Reunion
WANDA POV:
I woke up the next morning, warm in Nat's arms. I had had a rough day and although I still wasn't feeling the best, I felt excited due to the fact that we were going to the farm today. I missed Laura badly and couldn't wait to see her again.
I had made it through the night with only one minimal nightmare that I had been able to calm down from by myself. I was starting to get back to being self-sufficient when it came to calming myself down after a nightmare. After the kidnapping, I had woken Nat up almost every single night, but it was getting to the point where I could take care of myself, as long as she was in the room with me.
It was still early as I woke up but I didn't have to wait long before Nat's alarm went off, signaling the beginning of our day. We had to quickly pack the jet so that we could get going.
"Good morning baby," Nat said as she ran her hand through my hair.
"Good morning," I responded as I moved closer to her. I had been needy after yesterday's random disappearance of Nat, even though I knew she wouldn't leave me again. It wasn't that I was afraid to be without her, I was just more comfortable near her.
"You ready to get up and head to the farm?" she asked me and I nodded, climbing out of bed. It was still early, just past 6 in the morning, as we both got dressed and ready for the day.
I had pulled on my new leg braces and grabbed my crutches. I didn't want to use them at the farm since I knew the kids were going to want to move around a lot to play and the crutches made that difficult. I tried walking without them but Nat stopped me. "Hey Wanda, don't forget your crutches."
I rolled my eyes but turned to smile at her, not wanting to be rude. "Oh yeah, I forgot, thanks, Nat." If I cooperated now, she might let me go without them at the farm.
I quickly went to the bathroom before heading down to where the Quinjet was. Nat had headed down there while I was in the bathroom to pack our suitcases. I met Clint on my way down there.
"You excited kiddo?" he asked as he greeted me.
"Yeah, I miss them all so much. I bet you do too," I commented, knowing he hadn't been to see them since the kidnapping.
"I do, but we'll be there soon and then we can all have fun. I bet they're all more excited about seeing you than they are me," Clint laughed.
"No they aren't," I laughed while shaking my head. "They miss you so much, you're their dad."
"Yeah, we'll see about that," he said as he playfully nudged me. I was using the crutch so he was gentle to make sure that I didn't fall over.
We both arrived at the jet to see Nat walking out of it after finishing packing all of our suitcases.
"Are we ready?" Clint asked.
"I think so, I've got everything packed. You?" Nat asked.
"Yup," Clint replied, popping the 'p.'
"Okay, then let's get going," Nat said, coming over to me to help me get on the jet. We both got on the jet and then I sat down next to Nat, leaning on her shoulder. I was still tired so I closed my eyes for a little bit longer, trying to get some more sleep. Luckily, I ended up falling asleep on the ride there, which made the ride more bearable for me because I wasn't bouncing around with excitement.
As soon as the jet landed, I was waiting at the door, ready to rush out. Nat reminded me that I needed to be careful and that I needed to use my crutch. I wanted to throw it to the side and run off the jet but I knew that I would get in trouble so once the door opened, I crutched out as quickly as possible.
Laura and the kids were standing outside. Clint walked next to me and scooped up Lila before she could pounce on me. I was grateful as I knew that if she had tried to jump on me, I wouldn't have been able to hold her with my ribs that weren't completely pain-free yet, my leg that was still working on getting back to how it used to be, and my arm that was still covered with a bulky cast.
I hobbled over to Laura and threw my crutch to the side as I fell into her arms.
"I missed you sweetie," she mumbled into my ear as I hugged her tightly, or as tightly as I could with the cast. Much to my embarrassment and confusion, I felt tears fill my eyes. I was excited but I didn't know why I was about to cry over seeing her again.
"I missed you too," I whispered back. I eventually pulled away and quickly wiped away the tears that had gathered at the edge of my eyes, not wanting to cry in front of the family.
"Wanda!" Lila shouted, still in Clint's arms.
"Hi Lila!" I called out as I hobbled over to her, giving her a hug from Clint's arms. I was glad he still had a hold of her as I knew she would still try to climb into my arms if he wasn't holding onto her.
Nate squealed with excitement and I looked over to see Nat holding him, a large smile plastered on her face. I felt bad as I had caused her so much stress and worry over the last couple of weeks, I hadn't seen her that happy in a while.
Cooper was smiling but hadn't said much after we arrived, giving his dad a hug and smiling gently at both Nat and me.
