A/N Again, forgive me. Yes, I did it. Just give the idea a chance. (You'll understand in aproimately five minutes.) R&R!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ultimate Spider Man. Only the characters Katherine and Margret.


CHAPTER7:

"Power Man, why did you want me to meet you all here?" Nick asked, slightly annoyed. "Have you found Danny yet?"

"No, sir, but we have someone you will probably want to talk to."

"Who?"

Power Man and Nova walked into the room and sat down at the table. Then, Peter put his hand on the small of Katherine's back and led her into the room. She carefully reached behind her head and untied the strings keeping her mask on.

"Uh, hello, director Fury," she said. Peter pulled off his mask just like his companions and led the girl inside the room.

"Who are you?" Nick asked.

"My name is… my name is Katherine Malince," she said.

"You're Katherine? The same Katherine that I tried to recruit to this team?"

"Yes."

"Welcome. I was really hoping you weren't dead. Did you get the things I sent to your office?"

"Yes, I did."

"And."

"I would be honored."

"Great, let's get started then."

"Uh, Katherine, why don't you sit down? I think we're going to be here for a while," Peter said.

"So, um, director Fury," Katherine said, "should I start from the beginning?"

"Actually, I know more than you all may think. I few weeks ago I was watching Rand Co. and I noticed that it was being controlled by someone. So, I did some digging and found out who could be doing that. I traced that feed right back to you. Your bank account was active, there were sightings of you by my agents.

I made a few calls and now I think I can answer some of your questions," Nick explained calmly. He was doing his very best not to intimidate this girl. He had plans and he could not scare her away.

"Like what?" she asked.

"I know why you are alive. I don't know all the facts though and I'm not even sure how it was possible. From how I understand it when you three fell that night your powers mixed. My contact explained it this way. You all were scared and it caused a reaction with your chi to create a net of sorts with magic. It caught you," he explained. "But, it only caught you and Margret if this theory is right." Nick had been in contact with Melindra, his contact in the Himalayas. She knew a lot about magic and how it worked. She explained everything, but even she said Ava had to be dead if she did not possess the same type of power source as Katherine and Margret.

"Go on Katherine," Sam said crossing his arms. "Tell Fury what you told us."

"First of all, you're right; at least I think you are, about how I lived. And second, Ava is alive."

Nick has been through everything. He is the spy. He is a legend. Nothing ever catches him off guard. That was until he heard those three words uttered.

"How?" he asked. "If I'm right about what happened, how could she have lived through a fall like that?"

"I can explain. But, first, we need to get Danny back here." Katherine reached into her bag and opened her laptop. "Can I hook this to your projector?" she asked.

Fury handed her a USB cord and she plugged it in. She clicked a few buttons. Then they were looking at quickly snapped pictures of Danny.

"These are the most recent I have. They're from this morning. From what I've gathered, he works through the night on the streets then stays in a hotel all day. After the incident with your three agents, he never stays in one place longer than a day at a time."

"How did you do this?" Nick asked.

"Skill," she answered with a smirk.

Everyone just laughed.

"So, this is where he is today?"

"Should be, unless he did something random and moved in the middle of the day. I'm pretty sure he's following this pattern though."

"So, Katherine, do you want to take this? See if you can talk him into coming back?" Fury asked. "But, the rest of the team will be coming with you for backup."

"I can try. Can I have a badge or something? When Sam tried to get into Daniel's office earlier his secretary wouldn't let him in."

"Yeah, I actually need to take you to the lawyer's office. There's some paperwork you need to sign."

"I'm sorry, but the peanut gallery over here is completely confused," Luke said.

"You didn't tell them?" Katherine asked Fury.

"Nope," he said to Katherine. To the boys he said, "I'd like to introduce you to the newest member of the Next Avengers, Black Sapphire. After Ava was supposedly killed, the council told me to get someone new in here to take her place. I found Katherine and asked her to come on. But, if we find Ava and she is alive, she can come back. There will just be six people rather than five on the team."

The three boys looked at each other then smiled at Katherine.

Peter stood and walked over to the girl. He threw an arm around her shoulders. "Welcome, and good luck, Black Sapphire."


Black Sapphire landed on the balcony of Danny's room at the hotel he was staying at that day. Spider Man was on the wall to the side of the glass door. Nova was floating next to him and Power Man was on the low rooftop right next to Danny's floor.

She could see Danny walking around in the small kitchen. His back was to her.

Black Sapphire stood there with her hands held behind her back waiting for him to turn around.

When he did, Danny nearly dropped the cup of coffee in his hand. He walked to the sliding glass door and opened it, letting the girl in.

"I swear, if this another stupid dream I might die." He said to her sitting down on the couch.

"Trust me, I'm real. I mean, if you have your doubts I can slap you," she answered.

"I'm good, thanks."

"That's what I thought."

"So, Katherine, what are you doing here and, more importantly, how are you alive?' he asked.

"For the second question, the same way Ava is alive. And for the first I want you to come back to S.H.I.E.L.D. with me," she answered.

"Oh, so now you work for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Danny asked bitterly.

"You know, you've gotten really rude."

"Sorry," he said with a glare. "And what do you mean the same way Ava is alive?"

"You know what I mean. Ava lived through that. You've known that since the day of her memorial service. And, to save you the breath it will take you to ask, yes, I have been following you. Nice job with the agents that were chasing you. That was actually pretty funny."

They both laughed at the memory.

Slowly, they fell into silence.

Finally, Danny broke it with a question. "If you're a superhero now, what's your name?"

"Black Sapphire."

Danny thought for a moment. "I like it." He turned in his seat to look at Katherine sitting with one leg folded under her and the other hanging off the couch. Danny looked her up in down. "What are you wearing?" he asked with an exasperated tone.

"Just a few alterations to my costume. I've been wanting to do this since I got to New York. I couldn't stand K'un-Lun's rule of complete modesty. It got annoying after a while. I also got my ears and navel pierced just to defy Lei Kung."

"That's nice," he answered laughing. "You're gonna get cold."

"I have another costume, daddy."

"You're sarcasm has gotten a lot worse."

"Hey, New York changes a girl. You are official avoiding what I said about S.H.I.E.L.D. aren't you?"

"Just a little."

"So, will you come with me?"

"No."

Black Sapphire sat there for a minute, thinking. "You really get annoying, has anyone ever told you that?"

"I can't go back right now and you know that. I'm a traitor remember?"

"Fury sent me here to get you here so you can rejoin the team and we can all find Ava together. You need us and you know it. You aren't a traitor. We just need you to come back. There are some things that you need to know."

"I may need you all but I can't accept the help. This is my fault and I have to fix this."

"You're stubborn too," Katherine said.

"I learned it from you."

"Funny."

Danny abruptly stood. "I don't have time for this. Just tell me what you know."

"I can't do that. You have to come back with me."

"No! I have some sense of pride! I can't go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and face my friends! I ran like a coward and now I can't take it back!" Danny yelled at Katherine.

Suddenly there was a dropping sound coming from the balcony and the rest of the team began to walk in through the open door with their hands up.

"We don't blame you," Spider Man said. "You had to face everyone giving you pity when you really didn't want it. Anyone would've left. But, if you believed Ava was alive, you should have told us."

Danny looked at the ground. "I don't even know if she is anymore myself," he said.

"She is! Is no one listening to me?" Black Sapphire said waving her arms in the air.

"Danny, dude, just come with us," Luke said. "Fury needs you to come back and there is a lot you need to know."

"So, Daniel, what do you say?" Black Sapphire asked.

They all stood in silence, waiting for his answer.

Finally, he sighed and said, "I'm not going to find her on my own."