Acquittance Intervention
The silence that followed Tony's words was chilling.
Wanda and Vision looked suitably shocked and the woman seemed as if she couldn't settle on saying something or even who to address.
Vision had conflicting feelings; logistically, it made sense to remove Captain Rogers from the active roster –even if only temporarily– to assuage the public while the Avengers worked on finalizing the business with the UN. On the other hand, Vision realized that there had to be some information that was missing, because Sir's reaction felt almost… Too emotional.
He did a short survey of the rest of the people in the room and quickly decided that if no one was going to speak first, he was going to take the reins for once.
"FRIDAY, I imagine that you are fully updated on the situation at hand. Would you please summarize everything for Wanda and I?" Vision requested. "As detailed but briefly as possible."
"Of course, Vision."
The lights of the room were dimmed and a holographic screen popped up in front of everyone.
"Crap, I never get tired of this," Vision heard the lone teenager mumble.
FRIDAY was, as Vision asked, brief but she concisely and factually explained everything.
The next thirty minutes passed in a blur of information dumping and quick analysis. Vision forced himself to fall back to some of the basest parts of his being –the calculating, fact oriented codes of AI that made up two fifths that made him whole.
The synthezoid then summarized a few points speedily.
The Winter Soldier was Jame Buchanan Barnes, Captain Steve Grants Rogers' old friend.
HYDRA had used the Winter Soldier to land a hit on the Starks, killing Maria and Howard Stark.
Captain Steve Grants Rogers and Agent Natasha Romanoff had known or at least suspected the truth and had not informed Sir about it.
Vision wasn't sure where the desire to sigh or to roll his eyes came from but he refrained from doing it.
Once more, the silence around the table was oppressive and Vision realized once more that perhaps it would be more opportune that he took the reins of the meeting.
"I would like to propose a short break," he said, standing up before anyone could protest. Vision needed a little time to process –not so much the events as he wanted to process a response. He was starting to understand that humans didn't always act logically, so he needed to organize his thoughts and see how emotions would play into his conclusions… Something that he couldn't do alone, given his lack of experience in the subject. "Mrs Parker, would you mind accompanying me? I think I would appreciate your feedback."
Taken by surprise, the woman glanced at her nephew, who could only shrug.
"Vision?" Wanda said and the synthezoid gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile.
"I believe thirty minutes will be plenty."
With the smile still on his face, Vision motioned for the woman to follow him. There was a lounge only a short walk away with one of Tony's coffee machines.
"I apologize for the abruptness of my request, Mrs Parker. I imagine that you would prefer to supervise your nephew," Vision said as he began to program the machine to prepare everyone's usual choice.
"It's fine, Mr… Um… Mr Vision? I'm just a little confused as to why you asked me to come with you of all people."
"Please, just call me Vision. And as for my reasoning… Thanks to this," Vision pointed to his forehead, where the Mind Stone rested. "I am able to connect to the realm of the mind. While I willfully refrain from doing so, I can see, read, interact and manipulate anything that is linked to the conscious or unconscious thought of any living individual. Nevertheless, I still struggle with the actual interpretation of such feedback. I find that voicing and exchanging thoughts with others help me make sense of what I perceive."
"You need to talk to someone about what you just learned to help you reach an opinion, right?" Mrs Parker asked.
"Correct," Vision answered. He finished inputting the commands, taking the liberty to choose for the Parkers without asking.
"I understand, but why me?" she insisted.
Satisfied that everything looked fine with the drinks, he turned his attention fully towards the woman.
"Pragmatism. Out of all the people here, you are only tangentially involved and therefore the most impartial. While I can trust Ms Romanoff and Colonel Rhodes to put their feelings aside, I have found that humans tend to be unable to fully let go of them. They would have already formed their opinion, even if Ms Romanoff is more likely to play devil's advocate. I'm not entirely blind to Wanda's discomfort towards Sir and vice versa, nor the biases from everyone else, including your nephew, who holds Sir in high esteem and is perspicuously upset with Captain Rogers. Added to that, you are likely the most emotionally competent person available right now."
The woman could only stare at Vision with slight confusion before sighing. "You know, it is kind of worrying to think that a regular nurse is better at adulting than actual superheroes, spies, billionaires, military personnel and national icons."
"It is what it is."
Mrs Parker snorted but nodded in agreement. "Alright, I'm ready. And please, call me May."
