Avengers: It's Not a Wonderful Life

Chapter 1: Nothing as it Seems

New Avengers Facility

Being a synthetic being powered by an Infinity Stone, the Vision technically did not require sleep. However, he liked to do so anyway, as it made him feel closer to his actually human teammates, doing what they did. At the moment, he was lying on his back with his eyes closed. His body had shifted, with his cape gone so as not to be uncomfortable. The light from the Mind Stone had dimmed, leaving his quarters in total darkness. No thoughts drifted across Vision's mind as the sun rose into the sky outside.

His serenity was interrupted by the door suddenly swinging open, followed by a greyish-blue blur that zipped inside, and poked him in one of his closed eyes.

"Rise and shine, flying man," laughed Pietro Maximoff, "We've got work to do." He then dashed outside, leaving Vision holding a hand to his own eyeball.

Sighing to himself, the cyborg stretched as he rolled off the bed, planting both feet firmly on the ground. He willed his molecular structure to alter once more, recreating his signature golden cape, then exited the room. Across the hall, Wanda Maximoff had been the victim of a similarly rude awakening from her twin, and was just now greeting the day, having dressed quickly. She stretched both of her arms to the ceiling with a large yawn, bringing a smile to Vision's face.

"Good morning, Wanda," he said, pleasantly, "I trust you slept well."

"As well as possible in this boot camp," Wanda shrugged, remembering the particularly strenuous exercises Captain Rodgers and Agent Romanoff had put them through this week. The new team of Avengers, although possessing impressive power, with nine members as opposed to six, had yet to truly function as an effective team. Thankfully, no potentially apocalyptic scenarios had come up against them thus far.

"I could always try greasing up the good Captain's shield," chuckled Loki, strolling down the hall past them, "Might lighten up the mood a bit." He still wore his ostentatious helmet, but also a green t-shirt and blue jeans. As a result, he looked completely ridiculous, but nobody ever called him out on it. Mostly because he wouldn't listen if they did.

"Somehow, I feel like Steve would disapprove, not to mention Ellen," said Sam Wilson, already up and suited for training. Once a soldier, always a soldier.

The quartet made their way towards the meeting room for breakfast, where they were met by their remaining comrades. Captain America, up early as well, having already eaten. Black Widow, standing by the doorway to the training room, sizing up her allies in a way nobody would notice unless they were expecting it. Colonel Rhodes, already suited up as War Machine, standing at attention. Pietro Maximoff, sorting through the fridge to feed his superhuman metabolism.

At the head of the table stood their newest member, Ellen Ripper, Loki's lover, dressed in her flashy costume, consisting of a bright purple top with a five pointed star logo, and black pants, along with an oval shaped grey stone, held around her neck by a length of chain. Ellen was fairly young, barely out of college, with long black hair, deep blue eyes, and an impressive muscular build. However, she'd managed to prove her usefulness to the team, with super strength, telekinesis, flight, and the ability to fire explosive bursts of energy. Ellen had joined up with the team right before the Ultron incident, preventing Loki's attempts to silently assassinate the remaining Avengers. Loki had become so taken with her, he'd decided to serve humans instead of kill them, and as a result, they'd both been perfect candidates for the new Avengers team. She'd even managed to save Pietro's life during the Sokovia incident.

"Look alive, people," chuckled Steve, noticing the still sleepy Wanda and Ellen, who were doing a poor job concealing it, "We've got to run through the takedown regimens today."

"Aw, come on, Steve!" chuckled Ellen, as Loki wrapped his arms around her shoulders, "Haven't we been through enough lately?"

"We haven't had a single mission this week," snorted Natasha, "When you've lived as many near death scenarios as I have, then you can complain."

Ellen would've retorted, had not an alarm begun to blare throughout the facility. The telltale red lights began to flash, burning into the vision of the assembled Avengers. Resigning to a day without a full breakfast, Wanda, Sam, Ellen, and Loki grabbed some loose snacks Pietro hadn't eaten from the fridge, before rushing to the briefing room after the others. Vision didn't miss the dirty look that Loki shot him for not having to eat, but it made him laugh more than anything.

Arriving in the conference room, they were greeted by Maria Hill, suited up and prepared for the day. "Nice to see you all functioning," she snarked, "We've got an alert." She pressed a button on a small, black remote, activating the projector screen directly behind her. The image revealed was the headquarters of the United Nations. What immediately caught everyone's eyes, of course, were the multiple soldiers standing around the building, all armed with very large guns. In addition, several large tank-like cars were aiming their weapons directly at the building. Multiple soldiers were equipped with blue armor, with cannons built into one arm. Standing over them was a man wearing a costume with a black cowl that extended into a cape, white body armor and boots, with the rest of his clothes colored black. The screen flashed before switching to a new scene inside the building, where guards had armed themselves and were prepared to defend various world leaders, while trying to keep them calm.

