Why me?

The Attack

STEVE POV

We were out of the hospital within half an hour. Jess had definitely broken her hand, and now had a cast from fingertips to halfway up her forearm, but she was otherwise OK. Bucky was a little confused when she asked him to check his seatbelt three times when we were in the car but didn't question it. He knew what it felt like to always want to be safe.

"Guys, I have an intern!" I shouted as I gently pushed Jess through the door, then closed it behind Bucky. Tony came into view first, stepping out of the elevator.

"Steve, you broke her already?" he joked with a smile. "Hi, I'm Tony Stark, Nice to meet you," He added, putting out his hand to shake it, then swapping it for his left quickly upon noticing it was her right which was broken. Jess shook his left hand with her own, though her subtle grimace didn't go unnoticed, Tony even eyed her slightly, and he missed a lot.

"I'm Jess Peterson. Nice to meet you too, sir." She said quietly. There was a quiet rumble down the corridor, and Peter, Bruce, Thor, Clint and Natasha burst through the door laughing and joking. Peter flipped upside down and crawled across the ceiling. Jess quickly dashed between me and Bucky and moved to hide behind us.

I turned around and saw her sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall, her head buried in her knees, rocking back and forth a little; she was crying too. The noise. PTSD episodes. Of course, the noise, the people, this would trigger it. "Guys back off. Leave her alone for a while. I'll explain later, just go!" I persisted. The five people who had joined us, went back the way they had come, not arguing with me. Bruce closed the door behind them. I turned back to Jess and crouched in front of her. "Jess, it's ok. They're gone. Do you want to go somewhere more private?" She looked up and nodded. "Ok, follow me." She tried to stand up.

"Erm, I'm sorry Mr Rogers, but my legs have gone again. I can't move at all." She mumbled between sobs, pink flooding her cheeks.

"That's OK and drop it with the 'sir's' and 'Mr Rogers's', call me Steve, and that's Bucky, and Tony, but just be careful at school. Do you want me to pick you up?" She laughed and nodded, and I picked her up off the floor. Her legs had completely lost all function.

"Steve, you can take her down to the lab, it's quiet and empty in there." Tony offered.

"Will do. Buck, are you coming?" He nodded and followed us.

Once we were in the lab, I sat Jess on an empty countertop leaning against a wall. She was working on calming down but was struggling a little, shivering intermittently. "I really am sorry Mr – sorry – Steve. I shouldn't have reacted like that and – Who's that?" She asked, looking at the glass door. Natasha was stood on the other side of it. I shook my head at her, hoping she would get the message we needed to be alone. She smiled back and walked back up the stairs.

Jess was now shaking so violently when I turned back around her teeth were chattering. "Jess talk to us. What's going on?" I asked calmly, trying to help but not really knowing what to do.

"I-I-I ca-can't breathe." She stammered between shallow breaths. "Panic Attack." She finished quickly, falling back into hyperventilation. Bucky took control, he'd dealt with more of these than I had; his own and other peoples. If she was autistic, and I wasn't assuming here, just putting information together, then this would be a whole lot harder for her.

"Jess look at me. Breathe. In-" They breathed in together, but Jess struggled and began hyperventilating again. I put my hand out and placed in on her knee, trying to help her calm down. Bad move.

"GET OFF!" She screamed. I quickly pulled my hand away. "Sorry-" She breathed a few times, still too quickly. "-I. I don't like being touched when this is happening." She finished speaking and a little colour fell away from her face.

"Jess you need to try and breathe or you're going to pass out!" Bucky persisted, but it was too late. The little colour that was still in her cheeks vanished, and she slumped over. Bucky and I moved very quickly, lifting her off the counter and placing her on the floor; Bucky gently slid her glasses off her face, so she didn't break them. I pulled my jacket off and folded into a makeshift pillow. "OK, now we wait," Bucky said, leaning against the counter next to Jess's head. "Oh, and just a heads up, she might throw up when she comes around."

We sat for a few minutes, checking her vitals every minute or so, waiting for Jess to come around.

After around five minutes, Jess rolled over and tried to sit up.

"On your left." I reminded her; I was always disoriented when I came around after passing out – which I did more often than you'd think for some reason – so I wasn't sure whether she'd be the same.

"Jess stay there. Don't sit up too quickly." Bucky ordered, pressing her back down gently.

"What the hell happened." She groaned, running her not broken hand down her face then sliding it under her head. She noticed the jacket already there but didn't question it

"Panic attack," I explained. "Then you passed out. How're you feeling now?"

"I can't tell. Lightheaded maybe, but I'm OK, I think. Just a little shaky." She sat up slowly and leaned on the counter between me and Bucky, who handed her her glasses, "Thanks. Hey, Steve, what exactly does this internship entail?" She asked slowly in an attempt to distract herself.

"Training you up is the first stage, preparing you for combat, building muscle. Self- defence and the rest of it. I was hoping to start tonight if you're up for it?"

"Definitely."