Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It was stupid, really.

Sam had simply wanted to split up for a bit. Check out an apartment by himself, one they'd already checked, to make sure they hadn't missed anything.

Hellen had seemed a bit hesitant, and Joel had given him a big hug, but that was as far as concern went. He could handle himself. Mostly...

The apartment door had been left open, and he began checking it again, looking through every place they'd already looked through a few days ago.

He found a few things in the drawers Morton would like, which he dutifully took, before checking out the kitchen.

He managed to find a pack of biscuits they'd missed before, and took it too, thinking of Sophie and Joel.

He entered the bathroom, the door groaning slightly when he pushed it, and looked at the blue tiled walls.

The bathtub was empty, if you excluded the corpse of a cockroach. Sam slightly gagged at that.

Somehow, he still managed to be grossed out by things like this, despite literally living with cockroaches.

Well... It was still a bit different, in a way. The cockroaches he lived with were Madagascar hissing cockroaches, not the same type as the one currently in the tub. When he thought about it, he wondered how they even got there...

Perhaps someone had owned them as a pet? He remembered hearing they could be pets.

He brushed off his thoughts, concentrating on the room ahead.

Nothing in the sink or the cupboard below except some disappointing expired things that they'd left behind from their last visit.

In the medicine cabinet above, however, he was able to find a bottle of painkillers at the very back, something they'd missed previously. Bingo! Now this was a good find.

He finally left the room, closing the creaky door behind him.

He checked the couch, just in case there was some junk for Morton, and took what he found with him.

Finally, only one more room left.

This apartment was close to the one the others were currently searching, so he'd be able to quickly get back to them. Good. Even if there was no one here except him, he still felt a bit anxious something would jump out at him. It was better to leave soon.

He opened the bedroom door, and....

The window was open.

His eyes were instinctively attracted to the bright light.

To the outside.

For a few seconds, everything was still. Silent. He almost thought he wouldn't transform like others had.

Until he felt something. Pulsing...

Before he knew it, he went from one to three to five to seven arms, eyes bursting the skin open all over them.

His legs were took weak under the weight, and he crumbled, before feeling them get thinner. No... Not thinner. They were cutting themselves open, splitting into two, giving him four useless legs.

He was probably screaming in pain. He couldn't hear all that well anymore. He could see muscle growing on his new legs, before it hardened, turning almost insect like.

More and more legs appeared, he couldn't count how many, he felt so dizzy, he couldn't count, couldn't breath, couldn't speak.

His transformation was a painful blur of added and removed features, remaking his whole being, making sure he could never be considered human again.

He didn't know how much time passed.

seconds, minutes, hours. They all blended together.

Eventually, he got enough consciousness back to actually process some things.

He felt different. Of course physically, but also mentally. There was an itch at the back of his brain that he couldn't quite reach, that he didn't know the meaning of.

Before long, he could see. See so much, too much.

He had so many new perspectives, as the eyes all over his arms and face closed all at once, trying to get it together. He couldn't go insane- he couldn't,  he had kids to take care of. He had to keep sane, he had to, for Joel and Sophie and-

He took a hard breath. It felt difficult to breath, though that may have been the panic talking.

He dragged himself out of the room.

The bathroom...

Yesss...

He needed to see what he looked like now.

He didn't want to, but he had to. This was what he was gonna live with now, and he had to get used to it.

It felt almost painful to drag himself over to that mirror, as fear gripped his hearts at what he'd see.

.... hearts?

...he was gonna unpack that later...

Finally, he dared gaze at himself, and what he found disgusted him.

Eyes. So many eyes all over his face, barely leaving space for the spider like fangs hiding most of his mouth. Running his tongues over his teeth, he could feel their sharpness, and that terrified him.

His arms, not as much as when the transformation had started, seemingly having fused back into the body, had been left at a simple four, though he could see hands peaking out from his side, where holes in his shirt hadn't been made to accommodate his new biology.

He hoped someone knew sewing...

He stepped away from his disgusting reflection the mirror. His legs had been replaced by eight spider like appendages, that looked to be covered in hard scales.

He... Didn't want to look further, in all honesty. He'd already inspected himself enough, and was already plenty disgusted with himself. He was completely unrecognizable due to the changes in appearance, the only truly recognizable thing about him being his eye color. He was repulsive.

He left the apartment with the bag he'd used to store the stuff he'd taken, ready to go back to his companions when-

Wait. How would he go back to his companions?

Sure, they were all also not human anymore if you excluded Sophia, though she wasn't here right now, but... Still. He couldn't just show up like this, could he?

He...

Mmh...

Maybe he could try to go slower? Slowly approaching them, letting them take him in before he explained.

...yeah. that could work.

So, he did that.

When he slowly saw them leave the apartment they'd been searching, he hid for a few seconds, following behind a decent distance away. Not too far, not too close...

He didn't know why, but he almost didn't want to get closer. He almost wanted to just continue stalking behind them, his many legs leaving no noise on the floor, so they didn't notice him—

What was he thinking!?

He let out a grumble, which sounded more like a hiss than anything. He couldn't think stuff like that. He had to keep his sanity intact, and this was not what he was supposed to think. For the kids, he reminded himself. For all of the others.

It seemed the noise he made alerted Hellen, and he perked up. He'd be able to explain the situation now!

...why was she getting out her cleaver?

Why was Leigh looking at him like that? Why did Joel just hide behind Hellen?

He spoke, trying to voice his confusion.

"Wh r gttng t r wpns?"

....oh no.

