For the second time today, the sinister presenting man was surprised. His heart had clenched at the sight of Christine from the top of the now crumbling sanctum. How long has it been since I’ve seen her – actually seen her – through my own eyes ... in my own universe.
It only took him a second to reevaluate his position on what this other Stephen had come to him for.
“Is that … ” Stephen could assume where this conversation was going. Afterall, they had a lot in common. Hopefully not too much after looking at the state of his universe.
“Oh, well it’s a long story but yes. It’s her"
Although he turned away from her after only a mere few seconds of a glimpse, he had already taken in everything. She was not the Christine he had once known. That part was obvious. The real question was what were these two doing in his world, was this simply just an attempt to save the fate of the universe? Such a plan brought him back to the worries he had once been preoccupied with many years ago too.
The impatient Stephen couldn’t help but pester the other version of himself. There was not much time left for any of them.
“Are you willing to help? This would not only protect the multiverse but your realm as well-” He could barely finish his thought before getting cut off by a quick sneer of annoyance.
“Does it look like my world could get even worse? It’s a desolate wasteland” His tone shifted, suddenly thinking of a worthwhile means to assist the stranger.
“Will she come up?"
The question made his heart clench. There was no telling the type of trouble his other self was and why he was interested in seeing Christine. Is it somehow possible that him and his infinite other selves are doomed with forever watching Christine slip through their fingers? It was a horrifying thought to say the least. He shook away the feelings and instead focused on the universe hopping teenager stuck in another realm.
A place with a broken mother corrupted by not just an ancient text but with the loss of her lover and children.
He took a long breath. She needs me. Wong needs me. The fate of the multiverse is in my hands. I need to get through this.
“And what makes you think she’d agree to that? I have a feeling she’d be happy to oblige to save the multiverse …"
This smug bastard.
“And are you really in the position to negotiate on her behalf?”
Strapped for time, Stephen just rolled his eyes. Is this what it feels like to talk to the seemingly all omnipotent Stephen Strange?
“I haven’t had the pleasure of checking up on your universe, but something tells me you failed to get the girl”
Stephen was really tired of hearing that.
“Fine, I’ll let her know the terms. Don’t blame me if you end up regretting it, she’s quite stubborn”
But you may already know that part, he thought to himself
-
Time seemed to move terribly slow outside the sanctum sanctorum. This realm became more and more unsettling as the seconds slowly ticked by. It was almost as if time had been warped right along with the deteriorating city. It would be of no surprise since the remains of this world created an unrecognizable time of day. The only indication of this world's once lively history was that of the various landmarks now barely hanging onto the surface of the earth.
Christine played the last few hours of her day in her mind over and over again. The most powerful heroes of her time were suddenly reduced to blood and ash in mere minutes. It was as if her mind had not fully processed the horror she had briefly witnessed, as if she’d blame it for blocking it out.
What if we can’t stop this Wanda Maximoff? Her capabilities surpass those of even the seemingly most powerful beings in all of our realms put together ...
Her mind told her to forget about those facts and stick to the situation at hand. If the Stephen Strange of this universe was still around perhaps they could find a solution. Depending on any Stephen Strange for the survival of the multiverse was enough to make her sick but it would have to do.
A small urge told her to look towards the towering structure she was told to wait outside of. Even though she did not miss the demanding and controlling nature of the doctor, she had to admit her reluctance to venture into the unknown premises of a possibly dangerous variant. Her eyes, however, couldn’t help but indulge in the temptation as they flickered to the tall glass panes.
A cold sensation instantly possessed her body, buckling her insides with an unknown sense of fear. It was quick but she made eye contact with a familiar yet obscure being. The person in the window was not the Strange she had known, nor was it the one she had only met a few hours before. This one sent chills down her spine in ways even her own Stephen had never. A growing part of her didn’t want to find the reason why this particular one was able to survive in such a desolate world.
It was then she came to a final conclusion.
This was his doing.
It was not long after that the familiar red cloaked man came through the front of the particularly large doors of the sanctum. The expression across his face immediately told her things were more complicated than expected, she wondered what it could possibly be.
