"Wong?"

"Yes, Stephen?"

The protector strolled into the library quickly where a lot of the other sorcerers had gathered. Wong was stood by a table where he had previously been speaking to the master by it.

"We need to talk."

Stephen motioned for Wong to follow him outside the room and once both men were away from prying ears, they turned to each, both sharing a worried look.

"What happened? Was anyone hurt?"

"Bumps and scratches, they'll be fine but - what do you know about a Tessa? Her uncle is Master Kent."

"Tessa Hyde?"

Stephen shrugged, unsure if it was her last name but Wong looked certain.

"Orphaned here. Master Kent is merely her guardian by bond, not blood." The librarian began to explain, "Her parents were sorcerers here too, but her mother disappeared quite suddenly...right before the untimely passing of her father."

"What happened?"

"The Ancient One had said that a mystical being had broken into the sanctum that evening, catching Master Hyde, who was patrolling the relic room, off-guard. It appears he fought well but was pushed. He fell backwards and hit his head on one of the relic cases...he was good sorcerer, liked by all," Wong paused, looking at the sorcerer gravely, woefully, "You can still see his blood stain faintly on the wood."

"What happened to the being?"

Wong shrugged, "The Ancient One said she had banished it. Poor Tessa had witnessed the events that took place that evening though. If you ask her now, she'll say she doesn't remember...repressed trauma, the Ancient One had said. I wouldn't blame her but..." Wong paused, frowning slightly, "What does this have to do with Tessa?"

Stephen sighed, "Follow me."

Doctor Strange led his friend through the sanctum and up the stairs to the third floor where the (now destroyed) training rooms were. Wong froze when he saw the splintered wood, broken panels and dusty floor.

"What did this?"

"Tessa."

The librarian looked at Strange with his mouth slightly agape and shook his head, "No. No, she is one of the most powerful sorceresses here but...she couldn't have done this."

Strange simply nodded, "She was sobbing in pure agony when I arrived up here, begging for us to make the pain in her head stop."

"She does suffer from intense migraines. Doesn't normally train with them."

"Is this why?"

Wong was at a loss for words.

"When I asked her what it was like she started screaming, grasping at her head, and then she threw her arms out and a kind of...black smoke-like force radiated out from her. We were all knocked back, Master Kent, Master Emeka and I, even the other sorcerers that had gathered in the doorway were."

The librarian shook his head, "What you describe...it's like nothing I've ever seen or heard of before." His eyes skimmed over the destruction before him again, "Where is she now?"

"The healing room with Master Kent and Master Emeka."

"Are you sure it was safe to do that?"

"I put her to sleep."

"How?"

"Book of Hypnos - " Stephen saw the look on Wong's face change and he immediately, raised his hands, jumping in to defending himself, "Look at it this way, God knows what could have happened if I didn't know how to do that."

"That book is from the private section."

"It...wasn't very...private at the time." He smiled.

Wong exhaled, mildly irritated by the sorcerer and began to walk away, "Go check on Tessa. I'll be charming and finding a new area to keep the books from the private section."

Stephen nodded. That conversation could have gone much worse, he thought to himself quietly, before heading to the stairs and in the direction of the healing room.

* * * * *

"Hush now, little one. I recall your mother telling me that you would be an angel. Was she wrong?" Came the voice of a memory as Tessa slept.

Little six-year-old Tessa struggled in the bed, pulling at her hair as she cried, "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Where's mommy? Daddy? I want mommy and daddy!"

The Ancient One gazed at the young child, eyes echoing all the compassion the world could offer. She swallowed, placing her hands on the child's shoulders, now beginning to worry the poor girl would tear her own hair out.

"Tessa." The Ancient One's voice was commanding and yet soothing, "Tessa, listen to me, let go of your hair. Let go of your hair and lie down. I can help you only then."

Still in tears, she did as she was told, "I want my mummy and daddy."

"I know, little one, I know, shush..." The Ancient One raised her hands and placed her middle and index fingers on Tessa's temples, "Be still now. Sleep."

And within seconds, the crying stopped, and little Tessa was at peace. The Ancient One gently stroked the young girls dishevelled hair out of her face, softly humming an ancient Celtic lullaby she once sang long ago.

With a sigh, she placed her thumb in the centre of the child's forehead. There were other forces at play here and she needed to talk with them.

"What have you done, creature?"

Her eyes never opened, but another voice used the child's mouth.

"I am no creature. I am an Entity."

A dark look echoed in her eyes, "Why have you possessed this child? She is an innocent."

"I sought you out. I wanted to live in hatred and oblivion no longer. I wanted to learn...love."

"I won't ask again - why did you possess this child?"

"I watched. I learned. I wanted to...console her. She was crying so I stopped her crying."

"Only to make her cry more when she has awoken. You are hurting her."

"I do not know how not to. But she won't remember."

"Won't remember what?"

"The murder of her father. She saw. It made her...sad. So, I am taking it away."

