Matilda's Imagines

We got you, Part 2

The needle hadn't been easy — even with Mini holding her hand the whole time, rubbing slow circles into her palm, grounding her with a quiet "Just breathe with me, bub." Y/n had cried a little. Not from pain, but from the memory. The ache of what used to happen when she was too scared to be brave.

But now it was done.

And she'd done it on her terms.

Mini had stayed with her the whole time, even after the blood draw, helping her sip juice and tuck her knees up in one of the beanbag chairs Anne kept in the corner for "emotional regulation," as she called it.

Mini just called it recovery.

"You did good, baby," she murmured, tucking a loose strand of hair behind Y/n's ear. "So, so good."

"I didn't scream," Y/n mumbled sleepily. "Progress, right?"

Mini smiled. "Big-time progress."

Then there was a knock on the door.

Y/n blinked — only to see four faces squished into the glass again.

Mini opened it just in time for Macca to stumble through with a dramatic gasp.

"She lives!"

"Barely," Kyra added, flopping onto the floor beside her and poking Y/n's socked foot. "I swear I almost cried out there. You made me feel things. It was horrible."

"Don't listen to her," Caitlin said, handing Y/n a milkshake. "She totally had tears in her eyes."

"I did not!"

"You did," Lani added, settling onto the arm of the beanbag and ruffling Y/n's hair. "We all did."

Y/n sipped her milkshake and snuggled further into Mini's side, her head on her shoulder now, less anxious, more sleepy and soft around the edges. The adrenaline had crashed, leaving behind that weighted, warm fuzziness that comes after surviving something hard.

"You guys are too much," she said with a sleepy grin.

"Yeah, well, you're our 'too much,'" Caitlin said gently.

"And we're not going anywhere," Macca added, slinging an arm around her legs.

A moment passed. Y/n's gaze flicked to each of them, still half-suspecting the warmth would vanish, still battling that voice from her past that said love like this didn't last.

But it hadn't left yet.

And no one was backing away.

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Later that night, Y/n padded into the team common room wearing oversized sweats and her hoodie — one of Kyra's old ones she'd claimed as hers.

The others were already there: Caitlin and Lani battling it out over Mario Kart, Kyra building a mountain of popcorn that kept toppling, and Macca sorting through Y/n's fidget bin with absolute fascination.

"Hey, brave girl," Mini greeted from the couch. "Feeling alright?"

Y/n nodded, then climbed onto the couch beside her.

"Can we... stay up a little longer?" she asked quietly.

Mini smiled and pulled a blanket over them both. "As long as you want, bub."

Y/n leaned her head against her, eyes fluttering shut.

She didn't have the words for it — not all of them, not yet. But this?

This was the safest she'd ever felt in her whole life.

And for now, that was more than enough.

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