Anything in Italic means the character is thinking.
Emotions, the second test and the truth
Peter's mind was blown, there was no other way to describe it. He was about to basically have a house given to him, paychecks included. Alfred had fortunately found a suit that fitted Peter, although he advised to eventually go buy others of his personal taste. He was waiting at a giant table that looked like it would be meant for 30 people for his first real meal since 2 days.
Being able to last longer without eating does not equal being able to survive without any food. Peter hungrily thought while Alfred brought him a platter. When Peter saw what was inside he almost started to drool from hunger. Which was amusing to Alfred since it reminded him of Bruce when he was younger.
"What are you waiting for? It's not going to eat itself Mr. Parker."
Peter tore through the chicken in record time under the slightly amused sight of the old man. After he was done Alfred told him to follow and Peter, with his platter, followed.
"It is now time to explain the job you will have to do in Master Bruce's manor…"
Later…
"And this is where you will be staying sir." Alfred said as he opened the door to a room which, in Peter's opinion, broke reality. There was everything: a window that lead outside, a big closet, a bed that was probably meant for two, and other pieces of furniture.
"Are you sure that Mr. Wayne will accept that?"
"He chose it for you himself."
Even if Peter was still trying to get how Alfred knew Batman, his mind was blank except for the life he was being given.
"Master Bruce will join you shortly." He was about to leave when Peter stopped him.
"Thank you sir, this is probably the best gift I will ever receive in my life."
"Don't say that, you still have many years ahead of you. Arrange your room how you like while waiting if you want." With these words he left. Peter started to move some furniture so he could be comfortable, well, more comfortable anyway.
A few minutes later Bruce opened the door and looked around the room. For a homeless boy he is quite strong, he managed to move all this by himself. He was starting to have an answer to the existence of Peter Parker, but he still needed more proof.
"Now is the time to get you in Gotham's system since Alfred explained the job to you." He gave a watch to Peter. "This will make us able to call you if need be. Come with me, we will start by opening you a bank account so you can actually get paid, don't worry it will be linked to mine, you won't get robbed like last time." He assured.
After several hours, Peter officially had a "private" account. Well Bruce Wayne can see it but I got nothing to hide.
The steps had exhausted Peter and the thousands questions he was asked by the banker did not help as Bruce had to answer for most of them since he himself had no answer. He still could not believe the guy was so rich he could have a separate bank system only him and the owner could check.
"I hope it was not too tiring Peter." Bruce asked to an exhausted Peter who was barely keeping his eyes open.
"Sorry, I'm not used to this yet."
"Let's get something clear here: I want you to be honest with me, let's not start to lie to each other, I like to know my employees trust me and vice-versa."
Why oh why this again. Peter thought while crying mentally.
"Of course sir…I mean Master Bruce."
Bruce smiled a little. Even if I know he is hiding something, it was worth a try. He is too pure for his own good, he's a bad liar, he did not react when I mentioned his "family's" robbery. At least I know there is some good people in this world.
When they arrived at the manor Bruce gave a piece of paper to Peter, when he checked it he realised it was a paycheck.
"To start you up a bit, that way you can make your room like you really want and maybe go a little shopping." Bruce said to a wide-eyed Peter.
"You are sure you did put the amount you wanted?" Peter asked as he saw the three-thousand dollar check in his hand. Bruce openly laughed at that.
"I'm sure, you may believe rich people in this city are selfish, and you are most of the time right, but I'm not, think of it as another form of thanks for helping me and accepting to work for me."
Peter did not know what to say, he had never been offered so much by one man.
"All I can say is thanks, thank you for giving me a place, in all definition of the word." Peter said seriously. He hated having to lie almost constantly, but saying the truth really removed a weight.
"I am glad to hear that, I do not require your services until tomorrow, so feel free to do what you wish until then, remember: the manor is also your home."
After the deposit and a last goodbye, Peter started "shopping" for his arachnid alter-ego that needed some materials and a sewing machine.
A few hours later…
Peter was just taking a last stroll around the street before changing to go to the clock tower when his Spider-sense kicked in. Damn. He quickly jumped in an alley to change and a few seconds later Spider-man was on the roof of an apartment. He listened closely to the seemingly angry conversation that was taking place, he could make out two voices. Luckily for him they were on the last floor with an open window, listening while on the roof was easy.
