A/N: Thanks to everyone who's followed/favorited and/or is reading but not reviewing:)
"I think it came out quite nicely, if I do say so myself," Natasha said, once they had successfully finished Wanda's hair several hours later, after they had eaten and slept for awhile. "Red hair suits you. Do you want to see?"
"No, I trust you. I am sure it looks much, much better than...than when Pietro and I bleached his hair. He looked ridiculous." Wanda sounded genuinely happy thinking about that memory, and she twisted a bit of her own newly red locks in her fingers. From what she could see without a mirror, the color was a bit different than she'd been picturing originally, but she liked it anyway. She had no wish to look in a mirror right now; she knew the rest of her was still a mess and didn't particularly want to look at it if she didn't have to. "I wouldn't let him touch mine, after that." He would probably call me 'carrots' and pretend to be offended I let Nat mess with my hair and not him. And I'd probably snap at him a bit for it and then apologize five minutes later. Wanda merely nodded when Natasha asked if she wanted to go back to bed, and didn't protest when her friend carried her back. She was sure she could walk that little bit from the sink to her bed if she had help, but she still felt so tired anyway, so she stayed quiet about it. "I still feel like half of me is...missing."
"I think that is normal. You two were practically joined at the hip. I could see that and I never even really got to know Pietro." Natasha was deeply surprised Wanda was willingly talking about her twin all of a sudden, but she seemed content to do so at the moment, smiling although her eyes had tears shining in them again.
"I just miss him. I still really, really miss him. Even his dumb teasing." Wanda hesitated but then added in a very different tone of voice, clearly disillusioned and somewhat surprised, "Nat, that prison was worse than Hydra."
"Because Pietro wasn't there with you?" Natasha asked slowly.
Wanda shook her head slightly and turned away onto her side, this time making sure not to lie on her injured arm. Not exactly. "For me, yes, but..." she searched for the correct explanation, not wanting to sound like she thought that terrorist organization was good, because it certainly was not. But it just seemed disturbing and wrong to her that a first-world country's government-sanctioned max security prison was worse than being experimented on by terrorists. Sure, she and Pietro had volunteered to be there, but neither of them had any idea whatsoever what they were getting into, either. And once you were there, you could not just back out and leave. You had seen too much. You cooperated or you got executed, and while the twins had survived the experiments, all of the other volunteers had not been so lucky. "There was not a...a thing to...sensory deprive you there, anyway," she said awkwardly. She blinked, squeezing a handful of the faded bedspread in her fist. I'm not there. Nat isn't even going to make me talk if I don't want to. I brought it up, not her. If I want to be quiet, I can, Wanda reminded herself. "I don't know. I just. I think it..." she felt her voice shaking to the point she did not feel comfortable trying to explain further, so she turned over on her back again so she could sign instead. K-I-N-D-E-R T-O K-I-L-L. W-O-R-S-E T-H-A-N E-L-S-E.
Natasha frowned. Usually Wanda seemed to actually take the time to sign enough words that her point was clear, but she had left so much out this time it took a moment to understand what she meant, between that and the awkward verbal description she had made. "You were put into some sort of sensory deprivation on the Raft, and it was worse to you than anything else that happened, either there or while you were with Hydra?"
Relieved that her point had gotten across successfully at least, Wanda nodded. "Much, much worse." Wanda's hand shook badly, but she did sign the details she could remember. The freezing table. The rough straps holding her down so she couldn't move at all. The pitch black darkness and the complete lack of sound. The disorientation that felt heightened by whatever drugs they had injected her with. It took awhile, and she could feel her own heartbeat speeding up as she tried to explain herself, but this felt like it needed to be said somehow. Wanda realized she genuinely just wanted to get it off her chest. It was nice to let someone else know what had happened, someone who wouldn't fuss but would understand. She could not tell Clint about this, because he would feel even more guilty and upset that he hadn't been able to protect her, and while the rest of the team wasn't around for now anyway, there was absolutely no way she would ever share those little details with any of them. "I, um...I was able to...talk to Clint. In m-my head. It...helped some."
"Do you know how long you were left like that?" Natasha asked gently, suspicious she already knew by inferring such from the camera footage.
"I don't know exactly. I just...know I tried to escape day 6. I failed, there was...long...hurting me...can't remember..." she closed her eyes, trying to both think and not freak herself out. I am not there. I never could remember everything. "I don't even know if I ever...passed out completely. I can't remember details, just...a lot of yelling a-and...pain. It went on a long time. At some point they...threw me on...that table, left me strapped there, and...Clint said it was still sixth day, bedtime, later." A-F-T-E-R T-R-I-E-D T-A-L-K T-O H-I-M F-O-R W-H-I-L-E. "They put me back day 8, morning." That much she did remember, because she could remember him saying 'day 8, morning' more than once. Wanda watched Nat curiously; she had been wondering if she had just been weirdly sensitive to that particular incident, because it wasn't like anyone was in that room continuing to physically hurt her the entire time or something, but seeing Natasha look genuinely horrified as she sat next to her seemed to imply otherwise.
"I think you quite literally saved yourself by talking to him, because it helped protect your mind from being affected as much by it. That's...yeah. You're not being sensitive. Thank you for trusting me enough to share." That is why she looked so disoriented and...off, on top of all her injuries, when I saw the day 8 footage. This.
"Please don't...tell the others. Especially not Clint."
Natasha frowned. "I think he already knows what they did to you during that incident, more or less."
"He doesn't know what it...did to me," Wanda whispered. "I pretended I didn't care. I even...taunted Ross about it." And it scared me. That really, really disturbed me and I don't know why. "He did not...do it again, either. Just the once."
