There weren't very many people that Natasha allowed within her fold of friends. Back in the Red Room, she had none. She was there to survive, not to make friends. The only exception had been Bucky, or as he was called back then, the Soldier. Though they were not Soulmates, the two of them might as well be. Like the relationship that existed between Emily and Peter, the two of them came to a mutual level of respect that should crap ever go down or need to go down, they could always count on the other. It was an understanding that transcended past the Red Room and still remained even during their stints as Avengers.
So when Natasha strode into the common room, holy hellfire burning in her eyes after managing to finally get Steve to bed, Bucky instinctively tensed up, falling into the position to follow instead of lead. The rest of the Avengers were still trickling in. Dr. Strange and Emily had left together with Eddie and Venom to get Venom set up in the medical center, hoping to hook him up to some sort of heart rate monitor so they could watch Peter's vitals too. Wanda had gone off to bed, emotionally and physically drained from the night. That left only Natasha and Bucky in the common room, along with Tony and Rhodey who had arrived sometime while Natasha was with Steve. The latter seemed to have changed out of their suits, back into civilian clothes.
"Give me everything you have on this guy and now," Natasha hissed, her voice low and sharp.
Tony didn't even try to make any quips before snapping his finger, bringing up a hologram manila folder. Natasha pressed it open and bits and pieces of information scattered throughout the room, from news clippings to articles. One photo stood out from the rest: a man in head to toe yellow kevlar with what looked like black fishnets over his body. Parts of his costume were orange, but the material seemed foreign to Natasha. Silver boots and gauntlets were located around his ankles and his wrists.
"Name is Herman Schultz. Born in New York City, dropped out of high school, pretty decent inventor and engineer," Tony listed off, pointing towards the random articles or videos that were associated with the topics he was talking about. "Instead of going into a successful career as a weapons manufacturer, like I did, Schultz became a burglar and is the self-proclaimed best safe-cracker in the world." Tony couldn't help but roll his eyes at that, but he continued, "He was caught and incarcerated for his crimes around the time of the Battle of New York, when he took advantage of the chaos to try and rob one of the big banks. Here's the kicker: he's supposed to be in prison still. However, he went missing from prison around the Fall of Sokovia, and no one has heard from him since."
"Until now," Natasha huffed, folding her arms across her chest. "Does he have any ties with HYDRA or the Cult?"
"Not from what FRIDAY can tell."
Natasha glanced at Bucky and the man shrugged. "I don't remember everything from my times with HYDRA, but I can't say that I've heard of him. If he was working with HYDRA, he probably got more attached to it while I was on the run from them."
"And we won't know if he has connections with the Cult of Ladon unless we catch him or find one of the Cult members and get them to talk," Rhodey grumbled, limping towards one of the stools. Natasha eyed him as he walked, taking note of his slow and rough motions. His legs were really starting to hurt him. Natasha made a mental note to call his physical therapist for another visit.
"Can you trace him, Tony?"
"FRIDAY's already working on that, but this guy is pretty good, Nat," Tony sighed. "Cell phone off, ditched the armor car as soon as we all left for the burning building. Either he's really smart, which is really possible, or he has a brilliant boss."
"The guy mentioned something about dangerous people paying him," Dr. Strange interjected, and Natasha glanced over her shoulder. The doctor had changed out of his usual get up, wearing a t-shirt and baggy pajama pants. His hair looked a mess and the dark lines under his eyes were looking more like black eyes each second. Natasha raised an eyebrow at him in a silent question, and the Sorcerer Supreme waved her off. "Emily's with them. She knows what she's doing more than I do." When the doctor was met with silence, he replied incredulously, "I am a surgeon, not a pediatrician! I perform surgeries, I don't hook people up. She's a nurse. This is literally her job."
"Alright, alright," Bucky said, shaking his head. The Winter Soldier walked so he was in line with Natasha and the other two adjusted themselves accordingly. "You said something about dangerous people paying him? Like, Schultz?"
"If that's his name," Dr. Strange confirmed, nodding his head. "Dangerous people wanted him to capture Peter, but he said no. So, they changed their offer; test Peter instead, they said. Answer the question everyone in Queens wondered. Can Spiderman save everyone?"
"And Petey took the bait," Bucky breathed. "Do you think that it was Pierce or Il Dottore?"
"Again, we won't know unless we get a hold on him, Pierce, or Schultz," Dr. Strange stated. The doctor gave a little sigh and said, "We aren't going to be able to do much tonight; we can't trace them, our one chance at luring HYDRA or the Cult have all but failed tonight, and Peter died." Natasha watched as Bucky flinched heavily. She moved to put a hand on his arm, but the Winter Soldier stepped away, shaking his head. A flash of hurt hit Natasha, but she schooled her expressions. Bucky was a physical-touch love language person, so if he wasn't accepting touching, that meant he was really hurt. "Anyone who was Soulmates with Peter felt that severed connection; when Venom brought him back, it was subtle so none of us had to endure the sudden reappearance of the connection, but that doesn't matter. We're all exhausted, we're all hurt. As a doctor, surgeon or not, I am telling everyone to rest and to sleep. Emily and I will expect you all tomorrow for check-ups, physical and mental." He seemed to direct that last statement towards Bucky, but the soldier didn't seem to notice.
