Resolve

Mirror and Image

"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."

It was something that Dr. Strange had come to understand in one frightening confrontation with an unfathomable being of darkness in a dimension that wasn't his own with rules that he couldn't even grasp. When he had been an arrogant doctor saving the lives he was sure he could save, when the idea of superheroes were becoming a thing and the Avengers became a reality, there had been a lot of talk on what it takes to be a hero. In his arrogance, Dr. Strange had said that he was a superhero as well, because it took the will to do what was needed. He was a brilliant surgeon, and he knew what to do, even when others had said it would be almost impossible. He hadn't failed yet, nor would he as he pulled bullets from brains, repaired neurons, and performed miracles on the operating table.

"Dormammu, I've come to bargain."

But in that dark dimension, in that moment of needing to be a hero, Dr. Strange understood something of what it took to be a hero. To be a hero wasn't having the will to do what was needed to win. Not at all. It was being willing to lose.

"But I can lose. Again. And again. And again. And again, forever. That makes you my prisoner."

And he had lost. Many, many times. Died; many, many times.

"Pain is an old friend."

He had understood what resolve truly was.

So as he meditated on a foreign planet, surrounded by Avengers and Guardians, as he studied the possibilities, he died even more. He saw loss over, and over, and over, and over again. He watched to futures, studied the timelines, researched even the most minute decision. He accepted what was and was not in his control, until he found the one time that they won.

And in order to win, they would have to lose.

The cost would be staggering.

Half of the universe, snuffed out with a snap of a finger.

Including himself.

But Dr. Strange knew how to die. He had done so millions of times by this point. So he needed to set everything upon the path.

He needed to lose. He needed the Avengers to lose. He needed the Guardians to lose.

And in that loss.

In that one moment.

He would seal their chance of winning.

Because sometimes, the only way to win, was to lose.

The End

Author's Note: Yeaaaaaah. No surprise here. Nothing to see here folks. Just another tag among thousands written within hours of seeing Infinity War. Of finding the One Scene that everyone else saw that ensured that there was a Plan and that the next movie would be a Win. Just more of the twins fangirling over Favorite Character Dr. Strange. No surprises here. The twins are now off to find good fanfiction involving Dr. Strange, preferably some with a good teacher-student relationship with Spider-Man, but that seems to be a dismal foray already.