Hey guys, thanks for the feedback last chapter, keep it coming!

FleeingReality- there will be a mini arc, yes. I feel that a great but also detrimental side of Spider-Man's character is that he makes the hardest choices even if it affects his personal life negatively.

Guest- They may patrol together in future standalone chapters.

Steve kept his hand on the window curtain, parting the fabric just enough so that he could keep an eye on the Manhattan MOCA. The building he was in faced the east of the museum, thirty stories high, and for better or worst came with complementary ice cream in flavors inspired by the Avengers.

"Ummm, I never knew you tasted so good Steve." Natasha said suggestively as she finished a small spoon of the multi-berried flavored dessert.

"You aren't half bad either." He retorted. Steve had finished the small container of Velvety Chocolate Death a while back, "a little too sweet though."

"That's how I draw them in you know." She scooped up more of the ice cream.

"Jesus, you know I am still here, right?" Sam voiced as he watched the museum on an adjacent rooftop. "Don't you think this a little bellow our paygrade."

Steve smiled and returned to gazing out the window. "What? Getting a little full of yourself now Wilson?"

"I am just saying; stakeouts are a little freshmen class here." Sam knew how much Steve had liked the members of his STRIKE force. If the guy already had some serious trust issues about S.H.E.I.L.D. when Cap discovered that the majority of his team turning out to Hydra Agents who wanted to kill him, that must have shaken him to the core.

"It's personal." He muttered. Steve had been hunting Brock Rumlow for years now, the man he thought was his friend has been nothing but small blimps on the raider. Disappearing just as fast as he appeared. Now that Cap knew Rumlow's secondhand man, Jack Rollins was back in the Big Apple, Cap couldn't miss the opportunity to take one of them down.

Natasha smirked. "You aren't letting that elevator scuffle go, aren't you?"

"Have you ever been tased, then forced to jump over fifty stories down a building?"

Natasha chuckled at her leader's sassiness and finished her ice cream with a shrug. "I highly doubt Jack will be showing up."

"I am counting on some who knows to show up."

Black Widow threw the empty container in the trash and walked over to Steve. She moved away another piece of the curtain on the other window. "I am actually quite looking forward to this." The Assassin always kept an indifferent look on her face when talking about her former teammates turned wanted targets. The two Hydra Agents ravaged the agency she called home, manipulated her work, and tried to kill her friends- her family. Natasha would be lying if she didn't feel like this was a little personal too.

The three continued watching for any sign of activity, when abruptly several vans pulled up to the entrance.

"Hey MJ, what's up?" Spider-Man answered another phone call through his mask.

"Hi Pete, did some dig for my upcoming article on the Maggia. This may be of interest to you, could probably help with our Jack Rollins case." Mary Jane replied.

"Shoot for it."

"Well, after you took out Fisk, there has been a power vacuum and now one of the gangs want to fill in that void. My sources say that there is high tension between the five families right now since each one of them are gunning for the top position."

"Okay. Sure, I am always dealing with those guys. Anything particular family you want me to check?"

"We'll were you aware that last month the Feds raided a gang warehouse?"

"… Let me guess, The Maria?"

"What?! Yes, how did you know."

"I just had a little talk with Yuri, swinging there right now."

"Okay great. We'll let me know if you find anything, there must be something significant about that painting or else the Maggia wouldn't give two cents about it."

"Yuri said that it could be some kind of token, maybe a peace gesture. Or just something really expensive to hang in the office."

"Interesting, we'll I'll let you get back to it. Oh, did my pictures help you by any chance?"

"Yeah, found some tracings of an explosive agent on it. No secure trail, but we are thinking abandoned warehouse or something that is yet to be demolished."

"Hmmm. Strange. I will definitely keep an eye out. Later."

"Bye." As Spider-Man continued to swing towards the Manhattan MOCA, his thoughts trailed from keeping The Maria Painting safe, to why was the painting so important. As he was about several more minutes away from the museum, he received another phone call.

