NOTE: Next week, I will post the final chapters of this story. Thank you to everyone who has come this far with Wanda and Vision - traveling is always more fun with friends.
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Chapter Ten
Tenerife, Spain
WANDA
Wanda turned a delicate bracelet over in her hands a few times and smiled at the craftswoman. Half a dozen sellers had set up in the square in Garachico early Saturday morning. Wanda was strolling by when she noticed the bracelet and figured it wouldn't hurt to buy something for herself once in a while.
"How much is it?" Wanda asked. The woman pointed to the hand-written number six tacked to the side of the bracelet.
"Would you take five?" Wanda asked. "I only have five."
The woman smiled awkwardly. She said, "No English."
"Right," Wanda said. She spoke several languages and partially understood several others, but her only basis for Spanish was the Mexican restaurant a few miles down the road from the Avengers Compound. She held up a hand. "Cinco?"
"Seis."
"No, I got that but, uh, only have-o cinco."
"Having some trouble?" Vision asked, appearing over her shoulder. He had come straight from the airport and still had his little suitcase by his side. With a gentle smile he said, "Ella solo tiene cinco euros. ¿Venderás la pulsera a ese precio?"
The woman thought for a moment and then said, "¡sí!" The exchange was made.
"I guess it's good to travel with someone who speaks every language."
"Not every language, just most of them," Vision said. "There are some perks to being part computer."
Wanda offered her wrist and Vision clipped the bracelet on.
"Pretty," he said, "but not as pretty as the woman wearing it."
"You're ridiculous," Wanda said. They joined hands and strolled through the plaza, Vision rolling his suitcase behind him. It was late December, but it was warm enough that Wanda could wear a sundress. Vision wore a bright green Hawaiian shirt, because, he explained, he had looked up a photo of a beach, and came to the conclusion that that was the type of shirt one should wear.
The diluted sun cast a hazy glow over the island. The buildings they passed were painted with bright colors: yellow and terracotta and rose pink. They paused at a big wooden door set into an azure wall. "Home," Wanda said, "At least for this week."
Inside, she took off her shoes and walked barefoot on the tile floor.
She asked, "How was your flight?"
"Not bad," Vision said. "Yours?"
"Natasha dropped me off in the jet, so about the same as usual. She and the boys are in Morocco trying to get information about the last Militia General. Steve thinks if we get her, the rest of the network will dissolve."
"Mhm," Vision said. "Hopefully that business will all be over soon."
"I don't know what Steve and Natasha will do when it is. We still can't go home, and those two aren't good at sitting still. They need something to do. Sam will be okay. He has his tech to play with and some crazy idea that he should try pizza in every country in the world."
"And you?" Vision asked.
"I'll be okay," Wanda said. "I have you."
She stretched up on her toes and kissed Vision. When they had been apart for a while, the first kiss was always eager – ravenous even, at least on her part. Vision had been getting less patient, too. His hands roved down her body from her shoulders to her waist. They should talk more – she hadn't asked him how he'd been, or what happened after Cincinnati, or if he'd read any good books, or if he'd been on more missions, which were all things she genuinely wanted to know – but that first kiss so easily lead into the second, and the second led to Wanda tugging open the top few buttons of Vision's shirt.
Later, they drove along the coast in a car Wanda rented using a false identity Natasha had made for her. She pulled over in Santa Cruze when she saw a beach. She felt the sand between her toes and Vision's hand in hers. She wondered if they looked anything like the picture that Vision had seen.
"Do you swim?" Wanda asked. She felt like she should already know if Vision swam, but then, they had never been near enough to swimmable water for the question to come up.
"I never have, but I suppose I could," Vision said.
Wanda stripped off the dress that had been covering her bathing suit and dragged Vision knee-deep into the water. It was colder than she expected, and a chill ran up her legs.
"So, we just lower ourselves into the water? Like a bath."
"Sure," Wanda said. "Or —" She swiped the water with her palm and splashed Vision. He shielded his face and stumbled backward. Wanda took the opportunity to tackle him. Usually, tackling Vision would be about as effective as tackling a stone statue, but in his surprise, or perhaps in his attempt to be more human, he fell. They tossed in the cold confusion of the sea and both came up laughing. Then, they waded their way into deeper water, where Wanda floated on her back and kicked and splashed.
"How do like swimming?" Wanda asked.
"I'm happy to do anything with you," Vision said.
"Not a fan then?"
"I didn't say that."
Wanda dipped under the water and reemerged closer to Vision. She said, "I like the weightless feeling of swimming. I think a lot of people do. But I suppose you don't need to be in water to feel like that."
