CAT’S PAW

Part I

By D. Golightly

Author’s Note: The events of this issue take place before The Amazing Spider-Man #1

“One…two…three.”

Running at full speed without hesitation, Felicia Hardy reached the end of the rooftop and flung herself into the cool night air. Twenty-seven floors above the streets of Manhattan, Felicia clasped her clawed hand around a thin but resilient cable that stretched, like a silk web, between two buildings.

It warbled slightly as her body weight yanked down on it, but the cable held. It better have for what she paid for it.

Using the momentum from her jump, and the slick coating on her gloves, the cable was transformed into a zip line. She darted across the open channel of air, nearly invisible thanks to the black fabric that tightly wrapped around her curvy body. Within seconds, harrowing seconds to a novice, she reached the opposing building with a gentle tap as her feet touched a large window.

Before proceeding she looked through the window into a large conference room. At one end of the room she saw the eye of a camera, inactive saboteur to her plans, carefully monitoring the concealment of the room.

A major problem for any normal thief. Not for the Black Cat.

Concentrating, the Black Cat focused her attention on the camera. She could almost hear it whir as it pivoted on its mount, sweeping its lone eye across the room. It paused. A wisp of smoke slipped out of its casing. It failed to move again.

“Of all the luck,” Felicia purred. “For your security system to go on the fritz the same night you’re being robbed.”

The ability she possessed was far from being defined. At times she had no idea how to control it, but she knew what she needed to know. It kept her from getting caught. It saved her the trouble of accessing the security system manually, which was possible, but would have required much more time.

The Black Cat was curious by nature, not patient. Leave the more complicated jobs to the scrubs without her knack for getting into places. Besides, in a world where a god of thunder roams freely, corporations really should take abilities like hers into account.

The diamond tips of her retracted claws easily sliced through the window. She allowed herself a hole large enough to slip through. She didn’t mind leaving evidence of her break-in, especially given what she was going to do tomorrow morning.

The Black Cat slipped into the conference room and strode straight for the large oak desk at the forefront. This was where the boss sat, the man, the big cheese. This was where his secrets were kept.

“Remember to plug in my little toy when you grab the laptop,” a voice in her ear told her. “No need to take the entire computer. As if you had a place to hide it on that cat suit of yours.”

“You’d be surprised,” the Black Cat murmured in reply, not even flinching from the sudden sound of the man’s deep voice.

“If you’re offering I’ll more than take you up on a search of your person.”

Felicia smiled. “Focus, Bruno.”

“Focus? On a job like this?” She could almost hear him smirking on the other end of the secure audio connection. “This is child’s play. Stilt-Man could do this job.”

“Stilt-Man didn’t used to work for SHIELD,” she said. “I expect more professionalism from you.”

“That mean I can’t hack into the security cameras to check out your ass?”

“They would have to be functioning for that.” She used the tip of her claw to pry open the top right drawer in the desk and pulled out a small laptop. “Inserting your ‘little toy’ now.”

“How I’ve waited to hear those very words,” Bruno chuckled.

The computer booted up after she opened the screen, and after a moment, information began to scroll across the display. Bruno, from his location somewhere safe, accessed the satellite card that Felicia had placed into the USB hub. Through whatever bounced and untraceable signal that Bruno conjured, the information Felicia was after would officially be hers, and no longer its current owner’s, within seconds.

A few pieces of admirable art hung on the walls, as well as a few choice statues placed on the fringes of the work space. No doubt these were meant to show off the power that their owner held, possibly even at an intimidating level. The object themselves, of course, had no actual power. No, it was the fact that they cost ungodly amounts of money.

And we all know that money, in this chaotic and still quite Croatian society, equals power.

However, these trinkets were of no value to the Black Cat. On any other night, perhaps. Tonight she was after something else entirely.

“Done,” Bruno chirped into her ear.

“Good,” she replied. “My fingers were starting to itch.”

With the grace of a dancer and the stride of a model, the Black Cat returned to the computer, removed the extra component, replaced it within the folds of her costume in a fairly promiscuous place, and stepped back to her point of entry.

The hustling city below her, one would think, would never expect to be so close to a high-rise burglary. But this was New York. At any moment she half expected to look at the building across from her and see another criminal looking back at her.

Was she a criminal anymore? She had been once, and it had been such a…fun time. The rush, the excitement, the control. The Spider.

“Three weeks of jump school,” Bruno interrupted, “and I’d still think twice about what you’re about to do.”

“That’s why you’re behind a computer,” Felicia replied, “and I’m out enjoying life.”

With a sly smirk the Black Cat trotted toward the hole she had carved into the window, relaxing her muscles as if she were out for a Sunday jog. Two steps before she would have run directly into the glass, she pounced into the air and dove through the opening.

Once on the other side of the glass, in the open air, she spread her arms and went into a free fall toward the rushing traffic twenty-seven floors below. She would break her fall by casting another zip line from the spring mechanism in her glove, but for a brief moment that would stretch into eternity, she would relish the rapid winds in her face and the feeling of rapture it entailed.

