She looked so small.
If only they had kept her at the Tower instead of letting her go home.
She would have been safe.
As they got closer to the Compound, they all vowed to keep Lainey safe.
No one was going to hurt her again.
Not if they could help it.
Chapter Five: Escape Attempts, Truths, and Distractions
An annoyingly consistent beeping awakened Lainey from her slumber.
As her eyes fluttered open, she noticed that she was in a small white room, laying on a hospital bed with an IV attached to her arm and a cast on her foot.
She looked down at her clothes and realized that they were different. They were loose, comfy, and big.
Someone had lent them to her.
Which meant that someone also found the marks decorating her entire body.
She had to get out of here.
A pair of metal crutches were leaning up against a wall next to her bed.
As she moved to sit up, she began to look around the room for an escape route.
And to her luck, she didn't find one.
So she pulled her legs over the edge of the bed, ripped the IV out of her arm, and grabbed the crutches beside her, making her way to the door.
Walking around in public with just a large t-shirt covering her wasn't very ideal, but it was better than a hospital gown.
Or worse, nothing at all.
She stumbled around a bit before gaining her balance, due to the fact that she had never used crutched before, but she eventually got the hang of it.
Most of the injuries that she got from her mother weren't this severe.
The woman had broken her arm, but it didn't hinder much.
As she trudged to the door, it opened, revealing a woman with beautiful almond shaped eyes and a smiling face.
Well, until she saw Lainey out of bed.
"What are you doing out of bed?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "You're injured!"
Yeah, no kidding.
Lainey looked at the woman and furrowed her eyebrows.
Leaving was going to be harder than she thought with her here.
"Get back in bed before you hurt yourself."
The brunette refused, causing the woman to raise her eyebrows and shrug.
"That's alright with me, I'll just call someone to put you back in bed. It's your choice." She threatened.
But Lainey wasn't phased.
She stood her ground and refused to move, so the woman huffed in annoyance and left the room.
Well that was easy. Lainey thought as she left the room and turned a corner to avoid anyone that could potentially take her back.
"Hey!"
Too late.
Lainey turned around and saw Steve running towards her. There was no way she was going to outrun him on crutches, so she just stayed where she was and waited for him to get to her.
"Dr. Cho told me she found you out of bed, but I didn't expect to see you out of your room." He crossed his arms.
And Lainey had to admit that she did feel slightly intimidated by him.
He was so tall that he practically towered over her.
No.
He did tower over her.
"What are you doing?" He asked finally.
"Going home." Lainey huffed, hoping to make him go away. "And you can't stop me."
"Lainey, you don't have to be afraid. No one here is going to hurt you. We just want to help you."
"I don't want your help. I want to go home." Lainey stressed.
"Lainey, listen to me. You can't go home, it isn't-"
"-Is everything okay?" A new voice asked.
It was Natasha.
She had just finished debriefing with Fury and had come down to check on Lainey.
The redhead clearly knew the answer to the question, but she wanted to ask anyway.
"I'm going home."
"Oh are you now?" A smirk played at her lips as she looked down at the kid.
Lainey could barely hold herself upright. How did she think she was going to get home?
"Don't laugh at me, I have to go home."
The poor girl looked desperate, as if her life depended on her going back to the place where she lived in fear.
"Lainey, your mother-"
"-Why do you feel like you need to go home?" Natasha cut Steve off before he upset the girl.
Maybe if she spoke to her long enough, she would be able to help her relax and trust them a little.
"I have to go home, you have to let me go!"
Lainey's face was suddenly stricken with panic and she tried her best to turn and leave, but Natasha grabbed her by the arm and pulled her close in an effort to calm her nerves.
"Lainey, I know you feel like you have to go, but we can't let you. Your mother is in custody because she hurt you. We can't allow you to go back."
"She didn't mean to." The girl mumbled.
"She still did it. Don't you know what could've happened if we didn't find you when we did?" Steve asked, his voice was soft and gentle.
He didn't want to insult her by telling her what he truly thought about her mother, but she had to see the gravity of the situation.
"She probably just had a lousy day at work. She gets like that sometimes, you know? It isn't her fault, it's mine. Sometimes I get in her way."
Natasha's green orbs flashed with anger and she quickly bent down to meet Lainey's height, firmly taking ahold of her shoulders.
