Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Felicia glanced at her phone,

Felicia, MJ. Gwen's father just showed up, not a Skrull, a Returner. Be prepared.

Felicia hadn't held out hope her father was back, and if she was honest, she didn't really care. He was long gone well before he became Khaos, and he was barely a father when he was there.

She groaned as she knew she was still going to have to deal with him. If he was back, then so was Cassidy, and more than likely Harry as well.

She set alarms over New York, leaving them in places her father would find. It was the one set at their old apartment that reunited the pair.

She could see him stalking in the empty apartment, she tapped on the glass and pointed up. No way she was going to fight him indoors.

She scaled the walls and patiently waited, invisible.

"I know you're up here, uh Huntress. I just want to talk," Marcus said as Khaos slid into a set of black sweatpants and a hoodie. "Really, Khaos is dead, it's just me."

Huntress had been waiting on top of the air conditioning vent. She was using the heat to mask any residual signs she was there. Seeing her father brought back waves of nostalgia, but in a fight, nostalgia got you killed.

"Then talk," she said but never moved.

"Harry is back, but Monarch is dead. Cassidy killed and ate him. He let us live to pass on a message." Marcus scanned the rooftop but couldn't see any sign of her. "He's coming for you, and everyone who was there that night."

Huntress laughed, "So, he eats the head honcho and thinks he's all that now. He's in for a huge shock then."

"I figured as much. You kept up your training and have ten years on us all. But that doesn't mean." He stepped back as a dagger of some kind flew out of the darkness and stuck itself in the felt of the roof.

"The world changed Dad. Ten years isn't what makes a difference. Having friends, having powers you can't even imagine makes the difference."

"And overconfidence gets you killed. Cassidy was already a killer and a good one. I've seen him fight Felicia. I've seen him kill." He still had no idea where she was. Even to Khao's enhanced senses, she was completely invisible.

Laughter echoed around the rooftop, "You think I've been sitting on my ass all this time?"

Marcus snorted, "I know you have. Fisk is gone, and you're not at the top. Aleksei is gone, and some idiot is in his place. Even Shaw and you're playing houses with Parker. I trained you better than that Felicia."

There was the soft sound of footsteps, and Marcus spun, Khaos coated him and a fist struck out. Huntress caught it, and held it tightly, even as Khaos spun and tried to kick her in the head. She let him go, pushing him away and he came back at her with a waist-high kick.

She turned and drove her fist into his knee, hearing it crack, "I found someone better to teach me." As he staggered back, she went for his other leg, hitting the side of his knee, so he went down. As he fell, she caught him in the chest, knocking him back across the roof.

"Khaos was weak, so weak he couldn't even break you. Cassidy is ten years out of time, and he could hardly beat Matt. We grew up, Dad. We got better, fought conquerors, fought for the world. Retire, leave New York and I dunno," Huntress shrugged, "Sit on a beach and drink Mai Tais. It's not your world," she snorted, "and it's not your fight."

"You need me," Khao hissed.

Huntress laughed, squatting over him. She placed her hand against his chest.

I need Pete, I need everyone. I don't need you. She paused. You can't even hear me, can you?

She repeated the question out loud, and Khaos shook his head.

He is dead, only the powers remain. You should not let him rot in the coffin of your father.

Huntress stepped back. That was kinda deep Hunt. You been sneaking off to read while I'm sleeping?

Huntress laughed. Liv is very wise, and Gwen is very smart. With all that Pete pumps into you, some of it must have become brain cells.

Then you know we might actually need him. He is good at what he does.

Test him, see if he is worthy, and if he is, we will give him a new Symbiote.

"I took my clothes off for Playdude and made a cool million. Didn't show my ass or anything, well, I did but they didn't publish them."

"You...you whored yourself out? I taught you better than that." Khaos grasped his leg and it made a loud pop as it snapped back into place. "I'm disappointed."

Huntress shrugged, "Not as disappointed as I am Dad." She put her hand back on his chest and he groaned and grabbed at it. He struggled but was unable to lift her hand away as the pain radiated out from where she was touching him.

"No, you can't." He shook and grit his teeth. Huntress leached into his body, grabbing at Khaos and devouring him from within.

Felicia let her mask slide away. "Retire, please. I don't want to lose you a second time."

Marcus groaned, "I can help!"

Felicia smiled sadly, "Don't make this harder than it already is Dad. I won't watch you die. Not again."

Marcus bucked twice as Huntress fully devoured Khaos and the tendrils slid from his body. She stood and her costume covered her completely. "I'll wire you a million. If that won't do you, then you really are past it. Don't contact me, don't even try to go against me." Huntress sent out a webline, shimmered, and vanished, "Don't make me kill you again."

Marcus slumped back, too sore to move from the edge of the building. He growled in anger, smashing his hand against the roof. He knew he would have to retire one day, but today was not that day. He still had contacts within the underworld, being dead didn't clear some markers.

