February 15th 2001, Claire Temple's condo, 1:00 AM EDT
"So..." I said lamely. "How do you know Cat?" Claire Temple was...not what I'd expected. The girl looked like a south american supermodel and had a mouth like a sailor. She'd cussed me out for about ten minutes when I came in from my phone call, and seemed to consider me about as likable as a rattlesnake with Ebola.
She glared at me. "I stick my tongue in her cunt sometimes. Now will you shut the fuck up and let me check this kid for a concussion? Based on what Felicia said this shit is all your fault anyway. I have enough problems trying to get her to stop risking her life without some big dumb asshole convincing her she's invincible." Her eyes were blazing as she glared at me, before turning back to shine a light in Peter's eyes.
Pete, for his part, furrowed his brow at the comment. "Whoa now. That's not fair. Cataclysm didn't ask us to do anything we wouldn't have done anyway, and he saved our lives. Cat hates Kingpin more than anybody, if we hadn't gone with her she'd have gone alone." He set his jaw stubbornly. "Or do you think she'd have been able to survive that blast without us there to cover her?"
Which was a good point. Peter's bullshit cheat sense had saved their asses from what he'd told us. I held up a hand to forestall him. "No." I said tiredly. "She's right. I'm too used to being invincible. Or at least damn hard to kill. I'm a human wrecking ball, and I plan like a human wrecking ball. 'Sneak up behind them and steal shit while I break stuff' isn't a plan, it's the plot of a music video from the nineties. I...I can do better. I will do better."
Her glare didn't exactly soften per se, but it became less focused on me. She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "No, no. He's right. It's not fair. Felicia does what she wants, no matter who tells her otherwise. She'd have gone without you, and probably would have died. I'm just tired and upset. I got off an eighteen hour shift at the hospital less than four hours ago, and I come home to this. You don't deserve my bullshit."
Peter cleared his throat. "I...um, did you mean it earlier. When you said you um..put your..." He trailed off, and I swear I could see the blush through his mask. The kid really was too much, but I couldn't bring myself to be anything but relieved, because it was hard to stay grim with him being a blushing virgin.
Claire snorted, her severe face cracking into a grin. "You're just adorable aren't you? Did I mean it when I said I eat her out sometimes? Slurp that pussy? Munch some platinum rug? Yes. She's cute, and doesn't really do strings, and my job is stressful. We fuck sometimes. I'm not in love with her or anything, but I consider her a friend even without the benefits, and I don't want to see her hurt."
I could respect that. Ali and I had been like that. It's not like I gave a shit if Felicia had a fuck buddy. I was certainly planning to get a few of my own. As long as it was other women she could do what she wanted. Besides, there were worse people to have on speed dial for a booty call than a registered nurse, as the current situation proved. I raised an eyebrow at her. "That have anything to do with the hostility? She and I kind of have a thing going on."
She laughed in a bitter enough way that I questioned her earlier comment about not being in love with Felicia just a bit. "No, kid. I'm in my thirties and I'm married to my job. Felicia is fun, and I patch her up as thanks for that, but I'm not looking to keep her waiting at home for mommy. You two do you. If it means I don't get to hit that anymore whatever, but you better not fucking hurt her."
It was a testament to the force of her personality that her demand there at the end was actually slightly scary. "No plans to." I said firmly. "She's one of mine, and I'll watch her ass, and not just because of all that pleasant jiggling. I also don't care about what you two get up to. I have other girls and she knows it, if she wants to fuck you then good for you." I shot her a grin. "Though if you two ever want a third I'm down for that too."
That just got an eyeroll. "Oh wow, the teenage guy is interested in a threesome with two women he knows fuck on the regular. How shocking. Sorry kid, I don't mind some sausage on my pizza, but I prefer my love life uncomplicated. Being booty buddies with a flighty smokeshow is one thing, but I'm not getting in the middle of superhero days of our lives. Being the meat in a teen romance sandwich sounds like more drama than I'd ever sign up for."
I...had no argument for that. Fair enough. I just shrugged. "Oh well, you change your mind let me know. You're kind of a smokeshow yourself. I'd hit it."
She put a hand to her face. "Oh God, there's two of them. Now I see why she likes you." She clicked off the small light she'd been shining into the eyes of a now unmasked Peter. He'd been hesitant to show his face, but since he might have had a concussion she insisted and he eventually gave in when she swore that as a medical professional she couldn't disclose his identity. I wasn't sure if that was true or he was just looking for an excuse, but she seemed like a decent enough person.
"You never said HOW you met Felicia." I said again. "Like, images of you two fucking aside, teen cat burglar and thirty something nurse aren't exactly the duo I'd pick for 'most likely to meet at a kegger'." Our blonde teammate was in the shower right now, and I felt like it was a good chance to pry a bit without her knowing. Not that I'd take it too far, but she definitely had some secrets I was curious about, and if I could learn some of them without asking directly all the better.
Felicia was a fascinating girl. She was smart, that much was clear from being a successful thief, but she liked being underestimated and was willing to do whatever she had to do to achieve her goals. I could see why Claire would be attracted to her, but I couldn't imagine how they had actually become acquainted.
"She saved my life." Said Felicia from the doorway. We all turned to see her standing with nothing but a towel wrapped around her and another being used to dry her long hair. "I got shot by one of Kingpin's goons pulling a heist. I snuck into the hospital and Claire was the one who found me and patched me up. She didn't tell security so the next time I got hurt I came directly to her place. Wasn't hard to get her address from the hospital directory. She patched me up and I kept coming back, then one thing led to another." She shrugged, catching the towel before it fell off her body and causing Peter to look like he was about to have an aneurysm.
