Arrival
The girl appeared in the middle of the road of New York City.
To the driver who saw it happen, he would later describe that it was as if she had popped out of nowhere and that, frankly, he didn't blame himself, after all, it was night time and a thunderstorm was brewing along the skyline, making it hard to see to begin with. However, despite the fact that it was dark, the driver swore that he was careful and alert, or at least he thought he was before the girl appeared by slamming into the hood of his car, making him immediately slam on the brakes.
When asked to describe the girl, the man had a simple response, mostly because he wasn't able to really analyze her features other than the fact that she had vibrant, long, lightening blond hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes that looked as if they had the same pigment as most blue highlighters. Maybe it was the headlights, but the man swore that the girl was so pale that he almost thought that she was a ghost. She was wearing something that greatly contrasted her fair look, something that looked like a black bomber jacket with the hood tightly wrapped around her head, black tights, and a dark green shirt that covered her slim build.
However, when the man hastily got out of his vehicle to apologize to the girl and beg her not to sue him, with rain pouring over every inch of his once dry self, it was only to notice that not see a single figure in his path, other than a bunch of cars that sped past him in the blaring rain, spitting a combination of mud and water over him.
The man's first thought was that he was hallucinating, until he realized that that was impossible. There was an unmistakable dent in front of his car, which meant that someone, or something, must've caused it. The driver would later spend the next few precious minutes of his life looking for the girl, minutes wasted when he realized that she seemed to have almost disappeared.
The driver would later on send his client to his large home in New York City, who was quite confused onto the situation that had taken place. Despite the constant reassurences that the driver would take care of everything legally, Tony Stark was too intrigued in the mystery. The billionaire had, indeed, seen the girl with his own two eyes. Later that night when he rolled out of bed after sleep seemed impossible, he even checked the cameras that he had. Sure enough, when he replayed the moment, there was that same, strange girl with lightening blond hair, her side facing the car as it screeched to a halt. She would turn her head calmly, the nearby lampposts illuminating her pale, lightly freckled face and brilliant blue eyes. Her face was young, a teenager perhaps, and her once baggy clothing was now drenched in the cold rain, which clung to her thin build. Then, out of nowhere, she was gone, like a ghost. The thought of the mysterious girl would be only one of the many things that bugged Stark that night.
What the driver or billionaire didn't know, however, was the fact that the girl was long gone that place the moment she had stepped foot on the planet. She had disappeared away from the car and the busy streets into a nearby alleyway, where she quickly marched into the small crowd, instantly fitting it. Everyone out tonight was in a rush to get home, their outfits soaked head to toe in a thin layer of water.
The girl practically ran through the streets, her steps quick and full of purpose as she ran through her plan in her mind. She had seen these very streets so many times, a little too many times to be honest, but never once did she see them in person. She always saw pictures however, and frankly, the pictures were enough to lead her to large, yet old building that stood grandly near the outskirts of the city.
The teenager marched up the steps, every step she took soaked with water which squeaked out of her boots. When she at long last reached the front door, she banged on it rather harshly, a little desperate to get out of her present situation. She didn't have to knock twice either, since the moment after she knocked, the door opened, just a crack.
"Hello?" a voice responded, revealing a round face of Asian complexity. A male.
"Hello." The girl replied, her voice delicate as she raised an eyebrow. "May I please come in?"
"Depends on who's asking." His voice was sharp, not a hint of exhaustion evident in it, but his question was enough to make the girl cross her arms.
"The person who's asking is Rose Waters." Spoke Rose Waters as she wiped a few strands of wet, almost white hair behind her ear.
"And why are you here, Rose Waters?" The man responded. The girl's face continued to remain emotionless as she replied.
"I'm here for the Time Stone, you might not know, but it's in grave danger."
"Tea?" a man in a red cloak questioned. He didn't even wait for a response as a kettle levitated and poured hot tea into a teacup, which landed delicately in Rose Water's hands.
"Why thank you." The girl politely spoke, but didn't drink a sip as she held the tea cup delicately in her palm. The man paid no attention to her actions as he poured himself his own cup.
"So…" The man spoke as he sat down in a comfortable red velvet chair near the girl, his posture perfect. "I suppose that introductions need to be made. Dr. Strange."
"How peculiar." Rose Waters responded. "Rose Waters."
"Did you just make that up?" Strange questioned, a small smile on his face, but Rose Waters made no attempt to return the facial expression.
"I was about to ask the same of you." She responded rather quickly as Dr. Strange took a long sip of his tea before he struck the matter at hand.
"How do you know about the Time Stone?" He immediately inquired, his eyes admiring the way that his hands quiver and shook as Rose Waters simply shrugged.
"I know that it's been in your organization's… grasps for the past millennium or so. I also know that it's been safe with you during that time as well-"
"-and it will stay safe with us." Strange replied as he took a breath from sipping his tear before he resumed catering to his drink, which seemed to never run out.
"That's the problem, Doctor." Rose Waters said simply and glanced back at Dr. Strange, this time with a death stare. "It's not going to stay safe with you."
"And why do you say that?"
