Chapter 6 : Sunshower

"I haven't finished unpacking," Wanda explained to Steve, who was looking at the cardboard box in the middle of her living room floor in her new apartment in Zurich.

"So how do you like it here so far?" Steve asked.

"It's nice. I like it. Your beard's coming in nice."

He rubbed his beard absently. "Thanks."

"What's going on, Steve?" She finally just asked. Not that it was unusual for him to drop by to check on her every month or so, but today he was not acting normally. He usually talked to her more openly, asking her specific questions about work, transportation, even grocery shopping. He was distracted by something today.

"Natasha contacted me. There are rumors that someone is selling Chitauri tech to rebel groups in the Middle East."

"What are you going to do?" Wanda asked.

"We're going to find the weapons and destroy them. We could use your help."

"How long do you think it will take?"

"A few months. It won't be easy."

Wanda was gripped by a moment of panic. "No!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing's wrong. I just can't be gone that long." She imagined how Vision would feel, showing up at the apartment and finding her gone. Even if she left a note, there would be no way of telling him where he could find her.

"Why not?" Steve asked. He didn't sound angry, just curious.

"My boyfriend. I couldn't stand to be away from him for that long."

This time both of his eyebrows shot up. "You have a boyfriend?"

"Yes. Why is that so surprising?"

"It's not. I'm happy for you. But...does he know who you are?"

She hesitated for just a moment before stating, "He's Vision."

"Vision." He didn't sound exactly surprised.

"Yes. We've been seeing each other for months. Don't worry about him turning me in. He won't, because he loves me. And don't ask me to stop seeing him, because I won't. I love him."

"I would't ask you to," he said wistfully. "No, I think this is a good thing. Someday there will be a crisis so big that the world will need the Avengers again, all of us. And when that day comes, it will be good to have a bridge between the two sides. You and Vision can be that bridge."

She smiled. She liked that idea, and she was happy to have Steve's approval. And thrilled to tell someone Vision was her boyfriend. She'd talked about her boyfriend with coworkers before, but never said his name. No one had known who he was. She felt oddly proud. Proud that Vision, a being of such power, such intelligence, such pure goodness, had fallen in love with her, of all people. Saying Vision was her boyfriend felt unexpectedly like bragging.

"Thank you for understanding," she said. "I'm sorry I can't go with you."

"I know what it's like to be in love," he said. "I think you're exactly where you need to be."

It was a rainy spring morning. Wanda and Vision were sitting at her table. She had a plate of French toast and a cup of coffee in front of her.

"Thank you for breakfast, Vision. This is delicious."

"You're welcome. I'm glad you like it."

Whenever he said 'you're welcome,' she always felt like he truly meant it on a literal level. He didn't do things for her because he expected anything in return, or even in an attempt to endear himself to her. He did them because he loved her, and he wanted kind things to happen to her. It was selfless. She wasn't sure if her love for him was so selfless. While she would do anything for him, valued his happiness above her own, and would unhesitantly give her life to save him, the happiness she felt from just being with him certainly felt selfish.

"Wanda," he asked her hesitantly, "would you be honest with me even if it were something you thought I wouldn't like to hear?"

"Yes," she said. She'd considered the question before, and decided it was only fair.

"Do you ever wish I were human?"

"No."

"You don't ever wish we could...go out? Go to a café together, walk through a park, go on a normal date."

She reached across the table and took his hand. "I would love to go out with you. And we could do all those things, if I wasn't a wanted fugitive. When I'm by myself, people don't look too close, but if we were seen together I'd be recognized, and you would face the consequences. Whatever we're missing out on by not being able to go out in public together is because of me, because of the things I've done. It's not because you're not human. I love you. I love you as you are, and anything I have to give up to be with you is a price I'm willing to pay."

It was the first time she'd said those words to him, and she could feel without even trying how deeply they touched him.

She smiled at him, kissed his hand, and returned to her breakfast.

"I'm sure you're already aware of this without my telling you, but I love you too."

"Yes. But it's still good to hear." They sat in silece for a few moments, then Wanda asked a question she'd been wondering for a long time. "Vision, when did it begin for you? When did you first start developing feelings for me?"

"I'm not sure. I had feelings for you for a long time before I recognized them for what they were. To be honest...I don't think they entirely began with me."

She was about to ask what he meant, but realized she knew. "Ultron."

"He cared for you deeply. He admired you. I believe that when he designed me, he had in mind not just a form in which to deliver his message to the world. I think he also hoped that this body would allow him to be closer to you. I don't know if the beginnings of my own affection for you is something I inherited from him, or if it's simply the fact that he and I share a base consciousness, that we were both attracted to the same attributes in you: your intensity, your grace, your devotion."

She looked down. She remembered how she had felt toward Ultron before she learned what he was really planning. It felt like they were a team, she and Pietro and Ultron. She had been proud of her part in bringing into existence a being of such power, intelligence, and...vision. She understood loneliness better now, and looking back she recognized that even though she had Pietro, she had still been lonely, hungry for companionship beyond her brother, and that loneliness had drawn her to Ultron, as his had drawn him to her. She remembered how excited she'd been to see Ultron's final, perfect form, how she had gazed into the cradle, amazed by the shape it was taking. When she'd seen the truth, she'd felt betrayed beyond a violation of trust. She had been misled and used by someone she cared about.

"I'm sorry, I didn't wish to distress you. Please don't misunderstand; whatever feelings for you I shared with Ultron, that was only a seed. It took getting to know you, serving beside you, for that seed to grow into love. My regard for you now is entirely my own, entirely separate from what Ultron felt." He was floundering, panicking. He'd misinterpreted her contemplative silence. He was terrified he would lose her because of this revelation; she could see that in his face without even glancing into his head.

