Late update. Work's been...not so good. Tomorrow might either provide some much needed relief or make me crash and burn harder, so let's get this update out of the way first. This might seem rusty due to lack of proofreading, but I'm really lacking the time to read through it now. Maybe next time.
This is another Mary Jane segment, so this chapter's gonna be hit or miss for some people given that Earth-65 MJ is pretty damn different from 616 MJ. That and she angsts a lot in this chapter, though that's at least sensible considering what she's been through so far.
Anyway, Volume 2's a thing now, if I haven't said before. This does mean that plot points like Hobgoblin, Donald Roxxon and the like will take place later on. It helps unclog parts of the story, at least.
On a side note, I might or might not drop the talkshow and Cindy focus segment given the events and narrative so far. We'll see.
Chapter 104: Little Red
"This can't be happening..."
Mary Jane knelt on the floor of her bedroom, hands grasping her hair tightly and her breaths coming out in panicked bursts,
'Calm down. You have to calm down.'She shut her eyes tightly and bit her tongue to keep from screaming in a panic. The last thing she wanted now was to draw attention to herself.
If wasn't so scared she might have laughed at the irony of Mary Jane Watson not wanting attention.
She'd called Peter a few minutes ago and he promised he'd arrive with Gwen as soon as he could. She had to trust them.
But what if they don't get here on time, a part of her asked bitterly,
what will you do then? Let yourself get captured? Caged like an animal?
Mary Jane did her utter damnedest to ignore it.
Right now everything was screaming at her to run, to jump out her window and escape, but she stayed rooted on the spot.
They're expecting you to run, the rational part of her mind argued,
and you can't just leave Gayle and mom here alone.
That last warning stuck out to her more than anything else. The idea of
Captain freaking America hurting her mom and sister seemed silly, but from what she heard about Peter she was perfectly willing to keep the S.H.I.E.L.D's involvement with creating the monster secret for the 'greater good'. For all Mary Jane knew they'd put her in a dark hole filled with needles and file it as a 'necessary evil'.
Another minute of silence passed before eventually her heartbeat calmed down to something manageable. She stood and made her way to her desk, grasping at the wood weakly to try and keep her balance. She couldn't run, not after all this. She just had to trust that Gwen and Peter would get here on time, and until then she had to keep her cool.
"Yeah...easier said than done," she muttered bitterly.
Taking a deep breath, Mary Jane put on her flip flops and opened the door slowly. She could hide out in her room, she supposed, but somehow she doubted her ten year old lock could keep Captain America (and God only knew who else she brought with her) from kicking the door down. It was better that she face the music with her head held high. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.
Any feeling of optimism she had was quickly swept away when she saw the scene that awaited her in the living room. The sight of Captain America being served tea almost seemed charming, especially since she seemed content to ignore the Avengers Harem visual novel that was paused on Gayle's laptop, but the All-American superhero wasn't alone.
The woman sitting to her right on the couch was the opposite of friendly. The leather jacket she wore did a piss poor job of hiding her S.H.I.E.L.D uniform and her face was marred in a deep scowl. As soon as Mary Jane entered the room the short haired woman's gaze turned to her and she felt an immediate desire to run back to her room, hide under the blankets and pray for the monster to go away.
Captain America was calm as ever, "Thank you for the tea, Mrs. Watson." She took another sip and smiled at the older(?) woman, setting the cup down as she did. From her place tucked into the corner Gayle looked at the head of the Avengers with a wide-eyed gape, looking torn between asking for an autograph and fainting from sheer hero overload. Hard to tell with her sometimes.
"Yes, yes," the other woman started impatiently, her own cup of tea untouched, "Enough with the pleasantries, Wilson. We both know what we're here for."
"I'm no so sure, Maria," It was subtle, but Mary Jane definitely saw a quick pass of annoyance pass through the soldier's eyes before it suddenly disappeared, "I told you I wanted to do this alone."
"Given your previous track record of coddling vigilantes who aid and abet fugitives, you can understand my hesitation with that idea," 'Maria' said coolly, "You know what's at stake here, don't you?"
"Of course I do, but beating Mrs. Watson and dragging her by force isn't-"
"What's going on?" her mom interrupted, eyes steely. It was a look she'd rarely seen on the older redhead, "What do you want with my daughter?"
"Mrs. Watson, we merely wish to talk to your daughter about-"
"You here about the monster, aren't you?" Mary Jane interrupted. Before Captain America could say anything else she raised her right hand and let the barest traces of red flash up her exposed forearm.
The atmosphere in the room went from awkward to painfully tense. The S.H.I.E.L.D's agent's eyes narrowed even further and her hand not-so-subtly inched towards the pocket of her jacket. Meanwhile, Captain America's lips pursed in that barely noticeable manner she always carried herself in (which was ironic for someone dressed like a walking American flag) and clenched her hands together, eyes darting between Mary Jane and the agent.
Still, it was nothing compared to the look of hesitation and
fear that she saw on her mom and little sister. They knew about her 'condition', assured her that it didn't matter and that they could work through this (and Gayle still seemed to think the hero thing was worth a shot), but this was way out of their league. When the incident hit they were safe at home in the suburbs, not in the thick of it like Gwen and Peter were.
"...Yes," Captain America said eventually, "From what we understand you're currently in possession of the symbiote that was bonded to Cletus Kasady a few weeks prior. Is this true?"
