Hi everyone! it's me the author.

Usually i do authors notes at the end of my chapters but seeing as this is the first chapter of a new fic i've got a couple of things i'd like to say before we get started.

LEASE READ THIS BEFORE READING ON I'TS IMPORTANT!

Just a quick disclaimer to prove lack of ownership of anything marvel. (My ocs and any other original stuff obviously belongs to me)

Also a quick explanation, this is a sequel fic to my previous Doctor Strange FanFiction "Dreamcatcher - Rise of the Spider Sorcress". You can find it on my profile.

I strongly recommend you read it if you want to know more about my OC Via's origins. But don't worry, even if you don't want to read it i'll probably re-explain more about her over the course of this fanfic.

And now that's over and done with, please read and enjoy.

Chapter 1: Do-mystic bliss

I used to think that to have a happy family I needed a mom and dad. That if I found my birth parents, or in fact any parents that wanted me, that somehow, I'd live happily ever after.

But I know better now. Families come in all shapes and sizes. Mine is no exception.

Hi, my name's Olivia Freyja Summers-Sorenson-Strange, and this is my new Video log, or V-log (Via-log? Whatever let's get on with this).

I know I've got a lot of last names but it's not too bad. The last time I talked on this camera thing I told you guys about my beginnings, or my "origin story" so to speak.

When I first started this V-log months ago, I told you guys how I got taken in off the street, got trained by a mystical secret "not-a-cult" society where I learned magic and martial arts, helped fight off a few mad rogue sorcerers and finally became the apprentice to the new Sorcerer Supreme, Doctor Stephen Vincent Strange.

I know Sorcerer Supreme does sound like a weird pizza topping, but really it's so much more than that. It's the Sorcerer Supreme's duty as the most powerful sorcerer on Earth to protect our world from threats of the mystical kind, which includes all powerful god-like entities, dark sorcerers, weird mythical creatures, you name it.

So where do I fit into all this? Well I guess to answer that question we'd have to go back a few months to my first days in the New York Sanctum Sanctorum at 112 Bleecker Street, New York, New York…

Wong stared at the scene before him, his smirk growing wider by the second.

There was Stephen Strange, reclined with is feet up on the coffee table. In his lap a book lay open with one hand tracing its pages, the other one draped over his front to keep his chest warm. And there right next to him, Olivia Summers was curled up cat like against his side, snuggling the side of her snoring face into his shoulder as his head rested on top of hers. Above the two of them, the Cloak of Levitation had placed itself over them both, covering their bodies and engulfing them in a sea of red.

Wong winced as he turned off the television and Via let loose a piggy like grunt in her sleep.

How does he sleep with that noise in his ears?

He marvelled as Stephen barely moved an inch from where he lay, mouth hanging open slightly as he drooled a little.

Now that does deserve a picture.

The Librarian quickly took a few steps back and took out his phone. In a few seconds, he snapped a shot and shared it to his select few trusted friends with the caption:

"Day One at NY Sanctum Sanctorum – Dr. Stephen Strange, future sorcerer supreme and Olivia Summers, Spider Sorceress in training."

He smirked to himself as all those on the private messaging channel quickly clicked the like button, only to jump a little as he heard the doorbell ring.

"Who could it be now?" He muttered to himself as he quickly checked over his new charges. But they were still dead to the world even as the doorbell rang again, and again.

Quickly he strode downstairs, straightening out his maroon tunic and pants as he approached the door and looked through the keyhole.

Odd…I don't know these two.

The librarian frowned as he quietly prepped a spell on his fingers, ready to strike even as he carefully opened the door and peered outside.

There were two men standing there. One was tall, well built, blonde haired blue eyed and wearing T-shirt, jeans and a brown leather jacket. The other man was slightly shorter, with dark hair, a matching Goatee, a pair of obnoxious sunglasses, an ACDC shirt with a black jacket and pants and patent leather shoes.

