Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Eddieeeeee. We want fooood.

“In a minute, V.” Eddie ignored the inky-black tendrils curling around his torso as he squinted down at his smudged laptop screen. For once in his life he had gone to bed at a normal time instead of pulling an all-nighter, but this meant he’d had to get up early to finish his article on time. Now, an hour and a half later, he was just about done.

Eddieeeeee , V whined. Fooooood. Pleeeaaassseee.

“One sec , V.” Eddie finished proofreading his article, content with what he’d written, and fired up his gmail to start prepping the email.

Through their bond, Eddie felt a wave of impatience come from his symbiote. NOW. V suddenly manifested, spreading over Eddie’s legs and waist, and started to push them back from the desk.

“ Woah! ” Eddie flailed forwards, and managed to hit “send” before V carried them towards the kitchen. “V, what the hell? Couldn’t you have waited one more minute?”

No, V said, with childlike smugness. They receded under Eddie’s skin, though, so he could take the last steps into the kitchen on his own.

Eddie pulled a small Hershey bar from the pantry, handing it to V (who manifested as a small head from Eddie’s shoulder to snatch it up) while he heated up tater tots and made himself coffee. “What do you want to do this morning?” he asked as he got out a plate and mug. “I mean, that article was all I needed to get done today, so we’re free.” Eddie had decided to return to the written side of reporting after the Life Foundation incident, and now did a couple of reports a week. And maybe it was because of the respect he’d earned from his show (and re-earned after helping bust Drake) but he actually got very good pay for it; so good, in fact, that he had moved them to a bigger, nicer apartment. Eddie knew that it was odd to be paid so much for only a few stories a week, but the paycheck itself had quickly quieted his worries.

He could feel V shift slightly as they thought, which sent a tingly feeling through his skull. “We want to go to the aquarium,” they finally said. “All your writing about endangered fish has made us want seafood.”

“Well, you can’t eat the fish there, but sure,” Eddie chuckled, and quickly pulled up directions to a nearby aquarium on his phone. Then he took a sip from his coffee as he dumped the tater tots onto the paper plate. “Eat up, V.”

V stretched their jaws and set to work on devouring the tater tots, purring contently even as they traveled down its… well, honestly Eddie didn’t know how V could eat the tots as just a head, but… He blinked and finished his coffee before he weirded himself out thinking about it.

“Done, Eddie!” V soon announced, sounding like a child that was very proud of itself.

“That was fast,” Eddie noted as he threw out the plate. He finished the dregs of his coffee and placed the mug in the sink, making a mental note to do the dishes when they got back home.

“They were good. Can we have more chocolate?” V asked hopefully.

“Maybe later,” Eddie promised. He had showered and dressed before starting the article, so he just had to brush his teeth before they could go. He went into the bathroom, brushing quickly while V entertained themself by turning the sink’s hot water on and off.

Eddie glanced at himself in the mirror as he wiped toothpaste from his mouth. For once he was wearing his leather jacket instead of a hoodie, a newer gray T-shirt and jeans with no holes. He looked… clean.

V, who had retreated into his rib cage, sent a snort through the bond. You’re not clean with that stubble. ‘Less hobo-like’ would be better.

“Ouch, taking after Anne much?” Eddie muttered. His ex was always hounding him to “clean up” his hair and stubble. Speaking of hair… Eddie snagged a comb and jerked it through his hair a bit, until it had its classic “carelessly-stylish” look.

V snorted again. ‘Carelessly-stylish’ our ass. It looks like you just rolled out of bed in nice-ish clothes.

Eddie gently swatted at the tendril that had emerged from his neck to poke at his hair. “Well, aren’t you the critic today? I thought you watched the Food Network, not beauty pageants.”

Who said we couldn’t watch both?

Eddie chose not to respond to that.

After pulling on dark gray tennis shoes (the only pair of his that wasn’t hopelessly beaten up), Eddie made sure he had his wallet and keys before exiting his apartment, briefly nodding at the few tenants he passed in the stairwell. He went out to the street and unlocked the helmet from the seat (V had recently taken an interest in holding the helmet out of reach in the apartment, so Eddie now kept it outside with his bike.) He hopped on and started the engine, revving a few times before taking off.

Faster, Eddie, V hissed. We want to see the fish.

You still can’t eat them, bud. Eddie thought this rather than spoke it, since it was sometimes hard to speak with his helmet on.

Why the hell not?

Eddie slid into the next lane and sped up a tiny bit. Because people are not allowed to climb into the tanks and eat the fish, V , he said with an eye roll. Plus, don’t forget that we’re trying to keep my identity a secret regarding… us.

...Pussy.

Parasite.

V suddenly formed over his hands and made them accelerate over the speed limit for a moment, then abruptly retreated, allowing Eddie to frantically swerve and slow down.

What the hell was that for?? Eddie demanded. Is that your way of throwing a temper tantrum while I’m driving?

Not a parasite. V sounded grumpy.

Guess it is. Eddie rolled his eyes again. I say it with love, V. And... don’t make us speed up like that again, please.

...Fine.

The rest of the ride to the aquarium was silent, and it let Eddie’s thoughts wander. V didn’t really send anything through the bond, which led Eddie to think his current thoughts were private.

‘I say it with love, V.’ Yes, that was true, Eddie had meant it in a fond way. But it kept sticking in his head because he wasn’t exactly sure what ‘kind’ of fond it was. Was it the friendly banter fond, like back when they’d first started working together? Was it the fondness for someone who was like your second soul, because they inhabited your body? Or was it… that kind of fond? The kind of fond he found himself hiding from V? ...The kind of fond he’d once had with Anne…?

Ugh, this is too much to process properly. He wished he could just read an advice book, but he doubted there was one for “What to do if you think you’re falling in love with the symbiotic alien living inside of you.”

Eddie. V interrupted his train of thought, for which he was grateful. We’re here.

Working on his show had helped him learn to drive on “autopilot,” but Eddie was still startled by the fact that he’d driven to a new place while distracted. Oh. Great, he responded. He quickly found a parking space, which was a rare surprise, and purchased a ticket with a smiling orca on it (a harder task than it sounded; he always struggled to watch his pronouns when he first came out of the apartment. And his thoughts from the ride hadn’t helped this time; he still had said “we” once or twice, to the desk attendant’s confusion). “ Welcome to the Aquarium of the Bay ,” he read from a hanging sign as he walked in.

We want to see dolphins! V demanded.

I don’t think they have… Eddie grabbed a map from a stand and checked the descriptions of the exhibits. Yeah, no dolphins, bud.

Damnit!

They have sharks, though? Eddie offered.

He could feel V mulling it over. Fine. Let’s go to the sharks.

Okay. He started for the Sharks of Alcatraz Tunnel exhibit. It says they have sharks, rays, and sturgeons, he added, shaking the pamphlet a bit.

What kind of sharks?

Says here... sevengills, leopards, and soupfins.

Eddie felt V wiggle around his liver excitedly. Sevengill sharks are the largest predatory animals in the Bay! they exclaimed.

Eddie glanced at the Tunnel exhibit’s description on the pamphlet, and it did say that. Did you just… How’d you know that?

Animal Planet mentioned it once.

Eddie blinked, making sure he heard V correctly. Animal Planet? Just how much TV have you been watching, exactly?

Oh, Eddie . He could sense V shaking their head in exasperation as they circled his organs. What do you think we do all night while you’re asleep?

...Fair point, though you’re going to make my cable bill skyrocket. They got to the exhibit and stopped. After a moment of the sharks amassing in the back of the tank, a sevengill came up and lazily floated by, making V shiver with excitement.

We wanna eat one, Eddie!

Uh… Eddie glanced around nervously, before remembering they were talking through their bond. I think they’re endangered, bud. He didn’t want V to start complaining, worried he would respond out loud, so he hurriedly added, But we can go hunting for bad guys later? Or get some fresh chocolate?

Yay! V cheered, their hunger for sevengills forgotten.

Eddie and V spent another couple of hours exploring the aquarium. At one point they had wandered over to the touchpools, and V manifested a tentacle from Eddie’s palm so they could both pet the sharks and skates.

Eddie glanced at his phone as they left the river otter gallery and winced. “Two-forty already? Yeesh,” he said aloud.

Want chocolate and maybe bad guys now, V told him.

Yep, I know. Let’s head out near Mrs. Chen’s, okay?

Okay, Eddie. Which one-- whatever V was going to say was cut off as a half-dozen people ran into the aquarium’s lobby, screaming. Their senses went on high alert, and Eddie rushed over to the nearest arrival.

“Ma’am! Ma’am, what’s going on?” Eddie asked, grabbing her arm.

“There’s a… a giant,” she wheezed. “Down the shore a bit. It’s attacking a ferry!” She shrugged off his grip and kept running.

As the entire aquarium began to panic, Eddie exchanged a mental “glance” with V before rushing outside. He came around the corner of the building and gasped at what was happening in the park next door. “Oh dear God,” he whispered. The giant looked like a robot, with a red and gray futuristic outfit. It was in the water, towering over the ferry and reaching out towards it. Thanks to V, Eddie could hear people screaming. “V, we have to stop it!”

V shifted through his organs, just underneath his skin’s “surface.” No.

‘No??’ Why not? Shouldn’t we help those people? Eddie demanded.

V gently wrapped around his left lung and squeezed twice. No. You said we shouldn’t become Venom in public. And don’t you recognize the giant? It’s the growy-guy from the airport.

“The growy-guy…” Eddie racked his brain, until he remembered. Almost two years ago, Captain America had fought Iron Man at an airport in Germany in protest of the Sokovia Accords. The growy-guy had been on the protesting side, and a statement later said he’d been detained. Guess he escaped.

He protested the Accords, remember? V sounded… pleased? You said the Accords were bad because they could hurt us. So if he doesn’t like the Accords, isn’t he our ally? A good guy like us?

I guess… It was odd for V to be the voice of reason, but it did make sense. As Eddie watched, the growy-guy suddenly vanished. He must’ve shrunk back down. Glancing around, Eddie started to run for the park.

Eddie… Go back.

Wait, why? Eddie ducked around a large group of people who were standing slack-jawed, wincing as he accidentally kicked one in the shin. “Sorry!” he shouted over his shoulder.

I don’t know… Just stop.

Eddie skidded to a halt, his attention fixating on a person clad in white as they confronted a man in dark clothing. The white person shoved the other man aside, turned towards Eddie, and--

WHOOMP. Screaming started again as a building appeared, growing larger and larger. It was a few stories tall, and cubish, and when the dust cleared, Eddie saw that cars had been crushed and piled against each other. His heart began to pump uncomfortably fast, sure that the expansion had just killed someone.

V manifested as a tiny head, cautiously peeking out from the top of Eddie’s jacket as they cast out their senses. None dead , they soothed, and retreated.

Eddie’s heart slowed down to its normal speed as V gently caressed it. I don’t care if it’s the middle of the day, with plenty of people around; we have to help!

That was when Eddie’s phone chimed. He pulled it out and saw a text from Anne; God, was her timing uncanny, ‘I see it on the news. I swear to God, Eddie, don’t you two dare do anything.’ Eddie hesitated, glancing back up at the building.

Listen to Anne, Eddie. Let’s just go get chocolate.

But we could--

EDDIE.

He held up his hands in surrender. Fine. But if something bad happens that we could’ve stopped, I’m going to hold it against you two.

That night, watching new footage from the incident, Eddie sighed. “Guess you were right.”

V paused from chomping on their third chocolate bar. “With what?”

“I wanted to help because we’re good guys with powers, right?” Eddie paused to finish his pizza slice. “But, like… We’re trying to keep our Venom-ing a secret from the general public, and I don’t know if we could’ve even helped. The growy-guy’s like an Avenger; we can’t handle Avenger-level stuff.”

V snorted. “We told you,” they said with a smirk. “Your clumsy ass would’ve fucked up that Avenger shit.”

Eddie almost choked on his crust. “Hey, what happened to this afternoon's kind, caring V?” he protested.

“You were panicking. Now that you’re back to normal, we can be normal again, too--our normal BAMF self.”

“I’m sorry, your what? ”

“Internet thing.”

Every day gave Eddie another reason to regret introducing V to the internet. “Uh-huh…”

V flicked their wrapper at his head, then caught it and stretched out to throw it away. “Hunt bad guys now?”

Eddie glanced at the TV again, then turned it off and stood up to stretch. “Yep.” Already wearing a hoodie and torn jeans (in case something happened that would affect his clothes), Eddie went into his bedroom, opening the one window no outside camera could see, and allowed V to cover him completely.

Eddie--no, they were just Venom now--turned and slid the window closed before dropping to the ground, sticking to the shadows until they were a few buildings from their home. Then they jumped onto the roof and swung into the night.

They had barely entered the poorer part of the city when their hearing picked up whimpering. They paused on the edge of a roof, glowering down at two masked men in a half-light alley. They both had guns aimed at a woman, silently watching her empty her purse. Her blouse was opened, suggesting that they’d grabbed her before pulling the guns.

Venom smirked to themself. A big snack tonight. They jumped down, snarling, extending tentacles that swarmed around the men like bees. They hoisted the men up, enjoying the screams their snacks were making. Behind them, they heard the woman gasp before shoving her stuff back into her purse and fleeing.

“What, no thank you?” Venom called after her, before returning their attention to the two men. Both of them had pissed their pants, and the one on the left was crying to himself.

“Dear God, oh God, we’re going to die,” the left one moaned.

“Yep.” Venom found his terror entertaining, so they ate the right one first, swallowing him whole instead of just taking the head.

The whole body? For a moment, Venom’s mind separated into V and Eddie, so the man could make the comment.

Hungry, V responded, before they merged again.

Venom gave the remaining man their full attention, letting a big smile cross their face. “Any last words?”

“ You’re a monster, ” the man gasped, tears streaking down his face.

“Actually, we’re an alien,” Venom corrected, before eating him too. Once they had finished, they took a step closer to the singular lamp, staring up into the dark sky. With a blink, their minds pulled apart, though V still stayed covering Eddie’s body.

Eddie gave himself a mental shake. That will never not feel weird.

What, our minds merging?

Yeah.

Well, we’re really only Venom when we’re together, so shouldn’t we go all the way?

I guess. Eddie sent V a mental shrug. It’s just weird feeling myself become an entirely new entity with you.

Ha. V sent him a smirk in response. Pussy.

Shut up!

You know it’s true, Eddie. V let out a chuckle. “Another successful night,” they said out loud, before leaping into the night.

Neither of them had noticed the small creature that was positioned on the lamp post, the camera on its back steadily transmitting what it had just recorded back to the ant’s master. The ant buzzed its wings as a new command entered its mind, and began to fly home.

Chapter Text

Ava tried to keep her steps careful as she picked her way through the forest, but her combat boots still occasionally crunched on leaves.

It was odd to be back home. Just three days ago, she had held Scott, Hope and Hank hostage, desperate for a cure for her quantum mutations, but they escaped. She had been furious, but then they brought Janet back and Janet had… healed her. Well, not in the way Ava had hoped. She had wanted Janet to take away her abilities, but whatever van Dyne had done had just made Ava stable.

She glanced down, focusing on her wrist, and it began to flicker and warp. She clenched her fingers into a fist, willing it to stop, and it immediately did. That will never get old, she thought to herself.

