"Kids, no!" Stephen said. "NO! Do not touch that! Brooke, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, don't go in the library!"

It had been about nine years since Rachael and Stephen had gotten married. They had something to show for it, too: two children. A boy named Nick and a girl named Brooke, to be exact. Nick was eight years old. He was tall and skinny with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He was very reserved and quiet, but if given the right mix of things to do he would be all over the place. Brooke was six and looked almost exactly like her mother. She had brown hair and brown eyes, too. Her face was the same shape as Rachael's. She looked as though someone had cloned Rachael. Brooke was extremely energetic and couldn't sit still if her life depended on it. Stephen would be lying if he said that they didn't drive him up the wall. But he would also be lying if he said that he didn't love them more than anything in the world...next to Rachael, that is. 

"Why can't I go in the library, Daddy?" Brooke asked.

"Because I said," Stephen said. "Please just do as I say? For me?"

"Alright," Brooke sighed before running off into the kitchen with her brother. 

Stephen sighed in exhaustion. In addition to becoming the Sorcerer Supreme, he was also a stay-at-home father. He didn't mind, of course. He stayed at home anyway so it wouldn't make any sense for Rachael to drop her shows.

Since their children had been born, Rachael had wanted them to be surrounded by as much normality as possible. Quite frankly, Stephen agreed with her. He wasn't allowed to wear the Cloak of Levitation or the Eye of Agamotto around the house while they were home and they weren't allowed in the library because Rachael didn't want them to accidentally do spells. If Stephen had a client, he would take them into the library to talk while Wong kept an eye on Nick and Brooke. When Rachael got home, she would take care of them while Stephen locked himself in the library to make sure that nothing was going wrong in other dimensions.

Of their two children, Brooke was the mischievous one. Stephen saw a lot of a younger Rachael in her. Nick was a more laid back, but he was still more energetic than Stephen had been as a child. It was getting harder and harder for him to keep up with his children, but he did love playing with them. 

When Rachael finally got home, Stephen went straight to the library. He locked the door and concentrated on checking for other-worldly threats. As soon as he was gone, Brooke gave her mother a confused look. Rachael braced herself for a bout of questions that she would have to answer very carefully.

"Why does daddy spend so much time in the library, Mommy?" she asked.

"He's working," Rachael said.

"What does he do?" Brooke asked.

"You're too young to understand, honey," Rachael answered.

"Can I go see him?" Brooke asked.

"No," Nick said. "We aren't allowed in the library."

"I didn't ask you, Nick!" Brooke snapped.

"Hey," Rachael gave Brooke a look. "Don't talk to your brother like that. But he is right. You aren't allowed in the library."

"Why not?" Brooke asked.

"Because Daddy is working," Rachael sighed. This was getting repetitive. 

"Can I go see him when he's done working?" Brooke asked. 

"No, you just aren't allowed in the library," Rachael said. Her patience was wearing thin.

"Why not?" Brooke repeated.

"You just aren't, okay?" Rachael snapped. Brooke looked down, knowing full well that it was time to stop asking questions. 

When Stephen exited the library, Brooke decided that she would try to run in. Stephen saw her coming and grabbed her before she could get inside. She squealed as he picked her up, making Stephen laugh a little.

"And where do you think you're going?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. 

"I wanna go in the library, Daddy," Brooke said. 

"No," Stephen said firmly. "There's nothing interesting in there anyway." 

"But, Daddy-" Brooke started.

"But nothing," Stephen said. "Now, you can either pester me a little longer and go to bed early or you can stop pestering me and stay up. What do you want to do?"

"I want to go in the library," Brooke giggled. Stephen rolled his eyes and set his daughter down. 

"I walked right into that one," he muttered. "For the last time, Brooke, no. Please stop asking."

Brooke sighed. "Fine."

"Thank you," Stephen said. "Now, you did ask me again, so go up to your room and change for bed. Your brother can go to bed, too. He's been staying up too late. I'll be there to tuck you in in a minute."

Brooke ran upstairs. Stephen sighed in exhaustion for about the thousandth time that day as he turned around to shut and lock the door to the library. He loved Brooke, but he sometimes found her to be a pain. 

After finishing the long process of putting his children to bed, Stephen went upstairs to his own room to sleep. When he entered the room, he saw Rachael pacing around and singing quietly, occasionally glancing down at her script. He smiled and leaned against the door frame. He loved her voice. When Rachael finished, Stephen applauded.

"Very good," he praised. Rachael jumped and turned around.

"Thanks," she said. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Stephen said. "You're very talented."

