Spider-Man. The House Of Venom

Peter never got the chance. As he was almost to the roof hatch to head out, the warehouse door swung open. A very tired and stressed-looking MJ was finally home.

She had finally escaped from the hospital but headed to her home. Harrison had been insistent she stayed with Flash, and she had run after going to the toilet. Her phone and bag were still there but she needed to get away.

“It.” but she stopped and shook her head. “I need sleep, can we do this later?” Gwen and Peter just nodded as MJ looked exhausted. As she headed into her home they didn't see the small smile though.

My home, she thought to herself, which brought her a small amount of comfort.

“So uh, do we tell her?” Gwen asked as she sipped a coffee. She had bought a small hot plate that could be heated and then moved. Her coffee pot was sitting on it as Peter still hadn’t added power to the centre yet. With everything else, she understood why.

Peter leaned forwards and shook his head, “She has enough going on. She isn’t stupid though, she’ll figure it out.”

Gwen raised an eyebrow, “about us doofus. Not the little splodge monsters,”

Not monster, add more sugar, the drink is bleugh.

Gwen rolled her eyes and added two more, “I’m not ending up in a lab because I've got a friendly snot monster living in my brain.”

Peter laughed, “Either way, she’s smart. Uh, I think she already knows about us. I mean.” he paused, “it is obvious, we just need to make it official.”

Gwen fake fluttered her eyebrows, “Already? I dont know if I'm ready to make it official Pete. Where would the children sleep?”

Peter snorted and Gwen set her cup down, “let me talk to MJ first. And I can see if Felicia will actually visit.”

“I saw her a few days ago. She seemed a bit upset.”

Gwen looked at her cup, and tutted, “yeah. I’ve been kinda ignoring her.” She wasn't ready to admit it was her fault for kissing her, and that she needed to tell Peter.

Have them both, lots and lots of woosh splats! Kitties and Peties

Hush for now, we’ll see.

Peter grabbed his cup and took it to his home, leaving it in the sink.

“See you later,” he said before he grabbed his jacket, kissed Gwen, and headed to work.

Gwen watched him leave. Her new internship didn’t start officially for another week, but she had been given time off to recover. She knew Flash wouldn't be going to his, and she hoped she could speak to her new boss and have her transfer reversed. Now, all she had to do was find a way for Felica, MJ, Pete, and herself to be happy.

⁂

At the gate, Peter smiled as he saw his letter box flag was up,

Yes, first official mail.

Opening the flap grabbed the mail. It was just a card,

‘Tonight, get the guy in black, Sunset Park. I’ll find him.’

Peter turned it over and that was it. He smelt a subtle fragrance and he sniffed the card. It was definitely a woman's scent,

Black Cat? She was the only one who could connect Peter and Venom together, for her sake, I hope not.

He balled the card up and threw it in a nearby trash can before heading down to the junkyard.

⁂

Harrison finished the terrible hospital coffee and cursed MJ. She had left Flash on his own and just headed home. He was now stuck here when he had meetings and work to do.

Fucking bitch, he cursed as he looked over his son's unconscious body.

He had ignored him and went after Parker. If he’d stayed away like he’d been told he wouldn't be in this mess. Even that Stacy bitch he was drolling over walked away with a small cut on her head and nothing else.

Fucking stupid idiot, he cursed his son.

He was about to find a nurse and see if his condition was going to change any time soon when his phone rang.

“What is it Norman?” he asked.

“We all heard about Eugene. So sad. If you need the time to,”

“I don’t. Once he is settled I’ll be back today.”

Normal sighed, “Harrison. No, you won’t. Take some time with your son.”

Harrison scowled as he looked over at Eugene, lying motionless in bed, “no. I’ll be back.”

“Harrison, You won't. The board is meeting today to decide if you should be censured. This Parker business got out of hand, You went overboard. And we think that.”

Harrison interrupted him. “That what? because of some punk kid, I lose my seat. If you do this Norman I’ll make sure you regret it.”

“Not just Parker. We know you moved funds. We know you were giving Eugene preferential treatment. We know about Gwen Stacy as well.”