"Can…" Bucky began, before cutting himself off. The man licked his lips hesitantly, then added tentatively, "C-Can I go stay with Peter?"
Dr. Strange nodded, a sad smile coming to his face. "Emily already has a chair prepped with a blanket and pillow for you."
Bucky nodded his thanks and whispered a goodbye to the group before pushing past Dr. Strange and disappearing down the hallway. Tony let out a large breath once Bucky was out of sight. "He's taking this hard."
"We all are, Tony," Natasha couldn't help but snap back. "Only we haven't known Peter as long; our Soul-Bond isn't as developed."
As soon as the words left her mouth, Tony's face paled dramatically. "Shit. Ned. I have a call I need to make."
The billionaire dashed off, already ordering FRIDAY to dial up Scott Lang's number as he strode off. Natasha connected eyes with Rhodey, and the veteran held his hands up. "Don't have to tell me twice. I'm Tony Mother Henning Duty." Rhodey pushed himself off one of the stools and walked slowly to catch up with the genius. Natasha looked back towards Dr. Strange, who was still standing on the opposite side of the room from Natasha.
Natasha couldn't help but feel a little nervous as she asked, "Peter is going to be okay, right?"
"I hope so. I can't explain to you how much I hope."
Peter felt comfortable, like he was drifting underwater. He bobbed gracefully through the current of darkness, and he was warm. Despite the fact that he felt like he was moving constantly, there was a never-changing presence of warmth that just seemed to envelope him. Occasionally, the warmth would shift, but it never truly left Peter. It made him feel like a child inside a mother's womb, not that he ever really remembered what that had felt like. But still, it was the thought that counted.
Soulmate.
That word bounced in the darkness, the voice of whoever spoke it deep and dark. It meant something to Peter, but he wasn't sure what it was. Something important. Yet, it was still out of reach. Peter wanted to reach out and touch it, to see why that word held such an importance to him, but he couldn't move. He was too comfortable.
Thirteen.
That number held significance too. It held a deep connection with the previous word, Soulmate. Thirteen. Soulmate. Perhaps it was meant to be thought of as Soulmate Thirteen, like the Thirteenth Soulmate. Maybe it was meant to be thought of as thirteen Soulmates. More than one Soulmate. The latter sounded familiar, but again it would make more sense to Peter if he could remember why the word Soulmate was so important.
Eight.
Again, another number of significance for Peter. It was connected to Soulmate, and to the number Thirteen. Eight out of thirteen. Eight out of thirteen Soulmates, perhaps? Peter was aware that trying to think whilst floating comfortably was very difficult, but he tried to focus his mind on the words, on the voice of the person who spoke.
Queens.
His home. That word immediately made sense to Peter, so much so that Peter felt himself twisting and moving where he was floating. That word Peter could associate with tall skylines, with bright flashing lights, with the feeling of wind pressed against his skin. It was home to him, it was home to his Uncle Ben, and his Aunt May. His family.
Avenger.
Heroes. They protected the weak and the innocent. They were the ones who Peter looked up to, the ones whom Peter wanted nothing more than to impress them, to get them to like him. They were family too, like his Aunt May and Uncle Ben. There were so many of them, and they were associated with the number Eight and the word Soulmate. Were some of them Soulmates to Peter? That would be pretty neat.
Death.
The absence of life. The word made Peter want to squirm in discomfort. So many people he loved had been subjected to death. His aunt and uncle, his mom and dad. People in the building fire...That part made Peter squirm again, only this time from confusion. What happened with the building fire? Why could he remember bits and pieces of that and Queens and the word Avenger, but not the numbers and the word Soulmate? Why, out of all the words, did Death have to be the one that Peter was fully aware of?
Markings.
This was definitely connected to Soulmate, almost a stronger connection than the word Avenger or Eight or Thirteen had with it. At the word, Peter felt his whole body humming with excitement, places becoming lit with fiery intensity. His legs, his torso, his back, his collarbone, his arms. It wasn't like the warmth the darkness around him provided, but rather it was much more extensive. More powerful.
Monarch.
That...made no sense to Peter. He wasn't familiar with the term or why it had such a significance to him. It didn't connect with any of the other words. It was like the odd one out, the one that made Peter wonder why it was even there in the first point.
Ai apaec.
Peter knew this one. Someone close to him had talked about it quite extensively recently. The Creator God of Mochica culture. The body of a spider with an anthropomorphic face. The body of a spider. A spider. Spider.
Spiderman.
