EDDIE

My ears drummed with the loud sniffles of Laura's pleading. She was jumbling her sentences as Stark coerced her to let go and I forgot all about my hold on Tel-Kar's throat, rising to my feet. My eyes went unfocused and my hand pressing the ear-piece tightly. Stark had commissioned another one of his metal suit to his aid but it was taking longer than average to come. That was when my panicking began.

Save her!

As if M'lanz sensed the shortcoming in me, she nodded her head to the exit tunnel in assurance. 'Go. We have Tel-Kar.'

With all the conviction I'd gathered, Venom's tendrils had taken over my bodily suit and allowing me to crawl through the long tunnels in an inhumane speed. In mere seconds, my symbiote substance clad hands had clawed their way through the tube upwards, leaving loud roars of terror to announce his entrance.

'Wilson, her comms' are out!'

'I'm going in. Spidey, cover me,' This voice belonged someone I just couldn't lay a finger on. He didn't sound like anybody I knew and met. Meanwhile, Peter had smacked on his mask, using his webs to swing himself to one of the buildings.

As we skidded past the grassy terrain in front of the factory, everyone's eyes had averted to the scene occurring above. A few soldiers lay unmoving in the ground and others lay with all their fight lost in them. 

'Stay down, son,' Fury protested as Venom's lips twisted into a grimace. All I could think was, how the hell did he get here so fast? He had a blaster pointed at us to contain our movements so I stayed down, Venom retreating back into me. 

And finally, I laid my eyes on her.

Laura's body was limp as she fell motionlessly and racing to the ground. She was going by fast but somehow, the time seemed suspended. As if she were waiting for the imminent. And all of a sudden, I was alarmed like never before. This was a different alarm - the type that sends your heart into overdrive and your breathing rate hikes to a level you knew doesn't exist. The world is spinning and so was she.

From out of nowhere, an informal dark-skinned man with crimson goggles over his eyes and a metal jet-pack with wings shaped like a bird's. Beside him, I spotted a tiny drone which seemed to circle Laura's swinging body and guarding the man's sixes.

My heart skipped a beat when the man caught her arm and adjusting her body to his to arrest her momentum. His arms supported her head and the other at the crook of her thighs and at that moment, she looked vulnerable and fragile. I knew she was anything but.

Dead curls of once voluminous hair had stuck to her neck and the pale skin stretching unnaturally over her bones. I couldn't help but feel responsible for the entire mess.

If I could've kept Venom a secret from her a little longer. If I could've not given into my feelings and pounded at her door at one in the morning to tell I love her. All this drama could have been avoided if it weren't for me.

The soldier-like persona landed with a whiplash of air and breaking my thoughts, the mechanical wings clipping back into his jet-pack suit. His arms were bound tightly around her unconscious body, my legs immediate on their action to get her back. 

'She's fine, Stark. Have you got eyes on the weapon?'

Stark sounded breathless. 'It's away from the atmosphere. Ready to disengage on your word, Fury.'

Fury answered into the comms. 'Blow that bitch up.'

I didn't focus on the blast since it would be unnoticed by the normal human. The faint sonic boom made the ground rattle the lightest, strange blue ring of smoke forthcoming after the amber flames a thousand kilometers away from us. There was dim resonation as the soldier set his eyes on me, raising his brows. 

'Your girl?'

Our girl.

I swallowed hard, finding it hard to speak. Laura was so tiny in his hands and that frightened me further. Her skin was pallid and purple from the fear of the fall, her eyes sunken in too deep.

'Yeah.'

'Tough one. Gotta love 'em anyway,' he commented with a sigh and passed her onto a stretcher with the SHIELD paramedics on the scene. Before I followed them out, the man introduced himself.

'Sam Wilson aka. Falcon' he said with a cheeky grin. He pointed his finger in realization. 'Eddie Brock?'

Aka. Venom.

