Nine Lives

Felicia's boots crunched on the snow as she walked, she kept her hands in the pockets of her winter coat to stay warm as she followed the road. There was practically nothing here, just trees and the occasional street lamp. Birds chirped, and somewhere in the distance she could hear running water. She didn't know what part of Germany she was in now, her and her dad traveled so much recently it was hard to keep track.

At the end of the road was a lone gas station, but the rosey cheeked twelve year old winced when she saw a police car in the parking lot.

"Why are you here, and right now?" Felicia spoke aloud in German.

She let out a long sigh, steam evaporated off her breath. She wasn't going to come back empty handed, despite the presence of cops. Felicia crossed the parking lot and opened the door, a bell rang and she stepped inside. It was warm in here, she felt the heat rush back into her face. She was glad to be here, even if her nerves were starting to get to her. Felicia walked down each aisle of the gas station grabbing supplies and food.

"Oh, can't forget."

Felicia opened a fridge with cold drinks, she grabbed a soda for herself and slid a can of beer into her coat pocket for dad. Once she had all of her stuff in the basket, she took it to the counter. The clerk scanned each item half distracted by the news on the television.

"I just think that The Avengers shouldn't be intervening in some war in outer space." The news personality said over the TV. "They're Earth's Mightiest Heroes, so why are they out there? The 'Kree' or whatever they're called got nothing to do with us."

The clerk finished scanning each item. "That'll be twenty eight thirty nine." He said in a disinterested voice.

Felicia knew she only had twenty euro on her, but she needed the supplies. She contemplated just grabbing everything and running, but then the cop got in line behind her. He was a big man with a beer belly, she could run circles around him easily but she knew better than to bring more cops in this area.

"Uh, I uh." Felicia muttered.

"Do you need help paying for that?" The police officer asked.

"Uh… I only have twenty."

"Don't worry about it." The officer stepped forward. "How much is it?"

The officer paid Felicia's bill and looked down at her. "You got a mom or dad 'round here?"

"Yeah. Outside." She said as she gathered all her belongings in a backpack. "Bye. Thank you."

Felicia threw the backpack over her shoulder and hurried out, but a sound made her stop in her tracks.

"New lead in the investigation to find the notorious cat burglar The Black Fox, who's identity as twenty nine year old Walter Hardy was revealed." The reporter on the TV said. "Walter Hardy has gone into hiding with his daughter Felicia, taking her against the will of her mother Lydia. Police are actively searching for the pair and are giving a cash reward for any information that leads to finding them."

Those words made Felicia's skin crawl. She stormed out the door and ran as fast as she could, nearly slipping on the ice in the process. Felicia ran at full speed and didn't stop until she reached the bathroom rest stop that her dad agreed to wait for her at. When she finally got there she was out of breath, the backpack was heavy with all of that stuff in it.

"Hey Sugar Plum." Walter said as he took his sunglasses off.

Walter Hardy was a handsome man, he had a strong jawline and dark eyes that could pierce a woman's heart. His hair was shaved on the sides and combed back at the top. He smiled at Felicia as she returned safely, but wiped the smile off his face when he saw her panicked expression.

"Everything okay?" He asked.

"You lied to me." Felicia accused.

"What?" Walter scoffed. "What did I lie about?"

"Mom. You told me she didn't want me anymore, that she didn't want us."

Walter inhaled sharply, his lie was caught red handed and clearly there wasn't any talking his way out of this.

"Uh, ye- yeah." Walter scratched his head. "I did, yeah."

"Why would you lie to me dad?"

"Because I…" Walter sighed and lowered his head in defeat. "Come with me."

The two walked away from the rest stop to the edge of the woods.

"Look honey. It was wrong of me to lie to you, but you know what I do. The cops caught onto me, and they were going to try to put me in a cage! I had to run, but I didn't want to leave you and Ma. I tried to get your mother to come with me, but she wasn't having it." Walter explained.

He paced around with his hands on his hips, then he turned and knelt at eye level to Felicia. "The government can take my house and my money, but I won't let them take you from me. I care about you too much."

"But what about mom?" Felicia asked.

Walter sighed. "Look, I get it. If you want, I'll take you back to her. But then I got to leave. I have someone waiting for me in Hamburg, I'm going to the United States to start over. If you want to go back to mom I'll take you to her, but then we have to say goodbye."

Felicia looked at the ground. In a perfect world she could have her mom and dad, but this wasn't a perfect world. The cops, the politicians and the government wanted to tear her family apart. Why didn't mother see that? She looked up at Walter with teary eyes, but there was determination behind them.

"Do you promise things are going to be different when we get to the US?"

"I promise honey. No more stealing."

"Okay, then I'm coming with you."

Walter smiled. "Atta girl. We better get going then, we have a train to catch."

Felicia and Walter waited on some rocks by the train tracks when in the distance they heard the train rolling. Walter looked back at his daughter.

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

As the train zoomed by the two thieves jumped onto it, and climbed to an empty train car to rest. Once inside Felicia looked out at the rolling trees. She was still processing the information she had just learned.

