The Other Symbiote

Super

Raiva was fuming by the time they got back to the Tower. Not only did Tony Stark not listen to them, but her mixed emotions to Wanda were causing her more stress than she had when she was in pain.

*Nemesis?* She received no answer. *Nemmy?* Nothing. She walked over to Wanda and saw in her eyes how menacing she looked.

"What exactly was the part you silenced?" Raiva wanted to be vague, but she also wanted as much information as possible.

"I believe it was called Nemesis."

"You silenced her symbiote?!" A fatherly roar came from the other room. "I'm gonna kill you!" Venom shot out of Eddie and reached for Wanda's beating heart, but Raiva stepped in the way.

"Dad, don't."

"Don't you use that word on me."

"Fine. Eddie Brock, if you touch Wanda Maximoff in any way deemed harmful, I will disown you as my adoptive father."

That was enough to shock Eddie out of his anger and pull Venom back in. "If she dies, I'm blaming you."

"Wait, what?" Tony looked up. "What about you dying?"

Raiva hadn't told anyone but Nat about her past and she definitely wasn't doing it without her. "It's in the past."

"Rai, Nemesis isn't here to heal you. It's going to come back. You were at Stage 4. For fuck's sake, your heart basically had a kickstart when Nemesis found you!"

Raiva lowered her head from Eddie's anguish and turned away from the group, trying to hide her tears. They all fell into silence - even after the red toaster appeared next to Thor.

It was true - the night Nemesis found her was supposed to be her final night on this mudball. She was supposed to die; the orphanage couldn't fund her life support any longer, so they pulled the plug. But an hour later, she was standing without a walker and breathing without an oxygen tank.

The familiar boots from earlier clacked on the tiles, to which she flinched from. Wanda paused her walk and Raiva turned her head slightly to reveal her tears to the woman.

"I'm sorry. I can't, not right now. Where's Nat?" She tried to distract herself from the pain, but Steve's head fell at the mention of his secret crush.

"Cap? Where's Natasha?"

"She... she got taken. By Ultron." She stormed up to him and punched his chest repeatedly, but without Nemesis, they had no effect on the super soldier.

"You promised you would protect her! You promised you would protect my Auntie Nat!" Her voice cracked and she sobbed into Steve's suit.

Nat was one of her strongest rocks - she was always there for her, even if Raiva couldn't see it. If she was to die and pass on Nemesis, she would give her to Nat. But the mere thought of Nemesis brought forward the scene from earlier.

She suddenly stopped. She stopped crying, she stopped moving, she was just... still. Steve pulled away and held her shoulders.

"Rai?"

He saw her eyes, her puffy, bloodshot, emerald eyes, and he saw the undeniable amount of pain she was in. She hid it under her façade and fell into a state of numbness.

"If you need me, I'll be in my room."

She trundled up the stairs, taking her time as her symbiote wasn't there for her to speed up the process. She shivered as a breeze passed through the corridor, an open window somewhere letting in the freezing air of the night.

She felt empty without Nemesis. Even when she wasn't talking, she could feel her at the back of her mind, finding comfort in knowing that she was constantly there, waiting to support her host. When they did talk, they spoke on a level that Raiva had never done with another being. They shared laughs and fond memories, whilst also telling the other about their hardships and their lows before bonding.

Their shared moments with Drake and Riot were something she'd only ever shared with her rocks (especially Nat), for the woman had more secrets than anybody knew of and she was undeniably good at keeping them. Nemesis had grown fond of her, almost attaching to her emotionally. She was the only one that the symbiote always obeyed, never objecting to a command from her.

Raiva walked into the shared bathroom and hopped in the shower. She didn't even bother with taking off her clothes because they still, oddly, smelt like Nemesis. Not the icky kind of smell that you would think came with goo - a soft scent of freshly fallen rain and mint, both being Raiva's favourite smells. She didn't even turn on the water, for she didn't want to get rid of the scent that made her calm.

TW!

Instead, she glanced at the razor blade that sat on the marble counter. For the first time since the orphanage, Raiva was by herself - no shoulder of Nat's to cry on, no symbiote to withhold her actions, no Eddie or Venom to try and distract her - she was truly, utterly alone.

She snatched the blade and ripped off her sleeve, baring her tattooed arm to the cold air of the bathroom. She traced the blade around the tattoo before becoming precise and manoeuvring it around each symbol. Batwoman - in times of great darkness, it would light up the sky and fill you with courage and bravery. L Corp - to shine your true colours despite what the world said about you and your family.

White Canary - the one who trained her fighting style and turned her into a deadly weapon, with or without Nemesis. Captain Cold - his small ice ray gun made her smile, his quips cheering her up when she needed them. The Flash - his bolt of lightning was a double meaning, for his powers and her first evolution. A green Arrow - for a man who taught her how to be still and silent.

But she found herself hesitating at the House of El - even though she was young, she met the older woman a few times, her bright smile always lighting up her day. Supergirl, or Kara Zor-El Danvers, was her favourite aunt. She knew that if she was feeling hopeless or meaningless, Kara would always give her a speech of hope that would clear her dark thoughts.

So, that's what she did. She picked up her phone, which was surprisingly okay given what they went through today, and clicked the contact. Within a few seconds, the Super was at her bathroom window. She opened it from the outside with ease, even though the mechanism was built to not be opened that way.

"Raiva..." She shot a hot laser at the blade and it disintegrated. She calmly walked over and pulled the crying teen onto her bed.

"K-Kara... Nemesis is gone. She was fighting for control and I was trying to keep her under it, but the pain was too much. So, I trusted this new Avenger and she took away my pain, but I can't feel Nemesis anymore."

Her shoulders shook with her sobs and Kara just held her in a hug, letting Raiva's blood soak into her cape. "Do you want me to get Lena?"

"No. Forgive me, but I can't see her... I can't see my sister."

:o You didn't see that coming? ;)