"Can I help you?" Wong frowned and the man with the goatee shifted his sunglasses down to reveal a pair of very shrewd brown eyes.

"Well I guess that depends" The brunette smirked smugly "We were wondering if we could talk to a certain Doctor Stephen Strange."

"And why do you think I'd let you in to talk to him so early in the morning?" Wong's scowl darkened.

"I'm Tony Stark and this is my associate Captain Steve Rogers. And we need his help"

"Avengers…great" Wong rolled his eyes to himself looking up towards the heavens.

Barely one day after her funeral and already he was certain the Ancient One's ghost was throwing curveballs their way.

You just can't help yourself up there, can you?

"So…can we come in?" Tony gulped only to grunt as he was elbowed in the ribs by Steve.

"If Doctor Strange is unavailable we can come by another time" the super soldier bobbed his head politely. "How about tomorrow. Would tomorrow be alright"

"Maybe" Wong stated.

There was a very sticky pause.

"Right…so I guess we'll be going then" Steve made to turn to leave but Tony didn't move a muscle as he looked the librarian over, eyeing his red tunic and pants with mild interest.

"Can I help you?" Wong grunted irritably and Tony raised his eyebrows.

"Uh…yeah. We told you who we were but you didn't once mention your name"

"…It's Wong" Wong stated stiffly, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu wash over him as Tony Stark smirked amusedly.

"Just Wong?...what are you like, Eminem, Beyoncé, Sting, Cher-"

And just like that the door to the New York Sanctum was slammed in his face.

"Tony" Steve rolled his eyes in exasperation as Tony stared bewildered at the door.

"What, I was just asking-"

Meanwhile behind the door, Wong scowled darkly.

Tony Stark and Stephen Strange. Two peas in a freaking pod.

Yeah…Iron Man and Captain America made a house call.

That wouldn't be the first time a hero crossed our paths that day.

"So, let me get this straight. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers both called in today but you sent them packing?" Stephen Strange raised his eyebrows at Wong from over his plate of eggs.

He was still wearing his sleeping T-shirt and pants, and his usually neat brown-grey streaked hair was messy and scraggly like his beard, the Cloak of Levitation settled sleepily over his back. Beside him, Via was quietly shovelling her eggs down the hatch in her long-sleeved nightie, her weary blue eyes half-hidden under her mass of golden curls.

"Yes" Wong grunted as he made to slide his two fried eggs onto his own plate. "I told them they could drop in tomorrow after you two had rested. I figured you two could use a break after the funeral. And since you're both going to be living here full time, you might be able to use today to do some shopping."

"Schophing?" Via mumbled through a mouthful of food.

"Swallow please." Stephen grimaced in disgust at her bulging cheeks.

"Yes shopping" Wong allowed himself a small amused smirk as he watched the youth glower mutinously as she swallowed all the food down her throat in one loud gulp. "Since you're not going to be going to Kamar-Taj as often you'll need proper everyday clothes for living here in New York. You especially Olivia, seeing as you'll need to start school soon"

"St-start school?" Via spluttered, almost spitting out her next mouthful of food "B-but I-I'm so far behind. I've barely started first year of junior high level of studies. A-and it's the middle of the year-I'll be even more behind than normal…" she trailed off her cheeks going pink with embarrassment.

"Alright then how about this," Stephen sighed softly closing his plate "Why don't you be home schooled here till the start of the next school year? That way you can have time to catch up. It shouldn't be too hard to buy you text books here to work through."

"And speaking of books and paper, Master Percival dropped by while you were both sleeping. His contact has gotten the first application for adoption through and they will be sending along a social worker to conduct a home study within the next few weeks."

"h-home study?" Now Via was looking pale as death warmed up.

Even Stephen was looking uncomfortable as he grunted "And how on earth do you expect us to keep all this place a secret from a social worker. I mean sure we can dress and look the part but anyone who comes in here can agree that this isn't a normal home for a child by any stretch."

