The next morning, Peter was up bright and early to study the remains of the device he brought back from the scene the night prior. In a more urgent situation, he likely would've not bothered with sleep until he had cracked the secret to what made something like this tick AND tracked where it was developed at, but this seemed like a pretty straightforward situation. However, it still bothered him that, for how little a threat she had been to him compared to foes from his past, Peter still knew next to nothing about her. The main thing was that he just knew he recognized her face from somewhere, but he still couldn't place it. She looked around his age; maybe she went to ESU like he and M.J. did?

He didn't know how long he'd been tinkering with the device when he heard his phone buzz. He glanced over to it to see that it was a text from M.J. reminding him about his shift at F.E.A.S.T. He glanced at the time on his phone to see that, sure enough, it was coming on 9 A.M, which was when he said he'd be there. Honestly, Peter had no idea why he ever volunteered for early shifts, given how often he ended up in situations like this or where he would just sleep in after a long or brutal patrol the night prior.

Realizing he hadn't even changed out of his night clothes, Peter got up in a hurry to change. He then remembered that he didn't have much time, so he elected to throw his street clothes for the day in a bag, throwing on his Spider-Man outfit. Swinging there was the only real shot he had at making it there on time. Plus, it was a million times more fun.

He leapt out into the city, firing his first web that latched high onto a nearby building. Peter relished in the feeling of the breeze rippling through his suit. It was a feeling he was convinced by now that he would never get tired of. Ever since he had first worked up the courage to try web swinging for the first time, he had only grown to love it even more. It wasn't just his unique method to get from place to place; it was his escape from the worries of the world. It was a place to clear his head and find a solution when a problem had been tormenting his mind.

Unfortunately, Peter didn't have the luxury of enjoying each individual swing too much right now. While he did love it, he also hated being late. He had a bad enough habit of that as it was, even if the majority by far wasn't his fault. After allowing himself to enjoy that first swing, Peter turned it up a notch, curling his body with more intentionality, increasing his velocity. Soon he was moving faster than the cars below him and was well on his way.

Peter eventually made it, ducking into a nearby alley. He had become an expert in quick changes, rapidly ditching his Spider-Man suit in favor of his street clothes. He stuffed the suit in his bag, taking it up to the roof of F.E.A.S.T. and leaving it in the small section that was over the door that led into the building. He could've entered from there, but in order to not raise suspicion, Peter made his way down the alley side of the building and went in through the main entrance. He also just enjoyed seeing everybody as he walked through the place anyway. All the F.E.A.S.T. volunteers and workers no matter their role seemed to just function as one large community that made Peter excited every time he went there.

It didn't take long for him to find M.J. While they did their fair share of work in the more public areas of the building, she tended to be comfortable handling the behind-the-scenes aspects, specifically when it came to stocking and organizing things. It reflected M.J.'s systematic and deliberate personality, which was one of the many things Peter appreciated about her.

He found her in the large pantry room in the middle floor of the building. She turned to him, smiling at him momentarily before returning to her work.

"Look who showed up," she teased.

"And with two minutes to spare too," Peter said proudly.

"Oh?" M.J. said, "and would you have even been here on time if I hadn't reminded you just a few minutes before that?"

Play it cool, Pete. Play it cool.

"Oh yeah, definitely."

M.J. paused, shooting him a knowing look.

She knew him too well.

"Okay, I was working on something I recovered from a crime scene last night," Peter confessed, moving to grab some canned goods.

"Stealing from a crime scene," M.J. said as she continued, "not a good look."

Peter gave her a look of his own as he put the cans up in their appropriate place on the shelves before turning for more. M.J. loved to tease him about the dubious nature of some of his work as Spider-Man, such as when he had to break into a building or kept something for himself in the hopes of studying it to understand an enemy better.

Before he could respond, another volunteer came in to grab a few things, briefly halting their conversation for a moment as they greeted them. That was another nice thing about working together in a more behind the scenes capacity; they could feel free to talk about Spider-Man stuff more openly. Still, they had to be careful, as instances like this still came up every so often. His spider-sense was pretty good about alerting him to when this was about to happen, albeit nowhere near as intensely as compared to when he was out in the field.

