i

Abel sniffles, looking pitifully at his reflection.  There’s a dark bruise wrapping around his neck, another darkening the underside of his jaw.  His eyes are rimmed red from unshed tears and his chest aches, it aches so bad he can barely breathe.

He looks like utter shit.

His will to live is shot and his self-esteem has crashed.

He hurts everywhere, hurts in places he didn’t even know he could hurt.

He’s tired.  So, so damned tired.  His knees buckle and he falls with a thud.  He wants to cry, wants to curl up in a ball and disappear.

He’s so weak, so useless, so… unwante d.

The first tear falls.

It rolls down his cheek and stings the cut on his quivering lip before it drips from his chin.

And it’s like a dam breaks because he cries.  He sobs until his throat no longer aches from swallowing back his tears, his hurt.

He sobs until his shoulders shake and he can’t speak, until the sound of his tears splattering against the tiled floor echoes all around.

And that’s when he sees it.

Something red and slimy slipping from the vents.  It curls and twirls, seemingly harmless.  He should be afraid, he should be scared of the unnatural tentacle.  But he’s not.  At least, not at first.

He doesn’t know what possesses him to reach out with a trembling hand, but he does so without thinking.

Cautious and tentative.

The slimy tentacle tickles his fingers before it wraps around his hand and crawls up his wrist.

It constricts his arm, swallows him whole.

He feels trapped, scared, terrified.

His heart begins to pound loudly in his chest, palms sweating from anxiety.

But as fast as the darkness washes over him, it fades.

He stares at his trembling hands, his heart slowing down.

He’s alone… except, he doesn’t feel alone.

It feels as if someone is with him, is inside of him.

Abel scrambles from the bathroom floor and clings on tightly to the porcelain sink.

He watches as the bruises begin to fade, slowly but surely.

“Wha-What?” He stammers.

And suddenly he’s pinned against the stall just across the mirror, a big red mass forming out of thin air.  

No, not from thin air.

It’s manifesting from his

body .

His breath hitches at the sight of the heavy mass, the color of rage and of burning fire.

“Oh god,” he gasps, eyes widening in slight terror.

Blank eyes bore into his eyes, sharp black teeth snap in front of his flushed face, barely a few inches away.

He think he’s going to pass out.

Pathetic

human

, it snarls.

He stops breathing.

That voice, deep and reverberating, is snaking inside his head.  Echoing teasingly.  

A tentacle carefully tilts his chin and exposes the fading bruises in the shape of a hand.  He flinches as it traces the black and blue inked on his skin in curiosity.

Weak human, perfect

meal

.

And just as those sharp teeth snap close, he passes out.

ii

Abel wakes up disoriented and shrouded in darkness.  He feels cold.  Body shivering uncontrollably as he sits up in bed.  His head pounds with an unbearable ache that he swallows through, closing his eyes briefly before taking a deep breath.  He needs to clear his cluttered mind, needs to think.

But he can’t remember.

When his eyes flutter open he looks around the room.  He’s in his bedroom , alone but not really…  alone .  He searches with wide doe eyes, trying to find where that eerie feeling is coming from.  But through the darkness he finds nothing, no one.

Did you forget already? A throaty voice asks almost tauntingly.

A shiver crawls up his spine, racing heart only beating faster.

“Who are you?” Abel asks, voice trembling.

He vaguely remembers the feeling of being taken over, of being swallowed whole.  It was a feeling of warmth, but so much hurt and hate crashing over him, intensifying his feelings and fears.

Who am I? The voice repeats.

Abel clutches his head, whimpering in distress.  

Why?  

Why?

The voice is so loud, so real.  But there’s no one there, no one in his room.  It’s as if the voice is inside his head, inside of him.

Something slimy wraps around his ankle before a red mass appears.

He stares at it with wide horrified eyes, heart getting lodged in his throat in terror.

He can’t scream, can’t move as sharp teeth appear inches before his paling face.

“Wha-What are you?” He chokes, breathing erratically.

It smiles, long tongue slithering and running over those dangerously sharp teeth.  Those teeth that only get closer and closer to him.

Abel cowers back as he holds his breath, until his back hits the wall his bed is pressed against.  He stops breathing, warmth engulfing his body.

Suddenly, he’s not in control.

His hands slowly turning red.

He panics.

Breathing coming out fast as he hyperventilates.

He squeezes his eyes shut.

No, no, no!   He begs , please, stop, who-who are you?

It doesn’t answer, not until Abel is stuck in complete darkness, unable to control his own body.  He feels claustrophobic.  There’s not enough air, not enough room.  Tears of fear roll down his cheeks.  He knows this feeling, hates it, loathes it.

He screams.

And then it’s gone.

He’s panting breathless on his bed, his body his own.

He’s shivering and trembling, lips quivering as he sobs.

He still can’t breathe, still can’t get out of the feeling of being trapped.

He curls up in bed, mind slowly becoming numb as he slowly succumbs to exhaustion.

A soft voice whispers in his ear, warm breath tickling his skin.

I am Carnage , it says.

iii

Abel wasn’t feeling well.

Aside from slowly losing his mind, he began to grow weak. 

He’s constantly tired, always hungry but quickly losing weight regardless.

He bruises easily now, dark skin becoming darker with patches of blue and green from just a brush of a hand, from just one touch or bump.  Not to mention his head is constantly in the toilet, the bile acid burning the lining of his throat and making him cough up blood when he’s done.

The voice in his head is oddly quiet but it doesn’t make him feel better, not when he gets random pangs of pain throughout his body.  Not when he feels it still there.

He doesn’t know what it is or what it wants.  All he knows is that he wants to sleep and never wake up, coming to the realization that the parasite inside of him is slowly killing him.

But each day he gets up from bed anyway.

He changes to the clothes that no longer fit him and grabs his school bag after drowning in an overly large hoodie.

He trudges to school with his head bowed down and body shivering despite the surprisingly warm weather.

He doesn’t know what it is, but one day something draws his attention.  Breaks his miserable routine.

He looks up.

Across the street he sees a man with light stubble on his cheeks, pink lips drawn into a slight frown.

He doesn’t know why but the thing inside of him gets riled up.

It hurts as it stretches, trying to break free and reach out and attack the man.

He holds it in as best he can.

He stamps down the curiosity and bears through the raging of the parasite, taking the brunt of the attack.

But Abel can’t take any more.

He crumbles under the pain, under the pressure of the growled shouting coming from Carnage who orders him to get up, to attack.

He collapses, holding onto his abdomen as the pain increases and knocks the breath out of his lungs.

Red blood paints his lips as his skin pales to something unhealthily ashen.

And Carnage immediately gets red flags.

Anger slowly turns into concern.

And he barely has enough time to break the human’s fall.

The human who is losing consciousness, slowly dying and shutting down.

Carnage growls in irritation.

Stupid

human

.  Stupid meatsuit.

A small whimpered whine falls from those cold lips.

Carnage rolls his eyes before diving deep inside the human’s body, repairing the damage he, admittedly, caused.

Weak.

And he doesn’t understand how Abel is his one .  His true and perfect host.

He scoffs.

A “perfect” host wouldn’t die so easily.

He feels cheated for finding his host in someone pathetic.

“Help me,” comes another small pained whine, “ please .“

Yet something inside him tugs at that plea, something that makes a fire of anger light inside of him.

How could he ever feel anything other than hunger towards a human?  Towards anything?

After all, humans are weak.

Pathetic.

Sometimes delicious.

Simply a meal.

He could devour Abel whole, eat him, chew him, and spit him out without a thought

And still… he hesitates.

Still he saves him.

A/N: Sorry for not updating as often as my motivation seems to be sapped out of me every end of the year, but I'm back and I hope you're having amazing holidays!

# iv

Abel is more than thankful when the episodes of vomiting and coughing blood finally stop. Now, though, they're replaced with a thirst that can't be quenched and a hunger that can't be satisfied.

He disgusts himself when he sneaks to the kitchen in the middle of the night to stuff himself. But nothing he eats, nothing he drinks, is enough.

And it's on one of those nights in which he tip-toes through his house that he stumbles upon his drunken step-father.

Immediately a tremor of fear runs through him, a wave of confusion  following after. Feelings not entirely his.

He flinches when the man slams down a glass bottle of beer. Staggering to a halt as he stares cross-eyed at Abel.

Abel freezes.

"I knew you little bitch was going through our food," the man slurs, "stuffing your face when you don't deserve it."

He flinches when the man throws something at him

Abel winces as it lands by his head, the glass shattering and small shards digging into the side of his face.  He reaches up with a trembling hand to touch his face, to pull a broken shard out from his skin.  He 
feels 
the blood trickling down his cheek, it almost makes him sick.

But before he can think about sicking up or running to his room, the man throws something else.  He barely has enough time to put his arms up, this time the object hits its mark, bruising his skin as it collides with his forearms.  Next time Carnage returns the favor.

Abel stands frozen as the red slime reaches for the next blow and catches it only to throw it back with a force ten times more than humanly possible.

Though drunk, the man dodges it and it seems that it's enough to sober him up.

"Did you just throw that shit at me boy?" The older man demands.

It isn't Abel who answers though, "
Yes.
"

Abel is engulfed in red.  What feels like his jaw unhinges as he, no, Carnage, lurches forward and grasps the bad man by the front.  Quickly swallowing him whole.

Satisfied, Carnage retreats, red slinking back and revealing smooth albeit bruised skin.

Abel stands in shock before collapsing.  Did he-

Did he just eat his step-father?

He stares at the ground, smashed glass glistening in the cracks of the tiles.  He can't talk, can't breathe.

"John?  John that you?"

Abel looks up with tears glistening in his wide eyes.

His mother stands at the entrance in confused shock, "Abel?  Abel what the hell happened here?  Where's John?"

Abel can't find the words to explain what happened, to confess what he did.  His mouth hangs open but no words come out, no sound aside from a broken sob.

His mother starts shaking in rage, "what did you do, boy?"

She approaches him quickly, her slippers crunching the glass on the floor.  She looks at the mess but her focus, her rage is toward Abel.

"What did you do!" She demands, voice loud and shrill, "Where is John?  What did you do to him you stupid boy!"

Abel flinches when her hand digs into his skin as she shakes him, as she demands answers.

He looks at her with salty tears staining his cheeks, with snot sniffling from his nose, "I'm sorry."

"You're 
sorry?
"

Carnage has half the mind to eat her as well, but Abel stops him.  So he watches as the woman verbally abuses his host, not completely understanding the pangs of guilt and hurt from his host's heart.

And it's only in the confines of his room, after the shouting and screaming was over with, that Abel breaks down.  He sobs into his pillow inconsolably.  Belatedly realizing he's no longer hungry or thirsty, he not starving.

He stands up on wobbly legs and goes to the bathroom where he looks at his reflection in the mirror.

"I hate you," is uttered weakly, throat tight but the words not holding any bite any true hate or bitterness.

Just sadness.

Just exhaustion.

# v

Abel begins having nightmares.

Horrifying nightmares that feel real, too real.  Nightmares that leave him panting, breathless, and covered in a cold sweat.  Nightmares he can almost touch, almost feel, almost 
taste
.

Copper fills his mouth and spills from his lips, salty and with a disgusting taste of irony metal.  The red trickles down his chin and drips onto his shirt, onto his hands and onto the floor.  He's drowsy, a fullness filling him and sating a raging hunger.

He stares at his bare feet, closes his eyes briefly as he feels the rouch surface of concrete scratching at his soles, small pebbles digging into his skin.  His eyes flutter open and he finds splotches of red covering his toes, dry flakes of- of what can only be
 blood
.  He pales, further losing his color when he looks across the ally.  His heart nearly stops, body trembling.

Across the darkness lays a body, unmoving.

His stomach twists in knots.  His legs moving on their own accord as he approaches the unconscious person.

"Hello?" He calls out, voice quivering.

No response.

He gets even closer only to collapse onto his knees when he sees exactly 
why 
there's no response.

"Oh god," he whimpers, "Oh god!"

The person, who is distinguishably a homeless man, lies dead.  Well, 
beheaded
.  But dead is a given.

Carnage appears beside him, long tongue flicking out and licking his razor sharp teeth.  Abel looks up at him, body trembling with fear and disgust as Carnage reaches out and pops a broken finger into his mouth.

Abel vomits, he throws up at the sight only to be scolded.

"
Ungrateful human
," Carnage growls in his ear, "
I

 feed us 

and

 this how you repay us?
"

Abel shakes his head, tears spilling down his cheeks with a mantra of, "no, no, no," on his lips.

Then it's Carnage turning on him, jaw unhinging and sharp teeth wrapping around his neck before he's being engulfed.

He wakes up with a scream on his lip, a scream he muffles quickly with his hand.

He can't breathe, he can't!

No, no, no!

Shut up!

Abel flinches, scrambling back in his bed.  He looks around almost wildly until Carnage manifests before him.

The alien slime snarls at him and Abel keeps replaying that scene from his dream, from his nightmare.  The scene where Carnage eats him alive.

"I'm going to be sick," he whimpers.

Carnage shrinks back, watches as the little human vomits over the side of the bed.  He sobs into his forearm when he's done.  Carnage feels that- that 
thing 
tug at his nonexistent heart again.

He reaches out.  A clawed hand landing on the boy's warm neck.  But Abel is too tired, too weak, to even flinch.

Pathetic human, so weak.

Abel nods, he knows.  He knows he's weak.  He knows he's pathetic.  He 
knows
 he's unwanted.

