AN: Enjoy!

When Captain Rumlow and the others returned, Wanda and Vision's relationship slipped back into the shadows once more. However, Vision had noticed, just a little smug, that Wanda had needed to wear higher necked shirts for a few days after the other pirates had returned, to hide a love-bite that he had left just above her breast.

That first special night together began what Vision thought of as the golden age of their time on The Hydra.

Though she still ran hot and cold with him for appearances sake, Wanda would sneak Vision secret little smiles far more often, and never failed to steal kisses when she got the chance. And every night, as always, she crawled up beside him, so that he could hold her.. and sometimes other things, if they felt they could be quiet enough. She was still gone when he woke up, but it seemed like she took longer to leave, and sometimes, if he was lucky, he could still feel the ghost of her kiss when he woke.

Vision still hadn't told Wanda that he loved her at that point, although he'd wanted to. She had been, well, a little jumpy about the emotional side of their relationship, and he did not want to scare her off.

So, Vision had been left to express his feelings through actions. Not just physical affection, but other things. Sharing food, or simply a smile when it seemed like she needed it the most, a hug when it was possible. She returned the gestures when she could, showing her own feelings in the only way she knew how. Sometimes, when he held her, Wanda would curl into him, clinging to him tightly, as though her life depended on it. Vision would let her, holding onto her just as tightly, hoping that it reassured her somehow, but it hadn't ever really worked the way he hoped.

Because on those nights when Wanda had held him so tightly, she always seemed sad. And for quite a long time, Vision had no idea why.. until the night when everything first started going wrong.

Making love on the deck became a regular feature of those precious hours when Wanda and Vision were completely alone on the ship. The night in question had been no different. Vision remembered it all in painfully vivid detail.

He remembered her gazing at him him intently. Remembered her kissing every part of him that she could reach, remembered her hands slowly wandering, exploring, mapping out every bit of him as though trying to commit him to her memory. She'd been especially tender with him, which he hadn't minded at all, although he may have if he'd understood why.

Vision remembered Wanda moving over him, looking, in his eyes, like a Goddess in the moonlight. He remembered Wanda crying his name into the night and collapsing onto his chest, spent.

He remembered how he'd looked at her, because it was the same way he always looked at her. Like she was special, like she was beautiful, because to him, she was. Wanda had always seemed slightly awkward about it, but unlike his words, this wasn't really something Vision could help, and so Wanda had said nothing. Until that night..

"Stop looking at me like that" She had frowned at him.

"Like what?" Vision had replied, still a little breathless.

"Like that" She gestured to his whole face. "That puppy dog look, like you think I hung the damn Moon or something."

"Maybe you did" Vision teased, tenderly brushing a stray hair from her face.

"Don't" Wanda slapped his hand away, then sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just.. you know this.. Us.. you know it's not forever, Right? In fact, it's probably best we just stop right now."

Vision remembered feeling his heart sink.

"What? But why.."

"I wanted.. I wanted to know what it was like to have something good, for a while" She rolled off of him, starting to gather her clothes. "But one day.. one day you're going to get off of this boat. You're going to meet a nice girl, fall in love, probably pop out a few kids.."

"You're a nice girl" Vision had interrupted, sitting up.

"I am not a nice girl.."

"Well.. maybe I don't care. Maybe.." He had hesitated, but only briefly. "Maybe I'm in love with you anyway."

Wanda had shaken her head, starting to get dressed.

"You're not in love with me, Vision" She'd told him, clear sadness in her eyes. "You only think we are because we're sleeping together."

Looking back, Vision wished he'd told her that wasn't true. Wished he had argued more, tried to convince Wanda that she was wrong. It probably wouldn't have changed much, but it might have saved them at least a little pain in the days to come.

Instead he had recoiled, stung by her words. And, maybe a little angry.

"You think so little of me?" He'd snapped.

"No!" Wanda had snapped right back more upset than angry, and Vision almost immediately regretted his own angry words. "I think the world of you, Vision. You're just.. you're good. So good. You're not cut out for this world. You're the best person on this whole ship without even trying. You're better than this, you deserve better than this.. Better than me."

She'd stood and marched off, leaving Vision alone on the deck.

Never had he felt more stupid.

Just like that, their golden age crumbled away into some of their darkest days.

