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Wanda Maximoff was a ‘toucher’. A hugger. A hand holder. It was how she loved. According to her Mother, she had been that way even in the womb, visible on the ultrasound screen grabbing at her twin brother, as if reassuring herself that she was not alone. Upon her birth, which had come twelve minutes after her twin, she’d been told that she had wailed, a horrible, anguished wail that had not ended until she was placed in the cradle beside Pietro, tiny hands immediately grasping at him.
Wanda always needed to be close, to be touching, to be certain that she was not alone. She would cling to her Mother’s legs as she worked around their apartment, or fly into her Father’s lap, curling tightly into his chest after he had returned from work.
The rest of the time, Wanda was attached to Pietro in various ways, grabbing at his hands, playing with his hair, wrapping him in tight hugs. In their early childhood, Pietro had found his sister’s constant attention annoying and sometimes embarrassing, so Wanda had managed to tone it down a little as they grew. But after their parents died, any annoyance Pietro might have felt towards Wanda previously instantly evaporated. He would let her clutch at his hand, would even reach to take hers first. He wouldn’t object when she crawled into his bed in the middle of the night, cuddling up to him to seek comfort in the face of the current hellish Foster or Group Home they had been unlucky enough to end up in.
Touch, closeness, was how Wanda showed her love, and since they were all each other had at that point in time, Pietro did not feel in any position to reject it. Pietro needed his twin close to him as much as Wanda needed him close. Which was, of course, why the twins had no choice but to flee the very broken Sokovian Foster Care system in their mid-teens, after discovering that they were to be separated.
Pietro sometimes left Wanda behind, in search of food, clothes, or more suitable accommodations. During these times, Wanda would become anxious and fidgety. Many of the rings she wore, ‘found’ and gifted to her by Pietro, had been for the purpose of giving Wanda something to do with her hands, something to fidget with, to occupy her mind, in however small a way, until her brother returned, and she could glue herself to his side once more.
–
When Pietro died, Wanda felt his loss instantly. She screamed, screamed as she had on the day of her birth, except worse, more anguished, because this time there would be no happy reunion, no way for her to be gently placed back beside him. Her grief and rage fueled her, driving her to one of the, by then, few surviving Ultron bots and tearing out its mechanical heart, but in the end, it did not make her feel better, could not bring her brother back.
As the City fell, Wanda was more than ready to fall with it.. but then she found herself swept up in the arms of The Vision, instinctively curling into him, clutching at him like her life depended on it, because it did, and Wanda realised that she really did not want to die, despite the inevitable pain that living without her twin would bring. There were things she still wanted to do with her life, things she still wanted to be. So she clung to Vision, because he was her lifeline, he was all there was. Wanda protested, not wanting to let go, when he deposited her upon one of the escape crafts. After all she had lost, she could not quite believe the synthezoid’s promise that he would be back soon. But she could not make him stay.
“Not yet” He’d said, prying her fingers from his suit with surprising tenderness. “There is one more thing I must do.. but I will be back..”
“Y-You promise?”
“I promise.”
Wanda watched him depart. As she waited for him to return, she found herself anxiously fidgeting with her rings, as she had often done when waiting for Pietro. And when Vision did return, did keep his promise, she gripped his hand tightly. He’d seemed surprised, but there was something soft in his gaze too, and he did not stop her, simply letting her cling to him until the craft landed sometime later.
–
Wanda and Vision had been left alone in the compound quite often in the early days at the Avengers Compound, as the rest of their new teammates dealt with meetings, press releases, and other important matters.
She had avoided him, at first. She couldn’t quite remember how long, or even entirely why.. Maybe she was angry at him for not leaving her to die, to be with her brother. Or maybe she’d been angrier at herself, seeing the comfort she’d sought from Vision as her trying to replace her dead brother, when really, she’d simply been in shock, latching onto Vision mostly because, well, she was there.
Vision didn’t push the matter, beyond bringing cups of tea to her room, or food, and returning later to collect the empty dishes and make sure she had actually eaten something.
One evening, however, as Vision arrived to collect the empty plates, his eyes fell on Wanda’s hands. She had twisted and fidgeted with her rings so much that the skin of her fingers was turning bright red, with what looked like small rashes beginning to emerge in some areas. Wanda had been rather zoned out at the time, eyes fixed on her TV screen as she marathoned some sitcom or other, and had hardly noticed. Vision frowned, leaving the room briefly to deal with the dishes, but soon returned, sitting beside Wanda on her bed. She was startled out of her earlier trance, about to ask him what he was doing, but her throat was raw due to still regular bouts of crying, so Vision managed to get words out first.
“I understand that you are still grieving, and you are of course free to do that in your own way, in your own time. But..”
“But what?” Wanda croaked, her eyes narrowed, ready to be annoyed with him, to snap and kick him out.. yet she still wanted to hear what he had to say.
“You are anxious, and that is understandable too, given that you’ve lost the one remaining constant in your life. If you decide you are ready to talk about it, I will be here. Until then..” Vision paused, simply offering her his hand.
“What’s that about?” Wanda frowned, confused.
“You need an outlet for your anxiety, Miss Maximoff” Vision whispered, “And I am not so easily damaged..”
For a moment, Wanda was more confused, until she actually looked at her own hands, noticed the redness, the burgeoning rash, becoming slightly startled by it. She quietly took the hand Vision offered.
“I.. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Maximoff.”
“Vision?” She quietly toyed with his fingers.
“Yes, Miss Maximoff”
“Call me Wanda.”
–
Wanda gave up avoiding Vision after that day.
Why should she avoid someone simply trying to offer her comfort?
She allowed herself to become used to his presence. Vision was ready to listen if she wanted to talk, but if not, he was happy to let her simply hold his hand, fiddling with his fingers.
Over time, this grew into snuggling into his side on movie nights, of stealing kisses, playing with his non-existent hair, fingers dancing over streaks of vibranium, then grew further, to nights tangled together in bedsheets, and mornings much the same, the rising Sun warming their bare skin, using kisses to muffle the sounds of each other’s pleasure.
On one such perfect morning, Vision presented Wanda with a new, very special ring to join all the others, and she had accepted it with happy tears in her eyes.
–
Now, some years later, they had three beautiful children together, (the twins, Tommy and Billy, and a daughter, Viv) and had moved into their own place to have room for their family.
One lazy Saturday night, they were all at home, although the children had a few friends over. Viv and her friends Kamala and Riri were off working on a project for school the following Monday, while the twins were watching a movie with Kate and Teddy, friends they'd met at a ‘Young Avengers’ camp that Summer.
When Wanda came in to deliver snacks, she found that Tommy had sprawled himself over almost the entire couch, leaving just enough room for Kate, while Billy and Teddy were sitting on the floor. Billy was picking at a loose thread on his trousers, until Teddy offered a hand, which Billy took without even thinking about it, now toying with Teddy’s fingers instead of the thread.
Wanda watched them fondly for a moment, until Kate stood to relieve her of the snacks.
“Thanks for letting us come over, Mrs. Maximoff” She smiled.
“You’re welcome any time, Kate, and Wanda is fine” Wanda chuckled. “You kids have a nice night..”
–
After fetching some snacks for herself, Wanda headed to her own room, where Vision was waiting, an episode of The Brady Bunch paused on the television.
“Sorry I kept you waiting, Vizh” She plopped herself beside him.
“That’s perfectly alright, my love” Vision draped an arm around her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. “I take it the children are not getting into any trouble?”
“No. All safely occupied.”
“And when do you think Billy will be ready to tell us that he and Theodore are more than just friends?”
Wanda chuckled softly, moving to take his free hand in one of her own.
“Give him time..”