"Well let's get you all inside," Laura exclaimed after a few more moments of saying hello to everyone. Nat placed a hand on my back, still holding Nate with one arm, as I crutched into the house.
Everyone went into the living room and I was excited to be able to sit down. My leg was exhausted. I tried not to show it though as I slowly and carefully sat down, gently propping my crutch against the couch.
Lila climbed onto the couch next to me, climbing into my lap. I hugged her as she leaned against me. "I missed you," I told her.
"I missed you too Wanda, can you play with me?"
"Of course," I told her, my heart warming.
Nat sat on the other side of me, still holding Nate. "Hi baby," I told him, letting his hands grab one of my fingers.
Laura kept looking at me with a look of pity and I knew it was over the kidnapping. I had no doubt that Nat had been telling her all about everything that happened. I just hoped that she didn't bring it up. I didn't have high hopes though.
"How long are you staying?" Cooper asked.
"Not sure," Nat replied. "Probably about a week, or until you get tired of us," she laughed.
"We'll never get tired of you Auntie Nat," Lila said as she crawled off of me and onto Nat's lap. Nat handed me Nate. It was a little hard given that one of my arms was still wrapped in a cast but I managed and enjoyed the chubby baby cuddled against me.
Light conversation continued to flow around the room for a little bit before Laura decided that they should give us time to settle down and rest a bit.
Nat grabbed our bags and I made my slow journey up the stairs. Lila bolted past me to get to her room. I hadn't really had to do many stairs yet, especially none as scary as the Barton's. Their stairs were relatively narrow and deep, making it hard to get my crutches up and lift my body up each step.
By the time I got to the top, I was frustrated and ready to throw my crutches away. I was breathing heavily with angry tears in my eyes when I got pulled out of my thoughts by Nat's soft voice, "Wanda, you're okay. Take some deep breaths."
My head snapped up to look at her and I rolled my eyes before continuing to crutch to the room that we had stayed in last time.
I flopped down on the bed and Nat closed the door behind us, coming to sit next to me.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
"I can't do anything," I grumbled frustratingly. "I couldn't even get up the stairs like a normal person. Holding Nate was nearly impossible and I can only hug Lila on the couch because of all this," I said as I gestured to my brace and my cast.
"Wanda, you're making massive improvements, you just need another week or so and then your cast can come off."
"But I still can't use it when it comes off!" I shouted. "My leg barely works and the cast is off of that!"
"You need time to strengthen it again, you'll get there. Your leg was shattered Wanda, it doesn't just get back to where it was in a few days, you need time."
"Whatever," I huffed as I leaned back in the bed against the headboard. I heard Nat sigh.
"We can stay up here and rest if you want."
"I've only rested, I need to get back to my regular life. At this rate, I'll never be able to train again," I huffed. "I'm just so done."
Nat looked at me with my finishing statement. "Wanda, you're doing amazing. I know it's frustrating bu-"
"No!" I cut her off. "You don't know how frustrating it is! You've never had to go through something like this!" I snapped.
"Really Wanda?" Nat questioned calmly. "I've never had to go through something like this? What about that time I almost died on a mission? I could barely move. My childhood wasn't exactly full of rainbows and butterflies either Wanda. I get it. Not being able to move around the best is hard, I do understand, and I'm here to help you, but don't take your anger out on me."
I felt bad but I was still pissed off. "Just leave me alone," I mumbled. I didn't want to say something else that I would regret and I was so done with these injuries. I had put up with them for weeks, I was done.
Nat sighed but did leave the room, closing the door behind her. Tears rolled down my cheeks and I wiped them away angrily.
A wave of anger rolled over me and I picked up my crutch and threw it across the room. It hit a lamp on the desk and the lamp fell over, shattering over the table.
Several sets of footsteps were heard running up the stairs before Laura, Clint, and Nat burst into the room. "What happened?" Nat asked before seeing the crutch resting against the table and the lamp knocked over.
"Wanda!" she reprimanded. "What did you do?"
I shrugged, angry at the whole situation. I didn't know where all of this anger was coming from but I was very angry.
Laura looked at me and went to say something but stopped before grabbing the crutch and bringing it back to me. "Here Wanda," she said calmly.
I glared at her before grabbing it out of her hands roughly. Her eyebrows went up and I rolled my eyes before tossing the crutch onto the floor.
"Wanda!" Nat hissed. "Watch the attitude, I know you're angry but that is no excuse to be a brat. Apologize to Laura now!"
