ya'll thought i was gonna nearly kill elenora w/o beatrice??? think again !!!
also, i promised someone a scene in here so comment so I can find u
Comment & vote please!!!
ELENORA BLINKED.
There was a lot of light, so she blinked again.
The searing pain was gone, she realized, and when she looked down to where the gunshot wound should be, all Elenora saw was perfectly fine skin.
She blinked again, and it stayed that way, and that's when she knew she was dying.
If not already dead.
She didn't know what she expected, really - if you get shot in the heart, that's kinda what happens. Sure, some people live and Elenora's chances should be higher than most, but she thought that maybe it was okay. Dying and all.
It's not like she could do anything about it, anyway.
There was a lot of light.
Elenora wondered what her dads would think. All those times she'd imagine them being pissed about her getting hurt came to mind, but she knew this was different. They wouldn't be mad, no, but they'd be devastated.
Elenora hoped they weren't watching her dying. That would really suck.
It'd be really tragic, honestly, and if they had to be watching, she hoped, in the least, that they ensure Bridgit and Connor weren't. So no one else could see her give up like that.
There was a lot of light. It was starting to fade away.
The first thing Elenora saw was wooden flooring. The dark kind, like cherry wood. The kind that Elenora always loved but never really understood how she'd come to love it without ever really seeing it. It was like it was embedded in her memory.
"Elenora?"
Her heart skipped a beat, or it felt like it did. Because if she was dead, her heart wouldn't be beating.
If Elenora wasn't already dead, anyway, she was pretty sure the sight of a woman in front of her was going cause her cardiac arrest.
Curly black hair and blue eyes and a green floral dress and Elenora thought she was going to cry.
"I-I-" she started, choking on her own words because if Elenora was seeing Beatrice, she was dead. She was so dead, and her dads were going to be so-
"Elenora."
"I'm dead," she concluded, taking a step back in whatever hell she was in. Tears were welling in her eyes, a sob choking her. She'd never see her dads again. Or Connor or Bridgit or Peter. "I'm so dead, oh my go-"
Beatrice smiled, but it was a sad smile. One of those oh-honey kinda smiles.
"You're not dead, Elenora," she told the girl gently, something about her calming down Elenora immensely. She could feel herself catch her breath as Beatrice said, "You're alive. Just lost."
Elenora swallowed but said nothing because what the hell was she supposed to say? She was dead, and her (dead) mom could tell her otherwise, but Elenora knew the truth.
So instead of arguing, she looked around.
She was in the mansion. Charles' mansion. In Beatrice's room. The same beautiful view of the lake and brush and perfumes on the dresser.
And the same woman from all the pictures.
Elenora didn't have any shoes; Beatrice didn't, either.
"Mom," Elenora tested, and Beatrice barely reacted. She just smiled some more, but again that sorta sad smile. "I think - I think you should know that," Elenora paused, pulling in a deep breath. "That Charles misses you."
Beatrice rolled her eyes. "I know that, darling. I hear it all the time."
Elenora knew that this is what the brain does when you die. It releases chemicals to make you feel happy before your heart gives out because there's too much damage to rewind. And honestly, she didn't care.
If she could see even a fake version of her mom, she wanted it.
"I live with Dad, now," she said, feeling the need to fill fake Beatrice in on everything because what else was she supposed to do? "I visit Uncle Charles but I live with dad."
"I know, Ellie. I see it."
Elenora knew it was a figment of her imagination because when people die, they die and they don't come back to see things. They just die.
"You're beautiful, darling," the woman told the young girl. "Strong, too. You're not dead, Love. I promise."
"I got shot," she told Beatrice as if the woman wasn't a figment of her imagination who knew everything she did.
"I know, baby. But you're strong. You'll survive."
Elenora went to tell her mom that she wasn't too sure about surviving because a shot to the heart is a legitimate shot to the heart, but there was this strange sensation pulling her away from thinking.
She blinked for a few seconds, but that only made her feel farther away.
Afraid of being alone in whatever came after this, Elenora focused on her mom.
