considering other fanfics...check out my update on conversation board!
please comment & vote - thanks cuties : )
ANDREW AND HIS BAND OF MUTANT-HATERS ARE STILL ON THE STREET.
And instead of being on patrol, working to track down the group that targeted her and her friends, Elenora was being forced to endure an awkward dinner with the dream-team.
That's right - the entire Junior Avengers team was there; each and every one of them resisting the urge to mention anything related to their training or SHEILD, and instead, torturing Elenora with a useless conversation.
"I think," Bridgit started, stressing both words with such importance that made Connor rolled his eyes sand Harley look up from his burger. "That there's no need to even have school nurses. They don't do anything, anyway."
"You're biased," Peter pointed out, lifting his hand from where it was folded on the surface of the table; this was enough to make Bridgit's nose involuntarily flair and for Harley to glance back down to his mean. "You've been to like what? Three schools in your life?" Bridgit went to speak, but Peter was faster. "The institute does not count - having a doctor as a school nurse is not normal."
"Jokes on you," Brdigti taunted, cocking her head in that way that literally made Connor want to punch her in the face. Cooper noticed, and raised his eyebrows in a bit of comfort to his friend. "The institute would only help your point - you wouldn't believe the number of times a student has fallen from the rooftop."
Elenora, for the first time that hour, nodded and said, "I can attest to that."
Blushing red the second her eyes fell on him, Connor thought, oh, so this is how it's gonna go.
The message was clear on his face, but Elenora read it with nothing more than a half-grin.
"You've fallen off of the roof?" Cooper urged her to speak more, prompting both Bridgit to stifle a laugh and Peter looked towards Connor. His hair was now falling to hide his expression.
"Less fallen," Elenora corrected, acting like she was in thought be for adding, "More like pushed."
"Off of a roof?"
"Yeah."
"Wow," Cooper breathed out, half laughing. "That must've been something."
"Oh, it was," Elenora promised as her eyes shot over to Connor, who, relieved that he hadn't caught on, threw a french fry at her.
And just as the table fell silent again, Bridgit deiced to end the promise she made to just about every adult she'd seen in the last five hours; her wide eyes turned to Elenora as she demanded, "When are you coming back?"
There was that heat in her chest again. The burning one, the one she felt during any confrontation lately, and the one that made the ache in her chest so much more prominent.
"She doesn't know," Connor answered, narrowing his eyes at the redhead as Peter peered down at the girl to his side.
Under the table, he gave her hand a squeeze; their hold hadn't broken since they'd sat at the table.
Bridgit rolled her eyes - she decided there was nothing else to do. She knew she was supposed to sympathize, to understand and acknowledge what her friend was going through, but she could tell she was in pain. That she was angry.
"It's not fair-"
"You think I don't know that?" Elenora retorted, pushing herself off of the booth seat to lean on the table. "I'm well aware, thanks."
After his eyes skimmed over all of the very confused/frightened boys, Cooper suggested, "Let's talk about something else."
"Let's talk about this," Bridgit pressed on, unafraid of Elenora's sudden move change; she leaned over the table in response. "How do we get you back in?"
"I don't know."
"Bullshit," Bridgit told her, peering even harsher. Peter looked from Elenora to the girl, and then to Cooper; this was not going to end well. "There has to be a way to get you back in, and I know you have an idea."
"I don't," Elenora repeated, rolling her eyes and trying to hold her anger as she did. Peter squeezed her hand, but it did nothing to settle her nerves. "So leave it alone."
"I won't," Bridgit deadpanned.
Connor, who took one look at El, leaned toward the redhead, and said, "Lay off, Bridgit."
"You all are ridiculous!" she demanded, throwing her hands in the air in protest. "You all say you want her back, but none of you get off your asses and do-"
"Maybe," Elenora broke through, her voice loud, clear, and assertive, "maybe it's WHATS best for me, have you considered that? Maybe getting shot is a real health hazard-"
"Oh whatever, El, you know that-"
"I'm out," Elenora said suddenly, slinging her back across her shoulder and trying not to wince when it pressed against her stitches. As she stood, her hand pulled from Peter's, but not with ease; he was scrambling to get up beside her.
