R

by Lazydaily

Peter in Bat land. For TTS in the app

Chapter 1: Home Alone

Chapter Text

"Mr. Stark!"

Peter sat bolt upright in bed, hands gripping the sheets tightly. He was drenched in a cold sweat. His eyes darted around fervently. It took a moment for the panic to die down enough for him to realize that he wasn't on Titan, there weren't armies surrounding him. He was alone.

He ran a hand down his face and looked over at the clock sitting on the bedside table. The red numbers read an impassive 3:24 am. He sighed and swung his legs out of bed and headed to the kitchen. He turned on the coffee maker and turned to look at the machine that was taking up the majority of the small living room in his apartment.

Since he'd been living alone, he'd ended up with a lot of time alone with his thoughts. That wasn't always great. His mind kept drifting back to things Peter would rather not think about, such as Tony's death, May's death, losing MJ and Ned, and his own death. But one thing his mind kept drifting back to was Beck.

Beck screwed up so many things in Peter's life after Tony's death. But he had also planted a seed in Peter's head about the multiverse. Even if he had been lying about that, after everything he'd done with Strange, he knew without a doubt that parallel universes existed. The other Peters had been amazing, and with everyone he'd ever known now forgetting that Peter even existed, he was feeling more and more lonely and isolated every day.

In the middle of the living room was something that looked like a mini stargate. In fact, he had based the design on the stargate. He hadn't designed it to have locking chevrons, but it did spin. There was a large ring in the middle which would spin and that should create the field to open the portal. He wasn't sure if it would work. He heard his coffee maker finish and grabbed his mug of coffee before heading over, taking a sip then setting the mug on the table.

Peter grabbed his suit and slipped out of the sweatpants and t-shirt he was wearing to put it on. He didn't have the money or space for all the equipment he'd enjoyed while Tony was still around, and even after. Before everyone forgot who he was. But he still had his suit, and the tech in his suit and Karen still worked. He slipped the sweatpants back on over the suit and got back to work.

He quickly lost track of time as he worked on wiring, having Karen double and triple-check his calculations. He'd thrown back on the t-shirt, an old AC/DC shirt he'd gotten at a thrift store because it reminded him of Tony. It felt like the proper work attire while building stuff. He hoped Tony would have been proud of the tech work Peter had done. Even if everything else would have deeply disappointed him.

The sun had already risen by the time Peter stopped and looked at his handiwork.

"Hey Karen. Are all the connections in place?"

"Everything appears to be connected properly," Karen reported through the suit.

"Great. I think it's time for a test then. See if this thing will power on."

"Alright. Be careful Peter. We still aren't sure how accurate the calculations are."

"Yeah. I know," Peter said, going over to the control panel. He flipped the switches, powering it up. The air hummed with electricity. He could feel his hair standing on end under his suit and his Peter tingle started to go off like an itch at the back of his head.

"Readings so far indicate the gate is working," Karen informed him.

"Ok. Thanks Karen. Let me know when it's charged." His hand hovered over the big red button in the middle of the panel. If his calculations were correct, then this should, theoretically, open a gateway to another universe.

Or it could blow out the power for a good section of Queens.

"Gate fully charged."

Peter pressed the button, excitement coursing through him.

At first, nothing happened. Peter looked at the gate, watching the readout on the electricity through the HUD in his suit. It seemed to drop to near 0 very quickly. He felt his hope fade as it seemed the machine hadn't worked.

Then several things happened all at once.

The electricity all surged back rather quickly with an electrical hum building to a loud buzz. The ring spun, going faster and faster. It started sparking as it did. Most of the sparks were in the middle of the gate where the portal should be, though some flew off in other directions. The lights dimmed and flickered around him.

"Peter, I would advise moving back from the gate."

Peter probably should have. There was electricity arcing wildly around him. Not to mention that his Peter tingle was going off like crazy. But Peter's excitement and curiosity got the better of him. He couldn't look away as a ball of electricity started forming in the middle of the gate. The electricity was rising as it fed into the ball, slowly growing it. As it was becoming the size of a basketball Peter thought he could see something in the middle of the ball.

"Peter. I would highly suggest moving away from the gate."

"Karen, do you see that? In the middle there. That's something, right?"

"Peter, the electricity is reaching dangerous levels. If a stray bolt should hit you-"

Karen didn't get to finish her sentence as a stray bolt shot out from the center of the ball and hit Peter directly in the chest. He gasped, gripping the consul in front of him. He tried to move but found he couldn't. He looked down, his HUD scrambling from the electricity coursing through him and the suit. The bolt he'd seen jump out at him appeared to have attached itself to his chest. His head was screaming at him to run, his whole body felt like it was on fire.

Peter tried to move, only to find his body wouldn't respond to him. He felt panic grip his chest, tightening like a crushing weight around him. He tried to force his arms and legs to respond to him. He managed to push himself up off the consul, only to immediately fall to the ground. He gasped, trying to take in air. He could feel his diaphragm spasming, along with about half of his body, as the electricity arched through him. He could feel his irregular heartbeat echoing through his ears.

The sound of electricity grew louder. It seemed like all Peter could hear was the sound of his own heart trying to beat and the roar of the electricity from the machine. He couldn't properly see what was going on around him. He was spasming too much to focus, and the light was too bright. Not to mention his HUD was having a seizure as well.

Then suddenly, everything stopped.

Peter's head swam. Everything hurt. He could still feel the residual electricity flickering through his body. Slowly, Peter untensed his muscles, closing his eyes and letting his head rest on the cold floor he was laying on. He slowly got his breathing under control. His heart began to beat normally again.

Once his body stopped screaming at him, with only an underlying Peter tingle left, he opened his eyes to take stock of what had happened.

As he blinked to clear his eyes, he began to see a grey sky above him, framed by the sides of two dark buildings. Evidently, Peter was no longer in his apartment. Where he was though, Peter had no idea.

He slowly started to become more aware of his surroundings. The ground he was laying on was cold and hard and, as Peter was beginning to realize, wet. He groaned, pushing himself up to sit and looking around. He was sitting in the middle of an alley, half in a puddle.

The air smelled weird. It was full of smog and pollution, which wasn't new to Peter being from New York City, but it was different. There was more of it than there should have been. And it didn't smell like normal New York smog. Peter carefully got up.

"Hey Karen, where are we?" Peter asked. There was no response.

"Karen?" There was a desperate edge to his voice this time. Something must have happened to her after he got zapped. He hoped she hadn't gotten fried. Since everyone else forgot about Peter, Karen was the only sort of friend he had. He couldn't lose her. He just hoped the damage wasn't irreparable.

Peter decided that he needed to see where he was. He shot a web at the top of a nearby building, saying a silent prayer when his web shooters still worked. It was mere seconds before he was at the top and looking out over the city around him.

Nothing looked familiar. Peter knew the skyline of New York, probably better than anyone else, and this wasn't it. The buildings here were foreign. He couldn't see any of the landmarks. No Empire State Building, no One World Trade Center, no Stark Tower, nothing. He could feel the panic rising back in his chest as he looked around. Some big sign on one of the buildings said "WAYNE" in all red letters. As he looked around, he thought he could see the name repeated on more buildings.

Peter was scared as panic welled up in him. He felt like he was suffocating. He reached up and clawed off the mask, gasping in air. It appeared his machine had done something. But it might have also left Peter in a much worse position than he'd already been in.

Notes:

Next week will have members of the batfam, I promise.

Updates Wednesday

Chapter 2: Strange energy; strange city

Summary:

Dick and Jason investigate a strange electrical energy like lightning but without the storm. Peter starts to get supplies and information.

Notes:

This was originally going to be two chapters but then chapter 2 would have been too short

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dick was sitting perched on a rooftop looking over the city. He was catching his breath after having just broken up some gang trying to smuggle cocaine through a store that was a very obvious front. For amateurs, they'd sure put up one hell of a fight. He unscrewed the cap of his water bottle and took a drink.

Suddenly, something changed. It felt like lightning had just struck nearby, which Dick was uncomfortably familiar with due to spending more time on rooftops during storms than any sane person should. The only problem was that there wasn't a storm today. It was overcast, sure, but just the usual Gotham overcast. Last time it rained had been last night, and it hadn't even been a hard rain. Just enough to make things wet.

He heard the buzz of his earpiece connecting before he heard Barbara's voice.

"Nightwing, I'm getting reading of some sort of power surge in Crime Alley. Hood has his radio off, of course." Nightwing was already standing up before she finished.

"Yeah, I think I felt whatever it was. Felt like lightning. I'm on it, O. I'll let you know what I find."

With that he was off, quickly grappling his way through the city to the rough location Babs had given him. He felt tense. It was too early to be dealing with this nonsense. He'd just been about to turn in after a long night of patrol. Why did stuff have to happen this early in the morning?

He arrived to see a familiar motorcycle parked in an alleyway. He dropped down next to it.

"O said you had your com off."

He got a grunt in response from the leather-clad man crouching on the ground. "Maybe because I don't want to talk to you. What're you doing here anyway?"

"Probably same as you. O got readings of an energy surge and I felt something like-"

"Lightning," Jason finished for him. "Yeah, I felt it too."

"Any clue who caused it?"

Jason stood up, shaking his head. "Not yet. But I'm pretty sure there was someone here." He gestured to where he'd been looking on the ground. Dick walked over and crouched down to look. The asphalt looked slightly burnt in a shape that was concerningly close to human.

"You don't think they're dead, do you?" he asked, looking up at Jason.

He scoffed. "Fuck if I know." He appeared to pointedly ignore Dick's disapproving look at the language. "It's a human-shaped burn mark but I don't see any evidence of a body. No flesh, no blood. Shit's weird."

Dick sighed, nodding as he stood up. "Yeah. I can agree with you on that part. We'll have to tell B."

"You get to tell B."

"Come on little wing."

"No, don't you try that. This is my turf, my section of town. If this son of a bitch isn't dead, he's somewhere in Crime Alley. And I'm going to find him."

He knew there was no use trying to talk him out of this, and he did have a point. He sighed. "Fine. Just be careful. And turn your radio on."

Jason rolled his eyes but took his helmet off to turn on the radio. "Happy?" he asked, his voice coming through twice, both in person and in Dick's ear.

"Good to have you back Hood," Oracle chimed in.

"Shut up," Jason grumbled. Dick smirked. He could tell there was a layer of affection under all that armor and tough guy demeanor.

He pulled his grappling hook out and shot it off at a building. He waved at Jason as he launched himself off the ground. "Catch you later little wing!"

Peter was trying to keep his breathing steady as he clung to the wall above the window, listening to the rev of the motorcycle cut off in the alley he'd been in. His tingle had started going off like crazy, causing him to retreat into the building he'd been on top of through a window. It was a thankfully empty office building.

Good thing he had too. He could hear two people talking in the alley below him. He slowly moved downwards so he could peek out from the top corner of the window. Two men were standing in the alley looking at the spot Peter had been laying. One of them was wearing a red helmet that covered his entire head. And was that body armor under the leather jacket? The other man in contrast seemed to be wearing a suit a bit closer to Peter's old suit. Only his was black with a blue bird across the chest. He also only had a tiny little mask over his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure someone was here," the man with body armor was saying. Peter squinted his eyes, trying to zoom in on the area the other man was walking over to, only to realize he hadn't put his mask back on. He quickly pulled his mask on, adjusting it before looking back out.

He zoomed in on the spot where the blue bird man was looking. He felt his chest tighten. That had to be where Peter had been lying. The red man spoke, his words echoing in Peter's shocked head.

"It's a human-shaped burn mark but I don't see any evidence of a body. No flesh, no blood. Shit's weird."

Something had happened when he turned on that machine. Something had worked. He was somewhere, he didn't know where, and there were strange people in costume investigating it. And when he'd appeared, he'd apparently been burning.

The blue man stood up. "Yeah. I can agree with you on that part. We'll have to tell B." Peter tilted his head. Who was this B?

"You get to tell B."

"Come on little wing."

"No, don't you try that. This is my turf, my section of town. If this son of a bitch isn't dead, he's somewhere in Crime Alley. And I'm going to find him."

"Crime Alley?" Peter muttered to himself. He didn't know anywhere called Crime Alley. What city was he even in? Was this San Francisco? No. San Francisco was warmer and had more hills.

"Just be careful. And turn your radio on," the blue man said.

The man in red took off his helmet and reached in to fiddle with something in the helmet. Peter looked at him as he did. He had a smaller mask similar to the other man's, but red instead of blue.

"Who wears a mask under their mask?" Peter muttered. He noticed one other thing as well. The man had a shock of white hair near one temple. He looked really young to be going grey already. He put the helmet back on

"Happy?" There was a beat before he said, "Shut up." Apparently, he'd turned the radio in the helmet on and someone else had spoken to him. How many more were there? Were they heroes or villains? Was the person on the radio this B character?

The blue bird pulled out a grappling hook and shot off. "Catch you later little wing!" he called as he took off. Peter quickly retreated away from the window, pressing himself into the corner where the ceiling met the wall. He stayed there for a few moments, slowly sneaking back to peek out the window once the sound of the grappling hook had faded into the distance. The red guy, little wing, was back crouched on the ground, looking at where Peter had been.

He looked around. After a moment, he noticed the fading wet footprints Peter had left when he stood up. He looked at them, seeming to try and follow them. The trail didn't go far. He looked down at the footprints, standing behind them. Then he looked up. Peter quickly disappeared back up to the ceiling.

The sound of a grappling hook shot past him to the roof above him, sending a jolt of his tingle as it did so. His Peter tingle was practically screaming as the man shot himself up to the roof. The sound of heavy boots landing on the roof above him caused Peter's heart rate to jump. He could hear him walking around, probably following the fading wet footprints on the roof.

"Whoever was in the alley has a grappling hook," Peter could hear him saying as he walked towards the roof where Peter had climbed down. It sounded like he was about to grapple away when he paused. "What the fuck?"

The boots moved a few feet to the left. It sounded like he leaned down to look at something. "Scratch the grappling hook. There's something stuck to the building." There was a heavy sigh. "Congrats, Nightwing. I'll be dropping by the cave. Have someone look at this stuff. See if it's anyone we know."

Peter froze. He had to be looking at his web. And collecting samples.

"No, I'm still looking. He can't be far." There was the sound of the grappling hook and the man took off.

Peter let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. He needed to figure out where he was and what was going on. He carefully crawled down from the wall and glanced outside. It was starting to get light out so people might be coming to the building. He needed to get out of his suit. And he needed a backpack. There was just one additional problem: Peter didn't have shoes. He sighed. Ok. Maybe don't fully get out of the suit. If this was anything like New York, Peter did not want to be walking around barefoot. He took his shirt off and stripped the suit down to his waist, trying the arms around him and trying to hide them in his sweatpants. He put the shirt back on, taking his mask off and putting it in his pocket.

First order of business: find a backpack and shoes. And maybe a jacket. It was a bit cold in just the t-shirt. Then he had to figure out where he was.

He glanced around outside before crawling out of the window and down to the street as quickly as possible. He headed onto the main road and turned left, walking down the sidewalk. He didn't know where he was going, but hopefully he would find something. After a few blocks of walking, he did find something.

It was a thrift shop. That could be a good place to start. Might be able to find clothes there. He headed in and looked around. The shop had definitely seen better days. He wandered for a while, looking. He managed to find a pair of alright tennis shoes in his size, a hoodie, and a backpack. He'd need more but this would do for now. He went to check out and pulled out his wallet.

His credit and debit cards probably wouldn't work. Most likely they got fried along with Karen. Besides, Peter didn't even know where he was. Luckily, he still had some cash. He was rung up and pulled out a twenty to pay for it all. He got his change and his things. He thanked the cashier and headed out.

Peter ducked into an alley a few blocks down and quickly changed next to a dumpster. He shoved his suit into the bottom of the backpack, putting the shoes and hoodie on. He tightened the straps and took a deep breath. Step one complete. Time for step two.

He headed back out onto the street and kept walking. His tingle hadn't fully died down the whole time he'd been here. The whole city around him seemed to exude danger. He kept his head down, trying not to attract any unwanted attention as he looked for anything useful. Something useful appeared in the form of a subway station. That would give Peter a map and transportation.

Peter headed down into the subway station and looked at the map. At the top it said "Gotham Transit Authority". Peter's brow furrowed. Gotham? Where the hell was Gotham? Nothing on this map was familiar. He'd never heard of this city. Peter decided that if he was going to find something out, the Old Gotham district may have answers.

He glanced around before heading over to the turnstiles and jumping them. He still had his wallet in his pocket, but he had no idea if his money was even good here. He headed down to the trains, figuring out which platform he needed to be on. The subway got there after a moment and Peter got on, sitting down in an open seat.

One thing seemed like home at least: no one made eye contact or looked at each other on the subway. That was good. Peter pulled out his phone and tried turning it on. Nothing. He sighed. Karen was apparently not the only thing to get fried. He tucked it back into his pocket. He could try fixing it later.

The train ride seemed unbelievably long with nothing to do but twiddle his thumbs. But they got there eventually and Peter got off the train. He jumped the turnstile again and headed up onto the street. Old Gotham was nicer than Crime Alley had been. He started wandering around, hoping to find something.

He turned a corner and looked up at a large building with roman style columns out front. The words "Gotham Public Library" were chiseled into the marble top of the building. Peter smiled. The library should be just what he was looking for. He made his way up the steps and into the library.

Notes:

Yes, I have the same scene twice from two different viewpoints. This won't really happen much in the fic, at least not in what I've got written so far, but it was important for this scene. Getting some fun first impressions

Updates Wednesdays

Chapter 3: Man-spider

Summary:

The bats try and investigate the weird substance that Jason found on the side of a building. Dick meets an interesting kid from out of town.

Notes:

Edit: If you're reading this as I'm publishing and not binging, I had to edit the end notes for this fic a bit. Apparently I put chapter 1's notes as fic notes so they showed up weird. If you say double notes on chapter 2 and 3 and none on chapter 1. I fixed that. No clue how I did that but it's fixed.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The bats did not need this additional headache. They'd just finished dealing with an Arkham breakout. They thought they'd rounded everyone up. This either meant that someone had been missed, or they had a new player on the field. Neither were pleasant outcomes to think about.

Dick watched as Bruce and Tim looked over the sample of whatever Jason had brought back. Alfred had managed to get Jason to stay for longer than just dropping it off with some tea and sandwiches. Dick suspected Jason was just as curious about what it was as they all were.

"It doesn't match anything from in the database," Tim said, not looking away from the computer. "Some of the compounds aren't exactly rare. But this isn't like anything anyone we know has made."

"Is there anything close to it?" Bruce asked, beating Dick to the question.

"Closest thing seems to be a spider web. But way bigger and stronger than any known spiders."

"So, we've got a mutant spider running loose in Crime Alley?" Jason demanded gruffly.

"No. Well, maybe. This stuff is definitely manmade. It's too uniform."

"Plus, that burn spot was human-shaped," Dick added.

"So a man-spider. Great," Jason grumbled, flopping down into a chair grumpily.

"Woah!" Everyone looked over as Tim exclaimed in surprise and started scrambling to get his sample out of the dish. Dick hurried over.

"What's wrong Red- woah." Dick cut himself off as he saw what had startled Tim. The web sample was starting to disintegrate in front of them. Jason and Bruce looked over Dick's shoulders as the four of them watched the web disintegrate into almost nothing. They were all silent for a moment, looking at the dish. Jason was the one to break the stunned silence.

"Tim, the fuck just happened?"

"I don't know!" Tim said defensively. "It just dissolved on its own! I didn't do anything that would cause that. I'm not even sure why it happened."

"That confirms that it is manmade," Bruce said, looking at the dish. He looked at the other bats. "Everyone is on the lookout for this man-spider. Got it?"

The three nodded. "I'll get the info we have to Babs. Make sure she gets it out to everyone," Dick said.

Bruce nodded. Tim printed out the info and handed the file to Dick. He took it and smiled. "I'll change and run these to Babs. I needed to stop by the library anyways."

"Be careful," Bruce warned.

"I will be B. You know me," Dick said with a grin before heading upstairs to the manor.

Dick got to the library in the late afternoon. The library should be pretty empty and closing soon. The research Tim had been doing took longer than he thought. Time could be hard to tell in the cave. He headed in and over to the desk where Babs was sitting at a computer. He grinned and waved.

"Hey Babs. You busy?"

"Not very. Just have this one kid that's been here all day," she said, looking over at a bank of computers.

Dick looked where she was, leaning on the counter and setting the folder down next to Babs casually. This kid who looked no more than 16 was sitting there, papers all around him and a backpack on the floor next to him, staring intently at the computer.

"He caused any problems?" Dick asked, glancing back at Babs.

She shook her head. "No. Just been researching all day." She lowered her voice as she continued, "I don't think he's from around here. Based on what he's searched, he doesn't know who Batman is."

Dick tilted his head in confusion. "Really?"

Babs nodded and waved him around the desk. He looked over her shoulder at the search history for the kid. It started with searches of maps of Gotham, followed by Metropolis, and Central City. It had led to a lot of research on the Justice League and almost all the various villains in Gotham.

"Any idea what these searches are?" Dick asked, indicating some searches. Among them were several variations of a battle of New York that apparently happened in 2012, some guy named Tony Stark, Iron Man, and a Captain America, among other equally confusing searches.

Babs shook her head. "No idea. He didn't seem happy with what he found though."

Dick nodded. "The kid left the library at all today?"

She shook her head again. "No. I don't think he's eaten anything except for a granola bar I gave him earlier. He ate it too fast."

Dick got her meaning and nodded. He sighed. "I'll make sure he gets something to eat and somewhere safe to stay."

"Thanks Dick," Barbara said smiling. She looked at the folder and looked up at him questioningly. "About last night?"

He nodded. "Make sure everyone knows. Now let me go feed a kid."

Babs smiled and tucked the folder away as Dick turned and headed over to the kid at the computer. He looked up at him with big brown eyes.

"Oh, is the library closing?" The kid seemed polite enough. He also had a slight accent that was decidedly not from Gotham.

Dick smiled and nodded. "Yeah. You had anything to eat today?"

"What? Yeah. I'm fine." The kid's stomach growled very loudly, and Dick could see that the kid was nervous.

"Oh yeah, that sounds like someone with a full stomach. My name's Dick Grayson. Let me buy you some dinner."

"Oh, that's alright. You really don't have to."

Dick sighed and put a gentle hand on the kid's shoulder. He noticed the kid jump slightly under his touch but didn't try and pull away. "You're hungry, kid. It's not a problem. I'm friends with the librarian over there. She said you haven't eaten all day. Besides, I was going to go get some greasy fast food anyways." He glanced at the computer and saw that it was currently open to a search on Wayne Enterprises. "You're not from Gotham."

The kid sighed, slumping back in his chair. It reminded him a bit of Tim. "I'm from Queens."

"Ah, New York. What brings you to Gotham?"

"To be completely honest, I'm trying to figure that out myself."

Well, that statement wasn't concerning at all. Dick hoped his concerned look wasn't showing through too bad. He hoped this kid wasn't a victim of human trafficking. "Alright. How about a deal. We go get food and maybe I can help you figure out why you're in Gotham. Sound good?"

The kid hesitated, longer than Dick figured he should. Defiantly some sort of human trafficking. He looked suspicious. "What's in it for you?"

"Conversation. Besides, I like to help people if I can."

He still looked uncertain. Another loud growl came from the kid's stomach, and he let out a defeated sigh. "Alright."

Dick smiled. "Want help packing up your stuff?"

"No, that's alright," Peter said, quickly scooping all his paper's up. He opened his backpack and quickly shoved them in. It seemed like he was hiding something in his bag. Dick decided not to pry. The kid closed out his tabs and logged off the computer. He stood up, scooping up his backpack and putting it on. Dick realized that the kid was a bit taller than he thought.

"All set?" Dick asked. The kid nodded. He smiled and led the way to the door. He waved at Barbara. "Night Babs. See you later." Her mouth twitched in a smirk. She knew he'd be out on patrol once he got the kid home.

"Goodnight Ms. Gordan. Thank you for letting me stay so late," the kid said, waving as well.

Babs smiled and waved at them. "You boys have a good night. And stay safe out there."

"We will," Dick assured her before heading out the door, the kid close behind. He looked over at him. "What's your name kid?"

"Peter. Peter Parker."

Dick smiled, holding out a hand. "Nice to meet you, Peter."

Peter shook his hand. Dick was surprised by how strong his grip was. "You too. Dick, was it?"

"Yeah, Dick Grayson."

Peter nodded. "Ok." He looked around as they walked. Dick kept observing him from the corner of his eye. He seemed tense. He was worried the kid might run away. The kid looked like he needed food, but also that he hadn't eaten too poorly previously. There weren't signs of malnutrition, which was good.

"What do you think of Gotham so far?" Dick asked. It would be harder for the kid to bolt if he was talking, and he might learn more about the kid.

Peter chewed his lip in thought. "It's a bit like New York. But the smell is different."

"Oh?" That was an interesting observation.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. I can't quite put my finger on it but the air smells different here. I mean, there's a bit more smog. But it's not the same smog."

Dick nodded. Interesting that this kid could pick up on that. Most normal people probably wouldn't comment on smog smell as their first thought about a different city. "Only thoughts so far about the smog?" he asked, clearly sounding amused.

"No, no, no," Peter added quickly, looking at Dick. "I mean, you've got Batman. Heroes here are pretty cool."

Dick smiled. "They are, aren't they. Who's your favorite?"

Peter seemed to freeze up for a moment and didn't respond immediately. That was interesting. Most people had one, or a few, favorites that they could rattle off. Even Dick and his siblings, who were heroes, had thoughts on favorite members of the Justice league. The general consensus was that Wonder Woman was really badass.

"Nightwing seems pretty cool," Peter said after a moment, looking up at Dick, almost like he was checking to see if he answered the question correctly.

Dick smiled. "Yeah. He is pretty cool, isn't he."

Peter seemed to relax slightly. "Yeah."

Dick looked up as they got to a local fast food burger place and went in. He could hear Peter's stomach growl even louder as the smell of greasy food hit their noses. He smiled and headed up to the counter. "Can I get two double cheeseburgers? And large fries. With a soft drink? Large please." The cashier nodded, looking dead inside as they punched in Dick's order.

He looked down at Peter. "What do you want Pete?"

"Double cheeseburger with fries?" He seemed tentative, which Dick figured was fair enough. "You don't have-"

Dick cut him off. "Make that two more double cheeseburgers. Another large fries and large drink."

The cashier nodded, punching that in and giving them their total. Dick paid with his card. Bruce got to pay for this kid's meal. Dick took the plastic number and the cups, handing one to Peter.

"Let's find a table," he said, going to fill his cup. Peter followed, filling his cup as well. He found a table in the corner and sat, his back to the wall. Peter slid into the booth across from him and sipped his drink.

"Why are you helping me?" Peter asked, looking at Dick.

Dick sighed, leaning back. "I could tell you needed it. You have anyone else?" He immediately felt bad as Peter seemed to shut down at the thought.

"Not anymore…" Peter muttered, barely audible over the sounds of the restaurant. Something had definitely happened to this kid. Dick would have to look into it.

Dick nodded. "I'm sorry."

Peter shrugged, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal when it obviously was.

"So, you said you didn't know why you were in Gotham," Dick said, trying to change the subject.

Peter nodded. "Yeah."

"Do you remember how you got here?"

There was a long pause, during which Peter drank some more soda. "No." Dick got the distinct impression Peter wasn't being completely honest. This was still leading toward the human trafficking theory.

"Ok. What's the last thing you remember before coming here?"

"I was in my apartment in Queens working with Karen on…on a project." Kid was being dodgy.

"What sort of project?"

"You ever seen Stargate?"

"The TV show?"

"Yeah. There's a couple movies too. I was trying to build something like that."

"Hu. You might like my brother Tim," Dick mused. "Who's Karen?"

"Oh Karen! She's…" He went from excited to sad again very quickly. Dick looked at him worriedly. "She's gone too."

Dick nodded. He was spared asking any more questions by trays with their food arriving. He smiled at the worker, thanking them. He picked up one of his burgers and took a bite.

"This place is a guilty pleasure of mine."

Peter picked up a burger and took a bite. He then started almost inhaling the burger. The kid must be starving. That made Dick even more worried.

"Slow down kid. Don't want you to choke."

"This is so good," Peter managed to get out around a mouthful of food. He slowed down slightly.

Dick chuckled a little. "Yeah. Really is."

Most of the meal was spent in silence. Dick ended up giving Peter his second burger, saying that he'd overestimated how hungry he was. After a moment and reassurance, Peter ate it. The food seemed to help. Dick was glad. Once they finished, he got up and threw out their trash.

He glanced outside at the darkening sky. "We should get you home. It's not exactly safe to be running around Gotham after dark."

"Oh, I'll be fine," Peter said a little too quickly.

Dick looked at him. "You do have a place to stay, don't you?"

Peter was becoming quickly more anxious. Dick took this as a sign that he did not in fact have a place to stay. "Yeah. I've got a place. I can stay there. I'll be fine."

"Hey, Peter. Calm down. You're going to be ok. Alright? I just want to help." He went to put a hand on Peter's shoulder, but he took a step back.

"I'm ok. Seriously. Thanks for dinner Mr. Grayson," Peter said before turning and booking it off.

"Peter!" Dick gritted his teeth and went after him. The kid didn't want help, but he was going to make sure this kid got somewhere safe. Gotham would eat him alive.

Peter was surprisingly slippery. After a few blocks, Dick had lost him. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. Hopefully, the kid would be ok. He was going to put on his suit and make sure though.

Notes:

I don't know what restaurants or fast food chains the DC universe has, so you get an unspecified burger joint.

Updates Wednesdays

Chapter 4: Sewer escape

Summary:

You ever been in the sewers of Gotham? Because they are not empty.

Red Hood is also a bit of a shoot-first-ask-questions-later sort of person.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter was trying to hold his breath as he watched Dick's shoes stop just outside the storm drain he'd slid into. He was currently clinging to the top of it, one hand over his mouth. He didn't dare move in case it made a sound and Dick found out where he was.

Peter had a feeling Dick was actually trying to help him, but Peter didn't know if he could trust him, or even if he wanted to. Everyone else he trusted just ended up hurt or betraying him. He didn't want to take that chance just yet.

"Peter?" Dick's feet turned as he turned around. There was a sigh from above him. "How'd that kid get away so quickly?"

The answer was he hadn't quite managed it. Peter was silently hoping that his Parker luck would be better than normal and Dick would leave. Instead, Dick appeared to call someone. "Hey, you busy?" he asked as he thankfully started heading off. Peter waited till he had fully left before letting out a heavy sigh of relief.

Peter carefully lowered himself to the bottom of the storm drain and looked around. He'd never actually been in one of these before. It might not be too bad of a spot to hole up in. If he could find a pipe just off the street, enough that no one could look in and see him, it would probably be a relatively safe place for him to sleep. As long as it didn't rain too hard.

Peter started walking down the pipe through the thin layer of water at the bottom. He'd probably change into his suit. It would help keep him warm, even if the electronics were mostly shot. Tomorrow he'd work on finding somewhere dry to hole up.

