Disclaimer: I do not own Venom

A/N: So, I managed to finish this chapter quite earlier than I anticipated. I think it's because I felt a bit dissatisfied with the last chapter, so I wanted to put more effort into this one, which I think I did. I've also updated some of the previous ones. We'll get to that in a bit.

You may have noticed that I portray Eddie as somewhat of an asshole in these chapters. It's not with the intent of changing his character to better benefit my story. It's because I imagine him to be a wholly empathetic character who sympathizes with everyone, except prosperous people who are corrupt or dicks. Because of that, he views Evelyn with antagonism because he believes that her involvement with the human experiments and Drake makes her just as bad as them. However, their relationship will improve, I promise you.

Also, I just want to clear up that Eddie still isn't entirely convinced that Venom is real. He's desperately trying to cling onto the belief that he's still sick, but he's coming around.

Also, in chapter 26, I forgot to add something, which I did today. If you go to that chapter and read from Dan's POV and come back here, you'll get a clue about what it is.

Additional art will be posted on my DeviantArt account: X-KuroShiro-X

As always, read, review and enjoy!

Chapter 28 - Denial and Disbelief

Treece was less than enthusiastic about the change of events that were unfolding around him – all of whom served him potentially fatal consequences he was even less enthusiastic about enduring. He knew as much, however, and that was that he was fucked. He was very, very, very much so, and all because that cunt just didn't know how to die. Being a doctor and all – that was the ironic part. He knew he should have just strangled her then and there like he initially plnaned to, but he was never one for beating around the bush. Better to get it over with as quickly as possible.

Only that it didn't.

That bitch just had to live, and she just had to take Drake's last piece of property with her. As if things couldn't get any shittier, Brock was with her, and they had both remained under the radar for the past hour or so. Even after hunting through the majority of the city, they were unable to track them down. Not a single security came in the vicinity had managed to spot them except the ones that had been outside the apartment complex by the time they had managed to escape, and even those images had been unclear at the time. You could barely spot the figures as they made their way out of the perimeter and into the unknown, which was the city at night.

Treece leaned back into his seat, hand clutched around his sore nose as he tried his damnedest not to give in to the satisfaction of throwing a punch through the window frame and relieve himself of the seething anger that was threatening to burst through the roof of the car. He could tell that his subordinate was sensing the tension within the vehicle because he would occasionally cast a nervous glance in Treece's direction and prepare in due time when to make a break for the door before shit went straight to hell.

Treece could accept that without a fuss.

But then the poor fucker decided to open his hole.

"We're gonna get 'em, Boss" he said, though his voice betrayed the reassurance he was trying to convey. "We got eyes on every part of the city, we'll get the both of 'em before– "

Treece fucking lost it.

Grabbing a hold of the poor fucker's scalp, he began to shove it repeatedly into the wheel of the car, watching relentlessly as drops of blood spewed across the dashboard as he continued with the torture. The poor guy incessantly pleaded for him to cease his assault, but his cries were concealed behind all the snaps of his facial bones.

Only when a satisfying amount of blood was dripping down the guy's face did Treece let go of him, and the guy immediately threw himself back into the seat and coughed several times, heaving to the point where his chest nearly touched the ceiling, and with good reasons too. His nose was cracked beyond makeshift repair, covered in blood that continued to flow from both his nostrils. One of his eyes had begun to swell around and the sucker barely looked alive.

Good.

Treece granted him a minute or so to recover whereas he himself spent that moment trying to find new solutions to this ordeal of his. Apparently, searching around the city like a pet owner looking for their lost mongrel wasn't working for them, so he would have to take another method into consideration. His work depended on this after …

Work.

The bitch worked at the general hospital, of course!

Perhaps she had a co-worker she depended on, or slept with for all he cared. Maybe she had gone there, or at least informed someone of her location.

A smile spread across his lips, and he turned to his bruised and bloodied subordinate with the same smile, deliberately not caring about his condition.

"Set course for the general hospital,"

The last hour wasted away like dust in the wind. Eddie didn't realize how tired he was until he found himself repeatedly dozing off in his seat; his body ached for the same kind of relaxation that March herself relished in on the other side of the table. While he never fell asleep for more than a few minutes at a time, he vaguely noticed how the minute hand on the clock seemed to skip forward by at least six to ten minutes each time that he reopened his eyes.

