I GIVE YOU MORE OF THE DOCTOR STRANGE FIC NO ONE ASKED FOR, BUT ARE GETTING, ANYWAY.

LEMME REPLY TO THE REVIEWS THIS THING GOT BEFORE I GET INTO THE STORY.

Volans15: Thanks so much! Here's more for you!

Coriandra: I think I replied in a PM cus I was just so happy this thing got a review, but in case I didn't, THANK YOU! This is so sweet of you to say! I hope I portray Ashleigh's reaction to her brother's pain in a realistic, meaningful way. It IS an awful situation, and Ashleigh knows that. Good thing Sam's there to help her out, right? ;)
NOW, HOPE YOU ALL ENJOY!

GOD BLESS AND GOOD DAY!

~THE LUPINE SOJOURNER

P.S: MINOR LANGUAGE WARNING.

"Oh, frick!" I curse at myself as I pull into the hospital parking lot. How on Earth was I going to tell my brother that the guy I constantly denied being attracted to was now my boyfriend?!

Crud. I did not think this through!

Nevertheless, here I go.

"Hello." The receptionist greets, smiling in recognition at me. "He should still be in his room." She instructs.

"Got it. Thanks." I reply, heading back. By now, most of the staff assigned to Stephen knew me. I waved and greeted them on my way past, then watch as Stephen is clumsily putting his few belongings in a bag. "Need help?" I ask. He shakes his head stubbornly.

"I can do it." He grouches, as always. I nod, rolling my eyes.

"Okay." Soon enough, we are walking back to reception and I know I have to open the conversation about Sam somehow. He's signing whatever discharge papers he needs to sign and then we're walking out in silence.

"Are you okay?" He asks as we close our car doors. I nod.

"Yeah. Why?" I ask, feigning innocence. He frowns.

"You haven't said a word and your knuckles are white on anything you grip." I turn the key, consciously letting up on my grip.

"Okay, Sherlock." I tease with a chuckle. "There's nothing wrong." I add. After all, I now have a...boyfriend, I guess, though we haven't labelled it yet. So, yeah; nothing is wrong at all.

"Aanndd now you have- -you kissed Sam, didn't you?" He asks, frown deepening. I roll my eyes.

"Calm down, Stevie!" I grouch with a smirk, knowing he hated being called 'Stevie'. "But…" I take a breath. "you're right." I confess. There. It was done.

"Knew it." He says, smiling. I blink.

"Wait...you're not mad?" I ask. He shakes his head.

"Not at all. Sam is a reasonable, mature young man." I guffaw as we come to a red light.

"Okay, Dad." I snark. Stephen sighs.

"In all seriousness, Ashleigh, I am happy for you, even if it's weird to think of my little sister kissing and- -." I cough, cutting him off.

"Thanks." The silence stretches for a few moments.

"...How many times have you two kissed?"

"Stephen!"

=#=#=#=#=

Heading up the stairs to my apartment, I hear another voice. One I'd recognize anywhere. I pale. What was- - "Mom?" I ask, opening the door to find Sam and my Mom talking like they were fast friends.

"Oh, hello, sweetie!" She greets, grinning and hugging me. "It's so good to see you! I missed you!" I bite back a 'you know you can come anytime you want, right? Dad shouldn't hold you back from seeing your own daughter.' retort and accept her hug.

"Missed you, too, Mom." I reply instead.

"I must say, good choice of man." She teases, winking. "Nice piece of chocolate!" I flush several different shades of scarlet and groan for a solid five seconds.

"Mo-om!" I whine, thoroughly embarrassed.

"Oh, relax, sweetheart. I'm just teasing." Cheeks aflame, I flop on the couch, arms crossed. I roll my eyes, but flinch at a series of unexpected knocks to the front door.