It was as if all of Peter's senses had been switched on and green-lighted. He was Peter Parker, the son of Richard and Mary Parker. His aunt and uncle had been Ben and May Parker. He was the vigilante of Queens known as Spiderman; he had Soul Markings, thirteen of them. Eight of them had been discovered: Ned, Bucky, Steve, Tony, Dr. Strange, Wanda, Natasha, Eddie/Venom. Many of his loved ones had died, in the apartment shooting, in a plane crash, in the burning building that that man in the street had taunted him with. Can Spiderman save them all? Markings. Thirteen tattoos, all over his body. Marking the first words his Soulmates would ever say to him. Ai apaec was who Emily thought the Cult of Ladon thought he was. And Spiderman was who he was.
He needed to wake up.
WAKE UP.
Waking up for Peter was like a jolt, a start. It was as if someone had attached electrical cables to his heart and had tried to jumpstart his body with a car. His mind was locked into one setting: STAY. ALIVE.
And he was planning on it.
Peter was in the hospital room, the one that he had frequented enough times that they should really just label the bed as his own. In the chair beside him, to the left, Bucky was curled up, a blanket tossed haphazardly onto his body and his vibranium arm supporting his head as he rested. In the corner of the room, Eddie Brock, his newest Soulmate, was lying on the floor, his head cradled in his hands as he snored lightly. Wherever his sidekick-partner-thing, Venom, was, it wasn't there. Which, in turn, was good for Peter.
The IV that looked like it should have been inserted into Peter's arm was dangling from the rolling stand, dripping saline onto the floor in a slow, methodical manner. Peter's gaze drifted back towards the door. He needed to get out. He needed to stay alive.
Peter leapt off the bed in a quick manner, whipping the door open so hard that it actually slammed into the wall, placing a sizable dent in the wall. He heard the sounds of people waking up behind him, but Peter ignored it. His senses were telling him to run, and so run he did. He broke out in a dead sprint, relying on his instincts to guide him through the many dark hallways. He heard the pounding of footsteps from behind him; Bucky and Eddie must have woken up and decided to follow him. Once again, Peter ignored them.
He had a mission now. And for once in his life, he knew what needed to be done.
Peter made it to the lobby of the compound, the large spaced area that allowed him to finally use his webbing. He shot one strand out towards the front doors and he pulled back before launching himself towards the glass doors with high precision. He thought he heard Bucky shouting at him to stop, but Peter couldn't. Or wouldn't. He wasn't quite sure.
The glass approached Peter quickly, but the boy let go of the webbing quickly before he could slam into it. Peter let himself transition into a roll, making it to the doors just as he rose to his feet. One quick push revealed the doors to be unlocked and with that information, he quickly disappeared outside.
The fresh, cold air caused instant goosebumps onto Peter's skin and he let out a slightly hysterical laugh. As soon as the laughing ended, Peter felt himself frown. Where the hell did that come from?
"Peter!"
Peter blinked, realizing that he had spaced out. He was now in the middle of the field outside of the Compound, the one that had been turned into a battlefield when the Cult of Ladon had attacked them. He turned lazily over his shoulder, glancing at his pursuers. He had gained quite a following. Peter was impressed with the Avengers; they had been able to catch up with him.
Natashsa, Steve, Wanda, Bucky, Eddie, Sam, Dr. Strange, Emily, Tony, Rhodey, Clint. The Avengers plus the riffraffs. They all stood in their pajamas in a line behind Peter. He did notice the two super spies on either side of the line beginning to circle him, bending the line so he would be trapped in a circle of Avengers. He let them. It would only provide more of a challenge.
Peter couldn't help but balk slightly at that thought. What the hell? He wasn't looking to hurt the Avengers. They were his friends!
Bucky was the one to speak, raising his hands in what was meant to be a friendly, peaceful gesture. However, Peter's eyes narrowed on his vibranium arm. It was strong, sure, Peter had seen that for himself. But Peter was confident that it would be more of a hindrance to the super soldier than it would be a help. Peter could work with that.
"Petey," Bucky began, his voice low as he stood a hesitant step. Peter tensed up at the movement and Bucky paused, not moving another inch. "Petey, we need you to come with us."
Peter didn't say anything, but he did eye the other Avengers. The three that would cause him the most troubles would be the sorcerer and the witches: Stephen Strange, Emily Salgado, and Wanda Maximoff. Their magic, especially if they were to combine them, would be too strong for Peter to escape from. He would need to take them out in the beginning, and quickly.
Peter blinked incredulously and felt his whole body shake in disbelief. He was losing it. Peter had to be losing it. He brought his hands up, cradling his head.
"Petey?" he heard Bucky ask, and then he heard the crunch of grass as the man took another step. Peter reacted and shot his hands forward, letting the webbing come. Two quick spats of webbing connected with the super soldier's bare foot, attaching that foot to the ground beneath him.
"Don't come near me."
