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Florida was as different from New York as apples, to well, oranges, but their sewers were the same.
Felicia pushed the man’s head down into the disgusting sewage water and mentally calculated how much it would cost to clean her suit or if she should chalk it up as a lost cause. The air bubbles ceased for a moment and she dragged him up again to get some air, he gasped and shook in her grip but before he could beg her to stop she pushed him under again and thought about how wonderful a hot bath would feel in her luxury hotel room. As soon as she was done with this she could head back there and clean off, listen to some music, have some champagne to unwind as she plotted her next move. The communication device in her ear rang and she tapped it on with a greeting expecting her current boss, The Owl, wanting a progress update. When she heard Peter’s voice she nearly forgot to pull the man up again before he drowned. Peter asking her for help was unexpected, after he and MJ had split last year she had hoped he would call sooner but he hadn’t called and she tried to pretend she wasn’t waiting this entire last year for a call. She was a bit thrown off by his request for help in finding Aunt May when she was expecting him to ask her to meet up for old time’s sake. The practiced flirty response she had on the tip of her tongue died as she listened while Peter explained how May had gone missing. She hoped Aunt May was ok but she could hear the worry in Peter’s voice and if he was worried then she knew this was bad.
“Felicia, please… I have no one else to help me here…”
Peter’s voice didn’t go soft this often, not unless it was serious. Felicia swallowed the lump in her throat. Was she ready to go back to New York? Ready to open up this cut again and let it bleed every time she looked at him? The man in her grip goes limp and Felicia pulls him up, he sputters out some foul smelling water and moans in pain. She props him up against the stone walls of the sewer and leaves him there.
“I’ll try to get on the fastest flight to New York, Babe… but I can’t guarantee I’ll be there tonight.”
“As fast as you can get here is fast enough… and Fel? Thank you.”
She disconnects. Felicia reached the ladder and started her ascent out of the sewer. Miami was fun for a time but she had no real connection to it, and home was calling.
Back in her hotel she discards her suit, no point in trying to salvage that, she would add the cost to The Owl’s tab. One shower, an outfit change, and a few texts later she’s got her pay for today’s job and she’s in a cab on her way to a private airfield somewhere in the swamps of Florida. Felicia collected favors like she did jewels. Keeping each one for a time when she might need it, and having a pilot on call was pretty damn handy. She was just lucky he was in the state at the time and not off smuggling drugs across Canada. She wore an elegant black Chanel chain pantsuit and only had one small carry on which she handed off to the bag attendant as she greeted the pilot who assured her she could be in New York before the night was over. Felicia makes her way to her seat in the jet as the sole flight attendant offers to make her a drink so she orders an Irish Coffee. The plane takes off and once it’s clear to walk the flight attendant brings over her drink and a smile, she’s pretty, a light brushing of freckles over her nose and cheeks, with light brown hair and dark brown eyes. On another day Felicia might have flirted, it helped to pass the time over flights and sometimes lead to a romantic night but tonight all she could think about was a different set of dark brown eyes. Slowly takes sips from her drink as her clouded thoughts drive her to distraction.
She and Peter hadn’t ever had it easy between them, it was fun, passionate, exciting, and heartbreaking in equal measures. After the last time they broke up he had gotten back with MJ for good and Fel had thought that was it, they were over, especially after Peter and MJ had gotten married. Every time she had been in New York she would check in and they would be wrapped in each other's arms. So she buried herself in her work, kept leaving the city, trying to be better, to be different, to be someone Peter could look at and love without exception. She wasn’t a hero, but for him she had wanted to try.
Once she landed in New York, she went straight to her apartment while trying to contact Peter but he wasn’t picking up his communicator. Felicia tried not to let worry infest her mind. Peter had a bad habit of getting into situations that could kill normal people. Peter wasn’t normal but he was still human enough to get hurt. She turns on the tv to get the local news as she drops her bag, her cats purred for attention, she had a cat sitter come by a couple of times a day to make sure they were cared for anytime she was out of town. She pets a couple of them before going for her gear. Felicia stands before her full length mirror as she zips up her costume, pulling on her claws, and fixing her mask to her face. Anticipation rose within her and she was eager to get out on the streets, find her lead, and catch up with her Spider- No, he wasn’t that anymore was he? Her Spider. She had to remember to keep her walls up, as far as Peter was concerned she had gotten over him. The newscasters return with a news update and she turns to find them reporting on the death of a nurse and the kidnapping of a patient from the hospital, the camera flashes to a familiar silhouette and Felicia feels her heart drop. The Vulture, and there could only be one person he would have killed a nurse to kidnap, Peter.
