Just a disclaimer here, I have absolutely no experience with journalism except for the fact that I took it as an elective my freshman year. (Read: I don't know jack shit). So, just ignore my logical fallacies, and let me know if you find something wrong and out of place.

And now that's out of the way, enjoy a new chapter!

The next day when Eddie wakes up, his back slightly sore from sleeping on the couch, the first thing he sees is Venom's head sitting on his chest, watching him with their big, unblinking eyes.

The first time the symbiote had done this, it scared the bejesus out of him and he'd kindly asked them to fuck off while he was sleeping. Unfortunately for Eddie, Venom did the opposite.

It still scared the living Hell out of him, but he'd gotten used to it for the most part. He no longer jumped up and screamed anymore, at least.

"Mornin', V," Eddie slurs, moving his arm over his face.

"Good morning. Sleep well?"

"Eh, sure. What time is it?"

"Approximately 10:00."

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up? Why didn't Mary wake me up?"

"You never get enough sleep."

"Yeah, well, that doesn't mean I should sleep in."

"Like you said, it is a vacation. We deserve nice things."

"Nice things also include food, V. You know when we don't get breakfast, we get cranky."

"We ate while you slept. But we can eat someone later, if you want."

"Hm," Eddie hums, still trying to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He pauses. "Wait, no, I'm still mad at you. We're in New York, so no people until I can find someone off the grid."

Venom says nothing, but Eddie feels a vague disappointment over their bond.

"Hey, it's your fault, you lied to me."

"You are the one that wanted a vacation."

"Yeah, well . . ." he trails off, not finding a point to argue. "Look, I don't really wanna fight about this anymore, okay. What's done is done."

"Great. Can you start looking for food now, we are hungry."

Eddie sighs deeply. "Y'know, I'd like to relax today. Do some sightseeing, I dunno."

"We could always do that. But your pancreas is beginning to look quite tasty . . ."

"No, bad Venom," Eddie says, whacking the symbiote's head.

They hiss at him before sinking back into their body.

Neither of them say anything for a few minutes, a semi-awkward silence settling over them.

Eventually, Eddie says, "Okay, how about we compromise. I get to take us sightseeing for a few hours, and after we get home I can start looking. That sound good?"

There's a pause.

Fine. But I think we have a better idea.

Eddie scoffs. "Oh, really? And what's that?"

We may or may not have overheard some bad people talking yesterday, while you were visiting your old friends.

"Uh-huh. You sure they were really bad, or did you just see another group of shady teenagers? I already told you, they're just kids—"

And we do not eat children, yes, we know. Trust us, we know the difference now.

"Yeah, forgive me if I'm still a little dubious. So, what were these alleged 'bad people' saying."

Something about a meeting place and a multitude of firearms being exchanged. We were not paying that much attention.

Eddie sighs. "Well, they do sound like bad guys. Did you happen to catch the meeting place?"

Yes. They mentioned the Williamsburg Bridge.

"Any specific time?"

Not sure. Probably ten or eleven.

"Eh it's not a lot to go on, but we can still check it out."

Great. What do we do until then?

"Like I said earlier, sightseeing. Plus, I wanna stop by the Daily Bugle and see if they'll let me do a story for some money."

Ah, yes. Because we are broke.

"More or less, yeah. I just need to think of somethin' they'll accept. They don't really like me 'cause of what happened back when I still lived here."

Sounds fun.

Eddie scoffs. "Yeah, sure."

They lay there in silence, neither willing to get up yet.

After a while, Venom re-emerges, their smile seemingly larger than before. "You know," they start, an almost smug quality to their voice. "You could write a story about those bad guys we are going to eat later."

Eddie sighs. "Obviously I haven't taught you enough about how journalism works. First off, there might not even be a story. Second, how are you planning on getting any information about this?"

"Your old contacts from here. Surely they don't all hate you."

"You'd be surprised," he mutters. "Look, if it'll make you happy, fine, I'll look into it."

"Great. Now, if you want any time to go ogle boring architecture, we might want to get dressed now."

"It's not that bad, V Besides, I was also planning on taking you to this cookie dough place I heard about, but if you'd rather do something else . . ."

There's a pause.

"We will behave."

Eddie smirks. "That's what I thought."

. . .

Within the next few hours, they end up visiting the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty. Venom had been ecstatic when they found out they were very tall, and that you were allowed up that high. Eddie, on the other hand, was seriously regretting his decision to go sightseeing.

But, eventually, Venom decided that they'd had enough and were ready to head over to the Daily Bugle.

When they get there, Eddie is ready for the scathing looks, expecting pitchforks and torches. Surprisingly, they were few and far between. Not that he was complaining, he was very glad he didn't have to deal with any of that. All he had to hope for now was that the new editor would be as forgiving.