The voice was deep and low and distorted, and it was filled with so much pain and misery that Peter couldn't help but tear up at the sound of it. It took Peter another second to realize that the voice had come from him.
"That's not his voice," whispered Wanda, glancing towards her comrades in concern. Peter shook his head, using one of his hands to swipe at his head. It was the voice. The voice inside of his head. The one who told him that the Avengers were a threat. Peter needed to escape. To escape the Avengers or the voice? At that point, Peter wasn't sure which one.
"Peter, are you alright?" Dr. Strange called out from his right. Peter flipped so he was facing the doctor, and the Sorcerer Supreme seemed really concerned about his health. Fake concern. Peter let out a growl and swiped at his head again, causing Dr. Strange to flinch. "What is happening?"
"So much anger."
"What is happening to him?" Steve demanded, his grip readjusting on his iconic shield. He must have brought it with him when alerted about Peter's disappearance. That should have been the final nail in the coffin of doubt in Peter's mind. He brought the shield because he was scared of Peter's power. Of what he might do.
"Go away," Peter cried out, dragging his hands up to his hair and gripping onto the fluffy strands in his hands. His brain was beginning to ache and to pound in his head and Peter had to resist the urge to cry out. It hurt so badly. There was just too much pain. "Not safe."
"We're your Soulmates, Peter!" shouted Tony, his voice sounded small against the rest of the Avengers. He didn't have his suit with him. A mistake. It would make it that much easier for Peter to pick him off. "Why is it not safe?"
"Because!" Peter shouted. The dark feelings from his dreams were beginning to flow over his body. Soulmate. Thirteen. Eight. Queens. Avenger. Death. Markings. Monarch. Ai apaec. Spiderman. Peter gave up trying to fight off the feeling and just let himself succumb to it. "We are Venom."
"Get down!" Emily shouted just as the black ooze shot out of Peter's body. Natasha dove to the ground, dragging a reluctant Bucky and Eddie down with her as she fell. The symbiote ooze covered Peter's body completely, giving him a couple feet of height. The Peter-Venom combination looked different from when Eddie was with them too. This one seemed more...sick. The symbiote wasn't as concrete on Peter, and parts of it were oozing like sick pieces of skin that didn't connect with the body. Venom's eyes were also wider, more resembling Peter's new suit's eyepieces. His teeth were also dramatically shortened and less-yellowed. There were also a number of them that looked to be missing. The gum lines were bloodshot red and the skin didn't look like skin anymore. It looked like a suit. Like Peter's suit, specifically.
As soon as Venom was in control of Peter's body, the first thing it did was lash out towards Dr. Strange. His fist elongated and turned huge, slamming into the doctor's stomach like a wrecking ball. The momentum sent the Sorcerer Supreme flying off into the darkness; Natasha could hear the grunt as he landed heavily against the ground. And like that, the Avengers erupted into a flurry of movement, some moving to help Dr. Strange, and others moving to attack the creature.
"Whatever that thing is, that's not Peter and that's not Venom!" Eddie fervently insisted, already rising to his feet. Natasha leapt up too, grabbing Eddie's upper arm. She dragged him backwards, trying to distance themselves from whatever Peter had become. "I've never seen him like that before!"
"Right now, we need to know how to stop him before he hurts us or himself!" Natasha growled, yanking out the gun she had holstered behind her back. She levelled it at the creature, moving her hand to pull the trigger. But she found that she couldn't pull the trigger. Even to shoot the creature in a non-vital area, like a leg, could cause harm to Peter. And she couldn't harm her Soulmate. "Damn it!" Shouting to be heard over the chaos, Natasha yelled, "We need to secure him!"
"Trying!" Wanda answered, her hands and eyes pulsing with red energy. The witch launched her magic at the Venom-Peter, who simply sidestepped her attack. It thrust a hand forward and a black solid matter, like the one used to launch Dr. Strange, shot out towards Wanda. A portal was created right in front of the witch at the last moment, teleporting the fist so it was directed back towards Venom-Peter. It hit the creature and sent it stumbling at the impact, a shrieking growl echoing loudly.
Natasha holstered her gun, knowing full well that she would be of little use during this fight. She turned to Eddie and grabbed both of his arms, redirecting the journalist's attention back to her. She shook him once, to solidify the seriousness of the situation. "Eddie, you are our best hope right now. We need to know how to defeat Venom."
"Fire and high pitched noises," Eddie replied immediately. "He can't handle the heat and the loud noises piss him off; he becomes detached from the host when that happens."
"Got it, now get back into the Compound and find something to help on the sound or fire part," Natasha ordered, pointing towards the Compound. Eddie gave a sharp nod before stumbling off towards the large building.
