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chapter nine
FREE FALL
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THE DECATHLON IS HERE, and Peter Parker is nowhere to be found. The rest of the team is gathered in front of the hotel, Mr. Harrington repeatedly checking his watch with a half-worried, half-irked expression on his bearded face. He continually pushes his wire-framed glasses up on his nose as a nervous habit.

"You're telling me you don't know where he went, Ned?" he questions to the Filipino boy, who jolts at the mention of his name.

"No, he just — poof. Gone," Ned answers nervously. Not only does he not sound convincing in the slightest, but the way he glances away quickly is an indication that he's lying.

"Leave it to Parker to waltz back in, only to abandon us again," Flash drawls as he examines his nails. "Oh, well, I guess I'll just have to take his place."

A collective groan rises from the team as Mr. Harrington gives the spare team blazer to the boy. Peter, for whatever reason, had taken his jacket with him wherever he'd gone.

Lena turns her attention to Liz, who stares at her shoes in disappointment. The younger girl sighs and can't help but feel frustrated with the situation as well. Like Flash said — it isn't fair that he came back without warning, only to abandon them at their biggest hour of need.

Where could he have gone, anyway? None of them know their way around D.C. They're not even supposed to leave the premises without a buddy. Clearly, Ned knows, because they're practically attached at the hip, but he'd probably promised Peter he wouldn't spill the beans.

It doesn't stop Lena from trying.

As soon as the team starts moving, Lena reaches in front of her and takes Ned's arm. He's clearly startled judging by the way his jaw drops and how he jumps at the physical contact. If that wasn't enough of a hint that he's hiding something, she doesn't know what would be.

"Where is Peter, Ned?" Lena questions with her arms crossed.

The boy's eyes dart to a potted plant behind her. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on," she sighs, raising her eyebrows. "I'm not an idiot. I saw Peter leave, but I thought he was just going to study somewhere."

Ned's face becomes more pinched the longer she speaks, almost like the guilt is physically paining him. He's just about to pop when Mr. Harrington's voice rises above the clamor in front of the hotel.

"Lena, Ned!" He beckons them onward. "Let's go!"

Lena gives Ned a pointed look before heading off in the direction of their bus.

-♕-

By the time they reach the auditorium that the Scholastic Decathlon is being held at, Lena is almost certain that her brain is going to melt out of her ears. Liz had fired question after question at them on their way here. Although she understands that their leader is insanely nervous and isn't trying to stress them out more, she feels pretty overworked from having to force her brain to compute such things at the ungodly hour of seven in the morning.

Check-in starts at seven-thirty, and the actual competition doesn't begin until an hour after then. There is only one other school competing against Midtown Tech for the title of national champions. Normally, it would make her less anxious because it only means they have to beat one team, but they also only have one shot at winning this.

"I've been keeping tabs on the competition," Liz informs Lena and Cindy as they wait in the monstrous line to check in. "Fairfax is good, but they've only beaten others by a small margin. If we remember all of the time management tips I gave everyone, we should be able to beat them."

Cindy worries nervously at her bottom lip. Her pin-straight hair is perfectly smoothed over one shoulder, which only makes Lena's wavy hair seem more wild than normal. She'd shoved a hairpin into it to hold the front section away from her face. Cindy had to spend three full minutes convincing Lena to put on the nice outfit her parents had picked out instead of giving up and going to Nationals in her plaid pajama pants.

Her outfit is fairly similar to the one she'd worn yesterday, only now she's beginning to regret wearing a sweater underneath her blazer. The auditorium is only going to increase in temperature as more people arrive. And, since her already erratic nerves are likely going to go absolutely haywire, she'll be lucky if she doesn't overheat.

"Anyone seen Peter?" Mr. Harrington questions as he stands on his toes to peek over the small group of teens wearing matching yellow blazers.

"He probably got scared and took off," Flash sighs arrogantly.

"Shut up, Flash," Lena grumbles, but not without a tick of annoyance. Peter had lied straight to her face last night. Something is going on and Ned appears to know what it is, but since she doesn't want to terrorize the poor boy with an interrogation right before the competition starts, she'll have to wait until afterward to ask him what the hell is going on.

Of course she doesn't expect Peter to reveal every inch of his life to her. But after they'd both been snatched out of the sky by the vulture dude and dropped into a lake, there seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them— that they were in this together. Or, at least, she'd thought so. Maybe the entire thing had been a miscommunication and he didn't really want to work with her at all.

