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Wanda Maximoff had heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. Of course she had - she had heard many, many things about them during her time with HYDRA. How evil they were, for standing in the way of greatness, of glory...
When she’d heard about the real S.H.I.E.L.D from Clint and Natasha, she was almost disappointed she never got the chance to work with them. Nick Fury and Phil Coulson sounded like better people than the monsters that had tortured her and Pietro and brainwashed them into doing their bidding.
She shuddered a little, striding into S.H.I.E.L.D’s headquarters. It was smaller than she would have anticipated an organization of its caliber being, but Wanda supposed, after all the damage that had been caused after the Blip and other issues leading up to it, she should be grateful the organization existed at all.
What she was worried about was why they were the ones that had Vision’s body. Yes, he had been listed on the Wall of Heroes, and she was very grateful for it, but why hadn’t he been buried? Why hadn’t he gotten what Tony Stark had?
It was up to her to give it to him.
“Can I help you?”
“I’m Wanda Maximoff. I’m here for Vision’s - I - I’m here for Vis - ” she’d tried to steal her nerves, tried to come to grips with what she was asking for, but the words just wouldn’t come out. “Please. I know he’s here.”
The woman behind the desk gave her a sad, understanding smile as she picked up the phone. “Director, Wanda Maximoff is here.” A pause. “Yes sir,” she put the phone back down and turned back to Wanda. “Director Mackenzie will be waiting for you on the third floor at the end of the hall. Just use those doors. Elevator is on your right.”
Wanda blinked in surprise. It would be that easy? Really? Normally with government agencies there was a host of red tape she needed to cut through. But maybe S.H.I.E.L.D understood she wasn’t here to fight, or even talk. She was just here to give Vision the goodbye he deserved.
“Thank you,” she managed to choke out, before rushing through the doors and up to the third floor as directed.
“Hello Miss Maximoff. I’m Director Alphonso Mackenzie. Welcome to S.H.I.E.L.D.”
“Wanda, and thank you. Can I see him?”
“Of course, right this way.”
He pushed the door behind him open, allowing Wanda to step through into what she could only describe as a lab. On a table, covered in a white sheet, was what she assumed was Vision. However, she was more concerned with the people that were standing nearby, looking at records and computer screens.
“Who are they?” she heard herself ask sharply.
“Fitz,” the one woman said, pointing at the man next to her.
“Simmons,” the man said, pointing at the woman who had first spoken.
The second woman rolled her eyes, holding out her hand. “I’m Daisy.”
Wanda shook it suspiciously. “What were you doing with Vision?”
“We… were hoping to give you some options, Wanda,” Mack began. “S.H.I.E.L.D has been able to create androids called Life-Model Decoys, or LMD’s. They’re essentially reconstructions of people. Originally, they were intended to be used as shields to protect our agents, but there were a couple of extenuating circumstances.”
Wanda furrowed her brow. “And that means…?”
“We created decoys to… essentially resurrect the dead just… not in their original bodies,” Fitz said. “Jemma, Daisy, and I were making a map of Vision, in case you decided you wanted one of him.”
Wanda felt her heart stop. She must have been dreaming, right?
“You would… bring him back?” she choked out over the lump in her throat. God, she did not want to hope, but it was so, so tempting. “What - what’s the catch?”
“There is no catch,” Simmons answered this time. “I swear on my cottage in Perthshire.”
“Why do you want to help me?” Wanda had done so many terrible things to so many people. Why would a government organization want to help her now?
“Because S.H.I.E.L.D believes in helping people, and that no one should be alone. But at the end of the day, this decision is up to you,” Daisy said. “As his next of kin, this decision is yours alone.”
She could have him back .
Wanda had not dared to hope for such a thing. But she could have him back . These people - a group that Clint and Natasha trusted - were giving her a second chance she wasn’t sure she deserved.
Still, she looked suspiciously at the scientists in front of her. “Would he be the same Vision I fell in love with?” she asked.
“We can replicate his personality and his appearance, yes. He would no longer be considered a synthezoid, however. He would be an android. We’ve also never created an LMD of a synthezoid, so we don’t know for sure if he’d still have his powers, but… otherwise, he would act and look just the same as you knew him,” Fitz confirmed. “He will have all of his memories of you as well.”
Wanda was shaking now, and her knees buckled. If Mack hadn’t been right next to her, she knew she would have fully collapsed to the black tiles below her.
“Do it,” she gasped, nodding once. “Please. Bring him back to me.”
“It will take a few days,” Mack said, helping to steady her. “You’re welcome to stay here if you don’t have a hotel or anything else.”
