18279/The Ethical Thief

The Ethical Thief
Date of Scene:	11 June 2024
Location:	Alleyways - Hell's Kitchen
Synopsis:	While preparing to intercept a black market EMP, Felicia unexpectedly runs into help from Blood Spider and Iron Fist, and they learn a little bit more about her than they expected, too.
Cast of Characters:	Felicia Hardy, Kaine Parker, Danny Rand

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Felicia Hardy has posed:
'Find that happy medium.'

Those had been the words Peter had used, the same words she'd echoed back to him. If she was serious about making it work, she was going to have to live up to her half of that bargain.

Some part of her was sure 'happy medium' didn't include him turning a blind eye every time he caught her slipping out of a museum or some collector's private vault, much less finding a priceless gem sitting in a case in her penthouse (which, itself, was paid for with the profits of her heists), but what _did_ it look like?

Obviously he didn't expect her to get rid of everything and live in a box on the street like some alley cat, so maybe it looked like putting in enough effort so that the good out weighed the bad. She knew she couldn't change. Not completely. But she could give... just a little.

Tonight, Black Cat crouches on the rooftop of a rundown building in Hell's Kitchen, her keen eyes scanning the alleyways below. She has her hair pulled up into a high white ponytail of platinum white that glows silvery in the moonlight and what little of the ambient streetlights filter up to the rooftop. She's wearing a new suit tonight, too. Gone is the plunging V-neck and fur trim of her old catsuit. Tonight, it's much more sophisticated -- black bodysuit with a high neckline, high-tech cat-eyed mask with built-in HUD and thermal vision, and white gloves and boots. Reminiscent of her old style, but still very much new.

She'd tracked the notorious gang leader, Victor "Viper" Rodriguez, to this part of the city. Rumors on the street said Viper's gang was planning a major operation tonight -- something big enough to catch Felicia's attention, and something that fell well within her skill set.

It was still a heist, even if it was from bad guys, after all.

She'd learned that Viper was in possession of a prototype EMP device stolen from a military research lab. The device had the potential to knock out the power grid for miles around, plunging the entire city into chaos. Viper intended to sell it to the highest bidder, which would likely be a foreign power or a rival gang looking to gain an edge, and Felicia's intel suggested that the deal was going down in an abandoned warehouse near the docks.

_This_ warehouse, which tonight wasn't nearly so abandoned. There were a half dozen SUVs already here with guards set up around the building and bespoke suited men with cases inside, dragging a table to the middle of the warehouse floor to start setting up to display their wares.

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine is there looking over the same operation. Although, he plans to disrupt the whole thing. That's the plan anyway. Slipping into the not-so-abandoned wearhouse isn't the issue. That's the easy part. It's trying to use the shadows to make the numbers look fuller than the are.

Felicia may not see she has company right away. But she'll see it. One straggle gets in just the right spot and there's an undeniable, "Thwp!" and the person gets tugged in the darkness. No noise comes forward, but there's clearly a spider crawling around.

She would have to find him, as he's not really paying attention to Felicia. However, this cat does have a knack for things with Spiders.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
Well... isn't that interesting.

Felicia's lips curl as, from her high perch, she watches that guard stray too far from the others and then get sucked back into the shadows by a web-line.

So she's not the only one out here prowling around in the dark.

Peter? Surely not... he would have said something... Wouldn't he? They hadn't really figured that part out, yet. She wasn't 'checking in,' so she couldn't very well expect him to.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

With that nimble, feline grace, Felicia slips from her perch, feet balancing lightly on a ledge that she races across and then flips off of, lending in a crouch. From there, it was traversing one steel beam before her mask finally picks up the heat signature moving in the dark, tracking him.

She's absolutely silent in her movements, even when she drops down just behind his right shoulder -- careful not to threaten him directly and set off those damnable Spider-senses.

"You're not my Spider," she purrs quietly, just a whisper in the dark. It's a casual, playful observation, but it probably already opens up some fresh wounds in Kaine's memories. "Out doing a little shopping? I hear they're having a sale on EMPs, tonight."

Kaine Parker has posed:
There's a wound beneath the surface. It's not a cut, it's not a bruise, it's a scar and Felicia caused it. Now, others have been adding to it trying to widen it (albeit unintentionally).

