AN: Enjoy!
It had a lot of names. The Snap, The Blip, The Decimation. The Day Half The World Died.
To Wanda Maximoff, it was the day that her whole world had died. The day she'd been forced to murder the love of her life, then stand by helplessly as he had been revived by a madman only to be killed again.
Wanda had been part of the 'lucky' fifty percent, the ones who'd been allowed to survive and live on, but she did not feel so lucky.
She really wished that she and Vision had just stayed in bed. It might not have changed anything, but they at least may have had a few more precious hours together.
Now, she would never see Vision again. Never kiss him. Never feel his pleasant weight on top of her, never feel him inside her, the perfect rhythm of his hips as they moved together, never again cry his name to the heavens.
She would never again begin a morning by rolling on top of him, the early morning Sun warming their bare skin, and riding him until he lost all of his usual control, his grip on her hips almost tight enough to leave bruises.
Vision would never again hold her afterwards, whispering words of comfort, telling her of his plans for a future that could never be.
She'd never see his smile, or hear his laugh. She'd never rush into the kitchen to save him from culinary disaster. They'd never watch sitcoms together again.
Vision was gone, and he was not coming back.
Wanda did not accompany her teammates when they left Earth in search of Thanos and the stones. She was broken, not in the right frame of mind for a fight. Instead, she spent her time standing guard over Vision's remains. Even if she had gone, it wouldn't have mattered. The stones were gone, there would be no bringing anyone back.
Eventually, after Vision's broken body had been taken into custody by an organisation called S.W.O.R.D (Monica, the woman who had come to collect him, promised he would be safe) Wanda had been told of Vision's Will. It included his request that no attempts be made to revive him in the event of his death. Aside from that, it simply decreed that all his worldly possessions went to Wanda. A car, a very generous sum of money, and an empty plot of land in the town of Westview, New Jersey, where he had planned to build a home for the two of them. The deed to the plot bore a short, handwritten message from him:
'To grow old in'.
She did not take much interest in the empty land at first. Did not want to go see it, to think about the future they were never going to have.
But a few weeks after her return, everything changed. Wanda experienced strange bouts of nausea. A few aches and pains. Natasha, slightly concerned, had taken her to get some tests. The result of those tests had shocked everyone.
Wanda was pregnant.
Once the blood results had come back, they gave her an Ultrasound. The tech pointed out two tiny blobs on the screen, letting her know that she was expecting twins, and was about ten weeks along. Let her hear the tiny, fluttering heartbeats.
Wanda exited the hospital with one hand resting protectively over her stomach, and the other clutching the tiny printed picture she'd been given like a lifeline, because it was.
Now she had a future, a purpose, a reason to keep on living.
Her children. Vision's children.
They were going to have everything he would have wanted for them.
With her new goal in life now clear, Wanda finally visited the empty lot that Vision had willed to her. Reviewed all his plans for the home he had wanted to build.
She got in touch with Clint Barton, the only person she knew who really knew anything about building, to see if he knew anyone she could employ to build the house to Vision's specifications, or use his own knowledge to help. Clint had lost everyone in the Blip, save for his youngest son, Nate. He would later claim that Wanda's call had saved him. In his grief, he had been about to drop Nate with surviving relatives of Laura's, and rush off to undertake a roaring rampage of revenge on all those who had not deserved to survive the decimation.
Wanda's call had grounded him, helped him re-evaluate and refocus. No matter how angry he was with the world, he could not leave Nate. And he could not leave Wanda either. Pregnant and alone, he knew she would need support.
Wanda moved in with Clint and Nate, while Clint 'Project Managed' the building of her new house, keeping everything on track so that Wanda had one less thing to worry about.
All Wanda had to worry about was keeping herself healthy for her babies. Vision's babies. Her little pieces of him.
She made sure to eat a good diet, cut way back on caffeinated drinks, and took her Prenatal vitamins everyday.
She spent her days reading books on Pregnancy, childbirth, and raising infants, wanting to be prepared when her babies arrived. Wanda also helped keep an eye on Nate when Clint was busy with calls to the buildsite. Clint worried the little boy may have been too much of a handful for her in her condition, but Wanda didn't mind. She said she needed the practice, especially when, at five months along,Wanda learned that her babies were both boys.
