AN: Ahhh. The end to Arc 2. I really like the way this chapter turned out. It is hopefully something that you all have been waiting for and I know that this will be a solid ending for this arc. Big Thanks as always to NeoTyson, Cellgress, Highlander, and kobevilla, I always wait with bated breath for your input and support.
Chapter 10
Spider-Man and Black Cat swung away from the church. The flashing red and blue light from the police cruisers that were on route to the crime scene. The two may have had the adoration of many of the law abiding citizens of New York City, but unlike the two officers that arrested the Dogs of Hell and the Rolling Sevens Gang, there was the occasional police officer that would arrest them for assault burglary, and vandalism. There were too many incoming sirens for the two to risk not running into a…highly dedicated officer of the law.
Several blocks later the phone in Peter's belt pinged, alerting him to a text message. He landed on a nearby roof with a soft 'thump' and pulled out the electronic communication device. Peter gazed at the screen to see who had sent him a message, and what they wanted.
Peter. Could I stop by your place tomorrow morning for coffee to discuss something with you in private? –Aunt May.
"Aunt May wants to meet up tomorrow morning." Spider-Man explained, showing Black Cat the text.
"Oh." Black Cat said. "Well looks like you're staying at your place tonight." She said as she stretched her hands above her head.
"You're not comin' over?" Spider-Man said. His tone was neutral, but his face was crestfallen behind his mask.
"No." Black Cat said. "My place is closer and this cat is ready for a nap." She explained. "Besides. She wants a private conversation."
"Alright." Spider-Man pulled up a portion of his mask and kissed her on the lips.
"Call me after work tomorrow. Okay?"
"Sure. Night babe."
"Night Spider."
Spider-Man texted a confirmation to his Aunt May, and jumped off the ledge to swing away back to his apartment, leaving his girlfriend to make her own way home. While swinging he was thinking about how proud that Black Cat had conquered at least some of her insecurities. At the art show last night, Felicia had been too scared to fight, but just a few minutes ago she got into a fight with what looked to be a swarm of demon inside a satanic ritual sight. In less than a day, she had conquered her fear of the paranormal, at least to the point where she was able to fight back. That was the thing that Spider-Man knew what counted in a fight. You can be scared of anything, but so long as you had the will to do what was right and fight, you could win.
Spider-Man agreed with the lesson his Uncle Ben taught him that with great power comes great responsibility, but he had learned himself that great power does not count for anything if you are not willing to take action. He liked to think that his Uncle Ben would have been proud of the fact that he was willing to use his powers, especially when he was scared.
Spider-Man reached his apartment, stuck to an outside wall, and opened a window to enter. His bedroom was dark from unused over the past two days. The stale smell of old laundry indicated that he would need to do some cleaning tomorrow.
He took of his mask to look around and examine the work that needed to be done. "Great." Peter mumbled to himself as he took off the rest of the Spider Armor.
He walked out of his bed room and looked around. The remains of the breakfast that Aunt May had cook when she visited a few day ago had yet to be cleaned from the counter. "Double great." Peter groaned. No way would he get out of that mess. He need to clean up tonight.
Peter woke up to a doorbell echoing through the empty space of his apartment. The ding dong, ding dong was pleasant to hear, but its presence just as annoying as an alarm clock on a Monday morning. Peter looked over to his charging phone and saw that it was just after 7:30 AM.
"Damn." He said to himself. "BE RIGHT THERE AUNT MAY!" he shouted as loud as necessary.
Peter quickly scrambled over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants and a blue t-shirt. The ring of the bell kept up at a slow but steady pace. Indicating that the person behind knew he was coming, but was going to be persistent in announcing their presence until he arrived to welcome them in. It was very much Aunt May's passive aggressive way of getting him to do what she wanted.
Peter bolted to the front door and opened it. Outside was Aunt May in a beige sweatshirt and blue jeans and tennis shoes.
"Peter. Good morning sleepyhead." Aunt May said with cheer.
"Morning Aunt May. Come on in." He said, stepping aside of the doorway.
Aunt May walked in and looked around the entry way. She noted that the dished were washed, and drying on the rack in the kitchen. There was no laundry in the TV area. The table in the dining area seemed washed and free of crumbs. The air still smelled musty and of cooked food.
"You cleaned?" Aunt May asked surprised.
"Yeah. A little, after you asked to come over." He said, shrugging his shoulders.
Aunt May walked over to the coffee machine, and turned it on. There was water as well as coffee grounds already in the machine, so it promptly started percolating and brewing.
"Is Felicia here?" Aunt may asked, continuing to look around.
"Nah. She's at her place." Peter said, sitting down at the breakfast bar.
"Good. I actually wanted to talk about her." Aunt May said, turning to face him at the counter.
"Ugh." Peter groaned.
