Missing
NATASHA POV:
Steve picked me up and I felt absolutely horrible as I left Wanda screaming and crying with Clint and Laura. I knew that they would take care of her but that didn't stop me from worrying.
My worry only peaked after Steve told me what mission we were going on. SHIELD found the men who took Wanda. We had already known that they were HYDRA and we had a feeling that they had worked with Wanda before but we now know for a fact that they were the researchers and torturers who worked with Wanda and her brother when they were first taken by HYDRA. I felt my blood boil as he went over the things that they had done.
Apparently, they had more hostages that we needed to rescue but we also needed to shut them down. There were tips that they were looking for Wanda again and we couldn't let that happen. Originally, this was thought to be an entire Avengers team-level threat but Fury decided that he didn't want us all in one spot. He said it was too dangerous and if anything happened, he couldn't have all of us killed. The others were waiting on stand-by in case anything happened. If everything went well though, it would take maybe a week, less if I had anything to say about it.
"How is this going to work?" I asked Steve after I had finished texting Clint to let him know what was going on. I was going to try to call him and Wanda as often as possible but I could make no promises, especially once Steve and I started the mission.
"We are going to take at least a day gathering intel. We know that Wanda is safe and we have eyes on her, if that changes, we go in immediately, but for now, we need to get as much information as possible," Steve said. "We know that they have hostages but we don't know where they are or how many people there are. If possible, I would like to figure that out first, it'll make our job easier." I nodded along with the plan, mentally logging it for later.
He put the jet on autopilot before turning to me. "Nat, I know that this is a personal mission for you and that you want to kill all of them for what they did to Wanda but you need to refrain. We aren't here to kill them, we're here to shut down their program, take them into custody, and save the hostages. If too many get killed, we won't know their motives and we won't know if there are more. I need you to promise me you aren't going to go against the mission," Steve told me in a serious, but gentle, voice.
"I promise," I told him but I immediately had no intention of keeping that promise. I would try my hardest to not kill all of them but if I found the man who did the main torture on Wanda, he would be gone immediately. I really would try though as I would rather they suffer than be given the sweet mercy of death but I also couldn't be sure how I would handle it once I got there.
The flight took several hours. We finally landed somewhere in the woods near the base, hidden in trees. We pulled out some food and ate while I called Clint. I needed to check how Wanda was doing before I could get my head in mission mode. I knew it was late but I had hope as I dialed Clint.
He picked up on the second ring. "Is everything okay?" he asked as soon as he answered the phone.
"Yes, I wanted to check how Wanda was doing before we started anything."
"She's okay, Laura went to go get her in bed but I can go get her," I heard him say and I felt bad that I was waking her up.
"If she's asleep, leave her be. I just want to check if she's okay, don't wake her up though," I said, not wanting to make putting Wanda to bed even harder.
"She's not asleep," Clint told me and I felt relieved. I really wanted to talk to my girl. I heard protests on the other end of the phone and knew that Wanda was giving Laura a hard time about going to sleep. I would talk to her about that before I left.
I waited as I heard Clint telling Wanda I was on the phone before I heard Wanda's voice. "Mama?"
"Hi baby," I said from the other side of the line. "How are you doing?"
"Good, I want you to come home though," she sniffed and I knew she had been crying.
"I know honey, I'll be home soon, I promise," I told her, choosing to leave out how dangerous this mission could be.
"They are trying to make me sleep. I told them I'm not tired though and that I can sleep by myself." I knew that this was going to be difficult for her.
"I know, I asked them to sleep with you to make sure that you actually get sleep. If you sleep the first night, maybe Laura can let you sleep by yourself tomorrow but after last time, we need to make sure you're getting sleep. You're going to be okay baby," I told her.
"No Tasha," she whined.
"Wanda," I warned. "You need to get some sleep and I know you know that."
"But I don't want to, I'll wait for you, I can go a few days without sleep," she tried to argue.
"Wanda, I'm not arguing with you about this. You need sleep and Laura is going to stay with you to make sure you get some, that's final."
"Fine," I heard her sass on the other end.
"Wanda, if I find out you argued with Laura about this, you're in trouble when I get home, got it?" I asked firmly, knowing I had to be somewhat firm to get her to listen.
"Yeah," she mumbled.
"Okay, good. I have to go but I love you so much baby and I'll try to call you as soon as possible, okay?"