"It only took you thirty-three years to notice," Rachael joked. 

"I liked to tease you," Stephen shrugged. "Is that a crime?" 

"No," Rachael said. "Where are the kids?"

"I put them to bed," Stephen said. "I was going to come to bed myself, but then you were singing."

"Sorry," Rachael apologized. 

"No, no, it's fine," Stephen said, getting under the covers. Rachael joined him. Stephen rolled over and wrapped his arms around her side.

"Brooke really wants to go into the library," she said after a moment of silence.

"Oh, really? I couldn't tell," Stephen said sarcastically. "I love her to death, but I'm really reaching my breaking point."

"Me, too," Rachael said. 

"Maybe I should just take her in tomorrow," Stephen sighed. Rachael rolled over slightly to look at him angrily.

"Stephen, when Nick was born, we agreed-"

"I know, I know," Stephen said. "But I'm thinking that maybe if she sees how boring it is, she'll want nothing to do with it."

"Well...maybe," Rachael sighed. "I'll think about it."

"Goodnight, Rachael," Stephen said. "I love you." 

"And I love you. Goodnight, Stephen," Rachael replied, closing her eyes.

Stephen kissed the back of her neck, making her giggle a little. He rested his forehead against her neck and shut his eyes, smiling as Rachael nestled a little closer to him. Since the kids had been born, this was really the only time they got together. It was worth it, though. He loved his family more than anything in the world and he was happier than he had been in a long time. 

-------------------

"What do you think Daddy is hiding in the library?" Brooke whispered.

"I don't know," Nick answered tiredly. "Probably just books."

"I bet it's our birthday or Christmas presents," Brooke said.

"No, they hide those under their bed," Nick said. "I saw."

"They probably know you saw and started hiding them in the library!" Brooke exclaimed. 

"Quiet!" Nick hissed. 

"Sorry," Brooke said. "Should we go look?"

"Even if you are right, there's no point in looking," Nick said. "Dad always locks the door."

"Aren't you curious?" Brooke said. 

"If you want to go, go ahead," Nick muttered, rolling over. "I want to get some sleep."

Brooke shrugged and got up out of bed. Nick was starting to fall asleep when he heard the door to the bedroom open as his sister walked out of the room. He gaped at her before throwing off the covers and sprinting after her.

"I didn't mean that literally!" he muttered. 

By the time Nick caught up with his sister, she was already at the library door and trying to open it. Nick tried to pull her away, worried that if his parents caught them he would get in trouble because he was the oldest.

"Brooke, we aren't allowed in there!" he said. "Mom and Dad are gonna get really mad at you if you go in!" 

"I just want to look inside!" Brooke whined. 

"No! We aren't allowed!" Nick said. 

"Chicken," Brooke spat, turning to try and unlock the door. Nick turned red.

"I'm not a chicken!" he said. 

"Then prove it," Brooke challenged. "Open the door."

"No," Nick shook his head. 

"Why?" Brooke asked. 

"Because I don't wanna get grounded," Nick said. "I'm going back to bed. I'll see you when you're finished trying to get the door open."

Nick turned to leave and was almost up the stairs when he heard a click and the creak of a door being opened. He turned around slowly and watched as his little sister entered the library. He immediately ran down the stairs after her.

"Brooke!" he whisper-shouted. "Get back here! We aren't allowed!"

Nick stopped at the threshold of the room. He wasn't going to come in. He didn't even dare to look at anything besides Brooke, who was walking around and looking in awe at everything in the forbidden room. 

"Brooke, come on!" Nick said. He was beginning to panic. 

Brooke didn't listen. She walked over to the bookshelf and picked a book off of it. Nick's eyes widened. That definitely wasn't allowed.

"Put that back," he said. "I'll get Dad if you don't." 

"No, you won't," Brooke said. She opened the book.

Nick hesitated before entering the room and trying to grab the book out of Brooke's hands. "Brooke, put it back!" 

"Look! It's a spell book!" Brooke said, showing Nick the cover of it. 

"It's probably something from when Mom and Dad were kids," Nick said. "Now, put it back."

"You aren't the boss of me," Brooke said. "It looks real. I'm gonna try a spell."

"Brooke, don't!" Nick said.

"If you let me try one spell, then I'll come back to bed," Brooke said. Nick hesitated again and then nodded. 

"Fine," he said. "Just one try and then we're going back to bed." 

Brooke flipped through the book. She wanted to find a really good spell to do if this was going to be her one shot at it. She looked around for about five minutes before finally settling on a spell. She pointed at it to Nick and had him read it out loud. 