"Yeah." She didn't see the point in denying it; she doubted they'd send Captain America over for a routine check-in. Mary Jane crossed her arms stiffly and pressed her lips into a thin line in an attempt to appear calmer than she really was, "...How did you know?"
It was the agent that answered, "A report came from a Philip Watson a few days ago about being attacked by what he described as a 'red, bladed monstrosity'. S.H.I.E.L.D has disregarded most of these reports as being the result of PTSD, paranoia or a cry for attention, but not long after we received confirmation on the information from an anonymous source."
An anonymous source? Great, that was what she needed...
"Wait, was that about dad?" Gayle asked, finally speaking up.
"I...I attacked dad, Gayle." Mary Jane looked away to avoid their looks of utter shock. There was no love lost between her dad and little sister, but her mom was another issue entirely. A part of her still thought that asshole could 'redeem' himself, "I had to save Gw- Spider-Woman so I let that monster take control for a bit, and after that..." She shook her head, "I didn't kill dad," she added, more for herself than them.
"His wounds were numerous but ultimately superficial. He should make a full recovery soon enough," Captain America said, though whether she was trying to comfort her Mary Jane didn't know, "And I suppose we have you to thank for saving Spider-Woman from S.I.L.K."
"Yeah, you're welcome..." she replied bitterly.
"That still doesn't explain what you want with my daughter," her mom spoke up again, "I...from what she's told me she's already gotten help from that...Wasp teammate you have."
"Janet, yes." Captain America nodded, "She knows about the symbiote, certainly, but I'm afraid her knowledge on this one is lacking."
Yeah, because she wasn't the one who fucking made it, Mary Jane thought bitterly, "S.H.I.E.L.D is better equipped to handle the situation and we came here to ask Mary Jane to come with us for testing so we can be certain that there aren't any more incidents." Mary Jane winced at the last word.
"Tests?" her mother asked worriedly, "What...What kind of tests?"
"We're not at liberty to reveal that to civilians, Mrs. Watson." The agent said, completely ignoring the muted scowl the hero gave her.
"To hell with that!" her mom suddenly screamed, making Gayle jump up in her seat, "You come into my house to take my daughter away and...and you just expect me to be satisfied with 'I'm not telling you why'?!"
"Calm down, Mrs. Watson-"
"No, I won't calm down! Not until you either explain what you're going to do to my daughter or you leave right now!"
Mary Jane didn't think it was possible, but somehow the agent's scowl worsened. She didn't say a word, but the already tense atmosphere in the room became outright chilling. Before Mary Jane could do or say anything else the door crashed open. The redhead turned to the source of the noise and felt her heart sink into her stomach when four armed S.H.I.E.L.D agents stomped in, each of them brandishing a rifle that she'd definitely never seen before.
Captain America was the first to react, "God damn it, Hill! I told you-"
"You know the consequences, Wilson! You've seen it yourself!" the agent shouted back, "We don't have time to play diplomats! The new host is coming with us or-"
She never got to finish. A white blur jumped through the front door and before they knew it two of the agents found themselves webbed to the floor while Gwen stood over them, her normally cheerful demeanor replaced by a chilling glare.
The fact that she was wearing a soggy dress did little to stop the simultaneous relief and unease Mary Jane felt.
The remaining two agents took aim at her until they suddenly found their guns yanked out of their hands. They looked down in confusion briefly before a large wisp of smoke came and Peter suddenly appeared in front of them. Neither of the two got the chance to mutter anything more than a surprised curse before the (unmasked) vigilante smacked the butt of their rifles against their guts hard enough to make them kneel, which was quickly followed up by a painful hit to each of their heads.
Again, the turtleneck and lack of a mask did little to change her feelings on seeing him again.
Mary Jane didn't get a chance to say anything before Gwen suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her behind her, "Back the fuck off," Gwen snarled, standing in front of her protectively. From the side of her vision Mary Jane saw Peter glaring daggers at the agent, who met his gaze without a hint of hesitation.
"Gwen-"
"No, not this time, Cap." Gwen interrupted, glaring up at the taller woman, "I kept S.H.I.E.L.D'S secret before, but I'm not playing along this time.
Stay away from MJ."
"Do you think Dyne can help her pacify it forever?" The agent scoffed, "She doesn't have the data and the facilities that we have. What do you think will happen next when your friend eventually loses control? Are you prepared for another repeat of Kasady's massacre!"
"That's rich coming from group that made it." Peter laughed wryly, "Bet you just want to make sure no one finds out you led the project, huh?"
"I had no idea of the symbiote's existence till after the fact; I'm simply trying to salvage the best result I can of a horrible situation." Peter's eyes narrowed, "I don't care if you believe me, Mr. Parker, but I am speaking the truth. You yourself are gifted with immunity and yet how close have you come to succumbing to the serum? Ms. Watson doesn't share your antibodies and she's already left corpses in her wake."
"We're fixing it," Gwen said.
"No, Gwen, I'm afraid your not." Captain America let out a slow breath, "Janet might be an expert in her field, but without our research data and facilities she can create a stopgap solution at best. I can only assume that her current solution is using drugs to suppress the symbiote?"
Mary Jane's eyes widened, "How do you..."
