Black Light

“New costume?” Spider-Man asked casually, leaning slightly on one leg and gesturing to your new suit. “I like it. Better than the old one. I wish you'd kept the pointy ears, what am I supposed to call you now that you're not a kitty-cat?”

“Well, you could call me Black Light, since that's who I am,” you said dryly, turning away to finish your work with the computer. You found the files easily, loading them onto the flash drive before you unplugged it and clipped it back onto your utility belt. You could see Spider-Man watching you from the corner of your eye through your hood. Why was he just standing there? You turned to face him.

“I'm afraid I can't let you leave with that flash drive.”

You rolled your eyes, though he couldn't see them underneath your mask. “Oh, please.”

“Just hand it over so we can skip the whole fighting thing and get to the making up part,” he held out his hand.

“Fat chance, bug boy.”

“Okay, first of all, kitty-cat,” he started to circle you. “I'm not just any bug, I'm a spider-”

“I don't really care, you're still a bug, and you better get out of my way before I use my bug zappers on you.” You shifted, beginning to circle him as well.

“Oh, you mean like you zapped Daredevil with? I was actually kind of impressed, shocked, even,” you could tell from the way his posture shifted he was getting ready to make a move.

“Did you just make a pun? In the middle of a square off?”

“I might have. Not impressed?”

“Not really.”

“Bummer.”

That's when he sprang, raising his right hand to shoot a web onto the high ceiling. He jumped, legs forward as he came at you like a human wrecking ball. You saw it coming from a mile away, and jumped aside. His momentum carried him past you to a good height off of the floor as his swing started to slow, he let go and used the momentum to land on the ceiling, hanging upside down from his hands and feet.

You ran through one of the many pairs of glass doors, ending up in a dim lit large room full of microscopes, steel tables, and white surfaces. Spider-Man wasn't far behind, swinging in through the doors behind you as you neared the doors on the opposite end of the room. You pushed through them, entering a room full of glass tanks that contained reptiles. One of the lizards had five legs, a snake had patches of feathers, another had a back covered in glowing eyes—you kept running, and found yourself in a large hallway. You followed it past a number of other doors, Spider-Man close behind you.

“Leaving so soon? I thought we were having fun!”

You opened a door and found yourself in a janitorial closet, you skid to a stop, your momentum having carried you almost to the far the wall, and turned around, maybe you would be able to get out before he caught up—but he was in the doorway.

You sighed.

“Lost?” you could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

You shifted your stance, arms and fists glowing indigo violet, and swung. Spider-Man jumped out of the way and you ran for it again, with him following you close behind once again.

You started to think you were lost until you came to the lobby, located at what you figured was probably the very front of the building given the broad windows across the far wall. There was a sleek curved desk against one wall, the ceiling was sloped up into a dome and ended in a large architectural lamp-chandelier hybrid, currently off. There were a few benches on the side of the room by the windows, and a glass elevator across from the desk. You paused in the middle of the room, turning around to face Spider-Man, who skid to a stop. For a moment, you thought his pose looked like a surfer balancing on a wave. He looked at you, glanced around the room, and landed on you again.

“Gonna make a move or what, bug boy? The chasing thing is starting to get tired,” you put your hands on your hips, putting all of your weight onto one leg, looking at him. You were taunting him, which wasn't your usual style. It wasted time. But it was so fun, and so easy, and he kept teasing you, so you might as well reciprocate.

“I thought you liked the chasing. At least, I was having fun.”

“Why don't you come a little closer and see if you can catch me?”

“Don't mind if I do.” He shot a web up into the lights, jumping up with it and swinging in a half circle around you.

You turned, facing him the whole time. He shot a web out at you, still swinging—it seemed he was trying to wrap you up like a bug. You ducked, rolling to the side, and the web landed behind where you had been standing. He was still swinging in his circle, and you were closer to the arc of his path. He shot another web out, and you let it land on your arm. You swung your arm in a circle as he glided past you, wrapping the web around the metal brace on your forearm, grabbed with both hands and pulled, his smooth circular path destroyed as the web connecting you two pulled him off course, and he began to swing back to you. He let go of the web connecting you and shot another into the chandelier, redirecting his path so he swung over you instead of colliding with you, and landed on the ceiling. You tore off the web from your arm, and while you had your face turned away from him, he jumped, swinging straight back towards you. You saw him coming of course, his red-and-blue suit standing out through the visual filter of your hood. You turned at the last second, bracing yourself for impact and he crashed into you, your hands out to protect yourself.