Carnage frowns.

Carefully he scoops up the human as he completely manifests into a more humanoid version.  His arms are thick and bulging and he can crush anything and anyone if he so wishes.  Abel should be scared, he is, but frankly he's starting not to give a damn.

"No more," he whispers.

Carnage stills.

"No more eating people," Abel says.

And he knows, deep down, he knows those are not just nightmares.

Carnage is killing, is using him to kill, to-

Eat, survive.  Otherwise 

I

 would be killing you more slowly, more painfully.  Or have you forgotten how your body nearly gave out?

Abel shivers.

But Carnage only continues,
 

I've

 been on this 

puny

 planet for months now, have been inhibiting your body for weeks.  

I've

 done my research, 

I

 am aware of what to do and only go 

after

 easy pickings.  Pickings who 

won't

 be missed.

They 

didn't

 deserve it
, Abel thinks.

Carnage scoffs, and Abel forgets that Carnage can read his mind, read him like an open book.

No more
, he begs, 
please
.

Carnage growls, "
T

hat is one request 

I'm

 willing 

to

 

deny

.
"

Abel sobs, muffling his shallow breathing into Carnage's chest.  He looks at his hands, hands mixed with red and he knows he's a killer.

Yet the comfort of Carnage's arms is enough to lull him to sleep.

# vi

The dreams stop.  

The nightmares no longer haunt him.

Instead, Abel is left with a vague feeling of deja vu, of hazy memories that aren't quite his yet are.  He knows Carnage hasn't stopped killing, he 
know
s.  Just as he knows that the monstrous alien has taken the liberty of manipulating him, of distorting his memories and making them nothing but a blur.  Indecipherable blurs that are meant to placate him, to keep the truth at bay.

The feeling of disgust, however, doesn't leave him.  Because his body is being used, because he's a killer. 
But he's tired of arguing with the being inside of him.  Carnage always managing to stop any argument by taking a bite of his liver, proving a point that Abel can't and won't survive if Carnage doesn't do as he wants.

Abel feels selfish, selfish for giving into the pain.  And he chooses to stay awake, to not give in.  Not anymore.

He barely sleeps now, eyes heavy but mind racing.  And he finds out that Carnage doesn't hunt, not every night at least.

Just when he gets hungry.

So, two weeks later finds Abel lolling to sleep only to feel warmth engulf his legs.  He takes off the covers and finds red slime taking control of his body.  He panics until he realizes it's Carnage controlling his movements.

"C?" Abel calls, voice high pitched and scared.

What?
  The symbiote grunts.

"What are you doing? Where are we going?"  He demands, though he knows.

He can feel the building hunger inside.

They walk out the house, Carnage leading them toward a dark alley where they find an old woman scavenging for food in dumpsters.  She looks up when he accidentally kicks a glass bottle.  Carnage completely aware that Abel did it on purpose.

"What do you want?" The old woman demands, voice raspy as if she were a former smoker.

Abel doesn't answer, suddenly tongue tied.  He turns to Carnage though, and pleads to the symbiote.

"Please don't do this," he begs, voice breaking, "please don't."

Carnage snorts, 
you wanted to stay awake, to 

see

 what 

I

 do when 

I'm

 hungry.  

Now

 suffer the consequences.

Abel looks panicked as he screams, "Run!"

But Carnage is quicker.

The woman doesn't even have the chance when a strange tentacle-like appendage grasps her neck.

Carnage appears behind him, tall and red and 
angry.  
He takes a bite and cuts the woman's head off cleanly.  The spray of blood nearly landing on Abel, but the symbiote covers him before he devours the rest.

Abel is in shock.  His legs give out and he falls to his knees, heart hammering inside his chest and the world sounding far away.

Carnage, however, has other plans.

He grasps the boy around the neck and slams him against the brick wall of one of the buildings.  Abel whimpers, tears running down his face as pain blooms behind his eyes.

"
You think you can do as you please?
" Carnage shouts, anger coloring his voice.

"I'm sorry," Abel chokes out.

He doesn't try to stop Carnage, to fight the hold on his neck only growing tighter and tighter.  All he does is wrap his trembling hand around Carnage's thick wrist and hold him there, loosely as he begins to lose consciousness.  Carnage doesn't let him and pulls back.  He watches as the human falls to the floor, coughing uncontrollably.  Watches as bruises form along his delicate hand.

Abel shivers.

And Carnage is suddenly hungry again.

But this hunger can't be satisfied so easily and he doesn't understand why he feels like he does.  He's never felt attraction, not to anyone or anything.  There's no point when he can reproduce asexually.  But Abel looks delectable.

His long tongue slithers out and he licks the boys cheek, wiping away the remnants of his tears.  Abel turns his head, looks away as he hugs himself close.

Carnage doesn't like that, doesn't like how closed off the boy is becoming.

"
I'm

 doing this to keep us alive,
" he reminds, voice becoming softer.

Abel sniffles, "I know."

But it 

doesn't

 make it any better, 
he thinks.

Carnage licks him again.  This time around, Abel lets his arms fall to the side, lets Carnage do as he wants.

And Canrage finds that he wants more.

So much more.

Though he stops.

He swallows Abel whole and takes control.  The human falls asleep and when they get home, Carnage is ridiculously careful when he lays down in bed.

He disappears and recedes into Abel's chest, traveling down to nestle in his stomach where he finds something odd, something new.

Something 
delicious
.

He doesn't touch.

Human anatomy is weird, but if he's honest, everything that's simply 
Abel
 is delicious.

# vii

It's on his way to school that Abel spots that man again. The man that made Carnage so angry, so furious, months ago.  The man that unintentionally and completely unaware nearly killed him because he intervened.

He doesn't say anything in hopes that Carnage doesn't notice him.  Though he can't help but stop for just a minute.  He looks at the man, older, maybe in his early thirties, but he can't seem to figure him out.  He can't understand what riled Carnage to the point of- of hurting him back then.  He can't figure out what made the symbiote so angry.

He's almost afraid to ask, afraid of a repeat.

He feels a gust of wind envelope him as he watches the crowd continue about as the man's slow gait comes to a complete stop.

Abel hides.

He looks around a post, leaning against it almost casually, but feeling awkward and stalkerish as he catches a glimpse of the man's profile.

He glances across the street again and finally notices the store's window.  The shop is of baby clothes, of tiny onesies and tot mannequins on full display, a giant teddy bear sitting in the corner looking fluffy and soft.

Abel sees him reach out, as if to touch the soft fur of the stuffy through the glass window.  But that's when he notices the man's other hand.  His hand which is placed over his stomach, round and bulging.  Almost as if he were-

Carnage's sudden awareness of the man's presence catches him off guard and cuts off his train of thought.  He has no time to reel the symbiote in as it lunges forward.  Abel swears he's going to get hit by a car when Carnage wraps around his body and strikes out like an angry cobra.

He watches as the man suddenly disappears.

Well, not suddenly.

He can clearly see a black tentacle shooting up and grasping onto the top of the building before hauling the man up and away from danger.

He doesn't see the rest because a car does crash into them.  In fact, the vehicle slams them into the shop as it swerves uncontrollably in a failed attempt to stop.  Abel's eyes widen when the window grows closer until it breaks with their weight and they land on a pile of rubble, people screaming in sudden shock.

He thinks they're screaming because of Carnage, because they see the bloody unnatural being.  But Carnage has receeded from the shock and Abel is left disoriented as broken bones are quickly mended, as his punctured lung is quickly healed.

He still coughs up blood, though.  He still spits it up and splutters for air.  It hurts to breathe.  There's so much damage and Carnage can only focus on the major injuries, can only fix so much.

Abel feels himself grow dizzy, disoriented as dark sports swim in and out of his field of vision.

He thinks he's going to be sick.

People surround him immediately and it only gets harder to breathe, to think.  Someone yells for 9-1-1.

But he feels broken, lost.

Shards of glass dig into his back, into his skin, and make tears of pure agony escape his tightly closed eyes.

It's only when he's properly breathing that Carnage makes him stand up.  Forces him to move.

"No," he whimpers painfully, muscles protesting.

He can't, he thinks he's going to fall again.

Carnage catches him.

He slowly covers his skin, taking over again without his consent.  Forcing his legs to work, to run out of the shop.  People are left in awed horror as they jump on top of the car's hood and disappear to the roof.  Carnage gives chase.

He's going to find him, going to destroy that man.

But when they land on the rooftop, the man isn't there.  He's gone.

No sign of him whatsoever.

"Carnage," Abel calls, throat dry and mouth filled with the metallic taste of his own blood, "Carnage wait."

He can't keep up.

If Canrage pushes his body he'll collapse, he'll really break and he doesn't know if Carnage will be able to fix him.

Carnage is fuming, though.

He paces angrily the length of the roof, snarling when the sound of spinning blades stir the wind from above.  Abel looks up and finds a helicopter circling around.

It's then Carnage runs.

He runs until they lose the pesky helicopter, until they lose the sirens.

Until they're safe.

Home.

Abel is left panting, the boy quickly falling onto his knees as soon as they're in the safety of his room.

The adrenaline that pumped through his veins quickly leaves his system and makes the sharp pain return tenfold.

He groans, curling in on himself when he feels just the barest of movement from Carnage.

Carnage who doesn't say anything, doesn't even apologize for being the cause of his agony.

He's used to it, though, used to Carnage and his cold treatment.

And he doubts he'll reply, but he asks him anyway, "who was that?"

Carnage merely shifts under his skin again as he pushes out the glass from the boy's frail body and heals the long gashes.

"C?"

What?
 He growls in irritation.

Abel flinches, curling tighter around himself.

Carnage appears before him, looms over him, dark and brooding.

Abel turns his face away, refusing to look at the angry alien.

Carnage reaches out and turns his face with a hand on the boy's tapered chin.  He forces Abel to look at him.  If he wants to talk, then they'll talk.

Abel's breath hitches, "who is he?"

Carnage stares deep into his eyes, voice becoming lower as he answers, 
someone who should be 

dead

.

Abel shivers.

He wants to ask more, so much more.

But he bites his tongue.

Because that man is just like him.  He's harboring a monstrous cannibalistic alien in his body.  The difference being that the alien 
protected
 him.

And the image of the man, of the very 
pregnant

 
man, is burned into his memory.  The fear and surprise on his stubbled face, in his eyes, catching him off guard.  

Abel shakes his head.

No, he 

shouldn't

 be dead.

# viii

Abel notices something's not right more than three weeks after seeing that man again.  He realizes that Carnage has stopped hunting, has stopped eating people, and he knows he should be happy, but he can't help feeling empty.  He feels the hunger pangs, the thirst, the emptiness he can't fill no matter how much he eats.

It's beginning to take its toll on his body, though he tries to ignore it.

Carnage, at this point, is solely focused on finding 
him
.  Abel only figures it out when he begins to piece everything together, when he notices that Carnage always goes back to the roof of that shop.

This night, however, Carnage is silent.  Abel stares into the dark, hand over his heart as he breathes deeply.  He feels soft rumbling in his chest, something akin to soft snoring that can only belong to the symbiote.  It tickles, but it makes Abel feel utter relief.

There are no angry thoughts attacking his mind, filling his head and making it ache.  There are no spews of hateful comments and words that make him shrink back, that make him feel like complete failure.

There's just silence.

Silence and his needy body.

He closes his eyes and lets his hand travel down his body, down to his nether regions.  He slips his hand into his sweats and wraps his fingers around his length.  He muffles his moan at the feel.

It's been so long since he's touched himself, since he's felt pleasure and not pain.

He bites his lip and breathes harshly, slowly setting a pace that brings him close to the edge.

He whimpers.

Fuck, it feels good.

It feels different.

Naughty

.

Abel flinches at the deep voice whispering in his ear, eyes opening wide in surprise, heart rocketing inside his chest.

Carnage is looming from above him, cradling him in.  He stares at the boy, liking the look of pleasure on his flushed face and wishing he can see more.

His hand wraps around the boy's little cock without permission.  He strokes, tugs and twists, rubbing the slit dribbling pearly precum until Abel's back arches off the bed.

Carnage continues, though his eyes are focused on the little clenched hole hidden from view.  He licks his sharp teeth before he leans down and wraps his tongue around Abel's throbbing little cock.

Abel shivers, whimpering at the warm wet feeling.

He's so close.

But Carnage doesn't let him come yet.

The symbiote is finding himself hungry, too hungry to hold back.

He presses a finger into the tight ring of muscles, growling when Abel tenses.

The boy pushes at Carnage's head and tries to wiggle out.

Carnage lets him, only for the boy to flip onto his hands and knees.  His pert little ass wiggling in front of Carnage's eyes almost teasingly.

Carnage growls.

"Wai-Wait," Abel whimpers, trying to reach for the lube in his night stand.

Carnage doesn't have the patience for that.

Without warning he delves his tongue into the tightness.

The sudden intrusion makes Abel's arms weak as he collapses onto the bed with his hips in Carnage's tight hold.

He chokes on a sob of pleasure.

He feels full, stuffed.

That slithering tongue teasing his prostate relentlessly.  His cock is practically weeping.

"Ca-Carnage!" He gasps, hands twisting the sheets.

Carnage hums, the sound ripping an orgasm from Abel without warning.

It's only then that Carnage pulls off and admires his work.  Eyes trained onto the little fluttering hole wet and slick, open just for him.

He grins.

