Max left early the next morning to go back to the tower and settle things. She wasn't sure if Tony would even want to see her, considering that he made no efforts to reach her after she left, but it didn't matter. She needed to talk this out before she let it get any worse. She was done running from her problems. By the time she reached the tower, it was too late to turn back and her resolve didn't falter.

"Friday?" she called out, stepping onto the elevator.

"Yes, Miss Stark," the A.I. responded.

"I need to talk to Tony. What floor is he on?"

"I'm sorry. Mr. Stark isn't here."

"Not here?" Max echoed in question, "Then...where is he?"

Across town, Tony once again knocked a fist against the large wooden doors. He nervously shifted where he stood until the doors finally opened. Stepping inside of the house, he saw Strange coming down the stairs with a confused look on his face.

"Stark?"

"Last I checked," Tony shrugged, "I need to see Max."

Stephen paused for a long moment, before shaking his head and chuckling slightly.

"I'm afraid you can't."

"What do you mean I can't?" Tony insisted defensively, "It's important."

"No, let me finish. You can't see her because she's not here. She went to the tower to see you."

"She...she went to talk to me?"

"Yes. She wanted to try and work things out, which I can only hope is the reason you're here now."

"Something like that."

"She hasn't heard from you in a few weeks," Stephen noted a bit passive aggressively.

"I kept thinking she'd come back," Tony admitted, "But she never did. I thought, if I was the first to cross that bridge, she'd win."

"What changed that?"

"I realized that there wasn't a "winner" here. This whole thing is ridiculous."

"That's what I've been saying, but she seems to be anxious about your approval...or lack thereof. She really cares about you, Tony."

"Is that what all of this is about? She doesn't think I'll like her if she disagrees with me on something?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Stephen sighed, "She's a sensitive person."

"I know. Sometimes I'm….not one. We clash."

"Will you let her come back?" Stephen wondered, "To her job? Her life?"

"Of course I will. You think I haven't done this same things to my folks before, when I was even younger than her?" Tony chuckled, "I just...I overreacted and that didn't help anyone."

"If you want to wait here, I'll go get her," Stephen offered, "I know that she has a few things to say as well."

"Sure...and Stephen," Tony agreed, "I'm-"

"You don't owe me any explanation or apology, Tony. I didn't make this a walk in the park either."

Tony just nodded and let Stephen leave through a portal.

When the portal reappeared, Stephen walked back through with Max, holding her hand in his. She shyly gripped onto Stephen's arm with her free hand.

"Hey, Tony," she greeted with a weak smile.

"Come home, Max," Tony pleaded, "Come back to work. We all miss you. I even heard from Wanda wondering why you hadn't gone to see the others in a while."

"You want me back?"

"Mags, I want my daughter back! I'm not losing you over something like this. Neither of us handled this well and - let's be honest, we're not the best communicators in this family - but I think we could have done better than that."

Max released Stephen's arm to run and hug her father.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I shouldn't have ever lied to you."

"It's alright, kid," he smiled at her when she pulled back, "You had a lot going on. Next time just...tell me, okay."

"I...I love him."

"I know," Tony accepted with a deep breath, "And that's going to take some getting used to, but...I say we try it."

"Really?"

"I mean, you were half raised by the Avengers. I shouldn't be shocked when you bring home a superhero. And...you could do a lot worse than Strange."

"Was that a compliment?" Stephen cut in, "It almost sounded like one."

Tony sighed and ignored the comment as Max put a hand on his arm and looked him in the eye.

"You're okay with this?"

"Are you happy?"

"Yes."

"Then I will be. Okay? Just...come home. We've got a lot to tell the others about."

"The others? We're telling them all about this?"

"Mags, whether we like it all the time or not, we're kinda family at this point. So, here's what you're gonna do to figure this out: You're going to bring your boyfriend around for dinner and introduce him to the other Avengers. We'll all play nice and get along and show you how much we care about you and what makes you happy."

"Well, that's...terrifying," Stephen noted to himself at the idea.

"Too bad, Strange. We'll see you both tonight."

Max couldn't stop the smile that spread across her lips as she hugged Tony again.

"Okay. So, a nice kind of dinner?"

"What kind of dinner do you want?"

"Nice."

"Then it'll be the nicest. I'll take care of it," Tony answered.