Oh no no no no no no no—

Why couldn't he speak properly?

He couldn't speak properly. How was he gonna do this. What was he supposed to do?

Hellen eyes his bag. His bag, which was stained in blood due to the painful nature of his transformation.

He...

They didn't think...

Right ...?

Leigh was the first to lunge forward, trying to attack him.

He wasn't used to his own body yet, and he tried to dodge with difficulty.

He felt her weapon slice through a part of his chest, and screeched in pain.

It burned. His flesh burned, blood tricking out of the wound.

"N N TS M. STP TS M" he tried to yell, but failed.

Hellen lunged next, and he dodged barely better this time, still getting hit but less.

Joel didn't attack, instead using his teeth to make armour for himself. Good... 

He didn't attack. He- he refused to attack them- no matter his form he wouldn't attack them— he couldn't attack them

Leigh attacked again. She was fast. So fast...

"RRRGGGHHHHHHHHHH" he yelled out in pain, as he desperately tried evading the hits.

Both Hellen and Leigh attacking him, forcing him to dodge despite the pain, to try not to die here.

Only Joel didn't attack. He never did. Sam didn't know why, but he was grateful.

Eventually, he fell to the floor, not dead yet but injured enough he was pretty sure he would die without medical attention. He knew he wasn't gonna get any. He was gonna die here. By the hands of his friends.

Why couldn't he have become something like Hellen or Leigh or Joel? He would have still been recognizable then...

And then, for the first time since the battle had started, Joel did something.

Sam couldn't see well, most of his eyes closed or half closed. But...

What was Joel doing?

He was getting close... Closer...

Hellen tried to tell him to get away from him, but the child didn't react.

Joel...

Joel was sobbing.

He was sobbing, at Sam's feet, as Sam lay on the ground.

"WHY WOULD- WHY.... WHY ARE YOU HURTING SAM?" The child yelled uncharacteristically, voice trembling due to the sobs racking through it's small body.

Oh...

Someone recognized him...

Hellen seemed to freeze up all at once... It was hard to see, the eyes that weren't closed already seemed to get almost burry.

He heard her ask what Joel meant.

"He... He has the same eyes as Sam... It's Sam... You hurt Sam..."

Right... his eyes.. the only thing that still looked the same as from before.

Everything was so blurry... Why was it so blurry...

He felt numb...

Was he getting dragged...?

Before he could try to figure out the answer to his question, the numbness overtook him, and he fell into a nice sleep.

Chapter Text

Cold.

That was the first thing he felt as he came to consciousness.

After that, he started hearing. He could hear... Noises. Voices? He couldn't tell. He still felt so tired...

It felt like he was on the floor. Was he? Why was he on the floor?

He tried to open one of his lower down eyes to peek at what was happening, but the light was too bright, causing him to close them immediately.

Wait... Lower... down..?

He suddenly became all too aware of the fact that he had too many limbs, too many eyes, too many...

He...

Right...

The outside.

The- his friends. Leigh. Joel. Hellen.

Right. They'd—

It...

Right.

Why wasn't he dead?

It wasn't in Leigh's nature to keep.. prey.. alive, much less the bigger ones. He suddenly became all too aware of his increased size.

Why...

Why...?

Why?

Why?

Why?

he...

No no no no no-

He couldn't think like that.

Positive thoughts... Positive... He didn't know how stable his sanity was... He couldn't risk it.

For the kids...

He suddenly remembered he could hear when he heard a sob. It sounded childlike, tired.

...Jo...Joel...

Joel.

Joel!

He... Why was he crying?

He wasn't dead... Maybe..

It's because of your repulsiveness  

...

He should probably open his eyes...

He couldn't...

He had to help the kid..

No matter the reason for why he was crying.

Even if that meant leaving.

He...

Yeah.

Slowly, his four main set of eyes opened, leaving the others closed for now. disgusting 

joel...

He was kneeling in front of his laid down form, sobbing...

He could vaguely feel other presences behind him, but all of his eyes were set on Joel.

Poor kid...

He tried to sit up, and...

He hissed in pain, trying his hardest not to scream or whimper or anything of sort.

Right. The fight. He was still hurt.

Looking around, he was in his apartment, specifically on the living room floor. Sophie, the rat child, and Morton were nowhere to be seen though.

He felt hands pushing him back down, and panicked momentarily.

hurt him hurt him danger daNGER DANGER DANGER—

NO NO NO NO NO—

he didn't realize until after his head was pinned down, along with his upper body, that he'd tried to bite...

Hellen...

He...

What was WRONG with him!?

"M srr..." he said, though he knew she wouldn't understand what he was saying.

He'd tried to hurt her...

He...

God.... Why had he done that?

Hellen kept his shoulder pinned to the floor with one hand, but let go of his face. He didn't try to move this time.

He felt a pressure on three of his legs, and some of his eyes located near his wrists opened to look at what was happening without having to crane his head.

Leigh...

She was holding three of his legs down, her eyes trailed on him.

He suddenly remembered her mentioning she wanted him to look outside so they could fight with equal power, and really hoped she'd given up on that.

Well... Hopefully at least...

Leigh spoke first, and it took concentration to understand what she was saying.

"So, how was the sky? Hehe..."

All eyes that weren't opened yet flew open at the question, before they all looked around nervously at every angle that didn't show her face.

" ' ddnt mn t... Th wndw hd bn lft pn.. ws t lt whn ' rlzd..." He spoke, trying his damn hardest to speak properly. He didn't know if they'd actually understood any of that, though. Curse his new anatomy...

