Demons [Eddie Brock] Venom

31. Choice

"So, uh..." Rory broke the quiet after Eddie and Venom tore off. The dark woods seemed to come to life, whereas only minutes before Rory thought she was going to die, and the world around her seemed dead too. Or perhaps the animals all sensed Venom, and stayed silent. Now, critters scuttled in the darkness, a few bugs chirped.

"Yeah... Uhm, I think this breaches confidentiality laws," Anne replied. "But, do you want to come with me to make sure Eddie doesn't get himself killed?"

"Definitely," Rory replied. Then she pointed towards the direction she came from, likely the quickest way to the Life Foundation. Together, they began to jog through the woods. Rory was much better dressed for such things, in jeans and a sweater, but her head still felt so dizzy. 

"I didn't know you were the Anne," Rory admitted. "I mean, it's not an uncommon name, or anything, so I never thought..."

"I had no idea either. Wait, he told you about me?"

Rory looked at Anne, then quickly back to where her feet were landing. "Yeah, of course he did. Anne, you were the one he was going to marry, it's not like it's been a long time since you split. He didn't tell me much, but that man still cares about you."

"From what you told me about your neighbour and from what I've seen here tonight," she jumped over a fallen tree, "he cares about you too, Rory."

"Oh I know," Rory agreed. They looked around for a minute, adjusting to their settings, then agreeing on the correct direction to go. Anne helped Rory over a particularly large log when she began to show symptoms of her concussion again. Then, the Life Foundation was in sight. 

"I guess the obligatory question I have to ask, is... Do you still love him?" Rory asked, but it sounded wrong the minute she said it.

Anne sighed. "I do, but I can't. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, actually. He did something that you can't forgive, or at least not... now. Or soon. We don't choose our feelings, so of course you still love the man you intended to marry. But that doesn't change..."

"That I can't be with him, exactly." Anne was clearly relieved that Rory understood, and didn't get upset. There was no denying both of them cared for Eddie, and both of them probably loved Eddie, but life was messy. 

"I'm just thinking, if he chooses you -and I know that doesn't mean you'll get back together, but he can still choose to love you more- there won't be hard feelings. I knew a long time ago that... That it was possible."

"If that man says he wants to be with me over you, even when he knows it'll never happen, I will personally knock some sense into him," Anne said. Then she opened the door to the Life Foundation, which was suspiciously unguarded. They exchanged glances and wondered if it had anything to do with Eddie, or the blaring evacuation sirens. 

They followed the slew of papers scattered about, even someone's shoe was left behind in the panicked rush to get out. Rory nervously kept pace with Anne, thinking about Riot, the thing that was in Carlton. She didn't want Eddie facing that even with Venom, and she realized she never properly got to say goodbye; if he didn't make it, she would never have gotten to say that. 

Anne turned to look at her, seemingly understanding what was running through Rory's mind. She grabbed her shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes. "That man has a weird survival instinct, he'll be okay."

She nodded, then kept walking down the deserted halls. They turned into a massive room filled with computers, a giant screen with a count down.

"This is it," Anne said. "Look."

Rory looked at the screen and saw the two aliens fighting, Riot and Venom; Carlton and Eddie. She scowled, thinking back to a time where Eddie was digging into Rory's past, a time when he said he wanted to protect her, but this surely wasn't what he meant. It was unfair to expect him to do this; but Rory reminded herself that he was doing this for the world, not just her and Anne and whomever else had been hurt by Carlton.

"Find something that says speakers," Anne commanded. "Sound hurts them, sound and fire! There have got to be speakers out there, for announcing, we just have to crank them." 

Rory began scanning, flicking through computer screens -the ones that were still in one piece. She noticed a part of a body under a table that had everything nearly wiped off of it, and she held back the urge to throw up. She was getting tired of this, tired of not knowing what she would run into next. She needed a vacation.

Finally, she spotted a dial. "Here! Anne, this one!"

Anne rushed over. She checked and confirmed that it was the right one, then, she cranked the dial. Outside the speakers blared, and the two aliens came apart, revealing Eddie and Carlton lost inside. They split from their demons, and everything went quiet as Anne shut off the speaker. Her hand hovered over it, but now Eddie and Carlton weren't on the video footage in front of them; there was no telling what was going on out there now. 

They walked to the window, as though they could see better from there. She couldn't see anything, neither of them could; but one thing they could confirm, the rocket was launching. They watched in nervous anticipation.

"Look, there!" Rory exclaimed, pointing at the little black dot that moved along the side of the rocket, tearing it apart. Bits went flying, and then suddenly the entire thing blew.

"No!" Rory screamed at the same time Anne shrieked something she didn't hear. 

Instead of crumpling, instead of crying, Rory began to run out of the Life Foundation, getting lost twice before she found the ramp to the former rocket. She found the door, which led outside, and she hopped the fencing, clambering down the rocks and slipping twice due to the wet, and algae growing on them. She was by the water shore, splashes and waves lapping at her now wet feet.

"Eddie!" she screamed, hands around her mouth to make her voice louder, but it was nothing compared to the crashing and waves splashing. Then she saw him, head barely above the water, one arm coming out and forcing him to swim to the shore. Rory threw off her jacket, and jumped into the water, swimming out to him and grabbing hold of his arm. She pulled him to the shore, both of them gasping and spitting out salt water. 

They collapsed on the rocks, they dug into their backs but they didn't care. Eddie's eyes were wide, scared, something about him was different; he looked terrified, and Rory had never seen him like that. 

"Eddie, it's okay, it's over. It's over," she comforted.

"He's gone, Ror," he muttered, leaning into her. She held him, feeding off his warmth as both of them were freezing. 

"Drake?" she asked desperately. 

"Venom."

Rory thought she was mistaken for a moment, but she thought Eddie was sad about this fact. As his expression didn't fade, she knew he was. Her mind refused to understand this, a parasitic alien being out of ones body should have warranted joy, and yet Eddie had an attachment to it. She held him still, trying to sympathise. Overhead, she heard Anne calling to them. Sirens and the chopping of helicopter blades filled her hearing too. Rory just held Eddie, wondering what came next.

-----

The book will begin winding down, I've been run dry of material, and I always knew the book would come to an end at the end of the movie. I'll wrap up loose ends, though, so it'll probably be another four chapters. I can't even begin to express my gratitude to you guys, this story blew up and it's literally NOT EVEN GOOD. I love you guys, honestly, you fuelled a fanfic that probably would have fizzled out ages ago.

I have lots of good ideas for wrapping this up, too, so I hope no one will feel disappointed of that they are missing out.

And just so you know, I have tons of fanfics on my page (lots of them suck), but there are a lot of Tom Hardy based ones ;)