Chapter 18: Reconciliation

In which apologies are made and burnt bridges are rebuilt.

Eddie silently glared at the phone in front of him. He did not want to call Parker, but swinging through the city hoping to just run into him would've taken forever.

And they couldn't keep him out of the loop. It was their lack of cooperation that had allowed Inferno to win the battle. They couldn't let this happen again.

He sighed. Might as well get this over with.

Eddie dialed the phone number that V remembered from months ago and waited.

"Hello?" a sweet voice of Parker's elderly aunt answered after several rings.

"Hi. Can I speak to Peter?" Eddie asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry. He isn't home yet."

Eddie sighed. Of course. "Thanks anyway. When he comes home, can you tell him that his… friend… Eddie wanted to meet up with him?

"Oh, I remember you! You're his friend from the Daily Bugle, right?" May asked.

Eddie winced, "I don't work there anymore, but yeah, that's me."

"…Sometimes I wish that Peter didn't work there either," May sighed. "This job sends him to the worst of places! It isn't worth putting his life in danger!"

Eddie should've probably hung up already, but May sounded so distressed… "Are you alright? Did something happen?"

"Have you heard what happened at Stark Industries today? Those monsters attacking out of nowhere… And Peter had been right there! …Thank god he's alright. But he called me and said that he was going to stay there and take more photos! Oh, what if something happens to him? What if those monsters are still around? Or that horrible Spider-Man?"

…Horrible Spider-Man?

"She hates him," V whispered in his mind.

"Why? He has never done anything to her."

"She believes the media."

Three guesses which media that was…

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Eddie tried to reassure. "The news said that the… monsters… have already left. I'm sure he'll be back in no time."

He briefly wondered if he should say something about Spider-Man, but Eddie doubted he would be able to defend him when he had only recently buried the hatchet himself. (Although the irony certainly didn't escape him.)

"But I really should run now," Eddie continued. He wanted this conversation to be over.

"Oh, I'm sorry for taking up your time," May apologized. "Thank you for listening to an old woman ramble."

…Great. Now Eddie felt like an asshole for trying to ditch her.

"It's fine! I– uh– I'm glad it helped? Bye!"

Eddie quickly slammed down the phone headset, hanging up. This was one hell of an awkward conversation.

"May is like a mother to him. It has always been so hard for Peter to know that no matter how much she loved him… she hated Spider-Man just as strongly."

Eddie knew what it was like to be hated by his own family. But this kind of genuine love mixed with hate seemed almost worse. How could Parker stand it?

"Parker's home life is a mess," Eddie finally said.

V silently agreed.

Cameron slowly rubbed his hands together. The new skin on his left arm felt a little too smooth and too sensitive, but there wasn't a single trace of the burns left.

"I'm sorry it took me so long to fix you," Carrie apologized quietly.

"Carrie, it's not your fault. You've been hurt pretty badly too."

"My parent would've healed you faster."

"V is way older than you are," Cameron replied, stroking their soft tendrils wrapped around his neck. "It's not fair to compare yourself to them. And they wouldn't have been able to heal me yesterday. You did."

Carrie didn't respond, but Cameron could feel the churning guilt and anxiety they radiated starting to fade away.

Now, if only Cameron could banish his own guilt so easily… Because if he hadn't been so inexperienced, if he actually knew what he was doing…

"Parker isn't home yet," Eddie announced, his voice snapping Cameron out of his thoughts.

"Call him again later, because I highly doubt that War Machine will be easier to reach," Leslie said and gestured at the TV which was showing live footage from the Stark Industries headquarters. "It's a circus out there."

Eddie grimaced, "If I can't reach Parker, we might have to brave it. This information is too important to keep to ourselves."

Leslie winced, but nodded in agreement, "Learned that the hard way. But we still have time, so let's wait another hour or so. If Spider-Man isn't back home by that time, we'll go look for War Machine." She glared at the screen, "And hopefully, there will be less reporters on the scene."

