[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/BIHLD0m.png[/img]

[sub]Featuring: [@Retired] as [color=silver]Felicia Hardy[/color][/sub][/center]

Running into an ex can dredge up complicated feelings – doubly so if that ex is someone you've once turned over to the authorities.

Felicia and I have had a… [I]mercurial[/I] relationship, to say the least. We haven't always seen eye-to-eye on little issues like morality, property ownership, or the merits of keeping a secret identity, but neither can we pretend that we don't care deeply for each other. For a time, I even thought maybe she was the one. I wonder if she ever felt the same? Somehow, I don't think either answer would make me feel better.

Regardless, that's all in the past now. Last I heard, Black Cat had gone straight. I hope that's true. We've been on the same side of the law before; maybe this time, it'll finally stick. When it comes to looking for the best in others, I'm a glutton for punishment. [color=de0606]“Is this for your agency?”[/color] I ask, broaching the subject. At a look from Felicia, I explain, [color=de0606]“I haven't left the Bugle. Have you [I]seen[/I] what teaching pays? Anyway, I hear things.”[/color]

She nods, her face a serene mask that I have trouble analyzing. [color=silver]“It's for a case,”[/color] she confirms. I can't shake the feeling that there's more to the story, but she's remaining tight-lipped, and I wanna respect her reasons for that.

I pause, waiting for a bleary-eyed postgrad to pass out of earshot. [color=de0606]“I think that's great, Felicia. Really.”[/color] She doesn't need my approval, I know, but I want her to know she has it, anyway. Lord knows I've given her enough lectures to counterbalance the scales. Maybe I [I]was[/I] meant to be a teacher… or maybe it just comes with being raised by Ben and May Parker.

Reaching the laboratory, we find it deserted, as expected. [color=de0606]“Alright,”[/color] I begin, consulting the clock on the far wall, [color=de0606]“we've got a little over an hour ‘til the next period. That should be enough time to get you the beginning of an answer, at least.”[/color] I grab two coats, goggles, and pairs of nitrile gloves from the cabinets by the door, offering the extras to Felicia. [color=de0606]“It's a teacher thing,”[/color] I say with a shrug. And it'll avoid any awkward questions if someone [I]does[/I] walk in.

[color=silver]“Not my usual style,”[/color] Felicia smirks, turning over the safety goggles in her hand as if wondering the least unflattering way to put them on. Gratefully, however, she does without a hint of complaint.

With the matter of PPE resolved, I can roll up my metaphorical sleeves and get to work. Time is against us, so I decide to prepare multiple samples so I can run tests simultaneously. Whatever Felicia brought me is a nasty, little piece of business. The amber liquid swirls in its vial, not quite as thick as blood but shot through with dark, shimmery particulates. I separate it out into four samples in total, leaving about a thimble’s worth in the original container.

Putting a slide under the microscope, I see just how disjointed this concoction really is. Multiple solutes float half-dissolved in the matrix like the world's worst pharmacological soup. Chaotic doesn't even [I]begin[/I] to describe it. When I expose the mixture to UV light, it glows. Could just be fluorescent markers, but smart money's on this stuff being metabolically active. Whatever this is, it was made for a purpose.

I roll my chair over to the next station to check on the solubility tests. [color=de0606]“Stable in water, alcohol, and oil,”[/color] I note aloud, inspecting each test tube in turn. The last tube gives the results of pH testing. [color=de0606]“Slightly alkaline… probably as a buffer to preserve the chemical agents.”[/color] I spin to face Felicia. [color=de0606]“Whatever it is, it's designed for fast absorption. Some kind of super drug?”[/color]

Spectrophotometry starts to paint a picture. I show Felicia the initial readout, pointing to areas of interest with a pen. [color=de0606]“This spike here is consistent with anabolic steroids. Plenty of amino acid derivatives spread throughout. And this one here? I've only seen that once before.”[/color] I find her eyes, making sure she takes in this next point clearly. [color=de0606]“That's the same absorption peak that you get when you analyze Mutant Growth Hormone.”[/color]

