Chapter Text
Sara had been having a pretty normal day so far. Or, at least what could be passed for normal on the Waverider. She’d woken up next to Ava (who had still been asleep), and walked to the galley for breakfast. Mick was up already, beer in hand, reading his latest draft of a novel at the table. After breakfast, she went to the bridge to ask Gideon for a report on the timeline.
This was her morning routine. Most of the time, she was the first one up. Her League training made sure of that. Occasionally, there would be someone in the kitchen, or Ava would wake up when she did, but it pretty much stayed the same.
They had just dealt with the last alien pod. After cosmic bowling, a little normal was exactly what everyone needed.
Nothing could ever be normal for very long, apparently.
Sara tensed as a glowing yellow circle appeared out of thin air in the middle of the bridge, on the opposite side of the command table from her. A man stepped out, and immediately met her eyes. His expression was serious, bordering on somber. He was tall, at least six feet, and had a sharply trimmed beard and neatly combed brown hair. What really stood out about him was his clothes - deep blue robes, tied with a large leather belt that Sara was sure had more of a purpose than first appearance showed, and a large red cloak fastened at the shoulders, that flowed down to his calves. His overall posture screamed authority, though he didn’t appear to have a weapon - in Sara’s mind, that made him more of a threat. The lack of a weapon normally meant one of two things - combat skills, or powers. Or both. Sara really hoped it wasn’t both.
“Sara Lance?” The cloaked man asked, breaking the silence. Sara shoved down her shock, responding. “Yes. And you are?”
“My name is Doctor Stephen Strange. The rest of the story is complicated, but there are a few things you and your team need to know. I assure you, I mean none of you any harm. Sorry for the uninvited entry, but this is a bit...time sensitive. May I..” Strange gestured toward the library with one hand. Sara gave him a look, like ‘Really?’
“I don’t normally invite strangers who portal in at random to sit and chat.” She deadpanned, raising an eyebrow. He didn’t seem like he was going to attack her, but she wasn’t to get the tea, or herself killed for lack of caution. In fact..
“Gideon?” Sara called, gesturing for Strange to give her a second.
‘Yes Captain?’
Sara felt a small bit of relief at Gideon’s reply. Her still being on was a good sign. “Who am I talking to right now?”
There was a short pause, before Gideon responded. “I’m sorry Captain, but there is no one in my database with the name Stephen Strange, and I’m not finding any matches for facial recognition,”
Sara, somehow, was not surprised. She addressed Gideon again. “Will you have Rory come down here please? Tell him it's important. And if Strange here tries anything, warn the team.”
“Of course.”
Sara hadn’t taken her eyes off Strange during the exchange. She forced herself to relax slightly. Not letting her guard down, but also not as tense. “So.” she said, “You said you had something important to say?” He nodded, unfazed, before slowly walking around the command table to face her. He opened his mouth to speak right as the door opened. Mick strode in, speaking, “Boss, what’s so-” He stopped abruptly, mouth open. He blinked at Strange, before looking at Sara. “Who’s costume party over there?” he said gruffly. He moved to stand next to Sara, keeping a close eye on Strange.
“This is, Doctor Stephen Strange.” Sara stated. “We met five minutes ago, when he portalled onto the bridge. We were just getting to why he’s here.” Strange nodded at Mick, before speaking. “I’m here because your dimension is not the only one.”
Silence. Sara looked at Mick for a second, a disbelieving look passing between them, before Sara addressed Strange again. “That’s not possible! All the other Earths were destroyed! I saw the antimatter wave myself, they’re gone.” Strange was already shaking his head before she’d finished speaking. “I don’t mean other Earths, I mean other dimensions.”
Sara opened her mouth, but Strange held a hand up. “I promise there’s a difference, but can we bring everyone else out here first? I don’t want to have to explain everything twice, it's a long story, and I have a feeling you’re going to want your team after what I tell you. Sara sighed. “Gideon? You heard him. Call everyone on the bridge. And I mean everyone. That means John and Astra too.”
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Honestly, the Legends’ reactions to Strange as they walked in probably would have made Sara laugh, if she hadn’t been very, very worried about what exactly the man was there to tell them. Please, she thought to herself, don’t let this be another apocalypse-level event.
She was pretty sure the odds of that happening were higher than the chances of it not happening, at this point.
Behrad was the first one to walk in. He stopped in his tracks at the sight of Strange. He didn’t say anything, just gave Sara a bewildered look. Sara just gestured for him to come over there. “Behrad, Doctor Stephen Strange. Doctor Strange, Behrad. Is that what you like to be called?” Sara added, glancing at the man in question. He nodded. The name exchange had done nothing for Behrad’s curiosity. The air-bender was looking at Strange’s outfit with wide eyes, and firing questions at him, “Whoa, dude, who are you? That outfit is awesome! What..” Sara stopped him. “Hey, B, I know you have a lot of questions, but let’s wait for the team.” Behrad looked slightly disappointed, but nodded.
Ava was the next one to walk in, looking concerned. “Sara, Gideon said something important was happening on the bridge…” Her words trailed off as she caught sight of Strange. She pointed at Strange, giving Sara a look. “Who is this? Do I want to know?” Sara beckoned her over, taking her hand when she reached her. “I have no idea who he is yet,” Sara said. “but as soon as the rest of the team gets here, we’ll find out.” Ava gave her a small smile, with a hint of worry. “A team meeting? Do you think it’s big?” Sara honestly wasn’t sure, but she had a feeling…”If I’m trusting my gut? I think it might be. But I hope I’m wrong. I don’t know much yet.”
Spooner and Astra came in about a minute after. Spooner’s steps faltered as she caught sight of Strange. She glanced at Sara, before raising her eyes skyward. “Should I ask? Are we waiting for the rest of the team?”
Sara’s answer was a quick, “No, yes.”
“Okay.”
Spooner promptly walked over and leaned on the command table, watching Strange carefully as she went. Astra followed her, only glancing at him. Strange was beginning to look exasperated.
John came in next, looking as exhausted as ever. He froze when he caught sight of Strange. Strange seemed to focus on John immediately. “A warlock, then?” Strange questioned. John nodded stiffly. He seemed abnormally nervous. Strange seemed intrigued, but confused. “I can sense the magic on you, but something seems...off.” He was squinting at John like he was a particularly interesting puzzle, and he couldn’t wait to figure out the secret to solving it. Sara felt her confusion growing. Could Strange do the same thing John could? Sara introduced them quickly, boxing up her confusion. It could wait.
Nate and Zari 1.0 came in last, looking a bit ruffled. No one commented on that fact. Nate’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when he caught sight of Strange, while Zari just seemed curious. Nate immediately started a stream of questions. “What? Who is this? Is he...are you from the future, because I don't remember that outfit from any period of history? When...” Sara interrupted him. She had been doing it a lot since Strange arrived, and was pretty sure she wasn’t stopping anytime soon. “Okay, save the questions Nate, because first, we need to figure out why he’s here.” She turned away from Nate to face Strange, “So, Doctor Strange, why are you here?”