Part I of The Claws of Redemption
Note: it's highly recommended that you've finished Chapter 18 of "The Mask of Responsibility" before beginning this spin-off. Thanks for reading!

There was something about the night that got Felicia excited. The mystery of what lurked in the shadows or the stillness of the air. It was under the moonlight that Felicia felt alive. She currently was perched on a rooftop across the street from her current target, namely an uptown jewelry store, one of those fancy two-story ones with large glass windows.

Childs play. She smirked.

She reached a gloved hand down to her grappling hook, which hung at her belt. She unclipped it and brought it up, aiming it towards the store. With a squeeze of the trigger, a hiss of compressed air fired the sharp projectile into the air, imbedding it in the far wall and leaving a thin cable in its wake.

Like a skilled gymnast, the Black Cat lightly stepped her way across the wire to hop lightly onto a ledge beneath one of the windows. Sharp claws hidden within each hand protruded from her gloves and she cut a circle approximately two feet wide in the glass. Delicately, she tipped the disk of glass towards her and removed it from the hole, setting it on the ledge to lean against the building.

No alarms, no witnesses, no problem

She dove forward though the hole, rolling to a smooth stop inside the store. Surrounding her were dozens of glass cases, displaying glittering and expensive jewels and trinkets. The Black Cat moved about the room, careful not to trigger any pressure plates that may be hidden under the carpet. She cut several more holes in several more pieces of glass, retrieving countless necklaces, rings and gems from their resting places.

The pouch at her belt was starting to become heavy and she decided it was time to exit. The owners would find the store had been robbed in the morning, but by that time Felicia would have sold most of her spoils to her black-market clients.

The Black Cat looked one last time around the room, making sure there wasn't anything else worth her taking, before turning towards her exit. She froze mid-step, the hole by which she'd entered had been sealed closed… by spider webs.

Oh great, just what I needed.

Two large, white eyes glared at her from their position on the wall and she turned to face them.

"You know, Felicia, if you wanted to hang out with me you should have just called." Spider-Man said, dropping down onto the floor.

The Black Cat put on her best smile, trying to hide the fact that he had caught her off guard.

"You know me, Spider. I'm all about putting on a show." She teased, then spun quickly throwing a knife from her belt.

He flipped over it easily and darted towards her, she tried to avoid him, but grabbed her and pinned her against a wall.

"Yeah, calling would be too subtle for you, huh? I do have an email, however, if that's more your speed."

The Black Cat pretended to struggle in his grip, in reality reaching to her wrist and tapping a button on the sleeve of her suit.

"If I'm being honest I missed you," She said, faux sweet. "Being with you makes everything feel… brighter."

Suddenly her orange goggles turned bright white, flashing like a camera. Spider-Man was momentarily blinded, twisting his head away from the light. It was enough for Felicia to tug free and deliver a swift kick to his gut. She slashed forward with her claws, but he ducked away from her and fired a glob of webbing that narrowly missed her head. She rolled, avoiding more webbing, and crouched behind a desk.

He's usually a better shot with that stuff. He must be still having trouble seeing. It's now or never.

The Black Cat poked her head above the desk just enough to sling another knife his direction. Spider-Man caught it nimbly before it connected with his chest.

Damn spider-sense, that shit is so cheap.

She turned and sprinted towards the nearest window. Covering her head with her arms she leapt at it, crashing through and falling through the air. Instantly an alarm started to blare, disturbing the peaceful night. Felicia fell to the ground below and rolled to prevent herself from taking too much damage from the drop. She knew that he would be quick on her heels and dropped one of her smoke bombs at her feet, quickly disappearing in a puff of grey dust.

When Spider-Man leapt lightly down to the street, the Black Cat was already gone.

The widow to her apartment slid open silently and Felicia Hardy slipped inside. It was still late in the night, so she moved silently to her bedroom as not to disturb her roommate. When she was safely in her room, Felicia pulled off her wig and goggles, running her fingers through her short dark hair.

That was a close call, closer than usual at least. Maybe I'm getting a little careless.

The rest of her suit was removed and, along with her haul for the evening, was stored in a small safe that fit under her bed. She collapsed onto the sheets and gazed at her alarm clock.

Only two hours until I have to get ready for class – not even worth sleeping.

She got up off her bed and rifled through her drawers pulling on some shorts and a t shirt, before padding out of her room and down the hall to the kitchen. She sat heavily in a chair at the table and pulled a textbook toward her.

She was midway through her freshman year at ESU. Currently, she was studying Criminal Justice, something she had assumed would be applicable to her nightly pastime. However, the courses were exceedingly dull and the people very annoying, so it was very possible she wouldn't be continuing with the program. Also, with her night job taking up a good portion of her time, studying was a challenge.

There is a test later though, so I may as well study for that.