Shoving his thick pulsing cock inside Abel without warning.

Abel who whimpers at the stretch.

Tentacles soon come out to play as they drape over his body, hold him still and tease him.  Tentacles that rub his erect nipples, that wrap around his softening cock and bringing it to life again.

He rocks his hips, wanting to feel Carnage already.

Carnage gives him what he wants, fucks him until he loses consciousness when they near round three.

Fucks him so thoroughly, that he can't sit up when they're done.  His lower back in knots, aching with the memories.

He feels used, he feels sore in all the right places.

And Canrage, the little parasite, sleeps contently in his chest.  As if nothing happened, as if he didn't just fuck Abel into oblivion, didn't just pump like a gallon of cum into his aching body.

He wrinkles his nose, god he feels full.

# ix

Abel feels weird after 
that 
night. 

In all honesty it's all he can think about. The symbiote's touch, his hot breath on his skin, his hands toying with him, his 
tongue.  
The memories don't seem to let go of him and more than once he wakes up with sticky thighs and a pulsing cock buried deep in his aching, hungry, little hole.  Always stuffed, always full.  He can't complain.

But there's so many things wrong with this, with their dynamic and their developing relationship, if he can even call it that.

Because for one, he's not gay.

He's not!

No matter how much he liked it, enjoyed it even, he's not.

Two, Carnage is... well he's Carnage. A carnivorous cannibalistic alien. One set out on revenge, one that's always angry, always grunting monosyllabic answers to his never-ending questions. He's annoying, frustrating, and deadly. And yet... yet he makes Abel's heart flutter, makes him feel weak.

He makes Abel feel wanted as he fucks him until he's oversensitive and sobbing, makes him feel almost 
loved
 when he takes care of him afterwards.

Carnage shows a side that Abel has never seen, a side he never thought capable of a mons- of a
 misunderstood alien,
 like him to have.

Abel frowns, staring at his wrists and knowing that his hips are equally as bruised from Carnage's possessive hold. He traces his fingertips over the purple and blue patterns on his dark skin. This isn't healthy, this thing he has going on with Carnage. But he can't bring himself to stop, to stop the alien, to stop his growing feelings.

He knows, though, that Carnage will never return said feelings.  

To the symbiote, he's just an easy fuck, just a desperate hole begging to be filled.  In exchange for what?  Letting the symbiote wreck havoc?  Letting him use his body like a puppet?

He sighs, closes his eyes and breathes.

He doesn't feel like doing anything, doesn't feel like moving.  He's tired, sleepy, and sore.  He doesn't want to think anymore, doesn't want to feel.

But Carnage has other plans.

His tentacles slither out and wrap around Abel's legs. Not to part them, but to take control of them. Abel frowns.

"Carnage, no," he groans, closing his eyes.

Carnage doesn't listen and simply makes Abel stand from bed.

Abel's lower back protests and he has to hang onto the wall for support.

Carnage growls and Abel barely manages to brace himself as they sneak out of his room through the window and Abel realizes then that he will never get used to this. To sneaking around in the middle of the night, to letting Carnage take control of his body and mind.

He swears, at this point he'll never get enough sleep, or motivation, to go to school in the morning.

Which is good for him, considering he's contemplating dropping out. What's the point when he's more absent than present anyway? When everyone around him only discourages him?

And suddenly they're back to square one.

To that stupid roof searching for that man again.

Abel has had enough.

And no, it's not jealousy talking. It's Carnage's evasive answers, his stupid scowl and his soft growling when they find nothing.

"Will you just tell what's your obsession with this person?" Abel asks, shivering when the wind howls in his ear.

Carnage growls, 
It's none of your business.

"It is when you're using my body, dragging me out in the middle of the night looking for a man neither of us know."

Jealous?
 Carnage taunts.

Abel's face grows warm.

He doesn't deny it, though.  He can't when Carnage appears and wraps his bulging arms around Abel's waist, when Carnage kisses him, licks into his mouth with that slithering tongue of his.

Abel losing all train of thought, melting into Carnage's touch.

And if they fuck on top of the roof, no one has to know.

But that's not the first time or the last that Carnage looks for that man.

Abel hopes they never find him, for the man's safety and for his baby's.

Unfortunately, Carnage has a good nose, and those visits to the roof were never about getting a hint in the direction the man went. No, he's focusing on something much more.

He's focusing on the man's scent and forcing Abel to think about him, about what he saw that day.  Triggering those memories to his advantage.

And Carnage finally catches it.

The scent of a human in complete symbiosis with another of his kind.

The scent of pregnancy following him and confirming Carnage's suspicions.  Confirming Abel's memories and his own.

The symbiote growls.

So, it's true.

His progenitor fucked the human and knocked him up.

# x

Abel wakes up panting and sweating, a new nightmare on the surface, in the forefront of his mind.  But it doesn't belong to him.  He knows because he felt like an outsider, like an intruder that shouldn't have seen what he saw.

He saw fire, felt panic, felt 
fear.

He felt hopeless as his world seemed to fall apart.

There was screams, sounds of fighting, and pain.  So much pain.  Pain that consumed his body, pain that numbed his mind with agony.  He couldn't think, couldn't escape.  It was as if he were paralyzed, as if it were a night terror.

Hopeless.

That's how he felt.

So utterly hopeless and 
betrayed.

It was horrible and it left him shaking, left a sick feeling in his stomach.

He closes his eyes and sees flashes of his dream.  Flashes of scorching fire, of a loud screeching sound that he swears leaves him deaf.  And he has to remind himself that it was just a dream, a dream that twists his stomach and makes him scramble for the bathroom to throw up until his head grows heavy and an ache spreads through his body.

He breathes harshly and closes his eyes.

He knows Carnage is awake now.

It's this odd feeling of sudden awareness in the back of his mind that alerts him to the symbiote.

The symbiote who is oddly quiet.

"Carnage?" Abel asks, voice hoarse, throat sore.

Carnage doesn't respond, not verbally.

A red tentacle reaches out and flushes the toilet for him and Abel is grateful, though confused and worried.

Those feelings weren't his, they were Carnage's and Abel can't begin to imagine what the alien went through to experience something like that.

"C?" He croaks weakly.

Why now?

Why did Abel see into Carnage's memories?  Why now after months of being together, of living in symbiosis?  Why did he just catch a glimpse of something that's haunted Carnage since who knows how long?

I fell asleep
, Carnage answers, voice gravely.

A shiver travels up Abel's spine.

You 

f

ell

 asleep?

The symbiote nods, slithering out like a snake but avoiding Abel's eye.

They were memories, ones 

I'd

 rather forget.  But falling into 

deep

 sleep slowly broke my gaurd down and with out minds 

essentially

 merged 

together

, you managed to get a peek.

Abel bites his lip.  So, they 
are
 memories.  It really did happen.  It wasn't just a manifestation of their deepest fears.

Abel thinks he's going to be sick again.  He only got a glimpse of what happened in Carnage's past.  He can't even begin to imagine what Canrage actually lived through.

He doesn't hold back.

He leans over the bowl and pukes, the acid burning his throat and leaving his mouth with a disgusting after taste.

He grimaces and flushes again.

The intense emotions overwhelm him and he knows he should probably leave it alone, but he asks anyway.

"What happebed?"

Carnage slinks back into his skin and Abel closes his eyes as Carnage settles inside his chest.

My worst nightmare.

He doesn't go into detail except for that.  But the feelings of pain and panic give way to hate and revenge.  It makes Abel nauseated, though he swallows back the burning bile.  He won't throw up again.

He rubs his empty belly and staggers back to bed.

He doesn't fall asleep though.

Neither does Carnage.

He knows the symbiote is plotting and he guesses it all goes back to 
him
, to the black symbiote, to the mysterious man.

To Eddie Brock.

# xi

Abel panics.

He can't stop Carnage from attacking and lashing out.

All his pent up anger is focused on the man cowering on the floor and it's the first time Abel feels utterly hopeless. 

Carnage has no mercy as he lunges toward him and the baby.  And relief only floods Abel's body when something black shoots out and retaliates, knocking him off his feet.

But Carnage doesn't stop there.

Carnage.

"
Well, 

well

, what do we have here?
" Carnage growls, eyes landing on Eddie Brock and the small bundle in his arms.  His grin large and deadly, "
did you really think you could hide forever?
"

"
Carnage!
"

The red symbiote turns his glare away from the human and the newborn, eyes focusing on the other symbiote.

Abel is torn.

He wants to stop Carnage, 
needs
 to stop him.

But he finds that he can't, finds that Carnage has complete control and it terrifies him.

"

Venom

,
" Carnage sneers.

There's so much Carnage wants to do, so much pain he wants to inflict.

And his focus shifts to Eddie again, to the little family as he attacks again.

Venom steps in front of Eddie and takes the brunt of the attack, still keeping their roots inside the exhausted man, refusing to let him bleed out but trying to keep them safe.

"
What do you want?
" Venom demands.

"
We want them gone!
" Carnage snarls.

Those feelings again, those feelings of betrayal fill Abel's mind as he sees the little family.

Venom spares the baby a glance and Eddie looks back at them terrified.

"
I want both of them 

gone

.
"

Carnage tries again and again, but Venom always blocks him.  It's a stalemate.

Venom realizes that they can't fight Carnage like this, but knowing that if they separate, Eddie will bleed out.

They risk losing Eddie.

If they don't, however, they'll lose against Carnage and his jealous rage.

"Daddy? Fafa?"

They all turn to the door.

Abel's heart constricting and Carnage faltering at the sight.

A boy stands at the broken door a baby blanket wrapped around his little body.  Carnage would recognize him anywhere even if he's never officially met him.

He knows who it.

He knows it's Sleeper.

Someone he's only heard of and never seen.

Carnage sets their eyes on him and flings their tentacle at the boy in an attempt to hurt him, to get him back, get them away.

This isn't a fight for someone like him, but theq action rips a scream of fear out of Eddie

Sleeper, however, reacts fast as he blocks the hit.

Carnage's eyes grow wide and Venom takes the opportunity to tackle Carnage down.

"Daddy!" The little boy cries, running toward Eddie and falling beside him.

Eddie, despite being covered in blood, holds the little boy close.

Abel can't do this, he can't continue watching this hopeless.

Eddie whispers something to the boy hoarsely.  He doesn't know what but the boy reluctantly agrees.

Sleeper gives him a push as they separate.

Abel can only stare.

Because there are 
more
.

Sleeper presses the slab of wood to the door to buy his little host time.

"Father!" He yells.

Venom looks at Sleeper and nods.

They trust him.

"
You 

think

 you could 

ever

 beat me?  Riot was one 

thing

, 

but

 

I

 am 

the

 oldest

!
" Carnage shouts.

Abel scrunches his face, 
Riot?

He's heard that name before.

He's heard it somewhere.

A flash of fire, a scream of pain, makes Abel stagger back.

Riot.

"
At least 

I'm
 
not a coward,
" Venom says,
  "

You've

 known all 

these

 

months

 

where

 we live, but 

you've

 waited until Eddie was weak, until our 

child

 was on 

the

 brink of death to make your move.  Weak, 

pathetic

.  

Something

 only a coward and a 

loser 

would do.
"

Carnage growls, "
I

 am 

not

 like you!
"

"
No,
" Venom agrees, "
You

 are worse.
"

And Venom separates from Eddie as they rip Carnage from Abel.

Abel watches in horror as the shift in balance makes the symbiotes stumble back.  The heavy weight landing on the window making the Glass shatter and land everywhere. 

Abel's heart stops.

One name on his mind, on his lips, 
"Carnage!"

But even the sounds of fighting disappears and all that's left is his harsh breathing and Eddie's panicked cry.

Abel looks at the man, heart twisting painfully inside his chest.

Eddie has tears staining his pale cheeks, eyes staring at the wailing baby in his arms.

And blood, so much blood, 
everywhere
.

Abel chokes, crawling toward the man who's slowly falling into unconsciousness.

The symbiote inside the man lashes out but Abel only yelps when a tentacle stabs him through his arm.  He doesnt deter though, as he reaches Eddie Brock and his baby.

His trembling hand, soaked with blood, gently shakes the man.

Tears burn his eyes as he tries to wake him, the baby's cries growing louder.

"Please wake up," he croaks, "please, please, please.  I'm so sorry, I'm sorry I couldn't stop him!  Please wake up!"

# xii

Abel sits on the floor with his knees drawn up and his head cradled in his hands.  He looks defeated and feels useless.  His arm twinges with pain and he's empty.  For the first time in months he's all alone.  No voice inside his head, no feeling of being overcrowded.  It's just him.  

Alone.

He closes his eyes and leans his head back, against the wall.

His hand wraps around his spasming arm, trying to apply pressure.

The bleeding stopped a while ago, but the stitches pull uncomfortably at his skin and the anesthetic is wearing off.

He sighs, eyes momentarily landing on the closed door before him.  The door leading to the hospital room of Eddie Brock.  

The distance between him and the room is small, but to him it feels as if they're miles apart rather than the stretch of a narrow hallway.

Looking at it brings back the fight between Carnage and Venom.  It brings back guilt that weighs him down.  He didn't do anything to stop Carnage.  He could've, 
should have
, done something.

He groans and curls up into himself even further.

Useless.

He's so fucking useless!

Abel looks up when he hears muffled rustling.  He stares at the closed door with his heart lodged in his throat.

And then he hears it.  A soft voice rumbling hoarsely, "Mason, Sleeper."

