A Welcome Distraction ~ Eddie/Kate ~

[Hawkeye]

<sub>”Right. That’s it. I’m killing Tommy and Cass when they get back,” the young woman muttered to herself. Arms folded, she was gazing carefully out the window of the 17th floor of the Stark building. The view was rather fabulous. It got better the higher up you went of course, but Kate didn’t think going to another floor to look at the view would be an accepted excuse to get her out of the current life-or-death situation.

Perhaps that was a little bit of an exaggeration.

This certainly wasn’t ‘life-or-death’, just ‘annoying’ and ‘strange’. But those things so often go hand in hand. Turning around, she looked about the sparsely decorated room. The wall – there was only one that was not made of glass – was painted a red, that wasn’t entirely unpleasant to look at. But in the past few days Kate had grown tired of the colour.

That’s what happened when you stayed in the same place for too long, she thought, as she made her way to the desk. Her office. Her prison. Harsh way of thinking about it, but Kate was going practically crazy in the room – not that she showed that of course. Whilst Kate could let her hair down when she wanted too, she didn’t want to ever appear weak or unorganised in front of others. So no craziness could ever be shown. Sliding into the chair, she folded her arms once more, and this time rested them on top of the case.

Now, most of the time, Kate never spent too long in her little office. She was always out and about – whether in meetings, or catching up with friends, or going to events, and of course fighting the good fight. Going to do something about the wrong turns in the world. She was Hawkeye. Master – Mistress? – of the perfect aim. The best marks(wo)man. She knew what to do. Things had quietened down however, and the bad guys were minding their own business it seemed. Having peace was lovely, but worrying at the same time. The quiet could merely be the calm before the storm. What if there were dark things plotting? Something brewing? Something crawling up behind them, ready to pounce?

Kate Bishop had shared these thoughts and questions with a few of her team-mates. These team-mates being, Eli, Teddy, Billy, Jonas, Cass and Tommy. These team-mates were sort of… The higher group of Avengers. God that sounded harsh. But they were the ones who had been on the team the longest and knew how to work together. Being a part of the Young Avengers had taught them many things, such as sometimes paranoia is well-founded. The group had all agreed something was up and had made sure to keep things careful and well maintained. No slacking off.

They never shared there fears with the younger members, partly because none of them had really experience ‘the calm before the storm’ before. A few of them had managed to gather that something was up, but many remained oblivious, until a few days ago.

The storm had arrived.

A group of villains, new villains had appeared just on the outskirts of Manhattan, and new groups kept popping up.

So most of the Avengers had gone out to take care of things, and unfortunately Kate had drawn the short straw of staying behind to make sure everyone could keep in touch and up-to-date. An important job, but a dull one. One that she was doing properly, but man…

Sighing, she leant back in her chair and stretched her arms above her chest. What worries she had… She crossed her arms again, rested them on the table and then rested her chin on top of them again. She was only 26. That wasn’t old. And yet she had seen and done so many things. It was crazy.

Blinking, Kate calmed her thoughts and focused on the main reason she was worried and going crazy. No word from Tommy and Cass. No word. No word. Now they had said that might happen. That they were going undercover just a little bit. Wanted to watch for a few days. But no word. No word. No word

She groaned, her mind going in circles.

What she needed was a distraction.</sub>

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie was bored right now. The daily globe had told him he was off for the day, even though he was free-lance, and he knew exactly why and it just made his blood boil. Most of them treated him like a leper and a terrible photographer simply because of his father, who had been kicked off of the Daily Globe when he was proved wrong about the Sin-Eater murders, and the fact he had become Venom. While some people saw Edward Brock Sr as a hero for his actions during the Spider-Island event, the Daily Globe simply hated him even though he had become a hero, and treated Eddie Brock Jr like he was worthless, even though he was the new Anti-Venom, but they did not know that. Sitting on top of a building top, over-looking the city, got rid of Eddie's boredom a bit, but not completely. He just needed to do something that would stimulate his adrenalin, or just cure the bitter feeling you get when you have nothing to do.

