Well, this is it. Final chapter. I might write something else in this fandom, but I'm off to a vacation first and while I have my laptop with me, I might not get much written.
I hope you enjoyed the story!

XnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXn

He mingled a little, talked to all kinds of interesting and not so interesting people. Some even recognized his name, asked him about his work, about his articles and reports, and he did his usual spiel of keeping them interested without revealing too much. One or two women tried to flirt with him. One was clearly a little intoxicated. The other made no secret out of her intent to get him into a corner and show him a good time.

Eddie declined politely, then with a little more force.

"Sorry, I'm already taken."

"Aw, c'mon, sweetie. She'll never know."

"Oh, he will."

She blinked, then smiled seductively. "You swing both ways. We can make it a threesome if you want."

"Lady, you better go now."

She's annoying.

Venom had dozed off a while ago. While he never slept, he had semi-awake periods. Eddie had once likened it to what sharks did; sleeping without being completely unconscious to the world, always aware of a situation, but not really awake. Venom could snap out of it in a fraction of a second and he was never completely gone.

Eddie's emotions seemed to wake him and he rumbled softly.

Yeah. She's looking for a good time. Not interested.

Do you think she would taste good? Was the speculative question.

Eddie picked up the wicked sense of humor his symbiote had developed over time and barely refrained from grinning. The woman might think he was a lunatic; then again, it would get her off his case.

Only in very desperate times. The way she looks she brings up whatever she eats when no one's looking and claims good genes for this figure.

Venom chuckled. She looks like Anne.

Eddie almost rolled his eyes.

If you squint.

She doesn't. And you're not my wingman. You're also not a matchmaker. I don't want anything to do with her.

We can scare her off.

We will do no such thing. We're behaving. This is Anne's wedding.

Eddie untangled himself from the woman, whose name was apparently Jennifer, and just left her and her friend standing where they were. They would find someone else here, he was sure of that.

Venom sulked a little, but he was easily distracted by something else, especially when it involved food or the prospect of it.

"You're so easy," Eddie murmured under his breath as they carried a plate full of delicious finger food away from one of the many tables groaning with offerings.

Venom growled, offended, but the nudge at his hand to start eating was not hard to interpret.

XnXnXn

They stayed until late, and Eddie even got to dance with the bride. Venom was silent. He was very much present in his head, in his mind, in his thoughts, but there were no muttered side comments. He was happy to have all the chocolate he could stomach and he actually enjoyed himself. Eddie felt him everywhere in his body, spread out under his skin, enveloping him in a kind of safety net.

"So, what's planned for the honeymoon?" Eddie asked when he led Anne back to the table.

"Nothing special. Dan's got a few days off, so do I, and we might go on a cruise."

"You call that nothing special?" he teased.

"It's not Europe."

"Yeah, well." They had planned that once. Eddie had botched that one up, too. He shrugged. "Maybe for the anniversary."

Anne squeezed his hand. "Thank you, Eddie. For coming to the wedding, for staying, for all of this. And thank you, Venom."

The symbiote listened up.

"For keeping him safe," Anne added, now addressing him directly.

You're my host. Why would I not keep you safe?

Just… fly with it, Eddie advised. She knows it, but sometimes things have to be expressed. Verbally. Or otherwise.

"I think I have to thank you for so much more," he replied seriously. "You and Dan. I owe you. Not that this is my way of paying it back," he quickly added. "I wanted to come. Really. It's just… you two have lived with my shit for a while now… well, our shit… I couldn't have done a lot of this without you."

Anne's smile was warm, open, so very much the Anne he had fallen in love with so many years ago.

"We both have our own lives, with someone we care very much about."

Venom shifted inside him and Eddie felt the slide of a tendril around his wrist. It was hidden from sight since Eddie had his shirt sleeves down.

"I don't want to lose either of you, Eddie. Both Dan and I care. You can always count on us."

He swallowed and nodded. "Thanks. I mean it. From both of us."

She gave him a kiss on the cheek. "You were always my best friend. That hasn't changed. Ever."

"Thanks," he replied softly. "Mrs. Doctor Lewis."

She laughed and shook her head.

XnXnXn

Eddie drove home on his bike, enjoying the night, the air, the sense of freedom. Venom was right under his skin, silently riding along. He enjoyed it as much as his host.

They passed by a few of their usual patrol routes, but there was nothing suspicious.

Eddie parked his bike in the garage and stretched, yawning. It had been an eventful day and he was tired. Bed sounded rather good right now.

Venom coalesced into his deep sea horror form and reached for the remote as Eddie fell onto the mattress. The TV switched on and the symbiote deftly flipped through the channels until he found his latest favorite: a cook show.

"Keep the salivating to a minimum. And I don't want to wake up to an email box full of order confirmations on weird food stuff."

"You loved the Kobe beef."

"I hated the snails."

"But you enjoyed the beef ribs."

"The roasted, chocolate covered insects were disgusting!"

"You didn't mind the Wagyu."

"And you just had to order lobster! I was about to throw up!"

There was a smug expression on Venom's face. "It tastes so much better cooked and with butter than raw."

"All of that stuff, tasty or not, was hellishly expensive and we're not having that argument again." Eddie squinted at the nightmarish face. "My rules."

