Well Fuck
Sitting at lunch you scan the cafeteria, not with your eyes but you pick up every emotion and person in the room with your enhanced smell.
Peter wasn’t there and you would bet your entire mutation on him busting in out of breath with another lame excuse to cover his identity as Spider-Man.
Whenever he made his excuses you could smell the deceit on both him and Ned, so you figured Ned knew about his little hobby.
MJ smelled like she was suspicious but as of late she seemed to smell more like confidence, she was clever and you were sure she had figured it out long ago.
Hell, she might’ve already asked Peter about it but that wasn’t exactly a subject you could prod and ask about.
You felt the air rush around you dramatically as a flushed and slightly out of breath Peter dropped down onto the seat next to you, “Hey guys! Sorry, I’m late, a cat got stuck in a tree and I got stuck too when I tried to help it.”
It took every fiber of your being not to snort at his newest excuse, sometimes they were normal like ‘i had a doctor's appointment’, other times they were unusual but not unreasonable like ‘stark internship stuff', and then there were excuses like this.
The ridiculousness of the excuses he made sometimes made you wonder how no one had figured out that he was Spider-Man.
At the end of the day though, you figured it was probably wishful thinking and expectations for who Spider-Man could be that kept people from guessing.
“The poor kitty,” you gasped, “it must’ve been so scared.”
“Sure ignore me, it's all about the cat,” Peter grumbled good-naturedly.
“Well, you can’t exactly blame me for feeling sorry for the inno-”
You were cut off as the new alarm system blared through the school.
Everyone knew about the new villain in New York.
This guy wasn’t some wanna-be villain.
He was the real deal.
The alarm system had been installed not long after the battle with the Chitauri as New York City tended to be a magnet for destruction with people trying to make names for themselves in both legal and not so legal ways.
But this guy had evaded the Avengers for weeks and rained hundreds of millions of dollars of damages after each and every attack.
Yet the most terrifying thing about him wasn’t because no one knew what he looked like.
It wasn’t that no one knew who he was, that was the standard after all.
It wasn’t the countless taunting messages he sent, which were admittedly cheesy and practically copy and pastes from every villain monologue to ever exist.
It wasn’t the fact his army of monstrosities managed to hold their own against the Avengers, with hits that could send the suits, super-soldiers, Venom, or even the Hulk tumbling backward if they hit just right.
No.
The most terrifying thing about him was his predictable unpredictability.
He would pop up and rip parts of the city to shreds for exactly three days, not a day more, not a day less.
Then he would just fade back into the woodwork, only to attack again for a different set of three days in a different area with a different method. He'd managed to evade the Avengers for long enough that people had been able to establish the pattern with relative certainty. The other villains still made their respective appearances so no one was ever able to fully commit to hunting him down, SHIELD had been working on it but there weren't any clues.
The whole city would be waiting on edge for him to strike then it almost seemed as if people would relax when the three day attack finally started because what was he going to do when he was already attacking? Just keep attacking.
He was a brutal villain, he lived for bloodshed and would often try and drag civilians into the line of fire.
Throughout New York the emergency system was used, with the standard being that alarms would go off when an area within five blocks of you was attacked and the systems' lights would flash If it was within 15 blocks.
So, in short, the shrill alarms blaring through your school wasn’t a good sign.
You smelled the fear rising into the air, quickly morphing into something far more dangerous.
Panic.
Kids and teachers were racing for exits and designated safety zones, reinforced areas of the building like a bunker or bomb shelter, that had been added throughout the school and every other public building in New York as a part of the city's attempts to keep its civilian populations alive and in as few pieces as possible.
Like crabs in a bucket, someone would make progress only to be thrown back by someone else in their attempts to escape faster, then that person would be thrown back and the cycle would continue.
You had already told the Avengers that Venom would be preoccupied since you were settling into civilian life, but you would help them whenever and however you could.
They had told you to take a break, to take a few days off, to relax and enjoy your other life. They'd all been in your place, all knew what it was like to balance two lives at one point or another.
That apparently wasn’t going to happen though. You needed to make sure your fellow classmates, and the other civilians, got to safety.
Having lost Peter, Ned, and Mj in the pandemonium that was sweeping the school and the surrounding buildings, you darted off and away from the crowds.