Standing onto the edge of the building, Eddie took several deep breathes to prepare himself for what he was about to do. He had never gotten his nerves over the initial jolt of fear when diving off of a tall building. Allowing most of his symbiote form to come forth mostly, he kept his face unmasked. Spreading his arms outward into a an eagle position, Eddie threw himself forward, and went into a diving position, falling like a graceful eagle. Pressing his feet towards the building, he used the extra momentum from propelling himself forward, Eddie flew towards the ground in a horizontal direction. Raising his right hand, he sent a string of webbing towards a building near him, and as the webbing landed on the building, Eddie swung forwards. Unlike most of the other team members, he hadn't gone to deal with the villains in town, because he had thought he would need to go to work today. And he hadn't gotten the co-ordinates for the place they were going, so he could not go there.

Deciding to head to stark tower, Eddie swung towards the Stark Tower. He allowed his mask to come forth and cover his face entirely. While he would have preferred to have the fresh air rush through his face and hair, he did need to keep his secret identity intact and make sure no one found out who he truly was. The exceptions to this rule was the rest of the avengers and his parents, as his parents had seen his transformation the first few times, and the avengers all shared their civilian identities with each other. As he kept swinging, he let his Symbiote Spider-Sense guide his aim, allowing him to focus on his own thoughts and ponder the philosophical and complex matters in his life, such as the moral issue with his father hunting Symbiotes, when Eddie Jr himself was thirty five percent symbiote. While this usually would not be a problem, Eddie Brock Sr was becoming more and more delusional around people, and if he saw Eddie Jr in his symbiote form, he might actually attack.

But, Eddie knew that these worries were just that. They were just simple worries born from his fear of his father trying to kill him at some time. This was why, when Eddie Jr visited his parents, he refrained from using his powers at all. He was still able to use his Impurity sense, Spider-Sense, super-human strength, speed and healing factor in his human form, but he mainly used them in his Symbiote form. Landing in front of the stark building, Eddie Jr withdrew his symbiote into himself, transforming back into his human form. Walking into the tower, he decided to go up to the seventeenth floor and check if anyone was there.

Walking towards the elevator, Eddie pushed the button, and as it opened up, he walked into the elevator. He pushed the button for the seventeenth floor, and as it went up, Eddie thought about the problems of his father hunting the symbiotes. He was still confused as to how his father could do this. Waiting for several minutes, Eddie walked through the elevator door when it opened. Walking to Kate Bishop's office, he knocked on the door and he said “Kate, you here?”

[Hawkeye]

<sub>Sighing, Kate sat up in her chair and brushed the loose strands of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ears. Every now and then she sneaked a glance at the high-tech and very up-to-date laptop on her desk. But there wasn’t any change. No sign from Cass or Tommy. There were the few messages from the other groups – and she was relieved to hear that they were doing alright.

Why she was so worried, she didn’t know. It wasn’t as if the team hadn’t fought before – even the newer members. Then again, these were new villains. Nearly every Avenger had studied the group for a couple of days prior to hitting back, mainly because the groups seemed to only be focusing on pranks, and holding back their power. So no one was going in blind, still… It felt that way to Kate. If only she ---

Her head snapped away from the computer screen and towards the door. And here was the distraction she had ordered, and definitely it couldn’t have come at a better time. She really didn’t want to go into any of the ‘soul searching’ stuff at the moment, or the whole ‘my team is out there fighting and helping people and I’m not’ stuff either. Clearing her throat, she then replied, ”Yeah. Yes, I’m in here alright…” She trailed off at the end. Where else could I be she thought to herself, before shoving that away. Kate really didn’t want to be down.

The door was unlocked, as per usual, so she didn’t need to get up and open it. Instead, she took a sip of her going-warm coke, that was sitting in a glass directly in the line of sunlight streaming in from the windows. Making a face, she moved it into the shadows and made a mental note to get a new cool drink in the very near future. Thank god for the social etiquette that said you were to ask guests in they wanted something.

Sitting straight in her chair, she ran a hand through her hair and watched as a man about her age entered. ”Hey, Eddie. So… How can I help you?”

