You run with me
And I can cut you free
Out of the treachery and walls you keep in
So trade that typical for something colorful
And if it's crazy, live a little crazy
You can play it sensible, a king of conventional
Or you can risk it all and see
ANXIETY WARNING (brief)
Felicia
Since their first meeting, Felicia had made sure to keep away from the webbed hero. She needed to do some research until she felt ready for another encounter. Felicia planned to persuade him into helping her and she couldn't go in blind. Unfortunately, there wasn't much-unbiased information on Spider-man, just articles from supporters or people who felt he was a vigilante and needed to be tried as a criminal. However, all articles agreed that he was definitely associated with Tony Stark and therefore the Avengers, whether he was an official member or not. Now, Felicia just had to figure out how close the two were.
"Hey, Felicia!"
Felicia looked up from her textbook. She was in the library working on an assignment for one of her classes when she got lost in her own thoughts.
Ned sat down on the chair across from her. "What are you working on?"
"Literature assignment," was all she said. She had hoped that the boy would leave it at that, but he pressed on.
"Me too! Actually, Peter is supposed to meet me here so he can help me with it. He's a lot better at reading comprehension than I am," he said.
Felicia frowned, "Why didn't you ask MJ? She would probably be more helpful with this than Peter." Since she had been here, Felicia couldn't think of a time she hadn't seen MJ reading some book.
"Well I did, but MJ is busy this period," Ned responded.
"There you are, Ned! You didn't sit in our regular spot," Peter appeared around the corner, looking right at his friend. Peter's gaze drifted over to Felicia. "Oh! Hey Felicia," he smiled.
Felicia ignored the slight beating in her chest. In the week she had known him Felicia had developed a bit of a crush on Peter. This was unacceptable. Felicia was here for a reason and it didn't involve cute brown-eyed dorks that made her laugh.
When Peter sat down, Felicia raised a brow. "Is your regular spot cooler than my spot?"
Peter nodded, "Oh definitely, my spot has a window that gives me the perfect view of Ms. Harvey getting in her daily argument with Ruffus."
Felicia frowned, "Who's Ruffus?"
"A squirrel," Ned answered. "It usually only ends with Ms. Harvey chasing it off the property when it tries to steal one of her cigarettes."
"A squirrel with a tobacco addiction? That's nuts," Felicia grinned.
Peter groaned, "No, no, no, you have to leave now. The library is a pun-free zone."
"I walnut stop," she said.
Peter turned to Ned, "Hey Ned I was wondering if you wanted to come over later to study a bit before I have to go to my internship with Mr. Stark. I was going to invite Felicia, but I don't think I can handle any more puns."
Felicia froze at the name Mr. Stark. She hated the part of her that now saw Peter as another useful asset, but she needed to get into the compound. So, pushing away all of the self-hate that was forming, Felicia said, "Alright I'll stop making puns, but you have to tell me more about this internship."
Peter narrowed his eyes at Felicia and for a moment she thought she had been a little too eager to learn about the internship, but Peter's expression softened. "You drive a hard bargain Hardy, but it's a deal. Study hall is almost over, but I can tell you all about it after school if you want to come with Ned and me to my house."
"My mom has to work overtime today so she won't be home until super late so count me in," Felicia responded.
Peter and Ned stood up from their chairs. Peter looked at Felicia, "I have to go with Ned for decathlon practice today so I won't be in Calculus with you, but I'll cashew later."
All Felicia could do was look shocked as Peter and Ned hurried off to practice.
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Felicia was just getting out of class when her phone rang. One look at the number had Felicia hurrying into the nearest bathroom. Locking herself into a stall Felicia answered the phone.
"I thought I told you not to call this number," she hissed.
A cruel laughed echoed in Felicia's ears, "I'm sorry Miss Hardy but were you under the impression that you could order me around?"
Felicia clenched her jaw, "No, of course not Mr. Fisk. My mistake." She hated him. Felicia only wanted two people in this world dead and the man known as Kingpin was one of them.
"How has the plan to infiltrate the Avengers Compound been coming along?" The way he asked, it was almost like it was a regular conversation that you would expect between two family members or even friends.
