Peter knew a thing or two about being framed. He was the poster boy for the word. Anyone who had a gripe about anything the first person they blamed was Spider-man. Jolly Jonah made certain of it. When he told Officer Grayson he came up with the idea that someone was framing Mila from a movie, he lied. It was from experience. The murders were too convenient. The victims were not only connected to her but had betrayed her. It was easy to believe they were killed in retaliation. But what was the real motive? Peter didn't know. He'd never had a penchant for thinking like a villain. You wouldn't find the phrase 'What would Gobby do?' in his repertoire of catchphrases. As a matter of fact, if he ever found himself thinking like the Goblin he'd turn himself into Ravencroft.
Cheshire set his mind at ease. Peter figured if anyone knew what Mila was up to, her bodyguard was it. A bodyguard was like a housekeeper, they were privy to family secrets no one else had access to. Then again, for all he knew, she could have straight up lied to this Spider person that she thought he was. From what she said, Peter surmised that the Spider she knew was a gun for hire. He also inferred that they trained under the same sensei. That didn't mean they were close. Only that they knew each other's moves and were the most likely to be able to take the other out. Peter didn't know any mercenaries that had friends or that befriended other mercenaries. They were all each other's competition. But Chesire had been convincing. At the very least about Mila not ordering the hits but not necessarily about not knowing who was behind them.
Peter knew when not to push especially in the case of mistaken identity. Which had been the case with him since he started to kick it with Mila. And of course, when he donned the spider suit. How was he to know that a spider entity was operating in this reality as a mercenary of all things? One thing he was certain of was that he needed to go back to his red and blue suit. But making a new suit would have to wait. He didn't know whether or not it would be helpful to be mistaken for a bad guy with this next guy. But he had played the part of a blood-sucking spider to intimidate a criminal before. Intimidation he could do. Scare the pants off of someone? That could be funny depending on the situation. He would just have to play it by ear.
Peter arrived at a penthouse apartment and snuck in through the living room window. The entire place was dark. The occupants had already called it a night. Peter found Freddie asleep in bed next to his...boyfriend/spouse/life partner? He really didn't want to do this but he didn't have much choice. He carefully picked up the man and carried him to the kitchen. The man was a heavy sleeper. Didn't even notice when Peter placed him in a chair and webbed him up. He webbed up the man's mouth last before he splashed some water in his face. Freddie woke with a jerk and a muffled scream. His eyes darted every which way until they landed on Peter. Though to Freddy Rios, it was the Spider-merc who was standing before him. His eyes practically bugged out of his face. His heart raced and his breathing quickened.
"Calm down. I'm not going to kill you," Peter told him in a low voice. That seemed to send Freddie into a more frantic state. "Okay. Bad choice of words. But seriously, calm down. Your husband," Peter had noticed the wedding band on the man's left hand when he webbed him up, "is asleep in the other room. I wouldn't want to wake him up just so that I have to web him up to a chair too. You don't want me to do that, right?"
Freddie shook his head.
"Good. I need to ask you a few questions and then I'll go. I just need to take the webbing off your face but you have to promise not to scream. Because if you do, your husband will wake up, and well, neither of us wants that."
Freddie looked over towards his bedroom but he couldn't see his husband from where he sat. He was two rooms and a hallway over.
"He's sleeping peacefully. You don't need to worry about him. Now let's get that webbing off your mouth," Peter said and eyed the man carefully. "No screaming."
Freddie nodded. Peter pulled the webbing away. Freddie swallowed but didn't make a sound. Peter smiled under his mask. The man was still scared senseless but he was being brave. That was good.
"First question, do you know who's killing Mila's former crew?"
Freddie frowned and shook his head.
"You seem confused. Why?"
"Why do you care?" Freddie said and Peter crossed his arms over his chest. Freddie swallowed. "I mean, Black Spider is a known mercenary... and you're not even from Gotham…" Freddie trailed off when Peter took a step closer. "I don't know anything. I'm just an attorney. I wouldn't know anything about that."
"Really? You work for a woman who's the head of a mob family—"
"Former," Freddie interjected. When Peter tilted his head he cleared his throat. "Mila was never the head of the mob. Her ex was. She owns his former businesses but she isn't taking part in anything illicit. Well, nothing that I'm aware of and that includes ordering hits. But even if she was, I wouldn't know. All our business is in the up and up."
"Is that so?"
Freddie nodded. "I wouldn't be working for her if it wasn't. Her name carries clout but that's it. Most of her business partners aren't even from Gotham."
"What about her territory?"
"Ok. That's...that's true. She continues to have a hold on the territory that once belonged to her ex but she isn't racketeering or selling drugs."
Peter narrowed his eyes. He didn't believe him.
"I know it sounds unbelievable. But she doesn't want to have anything to do with any of that."
"How does she stay in control of her territory? That doesn't make any sense."
"The Red Hood...he, uh, he controls the drug trade and other illicit business dealings in her territory."
"What?" Peter was really confused. The Red Hood was a vigilante that worked with Batman. Wasn't he?
"But you didn't hear that from me."
Peter had a lot more questions that weren't going to be answered by Freddie. But at the very least he was further convinced that Mila hadn't killed those men.
"Why does the GCPD think Mila is behind the murders? And why do they consider her a mob boss?"
Freddie opened his mouth then closed it. He did a few more times and then he shrugged. "She holds the title but she isn't...she really isn't. It's not something you could just escape from. Once you're part of the mob there's only one way out. And since she took control…" Freddie groaned. "It's complicated. But she's not a murderer. If you ask me, it's probably the cops that are behind the killings."
"The cops?" Peter said with a scoff.