"Ellie," he started, but Elenora was already halfway across the diner, her eyes glued to the exit. As he stood up, he looked to the rest of the table, and then to one person in particular. "She's upset, Bridgit," Peter told her as if she hadn't thought of that, "Why do you have to push?"
"She's right," Harley spoke up, and everyone looked at him in a sort of amazement and shock; he had never gotten involved in anything with Elenora before. Pretending he didn't notice, Harley insisted, "You guys can't complain about something and do nothing to fix it."
Peter was thinking a lot of things, but voiced none of them; he left in a rush, following Elenora's path.
***
Elenora could not believe that Bridgit thought it was her responsibility to get back on the team. It wasn't Ellie's call. It wasn't her choice. it was a decision made by others - others who Elenora had virtually no influence over regarding this topic.
So how dare she? How dare Bridgit - her best friend - try to blame it on her?
Practically fuming, Elenor tried not to focus on the growing heat in her chest, but rather the harsh feeling of the concrete against the soles off her shoes; it felt like she was stomping, and a few times, Elenora had to check that she wasn't. It was hard to tell, honestly.
So tuned into her steps, she didn't even notice the presence behind her and the hand that fell on her shoulder.
Her heart plummetted to her stomach. She was crouching, shying away from the touch as a scream built in her throat and her arms flailed outwards, energy buzzing around them so harshly that if shoved any part of the attacker against the wall-
"Ouch."
Peter.
Blue eyes widened.
"Oh, oh my gosh, Peter," Elenora mumbled, stepping forward and holding her hands out for the boy who had been thrown against a brick wall and was groaning in pain. "Peter, I'm so sorry!"
He tried to tell her it was alright, but failed to be convincing; he was wincing as he waved her hands away.
"Oh gosh," Elenora whispered, bringing her hand to her mouth and stepping away from Peter. "I'm terrible. I'm so so so sorry."
"It's fine, El," Peter promised, pulling away from the brick wall and gesturing to himself. "I'm fine, I promise."
Elenora didn't believe that - she couldn't. She stood there for a moment, her lips pursed and her hand shot up straight to her head, pulling on her hair as she tried to calm herself down.
Keeping her temper had been a lot harder lately. Bucky had suggested it was because she didn't have that physical energy outlet she had before, but Elenora had gone a long time without it before and nothing like this had happened.
It felt like she was losing control over herself and her powers, and lately, Elenora wasn't even sure she wanted to know if she was.
"Let's go," Peter said, closer to Elenora than she remembered. His hand reached out for her, and she didn't resist. "Let's go do something - us the two of us - and we don't have to talk about that stuff. Not if you don't want to."
"Okay," Elenora agreed, and Peter's eyebrows rose and a small smile settled on his lips. It was hard getting Elenora to do anything these days, and he was glad that he was finally getting somewhere.
"Okay," Peter echoed, tugging on her head and ducking his head to meet her eyes; she stifled a little smile for him. She really does love him, she remembered, but it had been getting harder and harder to say stuff like that.
Maybe she really did have a hole in her heart.
***
One cherry coke and one 7-Up later, Elenora and Peter were sitting on the fire escape of Peter's apartment, their legs dangling through the metal rails and the noise of the city surrounding them.
Aunt May was not home, and Peter told Elenora that the moment he suggested the place. She had yet to meet with her boyfriend's aunt to discuss the events and the sorrows and the apologies of everything with Andrew. Peter wasn't sure why she was waiting so long - she had assured him that she wasn't mad. But everyone had their own healing process.
Peter knew that better than most.
"I wonder," Elenora started, her blue eyes peering down at the bustling streets below them, her fingers wrapped around the neck of the pop bottle, "I wonder what would have happened if they never found me."
Peter's eyes narrowed, and he pulled his eyes from the scenery to look at the girl, who was still focused on the commotion below. "What?"
Elenora's eyes meet Peter's - she looked so calm, it almost scared Peter. "If they didn't find me in that alleyway. If no one ever found me at all, and my life stayed the way it was."
Peter looked closer and realized that Elenora wasn't calm. She was tired.
She was really damn tired.
"We would have found you," Peter told her, shaking his head to rid her of what she was even considering. "Your dads would have never stopped. And everyone would have kept pursuing."
"But if they didn't," Elenora insisted, her voice dropping an octave as she did so. "What would I have done? What would I have become?"
