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"I hate maps."
Two hours of pouring over maps and trying to overlay what she knew of the tunnels with the harsh lines on paper had given her a headache and ramped her irritation up into near-dangerous levels. It was almost impossible to translate the mental map she had of the underground into something as unforgiving as a picture. There was no way for her to properly explain the specific sounds or smells that helped guide her through the tunnels, onto the map. More than once, she'd had to just close her eyes and block out everything but Eddie's questions, relaying directions and markers by memory alone.
Eddie laughed as Jasmine dropped her head to thunk her forehead against the tabletop, her aggravated groan pulling a subvocal snicker from the symbiote. What he wasn't expecting was for her to raise a hand a flip him off. "Hey!"
"You tell your 'wardrobe' to shut up," she grumbled, raising her head to peer at him from behind her bangs. At his baffled look, she smirked, fangs bared. "I heard that little snicker it made. You really need to read up on wolves. Or just canines in general. My hearing range is much wider than a humans."
The symbiote's interest perked, taking the information as a challenge as it loosed a subvocal growl of curiosity, followed by a questioning croon that had Eddie quirking a mental brow at his Other's excitement. Easy. I really don't want to frighten her away.
An amused hissing laugh echoed through his mind when Jasmine grinned and asked if the symbiote's noises came with a dictionary. [We like this one. She's different. Special. She calls to us.]
You said that before. What does that mean? Out loud, he chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry. No dictionary available," he told her with a smile. "Lucky for you, that I don't mind translating. It likes that you can hear it, and it's very curious about you. We both are."
She smirked at that and shifted to lean back in her chair, idly scratching at an itch at the edge of her cast. "But?"
"But... we don't want to push. We know there are things that you can't talk about. Honestly, we... I...." His breath left him in a sigh as he shook his head, dropping his gaze from hers as a sudden wash of uncertainly took hold. "But, maybe it would be better if this is our last meeting. We don't want to be responsible for you getting hurt."
[What?!]
While the symbiote's dismayed and angry tone rebounded against the inside of his head, Jasmine loosed an annoyed chuff of air and leaned forward, her green eyes slowly changing to a bright wolf-gold.
"That's a load of shit and you know it. I'm going to let you in on a secret, Eddie. Wolves largely communicate with body language, scent and vocal cues. You want to quit meeting, fine. But, don't try to mask it behind some half-assed lie about my wellbeing. I know that you're interested in me, and I know that you're fighting with yourself about it, Eddie. You, not the symbiote. I can't read it - it's scent is too alien, too confusing. But, you, I can read you. And I don't appreciate being lied to."
She drank in his look of shock before getting to her feet, fighting to push down her irritation with humanity and it's tendency to say one thing while wanting another. It was baffling, completely alien to her, more alien than the symbiote was.
Her annoyance boiled over, making her lean down to get into Eddie's face, scowling into his blue eyes. "This is one thing I'll never understand about humans. You have some sort of weird, ingrained, backwards habit to say and do one thing, while wanting the complete opposite. You lie to each other, every day, about everything, while denying what your hearts and instincts cry out for. It's maddening. Everything I've read off of you says that you want to form a friendship with me, that you see something in me that interests you, and yet you want to deny it because of what? Fear? Uncertainty? That isn't living. You're caging yourself, even while you try to free yourself from that cage that you've built. I don't understand it. I'll never understand it."
With a low growl, Jaz rocked back onto her heels and turned to leave. "You figure out what you want, Eddie Brock. When you do, maybe our paths will cross again. Good luck with the drug ring."
Stunned, and idly musing that no one had dared to scold him like that in well over a decade, Eddie hesitated a moment too long. By the time he'd gotten to his feet and moved to the bookcase she'd ducked behind, she was gone. A quick dash to the front of the library proved that she'd slipped away, much to the symbiote's annoyance. What's worse, is that she's right.
[We can catch up to her. We can sense her still.] The symbiote moved across his back, making little twitches that he'd long ago learned meant that it was getting impatient with him.
But instead of following the Other's urgings, Eddie turned to head back to where he'd left the map, and his notes. After everything he'd been through - after everything they'd been through - maybe letting her go before either of them got too attached to her was best. We have a bad habit of hurting those we allow close to us, he mused sullenly, thoughts inexorably drifting back to his failed relationships, the sorrowful emotions that the memories brought up pulling an echoing shiver of pain from the symbiote. We... I don't know if I can go through that again. I don't know if I can live with someone else I care about hating and fearing us.
[Giving up is not in our nature,] the symbiote murmured into it's host's mind as it mentally soothed the emotional pain in Eddie's thoughts. [Neither is hiding from the obstacles that appear before us. What life will we lead if we give up before we even try?]
