Chapter Text
The meeting with Annabelle did not go at all how Jon had expected. He had fully intended to go in and demand answers, or at least go in and support the others as they demanded answers, compelling them where needed, but as soon as he saw the cobweb covered entry way, he froze.
Part of the process of sending him back and required the spiders to cocoon his body, he had needed to be isolated from his patron in that present so his mind would be forced to seek it out along the fragile cracks of hilltop road. It had been awful.
Jon had managed to completely avoid thinking about it up until that point, and he had been thankful the others never thought to ask. Their lives were so weird that time travel really wasn’t that unexpected of a twist.
It had hurt.
Jon felt his wings tense under their bindings and he knew he was shaking quite badly. Annabelle’s knowing smile, almost sympathetic wasn’t helping. Jon took an involuntary step back and grit his teeth so hard he felt a crack. He forced himself to open his mouth the question sitting heavy on his tongue, but Annabelle cut him off.
“Why don’t you come inside- we wouldn’t want any prying Eyes intruding on our little chat- I made cookies.” She smiled. “They have sunflower seeds.” She added as if that were an enticement, Jon distantly wondered if that was a bird joke.
Basira gave Jon a questioning look and he felt Martin reach out and wrap his hand around one of Jon’s tightly clenched fists. He gave a single sharp nod, unable to think clearly.
“Fine.” He said. Tension clear in every line of his body, wings straining hard enough to be free that he could feel the straps of the harness cutting into skin causing blood to leak down his chest hidden by the heavy coat.
Martin pulled Jon back slightly as the others followed Annabelle inside.
“You don’t have to do this- I know I suggested it but, but maybe you should wait outside?” Jon hated that he had put the worried expression on Martin’s face but he couldn’t help it.
“No, there’s, no way we can trust anything she says if I don’t force the truth out. I- I’ll be fine.” He lied.
“I’m sorry Jon I never should have suggested this, your clearly not ok, I don’t-“
“It’s fine. I’ll- I’ll be fine.” Jon said, forcing his body to physically relax, even as his mind screamed at him to run, fly away and never look back. Martin looked like he wanted to argue so Jon forced himself to offer a weak smile. “Let’s just get this over with.” He said as he pushed inside to follow the others.
The inside of the house itself wasn’t as bad as it had been in the end times, the kitchen at least was mostly clear of webs. Much to Annabelle’s clear amusement he chose to stand rather than take a seat around the heavily laden table. In part due to the high backed chairs he was certain Annabelle had provided on purpose, and in part to limit the amount of physical contact he had with the place. He had every intention of burning his shoes once they left.
“Now then.” Annabelle said with a smile. “What can I do for all you lovely little flys wandering into my parlour?” Jon couldn’t suppress a flinch.
“We need to kill Elias without all of us dying in the process.” Basira said bluntly. Annabelle gave a little hum and tutted lightly shaking her head.
“And why would I have any interest in helping you?” She asked. Melanie opened her mouth but Basira held up her hand. “Ah ah ah. I’m talking. It’s not your turn.” Melanie turned scarlet as she tried to make a noise and found herself unable to do so. Jon could see her muscles straining against an invisible force before her body was forcibly relaxed and he felt a cold sweat break out on his back. “Killing Elias Bouchard, destroying the Magnus Institute- I don’t see anything I could gain from helping you.” She took a sip of her tea, eyes alight with satisfaction as she watched Melanie.
“Tell us what you know.” Jon said, before he could loose the nerve. He couldn’t recall if he had really truly attempted to compel someone aside from statements since coming back. It felt, different. Less like pulling something through a straw and more like reeling in a fish. He could feel her fighting it, and then all at once there was a release.
“I know he made a deal with the Web to allow him to bind you all to the institute.” She said, there was a quiver of tension in her voice but she composed herself well. Even with the edges of the compulsion still lingering she fought it enough to take another small sip of her tea, very deliberately putting it down. “That was very rude Archive, but I will forgive it, and if you agree to do one tiny favour for me, I’ll even tell you how the contracts work.”
Jon frowned.
“And what’s stopping me from forcing it out of you?” He demanded. There was no compulsion, but there didn’t need to be. She heard the threat in his voice plain enough. She shrugged.
“Do you really want to get on the Mothers bad side? When she’s been ever so accommodating in getting you here?” She asked and Jon didn’t manage to suppress a shudder when a thick hairy spider ran across his foot.
“We didn’t come here to play games-” Basira started and soon found herself subject to the same fate as Melanie, voiceless and forced to simple watch. Martin barely managed to suppress a wince, Annabelle was laying it on a little thick.
“Quiet children the adults are talking.” She said waving a hand at the Assistants. Daisy growled, but held her tongue least she face the same fate. Melanie and Basira sat motionless, blank faced, but Jon could taste their terror like a cool drink on a summer day.
“Fine.” He bit out. “What do you want?”
“Hmm” Annabelle tapped her chin as though deep in thought and Jon fought the urge to roll his eyes. “What would you do if I asked you for Martin?” She asked and Martin sputtered.