'That's me and no aka's,' I said and shook his hand tightly. 'I'll uh, see you around.'

But we are Venom!

'Yeah, go see your girl. Still got debrief.'

I ignored Venom in my head. I walked back to the rescue scene where Laura had mysteriously awoken from her trance, her eyes showcasing anger as the medics around her busied her with shots to the arm. She searched the masses for someone and lightened when the found them. The bitter suffering that was tasteless in my tongue died when I saw that smile.

Laura was Laura about the situation. She was relieved and satisfied, no tears leaving her reddened brown eyes and smiling as if she had seen heaven. Something that a vice grip over my heart vanished when she swept up to her feet fluidly and made her way to me. She shot lethal glares to anyone who tried to come between her path and soon reached me in a few strides.

I didn't waste time bringing her to my chest and breathing her familiar scent in deeply. Her arms wrapped around me instinctively, rubbing my back soothingly. I could feel hear her heart racing miles per hour, probably from the fall, her fingers shaking with the adrenaline rush.

'Hey,' she said softly into my neck, opting to ignore her trembling self. 'You okay?'

I pressed my nose into her dark hair, chuckling. She was something else, indeed. 'You dropped ten thousand feet and I'm okay?'

I could hear her roll her eyes. 'I'm assuming you are but I'm great, thanks.'

Behind me, we heard the loud clearing of a throat before I could reply. Laura broke apart first, still holding my chest as she huffed at the sight of Tony. Tony nodded at me after shooting Laura a smirk.

'He's coming up. The Skrull woman said something about the symbiote acting up.'

Laura piped up, flustered. Obviously, she would be worried. It was her claimed symbiote and it probably knew more than she knew about herself. 'What's wrong with Sin?'

'You named that thing?' Tony scoffed. 'Since when was the living Jell-O up for adoption?'

I spoke up for her with a short laugh at his play on words. 'They have minds like us. When they bond to the host, they connect with you on an emotional and physical level.'

'Ah, symbiote behavior is not my forte.'

Ahead of us, the tubular opening was filled with painful grunts as two SHIELD agents brought in a metal cuffed Tel-Kar and another holding a barrel-shaped device that resembled the symbiote closure back in Keith's lab. Which meant that Laura was not going to get her symbiote back.

As if she knew what I was thinking, she responded. 'It's fine. He'll be safer anyways.'

'I could talk them through if you want.'

'No,' she said stubbornly. 'I mean, it felt good but I can't deal with the power. It's irrelevant to me.'

'Whatever you say, doll.'

 M'lanz followed close by, her long weapon prodding into Tel-Kar's back and making him hiss with every movement. The tip of her harlberd gleamed a bright green, sparking his skin if the alien moved out of line. His skin had returned to the same pale colored human skin, his vicious cerulean eyes set on Laura. I grappled her hips harder.

Let's snap his neck where he stands.

'No more violence, V. Not tonight.'

He deserves it.

'I know. SHIELD will take care of it, okay? Let's stay out of this.'

I was content when Venom silently retreated into the depths of my mind and let me think for myself. Laura was stone-faced as she glanced at the Kree soldier. And then I knew, she could handle this herself.

Tel-Kar cast her a glare, skidding in his steps. The fight was evident in him as she struggled against the cuffs that looked like they were designed for rip-off villains like him. 'You.'

Laura took a threatening step forward, leaving my arms. 'You lost, Malik. Now you're going to where you deserve.'

'I never lose. This isn't over.'

'All you bad guys are no different. No signature moves and so predictable,' she drawled off, pursing her lips and waved sadly. 'But, I'll take it.'

With that, Tel-Kar was loaded into one of SHIELD's prison-cage systems and tying him down to a steel bound chair and locking it down with a large latch. An agent tapped it twice, the truck taking off back to headquarters.

'I should be arresting you, Miss Sharp. For helping a vigilante alien break out of a high-security prison to capture another.'

