A/N: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing!

Annnnd it's escape time! Yay. Let's gooo

On to the story!:)

"They're finally coming for us!" Scott crowed, realizing what was happening. "Hey, over here, you trigger-happy morons," he called. "She couldn't be doing anything to the lights even if she wanted to!"

There were four guards all crowded in front of Wanda's cell, and the lights overhead continued blinking. Wanda knew they were out there in a faraway sort of way, but she felt too hungry and weak to care at this point. If they shocked her enough, maybe she would pass out again and get a respite from the current situation. I'm probably dreaming. If they were coming, they would have gotten here already.

"Whatever you're doing, stop immediately!"

"Turn the alarm off!"

"What the hell is she doing to the lights?!"

"I don't know, but make her stop!"

Wanda continued lying on the floor unmoving. There's no point in trying to explain. I can't, anyways. Predictably the familiar sizzling pain ripped through her battered body again, and she finally registered that these idiots all thought she was the one causing the ruckus. Those illogical people, including Damian, were still scared of her, even now when she was barely conscious. One more hit and she thankfully passed into oblivion, vaguely hearing fighting sounds and the others shouting in the distance.

"Sure took you long enough!" Clint said upon seeing Steve.

"Miss me?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Get Wanda out first," Clint ordered. If this rescue did go sideways, he wanted to make sure Cap at least got Wanda out. He was not concerned about Sam, Scott, or himself staying alive imprisoned on the Raft, at least. Steve could always just get Wanda somewhere safe to recover and then return a second time for the others.

Steve nodded. "Nat's right behind me; her job was collecting your gear and any security cam footage we can get. Honestly for one of the highest security prisons on the planet, they're understaffed. Where is Wanda?"

"Across from us, where you knocked out those guards," Scott called. "Hurry up, Captain America, before they all wake up. And just...be careful with her."

Steve took a key card from one of the unconscious guards and quickly opened Wanda's cell. Wanda remained lying motionless on the floor, her tangled brown hair hiding most of her face, and didn't react at all. "Hey, kid, we're here to break you out. Finally. Sorry it took so long," he said quietly.

I must be imagining him, Wanda thought, but there was someone gently sitting her up. No one treated her like that here; there was no touching at all other than someone's hand roughly grabbing her hair and injecting things into her neck or something. Wanda blinked slowly, her head drooping forward as much as the thick collar would let her. The someone was loosening the straps on the straitjacket, enough that it made her injured arm shift against her torso. She made a quiet pained noise and tried to pull away. Stop, please stop. It's making it hurt worse. Wait. I should scare them away. I don't want anyone touching me. Go away. The magic stirred a tiny bit and then retreated back into her heart, locked in. The magic was sad and depressed, and it hurt too.

"Can you look at me? I'm trying to help. Not hurt you, I promise. We need to hurry." Steve sounded both concerned and matter-of-fact, but then he frowned at the half-conscious death glare Wanda threw at him. It was like she did not recognize him and thought someone was there to hurt her instead, so she wanted to attempt scaring him away.

Steve did not find that expression very scary; she reminded him of the injured kitten he had found and nursed back to health as a kid back in the thirties. The kitten had tried to bite and scratch because it was scared, though it finally warmed up to people and grew cuddly later.

"Wanda. It's Steve Rogers. Captain America, remember? I'll get you out of here." Though originally he and Nat weren't sure how much use any security footage they could get ahold of would be as evidence, and therefore questionable whether they should waste precious minutes trying to get it, seeing Wanda's poor condition now seemed to be evidence enough that the footage probably would be useful for them later.

Not imagining things. The defensive death glare vanished. Wanda did think she could trust him not to hurt her, but she couldn't explain verbally right now because her throat hurt too much and she rather wished she would just fade away and not wake up again.

"Okay, so I'm going to get this thing and that collar off you. Then we will go patch you up in the quinjet," Steve said next. "Do you understand what's happening?"

Wanda's eyes fluttered shut again, but she was able to nod a tiny bit. The nightmare will end, if we can actually get out of here. Maybe he should leave me behind. I can't run. I'm so hungry and I miss Pietro. She felt her good arm fall free, and she instinctively reached for the injured one that genuinely made her want to cry, not wanting it to be touched.

Steve did not know what exactly was wrong, but he could tell enough to know that Wanda's arm must be hurting her badly and that she didn't want anyone messing with it. "I won't touch it. Let's just get out of here then."

"Good grief, I've gotten the gear, well...what was there, some of it is damaged, and sent the footage I could get to the ship. What's taking so-oh." Natasha cut herself off when she saw her youngest teammate lying in Steve's arms. Wanda clearly recognized her, but that was the only good thing. She looked like all the life had been drained out of her. Visible injuries were one thing, and Nat had known that they would find her injured, but this was different. She'd seen Wanda hurt plenty of times before, but she hadn't seen that haunted look in Wanda's eyes since the first few weeks after Ultron. "Just get that damn collar off her. Leave the rest alone until we're safe. Those guards won't stay knocked out and locked on another level forever. Hey, Wanda. We'll all be out soon." Natasha quickly swiped another key card and opened the rest of the team's cells.

Why is Nat here? She was on the other side of the battle, Wanda thought, but didn't particularly question it further. There was an unpleasant but brief stab of further pain on her neck, and something clattered to the floor in two pieces. It's gone. The thing is finally gone. She could finally move her head without that horrid collar rubbing her already damaged, burned skin more and more raw. Wanda felt herself being picked up, which also hurt, but she felt safe held in Steve's arms, and hid her face in his big shoulder. Thank you, thank you, thank you, she thought in relief.

"Everyone else good to go?" Steve looked around their little group of fugitives; no one else appeared much injured aside from some minor cuts and bruises. The most obvious was a black eye on Sam. "All right, Nat, you lead the way. Scott, Sam, you carry the gear, except Clint's bow and arrow, which we may need. Clint, you bring up the rear and knock out any stragglers if necessary."

"...Me?" Do I have a job too? Wanda's tiny voice made Cap hold her tighter.