Kate hadn’t talked to the man that often, though of course she had been present when he was first introduced to the Avengers and during meetings he had attended. He seemed nice enough, and she was pretty sure they’d get along well. Probably.</sub>

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie had not really talked to Kate that much. Apart from the meetings he had attended, and the missions he had been on. Plus, Eddie only knew a select few of the Avengers personally, and he didn't even know those ones he knew personally that well. However, he had only been with the avengers for a short time, so he would try and get to know the rest of the team better over the next few weeks, and months. He had a good amount of time on his hands, and he could do most things, as he had a lot of spare time right now, as he was only Free-lance. He had recently started studying physics in his spare time, as he had always been interested in the subject, and he was happy that he could study it in his spare time. It helped him calculate the velocity and speed he needed to go in his jumps or web-swings. Course, he couldn't make all the calculations and he knew that. Some things were just uncontrollable.

When Eddie heard Kate say she was in, he opened the door and walked in. Her office was a nice office, and he had thought she might be out with the other Avengers, which was why he had knocked and asked where she was. He was a polite person, and he usually showed common courtesy and basic manners to most people. When Kate asked how she could help him, he took the seat opposite of her and thought about what to say to her. He thought that some Protégés of old villains might start surfacing, taking up the mantles of the villains that had trained them. Picking the precise words he was about to say, Eddie said “Well, I mainly came up to see if anyone else was not with the others. But, I did come to you to discuss an idea I have.”

Thinking his words through carefully, Eddie said “I believe that, if any Protégés of old villains come forth, we need to be prepared to fight them. Due to this, in case any Symbiotes resurface, I am offering my symbiote form as a test subject to get used to fighting Symbiote attacks. While the symbiotes may have evolved and mutated since they were last active years ago, they will still retain their old weaknesses of sonic and thermal attacks. I only bring this up because, I have felt this sort of feeling where something is going to happen.” Eddie could not explicitly explain the feeling of fear he had for the future. He just knew that he had a bit of a feeling that something or someone from his father's past, or Spider-Man's past, such as Carnage or the Green Goblin, or even an entirely new enemy.

[Hawkeye]

<sub>Kate watched carefully as the man only a couple of years younger than herself sat down opposite her. He didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, or look particularly troubled. Though not an expert in body language, Kate did know a little something, and she would guess that he was a little bit bothered about something, or had something he just needed to get out. Maybe. Her guess was more than likely way off.

One hand slid over her desk to reach her Coke before she remembered the state it was in. That wouldn’t have looked good – a senior Avenger making faces when someone came in to discuss maters, serious matters or something like that. So instead, her fingers ended up drumming very softly on the desk as she listened to him start to speak. ”Ah. Well, at the moment I am one of the few left back here. And the only senior Avenger.” She gave Eddie a small smile, ”But that’s okay. I’m always open to hearing new ideas, so go ahead.”

Whilst waiting for him to begin, Kate wondered idly what the idea would be. But as she didn’t know Eddie that well she couldn’t even get a ball-park idea. Nothing. Would it be about the way things were being run? Wanting to go out and fight with the senior members? A problem with a team-mate (Dear God, I hope it isn’t that, she thought to herself)?

Thankfully, it turned out to be a training idea. Kate listened intently, trying to take it all in. Get the bigger picture. Work out where he was coming from. Come to conclusions herself. She nodded slowly, her eyes glancing about the room as she thought silently for a short moment after he had finished talking. ”I think that many new villains will wish to come take over from the old ones. More than likely many will indeed have the same powers and abilities.” She was thinking out loud now, mainly for Eddie’s benefit. Just so he was kept in the loop. ”After all, many people here have old heroes as parents or other family members,” she gave Eddie a small smile here. After all, he fitted neatly in that category. ”So learning some techniques and fighting strategies that could counter these villains would be good. It’s good to try and stay one step ahead, I know that.”

She then paused, looking him over, ”But offering yourself up as a target? I get where you’re coming from, definitely And I certainly will incorporate old enemies into our training regimes. But the last part? That’s dangerous. You could get extremely hurt, and if something went really wrong, you could end up extremely dead.”

