A Rumble of Frost chapter 5

New York City February 11th 2001, 10:00 PM EDT

I  ditched my mask and took a few walks around the neighborhood about  halfway to the warehouse to make sure I wasn't being followed, then I  headed inside, ready to count my haul. I just shoved the coat and mask  into the duffel with the gloves in a nearby alley that didn't have any  cameras and then slipped into another alley, following that back for a  few streets until I came out somewhere a ways away.

Once  I got back to the warehouse I dropped down on my pallets and emptied  out the bag. I put the mask and coat aside so I could pull out my money  and count it up. Hector kept his cash in those bank teller bricks with  the paper bands, presumably for ease of counting, so I only actually had  to count one of them. Each stack had a hundred notes in it and all the  ones in the bag were hundreds (guess he didn't accept small bills) so  all told I was clocking  about seven hundred and fifty thousand.

I'd  read an article that if packed carefully most duffels can hold a  million dollars like you see in the movies, but Hector had just stuffed  this one full, so there wasn't much room left. There WAS a brick of  coke, which I think was accidental, but I stuffed it in my pillow  anyway. I only did coke socially, and somehow I didn't think Gwen's bad  girl persona extended to drug use, but having it around couldn't hurt.

"Wow."  Said a voice from behind me. "I don't know if that was impressive or  pathetic." Resisting the urge to spin and break whatever had snuck up on  me, I turned slowly, casually. The voice had been female, and sounded  hot, so on the off chance I wasn't about to murder someone for  tresspassing I kind of wanted to make a good impression. As my eyes  focused, I took in leather clad form stepping from the shadows at the  edge of the building, grinning like...well, like the cat that ate the  canary, not to put too fine a point on it. Though the thought may have  been influenced by the ears peeking out of her snow white hair.

My  fists had come up as I turned, hypocenters condensing around them, and  her blue eyes widened in panic as she held up both gloved hands.  "Impressive! I was kidding, it was impressive, please don't kill me." I  noted the wicked looking claws on the tips of her fingers at about the  same time as I noted the half exposed expanse of creamy tits spilling  out of her leather costume. I let the hypocenter on one fist fade, then  extended a finger and condensed a much smaller one on the other as light  to see by. The girl gave a sigh of relief, which caused some pretty  entertaining jiggling.

I  smirked at her. "You know, the whole femme fatale thing falls apart  when you freak out at the slightest hint of danger." I resisted the  obvious joke about her being kind of a pussy, because I felt like she  might take it wrong. "So, maybe you can tell me why you're here in my  warehouse before I shake you up like a soda can until you explode."  Despite my threat, I kept my tone genial and my smile easy, though  weirdly it didn't seem to calm her down.

She  gulped loudly, which again did just wonderful things to that cleavage,  and slowly lowered her hands nervously. "I followed you. The alley ways  were a good instinct, no cameras, but that only works if you aren't  being tailed. I'd been casing Hector's for a while and you aren't a  subtle man." I raised my other hand, condensing a massive hypocenter  around my fist again as my face hardened and she put both hands up again  in a placating gesture. "Whoa! No, hold on. I'm doing this wrong. I'm  here to ask for your help."

I  ran a slow look over her body. "Well, either you're the most proactive  prostitute I've ever met, or you were planning to rob that place before I  did. Either way I don't really see how I could help you. I need this  cash. As you can see my accommodations aren't exactly five star here.  I'm planning to get this place spruced up and make it my new base of  operations, though now that you know where it is that might be more  complicated."

"No!"  She said, waving her hands. "You don't want to do that. The Kingpin  will definitely have-wait. Did you just call me a whore?" Her fearful  gaze turned angrily down to her leather catsuit. "I admit I went pretty  daring with the neckline, but I don't think it's that bad."

I  rolled my eyes. "I was just being quippy, you look fine. Now focus up  kitty cat, I'm still deciding if you're going to live or die." Which was  a lie, unless she attacked me I knew I couldn't bring myself to kill  boobs like tho-er a girl like that-to kill an innocent person just for  trespassing. "now, you mentioned the Kingpin, much like Hector did. Do  you work for that asshole too? Is this you shaking me down for my  location?" I might not be willing to kill her but I'd bounce her off a  couple walls if she was trying to blackmail me, girl or not.