He knew the right people, once with the money and the know-how to turn a website into a business. It would give him a buy-in for a new group that was forming. Legacy was the result of a group of like-minded individuals who knew opportunity when they saw it. He would use that million to show her she still needed him. He might not have a Symbiote anymore, but he had access to better tech.

Ultron's Legacy would show her.

⁂

The atmosphere was subdued when the group met after work. There was still no word from Peter, and the tests they had run on the Space Bridge were not promising.

Liv had reached out to Reed Richards and promised him a very slow and painful death if he refused to share his data. He was belligerent, but Liv was not in a playing mood and so he capitulated. The Device was technically on loan from Wakanda, and Shuri threatened to withdraw it. That added pressure from Charles, and he folded. It was just a portal device after all. He now had several large working Space Bridges of his own. He just needed dimensional coordinates. That was not enough to stop Reed however, and he continued to experiment.

She checked the gun twice, and the Space Bridge, but couldn't replicate the accident. The Autobots were hesitant to allow further tests, and Liv understood. Peter would have to find his own way home.

"So, yeah," Felicia slid plates out onto the table. Wanda levitated over the pot of sauce and the pasta, "I saw my dad. Gwen?"

Gwen was lifting spoonfuls of pasta out onto plates for everyone, "Uh, he's next door. Until I can get to a bank and he finds somewhere to live, he is kinda homeless."

"I kicked my dad in the balls and threatened to kill him, so, yeah, go me." Felicia set out a pitcher of fruit juice and cut the block of cheese ready for grating.

MJ checked her phone, "and mine hasn't made contact. Um, Liv?"

"I can hack the phone directory, and the city electoral roll, or even ask Coulson. The last one will probably be the easiest but the costliest. I swear that man is grumpier than Fury."

"He was his second in command. So he had to deal with his own grumpiness and Fury's, oh and Hills." MJ piled a spoon of sauce over her pasta, stirred it on and then grabbed the grater and block. "But, nah. If he doesn't know how to get in touch, then he doesn't want to."

Liv smiled and patted her on the hand, "It's up to you, oh and me next." She took the grater and cheese.

There was a knock on the doorway, and Gwen looked over. Her dad was pointing at the lock, at the food, and then at himself. Gwen rolled her eyes. "I think my Dad isn't used to being a bachelor, so uh, anyone mind?"

Nobody at the table minded, or at least that was what Gwen took the series of mouthfuls of pasta grunts. She stood and unlocked the tunnel door, "You need a microwave dad, you can't come round every night."

George smiled, "Of course I can honey. Nobody minds right?" George walked past her and sat down in front of her bowl, "great, and who do I have to thank for this?"

Wanda waved her fork as she lifted a slice of garlic bread. George paled as he saw her using her powers.

"Yes Dad, Augment, she has powers. Everyone here does." Gwen took an extra bowl out and sat in Peter's seat, "If that's a problem."

"No, No. It's fine, it's fine, brave new world and all that." He added more cheese to the already large pile on Gwen's plate and mixed it in. "So, MJ and Felicia I recognise, but Miss and uh Miss I guess."

"Right, band-aid time Dad. MJ, Felica you know, this is Wanda, she's an Augment and a witch. So am I, as we discovered that magic is real. Liv is Olivia Octavius and no, she isn't a criminal, and yes we're all sleeping together, and with Pete. Oh, and we have five more. Natasha, Jean, Laura, Shuri, who's a Queen, and Hela, who's an alien, but refuses to sleep with anyone until Pete." Gwen rolled her eyes. "claims her."

George slowly put his fork down.

"Oh and I posed nude for Playdude, and you can see everything. But I did wear a mask so the NYPD didn't give me crap as I'm your daughter." Gwen smiled. "Did I miss anything?"

"Peter is currently lost in some kind of dimensional rift, and we have no idea where he is." Liv raised her fork as she remembered something, "Oh, and we have a bathhouse."

George put his fork down as Gwen smiled sweetly at him, "Is that fruit juice?" Felicia nodded, and George lifted his glass, "Can you add alcohol to it, as I think I might start day drinking."

Liv laughed and opened the drawer in front of her. "Gwen also has an illegal still and we make our own moonshine." She lifted out a flask and handed it to George.

George opened it, sniffed it, and poured two fingers worth into his glass. He topped it up with fruit juice and took a sip. "Really Gwen, a still? Do you know how illegal that is?"

Gwen set her own fork down, "The still, so you don't care I have multiple partners, or I'm Bi, or powered, or that I posed nude. The still is what upsets you."

George sighed, "I know I can be a bit of a hardass Gwen, but I was under a lot of pressure. You grew into a fine young woman and I would feel wrong to chastise you." He briefly flicked a glance at Felicia. "Plus, when she was alive, before you were born, your mother and I were swingers. Seven-inch Stacy they called me."

Gwen went bright red, "Dad...what...uh...what!"

"Or you know. Felicia sent Natasha’s mother a message, and she explained what you do, and how I shouldn't judge you. And then she suggested that sometimes you are still that little brat I remember and needed to be taken down a peg."