CARLYLE WAS IN his cell in the jail. He had a book in hand and was reading. Well...more so skimming through.

"Hi."

The voice startled him. Luke looked over his shoulder and saw the web-slinger through the bars of his window.

"I scare ya?" Spider-Man asked.

"Go to hell." Luke grumbled.

"Hey, where's your silly Halo armor? I kinda need some pointers. I wanna try out the next Comic Con."

"Oh, I'll give you some pointers, freak!"

Black Cat was perched on the ledge outside that Y/N was hanging from. She called out.

"What's he saying?"

"We're just making small talk right now," Y/N answered. "Bonding over video games and stuff."

"Is that cat-lady with you?" Luke asked.

Y/N nodded. "Yup."

"Tell the bitch she's dead when I get outta here."

Black Cat called out again. "What's he saying now?"

"Uh...he says no woman with a chest like yours should be able to move as fast as you do!"

The woman scoffed. "Well, tell him they act as ballast!"

"I will!"

The hero looked back at the Mad Bomber.

"Listen, Luke—can you tell us who hired you to whack Klum?"

"No, I'm not telling you jack—"

Suddenly, he was hit with a thick ball of web that bounced off his head. He rubbed the area.

"Argh! Hey!"

"Either you're gonna tell me who hired you...or I'm gonna hang outside your window all night, pegging you with web-balls, buddy. And if that's not annoying enough..." He pointed upward. "I'll have Black Cat sing Memories from Cats. Hit it, Cat!"

Immediately, she started to sing.

"MEEEEM-RIES! ALL ALONE ON THE PAVE-MENT! I RE-MEM-BER A TIME I KNEW WHAT HAP-PI-NESS WAS..."

Luke had already covered his ears and tried to tune it all out. He had enough.

"All right, all right!" He explained. "Ugh! God, I hate you two..."

Felicia stopped singing. Luke turned around and faced the web-slinger.

"It was the Ortegas. They hired me."

Meanwhile, gang leader Alberto Ortega stood in the dimly lit room with his posse. He soon had a couple of guests enter his abode.

"You've got cojones coming here to my home, Senor Klum."

A couple of armed men checked both Garrison and Francis. The former spoke.

"I figure we'd better talk about this turf war before one of us gets killed, Alberto. Namely me."

"They're clean." The gangster told his boss.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me all day." Garrison remarked.

Immediately, Alberto pulled out a handgun and aimed it at the socialite's face.

"Tell me why I shouldn't do what Carlyle couldn't and blow you away right here in my living room, Ese?"

Garrison was as calm as he could be. The threat didn't phase him.

"Because, this evening's imbroglio aside, you're a smart businessman, Alberto. And what's more, you're a husband and a father. And, like any good father, you don't want anything to happen to your wife and child, do you?"

"What do you...?"

Suddenly, the man's wife came downstairs. She held their seven-month-old daughter.

"Alberto? What's going on here?"

"What are you doing here, Pilar? Get back upstairs with the baby! This is business!"

Pilar stood there when she suddenly started to gurgle. Garrison smiled.

"Yes, business. You know—your wife doesn't look so good, Alberto."

He looked back at her. "Wha..?"

Pilar groaned. "Alberto..."

She lost balance and fell to her knees. Alberto ran to grab her before she fell onto her back with the baby.

"Pilar!" He shouted. "What's happening?!"

"Same thing that's happened to your men..." Garrison began.

Simultaneously, each man started to fall ill. They coughed and groaned until they dropped to the floor.

"...they're OD-ing, Alberto."

Alberto was in shock. He looked at Garrison, who had a menacing look on his face.

"Just like you." He added.

"AAACH!"

Alberto grunted and held his chest. Moments later, the gang leader dropped to the ground beside his dead wife and wailing son. Garrison sighed and adjusted his tie. 

"And thus falls the Ortega Cartel..."

His younger brother spoke. "I just want to go on record saying this was a dumb move."

"Francis, you are the king of wussies."

"Pump-and-dumping this many people, all in the same place? You're just trying to get me caught, aren't you?"

"Get you caught, Francis?"

"Oh, Christ. Us. You. Whatever. I'm getting so tired of talking like this..."

"Despite your whining, you may have a point." Garrison paced around the room filled with the dead cartel members. "This many simultaneous overdoses might arouse suspicion."

"Uh...ya think?" Francis shot back.

"So perhaps the best way around that..." Garrison smirked as he bent down and picked up a cleaver that one of the men had. "...is to throw ourselves a little dead man's party."

It didn't take long for Spider-Man and Black Cat to find the Ortega's home in Spanish Harlem. It was relatively quiet and surprisingly easy to enter it. They expected men to be posted outside.

But once they went inside...they were met with a harrowing and gruesome sight. The young woman's eyes widened, and she put a hand over her mouth. Spider-Man was in shock as well.

"Holy Mary, Mother of God..."

The entire room was filled with cut-up corpses of the cartel members. And in the middle of the room...was the lone seven-month-old baby wailing and wailing.

LATER, THE TWO stopped by the Felicia's penthouse. They had already dropped the baby off to the proper authorities.

The woman stood on the balcony, now out of her costume and wearing a comfortable robe. It was a relief as she'd preferred the robe's soft material to her suit's skintight leather.

"Man, it's nice being out of that. Even if it's for just a bit." She remarked.

Inside, Y/N just sat at the desk with his mask off and hands folded by his chin. He was thinking about what had just happened at the Ortega's.

"The people in costumes, shooting lasers at me, I can handle. Hell, it's almost fun." Felicia said. "But the real horrors...the sheer savagery so-called normal folks are capable of...I mean, all those people just butchered. And over what? Drugs? Dear Lord..."

Y/N was still silent. He looked at the mask on the table. He pondered a bit before finally responding.

"At least the baby was okay."

Felicia turned around and saw him sitting there, where she lightly smiled. Despite the horrors he witnessed and the guilt he was feeling of not being able to stop what happened, he found the one positive of it all. That was what she found charming about Y/N.

Even in the face of imaginable madness...he can still find hope.

Y/N reached out, grabbed his mask, and put it on. He spoke sternly.

"I think it's time we dropped in on Klum."

Thunder cracked, and lightning lit up the sky. Garrison was in his penthouse, drinking a glass of wine in his robe as he looked out the window.

He paced, enjoying his drink. He turned around and was about to walk away when he heard something. That's when he looked back at the window.

There was yet another crack of lighting that lit up the sky. For a split second, he saw two figures standing outside through the glass.

He spat out his drink. It became dark, but not before the lightning lit up the sky again. This time, they were gone.

"Sweet Jesus..." He mumbled.

"That's it?" Felicia asked as she swung with Y/N. "That was your big move?"

"He knows we're on to him...if it's even him we're after."

They both landed on a rooftop. The woman continued arguing.

"When you said it was time we dropped in on Klum, I thought you meant we were going to beat a confession out of him! Not play peeping toms!"