"I've managed to locate two people that are associated with Tony Stark. If I can get one of them to let me in-"
"You're taking too long," Mr. Fisk's voice cut her off. "One of my guys has managed to get you an interview as an intern with one of the scientists in the compound. I'll have one of my guys take you out of school tomorrow. Don't screw it up." With that, he hung up the phone.
He didn't need to send a guy to her school. Fisk was just doing it to show Felicia that she can't run away because they know where she is. Where her mother is. Once all this was sorted Felicia was going to get her family as far from Fisk and everything he touches as she can.
Breathing deeply, Felicia made her way outside of the bathroom. Once she was out she looked around for Peter or Ned. When she laid eyes on the former Felicia marched over.
He hadn't noticed her presence so Felicia took the time to watch him. Felicia's eyes caught a glimpse of his phone and saw the headlines Black Cat Strikes Again. She felt the blood leave her face, she hadn't made headlines already had she? Then she looked closer and recognized the logo on the article. It belonged to a newspaper in LA. Why was Peter looking into Black Cat?
Clearing her throat, Felicia opened her mouth, "What are you looking at?"
Peter jumped, "Jesus Felicia, you scared me. How long have you been standing there?"
Raising a brow, Felicia said, "Not long, you were pretty engrossed in whatever you were reading."
Peter shoved his phone into his back pocket before shutting his locker. "I was just doing some research for a project on burglars."
Felicia frowned, "Peter we have the same classes, none of them have projects like that."
Peter blinked, "It's for the Stark internship."
"Right," was all Felicia said.
"So," Peter started, "This Black Cat is in LA. I was wondering if you had ever seen her."
"No, I lived right at the end of LA city limits. Black Cat didn't stalk there," Felicia said. She needed this conversation to end.
Peter studied Felicia, his gaze drifting to the ring she was twisting on her finger. "Are you alright?"
Felicia opened her mouth, "I-"
"Who's ready for a study session at Peter's house?" A voice asked. An arm was slung over Felicia's shoulder and her steps halted for a moment. She looked up and saw it was Ned and his other arm was over Peter's shoulder. Trying to ignore the panic rising in her, Felicia continued walking. Her shoulders were tingling where Ned's arm made contact. She walked a little faster.
Felicia felt the rest of her body react and started to take measured breaths. It's just Ned. He isn't doing anything. It's fine. She heard Peter gasp. In the corner of her eye, Felicia saw two students walk right into each other, one of them had been holding a model of the Eiffel Tower and it fell to the ground, shattering it. Then Peter stopped walking, his eyes confused. Ned also stopped and thankfully, removed his arm from Felicia's shoulders.
"Peter are you alright?" Ned asked.
Felicia closed her eyes and took deep breaths. When she felt she was calm Felicia opened them again. The confusion had left Peters face.
His gaze drifted to Felicia, "Yeah. It's fine. Look I just remembered I had something to give Mr. Stark and he isn't going to be at the compound when I am. Do you think we could take a rain check for today?"
Felicia nodded, "Of course, this internship sounds important. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
Felicia didn't fail to notice the meaningful look Peter gave Ned as she turned away. This day just keeps getting better and better.
Felicia couldn't waste any more time. Not when she was losing control of her powers like this. Not when Tony Stark apparently had Peter researching her. She needed to find Spider-man.
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Felicia hadn't been lying when she said her mom was working overtime tonight. The apartment was empty. This meant Felicia had to waste a few more hours by herself until it was dark.
She made herself dinner and watched reruns of Criminal Minds on TV. When the sun started to set Felicia got up to wash the dishes.
The sound of a warning bell caused Felicia to jump. Scowling, she turned her attention to the TV. An older gentleman appeared on the screen.