When Kaine hears those words, "You're not my Spider," that gives him pause. "Yeah. I know. He's so bad, they remade him," and he'll look at Felicia, "Twice."

Kaine looks over the set up. He's doing being stealthy. The anger in him has officially bubbled over. Granted, it's not helpful that the one person responsible for a lot of self-doubt and questioning your own reflection used a phrase like, "You're not my spider."

Yes, it's a harmless phrase. The thing about clones, when someone that makes them feel less than human uses one of those harmless phases. Those phrases are anything, but harmless. And Kaine is about to let everyone in this room know his anger, personally.

Before it was about picking spots, being smart about it. The tactic is now, lining up his shot to cause the most damage.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
"You're not still mad at me, are you?"

Felicia's voice is still that sultry purr, unphased and unafraid despite the fact that Peter was more than a match for her pretty much any day of the week, if she didn't have some other leverage -- a trap placed, a clever escape route that only she could access. It only stood to reason that, as Peter's clone, Kaine would be just as capable, if he decided to turn on her.

One gloved hand comes up to rest on Kaine's shoulder, fingers tracing down his arm in that alluring way she has about her. She can sense the tension in him, the desire to switch to violence. _Maybe_ she can read his body language as easily as she can read Peter's. Regardless, it's an obvious attempt to distract him before he can do anything rash. And if not stop him from violence completely? At least to turn that violence off of the 'innocents' that wouldn't survive it, and focus it on her instead.

"Can't we talk about it?"

Her lips curl. It's a tempting smile, but not one she seems to be able to help. It still looks good on her -- confident rather than outright mocking -- but it's not like she's suddenly become a docile psychotherapist. She _is_ trying, though.

Kaine Parker has posed:
Oh, tension practically bleeds off of him. However, one thing she will see it doesn't work -as- well. Spider-Man has memories with her. Spider-Man has conflicts with her. All of it something else she could draw about to get whatever she possibly needed out of the original.

However, something has to initial pull a spider into a web. That initial something is what she has to hold Kaine back a little to get through to him. While she might note it doesn't work as well as it would on Peter, it still works. There may be a feeling of whatever holds Peter back around here, might be absent, or in low supply, in Kaine's case.

"Talk." Kaine says as looks down at everyone below. There's conflict within him. Weather to do this smart or lean into the way that would get rid of a lot of agression right now.

Danny Rand has posed:
Victor Rodriguez is a *very* popular guy.

Daniel Rand-Kai...the Immortal Iron Fist...had a stake in the defense of Hell's Kitchen. This was his neighborhood. Few things go on without his knowledge and using his finances to support his vigilante justice, he's a capable hand in defending the good people who reside in this borough. Though Plus, prototype EMP's? No bueno. That's why, as Felicia and Kaine seem to speak and perhaps idly flirt?

There's another voice.

"You know, you guys are kinda loud."

The man was dressed in robes of black and yellow, with a half mask covering the upper portion of his face, allowing his lower jaw and some whisps of his long hair to be seen. "I would suggest whispering, or at least, causing something to happen that's so loud it drowns out the usual tone."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
What has the world come to when the Black Cat is the one trying to talk reason into Spider-Man? Or, at least, one of them.

She turns and shifts, putting her back to the goons below and stretching so that she can look at Kaine's mask. Kaine's already's keeping an eye on things. She didn't need to. But he's thinking about murdering everyone down there, too, and not only does it give her a way to look at him more sincerely, it also puts her between him and his prey. Still, she hovers close -- too close for 'casual' conversation -- and it's a fairly sensual position, her back arched in that feline way. Then again, Felicia Hardy's mere existence was sensual.

"I'm not a clone. I can't know what it's like. But you're carrying _so_ much anger. I meant what I said, before -- you don't have to be so doom and gloom, but I wasn't trying to make it worse. I was trying to help."

Her hand is reaching back up for his masked cheek, and she's a mere inch away from his face when Danny's voice rises up on the rooftop.

She stops and shifts her gaze, a wicked smile curling her lips more dramatically. "Well, if it isn't the Immortal Iron Fist. If I'd known this was going to turn into a party, I would have worn something more formal."

A second later, the beam of a flashlight sweeps across the rooftop near them. "Did you hear that?" one of the guards can be heard asking another.

Felicia leans up from her perch to get her white hair out of pain sight, slinking playfully -- toe to toe to toe to toe -- crossing her legs with each step and roll of her hips towards Danny.

