Chapter Text
It was quiet. Artificial wind was howling as Eddie Brock, the human half of Venom, stood in front of an equally artificial grave. IN LOVING MEMORY OF FLASH THOMPSON was carved into the tombstone, and even though it was fake, Eddie felt a rush of emotions seeing it. There was a long pause, taking in the scene and sorting through his own emotions, before he started. "Hey, Flash," it was low, quiet, like a whisper between friends. Even if they'd been anything but. "Not sure what I'm supposed to say, really. Feels kinda... Wrong, you know?" There was a beat of deafening silence, no response from the grave or his Other, "Me being here... Instead of you. My Other-" He paused to sigh, shutting his eyes. When he reopened them, he was still looking at the cold cobblestone. "Our Other, I guess I should say," he swallowed hard, not wanting to admit the obvious truth, "It always liked you better. Hell, everyone did, I guess." Eddie frowned. "I always acted like it didn't bother me. Like, I was the original, so I was just the... I don't know... Original, or something. But the truth is..." He could feel tears stinging at his eyes, making his face colder from the wind. "It rips me up, Flash. It thinks about you, the Other. All the time. It doesn't think I know that, but... I do. I can feel it. Even now, with it's voice gone, I can still feel it... Pulling towards you... It's..." Eddie took another moment to catch himself from crying. It wouldn't help anything, especially being where he was. Showing weakness would be like rolling onto his belly. He would be resolute. "It's just tough being someone's second best, you know?" His voice cracked despite this. Mentally cursing himself, he looked away from the grave, guilt and remorse and memories of their time, their fights, everything in between flooding the few seconds of pure silence.
"Are you quite done?" The impatient voice came from behind him, from the too-long body and slim face half covered by technology of The Maker, sitting on a random tombstone behind him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm done." Eddie was brought back to reality, sighing lightly. "Very well. Now..." Maker reached down, pressing a button, and in a moment it all fell away. Cold winds stopped, revealing the too-sanitary smell of the room, snow melting and dissipating into thin air to reveal sleek, clean flooring underneath. "... Where were we?"
Eddie looked down to his hands, a form fitting, Venom-emblazoned leather jacket falling away with the illusion to reveal the plain black shirt and jeans underneath. "You just told me my Other was brain-dead. After telling me it's been erasing parts of my mind." It was all back to normal now. The room was quiet, save for him. "And that you stole a piece of the Dragon Symbiote and that someone stole it from you. And you accused me of being involved in all of this insane shit without ever telling me why you want that sample or who you work for." Reed was quiet for a beat, the only sound in the room being coffee being poured into a mug. "'Where were we' was more or less a rhetorical question, Edward. I have a photographic memory. But it's nice to know you've been paying attention."
Eddie tilted his head up, getting a sly look on his face before he spoke. "You're smart. I get that. So you must know I had nothing to do the theft of that sample. When do I get to go home?" Granted, he wasn't exactly sure where he'd go, but anywhere other than sitting in this sterile room with a madman was good. Maker set the container of coffee down, not even looking at Eddie before speaking, "I suspect you are right, yes. But I also suspect that your Other may know things that you do not. So until such time that my curiosity is sated, I'm afraid you have my attention." He moved to sit across from Eddie, finally giving the muscular man a once-over. "Where is home, Edward? Your apartment has been vacated. You've not been there for a month or so, after all. Is it your father's home in San Francisco?" Maker sat down, cautious to be sure the man across from him wasn't angered by his questions. He seemed annoyed, sure, but not angry. So he continued, "Your Other took you there during your escape. Perhaps that was some buried desire to return home it was responding to? What would that be, I wonder? By all accounts, your childhood was rather-"
"There's only so much more of this I'm going to take." Eddie leaned forward, annoying fading to anger. Maker must've struck a nerve, he thought, looking over the gruff man attempting to glare him down. "I'll dictate how much more of this you will take. Where would you go if I let you leave?" Eddie didn't even miss a beat. "I'd go see the real Flash Thompson's grave, for one." With a smug grin, Maker held the coffee cup near his lips. "Hmmm." He deliberated for a moment, giving him one last look over before deciding. "Let me show you something, Edward." With one swift motion, Maker set down the coffee and produced a small vial. It was clear, save for a bit of black swirling inside. He gave a smug grin as he watched Eddie's face turn from anger to confusion. "I give you Corporal Eugene "Flash" Thompson. Or rather... The most interesting part of him."