"No," I challenged. I was mad that there were so many people in the room and I could feel my heart pounding.
"Wanda," she growled. She came to the edge of the bed near me and leaned to whisper in my ear. "I don't care if you are still injured, I will pull you over my knee if you don't watch it."
I blushed and shoved her away from me. Everyone in the room gasped and Nat looked at me murderously.
"Wanda Maximoff!" Laura snapped. I was surprised as I looked over at her. "Apologize to your mother now!"
"She's not my mother and I don't need to listen to you bitch" I grumbled. I tried being quiet enough that no one would hear what I said but it was clear in their reactions that they had all heard me clear as day. As soon as I said it, I regretted it, it never went over well when I said that.
Nat gently grabbed my non-injured arm and rolled me slightly, sending one sharp swat to my backside. That was the first time she had smacked me since the kidnapping. "You do not talk that way to Laura," she said calmly.
"Bitch!" I screamed at her before getting up and storming down the hall. I passed Lila on the way and she looked at me surprised but didn't say anything as I continued my path. My leg felt extremely weak as I walked to the bathroom without my crutch but I managed to get there before slamming the door shut, locking it behind me.
I expected someone to follow me so I was surprised when several minutes went by with no one knocking on the door or demanding that I open it. What I didn't know was that they were still cleaning up the mess in my room while discussing what to do with me.
I sat in the bathroom, trying to calm my breathing while I replied the conversation over in my head. I was so dead. I don't know why I was so angry. I relaxed against the wall while I waited for someone to come get me.
NATASHA POV:
I had just left Wanda's room when two big crashes came from her room. I heard what sounded like glass shattering and my brain went to a comment she passed earlier, "I'm just so done." I hoped she didn't do anything to herself as I turned around and went running to her room. Both Clint and Laura also heard the crash and they came running.
I saw Cooper holding Nate at the end of the hall and Lila asking what was going on as I bolted past them to get to Wanda.
When I saw Wanda sitting on the bed with the crutch near the table, I felt a flash of anger but I tried to keep it under control as I asked what happened. It looked to me as if she threw her crutch and it hit the lamp.
Wanda then decided she was going to ignore me, give an attitude to Laura and me, and then bolt out of the room after calling me a bitch. To be fair, I had smacked her for the first time since the kidnapping. Her attitude towards Laura was not going to float with me though.
Laura looked completely surprised and shocked as Wanda ran out of the room and I sighed before sitting on the bed. I heard a door slam and then Lila walked into the room with tears streaming down her face.
"What's wrong sweetie?" I asked as I saw her first. Laura rushed around the bed to grab her before she stepped on the glass.
"What happened to Wanda?" she asked through her tears.
"Wanda's okay, she's just angry," Laura explained while she rocked her daughter in her arms.
"I'm so sorry," I mouthed to Laura, my anger coming back towards Wanda.
"It's okay," she mouthed back as she went back to comforting Lila. She left the room with her while Clint and I got to cleaning the mess.
I picked up the larger pieces while Clint got out the vacuum. I waited for Laura to come back before I said anything.
"Is Lila okay?" I asked, feeling guilty.
"Yeah, she's okay. She just got scared by the crashes and then saw Wanda leave the room and slam the door."
"I'm so sorry you guys," I apologized. "We can leave."
"No," Laura was quick to respond. "This isn't your fault and I know that Wanda is going through a lot right now."
"She's just been so angry lately," I explained. "Sam said it's because her body is trying to block her mind from recovering from the mental stress caused by the kidnapping. He says that her mind is trying to protect her. Her body is healing physically so now it's time for it to heal emotionally and mentally and she's not ready so her mind is trying to block it. I know it's not an excuse though, I just don't know what to do."
"The same thing happened with you," Laura started. "When you first came here. You were nothing but angry." I remembered, I hated them when I first moved in. I wanted nothing to do with them. "We worked on it though and now look at you." I sighed, knowing she was right. "You've just got to stick with it. She'll get better."
"Am I supposed to be super gentle though? I just don't know what to do. I don't want to be hard on her, she was kidnapped and I still don't know everything that happened."
"I know you're not going to like what I say but I think you need to force her to open up. I did it for you and although you hated it, it helped. The anger is fine because it is her releasing some emotion but it can't stay like this forever. Wanda has had a lot of issues throughout her life and I wouldn't be surprised if she never opens up about this. That's not healthy. Is she going to talk to Sam?" Laura asked.
