Progression
Scream and Agony were playing with their action figures and were very excited to include Sleeper even though he mostly just chewed on his figure. Meanwhile Carnage, Lasher and Phage were playing superheroes. As Eddie and Venom dutifully played the villain in their superhero game they couldn’t help but feel a little amazed at all the progress their six year olds have made since they all first met.
Within the first few days of knowing them they were bringing Scream and Phage to their first check up with Dan so they could get some idea of their health while Anne babysat their other three- they’d be bringing Lasher and Agony for their check up tomorrow. They were waiting in the small exam room when Dan came in with a smile to be seeing them and getting to meet Scream and Phage for the first time.
Upon seeing him, before the doctor could even say anything, Phage bared his rows of fangs and hissed, the blade-like projections on his arms and shoulders growing minutely sharper. Scream backed into the corner of the room and crouched down defensively baring her teeth too. Dan took one step forward and both children flinched hard. This all happened incredibly fast and Eddie wracked his brain trying to figure out what was wrong.
“The coat! Dan, it’s your lab coat!” Eddie realized with Venom’s help.
If there was one thing scientists experimenting on children would have it was white lab coats.
Dan understood and pulled the coat off, hastily throwing it into a cabinet.
But unfortunately three year olds had object permanence and still knew Dan had a white coat and for now that meant he was dangerous.
“Eddie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize this would scare them so much.” Dan apologized quietly.
“No, it’s not your fault.” He shook his head.
Then his shoulders sagged and he sighed.
“We’ll just have to try this again another time.” He said.
During one of their first dinners together Eddie was resting his chin in his hand as every few minutes he looked at Lasher who was still pushing his food around with his fork every time he or Venom checked. Lasher, Scream, Agony and Phage were quiet most of the time but he’d thought he’d try asking anyways.
“Don’t you want to eat, Lasher?” He asked.
Lasher didn’t take his eyes off his plate but shook his head.
“Do you want me to make you something else?”
He shook his head again.
“Aren’t you hungry?”
Lasher looked up from his plate and stared at them without saying anything.
“Hurts.” Phage stated drawing their attention to him.
“What?”
“Food makes us hurt sometimes.” Phage said.
“What do you mean?”
“Food would make the bad sound happen.”
They were both still learning about the experiments the Life Foundation scientists conducted on their children before they were rescued, each new discovery a new heartbreak. The kids spoke so little that they didn’t really know much yet but they did know that they’d been exposed to the things that caused symbiotes pain and could even kill them. They could only guess at what the scientists had done to test the susceptibility of the human half of their genetics. Venom assumed the people in charge of the experimentation used painful sonic sound immediately after feeding them to condition them to associate eating with pain. Associating the two would make them less inclined to regular meals making them used to going longer periods without food, an asset when it comes to being used as living weapons. Minimize the living part.
Venom shared these thoughts with Eddie and he knew that even if Venom wasn’t right they were close to it.
“It’s okay to eat, Lasher. We promise nothing will happen to you.” Eddie spoke softly.
Lasher watched the others eat their food but still wouldn’t touch his own.
A few weeks after bringing them home Eddie was jolted out of sleep by terrified screaming coming from down the hall, from the room they currently shared. Rushing past the doorway they saw Agony thrashing and screaming in bed, still asleep. Lasher, Phage and Scream all watching her with expressions that told them they were very used to this. They approached the bed and grasped her shoulders, gently shaking her awake. She bolted up with a stuttered gasp and tear filled eyes, she trembled and pushed herself away from them until she ran out of room.
"Stop it! Stop it! No!" She screamed and kept thrashing.
"Agony, it's okay, it's okay. It's just us." Eddie pulled her into a hug.
"No!!" She beat her fists on him anywhere she could reach and used her claws to cut him.
They held her still to stop her from hurting herself until she started to calm down and remember where she was.
"It's okay, everything's okay." Eddie kept reassuring her.
She was still breathing heavily as she stopped hitting him and finally looked up at them.
"We're here. You are safe."
She turned her face and pushed against him to get off his lap. She crawled away from them and buried herself under the covers.
They found themselves so enthralled in the difficult memories that they were surprised to find themselves being yelled at.
“Dads you’re not looking!” Phage and Lasher were jumping on the couch vying for their attention.
“Okay, we’re looking, we’re looking.” He laughed a little.
They didn’t let them finish whatever it was they wanted to show them before they swooped the two of them under each arm spinning them making them shriek and laugh. A surprise gesture that never would have been possible three years ago.
“Pick me up too!” Agony demanded excitedly.
“Me too! Me too!” Scream joined in.
Venom enclosed him in their much bigger body to accommodate all four kids and Carnage jumped on their back to be included too. Looking at them all now, you’d almost never know how hard it was to get here.