-Unbetaed and non native speaker so please kindly point out any mistakes.
-Warning: Canon typical violence, language, dubious physical and psychological treatment (don't do any of these treatments at home)

Stephen was in terrible pain. Before he moved his hands into some formation, Sophie immediately took action. She left her master's shoulders, wrapped herself around Loki, and flung him repeatedly to the nearest wall.

The God of Mischief yelled, "Not this trick again."

If Stephen weren't in terrible pain himself, he could have sympathized with Loki. He glanced at their direction. Loki didn't seem hurt, just angry. In fact the god was making a lot of dents to the walls. Thinking about the bill to fix the dents, Stephen winced.

He winced more as he lifted his hands to create a portal. Sophie understood what he wanted to do, she immediately flung Loki to the portal and flew out of the portal. Stephen immediately closed the portal.

He sat down heavily on the floor. Sophie hovered. He stopped her before she wrapped herself around him to stop the bleeding. "I need to check for the wounds first."

He waved his right hand to open his shirt so he could examine the wounds. He didn't really want to use magic unless it was an emergency as he needed to pay the price for magic. He didn't want to hear Wong's scolding. He deemed getting stabbed in two places could be considered as an emergency. Even Wong would understand.

He didn't feel any short of breath and didn't spay any blood during exhalation so it was likely he didn't have any punctured lungs. The wound at his stomach didn't seem to puncture any internal organs. Just to be sure,he closed his eyes and used magic to scan his wounds. He was right that his wounds were not fatal. However, he bled a lot. He started to feel lightheaded. He might need to give transfusion to himself later and consumed some antibiotic later just in case.

First thing first, he needed to stop the bleeding first then dealt with Loki.

He used magic to retrieve a chest seal, a towel, a roll of bandage, and alcohol.

He asked Sophie to remove the knife embedded to his chest first. He would've screamed at the motion if he didn't put the towel into his mouth first. He bit on the towel harder before he poured some alcohol at the wound. With Sophie's help, he used the chest seal to cover his chest wound.

They did the same thing with his abdomen. This time he used bandage to wrap around his abdomen rather than the chest seal. He felt more light headed as he exerted more magic to press his wounds to stop the bleeding . He couldn't use his hands and Sophie as he needed deal with Loki immediately. He used magic to put the towel into a special medical bin and cleaned up the mess around him.

He used the nearest wall as support for standing up. Sophie quickly came to his aid.

He sighed and grimaced as he forced himself to straighten his back to appear taller and more menacing. He drew a deep breath before opening an amber portal using his right hand that shook more than usual. Loki fell right through the portal and sprawled on the floor. Stephen quickly built a magical barrier between them so Loki couldn't attack him again which was a wise move. As soon as the God of Mischief got up, he threw a few knives toward Stephen and they clanged noisily to the floor.

"I've been falling for 47 minutes."

Stephen turned to look at the clock. It showed 1.38 pm."That can't be right. You've only been here for 17 minutes."

"I know Math. They add up."

Stephen sighed again. "What do you want? Unless you just come here to stab me then you've achieved your goal. I have other patients who really need my help."

Loki seemed surprised. "Isn't this the time for you to punch or do some other violent things to seek revenge?"

Stephen shrugged. "I'm not a fan of being stabbed but you are not the first one attacking me today. I do have busy schedule so you know your way out."

Loki was hesitant for a few minutes before walking to the nearest couch and plopped himself down.

It was Stephen's turn to be surprised. "What do you want?"

Loki pointed at the doctor."Are you sure you don't want to treat your wounds?"

Stephen looked down at his stab wounds that had stopped bleeding (because he was a damn good doctor and Master of Mystic Arts).. "These are mere scratches."

Loki eyes lit up. "Oh, I like you. I only stabbed you a little and you didn't complain much unlike Thor."

"Are you calling these a little?"

"Eh, I've inflicted worse wounds."

Stephen rolled his eyes. "What do you want? I presume you don't come here just to stab me and check the couch."

"You're really dense. I thought you were smarter. I want what you Midgardian call a therapy session. Isn't this a healing centre for heroes…" Loki rolled his eyes as he said the last word. ".., villains, and antiheroes?."

Stephen used his right hand to massage his forehead. "This is a clinic for physical ailment. Therapy is definitely not my specialty. I can recommend my ex-colleague if you want to."

"Do you want me to stab your ex-colleagues?"

"Do you stab everyone you meet?" Loki merely shrugged. "Why do I even ask?"

"Because you're …"

"Dense. Yeah, I heard you the first time." Stephen pulled a chair closer to Loki's direction. "OK, I'll try to help. But the barrier stays up."

Loki smiled. "Ah, you're smart."

Stephen crossed his legs and pulled out a notebook out of thin needed to show the Asgardian that Midgard was not to be trampled or conquered. Price of magic be damned. "You need to make up my mind. Am I smart or dense?"