"An educated guess, though I wish you told me I was wrong," she said, "Drugs may work, even for a long time, but how feasible do you think it is? Janet's not going to live forever and Ms. Watson likely needs a constant supply. You're only putting off the problem, not fixing it."
"And what do you suggest? That we just hand her over to S.H.I.E.L.D?" Gwen asked back, her glare softening by just the tiniest amount, "I...I want to trust you, Cap, but you know how this looks. I can't trust S.H.I.E.L.D, not after what they kept hidden."
"The scientists responsible - those survived, that is - have already been punished for their involvement in the symbiote's creation," the agent said, "I don't know what Wilson's intentions are, but I simply want a guarantee that there's not going to be another repeat of Cletus Kasady's rampage."
Something inside Mary Jane snapped and she let out a growl before she could stop herself, "I'm not like him!" Mary Jane yelled, startling everyone in the room, "You think I wanted this?! That I wouldn't toss this monster in a fucking fire if I could?! I
can't! Wasp told me that it's permanent and now I have to live with it!"
"MJ-"
"It's bad enough that I get a damn serial killer in my head, but now I have to deal with you assholes thinking I'm going to go nuts?!"
"Mary-"
"You know what, fuck the both of you! You two helped make this thing and kept it a secret when it fucked up! And now I have to pay the price for it! So you can shove that 'she could be the next Kasady' argument up your fucking ass because I
refuse to be treated like Goddamn monster by the people who created this monster in the first place!"
An all-encompassing silence settled over the living room, broken only by Mary Jane's panting. It felt...good to say it all out loud. A part of her knew they were right to be wary, especially after what she nearly did to her did, but she was sick of it, sick of being treated like the future Kasady 2.0 because of something she didn't ask for and she'd done her hardest to fix.
The quiet lasted for a few more tense seconds before Captain America eventually spoke up, "Alright, a compromise then. In a few days time we want Ms. Watson to get to a S.H.I.E.L.D facility for testing. You and Mr. Parker can both accompany her to ensure nothing bad happens. If the test results are fruitful then we'll give all of our data to Janet and she'll lead up any attempt at a permanent solution. Is this acceptable?"
"I..." Gwen looked back at Mary Jane and waited for her to nod before replying, "Alright...but only if we're there."
"Of course. Ms. Watson won't come to harm with us."
"Right, and how do we know you won't just inject something in her that'll let you control her?" Peter asked.
"If we had something like that then she wouldn't be our first target, Spider-Man," the agent replied, "Speaking of, you haven't kept up to your end of the bargain. We agreed that you come for testing on the serum."
"Last I checked that was voluntary."
"Yes, and we didn't have to give Agent Crest his freedom, if you recall. We've rectified that."
"...What did you do to him?" He practically snarled.
"He's in a S.H.I.E.L.D holding facility, has been for the past couple of days."
"Let him go or-"
"Or what? You'll make threats you can't follow through on? Fail to follow the terms of a deal that you voluntarily agreed to?" She scoffed, "No, Mr. Parker, you have no leverage here, and after we found him stealing suppressants I'm well within my rights to revoke any sort of deal we made. You want him freed? Then follow the terms of the arrangement and come for testing."
"Fine, I'll go..."
Their 'discussion' ended on that awkward note. Gwen helped pry the webbed agents off the floor and soon enough they were off, leaving only the five of them in her gunked up living room.
Her mom was the first to react, practically collapsing on one of the vacated chairs like a deflating balloon. Mary Jane looked at her in worry and almost rushed over before Gayle's exclamation suddenly pierced the air, "Y-You're...!" She pointed a shaky finger at Gwen, mouth hanging agape in shock. Gwen actually looked confused for a few seconds before she suddenly seemed to realize how she looked, "You're Spi-"
"Hey, hey! Shh!" Gwen interrupted, throwing a frantic glance at the closed front door. She doubted anyone could hear them, though she knew from experience that Gwen could be paranoid as all hell about her (badly kept) secret identity, "None of that! I-"
"You're Spider-Woman!" Gayle screamed. It was loud enough that Gwen actually winced, "Holy crap, holy crap, holy crap! Spider-Woman! Here! You're-"
"We heard you the first time, Watson," Peter interrupted.
"And you're..." Gayle looked at his face dead-on and gulped audibly, "Wow...I guess the stuff Spider-Woman said on the interview about you being 18 was right. I thought she was just bullshitting."
"Wait...what?" He threw Gwen a sudden glare, "You told people I'm a teenager?"
"Uh...it just slipped out?" She said, giving him a lopsided smile that did nothing to stifle his look of disapproval, "Look, the host kept needling me about what it was like to date a manther through the entire show and I just...got pissed off. It wasn't intentional."
"Great, because the one thing I need right now is every criminal in this city knowing I'm not old enough to drink." He pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a frustrated breath, "Thanks a lot."
"Hey, it was an accident-"
"Could we get back on track, please?" Mary Jane cut in, "Look, Gwen, I appreciate the save, but...why the hell did you two charge in here dressed like...that?" She gestured to their outfits. It shouldn't have looked out of place, but the fact of it was the last time she'd seen Gwen in a dress was years ago and Peter...well, the first thing that came to mind when he and 'dressed up' were in the same sentence was an image of knives and masks.
