quick A.N: A bit of context: Throughout this chapter, Felicia's hair is referred to as 'locs'. This is referring to the type of hairstyle called 'faux locs' or 'goddess locs' that is popular with Black women in NYC. Though her hair is still the classic Felicia white.

If you want a closer image to the way Felicia styles her hair, check out Chloe Bailey's Met Gala 2021 look. Okay, enjoy!

So I heard the bad news
Nobody likes me and I'm gonna die alone
In my bedroom
Looking at strangers on my telephone

Well, wouldn't you-
Wouldn't you like if I believed those words?
If I'm born to lose
I'll never try and I will never learn but,

11:48pm - New Years Day 2025 - Trust-A-Bro Outpost

"Now exactly how are we doing this again?" Kate asked, overlooking the Trust-A-Bro outpost from her perch on the roof. The garage was a hot-spot of activity, green and yellow moving trucks shuttling Tracksuits to and from their operations.

For them, the battle at 30 Rockefeller Center had been nothing more than a momentary disruption. Even with Elanor's arrest and Echo's departure behind them, Kingpin's operations seemed to surge forward, his men back to handling their business under the shady safety of night.

"You're the Avenger, aren't you supposed to know?" Felicia asked.

Kate scoffed, looking over at her companion, expression shocked. "Well, being an Avenger doesn't mean I know everything. Plus, Avengers work in teams! We need to work as a team." She reasoned, and Felicia rolled her eyes, setting in her ear piece.

This was not a new venture. Kate and Felicia had been playing vigilante for years. A lot had happened since that day the Asgardian Loki had opened a wormhole over Manhattan. The Snap had wiped half the city clean, along with the heroes who had protected it. It had only been a matter of time before the two of them had put their years of training and competing to work.

It was only recently that Kate had made the 'big leagues' though. Now she was an honorary Avenger. Not that Felicia was jealous, or anything.

People like Kate Bishop and Felicia Hardy were just meant to be heroes, even if it was a word that Felicia would never use for herself. People like them were just meant to do . And for that, they had their idols to thank. It was the thing that had united them to from the start.

They'd been like that since they were children, no matter where they had came from. Both Kate and Felicia knew what it was like to be in danger, to be hopeless. They knew what it was like to need a hero. And that's why they did what they did, even if their methods were a little unorthodox.

But it had taken them years to go from fighting each other in dojos and classes, to finally deciding to do something with those black belts and gymnastics awards. It took half of the world disappearing and the city going to shit before they decided to be heros instead of victims, back during those five years when there was no Spider-Man or Hawkeye to save them. They had to be the change.

And the rush had never worn off. And now here they were, a trained Avenger and a cat burglar.

"Look," Felicia said. "You just play security, and I'll go do my thing and slip those files right out. Watch, I bet we'll be back home in time to watch an episode of Riverdale or something. Whatever's on that computer in there, some of those files have to lead us to Kingpin." Felicia shrugged, pulling her mask over the bottom of her face.

"Simple enough," Kate figured. "The Tracksuits are idiots. And that Kazi guy is dead so.." And yet no signs of Maya.

"You know you should really get a mask though," Felicia suggested. "I mean you already got the whole superhero get-up. Makes no sense to run around with your face all out. Spider-man doesn't have his face all out, he wears a mask-"

"Hawkeye doesn't wear a mask, that's not Hawkeye's thing!" Kate laughed, swatting at Felicia's arm, just as down in the street below, a signature green van pulled into the outpost. Felicia shushed her a bit, leaning over the edge of the building in order to count out the Tracksuits.

"That's my cue?" Felicia asked, as she could hear the signature sound of Kate readying her bow.

"Yup. Go get 'em tiger." Kate told her, trick arrows at the ready, grinning as she watched Felicia tuck her shock white faux locs into her hood.

"Don't die." Kate advised Felicia.

"I won't."

Felicia figured men like Kingpin didn't need that much security, because it was something the Tracksuits severely lacked. But what the Tracksuits lacked in brain cells, they made up for in audacity and violence. Infiltrating the shitty warehouse and extracting the files would be the easy part. The hard part was going to be getting out.

'Hows it looking in there?' Kate's voice crackled to life in her ear as Felicia crept her way up the exterior fire escapes, easily letting herself in through the roof entrance.

The Trust-A-Bro's busing depot was just like every other outpost they had in the city.

"Lots of idiot Russians making bad fashion decisions, so what's new?" Felicia told her, creeping through the back halls of the warehouse. "Point me to the security room, Lady Hawkeye, that's where I'm heading."

'Why not the laundry room? You could get a disguise, lot simpler that way.' Kate said, because to her, it just made sense.

"No need, I have the mask." Felicia snickered. "Besides, I'm not here to chit-chat with anybody. Just get me to the security room and I can do what I do best."

