Chapter Text
"So why'd you ask me to meet you here?" Peter asked, slowly sipping his cup of coffee. His eyes were covered by sunglasses, and he wore a baseball cap on his head. It wasn't the greatest disguise, but it was enough for him to blend into a crowded shopping area.
"Remember when we hit the Stark centre to find out if it was dirty?" Felicia inquired. She had worn a black wig over her unique silver hair, and also wore a pair of thick sunglasses which hid her slightly bloodshot eyes. She delicately took a bite of her croissant. "Well, someone found out. I received a letter saying that if I didn't give them ten million dollars, they would tell Fisk that I was the one who sold him out to you."
"You're being blackmailed?" Peter shot up, sitting forward in his chair.
"And they have my apartment. I can survive on the run, but what about the others?" she asked. "What about the kids? They would just kill them without hesitation."
"Do you have any idea who it is? If you have any leads, I can chase them down."
"None," she replied. "The letter came in an envelope to my doorstep. They know who I am, what I can do, and where I live. I'm scared, Spider. That's why I called you."
"And you did the right thing, alright?" Peter soothed. He put his hand on hers gently in support. "We'll deal with this together. Everything's going to work out, okay?"
"Okay," she agreed after taking a deep breath. "So what's the plan?"
Peter sat quietly for a moment, before looking back up at her. "How do you deliver the money?"
"They've asked me to leave it on a rooftop tonight, at 9 PM. I think someone should be there to collect it. That person will also give me the proof that it was me."
"Alright," Peter muttered, in deep thought. "Here's the plan. This is obviously a trap, so we're gonna spring it."
"That's your plan?" Felicia asked disbelievingly. "Where can I possibly get that kind of money?"
"I'll have the systems at the tower print out cash that looks real at first glance, but is actually fake. FRIDAY, Mr Stark's AI, could easily do that."
"And what if we get caught?" She inquired. "You might be able to get out by virtue of being a billionaire's ward and a superhero, but I could go to jail. In case you forgot, I'm a notorious burglar."
"Eh, notorious might be pushing it," Peter muttered, before refocusing. "Look, they clearly don't want to be seen either. Trust their legwork to make sure that there'd be no one there, for no reason but their own self interest."
Felicia looked at him doubtfully for a moment, before sighing heavily. "Fine, but if this blows up in my face, I'm gonna blame you."
The both of them paid for their food at the small cafe they met at and made their way to the tower. On the way, Felicia started conversation in an attempt to distract herself from her situation. She asked him how his new college was, and he answered honestly.
Peter had made immediate friends with Harriet Osborn. While her father was intimidating, Harriet was an excitable girl that was a bundle of joy to be around. Harley was also exactly as he remembered him, even after the Decimation, and they picked their friendship off exactly where they left it. The three of them immediately clicked, and started doing everything together. Peter, Harley, and Harriet were seen around campus simply hanging out, prompting lots of questions from just about everybody.
While Peter and Harriet were well known, Harley was not, and even Susan Storm asked how he got into such an exclusive group. Harley replied that it was because of his charming personality, but Peter explained that they'd known each other for a while. Peter was doing a double degree, so he took half his classes with Harley, as they both did mechanical engineering, and half with Harriet, who also did biotechnology. Both of them were clearly geniuses in their field. They were able to keep up with Peter when he spoke, and contributed intelligently. Harley was probably his equal in engineering, while Harriet and Peter were around the same in biotechnology. Given Peter's greater preference for the latter, that made Harriet all the more impressive.
Reed, Sue, and Victor were also close to him. Reed and him immediately bonded over being nerds. Reed was doing his degree in applied mathematics and astrophysics, a double just like him. He quickly established himself as one of the smartest guys around. When Reed, Victor, and Peter started bouncing ideas off each other, the rest of them had to keep their ears peeled to understand even a little bit about what they were talking about.
Victor was doing the exact same courses as Reed, and Peter quickly figured out that he was highly competitive about everything. Victor had the arrogance that came with being a prince. His father, Werner Von Doom, was the reigning monarch of Latveria, and had sent Victor to the United States for better educational opportunities. Without a doubt, Victor was a genius, but his attitude was appalling. The only one he spoke to normally was Sue, probably because of his massive crush on her.
