Terribly sorry for the long wait!

I do not own Marvel. I only own my OC's and headcanons.

Chapter 4: Baby Shower

Recap

I yelped upon feeling the frequencies intensify, same with the heat emitting from the restraints. Whoever was monitoring me seemed to not have a rhyme or reason behind doing so as the pain would fluctuate between bad, to worse, to nothing at all, then back to worse. It was pretty clear that the sicko behind the controls didn't care for my good, submissive whimpering. And they really didn't care for my more aggressive approach (throw obscenities, suggestions on what they could do to themselves, etc.), nope, they just went going about their little 'tests'. Which lasted for close to a minute before the sadistic monkey in a lab coat decided we had endured enough torture. The overhead lights above us flicking out consecutively, plunging us into much needed darkness. The braces and the fierce resonations finally dulled down, but did not go completely away, because apparently, we were just that threatening. Even as we were reduced to a shaking, sobbing, and distraught mess, we were still feared. The thought was both insulting…and flattering.

'We may not be killers…but damn it, these guys are really pushing it'

'Everything hurts, Claire'

I frowned, 'all the more reason why you should try to rest while you can'

'I tried; I can't…something's preventing me from doing so'

'Whoever was behind playing Dubstep with the controls is gone now, please, try to rest'

'I know they are, but they were only half the reason I couldn't relax'

I knew Klyntars couldn't 'sleep' per se, but they did need to take some time to heal or perhaps be left to their own thoughts or need to ease emotional strain. All of that being what I'd refer to as 'rest'. And Ghost really loved to 'rest' every chance he got. 'What's…the other half…?'

An unsettled feeling churned in my gut at Ghost's reluctance.

'Claire…I'm going to split soon…'

Insert dumbass moment here: 'What?'

'Claire…I'm going to give birth'

I could only stare at my lap, stunned by the news. It was there, that the gravity of our situation only got stronger.

More pressure. More strain.

More reason to escape.

This is so sudden… my eyes began to sting a little from unshed tears. Why didn't you tell me sooner…? My tone wasn't accusatory, I didn't wish to stress out Ghost anymore than he already was, but I couldn't help the hurt from slipping in. Pregnancy was pregnancy, no matter what species. And as such, there's always a period of development before the birth, where one is all too aware they are expecting. I only had to assume Klyntars weren't so different. And if so, they would certainly not wait to the last (and worst) minute to inform their host. Sigh.

I was going to tell you, once we delivered Venom, but…

But then this happened

Precisely, I wasn't due for perhaps the next few days or so. However, because of the extreme stress we have endured, the birthing will be much sooner than expected. A sort of 'defense mechanism' if you will

A defense mechanism for your unborn offspring... There was a resounding bang as my head met the cold metal of the restraint chair. Relieved that my symbiote was going to tell me something so critical, but irritated that certain events had ultimately made the news of that critical something come at a much later, inconvenient time. So with a deep inhale, and another exasperated banging of the head, we began to think of an escape plan. And sadly enough, it wasn't as simple as phasing through our high-tech heat-emitting shackles. Though we could technically do that, we needed something to kill the noise first. Killing the noise…was the first, but hardest, phase of the ONLY escape plan we could think of. Or rather the only one we could think of that would work.

Whoever our ass-hat captors are, they certainly know their way around a symbiote

Claire?

I focused my eyes back on my lap, to show I was listening.

I noticed something odd…earlier, shortly before we were captured; the driver left the vehicle we were in, and I recall not hearing our captors firing on him…

Son of a- I (or rather we) jumped upon hearing whistling. Whistling was something that the egg-heads didn't do (especially since it was more of a cat-call), and it also didn't come from the control room in front of us. Interest piqued, my head pivoted to the source of the noise. That source not something we took note of at all earlier. Instead of looking at a wall as we had previously guessed, we were really looking through (speculatively) ballistic glass, the other side cloaked in near darkness, a single dim bulb worth of light easily overpowering our own pitch black cell. It was no wonder why we didn't see the other room during our torture session, the brightness on our side in that time reflected off the glass, rendering the neighboring cell invisible. But now that we were in the shadows, and upon closer and more focused examination, we found a figure bound to a slab. A table that had regular leather, metal-buckled restraints, best suited to normal human beings as opposed to ones with symbiotes. We could also see very clearly that the figure was a lean, red-headed man, and that he was grinning from ear to ear, that same lecherous grin broadening even more upon seeing that he had our undivided attention. "So what are you in for, sweet-stuff?"

