To Make a Concubine

Otto briefly considered commanding her to leave the blanket, but decided he'd tormented her enough for the time being. If she wanted it, he'd let her have it. It was a harmless thing, anyway, and he didn't really want the others looking at her body. Max was still stationed on the couch, only now he was eating a bag of cheetos. He was watching the TV Guide channel. Otto stopped at the foot of the stairs with Ginny behind him. "That's bad for your attention span, you know."

Max glanced up and scowled. "If I wanted your opinion, I'd ask, Ock." Beside him Flint appeared to echo the sentiment. Norman came in from the kitchen, Peter behind him, trying to be invisible. Ginny averted her eyes, obeying her promise.

"I do have something I need to speak to all of you about, but first, Norman. I'd appreciate it if you'd tell your protégé to keep out of the labs while I'm working. I hate interruptions."

Norman nodded. "I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

Max and Flint turned their eyes back to the TV, prepared to ignore Otto, but a sharp word from Norman got their attention, and they listened with ill grace.

"I'm almost ready to begin construction, but I need DNA samples from all of you, especially you, Flint."

Max groaned. "Will this take long? Mythbusters is on in an hour and they're going to blow up a-"

"It will take as long as I need it to take, Maxwell," Otto interrupted. "But the more cooperative you are, the faster it will be done. And I think it will be worth it when you can use your powers again."

"He makes a good point," said Flint, stretching and getting off the couch. "Do you know how exhausting this is? I still have to work damn hard to control my sand. Let's go."

Otto led them upstairs, even though the laboratory was fully equipped with the needed resources, afraid the two hooligans might damage something. "Question, Flint: How long have you had your abilities?"

"Not sure. What year is it?"

Otto raised an eyebrow. "It's 2005..."

"Little more than two years, then?" He followed him into the medical lab. "Hammer didn't exactly give me a calendar."

Otto had known many of the scientists Hammer had working for him were little more than competent, but this was still a bit of a surprise. "And you still can't completely control them?"

He looked resentful. "It's only for the last few months I've been able to hold human form again."

"Hn..." The possibilities were endless. He knew he had to finish his current project first, but there were so many ideas rushing through his head right then. "Well, if time allows, I may be able to do something about that, as well."

"That'd be great..." He sounded a little surprised, and cautious.

Max, who was bringing up the rear, zipped past Ock to walk in front of him. "You'd better not do anything to fuck up my powers."

"Why do you think I'd do that, Maxwell?"

"Oh, maybe because you're a pretentious asshole?" Ginny, who had been in front of Octavius, edged against the wall to avoid the mutant. "Just nothing funny."

The doctor held up his organic hands in a peaceful gesture. "You have my word. Now, since you are in such a hurry to get out of here, you get to go first." Otto pulled two chairs over with his tentacles and gestured to one. "Sit."

Ginny hid in a corner as the men took their seats. Max's eyes followed her.

Peter was especially nervous about having Octopus mess around with his DNA. He couldn't help but remember the sharp jab in his shoulder when the doctor had stolen his blood the first time. He also couldn't stand seeing that poor woman hiding in the corner like that, and Octavius didn't even seem to care.

Otto took the tourniquet from his actuator. He knew where Max was looking, and when he tied it, he gave it an extra jerk. It was a passive aggressive thing to do, but the doctor didn't mind. He grabbed Max's wrist with another actuator and turned his arm to expose the underside of his elbow. One of his tentacles cleaned the site with alcohol and he used his human hand to insert the needle.

"Hey, take it easy! I have to use that arm!" Max jerked his hand back once he was done, rubbing the site. "I hate doctors," he muttered. Flint rolled his eyes at him.

"Pussy," he muttered, and he made it a point not to move at all when Otto repeated the process on him. Norman was cooperative, merely amused by the others' antics. Peter would have resisted, but he knew it'd do him no good, so he held his arm out for Otto when his turn came. "What... how is this going to work?" He asked, trying to sound interested rather than anxious.

"How's what going to work?" Otto asked distractedly.

"What are you going to do with the DNA?"

"Turn you all into my zombie brain puppets." It was a joke, though a stupid one, but Otto's voice remained dry and flat.

