EDITED AS OF NOVEMBER 5, 2016

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Everything was going downhill. Stephen hadn't listened to Rachael and was looking for cures anywhere. There were times when his hands would seem better, but then they would always get worse. He would have a breakdown and Rachael would need to help him though it. There had been one night when Rachael had stayed up from dusk 'till dawn sitting on the couch with Stephen's head in her lap as he cried. 

Stephen's fortune was practically gone. The shifty operations combined with all the drinks he was buying added up. He'd have Rachael pay him back for college so he could pay his bills and tabs. She had done it, but she hadn't liked it. She felt like she was letting him down somehow.

One night, Stephen came back from the bar more drunk than Rachael had ever seen him. Rachael wasn't even able to understand anything he was saying. She'd stopped being scared of him when he was drunk, but this was something new. She'd never not been able to understand what he was saying. He was stumbling around the apartment and muttering something about the Ancient One. Rachael didn't know what he meant by that, so she put some food and water in him before making him sleep on the couch.

The next morning, Stephen had the worst hangover ever. Rachael made him breakfast, but she left before he woke up. He would have to do things on his own today. At rehearsal, Rachael got in trouble for not being focused, but it was because she was coming up with a plan for how to confront Stephen. On the way home, Rachael picked up some pizza and pop to try and butter Stephen up. As she got out the key to open the door, she heard Stephen yell in anger and frustration and crash that signified objects being thrown in a rage. Rachael braced herself and opened the door.

"I'm home!" she said calmly. "I picked up some dinner, if you're hungry."

"Oh, thank you," Stephen said.

"So, he wouldn't do it?" Rachael asked, referring to the surgeon who Stephen had been Skyping with.

"Nope," Stephen said. 

"I'm sorry, Steve," Rachael sighed. She took a deep breath, wondering how this would go. "I actually want to talk to you about that."

"Then spit it out," Stephen said.

"You need to quit getting drunk every night, and you need to stop looking for cures," Rachael said. She was surprised at how blunt she sounded. "This isn't good for you. As your best friend and someone who loves you, I know you're hurt and you want to find a way to cure yourself, and I know that drinking helps you forget. But I also know that you are hurting yourself." 

"You just think you know everything, don't you?" Stephen asked, standing up.

"No, I don't," Rachael said. "And I don't pretend to. But I do know that this isn't good for you. It. Needs. To. Stop."

"No, Rachael," Stephen said. "I will search to the very ends of the earth for someone to cure me. I will search until I die. I will never stop looking, not if it means I can go back to doing operations."

"Stephen, listen to me!" Rachael pleaded. "I only want to help you."

"If you truly wanted to help me, you'd assist me in looking for a cure," Stephen said. "But you don't, do you? You just sit by and let me do it all myself."

"I don't help you? Oh, so I suppose I wasn't helping you when I stayed at the hospital every single night so you weren't alone? And I suppose I wasn't helping you when I had to wash your hair in the sink, or when I fed you?" Rachael crossed her arms and took a step closer to Stephen with every sentence. "And I guess taking care of you when you were drunk or when you had a hangover wasn't helping you either? Oh, and when your sister, parents, and brother died and I stayed with you through all of it, I guess I was just hindering you then, too?"

"Well, you certainly didn't make my life before that easier," Stephen said. "I lost tons of prospective girlfriends because of you. They all thought we were together, so they never tried."

"Well, I'm sorry that they were too stupid to see that it would have been illegal for us to date, but it's not my fault that they were that idiotic," Rachael took a deep breath. "Stephen, we're getting off topic. This is about you looking for cures and drinking. I know that you're hurt. I know. But you're breaking my heart! I can't just- just sit by and watch you waste away! You need to stop. I'll help you in any way I can. I can drop shows, I can loan you money to pay the bills until you get a job, I can do your physical therapy if you want, we can go to treatment-"

 "Stop pitying me!" Stephen shouted.

"This isn't pity!" Rachael screamed back. "This is me wanting to keep you safe! Watching you do this is so hard for me!"

"This isn't one of your fairy tale musicals, Rachael! Is that what I am to you now? Oh, poor Stephen Strange! Don't worry, I'll sing some song that any girl off the streets could sing and then he'll be good as new! When will you get it into your head that life isn't that way?" Stephen shouted, pacing angrily. "You care SO much, don't you?!"

"Yes, I do!" Rachael was trying desperately to hold tears back at this point. "I'm doing this because I love you, Stephen! Every time you go out, I'm constantly terrified that I'm going to wake up to another phone call like that again because you got in a drunk car crash!"

"Well, if it wasn't for you, I never would have crashed the car in the first place, and we wouldn't be having this conversation! I wouldn't have been looking at my phone!" Stephen yelled.

"Oh, so you Snapchatting and driving was my fault?" Rachael asked, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Yes, it was! I swear to God, I wish that we had never met!" Stephen shouted. "I would be so much better off if you would just LEAVE!"

Rachael felt her breath get stuck in her throat as her eyes widened in shock. She felt like Stephen had just slapped her in the face. She knew that he found her annoying sometimes, but did he really wish that he had never met her? And that she would leave? How long had he been thinking that?

Stephen internally slapped himself. Why had he said that? He hadn't meant it! He would never do anything to hurt Rachael.

