Arianna spent the next day at the Stark Warehouse collecting and packing up supplies for the Kamar-Taj project. Normally other employees would take care of this sort of thing, but Tony had assigned her to handle this project personally. He'd used those exact words, putting particular emphasis on the 'personally' part and she wondered if he was really up to what she thought he was.

That led her to think about the party that evening. Would Stephen really show up?

That night Arianna stood in the midst of the crowd, at the moment talking with Bruce Banner about a new software program he was using to run some science experiments. She kept glancing around, hoping she might see the one person she least expected to actually show up. He'd said 'maybe' and she assumed that meant most likely not, even if he did act interested because she'd be there. More than likely there's be some inter-dimensional crisis that he needed to handle, or maybe he was just sitting at home watching a movie. No matter what, she had just about convinced herself he wasn't coming when she heard a voice behind her.

'He'll be here."

She sighed. It was Tony Stark. "How do you know that?"

"I just know. How could anyone turn you down, Princess Plum?"

"I'm no one special."

"Oh, I'm going to have to solidly disagree with you on that one, Princess. You're incredibly special."

"I'd have to say that Mr. Stark and I agree on that point," the smooth baritone voice spoke from behind her. She whipped around to find him standing there, and was unable to resist looking him up and down. He was in a suit, and not just any suit, a well tailored one that probably cost a pretty penny.

"Stephen," she said breathlessly, blush rising in her cheeks.

"Arianna," he said, bowing his head slightly in greeting as he approached. He then turned to Tony and held out his hand. "Mr. Stark, thank you for the invitation."

"Of course, any friend of Princess Plum's is a friend of mine. Nice suit," the other man said, giving Stephen a handshake that seemed particularly firm. He then turned to Arianna. "Hey, Princess, do you mind checking on Pepper? She was going to check in with the caterers and I'm worried she may have fired them all and be in there cooking herself if they weren't up to par."

"Yeah, no problem, Mr. Stark."

"Please, Princess, will you just call me Tony for tonight?"

"Okay, okay—Tony."

Arianna smiled again at Stephen and went off in search for Pepper, fairly certain that Tony had plans for conversing with the sorcerer while she was gone.

"A drink?" Tony said, motioning towards the bar.

"I could use one," Stephen nodded and walked with Tony.

They both leaned against the bar and ordered their drinks. Only once the drinks were in their hands did Tony speak again. "So, Stephen, do you know why I invited you hear tonight?"

It wasn't lost on Stephen that Tony used his first name, or the tone in which he said it. "In the interest of superheroic diplomacy?"

"Well, there's that too. But, a little less that, and a little more about—"

"Arianna."

"Yes. Arianna. Listen, the Princess—she likes you. And I hate to sound like a big brother, but—"

"Why do I get the feeling you don't hate sounding like a big brother?"

"Yeah well, the point is—if you hurt her—I will kill you."

"You think you could do that?"

"Yeah, well. I'm not totally up to speed on how your wizardry works, but I'd give it a good shot. And I'd die trying, if necessary."

"I appreciate your protectiveness of her, Tony. I'm not really sure what's happening between Arianna and I, but I can promise you—the last thing I intend to do is hurt her. The exact opposite in fact. I want to keep her safe just as much as you do. She is, however, a rather independent woman."

Tony smirked. "That she is. Did she tell you about when she and I first met?"

"Just last night after she got off the phone with you. Wong and I goaded her into telling us about your nickname for her."

"Ah, Princess Plum—yes. She does love her purple, doesn't she?" Tony said, nodding his head in the direction across the room where Arianna stood talking to Pepper. She was in a gorgeous full length dress gown that was deep purple. "She can't stand dresses. The only way Pepper and I convinced her to wear one tonight was by finding it in the right color that she could wear sandals with."

"She's lucky to have friends like you and Mrs. Potts."

"We're lucky to have her. You are even luckier."

"Yes, I am," Stephen said, watching the woman from across the room. She turned and caught him watching her and blushed through her smile.

"I was referring to her professional skills, but yes—that too."

"Who said I wasn't?" Stephen said, a slight smirk crossing his face.

Tony's eyebrow went high. "Right. So, referring to her professional capacity, you will keep an eye on her in Kathmandu? Keep her as safe as possible?"

"Of course. She'll be under the protection of myself and the rest of the Masters of Mystic Arts. She won't be messed with."

At that moment, Pepper and Arianna approached.

"Doctor, it's a pleasure to finally meet you," Pepper said as she extended her hand. "Arianna has told us what an amazing time she's had learning more about your Order."

