When Peter took Aiden home he let Mila know he had plans for the evening so that she didn't expect him for dinner. Even though she didn't ask where he was going, she did insist that he allow Todd to drive him. She also handed him a phone since he hadn't purchased one for himself. Peter pocketed the device and kissed her on the temple when he thanked her. Aiden asked if he was going with him to school the next day too. Peter said he wouldn't miss it and told him he'd see him at breakfast. Mila shooed him away so that he could get his homework done and walked Peter to the door.

Todd drove him to the diner but Peter told him he was fine on his own when Todd offered to accompany him inside. Todd nodded and went on his way. Peter took a look around the area. It wasn't far from Wayne Tower but much like other parts of Gotham, the diner had seen better days. It seemed like a popular spot not only for the regular Joe but also for cops. He walked inside and right away saw Richard who waved him over to a booth in the back.

"So, what's this about?" Peter said and opened up a menu. It was when he saw the prices that Todd's words finally made sense. Two dollar pancakes. Five dollar meals. There really wasn't anything on the menu over eight bucks.

Richard slid over a piece of paper. Peter looked at it curiously. It was an application for a patent. He picked it up and examined it. It was mostly filled out except for his personal information.

"Lucius Fox filed a provisional application on your behalf but there is only a twelve-month window before the nonprovisional application," Richard pointed to the form in Peter's hand, "needs to be filed and for the inventor to be named. You can talk with your attorney if you want to understand the process. Once you file, Bruce would appreciate it if you set up an appointment to meet with him."

"You named the filter Vesta?" Peter said with a tilt of his head.

"Don't look at me, I'm just the messenger." Richard chuckled. "Though, I think it's a Latin word for pure? Truthfully, I wasn't paying attention."

"Well, sure," Peter said and shrugged. He put the paper aside. "Alright, now that that's out of the way. What's the real reason for this little meet-up?"

Richard sighed and ran a hand over his hair looking tired suddenly.

"I know you're a cop," Peter said and blew out a breath when Richard's eyes widened a fraction. "Your family makes the news a lot. So don't look so surprised. I also know you're not a Gotham cop, so what gives?"

"I volunteered to be Bruce's messenger when Tim told me he'd struck out with you before. Tim doesn't know I had an ulterior motive," Richard said and smiled sheepishly. "The police commissioner is a friend and he asked me to set this up so that it doesn't look like you're talking to the police. I normally don't get involved with matters of the GCPD since, as you mentioned, I'm not sworn to serve here but in Blüdhaven. However…" Richard grabbed a file he had on the seat next to him and placed it on the table. He opened it to show Peter the picture sitting on top.

"That's Arman," Peter said in shock and picked up the picture to get a better look at it. He'd been shot six times in the back. That isn't a random murder. It was personal.

"He was killed in Blüdhaven."

Peter frowned at Richard. "And what exactly does this have to do with me?"

A man cleared his throat and grabbed the seat next to Richard where he sat down. Peter frowned at him not having noticed his approach. It was the police commissioner. He was dressed down and wearing a ball cap but it was hard to hide that red mustache. "Nothing to do with you but a lot to do with your Aunt Mila."

Peter started to laugh without humor. "You can't be serious!"

"About what exactly?" said Commissioner Gordon. "Thinking a mob boss can put out a hit on a member that flew the coop while they were supposed to be guarding the son of said boss? You don't think it's a plausible explanation?"

"You don't have anything connecting her to his murder otherwise you would have already arrested her. Instead, you came to me to convince me of what exactly? To be an informant? Isn't your vigilante already on the case? What do you need me for?"

"Because you have eyes and ears where we don't," said Gordon.

"Sure, that's a good reason," Peter scoffed.

"Arman was only the first," Richard said and pulled another photo out of the file. "This one happened here in Gotham." Peter didn't recognize the guy but he was killed the same way Arman was. "We think whoever is doing this is targeting all of Mila's former crew."

"Mila was taken in for questioning by the FBI and suddenly she was a rat," Peter said and tossed the photo back onto the table. Richard shared an uncomfortable look with Gordon. "How do you know that this isn't anything similar?" Peter pointed at the pictures. Neither man answered. "Someone might have a score to settle with these guys or one of them and only kills the others so that you look at Mila instead of the real killer."

"That's a possibility," Richard said with a slight frown. "How'd you come up with that?"

"I watch a lot of movies," Peter said with a shrug.

The Commissioner looked at Richard and then after clearing his throat said to Peter, "Where were you two nights ago between midnight and two in the morning?"

"Mila isn't the only one who has vigilante's watching her every move," Peter said easily though he with narrowed eyes at the accusation. He wasn't a murderer. And the company he kept didn't automatically make him one either. "You want to know where I was or what I was doing, ask Robin. Or better yet, talk to Oracle. She likes to stick her nose where it doesn't belong. She could be stalking me too. And I'm sure you're well-acquainted with her." Peter stood up and made to leave but Richard held up the patent application for him to take. Peter took it and nodded at Richard. "This is real?"

Richard nodded and handed him a business card with Bruce Wayne's information. Peter rubbed it between his fingers when he felt the thickness and realized there were two cards. The other was for Officer Richard Grayson of the BPD. "If you see or hear anything that can help us, I'd appreciate you reaching out. My personal number is on the back."

"Yeah, sure," Peter said and tucked the cards into his back pocket. "So much for a free meal."

"Raincheck?" Richard said apologetically with a small smile.

"Depends on whether or not you plan to ruin my appetite a second time," Peter said as he walked away, not giving Richard a chance to answer.

"Well, that went well," said Gordon.

