The last chapter made people cry?? I didn't know it was that sad?? So sorry if it did but it also makes me feel good about myself as a writer lol!
I hope y'all enjoy! Please don't forget to comment, follow, and vote!!
•••flashback•••
It was back at the old house. Before he started locking her in closets as punishment, he locked her in the garage. It was freezing in the winter, especially when the temperature outside went below zero. She'd been out in the garage over 24 hours now in only a tank top and leggings, no food, and a bucket to use the bathroom in.
Actually, she also had an old small gas heater he "let" her have. It was very old, and if you got too close, it'd burn you. So it was either burn or freeze.
She decided to move around to warm up, even though she was nearly too cold to move. She had to force herself. Though she was trembling, she stood to her feet, the cement floors against her bare feet sent another chill down her spine.
She walked around the room, and when she got bored, she walked in the other direction, pacing like a trapped animal in a zoo. She felt bad for the animals now, looking back on it. All the times she'd go to the zoo and take pictures of them- trapped with no where to go. Their freedom and free will taken away forever, just like hers.
She paused in her steps when she noticed something on one of the shelves she hadn't before. The closer she got, the more excited she felt.
On one of the shelves in the garage was an old phone. It was so old, and God only knew if it'd work. She nearly cried in glee when she found the charger that went with it.
She hurriedly plugged the phone in and hid it behind a bin that was laying around in case Loki walked in. She decided to do ten laps around the garage before she'd check the phone and see if it turned on.
8....9....10! She ran back to the phone, said a quiet prayer in her head, and flipped it over.
It was on.
This almost seemed too good to be true, but she had to move fast. She kept the phone plugged in and dialed 911.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"I need help, please." She whispered hoarsely into the phone. "My name is Summer-"
"Oh, my dear, I hoped you would have learned your lesson by now."
That voice- his voice. It sent shivers down her spine.
He knocked the phone out of her hand, and she bravely- foolishly, dove for it. She slid across the floor and just before she could grasp the phone, a heavy boot slammed down on her arm, making her cry out in pain. The pain lessened and instead the boot slammed down on the phone, shattering it.
No.... That was her only way out.
"Who did you call?" Loki asked with a disturbingly calm voice. She said nothing and kept her head down, trembling and cowering away. "I asked you a question!" He yelled and grabbed the arm he just stomped on to bring her closer.
"911!" She cried out and let out a yelp as he dropped her.
He let out a humorless dark chuckle. "You'll pay for that."
Summer scrambled back, tripped over her own feet, and crashed onto the floor. She crawled backwards as he prowled closer, desperate sobs for mercy falling from her lips. "No, please, I'm sorry. It won't happen again, I-I'll be better, I'll be good, I'm sorry!"
"You're right, it won't bloody happen again."
She continued to crawl back until an intense heat crept up her back, and she came to a halt. She froze, stuck between a rock and a hard place- between two hazards. The heater and Loki.
Of course, Loki only used that to his advantage. He smiled devilishly and stood over her until she was flat on her back. He placed his boot on her throat, pinning her to the ground. Her head was mere inches away from the heater and she swore she could smell her hair singeing from the sheer heat of it. She clawed at his legs, desperately trying to get away from the heater.
With a tilt of his head and a tick of his jaw, he asked in a mocking tone, "what's suddenly got you so clingy?"
He released her and she immediately crawled away from it- and him- until she was thrown back against it. Caught off guard, she screamed as her side accidentally grazed against the hot metal.
"Did I give you permission to move!?" He sneered and stomped closer.
Still on her hands and knees, she flinched as he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and shoved her face first dangerously close to the metal heater.
"No, please, no!" She cried and tried to move away, but that would only result in being pushed closer to the heater. She could only pray he wouldn't push her any closer. She was already so close she swore she'd lose some of her eyebrows and eyelashes.
"Are you ready to be obedient again?" He asked, calmly.
"Yes! Yes, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Please, I'll do anything!" She sobbed and she was almost certain the heater evaporated her tears.
"Anything?" He tested and squeezed her neck tighter.
"Yes, anything!" She cried, not thinking all the way through, too concerned with having her face burned off.
"Good." He decided and dropped her. She crumbled to the ground in a heap and she sobbed in relief. "The garage seems to be too much of a privilege to you... come, we're going somewhere else."
She couldn't do anything as he dragged her out. From then on, he used the closet for future punishments.
•••
It's been a few days since they landed on Midgard and Summer stayed in her room the Avengers provided for her unless told otherwise. Her whole body was achy, a side effect of being so far away from Loki.
She tried not to show it around Siv, but she was scared out of her mind. She didn't know what to do or who to trust. For the past several years, Loki had made all her decisions for her. Now what does she do? She felt so lost, so conflicted, and confused.
For the most part, she remained silent when different members from the Avengers would check on her. They came and would take Siv to get her out of the room every so often, and Summer couldn't do much to protest, no matter how badly she wanted to protect her daughter.
Today, however, Wanda came in the room and sat on the end of the bed where Summer was sitting. "Hey, how are you doing?"
Her watery eyes glanced up at her for a split second, before the glanced back down. Was she supposed to talk to her? Would Loki approve? She's on her bed, Loki always said no one else should be on her bed but him.
"Summer.... when was the last time you showered?" She asked, noticing her greasy hair. She also hadn't changed her clothes, even though they provided some for her.
