Spider Lost

by FumbleFeatures

Peter Parker/Spider-Man is flung into a new world unfamiliar to him. A world of heroes similar to his own, but endlessly different. Landing in a city called Gotham, Peter initially just wants to go home. Making new friends and enemies along the way, can Peter adjust to this new world or will he crumble under the mounting pressure of Parker luck?

4. Chapter 4 - Joke's On Me

Author Preface:

If your re-reading this on FF you may notice some chnages, mostly in regards to the big chunk of exposition at the beginning.

This is cause as I'm moving the chapters over the AO3 I'm tweaking/correcting them. Cleaning up the clunky bits and fixing the grammar mistakes I've made.

You may notice something similar across all the chapters but don't worry nothing important is being cut/edited, just the unnecessary fluffy bits are being trimmed.

Chapter 4

DC Universe – Specification Unknown –

Gotham City

'CRASH' Splinters of wood exploded into the air as Peter's body collided with the wooden crates that were standing behind him just moments ago. His chest was violently aching as his bruised ribs were screaming at him. His back was also treated to some minor punishment as it destroyed the crates he was now laying atop. The contents which appeared, and felt, to be metal machinery parts, were now either destroyed or bent beyond repair.

'As far as first nights in new universes go… I've had better' He thought to himself as he shot out a web line to the wall opposite, pulled himself out of his make-shift bed of wood and metal, and launched his body directly towards the assailant who'd sent him there. He readied his fist for a punch and as he shot through the air, he was ready to strike with a blow that would give his enemy a taste of the pain he'd just felt.

As he flew towards his attacker and prepared to engage them, his thoughts went back to earlier in the night and he considered all the steps which led him to this moment…

Fifteen Minutes Earlier

As the motorcycle sped through the cold night streets, Batgirl's ginger hair flicked violently in the wind, inches from Peter's face. The red hair sending him spiralling into thoughts of home.

He thought of MJ and what he would give to just be able to talk to her at this moment. Even though they were no longer dating, the two had remained close. She was his best friend and she was the best person (outside of Aunt May) at helping him with his problems, all he had to do was look at her and she seemed to know what he was worried about.

About half a year after Gwen was taken from him by the Goblin, the two started a relationship when they were around 17. It was short-lived (a few months at most) but sweet. However, it was clear to both of them he still wasn't fully ready for another relationship at that point, not to mention the strain caused by his secret double life in primary coloured pajamas.

She supported it, and even showed pride at times, but Peter couldn't help but see the stress it put her under. The constant worry, the cancelled dates and the 'nurse MJ' moments as she used to call them. Eventually they all piled up until their weight was too much and the relationship began cracking under the stress.

It all came crashing down after one particularly brutal fight with Kingpin in which Peter was sliced up and subsequently beaten down by Fisk. Although he won the fight in the end, his injuries weren't anything to scoff at.

He remembers her breakdown as if he was living it all over again, he'd never seen her so upset, angry and worst of all scared. The fearless and confident MJ was terrified of losing him, and he hated to see her like that, he hated making her feel like that.

'Peter, you're going to die doing this… You're going to die in that stupid costume!' Her words from that night rang out through his mind as he thought about his friend, the hurt of her worry in that moment clutched at his heart as he relived it.

In another life they may have worked out. Hell, Pete often thought that if the opportunity ever presented in this life they might try again. After all they were older and more mature now, and were much better at communication.

But the fear they would slip back into the old roles of their relationship was always there, and if it happened a second time… Peter wasn't sure if the friendship would recover the second time. It wasn't worth the risk, he'd much rather have her in his life as a friend, then not at all.

Regardless, Peter needed her right now, he felt tense, he needed her advice more than ever before. He'd never felt more lost, he was reaching breaking point. He wanted to be able to hug her, to feel safe in her arms again. 'What have I gotten myself into MJ?' He asked to the aether in a vain attempt to reach her.

Silence was all that spoke back to him.

His thoughts continued to spiral, for the first time since he arrived in this strange world, he genuinely started thinking about the worrying implications of his situation. 'What if I can't get back? What are MJ and Aunt May going to think? Do they even know I'm alive?' His mind started to race, his thoughts going fast enough to give Batgirl's motorcycle a run for its money.

He thought of Aunt May, how she would feel if she thought he was dead? She knew he was Spider-Man, she was proud of it. But he knew she worried. If she heard about this? If Peter was gone for too long... He didn't want to think about what that would do to her...

While Peter was ruminating, Batgirl was focusing on the road, swerving every now and then between the late night traffic. He had kept silent as they rode, initially for the simple point of not wanting to yell over the bike's roars as it sped through the streets. Now however he was so lost in his own thoughts, that everything around seemed to fade into near non-existence.

However, during a long stretch of road, Barbara too began to lose herself in her thoughts. Keeping one eye ahead of her, she briefly looked in the bike's mirror which revealed Spider-Man sitting deathly still, his posture no longer that of the overexcited newbie she'd encountered earlier. Instead she could see he was clearly pondering something, and although he was masked, his body language communicated to her they weren't happy thoughts.

She felt bad, she knew what it was like to be the overexcited new kid on the block. Her attitude towards him reminded her of how Batman treated her when she first started out at sixteen, and she didn't like the comparison.

It also wasn't even his fault she was in a bad mood, Bullock took that a large chunk of that responsibility, at least for tonight. And after their little spat, she took her frustrations out on him, although his jokes didn't help the situation.

She couldn't help but think that normally she wouldn't be so harsh, but she'd only recently got back into the suit..

After what had happened to her, she could feel herself growing colder. A part of her, deep down, knew that something had been brewing recently, something dark.

Even Dick's humour that she normally laughed along with was starting to irritate her. The result of being cooped up for too long maybe... But even as Oracle she had more patience and would even join in on the jokes. She couldn't help but wonder what had changed in her?

As the two rode in silence, the faces and voices of all Pete's loved ones started flooding his mind. Nearly everyone he ever cared about came flashing to his vision: MJ, Aunt May, Miles, Kitty, Flash, Rand, Angel, Bobby, Liz, even Eddie Brock..

His mind then went away from his friends and to his clone siblings, he knew Kaine would be pissed, and probably (hopefully), at least a little sad if he thought Pete was dead. He'd be even more pissed when Peter got home and it turns out he fussed over nothing.

Ben would definitely be grieving, but he also thought he might then leave Las Vegas and take up the mantle back in New York to carry on Pete's legacy…

But then again maybe not. Afterall, both Ben and himself knew that Miles would be up to the task, he had proved himself as Spider-Man a while ago. One that Pete honestly believed would someday be even greater than himself.

Perhaps that thought was the result of Pete's constant self doubt, or maybe Miles won't be any greater, he will just be different. No better, no worse, just different. Regardless, he will do it as himself, not as Peter, and that gave him a small comfort as his mind stopped to focus on his young partner in crime-fighting.

He trusted Miles and his brother's to take care of Aunt May and everyone else if he couldn't get back, but they shouldn't have to.

Miles may be a friend and Kaine and Ben may be his clones but they all have their own lives. They shouldn't have to put them on hold to take of Peter Parker's old life. Especially not Ben, he'd been through that before when he thought he was the original Pete, he couldn't bear to think how painful it would be trying to fit back into that role...

And finally, Jess. Although the four of them considered each other family, Jess and Pete were the only ones who were truly like brother and sister. She, unlike their brothers, stayed in New York, even living with him and Aunt May to this day. Well maybe just May now… 'No. Don't go there Pete…'

While the other two clones felt the need to distance themselves, so they could truly create their own identities, Jess never had that desire to leave. Peter had long a go decided this was probably the result of the gender swap, she could carve her own identity outside of Peter without having to separate herself entirely from his world. The similarities between Jess and Pete were unnerving, but the differences were just as present, and they were externalised in a way Ben and Kaine's couldn't be .

She was given the name Eve by the octopus themed villain who created her, as she was born from the DNA of a male, DNA that was stolen. But she made her name, and her life, her own and took on the name Jessica Drew-Parker. As an homage to their family name as well as the other Spider-Woman who helped Peter in getting Jess to adjust to everything. Although Pete tried his best to help Jess acclimatise, he thought having a female, spider powered, perspective would also help. And he was right, but it did also make her jealous of not being able to fly…

Jess was also blessed, or cursed depending on your perspective, in the fact that her memories as Peter Parker began to fade with time. They were still there, but she once described them like dreams of another life, one that wasn't hers. Again, most likely the result of her swapped gender. After all she knew the memories weren't hers, she wasn't a boy.

The other two clones actually took this a little hard since they battled with Peter's memories, Ben even thinking they were his own for a time, Jess never had that issue. Allowing her to truly just be herself.

The pair had only grown closer with time, and she was truly part of the family. Pete enjoyed having a sister and Jess clearly enjoyed having a place, and people, she could call home. But now Peter may never see her or their 'brothers' again, and that thought began to hurt him.

Although he hadn't seen Ben and Kaine for a some time anyway, and didn't know whether he ever would again, even while in New York... It was something entirely different to face the prospect that he may have that chance ripped away anyway. It was one thing to face the possibily of never seeing anyone again, it was another to face the possibility you may never even get the chance to see them again.

He then thought of the remaining members of the Fantastic Four, he had grown even closer to them after Johnny died... Not to mention, he could really use Reed's help right now, Pete was smart, really smart, but inter-dimensional travel was just slightly beyond him. He could maybe figure it out, but right now he was on his own and without any resources to make it happen.

Barbara eyed Spider-Man again in the mirror, perhaps the stress of confronting Batman was finally getting to him, sapping away all of his earlier confidence. 'No, that's not it...' She thought. He barely even seemed that phased by the idea, in fact he seemed eager. So what was eating at him? Was it how she acted towards him?

'That's not it either...' Again, thinking as she eyed his reflection.

Something else was certainly bothering him, but she couldn't shake the feeling her input had little to no impact on his sudden change in bravado. The first couple minutes of the ride, he was twiddling his thumbs and she could swear she heard the drowned tones of him whistling.

Now, he was sullen and still, and she couldn't help but wonder if Spider-Man was really some rookie trying his had at heroics with an assassin's stolen gimmick, or if there was more to him than her initial thoughts.

It seemed there was something deeper that was slowly chipping away at him bit by bit. Perhaps the jokes were a distraction, and now he was deprived of them, whatever they were distracting him from came rushing back to the surface...

As Peter's angst-ridden journey of the mind continued and brought him to memories of his time with the Avengers, he realised something he hadn't attempted reached into his suit and took the card out his concealed belt and looked at it, tracing over the large red 'A' with his thumb before staring at his own costumed image. 'This definetly isn't going to work...'

Desperately trying in vain to contact them, he pressed the small white circle and watched as the small lights along the arrow dashes of the 'A' flashed at him following the line before they simultaneously flashed twice and stopped. Unresponsive, just as he thought, unable to reach across the infinite space between them.

Barbara saw as Spider-Man reached into his suit and pulled out the white and red card. She was curious as to what it was.

She briefly caught an image of what looked to be a photo of Spider-Man to the right of larger red 'A' encased in a circle, which was broken by the arrow of the letter, continuing as dashes of triangles. She saw as the dashes began to light up one by one, before repeating the sequence a few times, and eventually stopping. 'What is that? Did he make his own hero card? What's the 'A' For?' she thought.

The faces of many others rushed into Peter's thoughts as he sat, practically motionless on the bike seat, still clutching at his ID badge.

He stared at his photo, his big white lenses staring back at him, alone with only himself. He'd always been a bit of a loner as Spider-Man, mostly out of choice, but this felt different, more definite.

He was staring at a physical manifestation of his separation from home, watching in real time as his desperate pleas for help were being lost to the endless void between worlds...

Barbara was just about to open her mouth to speak, planning to question Spider-Man on his peculiar, assumed, superhero ID. Hoping to draw him out of his dark stupour and potentially rebuild the bridges she'd accidentally burned earlier with her tone.

Her mouth was stopped before any noise could leave it as she heard Alfred speak in her ear, "Sorry to bother you while your escorting our would-be guest, Miss Gordon. But there's an issue that requires immediate attention and all other members of the Batfamily are either indisposed or currently unavailable…" The formal British man delivered through his comms.

"No worries, what's the problem?" Barbara asked back, raising her voice slightly to combat the engine of the bike and the rushing wind brought with it. She knew Spider-Man would probably hear her, but as long as she kept any sensitive information out of her mouth she was in the clear.

Meanwhile, Peter had been guided out of his ruminating by the formal British voice speaking through Batgirl's headset. The noise of the bike and their movement through the street blanketed over the comms, quieting the voice. But Peter's enhanced hearing was just powerful enough to hear what was said as though it were a whisper a few feet away. Difficult to fully comprehend and slightly muffled, but by no means unheard.

This time he was eaves-dropping on purpose, hoping for a fraction of a chance someone found him and had somehow already contacted Batman. Although what was said certainly didn't seem to fill Peter with hope, it sounded important nonetheless. So he kept listening, hoping to get an understanding of what was happening.

"The GCPD are currently dealing with a hostage situation a few blocks from you, I'm sending the location now." The male voice continued.

"I have it, thanks. What do I do about the stray? Drop him off and then circle back?"

"From what I've heard, time is of the essence, the perpetrator appears to be very unstable…"

"You're not suggesting I bring him with me?

"I am not suggesting anything Miss Gordon, I am merely stating the facts. What you do with that information is entirely up to you…"

There was a pause, all that was heard by Peter was the low rumble of the bike engine and the whistles of the night air whipping past. The conversation was in some way about him, alleviating a minor amount of guilt from Peter as he continued to listen-in.