"Like I said, you're not from Gotham. The only people worse than the mob bosses around here besides the crazy costume freaks are the dirty cops. And in Gotham, they're all dirty."
That was not what Peter expected to hear but he knew there were always dirty cops. But that they were all dirty? Peter didn't think that was true. He inwardly sighed. He had his work cut out for him. It wasn't going to be easy getting answers in a city he didn't know. Worst yet, from people who didn't know him. But maybe he could ask the Red Hood a few questions. Uh, if he webbed him up first. Maybe.
"The webbing will dissolve on its own. Give it another thirty minutes and it'll be loose enough for you to get out of it," Peter said as he made his way towards the window he came in from.
He heard Freddie whisper shout at him but Peter ignored him. He was two blocks over before his spider-sense flared. Peter jerked in surprise and dropped with a roll onto the nearest rooftop. He jumped up and bent his body awkwardly to avoid a bullet. But he didn't move in time for the second that hit him on his ribs.
"Augh!" Peter staggered back with the impact. One hand covering the wound the other stretched out ready to fire a web at the...Red Hood? He realized then that he wasn't bleeding. He was just sore where he'd taken the hit. What the hell? Was he bulletproof in this dimension?
"Black Spider," Red Hood said while pointing two guns at him. He was crouched on top of a refrigeration unit. "Why are you in Gotham?"
"Uh, funny story," Peter said and jumped back. A bullet ricocheted off the roof at the same time Peter had snagged one of Red Hood's guns with his web. "Can you stop with the shooting? You can kill someone. I mean, not me, I'm bulletproof," he showed him his dry hand as proof, "but, you know, other people."
Red Hood snorted.
"What? What's so funny?"
"I'm using rubber bullets," Red Hood told him with the tilt of his head.
"Oh," Peter said and looked at the gun in his hand. He threw it back at the Red Hood who caught it easily. "Uh, so that was awkward." Peter rubbed the back of his head. "Can you do me a favor and keep that on the down-low?"
"You know," Red Hood said holstering his guns, "when I got word you were in town, I thought, no way that idiot would try to sneak into my city on my turf. But here you are."
"Yeah, here I am. Except I'm not," Peter told him and fidgeted awkwardly. Red Hood didn't say anything. Peter sighed. "I'm not who you think I am." Peter plucked at his suit. "It's not even a black suit. It's navy blue. But everyone keeps confusing me with this Black Spider person. My name is Spider-man."
"Spider-man—?"
Peter suddenly flipped in the air and landed in a crouch with his back to the Red Hood. A pair of bolas rolled to a stop at the edge of the roof where Peter had been standing before.
"Eric," said a gruff voice.
"Uh, who the heck is Eric?" Peter said and stood up having recognized Batman's voice.
"The Black Spider's real name," Red Hood said from behind him with an amused tone.
"I warned you what I'd do if you came back to Gotham on Ra's al Ghul's orders," Batman said, stepping out of the shadows.
"Ghoul? As in a ghost?" Peter said confusedly. "Your mercenaries work for ghosts?"
Red Hood chuckled and jumped down to stand next to Peter. "As in the Demon Head; the leader of the League of Assassins."
"A demon ghost is in control of an entire league of assassins?" Peter looked at the Red Hood from the corner of his eye.
"He's not a ghost," Red Hood said with a shake of his head.
"Then why is he called Rassa Ghoul?"
"It's Ra's al Ghul. He's ancient like his name," Red Hood said with a shrug.
Batman had been listening to the entire conversation. He thought this man was Eric but unless Eric had amnesia…
"Who are you?" Batman said stepping closer to the two.
"Uh," Peter said pointing at himself. When Batman didn't make a move or say a word, he cleared his throat. "I'm Spider-man."
"Why are you in Gotham?"
"Uh," Peter looked at Red Hood. "Is he serious?" Red Hood cocked his head to the side as he looked at him. Peter wasn't sure how he knew, but he was certain that the Hood was smiling underneath the helmet. Peter looked at Batman. "Uh, I live here?"
Batman narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, you meant in this suit, right?" Peter said nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "I figured it would be the best way to look into something. But I didn't know about the Black Spider. And actually, this suit is navy. So unless everyone in Gotham is color blind, it's not really my fault there was a mistaken identity." Peter looked from Red Hood to Batman who was still glaring at him. He was rambling, he knew. But he was nervous. And when he was nervous, he couldn't shut up. "I mean, you're the World's Greatest Detective but I guess even you can't catch everything that happens in Gotham," Red Hood snorted. "Uh, so I figured I would give it a whirl and follow in your footsteps to help a friend?"
"You wouldn't be the first to try," Batman said in a monotone.
"Try and fail?" Red Hood said in annoyance. He crossed his arms over his chest as he stared at Batman. "Like everyone else except your precious golden boy, you mean?"
"Hood," Batman said looking at the other man with downturned lips.
"Uh, this sounds sort of personal, so if you don't mind," Peter said as he took a step back but he yelped when Red Hood grabbed a hold of him and pulled him over his shoulder.
"You already have a sidekick, Batman," Red Hood said and ran to the ledge.
"Hey, I'm no one's sidekick," Peter said trying to get a better look at Red Hood's face from the awkward angle he was forced in.
Peter heard Batman sigh but he made no move to stop them.
"Stay away from mine," Red Hood said as he released a grappling hook and swung over to the next rooftop where he took off in a run.
"Seriously, I can swing on my own," Peter said in annoyance.
Red Hood dropped him on a rooftop three blocks over.
"Ow," Peter said flatly as he looked at the Red Hood.
Red Hood crouched down in front of him. "What are you looking into?"
"About that," Peter said with a smile as he leaned forward. "I have a few questions for you."