Spider-Man and Power Girl

Chapter 21: Complex Feelings

"So, anything more you want to talk about before we end it today?" Doc Samson asked in his seat.

Kara was sitting on the couch as she started to fidget a little. It had been a couple of weeks since that time Peter came over to her apartment and in that time, they had been meeting up regularly. Usually for coffee, running into each other on patrols and she even had gone over to his place to relax for an evening. She was glad he was keeping his place in better shape than the first time she had been there at least.

The problem was during that time things between them were, well there was certainly a growing 'tension' as it were.

"I can see something is bothering you but you're not ready to share that's alright." He didn't want to force her to do anything she wasn't ready for. She had come a long way, and it was important not to put too much pressure on her.

"Okay so I have a friend, and I mean I have a friend, not something else with a friend," she clarified. "He's been a really great friend and he's helped me out so many times by this point. I would have been totally lost in this world without him."

"Sounds like a good man so far," Samson said.

"He is," Kara sighed as she laid down on the couch looking up at the ceiling. "It's just that lately my feelings have been…complicated."

"In what way?"

"Well, I've started to think of him and possibly more than just a friend?" Kara admitted. It had been just over six months since she came to this world and finally it was starting to feel like a home now. She had friends, a job, a home, her life was starting to feel stable now. Was she really ready to try dating yet?

"How long have you been thinking this?"

"I'm not sure, I guess a few weeks now is when I really noticed it. The more we got to know each other the closer I felt to him."

Sampson nodded his head. "That's natural, we tend to gravitate to those we feel a sense of comfort and familiarity."

"I just want it to be for the right reasons," she sighed. "He's my type but am I only feeling this way because of all that he's done for me? Am I just looking for something that isn't there or what if he only sees me as a friend? I really don't want to screw up what I have, and I don't exactly have a lot of dating experience despite how I look. I tended to be very picky on who I dated."

Well for the most part she did, Hal Jordon was kind of a heat of the moment type of deal that had been a one-time thing. Jimmy hadn't worked out, and the few other times didn't last long. She tried to find guys that didn't look at her chest first for instance. She remembered once joking to Atlee that one of the reasons she had that circular hole was a test to see what guy's look at first when they met her.

Peter, she knew did his best not to look, although she had caught a few quick glances here and there but nothing she was worried or offended by. Not that she wasn't guilty of the same with him now and then which was one of the reasons she was talking about this now.

"Do you think you're ready for this kind of step?"

"That's why I'm telling you this, what do you think Doc?"

He paused for a moment. "Honestly this is more something only you can do, it could either help you mentally heal to have a solid and caring relationship in your life, but it could also backfire if you're pushing yourself into it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Kara said sadly. "I keep thinking things like, what if this is all in my head and he only thinks of me as a friend? Or what if this is just me projecting these feelings because of all that he's done for me? I want something real Doc, something I can be sure of, that's important to me."

"I can understand how stability is very important to you given your circumstances."

Karen was slowly getting her life together and this was a big decision for her. Maybe if she was certain about her feelings then she could come to a decision.

-Later-

Peter was on patrol having finished work for the day, the sun had just set and already he had stopped a couple of muggings and someone trying to open an ATM with a crowbar of all things, the guy hadn't gotten very far with it only leaving some scrapes on the machine before Peter had shown up. Not very imaginative crimes but sometimes the slow nights were good too as it meant more people were safely walking the streets.

Of course, there were plenty of other street level heroes doing their thing that helped cut down on the area he needed to cover these days. Back when he first started out, he tried to cover as much of New York as possible. Now things were different, Miles was concentrated in Brooklyn, although he did venture out of it that was his home turf, Spider-Girl usually did her thing in Spanish Harlem and the Upper East Side and West Side. Daredevil of course had his area of Hell's Kitchen, then there was that lunatic Moon Knight that kind of went all over the city.

'I'm still not sure if he's as bad or not as bad as Punisher,' Peter thought to himself as the white clad vigilante was a wild card if there ever was one. At least there were people like Cloak and Dagger and Luke Cage and Iron Fist that helped balance out the crazy.

Then of course there was Kara, as Power Girl she helped a lot in the city given, she could cover it all in the shortest amount of time. Normally someone of her powers would be on the Avengers and called up to face world ending threats but she, like him, liked to go out and help the little guy.

His thoughts focusing on Power Girl he couldn't help but his mind go over the last few weeks with her. Things between them were great but he couldn't get over this undertone between them. At least he thought it was between them. Yes, he could admit she was a damn attractive woman, not just in looks (although those were some looks) but her mind was brilliant, and he could see the big heart she had for other people and cared about the safety of others.

