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Venom found them a secluded bench in the middle of the arboretum, scooping Jasmine into both arms as he dropped from twenty feet up in a tree. The landing was effortless, and he took pride in the fact that she wasn't frightened anymore as he carried her over to the bench and gently sat her down on it. "There. Now, let us see your arm. You're still far too pale for our liking. What happened? They didn't shoot you, did they?"

"No. No, nothing so drastic." Jaz sighed and rubbed at her cheek again, avoiding his gaze as he moved to crouch in front of her. "It's my fault. I was sloppy. I only scented one of them. The first one flushed me out, up onto the roof. The second must have been waiting. I was in mid jump between rooftops when I heard the shot. I dodged, but it cost me: I didn't 'land' so much as 'crash'."

A low, angry, growl rumbled out of him. "We were coming to find you - our other half, Eddie, wanted to apologize for before. We didn't mean to upset you, and now we wonder if we would have been able to prevent this if we'd been with you."

There was a moment where she wanted to argue, but she let it pass. "People are always going to come after me," Jasmine replied. "Believe it or not, but I am capable of taking care of myself."

"We believe it," he assured her. "But, it doesn't change the fact that we have an aversion to seeing those we want to protect in pain."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You want to protect me?"

Her surprise pulled his thoughts away from her injuries, an amused chuckle leaving him as he replied. "Do you think we show interest in every pretty thief that crosses our path?" Venom teased, grinning when she blinked in surprise. "Besides, you're the one who gave us your phone number."

"It was a hint."

"A hint?"

"For you... er, Eddie, to quit second guessing himself." Jaz gently flexed her left hand, glad the tingling was fading from her fingers. "I also don't understand why you feel as if you have to take responsibility for any scrapes I have now, or will have in the future. I've survived more than you can imagine. A broken arm and a few cuts are nothing."

"It isn't that," Venom told her, as he cradled her left hand in both of his, taloned fingers carefully checking her hand and wrist for any damage. "We... we've lost friends because of what we are. We're hated and feared, and a target. People have gotten caught in the crossfire, friends have become terrified of us, of what we are, symbiote and host."

"Venom, you're still thinking of me as a human. My wolf is beginning to view you as a sort of kindred spirit." Her wolf gave an inquisitive yip into her thoughts as she leaned forward to rest her right hand on his chest, just over his heart, smiling a little at the shocked look he gave her, as if no one had ever been brave enough to actually touch him before. "I don't hate you, I'm not afraid of you, and I'm quite capable of handling myself in any sort of crossfire."

A moment of silence passed before Venom chuckled, daring to reach out to flick her bangs out of her eyes. "Kindred spirits, hm?" When she merely quirked her lips in a smile, he grinned. "Thank you, Jasmine. That means more to us than you realize."

"You're welcome," she murmured, wincing a little when he turned his attention back to her left arm, dark talons checking to make sure her cast was intact before he gave her arm, just below her elbow, an investigative squeeze. "Okay, that hurts."

He loosed a low rumble of concern. "Your arm's swollen. You may have re-broken your arm. We don't know if we can fix this, Jasmine. We might have to bring you to a hospital."

"No! Gods, no." A shiver of revulsion ran down her spine. The hospital had stunk of death and sickness and sharp medicines. It had made her stomach turn and made her wolf antsy and on edge. "I'd rather never experience going to a hospital again, thank you very much. It's... Well, my arm hurts like hell, but it'll heal. Eventually."

"If the bone has been jarred out of place, it won't heal properly."

She mulled that over for a moment before meeting his gaze. "Can your... can the symbiote tell?"

Venom favored her with an amused smirk. "You're not going to try to hit us again, are you?" he teased, chuckling when she rolled her eyes at him. Buoyed by her reaction, symbiote tendrils extended into her cast, alien senses taking note of the new bruising, and deeper, an aggravated injury. "You're... lucky. You've re-broken your arm, but the cast kept the bones in place. The pain is because when you 'crashed', as you put it, you bruised your arm."

Jaz's lips twitched into a tired smile. "Better than the alternative, I suppose."

The symbiote, not liking the pain it sensed from her, rechecked her arm a final time to make certain that the bone was truly, properly, set, and only when it was satisfied did it retreat, the tendril returning to Venom's synoptic skin. "We suggest that you stay out of fights for a while."

A weak laugh left her. "Yeah. Like that'll happen."

