Torture
WANDA POV:
I shot up in bed due to a nightmare. Before I knew what was happening, I threw up over my covers. I realized my stomach hurt a lot and I felt tears in my eyes, not sure if it was because of the pain in my stomach or the nightmare. I couldn't remember what happened in my nightmare but I had a feeling that was what caused me to throw up. My heart rate was also going a mile a minute.
I moved the vomit covered covers away from me as I climbed out of bed and moved to my bathroom. Nat wasn't in the room with me and I quickly remembered why. My stomach still hurt and it didn't take me long to realize it was the feeling of guilt, squirming around in my insides.
I washed my mouth out with cold water and changed my sweat soaked pajamas. I was surprised I wasn't crying.
As soon as I finished getting changed and felt my heart calm down a bit, I moved back to my room and stripped my bed. I crept down the hallway and put my dirty laundry in the wash. I quietly started the load and then went to the closet down the hall to grab a new comforter and pair of sheets.
I gathered the blankets into my arms as I moved back down the hall to my room where I made my bed. I felt exhausted and also incredibly guilty. I had hoped that the recent punishment would help ease my guilt but so far, it was doing nothing.
There was a little voice in my head that told me I shouldn't be here. It told me that Nat hated me and that she wished more than anything that I would leave the house. I tried to tell myself that it was just my thoughts but I couldn't make it go away.
I felt blank as I lay in bed, trying to go back to sleep. The voice wouldn't go away though.
I found myself climbing out of my bed as I made my way to my closet, grabbing a duffel bag. I started shoving clothes into it, numbly grabbing clothes from my dresser as I messily folded them and threw them into the bag. My eyes felt as if they couldn't focus on anything as I packed the bag.
One glance at my alarm clock told me it was just past 2 in the morning. I grabbed a pen and a notebook off of my desk and scratched out a quick note to whoever should come looking for me first. I placed it on the edge of my made bed and then finished packing my last few items.
I took the picture frame of me and Nat at the farm off of my nightstand and placed it on the top of the bag, quickly zipping it closed before I changed my mind.
After a few seconds of fighting against my mind and convincing FRIDAY to keep this a secret, I opened my window and used my powers to carefully lift me down to the floor. I had told FRIDAY that I needed to go for a quick walk and that if I wasn't back in 15 minutes, she could wake up Nat. I knew that I would get far away given 15 minutes.
I started my trek down the long driveway of the compound, using my powers to propel me over the fence. It was still dark outside as I made my way out of town. I wanted to get as far away from New York as possible before I could come up with a plan. I wasn't sure where I was going, I just wanted to move away from the compound.
As I was walking, I felt a wet sensation on my cheek and I brought my hand up, touching my face. I realized that the wetness was coming from my tears. I hadn't even known I was crying.
I quickly wiped away my tears as I continued walking.
I walked for hours, just following the road. No one was out this early in the morning and there were very few cars on the road as I made my way out of town.
It felt like forever before I came upon the sign that read, "You are leaving New York. Please come again." I walked past the sign and continued my way out of the state. The sun had been up for a while now as I kept walking down the road.
I had left my phone at the compound, knowing that Nat would try to call me and track me down as soon as she realized what I was doing. I was kind of hoping for it now though, at least it would help me get some information.
My brain was blank as I walked into a gas station, looking for something to eat. "Welcome in," the man behind the counter greeted me. I glanced in his direction and kept moving through the store, scanning the isles.
I settled on a bag of chips and a bottle of water as I moved to the front of the store. I had grabbed some cash before I left and I used it to pay for the snacks. The man stared at me oddly as I handed him the money silently. I flashed him a small smile to make him less suspicious of me.
He handed me the items and I shoved them in my bag before moving back out of the gas station. I wasn't really sure where I was as I hadn't been paying attention to any signs on my way out of New York.
There was a small alleyway between the gas station and another store. I made my way to the alley and sat on a wooden crate as I ate my chips. I was extremely thirsty as I uncapped my bottle and downed about half of it.
Now that I was out of the compound, I started to think more clearly. I ran away but where was I going to go? I couldn't go back to the compound because I was just a constant reminder to Nat of all of the horrible things I had done. I was starting to miss the compound though. I missed Nat. I missed my mama.
I sniffed back the tears as I shoved the last few chips in my mouth, crinkling the empty bag and licking the salt off my fingers.
Where could I go? I didn't have enough money to buy a ticket to Sokovia. Not sure if I even wanted to go there anyways. I didn't really have enough money for anything now that I think about it. I doubt I had enough for a hotel room.
