Run - Hozier

The rest of the decathlon group had raced inside, ready to reach the top of the tallest structure in D.C., whereas Michelle, Lila, and Mr. Harrington remained outside to gawk at the structure. It wasn't like they'd seen taller, they lived in New York, but it was different to see something so tall sit so isolated. But Michelle wasn't really gawking, she was sizing up the structure, feeling something else entirely than the typical wonder.

"Taking it all in, Michelle?" Mr. Harrington asked, looking between her and the monument.

Michelle, who already had her book out, ready to read, regarded her teacher. "Oh, yeah, I just - um - I don't really want to celebrate something that was built by slaves."

"Oh, I'm sure the Washington Monument wasn't built by..." Mr. Harrington trailed off, making eye contact with a guard, who looked at him as if to say Yes, it was indeed built by slaves. Mr. Harrington cleared his throat awkwardly and fiddled with his jacket. "Okay. Enjoy your book."

"Thanks," Michelle said, turning back to Lila to share a laugh with her. The two of them headed over to a bench when MJ spoke again. "Lila, I know you want to go to the top."

Lila tilted her head to the side, "It's okay, MJ, I-"

"I know you're dying to see it ever since you found out Eliza Hamilton helped with it."

Lila winced, shrugging apologetically. "I don't want to leave you here by yourself."

With a straight face, Michelle replied, "I just want you to take a moment to think about who you just said that to."

"MJ-"

"Go, Lila, I'll be okay."

Lila relented, heading towards the doors. She turned around, still walking, and shouted to Michelle, "I'll be sure to hate it a little extra for you."

*****

It was like Ned suddenly forgot how to use his phone, or so Peter felt. He wasn't answering at all, despite the multiple attempts to call him and warn him of what would happen if the alien technology got anywhere near radiation. With every ring sounding in his ear, Peter grew more desperate. Abandoning hope that Ned would ever answer the phone, he dialed the number of the girl who, in the span of a week, managed to squeeze herself into the role of a friend.

*****

Lila was one of the last in the security check-in, frequently looking back to see if a certain boy would suddenly come bursting through the doors and join their group. She was still beyond worried sick, despite the rest of the team being relatively angry with him for missing the competition. Well, all except for Flash, that is, who was holding on to the trophy with a smug look on his face, waiting to rub it in Peter's face just how much trouble he was in.

Suddenly, Lila's phone began to ring in her back pocket, making the girl jump and come back from her train of thought. She simply assumed the caller would be her dad, and was baffled to hear Peter's voice instead. "Lila?"

"Peter?" She blinked, shocked to hear his voice, and worried at the frantic tone. "Wh-what's going on, are you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay. Where's Ned, where are you right now?"

"What do you mean, we're - we're at the Washington Monument where you're supposed to be," Lila huffed indignantly. She should've cooled it on the anger quickly seeping through her tone, but hearing Peter on the other end of the call, completely fine, left her too upset to care. "You missed the entire decathlon, Peter. What the hell happened? I thought you said you - you were coming back-"

"I'll explain everything just tell me where Ned is!"

The security line moved forward, and Lila looked up in time to see Ned on the other side of the metal detector, shouldering his backpack and waiting for the rest of the group. He looked just as anxious as she felt, and that sent another wave of anger to the surface. "He just made it past security, I'm-"

"No, no, no, no, no, Lila, listen to me. You have to get everybody out of th-"

Suddenly, the phone was yanked from her grasp as Liz Allen, who was behind her, took her phone and placed it on her ear. "Peter, is that you?" She awaited his response, before pursing her lips and sending an apologetic look Lila's way. "You flake! You are so lucky we won." Her attitude extending past her words and into her body language, Liz put her free hand on her hip. Both she and Lila were pushed forward, the latter being moved through the metal detector. But Liz was still loud enough that she could hear her. "You know, I want to be mad at you, but I'm more worried. Like, what is going on with you?"

"Miss," Came the security guard, interrupting Liz's conversation on the phone. "All items on the belt, please." Liz complied, not even waiting for Peter's response. She hurried through the metal detector and straight over to Lila.

