A/N: Been mulling over this idea for a bit. Ever since I booted up Spiderman 2, I couldn't get the idea out of my head. The game is still fun as hell, even to this day. Now, when I went over the story with a more mature and logic mind, there are things I made sense of that my young mind at the time could not. Like the way Black Cat and Spiderman left off. This idea instantly became a thing once I saw it, and it's an ending I support much more than the canon one. You're more than welcome to disagree, but please spare me the lectures. That's not what this story is about. It's a "what might have been," which are ideas that I love to do. Enjoy.


Peter took off his red mask and lied on the bed in his apartment for a few minutes of peace. But his mind was in a giant whirlwind of emotions. And it was all because of what Cat said to him before she took off after he lost his temper with her.

"Is Cat right? Am I just torturing myself? Do I have to give up Peter Parker to be Spiderman?" Peter thought, tapping his foot restlessly on the edge of his bed.

"What about the people in my life? How would they feel? It's not like anyone ever sees me now." Peter was reminded of all the times he couldn't arrive on time to... well, anything. At times, the disappointment they gave off was a little too apparent for him not to notice.

"MJ. Harry. Aunt May," Peter ticked off before sighing audibly. "No matter how hard it is, I can't abandon my friends. So what, do I quit being Spiderman?"

That thought died as quickly as it came. He knew what would happen if he did that. The chaos in the city was almost too much for him to control at times, but he couldcontrol it. If he gave up now, it would only get worse from there. And everything that he gave up in his normal life would be for nothing if he gave up.

"Nope. I can't quit either. I help so many people. I can't give up being Peter Parker. But I can't give up being Spiderman either. I need to find balance between the two." Peter grabbed his mask and looked at the seemingly soulless eyes of the mask. The mask that was a symbol of half of his life. A symbol of the city he swore to protect. And Black Cat had played her own little part in helping him with that.

"Cat..." Peter said aloud, putting the mask back on his beside table and closing his eyes. He met the woman during an art robbery, but it seemed like she didn't take anything even though she probably severely wanted to. Then there was the jewelry store, and again, she didn't take anything. What, were they just distractions to lure him out? If so, what was the purpose?

"Shouldn't you try to find somebody more your speed?"

"I was just having some fun with you. You looked kinda cute, trying to figure out what happened back at that warehouse."

"You seriously need to loosen up! Have more fun!"

A lot of her efforts seemed focused on... cheering him up. Having more fun. Not initially, but now they were. And... he can't remember the last time someone did something like that solely for him. Even if it wasn't in the most normal of circumstances.

But then MJ came to his mind again, and she entered one half of a zone that had Black Cat on the other. He put his thumb and index finger under his chin in thought.

"I fell for this girl since the moment I laid eyes on her. But I haven't seen her as much as I would like, and there's no way that I can tell her why that is. Then she's getting married," Peter thought, the fact coming to his mind once again like so many times before these past few months. The sting lessened slightly every time, but only slightly. It still remained.

"Then there's Cat," he thought, an image of the silver haired woman coming to the front of his mind.

As of recently, she sort of became his partner in fighting crime. Nothing more. But there was something else that he couldn't quite figure out. Something a lot less professional. He didn't understand if it was just her personality or what, but she had a knack for saying things that could get him a little hot under the collar. Something told Peter all of it was absolutely intentional to make him feel that way.

But she also knew ways to get him to cheer up while able to help him fight crime all at the same time. She was definitely an amazing woman. No question about that. But should the question was whether or not to put her over a girl he had eyes on for the longest.

But MJ didn't know about Spider-Man for her own safety. She only knew Peter Parker. And whether Black Cat realized it or not, she knew a little bit of both. He acted his normal, goofy self around her a lot of the time. Plenty of times, he could feel his inherent trait of babbling like an idiot when he was around women kick in while with her.

He still cringed when he thought about the time when they were heading towards an illegal art deal, and he babbled a nice night. Like it was a date rather than something serious. And the worst part was that she saw the statement for what it was: nervousness. Nervousness that had no reason to be there.

"Come see me next time you're feeling down, alright?" Again, he remembered her words. Peter grabbed his mask and put it on before jumping out of his window. He figured talking to her might actually answer his problematic questions a little bit more. But he wanted to swing around for a bit. The rush of air kind of cleared his head a lot of times when he needed it, but this time, it did not seem to work as well.

"She's with the man she loves, and... well, I'm stuck. Stuck with nothing but my problems and conflicts with the rest of the world, few people in my corner. I may be a superhero, but I deserve to be happy too. But would I even be doing the right thing going after MJ? Some part of me feels more... alive when I'm with Cat," Peter thought, his mind starting to lead him one way.

"And you think that she would make you more happy with her than with MJ, who you've loved for the longest time?" another part of his mind said.

"A core part of the reason that MJ likes this guy is because he's there for her. We certainly can't be that person, but Cat knows. She's not out to need us when we have to stop a robbery or save someone from a burning building. If anything, she's right there alongside us," the first part of his mind said.

"Shouldn't you try to find someone more your speed?" Her words went through his mind again, and kind of gave him a push. He was going to figure this out one way or the other.

When he finally found Black Cat, he saw her leaning against a building close to one of MJ's acting billboards. He landed hard in front of her, and she immediately got off the wall to walk up to him. Suddenly, he felt a little more nervous now that he was actually in her presence.

"Hey," he said evenly with a wave. Though weirdly enough, his wave came off more... awkward than he would've liked it. Something strange about it.

"Hey. I was wondering if you were going to show up," she said with her arms crossed. She was giving him that look. The look that all women seemingly knew to force men into apologizing, regardless if they wanted to or not.

