Chapter Four

Justice Can Be Blinded

Peter made good time to the fast food joint that the Commissioner had described to him, easily identifying it by the numerous GCPD squad cars parked outside. It was also the only place open on the block.

He leapt across the road to a streetlight, spun himself around it in a way that made teenage Russian gymnasts look rigid, and dropped to the floor. Numerous officers went for their weapons as he landed and Peter smacked his head against his hand, muttering, "Oy Vey,".

"Hold it guys! Ain't none of ya seen the news?" A voice broke out from the clutter of heavily armed coppers. "Hey Mikey, hit the GNC button would ya?" The voice seemed familiar to Peter but he couldn't quite place it.

A middle aged man behind the counter flipped the channel to Gotham News, where it was rerunning the escape and swift recapture of Killer Croc. Peter was then able to place the voice of the cop that had spoken when the man said, "And there I go in the nick of time, right out of Croc's clutches!"

"Lucky bastard if you ask me!" One of the crowd of officers called out, as several officers started holstering weapons.

Peter took his hand from his face and scanned the crowd of the relaxing lawmen. He quickly spotted the smiling face of officer Jack Lawson and waved cheerily, ignoring every gun still unholstered, mostly because his spider-sense was saying very little.

Lawson made his way over, clasping Peter's hand, shaking it firmly. He said, "Good to see you again, Webber. Guys," Lawson turned to his fellow lawmen, "we keeping those guns out for a reason?"

Peter was about to add in his own witty one-liner, when his stomach rumbled loudly, and Lawson grinned. "I think I can guess why you're here."

Peter replied, "Yeah, your chief, Gordon, he directed me here. I'm pretty glad to run into you."

"Janet!" Lawson led Spider-Man through the parting coppers, "Give Webber here two of your specials!"

"You saved our asses back there, so if you need anything, just name it." Lawson gestured two other officers over, and Peter recognised them from the scene. Lawson continued, "Let's get this guy fed and then sort him out." The others raised an eyebrow at the suggestion, then shrugged, murmuring assent and Peter thought he heard a comment about 'Meta' appetites.

Sitting across from his newfound 'friends', Peter decided that this officer Lawson could help him get more of a grip on his current situation. As he chewed his way through the steak, he considered how to start; but Lawson beat him to it.

Leaning close in he whispered, "You need to take a break son."

"Yeah," said Peter, "I really wish that was an issue, I mean short of stealing a fresh pair of underwear…"

Lawson just stared, before saying, "You're a homeless superhero?"

"Trans-dimensionally displaced to a point where I seem to have been interjected into an acceptably similar paradigm."

"Really, someone shoved through a wormhole and you ended up here because someone somewhere thought you reminded them of the Bat?"

Peter paused, before saying. "I'm impressed."

"Yeah well, back in the nineties my kids loved watching 'Wormhole X-Treme'. Picked up some ideas and lingo from that."

"And you live in Gotham, so weird stuff happens a lot, right?"

"See? You're adapting already!"

"So with that in mind," Peter looked around, before leaning slightly closer, and whispering, "where would a guy from another world go, then?"

Lawson leaned back, his instincts telling him that the meta across the table from him wasn't joking. He had an idea. Looking at the hero he said, "You can use my place to freshen up, but I hope you brought some other clothing for your day job."

Peter sighed, "Yeah, my day job…" Spider-Man cocked his head slightly, a smile creeping onto his exposed mouth, "any Pizza Delivery places lookin' to hire a costumed kook?"

"Hey, I'm a cop, and I'm still here thanks to you buddy, so I owe ya, but I don't think takeouts in Gotham city are gonna hire on anyone dressed as garishly as you!" Lawson looked him over, and shook his head.

Peter smiled, pushing the now empty plate away from him, accepting the comment and moving on. "Now I just have to figure out how to get clean, find some other clothing and somehow walk into Wayne Enterprises, a place I was advised I could probably get a job at, without any ID." Spider-Man seemed to drift off in thought, "I wonder if my social security number would work here?"

Lawson looked him over, and said, "I've got some old gear, some of mine, some of my oldest boy's before he left for college. You're about the same size. I'll meet you back here with them in an hour. Then you should head down to the Wayne Foundation shelter. They never turn anyone away unless they've got damned good reason. It's also safe from predators."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, last guy that tried anything turned up on our radar again twenty minutes later, hanging upside down over a cement pit and with a broken arm."

"Batman?"

"Batman. We knew it was him from the method and the fact that the cement pit only had three feet of mud in it. Bats obviously hadn't told the guy the last part, judging by the way he was whimpering."

