Doctor Strange One Shots

Assistance - Part 3

"Hey, have you seen (Y/n)..?"

Stephen found Christine by the nurses station in the emergency ward, filling out some paperwork as the early morning hours dawned upon them.

"Oh, uh, no. I haven't, actually."

She looked up from her work to see him, his usual cocky self now gone, and instead replaced by a Stephen most people wouldn't recognise.

"You ok...? I heard about yesterday..."

Christine placed down her pen, giving her full attention to Stephen as he stood sullen and stressed, and not in the 'I need to prove I'm the best' kind of way.

"Yeah. Fine."

He rested his head against his fist, leaning on the counter she was sitting behind and sighed.

He was definitely not fine.

"Well, does 'fine' mean 'I severely messed up because of my selfish tendencies'? Because that would sound more realistic."

She laughed slightly, seeing him now flatten his head to the counter in distress.

"Ok, fine, I messed up. Do you need to rub more salt into the wound? I feel terrible."

Christine studied him for a second longer and thought his behaviour was quite odd. (Y/n) had found her yesterday after the whole closet incident, and Christine felt her blood boil hearing about what Stephen did to her best friend.

It's one thing to hold a work colleague back for selfish reasons. But it's entirely another to ruin their reputation in the workplace.

And incredibly unprofessional.

"Well," she started, moving back over to her work as she spoke, "what have you done about it?"

But instead of a response, she was met with a drawn-out irritating groan from the doctor opposite her.

"What can I even do, Christine? It's not like I can go up to the board and tell them I was wrong and that (Y/n) deserves the position more than anyone else here. And that she's an incredibly hard and caring worker who loves her job more than anything. And that, if I'm being totally honest, if she wasn't stationed as my assistant for so long, I'd probably not be in the position I'm in right now!"

Stephen slumped back onto the desk, his arms folded under his head before he peaked up to look at Christine.

Who simply blinked with her brow raised.

"Uh... yeah?"

Stephen rolled his eyes, an impatient glare awaiting her.

"'Yeah,' what?"

Christine face palmed.

Like, actually raised her hand from the desk and tiredly wiped over her face.

"You know, for someone with such an advanced qualification in the human body and years of experience working with patients, you really are shit with people."

She spoke, her patience wearing thin upon his stupid answer, and Stephen's brows furrowed, not understanding what she was trying to say.

And he stayed staring confused before she threw down her pen and stood to meet his eyes.

"Stephen, if you want her to stay, then you do exactly that!"

He took a step back, feeling even more confused beyond belief.

"What- no- I can't. It will tarnish my reputation!" He whisper-shouted across the desk to her.

"Well, then she's clearly not that important to you. One letter, and you've completely ruined hers. But admitting you did something wrong, saving someone from an unreasonable fire, someone who, I should remind you, has been working with you for years and actually cares about you, and possibly showing the rest of the hospital that you're actually human and have genuine feelings? Oh no, how dare you, Stephen Strange, do such a thing!"

Christine's voice raised the longer she went, and she stood, grabbed her work, and stormed off with the last word.

And Stephen was left dumbfounded.

So much in fact that he didn't care about the other hospital staff or patients who were left staring at him, second-hand embarrassment flooding the floor.

-

Christine's words sat ringing through Stephen's head as he took his seat behind his desk, his laptop already open, and a blank email drafted upon it.

He sat there with his thoughts and hers.

'She was right.'

He thought.

Stephen imagined two scenarios sitting there.

One where he admitted he was wrong to those who his reputation was responsible for, and one where he didn't.

On one hand, he could do nothing. He could continue his life as one of the most successful doctors in New York. Continue advancing his career and getting recognition for the ground-breaking work he was doing. And just go about his day as normal.

As normal as it could get without (Y/n) by his side.

Or, on the other hand, he could tell them he was wrong. He could try and make things right since he, reluctantly, had agreed he messed up. He could go to Jordan and the rest of HR and tell them he was wrong. He could go on and on about how incredible of a doctor she was. He could do that. Physically, he could. But people would see him differently.

His perfect reputation wouldn't be perfect anymore.

Or would it?

He would probably gain some sort of punishment for unprofessionalism; possibly a suspension of some sort or limited working hours. Something ridiculous like that.

But then what would happen after?

Well, Stephen thought, that... might be it? Right?

And like Christine said, perhaps people would see him differently, but in a good way?

Stephen never really cared how others saw him. He was there to work, not make friends. But then he remembered what (Y/n) said in the closet.

'Rude... Arrogant...'

And it hurt, hearing someone so close to him say such things.

But then again, hadn't he just done the same thing to her?

So, Stephen straightened his posture, and his delicate fingers found their place on his keyboard, ready to type out an email.

Ready to do something.

-

(Y/n) was sitting in one of the hospital's meeting rooms, opposite several of Stephen's boss' and HR staff. And she sat there, with several tissues balled up in her fists, clenching them nervously as they talked to her about 'her behaviour'.

A normal company would probably dismiss the individual and move on just like that.

But in the hospitality sector?

This was the start of a full-blown investigation.

They couldn't have any hospital staff being rude, useless, or unprofessional around patients. No. So here she sat, enduring their patronising words before Jordan came rushing into the room, with several sheets of paper printed out.

"Dr Reid, we are in the middle of -"

"I'm sorry, but I think you'll need to see this before continuing with the meeting."

He rushed up to them and handed them the papers.

And (Y/n) sat, nerves firing away like never before as she watched them read over each page carefully, the expressions on their face looking stern and shocked.

"Dr (Y/l/n),"

The head of the table spoke, looking up from the papers before a gentle yet apologetic smile came across their face.

"You're free to go."

---
*gasp* development??? Surgeon Strange???

I'm ngl, it's actually kinda hard to make his mind work in character, the ego is just too much for me to understand coherently -
(　＾ω＾) so mb if it felt like filler hehe

Until next time <3