"Spider-Man! Sighting of Hammerhead's men trying to attack another Sable vehicle in upper midtown." Yuri yelled into his ear.

"What about the painting?"

"Forget the painting, we can't let them get away with more of Sable's equipment."

"On my way!" Spider-Man lets go of his web strand and somersaults through the air, turning 180 degrees to swing back the way he came.

XXXX

Black Cat had broken into the museum through the back skylight.

"Piece of cake." She told herself as she crept down to the top floor and landed on a shiny golden orb. She had scouted the building for several days now and knew the number of guards on patrol that night. To her right she saw one of the guards reading papers on a clipboard and shining a flashlight into the dimmed areas of museum. Quickly, she jumped off the orb and snuck behind him, with a punch to the back she knocks him out instantly.

Black Cat held onto his limp body making sure he wouldn't drop the objects he was holding. Putting the body down, she jumped backwards and onto one of the pillars, right below her she found one of the guards flipping through some flyers.

"Hey Mister."

The guard nearly jumped out of his skin as Felicia landed behind him and flipped his green jacket over his head, she landed a spin kick to his skull. Looks like she hit him too hard as he stumbled and fell into the display board. "What can I say, cat's a little out of practice."

"What's going on?!"

She heard someone yell from the second floor. Quickly, she pulled out her zipline and grappled herself up to the ceiling. As the last guard came rushing down, she tactically lowered herself downwards and with another quick strike, brought the man to his knees. Without wanting to waste any more time she dragged the bodies down to the lower floor and to the security room. Using one of the guard's hand, she opened the security door and placed the bodies on the floor without a care. Felicia went over to the computer and began to erase all security footage that was taken with the last ten minutes to cover her tracks.

Suddenly, she heard a few loud grunts. Black Cat walked out of the room and took a quick peak through the entrance doors to find several of Hammerhead's men unconscious outside. A small smirk made it onto her lips as she couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement. "Spider, late as usual."

"I don't know any Jack Rollins." That wasn't the answer Black Widow was looking for as she sent a punch into the man's face. The lead goon felt a sharp pain shoot through his mouth. "AH! YOU CRAZY BITCH!" He felt another jab land in the same spot, the taste of salt and iron filled his mouth as blood leaked out of his half-loosened teeth.

"Call me that, one more time." She drew her fist back again.

"Please, The Maria, that's all I know. That's what the boss wants!" The gangsters said with a sore jaw.

"What's that?" Natasha clutched the man's collar tighter and held up her balled fist.

He flinched and waved out his arms to protect his face. "A picture, painting of a lady. It's in the museum. He wants it tonight." The Black Widow smirked and lowered her fist. Just as the gangster moved his hands, Natasha threw a right hook into the side of his head. With a thud, he fell asleep on the ground.

"Lovely, sounds like we'll actually be able to see the display today." Natasha patted her hands.

Steve checked to make sure the rest of the goons were down for the count; he attached his shield onto his back. "What are we waiting for? Sam, warn us if anybody else comes"

The two found a way into the main exhibit building and looked around the area.

"Weird, it's as if all the guards vanished." Natasha knelt down to pick up a green security jacket on the floor.

Steve picked up one of the flyers scattered on the ground and skimmed through the listed displays. "The Maria is up these stairs."

The duo got up to the second floor, dead center of the adjacent wall was the picture that they work looking for. Protected by a bullet proof glass wall and being examined by a silver haired woman in a skintight white and black suit.

'Shit, I was expecting a different man in tights.' Felicia berated herself as she unhooked the painting from the wall. The worst-case scenario of two Avengers showing up at the last minute wasn't entirely what she expected. Black Cat was eager to reunite with her ex-lover, but it looks like she will have to improvise a new plan. 'Red won't be too difficult to outrun, though blonde will put up more of a fight.'

Natasha started firing her pistol, landing bullets repeatedly at the center of the glass to weaken its structure.

