"He looked so sad," Max fussed as she stepped onto the elevator, while Stephen followed closely behind her.
"It will be fine, Maggie," Stephen sighed.
"Don't tell me you didn't notice how betrayed he looked."
"It's a hundred year old - at least - magical artifact, I think it will be just fine without us for a few hours."
"But...he wanted to come too…"
"Maggie," he turned toward her, nearly laughing at this point, "I thought we agreed that magical cloaks were not the attire of the evening. He will somehow go on."
"Fine," she pouted playfully, "Make fun. This is probably just the reason he likes me more than you now."
"Hey, now wait a minute. He does not-"
Ding! The sound of the elevator stopping seemed to chase the playful banter right out of Stephen's mind as he grew quiet and a bit tense.
"Hey," she grabbed his attention, gently taking his hand, "Are you actually nervous?"
"No," he lied unconvincingly, "Just...I…"
"You are!" she realized, "You are nervous about meeting my family."
"Can you blame me?" he pointed out, "This isn't the most typical of dinners."
"This is great," she giggled, "The great Doctor Strange, Sorcerer Supreme, defender of the Universe, is afraid to meet his girlfriend's family at a quiet dinner!"
"I'm not afraid," he defended firmly, "There is a difference between afraid and a bit anxious…"
She smiled up at him and snaked her arm through his.
"Look at me. It will be fine and I love you."
He mirrored her small smile back down to her as the elevator doors opened and they stepped out.
Max was delighted by the setup of the room before them. The main loft of the tower, surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, was set up with a long dinner table near enough to the windows to provide a spectacular view of the city below. The table was set for six people, many of whom seemed to already be there. Vision was the first to greet them.
"Hey, Vis," Max smiled, going to hug the well-dressed android.
"Good evening," he returned the smile cheerfully, "Everyone else has already arrived for dinner."
"Great," she beamed, "Oh! Vision, this is Stephen Strange. Stephen, Vision."
Stephen nodded politely, but wasn't sure exactly what to say, so he remained silent for a moment.
"Doctor," Vision greeted, "It's good to meet you. I must say, I am a big fan of your work in interdimensional energy sources and artifacts."
"Thank you."
"I must admit, I have a personal interest in the research," he admitted, gesturing subtly to the glowing stone in his forehead.
"Well, I can sympathize with that on at least a few levels."
"You guys already have stuff in common," Max pointed out hopefully, "But we've gotta be making the other introductions too."
"Of course," Vision agreed, "I will see if I can help with dinner."
"Oh, Vis!" Max stopped him briefly, "Is Pepper coming?"
"I'm sorry…" he sighed, before continuing to go and be of help.
Max's face sank ever so slightly, but she brushed off the feeling quickly.
"Is something wrong?" Stephen asked quietly.
"Nothing new."
She turned her attention back around the room until she heard Tony's hyperverbal speech precede him into the room, before he and Colonel Rhodes walked in from another room. Bruce Banner followed along quietly behind them.
"Uncle Rhodey!" Max exclaimed eagerly, going over to meet them and hug Rhodes.
Makes sense, Stephen thought, Avenger dad. Avenger uncles. No pressure.
"Well," Tony noted, looking around, "Gang's all here. Dinner time."
"Oh, before we get started," Max cut in, "Uncle Rhodey and Dr. Banner, this is Stephen Strange, my boyfriend."
"Stephen Strange?" Bruce noticed, "As in Doctor Stephen Strange?"
"Yup," Stephen answered a bit nervously, "That would be...me."
To Stephen's relief, a pleasant smile came across Banner's face.
"It's nice to meet you, Doctor," he noted, "I'm a big fan of your work, both with medical advancements and the studies in unstable interdimensional energies."
"Oh, well, thank you."
Max smiled up at Stephen, silently reassuring him and herself that everything was going to be just fine. She ignored the knowing looks that Tony and Rhodes exchanged, choosing to focus on the positive side of things.
"Let's eat!" Tony announced, as Vision returned with trays of food.
"So far, so good!" Max quietly and happily encouraged Stephen.
It was at that point she should probably have predicted the issues that came with seating a few of the most brilliant and stubborn people alive around one table.
By the time dinner was underway, she was now seeing the problems that she should have known were inevitable. The discussion went well when it was turned to science and development, but began to steer a bit further out of control when the subject of more newly discovered matters came up. Max took a long drink of water, knowing full well where the evening could turn.