Peter stared at him for a moment. "You know," he said, not smiling. "I have no idea if you're joking or not. Because that totally sounds like something you'd do."

Otto didn't smile either as he finished taking the blood sample. "Details are reserved on a strict need-to-know basis. The only person I will discuss them with is Norman." He still didn't entirely trust the youth.

"Did you take hers?" Norman asked out of the blue, rolling his own sleeve back down and buttoning the cuff.

Otto's head snapped around to look at Norman. "What?"

He tilted his head toward Ginny. "Take a sample from her, too."

He looked from Osborn, to Ginny, and back again. "Why?"

"Because I want to know more about her."

Otto felt the paranoia and protectiveness rising up in him again. "I already told you she doesn't have any powers, and if she did she would have used them by now. You know her name and why I have her here. What more do you want?"

Norman didn't look patient. "Just do it. What can it hurt?"

"You're a smart man, Osborn, and I know you have more going on in your head than you let on. It could hurt a lot."

Peter watched the two men argue. So did Ginny.

"Just take the blood sample."

Otto glared at Norman, but conceded, turning to Ginny and gesturing her over. She came forward, still wrapped in her blanket. She gave Max and Flint a wide, wide berth before stopping in front of Octavius, extricating one arm from the quilt and holding it out before he even had to ask. Peter winced at the show of submission.

He repeated the process on her, gentle despite his silent, seething anger toward Norman at the moment. Her skin was very pale in the fluorescent lighting. His eyes traced the soft blue lines of her veins briefly before he slid the needle under her skin. The red of her blood was a familiar sight.

She watched his face, barely flinching when he drew her blood. Her arm was warm in his hand, and the only blemishes were bruises and scars of his own making. He had marked her irrevocably.

When he finished her, he turned to Norman. "Happy?" He asked as his tentacles began putting things in order behind him.

"Just fine," said Norman, smiling. "Good job."

"Can we go?" whined Max.

Otto rolled his eyes. "Yes, you can go. You could have gone as soon as I finished."

"Good. Come on, Flint, time for explosions." The two left, and Norman more slowly behind them.

Otto completely ignored the boy as he went about preparing to transport the samples down to the lab. He hated Norman at the moment for making him take her blood. He knew the man was up to something. It didn't occur to him, however, that this must be how Ginny felt when he pushed her around. He honestly believed her absence of mutant powers made her a lower animal, and higher animals kept lower animals as pets. She couldn't survive without him, anyway. The predators would get her if he didn't keep her safe. He wasn't really going to kill her, at least he didn't imagine he would, he'd just wanted to scare her before.

Peter lingered. "Listen, Ock, I won't try to interfere anymore, just.... please, she's a human being...."

Ginny stared at the floor, wishing fervently that he would shut up and leave.

"I'm well aware of that, Mr. Parker." Otto hoped that by being brief and cold the boy would just shut up and go away.

"I don't think you are..." he persisted. "I mean, I wouldn't even treat a dog the way you've been treating her."

Ginny covered her ears, screwing her eyes shut. He was going to get her beaten.

The doctor glanced at the girl and smirked. "Well I'd hope you wouldn't do to a dog what I do to her. I still hold you in somewhat higher regard than that."

The boy turned red. "You're sick," he whispered fervently.

Otto shrugged. "Besides, aside from that, what do you know about how I treat her? Because she didn't inform me that she told you anything else, and if she did then I'd be forced to do something about it. Keep in mind I was letting her get away with talking to you the first time, but she got in trouble when you interfered yesterday. I still haven't done much about it, but do you really want to press your luck? And hers?"

He really looked like he wanted to say more. But he swallowed it, looking as though he'd rather make Otto swallow his teeth. Ginny was still standing perfectly still, her eyes squeezed shut and her hands over her ears, denying that he was even in the room.

He finished packing up the samples and lifted the cooler they were in with a tentacle as he held an organic hand out to Ginny. "Time to go."

She looked up, inadvertently revealing that she had been listening, and hurried to his side. Peter watched her with an anguished expression. "Miss... I'm sorry," he started to say, but she made a pained sound and buried her face against Otto, covering her ears again.

"You see? There's nothing you can do, and your so-called heroics only make it worse. So why don't you quit while you're still ahead." Otto put an arm around the blanket-clad figure and pushed the teenager aside with an actuator as he strode into the hall.