“I’m not sure what I was expecting but this other me is … something. This is going to sound weird but the only way he’s going to help is if he gets to talk to you”.
She felt like someone had just stomped on her heart. This was not what she was expecting.
“Talk to … me?
-
For the first time in what seemed like a millennia, his hands suddenly trembled like they used to all those years ago. For a moment things felt almost …. normal. He swore he could suddenly remember the days that didn’t start and end in eternal darkness. There used to be a light. It was like time had reversed to a time before he was bestowed with the double-edged sword that is the mystic arts. For all the good it did, there was a mighty price for his good efforts.
His face softened at her approaching figure, suddenly feeling the urge to crumble at her fierce gaze.
The red head was the first to speak.
“Stephen?”
Her voice felt light in his ears. It was barely above a whisper, but he could hear it perfectly. Things became even more silent than before as the two attempted to calm their nerves.
“C-Christine?”
She swallowed quickly while trying to avoid his curious gaze. The stranger's attraction to her was written all over his face.
“I see you grew out your … beard”
This was tougher than she expected. The only other times she had interacted with other selves was when she was in control, when in this situation there was no telling the endgame. Oh, how she missed the comforting clean lab of hers back home.
During those few seconds of silence, he ran his fingers through his matted hair, suddenly feeling self-conscious for the first time in what felt like a lifetime. Does she hate the beard? He quickly shook those thoughts from his conscience, feeling a bit childish.
She remained steady while doing her best to navigate through the unkept grand room, fixating on the generally clear space across from the watchful pair of eyes. The other Stephen lagged closely behind the small woman with full skepticism towards the grimy and hazardous sorcerer bearing obvious heart eyes. He knew he didn’t have to warn Christine again over this Stephens certain attachment to Christine but a part of him was anxious about the outcome.
The fixated man continued the conversation.
“I didn’t think I’d ever get the chance of meeting you like this here again” Slightly confused, she turned to the other Stephen as she indulged the man.
“What, uh, happened with the Christine in this universe?”
Suddenly feeling unsure about this agreement, the Stephen looking from afar spoke out, "Maybe we sh-”
His plea was silenced as she shot him a death stare. The Stephen of this realm just observed, ignoring the outburst while preparing his answer.
“I had ruined my chances years before I doomed this reality. She eventually found the one she’d give her heart to, someone that wasn’t me” He then began to slowly pace, obviously affected by the topic of conversation. “Not long after her wedding she was caught in an accident. A quick yet devastating accident that only took a few seconds to leave her completely …. shattered”. It was easy to notice his rise is agitation as even the mere mention of the event caused his heart to puncture. His chest ached for a moment before talking.
“A car had hit her while she was on her way to work. She was only in the hospital for a few days until she passed, but those were probably the longest days of my life” The gears in her head turned vigorously while remaining silent, fixating on the particularly harrowing parts. Nothing will ever prepare you for the retelling of the death of a different version of yourself. It was enough to send a staggering number of chills up her body.
“I’ll spare you both the graphic details. I think the worst part was that the driver wasn’t even necessarily fully at fault, something about faulty brakes”
“Did that make a difference to me? Not really” He seemed to have shrugged. “It was too late; the damage was already done”. Christine couldn’t help but intervene “Don’t tell me you...” She trailed off, knowing it was pointless to try and spin this any other way. The truth of this particular Stephen was obvious, he had gone too far just like the man she used to know. I’d lost yo-” He winced before correcting himself. “-her” “What more could I possibly lose” His toned shifted yet again, becoming more stoic in his presentation. “I realized we were not meant to be together. It seemed like at every turn something went wrong, whether it was due to my arrogance or other worldly duties keeping me away”. A part of him wanted to laugh at the mention of his “worldly duties” and the type of things he used to stress over back when things were almost normal. At least as normal as running around chasing other sorcerers and superhuman beings could be. Those thoughts were quickly scrubbed from his mind as he brought himself back to the present. “There had to be a way to find a universe where we could be together – any universe - were we weren't doomed to fail but to grow …" A loud scoff erupted from across the room, exhausted from hearing his pathetic excuses.
