Chapter Text
Several months had passed since the happy quartet had tied the knot... At least in the eyes of the law, Eddie Brock and Steven Grant were married. After the wedding, Anne Weying and Dan Lewis stayed in London for at least another week in a nice hotel they had booked for their stay at Eddie's wedding.
Since they got married, they decided to live together, which relieved the three human identities in the relationship in a monetary sense, although they still had to worry about the symbiote's hunger. It was an apartment big enough for Eddie's previous one and in a better neighborhood, as evidenced by the fact that they no longer heard the pipes creaking all the time. They had postponed their honeymoon for the sake of their finances and to save up to go further, but now they are far from thinking about that, as Marc and Steven suspect their spouses of strange behavior over the last month.
It had been two months since the wedding, and now they were in even bigger trouble. Eddie and his symbiote had not stopped behaving strangely. On the human's part, every time he heard them nearby or was talking on the phone, he would hide it, change the conversation, ignore the situation, but neither Steven nor Marc were fools; they knew something was wrong with their now husband. On the symbiote's part, every time they tried to talk to him about what was happening with Eddie, he would always evade the question or directly return to his host's body.
They didn't get any answers and only generated more questions...
That was until Eddie mentioned that morning, somewhat hurriedly, that he had to leave quickly. He just changed his sweater and ran out of there. They didn't give any further explanation about where they were going or why they were in such a rush; they just left.
Marc had so many doubts about what had been going on with his parents over the last month, but he preferred to ignore it because they trusted them. Steven felt anxious, but having Marc by his side made him feel accompanied, because he knew he wasn't the only one who felt bad, even though Marc didn't show it in the same way he did.
The hours passed and evening came, by which time he had worried enough that he didn't know what else to do. They took care of the housework, entertained themselves on their cell phones, tried not to call Eddie in case he was busy, made dinner, and none of that was enough to calm their anxiety about what was happening, because the evening passed very quickly and when they realized it, it was already nighttime.
Although they trusted them, they couldn't help having those intrusive thoughts telling them that their husbands were involved in an affair, and so every time they approached them while they were talking on the phone, they preferred to hang up. They tried not to think about it, but their attitude made them suspect that there was someone else... A thought that had originated with Marc.
It wasn't that Steven was an insecure person, but he was trying to keep Marc calm. He was aware that when he got angry, he could be quite dangerous, and he didn't think he had a solid reason to go to such extremes.
They had no choice but to call Eddie on his cell phone, but there was one detail: something was ringing inside the house, a barely audible buzzing, as if something were covering it but not enough to prevent him from detecting it. Without thinking, Steven began desperately searching through the clothes in Eddie's closet, pulling them out little by little. When his call was disconnected, he redialed the number, hearing the buzzing again, a little louder this time. With that, he began pulling out clothes by the handful until he found something flying out, realizing it was Eddie's cell phone. The phone continued to ring until it went dead again.
Marc couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was true, Eddie was hiding something from them, and they were sure it was someone else, because the last time they even managed to hear anything, it was a female voice, and then the call was hung up when she heard them nearby. Everything was clear and true. With other people's clothes scattered everywhere, he walked over to the mirror next to the double bed, seeing Marc's reflection in it as he looked at the cell phone. Everything clicked into place for them.
At that moment, they began to recap everything they had given up for them, everything they had changed in their lives for them. Rejecting Khonshu was a mistake that at the time they considered the best decision of their lives. They could even continue to believe that, but now they weren't thinking about that. because now they wanted the powers to be able to take revenge on them. They didn't care how strong they were as Venom; they wanted to be respected, but without Khonshu, they were just humans with dissociative identity disorder. They were nothing.
Without further ado, Steven let the overthinking overcome him.
— He lied to us… — said Steven Grant, his voice breaking.
— They'll pay for this. — Marc Spector was burning with hatred as he let his tears run down his face.
— Lo mataré. — said Jake Lockley as he wiped away the tears shed by Marc.
The human had gone through so many mood swings in such a short time, starting with the fact that Marc couldn't face his reality when he saw that Steven refused to physically face what was happening. Marc hid in the back of his mind, taking his counterpart with him and letting the third person in the body come out.
Now that Jake was in complete control of the body, he began to tidy up the clothes that had been scattered on the floor.
