11656/The Itsy Bitsy Spider

The Itsy Bitsy Spider
Date of Scene:	23 June 2020
Location:	Upper East Side, Manhattan
Synopsis:	Spidey stops the bad guys! And kind of messes up an undercover SHIELD op in the process. Oops!
Cast of Characters:	Spider-Man, Black Widow (Romanoff)

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Spider-Man has posed:
    "These, gentlemen," Dmitri gestures with the sweep of one perfectly manicured hand, "Are some of the best weapons you can find these days." The cufflinks in his suit glimmering with the movement as he gestures to the array of heavy quality firearms set before him upon the 'table' to the front. Little more than plywood boards on sawhorses. They were in a large open 'room' that served its purpose there on the sixteenth floor of the new Collegium Tower still under construction. It was there that the infamous gunrunner stood in his perfectly pressed ten thousand dollar suit and showed his client the picks of the firearm litter.
    "Please take special note of the Kelsino Ingram Mark 20 with folding stock and biorhythmic trigger security. A lovely combination and rarely known on the market granting an added layer of safety to the discerning buyer." His presentation was immaculate there as he stood before the three men who were considering his wares. The two bodyguards Dmitri brought with him have taken up positions near the flapping plastic that surrounds the unfinished window frames. There's a fair amount of saw dust upon the floor as well as cement dust lending that unique smell to the workplace.
    Yet none of that concerns Dmitri as he proceeds to show off his wares.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    This deal has been in the works for some time. The buyers had to go into deep cover, having been there for months. They left behind their families, their children. Tony had a nine month old baby he had only gotten to see for three months before this undercover job.
    As soon as the sale was finished, the units around the block would sweep in, to capture Dimitri. They would have enough evidence. But only once the sale happened.
    Across the street, on a rooftop, was a figure in black with a pair of binoculars with non reflective lenses. She was carefully watching, awaiting the precise moment. She was point. She would be making the entry through that very window she was watching through.
    Only when it was time.

Spider-Man has posed:
    She knows Dimitri Ordonov, knows him as the old professional that he is. With that white van dyke and that immaculate manner, he even speaks English without accent and impeccably so... though at times his word choice might leave something to be desired. Yet here amongst these customers, he has an easy-going bearing. Despite the fact he's known for the death of at least four operatives over the course of his lifespan.
    "Also, if you would be so kind as to tell your friends from the Ukraine that our last deal was not my fault. We were both pressed for time, yes?" With that he smiles to those undercover agents even as he spreads his hands. "Now. To let us say, the bottom line. Where is the money?"
    And like that, as easy as could be, matters take the turn needed to match the recording she needs, with him present there all she needs is for the money to change hands. For the bodyguards to be neutralized immediately after, and then for the bust to happen without a hitch. What could possibly go wrong?
    "Would this be called an 'artisanal' gun store? Like all those pop up restaurants we get around town? The firearm equivalent of selling fruit on the side of the highway?" And just like that she might well witness all of her plans crumbling around her.
    From above in the corner of the room the voice comes from a slightly darker shadowy corner. A shadow that solidifies with a thump as the figure in red and blue lands in a crouch. "Do you get much foot traffic here? I'd imagine sixteen stories is pretty far for people to walk up. Though I suppose it lets you separate the window-shoppers from the dedicated buyers, right?"
    At this point usually things go to heck. There's usually a scuffle, a rush of movement. But Dmitri, weirdly enough, seems entirely at ease. "Ah, Spider-Man. How good of you to come by. We were considering real estate when we came upon this room and found these weapons here. We were just about to call the police."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    The words that leave her lips are not polite. They are in Russian at least but unfortunately, all the people on the comm channel speak it so they get a single word that sums up what all of them are feeling with this interruption.
    If the money doesn't change hands, they have no sale. Spider-Man made his appearance ten seconds too soon. All they could get him on was possession of the weapons. If he didn't have fake documents that made it legal for them to have the weaponry. Knowing him? He had it in triplicate.
    "Hold," she say to the team. They wait, poised, ready to pounce.

Spider-Man has posed:
    "Uh huh." Is Spider-Man's succinct answer to Dmitri's calm and polite manner which, to be fair, does cause him to pause for a moment. This was unlike how things would usually go and he straightens up to stand opposite the gunrunner, tilting his head in that mask as the eyelets whir slightly tighter.
    "Just casually found these weapons lying around and know enough about them to explain in detail the various fiddly little doodads that make them special and expensive?" Spider-Man's tone of voice is... perplexed. Dubious. "I doooon't think I believe you, buddy."
    "Dmitri, please. I am a big fan of you, Spider-Man." But that's the moment when his two bodyguards start to move forwards, their hands straying to their weapons and though Spidey can't see them the people watching can see his shoulders hunch subtly as if he sensed them somehow.
    "Why do I not believe that?"
    "Gentlemen." Dmitri gestures to the side, "Please, no need for violence. We are all law-abiding citizens here. Correct?" He shoots a look at the undercover agents with a brow quirked as if asking them to play along, but then he looks back towards Spider-Man.
    "You're... coming along peacefully?"
    "Of course, why should I not? I have nothing to fear and have done nothing wrong. Perhaps, indeed, I do know much of various firearms but there is no harm in possessing knowledge, yes?"
    "Annnnd your two big goons aren't going to throw down?"
    "Not at all." Then a few words in Russian, << Boris, Alexei, put your weapons on the floor. We shall be out in two days at most. Patience. >>
    Then it's back to Spider-Man. "You see?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    He wasn't wrong. Two days at most. Probably would be even less.
    There were sometimes she missed the old days. Back when she could just take the shot and eliminate the bad guy. To destroy the evil without worrying about it having a slick lawyer and a big enough payroll to bond out, no matter how high the cost.
    That wasn't the assignment this time. They were supposed to bring him in alive. She taps the commlink again. "Let it fail. We need them to be able to meet again in the near future so this case isn't entirely ruined for us."
    Her fingers tighten on the binoculars.