"_You're_ not still mad at me, too, are you?" her voice is at least lowered a little more. She puts on a little pout, her white-gloved hand rising to her chest. "I'm only here to get this EMP off the street... you'd think that would buy a girl at least little good will."

Kaine Parker has posed:
Kaine wasn't going to kill anyone, just hurt them. Badly. Toss aside the restraint he tries to use more often than not. The hand on his cheek feels nice. Again, Parker genes are gonna Parker.

"You said what I was doing was 'unnatural.' I didn't get his lov-," and Danny Rand speaks up, inadvertantly cutting Kaine off.

Honestly, Kaine could use a lot of those tricks about meditation. He doesn't know how to broach the subject. That doesn't mean he can't see it.

"And fence it to whom? Who's your buyer?" Kaine will be quick to ask about Felicia's turn toward "good will." People didn't give him the memo about Black Cat turning a new leaf. What might sting a little is Kaine's voice. There is familiarity to it. Maybe not quite like Peter saying it, but it could strike a chord.

"I'm here to remove the emp, maybe destroy it. Too many groups trying to weaponize it already."

Danny Rand has posed:
Danny tilts his head as he regards the pair of them. "I was interrupting a deep conversation, wasn't I? I have a bad habit of doing that." Danny sighs, chastizing himself ever so delicately that he should really read the room *BEFORE* making a grand, sudden entrance. But that's the problem with ninjas, isn't it? Always and ever a problem. Though, he looks at Felicia as she starts to sway towards him, the smirk on his face palpable.

"Return what you took and I'd be willing to let it go." Danny remarks to her in cheeky fashion. "And if you get an EMP off the street...I get the impression you'd sell it to someone else." He remarks to her, crossing his arms even in the face of Felicia's unstoppably charming nature.

He turns his attention to Kaine. 'See, he gets it." He jerks a thumb at the man, before looking at him properly. "I'm on your team, pal. Something like that? Needs to get broken instead of given to someone else. EMP's are dangerous enough as it is."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
"I would," Felicia purrrrrs, that slow gait carrying her closer and closer to Danny, though her hands are both in plain sight and it's obvious (mostly obvious?) that she's not actually intending to _hurt_ him when she gets to him.

Not that she could, even if she wanted to. She barely made it out of their last little skirmish thanks to a sudden drop down a convenient elevator shaft (that ran the entire length of Rand Tower) she'd already planned as an escape route. He did keep her from taking the amulet she was there to get, though. So, point to Danny on that one.

Point to Felicia on the second, though. She'd snuck in a kiss-on-the-cheek on her way out of the museum with the book Shredder paid her to collect for him. Some history text that she had _no_ interest in, but it was a mid-day job and a fun challenge for a potential repeat customer.

"...but I don't have it anymore."

She circles Danny, a bit like a shark, always too close, always too much sex in her voice and her movements, but she doesn't drag a hand across him like she might have with Kaine. Maybe she didn't trust him as much. Maybe she didn't trust her own reflexes to get away from him if Iron Fist decided to grab her. At least the spare few inches she allowed gave her some amount of room for reaction.

Another few steps away after that one-time circle around his back.

"It's a gift for Spider-Man," she answers them both once she's almost between them again, hands held aloft at her sides. "It's our one-week anniversary, and I still don't have anything to give him. When I heard what the Viper was selling, I _knew_ I had to have it."

She's lying.

Is she lying?

It _sounds_ like a lie, but she's speaking with the utmost sincerity, not a flicker of mischief in her eyes when she says it.

"I promised I would _try_ to do better. _This_ me trying to live up to that." She pauses, looking between them. "You wouldn't deprive me of my chance to... 'join the side of the angels'," she says it with _such_ a sultry, mocking lilt, "would you?"

Kaine Parker has posed:
"And what museum does he turn a blind eye for when you give him this? Pass." Kaine says now unsure if he could trust Spider-Man when it comes to a particular cat.

A look goes to Rand, "She has a weakness for Spider-Man, but he's dumb when it comes to platinum blondes." Pause. "And redheads," he'll add because people have types and that's a genetic thing. Personalities play a role and that's more nuture.

Then there's a pause as he looks between the pair and he will ask Felicia, with a seriousness in his voice, "Do you mean it? Swear to him?" and he looks at Felicia, they both know he's not talking about Danny.