"We didn't have our costumes on hand, Mary," Peter replied, "...Well, Gwen does, but I doubt it was on her mind considering how panicked you were. You made it sound like they were battering down your door."
"They were when you got here-"
"Hey, I'm still freaking out over here!" Gayle said, drawing their attention back to her, "How the fu- Gwen Stacy's Spider-Woman? Really?!"
"Yeah...surprise?" Gwen gave her the same lopsided smile she gave Peter.
"I mean, you were one of the people theorized, but after people figured Spider-Woman was- uh, I mean,
you were in bed with Captain Stacy-"
"They thought what?!" Gwen screamed, a look of utter disgust on her face, "Ugh, what the fuck?! Why does everything on the net about who's sleeping with who?!"
"Hey, I didn't say I believed it! I figured you just convinced him you were on the side of good!" Gayle said, "But...holy shit, I can't believe this! I've been living across the street from Spider-Woman for years! This is like a weird dream or something!"
"It's not the only thing that's a fantasy," Peter muttered. Before Gayle could shoot something back he gestured to the laptop on the corner table, "That one of those 'interactive' novels I heard about?"
Gayle's attention snapped back to the screen and her face flushed scarlet. The CG of (a bustier and long haired) Spider-Woman swinging through the city with her imaginary lover seemed innocent enough, but the fact that said Superhero was in the room with them removed any sort of innocence the image could have considering the kind of game it.
That and Mary Jane knew that she was a few clicks away from a really raunchy scene, mostly because she had the misfortune of being there when Gayle triggered it. The 69 position with added wall crawling and webbing just looked...disturbing, even if Gayle kept talking her ear off on how great the descriptions were.
To her credit Gwen only seemed mildly disturbed by the fact that her friend's sister was trying to have an imaginary romance with her. Gayle immediately rushed to the laptop and slammed it shut, "Th-That was..." She hugged the laptop close to her chest and looked at Gwen defensively, "It's just...it's a game, right? It doesn't really mean anything!"
"Y-Yeah, totally..." It was clear from Gwen's voice that she didn't believe her, "Um...right, so could I ask you and Mrs. Watson to keep our identities secret? There are risks to loved ones, Avengers policies and all that jazz. I don't have to explain, right?"
"N-No, I totally get it! Hero code! Secret's safe with me!" Gayle said in a rush.
"Considering the stuff Lana's said about you I have my doubts, but we can't exactly change things now," Peter muttered. He turned to her mom, "You alright, Mrs. Watson? You haven't said word since we showed up."
"I...I'm still just trying to process this, is all." Her mom put both hands on her face and took a deep breath, "I won't pretend I understand all this...madness, but I do know we owe you both. Thank you."
"MJ's our friend, it's no biggie." Gwen waved her hand lightly. Gayle's blush somehow worsened at that, "We'll make sure that nothing happens to her during the check-up, so don't worry about that."
"Yes. MJ's already mentioned how Spider-Woman and Spider-Man helped her before." She gave the two of them a small smile, "Haha, I never realized when she said that Spider-Woman was a friend she meant it so literally. I thought you two were just in the same band."
"Yeah, well, insanity seems to follow us." Gwen said, a slight bitterness to her tone.
"Hmm..." Her mom turned to Peter now, "You look...familiar. Have I seen you somewhere before?"
"I just have one of those faces." Peter shrugged, "Come on, Gwen, we should probably go before we give Mary's sister a heart attack."
"W-Wait!" Gayle said, practically running up to them, "C-Could I have your number?" she asked Gwen.
"Um...sure, I guess, but why?"
"Just...I mean, in case something happens to MJ and I need to call." Mary Jane resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the blatant lie. Her sister had the subtlety of a honey badger in heat, "And just...you know, stuff."
"She's flirting with you, Gwen," Peter said bluntly. Gayle gave him a look that was a cross between anger and embarrassment, though he paid it no mind, "Just thought you needed a heads up considering how clueless you were about Hawkeye."
"God, will you let that go?" Gwen rolled her eyes, "Look, Gayle, I'll give you my number, but I want you to promise that there isn't gonna be any stupid crap or anything when you message me, alright? I get enough of that checking out the forums."
"What? Stupid crap? Me? Of course not." Yeah...Mary Jane gave her sister three days before the love letters started.
"...It's getting late, we should get some sleep," her mom said, "MJ...we need to talk about what happened with your father. Tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah...tomorrow." Damn it, that was a conversation she was really hoping to avoid, "I'll walk Tiger and Gwen out. Least I can do."
Her mom gave her the affirmative and soon enough the three of them were walking down the short length of her driveway. Mary Jane could practically feel Gayle looking at them through the window, but she did her best to ignore it. She was gonna get an earful later about keeping this secret.
Mary Jane watched the two of them silently. They were bickering about Gwen revealing his age on the talkshow, but it was clear to see there was no actual venom in it. Hell, Peter was even smiling, and she could count the amount of times she'd seen that expression on him with one hand.
They were nearly at the end of the driveway before Gwen suddenly stopped, "Wait..." She tapped the sides of her dress briefly before she frowned, "Shit, I left the tsum tsum back at the hotel!"
"Oh...gee, what a tragedy," Peter couldn't have sounded more fake if he tried, which Gwen figured given the way she scowled at him, "And after I worked so hard to get it. Oh well, we move on."
