Fights
A few hours later, Wynn takes Evie to her parents, escorting her inside and delivering her straight to Hendrich and Sara, who are sitting in the den.
Don’t let her out of your sight, she signs sharply. Her face is somehow blank and furious at the same time, so Evie’s parents cut their eyes to their daughter, frowning worriedly.
I’ll be here, she says gently. Don’t worry.
Wynn looks at her, nods curtly, then presses a kiss to her head and marches out of the house, pulling every door firmly shut behind her.
She meets Brom at a gym half an hour later, hitting pads he holds up for her with a serious frown.
“You want to fight?” A guy asks with a sharp grin, leering at Wynn. He jerks his head towards the boxing ring in the corner, lifting an eyebrow in challenge.
Wynn stares at him, then shrugs, taking a step away from Brom.
“Wynn,” he hisses, grabbing her arm.
“I’m fine,” she says flatly, then jerks her chin at the man and heads over to the ring. She slips other gloves on, the ones meant for sparring and climbs in. She stands loose with her arms at her sides, looking completely unprepared.
“We go til you tap out, baby,” the man teases, winking at her.
Wynn stares at him, unimpressed. “Same goes for you,” she answers, then nods as he bounces on his toes and lifts his hands.
Brom has always been horrified by what Wynn had gone through after their parents kicked her out. At least on an intellectual level. He never really had any specific knowledge of what it must have been like for her, but watching her fight? This shows him exactly what her life was like, and he absolutely hates it.
It’s not even that she’s a good fighter - she’s not. She doesn’t guard correctly, from what Brom can see and she isn’t exploiting her opponent’s weaknesses. She’s just… honestly, the most impressive thing is how many hits she takes without seeming bothered. Already Brom’s seen a fist connect with her shoulder, her ribs, her stomach and- he winces as her head snaps to the side with a particularly aggressive jab to her jaw.
“Wynn,” he says sharply, moving forward.
She hardly reacts, though. She just lets her head snap to the side, then halfway blocks the next punch. She’s not actually trying to hit this guy, he realizes. She’s just there to let him hit her.
“Wynn,” he snaps. “Evie’s gonna kill me if I bring you home black and blue,” he says sharply.
She doesn’t move. He hardly thinks she heard him, if not for the slight stiffening of her shoulders as he spoke.
He winces as she takes another hit to the stomach, doubling slightly.
“Wynn,” he growls. “Quit punishing yourself!”
The man hears him, shooting Wynn a wicked glare. “Oh, you want somebody to hurt you?” He sings. “Don’t worry. I’ll give it to you rough, if you want,” he sneers.
Wynn stiffens, just a bit.
“And that girl he’s talking about,” he says, cutting his eye to Brom. “That your girl or his?” He wonders. “Either way. Maybe she’d like a taste of a real-”
Wynn’s fist connects with his ribs and he doubles over, wheezing. She glares.
“Bitch,” he spits, standing upright and swinging.
Wynn lets him step through the punch, leaning back to send him spinning away off balance. As he turns, she gives him a shove, sending him sprawling on the mat.
He sends her a death glare from his place on the floor.
“That’s enough, I think,” Wynn says flatly, turning her back and unstrapping the gloves from her wrists. She’s still listening, though, as her opponent pushes himself upright and wraps an arm around her throat, putting her in a slightly awkward chokehold. She’s a bit too tall for him to have the right angle.
Brom shouts, moving for him, but Wynn just throws her head back, connecting her skull with his face in a sickening crunch. He lets go immediately, hands flying to his nose which is now a fountain of blood.
“Coward,” she hisses, sending him a nasty glare and moving to step out of the ring. He clearly doesn’t appreciate the name. He spits blood at her and reaches for her hair, but she smacks his arm away and gives him a shove backwards. He stumbles, but comes for her again, charging forward as she dances around him.
She grins, huffing a laugh as he keeps missing her completely. Then he clearly loses his patience and comes straight for her, fist cocked back. She lets him swing for her head, dodging that but taking a hit to the ribs that she doesn’t see coming. She hisses, then jumps back as he aims a kick at her side.
