Ain't no Sunshine
"Nice scarf." you say, smiling as the sun hits your face, and you put up your hand, trying to hide your eyes from it. You look up at Stephen, walking slowly beside you, he offers you a modest smile back. As always, not used to compliments. This is definitely the 'Strange stuff' all Stephens have.
"So, you're really returning to your universe tomorrow? No last minute change of plans?" he asks, looking up and down. His jacket really looked good on you.
"Yeah. Can't stay for too long. This might cause an incursion." you sigh sadly. The hours spent here, made you fall in love with the beauty of the city. People were not as cheery as they were in your universe, but the atmosphere was welcoming. And the sun shining was a promise for a better tomorrow.
You catch yourself getting attached to this place already. And people. And Stephen Strange walking beside you. Idiot.
"You know," he begins, awkwardly putting his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Damn, he looked good wearing simple clothes. "I'm really gonna miss you."
"Stephen, let's push the bitter goodbyes for as long as we can." you rapidly blink so that tears in your eyes would disappear faster.
A moment of silence passes through, you then turn to look at him, grinning, "I like this jacket, it has so many pockets. And this one, here, is absolutely unnecessary." you point at the one that's on your chest.
"You can keep something small there. Like tea leaves or tobacco." he smirks.
"Tea leaves? Why would I walk with tea leaves in my pocket? This is ridiculous." you laugh, not believing the corniness of this man. "You smoke?"
"No." he answers, without hesitation. Not lying.
"Good. Don't start."
"I have a doctor's degree, I think I know that smoking is bad."
"Well, I thought you have forgotten it already, as now you're more than just a man with a doctor's degree. Besides, tobacco smell can keep away those pesky creatures that invade your dreams." you say, sounding mysterious.
"Oh, really?" he smirks.
"No, I'm just messing with you." you laugh, accidentally bumping into his arm. "Is the Café on the 20th street still the best one in New York?" you ask, stopping near the pedestrian crossing.
"Yup."
"Thought so. Black coffee, two sugars?"
"Yeah." he answers, looking at you weirdly.
"Oh, you're all the same." you giggle knowingly.
"Stop, we can't all be identical."
"Okay, so tell me something that is unique about you" you challenge, crossing the street as the green lights up - America told you that in some universes, differently from yours, people walk on green.
"Well, I sent Loki flying somewhere in between worlds for half an hour."
"Brutal. But not unique. Even I could do it."
He pretends to be hurt at your remark. "I think I had something to do with the opening of the Multiverse." This picks up your interest.
"You think? So, you're not entirely positive about opening your universe to the multiverse?"
"My mind's a bit foggy there, don't blame me."
"I'm not blaming you. Just thinking out loud." You say before he gets defensive again.
"I want you to go to Kamar-Taj tonight with me." he says after a moment of silence.
"Yeah, okay. Wanted to meet the Sorcerer Supreme anyway."
"Tough guy."
"What?" you laugh.
"Sorcerer Supreme. He's a tough guy."
"And you're telling me this because...?"
"Just a friendly warning." his eyes glint, he's trying to hide his smirk, but you see right through him.
"You know, I've dealt with 3 Doctor Stranges in my short life, I think no one else can be tougher than you."
"Oh, am I supposed to take this as a compliment?"
"If you want a real compliment, you can just ask for one." you smirk.
"Ask for a compliment? Okay, that has never happened before."
"Well, if you ask for it, you're gonna be a unique Strange then." you say, noticing that you're nearing your favorite Café.
"Okay. Say something nice about me." he rolls his eyes, smile not leaving his lips.
"You're strong. Not in the sense of good physical form, although I can't argue about this one too." you say, secretly eyeing his biceps. "But you're strong in the sense of being brave and doing what's right in the end, and not letting your failures crush you."
"Wow. Well, that's a compliment I'm gonna remember for the rest of my life. Thank you, y/n." he says, opening the doors for you.
"Glad to help, Doctor Strange." you wink and step inside. The smell of coffee and freshly baked pie hits your nose, taking you back to the old days when you used to sit in small cafés with your father during his lunch breaks. He would roll those small cups in his hands, from time to time closing his eyes and inhaling the smell of apple pie. You would gladly skip lunch break at school, just to spend that hour with your father. When you return to your universe, you will have to visit him. Right away.