Before our waking in the cell, someone had stripped us down from what very little we had on under our symbiotic suit, and had apparently had the actual decency to put fresh clothes and undergarments on us. And while a t-shirt covered more than a sports bra, it only came down to just above the underwear, our legs very much exposed to the perv in the next cell. Oh yeah, and that perv was clad in an orange jumpsuit. Goodie.

"With all due respect dear sir, I should be asking you that" I did a very visible once over to emphasize my point. Our neighbor's grin didn't falter.

"Oh a proper gal huh? Talkin' all high n' mighty even as she's tied to a chair" the red-head rolled his shoulders, his grin remaining plastered to his face as he stared off at the ceiling. "It's always fun hearing you snooty types scream"

"Oh, well shit man, if that's how you are when someone's being polite…" I feigned a shiver "I can't imagine how much of an asshole you'll be if they're rude"

That grin turned back on us, his (green?) eyes sparkling with sheer lunacy.

Never before have I seen a human that can grin that long

Have you ever heard that if you make a face long enough, it will stay like that?

Our 'Mother' told us that every time we made faces at her

Same deal with this guy

"Why I'm so glad you asked, sweetie…"

And that's where he told us, in explicit detail, how he would do such a thing…which quickly transitioned into how he had murdered all his past victims. I'd tell you, but at the expense of my lunch, and perhaps a good day and a half of your time. But what I can tell you was that the man didn't at all explain just why he killed all those people, or maybe if he did, he must have simply glossed over the details so quick me and Ghost couldn't process them. As if the 'why' wasn't important at all.

Once he finished, Cletus Kasady stretched whatever parts of his body weren't restrained, all while not acknowledging our open-mouthed glare. I don't want to say this…but Jesus Christ…

Not even your knowledge from your previous life could have prepared you for this

I knew I saw that mop of red hair before…

I didn't try to use such 'knowledge' when it came to events in such an alternate universe, whether they have already occurred or have yet to have occurred. Because eight times out of ten, they either didn't happen, or they happened differently. For people, it was different; I could actually name a good number of heroes and villains. But alas, most came up as a blur, their importance not at all factored into my memory. And because of this, I was not at all prepared to be face-to-face with a to-be Carnage. Even so, I shared whatever I could with Ghost.

We should keep a close eye on him

Forget 'close eye', we should keep all eyes on this mo-fo

Smartass- Ghost's grumble was cut short with a pained whimper. And since we were fully bonded, I felt that shit too. My body instinctively tugging against our restraints even though we already knew it was pointless. After our futile attempt, with just made due with bearing our (my) teeth and loudly hissing every obscenity we knew. Our string of curses not escaping the ears of a deranged Raggedy Andy (hehe see what I did there?).

"Ey"

Ah –what the hell does he want now?!

"You never answered my question"

I sighed, the rage of being a host to an 'expecting' symbiote filtering through. "If you really must know, I'm with SHIELD. We were transporting important cargo, but we got blindsided by people who were equipped to deal with us"

Cletus's grin became less forced, if by just a smidgen. "Probably the same ass-clowns that busted into my cell"

Now it was our turn to be interested. "Have they taken other inmates?" my brown orbs studied the killer in the neighboring cell, as he seemed to mull over what I asked.

"What's it to ya, baby-cakes"

Dear God…

…give us strength

"Hmmmm, lemme think…" I didn't want to use the tone I was using, but our 'pregnancy' and the grinning red-head were really wracking our nerves "because I'm probably your best bet at getting out of this shit-show? Of shutting this whole operation down once we do…?" we took a deep breath "and I can only do that if I have some idea as to what we're dealing with here"

Cletus gave us a long, hard glare. And finally, his Cheshire grin dissolved into a thin line, on the precipice of becoming a frown. "Oh fine, be like that…" half-lidded green eyes remained fixed on the ceiling above "Yea, they took a small handful of other inmates. Hell, I thought I even saw em' bring a Cape along too"

We just about snapped our own damn neck with how fast it spun to face the psychopath. "S-Seriously?!"

"I ain't jokin' around, can't you tell?"

