Strange Adventures

Chapter 3

Stephen woke up the next morning, more refreshed than usual. After last night, he had tucked America back into bed, a peaceful look upon her face. Seeing her so calm had probably made him calm as well.

Looking outside, the sun shone in bright, reflecting off the floor and making the room glow with a cheery yellow light. A perfect day for a walk.

As he passed his desk to go to the bathroom, he saw his watch, face still broken, sitting there.

The watch.

The symbol of his love for Christine, all his pain, all his hope, all his dreams. He couldn't put it into words.

He had meant to fix it, meaning to put everything behind him and start a new chapter, but something stopped him. America teased him, saying he was too lazy to fix the watch, but he knew, he just didn't want to. He took it from his desk and wore it, even though it was broken. It comforted him, like a part of Christine was still with him.

Ten minutes later, he was downstairs, and only Wong was awake, with America nowhere to be found. Which was odd, considering she was usually awake early.

"America? Wake up, kid," he called up the stairs. "We can go for a walk after breakfast."

America, on the other hand, was not as calm as Stephen was on this particular morning. The moment she had woken up, she had somehow knew that her moms were alive, somewhere out there.

But she had no idea what to say to Stephen and Wong. They couldn't possibly abandon their duties to help her find them, and she was torn between seeing her moms again and staying with the two sorcerers.

She liked the idea of a walk--to clear her thoughts--make her forget--forget about the past, like Stephen had said. Maybe, she convinced herself, maybe it was a fake.

She quickly and erratically got ready and went downstairs, trying to keep cool. Her hands shaking as much as Stephen's did, she almost spilled cereal as she poured it into a bowl, completely forgetting about the milk. Stephen only gave her a sidelong glance, looking slightly confused, but not saying a thing.

After finishing, the both of them walked out the door in complete silence, into the cool city air, which was alive and bustling with the sounds of vehicles and people.

"Let's go to the park," Stephen suggested, taking a left. They walked for two and a half blocks before arriving at the gates of the park.

Stephen noticed America's sudden silence. "Kid, you good?" he asked. "Is it anything about last night?"

"Nope," America said, trying to sound cheery, voice cracking yet again. She was horrible at this.

"Then why are you so quiet?" Stephen asked, looking more concerned.

"I guess I'm still sleepy," she said, nonchalantly, as a pit of nervousness formed in her stomach. Her convincing herself had not worked; she now, wholeheartedly knew for real that her moms were alive. And alone. All these years without her in some strange reality.

Then she felt it--that scared feeling she always hated, because she would always associate it with another portal opening. Even though she had a better grip on her powers, she was still scared that she would open a portal out of fear.

A portal that would drag her away from the reality that she was in, a reality where she was just about to make connections with people.

A portal that took away from her everything she loved.

Meanwhile, Stephen was glancing around the park--and then he saw it. Christine and Charlie, hand in hand, walking directly towards them. Immediately, he panicked, not knowing whether to run away and hide by himself, or with America, or confront them.

He pretended not to notice them and tried walking a different direction, but unfortunately, Charlie noticed him.

"HOLY SHIT--DOCTOR STRANGE???" he shouted, causing others in the park to look over at him. Stephen resisted the urge to facepalm.

He sighed, realizing he would have to abandon the idea of running away and hiding. He started to walk over to them. "Yes, it's me," he said, forcing a smile. He turned to Christine. "Sorry for interrupting the wedding," he said, apologetically.

Christine barely smiled at him. "Well, at least the fight wasn't right at the church. No damages."

Stephen looked away, embarrassed. "Yeah..." he said, trying not to make eye contact with her.

He faintly registered Charlie asking him about quote "magicky stuff" before seeing to his left that America wasn't with him anymore. He saw her wandering away down another sidewalk.

"If you'll just give me a second," he said to Charlie. He kinda felt bad, because this was the second time he'd turned down Charlie. He would just have to talk with him later.

"America!" he shouted, running after her, not realizing that Christine and Charlie were following him. "Kid, come back!"

America, lost in her thoughts and consumed by her fear, was too distracted to hear him. Her brain pestered her with the possibilities--her moms hated her, if she didn't do something now, they would die; etc. As her fear grew, everything grew blurrier, she couldn't focus on any on thing because there was chaos inside her head.

Stephen was just about to reach her when finally, the fear grew too strong. America lost her grip, and a portal opened, its force so strong that the surrounded plants were getting sucked in.

"NO!" Stephen shouted, running towards the portal and risking his own safety. The cloak, in its handkerchief form and safely tucked in his pocket, was rapidly taken out and turned back into a cloak, which Stephen sent hurling towards America to try and drag her out of the portal. Onlookers screamed and ran away, while a few others stood in shock, one of them recording on their phone.

Stephen grabbed America's hand, and both him and the cloak started pulling her back. "I got you, kid!" he shouted. America looked at him, terror in her eyes.

Just as it seemed like Stephen would be able to pull her out of the portal, the force grew too strong, and she was sucked in, the cloak dragged along with her. On the other side, was a barren wasteland--gray sky, gray mountains, and no sight of any life around. The force was so strong that she was thrown a couple hundred feet from the portal, with only the cloak to slow her fall.

"AMERICA!" he shouted, about to run through the portal, when a hand stopped him. Christine was currently holding him back, not letting him run through and save America. Not letting him save his...his student? His ward? His kid? Stephen was too scared to think about what America meant to him.

"Stephen!" America shouted from the other side, running as fast as possible, the cloak assisting her and speeding her up. She wasn't going to lose him now, not this time.

And then the portal closed.

The two of them stuck in different universes.

Both of them on their knees and sobbing, one with a hand on his shoulder to comfort him, another alone in a strange new world, with only a sentient cloak to accompany her.

In 616, Stephen was in pieces, cursing at himself for losing America. He was in despair, he was in rage, and partially in rage because of Christine, who had prevented him from running through the portal. But he disregarded those feelings. He remembered what had happened the last time he'd become mad at Christine. He'd pushed her away--so much so that he had completely fractured their relationship.

"Stephen, who was that?" Christine asked, gently, a hand still on her shoulder.

Stephen looked forward, tears still in his eyes, but a sense of determination and protection inside of him.

"That's America," he said.

"And I'm going to get her back."