They left Parker behind, staring after them. Ginny shivered. She knew, she knew that Spider-Man was her best hope of salvation, but not if she was beaten to death for interacting with him.

Otto made sure the door to the lab was closed and locked before he began sorting and storing the blood samples. There were cold storage lockers on one wall, and with the help of his tentacles the job was done in no time. He turned to Ginny and pulled her to him with the tentacles. After petting her cheek with his thumb and staring into her crystal blue eyes for a moment, he embraced her with his human arms as well and kissed her, deep and lazily.

She submitted, not resisting when he slipped his tongue into her mouth. Her eyes stayed open. She could never trust his mood, never trust what he was going to do next.

Otto finished tasting her breath and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "How is my pet?" He ran his hand down the arm he'd taken the blood from to demonstrate what he was asking about specifically.

"It doesn't hurt," she said, withdrawing her arm into the blanket again.

"I don't know what he thinks he's up to, but I won't let him..." It was unclear whether he was talking to her or himself. "But really, neither of us has gotten any real air in a while. How do you feel about going outside?"

"I would like that," she murmured, looking down. Out of this house, away from Max and Flint and the dichotomy of Spider-Man. Ginny's heart leapt slightly.

He smiled an almost honestly affectionate smile, instead of just the usual possessive, smug, or superior one. "Yes, I figured as much. You'll have to leave the blanket here, but you can have it again when we return."

Reluctantly, Ginny unwound it from around herself and folded it neatly, leaving it on her stool in the corner. Bereft of its bulk, she looked tiny again. "What time is it, please?" She asked politely.

Something about her question, or the way she stated it, made his heart pound, but in a good way. "Just past noon." Otto put his arm around her as he led her to the door. "Why, is something wrong?" His urge to protect her and his desire to make her do everything he said were warring inside him all the time.

"Just curious," she said as he led her out. So it had been more than a full day since they left SHIELD. And they hadn't been found yet. Not even a close call. And he felt secure enough here to take her outside... She felt as if something was dying inside. No one would ever find her.

The wind was a bit stronger on the beach side of the house, but it was a cool contrast to the noon-high sun. The wooden stairs clumped under his feet as he led her down to the soft sand. The salt smell of the ocean and the fresh air were exquisite, but the sun aggravated his eyes, even with his glasses. Holding Ginny's hand, he walked down to where the dark line separated the wet sand from the dry sand and turned to walk parallel to the sea. "Do you remember your first trip to the beach?"

"No," she said after a moment, walking alongside him. She hadn't seen the ocean from the windows above, but they were on the other side of the house. She looked out to sea, but there was nothing there but horizon. Under her bare feet, the sand felt surprisingly good. So did the sun. Everything felt sharper somehow, more acute.

He cocked his head at her, admiring the way her hair drifted around her face. "Have you ever been to a beach before?"

"Yes. All the time... My grandparents had a beach house." It was very like this, actually. The beach was similar.

"Were your grandparents semi-famous too?" It was a reference to her uncle. She shook her head, drawing a line in the sand with her foot. Otto watched the graceful motions of her bare feet, almost fascinated. "What did you do at the beach?"

"Built forts." She actually smiled. "My dad and my brother and me built log forts."

He was even more enthralled with her smile. "Tell me more, dear. Don't force me to lead you with questions."

Her smile faded, and she looked up at the line of logs at the top of the beach, tossed there by that year's storms. "We built one, just a few years ago... It was three floors tall, a real tower. So amazing, to be all the way up there, and know it was something I'd helped build. Like I was above everything...."

He stared along with her, his eyes far off, as if he was trying to see it. Finally he turned away with an annoyed little scowl on his face and tugged her along with him. He'd never gone outside much as a kid, and when he had, he hadn't enjoyed it much. Sure, he was enjoying it now, or at least the fresh air. The sun was still bugging him a bit.

She stumbled after him, leaving three intersecting lines toed into the sand. "You asked," she protested, somewhat scared of his irritation.

"I wish it were cloudier. Something always bothers me when I go outside. Sometimes I wonder why I continue to bother." His voice was flat.

"I like the sun," she said meekly.

