Nikki's POV

Peter walked me back to my apartment, then helped me gather some things in a backpack that I would need while being forced - ahem - allowed to stay at Stark Tower. I only threw in some clothes, some specific soaps and other hygiene things that I used, and maybe one or two of the few personal things I had.

"Are you sure you don't need anything more? You're not bringing very much..."

"I'll be fine. Besides, it's not going to be long-term anyways, right?"

"Oh, yeah, right."

We continued on in silence for a few minutes, before Peter bravely tried speaking again.

"Nikki...why are you so against staying at the tower? I mean...most people would jump at the opportunity to be around the Avengers."

I couldn't tell him the real reason why. With extreme luck, my secrets wouldn't be revealed during my (hopefully) incredibly short stay. "I just prefer to be alone, that's all."

~~timeskip because I have no idea how to write social interaction~~

"Mr. Stark has asked me to inform you that the team is gathering for dinner and to invite you down to eat with them, Miss Hammond." The AI's weird voice somewhere between human and robotic ripped me away from studying a book on physics written by Dr. Banner.

"Please tell him thank you, but that I'm not hungry." I had been at the tower for five days - much longer than I had originally thought it would stretch to - and every day, after receiving the word-for-word announcement, I would give the exact same response for Friday to give to him.

It's not that I'm ungrateful or anything, I just really don't want to deal with all the drama that would inevitably come if I went down and ate in front of them.

"Kid, you need to eat. Get down here." Stark's voice came through Friday's system, blaring into my ears. (Seriously, does the man have to be so loud whenever he talks over the comm?) Instead of answering back, I just walked down to the dining room, not bothering to cover my annoyance. I was greeted by the sight of eleven people, all staring at me as I entered. I tried not to squirm at the attention, hiding it by acting even more annoyed (which wasn't hard). It seems like the drama's going to come regardless.

"Why am I needed down here again?"

"You know this thing called food? You know, that thing you need in order to live? Well, you're eating some. Right now."

Most people would probably jump at the opportunity to eat with the Avengers. Me? Heck no. They had forced me to live here, refused to let me pay them back despite my many attempts, and weren't allowing me to leave so that I could stop being a burden to them. So yeah, I wasn't exactly going to be the sweetest until I was finally able to leave and live my life how it actually worked for me.

"Hm. Let me think about that...yeah no. I'm not."

The Avengers all exchanged awkward looks with each other, except for Peter, who was just staring at me apologetically. "Nikki...you do need to eat, though."

"And I do! Just not at the same time as the rest of you guys."

Dr. Banner spoke up, his voice a lot softer than I had expected it, what with him literally being Hulk and all. "Friday, how much has Nikki eaten today?"

"Miss Hammond ate eight baby carrots and four leaves of lettuce this morning, as well as half an apple this afternoon, sir."

"Thank you." He turned to me, a crease in between his eyebrows. Thankfully, the rest of the heroes (other than Stark and Peter) had turned to their food and begun chatting with one another, so there wasn't quite as much focus on me. "Nikki, that's not enough nutrients to get you through the day, you need to eat more."

I rolled my eyes in response.

If only he knew how much I usually eat in a day...

"Seriously, we don't need you getting sick because you're malnourished."

Getting sick? If only they knew...

"Are you even listening, kid?"

I could feel the panic that had been present since being called down here slowly building up in my chest. I've never done well with confrontation or being called out, especially on something that I've worked so hard to not make known.

I nodded to him, not trusting myself to speak with the anxiety that was coming up. I tried to keep my body language nonchalant, but the three overprotective guys apparently are a lot better at reading people than I was used to. All of the noise from at least three conversations going on at the same time, as well as the clatter of silverware, the sliding of chairs,  and the boundless electricity in this building were starting to really overwhelm me.

I need to get out of here.

All of the elements were multiplying, and I couldn't focus on any particular noise. My brain was hearing everything at the same volume, and it was so loud.

So many voices.

So much sound.

Why are the lights so bright?