"Okay, love you too," she mumbled, still sounding upset but sounding somewhat apologetic.
"I'll talk to you later okay, please be good and get some sleep sweetheart," I told her. She passed the phone back to Clint and I listened as he left the room.
"How's everything really going?" I heard him ask quietly and I had a feeling he was downstairs, away from everyone else.
"Fine, it'll be dangerous and there's a chance I'll get hurt but I don't want Wanda knowing," I told him.
"I know, please be careful though," he responded.
"I'm always careful," I replied, giving some sass but mainly joking.
"Nat, I'm serious. This isn't like other missions where you can put yourself in danger to save others. You have a daughter now, you need to think about her."
"Don't you think I am Barton?" I hissed, angry that he would think I would do anything other than put Wanda first. I saw Steve look at me with that statement and I turned my head so he couldn't listen in much further.
"Hey, watch it kiddo," he replied in a low voice on the other end.
"Sorry," I replied softly. "I am thinking about Wanda though, I promise. She is my number one, that's why I'm here, killing the guys who took advantage of her." I hoped Steve didn't hear my specifics about killing the men because I knew I wasn't supposed to.
Clint continued, "I know that Nat but that doesn't mean you have to snap at me."
"I know, I'm sorry Clint, I'm just tense. A lot rides on this mission."
"I know, and you're going to be fine. Just take your time, do what Steve tells you, I trust your judgment, you're going to be okay. I'll talk to you soon Nat, keep me posted, okay?"
"I will," I told him. "Thank you, feel free to call me if you or Wanda need anything."
"Will do, stay safe. Bye Nat." I hung up after saying bye, turning to Steve.
"What're we doing now?" I asked.
"We wait, it's too dark to see much. We'll come up with a game plan, look at the blueprints, and see what we can figure out. We'll go from there. We also need rest to be ready for tomorrow," he responded and I nodded, grabbing one of the files we had.
I laid out all of the blueprints, starting to memorize the building. I already knew a little bit as it was the same place we found Wanda but I definitely didn't know it by heart yet.
Steve quickly finished his food, moving closer to me to go over the plans.
"We start here and we'll go together," Steve started. "I don't want to split up unless absolutely necessary. This is going to be dangerous enough, we need as much backup as we can get and for now, we're the only ones we've got. The first step is to find the hostages. Hopefully, we can do this undetected. The longer we go without being noticed, the easier our job will become. Once we find the hostages, we can work on taking the HYDRA soldiers into custody. Remember, knock them unconscious, shoot their limbs, anything that keeps them alive but immobilized so that they aren't a threat. We don't need them turning around and stabbing us in the back when we're taking care of something else."
I nodded, letting him know that he could continue and that I understood.
"After the soldiers are ready for capture, we get them to the SHIELD vans that will be stationed a few miles out. Once we get all of them in our possession, we can call SHIELD in, and then we can go from there. After SHIELD has the soldiers, it becomes a recovery mission. We get all of the hostages out of this situation and into the quinjet to get them stabilized and out of that general area. We will bring them to a local hospital to get them fully stabilized."
"And we have absolutely no idea how many hostages or soldiers there are?" I asked once he had finished.
"No, we don't have much information, that's what makes this so dangerous. All I was given was that the HYDRA base that we recovered Wanda from was active again and that there were more hostages who were being taken that needed rescuing. I'm sorry there's not more Nat."
"That's fine," I told him. "That just gives us more work to try to make this as seamless as possible. What happens if we can't make it in undetected?"
"Then step one and two switch," he informed me. "We immobilize the soldiers first, then find the hostages. I would like if those happen the other way around though so that the hostages aren't at risk."
I nodded, knowing that that was the plan but that there was also a major chance that things wouldn't play out that way. I just hoped that they would.
We went over files and the building for a little longer, trying to guess where the hostages are being kept as well as where we could escape and where the most soldiers would likely be positioned before we decided to get some sleep.
I barely got any sleep, my mind playing over constant possibilities for tomorrow and how that would affect Wanda's life. I couldn't let her suffer because I died. I would never forgive myself if that happened. I also hoped that she was getting sleep and wasn't arguing with Laura or Clint. I tossed and turned, hoping that this mission would go over smoothly, although I didn't have high hopes.
WANDA POV:
Dinner was served but I wasn't hungry at all. I tried to eat but I got nauseous quickly so I pushed my food around on my plate.