"We'll be there! Around seven?"

"Sounds great. Now, I gotta go tell Vision you're alright so he'll stop the pacing and questions. See you soon, kiddo."

"Bye."

He took a look back at the two before shooting her a signature Stark smirk and walking out.

"This is great!" she beamed, turning to Stephen, "You were right!"

"Right about?"

"I didn't think he'd really warm up to the idea, but he did! Now you get to come meet everyone! Well...not everyone, because the team is still kind of...split up, but at least a few!"

"That's nice," he responded hesitantly.

"You're gonna get to come have dinner with my family!"

The gravity of the situation dawned on Stephen and, while he was happy to finally be an official part of her life, the idea of dinner with her family unnerved him.

"Why are you not happy and smiling with me?" she asked, forcing her smile to stay in place.

"I've never gone to a "meet the parents" dinner before. It just really never got that far. What is it even like?"

"Don't worry," she assured him, "I'll take care of everything."

"Who's worried…?"

Stepping out of the bathroom after a shower, Stephen noticed the clothing already set out on the bed.

"Should I be concerned that you don't like my usual clothing choice?" he joked dryly as Max buzzed into the room carrying her own outfit to change into for dinner.

"It's not anything against the magical wardrobe, Babe," she smirked, "I just thought date night attire would work for a dinner. It's only fair since Iron Man's been banned from the dining room."

"That is a joke, right?"

"I wish. It was a big deal. Uncle Bruce and I had to both side against armor inside the common areas of the tower."

"Uncle Bruce?" he wondered, "Bruce as in Bruce Banner?"

"Yeah. Tony doesn't have any siblings, but I got in the habit of calling he, Steve, and Col. Rhodes my uncles. They're just family to me."

"So..." he summarized, "Captain America, Iron Patriot, and the Hulk are your uncles? No pressure there..."

"It's back to "Was Machine" now," she noted, laying out her outfit to look at it.

"Oh, they need to stop changing that."

"Tell me about it."

He stepped back to see what she was doing and smirked. The dark red dress shirt that she had picked for him was the same color as the dress that she planned to wear herself. Each outfit was completed with black, tights for her and dress pants for him.

"What?" she asked, noticing his smirk, "Something wrong?"

"I can't tell if it's over thought, sweet, or both."

She looked at the clothing and finally realized what he saw.

"Hey!" she fake pouted, "I worked hard on this. It's cute."

"It's very thoughtful of you, Sweetheart," he smiled, stepping up behind her and pulling her back to him in an embrace, "And it's a great color. I didn't know I had a shirt that color..."

"Oh, you didn't."

"There are considerable advantages to having a beautiful, loving, and very rich woman in my life," he smiled.

"You're a lucky man, Strange."

She grabbed her own clothing from the bed and passed him toward the shower, giving him a brief kiss on the way.

Stephen sighed contently and gathered his own apparently new clothing. He wasn't sure how the night was going to go, but he was sure at this point that he would do whatever it took to make sure that this was the best dinner possible for her.

When he finished getting ready for the evening, he took a look in the mirror present in the room. A long, low whistle brought his focus to look at Max behind him in the mirror. With a chuckle, he turned around to look at her.

"What was that for?"

"Nothing," she shrugged coyly, "Just enjoying the view."

He offered a good natured eye roll and gestured for her to turn around. She did so with her own little smirk. He stepped up behind her and helped to zip up the back of the dress that she had pulled on, truthfully cheating a bit as he hovered his hand over the zipper pulling itself up. When he was finished, she turned back around and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You look beautiful," he praised sweetly.

"Thank you," he beamed back at him, "But the look isn't complete without gorgeous arm candy."

"Is that what I am now?"

"You are so many things," she replied playfully, "But, Baby, when we're in a building with my last name plastered across it, yes. You are my arm candy."

"There are worse jobs to have."

"Yeah. Whenever I pictured myself with a handsome older man with a PhD, I always thought that It'd be the other way around."

"You know," he laughed, "I've tried it the other way, but...I gotta say this is more fun. I don't have to worry about anything."

"Enjoy it while it lasts."

He chuckled and offered her his arm. As she grabbed her jacket and purse, she happily took his arm and smiled up at him.

"Let's go meet my family."