DISCLAIMER: I only own Melanie and other OCs

Melanie's POV

It had been nearly a month since Hydra had attacked the tower, and almost three since the Avengers had rescued me. Meaning it was time for my next big milestone... School.

True, I`d had lessons during my years in the program, but they were basic; Reading, writing and math. I`d never actually been to school.

"Do I have to go?" I Asked at the breakfast table as Steve set a plate of pancakes down in front of me

"Yes Melanie, you do. School is part of being a child. It`s important," Steve replied.

"Why?"

"You need to learn about the world around you, and make friends that are your own age," Steve explained.

"Yeah, you`re ten years old, you can`t keep hanging around a guy who`s nearly a hundred," Tony added, sipping on his coffee. I`d stopped calling him Mr Stark shortly after the attack.

"Very Funny, Tony," Steve rolled his eyes.

"But you guys won`t be there to..."

"You really think we didn`t consider that? Tony asked, "Peter goes to the same school, he`ll be there to protect you if something happens."

"Which it won`t," Steve assured me, "you`ll be fine Mel."

Peter held my hand as we walked towards the large, ominous looking building

"Peter, I`m scared," I whispered.

"It`s okay Melanie, you will be fine," Peter replied as The older boy walked me to class.

"This is your class. The teacher is Mrs Gaulstead. She`s grouchy, so be careful," Peter informed, "I gotta go but I`ll meet you in the cafeteria at lunch. Okay?"

"Okay," I gave a small nod "bye Peter," I whispered as my friend ran off to his class

My stomach twisted into a big knot when I entered the classroom, so many kids. I found a seat in the class's middle, near a boy with black hair.

"Hi," the Boy smiled, "haven`t seen you before. First day?"

I nodded.

"I`m Micheal, Michael Richards."

"Melanie," I replied shyly.

Class began and Mrs. Gaulstead walked in. She was old, with rectangular glasses and grey hair pulled into a tight bun on the top of her head. She looked stern.

"alright, math time." Mrs Gaulstead snapped, "6 times 14 plus 9."

Shyly, I raised my hand, I knew this one.

"You, scrawny girl with the blonde hair."

"93." I said.

Mrs. Gaulstead laughed as she worked the equation out for herself. "absolutely... right? what`s your name girl?"

"Melanie Peters, Ma`m."

"Ah, yes. I'd say your parents must be proud, but you don't have any."

The class gasped and whispered murmurs flew around the room. Michael shot me a sympathetic glance.

My new-found confidence shattered, I sunk down in my seat and buried my head in the work in front of me.

I didn't say a word for the rest of the morning. Not wanting to be teased, I kept my head down and focused.

Lunchtime came and i was glad to be out of the classroom, Mrs Gaulstead was super cranky!

Holding the Brown Paper Lunch bag that Steve had given me, I entered the Cafeteria. My eyes darting around the room, looking for Peter.

"Hey Melanie! Over here!" Peter stood up and waved to me.

I wandered over and sat down beside him, on the opposite side of the table were two other kids the same age as Peter.

"Melanie, these are my friends, Ned and MJ, Guys, this is Melanie," Peter introduced.

"Nice to finally meet you Melanie," MJ smiled at me.

"Yeah," Ned added, "Peter`s told us a lot about you."

"How much about me?" I asked nervously.

"enough," Peter placed a hand on my shoulder, "How was class?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Alright," I replied, taking my lunch out of the bag, i smiled when i noticed it was a Peanut butter and jelly sandwich. my favourite. I Decided not to tell Peter that Mrs Gaulstead outed me as an orphan in front of the class.

"Who`s your Teacher?" Ned enquired.

"Mrs Gaulstead."

"Oh no, she`s mean. when we were in her class, i saw her send a kid with Autism to the Principal's office for going into sensory overload," MJ said, "You guys remember that?"

Ned nodded, "But that was before Snodgrass was principal, so the kid wasn't in trouble and Gaulstead got a reprimand."

And Dad at the Parent teacher meetings was... Interesting to say the least," Peter added

"What happened?" I asked, intrigued.

"He threatened to buy the school, fire her, rehire her just to fire her again," Peter chuckled.

"He would," I rolled my eyes and took a bite of my sandwich. I felt comfortable around Peter`s friends. he'd known them since fifth grade.

Little did I know, my first day of school would be all downhill from there.

I quivered in the dark, i couldn`t breathe, it was cold, and I could hear someone yelling.

"Get out from under there this instant!"

I whimpered and curled into a ball

"That's it, principal's office" Somebody grabbed me by the hair and started pulling before they were forced to let go

" Hey, Move, give her some space,"A girl exclaimed.

"Miss Crews, do not interfere."

"All due respect mam, she's having an anxiety attack, and you`re not helping!"

Suddenly there was a girl kneeling next to me, she was slightly older than me with dark skin, tightly curled brown hair and deep green eyes.

"Hey there, my name`s Meg, What`s yours?"

"M-Melanie," I said, my voice breaking.

"It's okay Melanie, you`re safe here."