"Wanda, can you eat a little more for me?" Laura asked me gently.
"I'm not hungry," I mumbled.
"I know but you need to eat," she told me, a bit firmer but still mostly gentle.
"But I'm not hungry," I grit out.
"Wanda, I'm not fighting with you on this, you need to eat, please just try," Laura tried again.
"Then don't fight me on this, I'm not hungry!" I shouted before standing up, ready to storm out.
"Sit down!" Clint said. "You will listen to Laura and eat your food," he whispered in my ear so that the kids couldn't hear.
"It's yummy Wanda," Lila tried and I felt bad that I was causing a scene in front of them.
I sat down but I wasn't happy about it. I rested my head on my hand and didn't eat another bite of food, mainly just sitting so I didn't get in trouble.
All of the kids finished and Laura and Clint sent them off to play before bedtime. They then turned their attention to me.
"Wanda," Laura started softly. "We know that you are having a hard time with everything that is going on-"
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" I shouted as I turned away from them.
"Hey," Clint said gently. "I know, I'm sorry. What we're trying to say is that we understand that there is probably a reason that you don't want to eat but we need you to either communicate those with us or we need you to try to eat. I'm sorry that you're not feeling the best but please," he paused for a second, putting his hand on my arm, "Try to talk to us. Work with us, we're here to help you."
"I want Nat back," I tried, knowing it was a long shot but hoping that maybe they could do something about it.
"I know sweetie," Laura chimed in. "And she'll be back soon but not quite yet. Clint and I are here though to do whatever you need."
"Can I go now?" I asked, not wanting to be a part of this conversation anymore.
"Yeah," Laura sighed. "Bedtime is in a few hours so make sure you do what you want before bed." I rolled my eyes but got up to go sit upstairs. I really missed Natasha and just wished she came home sooner rather than later. I really wasn't happy that she was risking her life on a mission, even if Clint said it wasn't that bad.
I realized I really wanted to go find Nat and help her. I had no idea where she was but I figured I could figure it out. I just needed to call her and find her location and then I could find her from there.
So that's what I spent the next several hours doing. I did what I could to find Natasha. I used an app on my phone to try to track her. Unfortunately, I didn't get very far with tracking her down but I had more of a plan. I would pack my bags as soon as Laura and Clint told me it was time for bed. I could get pretty far by the time Laura and Clint found out that I had left.
Everything was playing out nicely until Laura came to tell me it was time for bed. She was already dressed in her pajamas but I didn't think anything of it as she came to me. "Time for bed Wanda," she told me. I had no plan of getting any sleep tonight but she didn't need to know that.
"Okay," I said, getting in bed, climbing under the blankets to act as though I would get some sleep. I was happy with how my plan was working until Laura climbed into the other side of the bed.
"What're you doing?" I asked her.
"I'm getting ready for bed," she explained.
"In my room?" I asked again.
"Wanda," she said, turning to me. She was using the voice that told me I wasn't going to like what she was about to say. "I thought Nat told you but I will be sleeping with you until she gets back. We need to make sure you're sleeping." Shit, this was going to ruin my plan.
"I can sleep by myself," I told her, getting upset and angry.
"Wanda, if all goes well tonight, maybe we can try something different tomorrow. But for tonight, this is the plan." At this, I got out of bed, trying to argue with her from under the covers wasn't very intimidating.
"Laura, I can sleep by myself! Get out of my room!" I told her.
"Wanda, you need to calm down," Laura told me as she too stood up. "Just listen to me, you're going to be fine. We can work something out but you need to stay calm."
"No, I need you to get out, I don't need to sleep!" I told her. I didn't plan on sleeping. If for some reason I was forced to stay here, I definitely wouldn't be sleeping.
"Yes you do Wanda," Laura said, her voice taking on a firm edge. "Now stop yelling and sit down."
"No! I don't need to listen to you! I just want Nat back!" I yelled, now feeling tears come to my eyes. I didn't want to sleep, I didn't want Laura, I wanted Nat, that's it.
"I know baby," Laura tried to sympathize.
"No you don't! You have all you could want right here! Your kids are safe, your husband is safe, everyone is safe. I don't know if Nat is going to be safe. You know that your family is going to be safe!" I yelled, tears starting to fall. I really just wanted my mama.
"Shh, Wanda, it's going to be okay," Laura tried.
"You don't know that!" I yelled, getting angry again.
