#oc: charlie witchensfield

[k1nky-fool]

Truth of a Parallel

Part 4: Half Measures

Masterlist

Miguel O'hara x OC: Elisa Hannen

Pairing M/F

Per-chapter Rating: Mature

Warnings: Violence, Introducing characters that are relevant to Elisa's Canon, cool beans for you if you recognize some names, Major Character Death, angst, Elisa is not a perfect character, she will be a little out of pocket in this chapter. I can only hope I've done good enough in this fic that you didn't assume Elisa is always 100% in the right.

Taglist: @gatnalien @sevikasstressball @musicmansauxcord @2downbad4dilfs @its-paprika

Gif by: @prettyoatmeal

-Miguel-

At the very least Carnage was in its own universe. Unfortunately, it was too dangerous to go in after everything and remove the Multiversal Traveling Device. And even if they succeeded, it's not like she couldn't be prevented from making another one now that 5302 was without a spider.

"Miguel?" He thought it had been Elisa, but it was a different Widow. "We gotta talk."

"Yeah. Give me a minute." He agreed, setting up a Breach Watch in 5302. If they couldn't track her, they would at least know when she leaves. "What do you need, Charlie?"

She leaned against his console, staying behind while the other Widows went ahead to discuss next steps with Elisa. Her suit was mostly green and gold, and she slapped her mask down on his desk. "Unfortunately, I think it's high time we discuss that Clara's serial killing might be a parallel trait."

"We don't know that for certain-"

"Certain-my-ass, Miguel, we know of three universes now where she's got her nasty claws in everyone's guts." Charlie snapped back, fast. Her southern accent came roaring in whenever she began to get even a little upset, much like his own accent. Both of them were lucky they were still using words the other could understand.

"And if we tell every Widow to investigate Clara Kassidy like a serial killer, then we will likely run into a universe where she isn't." Miguel argued.

"Unless it's a parallel trait." Charlie reiterated. "She's in my universe too! You really think I'm not lining up right behind Elisa?"

Miguel wasn't an idiot; he knew Charlie and Elisa's universes were the most similar so far, and they were all on the same timeline. Which meant if Elisa's Clara got caught, correctly or not, Charlie's was most likely next.

"We don't have evidence of-"

Charlie didn't break a sweat. She pulled up a scan of a newspaper from her universe.

Brooklyn Butcher Claims Another Life

"It's front page news, baby."

Miguel let out a long sigh. She wasn't wrong, but the readings were clear that the parallel identity of Clara Kassidy was inconclusive of any certain parallel trait. The only things they were certain of were her name, and that her profession was always a scientist of some sort, occasionally deviating into more engineer territory, which was nearly the bare minimum to constitute a parallel identity.

"Charlie, the readings say she's only Semi-Canon." Miguel said.

"You think I can't read?" Charlie asks in offense. "That clearly says 'Inconclusive.'"

"And if it were conclusive, it would say so." He stated, shortly. His temper was beginning to get the better of him. "I'm sorry you have to deal with this, but we can't call it Canon without a conclusive reading-"

"Was Maxine conclusive enough for you?"

"¡No te pognas así!" Miguel snapped. "I didn't want Olivia to die either!"

Charlie stood up straight up against him instead of backing down, but he just deflated immediately, leaning back on his console and rubbing his face.

"Miguel… at a certain point, it's just denial." Charlie said, leaving him as she went to check in with the Widows.

He didn't want to believe that this was a fate waiting for every Widow. Miguel wasn't stupid enough to believe that denial meant anything, but he knew the readings. Clara Kassidy had at least a seventy percent consistent identity, but that remaining thirty percent made a load of difference. She wouldn't always be a serial killer, which meant she wouldn't always find Carnage.

And none of that changes the fact that Elisa's next.

He didn't sleep. It was also apparent that none of the Widows had left yet either, even in the dark hours of the morning. He couldn't blame them. Miguel imagined it wasn't easy to watch your friend die on the news.

Looking back on her records, Olivia had always been an overachiever. She was always one of the first to volunteer for a mission if she was nearby, and offered her universe to crash if someone just needed a break from their own.

She used her watch to store investigation notes. They'd be useful since she wrote down everything she learned about Kassidy.

However, it wasn't just business she kept there, she also took personal pictures. There were plenty of pictures of varying groups of spider people messing around with her in 5302, most of which were Widows, but it seems that many more would feel her absence.

Not just spider people, but she also kept scans of personal pictures too. There wasn't one person in her life she couldn't treat like a friend. Pictures of Claudia, Nora, Oscar, and even 5302 Elisa were scanned so she could have those memories with her.

Miguel had to close the file, but he was used to this feeling of failure.

A silent notification lit up in the corner of a screen, letting him know someone had left his universe.

Elisa Hannen: 928B - 4167

He really shouldn't. Miguel pulled up the web of routes between universes, seeing her icon travel through the portal. It would start to look weird if he followed her, right? As soon as she asks why he was there, what would he say?