"Your job is resting now. We'll get you out," Steve said firmly.

I...want to help. I probably can't. Wanda knew there was something very wrong with her magic now; ever since the day her arm was injured, it seemed to be retreating farther and farther away from her, and now it was just a tiny, sad, chaotic ball of pain and anxiety hiding in her chest. It did not want to come out, it was terrified, but she also felt it was just trying to protect her from any more pain at this point. All of the power was still there, but it didn't feel right, either. If I can't, I am useless. Why did I even ask if I could do something?

"If we find Damian or Ross, maybe you can give them nightmares, or chuck 'em in a cell," Clint suggested. He was happy to see that this got Wanda's attention; she did not smile like she might have weeks ago at the idea, but she was clearly listening, her dazed green eyes a little more focused than before.

They were moving now, and Wanda watched their surroundings from her spot safe in Steve's arms. It seemed suspicious that they were only running into a few guards, all quickly dispatched via Natasha's widow's bites without even needing arrow backup from Hawkeye, but maybe their rescuers had already neutralized the others. Still, it felt wrong to be simply walking out of what was supposed to be a max security prison for villainous enhanced. Wanda hesitantly reached for her magic inside, disliking this immensely. I want to be ready. Something doesn't seem right. Maybe I am just...overthinking this, but... There were only six of them against the entire Raft personnel, and only two were ready to fight. Scott and Sam were carrying the damaged gear, Steve was carrying her, and she knew she was not in any condition to fight herself now. That left only Clint and Nat.

"Is it just me or does this prison break seem too simple?" Scott asked. "Like. Max security prison for enhanced people, in the middle of the ocean, and we're just walking out."

"Don't jinx us, Lang!" Sam sounded amused now, but privately he did kind of agree.

"That's part of why it took so long for us to come. Had to have detailed plans set to go," Steve said. They all piled into an elevator leading to the surface uneventfully, but then he felt Wanda tense in his arms. "Do you sense something?"

I don't know, but something isn't right. Wanda was not sure whether she actually sensed people on the other side of the elevator door, or if she was just being paranoid and her magic-gone-haywire was merely sensing the team and herself. "Not...sure," she whispered.

"Let's switch here just in case. Sam, Scott, one of you take her. Leave the gear behind if we have to. The important thing is getting all of us out safely."

Scott instantly dumped his armful of gear on the floor before anyone else could react. "Give her to me. I'll carry her." Wanda was a tiny bit frustrated at being passed about, and besides, it made everything hurt more, but she still just felt safe now, even though she knew they were still within the prison. Scott was clumsier than Steve, but he was still being gentle. "You remind me of Cassie," he was saying now, "you're just like a much bigger version of her."

What? He...what? Wanda thought this was an absolutely lovely compliment, even if she still didn't particularly like being the 'kid' of the group. Scott had talked so much about little Cassie throughout their time trapped in the Raft that she felt a bit like she knew the child already.

The elevator halted at the surface as planned, doors sliding open to reveal Ross and about fifteen or so armed guards behind him. "Surrender now or we will be forced to open fire."

"Stand down. No one else needs to be harmed today, Ross," Natasha countered. "You don't need to do this."

Ross's gaze flicked to Wanda briefly; she no longer had the shock collar clamped around her neck, but she also appeared to be unconscious in Scott's arms. "I think not. Surrender Maximoff and reveal the Winter Soldier's whereabouts and the rest of you can go."

"Not an option. Move or we go through you."

"Tell him...yes," Wanda whispered to Scott. I don't have much power access right now, but surely I can do something. And he is lying anyway. Even if they did leave me behind and say where Steve's friend is, he wouldn't let everyone else walk out of here. She thought she could yank enough power free to mind-control Ross into letting them walk, but as weak as she was right now, she was sure she needed to be right next to him to attempt it.

"Absolutely not," Scott hissed back.

"Pretend," Wanda insisted. She let her eyes flick to Clint, hoping he would understand what she wanted.

Clint kept his stun arrow aimed at Ross, but glanced at Wanda, fairly certain he knew what this unexplained plan of hers was. "Kid, you haven't talked telepathically to me at all in days, and I know it's not because you didn't want to. Whatever you're thinking, that's extremely risky. Bad plan."

"The girl isn't unconscious, she's awake, boss!" someone shouted.

Shield, shield, shield, Wanda's fuzzy mind screamed at her, and in a second her good hand whipped out, ripping a wisp of scarlet free from its mental prison inside, and a crackly red shield formed across the open doors just in time as they heard gunfire from outside the elevator. I can't hold this for long.

"Nat, you got any more of those smoke bombs?" Clint asked. "They're not going to just file in and let us knock them out one by one. Second Wanda's shield goes, we need a way to get through those guys. Fast. She's not going to be able to keep that up much longer." Already the scarlet shield was flickering.

"Four. It's raining, so visibility will be bad, which is good for us. Everyone to the sides. They'll start unloading their magazines. We run when there's a pause for them to reload. There are sixteen plus Ross. Counted while we were talking. We can handle that no problem." Natasha glanced at Wanda and added in a softer tone, "You can drop it now, you've done enough."

Wanda's eyes stayed screwed shut, but she listened and released her shaky hold on the shield, which instantly fizzled to nothing. Whatever had given her a bit of strength to produce that shield seemed to fade too, along with being able to actually focus on what was going on. There was noise, so much noise, and then running, running, running. Scott was saying something about there being too much smoke and he was very sorry for jostling her around. It's fine, it's fine, we are out of there and it's raining and I would much rather die than go back in there again, Wanda thought. She heard a pained grunt and her eyes flew open again. "What..."

Rain. Pouring rain, drenching them, and she could feel Scott flagging and not moving as quickly. He's hit. Someone hit him in this mess. They were out of the range of the smoke bomb now, so anyone could see them. And where was the quinjet? Maybe it was in stealth mode or something, but she didn't see it. Or, I just can't see it from here... "Where..."

