Lynn enjoyed a few days of leisure. He slept in with Natasha every day until he naturally woke up, and when he had nothing to do, he would wander around the SSC headquarters to see if Tony and Ivan had argued about some parameter and ended up tearing down the lab, to see if Peter had broken anything in the training area again, and to see if Banner had had his dinner stolen by the Hulk again.
Life is as bland as a glass of cooled boiled water—tasteless, but comforting to drink.
Natasha has recently been organizing scanned copies of her travel journal, planning to create a digital archive.
Lynn thought she was probably suffering from occupational hazard; after working in intelligence for so long, she wanted to back up everything.
He would simply sit next to her whenever he had free time, occasionally adjusting the color to match her image and handing her a cup of tea.
What shattered this tranquility was a teleportation portal.
Orange sparks bloomed in the center of the living room. On the other side of the portal were the familiar snow-capped mountains and prayer flags of Kamar-Taj. A cold mountain wind blew in from the doorway, turning several pages of the travel journal on the coffee table. The Ancient One's voice came from the other side of the door, still in that unhurried tone.
" Lynn, come here for a second. I need to speak with you."
Lynn placed his teacup on the coffee table, mouthed "I'll be right back" to Natasha, and then stepped into the portal. The sparks receded behind him, and the afternoon sun of New York was replaced by the cool, clear light of the snow-capped mountains.
The Ancient One was waiting for him in the tea room. It was the same wooden table, the same two cups of freshly brewed tea, and the same quiet sound of prayer flags fluttering gently outside the window. Lynn sat down on the futon with practiced ease, picked up his teacup, took a sip, and then looked up at the Ancient One, waiting for her to speak.
The Ancient One didn't beat around the bush and said directly, " Strange is coming soon."
Lynn paused for a moment, then put down his teacup. He remembered this moment. Stephen Strange, New York's top neurosurgeon, had his hands destroyed in a car accident, along with all his arrogance and conceit.
He would come to Kathmandu when he had nowhere else to go, and then be taken to Kamar-Taj by Mordo, eventually becoming the Ancient One's disciple and the Sorcerer Supreme would succeed her in protecting Earth. This is one of the most important points in the original timeline, and something the Ancient One had mentioned to him years ago.
"What you've learned at Kamar-Taj over the years should be enough to teach an apprentice," The Ancient One continued, her tone carrying a hint of something more, not quite a compliment. "After all, there were many unexpected events when you learned it for the second time. Your theoretical foundation is already sufficient, and you have no shortage of practical experience. You know Mordo and the others' situation... Mordo's stubbornness runs too deep. Now that we have you as a more suitable choice..."
Lynn roughly guessed what she was going to say, but he waited quietly without speaking first.
"I intend for you to teach him the basics," The Ancient One said. "You don't need to worry about the things before that; he has to experience some things himself. Once he arrives in Kathmandu, find him, and bring him to me, the basic instruction will be yours."
Lynn remained silent for a moment. Teaching the future Sorcerer Supreme the basics was not inherently difficult.
He had observed how the Ancient One taught her apprentices and had even studied with her twice. He was also familiar with the basic magical theories of Kamar-Taj. But Strange was no ordinary apprentice; he was intelligent, arrogant, and stubborn, almost identical to Tony in these traits. This was probably one of the reasons the Ancient One chose him to teach: no one knew better Lynn how to reason with a megalomaniac.
"I've looked into his information before," Lynn said, his tone not serious, but no longer his usual casual one. "He seems to have just been in a car accident, right? Should I go to Kathmandu now and wait for him?"
"Yes." The Ancient One nodded slightly. "He will receive guidance at the right time. You will take over what happens after he arrives in Kathmandu."
Lynn thought for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. I'll pack my things, we'll leave tomorrow."
The Ancient One didn't say much. Lynn stood up, bowed slightly to the Ancient One, then raised his hand and drew a circle in the air. A pale blue portal opened in front of him. He stepped in, and the next second he was standing in the lounge of Stark Industries headquarters.
Tony was leaning back on the sofa, flipping through a lab data report; Ivan was crouching in the corner, adjusting the arc generator; Banner sat in front of the holographic screen, comparing the temperature curves of the incubation chamber line by line. Seeing Lynn emerge from the portal, Tony merely glanced up. "I heard the Ancient One was looking for you again? What does she want?"
" Master The Ancient One plans to have me become a teacher."
Tony placed the report on his lap, looking at him with an expression that suggested he had misheard. "You? A teacher? Who do you teach? What do you teach? How do you maintain vital signs with potato chips and caffeine?"
" Stephen Strange. A former neurosurgeon, you should know him. He's been quite famous lately."
Lynn walked to the sofa, nudged Tony aside, and sat down. " The Ancient One asked me to teach him basic magic. It's kind of giving me something productive to do."
"You? Teach basic magic?" Tony raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you almost drive Mordo crazy when you were learning magic yourself?"
Lynn shrugged. " Master The Ancient One said only I can do this job."
Tony snorted and didn't press further. He had a pretty good idea of what was going on; someone the Ancient One would personally appoint was no ordinary person. He picked up the data report again, flipped through a couple of pages, and then casually added, "How long?"
"I don't know. It could be a few weeks, it could be a few months. It depends on the situation."
"Then teach them well."
Tony turned a page of the report without looking up. "Just don't teach them to be as rigid as Steve."
Lynn chuckled, stood up, and dusted off imaginary dust from his pants. "Where's Natasha?"
"Training area. He's practicing sparring with Sam." Tony finally looked up at him, a smile that was somewhere between disdain and concern. "Go say goodbye to her. Don't just run off without a word. Last time you went to Kamar-Taj, you didn't even say hello, and she beat me up for a full twenty minutes in the training field afterwards."
"That wasn't my fault. You caused the trouble yourself."
"That's all your fault. Get out of here."
When Lynn found Natasha in the training area, she had just finished a round of close-quarters combat training with Sam. There was a thin layer of sweat on her forehead, and her breathing was even and steady. Sam was sitting on a bench next to her, panting, and waved to Lynn to indicate that he was temporarily unable to speak.
Natasha took the water bottle Lynn offered her, took a sip, and looked at the familiar expression on his face—a mixture of seriousness and nonchalance—and sighed softly. "Going away again for a while?"
"Yes. Let me go to Kamar-Taj and teach a beginner basic magic."
He leaned against the crash barrier in the training area, hands in his pockets. " Kathmandu. It won't be long. He has great talent, just a bit of an obsession."
Natasha didn't say "Be careful" or "Come back soon." She simply nodded, placed the water bottle on the bench, stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his waist, pressed her cheek against his chest, and paused for a moment. Then she released him, took a half-step back, and looked at him.
Remember to come back.
"Of course." Lynn raised his hand and drew a circle, a portal opening behind him to his apartment in Stark Tower. The living room lights were softly lit, and a half-finished cup of tea lay on the coffee table. He glanced at it, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. I've already spoken to JARVIS. If there are any problems, contact Tony directly, or have JARVIS contact me through the encrypted channel. The signal might be weak, but there's still internet in Kamar-Taj."
"Know."
Lynn nodded, turned, and stepped into the portal. This time, he didn't go directly to Kathmandu. He spent a day in his apartment organizing some notes on basic magical theory, revisiting the things the Ancient One had explained to him in simpler terms. He knew all too well what Strange's state would be when he first arrived on the mountain: crippled hands, a collapsed faith, and arrogance ingrained in his bones. In that situation, lengthy philosophical discussions would be of little use.
The next morning, he said goodbye to Tony and Natasha.
Tony said goodbye by waving his back to him at the lab door without turning his head, only saying "Don't embarrass yourself" a second before Lynn stepped into the portal. Natasha leaned against the apartment door frame, gave him a very light hug, and then pushed him away.
Lynn stepped into the portal with a smile.
The air in Kathmandu is completely different from that in New York. Every corner of the city is filled with the mixed scents of spices, ghee, and old wood. The streets are narrow and crowded, with motorcycles and rickshaws weaving through the crowds. Street stalls are filled with thangkas, copperware, and all sorts of herbs whose names I don't know. In the distance, the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas gleam in the sunlight, casting a pale golden veil over the entire city.
