A/N: i. hate. this. virus.
let me list everything that got cancelled for me:
- watching onward in theaters
- my play
- my exams (only good thing that was cancelled)
- my state competition
- potentially my prom
- potentially my graduations !!
- my trip to atlanta
it's safe to say im pretty upset and i know im not the only one. not to mention this weather!! i deadass haven't seen the sun in a week. 7 am looks the same as 7 pm. every. day.
*sigh* anyone else need to rant? please, rant the hell out. i would love to hear someone else's problems for a change
anyway, i still have all my classes online so my workload isn't much different, but i am going to try to publish longer chapters since im home all day and have nothing fun to do so
this chapter is kinda fun so enjoy!
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"Um, I'm...going to...uh, watch porn."
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"Tony, please," she whispered, touching his shoulder. His jaw tightened.
"Say something," she begged quietly.
"Do you even remember them?" he asked. Adelaide's breath hitched. She looked up at him, the tears cascading down her face. He didn't know who she really was. The monster inside of her ran deeper than even she knew.
"I remember all of them," she whispered.
The look he gave her in that moment would be one she would never forget. Adelaide really thought he would have been in less pain if someone had stabbed him right then and there.
He pulled away from her hand.
No.
Panic flared in her chest and her face paled. He wasn't leaving – he couldn't be leaving. Not without her. She knew damn well that he couldn't live without her as much as she couldn't without him. The only question was: was he angry enough that he could?
"I can't – I can't – without you – I don't know how," she stuttered as he began walking away from her.
Her lungs were failing her. She scrambled for words, something that would change his mind.
"Tony, please don't do this!" she shouted after him, "Tony, wait!"
She ran up to him, stopping to stand in front of him. He stopped walking, looking down at her. Without another second of hesitation, she threw her arms around him, shaking with sobs into his suit.
"Please don't leave me," she begged, pulling away to look at him, "I'll do anything – anything! Just-Just tell me what I need to do and I'll-I'll do it. B-But I can't – I just can't without you. Please, please, please. I love you a-and I know you love me too. Don't do this, I'll do anything!"
"Please," he said quietly, his voice cracking.
To her absolute horror, Tony pushed past her and kept putting a wretched distance between them with every angry step.
"Tony!" she screamed as his painfully familiar red and gold suit disappeared into the snowstorm, "Tony!"
"Adelaide?" someone said, tapping her shoulder.
She jerked away before she realized it was just Vivian. She looked around, remembering where she was again. They were still on the bus, only it was empty now except for Vivian standing over her. She must have drifted off into a quasi sleep during the ride.
"We're here," Vivian said and Adelaide sighed, rubbing her eyes. Maybe if she rubbed them hard enough, she could get rid of that memory.
"Are you okay?" Vivian asked softly. Adelaide looked at her and then nodded.
"I'm fine," she mumbled, pushing herself onto her feet. She thought about those last moments she had with Tony every day. They might not have been the happiest, but they were all she had left of him now. Just memories. Would they ever be enough? They were going to have to be.
"There you are," Mr. Harrington said, "Come on, come on, we need to check in with the hotel. Everyone's waiting in the lobby."
Adelaide and Vivian followed him inside the hotel and there she spotted their group standing off the side in front of the bathrooms as they waited.
"You guys stay put here — Flash, don't touch that, you'll get electrocuted — I'm going to get our keys for the rooms. Please stick with your roommates so we can make this as quick as possible," Mr. Harrington said. Everyone mumbled back a reply and he went off to the front desk to get their keys for the rooms.
"I'm going to use the bathroom," Adelaide mumbled to Vivian before ducking through the group to the bathrooms behind them. Thankfully, no one was inside.
Adelaide went into a stall, noting how fancy everything looked. The decathlon committee did not hold back when they picked this hotel. There was practically an entire living room inside this bathroom. When she stepped out of the stall, she caught her reflection in the mirror and sighed.
She looked tired.