Peter wandered for a while before finding a tunnel that seemed pretty good. He made a hammock out of his webs, using a formula which would take a little while longer to dissolve. He stripped, shivering in the sudden cold, before putting on the suit. He slipped his clothes on over the suit and crawled into the hammock. The backpack made a decent enough pillow. It took a while, but eventually Peter fell into an uneasy sleep.

Peter jolted awake, his Peter tingle having woken him up. He breathed heavily, looking around. It was dark. Almost pitch black. Peter pulled his mask on and blinked a bit. It took a moment as Karen was offline, but the night vision kicked in. Peter almost immediately wished it hadn't.

He looked to his left and saw something moving. Actually, it was several somethings. Several somethings with eyes. There was a low growl and Peter was suddenly reminded of that old legend of alligators in the sewers. In Gotham at least, it was more than a legend.

"Nice gators. Nice gators." Peter said softly, sitting up in his hammock and putting his backpack on.

The alligators, for their part, didn't play nice. They surged forwards towards him. Peter jumped up onto the ceiling as one of them snapped his hammock in half. He started crawling at fast as he could. He could hear the gators after him.

Peter could add this to the list of weird things he'd done, and hopefully not add it to the list of ways he'd died. So far, that list only had one item on it. He didn't want to expand it any time soon.

"What have we here, my pets?"

Peter froze and glanced down a connecting pipe. He could just make out what appeared to be a man standing down the pipe.

"Hey, sir! You might want to run. There're alligators in these sewers." Peter called, starting to turn to head down that man's pipe.

"Oh, I'm aware. Bring the child to me."

"Bring- Hey!" Peter moved quickly to avoid the alligator that jumped up at him. Its jaws snapped shut, catching his backpack. Peter acted fast, slipping the backpack off and crawling along the ceiling as fast as he could. The alligators were constantly below him.

He had no idea where he was going. The place was a pitch-black maze. He would move faster if he could swing, but the sewer pipes didn't allow enough room for swinging. So Peter crawled as fast as he could.

The alligators kept jumping up at him periodically. Most of the time they missed, but not always. He felt the sweatpants and shirt tear as they got caught. His heart was banging against his ribs. He needed to get out of there. Fast.

Suddenly, to his right, he heard the faint sound of traffic. He turned and scurried down the new pipe. It was smaller and Peter got the tiniest bit of room as the alligators jostled to get in first. Peter crawled as fast as he could, relying mostly on his fingertips and the balls of his feet. This made his body lower to the ground but meant he moved faster. When the alligators got below him again, he would have to go back to the flatter crawl, but right now he needed fast.

The sound got louder to his left and he scrambled into the new pipe. Up ahead a shaft of light shone down through what had to be a hole in a manhole cover. Peter felt hope rise in his chest as he scurried towards it.

His Peter tingle went off just in time for him to flatten himself against the ceiling. Jaws snapped shut on his sweatpants, the snout brushing against the back of his thigh. He clung as tightly to the ceiling as he could, holding himself up against the force of the gator trying to pull him down. What remained of the left leg of his sweatpants was torn off him. As soon as Peter wasn't about to be ripped off the ceiling, he moved.

"Don't let him escape!" The man's voice called from behind Peter. Peter didn't dare look back. The gators were emboldened, trying harder to get to Peter. They kept snapping at him, the only thing saving him from the jaws of death was his Peter tingle and the fact that the alligators kept jumping on top of each other, trying to get him.

He reached the manhole cover and punched it. He put more force into it than he probably needed to, but he didn't have time to waste. The lid flew off, flooding the tunnel with light. The alligators hissed against the light, giving Peter enough time to crawl blindly out of the manhole.

He didn't even get to catch his breath as a car's horn blared at him. He dove to the side, acting on instinct as everything was too bright up here and his mask was still in night vision mode. His eyes hurt so he closed them tightly, diving out of the way in a direction he hoped was freedom.

Another horn blared and he managed to roll to his feet. The car was to his right so that meant a building had to be in front of him, he hoped. He shot a web out and felt it catch. He pulled himself up and out of the way. His ankle banged against a part of the car with a sickening crack. Peter gasped in pain before smacking into the side of the building.

It took him a moment to get his hands and feet under him and begin to climb, trying not to put too much weight on his right ankle. He managed to get to the top of the building and rolled onto the top of the building. He kept his eyes squeezed shut, taking deep breaths. Slowly, his heart rate began to slow down to normal. His Peter tingle was down to the low background hum which seemed to be normal level for Gotham. He slowly blinked his eyes open.

His mask was no longer on the night vision mode. Everything wasn't impossibly bright anymore. He slowly sat up and looked over the edge of the building. The manhole cover was laying halfway down the street. Traffic was still progressing slowly down the street. Peter moved back from the edge. He'd deal with that in a moment. Right now, he looked down at himself. The shirt and sweatpants were hanging off him in tatters. He sighed, taking them off. Now all he had was his suit. Great.

A tingle ran up his spine. Peter turned to cautiously look over the edge of the building. There was a motorcycle parked there that hadn't been there a moment ago. Another sharp tingle yelled in warning. Peter dove instinctually to the left, away from the edge. As he did, he heard the bang of a gunshot and felt the bullet fly past where he had been standing. Peter dove, rolling before shooting out a web and pulling himself across the roof and behind the stairwell access to the roof. Several more shots came too close for comfort, nearly hitting Peter.

"Why don't we talk about this without shooting anyone?" Peter suggested, standing up with his back pressed against the wall. He hadn't gotten a look at who had shot at him, but he had a suspicion as to who it was.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-man." Peter went to glance around the corner but immediately jumped back as a bullet sprayed him with plaster and brick dust. He backed up away from the corner. Be glanced up, trying to figure out how likely he could get up on top of the stairs without attracting attention.

"Doesn't answer my question."

"Pretty sure it does," he said, sticking to the wall. He could hear the man walking towards him. "Are you the Red Hood?"

"Yeah, I am. And if you know that then you should know better than to cross me." He was almost on Peter. He climbed up onto the roof as quietly as possible as the Red Hood rounded the corner. He smiled, but the victory was short-lived as he looked up immediately and Peter had to jump back from another spray of bullets.

Only he didn't quite jump fast enough. He gasped, putting a hand to his shoulder. One of the bullets had caught him in the shoulder, going through the fabric. It hurt but wasn't the worst Peter had had. He could push through. "I'm not trying to cross you. Unless you're doing something you shouldn't be."

There was a bang as the Red Hood jumped up, grabbing the edge of the roof Peter was on and starting to pull himself up. Seeing the helmet rise up was terrifying. Peter stood up and flipped off the little roof, stumbling as he landed on his injured ankle. He heard the Hood drop back down and hurry towards him, the sound of gunfire followed quickly. Peter ran and jumped off the edge of the building as he felt a bullet rip through his thigh.

He shot off a web, swinging down the street. He started to relax when his tingle went off again. He paused on the side of a building and looked back to see the Hood swinging after him on a grappling hook.

"Oh, this is just not my day." Peter jumped as best he could, firing off another web. He swung down the street, Red Hood hot on his tail. A message flashed on his HUD. "Web fluid low".

"Shit!" Peter glanced back at Red Hood, who wasn't quite gaining on him. Peter couldn't run away, so he'd have to fight. He headed for a tall building off to the right. He webbed himself up to the top and got ready for Hood to show up.

Red Hood was on the roof only a moment after Peter, pulling out his gun. This time, Peter was facing him. As he pulled the gun out, Peter shot several webs to stick the hand and gun to Hood's thigh.

"Ok, can we talk now-" he jumped to the side as Red Hood pulled out another gun with his other hand and shot at Peter, nearly getting him in the side.

"Why don't we have a nice little chat with you somewhere you can't run away." He kept shooting at him.

Peter jumped over the edge and clung to the side of the building. "I'll talk here if you stop shooting at me!"

The gunfire stopped for a moment. The Red Hood walked over to the side of the building and looked down at Peter, gun pointed down at him.

"How the hell are you doing that?"

He wasn't shooting at Peter so that was probably good. "Can you put the gun away and we can talk? Hood to Spider?"

There was the sound of another grappling hook and someone else landing on the roof. "I thought you said you got him." The voice sounded familiar.

"I'm staring at him," Hood said, not looking away from Peter. A moment later another figure appeared at the edge of the roof looking down at Peter. Nightwing.

"Why is he hanging off the side of the building Hood? Let him up!"

"He decided he wanted to be there!" Hood said defensively.

"I'd be happy to come up and talk. But only if Red Hood puts the gun away.

Nightwing looked pointedly at Red Hood. The other turned his head slightly towards the other and there was a look between them before Hood sighed heavily. "Fine." He shoved the gun into its holster and stalked away from the edge.

Nightwing crouched down and offered Peter a hand up. Peter hesitated, not taking his hand as he crawled up himself. Nightwing grabbed his arm, but not roughly, more gently, and helped pull him to his feet.

"Thanks," Peter muttered. The adrenaline was wearing off and everything was hurting so much more. His ankle was swelling and he could feel the tingle of the bullet wounds on his shoulder and leg starting to try and heal themselves. He tried to hide how much pain he was in. It was nothing compared to when he'd had a building on top of him, or when Thanos had thrown a moon at him, but it still hurt.

"Why don't we start with who you are," Nightwing said, crossing his arms.

"I'm Spider-man. Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-man."

"You want to explain what the fuck that means?"

"I help people. Protect the little guys."

Nightwing nodded.

"Then why the fuck did you launch a manhole cover 50 feet into the air and nearly cause several accidents?" Red Hood demanded.

"Language," Nightwing cut in immediately.

"Fuck off."

Peter glanced between them. "Uh, have either of you been in the sewers?"

"No, not really. Maybe just a couple times," Nightwing admitted. "Why?"

"Found out there's some guy down there with a bunch of alligators. See, I thought the alligators in the sewers thing was just a myth but there's a whole herd of them down there. Is herd the right name for a group of alligators? Anyways, I was trying to get away from the gators and it was the first exit I came across."

There was a moment of quiet before Hood spoke. "There's fucking what in the sewers?"

Notes:

At least in Gotham, there really are gators in the sewers. Don't hide out in the Gotham sewers.

Updates Wednesdays

Chapter 5: Talking to a spider

Summary:

The bats have an interesting conversation with Peter. And with each other.

Notes:

Et tu Brute?

It's the Ides of March. Have a chapter to celebrate the death of Ceaser.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Jason didn't know what exactly had happened in Gotham during the time he'd been dead then held against his will and tortured. But apparently, it included alligators in the fucking sewers.

"Alligators," Spider-man started explaining. "It was dark so I couldn't get a good estimate but there had to have been at least a dozen after me."

"You seem to have handled yourself well enough. I don't see any bites," Nightwing said, looking the other man over. How old even was this guy? Oh fuck, was this another kid?

"I mean, I did alright. They didn't get anything important."

"Hold on, did you get bitten?" Nightwing was going into his overbearing mama bird mode.

"They just got the clothes I had on over the suit," Spider-man shrugged.

"Ok, great. Didn't get bitten by the sewer gators. Why the hell were you even in the sewers to begin with?" Jason demanded. It was suspicious. Who other than a villain, and alligators apparently, would be in the sewers?

The kid, he was definitely a kid, shuffled nervously. Jason could see him wince in pain at the movement. "Just wanted to check it out really." Lie.

"Try that again without lying," Jason growled. He watched Spider-man take a half step back, raising his hands. That was a stance which made him ready to move.

"Hood, chill. Kid's scared." Jason rolled his eyes at Dick.

"Fine," Jason grumbled. He pulled a knife out and started working on getting his hand cut free from the webbing on his leg.

"You make the webs?" Dick asked.

Peter nodded. "Yeah."

"Ask him how he makes them!" Tim's voice came excitedly through the coms.

Jason growled, startling Peter more. He didn't care. "How long have you been listening in, Red?" he growled lowly.

"Long enough. Ask him."

"How do you make the webs?"

The kid seemed to be considering something for a moment before he replied. "Secret recipe."

"Aww. Come on."

Jason got his hand free and frowned at the webs still clinging to him.

"They should disappear in a few hours," Spider-man said.

Suddenly something in his demeanor changed. He stiffened slightly. Just enough to be noticeable. Dick had apparently seen it too.

"Well, it's been fun chatting with you guys, but I should probably go." He started backing towards the edge.

"Now hold on one moment." Jason started pulling his gun back out. As he did, he found webs being shot at himself. He tried to dodge, and a few missed. But this kid was apparently very used to people dodging his attacks. People who were more nimble than Jason with no warning.

Dick moved to intercept the kid. "Where are you going?"

"I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got things I need to do." Spider-man managed to get Dick in the foot with a web, stopping him in his tracks. Getting the second foot was trickier but once he did, he made fairly short work of the older man. Jason was not a big fan of this.

"Who the fuck are you working with?" he demanded.

"The webs will dissolve on their own in about an hour," Peter said before turning and taking a running leap off of the building. He swung away around a corner.

Jason growled. "I'm going to shoot that damn spider's knees." That earned him an eye roll from Dick.

"Glad to see you're just as good as ever at making friends."

Jason sighed internally. Just what he needed right now. Another lecture from Batman.

"Hey B. Want to give us a hand?"

"I could. Or I could wait till Red Robin gets here. He wants to look at how the webbing works."

"Don't you fucking dare," Jason growled.

"What did you learn about him?" Bruce asked, ignoring what Jason had said. Jason ground his teeth under his helmet and tried again to get out of the damn webs.

"He calls himself Spider-man. Claims to help people. I'm not sure he's a threat," Dick said, seeming to accept the situation he was in.

"Still didn't explain why the fuck he was in the sewers," Jason growled.

"Oracle mentioned something about a sewer cover flying off."

Dick nodded. "Kid was apparently trying to escape sewer gators. Not sure how he got the sewer cover off." Dick's brow furrowed a bit, thinking about it.

"It was halfway down the street. And I didn't see anything on him that should have been able to launch it that far."

Batman nodded. Out of the corner of his eye, Jason could just see a smaller figure approaching. A moment later Tim was on the roof, grinning ear to ear and nearly vibrating with excitement.

"I can't believe you guys didn't invite me to the meet-and-greet," Tim complained, walking over to Dick and crouching next to him to start looking at the webs.

"Next time you get to deal with the bastard," Jason growled. He wanted to get out of here and go home.

"Deal." Tim grinned. Jason watched as Tim observed the webs holding Dick's feet in place on the roof.

"This stuff's strong. High tensile strength." Tim paused, pulling on the webs. They did not give under his hands. "Very high."

"I could have told you that you can't just pull them off," Jason growled. "You think I didn't try that?"

"Well, both of your hands are currently webbed to your side," Tim pointed out.

"Luckily for you or else I would strangle you about now!"

There was a heavy sigh from Batman behind him.

"Can you get us out Red?" Dick asked, looking down at Tim who was still obsessing over the webs at his feet.

"Huh? Oh yeah. I just want to collect some more of this to test later. I want to see what the strength of this stuff is."

"And I want to have use of my hands again! So hurry it up!"

"I am going to have to agree with Hood on this one. There is still a manhole cover in the middle of the road with an open manhole."

Batman nodded, listening to Babs. "Red Robin. Collect a sample, then help cut your brothers free." He walked over to Jason, pulling out one of his batarangs from his utility belt.

"Oh no. No no. You get to take care of Big Bird." Jason tried to take a step back but that didn't exactly work considering that his feet were practically cemented to the ground.

Bruce looked at him from under the cowl. "Hold still. I don't want to cut you on accident."

"I doubt you would be able to cut through Kevlar while using a batarang like a box cutter," Jason snapped back. But he relented and stopped moving. Bruce started working on cutting Jason's hands free.

Jason looked over at where Dick and Tim were. Tim was carefully trying to cut the webbing off of one of Dick's feet so Dick was patiently standing there. He looked over at Jason and shrugged. Good old Dickie bird just going with the flow of things.

He felt his hand get released from his leg as Bruce cut it free. His gun was still stuck to his hand, which made it inconvenient to try and get his other hand free. He had to stand there as Bruce moved to cut his other hand free.

"What's Spider-man like?" Tim asked as he worked on Dick.

"He's got to be a kid. And he's an annoying little son of a bitch," Jason grumbled.

"Language, little wing."

"Oh, screw you, dick." Dick rolled his eyes at Jason. He couldn't see his smirk under his helmet, but Jason was almost certain that Dick didn't need to see his face to know the smirk was there. Bruce just sighed.

Dick looked down at Tim. "Hood's right about one thing. Spider-man is a kid. Not quite sure how old he is, maybe about your age. He seems alright. A little hard to tell much about him as his suit completely covers him. Witty."

"Completely covered?"

Dick nodded. "Yeah. Have you seen the surveillance footage?"

"Not yet. Was busy dealing with a robbery uptown."

"He's got a red and dark blue suit with a big gold spider on his chest and back, the legs go around the suit. Cool web pattern on the red parts. Including the head. Full head covering with these big white eyes."

Tim nodded, getting Dick's first foot finally free. "That sounds cool. Can't wait to meet him."

Batman got Jason's second hand free. Jason begrudgingly allowed him to help pull the guns out of the webs attaching them to his hands. He waved him off as soon as they were holstered.

"I got it from here, B. Go brood or something." He pulled a knife out and crouched down to start hacking away at the webs at his feet. "How the fuck is this shit so fucking strong."

"I don't know yet. I might know more after I get to test it back in the cave," Tim said.

"Great," Jason muttered. He got one foot free.

Batman looked over at him. "Once you two are free, would you be able to lead me to where you first met Spider-man?"

"Hood should know where the street is," Dick said as Tim freed his other foot.

Jason hacked roughly until he got enough webbing cut to yank his foot free. He looked at the others. "Yeah, I can show you where I met the fucker."

Dick sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Will you ever cut back on the swearing, little wing?"

"Fuck no." He pulled out his grappling hook and shot it off, heading back to where he met Spider-man.

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 6: Identity lost and found

Summary:

Lesson 1 in why you shouldn't have personal identifying information on you when you're running around in a suit with a secret identity where you often get injured.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter had run out of web fluid. He had maybe enough dregs to shoot a couple webs. He sighed, stopping in the alley he was walking in and leaning up against the wall. His shoulder had healed, which was good, but Peter felt completely drained.

He'd barely gotten an hour of sleep before being chased by alligators through the sewers and then chased and shot at by the Red Hood. He looked at the hole in his leg. It was already starting to heal, but it was taking longer than it did when he was home. Probably the lack of a decent meal wasn't helping. He needed more calories. He'd barely had enough food today to sustain a normal human, not to mention someone with an enhanced metabolism like him. At least he still had some money to buy some-

Peter froze. "Oh no. Oh no no no." He started pacing, hands on his head. His wallet. It had been in the pocket of his sweatpants. Which meant it was either in the sewers or on the top of the skyscraper he'd gotten up onto before being chased by Hood.

Peter turned and quickly started running down the street in the direction which should lead back to where his wallet might be.

Not only did his wallet have his money, but it also had his ID in it. If either the sewer guy or the bats found it, they might connect the pieces and figure out who he was. Even if no one knew who Peter was in this city, he still didn't want people to know his secret identity. Last time that happened, his whole world came crashing down on him.

He didn't have enough web fluid to swing back there, which would be the fastest, so he just had to run. His ankle was screaming in pain, but he ignored it. He could deal with that later. He prayed to whatever god may or may not be listening that his wallet was there. And that he got there before anyone else. If it was in the sewers, he wouldn't see his wallet again.

He turned a corner a few blocks from the building and quickly turned around. He peaked around the corner and felt his heart drop. There, in the middle of the street, was the Red Hood dragging the sewer cover back towards the hole. Standing by the hole were two other figures. Peter squinted to see better.

His eyes zoomed in and his heart dropped even further. The imposing black figure of what must be Batman was standing by the hole, looking in. Next to him was a smaller figure. That had to be Red Robin. Maybe that's who Red Hood had been talking to through the coms Peter figured they had. He'd heard a little bit of someone talking through a headset.

Peter quietly climbed up the side of the building. He tried to get up as quickly as possible, hoping none of the bats came this way and spotted him. Once he got to the roof he moved to try and see the building he'd been on.

"Oh no."

There was another figure standing there, and even from here he could see the blue bird across the figure's back. Peter dropped down behind a gargoyle (seriously, why'd this city have so many gargoyles?) and watched Nightwing, zooming in. He was standing up, looking at something in his hands. Peter rubbed his face. They had to have found his wallet. This was bad. This was so bad.

Nightwing pulled out his grappling hook and rappelled down the side of the building to the others. Peter watched as he walked over, seeming to show them all something. He was so screwed.

"I found something," Dick said, walking over to the other bats. He was holding a pile of tattered clothing in his arms which immediately got a concerned look out of all the bats whose faces were visible, though Jason did pause as he put the manhole cover back on.

"Where were those?" Batman asked, taking an article of clothing from Dick's arms and looking it over. It appeared to be what was left of a t-shirt. The back was basically completely gone.

"Up on the roof up there." Dick gestured up towards the roof he'd come from.

"That's where I ran into Spider-man first," Jason said, looking up at the roof.

"You think these are his clothes?" Tim asked, looking at the tattered end of what might have been a sweatshirt.

"He did say that the sewer gators tore off the clothes he had on over the suit. It's possible. But there's something else." Dick shifted the clothes in his arms and held out the wallet. Everyone paused.

Jason moved first and took the wallet, opening it. He started going through the contents.

"This is a bit of an invasion of privacy, isn't it," Tim said, watching. "I mean, if this is Spider-man's- "

"We can use what we find here to find out who he is and any possible motivations. If he is a threat, it will make it easier to take him down. If he is unlikely to be a threat, then he could be a useful asset," Bruce reasoned. He had a point, even if Dick felt a little bad about it.

"He's got a little over a hundred in cash in here. Some cards too. You know this bank Red?" Jason tossed Tim a debit card. He caught it and looked it over.

"It's not one we have in Gotham," Tim said, pulling out his phone and starting to search for it. His brow furrowed as the search results came in.

"What is it?" Disk asked.

"I'm not getting anything back on this bank at all."

"Nothing? You mean it's a fake debit card for a fake bank?" Jason asked, skeptical.

"Let's head back to the cave. We can run the card and ID through the batcomputer," Bruce said. Dick could already hear the batmobile heading towards them.

Dick nodded. "Good idea." He was quiet as they waited for the batmobile to get there, Jason and Tim arguing over the cards in the wallet. He'd taken a peek in the wallet when he first picked it up. The thing that had struck him most was the ID card. The name on them had been Peter Parker. That was the same name as the kid from New York he'd run into earlier.

The batmobile got there, shaking Dick from his thoughts. He looked at Jason. "Coming back to the cave with us?"

"I'll follow you," he said, tossing the wallet back to Dick. He caught it, nodding.

Dick got into shotgun of the batmobile. Tim was already in the backseat, his eyes glued firmly on the phone in his hand. Bruce got in and began driving back to the cave. Jason's bike could be seen following them after a moment. It was quiet except for Tim tapping at his phone.

Dick looked down at the wallet and opened it. He pulled out the driver's license and looked at it. It looked legit. It had everything he expected that made driver's licenses difficult to duplicate. And the picture looked exactly like the kid he'd been talking to yesterday. But the weirdest thing was the birth date on the license. According to this, Peter Parker was about a week older than Jason.

"Spider-man has stopped following us," Batman said suddenly, breaking the silence.

Dick looked up. "He was following us?"

Batman nodded.

"Why'd he stop?" Tim wondered, glancing out the back window.

"I'm not sure yet," Bruce admitted. It seemed that Bruce was as suspicious, if not more so, of Spider-man as Jason was.

They pulled into the batcave and all climbed out of the batmobile. Jason was right behind them. He parked, taking his helmet off. The four of them all headed to the batcomputer, Tim hurrying to sit in the chair. He started typing quickly, looking for the bank.

Dick looked at Jason. "Take a look at this." He held out the driver's license to him. Jason looked it and looked it over before freezing.

"Oh no. Fuck that." Bruce and Tim looked over at Jason's outburst.

"What is it?" Bruce asked.

"He's older than me! How the fuck is he older than me?"

"So? What's the issue?" Tim asked, looking confused. That was fair. Tim hadn't seen Spider-man himself like he and Jason had. Or seen Peter himself like he and Babs had.

"You didn't meet him, Replacement. There is no way that kid is 22. He has to be closer to your age. That ID must be fake."

Tim held out a hand and Jason handed him the license. He ran it under the scanner and shrugged. "It's legit."

"Bullshit." Jason moved to look at the scanner. He was silent for a moment. "What the fuck?"

"Any luck on the bank Red?"

Tim shook his head. "I can't find the bank this card belongs to anywhere. The card checks out as legitimate, though it seems a bit fried. But the bank isn't real. Can I see the rest of the wallet?"

"Did you say fried?"

Tim nodded. "Yeah. The electronics in the card look like they were subjected to high levels of electricity. Potentially lethal levels."

Dick nodded, handing Tim the wallet. He looked at Jason. "The ground by where you found that web. That was burned."

Jason finally turned away from the license, crossing his arms and leaning against the desk. "Yeah. It was." Tim moved back in now that Jason was mostly out of the way. He tried to elbow Jason's butt over slightly. Jason didn't move.

Dick frowned.

"Something's on your mind. What is it?" Batman asked, looking at Dick.

Dick sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I think I met this kid yesterday at the library."

"What?" Jason pushed off of the desk, Tim quickly scooting to take the space over.

"Yeah. I dropped the file off to Babs and he was the last person in the library before closing. She said he'd been there all day, hadn't eaten. I took him to get food. The kid seemed starved. He was cagey, said he didn't have anybody. Said he didn't know what he was doing here. I'm worried the kid might have been trafficked. And if he's Spider-man- "

"That could make him a good target for human trafficking." Bruce finished.

The cave was quiet, even Tim stopped typing for a moment. Jason ran a hand through his hair.

"Well shit. That could change some things."

Notes:

It's funny how one little wallet can cause so many crises at once.

I am also fucking with canon a little bit here. Peter and Jason's birthdays are canonically about a week apart, so their birthdays are correct in this fic. But I'm tweaking the year a little bit as Peter was canonically born in 2001. But I want this fic to happen in roughly the year I'm writing it, which is 2023 currently. And I don't think Jason has a canonical year of birth, or at least not a consistent one due to comics stuff. Peter only has a canonical one since I'm just using MCU Peter. Anyways, if I make them born the same year it is not only funny as shit, but causes a few other things to line up way too well.

This is also going based off of a lot of fics I've read where Jason is in his early 20's, most of the time I've seen him portrayed as 21, making him 22 if you count the dead year. So the ages of Peter and Jason in this fic are both 22 on birth year alone but 17 and 21 respectively when taking dead time into account.

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 7: Identity theft is a criminal offense

Summary:

Peter decides that he needs a new identity to hide from Batman. And also so he can get a job. Kinda need to exist on government documents in order to legally get paid.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Batman had his wallet. That meant that he could probably figure out who Spider-man was, or at least knew his name. Peter was going to need a new name.

He paced on the side of a building for a while. How to get a new name? He could just start calling himself a different name. But the problem was that he also needed money. He needed food and a place to sleep. Not to mention he was going to need to repair his suit and eventually work on building his gate home. To do that, he needed a job.

And that meant he had to exist on government documents.

Peter had a little experience with this as he'd had to get some new documents after everyone forgot he existed. But then he had still had some of his original documents. Now he needed completely new ones. Starting with a birth certificate.

He also needed clothes.

Peter started walking around, looking for anywhere which might have something useful. He passed by a clothing donation bin and paused. He sighed. This felt wrong, but he needed the clothes. And it was better than stealing from someone else directly.

He managed to get it open and looked around in the bags of clothes till he found a pair of jeans, a t-shirt with some S symbol on it, and a zip-up jacket. He also managed to find some shoes which fit well enough. He closed the donation bin back up and headed off. If he remembered correctly, the clerk should be where he would find birth certificates. Only problem was that he didn't know where the clerk's office was.

He wandered a bit, plastic bag of clothes in hand, and turned the corner on a street. Suddenly the answer was right in front of him: the library.

Peter grinned and headed over. It should be empty at this time. He knew where the computers were and he could sign in as a guest, which wouldn't link it back to him. He quickly climbed up on top of the building. It didn't take long to locate the air ducts. Taking the covers off was surprisingly easy, allowing Peter to slip in, leaving the bag of clothes on the roof.

He climbed through the vents quietly until he came to the vent over the computers. He undid the vent cover, moving it aside, and looked around. Inside was dark. No signs of life were visible. He smiled, carefully climbing out of the vent. He was still out of web fluid so he crawled across the ceiling till he was over a bookshelf. He carefully lowered himself down onto the shelf. It seemed steady enough and didn't wabble when Peter dropped down to the floor.

He walked over to the nearest computer and quickly got it up and running. He pulled a small SD card out of a compartment in his chest. That had been Ned's idea. Would make it easy to have files accessible in the suit, or to get files off of something if need be. And it was smaller than a USB. He paused, looking at it as his heart ached.

Peter missed Ned. But Ned was probably better off without him. He didn't have to worry about his best friend getting killed in a plane crash or shot by a bad guy. He could just be a normal guy. That didn't mean that Peter's heart didn't ache at the memory. Somehow, losing MJ and Ned without them dying almost hurt more than if they had died.

He sniffled and shook his head. He needed to focus. The computer luckily had an SD card slot and he slipped it in, quickly copying a map over before popping it back out and into his suit. He pulled it up on his HUD, smiling as it worked. Peter made sure everything was closed out before turning off the monitor. He'd come back here later.

It only took a moment for Peter to climb back up the bookshelf and ease himself back into the vent. About a minute later he was back on the roof and climbing down the side of the building. The bag of clothes stayed on the roof. That would probably be a safe place for it and he wouldn't have to worry about it while breaking into the clerk.

Getting to the clerk's office took longer than he would have liked. Peter was out of web fluid, so he had to walk. On top of that, he was absolutely starving. The only thing he'd eaten in the last 24 hours was a granola bar and the burgers Dick had gotten him.

Peter looked around as he walked. He noticed a small mart which looked like it was closed for the day and headed over to the ally next to it. Slipping into the alley he found the dumpster and opened it.

This was not his first time dumpster diving, but normally, he only went dumpster diving for computer parts. This was new territory for him. It made him nervous. But it was this or starve and Peter needed more calories than most. He looked in, his mask letting him see better. He routed around in the dumpster for a bit before coming across a can of fruit. He moved back from the dumpster and pulled the pull tab open off. He pushed his mask up and started hungrily eating.

The can was full of canned peaches. They tasted heavenly, even if they were past their sell-by date. The sticky sweet water they were in dripped down his chin. It took maybe 3 minutes to eat the whole can. It wasn't nearly enough, but it would keep the edge of the hunger for now.

New problem: the front of his suit was sticky and wet now. He looked in the dumpster again and found a rag which was stained and smelled. But it would work. He used it to clean up the juice as best he could before pulling his mask back down and continuing on to the clerk's office.

It still took another twenty minutes to get there. He could see the cameras present on the building. If he had web fluid, this would be easy. But he didn't. He sighed, thinking.

The other buildings around it were also tall. He could probably make the jump off of one of those and onto the roof. The landing shouldn't kill him. Though his ankle and leg were still hurting. If only he could just fly onto the roof.