"Well, you did that so that he would be less likely to do it to you again, I'm sure. Not much use as a torture if the victim remains entirely unbothered, is it. You confused him enough that you prevented a second occurrence." Natasha paused, looked down at her own hands, and then back at Wanda. "Look, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. We...trained in a sort of sensory deprivation chamber in the Red Room, 'to strengthen our minds and be prepared'. It's not something to mess around with. Some girls lost their heads entirely. You'd hallucinate after only a few hours. You could scream and scream and nobody was coming. You couldn't hear yourself. The limit was six hours for us, if that gives you an idea. Even there, where girls are a dime a dozen and worth little. So I know what that can do to somebody. Obviously none of us there had your enhancements though, so we couldn't cope with it in the same way you chose to." She shook her head and added, "I was not just trying to make you feel better by saying your enhancements protected you. I mean that quite literally. No wonder your weird magic is still behaving strangely now. It's probably still stressed out from that, from protecting your head. It sounds like you were trapped like that for a good 36 hours or so, on top of everything done to you in the morning during the failed escape attempt. That is way, way too long, especially considering you were injured, and there were no breaks or food or water."
I suppose that makes sense. Whatever Wanda had expected Natasha to say, it wasn't that. She'd rather just expected a 'sorry that happened to you, that really sucks' and nothing more, nothing less. "Thank you for...listening...understanding. And, um...f-for trusting me." Wanda closed her eyes again, trying and failing to prevent tears from falling. She told me that about something that happened to her before, because she knew it would help, and she didn't have to do that.
"I told you I'd listen whenever you were ready to talk, back on the quinjet," Natasha informed her.
"I know," Wanda said quietly, "but you didn't have to...share your bad experiences t-to...listen to me."
"Maybe not, but it helped, didn't it? I don't exactly freely share what the Red Room was like. You've...seen bits and pieces of it, I know. I used to mind, but frankly once you joined the team and I got to know you, it was different." Natasha went to lie down on her own bed since Wanda didn't seem so upset anymore and was just glad someone was listening to her. "You're the only other female on the team, and you remind me of myself and someone else I care about very much."
This comment reminded Wanda of the 'family reunion' comment Natasha had made before. "The family you mentioned before?" she asked curiously.
"I have a little sister. Not by blood, she was just another child trafficked into the Red Room, same as I was. But we lived in Ohio for three years as kids, undercover as a normal American family with Melina, an older Widow, and Alexei, who was...friends of a sort with the head of the Red Room. It was honestly the best years I had as a child. Yelena was so little then she didn't even know it wasn't real. Once that mission ended, I...lost her and we were separated." Nat paused and went on, "Yelena reminds me of you. Long story short, all of us reunited and freed the last of the Widows. Red Room is truly gone now."
Wanda smiled at this. That was something very, very worth having to wait three weeks for help to arrive on the Raft. She knew that whatever details had happened with Natasha's family of sorts had very little to do with the amount of time the rescue had taken, but that was worth waiting for to her. "I'm glad you found her. Did you...like seeing Melina and Alexei?" They basically trafficked little kids. If Melina was another Widow, she was a victim too, but that doesn't explain this Alexei man's behavior.
"Mixed, I suppose. They participated in trafficking us as kids, obviously, but...still. I believe they genuinely cared about Yelena and me, just not enough. I don't know. If we can do so safely, I'd like you to meet Yelena. She would like you." Natasha sighed, staring up at the peeling ceiling plaster. This was much sooner than she had planned to tell Wanda about Yelena, but Wanda had asked about the family reunion bit, and Nat figured it would be better to just explain now than to be cagey about it. "She knows we successfully got you four out of that prison and I know she wants me to come back and help try to track down all of the liberated Widows' families, but dragging her in with us would turn her into a fugitive on the run too, and potentially the rest of the girls rescued from the Red Room too."
"She would want you back anyway," Wanda said quietly. I would not care one bit if I was putting myself in danger so I could see Pietro again. "You should go see her. You could easily do that if you drop me somewhere." There was no doubt in Wanda's mind that Natasha could easily visit her sister without being caught...if she was alone.
"I will not leave you anywhere on your own unless I know you're safe. Yelena is safe right now on her own. She's working with Melina and Alexei to help the girls we freed. You, on the other hand, will not be safe right now if I leave you on your own."
"Then I will have to get stronger fast." If I can't have my sibling back, I want to at least...not be preventing Nat from being with hers.
Wanda woke up in the morning to Natasha gently shaking her shoulder. Though they had decided to do the hair dyeing and just talked for awhile in what was pretty much the middle of the night, she did not really feel much more tired than she did normally, either. She blinked sleepily, reorienting herself to current setting: shabby but pleasant and warm cheap hotel room, on the run with Natasha. No cold cell, nothing restraining her again, no shock collar constantly paining her.
Wanda was very tired of having to consciously remind herself she was safe every time she woke up.
"Do you think you'd be all right while I grab us some breakfast from the hotel lobby? If not, we do have food to eat in here already, but if possible, I'd like us to take advantage of the free continental breakfast so that our supplies will last longer, just in case we can't go back to the vacation house as planned," Nat said now.
Wanda wondered again why these hotel breakfasts were called continental breakfasts, but she did not say this. Feeling a bit more sure of herself than she had the day before with the car ride and everything else, she told Natasha she did not mind being on her own for a few minutes. Maybe it was the new hair.
Natasha was a little surprised Wanda seemed to be fine with the idea, but very glad, too. "I'll be right back with something for us, then. Here's your phone. You have any issues, anything at all, you text or call my current burner phone. It doesn't have to be an emergency. Don't try to follow me. I'll leave your bags right here on your bed easy to reach."