"Hmm, We're on our way. Batman won't like this, though."

"Master Bruce has his own way of dealing with things. I however, saw the same as him and have formed my own opinion on this Spider-Man character. I believe it may be similar to your own…"

She paused, briefly glancing in the mirror at Spider-Man, he was obviously listening to what she was saying, although he hadn't interrupted. Showing some form of maturity on his part. Barbara knew what Alfred saw in Spider-Man, she saw it too, he reminded her of Dick, how he used to be.

Although only partly, the similarity was there, the jokes, the light-heartedness, even the acrobatics, although that wasn't her focus. Dick hadn't truly lost his jovial nature over time, but it had been dulled, diluted, nearly blunted by the crushing weight of Gotham and Bludhaven as well as the many losses he faced during his years with the Titans.

Alfred was being annoyingly observant in picking up on her feelings, not annoying in the sense she thought any less of him, but annoying in the way only a parental figure could be. It was the Batfamily equivalent of her Dad knowing she was upset even when she said she was fine.

All of the Batfamily had noticed a change in her after she donned the suit again, and none of them liked it, especially not Batman although he hadn't said it, she could sense his disapproval and she knew if it continued he'd eventually insist she return to exclusively being oracle.

Although her interaction with Spider-Man was heated to say the least, in fact she'd acted towards Spider-Man with near exclusive disdain, both she and Alfred knew he wasn't the reason for her cold-heartedness, merely its unfortunate target. He genuinely seemed an overall trustworthy individual, plus with his talents he may even prove to be useful, and if not she can just let the GCPD babysit him while she does all the work.

Alfred was 'not suggesting' he tagged along, both because of the urgency of the situation and Spider-Man's demeanour.

Alfred was hoping that by showing this new, happy-go-lucky rookie Spider-Man the ropes, teaching him all she knew and finding out why he put the suit on may help remind her of the reason she put on the cowl herself. Potentially draw her away from the darker thoughts that had begun to consume after her return to Batgirl. Alfred wasn't being subtle about his intentions, but she knew he was right.

Finally, she ended the pause, "We're on our way. But you're going to have to explain this to Batman when we get back…" She replied definitively.

"Miss Gordon, Batman poses little threat to someone that used to change his nappy" The voice replied before cutting the comms, his voice never losing it's formality or sense of authority.

"Change of plans, we're making a detour." Batgirl said, this time directed to Peter who was still sat on the back.

Peter, not wanting to reveal his snooping, replied with a lie of omission, "Okay. Where are we headed?" Feigning ignorance of the situation.

In truth Peter had heard every word of both parties, and again he was feeling the guilt of knowing too much.

Not only did he know Batgirl's last name, but was now privy to the first name of Batman himself, as well as having an insight into the relationship between him and the disembodied voice. That was far more than he wanted to find out, at least without their consent.

"We're checking out a hostage situation, it's on our way." She replied, raising her voice to combat the noise around them.

"And you're sure you want me to tag along?" He added.

In truth he hoped he could help, but he didn't want to cause any more trouble for the heroes of this city than he already felt he had. But if he correctly interpreted what he heard from the British voice over the comms, they may have actually seen some merit in Peter's capabilities as a hero, and this situation may be a good way to prove himself and earn back some of Batgirl's respect.

"It's apparently pretty urgent! I don't have time to drop you off beforehand. Please just follow my lead and don't do anything stupid..." She replied, bluntly.

Although Peter wasn't a fan of being treated like a newbie, as far as this city was concerned, he was. Besides he couldn't blame Batgirl for her perception, he was an unknown element here, any logical person would assume he was some kid playing dress up in an attempt to be the next 'Batman'.

He also noticed a slight tonal shift in her voice from before, it seemed to have lost part of its earlier coldness. Potentially the result of her having to shout over the bike, but based on what he'd heard the Brit say, he hoped it was a sign she was starting to soften towards him a little.

"Aye Aye!" He said with a mock salute.

Although, he wanted to show he was a serious hero, he still wasn't going to give up his Spider-Man spirit. Besides, a myriad of negative thoughts were threatening to infest in his mind and he needed to distract himself from them with his bad jokes.

Batgirl didn't respond, instead she just rolled her eyes as she changed their route. Though as she eyed his childish response in the mirror, Barbara felt something, a reflex she couldn't stop, a slight twitch of the mouth as a fraction of a smirk let itself breakthrough the dark cloud hanging over her. 'God this guy's an idiot…' She thought to herself, this time the frustration replaced with something more akin to slight amusement.

The bike turned down a street to their left and continued to race through the city, gaining speed as they headed towards their new destination.

Their once more silent journey was nearing it's end as they arrived outside a notably large warehouse, a handful of GCPD patrol cars and an old, unmarked, grey sedan rested in the parking lot, their emergency lights flashing.

Several officers were analysing what appeared to be blueprints of warehouse while others were rushing about, seemingly preparing for a potential infiltration. Leading the officers was a older, dark-auburn haired, moustachioed man wearing glasses and a brown trench coat.

Keeping their distance, so as not to spook the perp they circled round the block, out of view of the warehouse but within view of the parking lot. Batgirl looked over to the scene and pressed her fingers to her cowl, a moment after this the older man appeared to check his phone before subtly glancing over to their position and giving a swift nod to Batgirl before whispering something in a uniformed officer's ear. He pulled out a cigarette, placed it in his mouth and lit it deftly before he was out of view, blocked by a building on the street they were passing.

The bike soon settled in an alley and the two costumed heroes dismounted the bike and, with Batgirl a couple of steps ahead, they headed along the street where they soon found the older man leaning on a wall, smoking his cigarette. When the trio were within talking distance, he addressed the two.

"Batgirl, good to see you. Who's this?" He said, nodding his head towards Spider-Man.

"You too commissioner Gordon," She replied, adding the formality was one of her and her father's methods of dissuading suspicion of her true identity. Although, by now it had become so trivial it was basically habit.

Peter couldn't help but raise a masked eyebrow, 'Gordon? Are they…? No! Focus, Pete. You can find out later… People are in danger.' He thought as he focused his body on containing his surprise at the name.

Batgirl continued, "This is Spider-Man. He's… New."

Spider-Man decided not to annoy Batgirl further by putting his foot in his mouth again, especially not during a crisis such as this. He instead opted to give a simple wave to the commissioner, who returned a neutral nod to the hero.

"So, what's the situation with the hostages?" she further spoke, ignoring the greeting between the men.

Alfred hadn't given much information on the details of the situation other than the first call, suggesting the GCPD hadn't been all that forthcoming on their own channels. Hopefully it was to help protect the hostages and not because they lacked the details.

"You're right, no time for pleasantries… It's just the one hostage, a boy was abducted a couple days ago on his way home from school. We hadn't heard anything about him since… That was, of course, until tonight. A man calling himself Larry Warner uploaded a private video and sent a link to the boy's father, Johnathan Neeley, a mid-level manager at Cale-Anderson Pharmaceuticals. He gave this address and time, demanding a ransom and frantically raving that Neeley would pay for ruining his life. If he didn't show up, or contacted the GCPD his son would be killed..." He paused, and gave Batgirl a fixed look, indicating more to the story.

"So this John Neeley guy did the opposite and you guys show up with the red and blue disco lights putting his son in more danger?" Spider-Man said, earning a look from both the Gordon's who at this point had mostly been ignoring his presence after their initial 'introduction'.

Peter had expected a cold glare from Batgirl, one that screamed 'Seriously?!' Instead both of Gordons gave him a look of mild surprise. Their expressions may have been mild, however the pause in the air made Peter feel as if the very fact he was able to speak at all was a miracle to the other two.

After the momentary shock had faded, the commissioner sighed before replying, "...In hostage situations, we have to follow protocol... Even if it goes against the perp's instructions…" The commissioner exhaled another sigh before replacing the lost air with an inhaled drag from his cigarette.

"I can feel a but coming…" Batgirl now spoke.

The commissioner expressed a soft, grim smile of affirmation, Peter even thought he detected a twinkle of pride in the commissioner's eye at Batgirl's question.

The older man exhaled a cloud of tobacco scented smoke and continued, "But…Johnathan Neeley didn't tell us. At least not directly. We received an anonymous tip, an email with no subject or message, untraceable and with no eligible name. It contained a link to the video and that was it."

"Well that's not suspicious at all…" Batgirl added, under her breath but loud enough for both the men to hear.

"Hmm." The commissioner grunted in agreement, "Even more suspicious is the fact that Larry Warner was fired by Neeley for drug abuse and gross misconduct over ten years ago... No one has even heard from him since... He was reported missing by his family and presumed dead. We spoke to him on the phone when we arrived at the scene, and he was still demanding the ransom money, he even put the kid on the line when we asked…"

"So he was bluffing and didn't actually want to kill the son? That's good… I guess. But why now? If his life was really ruined, why wait ten years before getting revenge?" Spider-Man again added, and the two turned to him again, this time without surprise.

In fact it seemed as if they were genuinely listening to him. He felt like their equal in this conversation and began settling back into himself more as he felt the result of his years of experience catch up with him.

It was a refreshing change of pace compared to his earlier interactions with 'Miss Gordon' and even Catwoman to a degree, their tones making him feel like the rookie they thought he was. Now he found comfort and ease in his position as a vigilante once more... He knew what he was doing and their surprise at that fact only reminded him it was time to start focusing.

"That is the question I've been asking myself all night…" Gordon responded to Spider-Man's question.

"Maybe he finally reached his breaking point? Or it's a trap? Something to lure Neeley in… Either way it's definitely odd..." Batgirl added.

Commissioner Gordon grunted with affirmation before continuing, "There's one more thing, we haven't been able to reach Johnathan Neeley at all. Not since we received the video. There's a chance he's in the warehouse and has already attempted to give the money over, but if that was the case-"

"Why would Warner still be asking for the ransom?" The younger Gordon questioned aloud, not expecting a response.

The commissioner offered yet another affirmative grunt at Batgirl's response.

"So this is definetly a trap, right? We're all on the same page?" Spider-Man added.

Now it was Batgirl's turn to sigh, "Yep... Definetly a trap... The question is, for who?"

"Doesn't matter, trap or no trap, there's a still a hostage. So I guess we'll just have to see for ourselves…" Spider-Man replied, looking towards Batgirl.

Barbara was mildly surprised by the severity of Spider-Man's tone. He sounded more focused than she expected.

"You're right. No matter what the details of the situation, there's still a kid being held captive in there..." Batgirl replied as she turned back to Spider-Man.

"So, how are we going to play this?" He continued.

Batgirl looked back to the colourful hero, "How are you with stealth? I mean, no offense, that costume doesn't exactly scream subtle…" She spoke.

"True.. But you'd be surprised how little bad guys check the ceiling… I can be sneaky when necessary."

Electing to ignore the implication of experience in Spider-Man's reply, and instead deciding to take him on his word, she replied, "Okay, Good. Then we'll enter the warehouse from the top floor windows on the east side of the building, away from the GCPD presence. We'll scan for heat signatures you grab the kid and get out of there while I focus on the perp."

"And if it's a trap?" Peter asked, electing to omit the fact he can scan for heat signatures himself.

"Well then we throw that plan outta' the window and make a new one..."

"Sounds good... You ready?" Peter replied.

The commissioner, who was observing the interaction, stubbed out his now finished cigarette, flicked it on the ground and pulled himself off the building he was leaning on and into a standing position, "Well I guess I'll leave you youngsters to do all the hard work, besides it appears my smoke break is over." He spoke while looking at his watch, "it was good to meet you… Spider-Man, was it?" He said to the vigilante.

"You too, commissioner. Hopefully next time you see me I'll have a hostage…" Spider-Man replied before thinking about his wording, "Not that I'll have take anyone hostage… I mean I'll have the hostage with me… I mean I- I'll um… You know… have rescued kid… I... I don't know why I'm still talking, you- you obviously knew what I meant." Peter felt his face getting hotter, he was doing so well, but yet again he allowed his mouth to move before his brain could think.

Not wanting to move his mouth without thinking again, his mind again began to race, this time his internal monologue was berating him for his lack of self control. 'Well, there goes whatever credibility I had with the commissioner. Of course he knew what you meant, Pete! You just wasted everyone's time, again! God! I am so tired… Why am I so tired? my body is aching too, has that been aching the whole time or am I just noticing that now? Can't be from here, unless I'm getting rusty, so must be from back home… Ugh! I wish I could remember what happened!'

The commissioner let out a small chuckle and begun walking away from the pair, he paused, "Oh, and Batgirl… Be careful, as we've said, this whole situation seems off. So just, keep an eye out. Don't take any unnecessary risks..." He said, as he turned his head to look Batgirl in the eyes, a level of concern evident.

Batgirl kept her cool as she responded, but it was clear there was something deeper behind her words, "I uhh… Appreciate the concern, commissioner… We'll make sure to be on guard..."

Spider-Man looked back and forth between the two, his suspicion of their shared name being more than coincidence was further confirmed by the interaction between the pair. However, he decided to pause any further ruminating until the boy was safely out of harms way.

The older man appeared to clock Spider-Man's gaze, and cleared his throat "Ehem… Yes, of course. Good luck and be careful both of you..." He corrected before he recommenced walking away from the heroes and back to his post with the rest of the GCPD.

When the commissioner rounded the corner and out of sight, the two heroes shared a quick glance before scaling the warehouse. Spider-Man electing to leap directly onto the Eastern area of roof near the top floor windows, while Batgirl used her grapple gun to pull herself into the air to the same area.

She was only a second or two behind Spider-Man, yet it was still enough time that the former was able to turn around and offer her a hand onto the roof so she didn't have to pull herself up. She paused before taking it "T-Thanks..." She replied softly.