Venom chuffed, but along the bond Eddie felt his agreement. His rules because of the body they shared.

XnXnXn

He fell asleep to the soft waves of Venom's excitement over whatever was the latest challenge on the show. It was a background noise he was used to.

And even if there was a package order in his inbox tomorrow, something weird and probably very disgusting, he might not even yell. Much.

XnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXnXn

Six months had passed since their abduction. Eddie still had no memories of that time. At least until he had woken up in his prison cell, alone, without his symbiote, and everything had gone to hell not much later.

There had been no more traces of Tri and Eddie had finally decided to stop the search. Should the group resurface somewhere, anywhere, they would be on them like fleas on a dog. And Venom could be one very vicious flea.

Both of them, host and symbiote, had grown closer since then. Eddie understood what a bond-host meant for a symbiote and he had a deeper understanding what it meant for Venom. The loser.

Not anymore.

Neither of them was.

They sat on top of the Golden Gate, their eyes on the city below. It was beautiful, lit up in the darkness, a faint fog creeping in on the bay, with moving lights that were cars and trucks dotting the otherwise silent streets.

Their city.

Venom protected San Francisco, kept the streets clean, was a monster, was a hero, was a shadow. They were a nightmare come true. Still, many thought them to be a ghost, a rumor, and they took over where vacancies had started to appear in the criminal underworld.

Some even tried to hunt the terrifying monster, but Venom had yet to encounter anything really permanently harmful to them.

Eddie couldn't suppress a shudder of discomfort completely. Even after such a long time he hadn't gotten used to it. There was this primal fear in him, this inexplicable, illogical fear. He knew he was absolutely safe, could trust Venom, but…

He was high up, the wind much stronger than below on street level, and he still wasn't good with heights. Probably never would be.

I'd never let you fall, Venom rumbled, that sinister tone more comforting than anyone would ever believe.

"I know. I know. It's just… well, me. Human stuff. Until three years ago falling would have made me gone splat. That's hard to ignore. Even now. Survival instinct and all."

You have enough experiences to draw from. We have never gone splat, as you put it.

Eddie smiled a little within the bond. No, they hadn't. He hadn't.

I like watching our city from here. It is beautiful.

"Hm, yeah. There are worse places."

Like New York.

Venom snorted in amusement. He knew about New York, about Eddie getting fired there, about moving to San Francisco for a new start.

More fog crawled in and the bridge below started to disappear. Sounds were muffled. It was almost like they were on a different world, on a different plane of existence.

It was peaceful.

I'm hungry.

And the moment was broken.

Eddie chuckled. "That's news…"

Annoyance radiated through him. He mentally stepped back, left his symbiote in charge as they easily jumped off the, for him, extreme heights and into the nothingness. Venom shot out tendrils of himself, swinging over the meagre traffic like a vicious shadow, barely even seen, and they headed for the shadier, seedier parts of town.

There was always a murderer to take down, a hit man to dispose of, a dealer or trafficker that had it coming. Yeah, his moral compass was way beyond screwed, but it was a compromise. Venom didn't eat innocent people, listened to Eddie on who was game and who not, and Eddie would compartmentalize what came after that.

It had worked for the past two years, with a heavy supplement of chocolate. There was no need for Coulson's 'offerings'. Not even as a last resort, Eddie had decided.

Venom poked a little. Food?

He chuckled. "How about steak, blue, from that corner restaurant?"

Venom smacked his lips.

Eddie grinned. "Candle light dinner it is," he teased.

I like their death by chocolate desserts. The Triple Dark Chocolate Delite with the chocolate covered coffee beans is my favorite.

"You would. Those desserts will be the death of me."

Then again, he hadn't gained an ounce of weight. Venom metabolized the food and nothing stuck to Eddie that wasn't needed to keep him functioning. As long as chocolate and the occasional die hard criminal worked, Eddie wouldn't touch Coulson's pills for a very long stick.

They made it to a dark alley without being seen. Venom melted back into his host and Eddie walked out of the side street, heading for the twenty-four hour steak house.

XnXnXn

He went home after a delicious meal of a triple XL steak, carrying a large box full of sinfully decadent brownie desserts. No one had blinked an eye at his to-go order. Eddie picked up a paper. It was the early edition since it was already past three am.

He skimmed over the headlines and found his article right there on the front page. He grinned.

XnXnXn

None of the dessert made it into the fridge. Venom was way too delighted to wolf it all down. Eddie ate his own share, aware that the symbiote was happily absorbing the important chemical components right from his stomach.

He checked his inbox and his schedule. He had a meeting with his editor this afternoon, so it was time for a nap. Work later.

Venom agreed, curling up inside him to digest and doze.

They would patrol again tonight, scare the bad element, showing them there was always something worse, something with more teeth, more hunger, a real nightmare out there.

San Francisco wasn't New York or L.A. or Chicago, but it was their town. They protected it.

What had Coulson called them? Lethal? The lethal protector? He liked that. It fit them. It was them.

Eddie felt Venom's grin form deep inside and he mirrored it, just with less needle sharp teeth and insanely wide, gaping maw.

Yeah. That was them.