Mind reading
Wanda knew something was different although she couldn’t tell exactly what. She found herself having some trouble concentrating on anything, it felt like her body’s energy was focused on something else.
At first, she couldn’t concentrate on simple things like the train schedule to Edinburgh she tried to read to be sure of what time Vision would meet her there that night. But now she felt so out of energy that she had to drag herself out of the bed of the room she rented for them in the city.
Given the fact that Wanda barely met Vision since she became a fugitive because she didn’t sign the Sokovia Accords, she just wanted to enjoy every second they could spend together. So she made the effort to leave the room to wait for him at the train station.
When she got there, a train had just arrived but Vision wasn’t among the people that left the rail transport. The cold wind of the night wasn’t being nice to her and Wanda kept her hands inside the pockets of her coat as she squinted her eyes trying to see more clearly the big panel with the train schedules among the crowd. Maybe his train was late.
A new boarding began and people started to disperse. When Wanda could finally get closer to check the panel, she felt a wave of weakness going through her body and everything she could see was a complete blur followed by dark scenes she couldn’t identify what or where that was. She reached out her arms trying to find something around to hold on to.
A hand on her back gave her the support she needed along with another one holding her wrist.
“Wanda.” Vision’s familiar voice seemed to snap her out of that weird trance.
“Vis?” She answered relieved without knowing if the reason was him or the fact that she could see normally again. There he was in his human form.
Vision pulled her to his chest in a protective mode. As she hugged him back, he looked over her head to check on people but no one seemed to notice the red haired girl was about to fall when he held her.
“Wanda.” He repeated. She loved the way her name sounded in his voice. “Are you feeling good? What happened?” He asked worriedly, now holding her head and looking at that face he missed so much.
“Yes.” She was feeling good now. “It felt like someone was in my mind. I was connected to another one somehow, but I couldn’t see anything.” She answered with her accent that he loved so much, trying to understand what happened herself.
“Well. Did you feel or did you hear anything that could give us a hint of who it might be or what the person wanted?” Vision looked around once more but he didn’t find anyone suspicious. Everyone seemed to be distracted with their own lives.
“No. Nothing.” She shook her head. “This time it was different.
“We’ll find out who did that. Everything is alright. I’m here now.” Vision kissed her forehead before kissing her lips gently, taking a little longer at the second one. “Let’s leave.” He held her hand as they walked towards the hotel.
“Have you turned off your transponder?” She asked to make sure they weren’t being tracked or that anyone had followed him. It was his idea to do so the first time they met after she went to prison because of the Accords. Of course he wouldn’t put her in danger of any kind. In order to protect her, every time they met he would turn off his transponder before even stepping out of the Avengers Compound.
At first, when Vision contacted Wanda to meet her, she didn’t believe that he would in fact turn off his transponder. It could be some sort of a trap for Stark to find her and the rest of the team. Vision couldn’t blame her. Not only she learned very early from life not to trust people but he knew that Stark was perfectly capable of something like that.
Vision was grateful to Stark for giving him life but it didn’t mean he trusted the man completely. Not when the matter was Wanda, at least. Stark asked Vision to not let her leave the Facility after the accident in Lagos and momentarily the synthezoid agreed. He said himself he wanted people to see Wanda as he did. That phrase described exactly the difference between Stark and Vision by the time: Stark was more worried about their image while Vision was thinking what was best for her in fact.
Eventually, Vision gained Wanda’s trust. Of course he would never do anything to harm her. Vision was who saved her from dying in Sokovia. Who made her company when she was locked. Cooked for her. Comforted her when she lost her brother. Made her tea in endless nights when she had nightmares. Watched her favorite sitcoms with her. Heard her playing her guitar by herself and never got tired of hearing the same accords over and over again. He was by her side no matter what.
“Of course.” He answered, squeezing her hand in a reassuring way.
“I didn’t see you getting off the train.” She commented, still confused with everything that had just happened.
“Oh. My train was a few minutes early so I went to buy you chocolate.” He pulled a package from the front pocket of his coat with an innocent smile on his face. “Well, I knew you’d probably be having your period, and I know that helps. But I’m assuming that didn’t happen yet based on your responses.”
Of course he had a calendar built-in. He knew all the dates of her menstrual cycle and the first time he mentioned it when they lived together in the Avengers Compound, Wanda realized that anything related to the human body was fascinating to him.
What she didn’t know was that everything especially related to her fascinated him.
“What does that even mean?” She asked, confused. He seemed to think the best way to respond.
“I’ve been improving my knowledge on behavioral science. Humans are very complex. You have a baseline of behavior and when you’re out of that baseline it means something happened. That’s how I can tell when you’re menstruating.”
