Venom

A sleek black car pulled up to the back door of a large steel warehouse. The car's headlights were switched off as the passenger side's door opened. Jei stepped out of the car wearing what appeared to be a bonding outfit. His pants were form fitting but laced with chains on the side. His belt was large and held what looked like a chained flail. His shirt was long sleeved and small with some sort of military insignia embroidered over the right breast. 

Viper pressed a switch on a small remote control that he carried then walked over to where Jei stood and took his hand.

"Let's go inside Cobra," Viper whispered and Jei nodded his head.

"Man, would Carter love to see this set up," Jei said as Viper  walked over to a control box and quickly entered some numbers in. A series of lights began blinking and Viper expertly entered the correct sequence in.

"Let's go. We've got ten seconds to open the door before the system locks itself down," Viper said as Jei ran to the door and pulled it open. Instinctively, he ducked just as a spew of needles came shooting out from an unknown source.

"Is it safe to go in?" Jei asked as Viper strolled casually past him.

"It's always safe for me. I built this system."

"I hate you."

"Hurry up before it starts again. I doubt your luck can hold out with this security system. Hey, if you take my hand, the system will widen my safety bubble."

"You are so conceited."

"I'm just proud of my work."

Jei stiffened when Viper smacked his behind. Jei looked at Viper and bared his teeth. Viper grinned playfully at Jei and Jei made a gesture that made Viper take notice.

"Stop with your lover's quarrels," a voice said and Jei looked up. A tall thin man with pale skin and long ebony hair stood in front of them and Viper drew away from Jei. "It is nice to see you two together again, though."

"How's Wolfbane, Nightshade?" Viper inquired as they walked into a large central room.

"He was in the operating room when I left. The doctors say he's going to make it. He may be out of action for a few weeks but he'll live."

"That's good," Viper said as he sat in an over-sized leather chair at the head of an enormous table. "Now tell me what happened."

"I'm still not exactly sure how they got through but..." one of Viper's men said and Nightshade stepped forward.

"A truck pulled up across from the store with the engine smoking. It was an older model so we thought that the driver had stopped to allow the engine to cool down before he checked it," he said as Viper leaned back.

"And that's when it exploded," Viper said and Nightshade nodded his head.

"As far as I can see, the person in the car was a robot. The truck itself was being controlled from another location. The smoke from the engine was essentially a smoke bomb. Someone wanted to make sure that the information Matt had didn't get out."

"Was there any sign of Venom?"

"None."

"I bet I know how my place got found," Jei said and Viper looked at him.

"How?" he inquired and Jei sighed.

"Carter."

"Carter?"

"He was asking questions. Maybe he figured it out this time."

"If he did, that's a first. Carter's not exactly our greatest threat."

"That might be where Venom got his information from. If he knows who I am, then there's a problem."

"It's only a problem if we allow it to be. Now let's discuss the position this puts us in. The only ones I went into detail about the problem with was Wolfbane and Nightshade. Now I'll let the rest of you see the information."

Viper pushed open a panel on the table and began typing on a keyboard. Panels of light appeared over the table in front of him and Viper hit a key. The others watched as pictures and information appeared on the light panels. Viper glanced back at Jei and grinned.

"You can sit down you know," he said and Jei nodded his head.

"I know. I just don't want to right now."

"Well if this was an informal meeting, I would let you sit right here. So what course of action should we take? I want you all to take before you answer."

"I don't think you need my answer," Nightshade said and Viper glanced at him.

"Just try and keep your personal feelings in check when we meet with the syndicate. What about you, Wolverine? You've got friends in the syndicate," Viper said and an extremely muscular man with spiked navy hair stood up.

"If I have to jeopardize my friendship to save the world then I will gladly do so," Wolverine said and Jei stepped forward.

"We're not going to be able to do this without careful planning," he said. "Plus, we're going to need all the help we can get. How far does your network stretch?"

"As far as it needs to. Plus you're going to get a hold of your contacts aren't you, St...Cobra?" Viper inquired and Jei nodded his head.