"Peter. That's impolite." She critiqued. Aunt May pulled two coffee cups out of a cupboard, and then creamer out of the refrigerator.
"You know that I'm going to talk with her about this conversation if it's about her, right?" He questioned.
"Yes. I imagine you would. Part of the reason for the conversation."
"What are you talking about?"
The coffee maker dinged, announcing that it was done brewing. Aunt May reached for the pot, and poured the cups with creamer.
"What you said to me when I was here, about you being able to see a future with Felicia. That stuck with me. That's the first time I can recall you saying that about a woman. Even when you were head over heels for Gwen Stacy, you were hopeful for a future, but not certain. Felicia seems to be different to you." Aunt May surmised.
"Okaaaayyyyy?" Peter stated confused. "What do you want to know?"
"Tell me everything from the beginning." Aunt May said.
"Okay. I met Felicia at a charity banquet. The Bugle's regular human interest photographer was sick, so I got to cover down. Wore a suit and everything."
Spider-Man had met Black Cat a few days prior on top of a jewel shop. There had bring a string of high end thefts that had brought Spider-Man's attention to area.
"We were the only two people under thirty, so naturally, we got to talking. We mostly talked about ourselves, but we had lots of fun talking."
Black Cat flirted with him. She said that they would make an incredible power couple. They could have so much fun together she had said.
"Because the regular reporter was down for a while, I got to cover his stories, and we kept running into each other. Got to know each other pretty well."
Black Cat had gotten away the first time. But he had gotten her modus operandi. He was able to catch her in the act of stealing valuable jewels and art several more times over the next few weeks.
"Turs out her passion was art. She saw it as a way to educate people about culture. On top of that she was fun and exciting, at least she was to me. Mainly that because everyone else was a rich old person who worked in an office all day, and she investigated the authenticity of art, and appraised it. Turns out she had a working understand of forensic science when it came to art."
Black Cat went after hard targets. Priceless art. High end security systems. Things most other people would do a smash and grab to acquire, she could steal with minimal intrusion.
"I met up with her at a demonstration by Wilson Fisk for one of his charity events. She had a donation, Bugle sent me for pictures."
Black Cat had been stealing for The Kingpin. Kingpin had kidnapped her father who was a highly skilled thief. The massive man was making Black Cat steal to pay a ransom, but had double crossed her, and tried to kill him. When she found out, she reached out to Spider-Man to help get the stolen jewels and art back and bring him to justice.
The heist went almost flawlessly, until the explosion and the disappearance of Black Cat's father. Black Cat and Spider-Man barely escaped. The jewels were already stolen, but they had saved the art at least. Black Cat did manage to lift a diamond necklace though, but it was one that her father had left in his cell that was meant for her, so Spider-Man let Black Cat keep it.
"She was wearing this black dress that was absolutely captivating with this simple diamond necklace her father had given her."
Peter saw the necklace and recognized it. He put together then that Felicia Hardy was The Black Cat.
"I asked her out later, said I'd bring her on the best date of her life." Peter said proudly.
Peter took her out for coffee that night and said that she needed energy. Felicia though that he was being seductive. When they went back to her place, she went to change, but when she came back, Peter was in his black spider outfit.
"You weren't kidding about the best date of my life were you?" She asked in a skimpy black nightie. She was grinning, she had just put together that Spider-Man was Peter Parker.
"As good as that looks on you, you look better in skintight leather." He had responded.
"When we get back Spider, you'll see how good my leather looks on the floor."
The two busted up an armored car hold up, and two muggings before going back to her place that night.
Aunt May had listened to Peter recount the non-super hero story. "Wait…you asked her out?" she asked in disbelief.
"Well…yeah."
Aunt May could see now how much Peter had gone through to win Felicia over. He had never done that with any other woman. Gwen was the one to ask him out. And May was the one to set him up with Mary Jane. Peter had won Felicia over all by himself though. Though she didn't outright approve of Felicia, she could see now that Peter had put in too much work for her to ruin the relationship between Felicia and Peter, or Peter and herself.
Aunt May set down her coffee and reached across the counter and held Peter's hand. "I see now. Peter. I promise. I will work harder to improve the relationship between myself and Felicia. Lord knows that you have been working to have a strong with her."
"That's all I want Aunt May." Peter said and smiled. Maybe this was the turnaround point he had been waiting for.
AN: So how do you all like my modified take on how Felicia and Peter wound up together? I'm gonna take a short break and finish up my Agent Venom Story. Then I'm gonna write the story boards for Arc 3. In the meantime, tell me what you all liked more as far as pacing went. The more drawn out events of Arc 1 that took place over a couple days and was had more conversation, or the more action oriented style of Arc 2 that pretty much took place in one evening? This will allow me to tool with the next arc's pacing into something that you will all like. Fell free to PM me with as much input as you desire before I start the next arc for the best results. Stay Classy everyone.
NoirValor - June 2016
