Love and the White Wolf - Book 2

9. Burn It Down

January 2, 2024, Tuesday

The film crew was already set up when I arrived with my convoy.  The reporter, Gary Dane, was standing in a group of about of about ten women.  His eyes widened as he recognized me.

"Mrs. Barnes, I didn't know it was you," he said. "You mentioned a special prosecutor. What's going on?"

"Will you go live?" I asked.  "It only works if you go live.  I have one chance to name names but if you go live every one of my sisters here can start to find peace."

I looked at him expectantly and the other women turned to him, some saying "come on Gary, let's get these assholes".  He made a call to his producer and told him he had a story that could expose a whole new level of government corruption as long as it went live starting at 1 pm.  He got the okay and he arranged the women in a group with me at the front.  The people in my convoy stood behind us holding signs saying "Free Bucky Barnes" and "US Govt Protects Rapists".

The rest of this chapter will be told as if a viewer was watching it unfold on TV over the remaining week as that is how many remember it.  I would watch later in the evenings.

Channel 4 News
Breaking News Special Report

Announcer 1:  Good afternoon.  Welcome to a breaking news special report where investigative reporter Gary Dane is live.  Gary?

Gary:  Thanks, Jim.  I'm standing in front of the residence of famed Avenger, James Buchanan Barnes, more commonly known as Bucky Barnes.  His wife, Gail Barnes, has promised to reveal a connection between the date rape investigation currently stalled in the district attorney's office and the arrest, yes the arrest, of her husband yesterday on charges of treason and espionage. Mrs. Barnes, you have our attention.

Me:  Thank you Gary.  Some background is necessary first.  The day before the Snap in 2018, I was an art student completing my Fine Arts degree.  To celebrate I attended a fraternity party with a young man I was hoping would become my boyfriend.  That young man, Michael Woodrow, dropped a date rape drug into my drink.  I woke up to Mr. Woodrow and two his friends, John Williams, and Barry Hunter, taking turns raping me.  Although, I tried my best to fight back they easily overpowered me and raped me several times each.  They finally let me go and I stumbled back to my dorm room where my roommate contacted campus police.  I was taken to the campus medical centre where a rape examination was performed.  My clothes were taken as evidence and samples of sperm DNA were collected.  All evidence was presented to local police and I was informed that charges had been laid.  I had already phoned my parents to tell them what had happened and they hopped on a plane to support me.

Then the Snap happened.  The arresting officer turned to dust, as did John Williams and Barry Hunter.  The pilots of the airplane my parents were in turned to dust as well causing the plane to crash, killing anyone still remaining on the plane.  Confronted with the overwhelming emotional impact I suffered a breakdown and had to be hospitalized in the psychiatric unit.  When I was released I was informed the charges against Michael Woodrow had been dropped due to the trauma of the Snap.

Now forward to July 19, 2023.  I was in a chaste relationship with Avenger James Barnes.  He was aware of my trauma and vowed to wait as long as it took for me to heal before we would take our relationship to a more intimate level.  That's the type of man he was and still is.  We attended an art gallery opening showcasing my college roommate's art works.  Michael Woodrow showed up with his wife.  I became upset and James went to confront him.  Instead of hurting Woodrow, James very calmly told Woodrow that he knew what he and his friends had done to a young woman in college.  Woodrow's answer was "which one" indicating there were more than me.  Woodrow left the party, untouched and unthreatened by my James.  For full disclosure, later that evening we did become intimate for the first time and James proposed.  We married two weeks later.