Hey, Elisa! Sorry I showed up, but I can't sleep, and you're the only person that's hugged me in years.

That would be an interesting way to get kicked through a building again.

Miguel took a deep breath, seeing her icon land safely in 4167. "Estoy lelo, estoy lelo, estoy muy lelo." He repeated to himself as he opened his own portal anyway.

The portal opened outside her apartment. It was probably best that he didn't draw too much attention, so he went to her bedroom window, hanging off the side with a web and knocked sheepishly on the glass.

She wasn't in her bedroom, but she had heard him. Elisa barged into her room, looking around for what made the noise, only to find him at the window. Her expression gave way to confusion, but she opened the window for him anyway.

"Is something wrong?" She asked as she helped him in through the opening that was barely big enough for his shoulders.

He stood in her bedroom, as she became more concerned, but he wasn't sure what he was going to say. "I uh… I didn't want to leave you alone."

Elisa seemed to think there was something else, but she was kind enough not to ask. "You got any clothes?" She asked, but was already picking through her drawer for something to give him.

"No, I-" What she had was clearly from a man somewhat larger than him and he could tell that by the weight of them when they hit his face, but he also really didn't want to hang around in his suit if he could help it. He silently just put them on without much more thought. “Thank you.”

“You crashing here for another chance to get a good night’s sleep?” She asked, not even worrying about him being in the room while she put on her own comfort clothes and Venom retracted her suit back beneath her skin.

“Can I?”

“I asked if you were, not where you’d be crashing.” She clarified.

“Yes?” Miguel tried.

“That is an answer.” She agreed.“So what brings you here?”

“I didn’t want you to be alone.” He repeated.

“That’s the start of an answer.” Elisa said, “But we both know that if you were worried about me, you’d have just told me to not spend the night alone. You could have told me to spend the night with another Widow, or you could have sent someone else to accompany me. So why did it have to be you?”

The room went silent while Miguel couldn’t figure out what to say. Elisa wasn’t about to let him off the hook either. “I was awake.” He dodged. “I want to not be.”

“Technically true.” She noted, taking a seat on her bed. “So then why did it have to be me?”

“Maybe it didn’t have to be you.” Miguel bristled.

“Then it’d be someone else.” Elisa pressed.

“Híjole, loca. What do you want?” He gave up.

“I just want you to tell me why you came to my apartment, in my universe, looking for a place to crash.” She stated clearly. “What made you decide I was the one to come to?”

Golden eyes pierced his being, and Miguel was left feeling exposed to her, despite that this was the most amount of clothing he’d worn in front of her. She wasn’t angry, or determined, her gaze was soft, but she wanted an answer.

Elisa deflated, assuming he had nothing. “If it’s really for no reason, then just go to sleep.”

“I did make that choice.” Miguel broke.

“What?”

“You asked me yesterday.” Miguel explained. “You asked me that if I had a choice between incredible power or falling short of protecting the people I love, what would I choose?”

Elisa stood and slowly made her way over to him. Her hand reached his fingers in some unsure gesture of comfort. Miguel was unsure too. It was already bad enough that he was here, but letting himself just tell her what he meant was all he needed.

“I chose that power, and I failed anyway.” He confessed, taking her hand in his.

“Not even Venom and I can save everyone, Miguel.” Elisa said softly, but he couldn’t look at her face. She took his cheek in her hand and guided him to look at her. When he did, her smile was bittersweet, and her face was soft. "Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, no.” He answered honestly.

Elisa nodded, accepting his answer. “What would you like to do?”

Miguel took a deep breath, allowing her comforting gestures to help when he wanted to be the one to comfort her, and make the future feel just a little less hopeless. Elisa seems to have accepted whatever reality she’s in, regardless of what it means for the multiverse. On some level, Miguel wishes he only had his own universe to worry about, but the reality he lived in included the entire multiverse.

“I want a damn break.” He chuckled, maintaining as much honesty as he could.

Elisa smiled and just pushed a curl of hair out of his face. “Then I can hide you from your responsibilities here for a while.”

“Thank you.” He followed her as she went to bed and she offered the spot beside her. He didn’t even care about whatever insinuation that made, he was just tired

-X-

Miguel awoke early in the morning to Elisa snuggling comfortably into his side. He didn’t know exactly what to make of that, but he didn’t think waking her up was a good choice. It wasn’t until now, when he saw her face so perfectly peaceful and relaxed, that she was always scowling at something or another, even when she was smiling. Mistrust so apparent on her waking expression now that Miguel could see what she looked like without it. It’s not much of a surprise, though. This line of work was not kind to anybody that had taken the responsibility.

Miguel’s watch began to buzz against Elisa’s side, but he silenced it without even looking at who was trying to contact him. There was only a brief moment of silence before Elisa’s watch began buzzing on her nightstand, but he couldn’t pull it with a web before Lyla’s form intruded on them.

“Oh my circuits!” Lyla laughed, and waking Elisa

“¡Vete a la chingada!” Miguel tried to swat her form out of the air, but she glitched away and took a selfie with both of them in the background in bed.