"Sorry, Lila," She said, then blowing out a puff of air. "I just - we worked so hard and that was completely uncool of Peter to skip out on it. Especially because you were an alternate today, too. And you were obviously uncomfortable, and just - ugh - that's not what teammates do!"

As the two girls collected their things and headed for the elevator, Lila's respect for Liz shot through the roof. Not that she thought Liz was ever rude or anything but an amazing person before, but Lila knew that some kindness was deeper than just surface-level, and that was hard to find in people, let alone high-schoolers. She sighed. "W-we still won. You made - you made sure that everyone w-was ready for today, even when we didn't want to be. That's what makes you such a - a good captain."

Liz glanced at her sideways, smiling. "We did a great job today."

As they stepped onto the elevator, Mr. Harrison made sure that they were all together with the tour guide, before signaling it was okay to ascend. As the doors were closing, Lila heard Flash ask, "Mr. Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?" The elevator jolted before slowly climbing upwards.

Lila stood slightly behind Ned, glancing around the elevator, and listening to the tour guide as she began her spiel on the history of the monument. On any other day, she would have loved to hear about the history, which fascinated her, but her mind was still stuck on Peter. The medal sat heavy around her neck, a hard-earned victory, and the first person she wanted to celebrate with wasn't present. He was missing. Again. Her anxiety kept launching her thoughts into why he had skipped, why he had come all this way to not even attend. Then, she looked over at Ned, Peter's best friend, and her anger came back even stronger.

Lila wondered what kind of friend Peter really must be if he left Ned hanging like he did. Ned was left to take the heat of Peter's absence, something he really didn't deserve, because he'd followed the rules and stayed put. Looking at him, Lila started to turn her anger inwards on herself, berating herself for not fighting Peter harder on coming to the damn pool. This whole situation could have been resolved if she'd managed to actually deny Peter his request of not telling anyone he was leaving. And her anger finally circled back to Peter Parker.

Lila nudged Ned gently, and he looked behind him to her. Smiling softly, he leaned closer to hear what she had to say. "I'm - I'm sorry about Peter, Ned," She whispered. It wasn't like she took it upon herself to constantly apologize for Peter's behavior, but she figured that Ned deserved some form of apology. And he was more likely to get it from her than he was from the boy who should've actually said something to him.

"O-oh, don't - don't worry about it, Lila," Ned whispered back, anxiety still peeking through his casual demeanor. The tour guide was speaking loud enough that their whispers didn't carry through the entire elevator, and the poor lady looked so utterly bored, that if she did see Ned and Lila talking, she didn't seem to care. "I'm sure Peter's gonna be fine."

"It's not Peter that I'm worried about," The girl hissed, and Ned looked at her in surprise. He'd looked as though he'd never seen much negative emotion come from her before. And maybe he hadn't, but Lila didn't really care. "You shouldn't have had to take all the blame for him today." Her eyes flickered over to Mr. Harrington on the other side of Ned when she froze.

Ned started to respond, "Lila, it was really important-"

"Ned," She muttered, eyes widening in confusion. "Your backpack's glowing."

The camouflage backpack was completely inconspicuous save for the purple light burning a hole through the top of it. In the blink of an eye, it shot up through the ceiling and cast the elevator in a purple glow. Had Lila's mind been able to keep up with the sequence of events, she might've thought that the glow was eerily similar to that of the light which burst through Mr. Delmar's shop, or the light which robbed her of her mother. But another second passed, and soon the elevator came shuddering to a violent stop, rocking everyone back and forth. By the time everyone could catch up with the now perilous situation, the elevator ceiling was smoldering with a giant orange ring. The rest of the compartment was slowly filling with a bit of smoke. Only Lila seemed to notice Ned shrug off his backpack and throw it to the ground like it too was on fire.

"Oh, my god, look at the ceiling," Flash stated, pointing out what truly was the obvious. Not that anyone could blame him, it was a little difficult to look at anything else. What was going to happen when that thing finally gave...?

Liz was not messing around. "Just stay calm everyone." Her natural leadership skills were still in effect, and Lila tried to remember to say something to her about how amazing she was at keeping morale up, even in mortal peril.