Peter smacked himself in the forehead. He could glide. His suit could become a wingsuit. All he needed was to get to a good height. Peter started quickly climbing up the building. Once he reached the top he looked over at the clerk building. Yeah, he could make it there.

"Hey Karen. Activate the wingsuit."

Silence met his request, along with his webbing not coming out. For the second time that night, Peter felt the heavy weight of loss. He hadn't even had time to check the circuitry of his suit to see what was damaged. He sat down on the edge of the building and put his head in his hands.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He murmured into his hands. He was alone in a strange city, almost certainly in another universe. Everyone he loved was gone. He felt tiny, the pressure of all his loss seeming to crush in on him. First his parents, this Uncle Ben, then Tony, then Aunt May, then MJ and Ned and everyone else he'd ever known. And now Karen was gone, and he didn't even know if he'd be able to get her back.

Peter cried.

His shoulders shook as he cried into his hands, the tears pooling up inside of his mask. All Peter wanted to do was help people. He just wanted to help people. So why, why did it seem like he kept getting repaid with pain, suffering, and loss.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there just crying, but he didn't move his head out of his hands until he had no more tears to cry and his mask had started to dry. He tried to take a deep breath in, but it ended up shuttering. Peter had work to do. He stood up, taking a few more breaths until he could breath without his chest shaking.

Since Karen couldn't bring out the wings, he would have to himself. It took a bit of fiddling and tugging but eventually he got the web-like fabric that stretched between his arms and thighs. He jumped up and down a little, warming himself up. If this didn't work he wouldn't have anything to catch him. No pressure. He moved back away from the edge to get room for a running start.

"Ok. Here we go!" Peter ran and jumped off the edge of the building.

There was one terrifying moment where he just fell, where Peter felt his heart jump into his throat. Then he felt the tug as the air caught in the webs. Peter grinned and headed for the building with the clerk's office.

He probably should have jumped off a farther building. Currently, he was too high up. Peter turned to try and circle down onto the roof. He banked left, wondering if this was how Falcon felt while flying. Maybe he'd ask him when he-

He couldn't ask him. He probably wouldn't see Falcon again. And even if he did, Falcon didn't know him. He would have no reason to help him.

Peter had gotten distracted. His left arm had relaxed a bit too much and the web on his left sucked against his body. Suddenly, Peter was tumbling towards the roof, only one side of his wingsuit working. He flailed, trying to get any sort of control of his fall. The roof rushed up to meet him from almost every direction.

The impact was sudden and hard. Peter's right shoulder drove into the roof, momentum sending him tumbling halfway across the roof. The only reason he didn't fall off the top of the building was because he crashed into something hard. Something, probably a rib, cracked with the impact.

Peter lay there, groaning and in more pain. His ankle hurt more than it had earlier. He hoped he hadn't broken it. His thigh was burning from the bullet wound that was still healing. His shoulder felt like it had at the very least dislocated, not to mention how much his back and ribs hurt from running into whatever he ran into. Everything hurt from the tumble.

After giving himself a moment, Peter pushed himself up. The pain intensified with the movement but he couldn't exactly stay on this roof. First things first, pop the shoulder back in. He gritted his teeth and reached over. It took a moment but he managed to pop his shoulder back into place with a loud gasp. Ok, that was one thing done. Now to enter the building.

Peter limped over to the side of the building and looked down. Easiest way in would be through a window. He sighed and eased himself over the edge and climbed down. He got to a window which looked like it should open and tested it. Locked. He frowned and looked over it. It was a simple flip latch. All he needed was something thin.

Peter checked his person. If the nanites were still working, those could potentially work. Peter looked at the nanites on his suit and tried to get them to form something like a knife. It took a while for it to work. The nanites themselves still seemed fine, but potentially the connection with the suit's electronics was damaged. Either way, he got something to jimmy the lock.

Jimmying the lock took a minute or so, but he got it open and smiled, integrating the nanites back into his suit. He carefully crawled in and looked around. The room was dark and silent. It appeared he was in the right room as it looked like some sort of archive. Peter sighed. Time to get to work.

Peter spent about half an hour looking around before deciding that that wasn't going to work very well. He sighed, rubbing his hands over his head. He paused as something caught his vision out of the corner of his eye. Turning to look, Peter saw a computer. He grinned. Perfect.

The computer did have a password, but that password was also written on a sticky note next to the computer. What sort of amateurs worked here? He logged in and started looking for what he needed.

Within the hour he had a good confirmed dead person whose identity he could use. Someone just about a week younger than him. He'd died around the same time Peter did. Peter felt bad for the kid but it had been over half a decade so that should be fine. He looked around a bit and found where the birth certificate should be located. He limped his way over to the proper cabinet and opened the drawer. He searched around until he found it.

Jason Todd. Son of Willis and Catherine Todd. All three of them were dead, so Peter should hopefully not have to worry about running into any family members.

"Sorry buddy. Hope you don't mind. I promise not to do anything bad in your name." He headed over to a photocopier and got some paper that seemed good enough. He copied the birth certificate, tapping his fingers on his uninjured thigh. Once it was done he took his copy and put the original back. He didn't exactly have any pockets, and he couldn't just hold onto it. He sighed and decided to see if the little camera he'd installed in his suit still worked.

He lay it out on a table, turning on a lamp. He put his hand up and focused the paper in the middle of his vision, pressing the small button on the side of one eye to capture the picture. That should work for a backup of the backup.

Peter folded up his copy of Jason Todd's birth certificate and managed to get the nanites to hold it in place. That should work till he got back to the library. He crawled back out of the window and onto the top of the building. It took a few minutes of fiddling to get the web gliders to come out again. He took another very painful running start and jumped off. He let himself glide down the street, trying to see how far he could get. Hopefully his landing this time wouldn't be so rough.

Peter managed to glide about a dozen blocks before getting too low. He dropped down into a roll, which hurt everything. He hissed, getting up gingerly and continuing to the library. It took about half an hour to get there. Peter was so tired when he did. He wanted to sleep so badly. And eat. He was starving.

He managed to crawl up the wall and onto the roof of the library. His bag of clothes was right where he left it. He quickly changed, moving the birth certificate into his pants pocket. He wrapped the suit in the bag before laying down. Now that he was done moving and the adrenaline was well and truly gone from his system, Peter could feel just how cold it was outside. He shivered and looked around for some sort of shelter. There was a corner between a couple of vents that looked a little sheltered. Or Peter could just climb back into the vents. That would at least be shelter from the elements.

He decided to go with the vent and crawled his way in, placing the cover back on behind him. He crawled a little ways down till he was far enough from the entrance to mitigate the night air coming in. He curled up into a ball, using the bag as a pillow, and closed his eyes.

It took a long time for Peter to fall asleep.

Notes:

I looked up an actual book from the 80's on how to get a new identity while writing this chapter. Which totally didn't increase the number of FBI watchlists that I'm on.

And the fact that Peter is stealing the identity of someone he's already met is totally not going to come back to bite him.

Chapter 8: Jason Todd

Summary:

Dick and Babs get a little more worried about Peter. And Peter finds somewhere to finally get some proper food.

Notes:

I'm loving all of your guys' comments. Seriously make my day. Especially last chapter's comments.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dick had gotten a text from Babs early that morning. 'Peter's at the library.'

The night before he'd made sure she was updated on everything they found out and had gotten her to check some things for them. It appeared that, despite nothing in his wallet failing tests for fakes, none of them were for real places or people. The bank, credit card institution, school, and Stark Industries, for which he had multiple business cards from, none of them existed. They couldn't find any records of Peter Parker himself, at least none that matched the Peter they'd met. Babs had even checked multiple police agency records. The only things that weren't surrounded in an almost unreality, as Tim said, was the cash and two photos.

One photo was a candid of the Peter that Dick had met sitting at a table in a small but nice enough apartment. There were two other people at the table. One was a middle-aged woman with long, brown hair sitting across from Peter. Next to Peter was a man with neat brown hair and a short, professional beard. He obviously was some sort of rich businessman as the coat and shirt were well made, and the glasses appeared designer. There was space at the table where it looked like a fourth person, likely the man taking the picture who could sort of be seen in a reflection off a glass, was sitting next to the woman. They were playing a board game and all looked very happy.

The other picture was a selfie of Peter and two other kids all looking at the camera and smiling. The girl, who had very wavy brown hair mostly contained in a ponytail, on the left was holding the camera. On the other side was a larger boy with dark hair. Peter was in the middle, arms around the shoulders of what had to be his friends. They all looked so happy and relaxed.

Dick felt bad for the kid, or man if his birthdate was correct. These pictures showed that he had people who loved him and cared about him. Yet when he'd talked with him, he'd said he didn't have anyone left. Dick wondered what had happened to the people in these pictures.

He sighed, rubbing his face as he parked at the library. He took a deep breath, making sure he had a neutral expression on his face before getting out and heading into the library. He may know that Peter was likely Spider-man, but Peter would have no clue to suspect he was Nightwing. And they'd all agreed that Peter wouldn't know until after they managed to bring him back to the manor and figure out more about him.

He bounded up the stairs into the library and headed over to Babs who was sitting at the desk.

"Hey Babs, how's it going?"

"Good morning, Dick."

"How's the kid?" he asked in a quiet voice. There was a low level of noise as the library had some people in it. He spoke just loud enough for Babs to hear him over it.

Babs looked worried. "He came in as soon as the library was open. He looked like he'd been hurt bad. He sat back down at one of the computers. He fell asleep after about 15 minutes."

Yeah, that was concerning. Spider-man had seemed slightly injured when Dick met him, and that was mostly due to a few bullet wounds from Jason that the kid appeared to be taking in great stride. Which was also a concerning thought. Was Peter used to being shot?

"What sort of injuries could you see?"

"Both legs seemed hurt, though the right one more so. Probably something with his ribs. Hard to tell specifics. He seems generally hurt."

Dick nodded, glancing over at the computers. After a moment he spotted him sitting at a computer at the corner of the table. His head was lying down on his arms. "Poor kid."

"You're going to try and bring him in aren't you."

"If he doesn't bolt on me again, yeah. Alfred's already gotten a room ready."

She nodded. "You think he'll go?"

"I don't know," Dick admitted. "I'm worried he was trafficked. He might not trust anyone, which will make it hard to get him to trust me enough to let me help him."

Peter began to stir and the two of them stopped talking and looked at him. He lifted his head up groggily and looked at the computer. The monitor must have fallen asleep as he jiggled the mouse. He rubbed his face before seeming to go back to whatever he had been doing before passing out.

Dick looked back at Babs. "What's he up to?" he asked softly.

"Let's see." She typed away at her computer. After a moment her expression turned to one of shocked surprise.

"What?"

Babs waved him around the desk so he could look at the screen. In the open remote desktop application was the computer Peter was using. He had opened a browser and was applying for a new social security card. Only the name on the application was not Peter Parker. The name he had put on the application was Jason Todd.

"Holy shit." Dick stared at the screen opened mouthed as Peter submitted the application.

Babs nodded in agreement.

"I gotta tell Bruce."

"Are you gonna tell Jay?"

"Not yet. This is too good."

Babs chuckled.

Dick noticed that the mouse hadn't moved in a few moments and glanced up. He did a double take, noticing that Peter was looking directly at him with wide eyes. Dick smiled casually and looked back down at the screen.

"I think he noticed." That was confirmed as the computer suddenly turned off and Peter got up and started heading out quickly. Dick moved to follow him. "Peter, wait!"

Peter didn't wait. Once he got outside, he started running down the sidewalk. Dick gritted his teeth. If he ran after him, he might scare the kid more. But if he didn't follow him, he might lose Peter again and it would be even harder to bring him in. And they needed to bring him in as the Waynes, and not the bats. He rubbed his face, watching him disappear.

Dick walked back into the library and over to Babs. "Can you find where he's going?"

Peter kept running until he was sure Dick wasn't following him. He ducked into an alley and leaned on the wall, breathing heavily and holding his ribs. That had hurt so much. His ankle hadn't had time to heal, neither had his ribs. The gunshot wound in his thigh was also bleeding again. Not to mention he was still starving. Slowly, he sank down the wall to sit on the floor, closing his eyes. He'd started applying for everything he needed to a new identity, but it appeared that Dick and the librarian, Babs, had remoted into his computer and saw.

Shit.

He needed to do something. He was hurt, starving, and exhausted. Peter wasn't exactly the best at taking care of himself but even he knew that his body would start giving out if he kept this up.

First things first, he couldn't stay here. He took a few deep breaths before pushing himself back up and starting to walk. He didn't know where he was going, just that he needed to go.

Eventually his feet brought him to the front of an old brick building. On the front was a sign which said, "Soup kitchen." His stomach growled loudly. Peter walked in, trying to hide his injuries as best he could.

Inside was a large room with cafeteria lunch tables taking up most of the space. There was a smattering of people sitting eating. A few of them made his Peter tingle raise when he glanced at or passed by them. He made his way to where a counter divided the main room from what must be the kitchen.

A blonde lady with her hair tied back in a ponytail. She smiled as Peter walked up. "Hello. You hungry?" She had already grabbed a plate.

Peter nodded. "Starving."

She started putting food on the plate. It was some spaghetti with potatoes and bread. "First time here?"

Peter nodded. "That obvious?"

She smiled. "I didn't think I'd seen your face before." She finished and handed him the plate along with a glass. "There's a water fountain just over there. Enjoy."

"Thank you. Thank you so much," Peter said, taking the food. He filled his glass with water and went to sit at an empty table. He began eating immediately. The food was good. Once he started, he just kept eating, barely tasting it, until his plate was clean. That helped. It helped a lot. Peter sighed and got himself some more water before sitting back down. He sipped the water, giving himself a moment to relax.

That was until he felt his Peter tingle spike as someone walked in the door. Peter looked over to see a man in a leather jacket walk in. The guy radiated a menacing energy. Not only that but he appeared to have at least one gun. He glanced at Peter, making eye contact. Peter broke it, looking away and back to his water.

The man walked up to the counter.

"Hey Tod. How're you doing today?"

"Fine. Things all good here?"

"Always are." Peter could hear her hear putting spaghetti on a plate.

"Kid in the hoodie new?" There was a pause. Tod continued, "I'm not going to cause issues, Nance. You know that. Neutral zone, right? Look, if the kid's new, I'll just give him some tips. Ok?"

She sighed. "Alright. Here you go." It sounded like she was handing him his plate. Peter sat stiffly, sipping his water as he heard the man walk over to the fountain and fill his cup. He could almost feel each movement the man made thanks to the tingle. It increased more so as he approached, stopping next to Peter's table.

"Seat taken?" Peter glanced up to see Tod looking at him, indicating the seat across from him. The man had a hard face with dark hair, except for one patch of white.

Peter shook his head. "N-no. I was just leave-"

"Stay," Tod said, sitting down. There was a commanding tone to his voice and Peter decided to stay seated. He was too injured to want to deal with another fight. "I don't bite. Much."

Peter nodded, not really reassured. Tod started eating his spaghetti.

"You new on the streets?"

"How could you-"

"None of your clothes fit. Weird stains on the hoodie," he explained, only glancing up at Peter. "Been there before."

Peter nodded. "Yeah, actually."

"Running away?"

Peter looked at him questioningly. "What?"

Tod looked up at him. "Are people looking for you? Because there's different things to consider if there's people after you or not."

Peter nodded a little. "Why?"

Tod looked at him. "Why what? Help you?" Peter nodded. "Because you'll be eaten alive out here."

He had no idea how close to true that was. He just nodded. "Yeah."

Tod looked at him for a moment, thinking. He picked up his piece of bread and set it on Peter's plate. Peter looked up at him confused. "Eat the bread."

"Ok. Thanks." Peter took a bite out of the bread, trying not to scarf it down immediately like he wanted to.

"You got a place to stay?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I got a place."

Tod nodded, not seeming to believe him. Peter was lying after all. "Well, if you need somewhere safe to stay, I know some shelters. They're safe." He pulled out a piece of paper and started writing some addresses on it before holding it out to Peter. "Here."

Peter took it. "Thanks." Tod nodded.

"And keep out of the gangs. Got it? Brings nothing but trouble. Great way to die young or end up hospitalized because Batman took out your knees trying to get to the Joker. Understand?" Tod was looking straight at Peter as he said that with a very intense expression which made his tingle spike sharply.

"Don't worry. I don't plan on joining any gangs or anything like that," Peter said, smiling a little.

Tod nodded, finishing his food and standing up. "Good. Don't forget to put your plate away." Peter watched as he walked over to set his plate and cup in a window. Tod glanced at him as he headed out. Peter let out a breath once Tod was out. His tingle slowly lowered. After a moment, giving Tod time to leave, Peter stood up and put his dishes away.

"Thank you again," he said to Nance. She smiled.

"Be safe out there."

"I will," Peter promised, heading out.

He looked around as he headed out. Tod didn't appear to be anywhere nearby. That was good. Peter looked at the addresses Tod have given him. Might as well check them out. He probably wouldn't be able to go out as Spider-man for at least a few more nights. Might as well try and get some rest if he could.

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 9: No rest for the Peter

Summary:

Being surrounded by strangers is not great when you have nightmares. But sometimes vigilantes can help in more ways than just fighting.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The shelter hadn't actually been that bad. Peter had gotten there and after getting a rundown of the rules of the shelter (no alcohol, no drugs, no smoking indoors) he'd gotten a bed and laid down to sleep. It wasn't the best sleep, but it was sleep that Peter had needed desperately.

He'd slept most of the afternoon, only really getting up to get dinner. Then he'd decided to try and sleep some more that night. His gunshot wound in the thigh had finally healed now that he'd gotten some food and his other injuries were starting to heal as well, but his ankle was still really swollen.

But since he was no longer tired to the point of exhaustion, his dreams started coming back. Dreams of dying in Tony's arms. Dreams of being pulled back together only to be thrown into a battle filled with hundreds or thousands of people, half of which wanted to kill Peter. Dreams of Tony dying.

He woke up to Tony's death, screaming, sitting upright and hitting his head on the bottom of the bunk above him. All around him were angry faces glaring at him while his tingle crept up and down his spine and his head throbbed. He ran.

Peter ran and didn't stop running until the adrenaline was out of his system. He sighed, looking around. He was in the middle of a street in what looked like a less than stellar part of town (which, arguably, was most of Gotham) in the middle of the night. This was probably not a safe place to be.

Some of the buildings around here looked abandoned. That could work. Peter walked over to an abandoned apartment building. The walls were blackened with soot and parts of it had collapsed in. That was fine, meant people probably wouldn't find him there. Peter climbed up the wall and to the roof and sat down, legs dangling over the edge. He sighed.

"What am I supposed to do Mr. Stark? You and Aunt May are dead because of me. And I messed up Ned and MJ's lives but by being friends with them. Everyone who I get close to gets hurt."

"I think you're being a bit hard on yourself." Peter turned around sharply. Somehow, he hadn't noticed the figure who'd approached from behind and was standing on part of the roof. Nightwing raised his hands. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you."

"What are you doing here?"

"Out on patrol and saw someone sitting on a roof. How'd you even get up here?"

"I climbed."

Nightwing glanced over the side of the building. "You must be a pretty good climber then." Peter nodded. "Mind if I sit?" he asked, gesturing next to Peter.

"Yeah. Ok." Nightwing wasn't acting like he knew Peter was Spider-man. And his tingle wasn't really going off, so he probably wasn't a threat right now. Besides, Peter didn't exactly want to be alone right now.

Nightwing sat down next to Peter, leaving some space between them. "Having a rough night?" Peter nodded, looking down at his hands. "Want to talk about it? You don't have to say anything you don't want to but from experience, talking about it helps."

Peter sighed. "I keep causing people who are close to me to get hurt or die. First my parents, then my Uncle Ben when I was younger. Then Mr. Stark. I could have done something. He shouldn't have died. He trusted me. He had so much faith in me, and I watched him die. And then I got Aunt May killed. I could have saved her. I could have…" Peter felt tears welling up in his eyes. He wiped them away with the back of his hand.

Nightwing reached over and rubbed his back. "Hey, it's ok. I'm sure you did everything you could. You seem like a good kid. You did your best."

"It wasn't enough. I got Aunt May killed. She was the only family I had left." Peter could feel the tears rolling down his cheeks. He felt horrible.

"Even if they're gone, you're not alone. What about Ned and MJ? You've still got them, right?" Peter knew Nightwing was trying to cheer him up. And even if Peter was still in the same universe, which he doubted, there was no way Nightwing could have known. Still, it felt like a knife was twisted in his gut. Nightwing looked more worried so Peter's expression much have betrayed how he was feeling. He shook his head.

"No. They…" He took a deep breath, hating how unsteady it sounded. "They don't know me anymore."

Nightwing looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"They forgot. They had to forget I exist. Everyone did. Which is also my fault. If I hadn't been so selfish…"

"Hey, look at me." Peter turned to look at Nightwing. "You're not alone, ok? Even if it feels like it. Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes hurt others. But if you keep letting it rule your life, you'll just end up hurting more people and yourself."

Peter sighed, glancing back down. "I don't want to be the reason someone else dies."

Nightwing sighed. "I know." Peter looked over. Nightwing was looking out over the city, a distant look in his eyes.

"All the bats and birds are all sort of one big and highly dysfunctional family. We get hurt a lot. Sometimes enough that someone's hospitalized because of it. And sometimes it's because one of us did or didn't do something." Nightwing paused to take a deep breath. "But then Robin died."

Peter watched as Nightwing looked down. He talked about it like how Peter talked about his parents of Uncle Ben. It still hurt but there had been enough time that it wasn't as raw as it used to be.

"Joker killed him. We couldn't save him. It destroyed Batman. He blames himself for his death. The Joker targeted Robin to hurt Batman. Maybe he could have done something differently he wouldn't have died. Maybe if I'd been a better brother he wouldn't have died. But the point is, it doesn't really matter. We did what we did because it seemed like the right thing at the time, or it was what we felt like we had to do. We can't change the past. But we can learn from it. No one fights the Joker alone. Not anymore."

Peter nodded a bit. Nightwing looked over, putting a hand on his shoulder. Peter looked up to see a bit of a smile on the man's face. "There are people who will help you kid. Let them. Ok? You don't need to go through this alone."

Peter nodded. "Ok."

Nightwing smiled. "You have somewhere to stay for the night?"

"I did," Peter admitted. "I was at one of the shelters, but I had a nightmare and ran."

"What sort of nightmare?"

Peter glanced away. He wasn't sure how much of it he could tell Nightwing. It wasn't like Nightwing would know about the fight against Thanos, and no one who knew Peter was in this world. He hadn't even properly established an identity here. But still, the more people knew who Spider-man was, the worse things got for Peter Parker.

"It's a big fight. Really big. People dying. And it's when Mr. Stark…" The words got all stuck in his throat. Nightwing seemed to understand as he rubbed Peter's back comfortingly.

"I'm sorry."

Peter nodded. "I woke up screaming and everyone was glaring at me. I panicked."

Nightwing nodded. "I can understand that. I've had some nightmares where I wake up and they still feel real. The ones that are memories. Waking up somewhere I feel safe helps. Try and find a place like that."

Peter looked over at Nightwing, smiling slightly. Talking with him had helped. The panic was leaving his body. He felt a bit drained though from all the emotions. "Thanks. That, that helped a lot."

Nightwing smiled. "What did I say, talking helps." Peter chuckled a little in spite of himself. "I'm glad you're doing better kid. What's your name?" He held out a hand to Peter.

Peter shook his hand. "Pet- er, Jason. My name's Jason." He remembered part way through that he was changing his identity. That he'd stolen the identity of a dead kid named Jason Todd. If he was going to use that, he might as well start using the name. Unfortunately, Nightwing seemed to notice the slipup as he raised an eyebrow.

"You were about to say something different for a moment there."

Peter sighed, shoulders slumping forward in defeat. "I have to start all over with a new identity here. I'm just starting to get used to it." It was harder than differentiating between Peter and Spider-man. Jason didn't come with a mask to remind him.

Nightwing nodded. "Trying to hide from some people?"

Peter nodded. Technically he was, at least as Spiderman. And Nightwing was one of them. But mostly, he was hiding from Red Hood. He was scary and did not seem to like Peter. "Yeah. That's a bit of it."

Nightwing nodded. "Ok. Be careful, alright?"

Peter nodded. "I try."

"You going to be ok on your own now?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. I'll be fine. You've got criminals to deal with."

Nightwing nodded, standing up. "Alright. Have a good night, Jason."

Peter nodded. "You, too. And thanks. For listening."

He smiled, pulling his grappling hook out. "Glad I could help." With that, he launched the grabbling hook and fell gracefully off the building with a wave. Peter watched as he swung his way through the city.

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 10: Just a regular Tuesday night

Summary:

Nightwing and Red Robin deal with some drug dealers.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Once Dick was a few blocks away he turned his radio back on. "We need to bring Peter in somehow."

"You've said. Why bring that up now?" Tim asked.

"I just ran into him on the top of a crumbling building having a breakdown. He's all alone. Seems like all his family is dead and his friends are either dead or apparently forced to forget about him. And he blames himself for all of it."

There was silence for a moment before Babs spoke up. "You think he'll do something?"

"To himself? Quite possibly. He's scared to let people back into his life, but he also said he's got people after him."

"We can't kidnap a child," Barbara reminded them.

Tim scoffed. "Never stopped B."

Dick had to admit he had a point. "We can't kidnap him. If we're right about the human trafficking, that might make things worse."

"We'll just have to get him to trust us."

"Somehow."

"Nightwing, I'm getting movement by the docks. A truck just pulled up to a warehouse. It's been used by a known drug cartel."

"On my way." Dick turned to head to the docks.

He got there, landing on a roof overlooking the warehouse in question and watching the people loading boxes into the back of a truck. "Any info on what might be in those boxes O?"

"No. This cartel has pushed just about everything out. Just be careful."

"Will do."

"Need backup?" Tim asked.

"I think I got it covered. I see less than a dozen men."

"You sure?" Tim asked, landing on the roof. Dick sighed.

"Ran out of things to do?"

"Yeah." Tim walked over and looked down at the men. "I go right, you go left?"

Dick nodded. "Check the windows, see if there's anyone else inside. Make sure the boxes don't leave the docks." Tim nodded.

They both shot their grappling hooks, heading to get into position. Dick landed on the warehouse roof and headed towards the east corner. He paused, looking down at the men loading the truck. Two of them had guns while the other four were moving the boxes.

"Two more inside," Tim said through the radio.

"Deal with them then join me outside."

"Roger."

Dick waited a moment to make sure Tim was prepared, taking a deep breath, preparing for the fight. "Now."

He jumped down, escrima sticks out. Behind him somewhere he could hear the smash of a window as Tim broke into the warehouse. He quickly took out the first gunman with a hit to the knee followed by a swift hit to the head. He crumpled to the ground as the others got over the shock of his sudden appearance.

"Bats!" The other gunman said, opening fire. Dick lept behind the truck, avoiding the gunfire. He dropped down and rolled under the truck, hearing the gunman run towards the side of the truck he'd moved behind. He waited until he was closer to the truck before striking.

Dick hit him sharply in the ankle, causing a loud crack. The man yelled in pain. Dick took the moment to roll out from under the truck. The man fired at random, starting to turn towards Dick. He hit the man's shoulder with a stick before following it with a hit to the elbow, breaking it.

He pressed one end of his stick into the man's side, shocking him. He dropped the gun as he collapsed to the ground.

The engine of the truck revved. Dick turned and ran to the cab. This truck was not leaving the docks. He grabbed the door handle and pulled. Locked. He raised one arm to break the window with his stick when he heard a bang and pain flared in his arm.

Nightwind flipped himself up onto the hood of the truck, scaring the man inside. One of the men loading the boxes had picked up one of the guns dropped by his friend. Now he was shooting at the truck, towards Dick.

The man behind the wheel looked terrified. He gripped the wheel and stepped on the gas, the truck lurching forward. Dick tried to brace himself on the hood. There weren't a lot of hand or footholds and if he didn't act soon, he could fall off and get run over.

He started hitting the windshield with one escrima stick. It cracked with the first hit but took about four hits before he broke through. The man jerked the wheel, causing Dick to lurch to the right. He gripped onto the stick in the windshield, keeping himself on. The truck jerked the other way, sending Dick into his stick. The wind was knocked out of him slightly.

He didn't have time to catch his breath. He needed to stop this truck now. He shoved his weight into the stick as hard as he could, sending it and part of his arm through the windshield. Perfect. He shoved the stick into the arm of the man behind the wheel and pressed the button to shock him. The man spasmed from the shock, releasing the wheel. Unfortunately, his foot pressed down on the accelerator harder.

Dick glanced behind him to see what they were headed towards. Ahead was a section of road leading towards a chain supported by large black barriers separating them from land and the six-foot drop into the ocean.

"Shit." Dick dropped his stick, twisting his arm to grab the wheel. He could feel the glass cutting through his suit and into his skin. He shoved himself further into the windshield, trying to give himself enough arm movement space to turn the wheel. The truck started turning left, onto the road running along the edge of the dock. But it wasn't turning fast enough.

The front right corner hit one of the barriers. The truck lurched, momentum sending the back tires into the air. Nightwing could hear the boxes in the back shift, slamming into the right side of the truck. The momentum, force of the boxes, and the lift created by the hit were enough to send the truck careening up and over the chain, dragging Dick with it.

The truck hit the water hard. Dick barely had enough time to catch his breath enough to fill his lungs with air as the freezing water closed around him. The shock almost caused him to gasp involuntarily. He forced himself to keep his mouth shut, and even so, a few bubbles got out. He needed to get out of the water. He braced himself on the windshield, twisting and pulling to get his arm out of the windshield.

The glass was pushed inwards from him hitting it in and did not want to let up. The water rushing in through the hole and the air gurgling out opposing it were not helping. He gritted his teeth against the pain, pulling harder. He could feel the glass cutting through his skin as his arm moved out. His lung started to burn. He gave a few more good tugs and finally, his arm was freed as the pressure in the cabin matched the water.

Dick kicked off the truck, propelling himself upwards. He swam towards the surface, gasping as he broke through.

"Nightwing!" Dick turned to see a very concerned-looking Tim leaning over the damaged barrier.

"I'm alive."

Tim let out a breath. "Thank god. Let's get you out of the water. O, he's ok."

Dick looked around and spotted some stairs not too far away. He swam over, mostly using his left arm and legs. Tim hurried over to help pull him out as he got to the stairs.

"Your arm is bleeding really bad."

"I'll be ok. You have any bandages in your belt? Oh, and I think my radio got fried in the water."

"Yeah." Dick sat down at the top of the stairs as Tim fished out some bandages and started wrapping them around Dick's arm. "This should stop the bleeding until we get you back to the cave. Then Agent A can patch you up."

Dick smiled. "Sounds like a plan." He took a few deep breaths, letting the adrenaline slowly wear off. That had gone pretty south for not a lot of people. Good reminder that even with all his experience, Dick still needed to be on his toes at all times.

"There. Let me see your radio," Tim said, holding out his hand as he finished bandaging his arm.

"Here." Dick took his radio out and handed it to Tim. He watched as Tim pulled several tools out of his belt and started working on it. "You get everyone else taken care of?"

