and here i give you a short chapter so the next one can really mess you up
COMMENT AND VOTE, PLEASE!
"I THINK THAT WE SHOULD CANCEL THE WEDDING, and then me, you and El hop on the next plane to Thailand and have some fun," Bucky suggested, earning a brutal stare from Steve across the booth, and a small laugh from Elenora next to Steve. "I bet Ellie's down for it, aren't ya?"
Biting back a smile, Elenora admitted with a shrug, "I think Thailand would be gorgeous."
Narrowing his eyes at his daughter next to him, Steve threatened, "You agree with him anymore, I'm taking away your soda."
Elenora feigned a gasp and her hands clasped around the cold red cup. "Freedom of Speech, Dad!"
Bucky chided Steve as though he was a child, "You should know all about that, Captain."
Not wanting to give them the statsifaction, Steve hid his smile as he took a sip of cherry coke.
In hindsight, it seemed like a good idea to take Elenora and Bucky out to lunch for wedding planning - Bucky was always complaining that he was bored at home - and thought it was going smoothly while they all waited for their meals, Bucky quickly lost interest in anything not pertaining to a nap when they had cleared their plates. Elenora, for the fun of it, played along with him.
Sensing that Steve was a little frustrated, Elenora swallowed her sip of raspberry cream soda and pointed to the picture of the big church in the center of Manhattan. "How about this one?" she suggested, the flimsy print crinkling under her finger. Her dads had been fighting about a location for the ceremony for a while now, and it felt like they were getting nowhere.
Steve glanced up at Bucky, who shrugged, "I'm not thinking a church is the best way to go."
Steve countered, "I dunno where else we'd go."
"Why not a church?" Elenora asked, and Bucky sighed, but before he could speak, Elenora was adding, "There are plenty of churches that would do your service, dad."
"You said you wanted traditional," Steve added, adjusting his arms to rest on the table as Bucky looked back at him. "Church is traditional."
"I haven't been there in ages," Bucky excused, running his hand through his hair. Elenora hadn't seen him do that in a while- she thought he'd lost that tell. But as he sat in front of her, clearly nervous, Elenora could tell that was not the case. Elenora's eyes were trained on her dad, and she hadn't even noticed; Bucky looked up and met her eyes, and Elenora quickly looked away. "We have something else to talk about first, anyway."
Steve shifted. "What's up?"
Then Bucky said two words: "The papers."
Knowingly, Steve repeated, "The papers."
Cocking her head to the side, Elenora asked, "The papers?"
Steve's stare diverted, but Bucky turned to look at Elenora, eye to eye. Steve and Bucky had this talk previously, and they weren't quite sure what to do; legally, Steve didn't have to sign anything to claim himself as a parent because of the blood test, but Bucky's case was different. More complex. More...awkward.
"Adoption papers," Bucky elaborated, but when he realized what he said wasn't enough, he coughed nervously. After clearing his throat, Bucky added, "Your dad didn't need adoption papers to gain custody of you, but uh, unless I sign them, I'm only legally your step-father."
Elenora said nothing. She didn't even blink.
Clearly, this was unsettling Bucky, who was starting to ramble, "And it's perfectly fine, ya know if you want me to be your stepfather-"
"I don't want that, " Elenora stated plainly, her hands clasped in her lap.
Steve positioned himself to have a better look at Elenora as he asked, "What do you want, Doll?"
Blue eyes met blue eyes; though they looked similar, Elenora's blue eyes weren't from Bucky. But in her mind, and Steve's, they might as well have been. "Dad's my dad. That's what I want."
Bucky and Steve met stares, an incomprehensible exchange between them.
Elenora pretended not to notice and asked simply, "Can I have a fry?"
His eyes flickering down to his plate, Bucky nodded, saying, "Sure thing, Doll," and placing a handful on her plate. He realized what she was doing - ignoring the conversation - and he understood why she did it. Elenora and Bucky had this sort of unspoken agreement that they made everything as easy for each other as possible. It was easy for Bucky if Elenora brushed off the conversation. It helped him realize that there was no doubt she wanted him as her dad. Legal dad.
