Spiderman 1.5 (In Which Things Get a Bit Stranger)

Warnings: I hint at bisexuality, and there's a moaning alarm clock added to the mild cursing and visions of blood. Nothing too serious, most of it is just for filler or effect (or both).


1st person: Sasha's POV

So there I was, stuck in my sleek sports car, (which had never seemed so small to me until now) driving the unofficial hero of New York back to my place, where I would then proceed to tell him the one thing that scared me most. I always knew that my well hidden family ties would eventually cease being so very well hidden, but it never occurred to me just how nervous it made me.

Somehow, I managed not to look like the complete idiot I felt like. As soon as the garage doors slide shut behind my bumper, I knew I had to keep this as monotone as possible. If I continued on in the emotion laden vein I was in right now I would surely make a fool of out of myself, more than I already had. For a moment, I felt like a cheap hooker, asking a man I barely knew back to my place, even if he was nicely muscular and chivalrous. At which point I mentally slapped myself, reminding my idiotic self that I just needed to stay calm.

It is too damn bad that crap only works in the movies… Man, if only I had known then what I know now. It's stuff like this that makes me wanna scrub out my brain. I hate the curse of 20/20 hindsight.


3rd person POV: Flashback

Sasha and Spiderman got out of the car and closed their doors at the same time. Sasha headed for the door, motioning for him to follow her. "When we get inside I'll see if Mom is awake. If she's up, I'll distract her so you can get upstairs. My room is on the right and if you're not sure it's the one painted blue, lots of computer parts all over the place," she whispered, smiling a little.

Spiderman crossed his arms over his chest in amusement. "Heh, alright, I'll follow you in. If she is there, don't look up," Spiderman cautioned. "That would end up being an interesting explanation."

"Mom? I'm home!" Sasha called as she opened the door from the garage to the kitchen. She motioned for Spidey to come in after a few moments of silence. Sasha was surprised by how light on his feet he was.

She walked over to the counter of the island where she found a note that said, "Sasha, went to bed early. JJ wants me in at 6am tom. Pizza's in the oven. –Mom"

Sasha smiled. That was her mother for you. "Mom's asleep, but she kept her promise of pizza," she whispered, her voice tinted with amusement. She pulled the pizza out of the mildly warm oven and put it on two plates for the unofficial hero of New York and herself before turning the oven off.

The two pizza toting, costumed youths snuck upstairs to Sasha's room to eat pizza in piece, uh, peace…heh! Sasha pointed out the squeaky floor boards in the hallway to avoid the unneeded and unwanted noise.

The two walked into Sasha's room, which may have been clean in her opinion, but was still covered in spare parts for various things she was building. Sasha set her plate down on her nightstand and sat down heavily onto her bed. She watched Spiderman sit in her plush office chair and set aside his pizza to randomly pick up and scrutinize the spare electronics on her desk.

"Just as a wild guess, I'd say you're scientifically inclined," she chuckled as he jerked his head up like child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He chuckled a bit embarrassedly, trading the piece of a motherboard for his piece of pizza. "I guess you could say that," he admitted as he rolled up the bottom part of his mask to take a bite.

For a few minutes the two ate pizza in relative peace. When Spiderman shoved the last bite of his pepperoni pizza slice into his mouth, he immediately pulled the lower half of his mask back down over the lower part of his face. Sasha scrunched her nose up as she concentrated on how familiar his face, well, lower face was to her.

"So, back to business," he said. "What exactly are you trying to protect everybody from? And why won't you tell anyone, with the exception of me?" he asked, his muffled voice sounding insistent.

Sasha paused in mid-bite to look up at Spiderman, then swallowed to clear her mouth. "If I tell you, you have to promise you won't let anyone in on this. The only reason I'm telling you is 'cause you can handle yourself if they find out and come for you. Do we have a deal?" Spidey gave her a nod. "Deal."

Sasha put down her pizza and stood up, striking a pose. "You are speaking to the illustrious Sasha Elaine Fisk. I am the only daughter of Wilson Fisk, the mobster who practically runs Hells' Kitchen." Sasha then sighed and sat back down. "My mother and I have been on the run from my father for as long as I remember. He's had people following us from the time we lived in California, where I was born, to Chicago, where we lived for almost three years before coming here.

