Wanda had lost all hope as she sat against the wall in her cell. She had lost track of the days, though she guessed she was only in there for about a week. It was hard to tell; there were no windows, and the guards that came and brought her food came at random hours (she suspected they were scared of her and Claire). Claire laid in her bed, in a peaceful sleep, but Wanda couldn't sleep. She felt nothing; not hunger, not thirst, not exhaustion. She sat on her cot, against the bars that lined the walls of her cell, staring expressionless.
"Wanda, you need to go to sleep," Claire said from her cot. She laid there still with her eyes closed and her right arm resting against her forehead and her left arm under her head and she sounded exhausted.
"What do you mean?" Wanda asked through their mind link, raising an eyebrow. Claire's head rolled over and made eye contact with Wanda. Claire sighed before sitting up on her cot.
"What do I mean? You left the connection open, dummy," she said with a laugh. "I can hear everything rattling around in there." She lifted her cuffed hands as best she could and tapped the side of her head. Wanda's cheeks turned a light shade of pink and she lowered her head down a little, as much as the shock collar would let her.
"Did I wake you?" the Sokovian asked still keeping her head down. Claire laughed at her behavior and shook her head.
"Kinda, but it's not like I was really sleeping," she said. "How are you? You doing okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Wanda lied. Claire stared at her, not believing her words. Anyone who looked at her could see that Wanda was anything but fine. Her brown hair was greasy from not showering, her light skin was paler and her green eyes looked dull and didn't have that familiar shine, and she had large dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. There was a set of bruises on different spots of her face (and she guessed there were some on the rest of her body, though she couldn't see), some that were old and fading and some that were new and fresh. Claire's heart broke as she stared at the broken girl in front of her. A tear slipped from her purple eyes as Claire laid her forehead against the wall that connected hers and Wanda's.
"Wanda, please. Tell me the truth," she said, a lump forming in her throat as the tears continued to fall. "You're not fine. You're not, so stop saying you are. You don't have to lie to me, okay, now please tell me the truth."
Wanda looked away from Claire's harsh gaze. She knew that if she met her gaze, she too would start crying because Claire was right; she wasn't fine.
"Wanda please, look at me." Wanda lifted her red-rimmed green eyes back to Claire's. "Look, I know everything seems...bleak and hopeless, but it's not, alright? Everything is going to be okay. Just hang on."
"Hang on? Hang on. How am I supposed to hang on?" Wanda's voice started to rise and her brows furrowed. Her stomach let out a deep and painful rumble and Wanda doubled over in pain.
"Hey, you okay?" Claire asked with concern. Wanda forgot about the shock collar for a brief moment.
"Yeah, I'm..." she was cut off by a burning pain in her neck, causing her to scream out in pain. The louder she screamed, the more the pain stung. More tears fell down Claire's face as she watched her new friend in pain. Wanda continued to scream, not bothering to bite her tongue. After a couple of minutes, Wanda stopped screaming and the pain subsided. She threw her head back against the wall and cried. Her quiet whimpers were the only sound to come out of that room.
Claire turned away, giving her privacy and also let her own tears fall without pity. She brought her knees up to her chest and rested her head on her knees and started to cry. After a minute, she stopped and picked her head up, breathing heavy. While she couldn't see, she knew her eyes were glowing a light purple. When I get out of here, you better wish I don't find you, because I'm the last thing you'll ever see.
○○○
Hours passed—at least it felt like hours—before the two women heard the sound of fighting outside of their cells. Claire stood from her cot, and walked towards the door and looked out, trying to see what the commotion was. Wanda was confused; no alarm had been sounded, so there couldn't be a breach, could there?
"What's going on? What can you see?" Wanda asked through the link. Claire shrugged her shoulders.
"I don't know, I can't really see."
Then, the door to the room they were locked in burst off its hinges. Claire let out a little scream at the sudden noise. A figure dressed in similar body armor as the guards of the prison walked into the room and walked towards their cells. Claire watched the figure, sending him an intense glare. The purple hue of her eyes glowed lighter and she could feel her claws extending in her cuffs, digging into her hands. The figure walked over to Wanda's cell first and began to open it. Claire let out a loud growl of protection as the unknown man entered her cell.
"Get away from her, you son of a bitch!" she screamed as she banged on their shared wall. She was sick and tired of the guards coming in and beating Wanda, knowing she couldn't fight back.
The man paused and looked at her, before he continued moving to Wanda. He stood before her and knelt down to become eye level with her. Claire continued to scream at the man, hearing her wolf scream at him too. Wanda stared at the man, afraid, but void of any expression; she was used to this by now. A small tear rolled down her cheek, as she closed her eyes, waiting for the impending pain. The man reached a hand up and wiped the tear away with his thumb, then reached behind his head and took off the helmet that he was wearing, revealing a head of familiar blonde hair.
