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Annette's POV

Annette goes to the library at Kamar Taj. In a deeper room, there are gateways to the Sanctums. Annette steels herself as she enters, ready to face her new position. In the room are two others. One of them is Wong, easily identifiable. The other is unknown. He's tall, his hair dark except for a few streaks of grey in his facial hair and the side of his head. His eyes are sharp and bright. The Cloak of Levitation rests on his shoulders. The two turn toward her when she enters and walks to them. A small smile plays across Wong's lips. Annette can't quite read the other's facial expression, though the Cloak of Levitation's hem lifts and makes a waving gesture.

"Stephen, this is Master Annette Browne. Annette, Ma-, Doctor Stephen Strange," Wong introduces. Strange nods, and Annette returns the gesture. Annette and Strange stand in front of the newly constructed gateway to the New York Sanctum. Together, they walk through. It's an odd sensation, tingling and floaty. When they reach the other side, Wong closes the door behind them.

Strange turns to Annette. "So you're my co-master." His tone isn't exactly friendly.

"It would appear so," Annette replies in a not so friendly tone.

Strange sighs, somewhat annoyed. "You don't happen to know what we are supposed to do when we aren't being attacked?"

"From what I know, there's a lot of down time. But there's things to do. We're both still fairly new at Kamar Taj, we can study. We can look for promising individuals. We can use our spells for the good of others. As long as we're ready for an attack, we should be fine," Annette reasons, also somewhat annoyed.

"I suppose we should get to know the building, Browne."

"I suppose we should," she says, emphasizing his wording in a not quite so nice way. This is off to a great start, Annette thinks sarcastically.

Annette and Strange walk down all the corridors and walk into every room, building a mental map. The tension between them stays strong. Annette has always been a difficult people person, but she is surprised Strange is acting similar to her. Perhaps he can't handle people either. She feels somewhat bad for her attitude, but is reminded by Strange's own attitude that he's a jerk himself. "You were here when Kaecillius attacked," she says bluntly.

"And somehow I survived," Strange says as they enter the library. He begins to walk further in, glancing across the shelves. Annette follows behind. "I'm told you've been here before as well."

"Once, a year ago."

"For what reason?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Annette says, almost snarling. Her mind brings up images of the night that lead her to the Sanctum. The blood, the ropes, all of it.

Strange shrugs. "Alright then." He grabs a book and opens it. "That could help," he mutters.

"Help what?" Annette says in annoyance.

"Nothing you need to know, it's personal." His fingers trail across the old spines as he looks for more books. "Hold this." He drops the book he's holding in Annette's arms, which she brought forward on instinct upon hearing "hold this."

Curious, Annette opens the book and reads the first page. "Infinity Stones?" she mutters.

"Powerful objects spread across the universe," Strange explains as he pulls more books off the shelf.

"I know that, Strange," Annette says, rolling her eyes. "I came to Kamar Taj to study them."

"Really? Maybe you'll be more helpful than I thought."

Annette sighs. "And what, exactly, do you want to know about them?"

"Eye of Agamotto, Time Stone. I need to know more about it." He hands a couple more books to Annette.

Should've figured. Kamar Taj's own Infinity Stone. He used it to scare Dormammu off and fix the Hong Kong Sanctum. Annette looks at his chest. He isn't wearing it now. What does that mean?

"I'll show you some books, but we can't exactly carry more in our arms, can we?" Annette says, clearly annoyed.

"Fair." Strange turns and heads for the door, the Cloak of Levitation swirling around his feet. Annette follows. The two leave the library, arms full of books. Luckily, bedrooms are next to the library, Annette can remember. There are two bedrooms, one on the left side and one on the right side.

"Choose a room, Strange," Annette says impatiently. Strange goes into the room on the left, Annette following. She sets the books down on the desk and walks out, Strange behind her. "This is the last hallway."

Annette walks into her own bedroom and sheds her top layer of clothing, a warm overcoat, throwing it onto a coat rack. The room looks just like it was a year ago when she woke up, still healing from her wound. She shudders at the thought of her injury, the rope binding her, her captors grabbing her, rifling through her wallet.

She looks at the time, a watch attached to her wrist. It's five to noon, once she accounts for the time zone change. Not wanting to dwell on the past more than necessary, Annette leaves the room. Strange isn't in sight. His door is wide open, proving that he isn't in there. Annette rolls her eyes, thinking of Strange. Normally, she feels bad for being such a prick, but not now. Now, she's not the only prick. Strange is a jerk. And he can not seem to find any respect for her. It is awful.

Annette wanders the halls, reinforcing her mental map of the Sanctum. It also gives her plenty of time to complain internally. Why would the Ancient One give me this job? She knew the experience that brought me to Kamar Taj. She knew I didn't want to talk about it, or to even think about it. She knew I have barely a year of training. So why on Earth would she make me protector of the Sanctum? And why did she have to assign Strange this essential occupation as well? I could handle anyone else. Wong, Mordo, anyone. But him? I'm not so sure about him. And our tension could make the Sanctum vulnerable.

Annette sighs as she looks down the stairway to the entrance to the Sanctum from New York. She leans on the railing, imagining what must have happened.

Kaecillius and his zealots, storming in, swarming Daniel. Daniel says he'll go down with the Sanctum. Then it happens, Kaecillius kills Drumm in cold blood. Then Kaecillius fights Strange, who accidentally ended up in the Sanctum.

Her grip on the wooden railing tightens. Since her rescue, Annette and Daniel had become friends. He helped teach her the more complex spells. Annette had returned to the Sanctum for these lessons so that Daniel could continue guarding the Sanctum. Annette normally isn't all that welcoming to people, but she felt that she had to give him the benefit of the doubt since he had saved her and brought her to Kamar Taj. And, believe it or not, Daniel had been able to go past Annette's harsh exterior.

Her knuckles are white as she stares at the area she imagines is where Daniel took his last breath. "I certainly miss you," Annette mutters, a couple tears going down her face. A beat of silence.

"I'm assuming you aren't talking about me…."