"You can't blame us for trying," he murmured, casting a suspicious look at their surroundings before he moved to sit next to her, anxiety lessening when she didn't shy away. "Our other half wants to see you, is that alright?"

"Stupid questions will get you shoved off this bench."

Her snarky retort pulled a chuckle from him, and Venom dared to brush the curve of a talon across her cheek before he relinquished control to Eddie, allowing his human half to take over.

Eddie sighed as he rolled his shoulders, rubbing a hand over his face and frowning at the feel of stubble against his palm. Once the slight disorientation passed, he turned towards Jasmine, who was blinking up at him curiously. "Hi."

A tired smile tugged at her lips. "Hey."

The symbiote shifted around him, forming the guise of boots, blue jeans and a black tee shirt while he rose his arm and brushed his curled fingers across Jasmine's cheek. "We- I'm sorry, about what happened in the Library," he murmured, relaxing a little when she didn't shy away.

"S'okay. I figured I'd hear from you sooner or later," she drawled, smirking when he laughed, a nice, easy, relaxed sound.

"Well, the phone number was a rather unsubtle hint."

Jaz smiled and carefully rotated her left wrist, wincing a little at the ache there. "I don't have the patience for subtlety."

"Good to know." Taking a chance, he reached across and took her left hand in both of his, taking the opportunity to curiously study her; a brief brush of his thumb against her palm found that the skin there felt thicker, but soft. Talons grew in place of fingernails, tips slightly dulled, though he guessed that it was the strength he felt in the tendons and muscles of her hand that made the black claws dangerous.

He felt her eyes on him, and rose his gaze to hers. Her eyes, though a calm green and not that of a wolf gold, were those of an animal. A predator. Intelligent, watchful, and very curious. Slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, Eddie rose a hand to her face, lightly grazing his curled fingers under the shallow cut on her cheek. "Kindred spirits, hm? You know, my Other said the exact same thing."

"Two against one," she teased, lightly leaning her face into his touch, a wolf mannerism that was meant to show trust. "You're in trouble."

Another chuckle left him. How long had it been since he'd laughed? "Looks like it," he agreed, tucking her hair behind her slightly pointed right ear before brushing his fingers across her cheek, feather-light. "We want to see you again."

"I don't think my Pack is going to let me out the door for a few days," she warned. "And I don't like knowing that the ones that are hunting me are bold enough to come after me in daylight."

"We're not too fond of that either. You keep getting hurt around us, Jasmine."

She frowned at the shadow in his eyes. "Eddie, if we're going to work together, there can't be any double standards between us."

He eyed her a little warily. "Double standards?"

"I'm going to get hurt from time to time," she said, letting her wolf rise to the surface so that her eyes glowed gold for a moment. "I'm a wolf, a predator. I'll never shy away from a fight, especially if my Pack is in danger. You can no more expect me to go against my nature than I can expect you to stop protecting people."

"You don't have a symbiote to protect you from bullets," he murmured. "Or to heal you when you get hurt."

A wry, humorless smile tugged at her lips. "I'm made of sterner stuff than a human, Eddie. My arm? Even re-broken, I'll be out of this cast in under two weeks. I've been shot, stabbed, hit by a car... Hell, I've survived things that would horrify you. I know my limits. Trust me to know when I'm close to reaching them."

Eddie sighed. "Alright, fair enough." He hesitated a moment, then, at his Other's gentle prodding, cemented his decision. "There's a place where you and yours would be safe. It's an underground community, under this very Park. We live there, and protect it's population. We could try to put in a good word for you to the Sanctuary's Council if you want. Try to get them to allow you and your Pack to live there."

Jasmine blinked, surprised. She thought she'd seen everything San Francisco had to offer. Why hadn't she ever heard of an underground city before? And the idea of encroaching on another predator's territory made her wolf uneasy. "Honestly, it sounds a little too good to be true," she said after a moment of contemplation.

"We thought so too, when we first saw it. The Council's very selective about who they allow to live there; we only gained a home after saving the Sanctuary from a developer who wanted to destroy it. But the Mayor, Ethan, he owes us a few favors."

"I'll think about it." When he frowned, Jaz huffed a sigh. "My Pack comes first. I'll talk to them about it, really I will. But things are just so... complicated. One of them still thinks I'm insane for trusting you, the others are... even more complicated, and with this bounty on my head... Fuck, I have to be so careful right now, Eddie. They're safe for the moment, but I have no doubts that things will change again, and soon. The money from the fights will only last so long. Maybe... Maybe staying on the move, even if we're not in the safest of places, is the best thing to do. Staying in once place... It makes it easier for predators to corner you."