"Don't worry, we'll make it," Scott said firmly. "It's okay, don't try to talk anymore. Look, there's Black Widow. I'm going to give you to her, okay? I'm good, but I don't want to risk dropping you if I can help it. You...already knew I'd been hit, didn't you."

Wanda blinked and nodded a little. This was okay. Scott did not look frightened or particularly hurt, he just didn't trust himself to carry her anymore. Something yanked her away from him, and she yelped in pain. Now what? No, that's Damian.

"Finally. Found you. Took long enough. You're dead the second-"

Without waiting for one of her teammates to help instead, or thinking beyond the instinctive vehement hatred and fear the man inspired in her, she twisted her good arm around, eyes glowing red, and slammed her bare hand into his head, pouring whatever bits of mind mojo into him she could muster. You will help us, you will defend us, you will never tell Ross of this. You will help us, and you will apologize to...to my friends. You will defend us with your life if necessary. You will do this for twelve hours, and-

Scott was still staring in surprise when Wanda fell limp and unconscious with Damian still hanging onto her. The whole thing had happened so fast; one second he was trying to tell Wanda something and the next Damian had yanked her away from him, and the girl was slamming magic into her tormentor's head, eyes tinged red. "Uh...backup here!" he yelled finally.

"I will help you. I will defend you. I will never tell Ross of this. I will-"

"Okay, if you want to help, just hand Wanda over," Natasha said abruptly. It was exceedingly obvious that Wanda had mind-controlled the man, but overextended herself badly doing so.

"Sure." Damian willingly handed Wanda over, no longer repeating the instructions he'd been given, and Natasha felt like this was too good to be that easy.

"Now...go distract any remaining guards," Nat ordered, half doubting he would actually listen. "Scott, get yourself to the jet. I've got her now." Wanda remained dead weight in Natasha's arms, her breathing ragged, as if she had been running for far too long rather than simply unleashing magic into a man's head while she was injured and barely conscious herself.

"Yes, Black Widow. I apologize. I also apologize to the rest of her friends," said Damian, sounding quite sincere, if also robotic about it. "Is the witch girl okay?"

"No thanks to you." Natasha raised an eyebrow and backed toward the quinjet. Most of the other guards had already been neutralized, but she didn't want to risk being caught in the open while carrying Wanda. That would just get both of them into trouble.

Scott stared at Damian some more. Wanda had...forced that man to help them and apologize? He had not seen Wanda's mind manipulation in action before, and it would have been a little disturbing to watch to him if it wasn't on a man he despised. As it was, it was rather satisfying to see Damian, who had been utterly hateful and cruel the entirety of their time stuck on the Raft, now falling all over himself to apologize and help them.

Hawkeye glanced from Natasha and Wanda to mind-controlled Damian and back again. "Best thing I've seen in ages! Let's get out of here. See ya, Damian. Hope you have a day as nice as you are."


"Everyone here and accounted for?" Steve asked a few minutes later. There was loud shouting from outside the quinjet, and Clint glanced out a window. Damian was gesturing wildly, saying something that they should go inside because the Avengers were gone already.

"We're good. Just Damian helping. Looks like there are a couple guards still standing besides all the ones we knocked out to get here safely, but they look baffled. Definitely the best thing I've seen on the Raft, by far," Clint said, guffawing. "That man deserves a lot worse than being made to help us. I'm glad Wanda did that. Oh, will you look at that. He punched Ross. What a shame." He sounded greatly entertained by this. "Is Wanda awake yet? She should see this!"

"No, because she knocked herself out doing that. I wish she hadn't, especially considering Scott and I were right there," Nat countered, but still, they were out, they were safe-as safe as six international fugitives could be, anyway-and everyone was alive.

"Goodbye to that hellhole!" Scott shouted as the quinjet took off. "Do we have a plan for what we all do next?"

"Of course," Steve called from the cockpit. "Everything is ready to go; we should be fine, at least for awhile."

"First order of business is patching anyone up that needs patching up. Then we discuss the plan," Natasha said firmly. "Scott, you are dripping blood on the floor. Sam, take care of him while I'm taking care of Wanda. Clint, if you're good, I need your help."

Wanda still lay unconscious across the row of padded seats where Natasha had set her down, her stressed breathing already having evened out mostly. "When Tony said she was taking heat off the rest of you and the Raft was being unfair to her, that was a major understatement," Natasha muttered. "I knew we'd find her injured, just...not like this. Grab the rest of the supplies, will you, Clint? Get everything that Sam isn't using. We should have anything we might need. Let's get some IV fluids into her first and then we'll see what else is wrong."

"Tony said that? He sure didn't seem apologetic when he came around the Raft. The guy doesn't even like her. The hell did Stark Industries create that shock collar for then?" Clint sounded absolutely pissed as he carried the supplies over. "I don't think she's going to like waking up to find something in her arm, Nat."

"She looks dehydrated and starved, and she can't drink anything while she's unconscious. She'll understand. He does stupid experiments and then feels guilty about it. Ross might've realized Tony wasn't so in his pocket as he thought if he was apologetic during his visit. Tony might not trust Wanda, but he definitely didn't want her to be tortured, either." Nat carefully freed Wanda's other arm and pulled the straitjacket the rest of the way off, leaving her in the t-shirt-like prison top underneath. Wanda didn't react, even though moving her injured arm must have hurt. "Do you know how long her arm has been like this? It...doesn't look good."

Clint sighed. "There's a portable scanner in here too. Day 6, so...two weeks, I guess," he said quietly. "As far as I know, something happened where they wanted to force her to locate Steve and Bucky with her power, but instead of doing so, staying silent, or saying a flat no, she lied and said yes. However, she mind-controlled a guard into disabling that collar instead and was able to get her hand free afterwards. She put another guard to sleep and threw two more into a wall before Ross realized what she was doing and...did that to her. She also, ah, accidentally shared her own pain a couple times afterwards, so from that I think her elbow is dislocated at best. And don't tell her she did that to me, because I don't think she knows and I don't want her to know."