Lena's phone buzzes in her pocket. She takes it out to read a message from her parents.

MA: Good luck today! We love you! -Ma and Pa

A smile stretches across her face as she types a quick, love you too!! in response. After that, she has to shut her phone off until the end of the competition.

A banner has been placed in front of the door to the auditorium, the words Welcome, Decathletes! printed in enormously large white ink. Lena cringes at it before handing her cell phone to the woman sitting at a table to her right. She cringes again when the lady drops it into a bin unceremoniously.

Lena clasps hands with Cindy backstage. The first event is science, which she will be participating in. Luckily, she gets a break for the next two, so she'll have time to compose herself and attempt not to have a nervous breakdown.

"Welcome to the United States Academic Decathlon," a woman says from the podium in the center of the stage. "Please make sure all cell phones are turned off as we begin the first event of Nationals: Science."

Cindy gives Lena's hand another squeeze before releasing her. The taller girl releases a slow breath and follows Ned onto the stage, holding her head high and squaring her shoulders. She knows that college scouts are sitting somewhere in the audience and she can't afford to make a mistake if she wants a decent scholarship.

She takes her seat, trying not to look at Flash. Her skin itches from the fact that it should be Peter. He should be here like he seemingly wanted to yesterday, he should be supporting them and helping them achieve their dream instead of doing God-knows-what God-knows-where.

But, still, she doesn't let it show. As much as she dislikes Flash, today, they're all a team.

The first event is a blur. Lena's mind whirls throughout the entire thing, her rapid-fire reflexes working in her favor for once when she has to quickly hit the buzzer placed in front of her. Most of the time, she's too focused to notice the heavy lights on her or how hot the back of her neck is getting.

Instead of studying, she spends the majority of her time backstage holding her hair off of her neck and trying not to pass out. Mr. Harrington keeps nervously offering her snacks or water to ensure that she doesn't faint on stage. Abe cracks some jokes to take her mind off of the heat.

"Let's see," he says, stroking his chin in mock thought. "Do I know any jokes about Sodium? Na."

Lena cracks a grin in spite of herself. Her leg bounces restlessly, and, not for the first time, she wishes her body was normal. Her constant movement is only increasing her body temperature.

"I found one!" Cindy announces, rushing to her friend and passing her a hair tie.

"Cindy, you're a lifesaver." Lena breathes as she takes it and flips her head downward. Gathering all of her hair into her hands, she pulls it up and secures it with the elastic. Even the simple action causes her skin to nearly sigh in relief.

"Drink," Mr. Harrington commands as he all but forces a bottle of water into her hands. "I couldn't find anything containing sugar. Did you eat breakfast? I'm sorry if I sound like an annoying parent, but I don't want any of my students fainting."

"I'm fine," Lena assures him, uncapping the bottle and taking a few gulps to keep him from worrying so much.

Mr. Harrington is like a weird uncle who tries to be cool and indifferent but actually really cares about the team. No matter how many times he pretends not to enjoy their banter at practices, they all know he's soft-hearted.

The rest of the competition breezes by; Lena manages to keep herself from fainting the entire time. But it only gets harder once they're in the last few minutes of the final round and the announcer states, "We have now entered sudden death. The next correct answer wins the championship."

Lena is partially glad she isn't on the stage right now. Hidden behind the curtain, she can still watch what's going on but shake where nobody can see. Abe stands beside her, probably in case she passes out when they either win or lose, and Mr. Harrington is a few steps behind her as well. Their moderator has bunched up the front of his blazer in both fists as he watches anxiously.

She examines the faces of the contestants on stage. Liz is the epitome of calm, though her hands are caged between her knees, the only outward sign of her nerves. Ned blows a breath of air out of his mouth. Michelle appears careless as always, and, ironically, it's Flash who's the most nervous. Sweat dots his forehead and causes it to glisten under the heavy stage lights. Even from backstage, Lena can tell he's shaking. The realization causes Lena to feel a tiny twinge of sympathy for him.

She's so busy trying not to spontaneously combust that she doesn't hear the question. But when Michelle rings her buzzer and the sound echoes throughout the auditorium, everything stops. She doesn't breathe. Neither does Abe. Everyone waits anxiously for the answer.

"Midtown Tech?"

Lena is almost certain she'll pass out from anticipation.

Michelle shrugs nonchalantly. "Zero."

"That is correct," the announcer confirms as she begins to clap, and Lena releases her breath in one giant exhale, her lungs burning from holding it in so long.