"I wouldn't bet on it," Eddie said pessimistically. "Consider it my professional opinion. But fine. We'll wait."

Cameron raked his fingers through his hair and made a snap decision, "In that case, we're going outside for a bit."

According to Madame Web, both Mordo and Inferno had better things to do than hunt them down, so they should be relatively safe until tomorrow.

Eddie frowned, "Where are you going? And how far?"

Cameron placatingly raised his hands, "We'll just be on the roof. I kinda want to experiment a little with our powers."

They might've lacked Venom's durability, but their ability to shapeshift was much better. They should explore it more.

"Do you want us to give you some pointers?" V asked.

"Uh… Maybe later. Carrie already has some of your memories, so…"

"You just don't want us to see you faceplant into the ground," Leslie snickered.

Cameron blushed, "…Maybe?"

Eddie sighed, "Fine. But don't go far, and if anything happens–"

"If anything happens, we'll yell for help," Cameron promised.

Since it was still daylight, in order to make sure that no one would notice them, Cameron didn't climb through the window, even though it would've been faster. Instead, he left his apartment normally, found a quiet corner to transform in, then backtracked across the rooftops.

Jumping between buildings was exhilarating, and Cameron found his mood starting to improve. He landed on the roof of his apartment building, leaving claw marks in the concrete, and laughed breathlessly, "This will never stop being fun!"

He crouched down on the edge of the roof and raised his right arm, shifting its surface to split off several tendrils on his wrist and forearm. "Wanna test how far we can reach, Carrie?"

They radiated agreement, but also a faint sense of confusion, "Why do you keep using your arms? It doesn't improve our reach much." Cameron could feel them starting to shift on his back and shoulders, forming more tendrils. "Isn't it better to leave your hands free in a fight?"

…Huh. That was a good point, actually.

"I guess it's just an instinct for a human to use their hands to grab something. But you're right: we're not limited to just our arms. We can have as many limbs as we want!"

Taking a page out of Doc Ock's book, they formed four long sturdy tentacles in the middle of their back, though instead of claws, they were tipped with sharp serrated spikes.

Cameron arched one of the tentacles over his shoulder and ran his thumb over the jagged spike. It was almost as long as his hand. "Jeez, Carrie… We're going to destroy the roof like this. We still live here, you know."

Which also meant that they should probably postpone most of their experiments. Cameron wanted to see which weapons Carrie would be able to create, but it would be better to wait until they were someplace where they could actually use those weapons without breaking anything important.

The spikes melted away and the tendrils shifted, their tips splitting into something resembling sticky spiderwebs. Carrie shuddered slightly, radiating reluctance. "It won't be as effective for anchoring."

A recent memory rose to the surface: slipping off the walls when the heat became too much, losing their grip on the ceiling when Dr. Kafka startled them…

Cameron convulsively clutched his left arm, his good mood evaporating. He had tried to joke around and pretend that he wasn't bothered by his brush with death (his second brush with death in just as many days), but it had been terrifying.

He remembered that split-second realization that they were too slow to dodge the flames. He remembered the pain and the sound of their own screams. The fire had hurt so badly…

But at least Cameron had quickly lost consciousness and Carrie had blocked the pain afterwards.

Carrie themself didn't get the same luxury. They were the one who got hurt the most.

All because Cameron wanted to play hero.

"It wasn't just your decision. Dr. Kafka would've died if we didn't interfere. And my parent has already told you: if we didn't get involved, everything would've been a lot worse."

"That's not enough, Carrie. I can't keep messing up like this when there are lives at stake! I have to do better."

"We have to do better," Carrie corrected, wrapping their tentacles around him in a makeshift hug.

Cameron laughed bitterly, "No, Carrie. I. Because it was my fault, not yours. Don't you see? It was the same damn thing as when we first met! I barged into a situation I knew nothing about and nearly got myself killed! I tried to help, but ended up needing to be rescued instead. Leslie and V didn't even need any help!"

