The Spider and the Fly
Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans. I do, however, own the Black Widow, and the other, as of yet unnamed antagonist in this piece. No stealing! You can borrow, however, and if you want to, e-mail me.
A/N: A tag to 'The 12 Labors of Cyborg.' Read it, if you'd like. This one, however, is much darker, as is evidenced by the rating. This should be a long one, folks, so don't expect regular updates! Sorry! It'll be worth it in the end, I promise.
Chapter 1: The Black Widow
Will you walk into my parlour?" said the spider to the fly;
"'tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
and I have many curious things to show when you are there."
"Oh no, no," said the little fly, "to ask me is in vain,
for who goes up your winding stair can ne'er come down again."
From 'The Spider and the Fly' by Mary Howitt
It was nearing 2 a.m., and a crisp, cool quiet had worked its way through Titan's Tower. The teen superheroes, active until the wee hours whenever necessary, were now asleep, resting after a long day and evening of battling crime and keeping the good people of Jump City safe from any who would dare to spoil it. A few monitors beeped, reverently quiet, but they had nothing important to say, and kept it to themselves.
Though all were asleep, not all were asleep in the traditional sense of the word. Raven was drifting through a beautifully dark world just below the skin of the one the rest of her teammates inhabited. There, the darkness was absolute… there, not even Beast Boy's cajoling could awaken her. It was a state of meditation she had spent all of her lifetime up to this point trying to achieve… a success that would have excited her, had the world she was now drifting through been open to the concept of emotions or success.
Cyborg, also, was not quite asleep but not quite awake. Recharging his battery did not require sleep, not in the human sense… and though he dreamed, they were waking dreams, pixilated and distant as clouds. His mechanical fingers drummed on the table, as if impatient with all of this regenerative waiting.
That was when, in the furthest corner of his cybernetic mind, he caught the slightest blip on one of the alarms. His human mind, bored in a way machinery never could be, snatched up that one distraction in a flash… and just as quickly, the machine recharging his batteries (they had been as close to full as they had ever been) shut down, and Cyborg was sitting off, pulling the power cord off of his chest. He moved towards his door, snapping the machinery shut over his power cell, and then started down the darkened hallways, heading towards the front door.
It was probably nothing… that slight blip on the radar. Well, maybe it had been a duck… once or twice, it had been a duck, or a seagull. And once, it had been Gizmo… so this was worth checking out, and besides, he had nothing else to do except to sleep. As Cyborg approached the main door, where the machinery now buzzing to life around him assured him that the slight disturbance was, a soft tapping noise filled the main hall. Someone was knocking. Well… maybe it wasn't so much a threat after all.
Cyborg threw open the door, entirely unready to see the person who stood there, arms wrapped around herself. But that didn't stop him from instantly throwing up his sonic cannon, and pointing the humming engine of destruction directly at her head.
"Well, the Black Widow," he said. "You never write, you never call… and then you break out of jail? Tssk."
The girl standing there with Cyborg's deadliest weapon an inch away from her head didn't look afraid, or even nervous. Well, any more nervous than usual. The perpetual hang-dog expression, highlighted and enhanced by the soft blue glow of the sonic cannon, remained from the last time he had seen her. As had the long brown hair and the freakishly thin ('insectoid,' he thought) waist. She was silent for a moment, just staring at him… the Black Widow, at his doorstep… possibly one of the vilest human beings in the world, who had eaten an untold number of humans and had tried to put Cyborg on her menu, too. On his doorstep. Her. "Can I come in?"
Cyborg could have laughed… actually, he did. The whole situation was just… absurd… and a little terrifying, too, had he not been who he was. "You want to wait in here for the cops to come pick you up? Sure- that sounds like a great plan, spider," he said, grabbed her by the front of the shirt (which was not prisoner garb) and dragged her into the main hall. He let go of her, and one hand hovered over his communicator- but he didn't touch it, not quite yet. Instead, he just stared at her, his good sense, for a moment at least, overrun by humanity's desire to look at horrible things.
And because somewhere, deep in his brain or his heart, he wanted more revenge on her than he had gotten.