Now Ava was “on the run” with Bill, even though she had asked him to leave her. They were currently staying at a rundown motel in Sausalito, trying to relax for once by watching cheesy rom-coms and eating lots of junk food. Ava had always thought of Bill as her second father, but now that their lives weren’t fixated on fixing her… Ava realized this was the first time in a long time when they had actually just hung around and bonded.

Focus on the mission, Starr. Ava shook her head as she came to a stop at the edge of the clearing. Hank had called Bill this morning, requesting a certain piece of tech. Bill had left behind in their home, so the three of them had piled into a van to drive and get it. It should’ve been easy for Ava to retrieve it… except the house was now swarming with FBI agents.

After the incident at the piers, someone had researched Ava’s Ghost persona, and found a file on her in the database from 2014’s leaked SHIELD files. Now the world knew that “the Ghost” had worked for SHIELD--had worked for Hydra. With that, her file’s listed missions, and her “behavior” at Pier 39, the FBI had concluded that she was a Hydra agent, and had formed a new team to capture her and study the tech Bill had left behind--including the piece Hank needed.

With her suit currently out-of-commission, it would really suck if her “updated” powers stalled in the midst of dozens of FBI agents.

Ava sighed, and concentrated. Her vision began to swim for a minute, before it took on a kaleidoscopic sheen; she was now invisible. She started forwards, walking briskly. In her suit, her maximum for staying invisible was five minutes; without the suit, it was more like three. In and out, Starr. In and out. She kept a picture of the tech in her mind. She knew it was near the area where her chamber had been, and kind of resembled a futuristic, mechanical conch shell. And that-- Ssssskk. Ava smacked into the front door, nearly turning visible from the surprise. Two nearby agents looked up from reviewing files, cautiously staring towards her.

How the hell did I forget to turn intangible? Her SHIELD/Hydra superiors would’ve been livid. Ava concentrated, and her vision became a little duller as she slipped through the door. Damnit. My vision sharpens with the suit. She really wished she hadn’t damaged it.

Since it was hard to maintain both of her powers at once without her suit, Ava turned herself tangible again, deciding she would just have to be careful to not touch anyone… which was hard, since over two dozen agents were mulling around the front foyer alone. Seriously, why the hell are there so many agents? she thought grumpily, beginning to pick her away through the throng. They’re just standing around.

She finally came to the room where her chamber had been, and scanned the tables, thankful that everything seemed to be in its original spot. There. Her head snapped sideways as she focused on what she had now dubbed the Wonderconch. Ava went forwards to grab it, pausing right before she made contact. She took a deep breath. Three… two… now. As she grabbed it, she willed it to join her outside the visibility spectrum. It obeyed smoothly, shedding its vibrant, swaying appearance as it connected with her hand.

Ava turned and headed for the door. This had gone swimmingly, as Bill might put it. She came up to the door, preparing to phase through it—her vision suddenly returned to normal.

“HEY!” The agent standing next to the door suddenly focused at her, froze, then pulled a gun from her holster. “Stop right there,” she warned, gaze flickering between Ava and the Wonderconch.

Damnit. Ava cursed her luck as every agent began to advance. Her three minutes were apparently up. “Sorry to cut it short, fellas,” she said, bracing herself, “but I’ve got business elsewhere.” With that, her vision dulled again as she went intangible, and she shot forwards, through the agents and the door, and leapt down the stairs. As she hit the grass, she heard several guns cocking, and willed herself to run faster. Stay untouchable until you get to the trees, Starr. Then you can exit the spectrum.

Bangbangbangbangbang came countless guns.

Ava had never been fired at without her suit before, so it was weird to glance down and see bullets fly through her like she wasn’t there--she stumbled over her own feet, her surprise making her turn tangible, and a single bullet nicked her right arm before she reined in her powers again. Pain exploded in her arm, and she fought back a wave of blackness. Damn everything, she thought as she hissed through her teeth. Ignore the pain, Starr, and f ocus .

Ava reached the trees and immediately switched to invisibility, staying that way for mere seconds before activating both powers when she realized she was crunching leaves. Behind her, the agents noisily slid to a halt as she vanished from sight and sound. “Fuck,” she heard one swear. “Someone call Harrison and tell him we lost Starr and some tech.”

Yeah, that’s right, Ava thought with a smirk, before another wave of pain made her grimace. She shook her head and continued running. A few minutes later, her powers faltered then turned off, and she slid to a stop, breathing carefully as she listened for potential pursuers. Nothing. She switched the Wonderconch to her right hand, put her other hand over her arm to stop the bleeding, and walked the rest of the way to the van.

Bill opened the door, looking pissed, though his expression turned worried when he saw her arm. “Hank, do we have First-Aid in here?”

Hank looked up from tinkering with something. “This is your stolen car, how the hell should I know?” he muttered. His eyes lit up when he saw the Wonderconch and he snatched it from Ava’s hand. “Perfect.”

No thank you; of course not. Ava bit her lip, then allowed Bill to wrap her arm in a cloth he’d found.

“We’ll get that fixed when we get back to the motel,” Bill assured her.

Hank shook his head. “Nuh-uh. You two are coming back to my house.”

Bill opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Ava cut him off. “Of course. I want to know why you needed that.”

Hank raised his brows. “If I tell you, will you help us out?”

Ava crossed her arms as well as she could. “Depends on what you say.”

The older man shrugged. “Fine. This is going to help Scott capture an alien.”

“Draw four, Daddy.” Cassie’s face was unbelievably smug as she placed down a card. “And… I want blue. Uno!” she quickly added.

Scott let out a gasp, clutching his chest in faux-agony. “Betrayed by my own daughter,” he groaned. “Oh no, your betrayal has made me terribly sick!” His hand reached into his throat and pulled up several playing cards, which he spit towards Cassie, pretending to vomit.

“Ewwwww! Nooo!” Cassie squealed, twisting away and holding her hands up. “Daddy, spare me your card vomit!”

“I really don’t know how you do that, Scottie.” Luis ate another Cheeto, staring at him in surprise. “That’s like some freaky stuff, man. Do you just keep them in your throat or something?”

Scott finishing throwing up cards and sat back with a smirk, his hands going behind his head. “A magician never reveals his secrets, Luis.”

“Or is it like science stuff, like your saliva actually turns into the cards when it meets fresh air?” Luis continued, scratching at his chin. “Did Doctor Pym help you with that?”

Scott rolled his eyes. “Hey, I thought you were sick with a sore throat and couldn’t talk, pal?” he challenged.

Luis’s eyes widened, and he picked up four cards from the pile and threw them at Scott. “C’mon, get your cards,” he croaked, and let out a wet cough.

Scott rolled his eyes again. “There it is.” He studied his new cards and let out a villainous laugh. “Draw four, Luis,” he told his friend, and placed down his own card. “And back to red.”

“Aww, man,” Luis complained, but obeyed. “And not even a good one! Dam—” he glanced at Cassie “— darnit , Scottie.”

Cassie let out her own chuckle. “Learning from the master, Daddy?”

“Oh yes Peanut, you are undeniably the undefeated masterful champion of Uno,” Scott told her solemnly. “Please, Card Queen, go easy on my poor, helpless soul, will you?” He made pray hands and puppy eyes at her.

Cassie scrunched up her nose and sniffed in what Scott supposed was a haughty way. “Card Queen… I like it.” She drew a card from the pile, and slapped it down. Red 5. “Uno again. Only one more to go!”

Scott immediately placed down a Red 2.“Luis?”

“Geez, gimme one second, why dontcha?” Luis muttered. He placed down a Blue 2.

“Noooo!” Scott shouted.

“Yessss!” Cassie cheered at the same time. She placed down her last card—a Blue 6—and started dancing around the living room. “I won, I won, I’m the Card Queen, oh yeah,” she sang.

“Once again, Her Majesty wins,” Scott laughed.

Cassie spun around to face him. “Did you doubt my power, Daddy?” she demanded, running over and tackling him.

“No, no!” Scott assured her with a wheeze. “I always have the utmost faith in you, Peanut.”

“Aww, that’s really sweet, Scottie,” Luis said, forgetting to speak in his “totally real” hoarse voice, and peered down into the presumably-empty Cheeto bag. “Speaking of peanuts, do we have any more of that trail mix?”

“You should be having soup if you’re sick,” Cassie told him.

Scott smirked at Luis’s arched brows. “ Yeah , Luis. You should be having soup.”

“I am a sick man and should be allowed to have my comfort foods, Scottie.” Luis sighed at their skeptical expressions. “Fine. I’ll make some soup.” He got up and stomped into the kitchen, muttering under his breath.

“And with that, Ant-Man and the Peanut defeated Luis’s cold!” Cassie announced.

Scott raised his brows at that. “Ant-Man and the Peanut, you say?”

“Yeah. That’s my superhero name.” Cassie snuggled into his chest and tilted her head back to meet his eyes. “Do you like it?”

“It’s perfect.” Scott pretended to think it over. “It might not keep your identity a secret, though.”

Cassie shrugged. “Don’t care.”

“And what about Hope?” Scott continued. “Isn’t she my partner?”

Cassie bit her lip. “Yeah… Maybe she could become partners with Aunt Ava, then.”

Scott winced. “Yeah… Maybe, Peanut…” Cassie had been interested in the “White Suit” from the Pier last week, and so Scott might’ve lied and said that Ava was Hope’s younger sister when he gave Cassie a watered-down version of Ava’s history. When they found out, Hank and Hope had been pissed, but neither of them said otherwise to Cassie when she asked about her. His daughter had also somehow gotten Ava’s new phone number from them, and now talked to her “favorite Aunt” every night. Scott shook his head; Cassie’s compassion could really astonish him.

“Hey, Scottie,” Luis called from the kitchen, “Maggie’s here.”

“Is it four already?” Scott glanced at his watch and yes, it was. “Well, Mom’s here to get you, Peanut. You have your stuff?”

“Yeah.” Cassie looked glum as she picked up her bag. “Why couldn’t I have stayed longer, though?”

“Because Daddy just got freed last week, and wants to explore the city,” Maggie said as she walked into the room. “Hi, Scott. Thanks for watching her.”

“Hey, Maggie, and my pleasure.” Scott gave Cassie a kiss and walked her over. “How’s Jim doing?”

“Still overseeing clean-up at the Pier.” Maggie raised her brows at Scott. “After that Giant incident?”

Scott grinned. “They couldn’t prove it was me.”

“It was important, though. Daddy stopped bad guys!” Cassie chimed in.

Luis came back with a bowl of soup, inhaling spoonfuls of broth. “No one remembers Kurt, Dave and I stopped bad guys too,” he muttered. “Where’s our ‘it was important?’”

“Still sick?” Maggie asked him, nodding at the bowl.

Scott rolled his eyes. “So he says.”

“Hey, Scottie, I am indeed sick,” Luis protested, and gave the fakest cough ever.

“ So convincing.”

Luis picked up a soggy cracker from the side of his bowl and chucked it at him.

“Hey! No food-throwing in the house.” Scott easily caught the cracker and threw it back.

Maggie shook her head. “You two,” she said fondly, and took Cassie’s hand. “Come on, sweetie. I went to the store and got that ice cream you like.”

“ICE CREAM!” Cassie let out an unholy shriek and charged for the doors.

Scott stared after her. “Dear Lord.”

“She gets it from you, Scott.” Maggie winked at him before following.

“Hey, I do not--” he glanced at Luis, who nodded. “ Excuse me? Unbelievable, I’m being ganged up on in my own home.”

“Oh, hi Hope,” Maggie’s voice suddenly said, and Scott exchanged a look with Luis before heading for the door. Hope stood at the entrance, waving at Maggie as they got into the car and drove away.

“Hey, Hope. To what do I owe the honor?” Scott quipped.

His partner--girlfriend? They still hadn’t actually talked about their relationship yet--rolled her eyes. “Dad needs to show you something. It’s important.”

Scott frowned. “Is it about the Quantum Realm? Is it Janet?”

“No. Just come on.” Hope nodded at Luis, who waved, then grabbed Scott’s arm and pulled him towards her car.

“Nice new car,” Scott commented as they got in. “Does it shri--”

Hope shrunk them.

Scott nodded. “Yep. It does.” He waited until Hope was driving before continuing, “So what’s the problem?”

Hope glanced out the window, her expression thoughtful. “Something happened the night of the… Pier incident,” she responded.

“Wait, and you’re just telling me now?”

Hope gave him an incredulous look. “You told us, and I quote, ‘I want one full week to embrace society before you come at me with anything. Let me live.’ Plus, we needed time to study it.”

“Right.” Scott itched at his nose, smirking as Hope made a face at the gesture. “Soooo… what is it?”

“It’ll be easier if you just see it, Scott.”

Scott gave up and sat back, toying with his seat belt.

They were silent the rest of the drive, and Hope grew the car once they had pulled onto the driveway. They stopped at the end, when the forest gave way to a small cove, and got out.

“Say, you grew the house here, right?” Scott commented as they went to the door. “So how’d you hook up water and power?”

Hope rolled her eyes again. “Semantics, Scott.”

“It’s really not--”

Hank opened the door for them. “About time you got here,” he muttered, and let them in.

“Well, hello to you too, Hank,” Scott told him.

Hank stared at him flatly, then led them down into the basement. “He’s here,” he called.

“About time,” someone responded, and when Scott came down the stairs, he saw it was…

“Hi, Ava,” he said hesitantly.

Ava looked up from drinking tea, and rubbed at her right arm, which was wrapped in cloth. “Hey.”

Everyone just stayed silent for a minute, glancing at each other awkwardly, before Janet poked her head out from Hank’s lab. “Oh, hello again, Scott! How was your week of ‘exploring?”

“Excellent, thank you.” Scott beamed at her.

Hank clasped his hands and sighed. “Alright, then.” He glanced behind Janet. “Bill?”

Bill slid the rest of the door open, nodding once at Scott before waving everybody in. “So, Scott--”

“ Ahem. ” Hank coughed pointedly, and Bill glowered at him before stepping back with raised hands. “ Thank you. So, Scott, I’m sure Hope didn’t really tell you anything, since it’s hard to explain in words, but… You’ve heard of the Night Stalker rumors, right?”

Scott frowned, immediately wary. “Yeah… Apparently there’s a ‘monster’ who runs around at night, biting off bad guys’ heads.”

“Well…” Hank massaged the bridge of his nose, before tapping out a command on the closest keyboard. One of his monitors started to play some footage. “A while after Hope and I went on the run, we decided to have camera-ants spread around town at random points, just watching out for anything that might affect us. And the night of the Pier incident… One ant picked up this in an alley.”

Scott watched as two men came into view, holding a woman by her blouse, and then shoving her forwards. Both of them pulled a gun and aimed it at her. Hank tapped another button, and then there was sound. “--eep quiet and listen. We won’t shoot if you just give us the money; do it slowly and carefully.” The woman whimpered as she emptied her purse; this went on for about a minute, and then…

A thing jumped down into the alley, and tentacles grew from it to wrap around the men. The woman gasped, grabbed her stuff, and fled as the screaming men were held up. “What, no thank you?” the thing growled after her. Its voice sounded like something from hell. It turned to the men it was holding. One man was sobbing, “We’re going to die.”

“Yep,” the creature said, then ate the other man whole. Scott’s mouth dropped open as it paused, as if thinking, then asked the sobbing man with a big smile, “Any last words?”