"This was sent to the government not long ago," said Hill, reading from a notice on her tablet, "Anti-patriotic terrorists. They're demanding that all countries immediately destroy all symbols of their own individuality and unite under 'one world order', or everyone in the building will die."

"Uh, don't they realize that Hydra already tried it, and it's not going to work here either?" pointed out Sam, "What is this, an 80's cartoon?"

"They may not be very bright," agreed Hill, "But they're armed, and definitely dangerous." She then brought up the profile of the costumed man, along with his mugshot. "Our leader is Karl Morgenthau, A.K.A. Flag-Smasher. Responsible for inciting multiple anti-nationalist movements across three continents. Not really one for violent terrorism, but that seems to have changed.."

"Meta-human?" asked Steve, reflexively.

"Thankfully, no," responded Hill, "But that doesn't make his thugs any less of a real threat. The military detail can't handle this, so it falls to us. Simple job: Get in, knock 'em out, make sure nobody dies."

"Sounds like a plan!" cheered Ellen.

The Quinjet

Not much was said on the flight to New York City. Everybody was too busy cramming down whatever food they'd managed to pilfer on the way out, or psyche themselves up for the mission at hand. Steve and Natasha had it easy, having years of being Avengers behind them. Rhodey and Sam were fine as well, as they were both experienced soldiers. They were nervous, of course, but they knew how to manage those fears.

The newcomers were not so lucky. While Wanda had overcome most of her fears thanks to Clint's rousing speech in Sokovia, she still wasn't accustomed to saving lives and taking down criminals. She merely sat quietly on the bench of the jet, red energy flowing between her hands, as if she were unsure what to do with them. Vision, while not as panicked as she, wasn't immune to the newcomer anxiety. Perhaps he had it even worse, as he was still becoming acquainted with actually having emotions. He paced the middle of the jet, his hands behind his back, looking down at his feet.

Seeing their companions' unstable emotional states, the other Avengers made sure to step in. Pietro, always there for his twin, grasped one of her hands, giving a reassuring squeeze. Wanda looked up into his smiling face, which conveyed more than he could ever say. She wanted to return the expression, but her the pain in her heart grew even greater at the sight of his face, for reasons she didn't comprehend. She ignored the feeling, dismissing it as more nerves.

Ellen was currently holding Loki's hand, but moved away from him when she noticed Vision's body language. She grasped his shoulder, giving him a kind, peaceful look, as if trying to assure him. Vision blinked, not quite sure how to react. He eventually settled on giving a nervous smile back to her, looking straight into her eyes, as her stone pulsed with silver light...

He'd been knocked out of the sky, and the pain was constant all over his body. He tried to rise to his feet, but an invisible force pinned him down. Looking up, he saw a figure descending from the sky, eyes glowing bright silver, reaching for his head with both hands...

A fierce bolt of pain shot across his mind, and Vision involuntarily grunted, grabbing the sides of his head. The Mind Stone briefly flared bright gold, and he collapsed into a seat, rubbing his temples to relieve the pain. Noticing this, Captain America got up and moved over to him.

"You okay, Vis?" he asked.

"If you're not, you should probably sit this one out," said Natasha from the pilot's seat.

Vision looked up at Ellen, who seemed to be looking at him with a look that mixed concern with disbelief. However, the disbelief aspect faded so quickly Vision decided he must have imagined it, along with the glowing of her stone, which was doing no such thing.

"I-it's nothing," he responded, "I believe it's just the anxiety interfering with my Mind Stone. I'll be fine."

"Well, if you're sure," said Captain America.

United Nations Headquarters

"No sign of any approaching hostiles," reported Mason into his microphone. He shifted nervously as he stood guard at the edge of the plaza, never taking his hands off of his rifle. Mason had signed up with Flag-Smasher in good faith, seeing nationalist pride as something that forced countries to hate each other, and eventually led to war. However, he hadn't expected the protests to get this violent, or go far enough to attempt taking dozens of assembled world leaders hostage. Still, he convinced himself that it would ultimately work out for the best, and nobody would get hurt.

And that was when the grey blur sped into him, smashing the butt of his gun into his face. Mason was unconscious before he hit the ground.

There were about two dozen soldiers armed with assault rifles stationed in front of the U.N. plaza. Pietro took them all out in less than three seconds, knocking them around like bowling pins. In a few more seconds, he'd sorted the dazed criminals and their weapons into two neat little piles.

