"Doc! What the fuck!" Lana complained loudly the second she landed in the soft chair placed beneath the portal she'd found herself falling through not long before.

"You brought a friend. How nice," Stephen commented, smiling calmly as William fell through behind her, a chair appearing beneath him at just the right time.

"I didn't bring a friend, you kidnapped my friend!" Lana corrected angrily.

"Excuse me, he jumped through my portal," Stephen retorted, eyeing the newcomer annoyed.

"Because you kidnapped me! Again!" Lana argued.

"We were kidnapped?" William asked shocked, looking at her with panic in his eyes.

"She was kidnapped, you came here on your own," Stephen answered before Lana could. Lana rolled her eyes dramatically before turning her head back to Stephen, who sipped from a mug.

"Why did you kidnap us?" William asked the doctor.

"I kidnapped Ms Williams because I had to talk to her, and every time I have sent a portal for her, she has ignored it," Doctor Strange informed pleasantly.

"When someone ignores your portals, it means sod off. I was busy," Lana informed him sharply.

"Investigating me?" the doctor suggested. Lana felt her heart skip a beat as she awaited what he would say.

"I suspected as much," he mused, smiling at himself.

"I - I haven't seen any portals," William told Lana, his hands tightly gripping the armrests of the red chair he was in.

"No, he only sends them when I'm alone," she explained shortly.

"That's because I didn't want your shoot-to-kill friends to come," Stephen pointed out logically, Lana rolling her eyes at him.

"Well, I'm here. What do you want?" she challenged, standing up from her chair to face the doctor, unaffected by the height difference as she crossed her arms above her chest and raised her chin defiantly.

"It's not about what I want, it's about what you want, Ms Williams," Stephen told, grabbing a cup on a saucer out of thin air and handing it to Lana, who eyed him suspiciously before taking it from him.

"And what do I want?" she questioned, sitting back down.

"I suspect you want to know more about me. To know if you can trust me," he specified, sitting in a chair that magically appeared behind him.

"I have no reason to think I can," Lana pointed out.

"She has trust issues," William told with a grimace.

"Do not!"

"Do, too!"

"Please, shut up," Stephen interrupted the two. They stopped talking and looked at the doctor, who sighed. "I knew my announcement would cause some sort of reaction, but I hadn't thought of you as impulsive, reckless, hasty. Until I remembered that you are your father's daughter, and I figured I should answer your questions before you do something stupid, like hacking SHIELD or breaking in here."

"I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that," Lana told, scoffing slightly to point out the ridiculousness of the suggestion.

"Well. You are your father's daughter," Stephen said cryptically.

"That's where the resemblance stops, thank you very much," Lana replied quickly, narrowing her eyes slightly.

"If you say so," Stephen agreed with a shrug.

"I do."

A quietness found its place around them, surrounding them in an aura of tension as Lana and Stephen eyed each other carefully, William looking between them with flickering eyes.

Hearing a sound, Lana shot around in her seat just in time to see the wooden door slam open, Steve and Bucky standing behind it and heaving dramatically.

"Ah, just on time," Stephen complimented, glancing at his wrist, where no watch could be seen.

Without a word, the fuming Bucky began walking, his pace reaching a speed that could only be described as running and he caught up to the doctor, who moved his hands in his hands in a circular motion. Instead of punching Dr Strange as Bucky had planned, he found himself losing his balance for a second as he didn't hit anyone, only then noticing that he was standing on the other side of the doctor. He'd walked right through him; or rather, his point of existence had been unaccessible to Bucky. Clenching his jaw he turned, his arm already swinging through the air when the portal appeared. Pulling back, Stephen allowed it to disappear.

"Have you calmed down?" he asked, Bucky's eyes widening in anger as he raised a hand in reply. The doctor rolled his eyes as he created another portal, one which Bucky couldn't stop in time to not pass through, and he found himself on the opposite of Stephen once again.