"We need to collect more evidence before we can go spastic on the guy." He shot back.

"More evidence? That Ortega massacre wasn't enough evidence for you?!"

"We don't know he did that! We don't have any proof, just hunches!"

"So?!"

"So...until we have a better idea that Klum is Brownstone, we bide our time and build our case against him!"

Felicia scoffed. She unzipped a bit of her suit and held it open, showing the hollow between her breasts.

"You see a badge wedged anywhere in this cleavage?! You remember me reading Carlyle his Miranda rights?! We don't dress up like this so we can get judges to sign search warrants for us, Y/N! We work outside the law! And working outside the law means we don't have to bide our time and build our case! It means, when we know in our gut that we've got our guy...then we've got our guy!"

Y/N snapped back.

"And most days, I'd say I agree with you, all right?! But this isn't some lunatic in pajamas standing in front of a wrecked building, crowing about bringing the city to its knees! Those guys? Yeah—it's safe to assume they're little more than suspects when we start pounding on 'em. But this guy's a prominent member of the community! A prominent member of the community who we only think..."

"You think!" She exclaimed. "I know!"

"Who we only think might be a killer drug lord! But honestly, Felicia—even if he is, we've got nothing on him! We don't even know how he's killing these people!"

"With hot doses, obviously—you moron!"

Y/N started counting his fingers.

"No track marks on the bodies! No prior drug histories on some of the victims! In Tricia's case, no body!"

Black Cat scoffed and looked to the side. Spider-Man went up to her and held both of her shoulders.

"I want whoever killed Donald Phillips as much as you want whoever's responsible for Tricia's disappearance, okay! And if it's Klum, believe me, I'll throw the first punch! But we've only been tracking this guy for what? Maybe twenty-four hours? You see what I'm saying here?"

She slapped his hands away and stepped back.

"Yes! I do! You're saying what you always say...that you're better at this than I am!" Felicia shot hack. "That if we're not playing the game by your rules, then we're not playing at all!"

"But this isn't a game, is what I'm getting at, damn it! You've gotta listen to me on this!"

"To hell with that! I'm not just starting this, Y/N! I'm not the same girl you found scaling Hammerhead's penthouse those years ago! I'm here now looking for answers on Tricia, and Klum is my best lead! And as my best lead, I'm gonna grill him like a side of beef! And if he so much as twitches, I'll bludgeon the sick bastard until he's shitting out blood."

Felicia stepped away and was about to jump off the ledge. She looked back at him.

"And if you think I'm taking my cues from you on the subject, then you can just kiss my ass."

Y/N quickly reached out and grabbed her wrist. He held onto her tightly.

"I can't let you do this, Felicia."

There was a beat as she looked down at her wrist. She let out a sigh and shook her head.

Suddenly, she landed a hook across his face with her free hand. Y/N stumbled back and was met with a quick kick in the head, along with his legs getting swept from under him.

"Ugh!" He grunted as he hit the floor.

Black Cat pounced on him and pinned him down. She held him by both wrists.

"Felicia...what are you...?"

"Let's see if I remember..." She brought his wrists closer to her. "...how these work."

Felicia activated his web-shooters and made them expel webbing onto his torso. She started to stick him to the floor.

"Can't believe you...sucker-punched me..."

"I can't believe your dopey spider-sense didn't see it coming." She remarked with a smirk.

"Ugh..." He grunted as he was being webbed. "This stuff isn't cheap, you know...especially on my current salary."

"Bill me." She replied as she got up. "There. That oughta hold you until I get back."

"Y...You can't confront this guy...alone...Felicia..." He writhed in the webbing. "He could be dangerous..."

Felicia stepped onto the ledge and shot her grappling hook. She held the line.

"And I'm a woman with father issues who's about to be on the wrong side of twenty-five, crammed into wet leather, and nursing a mean case of PMS." She chuckled. "Who the hell's more dangerous than that?"

Black Cat jumped off the ledge and swung away, leaving Spider-Man on the wet rooftop, writhing beneath his own webbing.

All she could hear was the loud snoring inside the dark room. Black Cat opened the vent and dropped from it, quietly landing on her feet.

She crept toward the bed, seeing the man beneath the covers. Felicia climbed it and grabbed the blanket, pulling it off.

But, to her surprise, he wasn't there. It was just a smartphone with an audio recording of snoring. She was perplexed.

"Like it?" Garrison, in his robe, called out from behind her, "Obviously, I was a huge Ferris Bueller fan."

Black Cat off the bed and faced him, brandishing her claws. "Don't move!"

Garrison snickered and began to pour a drink into two glasses.

"She breaks into my bedroom, and suddenly I'm the threat?" He remarked. "Brandy?"

"I'll pass."

"Such a shame. There's nothing sexier than a lady sipping brandy. Except for maybe a lady in black tights sipping brandy. Your spider-friend with you?"

She ignored his question. "Have you heard of Alberto Ortega?"

"Drug lord, yes? I think I remember Bloomberg mentioning something about him to me at the..."

Felicia had a stern look as she held the sides of her hips. He stopped and looked her up and down, seemingly undressing her with his eyes before deviously smirking.

"Hm."

The young woman crossed her arms. "What?"

"I was going to dance for a bit; play the role of the dilettante. But you'd see through that, wouldn't you?" He put down the glass on the table nearby. "Sure you would. You're more clever than that. And while it's pure chance that our paths have intersected the way they have, it's time I took matters into my own hands."

Felicia kept her eyes on Klum. The man brought out a spoon, a baggie, and a lighter.

"You know what this is?" He asked her.

She glared. "You killed Tricia Lane, didn't you?"

"Patience, Ms. Cat."

He started to put the drugs onto the spoon. Klum continued.

"My family comes from Germany—did you know that? I would imagine my name's a dead giveaway. I was conceived there but raised here. Never bothered to learn my mother-tongue. Never looked into my family's history. Not until the accident."

He started to tell the story of when he was sixteen and was using mouthwash to get ready for a date. His mother was yelling at him and angry that he kept going out and coming back late. That day, she wanted him to stay home and have dinner with her.

As he was swishing the mouthwash around in his mouth, all he could think about was how much he wanted his mother to shut up. He wanted her just to let him live his life. To just shut up and leave him be.

"But as I'm thinking this, I'm also thinking about how hot the mouthwash is getting in my mouth. How it's burning my tongue."

Klum kept telling the story as he put the heated heroin into a shot glass. He looked at it and held it up for Felicia to see.

"And all of a sudden..." The heroin suddenly vanished out of the glass. "...the mouthwash wasn't in my mouth anymore. And my mother was dead on the floor."

Felicia had enough of it and readied a wire she had to tie him up.

"All right, Chatty Kathy, let's..."

There was a sudden pain in her stomach. She started to feel ill and held her abdomen as he grunted. Garrison chuckled as he watched her.

"When they autopsied my mother, you know what they found—what killed her exactly? It was the damnedest thing."

Garrison walked up and shoved her, and she landed on the bed, still reeling from the pain. The man continued.