"Okay." Unlike the day before when Natasha went into the gas station and booked the motel room, Wanda did not feel like she was forcing herself to hold it together this time. I would still have trouble if I had to wait alone in the car, but in here is fine. The lights are on and I don't feel...closed in, either.
"All right then."
The second Natasha was gone, Wanda instinctively dug around in the duffel Sam had packed for her in search of that small gun. I'm not supposed to use any magic and I would scare myself if I tried using that taser right now. She checked to make sure it was loaded and the safety was on before shoving it into her hoodie pocket. This was better; most likely no one was going to come bother her while Natasha was gone for ten minutes or something, but knowing she was not unarmed even without accessing her own powers was helpful. Wanda was not sure how good her aim would be without the use of one hand anyway, even without the problem that she was still shaky, but it would be better than nothing.
Wanda waited a couple minutes and then decided she did, in fact, want to see her hair in the mirror. The short distance to the mirror over the sink didn't look too daunting. She could probably handle that; she would just keep her hand on the wall to balance herself. I should wait until Nat comes back. If I did fall, I would probably scare myself again like I did at the vacation house. She would let me try on my own if I said I wanted to. And my ankle still hurts.
Instead of doing that, Wanda looked in the backpack Vision had brought her. In the largest outside pocket, she found a very, very fat large yellow envelope. Where did all of this money come from? I never had this much in my life. She'd been getting a small stipend while staying at the Compound training and working over the last year, and rarely spent much of even that, considering everything she might need was available at the Compound, but this was...a lot. This was certainly not her own savings she had been keeping hidden in her room back there. The outside of the envelope simply said, 'keep it, no strings attached' and nothing else.
Wanda frowned and shoved the envelope back into the backpack out of sight. Did Vis know Tony Stark put that in there? There's no one else that would put literal thousands of dollars in there and stuff it in an envelope with a note like that. She had not even tried counting it yet, but the glance inside looked like it was stuffed ridiculously full of US hundred dollar bills. If there was anywhere near as much in there as it looked, she could stretch that to last for a long, long time, even if she split it up for all of the rogue Avengers.
She thought she would much rather have the team back together again than a pile of what was certainly guilt money.
Wanda was still staring at the backpack a few minutes later when she heard a knock on the door. She slipped her good hand into her hoodie pocket for the gun, but it was only Natasha returning with the breakfast, so she withdrew her hand and relaxed. "There is an envelope full of money in there," Wanda said, pointing at her backpack.
"What?"
"I had about three thousand saved back...at the Compound. So...I thought maybe Vis just...brought me that, since he knew where I...hid it. In my room. This is n-not mine." Wanda reached in and fished the envelope back out, dropping it on the bed. I don't know what to think. I should be grateful, but I'm...annoyed and a bit confused.
Natasha glanced at the envelope and was clearly trying to hold back laughter. "I'd say you just got a Stark-sealed apology," she said matter-of-factly. "That's certainly Tony's handwriting. Did you count that?"
Wanda shook her head, her expression still startled and mildly irritated. "I don't want it. I'd rather have a...a real apology a-and explanation," she said quietly. And I want to know if Vis knew about this and didn't tell me. "And have the team back together."
"...Why is your gun in your pocket?" Nat asked now, looking closely at her younger teammate. "Was there an issue?"
"No, I just...felt safer." Wanda blinked slowly and put the gun back in the duffel. I don't need that now. Nat is back and there is nothing wrong right now. She dumped the contents of that envelope out on the bed and just stared at it. While she knew however much this was genuinely wasn't a whole lot to Tony the billionaire, it seemed like a ton to her.
"Girl, you have at least 100k there. Nice."
Wanda began separating the piles with Nat; once they were finished, they were at 150,000. Wanda continued staring at it in distaste, feeling stupid and guilty for doing so. They did need money and now they had some. A lot of it. "Can we...divide it and s-send some to...the rest of the team?" Wanda asked finally.
Natasha hesitated and helped her put all of the bills away again. "I think this is meant for you, Wanda. Logically there is nothing any of us can do to help you cut a deal, whether we signed or not. Money goes fast when you're on the run. Even if you stayed in worse places than this motel-let's round down and say, fifty per night-you're already at 350 for a week, 1400 for a month. That's not counting food, clothes, emergency supplies of any kind, or anything else."
"I don't think Pietro and I had the equivalent of even five percent of that...all of the time we were on our own...and Tony just stuffed that in an envelope." Wanda sounded baffled and frustrated, not quite sure what she should think.
"Wanda, you and Pietro were starving in the streets. Just because we're on the run now doesn't mean you have to have...nothing. Keep it."
"Did he give you any before you a-and Steve got us out?" Wanda asked.
"Well, no, but-"
"Then he just feels guilty," Wanda replied, a slight edge in her voice. She hesitated and then asked, "Do you think it...would be okay to text Vision?" I see his new number in my contacts now. I want to ask if he knew. I hope he didn't know, because if he did, he did not tell me.
"That is risky. I'm not sure texting him is a good idea, in case someone back at the Compound gets ahold of his phone. Better save that until you can see him in person again and make sure he understands that phone cannot get into someone else's hands containing messages from you in it, regardless of what he is told or ordered to do," Natasha said firmly. "Let's eat breakfast. Deciding what you want to do with that money can wait."
AVENGERS COMPOUND
"Told you only Laura and the three Barton kids were at my vacation house. What a waste of time yesterday. We all found nothing, as I told you. You done here, Secretary Ross?" Tony said calmly. "I do have other things to do."
