Owner	Pose
Venom	It was a curious thing. Venom had never seemed to notice the scanning devices littered across his apartment, or in the vicinity of his home. There were some near his usual haunts, and likely spots. They had all been functioning perfectly. And then, suddenly, at once, all the ones in his apartment went down. The last thing they saw was a tendril aimed right at them. Similarly, he had taken out ones along his route. He was tracked for some time, as S.H.I.E.L.D. has numerous ways of tracking someone, but then, all at once, they seemed to lose him. He entered the Radio City Music Hall, and never seemed to leave. The really curious thing is that no one at the Hall had freaked out, called the cops, or shown any sign of trouble.
Natasha Romanoff	SHIELD did like to keep an eye on things. Particularly when they couldn't have a person doing the surveillance. Thus, the devices. When things stopped working, they opted to send in the agent who had a rapport with Eddie. Natasha was in her working gear when she arrived at Radio City Music Hall. She had a tiny bud in her ear, communication with SHIELD should she need backup. She wasn't expecting to but one never knew. After all, he probably was pissed off over the devices. She couldn't blame him. She would be too in his shoes. She made contact at the front door with management then entered the premises which were not open for business at the moment. She wandered into the theater area, looking up at the empty stage then glancing around at all the open seats. "Hey, you here?" she called out, knowing that both of them would recognize her voice. She walked down the aisle between the seats toward the stage.
Venom	The music hall was immense. There were places to hide, though not really in the auditorium part, as it had been open for performances, sold out performances, and someone would have noticed a superfluous guy. No matter how many seats, if there weren't enough, something was up. Her voice echoed. There were terrific acoustics in here. That was another curious choice. Why would someone vulnerable to sound head to a place like this? There wasn't much evidence out here, but if she had scanners, she might pick up on the dust from his webbing that hadn't been vacuumed up, meaning that the source of those strands had been created at least three hours ago. Behind the curtain, there were the usual things for a performance, some in crates, others out and ready for the next showing. They did a variety of things and thus, needed a veritable warehouse to store it all. Back there, they didn't clean nearly as well. There was some more dust near a crate that was slightly askew, and oddly placed. The others were neatly stacked, but that one was just a bit off.
Natasha Romanoff	"I get that you are annoyed," Natasha continued, voice travelling well in the auditorium as she walked to the stairs off at the side of the stage. She climbed up and walked onto the stage itself, glancing around the enormous seating area. For a moment, there was a mental flash of the lights on the stage, a ballerinas around and her in the middle of them as the prima. Then it was gone as fast as the memory appeared. "I would be too," she called out, using those acoustics one last time before she started backstage. Just a slow pace walking through, eyes peeled for anything unusual. She hadn't resorted to any scanning devices yet but she would if she had to. Which is when she spotted that crate. She moved that direction, cautious and wary of any sort of traps but it needed to be investigated.
Venom	Beneath the crate, there was a small square hole, with a ladder built into one side. It'd be a tight fit for someone like Eddie, but doable, and very easy for Natasha. There was also an indent in the floor, looking like it was supposed to have a grate over it, but it was missing. It was at that point that a man walked around the corner, pushing a dolly that had some equipment loaded onto it. He stopped the dolly when he saw her, lowered his head phones, which still blared some music, 'Dancing with Myself' by Billy Idol and Generation X by the sound of it. He looked up and down at her uniform, and asked, "Oh, right, you're the officer, right? Is there something I can do for you?" He was unable to read any rank insignia he recognised, so defaulted to, "miss?"
Natasha Romanoff	"Agent Romanoff," Natasha automatically offered as she looked at the hole leading down. She gave him a nod and a tight smile. "Did you see anyone come through here recently? Big guy?" She wasn't sure if she should describe Eddie or Venom so she just left it at that. Then she motioned to the hole. "And where does this lead to?" She was going to have to go down there but maybe she should break out the equipment before doing so. She reached for one of the spots on her belt, pulling out a small hand held scanner.
Venom	Reaching for the phone in his right front pocket, he turned off the music, which had been wirelessly transmitted to the headphones that now rest around his neck. "Uh, no, not that I've seen, but I just came on about forty five minutes ago. Seeing as you're an agent, Mr. Chadwick could probably call Jerry, and check with him." Mr. Chadwick being the name of the manager, and Jerry presumably having just gotten off work around forty five minutes ago. Then, as he moved closer to the opening, "hey, who took the lid? Weird. We used to have a storage room down there, but after the last reno, we lost the freight elevator and there's not much use for it, well, except for the plumbing and electricity. This old building was originally built back in the 30's."