You fell, and he came crashing down with you, you both landing in a tangle of limbs, the air knocked out of you. You rolled over, pinning him down, straddling his waist and hand at his neck—this was like Daredevil all over again.

“Oh, wow, at least buy me dinner first,” he quipped, breathless, as he grabbed your forearm, one hand on the inside of your elbow and the other on the metal. He pushed at the inside of your elbow and your arm buckled, his other hand pulling your forearm against his chest, bringing your torso and face down closer to his, and he pushed with his legs and hips, flipping both of you over.

Spider-Man was on his knees above you both hands holding your right arm. Your legs were bent, knees just barely grazing the outsides of his hips, a mere foot or so of space between you two. You smelled something familiar underneath the smell of the spandex and cloth and sweat, but it was gone before you knew what it was. You were breathing hard, and only partly from the running and fighting.

“When I said to make a move I wasn't quite expecting this,” you took a second to analyze your position. Your other hand was free, you could hit him in the side of the head and since he wasn't using his body to actually pin you, you could use your legs to kick him off if you really wanted—

“What did you take from the computers anyway?”

You sighed. “Business again? I was starting to have fun,” you pulled your legs back up against yourself and he pressed forward just slightly—damn, now there wasn't room to kick him off. You went to hit him, he blocked your arm with his. You wrapped your legs around him and used your whole body to roll him over, efficiently tangled together at this point. Now you were straddling him again. You hit him in the face, once, twice, and rolled off, springing to your feet and turning on the ball of your foot to face him again just as he flipped up onto his feet, between you and the windows.

“I can't just let you take whatever is on the flash drive.”

“Oh yeah? Because you don't seem to really be trying to stop me—”

He shot out a web, it landed on your leg, and he yanked, pulling you off your feet and knocking you onto your back, shooting out two more webs to pin your arms to the ground as you rolled over. You grunted, ripping yourself free easily, arms now glowing and humming.

“You'd better move out of the way before I piss off Mr. Harry Osborn by getting to you before he has a chance for his revenge.”

Spider-Man tensed, frozen in place. “What did you just say?”

“You heard me.”

“What did you just say?”

“Not important. But I know what happened.” You felt a twinge of guilt using the secret Peter had told you on your first date against a stranger, but you pushed it away.

“It wasn't my fault. It was an accident.”

“Harry Osborn doesn't seem to think so. Look, I've got places to be and I'd love to stay and chat but I've got a schedule to keep.”

Spider-Man was speechless.

“Are you going to let me go?”

“I can't just-”

You ran towards him and he braced himself, you swung a few punches, he blocked them. Eventually you knocked him down with a kick to the chest, and before he'd fully hit the ground, you were crashing through the big glass window and falling towards the street.

Fuck, the next building was too far! What did you have in your utility belt? Flash drive, lock pick kit, some experimental gadgets—grappling hook gun! You'd barely fallen two stories before you'd gotten out the grappling hook, aiming it in no particular direction, and launched it. It caught onto something, and you were swinging now, instead of falling—swinging towards a solid steel wall. You hit a side button and the rope started to retract, you were flying up—up—and then you were dangling on the edge of the rooftop. You pulled yourself up over the edge of the building and stretched your arm. Your shoulder was definitely going to be sore for a day or two.

You turned back to look at the OsCorp building, and saw Spider-Man looking out the broken window at you. Why wasn't he chasing you?

You blew a kiss at him and ran across the top of the building, escaping off the other side using your grappling hook to swing to the next building that was too far to jump to, even with your powers. You'd definitely be using the grappling gun more often after this.

Spider-Man didn't follow you, so you went straight back to the super secret A.I.M. lair, still in full costume, where you were greeted immediately by Mr. Adams and his big bald body guard.

“Well done, Black Light! Well done indeed! What an excellent job you did at the offices! I have to say I'm thoroughly impressed! Did you run into any trouble at all?”

