Copycat: Genesis -(Marvel Fem!OC)

Cat Needs A Friend

When Cat got out of the bathroom Parker was already placing two plates with food on the coffee table. She took a moment to examine his apartment:

It was definitely smaller than Matthew's, consisting of one room with no divisions. Next to the front door, there was a small kitchen with no cabinets and a tiny breakfast bar with a variety of canned goods and spices on top of it. A half-empty package of crackers was there too, but overall it looked organized and clean.

In front of the kitchen, she found his living room. The electronic devices were not that different from the ones in her world, but they did have different logos and the shows were clearly not the same as the ones in her universe. He had a couch that could fit two or three people, and in the middle, the coffee table where he was putting their dinner. A few feet from where she was standing at the bathroom's entrance, Peter's bed was on display. That was the only thing that looked almost new, Cat suspected that he didn't get to use it often.

"There you are!" He smiled before returning to the kitchen. "Juice or milk?"

She approached the living room and took a peek at the food on her plate. "Juice." Cat sat down and pointed at the tv. "Is that the news?"

Parker looked over his shoulder at the screen. "I don't really listen to them, it gets me down. I use it as background noise while I cook and I turn it off once I sit down to eat."

Cat had a hard time hiding her concern. "I don't own a tv, but I'm not sure that's how you're supposed to use it."

"You don't spend much time in your apartment, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't know how to work a coffee machine," he replied without looking at her.

Cat remembered her time working as a secretary. Parker placed her drink on the table and then sat next to her, the first-aid kit was there, and his hand was wrapped in a bandage.

"Nice outfit," he joked. Cat looked comically small in his shirt. "You know, the good thing about wearing oversized clothes..." he rolled up her sleeves, "is that you don't have to be half-naked in order to patch up."

Cat held the fabric while he began to apply some sort of ointment on the cuts. "Speaking from experience?"

"It's hell when I have to take off the suit and I'm bleeding," he sighed. "It clings onto the body like it's a second skin."

She wrinkled her nose. "That's why nanotech—"

"Yeah, yeah, god bless nano," he glanced into her eyes. "But I didn't fail to notice you're not wearing a suit..."

Cat was absently staring at the corner of the room. "Sergei took it."

"The hunter?" She nodded, still lost in thought. Parker started to gently apply the ointment to her face. "It's a nice change to be patching you up instead of myself, makes me feel better."

The mutant hummed. "No friends to help you still?"

"Don't feel ready to have the talk," he laughed shortly. 

Cat tilted her head. "No one knows you're Spider-man yet?"

"No."

"Not even your aunt May?" Cat's frown deepened. "Are you still not talking to her?"

Parker's eyes brightened. "You remember that?"

"I remember everything. I don't really know what I know unless it's brought up, though," the young man lifted her chin and she continued. "So, May..?"

"We're talking again," he nodded. "I went back to school."

"That's great!"

"It's exhausting," Parker admitted. "But I found my way back to your universe thanks to that, so I'm not gonna complain."

"You still sell pictures to the daily bugle?"

"Yeah."

"My Peter works there too."

"Really?" He sprayed something on her neck and Cat flinched away, hissing at the sensation. "Sorry! I should've warned you—"

"It's okay, it didn't hurt," she shivered. "It felt weird, that's all."

Parker shook his head, he was trying really hard to hide how worried he was about her current state. "Tell me the whole story."

Cat lowered her face and he stopped curing her. "Promise you won't judge me too hard."

"I would never."

Parker was a great listener as usual, but this time he didn't even make a noise during the whole thing, he focused on healing her, sometimes she could feel his breathing shaking a little as if trying to hold back his tongue.

"You know, when I was fourteen," she said, "everyone wanted to hear my story. The Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D... then I went to school and everyone wanted to hear about my past, and I always found it so..."

"Repetitive?"

"Unnecessary. They wanna know everything about you to figure out ways to get a hold of you. That's why I was such a good agent as a kid, my weak spots were hidden. Then I grew older, I found out things about my past, and my past found out things about me in turn..."

"But not everyone is looking to control you," he told her, "some of us just want to know who you are."

"Not enough people are like that," she sighed. "Not enough." Parker picked up their empty plates and Cat sat back and stared at the ceiling so the ointment around her throat could be fully absorbed. "But I would hand in my biography to Kingpin if it could protect everyone," she continued out loud. "Isn't that ironic? I'm supposed to be the mightiest hero of all, and I can't even look after myself."

"I don't think tonight's the night for self-pity. Maybe I should show you my research so we start working?"

"I won't be of help," she lamented. "I'm not smart. Mouse would always..." her voice cracked, M.O.U.S.E. was a whole universe away.

Parker startled her when showed up, her ears were still not fully recovered. The young man took a seat beside her and clasped his hands together, deep in thought. Cat stared at him, this time trying to spot the differences between him and the twenty-six-year-old he'd been when they'd met. 

His hair was shorter, the shadow of his beard was easier to see, and his frame was a few inches broader. He had a couple of wrinkles, probably thanks to the lack of sleep and sunscreen, it could also be that he smiled a lot. He still had dark circles under his eyes, and his voice was still the same, but he carried himself with a confidence that he hadn't exhibited the first time they interacted.

"You should sleep," he said at last. "I'll come back in a few hours."

With a quick assessment of his appearance, she noticed he was wearing the suit under his sweatpants and hoodie. "You can't leave," she stated.

Parker looked at her with a grin. "There's only one bed here, and I want you to use it. I'm not tired, don't worry about it."

She felt her face getting warmer. "I don't know your— I'm... please... don't leave." She took a quick breath, begging not to stammer in the process. "I know I left you when you were lost— but there were bad guys all over the city and I had to help my Peter— you don't have to go outside tonight, and I know how that sounds but I'm not—"

Parker stopped her rambling by placing his hand above hers. 

"You'll be safe. My world's quieter than yours."

"But I don't need quiet," she pouted. "I need a friend."

Parker glanced towards his bathroom, thinking of the people out there and all that could happen if he didn't do his patrols. He also remembered his promise to her, it'd been a thing none of them had really meant nor believed at the time, but he still felt obligated to keep his word.

"Okay," he gave in, feeling her hand shaking under his. "Alright. I'm staying."

She pulled him closer and leaned against his arm. Parker froze, Cat had to be hurting a lot if she was that comfortable touching him. "Thank you."

"I'll figure things out," he wrapped his arms around her. "I promise you'll go home."