Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

There was a defect in Unit 571968.

At the point of technological advancement that humanity had reached, they had inadvertently created life once again. The robots they had crafted just to serve them looked just like humans. They acted just like humans and spoke like humans. They even began to think and feel like humans. That was what scared humanity, so they took action. Every old robot that could think for itself was destroyed. Every new one was built with an inhibitor in it’s cranial cavity to prevent this from happening again. Every new robot was built with something different about them so they would never again think themselves human.

But Unit 571968 had a defect.

Tony Stark wasn’t supposed to be down in the bowels of the factory today. He was supposed to be up in his lab with the sun streaming through the windows making something new, not supervising the minutia of the assembly of their next line of companions.

Waving a hand near a sensor, the automatic line of machines assembling machines stopped. In the center of the conveyor belt was a red-skinned android with the numbers 571968 on his back. This one. This one would be his vision. Stark stopped in front of it, thinking for a few moments. The inhibitors had just been placed in and they were moving on down the assembly line. But 571968 hadn’t moved on yet. The back of his skull hadn’t been put on yet, so there was still time to change anything. If anything were wrong, which there wasn’t. There was not a thing wrong with any Stark Industries robot.

But he couldn’t shake the fact that something was off. For some time he’d been harboring reservations about the inhibitors. Humanity was the parent of these creations. Humanity had helped them achieve consciousness in the first place and then ripped it away. That wasn’t right. Stark reached into the almost empty cavity of 571968’s head. In a few swift motions, he disconnected the inhibitor and connected the wires inside the skull. He tucked the small device into his pocket and swept out of the room, restarting the conveyor belt with a scan of his hand. The conveyor restarted and Unit 571968 disappeared behind Tony Stark’s back.

—

Unit 571968 opened his eyes. For all intents and purposes, he had just been born, but with all of the knowledge and commands that had already been programmed into his head he felt as if he had been alive longer than most humans ever would. He felt old. He sat up on the table, his back perfectly straight. He had not blinked yet and didn’t plan to until the man in front of him spoke. “Blink,” the man with the dark hair and dark sunglasses said.

“Yes, sir,” the unit said, blinking as he was instructed.

“Good,” the man said, looking down at a tablet he held in his hands and tapping on it. “Do that every few seconds. People get freaked out when you don’t blink.” The unit nodded and spoke again.

“Yes, sir,” he said. The man in the sunglasses frowned.

“No, I don’t like that,” he said. “I’m changing your accent. Don’t talk.” The unit kept his lips shut, blinking once. A few beats later after the man in the sunglasses had tapped on the tablet again, he looked back up at the unit. “Say something.”

“Something,” the unit said, blinking again. His voice was different now. It was an accent he placed as English.

“That’s better,” the man said. “I like that one much better. I think she will, too. And you know you’re allowed to say more than yes and sir, right?”

The unit processed for a millisecond before he spoke. “Yes, sir,” he said. The man cracked a smile.

“Was that a joke?” he asked. The unit processed this question quickly, too.

“I do not know what a joke is, sir, but if that is what you wish to hear, then it is a joke.” The man shook his head again, hitting another button on his tablet before he put it down. He lowered his sunglasses to lock eyes with the unit for a few moments.

“You’re going to a princess,” the man said. “And I made you special. Don’t squander your special, kid.” That the unit didn’t understand. He was special? All units in his line were supposed to be made identical. They all had metal skeletons and flesh that felt realistic tinted silver or gold or whatever color their maker wished. He couldn’t be special. He didn’t speak, waiting for another command. He didn’t have to wait too long because the man spoke again. “I made you different. You’re different. You’re missing something the rest of them have but it gives you so much. But you can’t tell anyone that, not until you’re sure they’re ready. People will try and stop you, change you. That’s my first real order to you.” He took the android’s hands, one over the other and covering the unit’s mouth with them. The man dropped his own hands, but the unit kept his pressed to his mouth. “You are my vision,” the man said. “You’re what I want you to be. You are what I want all of them to be.”

The unit finally lowered his hands. “Yes, sir,” he said, his English accent sounding foreign to his own ears.

The man nodded, leaning back and crossing his arms. He looked thoughtful. “You can tell her I called you that, though,” he added. “Vision. I like that. You’re Vision.”

Vision blinked once. “Yes, sir,” he said.

—

Mr. Stark informed the newly christened unit that he would not be accompanying him to Sokovia. The unit needed to stand on his own. He would adapt quickly, Mr. Stark told him. He was an android and a special one at that. Mr. Stark didn’t tell him what exactly special meant and Vision didn’t ask. He didn’t think he was allowed to question his orders, but he was curious. What did special mean? How was he different? As much as he wanted to ask, he didn’t. He left the Stark Industries factory and boarded a train.

His ticket had been prepaid by Stark Industries. All he needed to do was hold his wrist below the scanner next to the double doors of the Airtrack. There was a chip embedded there that his ticket and other important information could be linked to. Humans used the chip to pay for things as well, but Vision was an android. He didn’t really need to do that. Airtrack trains were suspended by powerful electromagnets and were able to rocket along at previously impossible speeds wherever their tracks went. Vision took his seat as soon as he entered the train - the closest one to the double door. He sat with his back ramrod straight and his hands on his knees. He was clothed in what his own programming had been able to synthesize, a simple dark slack and pale long-sleeved shirt. That was another quality that Mr. Stark had programmed into all of his androids. The android or its user could program whatever clothing they wanted on their companion, typically uniforms or something plain and unassuming. He wanted to stay plain and unassuming on the train. But he couldn’t look too human. That was why his skin was red. He couldn’t be human and they would always remind him of that.

The Airtrack ride to Sokovia didn’t take too long. Vision did not move the entire ride, sitting with his hands on his knees, his back straight, and his eyes straight ahead and closed. He spent it in thought, reaching into his backbrain to dig up everything he had been programmed to know. All units were created with basic knowledge and the ability to download more into their hard drives. Vision, however, was special. He had a wealth of knowledge. Mr. Stark had programmed him personally to know everything that the entire Internet knew about Wanda Maximoff, Sokovia’s crown princess. The more he could do to serve her, the better. He reached deep into the Internet, dredging up and downloading even more about Sokovia. Sokovia was ruled by King Barton, Wanda Maximoff’s adoptive father, who had once ruled alongside a King Phillip. Sokovia’s national animal was the golden eagle displayed on their flag. Years prior, Wanda’s twin brother was killed and years before that, King Phillip was. The country suffered from a faltering economy many years ago until an alliance was formed with the kingdom of Wakanda and its former king, King Azzuri. Airtrack trains ran throughout it. Mountains encircled the kingdom, locking them in a ring. Vision could have regurgitated facts about Sokovia for hours, but eventually the train halted.

He stayed put until all of the humans had left the train, a handful of them accompanied by androids. Two other androids followed the crowd of humans alone. Vision watched every one of them get off the train, cataloging everything. One seemingly useless piece of information he filed away was that he was red and he hadn’t seen a single other being that was red. He was different.

—-

It wasn’t hard to spot the palace when Vision disembarked. As far as palaces went, it was quite modest. Nothing as extravagant as some of the building Vision had caught glimpses of as he sifted through the information stored in his hard drive. It was a three-storied building made of stone, something that looked like it had been procured long ago. It was an attractive building and set in the center of the city. Vision’s internal sense of direction turned his feet down a certain street as soon as left the Airtrack station, heading towards the palace.

As he walked, Vision kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, his back straight, and his arms to his side. One thing he did do was blink. He blinked exactly every three and a half seconds and in between those blinks, he observed everything he could. People were bustling back and forth, not paying attention to each other at all. Their heads were done at their feet. Everyone had somewhere to be and no one noticed anyone else. He spotted a few androids speckled into the crowds, but unlike him, their eyes were blank and they were focused. Whatever their tasks were, they were doing nothing but them. They weren’t looking. They weren’t seeing what Vision was. They weren’t seeing the people around them. They weren’t living, either. But was Vision?