He saw no need to leave a mess in the house; he didn't want to arouse suspicion in case Eddie returned. Everything had to be discreet. — Ellos volverán… o tal vez no, par de imbéciles. — Jake only saw himself in the mirror's reflection, adjusting his trench coat and fixing his hair, sporting his characteristic mustache and ready to go.
— Come on, you can't waste your time like this. — He heard Khonshu speaking behind him, but he didn't pay any attention. — If you became my avatar, you'd find them faster and you could defeat them faster. —
— Que no, puta madre, ya te dije que no y puedo hacerlo yo solo. No soy como los otros idiotas. — Jake was sick of having to listen to the stupid bird every time it took control.
He didn't care how long it would take him to find them, human and symbiote. He knew how to kill them both separately, and he was even going to torture them at the same time to cause them not only physical pain, but emotional pain as well.
Jake never agreed with his alter egos getting married, especially to a weird guy who had a brain-eating alien in his ass, but he had no choice. It was still a secret to everyone else, and if he wanted to keep his peace of mind, he would have to stay that way for a while longer. The moment they got married, he no longer had time for himself, because sleeping with his blissful husband would make it look suspicious if Marc or Steven got up in the middle of the night full of energy, wearing different clothes, and going out on the street. That was definitely not an option, so sometimes he took advantage of when the others were away and asleep to take control and do his own work.
Now, even though he had managed to attach some importance to Eddie and Venom in his life, he had not the slightest love or affection for them, and with what had happened now, he would be even less likely to think of them with a shred of appreciation. Anyone would think that because he was Jake, he wouldn't feel anything for them, but it was quite the opposite. They were special in his life in an indirect way, and the fact that they had been betrayed gave him enough reason to kill them. He wouldn't do it if he hadn't taken it seriously.
— Siempre supe que eran idiotas, lo confirme cuando Marc se divorcio y Steven ayudó a confirmarlo cuando aceptaron casarse con esa bolsa de basura. — He cautiously left the apartment, not wanting anyone to see him leave and ask him questions.
— You can't blame them, they just felt so much... You know, that disgusting feeling that you humans feel so much. — Khonshu was waiting for him at the exit door.
Jake ignored him and continued on his way. — Te importa una mierda si somos sentimentales o no, déjame en paz. —
— Well, you're clearly the most sentimental one, look at yourself.— Now he was standing on top of a building, staring into the distance. — You're going to go find them, torture them, and kill them just because you're so sentimental about the other two. — Khonshu was mocking him, but Jake didn't care.
Now he had a mission, and that was to destroy those two no matter what.
He would have to prepare a mental strategy for when he found them. He couldn't just go and attack them now that he thought about it, much less if he wanted to torture them in every way possible. Mapping out routes was the easiest part. He did it all the time when he was in control. Trying to map out routes while pretending to be someone else could be difficult, considering he had no idea where to start.
As he left the building, he remained firm, as Marc would have done. He didn't want to arouse suspicion and have someone ask him anything, whatever the neighbors did to them.
He had always imagined them as neighbors who pretended to be nice to everyone and then locked themselves in their apartment and spoke ill of everyone.
He didn't have time to think about that kind of thing. He had to concentrate on finding Eddie Brock.
— Are you going to refer to him as “Eddie” again? — The Egyptian deity continued to harass him in the middle of the street.
— Deja de molestar. — Jake began to walk faster as if that would help him escape from Khonshu.
Not even when they had to face Arthur had he tried so hard. Come to think of it, he hadn't done anything except save Marc and Steven a couple of times and then just show up and kill him, but at least now he could enjoy the thrill of hunting his prey.
— Who would have thought that infidelity would affect you so much? — Khonshu let out a huge laugh as he finished speaking.
Jake heard him, ignored him, and kept walking, although he seemed to have a point, since infidelity is a betrayal, and the reason he wanted to kill them was to betray them and, more specifically, to humiliate them.
They were already used to betrayal, it was part of their daily lives, always on a different scale, but this time was different, the humiliation of having been vulnerable to them, of being in constant danger and still taking advantage of that to use them.
Unacceptable.
And Jake would let them know.
Since leaving home, he can assure you that he is quite far from finding Edward Brock, as she has found no clues nearby that indicate where he might be. On the contrary, he didn't even have any clues before beginning her search.
