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#*publishes a fic 8 hours before a new episode* livin' on the edge
cyclone-rachel · 3 years
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i loved you yesterday || a wandavision fic
AO3 link
~
Vision came into consciousness- awoke- into this world loving her.
Loving Wanda- his wife, even if he can’t remember when they got married, or what they were wearing, how the proposal went.
He’s not even sure who proposed, or what their vows were, or how they made the decision to move to Westview, New Jersey.
(It’s supposed to be on purpose, isn’t it? They are an unusual couple- that was never in question. It feels right, acting out this role with her. They were meant to be together, meant to be here, and even more so recently, he wants to focus on the future.)
But when he’s looked at her, he’s thought that none of it matters. He’s there with her, and now with their children- and though he can’t remember how that happened either, he loves them too.
He still loves them, of course. Even with their rapid aging, he’s getting to know them, and learns more with each passing day.
(And what is loving someone if not truly knowing them, especially for someone who is incapable of forgetting anything?)
Wanda... she is a different story.
With her, he is at a disadvantage, in the way that anyone is- she has always been able to read him. It’s one of his favorite things about her, that she can understand people with such ease. And with him especially, when few people even try (and for obvious reasons at the moment, he can’t let them) ... it’s no surprise that he stays close to the only one he knows who really can.
But he cannot, as much as he’d like to (with her consent) read her mind, or gain access to her emotions. Their connection has become one-sided, at best.
Which is what frustrates him so, when they aren’t on the same page… and, given what he’s recently discovered, that happens to be much of the time- the disagreements bubbling right below the surface, cracks in their foundation as though the ground beneath their home will split open and take their new life with it once the two of them reach a breaking point. Something may erupt between them, and soon- he only hopes that their children won’t be among the casualties.
It never used to be a disadvantage for the two of them. They were always so in-sync, of the same mind, and no matter what happened before Westview, he believes that such was the case back then, too. And he wants to trust Wanda, when she says that she doesn’t know what’s happening, that even with her incredible powers she’s not truly in control of all of this.
He isn’t sure of what his original programming was, who created him and gave life to his systems. But he is certain- he cannot be selfish, and lose himself in his new role as a father, or put so much faith in his wife that he ignores those who are suffering around him. He has to, as unnatural as it feels, ignore the statistics telling him that Wanda is most likely telling the truth, at least until everyone else is safe.
(How long has it been, really? How long has Norm, for example, been here, connection severed from his family? Is his name truly Norm? What of Agnes, or Herb, or anyone else he’s interacted with in this town?
What of Geraldine, and her seeming disappearance from this world altogether?)
He knows that Norm was not specific, when he mentioned a “she” who was in his head. That, coupled with Wanda’s denial, could point to someone else being in true control- but then again, didn’t he seem to trust that only Vision himself could stop whoever this was? Hasn’t Wanda told him (he assumed colloquially, but…) that she had everything under control, and merely asked if she couldn’t when he told her she couldn’t control him like the others? Hadn’t she said that they didn’t need to leave, when he brought up the possibility? Wasn’t she about to dismiss his fears, make another choice for him that he didn’t ask for or have a say in, before they were interrupted?
Isn’t she the one who this “anomaly” is named for, from the perspective of those on the outside?
It’s easy enough to excuse himself, from the Halloween festivities. Especially with the re-introduction of Pietro- he and Wanda take the children, and he sets off alone, in the costume Wanda chose for him. He sees less and less movement as he goes- repetitive motion, stilted speech, those affected acting as though they are caught in a time loop, unable to be set free. And eventually, they don’t move at all.
He could release them- but it would just be worse, inciting even more panic, until he can figure all of this out, and reach those who sent the email to his office.
(S.W.O.R.D.
Doctor Darcy Lewis.
Words he should know; concepts he should be aware of… but it’s the idea of Maximoff’s Anomaly that makes him forge forward)
Vision sheds his costume (he didn’t want to wear it anyway, he feels as though he is wearing a costume every moment outside of his house regardless), and floats above the town wearing his true face, gazing down upon it all. The wind is… well, there is no point in describing it if it’s hardly there to begin with. There are lights, and sounds, but they seem to be clustered in one part of the town, and both are scattered around beyond it, only appearing sporadically once they reach the outskirts, eventually dying out.