She knew she should apologise to him for her earlier attitude, but she felt weird bringing it up. She also knew now was not the time. They had a hostage crisis to deal with first, apologies could wait.

"Right. I'll scan for people inside and let you know where we have to go…" She spoke quietly before she the checked inside the closest window and, seeing it led to empty office room, opened it climbed inside silently.

Peter jumped in after, equally as silent and replied, to her earlier statement also in whisper, "I didn't mention earlier, but I can actually scan heat signatures and tag any unfriendlies myself as well… Saves you from having to constantly update me…"

The old wooden floor of the office let out an audible creak, one that caused the two heroes to pause, but the sound was so soft even Spider-Man struggled to hear it. Then they heard muffled voices below indicating there was definitely more people than expected.

"Oh… Well okay then… Let's do this quickly and get the kid home." Batgirl spoke.

The two both went silent for a second as they activated the scan and tag functions of their lenses. Peter didn't like the sensation he was feeling from his Spider-Sense, it kept him on edge, warnign him was a trap. They'd theorised as such but in the silence both heroes stiffened before looking at each other, their supicions had been confirmed by their scans.

"Please tell me my lenses broken... Are you seeing this too?" Spider-Man broke the silence with another soft whisper.

"Yeah… That's way more than just one hostage and perp… 32 in total, all armed except two. You?" Batgirl responded.

"Same, I thought as much from the voices, so Warner brought friends? Hopefully its just more hostages with toy guns designed to throw us off... Not that I want more people to be held hostage, just you know…" Peter stopped as Batgirl interrupted him

"I know." She looked at him and let out the ghost of a smile, "Less people to hit…"

"Well, this was definitely a trap for someone. Doubt it's for Neeley, though. This seems way too excessive for a disgruntled employee's revenge."

"You're right. But it does actually seem like there's more than one hostage if I'm seeing this right…"

In the office room opposite theirs on the same floor, there seemed to be two figures on chairs, judging from the position of their arms, and the way they were constantly struggling, it was safe to say they were bound to them.

Had they walked along the roof just a little more and went to the second section of windows, they would have found the hostages right away. The heroes thought they were being cautious and it made sense to enter the first empty room they saw.

Despite all the details discussed, this was far more intense of a situation than they were expecting. Still, both of them felt quite stupid for missing the opportunity to go straight for the hostages, if they had only scanned the place before they entered they could've got the hostages to safety and focused on the other 30, seemingly less friendly individuals…

Batgirl was kicking herself, not only had she become colder since going back into the field, apparently she'd also become sloppier.

Spider-Man too felt like he was becoming sloppy, probably the result of his sudden extrication from his home world and the constant distraction and stress it was causing him. Plus the soft constant thrumming of his head since he arrived. Apparently sudden cross-dimensional travel can cause headaches, who knew?

The two offices each had a metal stair case leading from the floor below to a door directly to the office rooms which were connected by a gangway. Both offices, and the gangway, looked down over the floor below where all of the other heat signatures, seemed to be.

"Who do you think the second hostage is? And why the hell are they just left on their own? I'm really starting not to like this..." Spider-Man asked whispered.

"Me neither... But get the hostages out first. We can think about the rest after, can you sneak back on to the roof and to the other room? I'll let the Batcave know of the development while I do recon on our new friends below…"

"Hostages. Got it." Spider-Man quickly replied with a nod before turning to exit the same window they entered from.

"Wait." Spider-Man's swift motion was temporarily halted as Batgirl's hushed voice cut through the air, "Before you go, take one of these…" she said as she reached into one of her utility belt's pouches a pulled a small silver circle.

"Thanks… Is this?" He responded taking the diminutive device.

"Yes. If anything happens we can stay in contact." Batgirl responded as Spider-Man turned away from her and lifted his mask, placing the device in his ear.

Out of respect, Batgirl also turned away so she wouldn't see his face.

Batman would most likely demand him to reveal his identity anyway but now wasn't the time, and Batgirl needed to keep his trust.

"Cool. I'll get them to the GCPD... Back in a jiffy… Should I let the police know of our friends? Backup could be helpful." He said, still slightly ducked, although not all of the lights of the warehouse where on, enough light was shining that any of their movements may be spotted by the men below if they weren't careful.

Batgirl was glad that Spider-Man was competent enough to stay hidden even with her sloppiness in forgetting to warn him of the ins and outs of infiltration.

This rookie was far more adept at this than she thought. In fact the more she thought about it, the more it seemed like Spider-Man had been doing this for a while, further begging the question of how none of the Batfamily had heard of him before.

"I'll scout out the sitch first and let you know, hopefully we should be able to handle these guys ourselves…."

Spider-Man simply nodded, he too didn't want to put more people in danger, even if they were experienced officers, there was a certain level of responsibility every hero had essentially accepted was just part of the lifestyle.

Risking a police firefight may just make things worse, when someone donned their costume they accepted the risks, drawing others into a fray was never something to take lightly.

Spiderman hurried to back of the room and leapt out of the open window and back on to the roof with grace and silence.

He remained low so he could control his body better and move as silently as possible. He quickly crawled to the other set of windows and let himself inside the other office. Climbing in, Peter thought his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him. But the tingle from his Spider-Sense let him know that wasn't the case.

What he saw was beyond anything he expected, even with all of the surprises of the situation so far.

The shocking display ahead of him disturbed him to his core, "Erm.. Batgirl, you should really see this…" He said in a whisper, one which was the result of his stealthy approach as well as his discomfort and confusion.

Static was the only reply, he tapped his ear. Was he given a dud? No that wasn't it, his Spider-Sense's warning wasn't just for the display ahead of him.

He'd realised now he'd felt it as soon as he entered the building. He initially thought maybe it was just because of the number of perps, but the intensity had risen as he looked at the hostages.

This was a trap but it wasn't for Warner, it was for them. For whoever would enter the building to rescue the hostages he was looking at. The hostages that were currently unnerving Peter in way he hadn't felt for a long time.

Sat before him were two people, a young boy and an older man dressed in a suit. Presumably Johnathan Neeley, the boy's father.

Both were tied to chairs, and both were thrashing in them, but what disgusted Peter was the expression on their faces.

The choking rigidity of their movement as their hoarse voices attempted to make noise against the dehydration of vocal chords that had been torn from strain.

It was practically silent but it was obvious. They were laughing hysterically... Their mouths were wider than aything Peter thought humanly possible. Their eyes held a horrificly misty red hue and tears had obviously been running down their cheeks but they had stopped. They had clearly ran out of moisture now...But the strain on their faces...

Who knows how long they had been stuck like this. Nothing about what Peter was seeing seemed natural, it was a horrifying display. The very thing that was meant to communicate joy had been twisted into something indescribably perverse. He felt sick.

Batgirl meanwhile edged forward, ducking out of view of the windows surrounding the office. When she reached the windows overlooking the floor below she peered over the edge, keeping to the corner so she had as effective a field of vision as possible while still maintaining her cover.

Her eyes widened when she saw who was below, "No… Not him... He shouldn't be here. He can't be here…" She was thankful Spider-Man had left her alone for the moment, had he heard the soft whisper that left her throat in that moment, it surely would've shattered any respect he may have held for her.

The strong and fearless personalities of both Batgirl and Barbara came crashing down in an instant. The coldness that had been growing in her came rushing to the surface, but it was no longer one of apathy and annoyance, it was one of fear. Her blood was frozen and every hair on her body stood on end.

Then, as quickly as it came, the fear left. The coldness was gone. Her blood was instantly unfrozen and was beginning to boil. Her wide eyes tightened into daggered slits of rage. The goosebumps of fear wear replaced with ones of pure hate.

In the back of her mind she knew she had to calm herself, this was a scenario they had discussed. She and the rest of the Batfamily knew she may run into him sooner or later, and she couldn't allow her emotions to control her.

As Oracle she was separate from this world, at least partly, and it allowed her a level of objectivity. She had even came face to face with him before while she was wheelchair bound. She defended herself and breaking his sick smile was scarily satisfying, she hated how much she enjoyed it.

But still, to her, revenge was never an option. It was an idea she never wished to entertain. Her 'revenge' would be continuing to fight, as Oracle, as Batgirl, as Barbara. It didn't matter how, but she wouldn't let him break her, and for a time, a time until this moment she hadn't.

Right now however, looking at his white skin, his bright green hair, his painfully wide smile (which he obviously had fixed at some point, God knows how) and even his tacky purple suit, all of it angered her. Her thoughts were of pure hatred and rage. Part of her was broken, her focus was shattered, her vision was blurred by the red mist enveloping her.

The last fraction of her subconscious was screaming at her to calm down, that this was the very reason the others were worried about her being back in the field so soon. But her unconscious logic was being silenced by her thundering heartbeat, as white hot adrenaline began to race through her entire body.

She gripped one of her tonfas, the squeeze of her hand making an audible stretching sound, the veins on the back of her palm were straining under her gloves. She was about to forego any sense of stealth and leap into the fray when a voice called out from below, and yet again her blood ran cold, her boiling rage and adrenaline was halted instantly.

"Is that you Batsy? I know you're up there. You were uncharacteristically loud with your entrance… You're getting reckless in your old age… I'd find it funny if it weren't so disappointing..." The voice called in a tone of disgusting glee.

Batgirl was shocked he was able to hear them at all, the creak earlier was barely audible.

All those years dealing with Batman had clearly made the voice's owner to grow more observant. She'd be impressed if she wasn't so pissed off at both her own failure, as well as the figure behind the voice.

Spider-Man heard the voice too, it sickened him.

He knew the sound all to well, it was one of pure unfiltered madness. He'd heard it from Cletus Kasady as Carnage, and worst of all he'd heard it from the man who took everything from him.

The one man he truly hated, the one man who he was glad was dead, Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin. He didn't know who this voice belonged to, but still it made him freeze momentarily.

He regained his composure, he untied the hostages with inhuman swiftness, whatever was wrong with these hostages he needed to get them out, even if their cover was blown, the further away from here he could get them from here the better.

The hostages didn't react, their arms fell as he untied them. They're upper bodies still thrashed as they continued laughing maniacally, clearly tearing their already shredded vocal chords even more. He carried both of them, one under each arm and led them to the window before gently placing them one at a time onto the roof.

He too climbed out, and tried his comms once more, "Batgirl, are you there? Please come in…" No reply.

'Amazing! Parker luck strikes again! Is it too much to ask for simple hostage situation?' Realising the stupidity of what he was wishing for he shook his head before once again picking up one of the hostages and bounding to the other side of the roof in a single jump.

Spider-Man had decided to drop the hostages of with the commissioner before jumping back into the warehouse to support Batgirl, he felt conflicted about not telling her, especially since the perps knew they were there, but he hoped by getting the hostages to safety she would recognise he did the right thing.

Batgirl, still in the warehouse decided to arm herself with several Batarangs. The voice had inadvertently snapped her out of rage filled trance, now both her fear and her anger was pushed to the back of her mind.

His voice and what he said reminded her of one simple truth, he was obsessed with Batman. Everything became clear, this was a trap for him.

It's true, had this been Batman he wouldn't have been as sloppy. And that was no excuse for her to lose her edge.

She wasn't going to let her mistakes cost the lives of the hostages, she was Batgirl again.

Despite what he did, he never targeted her because of her secret life as hero. He had know idea who she was under the cowl, he targeted Barbara Gordon to get to her dad.

To break him, all to prove a point to Batman and, most importantly, he failed.

By letting him consume her thoughts, she would lose sight of herself, she'd be proving him right. Even without him knowing, she would know, her father would know and the Batfamily would know. She couldn't disappoint them.

Her momentary lapse of judgement, her sudden urge for revenge was muted. She remembered why she was here, and trusted Spider-Man to get the hostages, her focus was coming back to her.

"Batcave, I need backup." She said into her comms, she heard nothing but white noise. 'Great! Just great...'

It was obvious her comms were jammed, at least at long range, "Spider-Man, come in. Are you there?", again no reply, short range was jammed too. They were alone at least for now, she needed to buy Spider-Man time to get the hostages to safety, their heat signatures told them they were alive, at least for now. It was their duty to keep it that way.

She watched as Spider-Man's figure leapt off the roof torwards the parking lot, carrying the form of the boy on his back, as he held the man in his arms.

She reached into her utility belt and armed herself. With three Batarangs in each hand she leapt through the window, shattering it and beginning her descent to the floor below.

While she fell, she let loose all six of her Batarangs, all of them finding their mark. She sent two to each of her targets and knocked down 3 of Joker's goons as they span and curved through the air into the temples, foreheads and chests of the armed men dressed in clown gear.

She landed into a roll and, while in the motion of the manoeuvre, pulled out both of her tonfa sticks before coming into a standing position.

Her eyes landing on the man who tried to ruin her life, all to prove a stupid point. Rage was building again, but now she had tamed it, at least partly.

She would still beat the crap out of him, but she wouldn't do it out of desire for revenge, merely out of necessity. If she enjoyed it a little bit as well though, well that wouldn't be too bad…

"Ugh… What are you doing here. You're not who I wanted…" The man who was known only as the Joker said, his voice whiny like a child throwing a tantrum.

He was pouting mockingly, before his sick smile returned. He looked her dead in her eyes, it took every ounce of Batgirl's self control not to avert her gaze.

"Oh well! Guess I can always try again! Might as well be a good host and kill you anyway... It's no trouble really, it's the least I can do since you came all this way… Heheheheuhuu… Boys, shoot her!" He said as he raised his arms in mock resignation and turned away as the clown thugs armed with guns began to take aim.