"Welcome to Just the Facts with J. Jonah Jameson. I'm J. Jonah Jameson and today I thought I would give my devoted listeners an update on my petition to put Spider-man on the Most Wanted list. So far the petition has over five thousand signatures. I would like to thank those who have signed it and if you haven't I have one question for you: What are you doing? This webbed menace is getting away with causing thousands of dollars in property damage and even if Tony Stark is "helping" with the clean up that's still homes and businesses being destroyed because of one careless hero. If the police let him get away with this what's the point of a police department, to begin with? They clearly aren't doing their jobs-"
Felicia turned the TV off, "Jesus is this guy for real?" Even Felicia could see that Spider-man was doing a damn good job. She hardly ever has competition (not that a few muggers are really competition) when she goes out and he's clearly hurting Fisk's business enough that he wants into the Avengers Compound asap. Ungrateful dumbass. Still, Felicia could use this little bit of public hate in her favor.
Felicia turned her attention back on finishing the dishes. Once she was done, Felicia went into her room to get changed.
Every time Felicia donned the Black Cat suit she felt herself change into someone else. Black Cat was confident, calm, and fierce. She was everything Felicia was not. Or at least everything Felicia wasn't anymore.
After adjusting the mask on her face, Felicia opened the window in her room and crawled onto the fire escape. Felicia climbed the stairs as high as they would go before using her grappling hook to shoot her to another building.
Truth be told Felicia loved all aspects of her job. She loved jumping from building to building looking for well-off people to rob. However, tonight wasn't about robbing people. It was about finding Spider-man.
However, that didn't mean Felicia couldn't cause a little chaos to draw him to her.
Felicia was only on her second victim when she heard footsteps behind her. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to show up." Felicia turned to have her gaze met with a red and blue suit.
"Well, I couldn't just ignore a man tied to a flag pole saying a cat stole his wallet now could I?" The hero began to slowly approach her. It reminded Felicia of how a lion tamer would approach a lion. Cautious not to startle something that could easily eat him alive. Black Cat took a step forward. Spider-man paused.
"It would have been the polite thing to do, a man should never interfere with a ladies affairs," she answered. "However, I've never been one for manners." Another step forward.
"Look I think we got off on the wrong foot-"
"Paw," Felicia interrupted. Step forward.
He went on, "Right. Anyway this whole you run, I chase you, and you knock me out isn't the best way to start a relationship."
"It's so fun though," Felicia reasoned. She was now two feet away from him. "It's like a game of cat and mouse."
"Isn't it supposed to be the cat chasing the mouse though? I'm pretty sure the cat's not supposed to run," he replied.
Felicia smirked, "Do you want me to chase you Spider-man?"
He faltered, "N-no, that's not-I mean I'm not-"
Felicia took a step back, "How about I make you a deal?"
The hero straightened. "Okay now, this I'm familiar with. I was actually getting worried that you might be an original criminal, but I guess I was wrong. Let me guess; if I let you go you'll go on the straight and narrow? Maybe you'll spice it up with a few tears? Don't get those too often. But please," Spider-man leaned against a wall, "Go on."
Felicia crossed her arms, "First of all Spider-boy if I got away it wouldn't be because you let me. Our first meeting more than proved that. How bad was the headache when you got up by the way? I heard they can be pretty nasty," when the hero said nothing Felicia pressed on. "It seems to me the only way you're going to catch me is if we make a deal." She needed him to take the bait. Everything would fall into place the moment he did.
"Go on then, what's the deal?" The tone in his voice definitely pointed towards parent-who-is-humoring-their-child which definitely pointed Felicia towards person-who-wants-to-punch-another-person-in-the-face territory.
Felicia checked the Rolex she had stolen the week before-it was now a permanent part of her suit. "It's nine-thirty right now so let's give you...until one-thirty-since I have places to be in the morning-to catch me. If you catch me I'm all yours. You can turn me in, unmask me, whatever. I won't even fight you."
He was silent for a minute. "And if I don't catch you?"
She had him. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Now, do we have a deal?" Felicia stuck out her hand.
He took her hand, "I'm only doing this because crime is slow tonight."
Felicia smiled, "Of course, now there's only one rule: until you catch me everything goes." She flexed her middle finger and watched as Spider-man jerked back. "Which includes electromagnetic pulses, which I hear can be very bad for tech." She shot her hand out, releasing the grappling hook and launching herself away from a cursing spider.
This is going to be fun.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter of Amaryllis! Hopefully, I'll have the next chapter up a little sooner, but no promises.