"Yes, they did! They were weakened and you saved them from being shot! And if you didn't interfere, we never would've bonded!"

"…Maybe that would've been a good thing. Maybe you would've been better off with a different host."

"No!" Carrie shouted with sudden vehemence. Cameron nearly flinched at how loud they felt. "I don't want a different host! I don't care if you made mistakes! I made them too! But you accept me and you care about me… You care about everyone, because that's just who you are and I love you!"

"Carrie…"

"We knew this would be dangerous, but we still decided to help, and we saved people! So I'm not gonna give up just because we messed up this one time!"

For a moment, Cameron didn't know how to respond, too choked-up with emotion to find proper words. Instead, he opened his mind and showed Carrie how much their stubborn support meant to him, how grateful he was…

How much he loved them.

"We'll get through this, Cam," Carrie promised. "Together."

"Together."

Peter had been so incensed at the idea of allying with Venom before, he hadn't even realized that he had no real way to contact them. Thankfully, Madame Web had foreseen it, and one of the visions she had shown him held the route to Cameron's apartment.

So that particular problem was solved. Another one remained.

What the hell was Peter even supposed to say when he saw Venom again?

Fortunately, it wasn't Venom he had run into first. Peter quietly sighed in relief when he saw the familiar mottled red figure: Carnage was the least likely to throw the first punch.

He landed behind them on the roof of what Peter was pretty sure was their apartment building and called out, "Hey, long time no see!"

Carnage jumped and whirled around with a startled squawk. Their fingers lengthened into bladed claws and the tentacles growing from their back bristled with jagged spikes.

Peter raised his hands, "Easy there, Freddy Krueger. It's just me."

"Spider-Man?" Carnage asked incredulously as the sharp bits melted away. "We've been trying to contact you!"

Peter spread his arms, "Well, here I am."

"Oh, man… We have so much to tell you! Venom found out some really important information about Inferno and–" They paused and narrowed their eyes in suspicion. "Wait a minute… What are you doing here? How did you even find us?"

"Madame Web showed me the way," Peter admitted.

Their shoulders slumped and their voice shifted to almost-human. "Did she also show you who I am?"

"Sorry, but yes. Cameron, right?"

The symbiote peeled back from his face, revealing his exasperated but resigned expression, "Well, we know your identity, so I guess that's fair… But Leslie might still try to shoot you, so heads up on that."

Peter chuckled ruefully, "Can't say I would blame her even if she did. I've been a judgmental ass. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions and refusing to listen."

Cameron shrugged awkwardly, "Well… we didn't make it easy for you either. I'm sorry too, I shouldn't have gotten on your case like that. You didn't have any reason to trust us, and you weren't that wrong: most Klyntar really are assholes. Carrie and V are the exception, not the rule."

"That's not much of an excuse, since they are also the only Klyntar I've ever met," Peter pointed out.

Cameron smiled weakly, "Hey, as long as you don't try to fight us again – or Venom for that matter – it's all good." He rubbed his left arm, refusing to meet his eyes, "…You weren't the only one who messed up in that fight."

"I think you did pretty good for a newbie," Peter disagreed.

Inferno was far more powerful than many villains Peter had fought before. And considering that his powers hit the main weakness of the symbiotes, both Venom and Carnage held up remarkably well in that fight.

"We still should've done better," Cameron replied morosely. Carrie hissed at him and he reached out to pet their tendrils curled around his neck. "I know, Carrie, I know… We did our best… But it still doesn't feel like enough. There are so many heroes around: Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four… You. How can we ever measure up? Carrie is just a little kid. And me? I'm no one! I'm- I'm just some guy! I got these powers by complete accident, just because I happened to be around when Carrie was born!"

And wasn't that a familiar sentiment?

Peter reached up and pulled the mask off his face. "Do you know how I got my powers?"

Cameron shook his head, clearly confused by the change of topic. "No? Well, Venom probably knows, but they don't like talking about you."

