Chapter Text
“The culprit attacked a woman in the upper district earlier today before being chased downtown by a new Spider Hero. We met up with him on the scene after the hero apprehended the criminal and handed him over to Sternbild Police. This is what our new hero had to say:”
A man in a skintight suit stands next to Agnes on the screen. She tries to hold a thick microphone up for him but he stays frozen in place a couple feet away, staring into the camera.
“You just saved someone in danger, how courageous of you!”
“Um…yeah.”
A moment of silence passes while she waits for him to elaborate. When it's obvious he won't, she continues.
“You have powers, right? Blue rose and Golden Spider joined you for part of your chase, will you be joining their ranks?”
“I don’t know.”
“Are you planning to use your powers like Mr. Legend did before you?”
“Uh, no. I don't know much about him.”
“You don't know much about Mr. Legend? The first Spider of Sternbild? Have you been living under a rock?”
Agnes laughs, trying to get a reaction from the statuesque hero. Again, he stares into the camera, knowing everyone in Sternbild is watching him and is clearly overwhelmed by that fact. Agnes clears her throat before finally asking.
“The viewers at home are all wondering; what is your name?”
The man doesn't hesitate to answer, but catches himself.
“Barn-uh-Ba-um…Ba…”
He stops speaking and Agnes chuckles.
“Ba? You want us to call you Ba?”
Without answering, the man throws his arm up and shoots web out of his wrist so fast that Agnes jumps. He leaps into the air, pulling on the web, and disappears out of frame for just a moment before the camera pans to follow him.
“Well, there you have it, folks. Our new hero…Ba. Hopefully next time we see him he'll have a real name instead of a toddler's babbling.”
The news anchors all laugh as the show cuts to commercials.
“Are you even listening to me, Barnaby?” Nathan interrupts.
Barnaby's attention is ripped from the screen, the jingle of a Pepsi commercial filling the silence as he tries to remember what this meeting was about.
Karina scoffs from the other side of the room. “He hasn't been listening since we got here. And turn that off, I hated singing that stupid jingle.”
Barnaby glances back to see a cheery version of Karina holding a bottle of the drink as she dances and sings. When the screen goes black Barnaby sees the giant Helios Cosmetics sign reflected above all of their heads.
“I actually like the jingle. The taste that goes first.” Ryan sings, only to annoy Karina further.
“Shut up, yellow boy. At least my stylist gives me different colors to wear.” Karina retorts.
“Can't help it, it's my favorite color. Maybe if you had enough confidence to show your real personality you'd-”
“That's enough, everyone.” Nathan stops him before Ryan says something he'll regret. “I called you here for a reason, remember?”
“Something about our shoot?” Barnaby offers.
Nathan gives him a grateful look, glad to be getting back to the topic at hand. “Precisely. As the main cast, we have a responsibility to keep you safe.”
Ryan raises his hand and Nathan gives him a look but lets him speak. “We already have our own security, though. At least I do.” He smirks.
Barnaby can't hold himself back from rolling his eyes. “We've all had security for years and you know this. I had my first stalker when I was thirteen.”
“I was eleven,” Karina adds.
Nathan throws a hand up to silence them. “Those aren't topics to take lightly. They're not badges of honor, they're life-threatening situations.”
“Thank you,” Ryan says with a glance toward Barnaby.
“And you,” Nathan gives a pointed look at Ryan, “having security is a privilege. If I want to assign you three the most decorated of agents, I will.”
Barnaby's head perks up at the mention of decorated agents. “Wait. Are you talking about M.S.G.?”
Nathan huffs, “there goes my big reveal. Maverick Security Group, yes. I always hated that acronym.”
“I think it's kinda funny,” Ryan chuckles.
“Of course you do, you have the humor of a child,” Karina jabs.
Ryan throws a look at Karina but Barnaby speaks up before Ryan can say anything. “If we're being assigned MSG agents, why hasn't Maverick told me?” The man comes over for dinner three times a week and knows where Barnaby is every second of the day, but Barnaby's not allowed to know about Maverick's business even when it involves himself?
“He felt it would be better to tell you all together, and when we could introduce you all to each other.”
“Introduce?”
Without another word Nathan presses a button on his desk phone to buzz his secretary. Barnaby turns around to see the door opening for three agents in full dress; all-black combat suits, holsters on their shoulders and thighs holding lethal-looking weapons, topped off with inconspicuous sunglasses. Barnaby's attention is immediately drawn to the man in the middle, his eyes glued to the strange cat-like shapes carved out of his facial hair.
“These are your agents, assigned specifically for your individual needs both on set and in your daily lives.” Nathan explains. “Karina, meet Lara.”
The short one on the left lowers her head before walking over to Karina's side.