"Yeah, warehouse is clear. Looks like it was coke. I was just finishing up the last guy when I saw the truck heading for the water. Sorry, I didn't get there sooner."

"You did your job taking care of the rest of the guys. I'll be fine. You did good baby bird."

Tim smiled a little. He seemed to finish fiddling with the radio as he snapped the case back together and tossed it to Dick. "Here. Should work now."

Dick caught it and put it in. "Hear me now?"

"Nightwing, don't you dare pull a stunt like that again."

Dick chuckled. "Can't promise that, O. I'm headed back to the cave. Think I'm done for the night."

"I've already got a batmobile headed your way."

"Thanks, O. Where's B right now?"

"Taking care of a rumor that scarecrow planning something north of the city. He took Robin with him."

"Bat brat got cleared for duty?"

"A decided he was recovered enough from the flu to return. Though from the sound of it, he would have liked Robin to rest a little longer."

"Thank goodness. He was getting irritable," Tim said, standing up as the headlights of the batmobile came into view.

"Not surprised. A always tries to be a mother hen."

O chuckled. "Maybe we need to change his call sign."

Dick chuckled, getting into the driver's seat of the batmobile and heading back toward the cave. "It would be fitting for him."

Tim chuckled. "Yeah." He leaned back in his seat. "You're sure you're doing ok Nightwing?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Don't you worry about me baby bird."

"We have a situation." Barbara's voice sounded serious and very concerned.

Dick frowned. "What sort of a situation?"

"Spider-man is breaking into one of Joker's labs."

"WHAT?"

Notes:

This chapter was so much fun to write! The banter. Almost drowning Dick. Very fun

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 11: Breaking and entering

Summary:

The batkids go to get Peter out of one of the Joker's labs

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Dick turned the car around quickly, causing Tim to grab onto the handle.

"Wait! You can't go running in after him! Your arm."

"I'm fine! And that kid's going to die if we don't do something. Red, contact Hood. Fool has to have his radio off again. O, give me the address."

There was a moment of hesitation on the other end of the line before Babs caved, giving it to him. He could hear Tim typing away to Jason as he hurried to the lab.

"O, what are you seeing?"

"I've only got a couple cams nearby. I'm not sure if he's inside or not yet. He's keeping out of sight. I'm trying to hack Joker's systems as we speak."

"Keep it up."

"Hood's on his way."

"Tell him to turn his damn radio on!"

"Wow, big bird's swearing. Can't wait to tell A," Jason said. Dick could hear the roar of his motorcycle in the background.

"Now's not the time," Dick growled. He was speeding and Tim looked a little nervous. "O, can you get in touch with Batman and Robin?"

"I am. They probably won't get there in time."

"Just us three. Got it."

"Just focus on getting Spider-man out of there. No need to put yourselves more at risk than you have to."

"Trust me, we won't be in there longer than need be."

"I can't promise I won't stick around long enough to torch the place," Jason said. Dick sighed. That was typical of Jason, but Dick couldn't exactly blame him. Not after what he's been through.

He parked the batmobile when they were closer to the location. He and Tim both quickly hopped out and started running toward the lab. Dick pulled out his grappling hook and shot it, flying himself up on top of a nearby building. He could hear Tim nearby as they traveled as fast as they could to the lab, only stopping once they were a couple buildings over.

"Give me a way in O," Dick said, trying to ignore the pain in his arm. He'd be fine. He'd worked through worse. But Peter wouldn't be if they didn't get him out of there. What in the world was this kid thinking? He'd told him not two hours ago that no one fights the Joker alone. Did he have a death wish?

"It's the Joker, so everything's pretty heavily guarded. One of the windows on the north side appears to have been opened."

"On it," Dick said, moving as soon as Babs finished speaking. He got to the north side of the building and looked it over. Sure enough, a window about halfway up was cracked. He gritted his teeth and grappled his way up there.

The height of the window made it awkward to get to. There wasn't a good spot to grapple if you were trying to get into that window specifically. But that also meant that Joker wouldn't be as likely, maybe, to be watching it. Dick had to hang from his hook to get there and open it enough to squat in the window.

He looked into the building. It seemed pretty quiet. Part of that was probably because the Joker was still in Arkham. Still, he had to have some minions in here. And plenty of traps. The window he was at was in the top portion of a large auditorium-style room. Only in the middle were large vats. They had to be either filled with acid or Joker venom. They didn't appear to be covered. That made him nervous.

The window was inconvenient to access from the inside as well. Nothing within easy reach. He would have to grapple into the rafters or lower himself down to the floor. He looked around, trying to spot any minions.

"What do you see?" Tim asked.

"There's some vats of acid or toxin but not much else. It's quiet. It's making me nervous."

"Any sign of Spider-man?"

"None yet. Red, check the south side. Be careful."

Nightwing pulled out his grappling hook and shot it into the rafters, pulling himself up. He settled, feeling slightly more secure on this perch. He scanned the area for any signs of movement. The kid was in a red and blue suit for crying out loud. How was he so hard to spot?

Something moved in the corner of his eye, and he looked over. Three men with clown masks walked through a door and out into the main room. He watched them head over towards one of the vats where there appeared to be some sort of panel. They were talking with each other about something.

"Nightwng." Jason looked up to see Tim had made it in from the south and was perched on top of some air ducts. "There's movement by the door they just came through."

Dick looked back down at the door and sure enough, there was a tiny bit of movement near it. A familiar red and blue figure was peeking out from behind some barrels of what was very clearly marked as Joker venom. Dick's blood ran cold. "What is that kid thinking?" He hissed lowly. That was not safe in the slightest.

The door opened again, and two more people walked out, talking loudly to each other.

"Hopefully this will be enough for once the boss gets back. He said he wanted to shake it up a notch."

"If it's not, you know someone's going in it."

"Better you than me!"

"Fuck off. I've been here longer than you, ass."

"Like that means anything."

As the two were arguing Nightwing watched Peter quickly slip out from behind the barrels and hurry to the door, catching it before it closed ad slipping in. As it closed Dick noticed that there appeared to be an electronic lock on it which flashed red as it closed behind Peter.

"Shit. We got to get down there. Red, can you hack that lock?"

"Yeah. Shouldn't be too hard."

"Unless Joker has it rigged," Jason said.

"How far out are you, Hood?"

"Five minutes tops."

"Ok. It's you and me till then Red. I'll take care of these guys. You work on the door."

"Alright. Be careful."

"You too." Dick moved carefully through the rafters to get closer to where the clowns were. This brought him a lot closer to the vats than he would have liked. He could see Tim moving to the door.

"Now."

Dick dropped down, aiming to land on one of the clowns who had been talking earlier. He hit, striking the man with enough force to break something with a loud crunch as the man broke his fall. Dick rolled expertly out of the way, which hurt his arm a ton, and quickly popped up, holding one escrima stick. He was one stick short due to the other one being lost during the crash.

"Bat!" One of the clowns cried, jumping away from Dick. Two of the others advanced on him, swinging to punch. It appeared that they at least hadn't been expecting a fight tonight and Dick was able to make short work of them.

One of the others grabbed a spare crowbar. Why was there just a crowbar lying around? Scratch that, he knew why. He started swinging it wildly at Dick, forcing him to back up. The other guy started heading for a vat. Not good.

Dick dove to the side, rolling. He hurried to the clown at the vat. He didn't know what he was doing but it couldn't be good. He hit him in the back while he was busy looking at the controls. The man cried out, arching back with the hit. Dick swept his legs out from under him, using his stick to guide the man's body to the floor.

"Duck!"

Dick rolled to the side as a crowbar came crashing down next to him. The other guy was there. He moved again, avoiding the crowbar. The man he'd taken down was starting to stand back up. He needed to end this.

Nightwing stepped backwards just enough for the roundhouse swing to miss his ribs. As the crowbar switched directions to come for his head, he darted in, using his stick to block. The force sent a shock through his right arm. He didn't let that stop him as he grabbed the clown's head and introduced it to his elbow. There was a crack as his nose broke, blood gushing out. Dick kneed him hard in the stomach, twice, hearing the crowbar clatter behind him as it was dropped. He struck him in the head to knock him out before moving to finish the guy at the controls.

He hit him in the arm with his escrima stick hard enough to break it. The clown cried out again, sinking away from Dick. He hit him again in the back. This clown just needed to get down and stay down.

A swift kick to the back of the legs brought him to his knees. But too late Dick saw him press a button as he sank down. The clown grinned up at him.

"Lucky you. You get to be a guinea pig. Boss will be happy."

Dick shocked him in the neck until the guy passed out. "Red! Door?" He called, moving quickly over and away from the vat.

"Almost got it. What ha-" He cut himself off, looked over at Dick, and saw something behind him. The white of the eyes of his domino mask widened. "Oh no."

"Get the door!"

"Right!" Tim turned back to the door and started working faster, trying to hack the keypad lock. Dick turned around to look behind them.

A large arm had been lowered over the vat. A large arm which was spewing out blue fire right onto the surface of the vat. Green wisps of vapor were already beginning to creep over the edge of the vat and towards the ground. His heart rate was increasing. This could turn really bad really fast.

"Hood, we've got Joker venom starting to leak in here."

"Then get out."

"Not without Spider-man. He doesn't know the risks."

There was a growl from Jason on the other end of the line. "If the toxin doesn't kill him, I will."

Dick gritted his teeth and looked at Tim. He could see beads of sweat forming on his brow. There was suddenly a click and a light turned green.

"Got it!" Tim said, jumping up and pulling the door open. They both darted in, quickly looking around. Inside was what looked like a lab. A couple unconscious clowns laid on the floor. Dick and Tim stepped over them, looking around.

"Spider-man!" Dick called. There was too much stuff in here to see the kid and they didn't have the time. He heard something over in the corner. "We need to leave now!"

Spider-man's head poked up above one rack of equipment as he looked over at them. "One second!"

"We don't have a second! We need to leave now!" Dick headed towards Peter, signaling Tim to stay by the door.

"I'm almost done. I just need one more thing."

Dick vaulted over a machine so he could see Spider-man. He looked at him, shuffling through containers of various chemicals, grabbing them and putting them in a bag.

"What the hell are you doing? There is Joker venom filling this building. We don't have time for this."

"I need these. Just one moment." Peter was looking through the bottles, clearly not grasping the situation. Behind them, Dick started to hear laughter coming through the doors. He gritted his teeth and hurried over, grabbing Peter's bag. Peter tried to grab it back, but Dick moved it out of the way.

"We leave. Now." He growled, using his Batman voice. Peter took a slight step back.

"Please, I just need one mo-"

"You're going to get us all killed! Is that what you want?" Dick yelled. The effect was immediate. The eyes on Peter's suit went wide and he saw him freeze. "No? Then let's go."

Dick turned and started hurrying back over to the door. He got to Tim.

"Where's Spider-man."

"Hopefully behind me. Get into the rafters the moment you open the door. And hold your breath. Now!"

Dick and Tim took deep breaths before Tim opened the door. Green mist swirled in past them as they launched themselves into the rafters. The two of them moved quickly towards the nearest window, which was the one to the north. The sounds of the clowns laughing below them filled the room. Dick paused in the rafters above the window and looked back towards the door for Peter. He didn't see him.

"Nightwing, you don't think he's-"

"Spider-man!" Dick yelled. A moment later the red and blue figure emerged through the doorway. He hoped that the mask over his face could filter out gasses. He waited for Peter to shoot a web up and join them in the rafters.

Only he didn't. He started climbing the wall instead. That was slow going, especially as it seemed like his ribs were very injured. He kept shaking as he tried to climb. Then he started laughing.

Notes:

I would like you all to know that I am not the only one to blame for what happens to Peter over the next few chapters. My editor gave me some fantastic ideas and lore which lead to some very fun times.

In the words of my editor to me: I may have provided you with the equivalent of a catapult, but that's beside the point. You were already planning on doing it

Chapter 12: Laugh track

Summary:

Transporting a superhero isn't always an easy task.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Jason was just about at the lab. "You all out?"

"Spider-man's laughing." Dick's voice sounded flat, like he was in shock. Jason's jaw worked.

"Shit. You two get out. I'll get him out."

"The room is filling with venom."

"My helmet will filter it. Get out!" He saw the lab approaching and sped up. This would hopefully work. "Where is he?"

"West side. Furthest from the main door. Watch out for the vats in the middle of the room," Tim said.

Jason nodded and braced himself as he headed straight for the doors, pulling the front of his bike up off the ground. He hit the doors hard, causing them to crash open. Several large vats filled the center of the room. He had to turn the bike sharply, causing it to fall onto its side and slide. He managed to avoid hitting the vats and quickly pushed it back up. He left it pointed towards the door and ran over towards where they said Spider-man was.

As he passed the vat where the venom gas was pouring out of, he could see a familiar red and blue shape laughing in the fog that was covering the ground. Jason ran over and scooped him up.

Peter's body spasmed with laughter which came out harsh and fast. There was a pained note to it. This kid needed to get back to the cave or he was going to die. He held him tightly to his body and ran back to the bike.

Jason had made sure his helmet would filter out the Joker toxin. So, while Peter laughed harder as they passed through a cascade of gas, Jason was still fine. Which was good because one of them needed to be able to get them out and to safety. He jumped on his bike, one arm holding Spider-man securely in front of him and sped out.

Next to him, he could see the figures of Dick and Tim swinging. They made it out alright. Thank goodness.

"I have Peter."

"Get him back to the cave. I already let Agent A know to expect him," Barbara said.

"O, can you get the fire sprinkler system online? We need to put out that flamethrower."

"On it." There was a pause. "Alright. Fire should be out. I've alerted GPD and the fire department of the situation. They're on their way to get everything under control."

Good. Hopefully, they blow that fucking building sky-high. What the hell was this kid even thinking, going into one of Joker's buildings alone? He tightened his grip on Peter angrily. Peter laughed a more pained laugh as he did. Jason didn't care. They could have lost two more bats to the Joker. Jason was not going to let that happen. He wanted Peter to survive this for no other reason than so he could beat the shit out of him for almost getting Dick and Tim killed.

Peter started to struggle in Jason's grip. He tightened it, trying to keep Peter from moving. The kid started to pry his arm away, and it was working. Holy fuck, how strong was this kid?

"Stop that or I will knock you out," he growled. Peter didn't listen and continued to struggle.

"Hood, that's happening?" Dick asked, concerned.

"Spider-man is fighting me. I've got to knock him out before he causes a crash."

"I'm pulling up next to you. Red, pull him into the batmobile."

Jason gritted his teeth. "This is a horrible idea but hurry up."

The batmobile pulled up alongside Jason and slightly ahead. The back door opened and Tim's worried face looked out. Jason moved to pass Peter to Tim only to feel something hit his jaw hard. He jerked the bike, causing it to wobble and careen to the right. He had to let go of Peter to grab both handles to keep them from crashing.

Peter jumped up to squat on the front of the bike, looking at Jason. The white eyes of his suit were narrowed. All that was coming out of him was the horrible Joker laugh Jason had been attempting to ignore. Kinda hard when it's in your face and making it harder to drive.

He swung another punch at Jason. He ducked to the side, just barely missing it and managing to keep the bike upright. "Change of plans. He's getting dumped."

"What?"

"You can pick him up but-" He ducked another punch. He was probably lucky Peter was trying to hold onto the bike more than he was trying to punch him. "He's going to make me crash."

He heard the batmobile drop behind him. "Ok. We're ready. Red, be quick on grabbing him."

"I'm ready."

"Great." Jason turned sharply. Peter's eyes widened as he grabbed onto whatever he could, that being Jason. Jason gritted his teeth and punched Peter in the head a couple times until he felt his grip loosen. He felt bad about pushing him off, especially as he heard him tumble across the ground laughing behind him. He could hear some grunting on the other end of the line.

"Got him!"

"Good. Get back to the cave as fast as you can. I've updated A on the violence and likely hallucinations."

It didn't take too much longer for Jason and Dick to speed through Gotham. Jason had apparently successfully knocked Spider-man out, though that didn't stop the laughing. It only stopped him from trying to fight them.

They arrived, parking quickly. Jason turned off his com after letting Barbara know they'd arrived. Jason watched as Tim and Dick carried Peter out of the batmobile. As they passed around it, heading for the bed Alfred had set up he noticed blood soaking through some bandages on Dick's arm.

"Shit Dick, you didn't tell me you were injured."

"I had more pressing issues," Dick hissed. He and Tim picked up Spider-man and laid him on the bed.

"Indeed, Master Richard, but you are back now so you will sit and let your arm be properly attended to."

Dick sighed and sat down in a chair near where they lay Spider-man. Tim and Jason hovered near the unconscious, laughing boy.

"We will have to take the suit off in order for me to administer the antidote."

Jason and Tim nodded and moved in to try and figure out how this suit even actually came off. Jason sat Peter up while Tim looked for the zipper in the back.

Suddenly, the white eyes of the mask got bigger and Peter's laughing face turned towards Jason.

"Oh no." That was all he got out before Peter punched him squarely in the jaw with enough power to send Jason tumbling backward into Dick. He rubbed his jaw, pushing himself off of Dick, who stood up as well.

"Spider-man, you need to calm down. We're not your enemy." All Dick got in response was that horrible, insane laughter.

"I would suggest getting him under control quickly before it's too late to administer the antidote," Alfred advised.

Peter turned to Alfred, in a stance like he was going to fight, but then he paused. Jason didn't know what his Joker venom-addled brain was seeing but there was no way in hell that he was letting him hurt Alfred. He ran over, throwing a punch at Peter while he wasn't looking.

Peter ducked down quickly, dropping to the floor. He rolled to the side and sprung back up, looking back towards Alfred. Dick moved between Peter and Alfred. He moved with Peter, keeping him from getting closer to the butler.

Jason and Tim closed in. Peter tensed as they got closer, glancing back at them. He dodged back from Dick, making a move like he was trying to shoot off a web, only nothing happened. His eyes widened further.

Soon, Jason and Tim had closed in. They tried to grab him in order to restrain him. Peter kept slipping away. Every time they got a hold of him, he hit them hard enough to let go. Jason could see in the eyes of his mask and his body language that he was feeling like a caged animal. And with how hard his hits were, if they didn't get him subdued soon, someone could get seriously hurt.

Dick managed to shock him with his stick, causing Spider-man to sink to his knees. Jason and Tim grabbed him, each securing an arm. Tim started working on getting the suit unzipped.

"Alfred, give me the antidote," Dick said, looking back at Alfred. Peter looked up at them and something about that made him angry.

"Tim look-" Jason got cut off as Peter drove his shoulder firmly into Jason's chest, headbutting him in the head. He heard a cry from Tim before feeling a fist connect with his helmet several times. He was dazed as the strikes were hard enough to have knocked him out if not for the helmet. Even so, he heard it crack under several blows.

Peter moved away from Jason, Dick moved to try and subdue him. Jason started pushing himself up, his vision swimming. He sat up just in time to see Peter kick Dick in the stomach and send him flying clear across the cave. He crashed into a case with an old Robin outfit in it, both crashing into the ground with the sound of shattering glass.

Jason looked to see Tim lying unconscious on the ground not far from him. He didn't have time to think about that as Peter suddenly ran towards Alfred. Jason couldn't do anything to help him. He had just guns but with his vision swimming and seeing double, he could hit Alfred on accident.

Spider-man got to Alfred and… hugged him. He hugged him tightly, his shoulders shaking from more than just the Joker laughter. Alfred looked down at him and patted his back gently.

"It's going to be alright," he said softly. Peter nodded. "But I need you to do something for me. You've been poisoned and I can't give you the antidote with the suit on. Do you understand?"

Peter nodded and reluctantly let go of Alfred. He unzipped the back of his suit and pulled it off down to his waist. Jason noticed two things as his vision was starting to get back to normal. One was that Peter had really well-toned muscles. The kid looked like a twig, but apparently, he was a very well-muscled twig. Still didn't explain how he punched so hard.

The other thing he noticed was the bruises. A lot of them looked fresh. His back was almost entirely covered in dark bruises. Smaller green and blue bruises dotted his arms. He could also see traces of old bruises present under the new one. It was a wonder this kid was fighting at all with how injured he was.

Alfred gently injected the antidote into Peter's arm. He smiled gently. "There. Now, you will require rest."

Peter didn't react, looking up at Alfred. Jason watched as he reached up to take his mask off.

"Sir, you do not-" Alfred cut himself off as Peter pulled off his mask. Jason couldn't see what it was that caused him to stop. All he could see was the back of his messy brown head. He could see Alfred's face, however. Alfred had a soft worried look. The two stood there for a moment before Peter hugged Alfred again. Alfred gently hugged him back, rubbing his back. Peter was still laughing, but the way that his shoulders were moving.

Peter was crying.

Notes:

Everyone's just having a fantastic time tonight.

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 13: Remember last night?

Summary:

The bats talk to Peter to try and figure out why Peter was in the Joker's lab and why he attacked the bats.

Notes:

I quite enjoyed reading everyone's theories as to why Peter hugged Alfred and who he thought he saw.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter slowly blinked his eyes open. His head hurt slightly, but more of a dull throb than the splitting ache it had been earlier. His throat felt dry and sore. Not to mention that his whole body ached worse than before.

He sat up, wincing in pain. His ribs appeared to have started healing, which was good. He looked down at himself and noticed that he wasn't in his suit anymore. Panic shot through him and he reached up to touch his face. Instead of his full face mask, there was a small mask covering his eyes. Whoever had gotten him changed knew his face.

At least the t-shirt and sweatpants they'd given him were very comfortable. That was nice at least. He looked at himself and noticed that he'd also been patched up. There was a brace on his ankle which was helping with the pain and swelling.

Peter looked around to see where he was. It appeared to be a large cave. He was in a section that appeared to be devoted to medical treatment. It wasn't a hospital by any means, but there were a few beds and what looked like some pretty good medical equipment. Tony'd never had anything like this in the tower.

Sadness tugged at Peter's heart, thinking of Tony. His emotions felt even more raw and close to the surface than usual. Whatever had happened, it had hurt him. His memory was a bit foggy at points.

There was a sound like an elevator opening. Peter sat up a bit more, trying to figure out if this was a threat. The fact that his Peter tingle wasn't going off meant it likely wasn't. In fact, this was the first time it hadn't been there present as at least a low hum since he'd arrived in Gotham.

A figure in another mask like the one on Peter's face walked in. It took him a moment to realize that it was Nightwing as he was in sweatpants and a long sleeve grey shirt.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Nightwing demanded, heading over. Peter froze. "Taking on one of Joker's bases on your own? What sort of suicide mission were you on? Why were you even in there?"

"I needed chemicals and from what I'd researched that lab belonged to a bad guy."

"These?" Nightwing picked up the bag of stuff Peter had grabbed from the lab. "This is what you were willing to risk your life for? What is so important about these that you were willing to risk death by Joker venom or worse for it?"

Peter looked away. This was like when Tony had come to take his suit after the incident on the ferry. Or when he gave Beck the glasses. He'd messed up in such a huge way and, like Nightwing had said before Peter's memory started to get fuzzy, he'd almost gotten people killed again.

"Spider-man. Why did you need these?"

"I need them to make my web fluid," he said quietly. He felt defeated.

"Was there no other way than going after the Joker?"

"You shouldn't have come after me. No one should have been in danger. No one should have gotten hurt."

There was the sound of the elevator again and someone else marched in angrily. They caused the tingle to go off and Peter sat up straight, watching as Red Hood, wearing a domino mask instead of his helmet which showed the bruising present on his face, stormed in. He stormed over and grabbed a fistful of Peter's shirt, slamming him against the back of the headboard. Peter gasped, feeling the impact on his back and healing ribs.

"What the hell were you thinking? You almost got Nightwing and Red Robin killed because of your stupidity!"

Peter started to panic. He didn't know what exactly had happened last night. And Red Hood pinning him and screaming in his face was bringing up bad memories. Mixed in with memories of Thanos, Mysterio, the Vulture, and Green Goblin were fuzzy memories clouded by a green haze.

"They weren't supposed to be there. I don't know why they were there."

"They came to save your dumb ass from getting killed!"

"I would suggest letting go of our patient. He has had a rough night," another voice Peter didn't recognize spoke from behind Hood. Hood clenched his jaw, glaring at Peter. After a tense moment, he slowly let go and backed away.

Peter was now able to see behind Red Hood. More people had entered. A man in a suit with a tailcoat was standing holding what looked like a covered tray. He had on a black domino mask. A boy around Peter's age was standing next to Nightwing with a larger mask on. Peter didn't know who he was as, other than the mask, he was wearing a jacket over a t-shirt with that S symbol like the one Peter had found the other day. There was also a small child glaring at him from behind the man with the tray. He also had a domino mask on.

There was one other figure, further back in the cave. It took Peter a moment to realize he was there, but he knew immediately who it was once he did. Batman was standing in the shadows, watching. It made Peter's hair stand on end.

"You must be hungry after last night." The man walked over with the tray.

"No. I-I'm fine," Peter lied. He was absolutely starving but he didn't think that he deserved food from them after having almost killed two of them last night.

He set the tray on Peter's lap anyways, removing the domed lid to reveal cereal, yogurt, orange juice, an orange, and a couple slices of bacon. Peter's stomach growled loudly in betrayal. The man smiled, seemingly having dealt with this before. "Why don't you eat and then you can explain what happened last night."

Peter nodded a little. "Ok. Thanks." He started eating the cereal. It was honestly good cereal, though after the first bite, Peter couldn't exactly stop himself from shoveling it into his mouth. He wasn't sure how long it had been since his meal at the shelter.

Once he finished the bowl, he looked up at them. They all seemed a bit more concerned about him than they had been before he started eating. Except for the kid. He just seemed to show contempt.

"Care to explain why you were in Joker's lab last night?" Nightwing asked, arms crossed.

Peter sighed. "I needed more web fluid. I used up all that I had and didn't have the stuff to make more."

"So, you decided to steal from Joker?" Red Hood was still not happy with him.

"I don't have the money to buy it. I know stealing is bad, and I normally go after a lot of thieves and petty criminals, but I thought if I stole from a bad guy then it would sort of cancel out," Peter admitted sheepishly.

"It's not the fact that you stole that we're upset about. It's who you stole from." Peter looked up as the gruff voice of Batman spoke up. Everyone glanced over as he walked over from where he'd been standing. "Do you understand how dangerous the Joker is?"

"I thought I could handle it. I mean, he wasn't even there."

"That may be, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't know what happened. You're lucky to have gotten out with just a dose of Joker venom. In the future, you might not be so lucky."

"Batman's right," Nightwing said, looking at Peter. "It's likely that the Joker will hear about this. And if he gets out or Arkham-"

"When," Red Hood cut in.

Nightwing looked at him. "If Joker breaks out, he may come after you. Especially if he thinks you're associated with Batman."

"You make your webs?" The teen asked.

Peter looked over at him. "Yeah."

"How do you make them? Can you change how long it takes for them to dissolve?" He'd pulled out a notebook from somewhere and looked about ready to write it down.

Nightwing put a hand on his shoulder. "Red, you can ask him about that later."

Red, which Peter was guessing would be Red Robin, glanced up at him before nodding and putting his notebook away. That probably meant that the kid who was still glaring at Peter was Robin.

"Why don't you explain why you decided to try and kill us while we were bringing you back?" Red Hood asked, looking at Peter very intently. It set off his Peter tingle.

Peter started peeling the orange. "It's a little hazy. I… I thought some people were there that couldn't be."

"How come they couldn't be there?" Nightwing asked.

"Three are dead and one's gone."

"Gone? What do you mean by gone?" Red Hood asked.

"I mean, sort of dead. Green Goblin is gone but Norman isn't dead. But he's gone too…"

They all looked confused and glanced at each other. "Yeah, that doesn't explain shit," Red Hood said.

"Language, if you will." Red Hood just sighed in response.

"So, you saw Norman?" Nightwing asked, trying to understand.

"No. I saw Green Goblin. Norman's nice. Goblin… he killed someone I cared about."

The bats were all silent. Peter could almost feel the 'I'm sorry for your loss' weighing down the air. It was Nightwing who broke the silence.

"The other people you saw. Did they also kill people you care about?"

Peter sighed. "Thanos did. He killed a lot of people. Mysterio didn't directly kill anyone." But what he did lead to May's death. It ruined his life as well as the lives of everyone close to him. May, Ned, MJ, Happy.

"But Mysterio did something which lead to people's deaths," Nightwing said, looking at him with understanding. Peter nodded.

"You said that you saw four people but only mentioned three. Who's the fourth?" Red Robin asked.

Peter took a deep breath, remembering last night as he stared down into his breakfast. The fourth figure who had been standing there. How Peter had fought off the other three to get to him. "Tony Stark."

"And this was someone who you cared about?" Batman asked.

Peter nodded. He could feel tears pricking at his eyes and was gripping his spoon tightly as he tried to keep his emotions together. "He was my mentor. He made my suits. He-" Peter took another deep breath, hating how much his chest shuttered. "He was basically family."

His vision swam as tears welled up in his eyes. The domino mask made it hard for the tears to leak out. His chest felt tight and he could feel his shoulders start to shutter. A hand rested gently on his shoulder and Peter looked up. The man in the tailcoat who brought him breakfast looked down at him with a soft expression.

"You have been through a lot in the past few days. It may be best for you to just focus on resting for the time being."

Peter smiled softly. "Thanks."

"Hold on, I still want to know a couple things first." Red Hood's voice was firm and still sounded angry. The Peter tingle went off again.

"Are you certain such questions can't wait?"

"I want to know why he kicked Nightwing clear across the cave. And how the hell he could do that."

Peter's eyes widened behind his mask. He turned to Nightwing. "You were- did I hurt you?" He hadn't realized what exactly had happened last night. He sort of remembered fighting Thanos, Mysterio, and the Green Goblin. But they couldn't be here. Peter couldn't have fought them. Which meant that he'd actually fought the different Gotham vigilantes in front of him. And at certain parts of that fight, he hadn't held back like he normally would. He must not have been able to actually hit at full strength since everyone was still standing. But these people, people who had come to pull him out of a potentially dangerous situation, had ended up having to fight Peter and not known why. He could have killed them.

Nightwing looked a little surprised before smiling sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. He could see him wince slightly with the movement. "Nothing worse than I've had before. Just hurt a few ribs."

"Are you sure?"

"You fractured a few of Nightwing's ribs in the impact. On top of other injuries sustained earlier that night, he will be on bedrest until he heals," the man next to him said.

Peter felt horrible. His breakfast was looking a lot less appetizing, despite Peter still being absolutely starving. He could have killed Nightwing. And in whatever state he'd been in last night, he had tried to.

"Why don't we let Spider-man rest for a while. You may continue your interrogation later." The man started ushering the bats out of the area. Peter could hear a few grumbles from the younger bats, though they did comply.

"A. I'm just going to stay for a moment."

The man, A apparently, looked at him and sighed. "Alright. Make sure he finishes his breakfast."

Nightwing nodded and stood where he was near the foot of Peter's bed as he watched the others get shepherded out and to an elevator which was out of Peter's line of sight. He listened as the elevator left, heading up and taking the bats with it. Once it was out of earshot, he turned back to Nightwing.

Notes:

None of you were right about Alfred.