"Yeah. I'll get to work on it after we're done here," Jei said then caught the seductive look Viper gave him.

"Well then, I suggest that we take to our rooms and get some sleep. There's no telling what the morning will bring," Viper said and Jei shifted his feet slightly. He knew that Nightshade was watching him and he felt uncomfortable. Nightshade and Wolfbane were Viper's two most loyal men but Nightshade sometimes had a guardian air about him. Jei supposed it was because of his stealthy movements that made him like a devoted house cat but Jei got the feeling that Nightshade viewed the partnership between Viper and Jei as something more than platonic.

"How odd. I don't usually see you lost in thought," Viper said as he shut his computer down. "Are you finished thinking? Do I want to know what you were fantasizing about?"

"Fantasizing?!" Jei protested and Viper grinned.

"You're denying it. You had something dark on your mind, didn't you?"

"No. I wasn't thinking anything like that, honest."

"You could have fooled me," Nightshade said and Jei spun around.

"Whose side are you on?!" Jei demanded and Nightshade grinned.

"I am loyal to Viper."

"Thank you, Nightshade," Viper said as he walked up to Jei and took his hand. "Let's go, Stallion."

"I thought you weren't calling me that in front of others," Jei said and Nightshade smiled.

"I don't count. I'm fully aware of your relationship," Nightshade said.

"Who asked you?"

"Well I'll leave the two of you alone. I'm sure you want to get started on some things."

"What was that look for?!" Jei demanded as Nightshade walked off.

"Don't worry about it," Viper said as he embraced Jei. Jei pulled away and looked at Viper.

"Why does he act like that?"

"I told you not to worry about it, Stallion. Let's go to bed."

********************************************************************

Jei awoke to the fast sounds of typing and sat up. What time was it? Viper sat on the floor encircled by holographic screens. Jei stretched and Viper looked up.

"Look who's awake. How are you feeling, Stallion?" Viper inquired as he moved a screen out of his field of vision.

"Fine. Why?" Jei inquired then glanced beside him. "What are you doing here?"

"I was keeping Viper company while you were sleeping but don't get upset. I wasn't doing anything intimate with him," Nightshade replied as he stood up.

"I never thought that. I'm not sick-minded."

"You are. You just don't flaunt it."

"So what have you been up to?"

"I've been up to a lot," Viper said as he leaned back on the floor. "I also ran some tests on you while you were sleeping."

"What did you do to me?!" Jei demanded and Viper grinned broadly.

"Calm down, Stallion. All I did was run some simple tests on you. I wanted to see your sexual endurance. I got some very stimulating information about you."

"You're kidding, aren't you?"

"Why would I joke about something like that? You've got a lot of endurance according to my data. With this information, we can make going the distance even more fun."

"Did you put things all over me? How did you run the test on me?"

"I just studied your sleeping pattern. I think I'm going to like having you beside me."

"What time is it?"

"It's around nine," Nightshade said and walked over to the window. "Hmm."

"What do you see?" Viper inquired and Nightshade glanced at him.

"There's a destitute person going through the trash. I don't know why, but something about him doesn't strike me as authentic."

"Could he be trying to plant a bomb?"

"Either that or a spy device. I'd like permission to go and check it out, though."

"You've got it. Just be careful."

"Of course. I'll let you know what I find out as soon as I can," Nightshade said and walked out of the room.

"Well you'd better get dressed, Stallion. I'll program the kitchen to make breakfast," Viper said as he stood up. He paused for a moment then turned back to Jei. "Before I go, I'd like to take some sugar with me."

He walked over to the bed and leaned forward to kiss Jei. Jei felt his tongue within his mouth for a split second then Viper drew away. He gazed fondly into Jei's eyes for a moment then stood up straight and walked towards the door.

"Come downstairs when you're dressed and we'll get to work finding your contacts."

Jei watched him walk off and sighed. He already had the feeling that it was going to be a long day.