MOLLY'S FLAT – LONDON

When next Molly opened her eyes she felt well rested and refreshed. Getting out of bed she headed for the bathroom to have a shower. Afterwards, dressed casually in a long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans she entered the kitchen intending to make a cup of coffee.

Only to find that one had already been made for her, along with a delicious smelling, hearty breakfast.

Molly's tummy rumbled its approval as she sat down at the kitchen table, opposite the man who had prepared it.

"Thank you," she said as she picked up her knife and fork before tucking into the food before her.

"You're welcome," Strange responded. "I thought you might be hungry after last nights little misadventure."

The reminder of the previous night's events gave Molly pause. "So," she asked hesitantly. "That really did happen then?"

"Yes it did."

After a moment's contemplation, Molly gave Strange her full attention. "All right," she said. "I'm listening."

Stephen nodded in silent approval, impressed with Molly's determination to confront head on the extraordinary circumstances she found herself involved with.

He'd given much thought while she slept as to the best way to explain the world he now inhabited, and his role within it. Deciding in the end that there was no better explanation than the one given to him by the Ancient One.

"What if I told you the reality you know is one of many."

Molly didn't immediately respond, choosing instead to contemplate the magnitude his suggestion implied. She thought about what happened last night, knowing on a purely instinctive level that her subconscious had indeed been transported to that other place. Then she recalled his words when she first met him, when she was certain he was delusional.

"…In a last ditch effort to escape the Lord of Darkness's clutches I shifted dimensions while still in his grasp…"

And then when he'd left, he'd just…disappeared.

"It's a lot to take in, to accept and understand," Strange acknowledged.

'That," Molly thought, 'was an understatement.' And then she frowned. In their first encounter he'd referred to himself as a former surgeon and now Sorcerer Supreme…

Her mind still trying to come to terms with so many impossibilities, she blurted out. "I looked you up on the Internet. You were New York's top neurosurgeon."

"I was," Strange confirmed, lifting his damaged hands for her inspection. "Then I had an automotive accident which left me unable to use my hands."

Molly gently took his hands in her own and examined them, wincing in sympathy at not only the pain he must have gone through, but the frustration, unable to continue in the field he'd spent so many years training for.

"So how did you go from being a neurosurgeon to a …" indicating his attire.

"I travelled to Tibet looking for a cure. Instead I became the apprentice to the Ancient One, the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. She taught me that there was another way I could save the lives of many others, more than I ever could performing surgery."

Strange paused briefly, but seeing that Molly was now genuinely intrigued he continued his explanation. "The Ancient One showed me that through the mystic arts it was possible to not only harness energy to shape reality, but to use it to travel great distances."

"Travel between dimensions."

Stephen nodded. "With the aid of magical spells and mystical objects," he said, indicating the amulet that hung around his neck.

"And your…your job is to what?"

"When the Ancient One was killed, I became the Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. It is my job to protect the Earth and all its citizens from any potential threat."

"From the other dimensions," Molly finished. "Like you saved me."

"Yes."

Molly looked at the man seated across from her with increasing admiration. He truly had been through the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. But he'd refused to give up, had taken on learning about multi dimensions that previously he had no idea existed, and had taken on the mantle of defender of the Earth, because to not do so was unthinkable.

As she looked deep into his eyes she saw his determination to succeed. But what caught at her heartstrings was the loneliness she read in their tortured depths. And it was this that had her getting to her feet, taking him by the hand and leading him into her sitting room.

Once seated on her sofa, Molly snuggled up close to the most incredible man she had ever encountered, before reaching for the remote to turn the TV on.

"What are we doing?" the sorcerer supreme queried curiously.

Molly turned, her eyes twinkled merrily and a huge smile spread across her lips. Lips that Stephen realised he wouldn't be averse to kissing. "We, Doctor Strange," she announced. "Are going to spend some quality time watching crap TV. Any objections?"

"Not a one," he responded, eager to not only sit and relax for a while, but to enjoy the company of a woman he was determined to get to know better.