“You’re a monster,” the sobbing man croaked.

The creature’s grin widened. “Actually, we’re an alien.” And then it ate that man too. It blinked once, then paused again before stepping closer to the light and looking up. “Another successful night,” it said after a bit, then leapt away. The footage ended.

“What the hell? ” Scott breathed. “Okay, okay, so the Night Stalker is real, it does eat people, and it’s an alien? ” He gripped his head with his hands. “What the hell.”

“Exactly.” Hank’s flat voice had an undercurrent of… fear? “Now, since it’s alien, I figured I would look at that leaked SHIELD database, but there was nothing, so I looked around online. And after a few hours, I found a clue. It resembles the creatures from the Life Foundation incident. Remember, with the rocket? Apparently they had found aliens, and were forcing them to combine with humans. We think one of them survived the fire, and is now using someone to eat people.”

“So there’s a… a person trapped inside that thing?” Hank nodded, and Scott winced. “Oh my God, that’s horrible.”

“Fortunately, we think we can save them,” Hope cut in. “The other aliens were destroyed in the fire, so fire is probably one of its weaknesses. So until this morning, we’ve been working on something that will hurt it.” She motioned to a small, palm-sized device beside Hank's keyboard. “Ava went and got a ‘fire-starter’ of Bill’s from their house, and we hooked it up to a… what’d you call it, Dad?”

“A pyromecis.” Hank adjusted something on the device. “Tonight when you three go out to find it, you can throw this device at the creature. It will attach to it and burn it, hopefully enough to kill it--or at least disable it so we can talk to the person.”

“Okay, sounds like a plan...” Scott studied the device, and then registered Hank’s words. “Wait. The three of us?”

“You, Hope, and me,” Ava said, setting down her cup. “My suit’s been fixed, and my arm’s just about healed, so I can help in case it tries to escape.” She caught Scott’s glance at her arm. “I was shot,” she added bluntly.

Scott grimaced. “Ouch. Sorry.”

She shrugged, then turned to Hank. “Have you gotten footage of it since that night?”

“No. We think it knows to stick to the shadows, and us seeing it in the light was a rare mistake on its part.” Hank scratched at his chin. “Ava, do you have any moves you could show Scott and Hope? I have a feeling this creature knows what to expect from us.”

Ava’s eyes widened in surprise, then she shrugged again. “Sure.” She gave Scott a grin. “I think Hope’ll be fine, though.”

Scott scowled. “Why does everyone always doubt me?” he complained.

“Because you rarely give us a reason to be confident in you.” Hope nudged Scott’s shoulder with her own. “C’mon, Tic-Tac, let us show you some new moves.”

Chapter Text

It was almost sunset, and Eddie had been working all day. All he’d eaten was half a banana and a cup of coffee, and his stomach had been protesting since noon, but he’d been so busy this entire week and food wasn’t really a priority anymore.

The Pier Incident, as it was now known as, was the peoples’ top fixation, and they gobbled up any articles or theories on the Giant they could find. Eddie’s boss was having a field day--field week?--and so he’d somehow been pressured to write two articles each day on the event. 14 articles in seven days; Jesus Christ, he needed a break.

V knew that Eddie’s work was important, so they had just stretched out to watch TV on the couch, but pangs of hunger kept hitting Eddie through the bond, and he knew he couldn’t neglect them anymore.

“Hey V? Thirty more minutes and then we’ll go out to hunt,” Eddie finally spoke.

V sent him a grin, immediately happier, and nodded. “Okay, Eddie.” They actually started humming to themself cheerfully as they watched Gorden Ramsey yell at someone.

Eddie smiled at that as he emailed the final article in, and he swore he could hear angels singing ‘Hallelujah.’ Now for my own research.

All week, thoughts of the growy-guy had been circling around in Eddie’s mind. Before he went to bed that night, he had discovered his actual hero name was ‘Ant-Man,’ but that was all he’d found out. Now that he had some time, he could do some more searching.

The earliest mention of Ant-Man came from 2015, when the CEO of Cross Technologies created a shrinking suit known as the “Yellowjacket,” went mad and tried to kidnap a little girl. Ant-Man has shown up, defeated him and returned the girl to her parents. The CEO was never heard from again.

That made Eddie pause. What had happened to the CEO? The article never mentioned that he was arrested. Could Ant-Man have… No. He’s an Avenger. They don’t kill anyone, not even villains.

Another few articles mentioned the shrinking hero, but Eddie’s other biggest hit for him was an article about the Avengers’ Civil War, when he’d joined Captain America’s Rouges. Digging deeper, he found that while most of the Rogues vanished, Ant-Man and another ex-Avenger, Hawkeye, had taken plea deals with the FBI, though the details were not clear; all he could find out was that they wouldn’t stay in a place called “the Raft.” Hmm, what’s that? Eddie bit his lip; searches provided nothing.

He finally pulled out his phone and started a new message to an old contact of his, one that used to be an FBI agent and always had explanations for him. ‘Question for a case, Dale. What’s the Raft?’

After a minute, the thinking bubble appeared on the screen, going back and forth for five minutes. When the text sent, all it said was, ‘Why are you researching the Raft, Eddie?’ How ominous.

‘Criminal case,’ he lied.

The bubble appeared, then vanished, and didn’t return for several minutes. Finally, Dale responded, ‘It’s… bad news. Think ADX Florence times ten, and underwater. It’s where the super-baddies go. If your case involves someone who went there… You should drop it ASAP.’

That set off Eddie’s nerves. ‘I always listen to you, Dale. Thanks.’ “Hmm,” he said out loud.

V looked over and hit the pause button on the remote. “What’s wrong?”

“I’ve got some news on the growy-guy, better known as ‘Ant-Man.’ He sided with Cap in the Civil War, and afterwards disappeared; media says he took a plea deal with the FBI. He must’ve gotten out just before the Pier Incident. And then Dale told me about the Raft.”

“‘The Raft?’” V came over, read the text, and grimaced. “Do you think we would be sent there?”

That thought hadn’t even occurred to him, and Eddie gulped as he reread Dale’s words. “You mean because we eat people and you’re an alien…? Oh God, maybe.” Eddie went back to the article about the Rogues. “It says here that they held Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Falcon, and Scarlet Witch there for a bit.”

V frowned. “Scarlet Witch? The woman with the red mind powers?”

“Yeah. Why, do you know her or something?”

“No, it’s just... if they have equipment to contain her, they could definitely separate us.”

Both of them shuddered. “Well, I don’t want that, and neither do you…” Eddie tilted his head as a thought hit him. “What if we could get protection from the Avengers through Ant-Man?”

“Explain.” V raised a brow, a gesture they’d learned from Eddie.

“Okay, so Ant-Man is an Avenger, right? Or at least is Avenger-adjacent. And all the current Avengers have signed the Sokovia Accords, letting the UN know their powers and identities, which we don’t want…”

“Yes…?”

“Well, there’s a rumor going around about Spider-Man, that vigilante in New York… People are saying that even though he hasn’t signed the Accords, he gets help from the Avengers; mostly tech stuff, but also protection from authorities.” Eddie opened his laptop and pulled up a YouTube video of the vigilante climbing the Washington Monument and rescuing people from the elevator. “How can that not be Avengers tech?”

V nodded slowly. “You think if we ask Ant-Man, they could do the same for us?”

“Yeah. Offer us protection from the feds, and maybe even…” Eddie hesitated. “What if they could replicate that chemical that you need? So we wouldn’t have to… eat people? At least not as many.”

He felt a wave of hope come through the bond. “I know you don’t like it…” the symbiote finally responded, then nodded. “It sounds like a plan to me. Befriend Ant-Man, then get the Avengers’ help.”

“Exactly.” Eddie shut his laptop and changed into a hoodie and jeans. “We’ll try to seek Ant-Man out soon, but for now… Ready to hunt?”

“Hell yes.”

“What the hell are you doing?” his earpiece demanded.

Scott stopped whistling to grin, even though they couldn’t see him. “I’m being casual.”

He could feel Hank’s eyeroll. “Scott, no one whistles while they’re walking alone in a shitty part of town.”

“Um, excuse you, dozens of movies say otherwise.” Scott sniffed and glanced around, but he couldn’t see any signs of trouble. “Hey, refresh me on the plan again?”

“For the love of--You’re supposed to be looking out for trouble , Scott. The alien must have super senses and can tell when there’s a crime, so it should show up soon after you. As soon as you find the trouble, take the suit out of the case in your pocket and gear up. Ava and Hope will be there by that point, and hopefully you can use the pyromecis to take down the alien before it eats the crook and escapes.”

“Then,” came Hope’s voice, “we can take the person back home and put them in the temporary cell, keeping the pyromecis on their arm so the alien doesn’t wake up. We’ll ask them how they are, get the info, and kill the alien.”

“Got it. Find trouble, gear up for trouble, take down the trouble.” All he got were sighs at that. Scott glanced around, reading the sign for a grocery store before letting out a sigh of his own. “How are we sure that it will be nearby?”

It was Janet who responded, “It’s a lucky guess; the footage was taken around this area.”

“Hmm… Sounds like we should be more considerat--” Scott turned a corner and ran into someone. “Ow. Shit, I’m so sorry,” he apologized as he took a step back. The case fell out of his pocket and clattered onto the ground; Hank started yelling at him and he scrambled to pick up it.

“No harm.” The man he’d run into, a middle-aged guy wearing a hoodie and jeans, raised a brow at the case as Scott pocketed it. “Haven’t seen you around here before.” The normally-threatening words were spoken in a friendly way, and Scott grinned.

“Just taking a walk…” This made the man’s brow arch higher, so Scott hurriedly added, “I’m meeting someone soon.”

“Ah.” An emotion flickered across his face, too quick for Scott to decipher. “Well, have a good night.” With a small smile, he brushed past him.

“You too!” Scott called after him, then continued walking. Well, that guy seemed nice; looked like he’s seen better days, though. No, stop it, Scott, he chided himself, don’t judge people by their appearances. Remember Ava? She seemed scary, like she could kick my ass, but--actually, no, that particular judgement was correct...

“--OTT,” his earpiece went, and he realized that Hank had been shouting.

“Yeah? Sorry, what?”

“Are you serious? THERE’S SHOUTING AROUND THE BUILDING!” Hank yelled. “GEAR UP.”

Scott immediately went into the closest alley and changed, fervently praying that there were no cameras, before shrinking and running to the other end; no time to summon an ant. When he emerged into a secluded area, he hopped onto a dumpster and watched a man wildly wave a knife, ordering a woman and a small child to the ground.

“Nobody move,” the man was snarling. “Or I will--” the alien emerged from a shadow far too small for it, and grabbed the man with both of its “hands.” It was bigger and slimier in person, and darkness rolled off of it like smoke.

“HEY!” Scott jumped down and grew, holding out a hand of his own towards the alien. “Put him down… whatever you are.” He didn’t want to say ‘alien’ because the three people were already freaking out enough.

The woman stared at Scott, then snatched her child into her arms and ran away, her breathing frantic. As the alien’s fingers tightened around his torso, the man let out some panicked whimpers, but didn’t speak.

The alien watched the woman flee, then swung its head towards Scott, its large pearlescent eyes narrowing a bit. “Ant-Man…” it hissed; God, it sounded more demonic in person.

“Yeah, that’s me.” Scott glanced to the left, thinking he saw Hope flying towards them, but she wasn’t there. Where the hell are they? He realized he would have to stall until the women arrived. “How about we just put him down, huh?”

The alien just tilted its head and licked its lips with a long, slimy tongue. “We’ve been looking forward to meeting you,” it finally said.

Scott grinned, even though it wouldn’t see. “Really? Did I make an impression at the Piers?”

“Yes.” The alien’s head angled towards the man it held, probably sizing him up, but then returned its attention to Scott. “We were won--”

Ava flickered into view and punched it, hard enough that it dropped the man and staggered back.

“FREAKS!” the man screeched, and bolted down the alley, dropping his knife. Scott kicked it away so the alien couldn’t grab it.

“WRAITH!” the alien was roaring, before a tentacle grew from where Ava had punched and reached for her, but Ava’s form became see-through and the tentacle just went through her. The alien hissed at that.

Hope suddenly appeared from the alien’s other side, and kicked it in the leg. “DAMNIT!” it went, and swung around to grab her, but she shrunk away and Ava turned tangible to pull out a knife and attack its back.

Scott, realizing he was just standing there, shrunk down and gulped as he realized how scar--how evilier it looked when he was small. He ran over to Hope, and took the pyromecis from her. “You and Ava keep distracting it, and I’ll activate the devi--” a tentacle came down towards them and they rolled/flew out of the way.

“Got it!” Hope called, before growing and roundhouse-kicking the alien in the chest. Scott whistled at that.

No, head in the game… er, fight, Scott. Scott clipped the pyromecis to his belt so he could climb easier, and began to scale the wall. As this afternoon’s training had taught him, if he could grow, leap onto its back and attach the device, it would start to emit fire before the creature could rip it off.

“YOU ITTY-BITTY PESTS.” Scott snorted at that, but the alien was furious. “WE WILL EAT YOU ALL.”

“I’m not very tasty, but try this, ” came Ava’s voice from behind her mask, and she gave it a rather large gouge on the shoulder.

The alien snarled. “IF YOU INSIST ON PISSING US OFF, WE WILL STOP GOING EASY ON YOU.” Hope grew again and leapt for it but--it grabbed her by the neck with one arm. Scott gasped as she let out a choking noise.

“IF YOU INSIST,” the alien repeated with a smirk, and whipped her into the alley.

Ava let on a scream that might’ve been “ CLIMB ALREADY!” and pulled out a second knife.Wielding both, she vanished for a second, then appeared on the alien’s other side to slice. Scott shivered and continued to climb. He watched with one eye as Ava got one small cut in before the alien whipped her into the alley too.

Then Hope was back, pummeling the alien’s back with fury, but it reached back and grabbed her with both hands.

“I didn’t want to do this,” the alien said, and actually sounded apologetic as it opened its mouth impossibly wide.

“ NOW, SCOTT!” Hope screamed. Scott jumped from the brick wall, pulling the pyromecis and pushing the button. As they grew, the bottom of the device started to burst into flames and it fixed itself onto the alien’s back.

The alien let out an unholy shriek and began to falter. Scott started to grin, his feet hitting the ground, but then it pulled the pyromecis off and--

Crushed it.

Scott’s grin disappeared as it turned to him. Its white eyes were almost slits as its tongue licked its teeth, like a wolf going in for the kill. Scott barely registered it moving before it had one hand around his neck and was hoisting him up. Both he and Hope were now struggling for air. “You insects will make tasty morsels,” the alien snarled.

Where the HELL IS AVA? Scott’s vision began to flicker, spots blacker than the alien’s goop appearing before his eyes.

Suddenly, the alien let out a choking noise. Scott glanced to the side and saw Ava standing behind it with her mask removed, both of her daggers hilt-deep in its back.

“No one, ” Ava said in a deadly voice, her eyes actually glowing gold with quantum energy, “ eats my friends.” She pushed the knives in deeper and stepped back.

Something a little lighter-colored than its goop trickled out of the alien’s mouth as it dropped Hope and Scott, slumped forwards and…

The alien’s form rippled, before it began to dissolve like mist, growing smaller and lighter until only a man was lying on the ground. The knives had come out during the transformation, and hit the ground with wet clatters.

