Mila had her attorney, Freddie Rios, at her house first thing the next morning. Peter wasn't sure what to think of that. He tried to tell Mila that he wasn't her nephew a few times, but each time she cut him off with German expletives. And Peter thought his aunt May was scary when she was angry. Peter tried and tried to get her to listen but eventually gave up. The attorney, however, made it clear to him that once Mila set her mind to something there was no changing it. When Peter asked the attorney what would happen to Mila's ex-husband if he took Richard's identity, Rios waved off his fears saying that in order for Cassamento to be exonerated a DNA test would need to be ordered by a judge to prove whether or not Peter was the previously deceased Richard. Then the attorney laughed and said Cassamento would be staying in jail until he completed his sentencing. He told Peter that they were not filing to bring Richard back to life rather they were allowing him, Peter, to use Richard's name. In other words, Mila was adopting him. They were using Richard's name so that it would be easier for Peter to get a job in Gotham since he had no identity. It was a favor he shouldn't turn down. Peter felt like that was a threat but he didn't say anything about it. And he really shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. He wasn't doing anything illegal, per se. Not to mention, it eased his mind that Mila knew Peter wasn't her nephew come to life.

That same day, thanks to the connections Mila had, Peter's new identity was established and he was issued a driver's license, a bank account, and an apartment in the city. Rios was practically glued to his side all day. At the end of it, Peter was glad to see the man leave. Of course, before he left the attorney let him know that Mila was expecting him for breakfast the following day. Peter sat in his new apartment feeling completely drained. And just as he was drifting off to sleep a knock on the window had him wide-awake on the instant. When he looked over, he saw Robin waving at him with one hand while holding a box of pizza in the other. Peter sighed and went to the window to let the young man in.

"Have you been following me all day?" Peter said in annoyance while he took the box from the boy.

"I didn't have to," Robin said with a smirk. "The USB I gave you has a tracker."

Peter gave him an unimpressed look before he bit into a slice of pizza. After chewing and swallowing, he sighed. "So what do you really want? I doubt you came here just to wake me up and feed me. Not that I'm complaining about the pizza."

Robin smiled. "I wanted to know what you were going to do."

"About what, Cassamento?"

Robin nodded.

"I'm not Richard, I mean, I am Richard, now, but I'm not that Richard. The dead Richard. In other words, Cassamento is staying in jail for murdering the other Richard so you and Huntress can rest easy."

"Really?" Robin said, a little surprised.

"Yeah, the attorney, Freddie Rios, basically said nothing could get him exonerated," Peter said with a shrug and plopped down into his couch. He took another bite of his slice.

"Oh, well that's good news."

"Mm-hmm."

"So what's going to happen to you now?" Robin said, gesturing to the apartment. "You work for Mila now?"

"Uh," Peter said and shrugged. "I guess?"

Robin sighed. "Look, uh, what's your name?"

"Peter, er," he had to stop himself before he called himself Peter Parker. "Richard Peter, but just call me Peter. It's weird to be called Richard, you know?" he said and took another bite to keep himself from rambling.

"She gave you his name?" Robin asked and Peter nodded. "But you're not him?"

"Nope."

"Do you know who you are?"

"Uh," Peter shifted in his seat. That was a loaded question. Because yeah, he knew who he was. But he couldn't say. Playing an amnesiac was not easy. Mila was doing him a bigger favor than she knew. Having him assume the identity of a previously deceased man and him actually not knowing anything other than what Robin shared with him helped with the entire loss of memory schtick.

"Right, the amnesia," Robin said and looked at him as if he were assessing him. "Do you want to find out who you really are? I can help you—"

"No," Peter said, cutting him off. "It's not necessary. Besides, Mila already went through all the trouble of setting me up and…" Peter sighed. He felt like an idiot. But if Robin looked into his whereabouts, maybe it would lead him to the lab, and Peter would rather not have anyone look into that. Nope. That was a terrible idea. He was better off being Richard Peter until he found a way back to his own dimension.