And she did not look 15 at all. She looked much, much older. The lighting in the bathroom didn't try to hide anything either. She picked at her skin, trying to make it look less lifeless somehow by pinching color into it. She had an indention on her cheek from where the window had dug into her face during her nap. She sighed again, dropped her fingers from her face. It was hopeless.
Just then, her phone began to ring.
She dug it out of her pocket, wondering who was calling her. It was Happy. She sighed, leaning against the countertop in front of her. She almost hung up on him like she had been doing for the past three months now, but something stopped her. He hadn't called her in weeks. What if there was an emergency? What if something had happened to Tony?
She picked up before her last thought was even through.
"Hello?" she said, feeling her stomach twisting with nerves.
Please let Tony be okay.
"Got a blip on my screen here. You left New York?" he said. Adelaide paused, running his sentence over in her mind again. Then she let out her breath in relief. Tony was okay and Happy was just being Happy.
"Are you tracking me?" she asked in disbelief, "How are you even—"
Tracker. In her suit.
Which she had brought with her as a precaution. She glanced in the mirror at the backpack hanging on her shoulders.
"Where are you?" he asked. Adelaide bit her lip, glancing over at the door. If she told him nothing then there was a chance he'd come over himself. Besides, she wasn't exactly hiding anything.
"It's just a school trip, Happy," she said, "But I have to say, you tracking me without my permission is a complete violation of my privacy."
"I haven't seen you complaining about it for the past two years. What are you trying to hide from me now?"
"Two years— why am I just now hearing about this?" she mumbled, slightly annoyed, "And for your information, it's just the Academic Decathlon. It's not a big deal."
"Hey, hey. I'll decide if it's no big deal," Happy said. Adelaide waited.
"Sounds like it's no big deal, but—"
"Happy," she interrupted, "I'm not your problem. You don't have to worry about me anymore."
"You can avoid me all you want kiddo, but I'm always going to worry about you," he said and she could hear the smile in his voice. Adelaide sighed.
"You're only going to get yourself hurt. Because the person you're looking for isn't here anymore," she said quietly and ended the call.
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Peter had to get the tracker out of the suit.
"Peter, why are removing the tracker from your suit?" Ned asked. They were in their hotel room, door locked and curtains drawn. The rest of the team was out to eat lunch in the court downstairs.
"Uh, because I gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move again and I don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it," Peter mumbled. He was hunched over his suit, connecting a wire to it to hook it to the computer. He had a flashlight in his mouth, trying to locate the tracker on his suit.
Ned was at the computer, watching as the information from his suit uploaded onto the screen.
"So you're lying to Iron Man now?" Ned asked. Peter paused and then took the flashlight out of his mouth, looking over his shoulder at his best friend.
"No, I'm not lying. He just doesn't really get what I can do yet," he said, turning back to his suit. Ned eyed him warily.
"Ah...Gotcha," Peter said, taking the tracker out of the suit. Carefully, he put it on the lamp.
"All right, Happy. Enjoy tracking this lamp," he said, pretty proud of himself.
"There's a ton of other subsystems in here..." Ned mumbled, scrolling through the files on the computer.
"Hmm?" Peter hummed distractedly, still hunched over his suit. Ned smirked.
"...but they're all disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol," he grinned.
"What?" he said. Peter immediately hopped onto the bed beside Ned, running his eyes over the screen.
On the screen, the words Training Wheels Protocol were written in bright red. The codes said that the protocol was currently active and that the Stark Industry Key Identifier needed to be entered to disable it.
"Training Wheels Protocol?" Peter said in disbelief. Ned chuckled and Peter glanced at him, slightly embarrassed.
"Turn it off," he said.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Ned said, "I mean, they're probably blocked for a reason."
"Come on, man," Peter said, sliding off the bed, "I don't need training wheels." He jumped onto his bed and began to bounce up and down on it.
"I'm sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It's not cool," he mumbled. Ned frowned.
"But you are a kid," he said.
"Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands," Peter said, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Peter, I just don't think this is a great idea. I mean, what if this is illegal?" Ned said, feeling a sense of deja vu. He had been in a similar situation with Adelaide not too long ago. Peter jumped down from the bed and knelt down beside his best friend, making the best puppy dog eyes he could.
"Look, please. This is my chance to prove myself. I can handle it," he said, shaking his arm, "Ned, come on."
"I really don't think this is a good idea," Ned said, looking between his best friend and the screen. Peter gave him a little smile.
"The guy in the chair," he whispered, tugging his arm. Ned immediately shook his head.
"Don't do that," he said, pulling his arm away.
"Come on," Peter whispered, pouting.
Ned sighed and began typing reluctantly.
Suddenly, a blue flash pulsed through the suit and both boys turned their heads to look at it.
Peter grinned.
Just then, there was a knock on the door. They both looked at each other with wide eyes and then leaped out of the bed, throwing the covers over everything to hide it. Ned looked through the peephole in the door.
"It's Adelaide," Ned whispered over his shoulder.
"What is she doing here?" Peter whispered back. Ned shook his head.
"I don't know. You good?" he asked, talking about the suit.
"Yeah," Peter whispered, glancing at the bed, "Yeah." Not like it really mattered. She already knew. But she didn't know that Ned knew.
Ned took a deep breath and opened the door just enough to pop his head out.
"Hey Adelaide! What's up!" he said, sounding extra cheery. Adelaide gave him a weird look then shook her head.
"Listen, I need your help," she whispered, looking up and down the hall repeatedly as if someone was listening.
"What?" Ned said. Adelaide paused, trying to look past him, into the room.
"Is Peter here?" she whispered. Ned looked over his shoulder and saw Peter shaking his head vigorously. He turned back to Adelaide.
"Nope," he said, going to close the door, "Okay, have a good day."
"Wait," she whispered, "I still need your help, dummy."
"With what?" he said. Adelaide looked around the hall again and then lowered her voice even more, leaning in.
"My suit," she whispered, "I need to...I need to disable...something."
Ned paused. "Training Wheels Protocol?"
Adelaide looked embarrassed.
"Well, I mean– wait...how do you know?" she whispered. Ned sighed.
"Lucky guess," he whispered. He didn't know this guy in the chair thing was going to keep him so busy. What if Mr. Stark found out and came after him? "Adelaide — are you sure?"
"Yes," she whispered as if it was obvious.
"Where's your suit?" he sighed.
"In my room," she whispered, "Come on. Before Vivian gets back from lunch."
"Give me a second," he whispered and pulled back to close the door. He turned back to Peter who had been standing there whole time and was now watching him suspiciously.
"What did she want?" he asked.
"What? Oh, nothing," he said, walking over to the laptop, "Hey, I'm going to need this for something really quick so..."
"Is it done uploading?" Peter asked, walking over to him. Ned pulled out the plug connecting the laptop to the suit.
"Yeah," he said, flipping it shut, "I'm gonna be right back."
Peter frowned, "Where are you going with that?" Ned was backing up to the door slowly, trying to buy himself enough time to find an excuse.
"Um, I'm...going to...uh, watch porn," he said just as his back hit the door. He immediately made a grab for the door handle.
"Dude," Peter cringed just before Ned stumbled out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Ned flattened himself against the wall beside the door, closing his eyes and internally cursing himself for his stupidity.
"What's wrong?" Adelaide said, watching him. Ned sighed, dropping his head.
"Nothing. Let's go," he mumbled, making his way down the hall.
This guy in the chair thing was starting to become rough.
––––––––––
Adelaide was waiting by Peter's hotel room door.
She had overheard a bit of their conversation when she had come to ask Ned to remove her tracker. Apparently, Peter was planning of following the guys with the weapons tonight.
And she was going to follow him.
When Ned questioned why she brought her suit with her, she just told him that she had brought it as a precaution, but he didn't seem to buy it. Nevertheless, he wasn't exactly in a position to question her so he didn't ask. Now, all she had to do was follow Peter and he would most likely lead her to the source of the weapons.