"Safe?" I blinked, suddenly i was back in the classroom, hiding under a desk. Everyone was staring at me and Mrs Gaulstead looked mad.

"Hey, focus on me, Today's your first day isn`t it?" Meg asked

I gave a small nod

"You did good then, you nearly made it all day."

When i came out from under the desk, Mrs Gaulstead sent us both to the principal`s office for unruly behaviour.

Meg and I sat down on a couch outside the office and waited for our respective grown-ups to arrive.

"How did you know how to help me?" I asked quietly.

"I`m the youngest of eight kids and the only girl, My eldest Step-brother did a two tours of Afghanistan before he lost a leg. he suffers from PTSD and Anxiety, real bad," Meg explained, "if you don`t mind me asking, what happened to you?"

"I don`t wanna talk about it."

"That`s okay, you don`t have to, you got family coming?"

"I don`t have a family, just legal guardians" I said, "I don't even remember if I ever had one"

"My mom walked out when i was a baby, my step-mom's the best though."

"Melanie!" Tony exclaimed as he and Steve entered, "Melanie, are you Alright?"

"That`s Tony Stark and Steve Rogers," I heard Meg gasp, "Iron man and Captain America are your legal guardians."

"I`m okay,"I replied meekly, slightly muffled since i was being squished by Steve, who was hugging me tight, "Thanks to Meg," I gestured to towards the older girl.

"Hello Mr Stark, Captain Rogers," Meg waved shyly.

"Thanks for helping Melanie," Steve smiled gratefully, "she`s been through a rough time."

"She must have if you`re protecting her, that`s why your her legal guardians. right?" Meg asked.

"You`re a smart kid," Tony nodded.

Then Meg`s dad and Step mom arrived and once they got over being Star Struck, we all had a talk.

"Would you girls mind telling us what happened before we go in there?" Mr. Crews asked, he had his arm around Meg.

"It was me Mr Crews," I sighed, "I freaked out."

"What triggered it?" Tony asked gently.

"we were doing some science, and one of the chemicals smelled exactly like..."

"Exactly like what?" Mrs Crews enquired.

"Melanie spent most of her life imprisoned, a human lab rat," Steve explained, "I can`t say anymore than that."

"Understood, My Step-son was a Navy seal till he stepped on a mine and my grandpa was commando, i get the need for secrecy" Mr Crews nodded understandingly.

"You poor little sugar," Mrs Crews smiled sympathetically at me

Principal Snodgrass called in the grownups, there was yelling and i began to wonder if i would ever come back to this school...

"I can`t believe Melanie got detention for having a panic attack in Chemistry class! What part of human lab rat didn`t that A-hole get?" Tony grumbled. I`d just been given a week`s worth of detention and we were in the car on the way back to the Tower.

"Tony, Language," Steve scolded, he was sitting next to me, I`d pressed myself against his large frame for comfort.

"I`m sorry," I whispered, "It was just a smell, I should have been able to keep it together."

"Melanie, I don`t think there`s one Avenger who does`nt have at least a little bit of anxiety," Steve comforted, "Including me."

"You have panic attacks?" I double-checked, Steve was Captain America, Nothing scared him.

Steve nodded, "The cold does it to me, cold water especially."

"What about you Mr. Star... uh i mean, Tony?"

"Me? Kid, Anxiety is my default state."

"Tony, we`ve talked about this," Steve said.

"Yeah i know, Believe it or not Mel, Stargazing for too long on my own is a more unique thing on a trigger list as that`s as long as Steve is tall."

The first thing Tony did when we got back to the penthouse was angrily call Pepper Potts. I`d only met her a couple of times but she was really nice to me and helped me get some clothes when i first got out of hospital.

I went to my room to tidy myself up and get out of my school uniform; The team were coming round for dinner to celebrate my first day of school. I`d have to tell them what happened and I was not looking forward to the reactions.

I`d just finished getting changed when there was a knock at my door.

"Hey Melanie, it`s Peter, can i come in?"

"sure,"I sighed.

The door opened and Peter entered with Goose padding at his heels, "Hey, I heard about what happened..."

"Steve tell you?"

"actually, school tea."

" then you don`t know the half of it."

"what, they didn`t Yeet you did they?"

"Yeet?"

"Yeah, you know, throw you out?."

"No, Principal Snodgrass didn`t throw me out. but i've got detention for a whole week starting tomorrow."

"For having a panic attack in class? that's ridiculous!" Peter exclaimed, "Snot-grass is a moron!"

"did you call him Snot-grass?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"Yeah," Peter nodded.

I burst into a fit of giggles.

"Universal rule when dealing with ten years olds #3, Bodily functions are always funny," Peter said to no-one in particular.

"duly noted," Steve smiled as he entered, "you think the same applies to your dad? he's so P****d off even Pepper's having trouble calming him down."

"dunno," Peter shrugged, "but i was thinking, I could talk to MJ tomorrow, she's on the student council, and their awareness thing at the moment is mental health,"

"Thanks Pete," I smiled gratefully.

"No problem Mel" Peter replied, ruffling my hair.