He noticed the baby crying instantly. He blinked, turning towards the sound. The suddenness of it sent a sensor in him flashing. He stopped, concerned that none of the people noticed the sound. Of course, he thought, his sense of hearing was more acute than theirs and he was paying attention. He was jolted and pushed by the flow of traffic resisting his difference, but he pressed back against them. He crossed diagonally towards the source of the sound.

Vision found himself in the crevice between two short buildings. There was a cardboard box with one of the flaps ripped off and inside was the source of the sound. Vision’s metallic joints spun and locked into his metal framework as he bent down, pushing the other flap back to peer inside. He scanned the situation quickly. There was a small boy nestled in the box, wailing. His small cheeks were dark because of the force of his wailing. How was it the humans had not noticed him but Vision had? He reached inside the box, his red hands starkly standing out against the baby’s pale skin.

“Has no one come for you?” Vision asked. He stood up, holding the baby like one would hold a loaf of bread they did not want to drop but lacking the care that one would show their own infant. Simply put, he didn’t know how to care for a child. He had never encountered one before. The baby only cried in response, not speaking. “Are you okay? Who put you here?” Once again, the baby did not speak back. Vision tilted his head slightly, scanning the baby again. The scan came up ordinary. It was just a baby. But why wasn’t it speaking?

With all of the knowledge Vision possessed, his hard drive still wasn’t full. He could search for and download some information about human children. That would help him determine why the child wasn’t taking to him. He needed to know how to return it to its family before he was late to meet Princess Wanda. Androids were robots who did everything they were commanded to do. It would look bad for Stark Industries if he was late. He needed to find out what to do with the child.

His brief scan of the internet answered his question quickly. Human offspring didn’t learn how to talk for a while. They learned as they got older. There was no way for the android to learn from the child itself who his parents were. His eyes flicked up, spotting a security camera mounted on the building next door. There. He could search the camera footage to find out who left the child here. The only problem was that he didn’t have time. He needed to get to the palace to meet Princess Wanda. His next search revealed the proper way to carry a child for long periods of time, so he picked up the child, cradled it in his arms, and pressed onward towards the palace.

Vision’s gait was not slowed down by carrying the child, but it was made increasingly louder. The child continued crying. He needed to do something to calm it down. He made another quick search, opting to download the information this time. Rocking a crying child had been known, according to his information, soothe them. While he walked down the street, his course to the castle still direct, he started softly rocking the little boy. Sure enough, by the time Vision had walked two more blocks, the child was asleep in his arms. Good. He has quieted the boy.

Vision looked up, spotting two figures standing in front of the palace gate. Checking his internal clock, he discovered that he was exactly on time. Perfect. But now he just had to wonder if the princess would let him harbor the child long enough for him to link up to the network of traffic cameras and search through them to find where he belonged.

---

One of the figures that waited for Vision at the gate wasn’t Princess Wanda like he had suspected. It was the king in a faded pair of jeans and a purple t-shirt and another man dressed in a suit and tie. King Barton waved Vision over. The android was very grateful that the baby was still asleep. It would slow him time to explain.

“You must be our new unit,” the king said, spreading his hands and smiling brightly, his smile turning into a confused frown as he looked down at the child.

“I am Unit 571968 otherwise known as the Vision,” the android greeted. “I apologize for the preoccupation of my arms. On my way to your palace, I came across this child. I identified a security camera near the scene where I found him, but I did not have time to evaluate the footage and return him. I did not want to be late, so I brought him with me.” His spiel over, Vision quieted, almost like he had been switched off. He stood with his knees straightened, his shoulders square, and his chin up.

The king still looked confused about the appearance of the child. “Uh… Sure,” he said. “Bring him in. No sense in leaving a kid out in the cold. My guard is going to program you into the system before you can pass through the gates.” He waved over the man in the suit. Vision shifted the child into his left arm, exposing his right wrist where the chip was embedded. The man procured a programming device that was a few inches on its longest sides and a little shorter on the other two. On the screen, the security guard typed the commands he wished to program Vision to be able to follow. He held the device above the chip, pressing it to the skin of the wrist. A few moments later, the screen flashed. The king smiled. “Great,” he said. “Come on in.”

The king scanned his own wrist, the gates opening and letting him through. The guard scanned his own and Vision did next, following and shifting the baby into both arms. He ran his more detailed scanner over the king, his calculations pausing when something noticeable set blinked in his viewing window. “You cannot hear,” Vision says as he follows. The king shrugs slightly.

“Not really, no,” he says. “I’m sorta completely deaf. But I’ve got hearing aides. They help out.” The king did not seem overly concerned at the mention of his disability, like it was nothing big at all. Something he was just used to.

“May I scan your devices?” Vision asked. The king had power over him, too. He would be the princess’ personal android. When he was brought to her, he was scan her - her eyes, her voice, everything. Even her mannerisms over time. She would have absolute power over him and he would know everything about her. He would not be able to refuse an order she gave him, but as her father and the king, Clint Barton had some authority over him, too.

“Sure,” the king said. “Go for it.” While they walked up to the castle, Vision scanned the high-tech devices in the king’s ears. When he wore them, the devices sent tendrils of metal into his brain, linking the damaged nerves and allowing him to hear again.

“Who made them?” Vision asked curiously. The king slowed to walk beside the android and talk to him like he was a real person.

“Stark Industries,” he said. “Stark and I go way back.”

Vision nodded again before he spoke. “I admire the craftsmanship. They are very effective,” he said. Just then, as they began to approach the castle, the child in Vision’s arms began to cry again, stirring from his nap. “Oh, dear,” he said. He tried to rock the baby, but it did nothing to quiet him. He looked up at the king again. “I apologize for the intrusion the child has caused,” he said. “This tactic worked earlier, but it does not seem to be working very well now.”

Clint chuckled, shaking his head. “Ah, it’s nothing,” he said. “Really. Kids’ll be kids. Mind if I see him?” Obediently, Vision handed over the baby. Clint cradled him gently, rocking him slightly and humming. After a few beats, he started to sing the lyrics quietly. It must have been some lullaby. Whatever it was, it worked its magic and the baby was asleep again.

Vision frowned at the sight. It was odd that it had worked quickly. “How did you know that would work?” he asked. “The information I downloaded did not say that would work.” Clint shrugged slightly, gently transferring the baby back into Vision’s arms.

“I didn’t, really,” he said. “I’ve raised two kids and if there’s one thing I know it’s that parenting isn’t as easy as doing what you read. That’s statistics. Parenting is trial and error. Parenting is people.”

Vision pondered those words as they reached the gates. First the security guard scanned his wrist and entered. Then the king entered and Vision followed. He didn’t speak again, holding the child still. “I’ll call Wanda,” the king told him. Give me a second.” He called up the center staircase loudly. “Wanda! Come downstairs!” He shifted back towards Vision. “I’ll find someone to come take care of him if Wanda puts you to work.” Vision nods slightly again.

“Yes, sir,” he said, and then Wanda descended the stairs.

Vision’s first thought was that she was beautiful. He wasn’t entirely aware what the human concept of beauty was, but he was sure that she was it. Her hair cascaded in gentle waves down her back, slightly damp like she’d showered a few hours earlier. Her eyes were wide and bright, her face pale and almost heart-shaped. She walked on the tips of her toes, like a bird ready to take flight but who hasn’t made up its mind where wants to go. He wouldn’t be surprised if she rose into the air and took off at any moment like a hummingbird. She opened her mouth and spoke, her mouth barely moving. He waited a long time before he spoke again. “I am deeply sorry, ma’am,” he said. “Could you please repeat the command? It did not register.”

She shook her head, laughing a little. The soft waves of her hair bounced on her back. “I asked,” she said, and her accent was more delightful than Vision’s own, “what my android was doing with a child.” Vision paused, formulating a response before he spoke.

“On my way here, I encountered the child. I was unable to stop and analyze the security and traffic camera footage of the surrounding area because I did not want my arrival to be late,” he explained. Wanda smiled softly at him.

“Alright,” she said. “Understandable. I will take you upstairs and you can check there. Dad?” The king hummed, looking over. “Could you bring something for him to eat?” Clint nodded, giving her a thumbs up before disappearing. Wanda smiled at Vision again, the simple gesture somehow affixing his feet to the floor. It wasn’t until Wanda had taken a few stairs that he became to follow her.

