been a hot minute, I know. apologies. life's been a touch hectic.
a new perspective, one which has been floating around (pun intended? haha) my head for a bit. just needed some time to work it out.
enjoy.
Vision spots the figure on the roof of the main building on the Avengers compound and knows immediately it's Natasha. He changes course to head toward her, intent on relaying his gratitude for her actions as well as his condolences. While they had never been exceptionally close, they had shared a certain camaraderie, and had on a few occasions discussed more philosophical ideas as he tried to understand the nuances of human behaviour. He could only hope that it might translate to bringing her some comfort now in their shared circumstances of having given their lives to save the others.
He stops and hovers a few feet from the edge of the building where she's sitting. "Good day, Ms. Romanoff."
"Hey," she replies with a genuine, but fleeting smile. "Natasha is fine, by the way," she adds, and he nods in agreement.
He scrutinizes her for a moment, finding features and a posture that divulge the depth of her grief. She had often been described as cold, heartless, and calculating - but he had seen no evidence of the negative traits in the time he'd known her. In truth, she'd been kind and warm, if a little emotionally distant at times. But even with her famed ability to suppress her emotions, he isn't surprised that she's struggling to come to terms with her death. She had spent much of her life trying to make up for the death and destruction brought by her hands while under the control of the people who were responsible for training her to be a lethal assassin, and yet when faced with the opportunity to give her life so that trillions could be brought back - she hadn't wanted to die. He doesn't begrudge her the reluctance - it was, after all, only human to fear death.
"Would you mind some company?" he asks tentatively, mindful that while he may be a familiar face, it was conceivable that his presence might bring about more pain than comfort.
"Not at all," she answers while gesturing for him to join her, another smile flickering on her lips. "It's nice to see a familiar face," she adds, and he wonders if she'd worked out the reason behind his tentativeness.
"Likewise," he says as he drifts over to sit down beside her, "though I had hoped I would not see any of you for quite some time."
She breathes in deeply and exhales slowly before she responds. "I think we'd all hoped that, but this outcome was always a possibility with the hero gig. And given everything I did, some might say it's a surprise I lived as long as I did."
Her words are measured and thoughtful in the way he remembered she always spoke, though with a sharp bitterness running through them now. He doesn't begrudge her that anger. He knows she's had a difficult life, filled with more violence and hatred than most would ever see in a lifetime. She had worked hard to atone for her actions, no matter how little influence she may have had on the initial ones that left her with guilt. And yet, just as it seemed they could succeed in reversing Thanos' actions, she'd been forced to give it all up.
"Do you believe that?" he asks. He's curious what she thinks and if she'll share her thoughts or brush him off.
She breathes in another deep breath and exhales it slowly once more. "Maybe," she hedges. "I don't know what to think anymore," she admits.
"It is all quite overwhelming."
"I'm sorry we couldn't save you," she says softly, turning to face him.
He shakes his head gently. "Don't be. Your desire to try and spare me despite my protests was heartening."
"You and Wanda had so little time together," she says sadly.
"We had what we had," he answers, "and I owe you gratitude for your contribution to that.
She arches a brow. "You do?"
He nods seriously. "Wanda told me how you helped her sneak away and plan safe rendezvous for us."
Natasha smiles, fondly he thinks. "Who was I to stand in the way of young love?"
Vision tilts his head. He hadn't realized it was apparent to anyone. "Was it that obvious?"
He sees her eyes roll as she smiles again. "She was head over heels for you, Vision. You two bonded over that," she gestures vaguely at his head where the mind stone had once resided, "and the rest, as they say, was history."
He considers her words, realizing that of course she knew about the depth and nature of the relationship between them. Even if she hadn't been the one helping arrange the time and situations for them to meet, she was a master spy and an incredibly intelligent woman. "Be that as it may, I know helping Wanda to orchestrate time with me made your life more difficult, and I'm grateful for your efforts. We cherished the time we had." He pauses for a beat. "And I cherish it all the more now."
"You two both deserved the win," she says, holding his gaze for a moment before looking back out over the grounds. "Besides, it was the least I could do for her after finding out she'd been locked up."
He tilts his head slightly and frowns. "I rather think you already exceeded the least you could do by helping Captain Rogers to break them out-"
"Technicality," she says, waving him off.
It wasn't surprising to him that she would downplay her role. She had always minimized her contributions to the team, opting to allow the more boisterous personalities to stand in the spotlight.
He hesitates for a moment before he speaks again, measuring his words and tone carefully. "I saw what you did," he begins, tone gentle. "Your actions were incredibly noble."
He sees her breath hitch for the briefest of moments before her normal breathing resumes. "So were yours," she counters, turning to look at him for a moment before she turns her attention down to her hands where she is idly rubbing her thumb. "I know it can't have been easy to leave Wanda behind. I know what you two had was special."
He considers her words. True, he hadn't wanted to leave Wanda, but it had been necessary...a feeling Natasha was quite familiar with. "You know better than most the pain of leaving behind those you love."
Her gaze tips up to look out over the sprawling land that surrounds the facility, looking much like how it had when they'd been alive. "I suppose so," she says with an exhale.
"I'm sorry it came to that."
"Me too. But if I had to, I'd do it again."
"I have no doubt," he agrees. Her convictions had always been strong.
