Work Text:
Laura sighed with relief that it had been another quiet, uneventful night in the crime capital of the US. She had spent six mercifully uninterrupted hours reading from her phone while doing her best to ignore the pungent odor of urine and vomit in one of the most dangerous back alleys in all of Hell's Kitchen.
Dozens of disreputable-looking men had passed through, a few even mistaking her for a prostitute, but a single glare was all it took to send them scurrying away. As much as she didn't like the arrangement of men paying for the company of women, it was only the men that took what they wanted by force that she was interested in. And pimps, of course. There could never be too many dead pimps in her estimation.
She put away her phone, hoping that perhaps for the first time that year she could go an entire week without having to dispose of any bodies.
Or perhaps not...
"You can come out now, Peter," she called. "I'm going home."
Slowly, almost reluctantly, a lean, muscular man wearing an outlandish spider-themed costume lowered to the ground upside down, hanging by a single silky thread.
"They're called secret identities for a reason, you know," he said humorously. "Just because you don't have one doesn't mean-"
"Why are you here?" she interrupted. In her experience, Peter Parker talked more than Jubilee, Kitty Pryde, and her sister combined. "This isn't your usual territory."
"Chatty as usual, I see. I was just in the neighborhood. What kind of friendly neighborhood Spider-Man would I be if I didn't swing by and say hello to an old friend from work?"
"You've been watching me now for nearly two hours. It would have been three but you took a break to get a hotdog from Artie's."
"W-what? No I wasn't. How-"
*snikt*
A pair of adamantium claws released from between Laura's knuckles, along with a trickle of blood. "Why are you watching me?"
"I have a better question. Why is The Wolverette playing on her phone in the middle of the night in a back alley in Hell's Kitchen? It's called that for a reason, you know."
"Gabby calls it playing rape bait," she said matter-of-factly. "Jubilee prefers FAFO. And for the record, I wasn't playing on my phone. I'm learning Mandarin. I should be fluent in a couple more weeks."
"Mandarin? You mean like the supervillain? Wait, go back. Rape bait?" His eyes widened before narrowing into slits, which was rather comical from Laura's perspective. "And what if someone takes the bait?"
She held up her claws. "Then I defend myself appropriately."
"And after you've detained him, you call the cops, right?"
Laura shook her head. "Rapes and murders have risen all across the city this year. Cops are understaffed, underpaid, and undertrained. I'm doing this city a service, as well as all the victims and would-be victims."
"New York is my city, X" he growled threateningly.
"My name is Laura, and your city is rotten to the core." She retracted her claws and wiped away the blood. Her point had been made, and she had little interest in either petty superhero drama or getting in a losing fight against Spider-Man.
"Murder is rotten."
"To its core," she agreed, playing with her cross necklace. A nervous habit she shared with her cousin. "This is self-defense though, not murder."
"Semantics. It's not exactly self-defense if you aren't in any real danger, and isn't killing one of The Ten Commandments?"
"Commandment six. Thou shalt not murder, though the original Hebrew is more specific." She took a moment to gather her thoughts, which Peter was thankfully patient enough for. Not only was Laura very skilled and her claws very, very sharp, but unlike him, she tended to think her thoughts through fully before speaking. "I take no pleasure in ending lives, not even murderers and rapists, but if they mean to do me harm, or anyone else, I will use lethal force if I deem it appropriate."
"You could always have them arrested instead."
Laura shook her head. "Too many incompetent and corrupt district attorneys and judges. This way is more efficient, at least for now."
"So might makes right, huh? You just get to play judge, jury, and executioner all because you have the means to?"
"Only when it's warranted, and no matter how much they may deserve it, they never suffer and hardly feel a thing."
"Just because you have the power to take lives doesn't mean you have the right," Peter said through gritted teeth. "Do you think I like criminals walking the streets after I giftwrap them for the police? I could clean up this entire city in a month if I thought like you! Hell, The Avengers could have the entire world sorted out in a matter of weeks!"
"If you thought like me, then you wouldn't be Spider-Man," Laura said in her usual monotone cadence, as if everything she said was the most obvious thing in the world. "Despite what the tabloids might say, Spider-Man is a hero, and the people trust you. If you started killing, you'd lose that trust, and they'd fear you. Worse, you wouldn't be able to look Mary Jane or Mayday in the eye ever again."