I threw out the chips and shoved the water bottle in my bag as I started walking again. I passed a car and I glanced at the license plate, seeing that it was from Vermont. So I was in Vermont. Not really sure what that meant as I had only been living in the US for a few months but I knew Vermont wasn't New York so that was good.
I had no way to tell the time as I walked along the side of the road. I didn't have my phone and I didn't own a watch so the only way for me to tell the time was the occasional billboard that had a flashing light that read the time.
The air was getting cold as the sun went down. People were heading home from work and the streets were emptying out. I desperately missed home now but I couldn't go back. I had gone too far. Maybe no one had even realized I was gone yet.
I felt like crying again as I tried to find a place to stay. I settled on another alleyway, knowing that I probably wouldn't find anywhere better. I walked to the back end of the alleyway, trying to stay hidden in the shadows as I lay on the floor, using my duffel bag as a pillow.
It took a while but I eventually nodded off, shivering in the cold air.
I woke up to the feeling of something touching my arm. I opened my eyes and saw a man leaning over me, trying to open my bag.
"Hey!" I yelled as I sat up and pushed him off of me. He looked familiar.
"Miss me?" he asked. I was confused, trying to remember who he was.
I let out a gasp as I realized who he was but it was too late. He had already plunged the needle into my neck.
NATASHA POV:
I lied in bed, getting absolutely no sleep. FRIDAY had told me that Wanda was sleeping peacefully but I still couldn't sleep. I was waiting for her to wake up with a nightmare. I didn't know what I would do though. She didn't want me earlier and I doubted she would want me now. If I couldn't comfort her, I either needed to find someone who could or she would be stuck suffering all alone.
I wanted to go check on her but I didn't want to wake her up. I also didn't want her to see me and then have a panic attack like she did earlier. It was very clear that she no longer needed or wanted me.
It was almost 2:30 in the morning when I got a notification from FRIDAY, saying that Wanda had been out of the compound for more than 15 minutes.
"What do you mean FRIDAY?" I asked as I jumped out of bed, making my way to her room.
"Ms. Maximoff awoke at 2:03 am and decided to go on a walk. She told me to notify you if she wasn't back within 15 minutes. It has been 15 minutes and 21 seconds since she has left the compound."
"Why am I just finding out now?" I shouted as I threw open her door.
"Ms. Maximoff requested 15 minutes-" FRIDAY continued.
"You should've notified me the second she left this compound," I snapped, looking around her room. I could feel my heart beating faster as I saw her window wide open. I continued to look around her room until my eyes landed on a folded piece of paper on the end of her bed.
I rushed over to it and picked it up, quickly unfolding it and letting my eyes scan the words. "To whoever reads this first, I'm sorry for the problems that I have brought upon this family. Nat, I love you so much and I'm sorry for everything I've done to you. You never asked for me but you took care of me. Thank you. You no longer have to take care of me anymore as I'm leaving. Please don't blame yourself, I needed to do this for your well-being. You did nothing wrong with taking care of me and you are the reason I'm still alive. Now you will never have to look at me again and be reminded of all of the terrible things I've done. I'm sorry for calling you mama. A witch doesn't deserve to take that title from you. Clint, thank you for helping to ease me into this family. I love you, Laura, Lila, Cooper, and baby Nate. Thank you for being a home for me when I had no one. You cared for me when I needed it the most and I appreciate it. Pepper, thank you for being the aunt I never had. Thank you for the love that you spared for me, even when I was intruding on your life. Steve, thanks for the support you have given me in this household. I know how hard it was for you to let a dangerous, super-powered teen into the compound and now you don't have to deal with me anymore. Tony, I'm so sorry for being an annoying brat in your house. You took care of me even when I know you wanted nothing more than to get rid of me. Thank you all for being my family even when I was such a horrendous creature living in your home. I ruined all of your lives and I'm so incredibly sorry. I have left now, please don't come looking for me. Things are better this way. You will no longer have to suffer due to me. I'm sorry for the burden that I bestowed upon all of you and I hope that your lives are all better now. Love you, Wanda."
I felt tears pouring down my face as I finished reading the note. I was shaking as I ran to Clint's room, pounding on his door.
"What's going on?" he said groggily as he opened his door, his hair a disheveled mess.
"It's Wanda," I sobbed, shoving the note into his hands.
"Are you okay Nat?" he asked me worriedly.
"Read the note," I said as I wrapped my arms around myself.
I watched his face as he read the note and then as a tear fell down his cheek.
"Nat," he breathed out. "We need to go find her. She couldn't have gotten far."
"She's not going to want me," I told him, tears still falling down my cheeks. "She hates me, she ran away because of me."