Harrison snorted, “So? Some blonde Eugene was interested in, she’d get bored in sciences anyway.”

“That blonde, as you put it, got the second-highest score in her class. Only Peter Parker scored higher and you cost us him, You’re making Oscorp look bad. Stay with your son, and that is not a suggestion, Harrison.” then Norman hung up.

“Fucking Osborn,” Harrison said through gritted teeth. So what if he cost Oscorp Parker? So what if some blonde was smart, they all lost interest in work once they got pregnant anyway. Once Eugene was through with her or that other bitch MJ he’d have two new heirs. Hopefully, they wouldn't be as much of a disappointment.

Flash groaned and tried to move. Harrison shook his head, “Can I get a goddam nurse in here,“ he yelled. Before my idiot son hurts himself even more.

⁂

At work, Peter found the junkyard was quiet. Aleksei was holding an ice bag on his head and just waved at Peter as he walked past to get to his workstation upstairs.

It was now spotless. Now that Peter was in charge of not just cataloguing items but appraising them he kept the area clean.  Aleksei trusted his judgement and if he said it was junk, he knew it was junk.

His newest job was fixing phones. Aleksei had taken his advice. Minor electrical repairs were now done by Max.  So while he still fixed consoles and more delicate electronics, it was now mainly phones.

He had just sat down and flipped over the Stark-tech phone when Aleksei wandered in.

He blinked under the bright lights Peter had set up so he could see small components, “Eugh,” Aleksei groaned. “Hey kid, never go to bars okay? They’re bad for you,” and sat on the edge of the table. “So. You’re a good kid Pete. A lot of the guys like you and you don’t complain.”

Aleksei lifted an envelope from his pocket. “I know you get a commission but really, you’re working for peanuts and we both know it. So, a proper contract, with a decent wage an’ hours an’ shit.”

Peter took the pages and flicked through them. It was a nine-to-five job, five hundred a week. Peter smiled, “I’d love to but uh.”

Aleksei waved a hand at him “yeah yeah, college, right? A smart kid like you’ll figure it out.” As he turned to leave he groaned again, “sign it and leave it downstairs okay? I’m gonna go lie down for a few.”

Peter laughed as he took a pen and signed. He already had.

A full-time course was four years whereas a part-time was six. He had contacted a few graduating students that were willing to discuss how hard the work was. After a few test exams, required books, and what practical skills he should have, he knew he could do both.

It was the other reason he was broke. He had paid for two courses, and put aside money. He hadn't figured he would get tenants so soon and made sure he could pay taxes and his other bills. Tenants were great but when he first thought about it they were still a variable. He could have been staring at four empty homes. Now he had two tenants, and an extra set of four empty. Once college started he could put out flyers. Six tenants would be better than a working wage.

Working during the day while studying textbooks to do online classes and tests would be a sinch. All he would have to do was persuade Aleksei to give him time off for practical classes. With his work speed though, he could make time up at the weekend.

The only reason he wasn't doing a night class was he needed time for training and Venom. Plus he figured Gwen would get really mad at him if he spent all his time studying.

With Gwen adjusting to Poison, and MJ adjusting to life in the warehouse.

It was all coming together perfectly.

⁂

Gwen quietly knocked on MJ’s door but she still heard the muffled, “come in,” and entered.

MJ was wrapped in a blanket on the couch, sitting with coffee in front of her, staring at her phone.

“You okay?” Gwen asked as she took a seat next to her and wrapped an arm around her,

MJ gave a small laugh, ”don’t I ask you that? “ as she leaned into Gwen.

“Nah, I've got plenty of brains to get bashed in, I'm fine, but.” she motioned at the phone, “you are definitely not.”

“Harrison made it clear I was to help Flash recover in any way I could. I kinda panicked and bolted.”

“Yeah, he’s an asshole. But,”  Gwen paused, “okay, not going to be nice. You are leaving Flash right?” MJ nodded, “Oh thank god for that. I would kick his ass if he came around. So then what's the problem? Blank them both until Flash gets out of the hospital, and Pete will make sure he stays away.”

MJ laughed sadly, “it's not that easy”.

