I hope I did Dr. Strange justice. Before his injury in the movie, he seemed really arrogant. That's the way I went.

Chapter 23: Dr. Strange

*****Where We Left Off*****

Stephen Strange arrived at Sunnydale hospital at half past nine. He went to look over both scans of Mr. Stark and the girl, Summers. Dr. Banner was there as he looked over Tony's scan.

"This is so fascinating," Strange murmured. "The thing he created both works as a magnet, keeping the shards out of his heart while also acting as a power source for his suit."

"Yes, that's the idea," Banner said.

"So the shards are poisoning him, but he won't die without this energy source, correct?" Strange asked.

"Correct," Banner replied. "Although it powers his suit, the magnet properties of it are what kept the shards out of his heart. He will be able to use a power source built into his suits, not his actual body, to power his suits."

"Great," Strange said. "You have a heart surgeon prepared to go in with me?"

"Yes," Banner said. "Here are Buffy's scans." He put them up on the screen to be viewed.

"This is an incomplete spinal injury," he said as he looked at it. "When I get the bullet shard out without further damage to the spin, she should be able to walk again. However, the nick might keep her from having full function."

"Well, if you can get the bullet fragment out, we hope her body will heal the injury," Banner replied.

Strange looked at his designer watch. "I would like to examine Miss Summers before I begin Mr. Stark's surgery," he said.

"I'll take you to her," Banner said.

They went into Buffy's room, and two young men were looking surprised by whatever they were hearing from his new patient.

"Excuse me," he said.

"Hello," Buffy said, looking from her New York friends to the new doctor. He was kind of hot for an old guy.

"Buffy, this is your surgeon, Dr. Strange," Banner introduced. "Foggy and Matt, I didn't realize you were here."

"Pepper had us come," Foggy answered.

"Why do I see food in this room?" Dr. Strange asked, looking at the tray Tony brought in.

"Buffy, you didn't eat anything, did you?" Banner asked.

"Tony brought us breakfast around eight," Buffy said.

"Did no one tell you that you could not eat when you are scheduled to have surgery?" Dr. Strange said, giving Buffy a disapproving look.

"I guess Tony thought it was only if you're surgery was in the morning," Buffy said. "Mine's like at two in the afternoon. You can't expect me to go so long without food."

Dr. Strange turned to Bruce. "We have to cancel her surgery. Reschedule it for eight o'clock in the morning," he ordered.

"Seriously?" Buffy asked in dismay.

"My time is extremely valuable, and it will cost Mr. Stark for keeping me here longer than necessary," he said arrogantly.

"Gee, I'm touched," Buffy said. "I'm the one paralyzed here, so forgive me if I don't care about your valuable time."

Dr. Strange gave her a confident smile. "I saw your scans, and I am confident that I can remove the fragment lodged against your spine. This will not be a permanent state," he said. Then he turned, not waiting or wanting a reply from Buffy.

"I am sorry," Bruce said as they stepped into the hall. "I didn't realize Tony would be so impulsive."

"The nursing staff here should have made sure that she knew not to eat, so it's really failure on their part," he said. "Lead me to the nurse on the floor, and I will express my displeasure."

Bruce felt a bit bad for the two nurses and one doctor who bore Dr. Strange's irritation.

Faith, though, was excited as her doctor agreed that she could be discharged. No vital organs were hit, and she was cleared. Diane called to see how she was.

"I'm getting checked out. Are you able to come get me?" Faith asked.

"No, Giles will be taking you home," she replied. "Giles knows about the vampire in the Hulk room, by the way."

Faith winced. "Is he pissed?" she asked.

"I don't think he has the energy right now to be," she replied. "See you soon."

Joyce knocked on her room. "Faith, how are you feeling?" she asked.

"Five by five," Faith said.

"Can I ask something that I've always wondered?" she asked.

"Sure," Faith replied.

"Where did you get that expression? Five by Five?" Joyce asked.

"My grandpa used to have this old radio where he'd talk to his fella truck drivers. It's something they would say. He told me that it literally means, 'I understand you.' It can also mean everything is good," Faith said.

Joyce smiled. "Well, that's one mystery solved. I thought you could use some clothes to change into," she said, handing her some clothes. "I brought Buffy some things, and your Watcher had these ready,"

"Thanks!" Faith said happily. "I was just about to jump into the shower."

"Are they discharging you?" Joyce inquired.

"Yes," she said. "I just gotta get Giles to run me home."