Natasha looked at him curiously; that was a rather unpleasant thing to consider happening. If Wanda did that again by accident while they were on the run, the whole group would be in trouble... "Good on her for trying, though I suppose a failed escape attempt probably made things worse." Natasha rather wondered what in the world Ross and anyone else in the Raft had been thinking. Of course Wanda had lied and turned on her captors. Even in the midst of the escape, where everyone knew Wanda could not get out on her own at all, weaselly Ross had still been eyeing her as a threat, so he should have considered that perhaps torturing her but then attempting to force her to use her power for him was a ridiculous plan. "Idiots, the whole lot. The hell did they think she was going to do, break and help them willingly? How was she supposed to even try something on that scale with that torture device on her neck anyway?"

"Wanda can't track people over a great distance like that anyway, forget someone trying to force her to do it under duress," Clint pointed out. "And hey, if she'd pulled the escape attempt at the start, it may have worked. I doubt running on nothing but water and being tortured for days beforehand made it easy for her to use her power properly and conduct a breakout very well."

"I mean, she also might be able to and not know how," Scott called from where Sam was patching up his arm. "She did mind-control a man to the complete opposite of his natural behavior while being barely conscious herself, let alone able to use her power easily. So."

"She never uses her mind tricks since the team all agreed she shouldn't, including her, so there's no way anyone knows what that aspect of her power can do one way or the other." Sam sighed and gave Scott a little push. "Okay, you're done, tic-tac."

Steve ducked in from the cockpit, saying the coordinates were set for the autopilot. "Status reports on everyone?"

"Nothing worse than bruises and minor cuts, except Scott got himself shot in the arm, and there's...Wanda," Clint informed him. The longer they were away from the Raft, the grumpier he was becoming. Nineteen days was not forever, and he knew quite well it could take a long, long time to organize an escape route AND have plans for afterward, but none of this would have happened at all if it weren't for the Accords and then half their team signing them in the first place.

"Is she okay?"

"No, Cap, she's not okay. Those assholes treated her like shit the entire time we were imprisoned, do you understand? You found her in there. Do you really think she's okay?"

"Of course not. Is it realistic for us to be able to take care of her with no access to hospitals," Steve clarified.

"We can, because we do have access to plenty of supplies between here aboard the jet and the safe houses. So yes, I think she'll be okay," Natasha said firmly. "The worst of it is her arm and neck, obviously. That and she's malnourished. I imagine she's going to feel stiff and achy for a long time from being restrained like that for weeks, but once we get settled, she can just rest. The scanner also picked up a couple broken ribs, a sprained ankle, and that wound on her leg. All the rest of it is more or less superficial; she doesn't seem to be sick or have any other internal injuries, surprisingly. We'll keep her safe."

"What about the fact that her arm sat untreated for two weeks, Nat?" Clint asked roughly. "That's going to heal properly too?"

Natasha glanced back at Wanda, who just looked like she was sleeping now. "We won't know that right away. You know that," she said quietly. "That's the same as if we did have access to any hospitals."

"Yeah, well, a real doctor might have done a better job putting a dislocation back in place and splinting a minor fracture than we did."

"She's going to be fine," Sam put in. "If it doesn't heal right, it doesn't heal right. We can't take her anywhere else, and she's safe. Better an imperfect job than risk getting her sent right back to that prison again. Clint, look. Look at her. Does she look upset right now?"

"...No." Clint did recognize this much; Wanda might not have regained consciousness yet, but she appeared relaxed, and her breathing was calm and steady.

"She's going to be fine. Do you think she would rather inexpert friends keep her safe and maybe risk an injury healing poorly, or take her to a hospital and definitely risk getting dumped right back into that prison?"

The former. Clint sighed and stared out the window.


Wanda came to awhile later to familiar voices chattering nearby. First she thought it was just her fellow teammates trapped in the Raft with her, but they sounded closer than normal. Also, whatever she was lying on now was much softer and warmer than the seemingly freezing cold floor in that cell. The escape. I am not in there anymore. Nat and Steve rescued us. Now that any adrenaline from the escape had worn off, her body blazed with pain again anew, but she also felt a bit better than before somehow. Wanda experimentally wiggled her fingers and toes; everything ached and felt incredibly stiff, but not quite as badly as she expected, either.

I can move. I am not tied up any more. I can touch things, my fingers aren't numb and...stuck anymore either.

The only thing that felt alarming to her was not being able to move her left arm aside from twitching her fingers, but trying sent fresh flashes of pain up her elbow and maybe it was a bad idea to try anyways. Wanda's eyes flew open when she sensed something still on her neck and her fingers flew there trying to get the something off. She did not want anything on her neck again, never, ever. Tears pooled in her eyes, terrified that collar was somehow back on her, even though she could remember Steve breaking the distasteful thing off.

There was a gentle but firm hold on her hand suddenly, and Wanda saw Nat next to her. Stop crying, don't panic. It's fine, I am not there anymore. Nat wouldn't have put that thing back on me.

...but a member of the team made it. Maybe they all knew. Maybe it was an emergency measure. You're still the WMD nobody thinks is a person. No. Wrong. I wouldn't be here now if that was true. They could have left me behind or killed me.

"You have some nasty burns on your neck. Clint and I bandaged them up. There is no collar, Wanda, I promise. I know it still hurts, but that thing is not there anymore. Nobody is going to put that back on you again, I promise." Natasha released her hand once Wanda seemed to understand; the girl was clearly still frightened, but not panicky. "Do you know where we are now?"

Q-U-I-N-J-E-T, Wanda signed shakily. S-A-F-E? A questioning look accompanied the second word, and her hand dropped back to the blanket. Blanket? Where did a nice fleecy blanket come from? It feels nice. That's why I'm not cold. Is everyone out? I think so, but I don't remember anything after...whatever I did to Damian. She could see Scott drinking a juice box, and she wanted something too. And something besides water. Hungry, thirsty, tired, tired, tired.