—
With Mr Stark being pulled to talk by Colonel Rhodes, Peter was left with no company. Peter tried not to feel intimidated, but it was hard to let go of the feeling when he was surrounded by his childhood heroes.
Plus, his Spider sense was a constant, distracting buzz in the back of his mind. There was no open danger, at least not that Peter was able to see, so maybe it had to do with being surrounded by people that were dangerous by nature.
"Hello."
Blinking slowly, Peter looked at Wanda Maximoff as she sat beside him. Paying attention, the boy noted that most of his extra senses seemed focused on her, but they weren't necessarily a red alert.
It reminded him of a weird guy that sometimes went to his favorite Mexican joint; his senses told him that he was dangerous, but Peter had seen him being kind to the workers, getting rid of some very obnoxious customers that tried to harass said workers and even treating everyone at the place a couple times. His sense of humor left something to be desired, but he seemed to be a good person.
He was feeling similar feedback from her as well. Besides, May didn't raise him with bad manners.
"Hi, I'm Peter," he said, offering a hand.
"Wanda," she said, smiling as they shook hands. "I've watched your videos for some time. Spider-Man is really cool."
"Thank you! I think your powers are amazing. Magic has to be so versatile, right?"
The woman's smile turned awkward. "I mean… It is, but I sometimes have a hard time controlling them. It is…"
"Like trying to empty an ocean with a cup and fill a cup with a hose?"
"Yes, exactly," Wanda said, looking taken aback. "It can feel like I'm using too little but knowing I could do more, or doing so much that I'm straining as if I had no more power. I never thought of describing it like that but you are right."
"Is… Is that what happened in Lagos?" Peter asked hesitantly.
Wanda looked away for a moment, pursing her lips. "A little, yes. I have done a lot of things with my powers but I have never contained an explosion like that. It was very weird."
"I get a bit of what you mean," Peter said. "I… Um… A couple of months ago there was this robber that tried to punch me and… He kinda broke his hand?"
"He broke his hand?"
"After he punched me in the head, yes," Peter confirmed.
Wanda stared at Peter and the boy looked back, big brown eyes expecting a response. The magic user seemed a little lost for words, but she finally let out a small laugh.
"Well, perhaps we can help each other figure out our powers together, right?" Wanda offered.
Peter just smiled and held out his hand, nodding happily when she took it.
—
In another room, Tony felt a chill run down his back and he couldn't help clenching his butt in preparation.
It would be too late before he figured out the reason.
—
Steve turned around when he felt a small finger poking his shoulder. Blinking, he looked up from his seat at the woman Tony had brought in, May Parker, who was smiling politely at him.
"I'm sorry to bother you, Mr America. May I have a moment of your time?"
Steve felt a bit contraire and he frowned a little. "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I think we should be continuing with the meeting soon."
"I asked Vision to tell Mr Stark to delay it a little more. I have learned some things lately and some of them are a little hard to understand."
Steve became a little more confused, but his mom had taught him some manners. "What do you think I can help you with?"
Mrs Parker held his gaze. She wasn't the epitome of calm –on the contrary, she looked a bit nervous, but she definitely wasn't scared of him.
"Decades of propaganda have painted Captain America as the example of the perfect man, the perfect soldier, what everyone should aspire to be… But I don't think that is really who the man behind the persona is, right?" Mrs Parker asked.
Steve couldn't help but nod. "Yes. At the end of the day, I'm only just a man."
The woman's smile turned a little bit more genuine. "You and I have a little in common, you know? I am a nurse," while the comparison had puzzled Steve for a moment, the admission stopped him in his tracks. "On a greater or smaller scale, people put their lives and safety in our hands. I help mend their bones or administer medicine. You protect people in other ways that I likely never could. You even protected me years ago, during the alien attack! What I want to ask now is what it is that moved Steve Rogers to be Captain America that day to save me. I'm asking as a powerless civilian, but I'm also asking as the nurse who will do overtime and volunteer work to help clean up after accidents and tragedies like New York or Washington or what could have happened in Vienna if Peter hadn't been there to stop it."
Steve was astonished by Mrs Parker's earnesty, and he couldn't help but remember his mother in some ways. Inclining his head a little, Steve smiled a little and nodded. "Of course, Mrs Parker. Let's have a conversation."