°°°
Pete: I THINK I SEE THEM, hold on a sec.
was the last thing Peter had texted her last night. It was now 8 am, and Eleanor had already dressed up and glammed herself for the decathlon. She started to pace around her hotel room, wishing for her phone to ring once more.
"Calm down, seeing you like that makes me nervous." MJ, her roommate, commented, as she sat down on the edge of her bed, drying her hair with an towel.
Eleanor grabbed her phone again, and texted Ned this time.
Eleanor: Anything?
The reply was instant.
Ned: Nothing yet :/
"Fuck." Eleanor cursed, and walked around her room again.
"Listen, El. It's just a competition, you're smart as hell, I don't see what you're worrying about." MJ commented, trying to make her friend feel better, but it did not seem to work.
"It's not that-" before the distressed teen could continue, somebody had knocked on their door.
"El? MJ? We're leaving now!" It was Liz on the other side.
"Shit." Eleanor said, and grabbed her backpack that had her suit and the glowy thing inside, and opened the door to face a happy Liz.
"You okay? You've been off lately, El." Liz immediately asked, and Eleanor knew she was genuinely worried. It ached her not being able to tell everyone how Peter wasn't here and that he could be in trouble.
"She's fine." MJ covered her up. "She's just nervous."
"We'll do fine, El." Liz then caressed Eleanor's arm as she and MJ left her hotel room. "You're one of the smartest people I know. Everyone here is."
Eleanor simply nodded, muttering a small 'thanks' and strutted down the hotel hallway, up to Ned's room. She knocked, hoping Peter had just gotten lazy about texting her back and he was just getting ready for the decathlon. The door immediately opened, and Ned with a worried face appeared, holding his backpack.
"No." He simply said, and Eleanor's nails went straight to her mouth.
"Hey guys, is Peter here?" Liz suddenly approached Ned, who closed the door so she wouldn't be able to see the inside.
"He, uh, left. He went to get some medicine, he had a really bad stomachache. He'll meet us at the venue." Ned argued, and joined Eleanor's side as they all walked towards the bus.
"You got the glowy thing?" He asked. The girl who was still biting down on her nails, nodded.
"I just hope he's okay." She continued, wishing she wouldn't have to get to the point of going out to find him. Both teens walked towards the entrance of the hotel, not realizing they were not the only ones worried about Peter.
°°°
The students of Midtown Tech arrived at the venue, and as they entered the room, they all stood out thanks to their bright yellow blazers. As Eleanor and her classmates entered the room, a security guard asked each one of them to turn off their cell phones. The girl turned her head to look at Ned, who hovered behind her in line, with worried eyes.
"He'll be fine." He mouthed, and eventually, it was Eleanor's moment to turn off her phone. She quickly texted her mother she would be okay, and turned it off.
After they all walked towards the stage, Mr. Harrington indicated Eleanor to wait backstage, as the contest started. The girl was watching her friends answer questions as fast as they could, her thumb went to her mouth, slightly touching her lower lip, her mind wondering about Peter's whereabouts. After an hour of waiting around, MidTown claimed the first place, thanks to MJ's quick thinking. All of the participating students gathered up outside the stage, and jumped in joy.
Eleanor approached to hug each one of her friends, and they all walked outside the venue, towards the Washington monument.
"Badass job back there." Eleanor commented, nudging her friend on the side.
"Meh." MJ replied. "I just wanted it to be over."
This made Eleanor laugh as they approached the monument.
"You guys, I'm so proud of you." Liz cheered.
"Told you we didn't need Peter." Flash quickly added, as he walked carrying the trophy.
"Flash, you didn't answer a single question." Ned's comment was ignored by Flash, who was still bathing in the glory.
"Come on," Cindy tugged Eleanor's arm, while she was still beside MJ. "Let's go to the monument, I don't want to go on my own."
"Uh," Eleanor started, confused. She was about to take this time to go out and look for Peter, but Cindy had been the most welcoming person of the team, so saying no to her could be hard. Eleanor gave in, knowing that as soon as she touched ground again, she'd leave. "Sure. MJ, wanna join?"
"Nah, I'm good. I'm going to stay here and read for a bit." She replied, taking off her yellow blazer and placing it on her waist. "Engulf yourselves in a monument made by slaves."