“That’s not- what!?” He squeaked out and Jon gave her a cool look.
“Then I’d kill you.” He said. He could feel a new line of blood as the straps cut into his skin. His wings straining to be free- a slight tearing sound could be heard as the claws on the tips managed to tear through the heavy fabric. Annabelle laughed.
“So touchy! Don’t worry Archive, I’m not going to take your Lonely friend here. She patted Martin on the hand and he yanked it away like it burned. Jon wholeheartedly approved, he knew Martin like spiders but it was good to see he knew where the line was. He glared even harder at Annabelle. “Tell you what, I’ll tell you have the contracts work, and in exchange, you’ll give me three of your feathers, root to tip.” Jon recoiled. He still didn’t think of the wings as part of himself in the same way he did his arms or his eyes, but the thought of the spiders owning anything that grew from his body didn’t seem like a good idea.
“No.” He said.
“No?” Annabelle raised an eyebrow and took a sip of her tea. “That’s the only offer on the table Archive. You could try and force it out of me I suppose, and maybe you’ll succeed, but if you don’t the information dies with me. And I don’t think the Mother would let you find another of her children who would be willing to help you. Is three feathers really such a high price?”
Jon looked at Basira, but her face was still blank with the webs control, as was Melanie’s, Daisy gave a slight shrug, and Martin looked conflicted. Jon squeezed his eyes shut for a moment to breath.
“One. You can have one feather, you’re only giving us one piece of information after all.”
“One of the Primaries.” She countered.
“Tertiary.” He shot back.
“Secondary, but you can choose which one.” She parried.
“Fine.” He said. “But you tell us what we want to know first, you can only have your feather if it’s useful. And you let the others go.” Annabel rolled her eyes.
“I’ll let them go if they will behave.” She said giving them a significant look. And they both jerked violently as control of their limbs was returned to them.
“You fucking b-“ Melanie shouted pushing to her feet, but Basira grabbed her and pulled her back down.
“Behave.” She hissed. And Melanie shot Annabelle a glare that if she were still tainted by the slaughter may well have done actual damage. Annabelle just smiled.
“Alight Archive. We have a deal.” She stuck her hand out to shake Jon didn’t take it.
“Good. Tell me what you know.” He said and she used her outstretched hand to grab a cookie instead.
“Jonah Magnus made a deal with the Mother some 50 years ago, there was some issue he kept having with people wanting to quit after their coworkers got killed. He was struggling to keep staff since he certainly wasn’t offering competitive wages. We gave him a book. It’s blank, but anyone who signs a page from that book is bound to the holder. Jonah tears pages out, and prints the employment contracts on them.”
“That’s it?” Melanie demanded. “Some stupid book and he gets to own us?”
“More or less yes.” Annabelle said mildly.
“How do we destroy it?” Basira asked. And Annabelle shrugged.
“I said I’d tell you how the contracts worked. And I did. You want more information…” She trailed off meaningfully and looked at Jon.
“Fine.” He grit out eager to be out of there as soon as possible. Annabelle smiled.
“You can’t.” The table erupted in angry exclamations and Annabelle waved a hand freezing the occupants once again. “Well, you could but it would kill anyone who signed it. But, you can- transfer ownership as it were. Jonah Magnus was smart, he didn’t want to risk the ownership of the book not transferring over with one of his new bodies, so he signed it himself- as the Heart of the Institute.
But if there were to be a new Heart… then the ownership of the book and all its indentured, would transfer too.” Annabelle let that hang in the air a moment before she allowed the others back their autonomy.
“How does that help us?” Melanie asked in frustration. “We can’t replace the Heart without killing Jonah Magnus, but Killing him would kill us all!”
“It would really only kill Jon.” Annabelle said mildly.
“How do we replace the Heart without killing Jon?” Daisy asked speaking up for the first time.
“With very precise timing I would imagine.” Annabelle said. She looked to Jon and he frowned.
“No. That’s not worth another feather.” He said before she could even ask.
“Can’t blame a girl for trying.” She said. “But I’ll be taking my two feathers now.”
Jon slowly removed his coat and passed it to Martin so it wouldn’t have to touch the web covered table. He ignored the slight gasp from Martin when he noticed the blood on Jon’s shirt from where the straps had cut him, and unclipped the harness. He brought the left wing around and reached for one of his smaller secondaries. He grasped it and gave it a hard tug. He didn’t quite manage to keep the cry of pain inside, but the feather remained stuck fast. It felt not unlike yanking on a fingernail, he winced, there was no way he ways going to be able to do this by himself. Even if the pain weren’t a factor the angle just didn’t allow it.
“D-Daisy.” Jon said. “Could you- “ she was already on her feet, her hands reaching for Jon’s feather. She moved one of his hands onto her shoulder to help him brace.
“Ready?” She asked.