They were different knives then before, and the blades were on fire.

Scott rubbed at his throat and glanced at Ava, who shrugged and said, “Saved my burning-knives until the right moment. Hank thought they’d be a good back-up.”

Hope staggered onto her feet and limped to the man, pointing to his back with wide eyes. “There’s no wounds. Ava, your knife-wounds are gone.”

Ava frowned as she saw. “He’s still unconscious, though.” She picked up the knives and hit a button on their hilts, extinguishing the fires.

Scott winced at the tormented expression on the man’s face. “I’ll call Hank and… ask him if there’s a blowtorch or a super heating pad we can use to subdue the alien.” The women glared at him. “What? Ava’s knife-trick won’t work twice, and the pyromecis is gone.”

Hope sighed, and started to pick the man up with Ava, both of them wincing as they did so. “Okay.”

Scott took another look at the man’s face as he walked for where he’d left his phone, and blinked in surprise.

That’s the guy I bumped into.

They put him in the safe. Hank and Bill whipped up a “fireray” to block off the entrance.

His ID said he was Eddie Brock. They did some research on him. They found out he’d acted oddly in public shortly before the Life Foundation fire. They found out he used to live in the poorer part of town where the alien had hunted a lot.

Twenty minutes later, Janet called them over.

Brock was not breathing.

They checked his vitals.

Brock was dead.

Chapter Text

“WHAT THE FUCK.”

Ava dropped her teacup as Bill swore, and a moment later her father-figure staggered up the stairs and slumped into a chair, his eyes wide and darting around, looking at nothing.

After Janet found out Brock had died, she had herded them upstairs to eat a midnight snack before any of them passed out from shock. Bill had eaten half a biscuit before returning to study the corpse… That had been three minutes ago.

Now Hank calmly took a sip of his coffee before setting it down to take a bite of his biscuit. “Can we help you, Bill?”

“He’s—he’s—”

They all immediately guessed who he was trying to refer to, and Janet took his hands to rub them soothingly. “What about him?”

“He’s… He’s moving.”

Hank spit out globs of biscuit.

He’s swimming through space, amid the stars. Stroke, stroke. He passes them, each one ten times brighter and more beautiful than the last. His limbs are fluid as he moves.

He’s alive, but not waking up.

His gaze leaves the cosmic beauties to study himself, suddenly leaving uneasy.

Give him time. Ava did stab him in the back.

His limbs are black and dripping gooey fluid, but that’s not why he begins to panic.

Two days ago, Dad. But that’s not the point; how can he keep dying and reviving?

No, he realizes that his motions have turned choppy, uneven. And there are white wormy things going in and out of his skin. They’re starting to control him.

I don’t know. Wait. What’s he doing?

He begins to twitch, straining his arms to pull them out, but they won’t raise all the way. Suddenly there’s two bursts of pain from his back, and from his peripheral vision he can see two worms, ten times the size of the others, wriggle out of his spine.

He’s fighting the bonds. Dad, do something!

They’re inching up his back. They’re going to attach to his neck and bite his life out. His skin burns where they touch him.

Ava, go in and undo the restraints--just a little.

He’s fighting harder now, but the worms abandon his neck to wrap around his limbs. They’re trying to tie him up.

He’s still twitching.

A flash, and another big worm is there, floating in space before him, but this one is golden. It studies him carefully.

AVA.

Then it eats him.

...He stopped.

He can feel himself being digested.

Dad, the skin on his face is turning black.

He can’t move his limbs at all. The worms tied him up well.

Ava, get out of there.

He tried to speak. “What are you?” he manages.

Hold on. He just said something.

The golden worm responds.

...What the fuck is a skalorm…?

“Why did you eat me?”

Hey, Hank, did you see that?

He can feel the worm shake it’s head.

His eyelids are moving.

The worm chuckles.

Who deserved what?

That’s all he hears before he dies.

Hank. He stopped breathing again.

It is currently five-thirty-seven at night, two days after they put Brock in the cell—and speaking of Brock, the man won’t stop dying.

His heart flatlines and he stops breathing. A while later, he revives.

It’s creeping Scott the fuck out.

The first time he did it, they all rushed downstairs to stare. The man Janet had pronounced as dead , the man with no heartbeat and a still chest , was twitching like a toddler on a sugar rush. And his vitals were normal, like he’d never even died in the first place.

Now Scott looks up from fiddling with a piece of wire as Ava goes in to fix his restraints, and Hank, Hope and Bill are muttering to each other. “How’s he doing this time?”

“Well, his face is turning black but he stopped breathing again.” Ava dusted off her hands as she phased through the firerays attached to the entrance.

Scott went to look, feeling nostalgic as he sees the air-mattress under the man. “Hmm.”

“Hmm what?” Hank gave him a look with tired eyes.

“No, just remembering when I used that mattress to take off the safe door. When I broke into your house.”

Janet gave him a look like that was news to her, but Hank just laughed. “You mean when I let you into my house.”

Scott shrugged, while Janet turned to her husband. “Hank, I swear, please don’t tell me you had him break in to test his skills and evaluate him for a mission.”

The three of them were silent, and Janet massaged her temples. “Unbelievable.”

Hope smirked at her dad. “He wouldn’t let me don the suit, so he allowed a thief.”

“Hey!” Scott protested. “ Not a thief; I am—I was—a cat burglar . Thieving involves threat; I did not harm anyone.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Oh yes, he allowed a cat burglar to wear the suit, my bad.”

Janet gave Hank a piercing glare. “Well, at least you didn’t use the ants to stage a complex break in—oh my God you did, didn’t you. ”

As Hope and Scott started to laugh, Hank kissed her on the cheek. “You know me so well.”

“Mission Ant-possible,” Ava suddenly said, and now everyone is laughing.

They’re laughing so loud that none of them hear Brock take a breath, and none of them see him open his eyes.

Eddie wakes up feeling all shades of stiff, sore, and achy. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but he noticed his limbs are restrained, and tied to a loop of material around his chest. Am I seriously in a makeshift straitjacket? is his first thought.

His second thought is, Are these the same people that stabbed me in the back? Then, Oh my God, they stabbed me in the back.

He attempted to rub his stomach, feeling hollow, but then realized it wasn’t from hunger. “WHERE’S V?” he roared, and managed to haul himself to his feet.

There are people laughing on the other side of—are those lasers? —and they startle when they hear him. Two older men and a woman, as well as two younger women and a man turn, to stare at him.

“So he’s finally up,” the older man with more white hair said as Eddie finished studying them.

“Where is V?” Eddie repeated, deadly calm.

“Hey, pal, just relax.” The young man held out his palms, and Eddie suddenly wanted to reach through the lasers and rip the skin from them. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

“I feel like someone who was stabbed in the back and never got it treated, but sure, I’m ‘okay,’ ” Eddie hissed in response.

The young woman with darker skin frowned. “There were no wounds.”

“It’s still wounded under the skin, then?” the lighter-skinned woman asked at the same time.

“Yes, judging by the pain in my spine .” Eddie glanced down at his straitjacket. “So where’s V?”

“How about you answer our questions first? For example, how come you kept dying and reviving?” That was the older woman speaking, her voice gentle but expectant.

I kept dying? Eddie winced. The last time he had really “died” was when Riot and Drake turned him into a shish kebab. “Must be… they saved me,” he muttered to himself.

“Who saved you?”

“V… My alien.”

The lighter-skinned woman’s brows raised. “ Your alien?”

“Yes. He’s mine . My symbiote.” Eddie’s head started to spin, so he slumped back down onto the mattress, leaning against the wall.

The light-skinned older man cleared his throat. “Mr. Brock, did you happen to receive that alien from the Life Foundation?”

“Not exactly. I… I stole it,” he answered with a small smile.

“So you weren’t a test subject?”

“No. A doctor snuck me in to get evidence to face Drake, but one of the test subjects was my… friend.” Eddie frowned as the memories surfaced. Her screaming, pleading face still haunted him. “The symbiote was in her, and when I let her out, it transferred to me and helped me escape the guards.”

“And now you… help it back, by letting it eat people?” That was the older woman again.

“Just bad people. Criminals, thieves.” The younger man winced at that. Hmm. “Rapists, traffickers. V needs a chemical our brains produce—phenethylamine. Chocolate has it too, but it’s not as effective.”

The young light-skinned woman crossed her arms and snorted. “And so you just play judge, jury, executioner with these ‘bad people?’ Willingly?”

Eddie shrugged. “We saved the world. Figured that makes up for it.”

All of their brows raised at that. “You saved the world?” Younger Man asked. “I didn’t hear anything about that.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. Of course not. “Drake had his own symbiote, Riot, and they were going to take his rocket to collect the rest of Riot’s species,” he explained. “Then they would let them loose on Earth. People would be eaten or forcibly merged with. The symbiote-human hybrids would then be moved to space and ruled by Drake and Riot. So we blew up the rocket, killed both Drake and Riot, and went on living our life.”

They all stared at him, silent. Finally Young Light-Skinned Woman shook her head. “And what about your… symbiote? You said it was saving you.”

Eddie rubbed his chest at a sudden phantom pain, wincing. “When we fought Drake and Riot, Riot stabbed me through the chest and I… died. But V, who had been separated from me, returned and brought me back. So I guess when… Hey, how long have I been here, anyways?”

“Two days.”

What the fuck. Eddie blinked in disbelief. Have I seriously been held by these people for that long? “So I guess during these two days , I kept dying from whatever those knives did to me, but V kept bringing me back.”

No one even looked guilty, the assholes. “So V is still in you?” The older men shared a look.

Eddie shrugged as much as he could. “Maybe? I don’t… feel him, but I don’t know how else I could keep… reviving...”

“Hmm.” Older Woman clicked her tongue. “Well, thank you, Mr. Brock.” With that, all of them went upstairs.

Well, all except Young Man, who sat down and studied Eddie. “You didn’t look evil when I bumped into you,” he said after a while.

“When you…” Eddie suddenly remembered a guy walking into him and dropping a case as he was walking to buy fried chicken. “That was you? We wondered how you’d gotten there as Ant-Man so fast.”

The guy grinned. “Just luck, I guess.” He held out a hand like he wanted to shake, then saw the lasers and dropped it. “I’m Scott Lang, though we last met as Ant-Man and…”

“Venom.”

Scott raised a brow. “Venom, huh?”

Eddie shrugged. “It’s V’s real name. We changed it because we’re really only Venom together.”

“By ‘together,’ you mean…” The man tilted his head. “When he’s… covering you?”

“When our minds merge into one.” Eddie held out a hand to study it, desperately wanting a tendril to emerge and coil lovingly around his fingers.

Scott’s eyes were wide when he glanced back up. “Mind-merging. Cool .”

Eddie shot him a glance, but the man seemed genuinely intrigued. “Yeah…”

Scott’s features fell, and he scratched the back of his head. “Hey, uh, sorry for, y’know, trying to burn you… or V, apparently. I didn’t know you… I mean… We thought he was controlling you,” he finally managed.

“You were trying to free me?” Scott nodded, and Eddie bit his lip. “Well, I chose this willingly, but thanks, I guess.”

“Scott!” someone yelled from upstairs, and Scott stood up and glanced over his shoulder.

“Hey, before I go,” Scott said, looking back to Eddie, “I’m guessing you need to eat more, right?” Eddie nodded. “So, are there specific foods you need or…?”

“Chocolate and meat, mostly.”

“Raw or cooked meat?”

If V’s not awake when the food gets here… “...Cooked,” he finally responded, internally trembling a little.

“Great.” Scott flashed double thumbs-up before yelling “Coming!” and running up the stairs.

Eddie closed his eyes, desperately trying (and failing) to ignore his inner turmoil, and fell asleep, suddenly exhausted.

When he woke up, three chocolate bars and two plates of cooked steak and sausage sat on a small table in the corner of the room.

Another day passed, and Eddie began to act more friendlier as he realized the “Ant Team” had genuinely meant to help him. Unfortunately, for “his own safety,” he was still stuck in the room.

Hope, Scott’s “partner,” and her parents Hank and Janet visited him every few hours to ask him questions, sometimes with the other older man, Bill. And Ava, the other young woman, just… sat in the corner, and was unblinkingly watching him almost every time he looked over. Talk about creepy .

Scott was beginning to grow on him (pun intended) as he frequently entertained Eddie with jokes and magic tricks. He somehow kept pulling cards from his throat, which was actually pretty freaky. V would’ve loved it…

Eddie sighed as he finally ate the last chocolate bar. A few hours ago, he felt his friend stirring in his gut, so he was alive, thank fucking God. But V wasn’t answering him; their side of their bond was silent.

He didn’t tell his captors (yes, he’d kind of forgiven them for fighting/hurting/capturing him, but they were still technically holding him against his will) that V was up, thinking they deserved a scare for almost killing them.

Night three. More stirring.

...Was V avoiding him?

Morning four.

V was awake and moving throughout his body.

They didn’t respond to Eddie’s thoughts.

Afternoon four.

Why wasn’t V responding?

...was he dying.

Eddie.

Eddie jerked from his nap on the fifth day, immediately happier for the first time since the fight. V! His internal smile was wide as he mentally felt around for the symbiote.

Are you alright?

Am I alright? Something in him snapped at the question. You little fucker —NO. I’VE BEEN WORRIED SICK FOR YOU. He kicked away his plate and scooted into the corner, his head on his knees as he tried not to cry, sadness suddenly swelling inside him like a great angsty balloon. I—I th—thought they had ki—killed you. And then you wo—woke up and would—wouldn’t resp—p—pond to m—me. He wiped away his tears and took a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm himself.

Guilt and sadness was sent through the bond. We’re sorry. We weren’t able to respond, or even read your thoughts, and we had to keep moving so we wouldn’t slip back to the Brink.

The Brink?

Of death.

Eddie’s eyes widened. So they did almost kill you.

Yes. And now they have you hostage. V gnashed their teeth, almost tearing a piece of his liver by accident. We should merge. We’ll kill them all and rip their hearts out. The deadly calm in their voice terrified him.

N—no, no, it’s okay, Eddie soothed. I know it doesn’t feel like it, but they were trying to help me. Remember Dan and Anne, when they thought you were hurting me? It’s like that.

V paused. So… you don’t want us to kill them?

No. Although they do deserve a scaring. Eddie smirked, and V let out a dark chuckle.

Indeed. Call them over.

Now?

Yes.

Eddie shrugged and stood up, not missing the straitjacket one bit; thankfully it had come off the first night he’d woken up. “Um, guys?” he called, walking to the entrance. The firerays had been removed yesterday, but they’d made it clear he still shouldn’t leave the safe yet. He itched at his clothes; a T-shirt and sweatpants Scott had picked up from his apartment last night.

Almost immediately, the team came into the room from the lab. “Everything okay?” Hope asked.

Eddie fidgeted. “Uh, well, you see—”

“DIE!” V cut in with a roar, manifesting as a giant head and claws from Eddie’s back, rising over his head and lunging for them. They all screamed and scrambled back (besides Ava, of course).

Scott fell over. “ WHAT THE FUCK!” he shrieked, sounding like a little girl.