"What life indeed," Eddie murmured under his breath as he came to a stop in front of the table where, only minutes ago, he'd been talking to Jasmine. But, his Other had a point, and a very good one at that. Wallowing in self pity wasn't going to do either of them any good.
And, if he was going to be honest with himself, he'd enjoyed her company. She had a sharp mind, tempered with compassion and a wonderful sense of humor. The fact that she wasn't in the least bit afraid of him and the symbiote, or 'Venom' was simply amazing. But, then again, it wasn't as if she was like anyone else he'd met.
The Other gave an agreeing hiss. [This, 'Stray', this Jasmine. She is different. She is... like us, in a way. Predator and protector.] It made an invisible flutter against it's human half's shoulders, trying to ease Eddie's confusion. [She is a kindred spirit.]
He frowned down at the notepad in his hands, blinking at the small, neat, scrawl at the bottom of his notes. When did she...? She gave us her phone number? Unbidden, a small laugh escaped him as he shook his head, a mix of amazement and relief spreading through him. Well. That answers that, now doesn't it?
Humans, so backwards. Shaking her head in mixed amusement and frustration, Jasmine paused at a crosswalk and idly watched the traffic while she waited for the light to change. While she somewhat understood the reason behind someone's flipflopping, to her wolf instincts, it was yet another headache she had to contend with. Why deny what you felt? Why did people constantly muddle things up by lying to each other? Even if was with the intention of protecting someone, a lie was still a lie.
Wolves were so much more open with each other than humans. Maybe that was the problem. There was no hiding your emotions when everyone around you could tell the truth of things via your body language and scent. As far as she knew, humans didn't have even a quarter of her ability to process all the scents around them. Their instincts were dulled by time, too much time spent in their cities and 'industry' and not enough time spent in nature, surrounded by trees and forests.
That didn't excuse her snippy attitude however. No matter how often her wolf forgot that she was interacting with humans, it wasn't an excuse for her to lose her temper. She had to remind herself that the people around her had no clue of who and what she was. She couldn't expect them to change who they were, and how they acted, just to appease her irritation. Jaz had done her best to adapt to her human Pack and human surroundings - it was irksome to realize that she still had a lot to learn.
The light changed, the sudden departure of the crowd around her jolting her out of her thoughts. Inwardly grimacing that she'd allowed herself to lose track of her surroundings, Jasmine hurried across the intersection, her gaze darting around her as she took stock of what she'd missed.
Nothing really stood out. Just people going about their day. But after a few minutes of calmly walking along the sidewalk, something started to make her metaphorical hackles bristle. Instantly on alert, she quickened her stride, delicately sniffing at the air as she headed for the nearest alleyway. There were hundreds of scents, and even with her wolfish ability to effortlessly catalogue and sift through the deluge, it was almost half a minute before the tang of drugs, sharp scent of a badly maintained gun, and the musty smell of the tunnels came into sharp focus.
Well, shit. Can't even escape these losers in the daytime. Jasmine let out a chuff of annoyance and started to work her way through the crowd, slowly moving closer to the buildings she was passing, and the upcoming alleyway. If my mental map is still correct, this next building should have a fire escape. If I can get to the rooftops, I'll be able to circle around and pinpoint my newest smelly annoyance. Bleh. Don't these idiots ever wash?
Wrinkling her nose at the acrid stink that was following her, she rolled her shoulders in an effort to loosen tense muscles, and, when the crowd was thick enough to hide her movements, quickly sidestepped into the alley. As soon as she was in the lee of the building, Jaz dashed towards the overhanging fire escape, judging the height of the lowest landing before she gathered her strength and leapt.
The palm of her right hand slapped into the metal railing, her fingers immediately curling around it as she used her only good arm to haul herself up and over, sneakers clanging on the rusty metal. It was simple after that, to dart up the stairs and climb up the ladder, only relaxing once she was safely on the roof. I'll be so glad when I can get rid of this cast. Stupid arm.
After sending a glare at her offending left arm, and the heavy, bulky cast that encased it from elbow to wrist, Jasmine turned to peer down into the alleyway, quirking a brow at the bewildered looking man. He barely looked like a threat. Young, far too thin, and a little unsteady, though his bulky jean jacket could have been hiding more than one weapon.
There was a moment where she was seriously debating simply jumping off the roof and landing on him before she sighed and shook her head, pushing away from the raised ledge. Now that she was on the roof, he wasn't a threat. He couldn't reach the fire escape she'd used without a ladder, and that was assuming he'd figure out where she'd vanished to. Humans had a bad habit of never looking up.