"You're right, I don't," Laura said but it didn't make me feel much better. "I have no idea if Nat's going to be okay but I need you to listen to me and stop yelling."
"Screw you," I huffed, getting angry at her.
"Wanda," she warned, similar to Natasha's warning with me. "I used to punish your mama, I can punish you," she told me lowly. I was shocked. I knew that Nat used to live with them but I guess I never fully realized that that meant that she was punished by them.
"Whatever," I scoffed, not fully trusting her.
"Last warning Wanda," she told me. "Now, please sit down and have a conversation with me. I don't need you yelling at me anymore."
"I don't want to sleep," I told her, still angry but trying to calm down.
"I know that but you need sleep, even if it's just a few hours. I'll be here though to wake you up if you have a nightmare."
"That's not enough!" I yelled. "You waking me up won't stop me from having a nightmare!"
"Wanda, I know, but it can stop it from getting too bad."
"No you can't! You won't be able to stop them from happening or be able to help me when I finally wake up. Only mama can do that!" I tried to reason with Laura, convince her that I didn't need sleep. At this point, I didn't really care about finding Nat as long as I didn't have to go to sleep.
"Wanda, calm down-" I cut Laura off as Clint entered the room.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" I yelled
"Nat's on the phone," Clint said, looking pointedly at me. He handed me the phone as I walked closer.
"Mama?" I questioned. It was wonderful to hear Nat's voice on the other end of the phone. It showed that she was still alive, at least for now. I know Clint had told me it wasn't a dangerous mission but I couldn't help but be worried.
I tried convincing her that I didn't need to sleep until she got back but she was having none of it and told me that I would be in trouble if I didn't listen to Laura. I was upset but didn't dare fight Nat right now, I needed her head in the game as much as possible, not worrying about me not getting sleep. If she thought I was sleeping, that was enough.
Unfortunately, the phone call didn't last too long, and soon, Nat was telling me she had to go. I said goodbye quickly and handed the phone back to Clint. He left the room, leaving me to fight with Laura some more.
"See, Nat's fine," Laura said.
"So? That doesn't mean she's safe or will be fine in a few hours," I told her. I remembered what Nat told me about fighting with Laura but I really couldn't care less.
"Wanda, she will be fine. It's time for bed now."
"I'm, not, tired," I told her.
"And I, don't, care," she said, copying my way of talking. I narrowed my eyes at her and she did the same thing. "Get in bed Wanda, I'm not going to ask again," she told me.
"So don't," I challenged. "Just let me stay awake until Nat gets back."
"Wanda, I've been lenient with you because I know you're going through a lot with Nat being gone but I'm running out of patience. Get in bed now. Your mother would have been popped by now," I heard her mumble under her breath and I thought I heard her wrong. I had only ever heard 'popped' being used in relation to my backside and I doubted that's what she meant.
Clint chose this moment to come back into the room. "Wanda, please listen to Laura and get in bed."
"But I'm not tired," I whined, knowing I sounded like a baby. Luckily, Clint was a little more patient than Laura at this given time.
"I know kiddo but you need your rest. The sooner you get some sleep, the sooner Nat will come back." I thought about it but really didn't want to sleep.
"But I'm scared, Nat isn't here to help me if I wake up scared," I told him.
"Guess what?" Clint started.
"What?" I asked, equal parts annoyed and curious.
"Guess who took care of Nat when she used to wake up from nightmares?"
"Who?" I asked, rolling my eyes as I watched Clint point at Laura.
"That one right there. I know that she can't replace Nat but I think she'll be a pretty good substitute for now. Can you try for me Wanda? If it doesn't work tonight, we can try something different tomorrow, okay?"
He was being reasonable. "Okay," I said. "I'll try to sleep but please, if I start showing any signs of a nightmare, wake me up," I said, specifically looking at Laura.
"I will, I promise honey." I nodded, climbing into bed, thinking of a new plan now that I was in bed with another adult.
I lay in bed, looking at the window, while I feigned sleep, waiting for Laura to fall asleep.
It surprisingly didn't take her that long to fall asleep and soon, she was sound asleep. She was asleep hard enough that I could easily get out of the bed without waking her up. I didn't really have time to pack any clothes and I was too afraid that Laura would wake up so I ditched my previous plan, instead, going to the window, opening it, and using my powers to slowly carry me to the ground.