The Black Widow slowly rolled her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She stared at Cyborg… he stared back, cybernetic eye pulsing with an intense red light, human eye fixed and hard. It took a moment of drumming her fingers on her arm, and a sigh… but finally, the Black Widow spoke.
"Listen. I'm sorry I tried to eat you."
This was delivered in such a reasonable tone of voice that Cyborg was more than simply taken aback. "You're sorry…" he repeated slowly, careful to catch every word, "…that you tried to… eat me. You're sorry? That's it?"
"What else do you expect me to say?" the Black Window demanded. There was a faint air of outrage in her voice… and that made Cyborg want to wring her neck. In fact… he reached out one enormous metal hand, and grabbed her by the throat, yanking her forward. Human, she was slighter even that Starfire, so stood no chance against that sort of an attack. "Now, explain why you're here… and make it better than 'I'm sorry.'"
With the miserable, hang-dog expression that was her trademark, she started- or tried to start- to explain. "I'm here to ask for help. Someone is trying to kill me," she choked.
Cyborg laughed maliciously. "You have a lot of nerve, coming to the Titans for help."
Black Widow closed her eyes for a moment, mouth opening and closing like the mouth of a beached fish. Cyborg loosened his grip slightly… not enough for any more than the most staggered of responses. "Not the… Titans… you. I came to… you," she gasped.
That startled Cyborg enough that, for half a second, he loosened his grip… before tightening it all the more. "Oh, you came to me. That's funny, I could have sworn that I was the one you tried to turn into an after-dinner mint. Why would I want to help you? Or better yet… why don't I just hand you back over to the person that's trying to kill you? Or do it myself?" Cyborg's impressive mechanical strength tightened his grip around her throat exponentially. For half a second, the Black Widow's eyes were almost bulging out of her head… her face, at least, was turning a shade of red that matched the hideous hourglass he had once seen printed on her stomach.
But despite all of that, she laughed. It was a dry, brittle chuckle that must have been painful to force out of her throat, given her current situation… but it was a laugh. That enraged Cyborg all the more… but despite himself, he loosened his grip. "Mind sharing what's so funny?"
"You don't have the guts," she choked out.
Cyborg gritted his teeth together. "No? Let's test that theory," he growled, and started once again to squeeze. Maybe he'd pop her head right off… and when Robin demanded an explanation for the resulting mess, Cyborg would just say she-
"They're coming after you, too," she said evenly, voice a faint rasp.
Despite this little piece of knowledge, Cyborg didn't relent for another half a second- and then without warning, he dropped her. Black Widow hit the ground hard, shoulder blades cracking audibly against the tiling- followed closely by the duller crunch of the back of her head. Apparently, a few months in jail made her quite a bit less nimble than she had been before.
The Black Widow just lay there, stunned and still trying to catch her breath, as Cyborg stared down menacingly at her. "Explain, and make it quick. I have a very short attention span."
"Pauk," she replied, quietly, as if the name was painful to say. "His name is Pauk. He's a… spider. Like me, only… not. Worse. He's worse," the Black Widow moved one slim hand to her red, swollen throat, all the while staring ahead intensely. She made no attempt to sit up- Cyborg realized he had really hurt her, which was her own tough luck for coming to the Tower, but… he shouldn't have been able to hurt her at all. "A… a spider god."
"And why is this big, hairy monster looking for me?" Cyborg asked, now crossing his arms across his broad chest. A small smirk invaded his features.
Black Widow half sat up- Cyborg pushed her back down to the ground with one foot on her shoulder. "I don't know," she replied, glaring up at him. "All I know is that he is, and that's not a threat to be taken lightly. He has far too much power…"
Finally, the other Titans had come to see what all of the crashing had been about. Beast Boy was the first to arrive- as a dog- when he saw the Black Widow, his hackles stood straight up on end, and a long, vicious snarl escaped from between frighteningly long fangs. Those fangs only grew longer as the green shapeshifter took the form of a hyena instead. Black Widow, who was on the ground only a few inches away from him, and thus had a spectacular view of those shining bone knives, visibly paled. That wasn't normal, either.
"What is she doing here?" Robin demanded, arriving just on the tail of Beast Boy. He quickly saw that Cyborg had the situation under control… but the question was way too natural, too much of a knee-jerk reflex, not to say.