“See you at HQ, boss!” Lyla saluted and disappeared.

“What the hell just happened?” Elisa stretched and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

Miguel just groaned, pinching his brow. “No puedo más. No puedo más.”

“Miguel?”

He got up and took a deep breath, navigating through his watch to find that at the very least, Lyla wasn't absolutely cruel. She only sent the picture to the Widow's squad channel. "¡La voy a desconectar y tirarla a la basura!"

Elisa laughed, pulling up her own watch’s display. “The Widows are already calling me a lot of… colorful names.” Elisa read through as the messages were coming up. "Charlie called me a funeral floozy.”

This was a good thing for her? Figures, she’s able to roll with the punches. Her universe has almost nothing but actual slander pieces on her, and the Widows probably knew she’d take it well. Elisa was only going to be the butt of a group inside joke. Miguel was about to relive getting bullied in high school.

There was just nothing he could do about it. "Me rindo." Miguel just scanned his suit back on and left her spare clothes in a pile on her bed.

“Miguel, it’s at least a little funny out of context.” Elisa jabbed, but he just opened a portal in her room and immediately stepped into it. She wasn’t far behind and she landed in step with him on the other side of the portal. “Hey, just stop for a second.”

He almost forgot she was much stronger than the usual spider on account of Venom. Her grip on his wrist stopped him dead in his tracks. Miguel took a look at her, noting that she was much more calm than he was. “Don’t worry about what they say. They’ll have their fun, gossip for a bit, but we all have reality to get back to. It’s a little lighthearted ribbing in a very dark tunnel we’re in right now.”

Miguel knew exactly why it was weird for him. He’d gone to Elisa because he knew she’d understand why he had to make the choice he did, and why it hurt especially because it was always his call to make. She’d made the same choice he did. “I didn’t want them to know.”

“They don’t have to know the context.” Elisa said. “Widows are investigators. They’ll notice it’s not scandalous, that I’m half awake, and that you and I aren’t romantically involved, and they’ll move on. It’s not their business, and we don’t have to tell them.”

She had a point, but that didn’t mean this wasn’t gonna hurt. “Fine, but this isn’t gonna be pleasant.”

“Oh, I hope not.” Elisa hopped up ahead of him and entered the spacious room. There were a few Widows waiting. One being Madison who immediately rolled up to her on rollerskates.

“So, was it you or Venom that wanted a piece of Spider-Man?” Madison asked. Elisa ignored her, but Madison stopped her from walking away by draping herself over Elisa’s shoulders and keeping her skates dragging on the floor. “Don’t suppose you wanna share with the class where you got that number?”

Madison’s watch projected the hologram of Lyla’s picture. “Cross reference says the deer mascot on Miguel’s majestic chest is actually-”

Elisa ducked Madison and let her fall to the ground, but spiders don’t fall that easy, and she sprung up fast and was back to skating.

“Why do you still have Eddie’s senior year basketball hoodie?” She asked out loud and Elisa froze.

“Eddie?” Miguel asked, now that Madison had peaked his interest. “Who’s Eddie?”

“Eddie Brooks.” Charlie said from the platform. “Elisa’s ex boyfriend and former high school sweetheart.”

Suddenly Miguel’s worries disappeared. The Widows had determined Elisa was the more fun target, and for once, Miguel wasn’t on the wrong side of the joke. He also realized that maybe he still had to get back at her for kicking him through that building.

“Yeah, Elisa.” Miguel wondered. “Come to think of it, you hadn’t even finished asking me if I had anything to sleep in before you’d already taken it out of your drawer.”

Several Widows gasped like he’d just given them the drama of the year, and Elisa zeroed in on him as he walked past her. “You switch sides fast.” She noted.

“That’s for the building trauma to the head. Twice.” He explained, noting how her suit went flat before the textures came back. “Bájale, Venom.”

The Widows were not interested in why Miguel had gone to Elisa’s, and none of them wanted to know if something was going on between them. And Elisa also wasn’t wrong that they would know they weren’t romantically involved.

“So, what’s the plan?” Charlie asked.

“It’s too dangerous to go get the MTD, but I set a breach warning on 5302.” Miguel briefed the four that stood around, including Madison who was distracted by gliding around on the floor in her roller skates, but he knew she was listening. “Carnage will be most vulnerable outside of its universe, so that’s when we attack.”

“So, what happens to 5302 after- all this?” Elisa asked.

“Our job is to keep making sure Clara and Carnage don’t cross any universes until Venom and Elisa recover.” Kat explained.

“What?” Elisa asked.

“The Canon says that after a Widow dies, Elisa and Venom take over the Widow’s vigilante work.” She said like she was repeating herself. “Right now 5302 Venom was injured by the fight with Carnage.”

“You didn’t tell me that!” Elisa snapped, looking to him for some kind of challenge to that. “Are you telling me that if I fail, there’s nothing to protect my universe when I’m gone?”

“We don’t know that for sure.” He said. "Canon Events don't always look the same, but the outcome is the same. If you die fighting Carnage, then your universe will heal."

