Night Visions

Chapter 4

He found her beyond the walls, walking the fields that surrounded the facility. Wanda sensed his approach, shading her eyes to watch him descend from the sky and alight smoothly on the ground beside her.

"Captain Rogers has asked that we do not leave the compound."

"Nice to see you, too." Pushing up on her toes, she lay a kiss on the Vision's cheek. "But I have spent too much time in a cage. I am sure the Captain will understand."

The space around them was vast, the temperature warm but pleasant, the only sound the breeze that stirred the grass at their feet. He could understand the appeal, especially when she knotted her fingers through his.

Wanda smiled up at him. "Besides, not all of us can fly."

"Actually, all of us can. Mr. Wilson. Colonel Rhodes. But not you."

"You are teasing me."

"Perhaps." He tilted his head and looked down at her. "Though I have given the matter some thought. If you were to turn your manipulation of matter to the air around you, channel your energies into a form of propulsion..."

"I could fly." She sounded skeptical.

"I believe so, yes."

"And if I fall?"

"You won't." Turning to face her, he took her hands in his. "Try."

Still her expression was doubtful, but she exhaled and let her eyes fall closed. It came slowly at first, in fits and starts, the energies encircling her luminous and beautiful to his eyes. Her hands tightened on his for balance, her boots floating barely a foot off the ground.

Rising with her, he leaned close, whispering in her ear. "Open your eyes."

She did, one and then the other, staring down in disbelief. As quickly as that the spell was broken and she dropped back to the earth, stumbling against him.

He caught her easily. "A promising first attempt."

"I won't be able to keep up."

"On the contrary..."

He locked his arms around her and burst upward, smiling at her startled gasp. But she was not afraid. She slid her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest as she watched the ground below them blur. Her hair billowed around her, tickling his chin, filling him with a lightness that had nothing to do with questions of molecular manipulation.

It was with regret that he descended, landing beside the compound's gate. The road stretched away into the woods that shrouded them from the world and it was there that he sensed it, a strange vehicle parked beneath the shadow of the trees. As he watched, a young woman came rushing out of the woods toward it, red faced and breathless.

Pushing Wanda gently behind him, he glided forward. "Miss? Are you in need of assistance?"

"Actually, I am." She stared, waiting until he drew near to raise her camera between them. The flash was momentarily disorienting. She studied the image before looking up at him again. "What are you, some kind of robot?"

"I am a synthetic—"

"One of Stark's? His robots nearly leveled an entire country, you know." Her eyes narrowed. "He admitted it, assured the world that they had all been destroyed. Yet here you are."

"He isn't like them." Wanda came striding up behind him. He could feel her anger. "Do you know what he did? Without him we could not have—"

The stranger snapped another photograph. "You're Wanda Maximoff. Any comment on your ties to Hydra?"

Energy crackled between Wanda's fingers and he wrapped a gentle hand around her wrist. When she spoke, her voice was dangerously cold. "You are a reporter?"

"I have a blog." The woman shrugged. "What about your brother? You were both on Hydra's payroll, weren't you? Funny that you're here now and he isn't."

He lunged before Wanda could move, lifting the woman bodily by the collar of her shirt. Taking the camera from her hands, Vision crushed it in his palm. "Leave this place. Now."

Still she was undeterred. Her eyes studied his face, roaming to where Wanda waited behind him. "Oh my god, are you two together?" Her shoulders shook with laughter. "Do you actually think that...? Nevermind. No one's going to believe it. But that is hilarious."

He dropped her and stepped away, pulling Wanda close. That only made the woman laugh harder.

"The fugitive and the killer robot." Opening the car door, she slipped inside and arched a brow at Wanda. "I mean, really? Oh, honey. But I'd love an interview sometime. Who knows? Maybe you're onto something. Real men are overrated."

"Go." Wanda's eyes flared and at last the woman took the hint. She stared after her until she was gone, until the car was lost to sight. But when at last she looked up at him, he could not meet her eyes. "Vizh?"

He made no reply.

"Don't listen to her. She doesn't know what she is talking about." Wanda lay a hand on his arm, hesitating when she felt only stiffness, only cold. For that was all that he could give her. "Vizh, look at me."

"I am sorry." He left her with only a whisper, rising above the trees where she could not follow.