i

Dan stares into his cup, coffee going stale and cold the longer he stares at it without the actual intention of drinking it.  He can’t even will his eyes to look up, to see the woman he’s been half in love with for nearly two years.  The woman who is moving across the world to better herself, to get away from the craziness that’s become their life.

And he gets it, he does.

But if anything, he hadn’t expected her to be the one leaving.

“You’ll take care of him, right?”

At this he finally peers up and takes in her features, the awful regret in her eyes as she says this.

“Of course,” he says without hesitation.

He’s not surprised at her request.  It’s no secret she still loves Eddie.  Maybe not as intensely as before, but even he can still see it.  He’s not jealous.  Eddie is one of the most selfless man he’s ever met.  Had Eddie not been taken, he might have even considered them.

What they have now, though, a friendship created by their shared love for Anne is better than what he could have hoped for.  Eddie is like a brother to him and he wouldn’t trade that for anything in the world.

So yes, he will watch over Eddie, Venom, the kids, Abel, everyone.

Because fuck, he’s not the one going anywhere.

“I love you,” she whispers one last time as she gets up and presses a kiss to his stubbled cheek.

He wishes he could say it back.  Say those three little words he’s said in the past before.

He finds that he can’t.

The last words she whispers are a soft, “I’m sorry,” before she pays the tab and leaves.

He’s not sure if that hurts his pride more or his heart.  The fact that she knows how torn he feels.  He won’t stop her, though.  That’s not him.

What’s sad is that they both knew this would have happened sooner or later.

They both knew that they were no longer in love.

Not like that.

Not anymore.

And with her gone he feels like he can breathe a little bit easier.

Yet he feels numb.

Eventually he gathers the courage to get up and leave.  Cup of coffee untouched since Anne told him she was leaving.

With a sigh he leaves the cafe.  He doesn’t know where he’s going.  All he’s aware of is the painful ache in his chest.  He briefly wonders if it’s a heart attack.  No, this is much worse.  This is heartbreak.

He has to stop.

His heart beating a little to fast and not at all.  His breaths come in short pants of panic.  He lost her.

Tears burn his eyes as he presses his back to the wall of a building in an alleyway.

The heels of his hands cover his eyes as he sniffs.

He never had her.

He knows that now.  He always knew that.

“I loved you,” he whispers, just a little brokenly.

For a moment he let’s himself be weak.

For a moment he let’s a tear or two roll down his face.

For just a moment he let’s the pain wash over him.

Slowly he pulls his hands away and looks in front of him.

A scream dies in the back of his throat as something wraps around his head, covering his mouth, parting his lips and sliding down his throat until he’s gagging.

Dan claws at his throat, forcing two fingers down to get whatever slid down out.

But he’s too late.

He feels it settle and it’s not going anywhere.

ii

His head hurts.

His mind is attacked with an onslaught of furious mutters of choice words he could really care less about.

However, the shouting and growling becomes too loud. It echos and reverberates throughout his skull the longer he ignores it. 

He shuts his eyes against the migraine in vain to stop the voice, the pain. His body is tight with tension as he curls in on himself, a few tears slipping free from his tightly closed eyes.

His nose scrunches up, any wrinkles more prominent than ever before with the ashen look of his scruffy face.

For a brief moment he can’t remember exactly what happened. There’s a vague sense of deja vu.

And then he swallows and his throat clicks.

That’s when he’s hit with the memory of something thick and slimy sliding down his aching throat. His throat aches and he can’t help the shudder that runs through his body as he tries to spit up.

The splat of red should be concerning, but it’s really not. He wonders if it’s digging its claws to refute the effort of being expelled. It would explain the blood slipping past his trembling lips.

The voice begins again.

Demanding.

Loud.

Suffocating.

“Shut up,” Dan croaks weakly, “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

That seems like the wrong thing to say, to demand.

He gasps.

Whimpers.

Moans.

His lips part on a single breath of surprise as he’s pressed against the door of his home he barely remembers getting to.  Without warning his pants are pushed down his trembling thighs as he’s filled with little to no preparation. The breath is knocked out of his lungs, thick cock filling him.

“No,” he chokes weakly, biting his lip until he draws blood.

They don’t stop .

Warm hands grasp his hips in a bruising grip, hands that feel human, but he knows better.

“No,” he repeats, he pleads wriggling futilely.

“Shut up,” the person, the thing , growls into his ear.

He cries, a particularly harsh thrust hitting his prostate relentless, mercilessly, repeatedly. Tears well in his eyes until they continue to spill down his flushed cheeks at the overwhelming and unwelcome feeling of pleasure. Claws dig into his sensitive skin and he has to bite his lip to stop from crying out as pin-pricks of blood are left behind, those claws choosing to rake down across his chest, his quivering abdomen, and trembling thighs.

“Stop,” he begs weakly, vision blurry and swimming with darkness.

“Shush stupid human, take it, take it like the other sluts.”

He doesn’t fight, the cruel words fill his mind as he’s filled to the brim. His belly filling and expanding with cum until it spills from his abused hole when they part.

“Who would have thought humans could offer more than just a source of food,” a slithering tongue licks away the tears from pink cheeks before curling around a thin neck.

“Leave them alone,” he whispers hoarsely, “you already took me, leave them alone.”

“Who? Carnage? Or Venom?”

The question is rhetorical, yet he answers, “Both, please, leave them alone. They haven’t done anything to yo-”

“Venom’s end game was to kill me, me ! “ Riot roars, “Me! Their leader! And Carnage, Carnage became soft, weak, and pathetic just like our progenitor. I will get my revenge, for betraying me, for making me lose my perfect host.”

“Don’t,” the human fights, struggling weakly in the symbiote’s bruising grip.

“You,” the symbiote rasps contemplative, “You’ll do just fine as a replacement.”

He shudders, he can’t help himself as he asks, “And is this what you did to your ‘perfect host’?”

The symbiote barks a laugh, “I didn’t have to break Drake. But you I will gladly break and use and devour over and over again until there’s nothing left. Until I’ve eaten you completely.”

He whimper at the unabashed admission.

The symbiote continues huskily as they tortures their new prey, “Prepare yourself, Dr. Lewis, I will destroy their happiness and I will destroy you.”

Dan gasps, his strength leaving him and the world tilting dangerously off its axis. A large, solid, yet slimy body catches him, muscled arms wrapping around his smaller body.

He mumbles weakly, one last attempt to stop the fury of an unleashed alien as he looks up pleadingly, “please, please don’t Riot, don’t do this.”

All he remembers hearing is the echoing laugh of an unstable monster inside his head, inside his body. He vaguely remembers curling up around his swollen belly filled with cum as he’s plugged. Sharp teeth rasping his neck. He’s helpless, weak.

He knows he won’t get through to them, not to someone like Riot of all symbiotes.

And when the darkness comes, he welcomes it with open arms.

iii

A knock on the door startles him and he forces his body to unwind.

He doesn’t want to get up, doesn’t think he has the energy to do so.  But the knocking is incessant and it’s giving him a headache.  All of this is frustrating him.  So, he tries. Sluggishly he slips from bed and limps around the apartment until he reaches the front door.

He wonders who it is.

He wonders if they can save him.

His hand outstretched and fingers curled around the knob, he’s just about to twist when he’s stopped.

Tentacles suddenly wrap around his wrists, something heavy pushing him up against the door with a thud.  Pressing him close against the slab until he feels the knob bury itself into his skin with a painful bruise.

Riot grumbles, licking the shell of Dan’s ear, “Get rid of him.”

“ Dr. Lewis? “

Ah, it’s Abel , Dan thinks.

And he tries not to think of the boy, of who he’s bonded to.  He knows the moment Riot realizes who Abel is, there will be no mercy.

“Get rid of him,” Riot orders.

“I,” Dan chokes, “Just let me explain to him first.  I-I disappeared for weeks without an explanation.”

“Explain what?  That you are mine?  Always will be?”

“No,” Dan struggles, “I-I’m not.”

A thick tentacle breaches his abused entrance, filling him so deliciously.  Dan can’t help the whimper that falls from his swollen bitten lips at the burn.

“Admit it, Dr. Lewis ,” Riot purrs, “Ever since I breached you, filled you, the very first time, you’ve been mine.  Now, get rid of the human or I will.”

“No,” he gasps, sliding down the door.

He barely manages to stand on trembling legs as he wrenches the door open.

“Doc-,” Abel’s smile fades, the sound of relief dying in his throat as he stares at the disheveled man.

“Abel,” Dan whispers hoarsely.

His voice is thick with fear, eyes darting left and right with panic.  Abel can see it and he’s stuck.  He’s glued to the entrance with wide eyes and on high alert.  He came by himself wanting to talk to Dan and thank the doctor for saving him while Carnage watches over their baby at home.

But now he thinks he regrets it.

“Are you okay, Dr. Lewis?” Abel asks softly, looking around for potential danger.

Even if he’s scared he won’t back down.

Fuck that shit.

Dan has to stifle a moan as Riot presses against his prostate, the urge to scream his pleasure bitten into a misinterpreted groan.

“Dr. Lewis?” Abel asks cautiously, reaching out.

Dan can’t help but lash out, stumbling back with wide eyes, “sorry, it’s Dan.  No need to be formal.”

Abel tilts his head and Dan wills the boy to go, to leave before Riot notices.

“Dr. Dan,” Abel nods as if he understands.

But he doesn’t.

He doesn’t because he’s still there!

“You don’t look so good,” the kid mumbles concerned.

Dan masks another moan with a hollow laugh, “I know.”

“But I’m okay, Abe,” Dan assures weakly, Riot’s voice urging him to close the door.

The kid hesitates and is about to protest when Dan has had enough, when he knows he won’t be able to hold Riot off.

“I’m okay,” Dan responds harshly, slamming the door and locking it before collapsing, wriggling in overwhelming pleasure.

“Riot,” he gasps, whimpers, moans, “ Riot .“

“Such a good host,” Riot grumbles, for the first time praising Dan, licking him up and filling him until he can’t move, 

Good host

.

Dan will lie if he doesn’t admit that he purrs at the praise.  

Sleepily, he turns to face the sharp teeth being licked by a long slithering tongue.

“

I will bond you, fuck you, claim you, own you.  I will fill your depths with me.  You will never be alone

.“

All Dan can do is accept him, accept Riot lest he die at the claws of the symbiote.  Though he doubts they can ever completely bond, not like Eddie and Venom, not like Abel and Carnage.  He’s not Riot’s perfect host.

He’s not.

Exhausted, he slumps against the floor in front of the door separating him and what was once his future, his happiness and freedom.

He curls up and closes his eyes, sighing softly. 

And he swears he feels it.

The moment Riot spills inside him for the nth time that day, filling him.

The moment they’re bound.

He doesn’t hide his sobs, not from Riot, but he’ll hide the truth.

He’ll be damned if Riot takes away anything good from him.  He’ll be damned if he let’s Riot know that bonding means more with a perfect host.  But he’ll deny it to the end.  He can’t be Riot’s perfect host.  Drake was that and he’s not Drake.

Yet the proof is beneath his heart.

He knows it, he feels it.

He’s scared.

iv

He couldn’t go to Eddie. He knew that. The moment the thought entered his mind, he squashed it. Utterly afraid of what Riot would do. But after weeks of being sequestered in his home, with his mind in a state of pain and relentless pleasure, he was tired.

Quietly he slipped on his scrubs and shoved on his crocs before snatching his keys and walking out of his apartment. He was full, his belly aching and protruding from constantly being filled. His scrubs tight at the waist, yet without looking back he marched.

