Summary:

This chapter is in Robin's POV. It just turned out that way.

Notes:

I don't have much time to write, less time to edit. The lack of feedback on story doesn't help motivate me to continue. Though I do appreciate the comments I receive relating to the story itself. More than you know. 3 Lots of complaints about Peter. Most are readers that don't know the Peter/Spider-Man from the comics (not ultimate{i know most of it but not all of it, I basically read Amazing Spider-Man from the nineties until a couple years ago}). I embellish characterizations or downright exaggerated them for humor/drama/funsies. As does any writer of FANfiction. Any questions you ask that go unanswered are either because the answer is in the story or will be in the story or is so far from the story that the questions themselves confuse me. I do not want to confuse readers. But I'm not the best writer. I've never taken a writing class. It is a hobby. I share it voluntarily. I'm sorry that there being two Peters is confusing. But I'm following the present Peter's storyline, the one we've been following since the beginning. The story is written mostly in his POV, in other words, the reader will not know more than Peter does.

Robin did not announce his presence at the precinct. Instead, he waited patiently and slipped in unnoticed. He went straight to the viewing room.

Richard had been shouting to whoever could be listening. He repeated that there was something out there. What he referred to wasn't specified. However, he'd made it clear that it was dangerous and possibly murderous. The entire outburst was recorded. But the officers were ignoring him for the time being. Possibly on orders. Most likely to rattle him. They were blaming him for the accident and waiting for news of Officer Strode's condition.

Robin saw Richard sag in defeat and curl in on himself on the floor. He was muttering to himself. Robin didn't think there would be a perfect time to talk to him.

"B, you were wrong about Richard. He's under the effects of the fear toxin. I'll administer the antidote and get him out of here."

"He is to stay in police custody until I can interrogate him. Is that clear, Robin?"

"Since when do we arrest civilians who stick their necks out to help others?"

"Robin, this is not the time for this discussion."

"Yeah, I've noticed you only have time for discussions when you're absolutely right. I'll talk to Richard. You can watch the feed later. But he's not staying here, B."

"It's not your call, Robin."

"It is today. Besides, you don't have time for this discussion."

"…" Robin heard Batman…sigh? Uh, did he just win an argument against Batman? "Understood."

Robin grinned widely. He'd just won an argument against Batman! He couldn't wait to tell Con. He let out a breath and schooled his features. He could celebrate later.

Priorities. Robin had to talk to Richard. Because he needed to know where he'd gone wrong. Richard Peter was Spider-Man. Robin had been completely certain of that unless there was more than one Spider-Man.

Robin shook his head. Now was not the time for that. He had to give Richard the antidote to clear him of Batman's accusation. And hopefully, the scrutiny of the GCPD due to Officer Strode's condition.

Robin walked into the room and crouched down next to Richard. The man didn't react to Robin's presence. He continued to mutter nonsensical words. Robin frowned and took out the antidote. He grabbed the man's arm and injected him quickly. There was no reaction. Robin worried that it had been too late.

How long had Richard been exposed to the toxin? Why did it take so long to take effect? Robin stood and began to pace. He had to decide what he should do. Take Richard to the hospital for treatment or wait for the antidote to take effect. It stood to reason that if the fear toxin took longer to take effect in Richard then the same could be said of the antidote.

He looked around the room and noticed a few things. There were scuff marks on the floor. The table, which was bolted to the floor, had been moved a few centimeters. The bolts themselves were bent. There were finger indentations on the table. There were also cracks in the floor near the door. And fist-sized dents in the door itself where Richard had pounded on it.

Richard was definitely a meta. And even in his fear-induced state, he managed to control his strength. However, when Batman, the commissioner, or any officers saw what Richard had done to the room, they would think differently. Robin had to skew their judgment without them realizing it. He began to pace. As he paced, he spoke out loud of his findings, first of the damage to the room and next of the delayed effects of the fear toxin in Richard. He would make them believe that adrenaline was the cause of it all.