Danny Rand has posed:
Danny - 1, Felicia -...also 1. Don't ask Danny about it, she had a LOT of help. Though he doesn't seem to take too much offense to her, though he had not forgotten her little kiss on his cheek when she made her way out of the museum WITH the text in tow. Insult to injury. Technically two points to Felicia there, but again...lots of help. "You don't have it anymore?" He raises a brow at her in that moment, sighing and pinching the bridge of his nose. "You're killing me here, Felicia. You know you probably made sure that text got into the hands of a madman, right?"

She has all that sex in her voice, all of that charm and sultry demeanor, but Danny doesn't seem to be completely enchanted by her efforts. Though then she reveals she's in a relationship with Spider-Man.

"Whaaa?"

Danny's eyes go wide. "Man, I really need to talk to that guy..." he sighs. "I hate to break your plans, but that EMP's gotta go. Even if it's going to Spider-Man, it needs to be destroyed.

"...I'm watching you, Cat."

He turns his eyes towards Kaine in that moment, arms crossed to his chest. "I have heard about that, but in his defense, it seems to be a popular weakness." He remarks to the man. "Redheads? I mean, hey, to each their own. I always figured a redhead would probably kill me."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
"Would you rather that _madman_ have driven a tank through the front door and killed every man, woman, and child between him and the book?" Felicia asks, eyebrows raised. "He was _going_ to get the book. It was in a low-security vault in the middle of New York. All I did was keep him from hurting anyone."

That logic is _so_ twisted, but it's honest -- at least, it's honest to her. Yes, she did it for the thrill of it, and for the potential future thrills down the road. It never hurt business when someone like that knew you personally by name _and_ reputation. But she also did it because it was in the middle of the day, and _no one_ else was going to be able to get it out of there without casualties.

_Man, I really need to talk to that guy..._

"Jealous?"

_He's dumb when it comes to platinum blondes._

"You would know."

She just can't help it, the way those quips rolls off her tongue like velvet, eyes alight with playful fire and smile so viciously predatory. There's no question-mark at the end of that last statement, either. She'd felt Kaine's reactions to her -- the way he stilled under her touch, the way their banter was... heated. She'd never pushed him as far as he did Peter, but there was no doubt that some of that chemistry still sparked between them.

She's _such_ a confident little minx... right up until that question leaves Peter's lips.

Do you mean it? Do you swear?

It's not actually Peter's lips, but it's his voice, and it caught her like a flat-footed slap in the face. Her mouth fell open and, just for a second, there's a flash of genuine hurt before she composes herself again.

"I do."

It's so soft and _so_ unlike her, a glimpse at a flesh-and-blood woman with real feelings so rarely seen behind that mask. No sultry sway to her voice. No teasing lilt.

"I swear to try."

Is this what she sounds like in 'real life?' It almost sounds... normal. Like there's actually a heart in there instead of just a dungeon of straps and whips in her chest that keep her animated.

Kaine Parker has posed:
"I'd be lucky if it was a blonde or a redhead killed me," Kaine looks at his hand and closes the fingers into a fist. Pushing past that thought he looks forward.

"I would, you're right," Kaine admits knowing that some of the spark is there, too. However, it looks some of those memories and bits like that.

Then Kaine can hear the sincerity in her voice. He can hear a question rattle in his head:

"So, you're out?"

"Yeah. I am..."

Kaine recognizes the raw truth to her voice. "I believe you," he will look at Felicia, "Don't disappoint me."

Then he looks back down. "There's three of us, a big weapon and a decent sized crew. Thoughts?" hne nods to those below and then nods above. "And at least two up there. Probably more."

Kaine thinks on it. "I can get the guards off the roof, toss them to land by the door, someplace to draw everyone else's attention. Could give you two an opening," he offersa s a plan. Yes, it's not a very good one, but no one else brings a strategy forward.

Danny Rand has posed:
Pretty sure ninjas don't have tanks...and I would have stopped him." Danny knows his limits. The other guy was pretty good...but there was no way in hell Danny was going to allow him to harm people. "Besides, there's a reason the word 'Immortal' is in the name." Danny crosses his arms slightly in front of his chest as he looked at Felicia. It's twisted logic, and the kind of logic that Danny wasn't exactly in the mood to tolerate, but regardless, that confidence of hers drops when Kaine demands her to swear on Peter Parker.

