Day Two

Wanda woke up feeling dreadful. She had nightmares about Pietro dying again, which maybe she should have been expected. Based on the light it must still be very early morning, just after sunrise. She stared up and ceiling dazed it had only been a little more than a week since the events in Novi Grad. She felt raw and unwilling to get out of bed. How did she grieve for her parents as a child? That hadn't been so hard, she had Pietro and she had the distraction of trying to survive. Now she had everything she could possibly want and more. What was she supposed to do? She began to sob into her pillow until she must have fallen back asleep.

She woke up to someone calling her name with concern. Wanda rolled over and looked up bleary eyed at a dark red face hovering over her. Wanda shrieked and wrung her fingers hex the stranger hovering over her bed. Just time to realize it was Vision. Thankfully the hex passed through him ineffectively and fizzed out. Wanda wasn't sure if the hex hadn't work because she hadn't wanted to or Vision was just immune to her hexes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," Vision said lightly touching down on the floor beside her bed.

Wanda sat up covering herself with blanket. She was wearing a t-shirt, but she still felt exposed under Vision's innocent scrutiny. He doesn't mean anything by it, she told herself, he's just a barely two-week old robot, but she still wasn't able to keep the irritation out of her voice. "Vision, what are you doing in my room?"

"It's mid-morning and Captain Rogers was looking for you," Vision explained as if this was a reasonable enough reason to enter her room uninvited. Wanda noticed the door to her room was still shut.

"Why did you shut the door after yourself?"

"I didn't use the door," Vision explained.

"You just floated into my room? Through a wall?" Wanda said her accent became thicker when she was tired, she wasn't even sure if she what she was saying sounded like English anymore.

Vision could apparently understand still regardless. "The ceiling."

Wanda groaned. "Just go, tell Captain Rogers I will be there in twenty minutes."

"Certainly," Vision said then dissolved through the floor.

Wanda groaned again.

Before heading downstairs Wanda saw she had a text message from Clint Barton asking if she could call or do a video chat this evening. He said he had found a solution. Wanda felt more anxious than she already did, somehow, but she responded to Barton's message with an affirmative. Then she went downstairs. Captain Rogers was waiting for her outside looking alert and well into his day. Vision had apparently floated off elsewhere.

"Feeling all right Maximoff?" he asked her.

Wanda wanted to give him an angry response, but she didn't think he had really done anything to deserve that. She used her telepathy to see if he was looking for a lie or an honest answer.

"No, I'm not, Captain Rogers," Wanda admitted.

"Anything I can do?" he asked with concern.

"Thank you, but there's not anything any of us can do," Wanda said bluntly.

Captain Rogers looked thoughtful for a moment, but simply said, "Wanda, I don't know exactly what you're going through right now, but I've… I've lost family so don't feel like you have to mourn alone. If you need some time… I wasn't going to suggest you take the test until the end of the week, but Natasha and Vision said you wanted to take it today."

"No, I'm awake, I don't want to go back to my room to pout. Let's do this test," Wanda said flippantly. She didn't remember telling Natasha and Vision she wanted to take any tests today, but she was too determined to be stopped now.

Captain Rogers nodded taking in what she was wearing. "All right. For starters… you're not going to want to do this obstacle course in a mini skirt and boots."

And so Wanda trudged back to her room and changed into the shoes and athletic clothes Natasha and forced on her yesterday. Natasha had mercifully picked out clothing with dark colors so Wanda didn't feel like a self-conscious neon lollipop when she emerged. Captain Rogers met her at the entrance and walked her over a trail that led to the edge of the woods. As they walked over he asked what sort of training had she received with Strucker and Hydra. She hadn't received any training. She had been subjected to endless tests, locked in a cell for extended periods of time. She shuddered remembering the cell. The open glass panes for anyone to look in at her at all times. The cold. The discomfort. Captain Rogers must have realized her discomfort and shifted the conversation away asking if she had played any sports as a child. Wanda laughed.

"My brother was the athletic one. I'm the weird one, remember," Wanda said. She knew what people said about her.