She ignored him. I was pretty sure Peter had officially been put in the 'little brother' category, and I doubted she even noticed he was around. I tried not to laugh as the kid actually covered his eyes. Felicia walked calmly through the room and into one of the side bedrooms, shutting the door behind her after she finished talking, clearly done with that particular story.
Claire just gestured to the door. "What she said. Anyway, she mentioned some of this nonsense about the key to me before when she was asking around about it. If people want it this bad it probably isn't some random knick knack. If you want to figure out who took it, just tracking down Fenris won't be enough. You need to figure out what the hell this thing actually is, and I'm talking more than just a name."
Felicia opened the bedroom door, coming out in a large t-shirt and a pair of sweats. It was the least dramatic and sexual thing I'd seen her in, and after showering her pretty face clean, combined with the stress and the fear of the night she looked...raw. Vulnerable. Fragile. It pissed me off seeing her so obviously unbalanced. It made me want to hurt the people who targeted my team even more.
She sat down on the couch between Peter and Claire, head flopping back in exhaustion. "I have some leads. My source on the key mentioned a guy in town who might be able to help, but since we didn't have the damn thing yet it didn't seem worth the time. Since shit is clearly more complicated than we thought we might as well look into this properly."
Claire gave her a wry smile. "Hey now, language. You know I don't like when you fucking talk like that in my house."
Felicia winked at her and the older woman laughed, her eyes softer than they had been at any point up to now. "But jokes aside, you can lay low here for the night. It'll be safer if you aren't out and about in your condition. My guest room is open for whoever needs it, though the little guy should stay up for now. Sleeping with a possible concussion is a bad idea, and even if it looks like he's fine I'd rather not take the chance."
"Hey!" Said Peter indignantly. "I am NOT little. I am proportionately sized for a man my age. It's not my fault Cataclysm is a humongous giant." It was impossible to hide the slight whine in his voice, and we all had to clamp down on smiles at how young he sounded. I knew that wasn't fair since we were the same age and I'd have been just as offended, but it just made him seem like such a kid.
I laughed again, reaching up to pull off my hockey mask. "Billy." I said firmly. "She already knows the two of you anyway, so it's not like she couldn't figure out my identity if she needed to. Besides." I said to Claire. "You've helped us a ton. I don't mind sharing my identity with someone I trust. My name is William Frost. But like I said, you can really just call me Billy." I held out a hand, which she took and shook.
"I mean, cool." She said wryly. "But I'm still not a member of your little team. In case you were wondering." She trailed off. "But...I guess since you have Felicia's back I'm not against one of you showing up if you need a patch job." She winked at Felicia. "But I'm taking my bill out of her ass." To my shock my platinum maned teammate actually blushed at the comment, and Claire laughed wickedly as she did.
Honestly, after the anger of seeing my friends hurt, this whole thing was just really nice. Bit of banter, bit of relaxing, bit of good news about Peter's injuries. As Felicia started needling Peter to show Claire a picture of his 'red haired forever bitch' I grinned to myself. I was still pissed, sure. I would get revenge for the wrongs done to us, but I also needed to remember to enjoy the process. All my friends were alive and fine, and it would be ridiculous to dwell so hard on revenge I lost sight of the present.
I forced myself to relax. To let the knot in my stomach loosen as I took a long, deep breath. I wouldn't let go of the anger. Wouldn't abandon my drive to get even, but dwelling on it when I couldn't do anything about that rage wasn't healthy. I had a lot of flaws, but spending all my time seething wasn't one of them. I preferred to just chill and take things as they came. There would be time to punch stuff later, and I'd be sure to make those punches plenty hard.
Which brought up another thing I needed to focus on. Training. I'd let mine slip. Or at least, let the physical side slip. My body strength decided how much power I could channel and how durable I was, while my energy control decided how much of that power I could actually use safely. I'd been more focused on the latter for a while, because two tons of strength and the amount of power I had now had seemed like enough, but now I'd seen first hand that I needed more if I was going to succeed in New York.
First thing tomorrow, after I met up with Gwen, I'd start looking for a place to work out and start building my body up again. I glanced over at Felicia, who looked fragile and sweet laughing with Peter and Claire, and my eyes strayed to her abdomen where I knew there were fresh bandages wrapped. I should probably hit up Betty too. I was feeling a little pent up but I didn't want to impose on Felicia when she was injured. The older woman could help relieve some pressure if she was interested.
With a plan in mind I walked over from where I'd been leaning and dropped down onto the couch with a thump...and then dropped further as the fucking couch legs gave out under our combined weight and smashed the whole fucking piece of furniture into the ground with a crash. I winced and turned to look at Claire, who was glaring at me furiously. "I can...pay for that?" I said slowly.
She didn't respond, just glaring a hole in me, until finally the others couldn't take it and Peter and Felicia both cracked up. Their cackling set me off and I started laughing, and finally Claire just rolled her eyes, standing up and stalking out of the room muttering about giant behemoths. I stood up, helping Peter and Felicia off the remains of the couch, and silently thanked the gods that this was a first floor condo.
We talked for a bit longer, and then Felicia headed for the guest room to get some sleep while I stayed up to talk with Peter, until, despite the warnings from Claire, he fell asleep. Despite letting go of my immediate anger, once I was alone I started to stew about what I would do to the people responsible for hurting my friends. I shook off the thoughts, focusing on something more positive. I needed to find a donut place. I had to go see my girlfriend in a few hours, and I needed to bring pastries.
slightly porny chapter without actual sex. had fun writing this even if its ridiculous at parts lol
February 15th 2001, Stacy Residence, 3:00 AM EDT
Finding a donut place open before the ass crack of dawn in New York was easier than expected. Jack's Donuts was apparently an all night place, and I even got there early enough to get them fresh rather than snag last nights old ones. I got two dozen, one and a half for me and half for Gwen (mostly jellies with a few custard) before heading for her place in midtown.
