Tony started feeling comfortable enough to let me go out into the city. At first when he said that, I got pissed- who's he to 'allow' me to do things- but then we talked about it. The government is still looking for me, something they will never stop doing it seems, but they've calmed down to where he knows it safe for me to leave the compound and explore New York. I understood that and promised him I'd be careful.

So, I got the motorcycle I used a couple weeks ago to help Peter and drove out to the city. I had on a hoodie and jeans as well as a cap and sunglasses to minimize how much of my face was visible. But at this point, like Tony said, I don't think too many people are looking for me.

No matter what, though, I always had some gloves on to hid my hand. Today they were just some leather black gloves that I could easily say were for riding my motorcycle.

The city was nice to explore. I wanted to go into shops and try clothes on, but I didn't have money to buy anything, so I just looked around or "window shopped" as I've heard people say. There were so many amazing things, I'd have to ask Tony how I could get some money to spend.

I looked up at the street sign and saw I could turn onto Bleecker Street, so I did. There were some gorgeous buildings, but nothing else to it, so I turned back onto the street I was previously walking down. It felt like I was being watched for a moment, but I brushed it off and moved on.

~~

At some point, I remembered a couple things. The first was the card Tony put in my hand that I shoved in my front pocket of my jeans without glancing at it- it was a credit card. The other was that I wanted to get a gift for Tony and Pepper since they got engaged last week. My problem there was that I had no idea what to get the couple because I didn't know them well enough.

I wandered in and out of a lot of different stores, not really caring about the price ranges of them since I had Tony's card and he's a billionaire. When I went inside a few, they gave me some annoyed glances, but I just moved on to another store. If they didn't think I belonged, then I guess I was just gonna leave.

After a couple hours of wandering to no avail, I found a cute little jewelry shop. Maybe I could find something here for Pepper that matches her ring. Pictures of the ring were everywhere on the internet, so I could just look at one there and figure out the best match.

It was small, but the store had some beautiful pieces at some pretty high prices. While I wasn't too concerned about that, I didn't want to spend a huge chunk of Tony's money.

But then again, he did give me the card. Maybe he wouldn't mind?

I was walked up to one of the counters to get a closer look at the jewelry when a woman came out from the back to greet me. "Hello there, ma'am, how may I help you today? Looking for yourself, someone else?"

I looked up at her and took her in. She was around my age- well, my presenting age- and had short brown hair that had been curled. Her blue eyes were still pretty vibrant from behind her glasses. She just didn't look like she should be a sales clerk at a jewelry store.

"Hi, I'm just looking for a gift for my... friend," I answered. Were Pepper and I friends? Sure, because I didn't know what else to call us. "She just got engaged so I wanted to get her something to match the ring, maybe some earrings or something."

The girl nodded. I looked and saw her name tag on her blouse read 'Vanessa.' "Well, if you'd like, I can totally- I mean, I can surely help you find what you're looking for. Do you happen to have a picture of the ring?"

I nodded and pulled out my phone, went to Google, and searched up 'Pepper Potts engagement ring' and found plenty of pictures the press had taken. I flipped the phone around and showed her a picture, making sure to hide the search bar. "This is it. I feel like it wouldn't bee too difficult to match," I said.

Vanessa nodded and took it all in. "A very beautiful ring indeed, now we just need to find the best companion. You mentioned earrings so I think we should go with that." She started to walk around and look in the glass cases. I followed along to watch her thought process.

"These earrings here are a perfect match, the stones and simple yet elegant shapes really tie together," she said after a moment of looking. I observed the set she was gesturing at and agreed.

I nodded. "Yeah, they're perfect. You're really good at your job," I complimented as she pulled the set out of the case and brought them over to a register, and of course I followed.

She smiled. "Thank you. My parents own the place- my great-grandfather's name was Roman- so I've been raised in this environment. They- my parents- are training me to maybe take over this place one day unless my younger brother takes more of a liking. That's what I'm hoping for," she rambled. I just nodded along and let her vent to me. "This place is amazing and pays well, but it's not really what I want, you know?"

"I get it. I got stuck in a life I never asked for and now I'm just trying to deal with the aftermath," I said. The total was up on the little screen so I got the card out and handed it to her.

Vanessa nodded. "Right? And with all due respect, I don't want to have to do that. Dealing with the aftermath? That doesn't sound like any kind of fun. I just want to do the life I want on the first go around not when I'm 50 or something."

We smiled. "I hope everything works out for you and your life, Vanessa," I said and took the card back from her outstretched hand.

"You too..."

"Rey."

"Rey. Nice to meet you and hope you have a great day!" She handed me a small, matte black bag with the earrings inside. I nodded and left the store. So that was Pepper's gift down, now I needed something for Tony.

First thing's first: these earrings needed to be dropped off at the motorcycle. There was a special compartment I could put valuables in that would stay locked and I knew it would be safe there.

So, I made my way back on down to the place I parked my motorcycle. It was a nice walk where I totally didn't overthink the gift for Pepper. Definitely not.

At the motorcycle, I put the bag away and debated right then and there if I should just head on back to the compound and forget this whole 'be in the city' thing.

