“Boss, Wanda Maximoff would like to speak with you for a moment?”
Tony groaned, looking up from his computer in the general direction of FRIDAY’s camera. “Can it wait, kind of in the middle of something here?”
“She says it can but would like to speak sooner rather than later.” FRIDAY relays to him.
Tony bounces his leg a few times, picking at the calloused skin on his hands and thinking. The last 24 hours had been brutal. The Avengers had been called out to deal with Doctor Doom. Doom is always a pain in the ass, constantly evolving his methods and improving his technology. Vision was always a major help in fighting Doom, because he could connect to the Doom Bots and shut them down. It seemed Doctor Doom had gotten quite sick of Vision’s intrusion, because when Vision tried the same trick this time, the bot fried him.
The team had been unable to reach him through comms. The fight ended rather quickly when Maximoff caught a glimpse of her favorite android, lying prone on the ground. Tony is rarely truly scared of Wanda anymore, but he was reminded exactly why they need her on their side. In the end there wasn’t even scrap metal left to clean up.
They had returned to the tower and immediately, Tony, Bruce, and Doctor Cho got started on helping Vision. It seems the Doom Bot had released a virus when Vision connected to it. The team waited with baited breath as the three of them worked on him. Bruce came out two hours later to tell them Vision would be okay.
Wanda had been the first in once Vision woke up, and as far as Tony knew, hadn’t left his side since. Until now.
Tony sighed deeply. “Yeah, send her in.” He hears the lab door woosh and Wanda pads in silently. She didn’t need to be more dangerous, Natasha didn’t need to teach her to move like a shadow.
Her hair is messy, and there are bags under her eyes that rival Tony’s. She’s wearing clothes that he recognizes and silently smiles. He had bought Vision a wardrobe to make him feel more like a person, all that ended up happening was Wanda stealing his clothes every chance she got.
“What can I help you with, Red?” He asks.
She shifts her weight from foot to foot, cracking her knuckles and takes a deep breath. She won’t look him in the eye. “Wanda?” He prompts again.
“Um, I had something I wanted to talk to you about?” She says. He gestures for her to pull up a chair. She does and sits across from him. She doesn’t say anything for a rather long time and Tony breaks the silence.
“Worried about Vision?” Vision seems to be the safest topic between the two of them. Everything else brings unexpected baggage, no matter what the subject is, but Vision is a soft middle ground. A cherished son, and a beloved partner. Sometimes it seems the only person other than Bruce and Tony that Vision has a true true human connection with is Wanda, and Tony is thankful for her presence in his life.
She nods, “Doom should be thankful his virus didn’t do worse.” It might be the light, but Tony sees the tell tale sign of red shining in her eyes. Victor Von Doom has no idea the enemy he just made.
“He’ll be okay, Cho and Brucey Bear got him all fixed up.” He assures her.
“And you?”
“Me?”
“You helped too.” She says.
He glances at her, “Yeah, but Cho and Bruce did most of the work, it was his hardware that was affected, that’s their territory, I was just making sure his brain wasn’t affected by the shock.”
“You were in there as long as they were?” Wanda clarifies.
“Uh, yeah, I just…” Tony feels a bit awkward but continues, “I was worried, I stayed to make sure things went alright.”
She hums thoughtfully.
Silence hangs over them for another moment before Wanda pulls something out of her pocket and places it on the desk in front of Tony. It’s a small velvet box with a dark red hue. His eyes shoot up to Wanda. “I wanted to know if you thought he would like it?” She whispers.
He pulls it closer to him and slowly opens it. The ring is brilliant, a thick band of gold, shining the same yellow as Vision’s cape, and the gem in the center is the same cut and colour of the brilliant glowing stone that gives the android life. The ring practically vibrates with magical energy.
He looks up from the ring at her again. His mouth must be hanging open, but he can’t find any words. “I made it.” Wanda says, “By hand, no magic.”
Finally Tony tries to get some words out, “You… you’re going to… ask him to marry you?”
She nods, shyly, looking like she’s second guessing herself. “I was planning something big, in a month or two. Romantic, with flowers and doves, music too. But today just really made me realize either of us could die at any moment.”
He nods. “Must feel like taking a dip in freezing water, realizing he could get hurt.”
“He’s made of vibranium, as strong as Thor, and he can fly. It never really occurred to me before. Now that I’ve seen it happen, it just feels like this can’t wait.” Wanda explains, going back to pulling at her fingers.
Tony looks back at the ring. He closes the box and hands it back to Wanda, “He’ll love it. He’ll love anything that comes from you.”
She takes the ring box, “And you… don’t disapprove?” She asks.
Tony spins his chair back towards his computer, “You know, Red, you aren’t as bad as you try to make yourself out to be. Not as bad as everybody else thinks either. And you love him. Besides, this means I have the strongest Avenger protecting my kid.”
He can see her smile in the reflection of the screen. She stands, and swoops down to give him a hug. It’s quick and delicate. He can count on one hand the amount of times Wanda Maximoff has hugged him. It’s pretty nice.
“If you’re getting permission though, you should ask Cho and Bruce.” He tells her as she turns to leave.
“I asked Cho before she left, and Dr Banner before he went to bed. You were my last stop.” She says, slipping out of the lab.
The door closes behind her. “FRIDAY, darling, when the proposal starts, pull up a feed?”
“Of course, boss.”