Eddie. Someone’s coming.
“Shut up, V.” Eddie spoke quietly and kept his head buried in his arms, hoping that nobody noticed.
The door opened. Eddie looked up as two men walked in. One was blond, leading the other (a dark-haired man wearing red sunglasses) to the seats across from him. He watched them get settled, resisting the urge to make a comment about guide dogs. The blind man seemed incredibly uncomfortable. Probably doesn't want to be anywhere near someone who reportedly left eight people without heads, Eddie thought. After they'd settled, the blond man addressed him.
"Hello, Mr. Brock, my name is Foggy Nelson. This is my partner, Matt Murdock. We're your new lawyers."
"I don't need two lawyers, I didn't DO anything." Eddie shifted uncomfortably, looking between the two of them.
"Mr. Brock, our firm supports vigilantes and we are only here to help you today."
"I didn't do it!"
Foggy considered him for a moment, then leaned toward Matt.
"Is he lying?" he asked, whispering so that Eddie couldn't hear.
Matt didn't answer. He was busy trying not to vomit. He could smell human flesh on Eddie's breath; there was something wrapped around his internal organs, something Matt couldn't quite place. Something that shouldn't be there. Something that was MOVING. It had its own vital signs- its own pulse, its own breathing cadence. As Matt listened, the something twisted around Eddie's organs, like a snake coiling around newly caught prey.
Eddie shifted again, almost in response to that thing, looking at the two of them, and Venom spoke again.
The one with the glasses knows, Eddie.
Matt flinched. He moved one of his hands from his cane to Foggy's, gripping it tightly to steady himself. Foggy gave a reassuring squeeze.
"Mr. Brock, we are only here to help. But we need you to be honest with us..."
Matt squatted on the rooftop, listening to the sounds of the city below. His focus had been completely shot by the meeting with Brock; so he started trying to recenter. He focused first on that which was close and familiar; Foggy was in their kitchen, making lunch for the next day. Karen was pacing her own apartment, shuffling through her papers. He assumed it was her notes; she was making a noise in the back of her throat that meant she was putting pieces together that had confused her. Two buildings away, he heard Wade and Peter arguing over what was wrong with their walls- "Mice," Matt whispered to himself.
The streets were unusually quiet. He heard a young woman gasping in pain a block away, but he didn't have to wait long before her wife made it out to the car, offering words of comfort. Directly opposite his side of the building, there was a prostitute who'd taken to using that alleyway to meet with clients. She was safe; nobody was stopping, none stalking, not that night. None casting a glance her way. There was a man across the street talking on his phone. From context, he assumed divorce.
"Crime free night in Hell's Kitchen? Bullshit," he whispered. He debated moving for a moment, before something caught his ear. Gunfire.
He got there as quick as he possibly could, but someone else got there first. Someone big. Someone who had a very unusual stench. Someone who was eating the people firing.
Matt got involved quickly, grabbing the nearest person and hurling them backward, away from the... thing that was tearing people apart. A gun was pointed at him; he knocked it out of the person's hand.
"Get out of here. Now."
The person didn't have to be told twice, turning on their heel; Matt continued, trying to put himself between the people and the thing. As several of the people stumbled over themselves to get out, Matt turned his face toward the creature.
"What the hell are you?" he demanded, as they approached one another.
"We, are Venom."
A shiver ran down Matt's spine as he placed that voice. The smell of human flesh being digested. It was the exact same presence he'd sensed deep within Eddie Brock.
This was Eddie Brock.
"Foggy, he's... He's a." Matt stopped to take a breath. It was early and he was feeling extremely fidgety. He had not slept well. "I don't know what he is. But that thing wasn't human."
"That's kind of what he's being accused of, Matt. A vigilante killer who tears the heads off of people. But that's not possible. I mean, where are the heads?"
"His stomach."
Foggy went completely still, and Matt cringed.
"Are you accusing our client of cannibalism?" he asked softly.
"I know it sounds crazy, Fog. But I know what I heard. I know what I smelled."
"I'm not telling you it's crazy. I'm asking if that's what you think. It's not too late to... Drop him."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Foggy sounded genuinely confused.