"Yeah, but you don't know that!" She snapped again, making the whole room go quiet. "You haven't even seen a Widow survive this, let alone if I'll be different!"

He wished he had some sort of answer for her, but she knew the truth too well for him to lie to her. So he just told the truth. "I have to believe that this isn't where every Widow ends."

Every Widow went silent. The distance between all of them might as well have been across universes, even as they stood on the small platform.

Miguel could only hope that meant they were listening. "You all know the Widows have always inhabited a very small branch of the Polyverse." He pulled up the hologram projection of the polyverse model. "What I kept secret from you is that the Widows are self contained."

The projection changed, showing the Widow universes didn't branch like they thought, but they were all fractals of each other in a more circular pattern. The point where they all meet in the middle is their field trip to Oscorp.

"I was worried that if I told you, then you would be able to deduce your Canon Events from each other's. For the sake of not destroying all of your timelines, I can't tell you everything I know, but my hypothesis is that as the timelines diverge farther, the Canon has to stretch farther." Miguel explained.

Canon Events tied certain Widow's to each other on different parts of their timeline, but the model was clear. This allowed for a lot more variables than any of them had previously thought, but it did mean one thing.

"You have no idea what Canon says." Elisa was the one to give a voice to what the other three were clearly thinking.

It made him feel like a failure. It was his job to have all the answers, and it was his job to lead everyone to the best outcomes in their universe. But he had nothing for the Widows. Instead Elisa had been forced into being their only lifeline.

"I'm sorry." It was all he could think to say.

"It's not your fault, Miguel." Elisa said. "From the looks of this, anything could happen."

"So what's the plan then, Elisa?" Charlie piped up.

"I'm going back to my universe, and I'm going to survive." She answered clearly. "And I advise all of you to do the same. Miguel will notify us if Carnage breaches 5302, and we'll move in to attack it while it's vulnerable."

Her plan sounded awfully familiar, but Miguel knew it was because Elisa could see reason too. Going in after Carnage was far too dangerous.

Kat gave stern looks to everyone still standing. "I don't forgive you for lying to me." She glared at Miguel, but he didn't dare let his guilt roar into anger at her. She was well within her right, and he never expected Kat to respect him much anyway. Kat left him with a stinging in his lungs.

"I think Kat's a bitch." Charlie offered him that comfort. "Elisa, whenever you face Clara, I want you to give it everything you've got. And Venom, don't stop until Carnage and Clara are nothing but strings in your teeth."

Elisa took her hand to bid her farewell and Venom had shown its gratitude by wrapping a string around Charlie's arm.

When it was just Elisa and him again, he wished he had anything more to say to her.

"You can always come monitor my universe if you ever want a change of scenery." Elisa offered.

Miguel couldn't stop himself from smiling at the thought. "That's a hell of a way to say you don't mind me crashing at your place."

"Well, I can't show all my cards, that wouldn't be very smart."

"But you'll show that one?"

"Crash at my place again, and maybe you'll see more." She teased.

"You're playing a dangerous game, hermosa." He warned.

Elisa laughed. "I don't suppose you know my mother is Colombian."

"Then she definitely told you what it means."

Elisa went quiet, and that might have killed him if it weren't for the smirk on her face. "I'll see you tomorrow, Miguel."

He'd just have to wait until then.

“Hey, boss?”

Madison’s voice made him jump since he had forgotten she was still here. “What, Madison?”

She swung up to the platform, landing gracefully on her roller skates as she rolled backwards into sitting on the desk. “I think we might have a problem.” She said, using her watch to look at the hologram of the Widow’s web of the polyverse.

He might not be inclined to hear polyverse theories from someone from a universe that hasn’t even figured out touch screens yet, but Madison had a knack for spotting things he didn’t usually catch. “What’s up?”

The hologram transferred to the room where she could better point it out. “So every Widow has a Clara, but not every Widow gets Carnage. And as far as we know, Clara might not always be a serial killer.”

“True.” He allowed, knowing she was just trying to gain a complete understanding of everything before she ultimately said something controversial.

“We have to take into account every Widow when we hypothesize Canon.” She further established with him, and he nodded. “But like it or not, Elisa is different.”

That was a strange way to phrase that, and it was starting to make him nervous. “Different how?”

“For starters, she’s the only Widow to have kept Venom, she is its preferred host in every Widow universe. She’s also the only Widow that tried to cure Dr. Connors, but that might just be her background in chemistry and being so close to Dr. Connors. She is also the only Widow to break up with MJ. We don’t all date her, but Elisa’s the only one that’s gotten dumped by her.” She listed. “And most critically, Elisa is definitely the most violent Widow out of all of us.”

“Elisa isn’t violent, she’s jus-”

“Dude, did you see what she did to Physk?” Madison asked.

“That was Venom.”

“And if she had a problem with it, she would have dropped Venom.” She pointed out, making Miguel go quiet. “My point is that if Elisa had found Clara, I don’t think Clara would have survived long enough to ever see the inside of a jail cell.”

He couldn’t deny that the Canon was unclear enough that Madison could be right. Elisa might have not had to face Carnage at all. “Regardless, the event does still fit the Canon, maybe the police would have caught her before Elisa could. Maybe that violence is what she needs to defeat Carnage.”

Madison deflated, likely knowing she’d get an answer like that, but she wasn’t done. “So, just like that? You hear that and you don’t even want to look into it?”

“Madison, Lyla and I don’t have a predictable enough model for the Widow Circuit.” He reiterated. “I can only guess at the correlation between the Widow universes and every other spider in the Polyverse. Since I have to guess, the stable state of all the Widow universes likely means that all of you are safe for now. Including Elisa.”

“It doesn’t even occur to you that Elisa might not have to face Carnage at all?” She argued back. “If her universe was left alone, she might not have to risk her life fighting Clara and Carnage together.”

“The Canon is intact, and fully stable.” Miguel said in finality, but it was hard to leave someone like Madison thinking they’d messed up, when she wasn’t wrong to bring it up. “I understand your point. But there are just enough variables to suggest that Elisa was never meant to be the one to catch Clara.”

“I don’t want Elisa to die.”

Her sentence echoed across the room, leaving Miguel frozen in place. What had really caught him off guard was that Madison wasn’t angry. She wasn't even frustrated, or confrontational.

Madison was just scared.

“Elisa’s different. Like you said.” He repeated. “She’ll survive.”

She seemed at the very least fine with that answer. “I hope we’re right.” Madison swung back down to the floor, leaving him with that lingering, terrified, feeling.

-Elisa-

She had to go into work today. It wasn't ideal, but at the very least, Elisa could keep a close eye on things as she helped with the aftermath of Dr. Kassidy going to prison.

"The Daily Bugle said the judge denied Kassidy's bond." Was the first sentence out of Nora's mouth, and the entire lunch room lost much of the tension it was holding. Everyone's but Elisa's.

The room split off into its own many conversations to fill the silence. Some speak of anything to distract themselves from the situation. Some discuss what they think the trial is going to be like, what the lawyers' strategy will be. Elisa just sat in silence, picking at her food, but steadily drinking a chocolate milk for Venom's sake.

At least until someone sat across from her. Elisa had almost forgotten that her own universe's Olivia was still alive. And seeing her sitting down in front of her was a kind of peace Elisa was happy to find.

"How have you been, Olivia?"

She seemed puzzled that Elisa was speaking to her at all. "I've been worse." She said. "How about you?"

"I've been worse." Elisa laughed. "Are you gonna take some time off?"

"I don't think it'll do anything for me, but there's a bar up by 44th avenue. Me and some friends were gonna hang out there for a bit tonight." Olivia shrugged.

"That sounds nice."

"You can come join us if you want." She offered, making Elisa nearly freeze.

"I wouldn't want to intrude."

"The more the merrier." Olivia countered. "And besides, it's a better place to catch up than here."

"You know what, sure." Elisa caved in. "I could use a little distraction." ”

The bar was a cute little place and it wasn’t especially busy tonight. Other than a few small groups, Olivia and her friends were the only ones there.

“Are you sure you’re ready to socialize with humans?” Venom asked.

Better than socializing with spiders.

“Fair enough.”

Olivia was the first to spot Elisa by the door and wave her over. She was kind enough to introduce her to the three people she was with. “This is Greg Stacy,” He was a cute guy, with a tamed punk style, but even with the green ends of his blond hair, and piercings along his ears, lip and nose, he smiled like he was made of sunshine.

“and you remember Charlie.” Olivia continued.

“Yeah. I haven’t seen you since high school.” Elisa recalled, but it was strange to see her after meeting Widow 2256.

“I hate to bring up ancient history, but is it true that you got radiation poisoning from that escaped spider on the Oscorp field trip?” Charlie asked.

Elisa couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, that was me. But at least my mom and uncle didn’t have to deal with the bills. Dr. Connors was so embarrassed that it even happened, she made sure we didn’t have to worry about it.” She recalled. “And who’s this?”

The last woman was easily six feet tall, being just slightly shorter than Greg and much stronger than him, but as Elisa looked at her, more senses began to warn her that something was dangerous about this woman.

“This is Francesca Castle.”

“Call me Frankie.” She allowed, but her eyes didn’t stop looking over Elisa in the exact same way Elisa was watching her.

As Elisa’s senses warned her, Venom caught it too.

“Frankie is armed.”

She had a gun tucked into her belt, hidden under her T-shirt and leather jacket. And while she couldn’t see, Elisa would bet that Frankie has another one in her boot, obscured by her cargo pants. Frankie herself was definitely ex-military. Her dark hair was cut close to her head, and her face was practiced with controlled expressions, even now as she was relaxing with friends.

Greg was the first to make Elisa feel welcome. “So, you went to the same girl’s academy as Charlie and Olivia?”

“Yeah, I also work at Oscorp with Olivia.”