"For now. You need to get your robot in line, Stark. It seems...distracted," Ross said, "and the Vision is our best hope at locating the fugitives, particularly the Maximoff girl. Sorry for the intrusion at the house."
"Understood. It'll be taken care of. I want to find them as much as you do," Tony lied smoothly.
"What tech could they possibly have access to on the run that you haven't found any of them yet?"
"Uh, you do realize they have a quinjet that can't be tracked while in stealth mode and someone in the group that can mind-control people. Not my fault."
"You must have a way to contact them, at least, or you wouldn't continue working on deals for the non-enhanced fugitives."
"Still don't know their location...or locations, if they have split up."
"Then tell them you've done so and convince them to meet somewhere."
"They'll want proof it's not a trap," Tony pointed out.
"Be convincing, then."
"Say I convince them. You going to torture them again? I saw Wanda when I visited the Raft. Whatever was going on was not just containing her, like I told you before. I know what I designed, and you did not need anything else besides the collar to keep her from using her powers."
"Clearly not. She tried to escape, and she continued disturbing the guards constantly."
Drat that stubborn girl. Tony scowled, thinking that Wanda made it very, very difficult to defend her. Every time he had brought this up, Ross started talking about the escape attempt, and then after the successful rescue from the Raft, Ross brought up Wanda mind-controlling a guard into helping the rogues. "You know darn well whatever she did was because your men were torturing her," Tony pointed out flatly. And she lashes out at people that have hurt her. I should know. Though the idea that Wanda had mind-controlled someone made him shudder, some sick thing slithering in his stomach, he did not feel at all sorry for the girl's victim(s), either.
"There is no torture sanctioned on the Raft."
"Then it's happening unsanctioned and you, being in charge, should put a stop to it. She's a WMD, sure, but she's also a human being. The Raft was supposed to be containing her, not using her as torture bait to make her team talk."
"You saw all of them for yourself when you visited. They were perfectly fine and uninjured."
Tony raised one eyebrow. "The rest of them, yeah. The little witch, no. What I saw on her was not just some scrapes or whatever from Leipzig. You had her tied up like she's some wild animal."
"You sound a little too invested. Maybe you are working with the fugitives."
Tony looked Ross straight in the eyes. "Just because I don't support torturing the ex-teammates I'm pissed with does not mean I'm working with them." This was, of course, a lie, but the secretary seemed to buy it, thank goodness. "And I don't have to like or trust that Sokovian girl to tell you she was being treated like shit."
"You just work on finding them."
"Mr. Stark, you cannot let the secretary have them," Vision said, phasing into the room once Ross had left the Compound a few minutes later. "Secretary Ross is not a good man and he does not deserve the authority he has."
"Gee. Thanks for stating the obvious. Good thing you ran off yesterday," Tony deadpanned. "I knew you'd warn the ones stashed at the house. How's your girl doing?"
Vision slowly blinked synthetic blue eyes at him. "If you mean Wanda, she is not mine. She is her own person."
"Your girlfriend, then."
"I do not know if she cares for me in that way. However, she is my friend, and she is a girl."
Tony looked bemused. "Whatever you say, Casanova Toaster. Well, did she want to see you? Let you tell her my message?" he asked. "You didn't say much yesterday when you returned. She and the others fine?"
"She seemed happy I came, but she did not wish to hear any message. She said she was sorry, but she was not ready yet, and I could tell you that if I wished. Mr. Barton appeared tired and somewhat angry, but he is fine. Ms. Romanoff is fine also." Vision stopped there and did not say any more.
This was unsurprising to Tony; he sighed. "Okay, and Wanda? What about that stubborn enhanced girl?"
Vision recognized himself as being angry now, his hands clenched into red fists. "That man we are trying to appease now was torturing Wanda repeatedly. She is badly injured. I should not have allowed her to be captured."
"Vision, I told you before, if you had interfered in that airport, you would've instantly been branded a criminal too, right along with the rest, especially if you stole away with Wanda. You know she and the Winter Soldier are the ones Ross is after the most." Tony did not particularly care if Bucky was caught at all, not after Siberia, but he also did not want to send either Wanda or him to the Raft either. And that was exactly where both of them would go, too, being mentally unstable enhanced individuals both considered international fugitives.
"That would be preferable to what occurred, especially if she was going to be treated so poorly there. We have not been able to alter anything whatsoever regarding the Accords so far, because if we do, then we will be cast under suspicion as well. Letting Wanda be captured was not worth it at all. Now she is hurt, and I have repaired nothing, not for her or anyone else. First I harmed Mr. Rhodes in the airport and then I did not prevent Wanda from being harmed in the Raft. I am failing in my purpose to protect humans."
Tony rather thought the Vision was becoming more humanlike than anything else. It was also more than a little entertaining when the synthezoid proceeded to refer to everyone quite formally and then refer to Wanda by her first name, but also act like he did not think she cared about him. Vision was clearly enamored with her, and it was not just the curious fascination the synthezoid showed about most human-related things, either. Tony was mulling over the next course of action to take now, because if he didn't provide some sort of solid information soon, Ross would no longer trust him at all-he was already suspicious-and they wouldn't be able to accomplish anything whatsoever, let alone do anything to protect the rest of the broken team he was still frustrated with. He needed to continue maintaining that man's trust, at least somewhat, or his unique position right now would be ruined and he would be closely monitored himself. That would be selfishly frustrating, and make it nigh impossible to continue secretly assisting the rogues in staying hidden from behind the scenes. "Do you know where they all are now?"
