#oc: clara kassidy

[k1nky-fool]

Truth of a Parallel

Part 3: The Thirteenth Widow

Masterlist

Miguel O’hara x OC: Elisa Hannen

Pairing: M/F

Per Chapter Rating: Explicit (for violence reasons. there is no sexual content in this chapter).

Warnings: MCD (major character death), death is treated very seriously in this chapter with lots of angst. But this chapter is almost exclusively hurt/comfort.

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

Gif by @prettyoatmeal

-Elisa-

To his credit, Eddie didn’t immediately freak out. His flurry of questions was held back in a much more clear minded move, but the longer he took to formulate a response, the more Elisa felt she was intruding on someone’s peace that she rightfully shouldn’t even know anymore.

“Nevermind, this was a bad idea.” Venom decided.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be here. I’ll leave.” Elisa began to turn around.

“No! I-” Eddie struggled. “I’m happy to see both of you.”

That made both her and Venom perk up. “I have a hard time believing that.”

“Come on in.” He invites her away from the window. “I suggest utilizing the door next time.”

“I don't have any other clothes.” She pointed out, and he just grabbed her a hoodie and pair of sweatpants for her.

“Something has to be wrong, he has no reason to think we’re not here to kill him.” Venom panicked, but Elisa was more motivated to distract herself from everything going on outside.

Once she was comfortably situated in his clothes, on his couch with a cold beer, offered out of the kindness of Eddie’s own heart, Elisa waited patiently as Eddie finished whatever he’d been doing before she showed up. He eventually sat down beside her, being remarkably less awkward than she anticipated.

“I feel like I have the right to know why you came here of all places.” Eddie prompted. “Not to sound like a dick, but aren’t you still dating that MJ girl?”

“No, she broke up with me sometime last spring. Apparently there's a limit to how many times your fiancée can stumble into your apartment needing extreme medical attention and begging not to go to a hospital.” Elisa said.

Eddie actually laughed. “I must have missed that class in school.”

“You missed every class but sex-ed.” Elisa pointed out.

“Not nearly as many titties as I was led to believe by a certain friend at the girls academy down the block.”

Elisa gasped in offense. “I must have just had a better education than you.”

“Yeah, I’ll say. Still, you don’t know how to answer a question.” He jabbed back at her. “Why come here of all places?”

“Why does he have the right? You didn’t have the right to your questions when he was being a prick-”

She forced herself to take a deep breath, which Venom clearly wasn’t on board with and it made her slightly nauseous. “I’m overwhelmed. I figured if I had nowhere to go, I might as well settle on the worst.”

“That bad, huh?”

“What?”

Eddie snickered. “It had to get that bad before you thought of coming to me? You’re many things, but you don’t run from your problems.”

Elisa slumped back into the corner of the couch. “Yeah, I’ve got a track record.”

“Why can’t you go home?” He asked. “You got another heart to break waiting for you there?”

“I really wish that wasn’t as accurate as it is, but I’m not dating him.” She let herself accept the defeat all while still defending herself from something that wasn’t even attacking. “His name is Miguel. He’s a Spider-Man from a different universe, and he’s here to catch something that landed here that shouldn’t be.”

He just nodded, knowing that weird stuff like this was pretty typical for her ever since she became Spider-Woman and even more so after she became Widow. “Just out of curiosity, is he hot?”

“I’m working with him, I’m not oggleing this poor man that probably doesn’t even want to be in this miserable universe.” She defended, but Eddie just stared at her as she was having trouble meeting his eye line. “... He’s not… unattractive.”

“Uh-huh.” He smirked to himself in his victory.

Elisa was exposed, but she didn’t mind. Eddie wasn’t the same as he was back in high school and neither was Elisa. But somewhere inside both of them lived two weird kids that were still friends after everything. And Eddie still bought the same trashy brand of beer that was the only brand at the mini-mart that wouldn’t ID them.

“I feel like I’ve earned at least one question.” She suggested, and Eddie made an accepting gesture. “Why’d you let me in?”

“You snuck in.”

“Prick.”

“You know what I mean.”

Eddie laughed, but relented. “I didn’t like how we left things.” He admitted. “I’ve seen the amount you swing to MJ’s apartment, so if you’re not dating her, then you’re at least still friends. I thought there was a chance we could be friends again.”

That made sense, some part of Elisa felt the same. Eddie had betrayed her, and he pretty much ruined her lives as both Elisa Hannen, and Spider-Woman, forcing her to become Widow. And yet, when she was overwhelmed, she needed to find comfort. Whether she liked it or not, Eddie was that comfort. “Were you going to reach out at all?”

“I’ve started to call you about five or six times, but I’ve chickened out every single time.” Eddie admitted.

“What’d you want to say?” She asked.

He choked on his own breath for a little before just retrying with an exasperated sigh. “I don’t know. I really just wanted to know if there was a chance you’d let me try again.”

Elisa felt her heart sink, and Venom did too.

“He could start with a damn apology for once.” Venom hissed into her head.

I want to hear him out.

“Why the fu-”

“Eddie, you used me as a popularity stunt.” Elisa challenged. “Not just my name as a researcher at Oscorp, but also my persona as Spider-Woman.”

“I know.” He accepts. “And it’s no thanks to me that you managed to get on your feet after I published the hit-piece. I did it wrong back then, so I wanna make it right now.”

“You can’t make it right.” Elisa scoffed. “It’s already been done, and it was wrong to do it.”

“I-I know. I-”

“I fixed it without you. There’s nothing left to make right.” She explained to him. “So maybe just do it right next time.”

Eddie perked up. “Next time?”

“Absolutely not!”

Elisa nodded. “It’ll take a little more to get Venom on your side, though.”

“A little? This man better start groveling, or whatever humans do when they don't want to be eaten!” It snapped, still refusing to come out and talk to Eddie, itself.

Eddie agreed without question. “I understand. And I get that it won’t be the same, but I’m willing to be a better friend this time.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Eddie.” She challenged, and he just kept smiling like an idiot. It was getting late, and Elisa couldn’t realistically stay the night at her ex-boyfriend’s house. “I should get going.”

Venom showed its eagerness to leave with how fast it materialized the suit over her skin and over her face. Elisa took the mask off her face and Venom soaked it back up while grumbling in annoyance in her mind.

“I’ll see you around.” Elisa took off his hoodie and sweatpants, giving him a friendly hug.

“Take it easy, Widow.” Eddie watched as she made her exit out the living room window.

“You made me hug him.”

“You’ll survive, Venom.”

“You going to face Miguel?”

Elisa knew she didn’t have another option, but she really had to know if they had been successful in tracking down Clara from 5302. She got back to her apartment and quickly got dressed, knowing Miguel was likely to show up now that her location was known.

She didn’t expect him to actually knock on the window when she sensed him land outside, but immediately, something was odd. The landing was far too quiet to be Miguel. Instead, Elisa cautiously approached her window to see who was there.

Olivia Weaver, Widow 5302, lifted a shy hand to wave at her. Despite how odd it was, Elisa opened her window and let her in. Olivia was about her height, but with a slimmer build. Her long, blonde hair was tied up on the crown of her head, being pulled through her mask to avoid a misshapen head under the mask. She took off her mask and her eyes were the same shimmering green that Elisa’s had been before Venom had bonded with her.