Spider-Man has posed:
    "Alright," Spider-Man says. "Well."
    Dmitri just smiles and spreads his hands.
    The wallcrawler takes a deep breath, sighs a little, then nods. "Well I'm still going to web you up so you guys can't get away. And..." He shakes his head a little then adds, "I hope it stains your suit."
    And with that Black Widow will witness the next few minutes where Spider-Man does as he says and leaves those six men wrapped up inside that room in a neat little bundle, only ducking out a window and crawling along the wall of the building once he sees the squad car pull up. For Natasha she likely will have it all on tape to peruse and watch whenever she wants to feel all annoyed and angry all over again.
    But Spider-Man? He has no idea at all what he just did to the SHIELD investigation. And there he is blissfully climbing up the wall up and flipping over the lip of the rooftop and disappearing from view. The jerk.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    The undercover agents are webbed up along with the bad guys. Have to keep the illusion. Have to go to jail, spend their time there until their bail is posted through sources including a high powered lawyer that fits the role. It is all arranged anyway, for just such a situation.
    It just meant they would be away from their families for a bit longer. This was the price of working undercover for SHIELD.
    As Spider-Man went on his way, she called in to the units to pull back and wait for another day. She had her own task. The equipment was put into a duffle and left there. One of the other agents would pick it up. She followed the webslinger. Her own Widow's Lines allowed her to follow, despite the irregularity of his path and transport method. There was no actual danger to him so she shouldn't set off his senses.
    When he finally paused, she managed to catch up, taking a spot in the shadows of the small building that housed the stairwell.
    The words come out of that darkness. "Do you have any idea what you are doing?"

Spider-Man has posed:
    The path across town was only a few swings away. But for an individual like Spider-Man that could be rather far for someone trying to keep up with him. It was on the edge of an apartment building that looked out and over across Central Park, its gravel rooftop causing his feet to scrape upon the rocks as he turns to face her, his cellphone in hand. With his head cocked to the side he looks her up and down.
    "Well, I've been doing this for a few years now, I like to think I've got some sort of idea." But there's a wariness to his words. Rarely is the Black Widow seen out and about, and rarely does she speak to him in that tone of voice. That's the scary voice. That she uses for her SHIELD underlings.
    "Or did you mean this?" He holds up the phone and gestures with it, "I was thinking about ordering off of Grub Hub, but no I've never done that before."
    A beat.
    "Any tips?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
    "Take in the goings on. That was a weapons deal. There was no crime without the sale."
    Natasha walks out of those shadows, dressed in her black bodysuit with her weapons holsters on either thigh, along with that belt keeping them in place. The red hour glass marks the belt buckle. Her hair falls to just below her shoulders as she stops shy of coming fully into the light. Just half way there. Darkness mixed with the illumination.
    "As it stands, he will likely have permits for possession of the weapons. Without proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he either a - owns them legitimately or b - just stumbled across them as he is stating, there is nothing to prove there was anything illegal happening."
    She crosses her arms. "We have documented it, will add it to the file we are building. But we could've had him tonight. If you had just waited for him to commit the actual crime."

Spider-Man has posed:
    She knows Peter. Knows him for who he is behind the mask and what sort of young man he tends to be. And though that mask hides his eyes and his features, she can likely tell the weight of regard he's placing behind her words and lending some severity to his thoughts. It's in the way he sort of stops fidgeting and moving. The way his head turns to the side and cocks a little crooked. The chin of his mask extends a little as he bites his lower lip while he takes a breath.
    Until finally she'll hear him say simply, "Damn."
    But when he turns back to her there's no casual wry comment, nor a blithe dismissal. Instead he tells her, "I know you're probably not my biggest fan right now. But I'm telling you that something felt off about the whole thing. I had the... /feeling/ that violence was going to happen any minute there. I stepped in when I did because I felt I sort of had to."
    He holds a hand up, "Now maybe it was something else, I mean... my spider-sense is far from an exact science. But usually when it tingles that way, something bad is going down. But I'm sorry if I screwed up your plans."
    He takes a deep breath, then adds. "Just if you go after this guy again, be ready for a double cross or something. He was planning something I think."