Lights → Doctor Strange

{I had to know}

A week. That's how long Riley had been gone. It drove Strange insane. He paced up and down the house. He didn't go to his meetings, he barely ate, he didn't sleep. He stewed in the wicked brew of her words and his own mind.

Strange also couldn't find his cape. That bothered him too. He really did feel alone without it's comforting weight on his shoulders. He played with the idea of using another tracking spell to find Riley, but somehow, it just didn't feel right.

She would come back when she felt like it.

Or, maybe, she wouldn't.

Either way he couldn't bring himself to track her down using magic. He made another loop around the room in the third floor, once more stopping and looking out the great window. The window's symbol glared at him through the morning light, reminding him yet again of Riley's Amulet.

A thump in the hallway made him turn. A young magician, sixteen at least, leaned against the door frame. Strange started towards her. Her chin length hair was matted with blood, and she clutched her bleeding arm.

"What's going on?" Strange asked.

She panted a moment before answering. "An attack, on Kamar-Taj... The Sorcerer Supreme--" she cut off, her eyes rolled back in her head. Strange caught her as she fell, gently laying her down on the ground.

What was she trying to say about Riley? Going by the state of this young girl, the news couldn't be good. Strange's heart thumped in his chest as his mind went to the worst possible news it could be. What if Riley was hurt, or worse, dead?

Strange looked down at the young girl, quickly ripping a piece of fabric off of his shirt and tying it around her bleeding arm. It would have to do for now. He quickly opened a portal to Kamar-Taj and picked the girl up.

His cape appeared, finally, and helped him with the girl. "Where have you been?" Strange muttered at the cape. It floated up and slapped him on the back of the head.

"I know," Strange muttered, "I was an ass."

If capes could grin, this one would've.

"We've got a few more important things to be worrying about," Strange gently reminded himself. Strange stepped through the portal, with the girl still in his arms. Kamar-Taj was smoldering around him. Sorcerers ran here and there, putting out fires and healing wounded magicians.

Strange handed the unconscious girl to one of the mystics in charge of healing. He left the hallway they had appeared in, moving closer to the heart of the old temple. Strange's footsteps got faster and faster until he was practically running through the hallways.

He got to the main meeting room, where all the masters of the sanctums were waiting. Strange stopped outside of the door, a flood of relief flowing through him. There she was, after a week, looking healthy and completely alive.

"I want all the rubble searched, I want to know if he was here during the attack. Did the messenger come back with news? Was he at the sanctum?" Riley's words were hard and commanding as her eyes raked across the room.

A river of excuses flowed from all the master's mouths. Strange realized with a pang that she was looking for him. He stepped into the room. Everyone turned and stared. Strange immediately went forward towards Riley.

"I thought you were dead," they both said at the same time.

Strange went first, "The messenger, the girl, she passed out before she could tell me if you were okay."

"I thought you might've heard the fight and joined in," Riley said, "We lost a lot of sorcerers today."

The air in the room was thick, and the other mystics took the cue. They quietly filed out of the room to assess the damage the attack had caused. Riley and Strange both stood awkwardly. Their fight still lingered in the air between them, but both of them knew they never wanted to feel the rush of terror they felt when they thought the other was in danger.

"I'm sorry," Strange whispered, "I'm so, so, sorry."

Riley's eyes flooded with tears as she rushed forward to wrap him in a hug. "I'm sorry too," she mumbled into his chest.

Strange wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. He rested his chin on the top of her head. "You seem like you've took charge of the other sorcerers," he teased her.

Riley pulled back just enough to see his face, "They found me and told me there was an attack... That there had been fatalities. I had to know if you were safe."

Strange reached up and cupped the side of her face with his trembling hand. They both leaned forward, so close that Riley could see the small flecks of brown in Strange's eyes. A tense moment passed. Both were looking over the edge of a cliff and deciding whether or not the jump.

Just as Riley was about to take the plunge, the sorcerers reappeared.

Riley and Strange jumped away from each other. Riley's calm demeanor shifted back into place as she once again became the Sorcerer Supreme. Strange was the one who blushed, surprisingly enough.

Riley stood behind the intricately carved chair that now belonged to her. "Yes?" she asked.

The master of the Hong Kong sanctum stepped forward, "We lost twelve sorcerers today, Supreme. What should we do now?"

Riley's knees buckled when she heard the number of lives lost, the weight of her responsibility crashing onto her shoulders. Lives were depending on her answers.

But this time, Strange was there. He took her arm, steadying her against him, and led her to her chair. She sat, shooting him a grateful look. Strange sat down at the chair to the right of her, unconsciously choosing the seat reserved for the one favored by the Supreme.

"Mordo is getting stronger," Riley said, her voice wavering but strong, "And with strength comes confidence, and with confidence comes stupidity."

The sorcerers, Strange included, hung on her every word.

"We hunt him down, and when we find him," she paused, looking each of the mystics in the eyes, "We kill him."

A/N

hello writers block my old friend.......

I think it finally broke praise be

hope y'all enjoyed that moment or two of ship there.... I couldn't have them kiss i mean we're only like, what, ten chapters in? Nah. Y'all gotta wait more.

Love all you readers out there! <3

-Lady_Loki_00