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In the early days of his life, Vision sometimes found himself struggling with the intricacies of human language. Particularly, expressions, sayings, and metaphors. The true meaning of many of these expressions were difficult to ascertain.
This was not always a problem. Many of his Avengers teammates simply learned to talk to him in more strictly literal terms. One afternoon, however, he found himself with a problem. Mr Stark was visiting the facility, to check how things were going, ask if they needed anything.
At some point during this visit, Mr Stark had passed by Vision’s room, chatting to Captain Rogers.
“How’s training going?” Tony had asked.
“Good so far” the Captain had replied.
“The newbies?”
“Getting there. Wanda and The Vision are thick as thieves these days..”
The conversation trailed off as the two moved on further down the hallway, so Vision didn’t get the chance to catch them and ask what they meant.
Thick as Thieves?
That one was new to him. What did it mean?
Vision set aside the book he had been reading, his brow furrowed as he tried to think, to make some sense of it, but he could not. He could just use his Internet brain to look it up, as his teammates had told him on more than one occasion. However, this somehow felt like cheating, because while the Internet was in fact a tool humans used to discover information, most did not have the ability to download said information immediately and directly into their brain.
Vision was not Ultron. He was not a monster. He wanted to prove himself more man than machine, at least in regards to how he functioned and behaved in daily life.
So, when he did not have the answers, rather than look them up, he preferred to ask for them.
And the person he usually asked was Wanda Maximoff. From the beginning, Wanda was open about the fact that, as a non-American citizen, she was maybe not the best person to ask, with her knowledge of English-language sayings coming almost exclusively from classic American sitcoms.
However, Wanda was also the only person who’s whole demeanour didn’t change when he walked into the room (though the others were trying), the only one who did not seem just a little uncomfortable in Vision’s presence. For that reason, she was his favourite person to ask when she had a question that needed answering, even if she wasn’t the best choice to answer it.
So, Vision stood, and walked through the wall into the next room.
“Vizh!” Wanda jumped, startled when she saw him, and paused The Dick Van Dyke Show episode she had been watching. “We’ve talked about this. You have to learn to knock, you can’t just barge in like that. What if I’d just got out of the shower or something?”
A little devil who had recently taken up residence on Vision’s shoulder, and sounded strangely like Tony Stark, briefly questioned whether walking in on her naked would actually be a bad thing, but being that Vision liked to think of himself as a gentleman, and would never want to intentionally invade Wanda’s privacy, the thought was quickly squashed.
“I’m sorry.. I will remember next time.”
“It’s okay” Wanda relaxed. “You’re still learning a lot of this, after all, and there was no harm done. What were you coming in for?”
“Well, now that you mentioned learning,” said Vision, “I was wondering if I might be able to ask you a question.”
“Ask away.”
“Well, Mr. Stark and Captain Rogers passed by my room a short while ago” Vision continued, “And the Captain used a phrase which confused me.”
“What was it?” Wanda moved to face him properly, sitting cross legged on her bed. “I know I’m not an expert on American sayings, but I’ll help you if I can.”
“Thick as Thieves” Vision replied. “It must mean something other than the obvious, I’m certain of it. Otherwise, it simply makes no sense. Why would Thieves be thick? Surely a skinnier frame would be better for thieving, as one could fit into smaller spaces..”
Vision had developed a tendency to ramble when something confused him, and was doing so now, until he was cut off by the most wonderful sound in the world. Wanda was laughing, a sparkle in her eyes. Vision’s synthetic heart skipped several beats, and when she spoke, he only just managed to focus enough to pay attention.
“You’re not entirely wrong there, if you take the most literal meaning of those words.. But what ‘Thick as Thieves’ actually means is that two people are together a lot.. Like, especially close friends.”
“I see..” Vision paused, thinking for a moment.
“Was that all you needed to ask?”
“Yes..” Vision replied, yet found himself lingering.