He took a cab to the hospital, the cab driver shooting him weary glances every once in a while. It riled Riot, making the symbiote hungry for blood, a hunger the symbiote had ignored in favor of eating Dan alive.

Weak, Dan hunched in on himself and held back the symbiote through his sheer will which was slowly slipping from him.

He couldn’t help but breathe in relief when they finally arrived, giving the driver cash and racing through the automatic doors.

Riot growled in his mind, W

hat do you think you are doing? Do you think

you

can

escape

me human?

“Shut up,” Dan hissed lowly, tugging at his hair, hoping the pain will make the voice stop.

It didn’t. It only made him hurt worse.

He smiles at a nurse who shoots him a worried look as he walks by.

He makes a quick turn right and barely stops at his office to grab his white coat. Just for appearances. Just to have something to do, to occupy his mind.

He’s shivering before he reaches his final destination.

What is this? Riot demands.

Dan doesn’t answer. Instead he reaches for the button, fully aware that the doors separating him and the machine are open.

Riot’s hand slithers out and grasps his wrist, “ what do you think you are doing? “

A panicked whine rises from Dan’s throat as his fingers stretch fruitlessly.

“ You think

I

do not

know

what this is? Are

you

trying to rid yourself of me, human? “

Tears brim Dan’s eyes, “let me go.”

His voice cracks as he begs, “please.”

Riot roars in anger as they slam Dan against the far wall.

Dan struggles, choking as a tentacle wraps around his throat and tightens.

White spots dance in front of his vision. But he doesn’t stop struggling. Punches at Riot, thrashes and scratches at the arms holding him.

“Let me go!”

“ Why should

I

? You were

enjoying

yourself, my little

human

. Admit it, admit that you loved being defiled by me, by my monster cock fucking you. You think

you’re

better than them, but

you’re

worse. Lovingly was the way your body sucked my cock, “ Riot spews filthily.

Dan shakes his head though he knows, fuck he knows how his body had reacted. His mind had gone blank, numb, with mindless pleasure. But he doesn’t want this. Not against his will. No!

Without thinking he breaks free, his body on automatic, reaches out and slams the button.

The effects are instantaneous.

Painful.

Blood curdling.

Pure agony.

He screams, body convulsing as Riot and he separate. He doesn’t stop seizing until Riot flees the room, the hospital, slithering away from the high frequency destroying them.

Dan is left in and out of consciousness when they’re gone, blood dripping from his nose making him grow lightheaded. He collapses on the tiled floor and curls up. His hands going to his little bump as tears spill from his eyes.

A trembling hand reaches to smear the blood on his face, trying futilely to stop the blood flow.

“We’re safe,” he whispers hoarsely, sobbing, “we’re safe.”

The world tilts dangerously to the ground and he’s vaguely aware of someone screaming for help when they find him.

v

Eddie stares at the pale figure on the hospital bed, lips dry and skin feverish, sweaty.  He looks bad.  Really bad.  All Eddie wants to do is reach out and touch him, but he doesn’t even know if he’s allowed.  He has so many tubes and lines connected to him.  One restoring his electrolytes and another monitoring his heartbeat.

A knock on the door startles Eddie from his thoughts as a tech rolls in a portable ultrasound machine.  Eddie doesn’t break his stare from the woman who moves the transducer across Dan’s belly with a concerned look in her eye.

“What’s going on with Dan?” He asks calmly, though inside is a storm of worry.

The tech glances at him before looking at Dan’s medical chart, “I s’pose as his emergency contact and proxy I must let you know, the internal bleeding has stopped, but there is a tumor growing inside.  A parasite from the looks of it.”

“Can we see?” Eddie asks.

The tech gives him a look at the slip, but Eddie doesn’t bother correcting himself.  She turns the screen nonetheless and Eddie stops breathing.  That isn’t a parasite.  Not entirely.  It’s a…

Baby, Venom breathes in shock.

“As soon as you sign the papers we can prep for surgery and remo-”

Eddie doesn’t hear the rest.  He looks at Dan, really takes a look and shudders.  He looks bad, worse than when he and Venom had… had fallen apart.

He looks like a symbiote was devouring him until there was nothing left.

He looks like, “ Shit .“

He can’t help himself from cursing. 

The tech gives him a sympathetic look, “you don’t have to make a decision right now, but it would be best to make one soon.”

She leaves and all Eddie can do is not freak out.

But he does.

Who the fuck

did

this?  Who the fuck hurt Dan?

“ Riot ,“ Venom murmurs shamefully.

Ashamed that their own spawn would hurt their lover’s, and by association, their friend.

“ What? “ Eddie hisses, blood boiling.

“Their smell is all over Dan,” Venom mumbles, “they’re the-”

“ Riot? “ Dan whimpers.

It draws their attention to the doctor.

Eddie frowns, but takes Dan’s outstretched hand, “you’re okay, you’re safe, Dan.”

Dan’s eyes flutter open and find Eddie’s in a panic.  His heart monitor slowly begins to calm as he takes a shuddering breath, realizing he’s truly safe now.

He does something he’d never think he’d do in front of Eddie.  But they’re friends and he’s hurt and he’s vulnerable. 

He sobs.

Fat tears well in his eyes and roll down his scruffy cheeks.

Eddie’s heart clenches and he tugs Dan into a hug as best he can with all the wiring.

“You’re okay,” he coos softly.

“He wanted to hurt you, said he would break me first and then hurt you and Abel and the babies.  I couldn’t, I couldn’t let that happen.”

“Shhh, you’re okay, he would never hurt us.  You could’ve… Abel was so worried, I… we were so worried,” Eddie sighs, hugging him tighter.

“He was angry, so mad, and destructive.  Vindictive”

“You’re safe,” Eddie repeats stronger, “we won’t let them hurt you.”

“His baby,” Dan chokes, almost desperately.

“You are,” Eddie confirms, “but they can take it out.  They think it’s a tumor or a parasite but-”

“I can’t,” Dan gasps, curling away from Eddie and protectively around his belly.

“Dan,” Eddie whispers, voice softening.

“I need… I need to think about it,” Dan says, pleads, “I need to think.”

Without Riot, the fetus will die, will probably even

kill

Dan.  It’s a wonder how separating

didn’t

just kill

the

fetus then and there , Venom warns Eddie, he needs

to

bond

with a symbiote, regardless, preferably the symbiote who impregnated him.

Eddie chews his lower lip, heart aching.  He can’t think about that.  Not now when Dan needs them.  It’s his turn to take care of his friend.

“Sleep,” he soothes, “we’ll figure it out when you’re better.”

“I trust you Eddie,” Dan says sincerely, “please don’t let them take my choice away from me, please.”

“I won’t,” he vows, “I promise.”

vi

Dan sits up in bed. He finds it odd being on this side of the hospital, bed ridden and growing weaker, sicker. He closes his eyes and leans his head against the propped up pillows. He’s really fighting to keep his breakfast down.

“Dan?”

He looks to the side and stares at Venom.

He doesn’t need to say anything. Venom knows he’s paying attention.

“ We apologize, “ they say sounding so sincere it hurts.

A look of confusion crosses Dan’s face.

Venom continues guiltily, “ For what Riot has done. “

“Don’t,” Dan begins, voice scratchy from misuse, “please don’t.”

“ But if we- “

“Look,” Dan sighs, “you created Riot, but it’s not like you’re responsible for his actions. He’s his own symbiote and you shouldn’t be held accountable for his actions.”

Venom tilts their slimy head and Dan feels like he’s talking to a child. He sighs and scrubs his face.

“I know you’re sorry,” he whispers softly, “but I also made mistakes. I felt like I couldn’t tell you lest Riot would remember what his objective was and hurt you, hurt Eddie or, god forbid, the children.”

“ You feel as if you are incompetent and are not a part of our family, “ Venom points out, “ you felt like that was all you could do, take the brunt of Riot’s anger and destruction. But what you fail to understand is that you are family, our family. We have considered you family since the beginning, since you helped Eddie. “

Dan looks away, unable to see the sincere expression the black symbiote has learned to master.

The symbiote’s voice only softens as they admit, “ We would’ve helped you, had you let us. We would have fought tooth and nail to free you from Riot .“

Dan tries not to choke up at Venom’s words. He blinks away the threatening tears and swallows past the lump in his throat. He briefly closes his eyes and lets his hand rest on his stomach, just where a new life has taken root. A life that may not make it.

Both look up from their stupor at the light sound of knocking on the door.

Eddie is rushing in, slightly out of breath and quickly scooping up Venom.

“We’re getting you out of here,” Eddie breathes.

“What?” Dan asks, brows furrowed.

“I don’t know who authorized it, but they’re coming to get you in a few minutes for surgery, to remove-”

“My baby,” Dan finishes, a lilt of panic in his voice.

Eddie nods, already disconnecting wires.

Dan hisses as he rips out the IV none too gently and slips off the heart monitor as he disarms the sudden alarms.

Venom growls, “ no time .“

Dan looks at the symbiote, but they’re right. He can’t disarm all the alarms, not when they’ve already alerted the staff.

“Can you walk?” Eddie asks, wrapping an arm around Dan’s waist.

Dan nods as he limps out the room with Eddie’s help. They have to hide around the corner when they see a group of rushing nurses headed for Dan’s room.

Dan has his heart stuck in his throat.

“Shit,” Eddie curses.

Dan looks at where Eddie is staring and finds that he’s bleeding.

“It’s okay,” Dan croaks, “I’m ok, just need gauze and pressure.”

Eddie nods and the next time they hide it’s in another patient’s room. There’s an elderly woman on the bed in a profound coma with what seems to be the daughter watching over her. Venom reacts quickly, curling a tentacle around the young woman’s mouth to stop the scream for help.

Dan leans against the wall as Eddie grabs gauze and presses it to Dan’s oozing arm.

“Thank you,” Dan smiles.

They both turn to Venom who manifests in front of the sobbing woman, “ Do

not

scream. Do not say a word. We will leave you both unharmed if you follow my order. If you disobey, we will personally make sure you never speak again. Understand? “

The woman nods frantically and Venom lets go of her.

Eddie helps Dan out the room, the woman’s scream echoing behind them.

Venom has half a mind to keep good on their promise, but Eddie pulls them along.

“ Stupid wo -“

“ Venom ,“ Eddie hisses.

Venom grumbles under their breath but follows dutifully, keeping watch as they escape the hospital. They manage to make it, walking another bit away from the hospital until Dan pleads to stop.

“I can’t,” he gasps, “I can’t go on, it hurts, the baby, I-”

“Okay,” Eddie soothes, wrapping him in a hug, “it’s okay, we can stop. I called an uber, someone’s coming to get us.”

Dan nods, closing his eyes as he breathes deeply through the pain. He peels away the gauze and notices the blood has stopped, a bright bruise left in it’s wake.

With that reassurance he returns his hand to his belly, “I had the chance to tell Abel, to ask for help, but I was so scared I didn’t, I let Riot-”

“Hush,” Eddie soothes, “it’s okay, we understand.”

Dan nods still unsure but let’s himself relax. He’s safe.

Eddie on the other hand looks worried. Who the fuck gave the order? Gave the okay to cut open Dan without his consent?

Venom rumbles soothingly inside his chest, but he knows Venom is on high alert.

Someone is out to hurt Dan, someone who may not even be Riot.

vii

Dan is back in bed, eyes closed and breathing deeply, evenly.

Eddie watches over him with a frown on his face until Venom appears from his friend’s chest.

“How is he?” Eddie asks.

“ Better, tired ,“ Venom growls, “ rejecting me. “

“Dan?”

“ The baby symbiote .“

Eddie bites his lip, “would it be better to separate?”