It only took their fellow volunteer a few moments to grab what they needed before they turned around and left again, off to wherever they needed to drop off said items.

"So, what happened last night?" M.J. asked.

"Actually, I found one of those vigilantes you were talking about," Peter replied. They continued to work as he shared about the mysterious young woman in the hooded outfit. He told her everything, from how she appeared to be exceptionally athletic but not enhanced, the nameless and empty building she went into, the misunderstanding that led to a scuffle between them, etc.

"What are you thinking?" M.J. asked once he had finished relaying everything.

"About what specifically?" Peter asked.

"About her," M.J. specified. "It didn't seem like she intended to harm those guys. Do you think you two might actually be on the same side?"

"I'm not sure," Peter admitted. "She may not have intended to use deadly force like I thought, but she still fought me and then ran instead of trying to talk it out."

"Maybe she had good reason," M.J. said. Peter looked at her, surprised.

"I didn't know you were in to defending criminals now," Peter teased, although there was definitely a genuine question in there somewhere.

"Well, I mean, it's not like you've never broke into a place for the greater good," M.J. answered.

"Okay, you got me there," Peter admitted. "Still... I don't know. I just don't really know anything about her or why she was there for those guys."

"You said you thought you recognized her?" M.J. asked as she went to grab some more canned goods.

"Yeah," Peter answered, "but I can't place her. It's driving me crazy. She might be someone we've seen around campus before. She certainly looked about our age."

"Maybe I can look into it when I come over later?" M.J. suggested.

"Sure," Peter said. "I know how much you enjoy a good mystery. I'll have my suit send you a few images to go off."

"Great," M.J. replied. "You know, it's too bad I can't put something like this on my resume."

Peter chuckled.

"Yeah, sorry about that," he said. "Knowing you though, I'm not worried. You're already working for the criminal justice department on campus after all."

M.J. rolled her eyes. "It's nothing that big," she said.

"Well, it's a start," Peter said, "the beginning of your journey to becoming the best private investigator the world has ever seen!"

M.J. flashed a smile his way.

"I mean, you're not wrong," she responded, "but let's not get ahead of ourselves just yet."

Kate was one to enjoy a productive day. That was one of the few ways she considered herself like her mother; from a young age, the woman had taught her the importance of not letting time go to waste. She had started the day with a five-mile run, followed by some strength training. Kate was determined to keep her body in the best shape possible, especially since she took on her "night life." She never knew who or what she was going to encounter out there, so she had to be as quick, strong and agile as possible.

After her daily workout, Kate focused on replenishing her supply of arrows. She'd used up a fair amount in her fight with Spider-Man the night prior, so it took her a while as she worked meticulously in making new ones, carefully pouring over every tiny detail. Kate had been fascinated by archery for a long time; she'd been taking classes for years, but soon took an interest in how to design them as well. She was fortunate to have both the means and the time to study and practice the trade, spending hours upon hours learning techniques.

While Kate was enjoying this new life she was leading, she had to admit that she was already becoming aware of the sacrifices she was having to make. She was already growing distant from her friends, who were out enjoying themselves at night instead of leaping from rooftop to rooftop searching for a potential conspiracy she knew she didn't fully understand. For all she knew, for all the shady behavior she'd observed in the last few weeks, perhaps this all really amounted to nothing more than some super-secret government or corporate project.

Still, at least she was trying to make a difference. That was the big thing that was beginning to draw her onto a different path than most of the people she had grown up with for most of her life: none of them seemed to be interested in actually putting effort into make the world a better place. Granted, her methods were... unusual, to say the least, but she wasn't about to stop now.

She was only just getting started.

As she worked, Kate heard a beeping noise come from her phone. She went over to it, seeing that it was an online message from her anonymous benefactor that she had reached out to a while back. While she had been able to acquire the basic supplies for arrows off the grid, the materials for her trick arrows as well as some other devices she'd gotten had to be acquired more carefully. After searching for and vetting various individuals over the internet, Kate had come across someone by the name of "HeartofIron03." She managed to track the account back to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology but couldn't narrow it down beyond that. Still, she took a chance on the individual, initially being very cautious in their correspondence and method of payment for the materials and devices she received.