"Yes, well, you can still see," he snapped, a little more sharply than he intended.

"What happened to your eyes?" She found the courage to ask. The scars on his face were her first memory of him.

Otto realized that even with the huge deal he made about Justin Hammer, he never explained what he was pissed about. "The explosion at the Oscorp laboratory melted my eyes and fused my actuators to my body. Hammer caused it."

"That's why you killed him?" She remembered the breathless night of watching him on the news in that dark waiting room. The night before Pym had taken her away.

Otto tilted his head at her. "So he did die. Good, he deserved it." His voice was callous. "He's responsible for the other two, you know, and indirectly for Norman. Who knows how many others..."

"Pym said...." She ducked her head, letting her hair swing forward to hide her face. The wind tangled it. "Pym said I was guilty as an accomplice to his murder, because I knew where you were going and didn't tell the police. But I never told him I knew anything."

He looked down at the sand for a moment before asking, "Did they ever find out that I came by to see you? You're not in trouble, dear, I'm just curious."

She shook her head, drawing in the sand with her foot again. "No."

Otto nodded, watching her feet. "I see." He let go of her hand and slipped an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. His other hand caressed her jaw and turned her face so he could see her eyes. He just stood there, looking at her and petting her face. What he wanted to see was what shade of blue her eyes really were, but it was too bright outside to take off the glasses. He'd look later.

Peter was sitting in one of the big front windows, looking out at the beach. The boy could see them out there. He couldn't see them in any great detail anymore, but his chest tightened when he watched Octavius pull her closer. Peter watched as the doctor leaned down and kissed her forehead, her cheeks, and then her mouth. It made him sick so he turned his face away and started picking forlornly at the hem on his jeans. There was nothing he could do for her, but he wanted so badly to help her, to make Octavius stop.

Footsteps came behind him, and Norman's hand fell on his shoulder. "It bothers you, doesn't it, Peter?"

Peter hugged his knees to his chest and hid his face in them. "You wouldn't understand. Just leave me alone..."

The hand tightened slightly, then let go. "You might be surprised." Norman pulled over a chair, sitting beside him, looking out.

It was an uncomfortable situation for the boy, but he couldn't talk to any of the others and he couldn't keep it inside himself. He took a moment to compose his thoughts, still not looking at Norman. "I can't... I can't look at them... knowing what's going on... I can't sit and do nothing, but anything I do will just make it worse..." He left out the part about how last time he did nothing, Ben had died.

"The lot of a hero," Osborn said mildly. "Everything you do to try to make the world better, there's a backlash somewhere, isn't there?"

Peter felt anger boiling in him again. "How can you just watch? You could make him stop, but you won't."

"I couldn't now," he said, watching the pair on the beach. "We can't let her go, you know. She's here, she's heard our plans."

The boy's heart fell even further. "Can't you still, like, I don't know, take her away from him or something?"

"If I did, I would have to watch her constantly to keep the other two away from her. And I would lose Otto's cooperation, which we need."

The teenager went silent as he thought all of this through. There still had to be something. He could watch her himself, but Norman still felt Otto's cooperation was more important than her safety and well being. However, Peter did feel she was probably marginally safer with only Octavius than with the other two. "So what am I supposed to do?" He finally asked in a barely audible voice.

"Look the other way," he said gently. "Don't see her. She's the one who pays for your interference." He sounded disapproving, if mildly so. "And you have to set your priorities. Cooperating with us, you're protecting your aunt and Mary Jane. And her, in a way. Octavius would never let her be taken from him and live."

Peter shivered but nodded slowly, defeated. "Okay... Okay, I'll leave it alone..."

Norman smiled, paternal and sympathetic. "Good boy. Now, would you like to come help me with something that might improve her lot in life? You were good in the lab, yes?"

"Yes..." Peter answered hesitantly. "What... what are you going to do?"

"Otto believes he can do this to her because she is less than we are. Which is true. But we might be able to make her more." His grin sharpened, and he looked rather like the Norman Osborn he had been before all of this.

The grin gave Peter chills. He didn't condone experimenting on her, but with powers she'd be able to fight back. She might even be able to escape. He had no reason to believe that, once she had the means, she wouldn't do something about her situation. "It won't hurt her, right?" He asked as he stood up.

