Tracking

Felix lay on his back, one arm tucked behind his head, the other lazily tracing patterns across Rio's bare shoulder. 

"No."

"Aw, why not, Papi?"

"You did not just say Papi to me."

"Sorry, sorry, too much?"

"I feel like I should be the one calling you Mami." His other arm went down and squeezed her booty. "Big booty mami."

Rio giggled. "Ooh, I like it."

A brief pause.

"So does this mean you'll do it?"

"Where did you even learn about it?"

"The internet. Miles started teaching me how to use it. You have a computer room so I decided to learn it."

"Wait, you've never used computers before?"

"I mean, I have but only for writing documents and googling. Not for…other things."

"Okay, now I'm curious."

"So you'll do the helicopter trick for me?"

Rio Morales was a monster in bed and a cute cuddly woman outside of it. Felix sighed and then chuckled. "...fine. Next time."

"Really!?"

"Really."

"I can't wait."

His stomach grumbled. Felix blinked. When was the last time he heard that? 

"Keep a man's balls empty and his stomach full. Guess I succeeded only in one," Rio joked.

Felix kissed her on the cheek time before slipping out of bed, grabbing his pants off the floor. "Get some sleep. I'll be back soon."

Rio hummed, already half-asleep. "Mmmhmm."

Felix pulled on a loose shirt and left the bedroom, his thoughts still lingering on Rio Morales. He…he really liked her.

The mansion was quiet at this hour, the long hallways dimly lit by soft golden sconces. Felix made his way toward the kitchen. He was thinking about Rio's ass when bam—Herbie sent him an update from FEAST or from SHIELD. He sighed. He wished he only had Rio's booty in mind…

BAM.

Off-guard, a force shoved him against the wall so hard that his breath hitched.

Before he could react, a pair of soft lips crashed against his.

Jessica Jones.

She kissed him hungrily, her body pressing into his, her fingers tangling in his hair as if she was trying to consume him. He tasted whiskey on her lips, the faintest trace of desperation mixed in with need.

When she finally pulled back, her breath was ragged. Her violet eyes burned into his.

"I wish I could control myself better around you," she murmured, voice husky. "But when I see you… all I want to do is rip your clothes off and fuck you."

Felix exhaled sharply, gripping her wrists gently but firmly. "Jessica—"

She cut him off, trailing her fingers down his chest, smirking up at him. "What would you prefer I wear tonight?" she teased. "A thong? Panties? Or maybe... nothing at all?"

Felix sighed, resting his head against the wall for a moment. He wasn't going to lie—he and Jessica had always had this thing. Their casual arrangement had been fun, messy, and explosive in all the right ways.

But now?

Now, he felt different.

"Jess," he started carefully, looking her in the eye, "we're still friends. And yeah, we've had a lot of fun, but…" He exhaled. "I think there's someone else I want to go further with."

Jessica's smirk faltered for just a second.

She was quiet.

Felix hated the quiet.

"Hey," he said, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. "Don't do that thing where you shut down."

Jessica scoffed lightly. "I'm not shutting down."

Felix squeezed her shoulder. "Jess, I know things suck right now. Your home's gone, New York's still putting itself back together—hell, I'd be feeling lost too."

Jessica rolled her shoulders, avoiding his gaze. "I'm fine."

"You think you're a burden?"

Jessica hesitated. 

"That's not true."

She looked at him, surprised. He was much firmer and stronger than she expected. 

"You're not a burden," Felix said firmly. "There are some things that some people simply can't do. You or I or anybody else in the world couldn't defeat that lizard kaiju but Spider-Man could. I can't protect myself, but you and Luke and everyone else can."

"I guess," Jessica murmured. She inhaled deeply and looked right at him. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I'm always right."

"Now you're pushing it," Jessica joked, only to fall silent again. "For…for whatever it's worth, I'm glad you're here. The circumstances could be better but…I'm glad I met you."

"Me too. A hug?"

"I only do hugs in bed."

Felix laughed and gestured down the hall. "Come on. Let's get some coffee before you assault me again."

"M-my bad. Did I hurt you?"