Felicia split the painting in half. She felt a little bad that she couldn't save the painting, after all it was worth millions, but the flash drive inside it was more important. Right as she retrieves the device lodged inside the frame, she felt the wind get knocked out of her as Captain America's shield flies through the glass. A direct hit to her chest. Black Cat fell to the ground clutching her abdomen from the pain, thankfully her suit had some armored protection, or else she would be suffering from some broken ribs. Felicia quickly preformed a front flip and got back onto her feet just as Black Widow rushed at her. Felicia deflected the blow, grabbing Natasha's arm and using the momentum to throw the assassin into the wall.

Steve charged at the thief and managed to use his size to his advantage as he tackled her off the ground and into the floor.

"Oh, I like it when men play rough..." She kneed him in the stomach, which got Cap to loosen some of his grip. With a fast turn she managed to elbow Steve in the head and wiggle out of his arms. Performing a jumping back flip, Black Cat lands on the hole she had created on top of the wall. "…too bad I already got a stud in red, white, and blue." Felicia pulls out a smoke grenade and drops it onto the floor, with a loud pop the room fills with thick grey clouds.

Being a gentleman, Steve helped Natasha up before continuing the chase. "Sam, we have a runner. Most likely escaping by rooftop."

"Yuri, you are making me run in circles. Literally!" Spidey laughed at his misfortune.

"Sorry, Hammerhead's men dispersed as soon as we arrived."

"Probably a diversion, I need to get back to the museum ASAP." He continued trekking his way back.

Landing on top of a skyscraper, Spidey looks down at the museum and noticed several armed men knocked unconscious. "What have we here?" he swung by the exhibit center and landed on the rooftop of the main building. He sighed as he found a large hole in the skyline. "This doesn't look g-" Suddenly, someone sprang out of the circle and pushed him onto his back. The white parts of his eye lenses opened in utter confusion as he realized who was straddling him.

The woman on top seemed surprised, realizing who she had just tackled. A seductive smile made it onto her lips. "Oh. Hey Spider, there you are." Black Cat purred, tracing her nail down the side of his mask. "I knew the suit would look good on you."

"Felicia? What are you doing here?" He was lost in words, of course he knew what she was doing, but that wasn't what he was referring too. Looking passed her, he groaned as the next person jumping out of the circle was none other than Captain America.

"Waiting for my hero, now, why don't you be a good boy and distract them for me." She rolled off her ex and began to sprint away.

Quickly getting off his ass, he paused Steve mid pursuit. "Hey, Captain. Please, let me deal w– " The warning signals tingled across his body as he leaped backwards to prevent Cap's shield from nearly taking his head off. Spidey turned around to see the shield fly towards Felicia, just missing the burglar as she leaped off the roof.

Jumping to his feet again, his spider sense did not stop warning him of the imminent danger. As if time slowed down, Spidey watched as a mean looking fist traveled at superhuman speeds towards him. He barely moved in time as he felt a slight glance on his left cheek.

He continued to dodging Cap's incoming attacks. Moving up and down, evading the kicks and punches, until he had to perform a back flip to avoid the shield that someone had thrown back. "Hey- it's me! Spider-Man! Uh- why- uh- can't- we just- talk this – out!"

Just has Spider-Man got his footing, Steve closed the gap between them and with a good amount of force bashed the metal disk right onto Spidey's chest. Spider-Man felt the force of the shield push him off his feet while another pair of legs sailed through the air and dropped kicked him. It was Falcon executing his signature move.

"Oww!" Spidey wheezed, as he finished tumbling across the floor and landed on his back. "I just got comboed by Cap and Falcon...fatality." A brief moment later he finds another familiar figure looming over him. "Please don't stomp my face in."

"Hey." Black Widow sneered, she seemed to be the only not interested in trying to kick his ass. Natasha held out a hand to help the vigilante up.

Steve and Sam eyed the man dressed in black with the white spider symbol, they both raising their eyebrows when they realized it was the real deal. "What the hell are you doing!? You just let her get away!" Steve scolded. "Sam, did you get a visual on where she went?"

"Sorry Cap, the lady jumped over three rooftops and vanished."

