Disclaimer: If you recognise it, surprise, I don't own it.

 

Chapter 12– More Money, More Problems.

 

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We are on the way back to our home now, having stashed the rocket launcher at the secret hideout. I hop, skip and leap quite quickly, following Felicia back, and while I could surpass her and speed off home, I don't do so. She as well could speed up to make the trip shorter, but she doesn't.

 

We are both taking our time travelling home, sticking to the shadows and leaping through the night air, enjoying the run and having fun, me trailing after her as she takes some hazardous routes and treacherous paths for me to follow. We do this sort of thing very often as we both have fun and enjoy the manoeuvres and parkour, an adrenaline rush without actually endangering ourselves.

 

Now, after a long run, we are finally closing in on our home. Felicia is in the lead with about fifty or so meters on me and nearing the apartment when I come to a sudden stop. Again, my spider sense was tingling, and so I immediately froze and tried to locate where the danger was coming from, but it was hard to do so since this time, the threat was much more subtle.

 

There is no imminent danger to my life or anything lethal about to happen to me, but there is someone dangerous in the vicinity. This person is not looking or hunting for me, but whoever this person is, they are incredibly dangerous, so much so that my spider sense is alerting me just from being within their immediate area.

 

I contemplate it for a moment before deciding not to worry about it. This is New York, after all, and dangerous people are around every corner, so you can't keep fretting over little things like this. If anything, I should be reassured since my spider sense is alerting me to their presence, but that is it. I am not their target, so I should be fine. I will just be a bit more cautious while travelling back to the apartment.

 

I continue my trek forward, and- Shit, that can't be right. I moved closer to my goal, and the alerts I was getting from my danger sense increased, not by a significant amount, but enough that it was noticeable, meaning the closer I went in that direction, the more dangerous it was. But, of course, that doesn't mean the danger has to be at our home. It could just be in that direction and be somewhere further, but when have I ever been that lucky?

 

I quickly bolt off towards the apartment, but just because I am in a rush, it doesn't mean that I can't be stealthy, so I run into the shadows and hide in the darkness as I move, staying hidden from whoever may be watching.

 

The reason for my urgency is because, in the time that I froze, shocked by the alert from my spider sense, Felicia had completed her run and arrived back at the house. Meaning that she was probably trapped in there with the cause of the danger, So I wasted no time in returning to her.

 

I land on the side of our building, and while the looming threat has rung even louder in my ears, there has been no actual attack on my person, even though the danger sense rises each second. Moving quickly, I enter a vent that only someone small or with powers like my own would be able to fit in, and I quickly promptly set off to get to our room.

 

It seems sneaking into our apartment multiple times is finally paying off since I can quickly get through this veritable maze of vents and to our apartment since I had crept in numerous times before and know the exact pathing to take. 

 

Plus, my name is not registered to this room at all, so if anyone checks, they won't know I live here and only think Felicia (or her alias) does. So if someone is genuinely threatening her life inside, they will only be expecting her there, they won't be expecting me, and I will have the element of surprise and attack when they are least expecting it.

 

Moving through the vents quickly and quietly, I make my way toward my destination. While the sense of danger does rise in equal amounts when I do so, it does eventually get to a point where it plateaus. The threat no longer grows even though I am moving forward, probably because that danger is unaware of me, and I am close enough to it.

 

"What the hell do you want, and how the hell did you find me?" I hear Felicia snarl out as I turn the last corner of the vent and move forward to peer through and see exactly who it is Felicia is talking to. Looking through the vent, I can see Felicia standing in the middle of the room, still dressed in her Black Cat outfit, but she is in her lowered stance with her claws out, ready to fight tooth and nail.

 

Felicia is warily looking towards the intruder, who is sitting down comfortably on the couch, looking as relaxed as possible, as if he owned the place. Still, while she is keeping an eye on him, she is occasionally twitching her eye towards the balcony, probably wondering where I am since I was right on her tail and should have been coming onto the balcony any moment soon.

 

"You can stop eyeing the balcony Black Cat. You won't find escape or relief in that direction. I know you are just a thief, but I didn't get to where I am by underestimating people, and I am not foolish enough to come here by myself. So you can move towards the door, my dear, and try to escape, but please be warned that it might be the last action you ever take. I would advise you to take a seat and listen. it would be much more beneficial to your wellbeing." Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, declares.