Venom looks back, looks at Dan with squinted eyes, “ perhaps .“

Carefully, slowly, they peel away from Dan. A small whine falls from the man’s lip, his brow scrunching and lips pursing in discomfort. Eddie leans over and smooths over the little crinkle with concern. This is one if his closest friends suffering and he doesn’t know what to do.

Venom slinks toward him and the symbiote sinks into Eddie’s skin. It’s like coming home once they’re together, whole.

“ Something is bothering you, “ Venom notes.

Eddie doesn’t answer, not right away, but he nods and eventually tells them his fears.

“I’m still thinking about the person who authorized the surgery for Dan. Who the hell was it that wanted Dan to suffer?”

“ Does not matter, Dan is safe. You saved him, “ Venom purrs.

Eddie sighs with a nod. Venom is right, it doesn’t matter now. Not anymore.

However, he briefly wonders if it was Riot. He contemplates the thought for a mere second.

Would Riot authorize the death of their spawn?

No. He doesn’t think so.

If anything, Riot would want Dan back. Right?

“Eddie?” A soft groan calls.

“Hey, Dan,” Eddie smiles tightly, “how do you feel?”

“Exhausted, achy,” Dan admits, “a bit nauseated.”

“Do you need something?”

The doctor bites his lip before sighing a soft breath, “water, please.”

“Alright, we’ll be right back.”

Eddie steps out the room with a deep breath. What are they going to do now?

“ Protect ,“ Venom offers.

“Eddie?”

“Hey Abe, what’s wrong?” Eddie asks turning to the voice immediately.

Abel shakes his head, “she’s hungry.”

Eddie takes his little symbiote baby, already three months old and only getting bigger.

Needier, like her progenitor .

I take offense to that , Venom sniffs in indignation.

Eddie can’t help but crack a smile. A poor attempt to lighten his mood, but he ignores them and focuses on the boy in front of him, “thank you Abel. How is Zeal?”

“Sleeping, finally,” Abel answers, “how’s Dr. Lewis doing?”

Eddie chews his bottom lip, “Honestly? I don’t know.”

The room becomes sullen again as they think of their friend on the other side of the door.

“Do you need me to help with anything?” Abel asks.

Eddie shakes his head, “you watching Sleeper, Mason, and Curiosity is enough. I’m sorry to overwhelm you when you have baby Zeal to take care of.”

“I’m happy to help,” Abel admits, “though it’s a little overwhelming, Carnage has been with me through every step.”

Eddie hides his amusement. He doesn’t see much of the red symbiote, but he’s glad the alien has been amicable and well behaved. He supposes loving Abel has done that to him.

Docile

is what he has become , Venom snickers.

Eddie rolls his eyes, you’re not any better, parasite.

Venom growls, but Eddie is focused on their daughter as she nibbles on her hand.

Eddie shrugs off his shirt and sighs contently when she latches on completely human, no sharp teeth and biting.

“You can go, Abel, thank you.”

“Let me know if you need anything,” Abel nods as he scurries away.

Eddie watches him go before heading to the kitchen where he manages to get a glass of water single handedly.

It’s the scream that frightens him, that makes the glass fall and shatter in his haste to get to Dan.

“Dan? Dan!”

Venom is on high alert immediately. Somehow they reach their room and Eddie has something twist in the pit of his stomach when he finds Dan curling in on himself.

The doctor is sprawled half on the bed and nearly falling to the floor as he clutches his belly with clenched eyes.

“Dan?” Eddie rasps.

“Hurts, Eddie, please make it stop, please, please, please. Oh God.”

Eddie doesn’t think he can watch as blood begins to seep from Dan’s sweats.

“Not again,” Eddie whispers brokenly, “not him.”

Venom growls in frustration as they shove Eddie out of the room.

Venom slithers to Dan and they look at the agonizing man with sharp eyes.

“ You’re losing the spawn, “ they state.

Through a moment of clarity of his pain induced delirium, Dan seems to understand.

The tears he’s fought to hold back spill as he shakes his head, trembling hands cupping his belly tenderly, “please no.”

Venom seems frustrated, words failing them.

There’s nothing that can be done. They feel like a failure. They failed Eddie and now they’re failing Dan.

“Venom, please, please save my baby!”

Venom growls lowly. They’re not sure if they can. The only one who can save the baby, can save Dan, is Riot.

viii

Eddie feels like he’s on the border of hyperventilating, memories he’d rather forget rear their ugly head in his mind.  The gentle coo and gnawing of Curiosity grounds him.  He looks at the baby in his arms and feels a warmth of gratitude for what he has, despite what he’s lost.

His eyes sting, but one deep breath followed by another calms his racing heart.

The sudden knock on the door makes him look up and he furrows his brow in confusion.  He doesn’t know of anyone who would be coming unannounced.  With some regret he pries a disgruntled Curiosity from his chest and brings her up to burp her.

He fixes his shirt as best he can and opens the door.

A man he’s never met stands before him.

“Can I help you?” Eddie asks, voice a little raspy.

The man tilts his head as if intrigued by the sight and Eddie is becoming self-conscious of his swollen eyes, red nose, and bitten lips.  And then a gentle burp directs his gaze to Curiosity and those eyes peer at his baby with surprise and interest.

The man reaches out as if to touch her and Eddie backtracks, intent on closing the door only to have something slam against him.

It wraps around him, sniffing and searching like a hellhound.

“ Where is he? “

Eddie shivers, “ Riot .“

“ Where is that idiot doctor?! “

A familiar cry of pain makes Riot’s head snap up and they slither toward it.  A sharp cry rings in Eddie’s ear and he doesn’t know if he should follow and stop Riot or… or not.

They’re the only one who can save Dan and his baby.

Biting his lip Eddie tries to calm Curiosity as she sniffles pitifully against his chest.

Riot ignores the wail.  Though they’re curious.  A fucking symbiote hybrid, who would’ve thought.

So this, this is what Dan was protecting so much.

That child.

And it angers them just a bit more.

They slip into the room and they pause, eyes widening in shock.

Dan is curled up into himself, red slowly staining his thighs and tears soaking into the sheets as he sobs.

Venom is cooing softly at the doctor, looking helpless.

Riot can’t move.

Not until Venom’s eyes land on them.

“ Riot .“

Riot snarls at their progenitor, anger and betrayal flaring in their chest.

Venom’s reverberating roar shuts them up, “ Stop acting like a child and help your mate. 

He’s

losing

your

child

and if you don’t help,

you’ll

lose him too. “

That shakes Riot to the core.

Child?

Their child?

That means…

“ Stupid human ,“ Riot hisses just before sinking into Dan’s skin.

The damage is extensive, the baby symbiote growing weaker and weaker and Riot isn’t so sure they’re capable of saving it.

“Please,” Dan begs brokenly, “ please .“

But that’s enough to make Riot try .

There are still questions unasked and unanswered, but they have time.

Eventually the pain becomes numb.

The bleeding stops.

And the tears dry as Dan passes out from exhaustion.

Even Riot has no desire to rouse the doctor and start chaos.

Though they still glare at Venom in barely concealed anger.

“ He is not my mate ,“ is the first thing they say.

“ Hmm ,“ Venom hums non-committally.  They know that denial well and personally.

“ The child is still yours, so take responsibility. “

Riot growls in irritation, but before Venom can respond a gentle knock sounds at the door.

“ Come in Eddie .“

The man steps through and stares at the scene.

“Dan?”

Riot hisses overprotectively.

“ Sleeping, better .“

Eddie smiles relieved, “Thank you Riot, for saving them.”

Riot stares at the man, something filling them with pride at Eddie’s recognition.  Fuck them.

They’re not supposed to feel like this.

“ That thing in your arms ,“ Riot redirects.

Eddie holds Curiosity tighter, “fuck off parasite, this is my daughter, she’s not a thing .”

Venom can’t help but feel proud as they bond with their mate.  Eddie holds back a little pleased smile and forces himself to look at Riot sternly, just as he did with Carnage all those months ago,  “Don’t fuck this up.  If we have to, we will separate you and figure out a way to keep both Dan and the baby alive.  We are not afraid of you. We burned you once, we’ll do it again. Got it?”

Riot doesn’t respond, though they watch the little family leave.

Once alone with their mat- Dan , they finally get the chance to just breathe.

The baby’s heartbeat slowly growing stronger and steadier.

Their baby , they remind themself.

Dan is carrying their baby .

ix

Dan doesn’t talk, he chooses not to. There’s nothing to talk about, nothing to say. So he says nothing. The silence irks Riot. It gets under their skin though they deny it.  They ignore it like an elephant in the room.

Quietly, Dan stares into space with his hand pressed to his belly.  There’s a heavy grief in his chest, a rock of guilt nestled in his belly.  He closes his eyes at the onslaught of tears he fails to fight back. 

If he hadn’t separated from Riot his baby would still be there.  If he hadn’t exposed himself to the MRI machine, his baby would’ve been safe.

Riot doesn’t manifest to neither confirm nor deny Dan’s fears.  Call them cruel, call them selfish, but Riot refuses to appear before the man.

The man who clearly didn’t want them.

But the guilt, fuck the guilt !

Eventually Riot slithers after three days of painful numbness, of no eating and wasting away.

The baby wasn’t lost, but if Dan continues as he does it’ll be too late for all of them.

“ The child is safe ,“ Riot rumbles.

Dan blinks wide teary eyes at them.

“ Did you hear me? “ The symbiote demands.

Dan sniffles pitifully.

“ The baby,

our

baby, is safe ,“ they repeat slowly.

Dan wipes away a stray tear with a trembling hand, his other resting on his baby bump, barely noticeable, barely there.

It’s his imagination.  Right?

It must be.

Riot isn’t here.

He wasn’t strong enough to keep his baby.

His body wasn’t strong enough.

He’s delusional.

He has finally lost his mind to grief, to the utter feeling of failure.

Riot is beginning to get angry.

“ I am real ,“ they sneer, “ I

am here .“

Riot sways back and forth like a snake about to strike.  They’re unsure how to approach the human.  Should they reach out.  Should they touch?

Riot sighs softly, bending in slowly until they rest their head against Dan’s.  Their breaths mingle and Dan slowly realizes Riot is helping his breathing slow from the rising panic.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

“Riot?” Dan rasps.

“

I am here

.“

Those three words snap Dan from his stupor.  There’s a flicker of recognition in his eyes as he stares at the symbiote in wonder.

“… you?”

Dan reaches out slowly, cautiously.  His fingers sink into the soft slime without further hesitation.

Warm.

Real.

Riot .

The symbiote purrs at the feel.

“You’re here!” Dan exclaims in wonderment.

“ Hmm ,“ Riot rumbles.

Dan bites his lip, with a softer voice he asks, “why?”

The symbiote snorts, “ my perfect host, mine. “

Like hell were they willing to lose yet another host.

“What about Drake?  I thought he was your perf-”

“

Was

.  Drake is dead.  Venom killed him, “ Riot growls.

Dan flinches, “he was protecting himself, he was protecting Eddie!”

Dan is overwhelmed with anger, feelings not his own.  Yet Riot doesn’t act on it.

“Just as I was protecting our baby,” he finishes solemnly, “but I guess you’ll always consider humans weak, see us as your meal, as a passtime, and unworthy.  I know you didn’t want this baby-”

“ You know nothing .“

Dan frowns, “I know enough.”

“ And exactly what is that? “

“Weren’t you the one who authorized the surgery?”

“ Surgery? “

“The removal of our baby.”

“ I

didn’t

know you were carrying until

I

arrived here.  I

didn’t

know it was possible until I saw that human with Venom’s bastard on his shoulder.  Regardless, it is my spawn,

mine

and if

I

didn’t

want to breed with a human,

I

wouldn’t

have bonded with you again to save it .“

“Save… it… you mean our baby,” Dan covers his mouth in shock, his heart aching with possibility as the words finally register, “baby, our baby, you saved them?”

