Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I got it!” Shuri exclaims proudly as she pulls the final virtual thread from the mind stone. The stone lifts from Vision’s head, causing him to convulse a twitch violently.
“Vis.” Wanda worriedly clutches his hand, looking into his eyes.
“I’m alright, Wanda.” He responds weakly, reassuringly squeezing her hand,” Now you need to destroy it.”
Wanda nods solemnly looking to the floating stone in front of her. The sight of it glowing with power seems to resonate with something inside of her. With a deep breath, she reaches towards the stone, coating it in layers upon layers of red energy. She gives one last smile to her love, before extending her arm towards the windows of the tower, sending a bolt of energy to shatter the glass. She sends the stone out of the window, quickly following after it.
As she disappears from view, Vision struggles to get up, trying his best to move towards the windows. He grunts in frustration at his new limited functions. He looks down to the battlefield, watching his friends destroy the intergalactic troops. He lets out a small sigh of relief, before a jaring stabbing pain explodes into his reality. He’s thrown into a nearby wall as Corvus Glaive impales the synth through the abdomen, glaring at the now empty hole in Vision’s head.
“Where’s the stone?” Corvus growls out, putting more pressure into the glaive.
“I’ll never tell you.” Vision sneers back through gritted teeth. Corus lets out an angry yell , taking out the glaive and raising it to strike. He pauses, looking slightly to his right, before a sickening grin creeps across his face. He lifts his glaive and hits Vision over the head one more time, before leaping out of the window.
Vision groans, touching his head and looking over to the window. He then looks up to the carnage on the floor above him. He leans heavily on the wall as he forces himself up to his feet. He grunts and groans, trying to force his broken body to the windows. He tries to float into the air, but can’t manage to stay aloft for more then ten seconds. He hits the floor and lets out a yell in anger.
“Vision.” Shuri’s voice shocks Vision, as he quickly looks to try and find her. She limps slightly down the stairs, holding her gauntlet loosely in her hand. She limps over to Vision, staring him up and down. She carefully looks at the fresh wounds given by Corvus, before quickly limping to the back of the lab. Vision hesitantly follows.
She swipes objects off tables in an angry huff, looking for something. She frantically scans from table to table, until she picks up a necklace made of fangs of some kind. She laughs triumphantly before turning to vision and tossing them to him.
“I can’t make the repairs right now, but this will keep you walking and fight ready.” Shuri says,” Put them on.”
Vision puts on the necklace, and a swath of black erupts out, covering his body in a black panther suit. He looks shocked at the sudden development.
“Come back once this is over and I’ll fix you properly.” Shuri laughs,” Now go! They need you out there!”
Vision nods, the frustration of his injuries hindering his movement now gone. She sprints to the busted window, jumping out and taking to the air in flight. It’s not as stable as he can normally sustain, but it’s useful enough. He looks to the battlefield, where the tides seem to be turning in the favor of the Avengers. Thor erupts the battlefield in lightning, killing dozens of enemies in a single swing of his new weapon. Then the call comes.
“If anyone can hear me, I need immediate backup.” Wanda’s voice echoes over the coms.
“Location.” Steve’s voice responds almost inhumanly fast.
“Eastern forest area.” Wanda responds quickly.
“On my way.” Vision says over coms, turning to the forest, scanning for life. He finds the thermal response of Wanda, along with two other figures that don’t appear to be allies. He flies over at the fastest pace he can muster, landing heavily on Corvus.
Vision begins his fight against Corvus and Cull. Exchanging blows to keep them away from Wanda as she floods the gem with an immense amount of energy. For every blow he receives, Vision makes sure to pay it back and keep attention on him. The battle pauses for a moment when Captain America appears from behind Corvus, stabbing him from behind with his own staff. Vision thankfully nods and continues to fight Cull. Bruce Banner breaks through the trees, tackling Cull out of sight, leaving Vision and Steve to watch over Wanda as she continues into the gem.
Steve and Vision stand, ready to fight anyone when the stone explodes. The blast knocks them to their knees, causing Vision to whip his head around to look at Wanda. She lies on the ground, her chest heaving heavily. He rushes over to kneel by her side, slowly helping sit up. He holds her gently as she pants heavily, gasping for air. She looks up weakly and gives a grateful smile towards Vision. He gleefully gives her a smile back, kissing her forehead.
“Oh, my children, why so exhausted?” The booming voice of Thanos seems to echo in their souls, making their hearts tremble in fear. The pair slowly turn their attention to the approaching titan, no sign of defeat on his face. Vision carefully positions himself between the titan and Wanda.
“You can’t win.” Vision says with a slightly desperate tone. Tahnos only chuckles slightly in return,” She destroyed the stone, you can’t win!”
“Can’t I?” Thanos lifts his gauntlet, a shimmer of green surrounding it, making it’s way up his arm. He slowly turns his hand. Vision looks in front of him, the forest rustling quietly. Wanda yells from behind him, and he turns just in time to see Wanda being batted away by the imposing purple figure. Vision leaps forwards to cushion her fall.
Vision quickly checks her over, she’s panting heavily from the use of her power. She hazily looks to Vison, face full of worry and pain. Vision tries his best to comfort her, carefully holding her in his arms and placing himself as a block between the titan and his beloved. He doesn;t want Wanda to see him, to see their failure.
Lighting rains from the sky, and hope wells up in Vision once more. If anyone could stop Thanos it’s Thor. He hears the thunder crash and the sound of an impact behind him.
“Vis.” Wanda sighs out weakly.
“I’m here.” He says, taking her palm and placing it onto his cheek,” You did a great job, Wanda.”
“Vis...” A small smile appears on her lips as she gently caresses the synth’s cheek. The warmth wells up inside the two of them as they share this wondrous moment together.
“Wanda...Wanda I…” He starts to speak, when the hard clink of metal impacting echoes behind him. He doesn’t dare to look, instead locking eyes with Wanda, horrified. Her calm and happy eyes turned panicked in a moment. Vision desperately clutches to her hand, but it soon starts disintegrating in his own. “No...no, no, no, Wanda.” She weakly looks to Vision, a sad smile on her face, and a single tear in her eye.
“I’m sorry.” the words almost echo as her body dissolves into brown ash in his hands.
It takes a moment for him to process, before he begins to try and catch the pieces in the air, without success. He holds the small bundle in his heavily clenched hand where hers was set. He slowly brings the ash to his forehead, to the small hole where the stone had once set. He pushes his clenches fist harder into his forehead. If he could cry, he would, he wants to.
“I can’t feel you.” He whispers in a horse tone. He sobs dryly, the pain in his chest almost burning from the intense emotions. He silently clutches the ash to his chest, hoping to sooth the fire. It isn’t until a hand firmly plants itself on his back, that he’s alerted to the presence of many others around him.
He looks up to see Captain Rogers, eyes wet with tears, but also cold with a sense of conviction. Vision looks around to see Rhodey, Natasha, Okoye, Doctor Banner, the sentient Racoon and Thor. Everyone looks disoriented and confused. Only Thor looks shaken, yet regretful of the situation. Vision could figure just by that sound.
They lost.

Chapter Text

The walk back to the tower felt longer than the whole battle. The emotions weighing heavy on everyone’s mind, the dread of still processing grief over the loss everyone shares. Vision blankly stares ahead, ignoring the sobs and outrage of the passing Wakandan’s at his appearance. Everyone’s voice sounds the same, every color a dull shade of brown instead of the orange hues of the sunset.
Once the group of injured and dilapidated heroes appear in front of the tower, a small group of barely held together guards come to greet them. Their eyes seem sunken, their voices not coming out as they mouth words without meaning. Okoye stays behind to comfort the defeated soldiers, trying her best to put on the braveface of a general for her people. Vision can’t help but feel a strong jealousy of her strength, of the humanity he feels he can never possess. The group moves into the tower.
“Miss Shuri.” Vision’s voice echoes through the bloody hall leading to the main lab area,” Miss Shuri, I’ve come to return the suit. I also have some...unfortunate news to share about your brother.” He walks slowly in front of the others, scanning the open space for any forms of life,” Miss Shuri?”
No response of life anywhere in the facility. Vision gasps softly, floating down to the bottom floor, scanning the back of the lab where his savior had aided him so feverishly.Nothing but a small pile of ash next to the table where the necklace around his neck once lay. He gently lowers to his knees, hesitantly touching the small pile, the sudden vivid memory of her hopeful smile bursting into his head. It hurts far more than any wound he had accumulated over the battle.
“Vision?” Natasha’s voice startles the synth, recoiling his touch. He takes in a harsh breath before rising up to his feet.
“It appears that Princess Shuri has unfortunately passed away as well.” Vision’s voice remains eerily steady as he reports to Natasha. He knows he’s a robot in a sense, but he never thought he could report a tragic loss with such ease. He looks to Natasha, hoping she shows more emotion than he’s able to. She stands, motionless, fixated on the small pile of ash. She takes a fast and harsh breath in, shuddering slightly.
“I believe our highest priority should be figuring out if Queen Ramonada has survived.” She says in a shaken breath, before letting out a dry laugh,” You know, I’m not sure if it would be more or less of a relief if she’s still around. If she is, there will be at least a small amount of order maintained in the monarchy, but we’ll have to tell her that her two children died. If she gets dusted, then at least she won’t be alone.”
“Natasha.” Steve appears behind her, gently patting her shoulder,” Right now we need to hope as many people as possible have survived this disaster.”
Vision looks to the seemingly unshaken Captain. How could be so seemingly unphased by this situation. He lost his friend he had so desperately tried to fight for just two years prior. Vision just can’t comprehend, a strange sensation for someone who should have the sum of all human knowledge at his disposal.
“I’ll fly up to the palace to see about the status of the Queen.” Vision responds, beginning to walk past the pair. He’s stopped by Steve with a firm grip on his shoulder. Vision looks into Steve’s eyes, a sympathetic look drenched in pity looks back at him.
“You need to focus on fixing yourself.” Steve says in a careful tone,” You’ve done plenty already, friend.”
The words feel sincere, but cut through Vision like a knife. He doesn;t feel as though he’d done much except create an obstacle for the team this past twenty four hours. Yet he’s the one being comforted. The deep well of sadness stings horribly, a freezing cold where a fire once raged, and Vision can do nothing about it. He solemnly nods to Steve, setting himself in the table Shuri had used to remove the stone from his head.
He interfaces silently with the silent lab, ignoring the exit of the others he’d arrived with. He lets himself revel in the stinging silence as he accesses different files and programs to take over the facility and begin the necessary repairs.
The sun fades past the horizon before anyone comes back into the tower. Steve slowly walks into the main hall of the tower. The hum of machinery breaks the dead night’s unbearable silence. He looks down to the bottom floor from the overview platform. Vision stands in front of the shattered window, overlooking the darkness hiding corpses of aliens and humans alike. He’s carefully holding a piece of broken glass between his fingers, twirling it slowly, transfixed on the horizon.
Steve makes his way to the synth. As he slowly approaches, vision straightens his back and takes in a small breath, letting out a sigh.
“Based on a scan of the visible area from this platform, I can estimate we’ll need roughly forty eight graves for the warriors of Wakanda.” Vision turns his head, showing Captain a look of heart wrenching sadness,” And around fifty eight memorial plaques for those who were dissipated by Thanos. It’s a rough estimate, due to the wind present at the end of the battle which seems to have taken the remaining ash, as well as the potential of the mixture of different ashed person’s mixing with each other through said wind.” Vision clutches the piece of glass, turning his attention back to the battlefield.
“Vision.” Steve slowly approaches.
“Three hundred and seventy six.” Vision quickly cut off Steve,” That’s how many other worldly corpses I can clock from here alone. It was an amazing fight, a true triumph for humanity. A testament to the stubborn and flexible rigidity your species has in the face of adversity.”
Steve puts his hand on Vision’s shoulder, hoping to reassure him. It causes Vision to fall to his knees. Vision’s gaze goes to his hand. He opens it to reveal the small piece of glass, glowing faintly red, a remnant of Wanda’s magic. Steve feels the cold shock run through his system.
“I’ll never see her again, Captain Rogers.” Vision’s voice sounds so cold, yet dripping in a despair,” I know this as a fact, yet I can’t help but feel so horribly empty at the thought I’ll never see her again.” Vision looks to Steve,” How are you able to mask your sadness so well, Captain? I can only imagine you feel the same emptiness as me, yet you present yourself so strongly.” Steve falls to his knees, embracing Vision in a hug. Steve’s small shudder, not going unnoticed by Vision.
“It has nothing to do with strength, friend.” Steve says in a soft tone,” I just know that if everyone shows their true emotions right now, the world will fall into more chaos.” Steve pulls away, and positions himself so he can look into Vision’s eyes,” We’re still here, Vision. We have to look at the reality in this situation.”
Vision and Steve look into each other's eyes, exchanging a conversation without the need for words. Vision, now understanding how the world will continue to turn, the universe will continue to exist, and the world's need for the avengers, now more than ever. Steve, understanding the delicacy of emotion and that pain of the first major loss one must experience in their life, and the worldview changes that come with that. Steve brings Vision in for another hug.
Once they break the embrace, they stand. Vision looks once more to the small glass shard, then phasing it into his hip for safe keeping. Steve gives him a sad smile.
“What will you have us do now, Captain?” Vision asks, smiling back.
“Our best.” Steve jokes. The two exit the tower together, preparing themselves to face their new world.

Chapter Text

It’s been two weeks since the snap. Vision finds himself almost exclusively inside of the Avengers Compound. He has to stay inside in order to be close to the facilities arc reactor to maintain a stable charge. He figured out a few days after it’s removal, that the infinity stone was his main power source which kept him running smoothly. It wasn’t a large, breathtaking discovery, but it almost led to a power down without a way to reboot. He quickly configured a wireless charging apparatus, connecting to the Avenger’s arc reactor.
In a word, Vision is busy. While the other avengers spend their time taking turns monitoring a small pager found at Nick Fury’s last known location, he’s taken to being the main source of communication between various government officials, making plans to try and settle unrest building throughout the world. He also works with the team and the officials to try and finish the official census for the world, figuring out just how much devastation Thanos caused before he disappeared.
Vision works around the clock, barely stopping to charge every twentish hour. It’s the only thing that stops him from thinking independently. Everytime he allows his mind to wander, the visions of that day play on loop over and over. Wanda’s smile, her panic, her last words. They repeat until it’s near unbearable to even exist, ringing constantly in his ears, forcing him back into sorrow he’d hoped the work would eventually take away. He’s come very close to trying to manually delete those memories, but just the thought sends a worse pain and sadness coursing through his body than the memories could ever give him.
When he finds himself in a lull of work, he often finds himself sitting in Wanda’s old room. It had been years since she’d been here, but it still bears an undeniable mark that this was once the place she called ‘home’. He finds when he’s sitting on her bed he can relive some of the happier memories he shared with his beloved. He had even found her secret stash of sitcoms. She would always watch them when training was particularly tough, or she was reminded of Pietro in some way, or even when she just couldn’t think of anything else to do. He found himself often joining her in the little watch parties, having her explain the recurring jokes, laughing at the physical humor, enjoying the moment with her.
He was more fond of Malcolm in the Middle sitcom, he enjoyed their take on family and the way the characters spoke directly to the camera, like they were speaking to him directly. It made him feel like he was a part of the show. However, Wanda once told him she preferred the Dick Van Dyke show, so everytime she would ask what they should watch, he would happily recommend that. Deep down, he’s sure she knew the trick he was trying to play, but she would still happily watch her favorite show nonetheless. Wanda’s smile was far more enjoyable than any tv show or movie they could watch together.
On this particular night, Vision finds himself watching an episode of the Dick Van Dyke show. He smiles to himself, laughing at the jokes he’s heard plenty of times already, fiddling with the shard of glass from Wakanda he had stored away. It’s once sharp edges are now dull and smooth from his near constant fidgeting. It’s glow had faded ever so slightly, but her traces still remained enough for him to treasure the little piece.
He snaps out of his trance-like state when he hears an intense amount of movement around the compound. He pauses the show then phases through the walls of the facility, until he reaches the main lab area. He watches Bruce, Natasha and Steve murmuring amongst themselves around the pager. He continues to observe when the sensors around the Avernger’s facility alert him to a nearly impossibly fast presence entering from the air. In slow motion, the blur enters the facility, heading straight towards his team. Vision moves quickly to intercept it. As he approaches, he realizes there’s a figure of a humanoid female covered in the light of the blur. He uses his body as a blockade, slightly raising his arms, starling the woman.
“Apologies, Miss, but what business might you have on these premises?” Vision asks as he stops the blonde haired woman in a blue, red and yellow jumpsuit. The glow in her glare startles Vision for a moment, but he stands firmly in place.
“Where’s Fury?” She almost growls out. Before Vision can answer, Natasha and Steve appear by his side, ready for a confrontation. Vision nods reassuringly to Steve, raising his hands in surrender.
“Director Nicholas Fury was an unfortunate victim of the Mad Titan Thanos.” Vision says in a cold, yet calm tone,” I presume you are the one he was trying to contact via the pager in the other room.” She looks between the three in front of her, her eyes dimming to reveal her brown eyes underneath. She takes in a breath before extending a hand towards Vision. Vision takes the hand and gives it a sturdy shake.
“Carol Danvers.” She says in a steadfast tone,” And yes, I believe you must have been waiting for me. I gave Fury that pager in cases of extreme emergency. Who’s this, ‘Thanos’?” She takes her hand from Vision, extending it towards Steve.
“Steve Rogers.” He says, taking her hand and briskly shaking it,”He came to Earth fourteen days ago. He snapped a special gauntlet, which held the power of six infinity stones, basically erasing half of all life from the planet. If not the universe. He disappeared before we could try to apprehend him.”
“That would explain the inordinate amount of empty spaceships I encountered getting here.” Carol whispers to herself, reaching her hand out to Natasha.
“Natasha Romanoff.” Natasha takes her hand and gives it a quick shake,” So, what’s your deal?” Steve nudges her slight, making her scoff,” Fury doesn’t trust anyone. Now a glowing woman appears from God knows where, saying he called her. I want to know her schitc.”
“Superpowered former-kree soldier, now a freelance hero throughout the galaxy.” Carol smugly grins as she pounds her fist together, letting out a small spark of cosmic energy. The trio look in awe at this small feat of power, but quickly orient themselves.
“If you’re from space, do you happen to know of a planet called Titan?” Vision asks, ”Based on information gained from our friend Rocket, that may be the planet Thanos originated from.”
“Titan? Titan...oh yeah, it’s a desolate planet in space. It was completely eradicated through natural causes, like famine and plague. Not a life form present, and not an ecosystem to sustain it.” Carol looks up and down at Vision, a slightly questioning look on her face before shrugging,” It’s basically a glorified asteroid floating through space.”
“Well, according to Rocket, we may have some allies on or near that glorified asteroid.” Steven chimes in, walking over to a nearby table, leaning heavily on it. He takes in a large breath, staring at the ground in front of him.
“I know we’ve just met…” Natasha breaks the cold silence bluntly,” but I guess we’re now going to ask if you could fly to Titan and see if any of our friends survived. We’re currently not capable of the type of space travel needed to get there in a timely manner. It's actually a godsend that you came. Otherwise we might’ve…”
“Nat.” Steve sternly looks over to Natasha. She takes in a sharp breath, swallowing it before looking back to Carol.
“That is a big ask.” Carol says jokingly. She crosses her arms, pondering for a moment. She eventually sighs,” But I’ll do it. Any allies are good allies at this point.”
“I know it’s a lot more to ask…” Natasha says, sarcasm oozing from her voice,” But could you do it as soon as possible? Like we said, it’s been fourteen days, and I don’t know how some of our humans will do for that long in space.”
“At least attempt to bribe me first.” Carol scoffs, mockingly placing a hand on her chest in fake shock.
“Ah, would you like monetary compensation for your efforts?” Vision earnestly asks, trying to ease the tension in the room. Natasha and Carol let out small laughs, before regaining their composure and smiling to the synth.
“Just give me a place to stay and three meals a day. That’ll be enough.” Carol says with a small chuckle. Vision hesitantly nods and walks away to begin preparing a room for their new intergalactic friend.
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As quickly as she came, Carol left. She didn’t reappear for more then a week, crushing the nonexistent spirit the team tried to fake. Everyone got back into their respective relief efforts, working to try and keep the worry out of their minds. Rocket began working with Bruce and Vision to create a satellite broadcasting an intergalactic signal. Now that they know about life on other planets, they think they should at least try to start peaceful communications with some of the less hostile creatures out there.
It’s a quiet day when Pepper Potts decides to visit the Avengers compound. She’d been showing up about three times a week, hoping for news on Tony’s whereabouts, trying her best to keep up a fake optimism about her lover's condition. Vision greets her and takes her to her favorite spot, next to the largest windows overlooking the field in front of the compound. He silently makes her tea, allowing her to get comfortable. Every so often she’ll ask a question to make conversation, which Vision will diligently respond to, creating a soothing back and forth that breaks the heavy silence that’s otherwise present. After around three hours, with the sun dipping well below the horizon, Pepper looks out the window with tears forming in her eyes. She doesn’t want to give up hope, but it’s becoming really hard not to. Vision quietly drapes a blanket over her shoulders.
The floor begins to rumble. Vision looks around, confused, there shouldn’t be any reason for an earthquake to occur this far from a fault line. He looks to Pepper, who seems fixated on the sky, pressing her hands firmly on the glass. She gasps in shock, jumping to her feet and sprinting out to the field. Vision quickly follows in suit, followed by the rest of the Avenger’s team.
Once outside, the group looks to the sky, watching something approach quickly. It’s figure is hard to make out in the fresh blanket of night, but it doesn’t look like a plane nor a helicopter. The small glowing figure beneath it alerts the group to it’s identity. In a matter of minutes, Carol reaches the ground, gently settling the large spacecraft on the grass of the compound. The door slowly opens, revealing a blue woman carefully helping a battered Tony to the ground. Steve quickly takes Tony from her.
Vision does a quick scan of Tony’s body, identifying a slight case of oxygen asphyxiation, a large wound haphazardly treated on his side, extreme malnutrition and severe dehydration. He tunes himself with the compound, automating the preparation of an emergency saline drip, a rations bag full of calorie-full items, an oxygen tank, and a heated compress inside of the main foyer of the compound. Pepper quickly pushed past, holding Tony’s face in her hands, crying. Tony gently kisses her cheek, whispering something to Steve. The group begins to head inside, leaving the blue woman and Rocket to sit on the stairs of the ship. Vision stays back behind the group, watching the duo quietly comfort each other. He’s startled by a sudden hand on his shoulder.
“I have some friends I need to check up on.” Carol says, patting Vision’s shoulder reassuredly,” I’ll be back by the morning. Make sure the big guy gets some proper treatment.”
“Thank you for everything, Miss Danvers.” Vision smiles and nods to Carol.
“Please, just call me Carol.” She laughs, before taking to the air, flying away. Vision looks to the other two, giving them a solemn nod before following the larger group into the facility. Not even a few feet into the facility, Tony loses consciousness, falling limp towards the ground. Steve catches him, and with help from Rhodey, they take him to a nearby spare room.
Vision grabs the first aid material he prepped remotely, and meets the group. He first attaches Tony to the saline drip. He flinches in his sleep, but continues to rest. Vision looks to Pepper, by Tony’s side, and slides her the calories rich rations. He then places the oxygen tank around Tony’s mouth and nose, making sure nothing leaks out, and turns the valve to start the flow. Carefully lifting his shirt, Vision carefully places the heated compress to the wound on his side, before covering him with the blanket.
“I estimate he’ll be asleep for at least twelve hours.” He says, carefully fixing the tank besides the bed,” When he wakes, make sure he eats at least half of the rations provided. He’ll take some time to get going, but we should leave him for now.”
“Any substantial injuries?” Steve asks in a gruff tone.
“Nothing life threatening I can see, just some sutures that will need to be looked at by a medical professional as soon as possible.” Vision says in a reassuring tone,” He just needs to rest right now.”
The group silently nod to each other, carefully and quietly exiting the room, leaving Pepper and Tony. A silent agreement is held between everyone, it would be best for all of them to get some sleep before facing the new day tomorrow. They break off, headed to their respective rooms. Vision remains near the entrance of the building, waiting for Rocket and the blue woman to come inside. It takes nearly an hour, but they eventually close the hatch of the ship and begin walking towards the building. Vision holds open the door as they enter.
“I am The Vision.” He says as they walk into the facility, he looks to the blue woman as she enters,” I must thank you for the care you put into ensuring Mister Stark’s safety. It means much more than you could possibly know.” The blue woman stops in her tracks, her hands clenching at her sides. Rocket looks up sadly to her, before giving a sympathetic smile to Vision, and taking one of her hands in his own. She straightens up, looking down to Rocket, then staring straight in front of her.
“Nebula.” She says quietly, before walking away with Rocket. They disappear up the stairs, leaving Vision alone in the foyer. He lets out a small sigh, floating over to his corner, entering low power mode, and saying goodbye to another turbulent day.

Chapter Text

After the morning meeting, and Tony’s small freak out, Vision stands outside of Tony’s room. He’s listening to the planning meeting happening in the adjacent room, carefully absorbing the details and allowing himself to feel a spark of hope, where there’d been only a void this past month. He barely listens to the bickering of his teammates, instead allowing himself the luxury of imagining Wanda at his side again.
He smiles to himself, thinking about the tv marathons the two will have once she’s back, the stories he’ll tell her of the otherworldly friends he’s made in the time she’s been gone, the exciting idea of holding her close once more.
“Let’s go get that son of a bitch.” Steve coldly says, bringing Vision back to his senses. He watches as the group separates to get ready for their trip. Steve approaches him.
“Are you going with us?” He asks, a sad smile and steadfast eyes piercing into Vision. Vision looks at the Captain, giving a halfhearted smile. Oh, how he wants to go. He wants to rip that purple potato chip’s face in half, to feel a small amount of satisfaction at burning his home to the ground, to be the one to snap everyone back into existence. But deep in his heart, he knows he can’t.
“I’m sorry, Captain.” Vision replies softly,” I feel someone should be here for Miss Potts when Mister Stark wakes up. I’ll look after them to the best of my ability until you all return triumphantly.”
Steve gives a sad smile, patting Vision’s shoulder slowly. He grabs Vision’s shoulder and leans him in close so he can whisper,” What do you believe the odds really are, we come back successful?” Vision feels a tinge of shock at Steve’s words. The normally intensely positive Captain never showed a sense of doubt to anyone, let alone his companions. He then feels a pain deep in his chest, a feeling he had forgotten due to his use this past month. A pain that once used to define his everyday life. Steve wasn’t looking to Vision as a companion at this moment, he was looking at a tool.
Vision carefully runs the odds and probability in his head, whispering back,” With all of the known variables, the best answer I can give you is that there’s a six percent chance of success.” Steve pulls away, a sad smile crossing his face. Vision reluctantly smiles back,” Good luck, Captain.”
Within the hour, the team begins quick repairs to the spaceship, easily finishing with Rocket’s fast and precise instructions. They head out around three in the afternoon, leaving only Vision, Pepper and Tony in the compound. Once Vision confirms the security measures are in order, he quietly knocks on Tony’s door, waiting for a reply.
“Come in.” Pepper says quietly. Vision phases through the door. He looks down to the emaciated Tony on the bed. Pale and gout, he can’t help but feel pity for his creator. He checks the IV drip, recording the speed of the drip and the volume of the bag. After the check in, he looks to Pepper, giving a small smile. She absentmindedly returns the smile weakly. She barely looks better than Tony, the worry has taken its toll on her as well. Vision can’t help but try to relieve at least a little bit of her worries.
“Would you like something to eat?” Vision asks carefully. Pepper looks to him and nods silently. Vision nods and phases through the door, heads to the kitchen.
He looks through the ingredients left by the team, scanning through his catalogue of meals he’d compiled over the years. As he looks, he notices a small bottle of paprika. He pauses, staring at the small bottle, so rarely used in any of the quick meals the others had been making. A few people had asked why it was in there at all, Vision always reassuring that he’d been told that’s the safest place to store it. He still remembers when Wanda scolded him for nearly an hour when he casually left it out one night.
He takes it out, gently holding it into his hands. After a moment, he gathers a litany of ingredients out of the fridge, settling on making chicken paprikash.
He preps the ingredients. Once he begins to cook the onions, Pepper joins him in the kitchen, sitting on a chair on the opposite side of the kitchen island. She watches Vision absentmindedly, staring at the pan sizzling with heat.
“I should be thankful.” She says, her stare unflinching from the meal,” I know I should. He came back. I know that a lot of people aren’t as lucky. It’s just…”
“You don’t need to try and justify yourself, Miss Potts.” Vision responds, keeping an eye on the onions, as to not burn the pan. “This is a strange and unprecedented scenario. You, as many of the others in the team, were expecting the worst. It’s hard to accept that the new normal we have become accustomed to shattering as fast as it was established.” Pepper breaks her stare from the pan, looking up to Vision,” Yes, you’re lucky, I will admit to that. However no one is holding that against you.”
Pepper continues to stare at him. Trying to think of what to say, what she could possibly respond to. For a robot, that was a surprisingly human thing to say. She’s shocked. Vision finally looks up to her, giving a small chuckle at her dumbstruck expression. He adds the paprika and chicken to the pan, allowing it to simmer.
“Have you ever had paprikash, Miss Potts?” Vision asks.
“Um, I don’t think I have.” She says, regaining her composure.
“Though I don’t have any experience with eating, I’ve been told I make a pretty good rendition. A real four star chef.”
“Not five?”
“Not having the ability to taste really tanked my rating for my first few attempts at cooking.” Vision laughs fondly, stirring the dish,” She never let’s me forget the time I accidentally used sugar instead of salt.”
“She?” Pepper looks at him with a mixture of confusion and wonder,” What, did you find a nice toaster out there?” Vision pauses, before setting down his spoon on the counter. He stares into the slightly bubbling mixture. Pepper looks at him with a bit more confusion, taken aback at the intense reaction to her joke,” I’m, uh, I’m sorry. That was a bad joke.”
“No, no. I understand.” He says in a cold tone,” I’m just a robot, isn’t that right? You’ve only seen me as such. All of you have only seen me as such.” He begins to stir the mixture once more, measuring the temperature to cook the chicken to an edible level.
“Vision.” Pepper begins to talk, but Vision forcefully sets down the spoon, with a loud impact. She flinches. Vision walks over to a cabinet, taking out a plate. He puts a decent sized portion of paprikash on the plate, before putting it in front of Pepper with a fork. She hesitantly begins eating. The first bite, full of a unique and delicious flavor, melts away the tension in her shoulders, and she quickly begins eating larger forkfuls of the dish.
“My favorite color is red.” Vision says solemnly, picking up the pan, shoveling the leftovers into a tupperware,” My favorite sound is earnest laughter from a loved one. My favorite site is the smile of my favorite person smelling a freshly bloomed rose.” Pepper stops, mid bite, to look at Vision,” I personally can’t eat, but my favorite dish is a warmed chocolate chip cookie, based on the smiles I see of the people who can eat them. I, too, felt an intense amount of worry when Mister Stark didn’t come back to earth right away, and I lost someone immensely precious to me to Thanos.”
“I, uh…” Pepper swallows her bite, but Vision cuts her off.
“Wanda Maximoff.” Vision says, staring Pepper in the eyes, shocking her.
“Oh.” Pepper sets down her fork a little shocked.
“Miss Potts, I don’t mean to come off as crass.” Vision’s voice softens,” I just...Wanda looked at me as a person, she looked at me with such affection and care. I allowed myself to get spoiled, expecting that others would see past my material makeup and treat me as an equal.”
“Oh, oh Vision.” Pepper reaches across the island, resting a sympathetic hand on his,” I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“I can’t hold that against you.” Vision says, staring at her hand,” I can’t hold it against anyone really. It’s an unreal expectation, I can understand that. I mean, there’s still a significant number of cases where human still discriminate against each other based off skin tone.” Vision looks to Pepper, a horrified expression on her face,” Oh, oh that was meant as a joke. To ease the tension? I assume that wasn’t how you took it.``
Pepper’s face changes through several emotions in a matter of seconds. She eventually lands on a confused smile. She lets out a small chuckle, before releasing his hand, falling back into her seat. She picks up her fork, stirring the chicken on her plate. The silence is striking, Vision tries to think of anything to relieve the tension. He’s angry at himself for even creating this situation.
“So how long were you two together?” Pepper finally asks. Vision take in a breath.
“Well, it wasn’t until about a year and half ago that we decided to start trying to pursue the relationship a bit more seriously.” Vision takes the pan and begins washing it,” I think we both held affection for each other for a while before hand. At least, I did. I was just scared of the possible repercussions she would face. But, the more time we spent together, the more our feelings grew. We started going out of way to create situations where we could spend as much time together as possible, away from our responsibilities.”
“How sweet.” Pepper leans on the counter, becoming slightly engrossed in the story.
“It was.” Vision chuckles,” We would randevou in cafes and catch up. I think my favorite memory was when we met in Munich during Oktoberfest. It was purely by chance. Mister Stark had sent me as a mediator to continue negotiations around a year after the airport incident. I happened upon her on the edge of town, she was a couple drinks in to put it lightly. She was dancing to the music of the polka band, happily laughing and clapping with a few of the other patrons. I couldn’t help but smile, watching her just so thoroughly enjoying herself. When she saw me, her face lit up like a child on christmas.” Vision can’t help but let out a small laugh as he stares off lovingly into space,” I didn’t realize just how quickly she could sprint until she had body slammed with a hug.”
“Awe.”
“We spend the rest of the day together. I mostly followed her through her own little bar hopping adventure, but it was still thoroughly enjoyable. It ended with Captain Rogers finding us and taking her away. Ah, how funny it was to see her whine and pout about having to leave.” Vision laughs fondly, making Pepper let out a small smile. She looks to the robot with a newfound fondness, realizing she’s never really taken the time to talk with him like this before. She slightly regrets that she hasn’t done it before.
“Ah, those stupid Germany meetings.” Pepper sighs,” That was the biggest pain in the ass. Tony took me to those meetings a few times, luring me, telling me it was a ‘vacation’. He always gave me a half-assed apology when we would land, but he always made it up tenfold.” Vision looks at Pepper, who smiles fondly to the air, daydreaming about her experience,” The second time he tricked me, I told him that he’d better take me to Disneyworld ro make up for it. That idiot rented out Epcot for two hours as soon as we got back to the states. How can I stay mad at him after that?”
The two share the moment, happily reminiscing over their favored memories. But the thing about moments is, they don’t last.
A large clatter alerts the pair. Pepper quickly pops out the chair, hustling to the room. Vision follows close behind, entering the room right after her. Tony’s trying to sit up in his bed, hissing swears under his breath as he tries to claw out the IV from his arm once more. Pepper quickly tries to stop him, trying to calm him down with reassuring statements. Tony seems to snap out of his daze once Pepper’s face enters his vision. A smile appears on his lips for a moment, before he slumps down in the bed, exhausted. Tony then notices Vision in the doorway, his smile slowly fades.
“Didn’t realize I still needed a babysitter at this age.” Tony chuckles to himself. He ushers Vision in, beckoning him into the room,” Come in, come in. It feels weird when you just stand there like a camera.”
Vision hovers slowly into the room, nodding sympathetically to Tony. Tony looks to Pepper, a smile on his face as he takes her hand. Pepper smiles sincerely, gently caressing Tony’s face, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Vision walks slowly over to Tony’s IV, making sure Tony hadn’t burst his vein with the violent outburst earlier. Tony lets out a sigh.
“So where’s the overgrown boy scout?” Tony asks mockingly to Vision.
“The Avengers went out into space to try and kill Thanos.” Vision says quietly, reapplying medical tape over the IV,” According to Rocket, they should return within the week. Maybe even as soon as three days.”
“Those assholes.” Tony angrilly mutters angrilly.
“They’re trying to help everyone.” Pepper says in a quiet reassurance.
“They’re going to end up dying!” Tony yells in response,” It doesn’t matter what they do, if Thanos has those stones they’re going to die horrible, painful deaths.” The room falls silent. Tony’s ragged breathing makes time resume.
“We need to keep up a positive attitude.” Pepper tries to grab Tony’s hand, but he shrinks away.
“Positive attitude?” Tony’s cold glare could curdle milk,” There isn’t any positivity anymore, Peps. When we lost, when we failed, positivity became an endangered resource. Everyone lost someone, something, and we couldn’t stop the damn monster who took it all.” He clenches his fist, staring at it angrily.
“Don’t you dare blame yourself.” Pepper aggressively takes Tony’s hand. Tony looks shocked at her. Tears fill her eyes as she glares back at him. Tony clears his throat, at a loss for words. He turns his attention back to Vision, almost as if he’s studying him for the first time.
“Something’s....different about you.” Tony says, eyes still meticulously scanning the synth,” Did you get a haircut?” Vision smiles.
“A close guess.” Vision chuckles out, before tapping next to the hole on his forehead,” It appears as though I’ve ‘lost my mind’ more than anything.” Tony gives a small snort at the unexpected response. He looks at Pepper.
“I’m gone for a month and you guys replace ‘the funny one’ with a robot.” Tony looks back to Vision, carefully observing the hole, becoming Vision to lean down. Vision obeys the silent command, leaning down for Tony to study. He mutters under his breath, seemingly planning something in his own world.
“Mr. Stark, if I may.” Vision says, quietly retreating from Stark's calculated gaze,” I must finish cleaning up. If you would like, there’s some paprikash left over.” Vision nods and retreats out the door. He sighs to himself. This is going to be a long week.

Chapter Text

Tony makes sure the days don’t go by uneventfully. Everyday he wakes up with a start, screaming and yelling, trying to get out of bed but collapsing to the floor almost immediately. Pepper can’t stay the whole time, needing to go home for a new change of clothes. Vision requests for Tony to stay for further recuperation, and Pepper agrees reluctantly when she sets off on the morning of the fourth day of the Avenger’s absence. 

Vision watches over Tony when he decides to get into the wheelchair for a trip outside of his room. Vision walks behind him, pushing him at a moderate pace around the ground floor of the complex. Tony hums a small song to himself, as he looks around the nostalgic scenery. Once he recognizes the tune, he clears his throat and grimaces to the air in front of him.

“I want to go to the lab.” Tony grumbles.

“It’s not wise for you to work too hard.” Vision responds quickly.

“I’m fine.” Tony spits out, and a harsh cough follows. Tony grumbles angrily,” I’m fine. I just want to do something. It’s hellish to have all the means to do something, but not being allowed to. If I’m going to be...imprisoned, I at least want not to be bored.” Vision lets out a sarcastic chuckle. “And what, pray tell, is so funny?”

“When the cause is ‘protection and safety’ for someone else, locking them here is fine and justified.” Vision prattles as he saunters through the halls,” Yet when you have to experience the same, it’s boring and hellish. The irony is palpable. If I could taste, I bet it would be sweet.” 

“Look, I apologized for that several times over.” Tony growls out, waving his hand away dismissively,” I thought it was the best for everyone. After two years , I think I would finally deserve a break from that stupid mistake.” The wheelchair stops, in front of the large glass windows. Tony looks out on the browning grass, the bright blue sky he had missed for so long, and the forest swelling with trees in the distance. He feels a sense of intense relief and sorrow, and happiness to finally be home. Vision’s face slowly appears in the reflection of the glass, a somber grimace as he looks at the same scenery. “Penny for your thoughts.”

“I’m just taking in the scenery, much like yourself.” He responds in a dazed tone,” It feels strange to take a moment like this, to see the same sight I’ve witnessed hundreds of times at this point. But it’s different now.” Vision looks into the reflections of Tony’s eyes. 

“Yeah…” Tony breaks contact as he looks back outside,” Yeah, it’s different.”

“Shall I make you lunch?” 

“I’m alright. But can I, can I please just look in the lab. I built the damn thing, I think I deserve that much.” Vision chuckles at the sentiment. He looks to Tony once more, he looks forlorn and desperate. Vision sighs.

“If you stay in the chair, and keep your fluids attached, I believe I can let you work for an hour or so.” Vision says, watching a small smile grow on Tony’s face. He begins to back up, when the walls begin shaking violently. Tony and Vision’s sight shoots to the sky, as they watch the ship land on the field in front of them. Tony stands quickly, placing his forehead to the glass, watching the others begin to leave the ship.

The silence is deafening. Tony stares as Steve exits the ship. Steve looks up, locking their eyes. The dark circles under his eyes tell more than words every can. Tony slinks back into his chair. Vision feels, not disappointment, but cold. What small amount of hope he had retained, has left his system. He silently takes Tony back to his room without protest, before coming out to the lounge to greet the heroes.

When he enters the room, everyone has their heads hung in defeat. Vision can’t think of anything to say, he just observes the disheveled appearance of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Thor breaks the silence by slamming his fist on the table, before getting up and pushing past Vision out of the room.

“Thor…” Rhodey sympathetically calls.

“Let him go.” Natasha says weakly,” He’s been the hardest hit by all this.”

“We were all hit hard, he’s not special.” Rocket hisses out,” He should be happy he got the killing blow.”

“A noble honor.” Nebula says coldly.

“We’ve had this conversation a dozen times, can we cool it for one goddamn day?” Rhodey angrilly spouts,” For god's sakes, if Thor can’t handle being around us, then let him go.”

“Rhodey, calm down.” Steve stands and walks over to Vision. He gives a sad look, and pats his shoulder. Vision takes a shuddered breath before nodding solemnly.

“I’ll make some tea.” Vision says quietly. He begins walking towards the kitchen before stopping and turning to the group once more,” Thank you, for doing your best.”

The next day Carol leaves briskly, saying how other planets will need her help more than earth. Rocket and Nebula follow after her later in the day, after leaving a means of communication in the case they were needed on earth again. Day quickly turns to night, and the remains of the team sit around the lounge, eating takeout in silence. Tony finally breaks the silence with a loud sigh.

“This is a depressing sight.” Tony moans loudly,” I thought when you guys weren’t here, it sucked, but now it’s so much worse.”

“Sorry we aren’t all sunshine and rainbows right now.” Bruce grunts in response,” It’s been a shitty couple of days. No, not even days, it’s been a shitty month.”

“Oh cry me a river.” Tony angrily responds,” I knew everything was going to shit a month ago. It’s been shitty for you? It’s been shitty for me! You had a fully functioning spaceship from your little trek to the cosmos. I was stranded and almost died in space. Almost died, and I’m not down in the dumps like you losers. No I want to move on, I want to get back to making shit, but your preprogrammed supernanny kept me on strict watch and bedrest. The world didn’t end, so stop acting like it did.” Natasha slams her fork down and glares at Tony,” Now why in the hell do you care so damn much? Who could you personally have lost that’s made you this mad?”

“Half of the universe.” She growls back.

“Trillions of beings died.” Steve angrilly pokes his fork into his box of rice,” Did space humble you to the point you lost all empathy?”

“And every single one of those beings was just and right person who didn’t deserve it?” Tony shoots back,” Of course I’m upset that we lost, and that all those people died prematurely, but that doesn’t make them reappear. You’re living proof of that.”

“Watch what you say, Tony.” Bruce glares at him.

“Or what, you’ll have another groundbreaking internal debate?” Tony scoffs, taking a large chunk of beef out and chewing it loudly,” Oh I’m so scared, you're going to shit your pants trying to turn green. Please, go right ahead Jekyll.”

“You’re being a dick.” Rhodey says, walking over and taking his food from him,” Even for you.”

“I’m stating facts.”

“Then what would the great and powerful Stark suggest we do?” Steve glares at Tony.

“We. move. On.” Tony spits back,” We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and make sure this world doesn’t fall to more shit and collapse while we mourn. We move on, like the one’s who aren’t here would want us to.” Tony looks to Rhodey and sighs,” I know I’m being an ass on this topic, but I can’t stand looking at you all anymore. You have a right to be sad when all is said and done, but this tragedy isn’t done talking. We have to move on.”

“That’s easier said than done.” Natasha scoffs. She leans back, readying an eggroll to throw at Stark, when Vision gently holds her wrist.

“Though rude and unempathetic, Mr. Stark is right.” Vision carefully removes his hand.

“You made that thing, of course it’d believe you’re right.” Rhodey throws Tony’s food catron at Vision. Vision phases the projectile through him, sighing and looking down.

“I mean that no amount of sadness and regret over the past will change it. It’s up to us to path the road to the future. Once we’ve helped to set a decent foundation, we can take the time to mourn and go to therapy.” Vision walks over towards Tony. Rhodey looks at him like he would look at a pile of dung on the sidewalk,” I in no way condone the way Mister Stark has talked to you all tonight. These are just the thoughts of one who was also humbled through this loss.”

“Take me to the lab, Vision.” Tony grumbles. Vision nods, wheeling him out of the room and giving an apologetic nod to the others.

“He’s got a point.” Bruce says quietly looking at the pile of mongolian beef on the floor near his feet.

“Oh come on.” Rhodey scoffs,” Don’t go taking the overglofired roomba’s side just because you’re it’s dad or something like that.”

“Don’t talk about him that way.” Nat looks at Rhodey with a confused stare,” He’s apart of the team, robot or not.”

