Whoo, it's been a while. I don't have any excuse… Anyyy~~ except I'm lazy but now it's back cause I need to do some writing, hope this makes up for the long wait!

Uh, all the usual warnings, and we will see some Deadpool ahead! Whee!

Venom's hands were tight around Peter's legs, holding them in place, admiring the way they trembled. Even though his stamina was extraordinary, what Venom could do far out lasted any amount of strength Peter had in him, and so Peter was forced to cling to Venom's shoulders, rocking his hips in small desperate little movements, trying to get closer. Peter's soft brown hair had grown out again after being with Harry, and the few weeks he'd spent with Venom, and it laid over his eyes and covered parts of his flushed face. Venom found Peter was often satisfied more with the light touches and closeness of their bodies than actual sex.

Venom could understand. His mate was tired: emotionally wrung out from the stages of grief he seemed to flip between. That, and the horror he felt that the only person he could seek comfort from was the very person who'd taken his friend and lover from him.

Venom squeezed Peter's thigh before moving in closer, holding him up against the brick wall with the sheer weight of his body. He put his teeth on Peter's neck, on the small dark teeth prints where he'd left his mark on Peter so many nights ago. It was as much a reminder of the mark as it was to feel Peter's skin beneath his tongue. Peter shuddered and moaned, the last stages of his orgasm shivering through him as his legs wrapped around Venom's waist.

"That's a good spider," Venom purred, in his deep, melodious voice, liking the way Peter shivered as it rumbled next to his ear. "Good boy." He didn't let go, and carried Peter to their bed.

Venom's hideaway— his home— was all at once exactly what Peter had expected, and nothing at all. It'd taken them thirty minutes of traveling, paparazzi snapping pictures of a limp Spiderman over the shoulder of Venom below, to finally reach it, on the outskirts of the city. It an old place, a former warehouse of a business that went under years ago, and it was so huge the walls echoed with every step Peter took. Then Venom had taken him and bounded up a pile of gigantic crates, revealing a quiet and concealed area, closed in by seven old crates that created a den-like room. Venom had spent a lot of time making it nice for his guest, not that Peter ever knew it, before it had just been his bed and a few souvenirs from the various crimes he'd committed.

After spending that short, amazing time with Peter, Venom began to feel… well, a bit domestic.

He wanted the best for his mate, from the best food to the most pleasure and contentment, and he wanted it all to come from him… Having seen Peter's apartment, he knew his mate had some standards about where he lived, and so he'd done his best to make the apartment as comfortable for Peter as he could, despite the fact that it was basically a cage. Comfortable chairs and lighting, books and entertainment, there was even an old bathroom, courtesy of the company that used to be placed there. The only thing it lacked was a kitchen, something his instincts kept whispering to him to fix. He saw the way Peter looked every time he went out to get them food. Calculating the average time he took. Desiring freedom.

It was unacceptable.

Venom quite liked their new arrangements; no dastardly heroes to stop him in his business, a warm bed to come home to, and most of all, him. His mate. His sweet, sleepy-eyed mate, now hanging quite literally like a spider on the front of his chest. Venom used the opportunity to put his hand on Peter's ass— all for the sake of better carrying him, of course— and brought them both over to the bed.

"Good spider," he said yet again, as Peter's eyes fought to close. Like they so often did before he fell asleep, they surged for a moment, seeking out the high ceilings of the warehouse, scanning the room, as if there'd be an escape route there that there hadn't been yesterday. Venom put a possessive hand on Peter's leg, not prompting anything, just reminding.

Peter's eyes closed and his breathing smoothed.

He knew it wouldn't last, this little 'arrangement'. Soon enough Peter would recover from the shock of his new lifestyle, the death of his friend, and he'd begin to become like he had once been; brave, bold and noble. All good things, in theory. But when the day came, Venom didn't have the confidence that Peter would stay with him. So, plans had to be set into place.

New York was his home, his pillar, where all the people he loved lived, so naturally they'd have to go far, far away…

He didn't even realize he was drifting off until Venom's eyes began to close, arms pulling Peter into a tight snuggle. Just like how Peter dreamed of escape before he fell asleep, so too every night did Venom dream of keeping him forever.

