Chapter Text
Communication
A snack run and quick exploration of the city.
That's all that she had wanted and planned for.
Here she thought she'd taken all of the necessary precautions- writing a note to Venom Bite to let her know before heading out, pulling on a normal t-shirt and jacket, and even putting her hair down. A foolproof disguise!
But, as she had moved through the streets, she found it to be almost…. Unnecessary? There weren't any people walking about as far as she could tell, which, no matter what city you were in, was very unnerving.
Having left not long after sending the note and watching a very satisfied looking Petri dive into the earth(she wasn't sure if plants could look satisfied, but this one did), she was hoping to find some sort of late-night convenience store open nearby. Maybe mark them down on the map since they had been missing when she got it. Heading further towards the edges of the City where the roads out were, it would make sense to find some sort of 24-hour gas station.
Before she could get too far into her search however, a crash from inside a nearby butcher shop caught her attention. Now, things had already been pretty strange this morning, and so far, all of her plans had gone up in smoke- there was no reason for her to expect things would play out in her favor.
Looking through the window and seeing something bent at a very unnatural angle, skittering across the floor to turn to a pig carcass and tear into it- she was frozen in fear for a moment as she realized that the shape looked almost human.
At this realization, she took a careful step back, regret seeping through her as whoever was inside snapped their head up towards her, pale eyes practically glowing in the low light.
Illuminarrow didn't even have time to cast a single spell before there was the sound of shattering glass, and she was suddenly pinned on the ground, claws digging into her. She didn't remember screaming, but it was very hard to breathe and move and- as soon as it had pinned her down, it was moving back and out of immediate sight. Had they said something?
It was a mad scramble to get up, and though she did manage to stand, it wasn't for very long as she slid down a light pole and back to the ground. There was the sound of bones snapping, and while she did want to turn to face her attacker in the final moments- she was so very tired. Reaching up to rub a hand across her face, she frowned at the bloody saliva that was left on her hand as she pulled it away.
That wasn't hers.
Oh well. She was too exhausted to think too much about it. Closing her eyes slowly, she was vaguely aware of a voice in the background and a pair of hands on her shoulders. But, sleep sounded so much better right now.
Illuminarrow was barely aware of being lifted, the warmth surrounding her a welcome feeling to the cold she was slipping into.
---
Her thoughts were hazy, her entire body feeling like frozen lead. She could barely open her eyes, the light in the room too bright for her to see.
She thought she could hear someone, maybe talking on the phone? Another shifting attempt to get up, but this time she was aware of a hand pushing her back down.
"Not yet. Go back to sleep."
Illuminarrow hummed softly, seeing no reason to argue. Whatever she was laying on was very soft anyways. She was vaguely aware of a weight settling on top of her body, carefully arranged to keep her warm. How considerate.
---
She wasn’t sure what woke her up, or even if she was awake, but she did feel pain, and it burned, wracking through her body in waves. Her throat hurt- was she screaming, even now?
Both her mind and body felt heavy and light at the same time, searing and relentless- there was something freezing holding her wrists down. Or, at least what she thought were her wrists. The pain was making everything feel like static and not, but gods if the cold wasn't soothing. She couldn’t see anything, but, despite its restriction of her movement, whatever it was helped.
The fever was beginning to go down, Illuminarrow slowly drifting off again. The blazing heat was gone, as was the sudden cold, everything settling into a comforting warmth.
“You’re going to be okay.”
And she was, wasn’t she?
---
The next time Illuminarrow woke up, it was to the soft beeping of machinery. Blinking slowly and looking around, it only took a second for her to realize she was in what looked like… a bedroom?
It wasn't hers, she knew that much. She did not have as nearly as many pillows as she was propped up on, and this mattress was much softer than anything she'd been on before. But, she also didn't have an entire wall of machinery, some that looked to currently be hooked up to her arm. Where was she? Part of her told her that she should be panicking, running very far, very fast.
But, there was a louder part that simply wanted to rest, stay warm under the sheets and not move in the slightest. Movement from beside the bed drew her attention, the archer blinking at the sight of someone carefully draped across a loveseat and... fast asleep. It took longer than she’d like to admit for her to realize she was looking at VenomBite. Casually laying back, makeup and traditional villain garb abandoned for a pair of flowy pants and a crop top of a camisole, She looked almost harmless- that is, if you ignored the secondary mouth. Even though it wasn’t open, there was no denying the dangers of such razor-sharp fangs, enough to strike fear into the heart of anyone.
Wait.