"He knows who we are. Like. He knows where we work. He's been in our office. We drop him, he gets pissed, he eats us." Matt sighed, sitting down next to Foggy. He leaned on his shoulder, letting Foggy wrap his arm around him. "I think the best course of action... Do our job. As best we can. Give him a fair trial. And Daredevil befriends him. Er. He said. He said 'we' when talking about himself. So I guess Daredevil befriends them."
"Are you crazy? I don't want you dead, Matty."
"I can handle it. I befriend them, I get him on our side. At least understand his motivation."
"You're worried about motivation?"
"Well. Yeah. I want to know WHY someone would eat human flesh."
"Why do you want to know why-"
"Well if they're not human. Maybe we could find them something else to eat. And if they ARE, then we can get them some help."
Foggy sighed. "Be careful."
"... As careful as I can."
Foggy nodded a little, accepting that answer. "Okay."
The next time Matt met Venom as Daredevil, they were fortunately NOT eating people. In fact, they were sitting on one of the rooftops Matt found himself on often.
He took the opportunity in front of him.
"Hey um. Sorry I was weird about-"
"We understand."
"Y- You do?"
"Humans fear us. You do not know us."
A voice from within Venom spoke. "They're um. They're an alien. I'm their host, kinda. Parasite."
I am not a parasite!
"I don't. I don't actually care whether you're a parasite," Matt chimed in. "You can call me Daredevil. I want to talk."
"What about?"
"Daredevil's a stupid na-"
"It was a gift from the medi- never mind my name, Venom." He sighed and tried again. "You eating people. You read it in the papers, there's a couple cops talking about it. Lawyers get scared off real quick if they think you had ANYTHING to do with it-"
"Wh- Why are you talking to lawyers, are we being sued? Do you like. Have a patent on helping out in New York or something?"
"You run into legal troubles all the time as a vigilante, need to have a decent one. Point is- why do you eat people?"
So that they do not hurt little old ladies!
"V's um. V needs to eat human brains to survive, we try not to eat too many people because I believe in second chances-"
You are too lenient. They will never learn-
"It's not something we can help. What about you, why do you run into a fight where people are being eaten? You got a death wish, Devil?"
"... Something like that. I like to help too. Cannibalism's not one I'm too fond of."
"We have a lawyer. Two lawyers."
Matt feigned interest. "Oh cool, who?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"If a lawyer's going to take on cannibalism, they're going to take on a lot of shit. Might even be crazy enough to win."
The blind one and his guide dog.
"D- Dog?"
"He's talking about those guys in Hell's Kitchen. Nelson and Murdock. Uh. Murdock is blind. Nelson kind of... Narrates your body language for him. Helps him get to the chairs when he needs it. Like a guide dog." Venom shrugged- or maybe Eddie did and the parasite had to copy.
"Oh. Do they know? That you're... You know. An alien. Or a cannibal." Matt cursed internally.
The blind one knows. I do not know how. I think we should eat him.
"No, don't do that- they're bound to find out, and I hear Murdock's like... Super ripped. Very hard to beat in a fight. I don't think you want to fight him."
Is your boyfriend really that scary?
"Venom!" Eddie sounded mortified. Matt decided to roll with it.
"Yes. He may be blind but he's terrifying. Singlehandedly pulled me off the streets for MONTHS. Really the only reason that he's not out here with me is because he doesn't want to have to hear me get hurt. Taught me everything I know."
"Oh. Yeah, I get it. I don't think I could handle hearing my... My partner in pain like that. He's really... Matt does enough on the legal front, I'm sure."
Matt nodded. "That he does. Um. Do you have to eat as often as you do?"
Yes.
"No. They usually get by on once a month-"
Because you are starving us, Eddie-
"I am not starving you. Usually they get by on a single head a month and a load of chocolate, but. Everything's been crazy and people've been caught up and. It's awful. I don't like eating people. Makes me want to vomit."
Pussy.
"V, you panicked because of a fire alarm last week."
Sound is lethal!
"I don't have it in me to hear a fight right now, you two. Just... Try not to get caught? Or eat my boyfriend?"
Eddie nodded. "Yeah, no, uh. We won't eat your boyfriend. Didn't even want to get anyone wrapped up in all this. No, you don't... Don't worry about it."
"You sound exhausted, have you slept?"
"Nope."
"Neither have I. Um. You should get some rest. And I need to get back home, Matt's bound to be worried and I have to pick up a shift later tonight."
"Oh, yeah, for sure. See you around."
Matt had already jumped off the roof.