Walking the Wire | PETER PARKER [1]

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The next time Eloise wakes up, Bruce isn't in the room. In his place are the two idiots that she planned to save the world with.

When Eloise comes to, she doesn't move and just keeps her eyes closed for a while, listening to Peter and Ned's conversation. Their voices are hushed as they exchange words.

"May's going nuts," Peter says. "She keeps texting me and calling me, even though I was just home yesterday. I understand that I was gone for a couple days and she'd like to spend some time with me now, but it's not like I'm never coming home again."

Eloise hears Ned reply. "Yeah, my parents aren't liking how I'm not at home having our mandatory Friday night family dinner."

"How'd you get out of it?"

"I told them that I had a project to work on, but they told me that I could work on it tomorrow, so I just snuck out the back door."

There's a lull in the conversation, so Eloise decides to let the boys know she's awake.

Slowly, her eyelids part. Eloise looks down at her body and realizes that there's now a light blanket covering her. With caution, she moves so that she's not in a ball anymore and lies back on her back. The movements cause dull pains and her sore muscles to strain, but other than that, she's okay.

There's shuffling from the other side of the room and footsteps approach.

"Hey, El," Peter says softly.

Eloise turns her head with a small smile of relief at his voice, but as soon as he comes into view, the smile is immediately wiped off her face.

Although he's also smiling, along with Ned beside him, his appearance causes Eloise to gasp. There are dark bruises on his neck like someone tried to choke him, a few cuts on his face, a busted lip, and dark bruises all over him. He's got a painful-looking black eye that swells his left eye and the skin around it, causing his eyelids unable to open all the way. His nose looks crooked and is bruised, too. Dark purple and red splash his jaw bones.

Eloise quickly scans Ned's face next, dread filling her as she prays he isn't as damaged. Luckily, it isn't as bad as Peter's, but his arm is in a sling and he has a healing cut above his left eyebrow. Eloise's hand covers her mouth.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" She asks. "Are you guys okay? What happened to your face, Peter? And your arm, Ned?" Her voice drips of concern as questions spew from her mouth.

Ned and Peter look at each other with a knowing look. Neither answers her questions.

"How are you feeling?" Ned asks instead.

Worry rises in Eloise's throat. "I'm fine, but who banged you guys up?" Her voice cracks at the end.

They exchange another look.

Peter looks down at his feet. Quietly, he whispers, "You did."

Eloise freezes. She would've laughed if there was humor laced in his tone, but there wasn't. Ned and Peter don't make eye-contact with Eloise and shuffle on their feet with pained expressions.

Then it dawns on her: he's serious. Eloise did that to his face, and broke Ned's arm.

Horror wracks through her body. "What?" Eloise croaks, her throat closing up as she feels tears spring up to her eyes. She thinks she's going to be sick.

Peter's eyes dart up and meet Eloise's, but he quickly looks away.

"It's okay," He says. "I'm okay, Ned is okay, Bruce and Mr. Stark and Bucky and Steve are okay."