Widow

The Doctor wasn't sure what kind of answer to expect from the woman, but she hoped she would accept help. Clearly, she was in need of some sort of help, at least. She waited, patiently as she good, and gave a bright smile when she finally got an answer.

IT WAS DIFFICULT not to be at least a little skeptical of the woman's enthusiasm, though as far as Minerva could tell, she did genuinely seem to want to help. She hesitated for a moment, then took the outstretched hand, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet.

She didn't really buy the other woman's answer. "You don't look fine" the Doctor commented with a little frown. "That looks pretty bad." She studied the woman for a minute, then moved over to sit down next to her.

MINERVA STUDIED THE WOMAN, curious, yet skeptical. She wasn't entirely certain what to make of her, but at least for the time being, she didn't seem to mean any harm. She seemed to genuinely want to help, and despite Minerva's reluctance to trust people, reluctance to accept help from anyone, she found herself slowly nodding in response.

M.K. WAS HURTING. It had been a several days since he had been rescued and saved from the brink of death. He still couldn't bring himself to speak to Tilda or Bajie or anyone else who might have been his friend before he was brainwashed by Pilgrim.

But throughout all of the heartache, he had found a confidant in the most unlikely of people: Minerva.

Everyone called her the Widow. He himself had gotten used to calling her that, or sometimes just "Monster". That was what she had seemed like to him when she was abusing and torturing him.

When she stabbed him, leading to his near-death.

But she seemed so different now. Throughout the past few days, she had been waiting on him hand and foot, and dealing with his snapping, and validating all of the accusations and insults that he threw at her. She still hadn't said sorry, but the word didn't seem to be in her vocabulary at all for anyone. Actions spoke louder than words to her, it seemed.

Still, he found himself gritting his teeth and waiting for her to ask him to do something for her, and discovering that she had a new plot or that she needed him for something, or that this was all just some sort of revenge scheme for what he did to Tilda.

He was just waiting for all of her kindness to be used against him in some way.

Until he decided that two could play at that game.

He asked Tilda to help him bake a special treat for Minerva (he and Tilda had repaired their relationship and were growing back together), and decided to surprise Minerva with it at her door.

He was almost afraid to knock, but forced himself to do so, raising a shaky fist to tap it gently against her door.

"Minerva," he said, in an oddly strained voice with what was clearly forced happiness. "It's M.K.. I have something for you."

He hated being back there. The room where she had him tortured. It made him sick.

THE ROOM HAD BEEN CAGED ONCE, but not any longer. In place of what had once been a wall of bars was now a simple wall, a simple wooden door. Everything within the room had been discarded, leaving it empty save for a couch and a small table. Some days, she regretted that. Some days, Minerva thought it might be beneficial to have somewhere she could be locked away. The Gift gave her nothing but fear now, fear that it would cause her to hurt someone she cared for -- or worse.

Now it was simply the room she went to in order to be on her own. Gaius, at the very least, new not to bother her when she was there. It had become a hiding place of sorts, somewhere she would go to avoid everyone, usually when she felt particularly ill.

That was the case today -- to matter what she tried, the nausea wouldn't seem to subside, and so she had resorted to hiding away, doing her best to ignore it.

Minerva had been on her own in that room for several hours when she heard a tentative knock at the door, MK's voice following a moment later. She pulled the door open, a concerned expression settling across her features as she looked at the boy.

"You really should still be resting..." she commented, though arguing with him, even about something like that, was the last thing she wanted to do.

❝Whoa, hey, you okay there?❞

❝Please don’t pass out on me–❞

❝Stay with me.❞

❝I think you need to lay down.❞  

❝I need to lay down. Like, now.❞

❝Can you help me sit down?❞

❝I think I’m gonna pass out.❞

❝I don’t feel so good…❞

❝I can’t move.❞

❝I can’t sit up.❞

❝Why is the room spinning?❞

❝When’s the last time you slept?❞

❝Do you need to eat something?❞

❝When’s the last time you ate?❞

❝I think I just need to eat something.❞

❝Let me get you some water.❞

❝Here, elevate your feet.❞

❝How much did you drink?❞

❝I think I drank too much.❞

❝Did you drink something? Did you take something?❞

❝You’re really pale.❞

❝Can you hear me?❞

❝Hey – you passed out.❞

❝Are you gonna pass out again?❞

❝I think I’m gonna pass out again.❞

❝Don’t sit up yet. Just relax.❞

❝This isn’t normal. You’re freaking me out.❞

❝Thank god you’re awake, I was about to call an ambulance.❞

❝You’re gonna be fine, I’m gonna call an ambulance.❞

❝What happened? Did I hit my head?❞

❝You hit your head pretty hard. Just stay down.❞

some general timeline stuff

*some of it is headcanon-based because of lack of information *some things that were briefly mentioned i’ve changed because of contradictions in canon

- Minerva’s father disappeared when she was eight, and until she was taken to the monastery she was just kinda on her own… He trained her to fight some before he disappeared.  -  She trained with Bajie at the monastery from the time she was 8 until about 11 or 12 ish. - It was pretty much right after that that she became a Cog for the Chau family.  - She was thirteen when she escaped with Gaius’ help. - She was on her own again for about six months before she was captured again and sold as a Cog to the Baron she would later marry. - Her marriage was kind of a she-wasn’t-give-a-choice situation. She was sixteen at the time. They were married for about ten years before she killed him, which I’m thinking was around a year(ish) before the start of season one… idk, I just get the feeling she hadn’t been the Baron for an incredibly long time at the start of the season, but also i feel like it would kind of take some time for her to go from this mindset of “i can’t stand up for myself ever” to “don’t fuck with me” so… yeah… around a year.

on that note, as for why she put up with her husband’s shit, I kind of feel like she just… learned to not stand up for herself during all her years as a Cog. But then as soon as she found out he was abusing Tilda she just kind of snapped and, you know, got some of her old fire back, if you will. She kind of got to this point where she got used to being abused herself, but she couldn’t really deal with the thought of Tilda being treated the same way.

Regarding the Percival thing:

- since he was just mentioned in passing once and never brought up again, i’m kind of willing to go either way in threads with acknowledging his existence or just having it not be a thing… but for threads acknowledging his existence, here are just my general headcanons of what happened with that (of course it’s dark, how could it not be?)