Lynn found a clean but not luxurious hotel in the Thamel. The room was small, and the window faced a narrow alley. At the end of the alley was a small, bustling India temple where monks sprinkled water and swept the ground every morning, the sound of copper bells clear and melodious. He wasn't in a hurry to find Strange. According to the timeline, the doctor was probably still in a mansion in New York, staring blankly at his crippled hand, or being politely rejected at the clinic of some famous doctor. He still had a long road of self-discovery to travel before coming to Kathmandu.
Lynn had ample time to make arrangements in advance.
The first thing he did was find a group of children near the hotel. Kathmandu's streets are never short of homeless children; these children are mostly dressed in tattered clothes but have sharp eyes and know every corner of the city like the back of their hand. Lynn found the oldest boy, about thirteen or fourteen years old, wearing a plaid shirt that was clearly two sizes too big. His English had a heavy local accent, but it was enough for communication. His name was Raj.
"Keep an eye out for someone." Lynn crouched down to bring their eyes level with Raj's. "An United States. Probably in his early forties, white, tall and thin. He'll have some kind of problem with his hand, maybe it'll be bandaged or he'll be wearing a brace. He'll come in very expensive clothes, but he'll look like he hasn't slept in days. People like that are easy to spot on this street."
Raj blinked. "Is he your friend?"
"No. He's my future student."
Raj tilted his head, probably not understanding why a young man who looked more like a tourist than a tourist would have students, but if there was money to be made, there was no need to understand too much. Lynn gave him several large bills and some change to each of the other children, telling them to keep watch within their respective areas. After receiving the money, the children excitedly ran around the alley, shouting something to each other in Nepali, probably finding it fun to be lookouts for a stranger on the street.
In the days that followed, Lynn lived a vacation in a sense. Every morning, she would eat a bowl of hot topa at the small restaurant downstairs from the hotel, and then stroll along the cobblestone streets of Thamel to Durbar Square, where she would sit on the temple steps and bask in the sun.
Occasionally, I'd stop by that little coffee shop on the corner that sells hand-drip coffee. The owner is a retired backpacker from Australia, and it's probably the only place in all of Kathmandu that can make decent coffee. In the afternoons, I'd return to the hotel and flip through the old books Wang had stuffed into his bag, or take out that handwritten beginner's guide filled with annotations, comparing it to my memory and adjusting a few phrases.
Every few days, I'd send Natasha a few messages, showing her the street scenes I'd taken. She'd reply quickly, mostly venting, occasionally interspersed with a word or two of longing. Tony's messages were the complete opposite. Every few days, I'd receive an email from JARVIS, mostly about the latest developments at the SSC lab, worded professionally and coldly, with only the occasional line at the end. " Lynn, Mr. Tony asked me to remind you that you haven't bought the chips you promised."
Every few days, Raj would come to the hotel entrance to report on his "investigation progress." He had walked all over the neighborhood, pinpointed several locations where missionaries frequented, and even drew a rough but barely legible hand-drawn map. When Lynn took the map, he couldn't help but pat Raj's head and give him a banknote to buy some food to share with the other children who were helping.
Waiting was tedious, but Lynn didn't dislike it. In New York, everything was urgent, costly, and required weighing the pros and cons. Time in Kathmandu, however, was like being soaked in ghee—slow, gentle, and subtly fragrant with spices. He knew this tranquility wouldn't last long— Strange would eventually appear in some alleyway, dragging his crippled hands, wielding his arrogant modern scientific worldview, only to be slapped out of his body and shoved back in by the Ancient One. But that was a matter for later.
He leaned against the concrete railing on the hotel rooftop, gazing at the outline of the snow-capped mountains in the distance, and suddenly remembered the days when he was taken in by the Ancient One in the Sanctum.
He chuckled softly, unsure whether he was laughing at himself or at the impending Strange. Then he turned and walked down the rooftop, pushed open the old wooden door of the hotel, and stepped into the lazy afternoon sunlight of Kathmandu.