Natasha Romanoff	"Alright. Do you have a radio or an idea where Mr. Chadwick might be?" Natasha asked as she flicked on the scanner. It was a small circular device, no bigger than a makeup compact, that fit into the palm of her hand. It would blip if there was any sense of the symbiote within 50 feet. More than that and it was useless. Then the blip would give an idea of how far or close she was as she moved. Not the most perfect of systems but he was a tricky one to track.
Venom	He didn't have a radio, but he did have a phone, and as they weren't during a performance, he just dialed the office. "Hey Mr. Chadwick, I'm here with Agent Romanoff. Can you get Jerry to give me a call? I don't mind, just give him my number." He hung up and a few minutes later, and the phone rang again. He handed it off to Agent Romanoff. All of which was done while Natasha was scanning things. There was a blip on the system, towards the outer reaches of its rang, and then it disappeared. Based on where it was, and where she was, it would suggest it was in some kind of underground labyrinth. Alas, Jerry hadn't seen anyone during his shift either.
Natasha Romanoff	Of course he hadn't. She looked down at that ladder leading into who knew where. Venom was around somewhere, the question was where. He had gone out of range of her scanner so she stowed it back away into her belt since she was going to need her hands for climbing. "Thank you for your help. I'm going to go down and take a peek. If you will excuse me?" And with that, she was heading down the hole, climbing quickly down the ladder then taking a look at where she ended up once she was at the base.
Venom	The room was rectangular. Light blue walls. The was a light switch near the ladder. There lights overhead were bright, perhaps a bit too bright. There was a fairly modern electrical panel, everything had been updated, even a backup generator. Likely in the next renovation, they'd need to move it or open the ceiling, as there would be no chance of getting a new one down here. The old freight elevator was sealed off. There were also pipes, as this was where all the plumbing, water for the sprinklers, toilets, sinks, and anything else they might have. Really, it was a mess, but someone had spent money during the last renovation to update it as best they could. To an electrician or a plumber, there were even some telltale signs of somebody doing their best to future proof it. To a lay person, it was just a mess. There was also a door, a heavy one. There was also some ripped off tape, thrown in a nearby trash bin. It was the only thing in there except for a piece of wire. The smell coming from the door was hardly pleasant.
Natasha Romanoff	"Not going to make it easy, huh?" Natasha muttered out loud to herself. She moved to look at the tape then walked to that door. The scanner was pulled out to see if she was any closer to him but she had the feeling she was not. Yet, she had to look. In the hopes he wasn't through that door. Yet, she was sure it wasn't going to be that easy. She checked to see if she would be able to open the door as she tapped her ear, after tucking away the scanner again. "I need an uploaded schematic of the sewer lines in this ear." If she was going in, she was going to have as good of a map as existed.
Venom	There was nothing on the scanner as she studied the tape that had once been stuck to the door, but had since been torn and rolled up into a ball. The door wasn't locked. It opened easily. Even opening it a crack made the smell wash in. This was most certainly not going to be easy? What would compel someone to willingly subject themselves to that? Just as she was about to put the scanner away, there was a blip, again at the farthest edges. And then it disappeared again. Behind the door was access to the sewer. And this wasn't even the worst part. It was some sort of access tunnel, built for workpeople to be able to go through. There was no light in here though. Were some source shone at the hallway, there would be a cross at the end, can go left or right.
Natasha Romanoff	Natasha did two things when she opened that door. First, she took out a rebreather and tucked it into her nostrils. That would protect her from any dangerous gasses, such as methane. It would not protect her from the spell, mores the pity. Second, she twisted her wrist just so, dropping two cylindrical rods down and catching them midair. A flick and they extended to full sized, handles beign folded out. The tonfas immediately fired with blue light, the electricity humming through them. It wasn't a great light source but it would be enough for navigation. She headed to the forward. At the T-intersection, she considered where the blip had been and took the passage to the right to head for it.
Venom	Along the way, the smell got worse. The floor too. There was? well, this would be the last day she ever wore those shoes, maybe the last day she ever wore that uniform too. But she was a big girl. There would be more junctions, turns, each time taking the one that seemed to be best for the source of the signal. She'd run across some rats, which were fighting over a bucket of Los Pollos Hermanos's chicken? The chicken was gone, but there were a few bones. Someone, or something, had gnawed on it. Upon reaching a larger chamber, there was some natural light coming in from vents in the ceiling. It hadn't rained in a while, so thankfully nothing was pouring down through them. And then there was a noise, some kind of grunt. It was coming from down one of eight possible exits from the chamber.