"And now you're stuck under her thumb," Robin said and crossed his arms over his chest. "Look, Peter, Mila isn't the best person to be working for...do you understand?"

"Hey, I'm not going to suddenly become a mobster or anything," Peter said defensively. "She just..." reminds me of family "...look, I don't know what I'm going to do but I'm not going to break the law. She asked me to help her protect her son. As far as I know, that's not illegal. And I don't mind either."

Robin nodded. "If you ever feel like you're in over your head, you can call me for help."

"Oh yeah, you have a Robin signal I can light up or something?" Peter said with an amused smile.

Robin huffed and pulled a card out of his utility belt. "That's my number."

"Not that I'm not flattered," Peter said with a raised brow. "But you're a little too young for me."

"Very funny," Robin deadpanned, making Peter laugh. "Seriously, if you're in hot water give me a call."

"Sure," Peter said, knowing it wouldn't be necessary. He could take care of himself just fine, thank you very much. He was Spider-man. Not that he could tell anyone that. He held back a sigh. He should at least be grateful that he didn't end up in the microverse or up in space or something equally foreign. Not that Gotham wasn't foreign. But it at least reminded him of New York. Sure, a grittier, darker, gloomier version of New York but it still felt sort of felt like home.

"Goodnight," Robin said and headed for the window.

"Thanks for the pizza," Peter said and waved with a new slice in his hand.

He reached into his pocket for the USB drive once Robin was out of sight and crushed it in his hand before he went to the trash to drop the damaged piece inside. A tracker? What else would he do? He looked towards the window and idly wondered whether or not Robin had bugged his place. Probably, but I'm too tired to give a damn right now. Peter finished off his slice of pizza before he went back to bed and succumbed to deep sleep in a matter of minutes.

"Freddie spoke to the Huntress," Mila told Peter during breakfast the following day. "You don't have to worry about her harassing you further. If any of the bats come to you, let me know. I'll make sure they back off."

"Of course, Mila." Peter swallowed. He wasn't sure what she meant by that and he frankly, didn't want to know. Mila was a strong capable woman and he'd rather not delve into what she did or how she did it. It was clear to Peter, even before Robin's warning, that Mila was part of the mob in some way. He didn't care to know more than that. A part of being Spider-man was to protect people, all people. Mila and Aiden may be targeted again. And until he knew for certain that they were safe, he was going to do his part to protect them. And even though Batman and the others were keeping an eye on Mila for now, they would eventually stop. Peter knew that first hand. They couldn't only protect one person when there was a city of people in need. Gotham didn't need Spider-man when it had Batman. But Mila and Aiden did need him.

The night that Peter met Mila her personal bodyguard had been killed on their drive home from a friend's house. They stopped at a red light where someone walked up the car and pulled the driver out. Another goon went for the passengers when the bodyguard stepped out. Both the driver and bodyguard were killed before Mila took the wheel. She was herded towards the pier where she got out to take cover with her son but was quickly found and soon after that, Peter stepped in to help.

Mila wasn't going to be able to replace her bodyguard easily. The man had been at her side for over twenty years. And so Peter was tasked with the job of shadowing the new bodyguard on Aiden's outings. Mila would not be cowed and she would not allow her son to become a shut-in. Peter wasn't too happy to leave Mila alone with only her business partner, who just so happened to be her closest friend, while he accompanied Aiden his appointment with the speech therapist but there wasn't much he could do. Especially when Mila reassured him with a, "I have business to attend to and will be fine on my own. Aiden is—vee zahgt mahn (how you say?)—not capable to be on his own. He is a babe, you understand? You will go with him."

"I understand," Peter said and sighed. "Not that I like it." Of course, that last part he said under his breath.