"Bucky," Steve tried tiredly, entering the room at a much slower (and calmer) pace. Bucky either ignored his friend or he didn't hear him, but he kept attempting to injure the doctor, who every time managed to warn it off with a portal. Lana had leaned back in her chair, observing the 'fight' with a kind of quiet observance and calm interest that fascinated William, who wasn't sure if the magical fight was the most interesting thing happening at that moment, or if it was whatever considerations shot through Lana's head with the speed of lightning. He had no idea what she was thinking, but he knew her well enough to recognise the sound of the mechanics running on overdrive, and he could practically feel the overheating from his spot next to her.

"Miss Williams, will you please control your friends?" Doctor Strange complained, growing annoyed at entertaining the overly eager protector.

"He's not my friend," she claimed, sipping the drink that turned out to be a perfectly brewed tea, the beverage somehow being the exact temperature of her reference at that very second.

"We're perfectly calm," William agreed, gesturing at himself and Steve, who stood next to Lana's chair with a disappointed look on his face.

"Ten bucks Bucky loses," Lana told, leaning over towards William to discuss the bet.

"You think the Merlin Senior is going to win?" he replied unconvinced, raising his eyebrows slightly as he kept his focus on the fight.

"What? No, I don't care, I'm just always ready to bet against Bucky," she explained.

"Well, control your... Dog, then," Stephen interrupted their casual chat, making Lana glance at Steve to see if he heard it.

"He's not a dog," she told Strange annoyed.

"And I'm not a senior," he retorted.

"Heard that, did you?" William asked with a slight grimace, receiving only an annoyed glance in reply.

"Just get him to stop!" Dr Strange told her annoyed.

"No. Apologise," she ordered stubbornly, leaning back in her chair and sipping from the cup.

"Fine. I'm sorry for calling your friend a dog," Stephen told, trying to not show the irritation he was feeling.

"Not to me, you git, to him!" Lana corrected annoyed before huffing out; "And he's not my friend."

"Fine. I am sorry for calling you a dog," Stephen told the soldier, who probably wasn't even hearing him.

"That was good, you almost sounded sincere," Lana complimented.

"Really? I thought he was a little off," William told with a shrug.

"Will you just stop him?!" Stephen exclaimed.

"Lana," Steve warned her, making Lana roll her eyes. She handed her cup to William, who compliantly took it and held it for her as she stood up, brushing her thighs before taking a deep breath.

"James?" she asked softly. Bucky's eyes shot to her and softened slightly as his lips separated just a fraction of an inch. Stephen eyed him carefully before letting the portal he was creating disappear.

"I'm alright," she told Bucky, smiling slightly. Bucky breathed out a breath of relief and nodded, his posture losing the tenseness it had held since he entered and instead just allowing his shoulders to relax.

"I'm gonna kill you," he warned her flatly.

"Okay, I regret it, go back to being mad at Doc," Lana ordered.

"It's Doctor, Doctor Strange," Stephen corrected her.

"I'm going to kill him, too," Bucky promised her, turning to the man in question; "What the hell were you thinking, kidnapping her?"

"I was thinking she refused to go through my portals," Dr Strange informed.

"You sent her-". In the middle of his sentence, Bucky turned to Lana; "He sent you portals?!"

"How is that my fault? He's the one who made the portals!" Lana argued, pointing at the wizard accusatorily.

"You're supposed to tell me that kind of stuff, Doll. I'm here to keep you safe!" Bucky disagreed.

"I haven't a clue where you got that idea, James! Why has it somehow become your mission to keep me safe?!" Lana retorted, standing from her chair to reach closer to his height.

"Because you're terrible at it yourself!" Bucky reminded her frustratedly.

"Am not!"

"This is the third time you've been kidnapped!"

"Hey, I cancelled the second one out by kidnapping him back!" Lana yelled angrily.

"Not sure that's how that works," William considered out loud.

"Guys, can you please just..." Steve tried, not sure how to get the two to stop. Dr Strange rolled his eyes before whistling loudly, the chatter immediately coming to an end.

"Thank you," he said, Lana rolling her eyes.

"Why did you kidnap Lana, Doctor?" Steve asked tiredly.

"Maybe he's too shy to ask for her number," William suggested helpfully, making all other four parties present look at him weirdly. "No? Just a thought."

"I invited her here-"
"Kidnapped," Lana interrupted, sitting down in her chair and sipping her tea.

