Visions
Bruce met me at the launchpad, dejection pouring off him in waves. I could tell he wasn’t ready to talk about Johannesburg so I didn’t push. He had been working on a new corset for me, to replace the damaged one. Properly bullet proof and designed to absorb the impact of concussive repulsor blasts better than the original. Banner seemed to forget himself as he ran over my fight with the legionnaire.
“In theory your power is actually electrical: sending pulses into nerves, firing off neurons. The nervous system is really a highly technical electrical system.” His words registered but I didn’t see what he was getting at. “You should be able to conduct electricity through touch, and if you had enough power available, you could actually short-circuit a robot’s system!” Bruce was elated and I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I’d tried to sense through metal and it hadn’t worked.
I returned to the partially restored apartments, leaving him to work in his lab. He was clearly grasping for something to do; I certainly wasn’t going to deny him that. Being alone in the old suite felt strange, like a wrong note in a well-known tune. I’d left Casper with Barnes, not knowing what I would be going back to, now the old rooms seemed hollow. I spent my day in the blue room, listening to the old records Steve had bought.
-
Several hours passed before we got the news. Clint was flying in with the cradle. Ultron had taken Nat, and Tony had found Jarvis protecting the nuclear launch codes. Steve was on his way back with the Maximoff’s who had fought with him, against Ultron, in Seoul. An enemy of our enemy. Ultron had built himself a body. Bruce and Tony were supposed to be disassembling it downstairs.
I had this strange feeling something was going on, as I paced the entrance. That feeling was heightened when Steve returned. He ran at top speed down to the lab, the newcomers -chasing? no- following him. Worry and fear radiated from them and I tried to keep pace. Tony and Bruce had decided to try to salvage the body in the cradle, to create their ideal protector. Steve objected, there was so much that could go wrong, it had gone wrong once already.
The moment I stopped I was overwhelmed by a torrent of sensations stronger then my own. The new girl was terrified of the thing in the cradle, her senses pounding in my veins. Resisting, I put up walls against the onslaught, trying to read the room for the source of danger. Bruce’s anger throbbed behind my temple. Tony, adamant, trying to save the world from some vision he’d had. The argument was brief, the guy, Pietro was fast, unplugging the machine. Clint fired up through the floor, taking him down to his level before pinning him to the floor.
“Stop.” I shouted the words. Stepping between friends and allies. “Stop all of you.” I felt a surge flow through me and every one slowed, moving as if through water.
‘Power loss critical’ flashed across the screens.
“If I don’t reroute the power now it’ll die.” Tony pleaded.
“Good.” Cap quipped.
“We need more time.”
“We don’t have time, it’s now or never.” Bruce responded.
The next moment Thor appeared in the entrance and, before anyone could move, he leapt on the cradle, charging it with a lightning strike. A moments pause and the cradle exploded outward. The body of the red android examined its hands, it flew at Thor and he directed it over his shoulder where it hovered facing the city through a wall of glass.
Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, some only a moment away from attacking the new man. I held up a hand, asking them to wait as I moved forward, Thor at my shoulder. My sense tingled as I read the figure. Power, strength, courage… compassion. Huh. I read no ill intent and allowed Thor to step forward.
The figure turned, skin becoming a suit, a cape materializing over his shoulders.
“Thank you.”
Steve asked Thor why he helped make this 'thing'. Thor had gone to the "water of sight". He explained the vision he’d had, the mind-stone, one of six infinity stones. Capable of great destruction, with that power on our side, we could defeat Ultron. Steve questioned whether it really was on our side. Wanda confronted the android about what she had seen in his head before.
“Her approval means nothing to me.” Clint scoffed.
“What about mine?” I asked.
“What?” The voices of Steve, Clint and Bruce united in surprise.
“Would you trust him, if I told you that you could?” murmurs were my only response. The figure extended a hand, looking into my face.
“Am I safe?” it asked.
I put my hand in His palm, the connection: easy, instant and intense, similar to how I’d read Wanda earlier. The nerves were smooth, electrical pulses racing through each coiled… was muscle the right word? Yes, this person was flesh and thought, both man and machine. And yet… deeply human. I could nearly hear the working of the mind; the stone humming in my forehead. There was understanding in the eyes. Compassion.
I suggested an idea through the contact. May I? He nodded in answer to my silent request. I triggered the nerves in the arm and it dropped, limp and useless, touching the arm again I reinvigorated it. The Vision pressed his finger-tips together, testing his renewed control.
“No, you are not safe. But then, we are not safe to our enemies either.”
“I see the value in life, I do not want to kill. Not even Ultron. But he will destroy… Everything. I may not be able to make you trust me. Still… We need to go. Now.” He handed Mjolnir to Thor.
Everyone’s eyes seemed to look at Thor, who smiled, then at me. I nodded my agreement.
The group scattered to prepare for the fight. I took Wanda and Pietro to the equipment room. Pointing out clothes, jackets, shoes. Anything they might need. In my own locker I found the new corset on a stand. Midnight blue and iridescent. Stripping down to a sports bra I gently removed the gauze from my ribcage. the bruise still had a dark purple epicenter but the edges had faded to yellow.
“What exactly is it, you do?” Came Pietro’s voice, his sister looking shocked at the sight.
I shrugged, sticking a square of fresh gauze over the spot before layering on a cotton slip, the corset which fit beautifully, flexing easily with my movements, next my favorite top, emblazoned with Cap’s shield. Strapping on my various scabbards and holsters, I finished the ensemble with a black leather jacket from another locker. Looking up to see the siblings still watching me.
“I’m a healer. Well, sort of.” I herded their disbelieving faces towards the launch pad, grabbing things along the way to throw in my backpack.
I sent a quick text to Sam before the jet took off.
Text: Going to Sokovia. Could use a wingman.
-
Steve hashed out a gameplan as we flew:
-Bruce was to get Nat out and safe,
-Tony was going to distract Ultron,
-Wanda and I would use our gifts to evacuate the city
-Pietro would alert the police force and move people out of harms way
-Vision was going to burn Ultron out of the internet
Everyone else had two jobs
First- protect the people of Sokovia. Second- destroy every last piece of Ultron.
-
If only it had been that simple.