Satisfaction Brought the Cat Back

Ghosts Of Our Past

Felicia

Felicia stood at the elevator bank in her new office building, a swanky corporate tower in Midtown, and waited for the elevator to arrive. The rent was obnoxiously high, but she could afford it, and for the rates she was charging, image was everything.

The OsCorp gig with Mary Jane had been just the push she needed to get back into the field, and now that she'd set up her security consultant business, Felicia was ready to take on clients. There were advantages to having a legitimate operation, especially now that Walter was in the picture.

It was also a way to appease Peter while still doing what she loved as the Black Cat, and on her terms. That still counted as a compromise, didn't it?

Once the elevator doors peeled smoothly away, Felicia stepped out onto her floor and swiped her keycard. The overhead lights in her office were already on, and the smell of fresh coffee wafted from the kitchenette — someone was here. So much for the building's state-of-the-art mag lock doors.

"Your fees are astronomical," said a voice from behind her desk. A woman in a black leather jacket stood, holding a sheet of paper. "Especially for someone with no history in the security consulting business."

"If you're here to see me, then you must already know who I am and what I can do," Felicia said, sliding into the seat behind her desk. "Why don't we get started with your name?"

"Yuri Watanabe, former captain with the NYPD."

"So, Yuri, are you here for business? Or pleasure?"

"For vengeance."

Felicia watched the woman, her eyes dark and unwavering, and smiled. "Pleasure, then. What's the job?"

Yuri leaned forward, staring at her hands as she flexed her fingers. "I need to break into the evidence locker at my old precinct, something I know you have experience with."

Last time, Felicia had used her decoys to override the security system in the locker, slipping in and out to take her suit back before anyone noticed. She'd sacrificed fifty million dollars of stolen art to set the job up, but that had always been the plan, and besides, her suit was one of a kind.

"To test the security? Or is there something you want in there?"

Her client sighed. "I need the gear that's in there. I've still got a few guys on the force that I trust, but everything's changed. My leads point to a lot of dirty cops — guys that joined after the mob war when the police were taking anyone willing to carry a badge and a gun."

Felicia leaned back and watched Yuri, "You know, I don't do that type of work. I deal with... special acquisitions."

Yuri laughed at that. "I'm sure you do. But don't worry, I've been working the case and I can take them down on my own, I just need the Sable tech locked up in evidence."

"A noble crusade for vengeance," Felicia said, leaning across the table. "Now I remember who you are — Spider's little friend in blue."

Yuri shook her head, "Not anymore. We didn't part on the best of terms. I don't think he likes my brand of justice."

"Spider sees things in black and white. I operate in the gray."

The other woman nodded, adjusting her jacket. "When the system is broken, seek justice from outside of the system. That's what the war with Hammerhead taught me. Why handicap myself when the enemy won't follow the rules?"

Yuri pulled out a folder, flipping through it briefly before sliding it across the desk to Felicia. "Everything I've got on the precinct is in there — blueprints, timesheets, you name it."