“No, but do it.” Jon said, and she nodded grimly, giving the feather a sharp hard yank. It released with a deep meaty sound and a gasp of pain from Jon. The place the feather was pulled from began to sluggishly drip blood and Jon hastily jammed a tissue from his pocket in between the other feathers to keep it from staining them.
“Jon-” Daisy started to say, but he wasn’t listening.
Before he could think too much about it he reached around to the other side into his right wing and plucked out a piece of down. That felt more like pulling out a single strand of hair then violent ripping pain of removing a secondary feather from the root.
Jon took a second to pull himself together and placed the feathers on the table.
“There.” He said.
“Pleasure doing business with you Archive.” Annabelle stood and moved to grab the feathers. Jon knew she shouldn’t. It was probably a terrible idea- but he was hurt, and scared and he wanted to know.
“What will you do with them?” He Asked. He saw the others flinch out of the corner of his eye, but their fear of reproduction was almost as sweet as Annabelle’s flinch as the compulsion hit her. She fought it a bit, but gave in more quickly than Jon would have thought.
“Just because you are hesitant to use your full power doesn’t mean the Mother is. You didn’t think the wings were just for show did you?” Jon could feel her fighting the compulsion and spread his wings on instinct, he couldn’t open them much, but it was enough that some of the eye patterns caught the light and seemed to glow.
“They can be used to spy, or the secondary can at least. I’m not of the eye, but I suspect that wouldn’t work with the down, though I’d imagine if it were slipped into a pillow it would give the most delightful nightmares.” Before any of them could say anything Annabelle raised a hand and the room froze, everyone except Jon and Annabelle.
“You may have cut your strings Archive, but don’t think that gives you free reign here. I’ll be going now. Don’t try to find me again.” She reached into her apron pocket and casually tossed something at Jon. It hit his chest with the heavy thump enough to wind him, and when he looked down it was to see a dinner plate sized spider clinging to his chest. He screamed and tried to bat it away.
He succeeded in knocking it to the floor, but not without nearly falling to the ground himself. The damn spider was bigger than his shoe, but he managed to kick it like a soccer ball hard against the wall. It made contact with a sickening crunch, its furry brown body crumpling when it hit the floor and Jon could feel himself beginning to shake.
Martin seemed to break from Annabelle’s hold first and threw Jon’s coat over his shoulders and wings, pulling him out of the house on to the porch as quickly as he could. Jon made no attempt to resist, though he did turn around to make sure the others were following. Martin insisted they all put some distance between themselves and the house before anything else got discussed.
No one made any attempt to argue.
They ended up at a park about half a block away, safely ensconced in an isolated picnic shelter.
“I am so sorry Jon.” Martin started after they had sat down. “I never should have pressured you into coming here it was clearly a bad idea.” Before Jon could say anything Basira spoke up too.
“He’s right. We should have thought this through better. You told us you didn’t want to go to the spiders, and you ended up getting hurt. That’s not ok, you shouldn’t have had to do that.” She said firmly. She tried to make eye contact with Jon but he just wasnt up for it. Ironically enough, he’d never been great with eye contact. Besides, he was still struggling to get his breathing back to normal.
“I never got your thing with the spiders before but fuck that was unpleasant. Not just the whole-“ Melanie waved her hand around. “Puppet master thing- but whatever the fuck kind of spider it was she threw at you? Fuck that thing is going to haunt my nightmares.” The others nodded in agreement and Jon fought down a wince as the Eye informed him of the species of spider Annabelle had selected.
“It- um. It was a Goliath Birdeater spider.” He admitted. This was met with silence. Jon wasn’t sure exactly what it meant, though Martin at least looked like he was fighting the urge to hug him and Daisy let out a suspicious cough.
“Right.” Basira said, having apparently made up her mind. “I think that’s probably enough for today, Daisy, why don’t you take Jon home and we’ll deal with this tomorrow.” Martin looked like he wanted to protest, but he sighed as he stood up.
“I still have some things I need to do for Peter, but I can cover for you all.” Basira nodded and Martin risked another glance at Jon, he was still shaking pretty badly. “Jon are you, do you need-” Martin wasn’t sure what he wanted to ask. Jon waved a shaking hand and seemed to try to pull himself together.
“I- I’m fine. I don’t, I agree with Basira, I think I just want to go home for a bit.” Jon was desperately trying not to think about spiders, but that meant there was plenty of space in his head to think about his upcoming ‘brunch date’ with Simon. He felt the world around him become a bit distant. He was vaguely aware of Daisy helping him button up his coat, and Basira saying something about reconvening after the weekend, but it all seemed so far away.
Basira gave Jon a hard look before nodding her head to Daisy, and Jon felt a gentle set of arms guide him away towards the tube.
With Jon and Daisy heading away Basira turned back to Martin and Melanie.
“Right, I think it would be best if we all went home, this clearly isn't going to be something we solve in a single day.” She said.
“I know I for one could use a drink.” Melanie added already pulling out her phone to text Georgie.
“Martin, you-” Basira started only to trail off when she realized that at some point he had vanished. She sighed and decided to take her own advice for once and headed towards home.