A/N: Part 2! So, I wanted these to just hit one right after another. I guess I could have made it just one colossal chapter, but I like it this way better. If you haven't guessed by now, I've sold my soul to the devil in return for crotchety_old_emu's (on Ao3) priceless beta services. Talk about a steal.

Chapter 12: Care

In retrospect, flying away from the beach probably wasn't the best idea Wanda's ever had. It's been hours since she threw sand at Vision, like a child throwing a tantrum on the playground. She was furious, and rightfully so.

In the heat of the moment, she didn't feel like she had another option. In the air, after the fact, she knows it's because there truly were none. She has no home to go to, no family she can turn to.

She ends up in the quinjet, the only place she can think of that's empty and safe. There's nothing to do but sit there, listening to music. It's precisely how Vision finds her when he phases into the aircraft.

"I hoped you might be here."

She spins the chair to face him. He looks like himself again, vibranium reflecting the lights when he moves. "It's not like I have anywhere else to go." She sighs, the anger in her voice returning. "What is it?"

He takes the seat across from her. "I was hoping we could address... what happened."

"Are you referring to you lying to me? Or, to you bombarding me with the fact that you know all my dirty little secrets?"

"Both?"

Wanda crosses her arms over her chest, resists the urge to start yelling. She doesn't say anything, waiting him out.

"Wanda, I should have told you sooner, I know… But, I didn't know how, and I-"

"And you decided the best way to deal with it, was to keep lying."

"No, that's not-" Vision stops himself, "I'm sorry."

"That's it? That's all you have to say?" She gets up, pacing the length of the quinjet. Trying to burn off the energy thrumming through her veins. "First, you say that they'll protect me, that you'll protect me. Only to keep me as a prisoner for Stark. Then, you watch them haul us away, just to break us out. Today, you tell me that you've seen the most intimate parts of my life, and that you've been lying to me about it for over a week. And all you have to say is sorry?"

She crumples back into the chair, tears blurring her sight. "Why?"

Wanda falls back into the chair of the quinjet, crying because of him, again. He's caused her more pain, given her another reason she ought to spurn him. The exact opposite outcome the Vision was aiming for.

"To avoid this… I-I didn't want to hurt you."

"You did."

"I'm sorry."

It goes silent between them for a while, the radio still playing something low in the background. Multiple songs have passed when she speaks up. "Why can't you trust me?"

The question catches him unawares, and he answers automatically. "I trust you."

"No, you don't. You didn't trust me back at the compound, and you don't trust me, now. You watch me incessantly. You don't tell me things. For christ's sake, what do you want from me?" She drops his gaze, finishing under her breath, "Haven't I been through enough?"

"More than. What I want-" Vision takes a breath, composure ebbing, head swimming with the knowledge of exactly what she's endured. "I want you to be safe. You… like you said, you've been through so much. But, I swear, I never meant to see your memories, and, you're right, I should have told you sooner, I- I'm scared."

"You are afraid of me." It doesn't sound like a question, the way she says it.

"No! By God, no! That's not-" Everything is coming out wrong. He's letting her down- actively, spectacularly. Again. He decides then that he does know; that his emotions must be real. Fake agony wouldn't, couldn't, hurt as much. He's past gutted. This must be heartache.

"I do trust you. I'm not afraid of you, Wanda. I'm afraid for you, of failing you. After the Raft, the way you looked when we found you..." He forces his eyes shut against the memory. "I was programmed to protect. Yet, it's because of my actions, my inabilities, that you and the others suffered, that you continue to suffer."

He's surprised when he looks up to meet her gaze. His various systems are all functioning adequately, and yet, his eyes are leaking moisture.

Vision is crying. He's crying real, live, honest to goodness tears. Part of Wanda wants to stay mad, thinks it would be easier that way. Except, it's undermined by the compulsion to give in to commiseration.

"Vizh." She leans forward in her chair, thumbing the wetness from his cheeks. "What happened in Leipzig, and after, it wasn't your fault. We all made our own choices. You didn't fail me."

"I should have prevented it. As I should have prevented this. My main directive-"

"To hell with your main directive. It's not that simple. You're not that simple. This," Her hand drops to his shoulder, the other waving between them to illustrate her point. "This, right now, could have been prevented, yes. But, everything else? You can't blame yourself for someone else's decisions."

Vision goes silent, appearing to consider her words. "You do. You blame yourself for not stopping the perpetrators of your assault, despite being incapacitated."

Wanda's caught. Outdone by her own reasoning. Unraveled by revelation, her thoughts exposed as distortions. "I-"

"I could feel it, last night. You resent yourself for it."

"How dare you?" She stands, wiping at her eyes, hands shaking, heart pounding."You have no idea how I feel. No idea what I've had to do, who I blame. You saw a fraction, a- a fragment of my memories! My emotions! You have no fucking right!"

She's overcome with the urge to run from the conversation, from her returning wrath, from the subdued voice of reason in her head that's saying he's right. Suddenly, there isn't enough air in the jet.

Wanda is hyperventilating, falling forcefully to her knees. She's having a panic attack, Vision deduces, dropping beside her. He recalls his research, the articles he'd read on anxiety disorders.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have assumed. I-" He waits for her eyes to focus before carrying on. "I believe you're having an anxiety attack. I need you to breathe in." He inhales an exaggerated breath. "And out." He exhales slowly, making sure to allow precisely five seconds to pass. "One."

The Vision repeats the process, taking guiding breaths until they get to ten. "You're going to be alright. Keep breathing." They go on like that, counting and breathing, him interjecting every so often to offer encouragement.

After 22 minutes, Wanda closes her eyes, pushing her legs out to lean against the wall, breathing returned to normal. He moves to sit beside her and murmurs, "I don't want to quarrel anymore."

"Me either." She sounds as defeated as he feels.

"I'm sorry for what I said. Emotions are…" Awful, fantastic, harrowing, unprecedented. A thousand adjectives come to mind. He goes with "bewildering for me, sometimes. When you read me, I thought you felt… Well, what I thought is irrelevant. I should have asked what you felt. I shouldn't have assumed your thoughts, or your feelings, from what I experienced.

I'm still learning. What I feel- it can be so visceral and chaotic. I care for you, tremendously. But I-I keep bungling everything up, making things more difficult for you. And the guilt, alone, it's maddening. I didn't know I could cry before today..." Vision dwindles, overstimulated to the point of enervation. He's losing the plot, fighting to keep his wits about him, to not burst into tears again. "Nevertheless, I apologize for my actions, for my deceit. I understand if you wish for me to go."

Wanda sighs, and he prepares himself for the worst. He said he would understand, and it's true. He'll leave this second if that's what she wants. He desperately hopes it isn't.

"I don't want you to leave. And you don't make things harder for me." Instantly, he's lighter. The sense of foreboding he's been carrying for weeks lessened by leaps and bounds.

"I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. You saved me in Novi Grad, broke me out of prison. Yes, I'm mad you lied, but I know that you're sorry. You're the closest friend that I have…" She stalls, taking a breath.

"I didn't realize you were struggling so much with your emotions. I never meant to cause you any problems, or make anything harder for you. I'm sorry I haven't been there for you. I shouldn't have stormed off like that."

"You needn't apologize." Not when he's the one who's led her this merry dance, to begin with.

"Yes, I do. I'm still learning, too, I guess." She turns to face him. "We're working on it?"

"We're working on it."