"Just a sore back, I'll be fine."

Jessica followed and walked beside him. Jessica Jones still felt a little lost but at least she wasn't alone. Felix didn't want anybody to be. 

***

Felix sipped his coffee, the warmth doing little to keep him awake. Across the table, Jessica Jones had succumbed to exhaustion, her head resting on her crossed arms. Her slow, even breathing was the only sound in the kitchen.

After the conversation they'd just had, he wasn't surprised she'd passed out. Jessica drank lots of whiskeys. Three bottles of it, to be specific. 

Yawning, Felix lazily reached for his phone and unlocked it.

A message from Herbie popped up after a few minutes of doom scrolling on Instagram. 

> SECURITY ALERT: Intruder detected.

> Current status: Neutralized.

> Agent Shadowcat has acquired the target.

Felix frowned.

His eyes darted to the security feed Herbie had patched in. The backyard, dimly lit by floodlights, showed Agent Shadowcat—dressed in black—dragging a limp body across the grass. Already handcuffed by the arms and legs, she threw the supposed intruder into a circle of Captain Samantha Wilson, Carol Danvers, Monica Rambeau, and Luke Cage.

"Who are you?" Samantha demanded in the footage. "How did you get here?"

Felix's frown deepened. They were interrogating the intruder.

And none of them had come to tell him.

Felix adjusted his grip on his coffee, keeping his expression neutral. 'You don't want to tell me? Then I'll find out myself.'

'Herbie,' Felix commanded in his head. 'Wait for when they pull off his mask. Then run a facial scan on our guest.'

Luke was the one to do it. Herbie instantly locked on.

> SCANNING…

> Identity confirmed: Joaquin Rojas.

> Allegiance: Likely affiliated with EXE Syndicate.

'Who?' 

He received a quick explanation from Herbie. EXE Syndicate was a black-ops mercenary network originating in the Philippines. EXE didn't have a cause—only contracts. They worked for governments, corporations, crime lords… whoever paid the most.

Which raised the real question:

'Who the hell put a hit on me?'

Felix swiped through more details on his phone. Joaquin Rojas had no prior government records, which meant EXE had likely wiped them. But his tactical history suggested one thing—he was an infiltrator, an expert at locating hidden targets.

Felix's mansion was off-grid. No government databases had its coordinates. So how did he find it?

Felix leaned back in his chair, mind working.

There were a few possibilities:

Somebody inside leaked it. Highly unlikely. The only people with knowledge of the mansion's location were SHIELD. Nobody else. The one spy that had been in their midst was gone.

Surveillance tracking. If EXE had been following Rio or Yuri, they could have traced a pattern to his residence.

Satellite imaging. A long shot, but not impossible. If EXE had access to private military satellites, they could've identified anomalous activity around the estate.

Felix exhaled through his nose. He needed to fix this.

Quietly, he opened a new command prompt.

'Herbie, wipe all recent geolocation data associated with the mansion. Scramble every recorded satellite image for a 10-mile radius—replace it with forest coverage. Connect to the SHIELD satellites. Use them as the starting point.'

> Processing…

> Completed.

Felix nodded. That should buy them some time.

Now, for the bigger issue—who sent Rojas?

Herbie started hacking and investigating according to Felix's commands. 'Hack his phone, go into his GPS, see if you can pinpoint where he went. Oh, it's a burner phone? Damn. But if he's carrying the phone, that means he must have used it once or twice. Maybe just to receive a message?' 

> Phone has no data. 

'It must be a decoy. And city-wide cameras aren't operational…or are they? Not all of New York was wiped, seventy-seven percent of it is fine, just in a state of turmoil. How long will a city-wide search take?' 

> Unknown. Beginning city-wide facial scan now. 

Whoever wanted him dead had covered their tracks well.

He took a slow sip of coffee, keeping his expression impassive. He flicked over to the security footage and saw Samantha Wilson nodding to Shadowcat. Luke was securing Rojas' hands in zip ties on top of the handcuffs. 

Felix tapped his fingers against the table. They were planning to send him to SHIELD. They weren't going to tell Felix. They didn't want him involved. Too late. He already knew everything.