Also, on an unrelated note. I graduated college on Saturday! Still need to wait for the school to verify grades and send the diploma, but I have graduated!

Updates Wednesday

Chapter 14: One worried bat

Summary:

Dick is worried about Peter and decides to have a little chat with him.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Dick looked over at Peter. "Sorry about Red Hood. He's got some anger issues and can be a bit protective."

"It's fine. I mean, I gave him more than enough reason to be angry. Are you sure you're okay?" Even with the mask on, Dick could see he was really concerned about having hurt him. He pulled a chair up and sat down next to Peter's bed.

"I'm ok. I've been doing the whole vigilante thing for a long time. This isn't my first rodeo. I'll be ok. What about you?"

Peter looked confused. "Me?"

Dick nodded. "Yes, you. You're covered in injuries. You're bruised from nearly head to toe. You have a broken ankle, three broken ribs, plus others which appear to be bruised. Not to mention that Red Hood shot you. I'm surprised you were up walking around, much less breaking into a lab and then fighting three people and winning. And that's not even taking the Joker venom into account."

Peter shrugged, eating some of the yogurt. "Like you said, I've been doing this for a little while too. I've been in worse situations." There was a weight behind those words. Dick could see it in his eyes that this kid had seen a lot. He knew that look. He'd seen it in his brothers' faces before.

He sighed. "Alright. Regardless, you're going to be staying here and resting for the time being."

Peter sat up and looked over, looking panicked. "I can't-"

Dick held up a hand. "We know you don't have a place to stay." That seemed to cause Peter to deflate. "For now, you can stay in the batcave You'll have a safe place to stay, and A will make sure you get enough food. One of us will always be around if you need anything. And you can work on making your web fluid while you're here."

Peter nodded, still looking uncertain. Dick could guess at least one reason why. He got up and went over to a table, picking something up and heading back over to Peter. His head was tilted, making him look like a confused puppy. It was honestly pretty adorable. Dick took a deep breath and held out the thing in his hand.

"Here, I think this belongs to you."

Peter froze, looking at the object in Dick's hand. Dick didn't need to see his eyes under the mask to know they were wide. Peter slowly reached over, shakily taking his wallet and opening it. Dick could see him thinking quickly, trying to come up with something. "I-I think you've got me mistaken for someone else." He tried to shove the wallet back into Dick's hands.

"Peter." He froze. Dick pushed the wallet gently back to Peter before sitting back down. He could see that Peter's whole body was tense, his hand shaking slightly. "It's ok."

"I'm not-" There was a desperation to his voice that hurt. This kid was so scared. Dick could understand. After all, they all worked to keep their own identities protected. It wasn't always easy.

"It's ok kid," Dick said, reaching up to take off his own mask. "I know that it would be better if you were able to decide if you trusted us and were ready to let us know your identity, but fate decided to deny you that chance."

Peter looked at Dick in shock, followed by confusion before he jolted back in surprise. "Dick? From the library?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I know your identity, so it's only fair you know mine. Especially as it is my fault yours got revealed. Don't worry, only the bats know, and we won't tell anyone."

Peter nodded a little, still nervous. "So, the librarian. She's one of you too, isn't she."

Dick nodded. "Yeah. You're quick."

He shrugged before looking at Dick. "If you knew who I was, why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"We didn't want to spook you. And we were still unsure if you were a threat or not." Several emotions flashed across Peter's face as he said that. Dick quickly continued. "We don't think you are. I mean, you can throw a mean punch, but we don't think you're a threat to Gotham. If we thought you were a threat, you wouldn't be in the batcave."

Peter paused, thinking about that. "I guess that's fair." He opened the wallet and looked in it. Dick knew what he was looking at.

"The people in the photos. That's who you lost?"

Peter nodded.

"They must have been some pretty good people," Dick said softly. He was thinking back to the conversation he'd had with Peter on the roof early last night. These had to be some of the people he'd told him about.

Peter nodded, sniffling. He pulled out one of the photos, the one in the apartment. Dick shifted his chair so he could look at the picture better as Peter held it between them.

"This is my Aunt May. She was like a mom after my parents died. After Uncle Ben died, it was just the two of us for a long time. That's Mr. Stark. He came over sometimes. He'd always bring dinner. Normally have some excuse about executives annoying or one of the other Avengers getting on his nerves. I think he liked the break from all the Iron Man stuff. That or Mrs. Potts kicked him out of the lab again. Happy's taking the picture. You can sort of see him in the reflection there," Peter said, pointing.

"Happy?"

Peter nodded. "He's, was, Mr. Stark's assistant. Helped me a lot after…"

Dick nodded. He had a feeling Peter meant after the death of Tony Stark.

"He dated Aunt May for a bit. That was weird."

Dick chuckled. "I bet. Batman's had his own questionable dating choices. Who's in the other picture?"

Peter paused before taking out the other picture. "That's Ned and MJ. They were my best friends."

Dick could hear emotions building up in his voice as Peter spoke. "They good friends?"

Peter nodded. "Amazing. Ned he-" Peter sniffed, wiping at his mask. He must be crying under it. "He was my guy in the chair. You know? He helped me hack the suit to get rid of Mr. Stark's Baby Monitor Protocol."

"Baby Monitor Protocol?"

Peter nodded. "Ned was the best. And I could talk about Spider-man stuff with him that I couldn't talk to anyone else about. Mr. Stark was busy, and Aunt May didn't know for a while."

"Did MJ know about Spider-man?"

"Eventually. Just… just in time for it to ruin her life." Peter's voice caught. Dick could see tears starting to leak out from under the mask. He felt so bad for this kid, even if not everything he said made sense. Dick was going to have to look up these other heroes later and see if anything came up. But right now, he needed to take care of Peter.

Dick reached over and rubbed Peter's back gently, trying not to hurt him as he remembered seeing the giant bruise as Alfred had been working on Peter as he had been resting. Peter leaned into his touch, leaning over to press his head into his shoulder. Dick gently wrapped his arms around him. Peter reached up to hold onto Dick. He held onto him like he was scared he would disappear in front of him.

"You're ok. I got you." He could feel Peter nod into his shoulder. "If you want you can take off the mask. Only if you're comfortable."

There was a pause before Peter shifted so he could reach up and take the mask off. His shoulder almost instantly became wet as Peter buried his face back in it. Dick just held him gently, rubbing his back.

He only had a small piece of the picture when it came to what had led to Peter ending up in Gotham, but what he did have showed that Peter had been through more than any kid his age should. If he even was a kid. Dick was still curious about Peter's age as he looked around 16 but according to his driver's license, he was older than Jason. Dick didn't think anyone had that much of a baby face.

Right now, that wasn't important. They could deal with that later. Right now, he was going to make sure Peter healed up.

After a while, Peter eventually pulled away from Dick. He'd stopped crying and Dick could see now that his face was red and puffy. He wiped his face on his sleeve. "Sorry I-"

"Don't apologize. You've had a rough few days. Just finish your breakfast. Ok?"

Peter nodded and started eating. Dick noticed that this kid ate and just kept going. Either this kid was scared someone would take his food away or he was absolutely starving. Either one was concerning.

"Where's my suit?" Peter asked, looking over at Dick. Without the mask, Peter had really big puppy eyes, which were effective from just about any angle, including over the rim of a glass of orange juice.

"Hanging up in the cave. A fixed the holes in it. We had to keep Red Robin from trying to go through all of that wiring you've got in your suit. That's impressive. You do that?"

Peter nodded. "With help from Mr. Stark." He sighed and looked down. "I might have killed a lot of the internal components on accident."

"We've got tools. And I'm sure Red Robin would be more than willing to help if you want."

Peter smiled. "Thanks."

Dick smiled. "Now finish your breakfast."

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 15: Tech buddy built time

Summary:

Tim goes down into the cave to help Peter work on fixing his suit.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Tim was staring at his phone, trying not to get involved with the argument currently going on in the living room.

"There is a reason that father does not like metas in Gotham. Why should we change the rules for this one boy?" Damian asked, arms crossed in contempt.

"What, you want us to just ship him off to become someone else's problem?" Jason demanded. Tim could see that he was prepared to fight the bat brat.

"He does not belong in the manor! Neither do you!"

"Master Jason, Master Damian. I must request you both calm down," Alfred said, looking at them.

Jason looked at Alfred exasperated. "Do you not hear what he's saying?"

"Do not raise your voice at me." That got Jason to shut up.

They all looked over as Dick walked in. Tim narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why is your shirt wet?"

"Hu? Oh. Peter needed to get some stuff off his chest."

"You let him cry on your shoulder?" Damian asked with disdain. Dick nodded. Damian scoffed.

Dick looked over at Tim. "Oh, Tim. I said that you'd be happy to help him with fixing the wiring in his suit."

Tim smiled, sitting up. "Really?"

Dick nodded. "He's supposed to be resting now. But in a bit, you can go down and check on him."

Tim quickly pulled up the security feed for the batcave, flipping through the cameras to find the one looking at Peter. He'd gotten out of bed, being careful about his broken ankle. He had his suit and was bringing it over to his bed. Tim stood up. "He's already going to work on the suit so I'm going to head down."

Dick sighed. "Kid won't even rest."

Tim snatched up his mask and a coffee cup. "You get to have fun with these two. Good luck," he said, patting Dick on the shoulder before bounding down the hall for the elevator. He secured his mask as he headed down into the batcave. Smooth jazz of elevator music played out of the speaker hidden in the ceiling. It seemed that the location had changed again after Jason last shot it.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the batcave. Peter was frozen, standing in the middle of the batcave, halfway to the batcomputer, a couple tools in hand. He didn't have his mask on. He smiled guiltily.

"Hi."

"Restless?" Tim asked, walking out of the elevator and towards Peter's bed.

"Yeah. I wanted to try and fix my suit while I had access to some tools," Peter said, watching him.

Tim looked at the suit lying on the bed, sipping his coffee. He could see Peter walking over out of the corner of his eye. "You designed this?"

Peter nodded. "This suit? Yeah. It's made using Stark tech, and a lot of it has Tony's designs in it. But this one I made."

"That's amazing!" Tim set his coffee on the bedside table and picked up the mask. He looked in at the eyes. They looked very opaque, even from here. "How do you see out of this?"

Peter took the mask back, holding it tighter than need be and not quite making eye contact. "It helps reduce sensory input."

Tim nodded a bit. Why would the kid need reduced input? They had guessed that Peter was meta. Was it more than just his strength that was metahuman?

"So, where do we start?"

Peter picked up the suit and shifted to the wires present in the middle, forming a spider shape. "Here. There's… there's something here I need to fix first."

Tim nodded. "Alright. You wanna see my work setup?"

Peter perked up, looking over at Tim. "Yeah!"

Tim smiled and led the way to a section of the cave he'd basically claimed as his own. It was by the batcomputer, making it easy for him to go over to check calculations. He had tools and equipment sitting across a couple of tables. He couldn't help but feel a bit of pride as Peter looked through everything.

"What do you think?" Tim asked, watching him.

"This is great! Do you have some micro-calipers and a magnifying glass?"

Tim smirked a bit. This kid knew what he was talking about. He spoke his language! "Yeah." He pulled the magnifying glass out from where he kept it stashed out of the way. Peter moved it into position as Tim dug around in his drawers of tools. He pulled out the micro-calipers Peter needed and handed them to him. "These good?"

Peter took them, looking them over before nodding. "Yeah. These will work perfectly." He moved to begin work on his suit.

"What can I help with?"

"I'll need wiring. And some small resistors. And solder."

Tim smiled and started getting what Peter needed. "You want me to check your mask for damage? I took a peek at the inside of your suit while you were out and noticed that some of the circuitry looked fried. I could check your mask for damage and repair it while you work on that."

Peter paused and looked over, thinking. After a moment he nodded, "Ok. Just be careful with the lenses."

Tim nodded. "Sure thing. I'll stick with wiring."

Peter smiled a little and turned back to his suit. Tim went to get himself tools to start work on the mask. Peter looked back over at Tim after a moment. "Hey, um, would it be ok if we put on some classic rock?"

Tim looked over at him. "Yeah sure." He set his tools down in an empty space and headed over to the batcomputer. He pulled up Spotify and found what looked like a good classic rock playlist and pressed shuffle.

A kick drumbeat started playing and Tim saw Peter perk right up. His eyes were wide as he looked over towards the computer. There was a look of wonder and amazement on his face as the harsh guitar came in. Tim was about to ask if Peter had never heard the song before when Peter mouthed along to the opening lines.

"I am iron man." A huge grin broke across Peter's face as the guitar riff played.

"You know the song?"

"Are you kidding? This song's great! Tony and I would listen to it all the time in the lab." Peter looked really happy as he turned back to his suit.

Tim smiled, turning it up a little. He headed back to his workstation next to Peter to begin working on fixing the mask. He could hear Peter quietly humming and singing along to the song. That was good. He looked genuinely happy, which was a vast improvement from when Tim had seen him earlier.

Tim focused on the mask, working on identifying wires that had been fried and replacing them with new ones. He made sure to keep the wires as close to identical as possible. The craftsmanship was amazing. He would love to see what Peter used to make this, what machines he had access to in whatever lab he'd talked about.

"Are you Tim?" Peter asked suddenly, glancing up from his work.

Tim nearly dropped the soldering iron on his hand. "What?" As far as he knew, Peter should only know him as Red Robin. Granted, Tim had figured out all the identities of the batfamily before basically making Bruce take him in. Maybe Peter did the same. Though, he probably would have noticed if Peter had been researching them. He did keep an eye out for anyone who might try and pull the same thing he did.

"Nightwing told me he was Dick. Since you all know who I am, he felt it was only fair. He'd mentioned I might like his brother Tim after mentioning a project I'd been working on. He'd also told me a story about Robin, though not the current Robin, I'm guessing the title's been handed down to a few people." He paused talking to look to Tim for confirmation. Tim just nodded. Peter continued. "He referred to him as his brother and said the birds and bats were all like one big family. So, I figured if Dick was Nightwing, then the birds and bats who are like his family, would also be Dick's family out of costume. So Red Robin who knows tech stuff is probably Tim who would be interested in the tech project I was working on."

Tim looked at Peter for a moment, letting it sink in as Peter looked at him, fiddling with a screwdriver. First of all, fuck you Dick. They did not discuss revealing their identities to Peter yet. Though, it would have had to have happened soon. And Peter didn't seem like he would use this information maliciously, but still. They didn't know how he got here, and the leading theory was Dick's human trafficking theory. Peter didn't even exist according to the government. The kid had no paper trail. Tim couldn't track him to anything prior to when Dick and Jason had met him. They would just have to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn't going to give them away.

"Not bad. Yeah. Tim Drake." He held out his hand.

Peter set down his screwdriver and shook his hand. Very strong grip. "Peter Parker."

Tim smiled, getting one back from Peter. The two got back to work. The air seemed less tense now. Not that it had been really tense before, but with proper introductions out of the way, it felt clearer than earlier. Tim was glad. He liked Peter.

Notes:

This chapter is going out a bit later in the day than I normally post. That is because I got hit with the Rona stick after successfully avoiding it for the past 3 years. It's not as bad as when I got the flu at the end of last year, thankfully, but shit still sucks. Get your vaccines kids. They might suck but it's better than not having them.

This chapter was written long before I got sick, thank god, but I did review the edits from my wonderful editor (who is not sick) while I was sick and brain no want to work with me. So any weird edits in this chapter can probably be chalked up to that. I am hoping I'm not going to be feeling sick for too much longer because it sucks and I kinda need to get back to work so I can get paid.

Hope you all are doing better than I am right now. Drink your water, take your meds (if you have any), and eat some lunch. Or dinner. Or whatever meal you've got next. It's lunch for me and I'm rambling because I'm sick and home alone. Get yourself a snack.

Chapter 16: Reset

Summary:

Tim and Peter get to work fixing Karen. Classic rock is a great background music to listen to while working, especially when surrounded by rock. Right up until the trauma kicks in and suddenly that song isn't so fun anymore.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

They chatted for a bit as they worked, but there were long periods of silence as Peter focused on fixing Karen. Classic rock filled the cave. It sounded different than in the lab due to how the sound reverberated off the rock. It made the space sound as big as it was. Even with the sound of the tools, it still ended up quieter than in Tony's lab. It wasn't the same, but it felt comforting. It almost felt like Tony was there watching Peter work.

Tony would have gotten a kick out of this place. The tech wasn't quite up to par with Stark tech, but it wasn't bad by any means. He would probably laugh at how everything seemed to be bat-themed. Batman had picked a theme and he was sticking to it even if it killed him.

Though, thinking about it, Peter didn't know what Tony might think of working in a cave. It was a nice cave, but Peter had read up on what happened to Tony. After he died, he'd had a period of trying to learn everything he could about his former mentor. He'd hoped to better understand him. That had included getting Ned's help to hack into a couple SHIELD files, including one about Tony being captured and held in a cave where he'd built the first suit.

Tony never was really one to talk about emotional stuff, but Peter knew there were things that had bothered him. He'd discovered that Tony had had a really rough time during the blip. He knew there were things that had kept Tony up at night, which was part of why Tony had been such a bad insomniac. Peter didn't know if Tony would have liked working in the cave.

Peter took a deep breath, setting his tools down for a moment to get a drink of water. Tim looked over. He'd taken his mask off since he and Peter had formally introduced themselves now.

"How's it coming?" he asked, setting down his soldering iron.

"There are a few components that were fried pretty bad that I'm worried about. I'm hoping that nothing critical was damaged."

"Can I take a look?"

"Sure." Peter moved so Tim could look at his suit under the magnifying glass.

Tim let out a low hum in thought. "Yeah, these got hit pretty good. Parts of the motherboard look blackened. I might have something we can use to repair it. Or we can try transferring the data to a new one."

Peter chewed his lip in thought. Repairing could be difficult and could leave weak points where the motherboards could break in the future. But he also wasn't sure if they would have the tech to create a motherboard which would be small and flexible enough to suit his needs with the suit. There was also no guarantee Karen would be able to be fully integrated over into a new motherboard.

But if anything else happened to the current one, he would lose everything.

Peter took a deep breath. "Can we fabricate a new motherboard?"

Tim tilted his head slightly. "Completely build from scratch?" Peter nodded. Tim thought about it. "Yeah, we should be able to."

Tim headed to another part of the cave and Peter followed. His ankle was still hurting but it was doing a little better. He'd been sitting while working and during that time his body had had time to start healing. Having gotten a few decent meals in a row was helping.

They came to a machine which appeared to be what the bats used to make their equipment. Peter picked up a bat-shaped piece of metal. He hissed slightly as he found an edge that was surprisingly sharp as it cut his finger. Tim looked over.

"Careful. Batarangs are sharp."

"Batarangs?"

"Yeah. Batman likes adding bat before things," Tim said, powering the machine up. Peter nodded, watching him. "What sort of specs do you need?"

The two quickly fell into step designing a new motherboard for the suit. It quickly became apparent to Peter that the tech here in Gotham was nowhere near Stark Tech. This wasn't counting that they didn't have holograms like Tony did. They wouldn't be able to make a singular motherboard like what he currently had. It wouldn't be able to integrate into the suit how he needed it to. The two stood there, looking at the screen, frowning.

"So, what do you suggest?" Tim asked, looking over at Peter.

"Hmmm." He chewed on his lip thoughtfully. He went to shift his weight but quickly thought better of it as his broken ankle complained. If he was home, he would just use the fabricator to make the part. But there wasn't any Stark Tech here. Except for his suit.

"You've got an idea." Peter looked over at Tim, who continued. "You just lit up so I'm guessing you have an idea."

"Yeah! I think I can use some of the nanites from my suit to make a motherboard!" Peter grinned and hurried over to grab his suit, mostly ignoring his ankle. He hurried back over, bumping into a rolling table, knocking over some tools and causing some batarangs to fall loudly to the floor. He scurried the rest of the way over and put his mask on. That should be good enough for the connection to the nanites in the suit, even without full use of the current motherboard. He put the old motherboard back into the suit and got to work.

He got a section of nanites off the suit and created a base. He pulled the specs of the old board up in his mask and started working on replicating it using Tim's tools and the remaining nanites in his suit. Tim watched on impressed, helping where he could, which ended up being mostly passing Peter tools, holding things, and offering suggestions.

They ended up designing it to be a network of chips with multiple fail safes to prevent the same thing from happening again. It also should prevent damage to one section from spreading to others. And being comprised of a series of smaller chips made from a nanite base allowed for it to be very flexible. Peter made sure to program the nanites in the motherboard to have a singular function, that being making up the motherboard. He looked over at Tim once he was done, taking his mask off.

"I think this will work!"

Tim looked at him. "That was awesome! Where did you even get this technology?"

Peter smiled. "Thanks. Mr. Stark gave it to me. Let's test it."

Tim nodded and headed over to the batcomputer. Peter handed him the old motherboard and the new one and the two of them got them connected. Peter stood next to Tim as he connected the old motherboard and the new motherboard to begin the transfer. All the coding and files and data showed up on the various batcomputer screens.

"There's a lot of interesting programming here," Tim noted, looking over it.

Peter nodded. "There's programming for various systems in the suit as well as integrations with the web shooters."

"What's this?" He gestured to a rather large file group. Peter took a moment to look at it before realizing what it was.

"That's Karen."

Tim looked over at Peter. "Karen?"

He nodded. "She's an AI. Tony made her. I… accidentally fried her. Can you see how much damage there is to her?"

Tim's eyes widened in amazement. "You have an AI in your suit? Does it use the internet to craft responses and simulate interaction?"

Peter shook his head. "No. She'd connected but she has her own personality. Tony made her."

"So, like true AI?" Peter nodded. Tim looked really excited. "That's amazing! I didn't know that true AI technology had been developed. I've been trying to create one in my free time. How did you get one?"

"Can you just see if she's hurt? Please?" He could understand why Tim was excited. He'd gotten really excited when he'd first met Jarvis. He'd peppered both him and Tony with questions for hours. But right now, Karen was hurt or possibly dead. He needed to know if she was ok.

Tim looked at him and slowly calmed down. He nodded, straightening his shoulders. "Yeah. Yeah, I can do that." He turned back to the computer, starting to go through the files and looking at the original motherboard. Peter watched anxiously.

Peter felt a slight tingle up his spine as the music changed. He didn't know what about the electronic keyboard intro was threatening as he looked around. The elevator wasn't moving. There wasn't any movement elsewhere in the cave. What was causing this feeling of foreboding? The reason came like a punch to the gut as the lyrics kicked in.

"Oh I, I just died in your arms tonight."

The rest of the lyrics swam around Peter as he stumbled backwards. His chest felt tight. He couldn't get enough air in. Everything that wasn't the song seemed to fade away. Peter felt like he'd been submerged in sand, the lyrics of (I Just) Died in Your Arms splitting through him.

His legs felt weak. He stumbled back into a table, his knees giving out as he fell down, knocking something off and onto him.

"Peter? Peter, are you ok?" He could hear Tim's voice, but it seemed far away. Peter's whole body was shaking. His ankle hurt, it felt like it was disintegrating again. He felt like a giant fist was crushing his chest. He tried gulping for air, but nothing seemed to come through. Everything was fuzzy. The music was replaced by a staticky buzz in his ears.

He felt someone grab him and heard Tim speaking. His ears felt full of cotton and with the buzzing, he couldn't quite make out what was happening. He couldn't feel his legs. His ribs hurt. He was going again. He didn't want to go again. He felt like he was going to black out.

"I… I don't… I don't feel good." He wasn't sure if he actually said that out loud or in his head. He was dying again. He was going to die.

"-are you with us? Can you hear me?"

Peter felt like he was being pulled through cotton. He could see two people leaning over him as he opened his eyes. It took a bit for them to start to focus. Everything felt like it was buzzing.

"Take slow, deep breaths. Ok?" The man over him said. Peter nodded a little, trying to do that. He felt weighed down. He was so heavy.

Another man with a red helmet came into view, opening a water bottle and handing it to the man over him. "Drink that." He looked back up over Peter. "Hey! I said back the fuck up!" He moved back out of sight. There was the sound of arguing from behind him.

The water bottle was moved to his mouth and Peter drank some water. That felt good. He moved his arm to push the bottle away after a moment, but it didn't want to work right. The man seemed to get what he was trying to do and moved it any.

Peter's mouth felt less dry and like it was full of sand than it had a moment ago. He licked his lips. "Did…did I die again?" His words sounded slurred and blended together. The faces above him looked move concerned.

"What?" the man above him asked.

"I died. It didn't hurt as much." He closed his eyes. His words were still slurring together, making five words into seemingly three.

"Hey, can you guys be quiet?" the other guy who appeared to be holding Peter snapped at the people behind them. They seemed to quiet down.

"It's ok. We're dead, right?" Peter cracked his eyes back open. "It's not like it matters."

"Peter, you're not dead."

"I am. Got dusted again. Didn't hurt as much."

"Peter, look at me." Peter looked up at the man over him. "Your head's not right. Everyone's alive. Nobody died."

There was a "Well…" from behind Peter, causing the man over him to cast a glare at someone.

"It's ok." He smiled a little and tried to relax. His body still felt fuzzy but if he'd just turned to dust again, he couldn't expect it to work properly right away. He looked up above him and paused. There was a stalactite above him. That was weird. The soul stone last time had been just sort of orange.

"Check for a concussion," someone behind him suggested.

The man moved back into view shinning a light in Peter's eyes. He squinted, hissing slightly. "Doesn't look like a concussion. Just passed out." The light went away, leaving Peter blinking.

"Hu?"

"You suddenly collapsed into the table and passed out. You said something about not feeling good."

Peter frowned, trying to piece together what had happened. His brain still felt a little foggy. He went to sit up as his body felt less heavy now. The people next to him both moved to help him as he got into a cross-legged position. He looked around. He was in a cave. There was tech. His suit was lying on a table in front of a bunch of computers.

"Batman?"

"Yes. You're in the batcave. Do you remember what happened?" Peter looked over at who spoke and squinted.

"Dick?"

"When the hell did you tell him your name?" Came a voice from behind him. Dick sighed.

"Not now, little wing."

Peter grabbed the water bottle and drank some more. "I passed out?" Dick nodded. "Not dead?" Dick shook his head. Peter nodded. "Ok. That's good."

"…did you die before?" Tim asked tentatively.

Peter sighed, rubbing his face. His head was back to mostly normal, which also meant he was now remembering what had happened. He didn't really want to talk about his death, thinking about it made his chest start to tighten again. Instead, he just nodded.

Peter heard Tim open his mouth and start to speak before being cut off. "No. You're not asking him about that. He doesn't want to talk about it. He's resting. Got it?" Red Hood's voice came from behind Peter. He saw Tim close his mouth and nod, looking at where Red Hood must be.

Dick helped Peter up. "Let's get you back to bed. Ok?" Peter nodded and let himself be led back to the bed. His ankle was hurting again. He could see Red Hood, Robin, and Batman looking at him as he walked past. They all had very different expressions ranging from something almost like recognition to impassive. "I'll make sure A brings you some lunch. Sound good?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Food's good." He was feeling drained and hungry now that he'd gotten over the panic attack. He got into bed and lay down. Would it be too much to ask for a quiet day?

Notes:

I've never actually passed out before, though I've come close. Had a lot of help from my editor on this one as they have passed out before.

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 17: Undead convention

Summary:

Jason brings Peter food and tries to figure out at least a little bit about who Peter Parker is and what is going on with him.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Jason herded the other bats and birds out of the cave and into the elevator. It was an unusually quiet ride up. Everyone was thinking about what Peter had just said. Kid had fucking died. That could possibly explain how he was older than Jason but still looked like a baby. Maybe. But it also just added more questions onto the mystery that was Peter Parker, aka Spider-man.

They got back into the manor, and all filed out. Alfred was already waiting for them.

"How is Master Peter doing?"

"He's not part of the family," Damian grumbled, heading towards his room.

Dick sighed. "He passed out but he's doing better now. He's resting, or he should be if he hasn't gotten back up to work on his suit."

"I don't know what happened. I was checking over the code for an AI he has in his suit, which is super cool by the way, when suddenly I heard something fall and Peter was on the ground surrounded by some spare parts. Next thing I knew, he was out cold."

"Kid had a panic attack," Jason said. "He died once, and something happened that reminded him of it. He panicked, passed out, and thought he died again."

Alfred nodded. "Lunch is prepared. I can bring food down to Master Peter. If one of you would kindly gather Master Damian."

"I'll bring food down to him. You can deal with the demon."

Alfred nodded. "Very well. I have a tray prepared in the kitchen." He turned and headed down the hall after Damian.

Dick put a hand on Jason's shoulder. He turned to look at him. "You think the kid's been exposed to the Lazarus pit?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"If he has-"

"Then he'll have some connection to Ra's and Thalia. I'm fucking well aware. But so far, he hasn't said or done anything to suggest he wants us dead. He's rattled about some nonsense and attacked us while high on Joker venom."

Dick nodded. "I know. I don't think the kid's going to be a problem, but we still don't know where he came from."

"No stone unturned. I got it mom. Let me get this kid some food before he starves to death." He shrugged Dick's hand off and headed to the kitchen.

There was a tray with some sandwiches and fresh fruit and a large glass of milk. Jason picked up the tray, pausing to scoop a couple cookies onto it. He lifted his helmet to stick one in his mouth. He loved Alfred's cookies. He made the best chocolate chip cookies with big chocolate chunks, but they were still nice and melty inside when warm.

He headed into the elevator, balancing the tray on one hand as he ate the cookie on the way down. He tried to ignore the elevator music. He didn't know why Batman insisted on it. But considering that he had already gone up and down in this elevator, listening to that infernal music with the rest of the bats there, his patience for it was running thin. He whipped a gun out and shot over his head at the speaker.

The music was replaced by ringing in his ears. The helmet defiantly helped, but still, he needed to stop firing in close quarters. He sighed, putting his gun back in its holder. At least it would take some time before Bats got it fixed again. The door opened into the cave, and he headed out. He turned towards Peter's bed and paused.

Peter was sitting bolt upright, stiff as a board, and looking ready to bolt. Yeah, he probably shouldn't have done that with a strange child with PTSD in the cave.

"Sorry. Hate the elevator music."

Peter nodded still on edge. He looked at the tray of food in Jason's hands. Jason walked over, holding out the tray out to him. Peter hesitated and took the tray. "Thanks."

Jason nodded, shoving his hands into his pockets. Peter started eating one of the sandwiches. "What caused the panic attack?"

Peter paused, mid-bite. He took a long moment to chew before swallowing. "The song."

"What song?"

"Died in Your Arms."

Jason nodded, making a mental note. "What's it about that song that caused you to panic?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

Jason sighed. He could understand that. He remembered the bats kept badgering him about his death and resurrection. He'd almost shot them a few times over it. But he'd also been under the effects of the Lazarus pit at the time. He didn't know if Peter was suffering the same thing.

"Look, kid, I know it sucks. But look at it from our point of view. We don't know anything about you. I see Dick gave you back your wallet. We looked you up and came back with exactly fuck all. You don't seem to exist. Dick doesn't think you're a threat but you're still a rogue agent. Nothing you've said is anything we can track back to anything or anyone other than you're from Queens. So even if you don't want to talk about stuff right now, I need you to give me something about how you came here. Ra's send you here?"