"You jumped the gun," Richard said a little peeved.

"You looked like you were having trouble with him from the get-go. I thought it was best to get to the point."

"I suppose. He's a lot smarter than he lets on."

"Why do you think he mentioned Oracle?" said the Commissioner as he scratched his chin. "I only deal with the Bat. Oracle is out of my reach. I doubt the mayor would be too happy if I had more than one signal on the roof of the GCPD. He's already bent out of shape over the Bat."

Peter didn't wait around to hear Richard's response. He'd heard enough. He crossed the street and walked at a brisk pace as he thought about what they had told him. He didn't know if Mila had anything to do with the murders. He hoped she didn't have anything to do with them. The only way to find out was to ask questions. And he also knew who to turn to for answers. He couldn't go as himself. He needed Spider-man to come out to play. But first, he had to set up a meeting with Mila's attorney Freddie Rios to ask him about the patent. He reached for his phone and smiled when he saw that Freddie was already in his contacts.

Peter was placed on hold for a minute before Freddie was on the line and telling Peter it was fine if he came by whenever he had a chance. Peter took a cab to the man's office. It wasn't too far. The secretary walked him right over to Freddie's office when he arrived. The man had been expecting him. Then he seemed surprised about the reason for his visit. He looked at the paperwork and nodded. He made a quick phone call to Lucius Fox and asked a few questions about when the provisional license was filed and under whose name. Once he was satisfied with Lucius' answer he thanked the other man and hung up. He sat back in his chair and smiled at Peter.

"I wasn't aware Bruce Wayne was such a Samaritan," Freddie said and laughed. Whatever the man thought was funny was lost to Peter. "Unless he doesn't know what a great favor he's done for you. The man is such a puts in person."

"So this is all legit?" Peter said, still thinking it wasn't real.

Freddie was right about one thing, having a patent for any product was valuable. Unless the filter Peter had made wasn't valuable… Peter wasn't sure. But Bruce was a charitable person. Peter had had first-hand knowledge of that.

Freddie nodded in answer and proceeded to explain the benefits of having the patent in his name.

According to Rios, all he had to do was sign and he'd take care of the rest. Peter did just that and didn't give it another thought.

Peter had more pressing matters to deal with. He'd rather know now before he got in too deep what Mila's involvement, if any, was in the murders Officer Grayson had brought to his attention. Peter could care for her as long as the day was long but that didn't mean he should turn the other cheek if she was giving out orders to kill. Peter wouldn't be able to live with himself if she were doing that under his watch and he did nothing to stop her.

Before he went home, Peter stopped by a hobby store to buy a few supplies he needed to make a suit. He had plenty of practice sewing his own suit and having to replace it every so often. It was why he preferred having separate pieces so that he could replace the parts that were damaged beyond repair. At the hobby store, he found a full-body suit. It would have to do for now. It was a dark blue. He bought some fabric paint to add the spider emblem and belt. He even planned to outline the eyes. He bought a few other things he'd need. Glue gun. Goggles. Some fabric to add lining. Elbow and knee pads. It would be a rudimentary suit but it was better than nothing.

It took him a couple of hours before he decided it was done. It didn't look too bad. He would have preferred his red and blue but this world didn't know him. Not to mention, he was only planning to interrogate one or two people and snoop around for a bit. Well, until he was satisfied. He didn't like not knowing whether or not Mila was arranging hits on her old crew. He also hated thinking that she was capable of it. But he couldn't be naive. The woman was part of the mob. How close he'd become with her had no bearing with the truth. And if he found out she was behind those murders, he would turn her in himself.

Dressed for his night out, Spider-man crawled out of his window and into the darkness. He quickly let out a strand of webbing and swung out of his neighborhood towards Mila's house. He was careful to stay in the shadows. The last thing he wanted was to be caught on camera. He made his way into the house from a window in the hallway. He crawled through the ceiling until he found the person he was looking for. Sitting in Mila's office was Cheshire. Spider-man lowered himself slowly and carefully until he was right in front of her.

Cheshire flinched not having expected the company. "Spider? What are you doing here?" she hissed.

Spider-man blinked. That was not the reception he was expecting. How does she know who I am? He didn't answer. He simply tilted his head to the side.

"Did sensei send you?"

Spider-man shook his head.

"Ra's?"

He shook his head again.

"My dad?!" she said a little louder and clearly upset but her voice still didn't raise past a whisper.

"No," Spider-man said in a low timber.

"Then what is it?" Cheshire said not having identified Peter's voice. She let out an exasperated breath when he didn't answer. "What do you want? If you can't tell, I'm in the middle of a job. And you have exactly one minute to say what you want before I kick you out."

"Curiosity."

"About what?"

"Mila's old crew."

"You're a weird one, Spider," Cheshire said with a huff. "Are you that hard up for a job?"

Spider-man shrugged.

"Well, I don't know what to tell you. My boss doesn't know who's doing the deed and I stopped taking those types of jobs so I'm no longer in the know."

"You're really out?" Spider-man said without thinking. Woah. She's not a ninja assassin?

"Yes," Cheshire said in exasperation. "I said as much."

Spider-man nodded and crawled back up to the ceiling.

"Wait. Is that it?" Cheshire said in annoyance.

Spider-man waved at her and disappeared. He made it to the roof and sighed in relief. At least I know it's not Mila. But then who. It's not like I know the players in Gotham. And now there's the Spider to look into. She thought I was a mercenary. That's definitely not a good thing. So many questions and no idea where to get answers. Peter snapped his fingers. There's one more person I know I can go to for answers. With a thwip of his webs, he was off once more.