“Let me guess, Eddie?” She deduced. “He was a host of Venom in my universe too, and still your friend. Oddly enough, you still have Venom currently in my universe.” Olivia explained. “We knew it’d be wild when we found Elisa wearing the Widow mask.”

“You and the other twelve Widows?” Elisa asked.

“Yeah, all of us.” Olivia confirmed. “In every Widow universe, you were always just different. It’s why Venom always finds you. We were too busy wondering who would be hosting Venom if you were Spider-Woman that we never stopped to consider that maybe, Venom wouldn’t find another host.”

“Yeah well, I’ve got-”

“A track record.” Olivia interrupted, relishing in the awkward look on Elisa’s face after being easily predicted. “That’s the same line you said to me in my universe after I said Venom was only using you. Of course, not really you, but the look on your face suggests you want to throw a taxi at my face in this universe too, so maybe it’s a parallel trait.”

“Is being a know-it-all, priss a parallel trait for you?” Elisa snapped. “Miguel too shy to ask for my help, or are you here to tell me I’m not welcome in your Spider Society?”

Olivia threw something at her head at a surprising speed, but Venom moved her arm fast enough to catch it. It was a watch.

“Can you blame him? You’re intimidating.” Olivia joked.

“Wait, I thought none of them trusted Venom?” Elisa recalled quite easily, while Venom was just excited at the thought of going a second round with the Spider Society.

“Venom means a lot of things in the multiverse.” Olivia explained, “Meeting or bonding with Venom is a Canon Event. It’s just a Canon Event that is over for most of them. Peni lost her friend to the Ven#m mech. The Peter that noticed you really hurt his MJ while he was hosting Venom. Peter Porker faced a Symbiote in his universe called Pork Grind. Miguel nearly died fighting Venom in his universe. And don’t even get me started on the Venom Anomalies.”

That definitely sounded right for the reaction she got. “What about you and the other Widows? I even have the same face.”

Olivia took a deep breath. “Venom was originally drawn to my powers when it crashed. Venom and I ended up killing Oscar in my universe. That wasn’t the kind of hero I wanted to be. But it found Eddie, and he stayed hidden for a while, but when he published the Oscorp Expose, Venom took your side. And you were much more of a threat than Eddie was. You and Venom just have a different kind of bond than the other spiders do.”

“What does she mean ‘the Canon Event is over for the other spiders?’” Venom bristled.

That made her heart drop. “Olivia, is splitting from Venom a Canon Event?”

That was the question Olivia was avoiding.

It was obvious as soon as she asked it. Olivia took a moment to find the words. "It happens differently for everyone."

"Wait, we're gonna break up?" Venom panicked.

"We're not gonna break up, Venom." Elisa groaned, and focused again on Olivia. "Look, if everyone agrees that a Spider splitting from Venom is a Canon Event, then suddenly everyone I talk to is waiting for what would have to be the worst day of my life."

"Everyone's waiting for the next horrible thing to happen to you." Olivia pointed out, but when Elisa gave no sign of understanding her, she continued. "Is Oscar still alive in this universe?"

"He was locked up yesterday, I think." Elisa didn't understand what she was getting at.

"What about Dr. Claudia Connors?"

Elisa freezes. Claudia Connors worked alongside Nora Osborn in biochemistry, and her attempt at developing a method for regrowing limbs could have benefitted all amputees not unlike herself. Her serum went wrong and she became The Lizard. It was Claudia that introduced Elisa to Oscorp at all because she was the only scientist that truly enjoyed the publicity of it all. Claudia led the field trip her class had gone on.

Elisa made a cure for her, but while it worked on everyone she had turned, Claudia had been dosing herself too high, and the cure only sped up the rate it was killing her. Elisa didn't go to her Junior Prom, she attended Dr. Claudia Connor's memorial service.

"Yeah." Olivia knew the look on Elisa's face. "She's still alive in my universe. She went to your graduation party."

"Why would you tell me that?" Elisa asked.

"Because everyone just lives with it." She answered delicately. “If everyone is waiting for you and Venom to split, then they’re also waiting for me to lose Dr. Connors. For some others, we’re waiting for the Police Captain, Nora Osborn, Flint Marco. Everyone’s on a different timeline, Elisa. And after the worst of it is done, we have a support system made up of the only people in the multiverse that’ll understand.”

Elisa took a long look at the watch. “What about everyone that was ready to attack me? I doubt they’re welcoming me back with open arms.”

“They’re free to avoid you if they want, but if you guys want to sing kumbaya, then that’s up to you.” Olivia shrugged and opened the portal back to the headquarters. “But I know at least one guy that wants to try again.”

“That sounds promising.” Venom teased.

Shut up. Elisa stepped into the portal.

On the other side of the void, several spiders just stared. Some ignored her and continued on their way, and to her surprise, some even gave a polite wave. It was dark outside now, and the lights in the building were kind to her senses.

Olivia brought her back to Miguel’s platform where it had been lowered. His back faced Elisa where she noticed something interesting.

Miguel doesn’t have heightened awareness.

Venom recoiled. “Then how the hell did he pull one over on us?”

“Miguel!” Olivia called out so she wouldn’t startle him.

When he turned around, he seemed surprised to see Elisa. “You actually came back.” He noted.

“I told you.” Olivia reminded him. “Elisa was always an odd-girl-out.”

As much as Elisa wanted to pretend like Olivia didn’t know her at all, there was an obvious sense of familiarity that they had. Elisa remembered that she was in the hospital for 300 rads of acute radiation poisoning for a brief time after she was bitten by the spider. The science class that went on the trip had all made her cards, and Olivia hanged back while some more familiar faces visited her in the hospital with the class. MJ, Eddie and Holly all came to visit, but Olivia was kind enough to visit her personally, give her all the assignments she had missed, and went over her notes when Elisa didn’t understand. Elisa could only hope that her alternate self was kind enough to do the same for Olivia.

“I’m glad you came back.” Miguel said to her.

Elisa hopped up onto the platform with him. “I’m not gonna start running from my problems now.” She said, “What’s your status on the tracking device?”

Miguel’s expression didn’t give her much hope. "We may have underestimated her advancement."

“Uh-oh.”

"No chance that means we can track her tech?" Elisa hoped.

Miguel confirmed the difficult reality. “We realized she wants 4167 Carnage to find Clara.”

“Yeah, I talked to Clara Kassidy down at the station. She didn’t know who reported it, but she was able to figure out it wasn’t me. At least the two of them haven’t met yet.” Elisa supplied.

“Do my ears deceive me, or is she back?”

Olivia lit up like she was expecting this. “How nice of you to join, Peter.”

Peter swung up to meet them and glared at Elisa. “So what is she doing back, and with a watch, no less?”

“Not this wash-up again.” Venom groaned to her.

“Peter, we don’t have time for this.” Miguel argued.

“Miguel, she’s an OUCH waiting to happen!” Peter didn’t let up.

“Mind telling me what the hell an “ouch” is?” Elisa asked.

Olivia was kind enough to explain while Miguel pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering in Spanish under his breath, letting her explain. “An OUCH is an acronym for an Out of Universe Canon Hazard. It’s when either an Environmental Trigger travels across a universe and sets off a Canon Event for a spider that isn’t in their own universe in Type 1, or a spider in another universe stumbles across the right Environmental Triggers outside of their own universe in Type 2.”