"So, Vision," Stephen wondered, "If you don't mind my asking, of course, you're a vibranium alloy android gaining sentience from the stone wired into your cerebral interface?"
"Yes," Vision answered casually, "My design was knowledge drawn from the mind-stone itself."
"That is fascinating," Stephen continued, truly interested.
"Thank you," the polite android smiled.
"Happy accident, in a way," Tony mused, "He was going to be a bad guy, but with a Stark Industries reboot and some Asgardian lightning, he came to life a pretty good guy."
Max smiled at the thought, because she knew it was true. Vision was one of her favorite people and he really was pretty great. Her smile quickly faded, however, when she recognized the look on Stephen's face. Some geniuses just couldn't leave well enough alone.
"What was that?" he chuckled a bit, "I mean, "came to life"? Really, Stark?"
"So, it's not the most scientific terms," Tony admitted, "But that's what happened."
"Sorry, but...no."
"No?" Tony huffed a bit, "You're an expert on my team now?"
"It's fairly obvious."
"Enlighten me, Strange."
Stephen took a deep breath as if he were going to back down from the issue, but Max knew better. He needed the last word.
"He's a cosmically powered android, Stark," Stephen explained, "Not Frosty the Snowman. He didn't "come to life," because that suggests the possibility of mankind creating life, which simply isn't true. While Vision may be younger in form, his lifeforce is ancient. He's literally drawing life from one of the oldest and most powerful energy sources in the universe."
"So, it's not my team you know," Tony corrected, "It's Infinity Stones."
"Well...in my line of work, one tends to pick up a few interesting facts."
Tony had an odd look, as he took a long drink.
"You've worked with them before then," he deduced, "The stones."
"Oh, no," Strange shook his head, "I'm not answering that. That's a loaded question. Then, if I said yes, you'd only ask more about that."
"Here I thought scientific curiosity was a good thing."
"Scientific curiosity is one thing," Stephen scoffed, "But we all know where playing with cosmic artifacts leads you."
"So, dinner's great!" Bruce cut in.
"So good!" Max agreed.
Unfortunately, the diversion didn't take hold.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Tony asked, offended.
"Umm...I believe you called it "Ultron," right?" Stephen pointed out.
Max visibly tensed at the mention, so Rhodes did his best to cut in and help the discussion.
"That's a bit unfair," the colonel added, "Now, there are better systems in place to prevent things like the Ultron incident and it's for the better."
For a brief moment of peace, Max was able to take a few bites of food without worrying about the conversation. That, like any peace in her life, also didn't last.
"Things like these "Infinity Stones" just make me glad that we're more prepared to avoid this kinda stuff."
Max could watch the regret on Stephen's face after he was unable to keep from letting out an ironic laugh.
"Is there something funny, Doctor?" Rhodes asked, a bit irritated by the laugh.
"Nothing," Stephen replied, "It's just...I don't get how you can feel prepared for these problems. I mean, the Avengers couldn't even handle each other."
"I admit," Rhodes sighed, "The first few issues with the Accords were rough, but we're working it out."
"I imagine so," Stephen added, a bit too sarcastically, "I mean, all three of you still follow it, so it must be a leap toward success."
"Look!" Tony jumped in, clearly frustrated, "It's the right thing to do, alright!"
"Doctor Banner," Stephen turned to address Bruce, "You are on record as not only saving lives through medicine and research, but also through your own unique gifts. You've helped saved the world numerous times. Tell me...would you sign?"
"That's not really…" Bruce sighed, "I...I couldn't. In my experience, Ross's ambition isn't world peace. People could really get hurt."
"And that's before he militarized the Avengers…" Max mumbled.
"Aw, Max," Rhodey sighed, "Not you too. We've talked about this."
"I know, but Stephen has some valid concerns about it all. I'm not so sure-"
"It gets better, Rhodey," Tony interrupted, "Mags was the one to go over to the others with the white flag and make our case for us. Guess she changed her mind."
"I know how you feel, Uncle Rhodey," Max spoke up, "And I can respect that. Just...know that signatures on a paper aren't going to change my mind about what's right or wrong."
"You were on board with this from the start, Max," Rhodes reminded her.
"Things changed."
She couldn't avoid the guilty look on Stephen's face when he put together that he had indirectly led them to this point in the conversation. Looking back at him, she offered a small smile to ease the tension.