"Actually, I think if tried to float in the water like you, I'd just sink. I'm too many parts metal."
"Your composition is perfect," Wanda said.
At a fashionably late hour, they sat on a patio and ordered paella for two, of which only half was eaten. They drove up the main road that traversed El Teide, the island's dormant volcano and the highest point in Spain. When Wanda found a pullover, they got out and looked at the stars.
Vision said, "I see why you chose this place."
In truth, Wanda had chosen it because last winter, she had heard locals in Cork and London talking about going on holidays in Tenerife. It was a favorite spot for people from that part of the world, who otherwise saw mostly cold, damp days.
"Did I tell you I went to a charming little town in New Jersey?"
Wanda scoffed. "I didn't think New Jersey was charming. All I've ever heard is that the drivers are bad and the beaches are crowded."
"I think New Jersey is just misunderstood," Vision said. It was very dark on the mountain, but Wanda caught a glint of light out of the corner of her eye. Vision had changed back to himself, and he paused to touch the stone in his forehead.
"Tell me about the place you visited," Wanda said.
Vision began to talk about a small town; with the rich way he described it, Wanda could almost picture herself there. Vision stopped mid-sentence and Wanda felt jostled from a dream. She said, "What is it?"
"Someone is coming," he said, and he fizzled back into his human disguise.
Wanda heard it then, too: a woman screaming. Her shrill voice carried across the mountain. "¡Ayúdame! ¡Ayúdame! ¡Por favor!"
Vision stood and scanned the darkness. He said, "She wants help. She's down there."
Wanda peered over the side of the mountain to a dark mass where Vision was pointing. She jumped, propelling herself with the energy she controlled. She had never tried to go a long distance like this, but found the feeling not entirely unlike swimming.
Vision appeared by her side a moment later, still looking human save for his graceful flight.
"She might see you," he said. It was less a warning and more a statement.
"She's in trouble," Wanda said.
They landed on the rocky slope a few meters above the woman. A gash on her head sent a streak of blood down her face. She was trying to scale the bank, but stumbled when she saw Wanda. Vision easily caught the woman. She spoke quickly, too quickly for Wanda to make out any words, and Vision responded.
"She was driving up the mountain on one of the back roads when another driver came flying down the opposite way and pushed her off the road," Vision said. "Her vehicle rolled down here."
"We need to get her to a hospital," Wanda said.
The woman continued to babble. It was a frightening sound. A plea.
"Her children are still in the car," Vision said. "She can't get them out."
Braced against Vision, the woman led them to what remained of a compact SUV. The roll downward had left the car looking like a tinfoil wrapped burrito. The driver's side faced the sky, the front window smashed out.
A child's voice softly called "Mama!" through sobs. The woman desperately called back.
Wanda raised her hands and surrounded the car with energy. The vehicle pulsed red and gently tipped upright. Both backdoors crinkled and groaned under her power before they lifted off.
The woman stared at Wanda in shock only for a moment before rushing to her children. The little boy on the driver's side was conscious and crying. He reached for his mother and wailed while she fought with his seatbelt. Vision checked the other boy. He wrenched his seatbelt off and scooped him into his arms. Vision looked at the others, trying to figure out how best to carry three people.
"I've got these two," Wanda said.
"You do?" he asked.
"Sure." She threw the crumpled car frame into the air and dragged the back bench seat scraping out over the uneven ground.
Trembling, the woman asked, "Avengers?"
Wanda tried to smile. "Sí."
The woman and the younger boy sat down uncertainly on the car seat. Carefully, Wanda sent the bench into the air. Vision, holding the unconscious older boy, floated up by their side as they climbed the mountain. When everyone was at the top, Wanda relaxed for a moment and then rocketed herself up to join them.
The woman threw her arms around Wanda. Crying, she said, "Gracias."
They dropped the trio off at the nearest hospital. Wanda felt a half dozen things hit her at once: exhaustion, worry, sadness, fear, anger, relief. She curled up on a waiting room chair.
"Do you think they'll be okay?"
"They'll be better than they would have been if they remained on that slope," Vision said. "You were marvelous tonight."
Wanda did not feel marvelous. She asked, "Should we leave Tenerife?"
Vision rubbed Wanda's back. "Camila promised no to tell anyone she saw us," he said.
Wanda nodded. Of course Vision had asked the woman to keep their secret. Wanda hadn't even thought to ask her name. Then, Vision was good with people in a way that she typically was not.
"Let's go back to the house," Vision said. They did. They lay on the bed and watched TV, and Wanda lost herself in other people's stories until she drifted to sleep.