"Yeah—his Order," Tony chuckled till Pepper elbowed him and he coughed. "Yes, quite the educational experience our Princess is having."

"Tony," Arianna said sternly as she rolled her eyes.

"Well, if you'll excuse us," Pepper said, diffusing the situation, "Tony and I have some greeting to do."

Soon Stephen and Arianna were watching them walk away. Finally, they turned towards each other, and Arianna smiled sweetly up at him. "Nice suit."

"Amazing dress. You look incredible."

"Don't get used to it, Doc. Dresses aren't my thing."

"You look beautiful no matter what you're in, but I really have to say you look stunning tonight."

"Flattery will get you everywhere, Doctor."

"Everywhere, Ms. Miller?"

"Stop flirting and dance with me."

He glanced at the dance floor. "I don't really dance—"

"Oh, okay," she said quickly, and he couldn't help but notice that her whole body seemed to deflate.

"Let me finish, Arianna. I don't really dance to fast music. I've done my share of ballroom dancing, slow dancing, I can dance—just not to—this," he said, waving his hand haphazardly towards the dance floor.

"Oh." A small smile finally slipped back into place.

"I'd love to dance with you. Maybe things will slow down as the night goes on."

"Is that a promise?"

"Pending any crisis, yes, it's a promise."

"Ah, so still on the clock."

"Sadly, always."

"No time just for you?"

"A very wise woman once told me, 'It's not about me.'"

"Ah, and ever since the world has been graced with the selfless, humble Stephen Strange?"

"Well, I do tend to lean towards selfish and arrogant, I won't deny it. But, I'm working on it."

"This woman, she does indeed sound wise. A former girlfriend?"

"No, my teacher in the Mystic Arts, the Ancient One. She was the Sorceress Supreme of Earth. She died shortly after telling me those wise words."

Arianna noticed his change in demeanor. "I'm sorry. That must have been hard."

"It wasn't easy. Then, the only woman who'd ever been kind and caring to me, who might possibly have loved me, walked away because she couldn't handle the danger involved in my new job." Arianna frowned, but didn't speak. Stephen examined every feature of her face for a sign of what she was thinking before he spoke again. "I only thought it fair after you shared about your fiance that I tell you about the one thing even close to a relationship I've had as of late."

Arianna nodded. "I'm—I'm glad that you told me about her. What was her name?"

"Christine."

"I'm not sure how I feel about Christine, knowing she walked away from you."

"I put her through hell before we ever made it to the point where she walked away. I deserved it, and she deserved better."

"I see."

"Have you been in any relationships since your fiance?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Because of him? Or some other reason?"

Arianna just watched him a moment. He could tell she was deciding on something. "I think I'm going to get some fresh air," she said before quickly turning and walking away before he could question her.

He frowned and followed after her. He made it to the middle of a crowd and thought he might have lost her, till he finally spotted her standing on the balcony terrace. Quickly, but quietly, he joined her.

"Have I said or done something wrong, Arianna?" She shook her head. "Then why did you make such a quick escape?"

She took a deep breath and pulled her eyes away from the New York City skyline to look at him. "Stephen—I—I'm scared."

He reached up and placed one of his scarred hands on her arm. "Why are you scared?"

"Because I think I've gone through the last five years of my life on autopilot. I mean, I love my job, my coworkers are the closest thing to family I have anymore. I love music, Chinese food, and I really really love purple. I thought I was perfectly content in my life."

"But?"

"But then I walked up to 177A Bleeker Street two days ago, and you opened the door, and—and suddenly I feel as if I lived the last five years on autopilot. And now I've been flung back into the pilot's seat and I'm feeling things I never thought I'd feel again. And it terrifies me. I've forgotten how it feels to fly."

He thought for a moment about her words and decided she deserved his own honest admission. He held his hands out towards her. "Have you ever looked at my hands?"

"I've—I've glanced at them."

"Look, I mean really look at them. I was convinced only 6 months ago that these hands were going to be what changed the world. Or at least made me rich and famous. I was a really really good neurosurgeon. I would have said the best. And then I was in a car accident I should never have survived. And this, this is what happened," he said, holding his hands out. He sucked in a breath when she took them gently in her own and traced her fingers over the scars as he spoke. "My life was ruined. I was ready to die. I was hours away from giving up on any chance on life. And then I found Kamar-Taj."

"A second chance?"

"A new life. A new mission. One that didn't involve me having to be the best, the richest. One that involved me giving up what I thought was the end-goal of my life and realizing—"

"It's not about you," she whispered, echoing the voice of the Ancient One in his head.