"How gracious of you…" Batgirl replied through gritted teeth as she weaved out the way of the bullets and took cover behind a piece of machinery.

Although, she had regained her composure, the rage still bubble inside her, it was approaching boiling point again but she wouldn't allow it to. Not for him.

"What can I say? I'm nothing if not accommodating." The Joker responded, his perverse grin never leaving his wretched face. He turned back to face Batgirl's direction his voice a yell as he combatted the hail of gunfire around him.

"Not the word I'd use…" Batgirl, responded.

Although she too was yelling, the coldness in her voice was back. Her attempts to keep her emotions in check led to her muting any sense of feeling in her tone.

"Now, now! Don't be rude! Say, you have me curious… Since when were you back? What happened to the blond hussy running around in your suit? Actually, no. Don't tell me, I'll just pick the answer from your brain when its splattered over the walls…" A dirty laugh followed his ramblings.

Just before the Joker began to engage in the gunfire scored tete-a-tete with Batgirl, Spider-Man had arrived in the parking lot with the hostages, he carefully placed them down next to the commissioner who immediately seemed to recognise their condition.

"Oh god. It's him… How? He's supposed to still be in Arkham…" The older man spoke, more to himself than Spider-Man.

Peter was going to ask who he was referring to but decided against it, he didn't have time, "I need to get back in there. Batgirl may be in trouble…"

Spider-Man paused as he was turning away when the sounds of gunfire began to be heard from within, he turned to the commissioner, "Look after them! I'm going back in!" He replied before shooting a webline and launching himself back on to the roof, this time from the side closest to the parking lot.

The commissioner didn't even have time to respond, he was impressed by what he had seen of Spider-Man so far, both on his way to them and his return to the warehouse. He pushed aside his awe however and began barking orders to the officers around him.

"Thompson, get the hostages to the hospital! Quick as you can!"

"Err… Yes, Sir!" The young officer replied, he and the other uniformed officers were completely shocked at the new hero's arrival and the state of the hostages.

Gotham knew all to well the effects of the Joker's laughing gas, his slight hesitation was halted by the commissioner's orders and he began to lift the boy into one of the marked police vehicles before returning for the father.

"Anders, send out a call for back up, this is no longer a hostage situation, it's an active firefight! Also contact Arkham Asylum... Find out if they know Joker's escaped or if there's a decoy in his cell."

"On it, Commissioner!" Anders replied as he rushed into his vehicle and began immediately radioing dispatch.

"The rest of you, gear up we're going in to support Batgirl and Spider-Man…" Gordon saw some of the confused faces of the officers around, though they were obviously able to use context clues to work out who Spider-Man was.

Many of them assumed he was a villain at first and were preparing to fire on him when he jumped down to them with the hostages, however the commissioner immediately told them to holster their weapons before he landed.

They knew the commissioner had ties to the Batfamily and was in contact with them, so didn't question him when he vouched for Spider-Man.

Many of them were on board with the vigilantes, too many of Gotham's bad guys were out of their league and they knew it.

Still, they were confused as to who this new hero was and why he was here. They were also unaware of Batgirl's presence inside the warehouse, giving them more cause to hesitate.

Staring at the officers, he continued his orders, "Now!"

All of the officers came out of their trance and began rushing themselves around preparing for an assault, "And watch you're fire in there! You know how the Joker dresses his goons, so aim for the clowns, I don't want anyone hitting either Batgirl or Spider-Man!"

At this point Batgirl was ducking and diving between different areas of the warehouse for cover, throwing the occasional Batarang as she moved.

When behind cover one of the clown goons not armed with a firearm would attempt to engage her in close combat, not very successfully as she would take them down with a couple of hits, but still it was enough of a nuisance that she knew she had to remain alert.

She had taken out at least 5, maybe 6 of Joker's thugs by now but she was starting to feel the pressure, she knew she couldn't keep this up for long. She just hoped Spider-Man was able to get the hostages out.

Since the comms were jammed she couldn't check, she didn't like not knowing, she felt as if she had to keep stalling for as long as possible meaning she couldn't press the attack herself and change the tides however, were changed by another boat joining the waters.

The gunfire came to an abrupt stop and she cautiously peered over her cover to see several lines of web snatch the guns from most of the firearm equipped clowns, launching them into the air.

She let out a smile, a big one this time. She didn't think she'd be this glad to see him, especially after how he tested her patience when they first met, even if it wasn't entirely his fault.

Spider-Man had entered from the window on the west side of the building, jumped straight over the gangway and descended to the ground floor. While he was falling he shot out a webline to the 4 thugs who were armed with assault rifles and snatched them out of their hands.

The sudden intrusion and unexpected event however, caused all of the armed goons to briefly pause their assault on Batgirl as everyone looked up.

Peter landed in his signature three point half crouch, it was pose that gave him confidence. It had almost become as big a part of his heroic persona as his 'friendly neighbourhood' catchphrase and his quips.

"Hey fellas! Careful with those, someone could get hurt…" He cheerily quipped as he landed, as he stood back up he continued, "Sorry I'm late. Lost my invitation in the mail... I also feel like such a ditz… No one told me the dress code was circus rejects and…" He looked the man who seemed to be in charge up and down, "…Pale purple pimps… Wow! Say that three times fast. Palepurplepimps. Palepurplepimps. Palepurplepimps… Huh, not actually that hard.."

The Joker was dumbfounded, his sick cheer was momentarily replaced with confused anger as he spat, "WHAT?! Who is this? You're not one of the Bats!"

Spider-Man looked at the man dressed in a purple suit, his face was white as a sheet, his hair was bright green and his mouth was painted with a bright red smile. He was clearly the leader of the gang of thugs, but more than that, he was clearly a maniac. A dangerous one.

"What…? I'm not…?" Spider-Man started to frantically check his chest with his hands before stretching his top out and pretending to examine it, "Oh my God! This isn't a bat, it's a spider! I knew the lady at the store was lying to me..." He began to approach the purple suited man whose white face was becoming flush with rage.

"You know, I said to her, 'I'm pretty sure bats have wings…' but still she insisted…. God! I didn't even keep the receipt..."

"Hehehehehe…" The laugh was coated in sot fury, "Whoever the hell you think you are, this is a private party… " The Joker said, his rage apparently beginning to subside as he pulled out a revolver and pointed it at Spider-Man, the foulest grim coming across his face, "But I'm a good host… Hehehe. No guest leaves without a gift... Not even uninvited ones."

Peter's spider-sense didn't go off at the weapon pointed at him, indicating it wouldn't fire. Still he froze and stared at the figure, before replying "Hey, I'm telling you it was lost in the mail!"

Spider-Man's lack of worry however, was confirmed when the Joker pulled the trigger and a pointed metal stick came out, a red flag unfurled from it, the word 'BANG!' was written on it in a pointed exclamation bubble.

"Oh phew for a second there I thought you were gonna' shoot me… Hehehe" Spider-Man said, feigning relief.

The figure laughed before pulling the trigger again, this time Peter's spider-sense did go off. As the pointed flag shot directly to his chest Spider-Man caught it deftly. Causing the Joker to pause for a moment, that was definitely unexpected.

"Oh wow! A flag? What a gift! How did you know? Man, now I feel bad… I didn't get you anything." Spider-Man said as he inspected the flag

The pale man unstiffened, before laughing maniacally, he clearly found the response hilarious. The laugh, while unhinged and disturbing, was genuine.

The man bent over his knees and was wiping tears from his eyes. It was very unsettling for Peter but he laughed along in exaggerated fashion, the scene caused the goons around them to also laugh along uncomfortably as they looked around to each other, clearly unsure of what to make of the situation.

"I like you… You're funny!" The Joker said between chuckles as he pulled himself upright and wiped away the last of his tears, his face then becoming deadly serious and the confused laughter around the room stopped, "But, I'm the one who tells the jokes around here… Kill the Bat, I'm gonna' teach this one a lesson myself…" He said as he glared at Spider-Man.

Batgirl, for her part, had used Spider-Man's distraction to propel herself up the gangway above the scene with her grapple gun. She was observing the scene and had picked her targets to pounce on.

However her faith in Spider-Man was beginning to waver as he seemingly chose to immediately piss off and pick a fight with the Joker himself, 'Great... How could he be so stupid? He was supposed to be my back up and now I'm gonna have to save him…'

She saw as the goons who were armed began firing again at her previous position, 'Well at least he's not as stupid as those guys…' she thought as she looked back to see the Joker quickly pull out a very large knife behind his back, obscured from Spider-Man's vision.

She was going to jump in and save Spider-Man before the Joker had a chance to attack, but the villain was too quick.

She tensed and expected the worst but was shocked to see Spider-Man dodge with inhuman speed and catch the knife in one smooth motion, the hero and the villain shared a look between them.

Spider-Man then delivered a powerful uppercut to the Joker's chin, sending him flying backwards several feet and immediately knocking him unconscious, a few of his yellow teeth being launched in several different directions.

She was glad that her lenses were always recording everything she saw, unless she turned them off, Batman needed to see this and the live feed was most likely halted by whatever was scrambling their comms. 'Okay… I forgot about this guys strength…' she thought, mildly impressed by the new hero.

In the back of her mind she felt the bristle of a sick satisfaction in seeing the Joker being toyed with then brutally smacked across the room.

"Good lesson. I think we all learned something there…" Spider-Man replied before turning around to engage the rest of the goons, several of whom seemed shocked at the quick dispatch of their leader. Their shock quickly turning to anger, as the ones not shooting at where they believed Batgirl to be, began to open fire and charge at Spider-Man.

At this point Batgirl joined the fray, leaping on top of a larger one of the goons. Her padded knees landing on his shoulders with an audible crack as she pulled out her stun gun and pressed it too his neck, shocking him until he fell unconscious. As he fell forward she went into a forwards roll and swept the leg out from under another goon before tasering him.

She placed her stun gun back in its pouch and pulled out her tonfas as she pulled her self into a sprint, avoiding the hail of bullets from the goons who were now aware she was no longer behind her cover.

She leapt towards Spider-Man's position and delivered a decisive strike to the temple of one of the goons firing at him, dazing the thug. As she landed, she turned on her feet and faced the goon, she followed up from her initial attack with a flurry of blows, one to his hand disarming him, another to his chest, knocking the wind from him and one final strike to his temple again, knocking him unconscious.

Spider-Man was also weaving and dodging all of the bullets aimed for him, he called to Batgirl, "There you are! What, did you step out for take out?"

"No, I was just watching you make a fool of yourself… And an enemy of Gotham's most dangerous nutcase." She replied, as she engaged two more enemies.

"What can I say, I'm starting a collection... Seeing how man enemines I can make on my first night here."

Batgirl didn't respond, at least not vocally, 'First night here? What's that supposed to mean, where's this guy from?'

Spider-Man shot out three more weblines and pulled, disarming the last of the goons with guns. He combined the weblines which webbed the weapons together in one motion, and then again with a speed, and lack of dizziness, impossible for a non-powered human, he span on his heel several times.

He then launched the weapons back at one of the now disarmed thug's chest with immense speed and power, knocking him prone and taking all the air from his lungs.

Now that their leader was down and none were equipped with ranged weapons, the two hero's made quick work of the rest.

A clown armed with a chainsaw charged at Spider-Man who spun and kicked the weapon from his grip before leaping over the goon and, as he was still mid-air, he grabbed the goon by the shoulders, pulling him off the ground.

He then used the thug's weight to carry his own momentum forward into a flip. When Spider-Man's feet were firmly planted back of the ground he stuck to it, and used the continued acceleration of the thug to carry him over his shoulders before letting go, launching the unfortunate goon through the air.

Just before he landed and let the goon fly, he called to Batgirl, "Hey Batgirl, I think this one's yours!" seeing her turn to him and offer a quick nod, communicating she was ready. This prompted Spider-Man to send the goon flying with an overhead throw.

Batgirl, who was about to be attacked from behind herself, grabbed her assailant's shoulders from over her own and pushed her self off the ground as she pulled her legs upwards, using her attacker's weight.

As she was pulling her legs upwards, Spider-Man's delivery passed by feet first, and she delivered a kick to the back of the goon's head as he continued his flight. Stopping his screams of terror as he was knocked unconscious. His now sleeping form landing ungracefully on the ground in a slump.

Continuing with her upwards trajectory she was now completely upside down, performing a handstand on the thug's shoulders for brief moment.

Then she continued her journey, letting herself fall back to the ground and landing on her feet as she let go of the, very confused and scared, clown's shoulders. She kicked him behind his knee and he fell into kneeling position before he too found himself put to sleep by a chop to the neck from Batgirl's hand followed by a hit to the head from the other side by one of her tonfas.

The fight continued and the two heroes were dispatching thugs with ease. Their enemy numbers were dwindling rapidly...

When only ten enemies were left, Batgirl and Spider-Man had found themselves back to back as the clowns began circling them, slowly approaching the pair, ready to attack but it was clear they were nervous and many of them seemed unenthusiastic about the idea.

"Seriously, are these guys ever gonna' give up?" Spider-Man asked over his shoulder to Batgirl.

"The Joker's goons are frustratingly loyal… Probably because if they weren't, he'd kill them and whatever family they have in horrific ways…" Batgirl replied nonchalantly.

"Charming…" Peter replied as he made eye contact with one of the goons. The thug was shaking uncontrollably and fear draped his face, "Does he at least offer dental?" Spider-Man offered to the goon.

"Can you focus? I wanna' wrap this up already…" Batgirl responded, her voice offering no room for argument.

A hint of frustration was clearly bubbling up inside Batgirl, but Peter didn't feel any resentment being directed towards him.

