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Venom growled under his breath as he prowled the abandoned subway tunnels, symbiote enhanced vision enabling him to see as clearly in the darkness as if it was day. Which made it all the easier to spot the carefully placed talon marks he had left in the walls a few nights before. The last thing he needed was to get turned around in the maze of tunnels that lay under San Francisco's streets. Especially when he had a deadline to keep.
His 'informant' had said that the ones that were tasked with scouting out new fight sites were supposed to be at a certain intersection in an hour, and Venom wanted to be hidden in the shadows long before said scouts found the remains of their fellow thug that he'd planted there the night before. He was certain that one of them would be able to give him the information he wanted.
He was five blocks away from his destination when something rippled across the symbiote's alien senses, the odd sensation making Venom pause in mid-step, pale eyes narrowed as he glanced back the way he had come. Suspicion rose in him, and he stepped further into the shadows, talons flexing in mixed preparation and anticipation of a fight. It wouldn't do for someone to spot him and raise the alarm before he reached his chosen hiding place.
The Other's own apprehension vanished seconds later, replaced by a pleased sort of recognition. [Stray.]
"She'd better not be here to fight again," Venom grumbled, backtracking a little until he spotted a side tunnel, symbiote senses pinpointing Stray's movements now that she was within the Other's 'range'. Whatever her reason for being in the tunnels, she was moving quickly, darting through the maze of tunnels and completely bypassing the intersection he was standing at. Well, it figures that she'd know the layout better than we would.
Growling softly, he hesitated a moment longer, then turned back towards the fight location, figuring that there was nothing else in the tunnels that Stray would be interested in. Obviously, she must have changed her mind about joining him, though Venom doubted it had been a good decision on her part. She had looked far too tired and drained the night before.
Her presence danced at the edge of his enhanced senses as he continued through the twisted underground tunnels, grumbling under his breath when he realised that Stray was already ahead of him. Making a mental note to ask her to draw him a few maps of the underground fight locations, Venom sped up, loping through the darkness in the hopes that he'd be able to beat her to the trap he'd set up.
Ten minutes later found him crouching amongst the shadows cast by a flickering light, pale eyes and the spider symbol that was stretched across his chest and back faded to a dull grey to better camouflage him. The body of his 'informant' lay in the centre of the cavernous room, neck twisted. The information he'd divulged had earned him a quick death via a snapped neck.
The symbiote sent out little feelers, the dark ribbons swaying slightly as the Other did it's own version of scanning their surroundings, it's curiosity about Stray's location making Venom dart his own gaze around the area. Only once he was sure that only Stray was nearby did he rise out of his predatory crouch and take a step into the dim light. "Stray?"
A soft growl echoed through the tunnel. "Up here."
Curious, he tilted his head back to peer up into the mess of pipes and support beams overhead, blinking when he saw Stray causally stretched out on her stomach across a water main. "We thought you said you couldn't meet us."
Her golden eyes narrowed as she swung herself off the pipe, twisting around a beam before effortlessly dropping down in front of him. Her hair was held back in a loose braid, jeans a faded black, the two layered grey tank tops she wore leaving her arms bare, making the cast on her left arm stand out all the more. "Someone tried to follow me to where the Pack is staying. When he realized that I knew he was there, he pulled a gun on me. I recognised his scent from one of the fights."
An angry growl rumbled out of him as he looked her over anew, trying to see if she had any new bruises - or worse - a bullet wound. "Are you-?"
"I'm fine." She took a small step back, putting distance between them. "He didn't get the chance to pull the trigger. But he had the scents of four others on his clothing, along with the smells of the underground tunnels. I came to see if any of the scents I found on him belong to any of the ones who might show up tonight."
The symbiote could feel the rage that was simmering in her, and Venom had to wonder how she was able to act so calm. He didn't know of anyone - including himself - who could experience that much anger without berzerking. Granted, the way her eyes were flashing from gold to red, he guessed that while her control was strict, it was beginning to slip, just a little.
Wanting to distract her, he gestured to her decorated cast, and the names that were signed there. "Your friends, are they safe?"
Her wolf gave a mental snarl at the idea that she would have left the Pack defenseless and in danger, and Jasmine let the fresh wave of anger pass before answering. "They're fine, if a little annoyed." When he gave her a curious look, she shrugged, picking at the edge of her cast with her taloned nails. "They didn't exactly agree with my decision to come out here."
"Can you blame them?" Venom asked, raising his hands as if to ward off her anger when she glared at him. "It was just last night when you told us that going to the fight ring took a lot out of you."