Eddie struggled to keep a straight face as V loomed over the fallen vigilante. “You still look bite-sized to us, Ant-Man, ” V hissed, licking their teeth after ‘bite.’

“About time you woke up, V,” Eddie deadpanned, “though you gave Scott heart attack, it seems.”

“No, you gave me a heart attack,” Hank muttered as he stood from crashing into a desk. He gave Eddie a glare, clearly believing he’d suggested this (Eddie’s eyes widened in innocence at the look) and peered at V. “So, you’re V? Eddie’s told us a lot about you.”

Not weaknesses, we hope, V sniffed, but knew from Eddie’s memories he hadn’t. “So his thoughts say,” they said out loud. “You’re Hank Pym?”

Hank nodded. “Yeah.”

“And you invented the… pyromecis?”

Hank ignored Bill’s protests. “Yep.”

V glowered at him. “We almost died because of you.”

“We’re all sorry for that,” Hope sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “We all thought—”

“That we were controlling Eddie, yes.” Their tongue slid out in displeasure. “Because none of you could fathom that we were willing partners. ” Wisely, no one responded to that. “Well, we are now healed, and Eddie is well, so we have no reason to kill you… yet.”

“Wonderful.” Hank rolled his eyes. “Well, now that you’re here, we have to talk.”

“We just did,” V snapped.

“About your… Venom-ing,” Janet continued. Her white hair was in a high bun today, and she picked at her gray T-shirt as she thought. “We can’t just… let you go, you see.”

“We have noticed, seeing as you’ve kept Eddie in this safe for almost a week .”

“A necessary precaution.” Bill spoke slowly, and Eddie rolled his own eyes.

“Sure. ”

“Sure,” V sniffed at the same time. “You wish to ask us to stop eating people, right? But as we’re sure Eddie had told you, we need phenethylamine to survive, and the main source for that is brains. And we’re not nearly as delightful when we’re hungry.”

Hope winced. “But—”

“End of story,” V snapped. “And if you attack us with those fire knives again, we will follow through with our promise to eat you.”

No one doubted that, Eddie was sure.

“Wonderful. Threats aside, we’ve kept Eddie here to ask him questions,” Bill began. “We’re sorry that came across as holding him--”

“Ah, hostage-holders and interrogators.” V smiled icily. “The city must be so proud to call you it’s... ‘heroes.’”

Scott flinched at that, but Hank didn’t even blink. “Because we needed information about your diet.”

“And food critics? Is there anything you can’t do?” Eddie marveled at V’s mastery of sarcasm.

“We needed him to know specifics… for this.” Hank took a small tin from his pocket and held it out.

“What is that?” V snarled.

“Is that what I think it is?” Eddie asked at the same time.

Hope nodded at him. “They’re phenethylamine tablets. So you don’t need to eat people anymore.”

Eddie accepted the tin and opened it up. Inside, about thirty or so rectangular tablets were lined up. “Huh.”

“One tablet a day,” Janet added.

Suddenly aware of V’s hunger through the bond, Eddie took one out and held it up to his symbiote. V sniffed it, then took it and chewed carefully.

“I can’t tell a difference,” the alien finally said. “Good… job…” Through the bond, Eddie could tell it hurt their pride to say that.

“Well, since we have the alien’s approval, I’ll start another batch with that formula,” Bill joked, and headed into the lab, Janet following a moment later.

“Uh… Thank you,” Eddie said to Hank. “Really.”

Hank nodded slowly, then he walked into the lab, leaving Eddie to face Hope and Scott, with Ava still watching silently in the corner.

“Now that we’ve fed the Hungry Symbiote, we should talk about the future.” Scott rubbed his hands together, smiling nervously.

Eddie tilted his head at his words. “I’m not following,” he responded as he stared at the two. It was hard to believe that jokester Scott was a hero, but he certainly got that vibe from Hope’s no-nonsense stance. Ant-Man and the Wasp. It finally hit Eddie he was in the presence of real heroes.

“You’re dangerous, Eddie.” Hope’s voice was blunt, and it yanked Eddie from his thoughts. “The tablets may stop you from eating people, but you’re still dangerous when stopping crime. You hurt bad guys—how long until good guys get hurt, too?”

She’s right, V cut in, to his surprise. We try our best to only harm bad guys, but remember that time we scratched that little girl?

I don’t like remembering it, but yeah. “So what are you saying? We should stop?” Eddie pursed his lips. “‘Cause we can’t. This is like V’s exercise. And we like being… well, not heroes, but… We like rescuing people.”

Scott nodded. “We get that, we do. We’re just saying that you shouldn’t be out there alone. ”

That’s when it dawned on him. “You’re saying we should... form a partnership?” Was the first step in the plan about to become a reality? Next step, help from the Avengers, Eddie thought eagerly.

“An alliance, yes.” For the first time, Hope gave him a genuine smile. “You can help us by making our team stronger, and we can help you… not have accidents.”

What do you think, bud? Eddie sent V a mental glance.

We are still mad at them, but this was our plan. We should accept.

You sure?

Yes.

Alright. “We accept,” Eddie told them, and Scott grinned, holding out his hand.

“Awesome! Welcome to Team Ant, Venom.”

Eddie shook Scott's hand, and gave them a lazy smile with slightly-sharpened teeth. “To protecting San Francisco.”

Chapter Text

Tony Stark was not a man that wished and waited.

If a project didn’t work out, he wouldn’t stop and wait for the solution to come to him; he’d roll up his sleeves, wipe oil or sweat off his face, and keep tinkering.

So when the entire UN security council told him to wait for their verdict, he snorted and thought to himself, Well, fuck that.

That hadn’t been his response two years ago. Two years ago, when Ross had slapped down the book, Tony’s mind was stuck on what that woman had said. The Avengers needed to be controlled again; and SHIELD wasn’t around to reclaim the reigns. Two years ago, his response to the UN was, “I support this.”

Tony stood by his decision when he locked Wanda up in the compound.

He stood by his decision when Steve fought him at the airport.

He stood by his decision when Steve and Barnes nearly killed him, and left him for dead in a frozen wasteland.

But Tony stopped supporting his decision a few months later, after Peter faced down the Vulture.

Tony hadn’t been there for his  the kid, who was growing on him so fast.

After Tony proposed to Pepper, he’d found Ross waiting in the conference room.

“So, you almost had the spider join, huh?”

Tony didn’t bother asking how he knew. “I almost did, yes.”

Ross had looked him in the eye, and said, “I don’t care if he joins. He is a threat, and if you help him again, I will throw you in the Raft for violating the Accords, and him along with you.”

Ross just threatened his the kid.

“I understand,” Tony said smoothly. When Ross left, Tony checked for bugs or recording devices, then said, “FRIDAY, set up a new folder on my private server. Title it, ‘Evidence For Accords Takedown.’”

And ever since, he’d carefully been taking notes and collecting records, determined to find enough evidence to take down the Accords, or at least change them.

Because Peter, sweet, innocent Peter, who felt he had blood on his hands and was determined to ease his pain by helping others, was in danger of being hurt.

And that reminded him of Harley (who he should really talk to soon). What if Harley had powers? Would Ross threaten him, too?

What if that was the case with Rhodey’s niece, who was already burdened with the sorrow of his paralysis?

How many people were out there, hiding powers because they feared the damage the Accords could do to their families, their loved ones?

How darker was the world because of what the Accords prevented?

Now, almost two years after Steve and his Rogues had vanished, Tony paced in his lab. He couldn’t afford to wait any longer; what if the verdict still wasn’t enough for closested supers--wasn’t enough for Peter?

“FRIDAY.”

“Yes, boss?”

Tony straightened his glasses, suddenly determined to make sure Ross never got his hands on anyone ever again. “Activate Project Asylum.”

“Fight me.”

Eddie looked up from his book, his mind still focused on the stupid-ass decision the main character just made. “...Huh?”

Hope rolled her eyes. “ I said , fight me.” She was wearing a black tank-top and gray sweatpants, and had her hair pulled back into a high ponytail.

It was one week since he’d been invited onto the team. He’d spent the days with them, mostly just hanging out or answering more questions, and then went home at night--no threats to San Francisco yet. Most of them had apologized about the capturing again (Janet had made him the tastiest apology cake ever , bless her), but Ava still continued to play “Silent Stare-y Statue.”

“Nah.” His eyes dropped back down to his page. “I wouldn’t want to piss off your dad.”

“For the love of--” Hope snatched his book (“Hey!” he protested) and tossed it aside. “I’m inviting you to spar, dumbass.”

“Oh.” Eddie studied her face, which was exasperated, and shrugged. “Okay.” He climbed to his feet and pulled off his hoodie, revealing his black T-shirt. Hope led him into the sparring area, and he raised a brow. “So… how long have you and Scott been fighting?”

Hope snorted. “What makes you say we’re fighting?”
She’s lying, V commented.

Yeah, no kidding. “You’ve been avoiding each other all day.”

Hope glared at him, then sighed. “Cassie called me her mom when I went to pick him up this morning,” she finally admitted.

That’s his daughter, Eddie recalled. “Ah. So now he’s flustered.”

“Yep.”

“Even though you two are dating?”

“It’s… complicated.” Hope started forwards, feigning left but then throwing herself right, but Eddie ducked out of the way.

“When is it not?” He blocked another hit, then got her in the shin before she punched his shoulder.

“We’re partners, yeah, and we might like each other, but…” Hope spun around to get behind him, but Eddie made her trip with a kick to the knee. “Ow. But my dad and I are still forgiving him for fighting with Cap’s Rogues.”

That surprised him. “He went without telling you?”

“Well, technically Hawkeye drugged him and took him, but yeah, he fought. Didn’t even call and warn us about the feds, though; we narrowly missed getting arrested the first day after the Avengers’ Clash.”

Hope got a few jabs at his chest before he summoned V’s strength and flipped her onto her back, then knelt and pinned her down. “Off,” she muttered after a moment.

Eddie let her up. “Damn,” he finally commented. “So when he got out of HA, he went to find you?”

“No. He called us because he had a vision, and I went to pick him up.”

Eddie nodded at ‘vision;’ Janet had already explained the basics of her mystical stay in the Quantum Realm. “Let me guess; he did something stupid and you did get arrested.”

“Aw, am I so easy to predict?” Both of them turned to see Scott leaning against the wall, avoiding Hope’s gaze.

“Yes.” They spoke at the same time. “And we felt dumb for not prepping for your inevitable mistake ,” Hope added with an eye roll.

“Jellybean, your words sting,” he said, but without friendliness. Then he jerked his head towards the stairs. “Janet wants you.” Hope nodded in farewell at Eddie before brushing past her partner.

“Jellybean?” Eddie raised a brow at him.

“Janet’s name for her. In the vision and when Janet possessed me, that’s what I called her.”

Eddie decided not to question that, and just nodded slowly.

“Hey, um, so I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” Scott continued, fidgeting a little bit. “Maybe, if you wanted, we could go around town? Do something? I can’t be the only one going stir-crazy, can I?”

“Nope, I need to get out, too.”

“Cool, cool.” Scott gave his signature thumbs-up. “Well, Janet says lunch will be ready soon, so we’ll go afterwards?”

“Sure.” At that, Scott brightened a smidge and went upstairs, leaving Eddie alone to put his hoodie back on.

We don’t get why partners fight, V commented as he grabbed his book. Why don’t they just communicate?

It’s easy for you to say; you’re literally in my brain, so we’re always communicating. Eddie went upstairs to put his book away. But when you have to actually decide to talk to someone, and you have to commit to it… Your emotions can influence those decisions.

He could feel his symbiote pondering that. Relationships would be better off if everyone was like us, V decided.

Eddie snorted. Maybe you’re right. He walked into the kitchen just as Janet placed a bowl of salad on the table, and sat down on the side with three chairs.

She smiled at him. “Hi, Eddie--oh, Ava, I noticed you didn’t have your canister today. Are you alright?” Janet turned to Ava, who was sitting at one end of the table, chewing on a biscuit.

“M’fine, but I’ll get it later,” she muttered, focusing on a piece of paper. She brushed crumbs off it, then glanced up to glare at Eddie. “...Hey.”

That’s the first word she’s said to me. “Hi.”

“Speaking of using special medications, how’s the tablets?” Hank gave Eddie a head tilt as he sat down next to him, at the end.

V?

We have no cravings for brains.

“Great,” Eddie responded. His gaze slid to Ava. “Uh.. if you don’t mind me asking… ‘canister?’”

Janet and Hank exchanged glances, but Ava didn’t even blink. “Of quantum energy. Janet healed me, but I still inject a canister a day… just in case.” She gave Eddie another glare, a smirk barely visible on her face. “Hey, how’s your back?”

He stiffened at that.

We do not like her, V hissed.

I don’t think she likes you either, bud. “Oh… um… fine,” he responded awkwardly.

Hope sat to his left, leaving a chair between her and Ava. “Hey, dad, have you seen the news regarding the Accords?”

Eddie straightened slightly, immediately paying attention.

Hank frowned at his daughter, then accepted a bowl filled with corn from Janet. “...No. Why, what happened?”

Hope put a piece of lettuce on her burger and bit into it. “The UN is working on a revision of it.”

Hank’s eyes widened, then turned to face Bill as he walked in with Scott. “Did you know about that?”

“Know what?” Bill scooped some corn onto his plate.

“The UN is revising the Accords,” Hope repeated.

Scott choked as he drank from his glass. “Wait, what?” he spluttered.

“The UN--is revising--the Accords.”

As Janet sat next to Ava, Bill sat between Ava and Hope. “I wouldn’t get too excited about it,” he warned after a minute of thinking. “The Revisions will most likely entail new… punishments.”

“And different wordings of what they already have,” Hank added.

Eddie frowned. “You think there’s a possibility you could ask for… I don’t know, a pardon?”

“You mean, because we’ve been on the run since the Clash?” Hope tilted her head. “I’d like to hope so, but that Ross figure wouldn’t allow that.”

Ask about the Avengers and the Spiderguy rumors.

It’s Spider- Man . “Well, maybe the Avengers could help with that,” Eddie continued hesitantly.

Scott gave him a dubious look over his burger. “But they’re under the Accords?”

“Not exactly,” Eddie responded. “There’s rumors that the Avengers--specifically Tony Stark--have been providing tech to Spider-Man, and if you look up his D.C. video, you’ll see he does have Stark-level tech. And all of the investigations to find out his identity and arrest him have failed… Who else but Tony Stark could cover tracks like that?”

“That’s odd. Stark was in full support of the Accords.” Hank looked dubious.

“Maybe not anymore. Maybe the Clash changed his mind, especially after he almost died.” Eddie finished his plate and went to put it in the sink, ignoring their stares at his quick eating. “Anyways, the rumors seem to be true, so why can’t you guys get that for yourselves?” And me and V? he added silently.

They were silent, each thinking it over. “It’s worth a shot,” Hope offered after a while. “I mean, Scott took a plea deal; maybe Stark’ll think we’re on his side now?”

Ava’s knife scraping against her plate drew their attention. She popped a piece of burger into her mouth, then tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If Stark truly, fully supported the Accords, then he would’ve used his resources to find you already.”

Eddie blinked. “Yeah… He would have… So I think it’s safe to say he might help?”

“I suppose we could plan for that…” Hank spoke carefully. “But I’ve never seen eye-to-eye with the Starks. Plus, maybe him not chasing us was the UN’s plan.”

