Chapter 19

The Park

Ellie's heart began to race as Pietro's words repeated in her mind. Her teeth began to grind together as she glared at his back as he walked into the distance. How dare he tell her all of that. How dare he tell her Fred had a crush on her, and that Toad liked her, and that even he liked her. Allowing her anger to get the best of her, Ellie took to the air and flew into Pietro's back with great force.

He stumbled forward but quickly ran a half circle until he was facing her on the ground. He gave her a confused and angry look as she stared at him with anger in her eyes.

"What was that for?" Pietro screamed at her. Ellie flew toward him again with the intention of pushing him backward.

Pietro quickly evaded her and stopped behind her. Ellie planted herself on the pavement again. Pietro's expression showed that he was even more confused now.

"Are you trying to fight me?" he asked, his voice still loud. Ellie let out an angry groan.

"I can't believe you!" she yelled. "Why did you tell me all of that? Are you trying to make me feel guilty for wanting to leave?"

"If you feel guilty that's on you. You need to realize that when you walk out on people you aren't the only one affected." Again, Ellie flew full force toward Pietro, but this time she followed after him when he ran.

"Stop charging at me!" Pietro yelled as he darted away from Ellie as she flew after him at the same speed. He came to a skidding halt when she stopped in the air.

Ellie felt a tightening in her chest and her breathing had become shallow. Her hands clasped around her throat and her eyes grew wide as she fought to catch her breath. Pietro stared at her in confusion as she began to cough. Ellie fell to the ground hard on her knees, making Pietro wince as he imagined the feeling.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked as he took a step forward. Ellie placed a hand over her chest and Pietro noticed her face was turning pink.

"Wait…oh no." He quickly ran to her side when he remembered that she had asthma. He knelt down next to her and pushed her hand out of the way, placing his own on her chest.

Ellie's heart was beating so fast that Pietro could physically feel his hand rising and falling with every beat. His eyes widened as he realized that this was serious and he turned to look at Ellie. The whites of her eyes were now laced with red veins as she wheezed for air.

"Ellie, where's your inhaler?" he asked quickly. "You've got one right?" Ellie shook her head from side to side, indicating that she did not have her inhaler. Pietro felt his own heart starting to beat faster.

"What do I do?" he asked. "Should I run to the house and find it? Ellie what do I do?" Ellie grabbed onto his sweatshirt and looked up at him with frightened eyes.

Before he knew it, Ellie had placed her lips on his. Pietro's eyes widened as he felt his body stiffen. He wasn't really sure what was happening. First Ellie was trying to fight him, then she was having an asthma attack, and now she was kissing him? Ellie pulled away quickly and pointed to her throat and then to Pietro's mouth.

"Oh!" he said, realizing that Ellie did not just kiss him. In fact, she was showing him exactly what he was supposed to do.

Pietro placed his lips over Ellie's and began to breath into her, performing CPR. Ellie fought to accept the air that Pietro was giving her, and after a few painful minutes of fighting, she felt her lungs accepting the air. Pietro kept his eyes focused on Ellie's and he could feel relief wash over him as her eyes closed. He could feel her heartbeat becoming regular again and he stopped breathing into her. Ellie opened her eyes when she noticed Pietro had stopped giving her CPR but had not moved his lips away from hers.

His eyes were calm as they stared into hers and Ellie tried to keep herself calm. She wasn't quite sure what she was feeling. Her head was telling her that this was an uncomfortable situation, but she couldn't pull herself away from Pietro. Luckily enough, he did that for her. His hand fell off her chest and he looked at her.

"You okay?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she replied. "Thanks."

"You know, that's a real mean way to try and end a fight." Ellie noticed the corner of Pietro's mouth turn up and she smiled at him.

"Got it. Almost dying is a bad move." Pietro's smirk turned into a grin as he stood up. Ellie got off the ground and stood next to him.

"Can we please go back to the house now?" he asked. Ellie nodded and the two walked next to one another down the road. Ellie looked to Pietro when he pulled off his sweatshirt and held it out to her.

"What?" she asked. "Is that a peace offering?" Pietro shrugged.

"Could be," he answered. "You look kind of cold though." Ellie took the sweatshirt from him and pulled it on over her body.

"Thanks." The sleeves were longer than her arms, so she tried to push them over her wrists. Pietro smiled to himself when he saw this.

"Well that was pretty generous," Ellie thought to herself. "Especially for Pietro."

The two kept walking down the dark street in silence but Pietro could not ignore his trembling hands. He placed them in his jean pockets so Ellie wouldn't notice it too. Seeing her in such a vulnerable state, and not knowing what to do had really shaken his nerves. His expression hardened as he tried to figure out why. He had seen all of the boys thrown around by the X-Men multiple times and he's never been that worried about any of them, so why was it that he was afraid to leave Ellie's side now?

He glanced out of the corner of his eye down at her. His sweatshirt swallowed her small body up in its fabric and her cheeks were still a little pink. He felt a tingling in his stomach when he thought of her placing her lips on his earlier. Pietro rolled his eyes at himself for even thinking that she had kissed him then.

