𝐝𝐞𝐣𝐚 𝐯𝐮, peter parker

xii. rebellion for morale

chapter twelve!
rebellion for morale

     "OH, I'm gonna be in so much trouble..." whispered Felicia, fiddling with her pass. She stared at the photo hanging around her neck, heart pounding in her chest. If her mother found out━and she most definitely was going to, Felicia knew she will be grounded for perhaps the rest of her life. But she wasn't due to be back from her double shift until later this night, and that meant Felicia had the whole afternoon to sneak out of her home, catch a train to Jackson Heights, and forward onto the one place she promised not just her mother, but herself never to visit.

     Ryker's Island housed infamous inmates, and Felicia never once in her life thought her father was supposed to ever be one of them. Her father had been kind, and he had played building blocks when she was a little girl, and he brought home candy from the world grocer constantly where they'd always try candy from other parts of the world. But ... he was also the same man who taught Felicia how to pick a lock. The same man that taught her how to stay hidden from cameras. He told her these were life skills. He was the one that told Felicia never to settle for the worst, and to always strive for the best. In a way, he had been the person who taught her how to steal before she even tried to do it, just to see how it felt. And now, she couldn't stop. She understood the thrill of being caught, the feeling that in that moment, you were invincible. In that moment, Felicia understood her father. In every small theft in a grocery or drug store, Felicia felt connected to her father, felt like she impressed him even though she told herself again and again that she didn't care what he thought.

     But Nina was right, and Felicia had a hard time admitting that.

     She walked down the hallway accompanied by two officers. Felicia was quick on her toes━always has been. Fast, naturally flexible; it was what got her into gynmastics in the first place. It also got her into a lot of trouble when she was younger. Her mother could never catch up with her. Whenever she didn't want to talk, she always climbed up the old, dangerous fire escape that only she knew the right footholds to use to keep it from breaking and her falling. And her mother never followed.

     Felicia eyed each camera, each door━the names, the way out of here. She was waiting for the right place, the right time, the perfect way to stay far from the consequences of her troublesome actions. She was here for a reason, and it wasn't just to finally have a lovely chat with her father.

     She didn't say anything to Nina when she called, but those things she mentioned. The weapons, the damage, the danger ... Felicia had kept it to herself, like she did most things, but she had overheard her father many times talking about names she didn't know over the phone when he thought no one was listening. And when Nina had told her about the Shocker, Felicia knew she had to talk to him. He knew something about all of this, and if Nina was helping Spider-Man, than Felicia supposed she will, too; for Nina.

     Her father worked alone. He was a cat burglar━the best in the business. Walter Hardy knew what he wanted, and he knew how to achieve it. Felicia learnt that quickly after his arrest. To think that he had worked for someone; been trapped in a job for someone else, that sort of scared her.

      Felicia had already placed the quick EMP's she made in class in the reception desk, right before she entered the hallway, and she planned to put one just before she reached the room to which she'll see her father. She didn't want anyone overhearing what they said, mainly because that way, her father will never say anything.

     Of course, using an EMP was illegal, let alone making one for the intentions Felicia used. But something illegal never scared her away.

     "So," Felicia spoke up, filling the silence as she continued to search for the right place to put her little electronic bug. Thank you engineering classes... "You boys usually show a girl like me around or do you get some who are more fiesty?"