The Unknown Emotion ~ A WandaVision Fanfic

Chapter 5

My mental strength had been drained after reading and re-reading the case files over and over again with Natasha. I laid on my bed, exhausted. Someone tapped at the door. I called out for them to come in. The amount of happiness I felt when Wanda entered was ridiculous.

"Good evening Wanda. Finished packing?" I asked, stimulating a conversation. She rolled her eyes, grinning.

"What a silly question" she mocked good-heartedly. "You're talking to the Scarlet Witch. The scene in my room was like straight out of Matilda... Except with a lot more red."

"Matilda?" I voiced my question aloud.

"It's a movie" she explained. "Steve's recommendation; he said the movie reminded him about me. I'll show it to you one day." She suggested, biting into a red apple.

My lips twitched into a pleased smile of its own accord. "I would very much like to watch this film with you, Wanda."

"After I come back, then" she took another bite. "What will you do while we're gone?" She asked curiously, tilting her head.

Wait for you to come back. "I haven't made any plans yet. Perhaps practise Captain Roger's training, read books, and watch films of pop culture."

She grinned. "Looks like you'll be having fun."

I pressed my lips together in a thin line. "I still think I'd prefer going to Lagos with you" I replied. Out of the blue, words slipped out of my lips. "Perhaps you could stay here, Wanda. Keep me company. I'm sure the others wouldn't mind." I knew her answer already, and berated myself for the absurd suggestion.

She laughed, a gentle tinkling of bells. "Don't be silly Vis'" she hit me playfully on the shoulder, a hand slapping a rock. She cringed her hand away with the hard impact, trying not to let me see. I pretended I didn't notice. I chuckled softly as well, to suggest that I had been merely joking. Deception is a handy tool.

We sat in silence while Wanda continued munching on the apple. My mood started to worsen when I thought about tomorrow; I fervently wished that I could be there with the others. I can say, without arrogance, that I am a powerful being. I could make the mission much simpler to accomplish if I were allowed to be a part of it. I also fiercely detested the fact that her life would be in danger while I camped here in 108 acres of luxury. I felt an unreliable anger build up inside me.

Suddenly, she froze and closed her eyes. "There" she sighed, her eyebrows raised in surprise. "There, I feel it in you, again. That fierce protectiveness."

Realising what she was doing, I stayed silent, allowing her to concentrate and gauge my emotions. Perhaps if she could identify the root cause of my illogical feelings, I could work on solving the issue.

Concentrating, she furrowed her eyebrows in the endearing way that I had gotten fond of.

Instead of avoiding the emotion, which I had been doing all day, I let it flow through me. This task became easier when I gazed upon her, and I hoped this would help her understand the chemical reactions in my brain with more clarity.

"You only feel this with me, don't you?" She asked quietly.

I nodded in admission.

She opened her eyes, and cocked her head to one side. "It's what Natasha feels for Clint, except her emotion is mingled with lust. The feeling you have is pure, like a brother but not quite." She talked as if my emotions were a mathematical equation to be solved. I was a synthezoid, after all. I should expect that the power of my emotions spark her interest; in the scientific way, that is. She took a seat beside me. "Why do you feel this affection with me?"

If she had asked this question a few weeks ago, I would not have known what to say. But now, the words slipped through my lips as if they had been held back by a dam.

"Mr. Stark's weaponry killed your family, yet you and Pietro joined him to destroy the greater evil.  You watched your city burn to ash. At your young age, you fought bravely among us at times when experienced veterans would have abandoned the cause, and kept fighting even when your brother passed; whose clothes you then offered to me. The world has caused you grief, time and time again, yet you never hesitate to save it. You do whatever you can to be good."

She stayed silent for a few moments. I did not push her for a reaction, and stared at the ground patiently, even though what I had described of her was only the tip of the iceberg.

"Stark's creations relentlessly killed my family, yet one of them want no harm to come to me." She pondered at the bitter irony.

"I apologise for the... queer circumstance" I added hesitantly. "So what I feel for you is a need to protect you? I didn't know protection was an emotion."

"It isn't" she replied awkwardly. "It's part of another emotion."

"Will you tell me what it is?" I asked calmly, but internally I was burning for the answer.

She gave me an incredulous look, as if the answer was blatantly obvious. When she realised I didn't have a clue, she sighed. "No, Vis'" she shook her head. "I can't tell you what you feel. You must learn it yourself. Besides, you aren't actually human, so maybe I'm not reading you correctly. Your emotions may not hold the same meaning as ours do."

I tried not to feel hurt by her response. "I... I see."

"Vision" she said softly. "I didn't mean to offend you. I like to see that you're learning human emotions. Maybe you think I'm studying you as if you were a robot, but I consider you my friend."

"Friend" I repeated without thought.

"I should go to sleep, I'm leaving tomorrow-" she tried to remind me, but before she could finish I wrapped my long red limbs around her shoulders in a hug, like I'd seen people do on the television. My tall stature meant I had to curve over awkwardly to her height. She seemed to freeze for a terrifying moment, in which I believed I had accidentally crushed her in my diamond hard grip, but she reciprocated by hesitantly wrapping her limbs around my abdomen.

"I believe hugs are an allowed custom between friends" I defended my action.

She felt warm against me. I suddenly longed for real human skin, to know what it truly felt like to have her in this close proximity.

"Be safe." I wanted to request, but it came out as a demand. She nodded against my shoulder.