"Yeah, I think so, she's been against it this entire time but I think I finally convinced her to talk to him. About everything else you said, I know but I don't know if she can take it. I know she was raped and I know the types of tortures Helen told me caused her injuries but I think she needs to say it. She needs to talk about it and I know that but I don't want to hurt her. She always pushes me away when I try to talk about things."
"I think you need to sit her down and have a long conversation Nat," Laura continued. Clint nodded. "I know that it won't be easy and she'll probably fight tooth and nail against it but she needs this. I would run it by Sam, see what he says, and then go for it.
"Okay," I sighed, knowing that Laura was right. "I'll talk to her later, what do I do now though? I can't just let all of that go unpunished."
"I wouldn't spank her," Laura said and it shocked me. She usually wasn't against spanking so I wondered where this was coming from. "You'd be surprised the number of times we didn't spank you when you were younger for things that we definitely thought you deserved one for. She's going through a lot, we all know that, I know she feels bad about her actions, she doesn't know how to handle all of that. It's up to you Nat but if I were you, I would talk with her now and then make it clear that this is a special circumstance and that's why she's not being punished."
"Okay, what if she's still mad?"
"I have no doubts she'll be pissed when you try to sit her down to have this conversation but as Sam said, that's just because she's blocking the torture she went through. You're right, she needs to say it herself, she needs to release the emotions she has surrounding this issue. It's not going to be a quick fix and it will definitely take more than just one conversation but this is a start. You can do this Nat and if you need Clint or me in the room, we can make that happen. Just let us know."
"I think I'll start with just us but I may need backup if things get too much for her. I know she knows that we all love her and support her but she may need to see that physically in the number of people here for her."
"Of course," Laura said. The room was cleaned at this point so Laura and Clint left, letting me know that I could just call if I needed them but that they would go keep the kids away from the situation.
Before I went to get Wanda, I pulled out my phone and texted Sam asking if he thought that the conversation was a good idea. I was hoping that it would take him a little bit to respond but both fortunately and unfortunately, he responded almost immediately letting me know that he thought it was a good idea as long as she didn't do anything to hurt herself while we had the conversation. He, just like Laura, warned me that it most likely would not go over super well with Wanda though and that it may take her a little bit to open up.
I took a few more deep breaths before heading down the hallway to find Wanda. I heard her go into the bathroom earlier and I just hoped that nothing happened to her while she was in there. I forgot that we weren't in the compound anymore, we didn't have FRIDAY to tell me if something was wrong with Wanda.
I heard some heavy breathing and sniffles on the other end of the bathroom door which meant that Wanda was in there.
"Wands?" I questioned gently as I knocked on the door. "Can I come in?" She didn't say anything so I tried the door. It was locked, just like I thought, so I leaned against the wall next to the door.
"Wanda, you're not in trouble sweetheart. I just want to talk to you. I understand that a lot is going on in your mind and I want to help but I need you to talk to me sweetie." I gave her a few seconds to open the door, but nothing happened.
"You don't have to talk just yet but I want you to know that I love you. I'm sorry for getting mad at you earlier. Although what you said wasn't acceptable, I probably shouldn't have popped you quite yet and I'm sorry Wanda. Please just open the door."
I was beginning to worry that something else was going on but then I heard the lock on the door turn, unlocking it for me.
"I'm going to come in, okay Wanda?" Again, I gave her a few seconds to change her mind but when the door didn't re-lock, I gently opened the door to reveal Wanda sitting on the ground, tears dripping down her face.
I quickly sat next to her so that I wasn't too intimidating by standing above her. I scooted close to her but didn't touch her in case she was still panicky.
"Are you okay baby?" I asked gently, not wanting to push too much just yet.
She shrugged but didn't say anything at first.
We sat in silence for about a minute before she said, very quietly, "Sorry." It was mumbled and hard to make out but I managed to.
"It's okay honey. I'm not completely happy with what you said earlier but I also understand that you're going through a lot right now and that it's hard to just go along with everything. I know how hard it can be to not be able to walk or move as much as you want to but I also want you to remember how much you've accomplished since we first found you. You are making tremendous improvements and I don't want that to go unnoticed. You'll get back to where you were before, it'll just take time."
She nodded but still didn't say anything. "How about we head back to the room?"
She looked at me before looking at the floor again. "Are Laura and Clint mad?"