Back with her attention on the Venom-Peter, Natasha whistled, dragging the creature's attention onto her. She couldn't shoot Peter, but she was still rather nimble, which meant that she had a better chance at being a distraction. "Hey you! I heard you're not a fan of fire and high-pitched frequencies!" Natasha made sure to shout it so that way the rest of the Avengers would be able to hear it. The creature shrieked at her and charged and crap, Natasha had not anticipated how quickly it would be able to move. Slight miscalculation on her part.
Natasha dove to the side, bracing her body as she rolled back to her feet. The creature was right there, easily changing directions with its charge. It made a swipe at her with its large claw. Natasha dropped to the floor and shot through the creature's legs, thankful that it had taken such a large stance. On the opposite side, she shoved herself to her feet and took off, heading away from the Compound and towards Emily, whose wings were on full display and whose eyes were already black as the night.
"Out the way, Nat!" Emily shouted and Natasha threw herself to the side, hitting the ground so hard that her brain rattled a little. Pushing herself up to her elbows, Natasha watched as the inky, black magic that had come from Emily in the battle against the Cult came again, this time in a tidal wave directed towards the creature. The creature leapt up, missing the shadows and Natasha heard Emily curse. As the creature was hovering, red magic suddenly surrounded it. Wanda appeared on the other side of Venom-Peter, hovering in the air with her body covered in her magic.
Venom-Peter tried to struggle, but Wanda gritted her teeth and kept her hands squeezed tight. The creature thrashed in Wanda's hold, screaming loudly and shrieking at her. It still hung in the air precariously. Emily quickly attached her own shadows to Wanda's magic, securing Venom-Peter's position in the sky. Dr. Strange appeared on the other side, his amber magic adding onto it.
"Buck!" Steve shouted towards his friend. The two super soldiers caught each other's eyes and started running towards Natasha and the sorcerers. Once they were right by the Venom-Peter, Steve held up his shield, bracing himself on the ground. Natasha dashed behind Steve, wrapping her arms around his waist to help secure him and to brace herself. "Now!"
Natasha couldn't see what the Winter Soldier did, but she had a pretty good guess. Using his vibranium arm, he slammed his fist into the vibranium shield. A loud echo scattered throughout the field and Venom-Peter shrieked at the sound.
It looked as though the black sludge that had encapsulated Peter was beginning to pulse, pulling itself off of Peter in patches. Natasha could barely see the Spiderman suit that Peter had been wearing peeking out.
"It's working!" Emily shouted. She tilted her head and flicked her fingers and her shadows raced towards the holes that the symbiote had created. Her shadows prevented the symbiote from covering Peter back up again. "It's starting to weaken!"
Bucky pulled an arm back to try and hit Steve's shield again, but was thrown away from Steve by Venom-Peter sneaking a hit through the magic. The back swing of the fist hit Steve's shield, launching him and Natasha through the air. Natasha felt a sense of weightlessness in her stomach and she and Steve twisted, pulling Natasha to be clutching to Steve's front as the super soldier covered her back with the shield. They slammed into the ground and Natasha blacked out.
Natasha and Steve were on the ground, Natasha lying limp on the super soldier's stomach. Steve wasn't moving either, but Peter could hear him groan in pain at the sudden impact. Bucky was out of his range of vision, but he could hear the Winter Soldier slowly pushing himself to his feet after the hard punch to the side. Tony, Rhodey, Clint, and Sam had long since disappeared, probably heading back into the compound to devise a plan with Eddie Brock. He had been sent off by Natasha a while ago. Maybe not a while ago, but time was kind of funky in Peter's brain.
He was surrounded by the darkness again, but this time he could feel more control over his body. He could feel himself moving, punching, hitting, and jumping. And being punched. That had been some brilliance on the part of Dr. Strange; any slower and Peter would have hurt Wanda, and that would have broken his heart.
The creature struggled within him; it was sick and it was scared. Something had happened to it while Peter was stuck with it. Venom. That was the creature's name. While Peter and Venom were connected, something happened during the healing process. It left Venom confused and scared and that had made him react, moving to rely on instincts rather than anything else. It struck out against those that it thought were allies, because they were the ones who had led him to the sickness and the pain. Venom refused to touch Eddie because he was the only one who understood. But the rest were fair game.
Peter worked hard to pull Venom's punches, to try and soften them for his teammates since he couldn't do much of anything else. Venom was just so angry. And scared. And sick.
He was suspended in the air, held up by Wanda's, Emily's, and Dr. Strange's magic. Parts of Venom were being held back from covering Peter fully, and he could feel the cold night air hitting his suit. Those parts of his body felt substantially weaker than the rest, the parts that were covered by Venom. Peter wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. He couldn't let Venom keep on struggling against the Avengers; he already potentially injured Bucky, Dr. Strange, Steve, and Natasha after what was a long night. Peter couldn't bear to hurt them anymore. Venom hadn't acted like this when he was with Eddie, so maybe…
Eddie. That was it. Venom needed Eddie.