Adelaide's main concern was who was using these weapons.
If HYDRA got their hands on them then...
No. She wouldn't let that happen. She was going to track down the source and then eliminate him so he would stop his arms dealing business. She would just have to be very careful. This could easily blow up and become a big thing and she definitely didn't want that to happen. It would have to be a silent mission.
Just then, Peter peeked out the door.
Just like she had suspected he would. Adelaide immediately turned herself invisible and watched him. She knew he didn't just randomly have a change of heart and decided to join the team again. He wasn't fooling her. According to May, he had been so busy with the Stark "Internship" that he didn't have time for much else. So, clearly, then, he was here for the Internship. And the Internship meant Spider-Man.
"Yeah, the glowy thing, it's evidence. Keep it safe," Peter whispered to Ned over his shoulder. Glowy thing? What glowy thing? Did he have a piece of the weapon?
"They're moving," Peter whispered.
Adelaide prepared herself to follow him. After Ned had removed the tracker from her suit, she stuck it in the drawer in her hotel. She had her hoverboard with her too, hooked on her back just in case she needed to be fast.
"Be careful," she heard Ned whisper just before Peter closed the door. Looking up and down the hall, he pulled the hood over his head. Adelaide was so focused on Peter that she didn't see Liz approaching him.
"Hey, Liz," Peter said in his usual squeaky voice. Liz looked around the hallway before leaning towards him.
"Perfect timing. We're gonna go swimming," she whispered and then looked past him, waving her hand, "Come on, come on, come on."
"What?" he whispered. Suddenly, the group ran past her, quietly laughing. Flash ran by Peter, slapping his butt. Adelaide laughed to herself.
"Hey!" Peter jumped and Flash laughed. He turned back to Liz. "I was, uh...I was gonna go study, um, in the business center."
"Peter, you don't need to study," Liz said shyly, "You're, like, the smartest guy I've ever met."
Peter looked at her in a slight awe. Liz just complimented him.
"And besides..." she whispered, trying to hide a girlish smile, "Um, a rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale."
"Hmm?"
"Um, well, I read that in a TED Talk, so..." she said, "I-I heard it in a TED Talk. And I read a coaching book." Her smile looked so innocent and free. Adelaide was jealous of it instantly. And she didn't like the way Peter was looking at her. What if he dropped the mission entirely and followed her to the pool?
"Wow, you really..." he started, seeing her in a different light, "This is really important to you."
"Yeah. It's our future. I'm not gonna screw it up," she said like it was obvious, "Besides, we raided the minibar and these candy bars were, like, eleven dollars. So get your trunks on and come on."
She threw a candy bar at him and he caught it, just barely. He was in some kind of trance like he usually was when he talked to Liz.
"Come on!" Charles whispered to Liz.
"Come on," Sally echoed.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Liz whispered and turned around and followed them, assuming that Peter was going to follow her.
Peter stood there for a while, looking down the hallway where she had ran down. Then he sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He looked down at the candy bar in his hand and then shook his head, laughing lightly.
"Ted talk," he whispered to himself and quietly chuckled again.
Adelaide didn't understand the feeling that was settling into her chest in that moment.
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A/N: jealousy. the word you're looking for is jealousy adel- ah, forget it. you still have a few (notice how i said few and not lot) more chapters before you realize it.
i think this was a pretty chill chappie. the ned bit was pretty funny, poor guy lol. he wanted the guy in the chair he got the guy in the chair just from both ends haha
so this virus has doubled in two days in the us and im really not seeing an end to this quarantine thingy. anyway, i made a twitter so y'all can follow me if you want lol @riyadp18 we can start a thread about tom holland or just rant about the virus lol
question: any guesses for the next chapter? especially since we might be getting a new superhero pairing soon...
also!! please stay safe guys, really. stay home, wash your hands, don't touch MEN (mouth, eyes, nose), and try not to travel if you can avoid it! i really hope this corona thing blows over really soon and everyone can be safe and healthy again :((
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