Chapter 8

Patrol*

It was night time and you know what that means. Time for patrol. The Batfam hopped into the Batmobile. They waited for Tony to get Peter. Who was taking a nap at Bruce and Alfred's request. They knew the boy hadn't been sticking to his schedule. He needed at least two naps a day because of his metabolism. It helped him to function properly. The last thing they needed was for Peter to get hurt while out on patrol.

A few moments later Tony came back with a very energetic Peter behind him. Once the two of them got in the car they went to patrol. " Oracle says, " Patriot has been seen Robbing Gotham Memorial Bank. He has five hostages." Robin said. Everyone except for Tony and Peter groaned. "Man I was hoping for the penguin." Red Robin said.

" I was hoping for anyone other than Patriot." Jason said through the coms. Peter and Tony got very curious. " Papa, Who's Patriot?" Peter asked. Batman growled at the mention of said villain's name. The growl was so intense that it made Peter and Tony whimper. Signal and NightWing pulled them both into a warm embrace.

"Did I say something wrong?" Peter asked softly. Duke shook his head. " It's not your fault. Bruce just really hates Patriot. Tony gave Duke a questioning look asking for more information. Duke understood and continued. " Patriot is one of Gotham's newest villains." He said.

"He's also proven to be the most dangerous villain we've come across in years. He kills women and children." Batman said. Peter gasped and Tony was shocked. Not even the Joker would hurt Women and children. That's where he drew the line. (A/N: In this story The Joker wouldn't hurt women and children. So Jason was never killed by him and Harley was never abused.)

They finally reached Gotham Memorial Bank. When they got inside to their horror they were too late. It was a massacre. The scene was so horrible that it made Peter run out of the building to empty his stomach. Not long after Tony was right behind him. Doing the same. Batman was livid. He was too late. Again.

NightWing, Red Hood, and the others looked for any clues that could help them to find out where Patriot went. Sadly, he left no trace of evidence behind. Even with all the unalive bodies. They found nothing. They even did double, triple, and quadruple checks. Nothing. There was nothing. Not even a small American flag. His signature calling card. There was nothing. "He must be changing his tactics?" Bruce thought.

After a very uneventful night of patrols. They finally went home. The Batmobile reached the BatCave and Alfred was waiting for them with a look of sympathy. He heard the police report. "I'm sorry." He said. Bruce took off his cowl and let out a growl in anger. He hated the fact that Patriot had the upper hand. He walked towards the batcomputer and that's when Alfred stopped him.

"Master Bruce, you need to get some rest." He then turned towards the others. "That goes for all of you." With that he left. With everyone following right behind him. Nobody seemed to notice that there was someone in the vents.( C'mon we all know Bruce and Richard knew someone was in there.)

The Next Day*

Alfred was getting breakfast ready for everyone. It was Monday which usually means school for Duke, Damien, Stephanie, Cassandra and Peter. There was a toxic gas leak at Gotham Academy. So there was no school until further notice. Peter still had to go to school though. He did his classes for Midtown online. Apparently Aunt May had told the school that Peter was visiting relatives for a while. So all his classes would be online until he returned.

As Alfred was getting the ingredients ready for his famous French toast. Accompanied by bacon, sausage, eggs, and cheese grits. He would usually do a full English breakfast, but he decided to switch it up every now and again.

An Hour Later*

Selina Kyle came down the stairs with Harley and Jay right behind her. "Hello Mistress Selina, Master Jack, and Mistress Harlean." Alfred greeted. Selina smiled, Harley ran over to the older man and gave him a hug.

" Good morning, Alfred." Jack said.

Selina gave the man a hug. Then she began helping him with breakfast. Alfred gave the woman a thoughtful look. "Thank you Mistress Selina." He said. She returned his thoughtful look. "It's no problem. I like helping out in any way I can." She said getting ingredients from the fridge.

"Have you seen your son?" Alfred asked. Selina stopped everything she was doing and turned to face the butler. "My son?"

She said, confused. Alfred smirked to himself. "Yes, your son, Peter." He said. Jack and Harley were confused. They didn't understand what was going on.

"Well I FaceTimed him last night as usual." Selina said. By Catwoman's response. Everything clicked for Harley and Joker. Selina didn't know Peter had come home. Harley was about to say something when Jack stopped her. He whispered in her ear. "Let it be a surprise."

Harley nodded.

An hour later*

Everyone started to come down stairs for breakfast. The kids greeted Alfred, Harley and Jack. When they saw Selina they said hello and took a seat at the table. They all began to smirk. They knew she didn't know Peter was here, because if she did she would be right by his side as we speak.

"Should we tell her Peter's here?" Cass asked. Her siblings only shrugged in response.

" Don't tell her." Harley said.

"Why not Auntie Harley?" Damien asked.

" Cause we're surprising her." She said, and Jack nodded while sipping on his coffee.

The kids nodded in understanding. Bruce walks into the dining room with Tony and Peter right behind him. When Selina spotted Peter she ran up to him and pulled him into a warm hug. " Hello kitten. I've missed you so much." Peter hugged his mother back.

They pulled apart so she could give Tony a hug. " I didn't know you all were coming home." She said overjoyed. Tony smiled and explained what happened.

"So the Avengers are on the run and you need a place to hide. So you came here. She said,

Tony nodded. "Yeah"

They all took a seat at the table and waited for everyone else to come down so they could eat. There was a lot of catching up to do. They were enjoying a good conversation until the others came down for breakfast. Not too long after the rest of the Avengers came and joined them.

Natasha was the first to notice Selina. She sat across from her and Clint sat next to her. Selina looked around the table.

" So you're the Avengers." She said with disdain. The tension in the air was starting to get thick.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natasha said through gritted teeth.

"I'm just saying I don't think some of you are worthy of calling yourself a hero." Selina said, throwing daggers with her eyes at Steve.

Steve sighed. "I get it. I messed up BIG!" He said. " I didn't know what I was doing and got out of hand." He said.

Selina's glare only intensified. " YOU KNEW WHAT YOU WERE DOING!"

"YOU INTENDED TO HURT AND POSSIBLY UNALIVE TONY!" Selina was outraged by Captain America's audacity.

"Last time I checked you weren't the one brainwashed. I could understand if it was the winter soldier who attacked Tony, but it wasn't. IT. WAS. YOU!" She looked ready to kill the man.

Everyone at the table was stunned speechless after that. They all ate their breakfast in silence as Bruce calmed his wife down.

"It was going to be a long day?" He thought.