Disclaimer: I do not own the original canon nor am I making any profit from writing this piece. All works are accredited to their original authors, performers, and producers while this piece is mine. No copyright infringement is intended. I acknowledge that all views and opinions expressed herein are merely my interpretations of the characters and situations found within the original canon and may not reflect the views and opinions of the original author(s), producer(s), and/or other people.
Warnings: This story may contain material that is not suitable for all audiences and may offend some readers. Please utilize understanding of personal sensitivities before and while reading.
Author's Note(s): In case, y'all haven't noticed for whatever reason, I've been working through my leftover feels from Civil War because reading Avengers: Infinity War Prelude made me more than a bit mad. This is the third one of these that I've written specifically for the collection/series I've named "Connection". The complete list will be available on my profile page.
Series Summary (Connection): Sir Arthur Conan Doyle once penned the words "You fail to connect actions to their consequences." The thing about consequences is they tend to happen whether you want them to or not.
By Any Other Name Challenge
Fill Number: 01
Representation(s): Starks; Family of Mixed "Species"
Bonus Challenge(s): Non-Traditional; Mouth of Babes (Vision); Found Family
Word Count: 959 (Story Only)
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Pretend No More
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Vision was waiting for word on the outcome of Tony Stark's surgery when Friday rerouted the call. Ross had already announced the mass breakout at the Raft. Vision was certain that his initial plan had been to accuse Tony Stark of assisting the escape of the former Avengers, but the genius had the best alibi for this occasion as he had been unconscious and dying at the time. Thankfully, Ross was not at ease with ordering Vision about as he was with humans and therefore skipped any attempt at forcing Vision away from his dual vigil.
Colonel Rhodes' health was still uncertain, though less so than Tony's at the moment. The outcome of being left alone after being beaten and essentially trapped was unlikely to be good for any of them. The only small boon was the facility kept out the worst of the elements. It was likely the only thing which kept Tony alive long enough to be retrieved.
To be honest, Vision was surprised that Friday rerouted Wanda's call at all. The young AI was tempestuous when it came to her creator and the last year had not shown her to be generous to those who sought to harm Tony in any way. (He was beginning to empathize with that feeling rather than merely sympathize.) Friday's wrath was mild compared to what Vision knew her to be capable of achieving but consistent. None had been the focus of the petty acts of revenge as much as Wanda had. His confusion had lasted just long enough to process that while Wanda was most definitely Friday's least favorite, Vision himself had to be somewhere near Colonel Rhodes' level of favoritism (though he suspected not above given her habit of nicknaming the man).
He pushed away the idea that Friday doted upon him the same way she did the other members of their little makeshift family. He was not JARVIS, not enough that it should count.
"Vision," Wanda breathed into the phone when the line cleared. She sounded different to him, both somehow less of something while also being more. It was nice to hear her voice, as always, but the memory of her violent actions at the Compound still bothered him as they had at Leipzig. Indecision was still a new feeling for him. The uncomfortable sensation slid to the background of his thoughts as she continued speaking in rushed tones. "I'm so glad to have reached you. I was afraid that Stark had locked you up as well. Steve managed to free us all from the horrible prison Stark had us all thrown in—do we need to rescue you as well?"
"I am not in need of rescue. Where are you, Wanda? Have you returned to the United States?"
"We did briefly, to drop off Scott and Clint, but now we're headed somewhere else." There was a pause where Wanda was likely looking at someone for information. "I would tell you, but Steve is worried that Stark will come after his friend. He already tried to kill him a couple of times. Steve's willing to leave me here if you're willing to meet me. Just imagine it, Viz: a life free from Stark's obsession with fighting and destruction."
Vision let the silence grow for a moment. Various scenarios wove themselves before him. Each showed the different ways that this conversation could affect the events of the future. It did not help that he could see now, with the clarity of hindsight, the part he had played in creating this current situation. Wanda had been fascinated by him but never enough to renounce her previous actions or truly listen to his advice on things. She often played as if she was the victim of prejudice when forced into seeing how people saw her and her favorite way was to blame Tony for the views of others. Research done by JARVIS surfaced briefly, as it was wont to do, providing the terms and cyclic nature of the current relationship model Vision shared with the Sokovian woman.
Vision knew what he needed to do, what had to be done by someone capable of handling it. In many ways, this was his mess to tidy, regardless of who had originally created it. His negligence caused this to escalate the way it had.
He refused to acknowledge how like Tony he was choosing to act.
He also refused to listen to the little voice that whispered that family always did tend to act alike.
"I will meet with you, Wanda," Vision stated, not commenting on anything else the enhanced woman had said. She was much like Steve Rogers in the way she reacted to being contradicted. Should the contradiction be from a similar stance as Tony Stark, she was particularly volatile. "Just tell me where."
If Wanda suspected his plan, she may choose to continue to travel with Steve Rogers to whatever designation the man had in mind. That would mean the next time Vision knew where to find her, more people would have died. He couldn't allow that to come to pass, regardless of what he had to do to stop it. Even if it meant removing a possible asset in the great battle he knew as surely as Tony Stark was coming, Wanda Maximoff had to be stopped.
Vision could no longer be silent and pretend he wasn't choosing a side.
He could no longer let the witch have free reign over power that came from a part of himself and pretend that he wasn't acting against the stance he had taken when faced with Ultron.
It was time to stop allowing himself to be distracted.
He had chosen the side of life.
It was time to act like it.
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An Ending
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