His life had been a bust. All that talent, and he couldn't help himself. Wasted. No, it was taken from him, and he was going to get it back.

"Jonathan Pangborn," he approached a basketball court, having tracked down the miracle case the bachelor's degree physiotherapist had told him about. "C7-C8 spinal cord injury, complete."

"Who are you?" The player who'd stopped to grab a drink -who had just got the one up in the basketball game, who you couldn't tell was paralyzed once upon a time- asked.

"Paralyzed from the mid-chest down. Partial paralysis of both hands," Stephen continued reciting his diagnosis.

"I don't know you," Pangborn repeated.

"I'm Stephen Strange," the homeless looking thug introduced himself. "I'm a neurosurgeon. Was a neurosurgeon."

Pangborn scoffed. "Actually, you know what, man? I think I know you. I came to your office once. You refused to see me. I never got past your assistant," he approached the cocky doctor.

"You were untreatable," Stephen reminded him.

"No glory for you in that, right?" Pangborn mocked him and walked away.

"You came back from a place there is no way back from!" Stephen called after him, and his desperation lead him to beg, literally with his hands raised. "I... I'm trying to find my own way back."

Pangborn watched the skilled surgeon standing there with shaking hands. He refused a second game and walked out of the court to Stephen.

"Alright. I'd given up on my body. I thought my mind was the only thing I had left. I should at least try to elevate that. So I sat with gurus, and sacred women. Strangers carried me to mountain tops to see holy men. And finally, I found my teacher. And my mind was elevated. And my spirit deepened. And somehow..."

"Your body healed," Stephen quickly cut in, that was all that he needed.

Pangborn looked at him and nodded with a sigh. "Yes. And there were deeper secrets to learn then, but I did not have the strength to receive them. I chose to settle for my miracle, and I came back home. The place you're looking for is called Kamar-Taj. But the cost is high."

"How much?" The now bankrupt neurosurgeon asked.

"I'm not talking about money," Pangborn shook his head. The hands were lost but the ego was still high. "Good luck."

He didn't need luck, he needed solutions. No matter that he couldn't say the name right or speak the language, Stephen would go to this Kamar-Taj. It was in Kathmandu, and that's where he was standing, with only a bag on his back and a watch on his wrist- the only one the bank hadn't repossessed apparently.

But finding a needle in a haystack was easier done than finding an authentic house of healing in Nepal. He hadn't come this far to be hopeless. He asked anyone he could stop if they knew where Kamar-Taj was. Half only shook their head, some just stared at him as if he was an alien, and a few pointed with directions he couldn't understand.

Stephen walked through the crowded streets, finding a set of stairs someone had pointed him to-hopefully. He walked down into an abandoned neighborhood, the slip of paper in his hand his little guide.

As he was looking at the doors, trying to read signs, he saw a dog limping towards him. Stephen walked away at first, but then couldn't wipe the thought that the dog had golden eyes. He sighed and turned, and the dog was looking back at him, as if it understood that Strange was a person who could help.

"Hey, come here," he called out to it.

Heimdall whimpered and hobbled closer to Stephen as the doctor squatted down to check him out.

"Oh, look at you," Strange said as he grabbed the broken paw, which the dog seemed to have extended. "I have a friend who goes for your type," he told the dog as he found a splint.

No. You have someone much more than a friend who's done a lot for you. Let us see if you are worth her time.

"Oh boy. It's alright. Don't be afraid," the egomaniac doctor coddled the dog as he set the splint.

While Strange was setting the wound, Heimdall turned to make sure they were being followed. He whined until the doctor securely wrapped his broken leg. He turned back to the doctor, satisfied with the treatment, and extended his other paw to shake his hand, his claw getting stuck under the watch belt.

"Oh, yeah? Shaking my hand now? Wait till you get the bill. How's your insurance?" He joked with the animal.

An idiot. But worthy. He licked his maw and walked away, crossing the green soldier. He nodded at Mordo, who nodded in kind, a silent agreement between them, and walked away.

Stephen stood up after having crouched for a long time. Well, it was only a few minutes, but his back was still healing. As he rose, his wrist stung and he brought his arm up to his face to look at it. As he rubbed the scratch mark, he couldn't help not stare at the watch. He couldn't event remember where it had come from; it didn't look like one he already had.

Stephen unbelted the watch to ease his wrist from the scratch. As the strap hung in his hand, he noticed words swinging past him. Curious, he finally turned over the watch.

Time will tell how much I love you.
Kyra

Stephen heaved a heavy sigh as he put it back on. He didn't have time to contemplate the significance of anything when he found himself getting surrounded by robbers.

"Guys, I..." he slowly stepped back, "I don't have any money."

The leader approached him face to face. "Your watch."

"No, please. It's all I have left," he couldn't bear to separate from it.

"Your watch," the thug demanded again, raising his weapon.

Stephen assessed the situation he was in and sighed. "All right," he bluffed, then punched the robber in the face, only hurting himself before the group jumped him. One of them made away with his watch, but he was soon caught by a third party, who defeated all three of the thieves.

Stephen got to his feet as the man in the green hood approached him and offers him his watch. He took the broken accessory with wavering hands, shaking more by the thought that the cracks in the glass might represent his relationship with the person who had gifted it to him.

"You're looking for Kamar-Taj?" The man asked.

A simple nod started his journey into a world much different than the one he had known.