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godlizzza · 1 day

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for spider-dan au, have we heard how they got introduced originally? i'll take either their first meeting as med students or their first meeting as funnel web and scientist! or both if u feel up to it :-]

"Shitshitshit-!" Dan cursed as he sprinted through the hallway.

Sirens blared all around him, red lights flashing off the stark white walls. Behind him metal feet stamped, the sound of Hill's robots steadily gaining on him. Even with his enhanced spider speed, he knew he couldn't outrun them forever. His muscles already ached from fighting his way through one robot henchman, never mind a whole swarm of them.

Dan looked around frantically for an exit- an open door, a window he could smash, anything- but whatever button Hill had pressed to activate the alarm had also completely sealed the building shut. Steel shutters had descended over every possible exit, barring the way.

Dan was trapped.

He rounded a corner only to skid to a halt at the sight of one of Hill's robots. It had its back to him but at the sound of his feet sliding across the tiled floor, its head spun round on its neck until a pair of glowing red eyes were locked on him.

"Target located," its tinny voice droned. "Surrender. Surrender."

Even as it said this, it raised an arm that ended in a hollow barrel Dan knew spewed red-hot lasers. It pointed it right at Dan's masked face, a whining hum issuing from the glowing chamber of its arm.

Dan didn't stick around to see his face blasted to a crisp. He span around and looped back the way he'd come. Just as he was remembering he'd been fleeing from another squad of robots in that direction, a door suddenly slid open beside him. An arm thrusted out through the gap and gripped Dan's shoulder before hauling him into the newly opened room. The door slid shut behind him with a hiss and, just like that, he was out of danger.

From the robots, that was.

Dan easily wrenched his arm free and sprang back from his sudden captor (saviour?). It was only as he put space between them that he realised his spider sense hadn't flared up at the appearance of his assailant. He supposed that meant the person wasn't trying to harm him, but he also didn't know if he should ascribe an ability to deduce malice to an inexplicable alarm system inside his head.

"Don't make a sound," the person ordered sharply, and Dan looked up to meet their eyes.

He gasped at the familiar face.

"You?"

Herbert West frowned. "You know me?"

Dan did know him. They'd only been classmates in med school for a couple of years, most of which Dan had spent trying to juggle the sudden emergence of his powers with his studies, but he could never forget Herbert. His short, dark hair, his hazel eyes framed behind wiry glasses, the challenging jut of his chin. All of it had been ingrained in Dan's mind for years. They hadn't friends- it would've been a stretch to even call them acquaintances- but Dan had always admired Herbert's particular brand of droll, cutting honesty. It had kept his classes entertaining at the very least.

He'd seen him a few times at the coffee shop that neared the hospital and had thought about going up to say hi, but Herbert always looked harried and annoyed, so Dan had kept away. He'd always wondered where Herbert worked if not at the same hospital as Dan. A research lab or an observatory had been his thoughts, not Hilltop HQ.

"Um, no. Never mind," Dan replied, then quickly swept a look around the room he was stuck in with Herbert. "What is this?"

It appeared to be some kind of personal lab, fitted out with all kinds of chemistry equipment and machinery. The smell of bubbling chemicals and the acrid stench of sulfur invaded his senses. He flicked his eyes back to Herbert, who'd turned his back on Dan to fiddle with a switchboard.

"It's my lab," Herbert retorted. "So, you'd better not break anything with those sticky fingers of yours."

He reached out to pull a lever and Dan reacted on instinct, whipping his hand up and shooting a line of webbing out at Herbert. It caught him on the wrist, sticking to the sleeve of his white lab coat and staying his hand. Herbert didn't startle but he did look coolly over his shoulder at Dan.

Dan met his eyes evenly, comforted by the fact that Herbert couldn't see his face and instead had his impassive mask to contend with.

"Don't," Dan warned. "I don't want to hurt you but if you sound any alarms-"

"Oh, it's not an alarm, you idiot," Herbert hissed, tugging his arm but Dan's webbing held strong as steel. "It's your only ticket out of here with your brain still intact. Now, if you want to live to see the light of day, you'll unhand, er...un-web me and let me help you."

"Help me?" Dan echoed dubiously. "Why would you want to help me? Or did you miss the part where I blew up your boss's factory floor?"