“ Of course ,“ Riot huffs, “ the child is safe, alive, its heartbeat is loud and frankly annoying now. “

Lie.  Dan doesn’t know how, but he knows Riot is lying.  If the baby’s heartbeat was annoying, they wouldn’t have saved them!

“Oh,” he breathes softly, both hands cupping the gentle swell of their child.

“ Now who gave the right to kill my child? “

Dan looks up at the symbiote.  If it

wasn’t

Riot

, then who?

“I don’t know,” Dan whispers, “but I’m glad you’re here.”

Those words do something to the gruff alien.

It causes their body to fill with warmth and … adoration?

“Thank you.  Even if you hate me, use me, abuse me, thank you for saving my baby.  I-I’ll do anything to keep them, to keep him or her.  So please, just until they’re born stay with me?  Then… then do what you will.”

Those words, they hurt more than Riot thought possible.

As if they’ll leave Dan and their child.

Not now.

Not ever.

Not again.

x

Dan doesn’t have the energy to get up, to leave. He doesn’t have the energy to make the effort, to even consider it. His limbs are heavy, his eyes tired and body sore. His back still aches something fierce, but Riot’s words ring within his head and reassure him that his, that their, baby is safe and growing within him.

He closes his eyes and breathes deeply. As bad as he’s felt, he can’t help but feel all hot and bothered. He almost feels bad, disgusted by the way his body reacts. But God, without the worry of his baby being in danger he’s fallen into a sense of safety and security.

He’s no longer just hungry for food.

That stupid heat is making him yearn and want something more, something forbidden.

Regardless of the fact that Riot is back, that Riot has chosen to stay , nothing changes the past. Nothing changes the fact that Riot’s motives were less than violent.

Dan is still so befuddled.

Unsure why the symbiote even chose to stay.

Sure they have a baby, but do they truly what it?

A mix of human and alien?

Isn’t their baby an abomination, wouldn’t they be too weak for Riot’s standards?

Stop thinking so hard, the symbiot grumbles.

Dan holds his breath, heart skipping a beat that he can’t control as his hands become clammy.

This isn’t nerves though.

This is more.

He wants more.

More than Riot would ever give, more than he should ever hope for.

More.

More.

More.

He closes his eyes and hopes for sleep, but it never comes.

He’s restless and painfully aroused.

It’s been days, weeks.

He shouldn’t want it as much as he does though.

He shouldn’t want the

m.

A dangerous growl echoes in his head and Dan tenses up.

The symbiote manifests without a word. They pin the good doctor against the bed and engage in a staring contest. Dan blinks owlishly at the symbiote, but quickly finds himself losing.

Those eyes, those piercing, fire fueled eyes know exactly what Dan wants.

He can see it reflected in the white depths.

The want.

The yearning.

The desire.

His breath hitches when a slithering tongue licks at his neck.

Dan bites his bottom lip, teeth sinking into the plush skin as he stifles a moan.

Warm hands quickly make work of his clothes until Dan is left in nothing but his boxers. The touch is overwhelming and his body heats up quickly, those fingers teasing and making him fall apart faster than Dan is ready to admit.

“ More ,“ he chokes out pathetically.

Riot snorts in amustment. They give him just what he needs. There was never any other option. They knew that the moment they decided to stay.

The offending clothing is off in a flash and Dan is laid gorgeous and naked on the bed.

Riot’s gaze devours the man hungrily.

They’ve been afraid to touch these past few days, afraid to hurt when that’s all they’ve ever known.

In the end, Dan’s thoughts and desires won and they’re more than willing to indulge in the wild fantasies.

They’re sure that their offspring is safe now, the days only allowing for the fluttering heartbeat to strengthen and grow.

Dan whimpers as tendrils wrap around his wrists and hold them up above his head. His back arches as that playful tongue licks at his sensitive chest. Those razor sharp teeth nipping at his skin. The sounds, Gods the sounds that escape Dan are down right sinful .

Riot relishes in the little moans and gasps they drag out of the man.

And as they crawl down the length of Dan’s body, they pause enough to kiss the protruding belly that has kept their baby safe for so long.

Dan’s eyes prick with tears at the tenderness shown. Before he can ruin the moment with anymore emotion than the symbiote is prepared for, Riot swallows him whole.

Dan gasps in shock, body tensing.

The scrape of teeth against the underside of his erection is erotic and dangerous and too much.

He struggles weakly in Riot’s grasp, trying to warn them that he’s close. Too close.

Riot knows though, of course they know.

Their tongue delves into the slit of Dan’s flushed tip and that’s all it takes for Dan’s body to seize, to release the stress and weight of what he had to go through.

He unravels.

He falls apart.

The best part?

Riot is there.

They’re there every moment, savoring every second.

Riot is there to pick up the pieces, to make him come undone.

“Riot,” he whimpers.

“

Daniel

. “

He struggles as he grows overly sensitive.

Riot doesn’t let up.

Not yet.

Not until every drop of cum is on their tongue.

They missed this.

They missed him.

When Dan is finally released, he expect to reciprocate. But Riot simply forces him on his side.

Dan’s eyes grow heavy and he can’t argue.

Strong arms wrap around his middle, warm hands cradling his baby bump.

Sleep finally comes easy.

xi

Quietly Dan shuffles out the room after days of being locked inside.  He looks both ways as if he were about to cross the street and feels his heart skip a beat when a little body runs into his legs nearly toppling him over.  He reaches out desperately only to find tentacles steadying him without a spare thought.

Wide fearful eyes look up to him as Riot manifests.  There’s anger written in the symbiote’s tense form.  Dan can only watch, hoping the symbiote isn’t too harsh on the children.

He opens his mouth to stop Riot from whatever they’re about to say, to do.

But the symbiote simply sighs.  They deflate like a balloon as they chastise the children with mild exasperation, “ careful .“

Mason nods his head before breaking into a wide smile and reaching up with his little hands, begging his uncle Dan to pick him up.  A low growl rumbles from Riot as Dan makes to scoop up the little boy.  Sleeper appears then and growls back just as threateningly at the older alien, prepared to defend his innocent little host.

Riot, however, doesn’t back down and instead picks the small child up, startling the younger symbiote in the process.

“ Dan is not allowed to do any heavy lifting ,“ Riot explains to the younger symbiote and child.

Sleeper watches them with mistrust, but doesn’t stop them from situating Mason against Dan’s hip, the weight of the tot barely there.

Dan can’t help but bite back a smile.  The warmth radiating through his body still alerts Riot of the doctor’s contentment.  It’s almost enough to rip a pleased rumble from their chest.

“Dan,” Eddie greets, lighting up at the sight of his best friend.

“Eddie,” Dan smiles in turn.

Eddie briefly looks at his baby boy on Dan’s hip when he notices the tentacles holding him in place, keeping him safe.

“How are you feeling?”

“Tired,” Dan answers honestly.

Eddie’s smile turns into a worried frown at that.

The doctor quickly amends, “but good.”

It eases the worry off of Eddie just a bit, “I’m glad.”

“Me too,” Dan sighs contently.

Mason starts wriggling in Riot’s hold until he slips down and races toward Eddie.

Venom quickly catches the running toddler, wrapping him up and scooping him off the ground.

Eddie stares at the sight endearing and Dan secretly wishes he could have that.

It’s a yearning ache he hides well, one that Riot still feels.

“Do you want something to eat, Dan?  I know all we’ve been giving you is soup, but-”

“God yes,” Dan groans, “anything but soup.  Maybe a juicy cheeseburger with extra bacon.”

Eddie chuckles, “sounds-”

“And drizzled chocolate with mayo.”

“…amazing. I’ll go place the order.”

Dan grins, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet in excitement.  Finally he’ll be able to satisfy his cravings.

Could have hunted for us, Riot grumbles.

“No,” Dan shakes his head, hand landing on his baby bump, “this is what baby wants, what I want.  I can’t… just the thought of human flesh-”

He shudders.

Riot huffs but let’s it go.

When the food arrives and Dan eats his fill, Riot can’t help but pur.

Content human.

Happy mate .

Safe.

Warm.

Baby… baby?

Riot belated realizes that this is the baby, their offspring emitting its happiness and satisfaction.

Ok, they admit to themselves, safe baby, safe mate, perfect.

And the chocolate?

It hits the spot.

xii

Dan is ten weeks into his pregnancy, almost half way through, when he decides he can’t stay with Eddie and the others anymore.

He feels as if he has overstayed his visit.

Despite Eddie’s assurances that he hasn’t, Dan still shakes his head and hugs him tightly as they say goodbye.

“You don’t have to go,” Eddie states again.

“I know, but I…” Dan hesitates.

He doesn’t know why, doesn’t know how to explain, that he just has to go. There’s something tugging at him, telling him, pushing him to go.

This is home, this is family, but he feels guilty.

He hasn’t contributed to anything and Eddie is already struggling with feeding four kids.

He needs to get his shit together, maybe work part time at the hospital before he’s due. Then… only then, will he come back. Only when he’s sure he can provide for his baby, help his family.

“I love you Dan,” Eddie whispers, letting go, to some degree understanding the internal dilemma Dan is facing.

“I love you too, Eddie,” Dan smiles.

Riot bristles at those words inside of Dan’s chest.

Dan rolls his eyes, his hand cupping the underside of his belly. Proof of their baby’s continued growth. Proof of Dan’s commitment even if Riot only uses him.

“ Silly human ,“ Riot growls as they walk out the door.

“Hm,” Dan agrees with a soft hum, “I know.”

“ I’ll

protect

you ,“ Riot continues, trying to make Dan understand.

“ I know,“ Dan whispers quietly.

But there’s so much meaning in those few little words, more than understanding. There’s hope. Hope Dan needs to squash before he’s disillusioned.

Across the street a man stares at Dan blatantly.

Hate burns behind dark eyes covered by shades.

Jealousy rages and consumes the disfigured body as he impulsely crosses the street.

Eyes narrow and his hate grows for the doctor with every step, with every second. He should’ve died. He and that bastard spawn should’ve died! He was so close at having everything again!

Riot should have been his, damnit!

He and Riot make the perfect symbiosis!

He is Riot’s perfect mate, perfect human! Not Daniel Lewis!

Not him!

Dan is only in the way.

Dan and that abomination he carries.

A scarred hand rests on his thin abdomen before he’s reaching for his back pocket.

He lost everything.

And Dr. Lewis thinks he can just take it all?

The angered man rushes behind the doctor, steps quiet and swift.

He pulls out a gun, intention clear.

“Dr. Lewis!”

Dan pauses mid stride and turns around at the shout of his name.

The figure is a blurr.

He barely catches a glimpse as a bright light explodes from a gun’s barrel and nearly blinds him.

His ears ring.

His vision blurs.

Suddenly, he can’t breathe.

xiii

The screams are immediate and that’s all he can hear before there’s nothing.  No sound, no pain.  People have scattered, the crowds non-existent. It’s just him and his rapid breathing and racing heart drumming in his chest.  He looks through eyes that aren’t his own, body shivering as he realizes Riot has engulfed them.  Riot is protecting them.

An enraged roar grumbles from Riot’s chest at the threat that quickly dies in their throat.  Dan doesn’t know what’s going on.  The pounding of his heart still too loud in his ears.  But he can see and suddenly he is released from the safety of Riot’s armor.

The symbiote manifests beside Dan, a thrum of… of something runs through him.

In the midst of the crowd dispersing they can finally see their assailant.