"No. You know I could easily locate Wanda if I wish, but unless all of the others are with her, I would not know regardless. I am not turning her in, Mr. Stark. I am sorry," Vision said firmly.
"No, no...it's just, if she trusts you, perhaps we could technically 'allow' them to be found and set up the trap Ross wants. He can't blame us if they conveniently escape again." Tony began pacing, eyeing the synthezoid.
"Why would any of them show up if I have warned them ahead of time? There is nothing in that for anyone."
"Because one, they know if I'm caught helping them, they lose a valuable source of supplies and information. Letting them know ahead of time would mean they'd be prepared for a staged incident. Two, I'll bet I can finally get agreements for Wilson, Barton, and Lang through easily if Ross thinks he's going to get Wanda back, or apprehend the Winter Soldier in the first place. Latter isn't happening, clearly, but you can find her. He's not the only one with power to push any agreements through."
Vision blinked slowly, looking displeased. "I will not let anyone have her, let alone Secretary Ross. You did not see her at the vacation house, and you do not know all of what was happening to her in that prison."
Tony decided this must mean Wanda did indeed trust Vision, if she had been willing to tell him whatever had happened to her. "I think I saw enough when I visited the Raft. I don't mean you bring her in for real, I mean we stage a scuffle on purpose," he corrected. "If I provide accurate information of a location to that man at least once, he'll leave me be, at least for awhile. Video call her, will you? See if she picks up."
"A video call may cause her distress, especially about this. That is not conducive for healing. She would not be able to do this any time soon, regardless, even if she wished to. Wanda can barely stand without assistance at the moment." Vision rather did want to see if she would pick up, but he also knew Wanda would be upset, if not angry, if she did pick up and then she saw him with Tony. She might actually hang up on him, and he would certainly lose any trust she still had in him.
"Text and ask if she's willing to video call, then."
This seemed like a reasonable compromise. "Very well. But if she does not answer or says no, that is it. I will not press further."
Back in their little motel room, Wanda had found a channel on the room's TV playing reruns of episodes from The Dick Van Dyke Show, which made her very happy. Nat informed her she did not care what Wanda put on the television as long as it wasn't the news, so Wanda remained resting in bed watching the show, absently moving cereal pieces one by one from one side of a paper plate to the other in an effort to improve her own shaky fine motor skills at the moment. Natasha had briefly asked what she was doing, since she'd admitted she couldn't eat the crunchy cereal yet, but upon hearing Wanda's reasoning, Nat gave her an approving look and said that was a great idea. Doing this wasn't strenuous and could only be helpful. Wanda was mostly just glad to feel like she was actively doing something to help herself improve a bit even as she lay resting in bed watching TV.
Natasha lounged on her own bed checking something on her laptop Wanda sensed that her friend did not wish to share with her, and while she was curious, she did not ask, either. A sudden quiet beep made her tense and her hand flew to her neck, bracing for another shock to assault her, but nothing was happening, and there had definitely been that noise, and that noise always meant sizzling pain would follow. A wisp of scarlet swirled around her fingers defensively, ready to defend its injured owner if necessary.
"Wanda, hey, I think that noise was your phone," Natasha told her quickly. She rolled off her own bed and went to sit next to Wanda instead, pulling her hand away from her neck by the wrist and moving the plate of cereal to the nightstand. "Don't claw at those bandages. You'll make the burns worse."
The scarlet wisps remained visible, but didn't actually do anything beyond growing a bit larger in size as Wanda tried to yank her wrist free.
"I'll let go if you're not going to rip at your neck. You're safe. We're in that cheap motel, remember? Nobody is going to hurt you." Natasha was mostly concerned with simply helping Wanda, but also...if her magic reacted in any larger way because she was panicking, she would give both of them away immediately. This was not the vacation house, where there was plenty of open space to allow for a little more leeway on power mishaps. Here there was the little motel room and nothing more. If Wanda did reveal the two of them, they would need to bolt quickly, and Natasha had no idea how they'd be able to do that with Wanda's current condition, especially if she was panicking. I need to calm her down, and fast.
The lights flickered. Natasha remembered hearing staff back on the Raft freaking out, thinking Wanda had been the source of the alarm blaring and lights blinking. Well, she had not been doing that there, but she was certainly doing it now without even knowing it.
"Wanda, tell me where you are right now. Breathe, okay? We're safe." For now. "Tell me what's happening."
"I...I'm scared." The lights ceased blinking-thank goodness-and the little red wisps had vanished, but Wanda was still trying to yank her wrist free, feeling more and more weak and useless that she couldn't do so. She was aware enough to know that she did not want to use magic on Natasha to make her let go, but then she was stuck trying to pull away without doing that, and she was not strong enough. I wouldn't be strong enough anyway. I am being stupid. Wanda stopped struggling entirely and just squeezed her eyes shut, also knowing she did not need to make the death glare face at a friend. Nat would probably just raise an eyebrow at her and say that was not going to work on her, anyway. It would have worked last year, Wanda thought guiltily, but once the older Avenger had gotten to know her, this defense mechanism simply no longer worked on Natasha at all.
"That's fine, that's okay. We're just in that little motel. You were watching TV, your phone beeped. If I let go, can you leave your neck alone?" Natasha was fairly certain it was safe to release Wanda's wrist finally, but she did not want to risk her grabbing at those burns, either. "Breathe. Just breathe. You're okay."
Wanda nodded a bit, and then immediately scooted away, hunching her shoulders to her ears, ignoring that doing this made the burns on her neck hurt more. The TV continued running in the background, and she could hear Rob and Laura Petrie talking. It was not the walnut episode, stuck glitching as she and Pietro hid under the bed as children, waiting for that bomb to go off. Season 2, episode 21.