Venom took offense, yet again. “Everyone is so certain we’re gonna break up.”

Elisa was just about done with this argument. “Peter, I turned you and all your spider friends into a joke because of Venom. Right now you vs. Venom is tallied up at zero to one. I’d say we’re doing fine.”

“And I’ll get your ass again!” Venom cheered to itself.

“We all loved the power the black suit gave us, but we know the cost of it is too much to justify wearing it.” Peter reminded everyone else. “The Canon says that the Spider and Venom will split. And I might not even be worried about any other Event, but if it’s triggered here or anywhere other than your universe, then we have a rogue symbiote on the loose, outside its universe.”

“It’s not his business!”

“Then we burn that bridge when we get to it!” Elisa hissed, only to be held back by Miguel.

“Elisa, stand down.” He said. “Peter, whether we like it or not, she’s bonded with Venom. Many spiders had to reach a truce with Venom to beat Carnage anyway. This might be the only way she survives this.”

Peter wasn’t happy, but at the very least, he understood Miguel’s point. He gave a warning pointer finger in return. “I’m keeping an eye on her.”

“Try it.”

“Miguel couldn’t keep a tail on me for longer than a minute, but whatever helps you sleep at night, Cryptkeeper.” Elisa jabbed, and Olivia nudged her like that was something she shouldn’t have said to their principal, but it made both of them laugh.

“Híjole chicas, we need to figure out our next move, not pick little cat fights with each other.” Miguel chastised. “Now, we can’t find her, we can’t track her, and we’re fresh out of ideas.”

“Well, I don’t usually have tracking technology in my universe, so I say we do this the old fashioned way.” Elisa suggested and Olivia let out a long sigh, likely just tired that this couldn’t be solved by the magical mechanisms from Miguel’s universe.

“Oh, but two Widows investigating a parallel identity in each other’s universes, that’s not an OUCH waiting to happen either?” Peter just gave up on trying to argue this.

“I’ll keep an eye on them.” Miguel assured him, but Peter didn’t look very impressed as Elisa opened the portal to Earth-5302.

The portal came out on a roof near the Oscorp building. “Umm, fair warning Elisa, you might want to keep your mask on for this.” Olivia warned as she brought them to one of the many balconies of the building. Elisa was worried since she recognized this as the balcony to Nora’s Office, but as soon as they entered the building, she realized exactly what Olivia meant.

“Dr. Connors? We need your help on something.” Olivia greeted with joy like this was common.

Claudia smiled, welcoming Widow warmly. Her coat was neatly safety pinned up by her bicep to keep the residual limb safe while she worked in the laboratory. Elisa was left amazed at her face. 5302 Claudia was forty-seven. Her age was showing in a way that only reminded Elisa that she had failed eight years ago. “Who’s this with you?”

“Clara Kassidy found a way to travel across universes. This is the Widow from the universe that Clara invaded, and this is the Spider-Man that knows how to make sense of that tech.” Olivia explained. “We know she was working on her research here, and Oscorp still has copies of those records. We need to see what Clara was working on before she was arrested.”

Claudia took a long look at Elisa, and even Venom could feel her anxiety rising. When she finally took her eyes off her, Elisa was relieved that she’d moved on to observing Miguel. Claudia just nodded. “Alright, I can take you to her lab and unlock it for you, but that’s as far as I go.” She warned.

“That’s all we need.” Olivia thanked her and walked beside her as they led the way to the laboratory.

Miguel stayed back with Elisa, and he was as observant as ever. “Are you alright?” He asked.

“I’ll survive.” She dismissed. Claudia looked back at them for a brief moment, and Elisa tensed and averted her eyes.

“Maybe Peter was right.” Miguel wondered.

“Shut the hell up.” Elisa warned.

Most of the laboratories were sealed off in their own rooms to avoid contamination, and it was easy to plan a route that wouldn’t leave them exposed to any of the ones that had any glass on the walls. It allowed them to just duck under the view of any of the labs that had windows to the hall.

“This is it.” Claudia announced, opening the door with her own key. She stayed by the door as all three of them passed. The police were done here and now the records were organized in the office for anyone that needed to reference her work, with Nora and Claudia’s supervision. Elisa stayed in the back as she began looking around the laboratory. It had been mostly picked clean by the authorities, but the equipment was definitely more advanced than Miguel expected just based on the expression his mask held. Elisa found Kassidy’s desk to figure out if there was anything that suggested a plan, while Olivia and Miguel were assessing the equipment and theorizing ways to locate Clara or perhaps find other evidence of her escape.

There wasn’t much left on the desk, but there was a photo of Clara Kassidy several years ago, celebrating with Nora Osborn and Claudia in front of a chalkboard covered in mathematical work. “That was the day she mathematically proved AdS/CFT correspondence.” Claudia supplied. “Everyone was quite excited, understandably.”

Elisa put down the frame and continued searching without saying a word. She opened a few drawers and pulled out some manilla folders and opened them to see plenty of research papers on a device she called The Seeker. This looked somewhat important, and Venom was also lost on how to scan something and archive it for later use. Elisa poked at her watch for a moment and found a Call Lyla button, and she reluctantly pushed it.

Her tiny, hologram form appeared in front of the watch. “What’s up?”

“Hi, Lyla. Is there a way I can scan this for archiving?” Elisa asked, and Lyla was happy to show her how to use the scanner on her own.

Claudia watched in amazement, but kept giving useful context to Elisa. “That was a paper she wrote on quantum gaps forming between multiversal planes.”

Elisa knew just enough about Oscorp’s quantum physics experiments to understand what Claudia was saying, and what it meant. There were gaps between multiversal planes, and Clara had developed a machine that could seek them out, allowing her to travel through the gaps that already existed.

“It’s interesting to see her theory proven correct right in front of me.” Claudia mused. “I’m glad there’s a universe out there that has Elisa Hannen protecting it.” Elisa flinched and turned to Claudia. “That finally got you to look at me.”

Elisa didn’t know what to say, so she just gave up, signaling Venom to drop the mask. “How did you know?”

“I know the voice of my lab assistant that I see every day.” Claudia laughed, but it was bittersweet. “Something tells me that your universe wasn’t very kind to your version of me.” She said, noting the scar on Elisa’s cheek that she had no way of knowing came from a parallel version of Claudia herself.

“You died eight years ago.” Elisa confessed. “It was an accident that I couldn’t save you from.”

Claudia smiled sadly and Elisa struggled to stop herself from becoming a scared high schooler that never got to say goodbye to her mentor. “My version of you is still my lab assistant in this universe. She’s good friends with Holly Osborn, and she’s a talented chemist.”

“Nora kept me in that position when she hired Oscar. I was still in high school at the time, so I couldn’t take your spot.” Elisa explained. “I was seventeen when you died. And only a year later, Oscar was exposed.”

“Then it seems like your universe hasn’t been kind to you either.” Claudia figured. Olivia said that the Physk hit-piece had happened in this universe, which meant that 5302 Elisa had her trusted mentor to fall back on in this universe.

“You’re so much like my Claudia.” Elisa noted, really attempting to convince herself that this didn’t mean she was talking to a ghost of her friend.