"Did it hurt you?" Norman asked, leaving the room and heading for the lab, trusting the boy to follow.

He rubbed the back of his hand where the spider had bitten him as he followed Osborn. "Not really, no."

"She'll be fine."

Ginny, had she heard him, would disagree. Nothing was fine.

After they'd come in from the beach, Otto had taken her upstairs to eat and drink. She hadn't eaten either, and she'd eaten even less than he had over the last two days. Her messy hair was bothering him, too. After she ate he'd straighten her out in the bathroom, maybe play with his toy a little, as well.

She sat on the bed, her mind elsewhere and her eyes on the floor. On the beach, she'd thought of running into the water. Putting an end to this. But she knew he wouldn't even allow that. There was sand on her feet, and she connected the dots with her eyes rather than look anywhere else. She picked idly at the food, still utterly without appetite.

"Eat, Ginny, you'll need your strength." Otto had finished already and he was sitting on the other side of the bed, drinking a bottle of water and watching her. "Or perhaps I need to tie you down and shove a feeding tube down your throat. Either way, I won't allow you to starve yourself."

She took a bigger bite, her only visible reaction. The food seemed to stick in her throat. "You don't need to do that," she said softly after she swallowed. "I'm eating."

He continued to watch her in silence until she finished. Setting aside his empty bottle, he stood and gestured over his shoulder at her as he walked into the bathroom. "Come along."

She did so, listlessly getting to her feet and slouching after him. She felt apathetic. The food felt heavy in her stomach.

"Take off your clothes," Otto commanded as he turned on the shower, not looking back at her.

She tugged a hand through her hair before unbuttoning her shirt, slipping out of her clothes. She didn't know if his promise not to touch her still stood. He had kissed her on the beach, and held her, so it probably didn't. Goosebumps rose on her skin, despite the warm room.

"Get in." Otto stripped off his shirt and unclasped the harness on his actuators, revealing the nasty scar tissue once more. He also dug through the drawers and pulled out a comb and a razor, laying them on the counter.

She checked the water and adjusted the temperature before she got in, making it a little cooler. She didn't look at him, but there were so many mirrors in the room that she couldn't avoid seeing him.

The doctor stood at the edge of the tub and handed her the razor. He didn't bother giving her a verbal command. He felt the action spoke for itself.

It did. She looked at the razor in her hand for a moment, and then took the soap and sat down on the ledge on the shower, lathering her legs. Self-consciously, she began to shave, and then looked up at him. "It would be easier if you weren't watching me," she suggested nervously. Otto didn't speak and he didn't move. After a minute, she sighed and bent to the task again, doing a slow, careful job.

As she finished, he took off the rest of his clothes, picked up the comb, and stepped into the shower with her. "Stand in that corner and face the wall," he told her. It was the same corner he'd pinned her in last time.

Setting the razor on the floor outside the shower, she got back to her feet and stood in the corner, her hands against the wall. Her back was rigid, tense at his proximity. Wet and naked, she felt even weaker.

Otto picked up the shampoo and ran it through her hair again. She was so small next to him. Her head only came up to about his chest, and her skin was glistening with water. He gently coaxed her to tilt her head back and took down the shower head to rinse her hair. When he replaced it and started the conditioner he commented, "You're tense." He ran the comb through her conditioner slick hair, untangling it.

She shut her eyes against the water and the soap. "A little," she said, an understatement. She could feel the warmth from his body even above the heat from the shower.

"What are you afraid of?" He asked in a calm voice, combing her hair with an almost perfectly smooth, even rhythm.

She let her head tip farther back as he pulled out the tangles. "You've asked me that before."

"I mean, what are you afraid of at this moment? That is why you're tense, yes?"

"I don't want to be in here, with you, naked...." She barely said the last word, just a shaped breath.

His heart picked up speed in his chest. He removed the last tangle and brushed her hair behind her ear. Leaning down until his lips almost brushed it, he whispered. "You don't want me to touch you again..." She nodded, moving closer to the wall. He followed her, pressing his body against the back of hers. "But, my dear, would you rather I break your wrists for speaking to Parker? And whatever else I might have done because of what you told him?"