Peter struggled. He tried his hardest, fighting against the symbiote who just wanted to be in control. To be in control was to ensure his safety, Peter recognized. Despite this, Peter fought back against Venom. He could feel the symbiote trying to keep a grip on him, but was failing. The magic that was trying to keep him from consuming Peter was making him weaker in the process. Cold air hit Peter and he gasped as Venom detached from his face, separating enough for Peter to clearly see Emily in front of him.
Emily's eyes were pitch black, no color at all visible, except Peter could still see the shock in them when Peter's head became visible. Peter sucked in a sharp breath and shouted as loudly as he could, with the little strength he had left, "Get Eddie! Venom needs Eddie!" As he was finishing his sentence, Venom regained his strength and Peter felt the symbiote crawl back over his face and he was hidden back in the darkness.
Venom hid sight from him that time around, so Peter was unable to see anything else that was happening. Also the weightlessness from before had arrived again. Well, if Venom was going to deny him his sight, then Peter would have to take measures into his own hands.
"Can you hear me, Venom?" Peter shouted into the darkness.
"Soulmate, silence!"
"No, you do not get to silence me!" Peter snapped back. "Look, I know you're scared and you're frightened, but lashing out is not going to help anything. These people will be able to figure out what's wrong. They're going to get Eddie."
"Eddie is sick, but you are worse!"
"I don't know what you mean," Peter insisted. He felt a slight jarring motion, like he was falling, but the feeling paused after a few seconds. "I am not sick!"
"You are not right. Something deep inside. Wants to heal Venom. Venom cannot be healed!"
What the hell? So Venom thought that Peter was sick because something in him was trying to heal Venom? Was Venom even sick? And pause one second: did he say that Eddie was sick?
"Look, I'm kind of new to this whole arrangement too, Venom," Peter sighed, shaking his head. "I don't necessarily understand everything that's happened to me in the last year and a half, but I'm trying to make do with what I have. And those people out there, those are the people that I have. They are helping me understand more about my powers and abilities, and if you hurt them, they will never be able to do that. We will never know why whatever is in me wants to heal you. And what do you mean by Eddie being sick? He's not sick."
Venom sounded like he was about to respond when he let out a typical Venom shriek. The weightlessness and feeling of darkness abandoned Peter in an instant, and he found himself back in the fresh air, hands and knees on the grass as he watched the blob shape of Venom bounce towards Eddie. The San Franciscan gladly accepted the symbiote, who hopped into his arms, soaked into his skin, and disappeared.
There was a soft thud beside Peter and a gentle, slightly tentative hand on the back of his shoulders. The touch of another person sent a jolt through Peter's body and he remembered that he needed to breathe. He sucked in a sharp breath and let it out as a rough cough, unused to the air. A sweet, accented voice, Wanda, asked, "P-Peter…?"
The hesitancy and slight fear in her voice made Peter's stomach coil in disgust and Peter roughly nodded, not trusting himself to look away from Eddie. He felt his brow furrow in confusion as he took the man in. Nothing about him shouted out 'illness', but maybe it was a different condition from those that Peter were thinking of. At least Venom had calmed down, or what appeared to be calm.
"Peter?" Wanda asked again, and Peter verbalized this time, "Y-Yeah, it's me. I'm here."
He tore his gaze away from Eddie and looked towards everyone who was around him. The four men who had disappeared earlier were back now, with guns that seemed to resemble those from the Men In Black trilogy. Had they been used when attacking Venom, back when Venom denied him his right to see the world? Peter shivered roughly at the thought of it. And how cold it was outside.
"I am s-so s-sorry," Peter stammered, dropping his head back down to the ground to rest his forehead against the cool grass. The rest of his body felt like it had spent an eternity in an ice chest, but his head was burning up and he could already feel a headache starting to form right behind his eyes. "F-For everyone and a-all the pain I caused…"
"Peter, you're alive," breathed Bucky, appearing on Peter's other side. Peter's head whipped around so fast he thought he would get whiplash. The super soldier seemed alright, a little bruised, but nothing that Peter hadn't seen on him before. The look of genuine happiness in Bucky's eyes was enough for Peter to start tearing up. "I think at this point that is well enough for us." His eyes got a little darker though, and a bit more murderous as he looked away from Peter and towards Eddie. "But you're not at fault. Venom is."
Eddie opened his mouth to defend the symbiote, but Peter beat him to the punch. "It was both of our fault."
The Avengers all looked startled at this bit of news. Steve, who stood slightly behind the line with an arm around Natasha's waist, holding the younger woman up, demanded, "Explain."
"Did you tell Venom what I was?" Peter said, rearranging his limbs so he was sitting on his butt looking up at all the Avengers. They all nodded. "All of it?"
"We told him that you had enhanced healing," Emily said. "Didn't seem like there was anything else that needed saying."
Before Peter said what he wanted to to the rest of the Avengers, he looked back towards Eddie. "Eddie, what kind of people has Venom bonded with?"
