Echo: The Infinity Saga | Wanda Maximoff x male reader.

chapter 23: retirement plans?

5 months later, May 27th 2016

I was walking down an aisle at a supermarket, and heard someone shout my name. I looked around, and saw a tall blond woman walking towards me confidently.

"Can I help you?" I asked, confused as to why she was just standing in front of me.

"No, but I can help you," She said in a British accent, smirking at me. I looked at her confused.

"And, who are you, exactly?"

"Nicola Wormwood," She started shaking my hand aggressively.

"That helps," I said sarcastically, and she handed me what appeared to be a business card, except it was blank.

"What am I meant to do with this? It's blank,"

"You're right, It's rubbish. You should probably just burn it," She winked at me, and walked away.

"What an odd woman," I said to myself, as I picked up a box of LEGO and examined it. I put it down and left the store, and went back to the compound. I walked to Wanda's room and entered. Steve was also there. She was still a bit shaken up about what had happened in Lagos, last month.

"What legal authority does an enhanced like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria?" I ran across the room, and turned the TV off. Wanda looked at me shocked, because she didn't hear me enter.

"It's my fault,"

"No it's not," I said, leaning against the wall.

"Turn the TV back on. They're being very specific,"

"I should've clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it. Rumlow said 'Bucky' and I was a 16 year old kid again, in Brooklyn," Steve walked over to Wanda, and sat next to her on her bed. "And people died. It's on me,"

"It's on both of us," I walked over to Wanda, squatted down, and held her hands.

"This job is... dangerous. We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody. But if we can't find a way to live with that, then maybe next time nobody gets saved," She looked at me, and smiled. If Steve wasn't sitting next to her, I'd have kissed her. Vision phased through the wall.

"Vision?" I pointed to the open door.

"The door was open, so I assumed that... Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr Stark was arriving,"

"Thank you, we'll be right down," Steve said.

"I'll use the door," Vision walked to the door. "Oh, and apparently he's brought a guest,"

"Who?" I asked.

"The secretary of state," Steve and I looked at each other. Steve left, leaving Wanda and I on our own.

"I was just in Manhattan, and some woman came up to me and handed me this," I pulled the card out of my pocket, and handed it to her. She examined it.

"It's blank,"

"Right. She said I should just put it in a fire. If she wants me to destroy a blank card, then why give it to me?"

"Have you tried putting it in a fire?"

"We don't have any fireplaces. Hang on," I ran outside, grabbed 2 twigs and a small bit of wood, and went back to Wanda's room. I used my speed to create enough friction to create a small fire.

"What are you doing?"

"You'll see," I placed the card on the wood, and it got engulfed in flames. It was slowly reduced to ashes, but from the ashes some orange magic strings came out of the fire. The ashes re-formed into a card, and landed on the floor, as the fire extinguished itself. I picked the card up. It wasn't empty, it was a fully established business card.

"The Aether Institute. It's got an address too,"

"Where is it?"

"Portugal," I looked up at her.

"Are you going to go?"

"I don't know. I'll think about it,"

***

All the Avengers were sitting in a conference room. We were waiting for Secretary Ross to start his presentation, or whatever he was doing.

"Five years ago, I had a heart attack, and dropped right in the middle of my back swing. Turned out it was the best round of my life because after thirteen hours of surgery, and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective. The world owes The Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some who would prefer the word 'vigilantes',"

"What would you use, Secretary?" I asked.

"How about 'dangerous'?" What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders, and inflict their will wherever they choose, and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?" He walked over to his computer, and an image of the world map appeared before us. It zoomed in on New York, and showed a video of 2012, when the Chitauri invaded.

"New York," I looked at Rhodey, who looked at Nat.

"Washington D.C," A video of a helicarrier crashing into Washington played.

"Sokovia," A video of Sokovia's capital collapsing on itself played. I looked at Wanda, who looked annoyed.

"Lagos," Wanda looked away from the screen.

"Okay. That's enough," Steve commanded.

"For the past four years, you've operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution," He handed a very thick stack of papers to Wanda.

"The Sokovia Accords. Approved by 117 countries, it states that The Avengers shall no longer be a private organisation. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary," Rhodey slid the Accords over to me, and I read through them quickly. I looked at Steve, then at Tony.

"The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that,"

"Tell me, Captain Rogers, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?"

"Thor's probably in Asgard," I said.

" 'Probably'. I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes you can bet there'd be consequences. Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works. Believe me, this is the middle ground,"

"So, there are contingencies," Rhodey said.

"Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords," Steve looked back at Tony, who looked down to the floor.

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat asked.

"Then you retire,"