“Elisa, I know I’m not her.” She offered. “But I also know that you aren’t my Elisa. So, just let me as I am, speak to you as you are.”

Elisa let Claudia take her hands in her one left hand. “If your universe has treated you anything like I think, then I hope you know that you’re doing good. The fact that you’re here means you’ve kept going after everything, and if you’re anything like my Elisa, then I know you’re the right person for the job.”

She couldn’t hold back anymore, she just hugged Claudia like she would have if she could have said goodbye. “If you’re anything like my Claudia, then I want you to know that, even after everything, you never stopped being my hero.”

Claudia hugged back just like how Elisa remembered. “Then keep being a hero over there for both of us.”

When they finally let go, Claudia just smiled, letting her get back to scanning documents.

“Just out of curiosity-”

“No, Claudia.” Elisa warned, knowing she was just wondering what had actually managed to take her out in a parallel universe. She was always quite the eccentric personality.

“Alright, fair enough.” She accepted.

“Do you know who your Widow is?” Elisa asked.

“Ms. Weaver told me her identity months ago when she was originally investigating Dr- Ms. Kassidy.” Claudia said. “But I can’t figure out who the triangle man is. I know that’s not Eddie.” She suggested, nudging Elisa’s shoulder with her stump in an old joke. She definitely noticed something suggestive between the two of them.

“N-No, he's Spider-Man from a universe that’s ninety-seven years ahead of us with a wildly different history.” Elisa explained. “He brought together hundreds of spider people to investigate and apprehend malicious universe travelers.”

“Hmm…” Claudia mused. “Then you probably know more than me how troublesome that could be.”

That caught Elisa off guard. “Troublesome?”

Claudia was surprised she had to explain, but it seemed that she was somewhat aware of the theory of Clara’s work. “All of these spider people would be parallel identities in some aspects. I just hope you know that affecting other realities, especially your own parallel identities, might be dangerous for the integrity of that reality’s durability.” Claudia warned, and Elisa was somewhat worried now, thinking of Miguel.

She really did like Miguel, but Claudia was right. Interfering with Miguel’s reality or getting too attached to him and neglecting events that are supposed to happen in hers could be detrimental to the Canon. After all, Canon Events included events like meeting partners like Eddie and MJ, or making friends like Holly or Claudia. If Elisa got too caught up with Miguel, then her own reality could suffer for it. She didn’t need Miguel or Peter to tell her that the Canon was the very fabric of reality that they all existed on. Ignoring or trying to change it could have disastrous effects.

“I’m not dumb enough to start letting romance get in my way.” Elisa assured her.

“Well, you’ve got a track record.” Claudia laughed, and Elisa was once again surprised that she was actually happy to hear those words come from Claudia at least one more time.

Miguel and Olivia came back, happy with their own scans. “We got what we needed, we think we might know where to find her equipment.” Miguel said as Elisa’s mask crept back up her face.

“Good. I got all her research data for reference later.” Elisa offered.

“Alright, we have a trail!” Olivia clapped in excitement. “Thank you, Dr. Connors.”

“My pleasure.” She said, guiding them to the nearest balcony. “And good luck to all of you. We’re lucky to have people like you to keep us safe.”

They bid her goodbye and continued on to find where Clara had set up her equipment after breaking out of prison. Miguel kept pace with Elisa once again. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah.” Elisa answered. “I just needed to talk to her.”

Miguel didn’t press, likely understanding exactly what just happened. Elisa would just have to move on with the fact that she would never live in a reality where she could truly tell Claudia Connors just how important she was to her. But getting to hear her mentor tell her that she was the right person to protect her own reality was healing. And Elisa got to make sure that in this universe, Claudia Connors would die knowing that she was never seen as a villain to people that loved her.

“That’s good, then.” Miguel said.

The group came to a subway station, and found their way to a maintenance tunnel. The fence in front of them had a locked gate and Elisa grabbed the lock, allowing Venom to poke and prod within it to get it open without much effort.

“Gracias, Venom.” Miguel acknowledged.

Venom bubbled in excitement in Elisa. “I like him too.”

She just laughed and continued down the tunnel with the two of them. Olivia led the way, looking closely at the ground and walls to make sure she wasn’t missing anything. She likely realized at the same time Elisa and Venom did that this tunnel was essentially a choke point.

You know anything about Carnage as a member of your species?

“Carnage is a red rank member of my species.” Venom explained. “Black rank symbiotes, like me, are sent as scouts to worlds that are meant for hunting grounds, as you know. If we do not contact the base, then the planet is not viable for hunting. Red rank symbiotes are physiologically different from my rank. They have the ability to cannibalize equal and lower ranked symbiotes.”

So, did you contact the base when you arrived on my planet?

“I never got the chance to. But I don’t think 5302 Venom did either if it found you.”

“This looks like it.” Olivia announced, finding a lightswitch that did not light up the whole underground lab, but was sufficient enough to find what Clara was doing.

Only one wall was lit up by the lamp beside it. The brick was patterned with all kinds of calculations for the tech she had used to travel. There were tables that were filled with gadgets and papers, only vaguely lit up by a couple of lamps in the cylindrical, brick dome.

Elisa found a reason to be next to Miguel again. “Venom says Carnage’s rank of symbiote is known for cannibalizing equal and lower rank symbiotes. Is it possible 5302 Clara and Carnage want to destroy my Carnage?”

“It’s not impossible, but if they’re trying to kill Canon, then they’re much more dangerous than we anticipated.” Miguel noted.

“Hey, guys?” Olivia called out. They both looked across the circle to see what she was worried about. It was a very interesting contraption, being a collapsible cylinder with a lens that someone could see through. The cylinder itself was bulky, nearly the size of Miguel’s arm, and it looked at least nearly complete.

Miguel’s watch gave him a silent, buzzing alarm that he looked down at, and Elisa froze where she was.

“Something’s wrong.” Venom cautioned.

Elisa kept watching Miguel, and he dropped his wrist and put himself between Olivia and Elisa. He looked back at Elisa, but she couldn’t tell what his mask’s expression meant. His gaze turned back to Olivia, and he began to back up with Elisa, toward the exit.

“We have to get out of here.” Venom warned again.

Elisa’s own senses sent a chill down her spine and she could only do as Miguel said.

We aren’t alone in here.

Olivia had also just felt the presence that could have only been lurking above them the whole time, obscured by the shadow that lay out of reach of the weak lights.

A towering woman dropped from the ceiling, facing Olivia. Her skin was stretched with the red muscle that Carnage enhanced, and Clara wasn’t holding it back at all. It was a full symbiote takeover, and Olivia was right in front of the most dangerous enemy any Widow would ever face.

Elisa began to charge in, but Miguel stopped her. “Stand down, it’s a Canon Event now.” He grabbed her, opening a portal to leave, and leaving a drone to allow them to observe and help when the Event was done.

She followed Miguel through the portal, and they immediately opened the footage the drone was gathering.

Olivia barely dodged Carnage’s claws, but Elisa knew Olivia was smart. If any of her old classmates were clever enough to outsmart Carnage, it was Olivia.