"Tasha," he said as he squeezed my hands. "Wanda loves you more than anything. She needs us right now. Let's go."
"Okay," I said softly as I followed Clint. We very quickly put our shoes on and ran outside, jumping in the car to go look for her.
"Where does she like to go?" he asked me.
"I don't know," I said, looking all over the roads. "She only goes to school and then home. Did she go to another party?"
"I don't think she would have written a note if she went to a party," Clint told me and I knew he was right.
We drove for hours, looking everywhere for her. She wasn't anywhere near the compound. I had tried tracking her phone immediately, only to find that she left it in the compound, in her room. She must've known we would track her the second we found out she left.
I called Pepper, Steve, Tony, everyone we could think of, and told them what was going on. We needed as many people as possible looking for her.
It was well into the afternoon when we arrived back at the compound, having no luck in finding Wanda. Steve had the idea of looking through public footage to see if we could get any leads. If Wanda didn't want to be found though, it was going to be real hard to find her.
I sat in front of the many computer screens, scanning through traffic footage and any security footage from all over New York. She could have left the state by now and that's what I was scared of. Once she left the state, it would be a lot harder to find her.
This went on for several days before we found our first lead.
WANDA POV:
I woke up strapped to a chair. My mouth tasted bloody and I felt dizzy. I lifted my head and saw that I was in an empty, concrete room. The floors and walls were made out of concrete. There was a door near the corner of the room with a tiny glass window in the top middle.
I looked to my left and saw a metal table, covered with a blue cloth. I had no idea what was on the table but I didn't really want to find out.
I had a headache and I noticed that my neck hurt. I tried moving my arms or my legs but they were both strapped tightly to the arms and legs of the chair I was on. It was a cold metal chair. I then realized I was only wearing a hospital gown.
My brain felt foggy as I tried to remember anything that had happened in the last few hours. Nothing was coming to my mind though.
I sat there for a few more quiet minutes until the door swung open, a man wearing a lab coat walking through it. "Well look who's awake," he said in a patronizing tone, looking me straight in the eyes.
"What am I doing here?" I asked, trying to sound mean.
"Oh Wanda, you know why you're here. You should have never left in the first place." I felt a memory pulsing at the back of my brain, trying to make it to the front but it just couldn't make it.
"I don't know why I'm here, who are you?" I snapped.
"You don't remember me?" he asked in a feigned hurt tone, placing his hand over his chest.
I glared at him, trying to remember who he was.
"Oh well, you'll remember me in your own time," he said, shrugging as he walked further into the room. He walked over to the metal table and lifted the blue cloth, revealing a bunch of tools that did not look like they were meant for good.
"What are those for?" I asked, trying to sound brave and mean.
"You'll see," he said with an evil smile as he picked up the first tool. It looked like a giant pair of scissors mixed with a syringe. The end of the metal tool was thick like a straw.
He moved closer to me and stuck the end of the metal straw onto my skin. It didn't hurt until he pushed down, piercing my skin. I tried not to yelp as it dug further into my arm. The metal tube stopped entering my skin, pushing against the bone.
He then grabbed the scissor part of the tool and started to twist, grinding the end of the metal tube into my bone. I could hear crunching as it moved deeper into my skin, now piercing my bone. I screamed at the sensation.
Blood was now pouring out over my arm as the metal tube moved further into my arm. He stopped twisting and pushing and started pulling the metal tube back out of my arm. I watched as the end of it came out of my arm, the end of the tube full of my bone.
He set it down on the table next to me and watched me as I writhed from the pain, my arm hot and burning.
"Oh Wanda, you used to be stronger."
He then grabbed another tool off the table and used it to draw an x on my other arm. He didn't press hard enough to make a deep gash, just enough to barely cut my skin.
It stung but it didn't hurt as bad as the last method he used. I watched a small trail of blood trickle down my arm as I panted, trying not to cry.
"You're a monster," I panted out, trying to get him to stop.
"I know," he said simply as he continued the torture.
By the end of the torture session, I was cold, bleeding, bruised, and shaking. He had dumped freezing cold water over my head that had been covered with a burlap sack. He had beaten me, cut me, shocked me, and much more. At one point, he had unstrapped me from the table and had thrown me into the corner of the room.
He had a long stick that he used to whip me with, making large welts all over my body. He injected me with a burning liquid and then left the room, leaving me writhing on the floor.
The liquid felt as if it was turning my blood to acid. I could feel it as it flowed through my bloodstream. I screamed as I rubbed my skin, trying to relieve the burning sensation. My skin felt hot and tight as it continued its way through my body.