Leigh tilted her head, like a curious animal.

The silence was tense for a few moments.

"... don't move much. Put bandages on you."

Hellen's voice was a welcome distraction from his thoughts.

"...sorry."

He shook his head.

"N wrrs... Ts fn.." he didn't know why he bothered speaking, but it still felt better than saying nothing at all.

He turned over to Joel.

" ' k bdd?" He asked, one of his free arms patting Joel's head. The kid let out a small sob.

"M hr... M hr..." 

Joel pushed his face into Sam's chest, and he let him. The kid needed comfort, and he may not have known how to give it, but he sue as hell would try.

His two lower arms wrapped around Joel, one of his upper arms being used to pet the kid's head, and the other to cup his cheek.

He hadn't even realized they'd let him go.

———

The recovery had been surprisingly fast, something he guessed being due to his body's new anatomy. Only a few days and he was good enough to go to stand up and walk around.

Sophie had called him ugly, which hurt, but it was true. He was repulsive and knew it.

It had also been really embarrassing to adapt to walking on eight legs. Leigh had made fun of him more than once. 

It was only after one full week that he was considered good to go outside the apartment. A week filled with learning to use his new body, learning simply how very useful hand gesturing was, and to also learn not to knock into just about everything because he wasn't used to being this size.

Well.. at least he'd gotten used to this a bit? He'd never get used to it. He knew that.

Now, luckily they didn't need any supplies, but...

He really didn't want to stay cooped up here any longer. He needed to stretch his legs a little.

So, what better than visit someone! Anyone. Really. Please.

He weighed his options, and very quickly decided on a specific photograph. Of course Jeanne was also an option but... He couldn't help but be a bit freaked out at her appearance after the whole hydra thing. He felt bad but it was the truth.

He may have not know what was beneath Lyle's robes, but it was probably less disgusting than Jeanne. And him

So! Here he was! Alone...! Going... Going to Lyle's apartment!

Not like it could get any worse than last time he was alone, right?

...right?

Well! Uh...

Right! Lyle's apartment! He had to stay focused!

His legs skittered across the floor of the hallway, to apartment 21.

At the front of the door, he hesitated.

Would Lyle recognize him? The others hadn't at first. Not like he'd be able to exactly explain what happened either. Well, not with words.

He'd actually thought of bringing a piece of paper with him, and a pen. You know, to communicate. Would certainly be better than his attempts at words.

He quickly pressed the paper flat against a wall with two arms, using his dominant lower one to write a quick message. He tried his best to make the writing clear, though he wasn't sure he'd exactly succeeded. He'd never had good calligraphy.

The paper said simple words. "I accidentally looked outside. It's Sam."

Barest of explanations possible. No mentioning how his bones had split into multiple pieces, or how his companions hadn't recognized him, or how he'd been attacked, or—

Stop that. He.. he should stop that. He couldn't think about that.

He gripped the paper in his left lower hand, using his left upper hand to knock. The two arms left dangled uselessly, as one of his legs tapped against the floor while he waited.

He heard some shuffling behind the door, before Lyle opened it.

There was a look of what could probably be described as confusion for a few moments on the little of his face that he could see.

Then, Sam hurried to shove the paper towards him.

Lyle took it, seeming bewildered. Sam could hear fans buzzing as he read the paper.

Lyle looked between the paper and Sam a few times, in disbelief.

"Sam?" He asked.

"H. Cn't rll spk nmr, srr." Sam said, and Lyle looked at him like he'd just been shot.

He let him in, and... That was that.

They spoke. Well, Lyle spoke, and Sam listened. He'd occasionally ask things using his trusty pen, but otherwise stayed relatively silent. He still couldn't shake off the instinctual urge to respond by speaking at times, but tried his best.

His eyes couldn't help but notice how much Lyle looked at his legs. He knew he looked gross, but it still felt a bit sad Lyle would be so bothered by it.

He came back to his apartment unharmed a few hours later.

....

Holy shit.

Sam. Sam. He'd. He'd looked outside! It'd been written on the paper, black on white, and his appearance definitely proved it.

But god... His appearance. The spider legs... He... God- it reminded him of himself- Sam. Sam looked like him a bit! It was a sign they were meant to be, he knew it— it had to!

He'd kept looking at them all throughout their encounter, he couldn't help it. They were just... So beautiful. So nice. So perfect.

And his eyes— god his eyes...

The beautiful heterochromia he had being spread everywhere on his arms and face, with his wonderful brown and blue eye having spread to all of his left arms while his beautiful simpler brown eye had spread to the right side. God... He wondered if there was eyes on his torso too... He wanted to see so much... Caress every eye, one by one, until they were all looking at him and only him—

He'd managed to take a few pictures of Sam's wonderful new form of course, under the pretense of it being accidental. He was so excited to make them develop, to see Sam, his wonderful Sam's new form immortalized in the best way possible-

God, he wished he'd been able to take a picture of every angle...

He was quick to head to his dark room, extremely ready to make these pictures develop. No matter how Sam changed, be it from aging or from looking at some entity outside, he only became more and more beautiful....

God....

Lyle let out a shaky breath, and he swore he felt a small spark of electricity run through him.

Chapter Text

Dad looked weird.

He could tell it was dad, he smelled the same, the same sweet so sweet aroma. But he didn't look like dad. He had more eyes, and held him with more limbs, and moved weird.

Dad didn't speak the same either. He spoke like he did when Dad had first taken him in, all bad and confused.

But it was dad.