"Honey?" Comes the voice of my father. "I got gas, beef jerky, and Dr. Pepper, as requested." He says as Mom opens the door. He takes in the scene and immediately goes to Stephen, all but throwing the groceries into Mom's arms before hugging my brother. It's then he glances over me to find Sam glancing between everyone, confused, before entering a kind of staring contest with Father. I reluctantly stand.

"Sam...this is my father." my father shakes his hand.

"What do you do for a living, son?" He asks, clearly deducing our relationship as he shakes my boyfriend's hand. I grit my teeth.

"Father, please!" I hiss.

"I work in Veterans Affairs." Sam replies, taking it in stride, looking the father of his girlfriend dead in the eye. My dad frowns.

"Don't you dare." I growl, refusing to let my father degrade the amazing work Sam was doing. Father merely sniffs.

"I suppose it's a somewhat reasonable position." I refrain (barely) from adding fuel to the fire by quipping about how that was as close to acceptance as Sam was gonna get because my dad hates me. Stephen then clears his throat.

"So, how come you are in town?" He asks Father, to steer the conversation in a less dangerous direction. Our father smiles.

"Well, Christine called us and let us know you'd be released today, so we figured it'd be a good idea to swing by and see how you're coming along." Stephen scoffs.

"My hands are useless." He grumbles. "Utterly useless." The conversation continues for a few minutes before Mom decides that, if they want a decent amount of sleep that night, they should get going.

"Lovely to see you, son." Father farewells, hugging Stephen before stepping by me to get to the door, carrying the groceries. He doesn't say a word to me as he leaves, but at least Mom acknowledges me.

"Bye, dear." She says, giving me a brief hug.

"Bye, Mom." I say, unwilling to start a conversation about how she shouldn't let Father yank her around like this. Soon as they're gone, I sit on the couch, huffing my irritation out in a breath before looking up again. This was so the wrong week for my period. "Should we get Domino's?" I ask no one in particular, snuggling up to Sam as he sits beside me.

"You know what I think?" He asks, leaning in with a 'kiss me' smirk on his face. I grin back and lean in, as well.

"What?" I ask in a soft voice I hope was at least slightly alluring.

"I think we should have Chinese." I blink as he stands, searching for my landline. I splutter for a second before launching a pillow at him that he catches. I'd expected a kiss!

"You jerk! I wanted a kiss!" I grouch, my laugh betraying my amusement. Sam merely lobs the pillow back at me so quickly and so suddenly that I fall off the couch. Thus began a pillow fight in the living room. We end up laughing in a tumble of limbs on the couch, the pillows we'd fought with now under Sam's head with his chest as my pillow.

"In all seriousness," Sam says, kissing my forehead. "I'll have whatever you want." I grin, finally getting that kiss I was denied.

"So, Domino's it is." I conclude cheekily. Sam laughs.

"Sure thing, beautiful." I blush a bit and bury my face in his shirt.

"I love you." I tell him. And I truly did.

"Good. If you didn't, it'd make my next question a tad awkward." I frown, playing along, hoping he was going to ask what I think he's going to ask.

"Oh?" I ask, tapping my chin thoughtfully. "Whatever could that question be?" He laughs and kisses me again.

"Would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?" He asks. I smirk.

"Hhmmm," I reply wryly. "I'll have to think about that." Sam quirks a brow.

"Can I argue my case while you think it over?" He asks, and through my blush, I nod.

"Sure." It's then he simply kisses me like his life depends on it, like I was the only thing in the world right then. So I responded in kind. "Keep kissing a girl like that, and she'll get the wrong idea." I tease breathlessly, our foreheads touching.

"Then I'll kiss you like that til you say yes." Sam replies, his eyes asking and mine acquiescing to another heated kiss.

"Lord have mercy." I breath when we part for air.

"I'll say." Sam retorts.

"Yes, and, in the meantime, I'm left feeling nauseous and likely to vomit." Comes Stephen's voice. I roll my eyes.

"This is how normal couples interact, Stephen!" I call back, untangling myself and looking for the landline.

"You know, you never directly answered my question." Sam remarks as I pick the phone up.