I felt it move towards my chest and it felt as if it was boiling my heart. I screamed as tears flowed down my face. There was nothing I could do to remove the burning sensation though.
I ended up curled in a tiny ball in the corner of the room, my back to the wall, shaking and crying.
The burning took hours to go away and then it left my entire body feeling burned and blistered even though there were no obvious burns on the outside of my body. It hurt to move at all and I stayed curled in the corner, waiting for the pain to leave.
I eventually passed out from exhaustion, still not moving from the corner.
I woke up to a crushing pain on my hand. I opened my eyes and saw a boot standing over my crushed fingers.
"Wake up," a gruff voice said. I scrambled into a sitting position once the boot removed itself from my now broken hand. I brought my hand into my chest as I backed into the corner, watching three men surround me.
"Take your clothes off," one of them said and I stared at him, not believing what was going to happen.
I didn't move or comply which only made them angry.
I found myself thinking about Nat as I lied on the floor, getting assaulted. I wanted my mama, I don't want to be here. Hot tears fell down my face as I felt my body getting dirtied by the terrible men.
They eventually left but not before they injected me with more of the burning liquid. I screamed as my fingernails ripped into my skin, trying to bring out the boiling blood.
NATASHA POV:
We finally found a lead after three days of no sleep, no food, and absolute panic. Everyone had tried to convince me to get some rest but I couldn't, knowing my girl was out there somewhere without me.
I had spent every minute of every day going through security footage of New York city. I had also managed to get access to a few videos from other states nearby. We had called airports and tried to see if Wanda had made an appearance but they wouldn't tell us.
I was starting to lose faith that we would ever find her when I finally caught a glimpse of her in a gas station security footage from Vermont. So now we at least had an idea of where she was.
Everyone immediately jumped into action, getting into cars and driving over to Vermont. We only had one gas station from several days ago but it was something. It was definitely her in the video and at this point, we just needed something.
Clint and I were in the same car as we went to the gas station where we saw Wanda. Clint tried to tell me not to get my hopes up because the footage was from over three days ago. She could be several states away by now but it was something and I needed that.
We got to the gas station in record time and ran in, questioning the employees to see if they had any information about Wanda. The man said he couldn't remember and that we couldn't expect him to remember something from 3 days ago. Clint had to hold me back from attacking the guy with his attitude.
We ended up leaving the gas station with no more information than when we showed up. It was frustrating but at least we knew that she had been in Vermont at some point.
Now that we were in Vermont, we started going through any security footage that we could find in Vermont. This led us to an alleyway that she was seen going into.
We took a trip down to the alleyway and she wasn't there. We only had footage of her going in though. There was no footage of her leaving at any point in time and the only way out was the way that she came in.
The walls were too high for her to have easily gotten over unless she used her powers but we would have seen that on the footage. Clint and I looked around until he found something. There was a small needle on the floor with a syringe a few feet away, under some trash.
It could have been left by some homeless person at some point but it also could mean that Wanda was in trouble. There was still no footage of her ever leaving though so we now assumed that the footage had been hacked and changed.
I was now more worried than ever as we thought of places to go. I went back to look through more footage, trying to find anything that looked odd or suspicious, such as a car that showed up randomly on one piece of footage.
It took another several hours but I finally found a black van that popped up randomly in one camera but was not seen in any of the others leading up to this point. That meant that they had been hacking the cameras up to that point as there was no way onto the road that they had been on.
Clint and I had another lead and it filled my heart with hope but also dread. If Wanda was in that van, she definitely wasn't in there by her own decision. We called the rest of the gang to let them know what was going on. Steve, Tony, Rhodey, and Vision were going to meet us wherever the black van leads. Then we would investigate and hopefully find Wanda.
WANDA POV:
It felt as if weeks had passed but it had most likely only been a few days. I had no way to tell the time inside of my little cement room.
My body was so broken at this point, I could barely move. My left hand had been shattered along with several ribs and my right leg. There might have been more, those were just the obvious ones. My hand had been stomped on, my ribs had been kicked, and my leg was snapped with a metal pole when I tried to use my powers to escape. They told me if I tried it again, they would amputate both legs to prevent me from running away.
I had been waterboarded several times, shocked even more, and tortured in so many ways. My bones had been sampled, they had injected me with the burning liquid more times than I can count, I had been stabbed, cut, beaten, bruised, and assaulted.
Food and water were rare. I had been given water through an IV and my food was the consistency of canned dog food. They would throw it on the floor and laugh as I tried to move my body in a way that I could lick it up without pain. It was humiliating and painful but I needed food.
