So many things swirled in Wanda's mind, her childhood, Pietro's smile, Clint and his family, the farmhouse, Vision's eyes when he confessed he had feelings for her... The memories turned red and she whimpered. So many things were washing down the drain, but she refused to let these things go along with the rest. Her pain had been going on and off, and at some points she swore she heard Vision, Steve, Nat and all of her friends screaming in what sounded like the room next to her.
Was she even in a room? Where was she? Her eyes wouldn't open. They're shut. They won't open. She can feel herself move, but where are her eyes? Where is brother? Why isn't he there with her?
...Why is she worried about Vision? Vision is just an android.
NO. Her thoughts screamed and screamed, but for some reason, her brain just wouldn't listen.
WANDA. A voice. It echoed in her head. Who's voice is that? How does it know her name? Her head swayed from side to side and she tried to get that voice out of her head. There was a stranger. She didn't like strangers.
Wanda, please... Don't... forge-
She screamed. He was in pain. He was in extreme pain, and she cared. Why did she care? She didn't know him that well. How can robots have pain? Why was he hurting? She felt smooth liquid drip down her face and she finally felt her eyes flutter. A series of movement was in front of her. A flash of red, men in front of the red, trying to make it get back.
Why is all I see, red? This isn't fair why- Her head suddenly had a flash of memory. VISION.
She remembered a small fragment. She remembered. He was in front of her now... Fighting. Voices echoed in her head, and she reached out to feel his mind, his comforting thoughts.
She cried out again. He was hurting. Why is he hurting? Oh God, please, why is he hurting? Tears were flowing down her face, and she was strapped. How come she couldn't find anyone else's thoughts? Where were the thoughts of the men hurting Vision? She turned her head. She found another cry of pain through someone's mind.
Steve laid five feet away from her. He was wearing a white shirt with white pants. Why was he here? Why was he crying? Her blurred sight found a mange of red hair, and she found Natasha thrashing and grunting across from Steve. They were all tilted upwards and tied down, almost like on a wall, except a standing bed. Wanda's head moved to in front of her, and she saw with hopelessness as Vision screamed at them. His... screams. Wanda closed her swollen eyes in agony. Her whole body shook; she was sobbing.
Vision escaped the men in a matter of seconds, which wasn't surprising, but he was still in pain. What was hurting him? Wanda wanted to fix it.
His hands found their way around Wanda's bonded wrists, and she smile slightly, even though she was still crying from his pain. She was sharing it. He couldn't go back to the full burden. If she closed her eyes, she could imagine that she was laying down instead of standing. She could imagine laughing until her stomach hurt, as Vision sat in the back with that small grin he carried around when he was with her.
His touch made everything bearable, and she could do nothing as he sank to his knee's and rested his head on her stomach. She couldn't wrap her arms around him, she couldn't comfort him with anything. Not even words could make it out of her mouth. But they could come from her mind.
Vision. I zink ve'll be okay. Ve'll find ourselves out of this soon. We always do. We vouldn't be Avengers if we didn't. Another tear slid from her eyes, and she rested her head on the back of the cushion-y wall behind her. His fists bawled themselves into her white gown, and she could feel the pain get worse. It took everything in him not to start screaming.
I don't believe this time is one of those great escapes. His grip became tighter when a sharp pain went through his head, and she just wanted him to feel okay. She wanted to wrap her arms around his neck and not let go. She wanted to replace the pain with reassurance.
She just wanted him to be okay.
But she couldn't do a single thing when the men came back and took him away from her. They strapped him across from her, and she couldn't bear to hear his screams anymore. So she dreamed of the one thing that would make all of their pain go away. A good memory.
A memory that would maybe make her day go a little more smoother....
"Wanda."
Wanda opened her eyes, snorted, and rolled onto her stomach on her made bed. Books were sprawled out among her body, and most were toppled on Vision's laid-out legs. She stared directly into his accusing eyes, and she played it off as if she had no clue as to what he was talking about. She kicked her legs from behind her, and continued to do so as she smiled widely. She loved making him annoyed.
"Yeah?"
"I asked you to cease what you were doing."
She dramatically put her hand on her chest and gasped. She giggled loudly when he gave her a stern glare, and her stomach was beginning to twinge from laughing so much. She was actually getting under his skin, and she was enjoying every moment of it. She might as well take advantage of this moment, right?
"But I did! I just switched over to something different." She rolled around her bed as she laughed from his blank stare, and she really didn't know why she was laughing. She didn't know why she was so tickled by this exact moment, but she was. She winced when her back hit the spine of a huge book, and she sat up with a frown. Her long brown hair was pulled back, but the tie did not help as pieces annoyingly got in her face as she studied the book. She blew them out of the way and squinted at the black and white pages.