"I think I'm scared," she admitted because there was no reason to be ashamed if she was dying. Plus, this was her imagination, she had the right to do what she wanted.
"You have the right to be, Ellie," Beatrice consoled her, taking a step forward. "You're hurt. And tired. I-I can feel it."
"Feel it?"
"I feel a lot of things, Ellie," Beatrice told her, a sad smile on her lips. "I feel your hurt now. I felt your fear earlier when that man held the gun to you."
Beatrice was all in her head, and this was her subconscious making her happy as her body gave out on her, but Elenora couldn't stop listening to her mom's voice.
"I felt the terror when you were cornered in the alleyway," she told the young girl, reaching for her hand in the process.
Elenora knew it was all fake, but her mom's hand was so soft and she felt so happy.
"I felt your overwhelmed waves when you saw your uncle. And the butterflies during your first kiss."
Elenora blushed because my goodness, imaginary Beatrice knew all about her and Peter.
(Well of course she did - she lived in Elenora's mind. She had access to everything because she wasn't real.)
A hand brushed back part of her hair, and Elenora met eyes with her mom once again. The young girl didn't know she missed the woman until then when her fingers brushed against her and Elenora didn't want to do anything that would make her leave.
"You're holding on. I can feel that, too."
Elenora was holding on. She focused on every detail of this dream because she didn't want to die and be alone again.
"Let go, Elenora."
"I don't want to be alone," Elenora cried, her lip quivering as she did. clutching on to her mom's hand even tightening. "I-I don't want you to leave. I love you, I think."
Beatrice pulled the girl against her, embracing her child in the only way she could: tightly, and as if she would never see her again.
Elenora stayed pressed against Beatrice, crying, feeling the world around her pulling her away.
Before she could go, Elenora was being told, "You won't be alone when you go. You'll be home and there will be many people who love you. And I will miss you, but I am not yours to stay with."
Not yours to stay with.
Stay.
And everything was turning white again.
***
Cold and lots of light.
Elenora wished she could go back to her mom, but that was a far off dream. Now she was dead or whatever, so she was going to have to deal with that.
A few blinks and Elenora could start to make out the room around her; like a large, metal lab.
Her hands pressed down. A hospital bed.
Was she in a morgue? What a terrible place to go to when you die.
Was she dead and coming back as a ghost in a morgue? Could she walk through walls? Was she in the same world as before, or was this like purgatory? Was her soul going to rip from her body if she sat up?
Millions of questions zoomed through Elenora's head, but she knew one thing and one thing only: if she was a ghost, she was totally haunting everybody she knew.
Elenora looked down, checking to make sure her body would move with her; it did. And this time, she had a giant gauze over her heart, right where she had -
Ouch. She could feel that. Definitely not a dream.
"Heart rate is picking up," a voice from a distance spoke, and Elenora guessed it was from a hallway or room attached to the one she was in. "I-I think she is awake. "
The first thing in Elenora's mind was that she didn't know where the hell she was. Whatever this was, it could be part of the group that shot her.
At this thought, Elenora rushed to get up because she had not gotten shot to end up
back here; but the second she moved, a loud scream of pain rushed through her lips as pain soared in her chest.
She collapsed against the bed, her breaths coming out in heaves.
There were footsteps approaching, Elenora was in too much pain to try and fight any mental block - there was no way she'd have control over her powers now.
"Elenora?"
That was not Marcellus. It was not Andrew, and she felt another pang to her heart when she realized that it wasn't her mom, either.
She didn't care if it was her imagination or not; Elenora screwed her eyes shut, trying to feel the white light and her mom because she did not say everything she wanted to Beatrice.
"Elenora."
Yeah, definitely not Beatrice.
"Ellie, Sweetheart, you don't have to pretend to be asleep."
She nearly shot up in bed - she would have, if Steve's hands weren't gentle against her shoulders, holding her back.
"Easy, kiddo," he comforted, but Elenora's eyes were back to farting around because where the hell was she? This wasn't the Towers' infirmary. "Relax, alright? You're gonna hurt yourself."