Cap stared at Spidey, he had zero regret for trying to apprehend him. Though he knew that Spider-Man is a good character, he still had his suspicions that the masked hero may be working with the burglar. "Why are you here?"

Spider-Man got back onto his feet, "I had a source telling me that one of my old enemies were going to steal a painting. I came over here and the next thing you know, three- two Avengers are trying to pummel me into the ground."

"Well you are a bit late." Steve shook his head. Annoyed that Black Cat got away, 'she might have been the lead I was after to get Rollins.'

"I didn't see her run off with a painting." Spider-Man scratched his chin.

"She didn't…" Natasha answered.

"That's good right?"

"… She smashed it and stole the data drive hidden in the frame." She finished.

"Ugh, sorry." His expressive eyes formed what seemed to be an apologetic gaze.

"That still doesn't explain why you just let her get away." Sam reminded the group. Everyone crossed their arms, eagerly waiting to hear what kind of excuse Spidey has in store this time.

"Ugh, this is going to sound pretty bad, but… we used to date."

"Wheet-whoo!" Sam and Natasha whistled; Steve was clearly not amused.

Natasha grabbed Spider-Man into a playful strangle hold. "You must be quite a looker underneath that mask... have ever even revealed your identities to each other?"

Spidey got out of her grip. "That's a lot of questions."

"Back on topic. Why did you let her go?" Steve spoke.

"Honestly, I didn't expect her to spring out and tackle me. Also, I was trying to tell you I was going to go after her, but you just kept on trying to take my head off."

Steve sighed, "Sorry… I am just used to the matching colors."

"Yeah, it was laundry day. I can guess why the new colors threw you off, doesn't help that she made this for me too."

Sam whistled again. "Damn, you still keep the stuff your ex gave you?"

"Says the one who kept their ex's birthday present." Natasha sarcastically whispered. Sam heard that and subtly crossed his arms behind his back, concealing the watch he was wearing.

"Not helping." Steve took a step closer, "you know how we may track her down?"

"I may. Ugh, she likes to play a little game of cat and spider with me. I have no doubt she would leave a clue lying around."

"We'll whatever that clue is, you are going to help us." Steve walked past Spidey and proceeded to jump back down the hole in the wall.

"Geez, who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Spidey nervously joked.

"Come on, before he really gets angry." Natasha gestures for him to follow.

Peter's actual eyes widened in concern when he realizes just how crazy this night was shaping up to be. Internally, he groaned in frustration, 'How am I going to explain this to Wanda in the morning… if I don't end up in prison? Actually, that may be a good alternative. She might just end up vaporizing me.'

"So, how'd you two end up to be?" Natasha wondered. This was probably the most exciting part of her day; she couldn't help herself from asking since a relationship between a crime fighter and cat burglar sounded like something straight out of an erotic novel.

Spidey continued to search through the room, the tech inside his lenses weren't up to date with his current suit so there wasn't a tracking system installed. "Uh, I don't think this is a good time."

"Anybody here object!?" Black Widow yells. The two other Avengers replied with an 'eh' and 'whatever.'

"Please, start from the beginning too."

"Uh, we'll the basic gist of it goes I was patrolling one day. Found her perched on a rooftop eyeing a statue. Caught her… for a whole five minutes before she escaped. For several weeks I just kept running into her, I catch her, and she escapes again. Now that I think about it, she probably did it on purpose…" He picked up half of the broken Maria and looked for anything. "…Uh, one day I sat her down and convinced her to use her talents for good, we became partners in a sense. Fought crime for a while."

"Oh, that's gold." Natasha laughed, but not mockingly. "Why the breakup?"

Spidey set down the broken picture and retrieved the other half. "I don't really know. One day she just disappeared, turned her equipment into the police and everything. I hoped that she had finally given up stealing and decided to be a law-abiding citizen. But, as you can tell, bad habits die hard… Anyways, I don't think a relationship like ours would have worked out if you know what I mean. (And she didn't love the other me)."

"That is some real Shakespeare shit right there." Sam commented.

