Narrator's POV

"Heart rate is stable." Said a nurse in the operation room.

"Good work, team." The surgeon said, putting down the tools he had in his hands.

"Hah..." Stephen sighed in relief under his medical mask.

///0///0

"Stephen."

"Hm?" Stephen turned around. "Ah, Christine." He smiled.

"How did the surgery go?" She asked, now walking alongside Stephen.

Stephen was wearing his navy blue colored scrub with a white lab coat over it. He was heading out for lunch after the surgery.

"It went good. Just like planned. Saved a man's life today." He said.

"We like that." Christine said. "You've only been working here two months and everyone seems to like you."

"Do they?" Stephen asked.

"Yes. You're kind and friendly." She said. "Funny, too."

"Will you be joining me for lunch today?" Stephen asked. "I could humor you over a turkey sub."

"I'm afraid not." Christine answered. "I'm on my way to see a patient with a punctured lung."

"That's a shame." Stephen said. "I was going over to the Frank's Deli." He said.

"I love that place." Christine said.

"I know." Stephen smiled at her.

"I've gotta run." She said, jogging down the hall. "I'll see you later."

"Alright." Stephen nodded.

///0///0

"Um, yes. Let me get a turkey sub with Swiss and about every vegetable you've got." Stephen said as he came up to the counter of the deli.

Soon enough his sandwich was down and he took a seat in one of the booths at the deli, where he began eating his sub along with a water bottle.

He looked out the window, staring at the city of New York.

Cars rushed past the deli, people walked by. Some had bags in their hands, other had pets. Some had partners with them, others had children.

Stephen watched as a large screen in front of him on a building displayed propaganda and advertised products.

"And don't you put tomatoes in it. I'm very careful about that." 

Stephen looked up when he heard a familiar voice.

In the line of people in the deli, he saw Tony standing there, building his sub.

"And a Diet Coke please." Tony said, before lying for his food. "Thank you." He said, taking his food and looking for somewhere to sit. He spotted Stephen shortly. "Stephen?" He asked.

"Hey, Tony." Stephen said. "Nice to see you again."

Tony walked over to him. "Mind if I join ya?"

"Not at all. Please." Stephen pointed at the seat across from him. "Come and sit."

"Didn't know you liked Frank's." Tony said.

"Oh yes." Stephen said. "It's one of the best delis I've been to so far since I've moved."

"How long have you been here?" Tony asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Two months." Stephen said.

"And you just came to see me?" Tony asked, trying his best to talk with his mouth full.

Stephen laughed. "Here." He said, wiping a bit of sauce Tony had on his cheek with a napkin. "I didn't know where you lived."

Tony finished what he had in his mouth. "Thank you." He thanked Stephen. "How'd you find me anyway?"

"I watched you land in your garage one night." Stephen said.

"Because that's not creepy." Tony said.

"I thought you were a shooting star, okay?" Stephen said, blushing in embarrassment. "I was star gazing that night."

"Fair point." Tony said. He looked down at Stephen's sandwich stuffed with vegetables. "Still vegetarian, judging by the state of your sandwich."

"No." Stephen said, looking around for some turkey. "There's some turkey in there somewhere."

"What happened to Mr. Green?" Tony asked.

"Well, after you go through hours of training and running around all over the place, you kinda get a hunger that isn't quite satisfied by just greens." Stephen said. "Plus a healthy diet consists of proteins."

"There's this thing called tofu that's like protein for you vegetarians, you know?" Tony said, taking a bite of his sub.

"I know." Stephen said. "But it tastes like rubber." He said. "I never know how to prepare it."

Tony chuckled. "There's recipes."

"I don't have time to sit down and read or watch something on cooking. If I'm not at the hospital, I'm fighting who knows what in another dimension." Stephen said.

"I could come over one day and give you some cooking lessons. I'm a bit of chef myself." Tony said.

"That would be nice." Stephen said. "Id have to clean the Sanctum up a bit. There's all sorts of stuff lying around."

"Like what?" Tony asked.

"Well, being the Sorcerer supreme of earth comes with a lot of responsibilities. There's different dimensions that I visit to keep threats from invading earth. Don't even get me started on all the gateways that are opened on a daily basis. I need to get locks for those doors."

"You have gateways at your place?" Tony asked.

"Oh yeah." Stephen said. "They open to all sorts of dimensions. I keep forgetting to place them under a secure spell, so they keep opening." Stephen said.

"Sounds exhausting." Tony said, taking a bite of his sandwich. "All I know is that..." He spoke with his mouth full of sandwich. "...wizards have a lot of weirdness going on in their lives. Probably enough for a lifetime."

"Yes, but there isn't a day I don't regret it." Stephen said. "I like to help people, and keeping your reality safe is doing just that." Stephen said. "Protecting the people of earth is my duty."

"Ha. Duty." Tony laughed.

"You're such a child sometimes." Stephen said. "It's like you haven't changed one bit."

"Alright, slow down there." Tony said. "Physically yes, mentally no."

Stephen looked up at him. "You're gonna have to grow up sometime."

"Urgh..." Tony groaned. "Stephen stooooop. You're starting to sound like my father, and there's nothing more terrifying than seeing one of your friends become your parents." Tony said. "You seem tired, Strange. Stressed."

"I am." Stephen said. "Working around the clock has be spinning in circles."

"Tell me about it." To y scoffed. "I have all these meetings to attend and set up. Don't even get me started on the Avengers Tower."

"Why? What's up with the-"

"I'm selling it, I just haven't found a buyer. No one seems to want to buy that tower, and I need to relocate everyone because we're too exposed here." Tony said. "I'm starting a compound far away from here, in a secret place."

"Oh." Stephen said.

"It'd be safer that way, for everyone. The team, the people, the city.

"That's-"

An alarm went off on Stephen's phone.

He took it out to looked at.

Need you now. Emergency
- Christine

"I have to go." Stephen stood up from his seat, placing his sandwich in his mouth and gathering up his trash and waking over to one of the trash cans.

"Guess I'll see you later." Tony said, turning to him.

"I can't promise you anything." Stephen said, running out of the deli with his sandwich.

Tony smiled, shaking his head, going back to his sandwich.