Seeing Scarlet - Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

~XVIII~

Back at Kamar Taj the sorcerers were reconstructing the compound, all the while others trained in the various forms of Mystic Arts. America was among them.

Catalina was back in this universe from visiting her Infinity Gauntlet group. When she was gone, she left her sister in the safe hands of the sorcerers.

"I blamed America for the loss of our mothers for the longest time," she admitted to Kat while the two look-alike women watched the training, Kat and Cat. "I hated myself for it, but it was true. But we had to stay together, we couldn't afford to lose each other as well."

"Your heart is in the right place, my friend," Kat assured her.  "And I still believe your mothers are out there."

Catalina sighed.  "Yeah, I hope so - somewhere."

"Kat! Cat! Watch!" America moved her hands in the correct spell formation.  "Ay, how is this so much harder than  a multiversal portal?" she grumbled.

Chuckling, her sister went to join her while Kat joined her fellow Masters. 

"She needs to slow down and be more patient," said Stephen.

"Reminds me of another student I knew," Wong hummed pointedly. 

"Yeah, who are you and what did you do to Stephen?" Kat laughed.

"How are you feeling?" Wong asked them. 

"Why do you ask?"

"You used the Darkhold to Dreamwalk into your own corpse."

"Oh, yeah, right that." Stephen smirked.

"And you-" Now Wong looked to Kat.  "-You sucked your dark powers from the soul of the Darkhold itself." He shook his head. "You two are quite the pair."

"Yeah, we are." Stephen smiled.  "Fine, I'm fine."

"I feel good," she agreed.

"Okay..." Wong seemed wary.

"I do want to ask you something: are you happy?" Stephen asked. 

"Wow, that's deep," Kat chuckled.

"Yes, that's an interesting question," Wong agreed.

"You think that saving the world would get you there, but it doesn't."

"Sometimes I do wonder about my other lives," Wong mused.  "And yet I remain grateful in this one, even with its tribulations."

"Nicely said," Kat commented.

Stephen turned to look at her. "At least we don't have to go through it alone."

"No we don't," she agreed with a ghost of a smile. 

"Want to take a walk with me?" he asked her.

"Oh, sure, yeah. That sounds nice." She turned to Wong and bowed, Stephen following the gesture of respect. 

"Hey!" American ran up to join them. "'Sup?"

"'Sup?"

"Made some sparks!"

"We saw, good job," Kat told her.

"Thanks."

"Yeah, your parents would be proud," Stephen added.  "I hope you get to show them one day."

"Yeah, me too. Kat, Stephen - I'm glad we fell into your universe."

The two exchanged a glance. "So are we Kid, so are we."

With that both headed out to the edge of the compound. 

"How are you feeling? Did your powers fade once Wanda destroyed all the Darkholds?"

"No, since I unlocked them from their prison in the book they're back out now, out in the open." She wiggled her fingers for emphasis.  "And are you sure you're okay? I mean, I used to be and, some would say, always have been a version of the Scarlet Witch. You Dreamwalked into your own dead body."

"I'm fine, really." He did seem good - too good almost for the circumstances. "Speaking of, what happened to you and your Scarlet Witch side of things?"

"It's a long story."

"We can make the walk as long as needed."

"Okay, well, My father, Agamotto-"

"Sorry to interrupt but your father? I thought you said you were a distant relative?"

"Yeah, I kinda lied... Well as you know, the Scarlet Witch is prophesized to either rule or destroy the world, and I was going down a dark path.  I could enslave the world, and I very nearly did - and on more than one occasion. My father brought me to the Ancient One - although she wasn't so ancient then. She helped me, suppress it so much so that I had to start over, start from scratch in my magic training. And then Wanda re-fulfilled the prophecy... I wasn't really learning anything new in Westview, just rediscovering old knowings, tearing open the past with full force." She heaved a sigh.  "My Darkhold days are over. I tried to destroy it, I really did, but I never could. Something always stopped me - something always held me back... But thankfully Wanda could, and did, take that step."

"Yeah. Thank you, for telling me."

"Of course, thank you for listening."

"Always. And you didn't answer my question from before."

"Sorry?"

"Are you happy?"

"Oh - um..." She thought for a moment, really thought. Such a question deserved such contemplation. "Yeah, yeah I am. Despite certain challenges-" Again, she wiggled her fingers for emphasis.  "-I am happy. And you?" She was almost a little nervous to hear his answer.  Speaking of challenges, they had had their own challenges as well. 

They had stopped in their walk at the edge of the compound overlooking Kathmandu.

"Yeah, I am.  Before you came to retrieve me from that Incursion universe, Christine told me to face my fears, and so this is me doing so-" He leaned forward and pressed a deep kiss to her lips, hands cupping her cheeks. Her arms wound up and around his neck, after a moment of surprise, deepening the kiss. 

"Ah," she breathed when they pulled away. "I like this new you."

"Me too. I still can't believe you kissed dead me."

"It really wasn't that weird for me..." She shrugged. They kissed again. 

Then suddenly, he pulled away and groaned.

"Stephen? You okay?"

His brow was furrowed as if in pain and his eyes shut tight. "Ah - AH! AHHHHH!!!" He drew back -  a third eye opened in the centre of his forehead.

He screamed; she screamed back.

-------------------------------------

"So what do you feel like for lunch?" Stephen asked as he and Kat headed out for a lunch date in New York. 

"Hmmm.... You know, all America's talk of pizza has got me craving pizza."

"Pizza it is then."

They didn't make it very far. 

"Stephen Strange-" A platinum blonde woman dressed all in purple strode up to them right in the middle of the street. "You caused an Incursion, and we're going fix it."

(Just had to add the Clea tease here cause she's a badass and I can't wait to see more of her in the MCU! ;)

Well, there we have it, that's the end of this story! What a wild and wonderful ride Multiverse of Madness is! 

Once more, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed overall! :))