THE APPRENTICE (DOCTOR STRANGE STORY)

44

"Ready?" Stephen faced the mirror and straightened his tie up.
Hazel appeared in front of him wearing a black dress. She took his arm as he made a portal.
"Ready."

The two walked into it, going to the woods where tony and his family lived.
The funeral was small and intimate, Wong, Stephen, and Hazel only keeping their heads down the whole ceremony.

"I didn't know him that well," Hazel whispered to Stephen as Tony's family walked inside of his house. "But it shouldn't have been him. He didn't deserve it, no one does."

"I know." He sighed and looked at Hazel "but death is what gives life meaning."

"Yeah well, not for me," she scoffed and as the Avengers started to cluster into small groups and speak to one another. "When you died (I mean, when I say died), I was...a mess,"

"A little sacrifice for the greater good," he muttered and looked down on his shoes. "Ow!"
He cried when a pain started to spread on his chest, seeing that Hazel gave it a good punch.
"If you die again, I'm gonna make sure you don't come back." She threatened and squinted her eyes at him.
Her attention was grabbed by Peter, who was wiping his face next to Steve and Bruce. Hazel whipped her head gently towards them, and Stephen transported themselves beside them.

"Hi." Hazel greeted as the two joined the circle of Avengers, who were reminiscing about Tony.

"I thought humans were all ding heads until I met him," Rocket continued on "brilliant, I tell you. You should've seen him in action, Groot."

"He's...in a better place now." Hazel cleated her throat and everyone looked up at her.

"What, you're gonna tell us he's with Jesus now?," Peter Quill snapped at her "that he's frolicking around a garden filled with sunshine and rainbows?,"

"No, as in...he's literally in a better place." She replied "as in, there's actually an afterlife and he's watching us right now. Right, Stephen? We've been there and-ow!,"

Hazel felt Stephen nudge her a little too hard. He widened his eyes and pursed his lips at her.

"Oh...was I not supposed to say that?," she asked him and he only sighed then rubbed his temples. "My bad."

"There goes another dimensional secret..." Stephen concurred, making Wong snigger beside him.

"Well, this is about honoring his memory," Steve straightened himself up "and I'm sure he wouldn't want us to be sulking and sad."
Everyone nodded sadly and tried to collect themselves.

"Let's celebrate the fact that everyone here is back," Hazel added to the circle "he-he died so we could have our families and friends back. Let's make it count."

"That's right," Bruce nodded and sighed "he was family, but that's right."

"It's good to see everyone back." Steve said as everyone continued on chatting with one another. He approached the sorcerers with a small smile.
"So you're Stephen Strange, huh?,"

"Doctor Stephen Strange." Stephen corrected and Hazel rolled her eyes at him.

"Sorry, although the snap wiped everyone away, it didn't seem to wipe his massive ego," Hazel mocked and turned to Steve, who chuckled.

"Well you didn't seem so annoyed at him back then," Steve started, making her shoot him a threatening look. "You should've seen her back there. It was like she was competing with Thor,"

"I heard my name," Thor approached them and smiled. The god gave Hazel a small nudge. "hello, wizards,"

"Yeah, well, you know Hazel," Stephen continued teasing and ruffled her hair aggressively "clingy one,"

"Clingy?!," she gasped and slapped his arm "excuse me, I'm not the clingy one! You're the one who's always like: 'hey don't do this, don't do that! Where are you? Are you replacing me?'"

"That's quite a bad impression of Stephen," Wong hummed "but Stephen's definitely the clingy one."

"Loser." Hazel muttered and nudged him hard, making his ribcage ache.

"Ow- will you stop hitting me? You've hit me thrice in the last hour!," Stephen snapped and crossed his arms. "I didn't die for this,"

"Well, I've gotta hand it to her," Steve started and gave her a rough pat in the back "she was the only one who never lost hope when everyone else did. 5 years, and she didn't budge."

Stephen and Wong smiled at her

"You've taught her well." Steve grabbed Stephen's shoulder reassuringly

"Oh, and he gets the credit?," Hazel muttered but was ignored, so she walked away when the two started to chat.

Hazel slumped down by the deck and sighed beside Peter.

"Hey" she greeted and started to swing her feet, staring at the water beneath her feet. "I know this is a stupid question cause I know exactly how you're feeling, but are you okay?,"

"Hm," Peter forced a sad laugh "I-I'm okay, I guess. I'll hold up,"

"You don't have to lie to me," she muttered "I know it's extremely hard, I really do. I don't even know how to speak to you because I...don't know what you wanna hear from me,"

"He was just kinda like a dad to me, you know?," he asked and Hazel nodded "and now...I don't know what to do with myself,"

"I won't tell you to get over it, because you don't get over things like these, but you can grow from them," she preached "you know, he saw you as kind of a son too,"

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow and his lips parted slightly at her statement.

"Yeah, back when we were trying to get you guys here," she inhaled deeply "you were his main motivator. You were the one that urged him to try,"

"But what do I do now that he's gone? What did you do when Mr. Strange was gone?," He asked her with tears in his eyes "How do I ever amount to him and the sacrifice he made, you know? I mean...how do I not let him down?,"

"Well, I'm gonna admit that for the first 4 years I was a complete mess. I lost my motivation and I just...lost everything, you know? Stephen's family to me." She stretched her limbs out "but...then I realized that the best thing you can do for someone who you lost is to live for them."

Hazel gave him a sad smile and he gazed at the lake in deep thought of what she had just said. "I believe in you." She stood up "if you ever need me, well, just call me. I'm just a portal away."

"Yeah." He chuckled at her and Hazel walked back to Stephen.
"So." Stephen said with a smirk. "Intruders are coming in about 2 days, you wanna stay for a bit or you wanna come back home?,"

"I love me some adventures." She shrugged

"Back to the usual, then?," he asked and offered his arm.

"Back to the usual."

More chapters to come ;)