Abe nearly doubles over with shock. Charles starts doing the Running Man in front of a very exasperated Sally, who rolls her eyes but has a smile on her face nevertheless. The cheers from her team and the audience are nearly deafening. Pride swells in Lena's chest— after so many months of preparation, they'd finally accomplished their ultimate goal. It's like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

But that all stops when she notices something as Ned stands from his chair. Her eyes snag onto a purple light faintly showing through the thick fabric of his pocket, so subtle it isn't surprising that she hasn't noticed it until now. But it's still enough to make her heart stop.

Amid the cheering, Lena marches onstage and grasps onto Ned's arm, pulling him away from the rest of their team and into a less crowded area. The boy's smile fades upon noticing the bewilderment on her face.

"You brought a piece of alien technology to Nationals?" she questions incredulously.

"I didn't know what else to do!" Ned exclaims in defense. "I didn't want room service to find the glowy thingy, or for it to get lost, or—"

"Ned, Lena!" Liz calls from where the rest of the team is still giving each other hugs on the stage. Flash already has their trophy in his hands, keeping it out of Sally's reach like he's afraid she'll break it. "We're all visiting the Washington Monument after we leave. Wanna come?"

"Sure!" Lena answers back as enthusiastically as she can. "We'll be right over."

She masks her expression of hurt well enough that maybe Ned won't detect it. If he'd brought the 'glowy thingy' here, something is clearly going on that she'd been left out of.

A fresh sting pinches her gut upon remembering that Graham had been with them in Woodshop when they'd studied the orb. Did he know? Was he keeping secrets from her? The mere thought tugs the elation of winning down into the dumps.

She feels like they're all encased inside some circle of knowledge while she's deliberately trapped outside as they smile and wave and lie to her face that everything's alright.

As they cross the street toward the towering building, Lena plasters a smile onto her face in an effort not to bring her teammates down with her own issues. She'd discarded her blazer immediately upon leaving the auditorium. It's slung across her shoulders with the sleeves tied near her neck, the breeze gently penetrating her blue sweater. She'd taken her hair out of its ponytail as soon as she'd stepped outside.

"Woo! We won!" Flash cheers, holding their trophy above his head and nearly impaling a passerby in the eye with the point of it. "Told you we didn't need Peter!"

"Flash, you didn't answer a single question," Ned points out exasperatedly.

Flash dutifully ignores this jab and instead whoops again, the trophy appearing giant compared to his spindly frame.

They go through the metal detectors one by one. As soon as Lena's phone is back in her hand, it begins to vibrate in an indication she's receiving a call. The contact name PETER PARKER flashes across her screen along with his contact photo— a picture Michelle had taken of him sleeping and sent in their group chat.

She presses the accept call button and immediately demands, "Where the hell are you?"

"Lena!" he all but screams in response, causing her to wince and pull the phone away from her ear. "Thank God. Give the phone to Ned!"

"He's still going through the metal detectors and stuff," she replies. "I can't. Peter, you better have a good reason for bailing on us or I'm so going to kick your ass into the Quantum Realm—"

"Yeah, yeah. You have to tell him—"

Peter's voice abruptly cuts off. Lena pulls it away from her face in confusion and stares at the CALL FAILED notification. She feels a twinge of worry at how utterly frantic he'd been, but it's not like she can walk out now.

The text in the upper left-hand corner informs her she doesn't have service. She won't be receiving or sending any more messages for the time being.

They board the gold-rimmed elevator once everyone has passed through. As the doors close, Flash turns to their moderator and asks, "Hey, Mr. Harrington, can I be the one to tell Peter he's expelled?"

Lena's heart drops. Although she knows he could be exaggerating, Peter had seriously violated some of the most important guidelines of the trip and skipped out on the Decathlon entirely. He could get in major trouble. What was he thinking?

"The Washington Monument is five hundred and fifty-five feet and five one-eighth inches tall," the female employee in the elevator drones like she's reading from a teleprompter. "Notice how the marble and granite are cut around the stone—"

Lena's body gives an instinctive jump as blue light emits from Ned's backpack and beams upward, nearly blinding her as something explodes. The structure itself jolts as it comes to a sudden stop in its tracks. It shakes so hard that she has to plant her feet into the sleek ground to avoid toppling over.

Ned shoves his backpack off and throws it into the middle of the elevator. Its occupants back away and line the perimeter, attempting to stay as far away from it as possible.