"I guess you had a point about the thing with the arms deal. I'm just the type who doesn't want to leave things to chance, you know?" Spider-Man said, looking at at the ground for a bit before looking back up at her. She couldn't see his face and he couldn't look her directly in the eye, but that did little to ease his apprehension.

"I'm not sure if I have to repeat myself about your issue of having fun again, but I'll go ahead and do it again. It's definitely say it's a problem. Let's face it. If you don't have fun doing this stuff, then you're going to drive yourself crazy," Black Cat told him. He didn't have a response to that, so he remained silent as his gaze slightly shifted away from her. "Ok... you look like you have more stuff on your mind. You may as well pay me to be your psychologist at this point."

"I always have a lot on my mind, because things are never simple with me," Spider-Man said, walking back and forth near the edge of the building. "I've been doing some thinking. I realized that I can't give up either side of who I am. Superhero and being normal. It would be easier, but it wouldn't be better." Black Cat sighed. She knew that would be the case, but it didn't hurt to try to convince him out of it.

"I figured that. It's your life," she said, refusing to feel down with herself as she shrugged. "If you feel that the normal life is you, then by all means, do it. But it's just not for me."

"Why is that?" Spider-Man asked, not even thinking about the question.

"What?" Black Cat asked, caught somewhat off guard.

"Why is it that you don't like the normal life? I mean, you said it was boring, but I can't help but feel it's something... more," Spider-Man asked.

"It's just not me Spider," Black Cat said.

"We were both people before we were what we are now, Cat. There's something that made you give it up," Spider-Man said.

"Why are you even asking me this stuff?" Cat said, trying to sound lighthearted. But Peter caught that hint of frustration. "What's done is done. You can't change the past, so why are you trying to change it now?"

"I just... want to know is all," Spider-Man said, starting to pace nervously again. This is where his awkwardness with talking to women was starting to kick in again.

"Why are you asking me anyway? What's so good about a normal life that makes you not want to give it up?" Black Cat asked. Spider-Man sat on the edge of the building while looking forward unconsciously.

"Family... Friends... That feeling of normalcy that lets me know that I can actually catch a break every once in a while," he listed off before turning around to look at her. "How about I show you?"

"Show me what?" Black Cat asked.

"What it's like to be normal for once. It may not be swinging across rooftops every day, but you'll find that it has a quaint feeling to it," Spider-Man said, holding up a hesitant hand. "Just try it. Once." Black Cat crossed her arms before looking back up at Spider-Man.

"Does this mean I'll actually get to see what you look like under the mask?" she asked, genuinely curious as to what he looked like underneath. She was equal parts excited and apprehensive.

"Yes. I mean, I know you wouldn't tell anyone. Right?" Spider-Man said, saying the last part hesitantly. Cat laughed at how apprehensive his voice sounded towards the end. But she waved an idle hand.

"Who am I gonna tell? Your secret's safe with me Spider. Besides, I'd never get to see you again if the man behind the mask was revealed to the world. I really wouldn't want that," Cat said with a purr in her tone.

"That's reassuring. Now one more thing..." Spider-Man trailed. Now this really got a frog in his throat. He was about to push this conversation to a subject that he was very scared of treading upon.

"Well, go on Spider. Cat got your tongue?" Cat said with a smirk.

"What am I to you?" The words came out in sort of a blurt; almost like he was declaring his undying love to her or something similarly corny. But the words had their effect. They got the message across.

"What do you mean, 'What do I mean to you?' Are you talking about as a partner, or..." Cat trailed.

"That's the road I'm thinking of, but a little curved. Just... what am I to you?" Spider-Man asked hesitantly.

"Is this your awkward way of asking do I love you?" Cat asked, noting at his strange behavior. Then she raised an eyebrow. "It is, isn't it?"

"No, I wouldn't say it's anything that extreme. But... I'm confused. The signals that I'm getting from you are kind of overwhelming. Let's just... clear the air," Spider-Man said.

Black Cat walked up to him and examined his body language as she stood close to him. Faintly, she could hear his breath catch. She looked at the way his shoulders rose and fell. Too fast to be calm; more on the erratic side. She could also see that he was looking down at her like he was trying to take all of her in at once. She was defintiely seeing some signs that he liked her, but she also knew he was pining after that normal girl that he seemed to like so much to the point of minor stalking.

"Are you suggesting what I think you are Spider?" Cat asked, her tone a husky one. She never quite used a tone quite as flirtatious as that one, but again, this was how she was probing him.

"I believe so?" Spider-Man asked, somewhat unsure about going through with this. Then Black Cat sighed.

"Ah, forget the foreplay," Black Cat said before pulling Peter's mask up halfway and kissing him full on the mouth. Something told him, something that was more advanced than Spider Senses told him that this was coming. Yet it somehow still managed to cause his body to stiffen, yet heat up slightly in pressure.

Peter awkwardly placed a hand on her back before moving into the kiss himself. His eyes closed beneath his mask, and his nerves felt tingly; like a wire with a small electric current had replaced his veins. With that, she deepened the kiss to where it was almost hungry. It was her way of claiming him; to make sure he would never forget how she was capable of lighting a fire in a man's blood.

"Is that what you were thinking of?" Black Cat said after she released his lips.

"Yes," Spider-Man said, sounding somewhat breathless as he pulled his mask back down.

"Then you've got yourself a start Spider. I'll see you around," Cat said with a small, flirty wave as she jumped from the rooftop and swung away.

"That... was really something," Peter said as he started swinging away. It took him a few moments to realize he was still smiling.


A/N: No, I'm not done.