“He’s not a part of the team, he’s just a faulty computer.” Rhodey points angrily at his leg supporters,” No member of a team would injure another so easily.”

“He didn’t mean to do it.” 

“That doesn’t mean he didn’t do it.” Rhodey grows and angrily stomps away,” I’m going to bed.” He leaves, the sound of a slamming door above causing the remaining three to flinch. Steve walks over to the trash can and tosses his dinner inside. He lets out a sigh and looks to the others.

“We’ll discuss this further in the morning.” Steve says,” I’m going to take a page out of Rhode’s book. We all need to get to bed.” He leaves the room without any rebuttal. Bruce cleans the spilled food near his foot, before going to bed. Nat stays in the room, half heartedly eating her food. 

She pulls up the holographic globe infographic on the table. She watches the numbers for each country continue to grow. Not as quickly as before, but still gut wrenching to witness. She feels tears forming in her eyes and tries pushing them away with the palms of her hands. She lets out a shaky sigh, tossing her food in the trash. She turns off the lights in the room, leaving the floating world to glow aimlessly in the room. She looks at it one last time, to burn it into her nightmares.

Chapter Text

 Four months after the blip, the census has finally completed throughout the world. Tony has long since left the avengers compound, along with Bruce and Rhodes. Steve has also been expressing a slight hesitancy with trying to fully continue under the title of Avengers. He starts coming in less frequently, only appearing in the compound around four times a week. Nat’s the only one who’s at the base near constantly like Vision. She’s adapted to a leadership role, organizing with others through the world to keep on top of any trouble that pops up around the world. She often turns to Vision for heartfelt and pleasant conversation, relating more to the synth. 

Ten months after the blip, Steve has become a rarity at the compound, now barely showing up once every two weeks or so. He’s rented a small apartment in New York, and has begun living a sentimental life, starting support groups, joining others, generally living a slow life of recovery. Nat can’t hold it against him, if anyone deserves rest, it would be good old Captain America. It doesn’t stop the immense pressure she’s put herself under, but it’s a strange comfort knowing that her friend is doing his best in his own ways.

At about eleven months post blip, Tony arrives on the steps of the compound, holding a large briefcase. Nat is offsite, participating in a UN meeting about fair distribution of relief funding and assistance. Vision greets him and leads him to the main lounge area. Tony gratefully sits, and looks around the room. So many good memories, buried beneath the few disgusting one’s he’s retained. Vision begins to leave the room, but Tony grabs his arm.

“I actually came here for you, big guy.” Tony says, looking up with a small smile on his face. He’s made a complete recovery, his face is full of life and vitality. 

“What can I help you with, sir?” Vision asks.

“I come bringing a gift.” Tony places his suitcase on the table giving it a sturdy pat,” I felt a bit of pity for you over the past year, so I used some of my ample freetime to make this. You don’t have to thank me, though it would be appreciated.” Tony opens the case. Within, a small version of the arc reactor Tony had depended on sits on a bed of insulating foam. Vision looks at the small, blue glow coming off of the machine, before looking at Tony.

“Is this?”

“It’s no mind stone, but then nothing can be.” Tony says, laughing softly,” It’s the closest I can get to perfecting it. It should create and maintain enough power for you to function without flaws for probably a hundred years. After that you may experience some difficulties, but you won’t completely shut down for centuries. That’s at least if my calculations are correct, and they mostly are.” Vision smiles.

“Thank you Mr. Stark.” Vision says kindly. Tony grimaces for a moment.

“I think that needs to change.” Tony says gruffly,” As much as I appreciate formalities, I feel a strange disconnect when you refer to me so formally.”

“That’s how you wished to be addressed.” Vision says bluntly. Tony sighs in an agitated manner. He looks to Vision, once again taking in the red skin of the synth, studying every small movement of his being. So close to human, yet so far, yet more human than many of the people Tony’s experienced in his life.

“Tony.” Tony says briskly,” Please. Just call me Tony.”

“Very well, Tony.” Vision smiles happily, infecting Tony to smile in response. 

“Well, if I’m going to be putting this bad boy into your head, I’m going to have to ask you to power down.” Tony closes the case and stands, starting to walk towards the lab. Vision doesn’t move.

“Power down?” Vision asks, his voice slightly shaking.

“Will that be a problem?” 

Vision goes over the possibilities that would come with a full power shutdown. There’s a chance he’ll lose many of his memories, and that terrifies him. Just the thought of living without precious memories he’s held so dear makes his circuits freeze with anguish. Sure the possibility is small, only around eight percent, but he places his hopes on lower odds. He looks sadly at Tony.

“I’m unsure if I can allow that.” Vision states slowly. Tony looks at him in confusion, Vision chuckles,” Tony, you’re almost asking me to voluntarily die and revive at your hands. There may be unfortunate consequences of this action that I just can’t risk.” Tony looks slightly shocked.

“It’ll just be like a quick nap, what possible consequences could there be? You’re tired when you wake up?” Tony asks, agitated as he walks up to Vision,” I’m going out of my way to be nice to you, and you have the gaul to try and reject me?”

“What if I wake up fundamentally different from when I first shut down?” Vision asks in a steady defiance,” I am afraid to lose what little bit of humanity I can dare claim, Tony. How can you be sure that everything that makes me, me, will remain after all is said and done? I can’t risk losing everything when I’ve found a way to sustain my existence without it.” Tony looks at Vision, his expression drips with determination.

“What if I back you up onto an external hard drive before the procedure?” Tony asks,” That way, if something irreparable happens to your memory or core drives, we can just reupload the previous file and restore you. Would that ease some of your burden?” Vision looks at Tony. He can feel his sincerity, the real want to try and help. Vision still feels the fear, but he can understand the importance of getting a new energy source and autonomy. Vision nods in a reluctant agreement, Tony smiles sympathetically and leads Vision to the lab.

----------- 

What sounds simple, often isn’t. Tony has to work day and night on Vision for three weeks, until he can finally begin powering up once more. The process of starting up takes another day. When he finally awakens, he’s relieved that his memories remain intact, that he remains intact. It’s the middle of the night when he wakes up, no one’s awake. In fact, as far as he’s aware, no one’s even in the building. He’s alone.

He walks around, looking through the darkness, barely aware of how long he’s been asleep. He walks to the familiar large windows, looking out to the shimmering lights away on the horizon. He looks at his reflection in the glass, his new blue core glowing dimly in the darkness. He smiles and takes a breath, phasing through the window into the crisp air of the night. It’s refreshing, in comparison to the stagnant air he’s become used. He floats slowly over the field, and even slower towards the forest. He takes a hesitant glance back to the compound, dark and dreary.  He smiles to himself, launching himself towards the forest.

He lays close to the ground, making sure to monitor air traffic control frequencies so as to not crash into the small number of planes that happen to be flying. As he flies, he scans the internet for news regarding the newly built memorial wall for New York victims of the blip, along with any news regarding memorials for fallen heroes of the blip. Once he finds what he wants, he increases his speed.

When he touches down onto the pavement in front of the old Avengers tower, he morphs to look more ‘human’ as he would on his outings with Wanda.  He looks around hesitantly before walking towards the large building. He walks through the newly built path to the interior garden area of the tower, where large monuments stand to honor fallen heroes who fought in Wakanda. He looks sadly to Sam, then to King T’Challa, to Bucky Barnes which slightly surprises him, to Peter Parker, until landing on Wanda’s memorial.

The ten foot stone pillar, with her likeness carved through like a marble statue, greets him. His chest swells with a feeling of happiness at being able to see her once more. The statue has her posed in her casting pose, a nostalgic and powerful image to Vision. He looks to the plaque standing in front of her memoriam, he reads the praises sung about her. How she gallantly sacrificed her life to stop Thanos from collecting all the stones, how she saved hundreds during the battle of Wakanda by drawing away some of the heaviest hitters from the battlefield, how she helped to evacuate and secure Sokovia. Vision smiles happily, running his hands over the praise he’d always wanted her to hear. If he could cry, he would, he looks once more to her statue, floating gently into the air, to carefully caress her cold stone face. He takes a shaking breath in, leaning in and gently kissing it.

“I love you.” He whispers softly. He floats next to her, taking every impeccable detail the artist carved in, happy someone had noticed her godly beauty like he did. He shakily forces himself away from the statue, planting his feet on the ground. He looks around the base of the statue, noticing a litany of flower bundles, some withered, some fresh. Mixed in with the flowers are small teddy bears and cards with her name written on them. 

He picks up a small card with a large red heart on it. He opens it and begins to read:

‘ Hello Ms. Maximoff. Mom told me to write this to express my gratitude for you, since you won’t be able to hear it directly from me anymore. I want to say thank you. My big sister was helping out in Sokovia when Ultron attacked, thanks to you she was able to safely evacuate from the floating city. It’s thanks to you I can still call myself a little brother. I know a lot of people feel the same. I’m sure you had your reason to fight the others in Germany, but just know you’ll always be my favorite superhero. -Billy Jacobs (14)’

A large pre-printed ‘Thank you’ takes up most of the right side of the card. Vision feels a lump in his throat as he looks at another card.

‘ Miss Maximoff, words can’t describe how thankful I am to you. I’m devastated that you're gone, but know that there are plenty of people out in the world who look up to you. It’s not everyday we can see an amazingly strong woman get the best of known superheroes. Thank you for sacrificing yourself for us. Thank you. -Jessica Danielson (24)’

Vision picks up a drawing of Wanda levitating in the air surrounded by her red power, a large smile on her face. Another drawing of the Avenger’s all happily smiling together get’s Vision’s attention. It’s not professionally made, it looks like it’s been drawn by a middle school age child, but it somehow hit’s Vision the hardest. The scribbled names of the team in different colors makes Vision sniff. It’s beautiful. He copies the image in his head, making sure to identify every detail. He smiles, breathing heavily, sobbing dryly as he holds the notes and pictures in his arms, squeezing them tightly. He looks up to Wanda once more.

“They see you as I do, my love.” He happily sobs. After a minute, he carefully places the sentiments back at the base of the statue. He quickly leaves, taking to the sky once he’s out of the building.

He races back to the compound, phasing through all the walls as he makes his way to her room. He hovers inside, his feelings a mixture of overwhelming joy and immeasurable sadness. He falls to his knees and dryly sobs, taking out his piece of glass, clutching it as tightly as he can. As ready as he thought he was to accept it, he can’t accept she’s gone so easily. His hypocrisy is palpable and hilarious to him, but it doesn’t stop the horrible ache in his chest. He sobs harder, collapsing to the ground completely.

The lights flick on, startling him. He looks to the doorway. Tony and Nat look at him with sorrowful and pitying looks, they must have come back during his excursion. Vision tries to turn his head, and shield himself away from their gazes. He feels ashamed to be seen, until a warm sensation covers his back. He barely turns, seeing Tony and Nat piled on top of him, tears in their eyes, hugging him from behind. Vision breathes heavily, sobs still forcing themselves out against his will.

“It’s ok, let it out big guy,” Nat says softly, her voice trembling as her tears fall.

“Take your time.” Tony says in agreement, his tone a cold mask to hide his sorrow.

The group sits on the floor for what feels like hours. Vision cries the hardest. Nat and Tony sit beside him, making sure to reassure him that he’s not alone. Once they’ve calmed down, Vision sits up, taking in his surroundings again, wiping his nonexistent tears. He turns to Nat and Tony, giving a thankful smile. The two pile on him in another bear hug. Nat holds his clenched hand in hers, reassuringly patting it and trying her best to smile. Tony smiles while patting his shoulder. He takes in a sharp breath before getting to his feet, extending a hand towards Vision to help him up.

“I, uh, I think I’m going to stay around here for a couple more days.” Tony says with a reassuring smile,” To make sure there’s no defects with the reactor. To monitor its power output and all that jazz.”

“Thank you, Tony.” Vision says with a small chuckle.

“Tony?” Natasha laughs.

“Yeah, yeah, come on. Let’s go to the lab.” Tony takes Vision’s hand to guide him. Vision doesn’t really move, looking towards the small box set of Malcolm in the Middle in front of Wanda’s dvd player. Nat notices his stare and clears her throat, looking at Tony.

“Ya know, Vis…” She hesitantly starts, trying to think of the right words,” I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight. I think my internal clock is still set to Germany..” She laughs dryly and looks at Visio and Tony who both look at her in confusion,” What I’m saying is would you mind having a tv night with me tonight? You’re obviously invited too, Tony.” Tony still looks confused, before noticing Nat’s small clues to look at the box set. He quickly puts two and two together.

“That’s a wonderful idea, Romanoff.” Tony says, quickly moving over and picking up the dvd’s,” I mean, I just woke up from like a thirteen hour powernap. I’m full of tv watching energy.” Vision smiles to the pair, aware of their efforts to make him feel better. He takes the lead out of the door, looking back to them and chuckling.

“I’ll make the popcorn.” 

Chapter Text

It’s been about a year and seven months since the blip, October 2019. At the Avenger's compound, Natasha finishes a weekly debrief meeting with the other members of the Avengers, ending the call with her signature,” This line is always open.” When she finishes she slumps into her chair, looking through a small pile of paperwork regarding the future of the organization. She halfheartedly skims through it, as a mug of hot chocolate gets placed besides her. She looks up with a smile at Vision.

“Good work today, miss director.” He says with a smile, presenting a small plate with a monte carlo sandwich and chips. She gratefully accepts the plate, tossing aside the paper and taking a large bite out of the sandwich. Vision fidgets slightly. 

“I know this is a bribe, but I can’t really guess what you're about to ask me.” She says jokingly. She takes another bite of her sandwich, then taking a large sip from the mug. Vision looks at her and begins to make hand motions before attempting to talk. Nat had come to know this nervous habit of his.

“Nat, I would say that we’re friends, correct?” Vision finally manages to spit out, Nat nods her head in hesitant agreement,” I would even consider you my best friend. Don’t get me wrong, I know Clint holds that position for you…”

“I can have a few best friends.” Nat laughs, Vision looks relieved for a moment, before his nervous stern look comes back.

“Therefore, as my friend, I was hoping you could accompany me to...to a certain place.” Vision hesitates on his words, looking at Nat with worry.

“Vision, you are my friend.” She says, placing down her sandwich,” I don’t see you as any more than that.”

“What?” Vision asks, before it dawns on him,” Oh, oh god no. I’m not asking you out, Nat. I just have somewhere I want to go, but I don’t think I can do it on my own. I want you to come with me for a sense of emotional support, to aid me in the first step towards acceptance.” 

Natasha looks at him. She’s gotten used to his presence as a jokingly kind character in her life. She’d rarely get him this vulnerable since that day, so seeing him become a little desperate is a shock to her. She looks at the sincerity in his eyes, feeling moved by her friend's plea. She takes another bite of her sandwich, giving a glance to the papers on the desk. If she’s going to do anything today, it wasn’t looking at those again. She looks at Vision and shrugs with a smile. Vision smiles happily in response. 

“So where is this ‘certain place’?” She asks, crunching a couple chips.

“It’s in...New Jersey.” Vision pauses, watching Nat for a reaction. She sighs loudly, giving another thoughtful glance to the papers,” I’ll tell you more about it on the way there. I don’t want to get too into it before we get there.” Nat looks at him with a twinge of suspicion, but lets out another sigh, standing and stretching. She begins walking out of the room, Vision looks at her in confusion.

“I’m not driving.” She jokes as she leaves the room.

Nat sits in a red Buick LaCross, twiddling her thumbs as she waits for Vision to get to the garage. She hums to herself, noticing Vision walking quickly over to the car with a small bundle of papers in his hand, dawning his human camouflage. He waves once he sees her in the car, quickly hoping in and giving her the stack to hold onto. They’re off in no time, heading down the small isolated road to the highway. Nat turns on the radio and looks at the small bunch of papers in her lap. She slightly shuffles them around, with a neatly folded tan paper catching her eye. She lifts it up out of the pile, and Vision looks at her.

“Oh, um, can you...put that back?” He asks hesitantly.

“What is it?” She asks, ignoring his request. She begins to unfold the pages carefully. Vision reaches over to try and stop her, but she jokingly pulls it away. Ripe with curiosity she puts it just out of Vision's reach and opens it.

It’s a deed, to a small plot of land in a town called Westview, New Jersey. Under the blueprint of a house, in a large red heart are the words ‘ To grow old in. -V’ . Natasha looks in heavy confusion to Vision. His human face falters for a moment showing his red skin, replaced with his human cover blushing heavily. He opens his mouth and stutters for a moment before taking in a breath.

“I bought a house for Wanda and myself a while ago.” Vision begins with a sigh, he looks at Natasha who has a horrified expression on her face” I wasn’t going to give it to her immediately, even I know that would cross some lines. My plan was, to restore and remodel the house while she was still on the run. Then, once she would be acquitted of her crimes in Germany and such, I would present it to her as a sort of proposal. We would go ring shopping and move into the house. Get married...speaking of, did you get your invitation to Tony’s wedding?”

“Oh, oh yeah.” Natasha snaps out of her trance and looks at the road ahead,” Yeah, that’s coming up, isn’t it? It was a bit of a surprise they waited until Morgan was born to start planning it.”

“I think it shows Tony’s dedication to trying to live a slow and grateful life.” Vision says with a smile,” I’m certainly excited to be a groomsman.”

“Oh, what? That’s amazing.” She says, smiling at Vision before blinking and coming back to reality,”  Wait, wait, we aren’t abandoning the house so quickly. I’m going to need a little more reason as to, ya know, why a house? Why not a dog first? Everyone likes dogs.”

“Again, I know it’s weird.” Vision sighs,” I just thought too far ahead in the future. I wanted a stable house to create a real home for the two of us. Somewhere she wouldn’t have to fear being feared. So I decided to start looking for houses in small towns where the threat levels would be the lowest. I then thought about her favorite things and looked for a more ‘retro’ house that I could modify to look like some of her favorite shows. This was going to be a possible multi year project, mind you, but I found a house that would fit my criteria in Westview. I put in a bid and got it rather easily.” Vision laughs, nostalgically thinking of the shock he felt when the confirmation email came in,” I was going to visit and start renovating once I got back from Glasgow...we know how that went.”

“So we’re going to visit it today?” Nat asks while looking through the other papers on her lap.

“Yeah.” Vision says sadly,” I think the first step of trying to process this grief deep within, is to face the promise I never got to make.”

“So are you going to sell it?”

“No.” Vision laughs,” Quite the opposite.”

“Oh?”

“I’m going to go through with my original plan. I’m going to renovate the house in a way I think she’d like, and live a life I think she’d be proud of.” Vision smiles sadly to himself,” I’ll make friends, help the community, maybe even get involved in support groups when I feel more comfortable.”

“And your avengers duties?”

“I’m thinking of becoming an ‘Avenger on Demand’, sort of like Clint.” Vision signs to himself,” It’ll be my main job when I’m needed, but I’ll live a normal life otherwise. I’ll create a home.``

“So you're gonna just leave me alone in the compound?” Nat asks in a sulking tone.

“Not for a while.” Vision laughs,” I’m not going today to move in. It’s still too soon for that. I think I’m going to gradually work on it from now on, eventually moving in a while from now. By that point, you may have moved out of the compound.”

“Unlikely.”

“Then call it a hope of mine.” Vision says sadly,” You deserve to be able to move on as much as I do, Nat. Don’t tie yourself down with guilt.”

The radio keeps the car from fading into silence. Vision knows he crossed one of the invisible lines. Their tension fades after the fourth hour of driving, when Vision takes the exit to Westview. When they eventually get into the town, Nat observers the scenery quietly. Her heart aches as she sees the litany of closed shops, broken windows and browning grass. She looks at the citizens of the town, haggard and worn as they shuffle about their daily lives. She shakily breaths in and out, before sinking into the chair. Vision looks at her sympathetically, continuing to drive carefully through the town center.

After a few more minutes of driving, Vision pulls into a driveway of a yellow house with a comfortable seventies look. The small front yard, lined with a neat brown fence, has shriveled bushes and small weeds growing where flowers once bloomed. Nat gets out of the car first, carefully arranging the papers in her arms so they don’t fall. She walks slowly to the front of the house, admiring the  white pillars framing the front door. It’s nice, that much she’ll admit. 

Vision takes longer to get out of the car. He stares at the yellow house in a sad contemplation, wondering whether it was wize to come here or not. He takes two minutes d=before exiting the car, standing next to Nat as she admires the house. It hurts to look at the house, but Vision takes it in all together. He covers his mouth and sighs deeply. Nat gently rubs Vision’s back in reassurance.

“Shall we go inside?” She asks, gently pushing Vision towards the door. Vision takes in a deep breath.

They approach the door, Vision fumbling with his pockets to find the keys. He breathes heavily as he pats and pats, until he finally finds it. He shakily pulls it out, a single key adorned with a small red keychain he’d put on it long ago. He shakily inhales as the key slowly glides into the deadbolt, clicking open with a turn. He carefully opens the door with a creak. 

The interior oozes with the same nostalgic feeling as the exterior. The smooth brick floor leads to three small steps, into a shag carpet lounge. The large windows adorning the far wall show the onergrown remains of a backyard, To the left of the entrance is a small closet surrounded in stone, even further is a small dining room with a ball-like chandelier in the center of the room. Directly in front of the entrance is a stone wall with what looks like a water fixture that’s supposed to cascade water down the wall, it’s long run dry. Slightly to the right it a floating staircase leading to the upper floor, and just past that is the kitchen. A small door leading to the garage lies to the right of the front door, in the lounging area. 

Nat walks in, looking at the long outdated styling sense, impressed someone had managed to keep it looking like this for so long. There’s no furniture in the house, though she can easily make out the shadows of furniture that used to rest in the house. She walks around the bottom floor, looking through the house thoroughly. It’s cute. She turns to look at Vision, who stands, frozen in place a step into the entrance. 

He looks around, very slowly, taking in the ambiance of the room. Looking through his eyes, visions play in his head. He pictures a slow dance to an old tune in the living room, Wanda happily swaying back and forth to his rhythm. In the kitchen she attempts baking with him, smudging his nose lovingly with homemade buttercream frosting. In the dining room, they’re playing an intense game of monopoly, ending in a trade of boardwalk for five kisses. He pictures coming in through the garage at the end of a workday, to Wanda happily singing in Sokovian as she makes a meal in the kitchen. 

He falls to his knees as the visions continue, each one more bittersweet than the last. He looks towards the second floor, imagining the sounds of Wanda cheerfully calling for him. They sound so real, he gets to his feet, finding himself walking up the stairs before he can comprehend anything else. The narrow hallway leads to four doors, opening into the master bedroom at the end. He follows her sweet calls into the master bedroom, excitedly crashing in to see her smiling face once more. He searches the room, only to be met with the same emptiness as the floor below. The sadness hits him harder then he ever could have guessed. He’s thrown to his knees once more. 

Natasha follows him quickly, watching him drop. She watches him cover his mouth, breath deeply and stand once more. Trembling slightly as he fades to his usual red skin tone. He looks around once more sadly before turning to face her. She smiles sympathetically.

“Where should I put the paperwork, boss?” She asks, lifting the small stack in her hands. Vision breaths hesitantly and smiles back.

“Let’s put those on the kitchen island.” He smiles as he walks past her, taking the papers out of her hands. He walks downstairs to the kitchen, putting down the papers on the linoleum kitchen island. He stares at the mass, sighing wistfully.

“It’s a nice house.” Nat says as she enters the kitchen,” A little outdated, but that’s what you were aiming for.” She looks at Vision, he smiles at her remarks,” She would have loved it.”

“I think so too.” He gently spreads out the paper and looks to Nat,” I think I’ve done enough here for today.”

“We’ve only just gotten here.” 

“And that’s more than enough for me at the moment.” Vision lets out a sigh,” This is why I needed someone to come with me. I’m still not ready to fully face this.” Nat gives him a pat on the back, smiling sincerely.

“The only thing that matters is that you’re taking the steps to move on.” She says gently,” If you really want to go, let’s go. You can leave the papers here for a reason to come back.” Vision nods.

The two slowly walk to the door, Visions staring at the old shag carpet under his feet. Once they reach the front door, Vision quickly turns to close and lock the door. He shakily sighs, as something tugs at his pant leg. He looks down to see a little girl, she has on a bright orange wig, a red long sleeve jacket and black pants. She smiles eagerly, before lifting up a small orange pail.

“Trick or tweat!” She triumphantly says with a grin filled with holes of lost teeth. Vision gives a confused look, then looks at nat who shares his confusion.

“Hannah!” A woman calls from the fence,” Remember, we’re just doing a practice run today.”

“I’m not Hannah.” The girl says with a pout, finally lowering her pail and looking to her mom.

“And who might you be, then?” Vision asks, kneeling down to look at her better. She turns to look at him, her face beaming with pride. She hurriedly grabs something out of her pail, a red ball about the size of a baseball. She moves her hands around, making a whooshing sound effect.

“I’m Wanda from the avengers!” She happily squeals and she moves the little ball around the air, like an airplane. She continues to whoosh around, happily giggling to herself.

“Well isn’t that amazing?” Nat says, crouching down,” I didn’t realize Wanda was just out and walking about.” Nat looks to vision who gives her an icy glare in return. The girl is scooped up by her mother.

“Sorry about that.” The woman says with an apologetic smile,” She’s just really excited for Halloween, so I told her we can do a practice run so she can show off her costume.” She brushes a strand of bleach blonde hair out of her eyes, giving a smirk and kiss to her child. She looks to Vision, then to the house,” Are you moving in?”

“Ah, eventually.” Vision looks between the two.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you.” the woman shifts her toddler in her hands to extend one towards Vision,” I’m Sarah. I live right across the street down there.” Vision shakes her hand, she then points to a house with a few rose bushes out front.

“Ah, lovely.” Vision says with a smile,” I’m, uh…” He looks to Natasha, who gives a subtle nod and smile,” I’m Vision. Pleasure to meet you.” Sarah’s eyes dot from Natasha to Vision, slowly realizing the situation.

“Is Wanda your favorite hero?” Natasha asks, smiling at the little girl.

“Yeah!” She giggles happily back.

“She’s mine too.” Vision says with a smile. Sarah lets her down, letting her run around the yard. Sarah looks hesitantly towards the two.

“Vision. You wouldn’t happen to be…” She looks at Natasha, her eyes widening with surprise,” And you’re…?” Nat puts a finger to her lips in a playful shushing motion, Sarah collects herself. She smiles happily,” So you’re moving to Westview? I didn’t realize you two…”

“We’re not.” Natasha cuts in,” He’s moving to Westview, I’m just here for emotional support.”

“Ah, I see.” Sarah says with a visible wink.

“I was going to move here with my darling, but she was an unfortunate victim of the ‘blip’.” Vision says with a smile,” My friend is here as just that, a friend.”

“Mommy, let’s go!” Hannah yells from the front gate. 

“Coming, Wanda.” Sarah playfully yells back,” It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

“Can we keep this little rendezvous a secret?” Natasha asks in a soft tone,” Don’t need to add any stress to the neighborhood, right?” Sarah nods and walks over to meet her toddler. The two happily prance down the street, leaving Natasha and Vision on the front lawn.

“Good neighbors.” Nat says, gently hitting Vision’s chest. He smiles warmly in response. He walks over the car slowly.

Vision sits in the driver's seat, admiring the yellow house in front of him. It doesn’t look as imposing or intimidating as when he first came. When Natasha closes the door, he starts the engine. He smiles warmly, looking at the house,” Let’s go home.”

Chapter Text

It’s a sunny day, on a cool spring day. Vision’s working hard to assemble an Ikea bookshelf on a patch of the newly installed carpet. He grumbles in frustration at the litany of identical pieces, while playing a mix of seventies music over a small bluetooth speaker in the corner. He sighs loudly, tossing down the small allen wrench onto the pile of silver accented metal. He looks outside, admiring the bright blue sky shining through the window, taking in the warmth. He stands up, stretching his arms as he rises, his neatly tucked baby blue plaid shirt, becoming slightly untucked and ruffled from his khaki pants. 

He takes a look around the room. The only furniture adorning the room is an old lawn chair, a small end table he brought from the compound, and a black decorative lamp, gifted to him by Tony. The walls are adorned with photos, some of Wanda and Vision, a few from Tony’s wedding, and a few with a couple photos of friends. There isn’t much in the house, but it’s far more than the last couple times he’s tried to visit.  He’s even managed to come by himself today.

There’s a knock at the door, startling Vision slightly. He shifts to his human camouflage, dusting off his shirt, and answers the door. Tony stands in front of him, holding a large bundle of flowers. Vision gives a small confused laugh in response. 

“Pepper’s getting pretty into botany.” Tony pushes the flowers into Vison’s arms while he takes a step into the house,” Sweet digs. Really cozy, homely. Those are peach colored roses. Know what that means in the language of flowers?” 

“Appreciation?” Vision responds, heading towards the kitchen to find something to put the flowers in,” I’m unsure why you're appreciative.”

“Uncle Vwis!” The small, femine voice yells from the entrance. Vision whips his head around, making eye contact with the small girl sprinting towards him at full speed. She jumps, and he catches her elegantly with a chuckle.

“Well if it isn’t little miss gumdrop.” Vision chuckles, swinging her in a circle around the kitchen,” What has brought the princess of sweets to my humble house?”

“Pepper and I desperately need a date night.” Tony places the flowers in a small bucket he found in the closet,” Normally we’d try to ask Happy to look after her, but he’s gone on a trip to visit his folks. Then, I remembered you have your own sweet digs, away from any potentially harmful and cool laboratories.”

“Nat told you I was planning on trying to spend the weekend, eh?” Vision chuckles, carefully setting down Morgan, who begins to run about the house,” You’re lucky I decided to reupholster the carpet last month. Or that I haven’t started remodeling the upstairs bedrooms yet.”

“Do you think you can keep her over for a sleepover? I promise to come and get her by ten tomorrow.”

“Knowing you, I’m sure you mean in the evening.” Vision opens a cupboard, finding an old glass left by the previous owners, filling it with water and setting it on the counter.

“Please, Vis, I’m just asking for one day with my wife.” Vision transfers the flowers to the glass, smiling as the petals shimmer and change to a light amber in the sunlight. He chuckles and looks at Tony.

“Tony, do you realize I’m a synthezoid correct? I don’t even have any food in the house.” Tony smiles wearily to Vision, folding his hand in a prayer getsure. Vision sighs and smiles,” Did you bring her a sleeping bag? If not, you’ll need to hope that old carpet doesn’t have any bedbugs.” Tony smiles, hugging Vision tightly.

“Thank you.” He whispers,” Let her eat whatever she wants, I’ll pay for it later.”

Before Vision can retort, the sound of luggage thudding at the entrance grabs his attention. He walks past Tony, into the lounge, to see Pepper setting down two heavy looking bags and a large inflatable mattress. She smiles sympathetically to Vision, standing up and stretching her back.

“The larger bag has an assortment of her favorite stuffies and games, the smaller has three changes of clothes, a list of emergency contacts, her favorite shampoo and bubble baths, a pair of slippers, a change of running shoes and enough bandages you’d think we robbed a hospital.” Pepper lists quickly in one breath. She smiles to Vision, walking towards him, arms outstretched for a hug,” Thank you for this.” Once Vision is in her embrace she whispers,” I’ll make sure we come to pick her up by ten in the morning.”

Tony scoops Pepper in an embrace, and kisses her on the cheek. Tony quickly turns and gives Vision a hug, without the kiss. He takes Pepper by the hand, saying his goodbyes as he rushes her to the corvette parked out front. Vision watches the pair drive away, happily watching them disappear out of the neighborhood. He closes the door, turning towards the longue, where Morgan stands at the ready. She’s holding the short side of an allen wrench, aiming it at Vision with a grin on her face.

“Pwut ‘em up!” She laughs. Vision puts up his hands with a laugh.

“Oh no, don’t shoot.” 

“Bang, bang!” She giggles as she moves the wrench. Vision clenches his chest, using large exaggerated movements as he walks into the lounge. He grunts and moans, falling to his knees before Morgan.

“Oh, how cruel, how fate had cursed me to perish by the dear Miss Morgan’s hand.” He says as he dramatically falls to the ground, he reaches out towards Morgan,” Oh no! Bleh…” He closes his eyes and puts his head on the ground, acting like a dead body. Morgan giggles and walks over to him, patting him on the head.

“Youwre awake!” She giggles. Vision pops one eye open,quickly sitting up to kneel and grabbing Morgan in a bear hug. She roars with laughter, happily wriggling in his grip.

“Oh thank you, thank you, miss gumdrop! You’ve saved me!” He stands, gently spinning and swinging her back and forth. Vision dances with her in the air to a silent song. Morgan chuckles happily,” Now, what can I give my magnificent savior on this fine day?” 

“Ice cweam!” She shouts.

“Oh, now doesn’t that sound delightful?” Vision chuckles. He scans the web, searching for a nearby ice cream parlor, finding one result near the middle of town. He looks to Morgan with a smile,” It looks like there’s a wonderful place, right nearby.”

Vision holds her closely, carefully supporting her neck and head. He closes the door behind him, and takes in a deep breath. He uses his super speed to quickly make it into town, stopping in a small alley, away from anyone’s curious glances. He looks down to Morgan, who laughs softly as her eyes spin from vertigo. ‘ Walk home ’ he notes in his head. He gently sets her down, letting her walk out the dizziness. Once she stops wobbling, he takes her hand, and they walk into the town square. Vision looks around and sees the sign ‘ Barry’s Frozen Delights! ’, the local ice cream shop in Westview.

They walk into the small shop, twelve flavors on display in the case, front and center. On a large black chalkboard behind the counter, there’s a list of different milkshakes and malts and toppings with various price points throughout. The decor around the shop emanates a fifties style soda fountain, blue striped wall paper and shiny red leather bar stools at a hightop bar next to the ice cream display case. Different vinyls and albums are stapled to the walls, while an old jukebox plays Tutti Fruitti by Little Richard, while an older woman carefully cleans a milkshake cup behind the counter. She notices the pair enter, and quickly makes her way behind the ice cream case.

“Howdy hey neighbors.” The woman says with a happy smile,” What can I get ya today?” Vision lifts Morgan into his arms so she can see the array of brightly colored ice creams. 

“Which one looks the yummiest, gumdrop?” He asks, making sure she can see it all. She looks around the case, finally pointing at a bright pink and blue swirled ice cream on the bottom row. “Ah, we’ll take a… cotton candy blitz?” He looks questionably to the woman.

“One scoop or two?” Morgan happily puts up a finger,” And would you like that in a cone or a bowl today?”

“Can we have a bowl?” Vision laughs. The woman nods knowingly, getting to work on scooping. Morgan gleefully snuggles into Vision’s neck, excited for the treat. 

“Haven’t seen ya around here before. Are you new in town?” The woman asks as scoops the ice cream. Morgan moves and squirms to get out of vision’s grasp. He gently lets her down, allowing her to run around and explore the empty shop.

“I’m moving in little by little.” He responds, watching Morgan run around the empty shop.

“Oh, how fun.” She begins to scoop the ice cream into the cone,” Well, as you can see, I’m ‘Barry’. It’s actually Betty, but since my brother didn’t want to take it over, I’m the next in line to hold the prestigious title.” She lets out a small snorting laugh at her joke, carefully patting the side of the ice cream so it won’t drip too far out of the cup. She seemingly glides over to the register at the end of the counter, Vision realizing she has a pair of Heelys on. He chuckles slightly at the fantastical sight. 

“Ah, lovely to meet you.” Vision walks with her to the end of the counter, pulling out his wallet as he walks,” I’m Vision.”

“And the little one?” She asks, typing in the old machine.

“Morgan.” Vision watches the price appear, taking out a ten dollar note in response,” I’m nannying her for the day. She’s my…” Vision stutters for a moment. He doesn’t know the right word to describe his relationship with Tony. Creator and creation? No, that may be accurate but not appropriate in this situation. Coworker? No, they’re closer than that, they’ve built up a unique trust with one another. Ah, that might be the right word,” friend’s daughter. We’re quite close.”

“I can see that.” She hands the cup and the change back to Vision. He gratefully puts the change into the tips jar to the left of the reister. She gives him a warm smile,” We’ll, I hope you two have fun on your day out. It’s a beautiful one today.”

“Thanks, have a great one yourself.” vision finds Morgan, taking her hand and handing her the cup of ice cream. She laughs, taking large licks of the ice cream as they exit,” Let’s head to the park.”

“Park! Park!” Morgan chants, jumping and eating her ice cream as they walk. 

They walk moderately, giving Vision a chance to take in the scenery. In the town centre, there’s a taped off gazebo, it’s paint chipping as the rot becomes exposed, surrounded by picnic tables and benches, where forlorn office workers eat their lunch in the harsh sunlight. Across the way, a row of taller buildings housing what looks to be a variety of different firms and start up businesses. The main draw of the square lies in the movie theater, playing reruns of the classics to try and ease the townspeople's minds. It looks like this month they’re featuring ‘ Back to the Future’ , Vision laughs at the idea of that ridiculous movie. 

It takes about fifteen minutes of walking from the center of town to reach the large playground belonging to the elementary/middle school of the town, aptly named ‘ Westview Primary’ . Right next door is the high school, with the same creative naming conventions ‘ Westview High’ . Morgan looks at the playground aimed at younger kinds and begins to drag Vision along. She chomps on her ice cream, leaning at an almost forty five degree angle to move her temporary guardian faster.

On the playground, there’s five children. Vision does a quick preliminary scan to make sure none of them might have any sort of disease that may spread to Morgan. He finds their ages range, the youngest being three, the oldest being six. He’s slightly hesitant about letting her go, but they all scan as healthy. Still, Morgan is barely two years old, she might get hurt if she plays with kids that much older than her. He instead looks to the swings, where a man is pushing his young son on one of the toddler swings. He lifts Morgan, carefully taking the cup out of her hand, and walks to the other swing, placing her in and placing the cup on the edge of the sand where concrete meets grass.

“Ready to launch, gumdrop?” Vision asks. Morgan squeals in response. Vision interprets it as a yes, and he begins to gently push her. She laughs excitedly, happy to exist in the moment, reaching to try and touch the sky so close in her grasp. Vision smiles fondly at her.

“How old is she?” The larger man next to Vision asks. Vision looks at him, looking at his slightly greying shaggy beard adorning his tanned skin, to his baggy striped polo strip tucked awkwardly into khaki shorts with black strappy sandals. He honestly looks like a stereotypical suburban dad.

“She’s turning two in August.” Vision says with a smile,” How old’s the little champ?”

“Just turned two.” The man laughs, ruffling his cons head once he swings back before pushing,” I’m Marco. You’re…”

“New around here?” Vision finishes,” I’ve been getting that a lot. I’m Vision, I’m slowly moving into a house down on Sherwood. It’s just a little hard.”

“I get it, moving with an infant isn’t easy.” Marco chuckles fondly,” I admire anyone with the patience for that kind of thing.”

“Oh, she’s not my child.” Vision chuckles,” I’m nannying. I’m more talking about adjusting after the whole...incident two years back.”

“Ah…” Marco pauses, losing a little strength on the pushing,” Yeah, yeah that’s made things pretty difficult around here. Everyone lost someone.” Marco looks to Vision and smiles sadly,” But that’s the thing about small towns, we rally in the face of that kind of adversity. It was rough the first year, we had a mass exodus. Went from almost four thousand to barely fifteen hundred. A lot of people couldn’t really stand living in a house without loved one’s and packed up, not that I can blame them. I was damn close to doing the same.”

“Oh, did you..?” Vision can’t really bring himself to ask a full question, afraid he might make the man uncomfortable. Marco looks to Vision with a look of slight amusement. He lets out a small chuckle, pushing his son a little higher.

“It’s alright, I’m actually getting better at talking about it.” Marco smiles,” I enjoy talking about him.” He looks to Vision with a beaming smile,” His name was Anthony. He worked at the mill on the outside of town, a real foreman among foremen. I got the call two days after the initial occurrence, almost all of the plant dusted away in an instant. The place almost blew up, but thankfully just enough people could handle the chaos. I was devastated, absolutely heartbroken. He was my soul mate.” Marco shifts his foot around in the sand,” We were barely two years into our mortgage. I was on the verge of a panic attack twenty four seven for a good long while there. A lot of dark thoughts.”

“I’m...I’m so sorry for your loss.” Vision hesitantly pushes Morgan a little higher, matching Marco’s absentminded pushing as he reminisces,” I can’t imagine how you stayed.”

“Isn’t that the big question.” He laughs, slightly incenserly,” Like I said, got damn close. But then I got the papers back for little Antonio here. I think the state was panicking about the volume of new orphans they needed to process, so they started approving everyone with qualifications. We’d applied the year prior and were waiting for any opportunity.” Marco stops the swing with his hands, holding his sons and blowing a raspberry on his head before swinging him more,” I was scared shitless when I got those papers. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for a kid in such a shocked state. But...i don’t know it kinda felt like a twist in my destiny. Like, how bad would this kid have it if I didn’t take him in? I had the money, certainly had the space, I just needed the courage to take the leap. Then I felt him. I felt Anthony telling me to do it, to live our dream and thrive through the sadness.” Vision looks at Marco. He smiles, but he can see the tears forming in his eyes.

“You’re strong, Marco.” Vision says with a soft and kind tone.

“Nah, this isn’t strength.” Marco sighs out,” Strength is the people who lost everything yet persisted in making sure this town kept running. The mayor is the pillar we’ve been relying on. She’s organized an honestly insane amount of support groups for various groups around town, created a weekly potluck program for the various neighborhoods, and made sure that payment for teachers and essential workers didn’t go down during that uncertain financial crisis. She lost everyone, her husband, her mom, even her dogs. But she smiled, and extended a hand to all of us. She really showed us that life keeps going on even when we think it’s all over.”

“Huh, I, uh, I didn’t hear about any of that. There wasn’t really any news on that.” Vision scans through the news articles from around the blip, not recognizing any signs of that pure vitality, instead only seeing the doom and gloom once more. He shakes his head to stop it.

“Well, we had to shut down all local news for a long time.” Marco sighs,” It was mostly a flyer and word of mouth type of thing. I’m sure if you go to any small town, you’ll get similar stories. What friends I could contact told me about their similar experiences. Maybe not the mayor, but a religious figure in the community, the head of a PTA, I have one friend who told me about a boy scout troop leader who brought a small Wyoming community together through different team building exercises he learned as a scout.” Vision looks to the sky in wonder, smiling at the thought of people working easily together and helping wherever anyone needs help, all on their own.

“Humans are amazing.” He chuckles.

“That’s one way to put it.” Marco heartily laughs, he stops the swing and picks up little Antonio,” Anyways, it's nice to hear people are moving in again. If you’re interested, I attend the eight o’clock support groups on thursdays. There’s also a lot of community outreach if you ever need help with food or large projects. There’re fliers at the community center…” He shifts Antonio and points to a large building across the street ‘ Community Center/Public Library’ ,” I hope you enjoy Westview!”

“It’s been nice meeting you, Marco.” Vision says with a smile.

“I’m over on Voyager Road, stop by for some drinks, and you can tell me your life story.” Marco chuckles,” Hope to see ya at the group.”

Marco walks off, talking lovingly to Antonio in a sweet tone. Vision smirks, happy to realize there’s a lot he didn’t really know, despite being an all-knowing machine. Morgan let’s out a grunt. Vision stops the swing quickly, scanning her to see what’s wrong. She has to go to the bathroom. He looks around, trying to find a public bathroom. He makes out the closest one would be the community center. He times the potential time it would take if he runs or walks at a moderate place to the house. It would take twenty minutes at most, ten at least. He shrugs and decides it’s better safe than sorry.

He scoops up Morgan, skillfully bending down to pick up the semi melted ice cream. He runs across the small patch of grass, then looks around to make sure the road’s safe. He makes it through the doors and into the bathroom fast enough to get Morgan where she needs to be. 

Once they're done washing their hands, Vision lifts Morgan, readying to go home. They’re about to leave when he notices the bulletin board. He looks at all the flyers, marking the information in his internal calendar. If he’s going to live here, he might as well try doing as the townsfolk do. 

Morgan happily finishes her ice cream as she sings a nonsensical song on the way home. Vision can’t find any form of pattern to her words or musical patterns, so he just watches her hop and dance. It takes almost twenty minutes, just like he predicted, to get home. Before they go inside, Vision walks over to the car he brought. He takes out the TV and TV stand he had brought from Wanda’s room. He was going to put them up tomorrow or maybe even Sunday, but with a hyperactive child he might need it now more than ever. He also spots the box set of the Dick Van Dyke show. He feels a twinge in his chest, but breaths in, shuffling the load around, to get a good grip on it.

Morgan opens the door for Vision. He thanks her politely, before moving at intense speeds to set up the TV and stand in a matter of seconds. He then goes back to the car, realizing he forgot the dvd player in the back seat, setting that up before Morgan can even get one foot into the lounge. He puts in the first season DVD of the set, allowing it to play in the background. 

The two play a variety of games, dressing up and singing and dancing until the sun sets. When Morgan begins to get hungry, she whines. Vision puts her in front of the TV and  runs to the store, buying easy to eat meals for her and coming back within minutes. She barely noticed he left. He carefully makes her meal while she watches the TV, laughing right alone with the audience through the episodes. When she’s finished eating, he makes her a bath, carefully monitoring the temperature of the water, and playing with all her little bath toys for around twenty minutes with her. 

