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Published:
2019-08-09
Completed:
2019-08-11
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2,740
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2/2
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Spiders in the Archive

Summary:

Martin starts to find spiders around the Archive, and begins a collection on the roof.

Notes:

This started as me just wanting to write some feels about spiders, but then turned into 1500 words and i already have a second chapter planned. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Huge shout out to Jesse for their encouragement.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Martin looked up from his work at the sight of movement out of the corner of his eye. “Oh, hello friend.” he greeted the medium sized brown spider making its way across his desk. “You should be careful, I could have accidentally squished you.” Martin reached out his hand, and he was mildly surprised that the spider walked right into it rather than having to do more maneuvering. He chalked it up to his hand being steady.

“Here we go, this’ll be a better spot for you.” Martin felt a little silly talking to the spider as he placed it on top of a cabinet in the corner, but it also felt kind of right; just letting it know what was going on. The spider crawled off his hand and Martin could have sworn it turned and looked at him before moving to the corner and starting to make a web. But spiders didn’t do that. Martin knew he had seen some weird things, but … no. Just... a spider that had wandered into his office. That’s all. 

It felt natural to continue to talk to the spider who helped keep his office free of other insects. Lots of people talked to their pets, or plants… or spiders that hang out in the corner of their office.

Martin wasn’t sure if that was actually the first spider sighting, or just that first encounter put them in the forefront of his mind to start noticing more spiders appearing around the Archives.

The next one he found in the lounge. A slightly smaller one than the one in his office. Again, he gave a little greeting, and the spider crawled right onto his hand. “I think we’re gonna take you outside, not really anywhere safe for you here.” 

“What. Is. That .” 

Martin looked up sharply at the voice. It hadn’t been a question. More of an accusation. From Tim, of course. 

“Just a spider. I was- uh - just going to bring it outside.” Martin thought he saw the spider tuck itself behind his curled fingers.

“You know that they are a harbinger of another entity right? That we should probably kill them on sight.” Tim then mumbled more to himself, “Too bad there aren’t any floating eyeballs around that we could poke at to hurt this entity.”

Martin ignored that last comment, and brought his hand closer to his chest, worried that Tim might try and go after the spider himself. “I’m not going to kill them, Tim. They’re just doing what spiders do.”

“You didn’t have any problems killing Prentiss’ worms.” Tim shot back. 

Martin felt himself pale, he still had nightmares about that. Often. “That was different, and you know it!” 

“Is everything alright in here?” Jon interrupted as he walked into the room. 

Tim scoffed, “What, you can’t just Know whether it’s alright in here?”

Jon rubbed his forehead, “It doesn’t work that way, Tim, and you know it.” 

“Oh? Do I ? Do I just know it? Did I magically get your powers just by being here?” Tim was starting to get really agitated, his gestures were more exaggerated than usual.

Martin hated that this happened just about every time Tim and Jon were in a room together. They just… immediately stepped on each other’s toes. Tim always goaded Jon, and Jon never could say no to an argument. 

“It’s fine!” Martin blushed, when the other two turned towards him, having had to shout to be heard. He continued a bit softer, “It’s fine. I just… found a spider, and I was bringing it outside.”

Tim apparently couldn’t help but grumble, “Still way we should just kill it.”

Jon sighed, “As much as I hate it to admit it, he isn’t entirely wrong. We don’t know if they are connected to the Web.”

Martin reflexively curled his other hand protectively around the spider. He wasn’t sure why he was so defensive of the spiders, but he always had been. They were just misunderstood, and now with everything else going on with the Web, it felt even stronger. 

He actually made direct eye contact with Jon, which was difficult for him to do on a good day, “I’m not killing them, Jon.” 

Jon kept that eye contact for what felt like an eternity, before finally nodding, “Fine, but bring any you find outside. Without knowing whether or not they are connected, we need to play it safe.”

“Oh! Oh yeah - definitely. Of course.” Martin tried to ignore the warmth that curled in his chest at Jon’s approval.

Tim rolled his eyes, and groaned as he turned to leave. “Whatever. If we all end up cocooned and eaten, I’m blaming you.” 

Martin laughed nervously, for no other reason than not knowing what else to say. 

“I’d suggest keeping a bit of distance from Tim while bringing them outside.” Jon had a soft expression that Martin couldn’t quite read. It wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t...not a smile? “Which is probably something you should do sooner rather than later.”