She could barely hear over the onslaught of wind against her ear, but Bruno sighed and said, “One of these days we’re going to have to actually meet face to face.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

“Let me make it as clear as possible, Mr. Reed,” Felicia said. “If I were actually trying to extort money from you, I would probably be able to get ten million. Easily.”

A few passersby didn’t make notice of the rather candid conversation. The sidewalk café in uptown New York City had enough pedestrian traffic that Felicia, sans her evening attire, was able to blend right in. As much as a stunning woman in a three-thousand dollar suit can.

Opposite her sat Mr. Reed, a distinguished gentleman in his fifties. He had come to the arranged meeting nearly against his will, as he had preferred to meet back in his office. Given that the two bodyguards behind him that were unsuccessfully blending into the café surroundings were present, he still maintained an air of control. His face did not mark him as an amused man.

Between them on the small, round table was a laptop computer. Displayed on it and facing Mr. Reed was a series of bank account numbers, number he had thought were confidential and private.

Numbers that even the government didn’t know about.

“Lucky for you I’m not interested in extortion,” Felicia continued just after sipping out of her latte. “You hired me to prove how inept your security precautions were. I think the information on the screen proves I’m good at my job.”

“I hired you to check my security,” Mr. Reed replied. “Not to snoop around my private networks and steal bank account records.”

“Did you expect a typed report? I think this is more effective. I’m not an analyst, Mr. Reed. I’m more of a…troubleshooter.”

If Mr. Reed were less of a gentleman he looked like he might have growled.

“I’ve had my guy e-mail you a list of new precautions you can take so something like this doesn’t happen for real,” Felicia said. “Take my advice: use them. We wouldn’t want Homeland Security taking an unsolicited peak into your Rainy Day Fund, now would we?”

Felicia sipped the last of her latte and stood to leave. Mr. Reed closed the laptop with slightly more force than was necessary, saying, “And what guarantee do I have that you won’t be making a repeat performance of last night?”

“Mr. Reed.” Felicia leaned down against his shoulder as she stepped behind him. “I’m a professional. You can expect my bill in the mail.”

Felicia made sure to make eye contact with the two uneasy bodyguards as she left the café. They were the typical muscular, ex-military, chip on the shoulder bodyguards that nearly every business man worth his company stock seemed to have. Can’t be too careful in a city full of crazies wearing their pajamas.

Stepping out into the hustle of the city, Felicia disappeared amongst the foot traffic, just in case Mr. Reed didn’t appreciate her methods. Few of them did. Ever since she had started her own private security company she had been bouncing around the country, slipping through the cracks at major player’s place of operations. She had uncovered more than a few secrets that certain people would do anything to make sure they stayed buried.

That included putting a bullet in the back of her head.

So why do it? She asked herself that all the time, and so did Bruno. Not that he was in any real danger. She had never even seen his face.

As the Black Cat she had walked the line between right and wrong for quite some time, mostly thanks to a certain wall-crawler. As hard as she had tried to keep on his side of that line, she always found herself standing on her tip-toes, peering back over to the other side.

She wanted the thrill, the adventure, and the excitement. She was doing a thing she was good at, but she wasn’t necessarily doing a good thing. And it paid well, which helped. She was managing, successfully, to bend the law without breaking it.

Her BlackBerry chirped in her pocket, alerting her to a new e-mail. As she stalked through the concrete jungle of New York City she pulled out the cell phone and opened up the e-mail. It was from Bruno, already offering her a new job to take on.

“That man never sleeps,” she muttered.

Cat –

Got this in early yesterday but wanted to finish the current job before I passed it on. I know you don’t want to stay in NYC any longer than you have to, but check out $$$ before you say no. There’s one half of a mattress waiting for you at my place if you need a place to crash. Client needs to know ASAP.

– B

Felicia opened the attachment in the e-mail and looked over the job offer. Connecting with Bruno through an old SHIELD contact was the best thing she could have done since deciding to enter the private sector. He found clients willing to pay top dollar for her particular skill set, something she couldn’t do without exposing herself.

Everything seemed simple enough. It was true that she wanted to get out of town before someone who knew her spotted her. She wasn’t exactly sure where she stood with the authorities and it was possible that there was a warrant out for her arrest, or at the very least a subpoena. And the possibility of running into the Spider didn’t make her jump for joy at the moment.

But there were an awful lot of zeros hanging on the end of the offer.

She typed a quick response to Bruno, acknowledging acceptance of the offer, but on one condition. It had to be tonight. One last job in the Big Apple before she moved on.

Unlike Mr. Reed’s building, the target in question had a little tighter security. After doing quick surveillance she noted several key things to avoid, the first of which was a laser grid around the windows.

“So much for the old fashioned way,” the Black Cat said to herself.

Once more in her black suit, a second skin as she thought of it, Felicia checked over the building face one more time with her binoculars from her vantage point across the street. Her method of arrival would be standard, but her entry point would have to change.

Fine with her. Slight deviations from the norm kept her awake.