Peter stayed quiet for a second, waiting on self-realization, but when he felt the stare of Elenora and turned to look at her. "Honestly?"
Elenora nodded, her hair shake as she did.
Looking away, back to the buildings around them, Peter thought about this seriously, and Elenora, who thought he'd try to change the subject, was genuinely interested in his response.
"If they had never found you," Peter started, quickly peering over to Elenora as he added, "which would never happen," Elenora scoffed, but Peter continued, "I think you would have become a social worker."
Blinking, Elenora stuttered, "W-what?"
"Like one of those people," Peter shifted his position so he could face Elenora better, "who fights for kids who don't have anyone else. I think you would have done everything you could do defend other people from what you felt, even if it had a toll on you. I think, that, uh, you'd give everything you had to your job, and you'd probably wear like suits to work-"
"Suits?"Elenora echoed.
"Yeah," Peter said. "And you'd look really good in them, too."
Elenora laughed. Like actually laughed, for the first time that day. "Thanks, Peter."
"I know that you don't wanna," Peter began, and Elenora, already knowing where the conversation was going, groaned. "No! No, Elenora, you can't just-just brush it off forever!" he insisted, stuttering only a little.
"I already told you," Elenora huffed, rolling her eyes as she did so. "I don't wanna fight with them anymore. It's not my choice. It's outta my hands."
"That's not true," Peter blurted out, his face turning red at Elenora blinked at the certainty in his voice.
"What do you mean?" Elenora questioned, shifting in her own place.
Peter avoided her eyes for a few moments, and Elenora could tell his was trying to come up with an excuse; before he could, she grabbed his arm, slid down to his wrist, and asked in a whisper, "What are you talking about?"
"I overheard something," Peter caved immediately because Elenora's hand was warm and her voice was sad and sorta desperate. "Your dads were talking, at practice, and uh, they said something-"
"Said what?" Elenora nearly growling because she was well aware that peter was avoiding the point.
"I heard them say - now, it was out of context, so I could be totally wrong, but they, uh -ow! Elenora! Fine, fine - they said that they've been wanted to bring you back, for a while, but you didn't seem to keen on the idea."
"Bring me back?" Elenora repeated, and Peter nodded. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Elenora said, "To train."
"Yeah. Like it didn't seem like you wanted to be back."
To this, Elenora said nothing. She didn't roll her eyes or make a noise of disapproval, she just turned back towards the street, with the bustling people and stared.
After a moment of hesitation, Peter asked softly, "Is it true?"
Elenora didn't even notice she was nodding. She didn't even know she was feeling, either, until she said, "I'm scared to go back."
"W-why?"
"I'm scared of dying," she said, her voice heavy and dark as she turned to look back at Peter, her eyes watery, and watching the way his face quickly turned to panic. "I'm scared of something going wrong, and my heart like giving out, and I'm scared of seeing my mom again-"
"Seeing your mom?" Peter reiterated, his eyebrows furrowing together as he did.
"I saw her. When I was shot. I saw her, a-and I talked to her, and she said it wasn't my time-"
"Elenora-"
"And I know, if I go back, I'm not going to be as good as before. I'm going to have something to fear," she stressed, blinking rapidly as she did, a tear streaming down her face. "I'm going to hold back. I'm going to have limits. I'm going to be scared, and if I'm scared, I'll fall behind-"
"No one expects you to be perfect," Peter told her, grabbing both her hands in his and forcing her eyes to meet his. "No one expects you to come back, full force. Not even Director Fury."
"But I don't want to go back," Elenora whined, sorta childlike, but if anyone had an excuse to be like that, it was her and it was then, "until I'm back to myself."
"Elenora," Peter said, his own voice sad because he didn't want to be the one to tell Elenora this. But when her blue eyes peered up at him in the way that made his stomach sink, he knew he owed it to her. "You're never going to be back the way you were."
Elenora felt her own heart sink.
"But that doesn't mean anything inherently bad," he promised, and Elenora's heart lifted a little. "Yeah, you'll be more hesitant. More careful. But you'll be able to know impacts. You'll think things through, clearly and better."
Her phone went on, but Elenora couldn't even think to check it.
"You'll be different, Ellie, but that's nothing bad."