Unfortunately, Abraham was not able to heed to that advice. "Oh, we're all going to die here," He said, sweat starting to shine on his forehead.

"We're freaking screwed," Charles added, peeking up through one of the windows to see how far it was to the top.

The tour guide, in a miraculously monotone voice, reassured them, "Okay, I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working." No one knew that just outside the monument, a certain AI was saying the exact opposite. "We're very safe in here." As soon as she said that, the very distinct sound of an elevator cable snapping was heard, sending the teenagers in the compartment into deeper of a terror.

The guide, who Lila hoped had been trained for a situation like this, asked for a leg-up from Mr. Harrington, who happily obliged as she moved over to the elevator hatch. She opened the hatch, and climbed to the top. Looking through the small opening, Lila could see shattered glass everywhere, along with the elevator doors to the room that sat at the very top of the monument. She also saw security prying open the doors to help everyone stuck on the elevator. But the view of safety was cut off by a hand jutting back into the elevator, grabbing for the first person available. Fortunately, that person was Cindy, and she happily grabbed on.

Cindy's body was halfway through the hatch when another elevator cable snapped, sending everyone into a tizzy. Part of Lila wondered if that much movement could be good for their situation, but a lot of her brain power was spent watching everyone hurry for the hatch. It was then that certain memories came to the surface for Lila, and she found herself actually shrinking into the far corner, trying her best to not breakdown.

The security guard was pulled up by the other guards at the top to ease some of the weight off the elevator. Then Abraham, Charles, and Sally were the next to leave, all doing their best to avoid the shards of glass that had fallen through. Mr. Harrington was doing his best to give kids a leg-up if they needed it, and add words of encouragement to everyone who left the elevator. He gestured over to Liz, who was headed his way when Flash shoved her aside and into the corner Lila was hiding in. "It's my turn!" He cried, still carrying the trophy.

Liz looked back to see Lila, still frozen, and turned back to Flash. "Just - forget about the trophy!" But to no avail, for Flash was shoving the trophy through before himself. He was also rather careless on the top of the elevator, jostling the entire compartment as he scurried to safety. "Take my trophy!" He yelled, forcing one of the security guards to comply while the other helped lift him up. When his foot left the top of the hatch, all hell broke loose.

Lila's grip on the rails that lined the walls of the compartment slackened as she watched the ceiling separate from the rest of the elevator, and then her eyes involuntarily shut. Her mind focused on her mother, and how she used to smile at Lila. How her soft, blue eyes always reassured her that everything was going to be okay. For a split-second, as the screams increased, and her hair started to rise upwards as the elevator plummeted, Lila thought she might get to see those eyes again. Some part of her was already making peace with leaving and seeing her mom once more, until she was knocked to the ground due to the elevator suddenly stopping. That was when Lila's eyes flew open, and she was thrust once more into the terrifying reality of her situation.

The loud crash of the doors to the top floor escaping their hinges sounded, and the elevator landed on one of the structural support beams at an awkward angle. Suddenly, Liz, Ned, Mr. Harrington, and Lila were joined by a fifth person, clad in red and blue spandex. As if the universe were trying to top itself, Spider-Man fell through the hole in the ceiling and slammed into the floor next to Lila. The pair made a brief, wide-eyed exchange at seeing each other again before the elevator jolted back into motion, sending them hurtling down several more stories. Spider-Man was quick to work, shooting a web right up through the empty ceiling and onto something Lila couldn't see. Suddenly, he was lifted off the ground, and landed upside-down on the remnants of the elevator ceiling.

Awkwardly looking around at the four petrified people, Spider-Man nods, pulling up the elevator casually, like he was merely pulling a scarf out of a fake magic hat. "Hey, how you doin'?" His voice was gravelly, and the Queens accent was too heavy. Nothing about his voice was right, and didn't sound like the voice that saved her life just days before. "Don't worry, I've got you."

Liz and Mr. Harrington helped Lila stand back up on her feet, the former trying to rid her of the glass decorating her yellow decathlon jacket. Ned, on the other hand, had his eyes glued to Spider-Man, face breaking out into a delighted grin. "Yes!" He cried out in relief. "Yes!" His celebration moved past the verbal and into the physical, shifting the elevator ever-so slightly.