"I can do that. I will call Giles and let him know," Joyce said. "Buffy's surgery has been postponed until tomorrow since she ate breakfast and wasn't supposed to. "

"Seriously? They're going to make her wait?" Faith said. "She's a slayer. A pastry and some fruit will be gone by this afternoon. It was, like, eight o'clock."

Joyce shrugged. "That's the rule, and the surgeon was pretty mad," she said. "Come to Buffy's room when you're ready to leave—after you tell the nurse. They'll make you leave in a wheelchair."

"Hell no!" Faith said. "That ain't happening!"

"It's policy," she said, smiling. Buffy would probably react the same way. Then she waved and went to her daughter's room.

Not far away, Tony was getting hugged by Willow and Cordelia, who were both very concerned about his surgery. "You're sure this is going to help you and not kill you?" Cordelia asked in that blunt way of hers.

Pepper winced. "Positive thinking only, Cordelia. He's about to go under," she said.

"I trust Bruce, who recommended Dr. Strange," Tony said.

"With a weird name like that he's gotta be great or a total loser," Cordelia said.

"He's going to be brilliant," Pepper said.

"Okay, we'll be waiting in the waiting room or Buffy's room," Willow said.

"Good luck," Xander said.

"Ditto," Oz added.

"Thanks, guys," Tony said as he watched all but Pepper leave.

"I'm really proud of you for doing this, Tony," Pepper said, squeezing his hand.

"Well, it was time," he said.

"Rhodey called me and said to hurry up and get your ass back to New York," she said. "I promised I'd tell you."

"Did you tell him that some of the kids may go to school in California, so we might be going back and forth a lot?" Tony asked.

"No. I figured that we'd wait and see," Pepper said. "We want them to be happy. California does have some good schools."

"Cal Tech, Berkley, and Stanford," he said.

"UCLA and USC are good schools," she countered.

"Is my patient ready?" Dr. Strange asked, interrupting the new debate.

"I am," Tony said.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that Dr. Strange postponed Buffy's surgery until the morning," Pepper said.

"Why?" Tony asked, looking curiously at the doctor.

"Because someone gave the girl breakfast," he replied.

Tony winced. "That was stupid of me," he said. "The girls are just always hungry. They have this insane metabolism, so I didn't figure it'd be that big of deal since hers was so late."

"It wouldn't have starved her to delay eating," Dr. Strange said. "I'll see you in there."

"See you," Tony said. He figured the doctor's arrogance was a sign of his brilliance and felt good about his surgery.

Dr. Strange left and two orderlies came to move him to the surgery room.

"I love you," Pepper said.

"Love you, too," Tony said.

An hour later, Faith was back at SQ. She saw Giles' car and thanked Joyce as she hopped out. "Thanks, Mrs. Summers," she said.

"You are very welcome. If you need a ride to come see Buffy tomorrow, let me know," she said.

"Okay. Bye," Faith replied. Then she walked up the steps, happy to see that the pain wasn't too bad. She did have some antibiotics to ward off infection that they gave her at the hospital pharmacy. Faith didn't realize that she had insurance until she picked up her meds. Nice to know that the Council did that. When she mentioned it to Joyce, Joyce said it was the least the Council could do.

"Diane, I'm home," she called as she entered the large mansion.

"We are in the library," Diane called.

"How are you feeling?" Giles asked, standing to check her out.

Faith said, "Not bad at all. I can't touch my toes or patrol for a day or so, but I'm dealing. The bandage on my back will need changed tomorrow."

"We will make sure you have help," Giles said. "Can you explain how Angel came to be in the Hulk House?"

"Oh, well, that's a Buffy thing. B asked me to help keep her secret until she was ready to tell you," Faith said. "He just appeared a bit ago. He was kind of feral that first day, but he's super chill now."

"Is it Angel or Angelus in there?" Giles asked.

She shrugged. "That's not anything I would know as I haven't met either," she reminded him. "We will need to get him some blood asap, though. We missed his last night feeding." She gave her watcher an inquiring look.

"I do not feed vampires," Diane said with a disapproving sniff.

"Hey, it was Buffy's idea!" Faith said.

Giles stood up. "I will get some blood at the market for him, and then I will speak to him," Giles said.

"One moment, Rupert," Diane said, giving him a look.

Giles nodded and sat back down in resignation. This was not what he wanted for Faith.

"Faith, I want you to know how very proud I am of you," Diane said. "You not only have done excellent work on the hellmouth, but you bravely and selflessly tried to save your sister slayer."

