Chapter Text
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,"
-Emily Dickinson
She died.
She's 24 when she dies. She's 24, fighting Red skull, and her friends are screaming when she dies. Her name is Penelope Parker, she is Spider-Woman, and she dies protecting New York, the world, her family. Penelope doesn't regret it even though there are things she does regret but dying for the people she cares for isn't one of them. Penelope doesn't know how Red Skull is still alive but she knows the glowing cube is dangerous and powerful, can feel it as her spider sense wails inside her head. She does not hesitate, doesn't stop to think, and is reaching for it, even as the machine Hydra made starts. Between the upheaval of the Hero Registration, trouble at work, family, and her recent break up, Penelope is tired, worn at the edges. The machine, Penelope can't remember what it is for, bends beneath her strength and the cube, glowing blue and clear, the power of creation contained within, burns her hands. But Spider-Woman does not let go. She heaves, back arched, fire and lightening scorching every nerve and vessel, and screams. The machine gives, misaligned the Hydra program fails and crashes. Red skull rushes her, determined to stop her, to kill her but fails to reach her. The cube answers her, her wish buried deep within her heart, even as her determination, her goal roars from within the depth of her soul. Free the cube from Red skull, back into the InBetween -the Beyond- and yet, protect the world, friends and family, protect her home.
A paradox.
To fulfill the first, the latter must perish. To protect the second, then the former must be let go.
An anomaly. A paradox.
A wish.
The cube answers, Red skull collapses on the ground gasping for air and lies helpless as his muscles atrophy. His skin swivels and cracks. All throughout the underground compound, those of Hydra that remain suffer the same fate and the enhanced can do nothing as their power abandons or turns against them. Some implode, spreading gore and brain matter all around them. Others are consumed, drained, left feeble and emaciated. Daredevil, the Fantastic Four, and Scarlet Spider stand motionless but unharmed, proof of Spider-Woman's influence over the cube, and she's choking now unable to scream, to cry. Spider-Woman can no longer feel anything, numb to it all, but her hands hold the cube in a vice even as her legs give out. She's falling back and Scarlet rushes to her, to his sister, the woman he's cloned from, who accepted him despite his hate, his flaws.
He manages to reach her before she hits the ground but its already too late. Blue Iris petals cascade all around her but Scarlet doesn't care for them. Distantly, he remembers they're her favorite.
(Later, the Fantastic Four will release a copy of the security footage to the public before SHIELD can hide it away. The world will watch as Spider-Woman defies a monster, watch as she suffers untold agony. The world will see a hero embrace death and fade away. They will see a brother call out to a sister who can no longer hear him and weep with him. To the heroes of the world, her actions will expose a plot to enslave and kill them. Her actions will reveal an enemy waiting in the cold expanse of space and the chance to defend against it. Later, the world will know her name, what she stood for, how she strived to save the world one person at a time, how she offered hope to all who meet her and asked for nothing in return. The world will learn her belief in the power of responsibility and the power of kindness. Her name and her deeds will be immortalized in paper and ink, in stone and steel, in history as a woman who was selfless, who sacrificed her own happiness to help others, who loved deeply, who reminded the world what it meant to care for people. Fans and supporters will petition to have her buried in Arlington National Cemetery, the first and only hero to have that honor).
Scarlet Spider, Kaine Parker, clutches his sister's body, like it was something precious, as if he could keep her alive using just his presence, and screams her name, screams himself hoarse, begs her to come back...
That is how she dies.
Beyond this place, within the InBetween, the cube breaks down. It opens like a flower in bloom before the petals scatter and disappear. There are many who witness it but only one steps forward to grasp at what is left behind. A light, small but strong. A soul, tired but bright, warm, and beautiful. It is familiar to some of those present and were it not so tattered by the cube's sloppy abuse, would evolve and ascend to join them.
"Worry not, Little Spider, you are loved. You are honored. You will join us again. But not today. Not yet. Not yet."
With great care, the being whispers softly to the soul cupped within its hands, like a parent would for it's child, and for a second it burns with all the glory of a newborn sun. Then it is gone.
This is how she is remade, in the cradle of creation and by the care of a god, ancient and powerful, whom cast a shadow against the void shaped like a spider's legs.
Penelope Parker opens her eyes and is lost. She is 24. She is 15. Penelope Parker is and is not real, is and is not here. She...just is. She doesn't know what day it is, only that she is wrong. (She's better. Stronger.) Too big in her skin and too small to rail against the world. (Perfect all at once.) So, Penelope Parker closes her eyes, sleeps, dreams and remembers and sees. When she wakes the second time its different. Not too big or too small. She's -They've - settled, somewhat, even if the edges brush against each other, glass shards piercing skin deep enough to hurt but not bleed.
