So I've been doing one shots for this couple, which were mostly fix its I wrote before the release of Endgame. This will eventually be a fix it too because I adore these two, but I'm going to do something different this time by making it into a full length story with plenty of angst and a difficult journey getting there. You've read the title and the plot summary, you know what we're getting into, but it's going to be more than your typical amnesia storyline and remembering to love again, because it wouldn't be a marvel story without an evil organisation and a sinister plot.
This is set after Endgame, a few months after Tony Stark's funeral and before Far From Home. Wanda is struggling after her loss and is finding it difficult to move on, and the world isn't making it any easier for her. However, she is shocked when it turns out that Vision is alive - albeit with little to no memory, and under the control of an organisation who are also working on a project that could have catastrophic results. The focus will mostly be on Wanda and Vision, but other members at the compound will include Sam, Bucky, and Carol, with other MCU characters having appearances.
I hope you enjoy it!
Wakanda was eerily silent. Fear and grief were a powerful thing.
The moon was a sliver in the sky, barely casting a hint of light. It was very difficult to see the group moving from the savannah and into the forest. The field was still a disaster zone, the corpses of outriders laying rotting, vultures scavenging the remains. Fewer vultures than usual. With the recent devastation, there was no clean up operation regarding the damage of the battle that had taken place there several weeks ago. Weapons still lay on the ground, the Wakandan barrier had gone down after many of the people controlling it were among the vanished. It had only recently gotten back up and running, leaving the city exposed for several weeks.
A group walked through the African forest, the only sound being the leaves and twigs crunching under their feet. They had just gotten back from a distant planet, knowing now that with the stones gone, there was nothing, absolutely nothing, they could do to fix this. There was a little consolation knowing that the being responsible was dead, but not much.
At the head of the group was Steve and Natasha, followed by Rhodey and Bruce. Thor had vanished, Rocket didn't want to be in the same place he'd seen Groot disintegrate in, and Nebula and Carol hadn't known what had happened here. Tony was still recovering from nearly dying in space, so had been unable to come. He still couldn't be in the same room as Steve anyway. Okoye followed the four like a shadow, spear in hand. Her movements were stiff, her eyes glossy with what had almost become permanent tears.
"So. This is the way things are now?" Her voice once imbued strength, but little under a month later, it was brittle and broken, still recovering from the loss. It wasn't just her king and Shuri she had lost. The Queen Mother was also gone. Many of her friends and fellow warriors from the Dora Milage, and even W'Kabi, who she still wasn't on speaking terms with, were gone. She didn't even know what had become of Nakia - she had been on a mission at the time in Europe, but communication had been lost. Okoye desperately hoped that her communicator was merely malfunctioning, and she couldn't get in touch with her. Maybe she couldn't return to Wakanda with all flights cancelled worldwide. But that was too hopeful.
Okoye knew the more likely possibility. She blinked rapidly, fighting the tears, as she drew closer to the place she had seen her king and dear friend disappear before her eyes. "You're absolutely certain that the stones are destroyed? He wasn't lying?"
"He wasn't a liar. I believe Nebula." Natasha said, softly. A tinge of red was visible at her roots, as she didn't care about what she looked like anymore. "The best we can do now is pay our respects."
"Forever? " Rhodey asked, his tone brittle. Natasha looked stiffly at him, eyes filled with pain.
"What else can we do?" And they fell silent once more, as they neared the place they had lost so much. T'Challa, Bucky, Sam, Wanda, and Vision, who was the only one with a body that could be buried.
They had set up a memorial there already. Vision had been placed in a casket and buried at the foot of the cliff, a slab of stone intended to be engraved with his name, and everyone else there who vanished, on it. He deserved a proper funeral, so each member of the party carried bundles of African wildflowers. Plantlife had also been affected, so they had had to search for many hours to gather enough.
The clearing opened, and the group came to a startled halt. There was a moment of silence as they stared at the scene, trying to figure out what happened, what they were seeing.
"Oh my god." Whispered Bruce.
"Okoye." Natasha struggled to speak, the bunch of flowers she was holding cascading to the floor as her fingers trembled. "What... where..." Okoye ran forwards to the place she knew for a fact that Vision was buried. She had watched the scene take place, had stood before the mound of earth once the hole was filled, and whispered how sorry she was. But now, she stared at the scene in absolute horror and confusion.
A grave. With nothing in it.
There was a hole in the ground, where Vision had been buried. The soil that had filled his grave had been heaped to one side, and the hole was empty. Okoye reached for her kimoyo beads with trembling fingers. Suddenly she began screaming at an image of a confused looking woman.
