A/N: My apologies to anyone who is looking for a Spidey/X-23 romance. That was what I intended to write when I started this story. But as I have progressed, It's become apparent that Peter would never be able to forgive Laura that much, even in fiction.

Chapter 10:

"Oh my god it's cold up here," Anya said with a shiver. It was the middle of the night, and Peter found himself sitting on a roof with the five members of his team. They had been given a tip about a possible drug deal involving the Kingpin's men, and Daredevil had sent them to investigate. So far, they hadn't found anything, and it was getting colder by the minute.

"I don't feel a thing," Liz offered with a wry smile. Dressed in a bright yellow outfit, Peter could tell she was not used to stake-outs or remaining hidden. In fact, she seemed to be a novice all-around, what did she do to get an invite to the academy? He thought as he suppressed a shiver.

"That's because you generate heat with your powers,"Anya replied bitterly, "spiders aren't supposed to be out in the cold like this, right Parker?"

"I'm fine," he said as he continued to scan the empty street for signs of action. He'd learned to ignore the cold a long time ago. Even on a bright, sunny midsummer's day, swinging through New York could be very cold. "It's not that cold out."

"Well good for you," Anya spat sarcastically, "how about you, X?...hey X?...X?" She asked, turning her head to face X-23, who had disappeared entirely. "Where the hell did she go?"

"I dunno," said Cassie in a whispered tone, "she was here five minutes ago."

"Maybe she had to go a take a leak," Liz offered as she shifted her feet in anticipation, "wouldn't be that surprising, we've been up here for at least three hours."

"And yet: nothing," Hulkling muttered under his breath, "you sure Daredevil made the right call?"

"He seemed sure," Cassie replied, "and he's got good sources, right? This is his turf." For the purpose of being covert, the entire team had requested that she do her best to remain at a 'normal' height of five foot five. A deal which she had grudgingly agreed to. Though, staying covert might be hard when one of us has a bright yellow outfit. And another has green skin.

"Unless the Kingpin knows who the rat is," Peter replied, receiving a series of agreeing grunts in response. "Then this could all be a trap," he finished.

"Great," Liz said sarcastically, "now I'm gonna be paranoid for the rest of the night. Thanks, Puny Parker." A small sigh escaped Cassie's lips, but there was no time to say anything, as a car pulled into the street. "Finally, some action!" Liz squeaked.

"Quiet!" Peter hissed as a van and another car pulled into the street on the other side. Four men got out of each car, and two came out of the van, carrying a large crate between them. The two groups met, exchanging words that they could not hear from their position.

"Stature," Peter whispered quietly, "you can shrink down, right?"

"Yeah..." Cassie replied softly, "but why would..."

"Do it," he said, turning to face her "get in close, so we can hear what they're saying."

"No need," said Liz, as she tapped Peter on the shoulder and pointed to the street. He followed her arm and saw one of the men open the crate. Even though it was dark, he could make out was inside.

"That's some heavy firepower," Peter whispered as he edged closer to the edge of the roof, "way beyond what the local police have access to."

"Let's take them!" Liz said eagerly as she began to move forward in anticipation. "Now, before they get away!"

"We can't," Hulkling cut in as he placed an arm across her chest. "they haven't broken the law yet. So we can't do anything."

"Haven't broken..." Liz muttered as she shrank back to where she had been before, "they're selling guns! In the middle of the night! What more proof do we need?" She finished as the men on the street began exchanging handshakes.

"Not until they've actually sold them," Peter said tersely, biting his lip as the tension built up in the air. "other than that, it's just a midnight gun-show."

"Well tell X-23 that," Hulkling said as he pointed to the corner of one of the buildings. Peter was just able to make out her outline as she skirted closer to the men.

"Fuck," Peter swore as she burst forward, charging the men. "Move!" He shouted as he leaped off the side of the building, followed by Anya and Cassie as Hulkling somehow grew a pair of wings and took to the sky alongside Liz.

"Shit!" one of the men shouted as Peter landed on his shoulders, sending him to the ground. Bullets erupted around him, forcing Peter to roll to the side out of the way. Using quick deduction, he saw the man holding an automatic assault rifle. Luckily, the man had turned his back on Peter, instead focusing his attention on Anya, who had reverted to an armoured form. Peter promptly tackled the man and webbed up the barrel of the gun as as third man was thrown high into the air by Cassie.

Two more where tackled mid-dive by Hulkling as Liz encircled three more in a ring of fire. Peter snagged two more with lines of webbing as a scream tore the night. Peter instantly turned to face the source of the sound. He was faced with Laura pulling her claws from a man's chest, causing blood to spray everywhere as rage built up in his body, forcing Peter into a football tackle.

His body crashed against Laura's, sending her to the ground as he landed a punch to her face. The fore of his restrained blow shattered her jaw and splintered her nose. He was preparing for a follow-up attack when she kicked him off with a feral snarl. He was about to recover his attack by kicking her in the face when hands grabbed his arms tightly. He watched as Hulkling wrapped his arms around Laura, effectively stopping their brawl.

And that's when he saw his mistake. The first man, who Peter had managed to web, was making a break for it down the street. Forgetting his rage for the moment, Peter escaped the arms holding him back and took off after the man as he skidded around a corner. Peter followed him around the corner, coming face-to-face with twenty men aiming rifles at him.

"Shoot him!" one man shouted. But he was to late, half a second after he had spoken, a titanic foot crashed down, sending out a shock-wave that sent everyone but Peter to the pavement. Hulkling charged past Peter, knocking six of the men over like bowling pins as they attempted to rise.

His spider-sense blared as more gunfire exploded around his feet, coming from the rooftop. Screeching tires alerted him to three cars pulling into the street, blocking it off. More cars pulled in on the other side. And judging by the louder gunshots, the men on the roof where using high-calibre rifles. He webbed six men on the roof, but they where soon replaced by...

"STATURE, GET DOWN!" Peter shouted as one of the men aimed what looked like a rocket launcher at the thirty-foot superhero. He fired a hail of webbing at the men carrying rocket launchers as Cassie reduced herself to an above-average height as Liz blasted the cars on one end of the street with a ball of fire.

One of Anya's whips shot past his body and snagged itself on a man's leg. With a quick tug, she pulled him to the ground before engaging another in a quick fistfight. A series of screams and horrible slashing sounds echoed in his ears as X-23 ran past, her extended claws dripping with blood.

A buzz filled his ears as he saw a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Twin lances of light shot out from the tiny blur, and seconds later Daredevil leaped down off one of the roof tops. Brandishing his billy club, he took out four men in a flash, with the Wasp bringing down the last in a flurry of shots. The night became still as the eight heroes gathered in a small circle in the centre of the street.

"I did say you where supposed to be discreet, right?" Daredevil said in a flustered tone. "That doesn't mean wake up half of the city."

"We where going for that angle," Peter snapped, "until someone charged them outright, blowing our cover," he finished as he threw a glance at X-23.

"No one ordered you to get involved," Daredevil replied sharply, "and according to the data recorders I planted on each of you, someone failed to take charge from the start."

"It was a strait forward operation," Cassie said, crossing her arms. "We all knew our places."

"But you clearly didn't all have the same operation in mind," Wasp said calmly. "A house divided cannot stand. You did well under the circumstances, but nowhere near perfect."

"So that's why, when you all get back here on Monday, we'll be running over basic combat situational awareness," Said Daredevil as he holstered his club. "Knowing how to fight means nothing if you don't know what's happening around you."

"Until then, go home if you wish. Rest up, spend time with your families," Wasp said calmly as she placed a hand on Daredevil's shoulder. "Just be sure to report in every day." She finished before walking off with Daredevil, leaving the team to their own devices. Peter already took notice of the fact that X-23 had left without notifying anyone.

"Well I gotta get across New York," Liz said as she re-ignited herself. "peace out!" she said before shooting into the air, leaving a trail of fire behind her as she travelled along her trajectory. Hulkling also took the opportunity to bow out.

"I'll be making my exit now to," he said as his skin changed from green to flesh coloured. Seconds later, he disappeared into the long shadows of the night.

"Yeah, I kinda promised my mom I'd give her a call," Anya said with a wry smile, "And one of the conditions of my hero work is I get home by eleven, so I'm probably already in shit, see you later!" she said as she leaped onto a roof and tore off, leaving Peter and Cassie alone in the night. And that didn't last very long, as Cassie began to wander off as she resumed her self-described normal height of five foot five.

"Where do you think you're going so quickly?" Peter asked as he broke into a quick jog to catch up with her.

"Home," Cassie replied as they walked side-by side down the dark street, past the flaming wreckage of the cars. "Aren't you?"

"So far it seems to be in the same direction you're going in," he shot back with as much wit he could muster. His wit didn't earn him a response, so he pressed onwards with his words. "That was a pretty awesome move back there," he said with a half-grin under his mask.

"What, tossing a guy with one hand?" she replied dryly.

"No," he said, "the mega-curb stomp back there. Probably saved my life"

"Oh," she said, sounding a little shy, "that was Anya's idea. She saw where you where heading and started shouting at me." Once more, Peter saw her frame shrink slightly by an inch.

"Still saved my life," he replied as the two of them slipped into a back alley. "So I guess I should be thanking you. So I will."

"Shouldn't it be me thanking you?" Cassie offered with a slightly shaky voice. "That rocket would've killed me."

"And you wouldn't have been in their cross-hairs if I hadn't been an idiot and run right into a trap," Peter cut in as they reached a wall. He leaped halfway up and turned to face her, "You coming?" he asked, offering her a hand, "you'll get less ogling eyes up here."

"Thanks," she said with a weak smile as she took his hand, and he pulled them both onto the roof. "But I could've just grown a tad bit and done it myself." She finished as she dusted herself off and they both continued their walk.

"You could have," he said with a slight shrug of his shoulders. "and how do you do that by the way? Where you born with the ability? Some lab accident?"

"I dunno," she said, "I was raised by my mum. My Dad never had much to do with my life. So he could be a mutant. And so could I, but I dunno."

"You just woke up with the ability to grow big one day?" Peter joked, noting the similarity with his own origins.

"Well I didn't 'wake up' with the ability," Cassie scoffed, "but that doesn't really matter, does it? It just sort of happened one day. End of story."

"Okay," Peter said as he saw his house come into view. "Second question that's been bugging me, then. How do your clothes get bigger? Shouldn't they rip and stuff?"

"Normal clothes will, but this is a special suit," Cassie replied casually, "Reid Richards himself gave it to me. Said it was made of unstable molecules. It grows with me. Unless I grow to big to quick, then it'll tear. It's an imprecise technique that I haven't mastered yet. Hell, I ripped the back while prepping for that 'mega-curb stomp.'" She finished by indicating to the exact spot, right in the middle of her back. Peter could just see a flashing sliver of skin as she walked.

"Well that's a shame," he offered, "such a nice outfit to."

"I learned to sew," she smiled.

"An essential skill for any superhero," he said as they parted ways. Before he knew it, he was outside his window. He slipped is fingers over the latch and silently pushed his bedroom window open. As silent as a whisper, he slipped his clothes off and got into something more comfortable before slipping into his bed for the night.