Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

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After about five minutes of waiting for Peter to return, his bedroom door opens. Eloise turns.

"Pete—Ned?" She says, brow pulling forward as Ned shuts the door behind him. He stares at Eloise with confusion and glances around the room.

"Where's Peter?"

She slumps against the wall and checks the time on her phone. He's been gone for seven minutes. She hasn't heard any commotion or loud noises that would indicate any battling or anything going on, so that's good news. Hopefully all goes according to plan—if he even has a plan.

"He's on the seventh floor," Eloise tells him. "You know that guy that disappeared into thin air Peter was talking about?"

Ned's eyes go wide. "You mean he's in the same building as us?" She nods. He runs a hand through his black hair. "He could be plotting to take over the world or his next evil scheme." Ned pauses. "Wait, is Peter battling him as we speak?" He cranes his neck and looks up at the ceiling.

"I don't think so," Eloise explains. "Peter said that he was just going to find out who the guy was visiting and why. He didn't say anything about taking them down."

Ned's eyes linger on the ceiling before falling to Eloise. "How long has he been gone?"

"It hasn't even been ten minutes." Eloise bends down and falls onto Peter's bed. "I have a feeling it's going to take a while, so we should probably get comfy."

🕸

An hour and two Snickers bars later, the only sounds in the small bedroom are the muffled street sounds and Ned's soft, even breathing as he's passed out in the chair.

To pass time and to keep herself from worrying too much, Eloise meanders around Peter's room and just looks at some stuff. There are trophies from spelling bees, science fairs, and an academic decathlon displayed on his dresser in the corner beside his bed. Next to each trophy is a picture of Peter holding the trophy, all of them alone but one with a team dressed in matching yellow coats. Her eyes slide from the trophies to some pictures that look like he drew when he was younger. There are some stick figures, and then some misshapen figures that are dressed like superheroes. The one he's drawn the most is Iron-Man.

It's cool; Peter works beside Iron-Man sometimes and knows Tony Stark. His childhood dreams came true.

With a smile lingering on her lips, Eloise moves to his desk and study the pictures taped to his wall and set up in frames. There are a few of him and Ned, some when they're young and some that are more recent. She looks from a picture of Ned and Peter in a pool to a framed picture of Peter and a man she doesn't recognize. It must be from a year or two ago, because Peter looks somewhat the same but a bit younger. She picks up the frame to look closer. Peter's really scrawny, which means that the picture was taken before he was bitten by the radioactive spider. The man he's with looks like he's maybe in his early fifties, or late forties. They both look really happy.

Glancing at the other pictures on his desk and on the wall, Eloise realizes that the same man is in the rest of them. Every picture is bright with crinkly-eyed and toothy smiles.

She sets the picture back down.

Suddenly, there's a crash and the sound of glass shattering. Eloise spins on her heel as Ned jolts awake, flailing his arms and falling out of the chair with a thump.