-Unbetaed so if you see any mistakes, please let me know.
-Spoilers to Doctor Strange and speculation about Thor:Ragnarok.
-It's a speculation about Infinity War so everything will be jossed soon.

Stephen was poring over scriptures to find a way to defeat Thanos in the New York Sanctum. Apparently, Thanos hadn't been defeated before so he didn't have any source material. He hated that. He used to always come to a battle or an operation, that felt like a life time ago, well-prepared or at least with a workable plan. Now he was in the dark. He growled and threw the scripture he was holding on the floor.

The Cloak which he had named Sophie to Christine's chagrin fluttered. Both collars patted his shoulders in comforting manners.

He looked at his phone and saw there were three miscalls from Christine. How could he not hear that? Apparently he was in the zone as she used to call it when he performed an operation. That certainly didn't stop him from enjoying the music and naming the album and the singer before. That shouldn't excuse him for not hearing her calls. He rubbed his eyes. He felt so tired. Christine had reprimanded him for not taking care of himself.

"Stephen, I know you think the fate of the Earth depends on you but you need to take care of yourself. I'm not going to always be here to take care of you."

"Well, Wong checks on me very often. Thor drops by occasionally. I also have Sophie. "

"Wong lives in Kamar-Taj. "

"Which is only a portal away."

"But could he bring food for you all the time? Could he check whether you rest enough?"

"There is Thor ..."

"I don't think Thor is the type who brings you food and asks you to rest."

"Well, he brings Pop Tarts occasionally."

"Sure, it's such a balanced diet. You should've known better. Besides, how often does Thor drop by?"

"Only when he heard news about Loki or Thanos whereabouts. Or when he needs some magical helps."

"Why can't he use a cellphone like the other Avengers?"

"How do you know the other Avengers use cellphones?"

She quirked her eyebrows. "At this time and age? With Tony I-created-the-StarkPhone21.0-you-can-suck-it-iPhone7 Stark?"

"Thor doesn't trust cellphones since the Sokovia Accords were signed. He said he trusted ravens better. I think my Master of the Mystic Arts image will be ruined with the ravens. Although using a StarkPhone may also have ruined the mystery air I try to garner."

She smiled. "I think it's mostly the cape."

"I think you're just jealous of Sophie."

"You make weird friends."

"Thank you for not using strange. At least I have friends. It's an improvement from before."

She nodded her agreement. "As long as they don't get you killed. And those friends don't get you to take care of yourself."

"I still have Sophie." He gave Sophie a gentle tug. Sophie flew above him and made the gesture of nodding to show her agreement.

"I think I've valid reasons to be jealous." She shook her head. "Anyway, could Sophie bring you food? I know New Yorkers are quite jaded with all the weird happenings in the past few years. I think they still draw the line at a flying cape going to McDonald's."

"I don't eat McDonald's."

"Stephen ..."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what I should do. The fate of the Earth truly depends on the master of the Hong Kong and London Sanctums plus I. Trust me, it has nothing to do with my grand ego."

"I know, Stephen. Your ego is not as massive as it used to be. There are still rooms for improvement of course. My point is who would defend Earth if you fall sick?"

He stared at her eyes. He knew he had the effects on women with his stare as Christine complained to her numerous times before. "I still have you."

She adverted her eyes. "As much as I want to, I can't be here all the time. I have my live."

"Rightly so. And I have mine. And it's to defend Earth from Thanos."

"Why can't the Avengers do it? They have a team for that."

"It's more of a mystical threat rather than the physical ones. Thanos already has four of the Infinity Stones he obtained outside of Earth. I must protect the other two."

"Why can't Wong and the other non-cult members help?"

He was too tired to protest they were still not a cult. "They do. We try as best as we can. But there is no record yet how to defeat him."

"I can't pretend to understand about Thermos and Stones. But you need to eat and sleep. As you said, you hadn't found a way to defeat him. The wise thing to do is to eat and rest. You may get some ideas after your sleep."

He couldn't disagree with her logic so they finally ate dinner together. She brought Chinese. They talked about the latest in medicine. Well, mostly Christine told her about the latest developments. He just listened. To his regret, he hadn't got the time to read medical research. She assured him that he was still saving the world from Thermos. He knew Christine knew how to pronounce Thanos but she just wanted to rile him up a little bit.

She even managed to ask him to have a shower without Sophie tagging along. Sophie seemed to grow fond of Christine. He hoped they didn't conspire something against him like asking Sophie to reduce all the noises so he could sleep for at least six hours.

To his embarrassment, she tugged him in bed. He was just too tired to fight her over. He asked her to lie down next to her just to talk. She said she was not ready yet.

He woke up eleven hours later with a note from Christine saying that she had left breakfast in the refrigerator.

That was around 15 hours ago. Christine would be furious by now since he didn't hear her call.

Just then there was a knock on the door of the Sanctum. That must be Christine. He put on his most charming smile to melt her heart as he opened the door.

He quickly retrieved his smile as he saw Tony Stark followed by two other strangers at his door.

Notes:

-I have nothing against McDonald's and iPhone.

-I've made some minor changes in this chapter thanks to the feedback from Unknownnobody32.
-Feedback and comments are welcome.