During the few minutes he actually managed to stay awake, his eyes would continuously dart over to the windows, making sure that no one was peeping into the store without his knowledge. While he occasionally caught a glimpse of a couple of urchins who passed by and a few drug-induced homeless guys who didn't know right from left, there wasn't too much to be concerned about, and the store seemed to be one of those OPEN 24/7 kind of places, so he didn't have to worry about getting kicked out of there after the clock struck a certain time.

Over the course of the hour, during the minutes he managed to stay awake, Eddie witnessed March stir in her sleep at various moments, making it seem highly likely that whatever she was dreaming about, it was vivid enough to cause her body to react. A nightmare? A dream? A mixture of both or nothing at all? Just bodily functions reacting to the stimulus of sleep? He didn't know why he found himself so inquisitive about it, but he partially blamed it on the fact that he was wary, bored, and not any less deprived of sleep than she was.

"Bet she's dreaming of killing puppies," he muttered to himself as he saw her unconsciously shift in her seat again, her eyes squinting together ever so slightly. "Or maybe kittens? Maybe she's dissecting a human being if she's lucky? Going real Dahmer; Bundy; maybe even Howard Holmes or some shit."

"Your humor is most tedious,"

He frowned. "I didn't hear anything," he said without raising his voice to warrant attention from the cashier, who looked like he himself was on the verge of dropping down behind the counter due to lack of sleep.

"You heard me well, moron," the voice said in a reprimanding tone. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be responding,"

"I've spent enough time dealing with one monster, ain't no way I'm dealing with another one, much less one in my godforsaken head," Eddie spat, but quickly adjusted the volume of his voice before making any further statements.

"I'm not a monster,"the voice growled. "And neither is she,"

Eddie huffed. "I've spent a great part of my life surrounded by monsters, and needless to say, she makes it almost to the top on that list."

"You're being stupid, more than ever," it hissed. "She's hardly as cruel as you imagine her to be, I've seen worse amongst your kind,"

"Yeah? How so?" He couldn't believe that he found himself biting onto it. "Instead of puppies and kittens, she prefers to dissect rodents and amphibians? Is that it? The redeeming trait?"

"As far as I can tell, she didn't dissect anything,"

"Count me surprised,"

"You're not surprised,"

"I was being sarcastic,"

Eddie rubbed the bridge of his nose with a sigh, feeling heavy with agitation. "Why the hell am I even having this conversation?"

"Because you're alone, Eddie," the voice replied. "You're always alone, and whenever you're alone, you crave some kind of company,"

"Doesn't mean I want it from my own head," he said bluntly. "Truth be told, if it ever came to a conversation, I'd rather take my chances with Bundy over there, even if half of the crap she says is how she's going to dismantle my corpse."

"Wouldn't be much useful to dismantle, then. Your head, at least, is as hollow and as full of shit as a toilet. It's pathetic to the core, and by no means inhabiting any phenylethylamine,"

"Any what now? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're useless, in a nutshell. Even someone with your limited intelligence should be able to make out as much, though I may be underestimating you,"

Eddie gritted his teeth together so tightly that it felt as though he was about to chew them to bits. "Listen here, you auditory shitstain, I've had it with this crap since the night I made the call. I've been sick as shit, I've climbed into a fucking lobster tank and eaten one of the lobsters in front of my ex and her boyfriend, and I'm currently on the run from a criminal organization with a half-dead doctor sleeping on the other side of the table, who just recently tried to kill me. I don't know what the hell is going on, but I do know that I ain't gonna rely on some jacked hallucination for guidance, so zip the fuck up or so help me God, I will do it myself – GAH!"

He instantly felt something wrap around his neck like a noose, tightening ever-so-slightly per second. Without even realizing it, he started to desperately claw at his throat but didn't get very far before he realized that there was absolutely nothing there to claw at. No material whatsoever, nor anything remotely resembling a rope. To anyone who might have been unfortunate enough to see him in the act, they would doubtfully have hesitated in calling the local food administration for suspicion of food poisoning, or the insane asylum under the suspicion of an escaped patient.

