Wanda felt Vision's fear, and she knew. Within moments, she threw open her hotel door and bolted down the corridor, about to go flying down the stairs. She skidded to a halt; if she flew to him from the street, she would be seen for sure. The roof! Up and up she climbed, occasionally leaping up whole flights at a time with her powers, until she reached the top and spotted a tiny flight of stairs leading up to a white door. Wanda channelled her magic through the lock, and a gust of wind nearly tore the roof door off it's hinge as it opened. She didn't hesitate as she took flight.
In the dark street, Vision found himself surrounded. A few years ago he would have done something rational, stayed calm and collected, found the quickest escape. But now, with his mind held together by threads, he had a mental block in his mind. His limbs were frozen, despite his brain screaming at him to run or disappear into a wall.
Finally, after a tense silence, one of them raised something sharp and silver, glinting even in the dark, lightless street. It was a knife.
"Your wallet." Hissed the smoker, in a gravelly voice.
Wallet? Vision knew what that was. He remembered now - most people had wallets to carry cards, money, keys, other important things that were seen as valuable... things he didn't possess. He had nothing of value on him at all.
"I don't have one."
The older one of the two who had emerged from the corner scoffed in disbelief. "Just empty your pockets. And we'll leave your teeth intact."
"I'm being honest. It's the truth." Vision said, slowly, taking a step backwards. "Let me go on my way. You really don't want to..." His eyes instinctively moved toward a nearby wall, but the men moved closer, blocking his way. Anger and impatience grew in the eyes of all three.
You can't phase into a wall in front of them.
Why not?
You'll be discovered.
You don't look like yourself! How will they know it's you?
One of them narrowed their eyes, beginning to detect that Vision was telling the truth - but this only frustrated him. "What kind of idiot goes outside without any keys or money?" He snarled.
Vision wasn't listening. He could see the end of the street. If he could just run to the end, get out of sight for a moment, he could disappear into a wall...
He bolted forwards, but he wasn't quick enough. One seized his arm, and shoved him with all his might. Vision fell to the floor as one of them began kicking him in frustration. He covered his head with his hands as another foot joined in with the kicking.
Vision didn't mean to think about how he had been torn apart and put back together. He didn't mean to think about the unanswered questions, the unfairness of it all, the scientist, Josephine. He didn't mean to think about Thanos... Then, in a hot flash, he was angry. All irrational thoughts disappeared in an instant as he increased his density.
Crack.
The man who was kicking him howled in pain and dropped immediately to the ground, ankle looking twisted and wrong.
"What the fuck -" the others exclaimed, a mixture of confused and angry. The young one darted forward as Vision stood up, driving forward the knife. The blade broke clean off the handle, clattering to the floor. Genuine terror flooded the eyes of the young one as he dropped the broken knife in shock, backing away.
Vision whirled to look at them. His disguise was still in place, but the yellow stone had breached the surface. Their eyes widened as they spotted the glowing light on his forehead. "What the hell are you?"
Without warning, the smoker released a yell. Blinded by rage, he leapt forward - and Vision panicked.
The smoker hit the ground like a stone. Vision backed into the wall in horror, realizing that his density was still increased when he hit him in the head.
The younger one did not move for a moment. He looked up at Vision and then at his two companions who lay on the ground. He stumbled backwards, before turning and sprinting down the road. He didn't make it very far before he came to a screeching halt, staring upwards.
At first, Vision thought he was seeing a red shooting star. But no - it was Wanda.
Wanda landed ungracefully, hitting the cobblestones with a stagger. Tendrils of red light filled the air and snared the young man before he could scream, and then he was motionless, eyes and face neutral and blank. Wanda's eyes initially burned with anger, ready for a fight as she turned to see who else had attacked Vision - only for her fury to fade as her eyes fell upon the scene. The other two attackers were on the ground, one with a twisted looking leg, whimpering like an injured dog, and the other, motionless on the ground with a large, black bruise rapidly forming on his bald head. And there was Vision, trembling, the yellow stone exposed in his head - eyes full of fear and guilt.
"I didn't mean to... I didn't mean -" Was all Vision could say, his voice high with distress. Wanda carefully stepped around the two on the floor, until she was at Vision's side.
"It's alright, Vision." She whispered. "I'm going to check if he's okay." She crouched beside the unconscious one, praying that he was merely knocked out. He was breathing, and then to confirm, he began groaning in pain, beginning to move his limbs.
Wanda looked up at the third one who was still standing there blankly, and then at the one with the broken ankle, who by now had obviously recognised her. She stood, gently pulling Vision back, one glowing hand raised toward the three thugs. "Please don't -" The one with the broken ankle pleaded, fearfully. "We're sorry - it was Ben's idea - we won't tell anyone -"
Wanda ignored him as she turned to Vision, telling him in a low voice: "They won't remember this." Red light surrounded the heads of all three. The fear and confusion faded, their eyes turning blank, as she erased the last few minutes from their minds.
If Wanda had it her way, she would have happily left those low-lifes in the street. But Vision was in a state when she began walking him away from the scene, so she had decided to call for help to ease his mind. Making sure to mask her accent, she had called a ambulance from a payphone, inventing a story to the operator. The story being, she had stumbled across three delirious men on her way home, that they seemed to have been fighting, as well as under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
All three would be fine, their injuries being easily dealt with. They had been questioned as they were placed into the ambulance, but all seemed to be genuinely confused as to how they ended up with such injuries. Wanda had to hope that her magic was strong enough to block the incident from their minds permanently, and that her story would help the case be dismissed as a night out gone wrong that wasn't worth investigating any further.
Vision hadn't resisted - nor said a word - as she took him back to her hotel, and booked him into a room in the same corridor as her own. The only words they had exchanged the whole time was a brief argument about her paying for his room.