"Yeah...no, we're getting it back."
"But-"
"No buts, not unless it's yours on that bike." She jerked her thumb to the fancy sportsbike parked close by, "We gotta take it back anyway, since I'm pretty damn sure grand theft auto is still a crime, so two birds and one stone."
"...I'm never gonna get rid of that thing, am I?"
"Absolutely not." The shit-eating grin on Gwen's face was classic Stacy, "Come on, sweetie, mount up."
"See you," Mary Jane said, though she didn't know if they even heard her. The redhead stuffed her hands into the pockets of her pajama bottoms and watched the motorcycle zip past. She should've been happy for them, she knew that, but for some reason the sight of Gwen clinging to Peter's back caused an annoying stab of heat at her chest.
'Jealous, are you?'
Mary Jane's eyes widened and she groped for a syringe on instinct before she quickly remembered that she wasn't taking the suppressants anymore. The next dosage was at her room, "What...? How the fuck are you-"
'Talking? Alive? Miracle of life.' It chuckled,
'That...poison you put in yourself caged me. Your body, a fleshy, meaty prison. I can't get out. Can't control.'
"Huh, there's some good news, at least." Her lips quirked up in a nasty smile, "Why don't you kill yourself? Better than being trapped, right?"
'Baiting me? You're becoming more like my Cletus every day.' Her expression morphed into a scowl,
'Can't do anything. Feel like I'm chained. Weighed down. Can only talk.'
"Wish that drug came with a gag..."
'I don't mind. This won't last forever.'
"Oh? What makes you so damn sure?"
'You need me. Power. You can't have it while I'm chained. Best you can do is that embarrassment a few nights ago, Scarlet Spider.'
"Keep dreaming..." She made her way up to her room, ignoring her sister's questions as she passed.
'I don't have to. I can feel your anger. Your jealousy.' She could practically see it licking its tongue over its sharp teeth,
'You want them both. The murderer and her boytoy. Just like you wanted the journalist. Always obsessed with things you can't have."
"Shut up..." She slammed the door open and began searching for the medicine.
'I can see into your mind, little red, see all the nasty things you think about. And they are very disgusting. The thief wasn't enough. She was easy. You want the two of them now, at the same time-"
She grabbed the syringe and stabbed it into her right arm. All at once the monster's chatter stopped and she was left kneeling on the floor, sweat rushing down her face in rivulets. She didn't know if the drug would really gag the thing, but she had to try.
Sadly, it did little to help. Mary Jane stood and let out a soft moan at the feeling of heat that settled on her stomach, "Shit..." She locked the door in a hurry and tried to count to a 100. That thing was wrong. She had thoughts about them, so fucking what? It wasn't like it was wrong or anything. Both of them helped her out and both of them were her friends, it wasn't like she didn't have good reason to be attracted.
"God..." The heat wasn't dying down. Biting her lower lip, she laid down on the bed and pulled down her pants and underwear. She couldn't do anything in real life, but her mind
was safe for her to im
agine.
The S.H.I.E.L.D facility was actually somewhat disappointing, if Mary Jane had to be honest. She'd seen the news reports on the helicarrers, giant floating ships that cost enough money that Tony Stark would blush, and she had to admit that, despite the circumstances, she'd actually been looking forward to seeing it. If nothing else a few pictures of the view would've made some good souvenirs for Gayle.
The abandoned warehouse with a secret base underneath it was kinda disappointing by comparison.
Mary Jane stuffed her hands into the pockets of her yoga pants and kept her head down as they walked down the sterile blue hallways. Something about the place put her on edge, even if she was pretty sure she was as safe as could be. Ever since they'd met up Peter went on full-blown bodyguard mode while Gwen was never far from her side. Mary Jane was pretty sure Gwen would've been smothering her in a bear hug if she thought she could get away with it.
Though, the last thing Mary Jane wanted to think about right now was Gwen and her pressed together...
A few of the agents milling around gave them a few sideways glances, but for the most part they were ignored. Captain America advised the two of them to avoid going in masks to remove any unwanted attention.
It's not like you'd be the first non-S.H.I.E.L.D personnel to come in, she'd said.
The 'waiting room' they arrived at was (un)surprisingly crowded. Mary Jane recognized Cindy and Harry taking up two of the seats easily enough, but the trio sitting across from them were total strangers.
The Japanese teenager was the first to look up at their arrival, her expression quickly going from an easy smile to a sour frown as soon as her eyes landed on Gwen. By contrast, the severe looking older man wearing a tattered trenchcoat sitting next to her just shared a silent look with Peter followed by a curt nod, which he responded to with a nod of his own. She definitely felt some sort of tension there.
The last occupant of the room was a little girl who looked maybe eight or nine years old. Unlike her babysitters(?) she was content to ignore the stare-offs and continue nibbling on the oversized pretzel in her hands. Mary Jane didn't even want to think about what a kid was doing in a place like this.
"...Great, princess is here," the Japanese teen said, "Why're you here, hero? Waiting for another medal for the trash pick-up?"
"None of your fucking business," Gwen spat back, surprisingly hostile.
Mary Jane gave her a worried look and made to speak up before Cindy suddenly cut in, "Guessing you three are why we were called here."
"Yeah..." Peter looked at Harry with narrowed eyes, "...What are you doing here with him?"