It’s finally time for bed, Morgan’s all dressed in her jammies, holding her favorite stuffed rabbit, Mr. Snugglebutt. Vision inflates the mattress in one of the spare rooms while walking Morgan through brushing her teeth. Once they’ve maintained her dental hygiene, they do a little dance into the bare bedroom. Vision fishes out her blanket, preparing her to sleep. He beacons her to get into bed, but her stare is fixed to the sky. Vision walks to her side, looking to the sky with her, not seeing anything but a few scattered stars. Morgan points to the sky.

“Watz dat?” She asks.

“Stars, gumdrop.” He responds quietly.

“Huh…” Her half hearted response alerts Vision slightly. He tries to analyse her stare, wondering if he hadn't provided a good answer. Her stare is wistful and mesmerized. Vision gets an idea.

“Gumdrop.” Morgan looks to him in response to her nickname,” Would you like to see even more stars?” She gasps happily, her eyes lighting up in excitement. 

Vision wraps the blanket around her, picking her up and walking downstairs and out to the backyard. He looks around to make sure any neighbors lights are off. He sees the coast is clear, dropping his camo, revealing his red skin under the light of the half moon. He gently begins floating in the air, Morgan gripping his shust and neck tightly. Vision embraces her carefully, slowly floating higher and higher into the air. Once he’s about two hundred feet up, he moves forwards, still making sure to have a steady grasp of the toddler in his arms. He flys over the dark suburbs of Westview, eventually crossing Ellis Avenue into the surrounding farmland. 

Once he reaches a field far from any artificial light source, he lands and sets Morgan down. She looks around hesitantly. Vision points to the sky, Morgan’s eyes follow. Her expression can only be described as the physical incarnation of pure wanderlust. Her eyes widen at the sheer amount of stars sparkling in the sky, all flowing and cooperating in a glorious harmony above her. She doesn’t say anything, just takes in the awesome view. Vision sits next to her, pointing out different constellations, planets and named stars. She listens in amazement, coming up with her own constellations, all of which Vision records to his permanent memory. 

They’re outside for a long time, until Morgan sneezes. She wobbles slightly, tired from the fun day. Vision gently picks her up, flying slowly to the house. Morgan falls asleep in his arms, cuddling in close to him. He activates warmers in his chest to make the trip more comfortable. When he reaches the house, he walks carefully, as to not disturb her, gently placing her on the mattress, lighting a small nightlight, and exiting the room with a soft,” Goodnight.”

He floats down the stairs, into the lounge, where the TV still plays. By this point episode fourteen plays, halfway complete. Vision looks at the TV fondly, he turns down the volume, sitting in front of the set, picking up the shelf he’d abandoned earlier. He laughs at the jokes softly, carefully piecing the shelf together in silence. By the end of the night, the self stands proudly next to the TV, the Dick Van Dyke show box set the only thing on it. He smiles at the fruits of his labor.

He hears a rustling upstairs, quickly going up and helping the young Stark get ready for the day. They spend the morning picking up toys, deflating the mattress, and making a pretty ridiculous amount of chocolate chip pancakes. Around nine fifty, the doorbell rings, Morgan happily rushing to open it with Vision. Pepper and Tony under the entrance, Pepper beaming at the sight of Morgan, Tony obviously hungover. Vision laughs, inviting them in for pancakes, which Tony happily accepts. The couple recount their date to Vision, Vision and Morgan happy to tell about the fun time they had together.

“You really like Uncle Vision, doncha Morgana?” Tony says with a laugh, shoving half a pancake in his mouth.

“Morgan wuvs Uwncle Vision!” She excitedly yells. Tony looks to Vision and smirks, Pepper looks at Vision with a grateful and thankful smile. Vision looks touched and happy at the sentiment, scooping Morgan into a big ol’ bear hug.

“We may have to rely on you for babysitting when we’re on this side of the US.” Pepper laughs, taking a bite out a semi-burnt pancake with a chocolate chip smiley face on it.

“It would be my pleasure.” Vision laughs,” I just request a little more than a five minutes notice next time. I’ll have a proper room set up next time.”

“Five...five minutes?” Pepper gives a horrified look to Tony,” You said he agreed two weeks ago.” Tony looks like a deer in headlights. Vision and Morgan laugh through the small couple squabble. 

Once the pancakes are gone, or at least in a plastic bag for the road, Pepper and Morgan take her bags to the car, not the same corvette Tony had come in yesterday. Vision stands in the entrance, watching Morgan drag her bag with all her heart, refusing help from Pepper. Tony comes up behind him and pats Vision on the shoulder.

“I truly appreciate this Vision.” He says with a sincere smile. 

Tony looks at Vision, his expression softer than when he was in the compound. He looks at least a little at peace, a little content, even a little happy. Tony feels proud, so proud of what Vision’s become. From being little more than an emotionless husk he and Ultron brought into existence, to so close to human. The camo he uses can fool even the most keen eyed person.

“Vision.” Tony lets out a sigh,” I’m in the process of building a cabin up in Upper New York. Not really near the compound, but still decently away from people. If you want, you can come visit whenever.” Vision looks to Tony, the offer genuine and sincere. He smiles.

“Thanks Tony.” He looks to Morgan,” I think that’d be nice. I’m always happy to visit the little niece.”

“Wouldn’t she be more like a sister?” Tony chuckles,” You’re kind of my son, when you think about it. Well, me, Banner, Ultron and a little bit of Thor.”

“Well aren’t I lucky.” Vision laughs,” Have a safe trip home Tony.”

“Have fun building yours, Vis.” Tony walks out the door, lifting Morgan and her bag into the carseat in the compact car. 

Vision watches them once more disappear out of the neighborhood. Once they’re completely gone, he closes the door behind him, locking it. He looks to the small mess in the kitchen, then to the TV. He smiles to himself, shifting back to his original form. He sits in the lawnchair, picking up the TV remote. He clicks through a couple options on the menu of the dvd, before landing on his choice.

‘ Season two, episode twenty-one: It May Look Like a Walnut’

Chapter Text

February 10th, 2021. Vision walks the streets of Novi Grad before dawn, slowly taking in the sights. He watches a construction crew begin their day, rebuilding the old church at the center of the patched up city. You wouldn’t even realize it was the city that fell from the sky, with buildings having been replaced for towers with more sturdy foundations and roads that connect as though they were never severed. It’s comforting to see the small capitol rebuild from such utter devastation. 

He carefully twirls a small bouquet in his hands. A bundle of red roses, with white framing on the edges of the petals. He saunters in the crisp morning air, trying to mentally prepare himself for the rest of the day, until he reaches a large black iron gate guarding the front of a synagogue. He slowly creaks it open, walking carefully around the temple to a relatively large graveyard. It’s around the size of a city block, not intensely large, but a strange sight to see in a capital city. He tries to maintain a forced small smile, while walking past the restored graves, reading the names and dates on every tombstone as he passes. 

He finally reaches his destination, far back in the field, almost tucked away neatly in the corner. He sighs, kneeling in front of the wide tombstone. A real family unit, Olek and Irena taking the top half of the stone, dedicating their legacy as the loving parents, Pietro and Wanda beneath as their loving children. Vision shudders and stifles harsh breaths as he carefully places the roses to the side of a small extended stone plate in front of the grave, neatly fluffing the petals to present them in full bloom. He reaches into the front pocket of his coat, taking out a Yahrzeit candle, setting it on the platform. He pats his pockets for a lighter, when a small click stops him. A gentle flame from an old silver zippo passes by Vision’s sight, lighting the candle. A bouquet of white roses with red framing gets gently placed adjacent to Vision’s bouquet. Vision smiles, looking to the figure beside him. His large dark coat carefully covers the litany of concealed weapons on his person, while his head is covered by a black beanie, making his face only visible from a direct front view.

“It’s been a while.” He sighs, looking up to the stoic face of his old friend. He looks towards Vision, cracking a sad smile, offering a hand to help Vision up. Vision accepts, dusting off his pants once he’s standing. The two look towards the grave, softly illuminated by the dawning sun and light flickering of the candle. Vision embraces him in a small side hug.

“It’s still hard to believe I lost both of them within four years of each other.” Clint doesn’t shirk away from the hug, but doesn’t necessarily accept it,” It’s just another tally on the ever growing list of failures of my life, I guess.” He pulls out a small silver flask, worn and weathered,” Sometimes I think it should’ve been me that died in Sokovia.”

“Don’t say that, Clint.” Vision reassuringly squeezes him,” How upset do you think he’d be if he heard you say that?” Clint lets out a soft chuckle. Vision still has a bit of difficulty helping others actively through their own forms of grieving. He lets out a sigh, releasing Clint. “Now, shall we get going?”

“A rousing day of grief fueled drinking?” Clint laughs, Vision giving him a worried look. Clint clears his throat, a bad joke that didn’t land,”Yeah, yeah of course we should get going. If we stay any longer I might become a blubbering mess.”

The two give one last look to the stone, before turning and walking out of the area. Careful not to make too much noise, they banter about the weather, the way this winter has compared to others, just casual small topics, until they reach a small tavern, it’s neon sign still glowing with the Sokovian word for ‘Open’. Clint opens the door, ushering Vision in, who thanks him with a small nod. 

The bar tender shouts a sokovian greeting to the two, which they shout back in unison. They sit at a high top table near the back of the bar. Other than a man passed out near the entrance, the bar is empty. Within a minute, the bartender arrives, pad of paper and pen in hand.

“A large stout of whatever dark ale ya got.” Clint says in flawless sokovian. The bartender nods and looks to Vision. Clint begins to try to stop the man, but Vision stops him.

“The same, please.” Vision says in Sokovian. The bartender nods, making a quick jot on his notepad, before heading over to the bar. Clint laughs and looks at Vision questiongly. Vision reaches into his jacket pocket, taking a little metal tin out. He opens it, popping two small white cubes into his mouth. Clint looks even more amused.

“I don’t know how gums gonna help you drink something you’re physically incapable of ingesting.” Clint teases, waiting for whatever strange reason he has. Vision smiles, chewing quickly, before opening his mouth wide. At the back of his mouth is a white wall, just covering the area where the esophagus should be. He then gives a big dopey grin.

“A special form of myocilin I’ve been creating to simulate the experience of drinking in a social setting.” Vision proudly states,” Very absorbent. It can hold up to a gallon of liquid per cube. I’m really rather proud of it.” He pulls out another cube, setting it on the table for Clint to observe. Clint picks it up, fiddling with it in his hands. It feels spongy, like a fresh piece of gum out of a just opened pack. 

“Smart.” Clint chuckles. The bartender approaches with their drinks. The two utter their thanks, before clinking their glasses together in a cheers. They down the ales simultaneously, clanking them loudly onto the table when they finish. Clint looks at the glasses, then at the table. He lets out a sigh, waving for another round. One won’t be enough to face the day.

“Thirty two, huh?” Vision sighs absentmindedly. Clint grits his teeth slightly, still slightly unprepared to actually start this discussion. 

“It doesn’t matter, they were still kids to me. Kids taken before their prime.” The drinks come, Clint takes a large swig of his, staring into the remaining dark brown liquid when he comes up for air. He takes in a deep breath. Exhaling a shaking breath.

“That’s true.” Vision dryly chuckles, sipping the ale,” But today isn’t for mourning, we’re celebrating their lives.” Vision carefully observes Clint, monitoring his stress levels, getting a general read on how he’s feeling. It’s been a long time since they’ve been in the same room, Vision doesn’t want to ruin it by saying the wrong things.

“Yeah, yeah, it’s just hard to try and remember those happy times without getting depressed.” Clint takes another large gulp,” But that’s why you made sure we met in Sokovia this year. They’re doing that thing, right? What was it again?”

“The Festival of Red and White.” Vision looks towards the small tv, playing an early morning news show,” The new national holiday of Sokovia. I wanted to make sure that you and I were at least present to see it’s birth.” Vision digs into his pocket, pulling out the last item inside. A small black velvet drawstring bag. He takes a quick breath, nervously clutching it in his palm.” I hear it’s going to be another gift giving holiday. Like hanukkah or christmas. That being said. I thought I’d give you a Red and White gift.”

“You know I can’t accept it, I didn’t get you anything.” Clint laughs, gently hitting Vision in the shoulder. Vision smiles weakly in response.

Vision places the bag on the table, sliding it across the table smoothly. He leans back, expectantly waiting for Clint to open it. Clint looks between the package and Vision, suspicion in his eyes, before smiling and dryly chuckling, picking it up. The loose knot falls apart with a small tug, and the bag opens in his hand. He reaches inside and pulls out a bracelet. A thin black leather cord secures what looks like a frosted glass bead, with small swirls of red energy pulsing around it rhythmically. Clint looks to Vision, eyes full of shock and questions he can’t seem to verbalize. Vision slides up his sleeve, revealing an identical bracelet on his wrist.

“Nat and Steve got me this as a holiday present. It was scary to give them my prized possession, but I decided to trust them. In the end, there was enough material to create two of these, and I couldn’t think of a better person to give the second one to than you.” Vision watches the tears form in Clint’s eyes. Clint tries to blink them away, carefully putting the bracelet back into the bag and tucking it snugly into the interior of his jacket. He sniffs, rubbing his eyes, and knocks back the rest of his drink,” I thought you’d like a memento of your ‘adopted sister’.” Clint lets out a sound like a mix of a laugh and small sob. 

“Where’d you even?”

“Wakanda, right after the blip.” Vision takes a long gulp of his drink. He turns the glass in his fingers, remembering the day. He shakes off the thought,” I’ve kept the larger chunk on me for almost three years. It gave me some semblance of inner peace, imagining her magic was her spirit accompanying me silently. Now it’s like she’s constantly going to hold my hand, as long as I have this thing on.”

“No need to get sentimental, Shakespear.” Clint laughs. He watches Vision carefully touch the glass bead, seeing the synth’s eyes soften as a small smile finds its way onto his face.”Thanks.” It’s the only word the two of them need to hear. This day wasn’t really about the conversation, it’s about being there for each other. The two sit in the stiff silence of the bar, Vision takes small sips of the ale, while Clint orders yet another ale. 

They watch the small TV behind the bar, the news anchor happily informing the public of the exciting events of the day. She ends her segment with a reminder, the gates will open at eight o’clock sharp. Vision checks his internal clock, quarter after seven. He looks to Clint and smiles. Clint smiles back.

“So, how’re things back in the states?” Clint asks, blankly staring at the tv, his mind somewhere else entirely.

“Well, I’ve got a lovely little house in New Jersey. I find that recently, I’m spending more time there than the Avenger’s compound.” Vision pauses, looking down to his glass and taking in a small breath. He knows the conversation will eventually lead here, an unwelcome topic, but he has to know. ”She’s worried about you.” Vision can see Clint flinching in his peripheral,” She asks about you during the weekly debriefings, hoping you’re ok.” He looks to  Clint, a small tremble in his shoulders,” She just wants to know if you’re safe.”

“She should mind her own business.” Clint leans back in his chair, crossing his arms and bouncing his knee slightly. “I heard she’s, what? Director of the Avenger’s now? Heard she even landed a pretty big contract with the UN to pardon all present and past members of perceived crimes up until the blip.” Clint rubs his eyes and the bridge of his nose, sighing slightly,” ‘ Let the history books remember our heroes as heroes, not criminals’ , that was the straw that broke their backs, right? She always had a way with words.”

“She misses her best friend.” Vision sips the last of his drink,” But that’s all I’ll say on that.” Clint looks to Vision, a slight confusion in his brow,” With your permission, I’ll tell her you're healthy and leave it at that. I’m rather curious to know about your adventures. You dropped off the grid a year and a half ago, dead air no matter which way anyone reached out. I wasn’t even sure you’d get my message to meet today, I sort of just threw a message to the wind, hoping the right person would find it.” Clint looks warily to Vision, carefully leaning forwards in his chair. He takes a moment, thinking of what to say.

“Well, I felt empty once I lost Laura and the kids. When my FBI agent released me, I abandoned the farm, and went to find work. I went back to being a mercenary, taking any job that could keep me busy, keep me moving. I didn’t want anyone I might’ve been close with to know where I was, I didn’t want to get pulled back into reality.” Clint plays with the glass on the table, spinning it slightly and watching the light dance off the rim,” It didn’t work. I knew it wouldn’t, but I got in too deep. I saw the scum of the earth wasn’t exactly affected by the blip in any way that matters. I got mad, so mad that the people whose favorite color is fresh crimson got to live, while my precious people had to die.” Clint makes stern eye contact with Vision,” So I’ve started the steps to take justice into my own hands. I mean, I once was regarded as a hero, why did that have to stop because of some freaky space freak?”

“I see.” Vision can only stare at Barton sympathetically. In a strange way he can relate. If he wasn’t forced to stay at the compound for a year, maybe he would’ve done the same. It isn’t fair that so many war-mongers, terrorists, gangs and other bad blooded thugs lived, when the people who least deserve it were killed. But he still can’t find it in himself to forgive Clint’s actions.Vision guesses it’s the pesky ‘Iron Legion’ protocol, but he doesn’t dwell on it.

“If you’re going to try to stop me, it’s no use.”

“I already knew that.” Vision chuckles. He checks the time, seven forty. “I don’t mean to imply that I came here to do that.. I’m not here to judge your life choices. I am simply here to enjoy the festival, to celebrate the twins with someone I know treasured them like a family member.” Vision pulls out a bill from his wallet, waving the bartender over. Clint laughs.

“I already knew that.” Clint responds, semi-mocking. He rises from the table. Vision gives the money to the bartender,” I wouldn’t have come if I thought you’d try to turn me in.” Vision smiles, relieved at the feeling of mutual trust between them.

The two walk out of the bar, the sun now lifted into the sky over the horizon, lighting up the cool city fog. They walk together leisurely through the streets, watching the populace awaken to the new day. They joke about the ultron bots they battled in the various alleys they pass, both claiming to have dispatched more than the other. 

They finally arrive at their destination. A newly built portion of the city called ‘New Maxim Cross’, housing freshly built apartments and large self sustaining buildings with a more modern style than the rest of the city. Tony had helped to secure enough funds to build it up, using the excuse of trying to create the world's first self-powered metropolis.  Many of said funds went towards the repair of the large scale destruction of the city, only a small portion focused on this three block stretch of city. The buildings have the slick chrome feel of Stark industries, clashing horribly with the nearby eastern european buildings. Clint and Vision can’t help but laugh at the dichotomy.

The farther they walk into New Maxim, the louder the sounds of celebration ring out. Once they pass into the second block of New Maxim, they see the city park. It’s packed with many different attractions. A few carnival rides sit on the outskirts of the celebration, a line of different food vendors sit near the entrance, and various vendors and games lie scattered within the area. Every booth has a mixture of whites, silvers, reds and blacks. The striking centerpiece of the celebration is a large stone statue immortalizing Pietro and Wanda Maximoff. Pietro has a sly grin, posed as though he’s mid sprint, ready to save anyone at a moment's notice. Wanda has a more elegant look to her, a kind smile as she hovers behind Pietro, hands filled with red flames to symbolize her powers. 

The pair enter the grounds, walking to get a better look at the large statues. As they walk, they notice that many children are dressed up as the center heroes. Boys run around and laugh, white hair spray adoring their heads. Girls pretend to shoot each other with magical bolts of energy with streaks of orange hair spray over their mostly brunette hair. Some kids dress up as other avengers, some boys paint their faces green, coloring their hair yellow like thor, and even wielding trash can lids painted to look like Captain America’s shield. Clint notices a little girl, her face painted red with a golden dot in her forehead, she plays with a variety of children, pretending to fly and shoot a laser from her head. He chuckles fondly.

Vision gently nudges Clint, alerting him to a heart warming sight. The boy Clint had been helping when Pietro saved him, stands on a table, surrounded by his friends. He wears a fully black outfit, a toy bow in his hand and small fake quiver on his back .He also has the white topped hair, a dedication to the two heroes who saved him from the falling city. 

Clint just stops where he is, staring at the boy. Healthy and alive, happily laughing and celebrating. He can’t stop the tears this time. They fall silently on his cheeks. Vision waits for Clint to make the first move forwards, not wanting to rush his friend. After a minute, Clint reaches up, wiping his tears and chuckling slightly. They look at each other, sharing a moment of content peace. 

They walk to the centerpiece, noticing the large plaques surrounding the statue. A whole history surrounding the twins, how they grew up orphaned at age ten, their great want for a change to the common wars experienced in the poor nation, their drive to change the world through a S.H.I.E.L.D volunteer program. It then goes into the different powers of the twins, explaining the small acts of heroism they performed for the people, even before the Avengers caught wind of them from Strucker’s experiments. Through the eyes of the Sokovians, the twins were the heroes they had always needed. Earning them the title of the ‘Sokovian Supers’. 

“Did you know, Pietro once evacuated a whole apartment building in minutes when a rogue airstrike missed its mark?” Vision points to Pietro’s timeline,” Fifty eight people were saved. Amazing.”

“Wanda stopped a firefight near an elementary school on the outskirts of the city.” Clint touches the plaque,” I guess she’s always been stupidly strong.”

The two continue around the timelines, pointing out obvious information to the other. They revel in the new information, making small jokes they think the twins would make in certain events. They both try miming out different events, making the other guess before sharing the event. Vision feels a comfortable warmth in his chest, so proud of the sides of Wanda he never knew about before. She wasn’t one to talk about the past often, and he could see why. Almost all of these heroics were done by the pair, together. 

Once they’ve gone through the memoriams, they look around the festival a bit more, looking through the small stalls of props and trinkets. Vision finds a red hairpiece, it looks like a large ‘M’. He supposes it’s to frame the face of whoever wears it. He holds it curiously in his hand.

“A traditional Sokovian fortune teller’s headpiece.” The older woman manning the stand says with a chipper tone,” Only fifteen dollars.”

Vision looks to the headpiece, then to the woman. If anything, it’ll be a nice souvenir. He pulls out his wallet and hands her a twenty. She reaches for change, Vision holding up his hand to stop her.

“You can keep the change.” He says with a smile. The woman frowns slightly, scanning her counter for anything. Her eyes light up and she smirks. She grabs a hair clip from the opposite end of the table. It’s a silver lightning bolt, carefully outlined with a baby blue paint. It shimmers brilliantly in the direct sunlight. She hands it over to Vision.

“It’s bad luck to separate white from red.” she says with a sly giggle. Vision looks to the trinket. He smiles fondly, thanking her for the gift. He tucks the two items away into his pockets.

They continue to walk around, observing the different games. ‘ Knock down Ultron’ , where you throw red baseballs at small robot cutouts that pop up over a wooden city. ‘ Catch the Speedster’ , small figures of Pietro race around a track, you have to successfully throw a ring around one to win. There’s also some standard Carnival games such as a milk jug toss, dart throwing, ping pong ball tossing, etc. Some of the larger prizes are teddy bear versions of the Avengers and the Maximoffs, along with other popular cartoon characters. 

They buy and eat various snacks as they watch the children laugh and act out some of the avengers biggest battles. They spend hours reminiscing, telling small mundane stories that have aged with time. Soon vision checks the time, two thirty. He sighs to himself, taking in the sight of the festival. He smiles gently, happy and content. 

“There’s going to be a small banquet back in New York.” Visions says, still staring at Wanda’s statue,” It’s a late invitation.”

“I appreciate it, but I can’t.” Clint sighs, taking a small bite out a hot pretzel in his hands.

“Then, at least let me leave you with this.” Vision takes a napkin and nearby pen, quickly jotting down his new address and private phone number.” If you ever need a safehouse, just know my door’s always unlocked for you. The number is also my own private line, safeguarded and untraceable. If you ever need help…”

Clint smiles at the small piece of paper. He crumples it up, stuffing it into his pocket. He gives an amused look at Vision, stuffing the remnants of his pretzel into his mouth. He extends his hand to Vision, a silent promise. Vision smiles, taking his hand and shaking it firmly. They share one last knowing nod. 

Vision walks away from the celebration, taking to the air in a secluded alley. He phases the contents of his coat into his body, transforming to his true form. He starts his flight to New York, keeping an eye on the red flames of the park, happily watching them fade into the horizon.

“Happy birthday, my love.”

Chapter Text

“Pardon?” Vision glares at the cluster of people standing at his front door. The words still fail to process in his head. The older man in the center of the group, clears his throat and stares coldly at Vision.

“I said,’ We’re here to collect the sentient weapon at this location, known as The Vision, as the official property of S.W.O.R.D’.” the man’s eyes narrow,” Is that better?” Vision lets out an exasperated breath and grits his teeth. The audacity of this complete stranger is astounding. 

“I’m sorry, sir, but I have no recollection of becoming ‘property’ to any such organization.” Vision almost hisses out,” I am legally an Avenger and shall be treated with respect and authority that comes with the title. I don’t know under whose authority you came here, but you need an official statement from the Avengers director and the Board of Directors in order to even get an attempt to request a service from me.”

 Vision hears the sound of guns cocking, trying to keep his anger under control he takes a controlled breath. The man smirks, extending his open palm besides him and receiving a paper from one of his accomplices behind him. The man’s shit eating grin just begins to further piss off Vision. Vision activates his emergency distress beacon, allowing his left eye to begin a  broadcast. He can feel the call being answer almost immediately.

“According to this official documentation from the United States Congress and Senate, S.W.O.R.D has the legal access, nay, the legal obligation to procure all known sentient weapons within the United States.” Vision is handed the folded piece of paper. He unfolds it, carefully reading the official declaration on the page. Vision sighs, doing his best to not crumple the note in a tense grip.

“I am not a sentient weapon, sir…?”

“Director Tyler Hayward of S.W.O.R.D.” He extends his hand for a handshake, Vision refuses it coldly.

“Hayward.” Vision almost spits out the name,” I am a synthezoid created to aid the Avengers through varied remote functions, the last of which is the participation in any form of combat. I am not registered to any single nation, instead controlled under the name of the Avengers, who act directly under the United Nations. I would say the world takes precedence over the United States.” Vision refolds the paper, dropping it at Hayward’s feet. Hayward chuckles lightly, picking up the paper and dusting it off.

“Since you: A) reside on American soil, B) been used previously as a weapon, and C) exhibit an honestly outstanding amount of independent cognition, I would say that you are the very definition of a sentient weapon we’re supposed to procure.” Hayward chuckles dryly, raising his hand slightly. The group with him raises a variety of different guns, aimed directly at Vision,” Now we have the option to do this easily or we can make this hurt. Which do you…” He’s interrupted by the ringtone of his cellphone. Everyone pauses.

Hayward smiles a fake smile, taking out the phone from his pocket. An unknown number reads on his screen. He swipes to ignore the call, the same numbers pop up near instantaneously. Haywards lets out an annoyed sigh, clicking the receive button. Before he can talk, he’s shushed loudly.

“Director Hayward, it’s a pleasure to formally make your acquaintance.” Natasha says in a stern and formal tone through the phone’s speaker,” It appears as if you’re giving some grief to a precious member of my team.” Hayward gives a disgusted look to Vision,” As my dear team mate has informed you, legally every Avenger is an asset belonging to the United Nations under the approval of the Amended Sokovia Accords. For the United States to try and claim The Vision, directly violates many of the rigorous and specific rules laid out in the Accords. And, in the case of the accords being violated, the direct country associated with the UN will lose their place in the council and risk the potential of a greater global conflict with the rest of the residing Nations. Do you want to be responsible for causing World War Three during these pressing times, director?” Natasha doesn’t give Hayward a moment to speak in between her fast paced bullet points. He stands, mouth slightly agape, trying to figure out what to say.

“Director Romanoff…” Hayward tries to start, but he’s violently silenced once more.

“That is a yes or no question, director.” Natasha’s words drip with a venom,” Depending on your answer, I feel I should inform you one of our elite squadrons is currently headed towards your position to aid our dear ally. They’ll be on the doorstep within the hour, and I know Vision can hold his own for that long.” The silence is deafening between the group, silently listening to the tense conversation,” Now,  say your next words very carefully. Are you going to start World War three today?” Hayward clenches his fist. Lifting up his arm quickly, forcing the others to put down their weapons.

“It appears as though I’ve made a mistake, Director.” Hayward says with forced respect,” We will leave the subject alone for the time being. Apologies for wasting your time and resources for such a... trivial matter. Have a great day.”

He angrily hangs up  the phone, shoving it into his lackey’s arms. He glares towards Vision, before scanning around the quiet neighborhood, and smiling slyly. He turns to face Vision, eyes full of contempt and child-like selfishness. He takes a deep breath, waving his team away. Hayward extends the papers to Vision, who smirks coldly.

“Keep them.” He coldly glares into Vision’s eyes,” It’s quite, quiet in the suburbs, wouldn’t you say?” He turns dramatically to begin walking away, pausing at the step of the front porch,” I’ll be seeing you, Vision. Whether you like it or not.”

As he exits the property, slamming the brown gate behind him, Vision angrily lets out a breath. He closes his door, locking it and resting his forehead over the peephole. He feels the connection of his broadcast is still live.

“Thanks, Nat.” He hisses out,” I just...I don’t...I’m not...”

“We were ready to wreck his shit at your signal.” Rocket laughs, happily eating a packet of gushers on Vision’s new orange sofa. Nebula stands with a blaster trained at the door, her finger almost completely pressed on the trigger.

“Uh…” She quickly sheaths her weapon, sitting next to Rocket pretending to watch TV,” That guy was certainly a nuisance.” Vision smiles warmly to the companions. 

In the four years since they’ve met, the trio has formed an unlikely bond together. The Guardians come to visit earth about once every two months, staying for around a week at a time. During these stays, Vision has spent ample amounts of time conversing and hanging out with the pair. He feels a sympathetic relationship with them, relating to her struggle of being not quite organic, but not fully robotic, but something unique in their entirety. 

Once Vision had fully moved into his home, Rocket and Nebula teased him about how they didn’t even get a chance to decorate their new rooms. Vision compromised by letting them take him to Target to get some fun decor to put around the house. Now, along with the seventies decor Vision has meticulously collected, Vision has a few giant yellow peep pillows around the house and a stuffed pink triceratops head mounted above the fireplace. 

Vision severs the connection from Nat, walking into the lounge. Rocket throws gushers into the air, trying to catch them in his mouth as they fall. Nebula catches one mid air and stuffs it in her mouth before Rocket can protest. Rocket gasps and dramatically reaches up to tap her cheeks, weakly trying to get her to spit the fruit snack out. Vision chuckles, sitting in one of the orange armchairs and grabbing the remote from the coffee table.

“I was gonna eat that.” Rocket whines. Vision starts over the Futurama episode he had been so rudely taken from. Rocket gasps,” I was watching that!”

 Rocket jumps off the sofa, grumbling about the lack of respect he gets, as he walks to the kitchen. He opens the pantry, scanning it’s contents as if they’d changed from twenty minutes ago. He scans, happily grinning when he spots the pop tarts box on the third shelf. He has to climb on the first shelf to reach it, but he eagerly takes out a silver packet, quickly running back into the lounge once it’s secured. He jumps on the couch, lying down and resting his head on Nebula’s lap. He opens the packet, and Nebula quickly takes out one of the poptarts and begins munching on it. Rocket has a betrayed look on his face. Nebula looks at him.

“Pillow tax.” She takes a large chunk out of the poptart, focusing once more on the TV.

Vision looks at the pair, excited to finally have them around again. They hadn’t visited in three months. But, the deeply disturbed feeling he’s been feeling ever since Hayward said ‘sentient weapon’ can’t seem to go away. 

It’s technically an accurate description, ‘Sentient Weapon’, but it feels too hollow, too lifeless for him to accept as his description. It may have been the case when he was first created, even as recently as five years ago, but now he feels as though his sentience has made him more human than weapon. Nebula notices Vision’s sudden shift to red, as he seems to focus intensely on the carpet in front of the TV. She gently pats Rocket to turn his attention to Vision. She knows Vision needs to be comforted, but comforting is far from her strong suit. Rocket looks over to Vision, sighing softly. 

“Hey, bud.” Rocket leaves the poptarts on Nebula’s lap, jumping off the couch and carefully approaching Vision,” Everything alright?” Vision snaps out of his trance, looking to the racoon approaching warily towards him. He smiles lightly.

“Still a little perturbed is all.” Vision sighs. Rocket reaches Vision. Unsure of what else to do, he gently pats Vision’s hand. Vision knows that both of these intergalactic friends aren’t very apt at this sort of thing, so he appreciates Rocket’s genuine effort all the more. Vision tussles Rocket’s fur. Rocket laughs lightly, playfully batting off Vision’s hand.

“Don’t listen to those ignorant terrans.” Nebula says rather bluntly,” They have no idea what a true sentient weapon looks like.”

“Half the patience, four times the firepower.” Rocket laughs, jumping back onto the couch,” If they want ‘sentient weapons’ they need to look to the outer reaches of the galaxy.” Rocket nudges Nebula,” Remember Ego? Now that’s a sentient weapon.”

“As much as I appreciate the sentiment, according to their written definition, they are correct with their label.” Vision lies back in his chair, watching the cartoon on the TV,” Then again, so are others who are completely different from me in every way.”

“They didn’t define it as something stupid like,’ mechanically enhanced free-thinking being’, right?” Rocket laughs uproarously at his stupid joke, but slowly stops when meeting Vision’s worried gaze. Vision lightly tosses the paper to Rocket. He quickly unfolds it, scanning until the definition he’s looking for:

‘Any being capable of independent thought who, be it through mechanical means or independant means, is capable of mass destruction if left unchecked through a federal organization.’

Rocket stares at the paper, slack jawed. He looks between the paper and Vision, then to the paper again, re-reading the entry several times to make sure he isn’t crazy. He holds it up to Nebula, who reads the note, then staring in utter confusion at Vision.

“That means literally anyone in the galaxy.” Nebula states confused,” Yes, you fall under this category, when defined like this, but so does someone like Natasha. Rocket can be included, and if he was still here, Groot would fall into that category.”

“A dedicated duck standing next to a nuclear launch button qualifies.” Rocket laughs,” You humans thought this is what makes a sentient weapon? I think whoever made this definition would die from shock if they went to Hala. You want a sentient weapon, look no further than the supreme intelligence. You’re lucky you haven’t been conquered yet, with such a narrow mindset.”

“Is this truly the planet Quill came from? They’re all so different from his stories. Barely a decent warrior among them.” Nebula munches on her poptart, looking curiously to the inside,” What was this red stuff again? It’s quite delectable.” 

“Strawberry filling.” Vision scoffs,” I wouldn’t write off humans that quickly. When push comes to shove, the small amount of qualified warriors on this planet is all it needs. It only took four humans, an asgardian and a hulk to ward off a chitauri attack in New York.” Rocket and Nebula look to Vision, expecting something actually impressive.

“Sorry, you want me to be impressed by the act of killing the weakest race in the galaxy?” Nebula asks sincerely,” You just need to take out the mothership and all the connected soldiers wither and die instantaneously. Conquering one such ship was my first successful mission to take out a fleet of them when I was but eight years old. Thanos quickly enslaved them, barely uttered a word of praise.” Vision just kinda looks at her. He’s impressed she’s become a bit more open about her past, but he’s also highly unsure of what he’s actually supposed to say in response to such a story.

“Look, I don’t mean all humies are weak, I’ve seen their might with my own eyes.” Rocket chuckles dryly, his ears beginning to lower as he starts recalling memories of his team, of Quill. Nebula gently pets him, and Rocket smiles,” I’m just saying they’re not the smartest or sturdiest beings out there. They just need to be a little more grateful for ol’ Nebs and me.”

“Nebs?” Vision chuckles in amusement.

“I’m trying to get her used to a nickname, something I can say faster than Nebula over coms during a battle or something.” Rocket says,” I think it’s gonna start catching on.”

“It most certainly won’t.” Nebula responds quickly. She looks to Vision, a small pleading look in his eye, trying his best to suppress a grin. She sighs loudly,” Fine. Fine, use it as you like.” Vision quickly processes the information in his system, changing the standard ‘Nebula’ to ‘Nebs’ as the primary referral method. 

“You won’t regret this, Nebs.” Vision jokes.

“It’s gonna spread like wildfire, Nebs.” Rocket teases, rustling a piece of poptart out of his packet and chomping it loudly.

“Shall we play a game, Nebs?”

“I think Nebs would like that.”

Nebula sighs loudly, getting up from the couch and walking to the kitchen. Rocket and Vision erupt in laughter. Vision realizes his anxiety from earlier has calmed significantly. Rocket scarfs down the rest of his poptart through tears from laughing so hard. Vision leans in his chair, small giggles coming from his lips as he thinks about the cute nickname.

Nebula comes back into the living room, dropping a box onto the coffee table. It’s ‘Clue’ the board game. She sits on the ground next to the coffee table, looking between Vision and Rocket expectantly. They both smile, and get ready to play a rousing game and forget about the small inconvenience of the day.

It takes less than three weeks for Hayward to return. He interupts Vision while he’s tending to his small garden in front of his house. Vision holds the pruned buds of red roses in his hands, stopped from putting them in his bucket of weeds by a shiny black shoe covering the opening. ‘ And I thought today was going to be such a good day. ’ Vision thinks to himself. He looks up and forces a smile to greet the annoyance. Hayward smiles back. Vision turns his attention back to the roses, carefully trimming branches. Hayward forcibly takes the sheers away from Vision.

“Aren’t you going to invite me inside for a drink?” He asks, gently waving the large scissors triumphantly in the air. Vision forces a smile, points his finger at the bud he was about to cut, and sends a small blast of energy out, frying only the bud. Vision stands and brushes off his jeans and loose white v-neck shirt, staining it with dirt. 

“I’m not fond of stray dogs in my house.” Vision spits as he phases through Hayward and into his house, locking it behind him. Though it might only be the second time he’s physically made an appearance, he’s been a horrid thorn in Vision’s side for the past three weeks. Constant surveillance vans, forcibly questioning his neighbors, even going as far as moving into the house just down the street to watch over him. The knock afterwards doesn’t surprise him, just adds fuel to the fire inside. He takes a deep breath before turning around and answering the door.

“Woof.” Hayward stands, holding up a warrant for Vision’s arrest. Vision looks unamused between the paper and Hayward. He leans against the front door, staring directly into Hayward's eyes.

“The charges?” He says in a low energy tone.

“Failure to comply with a government order.” Hayward says with a smirk. Vision holds up a finger, touching his temple with his other hand. He dials his internal phone, making an urgent call. The phone barely rings twice before the other party answers. Vision opens his mouth to act as a speaker for Hayward to hear.

“Secretary Everett speaking.” the voice on the other end says. Hayward flinches.

“Good afternoon, madam secretary of defense, this is The Vision with the Avengers.” Vision says in a calm and cool tone,” I have a Director Hayward at my front door. He’s claiming I haven’t complied with a government officer, as I didn’t surrender myself to his custody when he demanded.”

“What did he demand of you?” The woman on the other end asks. Haywards flinches slightly, but doesn’t show any other sign of discomfort.

“He demanded I turn myself in for being a ‘sentient weapon’ in the United States. I understand I do technically fall under the sloppy definition provided, but he was made aware of how such an action would directly violate the Sokovia Accords. It appears as though he is still under the impression he is somehow able to order me around without consequence. He has failed to present a signed letter from the Avengers director, nor any other legal documentation allowing me to do anymore than ask him to leave my privately owned property where he is currently trespassing.” There’s a beat of silence. Hayward glares at Vision, Vision half heartedly smiles in response. The woman on the other end lets out a long sigh.

“Vision, please allow me to apologize on Director Hayward’s behalf. It seems as though the instructions for the retrieval that congress requested have been misinterpreted in some way or shape. I will make sure to have a nice. long. discussion. with him.” the line clicks from the other end. Vision smugly grins. Hayward's phone begins to buzz in his pocket. Vision waves sarcastically to him, closing the door behind him.

Vision stands next to the door, listening for the people to leave. Once he hears their vehicle drive down the street, he lets out a loud sigh. He walks into his house, floating slightly to not disturb his freshly vacuumed carpet. He glides down the small hallway, making his way to the kitchen. He still needs to clean up his dishes from the weekly banquet last night. He’s found he can make a mean chicken casserole. 

He stops right before the kitchen, a certain photo catching his eye. It’s small, within the collage of photos Wanda had in her room that Vision transferred into the house long ago.It’s a small black and white photobooth photo, ripped away from it’s long forgotten siblings. The picture features Wanda’s caught mid laugh, while Vision plants a kiss on her cheek. He gently takes out the small photo, reminiscing about the day it was taken.

It was around september 2017, the pair had found the perfect formula for sneaking away from their responsible parties, running like hell with their phones off until they’re found. To anyone else it would seem fruitless, but to them it was like a game, seeing how long they can stay together before having to say goodbye once more. They had made the decision to meet in Bloomington, Michigan, in front of the Mall of America. Neither had ever had a chance to go before, and they thought it might be a fun experience. Thankfully it was a busy day, so they could slip around unnoticed. They visited almost every shop and attraction, making sure to thoroughly take it all in. Near the end of the day, they tiredly looked for a place to rest.

Wanda noticed the booth first, saying how there’s normally a bench inside, at least that’s what she’d seen on TV . They plopped in the unoccupied booth, tired from the excitement of the day. Wanda jokingly complained about her aching heels, and Vision happily took that as an invitation to set her legs over his. The couple laughed like middle schoolers in love, like every breath was the funniest joke they’d ever heard as long as it came from the other. 

Wanda was fascinated by the machine, finally asking to try it. It was hard to find the right position to pose, always unfortunately moving as the photos were taken. Wanda was getting frustrated by the whole situation, but Vision found her pouting adorable. He’d kissed her cheek in the middle of an annoyed Sokovian rant. She couldn’t help but laugh in response to the random gesture. He did it again as the camera clicked for the last time. As the pictures began to print, Wanda lovingly kissed him back, giggling the whole time. Once the photos finished, the pictures dropped out the small slot on the machine with a ding to alert the couple.

Of course the first three pictures were blurred and awkward, but the perfectly candid fourth photo made the experience worth it. Wanda ripped the other three pictures off the photo strip, throwing them away as they left the mall hand in hand. She gifted it to Vision as their parting gift once Natasha intercepted them. Vision had added it to her collage, hoping one day she would see it and be reminded of that fantastic day.

Vision gently holds the picture, giggling when the memory plays over and over in his head. He smiles ear to ear, taking out his wallet and placing it in the same clear sleeve as his New Jersey ID. He giggles gleefully to himself, floating to the kitchen to start on washing the dishes.

‘I stand corrected, this indeed is a fantastic day.’

Chapter Text

Vision carefully sticks a small hotdog on the cocktail sword, placing it near the other couple dozen on the serving tray. He triumphantly smiles, turning his attention to the uncooked pizzas on the counter. He adds a bit more cheese to the crusts, putting more garlic butter on them before they go into the oven. His attention is quickly grabbed by the mixing bowl on the counter, covered in dry cheesecake batter. He lets out a loud sigh, picking it up and starting to clean up the crusty substance. The back door opens, Vision glimpses over.

“Coolers: Stocked.” Clint says with a chuckle, opening a can of coke and taking a sip,” I separated out the sodas from the alcohols and juices, like you asked. Anything else you need for this thing?”

 “More time.” Vision chuckles. Clint lets out a small chuckle in response,” Can you check the cheesecake in the fridge? I want to make sure it’s setting properly.” 

“I’m sure it’s exploded since the last time I checked.” Clint puts down his can, opening the fridge and looking at the four cakes taking up a majority of the fridge space. Nothing wrong with them, just like thirty minutes ago,” You’re being paranoid, man.”

“I’m just nervous. It’s my first time hosting something.” Vision scoffs. He scrubs the bowl to get rid of the crusted cream cheese, before placing it in the dishwasher. He anxiously checks on the oven, still preheating. He looks over his spread of foods, nervously rearranging the hotdogs again. Clint reaches across the kitchen island, holding Vision’s wrist. Vision looks at him, a  sympathetic smile on his face.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you this nervous.” Clint chuckles, patting Vision’s arm,” I would tell you to relax, but that won’t help anything.” Clint looks around the kitchen, glancing to the lounge and the small dining room. “Instead I’ll give you some renovation ideas.” Clint hips up onto an empty spot on the counter, swinging his legs and holding up his hands to frame the room. Vision chuckles, winding up a towel and lightly hitting Clint’s back.

“I think the house looks fine as it is. Now get down, don’t want my nice new marble to crack under your ego.” Clint clutches his pearls, looking to Vision with a dramatic gasp. Vision pushes him forwards, causing Clint to jump to the ground.

“I’ll have you know, some people would pay good money for a consultation from a renovation genius, like me.” Clint wanders into the dining room, sipping his drink loudly.

“Didn’t realize the world was looking for ‘Ronin the Carpenter’.” Vision laughs.

“Can you believe the news outlets only focus on the piles of bodies, and not the freshly built shed right next to them?” Clint sarcastically swishes the red can in his hand,” What little taste they have.”