"We do have connections with certain organizations that are aware of our existence" Wong explained calmly "and those organizations will have some agents they will put into different government agencies to keep an eye on goings on."

"So what, like a secret agent from SHIELD or something will be our social worker?" Via snorted.

"As a matter of fact yes." Wong nodded though his face was grim as he added "but considering all the drama with SHIELD that has gone on in Washington, I'll be surprised if that social worker wasn't also moonlighting as an assassin"

"An assassinating social worker. Won't this be interesting" Stephen smirked dryly and Via shook her head. Trust him to say something like that.

So yeah, that was my life back then.

I was living with two bachelor sorcerers in a mystical stronghold/museum and was probably going to have a secret agent social worker helping with the adoption process? Could my life get any weirder?

Yes. Yes it could.

It all started when I was out shopping for clothes and essentials with Stephen. We used a sling ring portal to teleport our way through alleyways, which turned out to be a great idea seeing as if we started carrying too much we could quickly just turn a corner, drop our shopping through the portal into the Sanctum and quickly step back out again.

At first I was worried when we stepped into the first department store, for I was wondering how we were going to pay for all of our stuff.

From what I knew of Stephen he had used up all his last pennies on his search for Kamar-Taj and hadn't earned any money since. And I was a penniless street orphan (enough said right).

Well wrong. Stephen told me that the Masters of the Sanctums all got a stipend from the Order to look after themselves and the Sanctums, and that I was paying for my things with money from my account from the Sorenson family inheritance (that knowledge in itself almost made me faint from surprise).

And then once I got over the money worries, my insecurity got the better of me. All the stores we visited were, while not the most expensive brands, still were of good quality. And I was dressed in my only normal clothes, which basically consisted of a slightly worn out white dress with a jacket and black ripped tights and black boots. Stephen of course, used his magic to swan around in a well-cut shirt, trousers and jacket.

He may have become more humbled during his time at Kamar Taj but quite honestly in some ways he's still a bit of a peacock. Seriously, he was more worried about the state of my wardrobe than I was.

The only thing he was uncomfortable about on was when I had to pick out my own bras and underwear. I have to admit, was kinda funny watching him trying to avoid the staring of all the other women in the shop who (understandably) giggled at his predicament.

But it wasn't till we dropped off our bags back at the Sanctum and stopped for a late lunch that things really got interesting…or rather damn terrifying and strange. (and no the pun totally wasn't intended. It really was quite bizarre)

"So what have we got? Jeans, T-shirts, tops, shoes, underwear…" Via trailed off as she slurped on her soda.

"We still need sleepwear, bags, school books…" Stephen continued as he chomped into a club sandwich.

Both were sitting at a café, looking out one of the big windows as they watched people hurry outside in the cold. As they did, Stephen's eyes fell upon a gaggle of young women no older than twenty all giggling as they rushed across the road, their gaudy clothes and jewellery bouncing on their persons.

He turned back to look at Via and at the trinkets she wore. There, peeking out from under her jacket sleeves were a pair of golden dragon bracelets, Asmund and Brynja each twisting up each of her arms from her wrists. He pursed his lips as the tiny red jewelled eyes of them glinted a little in the artificial light. His eyes then fell to her neck, where he saw a small golden dream catcher dangling from a thin golden cord, a tiny blue gem glimmering faintly at its centre, the Web of Asibikaashi.

He felt a slight twinge of jealousy as he regarded his own reflection in the glass window beside him. Due to having to appear in public, he'd had to leave the Cloak of Levitation behind at the Sanctum. Not that he needed it to fight. Even though it was a bit clingy as a relic, it was still very reliable in a pinch.

"You okay Doc?"

Stephen blinked as Via's hand suddenly waved in front of his face.

"Sorry. Sorry. Just lost in thought" he apologised, quickly taking another bite out of his sandwich. "Say Olivia…When's your birthday?"