Steve even agreed. "You can say that again."

"We'll what can you do, love comes in so many different ways." Natasha shrugged.

'Nothing. Felicia must have expected me to come instead of the Avengers. Now that I think about it, Wanda did say they were off doing their own assignments. Looks like this is pretty important, I wonder why?'

After turning up empty, the group walked out of the museum to round up the still unconscious thugs lying on the ground.

"Sorry guys. Looks like the trail has gone cold for now. I can contact my sources, find out what's on those drives. Hopefully, I can track her down before the end of the night. Get the data drive back." Spidey told them.

"You expect us to just let you run off?" Sam crossed his arms.

Steve pulled out his small notebook full of to-do lists and wrote a number down. "Call me, when you find something." He gave the piece of paper to Spidey.

"Oh my god! Captain America's phone number, do you know how much this would go on Ebay!" Spidey practically sobbed in joy.

"This is important, that drive may be able to lead me to someone dangerous. Don't let us down son." Steve held out his hand and gave Spidey a shake.

"Yes sir!" The masked vigilante made a military salute. With an incredible jump that sent him five stories high, Spider-Man shot out a sting of web and swung away.

XXXX

"Hey Yuri? About that painting." Spider-Man's call finally went through.

She let out a sigh of frustration. "Don't tell me… someone stole it."

"Not entirely, more like someone stole the thing inside of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Hidden in the frame was a data drive. I guess whatever on it must have been important, you think you have any sources that could figure out why?"

"Do I have another choice?"

"Also, one minor detail. Uh, did you remember a few weeks back how I gave you all those cat statues and then they blocked out all your cameras and Black Cat stole back her suit…"

Yuri instantly picked up on who Spider-Man was implying stole the painting. "You have got to be kidding me."

"Yuri… you alright? I know that's sort of an inappropriate question to ask at the moment. But…"

The police captain cut him off short.

"She'll blow off some steam and call me back, right?" Spidey asked himself, as he continued to swing through the city with no certain path or direction. 'Yuri must be having a pretty rough time, first the three vehicles and now the painting. Also, it didn't help that I practically helped Felicia get her equipment back. Hopefully, we can find what's on that drive, make both our lives a little easier. Man, at least she gets paid either way.'

Spider-Man made another call. "MJ, hate to be the barrier of bad news."

"Oh no, did the Maria get stolen?"

"No, what's inside of the picture was stolen. There was a flash drive, must have contained important information related to the Maggia. You mind doing a little research for me?"

"Ugh, I can tell this is going to be a long night."

"You can say-f"

"Pete, what's going on?"

Spidey redirected his swing at the last moment to avoid an incoming projectile. Still being propelled by his initial jump, he lands against the side of the building, sticking on the wall he scans around for where the object came from. Before he could react to the impending danger, someone jumped out of nowhere and kicked him into the pavement bellow.

"Ugh…" Spidey groaned in pain. With a thud, the mysterious figure landed in front of him.

"You know what they say, third time's the charm." The mercenary said.

"Have you ever heard the definition of insanity?" Spider-Man could practically see the smile behind the skull mask as Taskmaster pulled out his photogenic energy sword.

Spidey aimed his web shooters at the man and began firing blasts of webbing. Taskmaster deflected each projectile with his sword, slashing with delicate precision.

Taskmaster shot a grappling hook at Spidey, catching him by the arm. With a powerful spin, Taskmaster swung Spider-Man like a rag doll and threw him into the side of a building. As Spidey was about to recover, he felt a fist land straight into the right side of his jaw, then left, and finally a spin kick to temple.

"You butchered the footing." Spidey mocked, even though Taskmaster executed his finisher flawlessly.

"You mean improved?" The mercenary charged at him again with his sword.

Quickly, Spidey shoots a strand of web onto the ground, ricocheting it off the surface and smacked the weapon straight out of Taskmaster's hand. The man seemed surprise. Spidey shot another barrage of webbing at the mercenary, finally preventing him from moving. Closing the distance, Spidey sent Taskmaster flying into the air with an upper cut and bone crushing kick into the back.