"One day, I went to a demonstration of a neogenic recombinator: a device that could modify the DNA of any living being. I didn't expect that a spider would get caught up in the experiment without anyone noticing. Or that it would bite me, granting me these powers. After all, I was just some guy who happened to be around by complete accident."

Peter put a hand on their shoulder and felt Carrie's soft mass shift a little under his touch, reaching out with curious tendrils. (Just a few hours ago, Peter would've recoiled in fear and disgust, afraid that the symbiote would try to attack or possess him. Now he just smiled and let them curl around his fingers.)

"My uncle had always told me that with great power comes great responsibility. And it doesn't matter who we are or how we got these powers. All that matters is what we do with them. And even if sometimes we make mistakes and wrong choices, it doesn't mean that we give up."

"…Because if we have all this power, we can't just stay back and do nothing, when we can help instead," Cameron whispered.

"And even if we fail, we just have to keep trying," Carrie added through him.

Peter smiled, "Spoken like true heroes."

Leslie had expected Carnage to return through the doors in human form, the same way they had left. Instead, they jumped in through the window fully transformed, even though anyone could've seen them.

"Hey, um… So, before you freak out and start yelling at us, it was totally not our fault," Carnage said, which was not reassuring in the slightest.

Before Leslie could ask what they were talking about, Spider-Man jumped into the room after them, raising his hand in greeting. "Hi."

"What the hell?!" Leslie yelped, scrambling to cover her face. "You brought him here?!"

Venom transformed in a blink of an eye, but they didn't say anything, only tensely stared at Spider-Man.

Carnage raised their hands, "Again: not our fault! He already knew who we are and where to find us, so if you wanna blame someone, blame Madame Web."

Leslie stopped trying to hide her face. Then she marched towards Carnage and slapped them over the head, "How about you give us some warning first?!"

"We did!" they protested with completely undeserved indignation.

"Oh, sure! All of ten seconds!" Leslie hissed back.

She turned to Venom to ask their opinion on this idiocy, but the words died on her tongue.

Both Venom and Spider-Man were frozen in place, staring silently at each other. It was impossible to see their expressions, but Leslie could feel the tension in the air.

…Dammit. Were they going to fight again?

Carnage shifted next to Leslie, coiling a long tendril around her waist and tugging her close. They flexed their claws, looking ready to jump in if things turned violent.

The silence dragged on and on, and Leslie had almost resigned herself to another senseless fight, when Venom and Spider-Man finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

"We're sorry."

And then it was like a dam was broken and the words poured out in a rushed, overlapping mess.

"I didn't even try to understand you–"

"We blamed you for no reason–"

"–I really did ruin your life–"

"–We tried to destroy yours–"

"–I jumped to conclusions–"

"–We thought the worst of you–"

"–And then I refused to listen–"

"–And we just kept making things worse–"

"–And I'm–"

"–We're–"

"–So sorry!"

Even after everything he had seen, it was still hard for Eddie to take responsibility for his actions and admit his mistakes, especially to the one he had wronged so much. He didn't know how long he would've stayed silent, unable to find the right words, but V had always worn their heart on their sleeve, and they gave him the push he needed.

Their combined words tumbled out in a jumbled mess that Spider-Man mirrored with his own hurried apologies. (They had never imagined that Spider-Man would ever apologize to them.)

The kids had quickly left to give them some privacy, and they were grateful for it. It was already hard to put their feelings into words, and they doubted that Parker would've appreciated an audience.

Now it was just the three of them: Eddie, V, and Parker. Former enemies, reluctant allies, victims of each other's mistakes.

It was a long and painful conversation that followed, but when the words had finally dried out and silence reigned once more, when apologies had been spoken and accepted, mistakes acknowledged and forgiven, they found themselves wondering, what they were to each other now.

They didn't know, but to their own surprise, they wanted to find out. The past had been laid to rest and it was time to build something new.

Something better.