Very slowly, memories were beginning to filter in about the past events, and as she stared, Illuminarrow felt disbelief and fear start to break through whatever calm state she’d been in.
Some of the machinery began to beep a touch louder, screens turning on and casting a dull blue across the room. There wasn’t any way this was happening, she just got here and… why couldn't she remember what happened before she got here? She remembered writing the note, changing clothes into- shifting slightly and taking stock of her entire person, she was suddenly aware of the fact that she was not wearing what she had left the motel in. In fact, a hospital gown was a bold thing to call a piece of clothing in general. Also, why did her shoulders hurt so much? Where was her bag and- oh Gods what on earth had happened?
Breathing was becoming fairly difficult despite how fast she was doing such, and the machinery, having enough of being ignored, began to sound off minor alarms that failed to penetrate the silence Illuminarrow was trapped in as panic made its way through her. What happened was she dead did she fuck up was she attacked did she attack someone did she attack VenomBite-
“Hey. Illuminarrow. You with me?”
Her head snapped up from her hands, not quite sure when she had curled into herself, or when she had started crying. VenomBites pale yellow eyes watched her carefully, the woman crouched by the bedside. When did she wake up?
“Illuminarrow.”
Her voice seemed a little more clear, the archer offering a slight nod in response. “Y-yeah. I’m here.”
At that, the other villain nodded slightly, standing and walking around the bed and tapping at screens. “Well, welcome back to the land of the living. You certainly took your time.”
Illuminarrow froze. “W-wait. Did I DIE??? What the hell happened to me, I- I-”
“You did not die. You came pretty close, but just took your time recovering.”
There was nothing except the tap of claws against the glass for a moment.
“Th’o… what happened?”
“You were severely poisoned.”
Silence. “By what?”
It was at this point that VenomBite took a step back from the screens, walking over to where the tubes and wires were connected to her arm and removing them with such caution, she might not have expected it from witnessing such savage displays out in the field. And yet, she also knew that despite all the blood and gore, there was such a high caliber of precision, of course this wasn’t too out of the ordinary. Probably. Was she still dreaming?
The Villain’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “It was a signature bioweapon meant to destroy blood cells at an increased rate and bring the victim to paralysis within moments.” So, it was something designed to kill living things in minutes.
The Archer immediately felt a chill run through her body as suspects began to run through her mind. “Wath is heroeth? I didn’t know that they would try to-”
“It was not a hero.”
“Then who-”
“It was Me.”
It didn’t connect right away. “What do you mean by that?”
A soft sigh left Venom Bite as she gently taped a piece of gauze down in the crook of Illuminarrows arm, the woman having removed the I.V. while she was distracted. “Simply, you were at the wrong place at a very wrong time, and nearly died as a result. You were registered as prey and were nearly killed as such. Here,” she passed the shocked Archer a pair of clothes and turned to walk out the door. “Once you're done changing and vacating my bed, we can talk more at length. I’ll be in the kitchen.”
As the door closed, she felt heat quickly rise to her cheeks at the realization that she’d been sleeping in Venom Bites bed- but the cold sinking fear in her stomach very nearly drowned that out. The wording was certainly one thing, but she was missing something in her memories, and that had to be why she was here.
Slowly running a hand through her hair and sliding her legs to the edge of the bed as she sat up, it was a bit of an effort to take a steady breath. “Report.” Her voice wavered slightly, but much to her relief, the familiar hums of her other eyes resonated with her own magic. None had been broken or trapped so…Illuminarrow turned suddenly as she saw the small bag to the side of the loveseat.
Getting up much faster than she should have, stumbling for a second and pausing to regain her balance, she made her way to her bag and opened it up, sighing in relief at the sight of Beau nestled safely on her jacket. “Thank the godth you're okay; who knowth what I would have done if I loth one of you.” She sighed softly, running her thumb over the smooth tile. Taking a moment to pull her hair back into a low ponytail and fastening them to the hair tie with little more than a thought, Illuminarrow returned to the clothes that had been offered, recognizing the undergarments and pants, but not the oversized shirt. Well, she reasoned, better to have something than nothing.
Shuffling a bit on the hardwood floor, she padded towards the door and opening it. The first thing that hit her was how cold it was outside the room. Was the Air conditioning constantly on? There was no way it wasn’t anything about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The hall itself was fairly standard as homes go, a few blueprints in what had to be a language she didn’t know of various contraptions framed and hung in the place of family photos, an actual potted plant on a small table, a few candles; were it not for the fact that she knew who lived here, she’d almost assume that this was just the home of a standard civilian.