For a moment, she could hear Kate hesitate in her ear. 'I'm kinda nervous to ask what it is you think you 'do best'.' Kate said.

Felicia chuckled, and she found herself along a perch overlooking the open area of the parking garage. Dozens of box trucks, littered with the signature green and yellow Trust-A-Bro logo, dozens of gas canisters, dozens of Tracksuits scheming around tables, drinking themselves stupid and playing cards.

"Then just watch me," Felicia whispered.

Finally, Kate caved. 'You're heading to the third floor, one below you right now. West wing, gray door at the end of the hall, only one without a number on it.'

Although Kate couldn't see it, a smile curled on Felicia's face.

"Thank you, bestie~"

Felicia scoffed, looking over the Tracksuit's security system. The room was full of clunky computer cabinets, running through cycles of blurry, monochromatic security footage. Just by sight of it, she figured most of it alone was older than her. The only thing of this decade seemed to be the half-drunken bottle of vodka next to the keyboard, no doubt the past time of some sorry excuse for a security guard. "Exactly how rich is Kingpin again?" she asked.

'I don't know.' Kate sighed, 'Rich enough to pay out my mom, I guess.'

"And yet he has his employees running around in Squid Game cosplay and an operating on Windows XP? Kind of sad." Felicia said, shaking her head as she looked around the decrepit room. It looked like it hadn't been touch in years, as if the IT guy had been snapped and just never come back.

Felicia sunk into the pleather desk chair, inserting the flash drive into the nearest USB port. "This is gonna take awhile. How we looking on security, K?"

What came back was a groan. 'Nooothing, they're just fucking around like they usually do.' Kate said over the wire, and Felicia could almost hear the pout in her voice. 'But that guy I was telling you about, the one with the Imagine Dragons tickets? I think he's with his girlfriend on the second floor by the window and they're so cute!'

Felicia snickered at her best friend, and it was like she was still up there on the roof with her. "You should be a relationship guru, seriously." Felicia told her.
"Since you're Hawkeye now they might even invite you to their wedding." she said, uncapping the vodka and taking a swig as the files began emptying themselves into the drive.

"Oo-oo! Look, the SpideyWatch twitter is posting. Seems like we're not the only heros on duty." Felicia said, giddy as she kicked her legs up on the desk.

Kate scoffed in her ear. 'I cannot believe you still follow that account, Fe. Don't you get enough of your fill from the Bugle?' she asked, her words falling on deaf ears.

Felicia went on, eyes alight as she scrolled through the 'SpideyWatch' hashtag. 'Says here there was just a spotting near Union Square! He snatched a baby outta traffic,"

'Oh, that's actually not too far from here.' Kate said.

"I know. Maybe after this we can 'swing' by and give him a hand." Felicia smiled, sitting forward at just the thought, the two of them touching down just in time to help Spidey take down a wave of goons.

Kate shook her head. This was something Felicia proposed often, and yet, Kate couldn't blame her. It had become a running gag for them all these years, to fantasize and theorize about what they'd do, if they'd just jump in one time.

The only difference was Kate had gotten her wish. She had gotten her moment. Felicia hadn't.

'Spider-man doesn't even know we exist,' Kate reminded her.

"Yeah, But he could," Felicia said. If they just tried once, he could. "Oh- Shit."

Kate swallowed thickly. 'What is it? Tracksuits getting kinda antsy down here.' And from her perch on the opposite roof, she could see the men stir, sitting forward in their seats.

Around her, the security screens cut to black, and Felicia rolled her eyes, watching as the main screens reset to the Windows logo, blinking back to life one by one. "Nothing, I think the system just crashed. Doesn't matter, it's old as shit anyway. Just give it time to restart."

Kate hesitated, tightening her bow at the ready. Still, the Tracksuits stirred, looks of irritation etched on their faces. 'I think they're looking at their phones. Did the wifi cut out or something?'

Felicia sat forward once more, pausing for a moment before she swiveled in her chair, eyes searching for the router. For a moment she was unsure it was even in here, until the tiny black box identified itself by blinking back to life, but not completely.

Felicia stood, lifting the box. As she fiddled with the wires to no avail, an orange warning light on the router was the only indicator that could alert her to it's malfunction.

"Shit," Felicia cursed.

'Fe', They're coming to check, handle it, please.' Kate warned, as Felicia turned back to the computer screens. The computer had rebooted out of the system, and now they were locked out.

"Shit, shit. It's asking for an admin password. I don't really don't have time for this shit right now." Felicia swallowed, sitting down in the chair once more. She could crack it and get the router back online if she needed, but not in two seconds she couldn't.
'Fe', second floor. Make a move or I'm letting loose.' Kate warned.