"Showoff," muttered Sam, as he and Rhodey flew in over the battlefield.

With their first line of defense down, the armored soldiers stepped in to take the fight to the Avengers. Noticing the two fliers above them, several raised their arm blasters and opened fire, launching small artillery shells, grenades, and other ordinances. However, War Machine and the Falcon had dealt with much greater threats, as well as better shots, and dodged the assault with little difficulty.

The blasts eventually ceased, however, as the arrival of two attack helicopters made it unnecessary. Swearing under his breath, Sam swooped into a steep dive to avoid the barrage of minigun fire that came at him. Swerving around to face the side of the first chopper, Sam fired a single missile from his pack, aimed directly at the tail, where it exploded, sending the aircraft careening towards the ground. Rhodey zoomed underneath and grabbed on, slowing it's descent to ensure it didn't land on anybody. The process was repeated on the second chopper, with similar success.

The remaining soldiers turned their attention to the grounded Avengers, immediately pelting them with bullets and explosives, only to receive a shock as the weapons went right through them. The illusions faded, revealing a grinning Loki, and Wanda, whose force-field had blocked all damage. Ellen swooped down, taking down the first armored soldier with a silver burst of energy, destroying the suit's power core. Vision opted for a more subtle method, phasing his hand through the back of the suit to simply tear the power supply out.

Desperate to save their heavy artillery, the tank cars swerved around, aiming their impressive cannons at the fighting Avengers. Fortunately, their aim was thrown off by Loki, who conjured up more illusions of all of his comrades. The cars fired into the crowd of Avengers, only to have their drivers swear in frustration as the explosions passed harmlessly through the fakes. In response, Wanda, Vision, and Ellen sent beams of red, yellow, and silver energy back at them, blasting away their weapons, followed by their wheels. They wouldn't be going anywhere.

With the flashier Avengers doing the heavy lifting, Steve and Natasha slipped behind the enemy's front line to attack the reserves, along with the leader. Steve's shield went spinning forward, clocking the first on the skull, before he caught and hurled it again, bouncing it off the wall of the U.N. building to impact another soldier in the back, right between the shoulder blades. Natasha fired multiple electric charges through her Widow's Bite, hitting the guns of the soldiers and sending electrical currents into them through their weapons. One tried to play smart and dropped his gun, but the Black Widow dropped to her side, swinging her foot up to catch him on the temple, knocking him out.

Flag-Smasher, at the sight of the Avengers charging into his soldiers, roared with fury, charging towards Captain America. He threw his strongest punch, but it was easily blocked by the ever-present Vibranium shield. Steve then retaliated with a spinning kick, sending his opponent onto his back, but Morgenthau quickly recovered. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he reached into his belt, drawing out a grey pistol attached to a long tube, leading to his back. Pulling the trigger sent a stream of white-hot flames directly towards Steve and Natasha, who backflipped away from the burning embers.

"He's got some kind of body armor," Steve said into his earpiece, "Not vibranium, but pretty durable. Some kind of flamethrower gun."

"Not exactly Iron Man, is he?" responded Wanda, telekinetically hurling two armored soldiers into each other.

"ROGERS!" roared Morgenthau, cutting off Steve's response. Flag-Smasher hurled a grenade at the Captain, forcing Steve to raise his shield once more. The blast was blocked, but the force that the vibranium failed to absorb sent the Captain flying backwards, sprawling onto his stomach. Steve attempted to scramble to his feet, but Flag-Smasher was upon him, kicking him right in the head several times.

"You represent everything that's wrong with this world!" shouted Morgenthau again, "You claim to protect all people, but you wear the colors of a single country! So long as you exist, so long as countries continue to force people apart, there will never be peace! Only war!" He pulled a heavy, spiked mace from his belt. "Captain America has to die!"

Steve rolled backwards to avoid the crushing blow that came down exactly where his head had been mere moments before. Ellen came zooming towards Flag-Smasher, clocking him on the head with a roundhouse punch, sending him crumbling to his knees before circling around to attack him again.

"Man, this guy has cornier lines than Thor-" she started. Unfortunately for Ellen, Flag-Smasher had largely rolled with the punch, and had faked being more injured. When she came back around, he swung his mace in an arc, dealing her a clubbing blow to the gut. The girl was sent spinning out of the air, crashing to the ground.

"ELLEN!" shouted Loki, running over to her. Flag-Smasher grinned with pure malice, raising his flamethrower, pointing it directly at the two Avengers. His fingers started to squeeze the trigger...only to meet nothing when the weapon was snatched out of his hand by stray wisps of red energy. He spun around, watching as the pistol was torn from the cable, flying into Wanda Maximoff's outstretched hand.