He sighed to himself. "Come on Petey, she might not even feel that way. This could end up just like with Carol, one date and then things just never pick up again." Back when she was still Ms. Marvel he had managed a date with her and it had gone fine, but with their lives being so chaotic and her taking up Captain Marvel title she had been going back and forth from Earth to space a lot.

There was also the elephant in the room with her mental state. Sure, she was a hell of a lot better than when they first met as she had been having an emotional breakdown at the time, but she wasn't at a hundred percent, and he didn't want to do anything that might make her slip back. He knew how stressful relationships can get.

Landing on a tall building he was wondering if maybe he should call it a night when something caught his attention. A flash of black and white moving across the buildings as he took a closer look.

"Speaking of stressful relationships," he muttered at someone nimbly moving over rooftops in a black costume and long white hair. While he was too far to get a positive identity, he was like ninety-nine percent sure that was his ex-on again off again flame the Black Cat.

"I better see what she's up to," he had no idea if she was casing a place, trying to rob someone or was actually doing something heroic this time around. "Man, if Kara said was truth I wonder how Batman deals with his cat-themed girl."

Peter didn't get to know the man all that well the one time they met when they visited that other reality, the guy came off as kind of intense plus he had been more focused on Karen given she had just found out her home no longer existed and was replaced by a new timeline.

Swinging towards Felicia he saw her pause as she was looking at a building with a small set of binoculars. He had a feeling she was definitely planning on robbing someone tonight. He landed behind her as his spider-sense suddenly warned him as she quickly lashed out with one of her long legs for a quick kick behind her. He dodged it thankfully jumping back in time landing just out of reach of her foot.

"Whoa there Cat!" he called out his hands up. "It's just me!"

"Spider!?" she blinked and then grinned. "Didn't someone every tell you it's not polite to sneak up on a lady?"

"Isn't it also not polite to case a place?" He asked her.

She shrugged. "Touche, but I figured you wouldn't mind this." She pointed to the penthouse area of the building she had been looking at. "That's where Hammerhead is hold up at the moment."

"Wait, you're trying to steal from Hammerhead and Maggia family?" Peter knew that crossing the mob wasn't the healthiest thing to do. Granted he tangled with them now and then as no one knew his identity and his powers came in handy. While at the moment no one but a few knew her identity, if they ever did however, they would go after her guns blazing. "Cat, this isn't someone that will just roll over and let you take from them."

While as a hero he accepted the risks of taking on criminal organizations, but for Black Cat she was doing it to just steal from them. It was very risky, and he knew from experience that she didn't always take things seriously.

Black Cat rolled her eyes, "You don't think I don't know that? Risk if part of the game Spider."

"This isn't a game," he seriously told her.

"Why must you be so serious all the time?" she pouted at him. "I know you don't like me robbing regular people, so I thought, why not criminals? All they have they got from illegal activities so why not liberate that? Are you seriously going to tell me seeing criminals like Hammerhead losing money is going to make you lose sleep tonight?"

Peter felt a bit conflicted on that, she kind of had a point. Stealing from other criminals wasn't exactly like stealing from some regular person. Hell, technically he beat up more criminals than he could count and that was technically worst than stealing from them. But it was still stealing…although he had to admit, seeing Hammerhead find all his cash gone didn't exactly make him want to feel sorry for the guy.

The real problem was he was worried for her safety, going after criminals while kind of Robin Hood like, would put a target on her back and these guys didn't play nice. If they found out who robbed them, they would put the word out and the Maggia family had a long reach.

"Felicia, I'm just worried about you." He admitted to her. He still remembered that time taking her bleeding from stab and gunshot wounds to a hospital years ago. Thankfully she snuck out before they identified her after she had recovered leaving only a 'jane doe' as the only thing the hospital staff had to work with.

It has still been a close call and when he finally realized his feelings for her.

A soft smile grew on her face as she walked up to him and gently ran one of her fingers trailing his chest. "Oh, so you do still care about me huh?"

Peter was a bit torn here, he had a lot of history with Felicia, like a lot a lot. He knew that some part of him would always care for her, but their relationship hadn't been the most stable or healthiest. The fact she actively got her bad luck powers from the Kingpin was proof of how bad things could get.

"Cat, I wouldn't be worried about you if I didn't care but this-" he was about to continue before she placed a delicate finger on his mouth over the mask.

"Well how about we have some fun then, if you can catch me, I won't steal from Hammerhead."

"If I catch you?" He asked confused for a second.