Surely enough, his face was neutral. Why wouldn't it be? In the predicament we were both in, one couldn't afford to joke around, even if they were some psychotic serial-killer with a twisted sense of humor. "Okay…I believe you, is there anything else you saw? Heard…?"

With a few mutterings and grumbles that sounded very much like 'she should be payin' me for this', Cletus exhaled sharply. "They were awfully quiet, tried spreadin' the love with a joke or two but they didn't even so much as give me a glance…"

"Tough room?" we figured we'd indulge him, if it meant getting more info.

"Very, like they were born with sticks up their asses –wait, not sticks, more like two-by-fours…"

Must not laugh

Never let it be said mass-murderers aren't funny

"…anyway, there was a mention of a name…"

We tensed, eager to hear whatever he was going to share. Not at all anticipating what was really going to come after. "But, I'll tell ya after we get outta these cells"

With an irritated hiss, we pulled against our restraints, very much wanting to phase through the binds, then the ballistic glass, just to inflict bodily harm (and perhaps much, much worse) on the snickering serial killer. "Why you-"

"Ey now, I ain't no dummy…" green eyes darkened in the dim lighting "I know for a fact that once I share anymore with ya, you'll just up and leave me once you find a way outta here"

Damn…

He nailed it, to be honest. Whatever atrocities they were performing in the bunker, we figured it was a suitable fate for a serial killer of Cletus's magnitude. We were vigilantes, not heroes; we felt no obligation to protect someone as far gone as Mr. Kasady. We also knew fairly well that letting him 'die' in God-knows-where would prevent the making of Carnage. Sure the arrival of the symbiote himself was inevitable, but, we could remove Cletus from the equation, and perhaps forge another path for the 'son' of Venom.

Too bad Cletus had to be smarter than we had assumed. And so our plans had seemingly been derailed. Momentarily that is, as Ghost had been the one to (begrudgingly) suggest a plan. We can use him

Must we…?

Yes, and after we get what -and who- we want, we'll just air-lift is sorry ass to the nearest jail cell

I'm perfectly okay with this plan, all but the part where we have to work with the MF'er

Claire… we both groaned with 'the' pains. Ugh.

Right, right, I won't wuss out

"Ey" we turned to see Mr. Kasady's frown and furrowed brows, "Why do you keep doin' that?"

"Spacing out? Let's just say that it ties in with my 'special' treatment"

"Well you should knock that shit off and focus on getting us on outta here"

"Our escape should be a combined effort, Kasady"

With that, the deranged red-head merely grinned his signature grin, with 20 percent more smug. "Precisely baby-cakes…" hands that have taken so many lives, and would definitely continue to do so suddenly shot up, unbound "what the hell have you been doin'?". We could only gape as Cletus proceeded to cut himself free with a rather vicious-looking knife, humming as he pulled out something rectangular, flat, and shiny from somewhere within his jumpsuit. Proceeding to the door, he then used the piece of plastic, which was revealed to be a key-card, as he then slipped into the control room/office that occupied a space the size of both our cells, no walls to divide it as his shadowy figure glided on over to a panel that held a vast amount of dials, levers, and buttons. All of which were instruments of our suffering. And because he was a cheeky, sadistic bastard, Cletus gave an over the shoulder grin as his hand hovered over a small dial, giving it an experimental turn. The dB's making us release a high-pitched yelp to confirm his 'guess', the red-head continuing to play with it some more before finally dialing it all the way down. In doing so, we wasted no time in mustering enough strength and energy to phase through the heat-emitting braces as pure white symbiotic flesh covered me. With a growl, we then phased through the wall and into the control room, grabbing Cletus by the scruff of his neck, our teeth bared just a centimeter from his face.

"It will be in your best interest if you don't piss us off again"

In a moment of indubitable sanity, Cletus gulped and nodded.

Claire

Upon taking another turn down another corridor, with Cletus hot on our heels, and double-checking for any surveillance (one would be surprised how very little cameras there were) I inwardly acknowledged my symbiote partner. Yessss my little marshmallow?

When we get out of here, can we go on a date?

Why? Is a life-death situation a big turn-on for Klyntar?