Her breath started to come faster, her chest pressed against the tile wall. "No... I'm sorry for talking to him.... Please, you hadn't told me not to yet."

Otto backed away from her again and took down the shower head to rinse her hair. "It should be a given that you not go around discussing what we do in private with the likes of him."

She shivered, though the water was warm. Her shoulder blades stood up sharply from her back as she hugged herself. "I won't do it again," she promised.

"I know you won't, but at the same time it's too late, isn't it?" His free hand switched the shower to one of the five massage modes, picking one that was hard, but still gentle. "It's trade time again, Ginny." Starting just under where her arms crossed, he pressed the shower head to her skin and ran it slowly down her body. "It's this or punishment at the claws of my tentacles." He continued until the shower head was pressed against her sex. "Come on, dear, pick one."

She jumped as if electrified, but didn't try to get away. She was trembling hard now. "This," she whispered. She didn't want to bleed again.

"Mm... that's what I thought." He pressed against her back again and started kissing, sucking, and biting her neck carefully. His other hand came up and fondled the hot flesh of her breast, running his thumb around her nipple.

She stood as still as she could, turning her face away from him. The pulsing water between her legs made sensation race through her, making her feel warmer still. Her nipple hardened against his hand. Her face turned red as she realized that he was arousing her body, no matter what her mind might want.

His breath deepened and he could almost feel his blood rushing south. He turned her around so her back was against the wall, somehow managing to keep the shower head in place, and looked down into her flushed face through his water speckled glasses. He took one of her pink peaks in his mouth and teased it with his tongue. Repositioning the shower head slightly, his other hand slid down the wet planes of her body and two fingers probed their way inside of her.

She jumped again, and opened her mouth to plead for him to stop, but his actuators caught her eye, on the floor by the sink, and she bit her lip instead, tipping her head back against the wall. She was tight around his fingers, and slick.

When he decided her body was ready, he put the shower back in its holder and lifted her small frame easily. "Wrap your legs around me," he whispered in a raspy voice as he entered her.

She kept her head tipped back, her teeth clenched. She wrapped her legs around his waist, trying not to cry as her body tightened around him.

One arm stayed wrapped around her back, just under her shoulder blades, and his other arm helped hold her up. He pressed her into the corner made by the wet tiles and started grinding against her with slow, deep motions. "You're a good girl," he moaned. "A good little pet..."

Ginny sobbed, wrapping her arms around his neck. She tried to hold herself up, but he was slippery and so was she. She moaned as he penetrated her deeper, and pushed her hips against him helplessly. Her body wouldn't cooperate with her mind to resist him.

"Beg me for it, Ginny," Otto commanded in her ear, holding her tighter and picking up speed slightly.

"For what?" She asked breathlessly, her voice higher.

"More," was his dark, breathy reply.

"Please," she moaned, shutting her eyes. Her breath hitched. It was all becoming too much. "Please, give me more, Octopus...." Her hips thrust against his. "Harder...."

"My name's Otto," he growled but still moved harder, pushing her faster, nearing his climax. He was surrounded with heat and steam and it was building up on him.

Her back slid against the tile as he thrust, and she let her head tip forward, her forehead against his, moving with him now. "Harder," she murmured again, shuddering around him. So close to something....

Otto did as she asked, lifted higher when he felt her body responding. He kissed her, deep and possessively, before burying his face her neck and groaning aloud as he filled her hot chasm at last.

She moved against him a few more times, mindlessly seeking her own release, and then slowed until she was just clinging to him. She felt weak and slack.

He slid out of her and set her on her feet, still holding her close. His forehead was against hers and his eyes were closed. "Did you come?" He murmured breathlessly.

She shook her head, still coming down off the surfeit of sensation. But she knew she had been close...

For a moment, Otto opened his eyes and scowled at her in a rather accusatory manner. The look faded quickly under the afterglow and he closed his eyes again. It was about his pleasure anyway, not hers, and he was thoroughly satisfied. "Hn... maybe next time..." he murmured and stood there for a while in the spray, hugging her warm wet body and resting his forehead on hers.

Ginny leaned against him, catching her breath. She felt dirty, soiled. She definitely enjoyed some of that, or her body had, and that sickened her. She missed the moment of irritation, because her own eyes were shut. And she didn't want to think about next time.