 

His significant meaty form sits there on the couch that looks comparatively miniature, dressed in a sleek white pinstripe suit with white leather loafers, a purple shirt and a white tie. And just to the whole ensemble together, he carries a silver cane with an ornate crystal head upon it, and if my memories are correct, the cane also serves as a weapon.

 

"Yeah, well, I am pretty sure of my own capabilities. So if I want to walk out of here, then you can't stop me, and good luck trying." Felicia doesn't take well to his threat and takes a confrontational stance, but even though she says that she doesn't go to make a move to exit, she is still standing in the same spot cautiously. I myself don't make a move either, waiting to see how Felicia wants to take it.

 

"Perhaps I should have phrased that differently. Maybe you will be more amenable to this. Of course, you are free to act however you like, Miss Hardy. However, I would advise you to sit down and listen, as that would be much more beneficial to your mother's wellbeing." First, Fisk drops a bomb by mentioning Felicia's real last name, and then he takes it a step further by mentioning her mother and blatantly threatening the woman.

 

"...What do you want?" Felicia immediately loses her attitude and asks Fisk what his intentions are, but she doesn't take a seat and prefers to stay standing in case she needs to make a quick exit, but she does get out of her fighting stance and retract her claws. 

 

I myself calm down and settle for just watching the ongoing exchange since this confrontation has now changed into a more civilised setting, putting aside the threats to Felicia's mother. With Felicia's mother now being threatened, I will be making no moves to escalate the situation. that decision now lies clearly with Felicia. If that is the direction she wants to go, then I will hop out and help her, but for now, I will just observe.

 

"Good, you are listening. Now, you took some things from me, burnt down my warehouse and beat up around three dozen of my men, men that are now hospitalised due to the brutality of your actions. Not to mention that Montanna, a very highly paid and crucial member of my organisation, who you fought earlier today, is now recovering from two broken legs." Holy shit, I know I left Felicia to deal with Montanna while I went to deal with Fancy Dan and Ox, but I had no idea that she would be so clinical. No wonder she finished the fight quickly.

 

"You have cost me quite a lot over the past couple of months, and as a result, my business has been impacted, and I have taken losses. Therefore I will be seeking restitution from you, Miss Hardy. you will be doing a series of jobs for me to pay off what you owe." Fisk tells Felicia matter-of-factly, Felicia reluctantly nodding her head in agreement.

 

"Fine, I can do that, but just a couple jobs. And I won't be doing anything too fishy, and I am not doing any hits-" Felicia tries to lay down her conditions and sort out this arrangement, but Fisk cuts her off.

 

"You will do what I order you to, and you will do it to my satisfaction unless you want your mother to take a nasty fall down a set of stairs." Fisk threatens once again, not liking that Felicia is trying to dictate terms. Felicia steps toward him threateningly when he alludes to her mother being attacked if she does not comply.

 

"YOU WILL LEAVE MY MOTHER OUT OF THIS, OR GOD HELP ME, I WILL-"

 

*Smash*

 

Something suddenly pierces through the room and penetrates through the air in front of Felicia's thigh, skimming the costume and cutting it open before impacting a vase at the back of the room and shattering it. When I hurriedly looked over there to where the projectile impacted, I could see a bullet embedded into the wall, and it was pretty deep as well, showing that the weapon that delivered it was highly powered and high tech.

 

"As I told you, Miss Hardy, I did not come alone. That just now was Bullseye, you may have heard of him before as he is quite infamous, and he never misses, except when he wants to, and that was just a warning shot. But do not worry. I would not hire a Professional Golfer to do my accounts, just as I would not hire a thief to commit a murder. So you will be doing what you are best at and will be stealing various items for me, that is, if you choose to accept my offer." Fisk calmly states as Felicia quickly back peddles, but she doesn't make any move to go for cover, staying still.

 

"Well then, with an offer like that, how can I possibly refuse? What do you want me to steal?" Felicia quickly accepts, seeing that she has no way to win in this situation, especially not with Bullseye somewhere out there watching in on the situation with a high-powered sniper rifle just itching to pull the trigger. Right now, Fisk is not a threat in my mind. However, that madman Bullseye is, and the quicker Fisk leaves, the safer we will be.

 

Bullseye is one of the most dangerous men in the world and Daredevil's arch nemesis, having gone toe to toe with Matt Murdock numerous times and come out on top way more times than you would like. He has the incredible innate ability to throw any projectile with great unerring accuracy, and his deadliness borders on superhuman. However, he is physically an unenhanced individual, but even then, I would not want to face him.

