❝the spider is a repairer

if you bash into the web of a spider, she doesn't get mad

she weaves and repairs it❞

- louise bourgeois

THE FRAGILE WEB of life, set from birth, everyone endlessly entangled in it, as it provides stability and structure to everyday lives. until one day the entanglement becomes too much, the stickiness entrapping you until your frantic struggles are pointless, the spider knows.           there's a meal waiting.

ARLETTE VOLKOV WAS stuck in a web of her own, entangled deep within the Red Room, within the Black Widow program with no end in sight. it was all she had ever known, with no recollection of any family or friends there was no one outside to even help her, hence it was better to stay and commit unspeakable acts than outside of the organisation and go dark.  

ALTHOUGH IT WAS rare that she even had the ability to decide to stay, as the various widows she trained with weren't that lucky. the generation of widows that were chemically subjugated to do dreykov's bidding instead of merely brainwashed had all been successful except for her. 

SHE HADN'T REALISED it straight away, initially unaware of what she was being trained to do, until she noticed the little things, like how she had a blossoming seed of hesitation and doubt at everything she was asked to complete that the others simply didn't have and how her movements weren't as fine-tuned and synchronised as the other trainees. until like the other black widows before her, she was stuck, her immense exposure to the worst crimes someone could do, brainwashing her into becoming the perfect black widow. 

UNTIL ONE DAY on a routine mission to Budapest, a certain blonde friend and her avenger sister offer Arlette a chance to escape the web and maybe even break it apart once and for all. 

STARRING...

parveen kaur as arlette 'arlie' volkov

(the divergent)

florence pugh as yelena belova

(the best friend)

scarlett johansson as natasha romanoff

(the avenger)

alicia vikander as aquila cadman

(the avenger's girlfriend)

&&

the black widow cast as their respective characters

the twists of fate series cast as their respective characters

disclaimer

i do not own 'black widow' or the rights to marvel. the rights all belong to the mcu as well as characters belong to stan lee, steve ditko and any other rightful owners. i do however own arlette volkov and her plot line as well as any other oc that appears within this story. 

mild swearing, violence and other mature themes are included within this book. if this upsets you in any way please do not continue.

author's note

stuck in a spider's web is a part of my marvel series - twists of fate. it is also a companion book to my natasha romanoff fic bird set free. you do not have to read this series to understand plot lines within this book although the backstory of aquila cadman and the relationship between her and nat in particular is explained in bird set free if you are interested. this book takes place within the mcu movie 'black widow'.

i watched black widow in cinemas a week ago and fell in love with the incredible yelena belova and her one liners. canonically, yelena is ace as well as heavily implied to be aro and I wish to respect her sexuality within this story. i understand that you can be aro and still be in relationships just as you can also be ace while having a sexual relationship as both asexuality and aromanticism is a spectrum. however, at this point in time, the relationship between arlette and yelena will be strictly platonic although this may change in the future as I broaden my knowledge. please let me know at any time if i am offending you or not displaying yelena's sexuality correctly through the comments or in a private message.

thank you so much for reading this book! i'm looking forward to getting to flesh out arlette and her story! 

first published: 20/07/2020

completed: