K. So I made some Updates to the early chapters. Katia is now Scottish not British. Not a super big change. More for the aesthetic than the plot but… you know… we'll see.

Warnings: Action. Spidey and Katia kick butt. Minor Panic Attack

Chapter 24: Surprise Party

Katia surveyed the side of the building the suspicious group had entered. She stood on the roof looking down. The teen huffed beneath her mask. She needed to figure out where in the building the small posse was. Katia knelt down and placed her hand on top of the roof, fingertips pressed onto the concrete.

Time to see if the latest upgrade doesn't blow up on me. Katia mused. If it does I'm gonna punch you, Amber.

The redhead closed her eyes and focused. She reached for the energy that always seemed to be brimming beneath the surface of her skin. Directing a small portion outward, she sent an invisible wave out and through the building, undetectable by humans. It echoed back and Katia listened. She could feel- it almost was like seeing- the entire building and its inhabitants. The bracers on her wrists glowed a faint light teal as she stood. The trespassers were already in an apartment on the fourth floor.

Katia stretched and then stepped closer to the edge of the roof. Alrighty, let's get this over with. She jumped and landed deftly on the fire escape below. Katia swiftly made her way down the side of the building to the fourth floor. She could still sense the aftershocks of her little energy wave, so the redhead followed them to the window of the apartment the shady dudes were in. Katia discretely peered in, making sure she didn't cast a shadow through the blinds. Her glamour should keep people from noticing her at all, but one could never be too careful.

There were five members of the group. They were going through the small apartment, rifling through the drawers and cupboards, occasionally pulling out an item or two. Katia narrowed her eyes. Unless it was an odd precursor to a surprise birthday party, they were definitely thieves. The teen surveyed the apartment itself. It was sort of bare already, even without the current ransacking. The couch was slumped and the kitchen linoleum was peeling and Katia was pretty sure the carpet had seen better days, but it was clean and fairly tidy. Whoever was living there definitely wasn't Tony Stark or anywhere near as rich.

One of the thieves stumbled slightly and then picked up the object they had tripped on.

A small stuffed giraffe.

Katia's eyes darted to the three or so pictures on the far wall. A lovely woman with chestnut skin and dark curls smiled back with two equally beautiful children. A boy of about eight and a girl of no more than three. There were no other adults in any of the pictures.

Really? Of all the places to rob, you chose the single mom? Disgusting. Katia fumed.

She knew it was time to actually do something about this awful injustice.

Katia could sneak in as carefully as possible, but it would be seconds before they noticed her, so stealth was not the biggest priority. What was a priority was making sure none of the perps got away and then causing the least amount of damage possible. She didn't want the small family to have to pay for anything broken in the process of fighting. Speed was of the essence.

Swiftly sliding the window open, Katia slipped into the apartment and immediately crouched, ready. She was about to lunge forward at the nearest thug when the door flew open. A red and blue shape flew in and kicked one of the thieves in the chest, tossing them into the cupboards and knocking them out.

"Don't you guys know that stealing isn't nice?" Spiderman joked as he jumped up.

Katia's eyes widened as she heard breaking glass inside the cupboard. Oh no you IDIOT. KEEP THE DAMAGE TO A MINIMUM.

"Oi!" She barked at him. "That was probably their only set of nice plates!"

Spidey spun around. "What?"

Katia rolled her eyes and went to attack the man a few feet from her who was hurriedly trying to stuff decorations from the coffee table into a backpack. She was suddenly stopped by a web to the hand. She stared in unbelief at Spiderman as he pulled on the web, attempting to fling her towards him. She countered by pulling back, launching the unsuspecting hero towards her. He yelped, let go of the web, and landed clumsily a few feet from where he'd been.

"What's your deal?!" Katia fumed.

"You're a thief! Duh!" Spidey shot back, slightly petulant.

The horrible realization struck Katia in the face. "Ffffffrick."

"I don't have time for this!" Katia said, the stress evident in her voice. She ducked a web shot at her face.

"YEAH? Well you'll have plenty of time in jail!" Spidey quipped. He wasted no time in sending a barrage of webs her way. Katia growled and dove out of the way. She did NOT want to fight both the webhead and the thugs.

The hooded redhead delivered a swift kick to one of the thugs knees as she ducked a web. She rolled out of the way and Spidey webbed up the one she'd kicked down.

"I'm not a thief, you idiot!" Katia snapped.

"Then why are you stealing?" Peter sassed as he leapt onto the ceiling.

"I'M NOT!"

"Well unless this is a surprise birthday party, it sure looks like stealing."

Katia groaned internally. You are such a smart hero but you're also the most oblivious person on the face of the planet.

She'd have to use this unfortunate miscommunication to her advantage. It was far too much work to try and convince him otherwise.

Spiderman leapt at Katia, throwing his momentum into a punch. Katia dodged and the punch landed in the face of a thug that had tried to creep up behind her. The thief went down instantly. A series of rapidfire punches and webshots flew from Spidey's hands. Katia blocked and redirected each shot as quickly as he could dish them out. Soon enough the apartment was covered in webs and Spiderman was visibly frustrated.

The thieves were mostly webbed in place, with one desperate fellow in the corner violently wriggling his legs, trying to tear off the webs that had his feet glued to the floor.

"I guess it would be useless to ask you to STAND STILL!" the vigilante quipped as Katia dodged yet another punch.

Spidey lept back, shooting two webs at Katia's torso. These ones connected and the hero yanked hard, launching himself towards her. Katia grunted as his feet slammed into her chest. She flew back and crashed through a wooden door. Splinters of wood flew everywhere. Squinting through her mask lenses and the dust, Katia had barely enough time to react before Spidey came flying in once again. The girl on the ground threw up her hands just in time to block a kick that was aimed for her face. She retaliated with a quick jab to his thigh and pulled his heel towards her, putting him off balance. The red and blue hero yelped as he fell backward. Katia leapt to her feet and attempted to jump over her opponent to make her escape.

Oh shoot, that was a mistake she realized as Spidey's legs shot up. His feet connected squarely with her gut and she flew backward into the bathroom. Katia gave a small gasp as her left shoulder blade connected with the showerhead, breaking it clean off as she tumbled painfully into the small bathtub. Freezing water gushed down onto her as soon as she landed.

She gasped.

Darkness

Her muscles seized up in shock.

Cold cold darkness

She wasn't in the little apartment anymore.

She was floating in the cold dark. So so cold. Her lungs were on fire. She couldn't- she couldn't breathe- she couldn't br-

She was numb and on fire and everything and nothing.

Oh norns it was cold.

Peter watched as the thief lady seized up in the tub. Anyone would be in shock after being blasted by that much freezing water, but she seemed to have an unusually long reaction. Oh well. That's what you get for being a criminal, creepy lady.

He shot a web at the broken pipe, stemming the flow to a drizzle. He webbed the lady's hands and feet to the sides of the tub and bounded out the door.

The one thug in the corner was no longer there and the bag from earlier was missing.

Spidey swore and bolted out into the hallway.

He had a thief to catch.

Alright. That's all for now. Next chapter is gonna be fun.

Tell me whatcha think.

Review plz.