He loved Dad, how he always cuddled him so nicely, made sure he was safe, always fed him the sweet liquid, played with him so so nicely.

It was so much nicer than before.

He didn't remember much of before. He just remembered someone tall, looming above him for a little, before making a weird face and leaving.

... he'd been hungry a lot after that.

Nobody ever came by, no matter how loud he cried, they never fed him. He was so hungry for so long...

Until dad came along. Dad was so nice...

Dad had taken him. He'd made that weird face that woman had long ago, and put him back.

He'd been so sad... He hadn't been dad yet at the time, but he didn't want him to leave like the woman...

He had tried his hardest to get out of his hole, and was glad it succeeded. Dad had taken him with him... Dad was nice..

He remembered dad had brought him to a weird place soon after. That dad had talked with a thing... It'd been so mean, even if he couldn't understand what it'd said at the time.

He remembered dad pulling him near the thing, before pulling him back... He'd been so thankful... Dad was keeping him... Dad wasn't leaving...

Dad had tried to leave, but the door they'd came out of to get here got so far away, over and over so he had to come back...

There was a lot of that sweet smell after that.

But it didn't matter! Dad was here... Dad had allll of his limbs now, so it was okay... Dad was okay... Dad was happy...

He loved dad...

Rat cuddled up against Sam, all of Sam's arms wrapping around the mutant with the utmost care. It was awkward sitting on the couch, but he'd figured it out.

———

...Joel didn't really know what to think about mister Sam now.

Sure, he was safe, but... 

He felt bad, but he thought mister Sam looked a little scary. He reminded Joel of the more mean people, the ones who attacked them.

He was glad Sam didn't attack them, though. Mister Sam had stayed nice.

He liked watching him cook, sometimes. How all of his arms were occupied, cutting up stuff or stirring something.

He didn't really like the after, though. The way Mister Sam ate was scary, especially with those big spider teeth at the front... What if fuzzy got scared too!

Mister Sam was still nice though. He made sure to protect him, and still helped him brush his teeth. He kinda reminded him of his mom sometimes, acting all weird. Back when his mom had been doing it, she'd said it was because 'her mind was telling her to do things she didn't want to'. Joel wondered if that was what was happening. Maybe his mind was telling him to eat allllll of his veggies, and he didn't want to?

Chapter Text

It had been around 1 week and 3 days since Sam had looked outside.

He didn't like it. Sure, he'd seen worse. So much worse. God knows he still saw Joel's 'baby sister' in his nightmares at time. But... It was different for him.

The other people that had looked outside seemed to have at least liked the experience on some level, but him? He'd hated everything he'd seen. 

He didn't know how he'd managed to not have a breakdown in front of everyone due to his frustrating limbs. The others were lucky. They all seemed to have gotten lucky with their mutations, either just the face having gotten affected (or from what he could see at least) or having kept a humanoid form (he was more of a weird centaur..) or even having a straight up human form they could morph into at will. Looking at you, Leigh. Lucky woman...

Either way, the mutations he'd had didn't make him look sane. Didn't make him feel sane. He just thought he looked like all of the people that went mad while mutating.

Maybe he had been meant to go mad. After all, most of the ones that stayed sane still looked human in some way, even if it was just vague shape. He didn't count Jeanne in that due to her whole alternate heads thing.

Why hadn't he gone mad? Or well, maybe he had. He still had that itch in the back of his head. That damned unshakeable itch, telling him to—

Better not think about it. Not when the kids were there.

He... He should distract himself. He got out his copy of super jumplad 1, and got himself situated on the couch, his three pairs of legs near the back getting settled on the couch in a kneeling-like position, while his two front legs stayed hanging of the edge.

Joel silently sat next to him, his face quirkiness up in what Sam had gotten used to identifying as a smile. Sam couldn't smile. Not anymore.

After around two hours of playing, with Joel and him passing each other the controller in turns, a knock came at the door.

Sam quickly saved the game, stretched, and went to look at the peephole.

....

Hey wait, was that Harriet?

Sam hurried to open the door, looking at the shorter woman.

She cringed when she saw him.

Oh... Right. He'd forgotten about that.

"M stll sn." He said, in vain of course.

He quietly walked away from the door, and went to fetch Sophie.

Harriet thanked him profusely, and after Sophie got to hug everyone she wanted to, the two of them left.

...he was gonna miss that kid.

Huh? What was he saying, he could just visit them. Well, if they'd want to...

He went to the kitchen, and started making lunch. He... Shouldn't keep his mind on that too much.

Yeah. That's what he should do. Just... Not think about it.

He set the table, and Hellen, Joel, and Leigh went to sit down. He had to go fetch Morton, who'd been in the middle of organizing his shower head collection.

Rat sat on Leigh's lap today.

The food was pretty simple, as everyone dug into their plates, except for Hellen who went to the bathroom to eat hers after fetching her food.

Sam dug into his food as well, all too aware of the way his mouth moved as he ate, or the slight noises coming from him.

Lunch went by pretty peacefully, if you ignored the way Leigh kept trying to get Rat to wield her knife.

...

They'd done a supply run yesterday, so they were pretty set on stuff, but God he was tired of not moving already. He'd found he had much more energy than before after he'd looked outside. He didn't necessarily like it.

So, he decided to go visit someone.

He, like last time, weighed his options. Jeanne probably wasn't that stable yet after the whole hydra thing, Frederic had told him he'd be resting as much as possible after the whole thing with his paintings, and he didn't want to look too desperate by visiting Sophie and her Mom the same day they'd left. Considering how Harriet had looked at him, it was even less likely.