Sighing to herself, Felicia turned the appropriate chapter in her textbook, White Collar Crime, and began to read.

Two hours later, Liz Allen found her roommate slumped over her book, fast asleep. Liz prodded Felicia firmly in the side.

"Hey wake up, sleeping beauty," Liz said quietly. "Don't you have a test today?"

Felicia lifted her head to look at the clock.

"God dammit." Felicia pushed herself from the table and sprinted back to her room.

"You're going to be late!" Liz called after her, but Felicia didn't answer, too busy shoveling her notes into her bag.

Liz sighed and set about making herself breakfast. As cold as Felicia could be, Liz didn't mind having her as a roommate. After high school, Liz had found herself living in a dorm on campus with a few friends. They were all promptly removed from the room after a night of raucous partying that resulted in a kitchen fire that triggered the water system and subsequently ruined most of the furniture in the building. All the girls went their own way after that, leaving Liz to bump into Felicia.

They hadn't talked much in high school, Liz being popular and Felicia keeping to herself, but they've actually become good friends in the time that they lived together. Liz liked Felicia because she was a sharp contrast to the usual airheads she associated with and Felicia simply liked Liz because she didn't ask too many questions.

Felicia came stumbling back down the hall, pulling on one of her shoes.

"Aren't you going to take a shower?" Liz asked. "I can wait if you want to…"

"No time, I have to go like now." Felicia stuffed her textbook in her bag and slung It over her shoulder.

"Wait," Liz grabbed a napkin and stepped to Felicia, rubbing the other girl's cheek. "You have some dried drool on your face."

"Ugh." Felicia took the napkin and scrubbed furiously, crossing to the door and leaving quickly.

Liz chuckled and went back to her breakfast.

The test was brutal. Felicia wasn't a terrible student in the least, but her lack of studying had taken its toll. When it was finished, she stepped out of the classroom, her mood dark, and out into the sun. Her next class wasn't for a few hours, so she had some time to kill. Deciding that food was something that she desired, she reached into her pockets, eventually pulling out a single crumpled dollar bill.

Okay, maybe I should sell some of last night's haul first.

Hopefully Spider-Man wouldn't interrupt her again before she could cash in. There was a tap on her shoulder then and Felicia turned to see Peter Parker grinning at her.

"Hey, Felicia," He said. "Long time no see."

"Peter Parker, how's it going?" Felicia was actually surprised, and oddly pleased, to see Peter. The pair hadn't seen each other since graduation. He leaned in for a hug, thought better of it, and transitioned rather awkwardly into a pat on her shoulder. Felicia couldn't help but smirk.

"I'm good, I'm good. Um, pretty busy." He scratched absentmindedly at the shadow of stubble on his chin which, along with the circles under his eyes, reminded Felicia she wasn't the only one missing sleep. "What about you?" He asked. "School going good?"

"Eh. You know, it's fine." She didn't feel like talking about it.

"Yeah I get that. But hey," He pulled out his cell phone. "We should catch up some time, get dinner or something."

"Oh, really?" Felicia was taken aback. "Um… yeah- maybe, that would be nice."

Weird.

Peter seemed to sense her uneasiness.

"Just as friends though, I mean like," Peter explained quickly. "I just want to catch up and stuff. Us Midtown graduates have to stick together, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." Felicia laughed. Other than Liz, she hadn't talked to anyone from high school since graduation and she couldn't remember the last time she'd casually hung out with anyone. "How about tonight?" She asked, all thoughts of shady dealing momentarily gone.

"Tonight is perfect. I can text you the deets later. What's your number?"

"Ugh, Peter Parker!? Felicia, he is so gross, I mean like come on!" Liz Allen was storming around in Felicia's room.

"We're just going as friends." Felicia explained, feeling a little defensive. She was looking through her closet. "He's dating this girl anyways, Jenn or something."

"Gwen, her name is Gwen Stacy. She's in my Calculus class - she's alright. I don't know what she sees in Parker though. That guy needs a haircut and a shower, I mean seriously like…" Liz continued to ramble, insulting everything about Peter Parker, all the way down to the freckles on his arms and his beat-up sneakers. Finally, Felicia had enough.

"Why do you hate Peter so much?"

"You weren't there were you?" Liz realized. "When he totally crashed my party and broke Flash Thompson's arm."

"What?" Felicia had never heard this.

"Yeah, back when we were in Midtown," Liz explained, flopping on Felicia's bed. "I threw this party, right? And Flash did a harmless prank on Peter and he just went ballistic. Dude's a total psycho, Felicia – worse than that, he's a psycho nerd, an extremely dangerous combination."

"Eh, I can take care of myself," Felicia pulled a leather jacket from her closet and shrugged it on. "I'm going. I'll see you later."