“Would you like to stay and watch?” Wanda shuffled over a little, patting the now empty space beside her with one hand and gesturing to the TV with the other. “It’s a good one.”
“Oh.. yes. Alright” Vision sat.
“Good” Wanda smiled, clearly glad for the company, and pressed play.
They watched, and Wanda laughed, and Vision laughed with her, the sound quite contagious, as his heart continued to skip a few beats.
“Wanda..” He asked again when the credits rolled.
“Yeah, Vizh?”
“The Captain.. The Captain used ‘Thick as Thieves’ in reference to the two of us..” Vision explained.
“Us?”
“Yes.. so.. Does that mean that you and I are, um, especially close friends?”
“Well..” Wanda paused. “I’m more comfortable with you than anyone else. So, yes. We are.”
“That is nice to know..” Vision blushed.
–
Time passed. Troubles arose, and faded. Battles were won, and lost, and won again. And in the midst of all that, Wanda and Vision discovered that they were much more than just very good friends.
Eventually they were married. Soon after, they welcomed twin boys, Tommy and Billy, and not too long after that (Reminder that breastfeeding doesn’t always work as natural birth control), a daughter, Vivian.
Each of their children had been born with special abilities of some sort.. Billy took after his Mother, and Tommy his uncle, while Viv was her Daddy’s girl in many more ways than one.
As it turned out, Wanda and Vision’s children were not the only superpowered, or otherwise especially gifted youths to emerge in the world, and it would be irresponsible to allow them to begin operating unsupervised, so, Tony had founded a ‘Young Avengers’ Summer Training Camp as a stepping stone for any who were considering a career in heroism. After consulting Peter Parker, now a full-time Avenger, and learning that he now acknowledged that more formal, person-to-person training would have benefitted him in his early career, Tony had set a minimum age of Fifteen for the Camp.
Tommy and Billy had just begun their first Summer in the program. However, Billy was a soft soul, and had often fallen victim to bullies throughout his school years, despite the fact that his twin was always one of the cool kids. Wanda was concerned with how he would handle the camp, so Clint, who served as a ‘Guest Trainer’ at least once during each camp as a way of keeping a toe on the Avenging pool since his retirement, invited Wanda and Vision to come watch the twins, along with the rest of the current batch of Young Avengers, in a training exercise. Viv, who was excited about her own turn the following year, tagged along as well.
The group of teen heroes in the making were about to begin an exercise in which they had paired up to dodge and defend each other from a barrage of paintballs that would be fired their way. Whichever pair had the least paint on them at the end of the exercise got to choose a Take-out for that evening’s Camp dinner.
Clint, Wanda, Vision, and Viv were watching from a platform above.
It soon became apparent that Wanda had no reason to be concerned. The boy that Billy was working with, a tall blonde who had the ability to transform into a green being of enhanced size and strength, was defending Billy quite fiercely, and Billy, in return, deflected many of the paintballs that came his way.
“That looks fun!” Viv’s eyes lit up. “Can I have a go?”
“Not until next year” Wanda told her, gentle, but stern. “Your brothers had to wait, so do you..”
“Aww..” Viv turned her attention to her Father, gazing up at him hopefully.
“You heard your Mother” Vision chuckled, kissing the top of his daughter’s head. “Your time will come, just as it did for the twins.”
“The boy Billy is working with..” Wanda questioned. “Teddy Altman, he started the program last year. They call him Hulkling, Kree-Skrull hybrid, I think? He’s a good kid, Carol Danvers recommended him.”
“He and Billy seem to make a good team..” Vision commented.
On the floor below, Billy nearly slipped in a gathering puddle of paint. Teddy caught him before he could fall, and both boys blushed.
“Those two?” Clint replied. “Yeah, they’re Thick as Thieves.”
Wanda and Vision shared a soft, knowing look.
“Thick as thieves, huh?” Wanda grinned, kissing cheek. “Good to know.”