Widow launched herself up to the ceiling, and in a moment, she proved Elisa’s assessment of her right. Olivia used herself as bait, correctly realizing that the ceiling of the brick cylinder likely came out above ground. When Carnage lunged at her, Olivia webbed the ceiling and dropped, using Carnage’s force, and her strength to kick Carnage through the brick ceiling, getting them out of the tunnel.

That was a good move, Olivia can catch it off guard out there.

“There’s no way.”

Shut up, she’ll do it.

Several more spider people ran into Miguel’s observatory to see what was happening. But when Elisa looked back to them, she realized that every Widow had heard that this Canon Event was happening for another Widow, and they all came to just hope that Olivia would be the one to tell them how to survive it.

Olivia kept running from Carnage, but it was easy to notice that she wasn’t trying to escape. She could have easily lost a tail, even if it were Carnage and Clara, but Widow’s were never known for being cowards. All of them have been knocked down no less than any other spider, but no spider, especially not Widows that had all found solidarity in their shared place in the multiverse. No, Olivia was leading Carnage somewhere.

Oh shit, I know this street.

“She’s calling on Venom for backup.” A Widow noticed. Elisa recognized her as Beatrice Jacobs.

The other Widows chattered anxiously amongst themselves, all while Elisa’s heart was beating a mile a minute, and she couldn’t tear her eyes off the screen.

She thinks I have a better chance of beating Carnage. Elisa didn’t want to think that. Olivia was one of the best. Elisa felt utterly hopeless. If Olivia thought Elisa was stronger or smarter than her, then they were all damned.

Olivia waited by a window and dodged just as Carnage’s claws grabbed at her, sending her hand plunging through the glass, and catching the attention of whoever was in the apartment. Carnage realized what had happened, and it grinned with a mouth full of sharp teeth.

The oily, black muscle completely overtook 5302 Elisa’s form. And her friend, Venom, was enraged. Surprisingly, both Venom and Olivia were able to catch Carnage off guard for a moment, and sent it flying into the ground.

Venom wasted no time going after it to kick it while it was down. Unfortunately, Carnage did not stay down for very long. It caught Venom’s neck in its claws and squeezed. Venom screamed out and Elisa had to look away, unaware that her own Venom had put her hand over her neck in an absent-minded move of protection.

Her eyes remained at the floor until the screaming stopped. Olivia had webbed Carnage’s mouth shut, and kicked it in the throat, successfully forcing it to release Venom. However Elisa knew that if Carnage was cannibalistic, even one injury from it would completely wipe out Venom and Elisa for days. Olivia kept moving fast, using her flexibility to weave the webs in a way that restrained Carnage while remaining unpredictable.

Olivia’s odds were getting better, until it all dropped at once along with the hearts of every Widow watching.

Carnage broke through the webbing. When the drone finally caught a glimpse of the outcome, every Widow braced for the worst. Olivia had been caught, and she wasn’t moving. When Carnage released it’s claws from around her neck, she just dropped. The Widows all froze in complete terror.

Clara Kassidy and Carnage had claimed the life of another Widow.

Elisa’s breathing was becoming more and more uncontrollable, and Venom was in complete disarray. It was like they were new to bonding all over again, both of them losing control of the symbiosis they balanced every day. The room began to spin and Elisa lost balance.

She could tell someone was trying to get her attention, but she brushed off their hands and just started walking away. She had to get her and Venom back together, but her heartbeat and lungs were overwhelmed without her permission, and all of her nerves went cold, even as her exhausted muscles continued pushing her forward as she sprinted, and she didn’t know where she would end up, but if it was away from her own skin, it would be far enough.

Whoever had been trying to get her attention followed her, and when they made another attempt to stop her and calm her down, Elisa jumped back away from who she eventually processed as Miguel, and they had managed to walk right out the front door, and were now in the courtyard in front of the building, beneath the city lights of Nueva York.

“Relàjate. Yo tambien estoy asustado, Elisa.” His voice was soft, not annoyed or tired, just delicate with her and desperate for her to listen like he had no idea how to speak to her. This time, when he told her, she did as he said, calming down as Miguel set her steady by holding her shoulders. Her breathing was still erratic, but it was manageable now, and her heart still rushed, but it wasn’t painful anymore.

“Miguel…” Elisa’s voice shook. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Elisa, please just-” He was losing her, and her heart rate began to pick up again as Venom was unsettled again.

“She was smart and strong, and if she’s gone, then I’m next, and I can’t-” Miguel just cut her off by pulling her close and falling to the ground with her. She was finally pulled from her panic as she realized Miguel was shaking too.

"Relàjate. Yo tambien estoy asustado, Elisa." He told her again, but Elisa finally realized what he was saying to her.

"Relax. I'm scared too, Elisa."

Elisa just let herself cry out there with him. Both she and Venom hated crying in front of another person, but it was far beyond either of their control by now. Not only was she terrified for her own survival, but Olivia was someone she had only just begun to know, and her life was now just gone.

"Taken from her." Venom spat from within.

They stayed like that for a moment. It was quieter than she expected. The sounds of a busy city were far off in the distance and low beneath the ground. Elisa and Venom slowly became in tune again, able to use Miguel's comfort as an anchor to reality.

Miguel eventually, reluctantly, opened his arms as Elisa released him.

"We should go check on the Widows." Elisa suggested. Miguel silently nodded and let her help him up and lead him back to the observatory.

The Widows hadn't dispersed. They all stood in a circle surrounding one Widow. Elisa had read that the first Widow to be found by the Spider Society had been Maxine Catch, but she had died in the first Carnage attack. Kat Marco was the second, and it seems to have been her duty to activate the portal to retrieve Olivia's watch so it didn't go unaccounted for. They all turned to Elisa, maskless, holding varying expressions of concern, sadness, or terror.

An overwhelming reality was coming over the room as everyone knew what this meant.

"We're next."

[thetimelordbatgirl]

Doctor Who OCs

The Children of Space and Time: Summary of Series: TBA

Name: Carmen Smith.  Parent(s): Martha Jones and Mickey Smith.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Russell Noble-Temple. Parent(s): Donna Noble and Shawn Temple.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA.

Name: Pandora Tyler. Parent(s): Rose Tyler and Duplicate Doctor.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Randy Williams.  Parent(s): Unnamed Father, Grandson of Amy Pond and Rory Williams.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Nova McShane. Parent(s): Dorothy ‘Ace’ McShane.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA.

Name: Carlos Oswald. Parent(s): Duplicate of Clara Oswald.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

The Adventures of Bannerman Road:  Summary of Series: TBA.

Name: Phoebe Sarah Smith.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Abigail Boyes-Watson.  Summary: TBA.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Jared Nightingale.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

And The Story Goes On And On: Summary of Series: TBA.

Name: Willow Whitman.  Summary: TBA.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Parker Whitman.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Colette Wall.  Summary: TBA.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Kassidy Hogan.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Ryan Davey. Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

The Adventures and Many Explosions of Ace: Summary of Series: TBA.

Name: Aurora McShane.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Name: Ezra Turner.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA.

Name: Sadie Lewis.  Summary: TBA. Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

Susan Foreman: Summary of Series: TBA. 

Name: Faye Ryan. Summary: TBA.  Faceclaim/Voiceclaim: TBA. 