Sue was perhaps the nicest person Peter had ever met. She was Dr Storm's daughter, and one of the main reasons he even started the Baxter Foundation. Peter and Sue, unlike with the rest, spent a lot of time bonding over normal things. They talked about their lives outside of school, the rest of their family, and many other things. Peter told Sue about being a superhero, and all the amusing situations that entailed. Sue talked about her younger brother Johnny. He was a social media influencer and model, and seemingly loved attention of any form. He was also extremely smart, if not at Sue's level. Sue was doing her degree in biology, and was probably the most diligent student he'd ever met. She also had a temper that belied her gentle attitude. It was only thing that made Victor and Reed behave.
Reed and Victor were rivals for a long time, and that rivalry continued into college. They joined the Baxter Foundation at around the same time, and constantly competed with each other. Reed came from a middle class background, with his parents having a house in the suburbs, and going to regular middle management jobs. It irked Victor that such an ordinary person could match him in intellect. Their rivalry was already turning more sour. Still, they worked well together, and Peter, who was able to keep up with them, gave each of them some breathing room by being an extra participant.
Felicia talked about how things had been going at the rehabilitation centres since they'd last talked. Peter and Felicia had gone in disguise to a few of them, some owned by Stark, some by Oscorp, and some by others like Hammer and ROXXON. All of them had illegal shipments of goods to different places. Food and essentials that were needed for the people at the shelters were shipped off, and only the bare minimum stayed behind. Pepper, upon hearing about this, immediately ordered Stark Security (a division almost fully made up of former SHIELD members) to take care of the centres owned by them, while calling the FBI for the other shelters.
Felicia agreed to keep watch over them, and tell him if something like that ever happened again. Pepper, upon Peter's request, also bought the building that Felicia lived in, and turned their occupation from illegal squatting to legal tenancy.
They reached the tower, and Peter entered the front door, with Felicia following behind him slightly apprehensively. She was understandably nervous with the extensive security measures in place. When Peter came here with Tony for his internship, the place was free. While he had no doubt that FRIDAY"s own security system would have taken care of any invaders, now there were physical security guards in place. Metal detectors were set up, and the batons at the security booths looked intimidating. After the Decimation, there were some protesters who wanted to react violently, especially in front of an Avenger. Peter, just after he returned, faced many people who blamed him for his failure. He never disagreed with them, but over time, the whispers started dying out.
"Mornin', Mr Parker," greeted one of the security officers.
"Good morning, Bob," Peter answered. "Hope you're having a good day so far?"
"Everything's going fine," Bob replied as he frisked Felicia with a metal detector. "She's fine."
"Thanks for that," Peter finished, before making his way for the private, out of the way elevator. Felicia followed him hastily.
"What's with the presidential blockade?" she whispered, looking around to see if anyone heard them.
"Security needs to be tight around these parts," Peter said as he stepped into the already opened elevator. FRIDAY was extremely intuitive like that. "FRIDAY, take us to the materials lab, please."
"Who're you talking to?" Felicia asked, squinting, but yelped as the elevator started moving upwards. "WHAT WAS THAT?!"
"FRIDAY is an AI created by Tony Stark. She's the one who manages the tower, the Iron Man suits, and the Spider-Man armour I wear."
"Greetings, Ms Hardy," FRIDAY greeted from the ceiling. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"So she's controlling the elevator?" Felicia asked incredulously.
"Yep."
"This is insane," Felicia muttered under her breath. "This is something out of Star Wars or something."
Peter turned to look at her blankly, making her realise that he had heard her. "You've never seen Star Wars, have you?" he deadpanned.
"No, I'm more of a Star Trek girl," she replied.
"What is wrong with you?" he exclaimed in disbelief.
Felicia and Peter bickered for the next few minutes as the elevator reached its destination. Felicia's nervousness had all but ceased to exist in the face of her vehemence in defending her preferred franchise. They made their way into the materials lab, where FRIDAY was already making copies of 100 dollar bills with one of Stark Industries's 3D printer.
"That's nuts!" Felicia murmured. "It looks just like real cash!"
"That's the idea," Peter commented from across the room. He was analysing some of his plans and blueprints while waiting for the fake money to finish printing. "If it can fool you, hopefully it can fool the guy who's threatening you too."
Before they could say more, a soft series of footsteps made themselves heard over the general din of the machinery. They got louder, causing Felicia and Peter to share a wide eyed look. The door opened to reveal Lila who was carrying some papers in her hands.
"Hey Pete," she greeted without looking up. "Why didn't you tell us you were in the tower? Pepper's been going cra-" she cut herself off when she looked up and found that it wasn't only Peter in the room. All three of the rooms occupants glanced at each other without saying a word.
"So, uh," Peter started, coughing lightly to dispel the awkwardness in the room, "what're you doing here, Lila?"
