The Flames of Amarra - DR STRANGE x OC - COMPLETE

THE WINE MYSTERY

⌚ YEAR 1

Nora rolled over, dodging the kick aimed at her chest. She didn’t have time to escape the next one and fell to the ground. The knife melted before it reached her and she surrounded herself with fire, tired of the constant assault. 

The fire alarm rang. Then it was the turn of the emergency lockdown. 

She took down the fire and looked at Nat. “Sorry,” she said with an innocent smile. 

Nat walked to the control panel and unlocked the whole building. “That was good. You’re getting better.”

“You’re still kicking my ass. Repeatedly,” Nora laughed. 

“That’s what I’ve been raised to do. I would take it as a personal offense if I lost to a librarian.”

“I haven’t been a librarian for a while now.” Nora got up and shook her head. “Why do I even have to train ? I have fire.”

“To keep me in shape,” Nat said with a smirk. “Steve doesn’t want to spar anymore, and Rhodey’s in Washington. And Bruce is-”

“Safe, protected by a lot of magic,” Nora finished. “Whatever he’s doing, he doesn’t want any contact with the outside world for now. I can’t tell you anything more, because that’s all I know.” The lights flickered and she smiled. “Finally running out, uh ?”

“Tony’s only waiting for a reason to put you back in your cell. He says you’re the future of clean energy.”

“Hm. At least he’s paying me for that.”

“I heard you stopped going to therapy,” Nat said as she was putting everything back in place. Nora gave her a questioning look. These things were supposed to be confidential. “I’m your superior. If I bring you with me on the field, I need to know you won’t lose it again. And it’s your fault,” she quickly added. “You had to go and turn yourself in again. It’s like you want people to be scared.”

Nora shrugged. “I’m training in London tomorrow.”

“Fire stuff ?” She nodded. “How’s that going ?”

“Well, it’s like going to couple’s therapy. With a ring. Sometimes I feel like I’m in control, and then poof, more fire coming from nowhere.”

Nat stopped and crossed her arms. “Look, I can’t say I understand much of anything when it comes to magic. And what you gave me to read about your ring… it’s a lot, even for me,” she scoffed. “But maybe it’s just protecting you when you can’t do it yourself ?”

“We thought about it,” Nora sighed. “But then it doesn’t explain what happened. Nat, people felt it all across the state before Tony locked me in. How would that be considered protecting me ?”

“Maybe you did that yourself.”

“Oh, so one second it’s the ring, the next it’s me.” Nora threw her arms in the air and walked to the dressing room to change. “It doesn’t make sense !” she shouted. 

Nat’s head appeared in the doorway. “That’s why you go to couple’s therapy. And I want you to go back to the real one too.”

“I’m fine.”

“Do you start believing in it after all this time or is it just a reflex answer ?” Nat laughed. “Go back to at least one session or I’ll stop teaching you Russian.”

Nora’s head popped outside of her clean shirt. “That’s mean.”

She finished changing and joined Nat in the kitchen. She quickly drank the cup of coffee waiting for her and looked up.