"huh? My birthday? Dunno." Via shrugged, but Stephen could see her shoulders stiffen ever so slightly.

"What do you mean you don't know? You must have some idea" Stephen frowned and Via shook her head.

"Seriously Stephen I don't know. I mean yeah I obviously have a birthday but seeing as my parents dumped me when I was a baby…I can't really be sure-" she stopped and swallowed hard "30th April. That's what was left on the birth certificate I had with me when I was left at the orphanage"

"Was there anything else on the birth certificate?" Stephen leaned forwards but Via just shook her head again.

"No. Just my name, the rest was left blank"

"Oh…right" Stephen looked down on his plate guilt flooding him. Great, they'd been having a relaxed day and now he'd gone and ruined it by bringing up her past.

"So you're a Taurus" he coughed quickly, trying to cover up his stutter.

"Probably." She shrugged again "And what about you? Because I'm guessing you've got an end of year birthday."

"November 18th. Scorpio" Stephen smirked as she rolled her eyes fondly.

"Man, you seriously suck with small talk huh?"

"I never really enjoyed it much in my old life, no" he nodded and was relieved to see her start giggling. The sound was infectious and soon he too found himself chuckling softly.

It was at this moment the front door to the café opened, its bell jingling softly as a man stepped through.

He was a tall middle-aged man in dark warm clothes and a sharp pointed face. He had pale white blonde slicked back locks that gleamed white in the dim light. His eyes were dark sharp and beady, and searching swiftly around, that was until they caught Via's glance as she quickly turned to see where the jingling of the bell was coming from.

As soon as their gazes locked, her smile vanished and his eyes widened like saucers.

She turned back to Stephen who only spared the man a fleeting look before looking back at her face.

It had turned chalk white with terror.

"Olivia, are you alright?" he frowned reaching across the table to gently shake her hand. "Olivia? Olivia?"

"We need to get out of here. Now." Olivia breathed, not taking her eyes off the blonde man who had now approached the café counter to order a coffee. And as Stephen looked back at him he noticed that though the man was talking to the cashier, his eyes were fixed on Via with an eerie mixture of surprise and hungry intensity.

"Olivia what's going on? Olivia wait-" But too late, Olivia was already striding out of the café and past the strange man, who's gaze followed her all the way out the door.

Stephen jumped to his feet, his heart hammering as he saw the strange blonde man quickly grab his takeaway cup of coffee and stride out the door, following Via's path exactly, his eyes fixed in that horrible intense gaze.

Via meanwhile was darting down the street, glancing back every two seconds as she tried to lose herself in the crowd. She hated leaving Stephen in the lurch like this, but there was no way she was staying put with that man-

OH crap. Oh crap-oh crap-oh crap!

She all but screamed in her head as she saw said man's pointed face in the crowd. She had to lose him quick, if that determined stride was anything to go by he'd be on her in minutes if she didn't do something.

She quickly rushed around a corner…and straight into a wall of muscle.

"Ooff!" she winced as she fell backwards onto her behind. Her victim on the other hand managed to stay upright. In fact, he barely even stumbled one step back as he reached down to help her off the ground.

"Oh, forgive me young one. I wasn't looking where I was going."

Young one? What era was this guy born in?

"It's okay. It's my fault." Via said instead, as she was all but dragged up onto her feet by the man, whom she noticed had very big bulky muscled arms…and shoulders…and chest…

Whoa! Where'd this Goliath come from?

Via's eyes almost bulged out of her sockets as she beheld the man before her. He was very tall, muscular (as she'd already seen) and had shoulder length blonde hair and short beard that was just as golden as her own. Though he wore a rather daggy pair of jeans and dark hooded sweater, he seemed to hold himself with a distinctly regal air that Via could've sensed even from a mile off.

And speaking of senses…

Via quickly turned around and saw to her horror, her pursuer standing a few feet away as he tried to hide himself from view behind a hot dog stand.