Mila narrowed her eyes at him but refrained from saying anything. She needed Peter to watch her son. She couldn't trust anyone in her employ. For the time being, she didn't even trust Aiden to be in her company. She was a target, not her son. So she made certain to make time with her son the day prior. She needed him to understand who Peter was and why he was going to be around. She knew her boy would become attached to the young man. But there wasn't much she could do in that respect. She'd seen Peter a few weeks back and had someone watch him. At first, she had believed that he was her nephew. But it was only wishful thinking on her part. She hadn't wanted to approach him but it seemed like destiny had her own thoughts on the matter. Seeing Peter stand up for her and Aiden to those lowlifes Mila knew she could trust him. The young man had done nothing but help others while he was at the shelter. He'd even turned down an offer from Wayne. To her, that spoke volumes of his character. She knew he wouldn't be easily bought. And she was very much aware that the only reason he'd stuck around was to further protect them. She didn't understand how someone could be so selfless but she would pay him back with her resources and welcome him into her family as if he was her nephew.

Peter accompanied Aiden to his appointment and since Mila had said something about a mid-morning meeting he decided to take Aiden to the park before lunch. But Aiden had different plans, he wanted to go to the zoo. He had to make sure that was okay with the bodyguard who gave the okay once he'd made a quick call to Mila.

Much to Peter's surprise, the Gotham Zoo was quite pleasant. There were plenty of people enjoying the day with their families and young children. Even the animals seemed to be in a good mood. Aiden enjoyed the giraffe exhibit the most. Especially when one got close enough to them to lick Peter's face instead of taking the food Aiden had been offering. Peter thought it was disgusting but Aiden found it hilarious. Hearing the little boy laugh sent Peter into a fit of chuckles as well. And the whole incident had been captured on film by a zoo employee. Peter was given a card with instructions so that he could purchase and download the pictures online.

At some point, while Peter was in-line to buy snacks with Aiden at his hip, he felt his spider-sense flare-up. No matter where he turned to look, there was no danger around. With the exception of the bodyguard, who was missing, nothing else seemed amiss. Peter didn't know if the bodyguard had skipped out on them. Maybe he'd followed a potential target or could have been abducted by whoever was after Mila. Peter decided it was time to cut the zoo visit short. He checked his pockets for Robin's card. Peter knew he could protect Aiden, but he wasn't so sure if he could fight someone or a group of someones with Aiden in his arms. Because that's where Aiden would stay until he was sure they were out of harm's way.

"Alright, Aiden, I think it's best to leave for now," Peter told him as he looked into the boy's eyes. Aiden pouted a little and Peter could imagine his complaint in the manner. But Aiden seemed to know that it was best not to protest. "I just need to call someone…" Peter looked around hoping to see a pay phone somewhere. But he knew there wouldn't be one. It was the age of cell phones after all. But it didn't hurt to look. He might get lucky and run into—"Oof!"

"Hey, sorry about that," said the voice of whoever had bumped into Peter. "Are you two okay?"

"Yeah," Peter said, gripping Aiden a little tighter. He noticed then that the other guy was only a few years younger than him. Dark-haired, blue-eyed with an easy smile. He wore a brown leather jacket paired with jeans. So maybe not one of the mobsters looking for Aiden. "I'm sorry too, I was distracted." Then he noticed the guy had a cell phone in his hand. Peter pointed at it. "Do you mind? I need to make a call. It's kind of an emergency."

"Uh, sure," the guy said and handed the phone over.

Peter looked around and not seeing or feeling any danger he put Aiden down to fish the card Robin had given him out of his pocket. He dialed the number while the other guy cast him a curious look as he stared at the card with a raised brow. Then Peter heard a phone ring not too far from him. If it wasn't for the fact that he could hear better than most, he wouldn't have known that the person who answered the call and the voice he heard fifty feet away was the same guy. Robin was definitely stalking him. Peter rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"In different circumstances, I would be angry that you're actually at the zoo right now," Peter said as an answer looking in the direction he knew Robin was in. He just couldn't see him.

"How'd you know?" Robin said in a small voice.

