The Flames of Amarra - DR STRANGE x OC - COMPLETE

THE SECRETS OF TIME

“Go get him,” Tony finally said. 

Weeks. 

Weeks when Nora barely came home to sleep, but they were finally ready. She never thought that building a working time machine would be so fast. And yet, here they were, ready to send Scott back in time. 

Nora nearly ran into Banner’s little time lab. She slammed the door opened and stared at everyone with a confused expression. 

“Nice haircut, Scott,” she said. 

Clint looked at her and shrugged. “He didn’t feel like doing it.”

“But you do ? Time travel ?”

“If it doesn’t work, I’ll be stuck in the past with my family. It’s a win-win for me.”

Nora had to agree with that. And somehow, she was disappointed not to have thought about it herself. She could be somewhere when Thanos never happened. Her mother would still be there. Ethan and Emi would still be with Kelly. She could do things differently. She could live in a world when she never put the ring on. This only thought was comforting to her. 

“Don’t stay there on purpose,” she finally said. “I know I would.”

“She must know,” Rhodey said, desperate to keep anyone from staying in the past. Nora looked at him and arched a brow. “Time travel.”

“What about it ?”

Scott crossed his arms and frowned. “All these movies about it. Is it all bullshit ?”

“Yeah, pretty much.” Banner raised a victorious fist but Nora shook her head. “I’ve listened to you talking about it already, and you’re very wrong too. And no,” she added before anyone could ask, “I’m not giving a five hour conference on how time works.” She turned to Clint. “Here’s what you need to know. Whatever you do, don’t do anything that could change the way things went. You’d be stuck and we wouldn’t be able to get you back.”

“Ah !” Scott shouted, looking at Banner. “No betting on sporting events.”

“Wait, so what if he goes back far enough to kill baby Thanos ?” Rhodey asked. 

Nora turned to him and winced. “Babies aren’t born bad, why the hell would he kill a baby ? No, no killing baby Thanos.”

“How-”

She raised a hand and turned back to face Clint. “Here’s what you need to know. Whatever happens, the ‘here and now’ is not in danger. No matter what, we’ll all go on with our lives. But if you impact the ‘there and then’, you’ll be stuck. You won’t exist anymore in our timeline.” She pressed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. “I know you want your family. But think about the one you have here.”

Scott looked at Nora with wide eyes. “I’m so glad I’m not going.”

“Worst part is,” she said, “I don’t even know what would happen if two versions of Clint got stuck in the same place. I’ve read all the books I could find, and no one ever messed with the timeline and came back to write about it.”

They all exchanged a few concerned looks. Nora probably ruined the mood, but she didn’t want to know how Nat would react to the only family she had to be stuck somewhere they probably didn’t exist anymore with no way to get them back. Now she was sure he’d be safe and come back. 

“Now let’s go before Tony sends himself back,” she said with a forced smile. 

Nora ignored Banner’s questions about time as they were going back to the time machine. He wanted access to the books she talked about. He was sure he could find a scientific explanation to everything she said. She’d have happily obliged, but given what they were already doing, the least consequences, the better.