She kissed him.
***
Elenora arrived home that night an hour after Connor did. Peter had walked her up to her door, and she hugged and thanked him before he left. She reminded him that she loved him, and he said the same thing back.
"Hi, dads," Elenora greeted as she slipped off her jacket in the front hallway, closing the door behind her.
"Ellie?" Steve called as if anyone else would have called him dad. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she promised, stepping into the light of the open room to shoot him a smile. "I'm better, now. Really. it was a good idea for me to go out."
Bucky looked at Steve, then at his daughter. "Well, considering you only stayed there for what? Twenty minutes?"
Happy that his daughter was alright, Steve chided, "Buck-"
"No, he's right," Elenora admitted sheepishly, sticking her hands in her jeans pockets as she went on, "I did leave. But I was just trying to figure some things out, and um, I've decided that I want to go back to training. I really want to, and um, I need you to let me do that."
Steve and Bucky exchanged a look.
Steve started first. "Okay, Sweetheart, that can happen. We just thought-"
"We tried to bring it up, and you-"
"I know," Elenora said. "I know. But I'm ready now, I think. I should go back."
***
Elenora had been back at school for weeks, and yet there was a reoccurring sense of dread every time she walked past the front doors or the gymnasium. Peter had switched his gym and math period, and though he claimed it was not so his classes would line up fully with Elenora's, he stayed by her side every time.
And Elenora didn't mind at all. Because before boyfriend, Peter was, and always would be, best friend.
"So what is up with you?" Jade asked during lunch when Peter and Ned went to print out papers in the library.
Elenora looked over to Jade with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you mean?" she asked, slinging her backpack over her shoulder.
"You've been acting different," Jade told her, cocking her head as she added, "ever since you came back to school from pneumonia."
Ah. Pneumonia. That was what Tony had come up with when he and Banner forged a signature, pardoning Elenora from the almost week of school she missed from all the pain she had to handle and the testing she had to go through.
Shrugging, Elenora tried to put herself in a scenario where she actually had pneumonia so she could sound realistic.
"I'm just really tired, now," she admitted with a shrug. "My immune system's shot, so it feels like everything effects me."
Nice one, El! Bridgit would be proud.
Speaking of Bridgit, Elenora reminded herself needed to fix that mess.
"Oh, okay," Jade nodded. "I guess I just thought that you were mad at me or something-"
"Not at all!" Elenora promised, turning to meet Jade's eyes. "I'm not upset at all. Just tired."
"Oh, good," Jade said, relieved, and the two resumed walking, both looking ahead. "I know it would, um, be different," she began, and Elenora turned her head to look at her, "but I thought maybe you and I could hang out? Without Peter and Ned," she specified. "I just need some girl talk, and I was really hoping that-"
"Of course," Elenora agreed, nodded reassuringly. "I'm always here for you, Jade. Text me the best time, okay?"
What a perfect way to find out everything I need to know about Marley.
***
Elenora was just about to step into the training room at 3:50 when Bucky appeared at her side, catching the door handle before she could.
She blinked up. "Hi, Dad," she greeted, pulling away from the door and adjusting the strap on her shoulder from her gym bag. "Are you leading training?"
"Sorta," he told her, pulling his hand away from the door. "Your dad's gonna be focused with Connor and Peter, today, so I thought I'd take part of your training. I know he said he wanted to be there, but it's not totally logical. "
Elenora's smile grew - she loved when Bucky took overtraining. She absolutely adored it. "That's okay!" she promised, her voice loud and airy because lately, Bucky hadn't been himself around her. He felt distant, and Elenora didn't like it at all.
But this could be the turning point. This could be perfect.
"How do you feel about a run?" Bucky tested, and Elenora lit up.
"Let's do it!" she said, pulling away from the door.
***
The running path outside was not a bad one, and Elenora was pretty grateful that Bucky had led her outside because she wasn't sure she could handle the pressure of running in front of all the people she was trying to seem strong in front of.
For the first lap, Elenora could tell Bucky was holding back the speed but didn't say anything about it - if she wanted to get through this, she could not waste a single breath. She had to stay focused.
But by the second lap, she had grown restless, and speed up a little.
At some point, she turned to Bucky. "What's up with Pietro, lately?"