The dam broke, tears racing down her cheeks. “Thank you. You don’t know how much this means to me.” She rubbed her eyes. “Can I have a minute alone with him before you start?”
“Of course.”
The scientists and director stepped out of the room, the door clicking shut softly behind them.
She rubbed her eye against the sleeve of her sweater again, swallowing back a wave of nausea as she peeled the sheet back.
He looked as she remembered. That was good. Part of her had been worried that any government agency would dissect Vision, or worse - try to turn him on their side, but it seemed S.H.I.E.L.D wasn’t like the others.
She was so glad he’d ended up in their hands.
“I’m sorry there wasn’t any other way…” she whispered, hovering a shaking hand over where the Mind Stone should have been. “I can’t feel - ”
Wait.
Wanda paused, frozen over Vision’s form.
She felt something. It was faint, so very, very faint, but it was there.
It was him .
“Vision?” her voice cracked. “Vision, can you hear me?”
If he could, he didn’t respond, but that little flicker of feeling meant that… maybe this body could be saved.
“Director!” she called.
Mack was in the room in a second. “Wanda? What’s the matter?”
“I - I think Vision is still alive.” It was a sentence she didn’t think she would say after the battle with Thanos.
“Tremors! Fitzsimmons! We may be on a resuscitation job instead of an LMD job!”
The scientists rushed into the room, their eyes wide as they rushed to the computer and monitors.
“My God,” Simmons murmured, turning to Wanda. “Did you… happen to use your magic at all while you were alone?”
Wanda swallowed thickly. “I… yeah, a little bit. It’s something I used to do with him.”
“We registered a trace amount of energy when we brought him in, but we couldn’t place where it came from. Only that it was partially found in space. That same energy was picked up by our computer when you were in here. You were the one to originally - ”
“Yes, I was,” Wanda interrupted, not wanting the word spoken. “What does that mean?”
“It means Simmons and I can repair Vision’s body, and you can repair his mind,” Fitz concluded. “Some of the more… mechanical pieces of him began to deteriorate over the last five years. I can upgrade that, but we’ll need your energy to… bring him back online.”
“I - I can’t - that’s not how - ”
“Wanda,” Daisy said firmly, and Wanda turned to her with wide eyes. “I know how you feel. You don’t feel strong enough, or powerful enough, right?”
Wanda nodded a little.
“My sister thought the same. She has powers too - so do I. She was asked to do something she never thought possible with her gifts.”
“What’s that?”
“Bring me back to life.”
Wanda thought the breath was knocked out of her as she stared at the agent in front of her. “You - you died too? And - and you were brought back?”
Daisy nodded. “My sister and I are known as Inhumans. Kora has energy manipulation. She managed to manipulate my life energy after I was - literally - floating in space without any protection. You said you felt a flicker of Vision?”
“Yes.”
“Then you need to focus on that feeling and fight like hell to bring him back.”
Wanda took a deep breath, all of it overwhelming. She’d thought she would be coming in here to claim VIsion’s corpse and take him to be buried. Now here she was… potentially bringing him back. Small as it was, she knew she couldn’t turn it down, so she nodded.
“Okay. I’m ready.”
“Fitz and I will begin the repairs right away,” Simmons said, giving Wanda a kind smile. “You can wait in the hallway. We’ll let you know when we’re ready for your powers.”
“I’ll wait with her,” Daisy offered, leading her back out into the hallway.
“I’ll leave you all too it. Call me if there’s an emergency,” Mack said. “It was nice to meet you, Wanda.”
Wanda nodded, sitting on a bench with Daisy. Was this what it was like when someone was in a hospital waiting room, waiting for news about their loved one’s surgery? That must have been what this felt like.
There was a comfortable silence between her and Daisy, as Daisy quietly tapped on her phone and the muffled sounds of machinery whirred behind the lab doors.
“What was it like?” she choked out, wanting an escape from the sounds.
Daisy looked at her in surprise. “What?”
“Your… dying. What was it like?”
“Oh.” Daisy paused, slipping her phone into her pocket before she leaned back on the bench. “Well… we were fighting this guy named Malick. He had inhuman powers like my sister and I, and he managed to pin me against this… energy thing. We planned for this. For my to - to sacrifice myself. So I managed to grab him, look him right in the eye, and just let out the strongest attack I could. The last thing I remember was everything exploding around me… and then it went dark. Empty… until Kora brought me back.”
“Is that what Vision’s feeling now? Empty?” she whispered. “Has he felt this for five years?”
“It’s hard to say. But I know you shouldn’t dwell on it, Wanda. Just focus on him. On your future.”
