Charity Case (Scarlett Johansson)

12

📍Trigger Warning: Physical abuse, panic attack, sharp glass, unintentional self-inflicted pain, blood, screaming. This is a heavy chapter, please proceed with caution and if in any given moment you feel it's too much, please skip it.📍Unedited.

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No One's POV:

Scarlett and Lizzie watch all the colour drain from Colin's face once he hears Scarlett's voice and he slowly brings his hand down as he turns to face them slowly. 

"Scarlett," Colin stutters out not knowing what to say or how to approach the current situation he found himself in. Lizzie stands frozen at what she had just witnessed, knowing what Colin was doing to McKenna was a lot different than witnessing it happen in front of her eyes.  As much as she knew what was happening she still couldn't believe her eyes. In her mind, how can someone hurt someone like that? Better yet, how can someone hurt a child? 

But little does Lizzie know McKenna had to endure more than that growing up in the conditions she did, those past situations almost made McKenna say, she's used to it. 

Scarlett on the other hand hasn't wrapped her head around what Lizzie had told her in the car and now she witnessed something she never imagined happening. This man that laid a hand on her daughter right before her was a man that she had thought about marrying. Hell, she didn't only think about it, she wanted to marry this man. She believed this man to be a good one, the right one, and she thought this man to be the endgame for her but boy did she feel like a complete idiot now for thinking that. 

This was happening under her roof, right under her nose, and she had no clue at all. She questions herself how often did this happen, did it happen every time she was away? She cringes thinking about the number of times she had left McKenna to be looked after by Colin and she almost sends herself into a panic thinking about the number of times she left Rose with him. Scarlett felt like a failure, a failure of a mother for not keeping her children safe. 

"It's not what it looks like," Colin tries to save himself from his heinous act. 

"Then what the hell does it look like Colin?" Scarlett says surprisingly with a strong stern voice, a tone that Lizzie was not expecting. Lizzie never doubted Scarlett's claws to come out to protect her daughter, but she had expected Scarlett to have a little bit of a rough time seeing the man she loved and adored to be a man who's got no problem getting some blood on his hand.    

"Because I did not just witness you slam my daughter on a glass coffee table, so help me God!" Scarlett continues and her anger is starting to show through her voice and body language. 

Unbeknownst to everyone in the room, McKenna's breathing started picking up. Now that there has been a pause to Colin's assault on her, the panic attack that had threatened to start earlier is starting to settle back into her. Without any realization, McKenna grips the broken edge of the glass coffee table instantly piercing through her skin and her blood starts rolling down her arms. 

McKenna shuts her eyes tight pushing aside all the physical pain she's feeling as she does her best to slow down her breathing. The voices that are now raised around her have been drowned out and all she could hear are the fast aggressive beating of her heart along with her loud shallow gaps of air. 

Colin has now raised his voice close to yelling trying to convince Scarlett that this was all of McKenna's fault. Lizzie jumps in dismissing his manipulative accusation by reminding him of everything else that he has done to McKenna from the moment she stepped a foot into this house. 

McKenna opens her eyes slightly and sees Colin raising his arm in her peripheral vision and although Colin only brought his hand to run his fingers through his hair, it registers to McKenna's brain that he was going strike her again. 

"Please don't hurt me," McKenna sobs out pleading, and scrambles to move away from Colin not caring about the tiny broken pieces of glass pricking into the palm of her hands. 

Finally, the adults have been brought out of their heated argument and looked at McKenna who's sitting in a tiny pool of her blood. Both Scarlett and Lizzie had horrified looks on their faces cursing at themselves for basically forgetting about McKenna being hurt on the ground. They both rush over to McKenna but she scrambles further thinking that someone was coming to hurt her again. 

"Baby, it's mama," Scarlett says softly trying to coax her daughter to open her eyes. "And Auntie Lizzie," Lizzie adds softly and inches her hand closer to touch McKenna. 

"We're here bubba. You're safe, baby. We won't let anyone hurt you again," Scarlett's voice cracks as she lets her emotions show. 

McKenna opens her eyes cautiously and sees that both her mom and auntie are indeed here to save her. She lets out a sob as she quickly throws herself into their open arms letting out her wrenching painful sobs that she had managed to hold in. 

Scarlett and Lizzie don't know who's limbs are who's but they don't care as they wrap their arms tightly around the teenager. 

Colin scoffs at the sight making Scarlett whip her head back to the disgusting man, "You better get out before I call the cops." 

"Are you fucking kidding me right now? This fucking kid cries and you two fall on your knees for her? Don't you understand that's what she wants you to do? She's playing the damn victim!" Colin's raised voice causes McKenna's breathing to pick up again and Lizzie pushes McKenna's ear to her chest and tries to calm her own breathing down in hopes for it to help slow down McKenna's. 

"I swear to god Colin, if you don't leave now the cops will drag your fucking ass out of here," Scarlett raises her voice to match Colin's not realizing the loud voices are sending her daughter into another panic attack. 

"Scarlett," Lizzie says sternly trying to catch the blonde's attention and when Scarlett looks at her, Lizzie nods her head at McKenna and she sends Scarlett a warning look. 

The teenager whimpers when her mom untangles herself carefully before standing up and gets in between McKenna and Colin. 

"She's a lost cause, Scarlett! She's filthy just like where she grew up in. She's using you for your money! How can you not see that? That fucking worthless of a child is going to drag you down and ruin your fucking career!" Colin shouts and McKenna's continuous whimper only fuels the anger inside Scarlett's chest for this poor excuse of a man. 

Colin stumbles slightly at the unexpected powerful slap from Scarlett, his cheek stinging immediately with small droplets of blood resulting from Scarlett's nails digging into his skin. 

"Who do you think you are? Who do you think you are to be saying those things about and to my daughter? You will find yourself in jail and I will do everything in my power to make sure you never see the light of day ever again," Scarlett steps up to his face and despite the huge height difference Colin cowers beneath her. Scarlett continues, her low voice laced with a spine-chilling venom, "You're done. You're ruined. I will make sure of it. That isn't a threat, that's a promise." 

Colin swallows thickly and steps back from Scarlett. "Get out," Scarlett spits out and Colin doesn't dare to stay any longer as he hurries out of the house. 

Once the door shuts Scarlett closes her eyes and lets out a breath she didn't think she was holding. 

"Mama?" McKenna says quietly as she raises her head from her aunt's chest. 

Scarlett whips her head around quickly after hearing what her daughter had called her. Frozen on the spot, tears pooled at the brim of Scarlett's eyes.

"Mama?" McKenna tries again looking up at Scarlett and that seemed to do the trick. 

"I'm here baby girl, mama's here," Scarlett coos at her and carefully lowers herself down to her knees and pulls McKenna into her lap. 

Scarlett closes her eyes and lets the tears run down her cheek while McKenna buries her face into Scarlett's neck silently crying. "Mama's got you," McKenna for the first time lets herself fall apart in front of her mom praying that she isn't making a mistake by doing so. 

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A/N: How are y'all doing? Are y'all holding up? That was a very heavy chapter, I'm sorry.