"That was before my Pack was put in the line of fire," Stray growled, canines bared, golden eyes narrowed. "I'm used to dealing with idiots trying to kill me, but I have no patience when it comes to people putting my Pack's lives at stake. I can't risk the ones who put the price on my head learning of them. They wouldn't stand a chance."
He frowned, suddenly understanding. "So you're taking the fight to the ones responsible for the bounty."
She gave him a feral grin and turned away to look at the 'bait'. "Got it in one. Good boy."
Venom grimaced at the 'good boy' bit. "That's for that 'puppy' comment we made last night, isn't it?"
"Yup."
Trying to hide a smile, he watched her crouch next to the body, unable to keep his gaze from traveling over her form. She was moving and acting differently than the night before. Less human, and more... predatory. Though, once again, Venom thought that she moved more like a cat than a wolf.
He was pulled out of his musings when she gave a low, curious, rumble and ripped a piece of the body's shirt off, holding it up to her nose and breathing deeply. It was only when she growled and tossed the material away that he spoke. "What is it?"
"This one shared a bloodline with my attacker," Stray muttered, wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Cousins, I think. Though this one favored cocaine while the other preferred meth and... other things."
Now that piqued his interest. "You know all that just from scent? Even though he's been dead for over a day?"
"You know how Bloodhounds are heralded as having the best noses in the canine world?" When he nodded, she smirked, one fang peeking out from between her lips. "Well, I'm better."
A chuckle left him at the pride in her voice, and he would have given in to Eddie's reporter urge to pepper her with questions had the symbiote not sent a hiss of warning into his thoughts. Instantly on alert, he spun and scowled into an adjacent tunnel, putting an arm out to stop Stray when she tried to step past him. Venom kept her behind him as the Other extended wary pseudopods, the thin black tendrils weaving around him as the alien stretched it's otherworldly senses outward.
Stray's own inhuman senses were just as sharp.
"Footsteps," she murmured, unknowingly echoing the symbiote's mental warning. "Two sets."
"We hear it too." Licking at his fangs in anticipation, Venom turned and peered up at the network of pipes above him, pale eyes narrowing when he spotted a gap that he might be able to squeeze his bulk through. He turned to ask Stray if she needed a boost, blinking at the empty space beside him before jerking his gaze upwards again in time to see her vanish into the shadows. "Well, that answers our question..."
"C'mon, Larson, hurry the hell up! I don't wanna be down here longer than I have to!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Don't be such a pussy."
"Oh, fuck you."
"Rather be shot than poisoned, man." There was a pause, then. "Who the fuck is that?"
"I don't know. I thought you said the druggies didn't come down here."
"They don't," Tony frowned, walking over to the body and using a foot to flip the corpse onto it's back. "Oh, shit. It's Jimmy."
"Well, fuck." Larson rubbed a hand across his bald, tattooed, head. "Now what do we do?"
"The hell do you think, brainiac? We gotta call off the fight."
"Shit. The boss is gonna be pissed."
"Better pissed than dead. Now c'mon! We have to get our asses out of here in case whoever the fuck killed him comes back."
"Comes back? Christ, Jimmy smells worse than your breath. He's been dead for at least a day, judging by how the rats have been eatin' him. The fuck would someone come back for?"
Venom grinned as he twisted his left arm, aiming between the pipes as he shot a webline at 'Larson'. The web hit the man square in the chest, steel strong threads adhering to skin and clothes alike before one hard pull yanked Larson off his feet and headfirst into the lowest water main with a satisfying 'thunk'.
Tony, being the brains of the operation, spun on his heel and bolted for the nearest tunnel. Even with his heart hammering in his chest, he still caught the sound of Larson's body crumpling to the ground, and, closer, the sound of pursuit. It wasn't cops - even the dirtiest cops didn't snap people's necks - which left psycho or someone trying to the boss's turf. Either was a good enough reason to pull his .45 from the waistband of his jeans and blindly shoot at whoever was chasing him.
He was only a few strides from an adjacent tunnel when red hot agony ripped through his left ankle, his leg crumpling under him in mid stride. Screaming, he rolled, wide eyes taking in the hilt of the knife that was protruding from just above his heel, blood already beginning to pool beneath him. The tiny part of his brain that remembered high school muttered something about an Achilles' tendon, while the rest of him merely panicked about not being able to get his foot to move properly. He fumbled in his jacket for a spare clip, hands shaking from a mix of terror, adrenaline and drugs as the glow from a dim, flickering, service light reflected off of a pair of narrowed golden eyes.