When Eddie glanced over his shoulder in a fit of asphyxiation, he was met with the sight of the cashier-kid hunched over the counter with his arms stationed beneath his face as pillows, snoring loudly enough to warrant the attention of the Life Foundation. Eddie couldn't tell whether the lack of attention he received benefitted him or otherwise, but he wasn't about to risk having the ambulance called on him in case Treece hijacked the vehicle.

With what little remained of air in his lungs, Eddie forced himself to utter, "J-Jesus Christ, alright, I-I'm sorry!"

Surprisingly, the invisible grip around his neck ceased in an instant, and Eddie quickly found himself gasping for air as though he had been held beneath water for ages. If there was a medical condition that forced the individual to committ themselves to compulsory acts of self-loathing, then his body was in desperate need of a check-up.

"At this point, I'm envious of Lasher for having such a disciplined female for a host while I got stuck with a loser," It sounded almost like the voice was pouting, and Eddie couldn't tell whether he was bemused or further horrified. An amalgamation of both, perhaps.

And two could play that game.

"Well, if I'm a loser, then what does that make you, Mr. Auditory-Shitstain?" he asked with a smirk. "You're in my head, after all,"

"And like I said, it's hollow and dark in here."

"Fuck off,"

"And quit calling me an auditory hallucination!"

"Then what the hell are you if not a hallucination? A parasite?"

"PARASITE?"

"Okay! Okay, let's say you're not some alien para– lifeform that's decided to use my body until I puke out my organs, then ship my carcass. What the hell are you?"

"Not 'what'; 'who'.Evelyn has provided you with answers, yet you have refused to listen. Are you sure you want to know now, or will you try and run away like before?"

Was he really about to do this? Ask a voice in his head to show itself - to reveal itself for him? He remained much in denial, he wouldn't deny that fact, but this had gone far enough. He had seen enough, heard enough to accept that this was no longer just a trick of his fucked-up head. Hell, he wanted to continue to believe it – After all, the oldest fear to man was the fear of the unknown, as the old guy once said some ages ago. If he wanted to, he could still credit it all – the voice, the black goo, the destruction to his apartment, the death of Maria … - he could credit it all to some kind of mental illness, but would that make him any less insane than he already presumed that he was, or would it be the other way around?

He wasn't going to lie – he was terrified. At the age of thirty-four, there were few things he could admit that he was afraid of, but this definitely took the cake. But he didn't have anything left to lose, except whatever remained of his mental stability, and even that was low in quantity as it was. As terrified as he had been hours ago, frantic and desperately trying to come up with a solution, he realized that there wasn't much else he could do anyway, so why not just give in to the benefit of the doubt already?

Eddie held his breath as he mentally prepared himself for what was about to come, even though he had no clue about what it was. "Alright," he said as he intertwined his hands together on top of the table, exhaling one last time through his nostrils. He didn't know what to be prepared for, but there was no backing out now. "Who are you?"

As Dan ended the phonecall with Annie informing her about Eddie's condition, he was about to check the condition of one of his other patients when a group of tall and dark-dressed men entered the vicinity, none of whom seemed like the approachable sort of group.

At first glance, he thought that they were a group of undertakers or something; or people who were present for some kind of memorial that was about to take place. Only two people that day had passed away as far as he knew: Henry Weatherby (54) who died of a stroke before he could make it to the hospital in time, and Margaret Olsen (23) who passed away due to an undiagnosed malady that Dr. Renfred was in charge of overseeing.

But these people didn't seem like they were of the mourning sort at all, if he was to state his personal opinion on the matter. They were all pretty rough around the edges, like rocks from his perspective (or a moon, in regard to the bald one at the front of the clique), and one of them had the face of an abused dog; bloodied, beaten and had by no means been exposed to any kindness from the looks of things. While Dan was not one to judge based on appearance, these guys gave him a bad feeling from the moment he laid his eyes on them.

And it didn't help that they were making their way specifically towards him.

"Can I help you?" Dan asked as he put away the files with Eddie's information, masking any suspicion that might have come to view on his face. "I'm terribly sorry, but visitation hours are closed until tomorrow afternoon,"

"That's alright," said one of them, the bald one who took the leisure as presenting himself as the boss of the group. He took a step forward, which made his superior height come to view. Dan couldn't keep himself from subtly gulping upon noticing how incredibly tall he was in comparison to himself.