"Vhy the hell? Vhy do you read books like dis? It 'as no fun in it!" She flipped through the pages when she picked it up and saw nothing that had to do with fighting, drama, killing, romance, or even different kinds people. It was literally evolved around one guy. "Vhat a sexist book! No women, vhatsoever."
His glare was becoming exceedingly direct, and Wanda almost shrunk down to her shoulders, but she realized this was Vision. Like he would do anything. He couldn't even hurt a fly without feeling guilty even the slightest.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," She shut the book and crawled her way over to him, then sat criss-crossed in front of him, while smiling apologetically. His stare wasn't meeting her's and she rolled her eyes and continued to apologize. "I'm sorry I kept throwing bits of paper at your face vhile you read," She hung her head. "I'm also sorry I zen continued to annoy you vith my feet." Wanda smiled when his cross eyes left him, and instead came the softness she loved. She smiled triumphantly, and then rolled her eyes.
"But I'm so borrreeeddd," She jutted out her lip while she pouted. "Can't we do something fun? Like not reading huge, sexist, books?"
His small sigh made her grin, and he sat up straighter then he already was. "Yes. Alright. What do you suggest then?" She could detect a slight amount of sarcasm, and almost told him he had been hanging around her too much, but she decided against it. Wanda was glad he spent most of his time with her. She wouldn't want him to suddenly stop.
"How about dis..." She cleared some of the books around her so she could become comfortable, and she started. "We'll go down the alphabet with fruits starting with that letter, until we get to Z. Then we'll go on to a different topic. If we can't think of one, the other person gets a point."
"Seems reasonable."
Wanda rolled her eyes, and stuck out her tongue. She knew he was still slightly bitter from her pestering, but she was bored, and a girl that is bored is a girl that is annoying. Boys are like that too, but Wanda scored twice as much as they did. She had red wisps that could drive you insane by themselves, Wanda's pretty sure that counts as five hundred points to Avengers.
"Apple." She started the game.
"Blueberry."
"Cherry."
"Durian."
Wanda's eyebrows went up and she cracked a smile. "Durian is not a fruit." She crossed her arms such as she did with her legs, and waited as she smiled deviously. Maybe she would win after all...
"Wanda, you have no studies with plants, so I picked something edible, sweet, and healthy that also happens to be a plant. It's a fruit." His eyebrows went up, and she could not believe what was happening. Vision being a smart-Alec? She didn't know if she liked this side of him...
"That's stupid."
"That's called being smart."
She scoffed but continued to list fruits. What an odd day. Wanda frowned after she thought for a moment, and sat still after the first round. She had made it, barely, but something popped into her head. As she and Vision were thinking of a new topic, she threw in her inquest.
"Vision?"
His eyes found her's and he waited for Wanda to continue. She slumped over herself and supporter her body with her hands while she thought how to word it correctly. When she was done, she sat up straight again, and became serious. A few strands of hair had escaped and were framing her shape of face perfectly. The small brush of her hair almost made her stop, just so she could tie her hair up again, but she dismissed the thought. This was an important conversation she should have with at least one person.
"Do you think I'm a monster?"
The look on his face could no more than be described as perplexed when he heard her inquiry. His head tilted and stared at her with a sort of despair.
"What brought this on?"
Wanda bit her lip and shrugged.
"I just want to know."
Vision tilted his head further, but began to shake his head. "Of course not," He took a short intake of breath, "Did someone say you were?"
Wanda nodded so faintly, it was a fortunate thing that Vision had great eyesight. "It was a long time ago," She sat closer to Vision and leaned against him. "Vhen I was experimented on. Zey were thrilled I had been... Chosen, or vhatever zat means. Either way, zey still told me I was a disgrace... Even when I had taken on many shield agents and killed them in an instant, for them, they still saw me as a..."
"Monster."
Wanda nodded to Vision's answer and tucked her head in slightly, as if ashamed. It was silent. Wanda was left in that silence, although Vision was right besides her, he was thinking far too deeply to be counted as actually being there. A base truck went past her room, and she watched as the shadow of the truck passed over her and Vision. When the shadow left she picked up Vision's hand and traced where he should have had the creases, until he decisively made his answer.
"I call... As you humans say, bull."
Wanda looked up with a smile and saw his eyes were crinkled from grinning. She wouldn't had said it, but she could still detect his anger and sadness through the waves of his emotions. She rested her head on his shoulder and laughed. All his thinking for something as simple as that. And yet, she felt utterly more blissful than she had when she entered the conversation.
"Dork."
"I believe we're on letter A still, not D."