A breath of relief.

"Daddy!" Who can be none other than the little boy cries, voice watery with his heavy sobs.

"You did good, buddy," Eddie praises, "You're both so amazing and so strong.  I'm so proud of you."

Abel chokes on his breath.

He wishes he had someone like that, someone who saw potential in him, who praised him for being himself, for just 
trying
.

But his mother stopped loving him a long time ago.

And his dad is gone.

The only time he never felt as alone was when he had Carnage, but even then he knew he was just being used.

However, hearing Eddie, so torn and broken but so determined, makes Abel's heart constrict.

Eddie had something so good with a symbiote and Carnage did the one thing he's best at, ruining it out of rage.

Abel shudders in disgust because he helped.

He helped Canrage do that.

He watched that relationship get destroyed and did nothing.

Because he was a coward, because he was scared to go up against Carnage.

The sound of footsteps makes him scramble up from the floor.  He hurries around the corner of the hall and presses his back to the wall with his heart racing in his chest.

The footsteps stop right at the door and Abel thinks he's safe.

Until Dr. Lewis speaks, "You know you can come in right?  You can talk to Eddie, you can tell him who you are and what happened  Eddie will understand.  He won't be mad."

Abel covers his mouth and muffles his sharp inhale of breath.  He doesnt answer.  He can't face them, can't face Mr. Brock.

The doctor sighs after a few beats of silence and with a shake of his head walks inside the room.

Abel looks at the tiled floor.

Maybe it's best if he just leaves.

With his hands in the pockets of his hoodie, he walks through the hospital in a daze.  Numb to his chaotic surroundings.

Maybe he should go in search of them.  Of Canrage, of Venom.

He walks aimlessly through the streets until something solid collides with him.

Something otherworldly.

It knocks him off his feet and he stares in horror as Carnage and Venom tear at each other's throat, destroying the city in the process as they lunge at one another.  Police failing at containing the fight.

Abel flinches when Venom grabs Canrage and hurls him across the street.  The red symbiote immediately crashing into the glass pane and shattering it with his weight.

Abel looks around, at the screaming spectators as they run from the destruction.

And Abel has that chance.  That chance to be a coward again.  

But he doesn't take it.

He runs into a convenience store and searches for a jar, for anything.

A small angry Asian woman yells at him, telling him that he needs to pay for that.

He gives her an apologetic look before running back to the action.

This time he's not spared.

The human Venom occupies to fight against Carnage crashes into him.

The force knocks the wind out of his lungs and Abel crashes into a wall, his head slamming against the red bricks without mercy.

He's disoriented and the jar he held onto so tightly rolls from his hands as he slumps to the ground.

He can't see.

He's blinded as darkness clouds his mind.

A panicked cry, deep and angry with him, shouts his name.  The voice sounds so familiar, so 
Carnage
.

He looks up in time to see a motorcycle losing control and skidding right toward him.

Abel closes his eyes.

He's going to die.

He's going to-

While the motorcycle loses speed, the handles still ram into him body.

He feels the moment his rib breaks.

Feels every bit of pain as he loses the ability to breathe.

Tears blur his vision and he tries to wriggle out of the motorcycle's weight, tries so hard to escape.  But he only manages to make things worse.

Blood spews out of his mouth and dribbles down his chin.

He really can't breathe anymore.

He's drowning.

Every draw of air is painful, is a pathetic attempt of staying alive.

He can't get out of the motorcycle, he's crushed and broken.  And he's resigned to die as blood begins to slowly drip from his nose.  What sounds like waves crashes inside his skull and in his ears, muffling all sound.

He reaches a trembling hand out and grabs onto the jar tightly.

Carnage lets go of the human he's wearing and slithers toward Abel intent on taking back his perfect host, on saving him.

Abel closes his eyes.

He can't keep them open.

Just as Carnage gets nearer, he slowly opens the jar and tricks Carnage into crashing into the confined space before quickly closing it.

Carnage stares confused and pissed, trying to push against the tight space and break free.

He fails and yells at Abel in a panic, "
Stupid 

human

! What do 

you

 

think

 

you're

 doing!
"

Abel gives Canrage a weak smile, drawing his last breath he says, "I'm stopping you."

# xiii

Carnage is desperate, failing to break free, to reach for Abel and 
save

 
him.  He tries, but even his tentacles can't grasp the lid and twist.  He's too panicked, too scared of losing him.  He's genuinely terrified of losing Abel, losing his ma-

"Abel!" His shout is muffled but that one word conveys his fear all the same.

Abel looks at him with a watery smile, his hand tightening around the jar just a little more as if reassuring Carnage he's okay.  He's not and quickly he loses consciousness.  His head lolling to the side as his breath gets stuck in his throat.

Venom swallows back their own feelings and makes a strong front.  They hide their frustration and anger toward Carnage and approaches the boy.  

They should be with Eddie, with their child, right now and they're not.  But they refuse to leave the kid alone, refuse to watch him die. 

Quickly, he leaves his meatsuit and slithers inside Abel.  Ignoring Carnage who protests.

Venom winces.  The amount of pain Abel is in, is truly crippling.  He slithers through Abel's broken body and fixes what he can.  His priority is straightening out his ribcage, broken in several places and piercing his lung which is filled with blood and slowly drowning him.

He fixes that next.

Abel splutters as he throws up blood, Venom wincing because it's the only way they thought of getting the fluid out.  But it works.  Abel is weak and disoriented, but as Venom fixes this lungs, he can 
breathe
 again.

He stares out at the street, still crushed under the motorbike that Venom kicks away from his battered body.  Everything is a bit blurry, but he can make out the destruction clearly.

Can you stand?

Abel shivers.  That's not Canrage.  This voice, while rough, is also soothing and almost kind.  It's a voice that can express emotion and calm his racing heart.  He nods, croaking tiredly a quiet, "yes."

He looks at his hands where he holds onto the jar securely.  He doesnt remember much of anything after trapping Carnage, but the red symbiote stares back at him almost angrily.  An apology is at the tip of his tongue, but the symbiote inside his mind tells him not to.

He's not at fault.

They've seen the memories, the fight Abel lost against Carnage trying to stop him.

It's

 okay, you tried.

Abel nods numbly, carefully standing up from the concrete stained red.  He walks, 
limps
, toward the hospital.  There's still some injuries Venom didn't fix.  Injuries that they both know won't immediately kill him yet.  But it's okay, Abel thinks he deserves it.

As soon as the double doors slide open, the symbiote leaves his body.

Abel crashes to the ground, wincing.  He feels tears sting his eyes, tears of pain and the feeling of being pathetic.

Someone rushes toward him, a voice he recognizes well.

Dr. Lewis.

He looks up and slumps against the doctor.

His head aches.

His body hurts.

He can't stand.

"Someone get me a wheelchair!"

Abel groans as he's placed in the chair.  The lights hurt his eyes and he closes them, his hands holding onto the jar securely, never once letting go.  Never one letting the jar show.

He feels the wheel chair being pushed until they stop at a door.

He opens his eyes and immediately regrets it when a light is shined in them.

He winces.

"Concussion," Dr. Lewis mumbles to himself, his fingers gently scanning his head for injuries.

Abel cries out when he presses at a particular spot, soft and fluid-filled.

"CT scan stat!"

Abel looks at the doctor with wide fearful eyes.

"You're okay, I know Venom fixed almost everything.  We'll get you a room and-"

"No," Abel protests, "No room."

"Abel, right?  You're hurt and-"

"I am 
poor
, I have no health insurance, no means to pay back a hospital bill," he whispers.

Carnage growls at that.  If he could just get out he could fix Abel, could do what Venom 
couldn't
.

Dan looks at Abel's lap, only now noticing the well hidden jar.

"Is that..." He trails off in surprise.

"Carnage?" Abel nods tiredly. "Yeah."

"You're still hurt regardless, and I want to make sure you're alright.  You won't have to pay for anything."

Abel shakes his head, his brain bouncing around in there.  Thing is, he doesn't like feeling like he owes anyone anything.

Carnage growls at the doctor as he gets close again.

Abel press himself back against the chair, hugging the jar to his chest.  It's an automatic reaction.  He trusts the doctor, so he doesn't know why he reacted the way he just did.

Dan sighs, "Just one exam.  Just to make sure nothing else is broken."

Nothing would be broken, nothing would be 

hurting

, if I had healed you
, Carnage huffs, staring at the boy.

Abel's breath hitches, he looks down at the jar and Carnage stares back in surprise.  No one should have heard that, not even Abel because they're not... they're not connected.

"C?"

Carnage looks away, choosing to glare at the wall.

Abel frowns, his heart constricting inside his chest.

 
I'm sorry, C.

# xiv

Abel stands in the corner with his head bowed down, breathing soft and measured afraid to make noise.  He tries to make himself small, but can feel the man's eyes on him.  Forcing him to look up until he does.

He finds the man holding a tiny baby girl in his arms, sitting calmly in a rocking chair and swaying with a light breeze.  

The man has a brow raised as he stares between the tightly closed jar filled with red slime and the boy across the room trying to be invisible.

He finds the red slime more amusing, thin mouth and angry eyes staring right back at him.

He tries to hold back his laughter, and the only thing that helps is that if he does laugh, he might dislodge his baby girl from feeding and make her cry.

They're
 
on time-out,
 Venom snickers, a vague way of explaining.

"How did you even manage?"

"
Trickery, that is how,
" Carnage growls.

Abel flinches.

Those words of anger directed at him.  He knows.  And guilt bubbles in his belly.

"What are we going to do now?"  The man, Mr. Brock, asks.

"
Let me fre

e.
"

Venom hisses then, becoming defensive and protective, "
You

 are still a threat to 

Eddie

 and Curiosity, still a threat to 

my 

family

."

"
We were your family!
" Carnage shouts, voice muffled from the glass.

A small frown graces Abel's lips.  Is Canrage jealous about the baby?  Is his rage really because of her?

A flash of a memory suddenly burns into his mind.

No.

This is more.

This is about the ship, about Riot and... and the others.

"I'm sorry but family doesn't do the type of bullshit you tried to do," Eddie corrects.

Abel can't help but nod in agreement.  This isnt just about petty family issues and step-siblings.  This is about betrayal, according to Carnage.  And Carnage snarls at him, making him coil back in fear.  He bites his tongue.

"Stop that.  He provided you a home and a meal, you have no right to be mean to him," Eddie scolds sternly.

It's a sight to see.

Eddie, half naked with a blanket barely covering his dignity, face red and a baby in his arms putting a symbiote in their place.

It's Carnage's turn to shrink back.

"I tried to stop him," Abel says, large brown eyes filled with tears, "I really did but I couldn't get a handle when he got so angry, he wasn't like that before and I-"

"
Shut up!
" Carnage yells, the jar shaking, "

weakling.

"

Venom reaches out and taps the top hard enough to shake Canrage to the core, "
If he were such a weakling, you 

would've
 
searched for a better host.  But clearly he is your perfect match, he is the only one you 

can

 achieve complete symbiosis with, so 

show

 him respect.  He has dealt with 

your

 

shit

 for long enough.
"

"Are you okay, Abel?" Eddie asks the teen, voice becoming soft.

Abel nods, "I'm okay, Mr. Brock."

"Eddie, just call me Eddie," he smiles.

Carnage glares at his host in anger.

"We won't let you free if you even so much as think about hurting him," Eddie adds.

And his glare turns to Eddie and his new 
sibling
.

His head feels hot with rage.  

Goddammit!

Abel collapses at that.  Despite being separated he can 
feel
 Carnage, can feel his emotions and thoughts.  They're connected as much as Eddie's heart is with Venom's.

He's never experienced this before, and neither has Carnage but soon a cool soothing touch eases his mind.

"
Control yourself,
" Venom hisses.

Abel takes a deep breath and gathers himself.  He doesn't know what to feel, he's so confused.  Feelings not his own going back and forth tugging at his mind, at his heart.

He wants to cry.

And if Eddie wasn't so preoccupied with his and Venom's daughter, he would've helped the boy up but it's Venom that approaches him.

Abel's bottom lip quivers as he takess the proffered clawed hand.

But a shout of jealousy makes them pause, "
Don't

 you dare touch him!
"

Both Eddie and Venom share a look as a dark blush paints across Abel's warm golden brown cheeks.  He doesnt know what it looks like to them, but even though it makes his heart flutter, he knows it doesn't mean anything.

"Okay, so this is how it's going to go.  We can't separate you from Abel, simply because Venom has already lost more than enough children and without a host you'll wither away," Eddie begins.

Abel frowns, lost children?

Does he mean Riot?

But Riot is still ali-

"But we won't trust you, ever," Eddie continues, interrupting his thoughts,  "You hurt us and you hurt your progenitor.  We trust Abel, though.  We trust him to handle you and we trust you'll protect him because without him, you're nothing but slime in a jar."

Abel looks at Eddie in surprise.

"For now, as Venom said, you're on time-out."

Venom tosses the sealed jar to Abel, trusting the 17 year old to catch it.

Abel's heart races but he tucks the jar into a his chest so it doesn't fall.

"Dan is working on something that'll help keep you in line."

"
Your host has our sole permission to use it if he 

ever

 feels threatened by you or when he thinks you will do 

something

 

stupid

 again,
" Venom adds.

"And as for you," Eddie looks at Abel.

Abel straightens out, staring at Eddie even as his body trembles in fear.

"I expect family dinners whenever possible," he smiles, gaze softening, "you're family now, especially after putting up with him."