"Right, not as weird as you might think," he told her. "This is just to see what condition you're in physically, no powers." Captain Rogers indicated a trail that winded through the woods. In the distance Wanda could see rows of tires, a rope net, and what looked like monkey bars, it appeared to keep going stretching off into the woods. Wanda regretted getting out of bed.

"Just go as fast as you can without hurting yourself," he told her. Wanda gave him the most morose look she was capable of and took off in a trot. She glanced back at him after a few feet.

"Maybe a little faster that," Rogers shouted as kindly as he could. Wanda fretfully faced forward again and continued jogging forward. Oh Pietro, if only you were here to help, Wanda thought, if you weren't busy busting your sides laughing at me. The thought of Pietro made Wanda's eyes start to tear up, but the thought of doing something that would have made him laugh brightened her mood more than she thought it would have.

Wanda plodded on, but I didn't take long for her sides to start aching. She started to feel dizzy at about the top of the rope net. There was a tower at the top and a metal cable strung between the tower and the ground. A zip line. Wanda peered over the edge and gave a nervous laugh. The ground was very far below her. She looked at the zip line that was not happening in a million years. Her chest pounding, she found a ladder down off the tower and began to slowly climb down. She felt terrible. If she ate breakfast she might have thrown it up. But she also felt so dizzy. She slipped on the last few rungs of the ladder and fell to the ground. She just lay there in the leaves and the dirt and didn't bother to get up. A few moments later Captain Rogers was kneeling beside her.

"Did you break anything," he asked in a panic.

"My dignity," Wanda said lifting herself up. Rogers chuckled helping her into a sitting position.

"You know you can do this tomorrow," he told her.

Wanda shook her head. "No, I started this, I'm going to finish this," she said resolutely, "But do you having anything to eat?"

Rogers as if by magic produced some kind of energy granola bar. Wanda nibbled at it until she felt better. She wrapped up the remaining half and tucked it into her clothing.

"Okay, I'll finish this," Wanda said and continued on. She trotted on knowing Rogers wasn't far behind her. She was embarrassed, but on the other hand she told herself, if she was ever confronted with any such real problem she could simply blast it out existence with her hexes rather than try to run through it. After what seemed like an eternity Wanda had managed to loop back to the mouth of the trail where they had started. Steve joined her within moments.

"Well, you finished," he said with a big grin.

"How long did it take?"

"Let's not worry about that," he said reassuringly.

"That well?"

"Well, you complained less than, Sam. That's something."

"Pietro, would have thought this was hilarious," Wanda said gesturing the course and then to herself. "He always said if we got attacked by a bear in the woods he'd have to carry me and he was right."

"You know I would have given Pietro a different course. Probably a mental obstacle course," Rogers said. He gestured for her to follow him back towards the mansion.

"Oh, he would have hated that," Wanda said, "He always wanted to rush through everything without thinking it over."

"Exactly, we've all got thing we could do better," Roger said. "I'm not expecting you to be able to run through this as fast as me or even Natasha, but I am thinking some running or swimming to build up your endurance, some calisthenics to loosen you up, a little bit of strength training. I think you'll feel a lot better and it will give you a goal to work towards."

Wanda liked the sound of a goal, even if it wasn't one she was enthusiastic about. She had always worked towards goals, even if they had been as abstract as revenge.

"Does Vision have to run the obstacle course?"

"I tried, he didn't really get it," Rogers explained, "He just flew and phased through everything. I just decided not to bother about it."

Wanda laughed. Vision didn't seem to get a lot of things about humans. They were almost back at the mansion so Wanda decided to ask what was on her mind while she could.

"Does it bother you he's a copy of Ultron's mind?"

Rogers looks strangely unperturbed by her question. He must have thought about it a lot. "I don't understand all the science behind it, but he's more than a copy, there's more to him than that. There's Stark's AI, that magic stone, and he's a copy of Ultron, not Ultron himself. Remember Vision helped us stop Ultron and he saved your life."

