Steve was across the room, about to punch a hole through the wall, when Kayla started forgetting how to breathe. Her comprehensive knowledge of the respiratory system didn't amount to much when she was on the verge of a panic attack, and this one was no exception.

Gripping the table tighter, she took comfort knowing the toxin wasn't making her hyperventilate, for now anyway. This was typical, tending to happen in high-stress environments where she felt trapped with no way out.

She knew she wasn't captive on a yacht, down a storm drain, or stuck in another burning coffin. She knew she'd been out of that bunker for weeks. But since seeing the video message, Kayla felt like a hostage, and no amount of logic could make that feeling go away.

She'd tried to bury it back in the hospital room, putting on a brave face for the group and being the voice of reason. But, it broke something in her, knowing Orpheus had used her area of expertise against her. That the bastard's first strike against them had been successful enough for him to act like he'd already won.

And at that moment, knowing a forgotten phone was all it had taken to send her and Steve spiraling, it felt like he had.

Her knees about to give out on her, Kayla let go of the table just long enough to pull out a kitchen chair. Perching on the edge of it, she clasped a hand over her mouth to try and muffle her sobs. Unsuccessfully so.

Even doubled over at the waist with her eyes squeezed shut, she felt Steve at her feet before he even reached out to touch her.

He moved her hand away from her face first, linking their fingers together and ordering her to try and breathe.

She opened her eyes and, to her credit, did try, but her breathing was too fast and ragged, scaring the hell out of him.

Stroking her hair anxiously, looking right into her too-wide eyes, Steve tried his best to talk Kayla down before finally pulling her down from the chair and into his arms.

"Shhh, shhh. I've got you, Sweetness. I'm right here, baby. You've just gotta take some deep breaths now. Get some good air to that big brain of yours, alright?"

Sitting cross-legged on the floor with her leaning against him, still stroking her hair, Steve held her, not as close as he'd like for fear it would inhibit her breathing more, but enough for his wife to know he was with her. Kayla was still frantic and wide-eyed, though, not to mention as white as a sheet.

"C'mon, baby. Deep breaths. Slow and steady, Sweetness. You gotta try and breathe easy now. Just breathe easy, Kayla," Steve pleaded as she clutched at his shirt, still crying for air.

"This is no good, Sweetness. C'mon now. You gotta hear me." His hands shaking, he took a breath, trying to steady himself before speaking again.

"You know we're okay, Kayla," he reminded, kissing the top of her head. "I know you know that. We're here at home together, and we're safe, and we're holding each other and keeping each other close. You feel me here with you, baby? You feel me holding you so close?"

Feeling her slight nod against his chest, then feeling and hearing her breathing start to even out, Steve lightly laughed and held her tighter.

"That's it. That's good, baby. In and out, just breathe easy now. That's right. Just take it easy, Sweetness. I've got you, and I'm not letting you go. I promise you I'm not letting you go."

Feeling her shaking, fearing she was cold, Steve quickly eased out of his jacket and draped it over Kayla's shoulders.

Its weight –and the comforting combined scent of her husband and worn leather– provided an instant grounding effect, and Kayla let out one shuddery, full breath, then another as she looped her arms up around Steve's neck.

When his hand slid underneath the coat, though, feeling him rub slow circles on her upper back, she shook her head and bit her lip. She knew what he was doing but damn it; she had shed enough tears today.

"Steve..." she squeaked out.

"Just let it out, baby," Steve begged.

After his voice broke, Kayla finally broke down, curling tight to his chest before crying her heart out.

"Shh, I've got you. I've got you, baby. It's alright now. Just let it out, Sweetness," Steve soothed. Hearing Kayla cry cut him to the core, but he'd take her tears over the gasps from before that had taken at least three years off of his life.

He'd take it over her avoiding his eye and the stubborn "I'm fine's" and her and him trying to one-up each other in a game of who could be stronger for who. At least now that they'd accepted how terrified they were, they could start to come to grips. Focus on being strong and smart for each other and surviving this nightmare together.

For now, though, she was still sobbing into his shirt while his eye stung with unshed tears.

"Yeah, you go ahead and cry. You've got the right. Just go ahead and cry," Steve choked out before allowing himself to as well.

Once they were both out of tears, too exhausted to move, they resigned themselves to lying next to each other on the floor rug. Steve made some argument about how it was good for his back, and even though Kayla using him as a human body pillow probably negated that good, she told the MD in her to keep quiet and curled up more on her husband's chest.

"I'm sorry, you know."

"Kayla-"

"I am, Steve," she cut in, sitting up some to look him in the eye. "I scared you, and I'm sorry," she said as he shook his head.

"You had a panic attack, baby. You think that I'd ever hold that against-"

"No, of course not," Kayla said firmly. "I know that you wouldn't. But if I hadn't kept pushing down everything I was feeling, avoiding and snapping at you when you were just trying to get me to talk-"

"If you think I'm gonna call you out for taking a page outta my playbook, baby," Steve scoffed as Kayla shook her head.

"If I hadn't let everything build up so much, I know it wouldn't have been as bad."

"It was bad, Sweetness. We can't deny that."

"But we got past it. You made sure of it."

"After I yelled and almost walked out on you when you were-"

"You didn't walk out, though," Kayla interrupted. "And even if you had, you were just as panicked as I was. You think I'd hold that against you?"

"There would've been no excusing it if I'd left you, Kayla."

"But you didn't. You stayed, and you held me, and you took care of me, and you got us through it. We both got through it!"

"This time. We got through it this time, Sweetness," Steve said gravely as Kayla looked down. Content to focus more on the collar of his shirt than the words he was saying until she remembered avoiding the subject had been what led them to turn into a breathless, tearful heap on the floor. Letting out a slow breath, she met his gaze again.

"I know this is bad, too, Steve. I'm not denying it either."

"You weren't breathing, baby. And this time, I knew why but next time, if something else is the reason, you know I'm not prepared to..."

"Steve…"

"There's enough damn room for you at your hospital, Kayla," he said roughly as she swallowed hard. Realizing her earlier remark at the nurse's station about saving beds for the actual patients had affected Steve more than he'd let on.

"I know. And I'll know when I need to go back."

Speaking calmly but firmly, Kayla looked her husband square in the eye.

"I would not have brought this into our home if I didn't know it was the right place for us to start working through it."

"Us?" Steve scoffed, "Last I checked, Sweetness, that jacket of mine you're wearing's not a lab coat," he said as Kayla softly smiled, pulling it more snugly around her. Her smile faded though at the skeptical, fearful look on her husband's face.

"Baby, right now, I don't need a doctor. When I do, I know where they are. All I need right now is my husband."

Nodding, shifting closer, Steve twined their hands, then kissed the back of hers. Looking up at her with so much love in his eye that Kayla almost cried again.

"And I need him to trust me."

"I trust you with my life, Sweetness," Steve said gruffly.

"Then trust me with mine. Please, Steve."

Looking down at their joined hands, then back up at his wife, Steve managed a nod before pulling Kayla into a fierce hug.

"If anything changes, baby, anything, you've gotta tell me as soon as you-"

"I will," Kayla assured. "Like I said, when we need to go back, we will. For right now, though..."

Pulling herself up from the floor with the aid of the coffee table, and Steve once he was upright again, Kayla stretched her neck before taking her husband by the hand.

"Come with me," she demanded, leading him to the bedroom.

"There's something that we can do right here."