Of course she would think that, in everything I told her, I completely forgot to let her know that they aren't mad. That's something that's really important to Wanda as she always feels like a burden. "No, they aren't," I assured her. "They, like me, aren't exactly happy with how everything played out but they aren't mad at you, more mad at the situation that you've been placed in than you."
She nodded again. I made the first move to stand, hoping she would follow through. As I stood, Wanda slid up the wall next to me, grabbing onto the counter to help pull herself the rest of the way up.
I held my hand out for her as she didn't have her crutches with her. She grabbed it gently as we made our way back down the hall and into our room at the farm.
She sat on the bed when we got there and curled into a ball against the headboard. She was still facing me though so I let it go. I knew that what was about to happen was going to be hard on both of us so I didn't particularly care how or where she sat.
"Wanda," I started gently as I sat down on the edge of the bed, turning my body to face her. "I understand that what you've gone through, not only in the past few weeks but the past several years, has been extremely hard. Now, the only way to get through all of that is to talk through it and get help," I saw her eyes grow wide as she started to guess where I was going with this. "I know you may hate me for this and that's okay as long as it means that you get better but we aren't leaving this room until I feel that you've opened up to me enough."
I watched a few emotions play on Wanda's face, starting with shock, morphing to anger, and ending with sadness and worry.
"I know this might be difficult so all I ask you to do is be honest with me. I'll start and if at any point, you need a break, let me know and I'll stop. I don't want to hurt you or make you angry Wanda, I want to get through to you that we all care about you and that it's okay to not be okay."
She wouldn't meet my eyes as I talked but I continued, "Wanda, can you look at me?" Still nothing. I ducked my head a bit to barely catch her eyes. She darted her eyes to the other side of the room but she didn't get off of the bed which was a good sign.
"Are you okay?" I asked her. Still no response so I figured I would just start and see where that got us. I would judge how much I pushed based on her responses but I knew that I would have to push at least a little bit to get any response.
I sighed and then started by saying, "What happened the night you got kidnapped?" I didn't have too much information so it would be hard for me to know whether or not she was being truthful.
The silence continued for another couple of minutes before I tried again. "Okay, let's start with a more narrow question, what made you leave the compound that night?" I tried being patient as she continued to ignore me. I noticed that her eyes were glassier as if she was about to cry.
"Wanda, look at me," I said gently. She still didn't move. "Wanda," I said a bit sharper. She cringed but still didn't look at me. I slowly and carefully moved closer to her until I was sitting in front of her. I moved my hand forward to cup under her chin gently as I moved her gaze to meet mine. She had tears in her eyes but didn't let any fall as she looked at me.
"Wanda, I know you don't want to do this but I need you to work with me. We're going to be here forever if you don't."
Still no response. She just stared straight through me. "Do you want Laura or Clint to be here while we have this conversation?" I asked, wondering if that would help at all. She slowly shook her head. "Okay, what about Sam? We can call him or bring him here if you want." Another shake of her head. "Do you want anyone here for you?" She pointed at me but didn't say anything.
"Oh honey, I'm not leaving," I told her gently. "I need you to tell me though, what made you leave the compound that night?"
She turned away and I sighed. "Okay Wanda, you tell me when you're ready to talk, we aren't leaving though until you start talking so get comfortable." I got off of the bed and went to sit at the desk, pulling out my phone so I could text Laura and Clint. I had held out for hours when they had a conversation similar to this when I was younger and I desperately needed tips on how to get through this.
Wanda wasn't as stubborn as I was so I'm hoping it won't last as long but this is also a bit more recent and acute than the topic of conversation mine had been.
Laura texted me and told me to stay calm and that it was okay to sit there in silence for a bit. She said that I had done a good job laying out the rules so now all I had to do was wait. I had made it clear that we wouldn't be going anywhere until she spoke, now I just have to follow through. If I cave in and let her leave, it will show that I will eventually give up, meaning that the next time we attempt this conversation, it would be a lot harder.
I continued texting Clint and Laura throughout this as the hours ticked on with no words spoken from Wanda. They had both offered to come up to help move things along if needed but I told them that I was okay, I just needed to make sure that she felt safe and not too forced into anything. I didn't want to corner her with 3 different adults as we all asked her questions.
Finally, after three and a half hours passed, I heard a word come from Wanda, "Guilt." I turned around to face her. It only took a second for my brain to connect what she said to the conversation.