“It just so happened you needed help from the most ancient and corruptive text in order to achieve that” “The things we do for the grand calculus of the multiverse. Isn’t that right Stephen? The two exchanged glances “Imagine my disappointment when all I witnessed was breakup after breakup until I took it upon myself to set free all the selves left to go mad in self-pity”. “So, you murdered the versions of yourself that weren't able to maintain a relationship with Christine” This day was certainly not going the way she expected it to. “What exactly makes you able to survive the fate of this? She glanced around the room, as if to remind herself that he was most likely the last surviving human in this harrowing world due to his actions.
“Aren’t you yourself one of the ones that never quite figured it out?” He brushed the comment off with a slight head tilt.
“Let’s just call this the burden I carry for the consequence of my failure to protect Christine” The silence after he said that was suffocating. Even though the Stephen she had known for a good chunk of her life had his demons, she had never seen such a side to him. He was careful not to let much slip through his well-crafted guise. It was not enough to keep her worries at bay, however, which was probably why they could never seem to make it work. He was so … focused and determined. Traits that were not inherently bad but when paired with his self-destructive tendencies and his talent to isolate himself, things tended to blow up. Seeing a version of him that she knew was a result of his mind finally succumbing to the bad was enough to bring tears to her eyes.
It seemed that she was not immune to witnessing the constant destruction of the man she had once loved, even if this one happened to be from another universe. His voice shook her from her brooding.
“The Stephen from your world, where is he?”
The question took her by surprise yet was answered faster than expected.
“He’s gone” The man couldn’t help but inch closer to her as he answered.
“Something tells me whatever it was, you still haven’t recovered”
Just like me, he wanted to say.
“I think we need to move on-”
As she attempted to put this seemingly needless conversation to rest, the man continued.
“Christine, really, have you forgotten who I am?
She cut him off right as he finished.
“He made a choice. One that ended up costing the lives of trillions of innocents all because of that damn book”
The man did not want to listen at the talk of her former lover. He wondered why he even brought it up in the first place.
“You still have regrets-”
“The only thing I regret is not doing more to stop him. I know it would’ve been next to impossible to change his mind though, as I’m sure you two can imagine”.
Her eyes yet again met the cursed book attached to his hip, causing a rush of frustration pool over her. She had forgotten what it was like to deal with this smug asshole. No matter the change in facial hair or attire, they were all just as frustrating.
“Stephen, please, stop trying to turn this around on me. You’re right, you know me, but I know you too. You’ll stop at nothing to do what you feel is right, no matter what gets in your way. This time I’m asking you to help like you’ve done hundreds of times before”.
“I know somewhere in you wants to help. There’s a part of you that misses it, no matter what you might say”. While Christine pleaded with her words and eyes, the Stephen in front of her was abruptly reminded of all the times he had been swayed by that move. The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how often his Christine used to play him with those striking eyes. Those eyes and that voice … how he wished there was still a way to right his wrongs and make it up to her. The man had to clear his throat to stop any feelings from pouring out. No one noticed his slip-up as a tear glided down his cheek before he brushed it off with a low laugh. “You always knew how to talk me into everything” Christine let out an unexpected chuckle.
The sound was like a symphony to the other men in the room, with one in particular feeling an unexpected tightening in his chest. The otherwise silent Stephen watching from afar felt like he had been hit by a complicated spell he had no counter to. His heart was unprotected and vulnerable, just like it had been all those years ago when he had driven away the only consistent thing in his life. Maybe it was finally time to move on before getting caught up in the fantasy of trying to get the girl by causing an incursion. Watching this unfold felt like a cruel play of his somewhat cursed future. Surprising herself and the two variants in the room, she placed a hand on the now not-so-sinister-seeming man's cheek with little reluctance. The man froze up in surprise as he tried to collect his scattered mind. All that was running through his head was how much he had forgotten how good that felt. How good it felt to feel her on his skin. Even though she couldn’t admit it, a part of her deep down knew this behavior was her way of coping with the death of the man she still loved. It was selfish but she was positive the man in front of her was doing the same for the woman he lost too.
“Well, it couldn’t have been everything”