It's just after coming so close to death, it makes me want to appreciate life even more

You can just say 'yes', silly, we paused at a stairway that led upward, peeking cautiously to see two guards equipped with sonic emitters and regular guns. Turning around to see that Cletus was still breathing down our neck, we then grew two elongated masses from our back, the ends of which had formed into claws as they silently traveled toward our targets. With a soft inhale, we grabbed the guards from around their necks and mouths, reeling them swiftly in so we could knock them unconscious. Upon placing the pawns in a conveniently located metal cabinet and making sure Kasady didn't slit their throats, we then quietly made our way up the stairs. So who did you have in mind? I asked through our mental bond, cautiously reaching the top of the stairs to see that it was unguarded.

My thoughts keep wandering to that snow-haired girl…

Whatever you want man, I'm all for it

We've never been on a date before…what if she says no?

Then we'll keep pressing damn it, we entered another hallway, this one lined with a few or so doors. Deciding to try our luck in finding any of our missing comrades (and Venom) we randomly picked a door and phased through. Cletus, seeing that we were distracting ourselves from our ultimate goal of escaping with him specifically, was far from pleased. Such a shame (insert sarcasm here) that his knife was not at all threatening to us otherwise he probably would have pressed it against our throat. "What are you doing?! We don't have time for this shit!" he hissed, attempting to get in our way as we swatted him aside and rushed hurriedly through the wall that separated the lab from the experimentation room, and toward a bound (and alive) Mason Burns. Any poor soul (not really) inside the lab completely at the mercy of Cletus as we focused solely on freeing the groaning man on the slab, helping him to his feet once we freed him. Once inside the lab, we saw that Cletus had a high ol' time with a couple of scientists that had the misfortune of being in there at such an ungodly hour (from what we had gathered from the clocks lying about). With a huff, and ensuring that Burns was secured snugly within our 'wing-claws', we reluctantly took a key-card off from one of the recently deceased scientists and used it to leave the room (because our intangibility could not be applied to other people, even if we touched them). Cletus followed behind us eagerly, his 'blood-lust' temporarily sated.

As the minutes passed, our pain only tripled as the birth of Ghost's offspring drew ever nearer, making us crankier, and also making our tolerance of Cletus Kasady wane greatly even as the red-head was seemingly on his best behavior.

"Hey" fortunately, a recovering Burns spoke, assuaging our rising temper. "You two alright?"

"Just pea-"

"Not you, you psychotic bastard, I was talking to them" the older man kindly cut of Cletus with a huff, jabbing his thumb toward us instead. The chiding tone made the red-head growl, because with us in the way, that's all he could do.

"We…" we hated to show weakness in front of the grizzled SHIELD agent and the serial killer, however, lying would have only made things worse. "We are expecting" funnily enough, Burns took longer to process our 'news' than a flabbergasted Kasady.

"Y-you're preggers?!" the red-headed mass murderer wasn't stuttering from shock, but from laughter. Bastard. "S-sure as hell explains why yer so snappy! D-damn, and 'ere I was thinkin' you were on your-!"

With a swift backhand, we sent Cletus sprawling to the ground, not bothering to wait for the red-head to get back on his feet before we grabbed him by the throat and pinned him to the wall. Again, our teeth were bared, patience and sanity dwindling significantly. We stayed like that for a full minute, not saying a word as our razor teeth were mere millimeters from Kasady's nose. Although that didn't seem to deter him as it had last time, as if hearing of our true condition had gave him the impression that we were weaker and more vulnerable than he had guessed. "So…who's the daddy?"

With a blank, azure glare, we hissed as menacingly as we could as our threatened, and unborn, offspring churned within us (or rather within Ghost). Burns stayed behind us, frozen with fear as he probably saw the dark aura radiating off of us in waves.

We weren't prepared as Cletus Kasady plunged a knife into our shoulder.

Cletus wasn't prepared as we howled and chucked him against the opposite wall.

Mason Burns wasn't prepared as something separated from us and proceeded to launch itself at him.

The whole lot of us weren't prepared as a shrill alarm started blaring. As if it had waited for all of us to be at our weakest.

The sensation we felt as we woke up can be best described as euphoric. Sure, we were in some pain from the alarm blaring, but even that seemed far away. We weren't even angry, or sad, or worried as we realized we were in a room, a storage room that contained a plethora of weapons and some scientific equipment that would very well end up being used against us. We felt no hurry to get far away from it all…well, not that we could, the sonic emitting bracers/cuffs on our arms made sure of that.

