Trapped in the Shadows

Chapter 38 - Panic

Peter's POV:
(Y/N) shielded me from the blast of some crazy advanced weapon that was aimed towards us. As the shield dissolved I placed my arm on her shoulder to nonverbally thank her, webbing up the other soldiers in the area with the other arm. She threw a dagger at the man with the weapon, but it failed to meet its mark as she collapsed at my side.

"(Y/N)!" I called out in panic, rushing to make sure that she had a pulse. I was thankful that I had chosen to wear the Iron Spider suit, allowing Karen to activate instant kill and be protected by the metal legs Tony had designed while I checked for a pulse.

A sigh of relief passed through my lips when I felt a faint heart beat and I spoke into my comms, "I could use some back up over here. (Y/N)'s passed out and I need to get her back to the quinjet, but there's still a lot of soldiers surrounding us."

"On it, Peter," I immediately heard Steve's response before Wanda, Natasha, and Steve ran over to answer my call for aid. I then picked (Y/N) up with one arm and swung her out of the base. It was a long journey to the rendezvous point, at least for the condition that (Y/N) was currently in and I found myself wishing that I had the powers that (Y/N) had. If only I could teleport, I wouldn't be sprinting across the field, swinging from any stable structure I came across.

I felt a strong breeze, causing me to glance up and notice the descending quinjet in front of me. I mentally thanked whoever had sent the plane to meet me and ran up the boarding ramp as it opened up for me. It wasn't until after I pulled out the medical bed that was stored in the quinjet for injuries and placed (Y/N) down that I realized there was no one in the cockpit.

"Kid, have you gotten (Y/N) on the plane?" I heard Tony's voice in my ear, causing me to jump.

I gave Tony confirmation and the quinjet took off again, informing me that it had been Tony who had cut my travel distance by having F.R.I.D.A.Y. pilot the plane to me. While still in midair, the cargo door opened again and Tony flew inside as the door latched behind him and his suit disappeared.

"How is she, kid?" He asked immediately, his eyes clouded with worry and his breath short.

"She's still breathing, I-I don't know what happened. One minute she appeared to be perfectly fine and the next she collapsed on the ground. I have (A/I) watching her vitals for me and she doesn't seem to be in an any immediate danger. (A/I) believes that it was due to exhaustion."

"Exhaustion? She's fought much longer and harder in battles before today without passing out."

"Well, the truth is that she hasn't really been sleeping at night. She was going to tell you after the raid today because she didn't want you to pull her out of the mission."

Tony's eyes flashed with anger, "how long have you known about this?! Why on earth would you not tell me when this is a fact that could definitely put her in danger?!"

"I only found out last night when I found her working in her lab about a couple of hours after going to bed," I explained, praying that he wouldn't take it out on me. "I didn't want to say anything because she promised me that she would talk to you and it wasn't exactly my secret to share. For some reason she wanted to keep it from us. I think she just doesn't want to let go off all of the guilt that she's been carrying around. Like if she finds a way to stop the nightmares, she's not getting punished for the crimes she's committed."

Tony sighed, "(Y/N)'s always been incredibly stubborn, although I don't know what I should have expected being my daughter, I'm surprised you got her to fess up to you. That does raise a question, though. What exactly were you doing in her room to discover that she wasn't sleeping?"

"O-oh, um, it's really nothing, Tony," I began to defend, although I had no idea where I was going with this. "(A/I), (Y/N), um, th-they told me that (Y/N) was having a nightmare. S-so I just when in there to comfort her, you know, calm her down and stuff. One time, back when we were first dating, she had a nightmare as well and she was able to calm down with my presence there, so I was hoping that it would happen again."

Tony raised his eyebrow as though he did not believe my story, but played along with it. "And did it? Were you able to help my daughter sleep?"

I shook my head, averting my gaze to the floor, "no, I-I don't think I was. She said that she got a bit more rest, but it certainly wasn't peaceful."

It was at that moment that Natasha announced that the Hydra base was secured and Tony had F.R.I.D.A.Y. land the plane for the team's return. Bruce, once de-hulked, rushed over to (Y/N) and confirmed that her loss of consciousness was indeed caused by lack of sleep and was surprised that it didn't happen sooner when I informed him that she hadn't actually slept a full night since her return from Hydra.

Your POV:
My eyes fluttered open and it took me a few moments to adjust to my surroundings. I seemed to be getting transported from one place to another, although I didn't know where I was. Panic rushed through me when I remembered I had last been at a Hydra base and it was possible that it was their soldiers bringing me back to the lab to brainwash me.

"Woah, (Y/N), sit down, you need to take it easy," I heard the reassuring voice of Steve as I bolted upwards on the stretcher.

"Wh-What happened?" I managed to ask, a sense of relief flooding through my veins when I realized that it was him and Bucky carrying me and not some Hydra agents.

"You passed out during the mission and Peter extracted you. We're bringing you to the med bay for recovery now. Please settle back down," Bucky explained as Bruce opened the doors to the med bay so that I could be carried in.

I shook my head as they lowered the stretcher in order to transfer me to a bed, instead sliding my legs over the other side to stand up. "I don't need to be in the med bay, I'm fine. I just overworked myself, I promise it won't happen again."

"(Y/N), Peter told us everything. We're going to give you some drugs so that you can catch up on some sleep, that is the most important thing that we can do to help you." As he spoke, Bruce went over to the medicine cabinets to find medication to sedate me.

My heart quickened as I scrambled away from Bucky and Steve, "please, don't put me under! Anything but that, please!"

Steve glanced at Bucky, as though asking him what they should do. I realized that my actions probably made them think that I was insane, so I turned to Bucky, in hopes that he would understand. "Please, if I go under and can't come back out, all I will be left with is the memories. I don't know if you went through this, Bucky, but I-I can't do it. Don't let them put me to sleep, please."

I had tears in my eyes by the time I finished pleading, causing Bucky to nod at Bruce. "Give me a few minutes to talk to her while you get a professional on the phone. Perhaps my experiences can help her ease her guilt."

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(A/N): Guess who's exhausted but (I think) finished their homework for tomorrow! Why was it that I could easily survive off of 5-6 hours of sleep in high school but in college I can't function if I get less than 7? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Do you think Bucky will be able to help you at all?