Gwen put her hand on MJs. “It is. Harrison and Flash can’t hurt you. We won't let them.” With the court case, she was sure they could get a restraining order. Peter had plenty of cause to keep them as far away as possible.

MJ frowned. There was a strange hint of menace in Gwen's voice, one she had never heard before.

“I guess,” she said as Gwen cuddled close.

PETE! Poison yelled.

As Gwen pulled MJ in for a better hug she could smell it over the blanket as well. It wasn't just his sweat, he had been aroused under this blanket.

That lying little shit, Gwen thought, buuut, and she formed a plan in her mind, one Pete couldn't say no to.

⁂

‘Work’s running late’ Peter messaged Gwen, letting her know he would be busy.

It was deniability, so if anyone called he had an excuse as to why he wasn’t in.

Moving around into one of the darker alleys, Peter checked to make sure he was alone. He called out his armour and Venom crawled his way up the wall and onto the rooftop.

Sunset Park wasn't too far away, but he wanted to make sure their conversation was private. There were more and more pictures in the Daily Bugle of Black Cat. So he wanted to be certain snooper-man hadn’t left any unpleasant surprises.

A few well-placed cameras, all wirelessly tied to his phone, gave him a wide view of the area where he would meet Back Cat. Once they were set up, he made himself comfortable in one of the larger trees and waited.

It was near one of the lakes. He figured he might as well enjoy the view if he was going to be stuck up a tree for hours.

⁂

It was dark before he felt the presence of Black Cat. She was walking huddled under a black hoodie, with its white fur-lined hood up to cover her face.

He aimed and shot a small ball of webbing at her feet. She stopped and looked over, so he shot another one to let her know where he was.

He launched the app for the wireless camera. The quality was terrible, but they were good enough to know they were alone.

She looked around and made sure the parkway was empty. She had chosen this one area so they got some privacy. She started to run, leapt at the tree, gripped it and launched herself onto another branch near Venom,

“What do you want, Cat? A rematch?” he asked,

“No. I need help, and I figured if you went after Marko, then you’d be willing to get the rest.” She had perched herself on a branch, but after last time she was wary of him. He looked her up and down, tensed and ready to either spring at him or spring away.

“Why should we care?” He had no idea who Marko was.

“He’s Sandman,” she remarked and it got the reaction she had hoped for.

Venom clenched his fist, “So you want them too?”

“I do, but I can’t handle four. And from the mess, neither can you.”

Venom huffed, “No!” As the defeat stung him once more. “So, team up?”

Black Cat laughed, “No, I have four safe houses. You visit two, and I’ll take the other two. We dont need to team up if it’s one on one.”

It was a lie though. The two addresses she was going to give him were definitely their hideouts. She needed him to be a distraction while she raided the other two for information.

She didn’t trust him enough to let him in on her full plan. He was good, but not good enough yet. After watching him take on all four, she knew he could handle it himself.

“Give them to me,” Venom said, stretching and hopping over to her branch. “We will take care of them.” and he held out his hand.

Black Cat nodded and slipped him a piece of paper.

I recognise that scent, Venom thought as she moved closer, but he couldn’t place it.

“One piece of advice Cat. Your pictures in the paper. Spider-Man takes them for his reporter friend.” As he looked down at her very tight costume, “you should watch your ass more.”

He laughed and shot out a web, hit a tall tree nearby and swung away. He would come back for the cameras later. The last thing he wanted was to be known as a peeping tom as well as a menace.

⁂

Black Cat watched him leave, unhappy at his comments. She had dumped Ocks hideout and main base of operations on him. While it was in the news that Rhino was the boss, she had noticed that Ock was always giving orders.

Once she had investigated, she knew the harness he wore was Oscorp. What she needed was proof of who the other three were. She already had a good idea, but she wanted evidence before she attacked.

She also had one more thing on her mind.

The pictures of her fighting seemed to concentrate more on her ass or chest. Highlighted as she pulled punches or kicks. None were flattering, and most were incredibly provocative.

With Venom's information, she had a new mission.

I am going to find Spider-Man and kick him in the balls.