PeterFeliciaWeek series 3

New York State of Mind

Disclaimer: I do not own anything Marvel or anything I borrowed from other media.

New York State of Mind (Marvel Spider-man PS4)

Sequel of Steal your heart from my PeterFel Week 2 series

*Rooftop in New York*

Life has still been rough since Hammerhead attacked the city for Peter, where he drowned himself in his role as Spider-man, and he's sacrificing his man side for the Spider side. As Spider-man, Peter is almost nonstop active in the city, acting more of a vigilante than a hero by stopping every criminal he finds, not wanting to slow down anytime soon.

One day Spider-man sits on top of a building patrolling the area when a voice calls out to him that disrupts his thoughts. "Spider?"

"What do you want Cat?" Spider-man questions in a neutral tone and not bothering to face Black Cat since he's not in any mood for her games.

"Just curious as to why Mr. Boy scout looks like he got raged dogged by Rhino?" Black Cat responds with concern over her former love's appearance. She sees his current suit's wear and tear as if Peter hasn't taken the time to patch it up.

Spider-man scoffs, still not looking at her, and says, "Not at it means anything to you, but there's still too many criminals roaming around the street since Octavius pulled that break-in at the prison. Trying to do what I can to ensure the city returns to how it was before all this bs happened."

Black cat frowns at his tone, for he never sounded that serious before. "You don't sound or look like the usual friendly neighbor web-slinger I know."

"Well, being friendly wasn't getting the message across, so angry back alley is the new way for me." Spider-man growls and bawls his fist with anger thinking back to how he had recently been a bit more brutal with his methods to get his point across.

Black Cat grows more and more worried about this aggressive side of him. While in other circumstances, she would want Peter to take that aggression out on her in the bedroom, now Felicia has another sentimental motive to seek him out. "Peter." She gently places a hand on his shoulder, only for him to instantly move away from her.

"Why are you even here right now? You got what you wanted and returned the favor by helping me with Hammerhead. To me, we owe each other nothing." Spider-man states wanting to be anywhere in the city away from her.

"Actually, I have something that belongs to you that I stole, and I came to return it and hopefully maybe earn it back." Black Cat answers sincerely, earning a fake laugh from Spider-man.

"I don't know what's shocking right now: that you supposedly took something that's mine, or you want to give it back to me? I guess I will bite; what is it?" Spider-man quizzes, hoping the quicker he gets whatever Black Cat took from him, the faster she will leave him alone.

"Your heart." Black Cat says softly, throwing Peter off guard.

"Excuse me?" Peter questions, not sure if he heard her correctly.

"Remember our last conversation about what you told me before you left?" Felicia brings up the personal conversation between her and Peter, discussing their thoughts on her return which was painful for both of them for different reasons.

For the first time in a while, Peter is surprised but does not show it, with the anger from that moment rising back up to the surface. "I don't have time to deal with this crap." He attempts to jump and swing away, but Felicia catches his hands and holds them tight like her life depends on it.

"No, please listen to what I have to say, and if you don't have anything to say, I will let you go for good." Felicia pleads, hoping to reach the man behind the mask.

When Peter stops and does not say anything, Felicia begins to speak from her heart, something she's not used to doing. "What I did to you was unbelievably messed up for me to do. When I planned it, it was just a regular big-time heist. I knew out of all the times you would help me, stealing that drive would be one of the times you wouldn't assist me unless it were a life-threatening situation, and I couldn't blame you for it. That's when I came up with the whole having a son scenario because, one, I knew something like that would convince you to help, and two, a part of me had wondered at some point what it would be like if you and I had a kid, but as I assume you were still with red-head and didn't think you still held any feelings for me."

As she continues, tears start falling from Felicia's eyes as Peter still doesn't say anything or react. "That day when you confessed how you felt and seeing the look on your face made me deal with a harsh reality check that to play around with someone who genuinely cares about me is not right and the realization that my life of being a thief is not worth it if I can't have someone like you in my life. This is why I want to tell you that I'm sorry for what I did, and I'm done with that lifestyle for good, no matter what; even if you don't accept me back, I rather make you proud from a distance than not at all. Also, if you allow me, I want to fight alongside you because I care for you and don't want to see you..."

The next moment occurs so fast that Felicia cannot process the fact that as she is pouring her heart out, Peter lifts his mask, showing his lips, and kisses her intensely for a short moment before pulling away.

"I don't understand," Felicia mutters, feeling lost in a trance between confused and strangely turned on simultaneously.

Peter finally lifts his mask, and now Felicia can fully see the tiredness of fighting for the city. "You started to ramble, and I know it's a lot asking you to bring out your emotional side when you are not used to it. While it doesn't fully escape the hurt you cause, it does help the process, and I will allow you to redeem yourself, but it's not going to be an easy path."

"As long as you give me moral support, I'm game. Now I would say let's do some crime fighting, but you look like you need a day's worth of sleep." Felicia places a hand on his face, causing Peter to sigh as she rubs his cheek.

"I haven't been trying to sleep much to keep me from thinking about the negatives," Peter says honestly, now bringing back the man's side of his emotions.

"Well, sorry to rain on your parade, but you are going with me to my place, where you will get plenty of rest and maybe a new dark costume so we can match together while defending our city." Felicia jokes to help ease the tension.

Peter chuckles, remembering the black and red costume Felicia made for her a while back. "I still got the one you made me; I didn't think to wear it recently. With the right motivations, I might start back doing so." With that, the two make their way back to Felicia's place, where Peter can finally rest physically, mentally, and emotionally with Felicia by his side, taking care of him.

Fin

Author note: For day one of Peterfel week 2023, I followed a previous one-shot from last year, as seen in the title. If you want to check out the prequel, it's under PeterFeliciaWeek Series 2.