When I arrived, I shot her a text and walked around the side of her house to wait by the tree. It led up to the window of her townhouse duplex, and was the easiest way to get in, even if I had to be careful and stick to the tree trunk as I climbed. Being five hundred pounds branches were a hard no. Luckily her window was big, and once I got up there I could leap the gap and land on her bed, which was right on next to the windowsill.
Once I got up there I tossed the boxes over and then jumped, landing on a nest of pillows. I would have made a noise I'm sure, but a small effort of my powers let me hit the space, dispersing my momentum with on a small outward wave of force I specifically controlled to spread out too much to be noticeable. A wave of mild force rolled over the whole room like a soft wind as I landed, and Gwen never even noticed it was happening, just assuming my body had produced a lot of air pressure when I landed as I had expected.
My powers can be REALLY obvious, but they can also be extremely hard to notice if I'm subtle. Without the hypocenters to mark their use vibrations are extremely tough to tell apart. Since my body hid the break in the air when I fell it was impossible for her to notice.
Still, she wasnt stupid. She gave a low clap. "Wow. Very graceful. Perfect form. I think you might be ready for the big leagues. I hear there's an Olympic team for sneaking into the rooms of teen girls. I think you've got a real shot if you buckle down and do some training."
I snorted at that. "You saying I should be doing this more often? Because if you want me to sneak in to see you more all you news to do is ask." I gestured at the donuts. "Of course, the food bribe wont be a regular occurrence. That was a one off. I'm not made of money, so if you want more donuts I'm going to need some compensation."
Gwen gasped theatrically, putting a hand to her chest. "Sir. Are you implying you wish to exchange pastries for sexual favors?"
I gave her a wicked grin. "Well I figured it was appropriate. This way both you and the donuts will get plenty of cream filling." I waggled my eyebrows at her like Groucho Marx.
All I got for my trouble was an eyeroll. Gwen didnt mind flirting if I didnt try anything physically, but from her light blush that had been a bit far. "Whatever. If you only brought me cream filled you aren't even invited back. I want my jellies bitch."
I reached down to open one of the boxes. "A dozen and a half jellies and a half dozen custard. Take your pick. I'm planning on eating whatever you don't but I have you budgeted for six." I gave her a cheesy grin. "I know how my sugar bear likes to stuff her face."
The eyeroll was back, hard enough that I was slightly worried the might sprain something. "Dont make up lame nicknames for me without asking. And I am a lady. I do not "stuff my face" I eat my food elegantly and with poise. Unless it's really good. Then I demolish that shit like a wrecking ball."
She snagged a series of donuts, two jellies and a custard, and started taking huge bites out of them. She let out a nearly sexual moan and then glared at me hotly, speaking between bites as she ate. "You're a monster. I asked for donuts but I only wanted a few. You're clearly trying to pack some fat on my ass so you can indulge your sick thicc girl fetishes. Dont think I can't see through your terrible plan."
I raised an eyebrow as I picked up my own donut and started chowing down. "You don't say? Then why are you still eating? And don't lie, you like how much attention I pay your ass. It makes you feel sexy." I scooted over to make room on the bed and patted the mattress, and Gwen sat down next to me, still eating and with a face as red as the jelly in the donuts. I put an arm around her.
"Billy." She said quietly. "I don't want to go too fast." I could see how much it bothered her to say it. She was a certified badass who didn't give a fuck, but pretty brainy Gwen the cops daughter was still in there under that punk exterior.
I leaned down to kiss her neck, and she inhaled sharply, turning her head to meet mine. Our lips crushed against each other for a few seconds, and I grinned at the enthusiasm. Gwen didn't want to get deep dicked tonight, but she wasn't exactly hoping I'd leave now either. I murmured in her ear. "How about a compromise then? I promise my pants wont come off. I'll keep my dick put away no matter what."
Nibbling at her neck, she gave a whiny nod. "Ok, that sounds alright. You don't get naked and we'll be all good." I groped one of her cute little apple sized tits and she gave a ragged moan. "So fucking good."
I grinned at her, pushing her back on the bed so she could stare up at me, and then taking her lips roughly, enjoying the taste of donuts we had both forgotten about on her lips and tongue. I started to kiss my way down her neck, and as I went I pushed up her shirt, showing off her cute little tits and the sweetest looking little strawberry pink nipples.
My lips latched onto one and I gave a long suck, earning a moan from my girlfriend. My thigh was between her legs and she was humping it frantically as I rolled her nipple around with my tongue and teeth. I ground my leg between hers and she whined at me, wriggling her hips up to try to get a better angle for our contact. When I pulled away she looked at me with a near comical sense of frustrated betrayal. "Why did you stop?" She whimpered.
I grinned at her, kissing my way down her chest and stomach as I reached down to unbutton her pants. Her eyes went wide. "Wait, I thought we said pants on tonight?" Despite the uncertainty though she didnt try to stop me.
Pulling her pants over her hips I smirked up at her. "MY pants stay on. We can stop if you want to of course. But personally." I cut off my sentence by leaning down go kiss her bare thigh, right next to the lacy red thong I'd just uncovered. "I thinks it a little cruel that I brought you tasty treats to enjoy and I don't get to sample my dessert of choice."
Her face burst into embarrassed flame. "That-thats so lame. You think I'll let you do stuff to me because you say lame shit like that?" Despite the contrarian words though, she started wriggling her hips up at me.
Taking a second to enjoy how needy she was, I blew across the front of her thong lightly, earning a low whine from Gwen, before stopping and giving a shrug. "Well if you're not into it I can always stop. Maybe we can try again some other time."
