AN: Set after Civil War. Wanda runs away but is she alone?
Vision wouldn't forget Wanda's appearance when she returned to the compound after being broken out of the Raft, if it wasn't for the fact he couldn't feel fear as a human could he sensed something in him was wrong. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair was greasy and matted and her arms were marked slightly as if she had been bound by rope or worse. She said nothing when she found him in her room, instead, she threw herself around him and sobbed. Sobbed like she was reliving all the grief at losing her brother in Sokovia, and the lives she had taken in Lagos. Vision held her hands up to his chest not afraid of any power that could slip out in her breakdown.
"I've got to get out of here," she whispered against him. "You can't protect me this time."
"I'll always protect you, it's in my programming to protect life."
Wanda drew back and flung her wardrobe doors open with a flick of her hand. "I'm going to go North or maybe East. I don't know, I just have to leave."
"Wanda, you can't leave without knowing where to go. You'll be in danger. Stay, I promise I'll look after you."
"No, Vis. Not this time. You've made a promise to Tony, not me," she grabbed a bundle of clothes and piled it into a suitcase then got out her phone.
"Who are you communicating with?"
"Clint," she rubbed her eyes and zipped the suitcase up. "Goodbye Vision."
Vision opened his mouth, but Wanda left the room before he could reply. "Wanda..."
Clint looked back over his shoulder as Wanda walked up the jet's ramp. "Ready to go?"
"The sooner the better," she belted up and the door closed.
"Where are you planning to live, Wanda? You're safer here, not out there."
"My family owned a cabin in Transia, I lived there as a child before we moved to Sokovia."
Clint frowned and plotted the route in. "I've never heard of it. Will you be okay there?"
"Yes," she replied bluntly, and the jet powered up to full speed.
They landed a couple of hours later and Wanda left the jet after hugging Clint goodbye, he watched her approach the cabin then sighed as he took off. She didn't want company, and she didn't want anyone knowing where she was. But this whole move was wrong.
Wanda placed her bags down and looked around the cabin, all was familiar but also unfamiliar as the last time she had stepped foot in here was when she was three. Tears came to her eyes thinking about Pietro and she wiped them away aggressively before venturing outside again to connect the mains to supply power to the hut. This was it. Alone. She sat down heavily on the dusty sofa and held her head in her hands unhappily. What the hell was she doing? There was a knock at the door, and she jumped out of her skin, she had been found already. Deciding to use her telepathic powers instead of walking over to answer, she attempted to read the mind of who was behind it and gasped.
"Vis."
Vision phased through the door and caught her in his arms. "Wanda."
"How did you find me?"
"I followed the jet. You can't do this alone, Wanda. How are you planning to live here? There's nothing for miles."
Wanda shook her head. "It's the only home I have left."
"That's not true, you have the Avengers' compound."
"No, I can't go back there Vis, if anyone is coming for me, they'll look there first," a tear rolled down her cheek again and Vis brushed it away.
"I'll run you a bath and then get some supplies."
Wanda sniffed with a giggle. "You haven't been shopping before. Ever."
Vision smiled. "I have a computer for a brain, I'm sure I can figure it out."
"Because that paprikash was a success right?" She smiled at his silence. "We can cook something together. I'll write a list after this bath you're running."
"As you wish."
Vision dipped his hand into the water testing that it was the right temperature and Wanda entered the bathroom wrapped in a towel. "All done. I hope the water is satisfactory?"
Wanda dropped down beside him and tested it. "It's fine. Thank you, Vision."
"I'll be outside if you need me."
Wanda watched him leave closing the door behind him and hung the towel up before getting into the water, she closed her eyes as she slipped underneath then emerged with a sigh allowing herself to relax after the horror of the previous 24 hours. They were a broken team; she was now hiding with a former opponent and everyone else on Steve's side were now on the run or supposedly in hiding too. Rhodey was paralysed thanks to her distracting Vision from his task, and she doubted Tony would ever trust or look at her the same way again, but as hard as she tried to look at it from their angle, she could only remember how Vision held her on the tarmac.
"I'm sorry," he apologised, kneeling beside her as she lay powerless on the ground.
"Me too," she had replied, gazing up at him.
"It's like I said. Catastrophe."
Then he had moved closer to her, lifting her upper body across his knee off the ground whilst his hand rested on her thigh holding her almost against him. She had wondered what the next move would be, where he would take her, when Rhodey had called him for assistance breaking their concentration. As soon as he left her side to find Tony, she found herself in handcuffs and that was the last she would see of the compound and Vision until Steve broke her and his team out of the Raft.
Her eyes opened feeling the water cooling down and she quickly washed her hair before rinsing in fresh water from the overhead showerhead, then got out slipping the towel under her arms to secure it around her body. As she walked down the hallway, she passed her childhood bedroom and paused to look in, her attention immediately drawn to the two child-sized beds that stood against the walls, and she sighed before continuing onto her parents' room. It was very dusty, and after getting dressed into a fresh pair of clothes, she used her powers to clean the room sending the dust outside into the snow, then made her way to the lounge.
"Your parents have some fascinating books," Vision remarked as she entered the room. "Are you feeling any better?"
"A little. Thank you," she removed the dust from the air like she had in the bedroom and smiled at the colours returning to the fabric and walls. "We will need to clean it properly if we are to stay here."
"We can't. Not forever. You know that don't you?"
Wanda nodded. "I want to feel safe, at least for a little while," she rubbed her stomach. "I'm starving. Come to the store with me, please? For protection."
Vision smiled. "Of course, but I'll be easily recognised."
"That's okay, as long as the people here aren't looking for me. Let's go."
Their shopping trip was a success and Wanda got to work on a meal for herself in the kitchen as she put Vision on cleaning duty.
"Are you sure you don't need a hand, Wanda?"
Wanda opened a couple of cupboards without touching them and smirked. "I've got everything in hand, Vis. But thank you."
Once satisfied with how the small casserole looked, she put it into the oven and sat down at the table with Vision.
"I'm sorry for how I behaved at the compound, Wanda. I was only following Mr Stark's instructions. I didn't know how you felt about them. It was never my intention to make you feel like a prisoner."
"I know. And now I've been in one."
"In what?"
"A prison."
"What did they do to you in there?"
Wanda shivered and shook her head. "I don't want to remember that place, Vision. Please don't ask me."
"I'm sorry," he looked down at his hands. "I sometimes forget to see that recollecting memories can be good for some and painful to others. I won't ask about it again. I was thinking about you whilst you were, gone."
"Oh?"
"I was thinking if I could have broken you out of there. I can phase through any material."
"And what stopped you?"
"My primary function."
"I see," Wanda replied, a little disappointed. "Do you think the team will ever get back together?"
"Captain Rogers and Mr Stark were the heart of the team, and without a heart, a body can't function. They were both betrayed and I can't see how a reconciliation can be rectified. We're on our own."
"I can think of worse places to be in."
"Yes, I enjoy your company too."
Wanda blushed. "Thanks."
"You're welcome," he smiled back and the oven pinged.
