In Which Checkmate Is Called

Catherine paused outside the door to the lab. Ice curled paths up her veins. It took all her concentration to pretend that it wasn't fear. They had finally opened the last door between her and the room that they were keeping Peter in.

"This way." The guy who was guiding her said mindlessly. Everything had felt automated from the papers that had been put in front of her to the security pat down she had gone through. Only the scientists and janitors stared at her.

"Ms. Crow?"

Her tennis shoes hadn't moved. She thought that they had moved. With her chin up, Catherine forced herself to take the next step. Her chest was stinging now. A drip of something warm had worked down her chest. It was probably blood but it hadn't stained through her shirt just yet.

The building had finally turned into the lab that she had been expecting, all glass, steel and strongly smelling of cleaning solution. She had seen things in tubes that she never thought that she could imagine. The exposed ceilings showed pipes and electricity that she knew couldn't be broken.

Her guide clicked the door shut behind him. At first, she thought he was a guard. The man was shrimp, neither security or brave. He was a lab tech and would barely look her in the eyes. A good combination for her.

The room was medium sized lab. It wasn't the ego stroking size of Tony's but it should have read as impressive to her with the slick computer screens and projections. Her eyes barely noticed the tubes, the wires or the cameras. The ten people in the room seemed like paper cut outs with dead eyes that stared at her like she was from another planet.

None of that mattered.

There was a room attached to the lab.

In that room was what she was after.

Venom, its black body shining in the light, stood inches away from the glass. One hand pressed hard against the surface as it stood confronting them all. Venom looked at her. Catherine felt herself pause again. She matched the glare. She was going to win this fight.

Muscles flexed in its shoulders. The white eyes narrowed and then the hand dragged off the glass slowly.

The monster turned away into the rest of the room which only held a bed.

"It hasn't released Spider-Man for the last hour. Not since it regained consciousness," Shrimp said.

She took a breath. She was in control of this situation. The eyes on her back meant nothing.

"How did you get Venom and Spider-Man unconscious?" She asked. They hadn't given any indication that they knew that Spider-Man was Peter Parker. She meant to keep it that way.

As she crossed the room she forced herself even closer to Venom. He was walking away from her.

"The symbiote is sensitive to sound. You play the right frequency and it'll disintegrate back into the host body." He followed her. "It's dangerous move . It might be damaging to the hosts. Results are inconclusive on that. Today seemed like an appropriate risk."

"Symbiote?" The rest of what he had said didn't stick. What kind of science fiction shit was this?

"It's better than alien." He leaned against a table putting it in between them. His fingers were curled against the edge. She stopped. Her shoes scuffled against the ground. The room was quiet except for the beeping of a few machines. The scientists looked at her, all waiting to see what she was going to do.

Her eyebrows rose. "It's actually an alien?"

"Yes."

She shouldn't have asked the question if she didn't want to know the answer. This was much worse than she thought. It was one thing to wonder if the black thing was a lab creation or an object from outer space. It was another to have that confirmed.

Venom sat down on the bed in a mockery of a human, resting hands on knees, just watching her.

Her fingers wrapped around her watch. Security hadn't paid enough attention. Well, there was no time like the present. She pressed the two buttons on it. No one noticed.

Now to keep them paying attention to her.

The trauma kit waited for her on the table next to the door. It was a black bag and had a good brand name on it. Most anything she could want would be in there. There was air in the room she repeated to herself. This was part of the agreement. Beyond that, if there was a fraction of a chance that she could help Peter before all hell broke loose, she was going to take it.

"I still wouldn't advise you going in there." Shrimp hung back as she took up the handle of the kit. It was heavier than usual. A quick peak showed her extra gauze and a bottle of saline liquid. Clever.

"Well. We don't always get what we want," she said firmly. Venom studied her with interest as she paused outside the door. It was a double door system with a small anti-chamber in the middle. The first door opened.

She didn't have to go in there.