[k1nky-fool]

Truth of a Parallel

Part 2: My Friend and Me

Masterlist

Miguel O’hara x OC: Elisa Hannen

Pairing: M/F

Per Chapter Rating: Mature

Warnings: Lots of blood described in this chapter. Things are falling apart already! Horray, but we’re on the slow burn bus now, and there are clues and funny little easter eggs everywhere.

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

Gif by @prettyoatmeal

-Elisa-

The other side of the portal opened into an almost office building that was built for spiders. Miguel wasn’t lying, this place was wild. Hundreds of spider people, all of them taking the same concept for their vigilante persona, and shifting and molding it until it fits themselves. It was amazing to see.

A band smacked her wrist and Miguel had been the culprit. “Keep that on until you get your own watch.” He warned.

The hairs on her neck stood up at the strange feeling the bracelet was giving off. “Why?”

“It’ll stop you from glitching while outside your universe.”

“Glitching?”

As they walked past, a strange noise came from above, alerting every spider to who was being tortured. Everyone looked like they were waiting for a chance to help the unrecognizable blob of light and gray static, but they couldn’t touch him. A spider-man in a black trenchcoat fell from the pillar he was walking on. He fell to the floor, directly in front of Elisa.

He jumped up in a second, shrugging off the fall and catching his hat out of the air as it took longer to fall from the pillar. “Sorry doll, I oughta go get this fixed.” He leapt off the side of the bridge and swung back around to presumably someone that could repair it.

“Got it.” She nodded. “Glitching is not good.”

That didn’t look very pleasant.

“Elisa.” Miguel caught her attention, leading her back until they came upon a darker room with loads of cages. One of which sputtered as the prisoner lunged at Elisa, but was stopped by the energized wall.

The prisoner stood as close to the wall as he could while staring at her. He was a fairly buff man that kept his eyes on her. A black substance spread across his muscles and a toothy figure emerged from his shoulder, and she froze.

Step back, he’s clearly hostile.

His eyes flashed with recognition, and Elisa’s blood went cold. “Oh, sweetie. You’re in trouble here.”

Step back, dumbass!

She was unfrozen and flinched back from the prisoner, nearly without her own permission, but she was glad she didn’t stick around long enough to embarrass herself in front of some guy from another universe. However when she turned around, the look on Miguel’s face made her sure she’d manage it anyway.

“Sorry, did Brock recognize you?” he asked.

“Who? Oh! Uhmm… sure, something like that.” She trailed off.

“Whatever he said, don’t let it get to you. If he recognized you, then he’s probably from a universe that has a version of you.” Miguel said. “All he can do is get on your nerves.”

He can get into brains too.

“So how do we find Clara?” Elisa finally asked.

“I told Jess to make sure the other Claras are accounted for, and if we can’t find one on 5302, then to make sure Olivia Weaver is still alive.”

“The Widow on 5302 is named Olivia Weaver?”

“I’m guessing you know one.”

“I graduated with her.” She recalled. “It was a sophomore year field trip to the Oscorp Laboratory. I guess something as small as a spider landing on a different girl’s shoulder can be the only difference between universes.”

“Miguel?” A voice from one of the screens in the wide room rang out. “Miguel, Olivia isn’t answering my calls.”

“Have you found Kassidy?” Miguel asked.

“I sent the group to go check the prison. I trust them not to engage.” Jess advocated.

“Alright, tell me what you find when you get back.” Miguel said, shutting off the connection, and calling someone else. “Peter, what’s your status?”

The man on the other line was currently sticking to the side of a building while he used his watch to communicate with Miguel. He had his mask on, but Elisa knew how that mask falls against her face, how it moves against her brow, cheeks and chin. Peter was scared.

“Uhhh… Things don’t look too good here at the prison.” Peter choked out. He must have pushed some buttons because the screen to the left blinked to life with the footage of the news from that universe.

The helicopter that was getting the footage circled around the penitentiary where there was a substantial amount of destruction with clawed marks in the outside wall and the fence that held the prisoners in the yard had been torn right down the middle and whatever had been released was feral and on the loose.

The reporter on the ground said the prison had identified four escaped prisoners, and eleven dead.

“Meet up with Jess immediately, we need to verify that Olivia is still alive, and that Clara has in fact left the universe.” Miguel commanded. Peter nodded and cut off the connection.

Miguel took one look at her and could easily identify that Elisa was barely standing.

“You mentioned that Carnage escaping sets off a Canon Event for the spider.” Elisa said before Miguel could get out a word. “What’s a Canon Event?”

Immediately, the expression on Miguel’s face didn’t spark any hope for Elisa’s situation. “A Canon Event is an event that happens in every spider’s life. The details may change based on people in that universe. But in every universe, a spider loses someone close to them.”

“You also lost your uncle?”

“That was before you became Widow.” Miguel clarified. “But in Widow’s life, we don’t know exactly what it is that Carnage does to Widow because we have yet to find a Widow that survives it.”

“Who are the other Widows?” Elisa asked.

Miguel obliged her, and she immediately understood the line of this multiverse that the Widows occupied. They were all from the same girl’s private school, and they all were in the class that went on the field trip to Oscorp’s Laboratory. Each one of them facing Carnage in their universe one after another. It looks like this time it was Olivia’s turn, but so far, they had no idea what a widow could do to ensure her survival.

Or if Widow was ever meant to survive this.

What could Carnage and Clara do to this group of women that could possibly define their lives as Widow?

“This is going to happen in my universe.” Elisa easily figured.

“Elisa, don’t mess with the Canon-”

“I can’t mess with the Canon, Miguel.” Elisa clarified. “There’s nothing I can do to stop Carnage from coming after me. I’ve already met a symbiote, but I bet they have too, and all I can do is survive. If they failed because they didn’t do what they needed to, then I’ll do something else.” She finally looked up at Miguel who was somewhat surprised. “So, get the rogue, alien-powered, serial killer out of my universe so I can deal with my own, currently mental illness-powered, serial killer.”

“Okay.” Miguel held his hands up in surrender to go back to coordinating the search. “Looks like the squad successfully regrouped, and they found Widow on their way to locate Clara’s equipment. If it’s certain that Clara used her equipment, then we can take a sample of Olivia’s DNA and make a tracking device to figure out her general location, especially if she’s glitching.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Elisa figured. “Should I worry about having two Claras in my universe in the meantime?”

“Peter from Earth 13122 is monitoring your universe while you’re away.” He explained

“You did all of that while we were in the portal?” Elisa finally asked, since his list of tasks while flying though the void was becoming impossible.

“Actually, Lyla updated me on everything Jess set up while I was handling the immediate emergency in your universe.” Miguel pointed out, and her little hologram blinked into existence, standing on air.

“You guys are really streamlined around here, huh?” Elisa noted. “Sounds like you might not need me, especially if you already have twelve other Widows.”

Miguel gave a strange look, since he could definitely tell she was trying to deduce something. “You’re a gifted spider. I’d personally like to add you to the team.”

That doesn’t give you much.

Shut up. I know what I’m doing.

“Do you think I’ll survive Carnage coming to my Earth?” She asked flat out.

Well, that’s definitely not alarming.

Shut up.

“If there is a way, I trust you to find it.” Miguel said.

He really believes it?

“Miguel!” A voice she could identify as Jess echoed through the room.