I landed on the grass fields softly before taking off in a run. I had only been in these woods once before so I wasn't really sure how long it was going to take me to get out but it couldn't take that long. I pushed past the weakness in my leg and the slight pain as I continued running, not wanting to slow down and risk getting caught before finding Nat.
As I ran to the treeline, I realized that I really had no idea where I was going. I didn't know where Nat was and chances were I wasn't going to find them.
Once I got to the treeline, I slowed my run to a walk, knowing that I was hidden so if Laura or Clint were to look out of their window, they wouldn't be able to see me anymore. I kept walking for a while before I realized that my plan was not going to work. As I had thought earlier, there was no way I could find Nat right now. I was completely lost and it was still dark outside.
It had been another few hours when I realized that I didn't want to do this anymore. I wanted to go back to the farm and wait for Nat there. The only problem was, I was completely lost. The trees were too thick for me to use my powers to lift me above them and there were trees for as far as the eye could see so I didn't think there would be a clearing anywhere closeby.
I started to panic when I realized that I had no idea how to get home. I was very lost. It was also still dark outside. I tried going back the way I came but everything looked the same.
"Help!" I shouted, hoping someone would hear me. I heard noises around me and that's when I also realized that I was still in the woods which meant that there were probably animals nearby. This caused me to ditch my previous plan of yelling for help as I knew that that would get me nowhere but dead if I attracted an animal.
I backed up against a tree, sinking to the floor as the tears started falling. I was lost, it was dark, I was cold, and I was also scared. I had just wanted to find my mama but now I was lost.
I tried shooting red power balls into the air to attract help if Clint and Laura were looking for me but the trees were too dense for that too. I also didn't think that Laura or Clint even knew I was gone yet so that plan was done.
I settled for just crying while I waited for an idea to hit me or for someone to find me, preferably the latter as long as it was Clint or Laura.
I wanted to try walking back to the farm but I had been walking for hours and I had no idea which way was the right way. I could be walking even further away and I didn't want to get further away from my goal.
I sat next to the tree for hours until the sky started getting lighter, showing me that the sun was coming out. Hopefully now Clint and Laura will start looking for me.
The minutes ticked by and it felt as if I had been outside forever. The tears kept coming but now they were turning into sobs. Even though it was daytime, I had been walking for hours, I have no idea how far I had gotten, and there was a good chance no one would find me.
I started walking again, I had seen some footprints now that it was brighter and I just hoped that this was the same way I had come last night.
I didn't get far before I felt like I couldn't breathe. What if HYDRA found me again and took me back to the cement room? I couldn't do that again. I fell to my knees as I tried to breathe past my sobs. I curled myself into a ball, hating that I ever left.
LAURA POV:
I jolted awake after a dream featuring Nat getting hurt on the mission. I rolled over to try to go back to sleep when I saw that the bed next to me was empty. It took me a second to register that Wanda should have been there but once it did, I shot up, glancing at the clock to see if maybe it was already time for breakfast. When the clock showed that it was only 3 in the morning, my stomach dropped.
I tried to reason with myself, saying that Wanda was probably just in the bathroom but I couldn't help from having flashbacks of when Nat left the house early in the morning when she was a kid. Nat was fine during that event but Wanda was going through some more emotional trauma right now than Nat was at the time.
I got up to go check the bathroom and the other rooms in the house. I checked Cooper and Lila's room in case she had gone in there. No luck. Nate's room was next. Still nothing. My next stop was to our bedroom to wake up Clint.
"Clint, wake up," I said as I gently shook him. He started to stir. "Wanda's gone." That made him bolt upward, almost knocking into me.
"What? Did you check the house?" he asked.
"Yeah, she's not here. We have to go look for her." Clint got out of bed.
"Call her phone," he said. "Maybe she took it with her wherever she went."
"And you really think she'll answer if she left the house?" I asked.
"It's worth a shot." I pulled out my phone and dialed Wanda's number. We both heard ringing coming from down the hallway and followed it. Just as I had suspected, her phone was still on the nightstand, plugged in. She had left it.
"Shit," I heard Clint cuss from beside me.
"Let's check outside. She may have gone for a little walk," I told him. I didn't believe it myself but I hoped so. If she was taken by HYDRA again or if anything else happened to her, I would never be able to forgive myself and I knew that Nat wouldn't forgive us either.