"Oh yes," she pressed up against him as her sexy figure against his body was sending all kinds of signals to his brain, he could smell how nice she smelt as she whispered into his ear quickly. "Ready-set-go."

And like that she was off running leaving him stupefied on what just happened. Then his brain finally kicked in realizing that if he didn't catch her, she was going to get into some serious trouble. He quickly went after her lamenting that why did things always have to be complicated with her?

While this was going on, Power Girl was doing her usual flyby of the city, using her enhanced senses to find anyone in trouble. There were a few minor things she took care of as she was just enjoying the early-night air. Flying was just a very liberating feeling and at times she just flew to clear her head.

That was when she heard a familiar sound, it was Spider-Man's webbing, she knew that sound his web shooters made by now as they were very distinct. From the sounds of things, he was in a hurry. With a frown she looked in that direction trying to get a line of sight as her eyes focused on him. She looked towards where he was going and saw another figure.

From the photos she had seen, although it was a slightly different costume, the long white hair and black suit made it obvious who it was.

The Black Cat.

Peter's Ex.

She felt her guts twist up in a way she did not find pleasant. They had talked a little about her and she got two take aways from it. First, she had been an important person in his life once, and the next, she was pure trouble.

She knew that Peter could handle this, she knew that Black Cat wasn't a threat just a complication in his life. There was just that growing part of her the more she thought about it the more she hated the idea of him alone with such a woman. She heard all the stories about how Catwoman and Batman would have their little 'cat and mouse' game.

With her choice made in a blur she was gone.

Felicia loved this, she loved the chase, the excitement, the game with her Spider. She loved it when he played along, and it was just them racing the rooftops together. She knew he wasn't far behind she knew that he could overpower her, but he was too much of a gentleman to go all out. He was also so much fun to tease. She glanced back to see him right on her tail and she was deciding if she would make it easy for him or not when she slammed into what felt like a brick wall.

She bounced off feeling the pain on her face and shoulder as she landed on her back as she rolled to her side. She didn't know what happened, there had been nothing in the way she made sure of it as she looked up not expecting a statuesque woman in a white leotard and red cape looking down at her with a less than pleased expression.

Her mind took her a moment to recognize her as that new hero going around, Power Girl or something?

"Well, that was rude," Felicia stated getting up checking her nose. She didn't feel any blood and it wasn't broken, seriously just how dense was this woman's body?

"Power Girl?" Peter asked landing among them.

"I saw you chasing the thief," Kara said crossing her arms under her impressive chest casting a look at Black Cat.

"For your information, I haven't stolen anything," she mentally added in 'yet' in her head. "Also who said you can bud in, we were just having some fun."

"Fun?" Kara looked to Peter who shrugged.

"It's…complicated," he stated hoping she got the meaning.

"So I see," Kara stated.

Black Cat was not liking how this woman was behaving, the way she looked at her Spider and then at herself made it obvious something might be going on between the two heroes. Well, she couldn't have that, the Spider was hers and she wouldn't give him up without a fight. Granted given how hard that woman's body felt she didn't want to get into a brawl with the woman. So, she would have to change tactics.

"Well despite her getting in the way I suppose you caught me," She slinked over to Spider-Man and wrapped her arms around his neck pressing up against him. "Now what will you do with little old me now that you caught me? Oh, how about for old times sake we can head off to my place, you're not seeing anyone at the moment aren't you?"

"What?" Kara said in a stern tone. She felt her teeth clench as she looked at how this woman just threw herself at Peter. Plus, didn't Peter once tell her that she only cared for the Spider-Man side of his life and not the regular person back before the spell was used to make everyone forget who was under the mask? That kind of superficial attraction just made her angrier as Peter deserved more than just someone liking only half of what he was.

"Oh? Are you curious?" Black Cat stated. "Do you want to watch? Sorry but I don't like to share."

"Cat!" Peter could not believe what she had said.

"What? You know how greedy I can be," she grinned at him and then cast a look to the blonde hero. "Maybe another day I could change my mind."

While Felicia did prefer men, she was open to the possibility of female company. The heroine she had to admit was beautiful, but she doubted even that could convince to 'share' her Spider with anyone. She may like to flirt but when something was hers, she didn't just let go of it. Besides messing with the blonde women was fun.

Power Girl was shocked by the way the thief was looking at her, granted she was used to men giving her those looks but not with females. Not that she had anything against it, Krypton didn't care much about sexual relationships like Earth did but the way she was hanging off Peter still, well it quickly broke her surprise.

