╭-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╮
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN!
𝖔𝖑𝖉 𝖘𝖈𝖆𝖗𝖘
╰-°—✞—˚✧ ψ ✧˚—✞—°-╯
────── 〔ψ〕──────
THE WALK HOME was more humiliating when two factors are considered: 1. Salene wasn't in her clothes, 2. She was being followed by someone Tony hired to make sure she wouldn't do something stupid, which meant her things were left at Peters and she wouldn't be able to get them until tomorrow. She eventually had to sneak away from the person and climb up the fire escape; if she walked into the restaurant like that, her parents would kill her. Thankfully, the fire escape leads up to her window so she can wallow in pain in the comfort of her room the second she's inside the building.
After Tony got her and Peter off the roof, the damage done to her body from the fighting took a toll on her, she aches from her shoulders to her legs and her head was pounding from the extended use of her powers, glowing like that, even though it was a product of her nerves, really made her feel like her brain was being compressed under a layer of rubber bands. Climbing up the fire escape felt like forever as every muscle and joint screamed at her with every movement.
She was in tears by the time she got to her room, her window was open, probably done by Kyril since she didn't leave it like that in the morning. Salene was grateful though, it made it easier for her to crawl into her room and stumble to her bed. She didn't even realize how noisy she was until Kyril all but kicked down her door a minute later, silently slamming it as he flipped on her light.
He seemed like he was infuriated until he looked at her. His jaw dropped and he rushed over. She gave a weak smile as she slowly sat up in her bed. His eyes looked her up and down and he shook his head, sighing.
"Come to scold me?" She asked rhetorically, wincing as she leaned up against her pillows.
"What happened on that ferry?" He asked and she rolled her eyes.
"One of the assholes from that gun deal had this weapon that's like a boxing glove, but it electrocutes you, his buddy from that night used it on me and knocked the wind out of me, but this guy knocked me into a wall, hard," Salene explained, she went on about everything about the ferry and when she looked down at her gauntlets, she sighed.
"What happened on the roof?" Kyril asked.
Finding the words seemed to be difficult for her. Tony's words echoed in her head.
"He took my suit, he modified my gauntlets," Salene mumbled, she looked up to him, tears were brewing, one dared to slip.
Kyrils jaw dropped, he immediately pulled her into a hug. She winced, yet appreciated the affection from her brother. Salene couldn't help but think about Peter. His eyes were red-rimmed, his nose was turning the same color. Salene couldn't help but feel it was her fault if she caught the Shocker or the Vulture. If she was able to give someone to Tony and the FBI, maybe Peter and her would be able to keep her suits.
Now she's stuck with nothing but her old gas mask and her gauntlets. She didn't even have a fallback suit as Peter did. But something told her that she didn't even want to go back out there.
────── 〔ψ〕──────
SALENE WISHED THAT she could get her brown hair and normal life back. Maybe she wouldn't feel so guilty for not doing anything but school and work. The Twins' birthday is coming up, and Salene and Kyril made plans to get them their presents after school since their parents got their shift covered. Since Salene hasn't had the time to put better thought into Dina's gift, she now has to harass all of Dina's friends to see what new album she wants to add to her collection. She keeps blowing off buying the one Led Zeppelin album Salene knows since Dina lets her school consume her.
Alessandro is easy, Kyril once got him a pack of socks with little animals on them and their brother looked like he was about to cry. Salene and Kyril just had to make sure that they didn't get them the same thing on accident as they did in 2014. It was funnier than anything else now, but it was something Salene and Kyril vowed to never do again.
"Now that you have powers, wanna try Manhattan stores?" Kyril asked, he seemed to be joking to Salene but something in her wanted to go.
In May 2012, the Kalimeris family had taken a trip to Manhattan for Adrian's birthday, the parents had saved up some money and they were going to spend a good chunk of it on their oldest son who had just recently come out and needed a change in his room set up and wardrobe. They were trapped in the museum, all except for Salene, who has swept away in the crowd and was about to get blasted by a chitauri alien when Black Widow had killed it with a spear she stole from a different alien. She was only ten.