"So," Bruce filled the silence with a calm and polite tone, "You two? How did that happen?"
"We met and he asked me to coffee," she answered, skipping details, "From the very start, he was always sweet and thoughtful and I liked being around him."
"How did you meet?" Bruce continued.
"Well…" Max explained awkwardly, "I was actually sent to meet with him about the Avengers. Tony thought he would be interested and a new hero might help."
"I get not being a team player," Tony accepted, "But...who turns down the Avengers?"
"It's not the team part that bothers me, Stark," Stephen answered simply, "Honestly, I'd rather not sign my soul over to be a part of the Super Friends. But if you, by any chance, get the other interdimensional and mystic heroes to agree with you, then I would naturally reconsider."
The sass was apparent in Stephen's voice, adding onto the knowledge that they would never get Thor to agree with the terms, let alone other heroes that they haven't had contact with yet.
"Until then," Strange finished, "The narrow minded boundaries don't really work out well for me. I prefer to operate without a babysitter from Washington."
"That can't last forever," Rhodey argued, "Sooner or later, this will be the only way people feel safe with us out there."
"Colonel Rhodes," Stephen smirked, "Whether people feel safe or not isn't my concern. I couldn't care less that people don't always like what I do. It just needs done and I will continue to do it, to protect people from threats that would really make them feel "unsafe." I'm sorry to say there's nothing that will change that."
"Are you suggesting that you're going to continue to operate outside of the law?"
"Above it, actually," Stephen corrected, "Because that's the best option. The only other option suggested is that I am "retired," according to your new laws, which would be great!"
The sarcasm was scathing as he spoke, but he didn't stop there.
"Actually…" he noted with a smile, "Why not?" I could use a vacation. And, of course, you are all perfectly prepared to seal dimensional rifts and restore any beings that slip into this dimension back to their original worlds before reality itself fractures, right? Maybe Maggie and I can go on a cruise."
Silence fell over the table, indicating that there were no more remarks or arguments ready to stand against Stephen's.
"I didn't think so," he sighed, "So, next time it comes up, I suggest you leave me to my work and trust that I will do everything I can to keep the universe from collapsing. Dinner is very good."
"It's...great food," Max agreed tensely.
"I should...apologize," Stephen realized, noting Max's expression, "I haven't been the most gracious guest and I really meant no offense. Just because we disagree doesn't mean we abandon civility."
"Agreed," Tony sighed, "It's not the end of the world...this time. Anyone want a drink?"
There were a few mixed reactions around the table, as Tony stood to go get a bottle from behind the bar. He walked back over, wine bottle in hand.
"Seriously, anyone? Mags?"
"You are joking, right?" Stephen asked solemnly, "Granted, it's not funny, but…"
Reading Tony's confused expression, Stephen turned to Max for more answers.
"He...doesn't really know," she shrugged, "It never came up."
"What is it we're not telling Tony now?" Tony asked.
"Maggie doesn't drink, Stark," Stephen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Since when?" Tony wondered,
"I...I never have," Max answered, "I was always afraid that it might become an issue for me, because of...family history. I'll take some tea instead, though."
"You drink tea?"
"Wow…" Stephen mouthed silently, surprised by how little communication they seemed to really have.
"So…" Tony realized, "I didn't know you were in a serious relationship. I didn't know how much you disagreed with the Accords. I didn't know that you drank tea and didn't drink alcohol. What...what else do I not know about you?"
"Since you asked," Max replied, "I'm thinking about moving, and you didn't know that yet."
"Moving?! Moving where?"
"We haven't really talked about it much, so it's not set yet, but...Greenwich Village. I'd still be in Manhattan. It's just a different neighborhood."
Tony was, yet again, surprisingly speechless. Vision took the opportunity to speak for the first time in a while.
"Margaret?" he asked, "Would it be alright if I excused myself from this tense discussion?"
"Sure thing, Vis," Max sighed, "Thanks for joining us."
"It was my pleasure. Nice to meet you, Dr. Strange."
Stephen nodded and smiled weakly, as Vision left the room.
"I should...probably get going to, kiddo," Bruce smiled at Max, "I'll be around again soon though."
"Bye, Bruce."
Tony had started pacing slightly, processing the evening's new information.
"Maybe it's best that the rest of us have a talk then," Stephen suggested reluctantly.
"Okay," Max huffed, "Family meeting!"