“She's similar in age but has more years of experience than many of the agents in the company. She's been training to be an agent since she was a child.”
The blond man on the right walks over to stand behind Ryan's chair and Ryan leans his head back to look at him upside-down.
“Keith has been the top agent in MSG for the past two years. Since you had a bad experience with a fan last month, I thought it would be a good placement for you.”
Ryan snaps his head back to frown at Nathan, “All I'm saying is that sometimes even interviewers aren't resistant to my charms.” He relaxes his head back to its previous position and winks at his new security agent. From where Barnaby is sitting, he sees the man's-Keith's-jaw clench in response.
He looks back at the doorway where the cat-jawed agent still stands at attention.
“And for Barnaby, we have Kotetsu, the longest-serving agent at MSG. Maverick selected this pairing himself. According to him, you and Kotetsu have similar values.”
“Values?” Barnaby asks. The only values he has are curing his own problems and starring in whatever movie or tv show Maverick suggests for him.
The last agent finally walks over to where Barnaby is sitting, avoiding eye contact as he’s probably been conditioned. Barnaby picks up the faint smell of fried rice and wonders how the man could smell like dinner at 10 in the morning.
“Alrighty!” Nathan claps his hands for emphasis and Barnaby can't help but flinch at the sudden sound. “Now that you have your new security, time to get back to work!”
---
“You can walk next to me, you know.” Barnaby offers. He's leaving set after Cain called it an early day; Karina had begged him to let her go home after her outfit caused her so much trouble. They lovingly called it the ‘bee fit’ after bees wouldn't stop flocking to her. Luckily for her, tomorrow’s scene will be safely inside, away from any bees trying to pollinate.
“I can judge your surroundings better from a distance.” Kotetsu answers from three steps behind Barnaby.
“This is a closed set, it's perfectly safe.” Barnaby tries.
“You'd be surprised.”
Barnaby rolls his eyes and gestures to the two agents standing by the back wall, quietly talking to each other over the refreshments table. “Look at Ryan and Karina's guards, they're not worried at all!”
Kotetsu glances over and seems to consider taking a break to relax with them before slightly shaking his head, looking away. “I can't. I'm working.”
Barnaby rolls his eyes and continues walking. There's a small buzz from his bracelet and he knows he needs to check it soon.
“I'm going to the restroom and you better not follow me in there.”
Even though there are five stalls, Kotetsu kindly gives Barnaby space for the first time today and waits in the hallway. Barnaby goes into the closest stall and locks himself in, immediately raising his arm to check the message on the bracelet.
New suit ready for action.
A smile spreads across Barnaby's face and he can't contain a small leap of excitement. He can finally wear something other than the red morph suit he bought online. Maybe Agnes wont recognize him in a new suit and he'll have another chance to name himself. He couldn't go by Barnaby. Being known as Barnaby would mean living up to the same expectations he suffers through every day. He doesn't want to be perfect; he wants to use this as an opportunity to live the way he wants to live, even if he can only do it on the side.
But that doesn't matter right now when he has an uptight security Guard watching his every move. If he can just make a distraction, he could sneak away and try out his new suit. Barnaby bites his lip, considering different ways of getting this man to stop paying attention to him for even just a moment. He could pull the fire alarm, or maybe cause a spill of some sort; break a pipe so everyone has to go home. But all of these would just make Kotetsu watch him even closer. If only he could-
His prayers are answered when he hears Kotetsu speak on the other side of the door.
“Honey, I'm at work.”
Kotetsu must be on the phone. This could be Barnaby’s only chance before this man ends up following him home to stand at his door all night.
“I know, and I'll be there. I promise this time.”
Barnaby looks for an exit other than the one Kotetsu is currently blocking. There's an air vent in the ceiling but Barnaby doesn't trust it to support his weight. It's a room in the center of the building, so there's no windows he could slide out of. The door is the only option. He needs Kotetsu to move away from the door, but how?
Barnaby gets an idea and lets himself out of the stall, moving over to the sinks. He looks at himself in the mirror and utters to himself, “I hope this works.”
He turns one sink on at a time, checking if he can hear Kotetsu's voice as he does. At the last sink, it's harder to hear but he's still there.
“Yeah, of course, sweetie. This is important to me too!”
Barnaby looks around for something that could make more noise but wouldn't startle Kotetsu into thinking Barnaby is in trouble. On the right end of the sinks there's a paper towel dispenser. Noisy, but not loud enough. On the left side is a hand dryer.
Barnaby gives his reflection a mischievous smile before running his hands under the dryer and letting the loud fans build on top of the sound of running water. Kotetsu's voice is completely drowned out now, so Barnaby holds his place for a moment before leaving the dryer to put his ear to the door. Still there but faint and growing fainter, Kotetsu continues trying to amend whatever relationship he has with the person on the other end of the phone.