Spider-Man webbed the hands and feet of the goon he was facing before jumping at him and punching him in the gut.

The wind was knocked from the goon as Spider man then grabbed his collar and threw him at two other approaching goons, they let out a grunt as they were knocked to the ground. As the three of them lay in a pile on the floor he shot out several impact webs and stuck the goons to ground and each other.

"This is me focused…" He replied, "I'm genuinely interested in the kind of employee benefits this 'Joker' guy offers…" He continued as he performed a graceful leap into a forward roll and swung his fist at another goon.

The goon was large, standing several inches taller than both himself and Batgirl. He was clearly built entirely out of muscle. But Spider-Man had faced 'strong' guys before, and was still pulling his punch so he wouldn't separate the man's jaw from his head.

His fist connected with the goons jaw. But, something unexpected occurred, Spider-Man's hand... Hurt?

The goon who received the hit didn't seem the least bit fazed, his face barely even moving as the red gloved knuckle collided with it.

Spider-Man paused and looked at his hand, he then looked up into the face of the goon who was standing there, unmoved and grinning.

Pete's punch was lighter, much lighter, than a full powered punch, but still it should've been enough to make the goon drop like a sack of potatoes.

He looked back to his hand once more, it was aching slightly, "Hmmm… Well that doesn't seem right." He spoke, as he continued to look back and forth between his hand and the goon's face.

His Spider-Sense blared at him as his momentary shock at the thug's resistance provided an opportunity for the larger enemy to strike back.

The thug backhanded Spider-Man's face and the hero let out a sudden yelp as he was sent flying across the warehouse, "Woahhh!".

Batgirl who was currently engaging two of her own enemies, watched as her newfound ally was sent hurling through the air. She was momentarily taken aback by the display of the flying figure in red and blue, complete with his voice crying out with a loud

"Spider-Man!" She called out in surprised concern.

As she too was distracted for a fraction of a second, she also felt a blow land on her face. Thankfully, this one was clearly weaker than the one superhuman one that had launched Spider-Man across the room. It was still enough to make her stagger, though..

Unbeknownst to the unlucky goon who landed the punch, it was also exactly what Batgirl needed to break out of her trance. As she stumbled, she used the momentum of her movement to swing back around and land a solid hit on the goon's head with her tonfa, eliciting a loud 'Whak!' as it connected and banished the man's consciousness.

Continuing with her full body swing she delivered a brutal kick right into knee of her second assailant, causing him to keel over in agony as his leg shattered, a fragment of bone sticking out of the side.

He let out a choked cry of pain before she delivered a second kick into his head and sent the rest of his body down to ground, he lay next to his ally and joined him in his sleep.

Spider-Man collided with floor and bounced along the surface before coming to a stop, finding himself laying prone on his back.

The collision, and subsequent bouncing, hurt a bit. Had he not been super powered, it would've hurt a lot.

Instead the mild ache only fully confirmed to Peter that this wasn't a dream, everything that had happened so far was real. He'd obviously already accepted this, but the soft clouds of doubt were dissipated by the blow. In a way, the thug had quite literally knocked some sense back into Peter.

Looking over to his side, he saw the leader of the band of clown-dressed thugs, the Joker. He was expecting him to still be out cold.

In actuality, the Joker had regained some semblance of consciousness just in time to see Spider-Man being flung across the warehouse by the fist of one of his goons.

Laughing and turning towards the hero, he spoke, "I… *Cough* I see you've met one of the twins…" Pulling himself up into a siting position he rubbed his head and screamed at his men, "Bubbles! Colin! Beat this punk to a pulp right now so I can finish him off!"

"Seriously? Colin? Did you give up on the creative names halfway through?" Spider-Man asked as he pulled himself to his feet, preparing to web Joker's mouth shut.

He stopped and turned however just as he felt his Spider-Sense ring again before another goon, identical to the first save for a different hairstyle, emerged from the crowd with inhuman speed and grabbed Spider-Man by the neck and lifted him in the air before he could react.

The Joker let out another sick cackle as he too rose to his feet, rubbing his jaw, "Actually… Those are their real names… I swear! you couldn't make it up!" His laugh growing louder and sicker as he pulled out a second knife.

Looking into the enraged eyes of the large clown thug, "T-They're g-good s-trong names… I l-like the-m I s—swear…" Spider-Man replied through choked breaths.

The goon's hand tightened around his neck. The Joker's cruel, twisted laughter providing a soundtrack to Peter's struggled sentence. 'Superhuman speed and strength? Fantastic! Really loving the curveballs you've been sending lately universe...' Peter thought to himself before webbing the eyes of the large thug.

The thug whose name was either Colin or Bubbles tightened his fist even harder in response to the webbing he received. He grabbed at it with his free hand and tore it from his face.

Spider-Man looked into his eyes and felt the hatred piercing his soul.

If his neck wasn't being squeezed with the strength comparable to the Rhino, or at least a baby of the Rhino, he would have let out an audible gulp.

In a fit of rage the 'twin' threw Spider-Man as hard as he could towards his brother, his minute sense of self control, coupled with his fear of his boss, just barely stopped him from snapping the hero's neck.

Spider-Man let out another yell as he was airborne, "Woahhh!"was all that escaped his mouth as he was rocketed through the warehouse yet again.

His Spider-Sense blared at him once more as he felt the clasped hands of the other twin connect with his chest. The blow sent Spider-Man flying in a new direction, making him start to feel like a human pinball.

Batgirl had dispatched the last of the goons, aside from 'the twins', and began rushing over to the scene. She saw as Spider-Man was thrown from one of the twins into both fists of the other, who in turn sent him flying into a stack of crates. 'This isn't good... We need back up! At this rate, the rookie is gonna' die on his first night. God! We're in over our heads… I knew I should've dropped him off before coming here…" She thought.

Batgirl was furious, she'd let Alfred talk her into bringing along the new hero nobody had heard of. One whose lack of experience and carefree attitude made him an easy target.

Her recklessness would cost his life, right now he was her responsibility, and he was going to die because of her mistakes.

This was a trap for Batman, she was foolish to ever think it would be easy, but she wasn't expecting the Joker to have metahumans on his payroll.

But, then again he'd been battling her mentor for long enough now that, he would know thirty armed henchmen wouldn't be enough, especially if he brought along another member of the Batfamily. She should have seen something like this coming…

At first Spider-Man easily levelled the playing field, but under different circumstances she would have most likely been able to win the fight on her own. If she hadn't been forced to take a hiatus, if there weren't metahumans, though it still would have been extremely difficult and risky. There would be no room for mistakes, one wrong move would cost her life.

Even if she was still in her prime, she would've been grateful to have someone to fight beside her, especially a metahuman like Spider-Man.

In fact if the Joker never did what he did, took from her a part of herself, she wouldn't have been so harsh on the rookie hero and their newly formed partnership would've been stronger, even the Joker's power house twins wouldn't have been a problem had they been more co-ordinated.

Right now though, she was only a shadow of her former self and it was all his fault. She looked at the skinny man in the purple suit, his sick laughter echoing in her mind as the thundering pump of her rage filled heart sent molten blood coursing through her veins...

Even if he was super-powered, Spider-Man was out of his league against the Joker's meta-human twins (or so she thought), and she needed to save him before he was killed. It was her turn to level the playing field.

'CRASH' Splinters of wood exploded into the air as Peter's body collided with the wooden crates that were standing behind him just moments ago. His chest was violently aching as his bruised ribs were screaming at him. His back was also treated to some minor punishment as it destroyed the crates he was now laying atop. The contents which appeared, and felt, to be metal machinery parts, were now either destroyed or bent beyond repair.

'As far as first nights in new universes go… I've had better' He thought to himself as he shot out a web line to the wall opposite, pulled himself out of his make-shift bed of wood and metal, and launched his body directly towards the assailant who'd sent him there. He readied his fist for a punch and as he shot through the air, he was ready to strike with a blow that would give his enemy a taste of the pain he'd just felt.

As Spider-Man was readying for his attack, Batgirl shot out two wires from her stun gun which connected to the back of the goon who'd just sent him flying. A powerful current of electricity ran from her gun into the goon, causing him to tense and let out a cry of pain and frustration. Spider-Man's target was now standing, tense and spasming. Batgirl had just given him the perfect opening, one he didn't ask for but appreciated greatly as it tackled the brother's inhuman speed and made him easy prey.

"Okay, that was rude." He called out as he shot like a bullet through the air. He cocked his arm back and delivered a swift, hard punch to the brother's face, causing the brute to stumble slightly as he let out a grunt of pain.

"I said, I-" Spider-Man spoke as he delivered another strong punch to the goons stomach, "Liked." He continued as a second punch was delivered to the goons jaw, "The names!" He finished his sentence as he shot a webline passed the goon whose back was now to the crushed crates and machinery components.

The line attached to a large and heavy piece of machinery, Spider-Man pulled with both hands, sending the large metal object into the back of the head of the thug. Causing him to yell and drop to one knee.

"I'll handle the twins. You wanna' take skinny and freaky over there?" Spider-Man said as he pointed a thumb to a rather aggravated looking Joker.

Batgirl let out a sigh of relief, she knew Spider-Man was strong, but after the hit he took, and the subsequent uncomfortable landing.

She was hoping he would only be out of commission for a few minutes. But she was terrified that he may be out permanently, that would be a level of failure she would never be able to live with.

Seeing Spider-Man get up almost immediately and returning to the fight completely unphased and without so much as a scratch on him, gave Batgirl a sense of immeasurable relief. She was overcome by a renewed sense of determination and focus. She smiled and nodded at Spider-Man before turning to the Joker, her smile instantly leaving her face as anger punctuated every detail part of her expression.

As Batgirl charged at the Joker, the second of the twins, seemingly rather annoyed by the assault on his brother, moved at superhuman speed and attempted to grab Spider-Man.

Now aware of the goon's speed, Spider-Man was expecting a sudden attack, he responded as his Spider-Sense rang through his head and leapt over the thug's arms, delivering a quick kick to his jaw. After this he used his web shooters to pull himself to the side as he was mid-air, allowing him to land safely to the side of the goon, just out of reach of big brute's arms.

This event, as swift as it was, lasted just long enough to allow the first of the twins to catch his breath, rub the back of his head and bring himself back to his feet. He turned to face Spider-Man who was now standing in a fighting stance between the twins.

"Right. Before we start, which of you is Colin and which is Bubbles?" Spider-Man asked, to no reply. Instead they both let out a yell of frustration and charged the hero.

Batgirl and Joker had now reached each other by this point and were swapping blows, exchanging looks between counter, parries and dodges. The Joker never losing his sick grin, while the hero's look was one of fiery determination.

The Joker was a gifted fighter, he was quick and knew just how to make his opponent hurt. Batgirl however was faster, and focused her hits on an efficient take down.

Unfortunately, the Joker was also used to this, he fought Batman semi-regularly and knew how to counter the Batfamily's styles, he was unpredictable and was always on the attack.

This style was what was preventing Batgirl from getting an opening to hit back effectively. She knew she was going to win, she was determined to, but it was going to be a challenge.

However, her focus was strong and she had foregone her anger for the moment. Now her mind was fixed on the fight, constantly working to find and seize the opportunity to gain the upper hand.

The opening came sooner than expected, most likely due to Joker's earlier discombobulation at the hands of Spider-Man. The Joker had just swung his knife directly at Batgirl's face, which she easily blocked with her tonfa. In the brief moment the two connected, the Joker's guard was down, allowing Batgirl to deliver a swift chop to the Joker's arm, forcing him to drop the knife in pain.

As he was distracted by this, her focus slipped momentarily and she couldn't help but deliver a childish, yet strong, kick to his shin, the result of her rage slipping through.

It served no real tactical purpose other than causing the Joker some pain, but the opportunity was too good for the darker side of Batgirl to ignore.

Although it was subdued, at least mildly, as she could have just as easily gone for a more delicate area of the Joker's anatomy. But even in this state, that would be too crass and beneath her, even when overcome with rage. She was better than that.

Continuing her assault, she smacked the Joker in the face with her tonfa causing him to stagger back. As he stumbled, he turned again to face her, yet another knife in his hand.

"Seriously! Where do you keep those things?" She replied, throwing several Batarangs as she spoke.

The Joker deflected the question, as well as each of the Batarangs deftly with his knife, as he darkly chuckled back a reply, "Heheh… I can't wait to carve you up and spread you all over Gotham…"

Spider-Man meanwhile had managed to encase one of the twins, who he had decided to name 'Bublin' (seeing as they refused to give him their actual names), in webbing. The result of a trio of web bombs being fired onto the goon's chest. 'Bublin' was writhing in annoyance at the restriction, causing him to lose his balance and topple to the ground clumsily.

The second twin, whom he had named 'Cobbles', was now throwing powerful yet sloppy punches at Spider-Man left, right and centre. The speed of the attacks put Peter in a tricky spot, although he was able to avoid the blows. That was all, except the last one.

The final blow came from Cobble's clutched fists, which connected with Spider-Man's chest just as he attempted to leap over the goon.

The force of the hit sent Spider-Man flying directly upwards with considerable speed, and directly into the ceiling. The force wasn't enough to send the hero through the metal roof, but his body left a sizeable dent as he bounced back down and onto the gangway above the rest of the warehouse's occupants.

"Ow." Spider-Man groaned. It hurt after all, however it was nothing compared to the beatings he'd received from Rhino.

Peter theorised if there was only one of these goons he would already have them gift wrapped and dangling from the ceiling for the GCPD to collect. As it stood, their speed was proving to be troublesome. Especially when paired with the fact that collectively they possessed double the amount of limbs as the Rhino.