Cindy just rolled her eyes at her response, and pulled Eleanor towards the entrance line. Eventually, Liz, Ned, and other people tagged along until it became a huge group. On the line, Eleanor stood behind Ned, who placed his backpack on the security detector when his phone rang. He answered the call, and Eleanor placed her own backpack on the detector.
"Peter, are you okay?" He whispered, and Eleanor turned her head towards Ned in less than second.
"Give me the phone." She whisper-yelled, as they both walked through the body detector.
"Don't worry, it's safe, it's on El's bag." Ned continued talking, making Eleanor's patience disappear.
"Give it to me!" She whisper-yelled again and took the phone away from him. He hurriedly gave in and grabbed his and her backpacks, walking towards the elevator.
"Peter, tell me what's going on." Eleanor spoke, and she could feel herself slightly trembling.
"Glowy thingy! Radiation! I'm going! I need-" The girl was listening to him yell when Liz took the phone away from her hands.
"Is it Peter?" She asked, and walked away, talking to him.
"Liz, Liz, I need the phone." Eleanor pleaded, trying to walk near her but the crowd of people crushed her into the elevator, beside Ned. "Liz!"
After they all got crammed up into that small place, Liz gave the phone back to Ned. "He hung up. I hope he's alright." She replied, standing the nearest to the door of the elevator, as Eleanor and Ned were far behind.
Eleanor's blood inside her veins started to boil, she could've listened to Peter's indications perfectly if it wasn't for Liz. Ned handed Eleanor her own backpack, and she placed it on her shoulders.
"Glowy thing, radiation. That's the only thing I heard." She whispered to Ned, as the elevator started going up, and the tour guide started talking about the monument. The rest of the students and Mr. Harrington seemed excited and interested, but Eleanor could feel her stomach at her feet.
"I don't know what he could mean." Ned replied, looking around.
Eleanor's eyes were stuck to the floor, thinking deeply. She then turned to look at her backpack, where she saw the glowy thing glowing way more than usual. After a few seconds of pondering, it had finally clicked.
"Ned," she whispered, the air inside her chest completely gone."The glowy thingy, I think it's gonna-"
What happened next was too fast for Eleanor's brain to process. A huge blast was heard, followed by glass breaking at the top floor. The elevator soon stopped moving. Eleanor looked at the ceiling, and saw a bright-orange line, where the glowing thing had hit.
"Oh my God, look at the ceiling." Charles commented, and Eleanor was pretty sure she wasn't the only one shaking inside the elevator.
"Oh, we're going to die in here." Abraham lamented.
Each one of the students had her hands on the elevator's walls, holding to something for balance, not moving a muscle.
"We're not going to die." Eleanor replied, looking at her friends. "We're going to be fine."
"Do something!" Ned whispered beside her. "You know, with y-your thing."
"I can't do anything! I could kill them, my powers won't work." She responded in the same volume as he talked. He didn't continue to argue cause Ned knew she was right, she couldn't do anything.
She then opened her eyes wide in realization. "Wait, I can."
Eleanor placed her hand flat on the elevator's metal wall, pushing the smallest amount of electricity to get the security systems going. After a second, an alarm started going off, making everyone sigh in relief.
"See? We'll be fine. The security systems are working now." Eleanor tried her best to sound as calm as possible, but she knew she couldn't.
"Yes, guys. We're completely safe here." The tour guide continued. "Look, help me out."
All of the students inside gathered to help the tour guide lift the hatch on the ceiling. She looked out, and sat down on the top of the metal structure.
"I need you guys to come out one by one. We're getting out of this one." She said, and Eleanor got into action. If she couldn't use her powers, at least she could be the one that helped the most.
She turned to Cindy, who was pale. It broke her heart seeing her like that, so Eleanor carefully grabbed her hands and caressed them.
"Cindy? We're okay. You'll be the first one to climb up. We're going to be fine." Eleanor said in a soft voice. Cindy quickly nodded, not articulating any sound, and approached the tour guide. Everyone lifted her up, and she got to the top floor safely.
Eleanor turned to her friend Abraham, who was just as quiet as Cindy. "Abe?" She said. "Come on man, you can do this. You kicked everyone's ass at the decathlon, this is nothing."
The girl's words made her friend smile, and he slowly approached her and Mr. Harrington, who were the closest to the tour guide. Eleanor helped lifting him up, when she saw he wanted to look down.