"Everyone is safe. See, look." Natasha didn't let her try to sit up on her own, but she did slide a few pillows behind her so Wanda was propped up somewhat leaning against the window, her legs still stretched across the seat row. This felt much better and Wanda thought she was too exhausted to care to wonder why there were a bunch of pillows in the quinjet. There was some complicated-looking black splint thing encasing her left arm shoulder to palm, holding it still. That explained why she couldn't move it.

O-F-F, Wanda signed again, not bothering to lift her hand to do so this time.

"No, you can't take that off, either. It needs to heal. Don't rip the IV out, either. It's not any kind of drug, just fluids because we know you're dehydrated. I'll take it out once that bag is finished and you eat something and keep it down. You're benched for now. Do you want chocolate pudding, banana pudding, or applesauce?"

Wanda glanced down at the IV in her good arm. This did not hurt, but she didn't want it there all the same. Needles made her nervous; they always contained unknown drug things forced on her. That happened with Hydra and then it happened on the Raft, too. Nat wouldn't lie to me. If she says it's not some weird drug, then it isn't. I need to...calm down. Stop thinking everything is somehow bad and going to hurt me. Stop it. She looked around the interior of the jet curiously; Sam and Steve both appeared to be asleep, Scott was still eating and drinking the juice box but gave her a smile, and Clint was staring out a window next to her looking rather pissed. Wanda wanted to ask how and why Natasha was here helping them at all, because she'd been on the other side of the airport battle before, but Wanda supposed it did not matter why. Certainly Nat wouldn't have helped with the Raft breakout if she wanted to send them right back there, right? The quinjet must be on autopilot, she decided. Finally she focused back on Natasha and pointed at the chocolate pudding cup. Chocolate reminded her of Pietro, because he loved it and would be so pleased whenever he got some. He always shared it with me too, she thought.

Scott ambled over and sat on the floor beside her. "You made that Damian dude help us, you know," he said, clearly pleased and entertained by this.

"Best thing on the Raft, period," Clint added, still staring out the window. "You missed him punching Ross after we boarded the jet."

I didn't know what else to do, I hate him, and he...scared me. I'm only sorry I couldn't do it sooner. Maybe Scott wouldn't have gotten hurt then. Wanda wasn't quite sure how she should react to that. In the moment she had not even been sure how much it would work, if at all. Also, she had consciously attempted to make it only last a certain period of time, but who knew if that had been successful, either? But she was not at all sorry for messing with that man's mind, nor that he had then punched Ross, which was a rather satisfying mental picture. She sort of hoped he would get punished for helping them escape, actually, whether that was wrong of her to think or not. I need to ask Nat about it. I would trust her to be objective about whether or not I should have done that, or if I did potentially mess up and leave that hateful little man altered permanently, what repercussions might happen from that. Scott and Clint were clearly biased. That was nice that she hadn't disturbed them, but very unhelpful.

Natasha was merely watching her teammates with a mixed expression. "I don't care that you did that, because he deserved much worse, but you'd better hope it wears off. If it doesn't, we just left obvious evidence behind for Ross and his minions to use against you."

"Ross is an idiot," Scott announced.

"Yeah, an idiot with power. He's not going to think, I'll leave the rogue Avengers alone now, since they successfully escaped the Raft, including the person he considers a walking nuke. He's just going to see that Wanda destroyed one of his men's free will while barely conscious herself, and use it to tarnish her reputation and ours further." Natasha gently pressed a spoon into Wanda's hand and gave her a smile. "I'll hold the pudding cup until you're finished. Do you need help?"

Wanda blinked at Nat, feeling a bit overwhelmed. This...protective Natasha was not exactly new, because the other times Wanda had been injured on a mission, Nat became oddly protective of her then too...but it still felt strange. The Black Widow hadn't even scolded her for breaking the mutual 'no mind tricks if you're going to be an official member of the team, period' agreement. "I...used..." she shakily pointed at her friend's head. I was not supposed to do that.

"I know you did. Do you think I should be disappointed or angry about it, considering the circumstances? I don't think so."

I don't know. Wanda shakily put her spoonful of pudding in her mouth. It was absolutely delicious, even if swallowing made her throat hurt.

Natasha gently guided Wanda's hand for more pudding this time, since she seemed shaky enough to spill if she continued doing it on her own. "I think considering what I know about the Raft and how we found you in there, it would be unreasonable to be upset with you for using something to help you survive. The only thing that bothers me is that you accidentally made Clint feel your pain more than once while you were in there. Is that-"

"...What?" Wanda stared at Nat, horrified. She had done what?The only time she knew something like that had happened was when she'd been trying to figure out just how much she could communicate telepathically without setting that awful shock collar off. I didn't think I did anything like that at all since then. I promised it wouldn't happen again, too. I messed up. Again.

"Nat, I thought I specifically told you not to tell her about that, dammit," Clint snapped.

"If it's something Wanda's powers can do unintentionally and she has no idea it even happened, she needs to know about it so it doesn't occur again. I'm not upset with her, she just needs to know."

"Well, she certainly doesn't need to know right now. Maybe tell the poor kid when she can freaking feed herself without help!" Clint was extremely peevish at this point, and he knew quite well why Nat had told Wanda about it, because it would, admittedly, be very bad if the incident had a repeat performance, and she did need to know. Eventually. But he did not want her to know right now all the same.

"Maybe that is exactly why I told her now, because she's in pain and her power might want to share the burden in an effort to protect her. Do you want that to happen later when she's in public somewhere, still hiding her identity, and she accidentally shares pain with some random stranger in a grocery store and her eyes glow or something? No, we don't!" Now Natasha sounded frustrated too.

"We're alone, the only people she could subject to that is us. Heaven forbid she makes a friend know what she feels like right now. I don't even care if she does do it again. She didn't need to know right now!"

"Guys, Wanda is right here, let's not argue, please," Scott said quickly. "You're freaking her out, and you woke up Sam and Steve. Quit all the shouting."

"What is going on? We take a nap and everything falls apart in the meantime?" Steve asked.

