Chapter Text
Dan was having a good day. He’d woken up before his alarm, he and Anne had had a nice breakfast and coffee together and he was able to see her off.
“Oh, you’re seeing Eddie today, right?” Anne asked.
“Yeah, around three,” Dan replied. “Need me to pass on any messages?”
“No, nothing specific,” Anne replied. “Just...let me know how he’s doing? I’m worried about him.”
“I know,” Dan replied, because he was worried about the journalist too. “But he’s eating more at least, even if it is just tater tots and chocolate.”
“Still,” Anne murmured. “That’s not healthy.”
“I know. I’ll see if I can maybe help him get back on track with a more healthy lifestyle.”
“Just…” Anne hesitated. “Be gentle , Dan.”
“I know, I know,” Dan soothed. “I’m a doctor, Anne, I know how to be gentle.”
“I know you do, it’s just...Eddie is fragile, even without everything that happened the last year and a half.”
“I’ll be gentle,” Dan swore. “I promise.”
…………………………………..
The day dragged on.
Dan liked his job, don’t get him wrong, but there were just sometimes where everything was just slow. Granted, with working in a hospital, it wasn’t like you really wanted things to be a flurry of panic or activity either, right?
Still, by the time three o’clock rolled around, he was thankful to head down to the exam rooms and just chill with Eddie for thirty minutes.
“Hey Eddie,” Dan greets with a smile as he steps into the room. “How are you doing?”
He tries not to be too condescending, or sympathetic with his voice cause he knows Eddie won’t appreciate that but, well, he’s worried . A lot has happened to Eddie, a year and a half ago, and he still hasn’t fully recovered.
“Oh, I’m-I’m good,” Eddie replied as Dan moved to take a seat in the chair, rolling it over to where Eddie is seated on the exam table. “Yeah, I’m...I’m doing better.”
“Well that’s good,” Dan agreed, nodding. “Your complexion looks a lot better too. You’re definitely looking healthier.”
Eddie nods and shifts slightly, a small wince crossing his face that Dan doesn’t miss. “You alright?”
“Yeah, yeah fine.”
“Any pain anywhere?”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Okay,” Dan said slowly. “Good.” They talked for a few more minutes before Dan checked his notes and cleared his throat. “Listen, Eddie, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind just having a quick MRI scan. Just to make sure everything’s still okay.”
Eddie tenses, something that Dan thinks is probably rational considering what happened when the alien was in him when they did that MRI scan, but he still can't help but feel like there’s something... wrong with that.
He’s hiding something. Dan realizes.
“No, I-I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” Eddie stammers. “I really don’t-”
“I’d imagine the last MRI you were conscious for was pretty traumatizing-”
“Wh-conscious for?” Eddie asked.
“Maybe ‘aware of’ is a better way to phrase it,” Dan offered. “They ran another MRI while you were...unresponsive. After the explosion.”
Eddie licked his lips. He’s nervous, he’s anxious, and Dan can’t blame him. “I don’t know, Dan, I-I don’t really-”
“I just want to make sure none of your organs have backslid,” Dan soothed. “I mean, that parasite was-”
One minute Dan is sitting in front of Eddie, talking, the next he’s on the floor, having been thrown into the wall, with all seven feet of Venom’s hulking mass towering over him.
“Holy fucking shit!” Dan shouted as Venom leaned into his face to roar before backing up and fading back into Eddie, who stumbled against the exam table, eyes wide.
“Holy shit,” Eddie whispered as Dan scrambled to his feet. “Dan, wait, I can explain-”
“I thought he died!” Dan declared. “I thought he was dead!”
Eddie swallowed thickly. “I thought so too.”
Dan closed his eyes and took a deep breath while Eddie quietly lectured the alien that was, in fact, still alive.
“Okay,” Dan finally said. “So no MRI.”
“No.”
“Is he…” Dan hesitated. “I mean, Eddie, I know you’re attached to him, but he was killing you.”