Another sigh left her as she moved to the opposite edge of the roof she was on, peering at the gap between her building and the next one. With a low huff, Jaz took a few steps back, then rushed forward, feeling her wolf stretch within her as she leapt into the air.
She was in midair when a shot rang out. Instinct and her subconscious had her twisting - ears having located where the shot came from, nose smelling the burst of gun powder - the bullet lancing across her right cheek, just under her eye. Her landing left a lot to be desired, her mid air acrobatics had altered her trajectory. Her left foot caught the edge of the roof, and she hit hard, biting back a howl as she crashed, her full weight landing on her left arm before she tumbled across the rooftop and skidded to a stop next to an exhaust fan. Impossible. That guy couldn't have known... Two. There must be two...
Cursing, her breath hissed between her teeth as she struggled to absorb the new pain that was shooting up her left arm. Whimpers escaped her as she rolled onto her right side and curled up, her left arm held securely in the curve of her body. It didn't help that her new cut on her face was being pressed against the sharp edges of the gravel she was lying on - but in the whole scheme of things, it was a tiny pain compared to her arm.
Her wolf rose in her, making her skin burn as she struggled to contain her feral side while stubbornly fighting the urge to throw up. Panting, Jaz shifted, getting her knees under her, her forehead digging into the gravel when a dizzy burst kept her from trying to get upright. Get up. Her body felt far away and unresponsive. Get. Up. Danger. No time. Two enemies, circling, hunting, biting. Get. Up!
A gasp left her as she, in a burst of adrenaline, shoved herself up, glazed golden eyes taking stock of her surroundings. Still alone, but she could hear footsteps on metal stairs, signifying that someone was racing up a fire escape. Her wolf took control, forcing her to her feet, a growl leaving her when she swayed unsteadily, stumbling sideways. The sickly copper smell of blood made her scrub at her face with the back of her right hand, nose wrinkling in distaste when all she managed to do was smear dirt and blood across her cheek. No time. No time. Run. Have to run. Threat closing in, smell him, hear him.
Growling now, a low, deep rumble of sound, Jasmine gave her head a violent shake, as if to force her thoughts back into order, before turning towards the next roof she had to leap to. Distance was safety. It took a few stumbling steps before she found her stride, sneakers pounding across the gravel as she pushed herself into a full run. Muscles bunched, senses sharpened, wild instincts taking over.
She fairly flew across the next gap, wolf-eyes already mapping out a rough path that would allow her to circle around and out-flank her pursuers. A series of four more jumps, and she was in position, hidden by an air-conditioning unit and peering in between some piping, her gaze locking onto the two forms that were milling around on the rooftop she'd been on only moments before.
The young one was there, along with the second that she'd overlooked, an older, bulkier man, with faded tattoos covering his arms, a bald head and a trimmed black beard. Being downwind of them gave her a noseful of his alcohol-doused scent. Alcohol, sex and aggression, a mix that she'd smelled a lot since moving into the city. But he moved differently than the younger one. More self assured, calmer, even as he continuously scanned the surrounding rooftops. Ah. A would-be hunter.
Her wolf let out a mental chuff of amusement as Jaz watched the two men continue trying to spot where she'd gone to. Like pups chasing their own tails. She shifted her stance, breathing deep as she prepared to vault the rooftops and attack, senses locked onto her prey...
And a thud sounded from behind her.
Teeth bared in a snarl, Jasmine spun, her right arm shooting out, talons gleaming as she swiped at the cause of the sound, right at stomach level, fully intending to gut the idiot who'd dared to sneak up on her - except an inky black, taloned, hand deflected her attack, fingers closing on her wrist.
"Well, nice to see you too, puppy."
She blinked, nose and eyes recognizing the familiar black and white 'costumed' form. "Venom? What-?"
Click.
"Down!" The sound of a gun cocking gave her enough time to yank Venom off balance, saving him from taking the first shots in the face as the humans on the opposite roof opened fire, the elder of the two using some sort of automatic rifle. Bullets ricocheted off the ventilation ducts, and Jaz let out a gasp of pain when Venom rolled them so they were protected by the huge air conditioning unit. "Ow! Fuck! Watch the arm, watch the arm!"
He grimaced, quickly scrambling in front of her and raising his right arm, the symbiote forming a black shield to block any chance of a stray bullet hitting her. "We let you out of our sight for twenty minutes and you go and have fun without us?"
"Oh, yeah, 'cause I'm having so much fun," she drawled, rubbing the back of her right hand across the still bleeding cut on her cheek before trying to sneak a glimpse of the shooters, jerking back when a bullet hit the gravel at her feet. "I didn't think they'd be stupid enough to do this during the day."