Elisa wasted no time hopping down from the platform to meet the group. She had only seen Jess and Peter, but the other two in the group were interesting to say the least. The third member of the group was a spider-man in punk gear, with spikes aligned on the head of his mask like a mohawk, and he carried a guitar slung over his shoulder. And the other was a cartoon pig in a red and blue spider-man suit.

But the one that they brought back was who she was really interested in. They both stood at nearly the same height, Olivia being somewhat taller than her. Olivia’s suit looked a lot like Elisa’s old one, being mostly dark blue and silver where Elisa's old one was dark red with black web patterns.

Can she see?

“Elisa.” She acknowledged her.

“Olivia.” She said back, trying to hide her nerves from the group.

“Nice to meet you, Elisa.” Jess nodded.

Peter stepped forward to introduce himself, but faltered a moment. He took an entire step back, and took a closer look at Elisa’s face. “Have you ever met a symbiote, Elisa?”

Stop that.

“Yes, I have.” Elisa said.

Don’t say that.

“So you’ve met Venom.” Peter figured.

Get out of here.

“I did.” Elisa ignored the panic.

“It was a pretty powerful symbiote. Did you beat it?” He asked, and suddenly Jess was also stepping back. The punk was picking up on something too, and Olivia was also looking closer, and her gaze landed on her eyes.

“It got away.” Elisa said with a measured voice, not taking her eyes off Peter.

They know. Get out of here!

Peter gave a small chuckle. “Where’s Venom in your universe?”

Elisa finally glanced to Miguel. His expression was mixed between fear and disappointment.

Just get out!

She finally listened to it. Venom crept up her neck and covered her face in the mask, and Elisa made a break for it.

“Where would we find an exit?” Elisa asked, dashing down the halls.

"They’ll need some way to transport the prisoners back to their own universe." Venom figured.

The man with his own symbiote banged on the wall of the energized box. “The machine will take too long! You need a watch.” He yelled at her, but she didn’t have time to wonder why he was helping her.

An announcement went across every spider’s watch just as Brock had warned her. “Stop that Widow, she has a symbiote!” Peter’s voice alerted every spider in the building, and suddenly, her sense picked up everyone’s eyes on her.

“Well, that’s just perfect.” Venom said, but Elisa noticed that everyone was watching, but nobody was acting.

“We’re stronger than them.” Elisa realized.

“All of them!?” It hissed back.

Elisa stood up straight and put her arms out. “Do I have to tell you I’m ready, or do all of you still need a moment?”

All it took was a mechanized suit rising up out of the crowd and making an attempt to grab her.

“Venom,” She had it’s attention, “just don’t kill anyone.”

With Venom free to do as it pleased, her senses and reflexes were amplified to a point that she often didn’t have time to process all her actions as Venom took control. Elisa knew she dodged the mechanized suit, but there was no chance she could get into the mech to get the watch, so she abandoned it. The next few people that made an attempt to restrain her were able to also stop her from grabbing their watches, but she had to abandon another that she had only used as a platform for her feet to launch off of.

Elisa shot a web at the wall and pulled herself up to it so Venom could get a good look at the group. It was a split second to Elisa as she looked at the crowd of spider people now locating her with their own heightened senses that were falling just short of hers and Venom combined.

The squad that had found out was here, but she had yet to notice Miguel. The Peter that found her out was the first to try meeting her up by the wall, but when she leapt across several pillars and stopped on the glass window, Elisa suddenly realized the plan here. She didn’t know who would be the first to attempt making a grab at her, but it seemed that the most likely was the one that had evaded her senses until now.

When Miguel tackled her, Venom set off the trap. It shattered the glass behind her and forced all of them down the outside of the building.

“Elisa, you need to come back.” Miguel attempted to convince her, but he still made an attempt to restrain her, but in her wrestle to get free, Venom used a sly arm to switch her bracelet for his watch.

“I need to go home!” She barely broke free from him, and she typed the number she remembered. 4167.

The portal opened as soon as she stuck to the outside of the building, and she jumped in. She broke through into the rush of the path through the multiverse, but Miguel wasn't far behind her. She eventually landed in Brooklyn and nearly got clotheslined by a streetlamp before Venom managed to catch it just right and swung around it to stand on it.

She took off the watch and waited for Miguel to come out of the portal.

He did, and had a much easier landing than Elisa did. His feet landed safely on the ground without any problem. She just tossed the watch back to Miguel, who caught it with some surprise at her small act.

She shot a web and began swinging back to her apartment. She needed to get her Clara in prison before the invading Clara found her.

Venom retracted the suit back into hiding inside of her as she got dressed to do some basic investigation to hopefully put her away. Clara won't go down easy since she's already seen as Oscorp's Physicist Savior.

"You know Miguel is here, right?" Venom alerted.

"Yeah, I'm trying to not let it bother me." Elisa paid his noisy steps no mind as she worked on the long process of disguising her scar beneath a cocktail of makeup.

Miguel wasted no time confronting her. "You care to explain yourself?"

"Not particularly, no." Elisa admitted.

"You kept the symbiote!"

"I have a name, lab rat!" Venom crept out of her shoulder and snapped at him with its jaws.

"Venom, back off." She chastised half-heartedly. Surprisingly, it listened.

"You seem to have it under control, so what happened?" Miguel asked.

"Not much to it, really." Elisa shrugged. "Venom fell out of the sky, and was supposed to be a scout. It bonded with me, and we decided we could be a better Widow together. I respect Venom, and it respects me."

"And, do you feed it?" He asked.

"Of course I do." She answered obviously. "Every once in a while, we come across a situation where the only way out is to eat someone, but usually, I just make sure to stock up on chocolate." She pointed to a cupboard that she knew to be comically full of a variety of chocolate sweets. The baking chocolate, saved for emergencies.

"You just let it eat people?" Miguel asked with rising concern.

Elisa stood so Venom wouldn't jump out at the offense. She didn't stand anywhere near eye level with Miguel, but it was threatening enough with a man-eating alien on her side.

"If you were given a choice between unfathomable power or falling just short of protecting the people you love, what would you really choose, Miguel?"

Miguel fell silent.

"That's what I thought." She figured and went back to covering up her scar. "Now, I'm gonna go make sure my Clara is in prison or eaten, and you and all your spiders can do your job to get Olivia's Clara out of my universe, and when you take her back, I never have to see you again." Elisa pushed him back so she could leave out the hallway, but it shouldn't have surprised her that he barely moved.

“It’s not about the Canon anymore, Elisa. It’s just-”

"Hey, you should check the news." Lyla's voice came from the watch, and Elisa groaned, grabbing the remote and clicking on her TV.

"Police were given an anonymous tip about vital evidence in the Butcher of Queens case, which led them to the identity of the serial killer, Dr. Clara Kassidy, who is being questioned now here at the precinct-"

Elisa just turned it off. Venom knew exactly what this meant, and covered her in her suit as she angrily stripped off the clothes that covered over the suit now.

"Catch your maniac and get out of my universe, Miguel." She called back into the room as he watched her climb out the window and swing away.

Elisa found a payphone a few blocks away from the precinct and made a call, several people stopping to stare at the odd sight. "Captain Stacy's desk, how can I help you?"

"I take it the Captain is questioning the suspect right now?" Elisa figured at the woman's voice instead of a gruff, old man.