What would Mama and Papa think of me now? I lost him too. I lost Pietro. "Turn the TV off, please turn it off," she whispered. "It's not the same a-and usually it helps, but I d-don't know. Need it off."
Natasha frowned but did so, relieved that Wanda was at least communicating what she needed even if she was clearly not fine.
A second beep indicating another text had come through made Wanda cringe again, but this time she snatched at the stupid phone with a shaky hand and silenced it rather than grabbing at her neck again. Then she touched the bandages on her neck lightly, not yanking or picking at them, just touching. That collar is not there anymore. Stop it. I'm fine. Wanda finally looked up at Natasha after a minute, thinking she should probably explain this illogical, jumpy, panicked behavior. Much to her surprise, Nat didn't look confused at all; she was merely sitting there watching her, appearing as if she already knew. "The collar made a...similar noise, before it would...activate," Wanda whispered hesitantly. She did not share why one of her favorite shows had suddenly made her upset, because that was not something she knew how to articulate in the first place.
"I assumed," Natasha said with an edge in her voice. "You can just change the alert sound, and it won't happen again."
Or if I wasn't so...messed up, a phone noise would not bother me, Wanda thought, but she didn't say that. What if she was outside somewhere and someone else's phone made the same noise? Certainly having another of these episodes in public would draw all kinds of unwanted attention, even if her powers didn't react in any way. "Other people's phones w-will...make the...sound." Wanda gingerly lay down again, curled up on her side with her good hand over her ribs. I'm fine. I know where I am, and while I suppose we are not exactly safe, nobody is going to hurt me like that again. I can defend myself somewhat, and Nat is here. She would help me too if I felt like I couldn't do anything.
"They will," Nat agreed, "but now you know that sound triggers you right now, so you can put in your earbuds or something when outside unless you're sure you can handle hearing the noise. You cannot do that if you're alone because you need to be watchful and pay attention, but as long as you're with me or someone else on the team, you can."
"I want to be okay, so y-you can visit your real sister."
Natasha smiled at that comment and brushed a bit of hair out of Wanda's face. "Except, you don't have to 'be okay' for me to go visit Yelena. We just have to wait for you to physically heal enough so we can travel more easily, and we have to be careful planning such a thing so that if anything does go wrong, we can run and leave Yelena innocent and not implicated with us."
"She can just claim I mind-controlled her," Wanda pointed out, her voice neutral.
"Doing that makes you look worse to others, not better."
"It would protect her. I don't care." I do care, but if it kept her safer, then that is fine. Wanda jumped and dragged her sore body to a sitting position when they both heard a knock on the door. "What do I-"
"Lina, activate, that's all," Natasha whispered, glancing around the room to make sure nothing visible appeared suspicious. She closed her laptop quickly, made sure Wanda's duffel bag and backpack were zipped, and then went to peek out the door peephole. Okay, appears to be maintenance.
The knock came again. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but I'm here to check the lights after that brief power outage. It was kinda strange...only affected four rooms..." the man outside said. "This one, the two adjoining ones, and the one above."
"Oh, okay. They seem to be working fine now, I don't know what happened," Natasha said in her subtly higher-pitched Ana voice, and opened the door.
Wanda bit her lip, knowing that she had probably done that to the power herself during the whole freaking out about the stupid phone beeping thing. This is why I told Nat she should leave me. Now Natasha had to let this maintenance person in, because it would look incredibly suspicious if she refused, especially considering their room was the center of the incident. Wanda zipped her hoodie up the rest of the way, figuring that would hide at least some of the mess that was her neck at the moment. Her hand shook, and she wished it would stop. This was not only from her still being so much weaker than normal; she was also nervous and jumpy and it was infuriating. It doesn't matter. Maybe Lina would be scared after her "car accident". Lina has pretty red hair. She's not normal, broken me-she looks different and she is on vacation with her cousin even though she was hurt. So there.
She felt like the man's glance lingered on her just a fraction too long when he entered, but she didn't detect any ill will from him, either. This man certainly did not have the same malicious aura as the one that had wanted Natasha last night. The blurted, "Geez, what happened to you? Sorry, that's rude," confirmed this in her mind.
"It is fine. I had...a car accident," Wanda said in her Lina voice, which was not really all that much different from hers; it was just...more like she had sounded practicing speaking English as a child rather than now. She glanced at Nat, wondering if she should offer any further explanation, but the question really was rude and didn't need to be answered at all, and the man seemed to have already moved on, checking the lightbulb sockets. He only said 'that sucks' and dropped it.
Natasha smiled at her and nodded in approval. Later, they could work on simply disguising Wanda's accent entirely, but for now, this was fine.
In a few minutes, they were told nothing seemed to be amiss with the lights, as both Avengers had expected, and the man left, saying if they had any issues they should simply call the front desk. "Thanks! Have a nice day," "Ana" called out the door. Natasha sighed and leaned against it, looking over at Wanda. "We need to figure out something to help you control yourself even during one of those episodes," she said firmly. "I'm guessing you know already now, but you were messing with the lights before. Obviously this time it didn't matter, but..." Nat trailed off.
I know. "This is why I told you to leave me," Wanda answered, her green eyes sharp. "I can't control that. Didn't even know what...what I did until I...calmed down some." You could sedate me, restrain me again. That would work, she thought but didn't add.
"You also didn't use any of it on me, and I was the one hanging onto your wrist so you wouldn't tear up your neck any further. You even had a handful of energy in your hand. Back in the car last week, you shoved Clint away from you with it and you were in much worse condition then." Natasha returned to sit next to her and added, "I think it's good your magic seems to be recovering, but that also means you're going to have bigger reactions when you feel like that. I'm not leaving you behind. We just need to figure something out."