It's like these people have all sorts of gadgets for dealing with symbiotes

We seem to be on a bad luck streak

Or perhaps these jerk-offs must be on a good luck streak

Or it's really both

Yeah, that too

Our eyes wandered to the bulky, dark blue and white figure that was bound right beside us. Vibes that were completely new to us confirming that he was not only a friendly, but much more than that.

He was our progeny.

Our child

He looks so peace –wait, our child? Don't you guys reproduce asexually?!

We do, however, due to our permanent bond, and the stresses we have endured lately, my progeny may have also gained something from you as well

Oh, was my only reply. My cheeks tinged red at the idea that I was technically a mommy. No more words were exchanged (just awkward silence) between me and my symbiote, as we had instead shifted our attention back onto the stirring form to our left. Blue eye patches that were a tad more squinty than our own became more focused as host and symbiote slowly, and surely, got out from their drowsy state.

"W-what happened? W-where are we?" the symbiotic pair had Mason Burns voice, but, it seemed to have a young female undertone. There was a groan as the newly bonded pair grasped their head, "UuuuuUUGHHH I feel like shit". Judging by the way they spoke, they hadn't reached that 'we' stage yet.

"We were jumped, again, while trying to find the others, and as for where we are exactly, we still don't know" we sighed "…and as for your whole 'feeling like shit' issue, don't worry, it will pass"

We sat some more in silence, studying the room for a few more moments before Mason 'coughed'.

"So…you haven't found anyone else? And, if you don't mind me asking, just why were you helping that serial killer?"

We downcast our eyes sheepishly "Information, that he would only give after we escaped here"

"Ah, and I'm assuming you'd hand him over to the authorities afterward?"

"We're the 'White Rabbit', not the 'White Weasel'" we huffed, crossing our arms, offended at the sheer distrust in Mason's tone. Whatever was going to follow after (perhaps an apology) was shortly interrupted as the door to the storage room swung open. Men clad in light grey body armor and sonic weapons swiftly filtered into the room, making a grand old show as they encircled us with their weapons raised. The last three men to enter the room in all their dramatic glory being a scientist, some guy that looked very much like Hawk Eye (but was clearly not Hawk Eye, if the bulls-eye marking on his forehead was any indication), and a cuffed Cletus, the red-head snarling like an animal as he was deposited (thrown) onto the floor to our right.

"You're the White Rabbit, I presume?" the bald scientist (so very cliché, I know) asked in a snide tone, lecherous eyes running down our form. And while we had felt much better since finally giving 'birth', we still felt the strong impulse to skewer the beady-eyed jerk-wad in the lab coat. Avenger expectations be damned.

"No, we're the Easter Bunny, get it right Baldy" we replied mockingly, which was oh-so kindly answered by a brief sonic blast to the back.

"Now now, Claire Somers, that is no way to talk to your superior"

"Oh you're superior all right, a superior pain in my-" Ghost mentally scolded me for not keeping our mouth shut as we were jabbed with what felt like a hot poker. And so through the pain, we just barely acknowledged that we were addressed by my first -and last- name.

"How do you know…?" Mason voiced our shock, the female undertone barely heard as he and his symbiote spoke in a whisper.

"A reliable source" the scientist supplied pompously.

I believe I have said before that me and my symbiote were not killers. But, we felt urges, not only because the man in front of us was a pretentious bald-bastard, but because he knew my identity and probably damn well knew my symbiote's name too. And because he announced it, everyone in the room (who wasn't myself and Burns) knew the White Rabbit's name.

That guy just unwittingly signed his own death warrant

And the death warrant of all the other men in the room…

"Hey Baldy" it was there, that the man with the bulls-eye mark decided to speak up, "I know we gotta keep the vigilante alive, but I don't recall the Doc sayin' anything about a third symbiote and a serial killer"

"First off…" the scientist exhaled loudly through his nose "Do not call me Baldy, secondly…" beady eyes studied a symbiote-covered Mason for a brief contemplative moment. "Whoever is beneath the symbiote has just about as much importance as the other experiments…"

"You mean the ones that died?" Bullseye snorted.