I was kept in the pitch black room until they came in to torture me, then the lights would go on. They tried to test my powers but I became too weak to use them after my original escape attempt.
My room smelt of urine, feces, vomit, and blood. At first, whenever the men came in, they would strap me to the chair, but eventually, I was too weak to move so they just left me in the corner, doing all of the torture there. My hospital gown had become a dirty rag within the first couple of times they came to torture me so I now lied naked on the floor, shivering in the cold room.
I wanted my mama, I wanted Clint, I wanted Pepper, Tony, Steve, anyone, anyone to save me from this horrible torture.
I had finally recognized my captor as one of the main researchers who used to experiment on me in HYDRA. He had been the one to inflict the torture on us when we first received our powers to see how much our bodies could withstand.
I wasn't aware if I was awake or sleeping anymore. I was in a constant state of pain that never went away. I think I would drift into unconsciousness every once and a while but I was shocked often enough to keep me mostly conscious.
My body was giving up. I was less and less aware of what was going on around me as time went on and I didn't think I was going to last much longer. I had hoped that Nat would find me but all I had left her was a measly note to tell her I was leaving and that I wasn't coming back. They probably weren't even looking for me.
I heard noises outside of my room. Someone was shouting. I couldn't make out what they were saying though and my room was completely dark so I couldn't see anything going on. I was waiting for them to enter my room to start another round of torture.
The door flung open and I whimpered, trying to curl into a smaller ball. The lights were still off which was weird as they would always turn them on once they opened the door to start the torture.
"Wanda?" I heard a familiar voice ask. It was mama.
"Mama," I whimpered from the corner, trying to get her attention.
"Wanda baby, are you in here?" I heard her worried voice again. All of a sudden, light flooded the room and I saw Nat standing at the door, frantically looking around.
I watched as her eyes scanned my body and she came bolting over, leaning over me, crouched on the floor.
"Oh baby, I'm here," she said as she ran her smooth hands over my face.
"Mama," I cried, trying not to move my body too much due to the pain. I couldn't speak much due to the pain in my throat from all of the shocks and screaming. "Mama," I repeated, trying to reach up to her.
"Shh baby, don't move, mama's got you. We're here, you're safe. Shh, I love you. Just keep breathing sweetie, stay with me." I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open as I focused on her eyes. It looked like they were filled with tears but that could've just been my eyes.
"Mama," I cried out again.
"Shh baby, try not to talk, I've got you, shh." She was holding my hand tightly as I cried on the floor.
I saw someone else enter the room from the corner of my eye and I saw that it was Steve, Tony, and Clint.
"Oh my god," I heard Clint whisper as he saw me.
"Shit," Tony mumbled under his breath.
All three of them moved towards me slowly as Nat continued to hold my hand.
"Go get a blanket," Nat told them, slightly blocking my body with hers. I was glad, I was wearing nothing and I didn't want them to see my bruised body. It was weak.
Steve quickly ran out of the room to grab the blanket and Tony stepped back a bit. Clint didn't stop walking towards me though. He crouched down next to Nat and ran his fingers through my hair.
"Oh Wanda, you're so brave," he told me quietly as I lied on the floor shivering.
I felt like I was going to pass out but Nat kept telling me to keep my eyes open and to stay with her for just a little longer. I felt really weak though and didn't think I could stay awake for much longer.
Steve got back with the blanket and handed it to Nat. She gently draped it around me and turned to look at Steve. They seemed to have a silent conversation with their eyes before she turned back to me, touching my face gently as she started talking.
"Okay baby, we need to get you out of here. Steve is going to carry you to the jet. I'm sorry baby but it'll probably hurt. You'll feel much better once we get you on the jet though."
"Please no," I cried out in a whisper. I didn't think I could handle anymore pain.
"I know baby, it'll only take a few seconds. Shh sweetheart." I gripped her hand as tight as I could but it still wasn't very strong. I was terrified.
Steve moved closer and I started whimpering, waiting for the pain. "Alright Wanda, try to relax, I've got you," he told me as he started moving his hands under me. The blanket was now fully wrapped around my body but I could feel my ribs protesting as he moved his hands under me.
My crying grew more intense as he started to lift me up, quickly but carefully picking me up off the ground and pulling me to his chest. I was moaning and whimpering in pain as he walked out of the building we were in.
I felt myself falling in and out of consciousness as we made our way to the jet. Once we got to the jet, he set me down on a gurney and Bruce was there, waiting to patch me up.
He gave me a shot and I heard myself saying, "Mama," right before I drifted into unconsciousness.