"My name's Roland Treece, and we were wondering if you, by any chance, are acquainted with a certain Dr. Evelyn March?"

Alarms started going off in Dan's head. "Yes, I'm acquainted with her. She's one of my colleagues. May I ask what this is about?"

Treece's lips spread to a subtle smile, eyes flickering down to the nametag on Dan's coat. "You see, Dr. Lewis, Ms. March has been involved in some illicit activities that concern the Life Foundation. I'm certain you know who we are,"

Ah, so that's who those people were.

"Illicit activities? Of what kind?" Dan made note of sounding curious rather than inquisitive.

"Unfortunately, that's classified information," Treece responded. "But all you need to know is that Ms. March may face dire consequences unless she comes clean about what she's done and –"

"Wait a moment, are you telling me that she's missing?" Dan couldn't keep the shock from becoming vocal as he placed the pieces of the puzzle together. Even amount of alarms going off inside of him increased considerably, and none of them were there without a cause. He had just seen Evelyn yesterday, and now the Life Foundation was accusing her of committing some kind of felony?

But what shook him the most was the fact that they did not report it to the police instead, and as far as he knew, there were no reports of any manhunting. The only thing he could recall on the news worth noting were reports of a series of homicides that had taken place just outside of Sacramento. Four people were dead, and five more were reported missing, but that's all that came to his mind in terms of recent manhunting.

But he sincerely doubted Evelyn was behind those.

Whatever it was, he wouldn't risk taking this guy's words on it.

Dan looked up at the group of men with a distinctive kind of scrutiny in his eyes, one he seldom displayed. You could give him the most difficult of patients, and the look he would give them would be but an expression of patience compared to the one he was currently providing these sketchy men with.

No way in hell did he fall for that crap.

"Unfortunately," he said as he readjusted his smile. "I haven't seen Evelyn since her last shift yesterday, so I am unable to provide you with any valuable information."

"Would you happen to know where she lives?"

What the hell?

Dan shrugged, feigning ignorance. "Sorry,"

Treece's smile swiftly turned into a sour frown, but he did one hell of a good job keeping it as neutral as possible. Dan had learned over the years how to read a person's expressions, whether they were smiling, frowning, cursing, or outright trying to kill him. Psychology had never been his strongest suit, but he knew well enough to exploit it when the situation called for it. And right now, he knew one thing for certain.

That man was pissed.

"I see," Treece said and inclined his head towards him. "Then, if you happen to know of anything," he reached into his pocket and extended a card towards him. "Please do give us a call,"

Dan took it but did not even cast a single look at it. "I will. Have a pleasant evening,"

"You as well, Doc,"

"Before you go, are you sure you wouldn't like for one of your men to receive an examination?" Dan suddenly heard himself asking and tilted his head to the bruised guard behind Treece. "He looks like he's been in a rather nasty situation,"

As the bruised guard's eyes (or eye, as the other one was forcibly shut because of an abrasion) lit up with happiness, Treece's eyes suddenly snapped to the side and he touched what looked like an earpiece into his right ear. As he spoke into it, voice deliberately low, Dan could vaguely hear the voice on the other side saying something that evidently seemed to catch Treece by surprise and simultaneously send him into a state of euphoric bliss.

"Richmond District?" Treece asked.

The voice in the earpiece confirmed it.

"We'll be there. Await the drones until you hear my command."

He then quickly snatched the bruised guard by the shoulder and dragged him away, smiling as he did so while waving at Dan. "Thanks for the offer, doc," he said as he and the rest of his group ventured down the corridor towards the exit. "But we'll just be on our way,"

Dan pretended to be naïve, but the moment those men were out of the hospital, he didn't hesitate to throw the card into the trashcan next to him. He instantly pulled out his cellphone, dialed Evelyn's number and got ready to –

"I neither solicit your opinions nor your concern for my well-being. So I would appreciate it if you refrained from such inappropriate behavior and restrained yourself for future references."