There’s one road, that seems to encircle the town- and a car stopped right before it, that he stops to focus on. Vision lands quietly, not bothering to put his costume back on, before seeing that Agnes is the car’s sole occupant, dressed in a witch costume, her hair streaked with silver.
He talks to her. She seems to be more capable of speech than the others- perhaps because, in Wanda’s eyes, she is a major character, regardless of how far away she is. But she doesn’t look at him, and seems like she doesn’t know him… until he touches her head, using the same action he unknowingly performed to unlock Norm’s true personality.
She calls him one of the Avengers.
(noun: a person who takes revenge for an offense, a person who takes revenge on behalf of someone else.)
(He’s not sure what he did before to receive such a distinction, but from the context, he takes the name to be associated with heroism, and helping people. There are others like him- are they looking for him? Do they wait for him outside the boundary?
Was Wanda an Avenger too? Was that how they fell in love?)
She knows him- Agnes, if that is her real name, takes his hands and asks him if he’s there to help them.
Of course I am. Of course I will- I was already planning on it.
And I hope Wanda will, too.
She wonders why he doesn’t know… and then tells him he’s dead.
He wants to argue- but she sounds so insistent, and keeps repeating the word, perhaps so it will sink into him and stay there, among his essential systems. So he takes it, takes her telling him that Wanda won’t let anyone think about leaving, takes her laughter, until he puts her back under, his hand shaking ever so slightly.
She doesn’t notice. She doesn’t act like she’s looking at anyone out of the ordinary, as she wishes him a happy Halloween, and turns around- goes back to a place without dead Avengers or nearly immobile neighbors.
Then it’s him alone, at the corner of Rolling Hill Drive and Ellis Avenue, the stop sign below the street distinctions looking more like a warning than ever.
But still he walks forward, across the street, into what appears to be a field before him- until the air flickers before him, glowing brighter blue as he approaches. It seems to be a tightly-knit grid, or like static, red and green and blue, continuing to warp and flicker as he gets closer.
The part of the boundary before him seems to look like a door- or perhaps that is an illusion, what he wants to see, to convince him that this is the right decision.
(he doesn't need convincing)
But nonetheless, he places one hand against it, then the other…
And when he emerges, he’s aware of a red glow behind him. He takes one step, two, three- the boundary seems to hold onto his cape, he can’t quite pull it out all the way- and with each step there is more pain.
It hurts.
It hurts.
It hurts-
Focus. What do you see?
Cars. People. Lights.
Military?
They are all looking at me.
They are pointing their guns in my direction.
Someone is speaking.
“He really does want out, doesn’t he?”
It feels like he is straining against a magnet, one more powerful than he can imagine, as he falls to his knees- a part of him flies off, and he doesn’t care about retrieving it. He’s not even sure what part is gone. He suspects it doesn't matter.
A woman’s voice.
“Stop! He’s coming apart!”
None of them, besides her, are moving either, as he grits what humans would consider teeth, and tries his hardest not to scream, mind too overcome by hurt to think.
Another voice, but this time in his head.
Don’t worry, Dad. It’s all right.
Billy, he thinks, holds onto the memories of his sons as he continues to lose himself. He may die here, trying to talk to the outside, letting himself fall apart so nobody else can, but for them, for everyone else…
They’re worth it.
The woman on the outside is handcuffed to a truck.
“Help him!”
That’s right. But I don’t need it as much.
“Help!” he manages, hoping they can hear him- hoping they care. “The people need help!”
He’s reaching out to them, wants them to understand that he comes in peace.
(if they know him, and understand he's an Avenger, they will. But then again, they may not be so receptive to a message from a ghost.)
But his hand is coming apart, more of him is falling away. Soon, unless Billy or Wanda get to him in time, there won’t be anything left to save.
He can’t stand anymore. He lies on the ground, feeling as though his body is burning, thinking of his children.
Hold on, Vis.
Wanda.
But she’s not beside him- instead, he feels the barrier around him, encroaching on the world he has found himself in.
Then, suddenly, he’s back inside Westview.
He’s intact, and whole- Wanda has healed him.
But, he notes as he finds himself surrounded by a circus, she has also brought in new inhabitants- and he’s not sure how this will affect her, or how much longer she can keep Westview under her sway.
(How long will she be able to keep him, or their children?)
He doesn’t know if his message will get out. Doesn’t know if he wants to remember what happened to him on the outside as an Avenger, or how he died.
~
He doesn’t want to go home that night.
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