“Wynn!” Brom roars, halfway through climbing over the ropes. Wynn spins and gives him a little shove out of the ring to keep him out of the way, earning a kick to the back of the knee while her back is turned. Her leg crumples and she ends up on one knee, the man getting her in a better chokehold this time. She gasps a bit, face going red as he hisses something in her ear. She’s staring at Brom, who looks simultaneously terrified and enraged-
She twists an arm behind her, hooking one of his knees as he stands over her. She twists, pulling him off balance and manages to get him tossed over her shoulder, landing hard on his back in front of her. She tosses a leg over him, kneeling on his wrists while she grabs his jaw in one hand and turns his face to the side to keep him from spitting at her again. She grins, whispering something, then gives him a gentle few pats on the cheek and climbs off him, then reaches a hand down to pull him to his feet.
He glares at her, then grasps her hand and lets her haul him up. As she pulls on him, he leaps up, swinging with his other fist straight at her head. Wynn jerks back, shoving him away, but his grip on her hand means he’s tugged right back towards her on the rebound. She acts on instinct, shoving a palm up hard into the underside of his chin, the resulting hit sending him crashing to the floor on his arse, his head snapping back.
She stares at him, then breaks into wild laughter, cackling as she puts her hands on her knees. She laughs even as Brom climbs in and puts a hand on her shoulder, guiding her out of the ring and quickly to the car, shoving her in the passenger seat and driving off before the guy Wynn fought gets any ideas to come after her again.
She giggles fiercely all the way home, wiping a few tears from her eyes as Brom shoves her towards her house.
“Go take a shower,” he orders her, pushing her towards the bathroom. “Evie’s going to kill me-”
Wynn rolls her eyes at his dramatics, then winces when she sees herself in the mirror.
“Oh, fuck,” she mutters, looking at her red and somewhat swollen face which will definitely bruise. “She might kill both of us.”
“I took you to spar!” Brom hisses. “Not to fight a stranger who wanted to hurt you!”
Wynn snorts. “Not the first fight I’ve been in, Brom,” she says “Probably won’t the last.”
“Go clean yourself up,” he snaps. “I’m not taking you back to your pregnant wife like this!”
Wynn sobers a little at the mention of Evie and nods, shutting the door behind her. As she undresses, she takes stock of a few places she’s likely to have bruises in the next few days - along her ribs, her hip, her thigh. Overall, not too bad. Evie will hate it, definitely, but not the worst outcome Wynn’s ever had.
She lets the water soothe her aches as she rinses off the sweat and grime, then goes to her bedroom and dresses in an oversized sweater and joggers. Brom groans when she comes back out. “You don’t have ice here, do you?” He grumbles.
“Nope,” she shakes her head. “Sara and Hendrich do, though.”
“Oh, yeah,” he says sarcastically. “Let’s go get ice for your busted face from your in-laws! I’m sure that’ll be great.”
Wynn shrugs. “They’re going to see it regardless,” she says.
“I fucking hate you sometimes, you know that?” He snaps.
She snorts humorlessly. “Yeah, well. Join the club.”
He opens his mouth to argue but closes it when he catches sight of Wynn’s face. It’s some strange combination of resigned, disgusted, pleased, and entertained. He huffs a sigh, rubbing his hands over his face as he jerks his head towards the door. “Come on. We’ll go get you ice. My kid’s probably there by now, too,” he groans. “Can’t wait to explain what happened to his Auntie Fred when he sees you,” he grumbles.
Wynn looks at least a bit chagrined by that, but follows after him, loping along easily.
“Care to tell me what the fuck that was?” He asks when she stays silent.
Wynn shrugs. “Nothing.”
“Bullshit,” he answers.
“Doesn’t matter,” she answers. “What matters is that it worked and now I feel better.”
“You need to talk to someone about what-”
“Not gonna do that, Brom,” she answers flatly. “No chance.”