"Very true," Giles added. "Throwing yourself in front of Buffy probably saved her life."

Faith felt warm at their praise. "Too bad there was a second shooter," she said.

"You could not have possibly known that," Diane said. "Furthermore, it does not detract from what you did."

"I guess. Thanks," Faith said. "Buffy would have done the same for me."

"I'm sure she would have," Giles said.

"However, my injuries and the real close brush with death you both had is a Watcher's worst nightmare," Diane said.

"It worked out, though, right? You're okay?" Faith asked, looking anxious.

"I will be," Diane said. "I would like to recover at home, however. In England."

"You want to leave?" Faith asked.

"I think it will be best for me," she said. "Although I have enjoyed immensely training you and getting this chance to be on the hellmouth, I fear that I am not as strong as Rupert."

"Sure, you are," Faith said.

"No, I'm really not," Diane said grimly. "I wanted to honor my uncle's memory, and I hope I've done that."

"Of course, you have," Faith said. "Buffy and Xander tell me Giles gets knocked out a lot. You've not got knocked out once."

Giles gave a sheepish smile but said nothing.

"I'm not sure that's a suitable bar, my dear, but I appreciate your faith in me," she said. "However, my mind is made up. I want to go home."

Faith was more than a bit stunned, and the sting of betrayal was strong. "Fine. Then go!" she exclaimed before running to her room and slamming the door.

"That went well," Giles said.

"It could've been worse," she replied with a sigh.

"You're resolute?" Giles asked.

"I am," she said, feeling sad that she wasn't stronger. "Faith deserves a Watcher who will be stronger than I."

"Well, I am going to tend to the Angel—Angelus issue then," Giles said.

"Okay," she said. She hobbled back to her room to pack her things.

*****England*****

Quentin looked at Roger's son with some misgivings. He was highly intelligent and even more capable in the magics and demon language than Rupert, but he was very young to be given such responsibility.

"Your father believes you could handle a slayer on the strongest hellmouth on the planet—a place that has killed two slayers in less than a year," Quentin said.

"Two? I thought only Kendra was killed," Wesley Wyndam-Price said.

"Miss Summers was killed long enough to activate Kendra," Quentin reminded him. "She lives only because someone was on hand to resuscitate her."

"Ah, yes," Wesley replied. "I believe that I am ready and eager to serve. I have killed two vampires—it should be in my file."

"Staking in a controlled setting will not prepare you for the nightly slayage these slayers go through," Quentin said. "A vampire just held a slayerfest where demons, vampires, and humans all hunted our slayers like they were prey. They live only because of an armed bodyguard of Willow Rosenberg. Guns, Wesley. They shot our slayers! It's never happened in our history. As a marksman, I will expect you to train your slayer to be prepared for all attacks. If the enemy is going to use modern weaponry, then we must do the same."

"Of course," Wesley said.

"You are aware that Tony Stark is actively involved now in both slayers' lives," Quentin said.

Wesley nodded. "Yes, my father has apprised me of his involvement. His visit to your office was talked about for days," he shared.

"The man is probably the most intelligent bully you will ever meet. Don't think to keep him out because then he will become impossible. Rupert has shown himself able to manage the man—he's been supplying the girls and their friends with weapons he's invented," Quentin said.

"Bulletproof vests may be in order," Wesley remarked.

"I am sure Mr. Stark has already considered that. The girls were dressed to go to a school dance, so whatever Mr. Stark might've given them was moot," he said.

"I am ready, sir," Wesley said. "I know that I can do this."

"You need to keep us abreast of whatever plans Mr. Stark has going on that concerns our domain," Quentin said. "We don't need any surprises."

"I understand," Wesley said. "I won't let you down."

Quentin stood and offered Wesley his hand. "I hope not," he said. "Good luck. My secretary will have your plane ticket."

A very excited Watcher left Quentin's office. He called Roger. "Well, it's done," he said. "Your son is now in charge of Miss Lehane. Let's hope he last longer than Diane."

"Oh, he will. You should not send a woman to such a dangerous place to begin with," Roger said. "Slayers have superpowers—a mere female watcher does not."

"Yes, well, she has prepared her slayer well enough," he said. "Her slayer was shot protecting Miss Summers."

"It seems a waste, though, to keep two slayers on one location, especially as Tony Stark is involved there," Roger said.

"I believe that Miss Summers may want to go to college out of Sunnydale, so your son may very well be there a while," Quentin said. "If he survives, of course. Merrick didn't last long, and he wasn't even near the hellmouth."