“Oh, what do you study?” He asked.

“Biochemistry mostly, but I’m occasionally approached for cybernetics, since Dr. Connors was originally taking a biomechanics approach with that department. Though, the current approach will probably also be abandoned soon, since the head of the department is in prison.”

Greg hissed through his teeth. “Yeah, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It is what it is.” She shrugged. “What about you? What do you do for a living?”

“I produce music, and my band makes a living.” He answers. “But let’s be honest, you could probably tell.”

“It was either that or you look great for a meth dealer.”

Greg snorted out a laugh. “I don’t make nearly enough money to be a good meth dealer.”

“Well, if you love doing it, then who cares how you’re making a living.” Elisa wanted to go see if she could find any CDs from his band at her favorite music store.

“Being a meth dealer?” Greg’s face went tense making her laugh.

“No, I mean your band.” She smacked his arm, but even Venom could tell she was desperate. Venom might not know it was because she desperately needed a distraction from Miguel.

Elisa and Greg stayed close for most of the night, even playing a game of darts before they moved to the patio. Unfortunately, Greg had to leave early, but not before he slipped Elisa a napkin with his number on it.

“You got what you wanted, are you really sure it’ll be enough?” So much for Venom not knowing.

Olivia, Charlie, and Frankie all talked about stuff that had been in the news recently, but it eventually got to Clara Kassidy’s arrest.

“She’s the second department lead to end up in prison this week, but also the second to be fired for criminal activity.” Charlie pointed out. “At a certain point, it’s just denial.”

“It’s not like we don’t do background checks.” Olivia defended. “Kassidy’s criminal activity was something she kept secret from everyone, including the law. We wouldn’t have found that if we tried.”

“What about Oscar?” Charlie asked.

Elisa had an answer for that. “Oscar was being exploited by William Physk, and while that isn’t an excuse for the choices he made, I can’t blame him for being manipulated. I’m happy just knowing that he’s in prison.”

“Eh, prison won’t ever stop them.” Frankie piped up.

“Got something to say, Frankie?” Charlie asked, definitely knowing she was just stirring the pot.

“There’s only one way to make sure someone like Clara Kassidy isn’t ever a problem again.” Frankie said proudly, knowing Olivia would definitely disagree. “Just like this Widow, sending Octavius to prison, sending Kassidy to prison, it’s a half measure. Tell you what, she had the right idea with Physk and his gang. Cops couldn’t even find the heads of their corrupt coworkers.”

“It was fun.”

A little therapeutic too.

“I’ve never been one to argue for capital punishment.” Elisa disclaimed. “I do think that there’s no prison other than death that can hold Clara Kassidy.” Or perhaps she was letting her imminent and terrifying look into her future impact her opinion on this.

“I hope she gets shanked in prison.”

“Frankie!” Olivia barked.

“Shit happens, Olivia.” She said, but Olivia was just done. She left the group with her tab.

Charlie at least had the foresight to take some cash out of her wallet for her and Olivia’s bills before she started walking after her. “Sorry, I should talk to her.”

Which left Elisa standing next to Frankie against the railing on the patio.

“You really stand by that?” Frankie asked. “Only death can stop Kassidy?”

“Yeah, but maybe I’m just tired of being lied to by my senior researchers.” She sighed. Frankie caught her eye in a playful, knowing way, that made it a little hard not to laugh. “Still, people like Physk, and Kassidy. Sometimes they’re just good for feeding animals.”

“What did you call me?”

Only because it would be weird to say I would feed their heads to my friend.

Frankie nodded in agreement, finishing her beer and turning toward Elisa to set it down. But she had moved to crowd Elisa against the railing. “So why didn’t you?”

Elisa’s blood ran cold, as Venom recoiled. Frankie took a step forward, but when Elisa didn’t cower, she stopped as if noticing for the first time that she couldn’t scare her.

“Why don- didn’t I do what?” She hated that she stuttered through that.

“The cute scientist act might work for them, but you’re a little more than that.” She spoke quietly to not draw too much attention from the bar tender or anybody else that might be walking by.

Still if there was one thing Elisa was, it was petty. “You think I’m cute?”

Frankie pulled the gun from her belt, but Venom had reacted before it could even be a threat. Elisa’s hand was wrapped around the barrel of the gun, but as Frankie began to pull it back slowly, she saw the metal was bent into the shape of her hand.

“Whoops.”

“Some grip you got there.” She pointed out. “Didn’t Widow catch a runaway train?”

Elisa groaned, not that Frankie knew she was Widow, but that this meant Frankie would have to earn her trust fast, or she’d do whatever necessary to ensure Frankie didn’t spill the beans to someone more nefarious. Right after she learned how Frankie had figured it out. So either learn more about Frankie, or best case scenario, scare her enough into silence.

“There’s a pretty easy way to start on both of those.”

She webbed Frankie’s mouth so she wouldn’t scream as Elisa grabbed her and swung both of them up to the roof of a building a few blocks away. It was easy to tell that she was not prepared for that, but she was quick to get on her feet once Elisa had dropped her on the roof.

