"I'm just a fragment of your reality."
"A fragment? Are you fucking joking? Then why does it hurt me so goddamn much when you left without even saying goodbye, even after all these years?"
NIGHTWING X DOCTOR!STRANGE DAUGHTER AU
DCU X MCU
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"I fought with my Dad."
Now thinking about it, Mariane realized it was silly. She felt desperate and thought maybe she should have been more careful about how she approached Stephen Strange. He's very logical, and most of their conversations are quite rational.
But at that moment, a few hours ago, she didn't consider it.
"Dad, please." Stephen paced back and forth in his Doctor Strange outfit with the levitating coat beside him, an animated display of emotions. Mariane observed her father, puzzled by his evident anxiety and panic.
"No," Stephen turned to her, shaking his head. "It's too dangerous."
Mariane was taken aback. Did he really say that? "As if the times I did night patrol weren't dangerous enough." Her voice held a hint of sass, earning a slight glare from Stephen.
"I don't understand why you are being so selfish about this."
"Selfish?" Stephen's voice rose with confusion and frustration. "Oh, yeah, maybe you can consider it being selfish." He stood, arms on his hips.
"Dad, this was my mistake." Mariane's desperation was evident, yet she knew the finality of Stephen's response. Still, she tried. "A threat from another universe entered our universe. The only way for me to handle it is to go back to its universe. So–"
"No, Mary-Anne. No means no." Stephen cut her off, his tone firm and unyielding. Mariane studied her Dad, her eyes searching for empathy, but he appeared different today, devoid of his usual emotions.
Mariane shook her head, a hint of disbelief in her expression. "Wow. You are the most selfish, apathetic being I have met now."
She told her friends about it.
Kate and Cassie could only look at the woman – with Kate going towards Mariane, seeing the woman already had tears rolling on her cheeks and her wiping them ever so quickly.
"Sorry." Mariane quickly apologised, "I'm just frustrated with Dad. I don't know why he doesn't want to hear my reasoning." – she hates crying in front of her friends, but knowing it was just Cassie and Kate, they are her comfort people. Mariane is lucky Yelena wasn't there because if it was Yelena, she would make Mariane cry twice.
"It's okay." Kate said, with a soft sigh. "Completely understand you." Kate said in a tone where she had experience before – earning a nod of agreement from Cassie too. There was silence for a good minute, until Kate broke the silence.