"Humans, like me and my ex-fiancee, Anne," Eddie admitted, reaching up to wearily scratch the back of his neck.
"Not enhanced humans, like me, whose DNA is combined with that of a genetically modified spider," Peter finished, shaking his head lightly. Peter moved his arms so they were resting up on his knees. "Venom got frightened by my abilities, because they were unnatural to him. They aren't like his abilities, and they aren't like what normal human beings should be able to do, so he lashed out. According to him…"
"You talked with him?" Tony asked incredulously.
"After I told you all to grab Eddie? Yeah," Peter answered. "Anyways, according to Venom, something deep inside of me was trying to heal Venom. And that scared Venom, so he did the only thing he knew how to do and that was to revert back to animalistic instincts. Take charge, negate all the potential threats, and leave to find safety. He felt betrayed by you guys because you were supposed to be allies but the healing process on me that tried to heal him was painful."
A look of horror crossed Eddie's face and he quietly excused himself to rush back towards the Compound. If Peter had to guess, he was going to a secure and quiet place where he could talk to Venom to verify Peter's story. Rhodey and Sam murmured their own excuses and followed Eddie, but made sure to stay back just enough to give the man comfort without letting him out of their sight. Other Avengers, like Clint, Tony, and Emily, all murmured their good nights before tromping back towards the Compound, the exhaustion evident in their eyes and their movements.
In the end, Natasha, Steve, Bucky, and Dr. Strange were the only ones who stayed around Peter, and Peter was thankful for the smaller crowd. It was easier to talk with his Soulmates when there were only a few present.
"A-Are you alright?" Peter stammered, asking Natasha as he swiped at his eyes with his fist. The suit rubbed awkwardly against his face as he used it to wipe up tears that had dripped down his cheeks. "Venom h-hit you guys pretty h-hard."
"I'll survive," Natasha reassured him, but she winced subtly as she shifted positions on her feet. A flash of guilt raced through Peter and he clenched his fists. He had been a part of that, not directly but close enough. Damn, when did his life become so crazy and hectic? "Are you ok? Nothing hurts? Nothing feels off?"
"Beside the fact that I was connected with a symbiote who took all control of my body away from me and used me to hurt my friends and Soulmates?" Peter couldn't help but snap back. "Just peachy." He growled in frustration and used his hands to hide his face and pull at his bangs.
"Peter," Dr. Strange hummed and Peter moved his fingers so he could peek out from his hiding place. The sorcerer was kneeling in front of Peter, blocking his view of Natasha and Steve, but Bucky could still be seen out of the corner of his eye. Dr. Strange placed his hands on Peter's arms, and the feeling of another human's touch seemed to ground him. "What is the last thing you remember since waking up?"
"Like, what do I remember before waking up?" Peter asked to clarify. "Like, a dream or when I was last awake?"
"Last awake, then you can detail the dream."
"Alright," Peter said, licking his lips as he took a deep breath. "I-I was patrolling Queens and we saw this weirdo. H-He asked if Spiderman could s-save everyone...there was a burning building. I w-went inside, I think. Then...I was dreaming and I heard these words. Ten words. They were really important to me. I can't remember them off the top of my head, but they were what caused me to wake up. Then I ran out, you guys followed, Venom took control, and here we are."
Dr. Strange's lips pushed together into a tight line and he glanced over his shoulder towards Natasha and Steve. Nobody said anything, but Bucky set a hand on Peter's shoulder, squeezing him gently as if to reassure himself that Peter was there. Which wasn't that odd, to be honest. Peter was surprised he was still there. Being inside a symbiote was crazy. Because he wasn't a normal human, he would never really understand the connection between Eddie and Venom, but if he was...Peter could understand the power that Venom held. He was ridiculously strong.
Dr. Strange turned back around and Peter could spot the look of relief in his eyes. "What matters is you're alright and we now know what caused Venom to freak out. We'll have to avoid that outcome again. For now, we need to get you inside to bed." He held a hand out to Peter and Peter grabbed it, hoisting himself to his feet.
The world turned on itself and Peter closed his eyes, sucking in a sharp breath through his nose as he tried to orient himself. Dr. Strange asked if he was alright, and Peter raised a finger to get the doctor to wait a second. A few seconds later, the dizziness disappeared from Peter and he breathed out, opening his eyes. "I'm all good. Sorry, just got a little dizzy."
"No problem, Petey," Bucky stated. He wrapped an arm around Peter's shoulders, pulling the teenager into his side. Peter came willingly, cocooned in a little ball of warmth between Bucky's human arm and his side. "Let's get you to bed. In case you forgot, you still have school to do tomorrow."
"Ah come on, man!"
