"Tony…?"

"Am I interrupting something?" he asked, clearly knowing the answer.

"This isn't-"

"Are you going to tell me it's not what it looks like?" he stopped her, "Maybe give me a pretty decent excuse that, normally, I'd believe. That's just not gonna work this time. Wanna know my suggestion?"

"What?"

"We should probably all talk this out somewhere that's not the middle of a cafe. So, why don't you consider bringing your boyfriend by the tower and the two of you can tell me what the hell is going on."

His voice seemed calm, but his fidgeting gave away his frustration. He was unhappy.

"Tony, there really isn't a lot to talk about. This is just-"
"Stop!" he snapped slightly, "Just...stop lying."

At this point, Stephen walked back over to the table with a concerned expression.

"Is there a problem?" he asked calmly yet defensively, as he put himself partially between Tony and Max.

"You bet there is," Tony replied with a fake smile for appearance sake, "I'll see you both very soon."

He walked out without another word. Stephen looked back at Max in time to watch her face fall.

"Well...this isn't how I wanted this morning to go at all," Stephen noted.

"We should have told him…"

"As much as I really like saying "I told you so," it's probably a really bad time."

She silently reached out and grabbed his free hand. He set the cookie in front of her with a weak smile, before sitting next to her again. She stared blankly at the table as all of the worst case scenarios of the upcoming conversation crossed her mind.

"You were right."

"Looks like it. I've never not liked being right, but...there's a first time for everything," he admitted.

"We should go."

"Do you want to eat the cookie first? It looks like you need it even more now."

"Yes, please," she squeaked.

The elevator ride up to the top floors of the tower was the longest of her life, as Max still refused to let go of Stephen's hand. When they reached the top, she wondered to herself how Stephen was so calm and confident while she was terrified of her father's reaction. Nothing seemed to even phase him. Tony was already there, pacing by the large windows.

"You know," he started speaking, without even looking at them yet, "I've been going over this again and again in my head and I just can't figure it out."

"Tony…"

"How long?" he asked, looking up at her.

"How long what?"

"You know what! How long has this been going on?"

"A few months."

"Months?!"

She nodded weakly, making a point of holding Stephen's hand a bit tighter.

"You've been keeping this from me for months? Why?!"

"We were going to tell you, but there wasn't a good time and-"
"Wasn't a good time?" he scoffed, not believing what he was hearing from her, "How about when this all started. That would have been a good time!"

At this point, Max's frustration with him was building. She was tired of being run over in this conversation and was prepared to defend her own choices.

"Yeah?!" she snapped, grabbing his attention, "And what?! What would you have done?!"

"I wouldn't have let you see him!"

"Then I'm damn glad I didn't tell you then, because this is my choice!"

"Max, what are you doing? What went through your head when you decided "hey, I'm going to go behind my family's back with Doctor Strange"?! Why would you see that as a good idea? I just can't understa-"

"You don't have to! Not everything has to make perfect sense to your super-genius mentality! Some things are just a gut feeling! Some things just...make sense to me, even if I can't explain why," she pleaded, "Can we just back this up for a minute and talk?"

"Is that not what we're doing?" he snarked.

"I didn't say argue about it. I said talk."

"Great," he agreed, throwing his hands up briefly, "Then talk."

"Tony," she started again, taking a deep breath, "This is Stephen. He's the guy I told you about. We've been together for a few months and I didn't want to say anything until I was really sure about this. We were actually planning to talk about it with you really soon, but...I guess you beat us to it."

"No, no, no. This is the guy you said you were crazy about? When you were always late or distracted it was because of Strange?"

"I'm taking some offense at this point," Stephen noted.

"I'll get to you," Tony snapped, "I thought "guy" meant some guy you met in college! Not...not…"

"We met at work," Max calmly explained, "You sent me to go meet with him, because you couldn't make it to the meeting. We had a lot in common. We got talking and...he asked me for coffee. It was nice. I said yes."

Tony's attention immediately drew away from Max toward Stephen.
"You. You started this?"

"I asked a charming young woman for coffee," Stephen shrugged, "I didn't think it would start World War III."

"Young woman?" Tony repeated, "Did she mention that she was twenty-four? She just got out of college less than a year before she met you!"

"Yes, she's twenty-four and she'll be twenty-five in December. I really don't see the problem here."

"Does she have any idea how old you are?"

"She knows it's...somewhere over thirty," he replied awkwardly.

"What is it?" Tony insisted, crossing his arms.

Stephen paused for a minuted, reluctantly grumbling out the answer, since lying wasn't getting them anywhere today.

"Forty…two…ish…"

"This isn't happening," Tony shook his head.

Max stepped forward to put herself between the two men.

"Would you just calm down about this?" she insisted.

"Calm down? Really, Mags? When we were talking about the energy project days ago you both stood there and lied to my face!"

"I'm sorry, alright! I never wanted to lie, but when I kept one or two things hidden it started to spiral out of control. This isn't his fault either. He never wanted things to be like this."

Tony paced ever more, only pausing to look out the window again.

"Is it serious?" he asked, facing away from them.

Max could watch his shoulders tense up as he waited for the answer.

"We're staying together, if that's what you're asking. That's not going to change," Max answered honestly, "I really want you to be okay with that."