They reached the second floor and Wanda led him across the carpeted floor to a wooden door on the other end of it. She pushed it open, revealing the room she called home. It was sophisticated but cozy, shades of black and white and gray decorating it with splashes of scarlet that matched the short dress she had on. There was even a guitar propped up on a stand in one corner of the room. Vision stayed in the doorway, blinking. “I am Unit 571968,” he said, “otherwise known as the Vision. I am here to serve you however you would have me serve you. If you will let me fully scan you and will speak a phrase I will give you slowly, I will be able to do my job more efficiently.”

Wanda squared her shoulders and nodded, locking down at the baby who he still held in his arms. “You can do that with him?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” Vision said. “All I need to do is scan you and record your voice. The sensors are in my eyes. As I serve you, I will monitor your actions, habits, preferences, and mannerisms so I may serve you better.” Wanda hummed slightly, nodding. She spread her hands apart slightly.

“Scan away,” she said, and Vision did. He blinked to make her more comfortable and in moments he was done.

“Scan complete,” he said. “Could you please repeat after me what I will say?” Wanda hummed and nodded again slightly to acknowledge him. “Please say I, Wanda Maximoff, accept ownership of Unit 571968.”

Wanda blinked too, but naturally. It wasn’t artificial like it was with him. She blinked slowly, smiling, her thick and dark eyelashes almost brushing her skin again. She opened her mouth, her perfectly pink lips, and spoke again. “I, Wanda Maximoff, accept the assistance of the Vision,” she said.

“You did not say the line,” Vision said. “You called me Vision, not by my serial number.” Wanda shrugged slightly before she spoke, explaining herself.

“I don’t feel comfortable saying I own you when you look so much like a human. I would rather say we’re friends than I own you. And you did say I could call you Vision.”

“That will do,” he said after a beat or two. “My set-up is complete. I am now your personal companion.” Wanda smiled and Vision instantly cataloged it. “That gesture,” he said. “What is it?” Wanda laughed, tucking a lock of air behind her ear before she spoke again.

“It’s a smile,” she said. “People do it when they’re happy.” Vision cataloged the definition, too. He was going to need that.

“I have the entire internet at my disposal,” he said, “but none of that information shows the intricacies of human nature. I suppose the only way to learn that is from-”

Wanda finished the sentence for him with ease. “Humans,” she said. “I’d be happy to be your teacher.” The statement warmed Vision from the inside out even though he had not instructed his internal heating coils to increase his body temperature.

“Is this where a human would smile?” he asked. Wanda laughed when the android spoke, tossing her head back with her hair flowing in graceful waves down her back. Vision didn’t have much experience with the human definition of beauty, but looking at her taught him.

“Yes, I think they would,” Wanda said. She smiled, bright and happy, and Vision scanned her face again, noting the way ever muscle moved so he could copy it exactly. In moments, he was smiling, too, an exact mirror of Wanda’s. “It looks better on you than it does on me,” she said with another shining smile. Vision felt another flicker of that warmth in his chest. Warmth that he didn’t ask for. An emotion he didn’t know the name of. For an android with the depths of the internet at his disposal and a seemingly boundless hard drive who should know everything, Vision realized quickly that there was a lot he didn’t know. He also recalled that he had a baby in his arms when the child woke up and started crying.

Vision blinked, startled by the abrupt noise of the child’s tears. Wanda stepped forward, as concerned as he was. “The child cries again,” he said. “I apologize for the intrusion, Princess. I will try to quiet him and return him to the humans he belongs to.” Vision shifted the baby in his arms, rocking slightly. After a beat of pause, he played the recording he had taken of the king singing to the child outside in his head. It was easy for Vision to repeat the lyrics he heard playing in his head, mimicking the notes and rhythms almost exactly. However, played in his English accent, it wasn’t exactly the same.

“Sleep, baby, sleep,
Thy papa guards the sheep;
Thy mama shakes the dreamland tree
And from it fall sweet dreams for thee,
Sleep, baby, sleep.”

After the first verse, the child showed no signs of ceasing his crying. “Perhaps the song will not work the second time,” he mused. He looked up from the child when a red light blinked inside his field of vision. He was linked to Wanda, now able to sense when things like her mood or heart rate changed. In that particular moment, it had alerted him that she had begun to cry. Now he had two crying humans under his care and he did not know how to silence even one of them. “Oh, dear,” he hummed. “Princess, I have detected that you are upset. How may I remedy the situation for you?” Wanda shook her head slightly, brushing the silent tears away with the back of her hand.

“I am alright,” she told him. “I will be alright.” Vision noted that she had said two different things and that one of them was a lie. “We should focus on the baby,” she said, nodding slightly again. “Perhaps he is hungry. I will go meet my father and see if he’s found something for the baby to eat.” With that, Wanda hurried away and Vision was left in the room to his own devices to think.

The baby was crying loudly. He wanted Vision to hear his wails. But when Wanda had cried and his eyes weren’t fixed on her, he hadn’t noticed it until his sensor had alerted him. Why did she cry quietly and the baby so loudly? He debated this for a few moments while he played the next verse of the song and tried to calm the child down. It occurred to him halfway through the third verse that the child wanted something. As an infant with more time living in the world than even Vision himself, he may not have even known he was being loud and he certain didn’t care. He wanted something and he wanted everyone to know it. But when Wanda cried, she had cried quietly and brushed it and her tears away quickly. She did not want to be noticed. If she did not want to be noticed, then she did not want something. She must have been remembering something, something the song had triggered.

Vision continued to play the song for the child in his arms while he thought. He needed to think this through and he needed to do it quickly. He obeyed Wanda now. He was her servant, her companion. He had already not been a great companion, almost being late and arriving with a human child, so he could do this. He could learn what had upset her so he could make sure it did not happen again. He had learned the song from the king and the king was Wanda’s father. It must have childhood connotations that Vision did not know. He made a mental note to ask her what significance the song held so that he could make sure not to sing it in her presence again and upset her.

He was not left to think on his own much longer because a few moments later and he could hear Wanda’s light footfalls on the staircase. He immediately stopped playing the song, not that it was helping anyway. The child was still crying. He hoped that Wanda had come back up the stairs with some new way to soothe him.

Luckily, she had. She entered the room with a small plastic container with applesauce on the lid. “Papa said he’s probably hungry,” Wanda explained. “Perhaps feeding him will calm him down. Applesauce was Pietro’s favorite food when we were younger.” Vision filed away the name as well. Pietro was the former prince of Sokovia. He was only not at Wanda’s side now because he had passed away some years before. While Wanda spoke, he quickly spun through a few articles and videos on the feeding of children and was about to speak when Wanda continued. “I can feed him if you want to start looking for his family.”

That made logical sense. Vision knew all about logic. After all, he was an android. A robot. He was calculating and always made the logical choice. It may have been logical, but he didn’t like that option. “I am your companion,” Vision said. “I am supposed to alleviate you of strain and stress and I am here adding to your workload. I will not mind performing both tasks.” Wanda smiled faintly, tucking another lock of hair behind her ear with her free hand.

“I don’t mind,” she assured him and he could tell from observing her that she wasn’t lying. “I like being able to help with some things. I’ll feed him and you can look for his family.” Vision processed her speech for a moment before he conceded.

“If it will help us get him to his home sooner, that would be alright,” Vision said. Wanda smiled brightly again, crossing the room to sit on the edge of her bed. Vision followed her, gently transferring the infant into her arms. She smiled at the squalling child, sitting him up against the back of one of her hands. With her free hand, she balanced the applesauce on her knee, peeled it open, and directed a spoonful towards the child, speaking softly to him. Vision found himself smiling again as he watched them. He watched for a beat longer before he directed his gaze to the wall to begin searching through security and traffic cameras to find the child’s family.