"Last time I told someone who I was, he ended up dead just for knowing my connection to Fisk. Apparently my darling Daddy likes to keep his biological offspring under his thumb as well as under wraps. So Mom and I decided to get fake identities and backgrounds so we could effectively disappear from his radar. You are the only person I've ever told my real name to in over ten years," she concluded.

To say that Spiderman looked floored would have been the understatement of the age. Even through his mask it was visible that his jaw had dropped halfway through her lecture. "I…suppose I can see your need for secrecy, now," he said slowly. "Is there anything else that I should know? You've already been bumped up into my top ten "in danger people" list," he joked.

Sasha looked like she was debating something, or just thinking really hard, before she said, "Do you have a clinical depression list? I tend to blame myself when something goes wrong with people who know about him. Especially since it didn't go so well last time…" Sasha trailed off as she unconsciously began to rub the inside of her wrist.

Before Sasha could react, Spiderman grasped her wrist gently, but firmly and began to turn it up so he could see it. At first Sasha tried to pull her arm back so he couldn't see, but then she gave in to the inevitable.

This time Sasha was sure that, if this had been an anime, Spiderman would have face-planted so hard that it would have left a bruise. At which point he would have seemed to grow in height and size to tower over her in disappointment.

"Why would you do something like this to yourself!" he hissed, gesturing to 7 or 8 healed over scars starting an inch below her hand and running at least three inches long. "From what I've seen you are entirely too good a person to blame everything on yourself!" He seized her by the shoulders and turned her to face him completely. "Promise me you won't pull that stunt again. Peter would try to kill me and Fisk if anything were to happen to you," he informed her.

By this point Sasha's surprise had worn off and steadily turned to righteous anger tinged with fear. "Who are you to tell me what I should and should not have done when I was younger? At least my big secret didn't include gallivanting around in full-body spandex, risking my neck every time there was some criminal at large! Do your friends and family know what you do in your spare time?" She was breathing heavily by the end of her tirade, mostly because she knew Spiderman was right. If she did ever die, the first thing Peter would do would be to try and find the one responsible, directly or indirectly, for her death. If he were to try for Fisk, it would make any sacrifice on her part meaningless

Spiderman looked a little taken aback by her lengthy speech. Finally he pulled himself together long enough to reply, "So, you're saying that spandex… was a bad choice?" He looked over his costume, humorous confusion evident in his voice.

Sasha blinked. Then she smirked, which quickly turned into a derisive snort, which then morphed into much giggling. If he hadn't known her for as long as he had, Peter/Spiderman might have thought she was bipolar or some other psycho babbling bullshit. Be it as it were, he grinned beneath his mask as Sasha's fear and anger drained away. When Sasha finally got a hold of herself she apologized for snapping at him. "It only just occurred to me that Peter really is suicidal enough to do something like that."

Spiderman stood to go. "Don't worry about it. I understand what it's like to have a secret that can get people killed. I won't tell Peter about any of this," he promised as he walked over to the open window. "But you should." With those parting words he leapt out of the window and disappeared from view.

Sasha scowled at the place where he last stood. "Hah! Fat chance of that happening," she grumbled, standing up to stretch. "I am soooo sleeping in tomorrow." According to her bad-luck-o-meter though, she was due for some cosmic load of shite to land directly on her head.

Ignoring the impending sense of doom emanating from the very walls of her room, she began riffling through her drawers in search of something that could be used as pajamas. Five minutes later her window was closed (and locked, just in case) and she was redressed in an overlarge navy blue guy shirt and black Sophie's.

At that moment, whoever was running the cosmos decided she had suffered enough from the suspense department and sent a load of shite her way in the form of an escaped genetically enhanced super-spider. The spider's self-preservation instinct was warring with its hunger as it slowly crept toward one of Sasha's tan feet resting on the floor by her bed as she tied her hair back for the night. Just as she was finishing, she felt a sharp sudden pain near her left ankle. "Ow!"