"Oh." I reply. "...No." I tease, returning his earlier tease with my own. Sam shakes his head.

"This is karma, isn't it?" I nod as I press 'talk'.

"Yup."

"Anything I can do to convince you otherwise?" Sam asks. I quirk a brow in pretend thought.

"Apologize for not giving me a kiss earlier and make up for it before they answer." I tell him. Sam goes for the kiss first, knowing to keep it short.

"I am really sorry for teasing you earlier. Can you forgive me?" I smile. He really was something else.

"Of course. And yes, of course I'll be your girlfriend." I reply, kissing his forehead just as Domino's picks up. I order a few pizzas, tell him the address, and hang up in minutes.

Then it's cuddling with Sam while Stephen sets up in the only other, tiny, bedroom in my apartment (I'd mainly used it for storage/a kind-of office for my writing). He'd spend the night there, then head home in the morning. "I love you." I blurt.

"I love you, too, Ash." Cue happy smiles all around.

=#=#=#=#=

"Absolutely not!" I scream. "You are not going for yet another surgery!"

"Ashleigh- -"

"No!" I bark. "You've already had six surgeries, Stephen! Six!"

"And my hands aren't getting any better, so we'll keep- -"

"No!" I interject. Again. "Stephen, this is getting out of hand." I continue, pinching the bridge of my nose. "These surgeries are paid for with the amount in your account, yes, but this last surgery drained it completely. We can't afford another one."

"We'll borrow from the bank." Stephen suggests. I shake my head.

"No. Then we'd have a loan and surgery to pay off. And we're already barely making ends meet with the rent and utilities and- -"
"Why didn't you tell me?" Stephen interjects. I shrug, sighing heavily.

"There's nothing really you or I can do about it. I don't have time for a second job, and I only have the librarian position, which really doesn't make a whole lot." I reply with another sigh. I was so thankful Sam was at the store right now. Stephen bites his lip, but before he can speak, my brain decides it's a good idea to voice one inner demon that's been real active of late; how right my father is. How my job has landed me in this situation. "Well, I did this to myself. Choosing to stubbornly pursue Library Science...dad was right; it doesn't do anything." I mumble. Stephen licks his lips.

"You know, I envy you." I blink.

"What?" Stephen sighs.

"Did I ever tell you why I latched onto being a neurosurgeon?" I shake my head. He'd said it was for the money and the thrill of holding a life in your hands, but… "Partly because I genuinely wanted to, but mostly to appease father. He pressured me, particularly as a man and the eldest of his children, to choose a career likely to bring in a lot of money. So, I decided 'go big or go home', as the saying goes. But you? You held your head up and went ahead with your vision of what you wanted. And when I needed you, when I became dependent on you and Christine almost constantly, you didn't lord it over me, or gripe about it. You gave your time freely and without regret that I've seen." I'm honestly floored. Never in a million years… "And I can never tell you enough how grateful I am for that." I smile.

"Thanks, Stephen."

"So, can I get that- -"

"No!" Irritation flares in me, though I know he's mainly teasing (mainly), because I know exactly what he's about to ask.

=#=#=#=#=

"Stephen!" I scream, rounding on him. He paled, but stupidly decided to play coy and innocent.

"What?" I glare at him as if trying to set him ablaze.

"You know exactly what." I growl. Stephen smirks.

"No, I don't. Elaborate, please."

"You scheduled yourself another surgery after I explained to you that there was no way in Hell I'd be able to- -"

"I borrowed money to pay for it all in one go." I scoff.

"Great. Now I'll have to pay off a loan instead of a surgery, a loan which has interest, you stupid- -"

"This one will work!" He protests, cutting me off. I release a heated breath before I make a retort I'd later regret.

"You better hope it does." I growl instead, low enough that he could register my fury as I storm out of the room.

=#=#=#=#=

"He got another surgery!" I growl, chopping at the cooking taco meat with more force than strictly necessary. "And used a loan to pay it off! Without asking or even talking to me about it!" Beside me, Sam groans.

