Age Of Magneto

Welcome To Parenthood, Everyone

Doctor Strange arrived before K was awake, which meant he had enough time for Jean and Charles to fill him in on what they knew from their perusal of K's mind before he went in to examine the mark on her wrist for himself.

When he sat down, K was just starting to wake up enough that she'd gotten the "welcome back to the land of the living" speech from Hank, who tipped his head toward Strange as the Sorcerer Supreme held out his hand to K.

"I understand you made a deal with a demon," Strange said in a perfectly professional tone, getting right to business as he stood in front of K.

"Yeah, well ... it wasn't for myself," K said as she started to sit upright. "I don't know who you are, though. Sorry."

Strange nodded. "Dr. Stephen Strange," he said. "Sorcerer Supreme of Earth. Which is why your friends asked me here."

"Charmed." K was still clearly a little foggy and achy from Erik working her over. "'Friends' might be a bit of an overstatement. Can you tell me - how exactly I got here?"

"The blackbird," Hank told her gently. "Magneto is dead, I'm afraid. There was no other way that we could see to stop him."

That had her sitting up a lot straighter and trying to blink back the fog. "What about ... there were a lot of people there. And the boys ..." She threw her legs over the edge of the bed and swayed where she sat. "Where are Billy and Tommy?"

"Upstairs meeting some of the other little ones," Hank assured her. "Lorna was able to keep Avalon together long enough for the evacuation."

At that, K let out a breath and relaxed a little more. "Okay. Good. That's good."

"Now that that's sorted out," Strange said, raising an eyebrow at K. "The mark. I'd like to see it."

She nodded at that and then frowned a little as she pulled her sleeve back to offer her right hand. Strange didn't say much, instead opting to simply examine the mark as a few sigils appeared in the air over her hand before he finally let out a breath and leaned back.

"My understanding of the terms of your agreement is that they were not fully completed," Strange said. "But the partial completion is still a problem."

"Okay," she said slowly. "What did he do to fulfil his part of the deal? Just ... so I know how to argue it when he comes looking."

Strange let out a breath. "It's not the matter of Magneto's hold on you," he explained, which had K letting out a breath. "The problem lies in your second agreement: the safety of the twins and Mr. Summers. One of which was, in fact, technically rescued by Azazel's hand - or at least, he stopped aiding the White Witch."

K frowned at that and narrowed her eyes. "But ... what we agreed on was that he got the three of them to the ground safe and whole," she said slowly.

"Yes, well, they are all three on the ground, safe and whole," Strange said. "I believe he'd likely argue that by ceasing in helping Frost, he helped to facilitate Mr. Summers from being damaged any further than he was." He waved a hand. "Demons."

"Breach of contract," K said in a more steady tone.

"He is a creature of Hell itself," Strange said almost flatly. "Can you honestly say you're surprised he wants to keep his claim on you?"

"No," she said. "But I'll still argue it and fight him tooth and nail."

"Good." Strange let out a breath. "Technically, the deal is not complete. He can't force you to comply by the contract alone. But he has marked you, and that has consequences." He leaned back in his seat. "I can work with Captain Rogers to make a safe haven of the hideout where the X-Men and Avengers are. I assume that's where you will be as well."