Ugh, why do I have so many hairs pulling on my head?

I started breathing more shallowly, my heart beating faster, my brain unable to focus on anything. As my eyes flicked around, I saw that Peter, Stark, and Dr. Banner were staring at me and looking concerned, trying to talk to me, but all I could see were their mouths moving. I couldn't discern there words. This was all too much.

So I turned and ran back to my room. I didn't turn on the lights, choosing instead to push myself into the back of my closet (being the smallest space), squeezing my ears into my head with my hands. Even the near-silence of my closet was too much. I shut my eyes as tight as they would go, trying to block out all of the stimulants driving my brain nuts.

"Nikki? Are you okay?" Peter's timid voice was somehow projected into my closet, but quiet and steady enough that it didn't bother me too badly. Slowly, I came out from my closet and opened the door to my room, showing him standing there. "...Can I come in?"

I nodded, opening the door wider for him. He squinted as his eyes adjusted to the dark. "Are you okay? You ran off looking kind of...panicked."

I started playing with my fingers, trying to diffuse some of the nervous energy building up again. I nodded my head once again, even though I knew I wasn't okay. The mental wall between my brain and vocal cords was enough for me to be able to tell that.

"...You sure? You still look a little off."

"Miss Hammond appears to have had a panic attack and to be unable to speak at the moment, Mr. Parker." For the first time, I actually felt grateful for the AI. But if she could tell that...what else had she seen and picked up on me doing? My heart rate and breathing began picking up again.

Peter noticed, and came over right next to me. "Nikki? Nikki, how can I help? Do you need something? Do you want me to leave?"

I shook my head, holding his sleeve so that he knew I wanted him to stay. He pulled out his phone, typing something into it before setting it down again. He sat himself in front of where I was kneeling on the floor, forcing himself into my line of sight.

"Nikki, try to match my breathing, alright?" He started taking long, deep breaths, and I shakily tried to make mine be the same.

Ha, two panic attacks in fifteen minutes, huh? Pathetic.

How dare you make people worry about you.

You don't deserve them even thinking about helping you.

It'd be better if you just-

~~sudden switch of POV~~
Peter's POV

"Peter?" The confused voice of Steve Rogers came from behind me.

"Hey, Mr. Rogers...thanks for coming...you know how to help with panic attacks, right? I'm sorry to bother you I just don't know what to do and you were the first person I thought of since you were in the army and have helped Bucky with his?" I turned back to Nikki, who kept shrinking more and more into herself and looked distant now.

He came over next to me, saw Nikki, and immediately leveled his face in front of hers, an arms-length away.

"Nikki, can you hear me?"

She nodded, but still didn't focus on him.

"Can you look at me please?"

She moved her eyes over to his general direction, but they still kept darting around, just in a smaller area.

"Good. Thank you. Can you tell me what you're thinking right now?"

She shook her head.

"Alright, is it okay if I touch your shoulders?"

She nodded shakily. I stared in awe at Steve, amazed at how good he seemed to be able to calm people down. He had only been in here for maybe two minutes, but I could already hear her breathing calming slightly.

Steve slowly put his hands on her shoulders, which seemed to help ground her a little. Her eyes stopped moving quite as rapidly, and she was able to look him in the face for a couple seconds.

"Thank you. Is it alright if I hug you?"

She shook her head again, but looked sorry about it.

"That's okay. Do you want me to stay?"

She nodded.

"Do you want me to stay too?" I talked quietly, so that I hopefully wouldn't startle her.

She nodded again.

The next couple hours, Steve stayed, even after Nikki had calmed down. She still wasn't able to talk, but could type out her words and either text them to me or show them to us on her notes app.

Word Count: 1588

Author's Note

So sorry about the crappiness of this chapter. In order to write panic attacks and all that I often have to trigger my own to write them properly so the writing isn't as good and it kind of jumps around and all that and may not be as clear as it should be. I edit it after writing scenes like this when I have to trigger myself but I get that it's not nearly as good as other (still crappy) chapters, so sorry about that!