"Girl!" Moregenthau shouted, charging towards Wanda with his mace primed, "You're interfering in things you don't understand!" Wanda merely smirked, not bothering to dodge or try to stop Flag-Smasher. Her reason became apparent a second later, when Vision dropped out of the sky, directly in the path of the swinging mace. As he did, he increased his molecular density, to the point where the weapon shattered on impact.

"Mr. Morgenthau," the synthezoid said calmly, "Please consider surrendering. We have no desire to harm you any more." Flag-Smasher looked around, noticing that the rest of his soldiers had been taken down by the remaining Avengers. There was absolutely no way he could win. Of course, that fact of life wasn't going to stop him from trying.

"My cause is just," he snarled, putting up both fists, "And if I must die to prove that, so be it!" He prepared to throw a punch, only to be cut off by Steve's shield, which slammed right into his armpit, knocking him to the side, into the waiting arms of Natasha Romanoff. She swung her electric baton upwards, sticking Flag-Smasher right in the back of the neck. He was out cold before he hit the ground.

"Well," said Steve, retrieving his shield, "That could've gone so much worse."

"Are you kidding?!" shouted Loki, "He hurt Ellen! He-"

"Relax, honey," Ellen insisted, sitting up, "I'm okay." She looked down at her stomach. Her skin was more durable than most, but not impenetrable. The mace had cut into her in a few places, but overall, she looked fine.

"You should still be examined by a medic," insisted Vision.

"I'm on it!" called Pietro, grabbing Ellen and zooming off before any of them could blink.

"I'm beginning to see why Barton doesn't like that guy..." muttered Loki.

Quinjet

"Yes, sir, you're welcome. The Avengers are happy to provide their services...Thank you for the offer, sir, but we need to investigate, find out who sold Morgenthau his tech..." Natasha continued to drone into the phone. She'd been speaking to various officials who they'd saved for over two hours until they took off, due to the seemingly endless fountain of gratitude they spouted. Even firing up the jet hadn't ensured the Avengers escape, as their phone number was commonly held by people in positions of power. It wasn't that Natasha or any of the team disliked the gratitude, but it was something they'd gotten a lot of recently, and it was easily tiring.

Wanda and Pietro sat on one side of the Quinjet, with Loki and Ellen on the other. Sam, Rhodey, Natasha, and Vision were sitting in various positions around the jet, while Steve piloted once more. Ellen's injuries had been deemed mostly superficial, and she would only need to take it a bit easy in the coming days. No doubt she would lord her freedom from the most grueling of training over the rest of the Avengers.

"You bet you won't be straining yourself," Loki proclaimed, hugging Ellen. Vision raised one eyebrow, still trying to understand human behavior.

"I'm just saying, if you'd let me take care of them all, it would've been over much quicker," Pietro insisted, to the laughter of his twin.

"You do remember how well that went down when you tried to save Clint in Sokovia, remember?" Wanda joked back, "It's not like Ellen will always be around to save your hide."

Sokovia...Pietro...

Vision's head suddenly exploded with pain. He roared in agony, clutching both sides of his head as the Mind Stone flared with light. The android fell to his knees, rolling into a fetal position. He had a vague awareness of Wanda and the others rushing to his aid, but he could not hear their voices. His mind was occupied with processing the sudden onslaught of images that assaulted his brain.

He heard Wanda's anguished cry as he tore another Ultron sentinel apart. Though emotions were still strange to him, he knew sadness. Only the death of Wanda's twin could've brought her to such misery. He needed to find her, before her grief drove her to give up her own life...

He was standing outside the New Avengers compound, but wreckage was scattered everywhere, and trees were burning. Steve and Natasha, both unconscious, sat on the ground. as a figure outlined in silver light touched both of their skulls. He flew down to try and stop the figure, Sam and Rhodey by his side, but several large energy blasts came up to meet them. Sam's pack was damaged,but an invisible force gripped him in midair, pulling him down to the figure. Vision and Rhodey were not so fortunate, as they both were sent bouncing across the grass. From his place of injury, he looked up to see Wanda, red energy flaring, as she charged towards the figure...

"It's okay...I'm your friend...this is for the best..."

"Vision!"

Vision's eyes shot open once more. Natasha, Loki, Pietro, Sam, Rhodey, and Wanda were all gathered around him, looks of concern filling all of their faces. Wanda in particular looked almost white with panic. Looking over at the bench, he saw Ellen, looking as ghastly as the rest, clutching her stone so hard her knuckles turned white. It was a nervous habit she did whenever something stressful truly got to her. At least, he thought it was...