Peter looked over confused. It looked like genuine confusion. "Who?"

"Ra's al Ghul. Leader of the League of Assassins. Or maybe his daughter Thalia?" He watched as Peter's confusion grew, along with his anxiety.

"Look, I don't know who those people are. I swear!"

Jason sighed and walked over to the foot of Peter's bed. "Yeah, I can tell. You know, for a hero, you don't seem to know much about the villains or heroes from anywhere. So, let's ask a simple question and I want an answer. No more dodging it, got it?" He put his hands on the railing at the foot of his bed, leaning over and looking at Peter.

Peter was sitting up very straight. He nodded a little. "I'll do my best."

Jason nodded. "Answer me this. How the fuck did you get to Gotham?"

Peter was silent for a long moment. He glanced down and took another bite of his sandwich, thinking. He slowly swallowed and opened his mouth. "I was building a machine and I tried testing it. And it worked, but not quite how I wanted to."

"What sort of machine?"

Peter sighed then took a deep breath in. "Everyone I know had to forget about me in order to save the world. People still knew Spider-man, but no one knew Peter Parker. You know? So, I had to start over, and I didn't have anybody and, well, when I'd first tried to fix it, before everyone had to forget me, I met some really cool versions of me from other universes. I also met a lot of guys who were kinda bad guys, but I was able to help them before they were sent home. I wanted to see if I could see the other me's again because I was really lonely and they're kinda like me but also like older brothers. But I couldn't ask Doctor Strange for help- he's the guy that did all the magic stuff last time- because he doesn't remember me or anything that happened really so why would he help me. And from what Wong said, that spell might have been kinda illegal. Not like actually illegal, but something you're not supposed to do because it messes with the fabric of reality. But magic's kinda like its own science, right? So, I figured I could create something that would work basically like whatever magic stuff Doctor Strange did. And I mean, it sort of worked."

The kid spoke fast and talked with his hands a lot. Which made it hard to follow what he was talking about. But what Jason had gotten made no fucking sense anyways and he didn't know if context would help. Something about magic and other Peters and some strange doctor and other universes. It was making Jason's head hurt.

"What?"

"I built this machine-" Jason held up a hand to cut Peter off.

"Listen, I got absolutely none of that. Give me a simple version. Three sentences. Plain English. Can you do that?"

Peter thought for a moment. "I think so."

"Hit me." He shifted, looking at Peter.

He took another breath. "Ok so I built a stargate based on theoretical mathematics that should be able to replicate magic using technology in order to see alternate universe versions of me because everyone in my universe had to forget that I existed because I kinda caused Doctor Strange to mess up a spell causing a tear in the fabric of reality. Technically a tear in the fabric between realities, and if I didn't fix it then everyone from every universe who knew Spider-man would come spilling over into my universe, which is really bad. So, I made this machine which sort of worked as I'm here now, but I don't know where here is or how exactly I got here or if I can get back."

Jason stared at him blankly for several seconds. "Shit, I understood that one less."

"Sorry," Peter said sheepishly.

Jason ran a hand down the face of his mask. "So where are you from?"

"Queens."

"Great. You got a place to stay in Queens?"

"I do in my Queens, but I don't think my apartment exists here."

"This is Gotham kid, not fucking Queens."

"Oh, no no! I know that. I mean I don't think my apartment exists in your Queens."

Yeah, this conversation was giving Jason a major fucking headache. He shook his head. "I don't get you."

Peter shrugged, eating. Jason sighed.

"I'm going to head back upstairs. Red will have to talk to you about this shit." Jason turned to go.

"Mr. Hood, sir."

Jason stopped and turned around to face him. "It's just Red Hood. I'm no Mr. or sir. Got it?"

Peter nodded. "I just had a question."

"What?"

"You don't seem to like me very much. So why did you bring the food down and not someone else?"

Because they'd both died. Because he knew what it was like to have panic attacks from traumatic experiences. Because he knew what it was like to be alone. Because he understood what Peter might be going through.

"Is the birth date on your driver's license correct?"

"Yeah."

"How the fuck are you older than me?"

Peter looked surprised. "What?"

"You're 22. No one has much of a baby face."

"Oh." Peter looked down. "I'm actually 17."

"17?" Jason thought for a moment. If this kid was 17 and he was born in the same year as him. "You were dead 5 years?" Peter nodded. Jason rubbed the back of his neck. "Shit, you look good for someone who's been dead for 5 years."

Peter chuckled slightly. "Thanks."

Jason nodded. "You going to be ok alone?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

Jason nodded again before turning and heading back up to the mansion.

Notes:

I know I don't respond to comments much, but I do love all of your comments. It's absolutely amazing to me how many of you are loving this work! Your comments really make my day. So thank you to everyone who is reading and enjoying this fic so far!

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 18: Food brings out interesting conversation

Summary:

Jason tells the family what he learned from Peter over lunch. Tim helps make dinner and learns a little bit more about Peter.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Jason headed into the dining room, taking off his helmet and mask as he walked in. He set them down on the table, causing Tim to jump slightly. Everyone looked over at him.

"He wasn't trafficked, and he's not linked to Ra's," Jason said, sitting down and grabbing some sandwiches.

"Tsk. I could have told you that," Damian scoffed. He took a bite out of his sandwich. Jason shot him a glare.

"You're sure?" Bruce asked, looking over intently.

Jason swallowed his bite of sandwich and nodded. "Positive. I asked him directly about Ra's, the League of Assassins, and Thalia. There wasn't even a flicker of recognition."

"How'd you rule out the human trafficking?" Dick asked, clearly still concerned.

Jason sighed. "I understood maybe half of what the kid said. But he said he built some sort of machine and that's how he got here. He mentioned something about magic and other universes."

There was silence as everyone stared at him. Jason took another bite of his sandwich. "Why are you looking at me like I'm the crazy one?" He demanded through half a bit of sandwich.

"Well, it does sound a bit crazy," Dick admitted.

"Dick, our lives are the definition of crazy. We dress up in spandex and beat up criminals at night. I've died. Damian's basically dating a half-alien," he ignored the young Robin choking on his water, and Bruce's raised eyebrow at his biological son, "and we're all only really here because Bruce collects traumatized children like baseball cards."

"We have experience with aliens. We know the Lazarus Pit and its effects. We haven't had any conclusive evidence to support that other universes exist," Bruce said, giving Damian a look that said they would be discussing stuff later.

"It would explain a lot of things," Tim said, tapping away at his phone. "None of Peter's IDs or cards came back with anything, but they passed all the tests. If he's not from this Earth, then that could be why. The databases on which he exists don't exist here. What sort of machine did he build?" He looked at Jason.

Jason opened his mouth to make a snappy comment when Dick interrupted. "When I'd talked to him before he'd mentioned building something like a stargate. I wonder if that's the same thing."

"Perhaps you can ask Master Peter after you have eaten and he has had time to rest," Alfred spoke up, adding emphasis on the 'and'. The rest of the bats nodded quietly and got back to eating. The conversation pretty quickly drifted towards Damian and pestering him over his relationship with one Jon Kent. Jason personally reveled in watching the little demon squirm, even if he would have looked very unbothered to anyone who wasn't a bat.

Tim had been keeping an eye on Peter throughout the day. After he finished lunch, he had stood by the batcomputer for a while, staring at the code. Then he'd worked for a while on repairing wires in the suit. He'd eventually fallen asleep.

Tim had used the time to try and work on some different projects, both for Batman and for Wayne Enterprises. But he kept getting distracted, thinking about what Jason had said Peter said.

Multiverse travel. If that was true, it was a scientific breakthrough! And if Peter had done it, then theoretically, Tim should be able to do it too. He'd been running simulations and calculations all afternoon. None of them seemed right. There was something he was missing. A piece of the puzzle Peter had that Tim didn't.

He sighed, running a hand through his hand as the latest simulation ended with half of Gotham obliterated. This wasn't working. Tim pushed himself away from the computer and headed out into the hall.

The manor was quiet as most of the bats were asleep and Jason had left shortly after lunch. He could hear Dick snoring as he passed his room. Tim headed downstairs to the kitchen. Normally, if he was stuck like this, he would train. See if punching something would help jog his thoughts. But he couldn't do that right now because there was a sleeping spider in the cave.

Hot chocolate with a couple shots of espresso would have to do.

Bruce had gotten the espresso machine for Tim one year for Christmas, a decision he probably almost immediately regretted. Tim could brew a triple shot of espresso with his eyes closed and half asleep, something he did more often than the rest of the family would like. Dick had tried multiple times, unsuccessfully, to hide the machine from Tim. He'd always found it. Alfred had gotten a milk steamer to go with it. Tim didn't use it, but Alfred and Dick had ended up becoming fairly proficient at latte art.

"Something on your mind Master Tim?"

Tim jumped slightly. He hadn't heard Alfred enter. He turned to look at him. "Hey, Alfred. Yeah, I was thinking about the multiverse theory around Peter."

Alfred nodded, walking over and looking at the espressos brewing. "Is he still resting?"

Tim pulled up his phone and went to check. Peter appeared to still be asleep in his bed. He nodded. "Yeah."

"That is good. At least he is listening to advise and resting." There was a pointed look at Tim as he grabbed his espresso cup.

"I'm putting this in hot chocolate."

"You should sleep before going on patrol tonight, Master Tim."

"If I go on patrol, it'll be later. I want to help Peter fix up his suit first," Tim said, pouring the espresso into a mug of hot chocolate and stirring it.

Alfred nodded, watching him. "Care to help prepare dinner?"

Tim paused for a moment, taking a thoughtful sip of his caffeinated hot chocolate. "I'm a horrible cook."

"I will make sure you do not spoil the dinner. Nor will I tell them you assisted."

Tim smiled. "Thanks, Alfred. What'd you need me to do?"

Helping Alfred with dinner had helped. Alfred always had a way of putting him at ease. And the repetitive tasks of cutting and stirring helped get his brain back into working order. Tim was sitting on a stool at the island drinking some water as he watched Alfred pull the casserole out of the oven.

"I must say, Master Tim, you are not as hopeless a cook as you make yourself out to be."

Tim smiled. "That's only because I've got you here making sure I don't accidentally poison the family."

"I would hope you would not find anything to poison your brothers within my kitchen," Alfred said, getting butter for the bread.

"I doubt you don't have anything in this kitchen that could be poisonous."

Alfred turned, giving Tim a look. "Master Tim, you would never find it."

"What're you two up to?" Dick asked, walking in. His hair was still a mess from sleeping.

"Preparing dinner. Did you sleep well?"

"Well enough. It smells amazing as always Alfred. Want me to bring some down to Peter?"

"I can," Tim spoke up quickly. Dick and Alfred looked over at him. He pulled his phone out to check the cameras. "We were part way through transferring some coding anyways. I can eat down there with him then we can get back to work." He could see Peter was awake, sitting on the side of his bed.

Alfred looked at him and nodded. "Alright. I shall prepare two trays. Master Richard, would you assist with bringing food upstairs?"

"Sure thing," Dick said, grabbing some plates. He scooped up a carrot from a dish of seasoned vegetables, popping it in his mouth as he headed out.

Alfred sighed, handing a couple trays to Tim. They were both covered with flat covers so he could stack them for easier carrying. "Will you be alright carrying those down by yourself?"

"Yeah. I got it. Thanks Alfred." Tim smiled and headed down to the cave. He got out once he got down and headed over. "Hey, Pete."

Peter startled. "Wha- oh. Hey Tim." He sounded a little down.

"Hungry? A made dinner. It's a chicken casserole."

Peter perked up a bit. "Yeah, starved. Thanks." He scooted over so Tim could sit on the bed next to him. Tim handed him a tray and popped up next to him. The heavenly smell of Alfred's (and Tim's) cooking hit their noses as they opened the covers. Both boys took a deep breath and let out a happy sigh before digging in. Tim noticed Peter still ate like he hadn't eaten in days.

"How're you feeling?"

"Hmm? Oh, much better. Ankle's almost better."

"Already?" Tim looked over surprised. That was a broken ankle. Peter should be out of commission for a few weeks at least.

"Mmhm." Peter nodded, eating some more and looking unconcerned. "I heal pretty fast. The food's really helping."

Tim nodded, adding that to the list of strange things about Peter. Tim had a billion questions brewing in his head to ask Peter. He wasn't sure where to start, or if there were questions which wouldn't be good to ask him right now as he didn't know what had caused the panic earlier. He didn't want to repeat that again.

"Can I ask you a question?" Peter asked, jolting Tim from his thoughts.

"Hu? Oh yeah, sure. What is it?"

"How'd you end up here?" Peter asked, looking over as he took a bite out of a bread knot.

"Oh, with Batman?" Peter nodded. "I sort of didn't give him a choice."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'd been tracking Batman for a while. Him and the Robins. I realized when the mantle was handed from one Robin to another. I figured out who they were. Didn't do anything with the information until after an accident." He decided not to outright say that it was because Jason was murdered. "Batman needed a Robin, I decided to fill in the position."

"Wow." Peter took another bite. "You knew what you were getting into?"

"Pretty much. Did you?"

"Honestly, not really," Peter admitted. "I'd started doing some Spider-man stuff, helping old ladies cross the street, stopping purse snatchers, that sort of thing. Then Tony recruited me to help him with something in Germany."

"You went to Germany?"

"Yeah. It was a huge fight! This one guy became huge. I mean he became like 40 feet tall! This guy, Bucky, had a metal arm. He's actually really cool. Got to fight Captain America, which was really cool. Stole his shield. That was, that was a really cool time." He smiled like he was reliving a fond memory.

Tim smiled. He did not know who any of these people were, but if Peter was from another universe, that could explain why. If Peter didn't exist here, then they probably didn't either. He ate his dinner. Peter appeared to be almost done.

"Once we're done eating do you want to work on your suit more?"

"Yes!"

Notes:

I have a new fic!

I got some inspiration for stuff I wanted to do with Peter that didn't work with how Red and Blue are Hero Colors was going. They were living rent-free in my head long enough that they coalesced into another fic called Between Enemies and Friends.

Between Enemies and Friends is a different telling of how Peter ended up in Gotham, and what happens as a result of that. It updates on the 15th of the month, though the first chapter is a short prologue which was posted today. First real chapter will be posted tomorrow. I'm doing monthly for that fic as I don't have as much written and would like to avoid burnout if possible. I also don't want to overwhelm my poor editor. They already have enough shit to deal with from me without me throwing a third weekly fic into the mix.

If you're reading this as it's posted, go check it out. If you're reading this and there are still chapters of Red and Blue are Hero Colors you haven't read, read those first then go check out Between Enemies and Friends. Hopefully, you all will enjoy reading Between Enemies and Friends as much as you're enjoying Red and Blue are Hero Colors, and as much as I am enjoying writing both fics!

Red and Blue are Hero Colors still updates weekly on Wednesday.

Chapter 19: Test run

Summary:

Final repairs are done on the spider suit, now it's time to see how well it works!

Notes:

Posting this chapter from my phone, so hopefully that doesn't mess with anything. Don't have my usual Grammarly to double check things so there might be some minor grammatical errors that my editor and I missed that are usually fixed by that.

Could I have easily waited a little bit till I had my laptop and probably still get it posted in the morning? Yeah. But there's a chance I might not have my computer till later. And I am sitting in a waiting room so I have time.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

He and Tim had been working for a while after they'd finished dinner. Tim had been working on transferring a copy of the coding over to the new circuitry. Most things could be copied, but the files which appeared to make up Karen couldn't be copied, they could only be transferred. That made Peter nervous.

Currently he was working on replacing the last few wires as Tim made sure there weren't any problems with the transfer.

"I think that's the last of it," Tim said with a sigh.

"Really?" Peter hurried over. "It's all transferred?"

"Should be," Tim said, unhooking the new motherboard. "Won't know for sure until we test it."

Peter nodded. He grabbed his suit and laid it on the table. He took the motherboard from Tim and placed it in the suit where the old one was. It was a good match. With Tim's help, they got it attached to the suit and connected it to the wires Peter had been repairing.

"Ready to test it?" Tim asked once it was all connected.

"Definitely." He took off the t-shirt that A had given him. Tim looked away as he took his sweatpants off to put the suit on. That was nice. He got the suit on. A few solder points could use some smoothing, but other than that it felt fine. He pulled the mask on and powered up the suit.

His mask lit up. There were some new things that came up with his usual heads up display.

"I know you said not to touch the eyes, but I saw that data could be added so I gave you a full map of Gotham. Oh, and I linked you in with the bat com network. Easy enough reprogramming of the coms already in the suit."

"Wow. Thanks Tim." He looked around, testing the zoom. Now was time for the real test. He bounced on the balls of his feet and swung his arms. "Ok. Karen? You there?"

There was a moment of silence. A horrible, long moment where Peter began to dread Karen was dead.

"Hello Peter."

"Karen! Oh my god. I thought I killed you. You're ok!"

"Luckily, I was able to stop the electrical current from reaching my critical systems, though I was not able to reconnect to the rest of the suit afterwards."

"It worked?" Tim asked, looking excited. Peter hugged him excitedly, lifting him easily up off his feet.

"It worked!" He set down the slightly bewildered Tim. "Karen, this is Tim. He helped fix my suit and transfer the coding to a new motherboard."

"Hello Tim."

"Karen says hi," Peter said since he didn't think Tim could hear Tim since he was outside the suit.

Tim smiled. "Hi. So, everything is working well?"

"So far so good." Peter could hear the elevator coming down and looked over. Tim looked confused before he heard it as well. Dick walked out, followed by Robin and Batman.

"You should be resting," Dick said, walking over to him. Batman watched from the shadows. Robin was in regular clothes other than his mask. He looked at Peter, eyes narrowed, before heading over to assumedly get into his suit.

"I'm fine. Promise," Peter said. "And we fixed Karen!"

"Karen?" Dick cast a confused glance between Peter and Tim.

"AI in his suit. I also got him patched into the coms," Tim explained.

Dick nodded. "Alright. Well, Tim, you'd better suit up. Peter, you should rest."

"But I'm fine. I heal fast. I can patrol. I just need mix up some more web fluid. That'll take five minutes."

"He appears to have healed from the worst of his injuries. And this could be a good change to gauge how he operates," Batman said, walking over. The guy set off a low level of his Peter tingle. Peter looked at Dick, grinning under the mask.

Dick sighed, running a hand down his face. "Fine. But you're sticking with me. Got it?"

Peter did a mock salute. "Yes sir!"

"Good. Go make your fluid."

Peter grinned and went to grab the bag of chemicals he stole from the Joker. He headed to part of the cave where there was some chemistry equipment. He saw several vials of things like the Joker venom and something called fear toxin.

He pulled everything out and found the last couple things he needed and got to work. It was a quick and simple process he knew nearly by heart. Which was good as it allowed him to listen in on what the bats were talking about.

"You think this is a good idea?" Dick asked quietly. They were most likely hoping Peter couldn't hear them, but with his enhanced hearing, he could.

"We still don't know much about him. He is suspected to be a meta. We need to understand his powers and capabilities. The best way of doing that is by seeing him in action," Batman replied in a low voice.

"What if he panics again?" Peter bristled slightly at Dick's question. He didn't want them to feel like they needed to tread on glass around him. He was going to prove himself to them.

"Then we deal with it," Batman replied simply.

"I still do not think that he should be allowed to work with us. We do not need him," Robin protested. Peter didn't think he really liked Robin. And the feeling appeared to be mutual.

"Your objections are noted." Peter bit his lip to keep from laughing. Batman sounded quite a bit like Spock with how monotone he said that.

He finished up a batch of the web fluid, putting it in his web shooters. He got up, shooting a web onto the roof of the cave and swinging himself around to the bats. Partly it was to test that the formula still worked with the chemicals from this universe. He'd figured it would as chemistry should still be chemistry. At least the web felt the same. Partly he also did it to see their reactions. Batman didn't appear surprised. Dick looked mildly impressed. Robin looked displeased. Out of the corner of his eye Peter could see Tim gawking at him.

"All ready to go."

"Good. Turn on your com. O, we've got a new person on the lines."

"Spider-man I take it? How's he doing?"

"Hi. Are you the guy in the chair?" Peter asked. He heard her laugh on the other side of the line and could see Dick chuckle a bit.

"Yes, I'm the guy in the chair. I'm Oracle."

"Like the ancient Greek high on volcanic fumes kind of oracle?"

Dick snorted in laughter as she responded. "The Greek myth oracle. Yes."

"Got anything for us O?" Dick asked, trying to regain his composure.

"Yeah. There are reports of question marks on the east side. I'll send you the address."

"Great. We're on it. Alright kid, let's go," Dick said, getting in a batmobile.

Peter jumped in the passenger seat, putting on his seat belt. "What's up with the question marks?"

"Riddler. He got released on good behavior last week too." Dick sighed, heading out of the batcave. "How good are you at puzzles?"

"I like puzzles. What sort of puzzles?"

"Nothing's off limits with the Riddler. He's a genius and knows it."

Peter nodded, thinking. He hoped this wouldn't be like with Beck when he didn't know what was real. But at least now he knew how to handle that.

"Hey Karen, are you connected to the internet here?"

"Not yet. We will have to work on integration when we are back in the cave."

"Who's Karen?" Peter forgot that others were on the line and was startled by Oracle's voice.

"My suit's AI. I was trying to see if I could look up information on the Riddler."

"I don't have a way to send anything to you. But he's smart and will try to outsmart you in five ways at once."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Dick stopped the batmobile and got out. Peter hopped out as well. They were a few blocks from the address O gave them. Dick pulled out his grappling gun and shot it at a nearby building. Peter followed, using his web shooters. They moved across the rooftops till they were next to the building coordinate O gave them.

There were large green question marks painted on the outside of the building.

"This guy does not believe in subtlety."

Dick chuckled. "Gotham villains tend to have a flair for the dramatics."

"Gotham heroes seem to as well."

"Says the red and blue spider."

"Touché." Peter smiled under his mask and looked at the building. Now that he had Karen back, he had access to all the features of his suit. He started scanning the exterior of the building.

"I'm reading high levels of electricity usage from within the building," Karen reported, overlaying a map onto the screen.

Peter nodded, looking over it. "It's not going to the outside of the building. So there has to be something inside that's drawing that much power."

"What?" Peter had nearly forgotten Nightwing was next to him, or that he couldn't hear Karen, for a moment.

"He's drawing a lot of power into the building. The outside should be fine. There's a good entry point at the third window from the left."

Nightwing nodded, pulling out his grappling hook. He and Peter shot off to land on the roof of the building. Peter crawled to the edge to peer over when he felt a pair of strong hands grab his shoulders. Peter turned to see a concerned looking Nightwing holding him back.

"What are you doing?"

"Having a look inside. Trust me."

Dick looked hesitant but slowly let go of Peter. Peter heard a sharp inbreath of air as he climbed over the edge. He made his way down the wall and to the window.

"How are you doing that?" Dick asked in a hushed voice.

"I just can."

"No offense, that's kinda freaky."

Peter smiled under his mask and looked in through the window. Inside were large walls, about 10 feet high, going up from the floor. He could almost hear the electricity humming along the tops of the walls. He looked up at the ceiling. It was a standard-looking drop ceiling, meaning nothing strong enough to support a bat. But it should be enough to hold a spider.

"What do you see?"

"It's a maze. Tops of the walls are electrified. Some of the walls seem to be able to move."

"I'm working on calculating paths through the maze but have not been able to determine where the exit or goal is," Karen said.

"Why would he build an electrified maze?" Peter asked, glancing up at Nightwing.

Dick looked down at him. "Normally has something in the middle. He likes death traps. Big fan of Houdini."

Peter nodded. "I'll need to get inside."

Dick nodded. He lowered himself to the window with his grappling hook as Peter opened it, climbing in. He paused as he did, his Peter tingle going off. "Nightwing! Stay back!" He shot a web at the ceiling as small bombs under the windowsill went off, shooting him out into the maze. His web caught, managing to keep him above the electrified walls.

Peter was breathing heavily, looking around from where he was dangling in the middle of the maze. The ceiling tile above him creaked. He looked up. "Uh oh." It gave away, sending Peter crashing into the maze.

"Spider-man? Are you ok?" Dick's concerned voice came through the com.

"Yeah. I'm ok." He said, standing up and looking around. "Karen, where am I?"

"Calculating position in the maze."

"What happened?" Oracle asked.

"Bombs under the windowsills. Spider-man's in the middle of the maze somewhere. I'm outside. He stopped me from going in before the bombs went off. I'm working on a way in."

"Riddle me this." A loud voice coming from speakers throughout the building suddenly spoke. Peter jumped, turning around. "What do you get when you mix red and blue?"

"Purple?" Peter said, looking around.

"Let's find out."

Peter's tingle went off as soon as the voice spoke. The walls started grinding as they moved. Peter quickly dove between them into a new hallway. This one also started moving. Peter kept moving.

"You tried some WD-40 on these things? They sound like spoons in a blender."

"You're a slippery little bird," the voice said. He had to be watching Peter somehow. Which meant he had to have cameras.

"Dude, do I look like a bird to you?" Peter spotted a camera and paused so the person could hopefully see the spider on his chest before he shot a web on the camera. Quickly he moved to a new hallway. "Karen, map updates?"

"I'm having trouble with the constant wall movements. Trying to compensate."

"A spider. Riddle me this, what's a natural enemy of the spider."

Peter knew the answer he was going for was a robin. But Peter wanted to mess with him. "Personally, I've found dust is a pretty good enemy for this spider." He got to an area which was big enough to swing himself out of without worrying about hitting the top of a wall. He shot out a web at the ceiling and went to pull himself up. He pushed off a wall as he went up, getting a good arc. His tingle went off and he shot off another web as the ceiling where the first web attached started to give. He started moving himself quickly towards a wall, scanning the maze as he went.

"One more riddle. What is the best was to get rid of a bug infestation."

"Peter, to the left." Karen pulled up an image which appeared to be a bomb.

"Shit!" Peter, quickly changed direction, heading towards it.

"What is it?"

"Bomb! Evacuate anyone in the area!" He dropped down next to the bomb and looked it over. The whole bomb was a puzzle.

"There's minimal civilians in the area, but the building is directly above a major metro line."

"Spider-man, we need to get that bomb defused."

"Yeah. Hold on. Hold on. Let me think!" Peter looked it over. There were several locking mechanisms which Peter would need to undo to even get to the internal mechanisms. He started getting to work on the first one. It wasn't too difficult.

"Wall approaching."

Peter looked up. "Shit!" He looked back down. Bomb was nowhere close to being defused. And it was bolted to the floor. "Karen, is the bomb likely to go off if I move it?"

"There's a 23.42% that will cause a detonation."

"That'll have to do."

"What are you doing?" Nightwing sounded very worried.

"Get me a way out," Peter said, looking for good handholds on the bomb. He needed to pull hard enough to pull it off the floor but not rip it in half. He grabbed it near the base and braced himself against the floor.

He started to pull it up, grunting. He could hear and feel the wall moving behind him. He strained, pulling up on the bomb. There was creaking as he pulled. He could feel something giving and hoped it was the floor. Something popped and the bomb started to give. He shifted his grip, grabbing more under the bomb.

The floor started giving way. It took a few more good tugs before he felt the floor give way. He took a deep breath, holding the bomb with an attached chunk of cement floor to his chest.

"Nightwing, I need an out," He started moving towards the nearest wall. He wasn't as agile as he had been earlier due to carrying a bomb.

"I got some rubble cleared on the north wall."

Karen popped up a ping in the direction of Dick. Peter headed that way. "Coming your way! Start moving!"

Peter was stuck running currently. The ceiling could barely hold him from a web, it would not support him and a bomb. They were getting closer. He just needed to get around these walls.

"Spider-man!" Peter paused, looking up to see Dick sitting on a wall he'd disabled. He smiled and webbed himself up. He could see how wide Dick's eyes were, even with the mask on, as he got up with the bomb in hand.

"I need to get rid of this."

"Yeah, let's go." He led the way out of the building, Peter following right behind. He glanced off to the side as they started heading away to a different part of the city. He could feel the tingle of Batman's presence. "We can throw it in the ocean."

"Karen, can we make it?"

"Chances of explosion rise with time and movement."

"Got it." Peter started moving as quickly as he could towards the water. He was hampered by the fact that he only had one web shooter available and was holding a heavy bomb. Nightwing was keeping decent pace with him.

One good thing about working at night is that there were less people out on the street. However, that also meant there were more people asleep in their apartments. He swung around a corner and could just barely see the dark glimmer of water between the buildings. They would make it. They were close.

Then his tingle went off. "Detonation imminent," Karen's voice said, confirming the tingle.

Peter didn't have time to think and just acted. He dropped the bomb, quickly catching it with a web. He gave it some line and swung it and himself upwards, trying to clear the tops of the buildings. Once the bomb was at the top of the arc, right in that moment where it hangs in the air for a split second before descending, Peter electrified the web.

There was a loud bang and a fiery explosion above him before the heat from the blast wave hit him.

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 20: What can this spider do?

Summary:

Superpowers don't mean that the bats aren't going to worry about you. Even if you are capable and hard to kill.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"Spider-man!" Dick felt his heart drop as he watched Peter get blasted down to the street from the force of the explosion. He'd stopped on the roof of a building when he saw Peter drop the bomb, not sure what he was doing, and scared for a moment that he was going to let it fall onto the street.

Dick quickly rappelled himself down the building and hurried over to where he could see the red and blue of his suit. At least he was easy to spot. Peter had fallen on top of an SUV, crashing nearly through it to the ground.

"Spider-man, you ok? Talk to me man," Dick said worriedly as he got to the side of the car. Peter groaned. "Oh, you're alive. Thank God. Don't scare me like that again!"

"Did anybody get hurt?"

"Other than you, I don't think so."

"Oh, that's good. I have to leave a note or something to whoever's car this is." Peter groaned as he sat up. "You have any paper?"

"Easy. You just fell about 15 stories."

"I'm fine." Peter looked around before clambering out of the ruined car and grabbing a newspaper out of the trash. He managed to find a pen too and started scribbling a note down on the sidewalk. Dick watched, hands on his hips.

"You're a mystery kid."

Peter looked up at him. "Really?" He got up, tearing out the section of paper with the note and sticking it between the wipers and what was left of the windshield.

"Yeah. How'd you get Riddler's bomb out of there? That seemed too simple of a puzzle for him."

"Oh, I only got one of the puzzles on the bomb solved. I just ran out of time and pulled it up."

"It was just sitting on the floor?"

"He had it bolted down," Peter said way too casually. "Do you mind if we stop and get some food somewhere? I'm hungry."

"Sure kid. Then you're answering some questions."

Dick sat on the edge of the building next to Peter eating his burger. Peter was swinging his legs over the edge as he ate, his mask sitting next to the two other burgers and large thing of fries by his side. They'd stopped by a Bat Burger on the way, which Peter had found fascinating. Plus, being the actual Nightwing, Dick got a discount. Peter had started to make friends with a server dressed in a Robin outfit before Dick had dragged him out. Dick decided he had bigger things to worry about than the amount of food Peter was eating while on patrol.

"Let's go over what happened there with Riddler. You stopped me from going in the window. Did you know the bombs were there?"

Peter shrugged, finishing his bite of food. "Not really. I can just sometimes tell if something bad is going to happen or if there's danger nearby. I call it my Peter tingle. It went off before the bombs did."

