eleanor ◇ peter parker

chapter nine

CHAPTER NINE. THE THINGS WE SAY.

   "in other news, the so-called 'green goblin' strikes again." the reporter croaked, changing the subject in a split second. it was a stark contrast. It went from a story about a kid who raised $100,000 for an animal adoption center. Now the animals could fight off the harsh winter that creeped closer and closer. "witnesses say they saw the man flying through the air, screaming things that we couldn't quite understand. reports also say they that a wall on the east side says 'I will find her' written with what seems like a green spray paint. we don't know who this 'she' is, but we recommend she come in as soon as possible. we will have police up at all hours of the night, waiting for the next attack."   

"i can't believe they haven't done anything about this," wade sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. it had been about 3 days since the attack on ellie - 3 days since her friends all learned the truth about her. she's since been to school, trying to pretend like everything was okay. pretending like a crazy man wasn't flying around town looking to kill her. nobody at school (besides the select few) knew it was ellie. Yet they all talked to her about it like they figured it couldn't be her.

   people would ask her, "who do you think it is?" or "how old is she?" but ellie never knew how to react. oh, she's a teenage girl with regenerative powers that were passed onto her from her dad. she's lived here for a few months now and she's been through much more than she ever expected. she's dating the spider-man, her father is deadpool, and her best friend is kid omega. no big deal.   

but, when asked, ellie only shrugged with a small smile. "i-i'm not sure," she'd say. "but i hope they keep her safe."

"they're doing stuff now," ellie gestured to the screen as the topic changed again. it was now about a hurricane in north carolina. "they're...they're reporting...on the matter."

  "exactly," wade barked out, standing up. he was extremely mad, but that was obvious. "these people who so-called 'cared' for the people of queens are currently sitting on their asses, waiting for something to happen. these assholes couldn't care less about you, eleanor!"   

"they don't know it's me!" ellie fought back. she didn't know why she felt like she had to defend these people, but she did. maybe it was because deep down in her heart, she hoped that they were doing everything they could, even if they weren't. she took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "how can they care about me and help me if they don't know it's me?"

"they can ask!" wade screamed. it took him a moment to hear what he just said. ask who? "i-yeah, that made no sense," he grimaced at himself. "ellie...we - we can't..."

"dad..." ellie stood, her heartbeat quickening. she had no clue what her unpredictable father would say next. "we can't what?" she walked closer to her father, who had his back turned to her. he didn't move a muscle. his breathing was everywhere, his eyes downcast towards the floor. he didn't want to bring himself to say anything, he couldn't. sure, it was all fun and games until ellie got involved. and she couldn't stay involved. 

wade's hands shook as he turned around and faced the small girl standing in front of him. his heart broke the longer he looked at her. he knew in the back of his head that ellie already knew where wade was going with this. "ellie, we - we have to go."

it was completely silent. ellie didn't move. wade expected her to scream out, ripping her vocal chords to shreds. he wanted her to raise her hands and push his chest back until it was purple and blue. he wanted her to rear back her left fist and deck him in the face, like he taught her to when she was 8. he'd be happy for her to let loose completely.