"Doesn't matter," Peter said and rubbed Aiden's shoulder. "Arman is missing." He said missing instead of abducted—though he wasn't too sure that was what happened—for Aiden's benefit. He really hoped Robin knew what he meant.

"Not missing, he left," Robin told him.

"I was hoping that wasn't what happened," Peter said and gave the stranger who'd let him borrow his phone a just-one-more-minute gesture. "Uh, so, on another note, I need a Rüber."

The stranger snorted. Peter smiled at him.

"Right," Robin said, sounding annoyed. "Pass the phone to the guy who's with you."

"O-kay," Peter said warily and handed off the phone. "It's Robin, like Batman's whatever. He wants to talk to you."

The stranger laughed a little then cleared his throat before answering the call.

"Yeah," said the stranger.

Peter lifted Aiden back into his arms and looked around again.

"Yeah, yeah, got it." The stranger hung up the phone and pointed at Peter. "Alright, you're coming with me. I was just hired to be your personal bodyguard. So, where are we off to?"

Peter's spider-sense flared. It was a lot stronger than it had been earlier.

"First off, run!" Peter said and took off in a sprint as a couple of goons came out of hiding. They were barreling towards them. The stranger stayed at Peter's back shouting off directions for Peter then lagged behind. Peter heard a few shots go off and turned just to see a guy holding on to his bloody leg and the stranger coming towards him. Further away, he could hear the sounds of a fight. He knew it was Robin and felt a pang of guilt. But it couldn't be helped. Aiden came first.

"He can't run after us now," the stranger said with a grin. At Peter's horrified look, he scoffed. "He isn't," he looked at Aiden then twisted his lips, "...going to stop breathing anytime soon. So chill."

"Sure, say that while random people are screaming and running wild in a zoo. You don't think there's something wrong with this picture?" Peter said exasperatedly gesturing to the other zoo guests who'd panicked at the sound of the gunshots. Aiden laughed at Peter's enthusiastic gestures. Peter felt a little bad for the boy. He was already used to a certain level of violence and somehow this situation was funny to him. At the very least, he isn't scared.

The stranger rolled his eyes at Peter and ruffled Aiden's hair once they hid behind an employee only access gate. Then he lifted his phone to his ear, said a few words, and repocketed it. "Got the all clear, let's go."

"Yeah, as soon as you promise not to shoot that thing again," Peter said standing his ground. He pointed to the gun still in the stranger's hands. He gave a pointed look towards Aiden.

The stranger put the gun back into its holster within the jacket and lifted his hands showing Peter the back and the front of them. "Happy now?"

"Happy-er," Peter corrected. They made their way to the exit only running into security who were heading in the direction they'd come in. "How'd you get that past security anyway?"

"I used the employee entrance."

Peter shook his head. Does Robin really trust this guy? He'd heard that Batman was somewhat ruthless but he didn't think he worked with gun-wielding mercenaries. Or that Robin would. Because he figured that that was what this guy was.

"How do you know Robin?"

"Uh," the guy faltered a step and looked at Peter with a frown. "Working relationship?"

"You're not sure?" Peter said skeptically.

"I don't know what I can tell you," the stranger said.

"Really? You don't trust me?" Peter lifted his one free hand in exasperation. "The guy with the gun doesn't trust me. You believe this guy?" He directed that question to Aiden who simply giggled at his dramatics.

The guy waved a dismissive hand. "Not for my sake. His. He wears a mask for a reason."

"Oh, yeah, I guess I can understand that," Peter said and adjusted Aiden on his hip. "So what do I call you?"

"Uh," he looked over at Peter when he came to a stop. He turned back to look around the corner of a building before he gestured them forward again. Then he smirked. "Todd. You can call me Todd."

"Alright, Todd. I'm Peter and this is Aiden," Peter told him and pointed at Aiden. "We need to stop and get some food for this guy at some point."

"Sure, we can go to Batburger afterward," Todd said with a wide smile.

"Batburger?" Peter said and seeing Aiden nod emphatically, he smiled. "Batburger it is."