Chapter 18
-Katelyn's POV-
"Hey, Lilah, I don't know when I'm gonna be home tonight," I say into the phone as we walk up to the compound. "Something happened, I'm at the Avengers compound."
"You're at the what now?" She repeats in disbelief. "What happened?"
"We don't really know," I admit. "I'll call you when I'm coming home."
"Okay," she says nervously. "I love you, be safe."
"I love you too," I say then hang up as Wanda opens the door. We walk in and I see Rhodey and another guy I vaguely recognize, who I assume to be Steve.
"I'll call Peter," Wanda says and tries to walk away, but I grab her arm.
"No!" I say quickly, and she gives me a confused look. "We broke up," I mumble. "I don't want him to know I'm here." She nods and the blonde man walks over, sticking his hand out.
"I'm Steve," he smiles and I shake his hand. "I don't know if you remember, but I was on the team to rescue you."
"Hi," I smile, awkwardly looking around. "How long will I be here?"
"I don't know," Steve admits. "Probably a few days, but we need to figure out what's happening, what caused it, and how it works to know for sure."
"How are you gonna do that?" I ask, nervously rubbing my arm.
"Oh, I'm not doing it," he shakes his head. "We've got Shuri coming down. Do you know her?"
"The princess?" I ask, my eyes widening. .
"Yep," he nods.
"Cool," I breathe, although I'm still a little shaken up. "When will she get here?"
"Later tonight," Rhodey answers and stands up. "I'll take you to the infirmary, she'll probably want to test you in there."
"Okay," I say and start following him, slight panic creeping into me. What if she has to use a bunch of needles? I don't know if I can look at syringes the same way again after the incident. What if they can't figure out what's wrong with me? What if they think I'm a threat and have to put me in a jail somewhere?
"Wanda got you some comfier clothes for while you wait." Rhodey points at a stack of clothes on the nearest bed. "I don't know if she'll make you wear a gown, but you can wear these until she gets here."
"Thanks, Rhodey." I say and he pats my back.
"Anytime, kid. You need anything else?"
"Just... Please don't let Peter know I'm here," I ask and he nods. "I don't want to talk to him."
"I won't," he promises and gently pushes me toward the bed. "Rest for a bit. I'll see you later."
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"Katelyn?" I hear a voice with a thick accent say and groggily open my eyes, quickly realizing I don't know where I am. Fearing the worst, I bolt up and try to run, but someone steps in front of me with their arms out in a calming way. "Katelyn, you're okay, you're at the compound. My name is Shuri, can you sit down?"
I pant and my hands feel cold again. I look down to see them frosted over again, making me stumble back with wide eyes. My fear spikes and the ice thickens, the floor around me getting covered in it as well, slowly spreading out.
"Katelyn, I know you're scared, but that's just fueling it." She says calmly, trying to get as close as she can without getting hurt. "If you calm down it'll go away."
I nod and slowly sit back on the bed, closing my eyes to control my breathing and make the ice go away. The cold feeling subsides and I glance down to see my hands back to normal. I sigh in relief and sit down as Shuri comes over with a kit, a bunch of different devices in it.
"What are you gonna do?" I ask quietly as she grabs a stethoscope.
"Nothing terrible," she assures me as she takes my heart rate. "Just trying to see if anything obvious is different, then we'll run some deeper tests."
I nod as she rustles through the kit, trying to keep myself as calm as possible. My eyes widen when she pulls out a syringe, my breath starting to come out in shallow gasps. She notices and turns around, concern etched on her face when she notices my expression.
"Are you alright, Katelyn?" She asks, walking back over to me.
"Do you have to use that?" I whimper, the memories flooding back.
"I'm sorry, I have to take your blood for some tests." She apologizes and tries to gently grab my arm, but I flinch away. My breathing worsens, suddenly feeling the straps pressing on my arms again.
"Katelyn, it's just a needle," Shuri says calmly. "It'll be over quickly."
"I- I can't," I cry, and see Wanda walk in, rushing over to me.
"It's okay, you're okay." She assures me and looks up at Shuri. "She had a traumatic experience involving syringes a couple weeks ago."
"I can give you something so you're asleep while I do it," she suggests and my blood runs cold at the thought, knowing that would be worse.
"No!" I say quickly, shaking my head. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, steeling myself. "No, just... Just do it."
"Are you sure?" Wanda asks and I nod my head, grabbing her hand as Shuri picks up the syringe again.
"I'll make this as quick as possible," she promises and I take a shaky breath as she carefully takes my arm. "Just try to relax."
I close my eyes and feel tears form as the needle pokes my skin. I push the memories threatening to take over and grip Wanda's hand harder.
I feel frustrated and weak, not even able to look at a syringe without freaking out. He has taken everything from me, I hate feeling scared of anything that slightly reminds me of those couple days.
"All done," Shuri announces and I open my eyes to see her smiling at me. I smile weakly back, letting go of Wanda's hand. "That'll be the worst of it, now I just need to do some normal check-up stuff on you."
"Okay," I nod, relaxing back into the bed.
"This shouldn't take long, you can go to sleep after." She adds and Wanda stands up.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Kay." Wanda smiles and pats my leg. "Get some rest."
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Hey guys, sorry this chapter took longer than usual. Marching band is starting up and I got into Annie at our local theater, so I'm going to be pretty busy. I hope you guys liked it!
Love you all lots!
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