Chapter 4

Vision tried not to think as he waited for the coffee machine to finish.

It had been approximately four hours since Wanda's seizure last night, and he dreaded to think of when it would happen again. Disturbing images flooded his mind about what often happened to seizure victims, but Vision held fast to the idea that Tony could help.

There was also the likely possibility that Wanda would experience only one seizure.

The machine gurgled and sputtered, pulling Vision out of his thoughts. He poured coffee into Wanda's favorite red mug and smiled with pride. He had watched her make coffee for a year, slowly memorizing how she liked it, and he was pretty sure he'd mastered it.

Hopefully, this would bring a smile to her face.

"What're you doing up?"

Vision glanced over his shoulder to find Tony, still dressed in his pajamas, sitting at the island behind him.

"Making coffee," Vision said as he poured the grounds into the sink.

Tony arched an eyebrow. "You can't drink coffee."

"Yes, but it isn't for me."

As Vision carefully measured three teaspoons of sugar, he could feel Tony staring at him, but each time Vision tried to catch his glance, Tony quickly looked away.

Vision made futile attempts to ignore him, but the feeling of Tony's gaze irked the back of his head. Finally, he had enough and turned back around.

"Is something the matter, Mr. Stark?" Vision asked.

"I'm not sure because a few weeks ago, you were an infallible android, but recently, it takes a whole lot just to grab your attention," he said, pouring himself a mug of coffee. "I'm pretty sure androids don't have Attention Deficit Disorder, so do you want to tell me what's going on?"

This question caught Vision off guard. While Tony certainly wasn't neglectful, he had never taken such an interest in Vision's life. It seemed like once Vision was brought to life, he was left on his own.

Then again, Vision wasn't exactly helpless.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts. "Well, a lot has certainly changed within the past year. While I still don't quite understand how I was made or who I am meant to be, I can tell that I've changed. How I've changed, though, I am also uncertain."

Tony took a long sip from his mug, which Vision just realized said Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist. "Do you think Sabrina the Teenage Witch had a hand in this?"

Did he mean Wanda? Vision thought.

Why on earth did people keep asking about Vision's relationship with Wanda?

"She's just a friend, Sir," Vision said, his voice edging with exasperation.

"Just checking."

As Tony got up to leave, Vision stopped him.

"Sir, there's something I need to tell you," he said.

Before Vision could speak, the nasally voice of Henry Gyrich blared over the intercoms. "Attention all Avengers. Your first assessment is in one hour. Do not bring equipment. It won't be needed."

Tony let out a loud groan. "Who gave Eliza Thornberry the password to the PA system?"

Vision wasn't quite sure who Eliza Thornberry was, but even if he wanted to ask about another one of Tony's obscure pop culture references, Tony didn't give him a chance.

"Honestly, the UN's little Gestapo is getting real comfortable here," he griped. "Not only is everyone on a three-foot leash, but he just has to rub salt in the wound with his asinine surveillance. He's ready to dig up as much dirt as possible."

Dirt?

Thoughts of last night flashed through Vision's mind. What would happen if Gyrich discovered Wanda's incident? He doubted it would be something worth imagining.

"Hey, you still with me?" Tony asked. He waved his hand in front of Vision's face, grabbing his attention.

Vision blinked, gathering himself. "Yes, sorry. I suppose I was lost in thought."

Tony arched an eyebrow. "Didn't you want to ask me something?"

"Yes," he said slowly. Vision desperately scanned the room, looking for a quick excuse to avoid the question. "I was wondering if I should put ice in the coffee before serving it. Scorched tongues are a common injury due to hot beverages after all."

There was a long moment of silence between the two. Tony, amazingly enough, looked utterly lost for words. "I...think Wanda knows to let it cool, Vision. She's a big girl."

"Yes, of course," Vision said.

"I'm serious, Vision. She doesn't seem like the type that likes being babied."

Vision simply nodded as he took up Wanda's mug. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Tony said, "put coffee grounds in my sink again, and I'll turn you into a pencil sharpener."

Vision phased through the ceiling with Wanda's coffee, his mind swirling with dangerous thoughts.

If Agent Gyrich found out about Wanda's magically explosive seizure, would he fear her power and lock her away again? Would he take her away from Vision once more?

Vision couldn't let that happen. He refused to let her waste away in a cell again.

Though, if he were going to do what he was seriously considering, keeping Wanda's condition secret for her safety would mean he'd be lying not only to Tony but also to Wanda.

Knowing her, she would probably tell Clint, and who knows what he'd do then. Clint has always been protective of her.

No, it was best to keep Wanda's seizure to himself.

For all Vision knew, this would be a one-time thing anyway. Most seizures are not recurring, so there would likely be nothing to garner concern.

He found his way back to Wanda's room and slowly creaked the door open. The hall light slipped into the room, which was tinted pink from the sunrise. Luckily, Wanda was still splayed out on her bed just as he left her.