You sit down on the comfortable little corner sofa and Strange orders. Soon, he returns with two cups and puts them on the table, sitting in front of you, and pushing your cup towards you. You lean and sniff the cup. "Hm, a latte?"
"Yeah, I thought that you look like a latte girl" he smiles, taking a sip of his coffee.
"You hit the bull's eye." you mutter, taking a sip of the latte as well.
"So." he began but stopped.
"So." you sigh, not sure what else to say. It felt like you knew the man sitting before you the whole life. Comfortable silence flooded the Café. You looked out of the window at the people passing by. Everyone hurries somewhere, moving with goal. And you? You're just feeling like an alien here. In Stephen's universe. As if reading your mind, Stephen puts his hand on yours. You turn to look at him, but he's looking at people outside.
Oh, you're fallen for him again. For his soft and loving soul, for his unfailing understanding and honesty. Your eyes dance on his face, looking at every faded scar, at every freckle scattered on his nose, at every fresh scratch, inherited in the fights. A couple of loose strands of his dark hair slightly swing near his forehead, threatening to touch it any moment. In a moment of weakness, or maybe for the sake of old times, you put your other hand on his, sandwiching it. He turns back to look at you, eyes still wandering somewhere in thought.
"It's nice." you say.
"Mm?" he finally returns from his thoughts.
"It's nice. Not worrying about anything. Not running for your life. Just sitting here."
"Yeah." he says sadly.
"I'm sure America is going to achieve a lot in her life." You remember the girl, now safely sitting somewhere in the Kamar-Taj.
"She's a talented girl. Hopefully she'll find her way in this world. And her moms."
"Her moms?" you ask, just now it hit you that you know almost nothing about the girl you risked your life to save. The chat when Strange and Chavez were locked up in the Illuminati quarters was short and not very informative. She didn't get a chance to tell you much about her life. Understandable.
"Yeah. She lost her moms when she was still young, and for years she's been searching for them in the multiverse. Can you imagine, she had already visited over 70 universes?" he leans closer to you, still not drawing back his hand.
"Oh, poor girl. All alone in this madness."
"This is insane." he sighs, drinking some coffee, his hand still trapped between yours. You unconsciously slowly rub the scar on his finger. "So what were those robots in the Illuminati?"
"Oh, Ultron bots. At least that's how workers used to call these things."
"Ultron bots?" he swallows the coffee.
"Yeah. Stark and Banner created them. They were quickly 'hired' when Stephen established Illuminati." you say such simple things, but notice a change in Stephen's face.
"What? What's with this expression?"
"Tony Stark died in our universe. Protecting our world against Thanos. He succeeded in his quest to find the Infinity Stones. We," he takes a deep breath before continuing, "uh, half of the planet got snapped, apparently for five years. But these 5 years were for everyone alive, for us, snapped, it was just 5 hours. We then returned, after Banner snapped again, Thanos wanted to take back the stones, and we fought hard for them. And then Stark snapped again, turning Thanos's army into dust."
He still feels guilty and responsible for it, you can see it.
"You're still blaming yourself. Why?" you ask softly, as if afraid that he might get scared and run away.
"I looked into the future. 14 million of them. And the way things went, was the only way for us to win. As well as a way for Earth's greatest defender to die."
You're raking your brain again, asking "the stone. The time stone. You have it?"
"No. The stones were destroyed."
"But the Eye of-"
"It's empty. Now used for other purposes." He pulls his hand away, and suddenly you feel emptiness in your soul. "I think we should get going to Kamar-Taj." he says, avoiding your eyes.
"Yeah. We should." you drink the last sip of now lukewarm latte and stand up. Strange stands up as well. Without more unnecessary words, you follow him outside to an empty alley and soon, he's opening a portal to Kamar-Taj. First thing you notice is how destroyed the place looks. Sorcerers in training, dressed up in grey robes, making sparkling forms and circles. Others, in red robes, are fixing the mess, everyone looks tired and sad. You step inside, Strange appearing next to you. You suddenly feel like a lost student, eager to learn the wonders of magic from the best of the bests again.
"Ready to go?" he asks.
"Yes."