I looked up and sighed, catching a glimpse of something along the skyline. "Metropolitan General Hospital..." I trailed off. Closing the little compartment, I leaned lightly on the bike and stared at the sign that was staring back at me. "Metropolitan General Hospital..." I said again, this time in a whisper.

Would Doctor Stephen Strange still be there? Well screw that question, would he even want to see me? Our last meeting was definitely one to remember, and certainly not in a good way. But he could still be my only hope to figuring out the junk in my head.

With a small sigh, I started my trek in that direction. Hopefully they wouldn't be looking out for me and call security the second I step foot in that hospital. It's funny how I'm relying on 'hope' nowadays, but it is what it is.

My heart rate sped up in anxiety as I walked up to the entrance. I didn't slow down, but took a deep breath and went inside. Nobody was running up to tackle me, so that was a good start. Looking around, it looked like everyone was too wrapped up in their own worlds to pay attention to me.

I looked and saw a nurse that didn't look as busy, and slightly familiar, so I walked up to her. "Excuse me?" She looked over at me. "May I ask you something?"

She did a quick look over of me, then looked back up at my face. "If you're experiencing any weird symptoms or have gone through anything traumatic, I'd recommend going straight to the ER so they can assess you themselves."

I scoffed and said under my breath, "I doubt they'd believe half of mine." The nurse gave me a confused look but I moved on. "No, it's just a question. Is Dr. Stephen Strange here?"

There was a pause and I saw the nurse's face going though about a hundred emotions. Finally, she went blank. "Sorry, ma'am, but after his accident he hasn't been performing surgical duties. He hasn't been at the hospital. Is there a specific reason you need him? I can find you another doctor who might help-"

"Thank you." She blinked in surprise at being cut off, but nodded anyway. I started to turn away, but then stopped and looked back at the nurse. "Is there a phone number or email address I could contact him at?"

She thought then shrugged. "All of the ones he has online are directly connected to the hospital and I don't have his personal ones. Sorry." I knew for a fact she was lying about that last bit, but didn't say anything.

Even though our conversation was over, she kept looking me over and I felt rooted to the spot with her stares. "I'm sorry, is there something wrong?" I asked her, trying to remain calm.

Because I knew exactly who this nurse was. She was the nurse I talked to (and threatened) when I came in the first time. And she might've just figured that out, too.

"No, I apologize, you just look really familiar. Do you mind removing your hood for a second?" she asked, and I already knew she figured it out. "I just want to see something."

Shaking my head, I stepped away. "I'm just going to leave, thank you for all your time," I said.

I turned around and hurried out of there just as she yelled, "Security!" That had me break into a sprint. I pushed people out of my way, accidentally forcing people to the ground, and got to the doors. Body slamming them open, I scared people out on the sidewalk causing them to stare at me. My hood had completely fallen off now, yet the baseball cap stayed on.

"Move!" I yelled, and started sprinting in the direction of my motorcycle.

Security was right behind me- well, a few yards behind really, so I had to push. I heard them over say on their walkie-talkies: "We have the suspect! The Shadow Solider, heading north bound towards the parking garage! ... Which do you think, there's only one close by to the hospital!"

I continued to sprint, trying to lose the security people. They were breathing heavily behind me, so I knew I had the upper hand. With a few twists and turns through some cramped alleys and around weird corners, I lost them and got to my motorcycle safely.

There was nobody waiting for me in the parking garage so I easily slipped my helmet on and got out of there. Some cop cars came speeding down the road, right in front of the exit, so I tried to act as normal as possible by breaking quickly and waving my apologies, then watched where they went.

Once they were all gone, I turned in the opposite direction and let FRIDAY guide me back to the compound.

"Should I tell Tony about this?" I thought out loud. "Nah."

~~

When I got back to my room, Pepper's gift hidden in my hoodie pocket, I sat at my desk and started researching Doctor Strange and his accident. Apparently not long after I visited him, he got into this huge crash that broke his hands and basically ruined his surgical career. He hasn't been seen much since then, only one alleged sighting in Hong Kong but the picture did not look like the doctor I met.

So there went the only lead I had on that, but even then it was a crappy lead. I sighed and closed my laptop, then leaned back in my desk chair to look at the ceiling above me. This was a change I wasn't expecting nor wanted.

But it's not like I can do anything about it now. I closed my eyes for a moment to try and think when I heard a weird noise. It almost sounded like sizzling, but I knew that wasn't it. Besides, there was no burning smell.

I opened my eyes and turned towards the center of my room and nearly had a heart attack. There, in the center, was a large, glowing, orange circle. But looking through, it wasn't my bedroom, it was a completely different building.

I stood up and carefully approached the circle thing. "What the hell..." I mumbled as I stepped closer and closer.

Another figure randomly appeared and I got orange energy balls ready in my hands for an attack. "No need for that, Reyna-Rose Silva. I'm not an enemy here," the figure said. They stepped forward into the light more and I saw it was Doctor Stephen Strange. Well, with really cool facial hair that reminded me of Tony's.

"Okay, what the fuck?"

A/n: I apologize, this does feel kind of like a rambling filler (because it mostly is) but I didn't want to just randomly jump into Doctor Strange! Trust me, the next few chapters might feel a bit longer than they need to be, but it's all important and will lead somewhere awesome!