Cyborg leaned a little heavier on the foot that was pressing the Black Widow against the ground. "She was nice enough to stop by and warn me that a giant spider is going to try and eat me," he replied glibly.
Black Widow laughed again, despite the teeth hovering an inch away from her throat and the metal boot now literally bending her ribs. "Eat you? He won't eat you…" anymore was cut off as Cyborg put just a little extra weight on that foot…
"That's funny, sweet heart, I thought that was giant spider etiquette… eating everything in sight," Cyborg said snidely.
"You're comparing Pauk to me… and that is a deadly mistake. I am not half the threat he is… and if I meant to come in to eat you, I would not have knocked on your front door…" the Black Widow choked.
By now, Starfire had arrived- the last of the Titans that could be reached, at least until Raven came out of her meditative stupor. The Tamaranean glared down at the Black Widow, eyes glowing with malice. "Fair enough," Cyborg was saying, "So why is Pauk going after you, then? Is he looking for a good spider screw?"
The slightly reproachful look on Robin's face when Cyborg said that was almost worth it… it would have been more satisfying had the Black Widow reacted at all. "Perhaps, but I doubt it."
Evidently deciding the banter had gone just about far enough, Robin reached forward with one bare hand (he had not had time to slip on gloves before coming downstairs) and put it on Cyborg's arm, pulling him back. Cyborg, who certainly couldn't be moved by Robin alone, did take a step back… which was a shame, because he was rather starting to enjoy the feeling of the Black Widow's ribs under his boots. "Alright, for those of us who missed the first part of the conversation… who, exactly, is Pauk?" Robin demanded.
Black Widow stared at him resentfully… and quietly. "If you expect me to help you, you'd better talk to Robin, because all I'll help you do is rearrange your grey matter, spider," Cyborg growled.
With a deep breath, and a slight cough, the Black Widow started over. "Pauk is… a sort of spider god, or at least a god of spiders. I suppose you'd call him a demon," she smiled ruefully. "He's incredibly powerful… and almost unstoppable, in this realm and especially in his own. I honestly do not know why he is coming for you, Cyborg, but I know he is… on that you will have to trust me."
"Trust. Hmm, interesting word coming for you," Cyborg muttered.
"How can you know all of this?" Robin demanded, a moment later. He didn't like how… personally… Cyborg seemed to be taking this.
The Black Widow finally sat up, crossing her legs elegantly in front of her. "I just… do. And believe me, I know how that sounds. But wolves in a pack always know where their companions are, don't they? And in a sense, this is much the same thing. I can sense Pauk's evil intentions… but I don't know where he is, or how I might be able to stop him…"
Cyborg resisted the urge to laugh once again- or ventilate her chest with his sonic cannon. How honorable and innocent she seemed in her race to save her own neck! He didn't believe a word of it… because she was a liar, a liar and a monster, and to forget that would mean death.
"Alright, Black Widow," Robin was saying, "I think you've wasted enough of our time. We're taking you back to jail… and don't worry about 'Pauk.' We'll give you adjacent cells." Robin did not hesitate over his communicator, as Cyborg had.
Black Widow growled at him… but recoiled as Beast Boy stepped in between the two, a much fiercer snarl on his canine teeth. Only a moment later, Robin had flipped off his communicator. "They'll be here in a moment… and I'm sure they'll be wondering how you managed to slip out, Widow. Guess its back to the web for you," he smiled grimly at that rather foolish joke, and turned towards Starfire. "See if you can wake up Raven… if this Pauk is a demon, she might know of him."
Starfire nodded, and floated upstairs. Beast Boy sat down, but still kept those vicious fangs bared. And Cyborg… he just glared at the Black Widow, the hatred almost palpable. "You wanted asylum, you got it… the asylum with the nice white coats, Black Widow. If you want to go all spidery on us and try to escape, now's your chance… believe me, I've been looking forward to an opportunity to smash you flat for quite some time."
The Black Widow didn't move. Though she did slightly smile. "I can no more 'go all spidery' anymore than you can," she said quietly.
And then there came the sound of sirens and a helicopter's beating blades as the police arrived at the Tower.