Wanda had her eyes scrunched shut, the plastic spoon for the pudding now snapped in half and crackling with red magic on the floor. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, please stop yelling, I'm not there anymore. Stop it. A strangled "please make it stop!" finally escaped her, and made her start coughing. "...'m sorry. So s-sorry." I don't want them to fight. Didn't that happen enough already?

Those pictures from the Lagos incident that had been shown to her were branded into her head at this point. One of them had been of that injured little girl bawling and clutching the leg of an older boy. The two were standing next to a suspiciously human-shaped lump hidden beneath a tarp. A body. Maybe it wasn't those kids' parents, but certainly it was some adult they loved, and she had made a mistake and that person was dead now. I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't have been dumped in the Raft, but they should have just killed me. I should have run back in the airport and let them. I should have done it myself.

The emergency hatch. She would just get to the emergency hatch and dump herself out and it would be much easier for the others to stay safely hidden on the run without her anyway. She had hurt Clint without even knowing she had done so. What kind of horrible person promised her teammates she wouldn't use her mind tricks on them or anyone else, and then made one of them be in pain just because she was hurting? Without particularly deciding to do so consciously, Wanda started trying to get up, and immediately someone was hugging her and holding her trembling body still. Natasha. Natasha was holding her, giving her a hug. What now? Just let me go, it doesn't matter. You probably should. Why does she care at all? She knows what I did. She even wanted to ask me about it and me hurting Clint disturbed her. Obviously. She won't care any more and she shouldn't.

That isn't right either, the tiny logical bit of her poked at the overwhelming guilt drowning her inside. It was Rumlow's bomb, not mine. Those poor kids would have lost someone anyway. They might have been killed too along with that person if I hadn't done anything and at least...decreased the damage. And Nat cares. She is concerned. Not angry.

The dark part of her wondered if those kids would be better off dead too, because if they were dead then they wouldn't have to be hurting because someone they loved was dead and they were still alive. Pietro would think that was absurd. When she had expressed thoughts like that to him after their parents were killed, he had been horrified and confused and didn't understand. Then he said they had to live because their parents weren't there, to live and be happy because their parents would want them to be able to do that. Pietro was always optimistic, while she was the pessimistic, realistic one.

Well, if she was always pessimistic, then maybe she would always be less likely to be disappointed or hurt. Except somehow, she always ended up disappointed or hurt or both anyway, so what was the point? Pietro isn't here. He would not want me to give up now, just because I feel terrified and guilty. I know that. And...I don't want to give people like Ross what they want. He would be delighted if I killed myself. "My power...is...broken," she forced out. There. The rest of the team did need to know that, because they didn't need a severely injured, useless person hanging around in the first place.

Natasha didn't let go of Wanda yet; her younger teammate was still shaking, and it was clear she was crying. "You're actually the only other one of us here besides Cap with built-in enhancements not involving your signature suit, weapons, or other skills. Even if your power is 'broken' somehow, which it can't be because I saw you use it, you don't need it to be a member of the team."

I don't have nearly as much training as the rest of you. I'm still just the Sokovian refugee girl with strange abilities none of us know much about. Not even me. Wanda did not say anything else aloud or attempt signing a response either, but that comment sort of made her feel better, at least. I don't want to disappoint Pietro. Don't, don't, don't do that. I have to stay here. I have to.

"You do know why I thought you should know about what Clint still thinks I shouldn't have informed you about at all, don't you?"

Wanda nodded a little as Nat settled her back against the pillows. Because I have to know about things like that whether I want to or not, to prevent it from happening again. But...I don't even know when or how it happened other than that one time.

"Not that I know much about how whatever psionic pain you made Clint feel worked, but I doubt it's in danger of happening again. You never did it to Lang or me, and you never spoke to us telepathically, either." Sam looked thoughtful, watching the group. "Therefore it has something to do with intentionally speaking to someone in that way, yes? You had enough presence of mind even after all that time on the Raft to choose not to open a mental channel of sorts on us, because you couldn't ask us for permission to do so without revealing you could access a little of your power, even in that situation. I'm guessing you already had permission from Hawkeye previously in case of emergency, so you did talk to him that way."

Wanda's pained gaze flicked to Clint, who was scowling but appeared calm now. That's true. I think.

"Is it okay if I share what I know?"

Wanda frowned at him but nodded slightly again. He should not be asking if he could share when he was the one she'd put through...whatever it was.

Clint patted her good hand before explaining. "It has something to do with Wanda's power reacting to her body being subjected to those repeated shocks. The first time, she was clearly trying to figure out how much she could project her words before setting that collar off. That, I think Wanda does know, because she apologized and it never happened again that way. She was speaking in spurts of three or four words every time she talked to me afterwards. Whatever energy from her power opening and closing that mental channel used, it was quick or small enough not to set it off, if she remained within those parameters." He paused, considering how to explain the rest without potentially sending Wanda into another crying or panicking episode. "The other times, she was trying to distract herself. A couple times the timing was such that she was messaging me simultaneously while they shocked her again. This broke the connection but sent what she was feeling for a moment as it did so. I'm not going to blame her for her power going a little haywire while she was literally being tortured. That's ridiculous. Honestly considering how freaking often they were doing that to her, she shouldn't be alive, let alone thinking and communicating clearly. I think Wanda's magic makes her sturdier than an ordinary person being subjected to that, even though it also makes that power behave strangely."

"So you were using it right under Ross's nose repeatedly and he never knew about it?" Steve asked curiously.

Y-E-S, Wanda signed, looking a tiny bit pleased. She had found that more than a bit satisfying in a twisted sort of way, especially since he had eventually ended up thinking she had passed out or gone catatonic, because she wouldn't respond, and gotten mad and hurt her again but then immediately ceased the interrogation session afterwards. P-L-A-N? I want to know what's going on before I end up passing out or falling asleep again. And... She glanced at Clint again and added, Y-O-U O-K? S-O-R-R-Y.

"Just mad as a wet hen. Of course I'm okay, you didn't give me your injuries, it just is infuriating that I knew-know-exactly what you're feeling and couldn't do a thing about it. You do know it's safe to talk now, right? You don't have to keep signing unless you want to."