Wanda had still slept beside him (she didn't feel safe anywhere else), but she stopped letting him hold her. She kept her distance when he was working. Gone were the secret smiles and stolen kisses. Her stories and her lessons.

Wanda only spoke to him to give him orders, emotionless. This had felt worse than the times she had tried to be cruel about it.

She'd told him, later, that she thought she was doing what was best for him. Giving him the space to work towards the better things he deserved. Thought he would get over her, sooner rather than later.

She had been so very wrong.

The day it happened had, at first, seemed like any normal day aboard The Hydra. Vision's brain had been on auto-pilot as he mopped the deck.. in fact, most of his chores were done on auto-pilot during that time.

He remembered an argument breaking out, an argument that soon evolved into a brawl. Vision didn't take much notice of it at first. This was a relatively common occurrence aboard The Hydra, and they had been on the opposite side of the boat to where he was mopping, so he, as he usually did, had simply decided to stay well out of the way until the brawl was over and somebody ordered him to come clean up the aftermath.

But then Vision had heard Wanda's voice, a voice of reason trying to calm things down, and he'd so missed speaking to her that his ears immediately pricked up at the sound.

He'd looked up in time to see Rollins telling Wanda to shut up. Saw him push her. He saw Wanda fall, saw her head hit the side of the boat with a sickening thud, saw her crumple to the floor, horribly limp.

Vision saw Wanda's secret little smile, the one she kept just for him. He felt the softness of her lips when she kissed him. Heard her joyous laugh when they leapt around the deck. Saw her face, beautifully flushed after they made love.

And he saw it all blinking out of existence when Wanda didn't get up.

Vision saw red.

He had dropped his mop, and run, without thinking, right into the middle of the brawl. Snatched a sword out of someone's hand, and struck out at Rollins.

Rollins howled, cursing and clutching his face, blood seeping between his fingers. Vision gasped, startled at what he'd done. The brawling ended, everyone fell silent, and, looking around, Vision realised that in the space of a few seconds, he'd broken the two most important rules Wanda had given him.

He'd attacked the Hydra's First Mate without provocation (for Vision, there could have been no bigger provocation than hurting Wanda, but he knew the pirates wouldn't see it that way), and the sword he had stolen was Captain Rumlow's. The Captain did not look pleased.

Vision immediately dropped the sword at Rumlow's feet, raising his hands in surrender.

"That was very stupid, Cabin Bastard" Rumlow scowled.

"I kn-know" Vision gulped. He'd thought the Captain was going to kill him right there. He had looked towards Wanda, wanting to see her one last time. She was unconscious, but he'd been relieved to see that she was breathing. "Wanda saved my life when I got here. I just felt like I owed her.."

"Stupid.. but noble" Rumlow had mused. "Have to admire that, don't we boys?" A Chorus of unpleasant laughter echoed from the crew of the Hydra. "And you have made yourself pretty useful around here, so we won't kill you.."

"You won't?" Vision had been relieved, but nervous. He had known it couldn't be that easy, and he was right.

"Not this time. But, we can't let you go entirely unpunished, of course.. I might have to thank you, Cabin Bastard. I think you've just given me an excuse to use my new toy" Rumlow's scowl twisted into a wicked grin, and Vision froze as he'd fingered the handle of his whip, before turning to bark orders to the crew. "Tie him to the mast!"

Vision had been terrified, but he didn't fight when the crew seized him, didn't struggle as they tore off his shirt, or bound his hands to the mast of the ship, for the same reason that he'd never tried to flee from Lord Ultron when he'd been in a bad mood. What point was there? He only would have made things worse for himself.

In the corner of his eye, Vision had seen Wanda stir. Feebly, but she had. Somehow, he knew she was okay, and for some reason, Vision had felt strangely at peace, even knowing what he'd been about to endure.

Even then, when they weren't really speaking, Wanda was his light, and if she was okay, if she was alive, nothing else could really be that bad.

Growing up with Lord Ultron, Vision had become very good at blocking things out, and pretending that he was somewhere else.

So, when Rumlow's first lash hit, that was exactly what Vision did.

He squeezed his eyes shut, blocking out the sting.

He imagined he was on the deck with Wanda looking at stars. There was nowhere he would rather be than with her, and no matter what else fate had in store, Vision was not going to change his mind.