Stephen jerked back. His astral form detached from his physical body. The Ancient One floated out the room with Stephen chasing after her.

"What are you doing? You're dying! You need to go back to your body. You don't have time," Stephen informed.

"Time is relative," she replied. "Your body hasn't even hit the floor yet. I've spent so many years peering through time, looking at this exact moment, but I can't see past it."

The scenery was barely moving. There was a helicopter in the night sky, but instead of its blades moving rapidly, they were barely moving. Lightning cracked from the clouds in the distance.

"I've prevented countless terrible futures. And after each one, there's always another. And they all lead here, but never further," the Ancient One explained.

"You think this is where you die," Stephen stated.

"Do you wonder what I see in your future?" she asked.

"No."

The Ancient One gave him a look. Stephen sighed.

"Yes..."

"I never saw your future - only its possibilities. You have such a capacity for goodness. You always excelled, but not because you crave success, but because of your fear of failure," she chastised.

"It's what made me a great doctor," Stephen added.

"It's precisely what kept you from greatness," she corrected. "Arrogance and fear still keep you from learning the simplest and most significant lesson of all."

"Which is?"

"It's not about you. When you first came to me, you asked me how I was able to heal Jonathan Pangborn. I didn't. He channels dimensional energy directly into his own body."

"He uses magic to walk," Stephen muttered.

"Constantly. Aries does as well. That's how she was able to speak again. I'm sure you remember how severe her pneumothorax was."

"Of course," he whispered. "It's the whole reason why I wanted to be a doctor."

"They both had a choice to return to their own lives or to serve something greater than themselves."

"So, I could have my hands back again? My old life?" Stephen wondered.

"You could," she answered. "And the world would be all the lesser for it. I've hated drawing power from the Dark Dimension. But as you well know, sometimes one must break the rules in order to serve the greater good."

"Mordo won't see that way," he informed.

"Mordo's soul is rigid and unmovable, forged by the fires of his youth. He needs your flexibility, just as you need his strength. Only together do you stand a chance of stopping Dormammu," she explained.

"I'm not ready," Stephen replied.

The Ancient One gently smiled. "No one ever is. We don't get to choose our time." She grabbed his hand and reassuringly squeezed it. "Death is what gives life meaning. To know your days are numbered, your time is short. You'd think after all this time I'd be ready. But look at me, stretching one moment out into a thousand, just so I can watch the snow."

When he felt his hand being released, he looked to see the Ancient One gone. Back in the operating room, the monitor flatlined.