And then everything came rushing back; the running and screaming and the scared green eyes and BANG BANG-
"What's going on?" Elenora demanded, more to herself than her dad. "Where's Mom?"
Elenora knew her mom wasn't alive. She was certain but how the hell did she see her? That wasn't imagination, she was sure now. It felt just as real as this.
Steve was quiet. Bruce and McCoy had warned him about the state of Elenora and explained kindly that she might not be the way she was, but this was a lot harder.
"I'll go get Charles," Steve told her calmly, pulling away before Elenora grabbed his hand.
She shook her head harshly, her hair a mess around her. "Don't leave," she insisted, blue eyes wide and frantic because for the fifth time, she didn't know where she was.
Steve hesitates, but followed her words, cautiously taking a seat at the side of the bed.
Elenora blinked a little, and then looked down.
There was a needle in her veins that she just noticed, and looking at it made her feel it ten times more than before.
"Painkillers."
"You were in so much pain," Steve told her, with a nod to confirm his own statement. "Do you remember? Do you remember coming here?"
"Mom's dead," Elenora told him, meeting his eyes. She didn't really know if she said it to remind herself or convince Steve she wasn't crazy. "I haven't lost my memory, Dad, it's just -"
A voice cut in, laced with concern and fear and everything in between, "Elenora?"
"Uncle Charles," tumbled from her lips before Elenora was even aware she made the discovery consciously. Again, she was trying to st up in bed, but both Steve's hold and Charles' outstretched hands directed her to stay back.
"You're alright, Elenora," he promised her, barely sending a look to Steve as he held gazes with her.
He sat at the edge of the medical bed, staring at her sadly.
Elenora didn't let his expression get to her as she told him excitedly, "Uncle Charles, I saw mom-"
His eyebrows furrowed and his eyes widened as he demanded, "Who?"
Steve and Charles met eyes, but before Elenora could go on to explain, another voice was interrupting them.
"El," came out like a breath, and the young girl looked over to the door to see Bucky, rushing towards her, but stopping shy by just a few feet.
Elenora noticed his behavior because she did the same thing when he was in a hospital bed with a foot injury. Rolling her eyes, she teased, "I don't bite, Dad," earning a smirk and a shake of his head.
He didn't move any closer, though.
"You scared us," Bucky scolded lightly. "We thought you'd-"
"Connor is not going to replace me that easily," Elenora brushed off, making all the men pull a face.
Steve went to assure Elenora that was not going to happen, but her mind was already on a separate subject. "Where's Pietro?" she questioned, blood flushing to her head and groaning at the pressure.
Steve went to make sure she was alright as Bucky reassured her, "He's safe. He and Marley are here."
Elenora looked up, her head returning to normal. "Where's here?"
"The institute," Charles provided, and Elenora nodded along.
"How long have I been here?" Elenora questioned because that was what people on TV asked usually. She'd hate to have been out for a few days and not even know about it.
"Twelve hours," Steve answered with a small smile, and Elenora nodded, blinking a few times as she tried to gather her bearings.
Alive. Coma 12 hours. Everyone is OK.
Opening her mouth to ask another question, Elenora was almost immediately cut off by a loud and demanding voice.
"Professor Logan, I have every right to be in that room and so help me God-"
"Bridgit!" Elenora exclaimed, jumping up in bed; Steve let out a few choice words before holding his daughter down again. He had a feeling she wouldn't remember she was injured, and no matter how many times she hurt herself, it still wouldn't resignation with her.
Elenora turned to Charles and said with wide eyes, "Bridgit!"
Charles suppressed a laugh and sighed, instead, calling to Logan and Bridgit.
"Ellie!" Bridgit yelled as she sprinted in the room, passing Steve and Bucky and stopping shoulder to shoulder with Charles as she grinned down at her best friend. "I thought you were gonna die."
Logan let out a scoff and Charles managed a small laugh.
"It's good that you're not, though," Bridgit rambled on, shifting in her spot as she leaned forward on the bed. "Cooper and Connor are here, and I have so much to tell you about Ha-"
Charles placed his hand on the girl's shoulder, quieting her down. "And I'm sure Elenora is very eager," he promised, winking at his niece, "but I think we should let her focus on getting better right now." As he said this, Charles jutted his jaw towards the door where Bruce was standing with his doctor bag, Hank McCoy right behind him.
