The evening grew quieter as the four of them - Max, Stephen, Tony, and Rhodes - had moved to sit around the tower loft's living room area. Tension laid heavily over the conversation. Max attempted to drown the silence in her tea, but she couldn't stop the nervous twisting in her stomach at the stares of her father and uncle.

"So, you're really thinking about moving?" Rhodes asked, "Have you really thought this through? I mean, why Greenwich?"

"Tony wanted to know what was going on in my life," she sighed, "I was hoping being honest would work this time. It's something I've been thinking about, but I didn't want to make the choice before anyone knew about Stephen and I."

"Before anyone knew?" Rhodes wondered, "You mean Tony-"

"Didn't know?" Tony finished, "Nope. I'm outta the loop these days."

"So, what? You were just going to move as soon as he found out or…?"

"Look," Max stopped the question, "Things didn't go as well as I wanted, so I didn't bring it up. Tony just recently decided that he wanted me to come back to this life. In the meantime, I was...staying with Stephen."

"What do you mean "this life," anyway?" Tony huffed, "This is your life."

"One of 'em," she sighed, "To be honest, it feels like I have two most days. I...I hate it. I just want to live the life I want. It's selfish and a bit fast and it might cost me everything, but...I want to live the other one. This other life I made for myself...if just feels right."

"Other life? Do you even hear yourself?"

It was clear that Tony wasn't taking this news any better than he did the last time; this time, Max knew he deserved the to hear the truth from her.

"I know what future I want," she explained, "And, for the first time since everything changed, I really know where I'm supposed to be. I got a pretty good offer and...if it still stands, I'm gonna take it."

A look of sudden realization crossed Stephen's face as a wide smile crossed his face.

"You're serious about this?!" he asked, hope lighting up his face.

Max smiled and nodded, beaming when she saw the excitement on Stephen's face.

"I wanted to talk to you about it," she admitted, "I know I said I needed time to think about it, but...yes. The answer is yes."

Tony looked back and forth between the two, before interjecting.

"Oh, no! Nonono!" he protested, "There's a big difference between "Tony, I'm moving" and "Tony, I'm going to live with the magician in the haunted deathtrap," Mags!"

Max's face seemed to light up a bit more as she turned to Stephen.

"Is it really haunted?" she wondered.

"Eh...only a little," Stephen shrugged, turning to Tony, "And I'm not a magician! I'm a doctor!"

"And kind of an interdimensional sorcerer," Max added.

"That too!"

At this point, Rhodes had become stunned silent, just watching the conversation unfold.

"Max…" he sighed after a minute, "You're an adult, alright? I'm not telling you what to do. As much as he doesn't like it, Tony can't either. But...this is actually insane. It doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't have to!" Max realized, still oddly happy, despite the mild confrontation, "It doesn't have to make sense to you, because this is my choice."

"I'm not seeing the problem here," Stephen admitted, "You all act like she's going to be living in a haunted house somewhere. It's a tasteful mansion in Manhattan, heavily fortified for security and protected by some of the most powerful energy in this dimension. She'll be perfectly safe."

"Well, that's...not terrible," Rhodey nodded, processing the idea.

"Oh, no!" Tony cut in, "C'mon, Rhodes. You're the "uncle" so that you can back me up on things like this."

"I know you don't like it, Tony," Rhodey sighed, "I'm not jazzed about it either, but...there are worse places to live. This clearly means a lot to her. Yeah, I'm still gonna believe it's crazy, but she's right; it's not up to us."

"Whose side are you on, Rhodey?"

"It's not about taking sides," he sighed, "This is about Max. Your daughter is asking you to support her and telling you all of this before she does it. I think that's...okay. If you make this about your side or hers, you're pullin' the rug out from under her and telling her you don't want her to have what's gonna make her happy."

"Thank you, Uncle Rhodey!" Max beamed, going over to hug her uncle.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Tony argued, "I'm not trying to be the bad guy. I'm trying to keep her from making bad decisions because of-..."

"Ah," Stephen realized, "This isn't about your way against Maggie's. This is about your way against mine."

"I never said that," Tony groaned.

"You didn't have to. I think the decision is already made, so let's not make this about us," Stephen suggested, "Colonel Rhodes is right to say that it's not."

"I can't do it," Tony sighed, voice cracking slightly, "I can't keep losing everything!"

The room went tensely silent once again as all attentions turned to Tony.

"What…?" Max asked hesitantly.

"I can't lose you too, Mags," Tony clarified, "I lost the team. I lost most of my friends. I lost Pepper. I can't be number one in my daughter's life anymore. Now...I'm losing you altogether."

"Tony," Max smiled, sitting by her father and taking his hand, "You're not losing me. I just grew up and it took you a long time to notice. I haven't changed my mind about who my family is. You will always be my hero, Dad."