Natasha Romanoff	Once in the chamber, Natasha paused to take a look around in a bit better light. The blue glow really wasn't much so it was nice to get more of a feel for a bigger space. Looking at all the exits, she frowned and pulled out her phone. Not that it was a phone only. It was connected to SHIELD and there she pulled up that schematic to see where she might be in relation to the world above. It was while looking she heard the grunt. The phone disappeared and she had the tracker back out, looking to see if it pinged a direction. She moved around the chamber to try to find him or at least triangulate which one of the exits she should take.
Venom	If it were possible, this room smelled even worse than the others. It had better air circulation, with some air coming in, and lifting the particles that gave it such a foul stench. In the less travelled areas, those particles were largely on the floor with nothing to kick them up into the air. While checking out the scanner, there was a ping, but it was coming from roughly between two of the possible exits, one where she heard the grunting noise, and another that she did not. The map in her phone suggested both tunnels connected up ahead. Though the one that didn't have the grunt had another large chamber before meeting up with the one that did.
Natasha Romanoff	She'd been in a sewer before. It was never pleasant. She likely would burn her current uniform and shoes. Her shower would run all the hot water out of the heater in her condo which meant she would have to wait for it to warm up to do it all over again. If she didnt' just bleach herself. That might be an option. She opted to go down the tunnel she actually heard the sound from when she was close to it.
Venom	There was more noise as she approached. She could hear what were probably footsteps in shallow water. It was best not to think where that liquid came from. There was more grunting as well, in a low frequency, deep, and heavy on bass. The walls narrowed, and the sounds stopped. There was an eerie silence where noise had been before. Proceeding, the tunnel opened into a larger chamber, not as large as the previous one, but a bit roomier. There was no natural light in here, only the lights that she had brought with her. And then, from the left, there was the sound of rapid movement. Something was coming at her from the darkness.
Natasha Romanoff	It wasn't an animal, unless they had two feet suddenly. So this was a person. Her suspicion was Eddie/Venom but honestly? She had no idea. Whoever it was could apparently see her but she couldn't see them. That was disconcerting. They may have nightvision or just natural ability to see in darkness. She raised her arm, a soft pfft of displaced air and the 'tink' of her grapple hitting the ceiling above somewhere. Then she twisted her arm. Everything in her wristbands was triggered by a tensing of the wrist or arm muscles. The line retracted rapidly, drawing her upward hopefully out of the line of that charge. "Stand down," she stated even as she was rising on her Widow's Line.
Venom	It was big, like Venom, but it wasn't Venom. As the grappling line lifted her up, it briefly appeared in the light she was emitting. It looked like it had scales, like an alligator, before disappearing into the darkness. She'd been down here, so her eyes had time to adjust, but that thing, whatever it was, seemed to have night vision. It hadn't seemed to be bothered by the light she was emitting, though perhaps a stronger burst, or source, might be more effective. Her call to stand down was replied with a slow, guttural growl. Even as it growled, it was moving, before the noise disappeared as it seemed to head down a tunnel.
Natasha Romanoff	"I thought that whole alligator thing was an urban legend," Natasha muttered once she was alone again. She waited, listening to see if she heard the noise again. It seemed to have gone down a tunnel so maybe it would leave her alone. Slowly, she released the line so she lowered rapidly back to the ground. A flick and the line retracted back into her wristbands. Now which way? She was keeping an ear out for if the creature came back as she checked the scanner again.
Venom	The thing had scales, or at least they looked like scales, but it also walked on two legs, so, it couldn't be an alligator. For all she knew, it could be something worse, much worse, or just a poor mutant with an unfortunate mutation, either way, it was in the vicinity, she could still hear it, but for the moment, it didn't seem to want to come back for her. Looking around, there was more chicken, the bones in a bucket, and other pieces of food, either bought, or more likely stolen, from the world above. Were she to look on the scanner, she'd see a blip, though this one closer, but moving.
Natasha Romanoff	Once she had her feet back on the ground, she headed off in the direction of the blip at a rapid pace. Not too rapid, as she was still relying on the low glow of her suit and tonfas to illuminate her passage. She just hoped she didn't cross paths with the crocodilian thing.
Venom	She wasn't getting closer, but she also wasn't falling farther behind. He was moving faster than her, but periodically, so it was more like a yo-yo effect on the scanner. During one period where he seemed to stop, and she was getting close, suddenly, the light of her suit and tonfas illuminated a being, but alas, it was not Venom. Instead, she had just come face to face with the gruesome Killer Croc...