"For sure, Professor," Bridgit agreed, giving Elenora a fleeting smile before running out of the room again, huffing at Logan, "told you."
Logan rolled his eyes at the young girl, and before he turned to leave the room, said to Elenora, "Glad you're alright, Bub."
Elenora rolled her eyes. "Like I was going to die that easily."
Bucky rolled his eyes. "Quit joking about it. You got shot in the heart, El."
"But I'm okay now," Elenora told them as if they didn't see her talking. At "okay" both Bucky and Steve stared at the large gauze right over her heart. Elenora would have made a face if she noticed, but her eyes were trained to Bruce. "Hi, Uncle Bruce! I was super out of it last night, but did I need heart surgery?"
Bruce offered a small smile as he shook his head. "No, Elenora."
Elenora looked back to her dads with a wild grin. "Looks like we dodged a bullet, then."
"C'mon, El," Steve chided, his gaze falling to the bed because he certainly didn't find it funny.
"Dodged a bullet my ass," Bucky snorted. "Took it right to the heart."
"Uncle Charles thinks I'm funny," Elenora argued, looking to her argue for support.
He just shook his head.
"We should let Banner do his thing," Steve concluded, sharing a look with the rest of the men before looking at Elenora. "We'll see you later, okay?"
She nodded. "Sure thing, Pops."
Steve scoffed but pressed a kiss to her forehead none the less. Bucky gave her a little wave but didn't budge from his spot. Charles gave her hand a quick squeeze, and then they all left the room.
"Hey, Uncle B," Elenora greeted, leaning back in the bed as Bruce took a seat in a spinning stool that Elenora hadn't even seen before. "How's it going?"
Bruce stared at her, amused. "I should be asking you that," he said, pulling out his sethoscope. "May I?"
Elenora nodded but jolted at the feeling of cold metal against her chest.
"Sorry," he apolgized immediately, sending her a sheepish smile before pully away and pulling out a light pen. "Are you in pain?"
"Not that much," Elenora confessed, reminding herself not to shrug because that would hurt.
Bruce had a knowing expression. "That's because your dads insisted we give you a lot to ease the pain," Bruce admitted. "You gave them a big scare, Elenora."
"It's not my fault," she whined, following the path of his fingers.
"I know." Bruce rolled a little bit away from her, checking her stats on the monitor. "But they're not the only one you scared."
"Please, Uncle B, Connor and Bridgit will be fine."
"I wasn't talking about them."
"Uncle T will be glad about this. He can make me an arc reactor."
"First off," Bruce started, raising his eyebrows and he moved back to her, "if you didn't need surgery, I doubt you need an arc reactor. And I'm not talking about Tony, anyway."
"Okay, so Aunt-"
"Peter, Elenora."
That felt like a shot to her heart. Not actually, but a pang in the least. Elenora didn't even want to think about Peter and him telling her to GO HOME and yelling and -
"I'm good, thanks," Elenora rejected the conversation, looking back down at her arm to the needle. "Do I still need this?"
Bruce raised an eyebrow, quipping, "Would you like to feel a gunshot wound?"
Elenora deflated with a shaking of her head. "I'm good, thanks."
"Well, everything looks good," Bruce concluded, sending her another smile. "If you're feeling up to visitors, I'd say you're clear for that."
"Thanks, Doctor Bruce," Elenora teased because she sometimes forgot that it was his actual title.
"Should I send in anyone specific?" he question, but Elenora just told him that they'd find him.
Two minutes later, Connor, Bridgit, Cooper, and Harley were making an appearance, Steve following close behind them.
"Hey guys!" Elenora greeted, raising her hand before she felt a spark of pain; relaxing it again, Elenora let out a small cuss, and immediately she and Steve caught stares.
She could practically see him prepping to scold her, but Bridgit must've noticed too because she was suddenly speaking very quickly and very loudly.