***

The hot water cascaded down Felix's shoulders as he stood under the massive rainfall showerhead, steam rising around him.

It was too early for this.

But after the whole assassin-in-the-backyard situation last night, Felix figured he'd at least get one normal morning. A nice, hot shower. Some quiet reflection. 

The bathroom door swung open.

Felix barely had time to react before a very tall, very blonde, very military figure strode inside, completely nude like this was just another morning drill.

Carol Danvers.

"Hi…?"

Carol, utterly unfazed, opened the shower glass door and walked into the shower beside him, letting the water run over her toned frame. Her short blonde hair darkened under the spray, slicking back effortlessly.

Felix's brain short-circuited. Not because she was naked—he could handle nudity—but because she was built like a literal goddess.

And her boobs?

Felix had never seen boobs that big in his life.

'Good lord, those things are defying gravity.'

Carol noticed his staring immediately.

"Eyes up here, Faeth," she said dryly.

Felix blinked hard, snapping his gaze back to her face. "Right. Yeah. Sorry. Just… y'know, taking in the situation."

Carol casually grabbed a bar of soap and started lathering her arms. "Standard security protocol."

"Right…"

Okay. So. Carol Danvers.

A tall, sculpted, military-trained woman with the biggest boobs he had ever seen in his life was now standing bare-ass naked next to him, acting like this was a routine morning debriefing.

Fantastic.

Carol, as professional as ever, wasn't reacting at all.

Felix, on the other hand, was very aware that there were only a few inches of space between them.

"…So," he said, clearing his throat, "since this is happening whether I like it or not—want me to wash your back?"

Carol didn't even blink. "I'm good."

Felix smirked. "You sure? I give great back rubs."

Carol turned her head slightly, eying him up and down. "I think you have other things you should be focusing on right now."

'Like what….? I can't think with you here.' 

"Guess I'll just wash my own back then."

The two stood there for a moment, the sound of water and steam filling the space. Felix tried to act normal. He really did. But then he accidentally tracked them down.

At those melons.

Good. Lord.

***

Felix carried his phone with him as he walked out of the shower. Carol was two steps behind him. His eyes flicked down to the message he received from Herbie.

> Locations of Joaquin Rojas found.

> Yesterday at 4 pm, he met up with Hammerhead. Real name: Joseph ?

> Audio captured. Discussions of a target.

'AKA me.'

Felix was heading back to his room. Rio was downstairs with Miles, so it was just him and Carol. "I'm going to be chilling," he said. He jumped into his bed. Carol nodded and stood next to the door, arms behind her like a soldier.

'Herbie, patch me in.'

His phone lay on the nightstand, dark and silent. He didn't need to touch it.

Herbie's telepathic relay hummed to life in his mind, crisp and clear, feeding the audio file straight into his consciousness.

A conversation. A meeting.

Static crackled for a second before voices bled through.

"Here's the map." The voice was rough, guttural—distinctly Hammerhead. A walking slab of muscle with a reinforced skull, deep in the organized crime scene.

The second voice, quieter, measured, belonged to Joaquin Rojas. "A map? That's all?"

"That's all you need," Hammerhead retorted in the audio. By mixing different phones, the supercomputer AI managed perfectly crisp audio.

"Are you shitting me?" Joaquin Rojas scoffed. "You want me to go in with no info and no name and no occupation? You want me to just kill a young man approximately five-foot-eleven and...what? No skin tone? No nothing? Who exactly is this?"

"Hell I know. Look, I'mma be straight with you, this comes from WAY high up. My boss, see. She wants him gone. Kapeesh?"

"Kapeesh? Look..."

Gently, since they were in a café, Hammerhead put forward a suitcase on their table. "Here. Take it. Advanced payment. You know Hammerhead don't do this often. This is important, understand pal?"

"...damn. Well, if you put the money up this way..."

Hammerhead's boss...

The one behind all this...

The spy had already told him what he needed to know.

'Cindy Moon. She wasn't targeting the scientist Felix Faeth but Spider-Man. Somehow, she's figured out a way to track me.'