You shook your head, unhooking the flash drive from your belt and handing it over. “I ran into Spider-Man, we got into a small fight but I got away pretty easily.” You paused. “If you can get me in touch with Harry Osborn, I think I might have a way to take Spider-Man down for good. I know he's been causing a lot of trouble.”

Mr. Adams was positively beaming. “I'll have someone find out his schedule and pass it to you so you can pay him a visit. I'm very pleased with your work tonight. Do you have any injuries?”

“Nah, I'm okay. Thanks.”

“You'll find payment for your first week of your work in your bank account tomorrow. Take some time off, go do something fun maybe!” Mr. Adams pat your shoulder, and nodded to baldy, who handed your bag of regular clothes back. “If you'd like to change, there's a room right over there.”

You thanked Mr. Adams and changed in a side room off of his office. Baldy escorted you out, taking you to a town car outside which then took you home.

Your arm was starting to get sore from the fall and subsequent yanking from the grappling hook. You checked the time, surprised that it was only midnight. You did a few stretches in your room, tossing your bag with your Black Light disguise into your closet, boots making a heavy thump as they hit the floor. You changed into your favorite warm pajamas, noting the clouds outside your window, and climbed into your warm, clean bed, thinking over the night's events before you fell asleep.

You woke up in a cold sweat at six thirty in the morning, according to your phone, with rain pounding against your window. The sheets were tangled around your legs, and your blankets hanging off the corner of your bed. You looked around your room, pushing yourself into a sitting position, rubbing your face and leaning back on one arm. You didn't know what had gotten you so worked up in your sleep, but your heart was pounding and you knew you wouldn't be able to fall back asleep.

You checked your phone again. That's right, it was Tuesday. No classes, just work at Noble's lab that afternoon. You could tell her you were finally meeting Tony Stark, make plans to scout out his building and find out where he kept his toys. You took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. Your heart was steadying, but you still felt a knot of dread in your stomach. What on earth had you dreamed about?

You lay in bed for another solid twenty minutes, trying to use a mediation app Stacy recommended to calm you down. It helped a little with the knot in your gut, but you were still tense, so you got out of bed at six fifty-two and filled up the bathtub with hot water and epsom salts for your tense and sore muscles, soaking until the water went from scalding to lukewarm. Stacy emerged from her bedroom as you emerged from the bathroom, and you made eye contact across the open kitchen and living room space.

“Wow, you're up early,” she punctuated her sentence with a yawn.

“Woke up and then couldn't fall back asleep,” you explained, crossing the space to your room.

“Probably the rain, woke me up a few times too.”

“Yeah, probably.” You dropped your towel, putting on some underwear and dressing into a cozy sweater and jeans. Your phone buzzed. A text from Peter.

Good morning!

You smiled, unplugging your phone and taking it with you into the kitchen, typing out a reply.

Good morning! Have you had breakfast yet?

An almost immediate response.

Not yet, did you wanna go get a bite?

“Is that Peter?”

You looked up, Stacy was smiling and raising an eyebrow at you.

“Yeah, I think we're gonna go get breakfast.”

Yeah, I know a good diner if you're up for it

Sure, I'm already out and about I'll come get your from your place

“He's going to come meet me here and then we're going to that one diner,” you grinned at Stacy.

“Which date is this?”

“Three? Kinda, yeah. I dunno we've been just getting casual meals and stuff.”

“And I already get to meet him? How exciting!” She grinned back at you as she made herself breakfast in the kitchen, you watching over the back of the couch.

You laughed. “Don't scare him, okay? I really like him.”

“Scare him? Who, me?” Stacy looked at you, her voice jokingly scandalized. She flipped her bacon, grinning cheekily.

You rolled your eyes. “I'm going to finish getting ready before he's here.” You disappeared into the bathroom, tidying up your appearance, and picked out a scarf and hat from your room to go with your favorite warm coat and your sweater. While you were putting on your shoes in your room, you heard a knock at the front door. How did Peter get inside the building? You rushed to put on your boots all the way so you could answer the door before Stacy, but as you stumbled out of your room she was already opening the front door.

Peter was standing in the doorway, wearing two coats, a dark blue scarf, and sporting a dark bruise across his cheekbone.