"The commissioner is her father, there is no way he say no to us if we get her now."
"Maybe, but you are forgetting Batman, he's always around the police, your plan is stupid, like the rest of them."
"I know where she is now, we can get her before dawn, before Batman comes out."
"Allright, but I warn you, we get caught, I will not rest until you are dead."
Geez those guys are really crazy, discussing a kidnapping while threatening each other, seriously?
He stayed hidden and when he saw the two men leave the apartment he followed silently, wanting to know more about this plan if possible. After several minutes they stopped in front of the GCPD and made a sign to each other. It started raining, hard.
And those are the moments when wearing a skin-tight suit is NOT practical. Peter thought as he frowned behind his mask. He saw the GCPD and noticed and big spotlight with a bat on it on a tower overlooking the police department. He took note of that.
"There she is…" One of the men said. Spidey turned to see and what he saw almost made his mind go blank.
This is the commissioner's daughter? Why is there no bodyguards or policemen with her?
His train of thoughts was interrupted when one of the men ran up to her, making noise. She turned back then started to run, but she strangely did not seem terrorized like Spider-man would have thought, she seemed stressed but not in complete panic. He followed them and she suddenly turned in an alley, making both the men turn and forcing Spider-man to side-step, the rain was obscuring his vision and he was almost entirely relying on his Spider-sense for orientation.
She ran quickly for a young girl, unfortunately she ran in a dead end and turned back to see the two men. Unaware to all of them, Spider-man was seeing everything, he was about to jump when he suddenly saw six men entering the alley. Where did those come from? He looked at the girl, now vastly outnumbered and decided it was time to act.
"You're coming with us honey, no need to tell you what happens if you don't. Commissioner Gordon would not like to hear his dear Barbara was…let's say "hurt" while he was away don't you think?"
Time to make them afraid. The sun was almost gone and he felt like making them scared, he did not know why, but seeing them threaten this young girl did something. He did not know what.
"She won't be the one to be hurt if you don't leave." Peter said in a more grave voice than usual.
"It's the Bat! I told you he would be there you moron!" The men started to run but there was no way out, both way out of the alley were completely blocked by thick webbing, obstructing the sun even more for them.
"It's not Batman you should be concerned about right now."
"Where are you coward!? Show yoursAH!" He yelled before being suddenly pulled in the sky.
"I am Spider-man, Batman would not waste his time on pathetic hoodlums like you." He landed in front of the rest of them and threw the man on them. "But I think that someone needs to tell the criminals that the streets are not safer during the day." With these words he jumped in the fray.
Barbara did not believe it, she was starting to think Spider-man just waited for occasions to save her.
I still can't believe Bruce was right, he told me that Spider-man was a special individual, but I did not think he was that special. She thought as she once again saw the ease Spider-man demonstrated while fighting, no one even getting close to touching him.
"It's funny how the criminals of this city are worthless! I mean there is eight of you and you can't touch me. Pretty sure she could kick your asses without my help." He mocked while fighting.
When he was done he webbed them together before walking to the girl who was still standing with her back to the wall, she had the most beautiful red hair he ever saw and seemed to be collected and strong, not afraid. He extended a hand to her. The rain slowly stopped.
Did this rain have a timer on it? He thought for a second.
"If you want to get out of this trap before the web dissolves in one hour, grab on, the police will take care of them." He said in a soft tone. She held on to him and she felt the rush of air when he jumped over the building onto the roof, as he was about to jump down to the street with her she spoke.
"How did you know they were after me?" He looked at her and slightly tilted his head.
"I overheard a conversation concerning the daughter of the commissioner, so I decided to follow and try to learn more, their boss is going to be real disappointed."
"Thank you Spider-man."
"No problem, always there to help. Did we meet before? Your voice sounds familiar…"
"I think I would remember if I met someone like you." She said almost in panic.
"Right, want a lift back to the GCPD? You can tell your dad all about it."
"I am pretty sure the cops are already on their way here."
