"Interesting welcome, but it's good to see you again, too," he said, sarcasm suffocating the end of the sentence.

I didn't move, the energy still gathered in my hands ready to do something. My mouth was open and I started contemplating my sanity while continuing to stare at Doctor Strange. Words were beyond me at this point.

He shook his head, then held out a hand as if to allow me in. "Come on through, we have some things to discuss," he said. I moved my stare from his face to his hand, then back up to his face. "I don't have all day."

I snapped out of my shock and shook away the energy in my hands. "Yeah, yeah, sorry about that." I started to go through, then paused. "FRIDAY, let Tony know I've stepped out for a bit but am safe and will return."

"Of course."

I went all the way through and turned around to watch the portal disappear behind me. The circle spun and got smaller until it just didn't exist anymore. "Woah..." I whispered.

"Ahem." I spun around and saw Doctor Strange looking at me with a raised eyebrow. "May we continue?"

Rolling my eyes, I crossed my arms and stepped up to him. "Okay, you know what? You don't get to be a cocky bastard with me, Doctor. Not only did you call the FBI on me while in a hospital, you randomly created a portal in my room with a new face and told me to go through. I'm allowed to be in a state of awe right now without being judged."

He nodded. "Fair point." With a small wave of his hand, we were suddenly standing in the middle of a great room. I took in the surroundings and saw a pair of doors that looked like they went outside and concluded we were in the entry way. Opposite of the doors was a grand staircase Doctor Strange was standing in front of.

"I need answers. Multiple, at this point. Like, for starters, what the hell? Since when did you gain magical abilities and become some sort of wizard?" I asked him.

Now he rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I'm not a wizard. I'm a sorcerer."

"Oh yeah, big difference there."

He glared at me and I held my hands up in a mock surrender. "The Sorcerer Supreme, to be exact. To make this long story short, I wanted to find a way to heal my hands and found the mystic arts at Kamar Taj. The Ancient One taught me and when she died, I took on her title and now protect the Earth from mystical beings or anyone who poses a threat, really."

I nodded along. "So, am I a threat? Is that why you brought me here?" I asked, worried that I had happily stepped right into a trap. "I guess second time's the charm in this case."

Doctor Strange shook his head. "No, no, you're not a threat." He started to pace a little. "I saw you walking around yesterday. You started to come down this street and then turned and went a different direction. Seeing you made me remember the conversation we had at the hospital- the one where you asked if I could remove the crap from your brain. So I thought about it and decided to bring you here. There's a lot to the mystic arts, and I'm curious if I can use any to remove what you are asking to remove. I'll have to look in a lot of different spell books, but it might be possible."

I couldn't speak for a moment, the second time in the last ten minutes. "Why?" I suddenly asked, throwing us both off.

He looked confused and asked, "Why what?"

"Why do you want to help me? Can we please remember how not even a month ago you tried to have me arrested by the FBI? Why do you suddenly want to help me?" I asked.

We were silent for a moment, and I thought it was possible Doctor Strange didn't even know his own motivations. It's not like we were best friends or he owed me a favor. Hell, we weren't even acquainted in any way. I threatened him and he threatened me after saving my life as a doctor in a hospital- that was the extent of our relationship and yet here we stood in this fancy building, him offering to help me out.

As he stood there thinking, I observed this place more and more. It was very old, filled with lots of old looking things. On the second story, right at the top of the stairs, was a huge window that allowed light to flood in and brighten the otherwise dark and gloomy space. On either side of the window were things up on the wall. Even with my enhanced eyesight, I had no idea what one of them was and the other looked like a sword and shield.

"Do you have an answer?" I asked him, done observing the space. "Look, it's not that I don't appreciate the help, it's just... I'm not very trusting to many people, especially ones who have called the FBI on me."

He scoffed. "You do realize you're a wanted criminal? Wanted by many countries and governing bodies around the world?"

"That's where my question comes in," I retorted quickly.

There was a silence again, until he finally spoke back up. "I couldn't get your situation out of my head. Yes, there was an egotistical part of me that wanted to help for the benefit of my record, the other part of me was intrigued by you. Nobody knows who you really are and just assumed that you were dangerous and wanted to hurt people. But when you came to me and wanted to get rid of all of that? Now that left an impression."