"Maybe it was just convenient for the moment to do those things?" Wanda suggested.

Rogers stood with hands on his hips and smiled at her, "Maybe it was. We all have the capacity to do evil deeds, Wanda. All of us. But that's a choice. I think Vision has made his choice just like you've made yours."

She had made a choice, hadn't she? She was going to be an Avenger. But there was still more to it. Wanda wanted to ask Captain Rogers about evil deeds done with good intentions, but he had already entered the mansion and the moment passed.

Wanda showered, excited to use her new soaps, and changed back into her skirt and sweater content that she smelled significantly better. She wandered into the kitchen to find Sam Wilson making a row of sandwiches. He pointed down at and the concoctions, they looked really good. "You want in on this?" he asked.

Wanda nodded and Sam gave her instructions on what she needed to get out of the refrigerator. Sandwich making to Sam was apparently and art as he instructed her the appropriate way to layer ingredients and what needed to touch for "optimum flavor". Wanda had never realized making a sandwich was this complicated. Sam slid one of the sandwiches on a plate, cut it diagonally, and inserted a toothpick holding what he called a cherry pepper in the top of each wedge. He ostentatiously handed the plate and sandwich to her. He took the remaining three for himself.

"The Scarlet Sandwich," Sam said.

Wanda felt embarrassed for him as she sat at the counter.

"That was good," Sam insisted.

"The sandwich is much better, thank you," Wanda said blushing biting into her food.

Sam sighed and sat in the seat one over from her and started eating his sandwiches. He occasionally asked her questions about herself which made Wanda nervous, but she wasn't sure what she could do to make him change the subject to something besides herself.

"They said you can get inside people's minds," Sam finally said. Wanda felt a telepathic surge and realized he was scared of her, he wasn't sure if he could trust her. Wanda has been feeling pretty good about their exchange up to this point since he had given her food.

"I can," Wanda said simply.

"But you won't, right?" Sam asked.

Wanda looked at him coldly over her shoulder, "Not my allies, no."

Sam continued to watch her carefully, Wanda was a little hurt he felt he needed to ask that, but she wasn't sure he wasn't without fault for being cautious. Hadn't she just asked Captain Rogers the same question this afternoon about Vision?

"Thank you for the sandwich, Sam," Wanda spoke frostily as she placing her dish in the dishwasher. Then exiting the kitchen. She felt restless, but still a little exhausted after this morning. She couldn't call Clint until later tonight, she had an idea what he wanted to talk about and she was partially dreading it. She wasn't ready, but maybe it would give her some closure?

Still she felt like she should be doing something until that phone call. Maybe Natasha or Steve would give her something to do that didn't involve and obstacle course. Despite looking high and low around the mansion she couldn't find either. She thought about texting them, she looked at her phone to see if they had texted her, they hadn't. She didn't want to text them, that made her feel like the needy restless child that she was.

Wanda remembered the garden Natasha had pointed out yesterday. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, so why not now. Natasha set off in the direction she was pretty sure the garden had been. Parts of the garden seemed to be relatively new, the hedges were still very low and in places there were still signs of tractor tracks in the dirt. However other parts the trees and hedges seemed very old, like this had been someone else's garden before the Avengers had taken over the property. Still Wanda could tell it was going to be beautiful someday once everything grew in. There were several smaller paths that led off to private areas with benches or small fountains. There were enormous flower beds where some of the early spring flowers were coming into bloom.

Suddenly Wanda stopped in her tracks, a head she could see Vision hovering the air over a pool of water. She ducked behind a hedge and watched him curiously. He seemed to be intently looking at something in water. She wondered if she could try to read his mind again.

"Hello, Wanda," he called out to her.

Wanda knew it would be more embarrassing if she ran away so she climbed out from behind the hedge. "Hello," she said walking down the terraced brick steps to the pool he was hovering over. It was man made and lined with slate tiles. Enormous lily pads and the occasional pink lotus dotted the surface of the water. Beneath the surface she could see white, orange, and golden koi darting around the water. Vision's shadow must have been exciting them. All their tiny little animal brains could think about was being fed.

