From the Shadows | PETER PARKER [2]

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As the days pass, everything on Eloise's plate starts to stack up. Her daily routine is to wake up, do as much homework as she can that she didn't do the night before, go to school, train with Bucky, patrol the city with Peter, study with her friends, take shower, and sleep. Sometimes the order is mixed, and sometimes something else is added. She is as exhausted as she has ever been from this rigorous routine, but at the same time she feels more alive than ever. When she's patrolling the city with Peter, she can feel her stress about school and everything else melt away. Plus, when she uses her powers for good, the guilt that has been weighing her down feels significantly lighter.

Mason tries to talk to Eloise again, but she acts like she doesn't see him when he shows up outside her school and doesn't answer any of his texts or calls. She brings it up to Peter, and Peter mentions that Mason asked about her. Eloise comes to the conclusion to block Mason so she stops getting spammed by his messages.

Tonight, Eloise and Peter are looking for anyone who may need help as they usually do. Peter patrols the city right after school some days, and today is one of those, so he has a few stories to share as he swings the two of them around to different parts of Queens.

Eloise notices a guy on the street below them looking down at their phone as they start to cross a street. He is oblivious to the crosswalk's light turning red and the cars that approach his path. Mid-swing, Eloise focuses on his feet and makes the person stop walking before he can get another foot onto the road. The man looks up, startled when a car zooms right in front of him.

Peter and Eloise land on the roof of a building. They only stay there for roughly two minutes before Peter's spider-senses go off and he locates a group of people vandalizing a house.

"Teenagers," Eloise scoffs sarcastically and wraps her arms around Peter's neck. "Always causing trouble."

"I know, right?" Peter plays along, shooting a web and hopping off the roof.

He makes a sudden turn to reach the troublemakers, and the jolt causes Eloise's grip to loosen. She slips right through Peter's arm and falls to the ground hard.

"Shit!"

Eloise groans and pushes herself off the ground, her body aching from the sudden impact. She hears the sound of shoes running against loose gravel and looks up to see the young vandals sprinting away.

Spider-Man swings over to her. Holding her side, she waves him forward. "I'm good, they're getting away," She grunts.

"I'll be right back!" Peter promises, hesitating slightly before turning and chasing the group of teenagers.

Alone in the space between two houses, Eloise pushes herself up to her knees and cranes her neck to look to the sky. Thankfully she wasn't too high up when she fell, or else that could have been a lot worse.

Wincing, she scoots over so she can sit against the vandalized house and leans her head back against the white paneling. There's a dull pain in her ribs and a ringing in her ears, but other than that, she feels fine.

Eloise hears the twips of the webs before she hears Peter's voice call out, "Okay, I'm back!"

She turns her head to the side and sees two Spider-Man's jumping onto the ground and swiftly making their way over to her. The ground tilts under the two heroes and she closes her eyes, blinking a few times until her vision returns to normal.