Happy new year!
Scratch. Scratch. He pressed his fingertips to his forehead, trying to shut it all out. He felt the faint sensation of tools as they scraped around his head, clawing at his face and chest, trying to stir him from his comatose state. "We couldn't wipe it all..."
Josephine, uncomfortably close: "Just look at you. Reduced to this... so much for being invincible."
He had been hearing this all night. The recent whispers from the last few months were emerging from the darkness, filtering through like fish escaping a net, but he didn't want them. They were worthless memories. And the few moments of sleep he managed to steal, all he could see was that dark place, with that damn locked door.
At least there was a little comfort in watching Wanda sleep. She was curled on her side, wearing an oversized t-shirt Shuri had kindly loaned to her to sleep in. The Ramonda Sunrise flower stood proudly in a glass of water on the side table behind her head. He had a feeling she was still awake; her breathing wasn't slow enough, and she kept tossing and turning. They'd just gone back to bed together, forgetting to reassemble the previous night's pillow wall. Vision didn't protest – was it selfish to admit he liked sharing a bed with her? Like. Liar. His cheek was still burning hours after her lips had touched it.
He quietly phased out of bed, flinching as an uneven patch of metal on his chest snagged on his shirt. He pulled down the collar a bit, once again to inspect the uneven mass of discoloured tissue filling the gaps where the hastily applied metal didn't. This didn't feel real... would it really be gone soon?
"There isn't enough tissue, and we can't -"
"I don't care, fix it."
Wanda sat up, blinking at him in the darkness. "Hey. Can't sleep?"
"Did I wake you?"
"No. I've been struggling for the last hour."
"I suspected."
She quirked her brow. "Have you been watching me sleep, Vizh?" He opened his mouth to protest. "I'm kidding. Watching each other sleep was pretty normal for both of us."
"That sounds odd in any other context." Vision crooked a smile.
"Do you mind?" She asked, with a hint of mischief.
"Not at all." Wanda laughed, playing with a loose thread in the blanket. This isn't flirting. It's not flirting. "Is it your insomnia?"
"It's hard to say. That comes and goes, it got better when you arrived, and now my body has been thrown by the timezone... but this..." She slipped out of bed, crossing the room to stand beside him at the balcony sliding door. She leaned against the wall, eyes turning silver as she looked at the moon. "I'm thinking about all our friends. I wish there was some way to let them know I'm alive."
"I'm sure they'll have full faith. They'll know." He hoped so, anyway.
She opened the door with her powers, and they stepped out together onto the balcony, gazing out across the city lights together. There was the clang of metal from somewhere inside the building, and she reached out in curiosity. "Okoye and Shuri. I don't think they ever sleep."
"What are they doing? Can you tell?"
She focused, letting her mind explore. Shuri's mind was racing a million miles a minute, so she found them quickly. Her mind was transported into a room with a big holographic screen, a half-built cradle of metal assembling itself a few metres away. "Come on, work with me." Shuri had her back to her, muttering in Xhosa under her breath. The hologram glowed bright blue before her; it was a silhouette of Vision's upper body, his forehead and torso highlighted by an angry red mass.
"How's it coming along?" Okoye asked, where she was untangling some wires by the cradle. Shuri's hands moved busily across the screen.
"Correcting the scar tissue won't be a problem, it's just what's going on inside his head I can't seem to get at. But I'll figure it out, I always do."
Wanda broke away, finding herself back on the balcony. "She's working on your surgery."
Vision pulled at his sleeves. "I'm nervous. I couldn't be happier about the restoration of my damaged tissue, but as for my memory..."
"It'll be okay. I'll be right there with you and I won't go anywhere." She promised. "This will be over." Will it?
"What if she can't fix this?" Vision asked, echoing her fear.
Wanda bit her lip, feeling herself being pulled in two directions. On one side of the coin, if Vision didn't get his memory back, maybe it was possible this friendship between them could turn into something more. On the other side, if he did get it back, were either of them capable of going back to the way things were? Would things feel too different to ever let them be the same?
"Just in case..."
"I tried searching you the other night. It didn't work."
"One more time? Please?"