You had made it to an abandoned corridor a few floors away, having just managed to check the school for any stragglers when you smelt musty plaster and concrete, something that wasn't normally as powerful of a smell, freezing you look up, watching as the ceiling and walls began to crack and crumble.
Stretching out in webs, cracks raced down the walls and into the floor beneath your feet, dust began to leak through the seams like softly falling snow.
“Well, fuck” are the only words you manage to get out before the floor falls away, along with the rest of the building.
You can’t help the startled yelp that leaves your lips, it was a natural reaction and you had long since learned not to fight against your instincts.
Instead, you decided to enjoy the fall.
Falling, after all, was what you did best.
Always finding a way to land safely in the end.
Gravity was your friend, because Earth was your home and it kept you grounded.
Besides, falling is another kind of flying once you learn to relax and figure out how to stick the landing.
And if you landed wrong?
Then you would simply dawn the face of Venom and walk away with a few minor bruises at most.
But since no one knew you were Venom, no one knew that.
“Y/N!”
Your eyes flew open.
Shit.
That voice.
You knew that voice.
That was Peter or well Spider-Man, honestly, at this point, they were the same person in your mind regardless of the name you called them.
You felt a hand grab onto yours, well, so much for enjoying the fall.
Hanging above you was Spider-Man, his mechanically white eyes were blown wide with the panic that was crashing off of him in absolute waves.
“Hey, hey Y/N, you’re okay, I’ve got you.” he breathes out, stumbling over the words in his desperate attempt to convince someone everything was okay
You can tell his rambling is more in an attempt to reassure himself, to prove he made it to you in time.
Inhaling deeply you speak gently “Yeah, I am. Thank you.”
The relief begins to seep into his scent and you feel yourself begin to relax. You didn't like scaring him and his surprise rescue had left you, well, surprised. Which, now that you think about it, he had probably mistaken for fear.
The rest of the Avengers come into view as they work to calm the panicked civilians. You felt bad that you couldn’t run over and help them but the whole point of a secret identity was, in fact, for it to remain a secret.
Besides, the weird monster things had already been fought off, and despite Venom being pretty well accepted, it didn’t change just how terrifying you could look.
He begins to slowly lower the two of you to the ground when you hear the metal creak, the whole building shudders and you bury your face in his shoulder out of instinct, (ok, and let's not kid ourselves here because you could).
Picking up the pace he begins to swing towards the rest of the Avengers and towards the ground.
You can’t help your light shivering as you fight to keep from transforming right in public, your every instinct wanting you to be able to help and to heal the slight bruising you could feel forming from where you'd been caught. Gently you speak, knowing his slightly less enhanced senses will help him to hear you, “Thank you for saving me, you should go help everyone else, I'm okay.”
He shakes his head and he says “they don’t need my help,” turning back to look at you he asks “Are you sure you’re okay? You just fell 60 feet.”
You pause, searching for a reassuring and unrevealing way of answering, that was a mistake as he took in your shivering appearance.
“Do you want me to get you home?” he asks desperately.
The words stick in your throat so you nod wordlessly to him, you direct him to your building using hand movements knowing that he already knew the route by heart.
The Avengers, Spider-Man, and Venom spend the rest of the day clearing the rubble and the school is temporarily closed, the rest of the attacks, fortunately were fruitless.
For the first time Venom spends the whole week with the Avengers.
When they asked you why you simply say “it’s my home.”
(and if Tony shed a few tears, no one needed to know that.)
----------
You hadn’t really thought to much bout the fact that you hadn’t been seen as Y/N for a while until Peter, well Spider-Man, came crashing into the main room of the Avengers tower at around 4 o'clock in the morning.
You were making hot chocolate in the kitchen and wordlessly began making another one as you took in his disheveled appearance.
He was so incredibly stressed that you could smell it even through the incredibly strong hot chocolate you were making and the smell of machinery that always permeated Stark's lab.
The last time you had seen him was a few days ago when he had stumbled into the compound mumbling something along the lines of “Need to see Mr. Stark.”
It probably should’ve occurred to you that the two of them would’ve gone on an inventing spree together instead of coping with their emotions like rational human beings.
“Heya Spidey,” you say gently, softening the distinct drawling hiss you had when you spoke with so many teeth. “What’s wrong?”