“It’s still worth a shot.” Janet bit her lip as she considered her words. “However, if it fails, we’d have to pack up and leave. Maybe Eddie would come with us, but Scott… You’d want to stay near Cassie, right?”

“Right.”

“Well, I think it’ll be fine.” Eddie clasped his hands. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

Two hours later, Eddie and Scott were sitting on a bench eating ice cream cones, chuckling as V snapped at pigeons that flew too close.

“So, does anyone you’re close to know about…?” Scott nodded at V as their tiny mouth spat out feathers.

“Yeah. Anne, my ex-fiancée, and her boyfriend, Dan. They actually helped us when I first got V.” He tossed a chocolate chip at his symbiote, who caught it and munched happily. “They’re pretty cool with it.”

“Huh.” Scott tilted his head back and sighed as he watched two teenagers run on the other side of the street, shrieking happily. “I don’t think I’m ever going to take anything for granted ever again,” he mused.

“It must feel weird for you to go places.” Eddie finally managed to stop his ice cream from dripping down the side of the cone, and grinned at his success.

“You have no idea! Sure, I learned a lot of skills and whatever, but just being able to walk down the street is like heaven on earth, now.” Scott rubbed at his temple, looking strained. “I won’t ever regret helping Cap, because I still think the Accords only hurt people, but…”

“It’s still complicated. I get it.” Eddie studied his cone before giving the rest to V, who ate it, paper wrapper and all, then disappeared under his skin. “When I was fired after my failed interview with Drake… I felt lost. I mean, I had seen documents of his human experiments, so I knew I was doing the right thing, but when everyone was so disappointed…”

Well, no one is disappointed now.

That’s not the point, V, but thanks.

“Guess we’re a bit similar, huh?” Scott gave him a grim smile.

“Sure.” Eddie paused, then laughed. “Except I never got arrested.”

“HEY!” Scott chuckled. “No, that’s fair, you’re right.”

They fell into a comfortable silence, just watching the cars drive by as the sun began to drift towards the earth. “Hey, what did Hope say to you earlier?” Scott finally asked.

“She explained why you’re avoiding each other. The Cassie thing?”

“Ah, yes.” Scott closed his eyes and grimaced. “Does she think I’m mad at her?”
Eddie recalled their conversation. “No… A better question should be, do you think she’s mad at you? ”

His friend—hmm, when did that happen?—nodded solemnly. “Ah. Right. It’s easy to forget they’re still forgiving me.”

They went quiet again, neither knowing what to say.

Eddie.

Eddie stiffened at V’s tone. What’s wrong?

We’re being watched, Eddie. V sounded worried, which was unusual.

“Where?” Eddie whispered out loud. Scott gave him an odd look, then saw his expression and began to discreetly scan their surroundings.

Behind you, to the left.

Eddie slowly whispered the instructions back to Scott, who pretended to answer his phone and then gave that area a careful glance.

“Dark-skinned woman with short hair,” Scott murmured, straightening himself. “Casual gray jacket, white shirt and blue jeans. Black sunglasses. Judging by her position, she’s been there a while; she might’ve seen V.”

“Nah, she just got here. V would’ve known if she’d been there longer.”

“Shit, what do we do?” Scott’s eyes were wide, but he took a breath and forced himself to calm down.

Eddie contemplated their options. This street was busy; if they could put some distance between them and her, they would lose her. “Get up and start walking.”  They both stood, Scott starting to laugh at an imaginary joke as they began to walk away. “Hey, don’t,” Eddie warned. “That looks forced.”

“Guess I really am unable to seem casual,” Scott joked, but quieted.

Eddie felt V poke out of his collar, as small as they could be, to watch her. She’s following, and talking into a phone, they warned.

Anyone else?

Not that we can sense, but probably.

“There’s probably more,” Eddie muttered to Scott, and they began to walk a smidge faster. “How much farther to the car?”

“Two blocks. Dammit, we should’ve parked closer.” Scott ground his teeth. “It’s probably the FBI keeping tabs on me after the Piers—shit, how will we get away without shrinking?”

“Worry about getting to the car first.” Two prickles in Eddie’s brain made him wince. “But V just spotted two more.”

“Shit, shit, shit,” Scott muttered to himself.

Eddie, another coming down the street our way.

“Do not look up, but there’s one ahead,” Eddie whispered. Immediately Scott turned to round a corner, and Eddie followed.

“Are they all behind us?”

Yes.

“Yes.”

“Then let’s run to the car. V, let us know when that farthest person rounds the bend.”

Eddie and Scott kept walking, their legs stiff with anticipation.

Now, V finally spoke.

“Now.” The two of them broke into a run. Behind them, Eddie could hear someone swear, and lots of feet running after them. “Faster!” he gasped.

Scott easily moved faster, which was pretty unusual considering he hadn’t been to a gym in years; but maybe Pym Particles kept your metabolism high and your muscles strong? Eddie found himself straining to keep up.

Uh, Eddie, you do remember we can take over your running, don’t you?

Right! He’d forgotten that, honestly.

V emerged from his skin to seize his limbs (staying underneath his clothes, though) and they shot forwards, making Scott swear behind them.

In no time at all, they reached the car and he pulled the keys from his pocket (Scott still hadn’t remastered driving). He unlocked it and dove into the passenger seat, crawling over the central consul and swinging into the driver’s seat. After what felt like an excruciatingly-painful amount of time, Scott hopped in, slammed his door, and Eddie took off.

“This… this feels like the Pier Incident all over again,” Scott panted. “Damn. How’d… how’d you run so fast? V?”

“Yep.” Eddie grunted and swung around a corner just before the light turned red, narrowly missing a pedestrian. “V, little help? ”

V emerged and covered his hands, the action making Scott gasp, and then claimed his feet too. Eddie felt his limbs begin to drive the car in a way only a super-sensed symbiote from space could, the action familiar and nostalgic. “Scott, do us a favor and keep a lookout,” V hissed from Eddie’s mouth.

Scott nodded, and shifted to peer out the rear window. “Uhh… Two black SUVs,” he reported. “Wait, now three.”

“SUVs are ugly,” V muttered. They brought the car around another corner, more expertly and neatly than Eddie had done, and hit the gas when they saw the street was empty.

Scott nearly toppled onto the dash, but managed to cling to the back of the chair. “They’re speeding up too,” he warned.

“Damn, and if they are FBI, we can’t shrink because then they’ll know that you’re with Hank and Hope again.”

“I said that already, but yeah. And I really don’t wanna go back to HA,” Scott responded with a grimace.

“Hang on,” V warned via Eddie’s mouth, and swung them around to 30th.

“They’re catching up!”

“V! Do someth— ”

“I AM.” V nearly avoided a blue Sedan, and then a white pickup. “Too many cars; wish we had the bike,” they grumbled.

“Head to Golden Gate Park; we can lose them there and shrink.”

“Good idea, Bite-Size.”   V started to stop for a red light, then muttered “Fuck traffic laws” and proceeded forwards, crossing milliseconds before a green car drove across. They heard it swerve and honk.

“I think we… lost them,” Scott said shakily. “Hurry to the park.”

“Ah yes, because this isn’t fast enough.” V decided to risk their lives again and nearly ran into a semi. They yanked the wheel and managed to avoid hitting it.

“LEARN THE TRAFFIC LAWS!” Scott screeched as he flew into the side door.

“THIS IS A CAR CHASE. FUCK THE LAWS.”

“ Shit, I see them! ” Eddie caught a glimpse of the SUVs coming from a different road. “Wait. How the hell did they do that??”

“Almost there,” came V, and they once again nearly caused a pileup.

“I’m starting to see how we survived the chase from the Life Foundation,” Eddie commented.

“YOU TWO HAVE DONE THIS BEFORE?” Scott shrieked. “ ARE YOU MAD? ”

“YES,” V snapped.

“ Most definitely ,” Eddie responded right after.

Scott put a hand to his forehead for a moment, muttering “ My car chase wasn’t this deadly and insane” under his breath, and returned to watching the SUVs.

They finally entered the park, swinging onto the road with enough force to make Babe Ruth jealous, and careened past a couple cars. “That’s right, move you pussies.” V made Eddie’s mouth twist into a smirk.

Scott swore again. “Uh, they’re right behind us.”

“WHAT?” V glanced behind them and slammed the gas pedal to the floor.

Eddie gulped. I really don’t think we should be going this fast.

We’d catch the car before we crashed or fell over, they assured him.

Eddie did not feel assured.

Suddenly V began to tremble inside of him, and they nearly jerked the car off the road. “ V?? ”

Sounds… V whispered, before abruptly retreating.

“Shit!” Eddie’s hands slid on the wheel and he nearly crashed into a tree. “V! Where’d you go?? ”

“ Eddie, watch ou—”

…

He heard screaming.

…

A loud crash.

Pain throughout his body.

Shouldn’t V be healing that?

“ You’ve caused us a lot of trouble, Mr. Brock,” someone spoke as he woke up.

“Mmmhgg,” Eddie managed. He tried to move his arms, but realized he was tied to a chair. Of course.

“Just as we were about to go get you,” the voice continued, “you engaged with Ant-Man and disappeared for half a month. Then you appeared again, led us on a hectic chase, and who is in the car with you? The man formerly suspected to be Ant-Man. I must say, our paperwork is extensive at this point.”

Eddie’s eyes opened to find a heavyset blonde man with a crooked nose and dark blue eyes inches from his face, but he didn’t flinch.

The man must’ve noticed, for he seemed to sigh in disappointment. “Your Ant friend is in another cell, and your little parasite is having a fun fest in my lab downstairs.”

Eddie stiffened. “You… removed V?”

The man chuckled at that. “You named it? What a cutesy name.”

“V is not an it. He’s mine,” Eddie growled.

The man full-out laughed. “No, Mr. Brock, I’m afraid not. The symbiotes belonged to Mr. Drake of the Life Foundation, and now that he is dead… They belong to me.”

“And you are?”

The man clucked his tongue at Eddie’s tone. “You don’t need to know that.”

“All the criminals I’ve interviewed say that it's polite for their captors to introduce themselves,” Eddie snarked.

The man rolled his eyes. “Fine. Orwell Taylor.”

He answered that quickly? What a sucky villain. Eddie managed to hold back a snort. “I see. Well, Mr. Taylor, mind explaining why you’ve taken my symbiote?”

He heard the man grind his teeth; unsurprising since his mouth was so big and he was not the most delicate man in the first place. “As I said, Drake’s symbiotes became mine as of his unfortunate demise—which you caused, if memory serves me well. And all but one was destroyed in the fire… the one now in my possession.”

“Hmm.” Eddie was beginning to panic, but was determined not to let it show. “So, you said Scott was in another cell?”

His captor’s eyes narrowed. “That is correct.”

“I’m assuming he’s alone?”

“...Yes.”

Eddie shifted, feeling the contents of his jacket brush against his stomach, and grinned. “And judging by the fact that I can still feel the pocket knife in my pocket, you did not take our belongings?”

Taylor’s face began to fall, and he did not respond.

“Honestly, you’re such a bad villain,” Eddie continued. “How the hell did you outlive Drake? ” Eddie rolled his eyes and smirked.

Anger darkened the man’s face. “How dare you say that I—”

Scott popped up from the floor and punched the back of his head, and he crumpled to the ground. “Man, these guys are dumb,” Scott complained, “leaving my gear on me; and that pathetic rope-around-the-chair trick is an insult .” He snorted gleefully. “They haven’t even figured out I’ve broken out of my cell yet.”

“They are bad villains,” Eddie agreed. He sighed gratefully when Scott undid his bonds, and stood up with a stretch. “Not FBI, though. Some people from my past.”

“Life Foundation?”

“Partners of it, yeah.”

“Damn. Would’ve been easier if they’d gone up in flames too.”

“You’re telling me?”

Scott laughed. “Guess so. I’ve already sent out a signal to alert the others, so we just need to get out—” he broke off and stared at Eddie curiously, as if he could tell something was wrong. “Oh. Guess we have something to do first?”

“Yeah. They’ve got V.” Eddie’s face must’ve shown his inner turmoil, because Scott awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.

“No problem. You just… wait here, then. I’ll see if I can get them.” Scott shrunk, but Eddie spotted him slipping under the door a moment later.

He slumped back onto the chair with a sigh, kicking the limp bonds as he frowned. Then he stood up and started pushing on the door. “No, I can’t just wait around. I’m useful on my own,” he muttered to himself. He imagined V snorting at that, and started to push more desperately. “ MOVE,” he snarled.

The door suddenly opened, and Eddie almost tripped over, before catching himself on the doorframe and leaning against it awkwardly.

“Um.” He looked up to see the woman… the one that had been behind them at the bench. Her brows raised as she studied him. “...Mr. Brock?”

Eddie immediately started to run, but she grabbed his arm and spun him around, shoving him back into the frame so hard he swore he felt a bone crack somewhere. “Ow. Ow. Ow.”

Her grip lessened a bit. “Sorry. Just making sure you wouldn’t flee before I could explain… How’d you get out of the bonds?”

They both stiffened as an alarm started to blare. “ ALERT. ALERT. CLASS J INFILTRATION IN PROGRESS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

“Hmm. I’m guessing Ant-Man, then?” She let him go, and he turned to see her roll her eyes. “These idiots are so bad at being bad guys that I’m surprised they’re all not in prison yet. I mean, yes, they’re bad guys, but they’re taking it too literally , doncha think?”

“I’m sorry, I’m confused. Aren’t you one of them?” he demanded.

She smirked. “That’s what they think.” She opened a hidden pocket from inside her jacket and pulled out a badge. Amanda Scraw , it read. Director of the Asylum Objective.

“Ah, of course, the DAO. It makes sense now,” Eddie responded sarcastically. “Thanks for showing me a badge for some organization I know jack-shit about.”

She frowned. “Mr. Brock, I am your ticket out of here, and I suggest you—”

“Actually, I think I’m a better ticket,” came Ava’s drawl. They turned to see her holding a burning-knife towards Amanda, the blade on fire. Gold starting to glow in her eyes.

Scraw looked impressed at the weapon, but the expression slipped into annoyance as she took in Ava’s face. “Goddamnit, I’m trying to bring him to a secure location,” she muttered. “Can you please just let me do my job?”

“Nah. As much as I dislike Brock, he’s coming with us.” Ava smiled icily.

“Uh, thanks?” Eddie scratched his head. “Should I be offended, though?”

“Yep.” Ava gave Scraw another look, then extinguished the fire and sheathed her knife before slipping her mask on. “C’mon, Eddie, let's get the sludge back.”

Eddie gave Scraw a look (the poor woman looked like she was a moment away from exploding with fury) and started to run after Ava.

They headed down a few flights of stairs, Ava quickly knocking out any guard or scientist they came across, until they reached a set of double doors opened wide. Inside… was chaos.

About a dozen guards were firing at Hope as she flew between them, taunting them until they were red with anger. In the corner of the room, behind seemingly-bulletproof glass, Scott was yelling curses at a container holding a moving pile of black goo—V.

“OPEN, YOU MOTHERFUCKING FUTURISTIC CHEESE WHIZ CANISTER!” Scott screamed as he tried to break the door open.

Eddie stared at them. Holy fuck. Is this normal for them??