Peter's panicked expression came back to her.

She stepped inside.

The watch buzzed on her arm. Iron Man had confirmed her location in the building.

The chamber smelled like filtered air and a hospital. The door behind her closed and then after a moment, the door into the cage opened.

She took one breath. There was no time for fear anymore.

Venom didn't get up as she walked in the room. Its head turned ever so slightly to the left. Catherine felt the lack of separation. Nothing was holding it back from her. No walls, no guns, nothing. She had insisted on going in, that she could fix it.

The alien moved its head slightly to the other side. White pupils rolled up and down her. The space barely fit it, making it feel even bigger. They had built it clearly for the human inside, not the monster himself. Something flexed inside its jaw.

She stopped midway between the door and the monster.

"You come again, human." It said and she couldn't help but watch the broken teeth click against each other. "You must have a death wish."

Her heart beat in her chest. She knew how fast that thing could move. The long nails curled and flexed idly as it spoke.

"I am keeping my promise." She hated the little shake in her tone. Her fingers held onto the handle tighter, feeling how firm it was in her hand. That would keep her from spinning away into fear. There was a job to do here.

"Words are easy. Actions are much harder." It leaned forward and she felt herself flinch. "You work with Iron Man. A man in a tin suit who has very little idea about anything."

That may have been the best description of Tony that she had ever heard.

"He was following me."

"A likely story." Venom purred. Veins pulsed white against skin and the anatomy was almost hyperbolic. Every muscle felt sharp and predatory. This thing was meant to kill. It sat up straight, already taller than her. The spider symbol stretched and flexed on its chest with the movement.

"How is the kid?"

She hoped that Venom had enough smarts to not use Peter's name.

"The child still bleeds."

Shit. The room was spinning in the corners of her eye. She had been holding her breath. She forced herself to breathe. The noise wavered between them.

"You care so much." It hissed, "It is eats you alive."

Something close to pain bloomed in her chest. It shouldn't be true. Her feelings shouldn't matter. The words of the monster hit home. She had crossed that line that nurses were never supposed to walk across.

It didn't make her answer. Instead a pink tongue lulled out. Drool dropping to the floor.

"You are nervous human. I can taste it from here," it continued.

"If you were in my position, I'm sure you would feel the same." There was no use hiding it.

The tongue slipped back in. It opened a hand. "Why do they stop me? Do you know? I found a host and now I protect the child. Is that so wrong?"

He eased a little further off the bed. Catherine felt herself try to bolt. She refused to do it.

"I found him broken and weak. I help him. He is stronger, braver, faster, because of me." He closed his fist. "I am simply coexisting and remedying his faults."

That sparked the anger in her stomach. She took a step forward.

"I am here to help him. Let me stop the bleeding."

The fist fell between its knees. "You are here to help him?"

She felt sweat on her shoulder blades.

It straightened. A sharpness came into its tone. "They want to trap me. The tin man wants to destroy me. What do you want?"

Eyes were watching them. A camera recorded. Scientists in the adjoining room were plastered against the glass like fans at a game.

"I'll say it over and over again. It's the truth. I am here to help him." The shake was gone. She looked the thing right in the eyes. Damn the consequences.

The alien blinked and sighed. At first, it appeared to be a sigh, shoulders lowering but as they fell, they continued inwards as the mass receded like a wave from the shore. The blackness revealed a skinny kid in a black suit.

It left Peter in a silent rush tucking away into nothing. Her mind couldn't comprehend the change so quickly. Venom had to go somewhere, physical mass didn't just disappear. It was scientifically impossible.

Peter blinked and looked at her in a daze, mouth half open. It didn't matter.

"Hey, hey, hey." She rushed forward closing the distance between them. He wavered and fell back onto the bed. The bag clattered on the floor. She caught him before impact, supporting his neck and grasping for purchase on his back. Her own muscles strained under the dead weight and momentum. It was too much. They bounced against the mattress.

He groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I keep waking up in weird places. What's up with that?"

The mask was gone. His face was a shade of gray. Blood still crackled against his cheek. He didn't resist as she adjusted him on the mattress, slinging his legs straight and then pushing his shoulders so he wasn't so curved.

"Well. You've gotten yourself in a little bit of trouble." she said but her mind was racing. There was so much to do and there was little time to do it. Venom felt like it hovered over her. One small mistake and it would take away everything.

"I did?"

He was talking so his airways were clear enough.

"I'm going to take your pulse but later I'm going to get you grounded for the rest of your life, young man." Peter barely noticed as she put her fingers against carotid artery. His eyes rolled around as she watched her clock. The vein beat against her fingers.

132 BPM.

"I'm so tired. Where are we?"

She watched his chest rise and fall. It was heightened but not critical.

"You're safe enough for the moment." It wasn't a lie. They weren't going to hurt him.

The blood on his stomach was dried in a radius around the puncture. The stab itself was still a fresh red. She reached back and pulled the trauma kit open.

Peter's eyes were following her. "What's going on Ms. Catherine? Where are we? Why are you here?"

There was an edge of worry in his voice now. The oddness of the situation was becoming apparent to him.

"We need to concentrate on this first." She didn't want to answer all of that question. Every word out of her mouth felt like it was going to be too much. He tried to half lift himself up but pain laced across his face and he fell back. The bed squealed under the pressure.

"Tell me how it feels." She pulled out the saline, dressing, a pad bandage and a flashlight. Her watch buzzed again. She had to work faster. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck.

"It hurts. A lot. What did I do? Fall off a building again?"

"This isn't a good time to pull my leg. I'm going to take off the top of the suit so I can look at these puncture wounds." Catherine prayed and tried to peel back the suit. Blood and dirt fell off into chunks. His hands came to hers to stop but he pressed them into the covers.

The front puncture wound was deep and blackened on his stomach. She hoped that the discoloration was because of Venom. Peter's abdomen flexed around it. No red streaks ran up his body and it was warm to the touch. The lights made it hard to see inside it.

"Does it hurt or does it tingle?"

Even if his healing was stinted, it was still working doggedly on it. It was further along than it had any right to be. She glanced at the other stab wound. It was in a similar state. Neither were freely bleeding. If they had struck major organs, well, in this situation there was nothing that she could do about it.

"Hurts." He raised his head. "But seriously. How did it happen?"

She squinted at him as she took the penlight in her hand. "You don't remember?"

"Everything has been hazy. I don't remember much of anything. Are we in a lab? Why are there people staring at us?"

Peter was a smart kid. Even with this amount of trauma, he should recall something. This had never come up before.

"You've…" The words caught in her throat. If Peter didn't know about Venom then it might be because the symbiote didn't want him to know the truth. And now wasn't the time to risk that. Medically, the kid wasn't out of the woods.

She changed the question. "Do you remember when you said you didn't want to go to the hospital?"

"What?"

If she couldn't tell him about it yet, maybe she could figure out the effects.

"Do you remember taking down the drug cartel?" She snapped on the penlight and looked close at his injuries. It wasn't pretty but they were clean enough to pack until they got to a controlled environment. The dead tissue would need to be cleaned out as well.

He shook his head. "I remember you scolding me about it but I don't remember doing it. I read about it in the news like you guys. And then I got angry…and everything went fuzzy again."

Her fingers froze. She stared at Peter. That would have been a moment where she thought that she had been talking to Peter. How long had she been truly interacting with Venom?

The watch buzzed again shaking her out of her stare. She pressed the thin white gauze against the puncture, layering it over and over as the blood started to seep up. He didn't even remember that conversation.

Why didn't you say something?" She removed the dirty gauze and moved into the gauze with saline. She would pack the wound inside to keep it clean. Later she could explain to him that this was something that had to heal from the inside out.

