Kate Goldin, freelance researcher and expert on paranormal and extra-terrestrial lifeforms, was lost. Her latest 'mission' had brought her to New York, but having never been there before in her life, she could not make head or tail of the endless maze of skyscrapers and streets. She was useless at reading maps, and she had little sense of direction at the best of times. So she had long since switched from 'purposeful exploring' to 'casual wandering'.

She had never been that good at finding her way around London either, London being her native city and the place where her company and its affiliates were based. Well, the phrase 'her company' was generally an exaggeration - she just worked there. But it was often commented that she 'practically owned the place' – at nineteen years of age she was the youngest member, and yet she alone had faced more dangers, solved more mysteries, and conducted more research than the rest of the organization put together. It was her selfless love and enthusiasm for the strange and unusual, her unexplainable affinity for dangerous lifeforms, and the fact that dangerous lifeforms always seemed to have an affinity for her, that had earnt her a strange sort of respect in the science world, even if it was only in a 'that girl is a nutcase' sort of way.

Rather less respectful was her belief that the aggressive creatures of this world and beyond should be able to do whatever the hell they feel like without having to worry about getting nuked by ignorant patriots. It was her opinion that humankind should get down off its high horse and stop thinking they had the right to destroy a creature just because it had dared to harm a human. After all, at the end of the day, humans were part of the animal kingdom too, and it was supposed to be 'survival of the fittest', not 'survival of the one with the most machine guns'.

Despite this, Kate was certainly not a hippy who paraded around with an 'equal rights for rabbits' billboard on regular occasions. Her research was her only method of persuasion, her tool in helping people to understand, rather than destroy. Because of this, the small London-based team of freelance researchers were the only people that Kate would agree to work with, since they seemed to be just about the only ones who employed the 'look but don't touch' policy. Unfortunately, in the world of competitive scientific research, such places were never particularly famous or valuable. Instead, the organization's investigations and missions were sponsored by larger companies who then bought the researchers' findings for use in their own projects. And it was a good profitable system, more or less. There were times when Kate worried about what sort of 'projects' her research was being used for, but at the end of the day, there was a limit to how ethical a person could be before realising that it wasn't making them any money. Though Kate was a decidedly eccentric girl with rather un-patriotic views on the human race, she was not in any way selfish or evil, just very open-minded. She was also a surprisingly tough and witty (if rather scatter-brained) adventurer with excellent survival instincts, but that was beside the point, because dammit, she was still lost!

Not that it really matters, Kate thought as she paused in her wanderings to sit down by an ornate water feature at the centre of a small park. She didn't really have any particular destination anyway. With a tired sigh, Kate squinted up at the clear sky, shielding her eyes from the bright midday sun. Just keep watching the skies for a giant bird, and learn all you can about it. That was what she was here to do.

It didn't seem that long ago when she and her fellow researchers had started receiving multiple eye-witness reports about a huge bird terrorizing various small towns across America – a bird capable of killing a fully-grown cow with worrying ease. The bird had since been identified by experts as a Golden Eagle – albeit an over-sized one – but had been given the nickname 'Roc', for it was believed that this eagle was indeed the answer to the mystery of the modern-day Roc.

And then, one day, a report came in from a devastated mother who had stepped out into her back garden one morning to see her five year old girl being carried off by a gigantic bird of prey. The next thing Kate knew, she was being handed a plane ticket to New York by some important-looking suit from a crypto-zoology company (other researchers who had been painstakingly tracking the eagle's process had concluded the big city to be its next target). And now here she was.

And Kate was perfectly happy to be in New York on a wild goose chase (pun intended), because despite all the strange and wonderful creatures she'd encountered, birds still remained fascinating to her. Plus, New York was notorious for harbouring some of the world's most colourful heroes and villains, in particular the hero known as 'Spider-Man'…

Kate shook her head, as if coming out of a daydream. Here she was thinking about men in tight costumes when there was important research to be done!

Shrugging a scruffy backpack from her shoulders, Kate took out her notebook and flicked through it. So far her notes consisted mostly of background information and her own theories, but there were some other more interesting notes as well. The first thing was the fact that this bird seemed determined to not stay in his natural habitat. While any normal Golden Eagle would seek a solitary life in desolate canyons or wide expanses of desert grassland, 'Roc' seemed to be purposefully seeking out places of human civilization. Also, Kate had concluded quite quickly that the eagle was not an unreasonably aggressive creature (despite the fact that his recent meal of human flesh had not put it in the general publics' good-books). In terms of feeding habits he was behaving just like a normal eagle – the problem was that, being much larger than any other bird of prey, he required bigger meals. He would take down anything he was capable of overpowering. And of course he wouldn't understand that many people were more than willing to shoot him out of the sky simply for doing what was natural to him. And that was what Kate had set out to prevent from happening.

