You think it's done? Oh this fic hasn't comic book the way it comic booked after you read this chapter. (I don't know if y'all will be happy over this but I'm just keeping up with the theme!)

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SHADOWS OF WINTER

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The chill of early September in New York had started to creep in, a gentle reminder that the season of winter will soon embrace the city. The leaves in the Brooklyn cemetery rustled with a crispness that only came with the changing seasons and the afternoon breeze carried a faint metallic scent of cold.

The weather wasn't quite frigid yet, but Czarina is already covered in multiple layers of clothing. Turns out one can be sensitive to the city cold despite being raised in the Ural Mountains of Siberia.

She pulled her coat tighter around her shoulders as she stood before the twin graves.

Natasha Romanoff. Her mother's name etched into the smooth stone, the letters gleaming faintly under the yellow overcast sky. It was still surreal sometimes to see her death written in such permanence. Next to her stood another grave, simpler but equally heavy in its meaning and grief. Levi Romanoff-Barnes.

Czarina let out a shaky breath. She sits down with legs crossed on the newly trimmed grass next to the graves, one hand holding a medium sized easel she'd set up beside her. Once comfortable enough the blonde girl takes out another easel from her shoulder bag.

An almost-finished piece splashed on it: a portrait painting of her brother, captured mid-laugh. It's from one of the Avengers parties around 2015, it was among the albums that Bruce gave them on one of his visits. Levi's expression is brighter than the gloomy weather around Czarina.

She spent weeks on it, pouring every memory and emotion into each stroke. Creating art was something she never would've imagined herself doing months ago. But these days, it has become her escape, along with the habitual birdwatching.

The girl moved a little closer by Natasha's grave to place the smaller painting she finished earlier. It's a delicate rendition of her mother's looks, with hints of simple but vibrant red roses.

"Hey, Mom. Hey Liev," Czarina says softly, her voice nearly carried away by the wind. The word mom still feels heavy on her throat. She wishes she is able to say that more often.

"I, uh... I've been trying to keep busy. Picked up painting. Turns out, I'm not half bad at it." She chuckled lightly, her tone bittersweet.

It has been some time since the fiasco over the Flagsmashers and moving away from the temporary life she had at Boston.

Living with her father in their Brooklyn apartment wasn't the easiest adjustment, but it had become home in its own strange way. They were learning each other's quirks, sharing quiet moments, and even falling into some cycle of a routine. She smiled faintly at the thought. The chaos began to settle. Her mind feels like hers again with the nightmares fading and her heart rarely feeling like it's about to explode from her chest.

"Dad's been... Dad," she continued, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. "Still checking on me constantly, but I think he's finally starting to believe I'm okay." She hesitated. "I think I'm starting to believe it too."

The wind stirred around her and she glanced over her shoulder instinctively. Nothing but the swaying treeline and rows of solemn stones.

"I've been trying to keep in touch with everyone, Doctor Alice says it's good in moderation. As long as I don't feel so overwhelmed." Czarina begins to trace the faint base lines of the painting with her damp brush. "You know, you'd like that woman, Mom."

Czarina finds the idea of her mom and her therapist bonding with each other quite amusing.

She went on to talk as she paints but in a lowered voice, as if speaking any louder would disturb the peace of the cemetery. "Sam drops by sometimes to make sure his super soldiers are not planning a rebellion coup or something." Czarina chuckles a bit from the dark joke, a callback from her assumption of the reason why the US government separated Bucky and her once their pardon was given.

"Still talking to Ally and Hazel from Boston... Though I think they still don't quite believe half of what I've told them."

She misses her girls. And she can't help but wish that Natasha and Levi are still both around to finally make meaningful connections. Czarina exhales deeply before continuing her speech.

"And Joaquin... well, still a friend of mine, I think. He still keeps calling. We haven't made it to Vegas yet, but he keeps saying we'll make it happen."

The young Barnes' lips quirks upward at the thought of Joaquin. The young soldier has an endless optimism, which is in contrast to her own guarded nature. But she welcomes it nonetheless. It's good to try out new things.

What would Levi think of Joaquin? She wonders of her big brother's opinion on a guy she thinks she might be liking a little too much for her own good. Czarina remembers Levi's attitude back when they were at the Red Room's guidance. He'll ward off any boy, even his mates from the Winter Soldier program, that comes close to her.

If she remembers correctly he had broken many bones of another guy for simply taking notice of Czarina.

What will he think of sweet Joaquin? Will he be trusting of him? Most of all, will he approve of the man's company with Czarina.

The girl laughs a little in such a bittersweet manner. Her brush strokes have almost completed the bright smile of Levi on the painting.

She misses him so much. She misses her big brother. The mirror of his soul. It feels like no matter how fast she can run she can never seem to reach him and stay longer together. She lost him again and again.

And this time it's permanent.

The girl stared at the half done painting of Levi with tears in her eyes.

For a moment, she sat stood there, lost in the sound of the wind and the weight of her thoughts. Czarina wipes her eyes. Then, that sensation prickled at the back of her neck again. The unmistakable feeling of being watched.

Her body tensed, instincts kicking in. Her hand dropped to her side where her Widow's electric bracelet was concealed, beneath the long sleeves of her coat. Slowly, she scanned the cemetery, her gaze darting between the trees lining the edges of the graveyard.

At first she didn't see anyone, but the feeling wouldn't go away. She slipped her other hand under her sleeve and activated the bracelet with a faint hum of electricity.

"Whoever's out there," she called, her voice sharp and commanding, "you've got about three seconds to show yourself before I make you regret it."

For a moment, there was only silence. Czarina slowly creeps up to the treeline where she can sense some movement. And she's close enough, with a calculated gesture she presses her widow bracelet. It shot out a volt of red electricity and it glowed on the shadows of the trees. Czarina's eyes widened. That just confirms someone's there.