Another throwing knife arched out of the darkness, the fresh clip of bullets falling from his fingers when it sunk into his right hand, the hilt nestled in his palm while the blade protruded from the back of his hand. Instinct alone had him using his good leg to push himself backwards when the figure stepped into the light, his gaze darting from those inhuman eyes to the familiar cast. It was the chick that had led Venom to the fight. The one that had betrayed the bosses and gotten a price put on her head as a result.
And she looked pissed.
He was shaking hard by the time she reached him, one black taloned hand fisting into his shirt and lifting him clear off the ground. The effortless move had him gibbering anew - he was almost a foot taller than her, and must have out-weighed her by at least sixty pounds, but there she was, picking him up as if he was as light as air. "S-S-S-tra-" Christ, he couldn't even talk he was so freaked out.
She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. "Stray. You know who I am. Good. You've seen me fight?"
Tony gulped and nodded so fast he got a slight head rush. "Y-Yes."
Sharp fangs were bared in a feral grin as she lowered him and got into his face. "No, you haven't. I was holding back. Good shows bring in good money. Draw it out a little, and the payout gets better and better. I could have killed every one of those idiots the second they stepped into the ring. Now you, you're going to answer some questions. Otherwise-" she rose her other hand and brought her talons up, the tips grazing his cheek and cutting shallow lines into his skin that immediately started to bleed. "I'm going to rip you apart."
When he nodded, Jaz growled and dropped him, her wolf giving a mental howl of approval when he landed on his feet, his left ankle instantly crumpling under his weight. He screamed, and she firmly shoved the knowledge that her Pack would disapprove of her actions into the back of her mind, shaking her head to further dispel the thought.
The girls could disapprove all they wanted, so long as they were alive.
Mental debate over, she glanced back over her shoulder, her gaze locking onto a shadow that was darker than the others. "You want first crack at him?"
If Tony hadn't realized how screwed he was, the sight of Venom seemingly appearing out of the darkness drove the revelation home. The massive man - though Tony had his doubts about the 'human' part - towered over him, the muted grey of his eyes and the emblazoned spider across his chest and back regaining it's usual blazing white color as Venom stalked forward to stand next to to Stray. Rows of fangs bared into a horrifying grin, reminding Tony of the stories of what the crazy 'reformed' villain did to anyone he considered guilty of harming 'innocents'.
A lot of those stories had kept him up at night.
Pupilless pale eyes appraised the wounded thug before Venom turned to repeat the action on Stray. "We heard shots."
"I'm fine. His aim sucks."
"Good." He debated whether or not to touch her, before daring to brush the curve of a talon against her bare arm, just above her cast. "We were worried. As for you," Venom growled, turning to scowl down at 'Tony' who was trying - unsuccessfully - to crawl away from him. "You were merely an annoying means to an end, but now that you've tried to shoot someone we consider to be under our protection... Well, let's just say that this won't bode well for your continued existence."
Jaz, momentarily blindsided by Venom's concern over her, blinked twice before forcing herself to turn her attention back to the task at hand. She'd have plenty of time to grill him over his sudden protectiveness once they were done.
"I want him alive," she growled, meeting Venom's curious gaze when he looked at her. "I want him to take a message to his bosses."
Venom tilted his head to eye the man quivering at his feet, flexing his talons for a moment before grinning. "Well, we suppose that we can restrain ourselves from filleting him," he rumbled, long tongue licking at his fangs as he crouched and harshly yanked at the protruding knife that was sticking out of Tony's hand, waiting until the man had stopped screaming before continuing. "Provided, of course, that he gives us the answers we seek."
Her wolf rose in her again, feral and angry. "You can fillet parts of him," she rumbled, eyes a predatory gold as she frowned down at the man, the sharp stench of his terror making her wrinkle her nose in distaste.
"Oh, we like how you think," Venom grinned, his gaze never leaving that of the man in front of him as he brandished the talons on his left hand and reached out to trail them down 'Tony's' leg, effortlessly shredding his jeans as easy as paper. "Shall we start with your legs? Oooh! Perhaps your right arm? It isn't as if you'll be using that hand for a while-"
"Buh! I-I'll t-t-talk," Tony gibbered, using his good leg to try to push himself away from the duo, unable to stop a high pitched whine from leaving his throat when Venom casually grabbed his good ankle, gave him a grin that had way too many teeth, and yanked him close again...
It was almost midnight when she finally reached the designated rooftop, her breath leaving her in a sigh as she climbed up the last few rungs of the fire escape and crouched on the raised ledge, delicately taking a sniff of the air. The wind shifted direction, momentarily obscuring the area's scents before she tilted her head to compensate.