He nodded. "It's not about me. I'm still discovering what that means. I know it means using the skills, the talents I have. I've been told I'm pretty good at this magic thing. I've quite literally stared in the face of evil and I have to fight it with every ounce of energy I have." He paused a moment, then lifted his right hand away from her hands and placed it gently on her cheek, stroking the shaky hand along her cheek bone. "And maybe, just maybe, when she said 'It's not about me' she meant more than just my sacrifice of my dreams of being the best neurosurgeon. Maybe she meant that someone else was going to come along that I was meant to make a part of my life."

Arianna closed her eyes and allowed herself to lean into his touch for a moment. "I've known you three days, Stephen. This is—this is crazy."

"So? Maybe it is crazy. Maybe we both deserve a little crazy in our lives."

"So, what are you proposing?"

He gave a small smile at her choice of words, and she blushed. "Only that I wish to continue to enjoy your company for the forseeable future. Let's not put undue pressure on each other by having to name it anything. I enjoy your company. I certainly do enjoy flirting with you." Ah, there was her blush again. "And I am guilty of enjoying making you do that," he said, stroking her cheek again. "How does that sound?"

She nodded and gave him a relieved smile. "Not too scary…pretty good actually."

"Ah, good," he said, then perked up at the music coming from inside. "Because this is our song."

She turned her ear to hear the tune of "Unforgettable" playing. "Our song?"

He pulled her hips closer to his and took one of her hands, guiding the other to his shoulder, then resting his other hand on her hip. "Well, it's certainly one I can dance to."

She smiled. "We're going to dance out here."

"It's nice out here. Beautiful New York weather, a beautiful view, a beautiful woman, and beautiful music."

"You seem happy," she said, grinning as he moved them around the balcony like a pro.

"I am happy, Arianna. Wong was right, having you around, it does me good. Are you happy?"

"I think I am, yes."

"Good."

**—**—**

They'd finished their first dance and were just starting into the second when Arianna noticed a beeping in his pocket.

"What's that?"

"My phone."

"Shouldn't you check it."

"I'd hoped to act like I hadn't heard it."

"But you did."

He sighed and pulled it out. "It's Wong. I told him not to disturb me unless it was urgent."

"Then it's urgent. Answer," Arianna said sternly.

Another sigh and he tapped the button on the phone. "Hello. Yeah. Yeah, okay, on my way." He hung up the phone with another deep sigh. "I—have to go. It really is urgent. I wouldn't leave if it wasn't. I promise." He turned his hands a specific way and his suit dissolved away revealing his normal Sorcerer tunic.

"That's a nice trick."

"I had hoped I wouldn't have to use it."

"Be careful. Let me know you're okay?"

He nodded, unable to contain the smile at the idea that she was so concerned for him. "I will. I'm glad I came. I'm glad we danced."

She smiled. "Me too." He pulled out his sling ring and created a portal. On the other side, they saw Wong and the Cloak waiting. "Be safe."

After Stephen stepped through and the portal closed, Wong looked at Stephen. "That dress…"

"I know. This better really have needed my attention, you pulled me away from a dance with the woman in that dress."

"I told you I wouldn't have called you if it wasn't necessary."

"Alright, let's go."

**—**—**

Arianna sat in her apartment, curled up on the couch, happily lounging in the leggings and a oversized purple t-shirt she'd changed into after the party. Her laptop sat in her lap as she worked on some of her ideas for plans for the New York Sanctum. If she couldn't be spending time with Stephen Strange, spending time working on work projects that involved him seemed to make her happy enough.

She frowned when there was a knock at her door. She looked at her phone and saw the time and scrunched up her face. It was almost midnight.

She got up and approached the door, peeking through the peephole. She broke out in a wide smile when she saw who was on the other side. She unlocked the deadbolt and chain lock and opened the door.

"Stephen!"

He was in his typical sorcerer garb, blue tunic and pants, and the Cloak was comfortably around his shoulders. He smiled when he saw her. "Arianna."

"What are you doing here?"

"You asked me to let you know I was okay…"

"You could have called. Or texted."

He glanced around the hallway, then back to her. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, of course! Sorry," she said as she stepped back allowing him entrance into her apartment.

"I just thought that since our time together was interrupted at the party, we could pick up where we left off," he said as he stepped in, quickly glancing around then turning back to her as she closed and locked the door back.

She turned back to face him and smiled. "We left off at the beginning of our second dance."

"Precisely," he said before pulling his phone out of his pocket, tapping a button that caused music to start playing, then tossed the phone onto her couch and quickly grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him. Seconds later they were posed to slow dance.