"Wesley will do us both proud," Roger insisted. "He's too smart and too prepared."

Quentin hoped that was so because he didn't need to lose another Watcher on his watch.

*****Sunnydale*****

Giles returned back to the Slayers' Headquarters or SQ as the kids called it with the blood for Angel. Of course, he did not yet know if it was Angel. For Buffy's sake, he hoped so. The Hulk House was designed to put food inside through a slot without having to open the door.

"Angel? Is that you?" he asked, opening the slot.

The vampire snarled and seemed to recognize him. However, he didn't speak. "Here's some blood. Buffy's been injured, but she'll be okay," he said. "We'll deal with you when she's better."

The vampire approached slowly, but his fangs were out. Was it Angel?

Giles didn't know, and the vampire didn't speak. However, he did meet Giles' eyes for one brief moment before grabbing the blood.

It must be Angel. Angelus wouldn't waste any chance to mock or invoke a reaction from Giles.

Maybe tomorrow the vampire would show his true face to Giles.

*****Hospital*****

Matt and Foggy had lunch with Buffy in her room as her mother brought lunch since Buffy's surgery was postponed. Foggy suggested that she eat a good sized snack at 11:45pm.

"That's eight hours—just like today would've been since my surgery was in the afternoon," Buffy said.

"Not quite, honey," Joyce said. "It would've just been six hours."

"Close enough," Buffy grumbled. She was glad to have something mundane to talk about. After Faith went back to her room, she had shared some more about what really happened to get her there. Foggy had a million and one questions that she tried to answer. Matt, though, remained quite and thoughtful. The fact that Buffy could not read his eyes shielded by his sunglasses was maddening. What was he thinking?

They didn't have a chance to talk alone as Foggy was there. After she ate, a wave of weariness hit her, and she felt asleep.

"Let's go check on Mr. Stark," Foggy suggested. "He's gotta be done with his surgery by now."

Matt nodded, content to let Foggy lead the way. Buffy's revelations were the last thing he had expected she was hiding from him. He knew that her life was challenging, but he could not have guessed what the truth was. Foggy, of course, was a bit skeptical.

"I want to ask Mr. Stark about that crazy stuff Buffy shared," Foggy said.

"She wouldn't have made that up. All her friends sharing a mass hallucination?" Matt wondered.

"I haven't the foggiest," he said.

"Said Foggy," Matt added with a smirk.

"Ha ha," Foggy said.

When they stepped into Mr. Stark's room, his driver was there.

"Hello, Happy," Foggy said. "How's Mr. Stark?"

"Mr. Stark is fine," Tony said. "Good to see you two."

"So the surgery was a success?" Matt asked.

"It was," Tony said. "Now I just have to perfect my energy source, and Iron Man will be back online."

"Good," Foggy said. He looked at Happy wondering if he should say anything in front of the driver.

"Is there something on your mind?" Tony asked. "Don't worry about Happy. He knows all my secrets. Sometimes, before I do."

"Well, Buffy told us about slayers and vampires and the hellmouth," Foggy replied. "Is she for real?"

"The first day I met Buffy, she got into a sword fight with her boyfriend, who opened up some type of hell dimension that was going to swallow up the world," Tony said. "I watch her kiss him and then shove the sword through his stomach, so he was sucked in, closing the portal or whatever the hell it was."

"He's basically saying, yes, it's for real," Happy said. "Willow's boyfriend, Oz, is a werewolf. Boss is trying to find a cure for him."

"It's a lot to take in, sir," Foggy said.

"It is," Tony said. He looked at Matt, whose expression was veiled. "What about you, Matt? Is Buffy's truth too much for you?"

Matt considered it and shook his head. "No. I feel honored that she would share her truth with me," he said. "I also feel that I now understand her a whole lot better."

"For real," Foggy said. "When we met her, she was basically suffering from PTSD."

"That's accurate enough," Tony said. "However, we never had her officially diagnosed by a counselor."

"Yeah, 'cause they might send her to the crazy farm," Foggy said, grinning.

"I'm sure that someone with your resources can find a counselor who can deal with the truth of their lives," Matt pointed out.

Tony nodded. "You're right. I'll have Pepper get on that," he said.

"Maybe you should let Natalie do it," Happy said. "Is she still your assistant or just Willow's bodyguard?"

"She's my assistant, and I'm letting her work as Willow's bodyguard because it gives her a legitimate reason to be around the kids without too many questions," Tony shared.