“You must be Peter!” Stacy greeted him in her most friendly voice, leaning against the door with one hand on her hip. You couldn't see her face but you knew she was looking him up and down, analyzing him. You knew the bruise on his cheek wasn't going to win him any points.

He smiled, eyes and teeth sparkling. “Yeah, you must be Stacy. Thanks for buzzing me in, it's a mess out there right now.” He spotted you coming towards the door and his smile grew, just a hint of nervousness in his eyes. “Hey Y/n!”

“Peter, what happened to your face? Are you okay?”

He shrugged humbly. “I just got in the way of a robber, he knocked me down because I didn't jump out of the way in time. I'm okay, promise.” He pecked you on your cheek.

“Are you sure? It looks pretty nasty,” you reached up to touch it, he winced as your fingers grazed over the small cut at the center. “Did you put anything on it?”

“Yeah, I cleaned it up when I got home last night. I'm fine, I swear,” he laughed, reassuring you with a smile.

Stacy was watching you two with a faint smile. “Y/n, you should probably get your jacket and stuff before you leave.”

“Oh, right!” You smiled at Peter and darted back inside, quickly putting on your coat, and running into your room to grab your hat, scarf, and purse.

When you came back out, Stacy was saying something, and Peter was looking at her, listening seriously.

“I promise,” he said, and then saw you. He smiled immediately. “Ready to go?”

“Yup! What were you guys talking about?”

“Nothin' important. Bye Stacy, it was nice to meet you!”

“It was nice to meet you too, Peter! Have fun, Y/n!”

“Bye Stacy!” As you walked down the hallway, you glanced over your shoulder at Stacy, who winked and gave you a thumbs up before closing the front door. Peter took your hand as you neared the elevator, and you looked at him. He smiled at you, and pressed the button for the elevator to take you down.

The diner was fairly busy for eight on a Tuesday morning, but you two were able to find a table with no problem. You didn't have to wait long for the food, either.

Peter thanked the waiter, and then looking at his food, let out a groan. “Fuck,” he laid out a napkin on his lap. “I didn't realize how hungry I was.”

You laughed, digging into your own breakfast. “What do you have planned for the day?”

He swallowed his massive bite of food. “I've got some work and some homework, but not much. What about you?”

“I work at noon, not sure what time I get off though. Speaking of which, what's the plan for the Stark party?” You looked at him.

“I'll pick you up. It's Friday night, and it's formal, so I'm wearing a nice suit. Do you have something to wear?”

“Yeah, I'll be fine. What time is it and everything?”

“It starts at seven thirty, and I think the main party goes until ten, but knowing Tony Stark there's gonna be an after party. I'm just taking pictures of the fundraiser though, so if you want to go to the after party I won't be so distracted.”

“That sounds perfect, actually!”

Plans settled, you turned to talking about Peter's work. Then your work, which you brushed off by saying something about how it's more fun to see than talk about, and then school, and then shows, and then movies, and then movies you both wanted to see. Before you knew it, you were at the movies for a morning show of a new comedy, Peter's arm around you, both of you laughing. He was warm, and he smelled so, so nice... Where had you smelled that before...?

You brushed it off. You probably remembered the smell from when you two had first kissed. That was all. You looked at him. He felt you looking, and turned his head towards you, smiling.

“What?”

You smiled. “Nothing,” you whispered and turned back to watch the movie.

Peter walked you to the subway and gave you a long kiss goodbye, reluctant to part ways. But you needed to go to Noble's secret lab, and he had to go check in at The Daily Bugle, so eventually you pulled apart, cold air replacing the warmth you'd shared just moments ago.

“I'll see you at school tomorrow?” He asked.

You nodded. “Yeah. I'll meet you before class by the coffee cart where you found me yesterday?”

“Perfect,” he said, smiling, and kissed you one more time, before running off to catch a cab. “Bye!”

“Bye!” You waved, watched him get into a cab, and then went down into the subway.

Noble noticed your good mood when you entered the lab, hanging up your coat and purse and donning your protective gear. She pointed it out.

“What's got you in such a good mood?” She was atop a ladder, attaching a metal shell to part of The Heart.

