Marvel Imagines

Mirror | Stephen

 "How did you get here?" The question, clipped and careful, hung in the air. I left it unanswered but took another step into the Mirror dimension.

"Not another step-" He began, but I waved my hand and caused his sentence to fall flat.

"Doctor, please." I said, sighing lightly. "I didn't ask for permission to be here. I don't need to. As it should be clear, you are not the only wizard around here." I stepped fully into the Mirror, a smile ghosting over my face. The fact that anything I did here didn't matter in the "real world" was comforting.

"Who are you?" He asked, "And why have you come to talk to me?" I hummed, holding back a chuckle.

"So serious, Doctor. Lighten up; I'm not here to threaten you." He didn't answer me right away, but as I drifted forward, I saw him glance in my direction.

"That didn't answer my question." He noted, and this time, I laughed.

"Of course it didn't, that wasn't my intention." I replied. I could tell he was waiting for more, but I stopped speaking. 

"And why are you here?" He asked again. "Who sent you?"

"I'm here on behalf of myself." I replied, shooting him a glance. "And frankly, I'm a little hurt that you think I'd lower myself enough to do someone else's work for them." It made me smile to see how much my words put Stephen off. I had never actually spoken to him- I'd simply appeared in the Mirror while he was there or popped into his dreams. Now that I'm in front of him, it almost warms my heart to see that I've broken through his expectations.

"And how can I be sure you are not lying to me?" He queried, and I shook my head with a smile.

"I respect the fact that you associate with the Avengers, but I have not yet found a team that doesn't want to abuse me for what I've been blessed with. I don't work with teams- I don't trust them." I stated. My words hung in the air, dividing the two of us. It was him on one 'side', and me on the other, and I was waiting to see if he would try to cross it.

"Are you willing to trust me?" He asked. He sounded almost nervous, and I looked away to hide my grin.

"Perhaps, Stephen Strange. Are you willing to trust me?" I challenged. His eyebrows furrowed.

"How did you know my name?" He asked.

"You're asking a lot of questions," I began, "And you and I both know there is only one answer to most of them. I am a wizard, we do think most people cannot. That answers 80% of all questions you could have." He chuckled himself.

"This is true." He conceded, and he let his little smile linger over his face.

 "I have met you before, in another universe." I mentioned after a moment, completely changing the subject. He faltered, but recovered himself quickly.

"So I have seen." He said, and I noticed he glanced down at the pendant in which the time stone sat. "It's... Rather unsettling, though, that I knew this and still could not remember you." I smiled fondly at his words, drifting in the space around me.

"I blur in and out of different realities. Yours was one I happened to linger in the longest, but that doesn't allow for you to pinpoint me." He turned to look at me, fully this time, eyes wide.

"Realities? You don't..." He began, and I finished his sentence for him.

"Have the reality stone? It has indeed been rested in my care." Stephen's eyes narrowed, and he looked me up and down.

"Well, where is it?" He asked. I almost laughed aloud at his forwardness- wizard or not, I'm not going to just hand the reality stone to anyone.

In response. I closed my eyes, and called upon the stone. As soon as my eyes opened, my right eye glowed red as a reflection of the stone. Stephen jumped back in surprise, and it looked like he felt a mixture of intrigue and fear as he peered closer.