"There is no excuse for that kind of behavior. Nothing you did caused this. She was wrong. She's the one at fault. No one should ever put their hands on you. I don't care what you did, or what you didn't do." Natasha forced a smile onto her face before continuing. "Now let's get you back in bed. I'll see if I can sneak in some brownies for you later."
The Russian looked at Lainey with such certainty that the preteen felt as if she had to believe her.
Maybe she was right.
Maybe this wasn't her fault.
And maybe she didn't deserve this.
She wasn't sure.
She was just confused and at this point, she just wanted to see a familiar face.
"Can I call Peter?"
"Happy?"
Peter furrowed his eyebrows in confusion when he saw his mentor's bodyguard standing by his car in front of his school.
"Is that Happy Hogan? Like, the bodyguard of Tony Stark? Dude can I meet him?" Ned's smile was so wide that Peter thought his face would split in two.
And maybe if they had stayed longer, it would've.
"Mr. Parker!"
When the arachnid looked at Happy, he saw that he didn't look pleased.
What had he done now?
"Hi Happy. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?"
"Get in the car, I'm under orders to bring you to the Compound." Happy told him, opening the car door.
The ride upstate was longest Peter had ever been through.
He kept wracking his brain to find something, anything that he had done to provoke Tony or any of the other Avengers.
And when he couldn't think of anything, he tried to remember if he had forgotten some meeting he was supposed to attend that day.
Maybe that was why Happy came to pick him up.
Or maybe there was a small mission Tony wanted him to go on.
Nah.
He was still too young to go on missions.
So what could it possibly be? Peter thought as Happy pulled the car up to the front of the building.
His mind raced as he got out of the car and made his way to where Tony wanted to meet him.
What if someone was hurt?
What if someone had died while he was in school?
Was it Aunt May?
It couldn't be Aunt May.
He needed her too much!
She was all he had left!
If she was gone, than what would he-
"Oh Kid! Good. You're here." Tony interrupted Peter's thoughts as the teen walked through the doors.
"Mr. Stark, what's going on? I thought I didn't have training today, Happy picked me up after school! Is everyone okay? Did someone-"
"-Peter!" Tony cut the boy off. "It's Lainey. She's been hurt."
All the color drained from Peter's face and he immediately sat down on a love seat behind him.
"What? I just saw her a few days ago! She was fine! What happened? Who hurt her?"
"There's no easy way to say this, but, Lainey's mother is the one who hurt her."
"You're kidding." Peter shook his head in disgust. "Lainey's mother….She wouldn't do that….Would she?"
Well, Aunt May did tell him that she had called her and almost never received an answer.
And when she did, the woman was always rigid and on edge when she was asked about Lainey.
"Peter?' Tony waved a hand in front of his face. "Are you okay?"
It was a stupid question, but he felt like he had to ask it.
"Yeah…..Yeah." Peter responded distantly.
Why hadn't he seen it before?
She had been showing so many signs.
"She's okay now, but she's got a broken leg and she's been asking for you. I think her excitement of meeting the Avengers has worn off and she doesn't want to be around strangers anymore…...Which, by the way, is completely understandable." Tony rambled to fill the tension filled gap of silence.
"How has she been? I mean, is she scared? Is she hungry? Because I can go out and get her some snacks! She likes sour gummy worms right? And lemon iced-"
"-Peter. She just wants to see you. Don't worry about her too much. Natasha's been taking care of her. If I didn't know any better, I'd think she's really fallen in love with that kid."
"How did you find out? Did she tell you anything?"
"Wanda, Natasha, and Steve felt something was wrong after Steve dropped her home, so we all got together and got her out of there. She didn't tell us anything. We were hoping that when you went in, you'd be able to get her to talk to you about what's been happening and how long it's been happening."
"I could try…..I just…..I don't understand…How could her mother do this to her?" He sighed and made his way to Lainey's room.
As Peter thought about what could've happened to Lainey, his face flushed in anger.
The woman who hurt her was her mother!
She was the one who was supposed to protect her!
"Oh hi Peter. How are you?" Natasha greeted the teen as he stepped into the room.
She was playing poker with Lainey to keep her occupied.
Well, sort of.
It was also a small training exercise to school her features, just incase she was ever in a situation where she needed to.
Sneaky right?
"Hi. I came by to see Lainey…...Mr. Stark called. He said you've been asking for me." Peter spoke, lingering by the doorway.
