Matilda's Imagines

We got you

It was just another Thursday at Matildas training camp — sunny, humid, and full of energy.

Y/n had been bouncing off the walls since breakfast, fidgeting with her hoodie drawstrings, playing with the zipper on Kyra's jacket, and following Caitlin around like a little shadow. She'd beat her mile time in warm-ups, Meg'd Kyra (again), and successfully convinced Macca to give her half a banana mid-drill.

Basically? Y/n was thriving.

Until the end of training.

"All right, everyone," the team's head doctor, Anne, announced, "quick detour to the medical wing. Routine blood work today — club-wide health check."

Y/n's brain didn't process the words at first.

Blood work? Needles?

Everyone around her groaned dramatically, but still started walking. Ellie tossed her arm around Hayley's shoulder with a loud, "Let's get this over with!" and Mini just sighed and led the way, clipboard in hand.

Y/n didn't move.

Frozen in place. Vision narrowing. She clutched the hem of her hoodie.

No. No. No.

Needles weren't just scary to her — they were full-on panic attack material. Memories of being held down, forced injections, screaming while no one cared. Being punished for crying. Being told she was weak.

She couldn't breathe.

Kyra was the first to notice. "Hey, gremlin, you good?"

Y/n didn't answer. Her hands shook.

"Y/n?" Macca asked, walking back toward her. "Did you hear what Anne said?"

Y/n slowly looked up, and the terror in her eyes knocked the wind right out of Macca's chest.

"Wait—oh," Caitlin murmured, stepping forward. "Sweetheart, do you have a fear of needles?"

Y/n didn't answer. But her trembling lips and glassy eyes said everything.

And that's when Mini rounded the corner and saw her.

She didn't waste a second. She gently cut through the others and knelt down in front of Y/n, speaking in that soft, no-nonsense tone that always made Y/n feel like the world wasn't about to collapse.

"Bub, you're safe," Mini said quietly. "No one's gonna do anything you don't want, okay?"

Y/n finally spoke, voice barely a whisper. "I didn't know. No one told me. I can't—I can't do it, Mini."

"You don't have to," Mini replied immediately. "It's okay."

"Wait, really?" Y/n looked up, desperate. "I don't have to?"

Mini smiled. "Of course not. We can reschedule. Or skip it. Or talk to Anne about another way. We do this your way."

Kyra sat down on the floor beside her, bumping their shoulders together. "Besides, I hate needles too. They're evil little vampire straws."

Macca nodded, crouching on Y/n's other side. "Let's all pretend it's a team rebellion. No more needles ever."

"Guys," Caitlin said, amused but warm, "that is absolutely not what Anne said."

"But I mean... solidarity," Macca grinned.

Mini looked at Y/n again. "Can I hold your hand if we do this later? Or sit with you while you decide?"

Y/n hesitated... then slowly nodded, tears still in her eyes, but breath returning to her lungs. "Yeah. But just Mini. You're the calm one."

"Oi!" Kyra protested, offended.

Y/n gave a tiny smile. "You'd just faint with me."

Everyone laughed.

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Later that afternoon, Y/n sat in a quiet corner of the medical wing, in a chair next to Mini. Macca, Kyra, Lani, and Caitlin were just outside, peeking through the small window in the door with exaggerated expressions like worried relatives at a kindergarten play.

Y/n rolled her eyes, heart still pounding... but she was smiling now.

The needle still scared her. But for the first time, she didn't feel alone.

Because when the world felt like too much, she had a whole team — a whole family — who wrapped their arms around her and said: You're safe now.

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