"I, uh," Lila stuttered, still shocked at the unexpected presence in the room. "Wh-who's this?"
"First of all, manners," Peter chided, making her look down sheepishly for a moment, before looking up again. "Secondly, this is Felicia Hardy. Felicia, this is Lila Barton. Lila lives with us, and Felicia is helping me with a case."
"Ohhh," Lila realised, and then smirked widely. "You're Felicia! It's so nice to meet you!" The smirk promised bad times ahead for Peter.
"Yes," Felicia greeted confusedly. "Did Peter talk about me or something?"
"You could say that," Lila answered, her smirk still not diminishing. "Though FRIDAY had a most interesting tale to tell about-"
"Aaand we're done," Peter cut off, pushing Lila out of the room.
"It's great to meet you, Felicia!" Lila called before she was through the door. "I'll look forward to talking to you later!"
"You didn't need to do that," Peter gritted out to her once they were outside.
"I wanted to," Lila grinned.
"You really didn't need to," Peter emphasised.
"I really wanted to," Lila confirmed.
Peter sighed, shaking his head and smiling in reluctant amusement. He'd never thought about having a younger sibling, but somehow, he'd ended up with three.
"Do you need anything urgent?" he finally spoke, after dismissing his frustrations.
"Not at the moment, no," Lila's grin finally died. "You should come by more often, Pete. Pepper needs a bit of a break from the baby. I try to help out where I can, but she thinks I'm 'too young', or something like that."
Peter sighed regretfully. He had been engaged in his life as a college student and superhero, not spending too much time at home. Morgan was growing faster than ever, and she was repeatedly calling for attention in the middle of the night. When Peter was there, he helped lull her to sleep, while Pepper got some shut-eye.
"You're right," he agreed. "I should spend some time at home. I miss you guys, and I miss Morgan. I'm sorry, Lila."
"Just stay here sometimes," she sighed, burying her head in his chest to feel his familiar warmth. After the loss of her family in the Decimation, Peter was the one who had stepped up for her. He had taken on the role of father, hero, role model, and brother simultaneously, and made her immensely dependant on him.
"I will," he promised, before lightly pushing her off. "Now, I'm working on a case, okay? It's a dangerous one, so get out of here, and stay upstairs."
After saying bye to Lila, he slowly made his way into the room, to find a smirking Felicia staring at him in curiosity.
"What?" he sighed.
"So," she started mischievously. "You've been telling your family about me, huh?"
"I tell them about all the crazy people I come across," he dismissed, striding over to the 3D printer.
"No no no," Felicia wagged her finger. "You don't get to walk away from this. What did you tell them about me?"
"Nothing," Peter tried to deny, gathering the finished notes in his hand, taking a hundred notes each and tying them up in a rubber band, before stuffing them in a duffle bag. "Now help me bundle these up, would you?"
Felicia's smirking face didn't fade for a moment even when she moved over to help him.
"You told them about how I kicked your ass, huh?" she chuckled.
"First of all," he turned to her sharply, his face reddening slightly. "You didn't kick my ass. I went easy on you, and stuck you with a tracker, remember?"
"Doesn't take away from the fact that I kicked your ass!" she sang. "Or did you tell them about how you couldn't take your eyes off me because I'm the hottest thing you've ever seen?"
Peter abruptly choked on his saliva, sending Felicia into fits of laughter. His face darkened further, showing his embarrassment at the thought.
"Don't worry, sweetie," she patted him on the arm, barely holding back another surge of amusement. "I think you're hot too."
She burst out laughing again when he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and shook his head.
They got ready, and made it to the drop site. Peter was hidden in the shadows, while Felicia stood openly holding a duffle bag. They waited for a while, not speaking in fear of someone hearing them.
Eventually, half an hour past the deadline, a figure arrived onto the roof. He was tall, and clearly very strong and agile. He leaped with catlike grace, revealing his purple mask and glowing blue eyes. He wore a gaudy cape on his back, but it seemed to do little to hinder his movements. His fingers extended into sharp claws, appearing like they could easily pierce concrete.
He stalked over to Felicia, who looked slightly apprehensive at his presence.
"You were told to leave the money and go," he growled. His voice was modulated, and seemed to be several different voices overlapped with each other.
"I wanted to see who was dumb enough to threaten me," Felicia replied, swallowing her fear. "I'm not exactly easy prey, honey."
"You are to us," the man responded, not letting her phase him. He stomped forward and grabbed the bag that Felicia had in her hand, ripping it open to look inside.
"Ten million, just as agreed," Felicia confirmed, something the man agreed with after a moment.