Felicia took a deep breath, trying to focus, but she could hear the heavy thud of footsteps coming up the metal steps. She swiveled in her chair, nearly knocking over the open bottle of vodka in the process. Her eyes searched for something, anything she could fashion into a weapon. She could hear the sound of her heart beating in her ears, and finally her eyes came to rest on the fuse box on the wall.

That would work.

Felicia stood, swinging open the door to the box, and grabbing the bottle of vodka, she broke it across the fuse panels, sending shards of glass flying.

The lights cut out.

In an instant, Felicia was swallowed in darkness, the computer screens going black around her. She could hear the lights flicker and shut down room by room as the Tracksuits erupting into a chatter of confusion and shouting. She'd bought herself time, but that hadn't been the point. Felicia had bought herself something far more valuable: The element of darkness. The element of surprise.

Felicia found she always played well in the dark.

'Fe!' Kate's voice hissed in her ear. 'Not what I meant! I'm an archerer, I kind of need light to see.' Kate reminded her, as Felicia snatched the flash drive from the USB port. There was no use cracking the system now, not with the Tracksuits on their way up the stairs, but she'd take what she could get, and get the hell out of there. 'I'm coming in after you.' Kate said.

" No, I'll handle this." Felicia whispered harshly. "When the system rebooted it didn't erase what was already uploaded. Something on this drive has to lead to Kingpin." She said, tucking herself behind the door. Crouched in the darkness, she waited for the Russian lackeys to make their way to her.

"It is just outage, bro. Relax-"

"No, it is not an outage, I am telling you."

Felicia held her breath, listening to the accent-laden bickering outside of the door. "Kate?" she whispered. "If all goes south, do me a favor and cause a scene."

From the other side of the door, she could hear a man say "Ivan, you are always so paranoid."

The door opened and in stepped a man maybe twice Felicia's size. Her eyes having long adjusted to the darkness, she could see his heft in his outline alone, followed by two more lackeys of mediums size.

Not that much of a problem.

The idiots fumbled in the darkness, spitting blame back and forth in Russian. Futilely, they clattered in search for the fuse box, and just as the tallest made his way around the door Felicia popped from her hiding place. She jumped, and with a step she leveraged her way up onto the desk to swing herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. The man screamed, swinging wildly in the darkness, as Felicia got her arms around his neck and started to squeeze. One of the smaller two yelled out just the same, some harsh obscenity in Russian, and Felicia could barely see their outlines going for their guns.

She went with the momentum, letting go of the first to wrap her legs around the neck of a second, Judo slamming him to the ground. The gun in his waistband clattered across the linoleum floor, just barely in reach. Just as the man with his neck between her legs sunk his teeth into her thigh, Felicia reached for the side arm, pistol-whipping him hard enough to knock his lights out.

She stood, slipping between the legs of the last two, as in the darkness the tallest made a grab for her, spitting a curse at her as he felt her slip from his fingertips.

"Really, I'd love to stay and handle you all." Felicia told them. "But I got what I need." Felicia slid from the room, heading down the hall just as one of the men hissed "Kate Bishop, if this is you, you'll regret this."

Felicia rolled her eyes.

'Are things going south yet?' Kate asked, the wire in her ear crackling to life.

"No, but apparently I sound like you. You're really popular with these guys, aren't you?"

Kate snickered, watching as the Tracksuits in the garage climbed into the vans, cutting on the headlights to stave off the darkness. "Well, yeah, I am kind of a living legend now, comes with being an Avenger. I mean you saw us at Rockefeller Center." she grinned.

Felicia smirked. "Yeah, well, it's no Statue of Liberty."

Now it was Kate's turn to rolled her eyes. 'Heads up, some Tracksuits have some lights up downstairs. And by the looks of it, they know you're coming. Seriously, Fe', cutting it close here.' she said, voice filled with worry. 'Like I said, I can go in after you.' Kate warned, because the last thing she would do is just sit around and watch as Felicia boxed herself in. 'We're a team, here.' She was no sniper, and sometimes a bow was better up close.

This time, she could nearly hear the hesitation in Felicia's voice. "Kate, I'm good." Felicia told her. Kate didn't know how much she believed it.

Felicia slipped her way through the dark halls, mind struggling to remember the way out. She could hear the other two men, cursing and shouting orders in Russian, as they fumbled and clattered in the security room. It was only a matter of time before they came after her.

'Fe', talk to me,' Kate urged.

In the darkness, the low glow of a red 'EXIT' sign hung above what could only be the stairwell, and from the metal stairs, she hoisted herself herself up onto the banister and onto the parking garage rafters. She could see them now, the headlights of the box trucks cutting through the darkness, the Tracksuits waving their phone flashlights, guns drawn.

She held her breath, hands gripping the smooth metal, and as she shimmied out over the men, she could feel the vibration of her phone in her pocket - the feeling of her 'Spidey-Watch' notifications going off again and again.

