Stones and dead leaves scraped Wanda's soles as she stumbled, barefoot, through the jungle. Her heart was thrashing inside her chest, vines and bushes snagging on her grey hospital gown, everything inside and out trying to stop her from going any further.

...Why am I going back? Why come back to the place that had become the backdrop to her nightmares? I need to see this. Nothing will change unless I see this.

The surroundings blurred as her mind travelled back in time. She had regained consciousness right here a few mere months before, still collapsed on the forest floor. It looked different after five years - the forest was more overgrown, Vision's body was gone - and she was still crying the same tears. Yet Wanda didn't have time to mourn, because a strange man in strange clothes had stepped through a ring of light.

"I know what you've been through, Wanda Maximoff. But we need your help." She hadn't moved, so he had reiterated. "Thanos is about to win again. Help us stop him."

This had given her something to fight for. For a little while, the life had sparked back into her, keeping her alive until the battle in New York was over, when Thanos was defeated - and then the darkness came back. It had spread like a poisonous weed, consuming her, dragging her down into a dark underworld. Her mind took over as her body moved closer.

"It's time."

"No."

She remembered the darkest days, where if she wasn't feeling pain, she couldn't feel anything at all. She was curled up on the floor, crying until she had no more tears. Huddling in the corner, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the voices of Thanos and her dead friends to stop, but they never did, going round and round inside her head until she felt like she was going insane. She had been to this place before - but it hadn't been as cold or dark last time.

The same broken record played inside her head: I failed him. He suffered so much because of me. It's my fault, my fault. It wasn't just losing Vision, it was how she lost him. How it was all pointless. How he didn't have to die like that. She hated herself for it, but then, if he had never suggested it he would only have experienced death once... and she would never have had to...

The moonlight guided her to his former grave. It was no more than a hollow pit in the earth partially covered by vines and roots. She stood stiffly above it, tears spilling down her face, but the worst was yet to come. She turned to face the fallen tree Vision had once been slumped against. Vines and moss had possessed it in the years since, and there was nothing to suggest the explosion - That's right. Thanos erased that. She covered her mouth to stop herself from screaming.

Vision had been walking around, having no idea who she really was. He had no idea how angry she felt everytime she saw him. At the same time she missed him, loved him - she hated him at the same time. Did he care about how she felt when he suggested destroying the stone? Did he ever stop and think about what something like that would do to her once he was gone? Maybe he didn't love her as much as he said...

Thanos. Josephine. Vision. Each name was a splash of gasoline on a growing fire. She remembered what Josephine had said earlier, and that familiar feeling of her blood turning to molten lead returned.

"I wonder how it felt to die like that? Maybe it was like burning alive! Couldn't you just have ripped it out and then blown it up? His death would have been a lot faster!" She covered her ears with her hands, nails almost piercing the skin, trying to block it all out. Stop, stop it...

"I just feel you. It's alright. I love you."

If you were better... you could have stopped Thanos. You could have saved Vision. You failed him and let everyone down. Why didn't you try harder? You weren't good enough or strong enough, you never will be!

"Get out of here, Vision." The crunch of dead leaves gave away his position.

Vision's lips were sewn shut. He stepped out of the shadows, despite every instinct telling him to run and hide. His eyes moved behind her to the fallen tree and the stone glinted brightly for a moment. "Did you hear me?" She turned slowly to look at him. Her eyes were fiery pits, bitter and angry to hide the pain. "Go away. I need to be alone right now."

"Wanda..."

"You don't understand."

"I do."

He looked silver under the moonlight, which only made Wanda feel worse. Why was he just standing there like a statue? "No. Not all of it. I'm not talking about Thanos -"

"I know it was a lie. I think I've known for a while." This wasn't the answer she expected. It was so far from her expectation that it took a while for the reality to sink in - it hit her like a train when it did.

"You know." Vision looked away in an attempt to hide his guilt. The glow in her red eyes intensified. "How long have you known?"

"It's not all there. I have pieces of Wakanda, but everything after where Thanos arrived is crystal clear."

"How long have you known, Vision?"

"Only a few hours." He murmured.