"Very well," he said. "I won't tell anyone you were here." He zipped the bag up and ran towards the edge, withdrawing a grappling hook from his belt. He was about to launch away, when a blow struck him in the side of the head.
"We're not quite done, darling," Felicia purred. She launched at him with fierce kicks, but even when dazed, the man was a skilled combatant because he quickly backflipped and countered. Nothing Felicia did seemed to faze him, and he calmly blocked her blows with little effort.
"You made a mistake, Cat," he growled. "You shouldn't have started any trouble. Now I'm gonna have to kill you."
He ducked under two fists coming for his head, and grabbed her arms, holding them apart. He head butted her hard, making her falter, before he slammed her head against the floor. She was almost knocked out at the brutal thrashing, when he seized her by the neck and held her up high. She desperately tried to break his grip, but nothing she did seemed to work.
Just as her vision began to darken, something slammed into the man from the side, sending him flying across the roof. That something was a metallic armour coloured red, black, and gold, with webbed designs all over it.
Peter approached Felicia, who was coughing on the floor, trying to get her breath back. He gently helped her up.
"You alright?" he asked softly.
"What, you get stuck in traffic?" she retorted hoarsely.
"He didn't come alone," Peter answered. "I took care of the goons first. Now let's deal with this guy, shall we?"
Both of them stood up and looked over at the purple man who'd also gotten up.
"Spider-Man," he growled.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," he replied glibly.
"You shouldn't have interfered, bug. This isn't any of your business."
"First of all, spiders are arachnids," Peter retorted. "Secondly ..."
He lunged forward and slammed into the man, who quickly tried to scratch him with his claws. Dodging the blow, they both rolled and got up quickly. Peter jumped into the air and attacked him with two kicks from above, which the man deflected, before he threw a grenade at the hero. Peter swatted it to the side, causing a small explosion and attracting attention from below. In the brief moment of distraction, Peter slammed his fist into purple mask, breaking it. It cracked in half, showing his eyes screwed up with rage.
The purple man decked Peter across the face, sending him tumbling over. He lunged forward, trying to slice him up, when Peter webbed both his hands and pulled him forward. He flew to Peter, who kicked him hard in the chest. A stray hand caught Peter in the side, though, and Peter felt his suit get shredded under the sharp claws. Whatever they were made of, it wasn't any normal material.
A kick caught the man in the side, letting Felicia launch her own. She knew she was outmatched in a fight with two enhanced individuals, which she was sure that this man was, but she still wanted to help. He punched out at her, a blow she barely dodged. She risked a look back only to see the wall where the fist had impacted crumble inwards.
The next blow was about to reach her when Peter deflected it off to the side. Felicia moved to kick him on the chest, but he leaned backwards, an inhuman act, before lurching forward towards her throat. Luckily, before he reached her, two webs struck his back and dragged him off his feet. Felicia seized the opportunity to leap forward and kick him on the chin, firmly knocking him out.
"... I always help my friends," Peter told the unconscious man, before ripping off the rest of his mask. "FRIDAY, scan and identify."
"Scanning," came the response from his suit.
"Is that what we are?" Felicia asked slyly, panting to recover her breath. "Friends?"
"I like to think so," Peter replied. "Am I wrong?"
Felicia slowly walked towards him, and cupped his cheek. "Friends," she whispered, a ponderous expression on her face.
"Peter, I've identified the man," FRIDAY cut in. Seeing the opportunity to move away from the confusing girl, he quickly asked FRIDAY to elaborate. "His name is Hobart Brown. He lost his family to the Decimation, and gambled all his money away. It seems he'd gotten himself into massive amounts of debt. Then, sometime ago, he disappeared, and all his debts were paid off."
"He seems enhanced," Peter wondered.
"He does appear to be, yes," FRIDAY agreed. "His action and reaction speed were beyond human parameters. Perhaps even more than Captain Rogers'."
"Alright," Peter sighed after a few moments. "I'll take him to lockup. Do some digging and let me know what you find." With that, he turned back to Felicia, who'd been staring at him with an unreadable expression. "You're all set," he told her. "FRIDAY and I'll investigate exactly who and why they were after you, but you should be safe from here on out. If there's a problem, give me a call."
Peter turned around to jump off the roof, when a sudden hug caught him off guard. Felicia was gripping his side tightly.
"Thanks, Spider," she murmured.
He softly settled his arm around her back. "Anytime, Cat," he whispered.
Unfortunately, neither of them noticed the flash of a camera from a nearby building. Neither saw the glimmering eyes in the shadows, either.