Natasha Romanoff	Just her luck. Natasha fell into a ready position, tonfas up in a defensive position. "Let's try using our words again. I won't bother you if you don't bother me. I'm after someone else. Seen a big guy in black and white with a spider like symbol on his chest?" Her thumb flicked the electricity up to higher levels on her tonfas and wristbands. Her Bites would be more high level too. Hopefully enough to take down something with this much bulk cause he was huge compared to her.
Venom	Killer Croc had a certain reputation, but reputations were merely what others expected. Sometimes they were off. Despite his gruesome appearance, he was still a man, just one that couldn't exactly walk the streets without people screaming in horror, which led to a certain degree of anger issues. All of this fed into a vicious cycle. Squinting his reptile-like eyes, he sized up the Black Widow, who had electrified tonfas at the ready. He listened to her words, and his body language suggested a softening as she spoke. Right up until she mentioned that she was after a big guy in black and white with a spider like symbol on his chest. The change in attitude was palpable. He had been all ready to let her go on her way, except she just said she was hunting someone who actually showed him kindness. "You'll never find him!" He growled at her and brought a mighty claw towards her abdomen.
Natasha Romanoff	That had her dodging backwards out of the way and doing a quick flip to get some distance between them. She came back up to a ready position. "That's what I'm afraid of. I'm worried about him. He's angry, acting a bit out of sorts. I just want to be sure he's okay. Did you talk to him when he came through?" Still trying to Not have to fight him because, honestly, she's pretty sure he is going to give her a run for her money.
Venom	Killer Croc pressed his attack even after she dodged backwards, and the flip to get some distance managed to entirely avoid his next attempt. She was getting her hands, or at least her gloves pretty dirty, as this was a sewer. She was doing well to speak through the breather apparatus she wore, while Killer Croc didn't seem to need any. When she begins to talk again, Croc takes a moment, letting her speak without closing the distance. "Yeah, I talked to him. He brought me chicken. It was good too. Still warm. Extra crispy." A moment later, he nodded his head, as he seemed to stand down from his stance, which meant no longer crouching as much. He began walking down, back towards an area he could fully stand up. Then asked, "I bet you're the reason, huh?"
Natasha Romanoff	"Probably," Natasha admits honestly. No reason to lie about it. "And the organization I work for. They've been keeping an eye on him, just making sure he is doing good out there instead of going back to his old ways. I don't think he appreciates it. Which I get. I wouldn't either, were I in his shoes. I've been there so I know. It took a long time for me to earn trust and I was watched like he's been."
Venom	Killer Croc eyed her, trying to decide if he could trust her not to come back with whatever organisation she works for, to capture him. Does he need to find a new place to hang out? He was looking to her uniform, S.H.I.E.L.D. patch on the shoulder. He was definitely going to have to find a new place. Probably go back to Gotham. Less competition in the sewer. He'd seen mutants, frogs, Venom, and now S.H.I.E.L.D. agents down here. "You gonna hurt him again?" He asked, being civil, even if his voice suggested that he was pretty low brow. It was gruff, animalistic, guttural even. But he was capable of more.
Natasha Romanoff	"I haven't touched him," Natasha responded. "If you mean in the emotional sense? Probably. SHIELD will want him watched and that is going to keep a wedge there." If he means something more personal, Natasha isn't answering. Because honestly? It's none of his business and she has been trying very carefully not to give Eddie any thoughts to the contrary that theirs is a working friendship. He may want more but she's been careful. So for her, that is not something that she will be talking about here with this guy.
Venom	Killer Croc nodded his reptilian head in the affirmative, those red serpentine eyes blinked, and he pointed in a direction, telling her that "he went that way". And with that, he began going in a different direction, not quite the opposite, but close to it. If he had pointed her towards twelve on a clock, he head towards seven or eight.
Natasha Romanoff	"Thank you," Natasha says simply and heads the direction he indicated, but keeping her senses on high alert cause that guy is scary and she doesn't want another surprise in the darkness. Considering he can see and she has a two foot light source in front of her? It wouldn't be difficult for him. As already proven. She pulls up the visual of the sewer system to get her bearings even as she continues down that direction in pursuit of Eddie.
Venom	Killer Croc had actually lied to her. He was trying to protect Venom, since Venom was something of a kindred spirit, freaks in a world that hates and fears them. What he didn't count on was that Venom had since gone down that way, or at least was accessible. But it wasn't particularly nice. After a bit of searching, going down one corridor, then another, Venom would appear on her system. He also seemed to be stationary. Except according to the map, the route to the area he was in was currently under sewer water. Just how badly did she want to catch up to him?