"No!" Her yelp was too loud in the quiet room, and she hurriedly suppressed her voice. "I mean...no. I guess you can like...try it. If you're into that. I didn't think guys liked that kind of stuff. If you really want to though you ca- oh!" Her voice cut off, turning into a surprised exclamation of excitement as I leaned down and raked my tongue over the surface of her panties.
Reaching down to pull them aside I blew out another breath on her soaking little cunt. She whimpered, eyes wide as she stared at me. I lowered my mouth to her cunt, sealing my lips over her clit and giving her a nice thorough suck before flicking my tongue over it a few times. "Fuck!" Gwen helped. "It's good. That's fuck that's good. Do it again. I like that."
Seeing my confident kickass punk girl turn into a whimpering babbling mess was hot as fuck, and I grinned against her, sliding a hand up her thigh slowly as I worked my tongue against her. She gave a soft squeal and I pressed my mouth tighter against her, enjoying her little hip jerking motions as I ate her tight little pussy.
My hand slid around the back of her thigh instead of going further up, and the other joined it, both clamping over soft tight little ass cheeks. I jerked her against me and wriggled my tongue into her cunt, and was pleased to see her body go taught like a live wire. "That's...Billy. Oh. Why is that in there? It feels so good. That's so fucking good. More get it deeper. Please do that more." I wasn't complaining about the request as I worked my tongue further into her cunt hands clamped over her ass to hold her in place as she humped up at my face, her pussy soaking my mouth and chin.
Fuck she was sweet. I've eaten plenty of pussy and Gwen's was fucking first rate. The taste of spiced peaches flooded my mouth and I ground my tongue deeper, trying to get more. I could feel the cute little landing strip above her pussy against my upper lip as I ate her. Not just the taste of peaches, eating her was just like a peach. Sweet and messy and fucking amazing.
Her hands had found my hair by this point, wrapped in big fistfuls as she tried to smash her hips forward into my mouth. "Fuck." She grunted. "S'good. Lick it. Like that. Fuck. We can't have sex. Too soon. But this is fucking nice. You can do this more. Do this all the time. Every morning."
I pulled back, shooting her a teasing grin. "Sorry Gwen. I don't quite understand? Do what exactly?" She was such a little princess about this stuff when it came to actual sexual things. She'd talk all the shit in the world, but she was too shy to ask me to do something dirty. I latched onto her cunt again, slurping away until I felt her get close before I pulled away, raising a waiting eyebrow at her.
"You know!" She hissed. But when I didn't react her face heated. "This. Oral. Licking me. You can do this more." I cocked my head. "Pussy." She gritted out. "I like it when you...lick my pussy. Please come back more and lick it again." Her face was so red I thought she might combust, and she sounded vaguely humiliated.
I muffled my laughter in her cunt as I went back work, and her indignant huff turned to a whine within seconds as she started panting again. "That's it." She moaned. "That's what I want. That's good. Pussy. Lick my pussy. Dont stop Billy. Dont ever stop licking my fucking pussy. Fuck!" She hissed almost angrily as she jammed her hips forward and I fucking loved it.
My sweet little Gwen was riding my face like a grade A slut. It was hot as fuck. I considered slipping a finger up her ass, but it seemed a little quick, so I just buckled down and tongue punched her hot little box as well as I could. "Fuck." She spat. "Gonna cum Billy. I'm gonna cum so fucking soon. I'm so close. Fuck this is so good. I love this. I need this more. Need you so much more. Fuck. Eat it. Eat my pussy. Fuck."
She was babbling, barely coherent with pleasure. I knew she was getting close without her saying it though. The way her cunt rippled on my tongue made it obvious. The running commentary could have been annoying, but since I knew it came from a place of shock it was fucking hot. "I love this." She gibbered. "Love this tongue, love this bed, love this day love fucking donuts fuck. Eat my fucking donut lick that fucking jelly." She was pretty much incoherent at this point, and I tried not to laugh because I knew it would kill the mood.
The closer she got to cumming the more her ass cheeks tightened under my hands and the harder she ground against me. She wasn't talking anymore, and looking up I saw it was because she'd shoved her pants into her mouth to shut herself and was biting down on them red faced as she moaned into the fabric. Her eyes lost focus and she let her head flop back and stared up at the ceiling as she finally finished.
Her screams were almost too loud for the pants to muffle, even as hard as she was biting down, and I did my best to make them louder as I scoured the inside of her cunt with my tongue, running it over every single spot I could find to figure out what she liked best. The taste had changed slightly when she started cumming, more spice and less peach, but still fucking delicious. Could having a dessert cunt be considered a superpower? Because if so Gwen was Omega Class pussy.
Finally she fell back, limp on the bed and breathing hard. It took her a second to remove the pants from her mouth and another few seconds to speak. "That." She said conversationally. "Was pretty fucking cool. Like...top ten things I've ever done. I've decided that I like that." She looked down at me shyly, her hands reaching down to adjust her thong to cover herself again. "And, um...you did too right? Because you made it sound like you like this kind of thing. If you don't though we don't have to do it again."
I laughed, leaning up to kiss her, half expecting her to pull back but pleasantly surprised when she kissed me back hard, seeming to enjoy the taste as much as I did. "Yes." I said with finality. "I enjoyed it." I grinned at her as I slid a hand over her hip to rub the front of her thong. "And if you don't believe me, maybe I can convince you the second time." As I slid down to have my second dessert, I noticed some of the donuts had been kicked onto the floor. I was pretty sure Gwen was going to get ants, but oh well, wasn't my room. I had a pussy to eat, let someone else worry about cleaning.
February 15th 2001, Clair Temple's condo, 8:00 AM EDT
I got back to Claire's place pretty early in the morning. I was exhausted, but pretty smug. Gwen had eventually been so worn out from all the fun that she fell asleep, and as much as I'd have liked to nap with her (because gods was I tired). That didn't seem to be in the cards. I took a quick shower when I got there (cold, to wake me up) and when I got our found Claire casually mixing scrambled eggs in the kitchen.
