The Other Symbiote

Tricky thing, this Parenting

Raiva lay calmly in her bed, blood soaking into her shirt as Wanda slowly stitched her back up.

"Don't! Stop stitching her up!" Eddie yelled whilst swinging into the room with Annie in tow. Venom soaked back into his skin and he hurried over.

"Um, Mr. Brock... why not?" Wanda looked at him mid-stitch. 

"Trust me - it won't help. It never has, never will." 

"You want me to stop basic medical practices on my girlfriend?" 

"Yes." Wanda immediately stopped, but tied a loose knot anyways.

Nat came in as she was notified by FRIDAY, along with Kara and Sara. They saw Wanda stopping and Kara huffed at Eddie.

"Would you care to explain why Wanda has stopped sewing up Raiva's wound?"

"Because otherwise Nemesis might lose the fight against Riot. If she has to focus on a foreign body in Raiva's immune system, it might drain her of her strength that she needs to beat Riot."

Raiva immediately untied the knot Wanda had done and swiftly pulled out the stitches. Blood spurted out and onto the sheets beside her as she pulled. Her face was painted with worry, reflecting her girlfriend 's and her three aunts' faces.

"I-I'm not letting him win. I'm not g-giving him any chance." 

She grabbed the end of the bloodied string and threw it across the room, staining the carpet. She tried to shuffle away from it further as if it was a snake slithering closer, but her aunts immediately rushed to her side and kept her still without touching her.

"If you move too much, you'll lose a lot of blood. Let me get some gauze." 

FRIDAY directed Wanda to Raiva's first aid kit in her lab, coming back with a roll of the material. She slowly lifted up Raiva's dress, planting light kisses along her exposed skin, before replacing it with an oversized shirt with an Arrow symbol.

She held the shirt just over Raiva's chest and let Alex wrap the bandage around her waist, her inner doctor coming out. Once she was satisfied, she nodded to Wanda and the witch slowly pulled down the shirt, smiling and kissing Raiva's cheek once done. 

"Good job, bubba."

"Thanks. But that's my line." Raiva briefly kissed her before going to move off the bed, only for pain to shoot up her legs. 

"Ahh, fuck." 

"That's another dollar, young lady." Raiva glared playfully at her father, who simply chuckled.

"I'll let it slide. It's a tricky thing, this parenting." 

"You've done pretty well so far, Mr. Brock." Wanda chuckled and the father glared playfully. 

"Come on, lazy bones. I'll get you a wheelchair." As soon as Wanda was out of earshot, Raiva broke down into tears.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong, little mermaid?" Alex spoke softly. Her nickname for her came from her middle name, something she didn't like telling others about. 

"Please, just wrap them up." She gestured to her legs and Kara stepped forward, doing it in the blink of an eye and slipping a pair of dark grey sweats on top.

Wanda trundled back in and pushed the wheelchair over to the bed. Without the help of the others, even though they insisted, Wanda easily slid Raiva into the chair with red wisps. 

"Come on, it's dinner time."

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8 Months Later