Jᴀᴇɢᴇʀ Pɪʟᴏᴛs ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Sᴄᴀʀʟᴇᴛ Wɪᴛᴄʜ
Rɪɢʜᴛ Hᴇᴍɪsᴘʜᴇʀᴇ Pɪʟᴏᴛ: Wᴀɴᴅᴀ Mᴀxɪᴍᴏғғ
Lᴇғᴛ Hᴇᴍɪsᴘʜᴇʀᴇ Pɪʟᴏᴛ : “ᴠɪsɪᴏɴ”
[ A Pacific Rim AU where Wanda is pretty much Raleigh Becket. ]Hailing from eastern Europe, the reckless red Jaeger known as the Scarlet Witch came to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s last remaining facility in New York carrying twin pilots Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. For almost three years the twins wreaked havoc on the kaiju threat, aiding where they could around the world, until tragedy claimed Pietro’s life.
Vision, an android lab assistant of scientist Tony Stark, was suggested to Colonel Fury as a stand-in for the Scarlet Witch’s lost pilot. Stark reasoned, the android would have 100% drift compatibility to whoever he piloted with, given that his personality is truly neutral and he is compliant to any co-pilot’s orders. Vision was happy to aid Wanda—it was not his first time stepping into a Jaeger, having drifted numerous times with Stark in the Iron Man up until injury prompted Stark’s retirement to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s science wing.
Initially, Wanda hesitated to take Vision into the Jaeger—Pietro was the only person she had ever drifted with, at nearly 100% compatibility. Physical training outside of the Jaeger brought Wanda to see Vision less as “the android” and more as a sympathetic individual who does more than quietly take orders and the abuse of some of the other, cockier pilots around the base (Simon Williams, for one.)
Still, Wanda is unsettled by the prospect of letting anyone into her mind through the drift—letting anyone into what she felt was only Pietro’s place.
Training with the neutral, synthetic man proved Stark’s theory that Vision could easily drift with anyone—and while it was pleasant enough to be back in the Scarlet Witch, Wanda found herself somehow bothered by Stark’s reminder to her that Vision was “an android” and compatible with anyone due to his mental neutrality. All that mattered, though, was that they could fight the kaiju together, Stark reminded her.
In their first drift, Wanda got caught up “chasing the rabbit” and nearly lost herself in memories of Pietro’s death and their traumatic Sokovian childhood—Vision’s clear mind pulled her from the downward spiral before she lost complete control of the Scarlet Witch. However, the near-disaster was enough to convince Wanda that without Pietro, there was no Scarlet Witch. She could not risk another mistake, even with the promise of Vision being there to ground her. Thus, she ran.
When the kaiju strike again (in accordance with Dr. Banner’s predictions that they would come in greater numbers with greater frequency,) Wanda is paralyzed by her own refusal to act.
Impatient and unwilling to let humanity’s last bastion go down without a fight, Stark takes Vision with him to fire up the Iron Man once more—only to find that Vision is no longer drift compatible with him. Vision posits that perhaps he’s bonded with Wanda in a way he had not expected, perhaps in a manner that directly affected the clarity of his mind.
“I didn’t think that was possible.” Tony says, to which Vision answers, “Neither did I.”
Stark knows the only option left is to bring Wanda back to the Scarlet Witch.
Wanda had left the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, having decided she would never pilot again—at least, until the pilot pair of the Widow’s Eye, Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton seek Wanda out and convince her in so many words, “Wanda, get in the robot. With the other robot.” (Those were Clint’s words.)
The Scarlet Witch rises again, with pilots Wanda and Vision, to fight the kaiju threat. Carrying a nuclear weapon into the kaiju’s gateway, they carry out the final orders to seal the rift between Earth and the kaiju world for good.
“It’s okay, Wanda. I can do this alone. All I have to do is fall. Anyone can fall.”
[ more notes for this AU under the cut ]
Those Celestial Bodies 