"Is everything alright?" The big blonde man in front of Via asked, his jovial smile falling into a concerned frown.

Via turned back to big-goliath forcing a smile. But it just made her look like she had bad toothache.

"Yeah-yeah. I'm fine. Sorry about that I'll just be-"

"Is that man troubling you?" Big-Goliath's eyes suddenly narrowed on the spot her tracker was hiding.

Via blinked in surprise. She'd not expected this big hulking wall of muscle to be so shrewd.

"Wh-what man?" she tried to smile it off but goliath's brow just furrowed further.

"That one hiding behind the stand. Pale hair, pointed face…looks a bit like a reptile"

Reptile?! Ha good one. I should remember that.

A small part of her brain snorted, however it was quickly shut down by the other nine tenths of it all but yelling at her to start running again.

"Listen, this chit-chat has been fun and all but I've really got to go-sorry!"

She quickly backed away from the big man, noticing vaguely that his eyes were flickering down to her wrists where her dragon bracelets were now exposed and glinting in the sunlight.

"Miss…wait where did you get those-" the man started to say, his voice almost breathless with shock but Via was already side stepping him and darting off down into an alleyway.

She could feel the Web of Asibikaashi around her neck glow hotly as it lent her its powers.

But no, if he sees me use it it'll put me in even more danger.

She reasoned as she quietly slid to hide behind a dumpster just as someone behind her rounded the alley corner.

She clapped a hand over her mouth to mask her breaths as she waited, heart all but flying out of her chest as she heard the footsteps come closer and closer…

"Olivia?"

"Jesus Christ!" Olivia squeaked her fist flying out as a shadow suddenly bent over her.

But thankfully Stephen Strange managed to dodge the offending limb just in time, a dark scowl spread over his face as he drawled.

"Wrong. Guess again"

"Stephen. Don't scare me like that" She sighed, slowly getting up to her feet and looking around them both. But she couldn't see hide nor hair of that strange white blonde-haired man.

"He's gone. I diverted his attention with an illusion. It should lead him to the other side of town as long as he doesn't get too close." Stephen explained as he followed her gaze, before quickly turning back to her, brows knitted even further together.

Via looked down at her toes, feeling her ears turn very red with embarrassment as he growled quietly down on her.

"What the hell was that all about?"

"I-I…I don't know" she mumbled to her feet.

"Bullshit! It was clear you were scared shitless of him." Stephen folded his arms as he leaned against a brick wall. "And no-body runs like that unless they've got something to run from. Who was he?"

"I-I don't know. I-I mean" Via added as Stephen opened his mouth to retort "I mean I've met him before b-but I don't know his name."

"Where did you meet him?"

"A-at the orphanage" Via muttered pinching her nose "Listen, I-I'll tell you all about it but not out here. Let's…let's just go back to the Sanctum and talk okay?"

Stephen opened his mouth to speak, but upon seeing how pale and scared her expression was, shut it hastily and nodded quietly.

After a quick check of the alleyway to make sure it was deserted, Stephen quickly turned around and raised his arms to the wall behind him.

At once a sling ring portal opened, revealing the polished wooden entrance hall of the New York Sanctum Sanctorum, littered with a large pile of shopping bags.

Without further ado, Via quickly stepped through the portal, Stephen following close behind. As the portal shut closed behind them neither of them noticed a tall muscular man quickly chance a peek around the corner of the alleyway.

That's odd

The man blinked. He could've sworn he'd seen the girl and the dark haired man there just a second ago. He rubbed his bearded chin thoughtfully.

Could it be magic? But no…as far as he knew there was no human capable of magical feats. True there were those called inhumans who had special gifts but no magic wielders like his brother-

"Thor. Thor!" someone called by his side and quickly the man snapped out of it. "Yes Jane?"

He said turning to look at a small brunette woman who was frowning up at him worriedly, carrying two big cups of coffee in her hands.

"You ok?"