Eddie's realization was quick, to the point he couldn't hide it from Maker. There was no response from the man, so Maker continued, "Project PEGASUS was a rather blunt organization, but they did keep extensive biological samples of their... Subjects. From a blood test taken from before Flash's time as Anti-Venom, I was able to ascertain something about our symbiotic friends." He flicked the vial out, to give Eddie a better view of its contents. They swirled in an uneasy, mindless fashion, shaken from the quick movements.
"See, we've discovered that the Symbiote never truly leaves a host. A cellular imprint, a Codex as we've been calling it, is always left behind as a way for their kind to share information about hosts with the rest of the hive. Your Symbiote has not been connected to the hive in some time, however. So this codex, and the others it's left behind, have more or less gone unused." Maker stood up, waving the codex like it was his life's greatest discovery. "But they are there. Wrapped around the host's DNA structure like a great, black serpent. Always... Waiting. Which is why, Edward," he opened a slit in the wall, steam pouring out. Maker carefully put it back in it's place, amongst several other vials, "the sample of the Symbiote dragon is so important. We believe it could contain information about the Symbiote species and mankind as a whole that could revolutionize scientific process as we know-"
During all this, Venom stirred, quietly, churning in Eddie's gut. The Codex drew it out, being pulled towards it practically. It bristled around Eddie's shirt, wordlessly filling the gaps. Flash. Gone. Still there. The codex, him but not him. Everything about him that Venom loved, that Venom hated, that it missed, in that vial. Eddie's anger started boiling, invigorated by the Symbiote's empathic imprint. "Hold on. What does that mean? What does that have to do with me?"
"Nothing. Well, not yet at least. But, I believe there is a way to reactivate your Symbiote's connection to the hive by bonding these trace amounts of its living symbiotic codex to living tissue. So the next step is to exhume Flash Thompson's grave and retrieve his body from Arlington National, at which point we can-" The anger had bubbled over, Symbiote extending from just a shirt to his arms and neck, eyes rolling back into his head and filling with an inky darkness that was both foreign and familiar. So close yet so far, still disjointed from his Other. That only made him angrier. "You're... Wait... You're going to dig up Flash's body? What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Don't be sentimental. It's not Flash Thompson. It's an empty vessel." Jagged, sharp teeth fell from Eddie's gums into their rightful places, jaw extending as his anger only grew. As did his size, Venom dutifully suiting him up. He flexed long talons as Maker still had his back to Venom, not seemingly worried. "His body has information about your kind that I need. Specifically his pancreas, spinal fluid, and adrenal-"
With a shout of anger, Eddie threw his full force into Maker, using a clawed arm to slam him into the wall. "Leave... Flash... Alone!" It was his own voice, but he was voicing his Other's thoughts. Maker's body contorted, twisting in inhuman ways- but he was fine, overall. The perks of being Reed Richards. "Hmmm. Seems I've woken the dog up. Very well." He stretched up, hands elongating into talons of their own. Venom separated from Eddie, twisting tendrils around the scientist.
Eddie, thinking fast, rushed to one of the holes in the wall, recognizing them as cold body storage. "Hold him back!" He shouted, knowing Venom would hear it. He knew why Venom was so angry, he felt the same. They had to protect Flash from this monster. Venom wrangled Maker down, wrapping around him tight as Eddie threw the door to one of the holes open. "No!" Maker shouted, but it quickly fell to screams as Venom forced him into the storage.
Venom quickly returned to Eddie as he slammed the door shut. It held the codex like a prize, and Eddie shook his head quickly. "Ok, that's good. Come on," he quickly turned to the door on the opposite end of the room. "Let's get you the hell out of here." Was he talked to Venom, himself, or the codex? He wasn't quite sure, but he was halfway out the door before he stopped.