Dick looked at him. "Ok, first of all, whatever that is needs a new name. We are not calling it the Peter tingle."

"Why not?"

"One, it sounds inappropriate. Two, no names in the field." Peter nodded, taking another bite of his burger. "What about your spider sense?" Nightwing suggested. "It fits with your theme."

Peter chewed thoughtfully. "I think that could work."

Dick smiled. "So, is your spider sense why you flung the bomb into the air as well?"

Peter nodded. "Yeah. And Karen had been keeping an eye on it to see if it was about to blow."

"Ok. That spider-sense alone is enough for you to be considered meta, but that can't be everything."

"I heard Batman use that word earlier. You mean like enhanced?"

Dick paused for a moment. He had to be referring to the conversation in the cave. Peter wasn't supposed to have heard that. "Probably. Meta is short for metahuman."

"Same thing then," Peter said with a smile. Dick nodded.

"So, what all can you do?"

"Let's see." Peter set his burger down and started counting on his fingers. Dick quietly made sure his coms were on so the others could hear. "I've got the Peter tingle, now the spider-sense. I heal really fast, super strong, and more flexible which is cool. My hearing and eyesight are better, that's kinda annoying actually. I'm pretty durable, which is why I'm still ok after that fall. Doesn't seem to always work though. Oh! And I can stick to just about anything. I think that's it. Or most of it anyway."

Dick sat in stunned silence, looking at him.

"Holy shit." Tim's voice came through the headset. Peter perked up, which Dick noticed.

"You can hear my com?"

Peter nodded sheepishly. "Yeah, a bit."

"If you two are done, I've got a bank robbery a few blocks from you," O said.

"On it!" Peter got up, shoveling the rest of the food into his mouth before putting the mask on. "Let's go!"

"You sure you're good to go?" Dick asked, standing up.

"Yeah, come on." With that, Peter launched himself off the building and headed towards the bank. Dick sighed, following. It only took a moment to get there.

Peter was already inside when Dick landed on the street. The door looked like it had been blown open. Dick hurried in through the hole. The dust was still settling but he could make out two things pretty clearly. One was that Peter was swinging around and working on tying up the robbers.

The second was that the robbers were clowns. Why'd it have to be clowns?

"Last I checked, clowns are supposed to have balloons and not guns," Peter said, webbing a gun away from one of them. Another one started shooting at Peter. He quickly moved to dodge out of the way. He seemed to have an uncanny ability to dodge. He wondered if it had to do with his spider-sense.

Dick was in action as he was thinking this. He had his escrima sticks out and went to disable the shooter aiming at Peter. He quickly took out the man's knees before knocking the gun away. Another man came at him with a crowbar. Great. At least it wasn't projectiles. Easier to block.

He blocked the crowbar with one stick, using the other to hit the clown in the stomach several times in quick succession. The clown doubled over, dropping the crowbar. He kicked his knees out from under him and hit his shoulder to send him down fully into the ground.

He could tell that he was working a bit soon on his injuries. His ribs were still healing, and he could feel blood starting to drip down his arm in his suit. He needed to end this fight quickly and hopefully save himself from Alfred's disappointed wrath. He'd only been allowed on patrol on the condition that he not overdo it.

He looked up at Peter to see him throw a man into a wall and quickly web him into place. Even with the full-body suit, the kid looked like he'd hardly even broken a sweat. There was one last person at the vault door. Dick could almost guarantee there was a bomb there. He hurried over to where the clown was.

Sure enough, he was finishing up attaching a bomb to the door. The clown turned, looking at Nightwing. He grinned and pulled out a button.

Before Dick had a moment to figure out how he was going to deal with this, he heard something move behind him and suddenly a web shot next to his head, causing him to flinch slightly. The button was snatched out of the startled clown's hand.

"You guys really need to get more creative with your explosive detonators. I mean, come on. This is just the remote control for an RC car with a big red button wired into it. Let me guess, you used the receiver from the car as part of the detonation circuit for the bomb." Dick turned so he could just see Peter squatting on the bank counter, holding the bomb button. He felt that mild tingling doubt that they could really trust him in the back of his mind. That little voice that said that Peter could easily push the button and survive the blast due to his meta powers.

The clown looked at Peter and went to pull out something. Peter quickly webbed the guy to the door next to the bomb. Peter looked over at Nightwing. "We should call the bomb squad in to take care of the door. I'll web up the rest of the guys so they don't wander off before the regular cops arrive."

"Bomb squad is on their way, along with police," O informed them through the coms.

"Thanks, O," Dick said, moving to check that everyone was apprehended. He watched as Peter webbed up the guys Dick had taken out. He looked over at Peter. "We should head out."

"Once the bomb squad gets here. I don't want to just leave this here," he said, holding up the button. Dick nodded a little. Peter didn't seem to have much experience with crooked cops it seemed. Dick would not be the one to quash out whatever hope or trust the kid had left.

"Ok. I'll wait with you." That was mostly so that the Gotham PD didn't mistake Peter for a new villain as he was holding a bomb button. If Nightwing was with him, they should recognize he's not a threat.

"What's with the clowns anyways?" Peter asked, looking over at Dick.

"Means they either work for Joker, or they're pretending to."

Peter nodded, settling comfortably onto the little desk thing in the middle of the lobby where the bank slips and such were. The position didn't look super comfortable to someone who wasn't super flexible. Dick sat on the customer side of the back counter. He could hear the sound of sirens approaching. It would still be a few moments before the cops got there.

"You have a file on him?"

"The Joker? Oh yeah. It's huge. Talk to Oracle, she can get you connected."

Peter nodded. "I'll talk to her after we're done here." He looked behind him at the window as the red and blue lights started to light up the street. He jumped easily off the counter and headed towards the door. Dick got up and quickly followed him, so the officers didn't think he was a bad guy.

A familiar face stepped out of the first car as the two of them walked out through the hole that had been the door.

"Commissioner Gordon Surprised to see you come all the way out here for a robbery."

"Wanted to meet Gotham's newest edition to the bats," he said, looking at Spiderman.

"Hi. Are you one of the police guys? There are five clown guys in there that were trying to rob the bank. I've got them webbed up. It'll dissolve on its own in about an hour. There's a bomb on the door. I think the bomb squad should have been called. I got the button." Peter said, pointing inside and at the button when appropriate. Peter did not seem to be able to hold still.

The corner of Gordon's mouth twitched. "I can take care of it from here." Peter glanced at Dick who nodded before he handed over the button for the bomb. "You're not a Robin and the rest of the bats and birds are all accounted for. Means your new."

Dick nodded. "This is Spider-man. Picked him up a few days ago."

Gordon nodded. He was looking at Peter intently. Dick could see Peter shift nervously under his gaze. After a long moment, Gordon spoke again. "So, you're what's been leaving the white strands over half of Gotham."

Peter rubbed his arm sheepishly. "Yeah. They should all dissolve on their own."

"They do." Peter relaxed a little at Gordan's reassurance.

"Well, if you have this all set then we should get going. We'll see you around." Dick said, pulling out his grappling hook.

Gordon nodded. "Tell Batman I want to talk to him later."

"Will do," Dick said, grappling off.

"It was nice to meet you Commissioner Gordon sir," Peter said before following Dick.

They headed a few blocks, passing over the bomb truck as they headed back to where they'd parked the batmobile.

"So, how'd I do?" Peter asked. He was keeping pace with Dick's swings.

"You did good. But I have to ask you to not rip bombs up out of the floor in the future."

"I can try but I make no promises," Peter said as they landed next to the batmobile. Dick got in the driver's seat as Peter slipped into shotgun. It was strange for Dick having Peter there. He was used to someone sitting in that seat in a brightly colored costume, though normally it was Tim or Damian. Peter was similar to Tim in a lot of ways.

He watched Peter out of the corner of his eye as he drove. Peter was investigating different parts of the batmobile, though he wasn't pushing any buttons, which was good. This car did have ejector seats and Dick did not need that heart attack right now.

This kid had been through a lot, as much as any Robin, and somehow came out with a sense of humor and optimistic nature intact. Dick hoped the kid would be able to maintain it.

Once they got back to the batcave, Peter got out. "Do you have some clothes I can borrow?"

"Yeah. I think A has some stuff set aside for you. Are you leaving?" He recognized that tone in his voice.

"I don't really know Gotham very well, so I was going to poke around some during the day. Can I leave my suit here?"

Dick nodded. "Yeah. Want Tim or I to show you around?"

"No, that's ok. You've got your own stuff to worry about. Besides, I like exploring."

Dick nodded. "Ok. Let me give you something first." Peter looked at Dick confused as he walked over to a desk and grabbed something out of one of the drawers. He walked back over and held it out to Peter. "Here. Our numbers are in it. Don't put anything other than our names, once you learn them, as the contact. Just for safety precautions. Got it?"

Peter nodded, taking the phone. "Thanks."

Dick nodded. He pulled out his phone and sent him a quick text. "There, you know what my number is. I'll get Tim to text you. O can send you any info you need now."

Peter smiled, adding Dick to his contacts. "Great. Thanks again. I'll talk with Oracle. Before I leave."

Dick nodded, watching the kid head over to his bed and sit on the edge. He hoped he'd be ok. If Peter was anything like any of the bats, which it seemed he was, he'd end up doing something reckless. At least Peter didn't seem suspicious of the tracker in the phone, at least not yet. Dick didn't want the latest addition to the flock to get in trouble with no way for them to help him.

The kid had died once. They'd lost a Robin once. Never again.

Notes:

It was so fun reading all your comments last week. Especially the half of you that were very concerned. You guys are great! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic.

And I have used Bat Burger so thank you to everyone who commented that way back in chapter 3. I didn't forget.

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 21: Normal trip to Gotham

Summary:

Peter heads into Gotham to explore.

Notes:

Happy 4h of July to my fellow Americans! To everyone else, happy Tuesday.

It is Tuesday evening as I post this as I will be out of town Wednesday and might not have enough internet to post tomorrow.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter turned his com back on, opening a line to just Oracle. "Oracle?"

"Hello Spider-man. What do you need?" Oracle was nice. Peter liked her.

"I have a couple questions and I don't know if you'd be able to help." He swung his legs off the edge of his bed, looking at his phone and going through the settings as he talked.

"Ask."

"Nightwing said you have a file on the Joker. Would I be able to see it?"

There was a slight pause. "Alright. I can send it to Nightwing or Red Robin-"

Peter interrupted. "Oh! Nightwing gave me a phone just now. So, you could send it to me that way."

"Oh, he gave it to you already? I'll send the file over shortly. Anything else you needed?"

"Yeah. Uh, so the other day in the sewers, with the alligators. Do you have any more information on what's going on down there?"

"I'll be honest, there's not much information. I have access to cameras all over Gotham, but the sewers don't exactly have any cameras. I've been looking into it after what Red Hood and Nightwing said after meeting you."

"So, you have something?"

"Possibly. I'll send you what I've got."

Peter's phone buzzed as he received the messages from Oracle. The first one was a large collection of files that appeared to be on the Joker. There were parts which were redacted. Interesting. Peter might try to undo that later.

The other message was a much smaller file. Peter opened it and looked through it. There were some screen shots and video clips of what appeared to be children entering the sewers. Peter frowned. He also noticed that the video of him punching the manhole cover off was included in the file. He watched himself scramble out of the sewer, nearly get hit by several cars, and colliding with one of them. He winced, thinking of his broken ankle. The car also had a sizeable dent in it.

"The only thing I've got is that there have been reports of children committing petty thievery and then disappearing into the sewer systems. I have no idea if it is connected or not, but it's the best I have."

"Thanks Oracle. I'll talk to you later."

"Mmhmm. Get some rest."

Peter turned off his com and looked down at his phone. He was going to explore Gotham today, see if he could learn some more about the villains here. Then maybe he'd pop down into the sewers that afternoon to see if he could find out anything more. He was not excited about the thought of facing those alligators again, but at least he knew they were there this time. They wouldn't catch him by surprise.

Peter changed out of his suit and into a pair of clothes which had been left on the table next to the bed. He paused, realizing that he didn't really know where he was or how to get into Gotham. The only times he'd been into or out of the cave had been in the batmobile, and he was pretty sure that he would not be allowed to be in it in civilian clothes. He sat on the edge of the bed, thinking.

Dick could probably give him a ride. And he'd actually pay attention to where they were going this time. He'd been too distracted by his suit being fixed and all the cool stuff in the batmobile the last couple times. And Dick knew him in and out of costume and could drive. He was also probably old enough to have his own car. He pulled his phone out to shoot him a text.

Peter: Hey, this is Peter. I just realized I don't know how to get to Gotham from here. Would you be able to give me a ride?

He waited a moment for Dick to respond. It didn't take too long.

Dick: A has me on lockdown since I pulled some stitches. Tim should be able to.

Peter: Ok, thanks. I'll ask him.

Peter: Which number is his?

Dick: I'll get Tim to message you.

Peter waited till his phone buzzed. He opened the text and added Tim's name to the contact before replying.

Tim: Dick gave you the phone I hear?

Peter: Yeah. I'm trying to get back into Gotham but could use a ride. Don't know how to get there on my own.

Tim: Yeah, I can give you a ride. Meet outside in 5

Peter smiled and checked that he had everything. When he checked his wallet, he frowned slightly. Pulling it out he noticed that a few crisp twenty dollar bills had been added to it.

One of the bats must have slipped them in there while he was out as Spider-man. He debated returning the money, just leaving it on the desk in front of the batcomputer. But truthfully, he could use the money. He would need to get things like food while he was out. And it might be rude to reject it. Peter sighed a little and slipped his wallet back into his pocket. He was really glad that the bats were helping him, even if he didn't fully understand why.

He pulled on a hoodie and headed out of the cave. He stood there, bouncing on the balls of his feet for a moment. It was actually a nice day out. The normal overcast over Gotham he'd come to expect was gone and it was sunny and warm. He smiled. The exit to the cave was surrounded by trees. He closed his eyes for a moment, just enjoying the breeze and the sun dancing across his face.

He was broken out of his trance by a slight tingle and the sound of a car approaching. He opened his eyes to see a rather nice red car driving up to him. It stopped in front of him, the window rolled down.

"Mind if we stop for coffee while we're headed into town?" Tim asked.

"Can we get breakfast too?" Peter asked back, getting in. He looked around the car. It was a very nice car. Very, very nice indeed.

"Sure. You don't mind fast food?"

"Love it." Fast food was cheap, had more calories than it deserved, and was good for keeping someone with a high metabolism like himself fed.

Tim grinned, heading off. Peter made sure to keep an eye on where they were going this time.

They got into Gotham and stopped for food at a place called Sundollar. It was cheap, greasy, and not too bad all things considered. Peter ended up badgering Tim about the various superheroes nearly the whole time. The Avengers equivalent here was apparently called the Justice League. Batman as in it along others such as Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Green Lantern, and Green Arrow. They'd ended up arguing over which superhero archer, Green Arrow or Hawkeye, was better. They had not reached a consensus by the time they finished eating and Tim had to go.

Peter waved at Tim as he drove off, watching him disappear around a corner a few blocks down. Once he was out of sight, he pulled out his phone and looked through the info Oracle had sent him on the sewers. He was going to investigate, but as Peter Parker (or Jason Todd if his paperwork for changing his identity was starting to go through).

He headed towards the library. It was only a few blocks away and he'd rather be committing identity theft on those computers than the batcomputer. Even if it the librarian Ms. Gordon probably worked with Batman and Dick definitely knew what he was up to. The two seemed fairly close and so far hadn't told him off yet or turned him in.

The library was fairly quiet with only a few people milling about when he got there. Ms. Gordon noticed Peter as soon as he walked in and rolled over from where she was working on reshelving some books.

"You're looking better," she said, giving him a once-over as she rolled next to him on his way to the computers.

Peter nodded. "Yeah. Some rest and food really helped."

She nodded. "Dick told me you got pretty roughed up. You can take it easy, you know." There was a weight to her tone like she delt with this too often.

Peter nodded a little. "I am." She gave him a look like she didn't believe him.

"Alright." She went to roll off before pausing and turning back to him. "Do you have my contact in your phone?"

"No."

"Let me see." Peter pulled his phone out of his pocket and handed it to her. She took it and opened up a contact, quickly changing it. When she handed it back her contact now had the name Barbara Gordon at the top. "You can call me Babs."

Peter nodded. "Thanks. Hey random question. You aren't related to a Commissioner Gordon, are you?"

She smiled. "He's my dad."

"Oh, cool. He seems like a really great guy."

"I'll let him know you said that," she said with a smile before heading off.

Peter turned his attention to the computer, quickly logging on. He pulled up his application for a new social security card and checked it over. There was an update on the status: approved. The card was being delivered to the address he'd put on the form, which happened to be the library. That was a good first step.

He was glad that the bats were all being nice to him and were all willing to help him out, but he didn't know how long that would last. He was going to need to get himself back up on his feet again, get a job, get an apartment, and see if he could build a better stargate that actually worked. He didn't know how long it might take, or if it was possible in this universe without the benefits of Stark tech.

Either way, he needed to legally exist. And now he was one step closer. He scrubbed his history and logged off, getting up to go. He stopped by the front desk where Babs was sitting at her computer, logging returned books back in. She looked up.

"Need something?"

"I'm just about to head out. I don't exactly have a mailing address, so I asked for some paperwork to be sent here. Could you let me know if you get an envelope addressed to Jason Todd?"

She nodded, clearly suppressing a smirk. That was a little weird. "Sure thing, Peter."

"Thank you so much." He grinned and went to head out. He could feel his spider sense tingle slightly as she watched him go. It only disappeared once the door closed behind him.

The day was still really nice. Made Peter not want to go down into the severs. He had to, though. There were alligators down there and if there were kids going in there, that wasn't safe for them.

Peter looked until he found what looked like a certain sewer which showed up in more of the video footage. That was a good start. He glanced around before slipping into the sewer.

Notes:

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 22: Sewer search

Summary:

Peter decides to find out why there are gators in the sewers. Hopefully, he didn't bite off more than he can chew.

Notes:

It is late at night on Wednesday as I post this, but it's still Wednesday! I am very tired. Did not do a second read-through to see if Grammarly caught anything so relying solely on my wonderful editor here. Been busy as I'm working on moving in about a month and still don't have an apartment squared away. So that's a really fun headache...

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Peter's feet landed in some sewer water with a splash. He gritted his teeth as it soaked into his shoes. This was going to suck. Not to mention that the smell was infinitely worse without his mask on. He pulled his sweatshirt up over his nose as he waited for his eyes to slowly adjust.

It was just as dark as it had been the last time he was here, actually more so considering that he didn't have night vision now. His spider sense was going off. The ominous echoing rumble of cars along with the sound of water didn't help either. He didn't know where he was going, but he couldn't just stand there. So, he started walking.

He didn't know where exactly he was going, partly because once he was away from sewer grates and storm drains it was pitch black, but his spider sense heightened at certain junctions. Since he was looking for trouble specifically, he headed towards the impending feeling of doom. He could almost hear the lecture on why what he was doing was a bad idea. It sounded suspiciously like Tony and Dick were teaming up on him in his head.

Peter suddenly stopped. He felt like someone was watching him. He looked around, trying to will his eyes to see anything in the pitch blackness. They didn't, obviously.

"Hello?" His voice echoed around him. Peter got a sudden idea. It was crazy but with his heightened senses it just might work. He closed his eyes and focused on his ears.

"Hello?" He tried to listen to the echo. He was working with bats, or at least people who dressed up like bats. Maybe he could channel his spider abilities into bat-powers.

It was hard without his mask to help filter out the extra sound, but he could hear his voice echoing around him. Except it was echoing all around him. He could hear all of his voices as they slowly faded.

Yeah, that didn't work.

As his voice faded away though, he could hear something else. A heartbeat. It wasn't his, it was beating faster than Peter's heart was. He turned in the direction of the sound. "Someone there?"

The sound of footsteps quickly moving away through the water echoed around him. "Hey! Wait!" Peter went after him. The sound of splashing feet filled the tunnel. The person he was following seemed to know where they were going. Peter was only able to avoid the walls because his spider sense was alerting him to them. He kept closing and opening his eyes with no difference between them.

He stopped, his senses suddenly spiking. The other person stopped a moment later when he heard the low growl of the alligator Peter had felt. He could hear their heartrate increase even more. His was too. He couldn't run this time, not that he knew where he'd be going if he did. There was someone else and he doubted they would be able to take on a sewer gator.

They moved back towards Peter as the gator moved closer. Peter could hear their heavy, scared breathing. He moved closer, causing the person to flinch away. Peter put himself between them and the alligator. "Stay back."

He could hear them breathing in his direction. It changed, slowing slightly as they did so.

"Well, well, well. What have we here?" Peter could feel this sider sense spike as the voice came out of a tunnel behind the alligator. He recognized that voice. Next to him, the person stiffened. There were footsteps as the figure approached and stopped by the alligator. "Found us a new face, have you?"

The person next to Peter shifted nervously.

"Hmm. Perhaps this one can make up for your mistake earlier. This way." There was a very menacing and commanding tone to his voice. The alligator hissed at them. The person next to him flinched before moving to follow the man. Peter put out a hand to stop him. He could feel them jolt with surprise.

"Wait. Who are you?" Peter asked. His spider sense went off and he moved back just enough to dodge something swinging right past his face. He could feel the kid next to him shaking with fear.

"You're going to learn obedience." He hissed. The alligator started moving around him. Peter felt a tug on his sleeve and looked over. He didn't see anything because it was still pitch black, but he could feel the kid next to him start to pull him forward.

Peter gritted his teeth and decided to follow. If he wanted to learn what was happening, he was going to have to follow them. Besides, if he didn't this other kid might get hurt. He couldn't let that happen.

They walked through the sewers. Peter had a feeling that he could potentially get into some trouble here with his phone and wallet, plus he didn't want to lose either one of them. He quietly pulled them out of his pockets, using the sounds of them walking to cover the noise. He tucked them into his pants, webbing them to his leg. He made sure he adjusted the webs to last longer.

With that out of the way, he focused on the area around him, trying to distinguish the movement of people, and animals, nearby. It took a bit to try and focus on the source of the sounds and not the plethora of echoes. Not for the first time, he was wishing he had his mask.

Slowly he thought he started to get the hang of it. He could make out his footsteps and the footsteps of the kid next to him first. The alligator's steps weren't too hard to make out because of the different gait. Then there was the man ahead of them. His gave him a problem because his steps sounded off. It took him a moment to realize that what he was hearing was a cane which was not being used properly. He was using it for the aesthetic, not for any medical reason.

As they got closer to wherever they were going, Peter could hear more alligators joining them. He did not like this. At all. As they continued, Peter thought he might be seeing things. It seemed like the tunnel ahead of them seemed to be getting lighter. He could just make out the outline of the figure leading them. He was rather large and imposing, though nothing Peter couldn't deal with. The alligators, which he was beginning to slowly see around him, were the real issue.

They turned a corner and Peter squinted slightly. Ahead of them was a brighter area. Still not super bright, not daylight bright, but there were lights. It was just enough to see by. Peter looked around as they entered a larger area. It appeared to be like a room in the sewers. Peter did not know enough about sewer construction to know why this might be here. He could faintly hear traffic above them. That was a good sign. Looking up he could see a small shaft of light beaming down from a hole in a manhole cover. A way out.

The man stopped and Peter had to take a step back to make sure he didn't accidently run into him. He startled slightly as the floor started moving in sections. After a moment he realized that all that movement was children. God, there were so many. How was he going to get them all out of here? Where would they go after?

There was the sound of the cane hitting the floor, causing all the kids to flinch, including Peter. The sound hurt Peter's ears as it reverberated loudly over the sound of muffled traffic and sewer water.

"We have a new recruit. Make sure he knows the rules." The man swung his cane at Peter. He jumped back, his spider sense absolutely buzzing. Several gators growled behind him, causing him to stop and turn. He couldn't move to avoid the next cane hit. It smacked hard and fast across his shoulders, lurching him forward into the boy who he had followed in the sewers.

The boy caught him and pulled him away from the man and the gators. He looked slightly younger than Peter. And he looked very skinny and dirty. That made Peter worried about him. He pulled Peter away quickly and into the crowd of children.

Peter could feel the dozens of pairs of eyes on him, but no one approached him. They moved to let the two of them through. Peter could see the boy leading him glancing at the children as they passed. Their looks seemed to be loaded with meaning that Peter couldn't decipher. They reached a spot and the boy pulled him down as he sat. He looked around with wide eyes.

"Who-" Peter was cut off by the boy clamping a hand over Peter's mouth. Startled eyes met scared ones for a brief moment before the boy was staring at the man, watching him closely. Peter looked over at him, watching him as he walked through a group of kids, all of whom moved quickly out of the way. One didn't move quite fast enough and received a sharp kick to the ribs. Peter tensed, watching as the boy was pulled out of the way by other children. He wanted to fight the man right there for that.

The boy next to him seemed to sense that and put a hand on Peter's arm, keeping a fairly firm grip. They made brief eye contact and he shook his head. Peter sighed and turned back to watch the man disappear down a tunnel. He could feel the tension in the room drop several notches as he disappeared, several alligators following. The boy relaxed a bit, removing his hands from Peter.

"What's going on?" Peter asked in a low whisper.

The boy looked anxiously at him and shook his head, indicating his throat.

Peter looked at him questioning before he thought he got it. "Can't talk?" The boy nodded. Peter thought for a moment before getting an idea. While he'd been in the soul stone, he'd picked up a couple new things. One of those being sign language from a couple people, mainly Bucky, Agent Hill, and Laura Barton who was apparently married to Hawkeye which Peter thought was really cool. "Do you know ASL?"

He paused, watching confused for a moment. Peter tried signing it again and he waved him off. There was another pause before he signed again. "I understand."

Peter smiled. That was fantastic. "What's going on here?"

The boy shifted into a more comfortable position, making sure his hands were free. He seemed excited about having someone to talk sign with. "That is the Sewer King. He takes lost or orphaned or homeless kids and makes us work for him. You're not allowed to talk, and you'll have to meet a quota of stolen stuff, or you get punished."

Peter nodded. "What's your name?"

"Tobias."

"I'm Peter." He looked around. The kids in the room all looked skinny and dirty like Tobias, some more so than others. They were a wide range of ages. None were older than teenagers and some looked as young as five. "How long have you been here?"

Tobias shrugged. Peter figured it would be hard to tell time down here in the sewers. He wasn't even sure how long he'd been down here. An hour? Thirty minutes? Longer?

"I'm going to get you out. All of you."

"How?" Tobias asked, looking at Peter. His look said that he didn't quite believe Peter could, which was fair enough.

Peter lifted his hands to respond when the Sewer King entered again. He stopped, taking a good look at him. He noticed he dressed a bit like a pirate: big pants, ruffled shirt, coat, and a short cape. He even had sunglasses which were missing a lens to look like an eyepatch. What was he, some theater dropout?

He looked over the group of children. "What are you all sitting around for? Get to work!"

There was a commotion as everyone quickly, and wordlessly, scrambled to their feet. Tobias pulled Peter to his feet. Peter followed him as he headed to another part of the room. Tobias grabbed two brooms, handing one to Peter. He took it and gave him a confused look. Tobias gave him a look and gestured for him to follow. Peter nodded and followed him. They went to a corner and started sweeping. It did not do much to improve the cleanliness of the sewer.

They swept quietly for a few minutes. Tobias seemed to try and communicate some things with Peter, though he didn't quite catch all of it. He watched as Tobias and the other kids seemed to communicate silently with near flawless precision. Some hand signals were ones he could understand, like 'ok' or directions. But there were a lot of subtle body language cues Peter missed.

He noticed a couple signs he recognized that the kids were using, but mostly it was something else. He kept watching as he planned how to get all the kids out of here.

The first step would probably be figuring out what exactly was going on here, then getting somewhere with a signal to contact the bats. He just needed to make sure they could get rid of Sewer King and his gators without any kids getting hurt.

Notes:

I wanted to add a quick note on some formatting. A little guide I guess as we're getting a few different ways of communication

"This is normal talking, face to face. Your standard fare."

"This is talking over radios. Character talking in italics is not presently with the person they are talking to."

Cashmire: This is for texting. Name of character sending text proceeds text message. Texts are also separated from main body by an empty paragraph line above and below.

"This is for sign language. Note, sign language will only be in bold if the character who's POV it is actually understands what the signs mean.

Hope this helps!

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 23: Rescue Party

Summary:

Note to the batfam: if left alone, Peter will almost certainly endanger himself.

Notes:

I am posting this from my phone because I am very tired and can't be bothered to get my laptop right now. And I didn't want to have to make you guys wait till this evening after I got off work for the new chapter.

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

Dick woke up to a text from Babs. He groaned, rolling over to take a look at it.

Babs: We might have a problem with Peter.

Ok, he was awake. Seriously, he left the kid alone for what, a couple hours and he was already in trouble? He was really understanding what Bruce felt when he was trying to coral the various Robins. Dick had had to do that several times when Bruce was away on League business.

Dick: What did he do this time?

Babs: I sent him some information earlier on anything related to the sewer situation. Guess who just disappeared into the sewers again.

Dick swore under his breath. He was on lockdown and really didn't want to risk Alfred's wrath at pulling his stitches again.

Dick: Send me what you got.

Dick headed down to Tim's room and knocked. A noise which sounded suspiciously like a knee hitting a solid wood desk came from inside, confirming that Tim was awake. A moment later the door opened.

"What do you want?"

"Peter might be in trouble. He went into the sewers. Alfred will kill me if I pull my stitches again."

Tim motioned Dick in as he headed to his computer. "What have you got?" Dick handed Tim his phone. He plugged it into the computer, quickly getting the info. He looked at the security footage of Peter going into the sewers. As he did so, he pulled up another window. It showed a map of Gotham there was a moment before a red dot showed up on the map in Crime Alley.

"I'll call Jason."

Tim copied the files Babs sent to his computer before handing Dick's phone back. Dick pulled up Jason's contact and hoped that Jason wasn't asleep right now.

He picked up on the third ring. "The hell you want Grayson?" Yeah, he'd just woken up.

"Peter's in Crime Alley, probably in the sewers."

"Hell Dick, you didn't keep an eye on him?" He could hear Jason getting up and getting ready.

"I was asleep, Jay." Dick rubbed his face. He could see Tim getting information moved onto a thumb drive. "Tim's headed out to go find him. I'm on lockdown or I'd go. If you need backup I'll be there."

Jason grumbled. "Fine. I swear I'm going to kill that damn kid."

"Tim'll send you the location," Dick said. Jason grumbled before hanging up. Tim headed out and down to the cave, Dick following. "This kid's harder to keep track of than when you were as Robin."

"Well one of us has superpowers," Tim said as they rode the elevator down. "Are you going to tell B?"

"No, not yet. He's sleeping, I think. I'll tell him if things get bad. I'll keep my earpiece in." They walked out of the elevator and into the batcave.

Tim nodded, going to put his suit on. "Alright."

Dick put his earpiece in, turning it on. "Hood, you there?"

"Yeah, dick, I know to have it on when I'm planning on meeting up with someone" Dick sighed. He had a feeling Jason was probably smirking to himself over that.