Bucky glanced down at his daughter, whose cheeks were red but breathing still rhythmic.
He shrugged, looked back at the path. "He's not fully back. He's involved in the investigation with the whole mutant thing, but he refuses to be a part of anything else."
"And Marley?" Elenora pressed, trying to finally get information out of her dads. She could tell that they were more willing now that she was back into the towers, but Bucky still paused before answering.
"She's nice. Good, even," Bucky admitted. "Not so good with rules. Like someone I know."
Bucky sent a look to Elenora, who grinned in response. A surge of energy rushed through her, and she started to run faster, calling behind her, "Keep up, dad!"
"Yeah, yeah."
***
Two miles - breaks after each - later, Bucky and Elenora were making their way back up to the training floor of the Towers.
Elenora had it set in her mind that she was going to spar, but Bucky wasn't too keen on the idea.
"C'mon, dad," Elenora groaned, shuffling through the door Bucky held open before turning back to face him. "It'll be fine, really. Nothing will land, anyway."
Raising an eyebrow, Bucky sent a look to Elenora. "That's a bold assumption," he told her, pulling his eyes away to survey the room; everyone was there, but spread out, with Steve watching Connor and Peter spar in the ring.
The second Elenora looked away from Bucky, her eyes met Peter, who was smiling, and sent her a thumbs up before Connor threw a punch. His motion had caught Steve's attention, who looked over in her direction.
Elenora waved, and Bucky noticed, following her eyes to Steve.
"Alright, let me go talk to your dad," he said, starting to walk again as Elenora followed behind him.
"About what?"
"You wanted to spar, didn't you?"
Elenora said nothing but followed behind Bucky, keeping her distance when he engaged in a conversation with Steve. Instead, she leaned on the ropes of the ring and tapped on the tense shoulder of Connor, who was still in a sparring position.
He spun around instantly, and a grin set on his lips as he met eyes with Elenora.
"Ellie!" he announced, breaking off the spar with Peter as they both came to the ropes to talk with her. "How's being back here?"
"Good," she told him with a shrug. "I saw that roundhouse kick, it's getting better."
"You think? Steve's been helping me out a lot."
"And you, Peter," she teased, staring critically at him. Peter pointed at himself to check, and Elenora nodded. "You need to set your left foot down harder. You'll lose balance."
Connor rolled his eyes. "Get in here, and then you can give us pointers."
Cocking her head, Elenora said, "Watch me," and then slipped under ropes.
Steve noticed this immediately, and both him and Bucky turned towards their daughter.
"Elenora," Steve called at Elenora sent him a cheesy grin.
"I'm fine, Dad," she promised, going over to the side where they were, Peter and Connor followed her like puppies and leaning on the ropes with a pouting face. "C'mon, dads, just let me have some fun!"
Steve caved. "One round," he said, holding up a single finger to emphasis, and Elenora cheered. "Connor, go do a few reps with the weights. Peter, you're up."
Connor, from where he towered over her in height, squeezed her shoulder and wished her good luck. He was half relieved that he wasn't going to fight her - the last thing he needed was to hurt Elenora.
Peter, on the other half of the ring, adjusted his stance and sent Elenora a grin. She worked on her own stance, feeling herself fall into it like muscle memory.
"I expect you to pull back all hits," Steve said protectively to Peter, who nodded before looking back to Elenora, loosening his fists.
"Don't go easy," Elenora contradicted, stiffening up.
"Parker," Bucky said, "go easy."
Elenora rolled her eyes and advanced.
The first punch was from Peter, and judging by how he reacted, Elenora had a feeling she was going to be making all the attacks that round.
And man, would that be a waste of a single spar.
So Elenora decided not to let that happen and suddenly got very aggressive in her offense; her kicks and hits, all coming back instinctively, were like rapid-fire shots, and Peter, not expecting this, hesitated before blocking all of them in quick succession.
Elenora, getting bored quickly of his defense, shouted, "C'mon, Peter, just hit me already!"
And then the real fighting started, and Elenora was on both offense and defense.
She wasn't sure if it was anger or excitement, but the first punch that Peter threw was weak but fast, and Elenora quickly dodged it.
There was another, and Elenora sucked her head and sent a jab right to his ribs - his arm was out to stop her.