"A concentration of mouthwash had inexplicably flooded the chambers of her heart. Killed her instantly."

Felicia tried to gather her bearings. She slowed her breathing and looked up at Garrison, who continued talking.

"The dose of heroin I just cooked up is coursing through your system now, incapacitating the hell outta you. I imagine you've never shot up before. Technically, of course, you still haven't. But I'll bet you're wondering how the drugs got inside you, yes? You see, I'm a low-level teleporter."

Garrison brought out a switchblade from inside his robe.

"Thanks to some mutant gene that runs in my family's bloodline, I can teleport small amounts of liquid. It didn't seem very useful until I found a way to make it profitable. I mean, who loves drugs more than the rich and famous? And those people...they love a way to indulge all while not having to worry about being seen with track marks on their skin."

The man reached over and started cutting away at her suit.

"How much would they pay for a no-stress, no-mess method of shooting up that didn't involve needles or any of the other unsavory elements usually associated with getting high? That's when the name hit me...Mister Brownstone."

Garrison took off his robe, leaving him in only his pajamas. He continued.

"And Mister Brownstone can't have you meddling with his business, or his place in the community, just because a few junkies died, can he? So Mister Brownstone's going to teach you not to stick your nose where it doesn't belong...in the most effective way he can."

Felicia muttered, still not being able to move much.

"I'll...I'll kill you..."

"Ooh! That reminds me...if Tricia Lane was a friend of yours, then I'm sorry to report that I miscalculated on her dose a bit. But her loss is your gain, as I know the proper amount to 'port into someone I don't want fighting back."

The man looked over his shoulder. He gazed back at Felicia and chuckled.

"If he's not here by now, I take it your friend won't be joining us? No matter if he did, really. I have enough already-cooked vats of heroin on the premises to stop his heart twenty times over if need be."

Felicia took in a deep breath through her nose and let it out. She tried to fight her current incapacitation. She had to stop Klum before he could do what he planned on doing to her.

Lightning cracked, and it lit up the room a second, long enough for her to see the menacing smile on Klum's face amidst the darkness.

"You know...some junkies say heroin is better than bumping uglies..." He continued smirking. "You let me know if they're right..."

• • •

IT WAS DARK in the cell. The woman within sat against the wall, silent and staring ahead.

She heard footsteps. Soon enough, a correctional officer approached the cell and knocked on the bars.

"Hardy, Felicia." He spoke.

The young woman looked up at him. The guard gestured her over.

"You've got a visitor."

He unlocked the cell and escorted her out of it. The man brought her to a room, motioning her inside before closing the door. Felicia rubbed the side of her arm and looked at the other man who was waiting for her at the table.

"Sit, Ms. Hardy. Please." He spoke. "A friend retained me on your behalf."

It was pretty dark inside, so Felicia could barely see the lawyer's face. She did as told and ended up sitting on the seat.

"I'll be replacing the court-appointed who represented you at your arraignment." He added. "I've just spoken to the prosecutor."

Felicia didn't say anything. The lawyer kept speaking as he sat across from her and put his briefcase on the table. He opened it.

"You already know the DA's office is charging you with Garrison Klum's murder. It's their contention that, while under the influence of heavy narcotics, you butchered him in his apartment two nights ago. They believe this because you were found at the scene of the crime, beneath the victim, drenched in his blood, with drug-related paraphernalia in evidence."

The lawyer brought a file with a photo of Garrison facedown on the floor. Blood was everywhere.

"But this morning, they added a count of burglary. Their new theory is that you killed Klum during the commission of another crime: robbery. Based on that, they're now charging you with murder one. The mayor's up for re-election, and a capital case involving costumes appeals to His Honor's more conservative constituents."

Felicia folded her hands and put them by her face, still not saying anything. The man continued.

"Without your priors—even though you were wearing your Black Cat costume—they can't make the argument that you were breaking and entering into Klum's apartment. We can argue that you were an invited guest who was suddenly forced into a self-defense situation. I'm gonna have to get into some...uncomfortable details now."

The lawyer cleared his throat and fixed his glasses.

"Based on the condition of your costume, there's cursory evidence of a sexual assault. However, you refused the rape kit upon your arrest. If you'd agree to a physical examination, any evidence of sexual assault would give me enough grounds to argue that you killed Klum in self-defe—"

"No." She interrupted. "No rape kit."

"Um...I realize this is a sensitive situation, Ms. Hardy. But if we can introduce the rape into evidence, a self-defense justification would give the jury enough—"

Felicia further emphasized. "He didn't rape me."

"We're trying to save your life here. Ms. Hardy." He butted.

She stared at him and snapped back.

"Have you ever been raped, Counselor? Have you ever had anyone climb into your body that you didn't want there? And I don't just mean someone you got tired of sleeping with but didn't know how to dump. I'm talking about someone who forces himself into you, against your will. And the whole time, you know he's not doing it because he wants you. He's doing it to hurt you. He's doing it because he wants you to know how powerless you are. He's doing it to take away everything good and positive you ever felt about yourself. He's doing it to humiliate you. He's doing it to break you."

The lawyer was quiet as he attentively listened. Felicia continued.

"Well, that piece of shit didn't break me." She pointed at the photo of Klum's body, getting louder. "As much as I wish I had done this to Klum, I didn't. He didn't rape me, and I didn't kill him!"

"The DA's case is pretty strong, Felicia. The rape kit would..."

"He didn't rape me, and I didn't kill him, Counselor! So instead of sitting here telling me about possible defenses, why don't you get out there and exonerate me!"

The man folded his hands and sighed. "Point taken."

He got up and started packing up his things. He shut his briefcase and made his way to the door.

"I'll let you know how the judge rules on my motion. Fingers crossed, we get Judge Sparnetta. He's got a soft spot for costumes."

The lawyer knocked on the door and called out to the guard outside. He looked at Felicia, who had her back toward him.

"I'm sorry I riled you up, Ms. Hardy." He apologized.

She sighed, crossing her arms and still looking ahead.

"You got a name, Counselor?" She asked.

"Oh, my God. Where are my manners...?" He lightly chuckled.

"My name's Matt Murdock."

The young man was in the office. He looked out the window, gazing at the night owls who walked through the streets late. It reminded Y/N how much sleep he lacked.

The door to the room opened. The lawyer saw who was inside and questioned him in a coy manner.

"I'm sorry, did we have an appointment scheduled, Mister...?"

"L/N. Y/N L/N."

"Oh, well, have a seat, Mr. L/N." Matt smiled and looked back at Foggy and a few of his staff in the other room. "We'll be in here a moment. Knock if you need me."

Matt shut the door and locked it. Immediately, his smile faded, and he became a bit more serious.

"She didn't do it." He told him.

Y/N turned around and faced Matt, the man he knew was Daredevil. Matt also knew that Y/N was Spider-Man, as he recognized the heartbeat from the last time the costumed vigilantes joined forces several months ago.