"Damn, Ash. I'm sorry." I sigh.

"It's not your fault." I grumble.

"No, but still. I'm sorry." I melt into his embrace from behind as I stir the meat with a bit more control now. I am so glad I decided to take Sam up on his offer to stay in DC for the weekend. I couldn't stay with Stephen right now. I was too pissed at him.

"Thanks, Sam." I whisper, hugging him while the meat simmered. He was too sweet.

"You're gonna burn the meat, you know." He teases, chuckling and kissing my temple. I smile, the negative feelings and circumstances fading in the presence of Sam's warm, comforting embrace. That was all that mattered. After a little bit, I released Sam and got dinner ready. "Oh, I almost forgot. Got you a pair of running shoes, babe." I grin.

"Aww, babe!" I coo, overdoing my reaction to tease him before deadpanning. "It's adorable you think I'm gonna start running." I finish, winking and laughing as I bring the food to the table. Sam laughs.

"I'll take it easy on yah, baby. Don't worry." I laugh as his arms encircle me from behind and his goatee tickles my temple as he kisses it.

"Comforting, but still no." I retort, still grinning. Sam clucks his tongue.

"I need a partner and I think it would be a great way to bond." I frown.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"No." Sam sighs.

"Just one run?" He pleads. "Not that far. Just a few miles, promise. You're new and I won't push you that fast." I sigh.

"You're not gonna quit, are you?"

"No." I roll my eyes.

"...One run." I acquiesce. "Now, let's eat these fricking tacos before they get cold."

=#=#=#=#=

"Why are you...why are you trying to...kill me?" I wheeze, very much regretting this decision. Whoever decided humans needed to run to exercise needs to be shot. Pronto.

First off, the sun was only just now thinking about rising, and I had yet to have coffee. Second off, my legs refused to run at even this turtle's pace another step. So I stop and bend over, hands on my sweaty, wobbly knees.

"Breathe, babe." Sam soothes, rubbing my back. I smack his hand off, huffing at him irritably.

"I hate you." I groan, forcing myself to straighten and put my arms over my head. I heard it helps from runners before Sam that tried to get me into running.

Key word being tried.

"No, you don't." Sam retort cheekily. I take a few more gulps of air before heaving a long sigh as I start walking.

"Yes, I do. You and running." I force my legs to begin speeding up and my boyfriend is beside me in an instant.

"Then why did you start up again before me?" I swat at him, missing with my weak arms.

"Because I just want this to be- -"

"On your left." Comes a new male voice and a series of rapid footfalls that seem almost unnaturally fast. Curious, I watch as the guy comes into view. He's absolutely jacked, with Casanova blonde hair cut short and shirt at least a size too small. The pants clung to his legs easily, giving me a full view of his powerful muscles. Sam and I run after him, but are hopelessly outmatched.

"Who the fricky-frack?" I ask rhetorically between labored breaths.

"No idea." Sam replies, and we try to speed up a bit. Within five minutes, however, the dude's there again.

"On your left." He says once more. I groan.

"Uh-huh. On my left. Yeah, got it!" Sam calls, getting irritated at being shown up so effortlessly. By the time we got to the pool in front of the Washington monument, he was back. We heard him before we saw him.

"Don't you dare!" I growl, wheezy voice betraying my exhaustion.

"Don't you say it, don't you say it!" Sam adds, sounding less breathy than me.

"On your left." The guy says cheekily.

"Come on!" Sam screams, and together we, in a stupid fit of rage, take off as fast as we can after him, but only get maybe ten feet before I literally collapse in a puddle of goo. Everything hurt.

"Ooowww…" I groan, standing on shaky legs and barely making it to a tree before leaning on it to slide back to the ground, Sam following me. I put my head in his lap, sweaty or not. I needed a long nap... "Who is that jack-ass?" I grumble, wishing my side stitch would go away.