"Releasing Incantation," he said. "This spell is to be used to release the last prisoner a sorcerer trapped in another dim...dimen...I can't say that word."

"Neither can I," Brooke said. "Well, I'm gonna try the spell." 

Nick gulped as Rachael looked at the spell book and started to say the incantation. He had a feeling that it wasn't real, but this still made him a little nervous. When Brooke had finished, there was a moment of silence where they both looked around the room.

"Nothing happened," Brooke said, looking disappointed. 

"I told you," Nick said. "Come on. We're going back to bed and we aren't going to say a word about this, do you understand me?"

Brooke put the book back and started to walk back towards the door with her brother. All of a sudden, it snapped shut with a bang. Nick and Brooke instantly tensed up.

"What was that?" Brooke whimpered.

"I don't know," Nick said. 

They heard a buzzing sound and looked behind them. Someone was entering the room through a portal. Nick and Brooke backed against the bookshelf. The man who was entering had dark hair and some sort of creepy purple make-up around his eyes. He set his eyes on Nick and Brooke, who gulped. 

"Who are you?" he asked.

"N-Nick and Brooke Strange," Nick choked out. 

"Stephen Strange had children?" the man whispered. "Perfect."

"How do you know our daddy?" Brooke asked. 

"Yeah, who are you?" Nick asked. 

"Didn't he ever tell you how he became the Sorcerer Supreme?" the man asked.

"What's that?" Brooke asked.

"Ah, I see," the man said. "He never told you what he can do. Still, I know how to get back at him and that's all I need to know."

"Hey, back off!" Nick said. "Leave me and my sister alone!"

The man didn't say anything. He made what looked like a glass dagger and held it high in the air. "To answer your question, Nick Strange, my name is Lucian."

With that, Lucian threw the glass object right at Nick and Brook. They both ducked just in time, screaming in terror. Lucian had another dagger ready for them.

"RUN FOR IT!" Nick shouted. "Go to the door! I'm right behind you!" 

Brooke sprinted to the door, her brother behind her. They tried to open it and discovered it was locked. They looked behind them and saw that Lucian was walking towards them with the dagger held up. Nick pushed Brooke out of the way before dropping to the floor to avoid getting hurt.

"MOMMY, DADDY!" Brooke screamed for their parents. 

Rachael was the one who awoke from the sound of her daughter screaming. She listened, wondering if it was just a figment of her imagination. When she heard more screams coming from both Nick and Brooke, her blood ran cold and she roused Stephen.

"Stephen, wake up!" she said.

"Huh? What?" Stephen said. "I'm up."

"There's someone here!" Rachael said. "Someone's attacking the kids!"

Stephen didn't need to hear anything besides that. He grabbed the Eye of Agamotto and slipped it on, and Rachael did the same with the Eye of Dyvtia. They both raced downstairs to their children's room. They soon realized that that wasn't where the noise was coming from. It didn't take long for either of them to connect the dots.

"The library," the murmured at the same time.

"Oh, no," Rachael said. 

They ran even farther downstairs and got to the library. The door was locked. Stephen started throwing his body against it, but it wasn't working. He turned to Rachael.

"Stay here! If anyone tries to come out, stop them!" he said. "I'm going to teleport in."

Stephen shut his eyes and willed himself to be in the library. When he opened his eyes, he saw Lucian- one of Kaecilius's old friends- backing Nick and Brooke up against the wall. Rage filled him as he saw that he was holding one of his trademark glass daggers above his head. All discipline was out the window for Stephen. These were his children, and he wasn't going to let anything hurt them.

"DON'T YOU DARE!" he shouted, running in front of them to shield them. "STAY AWAY FROM MY CHILDREN!"

Lucian threw the dagger regardless, but Stephen dispelled it with a quick flick of his hand. Brooke screamed in terror and Stephen felt an overwhelming bolt of ferocity that shouted to protect her and not let anything or anyone in all of the worlds, dimensions, and universes that existed hurt her. 

"Stay right here! Whatever you do, don't move!" he yelled, quickly glancing behind him at Nick and Brooke. He looked back at his old enemy and made a rope of sparks. He lashed out at Lucian with it and it hit the side of his face. Stephen ran to the other side of the library, trying to draw Lucian away. 

"Dad, be careful!" Nick warned.

"Daddy!" Brooke yelled, absolutely terrified. 

"Come on, you big coward! Fight me!" Stephen taunted.

"I am no coward!" Lucian hissed, turning around to face Stephen.

"Really? Because in my mind, only cowards prey on children without any defense for themselves!" Stephen countered. 