Capitalising on the momentary dispatch of the hero, 'Cobbles' was able to tear off the webbing and free his twin, 'Bublin'.

'Cobbles' then leapt up onto the gangway in a single bound, the weight of the goon and force of his landing causing the metal platform to shudder from the impact.

He was shortly followed by his twin, who was able to remove the last remnants of webbing from his chest, before promptly pulling himself to his feet and leaping after his brother, causing the gangway to shake once more.

Spider-Man had also been able to pull himself up in this time and was crouching on the railing of the gangway, staring at the two enemies facing him. The duo cracked their knuckles and snarled at him, their expressions, along with the rest of their faces he supposed, were identical. Even for twins, their synchronicity was unnerving.

The one dubbed 'Cobbles' spoke, "We're gonna' squash ya nice and good, bug…"

Spider-Man rolled his eyes before answering, "Does NOBODY know biology? Spiders are arachnids!" webbing 'Cobbles' eyes and leaping off the railings as he spoke.

He planted his left foot on the blinded goon's face who stumbled backwards into his brother who also received a foot to the face, this one being Spider-Man's right.

Using the twins as stepping stones he hopped gently off their faces, into a backwards somersault and back onto the gangway. Point lauching himself upwards off the platform and onto the ceiling, narrowly avoiding 'Bublin's' arms as he tried to grapple the hero.

Turning himself around on the ceiling so he was facing the goons, "Although... I guess 'Arachnid' is a hard to say if your only capable of saying one syllable words…" Spider-Man jabbed at the pair below him.

"Heh. Learn to count. Gonna' is two syb… Sylbib… Syllall… Word-sounds, jackass." 'Bublin' responded, the anger in his voice overshadowed by smugness.

'Damn! I hoped he was too stupid to notice…' Spider-Man thought to himself before replying, "Ah. You're right, I apologise. Although, technically it's three, as it's a contraction of 'going to'. But, that just makes it more confusing... And harder to count. I guess I understand why you confused eight legs for six…"

"What legs? We're talkin' 'bout words, ain't we?" 'Bublin' replied again, instinctively.

"SHUT UP! You're such a dumbass, Colin. He's talking about the… Ah forget it." The other twin, formerly named 'Cobbles', now confirmed to be Bubbles, responded. He had freed his face of the webbing and now turned to Spider-Man, "You! Stop confusin' my brother…"

"I assure you, it wasn't on purpose…" Spider-Man replied truthfully.

Meanwhile, Batgirl had just managed to wrestle the third knife from the Joker's grip. It clattered to the floor as she elbowed him in the ribs. She felt a crack, informing her the blow was effective and powerful enough to provide an exploitable weakness.

The clown prince of crime to stumbled back a couple of steps and grunted in response, before he stood back up. Between laboured breaths, he spoke, "You know… This reminds me of a Joke… This guy walks into a bar… And the bartend- Guh!"

His joke was cut off by Batgirl immediately rushing the villain and swinging one of her tonfas into his wounded ribcage. The Joker, as a result of the blow, expelled all of his breath and keeled over by reflex.

While he was bent down, Batgirl delivered her knee into his nose, causing it to break, for what seemed like the hundredth time this year. Blood spurted from his face as he arched his body backwards in response to the hit, only to find his legs swept out from under him by Batgirl's.

He now lay on his back yet again, groggy but conscious enough to spit out another sentence, "Party pooper…" He replied through cracked, yellow and blood-stained teeth.

This was met by a punch to the jaw by Batgirl, who was now kneeling over the incapacitated Joker. He closed his eyes and lay still for a moment before turning back towards the hero and softly chuckling.

Batgirl punched him again. And then she punched again, and then again, and again. The Joker's sick laughter however wasn't stopping, in fact it seemed to be getting harsher, as if he was finding it funnier with every strike.

Batgirl's focus was gone, evacuated by the Joker's sick laughter. Her rage, which had been aggressively bubbling throughout their encounter, had taken her. Red mist clouded her sight as her blood boiled.

She was no longer Batgirl, no longer Oracle and she was no longer Barbara Gordon. Right now she was just a vessel for a deep brewing anger beyond her conscious control.

Revenge wasn't something Barbara had ever wanted, until tonight. Until she had put the cowl back on and felt the power of it once more, Batgirl wasn't a hero for the people of Gotham... No, it was how she could get back and the man who hurt her, without letting him have the satisfaction of knowing he was the one who made Barbara Gordon snap so much she killed him.

But that wasn't true. And deep down she knew that. Her conscience was screaming at her trying to get her to control herself, that he wasn't worth becoming a killer for.

No matter what her mind was trying to communicate to her however, her body didn't want to listen. And so it didn't, it was only listening and responding to Joker's laughter. She needed it to stop. She needed to make sure she never heard it again. And so, she continued to punch him and he continued to laugh. She would keep hitting, keep going until he wasn't laughing anymore. Until even the Joker couldn't see the funny side.

She was blind to her surroundings, she saw only his face. His sick, twisted face. She heard only his laughter and her own strikes. She felt only rage. She was oblivious to the, rather loud, encounter between the superhumans above her…

Moments before Batgirl lost her focus, Spider-Man still clung to the roof as he was engaged in a verbal encounter with his assailants, "Gotta' say, I wasn't expecting the smart one to be called 'Bubbles'. Guess I have some biases I need to work on…"

Colin responded, "Hey! Who says he's da' smart one? I'm plenty clever…"

"I'm sure you are, buddy. Just remember, Spider equals arachnid."

"You know what? I will... Wait, what da' hell's an 'anakrid'?"

Bubbles seemingly growing impatient at the exchange, slapped his brother, "Shut up! He's mocking you!"

"Hey 'dat hurt! Wait.. He is?" Colin looked up to Spider-Man, seemingly rather hurt by this discovery. Spider-Man simply shrugged in return.

"And You!" Bubbles continued, now pointing at Spider-Man, "Come down here and fight like a man!"

"I don't suppose I could convince either of you to come up here and fight like a spider?" Spider-Man responded. 'Jeez Pete. I know its another universe, but still… You need to get some new material…'

"Okay!" Colin replied before he leapt at the hero, fists clenched.

Not expecting a response, Spider-Man was taken aback by the sudden attack. However, he somersaulted out of the way of the assault. Just in time to see the goon punch a hole right through the ceiling and continue his ascent upwards into the night air.

Spider-Man looked to Bubbles for a beat after he landed back on the railing. He offered another shrug before following the other twin through the hole he created.

As he landed gracefully on the roof, he looked up and saw Colin, who had now lost his upward momentum and was descending through the air.

Colin was about to scream as he fell before he spotted the hero, 'Heh. I've got ya now, bug!' he thought to himself as he clenched his fists and raised his arms above his head. Preparing to crush Spider-Man as he landed.

Spider-Man responded by simply firing two impact webs, one at Colin's arms webbing them together, and another at Colin's head. The second impact web covered the goons face in the breathable webbing, and the force of the impact was enough to cause the twin to recoil his head, throwing off his balance and changing his downward trajectory.

Spider-Man then decided to attach a webline to the falling criminal and pulled down as he jumped upwards, using Colin's weight to propel himself high into the air as the thug's descent was quickened.

Shooting upwards and passed Colin, who was descending rapidly and screaming, Spider-Man decided to go with a familiar attack.

Twisting in the air so he was facing the falling thug, he shot out two weblines onto the roof either side of Colin. He then pulled himself downwards and landed on the twin's chest with his feet. Continuing to pull, Spider-Man sent them both hurtling down towards the roof.

Commissioner Gordon, as well as many of the other GCPD officers who were arming themselves, was distracted from his preparations to breach the warehouse by the sound of a crash. Looking over to the warehouse he saw as a large figure dressed as a clown launched through the air before falling back down, seemingly preparing to attack someone.

Just then his trajectory changed and a red and blue figure shot upwards after the criminal before landing on the thug and seemingly launching them both downwards. The commissioner was intrigued by Spider-Man before, but now he was downright impressed. The kid surely knew how to put on a show.

Pulling himself away from the sight, he grabbed a shotgun from the patrol car ahead of him and fastened his bullet-proof vest before yelling, "Everyone! After me! We're going in!"

By this point, bubbles had also jumped through the hole his brother had created and landed on the roof. He looked to either side of him and saw two weblines, still taut. He looked up just in time to see the figure of his twin rocketing towards him, Spider-Man standing on top of his chest clutching at the two lines of webbing.

Realisation set in a second too late, "SHIT!" was all he managed to say before the bodies crashed into him. He was knocked down and sent through the roof, creating a second, much larger, hole in the ceiling.

Spider-Man leapt off Colin's chest as the three of them violently re-entered the warehouse. He shot out a slew of webs at the twins, trapping them together as they fell. Now a bundle of web muffled cries, the brothers were rapidly nearing the concrete floor. Accepting their fate they both closed their eyes, ready to embrace their deaths.

Except, they didn't die. In fact it felt as if they were bouncing and swaying in the air. Looking up, they saw Spider-Man, still on the ceiling waving to them. He had attached a webline to the duo and fastened it to the ceiling before they had hit the ground, saving their lives.

Instead of lying as a mess of crumpled bodies on the floor, they dangled. Webbed together and upside down. Spider-Man dropped from the roof and onto the ground floor beside where they hung.

"Well fellas, it's been great… Tell your parents if I ever have any little spiders running around, I'm going them for baby names, and err… Oh yeah! Sweet dreams…" He said before he delivered a punch into the face of Colin who was snarling at him, knocking his head into his brother, sending them both unconscious.

Still in a trance, still seeing red and still punching the Joker's ever laughing mouth, Batgirl was oblivious to Spider-Man's display only a few feet away from her. The world around her ceased to be and her arm wouldn't stop moving. The voice in her head urging her to stop was deafening, but her body still wouldn't listen.

Suddenly her arm was restrained, she tried to move it with all of her strength but it wouldn't budge. She snapped her head to her arm and saw Spider-Man crouching next to her, his hand on her clenched fist.

The world around her began to seep back into vision, the Joker's laugh had seemed to stop, she realised it had stopped a while ago, yet she was so consumed by rage that she couldn't help but hear it as she continued beating him.

She froze as her eyes widened, realisation dawning on her as she looked to the Joker's unconscious form and felt numb.

The satisfaction of revenge was gone, as if it never existed in the first place, it was over shadowed by disgust at her own lack of control. She looked back to Spider-Man, his hand still on her own as she kept the tension in her arm.

The moment was held between them, she could feel her eyes beginning to wet as she looked into the large white lenses of the other hero, her own faint reflection pitifully staring back at her.

If he hadn't have stopped her… She didn't want to know what would have happened, part of her felt she would never go as far as to become a killer. But another part of her knew the only thing that stopped her from continuing to pound the Joker into a puddle was Spider-Man's intervention.

"I think you got him…" Was all Spider-Man said as he broke the silence between them, his voice was kind and concern was clear in his tone.

Batgirl finally let her arm go slack and continued to stare at Spider-Man as he let go of her fist, stood up and then offered her his hand. She took it and absentmindedly pulled herself to her feet, subconsciously moving as far away from the Joker's sleeping form as she possible could in one movement. She was still in shock at what she had done, but even more so at what she could've done had Spider-Man not stopped her.

When the two were both stood, Spider-Man let go of her hand and his gaze was fixed on her, following her every movement. She had stopped staring at him and was now looking at the unconscious body of the Joker on the ground.

His face was a mess and blood soaked the floor around him, but he was breathing. And Batgirl felt something she never thought she would feel, she was actually relieved.

Spider-Man's voice drew her away from her thoughts, "You good?" He asked.

"… Umm. Y-Yeah. Thanks…" She replied as she whipped her head round to face him.

"Don't mention it… We've all be there, right?" He spoke before he truly thought about his words, but he nevertheless meant them.

"Have we? I mean I've never- I've never… If you weren't here I would've-"

Spider-Man stopped her before she went any further, "Don't think like that… It won't do you any good. Trust me… He's alive. We're alive. The hostages are alive." 'I hope...' "That's all that matters..."

He could see that she was mostly unmoved by his words, but he didn't blame her. She was clearly still in shock.

For the first time of the night he actually felt like the more experienced one between them. Obviously he had no real way of knowing who was more experienced between them, but being treated like a newbie certainly didn't make him feel like he'd been doing it as long as he actually had.

"Listen… I saw the hostages, what he did to them… This… Joker guy, he seems like a real piece of work. You snapped. That's all… We're only human. Don't let it eat you alive. He's not worth it."

"That's not it. I let it get personal… He-" She stopped herself before she said too much.

Spider-Man looked at her, "It's fine… You don't have to tell me. Just trust me when I say, I understand… Probably more than most..." His voice was tinged with darkness.

He looked at the Joker as he lay their in a puddle of his own blood, a crooked smile still somehow on his face. He felt sick just looking at the man. He thought about the hostages earlier and felt an anger rising within him, an anger he hadn't felt for a villain in a long time.

Staring at his form, he couldn't help but compare. Green and purple colour scheme, yellowish teeth and eyes, a sickeningly insane smile and a laugh that sends a chill down the spine.

Peter definitely understood why Batgirl snapped. The familiarity Peter felt was an uncomfortable one, it made him feel cold. As if he was looking at the Green Goblin through a hallway of mirrors.

He had no idea how long the Batfamily had been dealing with this man, but from the sounds of it, it was a while. After a time, dealing with someone like that, it starts to chip away at you. The constant battle with violent insanity.

The struggle to help the person behind the actions always getting harder and harder as the years go on. As the collateral damage begins to rise. As more and more innocent people begin to suffer. As the bodies begin to pile up. Pete truly understood how something like that can cause someone to snap, to forego their morals just for a moment, because it seems like there truly is no other way.