“I saw the lovely picnic bench you made in Afghanistan, lovely craftsmanship.” Vision and Clint look at each other snickering before laughing uproariously,” Could you imagine if you actually did that? How confused the world would be?”

“It’s a fun idea.” Clint says, he lets out a sigh, his look turns somber. “Thanks for letting me lie low here for a while.”

“As long as you help around the house, stay for as long as you need.” Vision picks up the appetizer plates, transferring them to the dining room table.

“I’m a fugitive.”

“You’re a friend.” Clint looks compassionately at Vision. 

“It’s weird to think that you kicked my ass all those years ago for a far smaller crime.” Clint laughs,” You’ve certainly changed.”

“I’ve grown. I’ve developed my own moral compass.” Vision smirks, rustling Clint’s hair,” I was far younger and inexperienced back then. I only had the ideals of the governments programmed within me. I’ve come to realize that there’s so much more grey in the world than the black and white described in the laws.” The oven dings to alert it’s preheated.

“Sounds like you need put in the pizza, Socrates.” Clint teases. Vision chuckles softly, heading back into the kitchen, tightening his apron as he walks. Clint looks around the dining room, taking another sip of his soda,” If you take away this weird metal partition between the lounge and dining room, you can make a little personal bar that connects directly into the kitchen.” Clint glances to Vision, who rolls his eyes,” I’m just saying, if you want to impress, people love a private bar. It would even fit the whole aesthetic of the place.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Vision carefully slides the first pizza into the oven.

“That’ll be two hundred dollars.” The pair laugh, when there’s a knock at the door. Clint takes a hesitant sip of his drink, looking to Vision.

“I’m still a little preoccupied, can you get the door?” Vision asks, sliding in the second pizza,” I’m sure it’s just Sarah. She likes to help with setting up and cleaning up for these kinds of things.” 

Clint shrugs, setting down the can on the table and jogging slightly to the door. He arrives as another knock rings out. He opens the door, and immediately slams it shut, alarming Vision. Vision turns to see Clint sprinting up the stairs, hearing the guest bedroom door slam. Vision grumbles to himself, quickly putting in the final pizza, and closing the oven. The visitor knocks again. Vision wipes his hands with his apron as he walks.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” He says loudly. Before he opens the door, he looks curiously up the stairs. He opens the door,” Sorry, I’m still getting ready. Though I had a bit of time before the party.” He looks at the three figures in the door, completely understanding Clint’s reaction. 

“Uh, hi?” Nat says, looking dumbstruck at Vision. A smile grows on his face.

“Oh hello!” He reaches out and gives a hug to Steve, Scott and Nat,” I didn’t know you’d be coming. You didn’t respond to the invite, so I just sort of assumed…” Vision clears his throat, silently inviting them in,” It’s been quite a while, Steve. Nat, always lovely to have you. And…” Vision pauses as he scans Scott Lang very carefully. His records have him listed as deceased, a victim of the blip. Vision’s stare doesn’t go unnoticed, Nat nods. “Scott. Welcome.”

The three enter the house, taking in the scenery. Vision walks quickly to the kitchen, turning on the oven light to observe the pizza. He quietly beckons the group further into the house. Steve slowly saunters, taking in the litany of photos adoring the small hallway. Nat looks curiously up the stairs, but continues towards the kitchen.

“Based on the lack of any entrees or sides, I can assume you aren’t here for the Cultural Appreciation Party?” Vision asks with a soft chuckle. Nat and Steve look at Vision sympathetically.

“Ok, I know this might sound rude…” Scott starts, Nat and Steve turn and stare at him, ”How does a robot go about getting such sweet digs? Like, this is...amazing.” Nat looks at Scott, dumbfounded. Steve gives a disappointed scoff.

“Well, the first step is to have a large enough asset pool to comfortably buy a house.” Vision says with a smirk,” But that bar seems a little too high for you.” Nat and Steve turn and look at Vision shocked. Vision smiles. Steve clears his throat.

“Ignore him.” Steve says to Vision,” We’re here to discuss an important matter with you.”

“I guessed that much.” Vision picks up a few dirty utensils, turning on the water in the sink to rinse them off,” You wouldn’t have come without warning if it wasn’t.” 

“Vis…” Nat starts.

“I appreciate the visit, but I must inform you that I’m hosting a party, which will start in thirty minutes.” Vision sighs, placing the utensils in the dishwasher,” The most I can offer you is twenty minutes. If you go and get a veggie or fruit platter, you can stay for the festivities, otherwise I’ll have to ask for you to come again at some other time.” 

“Can I have one of these?” Scott asks from the dining room, pointing to the miniature hot dogs. Vision nods. Scott happily picks it up and munches on it.

“We’re here to ask for your help.” Steve says in a harsh tone. Vision gestures to the tucked in chairs beneath the island. Nat and Steve sit, watching Vision clean off counters and prepare plates. 

“We believe we’ve found a way to potentially bring everyone back.” Nat says, Vision pauses, his hand hovering over a stack of plates.

“Pardon?” He asks over his shoulder.

“Utilizing the Quantum Realm, I think there might be a way to enter from our time and displace ourselves in a completely separate time and place.” Scott says, scooting out a chair, holding several small hot dogs,” We’re trying to get someone with a big enough brain to turn this thought into a reality. We tried Tony Stark…” Nastasha elbows him in the ribs.

“But he told you that such science is unstable and volatile, didn’t he?” Vision asks, grabbing the plates and stacking them close to his chest,” So you came to the supercomputer he created to aid you.”

“Vis, you know that’s not how…” Steve starts.

“We came here because we thought you would have a better understanding of what we’re trying to accomplish with this volatile science.” Nat says, sympathetically looking to Vision,” If there’s even a small chance this wacky theory could turn into a way to bring back everyone who left, shouldn’t we take it?” Vision sets the plates down on the counter with a loud clunk, his mind buzzing. 

“You...you can bring them back?” Clint’s voice cuts through the silence. The trio turn quickly to see him standing beside the stairs, tears forming in his eyes, with his mouth agape. Natasha takes a shaky breath in, unsure of what to say.

“It’s a working theory.” Steve says, looking Clint up and down,” We need someone smarter than the three of us to put it into practice.” Clint looks between the three, then to Vision, who’s back still faces him. His shoulders are tense.

Clint walks up through the dining room quickly, rushing around the island, to grab Vision by the shoulder. He looks at Vision's face, full of heart wrenching agony over a sternly thinking expression. Clint gently shakes Vision’s shoulder, locking eyes together. Clint makes a small motion of sympathetic pleading. Vision looks at him, giving a worried and harrowing frown. Clint grips his shoulder a little tighter, pleading with his eyes. Vision sighs warily.

“We can bring them back.” Clint whispers. Vision tenses.

“I’m sorry. Can you...give me some time?” Vision asks softly. Everyone shifts uncomfortably. “I still...I can’t abandon my plans tonight. I’ve been so looking forward to hosting.” 

“Vis.” Steve says quietly. Vision wipes his hands with a dish towel, softly shrugging off Clint’s hand. Vision clears his throat.

“Like I said before,” Vision turns to face the three sitting down,” If you go to the store and grab a veggie platter, you can stay for the festivities. If not…” Vision continues to pat his hand dry with the towel. The trio look at each other, contemplating their next move,” I was planning on grilling up some good ol’ American hot dogs, maybe playing some party games. Marco said he’d bring some picadillo and Cuban rum. I was looking forward to that. Sarah’s bringing Belgian pretzel twists she made from scratch with Hannah. Dhevan’s going to introduce me to his girlfriend.” Vision lowers his hands, staring at the ground,” I was so looking forward to this.”

Clint walks around the kitchen island, trying to usher the three out of the room. Natasha grips his arm with intense force. Clint stares at her sadly, pushing everyone to the garage door. Scott grabs another hot dog on the way. Once they’re in the garage, Clint sighs and leans on a workshop counter. He pinches the bridge of his nose, before looking at the group. He opens his mouth to speak, but Natasha’s slap stops him.

“Where the hell have you been.” She angrily cries. She brings Clint into a hug. She quietly sobs into his shoulder. Clint pets her head carefully, looking to Scott and Steve. They nod awkwardly.

“Cap.” Clint says with a nod, he looks at Scott,” Tic tac.” Clint looks down to Nat, a soft smile growing on his lips,” Everyone, huh? Sounds like a hell of a project.”

“We need as many hands as we can get.” Steve says with a smile,” But first we need a brilliant mind to help us come up with the ‘how’ we’ll do it.”

“If you give me two days, I think I can convince him.” Clint says. Natashs pushes away from Clint, looking him in the eyes. “In the meantime, you should look for someone else as well. If stark won’t help, you’ll need all the help you can get.”

“Can’t we just, like, reprogram him to help us or something?” Scott asks. The others glare at him,” What? He said it himself, he’s a supercomputer. Supercomputers can still be programmed, right? Let me mess with the codes and he’ll help.” Steve turns and hits Scott, causing him to fall to the floor. Scott looks shocked and confused.

“Can you stop talking about him like he’s just ‘some thing’?” Steve asks angrily,” Vision has his own reasons for his actions. If he doesn’t want to help for some reason, that’s up to him. We won’t force him, just like how we didn’t force Tony.” Scott looks between the three angry Avengers, raising his hands in defeat.

They hear the front door open in the house. They stand in silence, listening to the scattered greetings towards Vision. They listen as he responds positively to the arrivals. Nat crosses her arms, looking to Steve and chuckling dryly. Steve nods knowingly.

“Something tells me the kiddos coming tonight would be pretty excited to meet some real Avengers.” Clint says with a sigh,” But, I think the host wouldn’t be able to enjoy the fruits of his hard work if you stay.”

“Can we expect you at the compound in two days?” Nat asks with a sly smile, her tears drying on her cheeks. Clint smiles lightly. 

“Hawkeye at your service.” He  chuckles.

Steve helps Scott to his feet. Clint opens the garage door, letting them out. They wave, he waves back. He closes the garage and enters the house. Sarah looks over, startled at his entrance. Clint smiles kindly, walking over to the kitchen. Vision carefully pulls out the fully cooked pizzas, carefully to not allow the pans to touch the sporadic eight year old running around the kitchen island. A man with dark hair has the fridge open, carefully taking out two of the cheesecakes. 

“Ya know, everyone’s bringing a dish to this, Vision.” The man says, carefully turning around,” I don’t know where you think they’re going to find the appetite too…” He stops when he sees Clint’s face. His hands start to slack, the cakes beginning to slide off the plates. Sarah quickly swoops in, taking the cakes and setting them on the kitchen island. The man stands, mouth agape, raising a finger to point at Clint. Clint flinches, tensing his shoulders.

“Oh, Harold, stop that.” Sarah says, lighting tapping his chin to shut his mouth. She looks to Clint and smiles, extending a hand,” Hello. I’m Sarah Copter, this is my husband Harold. Over there is our little Hannah.” the girl stops circling Vision for a moment to wave shyly,” I’m so sorry for the disturbance. Harold is just…”

“I’m a huge fan.” He says, shoving past Sarah to extend a hand to Clint. Clint amusedly took the hand,” You’re just...wow you’re really here. Okay. Oh, oh, can I..?” He pats around his pants pockets, a horrified expression appears on his face. “I left my wallet at home. Can you? Do you mind?” Clint chuckles. Harold briskly walks to the front door, opening and closing it quickly. Clint peaks out the large front window, watching Harold sprint across Vision’s lawn and flawlessly hurdle the fence.

“Again, so sorry.” Sarah says with a sigh,” He becomes so childish when you come up.”

“I’m flattered.” Clint says with a laugh,” I’ll just say it for the record. I’m Clint.” Sarah smiles. She turns and walks over to the dining room, continuing to organize napkins and silverware. 

“Clint, are you going to participate tonight?” Vision asks quizzically.

“Can I? I’ll grill up those hot dogs if I need to.” 

“Please don’t make any more food.” Sarah chuckles,” There’s only going to be twelve people coming. Thirteen if you stay. Each of them bringing their own dishes.”

“I said sorry.” Vision scoffs, he smiles to Clint, who kindly smiles in return.

Harold quickly returns, trying to hide his pants behind awkward throat clearing. Clint autographs a series of trading cards for Harold. He happily shows Sarah, who smiles encouragingly to him. 

Soon the guests show up, one by one, bringing their own dishes. Everyone brings a dish from their respective heritage. Marco brings Cuban food, Dhevan brings homemade naan, his girlfriend Chloe brings a veggie tray with homemade sriracha ranch. After an hour, everyone's arrived. They all enjoy the night, eating the variety of foods, questioning why Vision made New York style dishes, but letting him off when he talks about how he was made. Everyone makes acquaintances with Clint, thanking him for his service in the Avengers.

The party lasts for hours. Sarah’s the last to leave after helping to clean up a bit. Vision washes dishes in the sink, while Clint wipes down the dining room table. Vision pauses, glancing behind him to look at Clint. Clint whistles quietly to himself, circling the table. Vision feels a twinge in his chest, letting out a sigh.

“Just say what you want to say.” Vision says, starting to scrub the dishes once more. 

“If there’s a chance, we should take it.” Clint says, finishing wiping and moving over to the island to begin wipining it,” I understand your reservations, but isn’t just the thought of her coming back enough motivation?”

“That’s the problem Clint.” Vision says with a sigh,” It’s the best motivation I’ve had in years. Just the thought of her being there when I wake up, even sitting in that chair is enough to make me want to help.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because the last time I put my hope and trust into a mission like this, I got my heart shattered and fell into the deepest pits of depression.” Vision slams his hands on the counter,” Though that mission might have been improbable, this one is plainly impossible. I don’t want to place my hope on such a dangerous and purely theoretical solution.” Vision looks to Clint, who looks pitifully towards him.

“I get it.” Clint says, draping the towel over his shoulder,” I do. I’ve been in that exact scenario. Hesitant to place my hope in anything, trying to stay content with the life I’d chosen. Trying to live while ignoring the gaping hole in my life.” Clint leans on the counter, looking to Vision,” But a certain toaster showed me how to force myself forwards. Made me take the first steps into letting fickle hope into my life. Helped me regain a sense of self, and helped me to reflect.” Vision turns his head to stare at Clint,” I’m not going to sit here and try to force you to come with me. I’m just going to try to give you a little push towards fickle hope.”

“The science is purely theoretical.” Vision sighs.

“Didn’t stop Tony from creating a new element.” Clint chuckles,” Didn’t stop Bruce from turning into the big guy. Hell, didn’t stop Wakanda from experimenting with vibranium.” Clint turns Vision so they face each other,” All it takes is a leap of faith.”

Vision looks into Clint’s eyes, the sincerity he’s presenting, pure and hopeful. Vision can feel the tension in his chest soften slightly. He looks around the house. The home he’d made. The home he thought Wanda would want if she were here. He realizes he's never lost hope of her returning someday. His lip quivers, an overwhelming relief surging throughout his body. It’s finally starting to purely hit him, Wanda could come home. Wanda could make fun of his decorating choices, of the silly array of marshmallow themed pillows around the house, of the game room that should’ve been an office. 

Vision collapses to the ground, letting out a mix of laughs and sobs. Clint sits next to him. Vision reaches up to his face, trying to stifle his breath. He feels a small wet sensation on his finger. He carefully reaches up to his eyes. He's crying. He doesn’t know where the water’s coming from, but it makes him feel relief all the same. Robots can cry. He’s never felt happier, he looks to Clint, a wet smile on his face.

Clint silently smiles, raising his hand for a handshake. Vision looks at it, and smiles, shaking the silent contract into existence.

“Guess we should prepare for the worst, huh?” Clint laughs.

“No.” Vision sighs, leaning on the cupboard,” Let’s prepare for the best.” 

Chapter Text

“There are still too many calculations needed before we can actually attempt any sort of physical test, surely you know that Doctor Banner.” Vision tries his best to plead with Professor Hulk as they walk to the main hangar. Hulk scoffs, trying to wave Vision away.

“Scott’s done this before.” He says, walking to the bronze van. Vision lets out an angry sigh, floating behind as they approach. Nat and Steve look confused at the large set up in front of the van. Scott stands in front for the van, doing little stretches in preparation. Vision angrily sighs, starting up the servers and typing in commands.

“Ready for a test drive?” Steve asks. Scott gives a thumbs up.

“Alright, going subatomic in three, two, one.” Hulk counts down. He presses a button and Scott disappears into the machine in the back of the van. “Coming back in three, two, one.” Hulk presses the same button. Scott’s suit comes back, but the contents inside are different.

“Guys? I feel weird.” the child inside the suit says. Everyone looks at it horrified.

“Okay, it’s okay. I can fix this.” Hulk says, frantically configuring buttons on the control panel. Vision watches from behind his shoulder, carefully trying to run a complex series of calculations. Hulk presses the button. 

The suit goes in, Hulk quickly presses the button again and it returns. This time housing an old man. Nat and Steve gasp loudly. Hulk begins to frantically type and push buttons. Vision pushes him out of the way, interfacing with the machine. He presses the button, waiting for ten seconds, then pressing it once more. Scott stands, panting and shaky. Vision powers down the machine, looking at Hulk with a glare.

“Time travel!” Hulk says with a sheepish grin. Vision phases through the set up, and stands next to Scott. He quickly scans for any differences. He’s healthy, Vision chuckles softly.

“Hope you don’t mind being about two years younger.” Vision laughs. Scott smiles wearily. Nat and Steve take him away to rest. Hulk and Vision remain.

“I, uh. I’m out of my element here.” Hulk says as he fiddles around with the machinery. Vision sighs, hovering over and working adjacent to Hulk. After a few minutes, Vision looks to the van.

“The pieces are here, I know that much.” Vision says, shaking his head,” Yet i don’t have the picture this puzzle forms. Given enough time, I think I could somehow put it together, but it would take years, if not tens of years, to find.”

“That bad?” Hulk asks with a laugh. Vision shoots a look at the man. He closes his mouth quickly. “I’m just...I’m gonna go make sure Scott’s alright.” Vision smiles, scrunching his nose, before going back to a stony expression. 

He connects to the servers, scanning every inch of the internet for research regarding Quantum travel, of the Quantum realm in general. There’s little useful information he can use, but he tries his best to configure the data in different ways and shapes, trying to figure out a feasible way to try and complete the necessary tasks. He runs through simulation after simulation, getting more frustrated with every failure. A hand taps his shoulder, he snaps out of his experimentation, staring directly at Natasha. 

“You look like you're concentrating pretty hard.” She says,” Everyone’s taking a break. Scott’s gonna go to Taco Bell, and he asked me, to ask you, if you wanted anything.” Vision doesn’t break eye contact with Natasha, baffled.

“Did the Quantum Realm do mental damage to him?” Vision asks warrily. Nastasha laughs.

“I think he just forgot you’re not human.” She says with a smile.” Anyways, I’m also here to invite you on a break. It’s been a while since you were last at the compound. The Avengers area hasn’t exactly changed, but the staff building has undergone a few nifty renovations. They got a cool fountain.” Vision chuckles. “Don’t laugh, the agents voted for it.”

“Then I would love to go see this wondrous fountain.” Vision lowers himself to the ground, extending his arm for Natasha,” Shall we?” Natasha laughs, playfully taking his arm. They skip slightly towards the entrance of the hangar, letting go once they reach the door. 

“How’re things going with S.W.O.R.D?” She asks as they casually stroll through the hall,” I haven’t gotten any reports recently.”

“Well, they’re still in the house just up the street.” Vision smiles,” I try to invite them to the bi-weekly banquets, even to the softball games, but I just don’t think they like me.”

“Has Director Dickwad tried anything else?”

“Oh, Tyler? I’m getting used to his semi-monthly visits.” Vision laughs,” He doesn’t seem to like it when I pretend I don’t speak English, wear increasingly random hats, or even when I just start casually phasing through the door so I don’t have to speak to him anymore.”

“He’s truly desperate to get you, huh?” Natasha takes a few steps in front of Vision turning around to walk backwards and face him,” What did you do to make him want to headhunt you so badly? Is the pay not enough here?”

“Well, if you’re offering a raise…” The two share a laugh,” He keeps calling me the ‘most sophisticated sentient weapon ever created’, and I’m always more than happy to tell him about the other planets who established AI far before Earth. He never enjoys those speeches.”

“I think you should just start reciting the Webster’s Dictionary the next time he visits.” Nat laughs softly,” I can just imagine him standing there as you just keep talking without stop.”

“That should last me a couple visits.” Vision says, making a mental note to record Hayward’s reaction to send to Nat. 

“If he spent half of the effort he’s used to get you on reviving the aerospace program over there, we’d be halfway to figuring out how to join Rocket, Nebula and Danver’s in the stars.” Nat sighs, looking out the window to the grass. Her smile fades as she looks out,” I hope this works. I don’t know what I’ll do if it doesn’t.” She looks to Vision,” What’s the first thing you’ll do when Wanda comes back?” Vision smiles.

“Well, it all really depends on the circumstances in which we’ll meet.” He says fondly,” But I guess the first event I have planned is taking a trip to an amusement park. Somewhere with a lot of roller coasters. I’ll spend the day with her, riding every ride at least three times, just so I can hear her laugh and scream with excitement. Then, when it’s night and the parks about to close, I’ll take her on the ferris wheel, where I’ll propose to her.”

“What happened to ‘seeing how it worked out’?” Nat teases.

“It might be a bit sudden for her, but I’ve been wanting to ask her that question for five years. She can reject me, but I won’t be disappointed. We’ll have our whole lives.” Vision fondly daydreams,” Maybe we’ll go to the Mall of America again. We'll go on a road trip to Vegas, ski the Rockies, ice fish in Alaska. We’ll do everything and more. Even if we do nothing, I’ll be the happiest I’ve ever been.” Vision looks at Nat, smiling a hollow smile,” And what will you do?”

“Me?” Nat asks, laughing uncomfortably,” I don’t know. I’ll probably still work on protecting the world, finding and training spectacular individuals so the next Thanos won’t know what hit ‘im.” She smiles fondly,” I’ll just be happy to get this fractured little family back together one last time.” She stops in her tracks, startling Vision. He looks at her with concern, she looks up to him with small tears in her eyes and a wavering smile.

Vision quickly gives her a hug, making sure to cover her face so no one else can see. She gratefully accepts, sobbing softly into Vision’s chest. He gently pats her back, trying his best to silently comfort her. After a couple minutes, she backs away, rubbing her eyes. She smirks and gently hits Vision.

“I guess now we’re even.” She laughs. Vision chuckles.

They make their way to the employee building. Nat proudly shows off the large ‘A’ fountain in the center of the main lobby. Vision applauds it, Nat takes a sarcastic bow. They laugh, turning around to head back. Nat stops Vision cold, staring out the glass entry way, watching Tony hand Steve the Shield. Nat quietly opens her mouth to form a large ‘O’, Vision joins, shocked at the development. They hide behind a pillar, watching the two enter the building, walking towards the Avengers dormitory part of the compound. They silently follow, Vision holding Nat as he silently floats, trying their best to listen to the conversation of the forgiven friends. They can’t clearly make out any of it, finally following them into the sitting room.

“Barton?” Tony asks when they lock eyes. Clint waves slightly. “Weren’t you?”

“They can’t legally prove I’ve done anything.” Clint stares at the wall, eating a donut hole.

“Got it.” Tony turns around, observing the room,” This can’t be it, right?”

“Nebula and Rocket are heading here now, it should take them a couple of days.” Nat taps Vision’s hadn to be let down,” I need someone to go get Thor, and Rhodey was scheduled to check in soon, so I was going to ask him then.”

“Oh great, four more was exactly the number to create the perfect plan.” Tony turns to look at Natasha, a grin on his face.

“We’ve only got so many Pym particles to go around.” Bruce says,” Only enough for ten people to go back and come back.”

“If we can even figure out how to do it with that limited resource.” Vision sighs,” Without proper test runs, we don’t know if there’s even an option to come ‘back’.”

“Oh, I’ve got that covered.” Tony says, holding up his glass face phone, projecting a schematic for a large scale time machine. Vision quickly gets to analysing and studying.

“Of fucking course you do.” Clint sighs, popping another donut hole.

“Anything else you might want to say, Barton?” 

“I’m sorry, m’lord, this humble peasant has spoken out of line.” Clint throws a donut hole at Tony.

“I think that’s the closest to a thanks I’ll get from him.” Tony laughs. Vision backs away, leaning on a coffee table, concentrating on calculations in his head.

“Vision?” Steve asks. Vision lets out a scoff, staring at Tony.

“He did it.” He says with a smirk,” This is a stable model with precise time dilation and location control.” Vision claps slowly looking at Tony,” However, with the materials needed, along with the sheer size of the structure. We can’t put the idea into practice for around three weeks. That’s if we pay for expedited shipping.”

“Then we’ve got a long road ahead of us.” Steve says,” But a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.”

“Cheers to that!” Clint says, taking a donut hole, before beginning an assault on the others with the sweet treat. Nat tries to throw them back at Clint, but Clint accurately throws intercepting donut holes to intercept them midair. The playful food fight ends as quickly as it starts, everyone giggling happily and picking up the snacks.

The first week passes slowly, mostly waiting for the pieces needed to construct Tony’s machine to come. The Guardian’s show up about the same time as Rhodes, scaring the hell out of Scott. Nat decides to send Bruce and Rocket to try to get Thor, using the  logic that if Thor tries to fight, Hulk can stop him, and Rocket’s relentless bluntness will cut into Thor where it counts. Well, she made the right decision, because before construction begins on week two, Thor, Bruce and Rocket show up in the Quinjet. Everyone is slightly shocked to see Thor, but Vision treats him with the same respect he’s always displayed to his teammates. 

During the third week, tension gets higher. The closer the group gets to completing the machine, the more worried everyone becomes. Tony leaves the blueprints with Rocket, asking for Clint, Rhodes, Nebula, Scott and Thor to work on the final touches, while Tony, Vision, Nat and Bruce work on creating the suits for their needs, using Scott’s Ant-man suit as the blue-print. 

“Hankis gonna kill me.” Scott sighs. He was chosen as the fitting and test subject for the suit, seeing as the only one who’s ever been to the Quantum Realm was him. “I mean it. He was so mad when I took the suit to fight at the airport. I just got back in his good graces, and now when he comes back, boom like ten suits exactly them. It’s his worst nightmare.”

“Well, he can’t come back without them.” Tony says, calibrating the large transporter.

“What if this doesn’t work?” Scott asks worriedly,” I know I suggested it, but you’ve got to admit actually trying to time travel is different then suggesting time travel.”

“It’s easy man, just don’t talk to your past self, don't kill any bugs, and come back. That way history isn’t changed when you get back.” Rhodes says with a smile, he leans close to Clint,” We need to make it seem like the world imploded before he gets back, any ideas?”

“Not how time travel works.” Bruce says, carefully adjusting the different measurements on the suit.

“What? I call bull.” Rhodes says,” You mean every form of media that depicts the fictional act of traveling through time isn’t completely and totally accurate? I’m shocked.”

“Yeah, who would base their ideas of time travel on the silly media.” Scott laughs, his eyes shifting between everyone in the room, trying to see if he really was the only one who thought it worked like that.

“The way Stark has figured out the concept is rather complex.” Vision says, carefully inserting the vial of Pym Particles,” Though possible to physically go back in time through the Quantum Realm, the act itself creates an intense spike in entropy, forcing a miniature big bang to occur simultaneously to the attempt of going back in time. When you emerge at your designated location and time, you actually haven’t moved relative to the base reality we’re stationed in, but instead helped to create a new version of reality that manifests you exactly where you want to be. In the moments it takes to grow, the world aged exactly the same up until the point you arrive in the new reality. Your actions in the new reality determine its future, creating a divergent Timeline for this alternate reality, with little to no effect on your prime reality.” Vision looks around at the stupefied faces around him, choosing to continue talking,” It’s basically the basis for the multiverse theory, that millions of worlds coexist at the same time with slight differences. Instead of time travel, I would say tony has created a way to interact and change the events of some of these Universes. So, in essence, when you go back, you won’t be going back to your past, but the present of an alternate version of yourself existing on a completely different timeline from yourself.”

“That’s...discomforting.” Scott says,” I think?” Vision sighs.

“What you do in the past won’t affect our own future, so kill as many bugs as you’d like.” Vision says with a smile.

“Guys, I really don’t know if I’m up for this. Do I have to do the test run?” Scott looks around worriedly.

“I’ll do it.” Clint says,” If you don’t want to, I’ll try it. The worst case scenario is I get lost in the Quantum Realm, right? But the best case is I get to see my family again, if only temporarily.” Clint smiles to Vision,” I’m prepared for the best.” Vision smirks,” I don’t really understand that whole explanation you did, but depending on the time I choose, I can see my kids, right?” Vision nods,” Then that’s enough.”

Scott derobes, and Clint quickly gets in. They walk Clint up to the glass platform. Tony runs over the basic instructions for the device. Clint gives a thumbs up in understanding.

“Seeing as this is a test run, you’re only going to have a couple minutes in the past.” Bruce says, inputting Clint’s requested coordinates,” Are you ok with that? It’ll be a forceful extraction back to the present.”

“Let’s get this show on the road.” Clint says with a sigh. Bruce looks warily to Tony. Tony nods.

“Commencing the jump in 3, 2, 1…” Clint disappears from the platform. Bruce waits for a minute before flipping a few switches,” Return in 3, 2, 1…”

Clint appears on the platform. He falls to his knees, taking a heavy breath. Nat and Steve rush up to his side. Vision scans him from a distance, he’s the same age, healthy and as mentally sound as he entered. Clint smiles widely, flashing a thumbs up to the group. Everyone smiles and lets out small cheers in response.

“Alright, now that we’ve got the ‘how’ down, we need to get the ‘where’ and ‘when’ for every stone.” Steve says, hoisting Clint onto his shoulder,” I say we hold a strategy meeting in an hour or two. Barton looks like he needs a nap.” Clint chuckles, kicking Steve in the shin.

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” Clint says,” The faster we get those stones, the faster the world can make sense again.”

The group makes their way to a private conference room. Everyone finds a chair to sit in, making themselves comfortable for the long discussion ahead. Vision interfaces with the projector, pulling up and displaying all requested information by the team. The title of this mission reads as ‘Time Heist’ in the upper lefthand corner of the screen. Steve stands, picking up a dry erase marker and heading over to the glass.

“Everyone here has had a close personal encounter with at least one of the infinity stones.” Steve starts.

“Or you can substitute ‘encounter’ with ‘damn near been killed by’, one of the six infinity stones.” Tony chimes in.

“I haven’t.” Scott says with confusion,” I don’t even know what the hell you’re all talking about.”

“I believe the first question we should be addressing is who’s actually going to be participating in the act of time traveling.” Vision pipes up,” There’s enough for ten round trips, and there’s eleven of us present. Someone’s going to have to stay grounded.”

“I think when we figure out the when and where we’ll be better able to divide teams.” Natasha retorts.

“Fair point.” Vision says, backing down.

“That’s a good point though Vision. We’ll make a note for later.” Steve says, writing down the number ten on an empty section of the glass. “Now, let's go over the stones and possible places we can retrieve them.”

“We’ll start with the big guy.” Tony says, expanding the Reality Stone tab,” I’d say we’ve had a little too much up close and personal contact with this guy. Romanoff, can you tell us any more than we already know about it?”

“The first occurance of the tesseract in old SHIELD records is in the nineteen fourties, when it was weaponized by Hydra. Howard Stark retrieved it, established SHIELD and stored it until a small break in the records from around nineteen eighty nine to nineteen ninety five, when it was mysteriously retrieved by one Nicholas Fury. It was safeguarded until twenty twelve.” Nat pauses, gesturing to the room,” Where it was then retrieved and taken to Asgard. Thor what did you guys do with it?” Thor sits motionless in the corner of the room, shades on.

“Is he asleep?” Steve asks.

“He’s probably dead.” Rhodes jokes.

“No, his vitals indicate he’s merely sleeping.” Vision says, walking over to Thor. He touches Thor’s temple, his fingers glowing white for a moment, before Thor jolts awake.

“What? Huh? I’m up.” Thor sputters out. Vision smiles and sits back down. Rocket looks at him questioningly.

“Let’s call it an energy shot.” Vision whispers to the racoon. Rocket giggles.

“Thor?” Nat asks.

“Pardon?”

“What happened to the Tesseract when it went to Asgard?”

“Ah the Tesseract.” Thor says with a smile,” Yes, we brought it back from New york, and locked it away in the heavily fortified vault. Until Loki got his hands on it and eventually gave it to Thanos.” Thor looks slightly distracted for a moment, before shaking it off and smiling to the group. Steve begins writing notes on the board.

“Um...Captain Rogers?” Vision says. Steve looks over and watches Vision touch the control panel on the conference table, adding bullet points under the blue stone. Steve sighs, dropping the marker to the ground, crossing his arms.

“Now that we’ve got your attention, can you tell us a bit of the Reality stone?” Tony asks. Thor smiles, getting up from his seat,” Oh, no you don’t have to.”

“It’s alright, dear Stark, I am just going to present.” Thor says, pushing Tony out of the way. He stands in front of the group, trying to pull the focus of the Reality stone up onto the screen. Vision silently expands the red stone. Thor looks proud of himself, clearing his throat as he turns his attention to the group. “Well, first off, the Reality Stone isn’t a stone, it’s more of a weird black blobby mess of goop, so let’s make a note of that.” Thor looks at the screen, the note appearing under the image ‘Not a stone, black blob’. “Well, Jane, that’s Jane Foster, and old fling of mine…” Thor pauses, again looking distracted,” She, uh, she dumped me.” Thor shakes his head, trying to clear his head,” Anyways, Jane fell into this pit, or something and found a weird monolith. She stuck her hand inside and the Aether just went like.” Thor mimes one of his hands consuming the other,” Then she got sick. Really sick.” Again, distracted to normal in a few seconds,” The Aether was then taken by Malaketh, a big bad dark elf, and he tried to destroy the world during the convergence. He didn’t succeed, obviously. Then we sucked up the Aether into this cool little box and my friends took away somewhere. Whenever I asked where they took it they would always say nowhere, so I dropped the topic after a while.”

Vision adds small notes to the location of the stone. Unknown to Earth to Asgard, back to Earth then unknown. Thor gives a thumbs up, Vision smiles and returns the gesture. He laughs heartily, making his way back to his chair in the corner. Vision quickly nudges Rocket, silently urging him to talk quickly.

“Ah, alright, ok. We’ll talk about the Power stone next.” Vision pulls up the purple stone, ready to take notes,” Quill told us he found the stone on Morag, in a weird orb. He was chased by Ronan’s goons until he found his way to Xandar. There he had a little tussle with yours truly, Groot and Gamora. Gamora’s a green girl with pink hair, she’s Quill’s girlfriend.”

“Fiercest woman in the galaxy.” Nebula interrupts,” A daughter of Thanos, like me.”

“Whatever.” Rocket scoffs,” Then we went to the kiln, a space prison. We escapes, taking the Orb to Knowhere, where Ronan got it…”

“Wait, where’d you take it?” Nat asks.

“Knowhere?” Rocket asks confused.

“Why don’t you want to tell us?” Tony asks.

“What? No, we took it to Knowhere.” Rocket tries to make his point, getting increasingly frustrated.

“K-n-o-w-h-e-r-e, a planet made from the remains of a celestial at the outer reaches of the Galaxy.” Nebula says, motioning for Rocket to continue.

“So Ronan got the stone, and he went back to Xandar to destroy the planet, but we stopped him. Quill took hold of the stone, then Gamaro was like ‘Take my hand’, then Drax touched Quill, and I touched Drax, and we used the stone to destroy Ronan. Quill sealed the stone and gave it over to the Nova Corps. I heard they were destroyed by Thanos when he retrieved it.” Vision makes the notes of the locations of the stone.

“Ok, we’re making good progress.” Rhodes states.

“Next we’ll talk about the Mind stone.” Steve says,” Vision?”

“Ah, well I guess I can try to remember where it came from.” Vision says with a shrug. He scans through all known news and documentation surrounding the stone, which is very little. “Ok, so I came to being in New York, in  2015. I then trained with the Avengers…”

“No, no we don’t need to know where you were.” Nat says,” We aren’t going to hunt you down for  the stone.”

“Ah, well that’s all the historical locations I have for the stone.” Vision says slightly shyly.

“Well, the stone came from the staff. The staff came with Loki in 2012 and spent a decent amount of time in New York.” Tony makes the notes,” Then it looks like it was in Sokovia for a while, powering the Maximoff’s, until it found its home in Vision’s forehead.”

“Ok, I think that’s the best we’ll get with that.” Steve says with a sigh,” Now here come the wild cards. What do we know about the Time stone and Soul stone?”

“A wizard had the Time stone.” Tony says,” I don’t know much more than that. He had a cool pad over off of Bleecker street. I don’t know how long he had it.”

“Better than nothing.” Clint sighs.

“Anyone know anything about the Soul stone?” Tony asks, casting out a net. Nebula hesitantly raises her hand. Tony points to her, calling on her to share like a teacher.

“The only person in the galaxy who knew where to find the stone was my sister, Gamora.” She states, staring at the glass,” She never shared many details with me, but she did give me the location. Vormir.”

“What’s that?” Banner asks.

“A dominion of death...at the very center of celestial existence. It’s where Thanos murdered my sister.” The room falls deathly silent,” She gave me coordinates, don’t worry.”

“Ok, so we’ve got locations for all of them. Now we need to figure out the best places to try and obtain the stones.” Steve says. Vision looks at Nebula, still staring through the glass board. He gently nudges her. She looks at him, emotionless, he makes a gesture to talk outside the room. She stands, walking out. “Uhm.”

“I’ll go talk to her.” Vision says, phasing through the table after her,” Please, continue.”

Nebula walks out into the hall, Vision following quickly after. He places a hand on her shoulder, She shakes it off coldy. She stares at Vision, shrugging and motioning around at the empty hallway. Vision smiles sympathetically.

“I...I know what you want to talk about.” Nebula says, her voice trembling slightly,” It’s just a hard thing to come to terms with.”

“I won’t force you to talk if you don’t want to.” Vision says softly,” But there’s more than the soul stone then you’re letting on, isn’t there.”

“If they don't want to connect the dots, it’s not my fault.” Nebula turns, crossing her arms and keeping them close to her body,” I said the basics, the location of the stone and all that. What more could you possibly want me to say?”

“‘Where he murdered my sister’.” Vision says sadly,” Nebula, if Thanos had to murder Gamora, then I believe that is a serious discussion we need to have. Why did he murder her?” Nebula flinches,” I know it’s not the most graceful way to address this. If you don’t want to say anything, that’s alright. I’ll form my own conclusions, I just wanted confirmation.”

“I don’t know the specifics of how to get the stone.” Nebula says quietly,” But with my sister being so scared to go there, Thanos taking her and returning with the stone. It’s hard not to draw the conclusion…” She turns and looks Vision coldly in the eyes,” A soul for a soul.”

“I see.” Vision had reached this conclusion since before. The equation was too convenient for anything else to be feasible, he’s just hoped it wasn’t the case. He looks to Nebula, she stares at the ground. Vision gently pats her shoulder.

“They don’t know, do they?” Nebula asks softly.

“As much as I can read brain patterns and activity, I cannot tell what they’re thinking.” Vision says gently,” But my guess would be, no. No they don’t.”

“They’re foolish to think there wouldn’t be any casualties on this mission.” Nebula casts her cold stare to the glass conference room, where a lively discussion is on-going. He takes a shaky breath. “I…” She pauses, staring at Rocket,” I’m scared, Vision.”

“Nebs.” Vision Observes her with heartache.

“If you knew that one of your friends were going to leave forever and never return, but you kept that to yourself, do you think they’d forgive you?” She asks, looking to the conference room once more.

“I don’t think it’s that simple.” 

“Vision.” She says coldly,” I...I know. I don’t want to lose any friends, but we need that stone, don’t we?” She looks to Vision, a single tear in her eye,” What if we kept this between us, and I’ll...if I can help to bring back the rest of his family, do you think he’ll forgive a last selfish action?”

“It’s not selfish.” Vision says, his own voice shaking as he observes Nebula,” He’ll be horribly sad. We all will, no matter who makes the sacrifice.”

“If I think about it as getting the ultimate revenge on Thanos, the idea doesn’t seem half bad.” Nebula says in a slightly positive tone,” What better way to destroy his legacy, then to rid him of all of his children and reverse his greatest accomplishment?”

“Nebs...we can discuss it with the group. You don’t have to shoulder this on your own.” Vision says, stifling a small sob,” You may be a daughter of Thanos, but you are by no means defined by only that. You’re a Guardian, an Avenger, a hero.”

“Only to Earth.” She sighs sarcastically. She looks to Vision, gently patting his cheek,” I’ll strengthen my resolve until the mission. I’ll live without regret these last few days.``

“Nebs.”

“There’s a strange sort of comfort…” She begins walking back to the conference room,” Knowing when you’ll die.” She motions for Vision to follow.

“Whatever you want, I’ll do my best to get it.” Vision says with a sad tremble,” I’ll make sure your last days are the best you’ll ever have.” Nebula pauses, taking a heavy breath, before entering the room.

“So, the main place we’ll try to get the Reality stone will be Asgaurd, as that’s kinda the only place we know where it is.” Steve says with a sigh,” We’ll get the Power stone on Morag, and someone will go to Vormir for the Soul Stone.”

“The Mind stone, Time stone and Space stone are questionably the hardest to place at the moment.” Tony says, Vision takes a seat. Looking through  the different data points he looks around the room.

“Since we know so little about the Time Stone’s location, what if we just assume the stone has always resided within the ‘neat little house on Bleecker’.” Vision says, thinking out loud.

“Then that would mean, if we choose the right year, all three of them would be in New York at the same time.” Nat says, following Vision’s train of thought. Everyone pauses, taking a moment to process this information. 

“I guess that’s that.” Tony says with a laugh,” New York, 2012; Asgard, 2013; Morag, 2014; and Vormir, 2014.”

“We’ve got dates and locations.” Clint says with a sigh,” Now comes the question of who's staying behind. How are we going to split up the teams?” Everyone shifts a little uncomfortably.

“If you give me enough time to scan through everyone’s particular skill sets, and allow me to question you all about your known events during the time periods we’ve decided on, I can create the teams with the greatest chance of success.” Vision says,” I’ll just need a day or two, but it’ll be our best bet.”

“That’s a good idea.” Steve says, pointing reassuringly towards Vision,” I want the best possible chances for this mission. Any objections?”

Everyone stays quiet.Steve nods to Vision. Vision begins scanning through his known records of everyone in the room, taking notes of strengths and weaknesses. While he sits, everyone stands to stretch and walk around. 

Vision interviews Rocket, Nebula, Nat, Steve, Clint and Tony about their respective knowledge regarding the specifics of the locations. Vision takes notes, and continues to calculate. It takes him a full day to come up with the best team structure. Vision calls for a team meeting. 

“I’ve run the numbers, and here’s the most efficient team structures I can come up with.” Vision states, pulling up the six stones categorized based on where the teams will be headed,” I think the best combination to send to Asgard would, of course, include Thor and Clint.”

“I get Thor, but why me?” Clint asks with a scoff.

“You’re a highly qualified spy, with dozens of missions under your belt. You know how to quickly get in and out of a location with ease. You’ll be essential to retrieving the stone from Miss Foster and leaving swiftly.” Vision says, materializing the pair’s picture under the Reality Stone. Clint shrugs in compliance. “Next, I believe the best pair to retrieve the Power stone on Morag will be Rocket and Rhodes.”

“What?” Rhodes asks in disbelief.

“Rocket is far more familiar with the tools and weapons Mister Quill has at that time. Rhodes, you’re suit is armed with enough suppressive force to make quick work of Quill, allowing for the quick acquisition of the stone.” Vision materializes their pictures under the Power stone,” For the Soul stone, I believe Natasha and Nebula would be ideal. Natasha is one of the best fast paced combatants, and Nebula has most of the information regarding the stone, along with a large arsenal of firepower within her being.”

Vision looks to Nebula. She nods slightly. The two had talked about it during her interview, about who she would most like to come with her to Vormir. She wanted Rocket at first, but realized that someone with experience with Quill should intercept him on Morag. She was between Nat and Vision for her second choice, but she decided that Nat would be the best choice. She’s empathetic, and would be able to understand her reasoning. Vision understood, he wanted Nebula to feel her most comfortable for her last mission, even if it meant he wouldn’t be there to say the last goodbye.

“Finally, for the New York bounty.” Vision pulls up the three stones,” Tony and Scott have the best means to obtain the tesseract from the Iron Man of the period. Steve, I believe you could easily fool whoever had control of the staff, based on your image around that period in time. Finally, I believe that I would be the best option to retrieve the Time stone. In the event the stone is located somewhere else in the world, I have the flight and speed to quickly access anywhere on the planet to retrieve it.” Vision looks around the room, landing on Doctor Banner,” Apologies, Doctor Banner, but I feel we’ll need you to man the controls of the tunneling device for forceful extraction in case of the worst possible scenario.” Bruce rubs his jaw in contemplation, sighing.

“It makes sense.” Hulk says lightly,” I’m alright with that. We need someone to monitor the machine's functionality.”

