Peter felt his spider-sense flare. He moved out of the way of an incoming attack, but just as he did, a body slammed into him. As he lay flat on his back on the sofa with a sai at his neck and staring up at a cat mask, he had to ask himself whether or not becoming Mila's nephew had been a good idea or not. Probably not since his close encounters with vigilantes and hired hands had skyrocketed since meeting the woman.

"Who are you?" Peter asked since the woman hadn't said anything. She was just staring at him, trying to intimidate him. It didn't have the effect she'd hoped.

"Cheshire." She didn't move back but didn't offer anything further.

"Like the cheese, they sell in Connecticut?" Peter asked, tilting his head to the side. The Sai lightly scraped across his Adam's apple. He held perfectly. It made no sense to let that thing accidentally break skin. It was coated with poison. He could smell it but couldn't identify it. For all he knew, it could merely paralyze him. Then again, this woman was a ninja assassin, so his best guess was that it could kill him. So maybe now, he was slightly intimidated.

"No! Why would I name myself after cheese?"

"Because it stinks as much as being a ninja assassin does," Peter said with a sarcastic smile.

"Oh, god, you're... annoying."

"Annoying is not knowing why a ninja would name herself after a beloved whimsical character?"

"Maybe I like the cat," she said. Peter could hear the smile in her voice.

"Do you also like attacking unarmed men who are in the middle of having an existential crisis?"

"Not... especially," she teased.

"So...what is this about? I mean, if you're going to kill me, I'd like to know why."

"You're an unknown element. I dislike unknown elements," Cheshire said flatly.

"Okay," Peter said, elongating the word. "Who hired you?"

"Mila."

"Why would Aunt Mila hire an assassin to kill me?"

"You aren't related by blood."

"You're allowed to choose your own family, Cheshire."

Cheshire moved back quickly but kept her sai in her hand. Peter used his elbows to sit up now that she wasn't pressing her knee too close to the family jewels or that poison up against his neck.

"I've heard that before."

"Are you going to tell me why Mila hired you to kill me?" Peter said, feeling a bit annoyed. Though it didn't make sense that Mila would do that. No, Cheshire was in the house for an entirely different reason, one that had nothing to do with Peter. He was almost certain of that.

"She didn't hire me to kill you," Cheshire said playfully. "I was hired to be her bodyguard while she gets her house back in order. But like I said—"

"Yeah, yeah. Unknown element," Peter said in annoyance. He'd faced foes for stupider reasons.

"Poison Ivy's plants disliked you. But they didn't kill you. Why is that?"

"I have no idea. They allowed me passage and just out of the blue, drugged me. I knew I couldn't trust them."

"Wait, you didn't trust them?"

"Of course not. Sentient plants with minds of their own. Would you trust them?"

"You hurt their feelings," Cheshire said and chuckled. She put her sai away and lifted her mask to get a better look at him. "Aw, poor things."

"What are you talking about?" Peter said, looking at her eyes that were dancing with amusement.

"Didn't you ever have to do that experiment in school where you had to be mean to one plant and nice to another?"

"Yeah, yeah. But what does that have to do—?"

"Plants are sentient, you said so yourself. They felt your distrust much like we can feel it from other people," Cheshire said with a wide smile as she walked around and pointed at him. "They got rid of you before you acted on your feelings. That's interesting. Very interesting."

"Why is that interesting?" Peter asked and craned his neck to look at her since she made her way to stand behind him.

Cheshire chuckled and slipped into the shadows. And just like that, her entire presence had disappeared.

"Just like the Cheshire Cat," Peter said and sighed. He settled back into the sofa and closed his eyes. "Vigilantes, henchmen, living plants, ninjas… Is this a welcome to Gotham City? Something wicked my way comes? Hmm. What comes after a ninja assassin? Hopefully, not zombies."

Peter got up and shuffled off to bed before a zombie did come into the house and tried to eat his brains. But at the very least, he didn't have to worry about Aiden or Mila. Not when Mila hired someone to protect them. And once again, his presence in the house felt utterly unnecessary.

Aiden had missed a week of school due to him almost being abducted a second time and Peter going missing for a few days. Not only that, but Mila wanted to make certain Aiden was safe from her ex-husband before she allowed him to return to his regular schedule. Mila felt guilty about having ignored the first attempt on them. But now that she'd set up Peter as a volunteer at the school and that there were no longer any threats, she decided it was time to let the boy out of her sights.

Cheshire was staying out of sight, but Peter knew she would stay near Mila at all times. Aiden was covered as well. Peter and Mila's new driver, who also posed as a second bodyguard for Aiden, would be accompanying the boy to school.

Peter had no idea that Mila had hired Todd to be such driver. Aiden had mentioned the Zoo incident but skipped the part about the bike ride to Batburger much to Peter's amusement. Mila found out that Todd had once been hired by Wayne himself and came highly recommended not only by him but also Oliver Queen, who was another super famous billionaire. Todd worked for a company called Harper Security based in New York. The owner, Roy Harper, has not only worked for the President himself but also led a team of heroes that called themselves the Titans until a few years back. He'd retired from hero work and decided to start his security firm.