He could practically hear her admonish him with those cold eyes of hers staring right at him, even though she was not even physically present. It was weird when he put emphasis on it; back in the days at university, she would look up at him with admiration and affection, but now, all that remained was that cold woman whom you could basically place next to a block of ice and not be able to tell the difference between.

But he had made a promise.

A promise to a dying man on his death bed.

A promise he was adamant in keeping.

"Keep an eye out for her, will you?"

Not even a second later, Dan clicked on the dial button and pressed the phone to his ear, waiting. He didn't know what he would do, but whatever hell she had gotten herself into, he wouldn't stand by and let her get killed or something.

Why?

Because that is what friends do.

"Someone's calling,"

Eddie blinked. "Huh?"

"In her pocket," the voice said. "There's someone calling,"

"I don't hear anything,"

"That's because you're deaf as shit! Go check it!"

"Jesus, who pissed in your cereal?"

"JUST FUCKING DO IT! IT'S BUGGING ME!"

Giving into its childish demands, Eddie got up to his feet and reached over to March's pocket, careful as to not wake her up. She wouldn't take too kindly to him peeking into her shit, whatever it was she was hiding. With luck, he managed to fish out a cellphone from her right pocket without waking her up. Unlike what the voice indicated, the phone neither let out a sound nor vibrated. The sound must have been put to mute because there was someone calling her as the voice had anticipated. But it was the name he saw on the caller's ID had him shooked.

Daniel Lewis

"She seriously got his contact of all people?" Eddie asked himself with a shudder, not even willing to think about why she got his number of all things. As if the constant reminder of the fact that Anne had moved on didn't just plague him in his own mind, but now he had to be followed by it outside his head as well? In a way, it made sense for her to be acquainted with him considering how they were practically colleagues at the same hospital, but he didn't think that acquaintanceship extended to number-exchanging and all that.

Eddie looked over at March and paused. He then looked back at the phone and reluctantly pressed accept call.

"Hel– ?"

"Evelyn, what the hell is going on?" The urgency in his voice was unmistakable, and even Eddie had to pause for a moment before he came up with something to say in response to this suddenness.

"Hi, Dan," he said sheepishly "It's Eddie,"

"Eddie? What are you doing with Evelyn's phone?"

Shit, what was he supposed to say? "Long story, we kind of crashed into each other and now we're at a café," Fuck, he was bad at this. He made it sound like they were on a date. "How's it going?"

"Are you with Evelyn now?"

"I – um …" He glanced over at her sleeping figure. "She went to the bathroom just now,"

"Shit,"

Eddie was caught off-guard by this. He didn't imagine that a goody-two-shoes such a Dan had a section in his vocabulary reserved for swearing. "You okay, Dan?"

"Eddie, I need you to get Evelyn and yourself out of there right now. Get to the hospital as soon as you can,"

"Yeah, about that," Come on! Find a good fucking excuse! "We're currently stuck at the café for the moment,"

"What? Why?"

"There – There was a car crash nearby, and the car crashed into the entrance door and locked us all in,"

"You really are a loser,"

As if he didn't already know that.

"So, unfortunately, we can't –"

"Eddie, are you in the Richmond District?"

What the hell kind of question was that?

"Maybe," Eddie offered. "I'm not sure,"

"Eddie, there came a group of people from the Life Foundation to the hospital just now. Someone named Treece is looking for Evelyn, and they just left for the Richmond District. Wherever you are, you need to get out of there now!"

No fucking way. How on earth did they manage to find them that fast? Eddie felt tempted to look out the window and search for the snake that had rattled them out, but it was too dark outside to see anything in the distance.

"Dan," he whispered. "They're after the both of us,"

"What? Why? What did you do?"

"We didn't do anything! They were – " He took a deep breath and ran his hand through his hair. "They were killing those homeless people, those on the news. They were conducting human experiments on them. That's why they're after u -"

The phone suddenly got snatched out of his hand before he could finish. Eddie, too startled to even react properly, watched as March – now up and awake – closed the call and promptly put the phone back into her pocket. As Eddie opened his mouth to argue, he was met with the most cold-blooded and vehement glare he had ever seen from her, which said something. Her green eyes were aimed at him like throwing-knives, and Eddie couldn't tell whether to be scared or angered by this display.