"-Because I realized that in spite of my initial judgement, she is her father's daughter and the friend of Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers, and could easily be as impulsive as you. I wanted to ensure she didn't do anything stupid," Stephen explained, quickly catching them all up to date.

"I'm her friend, too," William scoffed offended.

"Yes, but you're not reckless," Stephen pointed out.

"Yes, I am!" William claimed with a pout.

"He did jump through a portal without having any idea what it was," Lana agreed, pointing at her friend with her thumb.

"He's caring, not reckless. Those two tend to overlap," Stephen explained.

"Hey, uhm, there's no polite way to ask this, but have you been stalking me?" William asked curiously.

"You're on the list," Stephen just explained, unreactful to Lana choking on her sip of still perfectly temperature tea and Steve furrowing his eyebrows in surprise. Only Bucky remained still, his arms crossed above his chest and a sour expression on his face.

"How long is this list exactly?" Lana asked, still trying to clear her throat.

"I'd like to know that, too. As well as what it is. I just want to know if I should be offended or proud," William told.

"It's a list of threats to the world," Steve explained quietly to him.

"Wait, is this all because I got banned from that 24-hour Tesco?" William asked Strange, who closed his eyes to calm himself.

"You got banned from a Tesco?" Steve asked confused.

"He wasn't banned, they just asked him politely to not return," Lana specified, trying to work out the situation.

"And because of that, I'm suddenly a threat to the world?" William complained to Stephen.

"How do you get banned from a Tesco?" Steve continued.

"We were playing hide and seek and he built a fort behind the toilet paper with Colin and Lucas," Lana told Steve, who furrowed his eyebrows.

"He got banned for moving toilet paper?" he asked weirdly.

"No, but it was an intense game and we didn't know how long we'd have to stay in there, so I borrowed the trash from the electronics department and used that to connect us to a PlayStation in a showcase so we could play," William explained it simply.

"He found an old camera lens in the trash and placed it in front of the screen so they could have a live feed in their little den," Lana added.

"As fascinating as that is, I did not check with Tesco when making the list," Stephen informed annoyed, making Lana's look shoot to him, a small smile spreading on her face.

"What?" he asked, glancing between her and Bucky.

"You made the list yourself. You said you'd been warned against Loki, but you made the list yourself," she explained.

"Who else is on your list?" Bucky asked Stephen, who eyed him slightly before replying.

"I'm assuming you're talking about people you might know. Loki. Thor. Carol Danvers. Wanda Maximoff, Tony Stark, William Mateo," Stephen listed. Lana bit her lip as she ran the names through her memory, only recognising some.

"Tony Stark?" Steve asked sharply.

"Don't act surprised," Bucky muttered with a slight scoff.

"He might not be a threat now, but he has every possibility to become one. And a big one," Dr Strange added seriously.

"But he's nothing without his suits," William claimed confused; "If he was a threat you could just take the suits."

"No," Lana disagreed softly; "Because that's what he could create out of scraps. But with all his means, all his brainpower, what if he decided to build something else, something bad."

"The gun doesn't matter, the one holding it does," Bucky agreed quietly.

"Okay, but what am I doing on the list?" William asked, turning to the doctor.

"You were seven when built your first computer. That computer hacked your local government," Stephen claimed flatly.

"That was an accident. I connected it to the computer at the library administration to download an e-book, and the AI did that automatically, I deleted all the files and all charges were dropped. I was seven and I tried to steal a book because they wouldn't let me borrow it, fine, but how does that make me dangerous?!" William argued, looking at Lana for help.

"What was the book?" Stephen asked.

"It... It was a book on mechanical engineering," William told unsurely.

"It was a book about the missile launchers created by STARK Industries," Stephen corrected unapologetically.

"I wasn't going to build a missile launcher, I just wanted inspiration because I was building a ball tossing machine for my dog!" William claimed.

"Missile Launcher would be a great name for a dog," Lana thought out loud, not noticing Bucky's straightening his lips to conceal his smile.

"But what if you changed your mind. What if you did want to build a missile launcher?" Stephen explored.

"You could call her Missy for short," Lana mentioned, still thinking about dog names.

"Then I'd fail," William claimed quickly.

"Or Millie. L as in launcher," Bucky suggested to Lana, who nodded.