"Well aren't you all domestic and shit?" I asked teasingly. I had to stifle a yawn, but my body tended to run on less sleep if I needed it to. I'd have to eat a ton to compensate, but I already scarfed a bunch of donuts (not the ones on the floor) before leaving Gwen's.
Claire snickered. "Please, I'm used to having to cook when Felicia is here. The girl has almost no day to day lifeskills, but she eats plenty. You think you get tits like that scarfing salads? Leaving that aside though, I heard you going out last night. Where did you get off to?" She looked me over, presumably checking for some sign of what I'd been doing, but I was freshly showered so it didn't really work out.
"Girlfriend's house." I said matter of factly as I checked her chairs. I had to be careful sitting down on wooden furniture, most kitchen chairs aren't rated for five hundred pound men. I found one that was metal (she had kind of a mix and match set) and cautiously took a seat, sighing with relief when the thing didn't creak ominously. It would be fine, I'd developed a sixth sense for when chairs were going to break under me over the years.
The smirk became rueful. "You've got balls kid. I'm surprised Felicia doesn't mind, but it's your business, the two of you. Can't really complain when I get to keep tappin' that ass. So, I assume you all are going to track down that guy Felicia mentioned in town? I didn't get a name from her but he sounds like your best lead."
I shrugged. "Probably. This part isn't so much my area of expertise as Pete's. Like I said, I'm kind of a blunt instrument. I'm working on that, but part of that process is accepting input from my team, who know better than me in some situations. I'll probably just let the two of them make the plan this time and try to adjust to their way of thinking. No need to pretend I'm competent when I still have stuff to learn."
Claire stopped cooking, turning to me with a scrutinizing look. "That's...surprisingly mature." She noticed the eggs were still going and with a curse started scraping the bottom of the pan (stove was too hot, rookie mistake) but kept talking. "I had you pegged for the macho big swinging dick type. Never admits he's wrong, punches anyone who talks badly about him. That was almost introspective though."
That just got another shrug from me. "People who feel the need to throw their weight around don't usually have much of it. I know how strong I am, I don't need to prove shit to anyone. I can admit when I make a mistake, or when I need to improve. Nobody is perfect. It's not like I'm some buddha with no pride or something. More like I have so MUCH pride that I don't worry about what most people think."
She actually giggled at that. "You're so arrogant you're humble? Consider my horizons broadened. It's refreshing though. People with something to prove are exhausting."
"Don't I know it." I agreed. "I grew up around quite a few of them. My own outlook on life is mainly a factor of a contrarian worldview and an obsession with personal power. Speaking of personal power, you awake yet?" I called that last bit over my shoulder at the shadowed lump on the still broken couch.
"Yes." Called a muffled voice. "How did you know? Wait, no I got it. My breathing changed." Peter pushed himself up on the couch, looking tired still, At my confused look he elaborated. "Claire gave me a specific time frame to avoid the worst possibility of issues. Once that passed I was able to go to sleep for a while." He turned to the pretty nurse. "Thanks for that by the way. Seriously, I owe you one."
She just waved him off. "De nada. Like I said, you're a good kid, and you helped out Felicia. Guessing you slept ok? You seem to have gotten at least a bit of decent rest."
"Yeah, I got a few hours." He said with a smile. As he sat down, Claire turned off the stove and got out some plates, scraping a portion of the cheesy scrambled eggs onto them. "Heard what you were saying a bit ago by the way Billy, and yeah I can help you come up with a plan."
I sighed in relief. "Oh good, because apart from being a thug, I'm also tired as hell. I was up all morning letting Gwen play rodeo champ with my face. Dear gods that girl has strong thighs, even my indestructible ass felt like she might crush my head." It was a little mean, but Felicia had shown me the joys of tormenting Peter, and seeing the kid's face turn bright red was too funny to miss out on.
He choked on a bite of eggs, eyes going wide. "Y-you, I...what? You went to Gwen's last night?" Guess he woke up after the girlfriend comment. "That's nice I guess." He mumbled. "She really let you...like with your mouth?" Gods, he was almost as much of a virgin as Gwen, no wonder they got along. He looked both directions discretely. "Do you think you could give me like...some tips?"
"Awwwwwww!" Cooed a sugary voice from behind Peter. The slowly dawning horror on his face told me that his danger sense didn't consider mortification to be deadly, because he clearly hadn't heard Felicia sneaking up on him. She ruffled his hair as she plopped down in a chair, waiting for Claire to get her a plate as she grinned at our spider themed teammate in an appropriately feline way.
"Little Petey wants advice for licking his strawberry ice cream cone?' Peter wilted slightly, and Felicia's cat that ate the canary grin got wider. "You shouldn't be asking Billy for that. Claire and I could tell you all about how to please your lady friend. We're experts aren't we Claire bear?" She put a hand to her face and faux whispered "She says I munch muff better than any girlfriend she's ever had, and her tongue game isn't anything to sneeze at either."
Peter's head looked like it was about to explode, and I was surprised there wasn't legit smoke coming from his ears. I rolled my eyes. "That's enough. I was just ragging on him a little. Don't torment the boy Felicia." I shot him a small smirk. "Though if I were you I'd ask her a few questions when you get the time. Embarrassing or not, a bit of a crash course couldn't hurt." I was sure she would give him a detailed explanation, probably with diagrams, just to see how far she could push his embarrassment.
She pouted at me, but stopped when I said. After a perfunctory 'how did you sleep?' greeting, I asked her about her contact and the guy they mentioned. She was still eating, but at my words she looked up in surprise. "Oh, the magic guy? His name is Strange." I blinked at her, gesturing for her to say more, but she just looked confused, then let out a giggle and shook her head. "No, I mean Strange is his actual last name. Stephen Strange junior. His dad was some kind of big shot magic user in town years ago."