Armed guards, each with a sonic gun, stood in the hallway. Upon seeing Eddie, they fired on sight. He recoiled, Venom rippling over his skin in unspoken pain that he felt through their bond. He quickly shut the door, cursing to himself as he tried to think of a way out. Venom was still weak, they wouldn't survive another hit like that. As he thought, Venom acted, grabbing the codex it'd dropped and pulling it close to Eddie's face. He stopped, staring at it in confusion before Venom broke it open. In the course of a minute, Venom shifted. Something quickly changed, like a switch being flipped. He felt Venom- no, this wasn't Venom, it was Flash- suit him up as a voice slowly rose to the top of the confused thoughts and emotions. "Hey, Brock. You mind if I drive?" It was distinct; it was Flash. Eddie, with no clue how to react, simply let Flash take control. "Be my guest." If he had a plan, well, he could do it.
Flash jumped into action, whipping out his tendrils to snatch the guns away from the guards, landing on his hands to hold them up with his tendrils and shoot. Guards were ripped through as others watched in half horror, half confusion. Flash grabbed the guns himself, backflipping over the crowd and firing blindly into it as he made his way towards the window. He used a few seconds to pull the pins off of several men's grenades before he shot out a window. As Flash dove through the pane, Eddie couldn't help but admit that Flash was a badass Venom.
---
That was hours ago. Now, Eddie sat on a park bench, unsure of his next move. Flash had gone silent a while back. Eddie was alone once again with his thoughts, swirling and churning in confusion and loneliness. He looked down, folding his hands over his knees. What was he going to do now?
Slowly, then all at once, he heard a faint whisper. It grew quickly, until it occupied his mind as a heavy cloud. So, this is awkward... Eddie bolted upright, words faltering for a moment before he finally stammered out "F- Flash... I thought you were-"
I know what you thought, Tendrils extended from Eddie and slowly twisted together, We're bonded now, remember? I'm still here, though, I just had to rest. Slowly, Flash put himself together. He was in his normal armor, save for his head, which was as human as it could get. Eddie stared into his eyes for a long moment, studying him. It was as if he'd never left: the skin, the armor, the hair, he looked perfect. I guess I'm still...
"Just a codex copy of a dead guy." Flash spoke, and Eddie felt his heart race. What does this mean? His partner- not Venom anymore, instead Flash Thompson of all people- was sitting next to him, giving him a look over. "God, this is weird." Flash mumbled, tapping his chin. Eddie gave a noise similar to something out of Seinfeld before blurting out "No shit!" He dropped his head, letting the realization wash over him. Venom is gone, and instead he's here with Flash Thompson. Someone who he hated, who he fought tooth and nail to get rid of, either out of jealousy or labeling him a monster. "I'm not really panicking. Maybe this is all too much for me to understand." Flash looked around. It was a calm day. Nice Spring breeze, barely any clouds, and it was clear of people. Weird for the time of day, but whatever. "Does this make me a clone? Or maybe an AI of some sort. Oh! Wait, am I a force ghost?" Eddie let out a soft sob, which brought Flash's attention down to the man. "Does it matter? You exist you- you're... Alive." Flash looked surprised. God, is this guy... Crying? "Hey, hey... Geez, I didn't know you were so soft, Brock. Or that you cared this much." He spoke softly, letting out a quiet chuckle. Eddie looked at Flash, taking him in again. "How could I not? You're here. We- we're bonded, we-"
"We're in this together." Flash grinned. Eddie paused, mouth opening as if to say something, but stopping himself. Flash sat back on the bench, "I guess Team Venom's not in the best shape right now, with me being... Whatever I am. But weirder shit's happened, right?" Eddie waved a hand dismissively, eyes still transfixed on his new partner. "I can't really rank the events in my life anymore. "Well, I'm not about to leave you open, pal... Never mind the fact that we can't exactly split up right now."
Eddie had settled on his thoughts, looking away. "Well, I guess it's about time we came together with our Other..." Flash clapped his shoulder with a grin. "Yeah. Plus, you'll need my company, right? I think if I was alone, I'd go insane..." Eddie felt some of that anxiety in his chest melt away. They weren't the best partners in the past, sure, but they could make it work. "Yeah. Yeah, we'll figure this out."
They had each other now, and hey, maybe that was enough.