“I'll be there this time, I swear. I just have…work until…”
Barnaby peeks his head out when he's sure Kotetsu is far enough down the hall that he wouldn’t hear Barnaby leaving. The man must've turned the corner at some point because Barnaby doesn't see him at all. That's not important though; all that matters is getting out of here and over to Saito's lab.
He runs to the nearest stairwell and ascends flight after flight until he reaches the door to the roof. He jogs over to the edge of the building and stops, looking down into the streets below and pulls the mask out of his pocket. He slides it over his face and reassesses his surroundings with the familiar barrier of the mask's mesh eye openings. He remembers the first time he tried to fly, an unsure teenager half convinced he was making an extremely stupid mistake. He remembers falling for what felt like forever, waiting for his powers to kick in and save him.
He blinks out of his memory to the sound of someone running in the stairwell. Did someone see him? Is that Kotetsu coming? Nevermind that, just jump.
For a moment, he falls, allowing his body to gain momentum through gravity. Before reaching street level, he shoots out a web to the next building over, swinging over the streets low enough to hear people shout things like, “is that a Spider? Hell yeah!” and, unfortunately, more people recognize him as “baby-man Ba!”
They won't be calling him that soon...hopefully.
He makes his way to the lab and enters through the secret door made specifically for the Spiders. It sits at an awkward, almost horizontal angle on the back side of the building, impossible to utilize unless you can stand on vertical surfaces, and blocked from the street view by the city's shadows.
“Goo goo Ba Ba!” Maverick greets Barnaby, patting him with a heavy hand on his back.
“Ha ha very funny,” Barnaby responds. He had talked to Maverick after that interview and had been nearly in tears when he recounted how embarrassing it was. Now, the man is making jokes about it like it's nothing. Maverick always raised him with the “walk it off” attitude so Barnaby guesses he shouldn't be too surprised. Still, it hurts.
Saito sits at his desk, apparently saying something judging by the movement of his mouth but no audible sound escapes. His lab is a sterile blue hue under the florescent lights. Machines Barnaby couldn’t pretend to know the purpose for line each wall, surrounding Saito’s desk. Maverick stands to the side of Saito’s chair, using one hand to lean his weight against something that seems to be reacting to him judging by the screen showing the heat signature of a large hand.
“Your new suit is ready!” Maverick supplies.
Saito rolls his eyes but still presses a button on his keyboard that opens a curtain in front of him. Behind it stands a highly advanced suit of mostly white with red accents. The shoulders and arms are adorned with logos of sponsor companies of HeroTV, and right in the center of the chest is a snake swallowing its own tail.
“An Ouroboros,” Maverick offers, “the official name for the Spider Experiments. Hopefully, through advertising like this we'll be able to get enough funding to go global!”
Barnaby stares at the symbol, finding it strangely ironic. He is being consumed by this infection, just like the snake consumes itself.
“Go ahead! Try it on!” Maverick pats Saito’s back a little too hard. The scientist has to adjust his glasses on his nose.
The suit fits perfectly, as expected from Saito. He's the man responsible for all the other Spider's suits and they've always looked amazing. It hugs in all the right places but allows for a good range of motion where it matters. Barnaby stretches his arms for good measure.
“Well?” He hears Maverick ask.
Barnaby stares at his hands, covered by black gloves with incredibly detailed textures. One step closer to becoming an official Spider. “It's exactly what I was hoping for.”
---
“Why aren't you wearing it right now!?” Mattia half-yells.
“Keep your voice down,” Barnaby laughs, “Maverick said it was best to only wear it when I'm called.”
“You couldn't at least swing here so I could see it?” Mattia says before taking another gulp of his drink, a giant chocolate milkshake with a splash of espresso. The diner has a significant list of milkshake flavors but Mattia picks chocolate every time without fail.
“That's a stupid idea and you know it,” Barnaby takes a bite of his burger, without pickles just how he likes it, “anyway, didn't you want to talk about something?”
“Oh yeah!” Mattia starts, pausing to finish his shake with a hard swallow. They'd ordered only ten minutes ago and he'd already gone through two of them. “So you know how Ouroboros does experiments on spiders, right?”
Barnaby considers silence but decides to be snarky, “could that have anything to do with the spider that bit me when I was a child and gave me abilities beyond human comprehension?”
Mattia doesn't miss a beat, “you're an asshole. But yes, those spiders. So we've been testing on them for a bit and I noticed they're starting to act…different.”
“Good different?”
“Bad different. They're lashing out more. We even had to get new cages that can contain them better. But anyway, I took one from the lab-”
“Mattia,” Barnaby interrupts.