He came with a kick, next, Elenora wrapped her leg around his, and tugged downwards; unfortunately, it had been a long time since she'd use this move, so Elenora went tumbling down with Peter.
Maneuvering a bit, Peter managed to grab Elenora's arms and break her fall.
She landed on top of him.
Elenora quickly caught on, readying her elbows to prop up before she could hit the mat.
Their faces were less than two inches apart, and their heaving chests were rising and falling and meeting each other halfway.
"That's enough," Steve called, breaking his eyes away from the two as Elenora rolled off of Peter, grinning like crazy. "That's it- you both hit the mat. Spar is over."
"Dad!" Elenora whined, but Bucky was shaking his head and motioning her over to the medicine balls and Steve was staring harshly at Peter.
Elenora sent red-faced Peter a wink and slipped under the ropes.
***
End of practice came, and as all the mentors shuffled out, the teens found their place on the mats, everyone waiting for each other to take a seat.
It had been a thing since the very first practice, but now, it had become more than just waiting around; it was a meeting, held by the captains, to review and go over the day's training and possible training.
Cooper and Peter.
Gosh, Elenora wanted to take another mile over this. She'd even run two if she didn't have to see his cocky little face and the genuine smile as he asked, "How are you feelin', Ellie?"
"Oh, just dandy," Elenora said, sarcastically, plopping on the mats next to Connor.
When Cooper turned to him, confused, Peter just shrugged.
It took Elenora a second longer than it should have, but in the reflection of the glass doors, Elenora made out the image of none other than director Fury, stalking in the back of the training room.
She tensed immediately, and watched as the reflection made note of this; his eyes met hers in the glass, and Elenora looked away and tried to pretend it never happened.
"Director Fury," Cooper announced, giving the man a nod as he stepped back, in line with Peter. Everyone else was sitting because apparently that's how Peter and Cooper ran things now.
Elenora did not dig it, at all.
"Mr.Barton," Fury replied calmly, and even though they were still upset with each other, Elenora and Bridgit met wide eyes.
Their stare broke apart fairly quickly.
"Mr.Parker," Nick continued, finally coming in line with the two captains as the rest of the teenagers stood up with their hands clasped behind their backs.
Confusedly, Elenora mimicked the others, only behind by a second. What was this formality? What had she missed?
Based on the strictness of Fury's stare and the actions of the others, Elenora was willing to guess that she had missed a lot.
"Ms.Rogers," Fury said, his eyes falling on Elenora, whose hands tightened on each other when he did. "Glad to see you're back in commission."
"Thank you," Elenora guessed, then added, "sir."
"I'm sure you're prepared to work yourself up to the rigor and dedication you've previously had in your training," Nick commented, pausing a moment before specifying unnecessarily, "Ms.Rogers."
"Yes, Sir."
There was energy buzzing around her knuckles, and Connor, who stood behind her, could see the glow and tried not to panic for her - the last thing Elenora needed was a loss of control right then.
Nick checked Elenora's state, then said, "Good." He turned his attention to the two boys in the front, and said, "Captains Barton and Parker-"
The glow around Elenora's knuckles was glowing brighter, and Connor stepped forward, only slightly, and whispered, "Relax, Ellie."
Relax. She could do that. Elenora could relax.
In an effort to do that, Elenora released her fist and unknowingly shot a burst of energy right into Connor's stomach.
"Oh, God," Connor groaned, and Elenora, realizing that there was a significant loss of tension in her hands, tried not to grow too red, but a big blush rushed across her face in no time.
She whispered, "Sorry!" sheepishly, but Connor, still trying to recover, just scoffed.
"I trust they are in good hands," Nick said, took one last look at the two rows of initiates, and then bowed out.
When the door closed behind Nick, both Cooper and Peter let out visible sighs of relief, and everyone else fell out of position.
"What was that about?" Harley demanded, and Elenora, who forgot he was there, turned to look at him, impressed - he didn't say one thing while Nick was inside! No scoffs or anything!
Harley truly was growing up, and incidentally, he was really growing on Elenora, who turned back and shot him a grin.
That did not please Bridgit, not one bit.
(Elenora didn't notice.)
"I have no clue," peter muttered as he watched the door as if Nick would come back in. "I guess, uh, everyone's good to go?"
