"Araneus Watanabe-Solo" for the LifeCylce Challenge: Fear

[mrua7.livejournal.com]

Challenge: LifeCycle- Fear

Author: mrua7

Title: Araneus Watanabe-Solo

Word count: Approximately 850

Rating: gen

A good many people are afraid of spiders, something scientists point to as an ‘ancestral memory,’ one of many fears that prehistoric predecessors of the human race lived with on a daily basis. These ancestral memories are the snakes, spiders, and angry faces that haunt our nightmares.

Why such creatures terrified modern men and women was a conundrum really.  There were estimated to be less than two hundred of the known species of spider in the entire world, somewhere in the range out of thirty thousand, that posed serious medical concerns for healthy humans, with about one hundred fifty or so confirmed fatalities a year worldwide.

Considering the odds when compared to the number of people of the world, they seemed pretty low and yet the fear remained.

Napoleon Solo didn’t fear these denizens of the arachnid world, though he did respect them. Illya had no fear of them whatsoever and most likely looked upon them as a food source when they were lost in the wilds of where ever. That was something Solo did fear; he chuckled to himself, Illya and his survival skills when it came to finding food, i.e. grubs, worms, termites and heaven forbid, even spiders.  Napoleon reconned he would rather starve than eat them.

That thought made the American cringe with disgust, suddenly envisioning the character of Renfield in the story of Dracula, whose sole diet had become the creepy crawlies.

Napoleon, now standing in one or the labs in headquarters, leaned over, looking at a specimen that was safely contained within a glass jar by a Research and Development scientist who specialized in spiders.

The creature was completely motionless as if poised to strike if it could.

“Doesn’t even look like it’s alive,” the UNCLE agent remarked, though for some reason it sent a shiver down his spine as he stared more closely at it.

“Oh it is very much so Mr. Solo,” Dr. Watanabe replied.

“This specimen is a yet undiscovered species of arachnid and from what I can determine, you were very lucky that it did not bite you while returning home. It has the potential to be very deadly.  See those fangs...they contain a quite deadly venom, the deadliest I’ve ever encountered. It’s perhaps the most neurologically active venom, more than even the Brazilian Wandering Spider, which is considered the most dangerous spider in the world.”

For some reason the doctor smiled at that.”So we will have the honor of naming it, the Araneus Watanabe-Solo.”

“Solo as in me?” Napoleon squinted at the doctor.

“Why of course. If it weren’t for you, I’d not have the specimen.”

“No thanks Doc, leave me out of it. You can have the honors.”

Though Dr. Watanabe couldn’t understand someone refusing a rare honor, such as having a new discovery bear one’s name; he didn’t hesitate in settling.

“Very well then, Araneus Watanabe. I will notify Mr. Waverly of my findings, as well as Scientific American.”

“You do that Doc, though you may want to consult with the Old Man about making any public announcement about our little friend here,” Napoleon spoke; his thoughts drifted another spider incident he once encountered.

Angelique had planted a deadly species of spider in a boutonniere she’d given him.  If it hadn’t been for the eagle eye of Kuryakin; he most likely would have been bitten, and that as they say would have been that.

Napoleon wondered if this spider had been planted on him as well?  It could have happened anywhere, though most likely at the airport since he’d just come from Greenland; a bit of a cold climate for old spidey here. Still he’d never know for sure. Could it be a product of genetic engineering on the part of THRUSH? That’s the way a prudent UNCLE agents mind thought...

It was fate that he’d removed his suit jacket when he returned to his office here in headquarters, though it wasn’t Illya who spotted the spider this time.  No, it was thanks to a shriek made by April Dancer who alerted him to the eight legged passenger that had just crawled out of his breast pocket to the back of his chair.

If he’d sat down, the spider would have had direct access to the back of his neck… an uncomforatble prospect, but one he wouldn’t let bother him for long.

He wasn’t afraid of spiders, at least not the normal kind.

“Oh by the way Mr. Solo,” the doctor interrupted Napoleon’s thoughts.

”I think our specimen is pregnant and might have been about to lay eggs. Lucky you had no open wound, as there are arachnids who lay eggs subcutaneously.”

“Gee thanks for that tidbit Doc,” he cringed.

Maybe Napoleon was a little more afraid of spiders now than he cared to admit.