"I told you guys she was okay," Bridgit defended, a matter-of-fact expression plastered on her face. "Now, everyone, say how much they are grateful that Elenora lived through this traumatic experience."
Connor looked down at the redhead. "Seriously, Bridgit?"
Cooper smiled and said, "Very glad to hear you're alright, Elenora."
"You're not taking my position as Captain that easily," Elenora teased, narrowing her eyebrows playfully and pulling a small chuckle from Cooper.
Connor looked between his sister and Cooper because she had better be on some strong medication.
"Wouldn't be fun if you didn't even put up a fight," Cooper countered, prompting to Elenora to roll her eyes.
Connor looked between the two again, and Bridgit gave him a harsh shove, forcing Cooper to reach to make sure he didn't fall.
Cooper didn't even have to look at Bridgit; his arms outstretched instantaneously, pulling Connor back to a stable position.
"Thank you, Mr.Righteous," Elenora shot back, her eyes lingering Connor. What the hell was wrong with him? "So," she brushed off, blinking her eyes and pulling a smile. "How are you enjoying your stay at the Institute?"
"Just as much as you're enjoying that," Bridgit quipped, motioning to the large bandage on Elenora chest.
"I think it's pretty cool," Cooper contradicted, with a shake of his head, and a smile coming back to his lips; in a fluid motion, his eyes wandered back to Connor. "But it might be because I had the best tour guide available."
Connor blushed beet red, but Bridgit just rolled her eyes, connecting gazes with Elenora. "If you can't tell, he doesn't mean me."
"Can you blame him?" Elenora questioned, cocking her head. "Connor knows all the secret passages."
Bridgit narrowed her eyes at Connor, pure, unfiltered rage in them as she demanded, "What secret passages?"
Harley furrowed his eyebrows, looking from the redhead to Elenora before widening his eyes. That should be fun.
"Alright, alright before you kill him," Elenora joked, trying to mask her fear for Connor's well being because Bridgit could kill him, "I need my loving informants to tell me what the actual hell is going on."
Now that shut everyone up; for the first time, the entire room of teenagers fell silent, and as Elenora would notice, no one would make eye contact.
"Hello?" Elenora called, her eyes darting around the room, trying to corner at least one person into looking at her. "Did my ears suddenly give out on me?"
Harley was the first to break the silence; he looked around at the others, cautiously avoiding Elenora's eyes. When he realized no one was going to speak, he looked back to Elenora. "Your dad said it was best to not stress you out."
Gaining confidence from Harley's uncharacteristic help, Connor nodded along. "Steve said that you might feel more stressed or it might trigger-"
"My dad says a lot of things," Elenora excused, shaking her head to avoid pulling a face of annoyance. She expected her dad to do something like this but that didn't mean she appreciated it one bit. "But you guys are supposed to be my friends."
"And we are," Cooper agreed. "This is our way of taking care of you."
Desperately, Elenora met eyes with Bridgit, who just shook her head.
"Alright," Elenora said, her tone changing so much that Harley glanced down at Bridgit in confusion. Connor and Cooper did the same thing. "So much for a team mentality. But fine, we're playing this way."
Connor interrupted, "Elenora-"
He didn't finish his thought before Elenora butted back in. "If none say anything, I will tell all the adults about our wicked good game of Truth or Dare."
Bridgit narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't dare."
"Try me," Elenora pressed, her eyes mimicking her friend's. "I will tell them what you did to Ava Lexington." After she received a fully disgusted looked from the redhead, Elenora turned to Cooper. "I will tell Clint that you're what really ruined the Christmas of oh-five."
"I was never involved in that game," Harley defended, a smug smirk coming to his lips when he thought that Elenora had nothing on him.
"Do you think Tony would like to know exactly what happened to the AI system in all the odd-numbered labs?"
"I hate you."
"That's the goal, Harry."
"Don't call me that," Harley told her, eyes squinting together in a way that made Bridgit have to hold back a laugh. The brunette wasn't too thrilled at the redhead's reaction.