Which left....

Lyle.

...well, guess he was visiting him again.

He got himself ready with a few pieces of paper, and warned Hellen of where he was going. Just in case.

...god stairs were a pain. Who knew having eight legs made stairs the bane of your existence? He climbed down slowly, carefully. Making sure to coordinate best he could all his legs while desperately holding onto the railings with four arms. He was not risking it.

After finally getting down, he knocked on Lyle's door.

The owner of the apartment answered soon enough, and let him in, a smile on his face.

"O-oh! Hello, what brings... What brings you here?" Lyle asked, and he swore he was looking at him weirdly.

He hurried to write something, not really thinking about what. 'just wanted to see you' 

He handed the paper, and Lyle froze for a second. Oh god, wait. Was that a weird thing to say? shit, it was, wasn't it? Why wasn't he saying anything? Should he just leave?

"O-OH! Um... I mean. Oh! I'm g-glad you did! Really! I am! A lot! W-well not a lot but I'm not unhappy to see you! Yeah!" The photograph slightly rambled one, and Sam squirmed.

Lyle invited him to sit on the couch, and he took the offer. The other stared at his legs again, like last time.

"S.... Hm..." Sam spoke before the silence got too awkward.

Lyle's attention snapped to his face, though he swore it'd stayed somewhere lower for a second.

"O-h! Right! Yeah!" Lyle's voice was slightly too loud, and he lowered his volume with a small 'sorry'

For the next few hours, they proceeded to play crosswords. It was weirdly relaxing, honestly.

At some point, Lyle put down his crosswords, and looked at Sam. Sam put down his.

"H-hey ummm Sam? Could you take off your shirt-? UMH- I'll! I'll give you something nice in exchange! I promise!" Lyle said, and Sam fully froze.

What.

What did he mean take off his shirt? Sure he'd kissed Lyle before but that was an entirely different request- why did he want him shirtless in the first place? What?

At Sam's continued staring, the photographer stammered

"Ha! J-just kidding! You should've seen the look on your face!" He said, and Sam slightly slumped in some sort of relief.

Of course he didn't mean it. Sure he'd kissed Sam before, but he should've guessed that one was a joke. Who would want to look at Sam anyway now?

Sam's visit ended soon after, as he waved goodbye to Lyle.

He climbed up the stairs, got home, and that was that. The day was simply normal after that. Cooking dinner, helping Joel with brushing his teeth, and getting to sleep.

Chapter Text

It'd started out nice enough.

Just a simple supply run, to find some food. Sometimes simple. They hadn't even encountered anything.

Well, they hadn't. Until now.

Some thing with too many limbs and mouths, limbs that could barely hold it up, yet here it was, standing and very ready to attack.

Leigh and Hellen attacked it easily, a gnarly bite from one, a slash from the other. Sam also attacked, of course, slashing it with his knife.

When he thought of it, it'd been the first time he'd fought something since... Looks outside. The others (mainly Hellen, for some reason) had insisted he just... Stay and rest. He hadn't liked it, but had accepted.

So, this was the first time he'd fought something since becoming thing. This was fine. Everything would go fine.

...

Of course it didn't go fine.

The others fought perfectly normally, but the more the fight went on, the stronger the itch in his brain urged him to do... Something. Didn't help that that thing was so strong too, since it made the fight go on for a while.

Finally, it went down after a final hit from Leigh, but Sam found that the itch didn't go down with it. Well... It wouldn't be too bad, he hoped...

Each time they encountered another person and that they fought them, Sam found the itch... Increasing. More and more, until he could practically feel it right under his eyes, begging to be let out.

And there just had to be one more thing they fought.

The fight started normal, Leigh, Hellen, and Sam all attacking in their usual ways.

But... Sam felt something snap in him. And before he knew it... He just needed to...

He...

He just....

Flesh meeting teeth. 

Scratching. Scrambling to get away. It. The... Prey.

The prey.

The prey.

Venom.

Silk.

Wrapping.

Getting restrained.

No. Fight back. Can't let it...

Can't...can't....

Can't....

What....

What...?

He could feel cold tiles...

When had he gotten in a bathroom?

Why was Hellen standing above him? Why did she look at him like... that.....

"Mh...?" 

He noticed Leigh standing behind Hellen. Sam got up- when had he been sat down?

Leigh approached, and Sam looked at her, curious. His mind was... So hazy..?

"Hehe... You were real aggressive with that thing..." Her voice was slightly rough, and he could see a few clawing marks on her that were distinctly not from the creature they'd fought a few moments ago.

"Wht?" He asked, the eyes on his face switching to look at Hellen while the ones on his body stayed looking at Leigh.

After a few moments, Hellen spoke.

"You used Venom. Wrapped up the thing in a cocoon."

He what.

Memory suddenly getting unpleasantly less hazy, he remembered. Biting down into it. It trying to get away, trying to bite him back. He suddenly became very aware of a pain in one of his legs. He'd... He'd wrapped it in silk, like an...

An actual spider.

What was wrong with him. Why had he done that? Why hadn't he controlled himself? Is that what the itch was? Instincts- disgusting, spider instincts? Why? Was it still where he'd left it? What was wrong with him?? He'd- he'd hurt Leigh and Hellen too— he remembered his arms scratching them while they tried to pull him away— he'd hurt them. He'd done the one thing he'd told himself not to do. He was disgusting. He was horrible.

How dared he?

The supply run had to be cut short a bit. He felt so bad. This was his fault. All his.