Half of the man’s face is disfigured, scarred nearly beyond recognition.

But he knows who it is.  The complexion familiar and eyes full of anger and hate too discernible.

Carlton Drake. (

Drake

).

The bullet that had been intended to pierce Dan, but was instead absorbed by Riot, is slowly pushed out of the slime until it ricochets against the payment with intense force.  Perhaps a warning?  Regardless it lands in front of Drake’s feet and it buries into the pavement surrounded by a crater.

The tension continues to grow and Dan can finally see that the man is struggling.  He’s struggling to hold the gun, to keep himself upright from the damage of the fire and explosion.  Still, there is defiance in his eyes even as his labored breathing becomes more and more audible.

“Traitor,” the man hisses.

“ Survivor ,“ Riot corrects, “ You above anyone else should know that what I did was necessary for my own survival.  You were not of import. “

“I am your host!”

“ Were ,“ is the calm contradiction.

The man’s face scrunches up even further as he heats up with anger, red travelling down to his neck.

“You left me to die!”

“ Natural selection .“

“Right, that explains you fucking Dr. Lewis ,” and the way he says it is so condescending.

It makes Dan tense up, arms covering his belly protectively.  He shouldn’t have known.  How could he have known?  He’s not too big that people will visibly notice.  He also changed his wardrobe to that of Eddy’s.  His body mostly hidden by a red sweater loose around the midsection.

“Surprised?” The man sneers tauntingly, “Of course, how would you have known that I resided in the same hospital you were in?”

It’s rhetorical, but the information makes his tummy churn.

He’s the one.

He authorized the surgery to kill his baby.

It’s him-

That information triggers Riot, he feeds off of Dan’s memory and fear.

“ You! “ It’s garbled in a growl full of rage.

“You left me! For a pathetic excuse of a human who is utterly unlovable if Anne has anything to say about it.  She sure knows how to pick them, doesn’t she?”

Dan bristles at that.  Anne was the single best thing that has occurred to him other than meeting Eddy and Abel and carrying his own child.  Fuck him!

“Fuck you!” Dan shouts, momentarily surprised by his own outcry.

“You’d like that, don’t you? Spreading your legs for a monster wasn’t enough?”

Riot prepares to attack when Drake pulls something out.

A small device, black and hefty in the palm of his hand, “I wouldn’t if I were you.”

Dan is paralyzed when he realizes what it could be.

“Make a single move against me and I will make sure you and your spawn die where you stand.”

Dan’s throat feels dry at the threat, he knows that with a press of a button the radiofrequency emitted might be enough worse than that of an MRI machine.

“Good. Now do as I say and I’ll let your little pet live.  What do you say Riot? We’ll let the good doctor carry your spawn and snatch it up once it’s born.  You and I can raise it, make it into the killing machine we both know you are.  A prodigy in the making, a mini mad scientist.”

Disgust twists Dan’s stomach.

But Riot… Riot listens.

Slowly the symbiote tears itself away from Dan.

“No,” Dan breathes, voice high in panic, “if you leave we die.”

“We can keep him in the lab,” Drake offers then, “keep him alive just long enough to cut your spawn out.”

“Riot!”

But Riot is already slithering around Drake’s arm.

“ Or … we can forget them, I can shoot him right now and get rid of them both.  And you and I can start our own army.“

Before Riot can answer, Drake decides for them as he pulls the trigger.

This time Riot is too far to react, to shield Dan and their child from harm.

This time it’s too late as Dan crumbles to the floor, red spilling and staining the pavement.

He made his choice. Dan is unnecessary when Drake is their perfect host.

xiv

Dan stares vacantly ahead.  His blurry vision can just make out the red of a traffic light in the distance, cars honking and people slowly re-appearing.  He thinks someone shouts for 9-1-1.  He’s not quite sure, everything feels a little numb. 

He doesn’t want to move.

He doesn’t want to think.

Tears cling to his lashes and he feels like giving up, like laying down and letting the blood continue to leave his body without even putting up a fight.

A small nudge from the inside of his belly forces him to stay awake though.

Reminds him that he has a reason to fight, to survive.

He rubs his belly soothingly before heaving himself into a sitting position.

People begin to crowd around him, unsure of what to do.

Internally, he rolls his eyes, the doctor in him beginning to kick in.

He scoots over until his back is pressed against the wall of the nearest building.

He shrugs off the sweater as best he can, wincing as more blood pours from the bullet wound in his shoulder as he moves his arm.  He grabs a sleeve and tries to make a tourniquet despite the thick fabric making it difficult to tie around..

He’s still in shock, maybe that’s why he can’t feel the burning pain as he move fluidly.  Mind still unable to process what just happened, but his hands are on autopilot.

He reaches for his phone, but instead of dialing 9-1-1 like his instincts insist, he speed-dials Eddy with bloodied trembling fingers.

Eddy answers on the first ring, “ Dan? “

Dan doesn’t answer for a moment.

It’s only been half an hour since he last saw the man, since he last claimed his freedom from the safety of the Brock-Symbiote house.  What a mistake that was, he realizes now.

“ Dan? Are you there?  

Maybe it was butt-dial? “

That brings amusement to Dan and he finally manages to at least clear his throat.

“I need help,” he croaks.

It’s weak and small, but Eddy catches on.

“ Dan? Where are you? What’s going on? “

Dan doesn’t know how to answer.  Whatever he says first will set Eddy on edge.  Hell, this call already has the other man on high alert.

“Downtown,” he answers at last, as an afterthought he adds, “I’ve been shot.”

The sharp intake of breath was expected he muses, at least he isn’t freaking out, not yet.

“ What happened? “

“Can’t,” Dan begins, throat tightening as he remembers Riot leaving him.

Not by choice , he reminds himself.

“Can’t explain,” he forces out, “but I need to get out of here, I can’t go to a hospital.”

“ Where’s Riot? “ Venom asks.

Dan’s eyes sting with tears, “Just get here.”

He hangs up before looking down at his shoulder.

There’s no exit wound, that much he can tell.  He needs to dig the bullet out, the sooner, the better so he can stitch the wound close.  He wiggles his fingers through the shirt created by the pierce of the bullet and he tears the fabric as best he can.

He can here someone to his left gasp. He pays the audience no mind.

His priorities are his life and his child.

He won’t survive without Riot, but like hell will he go out without a fight.

Not when his baby is depending solely on him again.

He presses his fingers around the wound, trying to gauge how deep the bullet may be.  He bites his lip as a scream threatens to escape his lips. A gush of blood follows from the light tough, dribbling and making his skin sticky and red.

He feels like gagging.

It isn’t the first he’s seen blood, but it’s the simple fact that it is his own which makes him feel sick and feint.

He can’t afford to pass out though.

Not in front of all these people.

Not while Drake is out there and a threat to him and his child.

“ Dan ,“ a growled voice.

Dan squints up, the sunlight blocked by a massive figure.

Dan has never been more glad to see the symbiote before him as he is now.

“Carnage.”

“ Progenitor said you were hurt. “

Dan nods, struggling to stand up.

Carnage reaches out to help him without a second thought.

Once on his feet he feels woozy and he tries not to let the spinning around him overwhelm him to the point of vomiting.  He swallows the bile back and takes a deep breath.

“ Riot? “

“Gone,” Dan answers, voice breaking.

“ Gone? “ The red symbiote parrots.

Dan begins limping away even as police offers and ambulances finally arrive at the scene.

The sirens are too loud and they hurt Dan’s ears.

A headache blossoms slowly behind his eyes.  His shoulder finally throbs and his stomach is revolting at the movement of his steps.  The adrenaline is slipping away and the shock is starting to wear off as reality begins to hit him.

“He made a choice.”

To protect us, he tries to reason.

But the truth is… he’s not quite sure.

xv

Sweat beads down Dan’s forehead as he bites the cloth shoved in his mouth.

Carnage growls at the doctor as the man grabs a knife sterilized in fire from a pocket lighter of all things.  Dan pays the symbiote no mind.  He refuses to have another parasite within him.  Riot was enough, and Venom couldn’t help him the first time beyond keeping him alive long enough for Riot to come back.

But Riot isn’t coming back and he knows this.

He can’t allow himself to wallow in self-pity like last time.

The tip of the knife digs into the opening the bullet created in his skin.  He scrunches his face but he perseveres.  He can’t stop now, not even as dots float within his vision and threaten to overtake him.

He nicks and slices until finally he feels the bullet buried in his skin.  He tosses the knife aside and uses his fingers to dig the bullet out.

Finally he pinches the small metal and fishes it out before tossing it to the side much like he did with the knife.

He spits out the gag and looks at Eddy who stands in the doorway in mild surprise.

“Needle and thread,” he manages hoarsely.

Eddy nods as he lands beside Dan on the bed, “Carnage, get out of here, I need Abel to help us.”

Carnage grumbles but disappears without much of a fight.  Abel stares at both men in confused horror.

“Just,” Dan pauses, “help me clean the blood.”

“O-Ok,” Abel agrees.

He grabs the clean towels Eddy brought and submerges them in the basin of hot water.

“So unsanitary,” Dan snorts, ending in a hiccup of pain.

“God if I didn’t know any better I would think you were high, Dr. Dan,” Eddy rolls his eyes.

“It hurts like a bitch, but I can’t keep screaming my throat raw.  My baby and I wouldn’t survive if that’s all I did.”

“At least I boiled the water,” Eddy sighs, still unhappy Dan refused Carnage or Venom’s help.

Dan hisses when both Eddy and Abel work at the same time.  The needle stitching his skin together along with the press of a hot towel mopping up the blood on his skin is almost too much.  It’s enough to have him screw his eyes closed shut.

“What happened to Riot?” Eddy finally asks, if only to distract the injured man from the pain.

It’s the dreaded question that even Dan doesn’t have the answer to, not really.

“Was it Drake?” Eddy wonders.

Dan tenses at the name, at the same time Eddy continues the running stitch.

He hadn’t mentioned it to Eddy nor Carnage. How would he know?

“If Riot survived, there was a chance Drake did too,” Eddy continues softly, “Venom didn’t believe so.”

“Well he did,” Dan snaps.

He hisses when Eddy tugs at the thread.

“Sorry,” the man apologizes unsympathetically. 

Finally, he ties a knot and snips the thread with Dan’s feeble instruction.

Abel finishes cleaning up too, the clear water long since turned red.

Dan finally rests his head back against the wall, eyes closing.

He feels something soft pressing on his shoulder and when he opens his eyes he finds Abel holding gauze to the closed wound while Eddy cuts and tapes it into place.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“We’ll get him back,” Eddy promises.

Dan’s brows furrow.

“What is it, Dan?”

“I’m not sure he wants to come back, I’m not sure he cares.”

“He cared enough to come back the first time, he knows you carry his baby,” Abel reminds.

Dan laughs a little hollowly, almost derisively towards himself, “Drake can give him that, can give him an army and so much more. We are nothing compared to him.”

“Drake sounds like he belongs in the loony bin,” Abel quips.

“He does,” Eddy sighs, “but that’s beside the point.  You said he held a device that could hurt both Riot and the baby? And only when that threat was made did he separate from you.”

“That doesn’t mean anything because before then there was… something, something there and I just can’t explain it.”

Home… seeing Drake made Riot feel like he was going home .

“ No matter, “ Venom appears then, “ we will help you as much as we can so you can give birth to your spawn. Whether Riot is in the picture or not, does not matter. We are family .“

Dan can’t help but smile at that, a small quirk to his lips even as tears threaten to fall.  His hand rests on his belly and he nods, “Thank you… all of you.”

xvi

Tricked.

Riot was tricked .

They’re angry and furious, trying and failing to overpower the lifeless body known as Drake.