Satisfied with her self, Elenora looked back at her rag-tag group of informants, a smug grin on her lips. "So, which of you are spilling first?"
***
So all it took was a couple of threats, and Elenora was back in the loop.
Marcellus and Andrew, the two who had kidnapped her, were a part of this organization that had been agaisnt the freedom of Mutants for a long time. They really had no problem with superheroes, buy they belived that Mutants were risky and dangeorus and not good for society.
Which was ironic, honestly, because Marcellus was a mutant.
Well, anyway, as Elenora learned, this group had launched an attack on the X-Men a few years back and did some hardcore digging into the Institute, but the X-Men had nothing but a few bruises and the students were left alone.
But then came Ghost X, who fit the perfect description of a mutant from a certain member of the organization.
"H-his name was Jacob?" Elenora stuttered, feeling her stomach sink and her heart pang and her head to grow very, very hot. "Jacob what?"
Bridgit stared at her friend skeptically, unsure of why she was acting so weird about such a regular name. "Jacob Whittacker? I think, anyway, it's probably unimportant. It's probably just some guy from a patrol that you and Peter-"
Peter.
Another pang.
Elenora thought shews gonna cry and she wasn't even sure why; she had asked her friend to do this, and she should have the guts, like they did, to sit it out and hear all the information no matter how much it hurt.
But someone must've known how much it was hurting or what she was thinking. Charles picked that moment, while Elenora felt her heart racing faster and faster, to walk in.
She didn't even notice him, at first; her eyes were too focused on picking an object to settle her breathing.
But when his voice cute through the air, suggesting, "I was hoping to speak to Elenora. Would you mind heading to lunch now? I heard it's your favorite, Birdigt."
Elenora's head shot up and she did her best to swallow her panic because wow, Jacob Jacob Jacob, but in what felt like a split second, it was just her and Charles, and she didn't think she needed to hide it anymore.
"Are you alright, Elenora?" Charles asked, approaching the young girl who's expression was getting closer and closer to a sobbing one, and instead of nodding, Elenora shook her head.
Charles didn't smother her, he just sighed. "We hoped that the lot of them wouldn't say much," he told her with a shake of his head, stopping right by the bed she was in. "We didn't want to worry about you, yet."
"They're after them now, aren't they?" Elenora demanded, her blue eyes meeting Charles with panic in them. "They've gone after them?"
"Yes, most of the Avengers have," he told her, keeping his voice leveled in a manner that told Elenora he was nervous about saying anything to her. "The last I've checked, they've been doing shifts with a few of the professors here, and currently, Bruce is still here."
"Have they found anything?"
"A few leads, but nothing's for certain."
Elenora nodded. She didn't know what to say. As much as she tried to forget about it and push it away, her past never really left her, and Jacob, who had been her brother for what felt like years, had done something terrible. Something unforgivable. Elenora knew he wanted to hurt her, but this felt more intense.
Jacob couldn't have cared if she died or not, and Elenora knew that much.
And she wasn't sure why that hurt so much.
"You should sleep, now, "Charles told her sadly. "That's a lot of stress and you-"
"I'm not dead. I'm not going to die, Uncle Charles. I'm fine." Elenora's tone was firm. Assertive. Certain. Like she didn't even think she could die anymore, not after coming back from that.
Needless to say, that scared Charles. His niece was a human and she could die, and she didn't seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.
Especially when she woke up claiming she saw her dead mother.
But now was not the time to talk about it. Now was not the time to reopen a wound about a dead mother.
Now was the time to let Elenora rest. Let her forget about everything and recover.
***
It too likes three hours after they got back, but Elenora finally convinced her dads to let her get out of bed. Elenora need to walk, to move. She was so sick of staying sedentary, even if it had only been fore like 10 conscious hours.
"I just want to walk, guys. It's not like I can die from that."
"Not funny, Elenora."
That seemed to be Steve's response to almost everything now, and like every other time, Elenora rolled her eyes.
Bridgit was the first to spot Elenora and her dads walking in the hallway, or at least, she was the first to make it known.