"You're sure?" Y/N asked.

"According to her heart rate, she at least believes she didn't kill Klum."

"Well, that's great!"

"But you may have bigger problems."

"Bigger than Felicia in jail for a murder she didn't commit?"

"She's insisting Klum didn't rape her."

He arched a brow. "But—he was on top of her, exposed. And her costume was..."

"I know. But Felicia got pretty fiery when I brought up sexual assault as a possible defense. She was adamant that he never raped her. That's bad. A: Because it eliminates my self-defense argument, and B: Because she may be in some heavy, heavy denial."

Y/N rubbed his face and sighed, sitting down on the sofa. The thought of it still irked him and made him very angry. He cursed himself for not doing everything in his power not to let her go to Klum's alone. He felt like what happened to her was his fault.

"Oh, my god..." He muttered.

"Y/N, she can't participate in her own defense if she's not emotionally stable. And I can't plead temporary insanity or psychological disability because the prosecutor's so gung-ho to fry a vigilante for the mayor's campaign, they're not gonna make any deals."

"She's all alone in there," Y/N said. "She hurting."

Matt sighed and sat beside Y/N. He put his arm on the headrest.

"I'd say she's hating," Matt remarked. "But who, I'm not sure."

"It's Klum, Matt!"

"I don't think that's who she's hating right now. I mean, the guy's dead. What's left to hate? No, she's nursing some major enmity for someone else."

Y/N looked down. "Me..."

"No. We didn't talk about you at all. I didn't tell her you hired me, and she didn't mention Spider-Man. There's someone else..."

"Can I get in to see her now?" Y/N asked.

Matt got up. "I'd rather you didn't. Her arrest was pretty high profile, and by the time we get to court, it's gonna be a circus. Best to wait it out. I can pass along messages if you need to speak with her."

The lawyer paced around the room. Y/N was in deep thought as he looked at his hands. As he pondered, Matt continued.

"But by the time we get in front of a judge, the press surrounding this thing's gonna make this as big as the damn Frank Castle trial. We just can't take chances here, Y/N. I mean, you don't want people making any connection between Y/N L/N and Felicia Hardy. Because, from there, it's all...Hey, didn't Spider-Man and the Black Cat frolic around those months ago, too? And I know you don't want to test the whole secret identity thing again after the Beck—"

"We've gotta bust her out." Y/N suddenly said.

"Um..." Matt turned around. "What?"

"We've gotta bust Felicia out. Or I do. But I could really use your help."

"Y/N, right now, you've got me wishing for the first time that a radioactive isotope took my hearing instead of my sight. Are you insane?! We've got a strong chance of getting her out of jail legally..."

Y/N scoffed. "Since when are we worried about the law?"

"You're asking me to get involved with a jailbreak?!" Matt exclaimed.

"Uh, yeah."

"I'm an officer of the court!"

"Who moonlights as a devil-horned vigilante."

"It's not the same thing!"

"Only 'cause it's Rykers and not Hell's Kitchen!"

"If you were gonna suggest this, why the hell did you get me involved as her lawyer?!"

"I needed to find out if she was innocent. If she wasn't, she was gonna need the best defense attorney in the city."

Matt pointed at the young man's face. "Don't butter my ass!"

Y/N stifled a chuckle, as he never heard that phrase before. "Butter your ass?"

Matt ignored it and moved on.

"You've seen what I gotta deal with, what I've dealt with the last year. We have the resurgence of gangs, the rise of Arsenic Candy, the return of Fisk, this so-called Sin Eater killing city officials, and internal politics giving power to LaMuerto, who I still don't trust. Hell, I had to deal with the return of Poindexter months ago, where he killed Karen! It bothers me to this day. You think I have the time to even do this? Do you even think I want to do this?"

The man turned around and looked out the window. Y/N had heard about the death of Karen Page, and he empathized with Matt, as he also lost somebody he loved.

"Look, Matt, I get it. Likely better than anyone what you go through. But right now, I need you to get all the legal jargon out of your head. I need you to put away those feelings from before. There is an innocent woman behind bars...one that might still be reeling from an indescribable horror that happened to her. I need your help to get her out. And we need to serve our kind of justice."

Matt took in his words and sighed, adjusting his glasses. The young man continued.

"Aaaaand you owe me a solid. Remember when we took down Bullseye the first time and took down Kingpin at his wedding? I mean, I didn't need to help but..."

"All right, all right," Matt interjected, rubbing his temples. "You sure you want to do this?"

"Spider-Man's already considered kind of an outlaw. I mean, they pretty much tried to replace me with LaMuerto. I don't see how breaking an innocent woman out of jail's gonna make it any worse."

"But nobody knows she's innocent except you and me." Matt butted.

"And Felicia." Y/N corrected. "And if she's been raped..."

Again, the young man let out a sigh and looked down, reeling from guilt. Matt sensed his mood change and went up to him, reassuringly putting a hand on his shoulder.

"Alright, I'm in."

Y/N smiled and embraced the older man. It caught Matt by surprise.

"Thanks, Matty."

"God, you debate like a pro." Matt chuckled and parted. "You should've been a lawyer, Y/N."

"Heh, no thanks..."

"...I've already got a job."

The two heroes broke into Cell Block H of Ryker's. They looked around the dimly lit and strangely quiet room.

"Awfully quiet..." Daredevil remarked.

"Apparently, crime does sleep." Spider-Man jested.

"No—really quiet. I'm only picking up two heartbeats. And one's racing."

"Shouldn't the guards be..."

Suddenly, his spider sense went off. He turned around, where he saw bodies of guards on the floor along with two other people by the stairs.

"Peek-a-boo."

It was Francis Klum who had Felicia by the arm. The young man called out.

"Felicia!"

"Get outta here!" She shouted back.

The younger Klum spoke to her. "You didn't tell me your friends were popping by, Felicia."

"Who the hell's that?" Daredevil asked Y/N.

"Klum's Major Domo. His name's Francis."

"I'm flattered you remembered, Spider-Man," Francis replied. "Nobody ever remembers me. It's usually Garrison who gets all the attention. Got all the attention."

Matt spoke to Spider-Man. "And we're waiting to take him out because...?"

"After you, sir," Y/N replied and gestured at Francis. "Age before beau—"

Suddenly, Spider-Man was socked hard in the face by Daredevil. Felicia's eyes widened, and she yelled.

"No!"

"Ow!" Y/N held his jaw and turned to Matt. "Man! What'd you—"

Matt then kicked him in the abdomen. Y/N grunted before grabbing his leg and throwing him to the ground. Daredevil kicked Y/N again while he was down and leaped back up.

"He's making you do this!" Felicia shouted at them. "Fight it!"

Daredevil punched Spider-Man again. As much as the young man wanted to stop the fight non-violently, something in his mind made him want to hurt Matt. He gritted his teeth and grabbed his head, pulling him to his knee and hitting him with it.

The two vigilantes continued fighting. Felicia started to tear up at the sight of her two costumed friends fighting against their will. Francis grabbed her by the face and spoke.

