"I know," Stephen smiled, "I saw you..."
                              
"I didn't stick the landing very well, but I'll get better. Thanks for saving me...from falling."
                              
"No problem, just a day in a hero's life."
                              
Wanda looked away for a second, a hero? "Do you think I can become a hero?"
                              
"I think you absolutely can," Stephen smiled smugly,  "How did you...uh, how did you know I would catch you when you fell?"
                              
It was at that moment she finally managed to decipher the puzzle of his mind that she had struggled for a while trying to read.
                              
But in that second, at that exact time, his thoughts made her want to open her heart a little more to him, "I hope she trusts me as much as I trust her..."
                              
"I trusted you," She felt a smirk rise on her inner cheek.
                              
"Oh, really?" Stephen was getting even more smug, the smile on his lips getting wider.
                              
"Don't make me regret saying it."

                              
════▣◎▣════
                              
"IN...SAIT," STEPHEN said slowly, trailing the letters on the page with his finger, "Insight."
                              
"In...zait," Wanda tried to copy, "The S's are still hard."
                              
"It's an 'Sss' sound," Stephen instructed.
                              
"Zss...damn," Wanda huffed in irritation, placing her head in her hand. 
                              
"It's okay...it's Sss," He corrected. 
                              
"Sss...Insight."
                              
"You got it!" Stephen chuckled, "Finally!"
                              
"Oh great," Wanda laughed with him, relieved, "Does this mean I'm American now?" 
                              
"No," He snickered, "But it does mean you can stay hidden."
                              
"Right because my accent is too thick," Wanda tucked a hair, in her eyes behind her ear.
                              
"And your hair has to change too," Stephen added, noticing it only after she touched it.
                              
"What about my hair?"
                              
"It's not your hair, per se. It's your whole look."
                              
"I feel flattered," She said plainly, sarcasm dripping in her voice.
                              
Stephen scratched his ear, nervously, "I didn't mean it like that."
                              
"Relax," Wanda snickered as she tried to do an American accent, "I'm only joking."
                              
"I knew that..." Stephen smiled, "But I'm not joking..."
                              
Wanda nodded, her smile vanished - she knew what he was talking about, "I know. I knew what I was doing when I went on the run. But I'm not changing my hair."
                              
"You should consider it. They're are still looking for you. I'm...worried about you. You could easily be recognised if you left the Sanctum."
                              
Wanda felt her heart flutter, he was worried for her, "What makes you think I'm going to leave?"
                              
"I hope you will, one day. This training isn't for nothing, you know. I said you could become a hero, you can't be a hero without helping people on the outside."
                              
"I doubt they will want me protecting them..." 
                              
"They don't have to want it. You want people to see you differently, you make them." 
                              
He turned his head upwards and his eyes landed on hers, he hadn't taken the time to notice how enchanting they were. They were a shining blue-green, they shone in the dim light, making her look even younger than she was.
                              
He could feel exactly what she could, he knew they had a connection - he wasn't crazy, the tension between them seemed to build every day. 
                              
He would be a liar if he didn't admit that he had thought about kissing her, how her lips would feel against his...
                              
How her soft, bare skin would feel against his...
                              
But, he couldn't let anything happen between them. He would feel like he was taking advantage of her, she was broken and too young. 
                              
As Wanda looked into his eyes and in a split second he was staring down at a book again, "Stephen."
                              
"I've got to go," He cleared his throat, "I'll see you again tomorrow."

                              
*
                              
Stephen Strange missed his old life, he had liked helping people in hospitals. Tending to their wounds and saving lives. 
                              
He knew that he wasn't a great person back then but was it really a sin to think about it once in a while? He felt guilty, on occasion when he thought back to it and that was when his hands would start shaking again. 
                              
When all the pain and wrong came back to him, he could feel himself crumble again from the inside and suddenly he was falling off the same cliff...
                              
Over and over... 
                              
"Never thought you'd come to see me," Christine Palmer smiled at her old friend and 'more than a friend.'
                              
"Well, I'm full of surprises," Stephen swirled his spoon around his steaming cup of tea, "Thanks for paying by the way..."
                              
"That's okay, I know you're low on cash considering being a..." Christine had forgotten what he called it, "Cultist." 
                              
"Master of the Mystic Arts."
                              
"Right," She smiled again, her dimples showing.
                              
Christine was a great woman and she meant a lot to him. He thought he at least owed her an explanation of why he had been gone for the past few months. 
                              
And if he had started to feel...whatever he was feeling with Wanda. Christine deserved to know.
                              
"It's good to see you," Stephen dropped his spoon.
                              
"It's good to see you too," She raised an eyebrow, "What do you want to talk about?" 
                              
"I..." Stephen ran a hand over his face, "I guess I was just wondering where we stood. In this, whatever we have."
                              
"I don't know, Stephen, you tell me," Christine sighed, "You disappeared."
                              
"I've been busy."
                              
"With what? Work?"
                              
"Yes. Trying to save the universe and...I have a student."
                              
"A student? What is that? Some weird sex thing?"
                              
"No!" Stephen shouted quickly, "Not at all."
                              
"Who is she?"
                              
"You don't know they're a she," He looked into his cup. 
                              
"I don't have too. You have clearly moved on, Stephen. I can see that you're better. I don't mind if you are seeing someone new."
                              
"Thank you," He took ahold of her hand and squeezed it, "I still care about you, Christine."
                              
"Me too, we're friends. I'll be here whenever you need me," Christine reassured him, then switched to a cheeky smirk, "So...tell me about your student."
                              
Stephen laughed, "I won't tell you her name but I can say a few things."
                              
"Oh come on!" Christine whined, "I won't try and stalk her or anything."
                              
"Beggars can't be choosers."