“Oh my God,” came Ava’s groan from beside him, and she disappeared. A moment later, the guards began to collapse, and when they had all fallen, Ava reappeared to glower at the other two heroes.

“What the absolute fuck?? ” She tore off her mask to glare at the Wasp. “Hope, why weren’t you hacking into the door??”

“Because we would’ve bitten her hand off as soon as we got out!” came a faint growl from the canister.

Scott nodded. “Plus, V would’ve had to have bonded until we took them back to ya, and Hope refused to… How’d you put it?”

“‘Allow my insides to be tainted by them,’” Hope snapped.

Ava put her head in her hands. “Oh my God. San Francisco’s heroes,” she muttered.

“Uh, okay, if we’re done with all… this ,” Eddie interjected, “can I please get my symbiote back?”

Scott groaned as his poke at the canister did nothing, and Ava stomped over, her hand phasing, and reached into it to break something. The lock flashed green and it opened.

“I hope you two know that you are a depressing downgrade from my SHIELD days,” Ava told them flatly, “and that’s saying something.”

Scott grumbled, but Eddie missed it as he ran to rejoin V.

We fucking hate scientists, V immediately complained.

Me too, bud. Me too.

Panting drew their attention to the door, and Scraw shuffled in a moment later, wheezing. “Damn, can you supers run.”

“Sorry.” Ava smiled coldly. “Now, could you point us in the direction of the parking lot? We should get going.”

Scraw glowered at her. “I told you , I’m supposed to take you to a secure location.”

“Why?” Hope challenged, going to face her.

Scraw met her gaze, expression cool. “Because it’s designed to protect supers from the FBI—and the Accords.”

That caught their attention, and Eddie walked closer. “What are we gonna do there?”

“Meet my boss, the founder of my program.” Scraw met his eyes. “You know him as Tony Stark.”

Chapter Text

Scraw brought them out into a small, empty warehouse off the main building, and Scott’s eyes widened in surprise. A dozen vans sat in a semicircle before him, and milling around was a lot of people.

Scott felt their curious eyes as he turned to Scraw. “Uh… who are they?”

“The other captives Taylor captured.” She reapplied chapstick to her lips, then pursed them. “Taylor owns a security company, and was ordered by the FBI to capture and contain supers until they can be sent to the Raft. Fortunately, he’s an idiot.”

“Ah.” Scott sensed that that would be all she’d say, so he just nodded. “And you infiltrated the team sent to capture me; possibly to make sure you could reach me easily.”

Scraw tilted her head. “Yes. I assume you saw me, then?”

“Yep. You have a very stylish jacket.”

She smiled at that. “Thank you, Mr. Lang.” Then she turned to Eddie, Ava and Hope. “The rest of your team will be here soon. We’re currently compensating Dr. Pym for the crashed car.”

Scott winced. “Damn.” That had been one of Hank’s favorites. Then he straightened as something occurred to him. “Hey... How’d we even survive that yesterday? The crash, I mean?”

Eddie cleared his throat. “V was knocked out by their sonic cannons, but they still unconsciously healed me after the crash,” he supplied. “I think I grabbed your wrist, so they healed you too.”

V emerged as a small head, and Scott smiled at them. “Thank you.”

“...no problem, Bite-Size,” they muttered, sounding embarrassed, before retreating.

Shouting drew Scott’s attention, and he turned to see Hank arguing with a man as he was led in. “Do you understand how serious this is?” he was yelling. “What if they rummaged through the wreckage and took my Particles?”

“Sir, we have your Particles. Taylor’s men didn’t touch them,” the man tried to assure him. 

Hank wasn’t having it. “But how do I know you lot are any better? I don’t!”

“Sir, your Particles were put in this case and it hasn’t been opened since—”

“Bullshit!”

Scraw put her hands on her hips as Hank and the man stopped before her. “Dr. Pym, my men are trustworthy , and I don’t appreciate you accusing them.”

Hank blinked at her, then scowled. “And who are you? ”

Scraw held out her badge. “Director Amanda Scraw of the Asylum Objective.”

“The AO?” Hank’s brow furrowed.

“Have you heard of us?” Scraw’s tone was icy.

Hank waved a hand flippantly. “Only rumors.”

“Rumors are worrying enough.” She turned to the man. “Elijah, l’ll need you to handle that.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Elijah said with a salute, then turned and walked towards the door he’d come out of.

Scott gave Hank a look. “You’ve heard of them? You couldn’t have brought that up during our lunch discussion?”

The older man shrugged. “Didn’t seem relevant.”

Scott blinked with disbelief. “ Didn’t seem —” He cut himself off, realizing this would go nowhere, and turned back to Scraw. “Where are Janet and Bill?”

“Mrs. van Dyne and Dr. Foster are filling out the paperwork we need to allow you into the program,” Scraw responded. Her smile grew a bit warmer. “It’s nothing serious, just basic details about your abilities, and how close have you been to being arrested in the past.”

“Oh, boy.” Hope rolled her eyes. “ That will be fun for your people to read.”

“So I’ve heard.” Scraw accepted a clipboard from a blonde woman that had come up, and nodded at her. “Thank you, Miss Saylin.” She read it for a bit, then nodded again. “That’ll do.” The woman took the clipboard back and walked away.

Scraw clasped her hands and gave the group an apprehensive look. “We should head to the conference room. I believe your friends should join us there.”

“To meet Stark?” Hank asked.

Scraw nodded. “He’s waiting for us.” She turned and started to lead them towards the farthest corner of the building. As they got closer, Scott realized that a semi truck was hiding in the shadows. It was big and black, and built like the type of truck spies would use as a moving lab. Scraw pressed her hand to a panel that had popped out, and it scanned her print with a flash of blue light. A door slid open and stairs extended, and she waved them up as she stepped to the side.

Scott waited to go last, but as he went onto the first step, Scraw grabbed his wrist. “What,” she began, staring into his eyes intently, “is so special about you? ”

“Uh…” Scott smiled nervously. “What do you mean?”

“Tony Stark never visits the Sanctuary, and he certainly never joins in on pick-ups.” Scraw released him, still staring into his eyes boldly. “So what is it about you that intrigued him?”

“Scraw!” came an inpatient voice, and she headed into the darkness without another word. Scott shivered, rubbing his wrist, which was red from her grip, and reluctantly went in.

The interior was dark, and he accidentally bumped into Ava, judging by the curse he evoked. “Sorry, sorry!” he squeaked.

As if his words were a cue, lights flickered on, light blue and pulsing steadily. He saw a metal table was installed into the cab, with chairs attached, the red-and-gold of their cushions a stark (haha) difference against the cold silver frames.

And sitting at one end of the table, watching them carefully, was a man in a dark gray suit and purplish-pink-lensed sunglasses.

“Welcome, Ant-Man and company,” said Tony Stark. “Please, sit down.” They immediately moved to obey, and as they did, Bill and Janet climbed into the cab. Scraw sat at the other end of the table, and the rest of them sat on either side of her.

“What, am I so intimidating?” Stark chuckled. No one answered, and he sighed. “Alright, lets get on with it. Welcome—” he pointed as he spoke their names “—Bill Foster, Janet van Dyne, Hank Pym, Ava Starr, my dear Mandy, Hope van Dyne, Scott Lang and…” He hesitated, and narrowed his eyes at Eddie. “Uh, Mandy? There’s nothing in your report about this one.”

“If you’d check your notifications, I sent a follow up report just for him,” Scraw replied smoothly.

Stark frowned. “FRI?” Immediately, a light blue hologram appeared in front of him. He occasionally brushed a finger against it as he read. Finally he waved the hologram away, and peered at Eddie curiously. “Eddie Brock, former star of the Eddie Brock Show, and host of a… symbiote? Forgive me if I’m unfamiliar with the term, but… It’s an alien? ”

Eddie fidgeted in his seat, avoiding Stark’s eye. “ They’re an alien, yes.”

“ Fascinating, ” Stark mused, tapping his chin with two fingers. “You acquired it from that whole Life Foundation fiasco, yes?” Eddie’s head snapped up sharply at that, and Stark chuckled. “I’ve read the reports. Didn’t believe the alien rumors, but…” He gestured at Eddie. “And now you’ve joined the infamous Ant Team?”

Eddie glanced at Scott before answering. “Yes.”

Stark made a noncommittal noise. “I see.” He gave them a sly grin. “Well, word is that you need my help. You’d like to, how’d you put it, ‘pull a Spider-Man’ and receive protection from the Avengers.”

Hank’s mouth dropped open. “How did you—”

“I have my ways, Pym.” Stark drummed his fingers on the table. “However, Spidey is a… special case—” his face darkened at that “—but as I’m sure you’ve gathered by now, I do offer an alternative in the form of my secret project: the Asylum Objective. FRIDAY, can you pull up a holo of the Sanctuary?”

“Yes, boss,” a feminine Irish voice responded. A large blue hologram flashed into existence in the middle of the table. At first it looked like a giant cylinder, but then the outer shell began to break up and grow outwards; Scott realized it was gradually showing the floor plans for a multi-floor structure. Stark waved his hand, and it broke up into fifteen pieces, which began to pull away from each other. 

“Behold; my safe haven for supers,” Stark announced. “The Sanctuary. Hosting fifteen floors, this baby is like an entire city, and very secure. It had three entrances, all carefully hidden, and managed by my best security features.” He snapped his fingers, and the first four levels changed colors; the first three became red, and the fourth became green. “The red floors are the S-Levs, going from S-3 down to S-1. They contain security and technology departments, as well as private labs. The green floor is the E-Lev, for the entrances. It has conference rooms and welcome areas for new arrivals. And the other eleven floors are C-1 to C-11, order going down. Those are the residential levels; down there in the C-Levs we have a movie theater, a market, family apartments, schoolrooms, etcetera, etcetera.”

Scott found himself whistling. “And how long did that take you to build?”

“Only two years.” Stark chuckled at Scott’s dropped jaw. “And it’s been operational for two weeks now. Each C-Lev can host two hundred people comfortably, and another fifty on each Level if we need to.” He suddenly glanced at Scraw. “Speaking of operational, have you sent out the vans to the airport yet?”

“They’re boarding now, sir.” Scraw reapplied her chapstick. “They should roll out in ten minutes. And the pilots are prepping the jet now.”

“One of my private jets?”

“One that you repurposed for the Project, yes.”

“Excellent.” Stark grinned. “I think you’re good to go now, Mandy.”

Scraw looked surprised, but nodded. “Yes, sir. Good day, everyone.” She headed out, giving Scott an inquisitive glance as she left; he shivered involuntarily.

“Soooooo,” Stark drawled. Scott returned his attention to see the billionaire give Ava a look. “You were a Hydra-SHIELD operative, right?”

“Yes. I wasn’t aware that they were Hydra, though.”

“Hmm.” Stark turned to Eddie. “And you and your alien pal are the Night Stalker?”

“Yes sir.”

“You still eating heads?” Stark grimaced. “‘Cause if you’re going to come to my Sanctuary, that won’t fly.”

“Bill and I created phenethylamine tablets that Eddie takes once a day,” Hank cut in. “That’s why V needed to eat heads; for the chemical our brains make.”

“So you’re no longer a Hannibal Lecter?” Eddie bristled at the name, but Stark just grinned. “Good. Well, since you’ve signed the paperwork, you’re free to join my Sanctuary, after your affairs are in order.” He looked at Scott and Eddie at that.

Hope tilted her head. “Mr. Stark, if I may, why did you seek us out?”

“Scraw’s people are supposed to find restricted supers, and offer them asylum, Miss van Dyne. That’s their job.”

Hope frowned. “I’m aware, but why did you specifically seek us out? Aren’t you busy with Stark Industries, and the Avengers?”

Stark shrugged. “I heard, through sources, that you and Pym were caught by the FBI. Took me half a month, but I finally managed to get out here. I wanted to… talk to you directly.” He shrugged again. “It was an… interesting coincidence, that Mr. Lang popped up at the facility Scraw’s team was currently tasked with. I figured I could talk to you after she rescued you.”

“But why?” Hope pressed. “What’s so special about us? We’re definitely not the only super-adjacents on the run.”

Stark’s face darkened again, and he pressed his lips together firmly. After a while, he responded, “True, but you’re the only team who had a member join the… Avengers’ Clash.”

Scott shifted in his seat as Hope and Hank glared at him; damn, guess he still wasn’t forgiven for that. “In my defense, Hawkeye drugged me,” he squeaked out.

Stark rolled his eyes. “However you got there, you were there; and by fighting, Mr. Lang, you painted yourself as an ally to the Avengers—specifically the Rogues. You served your sentence under house arrest, but your team was on the run. So, forgive me if I wanted to personally address such a… connection, to my team.”

Stark began playing with a ring on his finger, which was an unusual tic to see from him, then continued, “And… I wanted to know if you knew of Ca—of Rogers’s plans.”

Scott frowned. “You mean, what they'd do while on the run?”

“...Yes.” Stark sounded pained.

Scott shrugged. “Sorry, Mr. Stark, but we couldn’t talk much while he was breaking the others out of the… the Raft.” As it did whenever he was reminded of that… place, Scott’s body began to tremble, just a bit. He’d gotten over the nightmares, but the slightest mention still brought everything back. He cleared his throat, trying to avoid the tight feeling swelling in his chest. “All I knew is that they would seek out a place to help Barnes.”

Something flickered across Stark’s face at that last word. “I see,” he said quietly. “Nothing else?”

“No. Wilson seemed to be the only one in the… who knew Rogers’s plans beforehand, but he didn’t speak aloud, with all the monitors and stuff.”

Stark nodded slowly. “I see,” he repeated. He glanced down at his watch, then stood up. “That’s all the time I have for you, I’m afraid. Scraw will take you home now—” he ignored Hank as the man muttered ‘How do they know where the house is?’ “—and we’ll reach out to you shortly to plan your move.”

As Scott exited the cab, he hurried after Hank. “Hank, aren’t we doing this a little fast?”

“What do you mean?” Hank barely glanced at him as he followed Scraw.

Scott swallowed. “I mean… we discussed this at lunch, but that was just yesterday! Surely we can’t be planning to do this already?”

Hank stopped and turned to face him, irritation flashing across his features. “Scott, Hope and I have been on the run for two years.” The thanks to you was left unspoken, but they both knew it was there. “Now, even though I don’t like that he spied on us, Stark has offered us asylum. I’m going to take it. ”

“But you can’t just… just decide this for all of us! ” Scott protested. “What about Eddie? He has a job. And what about me? I still have a family; do you really expect me to leave Cassie? And won’t the FBI be suspicious if I suddenly disappear?”

“According to the papers Janet signed, Scraw will take care of that. Her team can create a false trail for you.” Hank hesitated. “As for Cassie… You have to be prepared to sacrifice , Scott. You can’t expect to hold onto everything when you do what we do.”

Something about how Hank said that made a piece of him snap in half. “I lost years with her in prison,” he hissed. “If you think I’m going to miss any more time with her…” Scott pulled the case from his pocket and shoved it into Hank’s hand. “Then you can have the suit back.” He spun around and stalked away.

“Scott!” Hank yelled after him, but he ignored him and went to Scraw.

She shut the door after Hope climbed into the car, and gave him a slow nod. “I won’t be seeing you on the jet to the Sanctuary, will I?”

Scott ignored his gut as it clenched guiltily, and decided to forget about Scraw’s mini-interrogation for the moment. “No.”

