Taken
This day had started off great. Wanda and Natasha had gotten up early for training, and Wanda had even been able to pin her down at one point. It was the first time she was able to do so, and she was elated. Natasha was just as excited as the teenager, and after training, the duo settled down in the kitchen for breakfast.
Popping a bit of egg into her mouth, Natasha nudged Wanda. "Hey, you worked hard. How about we have some fun today?" The girl looked up with wide eyes, her expression one of curiosity and excitement.
"Sure," the young witch replied, "I would like that." Natasha laughed at her politeness and nodded.
Getting an idea, she smiled. "Movie night is tonight, and I think the others would like something other than takeout. You wanna bake something?" This made Wanda perk up; the girl had always enjoyed making food. "I'll take that as a yes."
For the next couple of hours, the two searched the internet for a suitable recipe. It took a while as they kept getting sidetracked, but eventually, they settled on a simple but good-looking recipe for chewy double chocolate chip cookies. Out of nowhere, a familiar teen jumped up from behind them. "Hey, guys!"
It was Peter. The boy had joined the team recently, and his innocence and sweet personality had helped him fit in rather nicely. Wanda was glad to have a friend her age, and he often explained modern slang to her. "Hiya Pete," Natasha replied.
"Woah, those look good! Are they for movie night?" His enthusiasm was contagious, and Wanda nodded.
"Yes, Natasha and I are going to bake some." She had baked often when she was young, and it would be nice to do it again.
Natasha clapped her hands together and stood up. "We'd better go check to see if we have all the ingredients. Peter, you wanna come with?" The teen agreed excitedly, and the trio made their way to the kitchen.
"Let's see here. Flour, sugar, vanilla extract..." Natasha rattled off the ingredients while Wanda and Peter ran around looking for them. So far, they weren't missing anything. "Cocoa powder?"
Wanda looked in the cupboards for baking ingredients, then shook her head. "Nope, can't find it." Peter, who was climbing the walls to access the higher cupboards, jumped down with a huff.
"Me neither," he said, wrinkling his nose. "I did find ten bags of instant coffee though. Why would Mr. Stark have that but not cocoa powder?" Natasha snorted and shrugged.
"There's no explanation for most of the things Stark does," she said simply. "Well, we can't exactly make double chocolate chip cookies without cocoa powder." Wanda's face fell, but then she brightened up when she got an idea.
"I can run down to the store and get some. It's not that far away," she added. Natasha opened her mouth to respond, but before she could Peter hopped over to stand next to her.
A wide grin on his face, he seemed to be bouncing a little on his feet. "Yeah! I can come with her," he suggested. Wanda nodded in agreement, and they looked up at Natasha. The older woman groaned inwardly. Usually she would say no, but both of them were giving her puppy dog eyes.
"Fine," she muttered reluctantly. "Fine. You two can run down to the store to pick some up. But be quick, and don't get into any trouble. Okay?" Peter gave her a mock salute, and Wanda laughed lightly.
"Tasha, I've fought killer robots- I think I can survive a 15 minute walk to the store." Natasha rolled her eyes, but smiled affectionately when Wanda leaned into her side. It was true- she was probably being paranoid, but she couldn't help it. Wanda had turned her soft, but for some reason she was fine with it.
Kissing her quickly on the head, Natasha sighed. "Well, move it. We don't have all day," she teased with a smirk. Pushing the girl away playfully, Wanda gave her one last wave before she and Peter ran out the door.
Tony, who had apparently been watching the whole time, stepped forward and poked her in the side. "Aw, you're turning into a mom!" Natasha shot him a glare and kneed him ( albeit gently) in the stomach. "Ow!"
Natasha slung an arm around his shoulders and winked. "Yeah, a mom that can kick your ass." Tony's eyebrows shot up and he raised his hands in surrender.
"I guess I can't deny that."
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"Hey Wanda, I'll race you to that tree over there!" Peter laughed and sprinted towards the tree in question, leaving a very indignant Wanda in his wake. He reached the tree ages before she did, and she finally joined him, panting and tired.
Narrowing her eyes, she tilted her head. "You do realize you have enhanced physicality and I don't, right?" He merely shrugged in response, but the twinkle in his eyes answered her question. "Cheater," she muttered under her breath.
Peter elbowed her playfully. "Cheer up Wanda! I might be strong and sticky, but you have your... red sparkly things!" Wanda blinked in confusion. "You know..." Peter flailed his hands around, badly mimicking her powers. "Your sparkly things!"
"Oh, my powers," she realized. "Yeah, I guess they can be cool sometimes. I'm not very good with them though, I struggle to control them." She fiddled with the rings on her fingers, biting her lip. Often, she would let her emotions get the better of her, and her powers would go haywire.