"You know I don't want to do this. But they'll never understand."

"I can explain it to them, Francis." Felicia replied.

Spider-Man hit Daredevil's face hard, expelling blood from his mouth. Matt countered by swinging his club, impacting the young man's jaw.

"Make them stop!" Felicia pleaded.

"If I make them stop, they'll do to me what they're doing to each other. I know it!" Francis retorted.

"They're my friends, Francis. They just want to help."

"But not like you want to help."

Felicia looked at the men fighting. It was still going on, and the two vigilantes were going hard and violently. She panted as she tried to think of something to do.

"Can...can you take us away from here?"

"I've never tried anything that big before." Francis pondered. "We might not..."

"Do it, Francis!"

He gave her a stern look before grabbing onto her. Instantly, there was a loud clap, and smoke was expelled from the ground. When it cleared, the two were gone.

Daredevil and Spider-Man suddenly dropped to the floor, both beaten and exhausted. Matt grunted and spat out blood as he lay on the floor.

"I—I don't have their heartbeats anymore..." He said. "My God...he's a teleporter?"

Y/N groaned. He turned to Matt as he continued lying on the floor.

"Worse...he's telekinetic."

The two heroes stayed on the floor, reeling from the event they were just forced to take part in. Moments later, the sirens sounded throughout the prison.

Daredevil was the first to get up. He held his head and turned to Spider-Man, who was still lying down.

"Y/N! Y/N, get up!"

Immediately, a large group of guards in riot gear stormed into the cell block. They all ran to the scene where they saw the bodies of their colleagues...but no sign of the assailants.

Spider-Man and Daredevil had already slipped away.

• • •

FELICIA AND FRANCIS teleported to the top of a bridge near Rykers. It was cold, and the breeze made the young woman, who was just in her thin prison jumpsuit, shiver.

"You sure this is where you want us to be right now?" She asked.

Francis looked out into the skyline.

"Teleporting us both out of Ryker's took a lot out of me. I've never done two people before—which is why I think we only got this far. I can't risk trying it again. We might show up only...partially, in the next place. You know? Why? Is this bad?"

"I just feel a little...exposed up here."

Francis looked over his shoulder. In an instant, he made a spare Black Cat suit appear in his hands. He turned around and held it out.

"Will this help?"

"How'd you...?"

"I got it from your place, when I went to clean it out, before I came to rescue you. I've stored all your things at my apartment, just in case the police got a warrant to search your building. You deserve your privacy...and your identity."

Francis looked back toward the skyline and crossed his arms. With no hesitation, Felicia started to undress and put on her costume right behind him. Still, the man kept his gaze on the buildings in the distance.

"I know how terrible it is when someone takes your sense of self away from you..." He said.

"It's gonna be okay, Francis." Felicia zipped up her suit. "Tell me more about what your brother did to you."

The two heroes hopped across the city rooftops trying to find Felicia and Francis. They had a hunch they might've been nearby, as the latter likely would've stopped someplace close to talk with her.

"How's your eye?" Daredevil asked Spider-Man when he landed.

"I wish you hadn't used the billy club."

"Sorry about that."

Y/N shrugged. "Wasn't your fault."

The two heroes stood on the rooftop and looked out at the skyline. Y/N took a breath and relaxed a bit.

"Y'know, sometimes...I hear people at school asking each other which one of us would win in a fight."

"I've overheard adults my age argue about that." Matt replied.

"Isn't that weird? Why do they wanna see the good guys pounding on each other?"

Matt chuckled. "Like there aren't enough bad guys."

"Or bad girls." Y/N added.

They shared a quick laugh. Y/N continued.

"You ever have one like her? The troublemaker who can still tie you up in knots?"

"One?" Matt asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry—I forgot what a player you were." He replied. "Rizz God."

"Yeah, I've had a few like her."

Matt thought mainly about Elektra. But he found himself looking back at Karen. He replayed the moment he held her lifeless body in the church after Bullseye had killed her. He let out a sigh and looked to the side.

"But I'd gladly trade them all for the one that got away." He admitted.

Y/N could see his mood change a bit, and he knew he was thinking about the loved one he lost. The young man spoke up.

"I...I never got to say I'm sorry...about her. I—I know how you feel."

Matt simply nodded as he kept facing toward the skyline. The young man continued.

"I commend you, Matt. Even after that, you stayed strong and kept doing what you did best. You didn't let it mess with you or deter you in any way. You didn't...let it make you bitter. You didn't do anything you'd regret, unlike..."

Y/N sighed. Matt turned to him and could sense his mood change, too. His heart rate picked up, and Matt assumed he was thinking about the incident the young man was involved in back in February.

"Hey, we all make mistakes. We're not perfect. And...we can't save everyone." Matt said.

Y/N nodded. The older man let out a quick sigh as he gazed down at the billy club in his hand.

"And...it's okay. No need to apologize about anything."

Daredevil shot his Billy club out and grappled onto the next building, leaping away. Spider-Man initiated a swing and followed him.

Francis told Felicia almost everything. He began with his childhood, explaining how his brother Garrison often protected him from bullies.

But the bullies weren't the real evil. It was his brother. Francis told her how he'd often abuse him in secret...and Francis just let it happen.

After his mother's funeral, Francis had accidentally teleported to Dallas, and it took him two days to wish himself back to New York. Garrison was very intrigued by it and hounded him with questions.

He also found out he had a telekinetic ability after inadvertently stopping a mugger from robbing him and forcing him to shoot himself. It was a shock to Francis, but Garrison found it amazing and wanted to use it for their benefit.

Garrison reconfigured his business model. He planned to use Francis to prompt rich and famous people to try his brother's heroin, and then he'd teleport fixes directly into their bloodstreams.

"Once the word spread that Mister Brownstone could get you dosed with no messy needles or track marks to worry about, I hardly needed to do much prompting anymore. Our client list reads like a who's-who of movie stars, politicians, celebrities, and the city's idle rich. By the six-month mark, we had enough money to buy the club we used to work out of. By the end of the year, we bought our fifth building. Wealth will buy even the worst criminal access. We rubbed elbows with good people...and not-so-good people."

Francis continued.

"By year five, we were a legitimate organization on the surface. Few knew we were fueled by the drug trade. Two brothers from a nothing family had conquered the greatest city in the world. You would've thought it was conquest enough for Garrison...I'd learn it wasn't."

Even through those years, Garrison never stopped sexually abusing him. He didn't even need Francis anymore like he did when they were kids. He had superstars at the ready, and he could've had anybody. But it was never about the sex. Garrison just wanted to let Francis know who was in charge.

Felicia felt for the man. It was horrible hearing about what Francis went through.

"Why didn't you prompt him to stop?" She asked.

"Garrison was the only person my prompting never worked on. Maybe it was because we were brothers, but he was immune to it. He'd already ruined my childhood. But do you know what it feels like to be violated as an adult? That's why I intervened that night he was with you."