She held him again and he lowered both of them to the ground, at the instant they touched the ground he heard sirens. He let go of her.
"Thank you again."
"My pleasure." He answered, then started to swing away as the police cars arrived, leaving Barbara behind.
"Time for some research, those guys meant business, there must be a clue somewhere."
Spider-man went back to the apartment he heard the men talk, luckily for him the pursuit was fairly linear and his Spider-sense helped for spotting some landmarks.
When he finally arrived he got in by the window and started to search the drawers and under the bed first. He found a pistol but he guessed that like in New York most people had one somewhere. When he found nothing useful he looked in less obvious hiding places. After a while he was desperately searching in the clothes in the closet when something fell from one pocket: It was a playing card, a joker. He kept the card then continued to look for a while. Noticing the time he left and swung his way to the biggest clock tower in Gotham.
Well this was a rather pleasant day, now for the infamous test of Batman.
Later…on the top of the clock tower
I think I was early…Spider-man thought as he waited for Batman to show up, he had been counting stars for the last fifteen minutes. He looked at the giant clock and realized he's been there for thirty minutes and no sign of Batman. Suddenly he had an idea: What if this was the test?
He said to meet him at the clock tower…I thought he would mean Gotham's biggest clock tower…I'm so stupid! This is the test, he wants to know if I can find him. He's about to be surprised…
He started to swing from building to building fast.
Where do bats like to hang out? Dark and old places where no one goes. The old clock tower…It's as good as any guess.
He swung there and just as he landed on it he heard a small sound and looked behind him to see Batman.
"How did you figure it out?" Batman asked.
"I asked to myself what kind of location are host to bats, the answer: old and dark place where they can sleep in peace. It made sense that you would go here, there's no one to disturb us since it's abandoned."
He's good, it was not that easy, it's not the fastest record, but it shows good deducing skills. Batman thought as he took note of his progress.
"Good, tell me, what happened since our last meeting?" Spidey started to count raising his fingers
"Mmmm….I saved an entire block from being blown to bits close to Wayne manor, I visited the city a bit… Oh and I saved the daughter of the commissioner a few hours ago.
That last event made Batman stop his train of thoughts.
"You saved Barbara Gordon?"
"Yeah, she was about to get kidnapped by a bunch of hoodlums, I overheard them speaking so I followed in the hope to find a potential crime boss until they lead me to her. I am considering to maybe make her and Bruce Wayne a priority protection target since someone seems to want their head for some reason, my guess is that they want something from the commissioner since they mentioned him during their conversation. Although I think that it's all linked based on some small homework I did while patrolling.
My test of today was to test his awareness and his deducing skill, well he already did it. It raises questions about the last few days.
"And what did you deduce from your "homework"?" Batman said with an irritated yet curious tone.
"I went close to the GCPD today and I saw the big bat-spotlight. You're obviously working in pair with someone there, commissioner Gordon is a good guess since he's almost the only one to take your defense in the papers and they said you were always close to the police. Barbara Gordon is his daughter, when they talked they mentioned the fact he could not say no to anything they would ask if they had her. Maybe they would have tried either to force Gordon to do something or even get to you somehow. As for Wayne he's the missing piece in my homework, he's out of place. I mean yeah kidnapping someone close to him for a ransom seems logic for criminals, but I don't know any links between Wayne and them, apart from taking advantage of Wayne's good nature, there's nothing I really know, and criminals don't have this kind of reasoning, not these idiots at least."
"That's all? No other clues from those kidnappers?"
"In a way, after I made sure Barbara was safe I came back to the house the men were talking and I searched around, I only found this." He showed the playing card to Batman and the latter suddenly became angry and frowned deeply, it was not that easy to make out emotions when you only saw half his face.
"An acquaintance of yours I presume?"
"This is the calling card of my worst enemy, the Joker."
"Just by the name I can tell he's no joking matter." Spider-man laughed internally at his horrible pun until he saw Batman's death stare.
"Indeed he is not, he is a monster, cruel and cunning. He is crazy but he may be the most dangerous criminal I've faced. He has an obsession with me, he is always trying to make me kill him, knowing I won't despite his actions."
"Yeah I know one like that. Does he know your identity?"