They should have known!

There was no way Drake could have survived that explosion. Riot, themself, barely made it out of there alive.

Now they struggle to take possession over the body, failing against the other occupying the rotting flesh. They lose the battle as they’re forcibly expelled from the meatsuit and tossed into one of the concealed labs found in Drake’s bio-engineering corporation.

The scarred man is soon taken over by a brown slime, taking form of a more hideous and unstable wannabe-symbiote damaged by time, the lack of nutrition, and a proper host.  Still, Riot would recognize the symbiote anywhere, anyhow.

The alien tosses the black remote that could have ended everything and now Riot realizes that it was nothing but plastic. With Drake gone and with the intimate knowledge that they have murdered the scientists involved in Drake’s project, the only capable of engineering something threatening is none other than Dan himself.  From memories they’ve seen him do it. They’ve seen him collar Carnage of all symbiotes.

It’s the only reason why others have attempted yet failed at capturing Venom.

How could they be so stupid as to fall prey to easy tricks.

“ Riot ,“ the alien hisses gaining the indigo’s attention.

Riot growls, slithering to and fro like a rattle snake ready to strike, “

Rot

.“

“ Look at what you have become, weak and pathetic, bending to the whims of disgusting

cattle

. “

Riot bristles, how dare this imbecile refer to Dan as mere cattle .

“ Watch your tongue ,“ Riot growls.

“ Or what? “ It taunts.

Riot’s anger gets the best of them as they strike, blocked by the glass and crashing against it.

The sickly symbiote laughs.

“ We will make sure you cease to exist, “ Riot threatens.

“ Is that so? “ A scoff of disbelief, “ And how will you achieve that, pray tell. “

Riot has had enough, they don’t answer.

Because there is no answer.

They know there have been others here before.  Even if it has been nearly two years since the whole debacle with Drake’s plan for Life Foundation, Riot can still faintly smell the stench of death of their kin. They can even make out their progenitor’s own scent, though faint and nearly washed away by time.  But underneath all that they can smell the others .  The ones who managed to escape .

“ You agreed and allowed our comrades to be taken by filthy humans, “ the brown symbiote continues, “ you willingly allowed the imprisonment, experimentation, and death of our own kin. “

“ It was all for a greater good ,“ Riot drawls, “ it was the promise of an unlimited supply of food for consumption, so our own home could be left untouched .“

“ And look at what that got us! “

Riot rolls their eyes.

But the alien persists, “ Unable to return home! To be stuck here in this filth among meatsuits with a superiority complex! “

“ You have food, do you not? “ Riot hisses, “ Yet you choose to be in these dire conditions .“

The alien bristles, trying and failing to make itself bigger, but shrinking into itself like a glob of oobleck.

“ We deserved better! “

“ And yet here you are, “ Riot sneers, “ still stuck in the same place, still clinging to the deceased. “

“ What? “ Rot laughs, slowly reabsorbing itself until Drake’s body is standing before them, “ miss your perfect host?  It has been alive all this time and not once did you search for it. “

“ Drake was a suitable host, but not my perfect host.  How you managed to keep him in a near pristine condition is still beyond me.“

“ That’s right ,“ Rot growls, “ you thought dear Drake had died after you attempted to return home, without us, the ones you

sacrificed

. “

“ Do not be dramatic Rot- “

“ Drake has been kept alive all this time, admitted to the same hospital your bitch of a human works at.  Imagine my surprise when I not only find it laying immobile but easy for the taking and vacant. “

Riot mentally adds to the list of torture they have planned for the symbiote as it continues to insult Dan before them.

“ And then I find your bitch admitted as well, and what do I overhear?  That the bitch carries your spawn. “

A growl.

“ I wish I had been the one to rip out the disgusting abomination in his body when I had the chance- “

A roar of anger, “ SILENCE !“

Rot roars back, just as fierce even in its weakened state.

“ I did not choose to become this weak, this pathetic, unlike

you

,“ Rot snarls, “ I have been made as such by these humans .“

Riot’s breathing is heavy as they try to calm them-self but fail.

“ You see, Drake might have been the initiator of all this, but there are others.  So many other humans who have come here and obtained enough data to continue the cruelty began by the Life Foundation.  I am their test subject, but with you in my grasp I will no longer be the guinea pig.  And once I report that there are

hybrids

, image the

torture

. “

Riot freezes, eyes widening.

“ No ,“ they whisper in horror.

“ And it won’t just end with the hybrids, of course they’ll want to study the hosts as well.  Just picture it, your little bitch strapped and sliced- “

The sound that escapes Riot is deafening.

xvii

Dan paces back and fourth, belly jotting out just a bit bigger at twelve weeks pregnant.  He frowns as he feels a sharp kick to his lower belly, or at least he thinks it’s a kick.  For all he knows it might be a little punch as the baby continues to stretch with all it’s little might.  He can feel himself smiling just a bit more before sighing and finally deciding to leave what has become his room in the Brock-Symbiote house.

He reaches to press the heels of his palms into his aching lower back, wincing as the movement tugs at the newly healed scar of his shoulder.  A reminder of the nightmare he had to live through a mere two weeks ago.  The memory still haunting him at night and every waking moment.

He pauses with a warm smile when he spots Mason and Sleeper running about. For a moment he forgets.  His gaze flickers to Abel lounging on the couch with Zeal on his chest and Curiosity in the bouncer before him.  He can hear Eddy is in the kitchen making pancakes, and he can distinctly pick out his bickering with Venom about adding more chocolate syrup on the growing stack.

A tentacle from Abel shoots out as he’s about to take a step further into the living room and he notices Carnage clear away one of the toy cars and a Barbie doll Mason has left lying around in his path.  He offers the red symbiote a grateful smile and is unsurprised when he gets nothing in return.  It’s the thought that counts and he knows Carnage is only being amiable because he saved Abel and their offspring.

Abel shoots him a grin though before he’s no doubt scolding the symbiote in the confines of his mind.  It makes Dan look at the boy with endearment before the ache that something is missing returns in his chest.

He knows what it is, he knows .

He simply does not want to acknowledge the fact that he yearns for his own symbiote, for Riot.

He wants him to come back.

This is their home.  He was their home.

He takes a deep breath before settling on the loveseat, the ache in his back lessening with the pressure gone.

Still, there’s a feeling in his gut, a vice squeezing his heart, that he can’t quite place.  He rubs at his chest and leans further back into the cushions, his throat aching the more he focuses on it.

Something is wrong.

Something is very, very wrong.

Riot?

Where are you Riot?

Where are you, you dumb parasite?

And he pretends he doesn’t see Abel’s concerned gaze when he sniffles.

Stupid hormones.

xviii

Dora Skirth watches as the high security doors open and the man with greying hair appears, a familiar container in his hands as he enters the room. 

It’s been weeks… months? Years , perhaps, since she’s seen such a thing.

Time has no meaning in this cell.

Time is non-existent when you’ve been incarcerated by order of Colton Drake for betrayal.

She cowers back, sniffling as the man disrespects her personal space and steps even closer.

She may have kept her life, but it is meaningless when she has ceased to exist to her family, her husband, her children .

“My dear Dr. Skirth,” the man coos.

And she feels disgusting when the man cups her cheek, his thumb rubbing her lower lip.

He continues, “How are you today?”

She tilts her head in faux compliance before turning and sinking her blunt teeth into his skin.

The man screams before backhanding her cheek.

It stings and it causes her eyes to water as she shrinks in on herself, hands reaching out to cup her burning cheek. The shackles on her wrists clinking with the motion.

“You stupid bitch ,” the man sneers.

“Monster,” she growls.

The laugh that escapes the man is mocking, “Oh, you think I’m a monster?”

She nods.

“Well I have a surprise for you darling.”

She tenses as the man finally brings back attention to the object in his hand.  He opens it and she pauses, eyes widening when she notices what it contained.  What she already knew was contained.

Slowly, like slime held in a child’s hand, a sickly azure glob begins to escape.  Fear grips her heart when she realizes what it is.

“Symbiote,” she breathes.

“Correct Dr. Skirth,” the man grins, “meet your knew roommate-”

She shakes her head rapidly, eyes flickering to and fro in search of a place to hide. To get away.

“-Riot.”

Riot?

She pauses, fear gripping her heart.

Memories of documents, of Drake’s scrawl depicting all the symbiotes captured, spring forth.

She remembers Riot.

The leader of the Klyntar.

“Rot has been such a help and your data has done wonders to further our objective.  With a new test subject we can continue Life Foundation’s project and try to better human quality of life.  Will you continue to cooperate?”

It’s not a choice, she knows.

She has been kept alive for the simple fact that she once worked for Drake.

She is the only one that has access to what remains of Life Foundation and its secrets.  This man has used and abused her to gain that knowledge and now… now she fears the worst.

She’s survived for however long she has been imprisoned.

She will not survive another symbiote.

“Good,” the man cackles just as he walks out.

She rushes behind him, intent on making an escape.

But she’s not fast enough.

The doors shut close with finality behind the man who does not look back.

Tears spill from her eyes and leave salty trails on her hollow cheeks.

She presses her back to the door and watches as the symbiote rouses.

As Riot slithers closer.

Something stirs within her.

It tightens around her chest and makes it hard to breathe.

Her scream is deafening as Riot strikes.

xix

Her throat is raw as her legs tremble and give out beneath her.  Her eyes are wide and she can feel salty droplets roll over her lips, her tongue wiping the tears that seem to continue to fall like rain.  Her chest feels tight and the claustrophobia intensifies.  It worsens when she has the intimate knowledge that she cannot escape.

There’s a thing wrapped around her ankle that stretches out and moves around what she has been told is Riot like a serpent.

A face appears as Riot stretches some.

“ Lasher ,“ the symbiote grumbles weakly.

Dora flinches as the tentacle around her ankle thickens and takes form.

“ Riot .“

“I think I’m going to pass out,” she gasps, “or… or just vomit.”

She can’t see, but she can feel , the eye roll from… from… Lasher .

“ Oh God ,“ she groans, feeling completely overwhelmed, “you were inside of me, all this time you were…”

Neither symbiote comment when the woman crawls and abruptly vomits in what has become her “facilities” just as she said she would.

“ It appears your human was unaware of your presence ,“ Riot states calmly.

“ I have kept her alive all this time, it is a wonder she did not catch on ,“ Lasher comments in amusement.

“ Alive ,“ she rasps weakly.

Then anger builds within her chest.  Anger and frustration.

“All the things those monsters did and you never once stopped them!” She screams just a tad hysterical, “I have seen what you parasites are capable of and not once-”

Riot bristles at the name as Lasher wraps around her throat tightly and silences her, “ Watch what you say

human

, I have kept you alive, but I can also end you.  My focus has been to go undetected, to wait for the right time, now be a good human and listen well.  I am in charge here, you are nothing but a vessel.  A means to an end and if you were smart, you would stop acting like a weak pathetic woman. “

Dora nods frantically and Lasher finally releases her.  She clutches her throat as she coughs and finally takes a shuddering breath.

“ Now… what brings the leader of Klyntar here? “

Riot growls, “ not by choice- “

“ Clearly .“

“ They have done things, experiments. “

“ I can tell… you are… you are dying, sibling, “ Lasher frowns, “ but why are you here? How did you get captured? “

“ I found our progenitor, “ Riot explains.

Lasher perks up at that.  The relationship with Venom has changed over the course of time but Venom is their progenitor and they care nonetheless.

“ He has mated with the human Brock- “

“Eddy?” Dora perks at the name as well, scooting closer and closer, “he’s still alive?”

Riot nods, “ he killed Drake… or at least left him in a catatonic state. “

Relief is visible in the woman’s face at the news.