When he saw Hellen bandage Leigh, all he could feel was disgust at himself. Disgust for having done this. Disgust because a part of you wants to finish the job.

Maybe you shouldn't even leave your apartment again. Nobody would suffer from seeing you then. Just letting yourself starve, to make sure everyone stayed safe. Maybe it would be better.

God, good thing Sophie had left the apartment, what would've happened if he'd hurt her?

Yeah. He shouldn't... He shouldn't stay alive. To keep people safe.

But..

 The rat.

Who...

Who would take care of the rat? He couldn't leave it alone..

He... He couldn't..

...

He'd stay alive. Maybe just a bit longer.

He should probably avoid leaving the apartment though. Just... Just in case. He couldn't go see anyone, just in case. Yeah. Especially not Lyle.

... what? Why was he thinking about him now?

He...

Maybe he should go to bed. Yeah. His mind is clearly not right.

He'd just.. think about this tomorrow. Especially considering just how much his head hurt right now.

Chapter Text

Turns out that bite hadn't been so harmless as he thought.

He'd thought that the bite from the thing wouldn't do him much, but considering he wanted to rip off all eight of his legs from how heavy they felt and his pounding headache, he guessed it'd gotten him... Sick. Somehow.

Of course he had to get sick the day before the visitor went away. Fuck his life.

Morton had came up to him, and Sam must've made some sort of face if the way Morton tilted his head meant anything.

"You...ehhhh... Don't look so good. Sick, yes? I have.. stuff.. ehhh, could give some stuff to you. You're friend, yes... Could..." Sam listened dazedly as Morton spoke, seeing him get an unmarked pill bottle from his bag.

If he'd been any more aware over his pain, he would have probably wondered why Morton was giving him unmarked drugs, but sadly the headache pounding in his head was just so heavy, and he was just so tired...

Before he could truly process what he was doing, he took two pills.

.... Damn, he didn't even feel anything.

Eeehhh..........

Where...

Everyone...?

Empty... Apartment... Empty...

Where they... Go...?

Alone....

He... Alone.....

No....

Had to find... Someone...

Lyleee.....

Wait....no.....

Lyle... Not...

Not...

No...

He... Didn't... Like Sam...

Probably......

But... Wanted to...

So alone.... Why not... Why no Lyle....

Mean.... 

Lyleee....

Or....

Or... Childdd... Rat... Rat child.... Yes...

But where....

Rat child.... Gone... Left him... With rest...

Why.....?

So..... Meaann....

He could feel himself... On the floor....? Legs... Bended... Arms on ground...

Was he dry heaving....?

Wha...?

He should....

He should go...

See...

Yes....

He vaguely felt his legs lifting him up, and....

Yes..... Open door....

He was... In... Hallway... See... Go see... Him....

Stairs... 

Falling.. a bit... That was okay... Just hurt a bit... Not much....

Continue...

To.... Yes... 21...

Hands... Up...!

Knock...

Sam vaguely felt himself do something that was his new equivalent to a smile. Lyle was making a weird face, but that was okay... Lyle was here, so everything was okay...

He felt himself stumbling into the apartment,  and the door closed behind him. Yay... Lyle... Accepted him in...!

Oh... When had he gotten onto the couch... Whatever...

He was pretty sure Lyle was saying something, but it was hard to listen. He looked at Lyle with all of his eyes...

Sam was so... Sleepy... He could just... Go to sleep a bit...

Yes...

Near... Him...

Mmhh.... Good...

Lyle... Near him... Kiiisssss—

Sam only woke up later, and was... Panicked.

His eyes slowly cracked open, to... Light?

That wasn't right, he always kept his curtains closed.

And— oh god where was he.

What.

Suddenly much more alert, Sam sprung up, looking around. Only to see Lyle, sitting... Right next to him, on the floor.

When... Had he gotten to Lyle's apartment?

He looked at Lyle, and the bigger cursed seemed to understand what the look meant well enough.

"Y-you uhhh showed up here yesterday then started sobbing so I let you sleep on the couch. S-soooorry." He said, a slight mechanical buzz heard from him.

Sam blankly nodded, getting up and stretching. He realized he didn't have his notebook with him to communicate, so he used sign language instead. One of the few things his younger self was certain learning would pay off, and they'd been right, to be fair. 

"Thank you. Going to go now." 

Sam just had to hope Lyle knew a bit of sign language. 

...and by the clicks and whirrs getting louder, he guessed that he didn't. Great.

He... He was just gonna leave anyway-

Luckily, Lyle didn't seem to have too many oppositions to that. Good. God was he exhausted-

...

When he finally got back to the apartment, something immediately jumped on him.

Someone, to be exact.

"SAM!" The voice was rough and high pitched, the creature clearly not used to speaking.

Sam pat the rat child's head lovingly with a hand, before looking up to find Hellen... Uh...

Ok that was an intense stare...

He picked up the rat child with his two lower arms, and tried to get to the coffee table to get his notebook, but Hellen blocked him. What, did she think he was just gonna run away to his room? He wasn't five—

...well, either way, the path to his notebook was gone. Attempt to communicate through sign language number 2?

"sorry. Blacked out and went to Lyle's apartment. Ended up sleeping there."

Leigh, having suddenly become interested once she saw him start, smiled.

"Hehehe... Ya sure you blacked out normally?..hehe.."

...ok, out of everyone in this apartment he'll admit he didn't expect Leigh to know sign language. He'd expected maybe Hellen, or hell even Morton, but Leigh?