The Ancient One was conflicted. Having heard about Entities before, she knew them to be dangerous, but she had never known them to bond with another being. They were individual events of darkness, only ever bringing destruction, hate and death wherever they went. And yet, before her now were two firsts: an Entity who wished to know love and not hate and an Entity who had bonded with a human being. It was an anomaly to her.

"I will leave her when she wakes. The erasure will be done then."

Alarmed by this she shook her head, "You...cannot."

"Why?"

"She is a child. If you cause her to scream in pain while bonded with her, who knows what will happen if you attempt to break that bond. Children's minds are fragile: you could shatter her psyche, damage her irreversibly or you could...kill her."

"Then what is your solution, Ancient One?"

With a heavy sigh, the Ancient One shut her eyes. There was only one solution she could think of. And to do so would cost the life of a new beginning. The choice pained her so, but it had to be done for the sake of the child in mind. She looked back at Tessa and placed her thumb in the centre of her forehead again. The mark of the dark dimension seared itself into the centre of the Ancient One's brow.

"Sleep, Entity, fall into the deepest depths of her subconscious, never to be seen or heard of again. I am sorry to do this to you, but it is the only way."

Let me be free.

"Sleep." She whispered.

Let...me...

"Hush."

I...

When she heard it was active no more, she removed her hand. As she did the dark dimension's mark vanished and she looked at Tessa sweetly, maternally, sorrowfully.

"Rest now, Tessa. I will do my best to keep you safe."

With that, she stood from the bed and left the room. There would be much to discuss with the two young masters, especially with the one who had caused this mess and heartbreak.

* * * * * *

"Will she be okay?" Marcus asked biting his thumb nail as he paced the floor, gradually wearing a groove into the wood itself.

"We'll find out when Strange wakes her, Marcus." Eli paused, "You need to tell him - "

"NO!" Marcus roared, "He can't know!"

"And why not? Why are you so afraid when it's not your life at risk? Tessa could be dying and you keep refusing help because of your own cowardice, because you won't face the truth, Marcus!"

Master Kent stepped over to Eli, staring him down, fury evident in his eyes, "You will not tell him anything. You made a promise to the Ancient One and to me."

"Or what? She's gone, Marcus, and Tessa is getting worse and worse and worse. How long will it be before she hurts someone or dies herself?"

"If you say anything, I swear..."

"You swear what?" Eli scoffed, "Are you going to kill me too, Marcus? Come on, we can go to the relic room and you can put another blood stain on the floor if you have the guts."

"Don't test me, Eli, don't." Master Kent growled.

This was the point at which Stephen entered and paused, watching the stand-off between the two Masters. His brow bunched in the middle as he felt the tension hang heavy on him.

"Elijah, is everything alright?"

Master Emeka responded without breaking his gaze with Marcus, "Swell, Master Strange, just swell."

He let the 'master' title slip just once, already getting the sense that now may not be a good time to correct anyone. Something more was definitely going on and it frustrated him that he didn't know. If he did then maybe he could be of more help.

"Right, well, I'm going to wake Tessa now so...you can both stop your little staring competition."

Stephen approached the unconscious Tessa on the healing room bed, moving to stand behind her. Again, taking a breath, the sorcerer placed his middle and index finger lightly upon her temples. Shutting his eyes, he searched for her consciousness.

"Wake."

Out.

Stephen's eyes opened instantly at the whisper of another presence, he felt it just like last time only, he could have sworn he heard a voice just then too. Removing his hands from her temples, he frowned, looking down at Tessa suspiciously.

"What is it?" Marcus asked, "What's wrong?"

"Noth - nothing. The spell is still...new to me."

"You haven't done this before?" Marcus laughed, turning to Eli to hiss quietly, "And you want me to trust this man?"

"Listen, Marcus - "

"That's Master Kent to you Strange," Marcus snapped back at him, "We're not friends."

"Well then let me be frank, Master Kent, I'm just about done with your bullshit right now. I don't care if you don't like me, you need to focus on the matter at hand which just so happens to be your niece, who I am currently trying to help."

"Listen here you son of - "

"Alright, woah!" Eli jumped in front of the Master before he could aggressively approach the protector of their Sanctum, "Enough, Marcus!"

Tessa groaned softly, gently shifting her limbs as she began to come to, drawing all three men's attention down to her. They watched with bated breath for a moment and when she finally opened her eyes while still remaining relatively calm, there was an audible sigh of relief from all of them. Thank God it had worked, Stephen thought to himself, otherwise he might have been in deep shit with her Uncle.

"Tessa?" Marcus's look of rage softened to one of caring concern as he moved away from Eli to see her, "Tessa, you alright?"

"Mm..." Her bottle green eyes looked up at her Uncle rather dazed.

Stephen watched this exchange carefully. Clearly Marcus cared for her...perhaps this was a 'grieving family' situation like he used to experience when he was a neurosurgeon. Some families would cry, some would stare off into space, some would totally disregard that you had told them their loved one had died while others, others got angry. They would scream, shout, give abuse and sometimes push you around but at the end of the day you had to remember that they had lost someone and not everyone processed grief the same way. So Marcus was his 'angry griever' - worried for his niece and merely lashing out at everyone because he was afraid of losing her. Understandable. A pain in the ass, but understandable.

