pacient in room 221
"What the fuck do you fucking mean by 'he's in a fucking coma', Wong?"
So, really funny story, an hour had passed since the two masters of the mystic arts had left, when Cora got the phone call that informed her that Strange was currently hospitalized where he used to work.
"You should come, maybe you could do your weird healing thing, maybe even help the Stark guy, he's pretty much in the same state as Stephen, vegetable" said a worried Wong from the phone
"Okay, watch out, i'm gonna pop up from a portal behind you in like 5 second" she says while working on the tracking gate spell "try not to knock me out this time, big guy", with that she hangs up and walks through the portal that makes her fall on Wong's back in a piggy-back style
Without getting off of him she commands him as if he was a horse and she the rider "Okay Wongy, take me to the idiot"
They got to room 221 and she jumped from her friend's back to the ground, gesturing for him to stay out of the room so she could concentrate.
When she opened the door and set eyes on her friend, it reminded her of the time she looked through his memories and saw how the doctor who she cared so much for looked after that car accident.
It broke her heart having to see him like that in person.
"You dumb, dumb man, you should have let me come with you, I won't always be here to save your stupid ass" she said, both anger and sadness surfacing in her voice.
Her lilac magic surrounded Strange's body as she had to basically bring his soul back to his body, a task she hoped to never have to carry out on a close friend ever again. She could sense the shadows of people trying to get to her, lost souls who had not yet let go of the lives they once had had, she felt the fake pleads in her ears, trying to pull her down with them, but she couldn't care less
After struggling for a few minutes it was done, the shadows had gone away the instance the magic stopped flowing and all there was left to do was wait for the doctor to wake up. He did that, approximately 23 seconds later, not that she was counting.
"Welcome back to the land of the living" she said from the end of the bed where she had chosen to wait, with a soft smile
"Thanks, I could feel my body trying to kick my soul out, like it was a disease, it felt like shit" he groaned trying to sit up
"Yeah, well, next time, remember that feeling and let me come to, at least, cover your back" Cora said removing her smile and letting her face show the fear she had felt.
Seeing how his body had already started rejecting his soul, how he really was so close to just not existing anymore, she had been terrified
Before Strange could give some sort of apology, the door opened revealing Wong and Bruce Banner, behind them the rest of the team minus Stark, who was somewhere in a hospital bed.
"Oh, Professor Francis, pleasure to see you again" Banner walked towards her and shook Cora's hand as she gave him a bright smile.
"You know her?" asked a man with a bow and arrow 'must be Barton' Cora thought
"Yeah, he came by the sanctum a few months ago to return some books he borrowed and we chatted a bit, cool man really" Cora said to Clint and eyed the rest of the team as well, as Bruce awkwardly laughed at the compliment.
"So, how did you wake up Doctor Strange?" asked a redhead with a heavy accent, Cora sensed a magical aura surrounding her, her suspicions were proven right when she felt someone trying to enter her mind, 'oh, yeah, definitely the scarlet witch'
"Healing and a bit of necromancy was needed, the idiot was almost dead" Cora explained and she focused on the witch for a second to get into her head and send her a message telepathically
stop trying to get past my barriers, little witch, it won't work
The girl paled, but instantly stopped trying to get into her mind, Cora laughed lightly at the embarrassed state of the witch, which Stephen caught onto
"Let me guess, you tried to read her mind and she scared the shit out of you by getting into yours instead?" He asked the redhead who nodded sheepishly "Don't worry, happens to the best of us" he assured with a weak smile, still deeply drained
"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Cora is super cool, we been knew, where's Mister Doctor's lover so I can save him too?" Part of the team laughed at the comment, others stood in confusion and Strange shot daggers at Cora, who was being led by Wong to the room across the hall.
She did the same she had done with Stephen minutes before, only this time she had an audience, at least she just had to heal the billionaire's deep wounds and not bring him back from the dead.