A smile fell on his face as he set her mug on her nightstand. He brushed the hair out of Wanda's face, making sure she was adequately asleep before getting a garbage bag from the bathroom sink and filling it with the torn curtains and shattered lamp that were leftover from last night.

Vision was prudent to be as quiet as possible for fear of waking her. Then, he phased through the floor to the dumpster to get rid of his evidence.

When he phased back to Wanda's room, he found her already out of bed stumbling for her dresser.

"Wanda, what-" he didn't get a chance to finish.

She shot him a dangerous look that screamed, Get out.

He immediately dove out the door before trying to argue and let her change on her own.

It didn't take Wanda long to emerge from her room wearing a baggy black sweatshirt and what should've been skin-tight leggings, but they hung off her legs so much that they looked like regular pants.

She gripped the door handle with one hand and held her red coffee mug in the other. Her hair was still relatively messy, but Vision thought it best not to comment as he took her hand and began leading her towards the gym.

As they walked towards the gym, they ran into Clint, who had just emerged from his room. His face was freshly shaven, but his hair was not remotely combed, and he had a severe case of cowlick.

He smiled sadly at Wanda but arched an eyebrow at the coffee mug. "Where'd you get that?"

Wanda straightened, hearing the parental tone in his voice, and pointed at Vision.

"Is something the matter?" Vision asked, feeling pitched under the proverbial bus

"She probably shouldn't have coffee right now," he said, taking it gently out of her grasp. "It dehydrates."

Clint led them to the kitchen and poured the coffee down the drain.

Wanda watched with desperately hungry eyes as if Clint had just killed a puppy.

Instead, he filled a thermos with chicken broth from the pantry and stuck it in the microwave.

As the microwave hummed to life, Clint hopped on the island's countertop next to Wanda, who was sitting in a chair like a normal human being.

Vision, however, just stood off on the threshold, observing over the two.

"D'you sleep good?" Clint asked Wanda.

Vision's eye involuntarily twitched at Clint's bad grammar.

Did you sleep well? he silently corrected. Vision knew better than to voice his corrections.

Wanda made herself small, her back hunched and her hands pushed under her legs, and she shook her head.

"How come?" Clint asked.

"Er- I don't think Wanda can verbally communicate," Vision said, cutting in. "The damage done by her shock collar seems to have rendered her temporarily mute."

Clint looked between Vision and Wanda with an incredulous expression. "Is that true?"

Wanda simply nodded.

"I'm sorry."

A small moment of silence fell between the three before the microwave dinged.

Clint ran a hand through his hair. He pulled the bowl out and placed it along with a spoon in front of Wanda. She stared at it with a starved expression.

"Not much we can do about it now, but in the meantime," he pointed to Wanda and then set his fingers just below his lips. "You. Eat."

Wanda did not need to be told twice and completely forewent the spoon as she took the hot bowl in her hands. She gulped down the broth, not even taking a moment to breathe.

"Yo, kid," Clint said, pulling her soup away. "Eat slowly, or it's gonna come back up."

Begrudgingly, Wanda picked up her spoon and started taking much more controlled sips. However, her hand trembled as she resisted the urge to down the broth at once.

"Was that sign language?" Vision asked, referring to the motions Clint used.

Clint smiled. "Yeah, I've been hard of hearing for a while, so I picked it up before I got good at lip-reading. Maybe I'll teach it to Wanda. Just simple stuff until she gets her voice back. Better than us trying to speak for her, right?"

"There was never anything on your file about your condition," Vision said. He had gone through all the Avengers' files after Ultron. His birth and subsequent allegiance were rather hasty, and Vision wanted to be sure he knew with whom he was working.

"Nat and I agreed to keep it on the down-low. Don't want people to question my ability to work."

"I suppose that makes sense."

Then maybe it was right of Vision to hide Wanda's seizures as he had planned. After all, if people started questioning Wanda's ability to work, who knows what would happen to her? She wasn't an ordinary person like Clint.

A loud beep blared over the intercom, and Gyrich's voice blared through the speakers again. "All Avengers are to report to the H.A.R.M room in five minutes for your first assessment. Do not bring equipment. It will not be needed."

"H.A.R.M room?" Clint wondered aloud. "Never heard of that before."

He took the bowl of broth from Wanda, who managed to sneak one more spoonful, and poured the remainder into a thermos.

"I want you to sip on this for the whole day, okay? Don't chug it, or you're gonna get sick."

Wanda nodded and took the thermos from him as the three made their way down to the gym.

The gym resided in the sublevels of the Avengers Compound. Vision had not often gone to it, seeing as he was an android and did not need to hone his skills. After all, his skills were already programmed in. However, based on Sam, Clint, and Wanda's reactions, the gym had gone through renovations.