Max pulled her father into a hug, emphasizing her point.

"Just...don't move in with the magician," he mumbled into the hug.

"I'm moving in with the magician."

"Damn it."

The rest of the night passed more peacefully, before Max and Stephen left to return home for the night.

"So," Stephen smirked, setting his jacket on the arm of the couch when he entered the room, "What changed your mind?"

"What do you mean?" Max asked almost absentmindedly as she focused on stepping down out of the heels she was wearing.

"About moving in. Why did you suddenly decided to?"

"When we talked about it, I said I'd think about it."

"You said that because it was nicer than "no," Sweetheart," he sighed, "Something happened to make you decide to say yes."

"Okay," she admitted, "Maybe there were a few things."

"Go on."

"I...I hate going home, Stephen," she huffed, "I go home to this big, empty penthouse and I just spend all of my time there wanting to be here, with you. In this weird old haunted mansion. It doesn't make any sense, but I feel so at ease here. I shouldn't. It's unexplainable and dangerous and honestly just crazy. The walls move and the windows all look into different places and it's full of old cursed or magical artifacts and dangerous books. I'm not sure anyone can ever see all of it, because I don't even think it ends!"

Stephen watched her intently as she rambled on, loving every second that she grew more passionate about his home and life and being a part of it.

"This place is a library, museum, castle, mansion, gateway, and generally the coolest hero lair of all time! Literally of all time. A penthouse has a nice view of the city, but from this house, you can see any world you want! I would be crazy not to want to be here. I'd do anything to belong-"

Her ranting was suddenly cut off when Stephen pulled her against him in a fierce and passionate kiss. He held onto her as if he needed her like the air itself until she finally had to pull away to breathe.

"Wow…" she gasped out quietly.

"I adore you," he stated matter-of-factly, before kissing her again.

The rest of the evening seemed to melt into the kiss, as Max decided she was done thinking for the day. She was home and that was all that mattered to her.

Light leaked into the room through the heavy, deep red curtains. It wasn't much, but it was just enough light to wake Stephen, as it did every day. In his mind, the sorcerer began going through the usual list of things that he wanted to accomplish that day. Starting the morning with a plan was a habit that he formed when he began to live at the Sanctum. The simple thought process distracted him from how empty and lonely some mornings felt. However, upon yawning and opening his eyes, his train of thought faded off. He supposed that, subconsciously, he'd written yesterday evening off as a good dream. Now that he could wake to find that it was real, he would have to rethink his day a bit. That dream was still fast asleep in his arms, curled up with her back tucked against his chest. He was always so amused by the band shirts that she left at his house to sleep in now. She could all but swim in the massive cotton shirt, making her look even smaller than she already was. He smiled and laid his head back down, snuggling in closer to her. Since he was already awake, he doubted that he would be able to sleep again. Still, he was content to stay there for a while longer.

The loud buzzing of Max's phone on the bedside table startled him. He quickly grabbed it and attempted to silence it before it could wake her. Whoever it was could call back at a better time. He denied the call, only to have it begin ringing again. The caller ID read "Tony" which caused Stephen to groan quietly.

"Now?!" he mouthed silently.

When the call persisted, Stephen finally answered it.

"Not a great time," he spoke quietly, "She can call you back."

"Strange?" Tony's voice answered.

"Who else? Now call back later," Stephen whispered, "She's still trying to sleep."

"You're answering her phone now?"

"Only to tell you to stop calling. Look, I'll have her call back."

"Why are you whispering?"

Stephen rolled his eyes and took a deep breath before answering.

"Because I'm trying not to wake her!" he whispered harshly.

"She's there?"

"It's barely six o'clock in the morning. Where else would she be but sleeping?"

"Wait. You two aren't…"

"I'm going to make this simple," Stephen sighed, "We are dating, living together, and - yes - sleep-ing to-ge-ther! Now, she'll call you back!"

With a huff, he hung up the phone and set it back on the nightstand. He could feel Max shake slightly as her laughter grew louder.

"What's so funny?" he asked, realizing that she was, obviously, awake.

"You," she giggled.

"How long have you been awake?"

"A while now," she answered, turning over to look at him, "I just didn't really want to answer the phone. Then, when you did, it got even better."

"You're terrible. You know that?"

"You love me anyway," she replied with a cheeky smile.

"That I do."

He gently kissed her forehead, happy that he could do so without waking her now.

"So," she wondered contently, "What's the plan for the day?"

"Well, assuming the world's not falling apart on me today," he answered, "Then we should definitely consider doing whatever we want. Did you have anything in mind?"

"I can think of a few things to pass the time," she remarked with a wink.

"Have I told you that you are absolutely perfect?"

"Yeah, but you can tell me as much as you want, handsome."