Daredevil was always the easiest to find if you knew him well enough. He wasn't hiding, to begin with. Parker insisted he had to join to make sure she was safe, but Cat knew he just wanted to meet the guy that had been her "partner" during the five years of the blip.
"You sure he'll show up?" Parker asked. "This place has a terrible look."
"This place is alright," she differed. "Why are you still here?"
"I wanna meet Daredevil."
"What for?"
"Because."
"You're being petty."
"I'm being a good friend, and you're childish."
"How am I childish? I'm not the one who's throwing a tantrum!"
Peter tilted his head and vaguely pointed at the two of them. "Did you guys sleep together?"
Cat shot him a warning glare, but before she could reply in her sarcastic fashion, a red figure landed at the end of the alleyway and stood in the dark.
"Stop screaming or you'll catch everyone's attention," the man spoke. "What are you doing here?"
"We like the smell of trash," Cat retorted in a bad mood.
Matthew sighed. "You're alive. Who's that with you?"
She looked at the other men next to her. "They're my emotional support. We need your help."
The man wasn't amused. "What did you do now?"
She clenched her jaw. "Listen, I have nowhere to go and Spider-man risked too much already so he can't hide me—"
"Hide you?" Matt interrupted her. "You're hiding?"
"Yes," then she added as an afterthought, "I can explain."
"I'm sure you can," he said, turning away. "I'm not sure I wanna hear it."
"That's fair." Cat looked at her friends, then walked forward and stopped him from leaving. "Look, bad things happened since the last time we saw each other— I mean really fucked up things, and I'm not asking you to fix them—"
"You never do—"
"I just need to stay in a place where I won't be found. At least until I get a new suit."
"Who's looking for you?" Cat didn't respond. "Where is Kurt, or Harley? Why are you here?"
"Kurt's off the planet, and Harley..." she shook her head. "He doesn't know I'm here. I have to keep it that way for a little longer."
Matt let out a scoff, he wasn't going to give up an opportunity to tell her "I told you so".
"You have a lot of explaining to do."
"Give me time and I'll tell you everything."
"What about them?" He vaguely pointed at the men behind her.
"Webs has his own place— the other guy will go back to where he came from."
"He's quite tense," Matt gestured at Parker.
"Quit sniffing!" She demanded, flicking his chest. "I don't want people to look out their windows and hear our conversation."
Matt shook his head, staring —or at least that's how it looked like— down at his feet. Cat knew his answer before he'd even said anything.
***
Peter looked around the rooftop with approval, he was wearing his spidey suit, Matt was still Daredevil, and Parker and Cat were in civilian clothes. To see them all in the same place was a little weird.
"I'll see if I can bring you clothes from your apartment later in the week," Peter nodded at her outfit. "You don't wanna be wearing that, right? Spring's coming soon."
Cat looked down at the coat she'd gotten from Parker's universe, she liked it, but it was too heavy for the incoming weather. "If you can find a way to get my clothes without being seen, go for it."
"I have my ways," she could hear his smile under the mask.
She stepped forward and hugged him, it felt a little like the old times.
"Well..." Parker approached. "I guess this is it..."
Cat glanced at Peter and Matt unable to forget she'd dated them and now she'd also slept with Parker. Maybe being a flirt was a little inconvenient after all.
"I'll be fine," she sighed. "If you're sure you want to continue with your experiments... use that thing wisely. Don't do it if you're only doing it for... you know, what you said before. And... have a good life."
Parker let out a scoff that sounded a little like a laugh. "Heartfelt."
Cat was upset about having to leave him in such a rush after the night they'd spent together, but there was no point in lamenting. Duty was duty and she had a mission. She would forget all about him and his world soon.
"I'll see you when I see you."
"Yeah, you will," he muttered, looking at Matt and Peter over her shoulder. "Coming, Webs?"
"In a minute," Peter stepped toward her. "Can we talk in private for a sec?"
Cat nodded. "Care to leave us alone, guys?"
"Sure. I have rounds to make, so I might not come back while you're still up," Matt informed her, "See you, Spider-man."
"Bye, DD," Peter waved at him briefly.
"See you, Luci."
Matt jumped to the next rooftop, Parker rolled his eyes and murmured something that sounded a lot like "show off" before walking to the emergency stairs.
"What's the plan?" Her friend asked quietly once they were left alone. "Should I look for a way to contact Harley?"
"No," she said. "Someone could be listening to his calls. I'm not big on plans, Pete, you know that... I need to get a new suit, but I can't go to L.A. to get it. I'll call Shuri, though she might not want to make a new one if I lost the first..."
Peter noticed the fear in her eyes, he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed gently. "You got this, C. I'm not leaving you alone."
"I'm so tired of running in circles," she looked up to avoid crying. "All my actions always drag me right back into a cage. I don't think freedom wants me."
Peter hugged her again, it was funny how their heights had fluctuated throughout the years. The last time they'd stood on a rooftop like this, he could barely reach her shoulder, and now he was an inch taller than her. She was a little annoyed that this was all she could think about whenever she was around him, their past together and all that had been. She wondered if he had the same issue.
"This is not your fault."
"But it is."
"You didn't know Russo would hire Kraven and that he knew all of your identities."
"I should've known. I was careless. Dmitri knew I was agent Zero, I should've known Kraven knew as well— and I just—"
"Cat," he stepped away, frowning. "You need therapy."