The ego angle made sense to me. "Why would that be so surprising?" I asked, confused on the latter part of the statement.

"People would kill- have killed- to have abilities like yours. In a world of Avengers and aliens, everyone wants to be a superhero. Why give up being one?" he asked, explaining his view.

I scoffed lightly and shook my head. "There's a word in there that changes everything: superhero. If I were actually one, then I wouldn't want to give it up. But these abilities and the soldier in my head? Those make me a villain and I want nothing more than to get rid of them. Being a normal person beats being the assassin that haunts people's nightmares," I said.

There was sympathy on Doctor Strange's face for a moment, before he nodded and started to walk around. "Is there a reason you are just now coming for help? You were last seen at the airport in Germany about five and a half months ago. Why wait that long?" I glared at him and he waved me off. "I'm not trying to interrogate you here, I'm just asking valid questions. No motives are being questioned or anything."

My glare went away and I looked to the floor to think for a second. "Well, that's a bit of a story. You really want to hear it?" I asked. He looked at me expectantly. "Okay, fine. After the airport I got put in a prison even though I signed the Sokovia Accords. Then... well, I can't really say specifics. I don't remember most of it after getting electrocuted many many times during my stay at the Raft. But I ended up in Wakanda with the others that didn't sign.

"I should've stayed, really. They have the technology I need right now, but I didn't trust it. Barnes stayed, hopefully got the treatment he needed, but I left one night and have been in hiding ever since. It was only after I was able to steal a laptop that I was able to start looking for people to help me," I answered. "Besides, when you're an internationally wanted criminal, you don't exactly go publicly looking for doctors when you could get arrested any second."

Doctor Strange had been nodding along the entire time, taking everything in. "You really decided to leave one of the most technologically advanced countries in the world because you had a bad feeling? And that's why this became my responsibility?" He looked like he was struggling to understand my decisions. To be honest, I was struggling to understand my decisions.

I walked over to the stairs and sat down. "Look, I'm not proud of it. I regret not staying everyday. The reason I visited the hospital? I got ambushed by Hydra agents because I accidentally outed myself by using my abilities- which is another long story I'm not getting into."

"So then why?"

"Trust, Doctor. Not with the King and the Wakandans, but with Captain Rogers and Barnes. I have a history with both, neither very good, and didn't exactly want to be to left in a vulnerable state around them even if they wouldn't do anything." I sighed and put my head in my hands. "Look, it's very complicated in my head and I don't exactly like explaining myself."

He nodded and took a couple steps toward me but didn't sit next to me. "I can try my best to help you, Rey, but there's only so much I can promise right now. Give me a chance to look through some books and see what I can find. For now, I'll send you back home and let you know if I find anything."

I smiled and nodded. "Good plan, I'd just rather not go through another portal. That was weird," I requested with a laugh. Strange nodded and I managed to get a smile out of him.

"I'll send you a message and let you find your own means of travel then. For now, I should probably portal you back though- can't imagine you'd want to walk to Upstate New York from here," he suggested.

I stood up from the stairs and wiped my hands off on my jeans. "All right, but make it quick. I don't know why but it just feels so... jarring to go from one place to another like this."

He brought his arms up and used his right hand to draw a circle shape in the air. As he did, an orange circle sparked to life and started to form into a portal back into my room.

But there was something else on my mind. "By the way, your facial hair? It's really cool, but it totally looks like you got some inspiration from Tony. Like, are you guys facial hair bros or something?" I asked, a joking smile on my face.

Strange rolled his eyes dramatically. "Seriously?"

"What? It's a valid question!" I laughed as I spoke, and Strange just worked on his portal. "Aw, don't be all hurt now. I didn't want to offend you it's just the first thing I thought when I saw it!" I couldn't stop laughing at this point.

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." Even though he sounded annoyed and a little pissed off, I could see a small smile forming.

The circle grew large enough to allow me through, so I stepped in and nodded a goodbye to Strange, my smile still there but slightly smaller. A second after, the portal was gone and I was left to awkwardly stand in my room.

Silence filled the air for a minute before I sighed and asked, "Did anything happen while I was gone?"

The trusted AI answered a moment later. "No. I also did not find it necessary to notify Mr. Stark about your absence. You were gone for 30 minutes," she answered.

"Thank you, FRIDAY."

"Of course Miss Silva."