“Y/N walled herself off,” he mumbled, dropping himself on the couch.
“Y/N?” you asked carefully, trying not to give anything away as you sit down next to him.
“The girl I caught when the school collapsed. She almost died, she hasn’t been in contact with anyone and I’m worried,” he explains, taking your offered hot chocolate with a straw so he could drink it through his mask.
“Ah.” You struggle to think of an answer all while planning to head back to your apartment that afternoon and then go visit Peter immediately.
Eventually, you settle on, “She probably needs time to process what happened.”
“What do you mean?” he tilted his head at you.
“Well,” you paused thinking on how to phrase it. “She’s a civilian right?”
“Yeah?”
“Most avengers have fallen hundreds of feet. Cap jumps out of airplanes without parachutes despite Jamie’s best attempts. You and I can swing through the city on webs and stuff that are easily around the 90th floor. Tony has a suit and Sam has wings. Even Clint and Natasha, who are by no means indestructible, have no qualms jumping out of buildings. But to normal civilians? The stuff we do is absolutely batshit insane.”
Taking a sip of your hot chocolate, draining the mug in one go, you continue. “How would you feel if you fell 60 feet knowing you couldn’t catch yourself, and not knowing if anyone could, or more importantly would ?”
“Not good.”
“Yeah.”
“I never thought about it like that.” he paused, processing what you said, “Also what do you mean by would?”
“Well, I wasn’t born like this, as you know. I had to learn to use my abilities and the first time I made a tentacle was when I was falling out a penthouse window in Miami. I knew that no one would catch me, so out of desperation I made my first tentacle. It didn’t hold and I kept falling but around twentyish feet from the ground one of them finally stuck.”
“Oh.” he says softly, “I didn’t know that.”
“Very few people do,” you sigh, placing your mug on the counter. “I was so full of adrenaline that what had happened never really hit me until a few days later. I refused to speak to anyone, let alone see anyone, not that I had many people in my life who cared. But I needed the time to understand what had happened, and I was able to do that by being alone.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, it’s one of my favorite things now. I let myself fall knowing I can catch myself” you nudged him with your shoulder “and I’ve got an awesome friend who can too.”
“I almost didn’t make it to her in time.” he whispers, “How can you trust me to catch you?”
Sighing you reach out, removing the mug from his hands, and placing it on the coffee table, you pull him to you, placing his head on your chest so that he can hear your heartbeat.
You wrap your arms around him, and suddenly he feels safe.
For the first time in a long time, he feels that no harm will come to him.
He has no idea how long the two of you sit like that, but he doesn’t ever want it to end.
You are warm and comforting, you smell like vanilla and sandalwood, and he can feel how much you care about him without you uttering a single word.
He feels your fingers are tracing comforting patterns over his spine.
He’d be happy to stay this way forever.
Eventually, though, he lifts his head and looks into your inhuman eyes that you had morphed to look a little more human.
There is no pity there, just affection and understanding, it's laced through your whole being.
“I hate feeling like this. Scared and helpless. It makes me feel like I’m a failure.”
You hold his hands gently in yours, brushing your thumbs over the backs of his hands.
“Spidey, you almost had a fucking building dropped on top of you. That would make anybody terrified. And you are the furthest thing from a failure.”
He stares at you doubtfully.
“I think you are brave, selfless, and pretty goddamn awesome. You are the best person I know.”
Suddenly, he feels like maybe he actually is brave, selfless, and awesome.
If Venom says it, then maybe it just might be true.
It is only a few words, and yet he doesn’t feel quite so small or helpless anymore.
He leans back against you, and you wrap your arm around him again.
“How do you always know how to make people feel better?” he asks softly.
You grin as your helmet reforms.
“Because I’m just that little bit more awesome than you.”
You are rewarded with a soft chuckle against your chest.
“What kind of a best friend would I be if I couldn’t cheer you up?”
Peter is grateful to have a friend like you.
You make him feel safe and happy, and like he’s home.
---------- 2 Hours Later ----------
You watched him step into the elevator and waved him goodbye.
The second the doors closed you quickly cleaned up the kitchen and headed to your floor, grabbing what you wanted back at your apartment and throwing it into the duffel bag you had stuffed under your bed. You’d stay for breakfast and then you’d go home and bake apology cinnamon rolls.