Felcia races over the rooftops of New York, doing her best to cut off the projected trajectory of The Vulture. She keeps her eye on the figure in the sky, the giant bird man goes higher and higher. As she watches a scuffle breaks out and then Peter was falling. Her heart raced as she used her grappling hook to soar through the sky while she kept her eyes on Peter, and it didn’t slow down even when she caught him in midair. She could have failed, she could have been a fraction of a second too slow and swung by as he fell to the ground and - no she had him, she had him. One hand holds him close to her body, her claws digging into his body to ensure he didn’t slip from her grasp as she uses her other hand to swing his unconscious body to the nearest rooftop. The Vulture slammed into her body and Peter fell from her grasp, she gasps, twisting her head to look for him as The Vulture flies off with her, her eyes scanning, needing to see- there! He had somehow latched onto the roof she was aiming for and had slipped to safety, he wasn’t moving but she would get back to him as soon as she plucked the Vulture’s eyes out and made him regret messing with her Peter. She turned her claws on Toomes and by the end of it he kept his eyes but Felicia had made her warning clear, “Touch my Ex again and I’ll kill you.”
Peter awakens with a shout, “MJ!” and Felicia has to tamp down the raging jealousy that rears its head inside her, taking a calm breath, she appears at the door to Peter’s bedroom carrying a tray with some strong medicine for pain, illegally obtained of course, water, and a light meal that consisted of chicken soup and crackers since she figured he wouldn’t be able to keep much down with the medication. His eyes are blackened and swollen, but he squints and in a rough voice says, “Felicia? What- why are you here?”
She sets the tray down on his nightstand and settles herself on his bed, she wears designer jeans and a low cut black t-shirt, “Did Toomes knock all sense out of your head, babe? You called me, remember? I got here as fast as I could…” she wanted to place her hand over his his, it lay next to him on the bed, his knuckles were cut and cracked dry blood lined them. Shit. Felicia wasn’t great at this, domesticity, what if he was bleeding more somewhere else? Maybe she should have taken him to a hospital. Instead she had opted to bring him to his place where he would be comfortable and had stitched up what open wounds she could before settling him in bed and finding a can of soup to heat up for him.
“Toomes… Aunt May!” Peter struggles out of bed, trying to swing his leg over to get up but Felicia pushes him gently back into bed, “I have to find Aunt May, how long have I been out?” He delves into a few harsh coughs that sounded like they were rattling his lungs, he grabs the water and downs it.
“Racing around the city to find her won’t help when you end up dead Peter!” Felicia snaps, she lashed out when she was worried and right now the way Peter coughed concerned her, and she was just as concerned for May as he was but she didn’t want him hurting himself anymore than he had. She grabs the medicine and shoves it into his hand, “take those.” As he focuses on swallowing the pills Felicia pulls up her legs and sits cross legged on the end of the bed and props her elbows on her knees, holding her head up with her hands as she watches him. Even battered and bruised he was handsome, and her heart fluttered with yearning, she wanted to brush his hair out of his eyes, and cuddle up next to him, wanting his heartbeat under her ear as she rested on his chest. It had been over a year since she had seen him, not even daring to come by after he and MJ had divorced. He had a new worry crease between his eyebrows.
“Thanks,” He mutters as he ignores the soup and crackers, “Fill me in?”
“Not much to report, lover,” She says in a lazy tone with a small twist of her lips, “I just flew in and barely managed to catch you as you fell. Maybe you can fill me in.”
Peter talks, and Felicia listens. About Osborn, about Aunt May being taken, how he blamed himself for this mess. Felicia tries to soothe him but he was too worked up to listen to her when she told him it wasn’t his fault. She bites her lip and looks out the window, she doesn’t want to push the point and argue further.
“I promise Peter, we will find her,” She says softly, “I’ve got a few leads that I need to follow up on-”
“I’m coming with you.”
Why was he always so stubborn? It was usually cute but there wasn’t time for this. “No.” Felicia says firmly with a glint in her eye that meant she was serious, “You need to rest, at least a day ok? Just give me a day, let your body rest for a day. Whoever took Aunt May isn’t going to do anything until they make their demands known.”
“That’s for a regular kidnapping Fel, and this isn’t regular,” Peter replies as he mulishly sinks back into his pillows.
Felicia stands, hands on her hips and looms over him, “Do you trust me Peter?” That was a loaded question and Felicia wanted to kick herself the moment it left her lips.
Instead of the shifty eyed response or some sideways reply, Peter looks her straight in the eyes, “Yes.”