"One hundred thousand dollars is a lot of money," he retorted, peering around the symbiote sheild and inwardly cursing when he saw one man reload while the other kept shooting. A more professional move than the usual antics he'd seen other thugs use.
Jasmine grimaced and pressed her back against the air conditioner. "So, stupid pays. Is that what you're telling me?"
A chuckle rumbled out of him. "It's an unfortunate truth," Venom agreed, eyeing her worriedly when he saw how pale she was. "Are you alright?"
"Peachy." Ignoring his unimpressed look, Jaz crawled to the opposite edge of the air conditioner and cast a quick look at the opposite roof. "I don't think they saw you. If you can get to the alleyway, you can out flank them."
It was a good plan. "What about you?"
She glanced around, then used her right hand to rip a brick out of the nearby ledge. "I'll keep them busy," she smirked, trusting her hearing to help her aim as she quickly edged out of cover and chucked the brick at the shooters, grinning ferally when one screamed, the dual noise of gunshots falling to just one.
Venom chuckled. "We like how you think!" He paused long enough to add a few carefully placed webs between the ventilation ducts, hoping they'd be strong enough to deflect any stray bullets in his absence. "Stay safe, Jasmine. We'll be quick."
"Take all the time you need," she said as he turned to wall crawl off the roof and down the building's wall, waiting until he'd gotten out of the way before prying up another brick. "I've got plenty of bricks."
Hefting her newest weapon, Jaz closed her eyes, waited until she'd mentally chosen her target, then blindly launched the brick over the edge of the air conditioning unit, chuckling when a yelped sounded, followed by some cursing. Try to shoot me, huh, asshole? Wait until you see who's coming after you now!
Sure enough, less than a minute after Venom had left, there was a duet of screams that had nothing to do with blunt force trauma via brick, and everything to do with the fact that - from the sound of things - someone was beating them within an inch of their lives.
"All clear!" Venom called as he dropped the unconscious man he was holding onto the second shooter, who was quite dead - broken backs tended to do that. Movement from the other rooftop drew his attention, his gaze fixing onto Jasmine as she jumped across the alley and silently landed in front of him. He didn't miss how pale she went when the landing jarred her left arm, which she was holding tight to her side. "Jasmine, your arm-"
She waved his concern aside. "It's already in a cast, there's nothing more to be done about it." Sighing, she eyed the two men who had been hunting her, a small part of her glad to see that the younger of the two was still alive. The elder one was sprawled to her left, the odd angle of his lower body screaming of a deliberately broken back. Distantly, she could hear sirens approaching, the high pitched noise already beginning to give her a headache.
Curious, she crouched and checked the elder one's pockets, growling softly when she found a grainy picture of herself from one of the fights. "Dammit. I didn't know they were taping those fights."
Venom took the photo from her, studying it for a moment before flipping it over to peer at the badly scrawled writing. "Full description, places where you've been sighted. Hm. They've put the price up by another hundred thousand."
A tired sigh left her as she straightened. "Joy." She scrubbed at her face again, ignoring the sting that followed. "We should get out of here. The cops are three blocks away."
"Right." He made sure each body had it's respective gun, then webbed them all up, dragging the two forms over and hanging them off the edge of the roof. "Done. Let's go."
Jasmine blinked as he held a hand out to her, his other arm rising to shoot a webline out to an adjacent building. "Um..."
The uncertain look in her eyes made him rush to reassure her. "We won't drop you, Jasmine. We promise."
She hesitated a moment longer, then swallowed her fear and stepped forward to place her right hand in his. The little ball of tension in her chest loosened a little at the pleased grin he gave her, and she let him wrap his arm around her waist and tuck her close before he stepped off the roof.
Instinct and the ingrained fear of falling had her curling her good arm around his neck, clinging to him as Venom shot them across the street, sent out another web, then swung them around a building at a speed usually reserved for airplane takeoffs.
The barely muffled whine that escaped her throat made Venom wince. "Calm, Jasmine. We have you. You're safe. Trust us." When she managed a shaky nod, he tightened his hold on her and slowed his speed a little. "Don't look straight down. Look ahead. That's it. Better?"
"Y-Yeah." It took her another couple of minutes to acclimate, but once she'd adapted, she had to admit that it was a hell of a way to travel. Her wolf's innate curiosity soon took over, and once it did, she quickly began to understand the mechanics behind Venom's webslinging. Though her mental map of the city did struggle to keep up with his speed. "Where are we going?"
He turned his head to look at her, rumbling in pleasure when he saw that the fear was gone from her eyes. "The Park. We thought you'd appreciate a familiar place."
The thoughtful gesture surprised her. "...Thank you, Venom."
"For you? Anytime."
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tbc