The lack of any recent smells made her frown, a low hum of surprise escaping her as she hopped down, her sneakers grating on the gravel rooftop. She was certain that Venom would have gotten to the meeting spot before her...
And a fingertip tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
Instincts instantly took hold. She spun, grabbing the extended wrist, shifting her balance, and flipping whoever it was over her shoulder and slamming them down onto the roof. Wolf gold eyes narrowed as she turned to glare down at the idiot who had snuck up on her, only to blink down at Venom, who was staring up at her in shock.
Shock and shame gripped her. "Venom?! Gods, don't sneak up on me like that!"
He blinked, idly wondering when the last time was that someone had so thoroughly gotten the drop on him. Jasmine was standing over him, a mix of embarrassment and horror on her face.
And then, the absurdity of the moment hit him, and he chuckled.
The rumble of laughter that left him broke the tight knot that had formed in her chest, and Jaz couldn't stop the smile that tugged at her lips as she rose a hand to shove her bangs out of her eyes. "You need a damned bell around your neck."
He snickered. "We're sorry. We didn't mean to startle you. You're fast!"
"Thanks," she retorted dryly, holding her right hand out to him and easily pulling him to his feet when he clasped hands with her. When he looked questioningly down at their hands, she smirked. "I'm also stronger than I look."
Another chuckle left him. "We'll keep that in mind. Are you alright?"
She frowned and hugged herself, eyes rising to lock on the quarter moon that hung low in the night sky.
It had been painfully easy to get Tony to gibber out everything he knew about the fights. Information had spilled out of him almost faster than she could understand; at one point Venom had politely - in that he'd delicately sunk a talon into Tony's thigh - asked the man to slow down. After a few minutes of incoherent gibbering, and the threat of being julienned (whatever that was), he'd slowed his speech down enough that it was understandable.
He'd disclosed dozens of fight locations, names of some of the higher ups in the drug ring, and then he'd told them about the repercussions of her betrayal.
What he'd told them hadn't made her feel better.
"Yeah. Just trying to figure out what I'm going to do. I was expecting some backlash, but I didn't think I'd end up with a hundred thousand dollar bounty on my head." A tired huff of laughter left her. "Don't know whether I should be flattered at the price or insulted that it isn't higher."
A chuckle escaped him as he hopped up to crouch on the a vent adjacent to her, one taloned hand gripping the edge of the metal while he draped his other arm across his left knee. "A little of both, perhaps?"
"Mm."
He gazed at her, letting silence fall over them for a moment before speaking again. "You're not alright, are you?"
She heaved a sigh and closed her eyes, shaking her head tiredly. "Not even close," she admitted, shivering a little in the cool night air before she lowered her arms and pushed away from the vent she had been leaning on. "I'll see you around, Venom."
She's leaving? "Wait!" he blurted, leaping from his perch and twisting in mid-air to land directly in front of her. "Will we... Can we see you again?"
One black eyebrow arched upwards. "Are you asking me out?"
His melded thoughts screeched to a halt when he realized that was exactly what he was doing. "Uhh... yes? We mean... We'd like to get to know you. We can be Eddie for you if you want. We just... You helped us, willingly, even after we mistook you for a... for someone else." Venom mustered up his oddly scattered courage and met her gaze, taking strength by what he saw there. "Everyone else looks at us with fear. But, you're different. We're intrigued by you. More than anyone else we've ever met. You... you're not afraid of us."
"You promised not to harm me and mine, and I took you at your word. I could smell that you, or rather, Eddie, was telling the truth," she told him, smirking when he blinked at her. Trying not to snicker, Jaz folded her arms across her chest and shifted her weight onto her left leg. "What? Do you think I run around helping everyone that chases me across the city? Honestly, Venom, what do you take me for? Some newly-weaned pup out on her first hunt? Please."
He chuckled, pleasantly surprised. "Does that mean you accept our... invitation?"
"My Pack comes first," she warned him. "Their welfare is my priority, especially now that I have a rather large price on my head. I have to make sure that no one from the fights learns of their existence... But, I do want to hunt down the ones responsible for that bounty. If it happens that our paths intersect... well, I won't complain."
"We like how you think," Venom grinned, daring to reach out to flick a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Shall we say, noon-ish, the library, the day after tomorrow? Eddie is planning on digging through the city's records in the hopes of finding a map of the underground tunnels."
She thought about it for a moment before nodding. "I should be able to make it, yes."
"Perfect!"
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tbc