"I'm fine" Thor narrowed his eyes as they darting over the alley way. But it was no use. He might as well have been watching the spray paint graffiti on the nearby wall dry.

"You look like you've seen a ghost" Jane's lips pursed worriedly as she took in his confused slightly pale face.

"I might have…" he murmured his eyes falling to his wrists. But instead of seeing the large lean muscles, he instead saw the young girls slender wrists with the two golden dragons encircling them.

Those dragons…but no…it couldn't be possible?

… could it?

The trip back home after that stint in the city… wasn't fun.

Stephen wanted a full blow by blow account of why I had run. But I was still not sure how I should tell him…

It was a good thing Wong arrived down the stairs telling us to clear up our mess of bags at the front hall. At least that gave Stephen some distraction…if only temporarily till that evening.

"So that man you were running from…" Stephen frowned as he and Via sat in his study. They were both in armchairs by the fire that burned in the hearth of a small alcove where the walls were covered in books.

They had both been reading, or rather Stephen had been peeking up at Via from his book while she had tried studiously to avoid him by burying herself in the pages of her texts.

Unfortunately, her plan to avoid eye contact could only work for so long.

"I know you can hear me so stop avoiding me." Stephen shut his book with a sharp snap when she refused to open her mouth.

From the corner of his eye he could see Wong clearing papers on his desk. The other sorcerer gave him a stern quirk of the brow.

Stephen sighed, sucking in a deep breath to calm his irritation as he put the book to the side and leaned forwards to gently pull the book down from her face.

"Olivia, come on. Enough is enough. You know bottling whatever this is up, isn't going to help"

"I know that" she mumbled softly still not meeting his eye, only to suddenly growl "It's just…When I explain it it's not gonna make any sense. Even I don't know half of what's going on and I was there when he-"

She stopped and gulped down on a lump in her throat.

"Two or three years ago, about a week before the Avengers Battle of New York-" she began, acutely aware that Wong had stopped in his sorting to listen a few feet away "-a man said he wanted to adopt me. Some government guy, I forget his name. He'd come by the orphanage about a month before and had seen me stand up to the matron. Apparently, they said he liked my spunk and he wanted to start the process for adoption. I only got to meet him once and I can't really remember his name but he seemed like a nice enough guy. But then…"

"Then?" Stephen prompted gently, stiffening as he saw her eyes glimmer sadly.

"He…he died." She mumbled quietly "the guy was killed during the Battle for New York."

Wong and Stephen both glanced at one another, both equally worried now. They weren't sure where this story was going but they were sure it wasn't anywhere good and sure enough:

"It was during the next two weeks after the Battle, people were still cleaning up the city. Things at the Orphanage…well…they weren't going so well. The matron and her husband, Mildred and Bill, were both doing what they could to swindle as much money from all the funding and benefits the government was handing out. But instead of putting the money into the orphanage like they should've, they-"

"Hoarded it for themselves" Stephen finished and Via nodded, her blue eyes suddenly burning with an odd fire, he had never seen before.

"Yeah, and that wasn't the worst of it. After the Battle of New York, a fair few kids who lost their parents in the city were dumped by the system into orphanages. Eventually ours started to get overcrowded and Milly and Bill decided that since they didn't want to part with their Moola, they'd palm off a few of the older kids as…uh…compensation for unpaid debts to some pretty nasty people"

Stephen could feel his stomach churning uncomfortably, but he still could not bring himself to stop listening intently as Via ran a hand through her blonde curls.

"I was one of those kids. Since I was young, blonde, and had nearly hit puberty, it'd be easy to palm me off to some brothel or some place that wanted girls my age. Of course I didn't have a say in the matter, but still I tried hard to get out of the situation. Billy…he didn't like that too much and thought he should teach me a lesson"

She rubbed her arms, one of the dragon bracelet's red eyes suddenly flashing dangerously in the firelight.

