That Firebug guy inadvertently gets saved by those two FBI guys when the younger one, Wambaugh, holds up Lee-Venom with some kind of cannon-blaster. Firebug burns Venom, who still has an aversion to fire, and gets tossed aside (presumably hurt but still alive).
This book once more shows how the Symbiote is its own character with its own thoughts and struggles, which is one of the biggest things I'm loving about this run, when it uses the confusion to separate from Lee in order to bond with Wambaugh. Wambaugh is absolutely freaked at the prospect, but the Symbiote doesn't get too far in its attempt before it notices that Lee had been shot by the older Agent, Coyle. Just seconds before, the Symbiote had spoke of how it and Wambaugh could be heroes and save lives, and so it makes a split-second decision to not let Lee die, as doing so would go against what the Symbiote wants to be: someone who saves lives. So it swallows Lee and flees the scene. (And no, alas, we do not get to see what form the Symbiote and Wambaugh would have taken had they bonded. )
The two Federal Agents are left baffled.
Lee wakes up from a dream where his "best friend" Tony, whom he killed, accuses Lee of harboring something black, which Lee does not deny. He finds himself in said "best friend's" old place, the Symbiote having brought him there based on Lee's memories, since it reasoned it to be the safest place.
Not too much later, Wambaugh once again confronts Lee. Lee tried to feign ignorance at the situation, before switching to "tough-guying" it out, even though he's still weakened from the previous ordeal. Wambaugh "tough-guys" back when he makes it clear he's willing to die scared to do what he came to do (and that is how you really "tough-guy").
And no, it isn't to arrest Lee. It's to recruit him. And should Lee refuse or try something "tentaclely", than Wambaugh's partner Coyle will launch an incendiary into the small apartment room from a building over, burning them both to their deaths, and should Lee survive that somehow, than that incedent would assuredly put Lee on Black Cat's radar, sooner or later, which would inevitably lead to her exposing the fact that he's Venom, which, in turn, would inevitably lead to everyone, including every Superhero worth their salt in "hero", coming after him.
Lee silently acquiesces to the deal, and Wambaugh tells him where to meet up with him the next day for his first orders, before he leaves him to his thoughts.
And so, once more, Lee's life takes an unexpected and uncontrollable turn. Lee doesn't quite like this turn as much as the last one.
On Black Cat's side, Mac Gargan, still totally suspicious of Lee and the whole scenario, asks Black Cat for the trash can he threw up in. Cat, bamboozled by Gargan, tells him that it's long gone. Gargan can't let Lee go, feeling that he's a liar, and Cat dismisses his worry as paranoia, saying she wouldn't be working with any one of them if she had a problem working with liars. Her worries and suspicions lie elsewhere.
Adams, another of Cat's goons, later goes and convinces Gargan that maybe the Black Cat doesn't see all, and that maybe Gargan should trust his gut. He notes that Gargan follows his gut feeling to get things done that "need doing". This convinces Gargan to Scorpion up and take care of business...
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