“Why not?” He snaps, finding himself extremely impatient with Wynn at the moment, since she just scared the absolute hell out of him.
“Because I don’t want to,” she says. “Next question?”
“You’re so goddamn infuriating.” He growls at her.
She laughs. “Yeah. I know.”
When they get to Hendrich and Sara’s, Wynn lopes into the kitchen with practiced ease, gathering a bag of ice.
“Wynn?” Evie calls. “That you?”
“Yeah,” she calls back. “Brom’s with me.”
“Daddy!” Nate yells, barrelling through the door straight at Brom, who picks him up with a groan.
Evie follows after him, smiling softly until she sees Wynn’s face. “Oh my god - what happened?!” She yells, hands flitting over Wynn’s face. She looks at Wynn, who doesn’t answer, then to Brom, who winces.
“A fight got a bit out of hand at the boxing gym,” he answers.
“A fight with who?” She hisses.
“Stranger,” Wynn answers. “Brom just wanted to spar,” she explains. “I’m the one that said yes to the fight.”
“What the hell happened?” Evie asks, touching Wynn’s cheek gently.
“Your wife has issues, is what happened,” Brom reports grumpily, covering Nate’s ears. “Maybe you can talk some sense into her. I certainly can’t,” he snaps, then ushers Nate through the door and into the den towards Hendrich and Sara.
Evie turns her glare on Wynn, who winces.
“Before you yell,” she says, “I’m not the one who lost control.”
“So, what, then?” Evie snaps. “Someone just attacked you?”
Wynn shrugs. “Sort of.”
“Wynn!” Evie gasps.
“We were sparring at first,” she says. “He got a few hits in, Brom wasn’t pleased I was letting him so he said something about you being pissed if I came home black and blue. The guy thought it was a good idea to talk shit about you,” she shrugs. “He didn’t like that he was losing after that. He fought dirty. I finished it,” she says. “End of story.”
“You’re hurt, Wynn!”
“Barely,” she answers. “I’ll have some bruises, but I’m fine.”
“You can’t- you can’t just go get in fights whenever you’re upset, Winifred!” Evie yells. “We- we’re about to have a baby! I will not have our kid seeing you come home beaten to a bloody pulp because you’re scared or upset or-”
“Ev,” Wynn says gently, cradling her face in her hands. “I’m fine.”
“I don’t care if you say you’re fine!” She cries, shoving Wynn’s hands away. “You’ve been beaten, Wynn!”
“Evie,” she sighs, dropping her hands. “This is how I know how to deal with things,” she shrugs. “This is what works.”
“This can’t be how you solve your problems, Wynn!” She shouts. “I won’t have you going out and trying to get yourself killed every time you’re emotional!”
“That’s not what happened,” Wynn argues.
“Yes, it bloody well is!” Evie roars. “You got scared last night and you refused to talk to me but you go out and you get the shit beaten out of you by a stranger and you come back and act like that’s fine?! What the hell is wrong with you?!”
Wynn sighs, rolling her eyes. “I’m fine, Ev-”
“I’ve had enough of seeing you hurt, Winifred! I will not sit here and act like it’s alright that you’re being reckless with your life. I will not let you kill yourself-”
“That’s not what I’m doing, Evie,” she interrupts.
“It doesn’t matter if that’s what you’re doing or not!” Evie screams. “What happens the next time you do this? Or the time after that? When you get in a fight you can’t win and you get seriously hurt? What if they put you in hospital again, Wynn? What am I meant to do with that?! Just say ‘alright’ and ignore the fact you’re getting in fights?!”
“I didn’t go looking for it! I went to spar!” Wynn argues.
“Sparring doesn’t send you back to me like this!” Evie shouts, gesturing at her.
“Evie,” Wynn says in a frustrated sigh.
“I. Will. Not. Lose. Any. More. Family.” Evie rages, pointing a finger at her. “I will not lose you. Do you hear me? I won’t do it. I won’t.” Her face and voice are cold, but there are tears in her eyes and her finger shakes slightly.