"Why the hell didn't you say anything?"

"It doesn't matter." His eyes didn't look blue anymore, more like an empty grey. "You didn't have to lie. You could have told me about the mind stone, you didn't have to keep it to yourself."

Another tear made it's way down her face. "It was nice to pretend. To pretend that what happened wasn't as fucked up as it really was. That it was just as simple as Thanos killing you himself."

Vision flinched at almost every word, but strangely, he didn't feel horrified or sickened with the true knowledge of his demise - not yet, anyway. Maybe those feelings would come later, but for now... she was his only worry. "You didn't have to face this alone. I could have helped you..."

"You couldn't." Her voice was brittle. "How could you help me if you were too scared to be in the same room as me? When you were terrified to look me in the eye? The bench in Edinburgh, Vizh! You were so scared -"

"I didn't know he could just undo it."

"Stop it."

"If I had I would never..."

"Why would you make me do that?" Her whisper hardened, every syllable trembling with anger. "You lied to me. You promised me on the jet. You promised you wouldn't bring it up again... do you remember?" Vision tried to reach for her, but she backed away.

"That's not fair."

"I'll tell you what's not fair." Her voice was a deadly whisper. "I came back to a world where there was nothing left that I loved. To be the only one crying while everyone else was celebrating. To come back and not want to..."

"Don't talk like that -"

"You were all I had for so long. You were my best friend. The one constant I could rely on, and then you were gone! And Steve and Natasha, they're gone too - I didn't even get to say goodbye!" More and more words tumbled out of her mouth. "Did you even care about what something like that would do to me once you were gone?"

"I didn't want to go." He whispered. "I remember that much. I wanted to stop him and save you. I never wanted to hurt you." Wanda shook her head and turned away, as if she didn't believe him. "If I could go back and change what happened, believe me, I would. But we don't have a time stone. We can't change what happened." His eyes glistened with tears. "The only thing I can do now is tell you how sorry I am. And I am. I'm so sorry."

Wanda's lips parted but no words came out. She tried in vain a few times, more tears threatening to spill, a red haze casting over her eyes. "You think one word can fix what has been done?"

"Say what you need to say." He said, softly.

She started to radiate with red, magic channeling through every cell and vein. Her hair filled with static and her entire body trembled viciously. "You abandoned me." Her hushed whisper turned to a scream. "You lied to me! You promised!"

Any control Wanda had was completely lost as something inside finally snapped. Her magic flowed wild, the air all around them turning a violent red, a dark, shadow-like red her powers had never been. The fallen tree was ripped from the ground and flung into the field, the top layer of earth around them tearing away like a scab from a wound.

"First you abandoned me, and then he took you away! As if the first time was bad enough, you made it so much worse! You promised me that you wouldn't make me do it, you said that everything was going to be alright! You promised!"

Vision closed the space between them. She shoved him hard in the chest, her magic pushing him away, but it was weak around him, and he forced his way through the barrier easily. He pulled her into his arms, ignoring the sharp burn of her powers against him. She struggled to push him away, resisting. "Let go! Go away! Let go -"

"I'm sorry, Wanda."

Her struggles gradually weakened until she was standing stiffly against his chest, frozen in time. She noticed the strange beat of his synthetic heart, how warm he was. Things she never thought she would feel again. The voice of reason finally spoke to her. He didn't know. Neither of you did. Tears seeped through her eyelids, but her entire body was still radiating with scarlet energy, still dangerous, still unstable.

"Let go." She whispered again. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You could never hurt me." The fire went out. Her hands, scrunched up between them and ready to push him away, loosened and her powers faded, leaving them both in the empty night. "It's alright." He whispered, and this was enough for Wanda to finally break.

She began to sob uncontrollably. She huddled into his embrace, tears spilling down into his chest and soaking into his clothes. She cried and cried, powerless to stop, clinging to him as if he were a rock in the ocean, the only thing keeping her from being swept away by the tide. "I tried, Vizh... I tried to stop him..."

"You did everything you could." Vision just hugged her tighter, holding her in the ruins of the clearing until her agonised cries were no more.