Sasha quickly pulled her foot up to examine it, completely missing the spider crawling away under her bed. There on the fleshy part of her foot were two dots of blood on a slightly raised red bump. "Damn, that hurt," she said, wiping off the blood before pushing all thoughts of it away and dropping onto her pillow. It didn't even take her ten minutes to drift off to sleep.


Dream Sequence

Sasha could barely see her hands in front of her, let alone anything else in the dense multi-colored fog she found herself in. Not a moment ago she could have sworn she was back in her old apartment, but now… What was that beneath her feet? Dread began to fill her as she reached down to touch the sticky wetness that she was standing in. As she brought her fingers to eye-level, she choked on a sob. Blood.

Sasha stood too quickly, stumbling in her haste to get away from the puddle. She suddenly knew where she was, when she was. This was indeed the old apartment and the blood was his, Jake's. She never had the chance to see him before she and her mother fled Chicago, before he died at the hands of Wilson Fisk's thugs when they discovered them gone. The police never found Jake's body, but the amount of blood told the entire story. Four liters. There's not an investigator alive that won't declare you dead if they find four liters of blood.

Sasha's tears fell thickly onto the red stains marring her skin. As she watched, they disappeared, quickly fading away as if they had never been. Suddenly, her ears pricked up as she heard a beat in the distance. A guitar that gave way to strong words, words she could feel in her very being:

Never again will I be dishonored
And never again will I be reminded
Of living within the world of the jaded
They kill inspiration
It's my obligation
To never again, allow this to happen
Where do I begin?
The choices are endless
Denying the sin
My art, my redemption
I carry the torch of my fathers before me

The sound began to grow louder as she walked toward the music, hoping for some human contact to settle the loneliness in the pit of her stomach. As she got closer she began to lose the fear and despair she felt at her discovery of Jake's blood.

I'm no slave
Are you feeling brave?
Or have you gone out of your mind?
No more games
It won't feel the same
If I hold my anger inside
There's no meaning
My soul is bleeding
I've had enough of your kind
One suggestion, use your discretion
Before you label me blind

She closed her eyes and began to sing the final verse along with the mysterious music. Before she could get more than a few words out, Sasha then felt a strange sense of vertigo, which prompted her to pop open her eyes.

The thing I treasure most in life cannot be taken away
There will never be a reason why I will surrender to your advice
To change myself, I'd rather die
Though they will not understand
I won't make the greatest sacrifice
You can't predict where the outcome lies
You'll never take me alive
I'm alive

As the last of the song was sung, Sasha reacquainted herself with her surroundings. She was now in her car, driving through the dense purple and black fog. Just as she was about to switch out the CD to see what it was a hand reached from the back seat and stopped her, giving her a heart-attack in the process.

"Don't worry about it, Sausage, what's to come will come, though only when we're ready," demurred Mary Jane's soft voice. Sasha turned away from the landscape to see that both Peter and Mary Jane were sitting in her car with her, Peter in the front, humming along to the next song.

Just as Sasha began to ponder her words, Peter took the opportunity to confuse her more. "Just remember, with great power comes great responsibility. Don't make my mistakes, or you'll lose as much as I did."

Sasha's vision clouded over once more, leaving her to stand alone in the fog. The music once again faded away, totally blinding her senses. She began to wander aimlessly, unaware of the shadows closing in around her. Before she went five feet, thin strands, which were near to invisible, stuck to her skin preventing her from moving forward. They seemed to have the effect of fishing wire, cutting into her vulnerable skin.

As she struggled with the agonizing bonds a voice spoke through the darkness. "Don't let your memories hold you back, painful though they are. You have both everything to lose and everything to gain. Don't forget, little Arachne. Don't forget…"

End Sequence


"Wha…huh?" Sasha mumbled as someone shook her awake. "The world better be ending…" she continued blearily after she saw the clock. At 5:20 a.m., that would be the only forgivable repentance for one doing the waking.