Kate ran a hand through her hair. He was right about getting practice in about this, but setting himself up as a target? Practicing on him? Who knows how that could turn out? Looking Eddie over, however, she could tell he was pretty serious about the whole thing. Perhaps… ”If you are set on this, and truly want to help, then I guess we could get the team together and come to an agreement about it. Maybe after a few training sessions so we know that you won’t get extremely hurt we can try. But… Why? I like the idea, but are sure about this?”</sub>

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie had to admit that he had not been sure whether he should go to Kate about his idea, or just hide it at first. But, his rational side had taken over, and he had managed to convince himself to go and talk to Kate about his idea. Granted, some bits of it did sound dangerous, as he was going to offer himself up as a target for symbiote fighting practice, but it was the only way they could be prepared for these sort of things, and any damage he took would be healed by his symbiotes amazing healing factor, which was even more advanced than any other symbiote, due to his symbiote being the exact genetic copy of the original Anti-Venom symbiote, which had been created by merging Symbiote remnants within Eddie Brock Sr and his white blood cells, giving it its healing powers and increasing its healing factor to levels similar to Wolverine's.

Eddie listened to Kate explain her views about his idea. She did like the idea of training in case any new villains came forth, having the same powers as their older counterparts had. However, the only problem she had with his proposal was him offering himself up for the symbiote training part. When she finished talking, Eddie decided to explain his reasoning for offering himself up as a target. Clearing his throat, Eddie said “I know it sounds dangerous for me to offer myself up as a target. And I could get hurt due to the training. But, we don't have a lot of choices Kate. Most symbiotes would fight us to the death and just try and kill us instead of being our targets, and the only available symbiote at the moment is me. And you forget, I'm not like other symbiotes.”

Eddie stopped to take a breathe, and he then continued. “My suit is an exact genetic replica of my father's previous suit, the Anti-Venom symbiote. Unlike other symbiotes, it was created inside his body, by merging the remnants of the Venom symbiote with his white blood cells, giving the new symbiote its white look and curative powers, and also becoming caustic to the previous symbiote and any other symbiote. And the curative powers were not the only new powers. The new white symbiote gave him an Impurity sense, allowing him to sense impurities such as radiation poisoning and alcohol or drug addictions. But, the reason I'm not too worried about getting hurt is because of the advancement of the healing factor.” Pausing for a second, Eddie took a few more deep breathes.

Eddie said “Sorry for going on, but I'm almost done. The white symbiotes healing factor has increased to such a rate that, it can even heal a shotgun wound to the head. My dad, when he was Anti-Venom, took a shotgun blast to the head, and he survived, healing within minutes. Due to my suit being an exact genetic copy of his old suit, I have all these powers. That is why I am not afraid of getting hurt, as the healing factor of the suit has also mixed with my normal rate of healing, enhancing it a little bit more. So, if we use me as a target and practice, I don't have to worry too much. That, and the suit is also very durable. I wouldn't be offering myself up for this is if I was not one hundred percent sure I would be fine.” Eddie had thought this through completely, and he was sure he would be fine.

[Hawkeye]

<sub>Leaning back in her chair, Kate took a glance at the computer screen again. But it was still just as blank as before. Her eyes swivelled over to review Eddie again. She had finished listing why it wouldn’t be a bad idea, so now it was his turn. Fight back so to speak. He’d come up with a reason why it was okay. And more than likely it’d be a reason she’d know. After all, she had read his files of course. She had seen him in some fights. And in trainings. She may not know him well but she had managed to catch glimpses and those moments helped her expect what was coming.

She listened silently, politely and attentively as he spoke. Yes, listing reasons why his symbiote would be fine for this. Why he was different, and why he would be okay. She knew that he wouldn’t be truly hurt physically – his healing powers would make sure of that, but… What about mentally? Bringing out his symbiote and then having him fight the others? Kate wasn’t worried that Eddie would turn into a Venom. There wasn’t a doubt there. It wasn’t the others she was worried about – it was Eddie. All the others, ganging up and fighting him? It was his choice, really but… What if someone got carried away? A little grudge between Eddie and someone else on the team. Things could get heated… Tensions form… Splits appear… No one takes that well at all.

Again, her fingers began to drum on the desk. It was clear he knew the risks – him being himself, how could he not? And Kate had heard it all before. As if to prove this to herself she clicked on Eddies folder on the computer, bringing up his files. She swivelled the screen around to face Eddie so he could see that she did indeed know this, and gave Eddie a small, amused grin. ”I know.”