And how had Kate come to these conclusions? Well, after being in New York for a mere week, she'd already had a few close encounters with Roc. Her natural instinct for understanding the way a creature's mind worked had enabled her to quickly learn the bird's favourite haunts, and predict the places where he might land. She had managed to get very close to the eagle at one point, and it was then that she had seen just what a magnificent, regal creature he was. Roc had seemed merely curious by her presence, and Kate suspected the bird was learning to recognise her in a crowd, for the close encounters were becoming more frequent. By now Kate was no longer certain about who was searching for who…

It was always particularly impressive to watch the eagle in flight, swooping and soaring freely around the tallest skyscrapers. With such a vast wing span (Kate guessed it to be approximately two metres each side), it was no wonder that people on the streets below would look up at the sky in startled surprise whenever Roc's looming shadow passed over them. The bird's presence must have been causing quite a stir, though the press had not mentioned anything as yet. But Kate was no less concerned, for she had seen Roc swoop very low over the crowds at times, and she worried that at some point he would get the urge to snatch at someone, and then everything would instantly be on red-alert as far as the press was concerned.

In lighter news, during her many sky-searching sessions, Kate had on a few occasions found herself watching none other than Spider-Man, swinging theatrically from building to building as if born to do it. With his web-slinging capabilities, the costumed wonder had achieved something very close to flight; it made Kate feel dizzy just to watch him looping, diving, and free-falling though open air with such confidence. On one occasion Kate had actually seen him cross paths with Roc, and there had been no conflict of any kind, which made Kate wonder if Spider-Man yet viewed the giant eagle as a threat or not. Kate found herself wanting to meet Spider-Man fact to face and explain things to him, for out of all the powerful people in New York, he might be the one most likely to understand…

But life works in mysterious ways, for Peter Parker was wandering through the park that day, on patrol for some interesting photo opportunities. When he caught sight of Kate sitting alone by the fountain, he stopped walking and stood still, frowning slightly as if in deep thought. Then, after a few moments of contemplation, he wandered over to her.

Sensing that she was being approached, Kate looked up, then smiled at Peter, who was now standing in front of her and looking a little shy.

"Hi!" she said brightly, instantly putting Peter at ease.

"Hi." Peter replied with a smile, awkwardly transferring his camera from his right hand to his left, before holding his right hand out to her. "I'm Peter Parker. I take photos for the Daily Bugle."

Kate grinned, and shook his hand warmly. "Pleased to meet you, Peter. I'm Kate."

Peter nodded, and paused uncertainly for a moment before asking, "Hey, are you by any chance the researcher sent here from London? The expert on paranormal lifeforms?"

Noticeably surprised, Kate nodded. "Yes, I'm here to investigate the giant eagle. How did you know?"

Peter shrugged and smiled. "Word gets around." His answer was only a half-truth, for when he was in his Spider-Man guise and watching the city from one of his many lofty perches, he had on a few occasions seen Kate in close proximity with the eagle, while most people would hastily get out of the bird's way. But during his time in the Daily Bugle headquarters, he had also heard rumour of someone being sent to 'combat the threat' of the infamous Roc.

"So, have you been seeing the eagle around here at all?" Kate asked.

Peter tapped his camera proudly. "I've managed to take a few photos of it." Another pause. "Um, would you mind if I took a picture of you for the paper?"

Kate blinked, surprised once again. Before now, the press had never taken any interest in her, or even knew of her existence. The creatures she dealt were usually the ones who got famous, but never her. And that suited her just fine, for she didn't want to be famous. But as she looked up at Peter, with his soft attractive features, baby blue eyes and hopeful smile, she found that she just couldn't say no to a face like that. So she nodded. "Alright."

Peter grinned happily. "Great!" Switching on the camera and adjusting the lens, he stepped back, trying to work out a good angle.

"Do you want me to be doing anything?" Kate asked him, suddenly feeling rather self-conscious.

"Um, if you could just pretend to be writing stuff in your notebook, that would be great."

"Ok…"

Peter took the photo, plus two more at slightly different angles just to be sure. He then lowered the camera and smiled. "That was perfect. Thankyou."

"No problem." Kate put her note book and pen back in her bag, then stood up. "Uh, listen Peter. About the eagle – he's not some evil villain out to get people, he's just an animal. If you're able to, try not to let the press write negative things about him."

And Peter believed her, more than she would ever know. For he, while in his Spider-Man alter-ego, had also encountered the eagle. Like two masters of the sky they had travelled side by side in perfect tolerance for each other; the eagle soaring and the Spider-Man swinging. And Peter found it exhilarating to share the sky with such a majestic creature, for there was not one trace of evil in the giant bird's manner, only a stately aura of power and wisdom. It saddened Peter to think about what he might have to do if the eagle did start endangering peoples' lives, and he could not imagine J Jonah Jameson listening to any of his words in the eagle's defence…

In response to Kate's request, Peter nodded sincerely.

"I believe you." He answered quietly, then smiled and said, "Personally I think eagles are awesome."

Kate grinned at him as she slung her bag over one shoulder. "Thanks, Peter. I'd better get going now. It was nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too." Replied Peter, and then the two of them parted company, Peter heading back to headquarters to get his photos developed, while Kate stepped back onto the main street to find her way back to her hotel.

"They're all crap." J Jameson said as he flicked through Peter's selection of photos later that day.

He accepted them anyway, of course, and then quickly wrote Peter a cheque.

