AN: A little ScarletVision Endgame fix-it for you. Just a one-shot for now, but I might add to it later.
Vision was dead.
Wanda Maximoff was thrust back into that painful reality, into the midst of a battle in which she had tried and failed to avenge her lost love, and before the dust had settled on the battlefield, more painful realities had come.
Natasha Romanoff was dead, having sacrificed herself to retrieve the Soul Stone and return them all. Natasha, who had trained her in combat, helped Steve rescue her from the Raft. Helped her learn how to mask her accent, and keep under the radar when they were on the run. Natasha, who had risked her own life to save Wanda's, and make sure she knew that she wasn't alone.. Natasha Romanoff was dead, gone, and Wanda had never had the chance to say goodbye, and thank her for all she had done.
And then, shattering the initial elation at their enemies crumbling to dust, came the news that Tony Stark was dead, too.
Wanda felt horribly out of place at Stark's funeral, surrounded by so many people who loved him, or at least knew him in a way that Wanda had never allowed herself to. For awhile she had stuck close to Sam, and Bucky, the only person who seemed as awkward about being there as she was, and she'd had a nice heart to heart with Clint. But now Bucky and Sam had both gone to see Steve off on his quest to return the Infinity Stones, and Clint, understandably, was occupied with reconnecting with his wife and children.
This left Wanda standing awkwardly in a corner of Stark's beautiful Lake House, clutching a rapidly cooling mug of tea that had been pressed into her hands by an older woman with a sympathetic face but whose name she couldn't remember (Jane? No, that was Thor's ex.. Janice? Maybe it would come to her), quite some time earlier.
While Natasha's death was a deep personal loss, and the absence of Vision was an enormous gaping wound in a heart that already been shattered too many times, Wanda Maximoff's feelings about the death of Tony Stark were a great deal more complicated. She didn't have the grief-fueled hatred for him that had plagued her in her youth. She knew that Stark wasn't a monster who had taken her parents from her. And, he was at least partly responsible for the creation of Vision, who had become the love of her life. But as much as she knew this, there was a little part of her that couldn't completely let go of his admittedly small role in her parents' deaths. Because of this, Wanda did not feel Tony's loss as keenly or painfully as some of her friends did.
Or at least, not in quite the same way, or more accurately, for the same reason. For a moment, Wanda's eyes fixed on the dark haired little girl tailing her Mother around the House as she received everyone's condolences. Wanda knew how it felt to lose your parents. Morgan Stark still had her Mother, of course- but she was only five, so much younger than Wanda had been when the bomb destroyed her home. No child should have to lose a parent that young.
So, rather than grieving for Tony Stark, about whom her feelings were still hugely complicated, Wanda found herself grieving instead for a fellow daughter who had lost her Father too soon. Becoming lost in these thoughts, her eyes beginning to sting, Wanda didn't immediately notice when said fellow daughter came to stand in front of her. Morgan tugged at her skirt to get her attention.
"Oh, hello" Wanda, slightly surprised, wiped her eyes, set aside her now stone-cold cup of tea and crouched down to the little girl's eye-level so she could speak to her properly. "Your name is Morgan, isn't it?"
"Uh-huh. And you're Maximoff."
"I'm Wanda" Wanda chuckled, "But Maximoff is my last name. How did you know?"
"Daddy told me" Morgan looked around for a moment, as if half expecting her Daddy to appear, and Wanda felt a pang of sympathy for the child. The little girl tilted her head to one side, small hands toying with the hem of her dress. "Can you fix my brother?"
"Your brother?" Wanda's brow furrowed, very confused. So far as she knew, Morgan was an only child. However, her eyes briefly flickered over to Peter Parker, the Spider-Man. Wanda had caught only a brief glimpse of Peter after the battle, but the boy had been inconsolable. He was currently conversing with his Aunt and a teenager with sandy blonde hair whom whom Wanda didn't recognize, though she knew he had been standing near her during the ceremony at the lake.
"Well, he's kinda like a brother, 'cause Daddy helped make him" Morgan continued. Wanda's heart leaped into her throat.
"Is.. Is his name Vision?"
"Yeah! He's in Daddy's shed. You wanna come see?" Morgan held out a hand.
Wanda did, very much. But she was also aware of the questionable morality of following a small child somewhere without their parents knowing where they had gone, so scanned the immediate area for Pepper Potts. It didn't take long, because as it turned out, Pepper was already watching them. She had the red-rimmed eyes of someone who had been crying a lot recently, but managed a small smile, nodding her consent. So, Wanda took Morgan's small hand, letting her lead the way.