Harry was the one who answered, "Same reason you are, Peter. A cure for the serum. I volunteered to be a subject for the antibodies they're extracting from you."
"A cure? From you? That's like expecting an arsonist to put out a fire," Peter said, laughing wryly.
"Oh, that's
rich coming from you," Harry countered, voice filled with venom, "Last I checked the serum being made at all was all your fault. Or are you going to pretend that's not you when the guy you're copying is in the same Goddamn room." Mary Jane's brows furrowed. What did he mean by that?
"You son of a-"
"Woah, alright, cool it!" Gwen said quickly, "Peter, Harry, I know you two have issues, but could we please all just try to get along?"
"Do as I say, not as I do, huh?" The Japanese teen cut in again, the frown being replaced by a slightly amused grin at Gwen's look of displeasure, "Didn't answer my question from before, Spider-Girlie. Whatcha ya'll doing here?"
"Piss o-"
"We're here to get a friend of ours treated," Peter said, cutting off Gwen's rebuttal, "What about you two? I thought you had to leave town for a bit?"
"We did and now we're back," The older man said.
"Guessing it has something with the kid?" Peter asked.
"Yup." The Japanese teen grinned openly and patted the top of the girl's head. The little girl gave her a sideways glare and pushed the hand off, "Me and Petey here went on a little honeymoon and now we've got a little bundle of joy to call our own. We figured S.H.I.E.L.D would give us a baby shower."
"Wait...what?" Gwen looked at her blankly, "You seriously expect us to believe that's your kid?"
"Yeah. My powers let me heal fast, so pregnancy takes like a day or two to get finished. Can't you see the resemblance?"
"No."
"Ah, you're just blind."
"Alright, as funny as this is, that's not actually their kid," Cindy said, "We were actually talking about that before you guys walked in. Apparently and she Spi- er, her partner went out to find some real scumbags who turn little kids into mindless assassins. The kid - Laura - was one of the test subjects."
As if to emphasize her point, the little girl picked up the next wrapped pretzel and ejected two claws from her knuckles, using them to cut through the top of the thin paper with a small growl. Gwen's eyes widened at the sight and Mary Jane would've been lying if she said the sight of it didn't freak her out. The fact that everyone else in the room seemed to find no issue with it just weirded her out even more.
"...Guess we know what you were doing now." Peter pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, "What I don't get is why you're involved, 'brother'. I thought you didn't get distracted?"
"I wasn't. I already know where Octavius is so it wasn't like I was wasting time helping Kat out with this." There was something almost condescending in the older man's tone, though Mary Jane might've just been imagining it, "I know how to get my priorities straight, Parker."
"Okay, I'm lost." Mary Jane said, finally speaking up, "Tiger, who is that? And why'd you call him 'brother'?"
As soon as the words were out of her mouth an awkward silence settled over the room. Peter, Gwen and the guy in the trenchcoat looked away with varying degrees of discomfort on their face. Even Harry and Cindy seemed put-off by the question, which only made her want to suddenly apologize, even if she didn't know exactly why.
'Kat', on the other hand, seemed to find the entire thing funny, if the grin on her face was any indication, "I'll never understand why people always get awkward around clones. Is being born in a test tube that much different from coming out of a woman's vagina while she screams her head off?"
"Ugh, there's an image..." Cindy made a gagging noise.
"Wait, clones?" Mary Jane looked to Kat questioningly, "Say what now?"
"That Spider-Man's a clone." She pointed to Peter, who still stubbornly looked away, "Not the same way me and the kid are, but he came back from the dead and he got all his memories from Petey here." She slapped the older man's back, "So original and copy are in the same room, which always ends up being fucking awkward for some reason. I really don't get it."
"Wait, wait, wait." Mary Jane took a deep breath, "What do you mean original? I thought you were..."
"He's our Peter through and through, no matter how much he wants to pretend otherwise," Harry said, "It's like Shadowcat said. He died because of the Lizard serum and then...
something happened, and now he's running around pretending to be some guy from the 30's."
"Least I'm not running around pretending to be a hero, Osborn."
"You-"
"It smells like sex. I need a handkerchief."
Whatever argument was about to happen was abruptly stopped in its tracks at those four words. MJ looked around briefly for the source of the comment before she quickly realized it came from the little girl. Even with everyone staring at her she seemed completely fine with continuing to eat her food and pressing the handkerchief that the other Spider-Man lent her against her nose.
The silence last for a few more tense seconds before Shadowcat finally said, "Right, probably should've said something. Laura here has a nose like a bloodhound and pretty much no brain-to-mouth filter, so don't be surprised if she says she can smell the blood on your hands or the pee that went down your leg. We're hoping Peggy can help with that so she can learn to control it like I can. "
"As if this day wasn't awkward enough," Gwen muttered, "I don't get what she means by 'smelling like sex', though..."
"Probably the same thing it was like for me when we were in that elevator," Peter said. Mary Jane raised a brow; that sounded pretty weird, "I've gotten better at it, but back then I heard every noise and practically gagged when I went down the subway. Imagine everything amplified by a magnifying glass 24/7."
"Huh, sure you're not one of the old man's bastards? Cause Petey here never had to deal with that problem."
"Look, I have enough identity issues; I don't need more." Peter rolled his eyes, "I'm just hoping she doesn't start blurting out anything else. It's bad enough that we're being all forced to wait here."
