October 29th, 2019

The noises of Manhattan never seemed to permeate the walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum. As a result, most times the Sanctum was deathly quiet. Doctor Stephen Strange liked it that way, however. It allowed for him to study and practice his magic in peace, as well as meditate, which he found himself doing quite frequently.

In his study, which was filled with bookshelves all cramped around a large desk, Stephen was meditating while sitting Indian-style and floating about a foot off the ground. His breaths were slow and focused as he searched within his own mind to unlock deeper secrets about his sorcery. Plus, it also gave him a nice time to sit and relax, but that's beside the point.

He took another breath and changed his hand position, feeling the energy of the multiverse flowing around him. The universe wasn't a dead thing, it was very much alive. It lived and breathed and expanded, and Stephen could feel it in all its glory. It was awe inspiring. He let himself get swept up in the feeling, riding the natural high that connecting to the ley lines- the network of magical veins in the world- and the universe gave him. He was at peace, he was-

Wait. What is that sound?

Suddenly he snapped back to his reality, his connection to the universe severed due to the lapse in concertation. With a sigh, he lowered himself back onto the ground to investigate. The noise sounded far off, but loud enough for him to hear it- which meant it was coming from inside the sanctum. It sounded like someone talking, but the rhythm was a bit different. Getting up with a groan, Stephen stood up once more and quickly stretched his back, which started to hurt the longer he meditated.

Now the search was on. Since it was coming from within the walls of the Sanctum, Stephen had a primary suspect for who was making all that noise. He walked out of his office and down the stairs, into a large display room for various magical artifacts. The ceilings were high and the floor was made of wood, giving the room the look of a museum. Each artifact was on a pedestal or in a glass case, arranged in neat rows that filled the room. The noise was a bit louder now, and Stephen followed the source, heading out of the display room and into the small library.

"A pretty man came to me,

Never seen eyes so blue.

I could not run away, it seemed,

We'd seen each other in a dream…"

Strang identified the song immediately – Magic Man, Heart, 1975. Melodic and romantic, the singing filled the air with its tune – which was exactly the problem Strange had with it. He couldn't see who was singing, but from the voice he knew exactly who it was. Stephen walked down the aisles of bookshelves, scanning each one, until he found the singer: Juniper.

She was putting a book back on the shelf, the tome dusty and old. Suppressing a grumble, Stephen marched over to her and tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to jump with a yelp. She whipped around and looked at him, ripping her earbuds out of her ears as she did.

"Strange! You scared me!" She gave her master a quick, light shove in return for scaring her like that. Stephen reached out an arm and pushed her back in kind.

"Your singing can be heard through the whole Sanctum, June. Knock it off or tone it down." Stephen told his student, crossing his arms across his chest. The apprentice smiled sheepishly, her violet eyes squinting a bit with the smile.

"Ah, sorry. I didn't know I was being that loud." She reached down and clicked a button on the small MP3 player that was clipped to her sash, pausing the tune. Strange looked down at her, his brows raised.

"It's fine. Did you sort all those books I asked you to?" That's why June was in the library in the first place – she was supposed to be shelving some new books into their proper place. She had over 40 books to sort, and Stephen was surprised that she had gotten done so quick. He'd have to look it over later and make sure she did it right, he decided.

The girl nodded, the silver tips of her hair catching the low light. "Yep. Every single one. I still can't believe you've made me do this again- this is the third time this week! You know I hate this stuff. My talents could be better used elsewhere." At this, Stephen rolled his eyes. June had been pestering him for weeks about advancing her training, but he wasn't going to do it. He wasn't sure what he was going to teach her next- spellshields aren't tough enough to challenge her, and astral projection was a little above her level. Messing up on that could kill her, so Stephen decided it was best to hold that lesson off for a while. The current thing he was hoping to impart on her was patience, which although he didn't have much himself, June was exceedingly lacking in that department.

"That may be true, but this is still something you have to do. Every apprentice has to do stuff like this for their masters, why are you any different?" He challenged, already knowing the answer.

"Because other students aren't chosen by the Vishanti to hold their power!" June was quick to interject. "Come on, let me get back out in the courtyard and we can spar." While Stephen would normally jump at the opportunity to stretch is muscles and test June's progress, but by indulging her love of physical activity, he was rewarding her – even though she hadn't learned the lesson that she was supposed to. With a sigh, he shook his head.

