Blue Phoenix - MCU Civil War Replacement

Chapter Thirty Nine

By the time Shuri finished up running more tests and scans than I could keep track of, without further damage to her lab, we were almost late for dinner. It must've been a fairly common occurrence as Ramonda seemed mostly unbothered by her daughter's tardiness as we'd taken our seats at the table.

Shuri had excitedly talked about what she'd figured out on Bucky, Ramonda hadn't seemed surprised to find out that Buck would be staying for a while longer either. It made me nervous, leaving him so soon after getting him back again, but I knew he'd be safe here and if it's Bucky wanted I couldn't begrudge him doing something for himself. It didn't hurt that he promised to call me at least once a week to give me an update.

I was still sitting up, looking over the scans we'd done on me and munching on some fruit I'd brought back with me from dinner when a gentle knock draws my attention to the door to see Bucky sticking his head in. He was sweaty, his shaggy hair sticking to his forehead and breathing hard. I shove everything to the side and get up, hurrying to him.

"What's wrong Buck?" I ask quietly, opening the door the rest of the way.

"I can't breathe." He wheezes, clutching my arm tightly.

I smile at him and pull him gently into my room, shutting the door behind him. He sinks to the floor beside my bed, his back resting against the side and I sit beside him. I could feel him shaking and his breathing still hadn't evened out but it was slower which was a good sign. I lean my head against his shoulder and intertwine our fingers together.

"Can you hear me?" I ask quietly.

"Yes."

"Okay, can you tell me five things you can see right now?"

"What?"

"Tell me five things you can see Buck."

"Um, the door, the floor, you, our hands and the bed behind us."

"Good. Now tell me four things you can touch."

"Your hand, your head, the floor and my clothes.

"Perfect. What about three things you can hear?"

"Your voice, my voice and the tv in Steve's room."

"Amazing. Two things you can smell?"

"Your hair and the fruit you were eating."

"Lastly, something you can taste."

"Blood."

His breathing back to normal I sit up and turn his face towards me. He smiles at me embarrassed then looks away from me.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't know what else to do."

"You have nothing to apologize for Buck. Wanna talk about it?"

"Not really. What was that just now? Why did you ask me to tell you those things?"

"It's a common method of stopping a panic attack. Gets you focusing on something else. It doesn't work on everyone but it was worth a shot."

"Thank you for helping. I know I should be able to do this on my own but when I woke up all I could think about was making sure you were okay."

"You can come find me or call me any time you need me or want to Buck. You don't have to deal with this alone. Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"You weren't okay in my nightmare." He whispers, leaning his head back on the edge of my bed looking up at the ceiling.

Muscles in his jaw clench and he squeezes his hands together hard, his knuckles on his regular hand turning white. Slowly I lean my head against his shoulder, and put a hand over the top of both of his.