Strangelove [1] Stephen Strange

11. Advice For the Heart

Genevieve and Stephen placed the Ancient One's body down onto a hospital bed. They had caught different doctors' and nurses' attention as they walked in with the bloody woman.

"Christine!" Stephen and Genevieve yelled as they wheeled the bed down the hall.

"Are you kidding me?" She sighed as she heard the voices of her two friends. Her attitude changed when she actually saw what they were calling about, "Oh my god." She ran to them.

"It's not fibrillation. She has a stunned myocardial." Stephen told her.

"Neurogenic?" Christine asked.

"Yes." Stephen answered.

They rushed her in and Genevieve and Stephen went to suit up. To Genevieve, it felt like she had never left the hospital in the first place.

She watched as Stephen made his way over to the tray and hold up one of the tools. His had still incredibly shaky.

"Nick." Stephen called over the doctor and handed him the tool, "I need you to relieve the pressure on her brain."

Nick took the tool hesitantly from Stephen and looked at Genevieve.

"He's being nice. Just live with it." She told him, following Stephen.

The Ancient One's heart stopped and the doctors in the room became frantic.

"We're loosing her!" Christine called.

"We need to increase her oxygen." Stephen said aloud.

"I need a crash cart." Christine stated.

"Her pupils are dilated." A doctor said.

"No reflexes. We're not reading any brain activity."

The monitor oddly flickered. Stephen looked at Genevieve and she nodded at him. They both went into their astral bodies and saw the Ancient One floating through the room.

"What are you doing? Come on! You're dying!" Stephen called after the Ancient One as he and Genevieve floated after her.

They made their way out to the balcony outside the break room. It was snowing.

"You have to return to your body now. You don't have much time." Stephen informed her.

"Time is relative. Neither of your bodies have even hit the floor yet." The Ancient One told them as thunder rumbled, "I've spent so many years peering through time, looking at this exact moment. But I can't see past it. I've prevented countless, terrible futures, and after each one there's always another. And they all lead here. But never further."

"You think this is where you die?" Genevieve asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You wonder what I see in your futures?" The Ancient One asked the both of them.

"No." Stephen responded quickly.

"Yes." Genevieve answered.

The Ancient One looked at Stephen, "Yes."

"I never saw your futures, only their possibilities. You both have such a capacity for goodness. You Stephen, always excelled, but not because you crave success, but because of your fear of failure." The Ancient One spoke.

"It's what made me a great doctor." Stephen spoke.

"It's precisely what kept you from greatness." Genevieve couldn't help but agreed, "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."

"Which is?" Stephen asked.

"It's not about you." Genevieve answered for the Ancient One, who nodded.

"When you first came to me, you asked me how I was able to heal Jonathan Pangborn. I didn't. He channels dimensional energy directly into his own body."

"He uses magic to walk." Stephen summarized.

"Constantly. He had a choice. To return to his own life, or to serve something greater than himself."

"So I could have my hands back again? My old life?"

"Why would you want that, Stephen? You were practically miserable the entire time." Genevieve asked. She was angry he still kept bring it up.

"You could. And the world would be all the lesser for it. I've hated drawing power from the Dark Dimension, but as you well know sometimes one must break the rules in order to serve the greater good."

"Mordo won't see it that way." Stephen told her.

"Mordo's soul is rigid and unmovable, forged by the fires of his youth. He needs your flexibility, just as you need his strength. Just as you need Genevieve's compassion." Genevieve smiled, "Together will you stand a chance at stopping Dormammu."

"I'm not ready." Stephen said.

"Neither am I." Genevieve added.

"No one ever is. We don't get to choose our time." The Ancient One took Genevieve and Stephen's hands in hers, "Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered. You time is short. You'd think after all this time I'd be ready. But look at me, stretching one moment into a thousand, just so that I can watch the snow."

And like that, the two felt their hands be released as they watched the snow fall. She was gone.

Both Genevieve and Stephen's astral bodies had returned to their own bodies. Once they pulled the Ancient One's body away, Stephen rid of his gear and went to wash his hands.

Christine looked at Genevieve and saw the sadness in her eyes. The two women followed into the room and began to wash their hands. Christine stood far enough away to watch the couple interact.

Stephen grabbed Genevieve's hand under the faucet, "Are you okay?" She asked him.

Stephen slowly turned to look at her. Her breath seemed to catch in her throat.

"Gem." He spoke quietly to her.

"I don't understand what's happening." Tears formed in Genevieve's eyes.

"I know. Neither do I. We have to do this together. Just like the Ancient One said." Stephen placed his hands on the side of Genevieve's face. She placed her hands on top of his, "You said that loosing my hands didn't have to be the end. That it could be a beginning. A new beginning for us."

"A definitely odder beginning. A new way to save lives." Genevieve said softly.

"Together." Stephen told her and her slightly smiled.

"Dr. Palmer, to the ER please. Dr. Palmer to the ER." Christine was so caught up watching her two friends that she forgot she was still on duty.

Genevieve and Stephen looked at her as she rushed out. She waved goodbye to them as she went back to work.

Once Christine was gone, Genevieve pulled Stephen's face down to where her lips could meet his. It was a gentle and slow kiss that meant so much to the both of them. This is where they needed to be. Genevieve pulled away from him and went to go collect her things.

Stephen sat there with tears in his eyes. He sighed and wiped them away before pulling his cloak on. He stood in front of the mirror and fixed his collar. The edges began to hit his face and he began to get frustrated.

"Stop." He told the cloak and they set into place.

Genevieve stood at the doorway with her things and couldn't help but smile. She giggled, which caught his attention. She walked up beside him and laced her hand in his. They together walked out of the hospital, just like that.