"… In conclusion, the synaptic reversal potential of GABAA receptor-mediated currents varies widely. If the synaptic reversal potential is between the resting potential and the threshold for action potentials, GABAergic synapses will have "shunting" effects. The effects of shunting inhibition consist of two temporal phases. In the first phase, the conductance dominates, it leads to the inhibition of the postsynaptic cell. In the second phase, the conductance has decayed, but the membrane potential remains depolarized. Thus, the input resistance is high, and the membrane potential is shifted towards the threshold for action potential initiation, implying that excitability is increased—"

"You're talking about hysterical strength," Richard said abruptly.

Robin stopped pacing and turned to face Richard. He lifted his head and looked at Robin as if seeing him for the first time.

"In layman's terms, yes. There was more to it than that. Such as inhibiting a drug to take effect." Robin smiled.

"Adrenaline can inhibit drug release if we're talking about sympathomimetic amines. The metabolic hormone was studied intensely in rats. The effects on sympathomimetic amines directly elicited twitches in the rats' diaphragm. Or at least that was the essence of one study. There were others done on guinea pigs and mice as well."

"Welcome back, you were under the effects of fear toxin. Didn't think I'd be able to bring you out of it."

"Talking about science usually brings me out of any funk," Richard said with an upturn in the corner of his lips. "Usually, anyway."

Robin held out a hand to help Richard to his feet, though he knew the man didn't need the help. Richard took it and stood up. He looked around the room.

"Where am I?"

"At the precinct," Robin said and gestured to the table. He took a seat on the opposite side, ensuring Richard was facing the camera. "You were in a car accident earlier. Are you feeling okay?"

"Um," Richard said and seemingly took stock of his body. "Mostly stiff. But I don't think anything is broken. Was I driving? I don't even have a car. How was I in a car accident?" Then his eyes widened. "Is Hailey okay?"

"Who?" Robin asked, mostly to buy time. He tapped on his gauntlet from under the table, accessed his keypad, and sent a message to Oracle.

"A friend. We were having dinner when we heard news of the Joker being loose. I…" Richard shook his head. "Are my aunt Mila and cousin okay? I remember that I was on my way to check on them. But then I heard that laugh. I don't think I've ever heard a laugh quite like that."

"Slow down, Mr. Peter. Let's take this one step at a time. You should know that your Aunt and cousin are fine. They weren't close to the area where Joker released the fear toxin. Your friend, we're looking into her. But do you have a surname or a phone number to contact her?"

"Um, no phone number. Not that I can remember right now. But she's a veterinarian," Richard said and snapped his fingers. "Thomas. That's her last name. And please, call me Peter."

Robin nodded.

"I can do that."

"Wait, you look familiar."

"We've spoken before, Mr. Um, I mean, Peter."

"Yes, I know. I remember. But," Peter tilted his head and looked at Robin's hair. He then gave him a once-over. "Jacks—?"

"We're here to talk about you, Peter," Robin cut him off. He didn't think he'd be recognized so easily. He went undercover in Mr. Richard's science class as Tim Jackson to get a closer look at the man behind the mask. He kept his head down, his face mostly obscured with his hair, and only spoke to his teacher once directly. Maybe his adrenaline was heightened? He had to redirect the conversation. "Batman seems to believe you were working with the Joker."

Peter burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, what?" he said as he wiped tears from his eyes. He looked at Robin, who stared impassively at him. "Wait, you can't be serious."

Robin brought his gauntlet up. He showed Peter the footage Oracle supplied from Batman's cowl.

"Yeah, that's me. I was there. Was that today? I thought you said I was in a car accident." Peter closed his eyes and then shook his head. "How does that imply that I was working with the Joker? This is ridiculous. Maybe I need to call my lawyer?"

"I'm not a police officer, Peter. And as far as I know, you're not under arrest."

"Then, why am I here?"

