Taking the Kingpin down: It's personal

The next few days were business as usual. The evidence the Black Cats had stolen confirmed their suspicions about the Kingpin, and Natasha gave copies of the data to Matt Murdock. "I'll see what I can do with this," Murdock explained after looking over the evidence. "I can't make any guarantees, but it looks like this data could come in handy."

Meanwhile, Natasha had found herself enjoying staying in her new safe house. Staying in a luxury apartment was far more agreeable than the dingy nondescript rooms she'd often frequent on her missions. Even better, she liked her new roommates. It wasn't often Natasha had any attachments to her co-workers -- save for the Avengers -- so she'd found her fast friendship with MJ and Felicia to be a major change of pace.

Late one night, the three women were discussing the job, and possible ways they could take down Wilson Fisk. Normally, Natasha was never all that interested to learn the motivations of the people she'd worked with; the results were what mattered. But in this case, she'd grown curious, and wanted to get to know her cohorts better.

"You said you were going after Fisk for personal reasons. If you don't mind me asking, why?"

MJ and Felicia looked at each other and nodded. They'd grown close enough to Natasha to tell her the whole story.

Roughly a year ago, they'd lost one of their closest friends, Peter Parker, who had died in a battle with the Green Goblin. Peter was the boyfriend of MJ and Felicia's best friend, Gwen Stacy, better known to the world as the Ghost-Spider; around that time, Norman Osborn had discovered her true identity, and had intended to go on a killing spree, taking out all of Gwen's loved ones. He'd enlisted the help of the Sinister Six, who wore down Gwen and left her ****. Using Regent Technology that allowed him to mimic Gwen's powers, Peter sprung into action, coming to Gwen's aid when she needed him most. Gwen and Peter eventually emerged victorious, but at a horrible cost; a dying Goblin was able to muster one last strike on Peter before his end, fatally wounding him. The Green Goblin was dead, and the Sinister Six were locked up in the Raft, but the damage was done.

Gwen was never the same after that. She'd continued to act as a vigilante, but she'd grown far harsher on criminals, putting more than a few in the hospital. She'd become withdrawn and angry, and she knew that Fisk was somehow involved with Goblin and Peter's ****, and being unable to do anything about it was driving her to further and further extremes.

MJ and Felicia worried that Gwen was heading down a path she wouldn't be able to return from. They wanted their best friend back. Not only that, but they wanted justice for Peter. So, they agreed they'd find a way to take the Kingpin down. With him out of the way, hopefully Gwen could have some peace of mind.

"That data confirmed everything we'd suspected. Fisk had colluded with Osborn to take Gwen out," Felicia said, sorrow showing on her face. "And Pete died because of it."

"He was such a great guy, too," MJ added regretfully. "The world was a better place with him in it."

"I'm sorry," Natasha said. "I know it's not much consolation, but your friend really was a hero."

Natasha knew what MJ & Felicia were going through. She'd seen plenty of people she'd cared about die; it came with the territory in her line of work. It's why she made it a point never to get too close to anyone. Still, she'd found herself growing quite fond of the two thieves she'd been working with. She hadn't intended on becoming friends with MJ & Felicia, but she couldn't help but like them.

"That means a lot coming from someone like you," MJ smiled sadly. "Thanks. We're so proud of Pete."

"He sounded like a good man. I will bring the Kingpin to justice for him, I promise you that."