 

Bullseye is a psychotic sociopath mercenary that takes any job he can because he loves to kill people, and he takes great pleasure in the act. Unfortunately, his grasp on reality is equally fragile, and he quickly can lose his shit. 

 

If there was one way to quantify just how unstable this man is, then it would be to state that he is good friends with Deadpool, and they get along even after fighting one another, and Bullseye has even bested him a few times. He is not an opponent I think I could safely face, and even if I did manage to win against him, it wouldn't be without pain, and I would probably lose some body parts.

 

"I will contact you at a later date with a job, so just wait until then. And you can even bring that friend of yours along, though you will have to pay him out of your own pocket." Fisk states while getting up off the couch and walking towards the door, dismissing my existence entirely.

 

"But, he also stole from you. And he is a superhuman. Surely he would also be of use to you. Why do you need me? I am just a normal ordinary person." I narrow my eyes when Felicia tries to get me involved with this situation and brings me to Fisk's attention. Still, my eyes soften as I realise that she is just trying to protect her mother, and while I am understandably still angry, I can understand. I would do anything for Aunt May, even if I am no longer a part of her life. If I learned that she needed me right now, I would drop everything and run to her, so I could understand why Felicia just did what she did. 

 

"Because, Miss Hardy, right now I need a thief. And people with super strength are a dime a dozen these days. I can find much more qualified and skilled people than your friend. Now, I will contact you soon. Goodbye, Miss Hardy." Fisk says at the door before opening it and exiting the room, closing the door quietly behind him, leaving Felicia alone in the room with me watching her from the vent.

 

But even though Fisk has left our apartment, the danger I am sensing has not diminished in the slightest. Therefore Bullseye is most definitely still looking in on this apartment and watching Felicia through the scope of his sniper rifle. If I hop out of the vent now, then I may escalate the situation, and he will probably start firing, so I will just stay put here and wait, but if that takes too long, then I will backtrack and go out of the way I came.

 

Felicia seems to deflate and falls back onto the couch, closing her eyes and letting out a deep sigh before she opens them again. She glances towards the balcony, likely waiting for me to show up, before she closes her eyes again.

 

We stay like this, with her occasionally looking towards the balcony and myself waiting in this vent and holding on till the danger rescinds, and finally, it does. Fisk must have left the building, and Bullseye is following him. So when the threat is completely gone, I give it another minute or so before pushing the vent out, sending it clattering to the ground and hopping out, startling Felicia due to the sudden noise.

 

"OH, MY- What the fuck are you doing hiding in the vents, B-" I quickly shoot across the room and grab her, holding her mouth closed and preventing her from speaking. She looks into my eyes while I look back dead serious and bring a finger up to my mouth, signalling for her to keep quiet. She nods her head, and I motion for her to follow me. I walk towards the bathroom and turn on the shower, drowning out all other noises.

 

"So, is there a reason why you dragged me to the bathroom and turned on the shower because I am not getting in there with you? Also, where the hell were you, and what the hell were you doing in the vent?" Felicia questions when I signal that it is alright to talk.

 

"I brought you into here and turned on the shower because we don't know if Fisk planted any listening devices anywhere, and the shower will drown out the noise we make. Now-" I try to continue, but Felicia cuts me off.

 

"Wait, how do you know about Fisk?" Felicia questions worriedly, and I sigh before quickly explaining.

 

"When we were on the way back home, my danger sense suddenly reacted-"

 

"Your spider-sense." Felicia intersects.

 

"That was a term for Spider-Man, which I am not, so it is now danger sense. Anyway, my danger sense reacted, and I tried to find the source, and I figured out it was coming from our apartment, but by that point, you had already entered, so I crawled through the vents to our apartment, and then I waited in case you would need me to act if things took a turn for the worse." I tell her, and I see realisation slowly bloom on her face and then panic and shame.

 

"So, you heard me..." Felicia mumbles out, to which I silently nod.

 

"I am so sorry, Ben, he threatened my mother, and I panicked, and I just started talking, doing anything to keep him from hurting her, and I tried to use you for that. It was the only thing I could think of. I really am sorry, Ben, I..." She immediately apologises and tries to explain herself, but then she stops, and before I can even do anything, she runs out of the bathroom.

