The Flames of Amarra - DR STRANGE x OC - COMPLETE

THE INFINITY STONES

Nora walked inside the kitchen and poured herself a cup of fresh coffee along with her usual medication. It wasn’t getting worse, but there was no amelioration either, and it was always hurting more after a coffee. One day she’d stop. Or not, it wasn’t really in her immediate plans. 

She stopped in front of Nat and glanced at the screens, ready to show them the plan for the day. “Who are we waiting for ?”

“Tony. Morgan wanted to have breakfast with her father,” Nat said, going over her notes. “You woke me up when you came back,” she added. “In the middle of the night.”

“I was with Wong.”

“And ?”

Nora shrugged. “The sorcerers are concerned.” And they didn’t even know the whole truth. It had been a very long night indeed. “Even if we all find a way to come back and not get stuck, there’s still the fact that we want to get all the Infinity Stones in one place,” she explained. “It’s going to send a beacon the size of a planet to anyone interested in them.”

“So we could deal with something other than Thanos.”

“Yeah. But hopefully they’ll be ready,” Nora scoffed. “Or they won’t be and-”

“And we’ll lose again,” Nat finished. She wrote a few things down and looked back at Nora. “Ready for your speech ?”

Nora smiled. “I’m filled with knowledge about that stone. I love knowledge.”

“You’ll get back to your books.”

“About that… You think they’ll let me quit when it’s over ?” she asked. 

Nat crossed her arms and sighed. “I’d like to tell you that they will, but I’ve seen more governments than you can imagine,” she explained. “It’s not about you, it’s about your ring. I don’t think they’ll ever let something that powerful away from their sight. Piece of advice ?” Nora immediately nodded, ready to do anything. “I’ll ask them to bench you. Your last medical exam came back awful. It won’t be long before your body shuts down, we all know it.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. I’ve seen the reports, you refused surgery five times in the last year. But it can help you,” Nat said with a frown. “You’ll get the medical attention you need, and then they’ll call you only if there’s something big. That’s the best you can hope for.”

“I don’t get how you can work with these people.”

“It’s the only way I can keep doing what we do,” Nat said with a smile. “If that’s all it takes to be able to help people, then fine. At least we’re able to do something.”

Nora laughed. “Where we you when you guys broke up ?”

“I told them exactly that. That one hand on the wheel was better than no hand at all. Do you think they listened to me ?” She shook her head. “Men…”

“Well, for what it’s worth, if you can get me some rest, I’ll beg for you to stay in charge. I won’t take orders from anyone else,” Nora smiled.

One by one, everyone started to join them, ready for the long day ahead. Tony showed up last, refreshed after his time alone with his family. 

“So the ‘how’ works,” he started as soon as they were all ready. “Now we gotta figure out the ‘when’ and the ‘where’.”

“Almost everyone in this room has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones,” Steve started. 

“Or substitute the word ‘encounter’ for ‘damn near been killed by’ one of the six Infinity Stones,” Tony added.