Arachnids

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Mayfair - Post-Season 5

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Danny walked upstairs to the sound of his seven-year-old son sobbing like the world had ended. Which, given the state of the planet during Frankie's short life, was entirely possible. Dropping his gear, Danny peeked in the door to the kid's room to find Kara sitting on the side of the bed, Frankie's head in her lap.

"Hey buddy, what's going on?"

"Daddy!" Frankie lifted up a tear stained face. "I don't want to get bitten by a yellow daddy longlegs and die!"

Kara's face was pinched as she explained. "Today at school, Frankie and the Wright boy..."

"Jeremy Wright has a kid?" Danny interrupted, earning an exasperated look from his wife.

"No, his nephew," Kara explained brusquely. "They saw a spider in the bathroom. Anyway, the kid told Frankie that one bite from a yellow daddy longlegs will kill you. I was explaining that, in fact, daddy longlegs are not poisonous but, even if they were, their teeth are far too little to actually hurt a person. They can only bite other spiders."

Frankie's head swiveled to his father and Danny realized that he was waiting for confirmation of Kara's information. Danny nodded, settling himself on the end of the bed. "Mommy's right, Frankie. Daddy longlegs are harmless. And even if they weren't, getting bitten by a spider isn't a big deal. I got bitten by a brown recluse one time and I'm fine."

"You did?" Frankie's eyes were big.

"Yup. I was at a training in South Carolina and the little guy snuck into my boot while I was sleeping. I didn't even notice that he bit me until I started swaying and then my hands swelled up. You should have seen my face, Frankie, it blew up like a balloon and nobody could understand me because my voice was all squeaky." Chuckling, it took Danny a moment to see the look of horror on Kara's face. He paused. "And, see Frankie, I'm fine. Spider bites are no big deal."

But instead of laughing, Frankie threw himself back into Kara's lap with a wail. "I don't want my face to turn into a balloon!"

"Frankie..." Danny started, only to be cut off by his wife.

"Out!"

He hesitated for only a minute, the look on Kara's face booking no arguments, before fleeing to the hallway. Crap. He had totally bungled that one and now not only was Frankie upset, but Kara was pissed. And when Kara got pissed...

Danny flipped open his phone, impatiently waiting for an answer. "Hey, I've got a problem."

Twenty minutes later, Danny opened the front door to reveal Tex, Carlton, Rick, Wolf and Azima dressed in what looked like the outfits from ghostbusters, except for the large plastic spiders stuck all over their baseball caps. He had to admit, when Tex put his mind to it, the man could accomplish miracles. "Thank you guys for doing this."

"Wait, this is voluntary? I'm out of here." Wolf replied, starting to turn, only to be smacked on the back of the head by Azima.

"Then you are planning to find another place to sleep tonight?"

Wolf spun back around. "Never mind. Whatever you need, mate."

As they headed up the stairs, Danny picked up a plastic spider that had fallen off one of the costumes. "Where did you get all this stuff anyway?"

Tex grinned, eyebrows wiggling. "They do not call me the miracle worker for nothing."

"Actually," Rick piped up. "We got them from Ray. One of his friends collects costumes and then gives them out to kids who don't have any."

Tex sighed. "Miller, you manage to take all the fun out of everything."

Ignoring the byplay, Danny carefully opened Frankie's door, just in case the kid had cried himself to sleep. But no, Frankie was still sitting next to Kara, eyes red and nose running. Kara lowered the book that they were reading as Danny entered, clearly not pleased with his return, until she noticed that he was not alone. "What's going on?"

"Frankie," Danny said with a wave of his arm, stepping aside to allow the team access. "Meet the Spider Demolition Squad. They are here to assure you that there is not a single spider in this house."

"And," Tex added. "We will be escorting you to school tomorrow to check the bathroom. Just in case."

"We'll be doing what?" Carlton muttered, earning himself a smack. "Hey!"

Azima rolled her eyes. "Baby."

"You will?" Frankie sat up, tears gone, face beaming. "You'll make sure there are no spiders in the house and at the school?"

"Yes, sir," Tex nodded, mien solemn. "We thought that we would start in here."

As the team poked at toys and lifted furniture in a spider hunt, Danny slid over to where Kara now stood next to the bed. He slipped an arm around her waist. "So, am I forgiven?"

She glanced up at him, nibbling at her bottom lip for a minute, before smiling. "I'm thinking about it."

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The next morning, as promised, the team escorted Frankie the three blocks from their house to the school. They were almost at the door when a familiar voice spoke.

"I must have missed the memo about moving Halloween from October to April."

Danny stifled a groan, turning to see Mike Slattery approaching with his adopted son Kaito. "Morning, sir. Thought you had an early meeting."

Kara had left for said meeting reluctantly, disappointed to miss the appearance of the "Spider Demolition Squad" at the small elementary school that both Frankie and Kaito attended. Azima had promised pictures.

Mike nodded. "I do. But apparently some..." the pause told everyone exactly what Slattery was struggling not to say, "miscreant told Kaito that there are poisonous spiders at the school."

"That's what Nate told me!" Frankie responded, eyes wide, looking at Kaito. "But Dad says the team is going to clear the building. And his team is the best. Nothing gets by them. Those spiders are toast."

Kaito beamed at them. "I bet Wolfman kills the most."

"Nah, Dad always says not to bet against Uncle Tex," Frankie replied, the two boys falling in next to each other as they headed into the building. "Apparently he's a mean operator."

Fifteen minutes later, spider crisis resolved, the group - minus Frankie and Kaito - once again stood outside the building. Slattery considered the team, a slow smile crossing his lips. "So, does this Spider Demolition Squad make house calls?"

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A/N - do not believe anything in this story. Daddy longlegs do not have super venom, as a certain myth busting show has proven. But no more g***gle in an apocalypse so...