Peter had to wonder what that said about Mila. If she surrounded herself with assassins and heroes, what did that mean exactly? Where was her moral compass? He had no idea what it was she did. How exactly did she fit in with the mob? Other than the warning Peter had received from Robin, Peter hadn't seen or heard her break the law. But that didn't exactly mean that she didn't have dealings in illegal activities. Only that she was able to delegate said activities to her underlings to keep her hands clean. Peter sighed and decided not to dwell on the matter. He would break free from her once he was confident that Casamento was no longer after Aiden and Mila. For now, he had a little boy he had to take to school.

Todd stayed in the car while Peter and Aiden made their way into the school. Because Aiden had missed a few days of school, he wanted to go straight to class to talk to his teacher about the schoolwork he'd missed. Since Peter was assigned to help out Aiden's teacher, he thought it was a good idea to introduce himself to her.

The teacher, a redhead who was most likely in her mid-twenties, was sitting behind the desk when Peter and Aiden walked in. Aiden waved in the teacher's direction when she turned to look at them.

"Aiden, it's good to have you back," the teacher said. "And you must be Richard, Aiden's cousin, and class volunteer."

"I don't go by Richard. Please, call me Peter," he told her with a nod. The teacher rolled away from the desk and moved closer to them. Peter didn't react to her being in a wheelchair which seemed to surprise her for some reason. "So you must be Ms. Gordon?"

"You can call me Barbara, only the students call Ms. Gordon," she said with a small smile.

Barbara, huh? What are the odds? And I wasn't looking for any Barbara's in Gotham. Wonder if she knows Todd?

"Barbara, it's good to meet you. But before you start ordering me around, Aiden needs to talk to you about the assignments he's missed."

"Of course," Barbara said with a small smile and then turned to face Aiden.

While Aiden spoke to his teacher, Peter walked around the room trying to get a feel for the kids and the curriculum. The last time he'd stepped foot in a classroom, he was teaching middle school science. Aiden was in the fourth grade but from what he saw on the back wall, it looked like the class was well rounded. There was a table with little ecosystems built inside shoeboxes. There were geography drawings to the left and a few stories written by the students to the right.

Peter fingered through a few of them. There were a couple about Batman but more about Superman. They were essays written as a tribute to their heroes. The one that grabbed Peter's attention was one titled 'An amazing woman'. The first sentence read, 'My hero is not Wonder Woman'. That made him smile. He quickly read the essay and found out it was about the girl's mother. He could agree with the essay since he felt the same way about his Aunt May as this girl did about her mother. He grimaced at the thought of her and idly wondered if he'd ever see her again. He really hoped that she and Mary Jane were safe. All he could do was hope that Tony would come through for him and watch over them in his absence.

It took him a moment to realize that the teacher was calling out to him. Peter turned towards her.

"The bell is about to ring. Would you like to accompany me to retrieve the class or would you rather stay behind and continue reading?"

"No, I, um, I'll come with you," Peter said and followed her, and Aiden out the door.

Already, spacing out, Parker. A great precedent you're setting for yourself.

As he made his way down to the hall behind Barbara and Aiden he spotted a dark-haired woman coming out of one of the classrooms. She looked familiar to him which made no sense he didn't know but a handful of people in Gotham. When she turned fully to face him he barely contained a growl. He quickly walked up to her and at her surprised expression, grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into the classroom.

"Why are you here?" Peter hissed angrily. He was taking full advantage of the fact that there were still no kids in the building.

"I work here," she said and gestured to the classroom at large.

Peter then noticed a bulletin board with her name in puffy cardboard letters. 'Ms. Bertenelli's 2nd-grade classroom' and pictures of the students beneath that with their birthdates on display.

Helena pulled her arm out of his grasp and walked around him. "The next time you come at me with the intent to grab me, it would be best not to be in such a public place." She looked at him over her shoulder and winked. "Dinner would also be nice."

Peter stayed in his spot mouth agape for a few seconds before he mentally shook his head. Did she just flirt with me? He hurried to follow her since he'd already lost Barbara and had no idea which hallway led where. That was why he'd wanted to follow Aiden's teacher so that he could get a lay of the land. He just hadn't expected to run into the Huntress of all people. A second-grade teacher. What were the odds?

"Am I supposed to think it's a coincidence that you work in the same school that Aiden attends?" Peter said in a low voice so that the other teachers standing around Helena who were also coming up to their lined-up students wouldn't hear.

"Have you considered the fact that the only reason Aiden attends this particular public school is because I work here?" she challenged.

"What is your relationship with Mila?" Peter said undeterred.

"Your teacher is waiting for you," Helena said with an amused lilt in her voice.

"What?" Peter said stupidly.

Helena turned around and gestured to Peter with her chin. He turned to look and saw Barbara looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Well, that's annoying. I'm already in trouble with the teacher. Peter could hear Helena greeting her students and in his annoyance turned to look at her with his tongue out. The kids who saw him started to giggle. Peter had to quickly try to act casually when she turned around to look at him. He failed spectacularly. Before she could say anything about his awkward demeanor or the kids could tattle, he briskly walked away.