The conversation ended on that awkward note. Mary Jane sat at one of the corner seats and sighed, covering her face with both hands. It was barely noon and she already felt exhausted. She heard movement at her side and when she lowered her hands she found Gwen giving her a look of worry,
'Always worrying about someone else, huh, Gwencent?' She smiled, the gesture slightly bitter. How could someone spend so much time worrying about other people? She just didn't get it.
"You okay? I know this might seem scary, but it'll be alright. We'll be there with you all the way."
"It's not that..." She shook her head, "Well, not all of it, at least. It's..." She gestured to the others in the room, "It's just shocking, you know? I thought you and Tiger were the exception, but everyone here...I'm pretty sure the only here who's older than 25 is the...um, other Spider-Man, I guess? I don't really know what to call him. Speaking of which, Tiger's a clone now?"
"No, he's just...it's complicated." Gwen shook her head, "I don't know if he's Peter, Spider-Man, both or neither. We're just trying to do what we can and keep going. That's all we can do, right?"
"Yeah..." Mary Jane looked down at the nasty wound on her right wrist. Despite all the things she'd survived the ugly scar remained, as if taunting her about what happened that night.
"You're wrong about one thing, though. If the math adds up then Peter's 'brother' is 23. Cindy's actually 28, if you can believe it, so you're half-right."
"...That just makes it sadder." She laughed softly. What the hell had she gotten mixed up in? "God, I knew you and Peter and Harry back in high school. I still remember watching your D and D games and thinking about how anyone could find that fun. Hell, I thought you played along just because of Peter. What was what character you had? An elf warrior or something else stupid?
"Hey, don't diss my Elf Barbarian! Pyrrha worked really hard to get those stats!" Gwen chided playfully.
"Hah, I forgot how much of a nerd you were." Mary Jane smiled, though it was only brief, "Still, that just proves my point, doesn't it? Five years ago you guys were playing D&D and both Tiger and Harry pined after you like lovesick puppies. Now you're
the Spider-Woman, the two of them are vigilantes and I'm..." A freak. A monster. An unlucky victim of circumstance. Depended on how you looked at it.
"...Yeah, I'll admit these past five years were a real roller-coaster, especially since Peter showed up again." She turned to his direction and gave him a smile, though he was too busy talking (read: arguing) with Harry about something to notice her, "Sometimes I think back on if I could change things, you know? Maybe talk to Peter before that night at prom or even just move ahead in line so I didn't get bitten."
"Not surprised." She still had no idea how Gwen dealt with it all for five years. Five years of people calling her a murderer, a freak in a mask who killed an innocent teenager despite all the proof to the contrary, and hunted down by her own Goddamned dad for most of them.
Five years with no one to turn to.
Mary Jane only had this
thing on her for a few weeks and she had all the support in the world, and even then she was just about ready to call it quits. If she hadn't called Peter and the others in time...well, she didn't want to think about how she would've ended up.
The comfortable silence lasted for only a few moments before both Harry and Peter pulled out their phones, "...Looks like we're up, Osborn." Peter sighed and turned to Gwen, "Do me a favor, make sure they don't do anything with Mary before we finish up. The tests they do on me don't last that long."
"Good luck, you two. I'll be here when you both get back," Cindy said.
"Wait, you're not coming?" Harry asked, brows furrowing worriedly.
"I wouldn't be able to do anything there. Why? You want me to hold your hand, Gobby?" Mary Jane couldn't tell if Cindy was trying to be teasing or just outright mocking.
"I...guess not," Harry mumbled. Peter looked at him through narrowed eyes and said nothing, "Right, well...guess we'll be back in about half an hour."
"Hey, you two ask em if Peggy's around. We really gotta drop this little tyke off before she chews through all of her food," Shadowcat said.
Mary Jane watched the two of them leave briefly before she turned her attention to the remaining guy in the room. Another Spider-Man, another Peter Parker, but she could barely see any resemblance between the two. Then again she didn't really know how this alternation dimension clusterfuck went.
It didn't take long for him to realize that she was watching and he raised his head to meet her gaze, expression shifting to something more somber when their eyes made contact. Mary Jane gulped and immediately looked away, trying to ignore the nervousness that settled at the pit of her stomach. Peter talked about the Mary Jane that came from 'his' dimension before. Did the other Spider-Man see her when he looked at her?
"...I'm going to the bathroom," she whispered to Gwen.
"I'll come with-"
"Nah, I just...need to be alone for a few," Mary Jane said quickly, "I'll be back in ten minutes tops, okay? Besides, I doubt they're gonna jump me here now that both you and Tiger are close."
"I guess..."
The bathroom was a far enough distance that Mary Jane felt somewhat wary, but she held it in. She looked around the space for a brief moment before she opened the faucet and let the cool water calm her. Being inside that room felt suffocating, though she had no idea why. None of them paid any attention to her except Gwen and Pete. Harry didn't even act like she existed, though that was par for the course with him. He was really only Gwen's friend, just like Peter was back then.
"Shit..." She splashed her face and sucked in a tired breath. This wasn't for her. She'd dreamed of being famous before, always wished that she could do the things no one else could like Gwen or She-Hulk or Dazzler, but this wasn't what she had in mind. Now all she wanted to do was go back to working crap gigs and arguing with Glory about the band name.