Stephen did not know what was worse. What he was hearing, or the nonchalant way Via talked about it. It was as if the idea of a man practically beating a young defenceless twelve-year-old was completely ordinary to her…

But then again…maybe it had been normal for her…back then…

He reasoned, though it did not ease his conscious one bit.

"What happened next?" he gulped, not quite sure whether he wanted to hear what she said.

Indeed, he almost shivered as she just shrugged and said:

"I fought back. I always fought back-" She added, and Stephen and Wong were both surprised to hear a flash of pride in her voice "-I'd rather die than let those bastards beat me down. Seeing that I wasn't going to budge, Bill and Mill decided to make other arrangements for someone else to take me."

"And that man we saw at the café-" Stephen breathed, comprehension dawning horribly.

"Yeah" Via nodded "he was the guy they wanted to palm me off to. No paperwork nothing. They'd arranged it with him so that he'd just take me in his big black car and I'd disappear off the map. I don't know who he was or what he wanted to do with me but as soon as I saw his face…I don't know…I just knew he was a terrible person and that if I went with him I'd probably get killed or worse. So when they weren't looking, I snuck out the other side of the back seat of his car and ran into the street and never looked back."

"So that is how you ended up on the streets? You were running away from this man." Wong said quietly and Via nodded.

"And you don't know who he is?"

"Not a clue. I just know he's bad and I'd probably be dead if I went with him"

Stephen leaned back in his chair, pressing the tips of his fingers together thoughtfully. Normally he'd have told her not to judge the man so quickly, but then he remembered that dark hungry look in the strange man's eyes as he had first looked at them in the café. It wasn't the predatory look of sexual attraction…it was the face of a hunter who'd just spotted his prey and was sizing them up so he could figure out how to mount their heads on his wall.

The thought made him shiver slightly, and the cloak of levitation wrapped itself slightly tighter around his shoulders in response, lending her comfort to him as he continued to mull the events of that day.

That man…when he'd gone after Via he'd moved with skill. He'd been trained to move quickly. Even he, Stephen had trouble keeping up with him (granted that he had stopped to quickly over pay the café cashier before rushing out).

"I'm sorry."

Stephen blinked up in surprise to see Via looking worriedly at him.

"pardon?" he spluttered.

"I said I'm sorry. We were having a perfectly normal day and I ruined it by running off and-"

"And you did what you had to do." Stephen cut across her softly, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. "That man made you feel unsafe so you tried to get away from him. A perfectly ordinary reaction given what has happened to you before. But even so," he added quirking an annoyed brow "-you could've at least waited for me to come with you, that way I could've been on hand to help if he did try something. Also, it would've made finding you a lot easier, especially since neither of us have cell phones."

"God we don't do we?" Via clapped a hand to her forehead "crap I forgot. I'm so used to us being at Kamar Taj where we're always trapped within the same building"

"Same here" Stephen admitted before looking up at Wong. "There wouldn't be any chance that we can use our stipend to get ourselves a cell phone each."

"I don't see why not" Wong raised his eyebrows coolly "What do you think I've been using to contact the other masters?"

"A crystal ball perhaps" Via snorted and Wong's scowl darkened considerably.

"Firstly, true crystal balls are extraordinarily rare objects that are only used by actual seers. Secondly, we may be sorcerers but that doesn't mean we use backward technology."

"Oh chillax Wong it was just a joke." Via chuckled.

Stephen chuckled too, but his laughter was quick to fade as a dark smirking face crossed his minds eye.

"What's this? My mantra?"

"It's the Wifi password. We're not savages"

Mordo…what on earth are you up to?

Stephen sighed quietly to himself as he watched Via teasing Wong. It was a relaxing scene he supposed, and yet he couldn't help but feel it would be more complete if their old friend and teacher were to be standing to the side, chuckling or smirking alongside them.

His thoughts were interrupted by a strange ringing sound coming from the study desk.