"What - I don't understand how -"
"Did someone enter Wakanda when the barrier was down?"
"I - I don't know - the barrier was the last thing on anyone's mind when -"
"We're the most technologically advanced nation in the world! How could this be allowed to happen?" The woman in the image had her own problems, as everyone in the world did right now. Her hands flew to her face and she switched her beads off, so Okoye couldn't see her anymore. Okoye stared at the grave for a moment, before slowly turning to face them.
"I don't know what happened."
"I'll tell you what's happened." Rhodey said, bluntly. "This was a graverobbing."
"His body was taken? But... why?" Steve's voice rose with his anger. "What kind of sick, twisted people would... what kind of opportunistic person would dig up his body in a time like this? And for what purpose?"
Suddenly Steve had a thought, as he remembered all those rotting outriders on the field. He raced off through the foliage to the place, and yes, it was true. Corvus Glaive's body, and his spear, was gone too. He came running back. "The alien's also vanished. And his weapon!"
"Well... that thing could have been taken by a predator..." Bruce attempted to insert logic.
"Yes, but I don't think a lion or leopard would take the weapon as a souvenir." Natasha said, dryly. She whirled around to the others, furiously. "And what about Vision? I don't think he was taken by an animal!"
Rhodey stared at the hole in the ground, before looking at them all. "Do you suppose someone thought... that if they could get their hands on him, what they could do? Before he was incapacitated, he was near invincible... I know there are many shady organisations who would love to use that to their advantage... as well as that creature that attacked them... and his spear could cut through anything..."
"But... the alien is dead. And Vision was too..." Bruce began pacing. For a brief moment a tinge of green was visible in the major artery in his neck, before it disappeared. The disappearance of Corvus and the glaive was swiftly forgotten as they thought of their dead friend, who was now god knew where. "His head was split open, the colour gone from his body... we ran tests before he was buried here! There's no way Vision survived that, or could be brought back even if someone tried..." Okoye listened to them beginning to argue, their distress growing as their grief only grew worse.
"Shuri... " Okoye forced her voice not to break at the mention of her name. "She was so close to safely removing that stone. If she hadn't been interrupted, she would have succeeded."
"You're saying that if someone with the right skills got to Vision..." Rhodey began, and Okoye nodded slowly. "Oh, god."
Steve turned to Bruce. "Maybe you missed something. Maybe she saved just enough of him to be something left. Maybe whoever did this could have fixed..."
"If Wanda were alive... Oh god, if she were buried, she would be turning in her grave, knowing this... " It took a lot to make the Black Widow cry, and she was now, tears dripping down her face as she thought of the young woman who she had come to view as a little sister. As the only women of the team they had bonded. She had cared for her during their time on the run, being the one to comfort her when her nightmares came for her on the nights Vision wasn't there. She had saved her life countless times, and Wanda had done the same. To know that some lunatic had desecrated the burial site, not knowing Vision's final resting place would break her heart.
"Even if they did, he wouldn't be the same being! With that level of damage..." silence. Bruce turned to them all, genuine fear entering his eyes. "We have a serious problem. Just imagine what someone could do with Vision, if he had no recollection of who he was..."
For a few months, they listened for any news. Time passed and there was nothing, no whisper, to suggest that Vision was alive. Eventually they believed that whoever took Vision failed in what they were trying to do, and they forgot.
Like half of the universe, Vision had vanished.
Five years later
The attendants of Tony Stark's funeral gradually went their separate ways. There were handshakes and promises to be in touch, some discussions of future plans. There was one member who had no future plans, however.
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Clint asked. He still stood with Wanda by the lakeside, and she had been silent for a while, gazing across the water with a faraway look in her eyes.
"I will be." She said, softly. Clint looked over his shoulder, where Laura and the kids were saying their goodbyes. Lila and Cooper were telling Nathaniel that it was rude to stare at Rocket and Groot, although they themselves were finding it difficult to get over the fact that a tree could walk and that a raccoon could talk. Laura made her way over, hugging Wanda.
"If you need anything at all honey, you just give us a call. Promise me?"
"I promise..."
"Come over whenever you want. Nate's getting curious about his middle name, maybe you could tell him some stories some time?"
"Yes, of course. I'd love that." Wanda smiled, but the moment Clint and Laura left, it vanished. She turned away to look at the lake again, noting the ripples on the surface as the guardians' new ship lifted, shaking the trees as it departed. She watched the ship fly away, until it disappeared into the sky.
Shuri was a little nervous to approach Wanda, uncertain of her state of mind. Okoye had told her what happened, and she had felt guilty ever since. She paused before speaking.