Taskmaster grunted, getting back up he broke free of the webbing. "More tricks I see."

"I have a few more up my sleeves." Spidey shot another strand of webbing at Taskmaster who evaded. The two continued to punch, kick, and throw objects at each other.

"You think your organization would be disinterested in recruiting me by now?" Spidey grabbed hold of the mercenary and threw him into a wall.

"Applications are closed, permanently. My employer wants to make sure you don't get in the way of his operations anymore." Seeing Spidey jump at him, Taskmaster fell on his back and performed a double kick. The hit landed right into his targets stomach and sent him skidding across the ground.

As Spidey and Taskmaster both regained their footing, they charged at eachother. Their fists cocked back for a finishing blow.

POOF!

Without warning, a large cloud of smoke eloped the surrounding area. The mercenary waved the dark clouds out of his face, turning his head left and right to find no sign of Spider-Man. He didn't know whether to be disappointed or impressed. "So, that's what it feels like."

XXXX

"Oof!" Spidey fell onto the rooftop. He heard the tapings of heeled boots walk by him, looking upwards he was graced with a nice view of a pair of toned legs in skintight black and white material.

"Felicia?" He got back onto his feet.

Black Cat smiled at him, though she would never admit it, the sound of her real name coming out of his mouth made her weak to the knees. Felicia looked the hero head to toe, the costume she had made for him was just as stylish as she expected. The matching colors to that of her suit just felt right.

"How did you find me?"

"Please. The entire city block could hear you two with all the punches and insults being thrown around." She trailed a finger across his chest and licks her lips. "Um, looking good Spider, you've been working out?"

"No." He straightened his posture. Not sure why he still felt the need to impress her. Felica had a way with men, it was hard to admit but even Peter had a tough time not being entranced by her presence. "Uh, I am mean a little. The suit is a little tight across the chest."

"But not in the old web shooter, hey?" Her hand trailed down to his lower abdomen, a little too far down south for Spidey's comfort as he pushed her arm away and took a step back. "So… are you swinging solo now, or are you back with your ex?" Black Cat found his defensiveness to be adorable.

"Neither."

"Oh, Spider." She reached out and placed her hand on his shoulder, giving his muscles a nice feel. Circling around him, she brushed her lips across his ear. "I don't like it when other's play with my *favorite* toy."

"Favorite… toy. No. No. No." He spun around. "Why don't we cut to the case here? What is on that drive? Are you working with Hammerhead? Where were you all this time?"

"So many questions, Spider. Maybe we should do a little catching up first." She made another advance at him.

"Sorry, not single. Remember?"

She grabbed the material covering his collar and pulled him closer. Leaning into his right ear, she whispered in a sultry voice. "I didn't say I wasn't willing to share. The new girl and I can both play."

Spidey's lenses widened in disbelief, it took every fiber of his being to dispel the image of Felicia, Wanda, and him doing sexual things out of his mind. She loved his reaction, even if it was only his mask. Black Cat knew her ex was truly a very naughty man in bed, it was a great balance considering his overly nice exterior personalities. Felicia backed up to the edge of the building, "fair warning Spider, please just let this one go."

"No, Felicia we are talking right -gahhh!" Spider-Man fell onto his knees as electricity surged through his body.

Black Cat held out a small device which controlled the shocker she had placed in on him. "Takes a lot to get pass that spider sense of yours." Felicia blew him a kiss and gave him one more seductive smile "missed you Peter." She jumps off the building and with a fling of her grappling hook, disappears into the night.

After a few more seconds the shocking stopped. Reaching his arm around his back he found the little device and rips it off. "Peter… I almost never hear her call me that." Spider-Man lay flat on the ground, still wrapping his head around how Felicia just played him again. Peter thought that he had long ago gotten over the addictive drug that is Felicia Hardy, but why did his mind tell him differently? Another involuntary muscle crap hint him where the gadget was placed. "Owww! My back… my…my… feelings."