"Kate, I'm gonna need that scene right about now," Felicia whispered, as she poised herself along the ceiling. She was going to need a pretty good distraction. The garage seemed deathly quiet, the Tracksuits keen for any movement as she watched them up-side-down from a bird's eye view.

'Uhh…Give me one second. I have something for this.' Kate said, undocking her bow as she went for her quiver.

Felicia did not have 'one second'.

There was a point where the rafters met a central beam, a disruption in the bars she'd been hanging to, and finally she stopped, finding herself dangling over one of the idling box trucks.

"She's in here, somewhere. I'm telling you bro ."

Felicia's phone vibrated again. She felt her heart stop and she froze. She could feel her phone in her pocket, teetering at the hem, ready to fall at any movement. And for a moment she considered if it was worth it to push it back in and risk falling to her death, just when the device slid up and out of her pocket.

It clattered on top of the truck, a metallic 'clank' filling the garage, and in seconds dozens of flashlights and guns were trained on her. "Shit." Felicia cursed. "Kate, the scene!"

Glass shattered as an arrow broke the front window of the garage, and it landed in the center of the floor before deploying thick, heavy plumes of smoke.

Felicia dropped from her hiding place, and as she hit the ground she could feel the whiz of bullets flying past her face in the mist. Still the Tracksuits shouted, and in the chaos Felicia could feel hands grabbing at her and gripping her limbs. She kicked against them, even as an arm wrapped around her neck, and when she tried to leverage herself she found herself slipping as if the concrete was slick with something wet.

They dropped her to the floor, just as she heard a door open, and the sound of Kate calling her name. Felicia fought against her assailants, as she turned over on the floor she realized a moment too late exactly what they were slipping in.

Gasoline. Gasoline leaking from the trucks.

As Kate docked her bow and took aim, Felicia's heart almost stopped. "Kate, No !" she warned, just as Kate let the arrow loose on the first group of Tracksuits that came after her.

The trick arrow hit it's target like it always did and what was meant to be a controlled explosion turned into a chain reaction, and for a moment the darkness was dispelled by luminous, burning, orange and yellow.

First it was heat, and light, and deafening sound. And then it was nothing.

Felicia didn't know if she'd been out for hours or for seconds, but by the pounding in her head, she figured the latter instead of the former. Around her the trucks laid wrecked, Tracksuits groaning in pain and disorientation. Her ears rang painfully as the world came back into focus, the darkness of the garage ruined by a gaping hole in the wall.

And somewhere close by, Felicia's phone buzzed one more time.

And then he was there.

Now it felt as if her heart really did stop. For a moment she thought it was a hallucination, the low shimmer of red and blue in the light of the night. He perched on the edge of the hole, looming over them, mechanical eyes surveying the wreckage before falling onto her.

"Shit, It's Spider-Man!" One of the Tracksuits spat in his native tongue, and even if Felicia didn't speak it, she knew what 'Spider-man' sounded like in Russian.

He looked exactly like she dreamt he did.

"About time you showed up!" She yelled to him, jumping to her feet easily, headache all but forgotten. "You do not know how long I've been waiting for this moment." Felicia said, grinning from under her mask.

Spider-man narrowed his eyes at them, white lenses retracting as they focused. He hung above them, movements agile as he scaling the ceiling easily.

It hadn't exactly been the situation he'd been expecting to swing into - an accidental fire in a garage. Instead he was met with her, and by the way the girl in black moved across the floor as if to mirror him, like a fighter circling her prey, he knew that she was here for a fight. At the very least, he had her undivided attention. "Always nice to meet a fan, but just for clarification's sake: Are you the bad guys here?" Spider-man asked.

From under her hood, Felicia chuckled, hesitating for a moment. "I can see how it looks like that, But if I were you, I'd be on our side."

"Not really the confirmation I was hoping to hear," he told her.

"The flash drive!" Kate's voice snapped Felicia back to reality, her eyes finally breaking from Spider-Man. She felt in her pocket for the drive before she finally caught sight of it, just as Ivan, the Tracksuit from the security room, got his fingers around it.

Felicia dove for it, vaulting over the hood of a wrecked truck to launch herself at the taller man, knee aimed for his face. He dodged only barely, swinging at her as she landed. She turned to face him just in time to dodge his swing. Felicia caught his wrist, twisting it until she felt it might pop, and when he yelled out in pain she went for the flash drive in his other hand.

Her gloved hands wrapped around it and in a second it was there, and then it was gone.

'Thiwp!'

"Is that what this is about?" Spider-man asked, perching atop one of the overturned box trucks as he turned the drive over in his hand. It took Felicia a moment to realize what he'd done, snatched it right out of her hand, and she scoffed. "Honestly, if you two can't play nice, neither of you can have it." he went on.