"This man-eating menace is going to make the headlines!" Jameson exclaimed proudly as he eyed one of the photos of the giant eagle in flight. "Hey, 'Man-eating Menace' would make a good headline. Somebody note that down!" the busy man shouted to a nervous-looking editor.

Sitting tensely on the seat in front of Jameson's desk, Peter blinked. "…Man-eating? Uh, I don't think it's a man-eater, sir. I mean, it might be a bit territorial, but –

"Alright, 'child-eater', then." Jameson snapped, interrupting him. "Haven't you heard? Before it arrived in New York, this over-grown buzzard snatched up some kid right in front of the mother's eyes and flew off. It's a menace! The public has a right to know when they're in danger! Once I've published the facts, people won't so concerned about 'animal rights', you can be sure of that! The bird would've been shot dead already if it wasn't for this –
Jameson tapped the recently-taken photo of Kate. "– this girl 'expert' who's preventing the authorities from getting near it…"

As Jameson ranted on, Peter sat there, stunned into silence. So the eagle had already killed someone! The hero within him instantly wanted to get out there and find the dangerous animal immediately, but at the same time, logic told him that there was no evil intent in the bird's actions – it was only hunting for food. Nevertheless, something had to be done to protect the citizens of New York, and although Peter had no doubt in Kate's capability to handle the situation, he couldn't help but feel that he should be involved. As Spider-Man, he could help to secure the bird so that it could be released into a more suitable environment – one where it wasn't in such close contact with humans. And that had to be better than simply killing it, surely. Environmentalists wouldn't stand for that. So Peter concluded that, on his next patrol of the city as Spider-Man, he would find Kate and then try to come to an agreement with her.

His goal to defend the eagle's innocence now completely forgotten, Peter waited until Jameson dismissed him before leaving the office and heading home.

But of course, while all this was going on, the real threat to the city was still lurking undetected.

That evening, as the sun set and darkness descended over the city, Doctor Octopus was out and about scavenging for anything that might be of use to him. He only ventured as far as the very edge of town, however, for although he tended to have a one track mind when it came to bearing grudges, he was not the sort of man to rush into things. Careful planning always gave the best results.

Earlier in the day, the Doctor had found himself a new home. The outskirts of the city, especially alongside the river, seemed to have no end of abandoned buildings, and in the end Doc Ock had chosen an old warehouse as his hiding place. The warehouse was a tough old building with lots of space and a roof that only had a few holes, and Ock decided that it would make an excellent working place as well as a reasonably inconspicuous lair.

After that, Doctor Ock set out to start collecting equipment and provisions. With his mechanical arms holding him high above the unstable ground, Otto combed the entire length of the riverside, while the snaking tentacles would automatically pick up anything of potential use, from tools and abandoned junk to scrap metal and material. And whenever all his arms were full, he would return to the warehouse and dump it there, before tirelessly heading out to collect another load. He even returned (his reluctance being easily overpowered by the tentacles' sense of necessity) to the site where his first lair had once stood, before the burning sphere of sun-like energy sucked the entire building underwater. Even so, Doctor Ock managed to salvage a great amount of equipment from the wreckage left behind – plenty of tools and even a few weapons were lying scattered around. He even found his hat, but only one half of a pair of sunglasses.

By the time all that was finished, the sky was dark, and Doctor Ock ventured a little way into town, sticking to the small streets. Despite insistent urges from his four artificial limbs, Otto resisted the temptation to let them carry him around, instead using his own two feet to walk. The reason being that the tentacles made so much noise whenever they started stomping around, and Otto felt that it just wasn't yet the right time to reveal himself to the world.

There were only a few small shops in the area – mostly newsagents – but Doc Ock raided them all, mostly for food and drink, though some of the seedier shops contained some useful chemicals and weaponry. Ock only encountered one person while he was there – an old homeless man who, woken by the sound of smashing windows, started to wail in fear when he saw the multi-limbed silhouette of Doctor Octopus looming nearby. But Doc Ock quickly silenced the man as one of his metal arms lashed out, hitting the man on head so viciously that it killed the poor soul instantly. If anyone else caught sight of Doc Ock that night, no one made any move to stop him.

Then, as suddenly as he'd arrived, the Doctor left, stalking back to his lair with an over-flowing sack of provisions clutched in one gleaming set of metal talons. Otto's mind reeled at the thought of what tomorrow would bring – soon everyone would know that Doctor Octopus was alive and well…

Notes: Phew! This chapter to so long to write. I hope I didn't waffle on too much, but I had to set up the other side to the story! But everything will come together in chapter three, you can be sure of that!
Thankyou to everyone for your reviews and kind words – the encouragement really does help! I have replies for a few reviewers concerning chapter one:

jjonahjameson - It's a good point, and at the time I did consider writing it, but I wanted to keep things moving along, plus I figured that the tentacles would have detected the necklace if it was nearby.

Repto – That's fine! After all, most Ockfics seem to start with him getting saved from drowning somehow, so I wouldn't think you were copying.

Moon Avenger – I didn't mention anywhere that he was wearing a shirt…did I? But anyway don't worry, it's bare-chested Ock all the way!