Celeste Morn was in the middle of instructing Strange on a defensive ward technique when she suddenly froze mid-gesture. Stephen immediately noticed and looked up at her.
"Celeste?" Stephen observed her expression shift to deep worry. "Hey, is everything okay?"
"I... I don't know." The Jedi felt her heart suddenly constrict as a single thought pierced her mind.
"Bucky," she whispered.
Back where Bucky sat on the secluded bench, the man in the purple-lined coat nodded, processing everything the Winter Soldier had recounted.
"Very good," he said, standing. "Now remain here until you come to terms with your current situation."
"Понял." (Understood.)
The man nodded once, departed the scene, climbed into his car, and drove away.
When Bucky's mind returned to normal, he searched frantically for the stranger, but found no trace of him.
Cold sweat ran down his forehead. A wave of nausea surged through him.
"No," Bucky trembled violently. "God, please don't. Not again."
Doctor Strange had made rapid progress since his "excursion" to the peak of Mount Everest.
In "letting go" of his ego—as the Ancient One had phrased it—Stephen had felt something awaken from within.
He was now mastering spells quickly, even outpacing most of his fellow students who'd been training at Kamar-Taj far longer than him.
The only person who consistently kept up with him—and actually taught him anything—was Celeste Morn.
Stephen wanted to learn everything about every subject that intrigued him. For a while, he became a fixture in the library, absorbing knowledge like a sponge.
It reminded him of his time in medical school.
The only difference between then and now was magic. Under Wong's supervision, he frequently used his Sling Ring to "borrow" books, then employed astral projection to read even more texts while his body slept.
After Wong eventually kicked him out of the library for overstepping, Stephen had to train more carefully in the Mirror Dimension to continue his accelerated progress. Stephen didn't mind—it was just another space where he could experiment with spellwork to his heart's content.
In the present moment, Strange was on his way to discuss something he'd been reading with Celeste when he heard voices coming from her quarters.
It was easy to guess who the other person was.
"Again?" he heard Celeste's voice, thick with concern.
"I just..." came Bucky Barnes' distressed reply. "I just want it to stop. This is too much."
"What do you remember?"
"He's... roughly our age. Caucasian. Wearing a trench coat. I don't know if he's HYDRA—I don't think I've ever seen him before."
"What did he want?"
Strange heard no response initially, then some kind of muffled speaking. Straining his ears, he managed to make out fragments from the mumbled words.
"...December... sixteenth... 1991..."
"One of your HYDRA missions, I take it?"
HYDRA? Had he heard that correctly?
Beyond the history books, Stephen also remembered something from the news not long ago. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s classified files had been leaked to the internet for everyone to access and analyze. According to various sources who'd decrypted and reported on the data, HYDRA had been operating since World War II. The files stated that the Nazi-founded organization had infiltrated S.H.I.E.L.D. and conducted countless operations behind the public's back.
So what was Bucky's connection to them?
"Hey, hey, Bucky, sweetheart, look at me."
Strange couldn't see what was happening inside since the door remained closed.
"You know I'm here for you, right? Just like you were there for me when you first found me. Whatever you're going through, I'll be with you to help you through it—the same way you helped me."
Hearing this, Strange unconsciously reached for his left wrist before remembering he'd left his watch in his room.
An unbidden memory surfaced: standing outside a building as a woman in elegant clothes walked out to meet him.
"Christine..." the Doctor thought darkly.
They'd been together for several years—easily the best years of his life.
However, his pride had gotten the better of him, and he'd driven his girlfriend away, ending their relationship.
What made it even more unbearable was that they still worked together at the same hospital. Interacting after the breakup had been excruciating.
He honestly didn't know what would have happened if his ego hadn't driven a wedge between them. Would he still be happy with her, a better man? Would he have never gotten into the accident that cost him the use of his hands?
The universal and cosmic question: What if?
Strange sighed and turned away from the couple, not wanting to intrude on their private moment. He could seek Celeste's advice later.
His ego had ruined one precious relationship in his life.
He'd rather not repeat that mistake.
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