"Would you?" Stephen asked William, whose jaw tensed at the implication.

"This has gone off track. You said you wanted to stop Lana from doing something stupid. How?" Steve challenged the Doctor. Stephen looked away from William and faced Steve's suspicious look.

"By telling her what she wants to know before she finds a way to figure it out herself," he told flatly.

"No. No, that doesn't add up," Lana disagreed thoughtfully. The edge of Stephen's lip twitched slightly as they awaited her verdict. "You would have gone to my father, he's probably hacking into every official record already, you could've summoned him."

"With all due respect, your father is a wild card. I'm not sure he would have listened to me, no less cared," Stephen claimed.

"You could have told Steve. He would listen, he would care, why didn't you?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows as her eyes searched his face.

"Because your father is a wild card," he repeated, smiling slightly as he watched Lana think. Suddenly her eyes widened before she breathed out.

"Because you want to gain our trust, and you know Steve would doubt anything Tony said, and Tony would doubt anything Steve said," she told the group.

"You could have talked to all of us," Steve pointed out.

"No. We would have been much harder to convince as a group. He wanted Lana to do his dirty work and have her infiltrate trust among us," Bucky realised, holding himself back from saying more.

"Miss Williams is the only one nobody has any reason to distrust. She seemed the safest bet," Stephen admitted with a slight nod of his head, affirming the theory they'd built together.

"Hate to break it to you, but I'm not that important. You should've gone to Clint," Lana stated with a shrug.

"Not that important... Yet there are three people here to save you... From a conversation," Stephen pointed out.

"What did you want to tell her?" Steve asked.

"Nothing in particular. Anything it would take for her to believe me when I say I am here to help," he specified.

"Alright. Tell us why your file was restricted," Lana prompted, leaning back in her chair.

"I'm not the right person to ask about that," Stephen replied, sitting down.

"Who is, then?" she continued.

"I suppose whoever restricted it," Stephen suggested unimpressed.

"Which is?"

"You're asking who I know at SHIELD?" Stephen asked directly, smiling at the annoyed look that reached her face.

"Director Nick Fury contacted me about the Avengers Initiative not long ago. We came to an agreement that he, and in extension SHIELD, would not interfere in my work," he explained.

"What work is that?" Steve asked.

"I keep the earth safe, monitor otherworldly threats," he answered honestly.

"Like Loki," Lana mused.

"And Thor," he agreed.

"Lana, we have to get to work," William reminded her quietly, glancing at his wristwatch.

"I've said what I needed to," Strange told with a shrug.

"And we listened. I take it this is the last time you kidnap me, Doc?" Lana challenged, standing from her chair.

"It's Doctor. And I should hope so," he replied, stretching his hand out for a handshake. Lana eyed the hand unsurely before carefully taking it, letting it go after a single shake. Doctor Strange smirked at her as he moved his hands, creating a portal next to him and stepping aside to let them pass through it. Lana didn't bother saying another word as she moved through it, disappearing from sight.

"Nice meeting you, Doctor, erh, Ste, uhm-"

"Doctor Strange," Stephen replied shortly, looking emotionlessly at William.

"Right. Nice meeting you, Doctor Strange. Promise I won't build a missile launcher anytime soon," he said, smiling childishly.

"Just know that if you do, I'll-"

"Yeah, I got that much. Stop threats, yadda yadda yadda. Bye, Doctor Strange," he told boredly before passing through the portal as well. Bucky shot Steve a saying look, and with a sigh, the captain turned to Stephen.

"Doctor Strange," he said with a slight nod, following Lana and William through the portal. Stephen looked at Bucky, who took a slow step closer to him.

"I didn't hurt her," Dr Strange reminded him.

"This is the last time you kidnap her. The last time you ever bring her anywhere without her consent. Got it?" he asked sharply.

"I needed to talk to her, this is about the safety of the world," Stephen told him seriously.

"I don't care about that, I only care about her safety," Bucky said warningly.

"What are you? Her protector?" Stephen practically scoffed, mocking the soldier who eyed him warningly.

"I'm the person who'll slit your throat if you ever do anything to her. Don't say I didn't warn you," he murmured before passing through the portal.