"Wow," Felicia said, shaking her head under her hood. "You're fast. I mean, I knew that, I see you on TV. But 60fps can only show so much." And with ease, she leapt up on the hood on the truck to get a closer look at him. "Really liking the new iridescent blue, Spider. Really suits you. Miss the gold, though."

Spider-man tilted his head at her. "Thank you?" he said, unsure of himself. "I've been in a lot of fights and there's usually not this much flirting." And he kept his distance from her, matching and mirror her moments to keep her at arms length. She moved like a dancer, like a trained athlete posed at the ready. "Not that I'm complaining."

He couldn't see her face, features obscured by a hood and mask, but he could nearly hear the smirk in her voice when she said "Then I suppose this is one for the books then. I'm going to need that drive, Spider."

"'Spider', that's a new one." he shrugged, unsure of if he liked it or not.

"Drop it!" Kate yelled, balanced on the rubble as she took aim at him.

He hadn't realized there'd been two. For a moment his senses screamed at him, and he felt the arrow coming before he dodged it.

Felicia was momentarily mortified, stunned over the fact her best friend had just tried to shoot her idol of all people. But Kate had given her a chance. A chance to show-off.

When he dodged, Felicia went for the drive. She grabbed his wrists, tucking herself under him to put him into a judo throw. He countered, maybe even on instinct alone, lifting her and flipping her like she thought he would, their movements in tandem as she got her hands around the drive.

She knew his fighting styles because she'd seen hours of it, on Youtube, on the Bugle - to always defuse, never unnecessarily injure. And that meant she could push, and he'd push back, but not if it meant hurting her. That she could play the offense if it meant keeping him on the defense.

The drive slipped from his hands as she took it, and Felicia pulled away, making a break for it.

"Leaving so soon?" He asked her. "I thought we were just getting started." He webbed her closer, Felicia struggling to stay upright as he pulled her back. She turned, going to kick him, and this time he braced for it, and when she swung he caught her wrist with ease.

She struggled against him, trying to pull away, but got nowhere as he held her in place.

"What's on the drive?" he asked, because whatever this was, it could be settled.

"You wouldn't get it."

"Try me. I think I'm a pretty reasonable guy."

She hesitated and for a moment she really did consider telling him. But this wasn't exactly his battle. "Five years is a long time." Felicia told him.

" Enough! " Ivar barked. "Enough of your little play time. Don't make this harder than it needs to be."

Felicia struggled against him once more, just as Ivar leveraged his gun at them. In a split-second, Spider-man had made a choice and out of saving one of the two, a flash drive or a life, he chose the latter. The bullet came whizzing at them and without thinking he pulled Felicia forward, letting go of the drive as he watched the bullet shatter it to pieces.

Problem solved.

"That…wasn't what I meant to happen." He told her and for a second he hadn't realized he was still hanging on to her.

Felicia frowned. "Are you at least going to make it up to me?" she said sarcastically, pulling away from his grasp. All that work, gone. But for a glimpse of him up close, maybe she could call it breaking even.

Felicia leapt from truck to truck, until she found herself amongst the ruble, looking for Kate. And when the sirens came, when the news helicopters that always seemed to follow him loomed outside, Spider-man webbed the downed Tracksuits, just in time to see the two masked girls leverage themselves on the edge of the gaping hole in the wall.

"Until next time." she warned him. "You owe me a flash drive, Spider."

Somewhere along the line, Peter Parker had gotten used to waking up in pain. The purpling bruises and aching muscles simply came with the hero territory. He didn't mind if getting out of bed hurt, if it meant the night before hadn't been entirely in vain. But waking up in an empty apartment, an apartment without May, without Happy - he'd never get use to it.

Still, the mornings were always the same. They ran into each other, the way the sun peeked through his bedroom window, the way the radiator clanged to life just when he thought he was going to lose his toes.

He missed the mornings where May was banging on his door, when MJ was texting his phone, when he could meet Ned at the train station. He missed having something to look forward too. Something other than the same patrol, the same complaining from the Daily Bugle on his morning timeline, the same bruises and the same aches.

Peter turned over in bed as the world came into focus.

Sometimes, on the especially hard or the especially good mornings, he let himself go down to the donut shop MJ worked at. Not enough to catch her eye, not enough to be a regular, but on the mornings where he felt like the monotony might break him, sometimes he just needed to see her face. It helped.

And on mornings where it was different, where the monotony broke itself, it was like snapping out of a bad dream.

Peter couldn't remember the last time he'd awoken to laughter.

It was distant, out in the hall, but it was enough for Peter's eyes to flutter open as he propped himself up in bed.

The floor he lived on was bleak. The rent was cheap because the maintenance was non-existent, and out of four apartments on their landing, Pete had only seen 2 - or now 3- of its inhabitants. across the hall was an old and impersonal widow, skeptical of him at every interaction, and next door to his left was Felica. Felicia and Kate.