Claire stopped screaming as she gazed at the back of Captain America's head. He didn't rise from his position, he stayed kneeling before Wanda. After wiping her tear away, he rested his warm hand against her pale face. He was careful not to touch any of her bruises. His eyes softened as he looked at her in horror, fighting hard to keep from crying at the sight of her condition.
"Oh, Wanda," he whispered as he rubbed her cheek with his thumb, his voice wavering. "What have they done to you?"
Wanda couldn't hold in her sobs anymore. She leaned forward and rested her head on Steve's shoulder, letting her tears soak into his disguise. Steve brought both his arms up and wrapped them around her, rubbing her back.
"It's okay, I'm here," he whispered as he let her cry. He then propped her back up on her cot and examined the straitjacket and shock collar. "Alright, let's get this off you. What should I start with?"
"Start with the shock collar," Claire said from her cell. "If you even try to undo the straitjacket, it'll shock her." Wanda nodded, cautious of the collar. Steve took note of this and examined the collar more. He soon found the clasp to the collar and readied himself and Wanda before undoing it.
"Alright, Wanda," Steve began, holding the clasp in his hands. "I'm gonna undo the clasp, which will probably cause it to emit a shock, so I'm going to need you to try to relax, I'm going to get it off as fast as I can, okay?" Wanda nodded her head, and Steve started undoing the clasp.
Once Wanda felt the collar loosen around her neck, Steve's hands tugged it from her and threw it on the ground away from them. Wanda let out a shaky breath as she felt the pressure lifted off her throat. Steve immediately got to work on undoing the straitjacket. Wanda looked over towards Claire's cell and saw that Clint, Sam, and Scott were also freed, with Clint working on unlocking Claire's cell. Before long, the straitjacket was removed from Wanda's body and Steve wrapped the blanket from her cot around her. Standing on shaky legs, Wanda embraced Steve tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered to him, her voice raw and hoarse from not being used in so long. Steve patted her back and gave her a sympathetic look.
"I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."
"This isn't your fault, Steve. I chose to follow you. If we hadn't fought back, they would've done this to me anyway."
Clint was now inside Claire's cell, unlocking her cuffs. Her eyes were back to their normal color, and her claws retracted. Once she was free, she embraced Clint, and made her way to Wanda's cell and embraced her tightly. She buried her face into Wanda's hair and pulled the brunette closer to her, not wanting to let her go out of fear of losing her.
"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked the Sokovian as she pulled away from their embrace, glancing at her body, looking for any sign of pain or damage; another excuse to kill everyone on this base. She saw the bruises on her face but paused when she noticed the large scar that ran around her neck, a permanent reminder of the shock collar. She felt herself grow angry. Wanda placed a hand on hers, taking Claire's hand and softly rubbed her thumb across the top.
"I'm fine," she whispered, looking into Claire's glowing purple eyes.
"What did I say about lying?"
"I'm not lying," Wanda said. "I promise I'm okay."
"We need to go, before someone figures out we're here," Clint said, interrupting the moment. Steve nodded his head and looked at the two women.
"You guys good to run?" The two nodded and followed after Steve and the rest of the ex-Avengers.
The five of them stopped when they reached the door to the room with Steve looking out, checking both sides of the hall. Bodies of guards and agents laid in the hallway, alive but knocked out. Steve waved them on to follow him when he saw the coast was clear. The team followed him down the hall and up a set of stairs. Steve made sure they were quiet and didn't lead them to any other guards. No alarms went off as the team made their escape. Wanda felt herself become winded but pressed on in fear of going back to her cell. Soon, they reached another set of stairs that led to a little door.
"Alright, through here," Steve said as he waited at the bottom of the stairs, letting the team go ahead of him. Claire paused a bit and watched Steve. He placed his hand around a gun hidden in a black holster on his side. He looked back at her, briefly, before telling her to go. She turned around and ran up the stairs and out the door, meeting the rest of the team on the roof of the Raft. Steve joined them a minute later, slightly out of breath. Confused, the team stared out into the open ocean surrounding the floating prison. The raindrops pelted them and hit them harshly, soaking their clothes, as the ocean wind whipped past them. The waves below crashed and roared as the storm pushed and pulled them.
"What do we do now, Cap?" Sam asked as Steve stood next to him. Steve raised his hand to his ear before speaking.
"Romanoff, we're on the roof. Do you copy?"
"I copy. It's good to see you guys," Natasha said into the comms as a Quinjet uncloaked and landed on the roof. The hatch opened, creating a ramp, and the team ran for the ship, boarding quickly. Once they were all on board, Natasha lifted the jet back into the air and reengaged the cloaking device, sending the Quinjet into stealth mode. Putting the jet on autopilot, Natasha stood from the pilot's seat and walked towards the back of the ship. She walked over to Wanda and brought the young woman into her arms in a tight embrace.