It didn't take her long to choose names for them. Thomas, Tommy, a nice American name, for a nice American boy growing up in the suburbs. Her children did not need to remain tied to the tragedy of Sokovia. For her second son, she chose the name William, to be shortened to Billy, in honour of his Father's love of Shakespeare.
As Wanda's belly grew, and she felt her children beginning to kick, her sign that they were really, truly there, she spoke to them, sang to them. Told them stories from her childhood, about herself and her brother, but mostly, stories about Vision. She was determined, even before they were born, that Tommy and Billy would always know him, always know who their father was, how wonderful he was.
The twins would be Vision's legacy, all that was left of him in the world, and it was up to Wanda to make sure they grew up safe and happy.
A few months after her twins were born, Wanda moved with them into the home that Vision had designed.
She made sure there were plenty of pictures of Vision around the house, so that Tommy and Billy could always see their Father, and pictures of Pietro too, hoping the twins would grow up knowing it was okay to ask about them.
Clint visited regularly, and Natasha too, but it was mostly just Wanda and her boys. Countless diaper changes, late night feeds, giving an extra cuddle or two when needed.
It was a hard road at times, but Wanda wouldn't have changed a thing.. Except, of course, to have had Vision there with them. He would have loved his boys so much.
For the next four years, Wanda remained completely committed to raising her boys.
She comforted them after nightmares, letting them crawl into her bed.
She read to them (Billy liked being read to) and sang, and played games. She watched cartoons with them in the morning, but made sure they never had too much screentime.
She made sure they ate well, although Tommy was a little fussy. She nursed them through every sniffle, and kissed every bruise or scraped knee (these were often Tommy's, and she was always telling him to be more careful).
She told them lots of stories about their Daddy. Billy's favourite was the tale of how Daddy had saved Mommy from a falling city. Tommy liked the story of how Daddy had secretly helped break Mommy out of a very nasty jail.
Tommy was full of energy, always on the go, always up to mischief. He reminded her very much of Pietro as a child. Billy was a little quieter, a softer soul, and sometimes seemed wise beyond his tender years. He was becoming more curious about Vision, and beginning to ask questions beyond Wanda's stories.
She saw more of him in both of them every single day. For a while, Wanda had thought her world died with Vision, but their children were her world now.
Clint would often drop by Wanda's house, usually to drop off hand-me-downs from Nate, Natasha visited every few weeks to take the boys for ice-cream, and Steve would sometimes visit with Nat on special occasions, but it was rare for Wanda to have multiple visitors at once.
So, she was rather shocked when one day, a few months after the twins had turned four, all three showed up on her doorstep, along with Scott Lang, who they had all believed dead after the Blip, and Monica Rambeau, the woman who had come to collect Vision's body. She had become the Director of the S.W.O.R.D organisation after her Mother, Maria, the previous Director, had been lost to the decimation. Sensing a complicated discussion coming, Wanda sent Tommy and Billy to play upstairs before she let them in.
The group outlined a plan to Wanda, involving time travel, retrieving the Infinity Stones from the past, and using them to restore all those who had been lost. The team was quite small, and they could really use Wanda's help.
Wanda, at first, had declined.
"I understand why you guys need to do this, and I hope it all goes well, really" said Wanda. "But this all sounds dangerous, and untested. I'm not as strong as I was, the last four years I've only used my powers as a light show for my kids. I'm a single Mother, all my boys have is me. I can't risk leaving them alone."
"Well see, that's the other thing" said Nat. "Monica arrived after Scott, and she thinks.. Maybe there's a way to bring Vision back too."
"No" Wanda shook her head, standing and beginning to walk away. "He didn't want that, you all know he didn't. You all heard his Will, he didn't want to be revived if he was.."
"If he was dead" Monica interrupted. "But what if he's not?"
Wanda paused, her hands clenching into fists, scarlet wisps flickering around them.
"Of course he's dead. I saw him die" She was shaking. "I held him when he was gone, and cried over his body for days.."