Claire's head jerked up. "Wait, what? Stephen Strange was a wizard? That's wild." We all looked at her in confusion. "He's kind of an urban legend in the medical world, even now. Strange was a hot shot surgery genius like...thirty or forty years ago. He was one of the best in the world. He got into a car accident though and his hands got paralyzed. He vanished for a few years and then showed back up and when he did his hands worked fine."
She shook her head in amazement. "He stopped doing surgeries, but he'd medical consult with some of his old colleagues from time to time. They say he cured diseases that should have been fatal. Which, come to think of it, magic would probably explain. Anyway he vanished years ago, but he was such a big deal you still hear references to him now and again when someone runs into something they can't treat. Didn't know he had a kid."
"That's a weird career change. Doctor to wizard." Then I paused. "Though I guess they both like to play God, so maybe not as weird as I thought. "You know where we can find him though? Somehow I doubt wandering around hospitals asking about Stephen Strange's wizard baby is going to be an effective way to find someone. Don't suppose she gave you a street map or a cell phone number?"
Felicia snickered around her eggs. "No. Sorry, just an address." She smirked sarcastically. "I can try to get a map from my contact if you need one. But I figured we could just look up directions on the internet." She batted her eyes at me innocently, and I glared at Peter who was snickering at her sarcasm.
"Anyway." She said after she finished swallowing. "He lives at 177A Bleeker Street. I looked it up on my phone earlier and it isn't actually that far from here. Less than a twenty minute drive probably. It's in the village."
Claire snorted at that. "Of COURSE the wizard lives in Greenwich. Are you all heading out after breakfast? I have work in a few hours, despite just coming off a shift yesterday. Fucking hospital hours." She sounded bitter, but also resigned in a way that told me she didn't really hate her job, just wished it would ease up.
Felicia finished her last bite and dropped it on the plate. "Yeah. We should be good to leave. We were here all night...mostly. So no one would be looking for us, plus we aren't in costume. Thanks again for the clothes Claire bear." She popped to her feet, the t-shirt she'd changed into before getting up not hiding her lack of bra or generous endowments at all and leaned down to give Claire a quick kiss. "You're the best."
Claire rolled her eyes and slapped Felicia on the ass. "Away with you minx. Or I'll make your friends go see the magic man alone and keep you here all to myself." That got a giggle from the platinum blonde, who turned and stepped over to me.
Looking over her shoulder she said. "Well if you don't my kisses I'm sure Billy does." She climbed into my lap, molding herself against me and kissing me hungrily. I didn't turn her away, kissing her back and getting a handful of one of those huge tits while I did it. I was so engrossed that once she got up I didn't even realize she'd taken my damn car keys until I saw her stroll over to the door, twirling them around a finger.
Our host snickered. "Yeah she's good at that. She got my panties off me like that once. Still no clue how I didn't notice, though she had to cut them in one spot to get them off without sliding them down my legs." She gave a wistful sigh. "Great, now I'm going to be horny all day. Guess it's appropriate. She goes to see the wizard and I spend a few hours with my magic wand."
Peter choked again and I just laughed, clapping him on the back. "Maybe you shouldn't eat around Claire or Felicia. They seem to time their comments specifically to make you choke. Come on Pete, lets get down there before Felicia takes off with the car and we have to catch a cab. I could see her doing that."
Claire laughed at him as he ignored my warning and started scarfing down scrambled eggs. "Honestly, you're adorable Petey. Your redhead is a lucky girl. If you take Felicia up on her offer of a lesson I'll make sure she doesn't tease you too bad." Her eyes flicked to me. "As for you...doesn't seem like you need one, but since you're so open to learning I don't think I'd mind giving you a LIVE demonstration sometime."
I shot her a wink. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for breakfast by the way, even if I already ate earlier." I turned and left, hearing Peter scramble to run after me as I opened the apartment door and headed for the elevator. I laughed at his disheveled appearance. "You've got a way with people bud, they both already treat you like family."
He snorted at that. "Not the way with people I'd prefer when it comes to beautiful women. Especially not certain beautiful women." His eyes unfocused as his hand dropped to his pocket. Then he shook it off. "I'd much rather have YOUR way with people. I can't believe you went down on Gwen Stacy. That's...terrifying. She scares me."
"She tries to scare people." I said with a laugh. "She's a big softie though. You two have that in common. As for my way with people..." I shrugged. "I'm a big, well built, good looking guy with power. That checks a lot of boxes for most girls. It's just a physical thing though. You seem to connect with people much easier than most."
He made a noncommital noise, but I could tell he wasn't buying it. I rolled my eyes. "Pete, let me let you in on a little secret. Aspiring models don't let their platonic besties take pics of them in their unmentionables. You need to ask that redhead out. I guarantee she's interesting in you, and you clearly have a thing for her. Just sack up and say the words man, it's not like she's going to murder you if she doesn't want to do it."
This time his response was less noncommital and more pensive. I smiled at the ponderous look on his face. Peter wasn't a pansy, I'd fought him myself. Now that I'd made it a matter of overcoming an obstacle he would ask her out, I was sure of it. I was also sure she'd say yes. Like I told him, pretty redheads don't let you take pictures of them in their underwear if they aren't into you. Speaking of pictures, I fished my phone out of my pocket and texted Betty about meeting up later tonight. I just hoped I wouldn't be too busy with all this magic nonsense, I really needed to get laid.