"The children summoned me here, they can send me back just as easily," Lucian said. 

Stephen used his rope again, wrapping it around Lucian's ankle and pulling him away from where Brooke and Nick were. Stephen leaped to the side so Lucian wouldn't crash into him. Lucian recovered quickly and got up. He grabbed Stephen by the throat, but Stephen kneed him in the stomach. Stephen tried to hit Lucian with another rope of sparks, but Lucian was quicker. He thrust his hand forward and the blast of magic made Stephen fly across the library and land so hard on the floor that all the wind was knocked out of his body. Stephen got up and tried to run in front of his kids to protect them, but Lucian grabbed him bye the lapels of his shirt and threw him to the other side of the library. Lucian looked at Nick and Brooke and started to walk menacingly towards them. Stephen panicked and tried to think of what to do. He wanted to open his mouth to yell and at least give Nick and Brooke a chance to run away, but he knew that no matter what he tried there wouldn't be enough time for them to get away or for him to try and run to protect them. 

Lucian got a dagger ready and had it raised to strike when a ball of magic hit him hard in the face and made him fall over. A string of the same materiel was wrapped around his ankle and he was dragged to the other side of the library. Nick and Brooke looked to where the magic had come from to try and catch a glimpse of who had saved them.

"Mom?!" they exclaimed in shock. 

"Stay there!" Rachael said in an angry voice. She looked furious. "Stephen, I think you know what to do."

Stephen nodded, still trying to recover from the shock of what had just transpired. "Yes, I do." 

Lucian tried to stand up, but Rachael kicked him in the face. "Stay down if you know what's good for you."

"I remember you," he snarled. "You were so weak."

"Yes, and now I have you pinned to the floor and scared for your life," Rachael said coolly. She got down on her knees and whispered, "You should know better than to get between a mother and her children." 

She stood back up and nodded to Stephen. Stephen said the incantation. Within two minutes, Lucian was gone. Stephen and Rachael turned to Nick and Brooke and instantly went to them. Stephen got to them first and instantly pulled them into a tight hug. He was so relieved that they weren't hurt.

"Are you alright?" he asked. They both nodded, too shaken up to talk. "Thank goodness."

Stephen moved back to let Rachael have a turn smothering their children. His relief began to ebb away into anger. Nick and Brooke had disobeyed him and went into the library against his orders. How dare they?

"How many times have I told you?" he began quietly. "Don't. Go. In. The. Library. It's a simple rule, really. I don't ask for much from you two. I really don't. All I ask is that you stay out of this room. And what do you do? You go in anyway! You two deliberately disobeyed me! What, did you think I wouldn't find out? I am furious with you! Absolutely livid!"

"Stephen," Rachael said. "Can we do this in the morning? They're already terrified as it is." 

"Fine," Stephen hissed through gritted teeth. "You two, straight to bed. Don't even think about coming out of your rooms until I come to get you in the morning. Go on. Rachael, please go with them."

"Dad, I-" Nick started.

"Not now, Nick," Stephen snapped. 

"But I didn't-"

"Nick, shh," Rachael said. "You can talk to your dad in the morning. Come on."

Rachael led Nick and Brooke up to bed. Stephen started pacing in the library. Well, they knew that their mother and father had powers now. Stephen knew that Nick would keep quiet about it if he was told to. It was Brooke he was worried about. She couldn't keep a secret to save her life. How was he going to get her to keep quiet about this? Stephen finally stopped pacing when Rachael came back into the library.

"They're asleep," she reported. "It took me awhile to put them down because they were trying to explain, but I told them I didn't want to hear any of it and that they could talk to us in the morning." 

"It is the morning," Stephen said. 

"Well, until we come to get them, then," Rachael said. She sighed. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Stephen said. "Thank you, by the way. I don't know what would have happened to them if you hadn't come in. I just...froze." 

"It happens when you're under pressure," Rachael said. "I've noticed." 

"Are you okay?" Stephen asked. 

"Yes. Physically, anyway," Rachael said. She was silent for a moment before saying, "Nick says he didn't do it."

"I believe him," Stephen said. "What are we going to do, Rachael?"

"I don't know," Rachael sighed. "I didn't want them to find out so soon. Brooke's going to out us and we're going to have to sign those stupid accords. There will be a huge scandal for me and no one will want to hire me anymore and then we'll lose all our money and-"

"Hey," Stephen whispered. "Shh. Don't worry about all that right now. Let's just come up for a way that they won't tell." 