They are Penelope Parker. One from a place far away; worlds, universes away and one that was already here. They are the same and not. The pieces don't fit. Not completely, not yet. They were blending together. Growing into each other. She's 15. Uncle Ben is gone and that hurts, aches but its old, soothed over by time and experience and understanding. His loss doesn't ignite a fury inside her or sorrow that burrows into her bones. The guilt doesn't eat at her insides, doesn't fester like a disease. Its soothed with the understanding that she is not at fault and the knowledge that she's done the best she could, that she tried when she could have just as easily done nothing at all.
She's 15 and she's Spider-Woman.
Uncle Ben's words ring across her conscious, feather soft and warm, a balm to her confusion and turmoil. She's not okay, too sharp and jagged, raw. The pieces don't fit yet. Not by a long shot but she knows she'll get there.
In this world everyone is born with the potential to be anything. Not like the old world, where that means creativity, talent and ambition, spearhead this potential. No. Its something else. Some present early and some are late bloomers. Only 10 percent of the world's population present as Omega and all others are Alpha or Beta. Omegas are the cream of the crop, the golden goose, famous and desired. They get invited to VIP events and reality shows. Alphas are "protectors" and "aggressors". Betas are "neutral". This is the world Penelope wakes up to. Its a world she knows and is familiar with. She's comfortable. (She balks at it all).
Omegas, Alphas, Betas...she sees the orientation. She sees the stereotypes. She was a late bloomer, presenting as Uncle Ben died in her arms, and could not find the joy or pride in her orientation. Now, she can't stand it because it means everyone will look at her and want her, as if she were a prize to be won. (She is but it is not because she's an Omega. She's more than that. More than what she presents). It means everyone will notice what she does and does not do, what she says and does not say. Hiding the part of her that is Spider-Woman will be hard, harder than it would be originally, but she'll make do.
She's got one heck of a cheat sheet to help her along.
Its 2001 and she's 15. She's got one heavy work load to push through. But first, Aunt May. Aunt May then the world.
Penelope gets out of bed and makes her way to the bathroom to shower. She cleans away the grim and stardust. Her hair is too long for the mask. She'll have to cut it and a part of her breaks a little. Uncle Ben always told her she looked like her truest self with her hair long. That's okay though. Hair can grow back. For now, a short layered pixie cut will do and so long as she takes care of herself, she'll have that self back again, someday. Tomorrow she'll go to the salon for her hair cut.
When she steps out, she wraps a towel around her and steps up to the mirror. There is a bit of a tan to her, which is normal. (Strange but not bad. She used to burn before.) The Penelope Parker that looks back at her is both familiar and strange. But its her. Its who she is now. Who she's always been, only she's not. She's more now.
She leaves the bathroom and goes back to her room. She cleans up and gets dressed. It's Friday. Which is good. She's not sure she can handle more than one school day after the roller coaster she's been through. But one day is more than enough to get a feel for where she stands and what direction she needs to go in. She glances at the clock and notices she's got about two hours before school starts. Plenty of time to prepare herself. One pair of skinny jeans, a t-shirt, and her high top converse later, she's going through her room. She finds an empty cardboard box and uses it to place all the things she doesn't need in it. Her science kits she puts to the side and her camera stays settles on her desk.
She goes through her clothes, her photos, her shoes. Anything she doesn't need or use, she puts inside the box or out in the hall outside her door. She's not the same. She's grown in ways few if any will understand or experience, and it is only natural that she move her life to reflect that. She doesn't get through everything. That's okay. This is something that will take a bit of time and work. It's on her list.
"I need an actual list. Like written and everything. Later, after we see what we're up against."
Penelope turns off her light, grabs her school bag and makes her way downstairs. She starts to make breakfast and readies herself for her first and greatest trial. She's pouring the last of the orange juice when Aunt May appears in the kitchen doorway.
"Someone's up early." Her eyes are sad but her smile is sincere. "And hungry, too."
"I wanted to do something for you, since I spent like decades marinating in bed."
"It was hardly decades, Penny." Aunt May's eyes brighten just a bit and Penelope grins. They sit at the table and start eating. Its an American spread, pancakes with eggs and toast.
"Still, a few days is waaay too long for me to get it together to tell you I presented as Omega when Uncle Ben..." she trails off when she realizes that while it didn't hurt her to think of her uncle, it would still hurt her aunt and she feels like an idiot.
"I'm glad he got to know before he passed." Penelope snaps her eyes to her aunt in disbelief. Her aunt was sad but she was still smiling. She reaches her hand and places it on her niece's arm. "I am glad you were there so he wasn't alone and that he knew you, all of you in his final moments. Okay?"
Her hand is warm and something in the teen relaxes. She sighs in relief and smiles back at her aunt.