Her  expression turned stormy and I swear she almost literally hissed at me.  "I am NOT one of Kingpin's lackeys. But you're one of his enemies,  which means we have a little something in common. Now, I wasn't  followed, but Kingpin employs several master trackers. Once the cops  clear the scene he'll have a dozen people on your ass. This place is not  going to be safe for much longer. So I came here to propose a  partnership."

I  put both hands down, reaching into a bag I picked up on my shopping  trip and pulling out an electric lantern, which I flipped on, flooding  the room with UV light to replace the glow from my hypocenter. "Well why  didn't you just say so?" I grinned. "That's a horse of a different  color. Come on in." I winced slightly. "Sorry about prostitute crack, I  tend to get a little mean with people I consider enemies. I think you  really pull that suit off if it helps."

To  my shock, the white haired girl's cheeks flushed red a bit, which was  more of a reaction than I had expected. "Thanks." She said, kind of  shyly. "I don't really get a chance to get feedback much. The whole cat  burglar thing precludes fashion shows. I liked the hockey mask actually.  Kind of grunge but really intimidation, and the coat is pretty badass  too. I'm Black Cat, by the way. Also nice wizard of Oz reference. I love  that movie."

"You  have good taste." I said with a beaming smile. "It was my favorite  growing up." I gestured for her to sit down on the pallet. "You can come  sit down if you want. Sorry there's no chairs, I just got to town and  haven't had a chance to fix the place up yet. Though I might not be able  to do so at all depending what you have to say. Tell me a bit about  this Kingpin, and what exactly you need from me I guess. I'm not against  helping out a pretty lady, though I'm not giving you my bag of cash. I  earned it fair and square."

She  giggled at that as she walked over and parked her generous backside on  the pallet near me. "No need. I have cash. I've had it for a while.  Robbing Hector was more about crippling Kingpin's distribution network  than anything financial. No, I'm here for something else. I saw your  robbery today, and I was...well, in some ways it blew me away. Granted,  you could have prepared better, but gods, the power." She practically  purred that last bit as she leaned in against me. "Since you pissed off  Kingpin anyway and he'll be coming for you, I wanted to know if you'd be  willing to partner up."

Looking  down into her ample cleavage I admit I was tempted, but I wasn't an  idiot. I raised an eyebrow at her. "Partners huh? You certainly seem  like a competent and talented young woman kitten, I'll give you that.  But I don't really NEED a cat burglar as a partner. If Kingpin sends  goons after me he'll just have less goons. I appreciate the warning to  move, but you don't really have anything to pay me for the pleasure of  my company."

That  got another giggle, which caused another jiggle. Dear gods, was she  wearing some kind of top secret jello physics bra? If not she had to  practice that effect in the mirror. "What's in it for you huh? I can  respect that. Based on your lack of reaction to the seduction routing  I'm guessing the promise of booty won't be enough. How about the  implication of possible booty and a promise of somewhere to sleep? This  place is going to be burned in an hour, tops, and while that cash is  pre-laundered, spending a ton of it at once on a big ass penthouse or  something will draw attention for sure."

I  smirked. "I think you might be underestimating the appeal of that  booty, but I admit, a place to live would be...nice. Still, I'm not here  to be a criminal. I robbed that place because I needed cash, but I was  doing it as a superhero. I'm trying to start a crew down here. So how  about this. You join my crew, I get a place to sleep, and we take down  Kingpin, TOGETHER, as vigilantes." I paused. "With the possibility of  booty still on the table if you decide you're willing to have some fun."

She  pursed her lips at that, teasing air falling away as she straightened  up. "Hmmm. Vigilantes? I don't know, that isn't really my speed. But  then again, if we can rob the people we bust I'm not against it." She  sighed, and my suspicions about the jiggle were proven correct, because  it didn't happen with the expansive movement. She was definitely doing  it on purpose. "Fine. I'm already letting you crash at my safe house,  why the hell not. Anything else you want? Since you're making demands  anyway?"