Her hands gripped the edge of the sleek sink tightly and she shuddered, tears escaping despite her best efforts. When would this end? Even if the rest of the test went as perfectly as could be could she go back to the way things were? Go back to her plans for college and singing after she'd already killed people? After she'd nearly murdered her dad and had to deal with this this thing always being in her head for the rest of her life?
Whatever her answer would have been, it was cut off by the sudden, blaring alarm that reached her ears. Mary Jane looked up and bit back a scream of panic when she heard screams and crashes coming from outside. Something told her that this wasn't a training exercise.
A gut feeling that was proven all too right when the door slammed open and a masked goon came charging in with a gun. He screamed something at her, but she couldn't even hear it. All her attention was focused on the gun aimed right at her chest and how much it reminded her of that disaster a few nights ago. She'd frozen back then. Would've gotten herself shot if it wasn't for Felicia spying on her.
She wasn't gonna make the same mistake.
Shelving back any hesitation, Mary Jane charged the guard and tackled him through the door and into the opposing wall as hard as she could. She could've sworn she heard something crack even through the loud din of alarm bells, but that could've just been her imagination.
Mary Jane stumbled back and watched the gunman's still form warily. Dead? She couldn't tell from here. A part of her was honestly tempted to check his pulse before she squashed it down. The guy just pointed a gun at her, she wasn't going to feel sorry for him.
She turned to go back to where Gwen and the others were before she heard a yell, "Hey, redhead, look out behind you!"
Mary Jane's entire body snapped back just in time to see two more masked gunman fall into into the ground face-first, pools of blood seeping from their heads. She didn't get a chance to do more than gape before the sound of more footsteps coming towards her jolted her out of her shock.
"You need to pay more attention." The bald man grinned. The red jumpsuit and broken handcuffs on his hands screamed 'escaped convict', but she didn't let that deter her now. He did just save her life, after all, "You don't look like an agent."
"Neither do you." She gestured to his (bloodstained, though it was hard to tell) get-up.
"Ah, there were already letting me go; I just rushed the process a bit," he replied nonchalantly, "Actually I was supposed to meet up with an old friend here, but the base goes on lockdown every time someone breaks in. You'd they'd figure out that it's not really doing either of them any good."
"Yeah..." Something about him creeped her out, and it wasn't just the fact that he was smiling like shark despite the situation, "Look, thanks for the help, but I gotta go. Gw- Spider-Woman and Spider-Man are here and I need to meet them?"
"Spider-Man, huh? Looks like we're going the same way," he laughed, "Name's Bullseye. You don't gotta gimme your name, but I saw the way you put the hurt on that clown earlier. Whaddya say, wanna team up?"
"...You're way too calm about this." Mary Jane winced. She'd heard that name before from both Peter and Gwen. Their opinions were mixed and contradicting at times, but there was one thing they definitely agreed on: the guy was apparently a damn psychopath. Under better circumstances she would've just ran away without a second look back.
But...
"Fine, until we meet up with the others."
It wasn't like her hands were clean now, either...
It's been a while since we've had any actual Superheroing in this Superhero fic, huh? Granted I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna do so hot considering my lack of finesse when it comes to the dreaded fight scenes, but the group assembled here should provide interesting possibilities for team-ups and partnerships. That and we have S.I.L.K finally doing something after all this time, so that's a plus.
Anyway, we have our setup so far: Shadowcat, Laura, Spider-Man, Spider-Gwen and Silk (any and all might split off); Harry and Noir; and of course Mary Jane and Bullseye. Should be...fun to write, especially if/when all nine of them regroup after running through the maze that SHIELD's bases tend to be. One can only hope the groups/partners don't kill each other before SILK does...
Questions:
1. I tried making a rough outline on the future chapters and one thing was pointed out to me: despite the story being (primarily, at least) about Spider-Gwen and Noir they don't actually work together to tackle their respective antagonists. Noir and the Defenders fight Murdock while Gwen and a few of her allies deal with 65-Cindy with very little overlap between the two.
This might seem odd for some readers, especially given that Noir and Gwen are stuck together at this point and yet, apart from Paper Doll and some filler arcs, Noir probably fights more in tandem with Lana given that she's a primary character for the Hand arc while Kate gets more action pair moments with Gwen during the conflict with SILK.
Should I change this up? Thematically it makes sense given that one's full on magic and the other is comics sci-fi, but it might seem odd given that Noir and Gwen are a technical battle couple/action duo and yet somehow do nothing to significantly help the other despite the threat levels posed. I planned to justify it as the two 'wars' taking place and ending simultaneously, but I'm not sure if that's a good enough reason.
The fact that Shadowcat and Spider-Man fight together for just about all their action and story segments makes this more glaring, at least according to my tentative editor.
2. More of a joke question, but do people mind that Gwen and/or Noir tend to get their identities found out a lot? While it does fit with Spider-Gwen canon (please don't move to 616...) and the likes of Ultimate Spider-Man, I wonder if readers mind that fans like Gayle Watson find out simply because the two are careless.
I can actually use this since Gwen is a SHIELD sanctioned hero, meaning they do believe her; especially given people like Scarlet Witch being given a second chance in the canon despite Hulk getting screwed over...
