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"WE JUST NEED GUNS, YOU HAVE A GUN DON'T YOU?" Dumping a rather large bag on her bed, Valentina Paulman ignored the device that rolled onto the floor. Tears stung her eyes, but she kept them back. Swallowed them deep, making sure there was hope, just hope that Ro would be okay.
"Val-" Eddie called out to her, still sat as he watched her pace around her own room blurting out the most random plans she could think of.
"Where did you keep the body? I'll call Saanvi and let her know about everything, she can help us can't she?" Guilt wallowed Eddie down, making him swallow a rather large lump in his throat as he watched Valentina.
"Hey...Val, come on." Valentina pulled her hand from his grasp, shaking her head as she grabbed a bunch of clothes, pulling her shirt off quickly.
Eddie's eyes drifted to the scar on her belly, then to the bandage wrapped around her back, protecting the new stitches she'd gotten to secure the wounds clawed onto her back.
Valentina turned after putting on a different shirt, tying up her hair quickly, Eddie could see the tears eager to spill out her eyes, so desperately pushed back in.
"We can't wait until tomorrow, we'll go today." Valentina concluded, disregarding Eddie has he stood up and approached her.
"Val, we can't go tonight it's too late already." Eddie murmured, his hand reaching out towards her, but Valentina shook her head and avoided him, walking away from his attempted grasp. "Val, listen to me."
"I can't listen!" Valentina snapped back, her head shooting towards him, eyes grazing right through his skin. "We can't wait another minute! They could be doing all sorts of things to her Eddie! Anything!"
Eddie could see the tears now, clearly as they gathered in the edge of her eye. "We can't go today, they'd kill us on sight, kill her too."
"I'm not waiting!" Valentina shook her head, storming out of the room and picking up her speed as Eddie followed right after her.
"I'm not letting you go there! It's suicide for the two of you!"
"Then don't go with me!" Valentina stopped in her place, yelling out to him, her chest rising forward and backward.
Eddie's brows furrowed at the sudden suggestion, or more like an order. "Like hell I am! You think I'm just going to let you die? Again?"
"You did it once, you can do it again."
A axe fell to his heart, a blade of pain that fished through him at the words. But Eddie knew that she didn't mean it, not in that tone, not in that state of desperation. "Valentina, you're not going."
"I'm going and it's final! Where's the body?"
Eddie shook his head, refusing to tell her, to let her go so easily.
"Where's the body, Eddie?" Her voice weighed down, deepened with seriousness.
Silence, all he could give her was his response of silence, a clear message of his disapproval, of his stubbornness.
"Just tell me! If I don't go there, she's going to die and it'll be your fault!"
Silence. Nothing.
"Tell me Eddie!" Her pleads, her tears finally spilled as she begged, her fists clenched with frustration and anger.
Valentina trembled, her bones shaking through her body as she clenched her fists make tightly, but Eddie wouldn't budge. Instead, there he stood, back straight and chin up, a stubborn expression flashed across his features.
"You..." she growled, stomping towards him as she threw her fist to him, but too weak to throw a good punch. "It'll be your fault! Your fault Eddie!" She shouted out, Eddie gripped her shoulders, trying to steady her but at the very moment, Valentina was too wrapped up in her sorrow to be stopped so easily.
"Your fault Eddie! All of it!" More refusal, more resistance. "I hate! I hate..."
There it was, what Eddie had been waiting for so patiently. The breakdown, the final tumble of the explosion. Valentina burst into tears, finally allowing them to come through one after the other, streaming down her rose tinted cheeks.
Her fragile body trembled in his hands and Eddie Brock loosened his grip in an instant. "Valentina-" but he was cut off by the sudden hug, a bone crushing hug as she wrapped her arms around his chest and buried her face into his neck, still sobbing.
Eddie couldn't say much other than actions, a response of reactions. He gently began to caress her hair between his fingers, the long strands tickling his skin cells.
She could have said it, she could have blurted those three words out so easily, told him the truth. But she held it back, held the pain and the anger back before it completely took over.
"Val," Eddie broke the silence, cupping her face in his two hands as he pulled her away from her grasp and stared deeply into her eyes.
Her eyes of brown, filled with void and pure obsidian. Of sadness and agony. "We'll get her out, alright? I promise you we will. Tomorrow."
Valentina nodded quickly, surely she was still feeling incredibly doubtful. The brunette sighed and sniffles, rubbing her nose as she continued nodding. "I'm sorry...for what I said."
"Don't. I know." Was all Eddie could really say. Because what could he really say? He understood, well and clear. Valentina wiped her eyes and Eddie found himself assisting her before he leaned down closely.
A distraction. Anything to get her mind off the worry.
Eddie's hand loosened its grip, sliding up to caress her face, his thumb rubbing over her cheekbone as he leaned closer to connect their lips. And though he knew it was an inappropriate time, it was all for her sake, to take her thoughts away, to focus on him.
Because he's do anything for her. Even if it meant being selfish, even if it meant taking the blame, accepting the bare truth.