"Well come in." Natasha smiled and watched as he sat down. "Lainey, put those cards down, Peter came by to see you."
Lainey huffed in annoyance of her interrupted game and looked at Natasha with a sad face.
"See that?" Natasha waved a finger. "That doesn't work on me. Put the cards down and say hello. Or I'll peek at your hand."
Lainey smiled and put her cards face down on the bed, before greeting Peter.
"Hi!"
"Hi Lainey. Are you feeling okay? I heard you broke your leg, does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt at all! Did Tony tell you? I had to get sedated!"
Peter furrowed his eyebrows.
Lainey was awfully chipper for someone who was just beaten up and sedated.
"She's blocking everything out." Natasha mouthed to him, noticing his confusion.
"Oh yeah? Why?" Peter took note of her comment and turned his attention back to Lainey.
"Because she wouldn't let Bruce set her leg any other way." Natasha playfully rolled her eyes when Lainey picked up her cards again. "I told you to put those down. Peter's here."
"He can play with us." Lainey smiled and grabbed the deck, handing Peter five cards.
"Lainey, we have to talk." Peter spoke gently.
It was pretty abrupt, but he didn't know any other way to bring it up.
He and Natasha watched as Lainey's body tensed.
Her fingers squeezed the red bicycle cards in her hands, causing them to crinkle under the pressure.
"I have a straight flush Ms. Romanoff." She spoke quietly.
Her voice was just above a whisper, and Peter and Natasha both knew she was close to tears.
"Lainey, we need to know what happened before we helped you. We can't do much until-"
"-Did I win? Can we play again? I'm getting really good, aren't I?"
"Yes honey, you're getting very good." Natasha knew that Lainey was trying to dodge the subject and if the circumstances weren't so serious, she would've let her. "Lainey, I know it's hard, but you have to talk to us. We can't help you if you don't."
"I can't."
"Why Lainey?" Peter asked with tears in his eyes. "Why can't you tell us?"
Lainey looked at her oldest and closest friend, and shrugged.
"Mom told me not to." She swallowed. "She said it would just get worse if I did."
"You don't have to be afraid anymore Lainey. Your mother is downstairs and in our custody. She can't hurt you anymore." Natasha told the girl.
"Promise?" Lainey offered up her pinky finger.
It was childish, but it was the only way she knew how to solidify a deal.
"I promise." Natasha didn't even hesitate to oblige the gesture.
"What do you want to know?"
"How long has this been happening?" Peter asked, afraid of knowing the answer.
"For a while now." Lainey shrugged.
"How long is a while Lainey?"
"Since she got laid off from her first job a couple years ago…She wasn't always like this. She was nice and she never yelled at me." Lainey smiled as a fond memory came to mind. "We used to go to the park to have picnics and play games…...She'd always let me win. Always."
The smile left Lainey's lips as she came back to reality. "And then she just changed."
"How did she change?" Natasha asked gently.
"She started coming home late, she yelled, threw things…...She started drinking a lot of alcohol. It made her really angry and aggressive. It was like she was a completely different person."
The brunette's hazel eyes were glossed over while her mind slipped into a deep thought.
She could remember the way her mother always smelled of vanilla and how her beautiful brown hair was always so neat.
Until it wasn't.
Her neat hair was now always thrown up in a bun and she always smelled of Jack Daniels.
The eyes that once shined as bright as the sun, were dimmer than dark of night.
Even her skin grew pale.
The woman who used to make her laugh when she was feeling upset became the person she was afraid to smile around.
And she could never figure out why.
For months, she thought it was something she had done.
But that was impossible.
She was just a kid.
What had happened to the woman she looked up to and loved so much?
Where had she gone?
"Did she ever throw things at you?" Peter asked.
"All the time." Lainey nodded and rolled up her sleeve to reveal a scar that ran from her forearm to her elbow. "I got this when she threw a bottle of beer at me…...I dodged it, and it smashed into the counter behind me. I would've been okay if I hadn't lost my balance and fell all over it."
"How often did stuff like this happen?"
"Almost everyday." Once Lainey saw the horrified look on Peter's face, she tried to make him feel better. "But it wasn't bad everyday! Sometimes, she would come home so drunk that she would just crash on the couch and forget about everything without even leaving a mark."