Reaching over, he asked, "Mind if I take your tomato?"
Pushing the plate with the abandoned tomato towards her dad, Elenora exclaimed, "Oh gosh, take it. I can't stand them on my burgers."
***
Patrol was on for Elenora that night, but because of Steve and Bucky's meetings, she arrived much earlier than Peter did. Elenora knew she could find something to entertain her for a few hours.
However, that was unexpectedly harder than Elenora had first imagined.
Besides Tony, it seemed like every Avenger was stuck in a conference room being lectured, briefed or taught, and afraid she'd stumble into a meeting, Elenora took her chances and stuck in the lab with Tony. She hung out for a while and pretended to work on something, and Tony, having gotten used to Peter doing the same thing, said nothing. That was good for about an hour until he had to leave, too.
Then Elenora was alone again and gave in to her instinct to roam around the towers. She wasn't sure why she assumed that'd be a good idea, but Elenora seemed to have no problem walking around for an hour or two.
Well, that was the original plan.
About twenty minutes into her walk, Elenora walked into some drama.
Like, literally.
With her eyes trained on the ceiling-to-floor windows, Elenora hadn't even noticed the fuming twins around the corner. Before she'd even realized anyone was there, Elenora went face first into Pietro's back, tumbling to the floor.
Pulling away from his hushed conversation, Pietro turned to see Elenora on the ground. From over his shoulder, Wanda watched Pietro help Elenora to her feet, but the tension between them did not fade as Elenora straightened up.
"Sorry guys," she apologized immediately, brushing off Pietro's hand on her shoulder and she added, "I wasn't eavesdropping. I didn't even know anyone-"
"Relax, El," Wanda soothed, playing a smile on her lips to comfort the girl. "We know."
"Do we?" Pietro quipped, one side of his lip twitching up into a smirk. "I think we have a little spy on our hands." At first, Elenora stared at him with big, doe eyes, ready to protest, but when she saw the smirk, she rolled her eyes.
"What are you up to?" Wanda asked, stepping forward to Elenora, trying to make it seem as though nothing was wrong. The last thing Wanda wanted was Steve finding out about this whole mess than trying to get involved. As she looked at her brother's height from the back, Wanda was quick to realize that no one was going to talk Pietro out of this.
And to think, Wanda didn't even know the girl.
Elenora, blatantly ignoring the mess in front of her, shrugged, "Just trying to find something to do before a patrol with Peter."
"And how is that going?" Wanda questioned, a knowing smirk on her face. Both Elenora and Pietro picked up on it. Before Elenora could speak, Pietro was.
"Is there anything going on with him?" he inquired, and Elenora rolled her eyes.
She retorted, "What's it to ya, lover boy?"
Tensing, Wanda really though Pietro might lose it with her. It had been an ongoing fight between the twins of them for what seemed like months, and no one, except for Stark, knew. Now here Elenora was making a joke about something she wasn't supposed to know.
Instead of reacting aggressively, Pietro titled his head, playing, "So we do have an eavesdropper."
Elenora shrugged, "I'm well informed."
"Then you should know it's none of your concern," Pietro chimed.
Not wanting to push anymore, Elenora just shrugged again and looked away. She really wanted to keep the conversation going, press a little more and maybe get some answers, but Elenora could practically see his patience running thin. "Are you guys gonna spar?"
"I think it's a little dangerous at the moment," Pietro admitted. "Wanda would likely kill me."
"I'd love to spar with you," Wanda told Elenora, walking past her brother, and placing her hand on Elenora's shoulder, turning her away from Pietro.
Elenora was glad that she got away from that before it turned into- well, whatever that would turn into.
***
"So I was the only one who beat you?" Wanda reviewed as she crossed her legs under her on the gym mat.
Elenora nodded, pressing the palms of her hands to the floor before she folded her legs under her. "It came close with the others, but you are the one that beat me."