I got up and moved back to the bed, moving so I was facing her but still far enough away that I wasn't in her personal space. "Okay," I started slow and gentle. "Guilt over what?"
She shrugged. I was worried it was going to be another few hours of silence but she said, "I think what I did. I didn't deserve love."
I didn't want to go too overboard as I didn't want to scare her into shutting down but I also didn't want her to think that she didn't deserve love. "Wanda, no matter what you do, you will always deserve love, do you understand?" She looked at me and nodded slightly. I could tell she didn't believe it but it was a start. "And to address what you did, you were punished. What happens after you are punished?"
I waited for a second for her response. "You're forgiven," she said quietly.
"Exactly. So why would this case be any different?"
"Because what I did was worse," she told me.
"And so your punishment was worse, it doesn't mean you aren't forgiven or that you don't deserve love." Wanda nodded but her eyes had floated away from mine, now looking at the corner of the room.
"Okay, where did you go after you left the compound?"
"Vermont," she said quickly. "A gas station in Vermont I think."
"Okay, what happened after that?"
"I got food and ate it. Then I was cold I think so I went to an alleyway to try to sleep and warm up. It's kind of foggy." I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I fell asleep and when I woke up," she paused.
"What happened when you woke up?" I gently coaxed after a few seconds of silence. The tears reappeared but still, none of them fell.
"There was a man leaning over me. He asked me if I remembered him before sticking me in the neck with a needle. I passed out then."
I took in some breath, trying not to react too much to what Wanda said. I don't want her to think I'm mad or upset with her. "Okay," I said, keeping my voice steady. "Did you remember him?"
Wanda started shaking but continued talking, "Not at first but then I remembered. He was there with HYDRA, he was one of the main experimenters and torturers of Pietro and me."
"Okay, Wanda, thank you for telling me this." I could tell that it was hard by the way that her body was trembling but we needed to keep going. "What happened after you were taken in the alleyway?"
This time, it took a lot longer for her to respond. She stayed quiet and looked out the window, ignoring my question.
I let it stay silent for five minutes before asking again. "Wanda, I know this is hard, what is the first thing you remember?"
Another couple of minutes of silence before she said, "I was tied to a chair. I was in a dark cement room by myself." She spoke extremely quietly and I had to strain to hear her.
"Okay, what's the next thing you remember?"
She looked directly at me before saying, "They tortured me," before turning away again. I felt myself get sick as I knew I had to force her for more information. We already knew she was tortured, she acknowledged that she was tortured, but we needed more, it needed to be specific for her to truly heal from this. Or at least start the healing process.
"What did they do to you, honey?" I asked quietly and gently, waiting for a reaction. She took a sharp intake of breath but stayed quiet for another several minutes. "Wanda, please sweetie, keep going, you're doing so good."
"You want to know what they did to me?" she asked, now looking at me with her eyes filled with tears. "They took my bones, they shocked me, they injected me with some kind of burning liquid, they waterboarded me, they broke my leg, my hand, and my ribs, they beat me with a stick, they punched me, kicked me, slapped me, they cut me, and then, when I thought it couldn't get much worse, they raped me. Happy?" she questioned as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Oh baby," I whispered under my breath as I got closer to her. I touched her leg and she flinched away, jumping off of the bed, she quickly ran over to the desk and grabbed a pair of scissors. She held it out near her abdomen, pointing towards herself.
"Come closer and I'll stab myself," she cried.
"Wanda, you need to calm down," I told her, cursing myself for ever pushing her to open up. I should've waited for Sam. He was trained in this, I wasn't.
"No Nat! I don't need to calm down! I want to die! I don't want to relive everything that happened! It was horrible, why are you making me relive it?" She was sobbing as she held the scissors out in front of her, ready to plunge them into her stomach at any point.
The screaming must've alerted Clint and Laura because the door opened, both of them quickly coming to my side when they saw Wanda.
"Wanda put the scissors down," I said, both of my hands out in front of me in a placating gesture. "Please baby, just put the scissors down and we can talk."
"I don't want to talk!" she cried.
"Okay, we don't have to talk, please just put the scissors down. You aren't in trouble, I promise." I practically begged her to put them down. Laura and Clint both looked at a loss for what to do.
Then we heard a tiny voice behind us, "Wanda?" We all turned to see Lila standing in the doorway, her eyes wide.
"Cooper!" Laura called as she rushed over to Lila, "I told you to watch your sister!" Cooper arrived a second later, grabbing Lila's wrist, but not before he saw Wanda. He paused for a second, watching her.