Abel can't help but sag in relief, thinking he would be reprimanded or get yelled at.  But instead he's found acceptance.  He's found a second family that actually 
cares
.  That understand the crazy sh*t he's being going through.

"Thank you Mr. Br- thank you, Eddie," Abel smiles back.

Abel is surprised when he gets a collar.  A collar with a little remote control that when turned on, releases a high frequency sound designed to hurt a symbiote.  To kill if loud enough. 

He doesn't like it.

And he doubts he can put it on Carnage.

Carnage who doesn't talk to him, not even when they're home.

Abel sits on his bed, the jar right across from and in between sits the collar.

His voice is soft as he apologizes, "I'm sorry C and I understand if you... if you wanna leave."

He opens the jar.

He thinks Carnage will spring out.

Maybe attack him out of anger.

Maybe leave him out of spite.

But he does neither.

He simply stares at the wall behind Abel silently.  As if debating on what to do.

Abel stares at his lap.

He can't bring himself to look at Carnage.  Because if Carnage stays, they both know they'll lose their freedom.  The collar a heavy reminder.

And still Canrage approaches Abel slowly, cautiously.

Still wraps around him and seeps into his skin.

Carnage still stays.

He takes the collar and places it around Abel's fragile neck, his talon-like fingers brushing against warm skin as he clasps it on.

And he gives Abel, with great trust, complete control.

Abel who can't look up, can't look at Carnage without feeling torn inside.

A broken, "Why?" whispered in the dark.

But it's an answer even Carnage doesn't have, not yet at least.

# xv

Abel moans as warm hands roam over his body, sharp nails dragging down his sensitive skin.  He whimpers when a slithering tentacle prevents his orgasms as it wraps around his weeping cock while deadly teeth gnaw at his neck, right beside the rubbing of the collar.

Something about it excites him and he cries out, begs Carnage to let him come as the symbiote fucks him hard and deep.

Carnage tsks and pulls back to admire his work.  Small purple bruises litter Abel's neck and red angry welts appear on the expanse of his back.  Carnage smiles, pleased of the mess he's made as he thrusts into Abel's stretched little hole.  His eyes glued to the sight of his thick cock disappearing into Abel's wrecked little body.

He drapes himself over Abel and whispers in the boy's ear with a raspy voice, "come for me, Abel.  I know you can come for me."

Abel shakes his head.

He can't, the pressure is too much but the tentacle around his erection does let up.

"Spill for me," Carnage orders.

Abel shudders, tears prickling his eyes and running down his cheeks as he spills his cum on the bed sheets.  He slumps forward, but Carnage doesn't let him fall.  Not on the messy sheets, not ever.

He licks the shell of the boy's ear and stills inside him as he orgasms as well.  Thick ropes of cum filling his host.

Abel groans, choking on a soft, "Oh God."

His belly filling with Carnage.  So, 
so 
full.

Carnage grins and pulls the boy back, making him sit on his lap, on his still achingly hard cock.

He's been insatiable, hungry, 
starving
.  So, fucking hungry and nothing they eat helps.

But Abel is enough.  Eating him, drinking from him, is enough to calm the pangs.

Abel gasps, soon enough that wet tongue is curling around his softening cock, stroking him until he comes again.

He whimpers, hand gently pushing Carnage's face away as the symbiote continues his ministrations.

"No more," he begs, oversensitive from being toyed with.

He thinks he's going to break.

Carnage doesn't stop, not until Abel orgasms one last time, but nothing comes out.

Abel is left trembling from the overwhelming pleasure, completely spent and Carnage can't help but smile.

Carefully, slowly, he pulls out of Abel and watches almost in disappointment as his pearly semen dribbles from Abel's stretched rosy hole.

Carnage can't help but taste and that brings a little yelp of surprise from Abel's swollen lips.

"No more, C, 
please
," Abel whimpers.

Carnage stuffs a tentacle into Abel's abused body, stopping his seed from spilling.

Abel sighs, wiggling his bum, getting Carnage even deeper.

"
Needy
," Carnage muses.

"You made me like this," Abel argues, voice soft and hoarse.

"

Me?

" The symbiote asks nonchalantly, pulling the boy close and burying his face in the soft skin.

"Yes," Abel nods, humming, "you."

Carnage grins, Abel knows the symbiote is pleased with himself.  He rolls his eyes.  But his focus shifts as his fingers gently reach up to feel the edge of his, of 
their
, collar.

It's been a week and he hasn't used it.  There hasn't been a reason to.  Carnage hasn't hunted anyone despite the hunger that no amount of chocolate can sate, and he hasn't lashed out.

Abel sighs, eyes fluttering closed.

"
Sleep
," Carnage coos, cuddling against the human.

Abel nods, "stay."

Carnage snorts, as if he'll go anywhere else.

# xvi

Abel is quiet as he sits beside Eddie who feeds his baby girl, Curiosity.  She coos softly as she suckles contently with her little fist closing and opening.  She's absolutely adorable and he can tell that both Eddie and Venom are enamored, completely smitten by her round little face and bright pupiless eyes.

Venom is currently in the kitchen possessing a cat while Carnage slinks on the floor in search of food, leaving both humans with a semblance of being alone.

Abel can't sit still though.  Between the awkwardness he shares with Eddie and the stress he feels at leaving the two symbiotes by themselves, he shifts in his seat nervously.

"How are you?" Eddie asks, voice calm.

Abel stares at his foot where Carnage is still connected to him.  He shrugs.  There's not much he can say, if he's honest.  It's been a month and a half since the "big fight" and he's healed, mostly.

He tugs on the collar of his hoodie subconsciously.  Trying to hide the bruises Carnage leaves, the bruises he refuses to let fade.

"Abel?"

Abel looks at Eddie.  For some reason he feels sick, queasy.

"I'm... I'm okay," he lies, giving Eddie a wavering smile.

Eddie raises a brow, not believing him for a second.

Abel shifts in his seat again before whispering softly, "I'm dropping out of school."

Eddie looks at him, a frown now marring weary his face.

"What?"

Abel shrugs, hugging himself a bit tighter.  He hasn't told anyone, not until now.

"Why?"

Abel is about to answer, give Eddie a list of reasons as his lips part, but instead he covers his mouth with his hand.

That queasiness revolting and twisting his stomach.  It makes the nausea worse and he shoots up from the bed and falls onto his knees in front of the nearest trashcan.

Eddie calls for Venom immediately.  Both symbiotes quickly rushing into the room as the older man crouches by Abel and rubs his back with his only free hand.

Carnage becomes protective as Venom gets closer  He's not on speaking terms with his progenitor and he'll be damned if he let's them touch 
his
 Abel.

"I'm okay," Abel breathes, coughing weakly.

Eddie holds Carnage's glare, "No you're not."

Abel sits on the floor.  His head spins and Carnage doesn't like how ill Abel feels.  He's tired and feverish and nauseated.

Eddie frowns, his hand running through Abel's messy hair, "deep breaths."

Abel closes his eyes, and curls around his stomach.

It hurts, it hurts so bad.

"Abel?"

"Dizzy," Abel gasps, "hurts."

Eddie shares a look with Venom, and Carnage finally agrees to let the black symbiote touch Abel.

Venom's large hand feels cold and forgein on Abel's skin.  The boy flinches and he tries to scramble away, but Carnage appears behind him and holds him still.  Abel closes his eyes, resting against Carnage as his symbiote whispers soothing words inside his mind.

Venom takes the opportunity to slip their hand inside Abel's body and search for the culprit.

They find it within minutes.

They feel the vibrations of a tiny heartbeat, one that reminds them so much of Curiosity when Eddie was pregnant.  And Venom pieces it together, immediately telling Eddie when they bond again.  Anne's cat scrambling away once it's free.

Eddie stares at Carnage, at the boy seemingly sleeping in the symbiote's hold now that the nausea has calmed.  And he's angry.

But it's Venom that handles it.

"
Have you noticed anything unusual about Abel?
" They ask.

Knowing well that before Eddie got pregnant, he developed something akin to a womb where their baby was nourished and protected.

But it seems the red symbiote doesn't know because Carnage's face scrunches up in confusion, "
he's

 been a bit sick lately, but 

he's

 never thrown 

up

... at 

least

 not recently.
"

Reluctantly Venom gives their son the biggest hint.  Better now than beating around the bush, even if they're afraid of how he'll react, but ready to pull Abel away in case it goes badly, "
Have you heard a second heartbeat?
"

"
A second... 

heartbeat

?
"

Carnage pauses, he concentrates and strains his hearing until he finds it.

Just below Abel's heartbeat there's a smaller one, weaker yet faster.  Tiny.  Vulnerable.

Abel looks up at Carnage then, heart hammering inside his chest at the implications.  He's not dumb and he thinks he's going to be sick again.

It's then that Eddie let's his anger known, "how could you be so stupid?"

His heated words are directed to Carnage, yet that doesn't stop Abel from flinching.

Carnage quickly becomes defensive.  As if Eddie Brock is one to talk.

"He's a minor!  He's scared shitless and willing to drop out of school!  How could you not think?  Did you not see your father and I as an example?" Eddie asks, ranting about protection about stupid symbiotes and 
symbiote-babies.  

Hybrids
.

Abel winces.

He can't take this anymore.

He feels sick again.

# xvii

He's shivering, body trembling in a low grade fever that hasn't let up.  He's tired and his head hurts and everything is spinning.  He wants to throw up but nothing comes up.  All he's left with is the burn of stomach acid and a raw sore throat.

A small whimper escapes dry lips as he turns on his side, pale face burying against the worn out pillow beneath his head.  He curls up and holds his stomach, it's starting to ache something fierce and a growl of annoyance echoes in his head.

It's not annoyance though.  It's a growl of concern, rough rumbling falling from Carnage as he gathers the human in his arms.  Abel wants to shy away from that touch, afraid of the symbiote, of his reaction.

And it's then he remembers why he's so afraid.  He's 
pregnant.
 Hes carrying a little symbiote baby in his belly.  His 
hurting
 belly.

"No," he whimpers, breath hitching.

"Easy," a soothing voice coos, "You need to relax."

"Baby," Abel gasps, curling in tight around himself.

Eddie frowns, his hand running over the boy's messy hair and wiping away the sweat from his brow.  He looks like shit, feels like it too.

"Abel?"

Abel doesn't answer, but Eddie knows he's listening.

"Abel, it's okay," the older man tries, a feeling of helplessness filling his chest when he can't get though the teen.

He looks at Venom who cradles Curiosity in their arms, begging for help.

Venom shakes their head, the only one who can help is Carnage.  Gently, Venom pulls their love away and out the room to give the couple privacy.

Meanwhile, Abel is assaulted with conflicting feels, his mind screaming at.

I'm 

sorry

, 

I'm

 so sorry, 

I'm

 sorry!

The mantra is broken and Carnage doesn't know what the boy is apologizing for, not until he sees his hand pressed against the barely noticeable swell of his belly.  The soft evidence of their offspring.

Baby is safe, safe inside 

you

, 
Carnage whispers, voice a cooing purr.

Abel doesn't hear him, he's so lost in his rising fever, in his confused panic that he can't even hear his own thoughts.

It takes a while, far too long, to coax out Abel from his delirium.

Slowly, Abel opens his eyes.  He squints up and finds Carnage looking down at him with those intense eyes.  The room is shrouded in darkness, curtains draped down and he briefly wonders what time it is before he focuses on the pain.

The pain that's soothed by a big clawed hand on his belly, providing heat and comfort.

He looks at the red hand, unsure of what to feel, but knowing he wants this.  He wants this baby, wants to keep it.  He wants to provide this baby what he never had as a child. 

He starts crying, tears welling in his eyes and slowly rolling down his face.  He can't help it, can't fight the distress in his cries.

He can't lose this baby.

Baby is 

safe

, 
Carnage repeats, 
pain is due to stress and stress is bad, but 

they're

 

okay

.  

They are

 safe, 

they

 are

 here.

Abel's tears don't stop.  He feels overwhelmed and scared.  But relief fills him when Carnage's words slowly penetrate his scattered mind.

Carnage coos and purrs, his chest rumbling behind Abel as he presses his front to the boy's back.  His immense arm wraps around Abel's thin waist and his hand doesn't stray from his belly.

"They're safe?" Abel finally croaks.

"
Safe
," Carnage nods, saying it out loud to make it all that more 
real
.

Abel still can't believe it and he hesitantly looks up at the towering symbiote, trying to gauge out Carnage's expression, his thoughts on this situation, on their baby.

Theirs
.

Holy fuck is that weird.

Carnage snorts in agreement, but adds a little pleased, 

Ours

.

And Abel finally relaxes.

Yeah.

Theirs.

Their baby.

# xviii

His key twists without resistance and the door swings open.  He hurries inside and grimaces when his weight makes a step creak as he climbs up the stairs.  He pauses and holds his breath, but continues when he listens closely and no one wakes.

He makes it to his room and he slumps on his bed exhausted.  A soft sigh escapes his lips when warm hands begin to knead his lower back.  He groans and whimpers as the tight knots melt away.  With a bite of his lower lip, Abel reaches behind and unclasps the collar that wrapped around his dark skin.

Carnage peels away from the boy and stares in wonder.  A dark blush caresses Abel's cheeks as he sits up and faces the symbiote.  He avoids Carnage's gaze as he grows timid, the collar held out in his hand.