"Why not?" She asked, "it's about time we went back." Kyrils face dropped a little, his eyes stared dead into hers.
"I was joking," he frowned, "what if they come back?"
"Tony nuked those fuckers' planet," Salene assured him, "I watched them drop dead in front of me."
Kyril nodded, a shudder went down his spine, Salene could tell because of the goosebumps that had run down his arms. Even though they were stuck in the museum, it still wasn't a haven, they were two seconds away from being bombed by a chitauri explosive, Steve Rogers had saved them. He was hot then, he's hot now.
"I wonder how Steve is doing," Salene thought out loud, the last she saw, he was flying away in a quinjet with Bucky Barnes.
"Probably not well since he's wanted in every country," Kyril responded, "enough about this, have you been asked to homecoming? I saw mom give you extra money, I assume it's for a dress."
"Yes, Mr. Detective, it's for a dress but no I haven't been asked, I'm just gonna hang out with some kids from the team, unless someone asks me," Salene shrugged, she glanced to Kyril as he snorted, her left brow raising at his reaction to her answer.
"By someone, you mean Peter?" He winked at Salene making her frown.
"What makes you think Peter would ask me to homecoming?" She turned her torso to face him better, also to ease her muscles in her upper back since they were still sore from the ferry.
"Are you kidding me? Mom seriously thinks you two are already dating now since you guys hang out so much," Kyril laughed and Salene scoffed.
She knows her mom. Her mother wouldn't let her hang out with Peter at his house if she suspected a relationship. Her father wouldn't let her look at Peter if he thought there was a relationship. Still, her emotions exposed her with a blush on her cheeks as the thought of Peter being her boyfriend flooded her brain.
Why not ask him to this homecoming? Lucifer asked and Salene rolled her eyes.
I'm gonna ignore that now, she responded to him, watching the buildings go by as Kyril left Queens.
────── 〔ψ〕──────
IT TOOK THIRTY MINUTES for Kyril to stop freaking out about being back in Manhattan. Salene had taken the same amount of time, realizing that saying that she could go back to that place and not the time is harder when you're there and there's the avengers building and the statue for the first responders that died in the attack. And Salenes back on the street where she almost got murdered by an alien. If there was more rubble, Salene would've felt like she went back in time to that day.
When ten-year-old Salene got swept away by a group of people and then abandoned by them. When Black Widow saved her life and pushed her into a cafe and left to kill more aliens. All the while her family was seconds away from being turned to ash by a chitauri bomb among relics.
Salene had to be shaken to be pulled back to the present. She looked to Kyril whose face was riddled with concern.
"Neither of us was prepared," he spoke as softly as he could on a New York street, "we can go if-"
"No, we need to find something nice for the twins and the dance, mom will strangle me if I don't come home with a dress," Salene sighed and looked around.
The two started walking. They stepped into some stores, looking around to see if anything stood out for either a dress or a good enough present for Alessandro. It was hard when Salene wanted the best for her siblings and nothing seemed good enough.
Kyril was the one to find the perfect dress for homecoming, the second Salene laid eyes on it she knew that it was the one. It was all white with a strapless semi-sweetheart neckline. From the looks of it on the hanger, it seemed to be a body-con with a flowy look at the bottom. Salene had a pair of shoes at home that would go perfectly with it. She was happy to find out that it fit and it wasn't even as expensive as it looked.
Though walking around Manhattan with a dress seemed like a hassle and Kyril didn't trust the people of New York enough to leave it in the back seat so they were stuck with window shopping with a dress. Eventually, Salene figured out her presents for the twins. After finding the vinyl record for Dina, she got empty cassettes and CDs for the recording station she has in her apartment with Alessandro. And for Alessandro, Salene noticed her brother always holding a cup of coffee and knew that he probably spent most of his money on coffee. She knew buying him a coffee maker would be the best move for the main part of her gift but she still wanted to get him some nice shirts that she saw in the stores they passed by.
It was almost six o'clock and Salene could not only hear her stomach, but she could also hear Kyrils as well. It was when they growled at the same time and the same volume that the siblings looked at each other, biting back laughs at the synchronized noises. They eventually stopped at a restaurant and let their parents know of the new dinner plans.