"I know, we all believed he was dead" said Monica. "But ever since we took in Vision's body five years ago, there's been strange things going on at S.W.O.R.D HQ. Every month or two, weird electromagnetic pulses that disrupt some of our equipment. A few days ago, we finally traced them to Vision.. His brain activity. He's not entirely dead, just damaged."
"I.." Wanda hesitated. "Are you sure?"
Had she really left him broken all this time, when something could have been done?
"There's no way you could have known," Monica continued, trying to comfort Wanda. "He appears inactive between the pulses."
"We've spoken to Okoye, and they still have most of Vision's brain patterns on file" said Steve. "But the only one who'd be able to make sense of the files is.."
"Shuri.." Wanda sighed. "So if this plan.."
"The Time Heist" said Scott excitedly.
"If this Time Heist works, and we bring everyone back.. I could get Vision back too?"
"We can't say for certain" Monica shrugged, "But hopefully.. Yeah."
"Why does it matter to you?" Wanda frowned.
"Because he's a hero" said Monica. "Carol Danvers is my Aunt. I've seen some of the things that are out there, maybe more than you guys even know. If another Thanos type decides to show up one day, we need all the heroes we can get."
Wanda felt a lump in her throat. Tommy and Billy's giggles floated down the stairs. She groaned, her head in her hands. This was a lot to take in all at once, maybe too much.
"Hey.." Clint stood, laying a gentle hand on her shoulder, waving the others out of the room for a moment to give Wanda some space. "I know this is a lot, it's a lot for me too. And you're probably feeling a lot of things. That you want Vision back, but you'd be selfish to risk your life when it could mean leaving your kids alone. But maybe it's not so selfish.."
"How is it not?!" Wanda snapped, and for the first time in a long while, her eyes glowed scarlet. "All they have is me!"
"You could give them more" said Clint gently. "You could give them their Father. I miss Laura, Cooper and Lila so much, every damn day. It hurts how much I miss them. But if I go ahead with this, I know it's not just about me and what I want. If this works, I could give Nate back his Mom. If there's even the tiniest chance of that being possible.. I don't think I could look him in the eye if I didn't take that chance."
"I guess that makes sense.." The lump in Wanda's throat returned.
"Pepper's prepared to watch the kids, they'd all be safe" Clint pressed a kiss to Wanda's forehead. "But I'm not telling you what to do. I never would. Take a night to think it over, and let us know what you decide."
"Okay.. I'll think about it."
That night, as she gave the twins their baths and got them ready for bed, she couldn't help becoming a little lost in her thoughts.
Maybe it would be selfish of her to risk her life when it would mean leaving her boys alone in the world. But could she really face leaving Vision broken, when there was a chance that he was not entirely gone?
And, bringing Vision back would not just be for herself. She would be giving Tommy and Billy their Father, and she knew how much they would be loved by him, and how much they would love him in return. Her children could grow up with both parents, and wanting that did not feel selfish at all.
Usually, she would let the twins play for a little while after their bath, but tonight, she called them to her.
"Tommy, Billy, come cuddle with Mommy for a bit. There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
Both boys scrambled up onto the sofa, curling into Wanda's arms.
"What is it, Mommy?" asked Billy.
"Yeah, what is it?" Tommy bounced a little.
"Well, remember how I told you your Daddy was in Heaven?"
"Uh-huh" The twins said in unison, nodding.
"It turns out he might only be halfway there.. And there might be a way to bring him back here.. To bring him home."
"We could see Daddy?" asked Billy, wide-eyed.
"We could play with him?" said Tommy, excited.
"Maybe.." said Wanda, hoping she hadn't got their hopes up too high. "But it would mean Mommy has to go away for a few days. You'd stay with a nice lady named Pepper. She has a little girl the same age as you two, so you might make a new friend, and Nate will be there too.. But I won't go if you don't want me to."
"You can go" Tommy grinned, bouncing. "I like making new friends." This was true. Tommy was quite popular at pre-school.
"You should go, Mommy" Billy agreed, before, not for the first time, speaking beyond his years. "You miss Daddy. If he was here, you wouldn't be sad no more when you tell us stories about him."
"Yeah" Tommy nodded. "Daddy could tell us the stories."
Wanda smiled softly, holding her boys close.
"Okay then.. Maybe it's worth a go."