Disclaimer: I do not own Danger Mouse or any canon characters. They are the property of Brian Cosgrove and Mark Hall. I do own Steve Spider.

Notes: Another snapshot chapter of their holiday. Things aren't as bad as they were last chapter, but well... Remember, this is in the 1980s series. There was an episode that showed Penfold and Danger Mouse both being frightened of a large spider that wound up in their flat; this chapter references it.

I apologise if there are similarities to SariSpy56 Returns' fic Arachnophobia. There was no intention. The reason for the arachnid guest will be explained in my after-notes.

Relationship is platonic, I tell you.

I hope you enjoy!

(Linebreaks hate me, so I will use DMEP.)

DMEP

Our heroes are resting for the night, unaware that they will be in for a rude awakening.

The weather was damp, so Danger Mouse and Penfold had opted to spend the night in the tent. Danger Mouse twitched as he felt something touch his back. "Mm, not there..." he muttered with a grimace.

Penfold blearily opened his eyes. "Wasn't me, DM," he whispered. It could be something else was irritating the mouse; maybe he had an itch where not even he could reach?

Another touch and another twitch. "Stop it..."

Penfold sighed. Maybe he should do something to help. He crawled out of the mouse's embrace and went to take care of what he thought was irritating the white rodent. He carefully scratched up and down his back. "Better?"

"Mm, trying to sleep..."

"You're welcome." He crawled back to where he'd been laying and closed his eyes.

DMEP

Ten minutes later, Penfold felt something. His eyes flew open in alarm, that something was not his best friend! He placed his paw on the mouse's shoulder and gently shook him. "DM, I hate to bother you, but I think we have company..."

He opened his eye. "What do you mean?"

"You feel it too, right? That extra something covering us?"

"I do. Probably just the blanket."

"But, we don't have one."

"Ah." He reached a paw to touch the thing covering them. He was shocked to feel it move. "Penfold, grab the torch, will you?"

He rolled over and grabbed the torch then switched it on. He promptly shrieked. Even without his glasses on, he could recognise the visitor.

"Oi, mates, some of us are trying to sleep here," a third voice uttered in annoyance.

Danger Mouse tensed. Not only was it surprising for Penfold to suddenly scream like that, that third voice was completely unexpected. He rolled over and beheld the sight that had the hamster trembling in utter terror. "Right, Penfold. You know what we do in situations like these."

His screams paused. "Panic?" He then resumed the loud vocals.

"Well done."

The guest frowned and sat up, glaring at the rodents. "Look, you, I've had a long day today and then I get lost, decide to hide out in this tent I found so I didn't get wet and then you're both keeping me awake!"

In normal circumstances, Danger Mouse would've apologised for such rude behaviour. But, considering the size of their eight-legged guest, it was no surprise he quickly grabbed Penfold's spectacles, got to his feet, scooped up the still screaming Penfold and made a dash out of the tent, straight to the Mark III.

The large spider sighed as he lay down. "Honestly, people these days. No manners at all."

DMEP

Danger Mouse brought out the dome usually saved for when they take the Mark III underwater. He looked to the still petrified hamster. "Are you alright, Penfold?"

"Oh, crumbs, DM, that spider...he was huge! He was even bigger than the one that wound up in our bathroom!"

"The one Stiletto made larger?"

"Mm-hm!"

"I'll admit, he gave me quite a turn too. But, honestly, what was he thinking, just sneaking into our tent like that? And he has the nerve to call us out on impolite behaviour!" He crossed his arms. "No helping it now, we're going to have to spend the night in here."

"You mean, you're not going to tell him to push off?"

"In his mood, that would be too dangerous for even my liking. Unless you'd like to volunteer?"

"Ooh, I never noticed how comfy these seats are! I guess sleeping here would be much better."

He couldn't hold back the smile at the way his best friend had rejected that proposal. "We'll talk with him in the morning about that." He let out a yawn. "For now, I think I'd like to return to Dreamland."

"Me too. Good night, DM."

"Good night, Penfold."

DMEP

The next morning, the mouse and hamster woke in a cranky mood. Their sleep had been disturbed by an uninvited guest, and sleeping in the Mark III wasn't quite comfortable. "Right, I don't care if he's still asleep, I'm giving that nasty intruder a piece of my mind."

"I'll be there in a second, DM." Penfold proceeded to take a gulp of water to help him swallow his anti-depressant, then re-applied the lid to the bottle before setting it back in the glove compartment.

"You're coming too?"

"Well, I'm pretty cross with him for last night too."

"You must be if you want to see him. Right then, let's get going." He lifted the dome, concealing it until the next time it would be required, opened the door and stepped out of the Mark III.

As he'd said, Penfold was right behind him.

Danger Mouse stood by the tent, arms crossed and a glower on his face. He was definitely not in a good mood. "Mr. Spider, wake up and come out right this second! We'd like to have a word with you!"

It didn't take long before the giant spider, well giant by their standards, emerged from the tent. "Hm? What's the matter?"

"What's the...what's the matter? You really believe you have the gall to ask that after last night?"

"Hey, I told you blokes I got lost and decided to seek shelter in the tent."

"It would've been nice if you'd asked first. You gave both of us a nasty fright last night, not to mention caused our sleep to be incredibly uncomfortable."

"Gee, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause any trouble. But, why were you blokes so terrified of me?"

"Well, you are a big spider, and big spiders sometimes eat mice and hamsters," Penfold explained. His frustrations seemed to have melted away a little at seeing the spider had really meant no harm.