Over time, however, the mystery inventor more than proved capable of providing and delivering what Kate wanted, so she returned to them whenever she needed more. Going through an independent source like this would make it virtually impossible to trace anything back to her, which is exactly what Kate wanted.

"Everything working okay?" the individual asked in their message.

"Yes," Kate typed in response. "Though I might need some stronger cables next time. Did the most recent payments go through?"

"Yes, thank you so much!" the individual responded after a moment. "You've been such a big help; you don't even know!"

Responses like this were what lead Kate to believe this was likely someone around her own age, which only made what they were able to create even more impressive.

"No problem," Kate typed. "I'll let you know when I need more." She then sat her phone down and resumed her work.

As she did, Kate's thoughts returned to Spider-Man. She knew that, now that he was aware of her existence, it was very likely they would see each other again. She was going to have to be open with him, so she was trying to think of how to explain what she was doing, but how could she do that in a way that would guarantee he would be on her side?

If she was being honest, Kate wanted more than just for him to understand. She wanted Spider-Man to see her as an equal, as someone worthy to be out there on the streets with him, even if she didn't necessarily desire to work directly with him. Kate had learned over the years how not to worry too much about what strangers thought of her, but something about getting the seal of approval from the world's last Avenger just sounded good.

Not that she was going to let it stop her if he didn't give it, of course.

All her hard work would just feel a little more validated if he did.

Later that night, Peter was back at work in the apartment with the device he'd recovered, with M.J. there as well working on investigating the mystery woman. He had to admit, it was nice to have her be able to help him out with Spider-Man stuff in some way. Even in a relatively small capacity like this, it made her really feel like part of his whole world, not just the Peter Parker side of things.

"Found her," M.J. spoke up after only actively researching for not even five minutes.

"Already?" Peter questioned, looking at her in surprise. "That was fast, even for you."

"Well, it's pretty easy when the person you're looking for is a celebrity," M.J. said, bringing her laptop over to him. Peter glanced at the screen and, sure enough, there was his mystery woman.

"Kate Bishop," Peter read aloud, "daughter of Mark and Eleanor Bishop."

"Yeah," M.J. said, "her parents made a fortune in the oil business. They've been listed in the top five wealthiest families in the world for forever."

"Huh," Peter said. "At least I know where I recognize her from now. May used to read people magazine a lot, and I'm pretty sure she's been on the cover before."

"Get this though," M.J. said, "her public appearances have become less and less frequent over the last few years, especially after the Snap. She basically only appears at family business events anymore."

"I have to admit, this was not what I expected," Peter replied as he glanced through the online magazine profile on Kate. The girl was not even a year older than him and was an heiress to a fortune he couldn't even begin to fathom, so what was she doing out there with those guys? Did this have some connection with her family?

Suddenly, Peter's crime system alert went off on his phone, informing him of a break in nearby.

"I'll be right back," he said. "There's a break in a couple of blocks from here. I shouldn't be long."

"Alright, I'll keep digging into this," M.J. replied, already typing away. Peter quickly planted a kiss on her head before darting off to his room to change into his suit.

It took him barely a minute to get from his apartment to the scene of the crime, where some guys were robbing a bakery.

"Look, guys," he said from just outside the window, "I agree that this place has a delicious selection of pies, but is it really necessary to go breaking in afterhours just to avoid the line?"

The men ran out of the door, charging at him with crowbars and fists. Handling the situation quickly, Peter swiftly dealt with them, webbing them up to a lamp post and leaving them for the police.

"Now gentlemen, I hope you've learned a valuable lesson here today," Peter said as he hung from the side of the post. "You should never..."

He looked for a moment, and his attention was captured by a shadowy figure carrying a bow and arrows jumping between rooftops a distance away.

Kate.

"Sorry guys, need to cut out early," Peter said, firing a web and swinging off after her.

Looks like he'd have to tell M.J. he wasn't going to be back as soon as he thought.

Hope you're enjoying!

Continuing to pray for you all; stay safe and healthy!

"And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

Micah 6:8