"That's because the end has begun." Rose whispered, her eyes looking into the bottomless cup of tea in her hands. Her eyes shot back up to Strange, this time with emotion in them. The emotion of fear. "Thanos has begun his conquest."
"Thanos-" Dr. Strange began, his voice confused as Rose stood up, instantly making Strange stand up as well to match her.
"Five days ago, Thanos obliterated the planet of Xandar." Rose whispered, her voice small. "He went there to steal the Power stone."
"The Power stone…" Strange mumbled underneath his breath as his eyes flashed back up at Rose. "That's impossible, not a single being should be able to withstand it's power-"
"Well it is possible!" Rose snapped and took a step closer to Strange. "It's possible because Thanos has a gauntlet. He has a gauntlet that's capable to wielding all six infinity stones, and that's his goal! To get rid of half the life in the universe to restore… restore balance to the universe."
Nearing the end of Rose's speech, her voice turns oddly small, as if she's afraid to speak more of her mind as she takes in a soft breath and calms herself as Strange simply raises an eyebrow.
"How will killing-"
"I don't know!" Rose exclaims. "He's a Mad Titan! It's just what he does! Bottom line, Doctor, Thanos is coming and it's taken me countless amounts of hours to figure out where the Time Stone is, not to mention figure the hell out how to get here!"
"I'm sorry that you have wasted your time." Strange said, his voice simple as he immediately teleported them out of the sitting room back to the front door of the home. It was a feeling that Rose was oddly familiar with. "But the Time Stone is completely safe with me."
"No, it isn't." Rose replied, her spit landing on the Doctor's face as she took a step forward. "That stone is as safe with you the same way that an egg is as safe from being cracked."
"Just cushion the egg." Strange mumbled underneath his breath as Rose narrowed her eyes at him.
"Oh, you think that this is just some sort of joke, Stonekeeper?" Rose hissed at him. "That I'm making up some sort of… of tall tale to get your attention?"
"No, actually, I believe that this is quite serious, and I thank you for taking the time out of your day to warn us, but little girl, trust me, the stone is safe with me."
"I'm not a little girl." Rose whispered, her voice harsh. "And that stone is anything but safe with you, so that is why I need you to give me the stone so I can bring it somewhere where it can be safe."
Strange stifled a laugh as he hitched a smile. "I'm sorry, but did you just say that I needed to give you the Time stone? Well, first of all, darling, I really wish I could, but I swore an oath to protect this stone at all costs. Second of all, you really don't seem like you can really care for yourself, much less this stone." He gestured to her outfit which immediately filled Rose's body with a handful of rage.
With burning eyes, Rose takes another step towards the Doctor and leans into his face, her eyes wide and wild as she bore her teeth at him before she flicked her wrist. A surprisingly light weight landed in it as Doctor Stephen Strange flickered his eyes to it only to almost be blinded by it's bright blue brilliance. The Tesseract.
"How-" Strange begins, a little confused when Rose cuts him off by twirling her wrist, making the cube disappear.
"You aren't the only one with some magic tricks." Rose hisses. "I had to ask a few of my… connections, but I have the Space stone and I need the Time stone. Now." She lets out a heave before shaking her head before shifting her tone of voice into a small, pleading one. "Please, you don't understand what's at stake."
"No, obviously, you don't know what's at stake." Strange muttered underneath his breath at her as he took a step closer to the young girl who barely stood at his ear. "So let's say I give you the Time stone. Then what? You hide it somewhere with the Tesseract so it can be a nice gift for this… this Thanos fella to get not just one infinity stone, but two?"
"You give me the Time Stone so you can guarantee that this planet won't be destroyed like countless others, Strange. So your race won't get sliced in half." Rose's eyes flicker to the man's necklace, where she can just feel another stone residing in. "You give me the Time Stone right now, or I will not hesitate to take it by force."
"How? By screaming and whining for it like a little girl?" Strange questioned while arching an eyebrow at the youngster, who simply returned with a death stare.
Then, before the man could make another move, the girl was slamming her elbow into his ribcage, instantly knocking him backwards. But before he could fly to the ground however, the girl grabbed ahold of his necklace, only to have it's details be practically burned into her skin, immediately making her remove her hold from it, her eyes wide in the familiar feeling of pain.
Strange's cape easily managed to steady the man back to his feet as he let out a soft chuckle at the girl's useless attempt to get the Time Stone.
"Listen, I think you have… good intentions, but the safest place for the Time stone is, and has always been, with us."
"That's what the people on Xandar thought." Rose replied, her voice sharp enough to cut through steel. "And look what happened to them."
"But we aren't Xandar, are we?" Strange questions back as Rose suddenly takes a step back towards the door, her eyes still narrowed at the man.
"No, you aren't." She replied, her voice lighter as she opened the door to take a step into the rain. But before she could be engulfed in the darkness, she continued.
"You're even weaker."
A/N: I'm so happy to start this new fanfic staring Rose Waters, an original character of mine. I hope you all like this new, extremely different, retelling of Infinity War as much as I do! Please leave your thoughts in the reviews!
~Emily