Some Things Never Sleep

Chapter Forty Nine

He'd never see them coming.

That's the first thing that slipped into Emma's mind as she and Peter stood on the roof of one of the many tall apartment buildings in Queens. It was a couple days after their Star Wars marathon and they were back in Queens. Emma had taken Peter to the gym in Brooklyn the day before so he could test his strength. He wasn't the best boxer apparently but Emma had seen Maximoff box so she knew no one could be as bad as that.

Emma and Peter were currently tending to what Emma liked calling their neighborhood watch duties. Peter wasn't as fond of the term so of course Emma kept calling it that to annoy him. After Stark had given the both of them their suits back, they had resumed their crime fighting status as the Viper Assassin and Spider-Man.

 The two were currently investigating a series of recent robberies in the area. She had received a discreet tip about a couple of low level armed burglars that were planning to rob one of the upscale department stores in the neighborhood. Of course, there were much nicer department stores in Manhattan but it was clear to Emma that they weren't dealing with the top brass.

"They just entered the store, Emma. Should we go in?" Peter asked her but the blonde stood still and quiet as she observed the scene below them. One of the men, Alan Fisher, had done around three years at Riker's for armed burglary. He had gotten out on the parole early for good behavior and that was only a couple months ago. It didn't take him long to go back to work now did it, Emma thought to herself, amused by the man's sloppiness. Well, this was what she signed up for, after all. She knew that she was never going to be dealing with criminals that were Loki or Hydra level...not in Queens anyways. Toomes was a rarity.

"Not yet." Emma told him quietly and Peter raised an eyebrow at her from under his mask.

"We've got to act soon. They've got guns." Peter replied but Emma didn't seem bothered.

"No one's going to get hurt tonight." Emma said, sounding quite sure of herself and even Peter felt a bit more relaxed at her confidence. He felt so relaxed that he decided to listen to her and wait. Emma watched through her Viper Vision in her mask as the men casually walked through the store but she knew that they had guns they were hiding under their coats. Their thermal heat signatures showed cold spots where the guns were placed on their bodies.

Emma didn't know who the other man was and her informant wasn't quite sure either. The other man was older than Fisher and evidently had no criminal record. That didn't mean that he was innocent either...he was just better at getting away with his crimes. Emma's informant had also told her that Fisher's partner was very mysterious as well as something of a quiet man. Her informant said something about how the man gave him the creeps as well. Good thing that Emma never got creeped out.

"This will be simple, right?" Peter asked her and Emma shrugged.

 The truth was that her and Peter had been tracking this string of burglaries since the beginning of the week. So far there had been three burglaries in the Queens area and all at department stores. Emma and Peter only recently made the connection to Fisher which hadn't taken them long. All they had to do was search for crimes similar to the currents ones being committed before looking through the criminal database for perpetrators of those crimes that had recently been released. Fisher was the only one that met the criteria and the information her informant gave her only confirmed her and Peter's suspicions. Although Emma never exactly told Peter about her informant. She didn't think he'd be comfortable with the kind of person her informant was.

"It could go either way." Emma told him. "Just don't underestimate these guys. Remember...we know next to nothing about the other one. Let's play this safe and not become too arrogant."