"Oh my God," Flash breathes. "Look at the ceiling."

Lena is almost positive she doesn't want to look, but after noticing how pale he looks — or maybe that's just the smoke altering her vision — she tilts her head upward. Her breath catches in her lungs at the sight of an orange line cutting an irregular shape from the top.

"It melted," she says, her voice coming out like a strangled choking sound.

She's supposed to be the superhero here, and yet she's never felt so helpless.

"Just stay calm everyone," Liz advises in a shaking tone.

"We are all going to die here," Abe says bluntly, causing their leader to shoot him an expression of exasperation.

"We're fricken screwed!" Charles agrees as he stares open-mouthed at the red-hot shape above them.

"Okay guys," the woman says in the same monotonous tone as before, "I know that was scary, but our safety systems are working. We're very safe in here."

As if to prove her point, she reaches upward and unlatches the tiny door at the top, right beside where part of the line cut through the ceiling. Mr. Harrington hurriedly locks his fingers to give the short woman a boost through it.

"It's a bomb, isn't it?" Ned questions quietly, staring at his camouflage-print backpack still billowing smoke at the center of the elevator.

Lena gives him a look that says, 'No shit.'

Mr. Harrington gives Cindy a boost first because she's the smallest and lightest. Abe goes next. Then Charles. Lena shuts her eyes, trying to concentrate on anything, literally anything, other than the sound of the support cables snapping from above them.

If only she could form a force field around the elevator and hold it up. She isn't sure how the laws of gravity would fair against her powers, but maybe she could prevent them from falling to their deaths for even a few seconds. However, there comes the matter of everyone seeing her and her identity being busted.

Helpless. The realization that she can't do anything to help her friends gnaws at her conscience.

"Me! Me next!" Flash demands, shoving his foot into Mr. Harrington's locked fingers before anyone can do anything.

"Flash!" Liz protests in annoyance. He shoves the trophy up before him, causing the structure to groan as his added weight is pressed to the top. "Don't worry about the trophy!"

Lena shrieks as the elevator drops a foot when a cable snaps. She and Liz throw their arms around each other for support, the older girl's heart thumping wildly against Lena's arm.

The security guards at the top lift Flash and the trophy up to solid ground. Just then, the lift gives another violent shudder, there's a moment of absolute silence, and then it drops.

Lena has never gone on a roller coaster, but she can imagine this is what it would feel like. Her stomach drops and she screams until she can't breathe. Liz's fingers dig into her arms like she's the safety bar. But at least on a roller coaster, you can see the bottom of the drop and know it won't last forever, just a fleeting moment of half elation and half terror.

This is dropping eight hundred and fifty-five feet and five one-eighth inches to certain death.

And then, suddenly, it stops moving. Lena's breath comes out in a gasp as Liz, Mr. Harrington, Ned, and herself are thrown to the ground with the force of the abrupt halt. It plummets again just as she registers pain in her knees.

It briefly pauses just as a familiar figure clad in a red-and-blue suit crashes through and lands hard on his back in the center of the elevator.

"What the shit?" Lena questions, and then her stomach is dropping again.

She isn't sure whether to be angry or relieved to see Spider-Man shoot a web up into oblivion. As soon as it latches onto the top of the elevator shaft, Peter is yanked upward by the force. He gives a shout of surprise and barely catches himself with his feet on part of the ceiling that isn't melted.

"Uh, hi," Mr. Harrington greets unsurely as the masked figure looks around at them.

Peter clears his throat and says in a ridiculously terrible Queens accent, "Hey, hey, how ya doin'? Don't worry about it, I got you."

His white-rimmed eyes meet hers briefly as if to say, 'Hey, I learned my lesson last time.'

Lena still isn't sure if she wants to hug him or flip him off.

Ned, however, is over the moon. His eyes go wide as he fist pumps and cheers, "Yes!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Peter exclaims. "Big guy, quit movin' around!"

"Sorry sir," he replies sheepishly. "So sorry."

Peter heaves them upward by reeling the web in, Lena's heart thrumming dangerously in her chest the entire time as the ceiling gets closer and closer. She can see security personnel and her friends peering over the edges. They seem so close and yet so hopelessly far away.

But, eventually, with a satisfied cheer, he manages to pull them to the elevator doors. Lena notices with horror that the glass has shattered, chunks of it missing and spider-web cracks trickling down the remaining pieces. She's grateful that nobody cuts their fingers as several workers pry the doors open.