"Say goodbye to Germany, Felicia." Walter told her. "In a few days, we'll be on a plane headed for New York City."

——

Scott followed Felicia out of the greenhouse, they jumped from rooftops and climbed up pipes until she found a spot that she liked. Scott wasn't in his costume and he had no mask on, Felicia wasn't wearing a leather jumpsuit and her hair wasn't covered in a white wig. It was the first time both of them were around each other without a disguise.

Scott had a tension clawing at his chest, he knew Felicia was mad at him and he figured why. She was so quiet, and that silence made him worried.

"Want to tell me why we're standing in the rain together?" Scott joked to deflate the tension.

"You remember why we did all of this?" Felicia asked with frustration in her tone.

"To repay Chameleon?"

"Yes. And I wanted to release my dad. But aside from that. You wanted to work together." Felicia pointed at him. "So I gave us being partners a chance, and you go off and fight some superhero for what?"

"He's an asshole, he threw me through a glass door."

"So you throw away everything to jump twenty feet in the air and punch him?"

"Hey I told you what I was doing, if anything I held him off for you and the rest to leave."

"That's the problem Scott, you didn't talk to me. You just decided something and left me to scramble a plan together. Besides that, you almost got yourself arrested. Or killed!" Felicia started yelling by the end of her sentence.

"But I didn't!" Scott yelled back. "I can handle myself! And I didn't screw you over, so why are you so worried about this?"

Felicia grabbed Scott's collar and pulled him close, they locked eyes. Scott didn't say a word, he was stunned by what she did. Felicia looked at his lips, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. Scott pulled her close and kissed her back, his body felt electric from her touch.

Felicia pulled her lips off of his, met his gaze and smiled. "Because I care about you, silly. That's why." She whispered.

"Point taken. So does this mean we're partners?"

"Yeah. You can say that Spider." She responded.

——

The pair returned to the greenhouse, their hair soaked from the rain, and acted as if nothing happened.

"You know the yellow superhero?" Chameleon asked Scott.

"Wolverine?"

"The other one…"

"Ah, Hydro-Man. Yeah, I had a score to settle with him. He's done for now."

"Is he dead?" Chameleon asked.

The room got silent, everyone anticipated his answer. At least, that's how Scott felt. "Uh, maybe? I'll be honest, he turned into a giant water monster. And uh, I froze him and punched his head off."

"That'll kill someone. Good, that's one less nuisance to deal with."

Scott gulped, a bit unsure how to feel about that. He didn't like how plainly Chameleon talked about someone dying.

"So, what now?" Scott asked.

"I'm leaving this god awful city." Valentina replied. "I never got your name by the way."

"You can call me Black Tarantula."

"I like Spider better." Felicia commented.

"You think? At first I was going to call myself Spider-Man but my friend said that wasn't a good name."

"I think it's a good name."

"Black Tarantula, Spider-Man, you got too many names. Still, thank you for helping my friend here get me out of that god awful Ryker's."

"Of course."

"As for us." Chameleon interjected. "Our business here has concluded."

"Very well."

"My dad will be leaving New York." Felicia explained.

"I can't stay here with the cops all over." Walter remarked. "I'm back on the run."

Felicia gave a conflicted look, Scott could sense tension between the two of them. It was obvious she loved her father, but he looked like a complicated man. Scott wanted to ask her questions, really he wanted to know more about her, but he knew it wasn't a good time for that.

"Okay. I'm going to head home and sleep off the beating I just took."

"Hey Spider."

"Yeah?"

"Call me, and we can go on a swing together."

——

Gabriel and Misty walked down a flight of stairs that led to a parking lot where police officers kept their personal vehicles. It was dark in the parking lot, as the two were getting done work at an ungodly hour. It gave the place an eerie atmosphere as the only lighting came from a few street lamps.

"You sure you want to drive me home?" Misty asked. "I can take a taxi."

"It's fine. Your hotel isn't far from my place." Gabriel responded.

"Okay, well. Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

"By the way, did you hear anything about the mayor's press conference?"

"Jean told us he's planning on funding the construction of a new prison, one that is designed to hold superhumans."

"That isn't going to go over well with the Mutant Activists."

"Tell me about it."

"Good thing neither of us have to be up early to attend it."

"I'm glad about that." Gabriel chuckled.

"I am too." Misty smiled.

In the corner of his eye Gabriel saw a figure hidden in the shadows, his heart skipped a beat and he acted quick. With one arm he grabbed Misty and pulled her back, the other hand he placed on the grip of his pistol.

"Show yourself." Gabriel ordered assertively.

The person stepped forward and revealed himself in the light, it was the superhero in the yellow and teal costume; Hydro-Man. He looked worse for wear, with dark purple bruises across his body and blood stains on his outfit.

"The people who broke into Ryker's, you're looking for them. Right?" Hydro said in a raspy, broken voice.

"Uh… yeah?" Misty answered, visibly unnerved.

"I can help you take them down." Hydro declared.