Not what he'd expected. Whatever- he shouldn't complain if at least one person knew sign language at all. Right now he was more concerned with what exactly she was implying.

He hissed at her lightly, and she giggled. Damn.

Sam finally sighed in frustration and brought his attention to the rest child once again, playing with it a bit.

He  saw Leigh say something to Hellen, and Hellen nod. Mmh.

"Should rest. Go." 

Sam looked up, even if it was unnecessary, once addressed once again, and nodded.

Well. Guess he was gonna go sleep again? God, he felt like he was sleeping too much. Could you sleep too much? Probably.

Either way, he entered his bedroom with the rat child in tow. It'd leave when it'd want to.

Chapter Text

The sickness hadn't lasted long, barely two more days after the original accident.

Woo. Thank you spider body. He guessed.

Well, now it was safe to look and go outside, he guessed...

It still felt uncomfortable to think about that. The... outside. He guessed that it becoming something dangerous you couldn't even look at did that.

Well, they weren't really low on supplies or anything, so he was pretty much free the whole day...

Hellen herself had went outside to see if some friends she had were okay. He would do that, but...

Nevermind.

It was still weird to think about.

Maybe he could just stay at home?

... should he?

Suddenly, he felt small clawed hands pulling on his legs.

Oh. Rat child!

He bent down slightly, picking it up, all of his eyes focused on it except for the ones who couldn't see it. It scrabbled for purchase on his arms, before finally settling with it's face near his neck.

He should probably feed it, huh?

With a quick nick of his knife, a small wound appeared on his shoulder, which the rat child quickly began to lap at with it's tongues.

Satisfied, Sam went back to his musings.

He guessed he could go outside, just to check things out. Maybe.

God that sounded so wrong-

He... Whatever- he was gonna go outside. Just... Just a bit. Yeah. He wasn't a coward...! He could go outside the building!

Yeah. He.. he could. He could...

Oh god he should stop thinking right now-

His attention was brought back to the rat child when it began sniffing at one of his eyes, and he batted it's nose away gently, before readjusting it in his arms.

He stretched best he could with a kid in his arms, then felt a hand tap his shoulder.

Turning around with a slight jolt, he found Morton, looking at him calmly.

"You look...ehhh... Not good..." With that, the cursed took an item out of his bag.

"Take...ehh it..." Before he knew it, an item was being shoved in his lower hands.

"Hhh... R ' sr?" He said, but Morton was already leaving.

Looking at what it was with some of the eyes on his wrists, he found a small purple dice.

....was it just him or was Morton being awfully generous recently? Whatever—

Well... He guessed he could go outside. Theoretically. There was Morton and.. Leigh to look over Joel, so it wasn't like he'd be leaving the kid alone.

Yeah. He was gonna do this. Hopefully.

Before he could begin another spiral, he left out the door, slowly descending the staircases until he reached the ground floor.

He hesitated a bit in front of the door to the outside. Was he.. really doing this?

He- what would he find out there? How was the outside?

...it would just be a quick trip- he couldn't turn back now. Well, he could, but...

His hand was pushing the door open before he could debate himself any more.

....oh wow.

There were a lot of buildings with damage, and he could see things flying in the sky, as well as climbing on buildings. ....And things that were bigger than buildings, that were like pillars of flesh, and in general so many things that didn't look friendly.

A sudden wave of worry for Hellen ran over him. Was she okay? What if she'd ended up alone against something stronger than her outside?

Oh god, what if she was hurt, or worse, what if she was dead.

Oh god she was dead wasn't she- there were a lot of things out here, and a lot of them were bigger than he was used to-

What if she was stuck somewhere, with no way to talk to them? What if she'd died in agony? What if she'd gotten worse than death?

She....

The rat child jumped out of his arms, and he was forced out of his thoughts.

It luckily didn't run off somewhere, just peacefully sitting on the ground. He decided to join it. Probably better than the worrying. Even if it was justified...

Plus, like this he could look out for when she came back!

yeah. since she would come back, obviously. the rat child climbed onto his lap, rubbed it's face against his torso. he gently pat it's head.

then, it climbed off of him, and began just.. running in circles. he watched it. it was nice, even if it was making him a bit dizzy.

hours passed.

Hellen had come back to the apartment, had nodded at him before going back inside. she didn't tell him about her friends' conditions. he couldn't ask.

of course, eventually he had to come back inside, so he did. not like he found the outside that reassuring, with the things he saw everywhere. the rat child on his shoulder, he walked through the halls.

he wanted to use the stairs, thinking it would do him some good to just walk around. maybe he could wander around the first floor. it'd be nice to just wander, and he didn't doubt he'd find his way back anyways.

heading to the first floor, he walked around for a while without a goal. he crossed near a vending machine a couple of times, but he wasn't thirsty, so he didn't look closer than noticing the peculiar shade of red it had.

after a while though, he started noticing... noises. small things here and there, almost like machinery. it creeped him out, as those had definitely not been there the first time he'd gone there, so he decided to leave. he didn't feel like risking a fight or using his venom again.

once he was back to the third floor, he quickly got back to his apartment. While Hellen was back to the apartment, Leigh had apparently also gone out to see... people. sam didn't know why, but leigh didn't strike him as the type to have friends. he could relate to that, though his reason was being a loser, not being a danger to society pre-visitor.

...that was mean. he should apologize, even if leigh wasn't here to hear his disgusting thoughts. he apologized to her for his words in his mind.

the rat child hopped down from where he was holding it, quickly going towards Hellen to do... whatever it was doing. Sam wasn't sure what the rat child was doing actually. he wasn't most of the time.

with nothing else to really do, as he didn't feel like talking to anyone at that moment, he went to his room.