"Alright, this is your stop!" Peter announces. "Sweater-girl, you go first."

Lena rolls her eyes at the nickname but is relieved when she clasps hands with one of the guards. He all but yanks her out of the elevator with tremendous strength, sending her flying into her friends' arms. Cindy clutches her like she's afraid to let go. Charles grasps onto her shoulder as well.

Her blood is still drained from her face as Ned climbs out next, followed by Mr. Harrington. Her eyes shift to Peter. She notices with horror that the strain of holding onto the web is too much for the now-weak metal on the ceiling, causing his feet to push through and make indents as the melted outline of the missing chunk stretches farther.

"Spider-Man!" she screams, but it's too late. Mr. Harrington reaches back for Liz just as the elevator drops out of view.

Cindy's grip turns iron-tight as the group of teenagers flinches. Even Flash gasps and clutches the trophy a little tighter.

It seems luck is on their side. Instead of Liz crashing to the ground along with the elevator, Peter shoots out a string of web and catches her. Lena can't see their leader from where she stands, but she can see the web attached to the ceiling is beginning to rip. Everything is numb. She can't feel anything except ice-cold fear that encases her from head to toe as Liz gets pulled up by a single arm and is eventually rescued by the workers nearby.

"So, uh, is everyone okay?" Peter questions in the same awful accent, but Lena can tell there's sincerity lurking behind the question.

There's a moment where Liz merely gapes at him as she nods in response. It seems to be suspended in time, but is broken just as quickly when the web detaches from the ceiling and sends Peter falling into the elevator shaft below.

"Thank you," Mr. Harrington calls after him.

Flash, still holding the damn trophy, pushes Lena out of the way to lean over the edge and shout, "ARE YOU REALLY FRIENDS WITH PETER PARKER?"

-♕-

In an almost unanimous decision, they decide to head back to New York that same day. The incident in the Washington Monument had left everyone shaken. Most of all, Liz, who is now sitting by herself on the bus and holding an ice pack to her shoulder.

Peter had met them back at the hotel, claiming he'd walked out to study and gotten seriously lost. Mr. Harrington was too relieved to be alive to really care about his half-assed excuse. Peter had tried to catch Lena's gaze, but she'd turned away.

The news must have broken that same day, because Lena gets a call from her parents and has to spend fifteen minutes calming them down and assuring them she's alright. She makes a point to note that she'd be dead without Spider-Man, to which Pa gives a half-hearted grumble.

The ride home is mostly silent. It's a sharp contrast to how chaotic it had been the day before, which all of them realize but don't comment on. Most of them have headphones jammed in their ears and keep to themselves. Even Cindy, who likes to talk, is quiet.

Lena looks up as the bus pulls into the school parking lot. She can see her parents huddled together near May, meaning they must have met and are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of their children. She perks up and shoves her headphones into her backpack, slinging it across her shoulder and standing before the vehicle has even come to a complete stop.

She launches herself into her parents' arms moments later. Never have Ma and Pa's embraces left such an imprint on her soul. Pa whispers something in Tagalog — maybe a prayer — as Ma squeezes so tightly Lena thinks she might cut off her air supply.

"Oh, look!" Ma says as she pulls back. "There's Peter."

Lena makes a point not to look at him, knowing that if she does, she'll break down. She feels such an intense clash of emotions that she doesn't know what to do with herself. How much had he been keeping from her? But, as she'd told Pa hours ago, she'd be dead if it wasn't for him. Again.

May hugs her as well. She smells like a fruity perfume, the scent somehow comforting. Lena isn't sure what she did to deserve an embrace like this, but doesn't complain. Especially when she sees Pa clap Peter on the back and Ma telling him she's glad he's okay.

Peter tries to catch her gaze once again, but Lena avoids it. She merely makes a vague comment about being tired and walks to the Rivera family car with a weight in her chest she can't shake off.

______

*rubs hands together evilly* let the angst begin

quick question, do you understand where lena's coming from? i made a point to explain her conflicting emotions as best as i could. they'll be explored more in-depth when they confront each other in the next chapter, because i don't want you guys to think lena's a whiny and ungrateful brat or something

also, you guys asked for it, and so i had to deliver. here are more texts! (sorry for the fact that there are 3 because i couldn't fit it all in 2 screens)

also i had to google how a decathlon works in order to write this (it didn't seem like they did it right in the movie but oh well) pls validate me

-kristyn