She tried not to be lured in by the look of pleading in his eyes, but it was too hard to say no. "This will be the last time, okay?" She took a reluctant step closer to him. Her hand lifted for his face, her forearm beginning to tremble with that fear. "Are you sure? I don't want to push anything -"
"Do it. I trust you completely." He cradled her elbow to steady her as she fed some magic into the stone. Vision could feel gentle energy swirling through his head, exploring. It felt pleasant, like sunlight, but the more it explored, the more resistance he felt. It grew uncomfortable, like there was a wall her powers were trying to push through. He clenched his jaw, determined to let her keep searching. She stretched on her toes, trying to reach the stone a little better; their faces came so close their noses brushed.
"Come on." She whispered under her breath, desperately trying to find something, anything. "Please..."
"Do you feel anything at all?"
"I just feel you." The stone twitched fiercely in Vision's forehead, the words ringing, somewhere deep inside him desperately calling out to him. I just feel you. I just feel... She sighed and stepped away from him. "You and whatever is shutting me out. I can't, I'm sorry. It doesn't matter - Shuri will find a way." Wanda frowned, raising her thumb to sweep away the tear trickling down his face. "Hey. It's going to be alright. You'll see."
"Can I -"
Wanda opened her arms to him and he hugged her. She swayed lightly against him, gently drawing circles on his upper back. "I just want this to be over." He whispered against her hair.
"We'll unlock this door you keep dreaming about. There's a key lying around somewhere." Wanda allowed herself to hold onto the moment, deciding she wouldn't let go until he did.
"I might go for a walk." Vision said, without breaking their embrace. "Would you like to come with me?"
"I'd like that. I should probably ask before we go..." Wanda tried to cheer him up, still caught in his arms. "Okay, who's letting go first? Eleven Mississippi, twelve Mississippi..."
"One more Mississippi?"
"Two more and we let go?"
"Deal." Vision chuckled, and Wanda's soul lit up like a candle.
She gently knocked on the door, and Okoye came out to greet her. "Hi, sorry to disturb you. Me and Vizh were wondering if we could take a walk somewhere, for an hour, maybe?"
Okoye considered it for a moment. "The garden is yours."
"Go outside!" Shuri called from inside the room, before poking her head out. Okoye gave her an almost stern look, similar to one an older sister might give to their younger sibling.
"Shuri..."
"The valley, Okoye. The one we all used to explore as kids!"
Okoye's expression transformed, and she relaxed. "Oh, that one. None of the tribes live out there. It's to the left when you look out over the balcony, just a small valley between the two mountains."
"It's also got some romantic views." Shuri winked at Wanda. "Just be wary of the animals."
The soft chirp of crickets disturbed the otherwise quiet, moonlit night. The few unspoken moments weren't awkward, their conversation flowing as easily as water over stones. The sky dazzled overhead, like a black and blue lake filled with floating diamonds.
They began to walk alongside a stream. The further they walked, the more shallow it became, until it was almost like a pool, a few inches of water with the faintest trace of a current. "I have a memory of us walking through water." Vision said, casually. It had come to him, one of many flashes over the last few weeks. "It was on a beach."
"Those were the best." The sun, the ocean, the tang of salt in the air... "We went to a couple in Europe. You did your research and found us some really nice, quiet beaches away from crowds. Sometimes it was so empty it was just us two, and you could walk without your disguise. We would walk through the shallows."
Vision had a strange idea. He stepped into the stream, holding out his hand to her. Wanda grinned as she followed him in, catching sight of the vibranium on his ankles. It was a little funny to see him in his full battle suit minus his boots, as he phased those away so he could walk, barefoot, with her. The water whispered around their feet. This isn't romantic. This is not romantic.
"You see those five bright stars? It's called the Southern Cross. It's only visible down here in the Southern hemisphere..." Wanda watched his mouth move, smiling, unable to stop. I adore you. If only you knew how much. Vision noticed her soft expression. "What is it?"
"Just you."
The stone glowed in time with the warmth in Vision's chest. "I..." I like you. I have feelings for you. Maybe I love you. The moon came out from behind a wisp of cloud, illuminating something polished and white sticking out of the water a few metres behind her. Vision lost all train of thought, trailing away, eyes fixating on it.
Wanda turned and followed his gaze, spotting the thing. He drifted away from her, wanting to see what it was. "It's a rock, Vizh..." She trailed off. "Right?"
