Felicia Harding was damn good at her job. She knew how to ease the fears of her employers, because, let's be honest now, if someone hired Felicia, they were simply up to no good.

She smiled as she stalked in the shadows, eyeing the one bright spot in a darkened home. Professor Curt Connors often worked late into the night, long after his wife and son, who was staying the weekend, went to bed. But she knew, from weeks of careful observation, that it was only a matter of time before even Connors turned in for the night.

Three…two…one…

And right on cue, Felicia watched as the very human form of Dr. Connors switched off the light and left his study, headed for bed.

She smiled and abandoned her hiding place, living up to her moniker. She was quick, quiet, there one minute, and gone the next, embodying the agile stealth of a black cat.

She climbed up the side of the house to access the window of Connors' second floor study. She placed her hand flat against the window, allowing the tech in her gloves to disable the alarm system. She already took care of the window lock earlier in the evening, when Connors had stepped out of his office for his nightly cup of tea.

The window opened with ease, and she slid into the darkened study. Finding the safe with his serum was easy, and breaking into the safe was easier still, exposing a large vial of golden liquid. Hidden within the fur accents around her plunging neckline, Felicia retrieved a syringe and a thin, sealed plastic tube that looked very similar to the vials used to draw blood. She pulled of the plastic safety of the syringe, and stuck the tip into the vial, safely drawing out the liquid before transporting it into her own.

Very carefully, Felicia re-pocketed her now filled vile. This was too easy.

Or so she thought.

Just as she was heading out, the office door burst open, and a man in black stood with Dr. Connors in a headlock, a gun aimed at his head.

"Please, let him go!" A woman called as she ran into the room, her hands up. "Don't hurt him!"

"Martha, let's not panic" Connors said, sounding on the verge of panic himself. "Just get Billy and get out!"

Felicia thought about making a run for it. She could escape through the window, hide in the shadows, and cash in with her employer. It would be so easy.

"Who the hell are you?" she asked instead.

"Black Cat, what a coincidence meeting you here." He took a couple of steps towards her, dragging his hostage. She played it cool despite his unsettling magenta gaze. She wondered if he wore colored contact lenses or if his unnatural eye color signaled some sort of super-human abilities. Something told her it was the latter.

"Dad! Oh my god!" Felicia saw a young man, wielding a baseball bat, run into the room.

"Billy, get your mother and run!"

Billy ignored his father. "I just called the cops," he said, trying to sound threatening. "They'll be here for you two creeps any minute. So just let my dad go, and leave!"

"Hey now," Felicia began. "Don't lump me in with that jerk. I'm not here for any hostages."

"No, you're just here to rob the man."

Felicia's lips quirked into a smirk. She wondered if he made a lucky guess or if this whole job was some sham. "Let the man go. I really don't want to deal with the authorities tonight."

Before the jerk could respond, Billy let out a yell and charged, only to crash into a magenta dome. He fell back on his butt, dazed, and his mother rushed over to him. She couldn't hear a word they were saying, but she could see Martha screaming at the jerk. Now Felicia could put a name to the guy. She heard about him on the news. This guy was Guardian, and he was one third of Triple Threat.

"Cat," Guardian said, and she bristled. He did not get to call her that. "Be a dear and grab the formula from the safe please. And hand over the vial you so graciously secured."

So it was a set up. Here she was thinking she was helping out a wealthy business woman get a scoop on the regenerating properties of Dr. Connor's lizard formula. She claimed she had wanted to study it as she was developing anti aging serums for her make up line. Of course, Felicia had warned the woman about the risk of potentially turning her future customers into lizards, but her employer explained she was only using the formula for academic purposes, and then she graciously upped Felicia's payment.

"And what if I don't," she crossed her arms over her ample chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, then I'll shoot Curt here, and use the formula on you."

She fought the urge to laugh. It was cute, how he really believed he could overpower her, get the formula and turn her into a lizard. She knew she could take him. But what gave her pause was the gun pressed against Connors' temple. She was fast, but she wasn't fast enough to stop that bullet. Felicia knew if she gave him the formula, Guardian would have no control of the Lizard, who would easily escape. But then, the Lizard would be free to terrorize the city. Of course, she could call Pete and his family. They could help her track Connors down, and revert him back to his human form. It's not like they haven't done that about a dozen times already.

Felicia slumped her shoulders feigning defeat. She grabbed the formula and extended it to Connors.

"No, please no, you don't understand!" He said, trying to push her away. "I can't control the Lizard, he'll kill you both!"

"Drink it! This is your last warning," Guardian yelled as he pressed the gun hard to the man's head. And he'd do it too. He'd pull the trigger. She could see it in his eyes.

Again, Felicia wondered if there was any way she could stop that gun from firing, but Guardian held Connors in a death grip with one arm, and had a gun shoved to the man's temple with the other.

No. The risk was too great, and she wasn't about to see this man's blood spilled in front of his wife and son.

Felicia forced the liquid down his throat.

The transformation was swift and horrible. Connors jerked forward as his body contorted and morphed into a much larger, monstrous form. The gun went off, but due to his much larger stature the bullet grazed his scaly green back instead of lodging itself into his skull.

The Lizard shrieked in pain as the bullet ripped through his skin, and turned on his attacker, slashing him across his chest with his long, sharp talons. Guardian tried to leap backwards, but he was still cut. Clutching his chest, the dome surrounding them vanished, and he weakly stood up and activated the pack on his back. And of course it was a jet pack, which, of course, gave him the power of flight. Dripping a trail of blood, he threw a bomb, blowing out the wall, and managed to get away.

Felicia had dived away from the blast, and jumped towards Martha and Billy. She knew Curt Connors would never hurt his family, but the Lizard was an entirely different story.

"Run!" she yelled, and Billy grabbed his mother, and ran like hell. The Lizard made a move to go after them, but Felicia blocked him. "Oh no you don't!" With a flick of her wrists, her own claws shot forward. She slashed at him, and then dodged around him. He followed her just as she hoped. She led him out of the hole in the wall Guardian had blown, and jumped down onto the lawn. The Lizard landed heavily, his breath rapid, and long teeth gleaming in the moonlight. Then he sniffed the air, catching the scent of Guardian's blood. The Lizard charged her, and she leaped out of the way, but he kept moving forward, following the crimson trail.

"Well shit," she said as she followed him. She had half the mind of letting Lizard find his prey and end him, but who knew how long his attention span was before he turned to another victim. She grabbed her phone and called Peter, but he didn't answer. Not missing a beat, she called MJ.

"Felicia?" Her voice was heavy with sleep.

"Hey Red. You up for a girls' night?"