"Funny, but no," chuckled her mother's voice. Oh, she better have a decent excuse. I'm perfectly willing to ruin dinner for a week for payback, Sasha thought. "You have a message from last night at 11:45-ish. Také wants you in for the 9 a.m. shift this morning. He said Maria broke her ankle and can't work for a month," she was informed.

Sasha nodded, her mood lifting morbidly at the news, though her eyes still were not open. "How tragic for the silly bint," she muttered under her breath, feeling no pity.

Maria was a patron of the same gymnastics school that she was and thought she outclassed everyone there. As a result she often treated everyone else with distain. Maria even had the gall to point out every imagined flaw in Sasha's routines, when she knew damn well that she had years more training to go to even touch Sasha.

"I suppose I can fill in for her. Did he say anything about a raise?" she asked, yawning. Her languid stretch was interrupted by a ticklish poke to the ribs. Her mother chuckled at her reticence. "Of course not. I'll talk to you tonight, sweets." Sasha waved, then set her alarm before falling asleep once more.


1 ½ hours later

Sasha slowly woke up to the sound of her 'soon to be road kill' alarm. In the middle of a noise that was reminiscent of a yawn mated with a heavy sighing grumble, she groggily whacked at the new annoying alarm clock that an ex-boyfriend had gotten her as a joke from Spencer's. The alarm noise was that of a woman moaning in ecstasy.

Joke my ass! He's just mad I left him for a girl, Sasha thought, broodingly. As her hand finally came in contact, she mentally congratulated her self as she heard at fly. Her victory was short lived, however, as the blasted thing continued to make obscene noises. Sasha admitted defeat, stumbling half blindly out of bed to turn it off.

On her way to the bathroom, she wiped sleepily at her eyes to get rid of whatever was causing her blurry vision. Unfortunately, she wasn't particularly aware of where she was going. Thump "OW, shit-monkeys!" she exclaimed after slamming her toe into the door frame. "I guess this means I should change out my contacts," she muttered, the dull pain not helping her lethargic attitude.

Sasha carefully removed both of her neg. 3.00 prescription contacts and tossed them in the garbage, as they had expired the night before. She then started up the shower so she could get rid of the layer of sweat gathered on her skin from the disturbing dreams she had. She knew that she was missing pieces of it, but she could definitely remember some of the more eerie parts.

Sasha could distinctly remember the feel of blood on her hands, thick and terrifying, but could not remember who's blood it was. She also had this strange feeling that something was holding her back. The rest of it was a haze, obscured by a tune that she couldn't place.

Sasha tried not to think about it as she slipped out of her night clothes and into the shower. Warm showers always had a calming effect on her, so she took advantage of the hour of preparation time she had. Sasha absolutely reveled in the feeling of the water soaking her hair, running down the hip-length chestnut locks like a waterfall.

After almost twenty minutes of wasting time, Sasha swiftly washed her hair and body. Thankfully she had waxed a few days ago, so she didn't need to spend too much unnecessary time in the bathroom. She hastily wrapped a light blue robe around herself as she towel-dried her hair, which she then braided to keep out of her way.

Just as she was about to grab another pair of contacts from the medicine cabinet she a glimpse of herself in the slightly foggy mirrored front panel. "Ho-ly SHIT!" she exclaimed, dragging out the syllables in surprise. She back-peddled away from the mirror staring at her eyes. Instead of their normal grayish-blue color, they were know an extremely light blue color. Even as she watch, they were changing to a scary blue-black color, which only served to freak her out more.

Now nearing hyperventilation, Sasha quickly began examining the rest of her body to see if anything else had changed with out her knowledge. Fortunately, the rest of her body still looked the same as ever. Whipcord muscles, cultivated from vigorous gymnastics training, partially hidden by her feminine curves, and crisscrossed with various scars from healed scrapes and cuts, both accidental and self-inflicted.

Relieved for the moment, she looked at her arms one last time just to be sure. Other than a scar on each wrist looking like they had split open a little, everything seemed to be normal. The split scars weren't painful, or even all that obvious.

"Okay, Sasha. Get your act together. You've still got to go to work. Deal with this..." she paused in mid-rant as she once again caught sight of her eyes. They had changed once more, only this time to a more normal blue color. "...later?"

