3AN: Written for day 3 of AU-gust. Prompt: Soulmate AU. Enjoy!
Wanda Maximoff had more or less accepted the fact that she would go through life without a soul-mark. Aside from her brother's, of course. Twins were always born marked for each other, two halves of a whole.
An untidily scribbled 'Wawa' on her palm, the slightly less messy 'Petwo' on his. Their names had been their first words, to each other or otherwise.
But everyone said there was supposed to be a second mark, the mark of a romantic soulmate, another missing piece of your soul. If it wasn't there when you were born, it would show up after the birth of your soulmate. The wait was usually short, a few years at most. Strangely though, for Wanda, she had reached age 19 with no sign of a second mark.
She told herself it didn't matter. Tried to believe it didn't bother her. She had Pietro, and he was all she needed.
So much was going on that Wanda hardly noticed the words when they'd first appeared. Look Again, splashed across her stomach in brilliant gold, the most gorgeous handwriting she'd ever seen.
She found herself staring at her apparent soulmate, The Vision, as they all prepared for battle. This couldn't be right, could it? The Vision wasn't even really human. And yet, there was something..
"Oi!"
Pietro completely ruined the moment, throwing a jacket at her head.
Then Pietro had died, and Wanda had screamed for his loss, for the loss of a piece of her soul, and the pain was such that she completely forgot about the new piece that had just come into existence.
She took revenge on an Ultron by tearing out what amounted to it's heart, but it was too late to save her brother. The city crumbled around her, and Wanda was almost ready to crumble with it..
Then The Vision swept her into his arms, carrying her away from the destruction, and Wanda felt herself instinctively curl into him. He set her down one of the escape carriers, and she almost stumbled, but he caught her again. She looked up at him with wide eyes.
"W-Why did you..?"
"Well.. I couldn't leave you.." His voice was soft, as was the expression on his face. In that moment, he looked so human, and Wanda felt a pang of guilt for ever believing that he wasn't. He looked away for a moment. "There's one more.. I have to go.." He'd guided her to sit down. "You should be safe now.."
He turned, taking flight once more. Wanda felt a lump in her throat as he'd departed, and jumped up again, calling after him.
"Vision!" Her heart jumped when he looked back at her. "Be safe, okay?"
"I will try" Vision replied.
Wanda watched him until he was out of sight.
It was a while before they actually spoke about the words. Wanda tried to explain what they were, but he cut her off.
"I know what a soulmark is. And what it represents. I just don't understand how I can have one.."
"Well, you do. If I'm not what you want.." Wanda huffed.
"That's not what I meant.. I am technically only three weeks old" Vision reminded her. "I'm not sure I know what I want."
"I know.. I'm sorry, that was mean" Wanda sighed. "I'm just.."
"You're still hurting, over your brother.. I understand" said Vision. "I'm new, to everything.. but I do know I feel a connection to you."
"And I do, to you.. maybe we can start as friends?" Wanda offered him her hand, Pietro's greyed-out mark still faintly visible on her palm.
"Well.. I am in need of a friend" Vision smiled softly. He took the hand Wanda offered, but that did not feel close enough, and so he hugged her.
Wanda was startled for a moment, but soon returned the hug, burying her face against his chest. Held by him, she did not feel quite so broken.
So, Wanda and Vision became friends. Good friends, and eventually, the very best of friends. Vision was the one Wanda went to if she was having a bad day, and Wanda was the one Vision went to if he needed something explained to him.. such as why it was important to knock on a closed door before entering. That explanation had come after a string of incidences of Vision interrupting other Avengers in the toilet, culminating in the day he had walked into Wanda's bedroom after she had just come out of the shower.
The problem, Vision had explained, was the remnants of Jarvis left in him. As Jarvis, he had been used to having full access to any building he was in, not bothering with things like privacy. It was an ingrained habit that he was trying to break as Vision.
While the connection was always there, and growing everyday, Wanda and Vision didn't speak much about what they really were to each other, or told their teammates that they were soulmates, although Wanda thought that Natasha may have worked it out.
The subject came up for the first time in a while one night when they were alone in the compound, their teammates away on a mission. Wanda and Vision were left out of many of the new Avengers early missions. Steve said it was because they didn't have much field experience and needed a little more training. Wanda thought it was because they were still a little afraid to trust her, but she understood why. She wouldn't trust her either.
So there she and Vision were, alone in the compound, watching a movie, when Vision had said, quite shyly:
"Wanda.. I was wondering if I might see your mark? I think I could believe it more if I saw it.. Not that I don't believe you, but.."
"Didn't you see it when.." Wanda blushed, referring to the shower incident.
"No" Vision blushed himself. He did that quite a lot, but it was subtle, a very faint darkening of his skin, and Wanda was the only one who ever really noticed. "I averted my eyes quite quickly. If you'd rather not show me, or if it's too private.."
"No, it's okay.. " Her blush deepened a little, but she pushed up her shirt, revealing the golden words on her belly.
"Oh.. It's quite beautiful, isn't it?"
"I think so" Wanda smiled softly.
Without really thinking about it, Vision reached out to touch the mark, and Wanda's breath caught. He jolted back.
"Sorry.."
"It's okay" She gave him a reassuring smile. "It's just.. a little intense, having your soulmate touch the mark."
"Oh.."
"Like I said, it's alright.. So.. can I see yours, Vizh?"
"Oh, of course.. mine's a little difficult, you really have to know where too look.." He lifted his shirt and sweater, and Wanda immediately knew what he meant, because her words were red.
I looked in your head, and I saw..
The final word was obscured by his trousers, but Wanda remembered it, remembered what she'd said to him, and felt another pang of guilt.
"Vizh.."
"Oh, do you want to see the last word? I can.." Vision, naive about a great many things, moved to undo his trousers.
"No!" Wanda's faintly blushing cheeks turned as red as a tomato. "No, I don't have to see it right now.. I just wanted to say I was sorry, for what I said then. That those are the words you're stuck with forever.."
"It's alright. I understand why you said it."
"I'm still sorry.." Wanda sighed. She knew he understood.. He seemed to understand a lot of things about her. Probably why fate had chosen to not be so cruel for once, and given him to her. She looked at him again for a moment, and his sweet expression tugged at her heart.
Opened her mouth to say something else, but words weren't enough. 'Sorry' wasn't enough to make up for ever believing Vision a monster, when in reality he was anything but.
"Wanda, you really don't have to worry about.. mmm.."
Wanda kissed him. It was soft, and quick, so much so that for a while, Vision could not remember whether or not it actually happened, and one day in the future he would ask Wanda if she remembered it too.
"Just.. thank you for being here.. Let's get back to the movie, okay?"
Vision could only nod, words failing him. But as they turned back to the screen, Vision found himself draping an arm around Wanda, and she rested her head on his shoulder.
They remained that way, two halves slowly growing into a brand new whole, until the other Avengers got home.
AN: This will probably have a part 2, but maybe not for a while. There's a few other AU-gusts I'd like to do, and also keep on top of my other fics.