"Yeah, we're okay." They go back to eating and making small talk. The air is relax and homely. A family recovering, growing from loss and grief.
"So, you plan on going to school today? You don't have to you know."
"Yes. I do. I need to see what I'm working with."
"What you're working with?"
"Well, yeah. I mean, it depends on what happens when I go back. I may be an Omega but that doesn't mean I'm a doormat. I...I would like to hold off saying anything about me being an Omega."
"Penelope," Aunt May starts but Penelope rushes ahead.
"Just until I'm 16. That's a few months but I just need to get a feel for what I need to do to move on, to move forward. It's like I'm stuck in this ditch and I can't get out and the world is trying its hardest to bury me alive. I just...just need some space...is that too much to ask for?" Her voice gets small in the end and she kind of hates how young she sounds. (She's only 15. She is young. But she used to be 15 once, too.)
"Okay Penny. We can make it on your birthday. How's that, hmm? Presenting on your sweet 16? It'll be all the rage in the papers!" Penelope laughs at the spark of mischief in her aunt's eyes. The tightness around her chest loosens and she finds it easier to breath.
"You're amazing Aunt May, you know that?" She can't stop grinning.
"We both are, sweetheart, and don't you forget it!"
School is hellish.
There is no other way to describe it. Since the bite, all her senses are enhanced times ten, and if she hadn't been changed from the past week, she'd have a hard time filtering what she did and did not want. There were the whipsers of course. She ignored those. There were the looks she got, sympathy and pity. She ignored those, too. There were the cliques and the gossip that she avoided. And then there was Flash. She's spent the entire day avoiding him and succeeding, too. It won't last. She plans to stay afterschool to talk with an administrator because she has no intention of staying another two years in high school if she doesn't have to.
So, that means Flash is bound to catch up to her eventually.
Flash asked her out before she presented and she turned him down. As an Alpha he expected her to be glad to have his attention and to be turned down in front of his friends, well, he wasn't to let that humiliation go. He's bullied her ever since. (She wouldn't date him now anyway. She's had enough of big blondes telling her what she should do or villians telling her to submit and grovel.) She has plans. Things she wants to do, that she needs to do. (She's lived this life once and it might be different but its close enough that there are things she's willing to change). Penelope cannot stop other things from happening, not without making others suspicious, or causing serious harm to others.
Helping Dr. Connor was a path she couldn't avoid, she was already on it, but there are steps she could take to keep her identity a secret. To save Captain Stacy. She needed to get on to those things right away, too.
Penny really needed to write that list.
She's walking out of the main office when Flash stops her.
"Hey! Parker!" She stops and turns to him, face carefully blank.
Everyone around her has been pitying her all day. Normally, she wouldn't be able to stand it but she needed all the advantages she could get right now. It was March. Her birthday is in August. In August, Aunt May would have to update her medical profile to include her orientation. Omegas physiology was different enough to need specialized care. Presenting so late would grant her the usual patient-doctor confidentiality but she's sure that won't last long. As a minor her name wouldn't be released but it wouldn't take long for people in her neighborhood to make the connection. At the same time, breaking into a doctor's office to read or even steal patient files has been done before and being an Omega would guarantee someone would be curious or greedy enough to get that information. To say nothing of any digital copies that a hacker could get to if the pay is good or they're particularly motivated.
"Flash."
"Hey..." he hesitates and fidgets in place. She doesn't know what he wants. (Something not bad. He looks almost guilty...an apology?) "I'm sorry, about your uncle, I mean. I just...I'm sorry."
His eyes trail away from her. (An apology. Flash isn't bad, just...a little lost). She still would not date him but he was sincere.
"Thanks." She means it even if she feels bad about taking advantage of the others pity for her. It buys her time. And right now, time is precious. "I appreciate it but I've got to go."
"Oh, yeah. I...yeah. You, ah, you coming in Monday?"
"Yeah. I've got work to give in."
"See you then?" Penelope blinks in confusion but nods her head.
"I gotta go." She walks around him as he stutters a goodbye. (Does he know already? Is there a scent thing to being an Omega?)
The only way to know would be if he was there when she presented which he wasn't. There was no scent, she wasn't a dog and she didn't go into heat. But he might be getting some of those "protect the omega" vibes she's heard about. She's not certain if that's a fact or some story made up by a bunch of romantics. But she's more certain its sympathy than anything to do with her being an omega.
But he wasn't important right now.
She needed to get home and start preparing. There was the Lizard, the Goblin, Electro, Kraven and others that were bound to show up. She needed to prepare not only herself but the police, paramedics, dispatch, and so on. She needed to help New York prepare for whatever comes next. It was a huge undertaking. But she's ready and willing. It's not nearly as overwhelming as it should be. There are other heroes who will come out, step forward out of the dark. She can do this.
Because she is Spider-Woman.