“Thanks for being so understanding, Bruce.” Steve says with a smile,” I like the teams. It looks like Vision put a lot of thought into this.”  

“I agree.” Nebula says calmly.

“The suits will be ready in a few days.” Tony says with a sigh,” I suggest everyone create a last living will and testament before we leave.” Tony smiles hollowly, he’s serious. Everyone excuses themselves for their respective tasks. Vision aids Tony in the completion of the suits, and the group is ready to set out within the week. 

The group triumphantly enters the hangar, each donned in their specialized suits. The group stands on top of the quantum tunneling device, registering their specified locations and time in their suits. Everyone looks hesitant to each other, giving wary smiles.

“Initiating the jump…” Bruce says. 

“Good luck.” Nat says with a smile to the group.

“Three, two, one…”

Vision smiles as the world he knows dissapears.

Chapter Text

The halls of Asgard glimmer with small specks of gold. Clint lets out a small whistle, spinning around to take in the scenery. Thor hesitantly looks around, fidgeting with his hands as he looks at his long lost home. His breathing becomes harder and labored, Clint notices.

“Hey, hey, are you alright?” Clint asks, guiding Thor to a wall to lean on,” We can take a moment if you need. We’ve technically got all the time in the world.” Clint's small joke falls on deaf ears. 

“I can’t do this.” Thor says in a shaken tone,” I can’t. It’s...It’s too sudden, I’m not ready.”

“Deep breaths.” Clint says, instructing Thor with his hand,” It’s okay to take a minute. Let’s calm down, and try to process this together.” Thor hyperventilates, trying his best to take deep breaths at Barton’s instruction. It takes a minute, until he’s breathing steadily,” Are we better? “

“Better.” thor says with a sigh,” Apologies. It’s just...this is hard to see. I thought I was over Asgard, but it…” Thor points to a small bench at the end of the hall,” Loki and I used to pretend to sword fight on that bench.” He motions to the balcony,” My father used to lecture me over there, while staring at the Nine Realms in the dead of night. And over there…” Thor begins to point at the adjacent hallway, pausing as a small grouping of women walk by. Frigga walks at the front of the pack, confidently giving order. Thor stops breathing for only a moment, his very soul trembling at the sigh of his long lost mother.

“I’m guessing you know her?” Clint asks softly.

“My mother.” Thor says weakly,” She...she dies today.” Clint’s eyes widen in shock at the sudden revelation, Thor trembles as she turns the corner and walks off. “I…” Clint holds Thor’s head, staring Thor in the eyes. Thor's expression is distant and scared. Clint gives a large sigh, gently patting Thor’s cheek.

“Talk to her.” Clint says gently. Thor’s vision seems to clear, he stares at Clint in confusion. Clint gives Thor a small sympathetic smile, pulling Thor into a small reassuring hug. “I can find a way to quickly get that stone. Just got to give her a little poke, right? It’ll be a breeze.”

“What?”

“If I had a chance to give a final goodbye to the ones I lost, I would take the chance in a heartbeat.” Clint says, rising slowly and prepping his bow,” You’ve been presented with the unique opportunity to say everything you’ve wanted to say. It’s alright.” He flashes a smile at Thor,” Then tell me how it goes when we get back.”

Clint sprints down the corridor and out of sight, leaving Thor sitting. Thor watches Clint in stunned silence. He looks around in confusion, using the wall to help himself stand. Still discombobulated, his body seems to process the directions faster than his head. He begins walking after Frigga, turning into a light jog until he begins sprinting down the familiar halls. He finds himself in Frigga’s chambers by the time he’s processed everything. 

She walks around elegantly. Looking worried towards her large balcony, continuing to pace around her room. Thor peers at her from behind a pillar, just happy to witness her. He pulls back, trying to hype himself up to reach out to her. He peeks out to observe her once more, yet she’s nowhere to be seen. He looks around confused.

“What’re you doing?” Frigga whispers to him. Thor jumps and shrieks. Frigga looks shocked, before snickering slightly,” You need to leave the sneaking to your brother.” She stares at the disheveled Thor, looking at the drastic appearance change from the short time since she saw him. “What are you wearing?”

“Ah, this is one of my favorites. I wear it quite often.” Thor says with a smile, putting his hands in the pockets, fluttering them around playfully. Frigga walks up to Thor, placing a hand lovingly on his face. 

“You’re not the Thor I know at all, are you?” Frigga smiles gently.

Clint carefully walks around, the halls, keeping out of the line of sight of the guards. He watches as a handmaid leaves a meal at Jane’s door. He nods to himself, waiting for a stand alone guard to cross him. He knocks out the guard, quickly changing into his clothes. A tight fit, but he walks quickly to the door. He knocks twice, Jane answering quickly.

“Um, yes, how can I help you?” Jane asks cautiously.

“I’ve been informed of a possible breach of security. I need to be let in.” Clint says, trying to deepen his voice and look intimidating.

“On whose order?” She asks. Clint wracks his brain, trying to even remember what Thor’s father or mother’s name is. He bites his tongue for a moment.

“The King of Asgard.” ‘ Oh christ, is that a good enough answer?’ Clint frantically thinks to himself, doing his best to not show it on his face. Jane looks him up and down, slowly opening the door.

“Come in.” She says weakly. Clint looks at her, seeing the pulsing red veins on her neck, her pale complexion and  hollow eyes. He can’t help but pity her. 

Once he enters the room, he closes the door, looking around the room for anyone else. Luckily, there’s no one. He looks at the defenseless woman,” Sorry about this.” He whispers, before lunging forwards, planting the specialized syringe on the pulsing red vein. He’s thrown back by a wave of red energy. 

He’s stunned, but he looks towards Jane, watching the stuck syringe fill up with the glowing red substance. She floats slightly, before she begins to collapse. Clint sprints over, catching her and placing her gently on a couch nearby. He pulls the syringe out, sprinting towards the door. He silently exits and begins to sprint through the halls.

“...and then I struck him, cleanly taking off his head.” Thor says, making a small swiping motion with his hand. He strikes his knee gently, shaking his head and chuckling softly,”  What was the point? I was too late. I just stood there, some idiot with an axe.”

“Now, you’re no idiot.” Frigga says, carefully approaching Thor,” You’re here aren't you? Seeking council from the wisest person in Asgard.” Thor takes a sip from the cup Frigga had handed him, Frigga smiles fondly,” Idiot? No. Failure? Absolutely.”

“That’s a bit harsh.” Thor says with a confused glance towards her.

“Do you know what that makes you?” She ignores his commentary, choosing to sit next to him on the small bench,” Just like everyone else.”

“I’m not supposed to be like everyone else.” Thor softly grumbles, his eyes fixed on the floor as he fiddles with the cup in his hands. Frigga sighs, shaking her head slightly.

“Everyone fails at what they’re supposed to be, Thor.” She begins gently moving his hair behind his ear, grooming him near unconsciously,” The measure of a hero is how well they succeed in being who they are.” The two share a moment, Thor taking in the familiar and wise words of his mother, smiling gently. Frigga happily watches her son show his vulnerability he used to guard so heavily. Thor looks to his mother, tears in his eyes.

“I really missed you, mother.” He says calmly. The two smile, gently tapping their foreheads together, gently comforting each other.

Clint sprints through the halls, trying to find a corner to shed his disguise. Once he finds a dark area, he strips out. He hears yelling coming from Jane’s room. He silently curses at himself, building up confidence to sprint faster than he’s ever sprinted before. He takes in a breath, not giving a damn about anyone potentially in the halls, sprinting as fast as he can towards the hall he had seen Thor’s mother go down. It isn’t long before he hears the loud clanking of armor distantly behind him.

“Mother, I have to tell you something.” Thor says, standing at his mother’s favorite window. He wants to give her some foresight to avoid her death, to help her in any ways to stay alive for a little longer.

“No, son, you don’t.” She says with a playful smile,” You’re here to fix your future, not mine.” Thor tries to object, but she shakes her head firmly,” It’s none of my business.”

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching catches the attention of the pair. Clint comes to a sliding stop on the marble floor, chest heaving with pants. He wipes his mouth, trying to quiet himself down a little.

“I got...I got the stone.” Clint pants out. He looks to Frigga, giving a small wave,” Thor’s mom.” He looks to Thor, waving the vial of red in his fingers,” We gotta go.” Thor looks to his mother, a sad smile on his face.

“I wish we had more time.” He says weakly.

“This had been a gift.” Frigga says with a reassuring smile, taking Thor's hands loving. Thor smiles gently.

“I love you, mom.” He says with a soft smile.

“I love you.” She sincerely states back. The two share a hug, interrupted by a pounding on Frigga’s door. “Now go. Oh, Thor…” Thor looks towards her,” Eat a salad dear.”

“Ok, are we ready?” Clint says, punching in coordinates into his suit.

“Wait...wait, one second.” Thor extends his hand in silence. Clint looks to Frigga after a few moments. She shakes her head with a fond smile, mouthing,’ sometimes it takes a second’. After thirty seconds, Mjolnir finds its way into Thor’s hand. He gasps in shock, a smile gleaming on his face, eyes full of tears. “I’m still worthy.” He says with a disbelieving chuckle. He smiles to Clint who smiles, happy for his friend. Thor looks one last time to Frigga,” Goodbye, mother.”

“Goodbye.” She says quietly, a small tear in her eye.

“Three, two, one…” Clint counts down. The suits engulf the two, and they shrink out of existence.   

“I don’t want unnecessary damage to my ship, alright?” Rocket says with a smile, pointing at Nebula.

“Oh, I’ll make sure to only damage it necessarily.” She shoots back, the corners of her mouth perking up slightly. Rocket laughs happily, jumping up and giving one last hug to Nebula.

“Be safe, alright?” Rocket says in a quiet and sincere tone,” I’ll see you soon, Nebs.” Nebula places the racoon down, a sad look in her eyes.

“I’ll see you on the other side, Rabbit.” Nebula says, a gentle tone Rocket wasn’t used to hearing. He can’t help but feel a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Now be careful out there, we have no idea what might be lurking in the stars.” Rhodes says, a stern look on his face.

“It’s alright, I’ve got a professional space traveler with me.” Natasha says, gently jabbing Nebula in the side,” We’ll see you in a few.” Rhodes smiles softly, giving one last hug to Natasha. 

Rocket and Rhodes step off the steps of the ship. Natasha walks away to the front, leaving Nebula to raise the hatch. Rocket looks towards her, becoming shocked and slightly horrified at the sight. Nebula looks at him, a soft and fond smile on her face. She gives one last wave, the rocket taking off moments after the hatch is secured. Just like that, they’re gone.

“Hey, uh, Rodney.” Rocket says, gently tapping Rhodes' suit, clenching his other hand on his stomach.

“Rhodes.” He replies, looking towards Rocket.

“You ever feel like you eat a rock?” Rocket asks, holding his stomach tighter,” Like, you feel something really bads about to happen, but you don’t know what?” Rhodes looks down in concern at Rocket, unsure of what to say.

“Uh, yeah, I think it might just be the pessimist in me.” Rhodes says, kneeling down to look Rocket in the eyes,” Every Time I’ve gotten that feeling, it’s turned out to be nothing. It’s just a common case of anxiety.” He gently pats Rocket’s shoulder,” We’re doing some intense stuff here, it’s understandable you feel that way. So, take a breath and calm down.”

“Yeah, yeah. It’s probably just anxiety.” Rocket says with a laugh, shaking his head a little,” We should...get going. We need to make sure we hide where Quill won’t see us. We’ll only strike once he’s in the chamber.”

“Got it.” Rhodes smiles at the raccoon's quick mood change. 

Rocket scurries forwards, Rhodes activates his boot blaster. He flies forwards, scooping up Rocket. Rocket grumbles slightly, before beginning to guide Rhodes towards their destination. Rocket has them land behind a small cluster of rocks in the nick of time. Quill’s ship lands on the planet.

The pair observe Quill as he leaves his ship, certain of where he has to go. They quietly stalk him through the abandoned city, watching him use his various tools. As he walks, he suddenly gains a rhythm, leading him to dancing as he walks. Rhodes looks on at confusion as he punts the weird pink rat creatures, eventually picking one up to use a microphone for his off key singing. Rhodes looks down to Rocket, who covers his face with his paws to stop from busting out laughing.

“So he’s an idiot?” Rhodes asks.

“Yeah.” Rocket says with a small snicker,” Didn’t realize it was this bad though.”

They continue to watch him dance his way over trenches and through puddles, until he reaches a large structure embedded into a large boulder. Quill stops, checking some sort of device in his hand, before rustling around in his bag and pulling out a strange tool. Rhodes points and mimes confusion.

“Universal lockpick.” Rocket says quickly,” Now shush.” Once the door is open, Rocket leaps forwards,” Now, hit him now!”

Rhodes stands, aiming his arm cannon. He chooses the taser shot, shooting at the nape of Quill’s neck. The projectile hits, sending Quill convulsing to the ground, Rocket sneaking up from behind and taking Quill’s pack off his shoulder. Rocket quickly searches the pack, pulling out a variety of  different tools, small trinkets and a pair of women's underwear. Rocket exclaims happily, pulling out a small pyramid like device. 

“What’s that?” Rhodes asks, walking past Quill.

“Do they not have any tech on your planet?” Rocket asks,” this is a gravitational grenade. It creates a field of concentrated gravity until something, or things, get caught up and put pressure on the center. It can then be easily deactivated and reused. Cost quite a pretty penny.”

Rhodes looks at the small pyramid in wonder. He lets Rockets tech comment roll off him, paying attention to the glowing electrical field in the room in front of them. A small metal orb floats mysteriously, surrounded by two layers of electrical bars. It’s oddly mystifying. 

“Let’s go, Robo-legs.” Rocket says, walking in.

“It’s every name except my own, isn’t it?” Rhodes whispers, following Rocket. Rocket sets the grenade by the pedestal.

“So it should only have a range of about five feet, so keep clear for a sec.” Rocket says, tapping the side of the pyramid. It opens, a large visible pulse exploding out. 

Rhodes looks to the orb in the cage, struggling against the electricity. It breaks out of the inner cage, before forcefully falling onto the contraption. Rhodes looks impressed by the little machine. Rocket taps the center of the grenade, releasing the orb and closing itself up.

“So that little ball is capable of destroying planets?” Rhodes asks, looking over Rocket’s shoulder to look at it.

“Oh, it does so much more than that…'' Rocket's about to start a whole speech on the destructive capability of the stone, when the sound of cloths rustling alerts the pair. They turn to see Quill begging to rouse,” I’ll skip the lesson for now.”

“Agreed.” The time hopping suit wraps around the pair,” Going subatomic in three…” Quill begins to rise.

“Now!” Rocket hits the button, Rhodes following quickly after, leaving a discombobulated Quill to rise to an empty room, his stuff scattered everywhere.

Captain adjourns the small meeting of the four, leaving Vision to begin flying to the address Thor had provided for the Doctor. Vision gently lands on the roof of the New York sanctuary, scanning quickly for any signs of life inside. He notices the woman in the yellow robe. She turns, staring at him curiously. Vision runs her face through his database, no matches can be found. She smiles softly.

“Well, aren’t you the curious creature.” She says with a laugh.

“I would guess that you’re not the Doctor, Steven Strange.” Vision says with a smile, and a sigh,” Yet I do read an abnormal energy reading, coming from the necklace around your neck. Would you happen to be the current wielder of the Time stone?” She gives a soft chuckle, conjuring a glowing orange circle in her hand, throwing it at a passing Chitauri, decapitating it.

“Dr. Steven Strange is currently at the hospital on the other side of New York.” She says with a sigh,” You possess knowledge of the Time stone. My curiosity has peaked further.”

“As it would in a peculiar situation such as this.” Vision slowly begins approaching the woman, extending a hand,” I’m The Vision, of course you’ll find that out in three years.”

“I’m called the Ancient One.” She says, shaking his hand,” I assume there’s a purpose behind your visit from the future.”

“Quite keen on the uptake.” Vision points to the necklace,” I have come to retrieve that, to set things right in my timeline.”

“Unfortunately I cannot let you take it.”

“Madam, it is a matter of utmost importance that I retrieve the Time stone. Trillions have died, and the stone is the only way to bring them back.”

“Death is a natural state for the living.” She gives a calculating look to Vision,” I cannot offer you the only thing keeping this world safe, just so you can try to destroy the natural order of your time.”

“What if the deaths weren’t natural? What if restoring the people was the only way in which we could restore the natural order of the universe?” Vision tries to plead with her, she turns away, watching the sky in response,” Trillion were taken before their time, by the whims of someone who believed the very fabric of reality should bend to their force. They collected the six infinity stones, making their twisted wish a reality.”

“No mortal should be able to wield the might of all infinity stones.” She shoots down another Chitauri. Vision stares, slightly amazed by her accuracy, before returning his mind to the original conversation.

“He was no mere mortal.” Vision clenches his fist, angry at just remembering the mad titan,” With a single snap, the natural laws were destroyed. Surely you can sympathize.”

“Seeing as how you’re here, something has happened to the Time stone in your timeline, has it not?” She asks, turning quickly around to stare at Vision, a chilling serious gleam in her eyes,” Something as indestructible and powerful as an infinity stone should remain even after an outrageous show of power. Where is the Time stone?” Vision grits his teeth, trying to keep eye contact.

“He destroyed them.” Vision grunts out,” After cutting the universe in half, he wished for the stones to disappear. He destroyed our version of the stones, by using the stones themselves.”

The Ancient One looks shocked, carefully walking over to a chair. She sits, pulling out a fan, beginning to fan herself quickly. She looks to be thinking. Vision kneels near her, measuring an intense distress in her head. She looks sternly to Vision. She stands quickly, startling him.

“If there’s a potential being in your universe that can break the infinity stones, then the case against giving it to you has grown exponentially.” She begins to walk towards the door,” I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”

Vision reaches out, catching her arm as she passes,” I cannot allow that.” She glares at him for a moment, pulling her arm back, sending Vision towards her. She strikes his chest squarely. A weird sensation pulses through Vision.

His eyes become hazy for a moment. It feels as though he’s being pulled apart, yet contracting on himself at the same time. He sees the deep maroon of his body turn a sickening shade of grey as it begins to fall. He feels panic, the sensation of pain is new and not welcoming. He reaches towards his still falling corpse, making contact, and suddenly seeing through his own eyes once more. He looks up to the Ancient One, who looks shocked to him.

“Truly, you’re one of the most curious creatures I’ve come to encounter.” She says with shock,” Not human, yet not machine. A combination working in harmony to create a sole existence in the universe. How fascinating.”

“What did you do?” Vision asks, rising to his feet. She raises her hand to strike him once more. Vision looks at it, phasing the moment she’s about to make contact, letting her pass through, before solidifying and trapping her. She lets out a pained grunt. “I feel as though we didn’t get on the same page.”

“Let go of me.” She scowls out, a strange mark appearing between her nonexistent eyebrows. Vision looks at her.

“Give me the stone.” Vision’s tone has shifted to a not-so-pleasant anger. The world suddenly cracks around him. The world almost seems to shatter into a series of refractive patterns, confusing the synth. He feels alerted for a moment, phasing her hand away from him right before a circle of energy slams where he once stood. He hovers slightly above the ground, looking to the Ancient One, the mark now glowing a dim red as she stands around the shifting scenery. “I do not wish to fight you.”

“Your actions say otherwise.” she says, materializing a fan of orange energy in her hand.

She throws the projectile. Vision aptly dodged out of the way, looking at her with sympathetic eyes. She runs towards him, using orange circles to jump up and downward strike. He swiftly turns to the right. She glares, signing different motions, shifting the gravity to the left. Vision stays still floating, his eyes keenly kept on her. He sends more projectiles, which Vision let’s phase through him or he dodges.

“I am only trying to bring everyone back.” Vision Tries to plead as objects fly at him at alarming speeds.

“And damning my reality in return.” She spits back angrily.

“It is my belief Doctor Strange had some sort of plan, giving the stone to Thanos and telling Mr. Stark it’s the only way we’d win.” The scenery stops moving. Vision watches her, her mind racing as she processes the information.

“Strange gave Thanos the stone?” She asks, still in a battle ready pose.

“Stark says that Strange gave up the stone to spare Tony’s life.” Vision says, gradually moving closer to her,” The future Strange must have hoped on, required the sacrifice of the stone and his life. I’m trying to follow through on that unfinished will.”

She watches Vision, dissipating her energy circles, and dispelling the mirror dimension. She looks at the earnest look in his eyes. She realizes that during her whole attack, he never once tried to parry, attack or even counter strike. He’s genuine, that much she can realize. She holds up her hands, slowly separating them and opening the Eye of Agamotto.

“Strange is meant to be the best of us.” She says, plucking the green stone out of it’s home, holding it towards Vision,” There’s meaning to every action he takes.”

“Thank you.” Vision says with a smile.

“I have one request.” She says hesitantly, Vision looks at her with a nod,” Please return the stone once you’ve finished using it. Without its power, I’m afraid this world won’t last to see Thanos. It’s our last line of defense against intergalactic and supernatural threats. I’m only lending it to you.” Vision makes a note.

“You have my word.” He says, gratefully smiling towards her,” I’ll make sure someone is here to return the stone as soon as I’ve left.” She smiles gratefully towards him.

Vision’s suit encases him, he gently phases the stone into his body. The energy surge is intense, but not enough to shut him down. He takes in a deep breath, looking towards the old Stark Tower with a smile. He presses the button on his suit, disappearing back to the future.

The ride to Vormir is quiet. Nebula focuses on flying. Nat bounces her leg, plays with the little switches next to her chair and sighs. She looks towards Nebula, a cold seriousness on her face. 

“Penny for your thoughts” Nat asks jokingly. Nebula glances towards her, before staring forwards. “I, do you know what a penny is? What’s the currency in space? Was that not a great analogy?”

“Natasha.” Nebula says in a cold tone. Nat jumps slightly. Nebula flips a few switches, putting the aircraft in autopilot. She stands and walks to the middle of the ship. Nat watches her, curious about her actions. Nebula sighs, looking at the map on the table.

“Will you tell me what's wrong?” Natasha says, getting up from her seat,” We’re teammates. We should be able to share our troubles without judgement.” Nebula looks to Natasha, gently touching the golden accent above her left eyes.

“Do you believe in fate?” Nebula asks, turning her focus to Natasha. Nat shakes her head slightly,” There’s a small part of me that believes in fate, in karma mostly. Father used to prattle on about his ‘grand destiny’ to destroy the universe, so I guess I couldn’t help but adapt that idea to my own whims.”

“Are you worried about your fate?” Nat asks, leaning on the metal doorway, observing Nebula’s actions.

“It’s not that I’m worried, I’ve long since passed that stage.” Nebula sighs, sitting down on a small stool,” It’s more like a...a fear of my fate. I’ve tried my best to rationalize it, to accept it, but it’s still a scary topic.”

“What might this ‘fate’ be, that's got you so scared?” 

“There’s...a bit I haven’t told you about Vormir.” Nebula sighs, staring forwards as if to lose her focus on the present,” I’m going to have to face a cruel fate there. It’s going to be scary, but in the grand scheme, there’s nothing more poetic.”

“Nebula, you’re scaring me.” Nat walks over, placing a cautious hand on her shoulder,” What’s going to happen on Vormir.” Nebula grasps Nat’s hand, gently holding it and looking into Natasha’s eyes.

“My father got the soul stone by murdering my sister. A soul for a soul.” Nebula can see the fear in Nat’s eyes growing,” I figured this out a while ago, and asked Vision to make sure I was placed on this team...with you. I think, if anyone would see what my logic is, it would be you.”

“Nebula, we don’t trade lives.” Nat says in a disbelieving voice.

“We have to in this situation.” Nebula’s mouth slightly curls into a smile,” Natasha, you have many people waiting for you to come home. You’re loved, you’re respected, and most importantly, you’re needed.”

“You’re loved too.” Nat says, tears forming in her eyes.

“I am a daughter of Thanos. I will never be able to shake that title.” She looks to the ground, taking in a deep breath,” Rocket and I haven’t been completely honest with all of our reports back to you. I’m unwelcome in most places in the galaxy. Many try to attack me on sight, purely because of my father.”

“You can stay on earth.” Nat tries to bargain with her.

“We both know I can’t.” Nebula lets out a dry chuckle,” Natasha, the only family I truly felt a connection with, was sacrificed five years ago. Rocket is lovely, I see him as my closest friend, but he still has a family with the guardians. I have to get them back for him.” Nebula looks to Nat.

“You’re his family too. He won’t like that you’re trying to sacrifice yourself for his sake.”

“I am by no means as noble as that.” Nebula carefully wipes a tear from Nat’s cheek,” Some of my motivation comes from bringing back those we’ve lost. However, that’s not my main motivation for trying to bite the bullet.” Nat looks at her confused,” What better revenge against Thanos is there, then to simultaneously end his bloodline and cancel his greatest accomplishment? I’ll close the loop, end the legacy of the Mad Titan.”

Natasha looks at the determined look in Nebula’s eyes. Nebula’s shoulders still tremble in fright, fear of death that every mortal possesses. She bites the inside of her cheek, trying to keep herself from crying anymore. She smiles towards Nebula.

“I won’t be able to talk you out of this, will I?” Natasha says with a sad chuckle. Nebula shakes her head slightly, Nat grabs her hand,” You don’t have to. I’m more than willing to do this. You’re a Guardian of the Galaxy, a hero.”

“Only by making this sacrifice can I truly be the hero.” Nebula says in an oddly gentle tone,” Vision and I have already gone through the necessary procedures. I created a will for the team, I lived my life to the best of my ability these past few days, I even got to say goodbye to my most precious friend.” Nebula gently taps her forehead on Natasha’s,” Please. Accept my will and let me do what I think is right.” Nat takes a shaking breath in and out, nodding slightly. Nebula sighs.

Soon the ship shutters. Nebula and Nat look out the front of the ship. The large red planet sits in front of them. They silently return to their seats. Nebula brings the ship down, as close to the mountains of Vormir as she can muster. They deboard, Nebula shrinks the ship and hands it to Nat. Nat takes Nebula’s hand, and they walk to the mountain.

“Welcome, Natasha, daughter of Ivan.” Red skull says as he materializes to meet them,” Nebula, daughter of Thanos.”

“We’re here for the stone.” Nebula says coldly.

“I know what you seek.” He responds in a hushed tone,” Follow me.”

He silently guides them to the cliff at the edge of the mountain. Nebula looks over the edge taking a shaking breath in. She looks at Natasha, nodding softly. Nat crosses her arms, biting her cheek to not cry at the sacrifice. Nebula takes out a small knife, popping off her golden accent, before opening her suit and taking out the remaining Pym particle. She walks over and presents them to Nat. Nat hesitantly grabs them from her.

“Remember me fondly.” Nebula says with a smile. 

She turns, sprinting towards the cliff. A pain halts her right before the cliff. Her circuits in her head spark and hum violently, sending pain through her entire being, causing her to collapse at the cliff’s edge. A hologram projects out of her eye left eye, playing a memory from 2018. 

“Nebula!” Natasha yells, rushing over to help Nebula up. After thirty seconds the hologram ends. Nebula pants and looks up to Natasha, grabbing her collar.

“Thanos knows.” She panicked,” As soon as you get the stone, return home. Mourn me from the comfort of the Avengers Compound.” She looks up to a confused Nat,” Promise me!”

“I...I promise.” Nat says. Nebula smiles, pushing herself away from Nat and over the edge.

She still feels the connection to her past self. She focuses and she can see Thanos. A small smile crosses her face. “You lose, father.” She smiles and closes her eyes as she hits the ground. 

The pain lasts for only a moment before a warm feeling envelopes her. She opens her eyes, surrounded by an orange world. A large red gate stands before her. Inside, a familiar green personage stands, picking at her nails and humming. It takes a moment before she notices Nebula. She’s shocked for a moment, before a fond smile crosses her face.

“I was hoping I wouldn’t see you for a while.” Gamora says in a playful tone, leaning her head on the red pillar.

“Sorry to disappoint you.” Nebula sighs, approaching her slowly,” Is this the afterlife?”

“The closest we’ll ever get to it.” Gamora laughs, taking Nebula’s hand gently,” Let’s catch up while we wait for the others.” Nebula smiles, small tears in her eyes.

“Yeah. Let’s do that.” She says with a small laugh.

Nat looks over the edge of the cliff. Nebula splayed across the ground, a pool of purple blood flowing from her spit head. If she looks really hard, she can swear she sees a smile on Nebula’s face. 

Lightning and thunder fill the air as large clouds encircle the mountain. With one large final lightning strike, Natasha opens her eyes, floating in a small pool of water. In her left hand, Nebula’s golden accent and Pym particles, in her right, a glowing orange stone. Natasha rises slowly, clenching both hands, tears falling down her cheeks. She takes in a deep breath, hearing a loud bang above her. She sees a large ship hop out of a hexagonal hole in the sky. 

Nat takes in a shaking breath, her suit covering her quickly. She takes one last look to Vormir mountain, before hitting the button on her suit.

“Thank you, Nebs.”

Everyone arrives back at the same time, slightly disoriented. With a quick look around the room, it seems as though everyone has succeeded at their task. Natasha falls to the ground, her chest heaving with dry sobs as she clutches Nebula’s accent. Everyone looks at her, confused. Vision knows what’s happened, clenching his jaw and slowly floating to Nat. Rocket’s the second to realize something’s wrong.

“Wh...where’s Nebs?” Rocket asks, carefully walking towards Natasha,” Blondie, where’s Nebs?”

Vision stops Rocket before he can get too close to Natasha. Tears fall down Rocket’s cheeks as he pieces the puzzle together. Everyone realizes the price of the infinity stone, trying to get Natasha to her feet and comfort Rocket. Natasha weakly stands, leaning on Clint’s shoulder as he guides her to the sitting room. Rocket breaks down.

He turns to Vision, burying his face in Vision’s chest. He lets out heavy sobs, grasping at Vision’s suit. Vision hugs his trembling friend, trying his best to remain calm and collected. Others try to approach, Vision silently tells them to leave. Rocket cries for thirty minutes, eventually passing out from exhaustion. Vision carefully pets his head, as he carries him to the dorms and lays him down on a soft bed. He doesn’t want to leave his friend’s side, but he knows the next major discussion the group has is one he can’t miss out on. He carefully closes the door, phasing downstairs and into the sitting room.

“She gave her life for us, we can’t waste this chance.” Steve says as he tries to comfort Natasha,” That’s the least we can do.”

“I know that!” Nat snaps back,” I just...I want time to process this. Can we just stop for a day? Can’t we hold a funeral, at least?”

“The faster we get everyone back, the faster we can get rid of the stones.” Bruce says in a sympathetic tone,” We’ll give her a lavish funeral once the rest of the Guardians come back. We’ll memorialize her, but first we have to get everything back.”

“Nebula chose to sacrifice herself so everyone could be together again.” Vision says, shocking the group at his sudden appearance,” I believe the faster we accomplish her goal, the easier it will be to accept her sacrifice.”

“You knew.” Natasha says quietly, before glaring up towards Vision.

“And don’t think I’m not grieving like you.” Vision says back harshly,” Do you think I wanted to help my friend prepare for her death? Do you think I didn’t try to calculate every which way to try and avoid the necessary sacrifice?” Vision pauses, covering his mouth slightly. He looks around the room, to the stunned faces of the team. He takes in a breath,” Apologies. I lost my temper for a moment.”

“No...no, I’m sorry.” Nat says with a sigh,” I, uh, it’s been a long day.”

“It’s technically only been like thirty seconds.” Bruce says. Clint and Steve shoot him cold glares, and he puts his hands up in quick surrender.

“I say we need to get working on making our own gauntlet.” Tony says quickly,” Nat, you can take your time recuperating. Maybe go hang out with Rocket. Vision, Bruce, with me.”

“The rest of us?” Rhodes asks with his arms crossed.

“I would kill for some post mission burgers.” Tony says with a smile,” Extra cheese, no tomato, with a side of curly fries if they got 'em.” Rhodes chuckles lightly, nodding to Scott to follow.

Everyone breaks into their own groups. Vision, Bruce and Tony get to work on creating a nanite gauntlet, Vision runs calculations towards how much pure raw energy the gauntlet will release when it’s snapped. Nat sits by Rocket’s bedside, comforting when he wakes up, giving him Nebula’s accents. Scott, Rhodes and Clint go to get a feast for the successful mission, joking and ribbing each other for the different aspects of their missions, trying to see how worked the hardest. Thor casually waits in the sitting room, admiring Mjolnir for the first time in five years, admiring the details. Steve drifts from the sitting room, to the lab, to the room Rocket’s in, just watching and waiting for the gauntlet to complete. After several hours of tinkering and work, the gauntlet lays complete in front of the group. Now comes the hard part.

“Who’s going to snap it?” Rhodes asks to the air.

“I should do it.” Thor says,” It’s my chance to show I’m worthy.”

“Hold up, big guy.” Tony says, stopping Thor,” We’ve seen how damaging this process is. I think we should really weigh out the options.”

“I should do it.” Bruce says, approaching the gauntlet,” The radiation’s mostly gamma. It’s like I was made for this.” Vision taps Bruce’s chest, stopping.

“I’ve used empirical data I retained from when I had the Mind stone in, as well as the energy output from the Time stone when I had to contain it. I could only get a rough estimate for the others.” Vision looks up to Bruce with a sad smile,” the energy surge would kill even you.”

“What do you suggest then?” Steve asks.

“Running through the simulations I generated, I believe I could hold the gauntlet at it’s full power for ten seconds before irreparable damage occurs.” Vision says, floating gently to the gauntlet, taking in a breath,” I should be able to sustain the surge of energy with the actual snap. However, there’s a significant chance that once I snap, I might break past the point of repairs.”

“Then you shouldn’t snap.” Clint says.

“It’s exactly why I should.” Vision looks to Clint with a small smile,” Unlike you all, I believe I’m the only one who might be able to be brought back from the dead through non-mystical means.” Vision trembles slightly,” It might take a long time, but if I share my blueprint with Friday, then the potential for my successful reboot will go up significantly.”

“And what would we tell Wanda?” Nat asks coldly,” She’ll want to see you as soon as she’s back.”

“That I’ll be back.” Vision says with a steadfast tone,” Tony, do you believe you could bring me back?” Tony blinks, amazed by Vision’s determination.

“I think...I think so?”

“Then I would also have the people here make a promise to me.” Vision reaches towards the gauntlet,” I only want to be brought back as I am. Please, don’t make...many of me. I don’t want to become a weapon others use for violence.” He glances around, everyone’s eyes focus on Tony. Tony puts his hands into the air.

“I’ll only use the blueprints in the worse case scenario. If you can be fixed without them, I’ll delete them.” Tony says. Vision smiles gently.

“I would advise you all to leave the room.” Vision says, holding the gauntlet close to his hand.

“No.” Steve says,” I’m going to stay here until the mission is finished.” A small tear can be seen in his eye. The rest of the team state their agreement with Steve’s sentiment.

“Clint.” Vision says with a trembling tone. Clint nods,” Tell her I love her.”

Vision dawns the gauntlet.

Ten

The power coursing through him causes his circuits to crackle with electricity. He seizes for a moment from the lack of control. Everyone flinches, unsure of what to do to help.

Nine

Vision reverts to manual controls, forcing himself to override emergency protocols. He lets out a yell, shrinking to the floor. Clint get’s up from his chair to help, but Nat raises her arm to stop him.

Eight

Vision forced the gauntlet into his blurring and corrupted sight. He looks at the brilliance of the stones. The Reality stone catches his eye, shimmering red brilliantly. He feels a confidence began to well within him.

Seven

He begins to think about his wish. Bringing everyone back from five years ago, nothing else. He forces himself to clear his mind of anything except for that though. Electricity crackles audibly from his circuits frying steadily throughout him. The tension rises in the room.

Six

Vision closes his eyes, picturing the wish, making sure he’s gotten every detail correct. He puts his finger together ready to snap. Everyone braces themselves, Tony stands ready with a shield, as does Steve. 

Five

He snaps. The energy pulses uncontrollably from the gauntlet. Everything heats up from within him. Vision screams. Is this pain? He’d never felt such a sensation. Everyone recoils from the shockwave of the snap.

Four

His sight becomes more corrupted, to the point he can no longer make out any of the figures in the room. His body still crackles with electricity, but he loses all independent function of his body. His arm falls to his side, as he begins falling forwards.

Three

Steve and Thor rush to catch him. Tony runs to the gauntlet, trying to pry it off Vision’s arm. It’s almost begun to weld itself to the vibranium in his arm. Tony turns his suit into a sword, it’s better he loses an arm than the entirety of his body. Vision begins to have a single thought.

Two

Clint’s phone begins to ring, Tony’s sword makes contact with Vision’s arm, but he can’t slice through it completely. Bruce rushes over, trying to help Tony push the sword through. Steve struggles to hold the heavy synth from crashing through the floor. Vision’s sight is fully gone, replaced with a black screen. A single red dot lies in the center of the black screen.

One

With the combined might of the Hulk and Iron Man, Vision’s arm is severed from his body. Vision’s body falls to the ground, Clint picks up his phone in disbelief. The red dot in Vision’s sight grows, faster and faster, until it’s taken up his entire being. A familiar face fades into his sight.

Zero

Vision shuts down from the shock. The last thing he sees, Wanda’s face happily smiling in his mind. Vision’s body lies on the ground, limp, a loving smile on his greying body, and a single tear falling from his eye. 

Chapter Text

‘ What if I missed all the trains? Stay. Stay with me.’

‘We both made promises…’

‘Not to each other.’

Wanda slowly pieces together, hearing the voice of Vision ring through her mind. Once she’s fully formed, her eyes open, she takes a deep breath. Coughing slightly at the piece of grass she just inhaled. She looks around, confused by the scenery. A forest, it looks like, green grass. Ah, it’s where she destroyed the Mind stone, that’s coming back to her. Vision was holding her, when Thanos…

“Vision?” She says, blinking a few times, scanning around the area quickly. Her heart begins to speed up,” Vision!”

“Wanda!” T’Challa calls. He runs through the bushes, carefully putting up his hands once he sees her glowing eyes,” Wanda, thank goodness. Do you know what’s happening?”

“I thought I heard something.” Bucky jogs up to the pair,” Where’s my gun? Where’s Steve? He was right here.”

“Hello?” Sam's voice calls from a little deeper into the woods.

“Over here!” T’Challa responds. Sam quickly bursts out of the woods, sputtering at the leaves that fell in his mouth. He looks around confused to the others. 

“What is happening?” Wanda asks, her voice shaking,” Where’s Thanos? Where’s Vision...do you think?”

“I am groot.” Groot breaks into the group, carefully looking at the four,” I am groot.”

“I don’t know what to think, right now.” Bucky sighs,” We were just fighting and now everyone’s disappeared.”

“I think we should head to the city.” T’Challa says,” We might find more information there. I’ll call Okoye while we run, and see if she’s seen anything.”

“Keep your guard up, purple bastard could be anywhere.” Sam warns, taking to the air. Bucky and T’Challa begin to sprint towards the city. Wanda looks to Groot. She surrounds him with red pulsing energy, before taking to the air herself, launching herself to the city.

On the way, she scans the ground, looking over the battlefield, now completely barren of the alien corpses and fighting she had just witnessed. Something’s terribly wrong. She pushes herself to fly faster, harder, anything to try and receive some semblance of an answer. She watches T’Challa and Bucky sprinting through the city, a chaos occurring throughout every street and alley for some reason. She lands with a thud with Sam and Groot at the entrance of the palace. Bucky and T’Challa quickly joins them.

Wanda covers her hands in pulsing energy, Sam holds out his pistols, Bucky stands in a fighting ready position. T’Challa walks slowly towards the palace, scanning the area for and potential threats. His helmet pulls up a large ruckus going on in the throne room. The hair on his arms stand up stiff. He turns to the others, motioning them forwards. They sprint inside, and make their way to the throne room. Wanda breaks the door open, Sam rolls in, taking aim, Bucky, T’Challa and Groot sprint in, yelling at the top of their lungs.

The village elders, Queen Ramonda and Okoye stand, staring at the group. The silence permeates the room. T’Challa takes off his mask. Ramonda looks at him in shock, tears forming in her eyes. Okoye puts her hand to her mouth, stifling a gasp.

“Mama.” T’Challa says quickly,” Why are you attempting to have a meeting, right now? Thanos could be anywhere.” Ramonda stands, quickly walking over to T’Challa,” Mama?”

“Foolish boy.” She says, tears streaking down her face. She engulfs him in a hug, squeezing his tight,” Where have you been?”

“We were fighting in the forest.” Sam says quickly,” Thanos came, he wiped the floor with all our sorry butts. I think I passed out, because I woke up and he was gone.”

“Same.” Bucky says.

“I am groot.” Groot points to himself and nods.

“Thanos has been gone for…” Okoye stops herself, taking in a deep breath. She looks to T’Challa, composed. She crosses her arms and stomps in place,” My king. It has been five years since you and Princess Shuri.”

“What’s happened to Shuri?” T’Challa cuts off Okoye, staring with a deathly serious expression,” Is she alright?”

“She died five years ago.” One of the elders pipes up. T’Challa’s eyes widen in horror. Wanda gasps, covering her mouth in horror,” As did the rest of you.”

“Excuse me?” Bucky asks, staring at the elder.

“Five years ago, Thanos certainly did come.” Ramonda says, pulling away from T’Challa,” And he succeeded in his plan. He killed half of the universe. You and Shuri were part of those unfortunate enough to be ‘dusted’.”

“No...no, no, I just saw Thanos.” Wanda says, a hint of anger in her voice,” I watched him restore the Mind stone. Vision was holding me up because I had exhausted my power.”

Before any more questions can be asked, a glowing orange circle appears in the center of the throne room. A five foot woman in crimson robes hops out. Inside the circle appears to be a building, completely different from the one every stands in. She closes her hand, and the portal disappears. She looks around the room, clearing her throat.

“I don’t have much time.” The woman says with a fast pace,” I’m from the Hong Kong sanctuary or sorcerers. We received an emergency alert from Doctor Steven Strange, master of the New York sanctum, saying that a grand scale is about to erupt in upstate New York against the Titan Thanos. I’m here to try and gather as many potential troops as I can.” She looks around frantically,” Whose in charge?”

“I am.” T’Challa says proudly, approaching her cautiously,” I know not of this ‘sorcerer’ talk, nor even this ‘Doctor Strange’, but are you certain of Thanos’ attack?”

“I passed on the message exactly as it was given to us.” She says, kneeling in front of T’Challa,” I’ve come to ask the great nation of Wakanda for their aid.”

“How could we possibly get to New York fast enough to fight Thanos?” Sam asks, getting up from his crouch, putting away his pistols.

“We’ll start preparing large scale teleportation portals upon confirmation of alliance.” She says, standing and bowing,” It would take fifteen minutes to completely configure and activate.” T’Challa looks to the elders. They all nod. He looks to Ramonda, who nods with a smile. Okoye has a serious look on her face, nodding her approval.

“Wakanda stands with you.” T;Challa says.

The woman nods, holding up two fingers, moving her over hand in a circle in front of her. The orange circle appears once more. 

“I’ll alert the Hong Kong sanctum, several masters should make their way to you soon.” She says, hopping through the portal. She closes her hand, the portal disappearing in front of everyone’s eyes. Without hesitation, T’Challa puts on his mask.

“Alert all tribes, we’re about to head into war.” T’Challa says,” We’ll gather at the ceremonial battle field. Those who wish to forego the fight will not be punished, just get the word out as quickly as possible.”

Okoye slams her spear. Several Dora Milaje come out from around the room. Okoye shouts in Wakandan, and the soldiers sprint out the door quickly. T’Challa waves the other four to follow him. They obey, quickly running after him, flying and running towards the battle field. Each of them confused in their own way, but determined to kill Thanos all the same.

It takes thirty minutes for the tribes to come rushing to the field, battle ready. They kneel to their returned king. Portals open up around the field, and several people in maroon robes hope out. The bow slightly, turning towards the open air. In sync, the sorcerers extend their arms and begin to slowly move their arms in a circle.

“Wait, brother!” Shuri yells. She runs from behind, tapping T’Challa on the shoulder. She’s dressed in war attire, dawning her vibranium gauntlets. Okoye comes up and stands beside T’Challa, smirking and taking in T’Challa and Shuli together again after so long. The portals begin to sparkle more, the sorcerer's put in more and more effort into cranking their arms around. 

Sam feels something in his ear. He reaches up, tapping the small communication earpiece they had been using during the last battle. He gently presses down.

“Cap?” He says to the air,” Cap do you read me?”

The portal opens completely revealing a field on the other side. T’Challa puts up a hand, halting the army behind him. He nods to Shuli and Okoye, the three begin to walk forwards through the portal. Sam smirks to Bucky, taking to the air.

“On your left.” He says with a stupid grin on his face. He flies through the portal, mentally trying to prepare to fight Thanos. 

Shockingly, on the other side of the portal, is just the Avengers compound. Perfectly intact, no signs of any alien invasion. Sam hesitantly lands, looking at the strange scenery around him. He’s seen this place thousands of times, yet something feels off, weird and changed. He looks confused to T’Challa, who shares the confusion.

