Work Text:
Wanda slowly opens her eyes. She wasn’t at Mount Wundagore anymore. No debris was falling around her. Instead she kneels on a cold floor, red mist swirling around her.
What happened?
“Wanda?” A familiar voice. She looks up.
“Rhodey?”
The man nods, shocked.
“Oh god, Rhodey. I did such horrible things.” She slowly lifts her hand to her mouth as a sob escapes her.
“Hey, hey. Take it easy.” Rhodey murmurs and slowly approaches her.
“Where have you been? After Westview? We’ve been worried.”
“I…” She stops as she senses another presence close by. Maybe in another room. But that presence… that couldn’t be…
“Man, wait here. I gotta get Vision.”
“Vizh?” She asks hoarsely.
“Yeah. He came here a few months ago, all lost and confused. Poor guy didn’t know what to do, so he looked for Tony first. Only found his grave, mind you. Pepper sent him here. He has been looking for you ever since. But…” Rhodey looks at her with sad eyes.
“We’ve been in touch with Monica Rambeau and she said.. Well you saw him in Westview, didn’t you? So.. you know he looks different?”
Wanda nods, slowly. “Yeah, I’m aware of that.”
As Rhodey heads out of the room, Wanda contemplates. How did she get here ? She wasn’t even aware that there was something similar to an Avengers compound again. But here she is, in a hallway with windows to the outside, where a big A was attached to one of the outside walls.
“What? What do you mean she’s here?” A very familiar British accent was heard from one of the rooms and then the chime of vibranium phasing through a solid wall followed it.
“Wanda.” As she looks up she sees the white version of her husband. Blue power cell emitting a soft blue light where the mindstone used to be.
“You have been looking for me.” She says. She wasn’t sure if he was the same as he was in Westview, programmed to kill.
“I did. My memories given by the other Vision showed me that you are important. To me.”
He sounds rather mechanical. He continues.
“I wanted to apologize for my actions. I do not intend to harm you any further. I was under the control of S.W.O.R.D..”
“I know. You weren’t yourself when you…” She trails off, reminded of what she just did under the influence of the darkhold.
“Are you alright?” He asks and he actually looks concerned. What drives Wanda insane though was the fact that she feels him. Only very slightly, like a whisper carried by wind. But he was there.
“No,” she answers honestly after a short moment. “And you?”
“I have been brought back from the dead after being ripped apart and overwritten. And I was sent out to kill you, which I never wanted. So no as well.”
“Well look at us, two broken people back in the place where it all started.”
“This isn’t the same compound.” Vision states matter of factly.
“Yeah, but we are also not the same people.” Wanda looks at him as he proceeds to kneel on the ground in front of her as well.
“And now what? You found me.”
“I did.”
“May I?” She asks, lifting a hand and gestures to the blue light, too curious to hold herself back anymore.
“Please. I do believe you have the piece of me I have been missing since coming back online.”
“Alright,” she murmurs softly and closes her eyes. Red tendrils of magic slowly seep forward and enter his mind. She looks at memories of him feeling lost and alone, something like heartbreak when he stood at a grave.
Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.
A little girl that calls him brother and feelings he doesn’t quite understand anymore, stripped blank.
A hug from Rhodey and Sam, saying how happy they are that he is back. Their looks of concerns at the missing feelings. Days after days looking for her, getting so lost in work.
But under all these memories are feelings, soft and muted down. Wanda tugs at them, trying to free them when she sees the empty slot. The slot that was connected to the mindstone. So she breathes in deep and thinks about Westview again, how she had created him back then, what magic she used. And slowly the tendrils turn golden. The part of the mindstone, the part of his soul that was missing, slowly seeps back into him, making him complete.
She slowly opens her eyes and looks at him. His stoic face has changed. A tear escapes his eyes and Wanda catches it with her thumb. He leans into the palm of her hand and slowly opens his eyes.
“Hello again, darling.” He says, holding onto her hand and something inside her breaks, like a dam that’s been stopping a river and now finally it breaks free.
She starts crying and Vision hugs her tight, holds her head against his body, strokes her back with his other hand. Kisses her head, whispers It’s alright and I’m here over and over again until she calms down. It could’ve been five minutes or five hours. Time seems meaningless.
“Vision… my Vision.” She cups his cheeks and looks at his white face, his gentle eyes that are still the same. “I can feel you. I can finally feel you again.”
“I’m here darling. And I remember everything.” He smiles softly, on the verge of tears himself and Wanda chuckles as she leans her forehead against his, just breathing, taking in his body and warmth and love. So much love.