"You don't need to waste your money on me -"
"No way in hell are you spending one more night on a freezing roof."
Both of them were now sitting in armchairs, eerily quiet. The only sound was the patter of rain on the window, and the slow tick of a clock on a dresser.
"Are you hurt?"
"No." Vision lied, not wanting to worry her. The men had gotten a few good kicks in before he had got the chance to alter his density; he was probably going to be bruised for a while, if that were possible. He wasn't sure at this point what his body was capable of doing. "Will he be alright?"
"The paramedics said he had a concussion." Wanda was relieved that was all - the man must have been very lucky, or had a skull made of stone. There was a pause as Vision tried to remember what a concussion was.
"Is that bad?"
"It's not a big deal. He'll be fine. I've had a concussion a few times... " He looked up at her in alarm. "My powers were new, accidents happen." Vision suddenly looked as though he were concentrating very hard, as if he was trying to remember something. Wanda gave him a few moments - he had been present for one such concussion... maybe he was...
"Did you once -" He began, before the look of concentration faded. He shook his head, and Wanda felt a wave of disappointment. "I could have killed him."
"But you didn't."
"It doesn't matter. I still hurt them."
"Vision, they were thugs. They attacked you. They probably do that sort of thing all the time, robbing people at night and beating the hell out of them when they don't have money on them. All you did was defend yourself, and that's not a crime. You did nothing wrong. And after this, they might not try anything like it again -"
"How can you tell me I did nothing wrong, after everything I've done over these last few months?" Even in his natural form, the colour seemed to have drained a little from his face.
"That wasn't you. That was all her."
He lifted a hand to his head, pressing his fingertips to his temple. "Don't pretend, Wanda. Don't pretend that Josephine didn't almost make me kill you." There was a silence, and Wanda looked at the carpet, reminded of the near-misses - Carol being knocked out, the quinjet and Hudson Bay, Clint in the woods, the flooding bunker... she had been trying not to think about those. "I see their faces. The last few months are mostly dark, but I can still see every face she made me kill. There were eleven."
To Wanda, eleven was nothing. She tried not to think about her total body count, whether it be accidental or intentional. But Vision? To her knowledge, he hadn't killed anyone, at least no human being, before he died. And with or without memory, his value for life was still very much intact, so she understood why eleven was horrifying to him.
"You can't blame yourself. Josephine controlled your every move, and when you hesitated, she tortured you." Vision lifted a hand to his neck, remembering the feeling of cold metal and the burn of electricity. "It wasn't your fault, you had no say in what you were doing. Siren killed those people."
"I wish I could believe you." Vision went to the window, cape flowing out behind him as he peered through the closed curtains of the hotel window. It was beginning to rain, drops of water trickling down the glass. Wanda had to look away - this image was too familiar for her.
"What's your plan, Vision?"
"My plan?"
"We both know you can't stay in Scotland forever."
Vision quickly shut the curtain again, trying not to think about his future. His gaze moving to his hand as it curled round the heavy fabric. He had spent so much time in his human form, his true form felt strangely unfamiliar. "I know you mean well. And I'm grateful for you saving me. But just... leave me, please. I need to think."
Wanda didn't want to let him out of her sight, but she still got up and opened the door to go. "I'll be across the hall. Try and get some sleep. If you're feeling up to it, we can discuss what to do next in the morning. What you want to do." She went to say something else, before shaking her head and closing the door.
Vision's gaze returned to his hand. There was something - something on his hand he could just about see against his normal skin. It was a smear of dark red. With a jolt, he realised what it was. Blood.
He raced to the bathroom, turning on the tap and running his hand under the water. The water turned pink as it washed away the blood from his hand - there was something oddly calming about the feeling of water on his skin. It washed away not only the blood, but as well as the dirt that had accumulated over the last week. Wanda's right... it was self defence. And he'll be alright... but what about the other eleven?
Vision shook his head, and looked up into the mirror. Thankfully his appearance was distracting enough, at least for a short while. He leaned closer to his reflection to get a closer look at the ragged lines, as well as the mysterious yellow stone. The edge of the sink bumped against his side, causing him to flinch. Had the kicks from the men truly damaged him? He could definitely feel some pain; he should take a look.
Vision allowed the upper half of his suit to fade away, but before he could even begin to look at where the men had kicked him...
He lifted one hand to his chest, and the other to his stomach. There were two large vertical lines. The skin was uneven, indented - darker, than his normal skin. The mark on his chest was less obvious, covered over with new lines of metal - but it wasn't at all symmetrical with the left side of his chest. There was more metal covering the right side than the other...
"Josephine, we've run out of tissue for his upper chest."
"Add more vibranium. It won't impact his phasing."
"But it'll look uneven -"
"So? It's not a modelling shoot."
Vision frowned, pulling at the asymmetrical metal panels, prodding at the discoloured skin. His heart raced even faster when he turned around, and saw a similar mark on his back that mirrored the one on his stomach. It was almost as if he had been pierced with something - something sharp, like a -
Like a blade.
In his mind, he saw a place. He heard a noise, the screech of metal and shuddering of railings. He saw a train fly by. Possessed by an unknown force, Vision was back in his suit in moments as he phased through the window and into the rain.
A few minutes later, Wanda knocked on his door.
"Vision? I forgot to give you your room card..." She waited for a response. She knocked again, harder. "Vizh?" When he still didn't answer, she used the room card to open the door. His room was empty.
Wanda ran to the window, looking into the darkness and rain - he was flying towards the glass roof in the distance. Her heart sank, as she realized it was the same glass roof they had fallen through years ago.
Vision was going to Waverley Station.