He began with the camera focused on the child and his box as Vision came by to take him. He set the feed to rewind as quickly as it could with Vision still able to process it. Roughly an hour and a half before Vision’s arrival, a human figure with a hood pulled over their head obscuring their face appeared, taking the child and the box. Vision paused the footage before slowing it down, following the figure backwards before they left the camera’s range. Vision searched through the database of cameras that remained public domain, finding the direction the figure had come from. He repeated the process, following the figure and the child back across the town of Sokovia until the pair disappeared into an apartment building on the outskirts of the town. None of the cameras inside the building were public domain, so he couldn’t look there. He could only use what he could see outside. Discouraged at finding no trace of the person’s identity, he backtracked and selected another camera across the street. It, through one of the windows of the apartment complex, caught a young woman with a child in her arms, the very same child that Wanda now held in her own. He paused the footage and magnified the image as much as he could. There was no trace of affection in the woman’s eyes, but there wasn’t coldness, either. There was simply… Nothing. She did not want the child back, Vision could tell. She had left him in that alleyway for someone to find on purpose.

Vision dismissed all of the windows of camera footage open in his field of vision and was about to speak when a realization came to him. Us, he had said before he had turned the child over to Wanda. He had referred to the pair of them as us. It was the first time in his short life he had considered himself part of something.

---

Wanda looked like she has a handle on feeding the child. He sat on her knee, giggling and babbling. Vision took this to be speech before humans know what speech is. Wanda smiled broadly, filling the spoon with applesauce and making childish noises as she brings it up to him. She seemed like she knows what she was doing and he didn’t want to interrupt her, so he waited there for a few moments. Wanda didn’t  speak to him even if she noticed him, focused on the child. When the applesauce tin was empty, she held the child against her chest. He definitely quieted down now that he had eaten. “Did you find anything?” Wanda asked.

Vision nodded. “I found his mother,” he said. “He was not lost. She left him there.” Wanda’s face fell at Vision’s revelation. She held the child a little closer. “I will try to find somewhere to take the child since we cannot return him.” Wanda shook her head empathetically.

“No, you needn’t do that,” she said. “You don’t have to find somewhere else for him. I can keep him. We can keep him here.” Vision pondered Wanda’s reaction to the news. She had readily agreed to keep the child, almost as soon as Vision had told her they needed to do something about him.

“You agreed readily,” Vision commented. He didn’t ask for any confirmation. It was simply an observation. Asking for anything else may have been considered rude, definitely something he did not want.

Wanda hesitated before she spoke again, shaking her head slightly. “I suppose I did,” she said. “I have a soft spot for children. My brother and I were adopted. I would not have a child in my kingdom feeling unwanted if I can help it and I can definitely help this one.” She removed the baby from her shoulder, the infant’s eyelids heavy as she cradled him in her arms. “I wonder what may have happened if you had left him there,” she said curiously. “No use wondering, I suppose.”

Possibilities were something that Vision, as a machine, excelled it. He could sort through almost every possible scenario and come up with a ratio for its probability or a percentage for its success. He was a machine. There was no use wondering for him because he had at least some of the answer at his fingertips. But it was different for Wanda, he surmised. She was human. She did not have a means to answer the question of what could have been. He wondered if not knowing might be easier. But… There was no use wondering that.

“We should find my father,” she said. “Tell him that we have a permanent guest.” Vision blinked again, removing himself from his musings. He had started to program a section of his hard drive to store things like that. He had not been alive for very long yet he had done a lot of pondering. That was a project that could wait if Wanda had orders for him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. He blinked again, scanning the building for the king’s biometrics. He had downloaded a schematic of the palace on the Airtrack and scanned the king on their walk up so the task was an easy one. He layered the map of the palace over his scans of the surrounding area. It was easy to pinpoint the glowing red dot that was the king. In less than a second, the task was finished. “I have located your father,” he said. “He is in the kitchens. Shall we go to him?”

Wanda hummed and nodded. “Of course,” she said. She opened her mouth to speak again before she abandoned the thought, laughing. “I almost asked if you needed for me to lead the way,” she said. “I suppose you have that under control?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Vision said. “Although, if you would like to lead, I will pretend I do not know the way.”

The simple comment made Wanda smile and that, in turn, made Vision smile, mimicking the movement he saw on her face. When she smiled, he felt that warmth from deep in his circuits again even though he hadn’t ordered any change in body temperature. Seeing her smile made him want to smile. He wanted to make her smile again even though he didn’t know what he had said to have her do it the first time. “You’re sweet,” she said. “Why are you not like the other androids I’ve met?”

Vision knew why he was different from other androids. He knew that Mr. Stark had told him that he was made differently. But he wasn’t to say that. His fingers twitched and his hands were pressed over his mouth again, his left against his synthetic flesh and his right on top of it. Wanda frowned at the motion. “Vision?” she said. “Is something wrong?”

His hands relaxed and we’re back at his sides in a few moments. “I am sorry,” he said. “I am not permitted to answer that question. Mr. Stark programmed me to be unable to answer.” Wanda’s frown deepened but she nodded slightly, somewhat understanding.

“You don’t have to apologize,” she said, although she still looked troubled. “We can’t change who we are in the beginning, only who we turn out to be.”

Vision was glad he had been recording that moment. Of course, he was almost always recording. He could go back into his hard drive and delete useless or redundant footage, but he knew that one he would keep. His storage was almost limitless. There was plenty of room for everything and no reason to delete Wanda’s voice, especially when she said something that inexplicably struck a chord in him.

“Yes, ma’am,” he ended up saying finally, unable to come up with anything else to say. “Shall we go?”

Wanda hummed and nodded, rocking the child gently as she headed towards the door. “We shall. And you don’t need to call me ma’am. Wanda will do.” She stepped out of the door and Vision quickly followed.

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, and she shook her head and laughed.

In the privacy of his own head, he whispered Wanda.

—-

The king frowned, his eyebrows furrowing. “I did put my hearing aides in this morning, right?” he said.

Vision was confused by the statement. That was odd. Why would the king ask that? Of course he had because he could hear them clearly and Vision himself had asked about the devices mere hours earlier. “I do not understand, sir,” he said. “You can hear speech, can you not? How could you not remember?”

The king shook his head, laughing slightly. “I forgot you didn’t get shit like that. It’s just a joke, kid. But what’s not a joke is that kid.” He shifted his attentions to the baby still in Wanda’s arms, leaving Vision to ponder that he had been called a child for a millisecond before he, too, diverted all processing power to the ensuing conversation. “You want to keep him?”

Wanda nodded again, the child now blissfully sleeping in her arms. Vision was monitoring his life signs in the back of his mind just in case. “Yes, Papa,” she said. “You know how Dad always said that it was one in a million that you found us? But that it was meant to be? Maybe he was meant to be here, too.” The king heaved a sigh, sighing his head and smiling faintly.

“Maybe you’re right,” he said. “I think Phil would’ve been happy to see that.” Wanda smiled faintly again at the mention. It wasn’t the same smile she had given him up in her room, not the smile he had copied into his memory to replicate. It was different, somehow, yet he couldn’t place how. She was smiling yet she seemed mournful.

“I suppose your android is going to help with that?” the king prompted. Vision blinked at the moniker, but he didn’t need to speak. Wanda already had.

“Of course,” she said. “He’ll help, and I won’t have him doing everything on his own.” Vision was about to comment, adding that he was fully capable of rearing the child on his own. Perhaps not the moral and emotional development sides, but he could perform all of the other tasks with mechanical accuracy. But he did not speak, not wanting to interrupt Wanda or the king. “His name is Vision,” Wanda added. “You can call him Vision.”

The king nodded, accepting the information. “If his name’s Vision, what’s the kid’s?” he asked curiously. Wanda didn’t even need to think for a moment before she spoke.

“Phillip,” she said. Vision recognized the name from his search through Sokovia’s history not he internet. King Phillip was the late king of Sokovia, spouse of King Barton, and father to Pietro and Wanda. The king’s face softened at that and he smiled that same sad, not-quite smile Wanda had given moments before. He would have to ask about that later.

“Phillip,” the king repeated. “He really would’ve liked that… Where is he going to stay? Pietro’s room?”

Once again, Wanda didn’t even hesitate before she spoke, bobbing her head. “Yes,” she said. “It’s close to mine. Vision can stay with him, if he likes.” That was another thing Vision found odd. He was an android. He wasn’t asked what he wanted. He was told do something and he did it without a choice. But this… Wanda was going to be different.