“We fixed that.”
“Fixed it?” Dan shook his head. “We?”
“He repaired my organs.”
“He repaired your-” Dan shook his head. “Alright, we’ll unpack that one later,” he muttered. “Eddie, you do understand that Venom isn’t...he’s not…”
“You’re not getting rid of him.” Edide’s voice was firm. Strong. Confident in a way it hadn’t been for a very long time.
“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Dan asked instead.
Eddie swallowed thickly. “Because I thought you’d take him away,” he replied. “I thought if you or Anne knew...I mean, the way you reacted last time-”
“Last time, you were dying , Eddie,” Dan pointed out. “And without an MRI, I can’t rule out that you’re not dying this time too.”
“I’m not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I trust Venom.”
“The same Venom that was eating your organs a year and a half ago?”
Dan tried really hard not to scream this time as Venom manifested his head over Eddie’s shoulder.
“We are not eating Eddie. Eddie is ours. Eddie feeds us chocolate and heads.”
“And...heads-” Dan looked desperately at Eddie. “What?”
“There’s a chemical in chocolate and brains that he needs to survive,” Eddie replied, way too calm with the information.
“Right, yeah,” Dan remarked. “Of course.”
They stared at one another in awkward silence, Venom having folded back into Eddie, before the journalist finally let out a sigh.
“Can you not tell Anne?” he begged.
“She has to know, Eddie.”
“I know, I know!” Eddie swore. “Just-can we…” he flapped his hands, sighing. “Can we not tell her yet ?”
Dan pressed his lips together. “Are you going to tell her at all?”
“Eventually.”
“When is ‘eventually’, Eddie?”
“When…” Eddie hesitated, the way Anne said he did when he was trying to think up a compelling lie. “When I get the chance.”
“Not the right answer.”
“Dan, please don’t tell her!” Eddie begged. “I promise we will when the time is right.”
“By ‘we’, I’m assuming you mean you and Venom?”
“Yes.”
Dan sighed, shaking his head. “Alright,” he finally agreed. “Alright, fine . But you can’t wait too long, Eddie, because she’s already going to be so pissed when she finds out.” After a beat, he asked. “How long has Venom been back?”
“He never left,” Eddie replied, rubbing his chest where Dan assumed he could feel the symbite through the skin which was honestly kind of disgusting to think about, so Dan was trying really hard not to. “But I wasn't aware of him until two months ago.”
“Which is right when you started eating a lot more,” Dan murmured.
“He was still dormant but awake enough that I could feel his hunger,” Eddie replied. “I just...didn’t realize that’s what it was.”
Dan nodded. “Alright,” he remarked. “Well, I suppose that’s how your health has overall stayed the same, even despite your lack of...healthy eating.”
“Yeah.”
And then Dan couldn’t help but joke, “He’s the perfect diet plan, I guess.”
Eddie laughed loudly, before slapping a hand over his mouth. “Sorry,” he murmured, and Dan had a feeling he wasn’t apologizing to him . “But uh...I mean, Dan’s not wrong.” Eddie turned back to Dan and suddenly looked nervous. “You're not gonna tell Anne?”
“For now ,” Dan replied. “But I’d rather she find out from one of us than your...friend jump out and yell at her like he just did me.”
“Don’t threaten noises,” Venom snarled, manifesting enough to bare his teeth.
“He felt threatened,” Eddie clarified when Dan just stared in confusion. “The MRI is too loud for him.”
“Ah. That would certainly explain it.”
Eddie nodded. He looked nervous. “I promise I’ll tell Anne as soon as the time is right.”
Dan sighed. “Alright, I’m trusting you on this, Eddie. If I start to feel like you’re stalling-“
“I’m not. I won’t!” Eddie insisted. “I promise!”
“Okay.” Dan regarded him for a few moments before finally agreeing. “Alright, fine.” he sighed. “Welcome back, Venom.”