"I'm so glad to see you," she mumbled into the brunette's hair. She pulled away and brought both of her hands to Wanda's face and gazed into her eyes, examining what had been done to her. "Are you okay? What did they do to you?"
Wanda gave her a weak smile, tears glistened in her eyes. In the short time she had known Natasha, the Russian woman became a sort of mother figure to her, and she was honestly so happy to see her.
"I'm okay. Now," she paused a minute "I don't want to talk about it." Natasha nodded in understanding and led her over to one of the seats lined up against the walls of the jet. Once her and Wanda were seated, Natasha pulled her back in for another hug. She felt the Sokovian's tears soak into the fabric of her uniform's shoulder as Wanda let out quiet sobs. Natasha just let her cry, running her hand up and down her arm, trying to soothe her.
Claire just stood off to the side, watching with curiosity, not quite trusting the redhead. She wasn't as familiar with her as she was to Steve and Sam, and ever since the battle at the airport, she found it hard to trust her regardless if she helped them escape. She felt a connection to Wanda, a strange urge to protect her, and while she didn't fully understand it, she was damn sure that she would do all she could to honor that urge.
Steve noticed her staring at Natasha and walked over to stand next to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, pulling her gaze from the redhead and brunette to his blue eyes.
"Everything okay?" he asked her quietly. Claire turned back to the two women before looking back at him.
"It's...it's just...a week ago we were all fighting each other, and now...she's here helping us escape from prison. I don't get it."
"Natasha's a friend. We can trust her."
"She sided with a man that helped throw us in prison; helped place that collar and jacket on Wanda. You may trust her, Rogers, but I don't. Wanda may trust her, but I don't. And I will do what I have to do to protect her. She's been through enough," Claire warned. Steve placed a hand on her shoulder before sighing.
"There's something I have to tell you," Steve said lowering his voice. Claire looked back at him, straightening her back and becoming rigid. Steve rubbed his face with his hand.
"Bucky went back under."
"What do you mean 'back under'? Where is he?"
"He's in Wakanda. He said he couldn't trust himself with HYDRA still in his head, so he had scientists there place him back in a cryogenic sleep. He told me to tell you that he's sorry he couldn't say goodbye to you, but that he knows you'll be okay." Steve frowned as Claire's resolve wavered in front of him. Her cheeks burned a light pink and her nostrils flared as she breathed hard to fight the tears that formed in her eyes.
"How...how could he just leave me? Without saying goodbye? After everything we've been through?"
"He needed to do this, Claire. Not just for him, but for you. You know he wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he turned back into the Winter Soldier and hurt you. He did this to protect you, because you mean a lot to him," Steve said, enveloping the young woman in a hug. Claire was reluctant to return the hug—busy thinking on Bucky's actions—but she eventually wrapped her arms around Steve for a minute before pulling away and walking from him, moving to sit next to Clint and Sam.
They had been flying for hours. Wanda laid sleeping in the seat that Natasha settled her into. Natasha moved back to the cockpit and took control of the Quinjet with Clint in the co-pilot's seat. Steve and Sam sat further down from Wanda, talking quietly about a future plan. Claire now sat across from Wanda, resting her knees close to her chest, watching the Sokovian closely. She thought on their connection, how she had felt it instantly when seeing her in the parking garage at the Leipzig airport and it only seemed to grow stronger during their time in prison. Claire felt her eyelids grow heavy. She was exhausted, having not slept well in her cell, but she didn't want to sleep, but sleep took control of her, and in a few short minutes, she had succumbed.
Claire felt herself descend down a dark hole—no light at the bottom or at the top. She was entirely engulfed in darkness. She tried to open her mouth to scream, but no sound came out as she continued to plummet further down before coming into contact with a hard surface. Sitting up and groaning in pain, Claire looked around at the room she was now in.
The stone room looked familiar to Claire and the eerie quite made her skin crawl. She was back in a cell, a cell similar to the one she called her home for many years. Looking out the glass window, she saw Strucker looking at her through the glass, and she felt a growl form in her throat. She loathed that man.
"Good, child. Good," he said, looking at one of his assistant scientists, saying something under his breath and the scientist writing it down. "Now, why don't you try moving those blocks."
Claire was confused. She stared at Strucker, who while staring at her, though he looked like he was staring through her. She turned around, and saw the familiar brunette sitting cross-legged on the stone floor. Claire quickly realized that this wasn't her dream, but Wanda's. Wanda sat and stared at the blocks, slowly bringing her hands up and wiggling her fingers as she concentrated on the wooden blocks in front of her. She furrowed her brows as she concentrated hard, only getting the block to levitate a few inches off the ground before she groan and released her magic, causing the block to fall back down with a soft thud.
"Good. That was good. With more practice, you'll do much better," Strucker said before walking off.
