The Lone Wolf | P. Parker [1]

3 // Bloody Anxiety Attack

TW: Anxiety Attack.

(Tomás = Tuh-mass)

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I struggle with the growing sharp pain in my chest, gasping for air that doesn't seem to exist. The pain feeling like shards of glass are trying to pierce their way through my skin and out of my chest as slowly as possible. My heart pounds as if it's trying to escape my ribcage. And me? What am I doing? Nothing. I'm not doing anything. Because there's nothing I can do.

I just lay on my back on the ground of that airport runway, my mask pulled off my face and lying beside me, clutching my chest like I'm having a heart attack and hope and pray that no one questions me. But I'm Fianna MacBhfloscaidh. And my Fianna Luck™ would never allow that.

"Hey, uh, hey wolf girl? You okay?" it's the Spider hero, he's crawled over to me.

"What's it to you?" I snark through my desperate attempts to breathe, propping myself up to sit.

"Look I don't know if you're injured or something, but I just wanna help," he reassures me, sitting up.

"I'm," I gasp, "I'm having a goddamn anxiety attack. It feels like I'm bloody dying."

"Okay, uh, okay, I'll help you through this. Just, um, just try to, try to focus on your breathing. Yeah, breathe with me, okay?"

"Just focus on breathing," I mock him, "What the fuck do you think I'm trying to do?"

"At least I know you haven't lost your snark. Now come on, breathe with me, in for five, four, three, two, one and hold for seven, six, five, four, three, two, one and now out for eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Okay, come on, you can do it," he grabs the hand that's not clinging to my chest to try and ground me, "You got this, come on, in for five... hold for seven... and out for eight."

We go through this mantra several times before the pain slowly disappears and my breathing is back to normal.

"You good now?" he asks, cocking his head to the side.

"I'm fine," I say sharply, yanking my hand from his grasp. He flinches slightly and I soften, "Why... why did you help me?"

"Because that's what I do. I help people, or at least I try to. And you're only here to help your family, which I'm assuming is Wanda?"

"Yeah, it's... Wanda's my connection to the team. I owe her a debt that, no matter how many favors I do for her, no matter how many car park fist fights I help her in, the debt will never be paid off."

"...So it's like a college debt?"

I laugh at that, like an actual real laugh, it's been a while since I had one of those, "Yeah, like a college debt. But instead of giving me a degree that'll probably be useless because getting a job is impossible she gave me... a chance to live a normal life again. Well, as normal as you can be when you're like me."

"Can I ask why you helped me?" he questions, "Like with the boarding tunnel, and then I think you caught me when I was falling too."

"While I may be here for Wanda I could tell you were a kid, and I do have a moral compass. It might be a roulette wheel, but it exists, and ev'ry now and then the arrow points north. Especially for kids."

"That's good to know... I think. You know, we're gonna have to bring you all in. Captain America and the dude with the metal arm left, but you guys are technically criminals now."

"I knew what I was getting into since the beginning. Besides, it's nice to be wanted."

He's wearing a mask, but I can practically feel the smile on his face, "You're Gen z, right? You gotta be with that sense of humor."