February 15th 2001, 177A Bleeker st. 10:00 AM EDT
"Well this seems...excessive." I said, staring up at the palatial mansion. It wasn't the size really, I'd been in bigger. I was a Frost after all. No, the thing that struck me most about the mansion was that since this was New York, it was practically stuffed into the plot of land it was on until there was nowhere left. Like they'd built the house first and it was too big, so they'd greased it up and worked it into the lot with a shoe horn. It was practically bursting out of the designated space, not that anyone seemed to notice.
Felicia cocked her head at it a bit, framing it with her fingers. "I don't know. I kind of like it. It's imposing. Like some ancient beast looming over the city." She gave me a devilish grin. "Plus there's nothing wrong with shoving something huge in a tight place. You'd be shocked where you can fit things if you're will to really pound it in"
Peter sighed in exhaustion, checking his watch. "Almost a full hour without you making a double entendre. We were so close. I was going to buy you a cookie."
She grinned and yanked my arm between her tits. "I already have one. But it's certainly nice of you to offer."
I rolled my eyes and swatted her ass, because she needed to focus, and also because it was a REALLY nice ass and I enjoyed seeing it bounce and jiggle. She squeaked fetchingly. "He's right, kitten. This place is dangerous so we need to focus. I promise you can be as dirty as you want when we finish, we can even take a shower so I can clean you up. But while flirting might help calm you down it gets ME worked up, so I'd appreciate if we could keep the humor PG-13 and below."
That got a pout, but she nodded, her shoulders slumping. "Yeah. Sorry. Pushing buttons helps me relax. But I don't want you too keyed up to focus either." She shot puppy dog eyes at Peter. "Sorry Petey."
The little sucker folded like a wet towel. Felicia liked to mess with him, but she also treated him pretty well. He was developing a soft spot for his new big sister figure. He just waved her off. "It's cool. I'm nervous too. Breaking into the lair of a self styled 'master of the mystic arts' is like...bad idea from concentrate. On the upside I think this is all the stupid I'm due for the year, so hopefully I can use it all up at once and get it out of the way."
"I don't think it works that way." Said Felicia solemnly. "Otherwise Billy would be a flawless super genius. Can you imagine how many years of rollover he built up before we even met him."
Her yelp at the next spank was less fetching and more affronted as I smacked the same cheek a bit harder. She rubbed it and glared at me, but I just winked and stuck out my tongue. "ANYWAY." I said loudly. "If my bad kitty is finished earning herself a punishment later, we should actually go in. I propose Felicia leads up inside, since she's the only one of us who can literally manipulate probability."
"That's true." Said Peter. "The only probably I can affect is how likely it is that a printer will break when I try to use it. Which, oddly, is all the time. Seriously, it's freakish. I don't even do anything different than other people, just being nearby seems to do it. Pretty sure I even broke your printer at the penthouse."
Now I glared at him. "If I smack you." I said lightly. "It's going to hurt a lot more. YOU don't have big fat jiggly ass to soak up the impact." I paused. "Probably, I don't know how to gauge man butts, I was just going to smack you upside the head anyway."
Felicia shook her head. "He doesn't. He has a pancake butt." I raised an eyebrow at her. She just shrugged. "What, girls look too. We just pretend not to most of the time." She patted my face. "Don't be jealous honey. You definitely don't have a pancake butt." Now she smacked me on the ass, giving me a sly smirk, but the effect was ruined when I caught her shaking out her hand in pain as she tried to hide it with her body.
We approached the front door, which was a large wooden structure with a dragon head knocker, and Felicia knelt down to examine the lock. "Billy, stand behind me so no one on the sidewalk sees if anyone passes by." They didn't seem likely to, but I wasn't going to argue. I stepped up behind her, and was impressed at the skill and professionalism from her as she rattled off lock info. "It's a Medeco. Decent company but only an issue for basic bitch thieves. Still this one is higher end, they have the driver pins set up inverse of the key pins to partially obstruct picking attempts." There was a click. "Got it."
She popped to her feet, pushing the door open with a smug grin. We both looked at her in surprise. She'd made it sound like it would take a minute or two to open, even for her, but it had been less than ten seconds. "I'm the best." She said with a shrug. "I've practiced on at least four models of every commercial lock company more times than I can count. Daddy said to make sure I had a firm foundation when doing anything. Basics kill." She had a fond smile as she said that, but it melted away into grief soon enough.
Peter stepped forward and gave her a hug, and she stiffened slightly, before returning it once she realized he was just...sympathizing. I got the impression Felicia didn't get many sympathy hugs. I felt kind of bad about that actually, I was always thinking about her sexually too, even if it was protective sometimes. I stepped up and wrapped my arms around both my teammates and gave them a squeeze. Felicia's eyes got misty, but she smiled at both of us.
"This is really sweet guys." She said gently. "But we're group hugging in front of the open door of a house we're breaking into. We should probably go." I pulled back with a chuckle and Peter looked embarrassed, muttering an apology. Felicia ruffled his hair. "Don't sweat it kid, I needed a hug. I can tell you've been there yourself." I knew his uncle Ben had died a few years ago, and was impressed she'd read him so well.
He just nodded at her solemnly, then the three of us turned to head inside. I grabbed both of them before we actually entered though. "Wait." I said. "I reconsidered. Felicia opened the door, but I'm first. I'm the sturdiest of us, so it makes sense for me to take the lead." Felicia's luck manipulation might save us true, but I kept seeing images in my head of that fucking explosion.
Doing the smart thing and doing the right thing aren't always the same. I wasn't too interested in morality in general, but taking care of your people was always the right thing. They looked like they might argue, so I ignored them and strolled right over the threshold. I braced for impact, but...nothing happened. After I confirmed that I wasn't on fire or being eaten by acid bats or something, I turned to wave the others in.
