Welcome back to The Hero of the Alley! Last we left off, Harley and Peter revealed their identities to one another after finishing a patrol, with Peter leaving an apartment to Harley. And as he tried to sleep, he found a battle worn Felicia in his house, crying, and then passing out in his arms. Hope to hear some reviews and comments from y'all. Criticism is what makes a writer better.
Location: Harley's Apartment, Manhattan, New York
Time: 0913 (9:13 AM)
Date: 12/23/2020
After Felicia passed out in Harley's arms the night before, he placed her in his bed while he stayed on the couch for the night.
Felicia gently rustles awake, the light from the sun poking through and hitting her face. As she sits up, she finds she's no long in her costume, just her undergarments. "Hm? What the…?" She then looks around and sees she's not in her own apartment.
"Oh shit!" She jumps from the bed and into the living room, only to see Harley in the kitchen, no longer a small twig who was completely emaciated, cooking a stack of pancakes with chocolate chips, with just a pair of sweatpants on.
Harley turns around after hearing the door to the bedroom open, a smile on his face. "Hey Felicia, sleep well?"
"Harley? Is that really you?" She says, in disbelief at the sight in front of her, walking closer to him, hand outstretched. "Yeah Felicia, it's me." Harley just smiles, taking her hand in his hand gently pulls her into a hug. The Black Cat just stands there, cheek to his chest, warmth in her face rising. "You been lifting Harley? You seem bigger." She quips, trying to keep the conversation going.
He chuckles, looking her in the eye. "Yeah, something like that."
She looks at him, studying his new body. His whole body had become that of an extreme calisthenics athlete. Lean, but his muscles still had a healthy fat layer on them to keep his body functioning. "What happened between today and 2 nights ago? You been robbing places without me?" She playfully whines and pouts, causing him to lean back against the kitchen counter. "No, you know I wouldn't steal, let alone without you. No, I got given this place by a friend. Along with some money for food for the month."
"That's some luck Harley. Can I ask you who the friend is?" Felicia says, tracing his chest, teasing him. He blushes but chuckles. "Yeah, a friend from when I was a kid. Guy named Peter Parker, you know him?"
Her eyes blink a few times. "Petey's a friend of yours?"
"Petey? So I'm assuming you two have some kind of history." Harley says, crossing his arms, his eyebrow up as he leans back. "Oh relax Harl, we just had a fling once or twice, that's all."
Harley's eyes widen. "You slept with Peter?" He just blushes and shakes his head."Alright then."
"Oh come on Harl, are you actually jealous of Peter Parker?" She says, faking being surprised, an evil grin on her face.
"Maybe a bit." He turns his head away from her, his nose up at the ceiling.
"Don't be like that Harl, we've got something special, I'll never deny that." Felicia cups his cheek and turns it to face her. "I know. You've been a great friend to me Felicia. Now let me be there for you." He sets the pancakes down on the table with some cutlery and syrup. "I'll get you a robe and we can talk about last night. Please, start eating." He pulls the chair out for her, then leaves back to his room.
She takes her seat and starts to dig in to the, oddly, delicious looking pancakes after adding some syrup. "Didn't know you could cook!" She yells after him, taking a bite of the cake, a groan of enjoyment escaping her. "Delicious…"
Harley comes out of his bedroom, whistling the Spidey theme. "Here you go. Hope it's warm enough for ya."
She takes the robe and slides it over her shoulders. "Black, just my colour." She grins, winking before returning to her breakfast. "Mine too." Harley says, using the Venom symbiote to give him a black tank top.
Felicia immediately backs up, concerned. "Harl, you know what that thing is right?"
"Yeah I do. And he's not a thing, he's a living being, just like you and me. Call him V."
She refuses to relax for a few moments, then sits back in her chair. "Are you sure you're feeling okay? Not angry or aggressive?"
Harley shakes his head. "Nope, I feel fine. V and I came to terms with his history very quickly. We're good. I promise." He takes out a cooked steak and starts to eat that cold. "If not for Venom, I wouldn't be alive right now."