"I didn't miss a thing. Splendid job, by the way. Hill's going to be fuming about that for quite some time." He grinned, flashing a row of gleaming white teeth. "Oh, just thinking about that stalling production line and lost revenue will have him seeing red for weeks!" He tittered a manic little laugh before the humour suddenly vanished from his face and he was glaring at Dan. "You couldn't have been a little more covert about it though? Crashing through the front door like that wasn't exactly the stealthiest of moves."

Irritation flared through Dan's temples. He didn't need criticism on his superheroing abilities from some lackey of Hill's, even if that lackey was Herbert.

"Things haven't exactly gone to plan," Dan hissed.

"Clearly," Herbert droned, and he aimed another sharp look down at the webbing clinging to his arm. "Now, are you going to release me or not?" When Dan didn't immediately reply, Herbert looked back over at him and said in a softer, more placating voice, "Come now, Funnel Web. You need to trust me. What have you got to lose?"

Everything, Dan thought, but realised that Herbert was right. His choices were putting his trust in a man he barely knew, who was working for his arch nemesis, and waiting as a sitting duck to get turned into a charcoal spider. He didn't like either option but decided to go with the one that left him with his hair intact and cut the web blinding him to Herbert.

The web line fell limply to the ground, the end of it still stuck to Herbert's sleeve. It would stay there for an hour or so until the webbing dissolved. Herbert flexed his freed hand and gave Dan a thin smile.

"Good choice," he said, then threw the lever.

An panel on the wall descended inwards and slid aside, revealing a narrow chute vanishing into the bowels of the building.

"What is that?" Dan demanded, tiptoeing closer. The chute held the same acrid stench at the rest of Herbert's lab, though stronger and more putrid.

"It's for disposing hazardous chemicals," Herbert explained. "If you climb down it, it'll lead you to the lower labs. You can find an emergency exit there."

"Oh, so you're tossing me into your mega garbage chute? Gee, thanks."

"You'll be fine. If you don't slip on a puddle of nitric acid or breath in anything noxious, but I'd garner you're made of tough stuff." He smiled another crooked, unsettling smile. "I believe in you."

"Wow, so reassuring," Dan mumbled as he climbed into the narrow opening. It was just wide enough to fit his shoulders. He watched Herbert reach for the lever once more, but before he could throw it back into place and shut Dan out of sight, he called out, "Wait. Why're you doing this? Why help me?"

Herbert didn't pause to consider, merely stared at Dan steadily as he answered. "Because I've been working here for years, trying to expose Hill for the fraud he is and nothing I've done has amounted to anything. I want to see him crushed and I've never seen anything so much as ruffle his feathers. Until you."

"So, you're using me? How sweet."

"Hush, you," Herbert commanded.

As soon as the worlds left his mouth, the surround sound speaker system blasted through the room.

"Target located in Floor C2, Eastern wing."

"Well," Dan said chipperly, sticking to the slick walls of the chute, "I think that's my cue to dip out."

"Wait," Herbert hissed. "You need to subdue me."

This had Dan freezing before he'd completely lowered himself out of sight. He gingerly lifted his head up to squint at Herbert, who was standing there, waiting expectantly.

"Um. What?" Dan said, and Herbert rolled his eyes.

"You need to make it look like you had to subdue me before managing to escape," he explained. "Now, do it quick, before they arrive."

Dan thought briefly for a moment before reaching over the lip of his escape route and shooting another spurt of webbing at Herbert. He adjusted the web shooter to let out a wider spray, spanning the width of Herbert's body. The webbing hit him, throwing him back and pinning him to the adjacent wall. Herbert let out a short grunt, his glasses slipping down his nose at the impact. Dan wanted to fix them for him, but the sound of stomping feet was growing closer by the second.

Dan raised one hand in a cheery wave and said, "Thanks, Doc. See you 'round."

Herbert just stared back at him in response, but Dan could've sworn he saw the faint ghost of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. Dan threw out a line of webbing, caught hold of the lever, and tugged it down, causing the panel to slide back into place and lock him in darkness. Then he was sliding down the chute, away from the blaring sirens and the scientist he'd left glued to the wall. A swell of giddiness rose in his chest and Dan almost wanted to laugh.

He had a feeling he was right. He was going to be seeing quite a bit more of Dr. West.

#thank u for your continued interest in this au #its very fun to me #spider-dan au #danbert #dan cain #herbert west #re-animator #reanimator #asks #my fics #writing prompt

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