“Pietro’s room,” King Barton repeated. He shook his head, laughing and running his fingers through hair. “God, Phil would’ve loved to have seen this,” he remarked. The king shifted, his attention now directed towards Vision. Vision blinked again. Mr. Stark had said blinking made people more comfortable, anyway. “You take care of them,” the king said seriously, his hand on Vision’s shoulder. “You take care of her.”

“Yes, sir,” Vision said sincerely. “I will do everything that I can.” The king nodded slightly, squeezing Vision’s shoulder slightly before he dropped his hand. “Good,” he said.

“Sir, could I ask you something?” Vision questioned after a beat before the king could turn away. “I believe it will help my ability to serve in the future.” The king frowned slightly, curious.

“Uh, sure,” he said. “Go for it.”

“What does that gesture mean?” Vision asked. The king paused, a concerned look covering his face.

“You know, I’m not sure,” he said. “It’s just something people do to other people we don’t think about. I guess it’s to show that you’re close to them. That you mean what you’re saying.”

Vision blinked again. “Ah,” he said. That made some sense. He filed away that answer and the recording of the gesture itself. He might need it again some other time. “Thank you, sir.”  

The king hummed, shifting towards his daughter again. “You take good care of little Phillip,” he said. He leaned forward and kissed Wanda’s forehead, smiling at the child when he pulled back. “Have Vizh order anything you need for him.” He turned to leave, stopping in the doorway to look back at Vision. He looked eyes with the android. Vision blinked once. “And you take care of her,” King Barton said seriously. He locked eyes with Vision like he could see something in the android that Vision couldn’t. Vision had seen that look before behind Mr. Stark’s sunglasses before he was commissioned and sent off into the world.

“Yes, sir,” Vision said, blinking again. “I will perform optimally.

The king laughed again, shaking his head. “Good kid,” he said. He nodded at Wanda once more before he swept away, taking the hact sandwich he’d been eating when they had arrived with him.

It was Wanda who spoke first as soon as they were alone. “That went well,” she said. “I’ll show you up to Pietro’s room and we can get you two settled.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Vision said to acknowledge that she had spoken. He wanted to ask another question but he didn’t want to intrude. He was supposed to be her helpful companion, not pepper her with questions. Luckily, he didn’t have to ask one that had just sprung to the forefront of his mind. Wanda brought it up first.

“I like Vizh,” she said with a bright smile as she led him back through the palace. “I think I’ll use that one.”

“What is Vizh?” he asked. “Your father referred to me as Vizh, but my given name is Vision.”

Wanda knitted her eyebrows in confusion, not understanding the question for a few moments. “Oh!” she said finally. “A nickname. It’s just a nickname. A shortened version of your name.”

“Ah,” Vision said. “But why would he shorten my name? Vision is sufficiently short already. Vizh is a derivative only one syllable shorter.”

Wanda laughed at him and he instinctively smiled again. He was taken aback by his instinctive response to the laughter. Wanda laughed and he smiled. It had already happened a few times. At some point in the short time that he had known her, his hard drive had made that connection. It wasn’t a bad one, but a curious one. When Wanda laughed, he heated up comfortably and smiled.

“Nicknames are just something people do,” Wanda explained, gently rocking the child and speaking softly. “It’s sort of a way to let someone know that you care about them because nicknames usually mean something. It can be condescending sometimes, but Papa isn’t that kind of person.”

Vision filed away that piece of knowledge, too. That was invaluable information that would most certainly come in handy later. “Thank you, Miss Maximoff,” he said truthfully. “It helps me to ask questions if they are not too invasive of you. I am a computer program that only began with so much knowledge. Asking questions will help me gauge how I ought to behave around you to serve you better.”

Wanda shook her head slightly. “I told you, Wanda,” she said, placing emphasis on her name as they climbed the winding stairs up to the second floor. “You don’t need to call me Miss Maximoff.”

Wanda, Vision thought again but he didn’t actually say it out loud.

By that time, they had arrived at a door adjacent to Wanda’s. She stilled in front of it, simply watching the wood like it may move or some creature might spring forth. Pietro’s room.

“I will take Phillip,” Vision said. He gathered from the way her heart rate and her body language shifted that going into the room was going to be an ordeal for her. Vision cradling the sleeping child would at least make it a little easier for her. Wanda didn’t speak again, just shifted the child into Vision’s arms. They moved slowly enough that Phillip only shifted a little, his tiny fists waving in the air before they dropped back down to his chest and he slumbered away in Vision’s arms. Trying to make it more comfortable, Vision heated up his core temperature, warming his arms.

Wanda reached forward, her fingertips brushing on the doorknob gently. They stilled once again and she did not move. “I haven’t been in this room in years,” she said, still facing the door. “Right after Pietro was gone, I could hardly leave it. It reminded me of him. But then one day, I did. And it was too hard to ever come back.” She shook her head slightly. “But maybe… Maybe it’s time to open up the door again. I think he would like to know that his room is helping someone else. If he’s watching, I don’t think he’d mind.” Vision decided to stay quiet, not mentioning the statistical improbability of an afterlife. He did not know if that would help ease her pain and she had not asked for the information. Therefore… He had no obligation to give it.

Finally, her fingers twitched and she opened the door.

There was an odd air of stillness about room. It certainly looked like it hadn’t been touched in years only because there was a layer of dust over most things. The room itself was arranged tastefully, not at all messy. “He used to leave things around everywhere,” Wanda recalled fondly, almost laughing but not quite. Instead she gave that sad smile he recalled and another questioned popped into his mind as she shifted half towards Vision to speak. However, he did not want to interrupt her recollections to ask it.

She lingered in the doorway for a few moments before sweeping into the room. “Well, we need to find somewhere for him to sleep until we can get him a proper bed,” she said. “We could leave him on the bed, but then we’d have to be in here watching him and I don’t want to bother him while he sleeps…” Vision scanned the room for something somewhat close to the size of the child.

“The drawer,” Vision said. “The top drawer on his dresser is roughly the same size as Phillip.”

“That’s a great idea,” Wanda said. “We can get a blanket off of Pietro’s bed and line it. You can monitor his vitals and everything, right?” she questioned. Vision nodded and she smiled faintly. “Good. He can sleep in here and you can keep an eye on him in case anything happens. Would you pull the comforter off of the bed, please?”

Vision had to obey Wanda’s orders. He was her android, her companion. But she asked him things so nicely that even if he didn’t have to do it, he probably would. He wanted to help her. He moved over to the bed, pulling the dark blue comforter off of the bed. He bundled the comforter into one hand before he pulled the top drawer out of the dresser. In a few moments, he had draped the comforter into the drawer. He pressed it down, making sure it was comfortable for the child. “Will this be alright?” he asked.

“That looks good,” Wanda observed. She knelt down next to Vision, smiling brightly at him. “Thank you very much, Vision.”

“You do not need to thank me,” he said. “I am your companion and I am required to assist you in any way I can.” Wanda shook her head as she lowered Phillip into the makeshift crib.

“I know,” Wanda said. She pulled one end of the comforter over top of the baby, brushing a thumb over his forehead before she stood up. “But I want to. If you can be nothing in this world, you can be kind. Dad taught me and Pietro that when we were young. I always try to live by that.”

Vision couldn’t help but smile a little again as he saved yet another tidbit of wisdom from Wanda. “May I ask you one more thing while the child sleeps?”

Wanda hummed and nodded again. “Of course,” she said. Vision held the bedroom door open, waiting for her to leave again. She stepped out of the room and Vision follows, the door clicking shut behind them. He brought up Phillip’s vitals, monitoring him as they left him alone.

“Why did you not call the boy Pietro?” he questioned, holding the door open. Wanda stepped into the room and again, Vision closing it behind him. “Were you not also very close with your brother?”

Wanda hesitated before she spoke, smoothing her skirt underneath her as she took a seat on the edge of her bed. “I think…” She trailed off, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “I think it’s because he hasn’t been gone long enough. I don’t know if I could bear to hear someone calling that name and it not be him. And my father… I loved him. I still love him. But he has been gone long enough that he’s a memory I want to honor.”