Carnage takes it warily, "
are you certain?
"

Abel nods, a small shy smile on his lips as he rubs his belly, "I'm pregnant."

"You are," Carnage hums, pleased at the fact that his offspring is growing inside Abel.

"The collar emits a high frequency sound.  Mr. Brock said that it's strong enough to hurt you, to separate us, to kill you even."

Abel's words die on the last part.  He can't begin to imagine losing Canrage like that.  But it was a precaution they had to take.  A deal made when everything between them was still new, still 
wrong
.

Carnage grumbles as he recalls that memory just after his lash out against Venom, he remembers all to well that discussion.  He also remembers how displeased he was with the arrangement.  Leashed like a dog to a weak human. 

He frowns at the collar now.  If it's strong enough to kill him, it can definitely kill a developing symbiote.  Like the one in Abel's belly.

"I don't want to lose our baby," the boy continues softly, "I don't want to take any chances.  I don't want to lose you.  This is me trusting you, wholly, completely, like I've trusted you with my body."

A proud rumble fills Carnage's chest.  He towers over the human before shredding the leather collar the doctor had painstakingly made to contain him.  Carnage can finally breathe, can finally stretch freely without repercussions.

He can kil-

No, he won't.  Not unless he has to.

The pieces of leather and bits of machinery that made up the collar fall from his huge palm, he cups Abel's cheek and leans in.  He licks Abel's lips with his flickering tongue until Abel opens up.

The kiss is deep and sensual, but Carnage is in no rush.  He simply wants to take care of Abel, of the human carrying his baby.  He wants to taste and touch.  To own and devour.

When they part, Abel is breathless.  A string of saliva still connecting them.

They don't talk anymore.  The silence is enough and eventually Abel falls asleep in Carnage's arms just as the sun begins to peek out the horizon.

# xix

Abel hurries to the kitchen for something to eat before he dies of starvation.  Carnage scoffs at that thought and Abel can practically feel the red symbiote roll his eyes.  As if he'd ever left Abel die of hunger.

Abel's cheeks flush but his mind goes blank when he sees his mom at the table.  He walks in more subdued, his mother's wary eyes following him.  He can't explain why she looks at him like that, like he's... he's a monster.  A frown immediately tugs at his lips and he opens the door to the fridge without much hunger.

"Aren't you goin' to school boy," the woman asks.

Abel bites his lip, Carnage's hand covering his as they pull out the gallon of milk together.  He gives his mom his back as he reaches for a bowl next.

In all honesty, he doesn't know how to reply.  He hasn't told her he dropped out, hasn't told her that he bullied Mr. Brock into signing his papers to officially become a high school drop out.  He's been avoiding this for weeks.

"I uhh, yeah, I'm goin'," Abel lies, stretching to reach the cereal box.

Fuck he's craving some Lucky Charms badly.

His swollen belly presses against the edge of the counter uncomfortably and he's on his tippy toes, yet he still can't reach and he lets out a frustrated huff.  Carnage stretches the extra inch or two to reach the box his mate desires.  Abel hums in satisfaction when the box is in his hand.  He pours the cereal and milk into his bowl and snatches a spoon to dig in.  

He walks over to the table and takes a seat across from the woman.  He avoids her eyes as she continues to stare at him.  Carnage doesn't like the way the woman assesses Abel and he growls inside the boy's mind in lieu of warning.

Abel is munching on his third spoonful of marshmallow goodness when the opposite chair scrapes against the tiled floor.

His mother doesn't say anything else and he assumes she believes him as she gets ready for work.  Her braids are held back and away from her round face.  For a second he admires her profile discreetly.  It's been a long time since he's seen the woman he knows as his mother.  She looks older, tired, more weary.  For a moment his eyes flicker to the pile of bills on the counter steadily growing bigger.

He returns his gaze to her.  She feels his eyes but refuses to turn around, to acknowledge him further than she already has.

Guilt settles in Abel's chest.

He knows she blames him for his father's death.

He knows.

And now her boyfriend is suddenly missing, the last person who had seen him being Abel.  He wonders, does she blame him for that too?

Carnage doesn't like the way Abel's shoulders slump.

The boy stares into the bowl as the door opens and closes.  He counts the scattered pieces of soggy cereal and he's no longer hunger.  In fact, he feels nauseated.

Abel clamps a hand over his mouth and he hurries to the sink where he throws up until he's sweaty, clammy hands wrapping around the edge of the sink as he heaves.

Carnage appears then, hands soothing the boy until he finishes with the bout of sickness.

Abel slumps against Carnage who is suddenly there, manifested completely and ready to catch the boy.

"
You are not a monster
," Carnage says.

"We ate that man," Abel reminds with a shudder, "We've eaten many men, many people."

"
I ate those people, I was hungry, I needed to protect you.
"

Not even Carnage's words can ease the ache in Abel, though.

Abel buries his face in Carnage's chest as he takes a deep breath.  Carnage tightens his hold around the boy, large hand cupping his swollen belly.

Abel looks down at their joined hands over their baby.

"Lies upon lies," he sighs tiredly, his eyes again landing on the mountain of paper.

Canrage frowns.

Stress isn't good for the baby, for Abel.

That woman, 
she
, is a source of stress.

"I'm okay, C.  Just tired, baby makes me tired," Abel reassures, "we're okay.  I'll start working and we can save up for the baby.  We'll be okay."

Another thing Carnage doesn't understand, but Abel's words, his soft voice, soothe him.  For a moment, Abel even believes himself.

No, he does.

He has to believe they'll figure things out.  He needs to find a job, to earn money for their baby.  He can't focus on the past when their future looks so bright.

A thought strikes Carnage then.

He peers at Abel, at his swollen belly and remembers...

Toxin and Scorn.

"Hm?"

Carnage shakes his head, 
Nothing
.

Abel nods before he picks himself up sluggishly, "Com' on, gotta go look for a job."

# xx

Since the day those names first crossed his mind, Carnage hasn't been able to file them away like he's done in the past.

He finds those names at the forefront of his mind, rearing their ugly head at night and causing Abel nightmares that aren't his.

But they're real, so real that more than once Abel wakes up trembling, screaming, and crying.  He sobs incoherently as he clutches at his chest and wraps his arm around his belly protectively.  The turmoil twists Carnage's insides in an unpleasant way.

And after the 
10
th time that Abel wakes up in a cold sweat, Carnage decides to come clean.  Or as clean as he can.

The red symbiote manifests like he's done thousands of times and nuzzles the boy, pulling him close to his broad chest.  Abel tries to take deep shuddering breaths until he relaxes, until his tears dry on his cheeks and his hazy eyes droop in exhaustion.

Before he can fall asleep though, he feels a soothing rumble from the symbiote's chest drawing his attention.

I want you to meet someone, 
Carnage mumbles in their mind, muscles tense as those words finally hang in the air, 
I need

 you to meet 

two

 people.

Abel looks up at the symbiote until their eyes meet.

Something tugs at Abel's heart and all he can offer is a nod for an answer.  His words stuck in his throat because Carnage seems vulnerable, as if he expects Abel to say no.

With a sigh, he settles against Carnage's warmth and lets his eyes slip closed.  He's been searching for a place to work for weeks, for 
months
, now.  His round belly poking out and noticeable.  He looks close to bursting and he regrets not being able to provide for his baby.  Those dark thoughts make depression cloud over him, especially when he gets turned down at every corner for looking like a thug.  Their harsh words following him as he rushes out store after store after restaurant.

He's completely exhausted, his feet are constantly swollen and the added weight of their baby only adds to his distress.  He's close, he knows it, and he has nothing.  He's not prepared, he's not ready.

These thoughts only make the recent nightmares worse.  But he doesn't say a word.  Doesn't have to.

Carnage wishes he could do something, anything, to stop making Abel feels so helpless, so scared.

All he can do now, though, is hold his... his 
mate
.  His Abel.

The red slime coos against Abel's hair, drinking in his sweety heady scent until they both drift into restless sleep, large hand cupping Abel's exposed belly as his shirt rides up.

For the first time in months, the nightmares are kept at bay.

Abel lets his guard down and melts.

And it's only the slam of doors and quick footsteps rushing out the house that rouses Abel again.

He blinks blearily, facing the window filtering sunlight through parted curtains.

He squints up and groans, turning around and burying himself in Carnage.  He hums at the warmth, at the solid figure that rarely holds him like this.

He relishes the feel before he groans.

He feels an urgent press against his bladder forcing him to slip out of bed, Carnage easily disentangling from Abel's achy body.

Abel waddles toward the bathroom, relieving himself and returning to bed where Carnage is crushing his phone.  Abel stares at the cracked screen, thinking he should feel anger but finding that he doesn't.

"What's wrong?" He asks with a tilt of his head.

We must see that 

doctor

 friend of 

Eddie

 

Brock

 today.

Abel nods, remembering he has an appointment with Dr. Dan.  He looks at Carnage and can see he's restless.  He doesnt want to go, doesn't know why they even have to go.  

Baby's fine, heartbeat loud and strong.  Healthy.

He's been keeping them healthy, not that he'll ever tell Abel 
how.

"I know you're apprehensive, but they won't hurt us.  We'll even get to see our baby," Abel says, a hint of a smile in his voice.

Carnage snarls but reluctantly follows Abel as he changes, forgoing breakfast.

The symbiote almost preens because he knows Abel isn't hungry, isn't for want.

"Ready?" Abel asks.

"No," the symbiote growls loudly, settling in Abel's chest as the human takes the first step outside with a little snort of amusement.

No, he's not ready.

# xxi

Abel's breath hitches as he focuses on the sound of a whooshing heartbeat filling the air.  Strong and healthy, loud and thunderous in his ears.  

His head is turned toward the monitor, wide brown eyes stuck on the screen, on the grainy picture that is his baby.  He feels his heart swell with love, so much love, as tears fill his eyes and blur the image before him.

That's our baby
, he thinks, 
ours
.

Carnage purrs pleased, 
O

ur offspring,
 the symbiote agrees.

The doctor wipes away the gel on Abel's rounded belly and prints out hard copies of the ultrasound picture.  With soft spoken congratulations, he hands the pictures to Abel.  Carnage's hand covering the boy's as it encloses around the printed image, proof of their... their... what.

Is it love?

Can it even be called that?

Abel's heart stammers at the thought.

He looks at their merged hands holding onto their baby's first picture tenderly, tracing the image reverently.  He almost stops breathing, because yes.  He's in love.  He's fallen completely for a cannibalistic homicidal goo that's slowly changing for him, for 
them
.

Abel?
 Carnage calls, voice gravely and echo-y inside his head.

Abel looks at their hands and shakes himself out of the nonsensical and overwhelming feelings.  There's not much he can hide with a parasite inside his brain, inside his body, but this, 
this, 
he holds onto dearly.  He locks this feeling away inside his heart and hopes Carnage never finds out about it  in fear of rejection.  Carnage can pretend to be a lot of things, can pretend to say many more words without actually meaning them and it makes Abel's heart hurt.  He wonders if the alien can even reciprocate or even understand the word love.

"I'm okay, C," he whispers, voice raw with emotion, "we're okay."

Carnage hums and soon they're leaving the hospital room, walking beside Eddie down the corridor in silence.

The red symbiote eyes the older man his progenitor is bonded to, their offspring, his... 
sibling
, is clinging onto Eddie's front in something called a sling.

Carnage scoffs before looking straight ahead, choosing to ignore their unwanted company.

"How are you feeling?" Eddie asks conversationally, voice soft.

Abel looks at Eddie and gives a small shrug, "Good, better.  The nausea is completely gone now."

Eddie can't help but grin, "man, those days were the worst."

Abel nods in agreement with a little smile of his own.

Eddie can't help but notice how tense he is though and he adjusts his hand on Curiosity's him as he focuses on Abel, "How's job hunting?"

If possible, the younger's shoulders droop further down and any semblance of a smile fades.

Eddie feels his heart clench at the sight of exhaustion and surrender.

He approaches the teen carefully and places a heavy hand on his shoulder to stop him, "it's okay, Abel."

"But its not, is it," Abel mumbles dejected, his eyes falling to the tiled ground as he clenches the ultrasound picture in his hand, "everyday that I fail at getting a job, at providing anything for my baby makes me feel miserable.  Like a failure.  I wonder... was this a good idea?  Keeping my baby if I can't even provide them a bed to sleep on?  They don't have a crib yet, I don't even have clothes for them or bottles or- or- 
diapers.
"

Eddie realizes how close Abel is to breaking down, to falling apart.

Abel's vision swims with darkness and it's the firm reassuring hand on his shoulder that grounds him.

"-bel?  Abel?  Breathe with me.  In... out... that's it, easy.  In... and out..."

Abel mimics the man's breathing until he no longer feels like he's suffocating, until the darkness fades from his vision.

He hasn't had a panic attack in years, yet he remembers how awful they always made him feel afterwards.

He takes a shuddering breath and forces his tense body to relax.

He wipes away the tears and snot as he sniffles pathetically.  He can feel Carnage in his chest, anxious and protective, wanting nothing more than to push Eddie away but recognizing the man as the source of stability Abel needs right now.

"You're okay, Abel," Eddie soothes.

Abel looks at the little hybrid looking more and more human as she nuzzles in the sling strapped around Eddie's chest.

"I don't know if I can do this," Abel chokes, hugging his own belly, "I don't know what to do."

His eyes are wide and watery, sincere and terrified as he admits softly, "but I want this baby more than anything."