"Sorry June, but I've got to get back to meditating. Maybe we can spar later. Just please don't sing so loud, okay? You're going to crack the windows if you get any louder." June rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"Fine. What do you want me to do while you're meditating, oh wise-and-mighty task master?" She teased. Deep down, June knew that Stephen was just trying to treat her like a normal student, and not let her power go to her head. Keeping her humble with all these menial tasks. She didn't resent him for it, although it was hard not to sometimes.

Stephen shifted his weight onto one leg and pursed her lips in thought, looking over to the side for a moment. "Well, I don't really need you to do anything." He said after a second. "You can head home for the day, if you want."

June's brows rose. "You're letting me go? This early? Who are you, and what did you do to my Strange?" She gave him a light, playful punch on the arm. Stephen rolled his eyes again and smiled at her.

"Get out of here, before I change my mind." At this, June bowed quickly before turning around and grabbing her sling ring- a two-finger ring that allowed one to open portals to another place- and drew a small circle with her ringless hand. About a foot in front of her, a circle or orange sparks appeared. It sizzled, throwing off warm sparks, and then it expanded. Inside of the circle, an image of June's living room appeared. June turned and gave Stephen a final smile and wave before jumping into the circle, into her living room. The room had green walls and brown furniture spread around it, and smelled delicious- Is mom cooking? June thought. She turned around and closed the portal with a wave of her hand, and a strange feeling of sadness swept over her. She loved being at the Sanctum, with Strange. It felt like that was her normal life, the one she should be living. And at home, she felt out of place, like she didn't belong there.

"Mom! April! I'm home!" June called as she ventured further into the house, ready to resume her home life.

…

Stephen watched June leave with a small amount of sorrow in his heart. He hated to admit it- and he would never say this to Juniper, ever- but he was a bit lonely without her. Sure, he had the Cloak of Levitation for company, but the relic couldn't possibly compare to having an actual human around. Strange walked around the now empty halls of the Sanctum, letting the echo of his footsteps fill the air. He missed his days at Kamar-Taj with Wong and the other students, life seemed simpler then. Now he was tasked with keeping an entire Sanctum, one of the three buildings creating a protective magical barrier around the world, safe and maintained.

The stairs to the upper level of the Sanctum, which housed several rooms, studies, and Stephen's office, were made from beautiful and polished mahogany. At their peak rested a large circular window, with the symbol of the Sanctum decorating the large pane of glass. The symbol was a small set of sweeping lines within a circle, and it was that exact magical symbol that gave the New York portion of the magical shield its power. The frosted window let in a large amount of natural light, and Stephen closed his eyes as he got to the top of the stairs, letting its warmth settle over him. He bathed in it, letting the heat reach the very core of his being. This is why I'm alive, he concluded. So I can still experience things like this.

Suddenly, Stephen yelled as an unknown force shoved him. Red fabric wrapped around him in an instant and squeezed him tightly, and Strange rolled his eyes.

"Cloak, I told you not to surprise me like that." He said as he tried to pull the magical fabric off him. The Cloak of Levitation released him and gently floated off to the side, it's collar tilted inquisitively.

"Yes, she's gone." Stephen told the Cloak. The Cloak got jealous easily, and was extremely possessive – Strange giving his attention to Juniper caused it to react aggressively towards her, and become what Strange could only describe as "pouty." The Cloak swished in the air happily, and then flew up and found it's home on Stephen's shoulders.

Stephen considered the magical Cloak as a friend and powerful ally. For being nothing more than an enchanted red cape, it was bursting with personality. He often wondered why the Cloak chose him to be its user – it hadn't selected someone to wield it for many, many years – and still couldn't come up with an answer. Perhaps it was because Stephen was fighting for his life when he first met the Cloak? It was during his battle with a renegade sorcerer, Kaecilius, that the Cloak came to his aid. Maybe the Cloak sensed the strength of his magical abilities? Maybe it just chose him randomly. Stephen would probably never find an answer to that question, unless he figured out a way to make the Cloak talk. Which was highly unlikely, but not outside the realm of possibility.

Regardless, now that June was gone, Stephen had the quiet that he needed to meditate. He needed to focus on the present, instead of dwelling on the past. He looked down at his scarred and lightly trembling hands, and rubbed them together gently. He couldn't let his past consume him – he let that happen once, and it nearly killed him. The depression he felt after ruining his hands was enough to send him jumping from a rooftop. There was nothing else left for him in that life, until he found his way to Kamar-Taj. There are other ways to make a life worthwhile, and Stephen had found a new purpose in defending the Earth from magical threats.