We both quickly headed outside, spreading out while we called for her. I had Nate's baby monitor in case he woke up but I doubted that any of the kids would wake up for another few hours.
"Wanda!" I called, hoping that I would find her soon.
I heard Clint calling for her too. We both searched all around the house, all the way up to the treeline before we regrouped.
"Go get the kids, I'll call Jennifer," I said, referring to our neighbor.
I also rushed inside, calling our nearest neighbors. I felt horrible about calling her this early in the morning but we had been searching for a little over an hour and Wanda still was nowhere to be seen. At least now it was almost 5 so it wasn't crazy early.
Our neighbor answered the phone and I quickly explained the situation. I just said that there was an emergency and I needed her to watch the kids for a few hours if possible. Of course she said yes so we packed all of the kids into the car and brought them over to the neighbors.
Jennifer met us outside and picked up Lila while her husband took Nate.
"Thank you so much," I told her, giving all of my kids a quick kiss goodbye. We needed to go find our other honorary child.
"Absolutely no problem, let me know if you need anything," she told me. I quickly rushed back to the car and watched as she took all of the kids inside. Luckily, the kids liked staying over there as Jennifer had a few kids of her own, close in age to Lila and Cooper.
"We should keep checking the woods around the farm," I told Clint. "Let's take the car though, we can go faster that way." Clint nodded as he set off back to the house, taking a turn as he weaved his way through trees.
We went in circles around the farm, slowly working our way further into the trees. No sign of Wanda yet. Eventually, the trees got too thick for us to use the car so we parked it before getting out and going off in search of Wanda on foot.
I contemplated calling Nat but knew that I couldn't pull her away from this mission and since she couldn't do anything from where she was, there was no need in worrying her.
We walked through the woods for hours, calling Wanda's name, listening for any signs of distress, and keeping our eyes peeled for anything.
The sun rose and there was still no sign of Wanda.
"I think we need to call Nat," I said, starting to lose hope that Wanda was still in the woods.
Clint sighed but agreed. "Call her," he said, "I'll keep looking."
I stepped away to call Natasha, not looking forward to this conversation.
She picked up relatively quickly and sounded out of breath like she had just been fighting.
"Laura?" she asked and it seemed rushed. I almost changed my mind about telling her but she needed to know that her daughter was missing.
"I'll make this quick since it sounds like you have little time but Wanda is missing."
"What?" I heard on the other end.
"Clint and I are looking for her but she's not here. We are checking the woods now. Do you know where she might go?"
"Check the creek," she said and I didn't have the heart to tell her that we had already checked that entire area and she was nowhere to be found. She sounded extremely worried and I cursed myself for telling her and being so blunt.
"Okay we will, we'll find her Nat, I just wanted to check if you had any idea on where she would go." I heard gunshots in the background and knew I needed to wrap this up.
"Thank you Laura, please tell me the second you find her."
"I will, I promise." I hung up, quickly meeting back up with Clint.
"What'd she say?" he asked.
"It sounds like she was in the middle of a fight so I left out some of the details. She told me to look by the creek."
"We did an-"
"I know," I cut him off. "I told her that we would and that I'd let her know as soon as we find her."
He sighed. I felt bad that I had worried Nat for no reason. I told her her daughter was missing but didn't give her enough information to actually help us for fear of distracting her from the fight. I really hoped she didn't get injured. It would be my fault.
We were just about to give up and head back to the farm to figure something else out when I heard a noise. It was quiet and muffled but it sounded like crying.
"Listen!" I shouted to Clint. He stopped moving so that the leaves wouldn't crunch and that the sticks wouldn't snap while we both listened. There was definitely crying, we just had to hope it was Wanda. I doubted there was some other kid in the forest crying but we had no idea how far we had gone, there could be a house nearby with a crying child that we were hearing.
Once we were sure that the noise we were hearing was crying, we started calling Wanda's name. There was no response so we were starting to doubt that it was her.
We gave up calling her and instead moved towards the noise. We walked for another five or so minutes, the crying getting louder. We now knew that it was Wanda who was crying. We could tell.
I saw a lump near a tree and realized it was Wanda so I took off running the last couple hundred feet to get to her.
"Wanda, what happened?" I tried questioning as I slid next to her. Clint got there first, grabbing onto her shoulders. I quickly texted Nat letting her know that we found Wanda and that she was okay but I was still extremely worried. We had no idea if she was hurt or what had happened but I felt relief when she turned around to hug Clint. I was just glad that we found her when we did.