Mattia throws his hands up in a placating gesture, “hear me out, okay? I took one from the lab and I brought it to this guy Mekanikku; he runs another lab on the east side. The public was told we're developing Ouroboros to strengthen immune systems, right?”
“Of course, what else-”
“That's not what this guy told me.” Mattia shakes his head, looking conspiratorial, “he said that it's affecting people on a molecular level. It's restructuring their entire bodies!”
Barnaby leans back in the booth and takes a moment to consider this information. What happened to him was supposed to be a mistake. Maverick brought a spider home from the lab because he thought it would help Barnaby. He would never have given it to him if he knew what it would turn Barnaby into.
“Wild, right? He’s going to run some more tests but for now that’s what we got.” Mattia says around a bite of his cheeseburger.
“Yeah…” Barnaby's thoughts trail off, too overwhelming in this small booth. He chooses to change the subject instead of thinking about whether or not this news will make his search more difficult. “How's Yuri doing? You said you were going to invite him to lunch sometime?”
Mattia's face shifts from contemplative to animated in a heartbeat. “Oh yeah!”
---
Barnaby enters his apartment right as Samantha is leaving. As his former caretaker she maintains the role of tending to him where she can. Barnaby is hit with a wave of stroganoff and his mouth starts watering; she must have just finished dinner before heading home.
“Smells amazing, auntie. Have a good night!” He bids her farewell as she exits.
“You too, Barnaby!” She waves and closes the door on her way out.
Barnaby throws his jacket on the hanger and checks the time. 6:57, only a handful of minutes before Maverick would be here for their triweekly dinner.
He brings the freshly plated stroganoff to the dining table, straightening out the cutlery and filling two glasses with water.
Just as he finishes, he hears a loud knock on the door. He brushes his hands on his shirt, checking for lint, and goes over to open it.
“Well, hello again, Barnaby,” Maverick greets while entering.
“I appreciate the use of my actual name this time,” Barnaby jokes.
“Ba is a very respectable name. Even children will be able to pronounce it right!” Maverick's boisterous laugh fills the mostly empty apartment as he hangs his own coat on the rack and makes his way to his seat at the table.
Barnaby had only bought the table after Maverick proposed these dinners, unsure why Barnaby couldn't visit Maverick in his home instead. He liked to keep his apartment filled with only things he needed: a chair, a television, a stool for his feet maybe. But now he has a full dining table with six chairs even though he only ever uses two.
“You did a great job on your first run as a Spider. I really mean that.” Maverick holds eye contact with Barnaby to show that it's genuine. “Tell me about work.”
“Well,” Barnaby gathers a healthy bite onto his fork while talking, “the filming is going alright, we've just now started the scenes where Ryan will have to come in.”
Maverick nods, not looking up from his plate while he chews.
Barnaby bites his lip, unsure if his next line of questioning will get him any results. “Nathan assigned us all security to follow us around. You chose my partner for me, right?”
The older man still doesn't catch onto what Barnaby's trying to ask, “mhmm.”
“I took it, maybe that meant Helios Cosmetics will be funding Ouroboros.”
Maverick finally meets Barnaby's eye, “It will come in due time, Barnaby. My scientists are working as hard as they can.”
Barnaby doubts that, considering one of Maverick’s top scientists told him today that they're still developing the drug without considering the long term effects.
“Speaking of the cure, there's another man trying to make a fuss about Ouroboros. Could you do something about it?”
“Of course, sir.”
Maverick passes a folded note across the table. Barnaby leaves it where it is, partly because he doesn't want to do it but mostly because Maverick hates it when Barnaby reads the notes in front of him. Something about keeping Barnaby from talking his way out of it, even though he hasn’t tried that in years.
The man has given Barnaby a task every couple of days since he was twelve. They always have something to do with Ouroboros, usually a journalist or an ex-employee who Maverick feels is a threat. As long as the research continues, there is hope for a cure. That's the only thing keeping Barnaby going at this point.
“Tonight would be the best time,” Maverick says, “his usual bus route doesn't run this late on Fridays, so he'll be walking through a good portion of alleys. I want you to meet him there.”
They fill the silence with pointless conversation while they finish their food. Barnaby feels a growing anticipation as he waits to speak to the man tonight.
Once Maverick finally bids goodnight and wishes Barnaby a restful weekend, Barnaby grabs the note from the table and makes his way to the window. He looks down at the name written on the paper in Maverick's slanted handwriting.
He takes a deep breath before shoving it back in his pocket and pressing the button on his new bracelet. Within a second his suit materializes, the soft lining flowing along his skin and giving him chills.
“Gotta get used to that.” Barnaby mumbles to himself before leaping onto the fire escape and shooting through the city streets.