A/N:
There were only superficial edits to this chapter. If I edited the way I normally do, it would take longer to post. Hope you don't mind and enjoy the read regardless.
Peter felt his spider-sense warn him of danger directly behind him. He jerked his head to the side and turned to look, but he couldn't see much from the police cruiser's back window. The tall buildings on either side of the road made him feel like danger could be lurking anywhere.
"Hey, you think you can go a little faster?" Before whatever is after us catches up.
"I've never had anyone in the back seat ask to get to the precinct faster."
"It's a first for me too, lady."
"It's Officer Strode," she said with a little bite.
Ha! Not so chipper now.
Peter's spider-sense warned him of danger to the left. He turned his entire body in a quick jerk. He hardly noticed when the handcuffs got caught on the back of the seat. He ducked his head to get a better look through the car door window.
There was nothing there. Peter was getting frustrated. His senses were never wrong. What the heck is going on?
Officer Strode raised an eyebrow and studied him through the rear view mirror.
"Watch out!" Peter shouted. He was staring out of the windshield now.
When Peter jerked in his seat before the outburst, the handcuffs tore the fabric of the seat. The motion caused the handcuffs to scrape over his wrists. He didn't feel it though. His focus was on the danger he could not pinpoint.
What was that? It moves too fast for me to get a bead on it.
Officer Strode jerked the wheel to the left then back when she didn't see anything. The movement of the car jostled Peter but he only swayed slightly. If it would've been anyone else, they would've rolled over to the side. But Peter was bracing himself on the seat. With his added strength and stickiness, nothing short of a super human shove would budge him.
"Settle down, back there!" Officer Strode ordered.
Peter didn't hear her through the blaring of his spider-sense. He pushed off with his feet to move. In a split second, he had his feet against the car door window. His head and shoulders were lifted off the seat with his hands pressed against the car door for stability. He pulled on his handcuffs again forcing the chains to stretch.
Peter had moved so fast that by the time Officer Strode responded to the movement, a cracking sound was heard. The glass beneath Peter's feet had cracked. The stress in the glass made a line spread from his feet to the frame of the glass.
"What are you doing? Sit down and stop moving before I tase your ass!"
"There's something out there! Get the lead out and find us some cover!"
"There is nothing out there, you crazy son-of-a-bitch!"
"Something is after us!" Peter said, having sat up. He was looking out from one window to the next.
Officer Strode was on the radio asking for backup. She told the dispatcher in so many words that Peter had lost his mind. She called for an ambulance hoping the paramedics would sedate him.
"Turn! Here! Now! Right turn! Right turn!!"
The outburst distracted the officer and she didn't hear what dispatch responded. She turned back to look at Peter just as he was reaching towards her. The cage that separated the back seat from the front was bending without much effort. Seeing the metal bend easily scared the shit out of her.
Officer Strode braked hard. The cruiser stopped a foot away from the crosswalk in the intersection. Peter was forced back to his seat after smacking his head on the cage.
Officer Strode reached for her weapon right as the police cruiser was hit by a truck making a wide left turn. The cruiser spun around until they were facing the opposite direction one lane over before they were hit again head on. The airbag went off knocking Officer Strode unconscious.
Peter felt disoriented. His senses were on high alert. He'd heard and saw everything in slow motion. The sound stretched and lowered in pitch. He saw the cage fold as easily as paper. He could see every piece of broken glass as if it were floating in the air like dandelion seeds blowing in the wind. When the car finally stopped, it was as if everything moved faster to catch up to real time. Like hitting fast forward on a movie and a song at the same time.
Peter shook his head to get his bearings. People were rushing towards the cruiser. A siren was blaring, coming closer and closer still.
"Is everyone okay in there?" Someone called out from the side of the car.
Peter assessed himself. Other than a few cuts from glass, he was perfectly fine. The officer… the officer!
Peter looked in her direction but couldn't tell if she was still alive or not. He made sure no one could see before he made an opening on the cage where it had previously bent. Through the opening, he pressed two fingers to her neck. She had a pulse.
"The officer is unconscious but she has a pulse!" Peter called out just as the police arrived. He could hear an ambulance a few blocks away and closing in fast.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah," Peter replied quickly. "Just a little banged up. But otherwise okay."
As he brought his hand back, he saw the abrasions on his wrist. He looked around and saw the cuffs near his foot. He had pulled them apart. How was he going to explain that?
He could hear people talking to the officers that arrived. One of which was trying to get a better look at Officer Strode to gauge her condition.
Peter quickly grabbed the cuffs to crush them into a ball. The warning from his spider-sense had dulled into a hum. He looked around but could only see the people who'd come closer. Whoever or whatever had been after them, was keeping their distance.
Peter once again refused medical treatment and went into the next police cruiser without a fuss. Luckily, they hadn't handcuffed him again. The officers that arrived on the scene were too preoccupied with Officer Strode's injuries to care about him. Peter was able to chuck the ball of metal he'd made out of the cuffs into the gutter when no one was looking. That was one less thing to worry about.