Instead  of flirty, that was a bit catty, and I smirked at both my internal pun  and her clear annoyance at having to commit to a course of action. "One  more thing." I said with a vindictive smirk. "You followed me home  kitten, and that means you saw my face. If we're working together, I  expect the same kind of trust. I'll introduce myself, and so will you.  Sans domino mask. Then we can head for the place you have lined up for  me. Agreed?"

She  growled a bit, but I suspect she knew what she was getting into when  she showed up. It said something about her that she was willing to take a  risk like this on a whim. Whether that thing was that she was damn  lucky, had great instincts, or was nuts, I had no idea. But having a  safe house to crash at without have to pay for it would be a huge get,  and would leave me with all my ill gotten gains to spend on other  things. Especially clothes. Pants for guys my size were NOT cheap.

Looking  around to confirm we were alone and checking all the spots where  cameras would usually be, she sighed and reached up, removing her domino  mask, and pulling off what I could now see was a wig, to reveal a  cascade of black her and an absolute stunning face. "My name." She said,  her nose wrinkled in annoyance. "Is Felicia Hardy. Doing this is  probably incredibly stupid. But you have power like no one I've ever  seen, and I think you can help me. Plus you're cute." She smirked a bit  at that. "Plus, my instincts tell me that I can trust you, and I've  always had good luck following those."

I  gave her a genial smile. "Plus you just realized you're within arms  reach of me and if you tried to run away without unmasking after seeing  my face I'd have to break your extremely well toned legs." I'd seen the  momentary weighing of the option to run away, and had seen her discard  it when she realized she'd let herself get convinced to get too close.  Still, the instinct thing had a ring of truth. I wondered if she had  some sort of prediction power or something. Whatever the reasons she was  going all in to seize this chance.

She  pouted at me. "You didn't need to say it. But yes, while that kind of  directness is a bit gauche, the thought did cross my mind. Mostly  though..." Her pretty face warped in discomfort. "I don't know if I can  do this on my own. My last few heists have been close calls. When I saw  what you can do. Taking that bullet, punching out the side of that  building, you'r exactly what I need to destroy that bastard."

Ah,  that had been the missing ingredient to make all this make sense.  Desperation. She needed protection. I was fine with it, she was going to  be my first teammate, so I was happy to help her out, and the  possibility of sex definitely didn't hurt. "Alright Felicia." I held out  my hand to shake. "I'm William Frost, but you can call me Billy. If  we're going to be teammates then I'll do my best to protect you. Looks  like Wreckoners are officially formed." I paused. "That's our team name  by the way. That's wreckoners with a W. It's a pun. And no, we aren't  changing it. I LIKE puns. Of course, we'll eventually have to talk about  WHY you want to destroy Kingpin, but I'm good for now if you want to  go."

She  smiled in relief. "Ok, fair enough.Thank you. That isn't exactly a happy  subject. As a reward, how about I walk in front of you as I lead you to  the safe house and you can watch my ass bounce in this leather suit?"" I  snorted at that, but didn't argue as she hopped up and strolled away,  true to her word, putting a nice sway in her hips as she walked to the  entrance and stopped to wait for me to collect my things. I didn't put  on the coat just in case, but I managed to stuff everything in the  backpack and duffel before we set off.

Some  people might have worried about possible betrayal, but I really wasn't.  If she turned on me I'd deal with it. I wasn't afraid of much.  Admittedly, the jiggle and bounce of her frankly gratuitous ass as she  walked ahead of me might have played a small part, but mostly I just  wanted a nice place to stay without spending my money. Plus I had a date  with Gwen tomorrow and I really needed to get cleaned up, so this was a  win win. I was loving New York, only here a few days and I have a date,  a job, a friend, a nemesis, and a new teammate. I didn't know what  tomorrow would bring, but I couldn't wait to find out.