Natasha Romanoff	Seeing the information on the map and the indicator on her tracker, Natasha was going to go at least look to see if the area was actually underwater. If it was, this trip was done with. She wasn't going swimming in a sewer. Bad enough she was already covered in ick. She did continue down the corridors that led to the area which would give access to the stationary target to see if she would be able to continue on foot.
Venom	When she reached where the map suggested that she should go, she found that there was a rusting steel wall. It had been coated with something against rust, but the nuts and bolts were showing signs of water damage. The way the map was laid out, and from what she could see, she would have to head through the water, which on her was probably chest height, or use something to cut through the divider. That wall was there in case of flood, as there was a way to close it off completely. As she looked and studied it, there was another way in, but it would be quite a hike, and was probably how Venom got there, given where she had picked him up beforehand. Of course, she was an experienced spy, one who had learned old school. There was actually a Soviet style hidden access door, one that had been used by the KGB in the 1980's.
Natasha Romanoff	That wasn't on the map. Natasha walked up to the door then moved to the side where she saw some sort of symbol. She wiped at the muck with her gloved hand, revealing something that would stand out to her or anyone else trained Russia back in the day. To most it would seem some random scratches on the wall. It took some exploring to find the hidden panel. Then it took a bit more time to be able to get it to open after so many years. Once open, there was the lever she needed. She drew it down, hoping it would work after so long being neglected in a sewer.
Venom	The dead led to a corridor that was immaculate, or least compared to the rest of the sewer. There were some spider webs, but the floor was clean, devoid of any muck, liquids, or any of other refuse she had to wander through. There was another door on the other side, which opened into some kind of a bunker. A Russian built one. Under New York. Gotta love the Cold War. America built secret installations in the Soviet Union, and the Soviets did the same to America. The overheard lights were on, and there was the sound of a television going. Eddie was sitting on the light pink couch, looking very much clean, and dressed in 80's clothing, black and white parachute pants, with a pink pullover jumper that had a wide horizontal black stripe across the front. On the television, an episode of Cheers was playing on a VHS cassette. There was a kitchen, a bedroom, bathroom, laundry room. She would recognise this as a safehouse, a place that an agent could go to if they were too hot to even try and flee the city. Once here, they could hide out for weeks. She'd also know that there were four possible entrances, in case an agent needed to escape. He had clearly only found the one. She had discovered a second. There were yet two more hidden in the walls. Looking up at her, he really wasn't sure what to say. She'd gone through hell and he looked freshly showered. His hair was still air drying.
Natasha Romanoff	"Obviously you are fine other than needed to upgrade to Blu-Ray instead of VHS," Natasha muttered as she looked around the area. She didn't walk in. She didn't want to carry the muck through the place. "I wanted to check on you. Be sure you were alright. No doubt you are. SHIELD won't replace the cameras for now, as long as you continue on the straight and narrow. At least, that's what they told me." She shrugs. The tonfas are powered down but she doesn't put them away. After all, she still has to get back out around that Crocodilian being back there potentially. "Got a flashlight I can take with me?"
Venom	Eddie rose to his feet, leaving the television, which was old as well, and small by today's standards, a CRT television. Sam and Diane were fighting about something Sam had done, while well intentioned, but had gotten into Diane's bad books, again. "I knew they were there from the minute they were placed." He didn't care to admit how, but the symbiote had some pretty good vision. It could 'see' from every angle on its body, and by extension, Eddie's body. But he had been fine with them. He had nothing to hide. It wasn't until after their talk that he had lashed out. At which point the oven timer dinged. "oh... pizza's ready." Something he had brought down from the surface. There was a box on the kitchen countertop. He looked her over, trying to think of the right words. "I don't know, let me look. Do you want a shower first?" It was then that she might have noticed the mop nearby the entrance he came through. He'd cleaned up after tracking some stuff onto the linoleum too. Heading over to the kitchen, he took out the pizza, placing it on the top. He used an oven mitt. And looked to be in real pain as he did so. The symbiote hated high heat, even if it was brief. Then he began looking through the drawers, "flashlight, flashlight, gotta be a flashlight here somewhere."
Natasha Romanoff	So this was indeed because of her, because she wasn't wanting romance. Natasha frowned, folding her arms as she waited for him to find a flashlight. When it didn't seem to be forthcoming, she fired back up the tonfas. "Nevermind. I'll be able to get out. I made it here in the first place. Met your friend with the chicken cravings. Was hoping to avoid him on the trip back."