“Based on fifteen seconds with me?” She inquired, a little annoyed by the sudden matter.
“Yes.” He affirmed proudly. “I would say I know you pretty well by now.” His innocent smile was still present. “I also can tell you’re not comfortable when we talk about it. I just don’t understand why.”
“Thank you. For the chocolate.” She ignored his last observation and looked at him as they walked. He nodded once, his thumb caressing the back of her hand. Vision was always kind and caring with her.
“How many times have you experienced what happened at the train station?” He asked. His smile fading away as he speaked with concern.
“That was the only one.” She affirmed.
Now they were passing by a closed movie theatre and Wanda let go of his hand so she could get closer to check the black and white movie posters. She loved old movies. While she said something about them with her back turned to Vision, he lost himself in his thoughts.
According to his database, the number one cause for late menstruation was stress. For a second Vision recalculated the dates and he wasn’t wrong. She should be on her period now. If that was the first time that Wanda experienced that thing, then what has been stressing her before? He didn’t know. But he hated the idea of her spending too much time by herself. Certainly that wasn’t doing good for her.
“Have you had dinner yet?” His concern changed for a second.
“Yes.” She answered, turning to him. Considering the synthezoid didn’t eat, she would rarely wait for him.
A sudden nausea seemed to hit her when he brought up the food subject but it only lasted for a couple of seconds.
Vision walked a few steps to cut the distance between them. Next, he ran his hands down her arms.
“You’re cold. Let’s go get you warm.”
Wanda didn’t appear to listen to him. She tilted her head just like when Vision found her a couple minutes before, staring nowhere. Her eyes sparkled with a red light.
“Wanda?” He called but she didn’t respond immediately. “Wanda. What do you see?”
She took a couple of seconds to answer, only when the light in her eyes was gone.
“Nothing.” She answered again. “Whoever it is, it doesn’t seem to be on purpose. It’s not blocking me but when I try to read it, I can only read myself.”
“Could it be the mind stone?” Vision inquired. It had started when he got there, right? He hated feeling confused.
“No, I don’t think so.” She answered. “You’d know if it was, right?”
“I hope so”. He answered. “For a question of safety, I think we should take you to the hotel until we’re sure of who or what this is.”
-
Wanda was lying on the bed watching Dick Van Dyke later that night when it happened again.
Only this time she noticed a second mind connecting with her own as well. Whatever minds those were, they felt so innocent to the point of being immature. They also didn’t seem to have any kind of intentions and absolutely no thoughts. Actually that connection felt involuntary. Natural.
It came to her right after, when she was certain that link could only be inside of herself. But… That wasn't possible. Was it?
Vision was sitting on the bed reading a book while Wanda was with her back resting on half of his chest, his free arm around her caressing hers.
“Wanda?” Vision looked down observing her. “You’re not laughing.” He stated, changing looks between her and the hotel room's television. He knew she would usually laugh at the same old jokes.
Vision wondered if she was thinking about Pietro. It had barely been two years since his death and there were times she would get sad remembering him. Although she wouldn’t talk on those occasions, Vision knew that was the reason. It made sense that watching sitcoms would remind Wanda of her twin brother since Vision guessed they used to watch it together.
“Just tired.” Wanda answered as she let go of his arm to be able to lay down properly now, on her side of the bed.
She didn’t lie after all, she really was tired. Wanda even considered being delusional and imagining things as a consequence for being too exhausted. Maybe she would just wake up the next morning with everything back to normal. That’s if there is something normal about my life.
Wanda knew what she was feeling though. And she couldn’t find any other explanation.
The synthezoid turned off the television, resting his book on the nightstand before turning to her. Now both of them were lying facing each other. Vision reached out to hold her hand and they stood there looking at the other’s eyes for a couple of seconds before he broke the silence.
“Have the nightmares returned?” He asked, trying to understand why she felt so tired. When she didn’t respond immediately, he continued: “Wanda. I know you’re normally a closed off person and I respect that. But if there’s something worrying or stressing you, you know that you can talk to me. Talking always helps and I happen to be a good listener.” Vision smiled trying to comfort her.
Wanda touched his human form face with her palm, looking at him with love. Sometimes she wondered if she deserved him.
“I know.” She knew. She gave him a weak and quick smile.
Vision’s eyes went down to her lips and soon he cut the distance between them propping his elbow on the bed to lean his head and kiss her slowly. He was lying on his side, next to her, but his head above hers, their lips pressed together.
Wanda now held his face with both hands, kissing him back with the same tenderness.
“I missed you.” He said, interrupting to observe her. She’s so beautiful.