She wasn’t expecting that simple word, she was expecting him to have something to say about her line of work, how he trusts her as far as he could barring that, instead the simple honesty on his battered face and his calm answer shakes her. “Then believe me Peter, we will find May, she will be safe, but you can’t help her if you end up killing yourself. Let me take care of you for once ok?” She leans over and gently kisses the spot on his forehead that didn’t have any scrapes or cuts.
She doesn’t stop to look at his face, she doesn’t want a pitying look, or for him to have a chance to tell her he wasn’t interested in Them anymore even if he and MJ had ended things. Why else wouldn’t he have called? She could do this, she could help him and not let her heart be broken if she kept reminding herself that it wasn’t going to happen.
It was night again, and she was back in her Black Cat outfit, racing across rooftops as she chases her latest lead down, the fool thought he was safe cutting through alleyways to shake her but she opted to take the route above him so she could keep an eye on him while he thought he had lost her. He finally slows down after a few blocks of not seeing her behind him. Felicia creeps along the edges of buildings, her plan was to follow him back to his homebase and then have a little party. He turns down a few streets before coming to a bus stop and stands around waiting nervously. He was a twitchy man, always looking around, so she crouches low and keeps an eye out for the bus. This gave her time to think.
It had been four days, and they weren’t any closer to finding May, it was driving Peter up the walls, literally. Felicia had spent the last two of these days hunting down this rat, a former druggie, who used to sell information so he could buy a fix. However from her last contact it was said he got clean six months ago. Which meant that he either didn’t have any information on the recent activities of New York’s underground or he kept up with his old ways as a means to keep the cash flow since he didn’t have a job she knew of. She hoped it was the former but it was a semi long shot, there were other contacts she could try that had better odds. The bus rumbled down the street, and groaned to a stop, as the people gathered at the stop climbed on board she used her grappling hook to swing herself over and land on the roof of the bus, stowing away her gear she sits cross legged and enjoys the ride through the city. Her pale silver white hair trails behind her as the bus picks up speed, and at each stop she checks to see if her stool pigeon was getting off, in the time in between she enjoys this mini tour around New York, it had been a long time since she just enjoyed watching the city move.
There was a thump behind her and light footsteps, before a masked face came into view. Peter was leaning over her from behind, his face upside in her view, “Beautiful night for a ride through the city.”
She smiles widely, “Sure is, Babe,” She pats the place in front of her, “Want to stick around?”
Peter settles cross legged in front of her and props his elbow on his knee to rest his chin on his right hand, “What’s going on?”
“Got a song bird in the bus, waiting for him to get off so I can ask a few questions.”
“Think he knows anything?”
“We’ll see… everything ok?” As much as he could be ok with all the worry that hung around him these last few days was the unspoken question.
“Going to see a psychic later.”
She raised one brow, “Need your future told? Is there a mysterious beautiful woman dressed in black you’ll cross paths with? Perhaps a reading on your romantic life?” Her teasing is light and she knows he’s smiling under that mask.
“One mysterious beautiful woman dressed in black is all that I can handle,” He returned the teasing with his flirtatious tone.
She smiles softly and then goes back to watching the city move around her, glimpses of people sitting in restaurants enjoying their food, others coming out of theaters, broadway shows, people hustling on the streets with games rigged to take money, others pickpocketing tourists who were too distracted by the shiny city lights. She saw a spider-man impersonator taking photos with some out of towners. Another stop and she checks but he hasn’t gotten off, she goes back to watching the city.
“Did you miss being in New York? You haven’t been around for a while.”
“Yeah, it’s been a busy year for me, but I don’t think I could have stayed away for much longer… there's just something about this place, this city. It’s not just a place where you live, it’s alive and the people… It’s different, it’s…”
“Home?”
She looks back at him, had he been watching her the whole time?
“Yeah, home.”
The moment felt too serious between them as they watched each other while the city became a blur in the background. Felicia doesn’t want to break the spell between them but then the bus stops again and she checks, her little bird was flying. She moves without another word to Peter but he was right in step behind her, they worked well together, always had. Peter lets loose a web and grabs her around the waist as they leap off the bus. Holding her close to his body as they swung through the air, the wind rushed their costumes and her hair around them. The thrill of this, them together on another mission, she missed it.
It didn’t take long to deal with the informant, and he didn’t have anything to say, but he gave up the names of others who might. People Felicia would need to track down tomorrow. She sighed as she climbed the fire escape up to the roof while Peter followed alongside her, climbing directly up the wall. Back above the city she pauses, taking it in one more time, while Peter struggles to say what he wanted to say. He had wanted to say something since he had caught up with her at the bus, so she waited, pretending to be interested in watching a man with a hot dog cart argue with a tourist.