He was relying solely on her instincts, because he would rather circle the entire United Kingdom 15 times than ask Khoshu for help. He would never submit to him or anyone else.
He has been to most of the tourist hotels in London and has seen nothing to suggest that the husband of his alter egos was there. He not only visited those areas, but also the surrounding areas, hidden places, and no matter how much he asked the women on the street corners, none of them paid him the slightest attention.
There were few of them, discreet enough not to be arrested, but even so, they preferred to make up any lie rather than allow Jake to exchange a word with them.
Little by little, he was getting closer to the tourist area, because if he wasn't there, then he was a bastard who didn't want to be found by anyone. But when he arrived, it seemed that word had already spread that a strange man was lurking around the place. His peculiar appearance caught the attention of everyone there, as he seemed dangerous from the way he walked to the way he looked, and it seemed that he was carrying weapons in his clothes because of the extra noise he made when walking.
There were so many reasons to distrust him, but the reality was simpler than that: women didn't approach him because of one small, almost unnoticeable detail.
— Check your stupid hands. — Khonshu told him, and although he couldn't see him, he heard him say it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Jake listened to him for once, and as soon as he checked, he realized why they weren't paying him any attention. There was a beautiful ring there. — Idiotas. — He snorted, then took it off and put it in the inside pocket of his trench coat. — Que acostumbrado está mi cuerpo a tenerlo que no lo había notado. —
The only reason the workers didn't approach him was because he was wearing a wedding ring, and the last thing they wanted was trouble. If they hadn't seen the ring, they could at least have feigned ignorance and said they didn't know he was married, but now they had no choice but to ignore Jake.
He didn't listen to the Egyptian deity again, continuing on his way, walking through other, slightly busier areas in case the human trash and the alien trash decided to go out with some high-class woman, or even if it wasn't just a woman but also a man. In either case, if he caught them in the act, it would be much more interesting and fun for him, shameful and weak, just how he wants to catch them.
For a moment, he thought he had found him, as a similar scent reached him. He searched for him among the crowd, unable to see him with the naked eye, so he trusted his sense of smell to follow him. There he was. He approached him until he touched his shoulder, and as soon as he turned around, it was Eddie... If he were more handsome, in Jake's own words.
Khonshu let out a laugh that echoed in the human's head. Realizing that he wasn't the one he was looking for, he apologized and quickly left.
He was about to give up after such embarrassment, almost hitting the guy just because of a misunderstanding. He even reconsidered the fact that it was infidelity. Maybe Steven and Marc were exaggerating because they were insecure, and he just believed them blindly. Maybe they were at home now, and Jake was far away. Maybe it was time to go home.
Now Jake found himself against the wall of a mysteriously clean alley. Now thinking about what else he would do since he had no sign of him, he was lost to him and had to go back before Marc took control again, and it would be worse if Steven was the one who woke up first, because he would panic and little by little they would connect the dots as they hadn't done before.
He paced around the small space of the dark alley, where there was no lighting and he could think as calmly as possible. In fact, he was already quite calm at this point.
He was thinking about going back and leaving everything alone, maybe it was all a misunderstanding and there was no infidelity involved. He was feeling completely stupid imagining how Marc would have to apologize to Edward Brock while giving some stupid explanation for everything that had happened over the past few months.
He had already resigned himself to that thought when a fleeting memory flashed through his mind: there was now a cell phone in the inside pocket of his coat. Without thinking twice, he set out to look for it, and there it was, a good phone that now read 11 p.m. It was definitely late, and if he didn't hurry, he would start to feel physically tired and have to give in to rest. He had it turned on, but he had to unlock it.
—Facil. — He said, and then set the date of his alter egos' wedding to that traitor. Once on the phone, he proceeded to check the messages, finding the unpleasant surprise that Eddie also had a password there, and he didn't know it. — Hijo de puta, de verdad no quiere ser descubierto. — He tried to think for a moment and went for the basics, Marc's date of birth. — Qué fácil es esto, al parecer es nuevo siendo infiel, raro para un buen mentiroso. —
— Stop wasting time. I can't believe that on this beautiful full moon night, you don't want to become my avatar. — Said Khonshu from the top of the wall that closed off the alley.