Wanda held out one hand. "Can you stand?" she asked, her voice shaking.

Vision grasped her hand, his other one placed flat against the Mind Stone. "I...I think so," he replied, as he wobbled to his feet. The pain seemed to be gone, and the memories no longer rushed to his mind, but he felt disoriented and awkward. "I...I"m sorry, I don't know what's happening to me..."

"Neither do we," responded Sam, "But maybe Wanda should look at you when we get back, get inside that space rock. It's not like a normal doctor could do much for you."

"I don't know," Ellen suddenly spoke up, "Are we sure he's actually sick? I mean, his anatomy's completely unique. Maybe this is just normal for him?" There seemed to be a glimmer of hope in her voice, like she was praying her words were the truth.

Natasha looked at her oddly. "Not impossible, but we shouldn't rule anything out. Wanda's the only one who can access the depths of the Mind Stone. We need to be sure."

"O-okay..." Ellen responded. Vision looked at her, unable to decipher exactly what she was feeling right now, but he said nothing. He had some ideas as to why she reacted the way she did, but they were less than ideal.

New Avengers Compound

Since there was nothing they could do for Vision, the rest of the Avengers made the decision to congregate in the "War Room." Flag-Smasher may have been imprisoned, but someone had sold him some pretty impressive weapons technology, and it was their job to find out who. Hydra seemed like the most probable candidate, but they weren't the only ones on the black market.

Vision and Wanda, meanwhile, had relocated to Vision's room in order to perform the "operation," the reason being that Vision would be more comfortable there. Vision sat on his bed, while Wanda pulled up a loose chair.

"Alright," said Wanda, red energy coalescing around her fingers already, "I'm not sure where we should start with this, but-"

"Wanda," Vision cut her off, raising his hands. He glanced around quickly, before beckoning her to lean towards him. "I think something's wrong," he whispered.

"Well, yes," she responded, matter-of-factly, "You're experiencing migraines that have something to do with the Mind Stone."

"No!" Vision insisted, looking her right in the eye, "Something unusual is happening in this facility, and I think it's connected to Ellen."

Wanda blinked, looking at Vision incredulously. "I honestly doubt that," she responded, "I think this suspicion is just brought on by-"

"No!" Vision almost shouted, "I...I don't know how to put it into words, but something's wrong about her. She seems...like she doesn't fit in with my memories. I remember her being there, even when I was J.A.R.V.I.S., but...it doesn't feel right. When I look at her, sometimes there are flashes of...I don't know what, where the team is being attacked by a figure, which I don't remember happening. And she's not the only problem."

"What do you mean?"

"Like..." Vision mumbled, "Loki. He feels...wrong. I only met him when he threatened Tony in the original tower, back when Jarvis was just a program, but he doesn't behave normally. He just fell in love with Ellen and gave up trying to rule Midgard? And we all accepted that? Then there's your brother. When you spoke about him getting saved by Ellen in Sokovia, I had an...image, in my mind, I'm not sure if it was a memory. But he died saving Clint-"

Vision was cut off by tendrils of red energy completely smothering the front of his body. The synthezoid was lifted off his feet and slammed into the wall behind his bed. Wanda glared at him, fury evident in her eyes as she restrained him. After a few seconds, she seemed to calm down, releasing her grip.

"I'm sorry..." she mumbled, "Just...never say that."

"I apologize, but..think about what you feel when you look at him," Vision said, trying to break the ice, "I saw you looking at him on the Quinjet, gripping his hand. You told me that you do that for reassurance, but you looked even more upset at the time."

Wanda placed both hands on her forehead, trying to keep the fearful thoughts from coming to the surface. The awful truth was that Vision was correct. For the past few days, every time she looked at her twin, she felt bursts of pain and sorrow, rather than the just calm and serenity he usually brought. She'd been ignoring them, trying to pass them off as stress, but it was clear that something else was the cause. Her memories in the aftermath of Ultron's attack felt strange, as well. She remembered celebrating, but it felt empty and unnatural. The scene played in her memories like an unfinished movie, with words coming out of her mouth that she wouldn't consider saying.

"What are you asking me to do?" she finally said.

"I need you to delve deep into my memories," Vision answered, "Particularly those related to Ellen. There must be something I can't find."

Wanda opened her mouth to object, but no words came forth. Vision was definitely correct about her feelings towards Pietro. If there was any possibility his memories could uncover the reason, she had to make an attempt. With those thoughts in mind, she nodded, before focusing her powers. The familiar red energy pooled around her fingers, before her eyes began to glow the same color. A tendril of light snapped up, right into Vision's temple.