"Batman wanted to talk to you. As you saw in the footage, he was preoccupied and couldn't speak to you then. He still had to secure the Joker. And help with civilians in the area. But I witnessed the car accident. I was also privy to the conversation between you and Officer Strode before it. I knew you were under the effect of the fear toxin. I came here to administer the antidote and talk to you on Batman's behalf."

"What do you want to know?"

"First, let me assure you that we contacted Hailey. She's perfectly fine and on her way here. Secondly, tell me what you remember about today."

"Then, what?"

"You'll be free to go."

"That easy, huh?"

"Of course. I'm Robin, not Batman."

"In other words, you think he's full of it. Okay. I'll bite," Peter said and looked at the table. He noticed the finger indentations and his eyes widened fractionally before he schooled his features and mouthed hysterical strength. He took a breath.

"I don't think I remember everything. Like I said before, I was having dinner with Hailey when everyone got the alert about the Joker. And I remember feeling scared. Hailey said something and gave me an Epi-pen. I don't know what it was. But it wasn't epinephrine. It had a WayneTech logo on it. I used it and told her I had to check on my family.

"On the way, I heard the laughter. And a metallic scraping sound. Not sure in what order. I went towards the sound. I don't know why. I just had to see what had happened and thought I could help, I guess. I remember the truck. A baby crying? Not sure. Um. I saw a truck. The chassis was no longer attached to it. But it hadn't crashed into anything. It was weird. But I had to check if anyone was inside. And there was a woman there.

"She was scared. I've never seen anyone so scared. And the Joker was wrapped up like a mummy in the driver's seat. I had to take the woman out of there. I checked to see if she was hurt anywhere. I can't remember if she was. There was red everywhere even on her, but it was paint. I scooped her up and took her out of the truck.

"That was when I saw Batman. After the woman was secured in an ambulance Batman walked me over to the police and…" Peter shook his head. "I don't know what happened after that."

"Thank you. I appreciate you talking to me," Robin stood up and gestured to the door. "If you follow me, we can use the back—"

The door swung open and clattered against the wall. Peter flinched and was up on his feet blocking Robin from whoever was about to enter. He moved a little too fast than normal. Robin hoped it wouldn't be so obvious on the recording.

"Peter!"

"Hailey?"

"You!" Hailey pointed at Robin. "What are you doing?! He saves a woman, and you apprehend him?! Are you all a bunch of hypocrites?!"

Robin raised his hands in a placating manner. He'd sidestepped Peter before Hailey walked in.

"Hey! Hey. It's okay," Peter said, walking up to Haile. He placed a hand on her arm. "He was helping me. I was tripping on the fear toxin, apparently. I can't even remember when I got here. But from what I remember, Batman was the one who sent me here. Robin was about to spring me when you arrived. He was just waiting for the antidote to take full effect."

"Is that so?" Hailey said with a glare in Robin's direction.

"It is. But since you're here, you can corroborate his story. Where were you today? Before the incident."

Hailey glared at him. But she told him what he needed to know. She told him she'd been with Peter all day, and went to a diner for dinner before they separated. She even tossed him the empty antidote vial she'd used earlier. "Satisfied."

"Batman will be. Thank you."

"Kick him in the shins for me if you really want to thank me," she said as she pointed at Robin. Robin chuckled. "Let's go, Peter. I'm sure you're hungry."

"How'd you know?" He said in amusement and followed her out. "Hey, you know these guys personally or something?"

"Unfortunately," Robin heard Hailey say and quickly changed the subject to where they should go to eat.

Robin smiled and made his way to the viewing area to turn off the video recorder. He took the memory card with him. He'd send the commissioner a copy later. After editing out his potential identity reveal.

He made his way to the roof of the precinct unseen. He swung away and decided to call Con before he did a deep dive into Spider-man and Richard Peter. He couldn't afford another misstep. His detective skills were on the line. He had to correct this error or solidify his previous assumptions. There was something afoot. And he'd get to the bottom of it.