Finally, with a protesting groan, Otto released her and stepped onto the bath mat, commanding his tentacles to hand him a towel. He had to go back to work, no matter how much he'd rather stay here in this moment with his pet. Without looking back at her, he had the tentacles towel him off as he dressed. Multitasking was becoming a habit with him. It was getting harder for him to do things without thinking how much easier or faster they could be done with his invention.

She stepped out after him, sidling past him to get a towel of her own and retreating into a corner of the bathroom with her pile of clothes. Her face was still red, and she wouldn't look at him.

Otto glanced up at her as he re-secured the harness. "One would think you'd be used to it by now."

She shook her head mutely, pulling her clothes on when she was barely dry, jerking them on hastily. You don't get used to something like that.

"Aw, Ginny dear..." Otto pulled on his shirt and strode across the room, taking her chin in hand. "You're not the first woman I've ever seen naked." His eyes flicked over her, remembering what was now hidden by clothing. "Though you are one of the more attractive ones..." He smiled. "Shall we return to the underworld, Persephone?"

"I sung that part once," she murmured, still not meeting his eyes.

A very interested expression crossed Otto's face as he led her out of the bathroom. "Really, now? Well, perhaps I'll have you sing it for me while I work, hm?"

She shouldn't have told him that. "It was years ago.... My audition piece."

He gave her a sideways look. "Are you trying to tell me you don't remember it all? Or are you simply volunteering some information about your life?"

She shook her head. "Don't remember it. Just the chorus, and I didn't even sing that part...."

Otto put an arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. "We'll think of something for you to sing. It would be a shame to let such a voice go to waste."

Ginny shook her head. "I'd rather have you screw me than sing for you again," she murmured. After all, he'd proven he was going to have his way with her body no matter how cooperative she tried to be.

Otto stopped walking and turned to look at her. "You'd rather I ignore you except for when I take you?" He smirked. "You really are a harlot..."

She looked up at him. "Singing is what I do for me. Just me."

He thought about this. "And you'd rather suffer at the claws of my tentacles than sing?"

She turned pale, but she stood resolute. She had to draw a line somewhere, or he'd own her soul.

"Hn..." He put his arm around her, draping a tentacle across her shoulders. "We could strike a deal on the subject, then. I'll let you have your songs, but only that. You'll have to do anything and everything else I tell you without question, and you'll have to do it as though there's nothing more or less you'd rather be doing. Clear?"

"You want me to lie to you?" She said before she could stop herself.

"I want you to play the part of my perfectly willing, perfectly obedient little pet."

"I.... I don't know if I can do that," she said honestly.

"Then obviously keeping your songs to yourself is not as important as you claim."

She balled her fists, her nails digging into her palms, but all she said was "I'll try."

"You won't try, you will," he pressed as they reached the top of the basement stairs. "The minute you do not, whatever may remain of your fragile little world will come crashing down around you."

She paused there, just looking at him. She opened her mouth. What more could you do? was evident on her face, but she was wise enough not to give him the challenge.

He sent her a smug smile and tugged her into motion again. Something in the window caught his eye before the door opened. He stepped through the door, masking his sudden surge of hostility behind a placid facade. "This is... a surprise, Norman." Otto didn't ask what he and the boy were doing there, waiting to see if either would volunteer the information.

They were both working in a far corner, over a microscope. Peter looked up, guilty. His eyes flicked to Ginny and away, pretending she wasn't there. Norman just smiled. "Just a small project, Otto," he said smoothly. "We'll stay out of your way."

Otto eyed them both suspiciously for a moment. What kind of project could they be working on? He didn't trust Osborn, not after he'd asked for Ginny's blood, but he grudgingly released her to do as she would and went about his own work. Norman couldn't use his powers, and even with the chip, Otto could build it so he could turn it on and off at will. Flint's was going to be the trickiest, though, so the doctor started with his blood.

Ginny claimed her stool in the farthest corner, with a tall cabinet between herself and the other two. She couldn't see them, and they couldn't see her. Peter was glad of this. He felt ill just being in the same room and doing nothing. He bent back to the work Osborn was doing, hoping he was doing the right thing. He barely even knew what that was anymore.