"They'd have to get through us first," he told her, the symbiote loosing a sub-vocal growl of agreement that made her look at him in surprise. He'd forgotten that she could hear the alien, and made a mental note to dig up some information on wolves before they next met.

At her questioning look, he elaborated on the Other's intent. "You're our friend, Jasmine. We... we have too few friends. We're protective of the ones we have."

"I appreciate it," Jasmine said, meeting his gaze to let him see the truth in her eyes. "I really do. Just... let me figure some things out first. I need to talk with my Pack."

He nodded in understanding. "Want us to websling you home?"

"Nah. No offense, but you're easy to follow," Jaz smirked, rolling her eyes when he gave her a mock-insulted look. "I can lose any followers in the tunnels and side streets. Besides, I think all the times I double back to make sure no one's following me would annoy you if you came along."

"Fair enough." Eddie patted his side, the symbiote extruding the pen and paper the alien was carrying into his hand. It took only a moment to jot down his own cell number, ripping the sheet off the notepad and handing it to her. "If you need anything, call us. Especially if you're in trouble. We'll come help."

"Thank you." Her fingers brushed against his as she accepted the folded note, tucking it into the pocket of her jeans as she rose to her feet, stretching a little. "I'll call in a couple of days. I think it'll be about that long before my Pack will let me out of their sights again."

True enough, the first thing she heard when she walked into the hotel room an hour later was Zoe's voice raising itself over the low roar of the TV. "What in the hells happened to you?"

Gods save her from teenagers. "I tripped," she answered as she closed and locked the door, hiding a wince of pain as she shrugged out of her jacket. There were three unimpressed looks locked onto her when she turned back to them, and Jaz huffed a tired sigh in response. "I did trip. Faceplanted myself in a spectacular fashion."

Angel smirked from where she was propped up on pillows on the far bed. "And your date? How did that go?"

"You're a vicious harpy," Jasmine shot back as she threw herself down onto one of the chairs that encircled a small table, idly massaging her left shoulder. "It went fine. All we did was go over maps of the tunnels. ...And beat up a few bounty hunters."

Catalina grinned and started signing the opening lyrics of 'Can You Feel The Love Tonight', ducking behind Zoe for cover when Jaz leveled a violent glare at her.

"Bounty hunters, during the day?" Zee frowned, ignoring the silently giggling teen next to her.

Jasmine avoided her gaze. "Yeah, well... The bounty might've gotten a little higher..."

"How much higher?"

"...'nother hundred thousand."

"Holy shit," Zoe muttered, eyes wide. "When you piss someone off you really piss someone off."

The mutant glared. "Thank. You. Zoe."

"So, what does that mean for us?" Angel asked, one hand dropping to her swollen belly protectively. "If they're going after you during the day..."

"I... I don't know," Jasmine admitted, dropping her gaze from them to stare at the ugly carpeting. "Eddie offered to bring us somewhere safer, some Sanctuary that he protects. I said I'd talk to you all about it."

"You can't seriously expect us to trust Venom," Zoe scowled.

"I trust him."

Zee shook her head in disbelief. "That's what worries me. He's a monster, Jaz."

"And I'm not?"

"What? No!"

Cat huffed. -Why can't you trust Jasmine's word that he's safe? I know what he's done, I've read the same newspapers. If Jaz says he's okay, then that's good enough for me.-

Zoe snorted.

"He kills to protect," Jasmine said, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees. "To keep those in his territory safe. He's a predator, yes, but he's not some mindless killer."

"He's dangerous."

A wry chuckle left the mutant. "So am I."

"This is getting us nowhere," Angel announced, when it looked like Zoe was going to start arguing again. "Look, Zee, if Jasmine says he's safe, then I trust her. I also trust her to kick his ass if he does anything even remotely threatening. Right?"

Jaz smirked. "Right."

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tbc

Yes, It's been almost two years since I updated this. I was bummed by the lack of interest. I'm still bummed, but what the hell. I have a huge amount of stuff written, I just have to put everything in order.

Yes, it's a dialogue chapter. I need to get these fools into the right place to get back to some action. Plus character building through dialogue is fun. ^_^