The laughter came again.

Peter stood, pulling on his sweats - a t-shirt he'd bought in DC and some track pants - glancing through the peephole into the hallway. He hadn't know who he'd been expecting it to be that was laughing in the hallway.

But he'd hadn't been expecting Felicia.

Peter didn't think he'd ever heard her laugh. But it was nice.

Felicia was in the hallway, a leash in one hand and a box on her hip, the one-eyed dog at her feet wagging it's tail happily. Kate unlocked their door, swinging it open and propping a box in its way to keep it ajar.

"Girl, I'm gonna be real with you, you do not need this much shit." Felicia snickered, kicking one box in before setting down another.

Kate scoffed, feigning shock. "That is not true!"

Felicia reached into the box on her hip, pulling a red and gold trophy from the top. "You brought your 2012 Krav Maga Junior Championship 1st Place Award. Why?"

Kate had a very good reason why. She snatched the trophy from Felicia, setting it on the trophy shelf above the TV with satisfaction. "Because," she smirked. "That's the one I beat you in."

"Oh my god!" Felicia laughed again, sinking into the couch. It was something Kate would never, ever, let her live down. The two of them had been competing against each other since the 6th grade, and all of the times they'd hit the mat, that was the time she always brought up.

"We were like 10, 11! You don't see me waving my 2016 Eastern-Nationals Acrobatic Gymnastics win around do you?" she said, as Kate rolled her eyes as hard as she could.

"Oh, yeah. I remember that one, the one that you won on a technicality?-" she began to argue, nearly jumping out of her skin when someone appeared in the doorway.

"Hey," Peter said.

The pair blinked at him.

"Hey," Felicia said right back, in a better mood than Peter had ever seen her.

There were a lot of firsts going on it seemed.

For one, Peter had never seen the inside of Felicia's apartment. It was like his - a tiny, cramped relic, barely enough to call a one bedroom. It was the same creaky wood floors and the same drafty windows, but somehow they had made it home. Lights had been strung around the ceiling, rugs thrown on the floor. A punching bag had been pushed into one corner next to a quiver & bow and two white karate gis hung by the door. It was warm, a breath of fresh air.

And secondly, Peter didn't think he'd ever seen Felicia actually smile.

He pointed to one of the boxes. "You two moving in? I can help, if you want. I'm pretty strong." He shrugged, one hand braced on the doorframe.

Felicia passed a look to Kate, the resident extrovert. "It's just Kate' stuff," she said, waving him off. "It's okay, rea-"

"Actually, We could use some help." Kate interrupted, desperate to get Felicia some much needed interaction. "Trucks downstairs if you wanna.." she offered, eyebrows raised.

Peter smiled. "Yeah, sure. No problem."

He disappeared down the steps without another word, and when Felicia passed her an incredulous look, Kate shrugged. "What? He offered." she grinned, enjoying putting Felicia through what was basically social torture in her book.

"Yeah, super neighborly to work him like a mule." Felicia scoffed, standing once more. "At least lets help him-"

"Hey, uh- Where do you want these?" Peter asked, just in time for Felicia to see him coming up the staircase.

"Uh.." Peter had somehow managed to stack four boxes one over the other, and he was nearly jogging his way up the stairs, each box perfectly balanced. Kate appeared behind Felicia in the doorway, stepping aside as Peter brought the boxes in. "You weren't kidding when you said you were strong," Kate said, a hand on her hip as the girls watched him in silent amazement.

Peter shrugged, trying his best to play it off with shy smile. "Here?" he asked, pointing with one hand and balancing the boxes in the other.

Felica looked him up and down, before stepping forward to take the box from the top. "I just don't understand how you're carrying all that weight," she said, her confusion growing when she opened the box to see even more of Kate's trophies. She lifted one, feeling the weight of it in her hands. These weren't light by any means.

"What she means is 'thanks'." Kate snickered, as she took two more boxes from Peter's stack.

Peter pointed to the trophy in Felicia's hand. It was a 1st place trophy, white and blue with the golden silhouette of a Judoka, leg raised in a kick, poised on top.

"You do Judo?" He asked Kate.

Felicia nodded, tucking a stray loc behind her ear. "And Karate, and Tae Kwon Do. Fencing, archery, gymnastics. Been competing against each other for ages." she listed off, a look of pride in her eye as she watched her best friend rummage through the boxes.

"Is that how you got the.." Peter pointed to his temple, motioning to the band-aid Felicia had places along hers. For a moment a look of confusion crossed her face, before she reached up, fingers grazing the bandage. She'd forgotten about the explosion. She'd been too focused on the better parts of last night.

