New Stark Tower, New York, 2044.
For the third time this week – and thirty-ninth time in the last three months, because of course he’s counted every single one of his nightmares – Dylan startles awake, shirt wrinkled with his copious tossing and turning, along with the thin sheet that bundles at his waist as he bolts upright. His eyes dart around his dimly lit quarters, makes sure he’s alone in here, then takes a deep breath and tries to calm his racing heart.
‘Are you OK, Dilly?’
Dylan smiles at the sound of his father’s voice floating through his mind, relaxes as he feels both parents growing closer to him, knows they’ve just entered the building, probably along with most of the Avengers. “I’m fine, dad.”
‘You’re lying. Stay where you are. We’ll talk about it.’
“Fine, dad.” Dylan sighs, mostly defeated already, because one, he knows that’s not a request, and two, he really should tell his parents about his nightmares... probably the Avengers, too. “How come you’re back early?” He asks, throws the covers off and walks over to the wardrobe to pull out a less sweaty shirt.
‘Surprisingly, people seem to be more interested in mine and your mother’s relationship than us officially joining the Avengers.’ Venom scoffs out, sounds rather pompous.
Though, it’s when his father scoffs again, sounds more offended, that Dylan chuckles knowingly and asks him, “What does mom say to that?”
Venom huffs, mutters out his reply, ‘She’s just bitching at me for trying to eat one of the idiot reporters.’
Dylan laughs at that, shakes his head at that as he pulls off his sweaty shirt and throws it into the hamper, neatly placed right next to the dresser – he may be a lot more OCD than his mother. “Oh, I so can’t wait to watch that on YouTube.”
‘He deserved to be eaten.’ Venom grumbles, scoffs, then adds, ‘Asking about our sex life – how dare he!?’
“Oh. My. God.” Dylan groans loudly, face wrinkled with disgust. “I refuse to believe my parents still have one.” He grumbles back as he pulls on his favourite shirt – his Rage Against The Machine shirt his mother bought him for his 17th birthday.
Venom’s chuckle echoes in his son’s mind, clearly amused with mentally scarring him with the notion. ‘Open the door.’
Dylan rolls his eyes, but does as he’s told, and there are both his parents, standing in the hallway with shit-eating grins on both their annoyingly smug faces.
“Is my little baby now traumatised?” Eddie asks, wears a mocking pout as she reaches out to pinch her – practically grownup – son on his cheek.
Dylan tuts, shoves her hand away. “I hate you both.” He tells them, though, has to fight back a smile as he does so. He huffs when they both just laugh at him, leaves them standing in the doorway to let themselves in, plops himself on the couch.
Eddie walks over to him as Venom presses the button to shut the front door again. “Your dad said you’re still havin’ nightmares.” She eases into the topic, voice soft, but still lightly coaxing.
She won’t make him talk if he doesn’t want to, but that doesn’t mean she’ll worry any less about him. After all he went through as a kid, she could never ask anything of him, never force him to do another thing. Still, she worries more than any mother should.
“You wanna talk about it?” Eddie asks when he only nods, his expression dimming.
“That was never not an option.” Venom states, voice level, but clearly stern.
Eddie shoots her other half an equally firm look and tells him, “He always has an option.”
Venom scowls, though, his voice grows instantly soft as he says, “Can’t stand to feel his fear, Eddie... no more than I can ever stand to feel yours... or Sleeper’s.”
Eddie’s expression slowly softens, but it’s Dylan who speaks up. “It’s not me I’m fearful for.” He sighs, tries not to look so fucking depressed when he knows what’s going to happen – honestly, having the power of prophetic dreams really does fully suck!
Eddie comes to sit on the couch beside her son, gently grabs one of his hands in both of hers as Venom floats closer to them both. “As much as I hate to admit – because that would mean you bein’ in danger all the time – you are literally one of the finest heroes I’ve ever known. And yeah, I know I’m bein’ biased, ‘cause you’re my kid, but I’m also totally serious.” She lets out a rather awed sounding laugh and tells him, “You were just 15 years old when you stood on your own and stopped a whole damn army of symbiotes by just liftin’ your hand and lettin’ that amazin’ power of yours do its thing. You didn’t even break a sweat.”
As much as it first pained her to let happen, she knows her son is already a hero not to be messed with. And the fact that he seems to grow more powerful every goddamn day both frightens and amazes her. Frightens her, because she’s afraid for him, and amazes her, because just how the hell did she create a creature so goddamn perfect in every little way?
Seriously, the kid’s heart is bigger and softer than any Eddie has ever known – Venom, too, knows that, as he tells her often when they marvel on their beautiful creation. Sleeper, too – he’s less sweet, though, no less caring, and also has a slightly more sassy (rudely blunt) side to him.
Venom grins proudly, as does Eddie as she then tells their son, “You are the most compassionate and courageous person I’ve ever known, Dylan. You’re gonna be one of the greatest heroes there ever was.”
“Even Nat thinks so. And that woman is the most difficult person to impress, I swear. She’s worse than me. Which is really saying something.”
Eddie scoffs, shoots him a playful smile as she tells him, “Your inky ass is easily entertained with a box of Milk Duds, or with watchin’ ‘The Little Mermaid’, over and over again.”
Venom scoffs back, but doesn’t retort, because it’s absolutely true, now that he really thinks about it... stupid Eddie. And stupid Dylan for laughing along with his mother.
He wishes Sleeper was here – he always takes his father’s side. Mostly out of pity, but Venom always takes what he can get from the more closed off one of his spawn – or as Eddie likes to call it, “private.”
“Come on then, tell me about these nightmares of yours.” Eddie leans turns sideways on the couch to face him, elbow resting against the back cushion and cheek resting against her hand.