The masked man's white eyes narrowed again. "I'm not sure how I feel about an ex-assassin, Punisher-wannabe being on a first name basis with my wife and daughter."
"It's not a threat if that's what you're worried about. You're not a killer, Peter, and both your humanity and identity are rooted in your uncle being murdered, and you having had the power to stop it. I am a killer, born and raised, and my humanity is rooted in the knowledge that I have a soul and that it'll be judged someday."
"So what then? You think maybe if you kill enough murderers and rapists, maybe you'll be allowed into Heaven? The red carpet rolled out and everything?"
Laura looked thoughtful for a moment, but shook her head. "No. My sins are far too grievous for me to ever make up for, which is why I have faith, not religion." She tucked her necklace back under her shirt. "I kill rapists and murderers because I don't want anyone else getting hurt. I've survived things no human being should survive, and I've grieved more than most my age. I also know what it's like to be raped and molested, and I know what the victims of the people I kill have to live the rest of their lives with..."
Peter's eyes widened at how casually she spoke with hardly a hint of bitterness, and looked away, suddenly unable to meet her in the eye.
"It's not very cathartic," she said, misinterpreting his silence. "I enjoy killing probably even less than you would, but when I think about the women I'm avenging, and the women that won't become future victims, as well as the men, I know that I'm doing the right thing even if it doesn't always feel that way. I like to think I'm not alone in that regard."
She fell silent afterward, somewhat unnerved by Peter's mask lacking expression, and also by the knowledge that fighting and defeating Spider-Man was well-beyond her abilities. For an ex-assassin such as herself, such thoughts were always at the forefront of her mind, and couldn't help feeling the least bit uncomfortable knowing how the tables had turned and that she was essentially helpless in a back alley in Hell's Kitchen.
"Listen," he said finally, "I'm sorry, for... everything, I guess. I can't condone what you're doing out here, but like you said, this isn't my usual territory. If you stay out of Queens and upper Manhattan, I'll stay out of Hell's Kitchen."
"Fair enough," she agreed. "Just so you know, if anything ever happens to Mary Jane or Mayday, if you'd like, I-"
Peter held up his hand and shook his head. "I know what you're gonna say, and I know you've avenged a fair amount of people in the superhero community, but I don't even want to think about it. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to my girls, and I hope to never find out. Maybe if I stay out of your hair, maybe I won't have to, and maybe lots of other people won't either."
She nodded. "If you ever have the misfortune, call me. I've already promised your wife to avenge you if you're killed someday."
Peter laughed. "Of course you did, and of course she asked you to. Speaking of, MJ's making a roast tomorrow night. Wanna bring Gabby and have dinner with the family?"
For several long moments Laura looked as though she were trying to come up with a polite excuse not to, but finally nodded.
"I can't exactly tell my sister I turned down an offer from Spider-Man, now can I?" She flashed a rare lopsided smile. "We'll be there, and we'll even try not to kill anyone on the way."
(A/N: Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. I've had the idea of Laura and Peter interacting in this manner for a while now, but it was on a late night whim that I finally put pen to paper (much like all of my X-23 fics). I really enjoy the more philosophical side of Laura's character, and I feel as though Spider-Man is a good foil or antithesis to her. "With great power comes great responsibility" is core to Spider-Man's character, but Laura's is much more complicated. Her finding her identity is obviously important, as well as nature versus nurture, but Laura discovering that she has a soul and the guilt it caused within her makes for a wonderfully complex character.
Laura hates killing, but it's practically written in her DNA, and it's practically the only thing that gives her an adrenaline/endorphin rush. More than anything however, Laura HATES people taking advantage of others, and she's been known to behead pimps on sight. Laura's core motivation is always her drive to help/avenge others and also redeem herself (due to having such a low opinion of herself), and I think she fills a niche that The Punisher and Black Widow don't quite thanks to her unique personality, motivations, and supporting cast. Obviously some headcanon is involved, in which case, I hope you enjoyed this interpretation of Laura. If you have, you might also enjoy "Killers By Trade" and its sequel "Killers By Choice", as well as the one-shot "Skeletons in the Closet". Thank you again.
All credit goes to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has blessed me with this story and all of you wonderful readers. God bless)