"Abe? Don't look down buddy. Don't. We'll be fine." Eleanor said, pushing his leg slightly for him to get to the top floor.
Peter, where the hell are you? was on her mind as she raised people up. On one of those lifts, the elevator moved, making everyone freeze in their places.
"Okay, who's next?" Mr. Harrington asked, and Flash immediately jumped into the teacher's arms.
"Me!" He yelled, making the elevator move as he desperately got out the hatch. Everybody, incluiding Eleanor, screamed, and after they all got their breaths back, they finished lifting Flash up. Throughout the process, the elevator kept moving and moving, making Eleanor desperate for not being able to use her powers. As soon as Flash touched the top floor, the elevator dropped making the rest of the people inside the small space: Eleanor, Mr. Harrington, Ned and Liz scream, everyone clutching to the walls of the metal space.
It suddenly stopped, and everyone fell onto the floor due to the inertia. Eleanor had her eyes closed shut. She then opened them, as her knees were glued to the ground, and saw a familiar web stuck to the elevator floor. She gave the tiniest smile that would soon fade as she felt they fell again.
The screams continued as they fell for a bit, until it stopped for a second, followed by Peter landing onto the elevator floor, and the metal structure falling again. Eleanor shut her eyes closed as she felt it stop again. She rose her head from looking towards the ground to see Peter disguised on the ceiling of the small space, holding a web that kept them from falling.
"Ahem," he started, making his voice lower. "Hey, how you doing? Don't worry about it, I got you."
Eleanor felt herself smile, and Ned then joined her in her happiness.
"Yes, yes!" He screamed, and then the elevator moved the slightest, making everybody clutch to any surface again.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey big guy, quit moving around." Peter quickly advised, as he slowly pulled from his web to get his friends to safety.
"I'm sorry sir, I'm so sorry." Ned replied, regretful of his actions.
Eleanor placed her hand flat on the metal wall again, and let out a long breath. She saw Peter pull, and pull, as the doors eventually opened at the top floor.
"Be careful, get out one by one. The structure is too fragile." The tour guide commented, stretching her hand out to help.
"Okay, this is your stop. Go, go, everybody moving." Peter hurried, and Eleanor could feel the effort of holding the elevator on his voice.
Ned was the first to walk out, slowly, and he was followed by Mr. Harrington. Eleanor and Liz were the only ones left inside the shaft, but they both felt they couldn't move.
"Go." Liz said, her back against the back wall of the elevator.
"Liz, you go. I'll be fine." Eleanor suggested. She knew she had the chances of surviving a fall like that one, and Liz didn't.
Could I really survive a fall like this one? She thought, and before her thoughts could scare her any longer, she continued talking.
"Go on, Liz. P- I mean, Spider-Man can't hold any longer." Eleanor said, and that convinced the other girl. Liz walked out the elevator, and turned her frame instantly to help the other one get out.
In the exact moment Eleanor placed a foot forward, she heard the top of the elevator break, and people screaming. She lunged her hand towards Peter's but she felt a huge distance between the two. She screamed her lungs out, accepting her destiny, when she heard the elevator fall, but she didn't.
"You're okay, you're okay." She heard Peter say, and that's when she felt the web stuck in her wrist. He pulled her up slowly, as he hung upside down, and finally grabbed her hand. Peter carefully lifted her up, and Eleanor finally touched safe ground. Liz and Cindy immediately grabbed her, hugging her. Eleanor then turned to look at Peter, and by looking at him through his mask, she felt everything.
"So, everyone's okay?" Peter asked again, and Eleanor just thought how she could feel this word vomit trying to come out of her.
I like you. I like you. I like you. went through Eleanor's mind over and over again. A week ago, she had saved his life. Now, he had just saved hers.
She kept looking at him, feeling everything. Her breathing was uneven, her heart was beating at an incredible pace. As soon as she felt the word vomit coming out, Peter's web broke from the ceiling, and he fell towards the darkness down below.
Eleanor was left speechless. Her mind was on Peter as Liz and Cindy sat her down, and took the glass pieces off her hair. She kept thinking of him, of his face, his hair, his eyes as paramedics rushed towards her and asked her for her name, and cleaned the bruises on her knees.
Her eyes were stuck on the broken elevator shaft, Peter still lingering in her mind.
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a/n: hope y'all like this!!!! I had so many feeling writing this.
-a.