Elisa let Venom cover her body. She calmly took off the outfit she’d worn while Frankie was trying to pull the web off her face. It was a nice outfit, she didn’t want Venom to ruin it with its oily form. “Cute attempt at scaring me, but I’ve done much worse to people that have pulled a gun on me.”

Frankie got the web off her face and took a knife off her belt. Elisa didn’t even move. Venom would break that knife in half. She could be set on fire and Venom could protect her.

“Just tell me how you found me.” Elisa commanded.

“Luck of the draw.” She answered, noticing that she wasn’t in a fight. “I served with Greg, and he was friends with Charlie. She’s a bit of a gossip, and when Octavius was finally arrested, she brought up that you worked under him, and also that you got radiation poisoning from Oscorp when you were a kid.”

“So you decided to investigate? Off of what?”

“Actually, I thought Charlie might have been lying about it.” Frankie admitted. “Greg’s my friend, I was protective of him, and I thought Charlie might have been embellishing her details to make a bigger story out of it for attention or something. When I looked into it, the news articles were there, but you stood out.”

“Why?”

“Because of Claudia Connors.” She said like it was obvious. “She took you under her wing, and when she went off the handle, Spider-Woman was there on the news, trying to save her life. You became Widow when you killed Physk.”

That sounded about right. But at the very least she had no idea about Venom.

“So I still have the question, why didn’t you kill Kassidy?”

“I didn’t turn her in.” Elisa answered simply. “I would have if I found her, but I didn’t see her until she was already at the station.” Frankie believed her, but she definitely didn’t like what that meant.

Before Frankie could say anything, a bright flash in the sky caught their attention. By the time they could make out what was happening, all they could see was what looked like a shooting star leaving a trace across the night sky.

"It's here."

"Where did it land?"

"Far enough to give you almost three days. Carnage will hitchhike hosts until it finds one suitable enough to inhabit.” Venom explained.

“So what the hell was that, Widow?” Frankie asked.

“An alien spaceship.” Elisa answered honestly.

“You can just tell me to fuck off, I won’t take it personally.” She deadpanned like Elisa was just yanking her chain, but it’s not like there’s not much that Frankie can even do to help her kill a symbiote. “So if you didn’t catch Kassidy, then who did?”

The answer to that did not make Elisa any more comfortable with her odds. “Whoever did wants Kassidy alive, that’s all I know for sure.” She lied.

“And you don’t think the cops just did their jobs for once?”

“The cops were just as surprised to have her. Someone found her notes at Oscorp, and anonymously handed it over to police.” Frankie did not look any happier than Elisa was to learn that information.

“So what do you do now?”

Now that Carnage was on the planet, she felt fresh out of options.

“We should have killed her when we had the chance.”

Elisa stopped, as the beginning of a terrible idea began to form.

Who said we’re out of chances?

“Now I try to finish the job.”

Frankie’s eyes snapped to hers. “You’re going to break into a high security prison and kill an inmate without getting caught?” She scanned Elisa’s face for some sign of a reality check, but Elisa was only getting more excited at the thought. “You got some brass low hangers on you.”

“Well, like you said, for someone like Kassidy, prison is a half measure.” Elisa swung down to begin making her way to the prison.

“She seemed pretty concerned about this.” Venom said.

“It’s just a prison, Venom.” Elisa scoffed. “The worst we’re gonna find is a bunch of violent humans.”

“Does that mean it’s time to feast?”

“Only Clara. We don’t want to draw too much attention to ourselves. If a bunch of prisoners and guards turn up dead in the same way Physk’s gang was found, then they’d know I broke in to kill a bunch of people who were already not threatening the public.” Elisa said. “I want this to be a message to everyone that I don’t play by rules that let people like Clara Kassidy take up space on this planet.”

It took a while to get to the prison that Clara was held at. Elisa was beginning to form a plan. She could break into the warden’s office to find where she was being held. From there, she’d probably do best by finding the cell from the outside wall, dodging the spotlights. Her senses would be able to guide her away from getting caught.

She wasted no time jumping into action once she had figured out her operation. The warden’s office was dark, likely because he had gone to bed for the night, but Elisa was cautious as Venom crept through the cracks of the window and unlocked it for her to climb through.

There was a computer in the office, though it seems the warden wasn’t very tech savvy, since his username and password were written on a sticky note on the side of his monitor. Most places were digitizing records, but luckily since Kassidy was a newer inmate, she’d be in the system.

Cell block D.

A creak down the hall made Elisa hop up into the tiled ceiling to hide from anybody that might be walking in. An unassuming janitor opened the door and began doing his nightly routine for the office. Unfortunately, he set up his cleaning cart right beneath the window that she needed to get out.

We’re winging it.

“I knew this was a bad idea.”

While he was distracted, she slipped out of the ceiling and carefully made her way to the warden’s bulletin board and took the tacks out of the map of the prison. She silently made her way down the hall, dodging the occasional guard, but there was still something nagging her senses.