 

I stand there silently, just listening to the shower and the water hitting the porcelain, contemplating where I go from here since Felicia just ran away, ashamed. I stay for a moment longer before I decide to leave, go get my stuff and exit, and so I walk to the door and open it before walking out. I have enough money now that I can figure something out and start going my own way and-

 

I was walking out of the doorway when Felicia came out of nowhere, pushed me back in, and closed the door behind her, keeping us both in the bathroom. I frown at her, confused as to what she is doing, but I don't say anything waiting for her to explain. My danger sense hasn't gone off, so she doesn't mean me any harm, and I can see she has a package tightly gripped in her hand.

 

"Here, this is yours... Just... open it." She pushes the package against my chest and lets it go. I grab hold of it and then look down at the item with caution before looking back up at Felicia, who is watching me sadly. Sighing, I open the package and pull out the contents inside and, seeing the first document, I quickly begin to paw through the rest of it, shocked at what was just handed to me.

 

"This is..." I mumble out, unable to even finish my sentence, so stunned at what Felicia had just given to me, gifted to me. This was one of my most important goals, and I had yet to learn about how to go about getting it, or rather, getting such a good version of it, and yet Felicia has just handed it to me.

 

"I know this was something you needed, and I know this was practically the only reason you chose a career of crime and to come be a thief with me. I just got this from my contact a few days ago, and I had been meaning to give it to you, but I was afraid you would leave, which doesn't matter since you are going now anyway." Felicia says, and I can see her eyes start to get a little teary. I go to say something, but she charges forward and continues to talk.

 

I, uh, I had to guess your age, but I put it around the age where you would be in college... or university. I gave you a 4.0 GPA in every science subject and all of the ah, techy subjects. As for the others... I gave you good grades. I also got you a driver's license and everything else that you could possibly need. There is also a passport in there... if you maybe want to leave the country. With this, you... you can do whatever you want, wherever you want, and you have enough money to get started." Felicia starts to ramble, stutteringly explaining what she gave me even though I have already seen it for myself.

 

"Felicia, I... Thank you." I say this simply because I really don't have the words to describe the gratitude I feel for her right now. I am a living, breathing person with my own thoughts and beliefs, but I am also a clone, and as a clone, I have no proof of existence or identity, nothing to tell the world I existed. And without ID, in a world like the one we are in today, you really don't have many options, and you have to deal with that.

 

Miles Warren, the mad bastard, gave me the gift of life, but Felicia, she gave me the gift of freedom and opportunity. Right now, I am free to do whatever I want in this world, and I have enough money to do it as well. I could go to university, I could go to another country entirely, and I could get a loan and start a business with the excellent credit Felicia gave me. Literally, no doors are closed to me. I can do anything. 

 

"It is fine, please don't thank me. I had this, and I wasn't going to give it to you, and then I tried to use you as leverage to better my own position and help my mother. So just take it and make a new life for yourself, a better one, and I hope someday in the future, we can still be whatever it is we are now." Felicia says before moving to the left and opening the door, leaving the way out open to me, fully expecting me to go through it and go live my life.

 

I walk forward towards the door, and then I reach out and grasp the handle and shut it before turning around and looking at Felicia. "Felicia, I am not leaving." 

 

W-What?" She says, taken by surprise as I walk up to her.

 

"I am not leaving you in such a shitty situation all by yourself, Felicia." I tell her as she looks at me, shocked, the tears still in her eyes yet refusing to come out.

 

"But why?" She questions, and to be honest, the answer is quite clear. While I am still a bit miffed that she tried to offer me up, I can understand her situation and the tricky position she was put in. Also, it was my fault that she was put in such a situation, and it would not be fair for me to leave now.

 

"Because it is my fault that you have been put in this position. I was the one who burnt down that warehouse, and I broke apart my fair share of the guys in that place. And while you might have been the one to break Montanna's legs, The Enforcers would not have come after us if I didn't do the last two things. So I am going to help you and protect your mother because this is as much your problem as mine." So I say to which Felicia looks down at the ground, and I see her shoulders begin to shack before she lunges forward and hugs me tight.

 

"...Thank you." She mumbles out while I just hug her back.

 

I know I had reservations about stealing from people that didn't deserve it, but the sort of things that fisk would want won't belong to people that cannot afford the loss. So I can do this, and the only way that I might refuse and try to stop Fisk would be if the item he wants is incredibly dangerous and may harm a lot of people.

 

I can leave and start my life after I have sorted this Fisk business out, but right now, I need to focus on solving this problem.