A mixture of both became the final result.

"Why'd you do that?!" he asked.

"He couldn't know," She nearly bared her teeth at him like a wild animal, though her voice was by no means any louder than it usually was. The distinctive difference, however, was that it was practically audible how angered she was. Even her restrained features couldn't cover it up.

She took a sharp step towards him, threatening his space, to which Eddie was forced to take half a step back in retreat, though he refused to be cowed into submission like a dog on a leash.

"He could've helped us, for fuck's sake!" he all but shouted at her, taking the dozing cashier behind them into consideration, who still managed to sleep through the entire ordeal. "Was I not supposed to tell him?"

"Not him," she said, curling her fingers together into a fist. "He won't hesitate to offer his assistance to us, and that's the problem,"

"What's the problem with that?" Eddie didn't know what to make of her words. "The guy wants to help, then let him help. At least he's better at doing his job than you are,"

He could easily tell that he had just struck a nerve. Her shoulders were shaking, but not because she was cold. Still, she continued, though her tone was evidently sharper; as if someone had just sharpened her vocal cords with a whetstone. "Dr Lewis is always willing to put the needs of others above his own," she explained, never once looking away from him. "He would have willingly placed himself between someone else and a bullet, and I will not allow that to happen because of my mistakes," She narrowed her eyes at him. "Much less because of yours,"

"My mistakes?"

Oh, she fucking went there?

Well, two could play that game.

"We're in this mess because of you and your stupid fixation with improving humanity's so-called 'flaws'!" He held up his fingers as air quotes at the mentioned of 'flaws'. "You were so into it that you even kidnapped homeless, innocent, people in order to satiate your goddamn curiosity." Eddie could feel his chest swell with anger as he thought back to what he had seen back at that lab; back at those cells. Maria. What kind of hell had she gone through because of the very woman that stood in front of her?

Why the hell did he even consider the possibility that there was anything human beneath that exterior of hers?

He noticed how his words seemed to have an effect on her; her pupils shrank slightly and her shoulders stiffened as they processed his words.

Good.

"You probably enjoyed the view, didn't you?" he asked sardonically. "Seeing those poor people suffer like animals. You're a doctor; you're a valuable member of society, you're probably rich too, so seeing people like them in such pain surely didn't mean anything to you, did it? Because they were too 'flawed' to be fixed. You slept well that night, right?"

"That's not true,"

Eddie knew he was in too deep, but everything crashed onto him at once. All the anger; the sadness; the frustration; the despair; the fear. Without even thinking, he continued like there was nothing stopping him, which there wasn't. "Just admit it, alright? You told me that you didn't mean for anything that happened to Maria or Skirth, but that's just bullshit. You didn't care about those people, and you sure as hell don't care for Dan. You just use him for your own gain, just like you use everyone else. To you, that's just convenient. You don't have the ability to feel love for anyone but yourself, and you live off others to survive. You're just – You're just a – "

"DON'T SAY IT!"

And he didn't. When he was done, Eddie discovered that he was completely drained of air. His lungs were vacuumed and in desperate of oxygen, and he didn't waste time providing it with it. As soon as he did catch his breath, he regained his full stature and waited for some kind of reprimand from her part. He expected a slap or a punch straight to the face; he expected a bible filled with reasons as to why she was guiltless in this ordeal; he expected something. Anything at all. Hell, he wanted to hear something from her.

But there was nothing.

He looked up, expecting an expression that indicated anger or sadness on her part, but her face was entirely void of anything. Her green eyes just looked at him, unreadable and blank, like the eyes of a porcelain doll. Her body was still and unmoving, like a mannequin doll on display. For a second, he thought that he had broken her cognitive function with his words, but that was until she opened her mouth and simply asked monotonously, "What did Dr. Lewis say?"

That was it?

Suddenly, Eddie recalled the conversation and did his best to compose himself. "We need to get out of here," he explained. "They've found out where we are,"

Hearing this, she stiffened slightly again, though less than before. "Did they do anything to him?"

Eddie shook his head. "No, though I don't see how that would be any of your concern,"

As he saw her prepare to say something, the sound of a loud BANG! caught his ears before the windows behind them shattered to a thousand pieces.