WANDA POV:
I have no idea how long I was in the woods for but eventually, I felt hands on my shoulders and I flinched, jumping up so that I could see who was there. Clint and Laura were both there, looking at me worriedly. I flung myself into Clint's arms as he was closest. He tried asking me, "Wanda, what happened? Are you okay?" but I didn't respond through my tears. I was so glad that they had found me.
He held onto me tightly, wrapping his arms around me as he switched from questioning me to comforting me. "Shh Wanda, I've got you, you're okay kiddo, shh," he repeated while I tried to calm down. I couldn't calm down though, now that the tears had started, there was no stopping them.
I sobbed out the pain from the last several weeks as Clint held me. I barely heard his attempts at comforting me over my tears but I tried to hold onto those.
I felt him stand and he picked me up into his arms as I continued crying. Laura walked behind him as we walked back to the house and I watched her through my hair over Clint's shoulder. She looked worried as we walked back. She was doing something on her phone, my guess was that she was texting Nat but I didn't care. I tried taking some deep breaths but the tears still didn't stop.
We kept walking until we got to the car. So I had been pretty far out from the house. Clint set me down and I crawled into the back of the car. Laura got in next to me and wrapped an arm around me. I leaned into her as Clint got into the driver's seat.
We traveled about 10 minutes until we got back to the farm. The crying had never stopped the entire time. Once we got to the car, Laura tried coaxing me out of the car. "C'mon Wanda, let's go inside." Instead of listening, I just cried. I didn't know why I couldn't stop but it was annoying me to no end.
"Baby, can you come inside with us?" I heard Laura ask. I briefly wondered who was watching the kids but again, I couldn't really care about anything other than breathing and trying to stop crying.
I heard both Clint and Laura sigh before Clint leaned into the back seat to pick me up and take me inside. I held onto him until we got all the way inside where he set me down on the couch.
I noticed that there were no kids coming to greet us so through my tears, I asked, "Where are the kids?" I rubbed at my eyes as I took a shuddering breath, trying to calm down.
"Don't worry about them sweetie," Laura said. "They're at a neighbor's house. Can you tell me what happened? Why were you outside?"
"I wanted Nat," I told her quietly, the tears slowing down a little bit. I still felt like I couldn't breathe though and had to take several hitched breaths in an effort to completely calm down.
Laura must have felt bad for me because she said, "Oh honey," before pulling me onto her lap. I was embarrassed to be sitting on her lap at 16 years old but I leaned against her, resting my head on her shoulder, as I felt my eyes close. My body got heavy and soon, I was completely asleep.
o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o
I woke up in my room at the farm. I rolled over and checked the time. It was almost noon which meant that I had been asleep for a few hours. I sat up before walking down the hall to the bathroom. When I saw myself in the mirror, I was taken aback by what I saw. My eyes were red and puffy and my cheeks were splotchy, all from my earlier crying sesh.
I washed my face before walking down the stairs. Lila, Cooper, and Nate were all in the living room and Laura was in the kitchen. I didn't know where Clint was though.
Laura saw me as I came downstairs and walked over to me, pulling me into a hug. "How're you doing sweetie?" she asked.
"Good," I told her.
"How'd you sleep?" came her second question.
"Fine," I hadn't had any nightmares which was good.
"Great! What would you like to eat?" she asked.
"I'm not hungry," I mumbled, walking away from Laura. I really didn't want to eat right now.
Laura sighed before saying, "Wanda, you need to eat sweetie. I don't care what you eat but you need to eat."
I rolled my eyes but decided I didn't really want to argue anymore right now, especially because Lila had walked into the kitchen and was pulling at my shirt.
"Wanda!" she said excitedly. "Pick me up!" I was tired and didn't feel like being around someone with as much energy as Lila but I loved her so I picked her up, resting her on my hip as I waited for food.
"Can we go play?" Lila asked.
"I need to eat first," I told her after Laura gave me a pointed look. I would have told Lila that I would go play with her but I knew that Laura would stop me.
"Oh, okay, can we play after?" Lila asked.
"Sure," I told her.
Cooper walked into the kitchen now too and I was surprised when he walked over and hugged me. He wrapped his arms around my waist as he tucked himself into my side. I had Lila on one hip and Cooper against the other. It was weird. I loved the kids and I knew they loved me but they usually weren't this clingy, especially Cooper.
