"Right Here Waiting"
Chapter Two
By Darthelwig
*** I own nothing. I'm just having fun.***
Vision needed her back. It felt like forever since he'd been close to her, and it truly had been too long. Every minute since her return from Lagos, every moment she pulled away from him in an attempt to punish herself for her perceived wrong, was an eternity. He clenched his jaw at the sensationalist news coverage, at all the people rabidly jumping on the chance to tear her down in their hate and ignorance. He fought hard to retain his forgiveness and empathy for those hideous examples of humanity, even as his gut twisted with every terrible thing that was said about the woman he Ioved.
He could only imagine what watching this news coverage was doing to Wanda, could only imagine because she refused to let him close, refused to talk to him. But he knew she was tearing herself apart, and it was killing him to not be able to help her. He wished she would let someone in, but she stubbornly refused any comfort. It wasn't until the day of Secretary Ross' visit that she accepted any sort of commiseration at all.
He wished it was him that she'd allowed in, selfishly became jealous of Captain Rogers for being the one she turned to, but he did his best to banish the emotion. He should be happy she received any comfort at all, and he was, truly. It still stung, though.
She allowed him to keep her close during their meetings, and he counted that as a win. The small smile she offered him gave him hope that perhaps the end of the distance between them would come sooner rather than later. Respecting her wish for distance was becoming harder with each passing day, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to respect her wishes much longer, honestly. Soon enough his resolve would break.
He attempted to please her with Paprikash, and it was good for a little while. She laughed with him, and his heart lightened. But it came crashing down when he revealed his role in keeping her confined to the compound. In retrospect, he should've gone against Mr. Stark's instructions to keep it a secret from Wanda and just been honest with her from the beginning. Hadn't they promised to be honest, always? That was the way they worked best, with open communication between them, but she'd been closed off for so long that he'd felt safer keeping it quiet, and his cowardly actions had driven her further away.
He couldn't fault her for taking action against him when she decided to leave with Clint. He'd done the duty he'd committed to, and she fought for her freedom. He couldn't fault her for that. He spent a lot of time after that reflecting on his own actions, and the reasons behind them. Maybe he wanted to keep her safe, but maybe he also just wanted to keep her and keep her close. He had to admit his own selfishness, and regret burned in his chest. He missed her terribly.
It was instinct to go to her when she fell in battle to Rhodey's sonic cannons. Anger flashed through him at the fact that Rhodey had hurt her. She trembled in his arms, unable to sit up, barely able to focus, but he took the opportunity to apologize. He couldn't pass it up. She needed to hear how sorry he was. And his heart soared as she apologized as well, as her eyes sought his and he saw the regret there. She loved him still, he could see it written plainly on her face.
He wanted to tell her he loved her. The words were in the tip of his tongue, but Rhodey interrupted, and in his annoyance and impatience to be done with it, he made a terrible mistake.
His second mistake of the day was leaving Wanda's side. When he looked for her again, she was already gone.
He was going insane, not knowing where she was. Mr Stark had been tight lipped on the subject, no matter how many times he asked. He was frustrated with the situation, angry with himself and Mr. Stark. He took matters into his own hands and hacked every government database until he found her.
When he found the security feeds from the prison, he discovered rage.
His beautiful Wanda, his love, bound and caged, the light gone from her eyes. She was a corpse, her skin sallow, face sunken like a skull. In that moment, he decided what he had to do. It wasn't even up for debate.
Hacking into Mr. Stark's databases was straightforward enough for him. He searched for any information that might be helpful in locating his missing teammates. It was Mr. Stark's surprising video logs of Siberia that revealed the clue he needed. A quick flash of a face reflected in glass told him where he might find them.
He left the compound, sure no one would notice. Mr. Stark was preoccupied with Colonel Rhodes' recovery. He wouldn't be gone long enough to raise any suspicion. He flew as fast as he could for Wakanda.
His synthezoid abilities allowed him to find the way into their hidden city. The fact that his entry raised alarms didn't concern him. He would be at his destination before that would matter. The search was longer than he'd expected, the Wakandan technology made it harder for him, but he managed to avoid any real problems before he found them, in some sort of medical area.
Captain Rogers was instantly on the offensive, but Vision raised his hands in peace as he phased through the wall.
"I am not here to harm you," he said quickly. Weapons were being aimed at him, but the king motioned for his guards to hold, and Vision was grateful for the chance to speak. "I am here to help."
Captain Rogers seemed to sense his sincerity, and even though he was visibly surprised, he seemed willing to accept his words at face value. Vision was grateful for their leader's understanding nature. He needed this badly. "Why exactly are you here?" Captain Rogers asked.
"I wish to assist in the rescue of our teammates from the Raft prison," Vision stated plainly. Captain Rogers considered him for what felt like an uncomfortably long time, but he eventually nodded.
"Okay," he said. "Your help will make this a lot easier."
It was decided that Vision's assistance would be limited to helping them infiltrate the Raft. He could create a signal that would convince the prison to surface and let them on. Captain Rogers would take it from there.
Until Agent Romanoff showed up out of the blue and offered her help as well. Vision felt more comfortable knowing she would be there to watch the Captain's back. This was a large mission to attempt with one person, super soldier or not. Agent Romanoff would even the odds quite a bit.
Vision stayed longer than was strictly safe to aid in the planning, but he refused to leave before it was done. He had to be sure Wanda would be free. He ignored the strange looks being shot his way when they thought he wasn't looking. Nothing mattered but Wanda's safety. He didn't care what anyone thought.
He timed his return to the compound very carefully, wary of being caught and questioned. He'd been gone too long, but no one seemed to have noticed. That bothered him, but he accepted it.
Time crawled as he waited for the prearranged time for the prison break. He tried to busy himself with tidying his room, but there wasn't enough in it to distract him from his thoughts. Instead, he went to Wanda's room, let himself be immersed in the scent and feel of her that still permeated the space. A glint caught his eye and he kneeled down to find her engagement ring where she must've discarded it before. The sight of it so carelessly thrown to the floor hurt badly, but he refused to be upset with her, refused to be angry. He'd hurt her, and she'd had every right.
He pocketed the ring, hoping she would perhaps want it back one day. Suddenly the room felt too small, claustrophobic, something he'd never experienced before. Instead he retreated to the living area, twirling a chess piece between his fingers, attempting to hide the tension that filled him but failing badly. He was thankful he'd been left alone. Mr. Stark would've immediately known something was wrong. He couldn't help it, though. His entire being was focused on the mission, on Wanda, and as the time for the prison break came and went, he waited in tense silence for word of how things had gone.
When he finally received the phone call it was just one word, but it made all the difference.
"Safe."