For Stephen Strange, there had been only one saving grace in this entire mess of his making. That single thing was that Christine hadn't been affected. She was safe. She wasn't being dragged into this. He still wore that broken watch as a reminder of that.
When the watchful waiting spell shifted from waiting to warning, Stephen tuned into it and realized that such good luck was now over.
"It couldn't leave her alone," he murmured, closing his eyes. "Great. Time to go."
The cape moved in and one corner lifted, giving him a consoling pat on the back before it rested over his shoulders in such a way, that it almost felt as though it was trying to hug him for a split second.
"Thanks. I needed that." He didn't want to startle her with his astral form again, so portal it was. He grabbed what he was steadily coming to think of as the Welcome To Your Nightmare packs and tuned in to her last known location as he opened a portal. Just as he had with the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, he had to be quick. If Christine's shift was about to start, he doubted someone as dedicated as she was would wait around for very long. No matter how weird it felt.
The portal opened in a closed storefront, and Strange peeked out before stepping forward, to make sure he wasn't noticed. He didn't have a hard time spotting her. Even if she was in a crowded room, this was a familiar sight. He had seen far too much of Christine walking away from him when she was fed up with his ego.
"...hello, Christine," he said after drawing close enough that they were just within arm's reach of one another.