"Umm...." when was the last time Loki let her shower? "I-I'm not sure." She didn't know how long it's been since she's been here.
"Do you want to shower? Or a bath?" She asked. "You can, you know."
Oh. But no one told her she could. There was no one to give her permission. No one to set the temperature for her or what soaps to use. Loki's let her have warm water for years now, but he still always decided. Not having him seemed to derail her everyday life.
"Why don't you go take a bath? You can go whenever you'd like."
"Now?" She asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah, go ahead." Wanda encouraged.
"But...." she drawled, her lips pulled into a frown. "What temperature? What soap?"
Wanda's heart broke at her questions. At the same time, it clicked in her brain then and there why Summer wasn't taking care of herself or doing anything. No one has given her permission.
Simply telling her to do what she wants wouldn't break her out of this. This way of life had been drilled in her head everyday for years. The Avengers needed to take control so Summer could gain control again.
"There's soap, shampoo, and conditioner in there. And you can use warm water, okay?" She told her, gently.
Summer nodded and almost looked relieved to clean herself in the master bathroom. Wanda noticed she left the door open, another thing she was probably trained to do. Wanda left the room and closed the bedroom door behind her. She sent a message to the team and called for a meeting to explain what she's discovered and how to move forward with Summer's recovery from here.
The meeting took place for a couple of hours, and when she was done, Wanda decided to drop by one last time to check on Summer. She knocked on the door and got no reply. She frowned and opened the door to peek inside. She wasn't sat on her bed where she normally was, so she headed towards the bathroom. With the door already open, she peeked inside.
There Summer was, still in the bath, freezing and shivering in the now cold water, because she was never ordered to get out. "Summer!" Wanda exclaimed in her concern. "Why didn't you get out?"
She stared at her with wide, watery eyes. "I-I, I'm sorry- sorry." She rasped, scared and confused. She thought she did the right thing, but Wanda was acting like she did something wrong. It's been so long since she disobeyed, she was scared of the consequences.
"Hey, it's okay," she said in a calmer tone of voice, noticing Summer was getting anxious. "I'm not mad at you." She hurriedly grabbed a towel and helped her out of the bath.
Wanda was touching her. No one else was supposed to touch her. She'd be punished. The other would be killed. Wanda's in danger, they're both in danger, he's going to find out and be mad. Things have been so good for so many years, this is going to set everything back. He's going to think she's betrayed him, he's going to be so mad.
"Hey, you're okay! You're safe. He's not here. You're safe, come back." Wanda's voice echoed in her head.
Summer wasn't sure how long it took her to calm down enough to focus again. Her blotchy eyes scanned around the room until they landed on herself. She was no longer in a towel, but a robe. When did that happen? Did she pass out?
"You're okay. You're safe. Take some deep breaths."
She did as told and was able to calm her anxiously beating heart, even just a little bit. "I'm sorry."
"No, don't be." Wanda shrugged off, relieved she was relaxing. "How about we find you something to wear in the closet?"
Closet. Wanda was shocked when Summer threw herself back down on the floor, curled up in a ball, and pleaded hysterically, "no, no, no, please not again! I'll be good! I-I'm sorry- I'm so sorry-"
Wanda wasn't sure what to do, and she didn't want to tap into her mind and control her in anyway. She had to work through this. Thankfully, Thor just so happened to walk by and Wanda was able to get his attention. "What's going on!?"
Summer flinched as he came closer and more loudly cried, "no, please! I'll do better, I'll be good, I promise! Please don't, it's been so long, I'm sorry-"
"What is she talking about?" Thor exasperated and drew closer. He gently grabbed her chin to turn her face towards him and asked, "can you hear me?"
She didn't respond to his question, she just kept repeating the same phrases over and over, and cried louder. It seemed like she wasn't even looking at him, but past him. This was far worse than anyone could have thought. She seemed lost in her own head, like she was having a night terror, or....
No, it was a trigger. It was a memory. It seemed it dawned on both of the Avengers at the same time. Thor acted first and carried his sister in law to her bed.
Once she was settled, he spoke softly, "hey, you're not in trouble. You did good- you did the right thing."
Summer seemed to perk up at his words, only slightly, her eyes still glossed over. He continued, "yes, you did really good. We need you to rest now though, okay?"
It took another ten minutes to calm Summer down enough for her to be able to communicate. Instead of asking if she wanted clothes, Wanda went and retrieved clothes for her herself. She asked her to get dressed and meet her in the bedroom. Of course, she complied. She was still trembling slightly and kept quite a distance from the closet, but sat on the bed again as directed.
"I know you might not believe this now, but we're here to help you, Summer." Wanda began and decided to stand next to her bedside rather than on it. She could tell she wasn't comfortable with that yet. "We want to give you a fresh start. We want to give you your freedom back."
But freedom was a burden. Why did she need freedom when Loki gave her everything she needed? That's what she was supposed to believe... right?
"We're here for you and Siv. We're not going to force you into doing anything you don't want to do. We're here for you.... if you want help moving forward, we have a counselor willing to meet with you tomorrow at noon, but it's up to you." Wanda finished and eyed her closely. "I'll see you in the morning. If you need anything, don't hesitate to call me or come see me. Goodnight."
With that, she turned to leave her. She was surprised to hear Summer murmur a quiet, "thank you."
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