She understood that fear. She was worried about the same thing for what she was about to tell him.

"You don't distress me, Vision. I do. The thing is, it would have worked. If I hadn't learned what Ultron was planning, if the Avengers hadn't stolen the cradle, if Ultron had gotten your body, he would have held the world hostage, and I would have been right beside him. I'm not like you. I'm not pure good." She looked at her hands. They were shaking. "I'm capable of terrible things. Ultron knew that. And if he had come to me in your form...I would have..."

He phased through the table and knelt in front of her. He took her hands, steadying her. "It doesn't matter. Wanda, it's alright. It doesn't matter what you might have been. I know what you are. It doesn't matter what you did or what you're capable of doing, only what you do. When you saw what Ultron was planning, you turned against him. You joined forces with people you had believed to be your enemies in order to stop him."

"To stop you," she said. "I tried to stop you from being born, to prevent your existence."

He reached up to her cheek, wiping away a tear with his thumb. "Because you thought I would be Ultron. Ultron's final, possibly unstoppable self."

"When I saw you come out of the cradle, I thought we were dead. I thought you would kill us all."

"Even if it had been Ultron who came out, you would have stopped him. You have that power."

"I didn't know I had power over you then."

"But you did. And more importantly, you had power over Ultron. He wouldn't have killed you, and that would have given you time to learn how to destroy him."

She closed her eyes. He continued stroking her cheek.

If you stay here, you'll die. Those had been Ultron's last words to her, right before she killed that form of him.

"When the city began to fall, after Pietro died," she said, not opening her eyes, "I thought I was going to die. I was sure of it. The ground fell from below me, and I couldn't think. All I could feel, all that was inside me, was that I was about to die. And then I felt your arms around me. You had every reason to hate me, and no reason to save me, but you did. The day after I tried to prevent your life, you saved mine." She opened her eyes to him. "That was what planted the seed for me."

He looked confused. "I had the ability to save you, so I made the attempt. Even if I had held your attempt to stop my birth against you, I would not have let you die."

"I know. Because that's the kind of man you are. That's why I love you."

The café was at the corner of the street leading to Wanda's apartment. He sat at an outside table, holding a cup of tea he occasionally pretended to sip as he watched people pass by. No one looked at him twice.

He had been there for almost two hours when he saw her approaching. He recognized her by her movement well before she came close enough for him to distinguish her features. She was dressed in a dark gray jacket and bluejeans, her hair was braided, a look designed to not draw too much attention.

His skin seemed to tingle at the sight of her.

As she passed the café, she slowed her step and glanced up at the building, frowning. She glanced over the few patrons sitting outside in the late afternoon sunlight. Her eyes alighted on him for a moment, but moved on without recognition. She looked up at the rooftop, shook her head to herself, and continued on.

He rose to follow her, jogging a few steps to catch up to her. "Hello, Wanda."

She spun around, then froze, her eyes wide.

"Viz..."

"I've been practicing." Since he had always been able to alter his appearance by shifting his vibranium-tissue matrix to approximate clothes, he'd hoped he could eventually master it enough to simulate hair and human skin. He didn't add that mastering this look had entailed occasionally painful sessions of Dr. Cho blasting experimental pigment capsules into his skin to achieve a more or less natural-looking color. He'd insisted on going through with it, claiming being able to pass as human would help him be a more effective Avenger. There had been several missions in the past that he hadn't gone on because his presence would attract too much attention. He suspected that Tony knew the true reason.

"You look different."

"I wanted to surprise you."

"You succeeded."

He walked up to her. "What do you think?"

She slowly touched his cheek. "You feel the same." She moved her hand up to the hat pulled low over his forehead. "You can't hide your glow."

"No. My disguise won't bear much scrutiny, I'm afraid."

"Is it permanent?"

"No, but it takes me some time in front of a mirror to reestablish it. Do you like it?"

She smiled at the worry in his voice and patted his cheek. "I'll get used to it."

He took her hand and brought it to his lips.

After a moment, her smile turned into a smirk.

"What's funny?" he asked.

"You're like a cuttlefish."

"How so?"

"Cuttlefish can change the color and texture of their skin. They're not really fish; they're more like a squid."

"Yes. They are cephalopods."

"The person who first told me about cuttlefish said he was afraid of them, but when I really learned about them, I realized how incredible they are. They change their skin to dazzle their prey, talk to each other, and blend in with wherever they are. They're very intelligent. Like you." She rested her wrists on his shoulders, lightly linking her fingers behind his neck. "People can be afraid of things that are different. Usually they just need to take the time to understand them."

"You're saying you understand me, and so you don't fear me?"

She chuckled. "I was actually meaning cuttlefish. But yes, you too." She gazed at him. "I understand why you...changed your look. I need you to understand it doesn't change how I feel about you. At all."

He was tempted for a moment to suggest they go back to her apartment, even though that was opposed to what he'd planned for the evening. Instead he contented himself with kissing her, lightly and briefly. When he drew back, he was pleased to see the desire in her eyes. He was glad she didn't find his human disguise off-putting.

A middle-aged woman passing on the sidewalk gave them a knowing smile. It reminded him they were in a public place.

"Wanda, I would like to take you to dinner," he said.

"It's a little early for dinner. Let's take a walk. There are some nice streets between here and the lake."

"That sounds delightful," he said sincerely.

"And maybe after dinner we can go dancing," she suggested.

This might, Vision thought, prove to be his favorite day in his life so far.

And then Wanda said, "And tomorrow maybe we can check out some museums."