Her heart sank when she heard Tony laugh, still watching the city below them. She knew the laugh. It was a sound reserved for when the stress or intensity of a situation was just more than he wanted to process. The laugh meant that the situation was so bad in his mind that it was ironically comical. She would be lying if she said the sound didn't hurt right then.

"I'm sorry," Stephen sassed, stepping up slightly in front of Max, "Is something about this funny to you? Do you hate the idea that much that you won't even think about this? Not even for your daughter?"

"Don't stand there and make me the villain here, Strange," Tony scoffed.

"It doesn't look like you need my help with that!"

"No. I'm not the one who made this mess. I wanted to reach out to you, not have you lying to me one minute and running around with my daughter the next!"

"Well, it wasn't a mess until you knew, so I'm beginning to think we were right. My only regret about any of this is that you found out! How?"

"I don't see what that has to do with-"

"Oh, you're transparent to me. I already know. You're not thinking with your daughter's best interest in mind. You just care that, in your mind, the new guy turned down your super-friends club and stole from you. Isn't that right? Why don't you tell her how you so brilliantly found out."

"Tony?" Max chimed in, "What's he talking about?"

Tony turned around and, with a deep breath, pulled the photo out of his pocket, along with her cell phone.

"I went over to see Strange...and you were there," Tony explained, "I didn't want to believe it. I went to your apartment, hoping I was wrong."

Max stepped forward and grabbed the items from him, looking closely at the picture.

"You...you went to my apartment?" she stated more than asked, "You went through my stuff?!"

"You weren't telling me anything anymore. I was worried about you. Can you really blame me?" he defended.

"You're spying on me now," she huffed, "Do you really not trust me at all?"

"There's clearly a good reason not to! I stop looking out for you for five minutes and you're running around with a cape wearing magician twice your age!"

"It's not that big a gap and I'm not-"

"I'm getting around to you," Tony stopped him, still facing Max, "Mags, would you expect me to trust you after this? What else aren't you telling me?"

"You really wanna know the truth?!" she fumed.

"Yes!"

"Yes, I'm dating Stephen Strange. Yes, it's serious. Yes, we agreed to keep it from you, so we'd stand a chance without you getting involved like you always do and making it about you! Yes, it hurt to lie to you and it hurts that you never trust me. I was always late, because I meet him almost everyday he has time. We have breakfast and I come into work and bribe it all under the rug. No, I wasn't sick when I called you. I was at his house, because I just needed to get away from everything and he was there for me."

"And that's the truth? All of it?"

"Yes, it's the truth," she answered bluntly, "No, it's not all of it. I find that some parts of my life are mine to keep private. Some things belong between me and him."

Tony stayed quiet for a long moment. The pregnant pause caused Max to shift uncomfortably under her father's stare. When the silence lasted too long, she spoke up once more.

"Say something," she requested, voice coming out quiet and nervous.

"I…" Tony sighed, "I don't want you with him."

"You don't even know him."

"I know that he's unstable, dangerous, and maybe even crazy. He doesn't answer to anyone and who the hell knows what he's capable of."

"I'd like to point out that I'm still standing right here!" Stephen protested.

"Max, I can't trust you right now."

"How can I get you to trust me then? I need you to trust that I know what I'm doing."

"Leave him."

Max could feel her heart drop into her stomach at the very idea of being without Stephen. It hadn't been the longest she'd ever known someone, but she never wanted to be without him again.

"I can't do that," she gasped out, looking at a very anxious Stephen," I...I can't."

She reached out beside her to grab onto his hand as an anchor, keeping her from falling into this nightmare she hoped she would wake up from.

"You're with someone for a few months and all of a sudden he's more important than your family...or your job?" Tony asked, hurt resonating in his words.

"I love my job. I love my family. And, Tony, I love you," she told him, "But I also love Stephen...and I don't want to wake up in a life that he's not in. I'm sorry."

"Then...I don't know if I can trust you. I don't know what else you're not telling me," Tony reminded her, "How is this going to work it-"

"It won't," she realized on the brink of tears, "I needed you to be here for me. To be on my side just this once, like I'm always on yours. But...as soon as I do something for me, you won't even think about it. You can't trust me and I guess I can't count on you."

"Mags, listen to yourself," Tony pleaded, "You're letting this ruin everything you've worked for and all-"

"I quit."

"Wh-what?"

"I said I quit," she choked out, "I'll...call Pepper and have the paperwork filled out for that tomorrow. It'll be on your desk in the next few days. I'm...I'm gonna go now."

"You can't be serious…"

"Goodbye, Tony," she continued, on the brink of tears, "Maybe...we'll be able to work this out sometime. Until then...I really can't be here. Goodbye."

Using her sleeve, she wiped away the tears that had escaped and trailed down her face. She didn't wait another moment before walking to the elevator. Stephen caught up with her, putting a hand on her back for comfort. He spared a glance over his shoulder at Tony, but what was said couldn't be unsaid.

As the elevator door closed, Max looked up at Stephen with tear filled eyes.

"Can...can I stay with you for a few days?" she asked quietly.

"Of course," he answered without hesitation, pulling her into his arms as she began to cry on his shoulder, "Anything."

He didn't know how, but Stephen knew he needed to make this right.