Felicia headed from the room, towards the front door.

"Don't get any nerd juice on you! I won't let you back in the apartment if you do!" Liz called after her.

Felicia couldn't help but smirk.

Nerd juice? Where does she get this stuff?

It was a small diner down the street from campus. Felicia sat in the booth playing with the sugar packets.

Who the hell does Parker think he is? 10 minutes late is okay. 15 minutes, fine. But 30 minutes?

She looked at her watch again.

5 more minutes then I'm gone.

It was at that moment that Peter stepped through the door. He caught sight of her and grinned, bouncing foolishly towards her, his sneakers squeaking loudly on the floor.

What a dork.

"Hey," He said, sliding in across from her. "Sorry I'm late, there was a thing."

"You look dirty." She stated dryly.

"What?"

"Your face is covered in - what is that? Soot?"

Peter had black stains on his cheeks and forehead with drops of sweat cutting streaks down his face.

"Oh yeah, there was a… fire." He grabbed a napkin and wiped at himself, before coughing hoarsely.

"A fire." She repeated. "Like you were in a fire?"

"Well kinda, I was um – kind of close by."

Felicia pushed her glass of water towards him and he drank greedily.

"Dude's a total psycho, Felicia."

Maybe Liz was right. Peter seems a little unstable.

"So uh, what have you been up to? After high school I mean." Felicia tried to salvage the conversation from drifting into awkwardness. She felt like Peter deserved at least a chance. He seemed to be one of the few people interested in talking to her, which was odd since they hadn't had an actual conversation in over a year.

"Well you know, I started up at ESU and that's really about it. School takes up a lot of time."

"Tell me about it. What are you studying?"

"Mechanical Engineering," Peter raised his hand, motioning at the waitress behind the counter. "What about you?"

"Uh, Criminal Justice right now." Felicia scratched at some chipped paint on the table with her nail. "It's fine."

"Hey there," The waitress chirped mechanically when she approached the table. "What can I get for you?"

Peter looked at Felicia and she looked up at the waitress.

"Just a coffee please, and another water." She said.

"No problem, and for you?" The waitress turned to Peter.

"I'll have the soup and I'll take a glass of water too." He said with a smile.

"Coming right up." The waitress grinned, before turning on her heel and striding off.

"So," Peter faced Felicia again. "Criminal Justice sounds interesting. Do you want to be a lawyer or something?"

"Not really, I might drop it pretty soon actually."

"Oh okay."

They were silent for a little bit and when the waitress came back with their order, Peter ate ravenously.

"Easy there, Parker. No one's going to steal it from you, I promise." Felicia chuckled.

He looked up at her and his wide grin seemed rather unwarranted to Felicia's little joke.

"I'd rather not take any chances." He said wryly. Felicia sipped at her coffee and he continued talking. "So we don't really know each other that well and this is a little awkward, right?" She was relieved he could sense it too. "You should tell me about yourself, Felicia. "

"Uh okay," Felicia sat up straighter. "I don't really know what to tell."

"Well what about your parents?"

"My parents?"

"Yeah, I mean you've never told me about them."

Felicia shifted in her seat again.

"Well, my dad raised me, but he was arrested actually." She admitted. "For… breaking and entering."

"Oh, right." Peter's plan to spur conversation had backfired hard. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It was hard at first, but now… it's okay."

"What about your mother?" He pressed forward.

"She died, when I was young. There was a car accident, drunk driver and all that." Felicia took a sip from her coffee a little too quickly and it scalded her tongue.

"I lost my parents too, when I was little."

Felicia had always known that Peter lived with his aunt, but this was news to her.

"How did they die?" She asked.

"Plane crash, drunk pilot and all that." Peter grinned and Felicia chuckled in spite of the stupid joke.

"I'm sorry," She said, finding herself to be smiling back at him. "That must have been rough."

"It happens." He shrugged.

They talked for a long while after that. Peter told her about living with Gwen and how he was looking for a job, while Felicia remained vague about her employment. When Peter finally made motions to leave, Felicia found herself wishing they could talk longer.

"I can't, I really have to get home. Gwen will be worried," Peter sighed. "You should come by sometime, I think you and Gwen would get along."

"Yeah, maybe." Felicia allowed him to hold the door open for her as the left the dinner. He had paid for everything, much to her chagrin. The truth was she could make more money after a night on the town that he could make in a month. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay."

They hugged this time and Peter went on his way, slouching his shoulders and trudging down the street. Felicia watched him go, feeling rather warm. Although she would never admit it, talking with someone, even nerdy Peter Parker, gave her a sense of normalcy she hadn't experienced in as long as she could remember.

He's nice, a little nosey, but nice. She decided. It wouldn't kill him to get a haircut though.

Felicia zipped up her jacket and headed back to her apartment.