The Flames of Amarra - DR STRANGE x OC - COMPLETE

THE LAST PIECE OF THE PUZZLE

Steve parked the car and stared at the cabin for a while. He’d been there once, years ago, and things didn’t really go as planned. And yet, he didn’t hesitate one second before driving here. Nora wanted to portal everyone there, but Scott refused to walk through a giant ring of fire. She gave in, and joined them in the car. 

Scott spent the entire time on Google, trying to get five years of information into his head. Nora had known for a while that Nat wasn’t doing as good as she was pretending to, but now she had a hard time hiding how much she still wanted to erase everything that happened. 

And there, sitting on the backseat, was Nora. All they wanted was a little hope, and she was holding it from them. Of course Wong was right. And Steve told her about loyalty. And even if these people were more of a family to her than some members of the real one, Nora needed to stay loyal to her mother. Her brother. Emi. She needed them back, no matter who she had to lie to. 

Nat nodded at Nora and they both left the car. Tony would probably need to see friendly faces before seeing Steve in front of his house. Morgan jumped from his arms and ran to Nat. 

“Hey,” Nora said, walking to Tony after a quick smile at the little girl. She pointed at the helmet and frowned. “So young ?”

“It’s for Pepper,” he answered, his eyes glued to the car. He went from suspicious to confused when Scott came out. “Care to explain ?”

Nat joined them, Morgan shadowing her. “Long story.”

Tony sent his daughter inside and led the way to the front porch. He didn’t say a word when Scott explained what happened to him, how he got stuck in the quantum realm and how he wanted to build a time machine. 

Nora noticed the way he was looking at her from time to time. He was probably scared that she would go nuts once again. After a while, she decided to just look at her shoes and wait for it to be over. She could tell them. It would probably get Tony to help them. But Wong said they shouldn’t act on what they knew, and what they thought they knew. 

“You accidentally survived,” Tony said, looking at Scott. “It’s a billion to one cosmic fluke. And now you want to pull a… What do you call it ?”

“A time heist ?” Nora looked at Scott and cracked a smile. It took him a while to come up with that name. 

“Of course,” Tony sighed. “Why didn’t we think about this before ? Oh, because it’s laughable.”

“The stones are in the past,” Steve said. “We could go back, we could get them.”

“We can snap our own fingers. We can bring everyone back,” Nat added. 

Tony looked at them. “Or screw it up worse than he has. I believe the most likely outcome will be our collective demise.”

Scott sat next to him, already forgetting everything Nora tried to tell him in the car. “Not if we strictly follow the rules of time travel,” he started, ignoring Nora as she was shaking her head at him. “No talking to our past selves, no betting on sporting events.”

“Are you seriously telling me that your plan to save the Universe is based on Back to the Future ?” Tony asked. “That’s not how quantum physics works.”

“Very much not how time works either,” Nora said, finally opening her mouth. “And you know that Scott, because I already told you.”

Tony looked at her and frowned. “You’ve been quiet. What’s your take on this ?”

“Time… well, there’s little you can safely do. But-”

“I know you got a lot on the line,” Scott interrupted her. “You got a wife, a daughter. But I lost someone very important to me. A lot of people did. And now, we have a chance to bring everyone back, and you’re telling me you won’t even-”