SUMMARY: You can't deal with panic when Frenchie is taken from you, and your friends are here to help you out or Annie and Hughie being parents (LOL).
WARNINGS: tw: mentions of panic attack !!! hughie and annie being readers biggest supporters and this is canon idk. can be read as a standalone or as a spin off for into the black. reader is female. if i missed anything let me know!
WORDCOUNT: 1,3k
AUTHOR'S NOTE: i'm not really if this can be considered a one shot or not since it's shorter than the others...but i wrote this after a manic attack last night kind of like as self-therapy, so bear with me. also, english is not my first language so if anything's a little messy let me know as well so i can improve!
MUSIC I WORKED WITH: Quit by Ariana Grande

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

The moment Frenchie was taken, the world seemed to stop. One second he was beside you, and the next, he was gone. In the chaos, you barely registered The Deep's smirk or the blur of Black Noir's silent movements. Everything fell apart in an instant, as if the floor beneath you had been ripped away. Your mind froze, unable to process the fact that he was no longer there, that he had been taken right from your side.

The warehouse echoed with the aftermath of the fight. Shattered glass, overturned furniture, and the steady, irregular thrum of your heartbeat in your ears. You stood frozen, your breath shallow, chest tight with a suffocating pressure.

"Where—?" The question didn't make it out of your mouth before a sharp pain shot through your ribs, and the room spun around you. Black Noir had struck before vanishing, leaving you gasping for air. You clutched your side, the ache in your body growing with each ragged inhale.

But none of that mattered. None of the physical pain mattered because all you could think about was Frenchie. He was gone. They had taken him. They had taken him.

A loud ringing filled your ears. It was as though the walls were closing in around you, each second feeling like an eternity. You felt like you were underwater, every movement slow and disorienting. Your pulse was erratic, the panic swelling with each beat.

"Frenchie..." The whisper escaped your lips, barely audible, but it carried all the fear that had built up inside of you. He was out there, alone, and you didn't know what they were going to do to him. You knew what Vought was capable of, what The Seven were capable of. Images flashed through your mind, dark and terrifying—Frenchie bruised and broken, his life slipping away while you stood powerless to stop it.

You tried to steady your breathing, tried to hold onto some semblance of control, but the harder you tried, the worse it got. Your hands began to shake, your knees buckling beneath you. The panic clawed at your throat, constricting, suffocating. Every breath was a struggle, your chest tightening as though it was being crushed by an unseen force.

"I— I can't—" Your voice cracked, desperate, as you stumbled backward, clutching the side of the table to stay upright. The room tilted again, and you leaned heavily against the wall, squeezing your eyes shut to block out the swirling chaos around you.

Annie was beside you in an instant, her hands gently gripping your shoulders. "Hey, hey. Look at me."

You tried, but your vision was blurred by the panic, by the storm raging inside of you. You could hear her voice, but it felt distant, muffled beneath the roar of your own fear.

"It's going to be okay. Breathe with me." Annie's voice was calm, steady, as if she knew exactly what you needed.

You couldn't respond, couldn't find the words. Your mind was trapped in a loop of dread, replaying the worst-case scenarios over and over again. What if he was already gone? What if they were hurting him right now? What if you never saw him again?

"Come on, breathe," Annie repeated, more insistent now, her hands still holding you steady. "In and out. Just focus on that."

You gasped, your chest aching with the effort as you tried to follow her instructions. But the air wouldn't come. It felt like your lungs were filled with lead, and the more you tried to pull in a breath, the more it felt like you were suffocating.

Hughie appeared on your other side, his face filled with concern. "You're okay. We're here. You're not alone." His hand rested on your back, rubbing in small, soothing circles.

But you didn't feel okay. You felt like you were falling apart, every inch of your body trembling from the sheer force of the panic coursing through you. "They— they took him," you choked out, your voice breaking. "I can't— I can't lose him."

"You're not going to lose him," Annie said firmly, her voice unwavering. "Frenchie can handle himself. You know that."

You shook your head, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. You didn't believe it. Not right now. Frenchie was strong, but he was vulnerable too, and you couldn't stand the thought of him being hurt. You couldn't stand the thought of not being there to protect him.

"He—he's always protecting me," you whispered, your voice shaking with emotion. "And now... now he's out there, and I can't do anything."

Hughie's hand remained steady on your back. "Frenchie knows what he's doing. He's smart, he's resourceful. He's going to find a way to get out of this."

Your breath hitched, another wave of panic threatening to pull you under. You were supposed to be strong. You were supposed to be the one who could handle this, but all you felt was fear. Fear for him. Fear for the man who had become your constant, your safety in the chaos of your life.

Annie crouched down so that she was eye level with you, her grip still firm but gentle. "You love him, don't you?"

The question hit you like a punch to the gut. It wasn't something you had ever said out loud, not even to yourself. But hearing her say it, hearing the truth in her words, broke something inside of you.

"I—" Your voice cracked, a sob threatening to spill over. You clenched your fists, struggling to hold it all together, but it was no use. The panic, the fear, the overwhelming emotion— it was too much.

"I love him," you finally admitted, the words escaping in a ragged breath. "I love him so much, and I'm so scared... I'm so scared that I'm going to lose him."

The weight of those words hung in the air between you, and once they were out, the floodgates opened. Tears streamed down your face, your body shaking with the force of your emotions.

Hughie knelt beside you, his hand still resting on your back, offering quiet comfort. "We're going to get him back. I promise you that."

Annie nodded, her eyes filled with a determined kindness. "We won't let anything happen to him. You're not alone in this."

But it was hard to believe that in the moment, hard to believe that anything could be okay when all you could see were the terrible images playing out in your mind. Still, their presence anchored you, even if just a little. Even if the panic didn't entirely go away, the weight of their support grounded you, kept you from completely falling apart.

You wiped at your eyes, your breath still shaky but a little more even now. "I can't— I can't lose him," you whispered again, the fear still thick in your voice. "I won't."

"And you won't," Annie said softly. "We're going to do everything we can to get him back. We won't stop until we do."

The panic still buzzed beneath the surface, the fear still gripping your heart, but for the first time since it happened, you felt a sliver of hope. Maybe it wasn't enough to calm the storm completely, but it was enough to keep you going.

Because you would do anything to bring him back. Anything.

As the hours ticked by, you couldn't shake the gnawing fear in your gut. Every second that passed without Frenchie felt like a knife twisting deeper into your chest. But the moment you admitted to Hughie and Annie that you loved him, something shifted inside you. The fear was still there, but now it had purpose.

You weren't just fighting to bring him back because he was a teammate, because he was important to the group. You were fighting because he was everything to you. And losing him? That wasn't an option.

You'd tear the world apart to get him back.