Stephen, Wong, and Arianna sat around the kitchen table eating Chinese take-out. They were laughing at one another's jokes and Arianna was considering pinching herself that she was even here. It had been hard enough to believe she'd gotten the job with Stark Industries but now to be working at the New York Sanctum and Kamar-Taj for a bunch of Sorcerers, this really took the cake.
Their laughing was silenced quickly by the sound of glass shattering in the other room. Wong and Strange looked at each other quickly and stood. Arianna's eyes were wide with fear, and she was certain the Stephen had grown a foot before her eyes as he stood tall, straight, and shoulders broad without fear of what was in the other room. While she was in awe of his lack of fear, her own was certain. This was the part of her job she didn't enjoy—the potential for death. Sure, she was trained in self-defense. But using it was another story.
Stephen glanced down at her, and for the briefest moment she swore she did see fear flash through his eyes. Another crash in the other room and he whispered to her. "Under the table, now."
She nodded and slid out of her chair and under the table. Before she knew it, Stephen's red cape had surrounded her, and orange swirls flashed and held around the table and she saw Stephen and Wong run out of the room. She guessed he had placed a protective spell around the table, but all she could think to do was curl up into a ball and squeeze her eyes shut, not even realizing she was rocking back and forth as she heard yelling and more crashes outside the kitchen. Her heart was racing, the faintest of whimpering forcing it's way out without her permission. It momentarily grew quiet and then the door crashed open and a body flew through it, leading her whimpering to grow momentarily louder. She heard someone run in and felt wind whip past her. She kept her eyes sealed shut, fearful of whether or not the Protector of the Sanctum would indeed be able to keep her safe. As if it felt her thoughts, the cape held her tighter, as if to say: Yes, she was indeed protected.
She hadn't realized how quiet it had grown till she heard footfalls coming quickly back into the room.
"Arianna!" it was Stephen. And without meaning to, she suddenly began weeping at the sound of his voice. "Arianna!" he called out again as he removed the spell around the table. "Cloak, release her, move…" he snipped and the fabric loosened it's hold. She continued to weep as she felt his arms surround her and pull her out from under the table, picking her up. "It's okay. You're okay. You're safe. I'm so sorry. But you're safe."
She curled into his chest as he held her, her arms wrapped around his neck.
"Is she okay?" she heard Wong call out.
"She's not injured. I placed a protective spell around the table. But she's shaken up—badly."
She felt herself being lowered onto a soft surface, the couch, she guessed. She gasped for air.
"Breathe deep, breathe slowly. You're okay now. You're safe. You were always safe. I wouldn't have let them hurt you, Arianna. You're safe."
"I'm going to go fix her a cup of tea. Tea helps everything," Wong said as he quickly retreated back to the kitchen.
She took in another deep breath and felt herself calming. "I—I'm sorry—I don't know what got into me—I don't know why it shook me up so badly. I'm trained for this. I'm trained for incidents. For incursions. For attacks—"
"Training and experiencing are two different things. You reacted as anyone would."
"You didn't."
"My experiences are a bit different than yours. I've had a few more than you, real ones, not training exercises."
"Still, I—"
"I'm not going to argue with you. What's important is, you're okay."
She sat up, took another deep breath, and pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them tight. As she did, the Cloak came up and wrapped itself around her, much as it would have Stephen, except a bit snugger and more affectionately. She smiled and patted it, then took a deep breath. "What happened?"
Stephen couldn't help but let a small smirk come through at the sight of his cape wrapped around Arianna. Then he addressed her question. "A few straggler defectors decided it would be fun to test us."
"And?"
"We passed the test. Too bad for them." He looked at her with sad eyes for a moment. "I'm so sorry you had to experience that, Arianna." He then moved from where he was kneeling in front of her and sat down beside her, between her and the corner of the couch. He turned towards her, his shoulders sagging, but resolute in his forthcoming statement. "I'll understand if you want to report back to Stark Industries tomorrow and not continue the project. I can't expect you to—"
She frowned and turned towards him, her eyes red. "Excuse me?"
"I would understand if you don't feel like you can—"
"I'm sorry, are you telling me it's okay for me to tuck my tail and run?"
"It wouldn't be like that—"
"That's precisely how it would be." She stood quickly, surprising even the cloak, who wasn't expecting such sudden movement and was left on the couch, turning towards Stephen to see what he should do next. Arianna now paced in front of the cold fireplace. "I will not, under any circumstances, allow fear to make me run away, Stephen Strange. I may have gotten a little afraid back there, but my fear does not control me. I am more than it, I am stronger than it, and I can promise you, the next time, if and when there is a next time, that some nefarious evil doers come running into my space, be it New York City, Kathmandu, Sanctum or Stark Industries, I will not curl up in a ball in fear. No, not again. I will stand and fight."
Stephen looked on at her in awe and surprise. She had done a complete 180 in a matter of minutes. "All I'm saying, Arianna-"
"No."
"No?"
"I will not walk away from this job." She then looked at him a bit more softly and spoke quieter, "I will not walk away from you… simply because you fight bad guys."
"It's not quite so 'simple'."
"No, it never is. But that's a part of the job. You think when I took the job at Stark Industries I didn't know what I was getting into? Stark pretty much makes his employees sign agreements that they do understand what they're getting in to. Danger, evil…it's a part of the job. And no matter what our job—Iron Man, Sorcerer, or IT tech—we're all fighting the evil, and we all face danger. Head on."
"You're remarkable," was all Stephen could muster as he looked up at the woman before him. He already felt it, now he was absolutely certain of it.
"I brought tea," Wong said as he approached, then glanced to see Arianna standing and Stephen sitting. "What's up?"
"I was just explaining to Stephen that I have no intention of running away."
Wong smiled. "Good girl. Now—tea."
Suddenly they all jumped as Stephen's phone rang. He chuckled. "All a tad bit jumpy, aren't we?" He pulled his phone out of his jeans pocket and groaned. "His intel is fast. It's Tony Stark."