"I've been so busy lately. Sometimes I swing around so late that I'm so tired I don't remember stuff," he said quietly, "And you've been helping me so much that I couldn't…I couldn't bring it up something so silly to you."

"Next time you tell me about it, understand?" She asked as she worked. He winced as she put gauze in place.

As she looked, she saw them then. Two black discolorations as wide as baseballs on his back. She could have discounted them as bruises but they had white veins in them. Venom.

She tried to concentrate on what was at hand.

The dressing were inserted into the second stab wound. Then she applied dressing pads on top. They soaked and clung to the surface of his body. It would do for the moment.

He blinked something out of his eyes and stared at the ceiling barely paying attention to her. "Everything has been messy lately. Even with Aunt…you know...I just want to be Spider-Man. I'm such a failure."

The room was bathed in red as the lights switched. An alarm run out, vibrating painfully in her eardrums. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the lab techs and the scientists spring into action. They didn't have much time now. Catherine grasped the long bandage instead.

"One step at a time kid," she said, "this step is getting this wrapped around you."

"Wait." Peter straightened. "Are you breaking me out? Are you undercover?"

"Maybe." She slipped a hand under his back and half lifted up Peter. His fingers dug into her arm. The gray fabric wrapped over his midsection, covering the pads as quickly as she could make it.

"All the things I've done for you recently. Maybe I should have you over to clean the tops of my fans." She huffed and tied it tight. Her apartment was in shambles. That thought was for later.

"You are turning into one of us." He sucked in his breath. It had to hurt.

Iron Man was maybe a floor or two above them now, carefully carving through floor after floor like cake. Now was her chance. Who knew what Venom was going to do when it realized that she was working with Tony. She had to get this right.

She sat closer and put her hands on his shoulders. "I need you to listen to me. There is something in you. It's taking you over."

"What are you taking about?" He was struggling to put it together, she could see it. The pieces were in his mind. They didn't fit together.

"That's why you have gaps in your memory. It takes over. I don't care how it feels. It's not good for you. You have to fight it. However you can. You are stronger than this."

Maybe it was her imagination but there was a change in his eyes. The smallest little difference. The warmth shut off. She could have pretended was the flashing red light.

But then he leaned back and laughed hard.

Her hands fell away from him.

"Man, Ms. Catherine, I didn't know we were joking today."

"I'm not joking." The disappointment bit into her and hung on.

The ceiling tile crackled. A red light came through it and carved a circle. The steel hissed and spluttered. Spider-Man sprung up from the bed and jogged across the room. Spinning out a web, he pulled hard and the metal fell from the ceiling with a clatter.

"Are you alive and kicking kid?" Iron Man's head came through the hole.

Peter smiled as he pulled up his suit, the grin going a half an inch too high. "Yeah. Ms. Catherine patched me up after the lab took the thing out of me. I didn't know you were coming Mr. Stark."

He gave her a backwards glance at her. A look that told much more than she ever wanted.

"So the Venom monster affliction is cured?" Iron Man didn't swing down, instead he widened the hole. More metal fell to the ground.

"Yes, sir. Sorry about that."

"That's fantastic. Do you know how many dangerous looking things are in here? We're going to shut down this place faster than the FDA slapping an F on that bad restaurant down the street."

She sat on the bed. It had gone cold in the room. She could barely hear the alarms anymore.

"Great." He turned back toward her and offered an arm towards her. "Are you ready Ms. Catherine?"

The glint in his eye told her one thing. You'll have to do better than that.

Peter stood in his black suit offering a hand. As much as she hated it, the priority was getting Peter out of the lab. Without that, there would have been no point to any of this. She would have to warn Tony somehow of the lie.

"You coming?" He asked the question again. The confidence didn't falter in his voice.

"Yeah." She stood up. "I'm coming. Let's get you out of here."

Sorry for being a day late. Thank you for reading as always. - Quin