Wanda considered this information; she still didn't want to talk. I do know it's safe. I don't want to explain that it hurts to speak and that part of me is scared to talk. I K-N-O-W, she settled on finally, closing tired eyes again. That was good enough.

Clint was still concerned, but decided not to press further, since it seemed likely that Wanda might be avoiding talking simply because it pained her to do so and she didn't want to admit it. If she continued not speaking even after her wrecked throat healed some, then there would be other issues, but for now he would let her be. Maybe he would teach her more signs besides the letters later, if she liked signing so much. "It would be nice to know the plan here."

"We're en route to one of Nat's safe houses in Norway," Steve explained. "So we're going to drop at least two of us there. And regroup and pick up more supplies, obviously."

"Why are we not just all staying there?" Scott asked curiously.

"Because Tony actually helped with part of this plan, and has a big rural house in upstate New York set up as...an extended summer vacation getaway of sorts temporarily, for Clint's family. There were contingencies, however, and one of them is that I don't go there. He also can't interfere if the government does catch us, though he's working on negotiating some kind of house arrest for Sam, Clint, and Scott." Steve paused before continuing, "We can't all go to New York anyway; it would be absurd to have six mismatched people that just happened to be rogue Avengers visit that vacation property."

"Buddy system is in place. We'll split up into groups eventually and stay under the radar that way, meeting up to rendezvous and check in once a week. For now, a couple of us to New York, one of whom needs to be Wanda; the rest to the Norway safe house, one of whom needs to be Steve. We have a list to work from as far as that goes and fake IDs ready to go," Natasha explained. "For now, we just need to decide who's going where."

Wanda closed her good hand into a fist; she did not trust that plan one bit and did not want to go to this vacation house at all, even if it had Laura and the children in it. Stark would probably rat her out in a second if he thought she was one of the ones hiding there. And it was too close to the Compound, if it was in upstate New York...wasn't it? Though, nobody would assume they would hide so close in the first place, either, so in an odd sort of way, it did make sense. N-O-T N-Y, she signed, clearly frustrated.

"That's ironically the safest place for you right now, Wanda. I knew you weren't going to like that plan, but there isn't another reasonably safe option until you're recovered enough to make a quick exit if necessary. Let's say we go to another safe house and get feds on our tails. There is simply no feasible way to safely move from place to place with you and remain incognito easily until you're better. You'll stick out too much." Steve nodded toward Nat, wanting her to convince their younger teammate. Wanda did not just appear distrustful or frightened; she also looked a bit angry.

"Wouldn't you like seeing the children? You can hang out with them and watch TV with Lila. You wouldn't have to see Tony. He's trying to help make up for what happened; he doesn't want to send you back to the Raft," Nat said firmly.

Then why is he trying to get house arrest for Scott, Clint, and Sam, and not Nat, Steve, or me? Wanda knew there was no way Stark could negotiate such a thing for Steve or her even if he wanted to because built-in enhancements, especially her, but that did not excuse him not doing that for Natasha. Though...I suppose he could have offered and she said no thanks. I don't think Nat would want that. She likes helping people too much to give that up, even if it means breaking the law. And she doesn't have children to return home to like Clint and Scott do. Rather than expressing any of her other suspicions or feelings, she said the one thing that most certainly did not have an explanation or excuse. "I know...Stark Industries m-made...that collar," she whispered, voice still raspy, but she didn't want to sign all of that, and she wanted Scott to understand without someone translating the finger spelling for him, because she knew he didn't know them. Explain that. I know, because I saw it in a mirror and Ross most certainly liked showing me when I wouldn't believe him because I didn't want to believe Stark would do something like that.

There was a tangible, stifling silence, and Wanda wondered if maybe she shouldn't have said that. Maybe it was manipulative and wrong to point that out, when the team must know already, and it didn't need to be said again.

"She has a point," Clint said after a minute, "and if she doesn't want to go, I don't blame her. How do we know we're not sending ourselves into a trap?" He wanted to see Laura and the kids very much himself, but that seemed a little too convenient and pleasant to be innocuous. "A vacation house? That just happens to have my family in it, who anyone would know that I want to see, and we're supposed to just trust that taking Wanda there when she's in this condition is safe? In upstate New York no less? Seems suspect."

"Could we video chat Tony?" Sam suggested. "Or, did he provide some kind of video message for us? Personally, I'm with them. It does seem a little too good to be true."

"There is a short video message actually. I can pull it up from the cockpit now."

For the first time Wanda thought she was rather glad she couldn't get up to go see this video; she pretended she had fallen asleep. She had no desire to see Stark's face right now. I don't hate him, but I don't want to see or hear him right now, either.

"Trained spy here, Wanda. You know I know you're not asleep," Nat said quietly. "Are you sure you don't want to see too? I know you don't like having decisions made for you."

That is what is going to happen anyway, because I can't go anywhere on my own right now whether I want to or not. D-O-E-S-N-T M-A-T-T-E-R, Wanda signed tiredly after a moment. She did not want to move unless she absolutely had to anyway, because it hurt too much, and she didn't particularly want to see or hear the message, either. It wasn't like seeing it herself was going to change whatever the others decided on. D-O-N-T W-A-N-T T-O S-E-E T-O-N-Y.

"All right. I've seen the message already, so I'll stay here." Natasha sat beside her, offering a juice box like Scott had been drinking before. "Seems Scott drank a few too many and this is the last one. He'll have a sugar high."

Wanda still didn't smile, but her eyes brightened a bit at that comment, because it amused her. The juice was just regular apple juice, but it was sweet and tart and delicious all at the same time, and she did not care one bit that it wasn't particularly cold anymore. The liquid helped soothe her sore throat, and she thought maybe she could talk a tiny bit without making it hurt more. "What made y-you...switch sides?"

"Do you think a government that condones what happened in the Raft should be overseeing the Avengers? That enhanced people should have their privacy violated simply because of who they are?"