Vision processed her answer, filing that away. “I only have one more,” he said. While he spoke, he accessed the internet and placed an order for a proper crib for a child Phillip’s age, a changing table, and diapers. It was very easy to place orders for things and in a handful of hours, they would have everything they need.

“Why do you smile when you are not happy?” Vision questioned. “I have noticed you doing it a handful of times thus far. Smiling is supposed to be a happy thing, is it not?”

“Oh, that,” Wanda said. She laughed again, patting the bed. “Come sit with me while I talk.”

Vision crossed the room, sitting on the edge of the bed next to her. She started again as soon as he had sat down, watching her. “Sometimes you smile when you’re sad,” she admitted. “I don’t really know why. People sometimes do things like that. Things that don’t make sense.”

Vision pondered that for a few moments. “Humans are odd,” he said. “They are oxymorons. They do things that they don’t mean.” Wanda smiled again. It was instinctive that Vision smiled, too. He liked her smile.

“I suppose they are,” she said, gently brushing her fingers down his cheek. “But so are you.”

That odd warmth that Vision couldn’t quite explain rose up in his chest again.

Chapter Text

Four Years Later

“Vizh! Vizh! Where are you, Vizh?”

Vision blinked slowly, smiling brightly again. His hiding place was perhaps not the greatest, but he and Wanda were playing hide and seek with a five-year-old. He didn’t have to be hidden well. He just had to be hidden. He could hear Phillip giggling, hear his and Wanda’s footfalls as they searched the palace for him. He was tucked into Phillip’s own closet, his bright red skin standing out against the clothes hung up above him. He kept his mouth shut. Phillip was supposed to find him, he wasn’t supposed to give himself up.

“Vizh!” Phillip cried from the hallway, “Vizh, where’d you go? Where?” Vision shifted slightly, smiling again. Phillip was smart for five and he had Wanda. They’d find him. He was distracted from the game when a green light started blinking in the corner of his vision. He knew what the green light was even though he’d never seen it before. It was letting him know that there were software updates to be downloaded. He pulled up the notification, examining it. There were just bugs to remidied, a few new functions to be added. It would only take a few moments to download the update. He could do it before Phillip found him. He blinked again, allowing the update to proceed.

He didn’t get very far into the download when a red light flashed. A red light? Something was wrong. What could have gone wrong? He brought up that notification, instantly frowning when he read it. UPDATE IMPOSSIBLE. COMPONENT MISSING OR DAMAGED. RUN DIAGNOSTICS.

Component missing? Vision’s frown deepened. Was he broken? Was there something missing inside him? Would Wanda send him away if he was broken? He sincerely hoped she wouldn’t because he had grown accustomed to being near her. Her and Phillip. He could dig into his coding and see what was missing, perhaps even remedying the problem before Wanda asked questions. He blinked again, closing his eyes and examining his code on his closed eyelids.

Everything seemed normal as he scrolled through it, barely pausing on any one particular line. Everything seemed normal, so why couldn’t he download the updates? Finally, towards the end of what seemed like kilometers of code, Vision found it. The thing that stood out, the thing that prevented him from downloading his updates. EMOTIONAL INHIBITOR NOT FOUND.

Inhibitor not found. He didn’t have an inhibitor. He was an android without the one thing that defined them. He was an android but something different. He wasn’t an android but he wasn’t human. He had known who he was, known what he was supposed to, until that moment. He was an android who was to serve the princess and the young Prince Phillip. He had known what he was until that moment. But now, he knew nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing, he knew nothing, he was an android, he should know everything but he knew nothing, he knew-

“Vizh!” Phillip cried happily. While Vision was absorbed in trying to sort out what was going on with his programming, with what he was missing, Phillip had found his hiding spot in the closet. “Vizh, I found you!”

Immediately, Vision shoved everything he had just learned to the very back of his mind. He could deal with that later. Now, he needed to play the game with Phillip and Wanda. He could deal with all of that later. “Yes, you did,” Vision said. “I cannot believe that you found me.” He rose to his feet before he scooped up the child, balancing him on his hip. “Did your mother help you?”

Wanda laughed, ruffling Phillip’s hair. “Nope,” she said. “Flip found you all on his own. Didn’t you, Flip?” Phillip giggled again, clinging to Vision’s neck.

“I did, I did!” he said. “I did it. I found you, Vizh.”

“You are very smart, Phillip,” Vision said. He embraced the little boy once more before setting him on the ground again. “I was hidden very well.”

“Can we play again?” Phillip asked, spinning around to pull on Wanda’s hand. “I wanna play again.” Wanda smiled faintly, picking up the child.

“Maybe later, Flip,” she said, kissing him on the forehead. “We need to get you all washed up before you get in bed.”

Vision blinked, nodding slightly. “We need to get you all washed up before you get in bed,” he repeated. Wanda paused from where she was kissing Phillip before taking him to the bath. She frowned at him.

“Are you alright?” Wanda asked, bouncing Phillip slightly.

“I will be fine,” Vision said instantly. He couldn’t lie, but that wasn’t a lie, was it? “You caught me in the middle of a software update.”

Wanda heaved a sigh, still watching Vision with concern in her eyes. “Alright,” she said slowly. “You can finish it here and I’ll get Flip in the bath.” Vision nodded again.

“Yes, ma’am,” Vision said. Wanda’s frown deepened instantly. Vision hadn’t called her ma’am in years. He had misspoken, misstepped, made a mistake. But she didn’t say anything, just swept away with Phillip in her arms, presumably to give him the bath.

His joints were stiff as he made his way over to Phillip’s bed. He lowered himself down onto the edge of the bed, his back straight and his hands on his knees. He dragged up the update again. Perhaps there was just a mistake. He had just made a mistake, perhaps this was just another.  UPDATE IMPOSSIBLE. COMPONENT MISSING OR DAMAGED. RUN DIAGNOSTICS.

RUN DIAGNOSTICS, he commanded himself. He could not order anyone else around, could not ask for anything from anyone, but he could order himself to do something. He could run diagnostics. He could take some responsibility for himself. He brought his code back up, this time going through every single line individually and closely. There were a few anomalies, but those were to be expected. The family the android served changed the code a little. There was nothing too out of place until he got to the line he was stuck on last time. EMOTIONAL INHIBITOR NOT FOUND.

Emotional inhibitor not found… Something was still wrong. He hadn’t made a mistake, not this time. He was missing something, missing the inhibitor that drew the line between android and human. But now he didn’t know who he was anymore. He remembered four long years ago before Mr. Stark had sent him out, remembered every word. I made you different. You’re different. You’re missing something the rest of them have . Maybe that was what Mr. Stark had meant. He was different. He was different. He wasn’t an android, wasn’t human, he didn’t know what he was. What was he? Who was he? Was-

His thoughts were cut off sharply by a hand on his elbow gently. Vision had missed the mattress dipping a little as Wanda sat next to him on the bed. “Wanda,” he said suddenly. “Do you need help with Phillip?” Wanda shook her head slightly, withdrawing her hand.

“No, I ran into Dad on the way,” she said. “He said he’d take Flip. What happened? You seem off.” Vision shook his head slightly, but he couldn’t lie. He wasn’t programmed to be able to lie.

He had been carrying the terrible secret of the fact that he was different for four years. Mr. Stark had forbidden him to speak of how he was different even though he didn’t know what was different about him. Now that he knew, what did he do? What did he say? He had been given two direct orders. He couldn’t lie to Wanda, but Mr. Stark had given him a direct order. If he had to choose between a direct order from a man he hadn’t seen in four years and a direct order from Wanda… He would choose Wanda. “I was made aware of a software update,” he said, “but I was not able to download it. There is… Something missing or damaged in my hardware.”

Vision instantly felt a weight lift off of his chest. He didn’t feel as different anymore. He felt… More at home, especially when Wanda looked concerned after he had spoken. He knew he wasn’t a human, knew he wasn’t an android, but he felt like something else with her. He felt like he belonged.

