26Human move: a move only a human would make, in contrast to a move a computer would make.
Pepper paused in the anteroom to Tony's inner office and waited while a scanner checked her for listening devices or tracking devices. When it cleared, the door in front of her unlocked and popped open.
Tony glanced up from his desk. He looked upset, almost forlorn.
"What's wrong?"
"I know where Vision's been sneaking off to. I have an idea where the missing money's going."
"I take it from your tone that it's bad."
"Worse than I thought. He's...he could be in trouble."
"Don't leave me in suspense. What's going on?"
Tony glanced around as if they weren't in a locked, windowless, soundproof room with nowhere for anyone to hide, and when he spoke he dropped his voice to nearly a whisper. "He's been in touch with Cap's team."
Pepper was both startled and relieved. She didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it had been something worse. On the other hand, it made so little sense that Vision would do anything illegal. And then she connected the dots.
"You think he's been financially supporting them."
"Yeah. I don't have proof, but..."
"But there's enough evidence that if anyone found out...?"
"There's enough to put Vision on the U.N.'s naughty list."
"And Ross..."
"I don't even want to think about it," Tony said.
Pepper got his concern. If Vision was helping the fugitives, no one knew how to find and capture Steve and his team, but Vision was right here. They would arrest him, question him, and who knew what else. Vision might not be legally recognized as human; they could try to find a way to shut him down.
She had an instinct to protect him. She still thought of Vision as JARVIS—Tony's charming, competent, brilliant A.I. assistant—made flesh.
"Do you think Steve sent him a secret cellphone too?" she asked.
"I don't know. I wouldn't have believed Vision could hide something like that, and I don't think Steve would have believed that either." He sighed. "He can look human, Pep."
"What?!"
"I don't know how he managed it, but when I tracked his location, he looked human. A normal human."
"That's...incredible. It's amazing."
"There's more."
"What is it?"
"He met up with Wanda. She was waiting for him at the airport. He kissed her."
Pepper was starting to wonder if this was some kind of weird dream. "Kissed her?"
"And it wasn't a little peck on the cheek. From the look of it, they're an item."
"I see." His gloomy demeanor was starting to make more sense. "So your not just upset he didn't tell you or worried about if he gets caught. Your worried we're going to lose him."
"If I hadn't blamed him for what happened to Rhodey...That pushed him away. If it wasn't for that, he would have told me."
Pepper couldn't remember the last time she'd seen him look so lost. There had been the dismal days after he went to Siberia and learned his parents had been murdered by Steve's best friend, when he'd been dealing with that along with worrying about Rhodey's injury, tormented with ideas for how he could have handled everything better. This was an echo of that, she knew. Seeing him like this, she decided to break her self-imposed rule against physical contact in the workplace. She walked over to him and took his hand. She looked at him with sympathy and said, "You screwed up."
He chuckled at her brutal honesty. His thumb caressed her knuckles and he gazed at her imploringly. "Yeah. What should I do?"
"Talk to him. If he chooses them—chooses her—over us, there's nothing you can do to stop him, other than let him know it's alright, that you understand. You do understand, right?"
He looked at her. "Yeah. But since I'm sure you could put it into words better than I could, why don't you explain it?"
She rolled her eyes. "You know why I decided to give you another chance, even though you keep going back on your word to stop being Iron Man?"
"Because you find my bad-boy nonchalance irresistible?"
"It's because I knew you before you were a hero, and I know how much you've changed, and why being Iron Man is important to you. As much as I hate seeing you put yourself in danger, I respect why you choose to. Vision was never given that choice; from the moment he was created, he had superpowers and the immediate need to use those powers to save the world. He wasn't given a chance to grow, to find himself. Maybe he wants to see what it's like to not be a superhero for a while."
The corner of Tony's mouth tugged into the hint of a smile. "When I said he was acting like a sullen teenager, he said that's what he is."
"Our little JARVIS is growing up," Pepper said. "And you can either let him go, or push him away."
"It's not like he's dropping out of school to join a band or taking a year off to go backpacking through Europe; he's putting himself in danger, committing felonies. He's not doing that out of teenage rebellion."
"Then he really thinks Steve's side is right. Or he's doing it out of love. Does his reasons for doing what he's doing change anything?"
"I don't know," Tony admitted. "I just don't want anything to happen to him."
She leaned over his desk and kissed him before giving him a stern look. "Talk to him. Tell him that."
When Vision returned to the compound, he found a note under his door.
When you get back, I'd like to run something by you. I'm either in the lounge or the jogging track.
Tony
He frowned at the note. What would Tony want to talk to him about? However, he didn't see any point in postponing the conversation.
He found him on the jogging track, a path through the woods on the grounds of the compound that the Avengers formerly used for training. Tony had been exercising, but was currently leaning against a tree taking a rest.
"You wanted to talk to me?" Vision inquired.
"Yeah. In private."
"What is this about?"
Tony didn't answer for a moment, looking at him thoughtfully. "Can you keep a secret?"
It was not at all a question Vision expected to be asked. "I believe I can," he answered noncommittally.
"Good, because if Ross were to find out what I'm about to tell you, it could put Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Wanda in danger. After the jailbreak at the Raft, Steve sent me a burner phone programmed with a number I can reach him on."
Vision was surprised. Steve hadn't mentioned such a phone. He wondered if Tony was lying.
"That was prudent of him. If there is an emergency that requires the skills of our former colleagues, it is good you have a way to contact them."
"But I could also use it to tell them there's an emergency to set a trap for them with the authorities. Cap knows I would never do that. He trusts me. Why don't you?"
"What leads you to believe I don't trust you?"
"I tracked your location by your transponder's satellite uplink. I know you went to Honolulu. I know about your other trips too." He suddenly looked hurt. "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you tell me you can disguise yourself as a human?"
Vision froze.
Tony continued. "I erased every trace of where you went from the network. I'll protect you. But I'm...I have to say, I'm sorry you didn't feel like you could talk to me about this."
Vision was stunned. For a few seconds, he couldn't formulate a response. He hadn't known the satellite network software could keep a record of his location. If he had...perhaps he never would have risked helping the fugitives in the first place.
But now Tony knew. There was no point denying it.
"It wasn't that I believed you would have me apprehended, but I knew you would disapprove," Vision said.
"Disapprove of you breaking the law to help Steve's team?" Tony began, then seemed to stop to consider. "It's not that I think it's wrong. But...I worry about you. I don't want to lose you too."
"If I had told you what I intended to do, you would have tried to stop me."
He looked down. "I would have tried to talk you out of it, but I wouldn't have stopped you. Not if you told me why it was so important to you. I had a camera on you when you left the airport." He added more quietly, "I saw you with her."
A chill ran down Vision's spine. He'd put Wanda in danger, exposed her. "I didn't know how to tell you," he said.
"Are you in love with her?"
The question Natasha had asked him months ago, the question he'd been asking himself ever since.
"Yes."
It was the only answer he could give. It felt as though it would be physically impossible to say anything else.
"I see."
They stared at each other for a minute. Vision knew, with a resolve that he could feel to his core, that he could not stop seeing Wanda, but he didn't know what he would do if Tony tried to stop him.
"Okay then," Tony finally said. "Let's make sure you don't get caught."