“Sam?” Steve’s voice echoes through the coms and in real life. Sam looks to the compound, watching Steve, Natasha and Clint running out to the open space. Even from this distance, Sam can see the light reflecting off of tear streaks on Steve’s face.

It only takes a moment for the super soldier to reach him, tackling him in a hug, squeezing him unreasonably hard. Nat and Clint join in, tighty grasping Sam. Sam looks to the portal, Bucky and Wanda hesitantly exiting in confusion. He silently waves them over, before looking around, seeing more sparkling portals appearing in the sky.

One by one, the portals open. Legions of people begin to exit, ready for an intense battle, each confused at the peaceful sights. Nat sobs as she looks around at the long lost family she had once given up on seeing again, emerging one by one from the portals. Quickly, Thor, Scott, Rocket and Rhodes are in the field, saying tearful hellos to their friends. Rocket tackles Groot to the ground, sobbing and hugging him tightly, Groot returning the hug with equal force. 

The Guardians emerge with Doctor Strange and Peter Parker from the Titan portal. Strange looks around in utter confusion, scanning the field for the Avengers. He sees them hugging their comrades, covered in happy tears and snot. He floats over to them, quickly followed by the others. Rocket scampers over the Guardians, giving each one a hug and crying into their pant legs.

“Where’s Stark?” Strange says, landing next to Steve and Nat. He gives an alarmed look to Nat, completely dumbfounded at her presence. Nat stares at him in equal confusion, backing away slightly. Strange shakes his head, looking sternly to Steve.

“He’s with Bruce, inside the lab.” Steve says questioningly, pointing to the Compound. Strange takes off, flying at incredible speed to the doors.

“Where’s Thanos?” Bucky asks, looking at Steve.

“He was killed five years ago.” Steve says, pulling Thor to his side,” Thor here made sure he’ll never torment any part of the galaxy again.” Thor sheepishly smiles, fiddling with Mjolnir in his hands, feeling proud of that accomplishment for once.

“Damn.” Bucky looks at Thor up and down for a moment,” That’s amazing. Great job.” Bucky extends his real hand forwards. Thor hesitantly takes it, Bucky chuckles happily.

“Where’s Vision?” Wanda asks Clint hesitantly. Clint looks at her, taking her image in. Tears form in his eyes, his lips quiver, and he hugs her tightly. She confusedly stands there for a moment, before accepting the warm hug. Clint gently rubs her back, sniffling as he holds her tight. She starts to become worried. “Clint, where’s Vision?” Clint gently squeezes her tighter.

“He wanted to tell you that he loves you.” Natasha says, slowly approaching, patting Clint on the back. Nat stands, looking at Wanda, becoming increasingly horrified at her increasingly red eyes. She begins to tug on Clint’s back, trying to get him off her. Clint releases with a hard pull from Nat, Wanda’s hair starts fluttering up by itself, a red mist forms around her, her eyes are almost wholly red.

“Wanda, honey, calm down.” Clint says shakily, holding his hands up to reach out to her. Everyone starts to notice her, getting unsettled as she begins to float into the air, chunks of earth floating up with her. Steve turns to look at her.

“Wanda?” He asks. Wanda looks at Steve. He becomes encircled by tendrils of red power, he’s forcefully drawn towards her. She stares into his eyes.

Steve begins to feel an eerie and alien sensation in his head. It’s not painful, but it feels like a snake is slithering through every nook of his head. He realizes he’s felt this once, long ago. Wanda’s looking forcefully into his mind. Shots ring out.

Attention is now on Bucky and Sam, holding up their weapons, aimed at Wanda. She turns her attention towards them, looking at the barrier of psionic energy, holding the bullets midair. She tilts her head slightly. The earth beneath them begins to give in, burying them to their shoulders. She stops, turning her attention back to Steve. Once she’s gained the information she wants she lowers Steve to the ground. He stumbles slightly, holding his head. Thor braces him, staring up to Wanda.

Wanda turns her attention to the compound, an angry look on her face.

“Stark!” Strange yells through the halls, completely lost,” Stark we need to talk!” Strange eventually finds his way to the glass encased lab. He watched Tony and Bruce working on a grey-scale Vision on a table. His chest is open, Stark and Bruce quickly rush around the room, finding the necessary replacements for the fried circuit boards and exploded energy converters. Strange bursts into the room, Tony and Bruce jump.

“Goddamnit. You scared the hell outta…” Tony begins, before looking up to see Strange. He takes off his special glasses in disbelief. He gently sets them down, carefully approaching Strange,” Are you...really here?”

“Stark, something strange has happened.” Strange says quickly,” This...this wasn’t how I saw the future. How...how did you manage to get all of us back without Thanos attacking?”

“Well, from the reports, Thor killed Thanos in 2018.” Tony says, his disenchantment lost at Strange’s seriousness. Tony walks back over to the table,” Do we have any more double-sided circuit boards or are we stuck with single for a bit?”

“We’ve got a couple left, but we’re going to have to single sided for a couple of these.” Bruce says, carefully scanning through the diagnostic program on the table,” Other than fried circuits, it doesn’t look like any of the other hardware has been damaged to an unworkable extent. Once we get these in, and close him up, we can gradually replace his parts while he’s awake.”

“Good, good.” Tony puts on his glasses, picking up a soldering iron to unweld particular melted boards.

“No, no, no.” Strange says, floating angrily towards him,” How did you manage to not have Thanos follow you from 2014?” Tony looks  at Strange in utter confusion,” There were a number of scenarios where you went back in time, but you were followed by 2014 Thanos, leading to a major battle here. I never saw a situation where that didn’t occur.”

“Maybe it was scenario 14,000,606, we just woke you up too fast.” Tony says, carefully taking out damaged parts.

“This isn’t a joke.” Strange uses his cloak to turn Tony,” There were millions of scenarios. It’s heavily improbable that a scenario that I didn;t account for occurred.” Strange looks down to Vision, confusion on his brow,” Did you just keep him here for five years?”

“What?” Bruce asks,” No, Vision’s the one who snapped everyone back.”

“Excuse me?” Strange asks in disbelief.

“Yeah, he made our time traveling teams, helped a few people with steps to cope with their losses, and snapped everyone back to reality.” Tony goes back to helping,” It’s why Bruce and I are pretty focused on getting him back in functioning condition.”

“No. what?” Strange looks around the room, to the confused looks of Tony and Bruce,” In every version of the future, this robot has died when Thanos got the Mind stone.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Tony and Bruce seem to say in sync. They look at each other, Bruce clears his throat and says,” Vision isn’t just ‘this robot’. He’s a great guy.”

“A fantastic babysitter.” Tony chimes in,” Morgan will never stop crying if ‘Uncle Vis’ doesn’t come to visit anymore.”

“Are you crazy?” Strange scoffs,” It’s made of computer parts. It’s just a machine.” Tony slams his hands on the table, Bruce glares at Strange.

“Leave.” Tony coldly says.

“Stark.”

“If you have nothing nice to say about your goddamn savior , then you need to get the fuck out of my lab.” Tony glares at Strange, lifting his soldering iron menacingly. Strange wants to retort, but Bruce’s glare and slow approach tells him he’ll be in danger if he stays. He raises his hands in defeat, beginning to retreat.

The glass shatters all around the lab. Everyone ducks in response. Tony scans around in fright, Bruce clenches his fists, trying to find the source of the power. Strange shudders, the hairs on the back of his neck standing on their ends. This was an immense surge of magical power. He turns around, watching an irate Wanda standing in the hall, large red balls of energy surrounding her hands. Strange feels an intense fear looking at her, remembering the hundreds of futures where she tore Thanos apart and completely rewrote the fabric of reality. Wanda’s glare goes from Strange to Tony to Bruce and finally to Vision on the table. She begins walking slowly towards the table.

“Now, Wanda.” Tony tries to start talking, becoming instantly bound by dozens of red tendrils of pure energy. He falls over, unbalanced. She continues her approach. Bruce walks in front of her, trying to stop her from seeing him. He meets the same fate, bound by red tendrils of energy.

She approaches Vision. She looks at his face, his smile still frozen in place. She gently puts her hand over the small triangle on his forehead, sending small pulses of red energy in, hoping for anything. She received a response back, shocking her. She puts in more energy, feeling the reverberations of thought on the tips of her fingers. She smiles, her eyes fading from red to their normal hazel. She carefully touched his cheeks, laughing as tears fall down her face. Tony and Bruce become unbound. Strange can move once more. He looks at Wanda with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

“Once we replace the…” Tony motions to Vision’s exposed chest, pointing to a doen blackened boards,” He;ll wake up.”

“He’s in a coma state.” Bruce says, using the table to help himself up,” If you give us a day, we can fix him to the point he can turn on and sustain power easily. Like I was telling Tony…”

“He’ll need to come over for minor repairs on some of his other hardware, but once we’re sure he can stay awake, you can take him home.” Tony interrupts. Wanda looks to the two, tears in her eyes as she nods without words,” Ah, we’ll also need to have him brought in once we get a replacement arm for him.”

Wanda looks down, realizing his right arm is completely gone. She gently touches it, the exposed wire cutting her finger slightly. She retracks her hand, looking back at Vision’s face. She smiles more, gently caressing his cheek.

“If you want, you can wait up in your room.” Bruce says,” It’s going to take us a fair amount of time.” Wanda shakes her head, floating a chair from the sitting room to the head of the table. Sitting without hesitation, gently flowing her red energy into the arc reactor on Vision’s head.

Tony and Bruce exchange a look, shrugging. They get back to work, choosing to ignore the absolutely horrifying display of power Wanda just displayed. Doctor Strange fixes his stare on Wanda, trying to figure out what makes her tick. After a few minutes, the Avengers rush in, gathering around the lab. Tony and Bruce lookup, barely flinching before getting back to work.

“Did she..?” Sam starts, lowering his grip from his side holster.

The group looks to the content Wanda, caught up in her own little world, twirling spindles of red between her fingers and Vision’s forehead. A silent agreement is made, that as long as she isn’t mad, they were not to mess with her until Vision’s better. A collective sigh is let out. Clint’s phone rings again. Natasha looks between the phone and Clint, smiling and motioning her head towards the hangar.

“Anyone who needs a ride home, come to the hangar.” She says, walking away, peaking once more to Vision and Wanda. Her heart swells with secondhand happiness that they’ll be able to finally be together. 

Scott, Thor, Hope Van-Dyne and Sam follow after Natasha, smiling contently, leaning on each other lightly, exhausted from the last exciting hour. Sam and Bucky look at Steve, who smiles sincerely, looking at the young Avenger at the head of the table. Steve nods slightly, motioning for Sam and Bucky to follow him away.

Peter and Pepper stand in what used to be the doorway of the lab, looking in at Tony. When he sees pepper in her blue suit he smiles, but pauses when looking at Peter. Peter chuckles softly, Tony walks out into the hall, giving him a bear hug. Tony pats Peter’s back, as if trying to make sure he’s really there. Pepper smiles, joining in on the hug. They stay like that for a few moments, before Tony pulls away, pulling Peter to come help in fixing Vision.

It takes six hours to completely replace the completely fried circuit boards. The group had opted to leave the lesser damaged ones in place until they can guarantee they have adequate replacements. Tony carefully closes Vision up, adhering him together with nanites from his own armor. The moment of truth arrives. Wanda sends one last pulse of energy through Vision’s arc reactor.

Vision begins to power up slowly. He realizes he’s beginning to wake up. He;d never fully slept before, nor run completely out of power before. The darkness in his eyes slowly begins to fade as different programs alert him to their activity. He feels the energy begin to course through his body, not as smoothly as it previously did, but it’s enough to allow his core functions to, well, function. His eyes begin to display a picture, slowly gaining color from the darkness. He blinks a couple times, his sight still slightly corrupted from slight damage. He looks around, and sees her face. She smiles widely, tears running down her face. She’s gently holding his head in her palms, and he can feel the warm sensation of her magic.

“Wanda?” He asks hopefully. She smiles, happily chuckling and nodding in response. She smiles back, reaching up his left arm to carefully touch her cheek He makes contact. She’s real. He laughs a little louder,” I love you.”

Small tears fall from her cheeks, she grasps his hand on her face, pushing it into her cheek more, gently nuzzling it. She smiles lovingly back to him,” I love you, too.” She leans down towards him, Vision gently pulling her in for a kiss.

Vision smiles happily, for today, he finally won the war.

Chapter Text

“You’ll be able to leave after three days.” Bruce says, helping Vision to his feet,” We should be able to tell whether you’re holding a charge or not by then.”

“That just means you’ll be here for the celebration.” Tony says with a smirk.

“Celebration?” Peter asks hesitantly.

“I’m sorry, did you miss the part where the Avengers just brought back half of the universe?” Tony asks, looking at the teenager in shock,” I think that’s more than enough of a reason to hold a grand banquet.”

“I think we should let those who just came back get a chance to adjust to the new world.” Bruce says with a sigh,” I mean, I left for two years and was so confused when I came back. I couldn’t imagine what five years would be like.”

“Fair point.” Tony says with a sigh,” But…”

“Tony.” Vision interrupts, leaning heavily on the table,” I think it’s for the best that people get to enjoy being with their families for a while.” He takes Wanda’s hand gently,” Maybe in a month or two, a grand get-together can be arranged. But for now, let them rest.” Tony sighs, looking at everyone in the room.

“Fine.” He sighs,” Buzzkills.”

“I’m going to take Vision upstairs.” Wanda says, taking Vision’s left arm and putting it over her shoulder. She looks at Bruce,” Three days?”

“It’s more of a precaution than anything.” Bruce says with a sympathetic smile. Wanda smiles back, helping Vision limp forwards awkwardly.

Strange watches them leave the room, near tempted to stop the pair, but stopping himself. It isn’t the time, not now. Strange turns his attention back to the lab. Bruce found a broom, and has begun sweeping up the shattered glass. Peter’s looking around for a broom, and Tony is playing around on a screen. Strange walks over to Tony, trying to peak over his shoulder slightly to see the  image. Tony quickly closes the image, turning to face Stange with a sigh.

“Oh look, David Blaine hasn’t left yet?” Tony says with a forced smile,” Didn’t you have to go perform at a bar mitzvah? Why are you here?”

“I need to talk to you about the stones.” Strange says, biting his cheek to not let his displeasure show on his face,” What’s your plan with them now?”

“Probably destroy them like Thanos.” Bruce says with a shrug,” Too powerful to be left tact.”

“Thanos did what?” Strange asks in horror,” I mean, I knew you had to time travel to get the stones, but I thought it was because you decided to forget about fighting Thanos for the stones. Damnit.” Strange rubs his temples, trying to control his temper,” God, ok. So, what you’re actually going to do, is put the stones back in their respective timeline, at near the exact moment they disappeared.”

“Why are you suddenly making the demands?” Tony asks, glaring at Strange.

“Because I know that the longer those remnants of the past stay in their timeline, the closer we get to complete multiverse collapse.” Strange retorts quickly,” Although it was the only way, messing with time is a dangerous and often costly game. It was ridiculous to think everything would be okay after you got the stones.” Strange looks around the lab, spotting Vision’s armfused to the gauntlet on a table in the center of the lab,” They have to be returned to their correct timelines within the next couple of days. I’ll be sticking around until I can confirm there are no longer…” Strange sighs and clenches his jaw,” There are no longer any infinity stones in this reality.``

----------------

Wanda and Vision walk slowly through the halls of the compound. Vision leans on her, more than he needs to, just to have her closer to him. She smiles, laughing gently, a lovely song Vision had missed all these years. He leans down, kissing the top of her head, a large smile on his face. Wanda  leans her head on his shoulder as they saunter.

The normal two minute walk to Wanda’s room turns into a fifteen minute stroll. When they finally reach her room, Wanda carefully opens the door, making sure to not lose her grip on Vision. As they enter, Wanda gasps softly. 

“Where’s everything?” She asks softly, looking around at the near bare room.

“Ah...yes...that…” Vision hesitantly walks into the room, looking around with a sigh,” It was five years and all that…”

“Vision did you sell my stuff?” Wanda hits his shoulder with a shocked look on her face.

“No, what? God no.” Vision says with a shocked look,” No, I took them somewhere else.”

“Like storage?” 

“Yes...storage.” Vision walks over to the bed, lying down quickly with a thump. He looks up with a small smile, extending his hand towards her,” Come, my dear.”

Wanda blushes softly, walking over with a grin, taking Vision’s hand. Vision gently pulls her onto the bed, lying her next to him, and slightly on him. Wanda chuckles, adjusting her position to more comfortably rest on his shoulder. Vision smiles, gently kissing her forehead, wrapping her in a hug and the comforter. Vision holds her close, listening to her heartbeat for reassurance she’s still here. Wanda lays, snuggly wrapping her arms around Vision, listening to the small whirling of machinery inside of him. 

“Vis?” Wanda says quietly, beginning to lose her battle to fatigue.

“Yes, my love?” He responds, gently rubbing her back.

“You’re really bad at lying.” She giggles, falling asleep. Vision sighs happily, playing with Wanda’s hair, until his eyes begin to close. He goes into sleep-mode, to reboot several internal systems. The two breathe gently, making sure they stay as close to each other as they can.

After several hours, Tony knocks on the door to Wanda’s room, opening the door and turning on the lights. Wanda cuddles in closer to Vision, covering her head with the comforter. Vision sluggishly moves his arm to cover Wanda further, letting his systems reboot. Tony chuckles, before flicking the lights on and off.

“Rise and shine, lovebirds.” Tony says with a laugh,” Come on, we need an early start to the day.”

“ Bold words for someone who doesn’t sleep .” Wanda grumbles in Sokovian. Vision smirks, gently moving to get up. Wanda hugs him harder, grumbling unintelligibly. Vision gently pats her head. 

“ I’ll make you some eggs and toast if you get up. ” Vision softly says as he kisses her cheek. Wanda smiles, slowly opening her eyes and nodding. 

“I’m going to get diabetes if you guys don’t stop.” Tony says with a groan. Vision smirks and looks over. 

The pair get up. Wanda rubs the tired from her eyes, leaning on Vision for a moment, looking at Tony. Tony waves sarcastically, she scoffs, grumbling in Sokovian. Wanda stretches, and begins walking to the door. Vision follows, Tony right behind. The three walk to the kitchen, where Wanda floats a chair up to the kitchen island.

“ Toast! Eggs! Toast and eggs! ” She chants in Sokovians, gently hitting the table. Vision smiles, walking around the kitchen, getting the ingredients needed.

“I hope you’re making enough for all of us.” Tony taunts, walking to the opposite side of the island and sitting on a chair. 

“Depends on how many ‘us’ there are.” Vision responds.

“I know I’m up, Bruce might be coming out soon, Nat’s headed in on a quinjet and should be here in, like, three hours. The patriotic trio spent the night, but who knows when they’ll wake up and join us.” Tony gnaws on the but of a pen, pulling up a screen and studying something absentmindedly.

“You act as though you didn’t just see us outside.” Sam laughs, entering with Steve and Bucky behind him,” And yes, I’d love some breakfast.”

“And him?” Vision asks, pointing to the corner of the room. The group looks at Doctor Strange, asleep on the couch, his cloak wrapped tightly around him while he snores slightly.

“He sleeps, he loses out.” Bucky laughs, sitting next to Wanda. Steve and Sam sit at the table next to the island, wiping sweat from their faces.

“Right now I’ve got toast and eggs on the menu. Any requests?” Vision begins cracking eggs into the pan.

“ Over-hard eggs .” Wanda yawns out in Sokovian, Vision nods.

“Scrambled over here.” Steve says.

“Make that two.” Sam chimes in.

“Three.” Bucky sighs.

“Awe, triplets.” Tony says with a laugh,” I want ‘em over easy.”

“Is white bread good enough for toast?” Vision asks, waving his spatula around the room. Everyone nods. Vision smiles, getting to work on the orders. 

He finishes cooking after about six minutes. He quickly plates the eggs and toast, giving them out around the room. He gets various ‘thanks’ and ‘appreciate it’s’ from the group. He works on cleaning up while Steve and Sam talk about how to improve their workout routines. Bucky silently judges Wanda as he watches her put the egg fully on her toast and slurp it as she eats. Tony continues to work on his project, chewing on his pen cap more than he eats his breakfast.

“Alright, I have a rough idea of how we can get this whole thing to work.” Tony mutters.

“Care to share with the class?” Bucky asks, taking a large fork full of eggs into his mouth,” You’ve been muttering since we’ve gotten in. What’re you working on?”

“I need…” Tony sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose,” We need to return the stones to when we got them. Otherwise we might destroy the universe.”

“And you’ve known about this for how long?” Steve asks with an agitated sigh.

“Last night.” Tony snaps back,” I’ve been trying to figure out how we can potentially do this with the limited amount of time and Pym particles.”

“ Why not ask Pym for more? ” Wanda asks, taking another large bite of toast.

“ English, darling .” Vision chuckles. Wanda looks confused before gasping slightly and swallowing the bite.

“Sorry.” She says with a chuckle,” Why can’t we ask Pym for more?”

“He vehemently refuses to work with any ‘Stark’.” Tony says with a shrug,” He says I’m ‘lucky he doesn’t try to beat my ass for those suits’, though I doubt that dinosaur would put up much of a fight.”

“Did you tell him ‘the fate of the universe lies in the balance’?” Bucky asks.

“No, I happened to leave that important detail out.” Tony gives Bucky a disappointed stare.

“Hardy, har, har.” Sam scoffs out,” So what’s your grand plan?”

“Well, the main problem I’m facing is what to do about the space stone. We don’t have a lot of particles left, so I was hoping to just take the time and use two years to get them all back. But with going to the seventies, we would have to have someone wait almost fifty years in order to get them all on one go, and I don’t know if that’ll fly with Doctor Mario over there.”  

“I would say we should take one of the remaining particles, analyze it and try to recreate it. However, it would take a substantial amount of time.” vision says, drying his hand with a dish towel,” How much time do we have?” 

“Five days.” Strange’s voice alerts everyone to his awake presence. Heads whip around to look at the sorcerer, getting up quickly from the couch,” And no, just waiting around in another timeline won’t help. It’s five days in total, not fifty years.”

“So then what do you suggest?” Steve asks hesitantly, looking the weird man up and down.

“Contact Pym again. Tell him to put his pride aside and give us more particles so we can save the universe. Adhere to any demands he might have in return to give you a better bargaining chip.” Strange says in a commanding tone,” There aren’t any more options.”

“Put him on a conference call.” Steve says,” We’ll all talk to him. So that way we can all try to convince him to do this.”

“Fine.” tony says, to everyone’s shock. No one’s ever seen him cave into a request so fast. Tony begins to dial the number, slamming down his phone once it starts ringing. The room fills with the sound of the ringing from hidden speakers. After a few moments, a click reverbates around the room. 

“Go for Pym.” Hank’s voice says in a tired manner. It occurs to several that even though it’s six am here, it’s two am over in california.

“Doctor Pym.” Steve says in a firm voice,” I’m Steve Rogers. I have a request for you.”

“Oh dammit, are you with Stark?” Hank grumbles angrily.

“We need you to come to the Avengers Compound in order to synthesize more Pym particles for a mission.” Steve says, ignoring Hank,” I was wondering if you could make your way out here as quickly as you can.”

“I already told Stark, I won’t help you after you’ve stolen my tech.” Hank growls out,” I don’t care what you ‘need’.”

“Doctor Pym, I Don't think you understand the stakes.” Strange pipes up.

“Who the hell?” Hank asks loudly.

“If we don’t get the particles, the universe itself will tear apart.” Strange cuts off Pym,” So, I think that’s enough of a reason to get you to get over here.”

“What?” Hank growls angrily.

“I apologize, Doctor Pym.” Vision chimes in,” My cohorts have come off a bit aggressive. However, the stakes are high. We aren’t asking for you to do this for free, if you have any demands or stipulations, we will havpillycomply. We just want to save the universe, and we cannot do it without you.” The silence in the room is tense. Everyone holds their breath, not wanting to add to Vision’s apt description.

“Fine.” Hank sighs into the phone,” But my price is going to be pretty high.”

“Name it, I can pay it.” Tony says with a relieved smile.

“Oh, I’m not talking about money.” Hank says with a sinister giggle,” First, you’re going to destroy all those suits you made. Then, when all is said and done, you’ll destroy whatever this ‘time machine’ shit is. Finally, you’ll destroy any form of schematic or blueprint for both the suits and the machine.” there’s another silence in the room,” Do we have a deal?” Tony bites the pen cap, thinking hard about what to do.

“Deal.” Steve and Strange say at the same time. They look at each other with a slight shock. Tony looks in horror at the pair.

“I’ll be on my way to the airport.” Pym says with a chuckle,” I expect a fancy ride.” Hank hangs up the phone. Everyone takes a breath in, Tony begins yelling.

Tony lectures and yells at Steve and Strange. They defend themselves to the best of their ability, Wanda quietly finishes her toast, happily observing Vision, prodding in his head to see what he’s thinking about. He’s mostly thinking about rebooting various systems, but once he notices her soft red eyes, he starts trying to think of jokes or happy pictures. She smiles, happily resting her head on her arm. 

After an hour of intense arguing. Tony relents to the demands of the others. Bruce comes into the room, getting the rundown of the morning. Bruce and Tony head to the lab, the patriotic trio split up and start their days, Strange just awkwardly stares at Wanda from across the room. Vision and Wanda walk together, going to the hangar to get the inventory on the suits. They enjoy each other’s company. Tony enters the hangar.

“Vis, we need to check the power output and input.” He says with a sigh,” Come on.”

Vision obediently follows, Wanda follows close behind. Tony just rolls his eyes and had them follow. Once in the lab, Vision sits on a stool awaiting for the test to begin. Wanda observes Bruce and Tony as they plug in various tools into Vision. Bruce sees her in the periphery of his vision.

“Ok, this is going to sound rude.” Bruce starts, he turns to look at Wanda,” Don’t you have anything else you should be doing? Like, do you only have freetime or something?”

“What?” Wanda says with shock and offense. She looks between the three, Vision looks with annoyance to Bruce, and Tony avoids her gaze all together.

“I mean, shouldn’t you be at home? Resting?” Bruce tries to cover up his tracks,” Didn’t Vision give you a key or something?” Vision’s annoyance grows, while Wanda’s confusion grows. Tony takes notice, quickly putting two and two together.

“You didn’t tell her?” Tony asks with a chuckle,” How is that not one of the first things you mention?” 

“It’s not easy.” Vision says with a small hiss. Tony smirks, reaching into his pocket and rustling for a moment, before pulling out a small arc reactor keychain, with a key firmly attached. He tosses it to Wanda.

“2800 Sherwood Drive.” Tony says with a smirk,” Natasha should be back soon, have her take you. It’s quite the lovely little place.”

“What?” Wanda looks at the keys.

“I wanted to take you there, but since I can’t leave for a couple days…” Vision smiles weakly to Wanda,” I think it would be for the best if you visit the house with Natasha.”

“I don’t think I really understand what’s happening.” Wanda leans on one of the tables, softly turning the key in her hands.

“It’s better to see it.” Tony says.

The sound of the hangars doors opening, alerts the group. Tony taps on Bruce’s arm to take Wanda to the hangar while he finishes getting readings on Vision. Bruce semi-reluctantly agrees, taking Wanda to meet Natasha at the parked Quinjet. He quickly describes the situation, Natasha quickly getting the gist. She smiles softly, taking Wanda to the garage.

Little do they all know, the day has only begun.

Chapter Text

Wanda drives down the interstate, while Natasha sleeps in the passenger's seat. The address Tony said is in the GPS, so she mindlessly follows it’s whims. While she drives, she begins to think. Think about everything. She hasn’t given herself a lot of time to do that in the past couple of ‘days’.

Had it really been five years? She knows it has, but there’s still a part of her brain that wants to deny that fact. Vision bought a house? Did he do it before or after she ‘died’? Where did he get the money for that? When was he planning on telling her? 

The questions ring in her thoughts. She almost misses the exit for Westview, but catches herself before the opportunity disappears, leading to a very angry sedan blasting their horn at her for a solid minute. Needless to say, Natasha jolts awake. She groggily flips the bird to the road rager, and taps Wanda’s shoulder for a driver swap. Wanda shakes her head, she wants to drive, it’s the only thing preventing her from completely getting absorbed into the questions and fantasy in her head. 

“Fine, but once we get close, I want to drive.” Nat says with a smile,” I want you to be able to take in the view of the lovely small town Vision settled into.”

“Was…” Wanda’s voice shakes slightly. She swallows air to try and clear her throat,” Was Vision eager to move? To get away from the compound?” Natasha scoffs and laughs softly.

“Vision?” She laughs,” He’s the only person I’ve met who takes almost two years to move into a house. Most people need like a week to a month to put everything away, but he was sooooooo reluctant to leave, and I’m quoting him here ‘the first home I shared with her’.” Wanda blushes from second hand embarrassment,” He’s made his own little impact on the town just by living here. Some people don’t like him because he’s a ‘robot’, others don’t like him because he’s an ‘Avenger’, but he’s made a few good friends.” Nat lets out a small breath, fogging up the window slightly.

“Do you come over often?” Wanda asks, turning left when instructed.

“Vision will not stop inviting everyone to bbq’s.” Nat laughs,” It’s become a habit to come over at least once a month, if not once every two weeks. Everyone’s visited him at least once. Sometimes he lets people stay for a few days at a time.” Nat looks to Wanda with a smile,” He always wanted company, wanted to share every small renovation he did with all the Avengers and Guardians. He talked and talked for hours about re-tiling the bathroom to fit a more ‘retro aesthetic’ or something.”

“‘Retro’, huh?” Wanda chuckles,” I’m getting nervous to see what he means by that.”

“It’s adorable.” Nat smiles widely,” The neighbors are cute too. In fact…” Nat taps the GPS to display the time and date. It’s about eleven am, October the twentieth. Nat smirks slyly, “We have a pretty high chance of meeting some of them today.”

“I also have one last thing I want to confirm.” Wanda glances over to Nat,” This is mostly anxiety, probably, but can you just tell me...do you think Vision wants me to move in with him?” Nat’s eyes widen, and she looks at Wanda with disbelief,” I mean, one of the last things I remember before I...anyways, Vision and I were walking down a street in Scotland. He asked me to stay, and I hesitated. I hesitated.”

“It’s a shocking question to be asked.” Nat says, patting Wanda’s shoulder, still in shock at Wanda’s question,” Then again, you were a wanted criminal, so that was probably a big factor.”

“It wasn’t just that.” Wanda chuckles dryly,” I was a little scared. It’s a pretty big step, and I wasn’t really sure if that was the right choice.”

“Do you still feel that way?” Natasha begins to realize she may have misinterpreted her question earlier. She wasn’t asking if Vision wanted her to move in, she was asking if he expected her to move in.

“I’m not sure how to answer that.” Wanda sighs,” I’m still scared but, I think I’m more scared at the thought of losing him. It feels a little selfish to admit, but it wasn’t until he kept asking me to destroy the stone in his head that I realized just how vital he is to my life.” The GPS dings for a left, Wanda turns the car and notices the town sign. She carefully pulls over, swapping places with Nat.

“I’m not here to tell you what to do.” Nat says as she buckles her seatbelt,” But, I think that you’ll get a definitive answer to your question once you see the  house.”

Wanda and Nat smile. Natasha begins driving into the town. Wanda watches the world go by out the window. Any illusion that she had about five years passing disappears as they enter the town center. Stores lay empty, closed and hollow. A broken gazebo lays in the town center, next to an empty movie theater. Wanda can’t help but feel a twinge of sadness begin to well up in her heart, doing her best to try and understand what five years feels like. After a few more turns, the car slowly drives into a suburban neighborhood.

Nat slowly enters the driveway of the house, turning off the car and getting out of the car. As she turns to shut the door, she recognizes Wanda isn’t moving, her eyes locked on the house in front of her. Small tears form in the corners of Wanda’s eyes, Nat sighs.

“I’ll give you a minute.” Nat says,” I’ll crack the window. Just come to the front when you’re ready.” Nat lowers the driver’s side window, letting Wanda stay in the car.

Natasha walks up to the front door, taking out her own spare key out of her pocket. Once she reaches the front, she notices a small pile of cards and candles next to the welcome mat. She curiously kneels, picking up a card to examine it carefully. It’s a thank you card, looks handmade. She looks at the pile, happily picking them up to put on the dining room table. 

“Excuse me!” Sarah’s voice calls from the sidewalk,” Sorry, leave those there?” Natasha turns around and smirks,” Oh, Natasha I didn’t realize it was you.”

“Hey, Sarah.” Natasha chuckles, rising and walking over to the front gate. Sarah opens the gate to meet her halfway in.

“Is Vision with you?” Sarah looks between the car and Nat.

“He got a little roughed up with our latest mission.” Nat says with a sigh,” So he’s recovering at HQ.”

“So you’re doing a mail run for him?” Sarah laughs,” Well, he’s been gone for a month so you might need a bigger car.” The two share a laugh. Nat looks past Sarah for a moment, recognizing a familiar head of red hair hesitantly at the front gate.

“Now, you know I don’t bite, Hannah.” Natasha says with a smirk.

“Oh right!” Sarah turns and beacons Hannah over,” We’re doing our traditional parading of Halloween costumes. And this year…”

“I’m Wanda again.” Hannah says with a chuckle, jumping into the yard in an updated and more detailed Wanda Maximoff costume, with a better ginger wig, a shirt with a corset print, a large red trench coat and black leggings,” I know I was her a couple years ago, but I thought since she came back, I’d dress up like her again.”

“Oh? How do you know she came back?” Nat says with a chuckle, Hannah looks horrified. Natasha realizes what she’s said to a child,” No, wait, I don’t mean that.”

“The reversed blip.” Sarah says quickly,” It only happened yesterday, but Hannah’s hope grew exponentially when we got a call from my brother Saul. He, uh, he disappeared five years ago, but called so casually.” A small tear drops down Sarah’s cheek. She wipes it quickly, before smiling fondly at Nat and mouthing ‘ Thank you’ .

“Oh! I got this cool prop this year.” Hannah says suddenly, an anxious look on her face. She runs over to the fence, picking up a small cloth bag she had put down earlier. She grabs an orb-like object and runs back over to Natasha.

Hannah flips a small switch on the object. Inside, a small bulb turns on and glows a gentle red. Hannah shakes the orb, like a snowglobe, small reflective sparkles begin floating around the bulb, creating an illusion of the red pulses Wanda holds in her hands. Natasha smiles, looking at the orb, then taking a glance at the car. A lightbulb pops up above her head.

“Wow, this looks so realistic.” Natasha reaches out, Hannah flinched,” Oh, sorry. But would you mind letting me show that to my friend? They’re just in the car, I’ll be super careful.” Hannah looks Nat up and down, and carefully hands over the orb.

Natasha carefully carries the orb to the open window of the car. Wanda wipes her tears absentmindedly, a happy smile spreading across her face. Nat knocks on the door frame, alerting Wanda to her presence. Wanda lets out a small chuckle, unbuckling her seatbelt. Natasha puts up a finger, then brings it to her lips in a playful sush motion.

“Man, isn’t this just such a good prop?” Natasha says loudly, Wanda looks at her confused. Natasha holds up the small orb, and Wanda laughs in confusion,” What’s that? You want a closer look?” Natasha winks, wiggling her fingers teasingly. Natasha takes a step back, holding up the orb with her arm extended. Wanda looks really confused. She looks to the yard and sees Sarah and Hannah.

Wanda recognizes the outfit Hannah’s wearing, then looks at the orb again. She connects the dots, smiling. She collects energy at her fingertips, carefully aiming her focus to gently wrap the orb in small tendrils of red power. She slowly and carefully raises it from Natasha’s hand, who smiles with the smuggest grin Wanda has seen in a hot minute, before gently floating it into the car. Once she’s got a good grip on the orb, she opens her door.

“Wow, it almost looks exactly like the real thing.” Wanda says loudly, as she exits the car. Once she stands, she turns around and leans on the roof of the car. Wanda casts a sly smile towards the guests on the lawn. Sarah and Hannah can’t seem to pick up their jaws off the ground. Wanda looks at Hannah, and begins to float the orb over towards her. Hannah carefully extends her hands to receive the orb.

Once the orb is safely in her hands, there’s a stiff silence. Everyone looks towards the little girl who stands still in shock. Soon her face contorts slightly, before tears begin streaming down her cheeks. She lets out a sob, falling to her knees. No one has to say anything, but a single thought rings out through the three women's thoughts,’ Shit’ .

“Oh no, oh, god. I’m sorry, I thought she would like that.” Wanda panics as she runs around the car and to the crying child,” Hey, hey, I’m sorry. Are you ok?” Hannah looks at Wanda through blurred eyes. She jumps forwards, latching onto Wanda with a hug. Wanda looks to Sarah with panic. Sarah just kinda looks at her with a glazed over look. Sarah shakes her head and clears her throat.

“I am so sorry.” Sarah says, kneeling down and trying to take Hannah off of Wanda,” She just adores you. I think she’s just freaked out to actually see you in the flesh.”

“Adores?” Wanda says with a kind smile. She looks down to Hannah, and with a gentle chuckle, embraces the girl. Hannah begins to sob louder.

“Again, she’s star struck.” Sarah says with a laugh, completely starstruck herself. 

“Let’s take this inside.” Nat says, tapping Wanda on the shoulder. Wanda looks at Nat, nodding. She gently encircles Hannah in red energy, lifting her away. Wanda stands, effortlessly holding the child with one hand of energy, as she turns to walk into the house, glancing at Sarah. 

Sarah quickly gets to her feet, following the pair into the house. Once inside, Wanda gently sets down Hannah inside. She then looks around the interior of the house, a lump forming in her throat. She looks around the seventies inspired interior, laughing to herself at how it looks so similar to the Brady Bunch’s house. She carefully walks inside, trying to take in the reality of the house. She looks at every photo, every piece of art and even the weird stuffed dino head above the mantle. She curiously picks up one of the plethora of yellow peep pillows, gently holding it as she continues her stroll through the house.

“You alright there, Wands?” Natasha asks from the dining room.

“I just need a second.” Wanda says with a smile. She turns to Sarah and Hannah,” Sorry, you guys can make yourselves at home. I’m going to be a moment.”

“Take your time.” Sarah says quickly. Wanda chuckles.

She walks over to the silver shelves next to the familiar tv set. She scans through the various dvds, noticing familiar titles and some new ones mixed in. She gently brushes her fingers over the various titles, carefully remembering the different episodes she knows by heart. She smiles, wandering into the dining room and watching Natasha carefully lay out the cards end to end over the table. She walks into the kitchen, smirking at the modern appliances among the vintage aesthetic. She checks the fridge, where two old and molding cheesecakes lay. The smell reminds her that all of this is real, but she throws them into the trash can with her powers, wrapping the trashcan in a protective barrier so the smell wouldn’t come out. 

She continues to walk through the house, walking through the hallway looking at pictures. She smiles at nostalgic pictures, and feels a sad sting at the photos she doesn't recognize. She squeezes the peep pillow, walking back into the longue. Sarah and Hannah chat quietly on the couch. Wanda walks up to the couch and extends her hand with her best smile.

“I should formally introduce myself.” She says, with a kind tone,” I’m your new neighbor, Wanda Maximoff.”

“New neighbor?” Sarah asks while taking her hand,” As in, you’re going to be living here from now on?” Natasha peaks through the metal room partition with a raised eyebrow. Wanda nods with a smile. Sarah stops breathing for a moment, before standing quickly and sprinting out the front door. 

Natasha and Wanda exchange glances, before looking down to Hannah, who almost seems to have fainted with her eyes open. Wanda carefully tries to tap her, but she jumps slumps down onto the couch. Natasha quickly walks over, to look over the young girl. They’re startled by the front door slamming open. Sarah rushes over to the pair, huffing slightly. Wanda looks at her with worry, when a small stack of trading cards enters Wanda’s vision.

“Can you...sign these.” Sarah asks, before looking at Hannah,” Baby, take a breath.” Hannah takes a large gasp in. Natasha and Wanda are confused.

“How about we take a second.” Natasha says with a deep breath,” I’ll order some pizza, and you guys can have a long talk.” Natasha pulls out a phone and winks to Wanda. Wanda guides Sarah to the couch, sitting on one of the individual chairs in front of the tv. 

----------------------------------------

“Hank Pym will arrive in three hours.” Vision says, carefully setting out the shrinking suits on one of the lab tables,” Shall I begin setting up the lab for his arrival?”

“Give him the corner.” Tony says with an agitated point towards the corner of the room.

“I would ask what your problem is.” Bruce says with a sigh,” But I’m pretty sure I can guess. Weren’t you going to destroy them anyways? Stop with the hissy fit.”

“Ok, I know time-travel is dangerous, and maybe I was going to destroy the tunnel, but why do I have to try and kiss the ground Pym walks on.” Tony grumbles, throwing a pen at Bruce,” I know we need him, but he couldn’t show any thanks for, oh I don’t know, saving his goddamn life.” 

“By using stolen technology.”  Vision says with a huff.

“Shut it.” Tony says angrily.

“Cool it.” Bruce says, looking angrily at Tony,” We just need to get this done.”

The tension between everyone in the room rises as they angrily shuffle around, tidying up sloppily. Vision tries to float slightly, but unsteadily jumps. He begins to run another round of diagnostics and rebooting some functions. He does his best to ignore the angry grumblings of the two scientists. Strange bursts into the room, tugging Steve, Sam and Bucky into the room with glowing orange ropes.

“I need to talk with all of you.” Strange says in a deathly serious tone. Bruce, Tony and Vision look at him in confusion,” I need to know what sort of containment procedures you have in place for Wanda Maximoff.”

“And here I thought it was going to be another lecture about how the world’s going to end in five days .” Tony almost growls out,” Let the soldiers go.” Tony turns back to his table, cleaning by moving things around. Strange sighs, releasing the restraints.

“You’ve got a plan to stop that from happening.” Strange says,” I appreciate it, but I also need to know what you’re going to do about her.”

“There’s nothing to ‘do’.” Steve says with an agitated grunt as he gets up from the ground,” She’s a full grown adult who can take care of herself.”

“She’s a dangerous entity that needs to be cont....” Strange starts to say, when he falls silent. 

Vision stands behind Strange, his hand phasing through Strange’s neck. Everyone looks at Vision in shock, as Vision glares at Strange. 

“I would choose your next words carefully, Doctor.” Vision says in a low and menacing tone,” I might not be able to control how long I can phase. Who knows when I might spontaneously turn solid.” Vision yanks out his hand quickly. Strange coughs, falling to one knee. No one really knows what to do.

“Vis…” Steve says cautiously,” Maybe you should step outside for a moment.”

“If he’s going to talk about Wanda, I’m going to be a part of the conversation.” Vision stands back, leaning on a table, glaring at the magician. “Why are you asking about what they’re ‘going to do about her’?” Vision’s chilling tone sends a shiver down Strange’s back. He slowly rises, maintaining eye contact with Vision.

“Wanda Maximoff is a dangerous individual.” Strange says slowly,” I’m worried about what would happen if she were to reach her true potential without proper supervision.”

“What do you mean, ‘full potential’?” Bruce asks, moving to stand next to Vision.

“When I was on Titan, living through those millions of futures, about a fourth of them showed Thanos could be killed or separated forcefully from the Infinity Gauntlet.” Strange says, still highly cautious.

“Wait, you said one.” Tony says with a scoff.

“There was only one which I could truly count as a ‘win’.” Strange shoots back,” That’s because in those other futures, when Thanos is defeated nothing good comes out of it.” Strange takes a breath, remembering the fear he felt living through those situations,” Some of the worst possible futures centered on Wanda Maximoff.” Vision starts to rise, Bruce holds out a hand to stop him,” In most of the futures, Vision died for Thanos to get the stone. But I would be lying if I said there weren’t two or three instances where he lived. Those were truly hellish futures.”

“Dude, he’s right there.” Sam says, gently hitting Strange on the shoulder.

“The only reason I say that is because instead of being destroyed for the stone, Vision was captured by the United Nations to be reprogrammed to become an absolute defense system for the world.” Strange looks over to Vision, looking at the arc reactor in Visions’ head,” Your memory was completely erased, your ai obliterated to become more obedient. They disassembled you, spreading you thin in a secured facility. Wanda found you with the help of the remaining Avengers, and when she saw you in your basic form, dead, she snapped. She began to channel something dangerous, becoming engulfed in red flames that torched the whole facility and her teammates into ash. She emerged from the flames, clad in a red robe and strange tiara or something, holding a bundle of copper wires. I tried to stop her, but I couldn’t even get close to her. She just smiled, her eyes burned red with bloody tears streaming down her cheeks. She uttered a single word,’ No’ and the entire fabric of reality bent to her will. With one world she destroyed all world governments, all borders, all geographical aspects of our planets. Whole cities disappeared, the world was reshaping itself to fit her image. Then she looked at me, flicking her finger at me. She said,’ You should go home’ and I was back on Titan, getting woken up by you.” Strange looks to Stark, sitting with a fixated stare at Strange.

“So her true potential...rivals the infinity stones?” Steve asks.

