somewhere only we know
Vision stood with his hands on his hips surveying the empty lot before him. The place had fallen apart a little since he’d first purchased it, but this was to be expected given all that had happened since the Snap five years earlier. His eyes drifted over the loose foundation below his feet, the copse of trees in the corner of the spacious garden and the houses bordering the lot on each side.
“Vision,” Steve called from where he was waiting on the pavement, “are you almost ready to go?”
“Yes, Captain,” Vision replied hesitating before he turned away, “I just had to check something.”
“Well, it’s a bit late for checking, you’ve technically owned the property for 5 years.”
Vision smiled as they set off towards the edge of the suburban town of Westview where a jet was waiting for them both. “I had to be sure that it was the right place, that nothing had changed too drastically since the Snap.”
“Fair enough, but we better hurry on if we don’t wanna be late to Tony’s.”
Vision didn’t speak aloud the final reason he’d needed to see the block of land he held the deed to. The most important thing that he had to check was whether he could still envision a life for himself there. If he could still see the dream that he’d intended to set out to achieve with Wanda five years earlier. And now finally all he needed to check was whether his dream was hers too.
The living room at the lake house was beginning to run out of chairs. Mr Stark’s guests had been arriving since early afternoon and Steve had flown the jet quick enough to get them there on time. Now sitting amongst the mismatched chairs brought down from different rooms of the house they had all gathered at last.
A week had passed since the Blip that had brought back half the Earth’s population back from the dead. In that time Vision had gone through all sorts of procedures with the aid of Helen Cho and Shuri as they managed to piece back his pre-snap consciousness and install it back in his dormant body that had been left on the battlefield in Wakanda. Stark had provided a miniature arc reactor that generated enough energy that Vision felt relatively back to his old self. It had been strange at first, adjusting to the new energy in his forehead, but there was an element of steadiness to the reactor that he’d not had back when the mind stone had been his core source of life. For now, he was back to normal and the only thing missing was Wanda.
Vision had made it back from Wakanda mere hours ago, he’d convinced Steve, Helen, Shuri and Natasha to stop briefly in Westview before continuing onto the Stark lakehouse where there was to be a celebration they all so dearly needed. Wanda hadn’t been able to leave the US thanks to her newly acquired visa that had been granted for her service to the state, and she’d gone to D.C. to sort out all the paperwork. He hadn’t seen her since those last moments when he’d asked her to do the unthinkable. Though in real time they had only been parted for a little over a week, it might as well have been a lifetime for Vision.
Accompanying the anticipation was a sense of anxiety that frustrated him, the gnawing fear that perhaps he wasn’t entirely himself anymore, or, that he wouldn’t be enough for her.
Outside the worries of his mind, the room was filling out as more guests arrived. Tony was, of course, the centre of attention with his young daughter hanging on his every, shaky word from the wheelchair he was propped up in. He was still battered and burnt but slowly on the mend thanks to the technology provided by Helen Cho that had helped save him in the hours after using the gauntlet to snap Thanos and his army out of existence. In the armchair beside him was Pepper, young Morgan sitting snug beside her mother. On the couch were Sam, Bucky, Nat and Steve, with Strange leaning against the wall behind them. Bruce, with his on the mend arm, had a chair to himself and was deep in conversation with Happy Hogan. Further around the room, nestled together on different pieces of furniture was the rest of their combined teams, some from this planet and others from afar, remarkably all in one piece despite the last 5 years. For some it had been only a week since their last battle, for others it had been half a decade. Vision found himself in the odd position of falling somewhere in the in-between. He had some simple memories of his mind being saved within Shuri’s technology, an understanding that 5 years had passed before he was restored to his corporeal form once more. The closest comparison he could make was that it was like he had taken a very, very long nap.
“The food’s ready so we should all head out now,” Pepper said waving her hand for the others to get their attention and slowly the group began to move outside. Vision lagged behind, following Tony as he was wheeled out.
“Allow me,” Vision said as he lifted the chair down the porch stairs, his body just as strong as it always had been.
“Thank you,” Tony said with a pained smile, clearly unhappy with being so immobile for the time being.
An extremely long table had been assembled in the garden and, blessed as they were with the perfect weather, was topped with all sorts of dishes. Vision was just settling down to sit between Thor and Strange when everyone’s attention was drawn to the Honda civic pulling into the already crowded driveway.
“Ah, that’ll be—” Clint began looking up as Vision stood from his seat.
“Wanda,” Vision whispered starting in the car’s direction, his face breaking into a grin. Any anxiety he’d had over their second first meeting was thrown to the wind as he was overcome with the excitement at having her before him once more.
She stepped out of the car hesitantly, shutting the door with a thud behind her. She took a moment to adjust what she was wearing, a simple red blouse and jeans, before looking up. It was impossible to explain how it felt when her eyes locked on his, but Vision found himself winded, unable to move, caught between running for her and holding back.
It was Wanda who made the first step, stalking around the back of the car and making for him with a look on her face that was so fierce that Vision nearly took an involuntary step back. When Wanda was merely feet away, she came to a stubborn stop, her head tilting as she took him in, eyes narrowing at the arc reactor atop his head.