The officer who drove him to the precinct didn't waste time. He sped through traffic like a bat out of hell. Peter's spider-sense only warned him of oncoming traffic or near-misses. The driver seemed to be playing chicken with every other driver on the road. With all the high speed chases that happened on what seemed like a nightly basis in Gotham, it was no wonder the officer knew how to handle himself behind the wheel. Peter only wished his spider-sense would take a break. He had a full blown migraine by the time he arrived at the precinct.
Robin was waiting on a rooftop as he listened to the chatter from the others. The Joker was loose and Batman didn't want Robin anywhere near the clown. Robin was armed with an antidote awaiting for the all clear so that he could jump on the scene and help with any bystanders that were exposed to the toxin the Joker had gotten his hands on.
When he heard that Red Hood was blocking Batman from reaching the Joker. He made his way to the scene. What he saw was not what he expected to see. Red Hood had successfully secured the area. He kept the officers and civilians a half a block away. Though the officers had their masks, the civilians did not. An entire block would have been better to lessen exposure. The fact that he did this on his own was a feat in and of itself.
Batman trying to fight his way onto the scene was not ideal. He wasn't wearing a mask. Red Hood did not relent until Nightwing arrived with a mask for Batman.
Batman ordered Nightwing to take Red Hood away from the area. Red Hood left on his own and Nightwing followed after him. Robin knew that they were worried Hood had been exposed to the fear toxin. The helmet Red Hood wore had a filter but that didn't mean he couldn't be affected in an area that was saturated in toxic air.
Robin noticed when Batman froze. A person emerged from the back of the truck. Robin had to pull out his binoculars to have a better view of what was happening. He wasn't supposed to be there and stopped at a high enough rooftop to have a clear view of the scene. When he saw the person's face, he played with focus to be certain of what he'd seen.
Richard Peter was holding a woman in his arms. He was talking to Batman but Robin couldn't hear what he was saying. Not only that but Spider-man had left the scene only minutes ago.
Could he have gone and come back changing into civilian attire to not draw attention? Without knowing all his powers there is no way to know if that is possible.
"Oracle," Robin called into his comm. "Do you have a location for Spider-man?"
Oracle took a moment before responding. "Found him. He's leaving the hospital now."
That's impossible! He can't be in two places at the same time. Unless…
"Do you need him back on the scene?"
"No," Robin replied quickly. "But he may need the antidote."
"I'm not able to contact him."
"Hood might be able to."
B, what the heck are you doing?
"Gotta go, O!"
"Be safe, Robin."
"Always!"
Did Batman tell the officers to arrest Richard? Only one way to find out?
Robin released his grappling hook and swung after the police cruiser.
"B, why was Richard arrested?"
"He's suspected to be working for the Joker."
That makes absolutely no sense. Unless B also thought that Richard was Spider-man. Though I don't think I was wrong about that. Maybe this isn't actually Peter and somehow Bruce knows that. However, if I want answers, I need to ask the right questions.
"What evidence do you have of that?"
"He didn't display any signs of being infected by the fear toxin."
What is he saying? That it was just a hunch because of one anomaly? There could be various reasons why he wasn't affected. Jumping straight into thinking Richard was one of the Joker's henchmen is…on par with what Dick calls Batman's paranoia.
Robin had never seen Batman jump to conclusions so fast. He prefers to have more evidence than a simple hunch. So why did he overreact this time around? There has to be more than what he's willing to say over comms.
"What else?"
"Nothing concrete."
"You can't be serious."
"I don't have time for this. I need to secure the Joker before the crowd decides to take matters into their own hands."
After following the cruiser for a few minutes, Robin saw it swerve and right itself.
What is going on?
"Oracle, I'm following the cruiser transporting Richard to the station. And something seems off with the officer's driving. Is there a way to get eyes inside the vehicle?"
"Negative. But I can activate the dash cam and connect you to the audio."
"Thanks, O."
Robin heard the argument between the officer and Richard. He sounded manic and paranoid. The fear toxin. It did affect him.
B, was wrong. Richard is displaying fear toxin effects.
"O, can you patch me through to the officer, I need to talk to her."
"Not possible. She's on with dispatch. I can't interrupt—"
It was the screeching of the tires that cut Oracle short. And in a blink of an eye the cruiser had been hit. Once. Twice.
"Ambulance is on the way. Police backup will arrive in two minutes. Robin, clear the area of bystanders. And direct traffic away from the crash site."
"Got it!"
By the time Ambulances left the area of the accident, Richard was already sitting in an interrogation room. And all he'd done was stick his neck out to help a civilian. It wasn't his fault he'd been affected by fear toxin. Or that Officer Strode was unconscious and heading to the hospital.
"O, I need eyes inside the precinct. I'm going in to speak to Richard. B made a bad call. I need help clearing him. Do you have any footage of the incident with the Joker that can help?"
"I'll look into it. But I only have two hands. For now, I've patched you into the precinct surveillance and the interrogation room."
"Thanks O, I owe you one."
"You mean a few, but who's counting."
Robin chuckled. "Let me know when I need to cash these favors in."
"When it's time, you'll be the first to know."
"Walked right into that one."
Robin heard a crackle on the comm that let him know he'd made Barbara laugh. He smiled and pulled up the feed from the precinct on his gauntlet display.