Sasha quickly left the bathroom and headed into her room, studiously ignoring her reflection in all of the mirrors she passed. She then rummaged through her closet, looking for a costume to wear. Taking into account her gymnastics practice later, she decided on her Chinese outfit.

As she slipped into the baggy, black, ankle-tie pants, and the roomy red tang, Sasha remembered the first time she wore the costume. She had been rushed out of the house by her mother, who was acting as a chauffeur, before she could grab her gym bag. She was forced to wear the outfit for practice. As it turned out, the costume was more comfortable than and just as flexible as her leotards.

As soon as Sasha was finished dressing, she practically flew down the stairs to get some breakfast. Corn Pops, yum! Sasha thought, caustically. Seconds after she started to dig in to her gratuitous morning sugar rush in a bowl, the phone began to ring. Figures, Sasha grumbled to herself. Whoever it is can leave a message.

After what seemed like forever, the answering machine picked up the call. Although she was still engrossed in her sugary slop, Sasha listened carefully to see if it was anyone she should absolutely pick up for.

Beeeep! "Hey, Sash', it's Peter. I know you're probably really mad at me right now for sending Sp- my friend to talk to you last night, but I thought you should know he wouldn't tell me anything. He kept saying that everyone has their secrets and I should just wait for you to tell me on your own. To be honest, it's scarring me, Sasha. I'm worried 'bout you! Please, please call me today." Beeeep!

About halfway through the message Sasha stopped her idle munching and listened intently to the sound of Peter's concerned voice. She cringed a bit when he said she was scarring him. Guilt flooded her system as she listened to the semi-desperate tone at the end. Resolving to call him back after work, she put her dishes in the sink to be dealt with when she got home.

Alright, its 8:40 and I'm just now putting my shoes on…I've got plenty of time! Sasha giggled to herself. She speedily grabbed her gym bag from the laundry room and stuffed one of least damp leotards hanging to dry in after making sure her other stuff was still in it. She practically sprinted out of the door after snatching her keys from the counter and slamming the garage door button.

Five minutes later, Sasha pulled into a parking spot behind the Café. She turned of the car, taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves. What if someone notices my eyes altering colors in the middle of my shift? This could seriously screw me over, she thought, pulling down her visor to check her eyes in the mirror. Thankfully they only seemed a little off their normal color.

Vowing to put it out of her mind, Sasha locked her car and walked in through the back door. No sooner had she hung her purse and blazer on one of the hooks, than she heard an excited voice behind her exclaim, "Sasha-honey!" after which she was glomped from behind. "Ack! Trina, I need air to survive!" Sasha wheezed.

Her attacker mock-whined, but relinquished her grip as requested. Sasha messaged her ribs tenderly, though she turned to give her assailant a charming smile. "Hey there, kitten, how's it goin'?"

Standing in front of her in full Ukyou regalia, was a 5'7" brunette beauty practically beaming at her. The skin-tight black pants and deep blue wraparound shirt do wonders for her body. A bandolier of mini spatulas runs from her right shoulder to her left hip. "How, do I look? I found it on E-bay for 45 bucks!" Katrina bubbled, twirling so Sasha could see it from all angles.

Sasha laughed in surprise. "Wow, that's amazing, kitten! We're a matched pair," she grinned. As she tied on a black apron emblazoned with the Anime Café logo, she looked over the schedule to see what she was supposed to be doing for the day. Oddly enough, she wasn't even on the schedule. "Um, did Mr. Tenou say anything to you about my shift today?"

Trina paused in her fumbling for another tea cup to think for a second. "Hmm, oh yes! He mentioned that you were only gonna be working until noon today 'cause you did seven hours by yourself. Man, I can't believe I wasn't here for Open Mic Nite!" she pouted, then continued preparing tea sulkily.

Sasha smirked at the girl's sulking temper. "Yeah, Trina, sure you are! You're only mad because you passed up your chance to sing a duet with me," she scoffed. Trina was usually there for every Open Mic Nite she could possibly get away from her family for. She came from a long line of actors, desperately wanting to sing rock/pop songs.