Hesitantly, unsure what else to do, Vision opened his arms.
It was all the encouragement that she needed.
Wanda launched forward into his embrace and Vision laughed joyfully, using the momentum to lift her up effortlessly and spin them around. Wanda laughed breathlessly as he did so and hugged him so hard that his throat grew tight with emotion.
“You’re here, you’re really here,” she was whispering as they held each other.
“I’m right here,” he said back, pulling away enough so that he could see her face clearly. “I’m sorry that I ever had to leave you.”
Wanda’s bottom lip trembled as she raised her hand and pressed it warmly against his cheek. “Never again.” She said it like a promise, but her eyes conveyed so much more, and the desperation behind them made Vision feel like he was dying all over again.
“Never again,” he promised and leant forward to kiss her tenderly, her hands sliding over his shoulders in an embrace that was long overdue.
The held each other wordlessly for a few moments longer before turning back to the table together, Vision keeping a comforting arm around Wanda’s shoulders as she kept her arms tight around his waist. The rest of the guests had let them have their reunion in private and were already focused on serving out the food. Upon seeing the pair approach Steve rose from the table to hug Wanda tightly. Wanda parted from Vision long enough to say hello to her old teammates, returning Steve’s hug with a laugh of joy before making her way over to Natasha, Clint and the others.
Vision returned to his seat next to a space that Strange had kindly vacated, moving one chair down to make room for Wanda. Beside him Thor’s eyes were shining with unshed tears as he looked around at his companions with infinite fondness. Vision reached out and squeezed his shoulder in comfort and Thor took a deep breath, wiping at his eyes before reaching for the boiled potatoes in front of him.
Though Vision had never had any reason to learn his own food preferences, not needing to eat and all, he did know Wanda’s and set about heaping her plate with all her favourites. All along the table the team was tucking into the extensive Sunday lunch-like meal.
When Wanda made her way back to him the plate was sitting before her empty chair and she smiled softly, leaning down to kiss his cheek as she sat down. She remained as close to him as possible throughout the entire meal as the team traded stories of the lives they’d had in the past five years, updating those around them. In the end Wanda gave up the use of her left hand in eating so that she could keep a tight hold of Vision’s throughout the lunch. Vision didn’t speak much and though he was conscious of the conversations happening and jumped in every now and then with a few witty comments, his attention was all for her.
Tony was just getting to the part in his story where he had bought the lot of land they were now eating on after Pepper had told him she was pregnant when Vision motioned for Wanda to follow him away from the table. There was enough laughter and tears going around that he felt sure they wouldn’t be missed for a few minutes.
“What’s wrong?” Wanda asked as he pulled her up the stairs on the porch and just around the corner.
“Nothing is wrong,” Vision said squeezing her hands tightly. “Everything is perfect.”
She scrunched her nose up in suspicion, “why are you looking at me like that then?”
“Like what?” Vision asked pulling her closer for a quick kiss, “I am simply looking at the woman I love.” She kissed him harder this time.
“Is this why you brought me around here?” She asked teasingly as he planted kisses on her cheeks, lingering at her mouth.
“Not quite,” he whispered and from the pocket of his trousers he brought forth a piece of paper, his hand not quite shaking but still unsteady.
“What’s this,” Wanda murmured reaching for the offered document.
“It’s uh—” Vision muttered, rubbing a hand at the back of his neck. He hadn’t meant to fumble again. “It’s, well you’ll see...”
Wanda shook her head at him with a soft smile and unfolded the paper, her brow creasing as she examined the property deed before her. “Vis…”
“I hesitated last time,” Vision said bending slightly so he could catch Wanda’s gaze, “I refuse to make the same mistake again.”
“Vis, this is a deed, like a deed for a house.”
“Well a deed for a piece of land but the details hardly matter,” Vision said shrugging and taking Wanda’s hand again, “the important thing is what you want.”
Wanda bit her lip looking at the paper between them and then up at him. “It’s what I think it is?”
Vision nodded slowly as she marvelled at the little red heart he’d drawn on the property lot and the text within; to grow old in.
“Death teaches you a lot, but I believe I already knew that this was right, I’ve known for a long time,” he said firmly, “I want to us to have a place, a home, and to have that future together.”
Small tears had started rolling down Wanda’s cheeks as she nodded fervently and Vision laughed reaching out to brush them aside, “Is that a yes?”
“Of course, it’s a yes,” she cried pushing his hand aside and throwing her arms around him.
“Oof, definitely a yes,” he grinned returning her hug with his whole heart. “I was worried.”
“What could you possibly have been worried about?” Wanda asked, her voice next to his ear.
“Well, what if you had thought me not so much myself anymore?” Vision said, a little hesitant to voice his anxieties aloud to her.
She drew back, her face turning serious. “You are just as much you as you ever were, nothing has changed for me.”
He hadn’t anticipated the relief he’d feel at hearing her say this and without a word pulled her to him again, kissing her. He was still the Vision who had decided to save her from a falling city, who had been so dramatically changed by her presence in the early days of his life, as the Vision who had thrown aside his loyalties to keep her safe, as the Vision who had given up his life for hers. And now, as the Vision who dreamt of more, of a home for both of them where they might live their life out together.