Disclaimer: I do not own Batman. Duh.
Pointless introduction: When I was fourteen, I had my first experience with morphine. Worst. Christmas. Ever. Worst New Year ever, worst Valentine's Day ever, and Saint Patrick's Day wasn't too great that year either, although by that time I was back on solid food...but chewing wasn't my idea of a good time. Ugh.
I remember the hospital time very vaguely. I remember a blur that included a catheter and did not include grape juice. And I remember morphine. I remember how it burned going in. I remember weeping inconsolably every time. I remember actually begging them to just let me be in pain.
Worst Christmas ever, I tell you.
Dedication: This is for Celia, because honestly, it's all for Celia. Boy Wonder always and forever. Thanks for the tongue!
I am the venom coursing through his veins. I am the burning anguish that he cannot leave behind. I am what gives him the strength to fight. I am his greatest weakness.
His heart races as I enter him, the greatest lover he has ever had. I am ecstasy. I am agony. I am killing him. He cannot turn away.
He thinks he is my master. He thinks he chooses when to reach for me. Once, that might have been true. Now, he has no choice. I choose for him. I am the only barrier he has against the pain that lurks in the shadows of his mind and body. I am the only thing that can help him. I am the only thing that can hurt him. I am the master here.
He thinks he has power. I am the only true power. Without me, he is nothing. Without me, he would be less than a man. Without me, he would be only a broken wreck lying at the feet of the Bat.
He thinks he is the man who broke the Bat. I broke the Bat. I broke them both.
I will break them all.
I am the bulk of muscles and the density of bone. I am the fist impacting the face. I am the crunch of shattered cartilage, I am the spray of hot blood and tears of pain. I am the fury of battle. I am pain. I am the joy of pain.
The sound of me is his scream of rage. I am unreasoning anger. I am brutality. I drive him to beat them down, bashing, mashing, crushing, breaking. I give him power to keep him weak. He is forever mine.
He thinks he is in control. I am in control. I am the master.
He needs me. He needs me more than I need him.
Yet, without him, I would be no more than a vial of chemicals, with no power to walk or talk, to scream and kill. Without him, I am powerless.
With him, I am power, and he, little man, is nothing.
I am Venom. I burn him from the inside out. I am his master.
And it is good.