In the front was typical gym equipment. Things like weights, punching bags, and treadmills lined the walls, and a boxing ring was in the center. Though farther in was a steel door with Holographic Augmented Reality Machine written on the front.

Vision remembered Tony having it installed after finalizing the Accords and preparing the Compound to house their returning teammates. While he kept the details of its function close to the chest, Tony mentioned getting the idea from — in his own words — a cue-ball Brit in a tricked-out wheelchair.

Inside was a massive domed room made entirely of mirrors except for an observation room above. In the center of it all was Agent Gyrich with a particularly sour expression and a clipboard. Vision did not find that a comforting combination.

"Good morning," Gyrich said without looking up from his clipboard. "Welcome to the Compound's latest feature, the Holographic Augmented Reality Machine or H.A.R.M Room for short. Courtesy of Mr. Stark, this room will be where we will conduct all our assessments.

"We've taken the liberty of setting up multiple low-grade simulations for you and are going to be testing you on how you handle each one. You will be graded on speed, strength, critical thinking, strategy, teamwork, and — most importantly — results."

"Hold up," Sam interjected. "What's with this low-grade shit? We've handled flying cities and alien invasions."

"While directly causing scores of casualties and millions in damages in the process," Agent Gyrich quipped. "The UN only wants Avengers who can perform their missions with as low a casualty count as possible with minimal damages. With each new assessment, the simulations will get more challenging, and you will be expected to grow with it."

Sam crossed his arms, clearly unhappy with Agent Gyrich's answer.

"Your first simulation," Agent Gyrich went on, "will be a simple bank robbery. We are only allowing you to use non-lethal force to see just how well you can perform without killing everything in your field of vision."

Vision couldn't help but look at Wanda. While everyone stood, she was sitting on the floor with her legs tucked under her.

Low grade or not, there was no way Wanda would get out of it unscathed. Not when it took most of her energy even to stand.

Vision caught Tony's eye. He looked in between Wanda and Gyrich before walking up to Gyrich.

"Hey, man, just give it a rest with Wanda, okay?" Tony said in a hushed tone. "The girl's been through a lot."

Gyrich pushed up his thick-rimmed glasses. "We'll see what happens."

That didn't ease Vision at all.

Agent Gyrich entered a lift that came down from the bottom of the observation booth, and, as he ascended, small drones began to circle them. Their lenses emitted lights, and suddenly the mirror-coated room was replaced with a bank foyer. The walls were now golden, with pillars coming from the ceiling and touching down on the marble floor.

Desks and couches lined the sides, leaving the middle wholly open and a line of exchange booths against the back wall.

Suddenly, people inside the bank began to form. Civilians were huddled against the left wall, cowering in fear.

Gunfire blasted, and the hostages screamed as four men wearing black masks materialized, all armed with handguns.

One man had his gun pointed against one of the exchange booths' glass and was shouting orders at a woman behind the desk. Two flanked the huddle of civilians, both ready to open fire. Then, the final one appeared behind the desks and stood in front of a massive safe. He was fiddling with the wires of what looked like explosives.

"Okay," Tony said, immediately taking the lead, "we should secure the safety of the people first, then go after the robbers. No one goes in or out, got it?"

"Who put you in charge?" Sam asked bitterly.

Tony groaned, "Is now really the time to be arguing?"

"I'd say so," Sam said, "Cap was the one who led us, not you."

"He isn't here right now to lead, and-"

"Yeah, whose fault is that?"

Tony looked like he had something very nasty to say to Sam until another gunshot went off.

One of the robbers fired a warning shot through the leg of an older man. What looked like real blood was pouring from his leg, and the hostages screamed in terror.

"Sam!" Tony shouted. "We have better things to do right now than argue!"

"They're all fake, Tony!"

"No! They're all points! And the more points we lose, the further away we are from freedom! Would Cap really want you to lose your freedom over a temper tantrum?"

Sam narrowed his eyes and clenched his fist. "We'll finish this conversation later then."

Without saying another word, he sprinted towards one of the robbers that were holding hostages. Clint followed closely behind.

Vision immediately grabbed Wanda and pulled her to the corner. "Stay here, okay?" he told her. "You'll be safe."

Wanda pushed his hand away, trying to use the wall to help her stand up. However, her knees buckled, and she fell back on her butt.

Another gunshot went off as Clint and Sam wrestled the two robbers to the ground.

Sam turned the gun on one man while Clint put the other in a sleeper hold until the robber fell unconscious.

"Stay," Vision repeated before phasing through the floor.

He reappeared in front of all the frightened-looking people. "Come with me," he said in the calmest way he could manage.

As the hostages started following him towards the main door, the man covering the window turned around and fired at one of the hostages.

Vision dove in front of them. He quickly raised his density, causing the bullet to bounce harmlessly off his chest.