As she turned the corner to cell block D, something grabbed her and pulled her into a hidden nook away from the open hallway.

Elisa was ready to claw at its throat, but she stopped, being face to face with Miguel.

“What are you doing here?” Miguel hissed.

“I’m trying to solve my own damn problems, what the fuck are you doing here?” She shot back.

Miguel’s face was hidden by his mask, but she could guess he wasn’t happy. “I’m trying to save your ass, and here you are throwing everything away.”

“Did you put a tracker on me!?” Even Venom felt the rage that filled her.

“No, I got a ping on 5302 Kassidy.” Miguel said.

Elisa was shocked into silence. “She’s here?”

The sounds of someone’s footsteps slowly coming forward scared them both into silence. All of the hair on Elisa’s neck and arms stood on end as the steps came closer, and closer. The steps stopped, leaving the echo of boots to bounce off the walls, but it died before it could escape. The sound of something slick and heavy squelched across the concrete floor like an animal on the hunt wading through mud. The thick smell of metal could have made Elisa throw up if her instinct to call it blood had won over what she really knew that smell meant.

That was a symbiote without a host.

They know we’re here.

All of Elisa’s muscles jumped into action as Venom took complete control. Venom Screamed at Carnage in a vicious claim of territory.

Clara only turned her head toward them, and she smiled. Crimson liquid spread across her body and Carnage's face took form with dead, white eyes, a mouth full of teeth, and claws that twitched in anticipation. Another set of claws crept through the bars and ripped the door right out of the brick wall, sending the entire building into chaos.

Deafening alarms split through the halls and echoed back to Elisa, and all she could do was survive.

-Miguel-

He had to do something, or she would die.

Elisa and Venom might have had a chance with just one of them, but now there were two of them and Miguel’s watch was alerting him that this was a Canon Event. There’s no way for him to know which one of them had triggered it, and even if 5302 was an OUCH in this universe, removing her would still break Canon.

He had to leave. Miguel deployed a surveillance drone and escaped through the portal.

Once landing in his universe, he immediately put up the feed from the drone.

Both of them charged Venom, and it leapt away, but once it was on the ceiling, one of them tackled it and sent them flying through the concrete.

The drone followed, and revealed that Venom had gotten out of their grasp, but was injured. It ran, leading both of them down the hall as prison guards rushed in with guns drawn.

One of the monsters lunged toward the guards and began tearing them apart, while the other pursued Venom. When it caught up to Venom, it ripped a cell door off the wall and used it as a shield between the two of them.

Carnage wasn't having it, and pushed them through the outside wall with little effort. Both symbiotes fell through the air, and when they hit the ground, Venom didn’t land on its feet. It still managed to use the bars to push Carnage off of it and get up.

Miguel heard several sets of running steps come down the hall to see what was going on. It seems the Widows had figured out what was happening.

“Is she ok?” Charlie asked.

“She’s injured.” Madison noticed first.

“She’s fighting both of them!?” Kat yelled.

Miguel couldn’t respond to any of them. His mind was repeating the same thing over and over, and he couldn’t process anything else.

Stay alive,

stay alive,

stay alive,

stay alive,

stay…

The second Carnage finally joined its companion, landing on a prison bus that crumpled under its weight. It dripped with the blood of everyone that had met an end tonight.

Venom staggered as it stood, but this time it moved first, lunging at one of them with its talons in a desperate, violent move. Carnage only moved to catch her and throw her into another prison bus. The bus hit some kind of electric transformer, which ignited the leaking gasoline and erupted with a blinding explosion. The bus continued to burn, but Venom stepped out of the rubble, still off balance and weak.

It screamed again in challenge, and lunged again at Carnage. This time the second monster grabbed Venom while the other stood in front of it. Venom tried to get free, but it was too late.

Miguel felt something crawl up his spine and settle in his lungs, making it impossible for him to breathe.

Not again.

Carnage sunk its claws into Venom’s skin, making it scream out in pain. It pulled on its skin, ripping the symbiote out of Elisa, leaving her in her old Widow suit as she went limp.

The one holding her, dropped her without a second thought while it watched the other strangle the mass of black liquid. Carnage squeezed until the mass went limp and it began dripping from her fingers.

The two turned to Elisa, but Miguel felt able to breathe for the first time in what felt like hours as she started shuffling away. They regarded her like an insect.

Elisa moved quickly, webbing the bus behind them and pulling it to hit both symbiotes.

They were thrown into the wall of the prison as Elisa managed to get far enough to hide behind the burning bus while they regained their footing. One of them perched on top of the thrown vehicle and let out a roar of rage.

Elisa’s breath came out in short panting as she held her arm in pain. Her eyes stayed on the ground, not daring to look up. She was fighting herself. She’d lost Venom, and she couldn’t face them alone.

With nothing left, Elisa ran.

The Widows erupted into whispers of concern, seeing that instead of fighting, their fellow Widow had fled. Miguel was focused on the alert that had appeared on his screen.

Canon Event: Success