"Mom?" he said.
"Take your sister and your brother and go outside for a little bit okay?" Laura spoke quickly and with authority. "Dad and I will come get you in a little bit."
"Mommy, what's wrong with Wanda?" Lila asked. At this point, Lila was crying as she watched the situation.
"She'll be okay, now go with your brother. Cooper, we'll be there soon hun," Laura explained gently.
Cooper nodded, his eyes wide and full of fear before he tugged on Lila and left the room. Laura closed the door and rushed back to my side.
Fortunately, I don't think Wanda realized that they were both in the room. From her position, the doorway was relatively blocked from her view and she was crying so hard I doubt she heard Laura talking to the kids. I felt horrible and knew that I would have to sincerely apologize to Laura and Clint later though.
Now that the kids were gone, all of the attention was back on Wanda. Every time any one of us stepped closer to her, she would scream at us to stay where we were before threatening to stab herself.
None of us knew what to do and so we just stayed there, ready to jump into action if necessary. We all continued to try to convince her to put down the scissors though.
Eventually, she started to get tired from the sobbing. It had felt like hours but was probably only a few minutes when Clint saw an opportunity.
Wanda wiped her eyes with her sleeves and he lunged forward, grabbing the scissors and throwing them onto the bed. I quickly grabbed them and moved them to a table right outside of the doorway.
Wanda yelled as she tried to grab them but Clint was quicker. He grabbed her arms from behind and fell onto the bed with her, scooting himself and her up to the headrest as he pressed her back against his chest, restraining her as she thrashed around.
Laura was quick to grab her legs and hold those down while I sat next to Wanda, gripping her hand and trying to calm her down.
"Wanda, baby, please calm down, we're here to help you."
"No!" she cried as she continued to try to escape our hold. "Please let me go!" I knew that this was probably causing some PTSD for her due to the kidnapping but we couldn't just let her go.
"Grab all of the sharps or anything that she could use to hurt herself," Laura told me. I moved away from Wanda to do what Laura asked. I wanted to be by her side but I also wanted her to be safe and I wasn't going to argue with Laura if she had a plan that could help Wanda.
As soon as I gathered all of the sharps and other dangerous items, I looked to Laura. She mouthed to put them in her room for right now. My guess was she didn't want to say it out loud because then Wanda would know where they all were.
I ran out of the room to place them all in Laura and Clint's room before rushing back to the room with Wanda. Clint still had her wrapped in his arms on the bed.
"I'll be good, please!" Wanda cried.
"Let her go," I said to Clint. He looked at me like I was crazy as she was still thrashing around. "Trust me, this isn't helping and everything dangerous is gone."
He glanced at me before looking at Laura but he did let her go. She quickly scampered off of the bed and shoved herself into the far corner of the room. We were in between her and the door so she wasn't going anywhere.
She looked around wildly as she sobbed. She slowly slid down the wall and sat on the floor, pressing her body as far into the corner as it could go.
"Wanda," I said carefully. "You're okay, I need you to take some deep breaths for me." She wasn't listening but seemed to be okay for the time being. Well, as okay as anyone having a major meltdown would be.
"We won't hold you down as long as you don't do anything to hurt yourself, okay?" I asked. "If you try to hurt yourself though, Clint will hold you again. It's just to keep you safe Wanda," I told her loud enough so that she could hear me over her cries but also in a calm, gentle tone.
She slammed her head against the wall and I waited to see if she would do it again. She did it once more and both Clint and Laura got up to grab her. I motioned for them to stop as I spoke to Wanda, "Wanda if you slam your head again, we're going to hold you."
"No!" she cried as she tried to curl into herself even more.
"Don't slam your head and you can stay there," I told her calmly. Luckily, she didn't try to slam her head into the wall again and instead just stayed curled up into a ball, slowly calming down.
Once she was mostly calm, the intense sobs stopping, leaving behind some tears and the shaking, I moved closer to her, crouching to her level. "Wanda, can I touch you?" I asked gently.
Instead of saying anything, she quickly threw herself into my arms. I was taken aback by her quick movements but that didn't stop me from wrapping my arms around her as I held her tightly.
"Shh, you're okay," I comforted her as I cupped her head with one hand and ran my other hand over her back.
I knew we would eventually have to finish the conversation but right now, as I had Wanda wrapped tightly in my arms, I decided that that could wait for another day.