Wynn takes a deep breath, blowing it out and setting her ice on the counter. Then she steps forward and sits in a chair, reaching a hand out to Evie. She waits for her to take it, then tugs her into her lap, sitting her sideways on her thighs.
“I won’t do it,” Evie croaks, clinging to her neck. “I won’t lose you.”
Wynn rubs her back, rocking gently. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry I scared you,” she says softly, pressing a kiss to her hair. “I really didn’t mean-” she cuts off, sighing. “I went to spar because last night I got scared I couldn’t protect you, if something had happened, and I wanted to… I dunno. I wanted to make sure I could. That’s why I agreed to the fight.”
“Why’d you let him hit you?” Evie sobs.
Wynn sighs again. “I wasn’t punishing myself, Ev,” she says.
“But Brom-”
“I know what Brom said, and that’s probably what it looked like. But I was pretending you were there. Like you were behind me. He got some hits in because it stopped him from getting around me to get to where you would have been.”
Evie looks sick.
“I needed to prove to myself I can do it,” she says. “I needed to know I can keep you safe,” she whispers.
“But it got out of hand-”
“I wasn’t really trying to fight him, at first,” Wynn admits. “I was just trying to protect you. Then he said something about giving you a taste of a real man, or something, and I- it made me mad,” Wynn confesses with a wry grin. “So I hit him. He didn’t like that I landed one, so he sort of lost it. He fought dirty, I did what I had to do,” she shrugs.
Evie glares at her.
“I tried to walk away, Ev,” Wynn sighs. “After my first hit, I tried to walk away.”
“And?” She demands.
“I was taking my gloves off and he came at me when my back was turned,” she says.
Evie flinches. “What?”
“I’m fine,” she says again. “I’ll have some bruises, but I’m fine.”
“He– while your back was turned?” Evie gapes.
Wynn sighs, pressing her lips to Evie’s temple. “Yeah. He tried–” she stops. “It doesn’t matter what he tried, actually. The point is, he came after me. And I tried to walk away. Twice. I told him to let it go and he wouldn’t. So I did what I had to do to end it. That’s all.”
“Is he-” Evie winces.
“He’s fine,” Wynn answers, cupping her cheek. “He’ll have a broken nose and a bruised chin. That’s it.”
“That’s all-”
“Brom got us out of there as soon as he stopped coming at me,” Wynn answers with a wry smile.
“What the hell was Brom doing during all of this?” She huffs, turning a glare on the door to the den.
“Shouting at me and then trying to come save me,” Wynn answers.
“He didn’t get hit, did he?” Evie asks suddenly.
“Uh,” Wynn hesitates. “I sorta shoved him-”
“Wynn!”
“I shoved him out of the way when he tried to come in the ring,” Wynn answers. “I was worried he’d get hurt and I had it handled. And I didn’t hurt him. I just moved him.”
Evie sighs. “I don’t like it when you fight.”
“I know,” Wynn answers quietly. “I’m sorry. I just- I needed to be sure-”
“And are you?” Evie interrupts. “Are you sure, now?”
Wynn nods. “I can protect you,” she says.
“You could do that before,” Evie argues. “Why did you suddenly need to prove it now-”
“It’s just since my leg,” Wynn answers. “I wasn’t sure. And you can’t get away as fast, now,” she says, putting a hand to her belly. “It’s different than before. I needed to know if with everything, I could still-”
“And you can?” Evie asks.
Wynn nods. “I can.”
Evie sighs. “Alright,” she says softly. “I’ll let you have this one,” she says. “But if you ever come home black and blue again, I’ll kill you.”
Wynn laughs at her threat. “What if someone attacks me?”
“Then I’ll kill them,” she grumbles.
Wynn chuckles, kissing her head. “Love it when you’re scary,” she mutters with a smile.
“Good,” Evie huffs. “Get used to it. ‘Cause I’ll kick both your arses if you ever come home like this again. Understood?” She glares.
“Understood,” Wynn nods.