On The Run

How had he let this happen

Chapter 1: How had he let this Happen?

How had he let this happen?

That was all Vision could think about, as he stood in the center of the Raft's main processing center and watched Clint, Scott, Sam, and Wanda be formally arrested as criminals. How had he let things get this far? Why hadn't he done more? And then there was Colonel Rhodes, who lay practically on death's door-and it was his fault. Taking the shot had been his job, and he'd made a mistake. He'd made a mistake and now his entire world was crumbling down around him.

"Keep your hands where I can see them," one of the guards yelled at Wanda, levelling a loaded rifle straight at her head. Vision was seized with the powerful, almost uncontrolled urge to smash his head into a wall and burn the ashes, pick her up, and carry her as far away from here and the rest of the Avengers as he possibly could. They could be together, they could do everything they could to live normal lives...but the fact remained that that was impossible. They'd both chosen sides and he had to stay on that side. He had to stand firm; if she chose to disagree with his side then so be it. They were enemies.

And yet he still found himself nearly phasing through the glass wall in front of him as she was forced into a straitjacket, an electric shock collar placed around her neck to keep her from acting out-like she would even consider doing something like that with her friends in such close proximity-as though she were a violent animal they had to restrain. If only they could see her the way he did, see how vulnerable she was underneath all of her strength, see her kindness. and the way she blamed herself constantly. No matter how they felt about her, it didn't in the slightest compare to how she felt about herself. She thought she was a monster; it was all they saw her as. Was he the only one who knew the truth, that she was anything but a killer?

Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder to hold him back.

"Not the time," she replied quietly. Her voice was shaking with silent rage as well; he followed her line of sight to where Clint was being forced into a cell. "Not here."

"What they're doing-"

"I know, but making a scene here isn't going to do anything to help your case. It'll just get you thrown in the cell next to her."

"Natasha-"

"I know. Believe me, I know," She watched through the glass with an impassive expression as the others were pushed into cells-even Scott Lang, who wasn't even an Avenger to begin with.

"Why is Mr. Stark not trying to get them out?"

She sighed, "I don't think he cares at the moment-not with Rhodey coming out of surgery in a little while and Cap and Bucky still at large. The prisoners are an afterthought."

"This isn't right."

She shrugged, "They chose to break the law. When you break the law, there are consequences. I can't pretend I like this any more than you do-"

"But this is too harsh. A prison like this is meant to be for top security prisoners, accused of the harshest counts of murder-"

"Isn't that exactly what they're accused of," She turned to look at him almost curiously. "Why'd you miss that shot?"

He closed his eyes, trying to clear his head. He hadn't meant to, of course not; all he'd wanted to do were short out Falcon's engines, slow him down so Stark could apprehend him. But Wanda had been injured and that had been the most important thing in the world; he'd absolutely had to make sure she was all right. "I'm sorry," he'd said, hoping she knew that he meant more than just Rhodey's attack; that he had tried to control her and had taken his role of protector too far; had let his feeling for her blind him to what she wanted up to the point when she'd had no choice but to attack him.

"I'm sorry too," she'd replied; he hoped that meant they weren't enemies anymore. Maybe they could be friends again.

Of course, that was going to be more complicated now that she was stuck in a high security prison in the middle of the ocean.

"I...got distracted," he said quietly.

"By Maximoff," She nodded to the girl who was now being forced into a cell of her own-but it was the blankness in her eyes that made him quiver with rage; the expression that said she clearly thought she deserved this, that this was all her fault. That maybe she should have been imprisoned all along and the guards were just doing her a favor.

It was no good lying to Natasha; she knew when you weren't telling the truth even before you realized it yourself, "Yes. She was injured and I went to help her. I was not as alert as I should have been and for that I apologize."

She turned back to the window, something new glimmering in her eye-though for the life of him Vision couldn't tell what it meant. "You love her, don't you?"

The strange word gave him pause. Love? What did love mean? How could he, an android, be in love-especially with a human being? "I...I care for her deeply. But as for love...I don't know. I don't believe I have the capacity for that emotion."

"Why not? You can feel remorse, regret, and happiness-why wouldn't you be able to feel love too?"

"I don't know," Perhaps it was simply that he wished not to feel love; everything he'd heard about it made it seem like a waste of time and more trouble than it was worth. But at the same time, he couldn't dismiss the fact that whenever he saw Wanda his heart seemed to beat differently than it did with anyone else. She made him act different too-more nervous to say the wrong thing, more inclined to do what would make her happy.

"It sucks, doesn't it? That she's a prisoner of the government, I mean?"

He watched as her cell door shut behind her with a bang of finality, locking her into a prison where he could never hope to get her out. "Yes, Natasha. It really is quite terrible."