“‘Rivals’ is far too light of a description.” Strange says with a laugh,” Thanos still had to have a significant amount of strength and creativity to even try to wield the Reality stone, they were killing him as he held them. Wanda’s power kept growing as the world bent and bowed before her. At her full strength, anything is possible.”

“Woah…” Sam sighs, pulling up a stool,” She’s such a sweet girl though? I don’t see why she would do something like that.”

“Desperation...grief…” Strange sighs out,” When you have the ability to use that awesome amount of power, the thread holding together your sanity exponentially shrinks.” 

“Then teach her.” Vision says quickly,” If you fear her without guidance, then provide her with some.”

“I can’t do that.” Strange sighs.

“Why? She does that magic stuff, and you do magic stuff. Seems like a pretty easy equation.” Bucky says with a laugh.

“I harness energy from alternate realities to use for what I need.” Strange summons two sorcery shields in his hand,” I’m a sorcerer. Wanda doesn’t do that. She just has the intense magic inside of her, waiting to get out. She’s a witch. I can’t teach a witch sorcery.”

“This is some weird harry potter shit.” Sam sighs,” Then what’s your great and powerful suggestion?”

“If I’m being honest.” Strange takes a second to look at Vision, making sure to keep his eyes on the synth,” I propose suspended animation until a viable tutor can be found.” Bruce doesn’t can’t stop Vision. Vision’s in Strange’s face within a fraction of a second. Vision lifts him into the air, his arc reactor beginning to glow. Steve and Sam grab him from behind, trying to drag him away from Strange.

“Back down, Vis.” Steve struggles to get out, trying to force the virabium synth back.

“Someone with such dangerous ideals about Wanda can’t be allowed to exist.” Vision says in a cold and robotic tone,” If he cannot provide an adequate solution to a problem he’s proposed, then by eliminating him the only ones who will know of this problem will be in this room.” Vision turns his steely gaze to Bucky,” And I trust they’ll have enough sense to not spread any misinformation on her.” Bucky nods furiously.

“Vis.” Tony sighs out,” Don’t kill the wizard. He said some dumb shit, but he doesn’t deserve to die because of it. Wanda doesn’t need any special protocols, Vision’s alright, we’ll  just keep a look out for...witched? Jesus, its not the 1600s anymore.”

Vision looks at Tony up and down, then the wriggling being in the palm of his hand. His anger is intense, slightly refreshing, but he knows nothing will come from trying to kill this man right now. Vision drops the Doctor.  Strange glares at Vision, quickly rising and slamming his palmon Vision’s chest.

Vision has another moment where he begins to watch his body begin to fade to grey in front of his eyes as he contracts and rips apart all at once. Vision grits his teeth, this pain feels like a mere tickles compared to the gauntlet. Vision takes a breath, staring at his body, focusing on returning. In a moment he's looking down on Strange, who looks confused. Strange tries to slam his hand onto Vision again, only to get dragged back by Bruce and Bucky.

“Can I take that as a threat to duel?” Vision almost snarls out, his blue eyes glowing and covering his eyes completely. Steve and Sam do their best to wrech back the angry synth.

“Maybe there’s a reason you needed to die!” Strange spits out, summoning glowing shields to his hands,” Maybe you’re the monster! You and the damn witch!”

“Oh that’s a threat to duel.” Sam says under his breath.

Visions tries to float, but his internal flight systems are still compromised. He charges his arc reactor with energy, ready to fire it at the bastard in front of him. His sight goes fuzzy, and his body seizes uncontrollably. What little Vision can see, he watches Strange collapse to the floor, twitching wildly. Vision falls to his knees, letting out an angry grunt.

“Yep, we’re tabling this talk.” Tony says, appearing in Vision’s sight with one of Natasha’s spider bite discs in his hand,” Vis, you stay in your room for the next few hours, until Pym arrives. Harry Potter is going to stay in secure confinement for a hot minute, until he can learn to lead a discussion like a goddamn adult.” Vision taps the spider bite, Vision’s sight turns back to normal. He glares at Strange, before looking up to Tony, who pleas silently for compliance. 

Vision huffs angrilly,” If he even tries to come within twenty feet of the room, I’ll finish what I’ve started.” He stands, brushing off Sam and Steve’s hands from his shoulders. He walks briskly up to Wanda’s room, slamming the door once he’s inside.

He can’t stop his rage, he yells out in frustration. He punches a hole clean through the wall out of impulse. He retracts and calms down looking at the damage he caused. He carefully looks for any posters or paintings to cover up the mistake. He finds a small promotional movie poster, covering the hole. He collapses on the bed, staring up to the ceiling. He reaches up, a small hallucinatory Wanda at his fingertips. He smiles gently. He replays Strange’s story about Wanda, and he frowns. He selects the memory, making the only decision he can think of to make things better for him. He’s waited five years to see her again, he won’t let any propaganda ruin his time with Wanda.

One memory deleted.

Chapter Text

Riiiiiiing, Riiiiiiiing, Riiiing The line clicks on the other end. 

“Hello?” Wanda asks on the other end of the line.

“Wanda, darling.” Vision says with a smile, staring at the ceiling,” Seeing as you answered the landline, I assume you’re at the house?”

“Vision.” Her soft voice echoes through his head, he can feel her smile from here,” It’s a lovely home. I can see the dedication you’ve put into it. I like the display of my dvds.” Vision chuckles.

“Well, I got pretty attached to them too, you know?” Vision places his hands on his chest, listening as well as he can.

“I’m still going to collect a small fee for them.” Wanda says with a chuckle,” Don’t worry, it’ll only cost you a twelve hour marathon of whichever show I choose.” 

“Only twelve hours?” Vision says slyly,” What a steal, I was prepared for twenty four.”

“Now don’t tempt me, sweetheart.” Vision’s ‘heart’ flutters at the pet name,” I just had a nice chat with, what was her name?”

“Sarah!” Natasha’s voice rings out in the background.

“Ah, yes, Sarah.” Wanda chuckles,” And her daughter. They seem to be big fans. I didn’t even realize I had fans, it’s a weird feeling.”

“You should visit Sokovia.” Vision chuckles. The line goes silent for a moment,” I’m sorry, I didn’t mean any…”

“No, no it’s alright.” Wanda says in a soft voice,” I’m still trying to process that five years has past. Everything’s changed so much. I have fans, you’ve made this wonderful house, it’s strange to think I have to try and find a place to fit in.”

“You don’t need to find something you’ve already found.” Vision says in a soft tone,” And you’ve always had at least one fan.” Wanda laughs softly on the other line,” Oh, you should see my fan club president pin. It’s my pride and joy.”

“Oh, I thought that honor belonged to your strange amount of marshmallow pillows.” Wanda chuckles,” Though I will admit, they’re very soft.”

“Well, my tiny army appreciated the compliment.” The two chuckle softly, listing to the other breath on the other side of the phone.

“So, um, Sarah invited Nat and I out to have dinner with her. She said she knows this nice little place in town.” Wanda’s voice seems to trail off,” Will you be ok if I stay the night at the house?”

“What? Why would you need to ask me for that? Of course you can stay the night, I hope you have a fun time with the girls.” Vision chuckles out, he can almost hear her sympathetic head shaking. “ What gave it away?”

“It might have been a while, but you’re still as awkward as the first time you asked me out.” Wanda chuckles,” Now, are you going to tell me what’s really wrong?” Vision looks at the ceiling, gesturing to himself as to how to summarize the day's discussion. He sighs loudly,” That bad, huh?”

“I just had a disagreement of sorts with someone today.” Vision groans out,” He just...kept saying such insulting things. I snapped, and now I’m banished to a bedroom until Pym arrives.” Vision rolls to his side, looking out the small window letting in a few streams of sunlight,” I just wanted to hear your voice. I know I probably over reacted, but I just couldn’t let him talk about you that way.”

“Talking about me?” Wanda asks with concern. Vision bites his tongue slightly.

“What’s the possibility you’ll accept that I said ‘Sue’ not ‘you’?” Vision sheepishly looks to the ground, embarrassed of his own suggestion. Wanda giggles on the other end.

“Next to nil, sweetheart.” Wanda’s calm and kind tone relieves some of Vision’s tension.

“He just kept going off about you being ‘dangerous’ and other stuff.” Vision says,” I just got overheated. I haven’t seen you in forever, but this asshole has to come up out of literally nowhere and start spreading rumors about you in front of my face. You can see how I could snap, right?”

“Vis, you know I can fight my own battles.” Wanda sighs, Vision flinches,” But I appreciate that you’re there to stand up for me when I’m not there. I’ll have to have a chat with whoever this mysterious ‘he’ is.” 

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll enjoy that.” Vision chuckles.

“I’m still going to stay the night here. I want to make it through the house thoroughly.” Wanda’s smile is infectious through the phone in Vision’s head,” Can you make enough peace that I can still give ‘him’ a piece of my mind tomorrow?” Vision chuckles lightly.

“I’ll make sure to stay as amiable as I can be.” Vision says with a smile,” Enjoy your night, darling. Can I call again before bed?”

“You’ve become like a little puppy.” Wanda laughs,” Yes, I was planning to call even if you didn’t ask.” There’s a pause,” Love you, Vis.” Wanda sings sweetly into the phone. All of Vision’s tension fades from his body as he melts into the bed. He can’t stop grinning from ear to ear.

“Love you too, Wanda darling.” 

The line clicks as the call ends. Vision lies on his back, smiling from his heart, true happiness welling inside of him for the first time in a long while. He reaches up to cover his face with his hands, when he remembers he only has one arm at the moment. He laughs at himself for the small error, using his good arm to prop himself up on the side of the bed. He smiles gently around the near barren room, picturing where everything was even a year ago. He never thought he’d feel this content at it’s sparse interior. 

There’s a knock at the door. Vision scans the door. His scanners seem to still be glitching slightly, not giving a definitive answer of who’s there, but indicating someone’s there. He sighs, forcing a reboot of that system, before clearing his throat. The door slowly opens, Bruce peaks his head in and waves. Vision gives a wave back. Bruce fully enters the room.

“Hey there, bud.” Bruce says carefully as he squeezes through the door,” I came to check up on ya. It was a little hectic down there.”

“I’m alright, Doctor Banner.” Vision says with a smile,” Is that the only reason you’ve come up here? Is Pym close to arriving?” Vision scans the flight info, still around an hour left before he arrives,” Scratch that second question.”

“I’m just worried about you.” Bruce walks over and sits on the bed with Vision. The headboard lifts into the air slightly,” I’ve never seen you get that angry...I mean, not that I’ve had much of an opportunity to see that.” There’s a tense silence between the two of them.

“I just got angry at someone who was bad mouthing my loved one.” Vision sighs,” I know I went a little far. I just lost myself to anger.”

“I know that feeling.” Bruce says with a small laugh and gently pat on Vision’s back,” You’re talking to the king of anger.”

“I feel as though that might not be a mantle to hold pride in.”

“Just...just making a joke.” Bruce says with an awkward cough,” But, honestly, I know it doesn’t feel great to lose yourself to anger. The regret hurts a lot more once you’ve calmed down, and you feel guilty. So guilty…’ Bruce develops a thousand yard stare as he starts to reminisce.

“Doctor Banner?” Vision asks, gently nudging the green giant. Bruce clears his throat, looking at Vision, with a small smile.

“Thanks...sorry.”

“Oh, it’s alright, it’s normal to remember things when talking about heavy subjects.”

“That’s not the only thing I’m sorry for.” Bruce laughs,” I’ve got a lot of apologies to go around. Several special to you, several in general, several to others.”

“I’m unsure what you would need to apologize to me for.”

“Vision, there’s a small list of things I think I need to say sorry for.” Bruce pats Vision on the back,” Like, how I’m basically your dad, but I bounced almost as soon as you came into existence. How I didn’t contact you, or anyone, for two years as the hulk on Sakaar. How I left almost immediately after we came back from the Garden, and didn’t say anything to you for five years. I’m basically saying I’m a dead-beat dad.” Bruce laughs gently.

“I don’t think you need to apologize for any of that, Doctor Banner.” Vision smiles to Bruce gently,” I know you had your own circumstances. I have no right to judge you for any of that.”

“You have every right too.” Bruce chuckles,” Vision, I’m proud of who you’ve become.” Vision pauses, a little taken aback by the sweet words,” You’re an amazing man. It’s alright to get a little worked up sometimes, especially when someone is trashing your girlfriend. Trust me, if you didn’t pick up that wizard, I was getting damn close. Wanda’s barely someone I can call an acquaintance, but hearing someone talk about another human as though they’re a monster really gets on my nerves.” Bruce gently rubs Vision’s back with a reassuring smile,” You did a great thing, standing up for what you thought was right.”

“A great thing?” 

“A great thing.” Bruce stands from the bed, letting it slam to the ground behind them,” You can come down when you’re ready. Steve and Tony are having a long talk with Strange.” Bruce walks to the door, crouching down to leave.

“Thank you, Doctor Banner.” Vision says with a sincere smile. Bruce smiles back.

“You can call me ‘Bruce’.” He says with a smile, carefully exiting,” Maybe ‘dad’ if you’re feeling adventurous.”

“Goodbye, Bruce.” Vision chuckles. 

The door lightly closes shut. Vision checks the flight times again, about half an hour until Pym arrives. He closes his eyes, lying down on the bed, taking in a deep breath. He begins to reboot a few systems as he enters sleep mode for a light nap.

“How’s the puppy?” Nat teases from the lounge.

“Oh, hush.” Wanda laughs,” He’s fine, someone just got under his skin. I’ll have to talk to them tomorrow.”

“Bet it was Tony.” Nat laughs, hugging a peep and watching the tv absentmindedly,” He never knows when to shut his mouth.”

“Maybe.” Wanda sighs, sitting on the couch, tucking her feet under her and picking up a peep. “When did S...S..?”

“Sarah said she’ll be here around five. It’s only, like, one.” Nat turns towards Wanda,” Now, I’m not trying to be rude. But you might want to take a shower.”

“You really didn’t try not to be.” Wanda says with a snarky laugh,” It can’t be that bad. I mean I just showered…” Wanda pauses. She runs through the past couple of days through her head.

She had taken a shower before she and Vis left their hotel in Scotland. She held off those two aliens who attacked, running and dodging heavily. They all went to the compound, then almost immediately went to Wakanda, where the big ol’ battle happened. Then she apparently died, came back, did some more running, physical exertion, finding her near dead lover, then promptly passing out on her old bed in his arms. Waking up, breakfast, driving over here, chatting with neighbors, cleaning up a little around the house.

Wanda slowly looks down. She’s still wearing what she was wearing on the Wakandan battlefield, with all the blood and dirt. She looks at Natasha in disbelief. Natasha smirks, trying to hide a small laugh. Wanda throws her peep pillow at Natasha.

“You just let me make my first impression with my neighbors, in this?!” Wanda yells, picking up another peep and throwing it at the not laughing Natasha,” You said nothing!”

“I was tired, you were in shock.” Natasha laughs,” Besides, I need a good shower too. So go take yours, so I can take mine in the master shower.”

“What makes you think I’ll let you take a shower in the master shower?” Wanda says in a mocking tone, kicking one last pillow towards Natasha’s mountain of fluff,” You get the guest shower... maybe .”

“Awwww, come on. Mercy!” Nat calls after Wanda as she quickly trots up the stairs,” The guest shower doesn’t have good water pressure compared to the master shower.” Wanda peaks her head down the stairs to smirk at Natasha with a small nose scrunch. 

“Suffer.” Wanda jokes, quickly pulling up back to the second floor. They both laugh.

Wanda walks down the small hallway, carefully opening the door to check inside. There’s five doors, two to the left of the hallway, two to the right and one at the end next to a large window letting in sunlight. On the left, the first room seems to be a guest room, complete with a set of bunk beds and a twin bed. It’s dynamic aesthetic is vastly different from the rest of the house, random stickers are placed around the walls, more peeps litter the floor and beds, and the sheets are a mixture of dinosaurs and cartoon aliens. Wanda can’t help but chuckle at the childish sight, wondering who on earth helped Vision decorate, and why he didn’t change it. Across the hall from the bed room, is the guest bathroom. It’s a simple bathroom, maybe a little larger than you would expect. There’s a white tub big enough to soak in, a detachable shower head, several small totes of toiletries hanging in an organizer next to the bathtub with labeled compartments of which products belong to who. There’s two sinks, with a litany of tooth brushes once again organized with initials to figure out who gets what brush. There’s three simple yellow bath mats over the tile, along with one large duck shaped rug in the center. There’s also a toilet with a bidet, and a shelf full of towels ready to be used next to a hamper for dirty clothes. Wanda smiles, happy to see that Vision wasn’t completely alone these past years.

The next room to the left is a little confusing to Wanda. It’s like no one knows what this room should be, in the corner there’s a desk, but there’s also a set of weights next to an extended out futon. A TV sits adjacent to the desk, with a gaming system plugged in but not on, while next to the large window an easel stands with a single like of red paint in the center. In all, she’s not sure what to label it. Across the hall, she opens the door to see a large supply closet. Almost like a pantry, there’s a dozen towels, sheets, boxes of tissues, paper towels, a couple board games, a hammer, some nails, extra blankets, light bulbs, extra tubes of toothpaste, and a box of tampons. Wanda looks around, awestruck by the sheer amount of stuff packed into a teeny tiny room.

“I don’t hear water running!” Natasha yells from the first floor.

“I’m going in now.” Wanda yells back.

Wanda is slightly hesitant to open the master bedroom door. She lingers on the doorknob for a moment, trying to mentally prepare herself. She swings open the room, shocked at the sight. A king-size bed rests beneath a large window pane, slightly angled so the sky is visible when you lie down for bed. The large red comforter shimmers in the sunlight like a ruby, it’s pleated texture flowing like small waves, it almost looks like it’s calling Wanda to come rest on it.. To the right of the room, a drawer set sits, neatly on top is a collection of cologne samples and a few pictures framed and displayed proudly. On a small plate on the opposite end of the samples is a bottle of Wanda’s favorite perfume, indicating the two drawers beneath belong to her. On the wall by the door, a TV sits, it’s remote on one of the two nightstands next to the bed. To the left of the room is a barn door style door, leading to the master bathroom.

Wanda walks over to the bathroom, and feels even more surprised than the elegant bedroom. To the right, under another window like the bedroom, lies a large soaking bathtub with small jets in the sides. Around the sides of the bathtub is a series of candles, well used. The window has a film on it, making it near impossible to look inside from the outside. At the end of the bathroom is a walk-in closet, dim without it’s lighting. To the right, there’s two sinks close to each other, next to the large shower. The glass door seems a little alarming to Wanda, but she sighs, there’s nothing to do about it. A towel rack hangs adjacent to the shower.

Wanda closes the door behind her, walking into the closet and flicking on the lights. There isn’t much in here, she didn’t have many clothes and Vision just wears the same like five sweaters and pants. There’s another hamper, so she strips, placing her clothes in the hamper, sniffing them before and realizing they’re a little ripe. She carefully covers her chest and privates, walking from the closet into the shower.

She looks around in the shower. Above there’s a large shower head that looks like it rains down water, while on the two sides of her, there’s a series of nozzles embedded in the walls. In front of her, there’s a small panel. She looks at it curiously, touching a button that looks like it’ll turn it all on. Suddenly the nozzles on the sides spray out water, cold at first, then soothingly warm. Wanda shutters at the relaxing temperature, turning around to see the glass has frosted to not be visible from the outside. Suddenly the fixture above her turns on, releasing a gentle and warm rain on top of her. She feels like she’s in heaven.

She slowly washes away all the dirt, grime and dried blood from old cuts and scratches. She runs her fingers through her hair, looking around the shower for a shampoo shelf or something. In the corner, a set of her favorite shampoos sit, with a small little plaque saying ‘ Hers’ . She looks to the other corner, a little plaque saying ‘ His’ sits, beneath a single bottle of water sauble metal polish. Wanda can’t help but laugh at the ridiculous site, smiling as she washes her hair. She sings small songs to herself, some in english, some in sokovian.

It takes her thirty minutes to get out. Once she shuts off the water, she turns quickly, but the glass is still frosted/fogged. She carefully opens the door, peaking to make sure Natasha hadn’t snuck in. the coast seems clear, she reaches and grabs for a towel and towel hat. She carefully dries herself inside the shower, watching the frost slowly fade with the fog. She wraps herself in the towel, wraps her hair and exits the shower.

“Finally my turn?” Natasha asks jokingly, sitting on the sink counter. Wanda jumps, realizing she’s probably been there the whole time.

“Yeah, yeah, but you better have taken the Natasha toiletries.” Wanda jokes. Natasha holds up a small shower caddie with various soaps, shampoos and loofahs. Wand smirks, gesturing to the closet.

Natasha smiles, jumping onto the ground. Wanda let’s her pass, carefully holding her towel up. She walks over to the sinks, looking at the large mirror, then at herself in the mirror. The steam really cleared her face. She looks around the counter, seeing a red toothbrush and some toothpaste in between the two sinks. She reaches to it, picking it up. She looks closer, noticing a little button, when she presses it the toothbrush begins to spin and pulse with vibrations. She laughs, putting on some toothpaste and sticking it in her mouth, beginning to brush. The shower door closes behind her, then the water begins running. The toothbrush stops on it’s own, so Wanda spits out the toothpaste and rinses. She takes off the towel hat, patting her hair dry and she looks at herself in the mirror.

“If you’re looking for underwear, it’s in the drawers in the bedroom.” Natasha yells from the shower.

Wanda glances at the shower, she wasn’t necessarily thinking it, but that’s a little strange for Natasha to know. She looks at the drawers from the bathroom, realizing the barn door’s open fully. She summons energy to her hand, focusing on the drawer to try to open it. She pulls her hand towards her, and quickly realizes she’s moving the whole drawer set. She sighs, choosing to just run for it to grab some underwear. She grabs the first bra and panties she sees from pulling open the drawer quickly, then rushes back into the bathroom.

“Geez, practicing your sprinting, Quicksilver?” Natasha asks from the shower.

“Very funny.” Wanda sneers back,” Why do you know where my underwear is stored?”

“I got bored and explored every drawer, shelf and cupboard in this place.” Natasha sings out,” You shouldn’t expect privacy from a spy.”

“True.” Wanda laughs, quickly putting on the underwear. 

She peaks to make sure the glass is frosted, before quickly hopping into the closet. She picks out a simple pair of black leggings, a nice rose colored blouse, a grey cardigan and a pair of black boots. She puts on the clothes, waiting to put on the shoes until she’s downstairs. The water stops, Wanda turns to see Natasha leaving the shower. She blushes, turning away quickly to look into the closet.

“Oh, it’s ok, we’re both women.” Natasha chuckles,” Now, hand me something to wear, my overnight bag here only has PJs, a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.” 

“Fine, I hope you like red.” Wanda says, slightly defeated. She picks out a burgundy tank top, a black jacket, black leggins and a skirt. She turns to face the now towel clad Natasha, drying her hair with a towel. 

Natasha reaches out. Wanda gives her the clothes. She looks them over, nodding with an approving smile. She tossed Wanda the towel she was using to dry her hair, and walked out of the room with a slight swagger, towards the guest room. Wanda chuckles at the situation. She stands before the mirror again, going through a couple drawers to find some eyeshadow or an eyeliner pen, or even a small amount of concealer to hide some of the dark circles under her eyes. 

“Right, Vision’s a stickler for expiration dates.” She sighs to herself. She looks in the mirror, while she wouldn’t describe the face looking back at her as ‘bad’, it certainly didn’t say ‘I get a solid eight hours of sleep every night’. “Natasha!”

“What?” The voice rings from down the hallway.

“Is there, like, a general store or something in town? I want some concealer, maybe eyeliner.” Wanda makes faces at herself in the mirror, scrunching her nose, opening her mouth like a fish, just enjoying herself.

“Yeah, we can find something.” Natasha yells back,” We’ve got time.”

Wanda ties up her hair with a hair tie she finds in the cabinets. She goes into the bedroom, lying on top of the comforter, staring at the clouds on the beautiful October day. Natasha quickly knocks on the door. Wanda sighs, getting up. The two look each other over, giving nods of approval to the other. They head downstairs, putting on their shoes at the bottom of the stairs.

“Should I also buy some candy?” Natasha asks.

“For what?” Wanda asks, lacing up the boots.

“Halloween.”

“Oh, right Halloween. That’s in October, right?” Wanda glances to Natasha, who looks at her in confusion.

“Wanda, you’ve celebrated Halloween before right?”

“Haha, ob...obviously I have.” Natasha doesn’t look to be buying it,” It’s hard to celebrate a holiday like that when you’re on the run from the law in Europe.” Wanda chuckles,” It wasn’t a tradition in Sokovia either. The only year I was in the US to even celebrate it, I was still mourning Pietro, so I didn’t want to go out. It looks fun on tv, but I haven’t.”

“We’re going costume shopping this weekend.” Natasha chuckles,” If we get that far.”

“Deal.” Wanda smiles back.

“I’m gonna buy a boatload of bite size Milky Ways. We can eat them tonight too.” Natasha laughs, opening the door for Wanda,” Really make a Girls Night out of it.”

“Sounds fun.” Wanda chuckles.

The door closes behind them, leaving the house empty, save for the small hum of the TV, paused on a frame of Modern Family, with everyone happily smiling and laughing. 

Chapter Text

Vision gets an alert to an incoming car entering the compound. He connects to the security camera, seeing Wanda and Natasha entering. He quickly makes his way to the front of the compound, running since he still can’t fly or float properly. He comes to a near skidding stop, smiling gleefully as Wanda gets out of the passenger seat. Wanda looks up, seeing Vision, and begins to smile just as gleefully.  

“Darling!” Vision exclaims. Wanda laughs, running and jumping into his arm. Vision twirls around, holding her close, chuckling happily. He sets her down, and she jumps back quickly, pulling out her shirt for Vision to look at. In big letters it says ‘Welcome to Westview’. Vision smiles gently and chuckles at the adorable sight.

“I went shopping with Nat yesterday, and at this little general store there were a few souvenir t-shirts. I thought it would be fun to buy matching t-shirts.” Wanda says gleefully. Natasha peaks her head over the roof of the car. She starts standing on the floor of the car so her torso is seen over the roof of the car, revealing the same shirt. Vision chuckles in disbelief, Natasha smuggly smiles.

“Well, I’m glad to hear it was at least a little fun.” Vision chuckles, putting his arm around Wanda, leading her inside,” It’s been a bit tense around here. For now, I’ll introduce you to Doctor Pym and his associates. They’re quite skilled, I think you’ll like them.”

“Is the guy from yesterday mixed in with the ‘associates’?” Wanda teases, holding Vision’s arm around her and leaning into him.

“Ugh.” Vision groans out,” You’ll have to meet him soon.”

“Oh fun, ‘have’, I’m so excited.” Wanda chuckles. Vision leans down and kisses her on the forehead, chuckling to himself. Wanda looks up to him, giving him a small peck on the lips and scrunching her nose at him in triumph. She lifts her hand to Vision’s head,” If you don’t mind, I’d like to see the incident and all that.” Vision gives an unsure look. Wanda looks at him with worry, tilting her head slightly. Vision sighs.

“Alright.” He says with a small sigh. He quickly scans through his memory files, along with the archival system to retrieve the hastily retrieved memory. In a matter of a seconds he’s prepared to play out the scenario for her.

She gently releases energy into his arc reactor, her eyes softly glowing red around the edges of her irises. As she plays through the footage quickly, her face furrows into a discontent scowl. Once she’s gone through the memory, she retracts her hand. She looks up to Vision, a hurt and sad expression on display. He really didn’t want her to hear it, but she has a right to know. Wanda’s scowl turns soft, she hugs Vision tightly. Vision carefully hugs her back.

“Thank you for showing me.” She says softly,” Now, leave the rest to me.” Vision chuckles, taking her by the hand and slowly walking through the halls.

The two flirt and walk all the way to the lab. Wanda looks around at the frames that are now covered in plastic. She sheepishly looks at the ground, Vision gently pats her head. They enter the room. The four figures around the lab stop what they’re doing and look towards the door.

“Hello, everyone!” Vision says with a gleeful smile,” This is my darling, Wanda Maximoff. Wanda, meet Doctor Hank Pym, Doctor Janet Van-Dyne, Hope Van-Dyne and Scott Lang.”

“Oh, we’ve met before.” Scott says with a smile and wave,” She’s so cool, she held up a building with her powers.” Hope shoves Scott aside playfully, and walks up to the pair in the door. She extends her hand with a gentle smile on her face.

“Hope Van-Dyne.” She says gently. Wanda takes her hand and shakes it,” It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure’s all mine.” Wanda says softly with a smile,” I’m just grateful you all decided to help. If there’s anything I can do to help, just ask and I’ll be happy to assist.”

Hank leads to Janet and whispers,” She’s a human?” Janet elbows him in the ribs,” I’m just saying it’s a bit weird for a human to fall for a robot.”

“Oh stop.” Janet scoffs softly,” I think they look sweet together.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Hank says dismissively. He turns to his work, carefully adjusting the temperature of the spin plate in the fume hood. Janet softly scoffs.

“We’ll be sure to call for you, dear.” Janet says with a small wave. Wanda and Vision take the hints, waving as they walk out the door.

“Ah, wait, Vision.” Hank calls out from his seat. Vision peaks in his head,” I’m going to need you to work with Scott and Hope for a bit. Those time stamps you recorded on the suits, we need to figure out the location and time to send back the hero. You three will be responsible for programming the last trip, so it’s best to try to be as accurate as possible.”

“Ah.” Vision looks between Hank and Wanda. He sighs softly, leaning down to give Wanda a small kiss,” The others are most likely in the hangar.” Wanda smiles, kissing his cheek softly.

“Go save the world, darling.” She chuckles. She walks down the hallway out of sight. Vision turns and walks over to Scott and Hope, ready to start.

Wanda walks alone through the halls, making her way to the hangar where several people indeed stand around a large machine in the center of the room. She walks up slowly, looking around at the motley crew assembled. She can make out Steve, Sam, Tony and Rhodes. She doesn’t really know who the man with the metal arm is, though she does remember saving him in Germany during the airport battle. The large green man is new, he looks like the hulk but he’s wearing a shirt so that can’t be right. She saw him working on Vision, so he’s at least an ally. Finally, there’s a man who looks to be hovering? He floats above the machine, and looks a little familiar. She walks closer to everyone, Tony and Steve seem to be mid-conversation.

“I’m just asking to save some parts for scrap. I’m not going to make another time travel device, I just want to have the materials ready to make stuff for Morgan.” Tony says with a sigh.

“Tony, we both know that you can’t take anything.” Steve groans back,” You’ll get properly reimbursed for your time and effort when we write the report to the UN. But this machine is going to have to be properly and fully destroyed once the mission’s over.” Tony grumbles under his breath.

“Time travel?” Wanda asks, from behind, causing the two to jump slightly,” That sounds fun. Is this a time machine?” She points to the large machine,” Bigger than I thought it would be.”

“I fear what your idea of a time machine is.” Steve laughs, ruffling her hair,” How’re ya doing, kiddo?”

“Better when you don’t call me ‘kiddo’.” She laughs,” The house was lovely, very cozy. The neighbors are nice and the shops are cute. But, I had to come back, because apparently someone’s trying to talk about me behind my back.” 

“Ah, Strange get down here, someone wants to meet you!” Tony yells, giving a small wink to Wanda.

Strange turns, seeing Wanda standing next to Tony and Steve. He takes in a breath, puffs out his chest and floats down to the ground. He tries his best to look intimidating, only to be met with a sly smirk from Wanda.

“Doctor Steven Strange.” He says, extending his arm for a handshake. Wanda takes it and smiles sweetly.

“Wanda Maximoff.” She says sweetly,” but it appears as though you already know that.” Wanda’s eyes glow softly as she stares into Strange’s eyes. Strange smirks knowingly, and Wanda chuckles,” This will be a lot easier if you lift whatever protection is on your brain.”

“Can’t risk you learning any of my secrets.” Strange says with a smile. Wanda laughs heartily, shocking the room slightly. Strange looks at Tony and Steve who shrug in confusion.

“You’re quite confident for a fool.” Wanda chuckles out after a moment, her eyes glow softly red, as her hands begin to shroud with red energy. She’s about to flick it towards Strange, when someone grabs her wrist.

“Woah, there, tiger.” Natasha says, gently tapping Wanda’s hand until the red fades. Natasha leans in to Wanda and whispers,” Don’t prove him right.” Wanda sighs, yanking her hand away and dispersing the energy. She gives a fake smile to Strange.

“Guess you still let your emotions run the show.” Tony says with a sigh, patting Wanda’s back. Wanda swats away his hand. He looks slightly hurt for a moment before clenching his fist and swinging it next to his side.

“Alright, let’s head to the conference room.” Natasha says in an authoritative tone,” Willson, Barnes, Rhodes and Banner, you can stay here and finish the fine tuning. Rogers, Stark, Strange and Wanda with me.”

“Only I get my name? How fun.” Wanda jokes, following Natasha closely as they walk to the conference room.

“Maximoff is a mouthful.” Natasha says with a smile,” At least compared to all the short last names here.” The duo share a laugh as they walk.

Once in the conference room, everyone sits around the large table. Wanda and Strange sit across from one another, while the others sit between them. Natasha silently let’s Strange take the floor. Strange clears his throat with a small cough.

“First of all, I want to properly apologize.” Strange starts, motioning to Wanda,” I had some high tensions and ended up blowing up about this topic. I said things without thinking about the consequences because I was flustered that the futures I saw didn’t come to pass. I took that as an omen that something worse might be coming, and unfairly decided that would be…” Wanda raises her hand. Strange questioningly points at her as if to call on her.

“Did you just call me worse than Thanos?” Wanda says in an annoyed tone. Eyes quickly shoot back to Strange. He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“I didn’t mean that.” Strange says in frustration,” I just want to alert you to the possibility of your power somehow going rogue and causing some kind of disaster.” The room falls quiet for a moment, awaiting Wanda’s response.

“Mister Strange.” Wanda says, leaning on the table.

“Doctor.” Strange quickly retorts back.

“Not when you’re seven years out of practice with a legally revoked license from the New York board for being ‘not mentally suited to care for patients’.” Wanda snaps back with a venomous smile. The room sits in a shocked silence, looking over to Strange whose mouth is frozen agape like a fish.” So Mr. Strange. I’m going to tell you a story.”

“Wanda, I don’t know if that’s…” Steve starts before Wanda raises a finger to let her continue.

“When I was young, growing up in Sokovia, there wasn't much to do. However, every so often a traveling circus would park outside the edge of Novi Grad. Pietro, my twin brother, and I would beg and beg for Mama and Papa to take us. They would relent, giving us about two dollars each, to go and have fun at the carnival. I would spend it on the ferris wheel or the show in the big top. Do you want to know what Pietro always spent his two dollars on?” She looks around the room at the listening faces and smiles, leaning back in her chair,” Pietro was enraptured with the idea of fortune tellers. He’d always rush over to her tent, eagerly handing her every cent. Every time he would ask the same three questions, and every time he got different answers to the same questions. I told him she was faking, that he shouldn’t waste his money and go to the show with me. Do you know what he said to me? He said,’ Fate can change with the wind, so I need to keep checking it out. It’s fun.’. After the bomb dropped, we no longer went to the circus. Pietro never  gave up on fortune tellers. We had a friend in the rebellion who said she could read the future with tarot cards. Pietro would ask for a reading every week until we volunteered.”

“Where’s this going?” Tony interrupts.

“With my brother’s death, I’ve come to accept many of his own ideals and philosophies. However, I don’t believe in fortunes, fate or the like.” Wanda stares at Strange,” Nor fortune tellers.”

“I’m not a fortune teller.” Strange says with an angry puff.

“You base your assumption of me off of perceived visions of the future.” Wanda says back calmly,” Instead of taking me, the real and actual me, into account, you’ve labeled me guilty of crimes I don’t even know about. Without giving me a chance to show how I can be of good to the world, it appears as though you think I am only her next threat. If you would let me see these ‘crimes’ I could figure out my own way to stop them from occurring, but if you remain stubborn in your ideals to chain me in a cage for observing, then I would say I’m more likely to become the monster you believe me to be.”

“You don’t need to be locked up, but you can’t be allowed to roam the streets free of observation.” Strange says defiantly,” I can’t risk showing you what I saw, as it might awaken something within you and put everyone in danger.”

“‘She made reality bend to her will.’ Is that how you put it?” Wanda asks. Strange looks at Wanda with shock. She smiles,” It wasn’t your mind that told me that. I just want to know why you fear me. Without proper explanation, I can’t take your claims to heart.”

“I think that one instance is enough proof you hold a dangerous power within you.” Strange leans forwards, staring straight into Wanda’s eyes.

“As scary a story as it is.” Steve says with a sigh,” I don’t agree with trying to suppress her without proper real reason. The last time I found out about someone trying to suppress someone based off of perceived futures, I destroyed three of their airships.” Natasha smiles slightly,” It’s not that I don’t believe you, Strange, but the circumstances of your story and the one unfolding at this very moment are two completely different events.”

“I’m not really sure what you’re all talking about.” Natasha says with a sigh,” But I think it’d be for the best if we let Wanda stay as an Avenger, and train her to maintain physical power as well as let her figure out her own power.”

“I want to give her the benefit of the doubt.” Tony says with a smile,” I know it’s not what you want to hear here, Strange. Take this from the leading poster child of paranoia, perceived futures aren’t always the only futures.” Tony looks at Steve and Natasha,” I threw a bit of a tantrum when Thanos snapped, saying I called this happening but no one listened. When it did happen, you know what I didn’t feel? Proud. I felt empty, hopeless, angry that I couldn’t do enough to stop the future I saw. Now, five years later, that future got flipped on its head, and I couldn’t be happier to have been wrong.”

“Tony.” Strange looks to Tony with a wary stare.

“I’ll bet wherever you guys store your books on magic, you have at least something pertaining to whatever Wanda’s working with.” Tony says with a chuckle,” The Avengers will watch over her and her growth until you can find a proper way to train her that helps you sleep better at night. If anything, someone at Hogwarts might be able to use the same stuff.” Natasha kicks Tony’s shin under the table.

“We’ll be sure to show her how much of her power should be used according to international laws and regulations, as well as monitor her loosely to make sure she doesn’t cause any problems.” Natasha says with a kind smile,” If you can’t find a single trace of any way to help Wanda when you go home, then we’ll have another meeting. Does that sound fair?”

Strange looks at everyone’s expectant glances towards him. He focuses his sight on Wanda once more. She passively raises her hands in surrender, showing her agreement with Natasha’s plan. Strange then looks to Tony, the man who had so much to lose, who lost everything in the ‘only’ good future. Just his existence shakes his belief in his claims against Wanda, not that he’ll ever admit it. He takes a breath in, before nodding to Natasha for the agreement. Wong might know something.

“We’ll get started by reading her the revised Sokovia Accords.” Natasha says, walking over to a cabinet set and pulling out the latest rendition of the Accords. “If you’d like, you can stay and listen to the restrictions put on all super powered individuals.” It doesn’t sound like an offer, more like a passive aggressive command to stay.

The conference room is filled with talks of the accords for a couple hours. Tony, Steve and Natasha thoroughly educate the two super beings on the new laws of the land they’re returning to, until a knock on the door stops them. Wanda opens the door without getting up, mentally exhausted from the hours of lecturing and preaching. Vision stands and waves a small greeting to the room. Wanda’s face lights up softly in his presence.

“I’m here to tell you that the tip has been fully programmed, and the particles should be stabilized and ready for use in twelve hours.” Vision says with a smile while rocking slightly on the balls of his feet,” All that’s left is to figure out who’s going to return the stones. Everyone’s currently in the lounge discussing it and giving suggestions. I thought you might want to come and join them.”

“Thank you, vision.” Steve says with a smile, getting up from the chair with an exaggerated groan. He looks to the others, clapping his hands,” You heard the man, let’s head to the lounge.”

“Fine.” Natasha says with a smile,” We’re almost done, anyways. We’ll come back to this after dinner.” Wanda and Strange groan at the same time. They then shoot stern looks at each other. 

Vision gets out of the way, letting the others go past him, waiting for Wanda. When she walks out, she walks to his good arm, gently hugging it and resting her head on his shoulder. Vision smiles and walks with her to the lounge.

“It should be someone who already went back! It’s a simple factor that should be obvious!” Rhodey yells through the room.

“What about the rest of us, then?” Bucky yells back, standing on the coffee table. Vision looks with a poorly concealed shock, Wanda tries to hide a smirk at the heated debate. Steve sighs and claps loudly once. All attention falls on him.

“It seems as though we’ve missed a bit of the fun.” Steve chuckles,” Now, how about we start over the discussion.”

“These two are trying to say they should go back.” Rhodey says, motioning to Sam and Bucky,” I think one of the people who knows how to use the technology and can accurately take the stones back should go.”

“Fair point.” Steve says.

“Just because you all went one more time than us, doesn’t mean you can do it better.” Sam says with a scoff.

“One time is far more experienced than zero.” Bruce chimes in reluctantly,” We can’t risk user error destroying the universe.”

“We can agree on that.” Tony says with a sigh,” I don’t want to call up Barton and force him to come back for this, Vision still needs repaired and shouldn’t risk going, Rocket andThor are heading off-world and leaving us with that glorified paperweight.” Tony points to Mjolnir in the corner of the room. 

“That leaves Rogers, Stark, Lang, Rhodes and me.” Natasha says with a sigh.

“I would like to opt out.” Scott says with a raised hand,” I don’t feel mentally ready to go through any more time travel for the rest of my life.”

“Shouldn’t we see who can pick up Mjolnir?” Vision says with a sigh,” In any case, I can go. I’ve wielded the hammer before.”

“Don’t get so hasty.” Steve says,” We’ll line up.”

The four walk over to the corner where Mjolnir sits. Rhodes steps up first, taking a firm grip. He pulls up with a hard yank. Nothing, not even a nudge. Rhodes grumbles and walks over to an empty seat, flopping down. Tony looks between the other two, smirking slightly. He leans down, taking a sturdy grip. He grunts as he strains to lift the hammer. Some might say there was a small move like Captain America all those years ago, but the hammer doesn’t lift off the ground. Steve and Natasha look at each other. Natasha smirks.

“Ladies first.” She teases. Steve rolls his eyes and chuckles.

Steve approaches the hammer. The room falls into a tense silence watching the original Avenger slowly put his hands around the handle. Steve takes an unsteady breath, clearing his mind. He closes his eyes, and with a mighty yank, he stumbles backwards. He opens his eyes, looking where the hammer once lay, now barren. He looks to his left hand, smiling and chuckling at the sight at the might in his clutches. The room recovers from the shock, clapping and laughing. Of course Captain America can wield it. He’s the definition of worthy.

“Guess that’s that.” Steve says with a smile to Nat,” Doctor Pym, I’ve been told the particle should be ready in twelve hours?”

“As much as I hate to admit it.” Hank grumbles,” This place has the best lab facility I’ve ever seen. The samples should be ready by six.”

“Let’s plan to put the plan into motion by seven.” Steve says with a smile,” For now, let’s get something to eat.”

Steve sets down Mjolnir in the corner. Excited murmurs break through the various groups as they head out of the room. There’s a silent agreement that they’ll eat off campus where Steve wants. Once almost everyone’s left the room, Natasha remains, looking to the hammer. She glances around, making sure no one’s around.

She takes a shaking breath. She carefully holds the handle of the hammer, pulling up gently to test. There’s no resistance. She opens her eyes, the hammer rests gently in her palm. She chuckles softly to herself, a warmth enveloping her heart as she looks at the intricate carvings. She can barely believe other’s couldn’t move it.

“It’s a good look.” Vision says softly from the entrance of the room. Natasha quickly looks over, seeing Wanda and Vision smiling softly at her. Natasha sets down the hammer, clearing her throat.

“You didn’t see that.” She says in a quiet voice.

“We know.” Wanda says gently. Natasha smiles at the pair, walking over and breaking in between them, hugging them both inside embraces and walking towards the large group. Wanda and Vision share a knowing nod, embracing their friend and hustling to meet up with them.

Steve chooses an old Pizzeria, one opened in nineteen ten, for the team dinner. Everyone plays the part of the happy and congratulatory team mate, hiding their insecurities about the mission. They stay long past close, celebrating their victories and wishing for the best of luck for the upcoming mission. Once they return, everyone separates into their rooms, wishing a goodnight to anyone who passes by. No one really sleeps. Maybe a small power nap between bouts of anxiety and restlessness, but nonetheless all is quiet in the compound.

By seven, everyone’s gathered in the hangar. Steve has his suit ready, full of Pym particles and programmed with locations and times for returning all the stones. Small jokes are exchanged to try and lighten the mood. Vision finishes adjusting Steve’s suit. His hand lingers on Steve’s shoulder.

“Worried?” Steve asks softly.

“I have a selfish request, Captain.” Vision says in a voice quietly, so only Steve can hear. Steve looks to Vision with curiosity. Vision carefully sneaks a vial of Pym particles into Steve’s hand.

“Vis?”