"Ellie!" she shouted, racing from the doors of the cafeteria to the three of them. All the sounds of chatter stopped when the door slammed closed behind her, the two of them grinned simulatinously. "Where are you going?"
"I got sick of the hospital aura," Elenora excused with a roll of her eyes. "I needed to get some air."
"Loving the bodyguards," Bridgit played, and Elenora rolled her eyes. Looking up at Bucky and Steve. "Just kidding guys."
"I think I should stay up here," Elenore speculated, looking around the foyer of the school. "I kinda miss our dorm."
"You totally should!" Bridgit agreed an even wider grin on her face. Elenora nodded, but Bridgit was already looking to her dads. "Her bed is still set up and everything. Can she, please?"
Steve and Bucky exchanged a look.
"We want to make sure that she stays safe, Bridgit," Steve told her. "The best thing right now is to make sure her heart rate stays down."
"Actually," Bridgit started in that way that tells Elenora she had a plan of attack. A grin is back and growing on her face as she urges her best friend to go on. "Many studies have shown that a home environment proves much more effective for recovering patients."
"I've read that too!" Elenora agreed with a devious expression on her face. "And this is practically my home away from home."
Bridgit squinted, and leaned to her friend as she said, "I thought the Towers was your home away from home."
"Can you just stay focused?"
Bucky and Steve exchanged a look as the young girls pulled away, both offering them very wide smiles.
"So what do you think?" Elenora prompted.
"Do you want Elenora to get better in a comfortable setting?" Bridgit suggested a small, sad smile on her lips.
Elenora stopped herself from looking to her best friend because wow, was that good.
Bucky and Steve found themselves cornered. "We'll talk to Bruce," Steve said, but Elenora took that as a yes, and soon, she and Bridgit were off to a dorm room, passing right by the elevator that reminded Elenora of a certain someone and the haunting reminding of death.
Hallucination, she told herself and walked by it with her head held high.
Just a hallucination.
***
Bruce must have okayed the idea because Bucky and Steve didn't bring up any arguments when Elenora set up for bed in there. Her dads had told her to expect a few more days there, just until they could fix everything and go home.
But Elenore kinda liked this. Everyone being at the Insitute.
Sure, not everyone was always there as the Avengers were still out looking for Andrew, Marcellus, and Jacob, but was still nice.
And pretty adorable when the younger students would approach tall, broadening superheroes and tug on their hands, asking, "Are you really Hawkeye?"
Harley was sharing a dorm with Cooper because Connor's room was upstairs and only had one bed. Also, Charles arranged rooms, so it was extremely unlikely that Connor was going to get paired with the one guy he couldn't stop making heart eyes at.
Peter, as far as Elenora knew, was on patrol and sleeping at home. he wasn't nearly as tied in this as the rest were, and he wasn't a target and neither was his home. So Elenora guessed that he was going from patrol home.
Which was good. Because she did not want to see him.
"I'm gonna go make sure the boys aren't killing each other," Bridgit announced as she looked up from her phone.
Elenora rolled her eyes, looking up from her own screen. "Sure you're not going to make out with Harley?"
Bridgit had to physically restrain from throwing something at Elenora as she slipped out the door, calling, "Hate you, Rogers!"
"Sure thing, Landon!" she called back, practically seeing the smile of the girl.
Elenora checked the time. 9:15. Sure, she had spent the last day in a coma, but Elenora was tired. Heaving herself from the bed, Elenora made herself to the bathroom attached to the dorm, cautiously, trying not to strain herself.
Her toothbrush was right by the sink, along with her toothpaste. Bucky and Steve must have brought it for her when they got some the go-bags from home. It was the second time Elenora and Connor had to use it, and it was scary to see them back out from the closet.
But if there was a time to use it, this was it; Elenora did not need her dads messing around in her drawers trying to find clothes.
Her go-bag had a blue toothbrush rather than a purple one. It was also sparkly because it was that one or an Iron-Man toothbrush, and the last thing Elenora wanted to do was explain that to Tony while they were hiding in Ethiopia or something.
Elenora was tired, in pain, and just trying to get to bed.