Salene couldn't remember how long it had been since the two of them hung out like this, he was either too busy with school and football or she was too busy with school and Lightbringer, on top of her painting and various school teams. Salene had until Christmas to finish her portfolio for her teacher to submit for the Art Exhibition that he recommended to her.
She had a few pieces ready but there were some outlines of hers in the classroom closet that she hasn't had the energy to finish. With her being essentially grounded now, she figures she could use her art to reflect on her actions and maybe get some clarity on her feelings about a few things that have been on her mind.
By the end of the night, she was so tired, she could barely lift her hands to acknowledge her parents when she and Kyril entered the living room from the diner door. Her mother had swarmed over, picking up the dress from Salene and gasping in awe.
"Oh Salene, aftó eínai ómorfo!" Her mother spoke, pulled her into a hug, and rubbed her back, "Look, méli, isn't it beautiful?" Isadora turned to Adrian sr. who sat on the couch, watching football, he glanced at the dress, looked to the TV but looked back at the dress again.
"You're wearing a scarf with that, right?" He asked and Salene smiled, kissing his head as she walked past to go to her room.
"Of course Papa, I have one that will go with it," she spoke and he nodded, looking back to the TV.
"I'm going to hang this up," Isadora announced, Salene used that time to go to her room and hide her siblings' presents in her closet, smiling at herself for getting that done today.
Salene heard a knock at the door, her ears pricking at the noise and she turned her head to see Alessandro peeking in, he came in full after a second and silently shut the door behind him, looking around at her room before walking over to her bed and sitting down. Salene would've been panicked if she hadn't just hidden his present due to her siblings doing things like that.
"What's up?" Salene asked as Alessandro continued to look around, he shrugged, looking back to her.
"Haven't seen you in a while and we don't text much, I wanted to catch up with you," Alessandro smiled, "I heard Stark fired you, wanted to check-in and see how you were doing."
Salene took in a deep breath and let it go after holding it for a second, she walked over to her desk next to the door and sat down at her chair, spinning around to face him.
"It's weird, having a bit more time on my hands, you know it was school, Tony, work and nothing else and at first it was fun, but then I became exhausted all the time, I got sloppy, he let me go before I hurt myself," Salene admitted, it wasn't lying, she just wasn't letting it all out, she couldn't tell if Alessandro noticed that or not, but she was going to allow him the chance to point anything out if he did.
"What about college, you gonna settle down anytime soon, or are you going to pull as many girls as you can with your Dance major pick-up line," Salene teased and he scoffed, playfully kicking her shoe with his.
"I don't see myself settling down while in college like Adrian and Ian, I think I'm gonna give it a few years, establish my career first before I think about that," Alessandro admitted, he couldn't meet Salenes eyes before, but towards the end, he did. Salene could see him scanning her face and her features, "blonde works for you."
Salene rolled her eyes with a smile, looking out her window, the lights of New York and her bedroom blocked out any stars from being visible from there, but she didn't mind. She looked back to Alessandro who pulled out his phone as it buzzed, he sucked in some air and stood up.
"Everything okay?" She asked, her brows furrowing in concern.
"Yeah, just a friend emergency, excuse me, we'll catch up more later, want to go to lunch this Saturday before you get ready for homecoming?" He asked.
Salene nodded as a smile grew on her face and he smiled back, walking out the door as he put his phone to his ear. She decided then to get ready for bed, her mind reflecting on how she had been acting towards Peter since that day on the roof, she finally decided then that she would speak to him and get her shit straight.
After all, how could she earn Tony's trust and her suit back if she can't even face Peter?
────── 〔ψ〕──────
oh my LAWD i'm tired of hoco PLEASE GIVE ME STRENGTH TO PUSH THROUGH PART ONE
anyways, I know this chapter seems very short compared to the previous one but remember that the last one was 7 thousand plus words and it took like, two months, no thank you
so with that being said, get ready for homecoming and here's a video from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" where you can get a visual on Salenes dress because i SUCK at describing dresses.
thank you for reading !!
-greta