She prepares to make another attack, perhaps this time in a close range with her knife. Then there were grunts followed by a figure stumbling out, hands raised in a gesture of surrender.

"Okay, okay! No need to fry me again," the man said, his voice tinged with exasperation and a trace of pain. He was medium built, scruffy, with a leather jacket that had seen better days.

Czarina didn't lower her guard. "Who are you? And why are you sneaking around here?"

The man winces, rubbing his shoulder. The hit of the widow's bite is still obvious. "Name's Eddie. Eddie Brock. Look, I wasn't trying to sneak around, okay? This is just... kind of hard to explain."

"Try me."

Eddie opened his mouth, then closed it again, clearly struggling to find the right words. Then, another voice cut in, a deep, guttural growl that seemed to come from nowhere.

"She's not going to believe you, Eddie."

Czarina is not someone to get easily startled. She's a widow and supersoldier for god's sake. She's seen worse than a disheveled looking guy. But at that moment she learns what it feels to be truly taken aback. Her eyes grew large from seeing something black and viscous ripple along Eddie's neck, momentarily forming a face with glowing white eyes and a sharp-toothed grin.

"What the fuck is that?!" Czarina takes a step back, her bracelet sparking as she prepares to attack again.

She saw many crazy scenes back at Wakanda. Thanos, his alien army, the Black Order. But this one takes that cake. This doesn't look extraterrestrial... this looks demonic of some sort.

"Wait, wait!" Eddie quickly cuts off, holding up his hands. "That's... that's Venom. He's, uh... part of me."

"Part of you?" Czarina repeats the man's words with strong disgust. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Eddie sighs, glancing around nervously before stepping closer. "Look, I'm not from around here. I mean, like... this universe. One minute, I'm on some beach minding my own business, and the next, I'm... here. And Venom—"

"That would be me," the voice interrupts to introduce itself.

"Yeah, thanks for the clarification," Eddie mutters. "Anyway, he's been sensing something. A... presence. Something like him. That's why we're here."

This time it's Czarina who's failing to say anything. She's terrified, shocked and appalled at the same time. Her adrenaline hasn't been this high since fighting against the Flagsmashers. It took a few seconds before she could reply.

"You're saying there's another one of... whatever he is, and it led you here? To this cemetery?" Her expression is still aghast.

"Exactly," Eddie nods in confirmation. "Venom's got this... hive mind thing with other symbiotes. He can sense them, and there's definitely one here. Or... there was."

Czarina's grip on her bracelet tightens, her gaze flickering toward her brother's grave. "Well, you're wrong. There's nothing here but me... and graves."

Venom's face appears again, this time twisting out of Eddie's shoulder to stare directly at the blonde girl. "We are not wrong." The creature says with such certainty. His voice sent a shiver down her spine. "The presence is strong here. Faint, but strong."

Before she could respond, Venom extended a tendril of black ooze, slithering toward the grave of her twin brother. She froze, her heart pounding as she watched it linger there, as if searching for something.

"Stop that," she snaps at the symbiote, her voice sharp.

Venom retracted the tendril but didn't back down. "This is where the trail ends," he simply declares.

Czarina stared at him, her mind and soul now at unease. Her chest threatens to explode. What does this mean? Why is there a trail of an alien lifeform on her brother's death? The girl's head begins to recount the alarming details about Levi's late life. The mysterious circumstances of his death, the unclear autopsy reports, the vagueness of the reason for his disease...

Fuck. Fuck.

Eddie senses the panic consuming the girl. His face contorted in an expression of worry. The man's eyes begin to scan the place around them. "That painting... is that him?" He pointed at the unfinished easel laying on the ground.

Czarina nods to the canvas, her stomach twisting. "Yeah. Why?"

"Because we've seen him before," Eddie reveals as he picks up the painting, his tone heavy. "In the hive mind. When we landed in this universe, we saw flashes of other symbiotes, other connections. And him... he was one of them."

Czarina takes a step back, her legs suddenly feeling unsteady. "That's not possible." She says, though her voice lacked conviction. Maybe that was another version of him. Another Levi from some multiverse that they are talking about. Or maybe this guy is just some crazy person or someone from another dangerous organization trying to trick her.

Venom tilts his head, his grin unsettling. "Possible or not, it is true." The creature hovers on Eddie's shoulder to look at the painting and then he glances back at the girl. "He looks older on the mindhive, though. With a bad scar on his left cheek."

She felt like a bucket of ice was dumped on her.

A scarring on the left cheek post rigor mortis due to accidental incision.

The words written on the autopsy replays on Czarina's mind. No one knows that. Only the doctors present during Levi's death and Natasha perhaps. The autopsy reports are hidden so well that it was sheer luck that Nadine was able to access it and hand it to Czarina.

How the hell does an alien creature know that?

The weight of their words settled over Czarina like a storm cloud, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. If what they were saying was true, then what does that mean for Levi? For his death? For everything she knew about what happened to him after the Blip?

Eddie took a cautious step closer, his expression softening. "Look, I don't know what this means either. But Venom and I... we're not here to hurt anyone. We're just trying to figure this out, same as you."

Czarina didn't respond, her gaze fixed on her brother's grave. Her thoughts raced, pieces of a puzzle she didn't even know existed falling into place in ways she couldn't yet understand.

Finally, she looked back at Eddie and Venom, her jaw set. "If you're lying, I'll make you regret it," she said quietly but with conviction. "I don't care if you have some fucking alien friend. I'll fry him too."

She can swear hearing Venom grunts in disapproval.

Eddie holds up his hands again. "Noted."

For now, it was all she could do to keep herself together. But the weight of their revelation threatens to pull her under. Winter was coming, but for Czarina, the chill had already settled deep into her bones.