Concern touches her features – only briefly, and you'd have to know her like I do to catch it. I watch as her eyes trace constellations over the readout. [color=silver]“Same as in [I]same,[/I] or same as in [I]similar[/I]?”[/color] Felicia asks, her voice a little tight. She looks up at me. [color=silver]“Just so I'm clear on how concerned I should be.”[/color]

Mutant Growth Hormone – MGH – is the ultimate boogeyman drug. Any Joe Blow who gets their hands on it can give themselves superpowers, albeit without controlling which powers nor for how long. And if a mutant or superhuman takes it, their natural abilities are augmented tenfold. In the wrong hands, the results can be catastrophic.

I can only shrug. [color=de0606]“Too soon to say.”[/color] I leave the spectrophotometer to consult the results of the paper chromatography tests I had set up. The components haven't had time to fully separate, but there's enough for some broad observations. [color=de0606]“Oh, this just gets better,”[/color] I laugh joylessly. [color=de0606]“That peak is consistent with [I]methamphetamine[/I]. Definitely confirmation of the steroids, too, and there's some kind of protein I can't identify… almost looks like testosterone, but that structure’s not human. Primate, maybe?”[/color]

Leaning back in my chair, I lift my goggles and rub my eyes. Somehow, I feel worse than when we started. [color=de0606]“Chemically speaking, this shouldn't [I]do[/I] anything except give the user a massive heart attack. If I had more time and easy access to a mass spectrometer, I might be able to tell you more… All I can hypothesize is that someone is clearly trying to ‘improve’ MGH. Maybe make the effects more predictable? I don't know.”[/color]

Felicia nods, and I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes. She slips off her goggles, dangling them from a finger. After another moment, she says, [color=silver]“That confirms my hunch, then. There's no way this stuff is being used for any valid medical purposes. Which means I need to have a little chat with my client.”[/color] Then, as if an afterthought, she adds, [color=silver]“After I break into his office and take a close look at his business records, of course.”[/color]

I want to press on that, but I've left only enough time to clean up and slip out before anyone finds us. After taking the coat and goggles back from Felicia, I put everything back the way I found it. [color=de0606]“Let's walk,”[/color] I tell her.

[color=silver]“I need your… [I]expertise[/I] on one more thing,”[/color] Felicia says while I flick off the lights. It doesn't take the glimmer in her eyes to know that she's not talking about “expertise” of the biochemical variety. [color=silver]“That ghost I mentioned earlier. Have any run-ins with something like that before? Any idea of who or what I might be dealing with?”[/color]

Frowning, I consider what she told me of the mystery thief. [color=de0606]“There's no shortage of weirdos in my Rolodex, but no one who can walk through solid walls.”[/color] I smirk. [color=de0606]“Well, not unless Kitty Pryde has taken an unexpected turn into a life of crime, anyway.”[/color] Sensing that this guy really got under her skin, I offer, [color=de0606]“I can try poking around, maybe get you a better answer. Stories like this tend to travel.”[/color]

Once outside, I surreptitiously return the vial with the remaining serum. [color=de0606]“If I were you, I'd throw that in the East River.”[/color] As we turn a corner onto the quad, I grab Felicia’s arm. [color=de0606]“I know you can handle yourself, so I don't want you to think I'm doubting you when I say: I don't like the idea of you flying solo on this. If you want backup, I've just got to make a call.”[/color]

She looks not at me but at my hand on her arm. I wonder for a moment what's running through her head, until I recognize the glint of sunlight on my wedding band. I can't [I]know[/I] that that's what Felicia is seeing, but I swear she stiffens first before slipping out of my grasp as casual as ever. Her hands find her pockets, and if I didn't know her better, I'd buy that she's unfazed. [color=silver]“That's… tempting. I appreciate the offer, and maybe I'll take you up on it one day, but I've got this.”[/color]

I nod. [color=de0606]“I know you do.”[/color]

Without another word, Felicia turns her back and starts heading down the quad. She only makes it a step or two before spinning on her heel to add, [color=silver]“Besides, I've got luck on my side.”[/color]