The Impulse Theory
An early morning breeze hits your face, and you take a deep breath. Stephen walks out of the portal and goes toward the library building.
"Wong said he's gonna be there. I also have a matter to attend, so I guess we're walking together." he says, forcing himself to not divert his eyes from you.
"Oh, good." you answer, looking at the ground. Lonely leaves surf around your feet, chasing each other. You feel indescribable loneliness in your heart, knowing that these are last moments with people you've bonded so quickly.
Strange opens doors for you, and you exchange glances, shy smiles. Stepping into the library, you feel like you're back at home, even the smell of old books and jasmine tea is the same. Wong is already sitting at the small table, waiting for you.
"Miss Y/l/n! Good morning!" he says, getting up.
"Master Wong," you bow, "hello."
"Please, take a seat. Tea?"
"Oh, yes, thank you." you smile, grateful that he agreed to talk to you.
"So, Strange told me that you wanted to talk to me about something." he begins, pouring the tea from the teapot.
"Yes. I uh. I wanted to talk about America."
"Miss Chavez?"
"Yes, yes. I have sort of a theory that I wanted to clear up with you." in the corner of your eye you see Strange disappearing somewhere in the bookshelves. It's obvious that he's going to eavesdrop on you.
"Well, I hope I can help, what's the matter?" Wong asks, now interested.
"Well, in my universe, the heroes, or the organization called Illuminati knew quite a lot about the incursions. Or at least they thought they did. So uh, in short, an incursion is when two universes begin colliding, or when the stronger one destroys the other, and that happens when someone who is not supposed to be in that universe is there. In this case, me. I can't stay here for too long because your world will begin to fall apart. And mine probably too. But it's not about me or Stephen or-" you take a breath, wanting to say everything as fast as you can. "I've been thinking. Since America has powers to travel the multiverse, does she affect the universes she comes to? As far as I know, she's from another universe, so can she cause an incursion?"
Wong sits there for a moment without saying anything, and then quite loudly begins, "I believe Miss Chavez told us that she doesn't dream, thus menacing that she hasn't found a version or herself, or it simply doesn't exist, right Strange?"
You turn around and see Stephen emerging from the shadows with a book in his hands. Of course, he's been listening.
"Yes. Her being an only person in the whole multiverse, probably doesn't trigger incursion. Well, since there is no possibility for her to meet another her on the street." Stephen says, pretending to search for a certain page in the book.
"Oh, now that changes a lot. And you're now going to teach her Mystic Arts, right?"
"Yes. As much as she wants. Her controlling her multiverse traveling powers is not enough, she has to understand them and understand herself." Wong answers.
You take a sip of tea, feeling all the tension leave your body. "Well, now that one problem is solved, onto another." you say, not looking at Stephen but feeling his eyes on you. "How often does the Third Eye open?"
Wong puts his cup on the table and thinks for a moment. "You have any particular cases in mind?"
"Well, in the universe which was almost destroyed by the incursion, we met a version of Strange. And he had a Third Eye. I know that it's not a very common phenomenon, but maybe you, as the Sorcerer Supreme, know more about it?"
"No, I'm sorry, y/n, I think I know just as much as you, or any sorcerer who has finished studies. Was it the version of Strange who used the Darkhold?"
"Yes." you and Strange answer together.
"Maybe the Darkhold causes this to happen. Although I've never seen Wanda have one on her forehead." Wong frowns, recalling the terrible hours he had to spend with Scarlet Witch.
"But Wanda didn't study anything apart from the Darkhold, yeah? At least in my universe, Wanda confessed that she had never studied magic in her life. She was... Sort of born with the powers." you say, unsure about yourself and the things your Wanda has said.
"So you think that not knowing about the world of magic is what kept her away from getting the Third Eye?" Stephen says, closing the book loudly. Wong only with his eyes shoots him a warning.
"I'm not saying exactly that. She hasn't learned about the secrets we, sorcerers, have, so maybe she doesn't know about the opening of the Eye? I've read the Darkhold, and never seen anything about it."
Wong raises his eyebrows but doesn't comment on your last sentence. He just looks at both, you and Strange, and asks suspiciously. "Why are you suddenly so interested in it? Did something happen?"
"Yes" you say as Stephen says "No."
"So it did happen. Tell me." Wong takes a sip of the tea and motions for Strange to sit down as well.
"I know it's not my place to do shit now, but I've had enough experience with Doctor Strange to know that he's not telling you about what happened any time soon." you say, feeling Strange's eyes drilling holes into your head.
"His eye opened this morning."
"How do you know?" Wong asks, already guessing your answer.
"I've seen it. It felt like it looked right at me, maybe even through me. Like I did something bad." you say looking at the cup in your hands...
"I'm not going to question why you and Strange were together," Wong murmurs, and you feel your cheeks getting hotter with every second. Stephen uncomfortably shifts in the chair next to you. "But you think that it has something to do with the use of Darkhold? What if it's connected with the Eye of Agamotto?" he points at the artifact hanging on Strange's neck.
"He told me the same. But what if it's all connected? What if the bearer of the Eye of Agamotto is capable of opening his Third Eye after using the Darkhold? What if that book was some kind of trigger?" you try to sort everything in your mind, so that words leaving your mouth would make at least a little sense.
"We can only guess, y/n. Although now that you told me, I think me and Strange can look for answers in the ancient books. Now that I'm aware that some myths are actually true, I think I'm not going to be so skeptical about some things." Wong smiles a bit.
"I think America will get up soon." you say sadly, looking for a clock somewhere.
"Yes, I think I'll come to New York with you." Wong says, looking at Strange, who sits there, head turned down.
"Good. Thank you for the tea and warm welcome, Master Wong." you get up and nod to him.
"We still have a spare half an hour." Stephen says, not moving an inch from his chair. Wong stands up and leaves the two of you in an awkward silence. You sit back and look at Stephen.
"I know it was a total dick move, but I think you know yourself too well." you begin before Strange has a chance.
"Totally a dick move." he huffs a laugh, confirming that he's not mad.
"I'm going to miss you, Stephen." you say more to yourself than the man beside you. He raises his head and looks at you with an unreadable expression.
"What if I... What if you..." he stops mid-sentence.
"What?" you whisper.
"What if we visited each other sometimes?" he finally asks, balling his hand into a fist underneath the table.
You look away for a moment, not thinking that this separation can be harder than it already is.
"It's ridiculous, forget it." he protests to himself as you keep staying silent.
"Stephen. It's dangerous but. Maybe possible? The cost is high, and we know so little about the multiverse." you sigh. "I think, at first, America can deliver important messages. Apart from learning and looking for her moms. If I find anything useful from Reed's research, then maybe I would be able to tell if we can meet. And if we can, I'm sure there is a certain amount of time either of us can spend outside our universe. Without triggering an incursion."
"Okay. Yeah. Great, good." he says random words just to keep the dialogue going.
"Stephen, I hope I'm not putting a threat upon your universe." you admit what's been on your mind the whole time.
"I told you, we're okay, it's alright, don't worry."
You both fall silent again, listening to a faint talking of sorcerers outside.
"I'm going to miss you too." he says, eyes a bit teary.
You get up, this goodbye is too hard. A memory of your Strange's funeral flashes before your eyes, and you grab a chair to keep yourself straight. Your Cloak covered the action from Strange, who was busy standing up.
"We should get going to New York. I believe she's already up." you leave the library first, secretly wiping the tears from your cheeks.