I wrapped my arm around Cooper before he pulled away, going to sit on the chair. I looked at Laura but she didn't say anything about it as she continued making the sandwiches.
I set Lila down and she went to go sit next to Cooper.
"Can you go grab Nate for me?" Laura asked. I nodded, going to the living room and grabbing Nate out of his bouncer.
"Hi baby," I cooed as I brought him over to the kitchen, putting him in his highchair.
Laura served all of us sandwiches with chips and apples. I ate it, listening to Lila chat away about the show that was on the TV before lunch. I didn't really know what she was talking about but I listened to her as she went on and on and found it quite amusing.
After lunch, I hung out with Lila and we played dolls, family, and kitchen while Nate napped.
Clint came to get us both for dinner hours later. I felt happy while playing with Lila but once we returned to the kitchen as a family, I was reminded that Nat still wasn't home. I missed her like crazy and wanted to talk to her. I also still really, really wanted to go find her but I also didn't want a repeat of earlier this morning.
I was actually surprised that I had gotten away with leaving the house in the middle of the night without any punishment but I definitely wasn't complaining. They probably told Nat and were waiting for her to come back to take care of punishing me for that stunt.
Dinner passed quickly but I wasn't able to eat all of my food. Both Laura and Clint didn't argue with me though when I pushed my half-full plate of food away from me to signal being done. I think that they were just glad that I had eaten a little bit.
The two older kids had school the next day so they were sent to bed early to make sure that they got enough sleep. Nate also went to sleep early and then that left just Clint, Laura, and me. I really didn't want to sleep but I knew they would make me.
"Can we call Nat?" I asked quietly.
"Of course we can," Laura said.
"We just want to talk to you really quickly though first," Clint continued. I looked at him with that, did something happen to Nat?
"Is Nat okay?" I asked, scared of the answer.
"Yes, she's fine, that's not what we want to talk about," Clint responded, reassuring me that Nat was okay.
"We want to talk about this morning," Laura spoke up. "Before you say anything, you are not in trouble, okay?"
I nodded, waiting to see where this went. "We just want to know what happened this morning and why we found you in the middle of the woods."
"I wanted to find Nat," I told them simply.
"Okay," Laura continued. She was being very gentle with me. "Do you remember leaving the house?"
I nodded.
"When did you leave?"
"After you fell asleep," I mumbled.
"Okay, what did you plan on doing once you left?"
"I wanted to go find Nat," I replied. I looked up and saw Clint's expression darken but Laura stayed calm.
Clint had been silent up until now. "What were you thinking Wanda?" Clint asked sternly. "You know you're not allowed to go on missions."
"I know," I said.
"Really? Because you were willing to sneak on one that your mother specifically told you not to. Do you remember what happened the last time you snuck on a mission?" he was yelling by the end and I felt tears fill my eyes. I squirmed when he mentioned the events of the last mission I snuck on. I didn't want to relive that.
"I just wanted Nat," I cried and Laura put a hand on Clint's arm to stop him and calm him down.
"We know you did sweetie," Laura took over. "We were just worried. I woke up at 3 in the morning and when you were gone, I didn't know what to do. Clint and I looked for hours before we finally found you. It was scary."
"I'm sorry," I said, being sincere. "I won't do it again," I promised.
"Good, because if you do, I know how your mama punishes you and we aren't afraid to do that," Clint told me firmly and I nodded, not wanting that to happen. I had a feeling that he wasn't being serious and was mostly bluffing but I also knew how much this family believed in following through and consistency so I was a little worried.
"We just want to keep you safe," Laura explained. "Did anything happen while you were out there? Did you get hurt?" I shook my head no, I was fine. "Good, don't let it happen again," she warned and I nodded, not wanting her to be mad too.
"Can we call Nat now?" I asked once no one had spoken up for a few seconds.
"Yeah," Clint said as he pulled out his phone. He dialed it and put the phone up to his ear. Almost immediately, he pulled it away, looking confused, as he dialed it again. She wasn't answering. He tried dialing it a few more times and then looked to Laura.
She pulled out her phone and tried dialing her. Just as it did with Clint, the phone went straight to voicemail which meant that her phone was either turned off, dead, or damaged. I really hoped it was just the former but I wasn't sure. I just hoped that she was okay and that she wasn't in any kind of trouble.