Teeth (READ DISCLAIMER)

Chapter 16: Blood on my shirt

"Well, it seems you and Miss Maximoff are in luck Vision. As it happens I am famished" She said, chuckling as the tension left the android's shoulders and he relaxed slightly.

She tucked into her food with relish, enjoying the comfortable silence they were sharing.

"Wanda is missing you Natasha" Vision said suddenly.

Natasha was silent for a moment as she contemplated her answer. It was not unusual for Vision to talk to her about Wanda but she didn't expect him to reference their personal relationship.

"I'm sure she will be fine, she has you and the guys love having her around." She said lightly.

"She is very resilient, not too dissimilar to you Agent Romanoff."

Natasha nodded.

"She is much more resilient than I was at her age. That's a good thing. She has learned to turn her misfortune into something positive. She's still so very young." Natasha kept her voice steady.

If she had to talk about Wanda then she would keep the conversation on just that, without allowing her personal feelings to be drawn into it.

"Oh, I don't think she is quite that young Natasha. She has an old, wise mind. One that can only come by being forced to grow up too quickly. She is a woman, an adult, and should be treated as such. Trauma and grief breeds maturity." Vision stated.

Natasha stayed silent, unable to find fault with Vision's words.

They sat in companionable silence for a while before Vision stood up to leave.

"Agent Romanoff, I don't wish to overstep any boundaries-" he began.

"Then don't" Natasha said, also rising.

"In the short time I have been aware of my surroundings I have been consistently intrigued by humans and their emotions. By love. I have seen you all experience happiness, laughter, pain, sadness and grief. I have witnessed the love you feel for one another and how you all express it in very different ways. I am beginning to understand these feelings because I can feel them too, for all of you and they are growing. I have a much deeper understanding of these complex emotions because of Wanda. She helps me name and understand what I am feeling; she talks me through the why's and the how's. She even explained to me that when you care for people, Agent Romanoff, you push them away to protect them from yourself."

"Vision" Natasha warned.

He held up a hand in response.

"Miss Romanoff, all I ask is that you treat Miss Maximoff as your equal. Allow her to make her own choices about what or who she wants in her life. She has dealt with Villains and evil people all her life and she knows you are not one of them. She knows you are good. As we all do, otherwise you would not be here."

"Thanks for the burger Vision" Natasha said, her voice void of emotion.

She watched as Vision stepped off the roof and glided to other side of the compound, reaching the floor safely.

Natasha thought about Vision's words as she climbed down the ladder that would lead her back into the building. He was correct, of course, in that Wanda should be free to make her own choices. He was also correct when he implied Natasha should stop treating her like a child when it suited her own agenda. She was well aware that Wanda was an adult and had never seen her as anything else. Did she patronise and invalidate Wanda's emotions to mask her own? Yes. Did she call Wanda naive and innocent to avoid facing the truth? Also yes. Natasha shook her head, there was no point going over all of this again.