Wanda didn't apologize, and that was something Elenora was eternally grateful for. There was no pity or sorrow necessary- Wanda did what she was supposed to. Elenora underestimated her.
"Well, you must've done well otherwise," Wanda spectated, motioning to the bag Elenora had her suit hidden in. "You're on patrol with Peter, now."
Forcing a smile, Elenora agreed. "Yeah, I think I ended up okay." Wanda smiled at the girl and tried not to think about what the Stark Towers had been like without her and Peter. It used to be tension-filled, angry people with grudges and differing opinions, but when they saw the youth they'd been working to protect, it simmered down. There's not as much fighting anymore.
Elenora broke of Wanda's thoughts when she started speaking again; "I don't mean to be nosy or annoying," Elenora cautioned, warning Wanda that the conversation would be about Pietro, "but what's up with Pietro? Is he okay?"
Sighing, Wanda looked at the ceiling of the gym, struggling to find a good way to put her next message. How do you tell someone that your brother is not okay? That he's about to leave his family for some girl who you've never met?
You can't.
"He's thinking about doing a bad thing," Wanda caved, deciding to give Elenora the abbreviated version. From the look on her face, Elenora knew it. "And he won't listen to anyone."
As Elenora retied her shoe, she said calmly, "Maybe what we call bad isn't actually." When there was silence in response, Elenora met Wanda's eyes and ended with, "People who love others tend to have biased views. So by nature, none of us can really make decisions for 'Etro."
Ignoring the scrutinizing stare she was getting from Wanda, Elenora hopped to her feet, claiming, "I'm gonna do a few laps."
***
As she stood at the top of Carlos' Candy Shop, Elenora wished that she had a sixth sense. She was wishing that she had some ability to know when something bad was going to happen because even with Peter beside her and this extremely protective suit, every time Elenora spotted a crime, she felt small again. Scared. Everything caught her off guard, and it was starting to get annoying.
She and Peter ran the length of the roof before checking the next alleyway. At the sight of nothing, Elenora's chest heaved up and down- she had forgotten to breathe.
"Are you feeling alright?" Peter asked the third time he heard Elenora's breath come out in a gasp. He thought back to what Aunt May had been asking him, about Elenora acting weird, and he started to wonder if she may have been right. But when Peter thought about May being right about what he should tell El, he was glad he had the mask on to hide his blush.
Elenora swallowed, and Peter tried not to notice. Lately, he had been noticing everything about Elenora. He was borderline creepy at this point. "I'm fine, Pete," she said, but it didn't sound like a promise. Usually, Elenora promised.
Continuing to walk to the ledge, Elenora hurried in front of Peter, who spun around and tried to catch up, talking more. "If you're not, we can take a break!" he told her, at her side in seconds. "We could get ice cream or-"
"I don't want ice cream," Elenora muttered, peering over the edge of the building, and she felt her stomach drop again. There was a little kid with a hand over her mouth, struggling against someone's hold. "Let's go!"
Peter tried to block out all worries about his crush as he swung the two of them down, the force of both their legs overlapping and kicking the offender. The kid tumbled out of the person's arms, hitting the pavement with a cry. As Elenora wrapped her legs around them, offender, blocking the punches hits, Peter ran over to the little girl, kneeling beside her.
"Are you okay?" he questioned, his eyes darting to her knee, which looked badly scraped up. Her whole leg, in fact, had red lines running down, all different lengths but the same deep crimson.
She was bleeding. A lot.
Elenora hadn't even turned to check on Peter yet- her focus was all on whatever creep of a man - or woman - was trying to kidnap a child. Her punches were not pulled and her force wasn't mild; everything Elenora felt she had at that moment was full effort on the attacker, and it only took about thirty seconds until he was groaning on the ground, barely able to move. Finally able to see his face, Elenora had to resist the urge to punch him again at just the sight on his cheekbones. They were aggravating. But Elenora had to do a double take, knowing something here was off. Quickly, she reassessed his appearance; young, twenties, blonde hair and-
Jacob Whittaker.