"Hey, hey, hey, big guy, quit moving around!" Spider-Man's voice lost all rasp, and jumped an octave, revealing his age to be closer to Lila's than maybe he'd've liked to admit. It would've been humorous had they not been in their present situation, and Ned was quick to apologize. The elevator grew quiet, save for the grunts of Spider-Man as he continued to single-handedly pull the elevator up to safety.

Everyone remained relatively still for the most part, staring up as their means of escape grew closer and closer. Everyone save for Lila, who shrank in on herself even further. She hissed lowly, realizing that when she'd fallen down, she'd smacked her head against some broken glass. It decided to make its presence known then, and Lila brought a hand to her temple. She drew her fingers back into her line of sight, and noticed the red staining the tips of her fingertips. She ignored it, wiping the blood on her jeans.

Lila watched from the back of the elevator as the doors finally aligned well enough that they could be opened by the security guards on the outside. Still hesitant to move, the people on solid ground started ushering them forward. "Alright, this is your stop," Lila heard from above, and Mr. Harrington urged everyone to safety. Ned made it first through the doors, as he was the closest, then came Lila's teacher, who immediately reached back for the two girls remaining in the compartment.

Lila began pushing Liz forward, who in turn grabbed onto Lila's sleeve. "Okay, Lila, you're next."

It was as if her shoes turned to lead, and Lila stared up at Liz disbelievingly. She wasn't entirely sure how it was possible for her mood to change so drastically, but she blamed it on the danger she was still in. "No," She muttered firmly. And for once, Lila didn't feel like stuttering.

Liz looked at her in surprise and disbelief, "Lila, it's not the time to argue-"

"I'm not arguing," Lila said, her voice echoing around the elevator. Her tone was sharp and clear, not at all the soft and gentle one she usually adopted. "You're going first. Because I am not watching somebody else die. I won't do that again." She didn't even notice the superhero above her cock his head in confusion. With surprising strength, Lila hurled Liz forward into the arms of Mr. Harrington and the security guards. Together, they pulled her through and into the building. Even Lila had the satisfaction of seeing her be safe before fate played its last hand. Spider-Man's constant words of encouragement ceased, and the ceiling he rested on finally gave, separating him from the elevator, and sending Lila plummeting once again.

"Lila!" Her name being yelled by Spider-Man sent her looking up as gravity took its hold. As a quick last resort, she jumped, trying to use the momentum to her advantage. If it were not for the fact that she was about to die, Lila might have thought the image of the elevator falling around her suspended state had actually looked cool, but then again, she felt she was likely to follow it. Hand thrust out as far as she was able, she reached for his hand, fingers close to touching before she began to free-fall. She couldn't help it: she finally let out a petrified scream. She continued screaming even after she felt the web-like substance encompass her wrist. She only stopped when her arm was yanked, ceasing her fall as she dangled in the elevator shaft at the top of the Washington Monument. Her ribs ached from the sudden stop, and she let out a sound of disbelief mingled with pain, trying her best to find the air that had left her lungs. Staring up, she saw Spider-Man's eyes on hers. "You're okay," He reassured her, voice soft and comforting, and strangest of all, familiar. "You're okay."

He pulled her up by the webbing, and the entire time Lila worried it somehow would drop her again. It wasn't until her hand was in his that she felt safe at last. Still displaying great strength, he lifted her up by one hand until she was directly in front of the doors, where Liz and Mr. Harrington were quick to wrap their arms around Lila's waist. She felt her fingers drag across Spider-Man's and the feeling of safety remained as she felt her feet hit solid ground. Eyes still locked on Lila, Spider-Man with the heavy Queens accent returned. "So - uh - is everybody okay?" She couldn't help but feel like he meant if she was okay, so Lila nodded minutely.