“Cat?”
Peter touches her shoulder and she looks back at him over it, he had his mask off, and she checks to make sure he was healing properly. The swelling had gone down, but the bluish black bruises hadn’t faded yet. He was still handsome, with his thick eyebrows and dark eyes, her fingers itched to trace his nose, his lips…
“I just… I wanted to say thank you… you didn’t have to come back for me and you’ve been running yourself ragged all over the city for me-”
She presses her claws to his lips to still his words, “We’ll find her Peter, I promise, but you can’t keep taking all the burden of this on your own, and you know I can carry the weight. You don’t need to thank me… we’re friends.”
“Just friends, Fel?” His words held the question he had been trying to ask, and it holds the promise of intimacy that she missed. It was too much, the press of his body against hers, the way his lips descended on hers, the way she kissed him back. Her hands going to hold his neck, the back of his head, her claws digging into his brown hair to hold him in case he changed his mind. One of his hands was on her back, the other on her thigh, encouraging her to wrap her leg around him which she does, and she feels the hard length of him through their suits as it pressed against her. It would be so easy, too easy, to fall back into bed with him and a part of her wanted this so much that she nearly cried when she forced herself to break apart from their passionate kiss.
Turning her back to him she crosses her arms and lowers her head looking out at the city at nothing at all, willing the tears in her eyes to not run down her cheeks as the wind gently shifts her hair. She had spent the last few days around him, doing everything in her power to keep her walls up but he breaks through them like they were made of paper.
“Fel? Babe…”
“I can’t Peter.”
“I-” He is startled by the cracking of her voice, “Is there someone else?”
“No. Just. Listen, ok?,” She takes a breath to calm herself, before turning to him and he wasn’t ready for the unshed tears, the way it made her blue eyes sparkle in the city lights, the soft vulnerability she never let anyone but him see, “I spent the last few years getting over you, trying to turn over a new leaf, no more crimes, mostly, and yeah you can give me grief for working with The Owl but it’s as legit as I can do and I can’t ever be a hero like you Peter.”
“You could Felicia, you have it in you.” His hand is brushing her cheek as he steps in closer to her, his forehead pressed against hers.
“No, Peter. I can’t. Being good, that’s you, and I can walk that path for a while but eventually I’ll slip and you won’t be there to catch me, and I can’t go through that again.”
He brushes the single tear that slipped down her cheek, “Do you still love me Cat?”
“I don’t think I could ever stop loving you Spider,” She steps back, “But I can’t be there when you decide to stop loving me.”
He wants to gather her in his arms again and it would be so easy to let him. She could have fallen into his web again, into his kisses, and been perfectly content to be trapped there for the next few months, but she knew what would happen later. What always happened. Better to break free early and save herself. The Black Cat steps up onto the edge of the rooftop and lets herself fall. She doesn’t look back up at Spider-man as he watches her swing away and he doesn’t follow her.
It took another two weeks for them to find Aunt May. Peter had barely made it to her in time and Felicia had ended up in the hospital after their big bad guy fight, her arm was broken and she had a few bruises but she was getting released soon. Peter came to her on her last night in hospital and in an echo of their first day together he sits on the end of her bed cross legged and makes light hearted talk with her to keep her mind off her injuries. Finally he asks the question he wanted to ask since he came.
“Will you be leaving New York?”
“Got my flight lined up for tomorrow, a nice vacation on the beaches of Greece until my arm heals up,” She half heartedly offers even knowing what his reply will be, “You could join me?”
“It sounds like a dream, but I can’t-”
“It’s fine lover, don’t even worry about it,” She doesn’t want to hear about how he will always choose someone else over her, even if the someone else was a city it still meant he was tied down and he wouldn’t be cutting those strings for her.
Peter stands up and comes to her side, brushing a loose strand away from her face, “Are you coming back, to New York I mean.”
“Someday baby,” She says softly, “This city, it’s in my blood just like yours, and there’s nowhere else in the world like it.”
He presses a masked covered kiss to her hair, “Take care of yourself Cat… see you when you’re back in town.”
She watches him leave through the window and doesn’t sleep for the rest of the night, thinking back to that night a couple of weeks ago on the rooftop, maybe she should have gone further, maybe she shouldn’t have tried to keep some distance between them. A hundred other maybes filled her head until she was sitting on a plane on her way to a place that was far away from New York and the man who lived there. Felicia watches the city fall away from her window seat.