"Well, he's already awake, but i feel like he wants to pretend to still be in the coma to see if any of you cries by his bedside, or something like that" Cora says standing up from the chair she'd dragged to the side of Stark's bed, the team all let out a sigh of relief and a laugh as they saw Stark opening his eyes with a frown.
"Hey, you ruined my attention seeking plan" he huffed fixing the mysterious women with a glare, "who even are you?" he added grumply, like a child who just got told off by his mom in front of his friends
"I'm the woman who just saved you from a coma that should have lasted, at the least, two years, you're welcome" She says and sees that Strange, now fully healed, also came by to see, she mouths a 'he sucks' towards the sorcerer who laughs.
"She should be an Avenger" said a guy with an accent similar to Wanda's and worn out running shoes 'Pietro, speedster, Maximoff' Cora deduced
The older Maximoff's comment was met by hums and words of agreement from the rest of the team except, of course, the sorcerers, who apparently didn't want to have their friend leaving them.
"Sorry pals and gals, I can't, I don't enjoy the fighting and constant healing, it's too draining, I can't bring much to the table" she shrugged apologetically
Lies, lies, lies, lies and more lies. She did not drain that easily, sure it tired her if she did too much, but it was not nearly as draining as she had made it sound.
As for the fighting? Cora Francis seeked the 'life or death' thrill one could only find in the battlefield, but she was not here for that, this was supposed to be her break from the fight. Sure, this morning she had complained about not being able to participate, but she knew that if she got a taste of it, she'd become addicted to it, and she can't have that right now, she needs focus
Focus, damnit.
The only reason she should be in the middle of the fight again is if an imminent catastrophe would take place were she not there to stop it from occurring, or if her friends were in real danger, the kind of danger only she could save them from.
Being an Avenger was too much constant fighting, she honestly could imagine being a part of them. But that wasn't a decision she could come to on her own, there was someone else she had to consult first, and for now, she was happy being the prankster mentor in Bleecker street
The fight could wait, the fight would always be there, ready and waiting for her to join it once again.
"But, next time you need the boys, i'll be there, Strange is clearly too dumb to keep himself alive, so i'm not risking it anymore" Cora added for the team's sake.
She formed a portal to get her back to the sanctum, but before walking through it she sent a wisp of lilac magic around the group, healing the remaining heroes' bruises, and after checking everyone was spotless, she left without another word.
- - -
Once back in her room Cora locked her door as she always did when she "meditated"
To any outsider that's what it looked like, in reality, she used a trick she had learnt centuries ago, astral projection with a twist, she would always sit on the carpeted floor in her room, light a few candles just for ambiance, then repeat the same spell she always did, it would let her tavel all of the cosmos, and if she had the need to use her physical body, it would come to her, leaving behind an immaculate illusion of her body right where she had last left it
Great for sneaking out.
Like any other time, she went home, dealt with some issues, and got it done with
She also talked to that someone she needed to consult and told them about the Avengers proposal, they agreed that Cora could benefit from being on the team,
"But remember there's a certain blonde who's part of the team" they reminded her, but Cora, stubborn as she was, believed that it wouldn't be too much of a problem
She just had to keep her secrets, secret
Cora bid her home goodbye and travelled back to her body in Manhattan, she left her room like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, made some dinner for herself, turned on the TV for some background noise and just lied on her bed thinking until she fell asleep
For the residents of the sanctum it wasn't weird, by that point they were used to the professor locking herself in her room for hours, days, or even weeks. Used to it as they were, they still weren't really sure what she did.
Strange and Wong on the other hand did know a bit more, they had been told by the woman, that it had to do with her whole 'being a deity' thing, when she didn't give more information on the topic, they knew better than to press her about it with more questions
Even if they got into her room to make sure she wasn't dead or dying, all they could ever see was their friend sitting cross-legged in the middle of her room, the palms of her hands firmly placed against the floor as if to ground her, eyes closed and unmoving, and her mouth always humming that same foreign, never ending tune they only ever heard coming from the meditating woman.