A million thoughts raced through her brain, but none came to any sort of fruition as the webbing Spider-Man was attached to suddenly snapped, sending the hero down the monument. He disappeared through the smoke that was left over from the elevator, and Mr. Harrington sent down with him a meek thank-you. Flash Thompson, however, was apparently on a one-track mindset, and leaned over the edge, screaming, "Are you really friends with Peter Parker?"

At such a normal sentiment, the adrenaline seemed to leave Lila's body, and she felt her knees buckle. She wasn't ashamed of the tears falling down her face silently, and her friends stood around her in silence, all wrapping their arms around her in solidarity. She clung on to her teacher, who began to guide her down the stairwell. The security guards escorted everyone up top down the monument, though it took a lot of encouraging to get the kids trapped in a plummeting elevator to head back down so soon. Lila was practically swarmed by her teammates, all taking turns murmuring encouragement to get her down the stairs, despite her protests that she was perfectly alright. About halfway down, she gave up, realizing that it was okay for her friends to worry about her.

And when sunlight finally hit her face again, and she was outside of the monument, one friend stood out in particular. Michelle Jones sprinted through the security perimeter and right up to Lila, clutching onto her shoulders tightly, almost like she was scared to let her go. Shock had started to settle in, and Lila's hearing started to dip out on her, and she missed Liz filling MJ in on what exactly went down. Michelle's usual façade of a stoic, uncaring person fractured, worry stretched across her eyes, and her lips set in a tight line. As a paramedic rushed over, asking if anyone was injured, Lila was soon shuffled into his care, someone asking the medic to tend to her head injury as well as her shock. She felt a blanket go over her shoulders, and she gave a small smile to Michelle. Trying to comfort her friend through the tears threatening to surface again, Lila said hoarsely, "I guess you were right about not celebrating things built by slaves."

*****

Much of that afternoon was a blur, save for the quick phone call to her dad and the packing of her things in the hotel room. Lila dusted the rest of the broken glass off of her jacket, and changed into some joggers and a sweatshirt. Her hair was thrown up into a messy ponytail, and her competition clothes were stuffed in her duffel bag. She hadn't said a word to anyone else around her, her mind consumed with thoughts of the afternoon's events. She was relieved to hear that Mr. Harrington decided to take everyone home immediately, not wanting to extend any trauma any further.

For the near four hour bus ride back to New York, Lila picked a seat away from everyone else, tucked her legs under her, and stared out the window. She was so lost in thought that she didn't even notice Peter Parker send her numerous glances from several rows up. Although if she had, she probably would've assumed it had something to do with how she looked. Once the blood had cleared away, a long scratch traced her hairline, and stood dark against her gaunt pallor. Her eyes were red from holding back tears, and her lips were swollen from gnawing on them so frequently. She was a sight, and she was somewhere else entirely.

It was as the sun was beginning to set that Lila really felt the shame settle in, coupled with the guilt. How selfish was she, in those moments, to think only of her mother? Her mother, who she thought she was going to join. She didn't even think of her dad until she was safe and alive. Her death would have utterly devastated him, and he'd be left with nothing. She didn't even think of Sophie, who she'd never have seen graduate, or help her with her podcast like she'd always wanted. There was so much more waiting for her in life compared to only her mother in death, and that was a difficult thing to come to grips with. Her mother had been her everything for so long, that Lila didn't realize until she was almost dead that she'd been given so much more than she could have possibly needed.

It was only when the familiar skyline came into view that Lila took her gaze off the window and into the bus. Students were getting antsy, calling their parents and saying they were back in town, and Lila's gaze fell on Peter Parker. He was almost difficult to see in the night with his navy hoodie, but she always could tell where he was. She glanced over to Ned, who was sitting backpack-less next to Peter, and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. The entire ordeal started with his backpack glowing, and made Lila's line of thinking change drastically. Her eyes flickered back to Peter, and found that he was staring right back at her. Cheeks blushing slightly, she broke eye contact with a sigh. Her mind was moving a mile a minute when what she needed most was to focus on how close she was to seeing her dad. The thought of her dad relieved her, but she didn't feel quite ready to let go of that nagging train of thought in the back of her head. So she took a pencil out of her backpack and a sticky note, and jotted something down.