"Reminds me of a guy I know back home called Daredevil."

Lawson sipped at some coffee, saying, "Sounds like a stuntman turned vigilante to me."

When the doorbell chimed, Alfred Pennyworth set down his cup of Earl Grey tea gently upon its china saucer, before rising smoothly to answer. He went to the security monitor and a small smile etched itself across his features.

"Hello your Highness-"

"Diana will be fine, Alfred. As I keep telling you."

"Of course, your Highness."

Diana smiled, shaking her head resignedly.

Alfred greeted Oliver and Dinah as they entered, making a mental note as he always did when Dinah and Diana were in the same room. Enunciation would be quite important.

A few minutes later, the guests of the Wayne estate were seated, and true to form Barry had managed to finish three meals before his friends had finished their starters. Not wishing to idle around, he did the dishes, read the library and freshened up a bit, and ironed out his suit.

Barry sat down at the table again, thinking, Now I just have to figure out something to do whilst they finish their main course.

Eventually the others finished their repast and they all took seats in the Bat lounge. Oliver gave the place and the room title a curious look, before turning to Alfred and asking, "Isn't that a little close to home?

Alfred chuckled,"I fail to see how it could actually be any closer to home, but yes, I do see your point. Please remember though that Master Wayne has been known to perform eerily accurate impressions of Batman, and that he even once said he couldn't sit on a jury concerning a felon brought down by Batman, because, and I quote, 'because I'm Batman'."

Ollie laughed, "I remember that now. I also remember him trying to impress Diana here with his growelly impressions."

Diana gave a small laugh of her own. "I complimented him on his accuracy, too. I made him smile with that."

Seated next to her, Dinah gave the amazon a sceptical look." That's hard to believe."

Barry snickered, "Yep, that's its own achievement!"

Diana said, "Not really, Barry, Bruce Wayne is quite approachable."

Dinah gave Diana a smirk as she said, "You're female, he's single, and you can beat the tar out of him. You have to admit,, he does seem to attract a certain type of woman doesn't he? Catwoman, Talia Al Ghul, Women's MMA champion, Gina Carano, Catwoman, followed by Ronda Rousey, Catwoman, and yourself, Princess."

"Not forgetting Catwoman." Oliver added facetiously, following the setup Dinah had prepared for him.

Alfred smiled at the banter, truly wishing that the meeting could continue in this vein. But there was the matter at hand. "Yes, well, as wonderful as this all is, now we're all sated and rested shall we get to work?"

"Very well," said Dinah Lance, "We have come here to try and investigate the abduction of Batman and how this intruder, -what are we calling him by the way?"

"Gotham news has been calling him, "Webcrawler'," Alfred stated.

"That'll do for now then." said Oliver. "Our next job is how to find him."

Barry Allen shook his head, "Nope, our next job is to figure out what he can do. The guy's pretty fast, tough, and if he's stronger than Killer Croc, then we want to strategise right."

Oliver stood up, obviously irritated. He poked a finger in Barry's direction."Diana's stronger, you're faster and Dinah can knock him for six. He's one guy against four major superheroes. It won't last more than five minutes. We'll see if we can go easy on him but his best option is to surrender immediately."

As the conversation continued, Diana frowned. Her friends were right to plan and it was noble of them to extend clemency to the new meta in town but her mind was fogged and she couldn't work out why.

She shook her head; there was something not quite right here but every time she tried to voice her concerns she found herself straining to order her thoughts. Her friend's emotional states were wearing her down. If she could just get her head clear, maybe she could identify the niggling doubts.

"Hey, Princess, you okay?" Dinah asked. "You look a little out of it."

I'm a little off for some reason, I wish I knew why."

"Ah, it's probably something to do with this Spider Jerk."

"Yes, I think it is." Diana gave a tired smile. She felt that there was a grain of truth in her friend's remark but the nascent hatred had her concerned. Turning she gave everyone a wave and retired for the night. She hoped things would be clearer in the morning.

Dinah Lance-Queen frowned as her Amazon friend walked away. It didn't seem as though she was convinced of their action. Looking back to the remaining company she saw that they wore similarly sceptical looks. She waited for a minute, drinking some more tea, making sure that when she spoke. that Diana's superior hearing wouldn't let her hear her next words.

Raising a hand to get the attention of Barry and Oliver, She said quietly, "Diana looks out of it, I think we should set off early tomorrow and let her sleep in. All in favour, raise your hand and say, aye."

The vote was unanimous.