... that was weird. there was a... polaroid on the floor. when he picked it up, he found it was one that was from his old job, all the way back at the convenience store. they'd done a collective picture of employees, and handed one out to everyone for free. that was honestly the only reason he'd even took it. he didn't remember getting it out of the cupboard though. what was even weirder was that there was a heart drawn around his face. ... it was weird to see his human face, now, when he thought about it. he would never look like that again.

maybe joel had found it and colored on it? would be odd, especially considering what the drawing is, but who knows. sam placed the seemingly innocent polaroid back on his desk where his computer was, watered his plant, and went to sleep.

Chapter Text

Lyle missed Sam so much. it hadn't been that long since they'd last seen each other, but he couldn't help himself. the apocalypse had greatly hindered his opportunities to see Sam (more precisely, hindered his ability to take pictures of his muse). and he felt like one more second without him captured on film would break Lyle.

so, he did what any sane person would do. yeah. sane.

Lyle tracked outside his door using his peephole. since the apocalypse had just recently ended, he guessed that people would be eager to go out and check on friends and family. what he was hoping for, was to see Sam or his roommates go through his floor to leave, so he could go through Sam's stuff. smell his sheets, maybe his... dirty laundry...

Lyle shouldn't think about that yet. he had to be good for Sam, and wait for when he was actually there to think about it. yes. this was what he was supposed to do, if he wanted Sam to love him. he needed to be good, and follow the rules-

hey, was that Hellen that just passed through? Score! one roommate down.. two to go. and then Sam... beautiful Sam...

it probably took two hours, but Lyle was patient, and eventually, all three almost humanoid (almost. sorry Sam...) roommates had left the premises of his muse's apartment, leaving the coast clear. he could just threaten the kid if need be. oh, wait, there was Morton too.

...Morton was an insect, though. Lyle was a spider. he could... he could manage. yeah.

with all of this in mind, he headed up the stairs with difficulty, before arriving to Sam's apartment using his spare key. luckily, that kid seemed to be asleep, but Morton was not. in fact, Morton was looking straight at him.

well that was a problem...

"If you say anything... i'll... i'll kill you. i'm a spider, you know. I wouldn't hesitate." Lyle prayed Morton wouldn't call his bluff. luckily, he didn't, and just quickly put his head down instead.

Lyle entered Sam's bedroom, and his first action was to go towards Sam's bed, and smell the pillows and blankets. it smelled so good... just like Sam... Sam always smelled so good... Lyle was certain Sam used the brand of shampoo he did just to drive him crazy, he had to, there was no way someone could be that irresistible without knowing it. he had to be doing it on purpose, just to tease Lyle, encourage him to chase after him and make him his. 

after the healthy dose of sniffing, Lyle took a picture of Sam's bed, feeling so giddy he was tapping his feet on the ground. He couldn't help himself, he was just so happy to be in Sam's bedroom again!

Lyle then proceeded to take various pictures of Sam's bedroom, able to imagine exactly what he'd do with Sam, if he could...

of course, eventually Lyle's anxiety got to him, and Lyle left, unable to bare the thought of what would happen if he was caught. So, he decided to find something else to do.... maybe he could photograph the outside? Capture just how the city skyline had changed? Yeah.

He didn't notice what dropped from under his cloak.

with that idea in mind, Lyle set out to the ground floor. he was about to open the door to the outside, when- was that Sam. Outside. Right there, so near... if he turned around, he'd easily see Lyle, Lyle who was just staring- god, what a creep he was... this was why he had to make sure to not be found out. the things he'd do if Sam found out what a monster he really was...

he saw Sam start getting up, and quickly ran, panicking and going to the first floor, hoping to take the shortcut he had back to his apartment. he.... Sam couldn't see him... he couldn't...

Lyle heard footsteps. many, many footsteps, along with the sound of a rat squeaking. was there- was that...rat king here? fuck, he better hide, and quick-

Lyle hid behind a wall, but what he saw passing him in the hallway was not the rat king... it was Sam. Sam, oh so beautiful Sam, with that rat child he'd so selflessly saved...

why... why was Sam on the first floor? it just made him want to take pictures of Sam, to follow him around and see just what routes he'd take, where he'd go, why he was here...

but Lyle couldn't. he- he couldn't, he was being bad, and it would be so easy to be found out, and Sam would hate him if he saw-

but... but what it he could. he- there had to be a reason as to why Sam was here. he couldn't have just randomly decided to come here. what if... what if he'd come here for Lyle. maybe it was fate doing this, making his muse come to this floor while he was there. just so Lyle could photograph him. Yes... that.... that had to be it. Lyle was allowed to take pictures then, he was meant to take pictures of Sam. fate wanted him to.

he was so excited....

He quickly began following sam around, using the confusing layout to his advantage to hide behind walls and take pictures from various angles. This felt so good... So right....

He probably just enjoyed capturing his Muse's image for almost half an hour, before he had to leave because Sam was going back to his apartment. Lyle was the luckiest man alive.

As he scuttled back to his apartment, he kept looking at the pictures he'd taken of Sam's new form, his legs, his eyes... It was all so beautiful, his muse was beautiful. Sam was the perfect man.

Once he entered his apartment, the door to his darkroom opened as he entered it, the new pictures he'd taken getting added to the collection he already had.

He laid down, head in his hands as his legs curled up. He closed all of his eyes, and went to sleep.