“They’re not nightmares.” Dylan shakes his head, wears a grave look as he tells them, “Knull’s gonna break free again. I don’t know when. It’s all still fuzzy, but it gets clearer every time I see it.”
“There’s no way he could get out again. We tripled the locks this time.” Eddie says it with more confidence than she feels as she glances to Venom in his odd silence and warily asks, “You think he could get out again?”
“Anything is possible, Eddie... I told you, we should have just taken control of the hive ourselves and ended him for good.”
Eddie shoots him a sour glare. “Don’t try to blame this on me.” She grits out.
Venom scowls softly. “Not blaming you, Eddie.”
Eddie feels his concern and trembling fear rush through her, takes a deep breath to calm herself.
Dylan takes both her hands in his, gives them a soft squeeze. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to anyone. I was too young to do more than trap him, but I’m not anymore. I’m almost a thousand times stronger than I was back then, and you both know I’m getting stronger every day. I can stop him. For good.”
“No. Absolutely not.” Eddie says, shoots him an incredulous look... she knows she’s a hypocrite!
“No. Because I know where you’re going with this.” Venom shoots his son a withering glare before turning to a confused looking Eddie and explaining to her, because obviously these nightmares have told him that much, and because they never had the guts to tell him themselves, “He knows that the only way for us to take full control of the hive would be for us to sit on Knull’s throne forever.” Venom turns his glare back onto his son, though, still talking to his other half as he says, “He also knows that he’s the only one who wouldn’t need to do that, because he can control the hive from anywhere in the cosmos, at any range, which is what he plans on doing, just so he doesn’t have to miss his mommy and daddy.”
Eddie’s eyes widen at Venom, then narrow into angry slits at Dylan.
Dylan sighs, but doesn’t give up – he’s a lot like his mother in that way, too. “You know I’m right about this...” He tells them both, then shoots his dad a rather annoyed look as he tells him, “And that was so uncalled for. Of course I would miss my parents if they were halfway across the fucking cosmos.” He snips, the anger only half reaching his offended tone.
Venom sighs in defeat, feels utterly guilty when he sees the slightly hurt look on his son’s perfect face. “I’m sorry.” He huffs out, begrudgingly, and only because it means admitting he upset his son.
Dylan nods, accepting his apology, then tells both his parents, “Last time Knull came here, he was just looking to tie up loose ends. But after I turned his whole hive against him? This time, he’s coming for everyone’s bodies. This time... he’s gonna bring his big guns.”
“What? What does that mean?” Eddie looks confused as she glances between both her son and her other half, feels slightly on the edge of panic when she notices Venom’s eyes widen slightly in horror.
“The Celestials bonded to symbiotes. His most powerful weapons. When he didn’t bring them with him the last time, I just assumed they were all dead.” Venom tells her, voice way steadier and calmer than he feels right now. “This is very bad.” He huffs in defeat as he says, “You really may be our only hope, kid.”
“Stop encouraging him!” Eddie snips, slaps her other half upside his inky floating head.
Venom hisses, ignores both her glare and Dylan’s half amused smirk. “Shut up and look at them, Eddie! Symbiote infested Celestials! Even more powerful than a regular Celestial! Which are literally already the second most powerful beings ever to exist!”
Eddie glares, opens her mouth to retaliate until his memories of the very things he’s yelling at her about swarm her mind. The horrid images of the “symbiote infested Celestials” appear bright and as if she were truly witnessing their destruction of entire worlds for herself make her mouth clamp shut and her eyes widen in complete horror. “Jesus Christ...” She whispers, falls back into her seat with a loud sigh.
Dylan doesn’t need to see what his father just showed his mother, has already been seeing it all for himself these past few months. Though, he has to admit that finally telling his parents makes him feel a whole lot better, like he’s no longer alone, which he knows is ridiculous, because with clingy – loving – parents like his, he knows he never is.
“Even WE won’t stand a chance against Knull this time, Eddie.” Venom tells her sadly, though, his tone takes on clear pride as he looks at his son, and adds with a grin, “But YOU, Dylan, you have the power of gods at your fingertips, and the most incorruptible soul I have ever known in my very long exist.” He grins back at Eddie, who’s smiling fondly at them both and adds, “You get that from your mother.”
Dylan is definitely one to get an achy heart and throat, and also known to shed a tear or two when things get all corny and mushy. Though, he’s not as socially inept as his big brother, at least, and as always, breaks the conversation with some humour – handed down to him from both his parents, though, again, mainly from his mother... at least on the quick wit parts.
“OK, if you’re gonna ‘do sext times’ – as dad so charmingly likes to call it, you can get out of my room and go back to yours... with all due respect, mom and dad.” Dylan shoots them a sarcastically sweet smile, then shivers in disgust when they both let out equally evil cackles. “Man, am I glad these walls are all sound proof. Really haven’t thanked Stark enough for that one.”
Venom laughs, because sure, he’s teasing them both, but he also really means every single word.
Eddie merely rolls her eyes in response, then is shooting her son a mischievous grin as she asks him, “So, what’re you doing tomorrow? 20 years old, huh? You and Logan must be celebratin’?”
“Do you think they’ve had sex yet, Eddie?” Venom asks, grins gleefully as he pretends their son isn’t even there listening to them with that cute little glare on his perfect face.
Eddie chuckles, keeps her eyes on that pretty glare as she answers her other half, “I dunno, V. Our baby boy seems like the kinda gentleman to wait until marriage.”
Venom scoffs, snootily asks her, “Like you did at 16?”
Eddie scoffs back, shoots him a half-hearted glare. “Hey!” She snips. “We’re teasing him, not me!”
Dylan lets out a loud sigh, simply sinks back into the couch as he then proceeds to listen to them bickering... while he slowly loses the will to live, like he so often does when they get like this. And annoyingly, he wouldn’t have his life any other way.