Yeah, it was that Jacob. The one in her memory. Her chose-not-to-be brother.
Elenors refrained from swearing- she almost cussed in front of Steve the other day, she was trying to get out of the habit - but didn't bother holding back the distaste in her expression. It wasn't like he could see it anyway- with the mask and all.
"We have a situation over here!" Peter called from his place kneeled down by the little girl, watching Elenora stand over the offender, motionless.
Head whipping back, Elenora observed the little girl's state, and instructed Peter, "Web him up."
Cautiously, Peter rose from his position, slipping his hand out of the little girl's hand as he walked over, brushing Elenora's shoulder as she turned away from Jacob, heading over to the little girl.
Elenora was in the middle of asking how the little girl what happened when Peter realized.
(He had to try not to swear either.)
"You have been a very bad citizen!" he announced, and Elenora could here his web shooters working. "Good citizens do not kidnap little kids!"
In response, Peter got, "Oh eff off."
"Good citizens do not hurt little girls!" he continued, shooting another restraint every time he made a statement. "Good citizens do not give them bloody knees!"And as everything was going fine, Peter's mental barricade from patrol to real life broke, and he said some things he'd been thinking for a while; "They know that kidnapping is a felony! They do not hate on their foster sisters, and they most certainly do not hate on little girls just because of the mutations they were born with and make them fear for their lives from their stupid foster dads and have sadness in their hearts for longer than they want to say!"
Simitainously, Elenora and Peter understood the consequences of what Peter had done; Jacob twisted, trying to get a better look at Peter, who was turning to Elenora and scratching his head - what should he do? Elenora had no clue. "What the hell are you talking about?"
Elenora spoke up; "Tell Karen to make the tip," she instructed, desperately trying not to hear Jacob's "holy shit". "We leave him here."
Doing as he was told, Peter called in the tip, following Elenora and the little girl to the entrance of the alleyway, all three of them flinching at every swear, every name, and every "Elenora" shouted out.
The little girl's brown eyes stared up from between Peter and Elenora. Her lip was quivering.
Elenora tried not to think about how much she looked like Peter.
"Can I meet you at May's?" Elenora whispered, and Peter cocked his head in question. "I think I need a break."
Peter nodded, breaking his eyes off of Elenora then leaning down to the girl. "C'mon, let's get those knees fixed up, yeah?"
Tears were in her eyes, but she nodded her head.
As Peter held the five-year-old to his side, using his web shooters to bring her to a hospital, Elenora knew that the little wasn't going to say anything. She'd remember this night for the rest of her life, make no mistake - superheroes had rescued her? she had a Spider-Man lunchbox - but she wouldn't utter a word about the name she heard. Because on some level, that little girl knew El was like her. She wouldn't get her in trouble- she was smarter than that.
Elenora wished that the girl had someone out there that was looking out for her. Or even looking for her.
***
The fire escape outside of Peter's apartment wasn't comfortable, but Elenora wasn't sure there was a place in the world that could make her comfortable then.
Not only did she have to face Jacob, she basically beat the life out of him, something that her fathers- and the police - would not have approved. And to top it off, he knew it was her.
And he could probably guess Peter was Spider-Man.
"Her name was Ava," Peter said, his feet landing softly on the stair next to Elenora. His mask pulled away as he spoke, and Elenora and he sat next to each other, faces defenseless. "I told the nurse what happened, and the said they'd call Social Services."
That should have made Elenora feel better. Why wasn't it making her feel better? Elenora's arms hugged her some more.
Thinking she was cold, Peter offered, "We could go inside if you want?"
"I'm good," Elenora said, settling her knees against her chest.
"Do you want a snack? I can get you a snack?"
Elenora shook her head.
"I'm sorry El. That I said those things. I didn't mean it. I mean, I meant it, but I didn't mean to say it." Silence. "I'm gonna call Mr.Stark. Have him clear it up."
"Thanks, Pete," was all she could say. She wanted to say, "Thanks, Pete. It meant the world to me. You mean the world to me. You should kiss me." But he had Jade. He didn't want her.