The internal battle to keep your morals, to not let the pain consume you becomes nearly impossible as they begin take away another art of you every time. Spider-Man didn't know what the Joker had done to Batgirl, but the way she was staring at him now, and the way she looked when she was beating him. It was clear he took away a part of her, just as Goblin had done to him. If the roles were reversed, he wasn't sure he'd do any different, in fact he was almost certain he'd be worse.

The pair were both pulled from their thoughts as groans could be heard throughout the warehouse and a handful of goons began to rise to their feet again.

"Seriously? You guys are more persistent than… Ugh I don't know! I'm getting too tired to come up with anymore witty quips. Sue me!" Spider-Man said as he looked to Batgirl, her sullen expression still practically unreadable, "Well… Ready for round two?" he asked her as he pulled himself into a fighting stance.

"Not really…" Batgirl replied, as she seemed to briefly escape the vortex of emotions she was currently trapped in, and looked at Spider-Man, "But let's get it over with anyway…" She said, and the ghost of a smile returned to her lips and she picked her tonfa up from the ground.

Before the fight began again, the garage door to warehouse began to open and several uniformed officers rushed in with their weapons drawn, led by Gordon.

"GCPD! DROP YOUR WEAPONS AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" Called out the familiar voice of the commissioner from behind a megaphone.

The thugs looked around the room at their unconscious allies, and saw their boss lying on the ground in a bloody mess. The fight was over, they had no way of escape. They complied with the order.

More officers began slowly filtering in and cuffing the goons around the warehouse. The commissioner approached the heroes, he looked at the unconscious body beside them. Now being cuffed by one of the, very nervous looking, uniformed officers as another carefully searched him and confiscated a variety of weapons.

The commissioner's face grew slightly dark as he reached the pair, "You two okay?" He said as he looked at both of them. Holding his gaze on Batgirl for a moment, her face beginning to blush as her eyes grew misty behind their lenses. It was clear he was asking more for Batgirls sake then Spider-Man's.

Barbara wanted nothing more than to hug her father right now, but she knew she couldn't. It was always slightly difficult separating her two identities when working with her father, and some nights were harder then others, this night it felt practically impossible.

Peter watched the two, he knew more than he should, he didn't want to reveal that. Not right now, but it was clear Batgirl was uncomfortable with their current situation.

Deciding to give the two of them some space, he spoke, "I think we're okay. But why don't you two discuss the details outside, I'm going to help the other officers get rid of the webbing…"

Gordon looked at Spider-Man with a fixed expression. He was unsure of what to make of the other hero, his displays earlier were impressive, but his candid attitude was weirdly calming. He could tell he was covering for Barbara, trying to give her space away from the scene. But still his attitude had a peculiarity about it, it was clearly for Batgirl's benefit, but why would he suggest both of them go outside, unless he knew something only a few others knew.

Gordon knew that all of the Batfamily knew each other's identity, and he was okay with that as long as they had each others back. Spider-Man was new, but if he had been given the okay from Batman, chances are he would know too. But Gordon didn't like that members he'd never even heard of already knew his daughter's identity. He would've at least appreciated a heads up from Batman.

Gordon cooled his suspicion as he looked towards Batgirl, she was clearly still in shock. Regardless of Spider-Man's reasons, it was what would be best. Besides he may not even know, Gordon may just be getting too lost in his own thoughts. After so many years on the force, it was hard to turn off his inner-detective.

Batgirl was momentarily snapped out of her trance by Spider-Man's words as she said, "Woah! No. That's not happening. You're under my supervision, remember. I can't just-"

"Hey, I was fine last time, wasn't I? Besides, we're in an enclosed space surrounded by GCPD officers, where could I possible go?"

Batgirl was going to argue but was stopped by the commissioner, "He's right Batgirl I'd rather here the report from you... Uh, no offense.

"None taken." Spider-Man replied.

The commissioner continued as he surveyed the warehouse, "Besides the officers seem to be struggling with that… Webbing… Stuff. I'm sure they'd appreciate a hand…"

"See? Go on. I'll be fine…" Spider-Man said as he looked at Batgirl. All three of them knew why Spider-Man was doing what he was doing, but they all kept up the pretence anyway.

"…Alright, but don't take too long. Meet me back at the bike when you're done, We still have to report back to the Batcave as soon as possible… We've spent far too much time here as it is…" Batgirl replied before walking out of the warehouse with the commissioner.

Barbara wanted to get out of this place as quickly as they could. Both for her sake and Spider-Man's. In truth, the entire ordeal, including the debrief with Gordon, took less than ten minutes. However, it was double what it should've been had this been a simple hostage situation. And Batman was definitely not going to be happy with the delay.

Had the situation been as simple as Alfred advertised, Batman's annoyance would've been easier to deal with. But facing the Joker immediately after receiving explicit instructions to return to base, meant that all of them were in for a long lecture. Not to mention the fact that Batman was unsure about sending Barbara back in the field in the first place, she dreaded to think his reaction when he saw how she snapped at Joker.

Leaving the warehouse behind them, they made their way to the alley where Batgirl's bike was parked. Tense silence hung over them, the eyes of several GCPD officers on them as they walked through the parking lot. Batgirl stood tall and kept her posture, to the untrained eye she seemed as heroic and nonchalant as ever.

But her father was not untrained, he could see the difficulty she was having in keeping her composure, more than that he could feel the struggle behind her movements, she wanted to fall down right there and scream at the top of her lungs in frustration and pain. He saw the Joker's state, and the tension between them and his daughter's sullen expression told him Spider-Man wasn't the one who put him there.

The GCPD officers left the commissioner to go with Batgirl, they were used to the post vigilante debrief, and knew to allow him his space with the Batfamily. However it was unusual that Batgirl left a newbie behind unsupervised, when the new Robin first started Batman insisted he stayed by his, or whoever else was supervising's, side at all times. The older officers even remembering similar behaviour with the other Robins and Batgirl herself, not that they'd always listen.

Needless to say, they were then confused by Spider-Man's presence. However their confusion very quickly shifted to relief when they realised how ineffective they were at removing his webbing, something he seemed to be prepared for as he used a combination of a strange liquid and his super-strength to help the officers.

They postponed their questions and instead got to work at apprehending the thugs as Spider-Man freed them from their web prisons. Still, he was definitely a curiosity, and had already become the subject of much discussion within the GCPD. Many of the present officers had heard over the radio about his involvement and assistance in taking down Black Mask's thugs, which only caused them more fascination when he then shortly showed his red and white face at their crime scene.

What was more fascinating, was his behaviour around them. He never stopped cracking jokes or making light-hearted small talk with both the officers and the thugs alike; Though his attitude with the latter was more taunting and childish.

It was an odd sensation for the officers, who were more attuned to Batman's brooding attitude. Although Batgirl, Nightwing and Red Robin were often more friendly and were even seen to offer the odd quip at times, Spider-Man's entirely personality and behaviour oozed levity.

Many of the officers reciprocated the hero's positive energy with their own, however a few of the more experienced officers kept their distance, not finding his behaviour appropriate to the situation.

Regardless of their thoughts on him, Spider-Man did his best to help them process the perps quicker. He had just finished 'freeing' the last of the thugs, who was encased in a web cocoon on the ceiling, and was now slowly lowering himself, thug in arms, down to the ground floor. He placed the unconscious, clown-themed goon down, who was then quickly cuffed and resuscitated before being read his rights.

Looking around the space and seeing what he thought to be a job well done, he decided he'd probably given Batgirl enough time and decided to head back to the bike. After waving his goodbyes to the officers, some of whom returning the signal, he exited the warehouse.

He took his time as he walked through the parking lot, after all he wasn't in any rush to intrude on Batgirl and her… father? Maybe? It didn't matter, regardless he didn't want to snoop any further. He passed by several uniform officers, most of whom looked at him with optimistic bemusement save a few who fixed him with suspicious gazes.

He was used to that from cops though, a large chunk of the NYPD still didn't like him, but he was amazed how quickly, the majority of, the GCPD officers he encountered accepted him. One such officer smiled at him nervously as she escorted a disoriented and aggravated Joker to the back of a patrol car.

The Joker was semi-unconscious, searched, stripped of all items, cuffed and even shackled. But, Peter still saw the uneasiness in the officer's smile and knew the Joker was the reason why. He didn't blame her.

Despite only having a brief encounter with the villain, he could feel the chokehold this character had on the city. The faces of realisation he saw when he dropped off the hostages, the pure rage in Batgirl's eyes, even his own disgust at the man immediately communicated to Peter that this guy was one of, if not the most feared and despised criminal in Gotham.

Just before he was shoved down into the back of the car, the Joker regained some semblance of awareness and immediately, upon seeing Spider-Man, delivered a threat from behind a broken and bloody smile, "You made a big mistake Spider-Punk!".

"Actually, no. That's someone else… Easy mistake though, we dress kinda' similar, I just wish I could play guitar as well as him…." Peter replied, unfazed by the threat.

"Oh-ho-ho you have some good material… When I get out, I'm going to split your skull open and steal every last corny one-liner from that brain of yours. Euheheheu…" Joker's laugh grew from a sick chuckle to a twisted cackle, clearly distressing the officer attempting to hold him.

"Johannsen! He's awake, get the muzzle!" She yelled, in both frustration and growing anguish.

"No need…" Spider-Man replied as he webbed the villain's mouth shut, before approaching the man.

He helped the officer push the now riving and thrashing Joker into the vehicle, his pale, white face growing a shade of light pink as the rage made his cheeks go blush. Spider-Man webbed the Joker's hands in their cuffs for extra security before looking at the man as he flailed on the back seat of the car.

"Listen, Chuckles… if I had a nickel for every time a criminally insane mass murderer with a purple and green colour scheme threatened me… Well, I could probably afford to buy you a new suit and some hair dye." Spider-Man said to the man who was staring at him with angry and confused eyes, before he decided to web his upper body a few more times to be safe, effectively fashioning a straight jacket for the villain.

"Sorry about that, the webs will dissolve in about an hour but I think it's better for everyone if he's a bit more… restrained for now." Spider-Man then said to the officer as he closed the car door on the Joker.

"Sorry? You just saved Johannsen from the most terrifying job in the force." She replied as she cocked her head to the thirty-something officer who was holding a muzzle and looking visibly relieved.

"Huh, you actually have a muzzle… I thought that was a joke…" Spider-Man replied.

"Oh trust me, no jokes around this clown. We've even called someone from the asylum to come help sedate him so he's easier to transport. Since, you know, normal drugs won't do the trick…" She said to the peculiar looking vigilante, unsure of why she was conversing with him so much. But she, and many of the other officers, felt more at ease with this newcomer than they were with most of the Batfamily for some reason. She continued, "But I guess we can tell them not to worry now…"

"Oh… Well, your welcome I guess. Anyway I should really get going…" Spider-Man said as he pointed over his shoulder to the parking lot exit, "I think Batgirl is probably waiting for me. Don't want to upset the new boss on the first day, you know?"

That was mostly true, but the main reason Peter wanted to extricate himself from the conversation was the fact he could, literally, feel the Joker's hate-filled eye's on the back of his head. The low hum of his Spider-Sense was ringing in a tone of constant anxiousness and paranoia. As much as Peter knew he wasn't in any real danger from the Joker, he still wanted to put as much distance between himself and the criminal as possible.

The officer simply smiled and nodded in response before again thanking him and waving him off as he walked away, Peter responding with his own over the shoulder wave as he wandered towards the alley.

Meanwhile, Barbara was in the midst of losing herself in her father's hug. The comfort and security of his arms alleviating her of all her stresses, if only for a brief moment. They stayed in their embrace for a while, revelling in that brief moment in time in which they only existed as father and daughter and all other responsibilities ceased to be. No GCPD, no Batgirl, not even Jim and Barbara Gordon.

Her cheeks were moist with reserved tears, the kind that never had time to fully form, the result of her holding back the inevitable breakdown that would entail had she let them go. Instead the salt water continued to grow, stinging her eyes as she walked with her father, the tears only being pushed out in miniscule droplets with each blink.

Even now as the commissioner held her in his arms and she clung on desperately, as if letting go would result in her death, the tears wouldn't properly flow. She'd stowed them for too long that now they refused to break the emotional dam she had built, her red, salt stung eyes and damp cheeks being the only indicator of their ever existing at all.

After a substantial amount of time had passed, Barbara prompted the end of the embrace as she wriggled her body in attempt to extricate herself from her father's arms, Jim held the grip for a moment longer before begrudgingly letting his daughter go. As the two separated they resumed their roles, albeit with less pretence, as the commissioner leant on the wall behind him, lighting another cigarette, Batgirl half sat on the seat of her bike.

A smoke-clad silence filled the air as the commissioner took another drag of his cigarette. He wasn't going to speak first, he knew to let her get to whatever she was thinking in her own time. If nothing was said, then so be it.

She watched him as he smoked, a habit which she normally despised, but in this moment she found peace in his simple ritual. Disassociating for a second, she watched as the grey smoke danced slowly in the wind as it rose, slowly losing its colour and form the higher it got. Part of her wished she could ride on that cloud of cigarette smoke, to weightlessly drift through the city without a destination or goal, to not have anything tying her to the ground.

But she was tied to the ground, the weight of her responsibilities kept her placed firmly on the floor, tethering her to reality.

She reflected as she watched the smoke dissipate in the air, approaching the fact that for one fleeting moment, this very night, she felt that weightlessness. A kind of weightlessness where thought and reason didn't matter, just feeling and response.