"Hellooooo! Anyone there~!" A voice jauntily echoed around the den. It was still dark; shadows covered everything and seemed to wrap the warehouse in a blanket of silence. Any normal person would have been intimidated into silence themselves from the impressive lack of sound, but no, not Wade Wilson. He swung his feet down off a rafter, smirking underneath his cheap red hood. Oh, sure there'd been a few close calls when Venom double checked and swooped back around— for pretty much no reason, as far as he could tell, because his sneaking skills were flawless. He seemed like an awfully twitchy sort of dude, which Wade would be too, if he had the kind of enemies Venom did. This time, though, he was sure it would be a while before he came back. Like most days recently, Venom was on an unstoppable crime-spree. Taking in money, gold, resources, hostages… And there was no one to stop him. No spiderman.

The thought almost made him groan aloud. Not only was there no one to stop the crime (the lesser of the two evils, in his opinion), but with each passing day Deadpool missed seeing the little red spider swinging around the city. With that fine ass…

Well, anyway, as he dropped to the ground of the warehouse, in that strange tight little room Venom seemed to have made for himself, he was reasonably certain he was all alone. A guy like Venom, with someone hanging around? Unless it was a kidnapped victim, he sincerely doubted it. The room was surprisingly comfortable, more so than he could ever have thought for Venom. Soft chairs, popular novels, and rugs, not to mention the gigantic king-sized bed with the black sheet in the corner. Wade ran his hand down the spine of a book, musing to himself how a guy who read My Sister's Keeper could act like such a badass in front of all of New York.

Then two feet landed on the back of his head, a perfect hit that sent him spinning like a top into a metal wall. He dropped immediately, a concussion ringing through his head, the last thing he saw was a slender brunette with a scowl on his face looking down on him.

Well, naturally, Deadpool being Deadpool, it didn't last long. The first thing he did when he woke up, not even minutes later, was snort derisively. It caused the brunette boy, tying his ankles together, to look up, completely startled. His hair was mused, the t-shirt he wore two sizes too big and a bit ragged, and there were several noticeable bruises on his neck— love bits?— but he was a looker.

"That was a really nice high kick," Deadpool managed.

The boy uncoiled and his fist came down directly against Deadpool's temple.

"Okay," he said when he woke up, minutes later, once again startling the boy now tying his wrists together. "I'm really sorry about this, kid." The ropes fell away, thanks to his incredibly handy skills with hidden knives, and then he meant to punch the kid out, hot as he was, then get up and finish the job, but it didn't quite go like that. He moved quick to grab the kid, but he was faster, and he sprang back into a fighting pose. Oh boy. The kid was good.

"This'll be a lot easier if you just give up," Deadpool muttered, lunging at him at the same time as the kid spun around into a roundhouse kick, which also would have landed, except they'd both forgotten Deadpool was still tied up around the ankles. He crashed to the floor. The kid's foot went way above him, frighteningly fast, but hell, he wasn't going to let the opportunity get away.

He grabbed the kid's leg, yanking him down gracelessly from his fighting pose to the floor. He landed dazed on the floor, and they looked at each other for a second: Deadpool's unreadable and the kid's determined eyes.

"Woah there," Deadpool put his hands up. If it was just a kid, he'd just find a way to keep doing his job. He didn't want to take on karate kid when he was in the lair of an evil creep. "Maybe we can talk about this?" The kid's foot connected with his jaw, which pretty much ended any diplomacy. It descended into graceless wrestling.

Deadpool had the advantage; it was harder to wear him out and he had more muscle mass on the kid, not that it made much of a difference. The kid didn't stop with any hit he made, and gave more than his fair share of hits back. They were evenly matched.

"When Venom finds you here, you're dead," he finally panted, the two of them locked and pushing against each other for ground. "Best to just lie down now, right?"

"So you are allied with Venom, huh?" Deadpool got his momentum going and pushed the kid across the floor, straining with the effort. The kid squawked indignantly. He jabbed his left foot down against Deadpool's ankle, knocking him off balance so they both once again went sprawling. They pushed up in crouches, and looked warily at each other.

"I'm not allied with him. I have to protect myself and our…" His mouth snapped closed quickly. The next word out of his mouth would have been 'nest', but there was no way in hell he was going to vocalize the things he felt. Especially not about him, the one who'd hurt him, humiliated him and kept him trapped. "Besides, if he sees you here, he might blame me and…"

Deadpool's hands lowered, sympathy beating out any desire he had to win. The kid looked exhausted. And on closer look, a bit familiar, though he couldn't place him. "You in trouble? Don't you know there are heroes out there you can go to?"

The kid's frown deepened. Was it just him, or did his shoulders seem to sink? His fists clenched, and his eyes lowered. He spat out, "Like Spiderman?"