— Yo no puedo creer que nunca te puedas mantener callado, estúpido pajarraco. — Jake continued searching through the two most recent chats, but he didn't find much in Dr. Lewis's chat, just a few comments about not feeling well and some advice. However, it was among the messages from his dear friend Anne that he found everything he was looking for.
He went back to the beginning of the conversation, and everything he was looking for had happened just that month, right when she started acting strange.
“Expecting a baby.”
“Oh my God, Eddie, how long have you known? Do Marc and Steven know? You should tell them.”
“Just told me yesterday, and we're not ready to talk to them about it yet. We don't know how they'll react. It sounds like they'll be scared.”
“You have to talk to them.”
The conversation ended there. He kept scrolling down, ignoring things she considered irrelevant, and came to the conversation from that day.
“It's going to be born soon.”
“Did you talk to Steven and Marc?”
“No, we thought we had two months left. We thought we had time, but now we don't. We're going to the flowers. We chose that place a long time ago, so we have to go or we'll be late. I'll talk to them when we get home.”
“Good luck.”
Jake felt himself boiling with rage. He put his cell phone away and could only start shouting angrily and kicking trash cans, as if he were Edward Brock. Everything was as it seemed. There was a baby involved, and there was no denying it. Both the alien and the human who had it had lied to his face, before and after they got married. Everything that could have gone wrong had gone wrong, and now, after all the mixed feelings, all that was left was resignation... That was for the other two who remained submerged in the human unconscious, who didn't even know this information, but for Jake, it was time to return to his main mission: to annihilate Venom.
Now there was nothing stopping him from going to kill them. By mercenary standards, they deserved it. All three of them were trying to make him look stupid, and of course, that included him in all this, because for a moment he remembered all the good things Edward had done for them, all those good times they had had and the good life they had led, but no, it had all been a stupid lie that he had also fallen for, and no one would change his mind now.
— You will finally be my avatar. — Said the deity with enthusiasm and excitement.
Jake turned to look at him in disbelief. — ¿Qué te hace creer que yo haré eso? Estoy enojado no pendejo, así que vete a la mierda que de esto me encargo yo solo. — Finally, when he turned back to look for him, he couldn't find him, so he adjusted his raincoat, put away his cell phone, and sighed. — Malditos hijos de perra, me las pagaran muy caro. —
The whole way back to his starting point was easy, thanks to tactics he had learned as a taxi driver. It would be difficult to try to return home calmly, so he didn't. With all the anger inside him, he set out to run as fast as he could, ignoring Khonshu, while memories that weren't his flashed through his mind, memories in which he was the protagonist, but they weren't his, something that was never his, but he still trusted them as much as the others had trusted him, others who weren't him, yet he still trusted them.
He regretted letting his guard down, but the damage was already done. Now all that was left was to heal it... in his own way.
Despite the time it took him to get home, he felt exactly the same as when he found those messages. The cool breeze that blew across his face did nothing to help catalyze the negative emotions in his system. Even when he reached the building where they lived, without any fear of being discovered, he entered confidently, walking heavily toward their apartment, without fear of finding him there. because enough time had passed and if they hadn't returned, then not only was he stupid for believing that he wouldn't cheat on them, but he was also stupid for believing that he would explain shit again.
As he slammed the door open, he realized that everything was just as he had left it before he left. There was not the slightest trace that they had returned, as all of Eddie's clothes and belongings were still there.
— Soy un idiota. —
— I already know that. — Khonshu said from the comfort of the dining room.
Jake ignored him completely and set about removing his mustache. He was losing control, and he knew it. Once he had taken off his cap, he lay down and closed his eyes for a moment.
— We'll meet again, Jake Lockley. —
That threat was the last thing the man heard before falling into a deep sleep.
— Eddie! — Marc screamed as if he were calling for help.
Help from someone who wasn't there.
He looked around and realized where he was supposed to be: his bed. A beautiful king-size bed in the middle of his large master bedroom, a room and bed that belonged to him and Eddie.
He began to remember everything.
He got up, disillusioned and disappointed by the whole situation. Remembering every moment he had lived through, every situation, broke him again. He had no doubt that he had fallen asleep after crying so much. He felt vulnerable and stupid.