But God, did he want her- he wanted to hug her and promise that everything was gonna be fine and Jacob wasn't going to get her and tell her she could stay at his home for the rest of patrol time and joke and play games like they used to before. Now it felt like there was some weird division between them.
He didn't. He couldn't.
Elenora stood up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm gonna head home," she said, and Peter stood up with her.
"I'll walk you."
Elenora shook her head."I'll go by myself," she told him, hating herself for adding, "You have better things to be doing."
Peter barely got out a "what?" before Elenora was pushing her self off the railing onto the other flight of stairs, before sprinting off into the night.
Yeah, Elenoria felt defenseless leaving without Peter- but Peter felt defenseless when she ran from him.
If someone was to record a timeline of Elenora's lifetime, there'd be a quick discovery that big things in the girl's life often came in bundles. She never had an evenly spaced out series of events, no- all occurrences would overlap, only spread out by days or hours. When Elenora looked back on this night, she wasn't shocked that a bunch of things happened and that the worst thing wasn't the appearance of Jacob Whittaker.
Elenora didn't expect to feel immediately safe when she arrived at her home, but it was surprising when she opened the door to an empty house, and slightly unsettling. Swallowing hard, Elenora quickly closed and locked the door behind her, tossing her bag with her suit (she'd changed at a McDonalds because no one cares what happens at a McDonalds) into the closet, Elenora's eyes snapped over to the sound of a creak down the hallway to her bedroom. The lights were off a ritual of Steve who hated that Bucky always left them on, and the darkness made the whole situation even eerier. From her place by the door, Elenora could see the hazy red glow from Bucky and Steve's alarm clock- their door was open.
But that meant nothing, not really. Yes, Elenora knew that Bucky had this thing about always shutting the door of a room he walked out of (he said it was a reflex, and he didn't care to change) but there were plenty of reasons why it could be open; Steve was the last one out, Bucky hadn't seen it before he left, etc.
If Elenora had been a little more observant, or if the hallway light bulb was a little lighter, maybe she would have noticed how her door, too, was creaked open.
Like Bucky, Elenora always left her door shut.
However, Elenora did not see any of this, so though her instincts screamed at her, Elenora pushed it out her mind, and shed her self of defenses, walking over to the fridge for something to eat before she noticed the blinking light on the home phone.
Bucky and Steve almost never got messages, and Elenora was feeling a little curious.
And it was a good thing she did, otherwise, the rest of the night could have gone much differently and been much, much scarier.
The pad of Elenora's finger pressed the button to reveal the phone number, and though she couldn't quite place her finger on it, Elenora recognized it. When she pressed play on the phone base, Elenora quickly realized why she knew that number. This realization hit her so hard, in fact,
"This is Charles from Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. I am calling in reaction to an attack made on the Institute. Mr.Rogers and Mr.Barnes, Elenora is at great risk right now, and you need to make sure she is safe and well put. I will contact with more details soon. Please stay safe, Elenora."
Stay safe, Elenora.
Stay safe.
This time, Elenora didn't ignore the creak in the floorboards- no, she was too frozen to have moved. It wasn't her, and she was sure of it.
The tingling in Elenora's fingers was buzzing in energy; she could feel her heart beating faster and faster and the adrenaline racing towards her. One arm stayed at her side as the other slammed against the light switch by the phone, hearing it shatter under her hand as the lights switched on.
For the second time that night, Elenora wished she had a sixth sense. Maybe if she did, she would have to know someone else was in the house. If she did, maybe Elenora would have confronted the intruder calmly, stoically, and without the adrenaline and fear rushing through her veins like never before.
Because unlike the last time she faced danger with this intruder, Elenora wasn't going to accept her doom.
Elenora didn't even have to call out, she didn't have to yell "I know you're there!" or "show yourself!", no, because the second the lights were on, Elenora knew who she was dealing with. If the ripped jeans, black sweater, and old converse didn't give it away, the nearly shaking voice did;
"I swear on my life I didn't do it."