"Well, yeah." Deadpool's eyes narrowed. "Hey, you aren't dissing on Spiderman, are you? Well, you should show some respect— Spiderman's great. He's the best superhero in the whole city, and he can definitely take on a guy like Venom— he's done it countless times before."

"Spiderman's gone."

"No, he's not," Deadpool said, "I mean, he's been missing for a while, but he's probably just recovering from a bad wound, or on vacation. Give the man a break! He works hard."

The kid smiled briefly, then it faded. "Hey, I recognized that mask. Aren't you…?"

"The merc with a mouth, at your service." They looked at each other, the atmosphere different from a fight, and so he relaxed. "I was looking for Venom, but I didn't intend to stay long today. If you want to, I can get you out of here."

He bit his lip. "I don't know why you're offering that. You don't even know me, and I'm basically a prisoner here."

"Well, I'm heartless, but I'm not going to leave a kid here at the mercy of a guy like Venom, you know? I mean, if you want a reason, when I come back, I'd like not to be kicked in the head again."

It surprised a laugh out of him. Then he bit his lip. Nodded. "Okay."

"Yeah?" He was tentative, feeling like he was witnessing something rare. He really didn't want to mess this up, though he knew it was almost inevitable. "Hold on to me for a second," he slung the boy's arms around his shoulders, feeling shy at the touch himself, which was nothing compared to the way the kid couldn't seem to meet his eyes or look anything but surprised. He hauled them up on the rope he'd come in on. Venom was nowhere in sight, but he knew it was only a matter of time. The warehouse was near a harbor. The sprung apart when they stopped climbing, but neither of them wanted to stay long enough for any awkwardness to seep in. The kid kept glancing behind him, looking at the small room like there was something holding him there. Venom could've jumped down from a pillar and he wouldn't have even noticed. Deadpool kept his sword close to his side. He had a stake in this now. A real one. Venom was tough, all big muscles and creepy, dripping black smile.

God, he hoped he could win.

He had to shake off the nerves. The kid's stride was smooth and steady, but he didn't miss the way he seemed to twitch with a jump of every shadow. "Um, have we met before? You look really familiar. I'm Wade. Deadpool. But you can call me Wade." Of course he had to get all stuttering and awkward just when he was getting somewhere with the cute boy. At least he could excuse the stutter with mission-nerves. Their voices seemed immediately swallowed in the huge weight of the warehouse.

The kid was looking at him curiously, "Wade. Wade… Hey! Did we meet… at that bathroom, in the park? I'm Peter, remember? Peter Parker."

"I cut your hair!" He clapped his hands together, still silently. "That's it! Your hair's grown out again, so I didn't recognize you."

"I suppose so," he ran his fingers through his soft hair, marveling that it had been so long since he'd first escaped Venom. Perhaps another escape attempt was overdue. But could he confess everyone and thing he'd been trying to escape all this time, and why? It felt so surreal that he wasn't sure he could explain it if he tried. A female spider's DNA, Spiderman, the many different factors that had led him to be hunted down and pursued by his enemies. Maybe not. He took a deep breath. "Last time, I was trying to escape from Venom, too. That's why I needed to look unrecognizable."

"He caught you." His voice was softer.

"I had a friend get caught in the crossfire. That's why I thought it'd just be best to stay here. If you take me with you, and he catches us, he'll kill you." Peter's shoulder brushed Wade's. His eyes searched Wade, seeming oblivious to where they were.

Underneath his mask, Deadpool smiled. And then, because he was an idiot, and clumsy as could be when it came to pretty boys looking at him like that, he said, "Who's going to think to go looking for us at a Chimichanga stand? Come on, lunch's on me, you'll love it. Then, maybe we can set something up? Can't let you get caught again by Venom… I mean, I don't want to get kicked next time I come back to take Venom on, is all."

"You're coming back to fight Venom?" He blurted. "I'd like lunch."

"Yes— yeah, I've got a job to do."

"Spiderman, I mean, maybe he could help you out? Since Venom's a villain and all. I'm sure he's coming back from his vacation soon. You could ask him…"

"Oh my god, I've always wanted to help Spiderman out on a mission," he said dreamily. "Do you think he'd let me? Do you know where he is?"

"I'm the photographer who always takes pictures of him," Peter said, swiping long hair out of his eyes. "Cut my hair for me again, Wade, and I'll try to put in a good word."

Well, see you again in a few months… : jk, hopefully it'll be a few weeks. But who knows where procrastination will take me….