Eddie pulls him in close and holds him, mindful of Curiosity between them.

"You could have all the money in the world, you could have a crib and tons of clothes and bottles and diapers, but still never be prepared.  This is another person, another little being, completely depending on you.  It's terrifying," Eddie admits, his tender gaze falling on his daughter.

"You could have planned it, could have adopted, or could have gotten pregnant completely by accident.  But you'll never be prepared because you never know what's going to happen.  Despite all this," the man continues, focusing on Abel again, "having your baby in your arms is worth it.  So worth it."

Abel looks at Eddie, thinks about Sleeper and Mason and Curiosity.  He rubs his belly and nods.

"I'm scared," Abel whispers.

"You'll always be scared," Eddie assures, "but you don't have to do anything alone.  You have your parasite-"

Carnage bristles at the name.

"-and you have me and V.  We're your family, if you want us as such."

Abel nods, of course he does.  After losing his father, after his mother grew cold and distant with him... a family is all he's ever craved.

He slumps into Eddie's opened arms and sobs his heart out until a giant weight is lifted off his chest.

He can't help but smile when he feels his baby shift inside him and he knows everything will be okay.

# xxii

Abel hesitates at the door as he looks over his shoulder, looks at the withered figure that's his mother.  She looks back at him, assessing him and making Abel feel vulnerable, uneasy with her unblinking eyes.  The unease he feels makes the baby inside of him wiggle, give a gentle kick to remind him where he is.

"I uh, I'm going to school, ma," Abel chokes, the lie beating in his chest as he adjusts the strap of his empty backpack, "I'll be home later."

She gives him a nod before turning to the task at hand, sorting through their bills.

Abel escapes with a breath of relief, his hand settling on the underside of his belly to soothe his baby.  His strides are short but purposeful, glancing occasionally at his phone, reading and re-reading the text Mr. Brock sent.

He worries his bottom lip as he sees the words asking him to meet up at the apartment.

Between Mr. Brock and the news stating more mysterious deaths piling up, Abel will admit he feels ansty.  Carnage, though, is oddly silent inside and it doesn't sit well with Abel.

Eventually, he stands frozen in front of the apartment he's been to dozens of times with ankles swollen and achy.  He raises his hand to knock, when the door is yanked open abruptly.

A young girl, not much older than him with brightly colored hair stands at the door glaring.  Abel is struck by her image, her pale face and purple hair and sharp eyeliner and freckles.  Her lips twisted in scornful distaste.

"Hi," he croaks with an awkward wave, swallowing thickly.

She rolls her eyes and opens the door wider, letting him through.

He waddles inside the apartment with embarrassment painting his cheeks as he says a quiet, "thank you."

She sniffs, though ignores him as she slams the door closed, making Abel jump at the startling thud.  Carnage manifests then, snarling at the girl as he forms into a large humanoid version that towers over Abel, over the girl and higher still above the door.

A clawed hand rests over Abel's lower back as the red symbiote leads his pregnant mate into the house, away from 
her.

Abel shivers but rests against Carnage's warmth, relies on his strength.

"Abel," Anne greets, standing to press a kiss to his cheek and ignore Carnage's growled warning.

"Hi," Abel smiles shyly, returning the motherly embrace.

"We're glad you could make it," Eddie calls from the table.

It's only then that Abel takes in the sight before him, blinking owlshly before it sinks in.  The balloons, the table cloth, the food, the presents.  The banner that has "it's a girl" crossed out to read,  
It's a symbiote!

Abel can't help but choke with tears as he realizes what this is.

"Surprise!" Mason shouts giddily, running to Abel and hugging him around the legs before reaching up to pat Abel's swollen belly.

Abel scrubs his flushed face from the tears that won't seem to stop.  He's so happy that words fail him and he can't express how he feels, how thankful he is for everyone.

The girl from before scoffs at his display of emotion, of weakness, as she bumps against his shoulder on her way to take a seat beside a man, a man Abel doesn't recognize.  The obvious conversation the stranger was having with Dr. Dan has seized in favor of scrutinizing him.

Carnage bristles at the girl who deliberately bumped into Abel, growling lowly and threateningly.  Abel soothes the red symbiote through his thoughts, assuring him he's okay, their baby is okay.

Carnage doesn't settle, though, eyes narrowing to slits.

Instead of cowering, the girl returns the glare with a small snarl of her own.

The man beside her rests a heavy hand on her thin shoulder and she huffs, reluctantly looking away first.

"
I demand respect,
" Carnage says through sharp teeth.

The girl turns to him and scolds, "You deserve nothing, 
father
."

Abel freezes.

What?

Father?

"
Father?
"

"Oh that's rich," she snorts, "You didn't 
tell
 your little bitch."

Carnage roars at that and Abel grabs his arm, not pulling just curling his fingers into the thick muscle of goo to ground him.

Venom intervenes then, turning to Abel as someone who's gone through this with their own mate, "
we understand this may come as a shock-
"

"No kidding," Abel mumbles, feeling completely out of his depth.

"
But we all thought that you should know.
"

"Know what?" Abel asks, though no bite to his words, just honest confusion, "that Canrage has children?  
Other
 children?"

"Abel," Eddie begins.

The girl interrupts, "Oh please, don't flatter yourself.  You're just an incubator for the little paras-"

"
Enough
," Canrage says, voice firm and tight with thinly veiled anger, "
show him respect.
"

"You abandoned us, abandoned 
me
, for 
that
?  For a weak human, a disgraceful excuse for a vessel, a meatsuit?  And yet you demand respect?"

"
Abel is not weak,
" Carnage disagrees.

The man, who had watched silently, finally speaks, stopping the girl's angry tirade short, "its good to see you father."

Abel had thought the man was Carnage's other child, but it still came as a shock to hear the truth.

"
Toxin
," Carnage acknowledges, though his focus is on the girl, on his daughter.

The man, Toxin, stands and approaches Abel.

Carnage takes a step in front of his mate protectively and only backs down when Toxin raises his hands in a show of peace.

Abel peers around Carnage's bulking form and grips the outstretched hand.

"I am Toxin, Carnage's firstborn," the man says, "behind me is my sibling, known as Scorn."

Abel looks at the annoyed girl again and he nods.  Okay, he can do this.

"I'm Abel," he whispers.

"We know," Toxin says at the same time Scorn rolls her eyes.

Abel shrinks back, though the man's eyes are kind and his smile inviting, "it's good to finally meet you, Abel."

"Likewise," Abel croaks.

"Okay, great!" Anne grins, clapping her hands, "now that the awkward family introductions have been made, can we go back to celebrating?"

Abel is guided to a chair and becomes the center of attention.

He holds Curiosity in his arms as he chats with Anne.  Carnage is talking with Toxin, albeit tense with their interactions.

More than once, however, he's seen Carnage glance at his daughter.  Scorn who dutifully ignores them.

He wonders what's going through them, through their minds.

Abel frowns before excusing himself from Anne, wanting to confront her, to talk to Scorn, to get to know her.

He takes a seat beside the girl hesitantly.  Any courage he had, gone.

He feels Carnage's eyes on him as he carefully sits with a low groan.

Scorn slowly looks at him, assesses him.

"Hi," he tries again, Curiosity curling against him.

She huffs and rolls her eyes once more, as if it's a chore to even look at him.

Abel's frown deepens, not knowing how to approach her.

Pieces of memories that aren't his flash in his mind and he feels Carnage's regret at abandoning her, abandoning Scorn and Toxin.

Abel settles into an uncomfortable silence until his bladder protests, a sharp kick making him grimace.

With an annoyed huff, Abel struggles to stand from his new seat.

He searches for Eddie, but finds the man busy with Mason and Sleeper, Venom likewise immersed in deep conversation with Dan.

Curiosity wriggles and he's helpless, he really has to go, has to relieve himself.

Scorn grumbles, but rises.

Abel watches hopeful as she follows him down the hall and takes Curiosity from him.

"Make it quick," she snaps at him.

Abel nods before offering a smile of thanks.

He hurries inside, does his business, and washes his hands.

Scorn is waiting for him at the door, looking at Curiosity with amusement and interest as the baby symbiote coos.

"Weak, yet resilient," she hums.

Abel nods, his gaze landing on his rounded belly, obvious without his baggy sweater hiding his pregnancy.

Scorn thrusts Curiosity at him, and he takes her back gladly, following Scorn toward their dysfunctional family.

He's about to settle again when a knock lands on the door.

He looks up, but it's Anne who tends to the incessant knocking.

In the meantime, Abel returns Curiosity to her parents only to have Anne shoot him a nervous glance when he straightens up.

Abel is slow to approach her, snatching his sweater along the way to hide his belly.

Anne steps aside to reveal a man he hasn't seen in years.

"Abel Sullivan," the person greets solemnly.

Abel swallows thickly, quickly stepping outside and closing the door, severing the connect to his mate before Carnage can be alerted to his growing panic.

"Officer Jensen," Abel croaks.

The man sighs, "what have you gotten yourself into, boy."

The question is rhetorical, yet Abel feels the need to answer.

"Come on, boy, you're under arrest."

"What?" Abel breathes, "why?"

"Don't worry, 's just temporary until we figure it out."

"Figure what out?" Abel demands, voice high pitched with fear.

"The disappearance of your step-father and many other citizens.  We have cause to believe you're involved-"

"On what grounds?" Abel asks.

"A witness account."

"Whose?

Officer Jensen sighs, "Don't make it harder than it needs to be, boy."

"Who?" Abel insists, knowing the system in and out.

After all, his father was a cop once, before he was killed unjustly off-duty.

Yet after all the trauma, Abel has been through, nothing prepares him for the officers clipped response, "it was your mother."

Abel takes a staggering step back, "what?"

"Look, we'll just go down to the station and ask a few questions, you'll be free in no time if nothing incriminating comes up."

"Incriminating?  I haven't done anything!"

"Skipping school, going to stores and restaurants where the missing people where last seen?  Is it all really coincidence?"  The officer accuses, words a little harsh, a little unprofessional.

But all Abel does is bite his lip before stating, "I'm not going."

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way," the officer says.

"The hard way?" Abel questions, knowing well what he means as the officer he knew as a little boy takes out handcuffs and gun, yet another ploy to intimidate him into submitting.

Abel almost wishes Carnage were here.  Would protect him, both of 
them
.

Carnage
.

The thought of the symbiote, of his mate, makes him reach for the door.

His eyes widening at the sound of thunder ringing loud in his ears.

Abel looks down, the breath knocked out of his lungs.

Blood quickly soaking his sweater.

A sharp pain gripping him, wrapping around his belly.

And the only thing he can think of as he grips his side in an effort to staunch the blood flow, is his baby.

His innocent baby.

# xxiii

His knees buckle under his weight, breath knocked out of him as he grasps his side desperately.  

Tears quickly gather in his eyes and roll down his paling cheeks, as color drains from his face.  

He cries out, gasps for air, but no sound leaves his chapped lips.

A loud roar follows the ringing in his ears, his eyes quickly covered by warm hands to avoid witnessing the symbiote's rage.

He hears gunshots, hears Carnage scream in utter anger before silence envelopes them.

"Abel? Abel, can you hear me?"

The cover over his eyes is removed, but all he can see are blurred colors.

"He's going into shock," someone says, voice calm, "we need to get him to the hospital."

"
Let me be with him, let me bond with 

him

, 

I

 can 

save

 him
."

And that's Carnage's voice, full of panic and need.

"We don't know the extent of the damage, if you try to repair it, you can end up doing more harm than good.  Especially for him and the baby."

Abel whimpers, reaching out for Carnage, for his mate.  Carnage envelopes him, but refrains from seeping into his skin.

"C?" The younger croaks weakly.

"
It's okay, 

you're

 okay
," Canrage soothes, large hand covering Abel's over his belly.

"Baby isn't moving," Abel sobs, "it 
hurts
."

Carnage wants to lash out, to grab the one who hurt his mate and tear them to pieces again, to make him feel the agony Abel is going through.

"Carnage?"

The red symbiote looks up at his name, clawed hand clenched tightly.

"We need to get him to the hospital, we need to take the bullet out.  Only after the bullet is out, we can let you bond."

"I'll clean up the mess," Toxin volunteers, while Scorn stares quietly, pale at the sight before her.

"I'll stay and watch the kids," Anne offers, "Eddie?"

Eddie nods, "we'll go to the hospital."

Everything happens too fast, but Abel can't think, his mind a haze as he grows tired.  His eyes fluttering close.

"
Stay with me,
" he hears, voice soft yet gravelly, "
Stay

 with 

me

, Abel.
"

Abel nods, tries to at least, but he can't keep his eyes open and everything goes dark.

# xxiv

Before going in, Dan stops outside the double doors, dressed in scrubs with a mask already covering his face.

He looks back at Eddie before focusing on the red symbiote oddly quiet and looming in the corner of the empty hospital waiting room.

"Carnage," he calls, voice full of sympathy.

The symbiote looks at him with narrowed eyes, but it feels like his world is collapsing and he gives not hint of moving, of acknowledging the doctor.

"If we have to save one of them, between Abel and the baby, who do you want me to save?" Dan asks.

Carnage nearly stops breathing at the question.  He doesn't understand why he has to make a choice.

And it feels like he doesn't answer for an eternity, refusing to answer at all.  But when he does, he can't hear his own voice, his own choice.

Yet Dan hears him, nods in understanding, turns and leaves.

Carnage is left numb.