Wanda wasn't sure why she was surprised to find that the shed was not, strictly speaking, just a shed. It had been Tony Stark's, after all. While the building certainly looked like a shed from the outside, inside was a fully functional high-tech lab.
Morgan led Wanda past numerous work tables of half-completed projects that would now never be finished, past numerous robots and gadgets.. and then she spotted the cradle, so similar to the one from which Vision had been born, humming with energy. Wanda let go of Morgan's hand, running to it, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes. There, inside the cradle, was Vision. He was still the dull grey color that he had become after Thanos had ripped the Mind Stone from his head, but otherwise, he looked as though he could have been sleeping rather than dead. Both his crushed skull and the gash in his chest had been painstakingly repaired, and someone had gently closed his eyes.
Wanda laid her hand on the cradle, her hearts racing as she summoned the small wisps of red energy to her fingertips. Hope swelled in her chest. She could read.. Something. Vision wasn't all there, but neither was he entirely gone.
"Daddy's been trying to fix Vision for a real long time" Said Morgan, plopping herself down into a small chair not far from where Wanda stood.
"Was he?" Wanda didn't move her hand, but pulled her eyes away from Vision long enough to look around a bit. The area around the cradle was set up differently.. it had a personal touch, more like someone's bedroom than part of a lab. A stack of books Wanda recognized as Vision's sat on a small table beside the cradle, along with a framed photograph of Wanda and a disguised Vision from one of their visits together. The lump in her throat returned, along with a sudden rush of affection for Tony Stark, and an equal rush of guilt for never truly understanding who he was.
"Uh-huh" Morgan continued, swinging her legs. "He fixed all his boo boos, and he talks to him when he's working. I talk to him too, sometimes. But he couldn' wake him up without his magic stone.."
"The Mind Stone.."
"Daddy always said 'It might be different if Maximoff was here'."
"See.." Wanda's eyes drifted back to Vision inside of the cradle. It wasn't difficult to join the dots. Since Wanda's powers came from the Mind Stone, Tony had thought she may be the final piece in the puzzle of restoring Vision.
"You're here now" said Morgan. "So can you fix my brother?"
"I don't know.." Wanda flashed a small smile in Morgan's direction, already growing fond of her. How could she not? The little girl was adorable. "But I'm definitely going to try."
"Yay!"
Wanda chuckled. Then, nervously, she pressed a button to open the cradle. Summoned the scarlet energy to the tips of her fingers once more.
"Morgan, stand back a little, okay? I'm not sure what's going to happen."
"Okay" Morgan slid out of her chair and took a few steps backwards.
With a shaky breath, Wanda bent over the cradle, pressing her glowing hands to the sides of his head. Focused hard, on what was left of Vision, on what she knew of him, her own memories of who he was, all the quirks and foibles he had developed since his birth, focused on the love the two of them had shared.
Color sparked on Vision's skin, the vibrant pinkish-red Wanda had come to know so well. Flickered, as if it was trying to spread, but couldn't quite manage it.
"Vision.. Vision, wake up.." Wanda begged, devoting every ounce of energy she had to this, to him. "Come on, Vizh.. please.. Feel me." And then, because it was the only thing she could think to do, she leaned down and kissed him.
The effect was almost immediate. Color bloomed and spread, dull grey transforming into red, silver, teal, and gold.
"Wow.." Morgan's jaw dropped.
Vision's eyes shot open, and he sat bolt upright, gasping.
"Vision.." Wanda threw her arms around him, happy tears in her eyes. "It's okay.. You're okay.."
"Wanda.." Vision slowly came back to himself, his arms instinctively wrapping around her, drawing her close. "W-What happened? Thanos.."
"He's gone now.. He's gone" Wanda peppered kisses over his face. He was here. He'd come back to her. "He's gone, and you're with me."
"I'm with you.."
"Yeah!" Morgan piped up, jumping for joy, and Vision's surprised eyes moved to the little girl. "Maximoff kissed you and you woke up, just like Sleeping Beauty!"
"Wanda" Wanda corrected her gently, "But yes, he was a bit like sleeping beauty, wasn't he?"
"Uh-huh" Morgan clambered into Vision's lap. "Hi, brother!"
Vision looked at her a moment, his brow crinkling. An almost memory.. A small voice, crayons and a coloring book resting on his cradle..
"Morgan.." Vision's hand ran through the little girl's dark hair, a small smile spreading over his face. "You're Morgan."
Wanda laughed and kissed his cheek, her heart so full.
All too soon, certain painful realities would crash on Vision just as they had crashed upon her. But not yet.
For just a few moments more, they would enjoy their fairytale.