Scott engaged the shooter in a fistfight.

"Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right," he quipped with each punch and block, "B, A and…" Scott wrapped his legs around the man's neck and threw him on the ground, "Start!"

Tony, who was making his way behind the counter for the robber near the bomb, rolled his eyes.

"Lang," he said in an exasperated tone, "we need to work on your one-liners."

"I dunno. I thought it sounded pretty cool," Scott frowned.

"Debatable."

The robber at the safe had the barrel of an AK-47 aimed at Tony. He barked at Tony to stay back, but his demands fell on deaf ears.

Tony grabbed the barrel of the gun and wrenched it out of his hands. In one blow, he knocked the man unconscious with the butt of the weapon.

Tony turned to the bomb, but his face immediately melted from confidence to panic. He picked up the unconscious robber and bolted away from the safe.

"Vision!" he yelled. "Ten seconds! Get the bomb!"

Vision, who had finally led the injured hostage out of the bank, took flight and phased through the glass.

Just as he was about to reach it, a red orb encased the bomb.

His head whipped around to see Wanda through the glass. She was holding herself up against the wall with one hand while the other flickered weakly with red power.

Something wasn't right. Wanda's powers had been much more brilliant in the past.

Wanda's face contorted into a pained expression, and her hands trembled more and more. Her throat tightened, and her glowing red eyes welled with tears.

Vision hardened his body with a sad expression as the red orb shattered and the room filled with flames.

The simulation pixelated away, and the room of mirrors remained.

Wanda fell on her knees, her hand clutching her neck and her back heaving as she started to hyperventilate.

Vision immediately flew by her side, resting a hand on her back and doing his best to comfort her.

He didn't even notice Agent Gyrich coming down from his observation room with that same sour expression.

"You really can't help yourself, can you?" he said, rolling his eyes.

Wanda didn't say anything. She was too busy trying to regain her breath.

"Are you listening to me, witch?" He got a lot closer before Clint put himself between Gyrch and Wanda.

"Call her a witch one more time," Clint said lowly.

Agent Gyrich arched an eyebrow. "Do you really wanna test me, Barton?"

"No," Tony said, putting himself in between Clint and Gyrich. "No, he doesn't. But I thought you'd take it easy on the kid."

"She ended the entire simulation," Gyrich said pointedly.

"She wasn't the only one who screwed up-"

"No, she just did the better job at it."

Clint shoved Tony aside and grabbed hold of Gyrich's green necktie.

"Y'know, you've got a lot of nerve for a guy standing around a bunch of Avengers who just came back from vacation at your floating hockey puck hotel," he growled.

Gyrich was unphased. "One punch, Barton, and all of you are back in RAFT. There'll be no Mr. Stark to get you out again."

"Would everyone calm down for 5 seconds?" Tony intervened, his voice rising and catching everyone's attention.

"Just let her go," he said to Gyrich. "Obviously, this is her benchmark."

Gyrich pondered this before rolling his eyes. "Fine."

Vision pulled Wanda, who had finally regained control over her breathing, to her feet and began walking her out of the H.A.R.M room when Gyrich stopped him.

"Not you, toaster," he said. "Don't think that you're getting out of this by playing RoboNanny."

Before Vision could argue, Clint put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll take her."

"No, you won't," Gyrich argued.

Clint snorted. "Yeah, okay. Then I guess you're okay with potentially the most valuable, or most dangerous threat, to the UN dying on your hands? How will your superiors like that?"

Wanda's shoulders sagged. Vision didn't doubt it was because Clint called her dangerous.

Gyrich's eye twitched. "Fine."

Clint gave a cheeky smile to Gyrich as he led Wanda out of the H.A.R.M room.

Gyrich didn't waste any time trying to get the Avengers to prepare for the next simulation, but Vision lingered by the door, trying to convince himself that Wanda would be safe with Clint. While logically, Clint was perfectly capable of taking care of Wanda, an unnecessary doubt crept into his thoughts that begged to differ.

This doubt prevented Vision from doing anything worthwhile in the next simulation. He wasn't even sure what the simulation was as he was so distracted. Perhaps it was a crumbling construction site? Vision honestly didn't know.

It didn't stop him from receiving very frustrated looks from Gyrich and very concerned ones from Tony.

As soon as Gyrich dismissed the Avengers, Vision wasted no time phasing through the ceiling and walls to get to Wanda's room.

He came to the hallway where her room ought to be, and, to his surprise, the door was wide open. Inside, sitting on the bed, was both Clint and Wanda practicing sign language.

Clint shaped Wanda's hands into various signs and taught her slowly a few basic signs that Vision didn't understand. He then joked about his meaty hands, and Wanda would smile. She even laughed, though it was nearly inaudible.

Vision sighed. Maybe he should ignore the urge to steal her away. She deserved a day of happiness.