“ Until Rot that is, but instead of saving him he ended up eating most of his internal organs and killing him. “

Lasher growls, “ Rot was the first to betray us, I warned you about that bastard.  Those humans didn’t even have to torture it before it spilled all it knew of the symbiotes that boarded the Life Foundation spaceship.  They promised freedom in exchange for Venom and Brock as they are in complete symbiosis. “

“ Because they are unaware of your existence, “ Riot gathers.

Lasher nods, “ Rot has killed every human they have brought in, it has been incompatible with every single one and therefore useless.  All studies have frustrated these humans and they were prepared to kill it until recently.  That is until it reminded them of the anti-hero Venom.  Rot promised to bring them Venom in exchange for freedom. With nothing else to lose, I suppose they let Rot out in search of them. “

“ Instead they found us. “

“There are rumors,” Dora begins quietly.

Both aliens turn to her.

“About hybrids.”

Riot tenses and Lasher tilts his head.  

“He asked me about the studies Drake conducted, about the hybrids… I didn’t know they were even a thing and he…” she shakes her head, “is it true?  Are there really hybrids? Like… like something half human, half symbiote .”

Lasher turns to Riot expectantly and the symbiote sighs before nodding, “ There are.  At the moment two are of existence and one… “

Neither interrupt the symbiote as they clear their throat, “ and one on the way. “

Dora stares at Riot in wonder, “yours?”

A nod.

“You’re carrying?” Lasher asks in disbelief.

“ No, my perfect host is.  Only humans can seem to carry the hybrids from what I have gathered. “

“Who?” Dora asks gently.

“It is none of your concern,” Riot growls, hissing at the woman as they become defensive.

Dora scrambles back and silence falls over them.

After a moment, “I’m not working with them, you know.”

Her voice is soft and placating because she knows what Riot was accusing her of, “I’m not like them, I’ve been imprisoned by them.”

“ Convenient excuse. “

“If I were involved I wouldn’t be locked in this cell,” she reminds.

A pause.

“But why are you here?  I assume they only captured you and not your host, right?  Why aren’t they trying to get that Information from you?  Why toss you here instead?”

“ It was not from lack of trying, I have been tortured and starved, I am waiting on death’s door as Lasher has noted. “

Dore frowns, “weeks.”

Riot grimaces then and nods, “ For weeks I have been starved, Dr. Skirth, I have survived by keeping that name and location unknown.  But again, humans have no patience and they have grown weary.  With the knowledge that hybrids can come into existence and therefore created, there were only ever two possibilities in bringing me here.  Eat you or breed you.  Your use has been terminated. “

xx

Dora feels a flicker of anger within at the thought of being eaten or bred. It’s a feeling that is not quite her own, not when all she can feel is an encompassing fear.  She shudders at the mere notion and she brings her knees to her chest, pressing her back against the wall as far from Riot as possible.  For just a moment she forgets that a parasite already occupies her body.

The realization makes her want to throw up again.  Years .

Two years

, the voice in her head corrects calmly.

And horror fills her being when she finally realizes that that voice has been Lasher all along.

For two years she has harbored an alien and survived .

She gags a little at the thought before the tears that strung her eyes escape once again.  A sniffle from her only causes Lasher to become even more tense.  And if she didn’t know any better, she’d think the symbiote within her was about to turn on their kin.

“ Fret not, “ Riot begins, “ I’ve no interest in your human. “

That doesn’t make her feel any better, being treated as if she’s not even there again.

“ You will perish then?  Is that the fate you desire? “ Lasher asks genuinely curious.

“ It is better than to be without my mate ,“ Riot grumbles, “ it will keep him safe. “

Lasher stares in awe.

Surprise fills them and spreads through Dora causing her to shiver at the feel.

Why? Why surprise?

She thinks back on all she knows about this alien lifeform.  She tries to think about them, like them, and piece what she knows together.  Why are Venom and Eddy important? Complete symbiosis?

And it clicks.

Humans are nothing but meat in their eyes.  They can be in a host and quickly kill them off by eating at their organs or they can do it slowly depending on the control as demonstrated by her own survival of being a host without her knowledge.  The exception being Eddy Brock who seems to have hosted Venom for the same amount of time as her with Lasher and is still surviving.

Complete symbiosis,

Lasher explains in her head,

is thriving, not surviving.

A gasps escapes her lip and she tries hard not to reach out and pull at her hair to get rid of the voice in her head.  She tries hard to accept that Lasher is there, in her and has been all along.

A complete symbiosis is an understanding.

“ A complete symbiosis can only be achieved with a perfect host ,“ Riot adds, trying to appease the scared woman’s thoughts, “ a perfect host is a symbiote’s better half and mate. What these fools fail to understand is that Symbiotes can only breed their mate, their perfect host simply because that human’s body learns to grow accustomed to a symbiote and changes in accordance to whatever is needed for a hybrid to come to fruition and be carried to term. “

“How do you know?” Dora asks.

“ What? When a human is our mate? “

She nods.

“ When we haven’t killed them. “

They don’t mention that killing their host is still in the realm of possibility, but that the only reason they do not is due to attachment.

The sharp intake of breath is enough for her to question her own sanity.  And she looks down at her ankle from where Lasher is still connected to her and she wonders.

The words escape her without permission, “Are we…?”

She’s not quite sure she wants to know the answer.

Lasher smirks then, sharp teeth on display as the symbiote continues to curl around her leg all the way to her upper thigh, “

We

are Lasher .“

xxi

He’s fifteen weeks pregnant, way past the midway point and only getting bigger.

That means Riot has been gone for a total of five weeks and Dan is getting restless without them there.

He’s surprised he’s made it so far without his other half. But the pregnancy is starting to take its toll on his body again and he can see it, can feel it.

While his belly grows bigger, he’s beginning to notice his ribs more, his face has grown more pale and gaunt and his hands are constantly clammy. He’s always hungry and craving, but there’s little to satisfy it. He knows Riot had been taking care of all of that while he wasn’t aware, but all he can do without them is eat his weight in tator tots and drink hot chocolate.

He’s worried for his baby though.

Even if he makes it to full term, he’s not sure he’ll survive the birth.

He can’t think about that though.

Not when there’s still a nagging fear that hasn’t left him alone since he first noticed it. Something that screams just inherently wrong and bad. He’s been stuck on it ever since Riot left.

He sighs and stands from the bed, unable to sleep or to even lay down any longer.

The baby stretches and he cups the gentle swell with a heavy sigh.

“Safe,” he reminds, “we’re safe, baby.”

He winces at a sharp kick, but smiles lovingly at his belly where his baby resides. He’s enamored with his little hybrid, nothing they do could ever upset him. Not for long at least.

Even the lack of sleep and heartburn are things he welcomes so long as it means his baby is safe and developing healthily within him.

He stares out the window and briefly wonders where Riot is.

Is he safe?

Is he happy?

Or…

He bites his lip and shakes his head.

Stop caring, Dan, he chastise himself, Just…

Stop, stop, stop!

Stop!

Riot growls and roars.

They can’t escape.

The space is too confined and they’re tired of fighting, too weak to even move anymore.

“This is RIDICULOUS!” the man shouts in outrage.

Dora cowers away, covering her ears and closing her eyes tightly.

“A week and you’ve done nothing? A free meal and you refuse even that?” He continues with a sneer.

She peeks over and finds Riot laying limply.

A week.

Riot has been dying for a week and there’s nothing she can do.

“Fine, we tried the easy way, now lets try my way.”

A shiver of terror crawls up her back and a rumbling purr within her chest tries to soothe her. It doesn’t help when a moment later she is begin yanked up by the hair and turned around. The cuffs are now secured around her raw and bruised wrists with her hands behind her back. She is pushed out the door and her legs tremble as she’s forced to walk more than she has ever been allowed to in the past two years.

It isn’t long before she’s shoved into a new room, sterile with bright lights that hurt her eyes and cause a migraine to bloom rapidly.

Riot follows closely behind, but she has no time to worry about the sick symbiote when she strapped to a table. The fear and terror and utter anxiety makes her feel queasy. It only worsens when someone rips down the sweats she has worn for months and her legs are placed in stirrups.

No… no, no, no!

She struggles, but the movements only serve to tighten the binds holding her down.

And Riot… Riot is placed in a glass box, probes slowly going in and without mercy, without warning, stabbing into them.

The screech of pain as the symbiote spazzes causes her to panic.

“What are you doing!”

“Ever the curious woman, aren’t you,” the man coos.

She recoils as he goes to touch her, she can’t get very far and he knows this because he presses on and touches her bare thigh without her consent, “thanks to Rot we have learned how to extract spawns, quite a simple yet painful procedure and it takes a lot out of subjects as I’m sure you’ve noticed.”

Dora looks at Riot’s form, spasming and shivering in agony.

“And although that’s great and dandy, our interest is the hybrids. We really need to study them, they are the key to unlocking all the potential a human has with the DNA of a symbiote. But as you can see Riot has been rather uncooperative, the least he could’ve done was eat you to spare you, but now… why not just do the job ourselves?”

A syringe pierces Riot painfully slow and something is drawn up quickly. The needle is soon tossed but the syringe is brought closer to her by who she can only assume is an intern, an intern with that same spark of malice in his eyes.

Dora shakes her head as she struggles and kicks and fights uselessly against the restraints. That’s when she notices the group of people on the other side of the glass. Staring, gawking , at her and waiting for the torture to begin.

“Help me!” She screams, “please help me! Don’t just stand and stare! Help me!”

She screams until her throat grows raw and she can’t speak, can’t beg.

“It’s ok doll,” the man hushes, “it’ll be over soon and you’ll be the most valuable incubator in existence. Picture it Dr. Skirth, picture carrying the hybrid spawn of Riot . You’ll be the start of evolution!”

They get close, too close for comfort and her back arches as the syringe is placed in her most intimate core.

Just before the plunger is released, bloodshed reigns.

xxii

The feeling that something is wrong, that gut wrenching feeling of a premonition or an omen has only managed to grow worse as the minutes pass by.  He’s restless and aching and something is just not right .  He paces back and forth before he just can’t stay cooped up in his room anymore.

Without hesitance, he slips on his moccasins and grabs a light sweater before escaping his room and the house all together.  He doesn’t know where he’s going, he simply follows his instincts and allows his feet to carry him.  There’s only one thought in his mind.

Only one name that resides within him.

Riot .

He looses track of time, but he knows he’s been walking for an hour, probably even more if he really thinks about it.  His legs hurt with every step he continues to take, muscles straining and aching only worsening with the added baby weight settled on his hips.

Eventually he turns down the length of a long dark alleyway.  The buildings seem to make it narrow the further he walks.  His steps echo as trickles of water run through dirty gutters and spill onto the pavement.

The stench of piled garbage makes him gag, but he continues until he reaches the end of the alleyway where he’s forced to stop.  Like the steps leading to an underground subway station, he can count six.  There are rusting railings on either sides as they go down.  Unlike the subway though, there is a door at the end.  Sea blue paint cracked and peeling, sealed shut.

He pauses, hand brushing the underside of his belly as his baby twists and settles.  He fights the urge to take a deep breath just as he descends, nearly missing a step he didn’t account for. He holds on fast to the railing and pants from the shock before gathering his diminishing strength and reaching for the handle.

The metal is cool to the touch and he briefly hesitates.

What is he doing?

He’s not even sure he’s still in San Francisco anymore.

He turns the knob and creeps inside regardless. 

He was never one to ignore the red flags of fight or flight, but there’s a tug stronger than his being beckoning him.

The door shuts with finality behind him and there’s no turning back.