"This is why I couldn't have...normal prison conditions. Because there is...there's nothing to fix that unless..." L-I-K-E Y-O-U F-O-U-N-D M-E. Wanda's expression crumpled, and she curled up on her side again, facing away from Natasha, suddenly not wanting Nat to see her cry yet again. I am putting her in danger and I don't know how to stop that.
...I could eliminate the problem myself.
No, no, no, I can't do that. I won't. I won't. Wanda could sense Natasha's unease passively without poking at her friend's head one bit, and knowing that she was nervous made Wanda more nervous herself in a vicious sort of cycle. "I have made you nervous."
"Because I don't want us to get caught. It isn't you-"
"It is me and you know that."
"If you'd let me finish. It isn't you personally. If we weren't on the run, then you wouldn't be making me nervous."
"Lagos," Wanda muttered, thinking of those poor children in that photo again. Maybe I could give them some of that money Tony Stark sent once Nat finds them. They need help. "And the Accords. Things also...my fault." No, they aren't. They just feel like they are.
"Come on, you don't really believe that. I believe you that it feels like they are, but you know otherwise." Natasha gently patted Wanda's shoulder, and the younger girl flinched, obviously startled, but she did turn over again. "Whatever you were repeatedly told in that hellhole to try to make you believe the Accords or the Lagos incident to be your fault was concocted specifically to hurt you. I'm guessing some of it contained a thread of truth and you've latched onto that."
I already felt horribly guilty before I was ever taken to the Raft. Wanda didn't answer this; she knew, logically, that Natasha was right. Curious what these texts that she'd received earlier ever were, she opened her messages. "Vis texted me," she whispered. "Twice."
'Hello, I hope you are doing well and hidden away safe somewhere. Would it be acceptable to video call you? I do not wish to cause you stress, but I would like to see you, even if it is not safe to visit yet.'
Then, 'Mr. Stark also wishes to speak with you. It is not because he wants to turn you in. I believe his stress-inducing idea may allow Mr. Barton, Mr. Wilson, and Mr. Lang a deal. Would you allow him to be on the call?'
Wanda quite liked the idea of video calling Vision, but she still did not want to see Tony. Once she was finished reading, she showed the screen to Natasha, who simply told her she should decide. After a minute's thought, she simply texted back, 'Let me think about it. I like hearing from you.' "I sent this," Wanda murmured, and showed Nat her own message.
"Very reasonable. I will say don't let Tony on a video call only because of this plan Vision is saying Tony is claiming he has. You only talk to either of them if you want to," Natasha told her. She grabbed her laptop and asked if Wanda minded if she sat on the bed next to her. Wanda immediately shook her head and scooted herself over to make room. "There's some things I need to show you and ask you about. I was going to wait longer, but with this new development, I think you need to know now."
Wanda studied Natasha suspiciously. Whatever it was must be something Nat thought she wasn't ready to see or hear, because she was sure Natasha would have shared it already otherwise. This also meant it must be really, really horrible, because Black Widow never coddled her or left out things because it would hurt to hear them. She always told the truth but was willing to comfort her after if necessary. "Okay," Wanda said in her very best neutral voice. She also set her text alerts to vibrate only, not wanting to deal with finding a safe sound at the moment.
Natasha looked her right in the eyes. "This has to do with what happened on the Raft. I'm assuming you know I've been able to get word to Steve, Scott, and Sam about what the three of us that returned to the US have been up to," she began slowly. "We do have something that may help protect us-particularly the four of you that were imprisoned. However, releasing or sharing any of it would be sensitive to say the least."
"Security footage," Wanda said quietly, her fingers twitching anxiously, her eyes glued to Natasha's laptop. I am sure of it. What else could it possibly be?
"That's exactly it," Natasha said, relieved that Wanda seemed to have figured it out without even being told. "I couldn't get any from the interrogation room-there wasn't any-but we do have enough to prove what was happening in that place regardless. You are proof, too. Sam doesn't want a deal-he plans to stay with you, me, and Steve and do low profile missions together like before. However, Scott has been able to get in touch with the FBI and cut a house arrest deal...if he has proof of the inhumane prison conditions he claimed. Pictures or video, doesn't matter, but he needs something."
Cassie. He could go home to Cassie. Wanda blinked, wondering what this meant for her. "Are there...pictures of me from...the rescue?" she asked hesitantly, pulling her knees to her chest and not particularly caring that she was squishing her injured arm a bit. The idea disturbed her, that there might be photos of herself unconscious, something to catalog and prove the long list of injuries still littering her battered body. Stop it. Calm down. Nat is talking about it now because she did not want this to be done without me knowing about it.
Natasha frowned and shook her head hard. Of course not. None of us would do that to her. I understand why she asked though...she probably still thinks we all just want to use her. "Absolutely not. That's...invasive, you didn't give permission. I don't know if anyone on the Raft took pictures of you at any point while you were there, but I can promise no one on the team did. Taking some photos now would still be enough, especially combined with a security footage video. Scott already shared Sam's black eye as evidence, which is helpful, but..."
"But I am much better evidence," Wanda said flatly.
"Yes, you are. Forget Ross, many people would be a lot more disturbed by seeing a young light-skinned girl harmed, enhanced or not, than a black man, even if you and Sam had the exact same injuries, which you two do not. We might as well take advantage of people's sexism and racism if it will help us. Scott told the FBI you were being tortured and the other three of you had to watch repeatedly, but he didn't have any proof of it." Natasha still didn't open the laptop, but she did put an arm around Wanda's shoulders. Wanda appeared more thoughtful than upset, though she remained tense. Nat decided not to say more, not until Wanda gave some kind of further input.