Francis thought back to two nights ago when he walked in on Garrison about to rape Felicia. Seeing the act about to be done on a helpless girl angered him.

"He was doing that thing he did with heroin whenever whenever his base, filthy need clouded his judgment. He was dosing you so he could have his way with your body. Like he did with that schoolboy—the one Hunter Todd brought around. Like he did with Tricia Lane."

Felicia let out a shuddered breath upon hearing her friend's name. That confirmed that Tricia was likely dead. Francis continued.

"I looked at you under him, and I saw myself. All those years, I was forced to do things I didn't want to. Things I found repellent. I thought about how reckless he'd become—with the drug trade and his sexual appetites. How the murders would eventually expose our abilities...and maybe worse secrets I was too ashamed for the world to learn. I was tired of it all. I was very tired. So I did the only thing I could think of doing at that moment..."

Felicia recalled that very second Garrison had died. Francis had basically teleported into him, causing the front part of his body to burst open. The young Klum shuddered as he thought back at it, too, and he began to tear up.

"Shhhhh....it's okay, Francis," Felicia spoke. "You just let all of it go now..."

"I didn't want to do it, but he would've killed you! Like killed the others!"

"I know Francis. And I can't thank you enough."

"My God! I killed my own brother..."

Felicia turned him around and held his chin, getting him to look at her face.

"Look at me. He was a monster, Francis. All your life, you did what you had to do to survive. And that night, you did what you had to do to stop him from ruining the life of someone else. That's why we have to go to the police and tell them everything."

"No!" Francis stepped away. "They'll throw me in jail! Or worse! I'm a freak! They—they might give me the death penalty!"

"I won't let them." She reassured him. "You're sick, Francis, and we're going to get you the help you need when the court hears your story. They'll realize that."

Stressing and panicking, Francis tried to teleport away. Puffs of smoke expelled in the air as he kept trying, to no avail.

"You're too weak to teleport again so soon," Felicia said. "Francis, you have to trust me. I can help you."

Francis shook his head and hummed, closing his eyes. Felicia stepped forward.

"Listen to me: you were trapped in a cycle of abuse that you had no control over. But now you're free of that abuse, and you can leave it behind. The courts will understand what you did, and with therapy..."

"No! I won't tell anyone else!" Francis shouted. "No one can know what he did to me! It's humiliating! They'll never understand! They'll laugh at me!"

"The only way you're ever gonna be whole again is to deal with what you've done, Francis—and what's been done to you."

"You can't know the shame! You don't know what it feels like to go through what I've been through!"

"Yes, I do, Francis."

"Bullshit! How can you possibly know?!"

Felicia sighed. She closed her eyes and looked down, taking off her eye mask.

"Because I've been raped, too."

Sometime later, Spider-Man and Daredevil swung through the city. Matt had picked up some heartbeats, and one of them sounded like Felicia's.

"Can you sense her yet?" Y/N asked.

"I'm picking up her heartbeat's signature, but it's all muddled up by the din of the city—" He stopped momentarily as he honed in on his radar sense. "Wait! I've got her! And her heart's racing."

"Where?! Which way?!"

"North. By the river."

"Where by the river?! The docks?! The...?!"

Suddenly, a location popped into his head. One that filled him with dread and made his heart drop. Even Matt could sense his heart rate change...and it was beating fast.

They were on top of the bridge.

"No..." Y/N reacted. "NO!"

The two continued talking. Felicia had just detailed her past experiences and how they formed her into who she is now. Still, she was trying to convince Francis to turn himself in.

"I can't go to jail! Do you know what kind of prisons they put people with special powers in?! What kind of restraints do they use?!"

"You won't go to prison, I promise you," Felicia reassured him. "You'll go to a hospital, Francis—where you can deal with what's been done to you, with doctors who only care about your psychological and emotional well-being!"

"How can you be sure th—"

Suddenly, Francis was kicked away by a swinging Spider-Man. The sudden inertia almost caused Felicia to fall, but Matt came in and caught her.

"I've got you, Ms. Hardy."

Felicia didn't even pay him any attention and shouted at Spider-Man. "Y/N, no!"

Francis rolled across the floor and grunted. Spider-Man...an angry and bitter Spider-Man at that...went up to him and held him by the collar. He landed a hard blow to his face.

"Never again!" He shouted.

He hit him once more. As he did, flashes of the moment when Indira was thrown from the bridge filled his mind.

The laughs of Kingsley. The sound of his webbing. The snap from afar. The thought of his unborn's heartbeat just...stopping. His eyes beneath his mask were filled with rage.

"Never...again!"

Y/N hit him again and again. Francis, his face now bruised and bloodied, groaned beneath the hero.

"Y/N!" Felicia shouted. "You're killing him!"

He held the man up by the collar and spoke through seethed teeth. He hadn't been this angry since he was about to kill Kingsley almost a year ago.

"I'VE HAD IT WITH YOU PSYCHOS HURTING THE PEOPLE I LOVE! THE PEOPLE I CARE ABOUT! NEVER AGAIN, DO YOU HEAR ME? NEVER AGAIN! NEVER...AGAIN!"

As he shouted, Francis reached over to the eye mask Felicia had dropped earlier. He touched it, and in an instant, he teleported the item, which now protruded from Y/N's neck.

"Unngh!" He grunted as he fell backward.

"Y/N!" Felicia yelled and ran over to the young man. "Oh, my god...no!"

Y/N held his neck and spoke weakly.

"I...I don't think...Ugh...I don't think it hit...the carotid..."

Felicia knelt and held Spider-Man. She shouted at Daredevil.

"Get some help! Get a doctor!"

Worried about the young man, Daredevil did as told and leaped off the bridge. Felicia pleaded to Francis.

"Francis...help him! Take it out! Please!"

The man spat out blood and slowly got up. He was enraged at all of them...especially the young woman.

"I trusted you, Felicia! And you lied to me! You...you called your friends here! To kill me!"

Felicia carefully put Y/N's head down and walked toward him.

"Francis, no. I swear to God, that's not true. I would never betray you—not after what you did for me!"

"You lied to me! You were lying the whole time! To keep me here until your friends showed up!"

"No, Francis! That's not true!"

"YOU'RE LYING!"

"Please, Francis! I wouldn't lie to you! I want to help you! We can break the cycle of violence! Together!"

Francis glared and seethed his teeth. He clenched his fists.

"You know what I've got in my apartment, Felicia? In a drawer, next to my bed, where I laid out your things so neatly?"

With a puff of smoke, a handgun appeared in his hand. He aimed it at the Black Cat. She stepped back a bit.

"Francis, please don't."

"You're just like Garrison! And that hooker! And the kids at school! You're all a pack of lies and hate. And like you said...blood calls for blood."

Before he can pull the trigger, a glob of webbing covered the nozzle. He shot it, causing it to backfire and hurt the man's hand.

"Argh!" He held his injured hand. "Argh!"