"Smartly dense."

"I get called worse." He pulled out a pen out of this air. He definitely needed to use magic to be able to write with his hands' condition. "How can I help you?"

"I need my brother to trust me more."

"Perhaps if you stab him a little less, he can trust you more."

"Hey, you're not supposed to insult me. You're paid to console me."

"First, this really is not my job. I'm not a therapist. Second, we don't get paid in this clinic so no, I don't need to console you after you stabbed me."

"Meh, Thor got over it and I stabbed him at least four times a week."

"Pray to the Visanthi that I'm not Thor then. I do mind getting stabbed. You don't seem to have any problem with stabbing your brother?"

Loki shrugged. "Nah."

"I think you need moral codes."

"Are you saying that I'm immoral?"

"I'm not the best judge of character but I believe nobody likes getting stabbed. If you don't see anything wrong with stabbing people, you have a problem."

"You're such a terrible therapist and sorcerer."

"I think you either are dense or deaf. I've told you at least twice that I'm not a therapist. Why do you need your brother to trust you more anyway? You don't even like him. Otherwise, you wouldn't stab him in the first place."

"You are really hung up about the stabbing part, aren't you?"

Stephen shuddered as he suddenly he remembered the hundreds of times getting stabbed in the Dark Dimension. He drew a few deep breaths. "All sane people are. So why do you need Thor to trust your more?"

"I can't bear to see Thor's disappointed face whenever I stab or betray him. Why do I even care whether he is disappointed?"

"Perhaps you need his approval?"

"I don't care for his approval. I just can't sleep whenever I see his disappointed face. It's so annoying. Why does he keep forgiving me?"

"I think because he loves you and wants you to be good. Deep down you also want to get along with your brother but you're so used to your trickery or betrayal so you can't just change your way overnight. You want someone to help you."

"I don't need your help."

"I'm not the one lying on my couch and losing sleep."

Loki huffed. "Let's pretend that you're a good therapist which of course you are not. What do you suggest me to do?"

"I suggest talking to your brother. Say you want to change but you need his help. And try not to betray or stab him again."

"You really are the worst therapist. I'd rather have my mouth sewn shut and I have the experience of that rather than talking about feeling ."

"Do you me to talk to your brother?"

Loki sat up. "Are you going to do that?"

"I'm willing to try as long as you don't stab or harm any living being for at least three months so I can prove to Thor that you're willing to change."

"Three months? You might as well kill me. How about one day?"

"Three months."

"Three days."

"Three months."

"Your expectation is very unrealistic. One week."

"Three months."

"One month."

"Deal."

"Doctor Strange, you drive a hard bargain. If I didn't know you were any better, I'd say you didn't want me to harm anyone for one month in the first place."

Stephen put on his most innocent face. "Do you want it written in a contract or something?"

"Nah, you have my words. Asgardians always make good of their promises."

"I thought you were not an Asgardian which is part of the problems in the first place."

"I said Asgardians always make good of their promises."

Stephen nodded. "OK, I believe you. You know where to find me in one month's time and don't cheat. I'd know."

"I know you would know. Before I leave, I need to tell you something. You're not the worst therapist or sorcerer. Bye." After uttering bye, Loki disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Stephen rolled his eyes. It took a drama queen to recognize another drama queen. He pulled down the magical barrier.

He went to retrieve his phone."Friday, please remind me in three weeks time about my meeting with Loki. I need to do some preparation."

"It's done. Doctor Strange."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Stephen jumped as someone said,"I was told that talking to oneself is the sign of insanity but I guess talking to Friday doesn't count. Although making an appointment to meet with Loki might prove that you are indeed insane."

He turned around to see Clint Barton standing in his doorway. He didn't look injured but he never knew with Hawkeye. That guy was a champion of getting hurt. His inner voice that suspiciously sounded like Wong said something about pot, kettle, black but as usual he ignored Wong.

"Please come in. How can I help you?"

As Clint walked in, somebody else who was quite tall walked in as well.

Both Clint and Stephen looked up to see Frank Castle with a bloody shoulder and a few slash wounds on his arms and chest walked in.

Clint whistled. "Wow, Doc, you have the most interesting set of patients."

Notes:

-Some info about treating stab wounds can be found here: advancedtissue dot com/2014/09/traumatic-stab-wounds-long-term-wound-care/
-Loki mentioned "Not this trick again." The first time it happened was in "Loki vs the Cloak of Levitation."
-Somebody mentioned about having Hawkeye kept popping up to the clinic so yeah, I follow the suggestion.
-I haven't watched "The Punisher" season 2 so the next chapter won't spoil anything about that.
-Constructive feedbacks and comments are welcome. I hope I get Loki's character right.