"Would you guys like to go the house and rest a bit or clean up?" Happy suggested. "I can take you there. We have extra rooms."

"That's an excellent idea," Tony said.

"Okay, I would like to talk to Buffy and let her know before we go," Matt said.

"You do that, and I think I'm going to call a man named Professor Xavier," Tony said, pulling out his phone. "He runs a school for mutant teens, so he might be able to offer some advice."

"There's a school for mutant teens? Where?" Foggy asked.

"Up state New York," Tony said. "JARVIS told me all about it."

"Let's go," Matt said before Foggy could get them off track.

They went in Buffy's room, and she was all alone, looking a bit forlorn. "Why so sad? Are you in pain?" Foggy inquired.

Buffy shook her head. "No, not really. I don't feel much of anything, which is disconcerting."

"I bet," Foggy said. "We are going to go to Tony's house—Happy's going to take us to clean up. We'll be back later."

"Okay," Buffy said.

"Wait out in the hall, so I can talk to Buffy a minute," Matt told him. Foggy nodded, looking at Buffy.

"See you later," Foggy told her.

"Bye," she said. She glanced at Matt, nervous that he wanted to talk alone to her. "So do you regret coming?"

Matt moved closer to the sound of her voice. When he touched her bed, he held out his hand for her. After she put her hand in his, he surrounded it with his other hand. "I am very honored that you chose to tell me your full truth," he said. "I think you are the most amazing woman that I have ever met. I am sorry, though, that you've had such a hard time with things."

"I am relieved that you feel that way," she said. "I wanted to tell you, but at the same time, I liked that you only knew me as Buffy and not the slayer."

"You say that like it's a different part of you," he said.

"I try to make it," Buffy admitted. "But at the end of the day, it's who I am."

Matt leaned down. "Can I kiss your cheek? I feel like I need to show you affection, so you know my feelings for you aren't altered by your revelation," he said.

Buffy felt the butterflies his presence always brought transform into giant frogs. "Sure," she said softly.

However, when he bent down to kiss her cheek, she was powerless to resist the temptation and turned so that his lips hit hers.

Matt was startled to feel her lips, but he knew she'd offered them and not her cheek. He pulled back, wishing that he could see her eyes and know what she wanted.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay," he replied. When he started to pull back, she tugged his hand, pulling him back toward her.

"I know we live in completely different worlds, and I haven't even told you about Angel coming back from hell," she said. "But I really like you."

Matt moved his other hand to her cheek and contemplated if it was best for her or if it would hurt her in the long run. They lived in two very different worlds. However, he felt compelled to give her the kiss she wanted because if he was honest, he wanted it to.

He kissed her one long moment before pulling back. "I like you, too," he admitted. "I'm not sure, though, this is a good idea. I'm in college in another state, and technically, you're still a minor."

"I know," she said. "I just wanted something good to happen to me today, especially since I can't feel my legs."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I know that you will walk again because you are still meant for great things, Buffy," he said.

The door opened. "Let's go already!" Foggy called out.

"Okay," Matt replied as he turned toward Foggy. Then he smiled again at Buffy. "I will come back later today."

"See you then," Buffy said. As he left, she was still a bit dazed from the kiss, but she let the warmth of it wrap around her, filling on those numb places inside her. Angel was back—maybe, and she did love him more than anything. However, she knew that never again could she risk being with him. The loss if Angelus came back was not only a high price to pay, but she didn't want to put her friends through that again. Matt was human, and she connected with him so easily. As she fell back into a light doze, her mind was filled with both men.

Foggy waited until they were in the elevator to speak.

"So did you kiss her or what?" he asked, mostly just fishing.

Matt allowed a small smile to play around his lips. "She kissed me," he admitted.

"Yes!" Foggy exclaimed, pumping his fist. He nudged Happy. "I told you, didn't I?"

"You did," Happy said, smiling. Buffy needed something to smile about as her life broke Happy's heart.

"I just hope the surgeon can fix her," Foggy said.

"He will," Happy said confidently.

"How can you be so sure?" Foggy asked.

"She's the slayer," Happy said. "She'll heal. Supernatural healing is kind of a part of her package."

"Besides, we can't leave room for any doubts because she needs our faith and support," Matt said.

He knew what it was like to lose a major sense. Although he will never regain his sight, he didn't want her to go through missing the thing that defined her.

Buffy would walk again; he just knew it.

*****To Be Continued******

Reviews or comments are appreciated.