"If he does, I am not aware of it. We can't be sure until we find him." He declared, then started to walk away.
"What about the test?" Spider-man asked in curiosity.
"You passed it when you told me about your homework, today's test was to see your deducing skills and your awareness of details. Now come with me to the cave, we have things to do, get in the car."
"Car? I don't see any…" He was interrupted by what look like a black tank parking close to them with blinding speed.
"How awesome is that!? You sure got all the toys, I call shotgun."
"No" Batman simply answered and opened a compartment in the back of the Batmobile.
"Come on, seriously? You're putting me in the back of the car?"
"Yes, climb on."
After a sigh Peter got on a seat and the Batmobile closed itself back, blocking his view of the outside while keeping him seated.
At least I'm not tied up, but this is still unhealthy. He grumbled under his mask.
In the Batcave…
"I swear to god next time you hit a speed bump at like four thousand miles per hour I'm breaking out of my seat and just sticking to the hood." The web-slinger complained.
Alfred was still there, which bothered Peter to no end since it made a theory he could not share with Batman without compromising his mission.
"Batman I am a little worried, my new assistant has not returned for the night and his watch is not responding." Alfred finally said, which made Spider-man flinch a little.
Batman turned a little and saw the reaction of Spider-man. That was the proof he wanted, now he could be more at ease around him. He still had some questions before their alliance could be complete.
"While the computer is searching for every known Joker hideout, maybe you could tell me something personal."
"Uh…"
"What do you think of Batgirl? I see you acted strange last time you were here with her, you seemed to have blanks from time to time."
Both the butler and the hero jumped at this sudden question.
"Be honest, I will know if you lie." Batman warned.
Spider-man hung his head low for a second then raised it.
"I honestly don't know, all I know is that I feel weird when she's there, I can't explain. The same thing happened with Barbara Gor…" He stopped for a second, realising the similarities, the complete lack of fear when confronted with the criminals, the same red hairs…The same build…The same eyes…The same voice…
"No, it can't be…" He said, astonished he did not see it sooner.
Batman suddenly turned toward him and, totally disregarding the computer, spoke. He knew the questions would have to wait.
"No need to hide it anymore, you proved your loyalty and your worth already and it is time for us to be frank." Batman said gravely. "Your story intrigues me, my guess is that you told the truth for the most part, but there isn't many young men that have such a colorful history without any record to show for it. Nor heroes that magically appear at the same time. I admit I studied you with my tests and my questions, but I had to know if I could trust you. Your reactions, your humor, the same maturity and responsibility in both. The mask may hide your voice and the costume may conceal your body, but your mind and personality betrays you, Peter Parker." Batman said as he saw the slightest of tension in Spider-man's body and Alfred's stupefied expression. "It took me a while to figure it out because it did not make sense at first that someone like Peter Parker, a frail nineteen year-old, could be a superhero, but your actions and your words spoke for themselves." He concluded as he knew that Spider-man was unmasked. But suddenly the latter raised his head and crossed his arms.
"It took all of that to find out? I had a theory the second I saw Alfred. It was indeed quite the conundrum, but your money, your good nature, your unusual build and Alfred spoke for themselves, Bruce Wayne." He smiled as he saw Batman almost cringe at the riposte. "I guess that we were not honest to each other huh? Now can we be? Let's work together, I honestly don't really care who you are, all it does is explaining some stuff, I don't see you differently than before, in fact it just makes me admire you more since you find ways to help even while having two different lives. The only difference now is that we can speak freely, and I get to have gadgets." He said in a happy tone.
At least there's one worry out the window.
Bruce was extremely impressed, it took mere days for Peter to find out what his enemies still don't know after years of fighting and sometime compromising actions. He was Batman, and Peter was Spider-man, that's all. He will still have to work on his maturity and some training though.
"Alfred, show Spider-man around the cave while I work on the case, come back when you're done."
Spider-man jumped while lowly yelling "yes", action which made Batman roll his eyes.
As the web-slinger left with Alfred, asking the latter millions of questions, Bruce looked at the card and then at the computer.
"You won't get away, wherever you're hiding, I'll always be there to stop you.
There's the sixth chapter. Hope you enjoyed!