"Well, they're taking school off tomorrow and possibly the rest of the week," Rachael said. "But we can't just pull them out of school forever."

"I have an idea, but I don't like it and I don't think you will either," Stephen said. 

"What is it?" Rachael asked, sighing.

"There is the option of erasing their memories," Stephen said.

"No. Absolutely not," Rachael shook her head.

"Thank God," Stephen breathed a sigh of relief. "I didn't like it either."

"We just need to have a calm talk with them," Rachael said. "No yelling. We'll just explain to them that they can't go in there anymore and they can't tell anyone about what they saw or else people are going to come and take Mommy and Daddy away."

"That should scare them into being quiet," Stephen said. "Get some rest, angel. We need it." 

----------------------

When Nick and Brooke came into the kitchen accompanied by Rachael, they looked scared of what their dad was going to do. Nick was the first to speak up once they were seated at the table. 

"Dad, I swear I didn't do it," he said. "Brooke left the room and I followed her to bring her back. I didn't want to go in there, I swear."

"But you still did it," Stephen said. 

"Only to try and bring her back!" Nick said.

"It's true," Brooke said. "I got a book off the shelves and told Nick I'd come back with him if he let me do one spell."

"I believe you both," Stephen said. "I'm very angry at you, Brooke. I've told you time and time again that you aren't allowed in there. As a consequence, you will not be allowed to watch television for two months, and no dessert for a week."

"But-"

"No buts," Stephen said. "You could have gotten you and your brother killed. I thought I was going to lose you. Do you know how badly that would have affected your mother and I? We love you very, very much and if we lost you, we would never get over it." 

"I'm sorry, Daddy," Brooke whispered.

"You should be," Stephen said. "Nick, I don't think you were the guilty party in all this. But you should have gotten your mother and I instead of trying to solve the problem yourself. No video games for two days as a consequence. I'm being generous here, so don't argue." 

"Okay," Nick nodded.

"Now, there is one more thing we need to talk about," Stephen said. "You can't tell anyone about what you saw your mother and I do. If you do and they tell the police, people are going to take us away and we'd never see you again. You'd have to go live with someone else and I don't think you want that. Do you?" Nick and Brooke shook their heads. "That's what I thought. So don't tell anyone. Got it?"

"Yes," Nick and Brooke said in unison. 

"Good," Stephen said. "Go to your room." 

"What about school?" Nick asked.

"You two had a very...active night, so you aren't going to school today," Stephen said. "Now, go to your room and play." 

Nick and Brooke ran off. Stephen and Rachael sighed tiredly and looked at each other. They started laughing hysterically. They supposed it was all the tension from last night coming out as laughter.

"Oh, what kind of mess have we gotten ourselves into with them?" Stephen asked, still laughing slightly.

"I don't know, but it's a good mess," Rachael said.

"Yes," Stephen said. "And I wouldn't want it any other way. Come here, you."

Stephen drew Rachael into his arms and kissed her. When they broke apart, she smiled up at him lovingly.

"I love you, Doctor Strangelove," she whispered. Stephen sighed.

"I'm never getting out of that, am I?" he asked, smiling in amusement.

"Nope," Rachael said, standing on her toes and kissing him again. 

When they broke apart, Stephen hugged her tightly. When they had first met, he never would have thought that one day he would be married and having children with Rachael. But you know what? He wouldn't want his life any other way.

----------------------

I was watching the clip from Doctor Strange that was released of the Ancient One pushing his astral form from his physical form and I paused to go edit one of the chapters to make it true to the movie and this is the screen I got:

I'M CRYING. I'M GONNA MAKE IT MY BACKGROUND.

I was looking through comments on Facebook on a video posted to the Marvel Cinematic Universe page that was the first look we got at Christine Palmer and everyone's like, "She's only a love interest! There will be no character development!" Like, whenever I like one of those characters and see things like that, I feel ashamed for liking them. I already like Christine Palmer and now I feel like I shouldn't like her. 

In other news, I want Marvel to do a spin-off show on ABC that's one of those cruddy hospital dramas (think Grey's Anatomy) set before the crash when Stephen was still a doctor. No mention of the heroes except for things like, "Oh, look, the Avengers saved the world again." 

I WOULD WATCH IT SO HARD.

YOU KNOW WHAT, GET ABC ON THE PHONE I'LL WRITE THAT CRAP FOR THEM. 

I can't believe this is over! I'm so sad! But, hey, I finished it on time! I met my deadline! I can't wait to see the movie! 

The final Doctor Strange meme is:

STEPHEN.

STEPHEN, NO.

Mrs. Strange out.