Rolling her eyes, she laughed again until her stomach hurt once more. Bubbles of tiny fits of laughter would escape, and that would start a whole new session of giggly fits. Vision stood still, although he couldn't help but let out a deep chuckle before she calmed down. He focused on her face and thought for a breathing amount of time. She wasn't paying attention, and he was taking the time to study her.
She was beautiful, no denying that, and it wasn't just her looks that caught his eyes when she was on the opposite side of the room in training; or anywhere. It was the light around her. She had a dark past, and was still baring some today, but Vision could see all the love she possessed in her soul. He felt privileged to share and have some of that love.
"You are beautiful." He stated suddenly.
Wanda's smile disappeared, and she looked at Vision with awe. It wasn't everyday she was called that, so yeah, it caught her off guard. She grinned slightly but lost it when she saw how serious he was. She cocked her head to the side, just like Vision would, and give him an affectionate smile.
"Really?" Wanda felt giddy when he nodded his head as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Oh yeah, this is why she hung around him twenty four seven. That, and how likable he was. To sum it up, there wasn't a main reason, she just liked his presence.
"Why do you let their words effect you when you now know that you have used your powers for the greater good?" His head tilted slightly while she shrugged her shoulders. There wasn't an actual answer, and that's what made Wanda insecure. If she couldn't even answer her own wishes, thoughts, and needs, how was she to help others? To be a hero, you have to be confident in yourself, not a blubbering baby when you sleep at night.
"I believe, in my personal opinion, that your powers are beautiful as well," Vision's voice was so direct it made Wanda smile from how serious he was. "Those men only made you a better person. Look at what you have done, Wanda. You've already saved thousands, and it won't take long with our employment that it will soon be in the millions."
Wanda sat still while picking at the top sheets of her bed. She had the sparkly crap removed and now it was just a nice, red quilt, with a wonderful texture. She could remember when she got it and how Vision had seemed to approve since he sat on top of the covers more often than she did herself.
Her mind turned to Pietro, and she almost jumped in the air to yell and tell him that she found someone to keep in her heart.
"Pietro once told me that who ever acknowledged that my powers where beautiful, I should keep them with me." She glanced up from her covers to see Vision's stare fixed on her very endearingly. "I must say, you are the first, but zen again, who else vould it be? Beside's, I'm glad it's you. You've given me hope so many times before, it's only fitting you give it to me again."
Vision smiled, actually smiled, because he didn't think that she knew how much she had helped him. She had walked his way into becoming somewhat of a person, and he had experienced the feeling love because of her. He learned that to become human, it is impossible until you experience the steps and rolls of love. And she had done that to him.
"Anastasia."
Vision's head tilted towards her. "Excuse me?"
Wanda threw her head back and laughed. "The topic is children's movies. Anastasia."
Vision's eyes crinkled and he nodded understandingly. "Beauty and the Beast."
Wanda smiled, "Chicken Little."
"Dumbo."
"Ella Enchanted."
"Ferris Bueller's day off."
Wand laughed. "I would not count that as a 'kids movie'." She folded her arms as he smiled. He didn't say anything, so she rolled her eyes and continued.
"Get smart."
Vision's brow went up, "You think that is okay, but not Ferris Bueller's Day Off?"
Wanda smiled deviously. "Hey, You wanna play this game your way, then I say that Get Smart is kid-friendly."
"Define kid."
Wanda laughed and tapped on her chin as if thinking. "Hmmmm...Ten and below."
Once again, Vision's eyebrows went up. "You're right, you shouldn't be a mother."
Wanda's shocked face must have been something because it wasn't long before Vision was laughing and Wanda attacking and chasing him around the room. People would pass by from over hearing the ruckus and smile, knowing that the two were meant for each other. Even if they were both really weird.
When Alice passed by she pressed her ear against the door and giggled lowly when she heard Wanda yell something at him that sounded a lot like, "I swear I will mucking kill you if you wool nothing like zat agin." Of course, Alice knew that Wanda would never actually hurt him, because who else would she bother?
Wanda lay on the floor laughing until her stomach felt it was to burst, and she implanted the entire hour before in her brain. She would never forget what was said, and why it was. Vision stood over her with an amused expression.
"Are you done?"
Wanda frowned playfully and shrugged. "If you give me something." She took his hand and pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"And what might that be?"
Wanda rolled her eyes and pressed her lips to his. It was tender, and she knew Vision was still confused as to why he had these feelings, but it wasn't long before he played along. Wanda smiled against his lips and realized, there really wasn't a force on earth that could make her forget that moment.
A tear slid down Wanda's face when she saw how wrong she was. For that memory went down the drain, just as it did with the others.
All her brain knew now was that Vision was a simple android who she tried to avoid, just like everyone else.
Vision was just a figment of her imagination now.