Felicia stood up on her toes and smacked me upside the back of the head with a glare. "What the fuck Billy? You said I'd take the lead. What if there had been some kind of defenses here?" She paused. "Actually why aren't there some kind of defenses here?" She paused, looking around suspiciously. Her eyes took in the whole room, finding details I couldn't see, and she scowled. "Someone already broke in here. Recently. I can see signs of disturbance in the decor, but there's no dust."
My guard immediately rose as I stepped in front of the others. If someone had come here to steal something like us, that was fine. It wasn't like we needed any of this shit. But if someone had come here for Strange, he might actually be in danger, and if he died our only lead on the key might go up in smoke. I slipped a hand into a pocket, withdrawing my hockey mask. "Alright, Felicia kick that door shut, and then masks on."
We were planning to come here as civilians, since Strange would probably be more hesitant to melt a bunch of teens into random goo, but if we were going to fight I wanted that extra level of protection. They didn't even question it as the slipped them on. Cat had hers in a pocket and Peter's was hanging off the torso of his suit, which he apparently had on under his clothes.
Ok, this might be getting complicated, but we didn't even know anything was actually going on. I trusted Felicia, but maybe Strange's maid service had skipped a day or something, it wasn't like we'd heard someone actually say- "Old bastard!" A voice boomed through the house. "You dare enter the sanctuary of my father with thoughts of theft?" There was a series of loud explosions of varying distances that implied a battle.
"Wow." Said Peter admiringly. "The acoustics are REALLY good in here. That was really crisp." He wasn't wrong, the vaulted ceiling in here really carried sound well.
Still, I snorted. "Yeah, but it was also vague, that could be referring to anything. Is it too much to ask for some detail? Who is the intruder? What do they want? These are things I need to know."
As if on cue, a high pitched voice cackled. "Foolish boy! Struggle all you like, but soon it will belong to me! No one will prevent I, Xandu, from gaining control of the Wand of Watoomb!" There was another peal of malevolent laughter, and peter and Felicia both turned to look at me confused shock.
I looked around suspiciously. "A million dollars in gold bars and a yacht. These are things I need to have." I waited. Nothing. Damn. I turned to them and shook my head. "Ok, that was weird, but I guess it was coincidence." I shot a contemplative look at Felicia. "Did you do that?"
She looked at me blankly. "I...don't THINK so? My powers aren't exactly intentional. I think that guy is just a huge dramatic idiot. Anyway, we should try to help Strange. I bet he'd be more likely to give us answers if we show up to help him save his stuff, rather than just breaking in and jumping out at him like a bunch of creepers."
"Ok, this was YOUR plan." I said indignantly. "You're the cat burglar. Not really fair to call me creepy for following your lead."
She smiled back sweetly. "It is if you spend the entire time with your eyes glued to my ass. Anyway, let's go. We need to find Strange. Can you tell where the sound is coming from?" We were in a huge room, and while there were balconies overlooking it at various points, there were no stairs here. I turned to Peter, cocking my head questioningly.
He jumped a bit. "Oh! Spidey sense. Ok...hold on." He scanned the room, looking at each door carefully before pointing to one. "That door is the only one I feel imminent danger from. Since they're throwing fireballs I'd say that's probably the one. I can't swear to it though, might just be an alligator pit or something." He shrugged. "Wizards, you know? Subtle, quick to anger, the usual."
I shrugged. Seemed like decent logic to me. Though it also seemed kind of reckless for Peter. Maybe I was a bad influence on the kid...nah, I was awesome, he was just getting more awesome like me. Still, I wasn't fucking stupid. I didn't charge over and bash the door down or anything. I had the others back up and then slowly approached, a fist drawn back with a condensed hypocenter ready to strike. As I reached the door, I carefully turned the knob, pushing it inwards while waiting for something to try to eat my face. When I opened it though...there was nothing.
Now, when most people say things like that they mean there isn't a threat. But in Strange's house, terms like 'there was nothing' took on a whole new meaning. There was LITERALLY nothing on the other side of the door. A huge empty abyss of terrifying dark space. There was a horrible suction from the doorway, trying to pull us all in, but I just punch the space in front of it and the air shattered. The solid spatial fracture protected us while the vibrations countered the wind, so we didn't all going spiraling into the darkness.
I stepped out of the way of the door and shook my head. "Nope, pretty sure that's just a death room. Decent idea though Pete. Let's try another one." I condensed the hypocenter around my drawn back fist again and moved on to the next door. When we reached it, I pushed it open slowly, ready to attack, but I didn't end up needing to. One the other side of the door was the very thing we had been looking for in this first room. Stairs.
So many stairs. Like..hundreds of flights. Going in all directions, some of which didn't even make logical sense. Felicia perked up as she saw the room. "It's this one." We looked at her in confusion, but she just shrugged. "Instinct. I can't really describe how I know, but I do. This is the door we need to go through. I THINK I can pick the right path for us too." There was another series of explosions, followed by a few curses back and forth (probably not literal ones though) from Strange and Xandu.
I nodded, and held out a hand. "I'm going first, no arguments. You can lead from behind, help steer me toward the other side, but if anyone attacks I won't let you be the one tanking it." With Peter here it should be fine, but the whole exploding warehouse thing proved that Peter's spidey sense wasn't infallible. He would pick up danger when was imminent, but if there were already measure in place that outpaced his ability to avoid them (like wide area blasts) he wouldn't be able to get away fast enough.
I wasn't sure if his power was intent based or if those bombs had just been there for so long that they didn't count as active danger until they were primed and were just considered part of the architecture, but whatever the case, I needed to be proactive protecting my friends. Felicia looked sourly at me, but finally sighed and nodded, taking my hand. With that, I led us into the room of stairs. I just hoped I could lead us out again.
As usual pat-reon has the advance chapters (equalling ten thousand words) at that site /malcolmtent hope everyone enjoys and let me know what you think. I'm having a blast writing the dynamic between everyone.