TImelined after Revengence
<@Hope> Hope downed another shot of rum as she sat at the bar at Vito's. She had long since lost count of how many drinks she had consumed, eying the level of the bottle instead. She stared down at a picture of Johnny and sniffed, pouring herself another shot and downing that one too. Where was he?
<Venom> Stepping into the bar, Eddie blinked, frowning automatically at the sight of Hope Stark. Should she even be there without her entourage? He gave the bar a quick once-over. No babysitter in sight....
<Venom> Reluctantly, he sighed and approached the bar stool beside her, jumping up onto it, "'Sup.", he waved a lazy salute, snapping his fingers for the barman's attention and pointing to her bottle for a glass.
<@Hope> His voice pulled her focus enough to get her to look up at him. "Eddie!" She actually managed to smile a little, pulling him to her for a hug.
<Venom> "Holy sh---!", Eddie frowned a little, sighing and hugging her back, "Hello, drunk Hope...", he smirked a little, "What's up, hm?"
<@Hope> "Sooooooooooo my boyfriend is goooooooooone. Quentin is who knoooows. And I hate my life. Yoooooou?"
<Venom> Eddie thanked the barman for his glass when it arrived, "Well....", he took a deep breath, taking the bottle from her and filling his glass with some of the contents, "....it's not important really."
<@Hope> "And lookit this buuuulllllshit." She slapped the ring onto the table. "Lookit that shit!!!!"
<Venom> The sight made Eddie's eyes widened. He knew that ring. He knew it. He knew what it was, where it came from - he'd convinced the buyer to.....
<Venom> ".....Hope, that's....", he shuddered, "...t-that ring...."
<@Hope> "I know." She downed another shot. "I know," she choked out through her sob. "I found it in his pants." She picked it back up, looking at it carefully. She then set it back down and laid her head on her arms to sob into them.
<Venom> "Oh, Jesus...", Eddie felt sick, leaving his glass and hugging her, "Oh, Hope....I'm sorry.....", he felt the anger in his heart surge through him again, igniting the very fibers of his being with virulent rage, "Damnit, Johnny....not you, too..."
<@Hope> "I can't find him. I've looked, and looked, and looked. And I can't find him... What if he's...." The words 'already dead' were there at the tip of her tongue, but she couldn't spit them out.
<Venom> Eddie pulled her up to look her in the eyes, "Hope...", he held her there, locking his gaze on her, "Until we find his body, he is ALIVE. He is somewhere out there and we will find him."
<@Hope> Hope closed her eyes, resting her forehead against Eddie's. "I can't do this by myself..." she whispered. "Bobby is useless." She took Eddie's hands in her own, trying to steady herself against him. "I can't do this by myself..."
<Venom> "You won't have to.", Eddie assured her, "I'll find the ones responsible. I'll find them and I'll....", he stopped, sighing to himself, "...I'll save him."
<@Hope> "He saved me... he pulled me out of Alaska. He stopped War. I have to save him too."
<Venom> "And we will find a way...", Eddie assured her with a kiss on the forehead and an embrace. He felt a little bad for half-lying - his objective involved taking a life, not saving one. But seeing her here like this, he couldn't remain silent, "We'll find a way."
<@Hope> She took a staggering breath, nodding. "Thank you, Eddie... thank you." She sniffed, backing up enough to get herself another shot.
<Venom> Eddie moved back, taking his own glass and downing the contents, "Don't thank me yet....", he sighed against it, shuddering at the taste of his drink.
<@Hope> "You're helping instead of telling me to go home like a good little girl and stay put." She sighed, glancing over at Bobby, who she had forgotten was there at all. She looked back at her bottle of rum, pouring another shot. "If I go home and wait I'll go crazy."
<Venom> He smirked at that, "Better than gettin' drunk and riskin' house arrest.", he nudged her, "Come on, lemme take you home, 'k? You can be on the search team tomorrow...I'll talk to Bobby."
<@Hope> She smiled a bit and sighed. "Yeah... ok. You win." She nudged him back.
<Venom> "Damn right.", Eddie smiled, standing and leaving a few dollar bills on the bar, taking the bottle and placing it against Hope's chest, "You can have this, but don't drop it on the way home...", he instructed with a finger wave.
<@Hope> "We should finish it before we go... it's nearly empty anyway." She took a swig from the bottle.
<Venom> Sighing, Eddie shook his head, facepalming before shrugging and accepting the reality that there was no way in hell Hope Stark was leaving until there was no fluid in that bottle. He pinched it from her, knocking back a good half of the contents (and exploiting his power so he didn't have to deal with the taste) before leaving her the last few shots.
<Venom> "Come on. And I'll buy you pizza, too.", he grinned.
<@Hope> Hope laughed and finished off the bottle then set it down, taking Eddie's arm. "Pizzzzzza it isssssss!!"
<Venom> Eddie nodded, "Pizza it is.", he smiled, looking away and letting it fade. It felt bad lying to her, but dismissed it as they left the bar, approaching his motorcycle, "Put the helmet on.", he nudged her, "You're more likely to fall off and kill yourself than me."
<@Hope> "I think that's a veiled insult..." Hope eyed him a bit, but put the helmet on anyway.
<Venom> "It wasn't. It was right there.", Eddie joked back, swinging a leg over his bike and sliding the keys into it, bringing it to life with a click, "Hey, baby...", he leaned down to plant a kiss on the chrome, "Miss me?"
<@Hope> Giggling, Hope slid on the back of the bike behind him. "Vroom vrooooooooooom!"
<Venom> Laughing, Eddie shook his head, "Nah, nah, it's like...", he gripped the throttle, revving the engine twice to let it roar out, "You just gotta love 'er.", he grinned back, "Ready to jet?"
<@Hope> "I was born ready." She checked herself to make sure she had grabbed the picture and the ring before sliding the ring onto her finger. That little act helped cement her mind to the fact that Johnny was out there and alive. She just had to find him.