Vision reached for the object, but Wanda got there first, and it magically began to lift out of the silt. It was domed, long, maybe a predator's skull, the lower half of the face hidden by the riverbed. Finally, when the rest of the face was extracted, it hovered before them, mud and water spilling out slowly from every nook and cranny.
It wasn't the skull of a leopard or lion. Wanda dropped the outrider skull with a gasp and it fell back into the water with a splash. While Josephine's creation shared most of it's face with Corvus Glaive, they could see the monster's features from the jagged teeth to the domed head. "The battlefield was miles away." Wanda stared at the sun-bleached bone. "How did it get here?"
"Maybe it got washed downstream. Or it travelled…" Vision increased the density in his foot as he stepped on the skull, crushing it down into the sand. A few fragments of the skull floated away down the stream, bobbing slowly away until they were out of sight. Wanda watched the pieces drift away, a darkness clouding her eyes.
"We need to find Josephine and the creature, and we need to kill them."
"Them?" Vision waited for her to correct him - she didn't.
"You won't have to do anything. I'll do it." Wanda said, eerily calm. Even the crickets seemed to fall quiet. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You're planning on killing her?"
"You know what she's done. She'll never stop. I want - have to kill her."
"Like you almost did yesterday?" The air around them dropped a few degrees, and she looked startled for a moment - she had almost forgotten. "I know how you're feeling - but killing her would be wrong."
"How could it be wrong, after everything she did to you? What she did to me?" Wanda pointed to her stomach, any conflict or remorse vanishing from her eyes. "She tortured you, she's killed people. Are you not angry? Have you not thought about killing her?"
"More times than I'd like to admit. You have no idea how close I came to letting you."
"You should have."
"Killing her out of cold blood won't make you feel better. And something terrible has clearly happened to her -"
"Everyone has bad things happen to them, Vision. But normal people don't go around digging up graves, and they don't grow their own aliens from a petri dish." Wanda pressed her knuckles to her lips, eyes closed. "When they brought me back, I woke up alone and ready to kill Thanos. If you were there with me, would you honestly be trying to stop me?"
"Of course not! That's different -"
"How? Being human doesn't make her less of a monster -"
"I just don't want you to do something you'll regret!" Vision blurted out. "You've been through enough. You don't need her on your consience."
"Killing her would be nothing to me." She retorted, coldly. "And if we let her go, what would stop her from telling the world everything about you? Why does she even... I don't understand what happened to her. You know what, I don't even care."
"You don't mean that. And about me... we could be honest." Vision had been thinking about it for a while now. "Things will be a lot worse if they find out we lied and covered this up. If we give them Josephine and expose Siren they'll have the party responsible. They'll accept that I was -"
"And if they don't?" Her lip quivered; she was on the verge of tears. In one swift motion, she tossed her hair to one side, lifting her scarred wrist to align with the sunken scar on her neck. "This is what they do to people like us."
Vision felt a little bit of his soul leave his body. He raised his hand to touch her wrist, another puzzle piece slotting into place. "It was a straitjacket, wasn't it?" Wanda avoided his eyes, pressing her own shut. Slowly, their tension fizzled away. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't ask." Wanda covered her face with her hands. "No, I'm sorry. I was being unreasonable -"
"Don't be." He took both her hands, sweeping his thumb across her knuckles. "I won't argue with you. In fact... this will take a lot of careful thought. Maybe leaving Josephine alive is too much of a risk in itself... "
Wanda hesitated for a moment, eyes on the ground between them. At least think about it. "We need to find her first."
"How?"
"I don't know - America is massive, we'll never..." Wanda frowned. "It might just work. "
"What are you thinking?"
"In the last few months, I've been able to see things from faraway - almost like my mind gets teleported. I did it just now, looking in on Shuri and Okoye... I could project my mind to try and see where Josephine is. It's how I found you in Edinburgh, and I was even able to find her with it once, even though I didn't consciously try." Wanda began to clear her head, filtering out any distractions. "I'll try it now."
Vision looked around, wondering what he could do. "Can I do anything?"
"Just don't let go of me." He nodded, gently squeezing her hands. Her eyes closed, her face scrunched with concentration. She reached out, imagining her mind travelling the vast distance to the other continent. At first, nothing happened - but then a dark ocean flashed beneath her, blinking away to form a sea of trees miles inland. "I don't know where I'm going - it's just the wilderness, somewhere." She frowned. "I hear something."