The man began to stumble back, getting closer to the ledge. Felicia called out.

"Francis!"

Ultimately, he fell off the bridge. Both the young woman and Spider-Man ran over to the ledge.

"Y/N! We've got to save him!"

Y/N, still holding his neck wound, looked over the ledge and shot a web line, but before it could stick to Francis, he vanished in a puff of smoke. The line of the web became limp and fell into the water.

The two looked down, perplexed. They weren't sure where he could've gone.

• • •

A COUPLE OF days passed. Felicia and Y/N walked through Washington Square Park to the nearby hotel. The woman had sunglasses and a hat, as she was currently lying low.

"Do you think he's still alive?" She asked him.

"I don't know." He replied. "Even though he teleported, he did it mid-fall. Whenever he wound up, he still had to land, you know?"

"He may have gotten off light if he did die." She scoffed. "At least he doesn't have to live the rest of his life as a fugitive from the law."

"We'll get you cleared, sheesh. The lawyer says it shouldn't take more than a day or two. But for now, you're still gonna have to lay low. We'll get you out from under the murder charge."

"God, it just sucks. No matter how hard we try to help, sometimes, we only make things worse for ourselves. For others. For Francis."

"You can't think like that." Y/N said.

"Why not?" She butted.

He sighed. "Because no matter what the outcome, at the end of the day, we always help more people than not. The good outweighs the bad. Knowing that is the only way I can sleep at night."

The two walked down the sidewalk and spotted the hotel Felicia was currently staying in, under an alias, of course.

"And how are you sleeping at night now..." She pointed at his neck. "With the..."

"This? It's fine. Healing up nicely. Thank God Ma—Daredevil knows this lady. Calls herself the Night Nurse."

Felicia snickered. "Almost slipped there, Y/N L/N. You almost revealed another costume's name."

"Lay off."

They entered the hotel, and Felicia checked in. The young decided to walk with her to her floor, being the gentleman he was.

"Remember the time I figured you out?" She asked.

"Yeah, and I figured you out." He replied.

"But I did so first."

"Well, it was sorta at the same time. You had an ugly ass bruise on your face."

"And you had that nasty gash on your chin." She then mocked. "I cut myself shaving."

Y/N chuckled. They exited the elevator and walked through the hallway.

"But, you not denying it when I confronted you...you being open then and even times afterward...it meant a lot. You helped me." She said.

He arched a brow. "Helped you how?"

"You helped me trust again."

Y/N took in her words and nodded, lightly smiling. They soon made it to her room. Felicia took off her sunglasses, putting them in her bag as she took out her keycard. She unlocked the door.

"Well, I'll leave you be," Y/N said. "Again, lay low. Be careful. I'll call you when things get settled."

He rubbed his neck and was about to step away, but Felicia grabbed his arm. He turned around and stared at her, where she gazed back.

After a moment, the two leaned in and kissed. They embraced, and Felicia held the back of his neck as they did, keeping their lips together.

Seconds later, they parted, the two still looking at each other with lustful eyes.

"Come in...just come inside~" She breathed out.

There was no hesitation. Y/N lunged and kissed her again, joining her inside the hotel room and shutting the door behind them.

Later, the two lay beside each other on the king-sized bed. Y/N had his right arm around Felicia's torso, his chest flushed against her back.

She looked out at the evening sky through the floor-to-ceiling window of her hotel room. She pondered for some time, all while hearing the slow breathing of the young man sleeping behind her.

Y/N opened his eyes and woke up. He exhaled and looked over at the young woman, seeing her awake.

"Oh, you're up." He said, laying his head back down.

She hummed. "Mm-hm."

"Don't tell me my snoring kept you awake."

"No." She lightly chuckled. "You're safe."

"Cool."

Y/N let a soft grunt and sat up, leaning against the headrest. Felicia did as well, lifting the covers to her bare chest.

They sat there in silence for a moment. Y/N looked down at his hands, breathing through his nose. He decided to speak up finally.

"Um—I never got to tell you...but I'm sorry about what happened up there on the bridge, what I did to Francis. I...almost lost it again. Like that time—"

Felicia reached out and held his shoulder.

"It's okay. It's okay." She reassured him.

Y/N nodded, swallowing. He continued.

"It's just...the sight of that bridge...the thought of this psycho having you up there. You know about Indira and..."

"I do."

There was a beat. Y/N kept looking down.

"I just found out she was pregnant when she died. I didn't just lose her...I lost my child. That very night...I pretty much lost my family. The chance of...having one."

"My God...that's terrible," Felicia replied sincerely. "I'm so sorry, Y/N."

"I was accepting it, Indy's death, but now that I know it wasn't just her...all that pain and anger...it's back again. I feel the same way I did those months ago, and it kinda scares me."

"Why does it?" She asked.

"Because...I know I'm capable of." He replied. "I know...that I can kill and probably not even bat an eye."

Felicia nodded, letting out a sigh. Y/N glanced at her and decided to reveal something else.

"I found out more about my parents. They were S.H.I.E.L.D operatives. My dad being a reformed HYDRA agent. Hell, I even met my long-lost sister last week."

Felicia was surprised to hear such things but also appreciative that he was willing to tell her that.

"Why tell me?"

He shrugged but also gave her a soft smile.

"I trust you."

Felicia smiled back, reaching out and touching his hand. She caressed the top of it a bit before letting go.

"I....have to tell you something, too." She said. "About something that happened to me back in college."

Y/N turned to her and gave her his full attention. Felicia looked down at her hands, letting out a breath before facing ahead.

"I was raped. It happened my freshman year."

"Oh, my God...I'm so sorry to hear that." Y/N replied sincerely.

"I had met this guy, Ryan, at a party. He actually protected me from some scummy types who were hitting on me. There, we kind of hit it off. He was cute, funny, had a very nice smile. He seemed...perfect. We dated for a few weeks. It was going very well. He went to my basketball games...I went to his volleyball matches. We supported each other."

Felicia looked back down at her hands and continued.

"One day...we were in his dorm. We were kissing and fooling around. It started to get heated, and I could tell it was getting to that next level. I—I didn't feel ready. I told him that. But...he just kept going. I told him to stop, but he didn't listen."

Y/N let out a quiet exhale through his nose as he heard the story. He felt for Felicia, who was reliving the event in her head.

"He just kept telling me that it was okay. That he was loving me. That he loved me." She scoffed, faking a smile as she tried to hide her pain. "And as he violated me, I just thought...how could this be love? How could he love me if he's doing this to me?"

She shook her head as she picked at her fingernails. Felicia further explained.

"For the next several days, I just sat in my room. I didn't go out or anything. Funny thing is that Ryan never even bothered to call back. He never went to see me again. It's like he just got what he wanted and ditched me. Like some piece of trash."

Y/N wasn't sure what to say but another sorry. He just kept quiet, allowing her to vent.