Cooper, whose eyes were focused on the door as well, nodded, "Yeah. Nice practice."
As Elenora spun on her heel, trying to shake out the picture of the captains out of her head, she faintly heard Connor mumbled, "Someone's got some pent up emotions."
Elenora shot him a look. "I do not." Connor sent her a look. "Shut up, Connor," she said, throwing her bag at him, which he caught with his now super-quick reflexes.
Raising an eyebrow, Elenora said, "Wow, Connor. Look at you."
Connor rolled his eyes.
"Bring that to dads, would ya?" Elenora said, barely paying attention to her own words as she grabbed her phone and her water bottle. "I wanna go catch Aunt Tasha before we head out - I've missed hanging with her."
Connor nodded but didn't verbally respond, and the two of them parted ways as they headed to their different locker rooms.
Bridgit was standing at a sink of the lockerroom when Elenora got in, they met eyes only briefly before the brunette turned to the mirror, readjusting her ponytail.
After a few seconds of silence, Bridgit broke into speech.
"You're not actually pissed at me, are you?"
Shrugging, Elenora gathered her curls as she said, "Yeah, honestly, I'm kinda pissed."
Turning away from the sink, Bridgit cocked her hip, and said to her, "I was just trying to help you, El. You've been bored."
"I've been resting."
"That's not the same thing," Bridgit pointed out. "You know that."
"It wasn't your place," Elenora argued, turning to her and mimicking her stance.
"Fine!" Bridgit shouted unexpectedly, and El almost took a step back in awe - Bridgit never admitted when she was wrong. "Fine, okay? Whatever, it wasn't my place," she mimicked, her ears growing red as she tucked her hair behind her ear. "But I was worried, Ellie. You were, like, withdrawing. You stopped texting and-"
"That's not exactly-"
"I had to call Connor to talk to you-"
"I was trying to-"
"Ignore your best friend?" Bridgit suggested, and taken aback, Elenora furrowed her eyebrows. "You didn't need to do that. Whatever you felt, or feel, you can tell me!"
"I was scared, Bridgit-"
"And you needed a push because of that!" she insisted, and Elenora knew that they were never going to get on the same page. She'd learned that it was impossible to convince someone who thought they were doing the right thing to stop. "I was just trying to help."
"It was mean."
"I'm mean sometimes. I'm trying to fix it, Ellie, but I was scared for you."
***
Elenora left after that when she felt her and Bridgit were on, for the most part, the same page.
If not, within the same chapter. Maybe even book, Elenora didn't know nor did she care that much.
She was much more worried about finding Natasha.
Though the redhead had a new responsibility in her life, she still tried to make room for just her and Elenora to hang out; unfortunately, Elenora hadn't been up for much interaction lately, but now that she was back in the game, she couldn't get enough of it.
Natasha was found in the main kitchen of the Towers.
"Aunt Tasha!" Elenora called, rushing towards the redhead with a big grin and open arms.
"Oh," Natasha manuevered to put down her drink and embrace the girl, "Ellie is finally back on the grid!"
Laughing, Elenora pulled away from Natasha, both women smiling. "Yes, yes, I've been totally elusive lately, but I'm back now," she promised, slipping a curl behind her ear. "And I was hoping you weren't too busy tonight. Maybe you would want to go get smoothies?" she suggested, reaching out her hands to catch Natasha's. "I've missed my favorite aunt."
"Your only aunt," Natasha added, and both girls laughed before Natasha went on. "I'd love to, Sweetheart, but I promised Bridgit and Cooper I'd get dinner with them tonight."
Elenora wasn't quite sure why, but her heart fell. Like a million and ten stories.
"Maybe tomorrow night?" Natasha suggested, searching the girl's face as all her features pointed to "dissapoinment". "Sorry, Ellie."
"It's fine!" Elenora waved off, but everything about her - tone, body language - said it was not okay. "I shoulder probably go find my dads and Connor, anyways. See you later?"
Watching the girl carefully, Natasha nodded, "Sure, Ellie."
As Elenora made her way back to her dads and Connor, with a hurting ankle and sore muscles, she remembered a very important lesson she had learned over and over again that day: the world doesn't stop for anyone.
Coincidentally, Elenora was feeling like she lost her touch.