Scraw smiled. “Maybe that’s why Stark is interested in you. You value family, too.”

Scott didn’t let himself ponder about that. “You have anyone waiting for you?” he asked instead.

“Two little girls; Jasmine and Grace.” Scraw’s smile turned fond. “Around your own daughter's age, I think.”

“They ever wish you could have a more normal job?”

“My husband does, at least.” Scraw’s mouth twisted wryly, then she patted him on the shoulder. “Good on you to take a chance, Mr. Lang. Not everyone gets a shot at normalcy.”

Scott felt Hank’s eyes on him as the older man silently climbed into the car. “No. Not everyone does,” he responded softly.

One week later, Eddie was facing Scott in a park, saying goodbye. “It’ll be weird being on Team Ant without the titular hero with me,” he admitted.

Scott shrugged, his face blank. “I can’t leave Cassie.”

“I get it, man.” Eddie held out his hand, and the other man shook it. “Call me sometime, okay?”

“Definitely.” Scott gave him a small smile, though it faded as his gaze drifted to the others, waiting by the car. “Good luck at the Sanctuary.”

Eddie rubbed his head. “Thanks.” With that, Scott walked back to his own car, and Eddie turned to the two people who’d been waiting behind him patiently. “You two take care, alright?”

Anne’s eyes sparkled with… were those tears? “We should be saying that to you.”

Eddie chuckled. “Maybe so. Take care anyways.”

Dan came up and gripped his shoulder before pulling him into a hug. “Call us once you get settled in, okay?”

“I want a video tour!” Anne smiled and wiped her eyes.

Dan patted her shoulder gently. “I researched some of the doctors that you said lived there,” he told Eddie. “They’re amazing. They’ll help you more than I ever could.”

“I dunno, giving me a seizure with a CT scan was pretty helpful,” Eddie commented dryly.

What?! No, that was awful!

It’s a joke, V.

Dan laughed. “Hilarious.”

“I try to be.” Eddie grinned at him. That’s when Scraw honked the horn, so he gave them both a hug before starting to walk over. “See you guys!”

“Bye,” they responded, Anne a bit tearful, Dan a bit cautious.

Hank was in the passenger seat, so Eddie hopped into the right seat in the second row. “Finally,” Hope muttered from beside him. Ava, who sat with Janet on her left and Bill on her right in the third row, actually giggled and playfully punched her shoulder.

Guess Ava’s warming up to all of us. Eddie flashed her a grin before nodding at Scraw. “Let's get this show on the road, huh?”

“Let’s.” Scraw didn’t look bothered at the fact that she, the Director of the Objective, had been designated to be their driver, and she didn't complain as she pulled the car out of the parking lot. Eddie glanced out the window and saw Anne and Dan wave from the grassy slope of the park.

“It’s a twenty minute drive to Stark’s private airfield,” Scraw continued, drawing his attention. “We’ll immediately board one of his jets for the project and fly to another airfield in Huntingdon. After that, it’s a short drive to Greenlee.”

“The mountain?” Hank scratched at his chin. “Isn’t that in Rothrock State Forest?”

“What the government doesn’t know won’t hurt them.” Eddie saw Scraw smirk through the mirror. “The top of the Sanctuary is about 300 hundred feet under Greenlee’s base, but one of the entrances to it is near the end of the Forest.”

“How the hell did Stark build an entire underground city without anyone noticing?” Bill muttered skeptically.

“Never underestimate money, Dr. Foster,” Scraw responded.

When they reached the airfield, Scraw pulled onto the tarmac. As they climbed out, she started to take their bags from the trunk and pass them to a couple of attendants who had walked up. “Alright, best not to dawdle,” she said, and herded them onto the jet.

It had a sleek, high-tech design, with a dark gray paint, and white and gold identification tags. Inside, it had a beige interior, and about thirty massive plush seats, set into groups of two.

Eddie immediately went for the set of chairs that wasn’t directly next to a window. He took a deep breath, and smiled to himself as V extended a tendril to pull down the blind. “God, I hate this already and we’re still on the ground,” he muttered to himself.

If the plane explodes, we will form a parachute and get you down safely, V promised.

Eddie made a face. I really wish you wouldn’t have said that, but… thanks. He dug into his pocket and pulled out V’s tablets, and a bottle of meds that would help with his nausea and keep him calm. He got one of each and dry-swallowed them.

After taking another deep breath, Eddie pulled a remote from the pouch in front of him and queued up a random movie from the suggestion bar. It turned out to be a documentary about Madagascar. 

Ick, sorry bud. I’ll see it there’s a cooking show—

No. He could hear V hum as they thought. The monkeys look cute. We’ll watch this.

Alright then. Eddie chuckled to himself and settled back into his seat. 

After a minute, the jet began to rumble and tilt, and Eddie realized they were taking off. When the shaking stopped, he assumed they’d lifted into the sky; it was incredible, how easily the jet transitioned into flying. 

He glanced around. Hope was sitting in the front row, typing on a laptop and speaking to Janet, who was one row behind. Hank and Bill were both sitting behind him, albeit in different rows. Hank was muttering to himself and pulling out papers, and Bill was reading the largest book Eddie had ever seen. He spotted Ava in the last row, and his brows raised when he saw Scraw sitting next to her. The two were quietly laughing and making gestures with their hands. 

When did that happen? he wondered.

A few hours slipped by. After the Madagascar documentary, V manifested and selected a cooking show. Eddie kept one headphone on so V could watch, while he daydreamed. He wasn’t usually a daydreamer, but the medicine could make him a bit loopy.

At first, it was just random daydreams; what he thought the Sanctuary would look like, scenarios of meeting the Avengers… But as the jet continued to fly smoothly, he nodded off…

He found himself standing before a giant blue building, and recognized the shape as the Sanctuary’s. Then his vision shifted, and he found himself in a vast blue space. The inside of the Sanctuary, maybe?

Since he’d only seen the outside, the furniture inside kept shifting, and blue blank-featured people were walking everywhere, flickering around as the floors changed. Eddie was not so lucky, as the floors dropped and rose, he swayed along with them.

Eddie . Eddie turned, and held back a shriek as Drake stood before him, his body wrapped in sticky, blistered trails of Riot.

Did you really think you killed us, Eddie? Drake had only eye sockets, but tiny balls of red light flickered into existence, and seemed to pin him down. We are eternal. You can’t hide from us, not even underground.

“I—”

Why do you want the Avengers’ help, Eddie, hmm? Why are you going to stay in this Sanctuary? Drake leaned forward, grabbed his wrist, and grinned with Riot’s teeth. You’re afraid there’s others like me.

“That’s not true!” Eddie protested. “We destroyed the other symbiotes.”

Drake tilted his head. I didn’t mean symbiotes. You fear the game-changers, the men with all the power.

“That’s not—”

The end is coming, Eddie. I knew that; that’s why I sought to improve our failing little species. Drake’s lip curled. And we’re the creators. He spread his hands. We’re creating our own destruction.

Riot took over Drake’s whole body, towering over him, and grabbed him by the shirt. They hoisted him up, grinning wildly, before speaking with Drake’s voice.

Here’s a little prediction of the future for you, Eddie; a gift from beyond the grave: You won’t be at the Sanctuary long. 

They dropped him, and Riot retreated fully into Drake. Eddie saw he wore a simple gray outfit, stained with blood and torn to reveal burn marks. Drake studied him solemnly as cuts and burn marks began to appear on his face. 

You and the Venom symbiote could’ve helped us all , Eddie. But you can’t. You’re just a monster, like me.

“I am nothing like you!” Eddie choked out.

Oh really? Drake tilted his head again, and suddenly there was a little girl standing beside him, crying into her hands. Eddie’s heart stopped as he recognized her as the girl they’d hurt once as Venom.

How do you think, Drake started carefully, your friend Scott will react, when he finds out that the little girl you hurt was his daughter?

Eddie recalled a photo Scott had shown, and yes, that was the same girl. “...No,” he managed.

You suppressed her memory of that incident, Drake continued, when the Venom symbiote went inside her to heal her wounds, but she’ll remember when she sees it. Drake grinned gleefully. Still think you’re an innocent man? As he spoke, countless more children appeared around them. Oh, look, these are the children of the ‘bad guys’ you ate, Eddie. Drake clapped his hands and pointed at Eddie. Children! This man killed your parents!

Countless children looked up at him, tears in their eyes and anger twisting their mouths. Youkilledthemyoukilledthemyoukilledthemyoukilledthemyoukilledthem--

“Stop!”

Youkilledthemyoukilledthem--

“They were bad people!”

Suddenly the children vanished, and Drake was replaced by Hope. And so you just play judge, jury, executioner with these ‘bad people?’ she asked, her voice and Drake’s coming out together. Willingly?

“I--”

Here’s my parting wisdom, Eddie. Drake flickered back into view. You may be on their team, and you may not be eating people anymore, but deep down, they’re not going to trust you. Ava appeared beside them, and Drake gestured at her. Why do you think she’s always watching you? If you go ‘evil’ again, she will kill you. She held herself back in your alley fight; that’s the only reason why you’re still alive.

Eddie’s throat felt dry; how could it feel dry in a dream? “They… don’t trust me?”

Drake laughed in his face. Oh my God, you actually--thought they did? he crowed. No, you idiot! You’re a danger, a liability. Dr. Pym agreed to the move immediately because they plan to have you locked up!

“That’s not--”

Drake held up a hand, and Eddie cut himself off against his will. Isn’t it? And, Eddie, let’s be honest here. You don’t trust them either. They held you captive, and deep down, you haven’t forgiven that! Your mind has just pushed that aside for now, because they can get you protection. But as soon as you have that… You’ll realize you want revenge.

“I… don’t.”

Don’t you? Drake began to pace around him, smirking, swiping at the cuts on his face with Riot’s long tongue. They nearly killed ‘V,’ Eddie. They held you captive, and V almost died. Tell me that that rage isn’t still bubbling in your core; go on, tell me!

Eddie lowered his head, unable to respond, and Drake scoffed. He stomped over, Riot manifesting a claw over his hand, and grabbed Eddie’s chin, forcing him to look into his dead eyes.

Did you even really think over everything that’s happened, Eddie? Drake asked carefully. Stark conveniently knowing of your plan from lunch; Taylor, a man trusted enough to be hired by the FBI, didn’t know how to successfully detain you; V being recovered so easily; Tony Stark leaving his lair to come to the one AO pick-up you’d be at--yeah, he said he’s concerned about Scott, but Scott isn’t dangerous and attention-capturing like you--and Team Ant accepting you so easily? This wasn’t some coincidence, Eddie. The lights in his eyes disappeared. This was all part of an elaborate scheme. THEY SET YOU UP.

Eddie jerked awake, breathing deeply. A tendril absently stroked his cheek, but V, who was hovering out of his chest, remained glued to the screen.

“Hi.”

“ Holy God, ” Eddie gasped, jumping in his seat. He blinked wildly as Ava sat down beside him.

She raised a brow. “Bad dream?”

Eddie felt his face and realized he was drenched with sweat. They set you up. “Yeah… Medications, y’know?” he rasped.

Ava nodded, and smiled wryly. “I had to take two canisters today, ‘cause I was worried I’d phase out of the plane,” she confessed. She blinked warmly at him. “Anyways, I just came up to say… You’re not bad. And I’m sorry if I acted like a dick earlier. I’m still getting over my… service, and seeing your… V, reminded me of bad times.”

You’re a danger, a liability. “I see…” he finally responded. “It’s… no harm done, really.”

Ava shrugged. “Maybe not. I wanted to apologize anyways.” She looked up as something chimed, and stood. “We’re going to start descending soon. You ready to see the Sanctuary?”

You won’t be at the Sanctuary long. They plan to have you locked up. “Can’t wait,” he croaked.

The jet landed, and they climbed out onto an airfield identical to the one they’d left. A black Tahoe waited, and the flight attendants--who’d been scarce throughout the flight, Eddie realized--loaded their bags in. They sat down in the same seats they’d sat in earlier, and Scraw began to drive.

“We’re heading to the closest entrance and its underground parking lot,” she said as she navigated the roads. “Then TADASHI--the Sanctuary’s AI--will add you to the database, so you can have residential access. After that, it’s a short tunnel walk to the entrance.”

The drive wasn’t that long, or maybe it was--Eddie wasn’t paying attention. He absently gazed out the window, his dream replaying over and over.

Two things stood out to him; one, it felt real, in a way no other dream of his had felt, and two, V didn’t seem aware of it, and wasn’t reacting to his thoughts about it.

Thoughts about what?

Nothing. Eddie scowled at his reflection. Wonderful. The dream was somehow evading V, who shared his mind.

“Eddie.” Eddie blinked and realized Hope was shaking his shoulder. “C’mon, we’re here.”

Damn. Guess I’m still a bit dazed from the meds, if I missed the whole ‘secret tunnel’ thing. Eddie climbed out, and stretched. He gazed around, seeing they were on the middle floor of a large three-story garage, appearing to be built out of both concrete and the Earth’s natural crust. It was mostly empty, with only a few other black cars and vans.

Eddie grabbed his suitcase and bag from the trunk, hoisting the latter onto his shoulder, and began to follow Scraw for the ramp to their left. It sloped down to the first floor, then flattened, and they stopped at a giant door in the rock-and-concrete wall.

Scraw held out her hand to the door, placing it onto a panel. It flashed with blue light, and the door slowly opened, the sides retreating into the walls.

“Welcome, Director Scraw,” a pleasant male voice said from all around them; Eddie shivered as it disoriented him for a moment.

“Thank you, TADASHI. Please add the people with me to the residential database.” Scraw turned towards them. “Say your name as you walk through,” she instructed, before heading in.

Eddie opted to go last, muttering “Eddie Brock” and hurrying through before it could close on him. They were now in a tunnel; Eddie assumed it was large, because the sides disappeared into the shadows, but the lighting was dim, so he couldn’t really tell.

They walked for about two minutes, before reaching an identical door. Once again, Scraw scanned it open. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she announced as they walked through and gasped, “I welcome you to the Sanctuary.”

Chapter Text

Wow, it's been a hot second since I've continued this, huh?

Well, I'd like to thank you for all the support on this journey. It was my first official fanfic, and I really enjoyed it while it lasted.

But yes, as you've probably guessed, I'm ending it here.

Why? Well, to be honest, my entire viewpoint on consumable media has changed. I'm still a fan of the MCU (and Venom) themselves, but there are parts of them that no longer agree with me.

I was making this fanfic with the intention of keeping everyone as canon-like as I could; but then I decided to throw Tony into the mix... Which was a bad idea? In my personal opinion. No offense to Tony fans; I'm not here to hate. I just think the path I started on for this fic was not the path I found myself on for Chapter 6.

And that's my own fault. I'm used to writing original stories for original characters; the rules and personality traits that come with writing a pre-made character can be challenging. So I took some time to step back and reflect.

Will I reboot/rewrite this? Definitely. I still love my original concept. But I've needed to change some things, in order to better reflect the kind of story I want to write; not what I think people will want. Because if I write naturally, I feel people will enjoy it anyways.

So again, thank you for the support. And when I start to publish the "new and improved" story (which will hopefully be soon!), I hope you'll follow over and enjoy it again.

Take care and stay safe

- Val