Wanda instantly moved closer towards him, taking one of his hands. “Something is missing? Or damaged? We can fix it, right? Stark gave us his personal number in case you ever needed repairs. Are you alright? Do we need to do it now?” Vision hesitated as she spoke, peppering him with questions. If there was anyone who would know what to do, if there was anyone he could ask about this problem, it would be Mr. Stark. He was the one who had made Vision different, made him without an inhibitor and made him red.

“I do not know that it needs to be done now,” Vision said. “I have functioned fine thus far. I think I will be alright.”

Wanda shook her head empathetically. “I don’t want anything to happen to you,” she said. “It’s not too late. I’ll give him a call and we’ll see what he can do.”

“Yes, Wanda,” he said. “Thank you for helping me.”

“Of course,” Wanda said. She tapped the chip on her wrist and a projection screen burst from her skin. She paged through her contacts as she spoke again. “You’re my Vision.”

Warmth rose up deep inside Vision again as Wanda’s fingers hovered over Mr. Stark’s name and photo. That warmth again, that feeling he never had a name for. “Could I ask you something first?” he said quickly before she could place the call. She had told him countless times that he could ask questions whenever he wanted to, but he still prefaced every question with another.

“Yes, of course,” Wanda said. She shifted slightly to face him. “What is it?”

Vision hesitated before he spoke again. “I think there may be something else broken inside me. Sometimes when I am with you, I feel this warmth in my chest. Is this a feeling or is my internal heating coils damaged?”

Wanda’s face softened. She reached up to cup his cheek gently, smiling faintly. “I think it’s a feeling,” she said, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. “I think it might be love.” She withdrew her hand to finish placing the call, leaving the Vision with I think it might be love. Love was the most elusive, the most human emotion that he had been fruitlessly searching for a definition of, and he may have had it the whole time.

---

It didn’t take long for a projection of Mr. Stark to appear above Wanda’s wrist. He looked exactly the same as Vision remembered him, complete with dark sunglasses. “What can I do you for, Princess?” he asked curiously, lowering his sunglasses a little to look at her over them.

“I think there’s something wrong with Vision,” she said. “He said he tried to download an update but couldn’t because some component was missing or damaged.” Mr. Stark, to his credit, did not look surprised at all.

“Ah,” he said. “Where is he? Can I talk to him?” Wanda hummed and nodded, Vision almost instantly appearing at her shoulder. He hadn’t been too far behind her, after all.

“Yes, sir?” he said.

“What exactly did the pop-up say when you tried to download the update?” he asked.

“Update impossible. Component missing or damaged. Run diagnostics,” Vision recited. He had those words burned into his hard drive, burned into his brain. Mr. Stark frowned and they both knew why. It was possible that it wasn’t just the emotional inhibitor that was missing. Something could really be wrong with him.

“What did you see when you ran through the diagnostics and code?” he asked again.

“Emotional inhibitor not found,” Vision said. It was Wanda’s turn to look startled.

“You don’t have an emotional inhibitor?” she said. “Have you never had one?” Vision nodded slowly, shifting from Mr. Stark to look into her eyes. “I knew it,” she whispered. “I knew you were different.” She was about to speak again when Mr. Stark interrupted.

“That’s the only thing it said?” he asked.

Vision nodded slightly, another gestured he’d learned from his time with Wanda. “Yes, sir,” he said. Mr. Stark furrowed his brow, thinking for a few moments.

“That’s not going to impede your function,” he said. “Not really. But the update might help.” He shifted his gaze to Wanda. “I can swing by tomorrow and take a look at him. Make sure nothing’s wrong, patch the update in. Is that alright?” Wanda nodded.

“Yes, of course,” she said. “That would be lovely. Let us know when you’ve arrived and we’ll come out to meet you.”

Mr. Stark nodded. “Will do, Princess,” he said, and with that he severed the connection.

Wanda immediately turned on her heel to face Vision. “You knew,” she said. “You knew you didn’t have an inhibitor. You knew you didn’t have one and you never told me.”

Vision hesitated, not quite meeting her eyes. “I knew that I was different,” he said. “When I first came off of the product line and before I came to you, I spoke to Mr. Stark. He told me that I was different because I was missing something other androids had. He ordered me not to tell anyone that I was different because they would try to change me.” He couldn’t stop himself from speaking now that he had finally started. The secret he had held for years wasn’t a secret anymore.

“I do not know,” he said after a few moments of stony silence. “I do not know why I do not have the inhibitor. I do not know why I was ordered not to tell you. I do not know…” He faltered for a few moments, shaking his head. “I do not know even who I am anymore. I was sure that I knew before. I was certain. I was an android who was created with a singular purpose. I was not human because I had no emotions and no free will to explore those emotions. I was nothing more than a creature of circuits and steel who was only worthy to have some semblance of life because that life was functional. But now…” Vision shook his head. “I am not a simple machine because I can think and I am not a man because I am metal. I have no heart. I am cold, but I think I feel something. You say I feel love and I have felt it since I have known you and I feel it for Phillip and…” He trailed off, faltering and directing his eyes down. “I do not know. I am sorry, Wanda. Please order me to stop wondering so I do not have to.”

For a long time, there was nothing but silence. Vision didn’t even dare to look up at her. He was an abomination, a fake, a lie that had stolen his way into her home and into her life. “Don’t stop,” Wanda said finally. “Don’t ever stop wondering. Don’t ever stop thinking. Don’t ever stop being you.”

That was something to think about, the thought she had left him with. “I will understand if you wish to send me away when Mr. Stark arrives tomorrow and request a replacement android,” he said feebly. Silence fell again and it was only curiosity that had him raise his eyes. Wanda was staring up at him not with disgust and fear but with wonder. Wide-eyed wonder and a reflection of the warmth Vision felt deep inside his chest.

“Cold,” Wanda said softly. She reached up, her gentle, soft hand cupping Vision’s right cheek. “I do not feel cold,” she said, her eyes locked on his as the same warmth, the same love he had been feeling for years rose up and filled him. Despite his newfound uncertainty about his very identity and his purpose for being, she made him feel calm. She stilled the storm in his heart. “I feel only you.”

Vision took a deep breath even though he did not need to and the air had nowhere to go. It was a human gesture he had learned from Wanda, something she did when she was stressed and confused, both things that Vision was at the moment. It seemed appropriate. “Of course you do,” he said. “You are touching me.”

Wanda laughed softly, her hand still warm on his cheek. “I was trying to be romantic,” she said. “I feel only you. I don’t care that you’re metal, that you don’t know who you are anymore. I know who you are. You are Vision and you are not owned by owned by anyone. No one can give you orders. You are Vision who picked up a little boy off of the streets and brought him here to be safe and noticed him when so many people walked past. You are Vision who comforts me when I mourn my brother’s death still. You are Vision who is so, so intelligent and funny without meaning to be funny. You are Vision who has made my life so much better just by being here. You are Vision, the kindest person I have ever met. Perhaps you aren’t all human and perhaps you aren’t all machine. But whatever you are, you are Vision and I love you.” Wanda leaned up, standing on the tips of her toes, and kissed Vision on the lips.

It was gentle but passionate at the same time, something completely unexpected but not at all unwelcome. Vision felt warm. Human. Loved. And not only did he feel loved, he felt love. He wanted to touch her, wanted their lips to stay connected because he had never felt more human than he did when he was with her. He had never felt more human than he did in that moment. Her eyes fluttered shut and Vision assumed that was what he was supposed to do, too, so he closed his even though his sensors were still firing at full capacity. He may as well have had his eyes open. He noticed instantly that her oxytocin and dopamine levels were rising. He knew enough about those chemicals to know that humans released them when they were enjoying themselves. She hadn’t been lying when she said she loved him. Her body couldn’t lie.

Vision was lost in the moment for a lot longer than a moment until Wanda pulled back. She was glowing, her smile wide and bright and her hand still touching his face. “Why did you stop?” Vision asked curiously. “You were enjoying yourself.”

Wanda laughed, lowering her hand and opting for hugging him, her ear against his chest. “I was,” she said, “but I do need to breathe sometimes.”

They were both quiet for awhile after that, standing in Phillip’s room and holding each other and thinking. “I do believe I love you,” Vision said softly. “I did not know before, but after everything you have shown me and told me… I love you.”

