rasa. The current Stephen just trusted whatever people told him. She did enjoy this softer side, more childlike kind of Stephen but it was not doing Stephen any favour. The current Stephen was not dumb, he was still super smart. He was just too trusting for his own good. She shuddered and hoped Stephen wouldn't fall into some evil hands again.
She couldn't believe it but she enjoyed the cult-leader Stephen the most. She thought that was the best version of Stephen so far. (Who knew? Stephen might evolve more.)
She was surprised when she looked up for her musing to see Stephen presented him with a blue origami butterfly.
"Why do you give this to me?"
"You look sad so I thought this might cheer you up." OK, the Tabula-Rasa Stephen was also not so bad. He was very adorable, but needed to be protected at all cost.
She smiled and accepted it. "It looks nice." She was not lying, it looked really nice. "Where did you learn it from?"
"YouTube."
She burst out giggling at his answer.
"Is it ugly?" Stephen stared expectantly at her.
She shook her head. She never expected him to look this way. "I just thought you learned this from your magical cult or one of the Avengers as one of their hazing. Why did you learn this?"
"Spider-Man said reading engineering books all days would bore me to death. He said I could practice origami to improve the dexterity of my hands. He said YouTube has a lot of tutorials about them. So I just started to google them."
She said softly, mostly to herself, "So you just listen and follow whatever others told you to do." She covered her mouth realizing the implication of that statement. She hoped Stephen would not to be corrupted by anything evil that easily.
He looked at her full of concern. "Did you say something? Are you OK?"
She put on her smile. "No, I didn't. Don't worry about it. Yes, I'm fine. I'm just overwhelmed with what you give me."
"It's just a butterfly. The other day, I learned to make origami of swans and Sydney Opera House." He looked so proud.
"That's great. However, you need to be careful in following what others told you. What if they ask you doing something bad?"
"I don't see any harm in doing origami. I quite enjoy doing it. It really helps to improve the dexterity of my hands. I won't do something that would harm others. I've read the Hippocratic Oath from the internet. I also remember reading it when I wanted to be a doctor."
Christine breathed a sigh of relief. So at least Stephen wouldn't get corrupted so easily but for his own sake, it was still better for him not to get captured by a villain again. She tried to lighten the mood. "So you're a buddy with Spider-Man now. How about the other Avengers? Captain America? Thor? Black Widow?"
"I haven't met the other Avengers except for Thor and Clint Barton. The other day, Thor clasped my shoulder rather forcefully and he said he felt sorry for me. He wished my full recovery soon. He said something about he missed the infinite beer supply. I don't know what he was talking about. He is a nice guy though. Just a bit too strong."
"At your current under nutrition state, everybody will be too strong for you. Even I can push you. Have you been eating enough?"
"No appetite. I can only eat a little bit and I already feel full."
She guessed Stephen had been starved so often so he was not used to food. As if she needed more reasons to kick Mordo's ass. "I can give you something to increase your appetite. But I guess eating frequent small meals at your condition is enough. So what have you been doing besides reading books and making origami?"
"Wong asked me to practice some martial arts to protect myself. He also asked me to practice meditation. He said at my current mental state, it should be easy for me to meditate because I have less distraction in my mind. I think that was an insult to my intelligence," He looked indignant as he said that. "… but somehow I was not offended by it. I also do find it easier to meditate."
"I don't think he meant you were stupid. Simple mind doesn't mean stupid mind. You just have less clutter and worry in your mind at the moment. He meant that."
"I thought you said I shouldn't believe in anything anyone said."
"And you started picking up cynicism now?! Have I lied to you since we met today?"
He looked guiltily at his shoes. "No."
"Good. And I won't lie to you. You're too fragile at the moment. No, that was not an insult. I was just stating facts. A strong wind could blow you away right now. Just stay healthy and practice your martial arts."
"And meditation. I do enjoy it a lot."
"And meditation." She could never expect Stephen to agree easily on everything she said. It was a nice change but she missed the snarky Stephen.
"I also enjoy petting dogs. The other day, Clint brought his dog. He is called Lucky. Clint said that I have become BFFs with Lucky. I don't think it's hard because people say a dog is a man's best friend."
"I think they meant human's best friend because women like dogs too. I don't think dogs like everybody though. I think Lucky knows you're a good guy."
She knew that Stephen always loved animals and children. He would never refuse treating any children even though it wouldn't bring him fame and fortune. He said it was for good PR but she knew otherwise. Stephen would spend days researching the best treatment for the kids. He would sometime recommend alternative treatments even if he wouldn't be their doctor. Those were not good for PR but she would let Stephen keep up the facade. That was the reason it was hard for her to hate him. Some people said he was a psychopath who only cared for himself but she knew for a fact that was not true.
"Do you think so?" He seemed so happy about it.
"Of course, who wouldn't love you?" She couldn't believe she said such a thing to him but this Stephen was so different from the neurosurgeon Stephen.
"Well, for a start, Tony. He said I was not a loyal facial hair bro. He only came here to drop some books and ice cream. He left as soon as he could. Even Peter, I meant Spider-Man noticed that."
Christine noticed his slip and filed it under "maybe-to-check-later" as she was not that interested in knowing the secret identities of superheroes. Her friend's well-being was more important. "I'm sure it's nothing. At least he brought you ice cream. If it's bothering you so much, I could talk to him."
His eyes widened. "I don't want to bother him. I heard he is a busy man. Besides, you are also busy."
"Are you already bored of me? Do you want to kick me out?"
Stephen blushed. "No, from I read, ER doctors are super busy. I don't want anyone dying because you're here with me."
She held both of his hands, kissed them gently before releasing them. Stephen blushed harder. She smirked. There went her theory that this version of Stephen was too innocent so he wouldn't be attracted to anyone.
"Honey, they invented a day-off for a reason. I'm sure someone else is doing my work now so don't worry about it. How about you show me that Opera House and swans that you have been bragging about then we can have lunch together? If you finish your food, I can buy you a cartoon of ice cream."
"Do you promise?"
"I promise. Do you want me to do the pinky swear?"
Too her surprise, Stephen showed his right pinky in front of her. "Just like what Peter taught me."
She suppressed her smile as she did pinky-swear with the future Sorcerer Supreme.
She tried not to think too hard about the implication of this for Stephen's future. She needed to talk to Tony Stark after lunch.
Notes:
-Some reference to Sherlock was made in this chapter. Cookies for people who get them :)
-All the ships are friendships at least at Stephen's current state.
-It's canon that Stephen loves dogs. In the Doctor Strange's deleted scene, he treated a dog in Kamar-Taj before he was robbed. In the comics, he became a vet after Loki went to become the Sorcerer Supreme (it was a long story, just check the comics). Currently, he even owns a talking sassy ghost dog that anyone can see. As for loving kids, it was in the comics and also in the animated Doctor Strange movie. I'm sure the MCU version as well once we get the sequels.
-Please tell me what you think because it seemed to be a revelation chapter (so were the first three chapters).