"Kate?"
The archer beamed at the sight of her. Cat rushed over to the girl and wrapped her arms around her. "It's so good to see you!" Kate held her tightly.
"What are you doing here?" Cat cupped her face in disbelief. "I thought—" She turned to look at Peter, but he was nowhere to be found. "What the..."
"Spidey said I had to come," Kate explained grinning. "I really wanted to see you."
Cat shook her head in incredulity, she laughed a little. "You're such a sight for sore eyes," she squeezed her cheeks gently, caressing the skin with her thumbs. "Beautiful as always."
Kate blushed. "I'd missed you."
"I'd missed you too."
"But you didn't call," Kate pointed out playfully.
Cat leaned her head against Kate's shoulder and wrapped her arms around the girl's waist. "I'm sorry. I've been going nonstop from one place to the other— I caught Russo—"
"I heard. Yelena found out like two days ago," Kate stroke her back lovingly. "Good job."
"Thank you," she sighed. "Now all I have to do is wait for Kraven."
Kate moved her away from her shoulder. "Why aren't you trying to seek him out?"
"Cause I'm talking to you," Cat replied jokingly.
"Oh, shut up!" Kate threw her head back. "I'm trying so hard to get over you and you're not helping!"
"I'm sorry," she repeated, though this time she was smiling guiltily. "I never get over anyone I date, I collect them all like Pokemon and see who's up for round two."
"That'll do it," Kate pushed her face away playfully. "Back off." Cat moved her hand away laughing, and Kate continued. "I heard you're staying at your ex's place, don't try to trick me into a threesome—"
"Oh my god," Cat laughed louder. "Who said that? I wouldn't!"
"I don't believe you," she chortled. "Clint warned me about you and I didn't listen, this is what I get."
"All of you acting like you don't love me," Cat frowned. "That's insulting. I'm way too pretty to be treated like this."
Kate's eyes softened, she cupped her face again and kissed her cheek. "You're right. You deserve the best of the best." It was Cat's turn to blush. Kate broke the hug and seized her phone. "Which is exactly why I'm here. I didn't come just to pay a visit to you and your brother."
Cat tilted her head. "What?"
"I know how to find Kraven," she showed Cat a picture of the man in the middle of a busy crowd. "We lost track of him when you vanished, but I made it my job to find him again, and I think I did."
"H-How?" Cat held the phone in wonder. "Why?"
"Because he almost killed two of my best friends," she raised a brow. "And I know those friends would like to get even. I heard Kurt's back on the planet."
"Jesus, y'all can't keep your mouths shut, huh?" Cat frowned.
"You should be grateful," Kate crossed her arms. "Now you don't have to make a plan. I'm glad 'cause you suck."
"That's true," Cat stared at the dark-haired girl with fondness. "I assume you also heard I'm an Avenger again?"
"Yes," she smiled. "A super like you belongs in the big leagues. So who are you recruiting?"
"You, if you're interested," she replied, handing back the phone. "Captain America, and all of those other heroes across the world I've been stalking for ages. But in order to do that, I have to get Kraven out of the way. A bunch of enhanced individuals in one place is like a candy store for him."
Kate paused. "Wouldn't that be convenient?"
"What?"
"We show him what he's looking for: Nightcrawler and you, Spider-man and I. Bet that'd be enough to lure him, right? He'll try to fight us to prove that he's better and we all just had luck."
Cat thought about it. "But if we do that, we should do it in a place where there will be no casualties. Just him and us."
Kate winked at her. "Trust me, we'll get everything ready."
"We?"
"Me and Harley," she clarified. "He's your guy in the chair, right? I'm your trustworthy source. We'll figure something out."
***
Cat went back to the city feeling energized and happy. Matthew called and asked her to pick up something she'd apparently left behind in his apartment, she agreed with no complaints.
"About time," Daredevil let her in, and he was too serious, even for his standards.
"What's going on?" Cat raised a brow. "What did I leave behind? A bomb?"
She stepped into the living room and found Parker seated in one of the individual chairs. He smiled awkwardly and waved. "Surprise."
The mutant came to a halt and looked between the two men. "Oh, my..." Cat cleared her throat. "Par... er, Bug— what are you doing here?"
"I thought you were here," he admitted, blushing a little. "I had been waiting for you on the rooftop when he found me..."
"He'd been there almost an hour," Matt said in a bad mood.
She wanted to laugh, but she was also baffled. "How on earth did you manage to come back again?"
Parker stared at her. "Little me didn't tell you?"
Cat understood this would take a while, and she was definitely not having that conversation with Matthew present. "Oookay, you and I go back to my apartment. I am so sorry he broke into your house—"
"I did not!" Parker got up and hurried over to her side.
She sent a glare his way. "Thank you for looking after him, DD."
"Make sure it doesn't happen again," Matt replied in a plain voice. "And don't give my address to any of your other friends."
"You got it, hot shot!" She smiled innocently. "See you!"
Parker muttered "Hotshot?" with disgust. Cat drove him out of the apartment. "What were you thinking?" She whispered angrily, urging him to walk faster. "Why didn't you go to Pete's apartment?"
"He wasn't home so I thought it didn't matter if I came here instead! I didn't know you'd moved out! Does that mean—?"
"No no no, you don't get to ask questions like this is normal," she scowled. "Why did you come back?"
He stared at her blankly. "I just missed you."
She spoke with exasperation. "Can't you just lie for once!"
He let out a childish laugh. "And you'd believe me? What am I supposed to say, that I'm here for the weather?"
For weeks she'd tried to convince herself that Parker was a dead end in her life, even Harley had spoken about him as if he'd been another loss, something she no longer had, but there he was again... still putting up a fight.
"You found Russo and Kraven?"
"Just Russo. He's in jail."
Parker smiled. "You didn't kill him?"
"No."
He pulled out something from his pocket. "May sent you this."
She looked down, the young man was holding a paper bag full of cookies. "Did you tell your aunt you were visiting me?"
"Yeah," he grinned. "She got really happy."
"In the middle of your school term—!"
"Cat," he opened the door of the building for her, and she stormed out heatedly. "My aunt loves you! Do you think she cared about school? As soon as I told her, she packed my bags," he snorted. "I wouldn't be surprised if she's designing wedding invitations as we speak—"
Cat stopped in the middle of the street and looked at him with horrified eyes. "I'm not doing that again."
"I was joking," he said, then frowned. "Wait, again? What do you—"
She walked past him, her eyes tearing up. "I told you not to get your hopes up—"
He caught up with her, seizing her wrist. "Cat! I'm not trying to get anything from you. I just... wanted to see you. I'll go back to my universe tomorrow night. I promise."
She stared at him with teary eyes. "You're so weird."
Parker raised his eyebrows. "You're weirder," his gaze softened, and she felt his thumb lovingly stroke her wrist. "That's why I like you so much."
Cat pulled her hand away. "You're lucky I got a substantial amount of money after I caught Russo. I can take you to dinner before I go. As a thank you for looking after me for a whole month. But you must explain to me how did you find a way to come back."
"Deal," he nodded once with a serious expression, though his eyes were bright and happy.
Cat turned around and resumed her walk, Parker punched the air celebrating his victory. She did her best to ignore it, and also to hide her own mirth.