“It’s an infinitesimally small chance.” Vision says softly, looking to the ground behind Steve,” But I’ve bet on lower odds.” Vision looks at Steve with a careful plea. Steve smiles and nods with a silent understanding. Vision smiles a small smile,” Good luck.”

“I don’t think I’ll need it.” Steve smirks. Vision walks down to the floor, Sam and Bucky walk up and have a small chat with Steve. Vision walks over and leans on Wanda.

“Everyone vacate the platform.” Bruce says. The three exchange a last hug, before Sam and Bucky rush down the ramp,” Last checks complete. You ready Steve?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Steve jokes. He looks over to Bucky and smiles,” Don’t to anything stupid while I’m gone.”

“How can I?” Buck responds with a soft laugh,” You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

“Five, four, three, two, one…” Bruce presses a button and Steve disappears. Everyone takes and holds a breath.

“How long will he be gone?” Sam asks.

“For us, ten seconds. For him? As long as he needs.” Bruce says,” Reappearing in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.”

Everyone holds their breath. How could a single second feel so long? The machine roars to life. No one dares to blink, Wanda squeezes Vision’s hand, Vision holds Wanda close. With a flash, the machinery dies down. Everyone looks to the platform in shock. No one dares to move.

Steve Rogers stands proud, before kneeling. He softly takes the unsteady blue hand. She stands on shaking legs, braces heavily by Steve. Once they make eye contact, Vision feels tears begin to fall down his cheeks. Natasha shakily gasps, bracing herself on Vision. 

“Nebs.” Vision breaks the silence with his shaking voice,” Welcome back.”

Chapter Text

The stunned crowd jumps to attention. Chaos begins to take hold, only to be calmed in a flash with a harsh whistle. Everyone gazes towards Natasha, who takes in a deep breath, a fiery gaze glinting in the corners of her eyes. She looks to Sam and Bucky, silently giving them their orders. They nod, in awed agreement, rushing up to the machine to help the pair down. Shocked, the room looks towards her for instruction.

“Call medical, we need a crew down here to observe these two.” Natasha commands,” Barnes, Sam, take them to the medical wing. Vision, get into contact with the Guardians. Tony erase everything regarding this project, Bruce makes sure he does.” Natasha gives a proud smile towards the weary pair of time travelers,” Great job.”

With a clap of her hands, the room obeys. Vision walks a little ways away to have a conversation with the Guardians about the news via phone call, Strange and Scott rush with Sam and Bucky to get the medical staff alerted to the situation, Hank and Janet walk behind Tony and Bruce to the lab to observe the deletion of the files, leaving Natasha, Hope and Wanda in front of the time machine.

“What should I do?” Wanda asks, gently fidgeting with her hands. Natasha slyly grins, only pointing to the large machine in front of them. Wanda looks between her and the machine,” Really?”

“Miss Van-Dyne can work on frying and destroying the consoles.” Natasha points to the nearby computer setup, Hope nods,” But, I think you’re the only one I can count on for this, Wands.” Wanda looks at her curiously, Natasha rolls her eyes. With a reassuring pat on the back, Natasha pushes Wanda forwards.

Wanda looks towards the huge machine. She hesitantly summons the pulsing red magic to her hands. She concentrates, doing her best to wrap the whole thing, pulling her hands apart to pull the machine apart. The machine roars and grunts over the intense pressure, yet fails to yield under her power. Wanda lets out a loud grunt, dispelling her magic to pant slightly from exertion. Natasha comes up behind her, looking the structure up and down. An idea pops into her head and she smirks.

“What if…” She says in a near emotionless cool tone,” You take all the emotions you’ve been feeling these past couple of days, amplify them, Then release them onto the machine.” Wanda looks to her with a hint of confusion,” It’ll probably be like therapy. I’m not sure what you felt when fighting Thanos, but the fear or anger when you came back. The prep for the battle that never came, the feeling of not seeing Vision before finding him, etc. Recall, ball and… shit, I cannot think of another good ‘-all’ word to make this sound more fun.”

“So stress myself out and take it out on the machine.” Wanda says with a disbelieving laugh and a smirk. She looks at Natasha, a deathly serious gaze in her eyes. Wanda realizes she’s not joking. ”Ok. Ok, that sounds like it might work.”

Wanda closes her eyes, doing her best to recall the moments when she’s felt intense emotion. She recalls the gut wrenching fear and hopelessness of watching Thanos reform the Mind Stone, the pain of being torn away, seeing Vision’s horrified expression as she faded, the anger and sadness of having to see him grey and dulled on the lab table. She feels a heat raising inside her, but once she begins ruminating she can’t stop. She thinks about her intense anger towards Strange, not for badmouthing her, but for causing Vision to make that heartbreaking expression. Her mind wanders to Sokovia, Pietro dying in the streets by Ultron and the pain of her heart breaking as he takes his final breath, her parents disappearing from her life in a moment without even a chance to say goodbye, the bomb that scared her witless for two days. The heat grows stronger within her chest, burning her lungs as she breathes. She thinks about the experiments, the dehydration and the IV being forced into her skin while they mercilessly experimented and her and Pietro. Pietro’s screams echo in her ears, almost fresh, followed by Vision’s cries of pain from being stabbed by Corvus Glaive, then by Vision telling her to kill him to save the universe. The heat is near unbearable. Her chest burns and aches. She lets out a blood curdling scream, freezing everyone in the hangar.

Wanda’s eyes open, glowing a fierce red, nearly engulfing her entire eye in it’s flames. Natasha takes a worried step back, watching red magic swirl and collect around Wanda, lifting her into the air and causing a strong breeze through the hangar. Wanda glares at the structure in front of her, nothing more than an obstacle to a new life. She thrusts a hand out, a large spindle of red engulfs one of the pronged structures on the back of the machine. She flicks a single finger, hurling the spindle across the hangar, lodging itself into the cement wall with an ear shattering smash. Natasha covers her head, looking around in horror to Hope and Vision. Hope trembles at the awesome sight in front of her, Vision begins running towards Wanda, his face contorted into worry and terror.

“Keep damage compact, Wands.” Natasha yells with a shaking voice, trying to sound confident over the intensity of the situation. Wanda slowly looks down to Natasha, glaring coldly in her direction. Natasha’s blood turns to ice, she’s transfixed by Wanda’s glare, unable to move. Wanda gives a subtle nod, returning her gaze to the machine.

Wanda lifts her other hand. A storm of energy encircles the machine, Wanda glares at it, pushing her hands together with immense force, as though there was something between the foot of empty space between them. The metal cracks and shrieks loudly, the building shakes with reverberations from the metal collapsing upon itself. The structure of the machine seems to be crumpling in on itself, as though a measly drawing on a piece of paper. Wanda starts to scream louder as she pushes her hands closer and closer together, but it’s drowned out by the ungodly snapping and crunching echoing throughout the facility.

Anyone not attending to a medical emergency makes their way to the hangar, only to witness the unadulterated might of Wanda Maximoff. She continues to move her hands closer and closer, until they finally meet in the middle. A wave of energy explodes from the structure into the room, knocking back everything that hasn’t been nailed down to the ground into the walls. Windows shatter, jet’s and helicopters back with vicious speeds, the unfortunate humans in the room spurt small amounts of blood from their ears, and Vision gets pinned to the wall through sheer force of the blast.

Once the shockwave ends, the red fades from the room. Wanda begins to float to the ground, weakly touching down her feet, nearly collapsing once gravity makes its presence known to her once more. Vision breaks free from the force, using super speed to brace Wanda and she falls. He holds her gently, brushing away a small stream of blood from her nose. She looks at him, her eyes still hazy with red energy. He smiles, reaching with his bad arm to try and caress her and reassure her, only for the stub of an arm to greet their sights. Vision recoils, Wanda reaches up and softly touches the disfigurement. She smiles softly, red magic emanates from her fingertips, wrapping the wound.

The strands of magic begin to move independently. They dance together in harmony, weaving a tapestry from the base of the stump, creating the image of an arm. The shape defines further, filling in all gaps with more red mist, solidifying as it works towards his finger tips. In a matter of seconds, Vision’s arm is restored to a near perfect condition. He looks in shock towards it, then to Wanda. Wanda smiles a gleeful smile, closing her eyes and passing out in his arms. 

Vision hears a group begin to approach quickly. He gently picks up Wanda and stands. Without a word to anyone, he carries Wanda out of the hangar quickly. Everyone watches him leave, unwilling to risk calling out and calling upon his wrath on top of hers. Tony’s the first to turn his attention to where the grand machine once stood. He stifles a gasp, as he looks at the two foot orb of polished metal that sits in its place. He slowly approaches, reaching out to touch it. It’s burning hot on the surface, small streams of red energy flicker out of it as it steams. He looks towards the door, masking his horror, before clearing his throat.

“I’ll, uh, I’ll have you confirm the files have been deleted doctor.” Tony says in an uncomfortably formal tone,” Feel free to do what you will with the suits. I think...I think I’m going to go home.”

“I’ll do that.” Hank says quickly in response,” I wish you the best of luck in all your future endeavors.” Hank stiffly walks towards the door, a glazed over-look prevalent on his face as he braces against Janet. He begins to mutter,” Magic is real. Magic has been real this whole time? How could I possibly defend against that?” Janet softly pats his back, barely trying to hide her shock and awe at the situation.

Vision gently sets down Wanda on her bed, hesitantly kneeling beside her and taking her hand. He looks fondly towards her, taking in every detail of her, watching her shallow breaths hasten and slow with the plot of her dreams. She begins to breath faster, moving with small jerking movements. Vision becomes distraught.

He thinks of their good memories together, their happiest moments and their most prevalent blissful instances. He focuses on the memories, converting them into electronic signals that glow at his fingertips. He gently places his fingers on her temple, transferring the memories into her head to try and calm her down. She sighs, a smile spreading across her face, and nuzzles closer to Vision’s hand. He stays by her side, without a care as to how much time has passed.

“How’s she holding up?” Bruce asks, quietly sneaking into the room. Vision looks him up and down before returning his gaze to Wanda.

“My medical scanners came back online this morning, so I can tell she’s just exhausted from over exertion.” Vision says quietly, smiling at Wanda before drooping his head down,” And an intense amount of stress.”

“I can imagine.” Bruce says softly,” It’s been an unimaginable few days for everyone.” 

“Bruce.” Vision says in a cold tone,” Can you quickly run the diagnostic test on me?” Vision looks up sadly to Bruce,” I just...I want to go home, Bruce.”

“I understand, Vis.” Bruce says with a gentle and caring tone,” You’ll have to follow me to the lab, but it’ll be quick and easy. Then we can send you and Wanda on your way.”

“Aren’t they..?” Vision can’t bring himself to try and finish his sentence.

“Nat and Hope have slight concussions and ruptured eardrums.” Bruce says quickly in response,” Nothing major they can’t recover from in a couple weeks. Noone’s upset, they both understand she was only doing what was ordered of her. She’s free to leave as soon as she wakes up.” Bruce smiles gently towards Vision. Vision scoffs.

“It feels too easy to brush it off like that. They’re lucky that’s the only injuries they’re walking away with.” Vision looks at Bruce with an anguished expression,” I just want her to be safe . What if in a few months, this incident is brought up again for a new Sokovia Accords revision? What if she’s labeled a threat because of this?” Vision cups his head in his hands, letting out a long and pained sigh. Bruce looks at Vision with concern.

“Vis...your arm.” Bruce says in shock. Vision looks at his hands for a moment. It hadn’t really hit him yet.

He flexes each finger, one by one, analyzing their movement and smiling to himself. He flexes his wrist, then his elbow. He smiles, analyzing the makeup of his new appendage. He looks to Bruce, with a small intrigued smile.

“Almost a perfect replica.” Vision says with a distant chuckle,” Only, it’s made completely of vibranium. It’s truly amazing.”

“She created vibranium?” Bruce, thoroughly astonished, lifts Vision’s new arm. He studies it, becoming more awestruck with every moment it’s in his hands. Vision carefully takes Bruce’s hands, a pleading look in his eyes.

“Bruce.” Vision’s voice wavers as any smile he has begins to fade,” She didn’t create it. The arm we ordered from Wakanda just happened to arrive earlier than expected. You didn’t want to alert anyone after the drama of today, so you made a quick repair and sent me along on my way.” Bruce looks into the terrified eyes of his friend. He can’t help but feel a strange pity towards the human look in his eyes.

“Alright, Vis. I understand. Let’s just calm down for now.” Bruce gently pats Vision on his back,” I know this is a stressful situation, but I need you to take a few deep breaths. Look at Wanda.” Vision’s attention turns towards Wanda’s peaceful sleeping face,” She’s here, she’s safe. No one’s going to report this incident, she’ll be safe for a long time. It’s alright for you to relax.”

Vision looks at Wanda, seeing her chest slightly move up and down in a deep dream. He takes in a wary breath, doing his best to try and calm down. He gently holds Wanda’s hand, focusing on the warmth coming from it. He closes his eyes, clearing his head, thinking calmly about the entire situation. He doesn’t seem to relax, but a small ease begins to take a place in his head. 

“Sorry.” Vision says with a trembling voice,” I don’t want to lose her again, after I just got her back in my life.”

“It’s alright, Vis.” Bruce begins to walk to the entrance of the room,” Now, how about we do that final power check?”

“I think I’m going to wait until she wakes up.” Vision sighs, leaning his head on the bed next to her,” I just want to stay here for a while.”

“Understood.” Bruce smiles fondly at the synth,” You know where to find me when you’re ready.”

Wanda lets out a relieved sigh, looking out over the ocean as the sun set behind her. She looks to the sand gently engulfing her bare feet, then to the tides that gently roll in and out to their own silent song. She smiles, gently kneeling and picking up small handfuls of sand to stack in a small mound that she hopes to make into a grand castle. 

‘... all the emotions you’ve been feeling these past couple of days... ’ Natasha’s voice rings out like a ghostly call over the scenery. Wanda pauses, looking around for her friend, but seeing she’s alone on the beach.

‘... I’m fifteen minutes older than you…’ Pietro’s voice joins in. Wanda begins to panic, looking around more, hoping they’re just hiding from her. Still nothing.

‘’ ...something worse might be coming…’ Strange’s voice joins the chorus.

‘ ...worse than Thanos… ’ Her own voice growls at her.

Wanda clasps her ears. Her heart pounds, she doesn’t want to hear all of this. The voices ignore her hands, continuing to talk straight into her head.

‘... weapons of mass destruction don’t get green cards…’ Tony’s voice is next.

‘ ...we need fire and rescue on the north side… ’ Steve’s trembling voice.

‘ ...superheroes need to be put in check…’ Secretary Ross.

‘ ...if you stay here, you’ll die… ’ Ultron.

‘ ...it's the price only you can pay… ’ Vision.

Tears stream down her cheeks. She closes her eyes, hitting the sides of her head to shut up the voices. She cries out, not wanting to relive these terrible memories. She clutches the sand with all her might, crying out in anguish as they keep flooding into her head without mercy. One after another, the haunting voices of the past continue with a fury, until a gentle warmth encircles her head. 

‘ ...I know you, you’re cool!’ Scott’s voice rings out happily.

‘ ...my amygdala is artificial…’ Vision’s gentle laugh fills the air.

‘... you step outside, and you’re an Avenger…’ Clint.

‘ ...she’s not alone… ’ Nat.

She looks to the ocean, still calmly flowing in and out. Positive voices ring in her head, images pop up in the corners of her eyes of the happy moments she’s shared with many of the people in her life. Her tears stop stinging as they leave her eyes, instead feeling warm on her cheeks. She lifts her hands to her ears, feeling something covering them. She turns to see Vision, smiling gently towards her, his hands cupped loosely around her ears. She smiles.

“Better?” He asks sweetly. She nods. Vision sits in the sand, his legs open into a ‘v’ shape. He gives her a smirk, patting the sand directly in front of him. She smiles, carefully scooting herself into sitting in front of him, her back to his chest.

Vision rests his arms on her shoulders and his chin on the top of her head. She crosses his arms around her, cuddling close to him as they watch the ocean and sky change color. A cool breeze flows past them, carrying the scent of fresh sand and seawater. Wanda smiles, the voices fade into merely a whisper in the wind. Vision squeezes her slightly.

“These are terrifying times we’re living in.” Vision says softly,” I’ll never have any idea what you’re going through, and you’ll never know about my struggles over the past five years.” He moves his head slightly, to kiss the top of her head,” However, the truth is that will never stop me from loving you, or telling you about the five years you missed with enough detail to make you think you were here the whole time.”

“I’m scared I won’t be able to adjust to the new world.” Wanda says, leaning into Vision,” Everything is moving so fast. It’s like the world’s moved on, but I’m stuck here in the sand.”

“Then take your time.” Vision says softly,” Don’t force yourself to catch up. Go at your own pace, and I’ll be here for you the entire time.” Vision and Wanda take in the scenery, relaxing in the sand as the sun sets behind them,” I can’t read minds like you, Wanda. I won’t know what you’re thinking if you don’t state it clearly.” Wanda chuckles.

“I still can’t hide anything from you, regardless of wind reading.” Wanda sighs fondly,” Even with a promise to stay, there’s a fear deeply embedded inside me. I know I love you, so much so it almost hurts to think about it. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won't.”

“But what if I do?” A small chuckle mixed with a sob forces its way out of her chest,” I thought I wouldn’t lose Pietro, that he’d always be here for me, no matter what. When he died, it destroyed me. I’m scared that if I care for you more and more from here on out and you die, that I won’t be able to recover.” She turns her head to look towards him. He looks lovingly into her eyes, a kind smile on his face.

“Then I won’t die.” Vision says with a chuckle,” I won’t force you to love me even more than you do now. I won’t force you to move into the house. If it’d make you feel better, we could look into finding you an apartment in Westview, so you can be close by but not too close.” Wanda looks in shock at the sudden confession,” Darling, I waited five years just for you to return. I’ll wait a lifetime, if it means I can see you almost every day.”

“Vis.” She looks into his eyes. He’s serious. She’s touched that he’d be so considerate of her. She did have some doubt as to whether she was ready and willing to take this large step, but just his acknowledgment of her free will in the relationship cements an idea in her head. She wants to stay with him for the rest of her life. She’s never felt so lucky to find her soulmate then she is at this very moment.

She leans towards him and gives him a kiss. She retreats and smiles fondly, taking in the details in Vision’s face. He smiles brighter than the setting sun behind him, and her heart flutters happily. The anxiety and fear lessens as Vision brings her in closer for a deeper and passionate kiss. She smiles.

“I think it’s time to wake up.” He whispers sweetly.

“How do I know the Vis in reality will react like you?” Wanda asks with a slight worry in her voice.

“Because he sent me here in the first place.” He chuckles back. “Any thoughts I’ve expressed here are merely things he feels deeply as well.” He gently gives her a kiss on the forehead, before covering her eyes with his hand.

Wanda’s eyes open slowly. She recognizes the ceiling of her room in the compound. She feels a strange weight on her stomach. She gingerly lifts her head, seeing Vision sleeping soundly with his resting on her side, his hand gently holding hers. She feels a rush of warmth and happiness swelling from within her at the sight. She pats his head with her free hand, and he begins to stir, opening his eyes slowly. Once they lock eye, Vision bolts upright quickly. He reaches towards her, carefully touching her cheek and observing her with eyes full of worry.

“How are you feeling, my love?” He asks with a shaken tone. Wanda carefully holds his hand, pressing her face into his gentle touch and smiling.

“Perfect, sweetheart.” She says calmly,” I feel I should be asking you the same question.”

“I’m fine.” Vision flashes a wavering smile,” I’m sorry, but I have to ask. What’s the last thing you remember?”

He squeezes her hand gently. She looks down, noticing the hand holding hers, then feeling the other against her face. She takes his hand away from her face, studying the arm where a stump had been earlier. As she observes it, the memories flash in her eyes. The heat in her chest, the power of crushing the structure, the pity she felt towards Vision’s sacrificed arm, she wanted to once again be embraced by both arms of her lover. She carefully caresses the arm, using her fingertips to trace over the detail she had burned into her mind over the years they had been together. She feels a certain pride at the sight, accomplished she could grant her own wish, and still scared at the absurdity of creating this out of nothing except her power.

“From that look, I assume everything.” Vision says with a disheartened chuckle,” Are you really alright? Based on an assumption that the events of the battle of Wakanda were only a few days ago for you, then you just created matter from nothing only a few days after destroying an Infinity stone.” Vision opens his mouth as if he’s speaking, while tears begin to fill his eyes. Wanda carefully wipes below his eyes and smiles. Vision takes her hand and kisses her palm. “I don’t want you to overexert yourself, love. I fear for your health if you keep yourself under this amount of stress for an extended period of time.”

“Vis.” She seems to coo with love. Vision looks at her, his tears slowly dripping onto her hand. She smiles, and brings her head close to his, gently bumping her forehead onto his. “You worrywort.” Vision can’t help but chuckle,” I overexerted myself, yes, but I’m still here. I’ve learned how much might be too much when it comes to using my powers, but I was going to find that out at some point anyways. I’m relieved it was somewhere I could wake up peacefully with one of the only people I would want to see by my side.” She gently kisses him and smiles. Vision smiles back, helplessly falling in love with her again.

“I...I’m sorry.” He says weakly.

“You have nothing to apologize for.” Wanda chuckles softly,” I wouldn’t want you here so desperately if I didn’t love this side of you as much as the others.” She pulls back slowly, lifting his new arm slightly,” Though I might be a little angry that I haven’t gotten a thank you for the amazing gift I got you.” Vision laughs, and Wanda smiles, happy to see him relaxing.

“I love it.” Vision says while reaching towards her, embracing her in a tackling hug,” Now I can properly embrace you and never let you go.”

“Just as I planned.” Wanda laughs, squeezing Vision back just as tightly. The two lay on the bed for a minute, snuggly enjoying the distance between them. Wanda listens to the quiet whirling of machinery in Vision’s chest, happiness welling up inside her just laying next to him.

“If I could, I would live in this moment for eternity.” Vision says softly.

“I would rather we have this moment at home.” Wanda chuckles, looking up to Vision’s head,” Any maybe we could go a little further and make the moment better.” Vision looks at Wanda with a tinge of shock around his knowing smirk.

“You want to go ‘home’?” Vision asks, pulling her ever closer, kissing her forehead, then cheek, then nose.

“Yeah.” She sighs out happily,” I think we should continue this when we’re ‘home’.” Vision smiles, kissing her until her breath runs out,” Don’t you need to get tested?” She chuckles out.

“Only if you can convince me to get up.” Vision chuckles. Wanda kisses him, using her magic to carefully remove herself from Vision’s grasp. She grunts out in pain for a moment, her body rejecting the magic after over exertion. Vision pops up, looking over her in concern. She smiles and waves her hand to dismiss him, before smiling sweetly.

“I’ll pack up anything left here, you go and get your tests done.” She chuckles, carefully standing off the side of the bed. She wobbles slightly, before steadying herself and turning to proudly smirk at Vision. 

Vision gets off the bed, walking over to Wanda. He gives her one last kiss, before nodding in agreement to their plan. He walks out of the room, smiling to Wanda as he leaves. He takes off in a sprint towards stairs in a giddy excitement to go home. Wanda smiles, listening to the pitter patter disappear down the hall.

She looks around the room with a nostalgic smile. She remembers the sweet moments she’d shared with Vision in this very room, and the happiness she’ll feel staying by his side for the rest of her life. She smiles, knowing her new life is about to begin.

Chapter Text

October 31st, 2023. The first Halloween at the WandaVision residence. 

“I still can’t believe you had a traditional Sokovian fortune teller’s headpiece.” Wanda chuckles as she ties the knot of her red cape to fit loosely around her shoulders.

“It was an old souvenir.” Vision chuckles. He paints his face with another layer of thick red paint, still not quite satisfied with the small blotches of skin peaking through,” This darn paint couldn’t paint a piece of paper, yet they expect it to paint a face?”

“You could just turn your face red, darling.” She walks out of the closet, posing triumphantly and clearing her throat to get Vision’s attention. He turns and smiles brightly, exposing a blotch of red on his tooth from biting his lip in concentration. Wanda laughs at the sight, walking up and reaching up to his face. 

“Looks like you could use some red lipstick.” Vision smirks. They share a kiss, Wanda pulling away with red face paint smudged on her lips. They laugh together. Wanda picks up a tissue, wiping her lips, before picking up her new red lipstick and eyeshadow. It only takes a minute for her to complete her desired look.

“I certainly look the part.” Wanda chuckles.

“My understanding of the holiday is that we’re supposed to be ‘scary’.” Vision says with a soft chuckle, dabbing another glob of red paint to his nose,” Not ‘sexy’.” Wanda gives him a joking hit on the arm, a small blush on her cheeks.

“Nothing’s scarier than losing all your money to a woman who tells you,’ I see your future soulmate’s name starts with a letter in the Sokovian alphabet ’.” She laughs at her own Sokovian impression of the hags from the circus,” That’s three more letters than the English alphabet, you know.” She sighs wistfully,” Pietro would fall for it every time. Even when we became adults.”

“It sounds like he was certainly a romantic.” Vision says with a sad smile,” I wish I could have gotten to know him better. The stories you tell me paint such a fun and interesting picture.”

“He would’ve thought you were hilarious.” Wanda chuckles, looking to Vision,” But he would also kick your ass for going out with me. He was very protective.”

“I love the confidence you have in me.” Vision laughs, leaning over to peck Wanda’s cheek with a kiss, leaving a big ol’ red mark. She scoffs and he smirks. She picks up the tissue again, about to wipe it away, when the doorbell rings. Wanda leans through the bathroom door, looking down the hallway in confusion.

“Vis? What time is it?” She asks, rubbing her cheek softly.

“Ah, a quarter to four.” He responds, coughing as he opens a jar of translucent powder that makes a small mushroom cloud upon being released. He drops the jar in response, spilling it’s contents all over the counter. He mutters a couple curses to himself. The doorbell rings again,” Darling, could you get that? I have to clean this up.``

“Sure thing.” Wanda says, already walking down the hall, unaware of the bathroom disaster. “I could’ve sworn Sarah said trick or treating starts at four thirty.” Wanda makes her way down the stairs, while the doorbell rings once more,” I’m coming! Jeez, some patience would be appreciated.” She mutters as she reaches the door.

She picks up the small orange bowl filled with bite sized candies, adjusts her cape once more, before opening the door with a large smile on her face, expecting children. It is not children. It is the opposite of children. Wanda’s smile fades quickly, as she looks at the large man in front of her, along with the two people behind him with stern looks on their faces. She looks confused between the trio. The large man in front of her smiles a horribly fake smile, while his eyes seem to be analyzing her up and down. She feels creeped out by the look in his eye, taking the side of her cape and covering herself slightly.

“Can I help you?” She asks hesitantly.

“Wanda Maximoff, I presume?” The man in front of her asks. Before she can respond, he begins talking again.” Tyler Hayward, director of S.W.O.R.D, pleasure to meet you. Do you perhaps know if The Vision is in?”

The name rings a bell in Wanda’s memory, but she can’t exactly place it. She looks Hayward in the eyes, quickly digging through his memories to see if she’s ever met him before. She finds that he hasn’t met her, but he’s met Vision. She sees plans, horrible plans to weaponize Vision, take away his free will, and make him completely subservient to the United States government. She clicks her tongue, looking the new enemy up and down. She puts down her candy bowl, standing in the doorway with her arms crossed.

“Hayward, huh?” She says in a condescending tone, her accent beginning to slip out,” No, unfortunately it seems as though Vision isn’t in at the moment.”

“Who’s at the door?” Vision’s voice rings out from the second floor. Hayward looks at Wanda, unamused. She smirks, closing the door behind her, stepping onto the porch.

“Like I said, he’s not in at the moment.” She says, a light ring of red encircling her iris’.

“Miss Maximoff, I’m afraid that lying to a federal officer is a crime.” Hayward says, taking a step closer to try and intimidate the woman. She just chuckles in response.

“Now, now, director.” Her accent becomes more prevalent, almost purring out her words,” Why is it that a Sokovian might have a better understanding of the law than yourself?” Hayward looks to her in confusion,” I haven’t lied about anything that may be considered a criminal action or intent. I’m merely stating that my dear beloved isn’t currently at our shared home. Now, I have some last minute decorating to do.”

Wanda pushes past Hayward, not allowing him to speak in defense. She summons energy to her hands as she walks. The two agents by Hayward place their hands on their firearms, but seem to freeze in time, held in place by an invisible force. They stare at Wanda as she walks into the front yard. She looks around the litany of gravestones, cobwebs and fake skeletons around the yard. She looks at the whole skeleton sitting beneath the tree, and smirks, floating it over to herself with magic.

“Miss Maximoff, unauthorized use of your power is a direct violation of the Sokovia accords.” Hayward says sternly, finding himself also unable to move. “I’ll have to take you into custody over this.” Wanda let out a laugh, turning her head towards Hayward, her eyes glowing red.

“Once more, I don’t know how I could possibly know more than a ‘federal officer’.” She says in a cold tone, spreading her fingers and easily separating the intact skeleton into different piece and hovering them into the air,” Section two, article six, subset clause b: ‘Any enhanced being may not be allowed to exhibit violent or harmful displays of power when not legally authorized by the greater UN’. I might give you that, but you see I’m not doing anything with malicious intent here. And if we look deeper into subset clause e: ‘Enhanced individuals may use and practice with their ‘unique’ abilities in a controlled and private environment to gain further control of said abilities’.” Wanda motions to the yard around her,” I appear to be on my own private property, in a fully controlled environment.” She looks to the hovering skeleton, tilting her head slightly and smirking,” I think I know a fun trick I could possibly do with this lovely fellow.``

She raises her free hand, flicking it up slightly. The agents flinch, but nothing happens to them. There’s a faint rumble from behind the house. The trio can’t move to try and see through the house, but instead watch helplessly as a five foot boulder hovers like a boulder over the house, in front of Wanda. She flicks her left hand, scattering the skeleton in the yard, gently moving her right hand and the boulder over top of it. She snaps her fingers, and the boulder falls three feet with an intense thud and tremor. Wanda smiles, looking towards the scared agents.

“How is confining us, not a violent or harmful action?” Hayward asks, trying to mask the small tremble in his voice.

“Confining?” Wanda asks, tilting her head, dispelling the invisible chains around the agents,” I have done no such thing.” 

Once free the agents pull out their firearms, cocking the hammers and taking aim at Wanda. She smiles a sly smile, chilling the trio to the bone, before it drops to an expression of horror. Tears fill her eyes and she lets out an ear piercing shriek, falling to the ground. The agents look at her in confusion.

“Please! I’m only trying to decorate the yard!” She shrieks, putting up her hands in defense against the guns pointed at her. Nearby neighbors who happened to be outside appear at the fence in front of the house in a rush, trying to figure out what the commotion is. They see federal agents pointing guns at a defenseless sobbing woman on the ground in front of her own house. Angry grumbling begins to overtake the crowd.

“Miss Maxi…” Hayward can’t even finish his sentence before the whoosh of air from the door opening behind him freezes him in his tracks.

“What’s going on here?” Vision’s angry growl has it’s own paralyzing effect on the agents. They slowly peak over their shoulders, witnessing the face of a wrathful demon in the doorway of the house. Once Vision recognizes the faces in front of him, his anger becomes more intense,” Hayward .”

“Sweetheart!” Wanda calls out. Vision’s attention immediately falls to her. He phases through Hayward and the agents, crushing the barrels of their guns as he passes. He walks over quickly, kneeling besides her to offer a hand to help her up.

“Darling, what happened?” Vision asks in a soft and barely calm tone.

“Oh, Vis, sweetie.” Wanda says in a pitiful tone,” I answered the door, and these men asked me if you were in. I told them you were busy, but they didn’t like that. I saw our lawn could use a little more decoration, so I tried to make some last minute changes before the kids came. I only brought the boulder from the backyard to the front yard, and they began yelling at me and pointing guns at me. I was frightened, but I didn’t want to use my powers against them, so I yelled out in fear.``

“How horrible.” A neighbor loudly whispers to another.

“They just show up and begin waving guns around.” Another scoffs loudly.

“How could they just attack someone who was so cordule.” Sarah says with a hiss as she enters the yard, offering a hand to help Wanda up,” Honestly, it was too much that you people took the property up the street to openly stalk poor Vision, but now you’re trying to use physical intimidation against poor Wanda? Have you no conscience?”

“Yeah!” The crowd begins to thicken with more neighbors coming to join the frey on Wanda’s side,” Get out of here!”

“I have half a mind to write our senator to get you fired!” Marco yells out from the fence.

“Police brutality!” Anthony calls out, hugging Marco’s shoulder.

Chants of ‘Police brutality’ begin to ring around the crowd, before a large chant echoes down the streets. Hayward looks horrified to the crowd, then to Wanda. She has on a scared expression, but her eyes almost seem to be laughing at him. He takes in a sharp breath. Heavily landing his hands on his agent’s shoulders, signaling them to put down their firearms. He walks forwards to Wanda, a large hiss of boo’s ring out as he moves closer.

“Miss Maximoff, I apologize for any inconvenience I’ve caused you today.” Hayward says, smiling and extending his hand to Wanda. Sarah bats it away quickly.

“If you were sorry, you would leave.” Sarah hisses out.

“Director Hayward.” Vision can barely contain his rage,” For three years, you have pestered me, stalked me, threatened me. I have dealt with all of this accordingly, I’ve been cordial, yet you have the sheer audacity to come to my house and threaten my lover.” Vision turns his icy glare towards Hayward, he walks up close, grasping Hayward’s shoulder so tight that Hayward let’s out an involuntary yelp,” If I see even a trace of S.W.O.R.D within a mile of this house, I will not rest until you’ve been stripped of any semblance of power you think you hold, unable to find even a minimum wage job that will accept you.”

“I don’t appreciate threats, Vision.” Hayward whispers back.

“It’s not a threat, director.” Vision’s tone freezes Hayward's blood,” It’s a promise.”

Hayward silently directs his minions to him. They silently leave the premises, the crowd hissing and yelling at them as they pass. They drive off quickly, leaving the crowd to slowly disperse back to their homes after confirming Wanda’s wellbeing. Sarah and Vision help Wanda into the house, followed by Marco, Anthony and Antonio dressed as Captain America. 

“What an awful man.” Sarah groans out when they get inside,” How’re you doing, Wanda? They didn’t shoot, did they?”

“No, they didn’t, I’m just a little shaken.” Wanda says wearily, leaning on Vision,” I think I’ll be alright by the time the kids begin to come around. Thanks for your concern, all of you.”

“If he comes by again, be sure to call us.” Anthony says, gently hugging Wanda in reassurance,” It’s not much, but the neighborhood watch has a bit of pull around this side of town.”

“Come on, Mr.Man.” Marco says, pulling Anthony’s neatly tucked in shirt,” You too, Sarah. We need to make sure the kids have enough layers on before heading out.” Marco looks to Wanda and smiles gently,” You guys are still invited to come with us.”

“It feels a little strange to go trick or treating without a child of our own.” Wanda chuckles,” We’ll deal with handing out candy this year.” Marco drags the two adults out of the house, with Antonio helping push Anthony’s leg. He grabs a piece of candy from the bowl.

“Make sure to give them enough for the parents.” Marco chuckles, before closing the door behind him,” See you at the Town Square Scare!” The door shuts behind them, and Wanda stands up, neatly adjusting her headpiece and sighing.

“Wanda?” Vision is thoroughly confused at the quick change.

“Vision.” Her voice is low and cold,” Did you know those people?” Vision tries to look in her eyes, but the stony glare towards the door stops him in place.

“The S.W.O.R.D agents?” Wanda turns her glare towards him,” Yes, I know them. They’ve been trying to get me to go with them for several years now. I’ve thoroughly shut them down every time they come, it’s getting to a point where I’m pretty sure I can take their jobs if they come again.”

“Did you know what they want to do with you?” Her cold voice softens ever so slightly.

“I never let them get as far as trying to explain that to me.”

Wanda quickly turns, embracing Vision in a tight hug. He stutters in bafflement, before gently wrapping his arms around her and patting her back lovingly. “They’re going to turn you into a weapon of mass destruction.” Wanda says with a weary tone, before whispering,” like me.”

“Wanda.” Vision looks at the top of Wanda’s head, buried in his chest so he can’t see her expression. He takes in a large breath,” Wanda, you aren’t a weapon of mass destruction. If you were, then I’d already be one as well.” Wanda wiggles her head to indicate a negative response to the statement,” It’s true. On my worst day, I think I could level a city or two without trouble. When I’m fully repaired I could even destroy entire countries with little more than a flick of my wrist. I’m very scary.” Wanda chuckles at the sentiment.

“Tough talk for someone who didn’t even fight Thanos.” She chuckles, lifting her head to look at Vision, fresh tears at the corners of her eyes. 

“Hey now, they played dirty.” Vision says with a sympathetic smile, wiping a strand of hair from Wanda’s face,” If they didn’t get that first sneak attack on me, I could’ve killed Thanos.”

Wanda laughs softly, staring into Vision’s eyes. She her arms, draping herself over his shoulders. “If they come again, I’m going to fight them.” She says in a sweet tone. Vision chuckles, swaying back and forth with Wanda in a silent slow dance.

“Not if I get to them first.” He laughs. 

They gaze into each other's eyes, happily taking in each other’s presence. Vision leans down while Wanda rises. They meet in the middle, exchanging a kiss while continuing their dance. Once they pull away, they smile. Wanda has a small smudge of red on her teeth from the facepaint, Vision’s lips are slightly smudged and discolored. They chuckle warmly, Wanda pushing him away to go fix himself up in the bathroom. Vision quickly pulls her close, opening his mouth, which Wanda mimics with a smile. He wipes the red smidge until it’s gone, giving her one last kiss, then walking up the stairs backwards with a smile. 

Wanda smiles to herself, watching Vision disappear into the Master bedroom. She turns her attention to the candy bowl, filling it back up with a nearby candy bag. She looks outside, there’s still a bit of time before the kids show up. She turns around, looking around the house. She smiles warmly. It’s only been about a week, but this place is already starting to feel like home. She walks to the main floor bathroom, checking her costume in the mirror, making small adjustments. She can’t help but smile with the giddiness of a child when she looks at herself in the mirror. A moment of true happiness for her.

Soon the children begin arriving. Wanda and Vision take turns answering the door for the little monsters and heroes who grace their doorsteps. They put on the Munsters in the background, watching the show from the entrance between visitors. For some children, she opens the door and gives out candy with her magic, making the children think there’s a ghost giving them candy.  The two hours pass in the blink of an eye. They set out the scarce remnants of their candy bowl in front of their door with a small sign ‘ Please take one’ , heading towards the town center hand in hand.

“From six thirty to ten, there’s a celebration downtown that everyone is allowed to participate in.” Wanda says, trying to remember what Sarah had told her,” you’ve participated in it before, right, Vis?”

“Briefly.” Vision chuckles,” I’ve helped out with decorating the past two years, but I’ve barely spent an hour participating. I’d have rather stayed at home, watching ‘scary’ movies until midnight.”

“Was it that boring?” Wanda asks, a little disheartened,” Sarah made it sound so fun.”

“No, no, it’s a blast. There’s hayrides, carnival games kids can play at the cost of some candy, a small hay bale maze, the movie theater projects old monster movies for people to enjoy. It’s a riot, but I didn’t feel comfortable going through all of it alone.” Vision gently squeezes Wanda’s hand, swinging it slightly as they walk,” I think that’ll change this year though.” Wanda locks her arm with Vision’s happily leaning on him as they walk.

They continue walking, passing dozens of playful children who run and scream through the streets. After a bit, they’re in the town square. Wanda looks around in awe at the wondrous celebration around her. As Vision has said, there’s games and hay rides, but there’s also pumpkin carving/decorating, a large spread of fall themed foods and drinks for everyone to partake in, a costume contest, and a large pair of seats in the center of the square slightly elevated on a platform.

“What’s that?” Wanda asks, pointing to the center piece.

“Ah, there’s a tradition around here, the Pumpkin King and Queen.” Vision says, guiding Wanda closer to the thrones,” Every year and man and woman are crowned. Everyone votes during the festivities, and the winners are announced at the end of the night.”

“What do the king and queen do?” She asks in wonder, looking at the intricately carved thrones.

“They’re basically pillars of the community, they’re asked to chair a few committees for further festivities until the Spring festival, where two new royals will take over until next Halloween.” Vision points to a small plaque in between the chairs,” They’re names are added to the plaque. It’s then put up in town hall along with their picture until the next Halloween.”

“How fun.” Wanda says with a chuckle,” Where can we vote?”

“There’s a write in ballot over here.” Vision chuckles, pointing to the small wooden box beside the pedestal. Wanda drags Vision by the arm excitedly to the box. 

The two fill out the small pieces of paper. Wanda writes Sarah and Harold, the only two people she’s really talked to during her short stay. They seem like nice people. Vision writes Betty for queen and Marco for king. Betty has been great at keeping spirits up during the dark times, and her newest ice cream creation ‘Fudgsicle Brownie Bonanza’ certainly helped the community to laugh through the summer. Marco had taken up the responsibility of several support groups, including being the first to start a couple for the returning people of the town. They both fold their papers and slip them into the box. Wanda smiles happily, ready to explore the rest of the festivities.

The hours fly by like minutes. Wanda and Vision enjoy every aspect of the festival. They meet up with Marco, Sarah, Anthony and their small group with several children. They happily chat and watch over the kids with the group. The clock strikes nine, and a loud voice booms through the merriment. Everyone looks to the center platform.

“Hello, hello!” A woman says happily into the microphone within her grasp,” As we begin winding down on this fantastic Halloween, I think it’s about time to announce this year's Pumpkin King and Queen.” Cheers erupt form the people, making their way to surround the pedestal. The woman smiles and laughs, raising her hands to embrace the cheers. 

“Now, now, I know it’s exciting.” she says fondly,” But let’s hold some of that applause for our winners.” A young man walks onto the pedestal, holding the wooden box, turning around to show everyone the box,” My wonderful assistant Dylan! He’s been working hard for the past half hour to count all the votes from our wonderful little community here. Dylan, take it away.” She hands the microphone over gingerly to the man.

“Thank you, Mayor Smith.” Dylan says with a nervous laugh.” As you all know, the Pumpkin King and Queen is a time honored tradition here in Westview. Lifelong residents wait their whole lives, sometimes not even getting a nomination. Which is why I’m excited to say that this year has provided a strange turn of events. For the first time in recent history, a new resident has won the prestigious title. To celebrate, I’ve decided to play a small song to accompany the reading of our winners. One moment…” Dylan pulls out his phone, fumbling the large box around in his grip. He presses a few buttons, and a tune begins to ring out from the speakers.

(Here’s a link to the song in my head for this scene: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVq4zJ1WbaQ&ab_channel=GalHalperin   )

“Of course, there’s no real official theme for this group of fantastic heroes. But I hope you’ll all join me in celebrating our now Pumpkin King and Pumpkin Queen.” A spotlight shines down from the top of the movie theater,” Wanda Maximoff and The Vision!”

Wanda and Vision are illuminated by the spotlight. Roars of cheers and applause ring from the large crowd of people. Children cheer loudly, adults laugh heartily in agreement of the selection. The crowd helps to move the pair closer and closer to the stage. Once they reach the stairs, the mayor happily extends her hands out to them. They hesitantly take them, and get dragged onto the stage, where the cheers seem to grow even fiercer. The two stand in front of the thrones.

Two more assistants run onto the stage, helping the two into the seats, before placing large orange crowns on their heads. Everyone claps and cheers, until the Mayor raises her hands once more. The crowd gradually falls silent. She takes the microphone from Dylan, thanking him quietly. She takes in a breath.

“I remember the first year Vision moved to town.” She says in the hushed silence,” There was quite a commotion. Some of you hated the idea of a ‘hero’ trying to put down roots here, some of you whole heartily welcomed him. I did my best to remain impartial in the matter, instructing everyone to keep it a secret that an Avenger had become our neighbor. And now we have not one, but two of Earth’s mightiest heroes that choose to call our humble town their ‘home’.” She turns to the pair, still baffled by the situation they’re in,” I have never been so proud to call Westview my hometown, then on this night.”

She turns back to the crowd, gesturing once more to the heroes. The crowd erupts in applause. Wanda blouses, Vision reaches over and takes her hand gently.

“With the help of the Avenger’s the world finally got back what it had lost five years ago!” Mayor Smith yells into the microphone,” We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts, for everything you’ve done for us and for the world! Now, on the count of three, let’s give our new neighbors a good ol’ taste of Westview hospitality!”

The mayor begins her countdown. Wanda feels tears fill her eyes. Vision squeezes her hand. She looks at him, his eyes dripping with tears as he laughs and looks at her lovingly. Wanda looks back to the crowd, not trying to demean her as a monster, not trying to make her feel terrible about the horrible acts she holds close to her heart. They’re cheering. They’re cheering for a hero, their heroes. She lets out a laugh/sob as the tears begin to fall down her cheeks. She holds Vision’s hand tight, a great warmth engulfs her chest as she begins to truly accept this new place as her home. With one last yell, she smiles gleefully.

“Welcome to Westview!”