"What's that?" he asked as Wong rolled his eyes to Via's poked out tongue.

"The landline" Wong snapped walking over to the desk and picked up an old fashioned telephone.

"We have a landline?" Via whispered to Stephen who shrugged.

"Apparently yes"

"Weird"

"Hello, this is Wong. To whom am I speaking?" Wong paused as someone on the other end of the phone answered in a muffled voice.

"I see…I see…no he's right here. It's for you" he gestured to Stephen who quickly took the phone only to scowl darkly.

"Tony Stark…what a pleasant surprise."

And that's how my day ended. With a phone call from Tony Stark.

He said he wanted to meet the two of us face to face, since we'd just moved into the neighbourhood. And by neighbourhood I could only assume he meant New York because we are nowhere near the Avengers tower.

Stephen of course, was going to refuse. From what I could tell of the conversation he and Tony did not get along very well at all (even from before his accident it seems)

And so I was very surprised when Stephen accepted the invitation to the Stark Charity ball that was to be held at the Avengers tower that very Friday.

I don't know what in his head persuaded him to do such a thing. Tony must have said something to him that I couldn't hear. But whatever reason it was, Stephen had decided to invite me along as well for the ride.

Whilst most of me was angry for being dragged into his mess, a part of me had to admit I was excited. After all which girl wouldn't be excited about going to her first ball.

Ha! Oh, if only I knew back then what I was getting myself into…

But if I did, I'd probably not find out about what was happening many miles away that very night.

The bunker was dark and derelict. The cement walls were only lit by sparsely separated LED lights, making whatever shadows hitting them eerie and oddly darker than normal.

But none of this phased the tall, strong man that strode through the lights towards a red door at the far end.

When he entered, he was unperturbed by the sight of the bloodied and bruised man with short brown salt and pepper hair and rough scraggly beard, seated and bound to the chair in the center of a spotlight amidst a sea of darkness and concrete.

"Hello old sport. Miss me?" the tall man smirked, his British accent cutting through the air like a knife as he stalked up to stand in the shadows before his prey, who looked up at him through swollen, bloodshot brown eyes.

"Cornelius Craven" the man rasped, his deep southern accent recognizable despite his voice being but a breath.

"That's right" the tall man, Craven, stepped into the light, illuminating his pale white blonde locks that gleamed white as he slicked his fringe away from his dark beady eyes.

"Such stubbornness" Craven hissed as he knelt before the man before him. "all these injuries and yet you still refuse to answer our questions."

"I'd rather die than tell you or any of your little friends anything" the man in the chair spat, flecks of blood flying out onto Craven's face.

Disgusted, craven quietly wiped his face, his lip curling as he stood up to his fullest height.

"Not even if we were to tell you we've finally located that brat?"

Even from under all the blood and swellings, Craven could see that the bound man's face had paled considerably.

But it was quick to vanish under a fiery glare and a fierce struggle against his bindings.

"You'll never get your hands on her. You have no idea of what you'd be messing with if you did-"

"Which is why we are in need of your assistance" Craven leered, backing away to avoid the flailing leg of his captive as he struggled.

"I would sooner assist the devil himself then help the likes of you-"

"Such a shame" he tutted "and to think you were once one of our best, most promising agents… Elias Summers"

Hey guys, it's me the author again.

Just wanted to give a quick shout out to readers old and new and say that if you enjoyed please review. Feedback is always welcomed provided it's constructive and helps me make a better story. (because i always want to make a good story for you guys to enjoy reading).

Oh and FYI the story is set just between the battle with Kaesilius and the battle with Ultron (as canonically the two events probably occurred in that order) I only think this is so because by the time we get that cut-scene between Dr Strange and Thor at the end of Doctor Strange, it looks like Stephen's been Sorcerer Supreme for a fair bit already (which probably places the events of his origin story around the time just before Age of Ultron)

So anyways, adieu and i hope you guys enjoy the next installment of Via's adventures