CW: non graphic descriptions of sexual assault
Chapter 3
Wanda brushed her fingers across the field of wildflowers as she walked. Beside her Pietro was humming something that made her think of her mother's soft hands smoothing her hair. The sun was warm on her face and peace filled Wanda's heart. They walked like this for a long time. Until suddenly Pietro stopped, his humming cut short. Wanda turned to look at him, a smile on her face.
"Wanda, zobuď sa. [Wanda, wake up.]" Pietro said, his voice strained.
"Čo tým myslíš, brat? Som hore. [What do you mean, brother? I am awake.]" She asked, frowning at him.
"Niečo je zle. Musíte sa zobudiť. [Something is wrong. You need to wake up.]." Pietro grabbed her arm, squeezing tight enough to hurt.
"To ma bolí, Pietro! [That hurts me, Pietro!]" Wanda cried, trying to pull away.
Pietro let out a gasp and stumbled backwards. Wanda watched, horrified, as bloody bullet holes appeared across his body.
"To nie je správne, sestra. Pomôž mi! [This is not right, sister. Help me!]" Pietro whispered.
Wanda lurched forward, grabbing for him, but suddenly he was gone. Wanda turned in a circle, panting. She was alone. Suddenly the sun was too bright, the silence stifling. She squinted at the bright landscape, fear spiking through her chest.
"Pietro, kde si? Vráť sa! [Pietro, where are you? Come back!]" She screamed.
The only sound was the silence.
"You can't hide forever." A male voice called with a distinctly American accent.
Wanda whirled around, searching for the person speaking. The sun was so bright, she couldn't see anything. Terrified, she dropped down into the wildflowers to hide.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are!" The voice continued, almost singsong.
Wanda pressed shaking hands to her mouth. She wanted to scream for help, but she knew it was pointless. There was no help for her here.
A body dropped into the grass next to her.
"Boo." He said with a smile that made bile rise in her throat.
Wanda tried to scramble backwards, but he seized her ankle and jerked her towards him.
"Prosím, prestaň! Prosím! [Please stop! Please!]" She screamed, trying to fight him off.
His fist connected with her face, and she tasted blood. His next punch was to her kidney. Everything hurt, her body was screaming in pain. She could feel her powers straining to fight back, to defend her. Desperately she tried to hold them back, but as he ripped open her shirt they raged out of her control.
White hot lighting seared around her neck. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe-
"Wanda!"
Her eyes shot open. She scrambled away from the body leaning over her and suddenly she was falling. Her body landed with a painful thud, her head cracking against the floor. The world tilted and spun. Something was tied to her. She was tangled in rope. Her breath was coming so fast, black dots swam in her vision.
"Ванда, это Клинт. Ты в безопасности. Теперь вы в безопасности. [Wanda, it's Clint. You are safe. You are safe now.]"
She blinked.
"Клинт? [Clint?]"
She was on the floor in a white room, her back pressed against a wall. Clint was crouched in front of her, tears glimmering in his eyes. Behind him a slender young woman with dark skin stood with her hand pressed against her mouth in horror. Medical equipment was strewn about on the floor. She slowly registered that the pain in her hand was from an IV that she had partially ripped out of her skin. The IV line was tangled around her body.
"Могу ли я коснуться тебя? [Can I touch you?]" Clint asked softly, holding out a hand with his palm up.
Wanda stared at him. Her head throbbed. She reached up and touched her head with shaking hands, terrified that her fingers would touch thick bandages, but she felt only her hair.
"Это действительно ты? [Is it really you?]" She whispered hoarsely.
"Да, дорогая. Это я. [Yes, darling. It's me.]" Clint whispered back.
Wanda blinked heavily, exhaustion suddenly sweeping over her.
"Где Пьетро? [Where is Pietro?]" She mumbled as everything faded to black.
"Maybe we should restrain her." Shuri said quietly as they carefully settled Wanda back onto the hospital bed.
"No." Clint said sharply, his head snapping up to glare at the young princess. "Absolutely not. You sedated her. That's more than enough."
"Mr. Barton, she could have seriously injured herself." Shuri argued, but her voice was gentle.
Clint opened his mouth to snarl a response, but a rough voice beat him to it.
"He's right. No restraints. She'll just panic."
Clint and Shuri both looked up at where Barnes stood in the doorway. Shuri's eyes softened.
"Alright." She said quietly.
Barnes moved to stand at Clint's side as they both watched Shuri fix Wanda's IV with deft fingers. Once Wanda was settled once more, Shuri quietly left the room. Clint sat heavily in the chair beside the hospital bed and leaned forward, gently taking Wanda's limp hand. His large hands dwarfed hers, and he carefully stroked the top of her hand with his calloused thumb.
"It's not your fault." He heard Barnes say quietly.
"I promised I'd take care of her." Clint bit out hoarsely without looking up. "When her brother died. I told her if she joined the Avengers, she would be safe." He laughed bitterly. "Even when we got locked up, I thought they'd at least treat her like a fucking human. I don't even know what they were doing to her. Experiments. Torture. Some of the guards, they…they talked about her like she was a piece of meat." His voice broke and he had to struggle to regain his composure. "She's just a kid. She didn't deserve any of this."
He felt Barnes shift.
"I'm sorry." He said in a low voice. "None of you deserved this."
Clint sat up slowly, wiping his eyes. "Hey now." He said, glancing up at where Barnes looked down at Wanda, his face haunted. "Don't you go taking all the blame. What is with you super soldiers and needing to take the weight of the whole goddamn world on your shoulders?"
Barnes looked down at him, uncertainty flashing through his eyes.
Clint forced a smile that felt brittle. "Look, man. We all fought for what we believed in, what we knew was right. It's not your fault that we trusted people we thought were our friends."
Barnes gave a short nod and looked back at Wanda.
"If you want to get some food or rest, I can sit with her for a while." Barnes suddenly offered.
Clint opened his mouth to say no, then paused. He was starving.
"Alright." He said wearily, carefully placing Wanda's hand at her side and standing up. "But let me know if she wakes up again."
The Winter Soldier sat in Barton's chair. The echo of Wanda's screams still rang in his ears. She'd been begging someone to stop in Slovak, pleading with them. He wondered how many times people had begged him to stop before he killed them. Wearily he ran his non-metal hand through his hair.
The girl's brow furrowed in her sleep. The corners of her lips turned down. Her breathing became labored. He watched the numbers on the heart monitor slowly climb higher.
He leaned forward, wondering if he should call out for Shuri or Barton, but she didn't open her eyes. She seemed distressed, but not conscious. Cautiously he reached out, gently taking the same hand that Barton had been holding.
For a moment, nothing happened. Then her hand suddenly gripped his tightly and everything went white.