Who did he choose?

Who's name did he say?  Abel or... or their baby.

He doesn't know and he shrinks in on himself, thinking he made the wrong choice.  Unknowing of who he chose, though hearing Abel's panicked plea to save their baby before passing out, still haunts him.

All he can do is wait.

Wait until he goes mad.

...

Hours into surgery, Dan's brow is furrowed and sweat beads on his brow as he tries to staunch the blood flow.  He cuts and snips, digging his way until he finds what he's looking for.  A bullet lodged deep inside prone Abel's body.

He's careful in removing it, pulling it out in one piece, still feeling his hands tremble until the bullet clatters on the mayo stray full of bloodied surgical instruments.

He glances over Abel's vitals, the motinor displaying two heartbeats, but Dan fears the worse when the steady beeping of the machine changes into a distress signal, the baby's heartbeat dropping alarmingly low.

He curses softly and calls one of his nurses to remove his mask.

The nurse does as told and watches as the doctor quickly gives the order for an emergency c-section.

The only two other occupants in the room share a look of confusion before Dan bellows out his order, warning them not to make him repeat himself.

They prep for surgery as he cauterizes the blood vessels to stop the red sea spilling from Abel's gaping wound.

He shouts at them to hurry, to hold pressure at the site, before cutting into Abel's belly as soon as the skin is wiped clean and sterilized.

Abel's protduing belly sliced while Dan searches for the womb blindly.

He finds it, and breathes in relief as he cuts the tissue and frees the little body protected in the sac of amniotic fluid.

The baby, looking more human than symbiote, but he doesn't dwell on appearances because the baby doesn't respond.  

The baby a pale hue and quiet, too quiet.

Dan feels helpless, he's never done this before.  The baby is impossibly small, tinier than Curiosity was when she was born.

His hands tremble and he's divided, because Abel's blood pressure is dropping and suddenly he's flatlining.

# xxv

Screams of panic fill the room as the machines whir and screech in alarm that something isn't right, something is wrong, very 
wrong
.

...

"What are you doing in here!" Dan shouts, face pale with beads of sweat running down his forehead.

"
Save my grandchild
," the slithering symbiote orders, voice low and threatening, "
save them, 

now

.
"

...

Tiny.

Weak.

Frail.

It's the only way to describe the neonate cradled in Carnage's arms.  There is no movement from the bundle of blankets, no noise, except the fast fluttering of the little heartbeat within its chest, barely noticeable, barely there.  Carnage never thought he'd be here, holding his child in his arms, feeling as he does in this moment, something akin to heartache and love.

His rough voice cracks when he softly asks, not even looking at the person beside him, "
Who was it?
"

The person in question, Eddie, doesn't answer for the longest time, trying to figure out what the red symbiote is talking about, "Who was what?"

"
Who did I choose, to save?
" Carnage whispers, tortured.

Eddie looks at the symbiote sympathetically, "You didn't choose anyone."

Carnage looks up then, shame contorting his face, "
What?
"

"You didn't choose between them, you didn't have to choose between them.  You said both.  You told Dan to save them 
both
."

There's a weight Carnage hadn't realized he had carried lifted off his shoulders with those words.  And when the doctor appears looking grim and weary, he can't help but stiffen, fearing the worst.

"Abel is stable, in fact he should be waking up soon now," Dan relies, "You can come in and see him."

Carnage nods, determined to go to his host, his human, his mate.  But a hand on his arm stops him.  He looks down at the bundle and then back at Eddie.

"It's okay," Dan adds understandingly, a small friendly smile tugging on his lips, "Abel will be happy to see his baby and uh mate when he wakes up."

That's all he needed to know to hurry toward the private room Abel is in, mindful of the baby stirring in his arms.  The baby who cries and wails at being jostled even when they stop at the foot of the hospital bed surrounding Abel in white.

Carnage watches a black slime that can only be his progenitor slither out from Abel's fingertips in search of their own mate waiting just outside the door.  Carnage is more than grateful for the privacy.  He's also grateful to Venom, something he'd never thought would occur.  But the black symbiote saved his mate, his life and child.

But as he focuses on the person on the bed, his heart 
aches
.

Abel's healthy dark complexion is a gray hue, pale from blood loss with lingering traces of death still permeating his scent.  For a moment he thinks the doctor lied, that Abel is really gone, slipping through his fingers and leaving him behind.

Yet those eyes, those gorgeous hazel brown eyes, flutter open and stare at the ceiling completely dazed and unseeing.  Carnage swallows back the sudden lump in his throat, but the cries of the infant in his arms distracts him from sentiment, if only briefly.

"Baby," a weak voice croaks, wavering with their own unshed tears, "my baby." 

Carnage approaches the side of the bed and their eyes lock then, white pupil-less meeting soft brown, "
right here, love, he's right here.
"

The sob that tears through Abel is one of pure relief as he reaches out, arms aching for a little body to hold.  And Carnage is careful in helping Abel sit up, slow and steady, before offering their offspring.

The love and joy that fills Abel's heart is enough to make him burst with happiness.

"Oh god, oh god, look Carnage," Abel chokes, voice raw, "Look what we made."

The bundle still looks ridiculously tiny in Abel's arms despite him being smaller than the impressive symbiote.  Regardless of his premature size, their baby is 
alive
 and 
here
.  In his arms.

"His name," Abel asks, "What's his name?"

Carnage frowns, "
he has no name, we... 

I 

was waiting for you to wake up.
"

To be safe
, is left unspoken.

"Zeal," Abel says, "his name, can it be-"

"
Yes
," Carnage agrees, not thinking twice, "
perfect
."

And Abel goes back to staring at their baby, their little son, who whimpers inconsolably and mouths at his chest with spittle dribbling down his chin.  

The thought makes Abel shy and embarrassed, but it doesn't stop him from sliding his shoulder out of the gown and exposing his swollen chest.  He ignores the twinges of pain and guides the little mouth to his breast, watches enamored as Zeal latches on.

Carnage can't help but feel proud, voicing his praise,
 

Such a good mate.

Abel flushes at the compliment, yet his smile is soft and warm, private and just for them.

After Zeal is done eating, burped, and lulled to sleep, Abel finally takes the chance to look at Carnage, to really look at the red symbiote.

"C?" he calls, letting his guard down as he's enveloped in red.

Hm?

"What... What are we?" Abel asks timidly, "What am I... to you?"

"
You
," Carnage begins sincerely, "
You, 

both 

of you, are my everything.
"

And that's enough for now, for them.

Right now, Abel wants nothing more than to be wrapped up in Carnage's solid hold with their baby boy in between them.

•••

A/N:  Thank you everyone for the votes on baby's gender.  I decided on his name to be Zeal [zealous] after receiving the name suggestion Patience (they don't mean the same but they are adjectives which ultimately gave me the idea), so thank you 
TifanyBrown!

# xxvi

Eddie finds Abel feeding a tiny bundle mewling in his arms.  He enters the room quietly and offers the teen a small smile.  Abel returns it, though Eddie can see the fear that flashes in his eyes, the embarrassment and self-consciousness that makes him tug at the gown to hide himself, hide his scars.

"Hey," he greets softly.

"Hi," Abel whispers, gaze falling on the baby.

Eddie can't help the way his smile grows.  Despite everything, Abel looks well, good, 
alive
.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better," Abel answers honestly, "but still a little, sore."

Eddie nods in understanding as he takes a seat beside the hospital bed.  The silence that falls between them doesn't last long when Carnage appears from Abel's exposed shoulder.  Venom chooses to manifest as well.  Both Eddie and Venom don't expect Carnage to practically bow to them in gratitude.  Yet he does, shocking them into silence.

"
Thank you
," the red symbiote rasps, "
Thank you for saving Abel and our offspring
."

Eddie will admit he is left at a loss for words and his eyes widen when Abel follows suit, offering his thanks for being saved by Venom.

"
You are welcome
," Venom finally responds sincerely, reaching out and patting Carnage's glob of a head and cupping Abel's hand over the bundle's bottom, "
We would do it all over, a thousand times and more, if it means you are all well and happy and safe.  I have never wanted your downfall, Carnage, or malaise and we are sorry for our past, though we hope for a better future.
"

Carnage nods and Abel can't help but feel lighter.  The relationship between progenitor and offspring is far from mended but it is no longer broken.  He begins to suspect that it never was.

But this is a new start and Eddie takes the moment to say what's on his mind.

"Patrick went to your house, Abel, to see your mother and while he and Toxin were there, they gathered your belongings."

Abel frowns.  He knows he shouldn't go back, but he has no where else to go.  Panic swells within him.  Where can he even go when he has a newborn in his arms and he's still weak.  He-

"Come home," Eddie offers gently, resting his hand on Abel's, "come live with us, where you and Canrage and your baby boy will be safe, welcomed."

Abel considers it as he bites his bottom lip.  But where will they sleep?  The apartment is too small with only two bedrooms and Mason and Sleeper already occupy one.  There's no space, no-

"We found a house, one big enough for everyone," Eddie continues, soothing Abel's fears, "We've finalized a few things and will be moving within the month.  You are welcomed to live with us."

"I don't," Abel clears his sore throat, "I don't want to impose."

"
Nonsense
," Venom rumbles, "
You are welcomed, you and my son and our grandchild.  We want you there, here, with us.  You are important to us.
"

"Really?" the younger asks, too scared to hope.

"Yes," Eddie smiles, "Really, you are family and I'll say it again and again until you understand.  You are wanted and we want nothing more than to know you're safe.  Even if it's temporary, even if it's just until you get back on your feet, you have a home, always."

"
As if there is any doubt
," Carnage agrees, "
Though grudgingly, we accept your offer
."

Abel can't protest, doesn't really.

It's just one less thing he has to worry about, "Okay... Okay, 
thank you
."

# epilogue

The quaint house is small and though empty, it still feels cosy.  

Abel walks inside cautiously, holding Zeal close to his heart as Carnage leads them inside.  The red symbiote is manifested as a big and imposing yet ridiculous blob.  Silent and brooding as he leans down to squeez through the door.  It makes Abel snort in amusement, a laugh he muffles when Carnage shoots him a glare.

They come at a standstill just behind the threshold and the glare on the red symbiote's face morphs into something akin to exasperated adoration.  Abel, himself, can't help the roll of his eyes at the annoyed look Carnage had thrown his way.  Though he'll never admit the blush that paints his cheeks ruddy red when he notices the harsh gaze softening.

It's then that Zeal mewls and whimpers in his arms and Abel rocks the little body before those tiny cries turn into a wail of hunger.  He sighs and his blush only darkens when Carnage unbottons the shirt to help Zeal feed unabashed, though he stands in a way that clearly hides Abel and their child from prying eyes.

"Thank you," Abel mumbles shyly.

Carnage grunts in acknowledgement, his eyes glued to their baby who nuzzles against Abel's chest, little mouth seeking a puffy nipple until he latches on.  Abel grimaces at the tiny teeth gnawing him.  Canrage, though, is always good at easing their baby from feeding so harshly, just as he does now, scolding the baby symbiote hybrid without heat or anger, both knowing the baby doesn't understand.

"Thank y-"

"
I love you
," Carnage grumbles.

Abel's breath gets stuck in his throat, "C?"

"
I love you, Abel.  Human or not, meal or man, 

I

 love 

you

.  I admire your 

strength

, your courage, your wit.  I admire you as a person for 

putting

 up with me as a... a monster.  I love you.  You and him, both of you.  

I'd

 kill for you.  I have 

and

 will do to ensure you are safe.  I 

cannot

 change my past, but 

I

 can shape my future, with you.  I love you
."

Abel bites back his tears.  He hadn't expected that.  He hadn't expected Carnage to open up, to expose his feelings and be sincere.  He hadn't seen the raw love Carnage feels for him before, but now it leaves him breathless.  Because he feels it.  He feels the pulsing love of Carnage, for Carnage, wrapping around his heart.

All he can do is nod until he gains his words back.  He looks at the little round face of their son and gathers his strength, the words stuck in his throat finally dislodging and spilling from his mouth.

"I love you, Carnage.  You and him.  I love you both."

And if Carnage curls around Abel's heart and wraps around the younger's fourth finger on his left hand, no one comments though they notice.

Eddie does, Venom does.

Both symbiote and man notice.  Neither say word.

They don't have to.

Abel is more than happy to be wrapped in Carnage, in silence and in peace with their baby in between.

The end.

A/N:  Thank you for reading!

# Zeal.

I realized that I gave a glimpse of Mason and Curiosity, but not of Zeal.

So here he is.

![](https://img.wattpad.com/1b9df311a4ac0f7dd100db109813c8ca03a39626/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f6a496a71793969617a4e6f5575413d3d2d3736313237373230302e313562333662323765306239373739383839333434313039313736362e6a7067)

Baby Zeal Symbiote-Sullivan

And I'm done teasing.  Hope you enjoyed!  Any question, feel free to ask 😁.

# Author's Note

Sequel to 
You Are Mine
 and 
Wrapped In You 
finally up.  
You'll Never Be Alone
.  The untold story of Riot and his perfect host.

![](https://img.wattpad.com/b5071612a70721aa9fb275a3ddcb90155c2d009e/68747470733a2f2f73332e616d617a6f6e6177732e636f6d2f776174747061642d6d656469612d736572766963652f53746f7279496d6167652f61373644504b455a507a455a38513d3d2d3438392e313562333362393937343630323435643539353532333134303639322e6a7067)