In that moment her desire for short term satisfaction outweighed the worry of long term consequences, and in that moment she nearly became a murderer.

"Any chance for a smoke?" Batgirl finally spoke, crippling the silence, but not killing it. A slight, broken smile forming on her shaking lips.

Jim looked her up and down, unsure of what thoughts were racing through his daughter's head. The wounded silence hanged there in the night, heavier than before, as if Batgirl's speaking had activated a timer for response from the commissioner. Or else the moment would be gone forever.

"Not a chance. These things'll kill ya, you know?" The commissioner responded through clouds of smoke, the lit cigarette still in his mouth. Eliciting a reserved chuckle from his daughter.

"I know… I wish you'd quit them." Batgirl spoke, Her smile slowly dropping as she looked to the floor, kicking a stray pebble near her foot. The pebble bounced across the alley, coming to a stop by her father's feet, causing the commissioner to pause as he looked to it.

"Heh… You and me both." Jim offered back before softly kicking the pebble back to his daughter as he took another drag of his cigarette, savouring the taste as he delivers another reply from behind a cloud of smoke, "You know… If we're talking about things that could kill us…"

"I'm not quitting Batgirl, dad..." Barbara responded, looking up from the floor and meeting her father's eyes for the first time since they left the warehouse.

Jim's gaze however, hadn't left his daughter's face since he saw the Joker's beaten form on the floor. He was constantly trying to read her, to figure out what she was thinking. To figure out the right words to say to help her. He'd clearly hit a nerve now, but with that he'd found an opening for discussion, a focal point she can talk around without having to feel pressured.

Softly smiling, he continued, "I know. I don't think I'd even want you to, I'm proud of the hero you've become and I know this is what you want… But is this what you need right now? Do you think that maybe you got back into the game too early?"

"I– I snapped. That's all! I just… That stupid fucking smile…" Barbara's fists turned into white knuckled balls under her gloves as she gripped the leather of her bike seat.

"Language." Jim knee jerked a response, looking at his daughter and smiling with soft regret, "Sorry. Force of habit…"

Barbara let out a snort before looking back to floor, placing the pebble under the toe of her boot and pushing it around the floor in small circles. She felt each groove of her boot interacting uniquely with each groove of the pebble, each dent on the floor shifting the path of the rock depending on which angle it was approached from. She let her mind go blank as she guided the imperfect ball across the damaged and chipped ground with the grip of her shoe and focused entirely on the sensation below her.

Observing that his daughter was disassociating again, and that progress would be slow if he let his daughter control the flow of discussion, Jim felt he should gently nudge the conversation towards the green-haired elephant in the alley, "Nobody in the GCPD thinks badly of you for going hard on the clown, you know… Many of them would easily put a bullet in his head and be done with it. Hell, even Batman's put the Joker in worse states…"

"It's not the damage done that's the problem, dad." Batgirl responded, slowly rolling her foot off the pebble and back to floor, "It was my lack of control. I just wasn't expecting to see him so soon and I couldn't take it… Part of me was trying to kill him. I could feel it and I couldn't stop it… If Spider-Man hadn't been there… "

"But he was, Babs… The Joker's alive. You're not a killer."

"But I would've been."

"But you're not."

"Dad! Please just…"

"No!" His voice was raised slightly.

"What?" Barbara snapped her head up as she spoke, meeting her father's gaze, confusion and desperation evident in her tone.

"Just… Trust me, in this line of work the more you focus on the 'what ifs', the quicker you'll burn out, and I'm not just going to stand here and watch you eat yourself alive over something that could have happened. That can be Batman's job, my job is to make sure you're okay…"

"That's what Spider-Man said…"

"Well, he sounds like a smart kid… You should listen to him…"

Batgirl opened her mouth to respond, before stopping herself, not knowing what words to say. Her eyes grew moist again before she stood up and hugged her father once more.

Slightly taken aback by the sudden assault of affection, Gordon did his best to avoid spilling cigarette ash onto his daughter's costume as he attempted to hug back.

A moment passed before Gordon spoke again, still holding on to his daughter, "So… Do you want to talk about it? You know, what happened in there?"

Batgirl finally released her grip on her father and took a step back so she was once again leaning on her bike, "Not really… At least not right now. But when I'm ready… I promise."

"Alright then, as long as that's what you want. I won't force you…"

"I know, Dad. I just… need a bit of time to think. Actually think, not just focus on the 'what ifs', you know?".

Jim just simply smiled gently to his daughter, before stubbing out his cigarette and flicking the butt into the dark of the alley.

"I understand, pumpkin. It looks like that's all we have time for anyway…" Gordon added as he nodded his head passed Batgirl, who in turn turned her head to see the red and blue figure of Spider-Man approaching them from the adjacent street.

"It's a shame, though. I actually wanted to learn more about that colourful new friend of yours..." Gordon added as he walked passed his daughter. Putting his hand on her shoulder as he added, loud enough for Spider-Man to hear, "Thank you for the help Batgirl, I'll make sure to add your statement to my report."

Batgirl simply rolled her eyes as another smile crept on to her face, nodding to her father. Gordon returned the greeting with his own comforting smile before continuing down the road.

As Spider-Man walked towards the alley, he saw the commissioner approaching him, his hand outstretched inviting the costumed hero to shake it. The two men stopped as their paths crossed, and the commissioner spoke as Spider-Man grabbed his had and shook it, "Nice to meet you, Spider-Man. Thanks for all your help tonight."

"Oh err, you too commissioner. It was nothing really…" Peter responded as he returned the handshake, trying to exude an air of confidence which was betrayed by his vacant hand rubbing the back of his neck.

"I disagree. Both Johnathan Heeley and his son were able to reach the ICU in time and are in stable conditions thanks to your efforts, a minute later and they would be dead. Two people are alive because of you, and that is never 'nothing'."

The commissioner's words were a welcome surprise to Peter, causing him to reply, "Oh wow. That's great, glad they were able to make it in time... Thank you commissioner. Your words means a lot more to me than you realise."

Although Spider-Man had positive working relationships with both Captains Stacy and Wantanabe, there was still a time the former wished for him behind bars before they were able to establish trust between them. And as for the latter, although Peter is certain Yuri definitely tolerates him, he still feels as if they are a far cry away from truly being partners. However, after less than half an hour after meeting him, commissioner Gordon had already communicated, not only tolerance, but true respect and appreciation for his actions as Spider-Man.

"I was only telling the truth…" The commissioner responded with an honest smile, before adding, "But, you can stop shaking my hand now…"

"Right, right… Sorry." Peter replied, flustered as he let go of the commissioners hand.

Gordon simply chuckled as he continued walking, speaking one last sentence as he wandered down the street, "Looking forward to working with you again, Spider-Man…"

"Yeah, you too…" Peter replied, omitting the fact that he'd much rather go home before he had the chance.

Peter carried on down the street until he reached the alley. Batgirl promptly stood up from her bike and looked at him with a soft smile on her face. One of regret and kindness.

"Hey… I umm wanted to say thank you… And sorry." She stated.

'What is going on here? I've never received so much praise in one night before, and I've only been here like half an hour…' Peter thought to himself. That wasn't strictly true, but it sometimes felt that way thanks to Triple J's efforts back home. He watched Batgirl shuffle slightly on her feet as her face grew slightly flush from embarrassment.

"You're welcome. But there's no need to apologise really…" He responded calmy.

"Yes. Yes there is."

"Look it-" Peter's reply was cut off by Batgirl interrupting him.

"No. Stop talking… Err sorry. But please, can you just let me say what I have to say?"

Spider-Man simply nodded while pretending to zip his masked mouth shut, Batgirl smiled back before she continued, "I ah- I've been going through a lot lately and it was unfair of me to take it out on you… And yet, despite me treating you like shit, you never once tried to escape. Despite the fact we both know you could have… And then, you save me from doing something I would've regretted... So yes, there is a need to apologise. I think I made a bad first impression, so if you will let me… I'd like to start over." She said as she too offered her hand to Spider-Man.

'Wow. These Gordon's love their handshakes… Then again it is a very common greeting, I guess. Ugh god. I. Want. To. Go. Home.' Ignoring both the ramblings of his cross-dimension addled brain and the newfound aches and pains of his now resting body, he too put his hand out and shook Batgirl's.

"Batgirl, nice to meet you…" Batgirl stated, this time with a smile, though their was still sadness and stress evident on her face.

"Spider-Man, nice to meet you, Batgirl." He said as the pair held each others grip and shook their hands together before parting.

"Well, now that we've officially met… Are you ready to meet my boss? Unfortunately, I still can't give you the choice to refuse… But I mean if you were to run away, I wouldn't be able to stop you…"

"Ha. No, I'm ready. In fact, I think I need to meet him. He sounds important… No offense to you, obviously."

"None taken… You're right. He is kind of… Important." Batgirl was still confused by the hero's choice of words, and starting to consider the possibilities of his origin, with theories such as time and/or dimensional travel being at the forefront of her hypotheses.

One thing she was certain of though, he was definitely not the rookie she thought he was. His experience in this game had slowly crept through in the way he fought and how he talked throughout the night. Batgirl would have to be blind not to notice, but she was maybe slower on the realisation than she would be normally.

"Great! Well shall I drive or you?" Spider-Man replied.

Batgirl simply chuckled politely in response before turning round, ready to mount her bike, "Get on... Let's go."

"Actually, Wait!" Spider-Man stopped her with his sudden outburst to which she paused and looked at him confused, "If we're starting over… I should also be honest with you…"

"It's fine, we can go over it all at the Batcave…" She replied.

"No. It's something I need to tell you specifically…"

She looked at him inquisitively, before slowly nodding for him to proceed.

"I ermm… I kind of overheard something I shouldn't…" By now Batgirl's face was returning to her earlier expression of annoyance, "… Not on purpose! I swear. I kinda' have slightly enhanced hearing and sometimes I forget to shut it off…"

"What. Did. You. Hear?" Batgirl said, stressing each word and communicating the importance of his answer to her question. Her main concern was him eavesdropping on her conversation with her father, not just due to security concerns, but also because it was a private and personal between them and not one for outside ears. Not even Bruce would be able to watch that moment and she made sure to cut all comms during the conversation.

"Nothing much… Just a snooty British dude talking in your ear. Said something about a guy named Bruce and changing 'nappies', which I'm pretty sure is fish and chip language for diaper…" Spider-Man was speaking very fast at this point while he was trying to explain himself, Batgirl's expression however, had not changed once during the entire monologue, "And… He also called you 'Miss Gordon'… And I don't want to assume anything here… But the commissioner is also called Gordon, so…"

Batgirl held her harsh expression for a second longer before sighing and shaking her head, "Great… Okay well its not like you can unlearn anything you overheard. But yes, I am the commissioner's daughter. I assume that's what you were thinking?" Spider-Man simply nodded in response, "Hmm, well… As someone who also wears a mask, I'm sure you understand the importance of keeping that fact a secret?"

Spider-Man simply nodded again in response, not wanting to say anything that may cause Batgirl to backtrack the good grace she'd just started showing him.

"…As for the Batman thing… It might be better to play that one close to your chest for now. It's rare for someone to meet with Batman knowing more about him than he does about them… So I wouldn't start with that. Well, unless you want to piss him off straight away."

"I'd rather not, you know, given the choice" Spider-Man replied.

"Smart decision." She responded with a smile before sitting on her bike seat, "Anyway, if that's it, we should get going…"

"Uh… Yeah I guess it is. Are you not annoyed, like at all?"

"I guess. But there's nothing we can do about it now… I mean I also nearly killed someo-"

"I don't think you would have, for the record."

A grim smile spread across her face, one that showed she disagreed with Spider-Man's assessment, but appreciated it nonetheless, "Umm thanks… Either way. You accidentally… It was accidental, right? You're not lying to me?"

Spider-Man again nodded, before replying "Kind of… I was listening in, only because I thought it might be something about me… I wasn't trying to snoop on you or your team…"

"Well, although that was stupid of you… I can't really blame you, I didn't really give you much of a choice. And as I was saying, you accidentally learning something you shouldn't have isn't worth getting angry at now. Especially when considering everything else that has happened tonight… Besides, I was just saying we should start over. It'd be hypocritical of me to then immediately get pissed at the first moment you're honest with me… Now, with that out of the way, can you get on the bike? We're running late as it is…"

"Huh. Not the reaction I was expecting… Yeah, let's get going… How far away is this place by the way? Do I have time for a nap? My mind is all over the place right now." Spider-Man said as he too mounted the bike, behind Batgirl.

She softly chuckled at his reply as she started the bike, before responding, "Sorry, but it's not far at all, so that pretty little head of yours won't be resting just yet."

"You think I'm pretty?"

"You want me to be mean again?"

"Shutting up now…"

The crackle of the bike's exhaust rang down the alley as the pair began speeding their way to the Batcave. Peter feeling slightly better about his situation than he had before. Although, this place wasn't his home and he wanted more than ever to get back, he would be lying if he said he didn't feel as if the majority of his interactions had been mostly positive, clown themed supervillains notwithstanding.

Batgirl for her part was more conflicted than ever. The guilt she felt for her treatment of Spider-Man had actually increased after she apologised, his reaction letting her know he hadn't even noticed or held the slightest grudge, making her feel even worse.

But that was overshadowed by the dark thoughts of her fists continually smashing into the Joker's face, the enjoyment she felt in it, and the hatred she felt towards herself. The question she kept asking herself was: 'Am I really ready to be Batgirl again?'

Whatever the answer to that question, she knows that Spider-Man saved both Batgirl and Barbara Gordon from becoming killers tonight, and for that she would forever be grateful.