Martin startled, “Right! Yes -  of course. Just... bring the little guy outside.” He edged around Jon, bumping into a chair as he walked out, heading towards the stairwell. Once he was alone, and on his way up, he started talking to himself “Why do I always have to do that? Can’t I act like a normal human being for thirty seconds in front of Jon? One that doesn’t stutter, or run into chairs, or can not blush for more than five minutes?”

He wasn’t sure when he stopped talking to himself, and started talking to the spider in his hand, but after talking to the one in his office, it didn’t feel quite so strange. He sighed to himself as he opened the door to the roof. There was a light drizzle like most fall days in London, but not so heavy to be much of a bother. 

Martin found a little overhang that he could deposit the spider, which crawled off his hand as soon as it was in position. He tried to not think about how it hadn’t really moved at all since he had found it, but seemed to know exactly when it was time to part ways. 

“There you go. Now stay out of the Archives. I don’t think anyone else would hurt you, except Tim, and maybe Melanie, and possibly Basira. Not entirely sure what Daisy would do. Jon probably won’t though. At least I don’t think so.” Martin watched for a moment as the spider started to make a web before turning to head back inside. 

The roof soon became a bit of a spider sanctuary. Not that Martin suddenly found a plethora of spiders, but there were… quite a few. They generally only seemed to appear when Martin was in a room, but again, it could just be that they were on his mind, so he found them more easily. Most of the others either ignored them, or just pointed them out when Martin walked into the room, and he would gently scoop them up and bring them to the growing collection on the roof. 

There was one memorable time (for Martin anyway) when Jon called him into his office to remove a rather large leggy spider. Jon smiled at Martin’s encouraging talk to get the spider into his hand, and actually bumped into the desk when he walked by with it. 

“You’re not afraid are you?” Martin didn’t push the issue by stepping closer, but he left his hand open.

“Afraid? No. Not particularly, but - well - that is a rather large one, and they don’t like me the way that you do - that they like you! The spiders -  they... seem to like you.” Martin could just make out the blush creeping up above Jon’s collar, and couldn’t help but smile at the slip up. He knew he was… less than subtle, but it stopped bothering him as much lately. 

“Yes, they do, don’t they?” Martin smiled down at the spider before bringing his eyes up to meet Jon’s. 

Jon was pretty good at keeping his emotions out of his expression; when he was consciously thinking about it, but Martin had spent so long staring longingly at that face, he knew how to read it anyway. Jon was torn. He was cautious about Martin’s increasing affinity for spiders, but it was obviously difficult for him to let go of what he knew about Martin. Both knew and Knew.

Martin wasn’t entirely sure where he stood anymore either, but he wouldn’t want to taint his image in Jon’s mind. He’d worked too hard to get it where it was. 

“I’m just… going to bring this little guy outside.” 

Jon allowed a soft smile to break through, “Yes, of course. I’ll let you know if I happen across anymore.”

Martin mirrored the smile, “Thank you, Jon. I’d appreciate that.” And Martin was pretty sure he wouldn’t be the only one to appreciate it.

Chapter 2: Spider's Silk

Summary:

Martin receives a gift, and finds the perfect use for it.

Notes:

This chapter is 100% thanks to a suggestion from Jesse and this video they shared. (warning, do not watch the video if you have arachnophobia, there are a lot of close ups of large spiders). I'm honestly really happy with this. I desperately love kind, clever and underestimated Martin.

Chapter Text

Martin had been collecting spiders on the roof for months now. There was a huge variety, from the smallest translucent ones, to fuzzy jumping spiders, to long legged shiny ones, to brightly colored ones. He was pretty sure they shouldn’t all be able to live on the roof together, and he was absolutely sure they were not all native to the UK. 

There were webs crisscrossing the top of the stairwell leading to the roof; which, itself was a maze of webs. People had never come up often, but no one besides Martin did anymore. He knew Elias was aware of the situation - Martin had seen the complaints himself - but apparently didn’t think action was necessary. At least not yet. 

Martin was currently bringing a small tan jumping spider up. He always liked them, kind of like a smaller, even cuter version of a tarantula. When he opened the door, to an overcast, but dry day. He noticed something bright on the ledge to the right. He placed the jumping spider down and fluidly ducked and weaved around the webs and spiders to get to it.

It was a yellow cloth, folded neatly, with a note pinned to the top, written in a long spindly cursive. 

 

Martin,

Just a little something the Mother wanted you to have as a thank you. 

May it hide you from prying Eyes.

 

It was signed with what looked like an ‘A’ with extra lines to make it look like a spider. He put it down so he could take a closer look at the cloth. It was a solid golden yellow color, with a slight sheen to it. As he opened what turned out to be a cape, a beautiful embroidered pattern was revealed. It was covered in a gorgeous array of flowers and plants, with large long legged spiders interspersed. It was absolutely stunning, and extremely well crafted.