"What do you hear?"
"...music."
Wanda felt herself drift away, like someone was gently pulling her into another world. The warm air was sucked away, the temperature plunging. The crickets and rustle of grass faded until the air was hollow, concrete forming under her feet. Wanda forced her eyes open, and she found herself in a dark concrete passage, dimly lit by lamps, flickering on the walls. It looked eerily similar to the one she had been running down in her dream.
"Vizh?"
"I'm still here," He assured her, and Wanda felt a little less afraid.
The music was much clearer now. It was that old-time classical music, the kind of tune Bucky and Vision might listen to. The wordless song trickled down the corridor from a doorway, and the grating voice of Josephine filtered with it. "Yes, this is Douglas' phone. But he's unavailable at the moment."
Wanda's hands instinctively began to glow as she strode down the corridor towards the open doorway. She passed a door and stopped, the hairs on her neck rising. Suddenly the air smelled metallic, like rust, like blood. There was a glint of a key in the lock, some red stains scraping the door around it, trailing toward the room with Josephine in it. Her eyes moved up the tiny window; slightly smeared on the glass pane was a bloody handprint.
"Oh god." Wanda whispered. Vision's grip on her tightened; she looked like she were about to be sick.
"Are you alright?"
"I'm okay." Wanda tore her feet from the ground, forcing herself to follow the music and red stains on the floor, into the room.
There she was, back to her, sitting at a table. Josephine's black leather trench was tossed on the back of a chair, the normally glowing suit thrown over it. The suit was still covered in slashes, a few leaves caught in it from the incident at the park. Wanda circled Josephine, who was oblivious, unable to see her. She had an unlabelled red vial on one hand and a syringe in the other, someone else's phone pressed between her shoulder and ear; it was cracked and had blood on it. "Yes, they grow at an accelerated rate, so they'll certainly be full grown for July."
Wanda didn't like this.
Josephine jabbed the syringe into the bottle, drawing out a reddish black liquid. She looked around the room, skin crawling, desperately searching for a clue, for any indicator as to where this was. There weren't any maps or windows amongst the mess of data sheets and photographs. But there was a very particular glaive mounted on the wall, the blade jagged and half the size it had once been, as if somebody had been slicing pieces out of it. She imagined seizing it and stabbing Josephine with it, if only she could...
"Wanda?" Vision's voice echoed close to her ear. "What's going on?"
"I don't like this." Wanda tried to see beyond, but she couldn't escape the room. "I can only see her. I don't know where this is -"
"There's just one thing I need to do first. But then I'll have it ready for you." Josephine hung up, tossing the bloodied phone onto a chair. She then fished her own phone out of her pocket, lifting it to her ear. She looked around with a frown, as if she had heard a distant sound. Her eyes passed blindly, unknowingly over Wanda. "Cara? Where are you?"
"Still at the store. The snow's getting heavier, I might be a bit late back -"
"I'll save you a journey." Josephine pressed her eyes shut, as if she were about to do something she didn't want to. "Don't come back here." There was a pause. Wanda's brow furrowed, equally confused.
"What? Why not?"
"Just don't come back. I'll send you some money from the specimens once they've been sent and paid for, but -" Josephine's voice turned brittle, and she looked around once again. "For your sake, don't."
"I thought Riley handled the money?" Josephine's eyes flashed to the locked room of horrors, a silent explanation. "How did you get - what's going on?"
Josephine muttered something inaudible, digging her fingers into her short black curls. Wanda stepped closer, heart racing so much she was sure Josephine would hear it. "I don't even know why you continue to help me. I'm telling you this for your own good. Just stay away. Go home... "
"What aren't you telling me?" Cara sounded panicked. Josephine went oddly still, hand moving from her scalp to her forehead. "Josie? Are you still there?" Cara's voice abruptly silenced as she put the phone down on the table, switching it off. She stood there at the table, barely moving. She began to tap her fingers across the metal, and there was a repeated 'chink' as the surface clashed against her wedding ring.
Chink.
Wanda became transfixed, a strange feeling running up her spine.
Chink.
"I know you're there." Josephine said.