Natasha watched as Bucky and Peter walked off, the teenager complaining about how saving people from a burning building and being forced into a symbiote should qualify him for some rest and relaxation, not math and psychology. Bucky simply shrugged and pretended not to care, but Natasha could see that he was working hard not to cave. He did a pretty good job at taking care of Peter. Out of everyone, it was obvious that Bucky was the closest Soulmate Peter had, even closer maybe than he was with Ned, but Natasha didn't have enough observation hours on that pair to really come to a conclusive answer.
Once the pair was an earshot out, and that included enhanced hearing earshot out, the super spy turned around to look at Dr. Strange, who was watching the pair with a grim look. Steve hadn't moved from beside Natasha, helping her hold herself up. The punch that had been intended for Steve did twice as much damage to her than it did to him, so while he was bruised, she was looking at probably a few cracked ribs. She would look at them the next day with Emily's help. It did do good to have a few nurses and doctors on the team.
"He doesn't remember," Steve whispered, keeping his voice low on the off chance that Peter could hear them. "He doesn't remember that he died in that building fire."
"If you can believe it, this is actually normal," Dr. Strange stated, and Natasha raised an eyebrow at the doctor. "And in my field of study. I can't be positive until I run a few tests on Peter, but from observations, I would say that he had post-traumatic amnesia. This is usually brought on by head trauma, but I would dare say that at the moment of his," Dr. Strange swallowed roughly, and Natasha sucked in a sharp breath through her nose, "death, Peter's brain could have packaged all the memories of the building fire into his subconscious so he wouldn't have to deal with the trauma. Add Peter's recent events with Venom and the fact that he still has to deal with the trauma from his aunt and uncle's death, it took a lower precedence."
"He stopped breathing," snapped Natasha, feeling fury brewing deep within her stomach. "How does that take a lower precedence in his mind?"
"I'm not in there, I wouldn't know," Dr. Strange clapped back, clenching his fists at his side. "I'm just trying to give you my best guess. He doesn't remember only those few short hours. We should be thankful that he didn't lose any more memories. He could have forgotten everything: his family, his Soulmates, his persona of Spiderman, HYDRA, the Cult…"
"We get the point," Steve sighed, interrupting the ranting Sorcerer Supreme. "So what's your recommendation?"
"Sleep. We need to sleep before we can really come to any conclusions, but I would say that Peter needs to figure out the events by himself. If we tried to pressure him into remembering, it could cause more trauma. Don't leave him by himself for too long, though, just in case he does remember because I can't expect remembering that you've died is an easy thing to get over. Meanwhile, if you want to start planning, now would be the time. I don't think Peter is going to be patrolling for a week or so."
"He's too injured?" Natasha asked.
A dark look passed over Dr. Strange's eyes as he strode past them towards the Compound. "No, but I am not allowing another opportunity for a night like this to happen again for at least a week. If you want to try, you're welcomed to it, but don't expect much progress. I will beat you without even breaking a sweat."
A/N: Happy Friday y'all! How is everyone doing? I'm procrastinating homework to post this chapter while praying that my brother (who lives with my family still) doesn't have COVID so I won't have to quarantine for two weeks, so I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! Some more epic fight sequences and le GASP! Peter doesn't remember what happened from last chapter? What will the Avengers do? You'll just have to wait to find out.
Onto reviews!:
partly-cloudie: Good job! It is Shocker! I based his outfit on his comic book apparel rather than his little cameo appearance in Homecoming. Hmmm...and who knows? ;) I will say that it is not the Sinister Six or Doc Ock, but we might see some of them if I decide to do a sequel.
CandyGirl999: Welp, I don't know how to tell you this, but that's not happening XD. Thank you for putting in your preference though! I believe you were the only one to do so, even if you were a little late to the party.
RoseSparkes: I'm glad I pulled a squeal out of you! Yeah, I felt like such an idiot when I totally forgot about Eddie, because duh, I feel like that should have been obvious. Thank you so much!
MillieM04 (Chapter 4): Thank you so much for your compliment. It means the world to me. I honestly don't know where the trend for BigBrother!Bucky and LittleBrother!Peter came from, but I'm so glad that it started.
MillieM04 (Chapter 7): Don't get whiplash! If you do, then it's a good thing the Avengers have so many doctors XD. I didn't realize until I was writing this chapter how many doctors and nurses were on the team, and wait until next chapter, I'm adding another! I'm glad someone did panic, if that doesn't sound too terrible.
Eshal: Awwww sweetheart, thank you! It sounds like I need to have a talk with your electronics, they seem to be breaking down on you. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
And just for kicks and giggles, the top 5 countries of this chapter!:
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. Germany
5. Vietnam
I know for y'all the Top 5 Countries might not mean a lot, but I'm just so amazed that there are people halfway around the world from me who are interested in my stories. Like, whoa.
I don't think I'm missing anything, but yeah. I don't believe I'm anywhere near the end for this story, but would you guys like to see this become a series? If not, do you have any other ideas for stories you would like to see?
Stay safe everyone and enjoy living life!
BecomingFearless1F