Felicia drops her fork and knife, looking at her friend, her hands quivering in worry. "What happened while I was gone?"
"When I was walking downtown, I ran into Carnage. He was about ready to kill a woman, and I stepped in the way."
He lifts his shirt, showing the scars where Carnage stabbed him. Felicia looks on in shock, tracing them. "You were…"
"I did what a hero would do. Sacrifice their own life to save someone else." He says with finality. "When he threw me to the side, V bonded with me, and we retaliated, sending Carnage away. But I know he'll be back."
Felicia looks at Harley, in a completely new light. This guy who found out her identity on accident, who promised to keep it secret as long as she hung out with him. Now, she sits in front of him, a man with new drive and purpose, and the power to do so. She found all of this…
Extremely attractive.
"So, are you busy today?" She asks, scooching closer to him.
"Yeah, I've got my first day at Parker Industries today." He says, finishing his steak and heading to his bedroom to get dressed. "Parker Industries? Why there? Did Peter offer you a job?"
"Yep. I'm working in the lab. Don't know what, but I'm excited." Harley steps back out, now in a suit and tie with proper pants. "Wow, look at you stud."
Felicia gets up and fixes his tie. "Never went to prom?"
"Nope. So this is my first suit like this." He says, looking in the mirror. "We'll talk about last night when I get back, is that alright?"
She nods, smiling at him behind his back. "Yeah, sounds good. Now go get 'em!" Encouraging him on, he heads out and closes the door behind him, leaving her alone in the new apartment. "Wonder if I can leave him a bit of a surprise…" She grins, heading to the bedroom and closing the door behind her.
At Parker Industries
Harley walks through the door of the tech company, astonished by the silver and red interior. "Amazing…" He walks up to the front desk, the female receptionist popping her head up. "Mr. Jakobson! Welcome to Parker Industries, Doctor Parker will see you in Lab 4. Here's your employee badge." She hands him a neatly laminated card with a photo that seems like it was just taken, with a subtext that read:
LEVEL 8 CLEARANCE
The newly employed Harley smiles, clipping it to his pocket. "Thank you Ms…"
"Moon." She says, giant smile on her face.
"Well Ms. Moon, I'll be seeing you around." Harley flashes her a smile and makes his way to the elevator, the receptionist following him with her eyes, sniffing the air. "New smell, but definitely one of us." She licks her lips with a grin before getting back to work.
As Harley walks into the lab, he's met with the bright flashes of a blow torch meeting metal, Peter with a mask on, manning the machine. "Hey Peter, want to kill the light show?!" Harley yells, covering his eyes, Peter turns off the torch and pulls up his mask. "Hey Harl, sorry, was working on a new suit."
"New suit? Is your current one not enough?"
"Not really. That suit is meant for general usage, but not mission specific, and certainly not bullet proof. So I've been designing this suit for a while." He motions to a suit that is truly like battle armor, similar to Iron Man but the spider web design, less mobility, truly built like a tank.
"It's got a full heads up display, thermal and x-ray vision, built in web shooters for specialized webbing, such as…" He takes off one gauntlet and aims at a lamp, firing a glob of webbing at incredibly high speeds covered in yellow sparks. As it landed, the lamp surged and the bulb exploded.
"Shock webs. Nice. So this is what? The Iron Spider?"
Peter chuckles. "No, that's a whole other suit, this is actually titanium plated steel, with the under suit laced with vibranium, so all the kinetic energy of bullets and impacts are absorbed into the suit, stored for one massive blow." He explains, Harley just barely getting an understanding. "This is great and all Pete, but what's my job here? You're a genius, what help could you need?"
"It's because of my job that I need your help. I need assistance in certain subjects, and I know I can't do everything myself. That's why I'm going to educate you on the mechanical side of science so that you and I can build the tools we need to keep this city safe." Harley stands there, astounded. "Teach me? To build our gadgets? But I don't have even the basics of mechanics."