"Eli, Master Kent, I want a word with you both outside. Give Tessa a chance to come around."

Stephen headed over to the door, opening it to let Elijah out but lingering behind as he waited for Marcus. Master Kent pushed back Tessa's auburn hair as he reassuringly stroked her forehead before he left her. The second he had taken his eyes off his niece and looked at Stephen again, the vexation pooled back into his eyes. Once the three were outside, Stephen let the door close gently before turning to the two sorcerers.

"I wasn't born yesterday. I know you both know something I don't, so I suggest you tell me now or - "

"Or what? What are you going to do? Kick us out of the sanctum? Take our sorcery because you're the high and mighty new Sorcerer Supreme?" Marcus asked, squaring up to him, "I will never understand why the Ancient One thought that you would be the right choice."

Eli put a hand on his shoulder, "Marcus."

"If it comes to that so be it." Stephen said, unafraid by this confrontation, "But right now your niece needs help and in order to help I need to know everything, Master Kent. What are you not telling me?"

"She had help before from a true sorceress. The Ancient One helped her more than you ever will but, oh, wait," Marcus paused, "She died saving your pathetic life. She died because of you."

"Marcus." Eli spoke up again, ashamed by the things he was saying, "Marcus, that's enough."

Stephen clenched his jaw as he held his gaze, remembering his teacher, remembering her sacrifice, remembering the operating table, remembering her words: it's not about you. Taking a breath, Stephen considered his words carefully.

"Marcus, this is not about you or me, this is about Tessa." He paused, processing Master Kent's reaction, "I will never be the Ancient One, I understand that, and I am nowhere near the role of Sorcerer Supreme but what I am is the protector of this Sanctum. You saw what she did, you saw the pain she was in, I need to know what's going on so A - we can keep people safe and protect this Sanctum from further destruction and B - so we can start working out how to help her."

Marcus swallowed dryly and said nothing.

Stephen was losing his patience, "Why are you denying her help? Do you want her to die?"

And that was when Master Kent lashed out and would have successfully hit the sorcerer too if it hadn't been for Eli holding his arm back.

"Think about Jackson." Elijah hissed at Marcus suddenly, his piercing glare full of a quiet wrath that Marcus hadn't seen before, "Enough of this."

"Get your hands off me, Elijah." Marcus snarled, that darkly wild look in his eyes meeting with Stephen's frightfully calm gaze as he tore his arm away from Elijah's grip before turning to storm off.

An odd quiet fell upon that area of the sanctum as Elijah and Stephen watched him go. When he turned the corner, both men began breathing properly again without even realising they had been holding their breath in the first place. They shuffled where they stood for a moment, sharing a look of nervousness with each other. Elijah knew he could solve this but it truly didn't feel like his place to say, especially if it had an impact on Marcus's future here. Eli knew he could be an asshole but he was still a great teacher. Stephen was just glad he didn't get a black eye but still concerned about Tessa in the med bay.

"He always been a hot-head?"

Elijah just nodded once, recalling the scene he had walked in on all those years ago and the outbursts that had happened along the way. Just because Marcus was a good teacher, didn't mean he was a good person. But how could Elijah condemn him so?

"Who's Jackson?" Stephen asked Master Emeka.

All Elijah could do was shake his head, "Not my place to say."

"Eli, I know you know something. Please, for Tessa's sake, tell me."

Master Emeka's gaze was sympathetic, but he shut his eyes, "I need to find Marcus. He shouldn't be alone when he's like this." And with that he turned to leave.

"Elijah, please! I know you want to tell me."

Master Emeka stopped, mere steps away from Stephen. He looked over his shoulder, ensuring no one was in the corridor behind them and then straight ahead again, unable to meet the gaze of the protector as he was about to betray a promise he had kept for more than two decades. He sighed, defeated. Lying didn't help any of them - it never did.

"There's...there's something inside of Tessa. It's been there for years..."

Stephen processed this information, deeply unnerved by this revelation, "Master Emeka, meet me in the library this evening."

Elijah nodded before hurrying off down the hallway. Part of him felt as though a weight had been lifted off him but he dreaded to know what Marcus would think. Perhaps he would be able to persuade the other Master to join him and they could tell the truth together? It might be less daunting for him that way. He hoped Marcus would go for the idea because clearly this was destroying him now - he was becoming just as unstable as Tessa and that troubled him greatly. Marcus couldn't continue doing this, not when it was destroying all sense of his self and replacing it with pure rage. And while he knew the Ancient One had mercifully kept his secret, she was gone now, and they needed new help. Elijah was still convinced that Stephen Strange would be the right replacement.

Stephen watched Elijah leave with a heavy sense of uneasiness. While grateful that Elijah had confided in him somewhat, knowing now that the second presence he felt and heard when casting the spell on her made him a little bit more apprehensive to return to the med bay room. But he couldn't leave her on her own. He was a doctor after all and that meant his job was to look after people, even potentially...very powerful and scary people.

With that thought, he walked back into the room where Tessa was.