She answered him by kissing him again softly. Vision’s free arm that wasn’t propping himself on the bed was now on her waist.
“Wanda, I don’t like the idea of you being by yourself this much.” He interrupted again. The truth was that he was considering proposing them staying instead of going back to their respective teams at least for a while. This wasn’t something he would normally do once he was programmed to be a hero, but he was worried about her. And he just couldn’t bear being far from her anymore. Vision hated the situation they were in, meeting only every other month and barely being able to talk when they were far from each other.
“I missed you too.” She confessed so low that he could barely hear her ignoring what he had just said.
Vision’s lips curved softly. Only when he thought he couldn’t love her more, he felt like his wires were going to explode.
He leaned his head to kiss her one more time. When he unintentionally pressed her chest with his, Wanda shivered. She only noticed then how sore her breasts were.
Apparently he concluded her shivering was from the kiss because he didn’t say anything when she broke it. But he noticed her eyes going down looking away as she was losing herself in thoughts again.
“Wanda, what is worrying you?” Vision insisted, getting more concerned about her.
She looked back at him, thinking for a second before answering. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was better to just open up about her new thoughts and if that was craziness he would just tell her, right? And if that was the case in fact, then she could concentrate herself on what was really happening to her. Certainly something was wrong.
Wanda brought his hand from her waist to her stomach, observing Vision’s expression.
“Vis, is this possible?” She asked.
Vision's eyes went down quickly to her stomach where his hand was now and then back at her face.
“Wanda, I’m not sure I follow.” He said and Wanda could tell by his expression he really didn’t understand.
“Let me try this.” She inhaled deeply before touching his forehead with her hand. A red light emerged from her fingers as she tried to bring him to that three minded connection. Soon there were four.
She held her eyes on his expression waiting for a realization look that came really fast.
“Wanda.” He said simply. His mind running fast in thoughts.
She let go of her hand, waiting for him to process all of that.
“So this is coming from inside yourself.” He said in awe. By his tone she wasn’t sure if it was a question or an affirmation.
“Vis. Is this possible?” She questioned again.
“So far I didn’t think it was.” Vision answered honestly. “Well, not physically.” He thought out loud. “But we’re in uncharted waters here, aren’t we? We don’t know enough about this mind stone. I don’t know what it is. Not really. Or what it can do.”
With his words Wanda remembered a conversation they had in the kitchen of the Avengers Compound a couple of years before, when he tried to cook her Paprikash. Vision told her how much he wanted to understand the mind stone.
“I suppose I do, in fact, have a DNA when I’m in my human form…” Vision started again, not concluding whatever he was saying. “Aside from this, do you have any other symptoms?” He inquired. “Your menstruation. How long has it been?” Vision realized. If that hypothesis was true, everything made sense.
“A while.” She admitted, confused.
“It hasn’t happened not even once after we met the last time?”
Wanda shook her head once. Her mind distant. She had been so focused on not getting recognized as a fugitive or worse, getting caught, that she didn’t even realize before she missed her period.
“According to my calculations it’s been eleven weeks since we’ve seen each other the last time. If… you’re pregnant, the peak of the neuron's development happens around the tenth week. That could explain why you began to read them now.”
Wanda tried to follow his thoughts, her heart beating faster as it all seemed to be more real.
“Nausea? Vomiting?” He questioned.
“No. Just infinite tiredness.” She responded with certain annoyance remembering the recent lack of disposition that didn’t leave her.
Vision seemed to ponder all that information for a moment. He looked for her hand again holding it like he was going to tell her bad news, speaking slowly.
“Wanda, we need a doctor. One that can confirm our suspicions. One that is aware of our condition. I know how this is going to sound, but… If I talk to Stark perhaps we could come to a deal-”
“No.” Wanda gritted her teeth. “We’re not having this conversation.”
“Fair enough.” Vision answered, with a soft voice in order of calming her. He respected her decisions. “I don’t agree but I understand.”
Wanda sighed. As much as she had always dreamed about having a perfect family like the American sitcoms she liked so much, this was not how she wanted things to go. They didn’t even have a house. She couldn’t. Not as a fugitive. Vision had a point but she didn’t trust Stark. Not him, not the Accords, not the government. She trusted Steve. And Steve didn’t believe in whatever Stark said.
“Wanda, I know this is far from being the perfect timing. But you’re not alone. This situation is not definitive. I have faith that soon people will see you as I do.”
She nodded, now looking at his eyes. Wanda touched his face with both hands, pulling him down slowly for another kiss. He always knew exactly what to say to her.
“I love you.” He broke the kiss and winked at her. “If this is really happening, we’ll find a way.”
She whispered something back in sokovian. He knew what it meant. I love you too.