He carefully knocks on the doorframe and J. Jonah Jameson glances up.

"Who are you?" he asks gruffly, looking back at his desk.

"Uh, Eddie Brock. I contacted you earlier about doing a freelance job for some money."

"Oh, yeah. Come in, sit down," Jonah says, gesturing at the chair in front of his desk.

Eddie nods and sits in the chair.

"You have a lot of nerve coming back here, Brock."

Eddie's heart sinks. He chuckles nervously. "Yeah. I'm, uh, actually on vacation here. After everything that went down in San Francisco I needed a break."

"So you came here? Not very bright, are you."

Venom growls in the back of Eddie's mind, which he pointedly ignores. "Well, my sister lives here, and I hadn't seen her in a while. 'Sides, it's nice to be back."

Jonah scoffs. "Yeah, whatever. You were pretty sparing on the details of your story, so if you don't mind, I'd like to talk about it."

Eddie nods, taking a deep breath. "Okay, what I've got so far is a lead on some gun runners. I know where they're meeting tonight and I was gonna go check it out and see what it was all about."

There's a pause.

"That's it? You have a hunch?"

"Well, it's a little more than that—"

"Nope, I've heard enough. Until you have more than this, I can't offer you anything."

"But—"

"No buts. Come back if you have something worth reporting."

Eddie sighs, getting up. "Yeah, got it."

That did not go very well.

"Yeah, thanks for pointing that out," he mutters.

Do not worry, we will get more information.

Eddie scoffs. "Yeah, if anyone even wants to—"

He's abruptly cut off when someone runs into him.

"Ah, shit," Eddie says, moving to help the kid who'd fallen down. "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was goin'."

"No, it's fine," he says, brushing himself off, "it was my fault."

"Nah, don't worry about it. You good, um . . ?" Eddie trails off awkwardly.

"Oh, Peter," the kid says, giving him an odd look. "Peter Parker. Sorry"

"Like I said, it's good," Eddie says, inching away. "Have a nice day."

"Uh, you too, sir."

He nods, turning back towards the elevator.

"That was weird," he mutters after he's in. There'd been something about the kid that seemed familiar.

Eddie.

"What?"

We have changed our mind.

"About what?"

The Spiderling. He is a small child and we must protect him.

Eddie pauses, confusion clouding his mind. "Uh . . . sure dude, whatever."

It's a few seconds later when it finally clicks.

"Oh my god," he says, shock freezing him in place. "That was Spider-Man?"

Yes. Did you not recognize his scent?

"V, for the last time, I can't do that. Jeez, how old was he, like, twelve?"

Sixteen.

"That's not any better." Eddie sighs, running a hand over his face. "I'm still confused, you don't like teenagers. You're always asking to eat them."

That is because most of them are rude to us. He is not.

"That simple, huh?"

Yes. We must protect him.

"Yeah, I don't think that'd blow over well. 'Hey there Spider-Man, we're a seven-foot monster that eats people and we've decided to adopt you, how does that sound?' We'd freak the poor kid out."

Eddie feels the disappointment float over their bond, his other obviously upset.

"Look, V, all I'm saying is that it would be best if we didn't interact with him. If by some bad luck he comes across us before we leave, you can try and strike up a conversation. Just be prepared for lots of screaming and terror."

You did not think we were that scary.

Eddie chuckles. "Trust me, I was plenty afraid when we first met."

A feeling of smugness that is not his own washes over him.

Eddie shakes his head. "That's not something to be proud of, love."

Maybe to you and your weak species.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he asks with mock offence.

It is not incorrect.

Eddie opens his mouth to say something, but pauses. He couldn't really argue that. "Shut up," he mutters.

A second wave of smugness settles over him and he pointedly ignores it.

. . .

"Who was that?" Peter asks Betty, one of the women he worked with, after the guy that knocked him down got on the elevator.

She gets a disapproving look on her face. "Eddie Brock. Used to work here before he screwed up big time and got run out. Heard he was in San Francisco as of late, had something to do with the whole Life Foundation fiasco."

"Oh," Peter nods. That was why he recognized him the other day, he'd heard about all that. It was a pretty big deal, even on the other side of the country.

"Yeah. I'd stay away from him, he's trouble," Betty says.

"I'll keep that in mind," Peter says offhandedly, not really meaning what he was saying. "Why's he here?"

Betty shrugs. "Not really sure. I overheard him talking to the boss man about gun runners or something. He's always been one to go after the really dangerous stuff."

Peter nods, mulling over his options. He couldn't just let an innocent get hurt because they thought they could handle it. Making an executive decision, he gets one of his spider trackers and sends it after him, hoping it would reach Eddie in time.

He quickly pulls out his phone and checks on it, watching until it finally settles and leaves the building.

Smiling, Peter puts his phone away. Well, at least tonight wouldn't be boring.