The scene changed quickly, bringing Claire back to the Raft, though she wasn't in her cell. She saw Wanda, chained in a chair. She had an unknown device, similar to a microphone hooked up by her mouth. The shock collar was still around her neck, though the straitjacket had been removed, only to be replaced by leather straps, tying her to the chair. Ross stood in front of her along with some armed men. In his hand he held a little black remote. Wanda was breathing hard and sweat and tears streamed down her face.
"I'm giving you one last chance, Maximoff. Where are Rogers and Barnes?" Ross asked her, turning a little dial on the remote, waiting for her response.
"Ujedi me, jebena kopile (Bite me, you fucking bastard)," Wanda said, spitting at him. Ross looked over at a small computer screen, reading the words on the screen—a translation of her response—before looking back at her. He shook his head in disappointment before pressing a button on the remote. Wanda threw her head back and screamed in pain as an intense electric shock sped through her body. Ross let the shock continue to electrocute her for a few short minutes before he pressed the button again, stopping the pain.
Claire looked back at Ross, ready to fight him, but in his place, was Strucker once again.
Claire and Wanda shot up from their seats, waking up, panting hard with sweat dripping from their faces. She looked over at Wanda, who was still sitting across from her. Steve was already there, rubbing her back and whispering soft and gentle things to her. Wanda's eyes were once again filled with tears as she thought back on her nightmare. Claire got up from her seat and sat in the seat next to Wanda, placing an arm around the Sokovia. Wanda rested her head on Claire's shoulder, taking comfort in her friend. Steve looked over at Claire, who nodded telling him that she had it covered, and he got up leaving them alone.
"It's okay, Wanda," she said softly.
"The last time I was locked up was when I was a part of Strucker's experiments. Ross reminded me of him; how he didn't care about us and saw us as weapons instead of people," Wanda explained. Claire was silent. She remembered the feeling of Strucker's cruelty all too well. She inhaled sharply as she felt the phantom sting of her scar on her left eye; a scar that was Strucker's fault for turning her into this monster.
"You know, I was experimented on by Strucker too," she said quietly. She didn't want the whole ship to hear her origin story. She never liked to talk about it, and she never liked the idea of anyone knowing, because she never trusted another person with this knowledge. The only person that she told was Bucky, and not because she trusted him, but in an attempt to relate to him, and only after making him swear that he wouldn't tell anyone else, and to her knowledge, he had always honored that promise. She didn't look at Wanda but stared straight ahead. She felt Wanda's eyes look at her in shock and understanding, maybe even realization.
"My family moved to Sokovia when I was 16; my father had some new job, or something and they stationed him there. I met a group of people who seemed nice enough, and they quickly became my friends. One night, I went out with them, trying to get used to the area...and I don't really know what happened. When I woke up, I was in Strucker's base, chained to my bed."
Wanda looked at Claire with sympathy. She felt a little guilty; here she was having volunteered for these experiments, sitting here next to someone who would've said no given the choice, except she wasn't given a choice.
"Strucker kidnapped me from my family and experimented on me for three years," Claire continued, giving a dry humorless laugh. "It's kinda funny though; after my first year, he started collecting volunteers for his experiments. I was there when he recruited you and your brother, and I remember thinking...of how jealous I was of you; jealous and angry that you had this choice, and you were choosing wrong. Angry that if given the choice, I would've run screaming from that base, but..." Claire sighed. "Now, I'm...this. This...monster—a product of Strucker's madness, left here to fend for myself after he stripped me of my humanity."
"I'm so sorry," Wanda whispered. Claire removed her gaze from the empty seats in front of her and looked at Wanda.
"Sorry for what? I don't blame you for volunteering. I heard what Strucker promised you, and if I considered Sokovia my home, I think I would have done anything to help it." Claire and Wanda were silent for a few minutes, until Claire's laughter broke it.
"What's so funny?" Wanda asked, raising her eyebrow.
"It's funny that you don't remember me."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, when we were in Strucker's base, our cells were next to each other. We would talk to each other, tell jokes, you know all that jazz. We were friends...until the Avengers came, and you disappeared. I didn't know what happened to you, I left and hitched a ride out of Sokovia back to the States, then I see the news, and there you are; on the floating city fighting an army of robots." Claire laughed a little in disbelief. "I couldn't believe it was you—that you were okay."
"Why didn't you try to find me?"
"I wanted to, but I was with Bucky then, and I knew any contact with the Avengers would lead them to him. And I promised I wouldn't do that. Bucky needed time to get his shit together before Steve came bursting in. He needed to figure himself out on his own, and I understood that. I also figured you wouldn't remember me cause we never actually met; not physically at least," Claire said laughing at the end. "I'm sorry I didn't try to contact you."
"I'm sorry I left." Wanda rested her head onClaire's shoulder again and closed her eyes, feeling at peace.