Tim got his com on and jumped into one of the batmobiles. "Good. I'm heading to the location. I'll meet you there."

"I'll scout the area while you get here."

"I can't help that you're closer."

"I would say move but I don't want B closer to me than he needs to be."

Dick settled down in front of the batcomputer, getting ready to be backup for his brothers.

Jason got there fairly quickly and parked his bike. He got out and stood over where Tim had said Peter's last location was. "Has his position changed at all?"

There was a moment's pause before Tim replied. "Barely. He's still in the same general area."

"Are we sure he's underground?"

"He went down in oldtown Gotham. Hasn't been seen on cameras since. Then again, if he's in Crime Alley, it's not known for having the best camera coverage."

"I'm well aware." He was the one working this beat, not Tim. He sighed and started looking around the area. He looked around for any signs of the kid. "He got his suit on?"

"No. He left it here," Dick said, a bit of worry in his voice.

"Why the fuck would he do that?" Jason sighed, pinching the spot on his mask over the bridge of his nose. This fucking kid. As if Jason needed any more white hairs. "Alright. Might make him harder to spot since he's not a fucking spotlight."

"Any sign yet?" Tim asked.

"No. I'm going to find a sewer cover." Jason looked around for one which would hopefully be out of the way. That was easier said than done. He could rule out the ones on the busier roads at least.

He managed to find a manhole close to Peter's current location, at least current as of Tim's last update, in a side street by the time Tim showed up. He must have parked somewhere before running up to where Jason was.

"He's moved about 50 feet north."

Jason sighed. "Well, I found a way in. Ready?"

Tim nodded. "Let's go."

Jason picked up the crowbar he'd grabbed on his way here and began prying up the manhole cover. After a moment it was up and out of the way. He looked down, trying to figure out what they were exactly getting into. All he could see was dark blackness with a glimmer of water at the bottom about 10 feet down. The ladder leading in and out had been broken away at some point.

Tim pulled out a flashlight and hooked it to his chest.

"Great target you've got there."

"Shut up. I want to see," he said, lowering himself into the hole with his grappling hook. Jason watched as he slowly descended, looking around. He heard him splash down into the water. Tim's light shone as he looked around. "Looks clear."

Jason jumped down with a heavy splash. His knees were going to hate that later. He looked around. It was dark, certainly, but less so than he would have expected. This place gave him an uneasy feeling. He pulled his guns out.

"Hood, look at this." Tim was looking at something over to the side. Jason walked over to see what he was looking at. Tim's light shone on what looked like a child's shirt.

"Kid's shirt. So?"

Tim didn't get a chance to respond as something to their right hissed. They both looked over, Tim's light turning to shine on a full-sized alligator.

"He wasn't fucking kidding about the gators," Jason muttered. The gator lunged and they both quickly moved into action. Tim pulled out his staff, quickly making it full sized. Jason shot at the gator, getting it several times. The sound of the gunshots reverberated loudly all around them. Tim moved in, hitting the gator several times before it stopped moving. The light showed that it was almost certainly dead due to gunshot wounds and blunt force trauma. Blood was seeping into the water around them.

"What's going on?"

"Fucking alligators, big bird. The kid was serious about the fucking gators."

"Hood!" Jason turned to see Tim's light shining down a pipe and three pairs of eyes shining back at them.

"Shit."

Fighting in the sewers was not easy. Jason didn't want to shoot Tim, and he didn't want to miss the gators in case of ricochet. This was currently made harder by the fact that Tim was bashing the gators with his staff and had a cape which flapped around when he moved. Though poking the eyes did seem effective. Not as effective as bullets though.

Tim made a strangled noise. One of the alligators had managed to snap its jaws down on his cape. It started to roll. Tim was quickly pulled off his feet and pulled into the water, his staff knocked out of his hand. The good thing was that it gave Jason an opening to shoot. He shot the alligator holding Tim several times, hitting it in the head and throat until it stopped moving. He shot at the others as Tim pulled himself free and retrieved his staff. He got two more good hits in in on the remaining gator.

"Everyone alright?"

"Yeah. We're fine," Tim said, adjusting the neckline of his costume. The sound of footsteps, multiple sets, from a sewer pipe to their left jolted them back into action. Tim swung his staff to collide with the person as soon as they turned the corner.

A hand caught the staff easily, as if Tim tried to hit him with a pool noodle and hadn't just swung metal head height with enough force to knock a grown man unconscious.

"What the fuck?" Jason managed to spit out before almost shooting the person speaking. It was only Tim jumping slightly which caused the light to illuminate the dirty face of one Peter fucking Parker that stopped Jason from putting a bullet through his chest.

"How'd you guys get here?"

"Not important right now. Time to go." He went to try and grab Peter's shoulder, but the kid easily dodged backwards.

"Not yet. There are about 40 kids down here. I'm not leaving any of them," Peter said, determination in his voice.

"Forty?" Jason sighed. He looked at a kid standing just around the corner, looking at them uncertainly. "Who's that?"

Peter glanced at the kid before looking back at him and Tim. "Tobias. Come on. We have to move if we want to get everyone out before he gets angry." Peter turned and started heading back down the tunnel.

Tim headed after him. Jason gritted his teeth. Peter owed them one damn good explanation. "Who?"

Peter didn't answer, just headed down the tunnel with the other kid Tobias. He watched, through the bouncing beam of Tim's light, as Tobias made some motion with his hand. Peter nodded and they quickly moved down a tunnel to the right. Jason and Tim followed through a couple more turns before the boys suddenly stopped.

"What?" Jason asked. Peter held up a hand and shh'ed him. If Jason wasn't wearing his mask, Peter would have seen a very offended look. Had it been bright enough to see. Peter made a weird motion with his hands, looking almost like twin bull horn motions towards Tobias before rubbing his fists past each other. The other kid apparently understood and moved back. He glanced at Tim and Jason before deciding Tim was the safer to stand by.

Peter moved around the corner as quietly as possible. A moment later there was the hiss of an alligator. Tim and Jason moved around the corner quickly to see Peter straight punch a gator in the head. There was a crack and the alligator slumped into the water.

"Did you just one punch an alligator?" Tim asked, seeming to be as surprised by this as Jason was.

Peter, helpful as fucking ever, did not give them a straight answer. He just waved them after him. "Come on."

Tobias headed after Peter first. Jason and Tim shared a look before following. Tobias glanced back at them before doing some hand motion to Peter. Peter nodded and looked at Jason. "Put your guns away."

"What?"

"You'll scare the other kids."

Jason sighed. He didn't like this, but he reluctantly put the guns away. They slowed down. The tunnels started to get lighter here. Peter looked at Tim and made a motion to turn the light off. Tim got it after a moment and put his light out.

Jason really didn't like that. He really, really didn't like that. His hands gripped the handles of his guns. He already hadn't liked being in the sewers, but at least there'd been enough space and light to see, and especially to see that Tim was there. And he'd had the alligators to focus on. But now, now it was dark.

Peter stopped them and it was quiet for a moment. Jason could feel his heart beating faster. Why the fuck did he agree to this? This reminded him horribly of another certain dark, enclosed space he'd been in. He could barely see anything, but his vision seemed to darken till he couldn't see anything. His chest felt tight.

Something touched his arm. Jason acted without thought and punched as hard as he could. His fist collided with solid concrete. It was enough to shock some sense into his system. Enough to see that his fist was about two inches from Peter's head.

"You ok?" Peter asked quietly. Jason could feel everyone looking at him. He put his hand back on his gun at his side, shrugging Peter's hand off.

"I'm fine. Let's get this shit over with."

Peter nodded. He looked at Tobias who nodded. They continued on, Tobias and Peter leading the way. After a few more intense moments where Jason could feel Tim right by his side, they entered a large room.

Jason froze. Dozens of eyes stared at him. Human eyes. The room had children of all ages filling it. And all of them were staring at them.

"What the hell?" He muttered, looking out over the crowd of children.

"There's a sewer cover up there. If we can just-" Peter cut himself off as someone else's voice cut in, causing all the kids to freeze up in fear.

"What is going on in here?"

Notes:

I love that about half or so of the comments that I got last week were on people being excited about Sewer King. We might see more of the minor villains in this fic because frankly, they're fun to write.

I also wrote this chapter over a month ago, and I am not fluent in ASL at all. So while the signs described are real signs that I looked up on the online ASL dictionary, I do not remember what they mean. If I remember them later I might make an edit in the end notes that says what they were saying.

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 24: Field trip

Summary:

Gotta get the kids out of the sewers. And fight alligators. Seriously, why are there so many alligators?

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Jason didn't give a shit what Tobias or Peter said. He did not like that voice and he did not like this place. He pulled his guns out and moved through the group of quickly parting children.

"Why don't you come out and we can have a little chat."

He could hear Tim move next to him, staff at the ready. Then, from out of a sewer tunnel ahead of them came a man dressed like a discount pirate. Not the stupidest villain outfit Jason had seen as the Riddler existed, but it was still a stupid outfit. Beside him were two alligators. It sounded like more were behind him. He could barely hear the children move back behind him. They were unnaturally quiet, which was very unnerving for an already on edge man and holding two loaded guns.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. Get them." The last part came out as a growl. The alligators lunged towards them as soon as he said that. Jason started shooting. Fuck this sewer. Fuck these gators. Fuck this man who seemed to be worse than Batman at collecting children.

As they worked on clearing alligators to get to the man, Jason noticed movement out of the corner of his eye, heading towards Tim. He turned and fired a shot. The bullet hit Peter in the shoulder.

"Shit!" Tim glanced over from where he was hitting a gator when he heard Jason swear.

"Did you just shoot Peter?"

"I'm fine! Give me your grappling hook. I'll get the kids out," Peter said, holding out a hand to Jason. He adjusted his grip on one gun so he could get his grappling hook out and tossed it to Peter. He caught it easily and hurried off. It only took a moment before he heard the tell-tale sound of the grappling hook firing off.

"Red! Help him!" Jason snapped, not taking his eyes off the gator coming for him.

Tim nodded and darted off to help Peter. Jason advanced towards where he'd last seen the pirate man. He must have slipped down a tunnel when he was focused on fighting alligators. He reloaded his guns as he went, heading into a tunnel. It was dark. He began to feel the panic creep in again. He pushed it down, tightening his grip on his guns.

He heard hurried footsteps behind him and turned, guns raised and ready to shoot. Luckily, he didn't as it was Peter and that kid Tobias. He lowered the guns slightly. "The fuck are you two doing here?" He felt a bit bad at how Tobias flinched.

"You don't know where you're going and Olivia's missing," Peter said, moving past him.

"Oh, and you know, do you?" He grumbled, following.

"Somewhat. But Tobias does," he said, hurrying down a pipe. Tobias headed in front of Jason, glancing at him before moving up to Peter. He motioned to him, and Peter nodded.

"What the fu-" He cut himself off hearing something that sounded suspiciously like a child cry out. There was only a moment's hesitation before the three of them were tearing down the pipe towards the sound. After a couple turns, they came to another room where the pirate man was holding a terrified looking little girl. He could see both Peter and Tobias tense, though in different ways. He could see Peter getting into a sort of crouch, ready to move while Tobias was stiff with anger and fear.

Jason moved out around them, guns aimed at the bastard. "Hey fuckface! Let her go!"

The man looked over, moving so the girl was between him and Jason. Shit! "Oh, I don't think so. You wouldn't shoot a child would you. No, I don't think even you would hurt a child."

The annoying thing was that he was right. Jason was a lot of things: crime boss, murderer, bat, legally dead. But he was not by any means a child abuser. Unlike this asshole. He could see Peter moving to the side, specifically the side of the pirate dude which had the black lens of his glasses. The man whistled, two more alligators coming out of pipes and heading towards him.

"Shit." He started shooting at them. How many fucking gators were there in the sewers. He heard Tobias move backwards before darting to the side, away from the gators. He appeared to be going after the man. That kid wasn't going to stand a chance. He was too skinny. Jason moved to try and stop him, only to be stopped by an alligator snaping at him.

"Hey!" Jason looked up to see the man pause, looking in the direction of the voice. Peter, in full civies, was swinging on a web towards him. He was startled and moved back. Peter kicked him squarely in the jaw, grabbing the girl with the arm not holding the web. He kept going, landing a bit away, near where Tobias had run to. They handed off the girl and Peter turned to look at the man.

Jason fired one more shot into the head of an alligator before raising both his guns and pointing them at him. "No meat shield now, asshole. Time's up." He shot at him several times.

"Wait!" Peter's voice rang out, just above the sound of gunfire. Two of Jason's shots hit before the man was pulled roughly to the ground by a web. Peter looked at Jason. "Don't kill him."

"Oh, you're fucking kidding? You're sticking with Batman's no kill rule?" Jason was feeling less bad about shooting him now. Even if it had been an accident.

Peter looked at Jason, not backing down. "Sometimes living is worse. And this guy's messed with kids. Even if only a few of them testify, he'll be put away for long enough. And I'm pretty sure even other criminals don't like people who mess with kids."

Jason hated that he had a point. He shoved the guns roughly into his holsters. "Fine." He stormed over and grabbed the man by the collar. He started to struggle, trying to fight off Jason. Jason was not having any of this. He punched him in the side of the head, feeling his weight slump unconscious in his grip. He slung him over his shoulder and headed back towards the way they'd come. Tobias led the way, holding the girl, Olivia. They got back to the room to see Tim helping load the last of the kids out through the manhole.

The kids still down there looked happy to see Olivia, though they stayed away from Jason. He stood a little bit away from them, holding the unconscious man, and watching as Tim helped them all up and out of the sewer.

Peter walked over to stand next to Jason. Jason glanced over. In the light coming in from the open manhole cover he could see the dark spot forming on Peter's shoulder where he got shot.

"The fuck were you thinking?"

Peter looked over, a bit startled. "What?"

Jason turned to look at him. "You heard me. What the fuck were you thinking? Coming down here with nothing and no backup? Not even telling anyone you were going down here? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I wasn't going to get myself killed. There were children down here. I wasn't sure if it was connected to the alligators, but it wasn't safe for kids to be down here on their own. Even without the gators."

"You're worse than I am. At least I know I can take care of myself. You don't know what dangers you're walking into." Peter opened his mouth to retort but Jason stopped him. "No. You broke into the Joker's fucking lab and acted like it was no big deal. You-" Jason balled his hands into fists. "You're coming with me."

"What?" Peter looked startled.

Jason glared at him, not that Peter could tell under the helmet. "You don't understand the dangers so I'm going to make you. Now come on. I want to get the fuck out of this fucking hellhole."

He stalked over to the opening and grabbed his grappling hook, zipping himself up with the unconscious man. He climbed out, feeling very relieved to be out. After a moment, Peter came up using Tim's grappling hook. Jason looked around at the crowd of children around him.

"Hood, you're back up?" Dick sounded more worried than usual.

"Yeah. Everything's fine, just got a small army of children and unconscious child abuser."

"And Peter? Is he with you?"

"Yeah. He's out. What, did you not hear what happened?"

"Reception got really fuzzy when you went underground."

"I'm going to look into it back at the cave," Tim said, looking over at Jason from where he'd been checking on the kids.

"Great. Baby Bird gets to bring the predator into the station on his way. You got somewhere safe for a few dozen kids?"

"I can try. I'll have the Commissioner come to your location."

"Probably best. I'll head out with Peter before he gets here."

"No. I'll wait here," Peter said quickly.

Jason gritted his teeth. "What?"

"I'm waiting here for the Commissioner."

Jason looked at him. How the fuck did he know that the Commissioner was on his way? Peter didn't have his headset on. Maybe he was just really good at context clues. Peter turned and looked over at Tobias. Jason watched.

Tobias seemed to be reassuring the kids as best he could. None of them were talking, which was weird. They were also all squinting in the light like it hurt. Peter walked over to him, and Jason noticed he was squinting too. They started making hand motions at each other. Jason narrowed his eyes slightly. Seeing it now, it looked like they were talking to each other through sign language. Jason knew a couple signs, but definitely not enough to hold a conversation.

"What happened down there, Hood?"

"Found about forty kids and a bunch of alligators and some guy dressed up as a discount pirate. None of the kids want to talk. Peter's talking with one in sign language."

"Huh. He might get along well with Cass."

"That's a scary thought. No."

"Everything go alright?"

"Fine. Red got mildly death rolled. Peter got a little shot."

"Mildly-" There was an exasperated sigh from the other end of the line. "Make sure that kid gets treated." Jason knew he meant to make sure that Peter got back to the cave.

"Gordon's here. I'll keep the line open so you can listen in."

"Sounds good."

Jason looked over as the Commissioner's car parked in front of them. The kids all stepped back away from the car. Gordon stepped out and looked over at the group of children. He sighed, looking tired. He looked at Hood and walked over. "Nightwing wasn't kidding when he said to bring a bus. What happened down there?"

"This dick kidnapped all these kids. Had a bunch of alligators down there. Don't know if there's more down there," he said, kicking the unconscious form of the pirate. Gordon looked disapproving of that.

"Ok. I've got a school bus on the way to pick up the kids." He looked out over them before walking over to them and stopped when they started backing away. He held his hands up to show that he wasn't a threat. "I'm Commissioner Gordon. I'm going to make sure you kids are all going to be safe. Alright?"

The kids all stared at him with a mix of fear, apprehension, and distrust. Peter and Tobias shared a look and traded some hand signals before Peter took a step forward, Tobias behind him. Gordon looked up at them.

"He wouldn't allow the kids to talk. We can talk for at least most of the group," Peter said. Gordon nodded, looking at them. A bright yellow school bus pulled up and stopped in the road.

"Ok. We're going to get you all somewhere safe. But first, we need to get you to the station. I need some statements on what happened."

Tobias looked at the sea of kids, reading their body language and making a few gestures before turning to Peter. They conversed in sign for a moment before Peter turned back to Gordon. "Can we get some food there?"

"I'll make sure you get some food."

Tobias nodded. "Ok. Just keep the younger kids with the older kids. And don't force anyone to split up," Peter said.

Gordon nodded. "We'll keep everyone as together as we possibly can."

Peter nodded and looked at Tobias. Tobias looked at the kids before looking back at Gordon and nodding. Gordon smiled a bit. "Alright. If you all want to get on the bus, we'll get you back to the station and get you some food and clean clothes." Jason watched as Tobias started leading the kids onto the bus.

Peter looked at Jason and walked over. "Are you ok?"

"What?"

"You panicked down there. Everything ok?"

"Didn't mention that part," Dick said, annoyingly.

"I'm fine." The look on Peter's face said he did not believe him in the slightest. Jason did not want to talk about it right now. "Get on the bus."

Peter sighed before turning to go. He glanced at Jason before disappearing into the bus.

Tim walked over to Jason. "I'm going to head into the station with Gordon. Make sure the sewer guy gets locked up and see if I can help deal with the kids."

Jason nodded. "I'll come too."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Dick said at the same time that Tim said about the same thing. "The police aren't exactly on great terms with you, Jaybird. You are kinda a crime lord. Not to mention several pending murder investigations."

"Never have enough evidence on me. There's 40 or so kids, one of which obviously has been shot."

"More reason to not go!"

"I don't want to leave Peter alone."

Dick sighed. "Don't get arrested.'

"You know I'm better than that," Jason said, going to get his bike.

Notes:

I know some people were disappointed Peter wasn't in the sewers longer, but don't worry. The kids aren't going away and Peter won't stay out of trouble too long. Parker luck (and me being an absolute devil and enjoying watching my characters suffer) wouldn't allow it. :)

Updates Wednesdays.

Chapter 25: Babysitting

Summary:

The kids get a place to stay. Jason and Peter have a little chat.

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Getting a place for forty street kids to stay was not easy. It didn't help that they didn't really trust anyone and wouldn't actually talk. Peter was serving as the mouth of these kids. Food had helped a lot. All the kids ate like they were starving and scared of the food being taken away. Currently, they were getting the kids all cleaned up and in new clothes.

Jason had only been allowed into the station on two conditions: that he leave all his weapons in a locker which he did not have a key to, and that he stay with Commissioner Gordon the whole time. Jason wasn't a fan of it, but he accepted the terms. For his part, the Commissioner was not arresting him on the spot because Jason had information he needed. Which lead to them sitting in an interrogation room as Jason patched up a shirtless Peter's bullet wound while Gordon leaned against a wall watching.

"Want to explain how Peter here got shot?" Jason didn't need to look up to see the pointed look from Gordon that came with the question.

"It was my fault," Peter spoke up before Jason could answer. "Red Hood was fighting alligators and I moved into the line of fire."

"Why would you do that?" Gordon asked, looking at Peter.

"I just wanted to help." While Peter wasn't exactly lying, Jason could tell the Commissioner knew there was more to the story. Jason finished fixing up Peter and handed him a clean shirt. Peter put it on.

The Commissioner pushed himself off the wall. "Let me give you some advice, Peter. Don't get mixed up in things you can't handle." He held up a hand when Peter started to speak. "Let me finish. You're not from Gotham. I can tell by the New York accent. Gotham is not NYC. I deal with enough cases of people, especially teens like yourself, getting involved in things far beyond them. And Red Hood here doesn't exactly help with that."

"Hey," Jason said, offended.

"You're lucky I'm not executing a warrant on you right now," Gordon said, looking at Jason. He sighed, rubbing his face. "Unofficially, you've done some good work, especially with trying to protect the kids of Crime Alley. But I have a bloodstained duffle bag in the evidence lockup which could make sure you go away for a long time if you pull a stunt like that again."

Peter looked between them confused. "Duffle bag? What did you do?"

"Don't worry about it," Jason said.

"Theater kid here filled it with severed heads," Gordon said at the same time. They looked at each other as Peter looked at Jason with a look of surprise and horror.

Jason sighed, looking at Peter. "It's nothing to concern yourself with. Got it?"

Peter nodded a little. Gordon sighed. "Anyway, keep your nose clean if you can. I don't want to end up with a file on my desk with your name on it. Ok?"

Peter nodded. "Yes sir."

"Good. Now that you're patched up, let's go talk with the kids."

By the time they'd finished up getting everything they could from the kids, including trying to figure out who they all were, Tim and Dick had found a place they could stay. It wasn't easy considering the number of kids, the delicate situation, and the fact that Gotham's homeless shelters were crowded enough as it was along with too many of them being rampant with corruption and abuse. In the end, they had found a church which had offered to take them in. A sizeable donation from the Wayne Foundation had helped. Bruce had made a statement on tv about the situation, saying stuff about how it was important to take care of children and one kid abandoned was too many. A bunch of other bullshit like that. Dick had been there too and answered some questions about how they were dedicated to helping kids.

Jason had made sure to keep the news reporters away from the kids for several reasons. One being that the kids didn't need that shit. The other being that Peter, as the only one who spoke out of them, did not need to accidentally slip up and reveal anything on live tv. Luckily, the imposing figure of a fully armed Red Hood was enough to keep the reporters at bay as they entered the church.

Jason watched as the kids all got settled in amongst the pews. Tobias and a couple of the older kids helped organize all the younger ones. It was frankly amazing how much they could communicate with each other without saying a single word. Peter was helping where he could, but Jason could tell he was not as in tune with the other kids as Tobias was. Peter handed some blankets to some kids before looking at Tobias. They signed something to each other before Peter headed over to Jason.

"What?" Jason asked. His voice seemed too loud in the silence of the church.

"You panicked down in the sewers. What happened?"

Jason grabbed Peter and pulled him off to the side. There wasn't exactly a lot of room in here or places to go. But there was a small doorway leading to a small closet thing. It was not a large space and the two of them were nearly touching, not counting Jason's fist holding the front of Peter's shirt. "Nothing happened. Got it?"

Peter looked up at Jason. He could feel that Peter was tense under his hand, and he could see apprehension in his face. But this kid was also stubborn as shit and determined. "I could hear your heartbeat increase and your breathing get shallower. You were starting to go into a panic attack."

Jason wanted to punch Peter's face. He didn't owe Peter an explanation for anything, least of all that. "It's none of your fucking business. Got it?"

"You tried to punch my face in."

"You shouldn't have touched my fucking arm!"

They both paused at the raised voice. They were still in a church with a bunch of scared kids. Peter looked around for a moment and seemed to get an idea. Jason didn't think he liked that. He looked at Jason. "Someone said that talking about it helps. You talked to me after I had my panic attack. Let me return the favor. If it would help you not want to break my face, this is a confessional booth. I can pop onto the other side."

"Are you fucking serious?" Peter nodded and Jason sighed. He hated that the kid had a point. None of his siblings understood. They hadn't had to crawl their way out of their own fucking grave. Peter had died. If anyone might have any chance of understanding what Jason had gone through, it would be Peter. He growled in frustration, letting go of his shirt. "Fine."

Peter smiled and headed out of the closet, closing the door. Jason was not a bit fan of that, but there was at least a light switch that turned on a dim light above him. It was enough to keep him from freaking out. He rubbed his face, sitting on the little bench as he heard Peter enter on the other side of the wall and sit down. This felt fucking weird.

"So." Based on Peter's tone, this was also weird for him so that was a comfort at least. "You want to talk about what caused you to panic?"

Jason's hands clenched and unclenched into fists. "I don't like enclosed, dark spaces. Ok?"

Peter paused before continuing. "You ok in the booth?"

Jason looked at the wall between them surprised. He could just barely make out Peter's face through the screen between them. He looked concerned. Jason quickly looked away. "Yeah. Fine." They were both quiet for a long moment.

"You're claustrophobic then?"

"I don't like being in something like a fucking grave."

"A grave?"

Jason looked at him. "You died. I'd think you might understand what it's like to be in a fucking grave."

Peter was silent for a long moment. Jason could just make out that he was looking down at his hands. "I didn't have a grave."

"What?" Peter was dead for five years. "What the fuck did they do with your body?"

"Nothing. There wasn't anything left to bury." He looked over at Jason. "Have you been in a grave?"

Jason was trying to wrap his head around what Peter had just said. "How the fuck are you sitting here right now? What happened to you?"

"I got turned to dust. There wasn't anything left and too many people snapped to give them all graves. My name's on the monument in New York. Dr. Banner was able to bring everyone back where we were when the snap happened."

Jason didn't quite understand what all of that meant. But he understood the first part, which was horrifying. "Shit kid."

Peter nodded. "What about you?" he asked, looking at him. "You have a reason you don't like graves?"

Jason sighed. And they were back on him. He looked away from the screen between him and Peter. "Had to dig my way out of my own grave." He'd barely said it, but apparently, Peter had heard.

"You've died too?"

He nodded a little. "Yeah," he said quietly.

"How long?" he asked softly.

"A year."

"Were you the Robin that died?"

Jason looked over at him. "Dick told you about that?"

Peter nodded. "I saw the suit too. It was in the case I accidentally kicked Nightwing into."

Jason put one forearm on the wall, leaning closer to the screen. "You've died. You've been warned about how fucking dangerous villains here are. You've seen the evidence that they don't fuck around. Why the hell aren't you more careful?"

"I've always been kinda like that, even before I got powers. When I was younger, I was at a Stark Expo. Stuff went wrong. Hammer drones started attacking. One came up to me, and it had this really big gun. Huge." He mimed it as best he could in the little booth. "Pointed it right at me. Probably would have died if Mr. Stark hadn't landed next to him and shot the drone. And then he said, 'Nice work kid.' When I got my powers, I realized that I could really make a difference helping people, so I did. I can withstand a lot more than a normal person, and if someone has to get hurt, I'd rather it be me. Especially now."

Jason really wanted to punch through this thin little wall so he could get to Peter and tell him, rather forcefully, to cut it with the self-sacrificing crap. But he was pretty sure that could cause problems for the kids currently staying in the church right now, so he didn't. "Peter, you're going to cut the bullshit, got it?" Peter looked over at him through the screen with both surprise and confusion. "You might have lost everyone back home but guess what. This isn't Queens. You think Nightwing would call me in in the middle of the day for any old thing? I was sleeping when he called saying you'd disappeared into a fucking sewer. You're a bat, for better or worse. So, stop trying to get yourself killed. Got it?"

Peter looked at Jason, eyes wide. It was hard to see what his expression was exactly due to the screen and the low light levels, but he seemed surprised. He didn't say anything for a long moment. "Really? You mean it?"

"Yeah. Quit trying to die on us."

"No no. The other bit. I'm one of you?"

Jason raised an eyebrow under the helmet. "Why the fuck do you think we let you in the cave?"

"I thought it was just because of the Joker venom stuff."

Jason sighed and stood up. "B collects orphans like trading cards, and it seems Nightwing's picking up his habit. Now I'm getting out of here." He was done being in an enclosed wooden box. He stepped out and looked around. A few kids looked over. Tobias was giving him a very piercing look.

A moment later Peter walked out of his booth and looked at Jason. "Are you leaving then?"

"Yeah. I've got patrol. You're staying here," he said forcefully, pointing at him. He looked over at Tobias. "You, make sure he's not going to try and slip off in the night, ok?"

Tobias nodded and looked at Peter, who sighed. "Ok."

Jason nodded. "Good. We'll be swinging by during the night to make sure you kids are all safe."

Peter and Tobias both nodded. Jason looked out over the sea of kids all laying on or between the pews, huddled in clustered groups near each other. Some of them peaked at him over, around, and under the pews. They all seemed so scared. He hoped they'd be ok. Peter being there would hopefully help. Despite everything, the kid was full of energy and almost overwhelmingly optimistic. Gave Dick a run for his money. He waved and turned to leave. Once he was outside, he grappled up to a nearby building and sat, looking in through one of the big windows. It was dark enough outside that Jason shouldn't be visible to them. He could see the priest passing out food with the help of Peter, Tobias, and a couple other teens. Tobias had one of the younger kids sitting on his shoulders eating some bread.

He heard someone land on the roof behind him. "You always did have a soft spot for kids."

"Though you were on lockdown Big Bird."

Dick came and plopped down on the edge of the roof next to Jason, swinging his legs over the side. "A let me out on the condition that I don't get into a fight and just come check on the kids."

"That's bullshit and he knows it."

Dick chuckled. "Maybe. But I'm still going to try not to reopen the wound again."

The two sat in silence, watching the kids in the church. They could see Peter and Tobias signing back and forth across the room as they made sure everyone was fed. Peter was the last one to finally sit down and eat.

"I told Peter he was one of us."

Dick looked over. "Oh?"

Jason nodded. "Kid's more self-sacrificing than most, even before he apparently became a meta. And it's not like we didn't basically drop everything to come save his ass."

Dick nodded. "Yeah." He looked back at Peter. "We need to get him in, fully bring him in. Just need B's approval and he's still hesitant about a few things."

"Like what? You can't look at him and say that he's not the textbook example of the sort of kid B would adopt. He even comes with his own suit so the Bat Brat can stay as Robin," Jason said, gesturing exasperatedly towards the church.

"There's still a lot we don't know. And the kid has powers. That's different."

Jason sighed, standing up. "Well, I hope he figures something out soon. That kid is going to get himself killed or worse if we leave him alone too long."

Dick sighed. "I know."

"If you've got kid watch covered, I've got work to do. Gotta go shoot some people to keep up my image."

"Oh yeah, that's a great role model for the kids there."

Jason flipped Dick off as he dropped off the roof, swinging into the night.