*****

Peter kept an eye out for all of his friends. He felt satisfied every time someone's family reunited with them, the sounds of relief filling all the voices around him. His eyes landed on the girl a few feet away from him, holding her father up as he burst into tears at the sight of her. Peter felt his stomach twist staring at Lila's dad that way, remembering once more just how much the Landry family had truly lost. He kept going back to that moment: Lila literally slipping through his fingers as she began to fall. The look of horror on her face would be one etched into his mind forever, and he felt relieved that he could safely bring Ted Landry's daughter back to him.

"Peter?" He heard May before he saw her, and barely had enough time to register her coming for him before he reached out and wrapped his arms around her. She held him protectively, threatening to squeeze him practically to death. May finally relinquished her grip, holding Peter at arms length and fawning over him, reassuring herself that nothing was wrong with him.

She'd been going off on the story of how she'd heard what happened when someone behind her cleared their throat. She whirled around at break-neck speed (nearly hitting Peter with her long hair) and revealed to Peter that Lila was the culprit. His throat dried seeing her still pale face with tear streaks reflecting in the light of the school parking lot they resided in, and grew nervous despite knowing she was okay. May exclaimed happily that she was glad Lila was just fine, pulling her in for a hug as well. Lila merely smiled as her eyes kept flickering over to Peter. Taking the hint, May went over to console Mr. Landry, who was trying his best to collect himself.

Lila approached Peter hesitantly, unsure of what to really say. She had been there when the team collected him at the hotel, had been there when Mr. Harrington brushed off Peter's disappearance in light of the rest of his students almost dying. She had been there, and she hadn't, her green eyes dulled to the world due to shock. Yet as she stood in front of him, the light was slowly creeping back in, something that relieved Peter more than he initially thought it would. "Hi," She said, practically whispering.

"Hi," He said back, suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands. It didn't take long to figure out, for Lila had stepped forward and looped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. Peter was surprised, for he had never been this close to her before (as Peter Parker, anyway), but he was quick to reciprocate, arms tightening around her waist. He breathed in deeply, noticing the scent of her peppermint shampoo when he heard her mutter a soft apology. He pulled away suddenly, hands still lingering on her waist when he asked, "Did you just say sorry?"

Lila nodded, eyes flickering off of his face for a moment before looking back at him. "Yeah, I - um - I really value you as a friend, and I don't - I don't - ugh. I didn't want to die today with the last words I said to you being something stupid and petty, but spiteful. A-and kind of mean. I just - I need you to know that seeing as how you're one of like, three people that I talk to-" She laughed softly at herself, "- I really care about you." She pulled Peter's hands off of her waist, gripping his hands tightly before walking off. Peter was shocked to feel something remain in his hands as she gave May one last hug, walked back a few paces to grab Michelle by the hand, and hurried back to her father.

May headed back over to Peter, smiling softly as the two of them watched the Landry family and Michelle leave the school. She patted her nephew on the shoulder, saying softly, "That family's had just the worst luck, lately. You think you can help me out by dropping something off to them later tonight?"

Peter nodded, "Of course." His sight was still set on Lila's retreating figure, the feeling of paper in his hand growing more prevalent by the minute.

May squeezed his shoulder softly. "Okay, I'm gonna go tell Mr. Harrington that we're hitting the road. Wait here, sweetie." He mumbled his agreement and heard May walk away from him. When he was sure she was far enough away, Peter opened his palm and found a folded up green sticky note. Opening it, he read Lila's neat handwriting.

I have questions about you and what happened today.

Peter swallowed nervously, his heart beating faster at what exactly Lila Landry had potentially figured out.

I'm so sorry this took so long. I hope a double update will help you forgive me. Anyways, I think that this chapter (the whole elevator scene onward) was one of the first pieces I wrote for this story. Time to get the ball rolling folks!

Anyways, don't forget that the US is still detaining people in concentration camps as an immigration deterrent. Like America wasn't built on the backs of immigrants and slaves. If you live in the United States, and wish to do something about the horrible treatment of immigrants (and racially targeted US citizens), please read more at www.immigrantdefenseproject.org

Love conquers hate. I love you all, stay hydrated. Xx.