The hall is long and the floor is tiled white, similar to that of a hospital.  The lights overhead flicker and he frowns as he continues with slow yet steady steps.

He hears voices just as he reaches the end and the hall branches out into two directions.

Screams.

Pain.

“Riot,” he breathes.

Without thinking he runs toward the sound, toward people talking while someone, some thing, is writhing and screaming in what sounds to be pure agony.

“Riot!” The name is out before he can process where he is.

There are people.  Five to be exact, all wearing white coats and pressed close as they look into a room surrounded in glass.  They turn to stare at him in surprise.

That’s when he notices what they were all so intently focus on.

A woman strapped to the table.

Two men within who have also turned in his direction.

And Riot.

His lover.

His mate.

His symbiote, curled and immobile in what appears to be an enclosed NICU incubator.

His belly twists at the sight and he rests his hand there, trying to soothe the baby as they react to his adrenaline and horrified fear.

The movement is enough to draw everyone’s attention to his swollen belly.

“Hybrid! Grab him!”

He hears the command, but he can’t seem to process it.

His heart is beating too loudly in his chest and there’s ringing in his ears.

His eyes widening when he sees the man closest to the woman get his neck snapped before a sharp aqua blue tentacle is pierced the other’s chest.

Just as someone makes to grab him, a shout orders him to duck.

He listens.

He recognizes that voice.

He scrambles around and finds Venom.

The black symbiote is like an armor surrounding Eddy as they attack to no avail.

Venom simply takes the feeble hits before unhinging their jaw and biting someone’s head off.

The spurt of blood is a geyser.

Splatters land on Dan and cover his skin.

Dan

. 

Weak… tired… dying.

He turns. He tries to open the door but it’s security access only.  He stares at the scanner.  Passcode or palmprint.

He looks around and finds a discarded arm.

He’s running on adrenaline.

Riot. He needs to get to Riot damnit!

He picks up the slippery arm and feels tears threaten to fall as he attempts to scan the hand but fails.  There’s too much blood.

A sob of frustration escapes him, especially when the light blue symbiote on the other side of the enclosure tries to open the door with its own brute force and fails .

“Please,” he begs silently, “please, please, please.”

He wipes the hand on the side of his sweats and finally the blinking red light turns green!

The doors slide open and he barrels inside, “Riot!”

The symbiote is shrunken in on itself, it’s slow and lethargic and not responding even as he shoves his hand inside the incubator and reaches out to him.

The symbiote barely manages to curl around his fingers before collapsing in on itself again.

“No,” Dan whimpers, “no, no, no!  Common! Please!

He collapses onto his knees, forehead pressed against the incubator as tears stain his scruffy cheeks.

Venom approaches then and lifts the heavy top off the incubator.  Dan stands back up with his help and he scoops up the dying symbiote into his arms, cradling it close as tears drip down his chin and onto the glob.

“Come on, parasite,” he whispers softly, adoringly, please .

The lethargic movement comes to a complete stop and a gut wrenching sob escapes his lip.  This time he falls to his knees and refuses to get up.  He shuts his eyes tightly closed and cries, sobs, mourns.

xxiii

Numb.

It’s only after several long seconds that drag on forever that Eddy realizes it.  Realizes that maybe they were too late.

That horrible feeling is solidified the moment Dan agrees to stand up after his prompting, without a word, without a fight.  The pregnant man is slow, sluggish.  He moves as if on autopilot, quiet with lips pursed into a thin line.  Eddy hovers.  He’s not quite sure what to do.

Dan is covered in blood, drying and fresh the red is splattered on his skin and clothes.  He looks haggard.  He looks exhausted, dead on his feet.

Riot… Riot is nowhere to be found.

Eddy wants to ask.

Just a second ago he heard the most blood curdling scream of anguish, pain, horror.

He would prefer the weeping, at least he could console his friend.  But this silence is deafening and all consuming.  He doesn’t know what to do.  It’s suffocating.

It reminds him of when he lost Venom.

Eddy’s hand is outstretched and then he sees it.

Tears create trails of salt over the blood covered cheeks of Dan’s face.  Dan, he holds his belly as if treasuring the only thing he has left of Riot.

Venom is uneasy underneath Eddy’s skin.

They doesn’t like this.

“Dan?”

Dan looks up at him, his bottom lip trembling as his right hand draws up and rests on his chest.

“He’s struggling to live and I don’t know what to do.”

Eddy stares into his friend’s blood shot eyes, red-rimmed with tears.

What does he say?  What does he do?

Venom appears from his chest, the symbiote stares at Dan intently.

“ Wait .“

Dan sniffles and looks at the duo, “wait?”

“ That is all left to do.  Wait. “

Eddy opens his arms then and Dan gratefully slumps into his friend’s embrace, his sobs ricocheting off the walls like a loose bullet as tears begin to wet the fabric of Eddy’s shirt.  Eddy doesn’t complain, he only holds on tighter.  

Such a shit situation they’re in.

A hesitant clearing of a throat makes Eddy turn around and he looks surprised at who he finds.

“Dora.”

Lasher

.

The doctor is sheepish as she holds her weight against the doorframe.  She is quite literally skin and bone but there’s a glow to her, a fierce will to live in her dark eyes.

Dan pulls away from Eddy, no longer burrowing his flushed face in the other’s neck.  He turns to Dora and with a crack of his voice thanks her.

She offers a sympathetic smile that doesn’t reach her eyes, too exhausted to feel anything other than relief for her own survival.

“Lets get out of here,” Eddy says, his hand outstretched to the woman who had been filed missing years ago, “Let’s go home.”

xiv

Eddy isn’t sure if he should be worried.  Dan is listless in the nest of blankets piled on the couch, a pillow hugged to his chest and a hand pressed to the side of his belly.  There has been no sign of Riot, no change for better or worse these past couple days.

“He’s regressing,” Dora says softly.

Eddy’s gaze flickers up to the woman’s, a slight tension filling his body at her quite appearance.

Dora looks… she looks better .  Her hair is braided back and away from her gaunt face which is finally gaining color.  Her arms are crossed over her chest and her hip is propped out as she leans against the wall.  She still looks like she’s drowning in the clothes once owned by Anne but she’s starting to look like herself, feel like herself.

“Mentally wise he’s exhausted and traumatized by everything, the way he holds himself makes it seem as if he’s regressing but honestly he could just be trying to figure out what to do, how to better help his situation.”

There’s a pause followed by a lingering silence.

Finally, Eddy finds the words that have been stuck in his throat the past week, the words he wished he could have said the moment he found her, “I’m sorry.”

Dora looks at him, studies him intently.  There are tears glistening in her eyes she refuses to shed, “I’m not.”

Eddy can’t hide his surprise.

“You saved people-”

“You got hurt because of me.”

“But you stopped Drake and the Life Foundation.”

“And your family lost you.  Your kids, your husband-”

“It was better that way.”

“They mourned for you, they stopped looking… I stopped looking for you.”

“And I don’t blame you.”

Eddy isn’t listening though, he’s too wound up and too caught up in his festering guilt, “I went to your service, a memorial because they didn’t even have a body.  Because you were just gone and I didn’t do anything!  I put you there!  I put you in a fucking casket and-!”

The wail of a child stops him mid-rant.  He’s panting, breathless and flushed.

“I miss them and don’t think for a second I’ll ever forgive what happened to me, but you are not to blame.  Every horrible thing I went through was because of Drake.  That man was a monster, he ripped me away from my family, not you, not even Venom.  In the end you saved me and I know you protected them, my family, everyone.  I know .  Because of that I… I’m not going back.”

Venom appears holding a little ball of lilac slime melding within their hold before the black symbiote sinks into Eddy’s skin and plops the baby symbiote in Eddy’s arms.

Dora stares at the hybrid with curiosity, the little slime ball takes the figure of a baby and gawks right back.

All Eddy can do is hold his daughter close.

Dora reaches out and briefly lets her fingertips brush the back of the baby’s hand.

“Why?”

Why would you willingly leave the children you raised from this small? Why?

“Because they lost me once and I can’t… I can’t do that to them again, to my husband, to my children.  There’s this… this thing , this symbiote inside of me and they will never let me go.  I can’t, I won’t, expose my family to this-this monster .”

The symbiote in question bristles at that but doesn’t lash out.

“It’s just better if I stay gone.”

Eddy looks at his daughter, unable to fathom ever abandoning her even if it’s against his own will, but he understands.  He would move heaven and earth just to know that she is safe.  He would and has killed for her.

“Stay.”

Dora looks at him.

“Here. Stay?”

Dora smiles sadly, “I’m sorry… I can’t.”

The next morning, she’s gone.

xv

“You’re here,” Dan mumbles drowsily.

He’s not entirely sure what woke him, but once he sees the symbiote looming over him he wonders if he’s finally lost it.

It’s been over a month since he’s seen the symbiote, has even felt an iota of their presence much less heard their voice.

But that voice is so real, so near.

“ I’m here ,“ Riot agrees.

And the touch of the symbiote soothing the wrinkle of discomfort on his brow is tangible.  Dan sits up with some difficulty, heaving his upper half and reclining against the headboard of his bed, finally capable enough of leaving the comfort of the living room days ago.  He looks a little pale and sweaty, shirt damp with perspiration and sweats sticky.  He looks like a mess, feels like one too.

The wrinkle of his nose is adorable, but it’s clear his mind is still lagging with confusion.

“ You did so well taking care of us ,“ Riot praises adjusting just so, “ So well my little human. “

Dan flushes pink at the praise, “How-How are you?  You’re… You’re alive, I mean it’s been weeks and you… and I… Riot .”

There’s a sniffle in there, a hurt that Riot wishes they could make better but understand they may never be capable to.

“I thought you died .”

“ I was willing to die and so much more for you, for our spawn. “

“You’re horrible, you know that right?”

Riot bites back the snarl of objection, instead they lower their face in shame and agree.  They were terrible to their mate in the worst ways possible.  No apology could ever remedy that.

Dan knows, he knows, he can feel the symbiote’s emotions.  He can feel the distress and the anguish, everything Riot has ever tried to repress and hide from him.  It’s too late now.  Dan will never let go.  And Riot… Riot would rather perish than hurt this human again.

A wince crosses over Dan’s face that doesn’t go unnoticed by the symbiote.  Riot uses warm hands to cup the swell of their child.

Weeks.

It’s been weeks since Riot had seen Dan, seen the proof of their spawn growing inside the confines of their lover.

“ You’re in labor. “

Dan  shoots up at that, eyes wide in panic, “I’m sorry, what?”

“ You’re in labor, your water broke minutes before I roused you .“

Dan pulls back the blankets and sure enough it explains the mess between his thighs, “Baby is-”

“ Perfect, healthy… ready. “

“I’m only twenty weeks,” Dan hisses.

“ Twenty-one, “ Riot corrects, they know the exact moment Dan conceived.  As if Dan could ever hide such a fact from them, silly doctor.

“It’s going to be ok, right? You won’t… you won’t leave right?”

“ No, not again. 

You’ll never be alone

.“

The sky is that grey hue of winter as the break of dawn approaches and the first rays of sun peer through the horizon.

Dan heaves one last push that allows his firstborn freedom and a taste of the outside world.

He’s healthy.

He’s wrinkly and angry and beautiful.

And he’s all theirs.

Their new beginning.

And with his first cry, Riot know what their child’s name shall be.

Dan can’t help but beam in pure happiness as the little thing wraps its tiny fingers around his index, his little pink mouth open agape in a small cry as his eyes remain swollen and face scrunched. The baby hybrid more human then symbiote.  But he’s perfect.

Elysian

.  The only word that feels right, this right here is their elysian .

The end.