"That doesn't really make it much better Lainey. It's still wrong."
"I know, but like I said, she wasn't like that before. And people change! Maybe one day I'll wake up, and she'll be back to normal."
Wishful thinking.
"Lainey." Natasha held the girl's chin between her two fingers to get her undivided attention. "I don't want to upset you when I say this, but your mother will never change and you can't go back to her."
"I know."
The preteen just wanted so much to believe that her life would be as nice as it was before.
But it couldn't.
Because that's not the way the world works.
"But I have to go home…I don't have anywhere else to stay."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about before you made your grand escape." Natasha smirked. "The boys, Wanda, and I talked…...and we think that you should stay here."
"You don't have to do that." Lainey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
How could they all be so willing to invite her into their home when they had just met her?
Hadn't they already done so much?
"Let them Lainey. Let someone help you." Peter spoke. "Mr. Stark says that I can come by on the weekends and stay over the summer. If that makes you feel any better."
"Really?" Lainey perked up.
"Yeah, and we can do whatever you want."
"Okay!"
"You didn't have much of a choice anyway. A social worker stopped by when you were sleeping and gave Nat temporary custody."
The look that Natasha gave Peter was enough to make him blanche.
But it made Lainey crack a smile.
She loved to see Peter in uncomfortable situations.
It was amusing to her.
"I was glad to do it." Natasha spoke, still glaring at Peter.
"Look Nat, she was going to find out anyway! Wouldn't you rather her know now, than a couple of days from now?" Peter questioned nervously.
"I would have liked to have the pleasure of telling her myself."
Before Natasha could kill Peter, Lainey scooted closer to the woman and showed her the deck of cards that had long since been forgotten when they had started talking.
"Can we play another game?" She asked sweetly.
"I know what you're doing, and that won't work with me." The redhead told her.
"But I'm bored and you're supposed to keep me entertained…...I've been sitting in this hospital bed for hours and I don't feel entertained." Lainey made her bottom lip quiver.
"It doesn't work on me Lainey."
Peter sat back in his chair and watched.
He knew how convincing Lainey could be, and he knew how strong-willed Natasha could be.
He didn't know who would win the battle of wills, but he was more than happy to watch.
"What are you talking about? I only want to play. Why are you trying to over analyze it? Don't you want to play with me?" Lainey batted her long eyelashes at the assassin.
"Wow. You are good." Natasha groaned.
She had been trained for a numerous amount of things, but never for a child with a good guilt trip.
"So you'll play with me Ms. Romanoff?"
"Yes, I'll play! Just stop with the faces and call me by my name." Natasha snatched the deck of cards from the brunette's hands and began to deal them out.
"But that is your name." Lainey smiled and took the hand Natasha gave to her.
"Ты развязный малыш, не так ли?" Natasha spoke in her native tongue, confusing the daylights out of both the children in the room. "You call me Natasha and nothing else. No 'Ms. Romanoff' and definitely no 'Ms. Natasha'. Понять малышку?"
Lainey furrowed her eyebrows as her face scrunched up in confusion.
The look on her face was priceless.
"I asked if you understood me." Natasha smirked.
"Sí, Yo comprendo pero no hablo Ruso. Hablo español y ingles por favor."
"Como desées" Natasha started off in Spanish before finishing in Russian. "малышка."
"What does that mean?" Lainey asked curiously.
"Learn Russian." Natasha told her without missing a beat.
Lainey's jaw dropped as Natasha didn't pay her any mind. "Hmmph.'
Peter watched the two, trying so hard not to laugh at the way they were already getting on each other's nerves.
Oh yeah. He thought to himself as Lainey crossed her arms when Natasha kept speaking to her in Russian, knowing that there was no way the younger girl could possibly understand her.
These two were made for each other.
Ты развязный малыш, не так ли? - You're a cheeky kid, aren't you?
Понять малышку? - Understand baby?
Sí, Yo comprendo. Pero no hablo Ruso. Hablo español y ingles por favor. - Yes, I understand. But I don't speak Russian. I speak Spanish and English please.
Como desées - As you wish.
малышка - Kiddo, little girl, or babygirl.
A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I know it's been a while, but I had a hard time setting the tone for this chapter, so I made it a little angsty in the beginning and lighthearted towards the end. Lainey's pain is far from over, I just thought I should give her a little break. Until next time! XOXO