In a moment of righteous indignation, the scientist's chest puffed out almost to the point where it was comical. Too bad we were so stricken with sheer panic to appreciate it. "Almost all the experiments had died, there are still a few that show promise! I am not completely incompetent!" there was another deep sigh "we keep him alive…for now" as a bony finger pointed to Mason, before then shifting over onto scowling Cletus. "As for him, he's too damn slippery, and he's already killed a handful of my men" the scientist glared over at Bullseye as if the whole deal was his fault, "Do what you must". That was all Bullseye needed to hear as he drew a heavy pistol and aimed it at the red-head.

"Any last words…?"

"Yeah, eat me you motherf-"

We flinched upon hearing the firing of the bullet, along with seeing Cletus get blown off his feet and right into a cluttered lab table, which surprisingly enough looked like it had been used (from what we gathered from a couple of filled vials). However, what really made us cringe was when the scientist was just about shrieking.

"No, I didn't mean here you idiot!" the bald man grasped his head in total exasperation, where he then went about ranting, and Bullseye listened on with great disinterest. We ignored the screeching monkey that was the scientist too, but it was not out of disinterest. Instead, we were too focused on the shaking and coughing serial killer propped up against the lab table, a string of black ooze eagerly working its way toward the open bullet wound, a shattered vial not far behind it. Mason, interested in seeing the object of our abject terror, turned his symbiote covered eyes to see Cletus cursing and convulsing. The guards not paying any heed to the red-head as they instead either had their attention on us or the hilarious sputtering of the scientist.

Claire…it's happening…

I-I know, just lemme think!

We tried phasing, despite sound-based weapons and devices being our greatest obstacle. "Come on, come on!" we hissed loudly, trying again and again, only succeeding in nudging Mason harshly with our elbow every other second. Pausing suddenly upon realizing that our ticket out was sitting right beside us.

By Klyntar biology…

…the offspring are stronger than their predecessors!

"Mason!" we hissed under our breath, snapping him out of whatever plan he was mustering up. "Try talking to your Other!"

"My what?!"

"We know this is all so new to you, but try!"

Only one guard seemed to pay attention to us, but he held a very bored expression.

With a long draw of breath, Mason looked down at his knees, wincing at the deep blue symbiotic flesh that covered them, and closed his blue symbiote eyes in deep thought.

Precious seconds passed as the scientists' screeching finally died down in conjunction with Cletus's shouts of surprise as an all-too-familiar red substance slowly covered him. Bullseye, not at all amused that his kill seemingly came back from the dead, drew his pistol back out and fired mercilessly at his target. The guards around us making the mistake of drawing all their attention on Cletus, none of them taking note of Mason's glowing blue eye patches as various objects in the storage room began to levitate. Our progeny, and his/her host taking a deep breath as all the levitating objects were then launched into all the guards, the scientist, and a retreating Bullseye (who may have muttered something like 'they don't pay me enough for this shit'). With much effort, we stretched a thin snake-like 'wing-claw' to retrieve what appeared to be a remote as it fell from the scientist's hand, pressing the button with great gusto as the magnetic locks on the sonic-bracers then clicked. As the offending restraints fell to the floor, we took that time to rub our forearms, Mason doing the same beside us.

"Not bad kiddo"

"Who you calling kiddo, I'm significantly older than you are!"

"We were talking to the symbiote"

"Whatever, let's just go find the others-"

"Ey!"

We whirled around in time to see Cletus, covered in red symbiotic flesh, toss a dead guard to the side. The little voice at the back of my head (that was not Ghost) screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You two gonna leave so soon?! The party just got started!"

Carnage was here.

buh buh BUHM! okay, I'll stop spazzing now.

SO what did y'all think? I figured that since this was AU, I'd introduce characters differently.

And because you may, or may not, have noticed, I 'changed' Ghost's eye color from white to blue. Not really relevant to plot points and what not, just thought I'd throw it out there XD.

And symbiotes with telekinetic abilities?! Will my madness ever end?! *takes deep breather* okay, I'm better now. Stay tuned for the next installment! What will happen with our heroes?! Will they be able to handle Carnage of all symbiotes?! Will they find the Marx brothers and Venom in time? And just where did Bullseye run off to?

And most important of all (maybe): What shall the name for Ghosts' offspring be?! (I already have one in mind, I'm just saying that for dramatic effect XD because I'm a weirdo)