She blushed. "Stephen, I'm not exactly dressed for the occasion."

"There's no dress code for dancing with the one you care about. Besides, I'm not exactly in my suit and tie either. And you look just as beautiful now as you did at the party."

"I'm already in your arms, Doctor, no need to flatter me."

"It's not flattery if it's the truth, is it?"

It wasn't till then that she paid attention to the song. "Jack Johnson. My favorite."

"I know."

"You do?" she asked with a confused frown.

"Yes. You listened to it the whole time you worked at Kamar-Taj. When I came to your rescue on the ladder, you were swaying away to one of his tunes."

She blushed. "Yes, I was."

"Mmm hmm."

They grew quiet, staring into each others eyes as the song played and they swayed and spun to the music.

It feels good to be the one, that you want...When all I want is you...

After about half the song had finished, Ariana decided to bring up some work discussion. "So, tomorrow night we head to Kamar-Taj."

"Mm hmm."

"I can't wait to get started on this project."

"Mm hmm," he responded again, this time shorter, as if his inflection was enough a response.

"You don't want to talk about work."

"Nope."

"Sorry," she said, blushing again.

"Don't be. Your work is what brought you to me. I can't argue with that."

"You know, for a formerly pompous, arrogant neurosurgeon turned Master of Mystic Arts, you sure are a big romantic."

"Hmm, I suppose the opportunity hasn't arisen very often in the past. I couldn't see past my own success to think about romance."

"Now?"

"Now—I can't imagine having not met you three days ago, Arianna Miller."

She smiled. "Ditto, Stephen Strange." He managed to spin her out and back in, both of them chuckling till she was back in his arms when she inhaled a deep breath. "How did you get here?"

"Portal. Down the street in an alley. Didn't want to make anyone die of shock in your apartment building. I have an idea for something like a knocking system for a portal, if you'd be interested in testing it with me sometime."

"How's that work?"

"Well, I could portal straight to your apartment, but there'd be no warning and that wouldn't be very gentlemenly of me," he said with a small grin.

"No, it wouldn't be. I could be just getting out of the shower."

"Precisely. But perhaps I could create some sort of spell that creates a symbol in the place of the portal before hand, and only if the appropriate person touches it, will it allow the portal to activate."

"Could you do that?"

"Can a billionaire playboy create a flying suit and become a superhero?"

She nodded and grinned. "Good point. Sure, we can test that sometime." She then chewed at her bottom lip. "You planning on coming to visit more often?"

"If you find that acceptable, I had considered it." He said softly, his gaze questioning.

"I believe I do find that acceptable, yes," she smiled, her hands still resting on his biceps, despite their movement having slowed to a stop.

"Good. However, I would still like to suggest that you stay at Kamar Taj during the upgrade project. That is, if the accomodations aren't too sparse."

"I'm not a diva, Stephen, I can handle, and respect, the sparse accommodations of Kamar-Taj. It would make it easier if we were there, wouldn't it? Especially with the odd work hours. It might take me a day or so to adjust to the time difference."

"You'd do that?"

She smiled. "Well, this business trip happens to also be of some personal interest to me, so yes, I believe I could make the sacrifice of staying at Kamar-Taj for the week," she said with a grin and a twinkle in her eye.

"Personal interest?" he asked, an equal smirk and raised eyebrow.

"I've got my eye on a particular Master of Mystic Arts, you see. I feel it's only appropriate that I get to know more about his work."

"Ah, I see. Wong will be flattered."

She gave him a playful glare, trying to keep the frown on her face, but instead breaking into a yawn. "Speaking of adjusting to time difference, I should probably get some sleep. Big day tomorrow."

"Thank you for seeing me tonight."

"Thank you for coming. It was a pleasant surprise. I was so shocked I forgot to ask—everything okay with the urgent matter you were called away on?"

He sighed. "Yes, another diplomatic issue that they were insistent I be present for. Thankfully this one didn't end up with—"

"A beating on Dimera 7?" An evil grin was spread on her face.

He shook his head and smiled. "It was not a beating."

She chuckled and leaned into him, up onto her tip toes to place a kiss on his cheek. "Good night, Stephen."

He held her close there by his side a moment, taking in a deep breath, then whispering. "Good night, Arianna." He then whipped around, the Cloak billowing out behind him as he called up a portal. He quickly moved through into what appeared to be the Sanctum foyer from the glance she got before the portal closed.

She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the last fizzles of the portal evaporate into the air and considered the man who'd just disappeared out of her room.