In spite of her situation, Cat laughed. "Look who's talking!"
"I'd be going if I could afford it!" He argued playfully. "I should go, Parker's waiting for me... which reminds me," he poked her side. "Were you left alone with him this whole time?"
"He kidnapped me." Peter was silent but Cat punched his shoulder. "Don't. You. Dare! Leave now!"
"Alright, alright!" He moved away laughing. "But hey, what is that favor you don't want me to do for him?"
Cat looked away in discomfort. "He wants to build a multiversal gizmo. To travel from one world to another. You can't do that."
"Why not? That sounds amazing!"
"Pete," she gave him a look. "The last time we tinkered with that kind of stuff, we lost half of all living creatures. I can't go through that again, and I know you don't want to experience that firsthand."
"But if only the three of us know about this..."
"More people will find out. I don't know how, but I'm sure they're already sensing something's going on. Whoever they are, there's someone looking."
Peter shook his head. "You're paranoid. That can't be helped, you're traumatized and with a permanent feeling of persecution."
"And you used to be nicer," she scowled. "Just... if you help him at least make sure he understands it doesn't mean what he thinks it'll mean."
Her friend paused. "What d'you mean?"
She blushed. "It won't change the decisions everyone already made about their lives."
Peter clicked his tongue. "I have no idea what you're saying, but I'm positive you two saw each other naked."
"Oh, like it's really that much of a surprise," she pushed him away lightly. "C'mon, the faster you get Parker out of this world the better I will sleep at night."
***
When Matt came back he changed into a pair of sweats and a white t-shirt, Cat borrowed one of his sweatshirts, and she'd also taken a shower before settling on the couch.
"You're not sleeping there," Matthew said, pulling the blanket off her body.
She hissed. "I'm not using your bed again! It's weird!"
"That couch is noisy, you'll keep me up the whole night."
"Which is exactly what I'm trying to stop from happening if we sleep in the same bed."
He laughed. "You think too highly of yourself. What makes you think I'll sleep with you just like that?"
"Let me be clear," she sat up giving him a harsh look. "You took me in unwillingly, you don't trust me— I don't think you want me, but you have self-destructing tendencies and right now I'm your weapon of choice."
He smiled, but it wasn't a happy one. "You're unbelievable, you know that? Can you go one night without insulting the person that's trying to help you?"
"I..." she remembered her argument with Parker. "I'm sorry."
Her apology sounded real. It astonished him.
"What is going on with you, Cat?"
***
"What's your plan?"
She shrugged, tired of hearing the same question over and over. "I try again?"
"Try what?"
Cat stared at her claws, ever since she'd taken off the collar she'd had a need to have her singularities on display (purple cat eyes, silver hair, claws...) so she could look at them and be reassured no one was controlling her.
"I killed Kraven's brother. I said I was forced, but I kept on killing, and Kraven found me because of my bad habit. Now I'll kill again, but at least I'll try to make this the last one."
"You don't have to kill, Cat," Matt said calmly.
"I won't do it because I have to," she said quietly. "I want to be the last thing he sees. I want to see the fear in his eyes." She got up from the couch. "But I'll wait to get a new suit, and I'll wait until they think they're safe," Cat's fist tightened. "Just like Kraven taught me."
"Then you'll be playing his game," Matthew warned her.
"This is me fighting it," she turned around, tears starting to blur her eyesight. "If I were playing his game, I would've killed myself before he could catch me."
"You tried, didn't you?" He questioned bluntly.
"Yes," she let out a breathy laugh. "Spider-man saved me. You know, they said I'd be the best Avenger of all times, turns out I'm just a practice dummy for the real heroes."
Matthew didn't dismiss her comment, he stayed quiet for a moment, thinking of all the things she'd told him, and feeling he was missing something, not that she was hiding it, he felt like he'd forgotten it.
"I thought you and Spider-man weren't friends," he said at last, having a vague feeling that it was somehow relevant to the story. "Why is he trying so hard to help you?"
"Why are you helping me?" She shrugged. "He's a good guy. I helped him a lot back in the day too, but we don't really... I don't talk about it."
Cat remembered they'd had this talk before, her story with Spider-Man. But he didn't remember any of it. She'd always felt something was missing in her relationship with Matt, that at some point they'd missed the one thing that had helped them connect.
Now she understood it hadn't been her lack of effort, they'd both forgotten the best of her, the one part that had dreams, and fun stories from school, the Cat that had been the most human.
"He was the first person that treated me like a normal girl... he saw something else there."
"Something else?"
She avoided his gaze, slightly embarrassed. "He believed there was good in me. I want to believe it's still there."
He was irritated by her response. "Cat, I tried to see it too, but you lied to me—"
"I know," she interrupted him, voice cracking at the end. "I know it was my fault. I hate all the things I've done out of fear, and I wanna fix them but most of them can't be fixed," she shook her head in frustration. "I'm not a good person, but I'm trying, Matt. I swear I'm trying. I'm sorry."
"I don't want your apologies," he stopped in front of her and pushed the blanket into her arms. "I didn't want to hear them last year, and I still don't want them now."
"What do you want, then?" She asked through gritted teeth, standing still as he walked past her.
"I want nothing from you because I don't trust you," he snapped. "Try and keep your word this time around, and then I'll tell you if I want anything."