Wanda shook her head slightly, unsure what to say to that. Nat had been on the other side before, and this did not explain why she had changed her mind. "Why join Stark...then?"

"I believed having oversight could be a good thing, but this certainly isn't the oversight we need. A compromise is what we should get. Maybe we should have oversight in an ideal world, yes, but...it's not, and we still have to live in it." Natasha was glad Wanda seemed to be talking a little more, even if she still only spoke in a raspy whisper. "I am so sorry it took three weeks to get you four out. We couldn't come sooner without risking blowing the entire plan or not having fake IDs and paperwork ready for all of us. I also was a bit occupied with a strange family reunion of sorts..."

I figured that much. And family reunion? I shall have to ask about that later. Wanda was not at all upset with them for not coming sooner. She could logically process any number of reasons why it may have been impossible to execute an escape plan successfully sooner. Heck, it probably had to do with making sure that stupid vacation house plan would not fall apart. Maybe Clint's family needed to be settled in for their "vacation" for some time so that the timing of their arrival there didn't just conveniently coincide with the Raft escape. She just wished very much that she had not let herself end up in that horrible prison in the first place, where it was too late for her to do anything to escape. I-S N-Y H-O-U-S-E R-E-A-L-L-Y S-A-F-E? she signed slowly. I do trust Nat. She wouldn't purposely send me somewhere she thought was unsafe. She couldn't have possibly known what the Raft people would do to me.

"It is as safe as it can be, yes. Tony does not hate you, Wanda. He wouldn't set this up and then rat you out just out of spite. If anything, he can't do that even if he wanted to. He'll get in trouble himself." Natasha went to find a few ice packs. Wanda hadn't made a peep of complaint about any pain, but it was growing more obvious that she was merely pretending she was okay the longer she stayed awake, even though she was just resting. Other than that episode earlier, the girl seemed strangely...fine. The appearing fine but not moving was more suspicious than if Wanda had been expressing she was hurting, crying the entire time she was awake, or repeatedly trying to get up...the latter of which she had done every other time Nat had seen Wanda injured in any way. "I can't give you any pain meds yet since we don't know what other drugs might still be in your system from the Raft, but you can have some ice packs, at least."

"I'm fine." And he could just claim I mind-controlled him or something, and most certainly everyone would believe him.

"You are not fine, you aren't pulling the 'I'm fine, I'm getting up now' nonsense routine you always do."

Wanda thought this was rather unfair that she should get scolded for that when she'd seen Natasha do the same thing, the others too, really, but she kept this to herself. Mostly she was just worried if Clint came back and there were ice packs on her, he would get all mad, jumpy, snappy all over again because he would get even more concerned. "Don't want t' m-make...Clint upset," she whispered.

"He's just concerned about you, all the more so because he does know exactly what you feel like. I don't think giving you some ice packs is going to make him any more upset than he already is." Nat returned with three ice packs, asking where Wanda wanted them.

Wanda's first thought was that she wanted one on her neck, but she also remembered ice was bad for burns. A-R-M, she signed.

"You know you can vent about whatever's really bothering you. Whenever you're ready. You never, ever reach out for help without being prodded repeatedly into doing so, so I'm making it clear that you can."

I don't want to discuss anything. Maybe if I ignore it and shove it away, it will stop hurting...No it won't. I should know that already. I M-I-S-S P-I-E-T-R-O, Wanda signed finally, dropping the now-empty juice box on the floor.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Nat asked carefully, mostly expecting a no, because Wanda usually did not talk about her twin or how she missed him or anything at all about Pietro when she was sad or otherwise upset; she usually only talked about him voluntarily when she was happy, or at least...mostly happy.

"No," said Wanda predictably, and wouldn't say any more. But it's...nice to know I could talk if I do want to, at least.

Natasha thought Wanda being imprisoned in the Raft with who knew what being done to her probably reminded her of being with Hydra, which would explain why she was mentioning Pietro now...because he had been there with her. "You don't have to talk right now, but you do sometime. Bug any of us whenever you're ready."

O-K.

They sat for a bit in a pleasant silence waiting for the rest of the team to come back. Wanda could hear them talking but did not particularly care enough to decipher what they were saying. Besides, she could feel herself fading into sleep for real now. At least she would not have to worry about some dream setting her magic off and then jerking her awake with another shock from that awful collar. I am safe, I am not there any longer, she reminded herself firmly.

Natasha waited until she was sure Wanda had completely fallen asleep before going to check what the others were up to, leaving some water within reach in case Wanda woke up and wanted more. "She's asleep for now. Have we decided who's going where yet?"

"You, Clint, and Wanda will head to New York once we collect supplies from the safe house, like we planned originally before the escape," Steve explained. "Scott and Sam will stay at the safe house. I'll come so I can drop you three off and bring the quinjet back. Wanda doesn't want to hear or watch Tony's message for herself, I assume."

"She just doesn't want anything to do with him right now. I wasn't going to make her. Maybe she'll watch the message later, but if not, I see no reason to push it."

A/N: Annnd they're out!

I wanted Tony to help from behind the scenes a little, hence this plan. I have no idea what would have possessed him to have Stark Industries create that shock collar, which we know it was because it SAYS it on it right on-screen, but I also really don't believe he'd want Wanda harmed, even if the two of them have some, ah, bad history to say the least on both sides. So I figure maybe it's a prototype thing he didn't mean to actually have created and he feels guilty about it, so he's going to help make up for it by providing a temporary safe space. *shrug* idk! But I wanted to make up an explanation for the whole thing and this is what I came up with lol. Plus now we will get Family Friendship Fluff scenes and I am very excited to write and share those:)

I know I did not focus a whole lot on the action sequences of the group escaping, but since I'm mostly focusing on Wanda, who obviously would not process a lot of those details very well since she's hurt pretty badly, I figured it made more sense to keep it limited to what she knows, which is not a lot, though it was great fun to let her do that to Damian finally heheheh xD I...may have had that sequence planned for AGES lol.

Next chapter coming soon:)