Summary: What happened when you and Natasha called Wanda?
Word Count: 1,470
Warnings: Angst, language, mentions of rape and assault, language, PTSD
Author’s Note: Thank you, as always, @captain-rogers-beard and @climbthatmooselikeatree, their support and assistance has been invaluable. GIF credit
My work is not to be posted on any other sites without my express written permission.
Between your glass and hers, Natasha emptied the bottle of wine. “Jesus Christ,” she murmured. “And they did nothing.”
“Pietro said that Wanda refused to go to the police. As far as anyone knows, Wanda fell,” you scoffed.
Before you and Steve left the art studio, Pietro had said that he ended up taking his sister to the emergency room after the assault, but even then, with the nurses and doctors pressing her for information, she mentioned nothing of the rape or the beating. All she would say was that she was such a klutz, that she tripped over her own feet while carrying something large and heavy down the stairs. They must have believed the fabrication, because they treated her wounds and sent them on their way.
“I’m going to kill that weasel of a man,” your friend threatened, her nose wrinkling.
You couldn’t help but laugh. “Get in line. Steve’s ready to kick his ass already, and that was before we knew what happened to Wanda.”
“Did Pietro say anything else?” she wondered before taking a long drink.
“Not really,” was your soft answer. “But he did give us her phone number. I’m just… I don’t know what I’m going to say. I don’t want to trigger her or anything like that.”
Natasha covered your hand in hers. “We can make the call together.”
“That would be great, thank you,” you sighed as you grabbed your phone, fingers hovering over the contact you had created earlier for Wanda.
The line rang a handful of times before she answered. “He- hello?” Wanda stammered, her accented voice raspy, tired, weak.
“Hi, is this Wanda Maximoff?” You tried not to sound nervous, scared, sympathetic.
“This is,” was her answer. “Who is this?”
“My name is Y/N,” you introduced yourself with a warm tone. “You don’t know me, but I’m good friends with Pietro.”
At the mention of her brother’s name, Wanda sniffled loudly. “Is he okay? What happened?” she implored, emotion thickening her voice.
Even though you didn’t know the woman, you had the urge to hug her, console her, to apologize for the rape, for the suffering she endured at the hands of Baron Zemo. But, there were thousands of miles between you and her. That didn’t stop your heart from aching.
“He’s fine, Wanda, I promise,” you assured her, hoping it would help her relax, even just the slightest. “I uh, this isn’t going to be easy, and I don’t want to -”
Her voice was broken when she asked, “It’s about Bar- the rape, isn’t it?”
Your heart squeezed tighter yet. “I’m sorry, Wanda, but it is.”
“I… I’m sorry, Y/N. I can’t help you.”
“Wanda, please,” you pleaded, hoping you wouldn’t end up pushing her away. “I hate to quote Star Wars here, but… you’re my, our only hope.”
She let out a heavy sigh of resignation, one that you prayed meant she wouldn’t hang up. “Okay, what do you need?”
Nat saw your hesitation and gave your hand a squeeze, giving you the silent courage you needed to ask Pietro’s sister a huge favor.
“Would you be willing to fly to Brooklyn and press charges against… him?” You didn’t want to say his name. It not only tasted vile on your tongue, but with Wanda not being able to say it herself, you didn’t want her to change her mind and hang up. You knew it was impossible for her not to be triggered, the young woman had been violated and beaten; it was going to stay with her until the day she died.
There was a long pause filled with a gasp and the sound of her hand scraping over her face. “Please, Wanda. There are other women he has… done things to.”
“Ask one of them, I beg you.” She was crying now, soft gasps and hiccups pressing against your eardrums.
Tears started to stream down your face. “I’ve tried, the police have tried. They… won’t. And I get it.”
“How could you possibly understand, Y/N?” she demanded to know, anger bubbling, breaking through her sadness.
Talking about it, that night with Brock, all those months prior, hurt more than anything you’d ever experiences, but Wanda needed to hear it, she needed to understand that what happened wasn’t her fault, that there was life beyond the assault, that what happened to her didn’t define who she was as a person. By the time you were done, the three of you were openly crying.
“And what happened to this man, Brock?” she asked through her teeth.
You chuckled sadly. “We’re working on that.”
“If I do this, come to America and press charges, he’ll get locked away?”
You couldn’t lie to her. “Wanda, I can’t give you the answer you want to hear. But, I can promise that we will do everything in our power to make sure that justice is served.”
It took Wanda a few moments before she could say anything. “Okay, Y/N. I’ll come back.”
Several weeks later
Wanda wrapped her long cardigan around herself, desperately trying to keep herself warm. It wasn’t because of the weather, but because she was standing outside of Baron’s loft. You were at her side, your arm around her shoulders.
“Are you sure you want to be here?” you asked gently, fully prepared to usher her to the car and drive her home, or wherever she wanted to go.
She shook her head and stepped impossibly closer to you. “I want to see the look on that smug bastard’s face when he finds out it was me that brought his world crashing down around him.” You couldn’t help but smile at that.
Steve was next to you, shoulder brushing yours, hands in the pockets of his jacket. “Are you ready?”
“As we’ll ever be,” you answered, hooking your arm in his.
At Steve’s signal, Chief Fury knocked on the front door. “Brooklyn Police,” he announced, his voice booming, the warrant for arrest in his hand.
You didn’t know what you were expecting to happen, but it sure wasn’t Baron opening the front door with a smile. He was wearing a pair of brown-framed glasses, cockiness flowing off of him in waves. “How can I be of assistance, to the men in blue?”
“We’re here to execute this arrest warrant,” Fury answered coolly, raising the paper and handing it to Baron.
With his brow arched, Baron read the warrant extremely slow, taking his time, doing it on purpose. Once he saw the name of the woman next to you, his eyes went wide, just for a split second. “Oh, please. You’re going to take the word of a woman that became obsessed with me, that fled the country when I turned down her advances? I thought you had more respect than that, Nick.”
Fury’s jaw clenched painfully tight. “Miss Maximoff has come forward with some startling information, Zemo,” his voice was laced with venom. “And to think, I actually believed you.”
Baron scoffed loudly and threw the warrant at the man he had called his friend. “Turn around and put your hands behind your back,” he instructed, unhooking the cuffs from his belt.
“You’re not serious,” Baron huffed.
“I’m dead serious,” Nick confirmed, opening one of the bracelets. “Baron Zemo, you’re under arrest…”
It was as if everything was moving in slow motion as Chief Fury forced Baron to turn around, shoved him against the wall, wrenched his arms behind his back, and cuffed him. Baron was spitting vile words at the man behind him, calling him the worst names he could think of, and a few more for good measure. With a snarl, Nick turned Baron around and guided him to the patrol car, that was when Baron’s eyes met Wanda’s.
Wanda sucked in a breath that made her bones shake. “It’s okay,” you assured her. “I’ve got you.”
Squaring her shoulders, she glared back at the man that had violated her, that made her fear the dark, that made her scream when she was actually able to sleep. Seeing him taken away, all because she had finally come forward, well, it didn’t take away all her pain, but it started to ebb. She even managed to maintain eye contact with her rapist when Nick shoved him into the back seat of the squad. She had been right, the look on his face when he realized it was her that brought his world crashing down felt amazing.
Only when the flashing lights and sirens disappeared did Wanda turn to you and Steve. “Thank you,” she huffed, tears filling her eyes. She wrapped her arms around you and held you tight, crying into your shoulder. She repeated her gratitude several times over, her thin frame shaking as you did your best to console her.
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