He looked at the note again, and considered the emphasis on eyes. He rubbed the cloth between his fingers and had an idea of how this could be used to the best of its ability. He might have to do some experiments first, to see how well it worked. 

-------

There was a knock on Elias’ door, “Ah, yes, Martin. Do come in.” 

Martin sidled in through the door. “You wanted to see me?”

Elias took a moment before answering. His deliberate pauses tended to unnerve, and make his more... impressionable employees uncomfortable. And where it had started to have a lesser effect on Martin, he seemed to be more at ease than usual. 

“I wanted to talk to you about your tardiness as of late.” Elias kept strong eye contact, knowing Martin wasn’t great at keeping it when he was trying to hide something.

“Ah - that. Yeah, sorry about that. Slept through my alarm.” 

Elias raised an eyebrow, “For the past week and a half?”

Elias thought he caught the barest hint of a smile at that, which was… unusual. Something was going on here but he couldn’t quite pin it down.

“I guess, I just haven’t been sleeping all that well lately. Won’t happen again.”

Elias paused again, but it still wasn’t affecting Martin the way he would have preferred. Ahh well, he’d just have to find some new tricks. He hadn’t been to Artifact Storage in awhile, maybe he could find something that would help him there. He finally hummed, “See that it doesn’t.”

“Is… is that all?”

Elias sighed, “Yes, Martin. And I expect you to make up for the time you missed.”

“Of course. Absolutely. I’ll stay late. No problem.” That ghost of a smile was back, but it could just be that he got off so easily. Elias resolved to keep a closer eye on him, and that collection of his on the roof. The Web may be a tentative ally, but he really didn’t need the Mother usurping his staff. Elias didn’t mind sharing, but one could take it too far.

-------

Martin was pleased at how well the cape seemed to have worked. He had worn it every morning at the Institute for the past week and a half, and had apparently kept him hidden from Elias’ ever watchful gaze. He had only one run in with another staff member the entire time he wore it.

He had been on the way to the toilet, one of the mostly hidden, out of the way ones, and naturally he ran into, none other than Tim. He had been coming the opposite way, and they both stopped in their tracks. Tim gave him a once over and just said, “Nice cape. Didn’t realize you were the type. It’s a good look for you.” 

Martin had managed to get out an “Uhhh… thanks?” before Tim continued on his way. All in all it went better than expected, even if Martin still felt vaguely puzzled about the entire encounter.

Currently, he was walking down the hall towards Jon’s office, it was late and he knew everyone else went home. He had worked late, like he told Elias he would, and kept a watch on the door, marking when everyone left. Except Jon. Because of course Jon hadn’t left. He rarely did anymore. 

Jon’s door was open a crack, and Martin peeked in before easing the door open. Jon was hunched forward, head pillowed on his folded arms, glasses askew. It was heartbreakingly precious. Martin knew Jon hadn’t been sleeping well due to the nightmares, both regular ones, and the ones where he became the Watcher. So he usually ended up like this, or curled up tight on the couch that Elias - in a rare show of understanding, or god forbid, sympathy -  had moved into his office for just this reason. 

Jon was twitching and muttering softly in his sleep. Martin carefully eased his glasses off and put them onto the desk. His hands itched to run a soothing hand through his hair, or along his shoulders, but he knew he couldn’t. Not only would it likely wake him up, but Martin refused to cross any boundaries that Jon couldn’t consciously consent to. No matter how much Martin ached for it.

Instead Martin unfolded the golden cape and gently laid it over Jon’s shoulders, draping down the curve of his spine. The effect was almost immediate: Jon’s disturbed sleep quieted, the tense lines of his shoulders relaxing. Martin smiled fondly as he attempted to ignore the curl of heat in his chest at the sight of Jon covered in his cape. Yes, it was technically from the Web - the Mother - but it had been gifted to him to use as he pleased. And it greatly pleased him to use it to help Jon. 

He knew he wouldn’t be able to do this for Jon every night, Jon took power from being the Archivist - the Watcher - but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a break every now and then. He was still human enough to need restful sleep. Martin also knew that Jon couldn’t know about this, at least not yet. So he settled in on the couch so he could be sure to remove the cape before Jon woke up. 

As Martin pulled his feet up and got comfortable, a small grey spider approached on the arm of the couch. He smiled as he held out his hand, and let it crawl from finger to finger. At least he would have good company while he kept watch over Jon.

Notes:

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