I wasn't surprised to see Fury lurking around behind us to watch the scene unfold. Laura slyly grinned at Fury, wrapping the limply hanging hospital blanket around her tightly. 

'But, I was of assistance to the team. My instinctive actions were necessary.'

'Which is why I'm letting you off the hook,' he said with a gracious nod. 'Hopefully, we'll meet again and under better circumstances.'

Laura didn't answer back, leaving his comment unacknowledged. Fury caught on to this, nodding his head back at me and moving further into a nearby quinjet. Tony took this as a chance to approach the two of us.

'So, you two have plans or catch the next flight home? Queens has got some brilliant burgers.'

My arm around her waist tweaked her a bit, asking her input. She grinned mischievously up at me, narrowing her eyes. 'Mr. Brock has a promise to uphold. Then, yes. Home.'

Tony sighed dramatically. 'I'm shocked to be saying this but I will miss having two snarky journalists around here.'

'You don't see any more of those,' I added dryly.

'I've still got my means to get you,' Tony said pointedly as if it were meant for the woman on my side. 'I'm not letting you two go that easy.'

'Mr. Stark's right.'

The small, web-slinging superhero had indulged into our private conversation and I saw Laura roll her eyes as if she had this coming. His eyes were gleaming with a fathomless generosity as he simpered at the brunette.

'I would love to take you around town, Miss Sharp.'

Laura groaned like she was trying to hold herself back from something. 'For the last time, it's Laura! I want to crush you with the biggest hug right now, Pete.'

'She's like another Aunt May,' Peter whispered up to me. Laura paid no heed to his words, curling her hands around the young superhero's shoulders and fitting his head under her neck. Peter coughed when she released him reluctantly and mussed his locks.

'I'd love that too, kid. But, I've got job-hunting,' she sighed regretfully. I felt bad for Laura at that moment. So many things were hurled at her at once and more things were yet to come when she got back home. The stay had been longer than expected and her position for the internship could've gone void. I decided to put a full stop on those aggressive thoughts and direct on the present.

'No, you don't,' Tony interrupted. 'JARVIS just emailed your boss. They've agreed to prolong your stay. And, I'm pretty sure Barnum has a thing for you.'

Laura was at loss of words while I was internally burning at the sound of Barnum. That bastard just didn't know when to give up 

'That's uh, very kind of you,' she spoke softly. They shared a long glance and I cut in between the tension because Tony Stark was taking it way too far. Laura had some big-time explaining to do.

'Face it, Sharp. I've clearly grown a soft spot for you.'

Laura grew perturbed all of a sudden, tugging at the seams of her shirt. She avoided eye-contact with him and smiled at the ground. She managed to choke out a few words. 'It's all part of the charm, I guess.'

A long beat passed and the silence grew awkward. Peter was the first to leave after clearing his throat and announcing his exit. Tony followed suit, shooting us both a two finger salute. 

Using our privacy as my upper hand, I trapped her waist between my arms. She responded with a surprised laugh, shaking the hair from her eyes and meeting mine.

'Someone's impatient.'

I scoffed. 'We've got a day more of no-nonsense. I'm going to make the most of it. Starting now.'

I leaned forward to pepper secretive kisses over her temple and she shoved my face away with a breathy chuckle. 'Easy for you to say.'

'Why is that?'

'Because you don't love me as I do.'

'Oh,' I drew my eyebrows together with a pouted smile. She was smooth. 'That's a new one. And, it's supposed to get me in bed?'

'Definitely.'

I tucked my tongue in cheek, convinced that I'd got her attention on me. Her eyes wandered over my face but little did I know her mind was anywhere but.

'Well, it's working.'

[ w/n: hey loves! wrapped up! I know we've still got no insight into M'lanz's ending but I feel like she was introduced out of nowhere by Laura so Laura should talk about this one. We have an epilogue left which I finished (clap clap) and posting soon! let me know what you think about this one! ]