“I've got a date Friday night, and he's taking me to Tony Stark's fundraiser,” you said, almost singsong, as you took your seat at your work table. “He's working the event, taking pictures, so I figured I can slip off and poke around the tower since that's where the after party'll be. And then I can come back a few days later as Black Light and take whatever you need.”

Noble was ecstatic. “Y/l/n that's fantastic! Excellent work!”

You grinned.

“Did you see the news today at all? There's a huge story about multiple break ins last night, committed by a masked woman who calls herself 'Black Light.'”

You swiveled around in your seat. “I'm in the news again? Is Mr. Adams upset?”

“Not at all! The media is painting you as some rogue with a personal agenda. It's exactly what he wanted.”

“I guess I'm officially in the superhero game, then, if everyone knows what I'm called.”

“I suppose so.”

Work went by quickly, and the evening after that was a blur of homework and chores. The next day you met up with Peter before your shared class with Noble at the bench near the coffee cart, where you teased and giggled with each other until class. You went on a walk after class, before you had to go back to Noble's lab again before going home and falling asleep.

Thursday you slept in and went shopping for a dress to wear to the Stark party with Stacy, her shoving armfuls of fabric at you through the changing room door. As you turned in the mirror, examining what was probably the seventh or eighth dress you'd tried on, your phone went off. You checked it, eager for a momentary distraction from the shopping. It was a text from the unknown address you came to recognize as A.I.M., containing the schedule of one Harry Osborn for the rest of the day until Friday morning. You scanned it over, locking your phone and putting it back in your bag. You'd probably show up at his apartment, it'd give a more intimidating impression, you planned as you changed out of your dress and into the next one.

“Stacy, I need help zipping this one up!”

There was a knock on the changing room door, and you cracked it open.

“Ooh, this is the epitome of classy little black dress! It's perfect for you!” She zipped up the back, and you turned to look at yourself. The sleeves went to just above your elbows and the hem fell just on your knees. The silhouette was perfect, the style exactly what you liked. Up the center of your back was a thin shiny silver zipper, running from the small of your back up to the top.

“Oh, wow. I like this one,” you said, turning to see yourself from different angles.

“I definitely think you should wear this one, Y/n. Peter'll shit himself when he sees you.”

You laughed. “Fuck, I hope not.”

Stacy laughed. “I'll go turn the rest of these back in to the dressing room girls and meet you right outside, 'kay?”

“Okay. See you in a second.” You quickly changed out, after having Stacy unzip it again for you, and put on your own clothes. Stacy was waiting just outside the changing rooms like she'd promised, and accompanied you to the checkout, going over different makeup looks and which of your coats you could get away with wearing to the party, and-

“Y/n, we have to get you new shoes! All of your nice ones are too beat up for a Stark party!”

You groaned. “Oh, shit, you're right.” A sigh. “Okay, take me to that shoe place you love. But nothing too tall and nothing too loud, okay?” You didn't want to attract attention when you went sneaking off through the tower.

You chose some simple classic black suede heels, not too tall, not too short. You'd be able to run and hide around a corner in them if you needed, but you'd still be taller and your legs would look amazing. You also bought a few pairs of nude tights at the shoe store that matched your legs perfectly.

“You're going to look so killer, Y/n!” Stacy seemed even more excited than you did, swinging her shopping bag of shoes by her side as you walked to the subway to go home. Not that you weren't excited, you were just thinking about what you'd say to Harry Osborn once you broke into his home.

“It's going to be amazing. I'll try to take pictures at the party for you,” you shot her a smile.

“You seem distracted, are you okay?”

“Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I got a text that I have to go to a last minute work meeting tonight, just thinking about how it's gonna go. I'm sure it's going to be fine, though.”

“What's the meeting about?”

You shrugged. “Just a potential collaboration type thing I might get involved with if it goes well. It's kind of important.”

“That's cool though!”

You grinned. “Yeah, pretty cool.”

At home you hung up your new black dress in your closet and stashed your new shoes in their box under your bed before eating leftovers with Stacy. It was dark out now, which meant it was time for you to get going. Stacy wished you luck as you went out the door, the Black Light suit on under your clothes. You went to the top of the building, where you changed in the stairwell and stashed your bag, before exiting and swinging off across town towards the building where Harry Osborn lived.