With a dramatic swish of his Cloak, Stephen turned and walked off to his office to continue meditating. This time he wouldn't be interrupted, and he intended to use this time wisely.

…

"So how was your day today, Juni?" May Jones asked her daughter while they sat at the dinner table. May was 48, with brown hair and energetic green eyes that still sparkled with hidden youth. Her resemblance to June was uncanny, a trait that she shared with her other daughter, April Jones.

Juniper took a small bite of the baked chicken breast, and swallowed quickly before speaking. "It was okay. Strange had me sorting out library books again instead of doing drills with me." She rested her chin on her hand lazily before speaking again. "It's like he's purposefully stopping me from training more. 'Train your mind instead of your body,' or something like that."

"Well honey," May said between bites of chicken. "I'm sure he has a good explanation. There's a reason he's your teacher."

"Master." June corrected.

"That's kinky." April commented while looking down at her phone, her chicken barely touched. May simply rolled her eyes, used to her daughter's comments, while Juniper gave her younger sister a dirty glare.

"It's not like that. Calling your teacher a master is an ancient tradition among sorcerers. Besides, he is a master of both magic and the New York sanctum, so that is his official title." June explained, feeling her cheeks get a little hot at April's implications. Although June would be lying if she hadn't had similar thoughts before. To her, calling someone master is inherently a little sexual.

"Uh-huh. I'm sure he gets off on you calling him that." April said with her traditional deadpan snark, looking at June instead of her phone. She brushed some of her straight, brown hair out of her face.

"You're impossible." June groaned, burying her face in her hands to hide her blush. The thought of Stephen getting off was something she could have happily spent her whole life without thinking of.

"You do like him though, right?" May asked, eyeing her daughter with a bit of a smug grin. Dealing with crushes wasn't something new to May. Ever since June was a tween, she's had to help her daughter with advice on boys and dating. 13 years later, and June still didn't know to deal with having a crush.

"That's nasty!" June said into her hands, continuing to cover her face. "He's my teacher- "

"Master." April cut in.

"Fine, he's my master. Being with him would be wildly inappropriate, and probably mess with my training. Besides, I think there's rules forbidding student-master relationships anyway." June wanted this conversation to be done, but her family seemed intent on grilling her and making June as embarrassed as physically possible.

"That doesn't mean you can't like him." May teased. "You should bring him over sometime. If this doctor is as handsome as you say, I'd certainly like to meet him."

"Are you implying that you'd like a chance to hit on Stephen?" June wrinkled her nose a bit.

May laughed. "No, I'll leave that to you. But I would legitimately like to meet the man who's teaching my girl how to be a superhero. He seems like a nice guy. I mean, he did save the world and all a few years back. It's the least I could do to thank him." She grinned at her daughter, finding her show of discomfort a little amusing.

June took another bite of her chicken and washed it down with some water, desperately wishing for the subject to be changed. "I'm not going to hit on him. And what do you want me to do, invite him for dinner? I think going up and saying 'Hey, you should meet my family' would be more than a little weird."

May's eyes lit up. "Dinner- what a wonderful idea! You should invite him to dinner!" May loved having dinner guests and having the chance to display her cooking skills. She was a talented cook, but the gene seemed to have skipped a generation because both of her daughters were terrible at it.

At the suggestion, June nearly choked on her chicken - much to the delight of her sister, who laughed loudly.

"Absolutely not!" Juniper wheezed between coughs. "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Haha, you nearly died!" April's laugh quieted down a bit, but she was still giggling a bit. June shot her a mean glare in return.

"I hope you nearly die one day so I can laugh at your ass." She said as she gave her sister a light shove.

"Girls. Don't talk like that." May was the only reason order was maintained in the Jones household, and she had to keep a tight grip on her girls to prevent snarky comments becoming full-blown fights. The girls went back to their chicken, and a moment of silence passed.

"So April, how did your furry convention go?" June asked, breaking the silence with a smirk. She knew all about her sister's secret obsession with those weird human-animal things. April was strictly forbidden from going to the local convention, but went anyway under the guise of staying over at a friend's house.

"I'll see you in hell." April hissed.