"Well, I think they're awesome," Peter said. Wanda blinked, but she couldn't help but feel a glimmer of pride. She viewed her powers as something that made her weird; dangerous- but Peter's childlike excitement made her see them as something more. They were a means for her to good; to fight evil.
The two continued to chat and bicker for a while, and Wanda even showed Peter some of her powers, as there was no one around. They were almost at the store when Peter froze, lifting his hand in a signal for Wanda to stop. "Wait. I think someone is-" his eyes grew wide. "Run!"
But it was too late. Before Wanda or Peter could react, she felt someone grab her from behind. She screamed, but the noises were muffled when a sweet-smelling cloth was placed over her mouth. Dizziness began to overtake her, and Peter's voice faded into the background as everything went black.
When she woke up, panic immediately started to rise in her throat. There was a blindfold over her eyes, and when she tried to move, she found that both her ankles and wrists were bound to something- a chair, it seemed. She wasn't able to talk either, as a piece of duct tape covered her mouth.
Wanda was completely helpless.
Out of instinct, she tried to use her powers, but when she did, a deep and raspy voice broke the silence. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Footsteps approached her, and the blindfold was ripped off. She was in a small, empty, room, and a bulky man stood over her. "That is, unless you want your Spider friend to remain unharmed." Peter.
Her powers dissipated, and the man nodded. "That's more like it," he said with a grin. He paced around the room for a few moments, not saying anything, until he cleared his throat and paused. "Sorry we had to meet this way," he began. "But we just have some... tests, to run. Think of them as games- if you behave well, you won't get hurt. Well, more hurt than you have to be." Somehow, this wasn't really calming Wanda's nerves. "If you don't behave well, we'll have to hurt your buddy Peter. I'm sure you don't want that, right?"
Obviously, she couldn't reply.
"Now, let's start our first game."
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It had been over an hour since Wanda and Peter had left, and Natasha was very worried to say the least.
The whole trip should have taken around 30 minutes max. Steve kept on telling her that they probably were just taking their time, but Natasha had a feeling something had happened. She just knew.
Finally, she stood up. "I'm going to the store to check on the kids," she announced. She was clearly not taking any arguments, and no one objected.
As she was about to get in the car, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. "Wait- I'm worried too." It was Tony. "I'm coming with you," he stated. Natasha agreed; he cared about the kids as much as she did- especially Peter. His relationship with Peter was similar to her relationship with Wanda; he acted like a father to the boy. It was honestly sweet how he got all soft whenever he talked to him.
"Fine, but I'm driving. Get in Stark," she ordered. He did so, and they sped away. Even though they could both easily walk to the store, they decided to take the car to get there as fast as possible. When they arrived, they hurried into the store and Natasha walked up to the cashier.
"Hey, have you seen a teenage boy and girl come through here recently? Both brunettes, they probably bought cocoa powder?" The cashier shook her head.
"No, sorry. Are they your kids?" Natasha blinked in surprise, but after barely a moment of hesitation, she nodded.
"Yes. Yes, they are my kids." The cashier gave her a warm smile, and nodded towards Tony, who was searching through the aisles for Peter and Wanda.
"So I'm assuming he's your husband?" Tony looked up and bit back a laugh, and he walked up to her and slung an arm around the redhead.
Smirking, he dipped his head at the cashier. "Yes, I am her loving husband," he confirmed. Natasha arched her eyebrows, but knew she had to play along, so she smiled sweetly and leaned into his side hug.
Suddenly, the cashier seemed to come to a realization. "Wait... are you Tony Stark?" Before the man could reply, Natasha laughed awkwardly and pulled him out of the store.
"Thanks, bye!" She called. Once they were a distance away, she turned to face him. "Okay. So they didn't get to the store," she said. Her heart began to quicken, and she began to fear the worst. "Something happened, I know it."
Tony placed a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Nat, chill. We don't know that." Something caught his eyes, and his face went pale. "Shit." He crouched down and picked up something off the ground. "Nat... is this one of Wanda's rings?" She nodded slowly, and he turned it around in his hand. There was a bloodstain on it.
Even though this could mean anything, they both had a gut feeling that they had been attacked. "Let me do something," Tony said, pulling out a device. He frantically moved his fingers over the screen, and finally opened what appeared to be a map of the area. "Wanda gives off more energy than the average human. Technically, we should be able to track down where she is- and I'm assuming Peter is at the same location."
Natasha took a deep breath. She wasn't going to let anything happen to her kids if that was the last thing she did. "Well, hurry your ass up and let's go," she snapped.
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For the last 15 minutes, Wanda had been strapped down to a table. The duct tape was still over her mouth. Hearing the door creak open, she looked up to see a different man leading Peter into the room. The boy's wrists were bound, but he wasn't gagged. "Wanda!" He exclaimed, but as soon as he did so the man punched him in the gut.
Wanda tried to scream at them to stop, but it came out as a muffled cry. Another man in a lab coat stood over her, a smile on his face. "Let's start." He took out what looked like some sort of surgical tool, and he started to cut into her. The pain was sharp, and she couldn't stop red tendrils from escaping her fingers. Immediately the man holding Peter kicked him- hard. The teen was sent flying across the room, slamming against the wall.
Without a word, the "doctor" continued. Wanda didn't quite know what he was doing, as her thoughts were muddled by the intense agony and pain. The doctor paused, a smile spreading across his face. Ripping the duct tape off her mouth, he flicked it away. "I enjoy the sound of screaming- it lets me know that I'm doing things correctly. The louder the scream, the more successful I am." Wanda bit her lip, trying her hardest to not make a sound.
She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
But as he kept cutting her, she broke. A sob escaped her lips, and she grew limp. Wanda had no more fight in her. Tears continued to stream down her face, but she was silent. She was vaguely aware of Peter screaming at them to let her go, but his protests were silenced when he was slapped harshly across the face.
Woozy from blood loss, Wanda was on the verge of passing out when a loud crash was heard. The door was kicked open, and the doctor was knocked to the ground. A familiar head of red hair appeared in her vision. "N'tasha?"
The woman began to untie her bonds with one hand, but gently held her face with the other. "Yes, it's me milaya. You're safe now." Safe?
"But- but they'll hurt me. They were hurting me." All coherent thoughts were lost as she felt herself start to fade into unconsciousness. Natasha seemed to notice, and she quickly finished untying her and cradled her head in her hands.
"No, not anymore. I'm so sorry Little Witch, but you have to stay awake. For me." Wanda was trying to cling to awakeness, but it was hard. She wanted nothing more than to just... sleep.
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Natasha was panicking. She knew how difficult it must be for Wanda to stay awake, but if she fell asleep... she didn't want to think about what might happen. She had lost a lot of blood, after all.
Tony had unbound Peter, and was picking up the boy, holding him close to his chest. Natasha gently did the same, lifting her up and making sure not to touch any of her many injuries. The girl whimpered as she made contact, flinching slightly. God, what did they do to her?
"Come on Nat. I called Clint; he's coming to pick us up outside," Tony explained. Natasha followed him out, whispering sweet nothings into Wanda's ear. Clint was waiting already, and his eyes grew wide at the sight of them.
"Jesus Christ." That was all he said, and he helped them get in the car. Tony sat shotgun, and Wanda and Natasha were in the row behind them. Since it was a large vehicle, there was an extra set of seats in the back, and Peter was placed there.
The ride was silent for the most part, save for a few occasional whimpers from Wanda. Natasha shifted her position so that the girl was practically lying in her lap, her head against her thigh. Out of nowhere, Peter spoke up. "They hurt her so much," he whispered. "I couldn't watch."
No one knew what to say to that, and Natasha held Wanda a little tighter.
Back in the Compound, Wanda and Peter were both transported to the medical wing. Natasha stayed by Wanda the whole time, holding her hand. Her wounds had been stitched up, but there was still the risk of infection. Finally, after what seemed like forever, her eyes fluttered open.
"Hey sleepyhead," Natasha teased softly. "You gave us a big scare there."
"Sorry," Wanda replied, her voice hoarse.
Natasha sighed and shook her head. "No, it's not your fault," she reassured her. "I was just... really worried." There were a few moments of comfortable silence before Wanda spoke again.
"I- I didn't know if you would come back for me," she mumbled. Natasha blinked in surprise, but took a minute to properly formulate a reply.
"Wanda," she began, "I'll always come back for you. Whether it's on a mission, or something else, I'll never leave you to fend for yourself. Sorry, but you're stuck with me," she joked with a smile. Wanda giggled, the first positive emotion she had expressed since she had been taken.
"Uh, Tasha?"
"Yeah?"
"Since I'm probably gonna be stuck in this bed for a while, I'll probably have to miss out on movie night," she mumbled. Natasha raised an eyebrow, but got an idea.
"I think I have a solution for that."
That night, Natasha, Wanda, and Peter stayed in the medical wing, watching cheesy black and white movies for hours on end. As they munched away on store-bought double chocolate chip cookies, Wanda knew that Natasha had meant what she said. For as long as they lived, the two would have each others back- always.