Felicia nodded. "Yeah," she snickered, the lie coming to her lips easy. "Kate kicked the shit outta me. She'd good for that. Last year she took home 1st place at Tae Kwon Do Nationals. Or rather I let her have it." she teased, letting her dreads down to hide the band-aid.

Kate rolled her eyes. "I took her title." she explained. "But I let her take number 1 this year at the Gymnastic Championships, so I like to call it even."

"Bull. Shit. I had like 3 points over you, K. " Felicia insisted.

"Wow," Peter said, more shocked than anything. Considering the two of the ordered pizza about three times a week, it was impressive. "That's cool. I actually do a little gymnastics myself. Just recreational though, no championships or anything."

Kate tilted her head, and already Felicia knew what she would say next. "Really?" she asked. "Why don't you join us one day? You could come by practice someday, show us what you got." she shrugged, a teasing grin on her face as on the living room coffee table, an alarm went off on Felicia's phone.

Felicia's face lit up. She nearly dropped the box in her hands, making a beeline towards the device. "Shit, It's time." she grinned, shutting off the alarm and instead going for the TV remote. "Shh, shh."

Kate rolled her eyes. "Okay," she chuckled, because she was no stranger to this. She'd known Felicia for years, and Felicia had always made it clear: 11:00am Monday through Friday was ' her time '. For fifteen minutes every morning Felicia could not, under any circumstances, be disturbed.

"Time for what?" Peter asked, watching as Felicia brushed the boxes aside, sinking into the couch and sitting forward towards the screen. " Shh! " she warned him.

Kate pulled him aside. "Yeaahhh, we're gonna have to give her a couple minutes," she said, as she turned her attention to the boxes. But still Peter's eyes lingered on Felicia, her eyes clouded in excitement as she flipped through the channels and turned on The Daily Bugle of all things.

" Warehouse Warriors! How the masked menace The Spider-Man facilitated a gas explosion in Hells Kitchen last night on New Years Day! Dozens of blue collar workers jobless as their grassroots moving company goes up in flames! " Jameson's voice flooded from the TV as images from last night's crime scene appeared on screen. " More on this senseless Spidey destruction coming right up! You're watching The Daily Bugle."

Peter's heart dropped. "You watch ?" he asked.

Felicia could barely tear her eyes away from the screen. "Yeah," she said, voice absentmindedly. "Like every day." She was enthralled, eyes glazed as a photo of the Trust-A-Bro outpost came into view. The clip on screen replayed itself over and over, eyewitness video of the place going up in flames, Spidey touching down just in time, over and over again.

She had been there. He had been right in front of her. And she still couldn't believe it.

"Oh," Peter said, scratching the back of his head. "Just..didn't peg you to be a Spider-Man critic, is all." he shrugged.

That, at least, got her attention. As if he had broken her from a spell, Felicia blinked away her concentration, turning to look at him. " What? " she asked, scoffing incredulously. "Are you kidding me? I love Spider-Man." Felicia's tone almost sounded offended at the thought, and beside him, Kate laughed.

"I mean, say what you want about him, Jameson's a dick, but he always has the first reports on Spider-Man sightings. HD photos and everything. I mean, did you see when Spider called in to him at the Statue of Liberty? I've been watching him everyday since before high school!" Felicia said, attention snatched by the screen once again.

" Up in Flames and the assailants get away! Two masked figures are seen fleeing the scene at last nights web-head escapade. Petty criminals or accomplices of the Spider-Man? - I'll let you decide. " Jameson nearly shouted.

Warmth filled Felicia's chest. It was one thing to see him up close, to hear his voice, to see him in action. It was another to be - in the eyes of the media - an accomplice. An equal. Even if Spider-Man didn't exactly see it that way.

When Felicia looked at Kate, Kate could see the emotion in her eyes, the way Felicia tucked it away quietly when she remembered Peter was in the room. They had done it. Spider-Man knew they existed. Kind of.

"She's been obsessed with Spider-Man since were in high school. He saved her once in freshman year, and that was a wrap." Kate explained to Peter quietly, heading to the fridge next to fetch Lucky's breakfast.

Peter narrowed his eyes, following Kate to the kitchen so he didn't disturb Felicia and her time. "Wait," he clarified. "You said Spider-Man saved her? Like, her life? Face to face?"

Kate hesitated, eyes falling to where Felicia sat on the couch as Lucky excitedly sat between the two of them. Peter rubbed between the pup's ears.

"It's..really something Fe ought to tell you herself. It's..it's wild." she said, and Peter was smart enough to know when not to push.

Peter nodded. "Yeah," he agreed. " Yeah, sure. Probably a personal thing anyway. Not that I think she'd tell me." he chuckled.

Kate shrugged and the same smile came to her lips, what he now was learning meant that the brunette was scheming. "I mean, I wouldn't put it past her. Besides, she likes you. Considering the fact you're in her house and she hasn't bit your head off yet." she said, nudging Peter towards the couch.