I don't want photos of...any of this. I really don't. Wanda's hand flitted to her neck again, knowing that was probably the best evidence any of them could get ahold of right now. It was one thing to completely restrain the uncontrollable enhanced person, but nobody could justify all those burns from the shock collar. Well, Ross would, she thought darkly, but she did not really care what Ross's logic might be as long as he could not get her again. "We just dyed my hair," she murmured finally. "And I don't want to discount what happened to Sam, either."
"Sam flat out emailed me himself saying exactly what I just told you. We could avoid getting your hair in any photos, and I can also edit it back to brown again in pictures if need be. Frankly, regardless of that, the other thing to consider is that if we take photos and let the FBI have them, that's going to make it extremely difficult for us to hide until you heal. I'd like to hear what you think, and then I will tell you my thoughts."
Wanda hesitated, trying to think logically, not what might scare her or make her nervous the least. "The people that would be horrid to Sam...are the same ones who will like...pointing out I'm not a U.S. citizen." This was something Wanda was keenly aware of. She remembered last year there was a whole lot of discussion she did not quite understand, trying to change her official status from 'undocumented' and therefore technically present illegally, and just no one was doing anything about it because Avengers loopholes and nobody would question Captain America or Iron Man, and therefore ignore this. She did not know it at the time, but she was sure now that the ID, passport, and driver's license that had appeared in her room at the Compound after an anxiety-inducing trip to a New York DMV were not exactly...completely legitimate. I want Scott to be able to go home, though. I know he must miss Cassie. "I think Scott should use the footage, for sure. Maybe...maybe it would be...enough. Pictures or not."
"Then we're going to look at the clips I pulled that I think will be the most helpful, and you have to give the final okay on using them. What I'm thinking on the photos is that we take some, but don't share them right now. That way we do have the evidence for later, but it wouldn't affect staying hidden now, either." Nat noticed Wanda's eyes glowing red and added, "Your eyes are glowing again. If you need to do something with your magic, then that's fine, but make sure you are choosing to do it, and you need to keep it contained in this room."
Little bits of scarlet swirled around Wanda's good hand instead, but her eyes returned to their normal green. I am not there anymore. I know Nat is right and she's just trying to make sure I am okay with this, but I don't want to see any of that security footage. I lived it once, I don't want to go through it again. She wondered what had happened to the shock collar after Steve had ripped it off of her. Did they have that to use as evidence? Was it still in her cell back on the Raft? "...Can't...watch that, but...okay."
"Okay to what?"
"Let Scott use them," Wanda said in a small voice. C-L-I-N-T T-O-O. I am safe. I am just in a motel room, sitting with Nat, and we're talking. On impulse, she also asked via signing what had happened to that collar.
Where did that question come from? "I imagine some lab back on the Raft," Natasha said, gently tugging Wanda's hand away from her neck again. "The last I saw, that thing was ripped in half on the floor of the cell we found you in. I suppose we could've grabbed it for evidence purposes, but we didn't."
Wanda did not say anything, now wondering if Ross would try to make Tony repair the distasteful thing.
"I don't really want that footage of you used or shared anywhere without you knowing exactly what it is. Can you handle simply being told what the clips contain?" Nat suggested, opening the laptop. "You don't have to talk, just give me a thumbs up or thumbs down. Anything you don't want used, we won't."
This sounded acceptable; Wanda still didn't like the idea, but this she could put up with. "Can...can I have some Advil, please?" she asked, hoping that would help a little bit. She did not feel overwhelmingly terrible at the moment, but she still felt tired and in pain, and she was scared hearing Natasha talk about the stupid security footage clips might set her off further.
"Of course. There's a bottle of that right here in your duffel bag. You need any, it's there." Natasha went to get a cup of water and brought that back over to Wanda too. "I chose three things to start with. I figured Scott shouldn't share all of the evidence immediately, so that we can counter with plenty more if need be."
Wanda nodded, keeping her gaze down, but she stayed quiet. Okay. That makes sense. Part of her hated that Natasha, if not the others too, must have been going through all that footage since the rescue since there would be nineteen days' worth of it, but she could understand why. Even now she couldn't watch it herself, and someone had to go through it to find bits and pieces to use for things like this.
Wanda was oddly relieved Nat described the clips in a detached, clinical way, no emotion whatsoever, because it made it easier to hear. Day 1, being put in the cell roughly, compared with her lying on the floor in that cell on Day 19 just before the security cameras cut out for the rescue. She easily gave Natasha the okay for that.
"Honestly, if they just watch these back to back, it should be enough on its own," Natasha said now, "because nineteen days in prison shouldn't do this to anyone, which is exactly what I'm going to tell Scott to say."
"He should know too. He's been to jail," Wanda said, sounding mildly amused. "He even kept telling stories about it. Next one," she said firmly, wanting this to just be done.
"Okay."
A/N: Slowly moving out of the initial limbo phase of the group's escape and other things are starting to happen:) Wanda changed her hair, Nat wants to see Yelena, Tony is dealing with Ross (okay, I said no character bashing but I guess I'm bashing Ross *ahem* sorry but not sorry tbh xD), Scott will be able to go home soon, etc.
By the way, definitely not a mistake that Tony doesn't mention all of that money he stuck in Wanda's bag to Vision. Nat is right, he feels guilty and means that as an apology lol. Predictably Wanda is like "wtf" and very puzzled.
Next chapter coming soon:)