Before Trina could get in a funk, Sasha gave her a one armed hug, flashing her a cheesy grin. She then pulled the tray from her hands and dashed out the swinging door to the restaurant, chuckling at Trina's muffled yell of annoyance.

Sasha nimbly wove her way through the myriad of tables to the front of the restaurant where Mr. Tenou was taking care of the register. "Hey, oyaji! You coulda told me last night before I left that you needed me today," she teased, playfully sauntering up to the counter.

Také removed his glasses and looked up from his calculations to greet her with an amused scowl. "I am not an old man! I'm only twenty-five," he protested, pointing his glasses at her in a condescending way. Sasha gave him a look that clearly said 'Are you kidding? Look at what you're doing!' as she crossed her arms. Také paused and looked at his position. "Alright, so I'm not exactly a teenager anymore, give me a break!"

Sasha shook her head and gave him a pitying look. "Don't worry; we'll get you laid someday, Tenou-san." At her deadpan statement he began to splutter and blush a deep red. Sasha giggled at his reticence as she got a receipt pad and pen from behind the counter. "So what section am I working in today?" Také glared at her for a second before pointing towards the upper tier. "You've got the two-seaters till noon today, now scram! Before I change my mind."

Sasha chuckled, tucking her receipt pad in the apron pocket and the pen behind her ear. Before she got to far from the counter Také called out, "By the way, I like your new contacts!" Sasha replied "Thanks!" before the compliment even registered. Then it dawned on her. I can play my eyes off as a new brand of contacts! No one but Mom will be able to tell the difference, she thought excitedly.

The hours rolled by as she took the orders of various customers, ranging from long time patrons to a few interested new comers. Just as the lunch crowd started to shift in, she noticed that she only had another five minutes until her shift ended. Just as she was gathering her tip from her last table, Sasha heard a familiar voice coming from the entry way. She quickly wiped down the table before heading to the cashier's counter.

As Sasha descended the steps to the main tier, she was able to put a face to the voice, Peter. He was talking to Také in a fashion that could almost be called surreptitious. She watched them shake hands, her temper beginning to flare up a little before she brought it back under her tenuous control. It would be just like Také Tenou to go behind her back like this. He was worse than her mom when it came to prying into things.

Také looked up and saw Sasha, surprise and guilt written all over his non-existent poker face. Peter Parker turned around slowly, coming face to face with an extremely dispassionate looking Sasha. Fortunately for him, he knew better than to hope she hadn't seen him. "Uh, hi, Sasha," he said nervously.

Sasha smiled sweetly at Také. "If you would be so kind as to clock me out, I would be more than happy to take care of Peter for you, oyaji," she offered. Peter saw Mr. Tenou cringe almost imperceptibly. "S-sure, no problem, Miss Morieta," he practically stuttered. He knew his house was as good as egged and TP'ed by the end of the night.


Ya know, I just realized I never put up a disclaimer… oops? My bad!

Spiderman and Wilson Fisk as well as the version of events that happened in "Spiderman" and will happen "Spiderman 2", are not mine! I'm borrowing them for the pleasure of others (but mostly for myself!).

The songs in the previous chapter and this one are "Bring Me to Life" by Evanescence and "I'm Alive" by Disturbed, respectively. I don't own these either! Well, except for on CD, but that's another matter entirely, right?

Anyways, a big, hearty thank you to my reviewers! I hope my psycho babble doesn't scare you off too badly… heeheehee, evil grin!

Thanks for reading and be sure to feed the flames, review to your heart's content!

Tenshi no Mugen

P.S. I'm passing the morphing eye color off as a trait that directly bitten females exhibit…. All right I just wanted to freak Sasha out! She's a little sarcastic, so I figure fate would want to flip her the bird every once in a while to remind her who's boss.

If you haven't figured it out, the darker the color of her eyes, the darker her emotions and the lighter, the more carefree and content. Her normal color represents neutrality or indifference. If you think it's too much I can take it out… maybe….