"Oh, I forgot to ask Phil," she says, abruptly changing the topic. "The others...the ones that were snapped away...were they here before?"
He shakes his head. "No, they weren't here. I suspect they weren't actually killed, but rather...willed away."
"Willed away?"
He nods. "Thanos sought to remove half of all living creatures and things from the universe. His goal was not to kill everyone, but to remove them from the equation. As such, I believe he simply willed half of life away."
"So not dead but not really alive either. Still, they must have gone somewhere," she muses. "But where?"
"That I do not know."
"But you have a theory," she prompts.
"For lack of a better description, I suspect their souls were held in trust."
"Held in trust?" she echoes, brows rising.
"Held until such time that they were able to be willed back by another wielder of the stones," he amends.
"Magical stones," she mutters with a shake of her head. "I was a trained spy and assassin, and I somehow got mixed up with magical stones, aliens, and..." she trails off as she looks at him.
"Me," he interjects, a small smile spreading across his lips.
"Yeah," she agrees with an exhale and a smile.
"For what it's worth, I can tell you that you handled it all quite well. I know you were always a bit skeptical of me, and you were right to be. I was a being wholly new to your world and very much outside any realm of knowledge on earth."
"Hard to believe that there was really a time that I thought Captain America and the Hulk were the weirdest things I would see in my lifetime."
"Most of what I've seen is strange to me," he remarks. "Humans especially. I have the fundamental knowledge, but there is so much nuance to everything."
She smiles. "That there is. Believe me, I made a living out of spotting the smallest nuances and I never came close to understanding it all."
They fall into silence after that, and Vision finds his thoughts drifting back to Wanda and some of the various conversations they'd had over the years that had featured Natasha. Despite their traumatic first introduction to each other, Natasha had quickly become a mentor to Wanda, and they'd grown closer as time passed.
"I think she's trying to kill us," Wanda says as she tries to catch her breath.
"Given her extensive background as an assassin, I doubt she would use these methods," Vision offers. He's met with blank stares from his teammates and his brow furrows gently as he tries to work out the reasoning behind their reaction.
"Vision's right. If I wanted to kill you, this wouldn't be the way I'd do it," Natasha pipes up from behind them, her tone dry. Their gazes all swing to her and she winks, breaking the spell of her deadpan delivery. "That's all for today, rest up and be ready for some run throughs of new scenarios tomorrow."
"I thought you couldn't get away," Vision says as he holds Wanda tightly in his arms and feels her squeeze him just as tightly. After months apart, they'd finally found a weekend to spend together.
"Natasha helped," Wanda explains. Vision worries for a moment that their secret is no longer safe. "Don't worry, she's okay with it," she adds, clearly having sensed his worry.
"Really?"
Wanda nods as a happy smile spreads across her face. She looks up and kisses him gently before she answers. "Yes. I have to check in and stay close to home base, but otherwise she's fine with it."
"And Captain Rogers and Mr. Wilson?"
"She's covering for me."
"That's kind of her."
"Yeah," she agrees with a nod. "We're lucky she's on our side, because I definitely would not want her to be against me," she adds.
"She was," he points out, memories of the airport battle rising to the surface. "We both were. I still am."
Wanda shakes her head. "That's different."
"Is it?"
"Of course it is."
"I have to admit, I prefer this brown hair colour to the one you had last time."
Wanda chuckles as she leans back against him, clearly reveling in the chance to just spend time with him. "Me too. Could be worse though. Nat's change requires a lot more maintenance." Vision frowns for a moment. "Touching-up of the roots," Wanda elaborates, gesturing to her own head.
"Ah," he responds with a nod.
"Nat's been really good about that stuff though."
"Hair care?" he muses.
She nods. "And everything else. I don't know how she did this for so long before she joined the Avengers."
"Being on the run?"
"Yeah. There's so many things to think about, and I know she handles most of it without telling us."
"Well, she was extensively trained for these situations. You're lucky to have her with you."
Wanda is quiet for a moment. "She's like an older sister."
"How so?" he asks. With no siblings himself, the concept was foreign to him, but he found himself curious about the nuances of the relationship.
"She doesn't let me get away with anything but is kind and offers advice when I need it but don't know how to ask for it," Wanda explains.
Vision smiles as a thought occurs to him. "And she lets you borrow her clothes."
Wanda grins widely. "That too."
"You know," he says, breaking the silence and prompting Natasha to turn and meet his gaze, "Wanda was quite fond of you."
She smiles fondly again, though he can see the traces of sadness in her expression too. "Well I was pretty fond of her too."
"She likened you to an older sister."
Natasha's smile widens and her eyes fill with tears that she begins to try and blink away. "I guess she was sort of like a younger sister," she replies, voice a little uncharacteristically shaky.
Vision allows her a quiet moment to compose herself. "I miss her," he admits.
She turns once more to hold his gaze. "Me too," she admits softly before turning to look out over the grounds again.
"I suppose she'll meet us here one day."
He sees Natasha nod. "Hopefully not too soon," she says, echoing his sentiment from earlier.
He glances over at her, catching her gaze for a moment as they share a smile. "Hopefully not too soon," he agrees.
so...did you enjoy a peek into Vision's headspace? intrigued by his desire to convey his condolences and gratitude?
as always, comments are always appreciated.