Peter puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles. "You'll learn. And with time, you'll be among the best heroes in history. I promise."
Harley sniffs and pulls him into a hug. "Thank you Peter. You don't know what that means to me." Peter smiles. "Now then, for today, I just want you to take inventory of these suits and gadgets. Take the left out of the lab and keep going. Your badge will get you access." He hands him a checklist, only one page surprisingly.
"Okay." Harley takes it and heads out. "First left and straight." He sees the entrance and approaches, the door sliding open to reveal a room the size of a full house with all his suits, glass cabinets with Peter's gadgets. "Good lord! This is some Tony Stark levels of BS!" Harley groans and starts to do his tasks.
8 hours later
Harley drops the clipboard off at the lab and starts to make his way out only to be stopped by Ms. Moon. "Excuse me, Mr. Jakobson, you have voicemail from a Ms. Hardy." She holds out a phone, which he slowly takes and puts it to his ear. "Thank you Ms. Moon. I'll hear it now."
She hits play on the message machine, Harley listening closely.
"Hey there Harl, I know it's Christmas soon, but I wanted to give you your present early. Come home and unwrap me~."
Harley blinks twice, then hands the phone back to the receptionist with a blush on his face. "Ms. Moon, I'll be back tomorrow. Have a lovely night." He gives a quick half salute and sprints out of the tech company as fast as possible towards his apartment.
5 Minutes later
Harley takes a breath outside his door and slowly opens the door to find Christmas lights trailing towards his room. "In here Harley~." Felicia's voice echoes from the doorway.
"V, what's your take on this?"
"May the One Above All help us." Venom says, nervously laughing.
Harley starts walking to the bedroom, his heart beating loud enough to echo in his ear, he turns the corner to set his eyes on a sight he never thought possible for him.
Laying across the bed, no undergarments, just red gift wrapping over all her exposed features with the finished bow between her breasts.
"Hey there Venom, come to save me from this cage?" She motions to the ribbon. Harley stands in the doorway, mouth agape. "F-Felicia, I…"
She gets up and struts over to him, like a predator going after her prey. She grabs his tie and pulls him into a passionate kiss, Harley's eyes wide open in surprise until he melts into the kiss, relaxing and letting his hands lay on her hips.
After about a minute passes, they pull apart, both getting air and sharing a smile. "What brought this one kitty cat?" Harley says, breaking the silence.
Felicia takes a second to gather her words before looking him in the eyes with her explanation. "Harley, it has been 2 years since you found me in that warehouse hiding out from the police. You kept my identity safe, as long as I hung out with you." She chuckles lightly at the last bit. "And in that time, you showed yourself to be a man who cares so much about life and the people around you, even after all the shit that you've been through, especially with your mom." Harley smiles and cups her cheek as she talks.
"I know I'm not the most morally right person, but you understand me better than anyone Harley. More than Spider-Man ever will."
Harley smiles. "You mean Peter?"
She opens her mouth in shock. "You…?"
"Of course I know."
Harley kisses her again, feeling Felicia lean more against his chest, and separating after a few moments. "Let's take it slow okay? Make every moment like this special." She nods, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Would sleeping in the same bed be alright with you?"
He laughs heartily, holding onto the ribbon. "No issue at all." He makes one quick tug and pulls the ribbon off, leaving her exposed. "Still wanted to unwrap my gift."
"You, Harley Jakobson, are on the naughty list this year." She kisses him on the lips one more time before crawling into the bed
Harley grins and starts to get undressed, eventually getting into the bed behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist, both of them drifting off to sleep.
Wooohooo! Bit of a less action packed chapter, going into what his daily life will be like for a while, as well as his duties as New York's new Venom! And him and Black Cat, let's see how this chaotic duo work out. Please leave a review and comment for this story, I appreciate any and all feedback. Have a beautiful day, and I'll see you in the next chapter of The Hero of the Alley.