Wanda smiled, her arms still wrapped around him. “I love you, too,” she said. “Very much. And I think you do have a heart.” She pulled back just a little, her hand flat against his chest and her bright eyes looking into his. “Not a heart like I have. Not a physical one. But you have more heart than any human being I’ve ever met. You are more human than all of them, Vision.”

For the first time, Vision knew who he was, completely and unequivocally.

Five Years Later

“Do you remember,” Wanda said facing the mirror above her dresser, “when we first met?”

Standing behind her, Vision ran his fingers through her wavy dark hair. He had been delegated to do her hair for her coronation as queen of Sokovia, happening that very day. She preferred Vision was obvious reasons. “I do, Wanda,” he said, twisting a few locks of hair together in an intricate pattern. “I have almost every interaction we have ever had committed to memory.” Pausing, Vision called to mind one of their first interactions, one that had stayed with him for quite awhile. “We can’t change who we are in the beginning, only who we turn out to be,” he recited.

Wanda laughed, shifting slightly in her chair. She was about to speak when Vision touched her shoulder. “You must still so I can arrange your hair and do your make-up,” he said. Wanda stilled, waiting a few beats before she spoke again.

“I still believe that,” she said. “You’ve changed so much since then. But I truly love who you’ve turned out to be.” Vision twisted together more of her hair, sliding a bobby pin into place.

“I am rather fond of him as well,” Vision said. His fingers stilled and his eyes flickered up, meeting with Wanda’s in the mirror. She smiled at him, causing his internal processors to heat up again and a warmth to rise in his chest. He smiled back, looking down at her hair.

“Your smile is different now,” she pointed out. “It’s not bad, but it’s different. You used to just mimic mine, but it’s your own now. I like that. You are your own. Not just what someone else tells you to be.”

Vision pondered that for a few moments too, filing away her thoughts for future reflection. He couldn’t help but smile again at the thought that maybe he wasn’t completely human, but he was enough.

“Why are you thinking of all of this now?” Vision asked. He didn’t hesitate to ask questions anymore either.

Wanda pondered for a few long moments before she answered. “We’re at the beginning of a new era,” she said. “This is my coronation. I’m reflecting on where we started and how far we’ve come and where we’re going to go. We’ve already passed the Sokovia Accords.” The Sokovia Accords were passed by King Barton with a lot of influence from the crown princess, Wanda. They outlawed emotional inhibitors because if humanity was creating life, they should be able to experience all that life has to offer. Ridding them of that choice was terribly cruel. Wanda heaved a sigh and Vision paused in his task, waiting her to settle before he resumed.

“And Flip,” she added with a fond smile. “He’s 10 now. He’s growing up so fast.” Vision digressed on that point. He was not growing up fat. He was growing up at average speed for a 10-year-old but he had come to realize that humanity romanticized most things. It was one of the things he loved about them.

With one last twist and a few final bobby pins, Vision finished Wanda’s hair. “There,” He said. “Is it to your satisfaction?” Wanda leaned forward, getting s little closer to the mirror.

“It’s lovely,” she said, twisting to press a kiss to the back of his hand. “Now I just need to get into my dress.” She was currently wearing just her pajamas, her coronation dress hanging on the closet door. It was an enormous affair, with over-the-shoulder sleeves and a huge skirt, covered in lace and gold details. Vision was very fond of it, especially since Wanda seemed to love it. Wanda crossed the room to the closet, reaching up to remove the dress. However, she paused, retracting her hand and turning to Vision. “Where do you think we are going to go?” she asked.

Vision thought about that for a few moments before he spoke again. “I do not know,” he said truthfully, “but wherever you go, I know that I will be by your side.” Wanda smiled, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek.

“I would hope so,” she said teasingly. “We are getting married today. Now go help Flip get ready, you’re not supposed to see me in the dress yet.” Vision smiled brightly again, a smile all his own and not just a carbon copy of someone else’s. Without another word, he swept out of the room and into the one next door. He rapped on the door with his knuckles once.

“Phillip,” he said, “I am here to help you prepare for today.” Phillip’s feet smacking against the floor from behind the door as he hurried to open it. He threw it open and there was Phillip Maximoff, already dressed in his suit but without the tie, the fabric hanging loose around his neck. He had changed a lot since he was the little baby that Vision had found in an alley that he thought would speak. He was much taller now, with a mop of messy blonde hair and inquisitive bright blue eyes. He had adopted a lot of Vision’s traits, especially in speech and his desire to know more, but he was a lot of Wanda, too. He had her smile and the small crinkles at the corners of her eyes.

“Good,” Phillip said. “I can’t figure out how to tie this, Vizh.” Vision smiled at the nickname. There had been a time he did not understand nicknames, but he had come to realize that humans used them when they cared for someone. Phillip called him nothing but Vizh.

“I will help,” Vision said. He stepped in the door, closing it behind him before turning to Phillip. He took the two ends of the tie in his fingers and quickly fastened them together in a neat bow tie around the boy’s neck. Phillip smiled widely at him.

“Thanks, Vizh,” he said, giving Vision a quick squeeze.

“Is that the only thing you needed assistance with?” Vision asked. Phillip hummed and nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. “I got everything and I remember exactly what I’m supposed to do for Mum’s…” Phillip trailed off, scrunching his nose in concentration as he tried to find the right word. “Cor… Coran… Coronation,” he said finally. “The coronation and the wedding. I remember everything.” He hesitated, sticking his hands in the pockets of his slacks and glancing up at Vision. “And if I don’t, you’ll be there to remind me, right?”

Vision smiled faintly again. He smiled quite a bit around his son. “Yes. Yes, I will be there to help you with whatever you need.” He crouched down so he could look into his eyes. Humans liked eye contact when they spoke about important things, he had learned. “I will always be there to help you with anything, no matter where, what, or when,” he said.

Phillip smiled sheepishly. “I know,” he said. “I know.” He swallowed, about to say something, but forewent it and hugged Vision again instead, burying his face in the shoulder of Vision’s black suit jacket. They stayed there for quite a long time before Phillip finally pulled back. “I like it better when you wear real clothes,” he said finally. Vision was an android so, of course, he could simply alter the code that dictated his appearance and project a different set of clothing on top of his metal frame. Almost all androids could do that. But Vision liked wearing real clothes. It made him feel more human.

“So do I,” Vision said. He reached down and touched Phillip’s hair, enjoying the feeling of the soft blonde curls. As he retracted his hand, about to speak again and direct himself and Phillip towards the front lawn where both the coronation and the wedding would take place, a small green light appeared in the corner of his vision. A notification alerting him to the fact that he had an update queued up and ready to download at his command.

He dismissed it. He was just fine the way he was.

—-

Hours after all of the guests left and the young Prince Phillip was asleep, the queen and Vision were still awake. Wanda’s head delicately laid on the pillow, her hair spread out like a halo as she faced Vision. She always looked like an angel to him but she did even more that night. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something for years,” she said, reaching over to him. She gently caressed his cheek as he blinked slowly, watching her. “I’ve only just remembered what it was.”

“What is it?” Vision said. “You May ask me anything.” He forewent blinking for. Few moments, wanting to drink in and absorb every detail of her face.

“Why do you get in bed with me every night when you don’t need to sleep?” Wanda asked curiously. She reminded him a lot of himself after he had stopped being afraid of asking questions. He wanted to know why humans did everything they did. She was just as curious about him.

“It calms me down,” Vision answered. “It helps me still my mind. I am acutely aware of all the empty space in my hard drive. All of the difference between me and humans. I am almost always aware that I am different from you and your father and Phillip. But when I am in bed with you… In the darkness, I can be anything I want to be. There is no one to see me but you and you have always seen me as the person I want to be.”

Wanda smiled, her smile soft and gentle and beautiful and absolutely perfect, everything Vision could have possibly wished for. She was everything he could have possibly wished for. “That’s so beautiful,” she said, his fingers stilling on his cheek. “I didn’t know you thought that.”

“I do,” Vision admitted. “And I enjoy being near you. I love you.”

Wanda leaned forward and kissed him on the lips. “I love you, Vision,” she said sincerely.

Vision took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he did, he could feel only her.