"What? Oh, I get it." He chuckled. "Now listen, big though I may be, I don't fancy a diet of rodents. Just bugs. Nice of you to jump to conclusions though."

"Erm, even without thinking that, I would still be scared. I mean, well, I am actually a coward."

Danger Mouse nodded in confirmation. "Fully certified and all. But, honestly, Mr. Spider..."

"Steve. Just call me Steve."

"Alright then, Steve. By the way, I am Danger Mouse, and this is Penfold."

"Nice to make your acquaintance."

"Likewise, now that I know you're not a threat to either of us." Especially Penfold. "If you had approached us and asked if you could share our tent, that would've been far better for all involved, hm?"

"Guess so. I didn't realise it was yours though. I didn't see anybody around. Then again, I guess there are no tents without owners."

"Now that the sun is up, do you feel you may be able to get home?"

"Yes, it's much easier to see where I am now. I've never been good with dark, rainy nights. Anyway, sorry for troubling you blokes. I'll be heading off now."

"Hold on, you don't have to leave just yet. Stay for breakfast at least," Penfold offered.

"I don't think you'd be willing to cook me any bugs. Besides, I've got a family back home waiting for me. I told my wife I'd get the best bugs in the area for her; if I don't, she'll bite my head off."

"Sounds tough."

"You have no idea." Steve shuddered. "It's a wonder I'm still alive now. Anyway, enough of that. Cheerio!" He waved before setting off on his merry way home, making absolutely sure to keep an eye out for any delicious insects.

Penfold looked up to his best friend. "Steve wasn't such a bad spider, eh?"

"He lacked in manners, but he is a friendly sort of chap. I'm hoping for his sake he does find the best insects for his wife."

"I'm sure he'd just get an earful from her."

"No. Actually..." He wondered how to best tell the hamster that Steve had been literal with his mention of his wife's threat. "It's more like she'll be the one to get a mouthful."

"Oh." He turned a light shade of green as realisation struck. "Don't put on brekkie yet, I lost my appetite."

"Mine isn't quite present either. Well, we may as well try going back to sleep. Back to the tent?"

"Back to the tent. But, erm, could you please check for other invaders before we do?"

"Of course." He poked his head through the entrance and saw it was empty. "All clear, Penfold."

DMEP

Penfold was still awake, though Danger Mouse was fast asleep. He couldn't help but worry someone else was there with them, even if Danger Mouse had already said there were no more uninvited guests. Oh, crumbs, I really hope they're not able to use camouflage or anything. Or maybe they're so tiny we can't see them, but still dangerous. Oh, carrots, I can't be in here knowing that's possible! He crawled out of Danger Mouse's embrace again and left the tent. Never mind the seats in the Mark III weren't appropriate for sleeping in, he would much rather where he knew it was safe.

DMEP

Danger Mouse rolled onto his back. His eye flew open when he realised he had. Where was Penfold? He sat up and looked around the tent. "Penfold? I say, Penfold, where are you?" He got to his feet and ran out of the tent, only to skid to a stop when he spotted the hamster was fast asleep in the Mark III. He sighed and shook his head. "He's safe, but his back will be sore later. Good thing I know some massage techniques to help soothe aching muscles. I wonder, what drove him to sleeping in there? I told him the tent was empty." He thought about it, but couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Penfold's eyes fluttered open and he yawned as he emerged from the realm of slumber. He stretched and let out a yelp. "Cor, my back's aching..." he groaned.

"From sleeping in the car, no doubt." Danger Mouse approached the vehicle. "How come you came back here instead of staying in the tent?"

"I couldn't stay in there. What if there were some extra guests that were so tiny you can't see them, but they're still dangerous?"

"Ah, I see. Well, I'm perfectly fine, aren't I?"

"Yes..."

"Clearly you're not though. Come back into the tent and I'll give you a backrub."

"Eh?"

"You'll need those aching back muscles of yours massaged before they get worse. You'll feel much better for it." He turned and returned to the tent.

"Oh. Okay, DM." He climbed out of the vehicle and entered the tent.

DMEP

This holiday has certainly had its ups and downs, but soon, they'll be returning to the Mayfair pillar-box. Before they do though, what else has the authoress come up with for them to go through? Oh. Apparently this one was based off a true story, but she'll explain later. In the meantime, keep a look out for the final snapshot of their holiday.

DMEP

After-notes: Just as the idea for the holiday away was inspired by my own little holiday, this chapter was inspired by something that happened at Nan and Pop's. A spider, I don't know what kind, got into my bed. I found it in my pyjama sleeve that morning when reaching for my handkerchief. I pretty much flicked it out and bolted out of my bed, found Nan and Pop in the kitchen and asked which of them was the one to deal with spiders. By the way, it's Nan, Pop was almost the same as me when it came to them...only without the tears and nightmares. Anyway, Nan went in with a can of bug spray to kill the spider (with most of ours being venomous down here in Australia, we can't be too careful), but it went into hiding before she got there. I absolutely refused to sleep in my bed, though I was still tired, until certain the spider was gone. So, Nan let me continue sleeping in her bed while she washed the sheets to make sure if the spider was hiding among them, we'd get it.

Now you know why the story went the way it did, especially with Penfold being unable to sleep in the tent after being surprised by Steve's presence, even if he was actually a nice spider. Hm? What kind of spider is Steve? Just think of him as a new species.

There will be one more chapter on the holiday, and then, time for them to return home.

Thanks for reading! I won't ask for you to review, but if you do choose to say something, please don't flame. Constructive criticism is welcome.