Heart-Shaped Box

The Avengers had disassembled. It had been nearly four weeks since Wanda, Sam, Scott and Clint had 'checked out' of The Raft with the help of Steve. As soon as Clint was free, he and Natasha had collected Laura and the kids and quietly fled to an unknown country with no extradition. The rest were now adjusting to life in Wakanda in their own ways. While Sam, Steve and Scott trained in combat, Wanda locked herself away in her room and focused on meditation.

It was only a matter of time before he set out to locate them.

Mid-afternoon found the three men in the common room, taking a break and making lunch for themselves. Scott was the first to notice the magenta and green form who had just phased through the wall and glided into the room.

"Uh, guys..."

Strangely, no alarms had sounded. T'Challa had assured them that the barracks they were currently living in had the highest security Wakandan technology could offer.

But that made little difference when you could manipulate your density at will.

The three instantly felt vulnerable. Sam and Scott were without their suits and Steve without his shield. Nevertheless, they tensed, prepared for battle.

"I've not come for a fight, Captain Rogers," Vision calmly spoke.

Steve centered himself before the intruder. "Tony send you?"

Vision glanced to the side, almost guiltily. "Mr Stark is unaware I am here."

"Then why are you here?"

"There had not been any recent updates regarding your whereabouts. I had grown concerned."

Sam interjected, "As you can see, we're fine."

Vision hesitated, after a moment, he admitted, "I've also come to see Miss Maximoff."

Steve immediately took a step forward. "You know we won't let you take her."

Vision's jaw visibly flexed before he said, "I've no intention of taking Miss Maximoff anywhere she does not wish to go. I do not wish any of you ill will, least of all her."

To his knowledge, Steve had never known Vision to lie, in any capacity. Nevertheless, in situations such as these, he listened to his gut.

His gut said to trust.

"Alright," Steve relaxed.

"What?" Scott said in disbelief while Sam questioned, "Are you sure, Cap?"

"I trust him," Steve responded. 'He is worthy,' Thor's words echo in his head. He turned back to Vision. "I think she's still in her room. Down the hall, last door on the right."

"Thank you," Vision nodded, lowering himself to the floor and made to walk past them.

Of course, Vision already knew where Wanda was the moment the building came into sight. Her psyche was stronger than ever, and to him, it shined like a lighthouse in the night. But he thought it polite to make his presence known to the others first.

However, sensing Wanda meant that she had sensed him as well. Her mind reached out to his, guarded but curious. He did his best to project his good will and excitement to see her.

He mentally kicked himself when he nearly forgot to knock.

"Wanda," he called through the door. "May I come in?"

He did not hear her reply, but her mind projected an affirmative, so he entered.

The room was simple, but bare and small. White walls with pale tan trim. It reminded him nothing of her room back home and he disliked it immediately. Wanda was seated, cross-legged on the edge of the bed, looking well but distant.

"Vizh," she greeted with a half smile and with that, the weeks worth of frustration and sorrow that had knotted his gut faded into nothingness.

"Wanda," he smiled in return. During his quest to find her, he had considered 1,429 different talking points to 'break the ice.' Upon seeing her in the flesh, he instantly forgot all of them. "I — it's good to see you."

"You too," she replied. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to — that is," he fumbled as he stepped into the room. "Your lack of presence, I've taken notice of it."

Her head tilted a degree. "You wish to take me home then?"

"I would," he admitted. "If you wanted to. But I'm afraid that is no longer a possibility. The government has seized the compound."

Concerned, Wanda gestured to the space next to her. "Then where are you living?"

Vision eagerly settled beside her, pleased to simply be near her. "I have been staying with Mr Stark at the Tower."

Wary, she asked, "Does he know you are here?"

Tenderly, Vision took her hand in his, hoping to convey his sincerity. "No, Mr Stark currently in Malibu with Miss Potts and is unaware that I left."

After a beat he squeezed her hand. Eagerly, his mind sought out hers, hoping to feel the warm pressure of her psyche. She squeezed back, and pressed her mind forward to his, but still remained guarded. He reminded himself of his mission in finding her. Not only to see her, to make sure she was well, but also...