“Westview…” she said softly, a sad smile on her face. “Vision bought a plot of land. We were supposed to build a house there. ‘To grow old in’.”
Daisy smiled. “I think that sounds sweet. Hold on to that. Focus on that when you’re doing your magic, or whatever it is.”
Wanda nodded, her hands shaking. “I can’t believe it’s real. Now that I actually have time to think - I was afraid I was going to be alone forever. The other Avengers went home to their families but I - I don’t have anyone. I thought I was coming in here to retrieve a corpse… and now I might be walking out of here with the man I love.”
“You will be. Fitz and Simmons are the smartest people I know. They will work until their fingers fall off to bring Vision back to you.”
“She’s right about that. They’re the ones who brought me back.” This voice was new, and Wanda jumped slightly as she turned to it.
“A.C! I didn’t know you were coming in today. How was Miami?” Daisy asked.
“Humid. Wasn’t so easy on my circuitry,” the man replied, glancing over at Wanda. “You must be Wanda Maximoff. I’m Phil Coulson.”
She blinked, rising to her feet. “Clint and Natasha told me you were dead.”
“I am. Well - my body is. I’m an LMD. Did they explain to you what your option was with Vision?” Coulson asked.
“They did but… I think we can bring him back, just as he is. Your associates are repairing his body now.”
Coulson’s eyes widened. “Oh - well, that’s surprising. But good. We weren’t sure, which is why S.H.I.E.L.D offered you an LMD of him.”
“It’s very appreciated, Agent Coulson.” Wanda picked at the hem of her sleeve. “Do they know you’re alive?”
“Who?”
“Clint, Thor or Bruce. They were part of the original Avengers, right? Do they know about your… new form?”
Coulson hesitated. “No. I was kept in the shadows, and then it’s been a little nuts the last five years.”
She pressed her lips together. “I think you should tell them. I mean, the rules are being bent all over the place now, right? They would be happy to know your consciousness is still alive. Clint especially. He - he told me he still has regrets over what happened with Loki.”
A look of guilt crossed Coulson’s face. “I see. I’ll contact them, then. Thank you for letting me know. Do you mind if I wait with you and Daisy?”
She shook her head. “Maybe you can tell me about what Clint and Natasha were like when they worked here.”
Coulson laughed. “Oh, I have a few stories about that.”
It was hours later before Simmons poked her head out of the lab. “You can come in now, Wanda.”
Vision was still purple and lifeless, but his skull looked good as new. She could see the reinforcements that had been made to the non-organic parts of his body too, and smiled in relief.
Now came the tricky part.
“Whenever you’re ready,” Fitz said, a tablet in his hand.
Wanda nodded, stepping up to VIsion. She placed her hand over his head where the stone should have been and focused on everything she loved about him. About the future they’d tried to build. About the future they would build, when he came back to her.
“I can feel you, Vision,” she whispered. “Please… come back.”
She watched as the energy in her hand suddenly turned yellow - the Mind Stone! - and poured into Vision’s skull. The color began to return to him, and finally, those blue eyes opened.
“Wanda?” he asked.
“Vision?”
He sat up, holding his head. “What happened? Where’s Thanos? Are we still in Wakanda?”
“Thanos is gone. We’re safe now. We’re at S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters,” she explained.
“S.H.I.E.L.D. Yes, I recall stories about them.” He paused, data downloading in his mind. “Ah, yes, I see. And you took custody of my body because of my connection to the Avengers?”
“That’s correct. Agent Coulson here was one of the founding members of the Avengers initiative,” Daisy explained.
“And you died, but apparently returned as well. It is comforting to know I’m not the only person to return from death,” Vision said.
“Everything seems to be stable with you, Vision. How are you feeling?”
Vision hopped off the table, testing a few of his abilities quickly. “I feel brand new. Thank you Dr. Simmons.”
“Then I clear you for discharge,” Simmons smiled, holding out a card. “If you need anything, S.H.I.E.L.D will be at your call.”
Wanda leaned against Vision. “Thank you for being so kind… for doing all of this for me.”
“You’re welcome,” Daisy said. “Good luck in Westview.”
“I quite liked them,” Vision said as they got into her car. “Did you know Agent Coulson used to have hair?”
Wanda chuckled softly, switching the car on and pulling out onto the busy street. “It’s not hard to imagine. Human men go bald sometimes. I guess Coulson just got unlucky genes.”
“What do you suppose I would look like bald? As a human, I mean. I know I’m… quite bald in this form.” He patted his own head for emphasis.
“I don’t know. But I think we have all the time in the world to find out.”
Vision smiled. “Yes, we do. Westview awaits.”
They drove off into the sunset, and the promise of tomorrow.