"You know," he said, "When I said I sort of like you back there I didn't mean it the way it sounded." Ellie looked to him.

"Oh?" she asked.

"Yeah. I meant it in an I-can-tolerate-you kind of way. Or maybe even in an annoying-younger-sibling way." Pietro kept his eyes forward, avoiding Ellie's gaze.

"Understandable. I suppose I don't dislike you as much as I let on all of the time. You're kind of okay."

"Please," Pietro began with a scoff. "You're totally into me. I mean you did just try and make-out with me." Ellie wanted to light him on fire now.

"What?" she screamed. Pietro turned and smirked at her.

"Well it's true. I can't blame you though. I am pretty charming and handsome." Ellie took off the sweatshirt he had given her and threw it at him.

"All you are Pietro is a self-centered, annoying little brat! Seriously, you need to get a clue."

Pietro did not respond. Instead he watched as Ellie made her way down the street and back to the Brotherhood house. His smirk faded as she entered the house and he looked down at the sweatshirt in his hands. Ellie wasn't wrong when she said those things about him and Pietro knew that. However, thanks to a momentary lapse in judgment back at the park, he had shown Ellie a vulnerable side of him. Being the leader of a gang of delinquents meant that he couldn't do that again. His reputation needed to remain safe, and that would be impossible if he kept opening up to some hot-headed girl.

"You're right," Pietro whispered, responding to what Ellie had said before leaving. "But I'm better that way." With nothing but the sound of crickets for company, Pietro walked down the dark street at the slowest pace he could manage with his head down.

The X-Mansion

"Charles, you shoulda seen the boy out in the woods today," Logan told his friend as he leaned against the mantle above the roaring fireplace. Charles rested his hands in his lap.

"Could it be that Eli just allowed his emotions to cloud his judgment?" Ororo asked.

"That is a possibility," Charles stated. "Eli is a teenager, and from what he has told us about his past it is entirely possible that he is still struggling with fitting in."

"Which would make his emotions even more out of control."

"Unfortunately the same is true about his powers. I must admit that I am concerned about Eli losing control of himself." The adults exchanged worried glances.

"What about the girl?" Logan asked. "Do ya' think she's going through this too?" Charles rubbed his forehead.

"I certainly hope not, but I'm afraid it is only a matter of time before she loses control as well," Charles answered. "I don't want to alarm Eli, but earlier Ellie was using her powers."

"Do you know why?"

"I'm afraid I don't. Cerebro picked up on her. What's even more disturbing is that Pietro Maximoff was also using his powers, and the two were together."

"So blondie jumped ship and went runnin' to the Brotherhood, huh?" Logan folded his arms over his chest and stared into the fire.

"Do not take it personally Logan," Charles said warmly. "I do not think that Ellie has what it takes to become some delinquent teenager. Sooner or later her conscience will catch up to her and with luck, she will return here, where we can work with her."

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Ororo left her seat on the couch in the Professor's office and opened the door, revealing Eli in the doorway. His eyes were sad and he stood slumped over.

"Eli, come in," Charles said as he waved him in. Eli complied and Ororo shut the door behind him.

Eli slid his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt and stared down at his boots. He looked to the fireplace, catching eyes for a brief second with Logan. A feeling of shame washed over Eli and he returned his eyes to his boots.

"Logan tells me that there was an incident in the woods earlier," Charles began. Eli shrugged. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

"There's not much to tell Professor," Eli explained. "Besides, I'm sure Logan told you everything. I'll go pack my bags and get outta your hair." The adults gave him confused looks. "Well you know, not your hair."

"Calm down Waterboy, you're not goin' anywhere," Logan told him. "We're not gonna kick you out for losing your cool."

"Really?"

"Of course not Eli," Ororo said as she placed a hand on his shoulder. "That's why you're here, to learn how to control your powers."

"Well it doesn't look like I'm doing too well with that."

"It will take time, but I need you to commit yourself to training," Charles explained. "You must also remember that you are a part of a team here. No more running off on your own to handle a situation."

"But there were pictures of my sister," Eli said quickly. "I'm sorry I caused trouble for your team, but I couldn't just stand around and do nothing."

"I realize that. But we are here to help you. The other students have more training in these situations. I am concerned for your safety."

"You shouldn't be. I could have taken that Sabretooth guy out like that." Eli snapped his fingers.

"That's the problem pal," Logan started, "You would have killed him. We don't do that around here."

"Maybe if you did you wouldn't have any problems."

"Eli!" Ororo's voice became stern. "That is enough. This isn't like you."

"Sorry," Eli's tone was unapologetic.

"Eli, why don't you go get some rest. We will talk more tomorrow," Charles dismissed the teen and he made his way out of the room.

"What was that attitude about?" Logan asked. Charles sighed to himself.

"I'm afraid that until Ellie comes back into Eli's life, this is the way that he is going to be," Charles admitted. "For all our sakes, I do hope that she returns soon."