She sighed, then stood up, momentarily changing the subject, ”Care for a drink? Water, soda… Something stronger… Actually I don’t know if I have anything stronger up here.” Not waiting for an answer she headed over to the mini fridge anyways, he could tell her as she was walking. ”Look, Eddie, I understand that the physical risks aren’t that great. They are real though, do remember that. No one’s exactly invincible and don’t try that theory out… But what I’m worried about is what having the group turn on you and fight against you could do to you. It’ll be tough for everyone. You may hold back, they may hold back – or worse still things may get over the top. It happens when you’re fighting allies. Things seem to just be worse.” She knelt down by the fridge sorting through the drinks.</sub>

[Anti-Venom II]

Eddie knew that Kate would want to know his reasons, and she had even asked him, and this was why he had given her his very long speech. However, he still had some minor doubts about his proposal. He knew that he could still get hurt if he was unlucky, or someone used a power that his symbiote had no defence against. However, the main things that those were was Mr Negative's powers and Osborn's Cure. But, there was more to it. He was, technically, mentally unstable, but this was to a very low degree, only happening unless he got really angry or something bad unhinged his mind, making him completely mentally unstable. He would need to control that even better than he usually did if they did go ahead with using him as a training target for symbiote practice. Even with his instabilities, he did not believe he would become a Venom version of Anti-Venom.

When Kate asked him if he cared for a drink, Eddie thought about it. In the last two years, his symbiote side had brought about some adverse effects on him. He had discovered he only needed about five hours of sleep to function properly, and he didn't need to eat as much as a normal, full human did. Even in his symbiote form, he could go longer without sleep and food. But, he was thirsty right now. He said “A water is fine.” She then spoke as she went to the mini fridge. She reminded him that the risks were still real, and that no one was exactly invincible. And then she went on to say she was worried about the risks of them all fighting each other, and those sort of risks. And Eddie understood. If even one person on the team had a grudge against him, they might use this as an opportunity to hurt him.

Eddie thought about what he was going to say after Kate had finished speaking. Rubbing his face, he decided to just say what came to him. “Kate, you are right actually. If someone on the team has even a small grudge against me, they might just use this as an opportunity to get even with me. But, like I said, we don't really have a choice. I'm the only one here with a symbiote, and I know I am not invincible or even immortal. But, I want to try this. If one session goes bad, then we don't need to use me any more. One session is all I ask for.” Eddie said this, as he wanted to try at least one session.

[Hawkeye]

<sub>The little questioning had made some things clear. Eddie was certainly determined to go through with this. Whether that stubbornness would cost him one day or be an asset, Kate wasn’t sure. She knew her stubbornness at times had ended up costing her dearly. But in this case… Perhaps it wasn’t a bad thing. Those Avengers who had not gone off on the fights at the moment could use something to work on and keep in shape, and prepared. And he seemed to know the risks.

Part of Kate was still worried, but he was volunteering, and she supposed that if something went wrong she could call it off immediately. She’d just have to hope she’d spot the wrongness. She sighed softly, inaudibly, and got her soda and Eddie’s water. Pouring them both into glasses, she made her way back to the desk and placed his water in front of him before sitting down in her chair. She took a sip of her soda, and once again settled back to listen to Eddie. Hopefully he wasn’t about to show her that it was pure stubbornness causing him to go through with him – she was certainly leaning towards going through with the training, but a wrong move by Eddie now could blow it.

She wasn’t about to let anyone get hurt.

Kate gave a small nod. At least part of what she had said had gotten through. He did know some of the risks that she was worried about now. Hopefully that would mean he himself would not get carried away. She paused, thinking carefully. ”The idea is good. Hopefully the theory works out in practice.” Kate looked over at him, there wasn’t a smile on her face (she looked quite neutral) but her eyes had sparkle in them, she was quite pleased really – but only those really close to her would ever work that out. ”I give my permission for this to go ahead. There are some things I’d like to go over though. One, there will be a couple of trial runs. If something goes wrong there we just can’t continue. Two, if the other Avengers come back and don’t like this idea, there may not be much I can do about that. Three, I want one of the older members to be present when the training takes place. Just in case. Naturally one of us tries to be there at all training sessions.”

Now she did smile and let Eddie know that things had gone well. ”It’s a good idea. I hope it pays off.” She shrugged, ”But make sure you’re careful.”</sub>