But she has to tell him. What she’s done. What has happened.
“We need to talk.” She says and Vision nods.
“About Westview?”
“That too. But more important is what I just did. I… I killed people.” She confesses. She doesn’t dare look him in the eye. Vision, who has only ever killed two people in his life because there was no other way. Ultron because he wouldn’t have stopped. And Glaive because he would’ve killed Steve and stop them from destroying the mindstone. Well, not that that had mattered much in the end.
“When you say kill, do you mean bad people?” he asks slowly. He knows that Wanda had killed before, under Ultron, under the Avengers. It was part of their job after all.
Lagos.
She slowly shakes her head.
“I’ve had this book from Agatha… It was called the Darkhold. Strange said it corrupts people and… it has done exactly that. It told me… It told me I could find our boys,” she whispers, eyes closed, wanting the lingering whispers of the damn book to go away, to stop showing her their boys, scared and afraid of her. No, not their boys. Another Wanda’s and Vision’s boys.
“Did you?” He asks and Wanda can tell he’s afraid. Afraid for her, afraid for the boys. Afraid what she will tell him.
“In another universe. They had a mum and I saw pictures of you so I am assuming they also had a dad. But… Oh god, I did such horrible things.” She starts crying, one hand twists into the fabric of her trousers, the other is clasped over her mouth. She starts to rock back and forth before Vision can hold her again, tight and warm.
“Wanda, please calm down. It’s alright now. I’m here, you’re here. We’re safe.” He strokes her hair carefully.
“If I tell you I fear you will resent me,” she murmurs. She couldn’t. She couldn’t tell him, lose him again, live without him again. It was too much.
“Wanda, I would never resent you. Never.” He whispers and there’s a determination in his eyes that makes her feel safe.
“You said you had this book. From Agatha right?” She nods.
“And Strange said it corrupts people? So whatever horrible things you have done, you have done under the influence of the book. Is that correct?”
“I… I guess? I just… “ She breathes in shakingly and starts to tell him. About how she wanted to kill America Chavez and take her powers for herself. How she attacked the Kamar-Taj. How she took possession of the other her. How she killed the other heroes, willingly killing Reed Richards after he said that he had a family, effectively making his wife a widow, the same way she had been. How she was only able to stop when Billy and Tommy looked so scared and frightened of her that she was able to snap out of it all. And how she destroyed the darkhold in every universe in the end.
All the while Vision listened, holding her hands with her black fingertips, stroking his thumb over them and encouraging her to keep talking.
“I’d understand if after all this you don’t.. You don’t want to be with me again. I understand. But I am really sorry. I don’t know how I can repair this.”
“I love you.”
She looks up, surprise written all over her face.
“Don’t look so shocked, darling. I love you. I will always love you. And while the things you have done are gruesome and evil, it wasn’t just your fault. The Darkhold had corrupted you for over a year. I am proud of you for snapping out of it after all and instantly realizing that what you did was wrong. You tried to right the wrongs directly. And while we sometimes can’t really right the wrongs after all, you tried and at least partly succeeded by making sure no-one else would fall into the trap of the Darkhold ever again.”
“But how can I move on from this? I knowingly hurt people and didn’t even think to stop because I was so far gone.”
“Maybe we can reconcile with Mr. Barton? From what I’ve heard he went on a murderous five year killing spree after his family was snapped away. Maybe talking to someone who has been carrying a similar grief can help you.”
Wanda nods, leaning against his strong body and closes her eyes. The lingering corruption was gone, no more sons crying out, no more whispers of the perfect happy ending.
“What about you? You have been through so much as well.”
Vision sighs.
“That is true. But I have you now. That is a start.”
“Yeah, a good start.” Wanda smiles up at him, and Vision returns the smile.
“Maybe we can go to therapy, both of us. I heard Mr. Barnes has been getting therapy.”
“That sounds good, yeah. And maybe, we can slowly adjust to normal life again together. Whatever that means for us.”
“Well,” Vision smiles even brighter and slowly moves closer, “we are an unusual couple, after all.”
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Wanda whispers before she closes the gap between them and captures his lips in a searing kiss, which he reciprocates eagerly.
And in this moment, all the trauma and bad things that have happened and have been inflicted are gone. In this moment it’s just Wanda and Vision, two souls deeply in love. They have a hard road full of recovery ahead of them but they will walk it together, as they slowly learn to rediscover themselves.