She didn't need to be scared half to death by the one boy she did not want to see right then, but when Elenora checked her reflection in the smudged mirror, she wasn't alone.
So much for avoiding excitement.
Elenora spun on her heel in a split second, ignoring the aching in her chest as she jumped forward on to the figure, and twirling the toothbrush in between her fingers expertly.
In one swift kick, Elenora had the intruder on the ground and was shoving the toothbrush against the pale throat, harder and harder until the face unblurred and registered with Elenora.
"Parker?" she demanded, wheezing as she threw herself off of him. She tried to catch her breath and calm the activity of her heart, but there was only so much so could do as she stared at the boy coughing on her bedroom floor.
Peter didn't know what response he expected, but Elenora trying to murder him with a toothbrush was, in his mind, a little bit of an extreme reaction.
"Why the hell would you do that?" she said, her voice breathless and she yawned a few times, trying to make sure she'd leveled her heartbeat.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay!" Peter said in a whisper-yell, lowering her voice so he didn't overexcite the girl again.
Elenora narrowed her eyes, drawing one last breath before climbing on to her bed. "There were a million ways to get that information without coming to me."
Peter watched helplessly as she folded her legs under her, grabbing a pillow, and pulling a pouting, angry expression.
"I'm sorry. I-I really didn't mean to scare you."
"Well you did."
There was silence, and neither really wanted to speak. Peter was just hoping that Elenora would see that he was right about Andrew and forgive him; that was the rational thing to do!
But Elenora wasn't rational. So she didn't do that.
Peter grasped for the right thing to say; he settled for, "How do you feel?"
Elenora glared at him with her dark blue eyes. "Pissed."
"B-because of me?"
Elenora didn't respond, but this time at least she looked away. It was a bit of an answer for Peter.
"But I was right Elenora. I told you to go because he could have hurt you."
"You didn't tell me, Peter. You yelled at me."
Peter Parker blinked multiple times because what the hell did that even matter? It meant the same thing! If anything, yelling showed more concern! She should feel even more loved!
"You're mad because I yelled!"
"It was rude, Parker!"
"He shot you, Elenora!"
"You could have said it calmly or explained the situation like a respectable-"
"How was I supposed to explain that? Really? I tried to tell you-"
"Like I was going to think something was wrong. He's May's boyfriend, you were bound to hate him-"
"I seriously cannot believe this! I could have saved your life by doing that!"
"Please. Andrew's respectable. He had to meet me before he tried to kill me-"
"Oh, so the guy that shot you was respectable but not the one who-"
"I swear if you say you saved my life again, I'm gonna-"
"I'm not saying that I did, I'm just saying there could have been-"
The slamming open of the door interrupted Peter before Elenora could; Bridgit stared at the two of them, very confused, before blinking.
She turned to Elenora and excused, "I think I'll go back to Harley if you have Peter right now."
"Harley?" peter demanded, confused.
Elenora rolled her eyes as her friend backed out the door.
She peered back at Peter, her blue eyes meeting his brown ones. "I would have listened, Peter. I could have understood."
Peter's expression was desperate. It was sad and tragic and it made something in Elenora ache and break. "I-I didn't know how to tell you, Elenora. I couldn't even believe myself."
Staying silent, Elenora nodded, her eyes on her bright yellow socks, vision blurring out before she looked to Peter, and it became crystal clear again. And then, in a soft voice, she hit, "I still can't believe you yelled at me."
"I said I'm sorry!" Peter exclaimed, his widening and his face falling.
"No, you didn't," Elenora disagreed, her head shaking with its ponytail.
Peter sighed. "Fine. I'm sorry."
"That's better."
Peter's eyes shot up, "Really?"
"No." Elenora threw her pillow at him, clocking him in the nose. "I don't like you."
"I love you, Elenora."
The girl rolled her eyes, avoiding his. "Sure."
"Elenora," he called, and her eyes met him, seriously, this time. "I love you."
Sighing, Elenora rolled her eyes, knowing she was overreacting. But Peter didn't feel that heartbreak. He didn't know that pain.
"I guess I love you too, Parker. Asshole."