She shot her spring-launched zip line across the way, lodging the tip of the claw at the end into the back of the roof access hatch. The concrete there held it firmly in place as she secured her end. She tested the line, making sure it held taut.

Hopping onto the thin line with ease, Felicia took a mere moment to balance herself before she started walking the tightrope. Cars once more blurred beneath her and the winds associated with her elevation sought to push her over.

The grace and speed with which she moved defied her humanity. It was more like a hybrid of woman and beast vaulted across the gap between the buildings, proudly strutting as if trying to attract a mate in the wild jungles of Africa.

Years of intense training with a dash of life or death experience had made sure that the Black Cat could handle herself. No amount of background noise or mild breezes would cause her to pause. She hopped down onto the target roof and got her bearings.

She had learned by doing enough of these types of jobs that the clients that paid the sort of attention to things like hydrogen laser filaments around the window panes often overlooked the simpler entry points. Like the roof access hatch. After all, why would a thief qualified to overcome his expensive security measures simply walk right through the back door?

Felicia glanced over the electronic lock clamping the door shut. An E-X-230. Very nice. Not as nice as the laser grid setup, but still pretty posh. It was near top of the line, but nothing was foolproof. She wouldn’t exactly be able to pick an E-X-230, but she wouldn’t even have to try.

“Feel like going down memory lane?” she said.

Bruno, who was listening in via ear piece, chuckled. “Only when I’m driving. What you got?”

“Remember Belgium?”

“An Emplate Xeno model?” Bruno replied, obvious interest perking up in his voice. “Not the same one, is it?”

“Yep.”

“Lucky you. Those are fun. Thirty-thousand possible sequences to unlock it. You should check out the 250 model. It’s a piece of art.”

Felicia smirked. “You going to run me through the override sequence or not? I don’t have all night to wait while you stimulate yourself over this.”

“You tell me the custom number set flashing and I’ll be able to run you through it, no problem. I ever tell you I bumped into the guy that designed the Xeno? He was brought in for a consultation on Fury’s helicarrier. Nice guy.”

Ten keys were embedded into the faceplate of the electronic lock keeping her out of the building. Above the keys a seemingly random set of red numbers were flashing by, all interchanging with one another. What most novices didn’t know, but what Bruno had taught her, was that the numbers weren’t random. Not all of them anyway. The last digit in every third set showed a number combination that the owner had coded into the device. It was sort of like a serial number that the owner wrote himself.

Once Felicia counted off the sets and provided the last digit in the correct sets to Bruno, he was able to extrapolate the owner’s emergency override sequence. It was a simple software glitch but it was a huge hole in basic security.

“Make a note,” the Black Cat said as she opened the door. “Tell the client to get better locks when this is all done.”

Bruno remained silent now that she didn’t need him. For as much as he joked with her, he was a professional, too. He didn’t want to distract her, especially since her success ensured his paycheck.

Before leaving the roof behind she checked her zip line. She wouldn’t be skydiving tonight since it was faster and more efficient to walk back across the first line. Getting the job done quickly and efficiently was all she cared about tonight; no showboating.

The end buried into the concrete of the roof access hatch was as secure as ever. She traced the line through the air to its other holding point and paused in stunned silence.

It might have been a trick of the light, but she could have sworn that she saw a shadow move on the other roof. Was someone watching her?

Sudden paranoia struck her. She had half a mind to turn tail and run. Bruno would be pissed, but he would get over it. The majority of the costume nightcrawlers could be within blocks of her, or worse. A rival looking to cash in on the same prize she was looking to invade.

The door was already open. She was three-fourths of the way done. All she had to do was get proof that she was here and she could go home. She wondered what kind of secrets she could uncover inside…

Curiosity was something that could always persuade her to continue.

Slipping down the stairwell, the Black Cat quickly moved down two floors and through another door into a large room. Instead of a conference room this time she found herself in the back of a cubical area. The chest-high gray walls formed sections of work areas that served as pens for employees.

There was a computer in every cubical providing a way for her to gather information. She removed Bruno’s little toy from its hiding place and moved toward the closest terminal. Thirty seconds was all she needed.

“It does seem to be my lucky night.”

The loud, accented voice alarmed her. She homed in on it immediately, seeing a tall gentleman on the far side of the room looking directly at her. He wore a trench coat and balanced a staff on his shoulders like he knew how to use it. His hair was long and hanging and his eyes were piercing.

“It look like you an’ me, we both got something in common, eh? A thieve know a thieve. But you wouldn’t be here unless it’s for the same reason as me. That mean you know somethin’. And I be needin’ to know what it is you know.”

The Black Cat weighed her options. The door to the stairwell was still open behind her, but she needed a better gauge of what this guy was capable of before she made any sudden moves.

She started concentrating, subtly allowing her special ability seep out into the room. With a little bit of focus she could hopefully create a distraction that would make it easier for her to get away clear. She hadn’t been hired to take on rivals. It looked like the security in this place was already beyond her help.

“Cat got your tongue, cher?” the man said as his eyes began to glow a soft red hue. “Maybe ol’ Gambit be able to loosen it for you, eh?”

To Be Continued…