"You're teasing them," Wanda told him, "They think they're going to be fed."

"Oh, I didn't realize," Vision said. He descended to the stones lining the pond a few feet away from her. He looked down at her and she looked up shyly at him. It was challenging to keep a straight face when conversing with a red faced robot that looked like a man. Fortunately, it was one of her favorite shades of red.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked.

Wanda shrugged, "It's been a rough day. Especially after being so rudely awakened."

"Rudely… oh, I'm so sorry, it seemed very urgent that I wake you up at that moment. I wasn't sure the best way to go about it. I realize I must have done something wrong when you tried attacking me."

"I'm a little on edge when I get startled awake," Wanda said.

"Understandable, given your life thus far. Also primal instinct in primates to react to predators," Vision said looking thoughtful. It was as if Wanda could hear the little gears and servos grinding at work in there. But then Wanda remembered she had seen Vision as he was being built in that casket like cradle. There were no gears, no components like the inside of a computer. He was metal made flesh, she could even read his thoughts that's how close he was to human.

"Do you sleep?" Wanda asked abruptly.

"No, not that I've tried." Vision said considering the possibility.

Wanda shrugged, "I was just curious. What were you doing looking at the koi?"

Vision looked back at the fish darting through the water. "I was exploring the statistical possibilities of koi being born with certain markings based on how they breed. The nuances and variations in their appearance are amazing. Also they're very beautiful."

"I'm surprised to hear an android talking about beauty," Wanda said crossing her arms watching Vision curiously.

"It certainly is an elusive and poetic subject," Vision said, "I'm honestly not sure what androids are supposed to talk about, human media seems quite conflicted on that, not that I would trust it if it was unified, but I would like to think I have my own concept of beauty."

Wanda might have imagined it, but she felt his eyes linger on her for a moment longer than was necessary to say that before returning his gaze to the fish in the pond.

"Will you walk with me back up to the house?" Wanda asked.

"Of course, Wanda," Vision said turning and following her back up the steps towards the mansion. They walked together silently up the path until Vision interrupted the evening silence with a question.

"How would you like me to wake you up next time?"

Wanda was a little shocked and was concerned she was blushing, "How should you what?"

"How should I wake you? I've calculated the probability that I will have wake you again at some point the in duration of your life and it's almost impossible that I won't. What would be the most agreeable way for me to do so?"

He's just a two-week old robot, he doesn't realize what's he's saying, Wanda reminded herself. "Well, I can't guarantee you won't startle me regardless of what you do, but if I'm expecting from now on I might not be as afraid and after sleeping here a few nights I'll be a little calmer…" How had Pietro woken her up? He had shaken her shoulder and on a few occasions he had tipped the mattress rolling her out of it. She didn't feel eager to suggest either of those options to Vision.

"If you opened the door and you weren't hovering, that would probably help a lot."

"True hearing a door open might set you more at ease," Vision reasoned. "I shall try it."

"Or better yet you could not wake me unless it was a life threatening emergency," Wanda suggested hopefully.

"I'm sorry, Wanda, but Captain Roger's desire to maintain a schedule, albeit a liberal one, supersedes your desire for sleep."

At least she had tried.

At eight o'clock Wanda turned on one of the house tablets and with Natasha's instructions set one of the projectors to display the video call to Clint Barton's farm. Wanda's hands trembled uncomfortably so Natasha patted her back and took the tablet from her. After a few moments ringing Clint's face, larger than life appeared on the living room wall, a small box on the corner showed Wanda and Natasha sitting on the couch together. Natasha waved at Clint.

"How's retired life treating you, Farmer Clint?" Natasha asked.

"It's amazing, it's been less than a week and no one has tried to kill me," Clint said. Wanda flinched given the reason for the call. Clint realized his mistake. So had someone off screen who smacked Clint's with a dish towel. Perhaps his wife?