"Wanda," he began, gazing into her eyes. "I want to apologize again. At the time, keeping you at the compound appeared to be the logical decision but —"

"It is alright," she glanced away and leaned in, her shoulder against his. Her voice filled with defeat, "I am dangerous. You needed to protect them."

"No, that isn't true." Vision attempted to capture her eyes again. When she continued to look away, he knelt before her, hands still clasped. "I meant to protect you from them. But in the end, I released you into their custody anyway. I was so—" he paused, and looked away. 'foolish ... dumb ... naive' he considered, but no word in his vocabulary could properly illustrate his grave miscalculation.

Wanda peered down at him. She could sense the emotions rolling off of him in waves. Guilt, frustration, and disappointment reigned the strongest.

"Wanda," he spoke her name with such conviction. "I was wrong. I saw no other way at the time. Had I known it would lead to—" He hesitated again, replaying The Raft tape for the nth time. "But I promise you," he edged closer to her. "I will never seek to contain you again." More sternly, he added, "And I will see to it that no one else does either."

Tears pooled in her eyes before running down her face. Slowly, she leaned forward and rested her forehead against his, just above the Stone.

At the sight of her tears, Vision became alarmed. Combing his memories, he recalled only seeing her cry when she mourned Pietro. Thus, he concluded tears were bad - very, very bad. Uncertain, he pulled away, "I—I'm sorry. I did not intend to upset you."

Overcome by his declaration, Wanda jumped into him, wrapped her arms around his shoulders. Burying her face into his neck, she reassured him. "It is alright. These are not sad tears. I'm very happy you are here. I was worried I'd never see you again. I have missed you, Vizh."

Vision wrapped his arms around her petite frame, heart soaring. "I have missed you as well," he breathed into her hair.

After her tears had dried and they'd both calmed down, they sat together and talked for a few hours. Their hands remained clasped.

Wanda hesitantly asked about Rhodey.

"With Mr Stark's aid, he is improving more each day. With time, it is believed he will walk and pilot War Machine once again."

"Good, I am glad," Wanda sighed in relief.

Vision inquired about her mediation.

"I have improved, I think. But only just," Wanda said, dejected.

"Improvement is improvement," Vision encouraged. "No matter how small."

"It is difficult," she admitted, "without you near."

Wanda spoke of her disappointment in the Wakandan rock scene.

"Surely, there is at least one band you have found to enjoy?" Vision asked.

"Eh, Viper Visage, maybe," she rolled her eyes. "But they are quite, how you say, poppy."

Vision smiled, on the edge of chuckling. "I will be sure to bring your albums when next I visit."

"You would come again?" she asked cautiously.

"If you would have me?"

Wanda grinned wider than he had witnessed all day. "Of course."

xx

Wanda twisted her rings around her fingers as she stared at the wall, as she had been doing for the past few hours since Vision departed.

An uncertainty weighed on her shoulders. Something had been building for some time now, but she'd pushed it to the back of her mind during the conflict. Now that she had the opportunity analyze it, she found it contradicted everything she previously thought to be true. All her life she knew the only man she would ever truly love was Pietro, and she'd accepted it. Glad for it, because she didn't need anyone else. When her brother was killed, a large part of her died with him. Her heart, she'd assumed. It had stopped beating when she felt him take his last breath.

So what was happening with Vision shouldn't be possible.

And yet, she couldn't deny it, couldn't dismiss it. The anguish, the loathing, every awful second of the past weeks, it all dissipated the moment he took her hand. She was whole again. So what was this then? The longing and displacement in his absence, the elation and comfort when he was near. Already, she was pinning for his return, for the peace his presence brought.

It was... It was...

Unquantifiable, Vision would say.

A/N: Finally, amirite? This was actually the first chapter I wrote, originally intended as a one-shot, that started it all. It was sort of strange, to backtrack from this point, so I hope everything in the story has made sense so far.