Stephen took a step towards her. "Rachael...I didn't-"

Stephen didn't get a chance to finish. Rachael stormed up to him and slapped him in the face. "Fuck you, and everything in your miserable life." 

Rachael turned around and grabbed her bag. She stormed out of the apartment in tears. Stephen recovered from the shock of her hitting him to chase after her.

"Rachael!" Stephen called, running after her. "Rachael, come back! I didn't mean it, Rachael! Please!"

"Leave me alone!" Rachael called back.

"Come back! I didn't mean it!" Stephen yelled desperately. "Please, I swear, I'll stop! I promise!" 

Rachael didn't come back.

Stephen kicked the wall angrily and sank to the floor. He had driven away the last person he had who cared about him. Rachael was right. He needed help. He had heard about a person called the Ancient One in Tibet who could heal him somehow. It would be better for Rachael if he got out of her life forever. Stephen barely had any money left, but it should be enough for a ticket to the Tibet. The only thing he took was a backpack that he put some clothes and his phone charger in, and a watch that Rachael had gotten him years ago. He put his phone in his pocket and then left the apartment for good. 

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Around midnight, Rachael reentered the apartment. She'd spent the day window-shopping throughout the city. She wasn't ready to see Stephen again. She just hoped that he was asleep either on the couch or in his bedroom. He usually was back around this time. He wasn't on the couch, so Rachael checked his bedroom. He wasn't there either. When Rachael woke up the next morning, Stephen still wasn't back.

Oh, no, she thought. Please, no.

Rachael called him on her phone, but he didn't pick up. With shaking hands and tears streaming down her face, she sent him a text that read: Where are you? Please, come back. We can work things out. Stephen didn't text her back. Rachael was full-blown sobbing as she called the one person Stephen might have gone to: Christine. 

"Hello?" Christine said.

"Christine? It's Rachael," Rachael said. 

"Oh, hi," Christine said. "What do you want?"

"Is Stephen with you?" Rachael asked.

"No, why would he be? He lives with you," Christine said. 

"We got in a fight and I walked out and when I came back, he was gone!" Rachael said. "I thought he might be with you!"

"He's not," Christine said. "What did you two say to each other?"

"He's been getting drunk and looking for cures lately, and I told him he needed to stop. I know he wants to get better and that drinking helps him forget, but it's not helping him!" Rachael cried. "He told me the accident was my fault- in a way it was- and that he wished he had never met me. I told him that sometimes I wished the exact same thing sometimes and then walked out. I came back later that night, and he was gone. Did he tell you where he was going?"

"No, he didn't," Christine said. "Have you tried calling or texting him?"

"Why else would I have called you?" Rachael snapped. "Sorry, I'm just so scared. What if something happens to him?"

"Right, let me try texting him," Christine said. Rachael waited for a minute. "He's not texting me back, either. Let me try calling him. I'll call you back in a minute."

Christine hung up on Rachael, who paced while chewing her fingernails. Where on earth was he? Was this her fault? Had he left because of her? After five minutes, Christine called back.

"He's not picking up," she said. "I left him a message, though. If I hear anything from him, I'll let you know."

"Thank you so much, Christine," Rachael said. "I know we haven't gotten on well in the past, but thank you."

"Well, there's one thing we both have in common," Christine chuckled. "We both care about Stephen." 

"Yes, we do," Rachael said. "Do you think I should file a missing person's report?" 

"Give it another day," Christine said. "Maybe he's just walking around the city."

"Okay," Rachael said, taking a deep breath and trying to calm down. "Thank you again, Christine."

"My pleasure," Christine said. "He'll be okay, Rachael."

With that, Christine hung up. Rachael sat down on the couch, put her face in her hands, and started crying. She was so worried about Stephen. She'd do whatever it took to find him and ensure that he was safe. 

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Stephen boarded the plane to Tibet. As he sat down, he felt a vibration in his pocket. He took out his phone and saw that it was Rachael. He contemplated answering, but decided against it. She would be better off without him. After the call had run its course, he felt another vibration. It was still Rachael, but it was a text this time.

Where are you? Please, come back. We can work things out. 

Stephen's finger hovered above the letters on the keypad, but then he started having one of his episodes. Stephen put the phone down and sighed. He felt a twinge of regret about not at least leaving a note for Rachael telling her where he was going. 

A few minutes later, he got a text from Christine:

Rachael is on the phone with me sobbing. Where are you? 

Stephen wasn't able to text back because of his hands. When Christine called him, he let the call go through the motions, then shut off his phone. He decided that it would just be better if Rachael gradually faded out of his life, and he out of her's. They had had a very special friendship, but it was in the past now. If this Ancient One was able to cure him, he would adopt a new name and work with that. He wouldn't burden Rachael's life any longer. Stephen looked out the window of the plane as it took off and let out a deep sigh as he left behind his home and best friend forever.

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Should I do any of Stephen's training with the Ancient One? I feel like I should. SO when I went to see Suicide Squad today, they showed the Doctor Strange trailer and I was quoting the whole thing. I'm not kidding. I've watched it at least 5,000 times. I've never been this hyped for a Marvel movie in my life. Today's soon-to-be-released Doctor Strange merchandise is:

The Doctor Strange 2017 calendar!