"I'm sorry Wanda, we're just… I'm sorry," Clint bumbled the apology.

"Occupational hazard," Wanda said trying to laugh it off. Desensitized to death? Wanda fervently hoped that never happened to her.

"Hi, Wanda, I'm Laura," a woman, extraordinarily pregnant and with the dish towel in hand, forced her way into view of the screen. She smiled at them kindly.

"Hello," Wanda replied.

"So I picked up the ashes today," Clint explained. Wanda nodded tearfully. After Novi Grad Wanda had been nearly catatonic as an official with a clipboard had asked her what she wanted to do with her brother body. Clint has stepped in and told her he'd take care of her brother's body. The only thing he had asked her was if she was okay with cremation. Wanda had barely aware of what was going on said yes and she wanted Pietro near her. She couldn't leave him in Sokovia; the cemetery where their parents and grandparents were buried didn't exist any longer. Wanda hadn't been able to take care of herself last week let alone decide what to do with her brother's body.

Wanda realized Clint was still talking.

"And if it's alright with you Wanda, there is a hill that overlooks the farm, we'll build a little vault and we can keep the ashes there if you decide you want to move them later," Clint said.

"I can't keep him here with me?" Wanda asked. Clint, Laura, and Natasha all told her no. Natasha closed her hand around Wanda's.

"You can visit the farm as much as you want, but you can't keep your brother's ashes in your room, Wanda. If nothing else this location has a higher risk for being compromised or something so valuable being misplaced. That will probably never happen at the farm," Natasha told her.

"I can't even keep him in the garden?" Wanda asked.

"Wanda, just as an example," Clint said, "If Banner ever came back all it would take is one bad day for Hulk smash and the whole garden is a mulch pile."

"Thank you, Barton, for that," Natasha took a deep breath, "Frighteningly likely scenario."

"You are welcome, Natasha," Clint said. "So if you took the quinjet out Friday morning, we'll build the vault and have a small wake or not that's up to you. You can hang out over the weekend. It'll be fun. Not to say you have to have fun at the funeral part, but you should enjoy yourself the rest of the time."

"It is fun. The farm is fun," Natasha told Wanda, "And if you want to have a memorial for Pietro we'd all like to pay our respects to him if that's okay with you."

Wanda wondered what Pietro would have wanted. Her chest ached, Pietro had never considered dying, he'd had been too worried about what happened to her. Wanda nodded quickly before she started crying again. "Yes, let's do that."

Natasha nodded at Clint and Laura on the screen. Clint had one more thing to say, "Hey, I heard you ran Steve's death run today."

Wanda nodded.

"Not to brag, but I totally spilled my chunks on that thing," Clint told her.

"I'm not sure what that means," Wanda said. She wasn't sure what chunks meant in English in this context.

Natasha muttered, "He means he threw up."

"Oh," Wanda said. "Gross."

Clint tossed up his hands, "Just saying if you kept down breakfast you did better than me. Anything else ladies?"

"We're good, we'll see you Friday morning unless you have another other gross stories for us," Natasha said.

"Adios!" Clint said with a wave and ended the phone call.

Natasha cleared her throat, "I know you're feeling blue, but I think the farm will cheer you up."

At the reminder of Steve's obstacle course Wanda was reminded of something Steve said that morning.

"Captain Rogers said you and Vision told him I wanted to run the course today, but Rogers didn't want me to run it until later in the week," Wanda said. She waited to see what she picked up with the telepathy after she said that. Natasha's head turned into a muddle of concern, guilt, and past pain.

"That's weird, maybe Steve misunderstood," Natasha said tilting her head quizzically.

Wanda could tell Natasha was lying, but she didn't seem to be trying that hard to conceal it for someone who was such a practiced liar. It was almost like she wanted Wanda to know she was lying.

"Are you up for watching a movie? You can say no, you're probably exhausted," Natasha asked.

"No, I want to watch a movie," Wanda said.

"Okay, go make some popcorn and I'll find something," Natasha said. Wanda nodded weakly and gave Natasha a small smile.