"Um… yes, who is this?"

"Tell him to make room for one more." Elisa stated simply before hanging up.

Once swinging down the block, the entire street was crowded with reporters and news vans, and even a helicopter. Elisa slipped into the precinct from the roof elevator that she had jimmied the lock in, and she found her way through the building, unseen.

Capt. Stacy's office was at the other side of the wide open room, full of cubicles, but she wasn't hiding anymore. These police could try all they like to shoot or catch her, but she wouldn't even need Venom to get out of this if it went wrong, and she wouldn't even have to dodge the bullets anymore because of the protection Venom offered. These were just regular, non-radioactive people.

It took nearly a full minute before someone actually noticed she was standing there.

"O-Oh! What are you doing here, Widow?" He was a young officer, who's expression must have been colored by horror stories of Widow when she was rooting out Physk's corruption in the police.

"I need to speak to Clara Kassidy." She said, walking toward the interrogation room that was guarded by two men with guns. Elisa stood in front of them with her back to the rest of the room that had gone silent, all of them knowing that everyone in that room had shot at Widow at least once, and none had ever taken her down. She didn’t make any moves to get past them, only looking oddly at their anxious faces. “Can I get a quick word with Captain Stacy?”

One of them just knocked on the door and opened it. “Captain. You should get out here.”

The shorter man with thick eyebrows and a bushy mustache like all the hair on his head had just slumped down over his face leaving a shiny, bald head. His huff of annoyance turned into strict alarm. “What are you doing here, Widow?”

Behind him, the ajar door left an opening just large enough for Elisa to catch the eye of Clara Kassidy. Dark eyes stared her down with a soft smile on her face, sitting upright and keeping her hands politely folded on the table. Elisa’s heightened senses picked up on the smell of dried blood and slick metal table where the sheer amount of it on her arms and hands didn’t have the time to dry through the car ride here, and where it had dried on her clothing and matted in her red hair.

“I have something I need you to be aware of, but might not be great to say in front of a serial killer.” Elisa said freely, and Stacy shut the door behind him and brought her to his office.

“I gotta say, Widow, I figured you’d be found dead before you’d be found in a police station.” Stacy chuckled, leaning against his desk and watching her closely.

“The news says an anonymous tip gave you Kassidy. Do you know who called it in?” She asked.

“In all honesty, ma’am, I thought you did.” He said. “You said there was something I ought to know?”

The other Clara would know.

I’d have to make sure she hasn’t met the other Clara.

“I was gonna tell you to make her believe it was me.” Elisa said. “I have reason to believe someone turned her in because they clearly knew about what she was doing for a while.”

“You think she has an accomplice?” Stacy asked.

“At the very least, she had someone staying silent for her.” Elisa confirmed. “I might be able to get more information out of her if you let me ask her some questions.”

Stacy let out a long sigh. “You’re lucky I already owe you a favor for getting me promoted.”

“I ate your boss’ head, I’m not sure that counts as doing you a favor.” Elisa wonders out loud.

“And you’re gonna try and convince me not to pay you back now?”

“No, sir.” She followed after him, where he stopped before opening the door.

“I’m sure I don’t need to tell you to keep your damn mask on, but don’t let her even start to figure you out. She’s a conniving witch, I warn you.” Stacy said with utmost urgency, but quickly corrected himself before bravely opening the door.

Clara’s gaze immediately followed Elisa. Standing in front of her was like stepping into a different kind of time. Clara had no signs of delusion or drunken bloodlust despite the state of her. She sat upright, legs crossed politely, and face so practiced in giving no signs of disagreement that if it weren’t for the remains of whoever she had killed tonight still staining her skin and clothes, she’d have assumed this to be a regular scientist at the height of her career.

Widow sat in the seat opposite of her and mimicked her polite stance. Clara watched, intently awaiting whatever event might entertain her in the moment.

“Clara.” Elisa acknowledged.

“Widow.” She replied.

“You meet anybody interesting during your time serial killing?” She asked.

“I’ve met you many times, Widow.” She said confidently, but leaning closer to Elisa to mimic that she was sharing a secret with her. “All you had to do was ask.”

“What about someone that hated you more than me?” She pressed. “You got an ex? A partner? Someone to dispose of the remains once you were done?”

Clara’s head tilted like a focused animal. “You weren’t the one to turn me in.” She accused as soon as she realized. “Oh now that’s a sweet twist, isn’t it?”

“Can you think of anyone that might have wanted you caught? Out of their business?” Elisa asked, hiding comfortably behind her mask.

“That’s the sweet part. I have no idea.” Clara smiled. “I never worked with anyone, and you know that if they found the specimens, they would have just led the police to them. Instead, they knew to steal my notes from my safe at Oscorp.”

Stacy was right, she was smart, but Elisa wasn’t too worried about that. What worried her was the alarming prospect that for some reason or another, the invading Clara wanted this one in prison, and thinking back, it made sense.

“Where did Miguel say Clara and Carnage meet?”

She wants to create another Carnage.

Elisa abruptly stood up and left, leaving Clara chuckling while chained to the table.

But she wasn’t even sure where she was going. Everywhere seemed to be the wrong place. MJ probably wouldn’t be happy to see her. Not unless it was for work reasons. Going Home would probably mean confronting Miguel again, and she wasn’t about to face that mess again. For a brief moment, she considered detouring all the way to the maximum security prison to see Oscar, maybe he’d have some answers.

“You already know where you’re going, dumbass. Why pretend like you have any dignity left?” Unfortunately, Venom was right.

Her limbs absent-mindedly got her to the apartment where she slid the window open and silently slipped in. This was one person that probably wouldn’t let her in if she knocked, but she had to try. She took off her mask out of habit and threw it down onto what used to be her side of the bed. Just her luck that he stumbled on her now.

His expressions were always unreadable to her, but at the very least, he didn’t immediately throw her back out the window. “Elisa.”

She swallowed all the nerves that had knotted into a ball in her throat. “Eddie.”

[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

[k1nky-fool]

THE NEW STORY IS SO GOOOOD I LOVE IT.

Great introduction to Elisa, she's so cool, you know I'm weak for women who kick ass, only 25 and already so efficient, it must have been hard. I really liked her interaction with Oscar, the comical familiarity all spiders have with their villains and it's clear they respect each other (to an extent). Miguel is spot on, his perspective always focused on the bigger picture, and he and Elisa are already teasing each other and bantering? THE SEXUAL TENSION IS GONNA BE ASTRONOMICAL I JUST KNOW IT. AND MJ, I wanna know more about her as well. How did she and Elisa meet? Does she help Elisa fight Oscar? And if she does, why is she still dating him? ARE THEY PARTNERS IN CRIME? AND IF THEY ARE, WHY DOES ELISA TRUST HER HUH?

I'm really excited for the rest of the story!!! Love the new oc and don't know if I wanna be her of Miguel LMAO.

AAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

I'm so glad you like it!

This fic is gonna be about 80% sexual tension, and 15% story, and 5% cool shit just for the sake of cool shit.

MJ is definitely gonna have more elaboration, as well as Oscar, but I am ecstatic to get to a massive reveal in the next chapter, and I'm also vibrating while waiting to fully introduce the character Clara Kassidy. I'm going for a horror approach for her and Carnage.