"Whoa, okay there," Peter pushed her off before what she was insinuating caused him to get a very embarrassing case of wood at the thought of fantasizing of the both of them together, no matter how tempting it was. "Cat, now is not the time."

A part of him killed himself to say it, it had been over six months since he had gotten any action, a date or well anything really and while he was a man with needs, that did not take priority.

"I think you had enough 'fun' for the night," Power Girl sternly said to the other woman.

Felicia frowned sensing the change in the atmosphere, well now the mood was killed she didn't feel like playing anymore. She turned to Spider-Man and placed her hands on her hips. "Fine, today turned out to be a bust anyway. But just remember when you are sleeping along tonight, you could have had a warmer bed."

With that she turned and jumped off the ledge, Power Girl was startled but she saw that she had some kind of hook with a cable in her hand and was swinging away. She looked back to Peter as he was just standing there scratching the back of his head.

"Well…that happened," Peter sighed. "I hope she stays out of trouble…who am I kidding she's literally trouble."

"I can see that," Kara grumbled as she couldn't stop but feel these ugly emotions in her. She really didn't like that woman, like really really didn't like her. It might not be hatred, but it was close. She didn't like the way she talked to him, like he was some kind of prize and not a person. She hated that she was just throwing herself at him like that. Maybe some part of her was envious about how easy she made it seem.

"Hey are you okay?" Peter asked as she was clearly bothered by something.

"I'm fine," She quickly flew off into the sky as Peter watched her go. At the speed she was going there was no way to catch up to her.

"Fine huh?" Peter looked at her direction. "Why is it we never use that word when we're actually fine?"

Karen wasn't fine, she was angry, she was jealous, and she needed something to take her frustrations out on. So, for the first time ever she left New York, she needed someplace isolated. She flew south, in under ten seconds she had made it to Antarctica. There was plenty of space here and she didn't have to worry too much about hurting anyone. The frozen wasteland didn't bother her, the cold barely touched her nerves as she looked around for what she needed.

She floated down to a mountain top she took a few breaths and then pulled her arm back. She let out a scream as she slammed her fist into the peak, shattering it as most of the remnants slammed into the mountain across the way.

"That….that…bitch!" she yelled out as loud as she could. She took a few more angry breaths before starting to calm down. Eventually she floated to stand on what was left of the mountain top.

"I can't believe she got under my skin that badly," Karen said now calming down. She just needed a way to vent and with her abilities it was kind of hard to do without endangering people around her. She had to keep a sense of control the entire time, treat the world like it was made of cardboard or something. So, it was only ways like this that she could just let loose and let out her frustrations.

She hated that, that woman had gotten to her like this. Normally these things didn't happen, but it was just the way she was treating Peter. She didn't even care about the man under the mask and it was that shallowness that really irritated her. It also put something else into perspective, she had growing feelings for Peter and the proof was the shattered mountain top she was standing on.

If she didn't care for him so much it wouldn't have bothered her so much.

"So now what?" she asked out loud. "Do I just act on this or not?"

Was she in a healthy mental space to even think about it? If she was honest, she wasn't sure but what was for sure was that with woman like that around Peter might get snatched up and she would only have herself to blame. Being single herself she knew how lonely it could get it was why she had a cat back in her old home. It was just something there to come back to, so that her place didn't feel so empty on those lonely days.

Losing her home once again was making the feeling of isolation almost painful. To literally feel like you weren't part of the world wasn't something she liked feeling, she was a literal alien on another world, in another reality entirely. She was the definition of 'alone' if there ever was one. Yet those moments with Peter, he pushed those feelings away. He made her feel like she wasn't so alone she realized.

"Rao…I really do like him huh?" She looked up to where sky, while not Krypton's sun it was still a sun. Thankfully she wasn't in the winter months where it was nothing but darkness down here as she cast a look over the white surface around her.

"So now what?" She wondered. Maybe she needed to talk to someone, like her therapist? Maybe someone else like one of her friends?

She would fly slower to get to back to her apartment and think on the way back, give herself time to process things and really think about her next moves. She was only a minute out before she stopped at the large area of Antarctica that had a deep valley lush with jungles. She paused and blinked as she focused her eyes wondering how a jungle was inside of Antarctica. There were living creatures there, she saw primitive tribes of humans and what looked like human-beast hybrids and also something else.

"Are those dinosaurs!?" She looked again and yes, those looked like Earth's oldest and apparently not so extinct creatures.

She paused taking note to look this up later or ask around as she flew back home. "This world is so strange at times."

TBC…

A little shorter than I wanted but overall I think it's good enough.