"I felt terrible. A part of me even thought of...just ending it all. But I tried to keep going. I wanted to get my mind off of it. So, for the next few years. I trained. I took martial arts classes, studied, and took gymnastics, hell, even firearm training. But...there was also a reason I did those things. Why I trained that much."

Felicia looked up from her hands and at Y/N.

"I was getting myself ready so I can kill Ryan."

Y/N shifted his body a bit and turned to her.

"Did you..?"

Felicia lightly chuckled and looked to the side.

"No. I found out that he died in a car accident. He and a couple of other kids." She replied. "But...I still had that resentment. I had that anger that I needed to quell. I couldn't get to Ryan, so I kept asking myself what to do..."

Felicia looked over at the sofa nearby where she had her costume. A smirk formed on her face.

"And then I remembered my dad, how he used his skills as a cat burglar. So...I followed in his footsteps. I decided to use what I learned to be the best thief I could. To steal from rich, stuck-up assholes like Ryan. To make the lives of scum like him...a bit worse."

She nodded, calming down a bit. What she told Y/N is exactly what she told Francis before he and Daredevil showed up. She even told him about the people who seemed to change her perspective on trust.

"That day you found me scaling the penthouse...was the first time I went out in costume. You were the first person to ever see me in that. The first to lay eyes on the Black Cat."

"Really?" He asked.

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Again...what a night that was."

They shared a light laugh. Y/N reached over and touched her hand.

"I appreciate you telling me about that. I know...it was hard. It's tough having to relive that."

"It's okay. I've tried to suppress it for some time now. I guess...it's nice...to finally talk about it with someone."

Y/N nodded. He slowly reached out to cup her chin, slowly leaning in. Felicia reciprocated and kissed the young man.

Seconds later, they parted. Felicia chuckled, and Y/N arched a brow.

"What?"

"This." She replied. "What exactly does this make us?"

Y/N thought about it. He sat back again, scratching his chin.

"I...I..."

"You don't know, do you?"

"Felicia..."

"Hey, it's okay. I get it. I'm...not so sure either."

"I know I was on you a few days ago about how you walked out that night earlier this year. But now, even if things between us are blossoming, I guess I just...can't."

Felicia nodded. The young man clarified.

"With what I do and with what you do...I just don't think I'll be able to treat you the way you deserve. You're worthy of someone with the time and effort to give you what you need. To love you as you should be loved."

Y/N cares about Felicia, and there was some love there. But, it was a love between very intimate friend. Felicia felt the same way and believed it was unlikely they could have a real relationship.

"And you still need time, right?" Felicia asked. "You're holding out for someone?"

Y/N looked down, letting out a sigh. He thought of the one person in his mind, the one person he admitted he still loved. Y/N nodded and let out a chuckle.

"Yeah...I guess you could say that."

Felicia softly smiled, lifting the covers again and shifting a bit against the headrest.

"I still think of Randy." She admitted. "But...I don't know what he still thinks of me. It's been almost two years. Does he even remember me?"

"Of course he does, Felicia. He talks about you all the time. He still has that letter you wrote to him. He appreciates that you cared that much about him and understands why you left when you did."

Felicia's heart swelled hearing that. She smiled.

"He was the first guy who really made me feel special. He's one of a kind. He's...amazing."

Y/N smiled, too. "That's Randy for you."

Beside the bed on the counter, Y/N's phone vibrated. He reached out and picked it up, where he saw a reminder that he needed to get to Dr. Connors' class in an hour.

"I gotta go. Duty calls." He said. "And by duty, I mean sitting in science class for two hours."

Felicia playfully shoved him. "Go on, geek."

Y/N got out of bed and quickly changed. Felicia continued lying on the bed and watched him as he did. He zipped up his jacket and looked back at the nude woman beneath the sheets.

"You know, when Murdock finally gets those charges dropped, you should see Randy. You know where he frequents."

Felicia nodded, letting him know she would try. Y/N smiled back and made his way to the door.

He bid farewell. "I'll see you around."

She simply waved, and the young man left the room. Felicia kept looking at the door and smirked.

"Until next time, Spider."

• • •

THE STORAGE FACILITY was dark. Two men strolled inside, one wearing a head wrapping and walking with a crutch. The other was tall and burly, wearing a black suit jacket.

They stopped at a crate. The large man, Wilson Fisk, spoke to his new associate, Francis Klum.

"Thanks to Osborn's contacts, we were able to construct what you needed."

"The guy who was friends with Hobgoblin? Ain't the company he runs originally his?"

"He strives to make it better. Improve it. Surely, the work he does will bode well for the masses."

"Heh. These people. These freaks. Hard to keep them all straight."

"You'll have to study up if you truly intend to play the costume game, Mr. Klum," Fisk said. "Even though many of them are histrionic psychotics, those lost souls will prove to be your best allies in your coming campaign."

"It's not a campaign, Mr. Fisk. It's not a game, and I don't intend to spend my life trading quips and blows with the man." Klum replied. "I'm going to kill Spider-Man. Maybe the Black Cat, too. That's it."

"Then why this, might I ask? I'm certainly not trying to talk you out of the purchase, but there are thousands of ways to reach your goal without wrapping yourself in theatrics."

"I'm not going to show my face to the world. What's in this crate...I'll use the contents to draw Spider-Man out. And to get the edge. If he thinks he's dealing with the familiar, he'll approach me differently—with his guard down. Why be wary of a foe you've already trumped, right? One that's already dead. And when he does that? When he faces me in his guise, perplexed at the sight of it....I'll teleport my fist into his brain."

"That's certainly an advantage you'll have over the man who once donned the costume. He didn't have your...abilities. He was all mechanical and digital tricks." Fisk said. "With your powers, you could actually live up to the name."

Francis opened the crate. He stepped back and gazed at the contents within.

"How much?" He asked.

"Ah, the uncomfortable discussion of money," Fisk smirked. "Ten million."

"Seems kinda high for just a suit."

"You're not just buying the suit, sir. You're buying all the accouterments the designer of this identity created as well. The tech...the drones...all of it. And aside from that, you're also buying this entire warehouse."

Francis pondered, still looking at the suit within. That, along with everything inside the offsite Fisk-owned Stark Industries warehouse, would be his if he bought it.

"It's a turnkey operation, Mr. Klum. You hand me a briefcase, and I hand you the keys to the kingdom—one you could rescue from ridicule."

"And ten million certainly funds your ever-growing empire, doesn't it, Mr. Fisk?"

"There's that, yes."

"Make it eight, and when I'm done killing the aracho-freak, I'll do away with Daredevil for you as well."

"A kind offer, to be sure. But there are some things a man has to do for himself, sir."

Fisk put a hand on his shoulder. They both looked at the open crate before them.

"I'm afraid it's ten million or nothing." He added. "Such a small price to pay for revenge on your brother's killers, no?"

"Hm."

"So..." He turned to Francis. "Do we have a deal?"

Francis was quiet for a moment. He kept gazing at the costume. A costume he was going to wear to take on the name...Mysterio.

"Yes. Yes, I believe we do."