SKYFALL | PETER PARKER [ 1 ]

4: PROTOCOL

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"WHY THE HELL ARE YOU wearing gloves today?" MJ asked Eleanor at lunch after a tiring Physics class. The girl being questioned tried her best to play dumb, continuing to eat her salad with a fork. She had chosen to follow Mr. Stark's advice, while she learned how to control it. She didn't know how to name her abilities, so she calls it, it. Eleanor glanced at MJ, who was still glaring at her.

"I," Eleanor pondered, trying to think of a clever and logical response. "just hate germs."

MJ squinted her eyes in disapproval. "Cut it out. Ever since you got here I have never, ever, seen you wearing gloves. Why-"

"Hey guys, can we sit here?" Michelle had been interrupted by Ned, who had a food tray in his hands and was followed by Peter. 

"Hi, Ned!" Eleanor greeted, crossing her arms and covering her gloves. She mentally praised him for interrupting MJ's questioning at the best time. "Sure, sit." Ned then slid on Michelle's right side, and Peter on Eleanor's left side.

"So guys, how are-" Eleanor tried her best to avoid MJ's death glare and started a conversation, but was cut off by Michelle.

"I'm still waiting for your answer." The usually unamused teen was crossing her arms now, reclining onto the white surface of the table.

"What answer?" Ned asked, munching on a hamburger he had bought.

"Uh, she'd asked me my favorite movie-"

"She's wearing gloves." Michelle interrupted her, once again.

The two boys glanced dumbfounded at Eleanor. The girl gave up and showed her leather-covered hands in defeat, and received no reaction from them.

"What's wrong with that?" Peter questioned, taking a bite out of his sandwich. Eleanor then turned from looking to Peter to looking at the other girl with a smirk on her face, savoring her small victory. The other teen still had both of her arms crossed and continued with her argument.

"She's never worn that kind of gloves before. It's weird." Michelle then grabbed her bottled water and took a sip from it.

"Well, I think it's a great fashion statement," Ned noted.

"I think so as well." Peter then followed, which made Eleanor smile at both of them.

"See? I'm okay." Eleanor stated, staring back at Michelle, trying to sound as genuine as possible. But deep down, she knew she wasn't okay. And she knew Michelle thought that as well. The conversation took a turn, with Ned gushing about the latest horror movie that had been released, and with Michelle suggesting that there were better horror movies than that one. Eleanor wasn't paying that much attention, she stared at her salad, wondering if she had to wear those gloves forever.

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Eleanor was on the elevator with her earphones in her ears. Her foot was hitting the floor to the rhythm of an AC/DC song, something Tony rubbed off on her. The metal doors opened, and she walked forward to Mr. Stark's office. As she turned right and saw the familiar glass walls, she noticed that Tony Stark wasn't the only one inside that space. It was him, and a tall, dark-skinned guy with black clothes. His back was facing her, while Tony was in front of him. She then noticed a woman enter the office as well. She had similar clothes that Black Widow had when Eleanor got the chance to see her in the news. They were all talking but stopped when they noticed the teen waiting outside the glass door.