Night Visions

Chapter 3

She was dreaming the dream again. Her home crumbled around her, threatening to bury her once more, but it was more than the walls, more than the modest house that they'd once known. There were familiar streets, familiar buildings toppling all around her, threatening to drag her down even as the city raced toward the sky. They were flying, but she could not feel it. For the machines swarmed everywhere she looked, twisted and horrible, overwhelming the Avengers one by one, pulling them down and down and down.

Cold hands clutched at her ankles, tore at her clothes. When they swarmed over Pietro, she opened her mouth to scream, but even the air had been stolen from her. Too thin. Too high. It would all be over soon.

She found herself standing at the edge of a broken street, the abyss stretching out below her. She knew what she must do. Just a step, such a simple thing. Down and down and down.

But he was there then, pulling her into his arms, lifting her above the grasping hands, above the death, above the dream. His words were soothing, though she did not hear them. Her eyes were fixed behind them, widening with horror at the twisted metal man pursuing them, a straggler that he had not seen. Why couldn't he see? As it closed in, she crossed her arms before her, lashing out blindly, the world twisting away from her as the creature hissed in pain--

Wanda threw herself forward, gasping for air. A moment's panic, but then her surroundings snapped back into focus. She was with the Avengers. She was an Avenger. The thought was still as unfamiliar as the bedroom. But there were some things that didn't feel so strange.

Raising her eyes, she found him cradling his arm. With a curse, she slipped from the bed and knelt beside his chair. The pain she'd dreamed had been real.

"I am fine." Vision shook his head, pulling his arm away.

"I hurt you. I heard it."

"'Surprised' would be a better term."

She pushed his hand away and studied the burn. Already he was knitting the molecules of his suit back together, but she shouldn't have been able to... "I did not think I could hurt you. Bullets pass through you. I have seen it."

"You did not hurt me. But the act of destabilizing my molecules requires a certain degree of concentration." He stared down at her, with a smile that most would find imperceptible. "You might say I had my guard down."

"Is that so?" The were sitting close, she realized, close enough that she could feel the heat as the wound closed itself. She held out a hand, her fingers trailing just above his arm. "May I?"

"Of course."

She locked her eyes to his, willing the flesh to close, fixing her mind on how it had been. He didn't look away but she saw him flinch, his head tilting curiously.

"What?"

"It is a... new sensation." Glancing down, his eyes went wide. "Fascinating. You are not simply manipulating matter, but creating a subtle temporal rift."

"You can see that?"

"As few others can. It is... beautiful."

She pushed herself upward, until they were eye-to-eye.

He hesitated only a moment. "What are you doing?"

"Exploring new sensations." She pressed her lips to his, her hand slipping up to cup his cheek. For a time the dream was forgotten and she could almost believe that he was there with her, but then she felt him stiffen, his hand closing around her wrist.

She shrank back. "I am sorry. I have made you uncomfortable."

"On the contrary..." He stood, pulling her with him. "I quite enjoyed it. A new sensation, as you said." Leaning close, he tilted his head. "One that undoubtedly merits further study."

His lips were on hers then, with a fervor that startled her. His arms slid down to her waist, crushing her against him. When at last he pulled away it was only to dip her backward, cradling her in his arms as he had not so long ago.

Her laugh was breathless. "I did not know you could do that."

He smirked down at her. "Well, I was programmed by Tony Stark."