https://youtu.be/aQeY7G1ANKY

The constant wail made me freeze. I couldn't move. There was shattered glass everywhere, but I couldn't feel the cuts on my hands or see the two boys scrambling around me. All I could think was: I don't know who's going to kill me first. And then, I don't want either of them to kill me.

My breathing was short and sharp. The lights were getting too bright, the noise blaring around me, but I couldn't hear anything. Nothing was straight, the world was titling. My hands flew up to my ears. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't force enough air into my lungs. Everything was turning red. Red. The color that stained my hands. The color in the sink. The color that always trailed in my footsteps.

Someone was kneeling beside me, but my eyes wouldn't focus. Hands grasped my wrists. My already dangerously fast pulse skyrocketed. I scrambled backward. Another pair of hands wrapped around me. My sixth sense was spiraling out of control, I couldn't tell where all the threats were coming from. All I could pick out were pieces of sentences.

".....stop...kid."

"....okay, calm...."

"....In out..."

"....Stay....Bleeding."

I thrashed and kicked, pulling at the arms, but they wouldn't budge, they pulled me up until my back was pressed against something solid and warm, it rose and fell slowly.

"Calm.....In...out."

".....Breathe..."

Breathe. I needed to breathe. Focus.

I tightened my grip on the arms but forced myself to slow my breathing. Slowly my rhythm began to match whoever was holding me. The lights dimmed and were no longer flashing. The sounds became more crisp and quiet.

The first thing I became acutely aware of was the 'someone' holding me. I hadn't been this close to anyone in years unless it was to give a punch or receive one.

The second thing I was aware of was the three security guards and one Avenger questioning the two boys and girls. An Avenger?

My breath kicked up again and I jerked trying to push out of the arms.

"Hey, hey, hey." Said a calming male voice. "It's okay, breathe." The arms started to slowly loosen and then let me go. I jumped up and turned around and I was met with Captain America. Two Avengers. This has to be some sort of karma. I had just had a panic attack in front of two Avengers, two things I didn't want all rolled into one. I couldn't predict how things were going to go down, but what

"You okay?" He asked. I realized I was on the verge of a second panic attack. I quickly solidified my expression, relaxed my arm, and then widened my stance a fraction.

"I'm Fine." I just got caught by someone who wants to tear out my eyes by doing something I shouldn't have stuck my nose in the first place. Plus I added in a panic attack for a bit of flare and my hand is bleeding, soyeah, I'm fantastic.

"So...." Said someone behind me I jumped again and spun around. Clint Barton, Snipper, Avenger, Hawkeye. Perfect just the two people I wanted to be killed by today. He looked down at my hands, I followed his gaze. "You're bleeding. A lot."

Something in my brain was definitely short-circuiting. "It's not that much," I replied, just as a drop splattered on the floor.

"Actually it is," Rogers answered back. He looked up to Barton and something unreadable passed between them. Barton left and came back with some bandages.

"Let's get you some temporary first aid." He said, unraveling some of them.

First aid? I thought an interrogation came first. "I can just wash them off in the bathroom."

he eyed me like I had asked if Nemo and Dory lived on the moon. "That's a terrible idea." He reached for my hand, but I flinched and pulled it away. His brows furrowed. Damn it wrong move. I immediately relaxed, letting him grab my right one. He was surprisingly gentle, he didn't grip my wrist hard enough to bruise it or even turn it red. He wiped most of the blood off, once I twitched when a sliver of glass twisted in a cut.

"Sorry." He mumbled, then pulled the splinter out with a pair of tweezers.

I knew I should have been scanning the situation, checking escape routes, threats, and anything else that might factor into a following fight, but I couldn't help but watch as Clint gingerly bandaged one hand and then the other like it actually mattered the tiniest bit to him. something whispered in my mind, It's a tactic to make you loosen up, so you tell them things you shouldn't. But this wasn't an interrogation room, it was the scene of what now seemed to be a crime, but again not something that had to do with my fathers work or what I did to 'help' the business.

"That should do." Barton said as he finished wrapping my left hand. "Now let's sort this out shall we?" Sort this out? Did he plan on me giving him my part of the story? It had been a long time since that had happened.

Rogers and Barton escorted me back out into the hallway where three guards were watching over the four bullies.

"Alright," Rogers started. "How did this happen?" That may have been a simple question, but the answer was much harder to put into words.

"I-uh, I-It was an accident, sir." I mumbled.

"Really?" Asked Barton. "Because these guys said you instigated the fight." Damn it, it was my word versus theirs, no one would believe me. I didn't know what to say, so I stuck with the truth.

"They were picking on another kid and I stepped in so she could leave." I mumbled not meeting their gazes.

"I thought I heard someone mention something like that." Said Rogers inspecting one of the girls. I felt shocked. He actually considered my statement?

Apparently I wasn't the only one who was shocked. "What?!" One of the two girls exclaimed. "She started the fight, we were just talking and she came up and shoved us!" My previous feeling of relief and hope evaporated. I took a step back, but the Archer put a hand on my shoulder to keep me from moving any farther.

Rogers raised an eyebrow. "Well, in that case do you think you might have taken your defence a little too far?"

There was a moment of silence.

"You know what?" Barton asked a bit too chipper. "I happen to know someone who knows all and sees all. FRIDAY, what happened here?"

My brows furrowed, was this a trick question? I didn't know what happened here on Friday, if anything at all. I opened my mouth, but before I spoke a female voice came out of the walls. "A scan of the security footage indicates that Ms. Kira Emerson is correct. Ms. Jinna Corden, Ms. Katie Gomez, Mr. Jason Mardel and Mr. Hayden Jones were harassing Ms. Jessica Grey when Ms. Emerson stepped in allowing Ms. Grey to leave the vicinity. After that Mr. Hayden Jones instigated violence."

"Well!" Barton said, clapping his hands. "Looks like you four are off to detention." My feeling of shock was mirrored in their faces. Their jaws dropped and they looked so betrayed it almost made me feel good, that is until I remembered I had just caught the attention of the only people I wasn't supposed to.

Rogers dropped a hand on my shoulder. I flinched and took a step out of his reach. He looked at me, but he didn't look angry, so I took it as a sign that it was okay. At least as okay as I could be currently. "Let's get you stitched up."

"But, he just wrapped my hands." I said, glancing at Mr. Barton.

"Some of them are going to need stitches." Barton replied. "And I think your sides' bleeding too. Honestly I'm impressed you aren't doubled over in pain." Impressed?

"It's fine, really." I protested. "It doesn't hurt and the tour is going to start up again. I really need to go." Both of their brows furrowed a bit. I took another step back. Damn it, they're angry again.

"Come on kid." Barton said much firmer now. "We are not letting you leave until you get proper medical attention." Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap. There was no way I could win in a fight against both of them, the only path I could take was the one of least resistance.

"How about this." Rogers reasoned. "We can give you a tour of the upper floors." I will be dead by tomorrow.

"Okay." I said a little too meekly.

"Great!" Barton said as if he had just closed off a contract. Of my soul.

I drew the strings of my hoodie tighter and started to follow the archer through the halls. Rogers was a little bit more reserved walking just half a step ahead of me.

In the elevator Barton asked the disembodied "Friday" to take them to the med bay and have Dr. Cho be ready. 

AUTHORS NOTES

Thank you guys so much for sticking around! Just fourteen chapters left, all stuffed with angst and Avgengers typical action. 

How did you like it? I was thinking about rewriting the first bit since I have recently experienced a panic attack, but this kind of feels more like a flashback vibe. 

Does anyone happen to have any recomendations of similar stories I could read? Feel free to premote your own if it fits. 

See you next Friday!