Peter grinned, sheepishly. "Yeah, yet ." he chuckled. He watched Felicia once more, the way childlike wonder filled her face at every replay. She seemed to tune out Jameson's rambling and shoddy advertising. The way everything else seemed to just melt away around her.

Peter didn't get her at all. And maybe that was by design. Felicia Hardy didn't want to be figured out. She was self-sufficient, she kept to herself, speaking in a language only Kate seemed to understand. But he couldn't help but be curious.

He'd been around Spidey fans before, long lectures with Flash as a classmate and fliers for afterschool Spidey Fan Club meetings. He'd become comfortable with the awkwardness of viewing the praise from afar. But this time was different.

He had met her. Or rather, Spider-Man had. And he had saved her, and he didn't even remember how. But for her, for Felicia, she'd probably never forget that moment. It explained, if only a little bit.

Jonah ranted on and at one point Felicia muted the TV all together, but still she watched the footage as many times as they would replay it. The explosion, the flash of red and blue as Spider-Man swang in, and the 'masked figures' fleeing. It seemed surreal.

Gently, Peter sat on the cushion next to her, for once not feeling sick at the sight of Jameson.

"You a fan?" Felicia said, as the Daily Bugle segment cut to commercial.

"Huh?" Peter asked, as if snapping out of his own trance.

"Spider-Man? You a fan of his?" she asked again, an eyebrow raised.

Peter searched her face, looking for something, anything of resemblance. Something to jog his memory. There was something there, he just couldn't place what.

"Yeah," Peter said finally. "Grew up in the same part of Queens, so..use to see him a lot."

"Oh," Felicia said, seemingly pleasantly surprised. "So you must have like..dozens of stories of stuff he did around the neighborhood, right?" she asked.

Peter nodded, mustering a smile. "Yeah, uh - a lot of crazy stuff. Like this robbery at a bank near my old apartment. These dudes were in Avengers masks and everything. There where bills everywhere. Was kinda crazy."

For a second, he could see Felicia hesitate, as if she were picking out her next words carefully. She pursed her lips in deliberation for a moment before saying "You should come over again sometime then. Could watch some Spider highlights on Youtube. You could tell me a couple stories." she offered.

Behind them, Peter could tell that Kate was eavesdropping. He could also tell that she was in the kitchen, silently celebrating.

Peter's smile grew, and this time it was a lot more genuine. Maybe Kate had been right. "Yeah, that sounds like fun, actually. I-I'd like that."

Felicia smiled again. And now he had seen her smile twice. Peter thought that he could get use to that expression. He thought about how he wanted to see it more.

Felicia unmuted the TV once more as the segment continued, going through a play-by-play of last night's events. Most days Peter avoid The Bugle like the plague. Most days he hated the sound of Jonah's voice. He would never watch a segment if he could help it.

But for today, because this morning was different, he hung around until the end of it, chilling on Felicia's couch, in silence, during 'her time'.

And he liked it.

Patrol that night hadn't been unbearable.

For one, there had been no explosions, so that was a plus.

Peter pulled himself into his apartment, crumpling exhausted on the bed. He pulled off his mask, letting the window slam shut behind him and when he heard Felicia bang on the wall between their bedrooms, he called back a tired "Sorry! Sorry, Fe'."

This was nights for him now. Every night. When he had nothing else, Spider-man became everything. Work became a round-the-clock thing. Crime didn't stop and so neither could he. Great responsibility. Patrols became daily, nights became sleepless. Like tonight.

There would be no sleeping tonight. His patrol was over, but there was still work.

Peter sat up, going to look over his desk. He'd set out multiple projects, hodge-podge gadgets he could scrounge up with whatever money he had left after rent came for his account. Make-shift trackers, high-heat resistant webbing, a fragments of a flash drive.

He turned the pieces over in his hands, remembering the girls from the garage. Trained. Ridiculously accurate, in aim and in speed. And apparently, fans of his.

"It's probably nothing." he told himself. Whatever was on this flash drive was probably nothing, what went down was probably nothing.

But maybe it wasn't. Maybe it was worth a look.

Besides, it's not like fixing a flash drive was hard.

I've been looking at myself in the mirror, saying
"Don't leave me now, don't leave me now"
I've been looking at myself in the mirror, saying
"Don't leave me now" and I turn around like-

"Oh my God like, I'm your number one fan
So iconic, like big, like stan, like
I would give my life just to hold your hand
I'm your number one fan
I'm your number one, number one fan"

Number One Fan - MUNA

A.N: Thanks if you made it this far! This is a long one, but if you're here, I appreciate your time.

I'm gonna be real. This chapter kicked my ass. But I'm happy it's done and I'm glad it's here. Hope it was at least enjoyable to read.