She says that she swears to try. With sincerity in her eyes and in her tone, the sultry cat pushed away for Felicia Hardy?

Well, Danny smiles.

"I believe you."

It's said earnestly, and with that, he starts to turn to look upon the edge. "Don't worry, she's not the type." Express faith in Felicia given towards Kaine, Danny moves to the ledge, humming softly. "I can head down there, cause chaos and a distraction if you want to take out the ranged fighters. I'm fast, but they'rea pain. Web 'em up, claw at them, immobilize. Quick, clean, efficient. If we can't find the EMP, then someone will tell us. Speaking of EMP..."

He looks at Felicia. "That's your time to shine. You're on finder's keepers duty."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
_Don't disappoint me._

It wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't Peter's voice.

It wouldn't be so bad if she didn't already know she was going to disappoint him, that no matter how hard she tried, she could never live up to his _impossible_ standard of do-gooder-ness.

It wouldn't be so bad except that knowing she's going to disappoint him and going through with it anyway just means she's using him. If she knows it won't work out -- that it can't work out -- then she's just clinging to every second she can for her own selfish reasons. What kind of person does that make her?

A self-serving villainess. What else is new?

There's sadness in her eyes for a moment. Sadness over what it will do to her to disappoint Peter. Sadness over what she'll become once she has the proof that the one man she dared open her heart to won't -- can't -- love her back.

But Danny's words, just a second later, bring her back: 'She's not the type.'

That twist of a wry smile is back on her lips as quickly as it left, and she cuts her eyes back over to him.

"Speaking of which..."

There's a little flip of her ponytail over to one shoulder, and she reaches up to smooth it. Even as she does, there's the sound of motorcycle engines -- a lot of them -- rumbling closer.

She raises her hands defensively in front of herself, expression going _so_ innocent.

"Before you say anything... I had _no_ way to know that either one of you were going to be here..."

Those motorcycles are getting _so_ much closer. And fast.

"...I _might_ have let it slip to the Dogs of Hell that the Viper was selling off an EMP, tonight..."

Coming from the other direction, cars with loud engines are speeding closer.

"...and the Kitchen Irish..."

She bites her lip, but the twinkle in her eyes is absolutely devilish.

"So... if you boys want to deal with that.. or not... I've gotta make a stop by luggage claim for my suitcase..."

She's already backing towards the edge of the building, just as the first motorcycles and SUVs were pulling into the parking lot at the same time.

And it's mass chaos.

The Viper's guys are shouting. The Dogs of Hell are already getting off their bikes and drawing their pistols. The Kitchen Irish are popping out with submachine guns. And EVERYONE is mad at everyone else.

But it's the _perfect_ cover to sneak in and grab the suitcase while most of the Viper's goons are busy and they're trying to smuggle it back out the back door.

Felicia raises her arms at her sides in a helpless shrug just as she reaches the edge.

"It's still a good deed, right?"

Then she winks, and she falls out of sight.

Kaine Parker has posed:
"Be safe. I got the ranged guys. You worry about anyone you can take out. I give you cover," he says firmly to Danny. They would have to trust each other, but Kaine knows of Danny. Just rumors about the Iron Fist in some circles. Back in those days he wanted to try the infamous fist, but not anymore. Now he's happy they're on the same side.

Kaine senses the hesitation from Felicia. He doesn't know the exact demons she battles with. What he does recognize is the battle. Quietly, Kaine will hold Felicia close in a hug, whisper four words in her ear, "I believe in you."

While he's trying to act a little like Peter, his next motion is unplanned. Ironically it might make him look, or seem, a little like Peter. Kaine looks at Danny, "Do you want a hug, too?" It's a quip. They flow like water from Spider-Man's mouth. Kind of like a fire hydrant with all the pressure valves undone. Blood Spider it's more of a trickle.

Then all of the chaos comes to their attention, "Use the gangs against each other. Make their colors visible. They'll eat each other. Turf wars are delicate, fragile and violent," and then he looks at Danny. "Go. We're going to lose time."

Kaine waits for people to bring out the noise makers. "THWP! "THWP!" he's aiming for the weapons or the user to pull them back as he hurries along the support beam. Oh, this is going to be a very chaotic night.

For him, it's going to be hard to keep his eyes on the EMP.