"Miss Maximoff." Slowly, Wanda turned to face her. Shuri 's heart twisted painfully in her chest at the look on Wanda's face, as the sight of her brought back memories. Their last encounter had been in the tower, just before Wanda had flown away to help with the battle. Wanda had asked Shuri if they would be alright, and Shuri had said...
"We'll be fine, I'm nearly finished..."
Wanda had squeezed Vision's hand, assuring him that everything would be okay, before she had left. Minutes later, Shuri had been laying on the floor amongst the broken glass, and Vision was gone.
"I'm so sorry... I tried my best... to get the stone out as quickly as possible but... it was too late."
Wanda looked at the Wakandan princess, not saying a word. She took a few steps forward. Okoye watched from a distance like a lioness watching her cub, wary of Wanda's mental health and how she might react, seeing Shuri after what happened. "Thank you for trying to save him, Shuri."
"I did everything I could."
"I know." Wanda offered her a smile. "Take care of yourself." Shuri smiled too, before turning and walking to join T'Challa and Okoye. She and T'Challa linked arms, and Wanda began making her own way off the property, following the river. Okoye glanced at her king and Shuri.
"Give me a moment. I want to speak to her." They nodded, and Okoye hurried after Wanda.
"Wait." Okoye caught up, and put a hand on Wanda's arm. "You're not alright. I can tell."
"I'm sick of people asking me whether I'm alright... I'm fine, can't you see?" Okoye held her gaze, knowing it wasn't true. Anyone could see that Wanda's smile was painfully forced. They held eye contact for a long time, and Wanda felt something inside her beginning to break down as she looked at the woman who had helped her so much in that final day. The anger and desire for vengeance was gone, now that Thanos was dead. Now, there was no distraction from the pain. Her lips shook and she looked at the leaves beneath her, trying to hide the fact that tears were filling her eyes.
"I failed him."
"That's not true."
"He died, alone and afraid. The second time... I killed him once... and then I let him die again in the most terrifying way..."
"Wanda, he wanted you to do it. You were the love of his life... it was what he wanted. You gathered the courage to do it. He loved you so much. And he wasn't alone, you were there with him..."
"I hurt him in the worst way possible! He suffered so much in those last moments, last days. I -" Wanda 's hands came together in front of her face, as though in prayer, as she tried to hold together. "In Edinburgh, he asked me to stay with him. In Wakanda, I abandoned him. If I had stayed, maybe he would still be alive!" Her powers began to crackle at her fingertips, her eyes glistened red. "Tell me now Okoye, how am I not completely alone?"
"Because Natasha said you weren't." Okoye wasn't afraid of the red magic coming from Wanda's hands. Without fear, Okoye hugged her. Wanda fought the hug at first, resisting, her powers withdrawing as she didn't want to hurt her. But then something inside her broke. She accepted the hug, wrapping her arms around Okoye tightly.
"I miss her too." Wanda sobbed. "She was like a sister to me..."
"You should have seen her. She was so strong when nobody else was. She missed you so much, and I know she would be so proud of you. That moment on the battlefield, where we banded together to turn the tide of the battle. That moment was for Natasha. Everything you did in that battle was for both of them." Okoye held her face, very much like a mother would hold the face of her child. "You may not have been able to save Vision. But you avenged him."
Wanda blinked and nodded. She had, and she knew it. When she had confronted Thanos, she had almost killed him. Vision had never doubted her power, not once. She could feel his presence.
It was here Okoye remembered something Wanda had the right to know. But as she looked at how broken Wanda was, she knew that such news would only make things worse. She couldn't bring herself to tell her. It would break her heart to learn what happened - or rather, what Okoye didn't know happened - to Vision's body.
Wanda pulled away from Okoye. "Thank you, for everything you did for us. I think I just need to be on my own for a while." She turned, and red light manifested around her, as she lifted off the ground and soared away. Okoye watched her go, and heard leaves crunching behind her.
"Did you tell her?" T'Challa asked.
"No. I don't think we should cause her further pain... "
"Yes, general, but that logic has not worked in the past. We only know full well. One day she may ask questions about what happened to him... "
"I'm aware of the damage secrets can do, but this situation is different. She is not ready to take such news right now." T'Challa could see the logic in that, and knew that Okoye was right. "Let's go home."
Wanda felt Vision's presence - his soul, she believed - for a few more days. Then she stopped feeling it. Slowly, as she started to heal, she thought that maybe it was because she had accepted his demise. He could rest now, like Tony and Natasha.
That wasn't the reason.