The warm scent of coffee had her moving down the hall towards a more well-lit area, pausing at the sight of Venombite resting her head on her arms, seemingly on the verge of falling back asleep. After a moment, she shifted, facing Illuminarrow and blinking slowly. The archer was vaguely reminded of a large sleepy cat. The impression grew as she yawned and showcased her own set of sharp teeth, sighing and stretching out.
"You finally got up. Good. I was worried I'd have to hook you back up to the machines again." Venombite moved to stand, gesturing to the seat across from her. The secondary mouth clicked its teeth faintly.
Illuminates paused, blinking in surprise before taking the offered seat and folding her hands in front of her. “You’re not… implying that I had woken up before, but not moved… are you?” She couldn’t stop her fingers from fidgeting, as much as she’d like.
The response to her question was the soft clinking of mugs being pulled from a cabinet, the pour of what seemed to be a fresh pot of coffee, and a slight sigh. As VenomBite sat down and slid the beverage towards her, she barely caught the other's nod.
“Three times, if we’re counting non-coherent.” Cream and sugar were gently placed on the table by a few various vines that were dismissed with a wave of the hand and a quiet thanks. Venombite was quiet for a moment, adding a single cube to her coffee and taking a long drink. “It took a while for the poison to leave your system. You were… Feverish for a time.”
Illuminarrow took a sip before adding anything, instantly regretting it as bitterness filled her mouth. Coffee strong enough to wake the dead. Quickly adding a bit of cream and sugar, she mulled over the villain's words. A fever would definitely explain the loss of time, but…
Before she could voice a question, Venombite sighed and shook her head. “It is my fault for not properly letting you know the rules of this city. To avoid incidents like this in the future, please do not attempt to venture about at night. While you’d no longer be subject to the venom by my claws, there are more things besides myself that may snap at anything that gets too close." There was a pause as she moved to steadily drink down the rest of her coffee. "I will admit I am not used to having… guests in my city. I do not readily have antidotes and antivenoms for everything should you be harmed. As of now, I cannot guarantee your safety at night." A vine holding the pot of coffee carefully refilled her mug.
"Tho…. You really attacked me?" It wasn't possible. VenomBite looked way too calm about this.
"Yes."
This wasn't adding up. "You poithoned me?"
"...Yes."
Illuminarrow squinted, resting her elbows on the table and leaning forward slightly, really looking at the woman across from her. "Tho, where did you get the antivenom then?" If you were a villain, there wouldn't be a need for antivenom for yourself, right? That was like asking for a hero to use it against you.
After staying silent for a moment, the woman sighed softly. "I had to make a few calls. Someone I knew a long time ago had a copy. I just had to update it and make the dosage strong enough to combat what was in your system." She waved a hand as if it were not a huge deal.
Illuminarrow may be stupid, but she wasn't an idiot.
The Archer had read the papers regarding VenomBite. Shed read copies of Hero Commission Reports, other villain analysis, private theories and attempts to know her motives- and none of what she was currently being shown matched up. "An unforgiving and cruel venomous being without a shred of mercy." "A woman fiendish enough to send back a messenger with only enough strength to say what they were told to before succumbing to an irreversible bioweapon." "Ever vigilant and calculating, she's not to be expected to hold an ounce of humanity left- if there ever were one." However, looking at the woman half slumped on the table in front of her, exhausted beyond belief and on the verge of falling asleep right then and there, it was enough to make her question everything yet again.
After a particularly slow blink, VenomBite stood up, stretching her arms and yawning before looking back at her. "I can take you back to the city in the morning- I'm just a bit drained right now. There's some soup in the fridge if you want to eat."
Snapping herself out of her thoughts, she nodded. "Oh, uh, right. Thank you." The smile was evident in her voice, but she'd be lying if she said it didn't bother her how tired Venombite sounded. "Before you go, how long wath I out for?"
A pause. "Four days."
"Four dayth?"
"Four days."
Silence.
Illuminarrow gently ran her thumb back and forth over the handle of her coffee mug. And, what could she say to that?
"I’ll.. be in the lab if you need me. Just say what you need out loud and one of the plants will be there to assist you." With little else to say, VenomBite walked out of the kitchen and down the hall, a door heard opening and closing before leaving Illuminarrow in silence.
Four days…
After a moment of contemplation, she reached up and pulled Beau from their nest in her hair. Slowly, they blinked, already knowing what was coming next.
"Beau. Recount. And don't leave a thecond out of what you thaw."
End of chapter.