He got up with difficulty and looked at himself in the full-length mirror. There was Steven, with a lost look and teary eyes.
— It's almost 1 a.m. — Said the reflection with great difficulty and little desire to talk.
— He's not coming back… — Marc said. — He's not coming back, is he? — Despite everything that had happened, he still hoped that he would come back. There was no reason not to come back. If she was just a lover, he had to come back. He had to come back to face her and take his things. There was no reason not to come back.
— If he's not coming back, at least we should know who he left with... I think we have a right to that... Even if that's all. — Steven sounded listless, unmotivated, he just wanted to go back to sleep.
Marc checked the pockets of his raincoat (which he didn't remember putting on) and after finding his ring, he took out his phone and turned it on, entering the passwords he already knew and giving himself the freedom to see what they were hiding, if they had done so before... but they trusted Eddie. As he began to check Eddie's messages, Marc couldn't take the guilt anymore and decided to hand control over to Steven, who sighed and set about looking at everything. He couldn't find anything interesting, just work stuff, messages from his friend, some uninteresting details about payments he had to make...
— Anne. — He said aloud as he entered the chat and went to the beginning of the conversation.
Paragraph after paragraph, it felt like receiving small pins in his heart at high speed, a painful discomfort that made his eyes shine with tears without being able to look away from the cell phone while he felt his stomach churning with nausea. They hadn't even eaten all day, they forgot because they were doing other things, and yet he felt that everything inside him was stirring.
It seemed like they were taking turns reading the same thing over and over again. They didn't pay attention to anything else; they didn't see it as important, because the only thing that filled their eyes with tears was having to reread it until they accepted that Eddie and the symbiote would have a child with someone else.
This news, news that was never given to either of them.
— They will have a baby. — Marc said in complete shock as he tried to process all the information he had read. It was like déjà vu, and once again he could feel anger consuming him. He felt strong enough to do nothing but try to kill Eddie and his symbiote in the worst possible ways, starting with the black mass that helped cover it up. He knew what he needed, and he had it in the kitchen, but he had to make sure Edward saw it from start to finish.
Now everything is connected. The questions about babies and future plans as a family with children made sense. He was preparing them for
He felt betrayed, enough that he couldn't bear the humiliation any longer, retreating back into himself and letting Steven deal with the hardest part.
— That's not true, Marc. — He said incredulously as he looked at himself in the mirror. Now they were sitting there and hadn't even noticed, they felt nothing. — He'll be back. He wouldn't be capable of doing something like this. Maybe this is a misunderstanding. We have to wait for him to arrive before we can draw any conclusions. — Even though he was looking at it and rereading it over and over again, he couldn't believe it.
—You're seeing it! There you have the explanation... — For Marc, that was it, there was nothing else he wanted to see. For the second time, he felt confident enough to believe someone else, and they betrayed him, even worse, mocking him to his face.
Marc stood there looking at himself inside and outside the reflection. He could see his own misery from two different perspectives, but it was the same thing: it was him being and feeling his worst.
They could spend hours arguing about who has the absolute truth on the matter in question: whether Eddie is good, whether Eddie deceived them, whether the symbiote was an accomplice. It didn't matter anymore, not when the baby, by that time, had already been born and was surely in the arms of HIS husbands and the other person who would be with him, looking like a conventional family and realizing that they could never have given that to the loves of their lives.
All that remained was resignation and waiting for Eddie to come back for his belongings, if he ever had the courage to set foot in their home again, the apartment they had taken so long to choose because they wanted as much space as possible for Venom so he could feel included.
Before falling asleep, his own tears, exhaustion, and swollen eyes were overcoming him.
— Hey, don't feel guilty… — Marc said to his reflection.
Steven didn't look at him; he sat looking away while hugging his legs. Marc also sat in front of the mirror, trying not to make eye contact.
— I don't feel guilty, I feel stupid. — They still didn't look at each other.
They were just reflecting on their own thoughts, as they always did. Perhaps they could come to believe that marriage was the worst thing they had ever done in their lives, although maybe they were just trying to fool themselves, because getting married had been the best thing they could have done. They had always known that. They never imagined that something like this would happen, but even so, they would go through it again a thousand times over.
They both turn
ed when they heard a noise coming from the living room.
The door opened.