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“Not very talkative, are you?”
The tube was an impressive some twelve feet tall, but the width left something to be desired. A strong polycarbonate substance; held the She-Hulk once, or so the psycho scientist had bragged as his lackeys shoved her in here - probably would fetch a good price.
Felicia’s cell mate did not seem to share her easy introspection. Across from her the black tar bubbled in seeming agitation, slime slithering into every crack to look for the slightest give. It had been at it for hours now, nary a sound despite her pestering.
What had been a brief moment of terror as she had been helplessly tossed into the mercy of a familiar “face” that occasionally haunted her nightmares had melted into boredom as the hours dragged on. The alien seemed more afraid of her than her of it, resolutely staying on its side of the cage as it avoided her eyes and body like the plague.
A girl could almost be offended.
“Hmm.” A steel claw slid out of the Black Cat’s glove, trailing down the plastic wall playfully.
SKREESH
At the soft screech, the alien’s wide white eyes whipped around to look at her.
“Can’t you speak English? Brock was always muttering to you.”
It stared back. Silently.
Felicia smirked. “Flash once told me you spoke too. Two bosom buddies chatting it up on your little space adventure slumber parties.”
Her tone was light, even as her heart swooped at the mention of her ex. The grass had probably grown over his grave in Calvary Cemetery, by now.
The symbiote seemed to have a similar thought - its eyes wilted down, goo wobbling.
It looked away.
Cats didn’t usually hold grudges. They were carefree, too important and too busy with shiny things or a warm spot in the sun to be dragged down by the past. But something about its anxiety curled a mean tendril in her stomach. In the back of her mind the phantom feeling of monstrous hands yanking her hair echoed.
Five claws dragged down the plastic this time.
SKREEEESH
A rumbling hiss filled the tank. Eyes merely manifested on the back of its poorly mimicked head this round, slime stretching threateningly towards the ceiling as it glared down at her.
“Oh?” The smirk stretched to a sharp grin, “Going to beat me up again? Break my nose?”
The hissing stopped.
“Drop the scary alien act. I’ve got your number, buddy.” A tongue ran across her teeth, eyebrow quirked. “No host? No spine.”
At that the mountain of obsidian muck melted, a quivering puddle at her five hundred dollar shoes.
Hey, a girl had to look good when thieving, even from kooky back water scientists.
She nudged it with a designer boot. “Come on, let’s be friends. We need each other to get out of here, don’t we?”
The black pool bubbled.
“And as I recall…you and I know each other intimately, if my memory of roof top escapades with a certain black suited Spider recalls correctly.” She drawled.
Two white spots formed to eye her.
Its face was as emotionless as Peter’s with the mask on. She thought it might look a little guilty, maybe, but still it remained quiet as eerie iridescent pools gazed back at her.
Felicia leaned back on her elbows, one long leg crossing over the other as her foot danced side to side. The diodes in the top of their tubular prison glimmered like stars as she said, “We’ve even got a bit in common.”
Talons popped back out on one hand as she listed, “We both love black. Two of the same exes…though our tastes in men don’t completely match. I’ll never understand what you see in that meathead loser Brock.”
“Not a meathead.”
It wasn’t the voice she was expecting to hear. She’d been in enough team ups with Venom to recall the tone - deep, rasping and only slightly inhuman in its masculinity. This voice was vague, tinny and soft, underlined with a wispy buzz. Like it took effort for the alien to make any sound at all.
If she thought it had the impression of looking irked before, now the frustration was clear. Its eyes were tilted together, wrinkles in the goo between inspiring a comparison to a human forehead. It was almost cute.
“Oooh.” She cooed, “So you can talk. It only took me coming after hubby to do it, hmm?”
It made a strange garble that she could only assume was a noise of annoyance.
“And where is your knight in shining tightie whities, may I ask? It’s not like you two to be separated for so long.”
“Scientists tore us apart. Sonics.” A flinch, “Must be here but… cannot feel Eddie.” It sounded miserable. The reminder of its missing host seemed to put the Other even more on edge, goo going back to prodding every edge that surrounded them.
Reading people was an important part of being a thief. You could get most people to do what you wanted, with the right push.
Of course, most people weren’t aliens that could feel your emotions through symbiosis, but they would cross that bridge when it came to it.
Felicia rolled her shoulders back, trying to exude confidence from her leisurely form as she leaned back against the glass. She offered the extraterrestrial a friendly smile. It made her skin crawl to think of what had to be done next, but she intended to keep all nine lives. Sometimes compromises had to be made.
“Well, we’ll just have to find him once we get out.” She offered a hand, palm up. “Together.”
Those eyes glimmered with something like wonder. A tendril reached out hesitantly then-
It stopped.
She waited. “Well?” Her fingers wiggled. “Don’t be shy, babe.”
“Scared.”
Felicia scoffed. “Of little old me? If you don’t remember, you-”
“Not me. You. Scared of us.”
She blinked.
“Scared of me.”
Suddenly, it was all clear. The beating of her heart. The slight tremble of her hands. The cold sweat that trailed down her spine.
She was afraid.
“That’s why you were avoiding me.” She said grimly.
The eerie stillness of her companion in response made the hair on Felicia’s arms stand straight up, her instincts screaming. The alien seemed to prickle in response, agitated.
The smile she tried to give cringed into a grimace as she relented, her offered hand falling limp. “Well, it’s not as if I don’t have my reasons. But what does it matter? We need each other. Or do you only do natural blondes?”
“Painful…” It seemed to struggle with words, “Dangerous to bond out of fear. We could do something we…regret.”
“You could do something you regret, you mean.”
It met her eyes. “No ‘you’ or ‘I’ in a bond. Only us. Only we.”
“Well ‘we’ don’t have much time for couple’s counseling here.”
The door creaked open, both turning to watch as their captor filed in, lackeys and equipment trailing behind.
“Have to be sure, Felicia. Cannot fear eachother. To be together - we must become one.” Odd to hear it say her name - like it knew her, like it cared about her.
But then again, she supposed it did.
It was part of people who had loved her, once.
“Hmm.” She mused.
The largest of the oafs stepped forward, sonic gun in hand. The solidier approached the tube to stare down at its captives, grinning. In the reflection of his goggles she could see the two of them together - two opposing creatures of black and white, solid and fluid, only inches apart. Their colors nearly blended.
Felicia looked back at the Other and reached out. “I do.”